Next Dr. Olajubu turns to Yoruba cosmological myth, and and the well-known story of how Olodumare delegated some powers to the primordial deities (irunmole), to create the land and humans. One of these stories has Olodumare giving to Orisanla (“old orisha”) earthen mud in a snail shell, a bird, and a hen.

“In this version, Oduduwa was asked to accompany Orisanla on this mission journey. Oduduwa is a figure in the Yoruba thought system with dual classification as a divinity and ancestor. The account states that on the way to earth, Orisanla got drunk and Oduduwa had to carry out Olodumare’s injunctions concerning the founding of landscape on Earth. The significance of the story for the present study is that Oduduwa is presented in many oral texts as female, a fact that has been acknowledged by some scholars, but not by others, for reasons best described as controversial.” [67] [This gets to the nitty-gritty of a question I’ve had for decades, because my early research indicated that Oduduwa was female, but over the years most literature virtually always refers to male forms (often historical figures) of Oduduwa.]

“if we assume for once that Oduduwa was, as this version claims, female, how would this affect the analysis of Yoruba cosmology? First, it would mean that Oduduwa, who is regarded as the progenitor of the Yoruba people and the first ruler, was female. Second, the story suggests that creation was jointly carried out by Oduduwa (a female) and Orisanla (a male). While Oduduwa created the land, valleys, and mountains with the items supplied by Olodumare, Orisanla, on recovering from his drunken state, created the figures of humans. [I note here that other stories attribute this creation to Obatala, also in a drunken state, at least part of the time; but mythology varies considerably, and not just in Nigeria.] Orisanla is said to have created some humans beautiful and others ask albinos and hunchbacks; as a consequence, disabled people are still regarded as special and sacred beings to the Orisanla group in Yorubaland.]

“A female Oduduwa is entirely within the realm of possibility, bearing in mind that during a certain period, the Yoruba could have been ruled by females. Evidence for this is provided by Yoruba oral traditions, especially the verses of the Ifa corpus, and by stories of origin describing the need for people to consult a female ruler before they could settle in an area. And example of this was the situation of Osogbo, where the visiting hunters had to negotiate with Osun before the people could settle in their present abode. The annual Osun festival is one of the agreed-upon requirements for the people settlement in this area.

“Similarly, accounts of how women had powers at the beginning of time but were tricked by men who took these powers from them and rendered them subordinates are replete in the Ifa corpus. One such account, often cited as the origin of the Egungun [ancestor] cult, which originally belong to women, is recorded in Odu irantegbe of Ifa” [69. She gives the full Yoruba text for all quotes].

This passage paints Odu as misbehaving, refusing to sacrifice [by implication to Orunmila], and as being power-hungry. She goes into the sacred grove of Eegun, where the ancestral masquerades happen, and comes out wearing the regalia. She is counter-posed to Obarisa, who did everything right, and was told by Orunmila that “he had to be patient to become the ruler of the world.” Odu invites Obarisa to a discussion, saying they ought to get to know each other as colleagues. Eventually they move in together. Obarisa offers snail juice to Odu, and she liked it, and promised to always drink it. [Snail liquid is a prototypically cooling and calming substance for the Yoruba.] Then she invited Obarisa to the sacred grove of Eegun:

She put on her eku and came out a masquerader

they came out from the grove together

when they returned to the grove

And Odu removed the eku

Obarisa moved closer and inspected the eku

He modified it by putting a net to cover his face

Any masquerader’s outfit without a net is an ordinary costume

After reaching home

Obarisa entered the eegun shrine and turned into a masquerader

He held a whip

He changed his voice to that of an eegun [ancestor]

To disguise himself

When Odu saw the eegun she was afraid

This was how men cunningly overpowered women

“This myth presents Odu as a powerful woman who was in control of an important religious practice. Odu in Yoruba religion is also recognized as the wife of Orunmila (the deity in charge of divination and wisdom) and [as] the designation of chapters in the Ifa corpus. … Gender tension is apparent in the story…” [71]

[That is an understatement, of course. The story is significant not only because it records a male seizure of ceremonial power from women, but because it belongs to a wide global pattern of such stories, told by the Dogon in Mali; various peoples in the Brazilian Amazon and in the Chaco region further south; diverse Aboriginal traditions in Australia; the Kikuyu in Kenya, an origin stories of Athens, and diverse tales of men taking over the shamanic sphere in Yunnan and other regions. However, in the Yoruba instance, women do not lose all ritual power, but men appropriate dancing the masks, a pattern that is very widespread in Africa. Exceptions to this expropriation exist, notably in the Sande women's society of the Mende, and in the matriarchal Bidjogos islands of Guinée Bissau.]

