Creation and the Sacred Stones at Ife (Chapter II)

There are many stories of creation among the Yoruba, but the story which I have chosen to open this study on the Genesis of the Yoruba is remarkable, I think, owing to the statement of Oja that the three parts representing God in Creation turned to stone when once they had set Creation going, leaving the carrying on of the work, it would appear, to sixteen great Orisha. Togun (see below) does not mention the word Olorun, the word now used to represent God, who is also known as Eleda the Creator, Elemi (the owner of breath). I think we shall learn as we proceed that he, as the owner of heaven, is a development of Jakuta, the father thunder god.

It was in the village of I lobe in the Egbado district, S. Nigeria, that the following account of the Creation was given to me by an old lady called Oja who, the Bale or Chief told me, knew all about it. She was a Priestess, and spoke to me through a relation of hers called Togun, who was also

NIGERIAN STUDIES

ii CREATION AND SACRED STONES AT IFE 21

into a small square with two other gateways leading out of it, one to the East, and one to the South.

We first passed through the eastern gate and there under a small shed in the centre of the grove we saw the stone figure of Ore. He was only two feet eight inches in height, but three feet round the waist, so I came to the conclusion that this hero shrunk somewhat in height in the process of turning to stone. Near to him were two kola boxes or dishes in stone each one foot long and six inches wide. A stone which looked very much like a gravestone was standing to the south-east of the image. They said it had grown out of the ground. The width of this grove was about seventeen feet, and the length thirty-two feet.

We went back to the porch and now passed through the entrance to the south which led us down a passage fifteen feet in length, and then we entered the enclosure, oval in shape and about sixty feet long, which was sacred to the wife of Ore,

NIGERIAN STUDIES

About thirty-one feet from the entrance was a small circular shed under which the figure of Ore’s wife stood. It measured three feet in height and two feet round the waist. Sixteen feet from this shed was a collection of interesting stones. Two were flat (one of which was broken) and measured four feet six inches by one foot and, three feet three inches by one foot respectively, and, rising from a mound of stones, a carved stone representing an elephant’s tusk two feet six inches in height stood erect.

Passing out of this grove by a lane forty-three feet long we came to a clearing measuring twenty-three by twenty-eight feet near the side of which was a hut with mud walls, where, they said, the worshippers who had sacrificed to Ore came to cook and eat the flesh of the animals sacrificed. The clerk told me that this hut once contained a slab of rock upon which a crocodile was carved. We had a good look for it, but it was not there.

Other Sacred Stones at Ife

Morimi and Alashe, mother and son, having also turned to stones, are now worshipped as Orishas at Ife.

The Oni of Ife said that Alashe (the lawgiver) was Jesus, the father of all white men, and he was not sure but he thought that he also was descended from him.

Alashe, he said, was the only child of Morimi who

NIGERIAN STUDIES

these stools and other stone images were made, so we may conclude that they were made on the spot. But by whom? I am inclined to think that they must have been made by some black mason, possibly one of those natives sent to the King of Portugal in the fifteenth century and educated by the Portuguese, He may have returned as a lay brother or even

as a priest and found his way to I f e. He then possibly introduced a form of Christianity and built two Churches, one dedicated to J esus and one to the Virgin Mary. The stools were perhaps part of the furniture of these Churches.

But in Ife all sorts of people and things are turned to stone; the Oni has the figure in stone of a man caught in the act of having connection with his sister.

Just outside the town is the “stick” of Oranyan, a

NIGERIAN STUDIES

found two mounds of stones with the stumps of old trees in the centre and the remains of another heap of stones. This then was the place where the three Oyisa trees had once existed.

Opa Oranyan, the stick or pole of Oranyan, is what the one standing pillar is called, and upon making enquiries I learnt that Opa is sometimes used as a slang word for penis. It is possible then that here in Ife, the cradle of the religion of the Yoruba people, as in Iaiu, the three pillars represented the three procreative persons, Father, Mother, Son, while the three trees (Oyisa) 2 figured the same three persons in their God.

Not far from the grove where I saw the woman addressing the three mounds of stone, and on the opposite side of the road, is an altar composed of stones sacred to the moon, called Oshupa Igio. Upon a large block of granite surrounded by some smaller blocks of the same substance are two slabs of granite on which rest two smaller stones about the size of one’s fist. It is said that when the Babalawo rub the slabs with them they shine with a light like that of the moon. Amongst the stones alongside the altar were two pieces of cut quartz which evidently once represented the moon.

I should say that they were carved by the same artist who made the stools. Close to the altar were three smaller stones which they called Eshu (devil), and in a little clearing in the bush were two large pear 1 Called by Togun Orunmila.

Bini for Orisha.

n CREATION AND SACRED STONES AT IFE 27

shaped stones which they called Orisha Omu, meaning breast, udder. Near to the palace of the Oni of Ife there is a well which is said to have no bottom, and they said this was not made by man but by the Orisha Olokorogbo.

Mentioned templesOlódùmarè Ṣàngó Ẹṣù Ọrúnmìlà

Jakuta: The Four Winds (Chapter V)

The Yoruba have confused Jakuta with Shango until they are to-day almost identical, but there is in reality a difference between Jakuta the great “procreator” and Shango, the son of Yemoja, the so-called god of lightning and the great marriage deity.

Jakuta maybe said to be Shango in a former period, and Shango is to-day worshipped on the day called Jakuta.

Jakuta as the thrower of stones, so closely connected with Odudua who may be said to represent chaos, is rather the thunderbolt than the lightning, and was looked upon as the great father in heaven.

He is likened at times to the east wind, the cause of the coming of the thunderstorm with its clouds, rain, and wind connected with the first tornado season. At this time the ancient Yoruba’s (father’s and son’s) thoughts turned to marriage, and no doubt in the fights that took place stones were the weapons that they used. And now a stone fell from heaven. Ah!

NIGERIAN STUDIES

thought the stone throwers, the dead father in heaven is also at war and throwing stones, and so perhaps came the name Ija strife, Oko stone, Ta to produce, shortened into Jakuta. The verb Ja is to fight, and okuta is a stone.

I remember travelling behind Chilunga, now in Congo Frangais, and coming across a large stone near to the top of a hill which had marks on it. These my companion Tate told me were the foot-prints of God (Nzambi).

At Adenyoba on the Osse River, or rather in the bush not far from there, a large stone is venerated in the same way by the Bini.

NIGERIAN STUDIES

say it is the voice of the trumpets, or blowing-horns of Jan Goeman, so they call God, who, with reverence be it spoken, is diverting himself with his wives; and, therefore, when it thunders much, or though there be only flashes of lightning, they presently run under cover if possible, believing that if they did not so God would strike them with his thunderbolts.

“About the year 1480, the Spaniards trading at the coast found those blacks extremely covetous and fond of a sort of seashell, giving anything they had for them, as believing they had a peculiar virtue against thunder. Whereupon so many of those shells were carried out of Spain that at last they were scarce to be had there for money.”

Bosman, writing about thunderstorms, says: “The stake which supported our Flag was shattered int splinters from top to bottom, and yet remained standing, but so torn asunder as if one or two hundred chisels had been driven into it in order to split it. The negroes, in the same terrified condition, with us being of opinion that the force of the thunder is contained in a certain stone , after the storm was over brought one, which they ridiculously believed had so shattered our Flag pole. But no wonder they were of that opinion, for in Europe, where we think we are better informed, several people don’t much differ from them.” Then he goes on to say, “ But what I have observed of the effects of thunder is sufficient to convince me that ’tis impossible they should be caused by a stone.” All I have to say to this is “ Jakuta! ”

JAKUTA. THE FOUR WINDS

The Four Winds

The East in Yoruba is known by the name of Ila Orun, i.e. the place where “he that arises appears.”

Ila also means the act of splitting, possibly the idea comes from the fact that here darkness and light become divided. This idea of splitting brings their thoughts to creation, written Ida, and this word again can be traced to the verb Da to be and to make or Ta to produce, as yams are produced by splitting up the seed yam.

This meaning coincides with the Bavili word (see chapter Obatala, page 82) Xivanga or Creator, Va meaning to split.

Ila also means Salvation, and we know that both the Yoruba and the Bavili say that their religion came from the East.

The West is Iha Igun aiye ibuwo, the corner region of the earth (where the Sun lodges). It is interesting to note while talking of the West that it is to the South-West of Ife, the supposed centre of the Yoruba Kingdom, near the beach or where the Sun sets, that we find the I fa sacred palm tree in large quantities, said to have been first found in Orungan’s farm or where he lodged. Orungan is another name for Orun the Sun, that is the heat of the Sun at midday.

The North is known as Ari Wa Otun Ila Orun, one who finds and comes to the right of the East.

The South, or Igun kerin aiye, is the fourth corner

NIGERIAN STUDIES

of the world. It is evident then that the Yoruba idea of their world was that it was square and that the sun travelled from the Eastern corner to the Western corner. Their proverb, “ Igun Merin ni Aiye Ini,” says, “ The world has or is supported by four corners.” This probably explains the figure marked in chalk on the ground in front of the altar to the Orisha Olokun (the sea spirit) noticed by me at Igo near Benin city (see chapter XXI, page 225, At the Back of the

Black Man's Mind).

The mark is

The native

places his back to the East and looks westward and so has the North on his right. The Yoruba also have a figure called Olori merin which has four heads, which is generally found placed upon a mound near the centre of the town so that each head faces one of the four great points of the compass. Four times every year a new-born infant four days old used to be sacrificed to this power in the presence of its mother. Colonel Ellis calls this sacrifice Ejeodun, the season of blood, and tells us that while Olori merin protected the town and watched the four points of the compass from his mound it was believed that no war or pestilence could attack it. Now a force of men attacking a town would come by the roads and try to enter the city by one or all of the four gates, but sickness and pestilence, the Yoruba say, are brought by the winds.

This dual attack may be described as a personal and physical invasion, and as the gates are in the centre of each wall while the points of the compass are

V JAKUTA. THE FOUR WINDS 71

the four corners of the walled town, the following figure may be said to represent these ideas. The only

one of the four great Orishas connected with the winds is Jakuta, translated roughly as the Hurler of Stones, the Yoruba Jupiter. He comes with the East wind that brings tornados. It would seem to follow that the four Orishas, Jakuta, Obatala, Odudua and Ifa should represent the East, North, South and West winds.

I have been informed by Babalawo Oliyitan that the figure Olori Merin is not in itself an Orisha but merely a Juju representing the above four great Orishas, and as it has been stated that this figure faces the four points of the compass and guards the city from pestilence and war we can assume the position of each Orisha.

Looking towards the West Obatala will point to the North, Odudua to the South, Jakuta to the East and Ifa to the West.

The Yoruba calls the winds that bring disease Afefe Buruku, Buruku being another name for Shankpana, the small-pox “ god,” who is said to be a son of “ Yemoja.”

But on the other hand Oliyitan tells me that a whirlwind, which he called Aja, carries people off to the bush, and, keeping them there two or three months,

NIGERIAN STUDIES

CH. V

teaches them the use of medicinal herbs by which diseases are cured.

Olorun (Awlawrun) is the word now used for God. Olu means owner, Orun heaven or sky. Jakuta, we have noted, is the Father God, the stone-thrower connected with the wind that blows the mysteries of the East to the centre of the Kingdom or the walled city. The Sun (Orun) rises in the East; it is possible therefore that the wind and storm god as a spiritual revealer is nearly related to the Sun as the physical revealer, and I think we can understand, as religious ideas developed, how Olorun took the place of Jakuta as the heavenly Father God and how Jakuta under the name of Shango became a mere marriage Orisha.

Mentioned templesṢàngó Ọbàtálá Ọrúnmìlà Ọbalúayé Olódùmarè

Odudua and the Four Days of the Week (Chapter VI)

Togun said Orishala was the husband of Yemuhu, but Ellis tells us that Obatala was the husband of Oduduwa. Are we then to suppose that Yemuhu and Oduduwa are two names for one person, or that Orishala had two wives? I am inclined to believe that Oduduwa and Yemuhu are two names for one person. Bishop Crowther also gives this deity the name of Odua. Bishop Johnson talking of the Odus in Yoruba heathenism says, “ Behind each one of these representative nuts are sixteen subordinate divinities. Each one of the whole lot is termed an Odu, which means a chief, ahead.” Bishop Crowther gives the word Olu as the chief of anything.

Oduwa and Oluwa then mean the same thing, i.e. “ Owner,” which in the form of Olowa Ini or Oloni is now another name for God. Bishop Crowther also says Odua or Odudua is a goddess from Ife, said to be the supreme goddess in the world. Heaven and earth are also called Odudua —

NIGERIAN STUDIES

“ Odudua Igbd nla meji ade isi. Heaven and earth are two large calabashes which being shut can never be opened.” And Ellis says Obatala and Odudua, or Heaven and earth, resemble, according to the priests, two large calabashes which when once shut can never be opened. ... He goes on to say, according to a myth Odudua is blind. In the beginning of the world she and her husband were shut up in darkness in a large closed calabash, Obatala being in the upper part and Odudua in the lower. . . . Odudua complained to her husband of the confinement. ... In a frenzy Obatala tore out her eyes. . . . She cursed him and said, “ Naught shalt thou eat but snails.” It will be remembered that Yemuhu’s snails became the sixteen heads of Eleda, or, in other words, the sixteen Orishas taking part in the creation of the world. The calabash or gourd in which Odudua was confined is called Igba. The words for ancestor are “ Obi Ara Igbani, the parent body in the time past,” and in this sense it is interesting to read in the Nigerian Chronicle an article on the history of the Yoruba by one signing himself F. S.

“ At the head of immigrants who settled in Yorubaland about the eleventh or twelfth century of the Christian Era was Odudua from whom most of the present day native rulers are descended. Odudua, however, was not the real name of the leader of the Bornu immigrants. His name, together

with those of his wives and children and companions are entirely lost, and his descendants many ages after his death designated him Odudua, i.e. Odu ti o da wa, which means a “ self-existing personage.” He is also called Adumila (“ Saviour ”). His wife, from whom are descended the dynasties of the leading Yoruba kingdoms, was designated Omonide, i.e. Omo ni ide, which means a “ child is brass,’” brass being the most precious metal known to the early Yoruba people. Omonide is also called Iyamode, a contraction of Iya Omonide “ Mother Omonide.”

Odudua is worshipped in every Yoruba town, and every Yoruba man, woman or child is called Omo Odudua (“child of Odudua”).

