6 NOTES ON WEST AFRICAN CATEGORIES 



3. The Council is formed of six pairs of elders and 



their twelve Orishas or deified ancestors, or 

 twenty-four parts in all. 



The formula may thus be mathematically expressed 

 as 4 + 4 + (6 x 2), that is not counting the followers, or 

 complementary parts. 



The nature powers, still worshipped by the followers 

 of I fa the Nigerian Revealer, are 



4. Creative deities coinciding with the King's court. 



5. Procreative deities coinciding with the Prime 



Minister and his three great officers. 



6. Pairs of created elementary powers representing 



water, earth, etc., coinciding with the Council of 

 the Prime Minister. 



These gods and powers are connected with the 

 seasons and dominate birth, marriage, and tabu 

 ceremonies in such a way that it is impossible to 

 separate them from the religious rites and all that the 

 natives hold most sacred. 



Further, they are not only nature deities but they are 

 also looked upon in many cases as the deified ancestors 

 of the people in their different categories as kings, 

 chiefs, priests, fishermen, hunters, farmers, etc. 1 



Through the seasons, and the names of the divining 

 palm nuts and their meaning, and in other ways, 

 I have shown that the religious and social ideas of the 

 Yoruba can be reconciled with those of the Bavili as 



1 I have written in general terms purposely, but those who are 

 interested in this matter and wish to know the names of the Gods 

 and Rulers will find them in " At the Back of the Black Man's 

 Mind " and " Nigerian Studies." 



