Reading Review: Yoruba Religion

In order to keep up my reading abilities and knowledge of random facts that could be relevant while taking the GRE, I am going to be reading books or articles and reviewing the content and reflecting on life. This week I am looking into William A. Young's book The World's Religions: Worldviews and Contemporary Issues. I just read chapter 2 titled "Indigenous Religions." The particular indigenous practice I am looking at now is the Yoruba religion, native to west Africa.

The Yoruba religion is seen as primitive due to its unpopularity and continued reliance on a pantheon of gods that are said to be forces of nature. Yoruba mythology does, however, have a high god, Olorun Olodumare, who is the source of life, residing high in the heavens. While this Olorun Olodumare is seen as the high god, he is not much of a practical god, lacking shrines and rituals done in his honor.

As in many sects of Hinduism, the other deities are seen as manifestations of the power of Olorun Olodumare. These deities are called "orisa." The orisa were said to once have been humans who lived extraordinary lives. One of the more prominent orisa is Orisa-nla, the deity of new life in the womb. Newborns are respected in his honor, even the deformed. The color associated with him is white, which is often honored by his followers who wear white garments for rituals in his honor.

Yoruba in their white dress

Another Yoruba orisa is Oduduwa, the god that is said to be the original in a line of Yoruba kings. His sister is named Oshun, who is the goddess of fertility, feminine beauty, and wealth.

Oshun

The deity of divination is Orunmila, who knows the fate of every human. The Yoruba believe that everyone has a destiny given to them by Orunmila, but we all forget them in early life.

Orunmila

As in most indigenous religions (and mainstream religions), there is a trickster orisa, a joker. A Greek Prometheus, or a Norse Loki. This key role in mythologies is often a split role. In Greek mythology it is Prometheus, the very man-like god who brings fire down to the humans. Or in Norse mythology, Loki, a sort of half-god and half-frost giant who likes to play both sides of the fence. For the Yoruba, it is Esu. Esu is a messenger of the gods, he travels the earth tricking humans into doing wrong things and reports back to the gods who might have been offended. This is not unlike the early view of Satan, but is drastically different than the modern view. Esu is not seen as evil, but rather as an agent of chaos, not unlike the Joker in "The Dark Knight." Even to the gods in which he is reporting he will change his reports to entertain his appetite for disorder and trickery. He is said to promote impulsiveness in people to make them easy targets to fool.

Esu

According to oral tradition, Olorun Olodumare resided in the heavens with the other gods. The earth was all a lonely marsh. Olurun Olodumare decided he wanted to make the earth firm, so he sent Orisa-nla to do his bidding. Orisa-nla cast soil upon the marsh, and five-toed hen to spread the soil, pushing the water which separated land from ocean. He then planted trees to make the forests. After this was completed, Olorun Olodumare created 16 humans to populate the earth. Oduduwa then descended to rule the human population.

Modern practitioners have been greatly influenced by Western Christianity. Many Africans carried their Yoruba roots when forcibly shipped to America for slave trade. Missionaries have also had their impact in Africa, starting the "Aladura" movement (meaning "People of Prayer"). Groups of this movement are characterized by inspiring leaders, unique biblical interpretations, prayer, and healing. One such group is called Santeria, or "Saint Way." This is the combination of Yoruba religion and Spanish Catholicism as a result of slave trade in the Caribbean. Yoruba orisa are hidden under a Catholic saint guise. This movement group grew in popularity and is currently dwelling in the United States. Many of you have probably heard about the 1993 Supreme Court case in which the right for animal sacrifices in religious setting was upheld. This was the result of lawsuits concerning the growing popularity of the Santeria groups performing their animal sacrifices. While this is not the same thing as Voodoo, Yoruba religion has influence in that as well.   

Overall the Yoruba religion contains interesting mythologies and beautiful art, there are way more pictures I found that looked amazing. While this may be looked down upon as a "primitive" religion, I think it is important to be respectful. After all, what really makes a religion primitive? I may not think that Esu is causing me to stumble, but as a Christian I'm not the type to contribute those things to Satan or demons either. Religion is a complex and fascinating subject that I love looking into, but I do believe in reality and truth. Not all religions can be right. But the purpose of studying it is not to nitpick or criticize, but to investigate, to see how others are tackling the idea of faith and God in their own life and in their own culture.