The Yoruba people have long been engaged in their own unique religious activities, and they have also inhibited part of West Africa, including Nigeria. The religion of Yoruba is a blend of native principles, myths, legends, songs, and preverbs inspired by the social and cultural milieu of West Africa.
Santeria ifa religion Yoruba is a religion established to form the beliefs of Yoruba people and their customs.
The religion was developed by merging African traditional beliefs, Catholic practices, and diverse religious rituals and practices. Its distinguishing characteristics include domestic rituals, a connection to nature, material tributes to saints, and the occasional animal sacrifice. They believe that an entity called Orisha is in charge of looking after them.
What are the Beliefs of the Yoruba People?
According to Yoruba culture, everyone is subject to fate, or Ayanmo. It is envisaged that everyone would eventually arrive in the state of Olodumare as part of it.
Olodumare unites with the energy-producing God Creator. Life and death are viewed in the Yoruba religious tradition as a continual cycle of reality in many bodies, or the physical worlds, as the mind steadily progresses towards transcendence.
Olodumare is the celestial Being of God, the God of the universe, who is the creator of everything. Olodumare, also known by the name of Olorun, is an almighty being who is not constrained by assumptions about gender.
How Was It Created?
There is a creation story about the Yoruba religion in which the Olorun lived in the sky with the orishas.
The goddess Olorun was the ruler of water. Obatara, a different entity, requested permission from Olorun to make arid land for other species to inhabit.
Obatara took the bag and filled it with palm nuts, white hens, black cats, and snail shells filled with sand. He started to descend from heaven on a long chain of gold after slinging his satchel over his shoulder. Then he freed his hen and placed sand beneath him when he ran out of chains.
After that, he planted a tree of palm-nut and many trees started to grow. Obatala used the nuts to make wine.
On a day after drinking wine from the palm tree, Obatala got jaded, so he started to create creatures out of clay. These creatures were not perfect and had many imperfections. In this drunken state, he asked Olorun to breathe life into these figures, and in this way, manhood was formed.
Finally, Ashe, a powerful life possessed by a human, is also part of the Yoruba religion. All natural elements, including rain, lightning, and blood, contain ash. This is comparable to the idea of chakras found in Asian religions and Hinduism.
Celebrations and Practices
According to an estimation, about 20% of the Santeria ifa religion Yoruba practices are taken from the ancestors. The people who believe in this religion not only pay tribute to the Olorun, who is the creator god, but the orishas flowers of this religion also celebrate in which sacrifices are offered to the gods who contain harvest, rain, and sunshine.
If a person does not participate in these ceremonies, it means they are turning their back on their ancestors, spirits, and gods. The festivals are the times when families celebrate and express their spiritual beliefs through their dresses, dances, and music.
The annual celebration of Ifa falls at the time of yam haven’t, and at that time, there is a ritual cutting of new yamalong with an amazing feast, drumming, and dancing.
The followers of ifa show their happiness through the ritual celebration. They also offer blessing and protection to the village for many years.
Yoruba religious celebrations provide a societal function. Moreover, they support the preservation of cultural values and the rich legacy of people who adhere to them. Many Yoruba people converted to Christianity and Islam during colonialism. However, there are still people who practice and follow the principles and rituals of their ancestors, and now live peacefully side by side with their neighbors who are not traditional in harmony.
By integrating its yearly schedule with regional harvest celebrations, the Christian Church reached a compromise. For instance, while Christian friends and relatives praise their gods, traditional Yoruba people also celebrate their gods. For this celebration of two distinctly different styles of faith, people come together. They ask the gods for their forgiveness, safeguarding, and blessings.
Reincarnation
Contrary to what various western religions believe, Yoruba focuses on and encourages to live a good life. Only the people with good existence and those who live virtuous life can earn the honor of reincarnation. The people who are not good and are unkind cannot be reborn. Children are seen as reincarnated spirits of ancestors.
When it comes to reincarnation, there is no gender-related issue. Your gender can be changed with new birth. Children who are reborn have both the collected wisdom of their lives as well as the knowledge of their ancestors’ souls.
What is the Influence of Yoruba on ModernTraditions?
The Yoruba religion, which is mostly practiced in west Africa but has also spread to nations like Nigeria, Benin, and Togo in recent years, has even gained popularity among many black Americans. Because Yoruba provides a chance to connect with a spiritual past that predates colonialism and the Atlantic slave trade, many people are drawn to it.
This religion expands culture and removes the negative stigma from the surrounding. You can seek guidance from this religion and bring value, peace, and culture to your life.
