The Traditional Theologians and the Practice of Òrìṣà Religion in Yorùbáland Author(s): Thomas Mákanjúọlá Ilésanmí Source: Journal of Religion in Africa, Vol. 21, Fasc. 3 (Aug., 1991), pp. 216-226 Published by: BRILL Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1580822 Accessed: 04/10/2010 17:22 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at http://www.jstor.org/action/showpublisher?publishercode=bap. Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. BRILL is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Journal of Religion in Africa. http://www.jstor.org
Journal of Religion in Africa XXI, 3 (1991) THE TRADITIONAL THEOLOGIANS AND THE PRACTICE OF ORISA RELIGION IN YORUBALAND BY THOMAS MAKANJUOLA ILESANMI (Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria) Introduction Theology and philosophy which have successfully moulded the behaviour of man at different epochs, have always been dependent on the harsh facts of life, the response to local discoveries and, more often, to external contacts. Man does not make metaphysical investigations in a vacuum. Ideas which give birth to theories are generated through observations and discoveries in a particular environment. Like commercial goods, theories are advertized, popularized and sometimes postulated as fundamental principles or articles of faith. In a community that has become tenaciously married to a theory, myths may become history, and a few epochs may be labelled eternity. Very often, political trumpets deafen the internal rancour of the proletariat who are forced to smile at grief. However, academic research grants one some immunity from the tyranny of rigid ideas and static one-directional gazes. The idea of Olo6dimare as a Yoriuba Supreme Deity has often been advertized both by the Babalawo (Iff priests and prophets), and by pioneering researchers in the theological adaptation of Christianity to Yoriuba culture.' They hold that all the people who are labelled Yoriuba today had always believed that Olo6dimare is a Supreme Deity and that the Orisas are his intermediaries. The Babalawo make the distinction between tales/stories and history. They claim that history is factual and empirical but tales/stories are not. What many of us may term myths today, are, to the Babalawo, history, which relates events which are believed to have actually happened in the far distant past. Although Feldmann (1963:11)2 warned that 'we must beware of reading into native categories of sacred and profane, our distinctions between truth and fiction, or history and poetry', nevertheless, the Babalawo seem to make the
Religion in Yoruibaland 217 very distinctions we make between these arts. The Babalawo would not tell tales, because tales are fiction and fiction has no historical basis in actual life. Ese Ifa are regarded by them as true stories, accounts of things that actually happened i.e. the history of the Yoriuba community in general, and of individuals in particular which are recounted to enlighten every subsequent generation. This paper is set out to re-examine these notions of the traditional custodians of culture, in the light of recent happenings within the culture, especially in the light of the move to update traditional theology by diplomatically using modern tools. Historical Assessment The present day Yoriuba claim a common origin but this claim is being challenged by historians.3 History does not support a homogeneous Yoriuba community, nor does research support a universal religion for the various Yoriuba subgroups. The term 'Yoruba' applied initially to the Oyo speaking group, (now found in Oyo and Kwara States of Nigeria), but it was later extended to a conglomeration of several ethnic groups. These groups are sometimes referred to as dialect groups, but some of them face the practical difficulty of understanding other dialect groups of the same 'language'. A distant dialect group may therefore regard some of the dialects as foreign languages.4 Until now, not much research has been carried out on the dialectology of 'Yoruba'; the proto-type language of the multitudinous 'Yoruba' dialects is not yet known. It would seem that Yorubai, as we know it today, has been adopted by the rest of the community, as a result of western education which adopted the Yoruba (Oyo) dialect, for certain religio-political reasons: the first crop of influential missionaries came from Oyo or the environs; the Alaafin, the Oba of Oyo, was declared by the colonial rulers King of the Yorubai. Thus the Alaafin became more powerful, and the Oyo dialect assumed hegemony over other dialects. Since then, the real language, the proto-type Yoruba with all its dialectal branches (except the Oyo Yoruiba) have been termed dialects. Before the turn of the nineteenth century, only the Oyo speaking sub-ethnic group were called Yoriuba by the other dialect groups; the rest knew themselves as Ijebui and Egba/Egbado (in Ogiun State), Ife and Ijesa (in Oyo State), Ekiti, Ikale, Akuire, Ak6k6,
