Yoruba

Yoruba

Shruti Topudurti Ted Geistlinger Maria Wang Bill Metcalf

Group Cosmology In the beginning, there were the gods Olorun, Olokun, and the Orishas. There was a contest held in which the decision of who the main god would be decided. The contest would be to see whether Olorun or Olokun was the better dressed of the two. Olorun, being the sky god, clothed himself first in the blue sky. Olokun, the god of the oceans, retaliated by clothing himself in the blue sea. Olorun then dressed himself in a white cloud. Olokun then decided to wear the white cap of a brewing wave. The Orishas could not decide at first, but then decided that Olokun was just copying Olorun, so Olorun would be the head god ("Olorun").

At the time of creation, all that existed was the gods, the sky, and the Earth (completely covered by sea). The sky was ruled by Olorun and the sea was governed by Olokun. The Orishas, council of the gods, lived in the heavens. These two kingdoms never troubled or interfered with the other. The Orishas, except for Obatala, did not care to look down from the sky. Obatala often look down and soon he was tired of the monotonous sea. He was earnest to create dry land and life; therefore, he consulted Olorun. Olorun assented his idea, and commanded Obatala to complete this job. Obatala went to Orunmila, who possess the power to read the future and interpret the secret of existence, and asked her what to do. Orunmila took out his divining tray, and tossed sixteen palms on it. He read the meanings by the way how the palms fell. After casting the palms many time, she told Obatala to prepare a long golden chain, a snail's shell filled with sand, a white hen, a palm nut, and a black cat (Belcher). Obatala went to the goldsmith and asked him to make a the chain, but the gold smith told Obatala there wasnt enough gold to make a chain long enough. Obatala ensured the gold smith he could get enough gold, and went searching for it. He asked all of the gods and goddeses, and eventualy gathered all the gold in the sky. When he returned to the gold smith, the gold smith said there still wasnt enough gold, but Obatala told him to make the chain anyways. Obatala took the long chain and hung it from a corner in the sky. He climbed down the chain until it reached its end, but it wasnt long enough. From where he was, he released the sand from the shell, and then dropped down the hen. The hen scratched at the sand, spreading it all over the earth, which created the vast mountains and valleys ("The Yoruba Creation Myth"). Then Obatala planted the palm nut and from the palm nut came Agbon, the first living being. Agbon was a palm-tree ("Yoruba" 262-63). Agemo (the cat), Olorun's trusted servant, came down from the sky, and discovered that the earth had too much greyness. He went back to the sky and reported to Olorun; therefore, Olorun created the sun. Obatala wanted more living creature on the land. He shaped humans out of clay. Because of the sun Olorun created, and from the hard work of crafting humans, Obatala became very thirsty. He started drinking palm wine and got very drunk. In his drunken state, the people he created were disformed. When he sobbered up and saw what he had created, he became very upset, and swore never to drink palm wine again and to protect the deformed people. Olorun breathed upon humans, so humans weren't only clay but with flesh and blood (Courlander). These people made cities. All of the Orishas were pleased with these humans, except for Olokun who was angry as he was never consulted about the creation of earth and mankind. Olokun sent a flood in his anger and washed away almost all of the humans. After this, they took the sea very seriously ("The Yoruba Creation Myth").

Agbon had sprouted 16 branches. These branches represented the 16 children of Oduduwa, who later became kings of all the lands of the Yoruba ("King's Crown"). Oduduwa is the goddess of the earth. She sowed oka, corn and millet, and the earth spouted plants. Olorun or Olodumare descended to the earth near Agbon, here the ancient city of Ife is located. He assembled the Orishas and each of the Orishas became a clan ancestor, and they each built one of the 16 suburbs of Ife. Thus, the city of Ife-Ife in Nigeria is the city of 17 divinities ("Yoruba" 262-63).

Works Cited Belcher, Stephen. //African Myths of Origin// London: Penguin Group, 2005. Print.

Courlander, Harold. //Tales of Yoruba Gods and Heros: Myths, legends, and heoric tales of the Yoruba people of West Africa.// New York: Crown Publishers Inc. 1973. Print.

"King's Crown." //World Myths and Legends in Art//. Minneapolis Inst. of Arts, n.d. Web. 2 Nov. 2010.  .

"Olorun." Bloomsbury Dictionary of Myth. London: Bloomsbury Publishing Ltd, 1996. Credo Reference. Web. 27 October 2010.

"The Yoruba Creation Myth." //The Big Myth//. Distant Train, 2007. Web. 22 Oct. 2010. .

"Yoruba." //The Aquarian Guide to African Mythology//. Ed. Jane Knappert. Northamptonshire: Thorsons Publishing Group, 1990. 262-263. Print.