Comparative Religion

Topic : Yoruba Religion

NAME

MATRIC NUMBER

GAYATHRI NAIDU A/P RAMAKRISHNAN

BMIP 13091200

KUA HUEY SIAN

BMIP 13091653

YVONNE KHOR YEE WOON

BPHP 13091080

GOH JO WEI

BPHP 13091055

SITI NOOR SHAMIERA BT HJ MOHD SAFIEE

BMIP 13091376

MICHELLE LIM SET LIN

BMIP 13091624

INTRODUCTION
Yoruba people - located in Western Africa, in
Nigeria and the Republic of Berlin (and certain
sections of Togo).
Currently located - West of Africa that extends
from Savanna, in the north to a region of
tropical rainforest in the south.
Make up one of thelargest ethnic groups of
Sub-Saharan Africa.
more than 5.5 millionpeople currently living
there.
among "the oldest and most influential of all

INTRODUCTION
Orisa is the traditional religion of the Yoruba
people.
They originated from the people called Oyo,
who were popular trading partner with the the
Portuguese people.
Majority of Yoruba people live in Nigeria in a
region formerly known as Slave Coast. Yoruba
makes up over 35 million people in total, the
majority of these people are from Nigerian
and make up about 21% of its population
making them one of the largest ethnic groups
in Africa.

INTRODUCTION
The Yourba religon - originated at IIE-IFE, a holy
city that is refered to as the cradle of
civilization for the Yoruba of southwestern
Nigeria.
Over the years Yoruba has taken the
characteristic of world religon although the
Yoruba religon was tribal in origin.
Yoruba believe in supreme being, in
primordinal divinities, and spirits that have
been worshiped. God is known Olodumare( the
one who has the fullness of everything) and
Olorun ( the owner of heaven, the Lord whose
abode is in the heaven above). Yoruba belives

Sacred SYMBOL
Akoko Tree- sacred symbol, which act as a symbolic marker
for the sacred places.
Yoruba people involve in agricultural for food, another sacred
symbols are Yams -offer yams in certain worshipping ritual to
their gods.
Eg- the God of sea, named Malokum, ancestors and local
spirits that they believe responsible and in order to protect
and make sure their crops harvest well in the following
harvest season
Yams - symbol of Thanksgiving /prediction of the future by
their priests during New Yam Festival.
Kola Nut - represents their hospitality, friendship and respectgiven as a gift to guests in order to show their value in
wedding, funeral, Infant Naming Ceremony or even regular
social gathering.

God of Yoruba

Universe was
composed of two
elements, the
ethereal sky
above and a
watery chaos
below.
Two gods rule
over both these
primordial
realms

Olokun
Presides over this watery abyss, an aquatic
realm populated by sea spirits.
As master of the deep
Mysteries of nature
Secrets of dreaming, meditation, and healing

Olorun
A Sun God
Omnipotent ruler of the Yoruba pantheon
Had two sons, Obatala and Oduduwa help him
develop the features of the Earth.
Obatala create a new realm made of earth
and created fields, forest, hill.
Build capital of Yorubaland

Deities
Babal-Ay (originally Shopona) is a healing
god.
Kokou : warrior god.
Erinle : wilderness god
Oshosi : a hunting god
Eshu : god of power of forture
Shango : the god of thunder and lightning

MORAL ETHICS
YORUBA CONCEPT OF ESE:
a) eewo
b) abuku
c) aimo
d) egbin

EEWO

2 aspects:
i.
ii.

Things prohibited by the Supreme Being, the

divinities and the ancestors.
Things that are wrong to do and for which
sanctions will be incurred

ABUKU
Exhibit a moral blemish on ones character
Human beings with moral blemishes are
deformed by the blemish, and will, for
instance, be shy, as a consequence, to raise
their voice in public to participate in the
discussion of community affairs

AIMO
Epistemic sense lack of knowledge which lead
to infractions in the ethical sense
Moral sense very close to the blemish of abuku
but aimo is a more episodic failure and is easier
to expiate and be rid of

EGBIN
Children are brought up with a clear sense of
the differentiation of degrees of defect of
behaviour or character
Children mature with the consciousness of the
need to internalize the virtues of good
behaviour that are highlighted by the
delineated polarities

HISTORY OF YORUBA
The archeological evidences shows that the
Yoruba have live since the prehistoric time. The
Yoruba have been the most dominant group of
Africa for centuries. The eighteenth century was
the particularly difficult for them because of the
civil war with the neighbors and the slave trades
destroyed much of the richness of the Yoruba
society.

