- History
- African origin of the Yoruba
- The Yoruba arrive in America
- Yoruba beliefs
- The dream
- Yoruba rules
- Yoruba gods
- Yoruba traditions
- Commandments of the Yoruba religion
- Some Yoruba terms
- References
The Yoruba religion is also known as Santeria and has its origin in Africa, but it has gained many adherents in the American continent since it arrived in these lands during the Colony. His followers are also known as Yorubas, Santeros or Lukumises.
This last name is very common in Cuba, where they began to be called like that due to the phonetics of their greeting: «oluku mi», which means «my friend».
The Yoruba religion implies a strong notion of family, since each cult carries a brotherhood derived from the common ancestor that goes beyond blood ties.
They originally shared a language belonging to the Sudan language group. As in other religions, they also have a sacred place on the world map: Ifé.
History
African origin of the Yoruba
To talk about the Yoruba religion, one must talk about the African Yoruba peoples. These peoples settled between the Volta River and Cameroon around the 5th century AD. C. They were socially, economically, and politically more advanced than neighboring towns. Agriculture and iron forging dominated.
As early as the 13th century, the Yoruba kingdoms were formed in the territories to the south of Nigeria. Two of those kingdoms completely dominated the rest: Ifé and Oyo.
Their organization and respectful way of life helped them live in harmony. They practiced agriculture, long distance trade, mining and crafts.
The Yoruba arrive in America
The Yoruba religion came to America with Africans who were brought in as slaves. With them came new customs and traditions. Also a new religion born in the Niger River: the Yoruba. This was one of the strongest religions on the African continent.
Among the many tribes that followed her were those controlled by the Ifé, Oshogbo, Abeokutá, Dahomey, Oyó, Ibadan, Ogbomosho, Iwo and Ilorin empires.
Although the slaves came to Cuba, Brazil and Haiti, it was in Cuba that they managed to keep their customs and traditions intact. This was so because they entered the state of Matanzas and there the family union was respected: they were allowed to stay with their wives, mothers and children.
Slavers tried to evangelize them, but it was a task hampered by a 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 Native Americans.
In this sense, analogies were made such as the following: Santa Bárbara for Shangó, Virgen de las Mercedes for Obatalá, Santo Niño de Atocha for Elegguá and Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre for Oshún.
In fact, on many occasions they performed their rites in secret, to avoid the punishment of the colonizers who were determined to convert them to Catholicism.
Later on, some ran with the luck that their bosses accepted and respected their traditions, especially in Matanzas (Cuba).
Yoruba beliefs
The Yoruba believe that Olofi created the world, which was previously inhabited by saints (orishas), among whom he distributed his power, called "aché." They believe that the cosmos can be disturbed by immoral actions of human beings.
For a Yoruba, a saint or orisha governs the life and daily life of each person. In his 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 are passed from generation to generation.
The dream
For the Yoruba people they unfold from 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 between the bodies is broken and the astral world is accessed.
Yoruba rules
The rule of Ifá is to Santeria what the Bible is to Catholicism.
The codes of behavior and procedures and / or rituals are collected in documents such as the Osha-Ifá Rules for Santeros, the Divinatory Sayings of the Letters of the Dilogún and the Odun de Ifá, the Ethical Code of the Odun de Ifá and the Commandments Morales del Odun de Ifá Ika Fun.
These are texts that claim 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 depending on the orishas referred to. Some are:
- Do not walk in the street after six in the afternoon.
- Do not get wet with rainwater.
- Don't queue.
- Do not photograph or film yourself.
- Do not look naked in mirrors.
- Do not kill, blaspheme or lie.
- Do not disrespect the elderly.
Yoruba gods
The Yoruba cosmogony says that there are three divinities: 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 is an object of worship. The main orishas are the following:
- Olofi, Supreme Creator
- Oloddumare
- Olorun, source of the aché
- Obbatalá, judge and messenger
- Orula
- Orunmila, goddess of wisdom and divination
- Madama
- 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
- Egungun
- Eluku
- Yunyún Boila
- Kimbúmbula
- Sarabanda
- Enkuyo
- Obiná
- Efisá
- Manunga
- Lubamba
- Makeno Ogguiri
- The U
- Kenene
- Elegbara
- Gewá
- Iboru
- Boku
- Nou
- Ajuaggún
- Oshosi
- LufoCuyu
- Watariamba Mewe
- Arggawe
- Obebé
- Eromina
- Endibó
Yoruba traditions
The Yoruba extol the value of the community. In addition, the Yoruba religion is very spiritual and very ancestral. In fact, their communities were governed by a governing council in which the elderly enjoyed a special dignity.
His music has a characteristic ingredient: the sound of the drum. The batá drums orchestra (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 token of love and gratitude.
Certain ranks within communities are authorized to make animal sacrifices, based on the belief that this turns the animal into 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 encrypted 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 year that begins, with suggestions and warnings about positive and negative events.
This ceremony is led by the senior priests of the Yoruba religion, and there Orunmila is invoked, who warns them about the fate of humanity.
Commandments of the Yoruba religion
1- Do not say what you do not know
2- Do not do rites that you do not know
3- Do not take people by false routes
4- Do not fool anyone
5- Do not pretend to be wise if you are not
6- be humble
7- Don't be false
8- Don't break a taboo
9- Keep sacred instruments clean
10- Keep the temple clean
11- Respect the weakest
12- Respect moral laws
13- Do not betray a friend
14- Respect the elderly
15- Respect hierarchies
16- Keep secrets
Some Yoruba terms
- Oloshas
- Babaloshas
- Iyaloshas: initiates
- Oluwo Osain
- Obases or oriates
- Babalawos: priest
- Olúos
- Ifá: oracular subsystem of Oshá-Ifá
- Orula: owner of the Ifá table
- Abó Adié: hen
- Aberinkulá: an uninitiated person or thing
- Abure: brother, sister
- Aikú: health, long life
- Aleyus: intruder, stranger
- Achá: cigar, tobacco
- Aché: so be it, The Spiritual Power of the Universe, Talent
- Babá: father
- Busi: bless
- Ení: person
- Faith: love
- I'll go: blessings
- Iyalocha: priestess
- Moducué: thank you
- Moyuba: I greet you
- Ogun: witchcraft
- Omí: water
- Omo: son, boy
- Surefun: bless
In short, to speak of the Yoruba religion is to speak of an ancient culture rich in traditions, with a worldview in which the human and the divine intertwine.
It is a religion that marks a very particular lifestyle and that has found in America an important proliferation space, where the number of believers is increasing.
References
- Ecured.cu
- Guerra, Rosa María de Lahaye Guerra (2010). The Yoruba religion is very spiritual and very ancestral. Recovered from: cubadebate.cu
- World guide (s / f). The origins of the Yoruba culture. Recovered from: guiadelmundo.org.uy
- The iguana TV (2015). What is Santeria? Recovered from: laiguana.tv
- Yoruba religion and its orishas (2010). Yoruba religion. Recovered from: religionyorubaysusorishas.blogspot.com