Abstract this article explores the advantages of covenantkeeping among the yoruba people using them as models to be emulated in the contemporary nigerian society. The handbook of yoruba religious concepts ebook free download. Haitian vodou and the indigenous religions of the fon and yoruba of west africa. The yoruba are an ethnic group who live in west africa. They are specialists in leading the others in worship. Yoruba religion has a direct link to a substantial segment of american society for.
The basis of yoruba religion download ebook pdf, epub. Orisa worship among the igbomina yoruba of ilaorangun. Before i got serious about this way of life, i resisted anything that had anything to do with religion. Its homeland is in presentday southwestern nigeria and the adjoining parts of benin and togo, commonly known as yorubaland. Yoruba, one of the three largest ethnic groups of nigeria, concentrated in the southwestern part of that country. Ifa yoruba fundamentals of the yoruba religion orisa worship chief fama. The shango cult in nigeria and in trinidad george eaton simpson oberlin college t rinidad was discovered by columbus in 1498, and some slaves were brought early to the island. The yoruba would not define their belief system as a religion the way the western ideology would. It is one of the largest ethnic groups in africa, and they speak the yoruba language. We would attempt to examine the influences on the language, dressing, food and cultural practices and norm of the yoruba people, in an attempt to reach a befitting conclusion as to the history of the yoruba, we would also include some folk lore and stories, to enable you the readers reach a strong conclusion. An article for consideration by history of religions may be submitted in any one of the major languages, and if the article is. The enslaved from brazil and cuba both originated from the same location in yorubaland. As a part of this, there is an expectation that everyone will eventually achieve the state of olodumare, which is becoming one with the divine creator who is the source of all energy.
In sierra leone, botswana, and burkina faso more than 33 percent follow african religion, although it is not the religion of the majority. This book provides detailed instruction of practical usage of ifa by practitioners and nonpractitioners and answers many questions with respect to how to pray the ifa way. Guineabissau, liberia, and the ivory coastafrican religion is the majority religion. On the basis of this evidence they suggested that the yoruba immigrated from far away. Conflicts between african traditional religion and. Some examples rituals and rites abound in yoruba traditional religion. Accord ing to yoruba myth, orungan, yemanjas son, committed incest with her and. The yoruba would hold on to their religion, but in order to keep it alive, they would have to make it into a new religion. Yoruba conceptions of olodumare the chief yoruba deity in compara. Mosadomi, of about twenty academic, student and professional participants, contributors, consultants, and assistants, with the support of the center for open educational resources and language learning. These figures represent people who primarily follow african traditional religion.
Here is an everchanging assortment of reading material that will introduce you to the psychology of meaningful change. Brazils candomble and its nigerian yoruba roots 2 youtube. Influence of yoruba culture in christian religious worship by odejobi cecilia omobola institute of education, faculty of education, obafemi awolowo university, ileife, osun state, nigeria. During the world cup in 2014, sola ojo and i asked questions about the african yoruba roots of brazils candomble religion at the afrobrasilian. The study of yoruba religious tradition in historical. This article aims to shed more light on the origin and history of the yoruba people. Practitioner of this tradition believes in one god, the creator of all things. I highly recommend this book to those who seek to grow into a mature relationship with ifa. It sufficiently explains the relationship between ancient egypt and the religion of southern nigeria, in addition to providing detailed steps, measures, practices, and initiation into the religion. In the early 1900s, the yorubas and the fulanis signed a treaty to stop the state of deadly invasions by the latter, but it was shortlived, as they were soon colonized by the british.
African shapes of the sacred highlight only a few of the yoruba. In yoruba religion, orungan was the son of yemaja and aganju. It is received by oral authority by one generation and transmitted by the same process to subsequent generations and, thus, has effect of being widely diffused among its adherents and of deeply coloring their consciousness. In a similar vein, yoruba philosophy can be considered antecedent to yoruba religion, in the same manner that every idea comes from the head before going into action. In 1783 less than three thousand persons oc cupied the island, but in that year spain opened trinidad to settlement by. Ifa divination may not be common in other african philosophies, but it is for the yoruba people an oasis of wisdom, love, and morality. He ravished his mother once, and as he tried a second time, yemaja fell and burst open, whereupon the fifteen orishas. The yoruba people are based in nigeria, benin and togo. The elaborate mythology which underlies and explains yoruba religious. They are currently estimated to be about 44 million people, the majority of whom live in nigeria where they account for about 21% of the countrys population. Osunosogbo the mythology of the yoruba is sometimes claimed by its supporters to be one of the worlds oldest widely practised religions. Influence of yoruba culture in christian religious worship. It shares some parallels with the vodun practiced by the neighboring fon and ewe peoples to the west and to the religion of the edo people to the east. Much smaller, scattered groups live in benin and northern togo.
Yoruba communities also live in other countries besides nigeria which include ivory coast, ghana. The power of the coconut in the yoruba religion will help you to better understand the oracle of the obi coconut which is used to speak with the 0risha and spirits of the religion. Other yoruba religious beliefs that feature in the osun festival 1 i. Rituals in yoruba traditional religion are not usually administered by the uninitiated or the untrained yoruba. The yoruba numbered more than 20 million at the turn of the 21st century. Let us do it, the way it is usually done, so that we may have the usual result. Department of religion and african culture adekunle ajasin university p. Its a collection of essays and ebooks that address yoruba cosmology, the jungian approach to human development and the interesting ways in which i combine them in my own practice. In the yoruba religion belief system, live and death is an ongoing cycle of existence in various bodies, in ayethe.
Through painstaking research, he wrote that the yoruba religion. Narrative and knowledge in yoruba cosmology marcus. Pdf elements of continuity and change between vodou in new. The yoruba religion includes the concept of ashe, a powerful life force possessed by humans and divine beings alike. The yoruba religion also referred to as ifa religion is the traditional religious concepts and practices of the yoruba people, is found primarily in southwestern nigeria and the adjoining parts of benin, commonly known as yorubaland. The handbook of yoruba religious concepts ebook free. Egba origin born in sierra leone and author of historical notes on the yoruba country and its tribes.
Author karade traces the concepts of the yoruba religion through its entrance into the americas via haiti, puerto rico, brazil and. Igbo religion igbo religion is traditional according to mbiti 1970, in the sense that it is rooted in their culture. For the yoruba there is no separation of the secular and. Yoruba culture, yoruba religion, narrative, phenomenology, cosmology. Traditional yoruba beliefs hold that all people experience ayanmo, which is destiny or fate. Spiritual symbolism of vultures in traditional yoruba. This led to the eventual downfall of the oncepowerful yoruba empire in the year 1837. In all the previous works which have relevance to the religion of the yoruba, the deity has been assigned a place. Thats because i felt like if christianity the way it was taught to me was full of sht, then the whole topic was contaminated. When studying the cultural retention of the transformed yoruba religion. Brief history of yoruba people, culture, religion and. This site is like a library, use search box in the widget to get ebook that you want. Abstract religion is the strongest element in african culture and exerts great.