HISTORY OF YORUBA
The British colonized the Yoruba land in 1901 and
led to the loss of the power on their own lives.
Many of their traditions were destroyed. Nigeria
became independent in the 20th century, but the
second half of the 20th century saw a lot of
warfare and suffering. Several of the political
leaders, famous thinkers and writers have been
killed in recent years. Today, they is struggling to
become a democratic nation with respect for
human rights.

HISTORY OF YORUBA
During the pre-colonial times, the Yoruba were the
most urban of all African peoples. They inhabited
densely populated towns many over 100000 in size.
The palace of the king (Oba) was traditionally the
center of the towns. Perhaps the most important of
these towns was Ife that believed have been
founded in 850 AD.

HISTORY OF YORUBA
The Yoruba do not only Africa nowadays. This is
because of the migration and the slave trade to
the Americas in the mid-18th century. There are
Yoruba communities throughout the Western
world, especially in Caribbean, South America and
North America. The clear elements of Yoruba
culture today is in Cuba and Brazil.

Essential beliefs
During the annual event in Itebuu-Manuwa of
Eje festival, the Yoruba leader gives yams to
Malokum who was the god of the sea, to the
ancestors, and to other local spirits and
divinities that was believed to be responsible
for making the crops do well on their land.

Essential beliefs
Yoruba believe in mystical power of a positive
nature is associated with ancestors, the earth,
deities of place especially hills, trees, and
rivers, and medicines and charms.
They also believe in spirits, psychic agencies,
and forces of nature which are often associated
with trees, rocks, rivers, forests, or hills.
The power of an unpredictable, negative nature
is associated with atricksterdeity; with
witches, sorcerers, and their medicines and
charms; and with personified powers in the
form of death, disease, infirmity, and loss.

Essential beliefs
Belief in magic:
Oogun, egbogi and isegun refer to magic.
When magic is used to cure or prevent
disease, it is called medicine. Attempts to
protect a person from sorcery, improve their
financial situation and bringing good luck are
referred to as magic.

Essential beliefs
Belief in witchcraft :
Aje, eye and osonga refer to witchcraft.
This is typically performed by female witches
who are believed to harm people or property
through the use of their psychic power.

Essential beliefs
Belief in sorcery:
Oso, oogun ika or oogun buburu refer to
sorcery or bad magic.
These involve attempts to harm or kill
persons or destroy their property through the
use of negative rituals

Essential beliefs
In traditional African societies, twins were
considered of preternatural origin and raised
emotional reactions oscillating from fear and
repugnance to hope and joy.
In ancient times, the Yoruba used to reject
and even sacrifice newborn twins. It is
believed that twins are able to bestow
happiness, health and prosperity upon their
family.
However, since they can also bring about
disaster, disease and death, they will be
treated with all due respect, loving and care.

tradition
Forbidden in keeping dogs as house pet.
Family could not bury female family member
that pass away during as she still mourning
her husbands death. Ohisoro of Lokore
Family, perform some kind of ritual. Then only
they allow the body to be buried in the forest.
Ohisoro performing ritual, which prevents
some kind of bad taboos

tradition
For Example:- victim that death on hanging (family members
will avoid the same ending as the victim.)
- pregnant women that died before giving birth
to the unborn child (burying a pregnant women
along with the baby is consider an abomination)

Conclusion
The Yoruba religon were spread across the
globe through and unsual way, the reach of
their culture is largely due to migration
mainly through the Atlantic Slave trade.
During this time, many Yoruba were captured
and sold into slave trade and transported to
Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, Columbia, Dominican
Republic, Puerto Rico, Trinidad and Tobago,
Uruguay, Venezuela, and other parts of
America.
With them they carried their religious beliefs.

THANK YOU

References
http://www.philtar.ac.uk/encyclopedia/sub/yoruba.html
http://www.everyculture.com/Africa-Middle-East/Yoruba-Religion-andExpressive-Culture.html
http://www.religioustolerance.org/ifa.html
http://www.randafricanart.com/Yoruba_Customs_and_Beliefs_Pertainin
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http://www.encyclopedia.com/article-1g-3434503405/yoruba-religion.h
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http://www.mythicjourneys.org/bigmyth/myths/enlish/eng_yoruba_cult
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l
http://akporcari.blogspot.my/2013/01/religious-tradition-of-yoruba.html
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