Yoruba's Belief - Credenza dei Yoruba

Religious Beliefs 

Traditional Yoruba beliefs see the world made up of two connected realms. The visible world of the living is called Aye, and the spiritual world of the Orisas, the ancestors and spirits, is called Orun. Ase is the life force that is given to everything by the Creator of the universe. Ase is in everything: plants, animals, people, prayers, songs, rocks, and rivers. Existence is dependent upon Ase because Ase is the power to make things happen and change. The Yoruba believe in the Creator who rules over the entire universe along with many other gods that serve underneath him. The Creator of the universe is called Olorun. Olorun lives in the sky and is considered to be the father of all the other gods. Olorun is the only god that never lived on earth. Olorun is the supreme god and has no special group of worshippers or shrines, like the other gods do. The Yoruba people worship over four hundred different deities. These gods are called Orisas. Some of the Orisas are worshiped by all of the Yoruba. Other gods are only worshiped by certain towns or families. Every person is given or receives aspecial deity to worship. A person usually worships the god of his father, but some worship the god of their mother. Some people are contacted by a particular god in their dreams and are instructed to worship them.

 Creation according to the Yoruba's Belief:

  

IFE – Is an important Yoruba city. It is the spiritual centre of  the Yoruba.

It is believed that there is kept a shrine for every Yoruba divinity.Ife was also the intellectual centre of Yoruba traditional society.This ancient rain-forest city which now houses the University of Ife can be regarded as the Mecca of the Yoruba. It is,  however, not certain whether the Ife of mythology where the divinities landed is the present-day Ile-Ife. There are several Ife known to Yoruba historians, but the one in which the divinities landed from heaven is known as Ife- Oodaye.The Yoruba people believe that Ife is the cradle of humanity. Ife is therefore to the Yoruba what the Garden of Eden is to Jewish mythology.his probably explains why the hen is used as an offering to Ifa more than any other creature. The hen was the first messenger of the divinities and therefore can be trusted as a means of sending messages Tthrough Ebo (sacrifice) to the divinities.Hens which have five fingers, are regarded by the Yoruba as strange creatures. They are therefore used in the preparation important medicines.

The chameleon is a sacred creature of the Yoruba. In traditional Yoruba society, it was forbidden to kill chameleon except for medicinal or ritualistic purposes.The Yoruba regard the chameleon as Ajeegun (the one who makes medicines potent).The chameleon is usually included in many important medicinal preparations in order to increase their potency

Divinity bronze head

Yoruba king bronze head

Creation Myth 

Every culture has stories that explain how the universe was created. This is one version of a creation story that is told by the Yoruba to 

explain the beginning of the universe. 

Olorun lived in the sky with all the other gods. He told Orisanla, the god of whiteness, to create the earth for him. Olorun gave Orisanla some soil, a chain, a five toed chicken, and a snail shell and sent him on his way. When Orisanla got to the gates of heaven he noticed some 

other god having a party. He stopped to chat with the other gods for a bit and drank some of their palm wine. Orisanla became from the palm wine and fell asleep. Orisanla's younger brother Odua noticed his brother fast asleep. He took all the things that Olorun had given him and went to the edge of the heaven with Chameleon. Odua dropped the chain and climbed down, throwing some of the soil onto the water. He then released the chicken and the chicken scratched out the earth, expanding it in many directions until the ends of the earth were made. Chameleon then stepped upon the earth to make sure that it was stable. Odua followed and settled at a place called Idio. 

Orisanla soon woke and realized what happened. From that time on Orisanla put a taboo on palm wine. Even today those who worship Orisanla are forbidden from drinking palm wine. Orisanla came down to claim the earth but his brother, Odua demanded that he was to be the owner of the earth since he had created it. The two brothers quite drunk continued fighting until Olorun heard them and called them to report to him. Olorun granted Odua the right to own the earth and rule over it. Olorun then told Orisanla that he would become the creator of mankind. In order to keep peace amongst the two brothers Olorun sent them back to earth with Sango, the God of Thunder; Ifa the God of Divination; and Eleshije, the God of Medicine. 

Bronze Crown

Oshun shrine

Creazione - secondo la Credenza dei Yoruba:

Yoruba clay head

ILE-IFE - è una città molto importante per gli Yoruba. E' il loro centro spirituale.

A bronze bowl with cover

Si ritiene che vi è conservato un santuario per ogni divinità Yoruba. Ife fu anche il centro intellettuale della società tradizional dei Yoruba. Questa città antica della foresta pluviale che oggi ospita l'Università di Ife  può essere considerata come la Mecca degli Yoruba. E ', tuttavia, non certo se l'Ife della mitologia in cui la divinità è atterrato l'Ile-Ife di oggi. Ci sono parecchi Ife nota agli storici Yoruba, ma quello in cui le divinità sono atterrate dal cielo, è nota come Ife-Oodaye Il popolo Yoruba credono che Ife è la culla dell'umanità. Ife è quindi alla Yoruba ciò che il giardino dell'Eden è quello ebraico mitologia.Questo probabilmente spiega perchè la gallina è utilizzato come offerta a Ifa di più di ogni altra creatura. La gallina è stato il primo messaggero delle divinità e, pertanto, può essere considerata come un mezzo per l'invio di
messaggi attraverso Ebo (sacrificio) alla divinità.

A Yoruba bronze pot

Le galline che hanno cinque dita, sono considerati dagli Yoruba quanto strano creature. Vengono quindi utilizzate nella preparazione di medicinali importanti.
Il camaleonte è un animale sacro degli Yoruba. Nella tradizionale società Yoruba, era proibito uccidere camaleonte fatta eccezione per medicinali o scopi rituale.
Il Yoruba quanto riguarda il camaleonte come Ajeegun (quello che fa potenti farmaci). Il camaleonte è solitamente inclusa in molti preparazioni di importante medicinalial fine di aumentare la loro potenza.