INTRODUCTION. 



RELIC. IOCS BELIEF. 



The religion of Yoruba is a curioug mixture of pure thei.sin and idolatr}-. All the people believe in one 

 universal God, the creator and preserver of all things, whom the}' generally call Olonii) (6 li oruij), the 

 Owner or Lord of Heaven, and sometimes by other names, as Oloduinare, the Ei'er-R'tyhteous, Oga-Ogo, 

 Glorious High One, Oluwa, Lord, ifec. They liold the doctrines of the immortality of tlie soul and of 

 future rewards and punishments ; but on these points their notions are obscure. All the dead are in 

 orui), Hades. (jka-OTwr), the Upper Hades, is the abode of the righteous, and Oruij-akpadi, the Crucible- 

 Hades, is the place of punishment. 



Their idols are never confounded with God, either in name or character. They are called ori^a, 

 a name which appears to be derived fi'om asa, customs, or religious ceremonies. xVmong the numerous 

 orisas worshipped there are three great ones, called Obatal4, Saogo, and Ifa. Obatal& is thought to be the 

 first made and greatest of all created things. Others, however, affirm that he was nothing more than an 

 ancient king of Yoruba, and they profess to tell the name of his father. His name Obatala appears to be. 

 a contraction of 9ba ti nla, the king who is great, or of oba ti ala, the king of whiteness, i.e. purity. A 

 white cloth (ala) is worn by his worshippers. Some of liis other names arc, Orisa ida, the great orisa ; 

 Alamorere, he of the good clay, because he made the human body of clay ; and Orisa kpokpo, the orisa of 

 the gate, because he is the guardian of the gates of cities. He is frequently represented as a warrior on 

 horseback, holding a spear. His wife, lyaijgba, the receiving mother, is represented as nursing a child. 

 But Iyai)gba herself is Obatala. The two are one, or in other words, Obatala is an androgyne, repre- 

 senting the productive energy of nature as distinguished from the creative power of God. Obatala forms 

 or produces the bodies of men ; but God himself imparts life and spirit, and God alone is styled Eleda> 

 Creator. The second great orisa is Saijgo, the thunder god, who is also called Dzakuta, the Stone-caster. 

 The stones or thunderbolts which Saqgo casts down from heaven are preserved as sacretl relics. In 

 appearance they are identical with the so-called stone-hatcliets picked up in the fields of America ; but 

 whether they were made originally for battle-axes, or leather dressing implements, or emblematic thunder- 

 bolts, is not easily determined. 



According to one account, Saijgo was born at If e, and reigned at Ikoso, a town recently destroved, which 

 stood thirty or forty miles south of Isaki. He was much addicted to predatory wars, in commemoration 

 of which his worshippers still cany a bag, as the emblem of booty. When a liouse is struck by lightning, 

 they have a right to pillage it, and also to steal as many goats and chickens as they can find at large in 

 any part of the town. They affirm that their master was translated alive to heaven, where he reigns in 

 great state, having a palace with gates of bi'ass, and ten thousand horses, and amusing himself with 

 hunting, fishing, and war. 



But the abstract Saijgo is quite a difterent being. He is the son of Oruijgai], midday, and the grandson 

 of Agaqdzu, the desert. His mother is Izemodza, the mother of fishes, a small river in Yoruba. His elder 

 brother is Dada, nature, one of the Yoruba idols ; his younger brother is the river Ogui), which bears the 

 name of the god of war and smith's work. His wives are the rivers Oya, Osui), and Oba ; his associate is 

 Orisako, the god of farms ; his slave is Biri, darkness ; and his priest is Magba, the receiver. 



The third great idol is Ifa, the revealer of future events, and the patron of marriage and childbirth. 

 He is called Banga, the god of palm-nuts, because si.xteen palm-nuts are employed in obtaining responses. 

 The head-quarters of Ife are at Ado, a village on the top of an immense rock near Awaye. 



There are several other idols of note, as Odudua, the universe, located at If e ; Dada, nature ; and 

 Orisako, the god of farms, whose symbol is a large iron bar. These bars are obtained at a great cost 

 from the high priest of the idol, who dwells at Irawo. Many of the inferior idols are men and women 

 who were distinguished in their day by some remai'kablc relation to the tribe. 



The doctrine of idolatry prevalent in Yoruba appears to be dei-ived by analogy from the form and 

 customs of the civil government. There is but one king in the nation, and one God over the universe. 

 Petitioners to the king approach him through the intervention of his servants, courtiers, and nobles ; 

 and the petitioner conciliates the courtier whom he employs by good words and presents. In like manner 

 no man can directly approach God ; but the Almighty himsclti they say, has appointed various kinds of 

 orisas, who arc mediators and intercessors between himself and mankind. No sacrifices arc made to God, 

 because he needs nothing ; but the orisas, being much like men, are pleased with offerings of sheep, 

 pigeons, and other things. They conciliate the orisa, or mediator, that he may bless them, not in his 

 own power, but in the power of God. 



As the people make a clear distinction^ between God and idols, so an idol, which is a real spiritual being, 



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