Many years after the death of Odudua a Hausa Mussulman came to Ife. He used to call the inhabitants together and read to them passages from the copy of the Koran which he brought with him from his country. He was wont to say to the people in Yoruba imperfectly as he could speak it with accents foreign to the language — E wa e je ki a sin Allah , On ni o da oke, On ni o da ile , On ni o da gbogbo nkan, On ni o da wa (“ Let us worship Allah, He created the Mountain, He created the lowland, He created everything, He created us”). He did this from time to time without being able to gain a single proselyte, and died a few months after his arrival in Ife. After his death his Koran was found hanging on a peg on the wall where he had left it in a bag. Some of the men who saw it said Hausa ti o ku ni so fun wa pe Odu ti o da iwa ma ma ni eyi o, eyi ni Odudua , e je ki a ma bo o. (“The late Hausaman told us this was the personage who

NIGERIAN STUDIES

created existence, this is Odudua, let us therefore worship him ”), misunderstanding the Mussulman. So they removed the bag containing the Koran from the peg on the wall, put it on the ground, covered it with a pot and began to worship it. So commenced the worship of Odudua.

Odudua had by Omonide, his first wife, several children; his eldest daughter was the mother of the founder of Owu, who become king of Owu, and was consequently styled Olowu. All the children of Omonide were famous, and became founders of several towns in the Yoruba Country. The names of Omonide’s children or of any of the children of Odudua are practically lost. Omonide’s eldest son founded Ketu and became the Alaketu or king of Ketu. Another founded Benin (Ibini) and became the Onibini. Another founded Ila (Igbomina) and became the Onila. Another founded Sabe and became the Onisabe. The youngest of Omonide’s children founded a town, the habitable portion of which was so small that it was called Kogbaye (“ It does not afford room ”), of which he became king. Owing to the smallness of this town the inhabitants left it stealthily, hence it was said that they slipped off the place. They went to a locality not very distant from Kogbaye and settled there. Their king also went and remained with them. From the circumstance of the people slipping off (yo lo ) from Kogbaye the new settlement was called Oyo (“slipper”). The youngest son of Mother Omonide thus became the Oloyo.

Odudua himself died in Ife, and one of his children

by his other wives was given a broom wherewith to keep his grave clean. This child was made the Oni or king of Ife.

The Alaketu, the eldest son of Odudua, was the first of his sons to take a wife. His wife soon had a babe and Mother Omonide, who had hitherto remained at Ife, came to help her son’s wife in nursing the babe. This babe afterwards founded Ake and became the Alake. Mother Omonide loved her grandson very much and came with him to Ake, where she died.”

We shall have a good deal to say about these sons of the founder of the Yoruba Kingdom. It will be noted that F. S. calls Odudua a male, whereas Ellis, Oja, Togun, and Crowther speak of her as a female.

Upon asking people the question, who first gave the days of the week their names? I have always been told that Odudua inspired them. The names of the days of the week were first given to me by Oja in the following order: —

Eshu.

Orishala.

Odudua.

Jakuta.

This was at Ilobi, South-west of Egbaland. An old lady called Tinnawe living near Olokemeji gave me the days in the following order which she said had been inspired by Odudua: —

NIGERIAN STUDIES

A wo. I fa’s day.

Ogun.

Jakuta.

Obatala.

Oliyitan 1 gave the days and names as follows: —

Awo.

Ogun.

Jakuta.

Orishala.

Ellis gives the first day as a day of rest, but gives no name for it, and then the following.

Awo or Awu.

Ogun.

Shango, another name for Jakuta.

Obatala.

The differences apparent in the above list are (i) Eshu for Awo. Awo is the day set apart by the priests of I fa to renew the chalk marks made on the earth in front of the altars of the Orisha. As Eshu the devil shares all the sacrifices made to I fa, it is called Ifa’s day — Eshu’s day, or the day of Awo or mystery.

Shango worship has taken the place of the worship of Jakuta in some places, but Shango has been described to me as the servant or son of Jakuta who attends to the lightning. Again Shango is a son of “Yemoja” who is the daughter of Obatala.

Ogun is a son of Yemoja and has become a veryimportant power as the “ god ” of iron and patron of hunters. Here we have a minor power, as a part, usurping the place of Odudua as the earth goddess who was the first protector of hunters, much in the same way as Shango has taken Jakuta’s place.

Orishala and Obatala are one and the same.

An Ibadan named Moredaio gave me the days in the same order, so that I think we are justified in looking upon Oja’s order as wrong, but in this case Odudua has her right place, i.e. that of Ogun in the other lists.

Another reason for Ogun taking Odudua’s day may be that very often Obatala and Odudua are spoken of as if they are one. As Ellis put it, “ according to some priests Obatala and Odudua represent one androgynous divinity, and they say an image, which is sufficiently common, of a human being with one arm and one leg, and a tail terminating in a sphere, symbolises this.” This being so, the part of the earth Ogun may have come to take Odudua’s place.

The four days of the Yoruba week, then, are: Jakutas day which is looked upon as a Sunday. On this day they clean their houses, and rub their floors. Then they “split” Kola for the Orishas Shango, Yemoja, Oshun and Buruku.

Obatala s day , sometimes called Orishala. On this day they rub the walls and floor of the houses, and fill a pot of water on the altar; and when they eat they give part of their food to him. The following

8o

NIGERIAN STUDIES

CH. VI

“ white ” Orishas are worshipped on this day: — Larun. Ijaiyi, Iluofun, Ijemdori, Ogiyan, Alajugun, Owa Olufon. These white Orishas are appealed to by barren women, and they must not be offered palm oil or pepper.

Awo, or Ifas day. The people cannot consult Ifa except through a priest. In this way he is consulted about everything. On this day the Ifa priests renew the chalk marks on the ground in front of the altars.

Oshun and Odu are also consulted on this day. I have more to say about Ifa later on.

Odudud s or Oguris day. When they build, or clear a farm, or cut a tree, or hunt they split kola to Ogun. Ija and Oshowsi are also worshipped on this day. Odudua representing the creation, it is quite natural that they should consider her day as first in their week. The first, the fifth, the ninth and seventeenth, which they look upon as the beginning of a new month, are sacred to Odudua, and are all market days.

In Benin city there are four markets, one of which is called the “Queen Mother’s market,” and this, as we have already seen, is the position of Odudua.

Mentioned templesỌbàtálá Olódùmarè Ẹṣù Ṣàngó Ògún Ọrúnmìlà Ọṣun Ọṣọọsì

Obatala (Chapter VII)

Four Gates

The literal meaning of the words Obaba Arugbo, the other name by which Togun told me Orishala is called, is Father Greybeard.

Orishala, Bishop Crowther says, is another name for Obatala, whom he calls the Great Goddess (?) 1 of the Yoruba, the framer of the human body in the womb. But Togun called Orishala the man, the husband of Yemuhu.

The word is evidently formed of the words Orisha and nla.

Ellis says the word Orisha seems to be compounded of Ori (summit, top, head) and Sha (to select, choose), though some natives prefer to derive it from ri to see, and isha choice, and thus to make it mean one who sees the cult. Bishop Johnson says these deities are generally known among us as Orishas, and that they were spoken of as “ Awon ti o ri sha,” i.e. those who were successful in making their collection of the wisdom strewn about by the son of 1 Mine R. E. D.

NIGERIAN STUDIES

God. But it is more likely that the word is composed of Ore departed spirit, and Isha one who is chosen, selected or cut off, or, in other words, the beatified departed one. Among the Bini the word Orisha is pronounced Oyisha, a compound of the word Oye a title of honour expressing wisdom of the elders, and Isha, one who is chosen. La in this word Orishala has the meaning of to split.

Oba, in Obatala, the other name for Orishala, is also a title of honour, meaning Emperor, King. Ta means to produce as yams are produced from split seed yams. There is therefore little or no difference in the meaning of the words Orishala and Obatala, and, as Bishop Crowther says, Orishala and Obatala are one.

Orishala.

A story told me by an Egba called Salako shows that Obatala as a god is the person who sensitises matter:

“He is the son of Odudua, and was sent to do good on earth. When anyone is sick he

will tell them what leaf to get and they will get well. If any woman wanted a child, any leaf he cut and gave to her would have the desired effect. Then the people thanked Odudua for sending him, and said he was a good man. Then Odudua made the body of man and called Obatala to do the rest, and so Obatala made the fingers, the eyes, the mouth, the ears.

They who worship him used to call him Obatala to da oju, imu, eti, emi, ati apari shikokanlelogun — Oba who makes the eyes, the mouth, ears, nose, and the skull to be, twentyone. ”

When he finished the work, Olodumare breathed into the body and it became a living being. And so Odudua gave orders to all the world to worship Obatala, and those who now worship him are the descendants of those who benefited by his goodness when he came on earth. And now he is Odudua’s mason and sculptor.

All things that Obatala and his followers wear are white — white chalk, beads, cap and cloth.

Mr. Pellegrin gave me a story of Obatala as a person or King; he said: —

“ Obatala was the poorest of the four Kings; he bought an Albino as a slave. And when famine was raging he had nothing to eat, and he had a wife and child; so when they were starving he told the Albino to go and find his own chop.

NIGERIAN STUDIES

He went crying about the streets. He stood at the gate of the town, as some people with food might be coming. That day a European with his retinue came accompanied by a dog. The dog, who came first and met the Albino, was frightened and ran back to his master. The

master came to find out what had frightened the dog, and found the Albino at the gate. He asked him what was the matter, and he told him his story. Then the European asked him to take him to his master. And he asked Obatala why, if he had food for his wife and child, he had

none for his slave? The master told him of the famine, and said he had sent the Albino to find

his own ‘chop.’ Then the white man, seeing

their condition, mixed some milk for them and stayed that night. Next morning when going he gave them food and money, and left. Obatalaka called the slave to come and count it. But they did not dare to touch it, as it was too white, so they took a matchet to divide it, hence silver is called Fadaka. After this Obatala became the richest of all the Kings. The white cloth they wear to-day is owing to the coming of the saviour whiteman. The milk they mistook for palm wine, so they do not drink it.

They do not eat dog because he was the means of pointing out the Albino.”

In the olden days each great town was enclosed

within four great walls in the same way, as the Yorubas say, that their kingdom was; and leading out of the city were four great roads (God’s roads, as the Bavili called them), which passed through four great gates. The Balogun, or war chief, is the guardian of these on earth, and Orishala or Obatala is said to be the spiritual Balogun and protector of these gates.

The mother among the Bavili, and also the Yoruba, acts as a kind of Treasurer. She guards the wealth of the family. In the case of the town, the war chief, representing motherhood, guards the wealth of the town from pillage. It would seem as if Orishala (the female form of Obatala) referred to the mother in the oldest form of parental government, and that the name was altered when the family had increased and multiplied, and the mother’s brother had, under the name of Obatala, taken her place in the developed Council.

Mentioned templesỌbàtálá Ọbà Olódùmarè

Ifa and the Four Walls of the Yoruba Kingdom (Chapter VIII)

Oja through Togun told me that Eleda fought with I fa, in consequence of which he became a hearing speaking, seeing, thinking being, and that this sensitising of I fa was accomplished through Obatala. Bishop Crowther translates the word Eleda as Creator, Supreme Being. Ellis says it is another name for Olorun, the Yoruba sky god, in his capacity as the controller of rains.

The literal meaning of Ele is “ a piece patched on,” and da means to make, which seems to back up Togun’s statement that Eleda was a creative power told off to perform the perfecting of Ifa. Bishop Johnson tells us (see Appendix, At the Back of the Black Mans Mind ) that Ela is another name for Ifa, although the name is often used as if it represented a separate and distinct divine personality. From this it would appear that the word Eleda is composed of Ela and Eda, Ela meaning a piece severed from a larger piece, and Eda the making; thus Eleda would mean not God, but the act of making Ifa or Ela, the word

Ifa meaning a piece that is scraped off or created.

ch. viii IFA AND THE FOUR WALLS OF YORUBA 87

Ifa is the first-born or Oni 1 of Odudua and Obatala. He is known by the names Awnomila, the calabash in which the sixteen sacred palm nuts are kept, the name, also, that Oja gave for the sacred stones at Ife; Akpani ebora ynagiddi Odudua, or Odudua’s private secretary, Elerin ipin, or one who laughs; Afo yo manitaw; or a man who shakes his mouth but does not speak.

He is the Oracular deity about whom most is known, and who is most often consulted. A very good descripton is given of him by Colonel Ellis in his “ Yoruba-speaking People,” page 56, and by Bishop Johnson in his “Yoruba Heathenism,” and many of his wise sayings are to be found in Bishop C. Phillips’ book called “ Ifa.”

That Ifa’s Councils are god-like can be inferred from the following quotation of one of his sayings given by Adesola in the Nigerian Chronicle: —

E so’tito e se rere Eni so’tito ni imole i gbe

Be faithful be good

For the faithful and good are favourites of the gods.

Olotito ab’ona tororo Osika ab’ona gbarara K’eni ma seke K’eni ma dale

Odale bale ku Eni dale a bale lo

NIGERIAN STUDIES

Narrow yet straight is the path of righteousness.

But broad and many-sided are the ways of the wicked In purpose be thou true Not given to perfidy

For the work of the perfidious will o’er-take him The evil of the wicked shall slay him.

I fa as head of the priestly government of the Yoruba is the greatest Orisha or Nkici, the priestly King in Heaven, who, as the first Oni, is the priestly King (or Nkici’ci ) on earth. The following legends describe him as a great prophet on earth: —

Mr. Oyesile Keribo, in a Yoruba pamphlet published in August, 1906, on the History of the Gods, writes on Ifa (page 19) to this effect: —

“ Ifa was a native of Itase, near Ife country, and of poor parentage: in his youth he had great aversion to manual labour and therefore had to beg his bread. To better his condition he applied to a sage for advice, and the latter taught him divination, traditional stories with matters relating thereto and medicine as an easy means of obtaining a livelihood. He afterwards became very popular. The sixteen original Odus correspond with the sixteen original stories taught to Ifa, etc. His parents being poor were not known in the country, hence he was afterwards considered to be without parentage and deified after death.”

NIGERIAN STUDIES

the Ife people joined together to fight him. Then he got vexed and went into the earth, and when they asked him to come out he refused unless they agreed to worship him. The day he entered the earth he cut four palm leaves to mark the place, and they each immediately became a palm tree — each tree had four branches, or sixteen in all. He told them to pick sixteen nuts, which he said they must worship, and ask him whatever they wanted. From then, anyone who got these nuts became a Babalawo and became diviners, and these nuts teach him what leaves to pick to cure any sickness.

The Babalawos at Ife wear cloths of light blue.”

