Sample of Yoruba Beliefs

This week we read about the Yoruba peoples of Nigeria. After reading about the Yoruba people(s), I have found that the Yoruba show their portrayal of women in a greater way than some other African peoples. It is obvious to many that they honor and cherish women and their power of fertility. I also have found that they have deeply rooted beliefs that are as current today as it was years ago.

Below is a picture of an Opon Ifa (divination board). At the top of this board the god Eshu is carved, and multiple figures/objects surround the board. These boards are used by a babalawo, when a client comes to them, and dust is put in them. Then the babalawo throws 16 palm nuts to look for signs/patterns. After finding the patterns, the babalawo will then say the verses that correspond to the signs/ patterns that were created. The client then interprets that info to apply it to their own situation. The Opon Ifa relates to the Yoruba peoples beliefs because of the imagery, like Eshu carved at the top, and the way it is used to guide people(s) in their own life situations.

Above is a picture of a Yoruba mother, of Nigeria, with two Ere Ibeji dolls. These dolls are carved figures that are embodied by the spirit of a deceased twin child. Multiples are frequently born within the Yoruba peoples, although there is a high mortality rate among the twins. When a twin does die the mother has an Ere Ibeji doll made in the same gender as the dead child. The mother takes care of this figure like it her child; she will feed, cloth, and bathe the Ere Ibeji. She does this because she believes a few things. One, she believes her live twin may be drawn to the dead twin and die as well. Two, she believes a mother of twins will be prosperous. And three, she believes the people who give offerings to a mother with twins will be blessed. A more current version of an Ere Ibeji doll would be that of a photograph or a plastic doll.

One can see that as times change the Yoruba have not changed in their spiritual beliefs. The Yoruba may create new versions of objects (i.e.: going from carved wooden figures to photographs or dolls) but their beliefs about the twins spirits needing to reside in the figure/object has not changed. In the same way Opon Ifa are still being created, but they may have many different carvings around the boarder. The Yoruba are a people with deep spiritual beliefs.