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Orisha

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This article is about a type of spirit. For other uses of Orisha / Orixa, see Orisha (disambiguation).

An Orisha (also spelled Orisa and Orixá) is a spirit which reflects one of the manifestations of Olodumare (God) in the Yoruba spiritual or religious system. This religion has found its way throughout the world and is now expressed in several varieties which include Anago, Oyotunji, Candomblé and Lucumí/Santería. These varieties or spiritual lineages as they are called are practiced throughout areas of Brazil, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, the United States, Mexico and Venezuela. As interest in African indigenous religions (spiritual systems) grows, Orisha communities and lineages can be found in parts of Europe and Asia as well. While estimates vary, there could be more than 100 million adherents of this spiritual tradition worldwide. [citation needed]

Beliefs and Rituals

The Orisha are multi-dimensional beings who represent the forces of nature. They have attributes and stories similar to the stories and attributes used to describe the ancient Greek and Roman pantheons. To the followers of Santeria, however, the Orisha are not remote divinities; on the contrary, they are vibrant, living entities who take an active part in everyday life. The Orisha faith believes in an ultimate deity, Olorun or Olodumare, who is removed from the day-to-day affairs of human beings on Earth. Instead, adherents of the religion appeal to specific manifestations of Olodumare in the form of the various Orisha. Ancestors reverence and culture-heroes can also be enlisted for help with day-to-day problems. Faithful believers will also generally consult a geomantic divination specialist, known as a babalawo or Iyanifa, to mediate on their problems. This practice is known as Ifa, and is an important part of life throughout West Africa and the rest of the world. UNESCO, the cultural and scientific education arm of the United Nations, declared Ifa a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2005. An important part of the traditional Yoruba faith is that the yoruba believe oduduwa fell from the sky depends on proper alignment and knowledge of one's Ori. Ori literally means the head, but in spiritual matters is taken to mean an inner portion of the soul which determines personal destiny and success. Ase, which is also spelled “Axe,” “Axé,” “Ashe,” or “Ache,” is the life-force which runs though all things, living and inanimate. Ase is the power to make things happen. It is an affirmation which is used in greetings and prayers, as well as a concept about spiritual growth. Orisha devotees strive to obtain Ase through Iwa-Pele or gentle and good character, in turn they experience alignment with the Ori or what others might call inner peace or satisfaction with life.

Orisha in the New World

Yoruba were brought to the Americas during the Atlantic Slave Trade, along with many other ethnic nationalities from West, Central, and parts of East Africa. Yoruba religious beliefs are among the most recognizable African-derived traditions in the Americas, perhaps due to the comparatively late arrival of large numbers of Yoruba in the Americas and the conglomerative and spiritually tolerant nature of the faith. The Orisa faith is often closely aligned to the beliefs of the Gbe ethnic nationalities (including Fon, Ewe, Mahi, and Egun), and there has been centuries of creative cross-fertilization between the faiths both in Africa and in the Americas. In many countries of the African diaspora, Yoruba and Gbe beliefs have also influenced and become influenced by Catholicism, and faiths which originate in the Kongo-Angolan cultural region of West-Central Africa. These include Palo in Cuba and the Dominican Republic, Umbanda in Brazil and, according to some sources, the Petro rites of Haitian Vodou.

Santeria (or Lukumĺ) is a set of related religious systems which use Catholic saints as a mask to hide traditional Yoruba beliefs. Saints and other Catholic religious figures are used as disguises for Orishas. This practice of syncretization was used to allow the indigenous Yoruba beliefs to survive in the new world.

Pantheon

The Orisha pantheon includes Shango, Olokun, Ifá, Yemanja, Osun, Obatala, Oshun, Ogun, Ochosi, Oko, Soponna, Oya and Esu/Legba, among countless others. In the Lucumi tradition, Osun and Oshun or Ochun are different Orishas. Oshun is the beautiful and benevolent Orisha of love, life, marriage, sex and money while Osun is the protector of the Ori or our heads and inner Orisha. The Yoruba also venerate their Egungun, or Ancestors, Ibeji, god of Twins (which is no wonder since the Yoruba have the world's highest incidence of twin births of any group).

Partial List of Orishas

  • Babalu Aye - deity of disease and illness.
  • Eshu (Ellegua, Exú, Esu, Elegba, Legbara, Papa Legba) - messenger between human and divine, god of crossroads, also a phallic and fertility god. Eshu is recognized as a trickster and child like while Eleggua is Eshu under the influence of Obatala
  • Nana - female deity of creation, sky mother, associated with the moon.
  • Obatala (Obatalá, Oxalá, Orixalá, Orisainlá) - father of orishas and humankind
  • Ogoun (Ogúm, Ogum, Ogou) - deity of iron, war, labour, and technology (e.g. railroads)
  • Olorun (Oldumare) - creator of the universe, sky father
  • Orunmila - deity of wisdom, divination and foresight
  • Oshun (Oshún, Ọṣun, Oxum, Ochun, Osun, Oschun) - goddess of rivers, love, fertility, and art
  • Oxossi (Oxósse, Ocshosi, Osoosi, Ochosi) - hunter and the scout of the orishas
  • Oya (Oyá, Oiá, Iansã, Yansá, Iansan) - goddess of wind, hurricanes, and underworld gates
  • Shango (Shangó, Xango, Changó, Chango, Nago Shango) - warrior god of thunder, fire, sky father
  • Iemanja (Yemaja, Imanja, Yemayá, Jemanja, Yemalla, Yemana, Yemanja, Yemaya, Yemayah, Yemoja, Ymoja, Nanã, La Sirène, LaSiren, Mami Wata) - divine mother goddess, divine goddess of the sea and Mother of mankind
  • Ozain (Osain) - He owns the Omiero, a holy liquid consisting of many herbs, liquid through which all Saints and ceremonies have to go through. Ozain owns the herbs, is a natural healer.
  • Agayu - Father of Shango he is also said to be shango's brother in other stories, Agayu is said to be the orisha of volcanoes and the desert.
  • Osun - ruler of the head, Ori

Further reading

  • John Mason, Black Gods - Orisa Studies in the New World
  • John Mason, Olokun: Owner of Rivers and Seas ISBN 1-881244-05-9
  • John Mason, Orin Orisa: Songs for selected Heads ISBN 1-881244-06-7
  • Lydia Cabrera, El Monte: Igbo-Nfinda, Ewe Orisha/Vititi Nfinda ISBN 0-89729-009-7
  • [Chief Priest Ifayemi Elebuibon], Apetebii: The Wife of Orunmila ISBN 0-9638787-1-9
  • [J. Omosade Awolalu], Yoruba Beliefs & Sacrificial Rites ISBN 0-9638787-3-5
  • Baba Ifa Karade, The Handbook of Yoruba Religious Concepts
  • William Bascom, Sixteen Cowries
  • David M. O'Brien, Animal Sacrifice and Religious Freedom: Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah
  • James T. Houk, Spirits, Blood, and Drums: The Orisha Religion of Trinidad. 1995. Temple University Press.
  • Raul Canizares, Cuban Santeria
  • Robert Farris Thompson, Flash of the Spirit
  • S. Solagbade Popoola, Ikunle Abiyamo: It is on Bent Knees that I gave Birth. 2007. Asefin Media Publication
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