218 Thomas Mdkanjuold Ilisanmi Ogho, Ondo and part of Igbomina (in Ondo State). Apart from being an extension of the original dialectal connotation, and QOy denotation,5 the term 'Toruba', as used today, has a certain political colouring. The historical heterogeneity of the Yoriuba is again brought into focus in the recent research of the author at AramQko (Ekitiland) and in Ijesaland (comprising Ilesa, Ob6kun Government Local Council and Atakum6osa Government Local Council). It is to be noted that some fairly big towns such as Osu, Ipetujesa, Ijebujesa, Ifewara, Ibbkun, Esa-Oke, Imesi-Ile, Erin Ijesa, Erin Oke, Ipend6, Otan-Il, Iwara, Odo, Ilaro and a host of other smaller towns and villages make up the Atakuimosa and Obokun Local Councils. Oral and written references are copiously made to some aborigines in the two places before the advent of the present generations of rulers. The aborigines, as well as the newcomers, had religions that were peculiar to each group. Besides, the Igbo mentioned in the legend of Moremi at Ife (Abiri 1970:1-2) did not live too far away from Ife. However, if they had had any linguistic or cultural affiliation with the Ife, they would not have operated totally as strangers as their masquerading habit depicted. As Abiri (1970:1-2) puts it: A throng of people long ago Fled for faith their primeval home; From East to West for years they sped, By princely Oduduwa led... Quite soon a foreign tribe by stealth, Cast envious eyes on Ife's wealth, Longing to plunder men and goods To serve their needs far in the woods. Some would aver what's rather moot That the tribe thus with envy moved Were indigenes of Ife land Dislodged by Oodua's mighty hand.6 In the above excerpt, the issue of aborigines or indigenes is again raised. If the Oduduwa group of people came from the East to settle at Ife, they did not bring with them the different types of animal life found there. The animals, the birds, the trees, the geographical features are certainly indigenous to Ife. But if indigeneity for these beings is contended, there is no justification to deny indigeneity to human kind in the land prior to the advent of Oduduwa. If the aborigines were politically displaced, there is no evidence that they
Religion in Yorzbaland 219 were totally annihilated. The fact of historical heterogeneity, rather than homogeneity, led the various 'Yoriuba' dialect groups to see themselves as separate entities rather than as a nation. If they were historically heterogeneous, could they be religiously homogeneous? The Traditional Theologians and the Place of Orisd in the life of the Yorutba All notions of God have to be expressed in the moulds of man. The monotheistic idea does not in any way elevate traditional religion. Polytheism, monotheism, trinitheism, pantheism, panentheism and all other forms of the theories of God, are essentially forms of theodicy-human conceptions for a revealing God. We cannot pass universal value judgement on all or any religion, unless all religions use the same measure. But all religions have a cultural origin, hence a common measure for value judgement is impossible. Religion does not even admit humanly provable rationalizations; it very often defies the empiricism of philosophy and science. It is in this light that I proceed to examine the place of the orisd in the life of the Yoruba. Oba Laoye I, Timi of Ede, a town in Oyo State, points out that: The Yoriuba deify their heroes and great men, and refer to them as orisa and each orisa has his particular oriki: also every important personage has his own oriki, and Yoruba drummers and native bands are very learned in these orikis, which they know by heart. Each Orisa also has his own special kind of dance...7 This excerpt is a general statement about the nature of Yoriuba deity, and, by implication, reveals the sub-ethnic origin of each orisd, rather than a universal theological pontification that certain orisd descended from heaven by means of a chain. This is particularly true of Odudua, who, although he is said to have descended from heaven through a chain, also has a natural human origin. The founding of the earth as revealed in the myth of origin by the advocates of the Ifa divinatory system, also alludes to a chain by which the orisa descended, close to an extensive stretch of water into which they poured the sand from heaven, which late became the earth. Only in ese If does this myth of the descent of orisd exist among the Yoruba. Probably, by the creation of the myth of descent of the Orisa, Ifa tries to theologize. Theology is not a prerogative of the Western