Priestesses of Oshun dance in Ila Orangun, wearing brass bowls filled with her medicinal waters

Next the author turns to an “often cited myth that supports the primal place of women in Yoruba cosmological accounts,” and this is a story about Oshun. [72] (You’ll see variant spellings for this orisha, since English doesn't have a character that is midway between S and SH, but she uses Osun.) Luisah Teish lays great emphasis on this story which contradicts tendencies to devalue women, as symbolized by Oshun, the leader of women. It recounts how the 600 irunmole descended from heaven and cleared groves, making a wide path for the indigenous people to pass through.

They planned

They never reckoned with Osun in their plans

They invoked Eegun, Eegun never talked

They invoked Oro, Oro never responded

They constructed a straight path for Ife indigenes

But things weren’t working out well: the yams they pounded were lumpy and messy, no children were conceived. “There was no rain; land was dry, And there was no order in the world.” A divination was held for the 16 principal male irunmole, who rose up immediately and went to Olodumare. Olodumare greeted them and pointedly asked about the 17th person among the irunmole:

Olodumare asked them, ‘Why don’t you

Consult with her?’ They replied,

It was because she was only a female among them.

Olodumare said “May it not be so!

Osun is a manly woman’

[Noting here the problematics of a woman's worth being weighed in terms of her resemblance to men; as well as the idea that only one out of 17 primordial divinities would be female. That would not even take into account the supreme divinitiy Olodumare, who is however co-gendered by some accounts. Nevertheless Olodumare rebukes the sixteen for excluding Oshun, and defends her expertise as a teacher of divination:

Olodumare said, “what you were ignorant of

Is what you now know

Go back into the world and consult Osun

In whatever you embark upon

Whatever then you lay your hands upon

Will continue to prosper

When they got to the world

They began to consult Osun for their plans

Normalcy returns to the world

Cities begin to witness peace and tranquility

They begin to praise Osun thus:

“One who has a store for brass on a big shelf

One who generously appeasers her children with brass

My mother, she who accepts ritual offerings with drumming (and dancing)

Ota (Osun’s stone)! Omi (waters)! Edan (brass figures)!

Awura! Olu! Agbaja

The ever present counselor at their decision-making meetings

Ladekoju! The Gracious Mother, Osun! [74-75]

The author comments that this story underlines complementarity between men and women, and shows the power of Oshun to activate life force or to render it immobile: “there is no doubt, therefore, that the normative account of Yoruba cosmology, which gives the female no role in the process of creation, fails to tell the whole story. The prevailing cosmology myths among the Yoruba reflect a latent patriarchal coloring that does not tally with the historic Yoruba cosmic experience, which makes room for male and female principles. Alternative traditions are often not taken seriously, introductions susceptible to new interpretations are ignored. … it is thus appropriate to question cosmological accounts currently presented in Yorubaland.” [75] And here she returns to the story of a female Oduduwa (and I would add, as well, an older telling of Odu as a primordial Wisdom goddess.

Dr. Olajubu comments, “the female principle is primary to cosmogony and cosmology in religious traditions worldwide.” [75] [Too true.] “The majority of Yoruba goddesses are manifestations of the personification of natural phenomena, especially rivers, streams, and the ocean.” She says there also exist goddesses who are deified women, including Ayelala, Oya, Otin, and Orensen. [Oya also clearly has elemental aspects—wind, storms, lightning—beyond any historical dimensions.]

The Osun River “holds the primordial water used by Orisanla to soften the clay with which the physical figures of humans were fashioned… Osun as a goddess represents the sacred dimensions of waters… every divinity shrine in Yorubaland has water stored in clay pots for different reasons, and such waters represent Osun because omi gbogbo l’Osun (all waters represent Osun) as a Yoruba adage goes.” [78]

Osun also rules waters in the body and the power of procreation, because she is the giver of children. She governs cloth dyeing and hairdressing. “In addition, she is the leader of the Iya mi group (society of powerful women).” And Oshun is a healer:

Her eyes sparkle in the forest

Like the sun on the river

She is the wisdom of the forest

She is the wisdom of the river

Where the doctor failed

She cures with fresh water

Where the medicine is impotant

She cures with cool water

She cures the child

And does not charge the father [79]

Oshun also has wisdom in divination, “through which she offers help to her devotees, advising them about their destiny and helping them to overcome any obstacle to its full realization.”

“Osun’s position among the Irunmole as one female in the midst of 16 maile deities does not give a fair appraisal of her importance. This is because the position of Osun is both literal and symbolic: she represents both the female principle and women in the cosmic enterprise. Although the ratios are not favorable, the symbolic import is considerable.”