We have noted that one of Ifa’s names is Awnomila, and that he was the first Oni, that the present Oni of Ife called the pillar of stone, which Oja called Awnomila, the stick of Oranyan, the first Oni of Ife. Now the word Oraniyan 1 means “ a matter of dispute,” so that we may conclude that there is some dispute as to the first Oni’s name.

In a later chapter we shall discuss the names of the Odus, or 16+1 sacred nuts of I fa, which we only mention in this place because the number of the sons of the first Oni is said to be 16, and the number of his daughters i, or 16+ i offspring.

A hunter, said to be a priest of I fa, was introduced to me by Mr. J. T. Palmer, a native trader residing at Sapele, and the number and names of the offspring of the first Oni, Oranyan, given by him were confirmed

NIGERIAN STUDIES

(3) Awujale, from whom the Jebus are descended,

who, as an officer of this ancient Ogboni, may possibly have acted as executioner.

(4) Alaketu, from whom the Ketus are des cended, and who, in this Ogboni, appears to have acted as the arbitrator.

These four great ones, the officers as it were of the first Ogboni, are compared to the complete Yoruba Kingdom, which they say was enclosed by four walls. Their saying is Igun merin ni ile ini, a house is composed of four corners ( i.e . four walls), and is not otherwise complete.

We find in Abeokuta four kings, the Alake being at present the paramount chief, so that I conclude that each of the above four great ones, composing the Yoruba Kingdom, took three other sons of the first Oni with him. I regret to say that I cannot say who the three were in each case, so that I must leave this matter in the hands of some future historian, but the names of the Councillors or sons are as follows: —

Obalado, the founder of Ado, where I fa is said to have been born.

Oba Baruba, the founder of Barita, a town north of Ilorin.

Oni Moba, said to be another name for Shango.

These three possibly accompanied the Alafin.

Oluhu, said to be one of the four Kings of Egba land.

VIII IFA AND THE FOUR WALLS OF YORUBA 93

Owa. 1 to part Qf jfa’s ta]^

Ore J

Oba Shabi, possibly the founder of the county in Ketuland, where Orungan had his farm, and from where I fa is said to have procured his sixteen sacred nuts.

Ajeru, I fa’s messenger.

Orogun, to do with divination.

Ewi u Osoin, an Orisha said to speak in a small voice.

Ajank Moba, part of I fa’s talk.

Alara, the owner of thunder.

The Babalawo Oliyitan described all the above as parts of I fa, and as among these parts we find the ancestors of the Oyo, Egba, Ijebu and Iketu (the four walls of the Yoruba Kingdom), the connection between Ifa, the first Oni, and the walls is self-evident.

It is very difficult to separate Eshu from Ifa, as we have noticed in considering the days of the week, so I will now tell you something about this personage.

Mentioned templesỌrúnmìlà Olódùmarè Ọbàtálá Ọbà Ṣàngó Ẹṣù

Eshu (Chapter IX)

Elegba and Eshu are translated Devil. In the form of an earthenware pot with a hole in it, Eshu is represented in many villages. In some form or other under a small shed, Eshu is found at the entrance of a town or house. Whatever Orishas the people may have, Eshu appears to be the most widespread (see At the Back of the Black Man s Mind , pages 197, 190, 22i, 223, 234, 246, 265).

The first blood of a sacrifice is generally splashed over Eshu, so that he may not prevent the Orisha to whom the sacrifice is made from accepting the offering.

I think the explanation of the fact that the native looks upon the number of Orishas as 201 or 401 is that Eshu possibly has the same number of malevolent Orishas as I fa has of beneficent.

I have pointed out in At the Back of the Black Mans Mind , page 197, that Eshu represents the procreative trinity, as opposed to the spiritual Oyisa. (see also chapter on the Odus of I fa, where Odu is the name of the sign of the new moon called Oshu).

CH. IX

ESHU

Eshu is the Being of Darkness, while Ifa is the Being of Light and Revelation, personalities whose signs are Oshu the new moon and Orun the sun.

At Akure some people came dancing up to the resthouse where I was staying holding palm branches in their hands and beating drums in a violent way. I asked them what they were doing. They answered that they were sacrificing to the devil. Well, I assured them, “ I am not the devil.” They laughed and ran away, leaving me rather in doubt as to whether they thought me so or not. On inquiry I heard that in three days they were going to keep the feast of Ifa, and that preparatory to doing so they had to feast Eshu or the devil.

The three Phallic pillars at Iaiu were called Eshu (See At the Back of the Black Man s Mind, page 195). Ellis tells us “He is supposed always to carry a short knotted club, which, originally intended to be a rude representation of the Phallus, has partly through want of skill .... and partly through the growing belief in Elegba’s malevolence, come to be regarded as a weapon of offence. . . . The rude wooden representation of the Phallus is planted m the earth by the side of the hut, and is seen in almost every public place, while at certain festivals it is paraded in great pomp, and pointed towards the young girls, who dance round it.”

It was Elegba who told Ifa where to go for the sixteen palm nuts and who taught that personage how

to divine, and he stipulated that in return for this instruction he should always be allowed the first choice of all offerings. This possibly accounts for Eshu getting the first part of the blood of every sacrifice.

Eshu

As the story goes, Odudua has no other Orisha except I fa, and, whenever he 2 consulted anyone, he consulted Ifa. Ifa came one day to sacrifice to Odudua, and he was very satisfied with the offering. As it is a rule when a chief is pleased with the services of a person to give him something, so, on this occasion, Odudua gave Ifa Eshu. Thus Eshu was the slave of Odudua, and became I fa’s messenger. And when anyone wants to sacrifice to Ifa they say that it is best to square his messenger, as he is a wicked person.

Mentioned templesẸṣù Ọrúnmìlà

Aganju, Yemoja, their Offspring, and the Ogboni or Council (Chapter X)

The Bashorun is not only one of the four great chiefs, but also the chief officer of the Council of State or Ogboni. We may expect, therefore, to find that Ifa is not only one of the four great Orishas, but also the chief officer of the godly Council of Orishas. And so it is except that here Ifa is represented by Eshu.

Aganju and Yemoja are said to have been the offspring of Odudua and Obatala, and it is related that they had a son called Orungan. These then are the three officers presided over by the great procreative Orisha Eshu. And it is interesting to note that here again we have the formula of four, Eshu representing the past, and Aganju, Yemoja and Orungan, the Trinity of Father, Mother, Son.

Aganju is sometimes described as a younger brother of Jakuta, but very little is known about him, except that the word means “ Space ” or “ Expanse.”

NIGERIAN STUDIES

Yemoja a great River Spirit (the mother of the shining light) is the mother of Orungan, the heat of the sun at mid-day (passion?).

Orungan is known as Fi rin pon na yanju omo Yemoja — The son of Yemoja (who) cleans his eyes (with) a hot iron, or Erin re bi ija omo Oba Afeleja — His laugh is like fighting the son of the King who fights with the sword (or Ogun).

Yemoja, or Ye mo aja, is the most important perhaps of these three, as from her sprang the twelve or thirteen Orishas forming the deified Ogboni or Council.

Yeye means mother, and Aiye means earth; Mo is to shine, and Aja is short for Aja-Osu, a name by which the dog star is known, whereas Orun is the name of the sun or day star. Thus we get the picture of earth, mother (of the) shining star or sun.

Now Orungan (Ellis tells us) “fell in love with his mother, and, as she refused to listen to his guilty passion, he one day took advantage of his father’s absence and ravished her. Immediately after the act Yemoja sprang to her feet, and fled from the place wringing her hands and lamenting, and was pursued by Orungan who strove to console her by saying that no one should know of what had occurred, and declared that he could not live without her. He held out to her the alluring prospect of living with two husbands, one acknowledged, and the other in secret, but she rejected all his proposals with loathing, and continued to run away. Orungan, however, rapidly gained upon 1 See Ellis, Yoruba-speaking People , p. 54.

X AGANJU, YEMOJA, THEIR OFFSPRING 99

her, and was just stretching out his hand to seize her when she fell backward to the ground. Then her body immediately began to swell in a fearful manner, two streams of water gushed from her breasts, and her abdomen burst open. The streams from Yemoja’s breasts joined and formed a lagoon; and from her gaping body came the following offspring.”

Before we continue our study of Yemoja’s offspring I should like to interpret this story of creation as far as we have gone in my own words.

I do not think it follows that because there is such a sameness about these stories of creation that they must necessarily be different variants of any acknowledged version. “Great minds think alike,” the saying goes, and in this way great men in many parts of the world still come to much the same conclusions. The intelligent Yoruba is, however, constantly discovering resemblances in his laws, customs and folklore to that of the Old Testament; it may therefore be well, without changing the natural order of the Orishas, to point out where their ideas, though differently expressed, evidently refer to the same phenomena.

Odudua has been shown to express the ideas of self-existence, heaven and earth, darkness, and so as a heading may easily be made to stand for “ In the beginning God made heaven and earth .... and darkness was upon the face of the deep.”

Jakuta has been connected with thunder, and so electricity. “ And the Spirit of God moved

h 2

NIGERIAN STUDIES

Obatala upon the face of the waters ” (or white 1 vapours), just as Fatherhood and Motherhood meet in marriage. Obatala, though a male personage, it must be remembered, stands for maternity.

I fa Ideas of speech and revelation and light are

connected with I fa — “ And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.”

Eshu 2 The personality connected with darkness: “ And God divided the Light from the Darkness.”

Aganju Expanse, space. Ferrar Fenton in his translation of Genesis instead of the word “Firmament” uses the word “Expanse” — “ And God said, Let there be an ‘ expanse ’ between the waters and the waters and let it be for a division between the waters and the waters.”

Yemoja is a great water spirit as well as mother earth: “ Let the waters below the heavens be collected in one place, and let dry land appear.”

Orungan the heated rays from the sun which produce — “ Let the earth produce.”

The Yoruba has only four days in his week, and we find that each day is dedicated to an Orisha.

In the first place we have God separating from himself two great persons to help him in Creation.

NIGERIAN STUDIES

From this it is seen that Ellis gives Yemoja as the mother of the sun and moon. I have made many inquiries about this, and none of my informants have included them in their lists of the offspring of this Orisha. And from what I have written above I think it is clear that the sun and the new moon, as personalities, are I fa and Eshu. Neither have I ever been able to get anyone to agree with the order given by Ellis. The names, however, of the other Orishas agree with those I have collected.

The names and order, so far as I have been able to discover, are: —

( Olokun, the owner of the sea which murmurs.

Alla.

Oshun.

I fa.

Iweshu.

I 2

Elegba.

Shango.

Agbarigbo.

Yemoja.

Olokun.

Oshun.

Obatala.

C/3

nJ

<U

Idala.

Shango.

Aiyarigbi.

Orisha

Oko.

Oile and

Oke.

Oloba.

Ibegun.

Orishaula.

Mentioned templesAganjú Ọrúnmìlà Ẹṣù Ọbàtálá Ṣàngó Ọbà Ògún Ọṣun

Olokun, Olosa, and the Fisherman (Chapter XI)

As we approach the coast of Africa from Europe the first Africans we meet are fishermen. It is true that we seldom get near enough to the tiny fishing canoes to see much of the fisherman, but then he is far from us and sometimes out of sight of land. The sea in some places is dotted quite thickly with the canoes of these venturesome natives, whose courage and manliness we must all admire. Confined as we all are on board even the most comfortable of steamships nearing the end of our trip we almost envy the fisherman his freedom and loneliness. He has left the coast early in the morning with the land breeze and when the calm sea is rippled by the coming sea breeze he hoists his little sail and returns to his home.

As we pass these crowds of specks upon the ocean we feel that this sort of thing has been going on for centuries and that the earliest foreigner to approach these shores must have been equally touched .as ourselves on our first contact with these hardy inhabitants of the Black Continent.

ch. xi OLOKUN OLOSA AND FISHERMAN

Barbot evidently took a great interest in fishing and fish as connected with the natives of the Gold Coast, and in his Description of the Coast of South Guinea writes:

“ At my first voyage, whilst we lay before Conimendo, some fishermen, near our ship, took a fish about seven feet long. . . . The Blacks call itFetisso, but for what reason I cannot determine unless it be to express that it is too rare and sweet for mortals to eat and only fit for a deity. ... As I remember the Blacks would not sell it but only allowed me the liberty of drawing its figure. ... I am apt to believe the Blacks look upon this fish as a sort of Deity; though I did not hear they paid it any religious worship. If they do, there is nothing new in paying adoration to a fish; for the Philistines in the first ages of the world adored Dagon, which was an idol half man half fish: the word Dagon in their language signifying a fish: and that those Gentiles looked upon as the great god, Judges xvi., 23. ‘ Dagon our God hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand.’ Dagon represented Neptune the God of the Sea and by him perhaps was meant Noah. The Syrians according to Cicero and Xenophon, adored some large tame fish, kept in the river Chalus, and would not suffer any person to go about to disturb them. The SyroPhoenicians according to Clemens Alexandrinus, adored those fishes with as much zeal, as the Elians worshipped Jupiter: and Diodorus Siculus affirms the Syrians did not eat fish but adored them as gods. Plutarch mentions the Oxindrites and Cynophites, Egyptian

io

NIGERIAN STUDIES

nations which having been long at war about killing a fish they esteemed sacred, were so weakened, that the Romans subdued and made them slaves.”

One feels inclined, after reading this, to exclaim “ Dear old Barbot; ” for we can so fully enter into the spirit which seems to have permeated the minds of the great African traders of olden days, and which, in spite of the rush of this day of steamships and railways, still influences so many of us.

-- The Kings of Benin had to be supported under each arm by two chiefs whenever they attempted to walk because they claimed to be descended from such a deity as mentioned by Barbot (see plate XVII. Antiquities from Benin in the British Museum), and by way of proof they say that one of their Kings “ Ehenbuda ” by name was born with legs with no bones in them. Perhaps in reference to this myth the late Mary Kingsley wrote: “The manners and customs of many West African fishes are quaint. I have never yet seen that fish the natives often tell me about that is as big as a man only thicker, and which walks about on its fins at night in the forest, so I cannot vouch for it.”

When in due course we land on the beach in Africa we find fishing is of a more sociable nature, for here we see numbers of men and boys launching their great nets in canoes and casting them into the sea four or five hundred yards away on the far side of the surf. Having left the end of a grass rope, attached to one end of the net, in the hand of a small boy, on the beach, the fisherman in the canoe after discharging the

XI

OLOKUN OLOSA AND FISHERMAN

net brings in the rope tied to the other end with all possible speed. As the canoe rushes merrily through the surf and almost before it grates upon the sandy beach willing hands seize the rope, and, together with those who have now gone to the help of the small boy, begin to haul the net and its contents to the land.

