Yoruba Religion: Main History, Beliefs and Traditions

The Yoruba religion is also known as Santeria and has its origin in Africa, but has gained many adepts in the American continent since it came to these lands during the Colony. His followers are also known as yorubas, santeros or lukumises.

This last denomination is very common in Cuba, where they began to be called thus due to the phonetics of his greeting:"oluku mi", that means"my friend".

The Yoruba religion implies a strong notion of family, because each cult carries a brotherhood derived from the common ancestor that surpasses the blood connections.

Originally they shared a language belonging to the group of languages ​​of Sudan. As in other religions, they also have a sacred place on the map of the world: Ife.

History

African Origin of the Yorubas

To speak of the Yoruba religion, we must speak of the African Yoruba peoples. These villages settled between the Volta and Cameroon rivers near the fifth century AD. C. They were socially, economically and politically more advanced than the neighboring towns. They dominated agriculture and iron forging.

Already in century XIII conformed the Yorubas kingdoms in the territories to the south of Nigeria. Two of these kingdoms completely dominated the rest: Ife and Oyo.

Their organization and respectful way of life helped them to live in harmony. They practiced agriculture, long-distance trade, mining, and crafts.

The Yorubas arrive in America

The Yoruba religion came to America with the Africans who were brought as slaves. With them came new customs and traditions. Also a new religion born in the river Niger: the Yoruba. This was one of the strongest religions of the African continent.

Among the many tribes that followed it were those controlled by the empires Ifé, Oshogbo, Abeokuta, Dahomey, Oyó, Ibadan, Ogbomosho, Iwo and Ilorin.

Although the slaves arrived in Cuba, Brazil and Haiti, it was in Cuba that they managed to keep intact their customs and traditions. This was so because they entered the state of Matanzas and there respected the family union: they were allowed to stay with their wives, mothers and children.

The slavers tried to evangelize them, but it was a task hampered by the shortage of priests, the language barrier and the condition of slavery.

Thus began a process of syncretism in which the Catholic saints were equated with the Yoruba orishas, ​​to be able to worship them without arousing controversy among the Native Americans.

In this sense, similarities were made such as the following: Santa Barbara by Shangó, Virgin of the Mercedes by Obatalá, Santo Niño de Atocha by Elegguá and Virgin of the Caridad del Cobre by Oshún.

In fact, on many occasions they did their rites in secret, to avoid the punishment of the colonizers who were determined to convert them to Catholicism.

Later, some ran with the luck that their employers accepted and respected their traditions, especially in Matanzas (Cuba).

Yoruba beliefs

The Yoruba believe that Olofi created the world, that previously was inhabited by saints (orishas), between which it distributed its power, denominated"aché". They believe that the cosmos can be disturbed by the immoral actions of human beings.

For a Yoruba, a saint or orisha governs the life and daily life of each person. In their religion nature and ethics have a symbiotic relationship.

They also believe that the experiences of the community accumulate an Aché that focuses on material objects. These objects pass from generation to generation.

The dream

For the Yoruba people unfold their body during sleep, so that their astral body moves without the limitations of the physical body.

For them the process is similar to that of death, except that in the case of death the cord is broken between bodies and access to the astral world.

Yoruba Rules

The Ifa rule is to Santeria what the Bible is to Catholicism.

Codes of behavior and procedures and / or rituals are included in documents such as Osha-Ifá Rules for Santeros , the Divinatory Sayings of the Letters of the Dilogún and of the Odun de Ifá, the Code of Ethics of the Odun de Ifá and the Moral Commandments of Odun de Ifá Ika Fun .

These are texts intended to guide believers to a higher spiritual level. The purpose of these rules is for the person to develop the habits and discipline that allow him to control his impulses.

The rules of behavior vary according to the orishas referred to. Some are:

- Not walking in the street after six in the afternoon.

- Do not get wet with rainwater.

- Do not queue.

- Do not photograph or film.

- Do not look naked in the mirrors.

- Do not kill, blaspheme or lie.

- Do not disrespect the elders.

Yoruba Gods

The Yoruba cosmogony reads that there are three deities: Olofi, Oloddumare and Olorun.

Although they believe in a higher god, they also worship intermediate divinities that serve as a link between the divine and the human. For them, an orisha or saint is an ancestor who accumulated great wisdom about nature, the human and the divine.