Osun is the leader of women in Yoruba tradition, and as such she motivates women to action. In her praise poem she is described as a fighter:

Hot woman who blocks the road (by flooding it)

and causes meant to run. She keeps her beard

because of war. One who in fury causes trouble and chaos

The powerful and huge woman

Who cannot be captured.

These attributes correspond closely to Ishtar, who also has a warlike and even bearded aspect. There are stories about Osun saving a young priest of hers who was kidnapped; she appeared in a red dress and immobilized the captors. She told the boy to walk in front of her and not to turn around. He miraculously ended up close to the palace in Osogbo (her city). She touched his shoulders and told him simply to “Greet people at home.” [81]

Behold the terrestrial glory of the temple of Oshun beside her river.

Earthen statue in the sacred forest of Osun at Oshogbo, Nigeria.

The same statue dressed in cloths, with the river running high around her.

Classic Yoruba icon of Oshun, as a protector of women, who partake of her abundance. (Note the closed calabash held by the figure at right, a theme of ceremonial as well as cosmological import, see below.) Oshun holds the Abẹ̀bẹ̀ (circular fan) which is one of her powerful attributes. Luisah Teish explains that in ceremony this fan is used to clear and cool down energy, to purify the space and those within it.

Brass fan of Oshun. Anything yellow, golden, orange is hers, and so brass and copper are sacred to her.

Priestess or devotee of Oshun in her waters.

Modern painting of Oshun glorying in the clear rushing waters.

Re-thinking the Calabash; Yoruba Women as Containers by Emma Christina Rice. This is an academic work, which I'm quoting from for an explanation of the cosmic calabash, the joining of Aye (the material world) and Orun (the realm of spirit). These are not separate realms but interpenetrating realities.

"The differentiation between Aye, the physical world of the living, and Orun, the metaphysical world of the spiritual, is discussed by Henry Drewal and John Pemberton. [Recommended!] They suggest that the Yoruba universe is often carved into a calabash, the top and bottom half of which are connected by intersecting lines. These intersecting lines illustrate pathways between spheres. [This concept of pathways of spirit is extremely important and widespread.] In return for blessing a community, the complex network of Yoruba Gods called the Orisa are kept alive by devotional practice. Described as ‘open channels of communication’, Pemberton and Drewal suggest that the pathways, illustrated on the calabash, allow a reciprocal exchange to take place between humans and spirits. 

"A focus upon women’s bodies enclosing spiritual force will turn this argument towards a discussion of the body as a container of gender. By examining a Yoruba woman’s mind as a container for secrets, and her womb as a container for powerful blood I will argue that Yoruba societies uphold that the body can become manifest with more than just the Orisa. A woman’s intelligence and proficiency increases throughout the course of her life. A society based upon a network of secrets, Yoruba standards of authority are directly interlinked with a person’s access to knowledge. A woman’s seniority affects her hierarchical position within society as her increased time on the earth suggests that her mind is full of more secrets than other members of the community. The most influential knowledge concerns the spiritual realm. This is called “deep” knowledge (jinle) and refers to cult secrets and the ability to manipulate magical substances."

Aye-Orun symbolized in the cosmic Calabash, the unity of apparent opposites. Some of its pathways (discussed above) are infinite knots of a kind found over much of West Africa, from Hausa country to Mali all the way to Angola. Calabash carving is a women's art in the Sahel region. In Wodaabe country, the calabash containers are treasured riches which women display on beds turned into altars.

“The Osogbo Origin account gives a prominent place to Osun, who is in charge of the area before the advent of the immigrants who later settled there.” [Yoruba tradition remembers and earlier people and a migration to what is now Yoruba country in the distant past. The prince and a hunter came across the Osun river while hunting, and announced their find to their people who rejoiced because of the drought they were suffering. The men begin to clear the bush and chop down trees in order to make buildings, and one of the trees fell into the Osun river.]

“An angry female voice immediately accused the people of breaking all her dyeing pots, saying… ‘Wizards of the forest, you have broken all my dyeing pots.'” [The place name Osogbo is said to derive from this phrase “wizard of the forest.” The men apologized and Osun directed the people to move uphill, saying she would give us sign for where they should settle.]