A fishing beach is not a pleasant place to walk about on, unless the sea breeze is strong enough to blow the stench of half cured fish away from you. Barbot’s words of nearly 150 years ago may be said to still stand good in many places where he writes (page 42, “ Description of the Coast of Nigritia ”): “ It is very unaccountable that these people, having such plenty of several sorts of large fish, will not dress it while fresh and sweet, but let it lie buried along the shore; especially the pilchards, as I suppose to give it a better relish or else that it may keep longer. In short, whether this be any particular fancy of theirs or that the continual violent heat immediately corrupts it, this is certain, that they eat none but what stinks, and account it the greater dainty. To instance somewhat more particularly, as to pilchards, they only let them lie some days buried in the wet briny sand along the shore, and perhaps it may be on account of its saltness; but afterwards dig up and expose them to the sun for some time to dry; and then lay them up in their huts which are all the day like stoves; and thus they daily eat and sell them to the inland blacks who come down to buy them, to supply the country markets. I have seen whole cabins or cottages full of these dry pilchards

I 10

NIGERIAN STUDIES

at Rusisco, and the sand down before it next the sea so stored that there was an intolerable stench about the place.”

The great sea Orisha of the Yoruba people is called “ Olokun.” The Benin river is called after him and the Bini say that he married when poor the spirit of the river Oha which runs into the Olokun near its mouth.

His second and favourite wife, however, was the Sapoba river called by the natives Igbagon (see At the Back of the Black Mans Mind).

The Lagos people who were governed by chiefs crowned by the Oba of Benin, say that Olokun married Olokunsu or Elusu who lives in the harbour at Lagos. She is white in colour and human in shape, but is covered with fish scales from below the breasts to the hips. The fish in the waters of the bar are sacred to her, and should anyone catch them she takes vengeance by upsetting canoes and drowning the occupants. (See Ellis, The Yoruba-speaking People).

When the sea is rough and the people cannot fish they say Olokun is angry. In the olden days the people would then sacrifice a human being to appease his wrath and so be able to fish, but as a rule his wrath seems to have been calmed by offerings of animals and foodstuff.

In Bishop Phillips’ If a Odu No. 3 Ejiogbe, the Oracle is made to say: “ All the honours of the waters upon earth cannot be as great as the honour of the sea. All the rivers that have their source above are not so beautiful as the Lagoon.”

XI

OLOKUN OLOSA AND FISHERMAN

r 1 1

The sea Olokun is said to be in the first place the Lagoon Olosa in the second as Orisha.

Many kinds of nets and traps are used by the fishermen in the Lagoons in Africa and it is a pretty sight on a bright day to watch the busy fishermen at work, some in canoes patiently fishing with hooks, some throwing a round shaped net, an importation from Accra, some busy arranging their traps, and others on the beach dragging the shallows for small fish and prawns.

Olosa the Orisha of the Lagoons looms large in the mind of the pagan fisherman and when floods prevent his operations he concludes that she is annoyed and offers some sacrifice at one or other of the many altars erected in her honour along the banks of the Lagoon. Human sacrifices, it is said, used to be offered to her, but she is now satisfied with animals and vegetable products.

Crocodiles are her messengers and Ellis tells us “ Food is regularly supplied to these reptiles every fifth 1 day, or festival, and many of them become sufficiently tame to come for the offering as soon as they see or hear the worshippers gathering on the bank.”

But leaving the Lagoons and entering the mangrove banked rivers everyone will have noticed the shy fisherman in his tiny canoe perhaps spearing fish and have passed his wife carrying her baby on her back just as she wildly steers her canoe out of your sight up some tiny creek.

These fishermen live in small bamboo huts some 1 The 5th day is the first day of a new week and is Odudua’s day.

times built on piles in a surrounding swamp and sometimes on the sandy bank of a river in the midst of a sea of grass. A solitary lonely life it must be.

And now we come to where the river passes through country more or less cultivated and governed by some responsible chief, and we find that certain fishermen have fishing rights along specified reaches of the river with a number of fishermen under them.

In this district (Olokemeji) this head fisherman is called “ Baba Olodu,” Father or owner of the river. All fishermen under him are supposed to give him part of their catch, and he in turn is supposed to give the Alake of Abeokuta, in whose Kingdom we live, a certain quantity or its equivalent every year. There are two such Baba Olodu near to Olokemeji, Akitunde and Idowu by name, and it is from them that I have obtained the following notes.

Anyone may fish, but if a stranger fishes he is supposed to give the Baba of the district part of his catch. They have four kinds of traps: —

1. The Kolu, a net-like trap made of the tie-tie or native rope or string known as Agba. When the fish enter this trap the float above is pressed down.

2. Ogun called Owa, a trap made up of the leaves of the palm tree which is used in both large and small streams and is left in them all night and examined in the morning.

3. Koko, a trap made of Agba and placed in large and deep rivers. A string is tied to the trap and fastened to a shrub on the river bank, and when the shrub shakes they know a fish is in the trap.

XX

OLOKUN OLOSA AND FISHERMAN

4. Agbagba, a trap made of Egburo or Awkaw tie-tie. This is for shallow rivers and is placed between rocks with its mouth just above the level of the water, and fish coming over the fall drop into it.

Before the fisherman starts to fish he gets a pod of pepper, atare, and places it in a hole on the bank of the river, he then puts seven grains of corn on the top of this. This is to secure good luck. If his catch has been a success the fisherman makes a thank-offering to Yemaja or Yemoja, the mother of Olokun and Olosa. He fills a pot with cooked maize and on the top of it places seven kola nuts. He then pours palm wine, or corn beer, or gin over the whole and puts it into the river. Yemaja is said to carry this offering to her offspring.

In going to fish if he stumbles and strikes his right foot no matter, but striking his left foot means bad luck. This sign is called Akilo.

When the bird Kowe crys or sings Krrr it is a good sign, but if it is silent it is looked upon as a bad sign.

Another man will know his luck by the quivering of his eyelid. The quivering of the left eye-lid is a sign of a death in his family.

The time for fishing in the interior is the dry season and best just when the rains cease and the rivers begin to fall.

Although fishermen have in this district their head man or Baba Olodu, they have no guild or secret society like the hunters. (See next chapter.)

When a fish black in colour, with two horns in its

NIGERIAN STUDIES

head, called Aro (the owner of the river) is caught, it is quickly returned to the river. (This is, perhaps, the copper fish ( Ostracion quadricornis). Its young, however, may be killed. Then the Abori, fish with one horn, are sacred to Yemoja.

They do not like catching the Ojiji [Malopterurtis electricus ), as they say, when large, they can kill a person; and the Adede, called “ Owoternu ” by the Lagos people, does not please them, as they say that when full he turns the waters black.

This life of the fisherman is perhaps the most simple and wanting, from its solitariness, perhaps, in organisation. We are, perhaps, nearer to what we may imagine primitive life to have been in this study of the life of an African fisherman than in any other. But primitive as it may be, the fisherman thanks his god, Yemoja, for his good luck, and knows that sin, such as theft or adultery, is hurtful to his luck.

A Flood Story .

(According to Ellis, page 64.) Sometime after settling at Ado, I fa became tired of living in the world, and accordingly went to dwell in the firmament with Obatala. After his departure, mankind, deprived of his assistance, was unable properly to interpret the desire of the Gods, most of whom became annoyed in consequence. Olokun was most angry, and in a fit of rage he destroyed nearly all the inhabitants of the world in a great flood, only a few being saved by Obatala, who drew them up into the sky by means of

XI OLOKUN OLOSA AND FISHERMAN 1 15

a long iron chain. After this ebullition of anger, Olokun retired once more to his own domains, but the world was nothing but mud, and quite unfit to live in, till I fa came down from the sky, and, in connection with Odudua, once more made it habitable.

Thus are Olokun and Olosa the first offspring of Yemoja and Orungan connected with the category “ water ” and the occupation of the fisherman.

Mentioned templesỌbà Ògún Ọbàtálá

Ogun, Oshowsi, and the Hunter (Chapter XII)

One catches glimpses of the rule by father form of Government in Africa in a fisherman’s or hunter’s camp, often a long distance from any village, they live solitary camp-like lives. The fisherman’s life we have described; the hunter smokes and dries the product of the chase and exchanges this for other necessaries of life in the nearest market. He is more or less governed by his senses and his desires, but he believes thoroughly in his Orisha “Ogun.” He accumulates a certain amount of goods and as he desires to marry he invests his capital in obtaining a wife. They have children and the result is a hunters’ village. Other hunters ask his permission to share his hunting-grounds and on certain conditions he allows them to do so. These hunters in all probability marry the head hunter’s daughters.

The men hunt and the women do the marketing and cook for their husbands. Men living in the wilds of Africa facing death in numerous ways become what some people call superstitious and others religious.

This may account for the fact that most of the old

ch. xii OGUN, OSHOWSI, AND THE HUNTER 117

Coasters, though they were not credited with leading a religious life but rather a kind of unlicensed patriarchal one, were generally found to be believers in their Bible and could always produce one when needed.

Now the hunters in Africa are nearly all thorough believers in their Orishas, and before going out on their expeditions in Yorubaland they offer kola nuts to the Orishas Eshu, Ogun and Oshowsi. Their great time for hunting is when the grass has been burnt and it is then that the greater sacrifices are offered. In the district of Olokemeji no human sacrifices were offered to Ogun, so Agbola’s son told me, but, he added, in other districts human beings used to be killed. He said that when a hunter goes out he sacrifices to the three above-named Orishas; they kill a cock giving Eshu a dash of its blood, and then leave it at the foot of Ogun’s altar. After a while they come back and take the bloodless body of the cock away and eat it, they also give Ogun kola. To Oshowsi they give roasted beans, and just before leaving on a small hunt a hunter throws pieces of a kola nut into the air and as the pieces fall upon the earth, so he knows he will have good or bad luck.

A second good point about the hunter is respect for the head hunter and obedience to his commands. Having rubbed his body all over with soap mixed with some powder, and placed chalk marks on his head so that animals shall not smell him, he presents himself before the head hunter and tells him where he is going to hunt, so that there may be no overlapping. Should

one hunter meet another on his way he salutes him and walks on in silence, and should he omit to tell the head hunter where he is going to hunt, or then shoot somewhere else than in the appointed place, the head hunter will take his gun and money from him and cast him out of the camp.

If one hunter tries to poison another he will meet with no luck.

If he commits adultery he will have no luck, and if while away hunting his wife commits adultery he will see a male and female animal copulating. If he loves his wife he dare not shoot either of these creatures, since, if he killed them, his wife would die. So he goes back at once to his town and taking his wife before Ogun’s altar accuses her of the sin. If she admits her guilt, the adulterer is fined one dog to be sacrificed to Ogun, one goat for I fa, and three bags of cowries together with kola for the husband. But if she denies it they ask her to take some of the kola from Ogun’s altar, and if she eats the kola (being guilty) Ogun in two or three days (unless she confesses) will kill her. Sometimes a ram will run after her and butt her to death.

And when the hunter cannot kill anything and he hears the nightjar crying in the day he knows something has happened in his town and he returns to Ogun knowing that some relation is dead or very ill. Or when the bird that cries “ Ko! we! ” and then “ tche! tche! ” cries “ Ko! we! ” three times without adding “ tche! tche! ” he knows someone is dead.

But supposing a man has had a woman illicitly, he

MiM

>v

v <<WA'

Agbolo’s Sons.

Great Native Hunters.

[ Face p. i iq.

XII OGUN, OSHOWSI, AND THE HUNTER 119

takes a big snail, some shea butter and the leaves of the Odudun, Tete and Renren, and pounding all together (after first sacrificing to Ogun), smears his whole body with the mixture and goes his way rejoicing knowing that all is well.

Should a hunter happen to kill an animal that is pregnant he makes an offering of one dog, palm oil, and kola to Ogun.

If a hunter tells a lie he will kill nothing, and if two hunters have gone before Ogun and sworn to keep a thing secret, and one then goes and reveals it, some animal will fight with him and may kill him.

And when a hunter knows that he has not committed any of these crimes, and still has bad luck, then he knows that Ogun wants a present.

I have often had to spend the night in one or other of these primitive fishermen’s and hunters’ villages, and in the morning when I have asked to see the “ Father ” to say good-bye to him I have been told that I must wait if I wish to see him as he has gone to the grove sacred to Ogun, to pray for his people.

And so the hunter believes in his Orisha and obeys his father’s will and knows that he will be punished for any offences against the divine and human father’s will.

Agbola’s son told me that there are strong beasts in the bush such as leopards, elephants, lions, chimpanzees, unicorns (?), bush cows, etc., and that when a hunter shoots at one of these he immediately sprinkles a medicine called Kaji in front of him in the

NIGERIAN STUDIES

direction of the animal so that it will not get up and charge him.

Hunters, he said, do not believe that men can turn themselves into leopards, but they do believe that certain people called Ologun have the power to influence these beasts and so cause them to kill people. Hunters protect themselves against this risk by buying and wearing a belt with medicine in it called Ishora. Their ancestors gave them the prescription according to which these belts are made.

The leopard in this country is known by the names Ekun, the fearless one, Ogida the one ready to scratch, and Jakumu the striker. An Ibadan hunter told me that the leopard represents the land, and that the Alafin alone could call himself “the Leopard,” because he inherited all the land from the first Oni of Ife.

The Alafin’s warriors, called Kakamfu, who, by the way, number 201 1 (the original number of Yoruba Orishas, or rather the number said by the priests of I fa to have been in the right hand division), used to wear an apron of the leopard’s skin.

When the leopard was killed its face was covered with a cloth (a custom they have in common with the Bavili) because, as the hunter said, it is a king. The king is not supposed to look anyone in the face for fear of frightening him.

The Leopard king, or Alafin, is known by his crown of blue beads, six marks on each cheek, Orania’s sword (Ida orania), and a calabash wrapped in cloth called (Ibayiwa), a stick covered with beads

I The Yoruba heathenism, At the Back of the Black Man's Mind ,

XII OGUN, OSHOWSI, AND THE HUNTER 121

called Okpaleki, and he does not wear a necklace, whereas his chiefs do.

Elephant- hunting regulations in the Benin Kingdom.

The hunter wants to kill an elephant.

1. He goes to the King and asks permission.

2. The King gives him a boy.

3. The boy stops in the village, the hunter goes into the bush.

4. When he kills the elephant he comes and tells the King’s boy what he has done.

5. The hunter then returns to cut up the elephant.

6. The leg nearest the ground when the elephant falls is for the King.

7. The fore leg belongs to the village landowner.

8. The neck belongs to the hunter’s wife.

9. The back round about the kidneys is for the King’s mother, Iyoba.

10. The upper fore leg to the hunter’s boy.

NIGERIAN STUDIES

south an iron chain was tightly stretched and pegged down. Near the middle of this line was a stone newly covered with the blood of a dog that had been sacrificed. I asked what it meant and was told by the Asehin that it was Ogun medicine.

