Yoruba Assignment

Group 1- Yoruba

1.      Where are they located, both in location and the type of geography.

 

The homeland of Yoruba is located in West Africa and expands from a savanna, or grassland, region in the north to a rain forest in the south. Most of the Yoruba are located in Nigeria as well as some that are scattered in Benin and Togo, which are small countries located in west Nigeria. The north and south of the Yoruba compared have different occupations as well as their living conditions.
      

 

            






2.      What is their cosmological view of the world?

 

The cosmological view of the world from the Yoruba is that the cosmos is singular, meaning they believe there is no this world and another world after we are gone. They only see a single world that contains visible and invisible elements.  The visible elements are the living people, plants, animals, rocks, stars, rain, the ocean and everything that can be precieved or seen. Now the invisible elements are the Orisha and Olodumare, which are those who have passed away as well as those waiting to be born. Ocasionally the visble elements or world are called Aiye, or earth, and the invisible world would be called, Orun, which is sky or heaven. The visble and invisible elements are all seen as a single piece and not two separate parts like they have been mistaken for in Western Cultures.

 

3. Explain and describe some of their sacred symbols (at least 3).

            A sacred symbol from the Yoruba is a calabash, which the Yoruba compared their visible and invisible world to. A calabash is a type of gourd, hard shelled fruit that is grown to use as a container. The calabash is suppose to symbolize, from its division, to form two halves containing the visible and invisible portions of the world. The two ways in understanding the calabash is the concept of ashé, or the energy of the universe and by looking at the different types of beings that live in the visible and invisible world as well as the interactions between them.

 Another sacred symbol is Yams because they are considered to be an important symbol of thanksgiving by the Yoruba. They offer the yams to divinites before they eat it themselves an example is from the Eje festival, which is an annual event in Itebuu-Manuwa, where the leader of the Yoruba offers yams to Malokum, the god of the sea, as well as to other local spirits and divinities. This is so that those gods can be responsible for making the crops do well on their land.

One last sacred symbol of the Yoruba are twins because they believe that twins contain th power to bring health and happiness to their families. Also twins can unfortunately bring the power of distress and destruction as well. The god that is the protector of twins is Ibeji and the tribe continues to have the highest twin birth rate from the amount of yams consumed. The people of Yoruba treat the birth of twins very different than just a single birth, instead they provide them with special names and the first born twin is considered the younger child and is called Taiwo, “having the first taste of the world.” Taiwo is said to be the younger child because the older sibling gives the order for Taiwo to see what it looks like in the outside world and when the child makes it out and cries it is a sign for the older sibling that it is ok. The older sibling is named Kehinde, “arriving after the other”, and is thought to be more cautious and intelligent. In the Yoruba tradition they believe that twins share one soul and three days after twins are born the parents go to a priest and he drives out any evil spirits. Also the priest then tells the mother how to raise them. Lastly if the priest believes that one of the twins are possessed he can have the power to tell the mother to starve the possessed twin.

4. What are their sacred locations?
         
                A sacred location for the Yoruba’s is the akoko tree, newboldia laevis. These trees are considered sacred trees and a symbolic marker to a sacred spot as well. Another sacred location is Osogbo city, that is located in the heart of Nigeria’s Osun region. This region is host to one of the most widely celebrated events in Western Africa, the Osun-Osogbo Festival. Osogbo city is considered to be known as the City of Peace. This city is a relaxed and blessedly peaceful place and every August, from the Yoruba calendar, the Osun-Osogbo Festival is taken place where it combines the natural beauties of Western Africa and spiritual journeys, prayers, and unity. The festival finishes in an energetic celebration of life on Earth as well as the connection to the divine that is filled with hope and joy. The festival is held in the city because it is a sacred place and just outside or near the city of Osogbo there is the Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove. Sacred groves are areas of perfect untouched forest reserved for the worship of the gods and they once were dominated the homelands of the Yoruba people.

5. Identify their most important gods (good, bad, and trickster). More than the name of the god is needed here.

The Yoruba most important gods are Ogun which is considered to be the most important. This god is the god of war, of the hunt, and of ironworking, as well as serves as the patron divinity of blacksmiths, warriors, and all those that work with metal in their jobs.  This god is also in charge of deals and contracts. The Yoruba consider Ogun  as fearsome as well as terrible in his revenge. The belief is that if someone breaks a promise or pact in his name then vengeance will follow quickly after.

