Yoruba (Volume 2).

THE YORUBA (Continued from Volume 1, Below).

The Yoruba 'Talking Drum' (Gangan)

As many as 20 percent of the Yoruba still practice the traditional religions of their ancestors. 

The practice of traditional religion varies from community to community. 

For example, a deity (god) may be male in one village and female in another. Yoruba traditional religion holds that there is one Supreme Being and hundreds of orisa, or minor deities.The worshipers of a deity are referred to as his "children." 

There are three gods who are available to all. 

Olorun (Sky God) is the high god, the Creator. One may call on him with prayers or by pouring water on kola nuts on the ground. 

Esu (also called Legba by some) is the divine messenger who delivers sacrifices to Olorun after they are placed at his shrine. Everyone prays frequently to this deity. 

Ifa is the God of Divination, who interprets the wishes of Olorun to mankind. Believers in the Yoruba religion turn to Ifa in times of trouble. 

Another god, Ogun (god of war, the hunt, and metalworking), is considered one of the most important. In Yoruba courts, people who follow traditional beliefs swear to give truthful testimony by kissing a machete, sacred to Ogun. 

Sango is the deity that creates thunder. The Yoruba believe that when thunder and lightning strike, Sango has thrown a thunderstone to earth. After a thunderstorm, Yoruba religious leaders search the ground for the thunderstone, which is believed to have special powers. The stones are housed in shrines dedicated to Sango. 

Sango has four wives, each representing a river in Nigeria...TO BE CONTINUED

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Koslow, Philip. Yorubaland: The Flowering of Genius. Kingdoms of Africa. New York: Chelsea House, 1996.
Hetfield, Jamie. The Yoruba of West Africa. New York: Rosen Publishing Group, 1996.
Bascom, William. The Yoruba of Southwestern Nigeria. Prospect Heights, Ill.: Waveland Press, 1984.

Some Yoruba deities

• Olodumare / Olorun: Owner of the heavens and creator of the universe
• Orunmila / Ifa: God of wisdom, knowledge and divination
• Esu / Elegbara: The trickster god and keeper of the divine power.
• Obatala / Osala: The white god, moulder of human beings
• Ogun: The iron divinity
• Sango: The god of thunder and lightning
• Oya: Sango's fierce wife, goddess of the wind and the storms.
• Osun: A river goddess, great lover of children, associated with sensuality and beauty.
• Yemoja: The mother goddess and queen of the ocean.
• Olofin / Oduduwa: The great ancestor of the Yoruba people.

Sources: Wande Abimbola, Sixteen Great Poems of Ifa (UNESCO, 1975); Natalia Bolivar and Valentina Porras, Orisa Aye (Havana, 2011).