In the palace yard at Akure and also in one of the streets there are mounds of mud about three feet high on the top of which lie large flat slabs of wood and these they call Isi Ogun. They are sacrificial tables where dogs are, and at times human beings were sacrificed.

Ibegun , which is the name of the dog sacrificed, is also worshipped at Akure. It is strange how the companions of the Orishas are sometimes talked of as wives, sometimes as brothers. The following story given to me by Asani an Egba describes Ogun and Oshowsi as brothers.

Oshowsi.

Oshowsi and Ogun are two brothers, and when they were young they were very wicked, and were driven away from their home by Jakuta because they refused to acknowledge his authority. They became great hunters. The natives say that Oshowsi is Ogun’s wife, but this is not so, they were both the sons of one father. Oshowsi used to go ahead and Ogun followed. Oshowsi’s real name is Olu fu si, Ogun’s other name was Ija, he that beats and fights the game that Oshowsi points out to him. Oshu

xir OGUN, OSHOWSI, AND THE HUNTER 125

osi 1 was a left-handed man. In this case Ogun and Oshowsi are connected with the category Earth and the occupation of hunting.

Ogun and the Blacksmith.

From the fact that the blacksmith has the same Orishas as the hunter it may perhaps be presumed that the necessities of the calling of the hunter have, at a much later period, brought his occupation into existence.

He is an industrious and interesting person, and does not like you to ignore him as you pass his smithy. Tang, tang, tang, strikes his hammer on his anvil as you approach, as if to say, “ Here I am, a cheery good day to you! ” and so you are invited to go up to him and return his salute.

The mysteries of heat and cold, and light and darkness have been revealed to him. He cannot, it is true, explain them in words to you, for to him each process is a mystery, and his language is still a poor one from the European’s standpoint.

But he has observed, and the knowledge is his. See how the metal expands as it gets red hot and contracts as it gets cold, and how, when he thrusts the heated metal into water, evaporation and condensation take place. He has seen all this a hundred times. Again, heat dissolves and melts, and cold consolidates and solidifies. He notes this daily. Divided or broken bits of iron by heat and cold be

NIGERIAN STUDIES

come fused and conjoined and made hard. He watches the ebullition of the molten mass which, as it cools, subsides and passes from motion to rest. Activity, inertness, energy, pressure, sensation, numbness, light and darkness, are wonders that impress themselves upon his receptive mind as he day by day manufactures his hoes, knives, spear heads, and what not. It will not surprise us at a later period if we find in the philosophy of the Blackman an Orisha for each of these phases in a natural process.

After reading Barbot’s account of the blacksmiths of his day in a description of the Coast of North Guinea it is pleasant to turn to Mr. C. V. Bellamy’s sympathetic account of “A West African Smelting House.” I cannot help quoting largely from this very interesting paper:

“ Not far from Oyo, not more than three days’ journey from the coast, there is a small village whose inhabitants have been engaged in the extraction of iron for generations past, and where the methods are the same probably as those practised by the

earliest workers in this metal They are

simple and unsophisticated, but they practise an art which is unknown to the savage and which places them high above him in the social scale, while it entitles them to be considered to have reached a higher degree of civilisation than many of the tribes met with in European countries where the people have been looked upon as domesticated.

“ The shale is excavated with the aid of a rude pick in pieces weighing from three to five pounds, and is carried to the works for treatment.

XII OGUN, OSHOWSI, AND THE HUNTER 127

“ They first roast it over a fire of green timber; this is done during the night; the next morning it is pounded in a mortar. The poundings are screened until there is nothing remaining in the mortar, the sieve consisting of a native made basket rather openly woven, and they are then borne away to the river side for the purpose of washing or panning .... The washed ore is conveyed to the smelting house and poured into the kiln as occasion may require, in a damp state.”

For a description of the smelting house, the arrangement of the shed, and the cupola, etc., I must refer you to Mr. Bellamy’s paper.

“ Probably the most remarkable feature in the whole of the process is the use of selected clinker for a flux. This may throw light upon what is now frequently a matter of doubt, namely, the medium employed by the ancients in their smelting operations.

“ The pig iron, after it has cooled down sufficiently, is broken up into convenient lumps for the purpose of sale or barter.” This pig iron is sold to the blacksmiths whose work Mr. Bellamy describes.

“ The bellows consisted of a pair of circular wooden bowls about a foot in diameter, connected by an air passage constructed of the same, from which two wooden pipes to do duty for the tue-iron lead to the earth; over the top of each bowl is loosely secured an undressed goatskin, to which is fastened in the centre of the bowl a long bamboo rod, one of which is held in each hand.

NIGERIAN STUDIES

“ The skin is very slack, and by raising and lowering the rod alternately a more or less continuous current of air is supplied to the hearth. There is no inlet valve to these bellows, and the air supplied enters by the wooden tue-pipes, a space being left between the hearth stone and the nozzles for the purpose; the bellows and hearth rest upon the ground. . . .

“For heavier work a large smooth, undressed and water-worn stone does duty for an anvil, but for smaller work another anvil is provided like a silversmith’s, made of metal produced locally. The hammers look at first sight like so many rude lumps of iron roughly handled with the same, but a closer inspection shows them to be systematically shaped and diamond-wise in section so as to expose a flat or an edged surface by a single turn of the wrist; it is an ingenious pattern. ... With such simple means as these the smith puddles the iron which has been smelted after the manner already explained.

“ These smiths prefer their native iron to the bars imported.”

Mr. Bellamy continues, “ Not the least important feature in this industry is the marked regularity which characterised each operation and the enthusiasm which seemed to inspire the workers. Strangely at variance with the usual custom of the Ethiopian, there was no noise, no bustle; no confusion; no sound but the hum of preoccupation was to be heard throughout the whole village; at the right moment the kiln was prepared, and lighted, sealed charged and drawn; at the right moment when the fire was drawn, little boys stood ready with their calabash trays to take away the live

XII OGUN, OSHOWSI, AND THE HUNTER 129

charcoal, and at the right moment they brought the necessary green creepers with which to draw the pig from the cupola, or water to quench the fire. All this indicated systematic control and the strong hand of authority, and method only acquired by long practice and passed on from one generation to the next.”

Mentioned templesÒgún Ọṣọọsì Ẹṣù Ṣàngó

Odus of Ifa (Chapter XV)

The Ifa Priests and Odus

Just as it is necessary to know something of the seasons before understanding the place the farm Orishas take in the philosophy of the Yoruba, so before touching on marriage we must pause and consider the priests of Ifa, and their system of divination.

The sixteen snails of Yemuhu (or Odudua), Oja told me, became the head of Eleda, and apparently in the worship of Ifa sixteen (plus one) palm kernels, or Odus, take their place. The Yoruba word for a snail is Igbin, and the verb Gbin is to breathe with difficulty, so that Igbin means literally that which breathes with difficulty. Igba, you will remember, is the calabash cut in two representing heaven and earth, within which Obatala and Odudua were enclosed. I quote later on a native legend from Historical Notes of the Yoruba People by Mr. George, where the breaking of Igba causes famine. Igba also means the number 200, and is said to be the calabash in which the 201 Odus of Ifa are kept.

L 2

NIGERIAN STUDIES

Awnomila is the Bini for Orunmila, another name for I fa, and amongst those people it is the name of a small basin wrapped in cloth containing the Iviawnomila, or sixteen sacred palm nuts of I fa.

Bishop Johnson says: “He (Ifa) is represented chiefly by sixteen palm nuts, each having from four to ten, or more, eyelets on them. Behind each one of these representative nuts are sixteen subordinate divinities. Each one of the whole lot is termed an Odu, which means a chief, a head. This makes the number of Odus altogether 256. Besides these there are sixteen other Odus connected with each of the 256, and this makes the whole number of Odus 4,096. Some increase this large number still by a further addition of sixteen to each of the last number of Odus, but the sixteen principal ones are those more frequently in requisition.

“ There is a series of traditional stories, each of which is called a road and is connected with a particular Odu. Each Odu is supposed to have 1,680 of these stories connected with it.”

Bishop Phillips has collected about 105 of these and adven them to us in his little Yoruba book called Ifa.

Ellis (pages 59-60 the Yortib a- speaking Peoples) says: “ For the consultation of Ifa a whitened board is employed, exactly similar to those used by children in Moslem Schools in lieu of slates, about two feet long and eight or nine inches broad, on which are marked sixteen figures. These figures are called ‘ mothers.’ The sixteen palm nuts are held loosely

XV

ODUS OF IFA

in the right hand, and thrown through the half closed fingers into the left hand. If one nut remains in the right hand, two marks are made, thus — 11, and if two remain one mark — 1. This process is repeated eight times, and the marks are made in succession in two columns of four each. In this way are formed the sixteen mothers, one of which is declared by the Babalawo to represent the enquirer; 1 and from the order in which the others are produced he deduces certain results.”

Ellis then gives the sixteen “ mothers.”

I obtained the order of the Odus from Oliyitan, an I fa priest, and to make sure that the order was correct so far as he was concerned, I asked him to give me the order again about three months afterwards. As it was exactly the same I have adopted this as correct.

It may therefore be of interest to give Bishop Johnson’s, Bishop Phillips’, Colonel Ellis’ and my list side by side to see how far they agree.

Ellis'.

Johtison's.

Phillips'.

The Writer’s.

Ogbe

Yekuru

Oyekun

Oyeku

Iwori

Di

Edi

Odi

Loshu

Urosi

Iroshu

Iroshun

Owaran

Owourin

Bara

Obara

Okaran

Okauran

Okouron

Kuda

Ogunda

Oguda

NIGERIAN STUDIES

Ellis'.

Johnson's.

Sa

Osa

Ka

Eka

Durapin

Oturupon

Ture

Eture

Leti

Erete

Shi

Ose

Fu

Ofu

Phillip's.

The Writer's.

Osa

Ika

Oturupon

Otura

Irete

Oshe

Ofu

Ellis mentions also the following Akala, Abila, Orun, Ode, Burn. Bishop Phillips, in addition to the above, gives — Ate, Tutu, Oka, Adoka, Egutan Oriko, Egu, Sete, Dawo, Osutele, and Itegu.

On page 215 of At the Back of the Black Mans Mind I give as one of the chalk marks renewed on the first day of the week in front of the sacred groves, the following:

I will now give you the reading of this figure.

Ifa is known by the name Owa, the being whose advent filled men with joy. He is also Orunmila, or Heaven and the wise Reconciler. In this figure the sun is called Baba ye Omo, another name for Ifa, meaning- “ Father.”

This is Ifa in his character as the heavenly revealer, the Sun, but he is also the propagator, and this is where secrecy and darkness come in, so there is a line drawn dividing the light side of his character from that which is dark and secret. As I have pointed out,

XV

ODUS OF IFA

he is here represented by Eshu, which is the next figure, i.e. that of the new moon; and this is called Odu or Edu, that which is black, or, as they say, the “ one that troubles have made black.” I have already pointed out that Odu = Oshu, the moon; Edu thus is another form of Eshu, the devil, or I fa, as procreator. Odu or Eshu is in the place of the Bashorun, as President of the Council, and as he is helped by three officers so Odu is helped by the three symbols representing the three stars. Their names are given as —

Ogbe Meji, the one that succours.

Oyeku ,, the one that heralds.

Iwori ,, the one that sets.

Representing the treasurer, the messenger, and the arbitrator.

As we have noted, there is always a questioner who asks the Diviners something. In this case it is the 17th Odu, or the one that stands aside, and its name is Odin or Edi. The verb Di = Da to make or create. Thus we can conclude that the questioner asks, “What about Creation?” Taking the order as given to me by the Babalawo the answer is:

Iroshun = Owourin = Obara =

Okoron =

filtration 1

that which drizzles J

that which bears the oil seed Egusi

the dry bed of a river J

l water |- earth

Oguda =

that which pounds and creates

NIGERIAN STUDIES

Otura

Irete

Oshe

Ofu

translated to me as ease, happiness, hope, when there is no anxiety about food, a time of V. fruitfulness

= that which shall be = emission

fin the making of man, the time when the woman shows signs of pregnancy and she is happy and hopeful

to appear in the 'i

wrong month I pain, sufferwithout being ing, travail expected J

Taking these Odus in the order thus given to me, and remembering the order of the seasons, there can be no doubt that they tell us of the order of propagation; neither can one doubt from the literal translations given that the categories and their order which I discovered to be at the back of the Black man’s mind

in the Congo are also at the back of the mind of the Yoruba Babalawo. But this will be more plainly seen when I have finished describing the parts that the offspring of Yemoja fill in the “ Ogboni ” of the Orishas.

According to Bishop Johnson in his “ Yoruba Heathenism,” there are three grades of Babalawo (see page 251 At the Back of the Black Mans Mind), but I fa’s Ogboni is composed of the following priests:

Babalawo, Olowo, Odofin, Asawo.

AjigTona and assistant ) , n- , -c

& / who oner human sacrifice.

Awaro ,, ,, j

Aro

Asarepawo,, ,,

Apetebi or Ayawo and assistant.

N.B. Bishop Johnson, in Yoruba Heathenism , tells us the priestess called Apetebi, Esu or Ayawo, who may in reality be the wife of a priest or of anyone for whom a sacrifice is to be offered, is regarded as the wife of Orunmila or Ifa.

ODUS OF IFA

xv

I have not discovered the name of the sixth and his assistant.

The place these priests take in marriage and birth ceremonies will shortly be shown under the chapter headed “Marriage.” We have had a “flood” story, and noted the part played by Ifa in making the world fit again for human habitation. In the following extracts from Mr. George’s story of the breaking of Igba at Ife, Ifa as Orunmila plays a notable part in the fall of man, his punishment by famine, and his salvation.

As Mr. George says, all I fa’s sayings generally open with some sort of aphoristic verse which invariably explains the whole object of the piece. Thus, the first verse tells how all the world met in the King’s courtyard to discuss the cause of the breaking of the world-renowned Igba, or calabash, of Ife.

i. They called Awlawta to come and put it together again, but he could not.

4. Ogun also is sent for; which means that war was declared over this breakage.

But none of them could put the calabash together again.

People farmed and waited for the rain, but none came. Then hunger came, and man and beast mourned for their dead.

5. The Obalufon from Iyinde.

6. Laberinjo from Ido.

7. Jigure from Otun Moba.

8. Esegba, an Egba.

called.

