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Iyami
Iyami Aje is a Yoruba term of respect and endearment used to describe a woman of African ancestry who is considered to be an Aje, a woman who wields myriad arcane creative biological, spiritual, and cosmic powers. Etymology In Yoruba language, ''Ìyá mi'' literally means "my mother". In Yoruba cosmology, the mother's roles as the force of creation and the sustainer of life and existence elevates her to the realm of the divine. Consequently, ''Ìyá mi'' - with alterations in tones - becomes ''Ìyààmi'' or ''Ìyàmi'', which can be translated as "the super-powerful ones" or "My Mysterious Mother." Àjẹ́ is a Yoruba word that signifies the biological and spiritual power of African women that has myriad potential, including but not limited to, powers of elemental, biological and artistic creation; healing; destruction; spiritual and physical development and fortification; and political organization and empowerment. In ''The Architects of Existence: Àjẹ́ in Yoruba Cosmol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iyalawo
is a term in the Yoruba language that literally means Mother of Mysteries or Mother of Wisdom (''Ìyá'': “mother”; ''awó'' “mysteries"). Some adherents use the term "Mamalawo," which is a partially African diaspora version of the Yoruba term, Iyaláwo and Yeyelawo are two more versions of mother of mysteries. Ìyánífá is a Yoruba word that can be translated as Mother (''Ìyá'') has or of (''ní'') Ifá or Mother in Ifá. Differences between terms While Iyaláwo and Ìyánífá are often used interchangeably, the terms have different denotations and connotations. The term Iyanífa specifically relates to Ifá and could indicate that a female undertakes Ifa divination or is a custodian of Ifa in a personal or professional capacity; the term may also indicate that a woman has had Itefa or itelodu initiation. The term Iyaláwo indicates a woman who has knowledge of sacred wisdom that may include Ifa but goes beyond Ifá . The significance of the Iyaláwo in Yoruba cosmolog ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oshun
Ọṣun, is an orisha, a spirit, a deity, or a goddess that reflects one of the manifestations of the Yorùbá Supreme Being in the Ifá oral tradition and Yoruba-based religions of West Africa. She is one of the most popular and venerated Orishas. Oshun is an important river deity among the Yorùbá people. She is the goddess of divinity, femininity, fertility, beauty and love. She is connected to destiny and divination. During the life of the mortal Osun, she served as queen consort to King Shango of Oyo. Following her posthumous deification, she was admitted to the Yoruba pantheon as an aspect of a primordial divinity of the same name. She is the patron saint of the Osun River in Nigeria, which bears her name. The river has its source in Ekiti State, in the west of Nigeria, and passes through the city of Osogbo, where Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove, the principal sanctuary of the deity, is located. Oṣun is honored at the Osun-Osogbo Festival, a two-week-long annual festi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abrahamic Faith
The Abrahamic religions are a group of religions centered around worship of the God of Abraham. Abraham, a Hebrew patriarch, is extensively mentioned throughout Abrahamic religious scriptures such as the Bible and the Quran. Jewish tradition claims that the Twelve Tribes of Israel are descended from Abraham through his son Isaac and grandson Jacob, whose sons formed the nation of the Israelites in Canaan (or the Land of Israel); Islamic tradition claims that twelve Arab tribes known as the Ishmaelites are descended from Abraham through his son Ishmael in the Arabian Peninsula. In its early stages, Israelite religion was derived from the Canaanite religions of the Bronze Age; by Iron Age I, it had become distinct from other Canaanite religions as it shed polytheism for monolatry. The monolatrist nature of Yahwism was further developed in the period following the Babylonian captivity, eventually emerging as a firm religious movement of monotheism. In the 1st century CE, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mami Wata
Mami Wata (Mammy Water), or La Sirene, is a water spirit venerated in West, Central, and Southern Africa and in the African diaspora in the Americas. Mami Wata spirits are usually female but are sometimes male., p. 1. Attributes Appearance The appearance of her hair ranges from straight, curly to wooly black and combed straight back.Van Stipriaan 325.Bastian, Misty L"Nwaanyi Mara Mma: Mami Wata, the More Than Beautiful Woman" Department of Anthropology, Franklin & Marshall College. Most scholarly sources suggest the name "Mami Wata" is a pidgin English derivation of "Mother Water", reflecting the goddess's title ("mother of water" or "grandmother of water") in the Agni language of Côte d'Ivoire, although this etymology has been disputed by Africanist writers in favor of various non-English etymologies, for example, the suggestion of a linguistic derivation from ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian, such as the Egyptian terms "''Mami''" or "''Mama''", meaning "truth" "''Uati''" ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Olokun