220 Thomas Mdkanju'old Ilesanmi mind. The theory of the superiority of theology over philosophy propounded by Thomas Aquinas is not peculiar to the West; the Yoriuba have traditional theologians who reason in like manner. Orunmila/Ifi, who established the complex divinatory system, also created in the corpus the aforementioned cosmology, which served as the genesis for the hierarchical structure which the system attributed to Olo6dmare. The Babalawo, as Akiwowo8 rightly points out, is not a rote reciter of Ifa verse; he adopts the device of aural retention, which gives him the opportunity of personal interpretation of certain aspects of the corpus. Some Awo, who may be described as intellectual advocates of the Ifi system, are, together with the Babalawo, theologians. Theology deals with the expert interpretation of the mind of the deity, an explanation of the divine purpose for humanity. This is exactly what the Babalawo do. They always present Ifi verses as divine truths, which should not be questioned without commensurate punishment for any questioning client. They do not even make any distinction between revelation, myths and theology. Every ese Ifa assumes the status of historical fact among the Yoriuba. The Babalawo, through the Ifa system, mould the conscience of the people, thus creating the hegemony of theology over human reasoning. As with most other theologians, the voice of revelation is declared to be the ideal and reasonable par excellence. It should be noted that this theology and mythology is the prerogative of the Babalawo in the Yoruba system. The advocates or the devotees of the other orisd seem to limit their pontification to their individual orisd, while the Babalawo go beyond Ifi, to legislate on all the ramificated aspects of Yoriuba life. The Ifa system claims that Ol6dumare, in sharing his attributes with some selected orisd, gave wisdom to Ifi. But wisdom spreads her tentacles over the multitudinous phases of the entire universe, hence Ifa pontificates over the affairs of every other orisd, human beings and lower beings. If the Ifi theory conforms with the actual practice all over Yorubaland, then, it may seem justified to say that ab initio, Ifi has served as the moulder of the entire socio-religious life of the Yorubai. But it does not. Recent research reveals that the religious generalization fre- quently made by the practitioners of the traditional divinatory institution is not often corroborated by practices and beliefs in the
Religion in Yoruibaland 221 many dialect groups of the Yoriuba race.9 Reification and deification are the general practice of religion in many dialect groups of Yoriubaland. The local practitioners of Yoriuba religion have always treated their orisas as independent deified heroes and heroines or, in some cases, as nature gods (reification), who are approached as the final point of worship with no reference to a supreme deity. Osun worshippers in Oluponna, Osogbo and Iponda, see their deity as the only point of reference, and not as an intemediary or mediatrix between them and another superior being. Sang6 is ubi- quitously treated as the supreme controller of all the activities of his advocates. The worshippers of Oglyan in Iragbiji believe that their deity does everything for them; they do not send him to any Olo6dumare. Babarake controls the traditional life in Igangan without any reference to Olo6dmare; while Ogun wields total divine power in Ond6, Ipole, Ire Ekiti and in many parts of Yorubaland, without his advocates feeling that he refers their cases to a superior deity. The Ikere people in Ekitiland in Ondo State have a nature god-olosuta-who they believe does all things for them without alluding to any other power. The catalogue can be extended copiously. That the world conference on the religion of the Yoriuba is not named after Olo6dmare