NIGERIAN STUDIES

9. Asadu from Ijesa.

10. Akoda from Ife.

11. Aseda Araba (the law-giving cotton tree), their father.

All these could not put the calabash together again.

Then the pigeon weakens in the Eselu bush.

The snail does the like in the bamboo, etc.

They could not put the calabash together again.

They call

12. Olumo from Imori.

13. Ogun of Alara.

14. Ogbon of Ijero.

15. Odudugbundu of Eshemaiva, the Awbawle bogun Baba wow Ketu Er, the father devil who lived in Ketu.

But all these could do nothing.

To continue, in verse 3 the people call in

1. Akonilogbon, and

2. Afonahanni, and ask their assistance.

They advised them to call in

3. Ototo Enia, the truthful one. They asked him to call Olofin. He refused. But the people reminded him “ that from the beginning at the creation of the world this duty of trumpeter to the man from heaven was specially laid on him. Then he blew his trumpet, and the elephant went quickly to the Eselu bush, the wild ox to Elugu apako, the bird Kekeke flies to the ale plant, the rat runs to its hole, the beans to the brook, the dog to the land of meditation, the sheep to the country of stupidity, all beasts go to beastland, beings go to the land of beings.” In fact, as when Oro is sounded all non-members of the Society fly to their homes.

XV

ODUS OF IFA

1. And Ajalaiye, he who strives with earthly affairs,

2. And Ajalorun, he who strives with heavenly affairs.

3. Ajirilogbon, he who strives with matters concerning sight and wisdom.

The people confess their filth, and pray that he should patch the broken calabash, and Ajirilogbon tells them to go and find the leaf of a tree called Ewe-Alashuwalu (which is said to be capable of remodelling a man’s evil character). They cannot find it. He then takes it out of the bag of Egede (the bag of deep mystery), and mends the broken Igba of Ife, and rain falls, and so heals all the people, and stops the calamity from causing further harm.

And in this way we find that Ifa and his priests are not only concerned with marriage, but also with the rains and the sin that prevents them falling in due season.

This story of the breaking of the calabash and the calling of all these worthies to patch it reminds one of the story of Humpty Dumpty, and how all the king’s courtiers and all the king’s men could not put Humpty Dumpty together again.

With this short account of Ifa, his priests and their Odus, we will close this note and proceed to describe the marriage Orishas.

Mentioned templesỌrúnmìlà Olódùmarè Ọbàtálá Ẹṣù Ògún

Shango — Oya — Oba — Oshun (Chapter XVI)

In African Life and Customs (page 22) that remarkable African author, Dr. E. W. Blyden, speaking of Jamaica, says: “Now it is into this region of the globe so hostile to the most vigorous European life that Anglo-Saxon incuriousness has introduced the marriage laws of Europe, with the result that during the last three hundred years very few Europeans, if any, born in those islands have achieved anything like an international reputation. And why? Their mothers have not observed the regulation period of rest and reserve which African mothers enjoy. They were tired when the children were born, and the children have suffered the same inability. There have been exceptional cases of noted men born in the West Indies sufficiently distinguished to be honoured by their sovereign with the Companionship of the Bath and with Knighthood, but these were men of mixed blood, who were born practically under polygamic conditions, whose mothers enjoyed the necessary period of rest.”

CH. XVI

SHANGO— OYA— OBA— OSHUN

There is possibly a good deal of truth in Dr. Blyden’s argument, but the question of mixed blood, and of passion, must not be ignored as possible factors in these cases. Trying to look at this from a Black man’s point of view, I cannot forget the fact that not only among the Bavili (now in Congo Francais), but also in the kingdom of Benin, and without doubt among the Yoruba, it is and was the custom for the daughters of the king to cohabit with such men as they chose without going through any marriage ceremony. It was from these daughters of kings that the people expected an heir to the throne, and they naturally wanted the best product possible. Unrestricted love then was the method by which this result was obtained. In nearly all the temples the Orisha to which it is dedicated is figured as a king, and he is surrounded by the principal officers of his court. What more natural than that he also should have daughters to propagate his divine race?

In Bosman’s description of the Slave Coast, letter XIX, he writes: — “The women who are promoted to the degree of priestesses, though some of them perhaps were but slaves before, are yet as much respected as the priests, or rather more, insomuch that they pride themselves with the name of God’s children; and as all other women are obliged to a slavish service to their husbands, these on the contrary exert an absolute sway over them and their effects, living with them perfectly according to their arbitrary will and pleasure; besides which, their husbands are obliged to show them so much respect, as they received from their wives before

NIGERIAN STUDIES

their becoming priestesses, which is to speak to and serve them upon their knees.” I do not think that Bosman is quite correct when he says that these girls were perhaps slaves.

Coming a little nearer home, Ellis in his Yorubaspeaking People (page 78), writes: — “ There is an annual festival to Orisha “ Oko,” held when the yam crop is ripe and all then partake of new yams. At this festival general licence prevails, the priestesses give themselves indiscriminately to all the male worshippers of the god, and theoretically every man has a right to sexual intercourse with every woman he may meet abroad.” I do not think that Ellis is quite right in saying that the priestesses give themselves indiscriminately to all the male worshippers, at any rate as far as my enquiries go. “ They, as bride daughters of the Orisha, cohabit only with those whom they may love of the male worshippers.” It is a fact, however, that on these feast days, in certain large towns, indiscriminate licence prevails among the rest of the people.

There are two Orishas who have these bride daughters acting as priestesses, Oke and Oko.

Oke and Oko as farm Orishas are worshipped in the outer districts without any of these phallic ceremonies. But at the yearly festival at Ibadan

and Abeokuta these priest daughters exist. It is

still considered a great honour to the family to get one of their daughters elected to the office, which is hereditary in certain families; and most of the members of the family, even the husband, feel honoured by contributing to the fund to cover the expense incurred.

The rites connected with Oke and Oko are evidently intended, as Dr. Frazer has pointed out in his book, “ Adonis, Attis, Osiris,” to ensure the fruitfulness of the ground and the increase of

man and beast on the principle of homoeopathic magic.

In an interesting discussion in the African Mail on the marriage question in Africa, a correspondent, signing himself “A Negro Lover of Consistency,”

poured out the vials of his wrath on the head of

the departed Col. Ellis, and spoke of the passage quoted above and such stories about the African as “spurious bosh.” I am not quite prepared to credit

On the same god F. S., in the Nigerian Chronicle of the 26th of March, says: —

“ Orisha Oko’s name was ‘ Kubiya.’ His first occupation was to catch wild guinea fowls and sell them. He afterwards became a physician, and was such an extraordinary man that his powers were considered supernatural. He resided in a village where all men came to him, for he was a very skilful medical man and diviner. He was called Orisa-Oko [‘ Village god ’] because he lived in a village.”

Here Orisha Oko was originally a trapper and guinea fowl seller and ultimately a physician.

160 NIGERIAN STUDIES chap.

this “ Lover of Consistency ” with a proper motive in thus attacking a man no longer able to defend himself, whom he believed to be a kind of enemy of his race, but I can pity him as the product of a spurious form of Christianity which thinks that by hiding the past, his race is, in some magical way, benefited. He is like that son full of false pride who is ready to inherit the wealth and position his father has left him, but is ashamed of his humble origin. Great teachers not only have great ideals to which they lead the minds of their disciples, but they also know all about the past, and so are able to warn them of the pitfalls they must try to shun. The best way to learn how to appreciate the beauties of a purely spiritual religion is by trying to grasp all the beauties in a natural one. The spiritual simply uplifts and fulfils the natural.

When these two great festivals were first instituted, it must be remembered, wars between village and village, town and town, were the rule, but upon these days all united, and, under the protection of these Orishas, met on more or less an equal footing. It reminds one of the description given by an old Arabist writer of the Hajj: — “ It (the festival) formed the rendezvous of ancient Arabian life. Here came under the protection of God the tribes and clans which at other times lived apart, and only knew peace and security within their own frontiers. Here affairs between states or tribes were transacted and adjusted. Of course lively proceedings and dealings went on between indi

XVI

SHANGO— OYA— OBA— OSHUN

NIGERIAN STUDIES

wife of the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.”

“‘And the children of Benjamin did so. In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.’ ” ”

However pure and good the intention of the founders of these feasts may have been at the time of their inauguration, it is certain that in course of ages the beauty of the original idea was lost and they possibly became the orgiastic festivals in this part of Africa that we know they became in Greece and Italy in days gone by. And now that peace reigns here and roads and railways are opening the country, native public opinion is fast siding against all that is evil in these customs, and they are once again assuming their true aspect in the form of “prayers for rain in due season,” harvest thanksgivings, and agricultural shows.

The Orisha Oke may well be called the titular goddess of Ibadan. When the chiefs of that place were asked what animal or sign they would like as an emblem to figure on the medals to be given away at their agricultural show, they unanimously selected Oke. They had the photograph of a fine looking woman taken, her breasts exposed, and her arms raised towards heaven, as if to welcome her children. A picture of fruitfulness. She is the hill Orisha, connected with fire. Her festival used to be held when the land was at its driest and rain was most required to quench its thirst. She would appear to a man in a dream and tell him

XVI

SHANGO— OYA— OBA— OSHUN

to go to the Bale and ask him to fix a day for the feast. Perhaps the Bale would take no notice, and then she would visit another man in a dream and ask him to go. If the Bale hesitated she threatened to send fire down from heaven to burn his house and cause him a great loss. She sometimes demanded a man as a sacrifice, sometimes 200 pigeons, sometimes a bullock or a sheep. Notice would be sent round to all the villages and the day stated. Everyone had to be in the town the day before the date fixed. Anyone coming into the town on the day of the festival would be robbed of all he might be bringing with him. No trade was done, and the Bale threw money away among the crowds of people, who, in bands of males and bands of females of different ranks and ages, paraded the town, throwing open their cloths as they met as if to invite copulation. Wives told their husbands that they were going to play and they allowed them to go, and the wives picked out the men they fancied and cohabited with them. Bands of women passing down the streets sang: —

Septeni nascimur, utinam et ipsa septem pariam: Ido niger est, uterus penitus ruber,

Uterus duobus milibus concharum constat, sed penis quindecim tantum conchis.

Eum cui penis est penem condere oportet, quod uterum medio in corpore habeo.

Foris est mater olearii Foris est pater olearii Filius natu maximus olearii

M 2

NIGERIAN STUDIES

Sub porticu dormit.

Tollo pannum et insero:

“ Kerekere ” sonit, etpenem quaerere os uteri sentio.

At the foot of the two hills from which Olokemeji takes its name there is an altar to Oke, and there is a cavern in the rocks at Abeokuta in which Oke is said to be worshipped. The Egba say that

if they were defeated in war they could retire into this cave and it would hermetically seal itself up until the danger were passed.

The Orisha Oko, or harvest god, whose emblem is an iron rod and who has the title of “ eni duru,” or the erect person, is more in evidence at Abeokuta than elsewhere. His festival is held about August. His bride daughters, like the daughters of kings, may cohabit with whom they please. These Iyawo Orisha have a red and white mark on their foreheads. The office is hereditary, but when the mother dies I fa is consulted as to which of her daughters is to take her place. The family collects from £40 to ^50 to cover the expenses of the initiation ceremony. They make a shed in the bush and keep the girl there for three months. She is given what she fancies, and feasting goes on all the time. She is washed every day, and the marks are renewed by a male and a female attendant, called respectively “ Baba losha and Iya losha.” After three months they wash her and paint her head, arms and feet red and white. The people then sing and dance around her and prostrate themselves before her for seven days. She is now called Olu Orisha Oko.

Sacred Cave at Abeokuta.

XVI

SHANGO— OYA— OBA— OSHUN

From the fact that these farm Orishas only become phallic in the great centres of population, I am inclined to think that this phallic worship is a development that only came about when people began to live in large towns, where great feasts were held.

Agbolo had referred me to one Odedaino as an expert on the marriage question, so to him I went for enlightenment on this burning topic. He said they knew a girl was ready for marriage, as then she first had her menses (aseh). Girls were given in marriage sometimes as babies. Two families wished to be drawn together, and they agreed that their children should intermarry. A boy or a man took a fancy to a child and asked the parents through his parents for their child in marriage. The first thing the father of the girl did was to consult Ifa. Ifa’s priest (Babalawo) having been called in, he proceeded to divine as explained in the chapter on Ifa. Then if “ Eji ogbe ” turns up, the engagement may take place; but if Osa or Ofu turn up, the Orisha not being in its favour, the application is not accepted. If the Orisha is propitious, the boy presents the parents with nine yams and 100 heads of corn, and repeats this offering yearly. He also makes a sacrifice to Ifa. At the proper time the boy presents himself before the parents of the girl and says, “ Now she is ready, give her to me.”

The parents again consult Ifa, who may put off the marriage for a year.

In the olden days marriages took place at the 1 This present appears to vary in different districts.

NIGERIAN STUDIES

away, and the man who eventually marries the girl pays back the dowry to the sterile would-be husband. From the time of marriage to the time of birth there are no Orisha ceremonies, but when the child is born they ask the priest to what Orisha they owe this good fortune, and when he tells them they sacrifice to it. Three days after the birth they call in the priest and ask him to name the child’s “ Ese entele ” or footprints. The Babalawo consults Ifa, who, as the priest mentions an Orisha, shakes his head until that which is to become the guardian spirit of the child is mentioned. The child, as soon as it is able, fetches water for this Orisha and sacrifices to it on all great occasions during its life. If Obatala is the Orisha then the child must wear white and must not drink palm wine nor eat dog. The grand-parents as well as the parents on the safe delivery of their child each thank their separate Orishas. The priest gives the mother medicine for the preservation of the child. If it be a girl, a name is given to it on the seventh day, if a boy, on the ninth.

Except that it is never done in the dry season, and generally before the tenth year, there is no special time for circumcision of the boy, or the excision of the girl’s clitoris, but the ceremony is performed when the child is in good health, and it is marked with its tribal marks on the same day.

Bosman in his description of the Kingdom of Benin, which is an offspring of the Yoruba, says: “ Eight or fourteen days after the birth of their children, both male and females are circumcised, the former are

thereby bereft of their prepuce and the latter of their clitoris, besides which they make small incisions all over the bodies of the infants, in a sort of regular manner expressing some figures thereby.”

Bala Mimi, who accompanied Odedaino when this information was given to me, told me that the only marriage Orishas born of Yemoja were Shango and his wives Oya, Oba and Oshun, while Dada, Shango’s brother, otherwise called Bayoni, was rather an Orisha of birth.