An orisha is a universal entity, an energy of nature and are object of worship. The main orishas are:

- Olofi, supreme creator

- Olodumare

- Olorun, source of Aché

- Obbatalá, judge and messenger

Orula

- Orunmila, goddess of wisdom and divination

Madame

- Eleggua, the God who opens paths

- Oggún, god of mountains and minerals

- Oxosi, god of the hunt

- Xangó, god of war and fire

- Oxun, the goddess of love

- Iemanyá, the goddess of the sea

- Egungún

- Eluku

- Yunyún Boila

- Kimbúmbula

Sarabanda

- Enkuyo

- Obina

- Efisá

- Mañunga

- Lubamba

- Makeno Ogguiri

- The U

Kenene

- Elegbara

- Gewá

- Iboru

Boku

Nou

- Anything

- Oshosi

- LufoCuyu

- Watariamba Mewe

- Arggawe

- Obebé

- Eromine

- Endibó

Yoruba Traditions

The Yorubas exalt the value of the community. In addition, the Yoruba religion is of great spirituality and much cult to the ancestors. In fact, their communities were governed by a governing council in which the elders enjoyed a special dignity.

His music has a characteristic ingredient: the drum sound. The orchestra of the batá drums (iyá, itótele and okóngolo), have a special meaning for them. The sound of the batá and the songs evoke the integrity of the cosmic forces.

The"addimú"are fruits, vegetables, plants, flowers and animals that are offered to the orishas as a sign of love and gratitude. Certain ranks within communities are allowed to make animal sacrifices, starting from the belief that this makes the animal an energy that transmutes evil.

Another of the traditional characteristics of the Yoruba religion is the art of divination. This is how the santero communicates with his orishas: interpreting messages coded in elements such as snails, coconut or the Ifá board.

The numbers that appear in these elements are called"oddun"and represent the word of the orishas.

The letter of the year is a ceremony that consists of a kind of premonition about the beginning year, with suggestions and warnings about positive and negative events. This ceremony is headed by the senior priests of the Yoruba religion, and there Orunmila is invoked, who warns them about the destiny of humanity.

Commandments of the Yoruba religion

1- Do not say what you do not know

2- Do not do rites you do not know

3- Do not take people by false means

4- Do not fool anyone

5- Do not pretend to be wise if you are not

Be humble

7- Do not be false

8- Do not break a taboo

9- Keep holy instruments clean

10- Keep the Temple Clean

11- Respect the weakest

12- Respect moral laws

13- Do not betray a friend

14- Respect the elders

15- Respect the hierarchies

16- Keep secrets

Some terms of the Yoruba

- Oloshas

- Babaloshas

- Iyaloshas: initiated

- Oluwo Osain

- Obases or Oriates

- Babalawos: priest

- Olhos

- Ifá: Oshá-Ifá oracular subsystem

- Orula: owner of the table of Ifá

- Abó Adié: hen

- Aberinkulá: an uninitiated person or thing

- Abure: brother, sister

- Aiku: health, long life

- Aleyo: intruder, strange

- Acha: cigar, tobacco

- Aché: so be it, The Spiritual Power of the Universe, Talent

- Nanny: father

- Busi: bless

- Eni: person

Faith love

- I will go: blessings

- Iyalocha: Priestess

- Moducué: thanks

- Moyuba: I greet you

- Ogun: Witchcraft

- Omí: water

- Omo: son, child

- Surefun: bless

In short, to speak of the Yoruba religion is to speak of an ancestral culture and very rich in traditions, with a worldview in which the human and the divine intertwine.

It is a religion that marks a very particular way of life and that has found in America a space of important proliferation, where the number of believers is increasing.

References

  1. www.ecured.cu
  2. War, Rosa María de Lahaye Guerra (2010). The Yoruba religion is of great spirituality and much cult to the ancestors. Recovered from: cubadebate.cu
  3. Guide of the world (s / f). The origins of the Yoruba culture. Recovered from: guiadelmundo.org.uy
  4. The Iguana TV (2015). What is santeria? Recovered from: laiguana.tv
  5. Yoruba religion and its orishas (2010). Religion Yoruba. Retrieved from: religionyorubaysusorishas.blogspot.com


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