but after all the orisas, is a pointer to the practical acceptance, that the Yoruba worship Orisa per se, and make them the focus of their rituals rather than the intermediaries between them and Olo6dmare. Even the term 'orisa' is only recently universally attributed to all 'Yoriuba' deities. Many dialect groups are only familiar with Umole, Esidale, Olua, Osutai, Ale, Olokun, Eegun, etc and not with the term, '6ria'. Until the advent of missionaries to Yorubaland, the orisad continued to increase at a geometrical ratio. Each local hero became locally deified. And if a local community was fortunate to dominate other communities through conquest, the conquering community used its hegemony to popularize its deified hero and thus a one time local deity soon assumed a universal status. Some orisa are popularized through the devotees in diaspora, by disseminating the attributes of their deities whereever they visit. If it were not for the influence of the Islamic and Christian religions, heroes like Ogunmla6, Ogedehgbe, $odeke, Akintola, Adilo6ju and even Anikfir and Oyeenusi would have been locally deified. Madan Tinumbu and Efinsetan have today become legendary women. Oya, Osun,
222 Thomas Mdkanjtiold Ilisanmi Oba and Odu might not have made a greater impression in the minds of their communities than the aforementioned legendary women. Oguin, Sang6, Osun, Orunmila, Qbatatla and Odudua were once local heroes/heroines before their subsequent popularization. Some of these oricsa have been so politically popularized and theologically mythologized, that they have now assumed universal recognition, in theory, among the Yoriuba, without reference to their original local and historical background and importance. Daram6la and Jeje10 clearly point out the local and natural existence of some Yoriuba deities. Ogun, for example, was born by Tabiutu and his father was Or6rinna; he cut through a forest to pave the way for his colleagues who later became deified like himself. Orisa-oko was a farmer; Aginju and Yemoja were children of Obatala, their mother was said to be Odudua believed to be a female deity." Sang6 is universally known as a historical figure. Recent research by the author reveals that Osun was a local Ekiti/Ijesa deity, before she became popularized at Osogbo, and politicized as the wife of Sang6, Obatala and Oguin at different times. Ijesa deities include Obokun, Owairi, QOwalus, Atakumosa, Obalogun, Biladu, Agbelekui (Agbeleye), Babaraike L66gun-ede, Osun, Sanponna, Olua, Abeere-ogun and a host of others, who were first heroes/heroines of the land before they became deified.12 The situation in Ijesaland is typical of many towns in Ekiti and Eastern Yoruba towns. Besides, students' research on Yoruba deities in the Universities of Ibadhan, Lagos, Ilorin and Obafemi Aw6o1wo University, Ife, reveals that Yoriuba deities are not treated as intermediaries between the communities that worship them and Olo6dumare. They are seen by their devotees as the final point of worship and as the supreme powers that can satisfy their various needs.13 The musical ensemble associated with each orisad is indicative of their independent and local origin, igbin belongs to Obatala, batd is associated with Sang6, agogo with Ifa, agere with Oguin,'4 lukorzgi with most orisa in Ijesaland, etc. None of these musical ensembles has a celestial origin; each of them has a temporal origin and a physical location. Each was either a personal invention of an orisa, or a favourite of a deity. They were all environmentally produced to accompany local cultural dance steps. Their rendition varies in
Religion in Yorubaland 223 tempo and in pitch, and their local association and popularity are still unobstructed by interdialect borrowing. Other material objects of each orisa also reveal an orisa's local origin and environmental adaptation. Artistic representations of each trisa vary in form and style. While some are naturalistic, others are mere abstract representations. Some are even depicted by natural phenomena. Certainly, many local restraints are responsible for the diversity in the material representation of orisd. As the Latin proverb states: 'nemo dat quod non habet', no environment can offer what it does not possess. Creativity is culture bound; development is always a product of the societal mentality of a locality. People 'create' the type of deity they want for themselves. The Influence of Ifd on the theology of Olddumare Ifa divinatory system is a