Ellis gives us a very good description of the Orisha Shango; he says: “He dwells in the clouds in an immense brazen palace, where he maintains a large retinue and a great number of horses.” The OniShango or priests of Shango in their chants always speak of Shango as hurling stones, and whenever a house is struck by lightning they rush in a body to pillage it and to find the stone, which, as they take it with them secretly, they always succeed in doing. A chant of the Oni-Shango very commonly heard is: — “ Oh, Shango, thou art the master. Thou takest in thy hand thy fiery stones, to punish the guilty and satisfy thy anger.” Everything that they strike is destroyed. Their fire eats up the forest, the trees are broken down, and all living creatures are slain, and the lay worshippers of Shango flock into the streets during a thunderstorm crying: — “ Shango, Shango, great King. Shango is the Lord and Master. In the storms he hurls his fiery stones against his enemies, and their track gleams in the midst of the darkness.” “ May Shango’s stone strike you,” is a very common form of

XVI

SHANGO— OYA— OBA— OSHUN

imprecation. He usually goes armed with a club called Oshe, made of the wood of the ayan tree, which is so hard that a proverb says: — “ The ayan tree resists the axe.”

His male followers are called Odushushango and the female Esin nla (the great horse).

I happened to meet an Odushushango, named Idowu, who gave me the following information. Jakuta is the name of Shango’s day. Shango is the Alafin of Oyo’s great Orisha and is sometimes called Oba Kuso, the king of Kuso, a hill near Oyo which is sacred to him.

Another name is Alada Ogun, the one who splits the mortar that Ogun is said to wear on his head. Ako aja abinrinja lese, the ako dog that walks as one about to fight. Aja jumoni koto kpanije, the one who frightens one before he kills and eats him. Olilu tun ilu re she, one who puts his town in order. Ebi ti ka waw ponyin shoro, the one who with his hands behind his back does him an injury. Akuwarapa abija kaka, the one who has fits and is extraordinarily strong.

His wife Oya is she who runs on ahead when Shango goes out to fight, the strong tornado wind.

Oshun is the gathering darkness and Oba the wild clouds that meet. These two stay at home to keep house.

They sacrifice the cow, the sheep and the cock

NIGERIAN STUDIES

to Shango. His sacred tree is the Ayan from which his staff is made. His ewaws are the Sese (beans), the Eligidi (pumpkin), the Esuro (antelope), the Ekun (rabbit), and the Eku ago or white-bellied rat which the Alafin of Oyo is seen at times to raise to his lips as if to kiss.

Two days after my visit to Akure, where I saw the people preparing to worship Eshu while at Ipetu, just after I had finished talking to the chiefs, dancers, singers and drummers, followed by a crowd, came prancing to my tent, in a cloud of dust, and I was informed that the followers of Shango were preparing to hold their feast. So in this district the feast of Shango follows close after, or about the same time as, that of Ifa. A very tall and graceful looking woman, a priestess of Shango, closely followed by a man, both rattling some seeds in a long-necked gourd, and three or four women attendants, commenced dancing in front of my tent. They said this woman represented Shango. She was dressed in a blouse of a dark colour and skirt of white. Over this skirt, hanging from her waist, she wore pieces of cloth and velvet six inches in width, and perhaps two feet in length. Her hair was dressed in a series of rolls running from her forehead to the back of

her head, the largest being near the crown of her head. I was told that she was collecting money towards the expenses of the coming feast. Generally seventeen days’ notice are given, so that the feast of Shango in these parts, it will be noted, takes place at the beginning of the tornado season. During the festival the Odushushango dance, carrying pots of fire on their heads, and this fire they say cannot be quenched by water. The hair of these men is allowed to grow long and is arranged like a woman’s. Although this of course gives them an effeminate appearance I am not able to attach any homosexual act to the custom. They certainly are credited with magical powers and they are rather honoured than hated.

Shango

Told by Mr. Pellegrin

Shango is a man like myself, and when young could not be controlled by his parents, so they left him to his rascality. He used to waylay people on the roads and kill them, so all the Orishas (201) tried to find him, each giving one man. They heard he was at Egbe. They met him there. He said he was tired of running away, he would see what they could do. Ogun said he would catch him, so he took his pincers and ran after him; then Shango sent Thunder against him, but Ogun caught her in his pincers. Shango said he could not allow anyone to catch him, so he left his bow

NIGERIAN STUDIES

at Egbe, and ran away. So he is called “ Oja ja forun ti l’egbe,” the man who fought greatly and left his bow at Egbe. Then all the 201 representatives went and told Odudua, their chief. Then Odudua ordered them to go back and catch him. They went, but he told them that they would not see him again, and he took a chain and knocked the earth, and it opened and he went below. He said they would hear of him for ever. Then they returned to tell Odudua, and he said as Shango had left the earth he was glad. Odudua took the Thunder from Ogun, and gave him a sword to kill anyone who came his way. Then they met to arrange who should go on earth to repair the damage Shango had done, and they elected Truth. And when he arrived he began to use his influence. When a child died he visited the parents and told them that as human beings they would all die. This kind of comfort they did not care for, so they sent to Odudua, and told him that Truth did not agree with them, so Odudua took Truth away from them. He asked them which Orisha they wanted, and they said the Iro (lie), who made images and carved eyes, nose, ears, mouth: they said he would have sense to rule over them. Odudua gave them Iro to rule them. And when one falls sick and

goes to him he tells them to gather such and such

a leaf, and make medicine and take it, and the fever will go away. If he hears anyone fighting he hears both sides, and settles it. When they saw that

matters went well with them like this, the chief

XVI

SHANGO— OYA-OBA— OSHUN

of them was called “Ajalorun” (See Ifa) — one who fights in heaven. This Ajalorun sent to Odudua and asked that the name of Iro should be changed to Orishala. Ajalorun and Odudua are of the same mother, Ajalorun being the younger. Ajalorun called Iro Orishala, alaba la she, iku pa ni pori. (Orishala means the great Orisha, Alabalashe, one who commands [the Balogun], Iku pa ni pori, Death kills us and kills the head). Then Orishala began to reign in the world, and made eyes, nose, mouth, ears, head, etc., for them all. And then the people began to hear Shango in heaven.

Shango

Told by Solako

Shango is Odudua’s son and a rascal, and he ran away. Then Odudua sent to Oshala and Ogun, his sons, to find out the truth about Shango. And they fought with him, but they could not catch him; so they told Odudua. He used to cut a leaf and chew it, and then fire came out of his mouth, and people ran away. Then Odudua called a meeting, and asked who would catch him, and Ogun volunteered. He met him at Egbe. They fought: he left his bow there, and went to Kuso. Then they went to tell Odudua, and he said they must catch him, and so they went to Kuso, and Shango said he would not see them. He threw his chain to heaven, and it opened for him, and he disappeared. And there he

NIGERIAN STUDIES

thundered and lightened, and everyone began to worship him.

Oshun

Told by Shotundi of Abeokuta

Oshun is a woman slave of one Oshunmakide, whose name before being bought was Omujo. She then became Oshunmakide’s second wife. The master first asked her what she could do, and she answered that the only thing she knew how to do was to dance, so he called her Omujo. And he allowed her to dance, and while doing so she displayed magical powers by changing her dress in the presence of everyone instantaneously. When the first wife saw this, thinking that her husband would love Omujo more than her, one day as she was dancing she used some charm and turned her into water. Then the husband and the people, thinking that this was part of her performance, waited, expecting her to resume her position as a woman. And when this did not occur the husband wept bitterly, and all the people went home. Afterwards the husband married another woman, and she bore him no children; then he went to the Babalawo and asked how this was? And he said, “You have got a woman that became water, and so the new wife must worship water before she can have a child; and they must call the water Oshun. And when worshipping it she must call out ‘ Omujo logun rora gungoke, rora gun okuta: ’ O dancer warrior!

measures to prevent it.” According to information I have received, incest is still common in the Ibibio districts of Southern Nigeria, but any such practice has been more or less stamped out in the Yoruba country by the system of “ Ewaw ” evidently instituted by the priests of I fa for that purpose, and now incest is connected in their minds, as a system, only on the occasion of the festivals of the farm Orishas already mentioned. It is true that on the death of the father the son is given one or more of his father’s wives, but generally one who has not had children, the other wives being sometimes distributed among the other relations.

On the third day after the child is born the Ifa priest is called in to give the child its “ Orisha and its ewaws.” The Orisha is the child’s object of worship, and it may not marry one of the opposite sex having the same Orisha, which thus becomes its chief “ ewaw.” This Orisha holds good as a family deity and ewaw for four generations, that is to say if the Orisha has been given anew to the child then it will be his son’s, his grandson’s, and his great-grandson’s. His son then takes as his second ewaw his father’s wife’s animal ewaw. This one’s son takes his father’s wife’s third or vegetable ewaw. And the latter’s son takes his father’s wife’s fourth omen ewaw, i.e. a rat, bird, or snake.

The daughters take the father’s Orisha, but, as the African says, if you wish to catch a rat you must go to its hole, or, in other words, in this case we must begin at the beginning.

XVI

SHANGO— OYA— OBA— OSHUN

The Yoruba divide people into six double or twelve single groups. The Fisherman, male and female. Fish, snakes, and birds, or omens, male and female. The Hunter, male and female. Animals, male and female. Farmers, male and female. Plants, male and female. In all six brothers and sisters, and all were of one family.

In the beginning brother married sister, or, in their words, eat one another. For the sake of brevity we will number each of the six groups, and call each brother and sister by a letter. The Fisherman a, his sister b, the group 1. The Omens, male c and female d, the group 2. The Hunter, male e and female f, group 3. The Animals, male G, female h, group 4. The Farmer, male 1, female j, group 5. Plants, male k, female l, group 6.

No. 1. No. 2. No. 3. No. 4. No. 5. No. 6.

AB CD EF GH IJ KL

But they soon got tired of this single diet, and the male product of ab caught the female product of cd; ef of gh; and so on.

ABD CDB EFH GHF IJL KLJ

Even then they were not satisfied, and so the fisherman made war on the hunter, and the hunter on the farmer, and the farmer on the fisherman, and each appropriated the product of the other’s labour. And the result was that the fisherman

The next generation the letters d b h f l j. Number one is now in want of fish, so he marries b of group No. 2.

Number 2 wants fish, and takes d.

Number 3 wants an animal, so he takes f.

Number 4 wants an animal and takes h.

Number 5 wants a plant, and takes j.

Number 6 wants a plant, so takes l.

The families now stand

FJCB HLAD JBGF LDEH BFKJ DHIL.

The letters fhjlbd now drop out.

Number one is now short of an animal, so he marries h.

Number 2 wants an animal, so takes h.

Number 3 needs a plant, so takes l.

Number 4 wants a plant, so takes j.

Number 5 desires fish, so takes d.

Number 6 needs fish, and takes b.

The groups now stand jcbh ladf bgfl dehj fkjd hilb.

And now jlbdfh drop out.

The male Orishas are now again to the fore: the groups stand

CBHL ADFJ GFLD EHJB KJDH ILBF

Now there are said to be 201 Orishas, and if for the sake of argument we say that 100 of these are male, you will see that there is ample scope for an enormous variation. There are also many omens, animals, and plants in use as marriage ewaws, as the list given

N 2

i8o

NIGERIAN STUDIES

below shows. I may say at once that their practice does not apparently agree with this theory. Presumably the groups mentioned acknowledged Olokun, Olosa, Ogun, Oshowsi, Oke, and Oko as their Orishas, and so group No. i is a male group, No. 2 a female, No. 3 a male, No. 4 a female, No. 5 a male, and No. 6 a female.

Such is, more or less, the idea that guides the Babalawos in their choice of Orishas and ewaws, but as we know there is always a vast difference between the ideal and the actual.

A native called Shoremekun, said to be an authority on this subject, informed me

(1) That the Orisha, given three days after birth when the father acknowledged the child as his before all the world, must be one that has been in the family.

(2) That no one could marry anyone of the opposite sex who might have the same Orisha.

(3) That all the daughters take the Orisha of the father.

(4) a. That he may not marry his uncle or aunt’s “ Ebi,” on his father’s or mother’s side.

(6) He may not marry his brother’s or sister’s “ Ebi.”

(c) That by Ebi he meant

Omo Iya j ,

t> i 1 his father’s and mother’s children.

Omo Baba

Omomi his own children.

Omomome his grandchildren.

Omolala his great-grandchildren.

XVI SHANGO— OYA— OB A— OSHUN 181

Then he said that he had taken his mother’s Orisha, which was Shango, and that his eldest son, grandson, and great grandson would all have Shango as their Orisha.

Next he went on to say that his father’s name was Osho, and that his wife’s name was Elekude, and that her Orisha was Orishako.

His grandfather’s name was Nagulo, and his Orisha was Orishako 1: he married Shabeyi, whose Orisha was Beji. His own wife’s name was Moshalo, and her Orisha was Beji.

He had three brothers Shashino, whose Orisha was Ifa, Akikumi, whose Orisha was also Ifa, and Oje, whose Orisha was Oro. And his sons were Adikunle, whose Orisha was Shango; Adinakon, a Christian who had no Orisha; Bamibopa, a Mohammedan, whose Orisha used to be Obatala, and Ladile, whose Orisha was Obatala.

His daughters’ names were Shangoedi, Adinoju, Aditutu, and Shuboola, whose Orisha was Shango.

We note from the above that all brothers do not take the same Orisha. Shoremekun’s father was not the eldest son of his grandfather, and therefore did not take the latter’s Orisha. Neither was Shoremekun the son of his father’s first wife Elekude. Shoremekun has given us the names of the chief wife of each of his ancestors only.

But this study is one that can be only taken up by someone who has unlimited time at his disposal, and I only give the above example to show how anyone, 1 Orishako is in full Orisha Oko.

NIGERIAN STUDIES

who forgets that a native may have any number of wives, may easily find sufficient apparent contradictions to cause endless confusion to any theory he may deduce from casual observation.

We have been told that theoretically each person should have one Orisha and three ewaws: well, from the following list you can form your own opinion as to the correctness of that theory or the present existing confusion. My sympathy is entirely with the patient priests of I fa, whose duty it now is to enquire into the genealogies of all newly-born infants, and to assign to them what we now perhaps look upon as our armorial bearings.

In the following lists I give, under the name of his Orisha, first, the man’s name, secondly, his town, thirdly, what he must sacrifice to his Orisha, fourthly his ewaws or things forbidden to him, and fifthly, whether he may marry one with his Orisha or not.

Orisha Ogun.

Name.

Town.

Sacrifice.

Ewos or Ewaws.

Yes.

No.

