Ọbà (known as Obá in Latin America) is the

orisha Orishas (singular: orisha) are divine spirits that play a key role in the Yoruba religion of West Africa and several religions of the African diaspora that derive from it, such as Haitian Vaudou, Cuban Santería and Brazilian Candomblé. The p ...

of the River Oba, the source of which lies near Igbon, where her worship originates. During the wars of the 19th century, her centers of worship moved to the more secure town

Ogbomosho Ogbomosho (also known as Ogbomoso and Ògbómọ̀ṣọ́) is a city in Oyo State, south-western Nigeria. It was founded in the mid 17th century. The population was approximately 655,517 in 2024. It is the second largest city in Oyo State and a ...

. She is traditionally identified as the

senior wife Great Wife, otherwise appearing in West Africa as Senior Wife, is an honorific applied to the principal female spouse in African polygynous unions. It is widely used by contemporary royal and aristocratic wives in states throughout the modern cont ...

Shango Shango (Yoruba language: Ṣàngó, also known as Changó or Xangô in Latin America; as Jakuta or Badé; and as Ṣangó in Trinidad Orisha) is an Orisha (or spirit) in Yoruba religion. Genealogically speaking, Shango is a royal ancestor of th ...

(the third king of the

Oyo Empire The Oyo Empire was a Yoruba people, Yoruba empire in West Africa. It was located in present-day western Nigeria (including the South West (Nigeria), South West zone, Benin Republic, and the western half of the North Central (Nigeria), North Cent ...

and an orisha). Oba was tricked by Oya or

Oshun Oshun (also Ọṣun, Ochún, and Oxúm) is the Yoruba orisha associated with love, sexuality, fertility, femininity, water, destiny, divination, purity, and beauty, and the Osun River, and of wealth and prosperity in the Yoruba religion. Sh ...

into cutting off her ear and trying to feed it to Shango. She is syncretized with

Saint Catherine of Siena Caterina di Jacopo di Benincasa (25 March 1347 – 29 April 1380), known as Catherine of Siena, was an Italian mystic and pious laywoman who engaged in papal and Italian politics through extensive letter-writing and advocacy. Canonized in 1461, ...

Worship in Ogbomosho

At her center of worship in Ogbomoso, Oba is described as the partner of Ajagun and is praised as "Oba, who owns parrot tail feathers and fights on the left". Oba is held a festival in odo-oba town in ogbomoso

Myths of Oba's ear

Oba's humiliation by a rival co-wife is one of the most well-known tales associated with this Orisha. While William Bascom's study identified several unusual variations of it, the most popular myth found in West Africa, Brazil, and Cuba has Oba cutting off her ear to serve to her husband Shango as food, because one of her co-wives (most often Oshun) has convinced her this will secure Shango's attention. Once Shango sees the ear and realizes Oba has mutilated herself, he chases her from his house and into permanent exile. Bascom notes that though this story is known in many parts of Yoruba country, it was not recognized by her priest in Ogbomosho. There are a few variations of the myth in Cuba where Oya rather than Oshun tricks Oba. Another Cuban variation excludes the wifely rivalry entirely, explaining Oba's self-mutilation of both ears as an effort to feed Shango after they run out of goat and he is in need of food for his struggle against Ogun. By comparison, in the verses of

Ifá Ifá or Fá is a geomantic system originating from Yorubaland in West Africa. It originates within the Yoruba religion, traditional religion of the Yoruba people. It is also practiced by followers of West African Vodun and certain African diaspo ...

, the story is inverted somewhat. Oba cuts off her ear at the advice of Ifá and the measure successfully ties Shango to Oba, until Orunmila himself steals Ọba from Shango.

Relationship to other orishas

Santería

González-Wippler, in her study of

Santería Santería (), also known as Regla de Ocha, Regla Lucumí, or Lucumí, is an African diaspora religions, Afro-Caribbean religion that developed in Cuba during the late 19th century. It arose amid a process of syncretism between the traditional ...

, describes her as the daughter of Yemoja and one of the consorts of Shango. She is said to have given her husband her ear to eat, an event which led to her eventual flight from his presence. Grieving, she became the Oba river which intersects with the Oshun river (Oshun was another wife of Shango and is believed to have been the one who tricked her into the giving of the ear) at turbulent rapids, a symbol of the rivalry between the two wives.González-Wippler 1994 The Oba River flows through Iwo, that is why the Iwo people are called the children of the River Oba (''Iwo Olodo Oba'').

References

Bibliography

*Bascom, William. "Ọba's Ear: A Yoruba Myth in Cuba and Brazil" in ''Research in African Literatures'', Vol. 7, No. 2 (Autumn, 1976), pp. 149–165. *Brown, David H. 2003. ''Santería Enthroned: Art, Ritual and Innovation in an Afro-Cuban Religion''. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. *González-Wippler, Migene. ''Santeria: The Religion''. Llewellyn: 1994. {{Authority control Yoruba goddesses Sea and river goddesses