very complex matter. Ifa is a deity, a religion and a philosophy of life. The minds that formulated and organized the system cannot but be highly philosophical and theological. It is a system that works on the psychology of people, and puts into consideration all the multitudinous facets of man's life. Like the christian scripture, the system creates a genesis, a development and an apocalypse to guide the future not only in heaven but also here and now on earth. Man's desire to have foreknowledge of what will happen to him has led to a wide range of patronization of the Ifi divinatory system. All aspects of life are thus brought under the direction of the Babalawo, the traditional fortune tellers. It is also the duty of the Babalawo to narrate supernatural 'history', in form of myth and cosmological structure. They do not see ese Ifd as tales; they are even prohibited from telling tales, probably to avoid the error of mistaking one for the other. Thus they give the perennial impression that all the stories in ese Ifd are factual. But they also theologize about the purpose of man's existence on earth, and the conflict between good and evil, putting man in the precarious position of appeasing each of the forces, in order to lead a meaningful life. Man has no control over his universe, the orizsa and the ajogun (forces of evil) have. Man has no right to question the deeds of the two opposing forces. He can only appeal to one force to militate against or appease the other on his behalf. Personal ingenuity, creativity, dedication to duty, intelligence and positive interaction,
224 Thomas Mdkanju'old Ilesanmi are not a passport to success and societal happiness in the Ifa Yoriuba traditional theological system; it is sheepish conformity to the will of the orisa and ajogun that gives a person any right to success and happiness. There is an ongoing modernization of Ifa worship which is a pointer to the fact that the Babalawo do theologize and update their system, to cater for changing situations. The Ijo Orunmila Adulawo Ifek6wapo (a modernised Ifa indigenous church) has published a liturgical 'holy' book, which is being used as christians use the Bible, and as muslims use the Quran. The book Iwe Odt Mimo15 contains a selection of certain Odu (Verses from the Ifa literary Corpus), written according to christian biblical style. In the book, the usual aural retention associated with Babalawo, has given way to alphabetic imprisonment. If this practice continues on a wider scale to incorporate all known verses of the Ifa corpus, the creativity of the Babalawo in the practice of Ifi may come to an end. It should be noted here that the imitative biblical style has drastically robbed the indigenous liturgy of its originality if not of its credibility. Closely associated with this alphabetic imitation, is the new trend of church building adaptation. There are now not less than six Ile Ijuba (traditional but adapted worship houses), where advocates of various orisa traditions meet to share common religious interests and experiences. Three of these Ile Ijuba are located at M6osifa, Ola and Isundunrin near Ejigbo; two at Oyo (the Awo Alaafin and Isale Oyo), and one at Oke Itase at Ife. It is not surprising that a Babalawo heads each of these collective liturgical centres. Probably, it is their committed ambition to unite all o3risai traditions under If, and uplift the religion from the low position to which it has been relegated by awaking the consciousness of moribund practitioners. The imitative church building gathering affords the participants, without their asking for it, the opportunity of theological training, based on the myth and cosmology created by the formulators of the Ifa system. Again, if this practice continues and spreads to other parts of Yoriubaland, shrines may give way to 'ecclesia' structures. However, it is not sure whether it will bring greater benefit to Orisa tradition, than the ancient approach of placing emphasis on individual orisa, and seeing each as a local communal unifying factor. Some educated youths who have lost touch with their local deity