Ogunkula

Ijaiyi

Dog, beans

Ground nuts, Efaw, awsawn, a vegetable, and the cricket

Alowani

Offa.

Dog, beans

May not eat the sacrificed dog, but only taste the water in which it has been boiled. Efaw, awsawn and banana

XVI

SHANGO— OYA— OBA— OSHUN

Orisha Ogun .—Continued.

Name.

Town.

Sacrifice.

Ewos or Ewaws.

Yes.

No.

Osho

Abeokuta

Dog, bean

bread, pounded yams, palm wine

Snake, the leaf of Ogunmo

Alabi

Akure

Dog, palm oil, salt

None

Ajibola

Ibadan

Dog, kola, palm wine, roasted and pounded yams

Fowls, adultery

Ajala

Ibadan

Dog, goat, sheep

Fowls

Lanloyi

Ogbomosho

Dog

Personal Ewaw dog

Kale

Awyan

Dog, beans, all fried things

Ire (Funtunsia Elastica)

Ogundipe

Ogbomosho

Dog, corn, pigeon

Ire

Aborishade

Ijero

Dog, palm wine

None

Egun.

Amodu

Abeokuta

Cock, ram, beans

Not to reveal secrets

Akiwanmi

Goat, fowl

(Red monkey)

Iji

Bayani or Bayoni.

Badamosi

Abeokuta

Cow, fowl, palm

Dog, pig,

oil, yams

roasted yams, pito, palm

wine. May

not carry water

NIGERIAN STUDIES

I FA.

Name.

Town.

Sacrifice.

Ewos or Ewaws.

Yes.

No.

Fumiwirji

Akure

Pig, Goat, Fowl, bandicoot

Fish, dog. May not carry nor bail water

Komolapi

Ilesha.

Pig, goat, fowls, bandicoot, pounded yams

Dog, pig, tete (vegetable)

Ojo

Offa

Goat, fowl, bandicoot, tortoise

Sheep, oyo leaves, banana

Alade

Ibadan

She goat, pounded yams

Cock, goat, Okro, adultery on the wife’s part

Ojuola

Oyo

Pig, goat, fowl, pounded yam and b e a ns (egusi)

Rats, dry fish, p a r t r i d ges, eggs, ducks, efon (veg.), palm kernels

Makidi

Abeokuta

Goat, fowl, pounded yams

Dog, pig

Ashaolu

Akure

Goat, bandicoot fish, snail

Igi, Isin(no fire)

Shotunde

Abeokuta

Goat, fowl

None

Orisha Oya (Awya).

Ige

Offa

Fowl, pounded yams, goat and Ishapa soup

Sheep and cow

Makunde

Ibadan

Fowl, goat, pounded yams, pito (beer)

Sheep, ram

Oyadeji

Abeokuta

Fowl, pounded yams

Sheep, snail, elephant, dog

XVI

SHANGO— OYA— OBA— OSHUN

Orisha Oya (Awya )— Continued.

Name.

Town.

Sacrifice.

Ewos or Ewaws.

Yes.

No.

Belo

Abeokuta

Fowl, goat

Sheep, efo n antelope

Awyalola

Ibadan

Fowl, goat, yams

Sheep

Sumanu

Ikirun

Fowl, goat, kola

Sheep

Adeoti

Offa

Fowl, goat

Sheep

Awyawerni

Ikirun

Fowl, goat, pounded yams

Sheep, beans

Abiawna

Ibadan

Fowl, goat

Sheep

Shango.

I da wo

Ibadan

Ram, fowl

Antelope (Eshuo), rabbit (Ekun), pigeon pie

Lajidi

Ijaiyi

Ram, fowl

Antelope (Eshuo), rabbit (Ekun), rat (Ago), dog

Abidogun

Ibadan

Ram, kola, cold water

Rat, dog

Shangotola

Abeokuta

Dry fish, beans, yams

Sheep, hedgehog, armadillo, antelope, alligator, tortoise

Adeyauju

Ibadan

Ram

Rat, beans (sese), antelope

Bangbola

Ibadan

Ram, kola, cock, yam

Rat, beans (sese)

Shangotayo

Ram, fowls, kola

Rat, beans (sese)

Orishala, Obatala, Oshala, Orishanla, Oshanla.

Name.

Town.

Sacrifice.

Ewos or Ewaws.

Yes.

No.

Olorishade

Abeokuta

Snail, kola, yams, fowl, goat, ducks, pigeons

Dog, palm wine, may not use brass

Adeoye

Ibadan

Snail, fowls, ducks, pigeons, yams

Dog, palm wine, tortoise

Laleye

Ogbomosho

Fowl, yam, egusi soup

Salt, palm wine, palm oil, may not sleep on mat

Adelafun

Ilorin

Snail, egusi, yam

Salt, palm oil, palm wine, pepper

Adeshiyan

Ibadan

Snail cooked with shea butter, fowl

Palm wine, corn wine and snuff

Adedoja

Ikirun

Snail, fowl

Palm wine

Aborishade 1

Ijero

Snail, goat, kola, akara

Dog, palm wine

Adeyola

Ibadan

Snail, fowl, Ori

Palm wine

Eshu.

Momodu

Otton

Oshoybo

He goat

Nut oil, onions, dog

Ojo

Ede

He goat, sheep

Nut oil, dog

Adekunbi 1

Iganna

He goat, dog, pig

Nut oil

Odudua.

Lowale

Ife

Sheep, palm

None

I 1

wine

XVI SHANGO— OYA— OBA— OSHUN 187

Orisha Oko, Oshaoko.

Name.

Town.

Sacrifice.

Ewos or Ewaws.

Yes.

No.

Akitundi

Ijanji

Dried meat, egusi, yams

Antelope, and may not eat new yams before Oko’s festival

Obasa

Ido

Snail, fish, ekuru beans

Butter kola

Adekunbi 1

Iganna

Goat, fowls, fish, rat

New yams

Shankpana, Shankpano, Shakpana.

Aminu

Abeokuta

Sheep, beans,

Yamati seed,

palm oil

tobacco, not to sit on mortar,

head not to be knocked.

OSHUN.

Salami

Abeokuta

Rats, gala (antelope), corn, yams, palm oil

Etu (antelope), fowl, palm wine, beans

Oyiwopo

Offa

Goat, fowls

Pito (corn beer)

Babatunde

Abeokuta

Goat, fowls, beans, youri (veg.)

Pito, snail, elephant

Akande

Ibadan

Rabbit, antelope, dry fish, yams, pito

Rats, he goat, cocks, snails, ducks, ground corn], water yams

Tinuola

Haro

Corn with oil

None

Adederan

Ikirun

Goat, fowl

Corn wine

Kaiwo

Ibadan

IBEJI.

Fowl, beans, yams and oil, kola

Monkey

Kainde

Oyan

Ekuru beans, all fried things

Nut oil, Ire (Funturia elastica)

ORI.

Adeniji

Abeokuta

Fish, beans (egusi)

New yams before the Oko festival

Yemaja or Yemoja.

Adeniran

Ibadan

Yams, palm oil, cooked corn, yam flour

Dog, alligator, unskinned roasted beef

Abiara 1

Ibadan

Sheep, fowl, snails

Dog

Agba.

Fabode

J Oyan

Dog, fowl, goat

Palm wine, dried okro

Aga.

Fabode 1

Oyan

| Fowl goat

Orishas of Birth, Life and Death

We have left to us the Orishas Oba, Shankpana and Dada, whose other name is Bayoni or Bayani.

Oba or Ibu is the third wife of Shango, and represents the thunder of Shango, the meeting of the clouds and the crying out. The word Ibu also means the one who broils or bakes under ashes, and thus this Orisha may be said to be the wife that first made native bread. But I was told that Oshun was the woman bread-maker. I am inclined to think that there has been some confusion in the occupation of Shango’s wives, who are said to stay at home, as the meaning of Shango’s third wife’s name so evidently points to Ibu or Oba as the bread-maker.

About Dada, the Orisha of Birth, things created and vegetables, we know very little. Ellis tells us that he is represented by a calabash ornamented with cowries, on which is placed a ball of Indigo.

As to Shankpana a story tells us that: —

Erinle and Shankpana are offspring of Shango and Oya. Shankpana was a wicked boy, and Erinle was his sister. When they were young Erinle used to warn him not to be cruel to people’s children, because he was accustomed to beat them. Shankpana asked her why she cared for other people’s children. Erinle said she liked to have plenty of companions to play with. Shankpana said he did not like these crowds of children, so he went on beating them, and made the parents cry. Then she went and told her father, Shango, of how Shankpana treated children, and Shango sent for him and beat him. Shankpana

NIGERIAN STUDIES

then said he would revenge himself on Erinle, and when he next saw her he flogged her to death, and took her to the bank of a river, and buried her there. After seventeen days, as the parents had not seen Erinle, they began to search for her, but could not find her; and Shankpana said nothing. Then they consulted the Babalawo, and he told them that Erinle had been killed and buried on the bank of the river, and, as she died for her love of children, anyone who wanted children must worship Erinle on the bank of the river. And so she became an Orisha to be worshipped on the bank of any river.

Erinle means elephant that flourishes on the land. Elephant is something that is great and loving.

And Shango drove Shankpana into the bush, and there he became a mysterious and harmful bushman, throwing smallpox and sickness about.

“The word Shankpana means one that cuts and kills one on the road. Oba was his real name — a title given to him as one wrho should look after, and be a leader among, children.”

We have now connected all the children of Yemoja with all the occupations of the primitive Yoruba, and as we were led to expect they fall into their places under the six or seven great categories.

(1) Dada things made, created, birth, etc.

(2) Water the fisherman and his Orishas,

Olosa and Olokun.

(3) Earth the hunter and Oshowsi and

Ogun.

(4) Fire and mar- the priest farmer, and Oke and

riage Shango.

(5) Motion and the farmer and first harvest, and

conception Oshun and Oko.

(6) Energy, Weight women and all the people, and

Pregnancy Oya and Ajeshaluga.

(7) Life and Death, all folk, and Oba and Shank Suffering pana.

Thus these Orishas in their order and meaning agree with the Odus or sacred palm nuts in the order given to me by the priest Oliyitan. These categories also are thus identical with those I discovered to be at the back of the mind of the Bavili in the Congo. And the heavenly and earthly forms of Government, office for office, or rather official for Orisha, also coincide. And as the occupations of the Yoruba are followed according to the seasons of the year, it follows that the Orishas of the different professions should also appear to rule certain seasons.

In the earliest period of man’s existence, the period from marriage to birth and the problems involved seem to have occcupied his attention, and as he was driven to shelter by the first rains, and that was the time of marriage, the rain season was of the greatest importance to him, hence his primitive calendar of eight rain months. As he progressed in civilisation so did his sense of time, until Ifa, or some great philosopher, fixed his primitive observations, and gave him his present lunar calendar. It seems to me that

192 NIGERIAN STUDIES chap.

there can no longer, now, be any doubt about either the order or form of the ancient West African social and religious system.

In Chapter XII. I have connected the leopard with the Alafin, and given the insignia by which one may recognise the head of the Yoruba people. The sign of office of the Alake, the head chief of the Egba, is a crown of beads.

In the olden days in the Congo, that is before European control existed, we had to be very careful in regard to etiquette in our relations with the chiefs. As wearers of boots we white men ranked with the highest in the land, and could command the respect due to our station, if not our deserts. I remember on one occasion, shortly after my arrival on the coast, being called and treated by a rich native trader as a “small boy” (a person of no importance). Well, we had no armies or force of our own by which to maintain our authority, so we had to rely upon the goodwill of our native chief. On this occasion the chief was called down, and three chairs were placed in the yard in front of the house. The chief who, for the occasion, wore boots, sat in the centre chair, and I sat in the chair on his right. The wicked native who had dared to call me a “small boy” was invited to put on a pair of boots and sit in the vacant chair. He ran away, and so lost the “ palaver,” and was fined. And when we called the chiefs in to settle some question or other, we had to place so many chairs with pieces of cloth upon them for the greater chiefs to sit on, and to spread mats on the ground for

XVI

SHANGO— OYA— OBA— OSHUN

the lesser chiefs, while, rich or poor, the rest of the courtiers or followers sat on the earth.

I find much the same custom exists in Abeokuta.

(1) The Alake, of course, and his three courtiers have the right to Agas, or chairs.

(2) The Iyalode has the right to an Aga, but her three courtiers sit on mats.

(3) The Balogun, whose sign of office is his armour, has the right to a chair. Two of his courtiers, Bada and Seriki, have the right to Agas, but Ashipa sits on a mat.

(4) The Bashorun, whose sign of office is a large umbrella and a staff of beads, has the right to a chair, but his officers sit on mats.

(5) The Ogboni are distinguished by their leather bags, a long walking-stick or staff, and the horse’s tail which they carry on their shoulders.

Each chief in his own quarter used to settle disputes and woman palavers.

When there was a misunderstanding among the members of the Ogboni, all the members of the craft assembled and settled it.

The Ogboni tried all murder cases, and, as has been shown, had to do with funerals. The head of each occupation and his council, such as hunters, farmers, priests, market women and crafts, settled the palavers touching such occupations. But when death from sickness or famine raged in the town, the King, nobles, chiefs, and all the people held a general meeting. Divination took place, and

NIGERIAN STUDIES

CH. XVI

evildoers were sought out and punished, or killed as a sacrifice to their outraged Orishas.

Such was what may be called the Home Government of the Yoruba, but as conquerors these people have progressed a little beyond this, for as victors the head chief appointed Ajele, or Governors, in the conquered provinces. These regents, while acting as tax-gatherers, interfere as little as possible with the home affairs of their districts. A glance at the following chapter on the land laws in the Western Province of S. Nigeria, or Yorubaland, will show the place more or less which these Ajele occupy.

Mentioned templesṢàngó Ọya Ọbà Ọṣun Ọrúnmìlà Ọbàtálá Ògún Ẹṣù Ọṣọọsì Ọbalúayé

—

Creation and the Sacred Stones at Ife (Chapter II)

Jakuta: The Four Winds (Chapter V)

Odudua and the Four Days of the Week (Chapter VI)

Obatala (Chapter VII)

Ifa and the Four Walls of the Yoruba Kingdom (Chapter VIII)

Eshu (Chapter IX)

Aganju, Yemoja, their Offspring, and the Ogboni or Council (Chapter X)

Olokun, Olosa, and the Fisherman (Chapter XI)

Ogun, Oshowsi, and the Hunter (Chapter XII)

Odus of Ifa (Chapter XV)

Shango — Oya — Oba — Oshun (Chapter XVI)

Mentioned in this text

Sources & licenses