Another important god is the trickster god, Eshu. Eshu is a god that best illustrates damage. This god does this by disguising himself as a merchant and sells increasingly outstanding gifts to each of a man's two wives. As a result from the fighting for their husband's favor had broken the family apart. Unexpectedly, Eshu also serves as the guardian of houses and villages. When he is praised his followers call him Baba, Father, also he serves as the god of Ifa. This means that he is a complicated and difficult geomantic fortuneteller tool that uses nuts, signs, and increasing squares of the number four in order to be able to predict all aspects of the future. One more god that is important to the Yoruba is the god Olorun. This is the ruler of the sky as well as the father of other Yoruba gods. He is the god of peace, purity, harmony and justice. Olorun has been seen in some cultures to be representing principles of male and female in heaven and earth.

       

6. What are their totems, fetishes, and taboos?

 The Yoruba totems, fetishes and taboos are certain textiles were considered to be fabric totems and were very nicely crafted and in great condition, a shaman would wear a cheetah mask and square hat with diamond design, with two bird figures, that included colors like orange, blue, ivory, and yellow. The Yoruba fetishes were “love lock fetish” where people would place the name of a loved one in the fetish and magic and then release it to the ocean. Fetishes were active a lot in their religion for spiritual purposes. The Yoruba taboos are expressions that can be classified into four different groups: propriety-related taboos, which are meant to neutralize unpleasant things and make them more acceptable. The next is taboos for avoiding threatening consequences; veneration-type taboos, which are meant to tribute particular groups of people, most importantly the king, but also elderly and important people. The last taboo is the fear-centred taboos, which gain from the Yoruba belief in the supernatural forces.

 

                                                                     

 

7. What is the role of the shaman? How do they view magic?

 The role of the shaman for the Yoruba was that he leads all of the people. The shaman was the enlightened one and served as somewhat as priest. He used voodoo for healing the soul and lead people on spiritual journeys that they had taken previously. The Yoruba also had female shamans that were called shamaness. How the Yoruba viewed magic was that When magic was used it was to cure or prevent disease. Magic was considered to be called medicine. Magic was attempts to protect a person from sorcery, improve their financial situation, bringing good luck, and things like that etc. As a result of these attempts they were always referred to as magic.

  

8. Identify and describe at least 2 or 3 rituals.

Two rituals in the Yoruba tradition is the death ritual where the body is mourned over by family and friends with loud cry’s but then after that washed in rum or decorated in aromatic herbs as well as nice clothing. There are proper ceremonies that are held for the deceased as well as certain procedures that must be followed and if not it would be considered disrespectful on the person that has passed. There is also a feast for the person who has passed for a final respect. Another ritual involves a mask that is worn by men in complicated deception performances known as "Gelede." This ritual is taken place each year between the months March and May, at the beginning of a new agricultural season. The main purpose for this performance is to pay praise to the special power of women, both elders and ancestors. They are known lovingly as "our mothers” and women can use a spiritual life force, called  ase, which can either be creative or destructive. When these powers are used in a destructive way the women are considered to be called aje ,witch. If angered, they are believed to have the capability to destroy communities or individuals. The performances provide an opportunity where “our mother” is being treated or pampered so that she may encourage rain and fertile soil instead of destructive power against the Yoruba people.

   

 

 

9. Images that reflect the art of the people, the people themselves, and their geography.

 

          

 Links to websites that were helpful:

http://testaae.greenwood.com/doc_print.aspx?fileID=C9079&chapterID=C9079-137&path=books/greenwood

http://www.everyculture.com/wc/Mauritania-to-Nigeria/Yoruba.html

http://brockbaker.pbworks.com/w/page/8688074/Yoruba%3A%20Symbols%20and%20Icons

http://suprememastertv.com/services_subt.php?bo_table=download&wr_id=2804&subt_cont=ee&show=ee&eps_no=598&flag_s=&d=down


http://www.postcolonialweb.org/nigeria/yorubarel.html

http://mythicjourneys.org/bigmyth/myths/english/eng_yoruba_pantheon.htm

http://www.cyberrug.com/yoruba_beadwork_5803.htm

http://www.authenticafrica.com/yorlovlocfet.html\

http://www.africabib.org/rec.php?RID=134933567&DB=p


http://shamanportal.org/shamanism_african.php

http://www.religioustolerance.org/ifa.htm

http://www.sacred-texts.com/afr/yor/yor10.htm

http://www.randafricanart.com/Yoruba_gelede_mask_birds.html