Olokun (Yoruba: Olókun) is an orisha spirit in Yoruba religion. Olokun is believed to be the parent of Aje, the orisha of great wealth and of the bottom of the ocean. Olokun is revered as the ruler of all bodies of water and for the authority over other water deities. Olokun is highly praised for their ability to give great wealth, health, and prosperity to their followers. Communities in both West Africa and the African diaspora view Olokun variously as female, male, or androgynous. West Africa Water deities are "ubiquitous and vitally important in southern Nigeria"; Olókun worship is especially noted in the cities of the Edo people in southwest Nigeria. In West African areas directly adjacent to the coast, Olokun takes a male form among his worshipers while in the hinterland, Olokun is a female deity. According to Yoruba traditions about their divine dynasty, Olokun - in her female incarnation - was the senior wife of Emperor Oduduwa. Her rivalry with one of his other wive ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iya Nla
Ìyá Nlá is the primordial spirit of all creation in Yoruba cosmology. She is believed to be the source of all existence. ''Iya Nla'' literally means “Great Mother” in the Yoruba language (''Ìyá'': Mother; ''Nlá'': Big or Great). In ''The Gẹ̀lẹ̀dẹ́ Spectacle: Art, Gender, and Social Harmony in an African Culture'', art historian Babatunde Lawal Babatunde Lawal is an art historian and scholar of the arts of Nigeria. His research is focused on the visual culture of the Yoruba and its influences in the Americas. He is currently a professor of Art History at Virginia Commonwealth University. ... reveals that Ìyá Nlá in Yoruba cosmology is the orisha who is the “Mother of All Things, including the deities.” Lawal also asserts that the female principle in nature has been personified as Ìyá Nlá (The Great Mother), whereby human beings can relate to one another as children of the same mother.” Teresa N. Washington’s ''Our Mothers, Our Powers, Our Texts: ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yemi Elebuibon
Ifáyẹmi Ọ̀ṣundàgbónu Elebuibon (born 1947) is a Yoruba language, Yoruba and Nigerian writer, poet, author, linguist, and a world-famous Ifa priest. His plays and films have received worldwide acclamation for his pursuit of the preservation of Yoruba culture and heritage. He also serves as a traveling lecturer in several institutions including at the department of African language and literature at the Obafemi Awolowo University and Black Studies at the San Francisco State University and at the Wajumbe Cultural Institution in California. Early life Elebuibon was born in 1947 in Osogbo to Akínrìndé Àkàndé Ẹlẹ́búìbọn (c. 1885 – 1957) an Ifa priest and hunter, and Ṣíjuwọyá Abeje Ẹlẹ́búìbọn (née Awóníyì). Elebuibon comes from a long line of hunters, priests, herbalists, and warriors. His father was claimed to be a descendant of the legendary warrior Olutimehin, one of the founders of the city of Osogbo. His mother was born into a family ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ori (Yoruba)
Ori (known as Orí in Latin America) is a Yoruba metaphysical concept. Ori, literally meaning "head," refers to one's spiritual intuition and destiny. It is the reflective spark of human consciousness embedded into the human essence, and therefore is often personified as an Orisha in its own right. It is believed by the Yoruba religion that human beings are able to heal themselves both spiritually and physically by working with the Orishas to achieve a balanced character Character or Characters may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk * ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ..., or ''iwa-pele''. When one has a balanced character, one obtains an alignment with one's Ori or ''divine self''. It is also believed that Ori be worshiped like Orisha. When things are not going right, Ori should be consulted. And to make things right Ori should be a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ogboni
Ogboni (also known as Osugbo in Ijèbú) is a fraternal institution indigenous to the Yoruba-speaking polities of Nigeria, Republic of Bénin and Togo, as well as among the Edo people. The society performs a range of political and religious functions, including exercising a profound influence on monarchs and serving as high courts of jurisprudence in capital offenses. Its members are generally considered to constitute the nobility of the various Yoruba kingdoms of West Africa. The Iwarefa Each Ogboni lodge is led by a group of six principal officers that are collectively known as the ''Iwarefa'' ( lit. "The Six Wise Men"). These individuals are the most powerful figures in the polity that the lodge serves and are the inner council of advisors to its king or viceroyal chieftain. Influence Though versions of this fraternal group are found among the various types of Yoruba states – from highly centralized kingdoms and empires like Oyo (where they were expected to check the au ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iyalode (title)
The Iyalode is a high-ranking female chieftain in most of the Yoruba traditional states. The title is currently within the gift of the obas, although Njoku asserted in 2002 that the process of choosing an Iyalode in pre-colonial Nigeria was less of a choice by the monarch, and more of the accomplishment and involvement of the woman to be so honoured in economic and political matters. History Historically, therefore, the Iyalode did not only serve as a representative of women in the council, but also as a political and economic influencer in precolonial and colonial Nigeria. Referred to in Yoruba mythology as Oba Obirin or "King of the Women", an Iyalode's views are normally considered in the decision-making process by the council of high chiefs. In 2017, Olatunji from Tai Solarin University of Education likened the role played by an Iyalode to that of modern day feminism. He went further by explaining that a 19th century Iyalode, Madam Tinubu, was one of the richest people in Y ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