Religion in Yorutbaland 225 because of formal education, seem to favour the 'ecclesia' adaptation. It affords them the opportunity of being initiated, not into one specific orisd, but to all the orisd together; they may later patronize the one that best suits their desire. In such initiation, Ifi priests play prominent roles. Conclusion So far in this paper popularized theories have been compared with traditional practices. What some authors want Yoriuba to be, has often been presented as the defacto situation. This paper, however, has tried to show the dichotomy between theories and actual practices. Olo6dumare is probably the Supreme Deity of the Yoriuba only in the context of the Ifa system which creates the idea and propagates it among advocates of several other orisd who do not have the philosophical mind of the Ifa system. That the Yoriuba in general worship Orisa and not Oloduimare, is a thesis copiously substantiated by orisd (local deities) traditions all over Yoriubaland. Ifa should be praised for its ingenuity. It is not only religiously, but also philosophically, oriented. Its numerical system has been described as a complex computer system by Adetiloye (1987:2-7).16 Its modern advocates seem to capitalize mainly on its religious contribution. There is no objection to Ifa marrying all orisa systems but, in doing this, it has created a myth of origin and a cosmology that can incorporate the other systems. Nonetheless, we should realize that theological and philosophical geneses are subsequent to the systems that propagate them. The unity which the Ifa theologians continue to advocate among the traditional worshippers in Yoruibaland has not been fully achieved. Practice, not theory, is our evidence. NOTES 1. Bolaji Idowu (1962) Olddtumare: God in Yorubad Belief, Longman, Nigeria. Bolaji Id6owu has also published a book on the adaptation of Yoriuba culture to Christianity. In Towards the Indigenisation of Christianity, he shows the initial mistakes of the pioneering missionaries who felt that it was ideal for them to condemn all traditional tenets in order to establish 'true' Christianity. 2. Susan Feldmann (ed.) (1963) African Myths and Tales, Dell Publishing Co. Inc., New York. 3. cf. J. A. Atanda (1973 pp. 1-14) The New Qyo Empire. 4. cf. Olurainkinse, 0. (1982 pp. 20-23) "Of the Idanre and Yoruba
226 Thomas Mdkanjuold Ilesanmi Language" in Some Problems Connected with the teaching and learning of Yoruba Language in Selected Secondary Schools in Idanre. An essay submitted to the Faculty of Education, University of Ife, Ile-Ife. 5. cf. Biobaku, S. 0. (1971 p. 6) The Origin of the Yoruiba Series. No. 1, University of Lagos Humanities Monograph. The use of Yoriuba for all the dialect groups was further enhanced by the formation of the Egbe Q,o Oodua in June 1948. 6. Abiri, J. 0. 0. (1970 pp. 1-2) Moremf: An Epic of Feminine Heroism. Onibonbhe Press, Ibadan, Nigeria. 7. Laoye, I, Timi of Ede 'Yoriuba Drums' in ODU March, 1959 pp. 5-6. 8. Akiwowo, Akinsola (1984 p. 15) 'Understanding Interpretative Sociology in the light of the Oriki of Orunmila', Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Ife, Ile-Ife. 9. The formulation of the religious generalization can be found in the Proceedings of The First World Conference on Orisa Tradition, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. 1981 pp. 21-31. This formulation has been expressed in various ways prior to the 1981 Conference. Many researchers have taken the tree for the forest. A review of the researchers' tenets is available in J. 0. Awolalu's Yoruzba Beliefs and Sacrificial Rites, Longman 1979 pp. 3-18. But Karin Barber (1990) 'Oriki, Women and the Proliferation and Merging of orisa', Africa 60 (1990) pp. 313-37 has shed some new light on the creation of orisc in Yoriubaland. 10. cf. Olu Daramola and A. Jeje (1967 p. 281) Awon Asa dati Orisai Ie Yoruba', Onibonoje Press, Nigeria. 11. Ibid., p. 224. 12. T. M. Ilesanmi (1985) Hearthstone: A Cultural Study of Songs in Ijesaland, Doctoral Thesis, University of Ibadan, Nigeria. 13. Pierre Verger (1957) and P. R. McKenzie (1976) long noticed this fact as published in the article by McKenzie: 'Yoriuba Orisa Cults: Some Marginal notes concerning their cosmology and concepts of Deity' in Journal of Religion in Africa, Vol. viii facs. 3 pp. 189-99. 14. cf. Laoye, I, Timi of Ede 'Yoriuba Drums' in ODU March, 1959. University of Ife, Nigeria. 15. Iwe Odu Mimod ti Orunmila Ifa Oldkun Ajeti Aiye compiled by Ijo Qrunmila Adulawo Ifeko6wapo. Fadehan Printing Works, Ile-Ife (n.d.) 16. cf. Adetiloye, P. O. on 'Ifa System of Divination on the choice of Human Destiny in Yoriubai Culture', Department of Plant Science, University of Ife, Nigeria. Presented at the Departmental Seminar of the Department of African Languages and Literatures, University of Ife, Monday, March 2, 1987.