Ori (known as Orí in

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

) is a

Yoruba The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...

metaphysical concept. Ori, literally meaning "head," refers to one's spiritual intuition and

destiny Destiny, sometimes referred to as fate (from Latin ''fatum'' "decree, prediction, destiny, fate"), is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual. Fate Although often ...

. It is the reflective spark of human

consciousness Consciousness, at its simplest, is sentience and awareness of internal and external existence. However, the lack of definitions has led to millennia of analyses, explanations and debates by philosophers, theologians, linguisticians, and scien ...

embedded into the human essence, and therefore is often personified as an Orisha in its own right. It is believed by the

Yoruba religion The Yoruba religion (Yoruba: Ìṣẹ̀ṣe), or Isese, comprises the traditional religious and spiritual concepts and practice of the Yoruba people. Its homeland is in present-day Southwestern Nigeria, which comprises the majority of Oyo, Ogu ...

that

human beings Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, an ...

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 appeased. This is because whatever one becomes or whatever happens in one's life is as destined by Ori.

Bibliography

*Camara, Louis, 1996. ''Le choix de l'Ori: conte.'' Saint-Louis: Xamal. *Gbadegesin, Segun, 2003. 'Ènìyàn, The Yoruba Concept of a Person', in P.H. Coetzee and A.P.J. Roux (eds) ''The African Philosophy Reader'' (2nd ed.), 175-191. (This study originally appeared under the same title in Gbadegesin, Segun, 1991. ''African philosophy: Traditional Yoruba philosophy and contemporary African realities''. New York: Peter Lang, 27-59.) *Makinde, M.A. 1985. 'A Philosophical analysis of the Yoruba concepts of Ori and human destiny', ''International Studies in Philosophy'', 17, 1, 54-69. *Ifaloju, A. 2007. ' Ori - The Divine Container of Destiny, Character & Potential, Seed of the Creator ', ''Ifa Speaks, blog article, Yoruba concepts of destiny & purpose '' Presented at University of Habana, Cuba - Dept of Anthropology 2007, during sessions teaching traditional Ifa worship - International Ifa Training Institute conferenc
Ifa Speaks Articles
{{Orisa-Ifá Yoruba culture Yoruba religion Yoruba words and phrases

Further reading

Bibliography