“In her human existence, Osun was a beautiful woman, wealthy and industrious. Osun what is a fighter as well; it is on record that during the Fulani wars for the spread of Islam in Yorubaland in the 18^th century, she hawked poisonous vegetables to the invaders who tried to raid Osogbo. Result of this was that the soldiers started passing loose stool and became weak which led to their eventual defeat. Osogbo was thus rescued from the invasion of Islam and subjugation by Islamic forces. Worthy of note also is the special relationship between the Ataoja of Osogbo and the Osun goddess. The king confessed that without the support of Osun (and by implication, women) he could not rule successfully. The king represents a patriarchal structure but owes his first allegiance to Osun and those who represent her, who most often than not our women.” [84]

Temple of Oshun, with vulvas.

Otin, “the goddess of defense.”

Otin, a river goddess, is personified in the river Otin located in the Odo-Otin [region] of Osun state, Nigeria. “She has both a human existence and a spiritual one. As a goddess, she is perceived as a power that protects the people against any pending danger. According to mystical accounts, she prevented the town of Okuku from being invaded by enemies, and this marked the beginning of her worship. She is described in her praise poem:

I squat on the floor and

became new, one who blesses

and pampers early in the morning

One who walks up right

one who is her self a choice child

who is equipped to stem the lazy one

the child of Laalu who fulfill his promises.

[The style of this invocation really gives the flavor of Yoruba poetry, with its concentrated imagery and meaning.]

“Her adherents are convinced that she bestows prosperity, good health, as well as longevity on them. So she protects with her water, there are no records of her anger either in form of floods or as a means to detect liars, as is the case with Osun. It is also interesting to note that no one could recall the Otin river ever overflowing its boundaries. [81-2]

“Otin is perceived as the owner of wealth and as possessing the ability to grant great sales to her merchant devotees.” [In this, she really resembles Oshun.] She assisted the two male founders of Okuku to defeat their enemies, there by ensuring a long period of peace for Okuku town. Or action is especially remarkable as she is an indigine of Otan and not Okuku. Otin was a warrior who defended her people against attacks, just as she does her adherents today. Otin is worshiped weekly and yearly in these towns. Otin is an example of a goddess who exhibits leader ship qualities and braveness.” [82]

After Otin successfully defended the town of Okuku against invaders, she went home to Otan. The man she had helped pleaded with her not to leave but she refused. However she promised to return in order to get married, and and she married the brave Erinle. He pampered her and would not allow her to do housework to show his love. But they fought after some time and Otin left her husband and went to the center of town, where she turned into a river. People began to worship her. “She came to Okuku as a stranger and became a deity and protector of the people.” [85]

Oya

"The goddess of wind, storms, and the edge, Oya possesses dual identity, Like other goddesses, she exhibits a human as well as a spiritual existence, her full name being Oya Akanbi. Both history and myth concur that Oya was an indigene of Ira, a small town near Offa, in Kwara state, Nigeria. … she is highly unpredictable but seeks to maintain balance in a given situation, a process that is crucial to the Yoruba cosmic perception. Oya is believed to possess mysteriously powers (oogun), which she acquired from her maternal family in Nupe land (Ile Tapa) across the Niger river (Odo Oya). [Note that the Yoruba name the largest river in West Africa for Oya.] Oya’s mysterious powers make her a powerful woman described in Yoruba parlance as obinrin bi okunrin meaning “a woman like a man.” Oya fights with thunderbolt like her earthly husband Sango [Shango]. Liars and thieves dread her shrine, for she deals with them decisively; she is that a custodian of morality in the community. Oya also gives children and wealth to her adherence, just as she protects them from all dangers.”[82]

"One story says that Shango gave fire to Oya for safekeeping but she consumed it instead. This gave her the power of spitting fire. Another story says that Oya placed a condition on her marriage to Shango: he must keep her secret of being an antelope. [I can't find the source right now but there is an oriki of Oya that refers to her as “a bush cow among women,” which I always thought referred to a water buffalo. Maybe there’s more than one tradition or maybe that is a translation for “antelope.”] “She became Sango’s favorite [power dissymmetry again] and was greatly envy by his other wives, who eventually got Oya’s secret from Sango. They used it against her, and she fled into the bush as an antelope. Sango apologized and made peace with her, but she refused to return. She promised Sango, however, that whenever he was in need, he should strike the two horns which she had given him, and she would come to his aid.”

[For Olajubu this story is an example of “complementary gender and power relations,” but I cannot agree. The husband has the advantage, his wives are in conflict with each other to gain his favor, and this is ultimately what forces Oya out. Her story also resembles the world theme of the fairy wife, who often has an animal aspect, and eventually leaves her husband.]

The main theme of the story, however, is that Oya is indominable and does not play by the prevailing social rules. Neither does Oshun, who is not the picture of the faithful submissive wife.

This modern painting of Red Buffalo Woman seems to bear out the bush-cow aspect of Oya as water buffalo. Below is another icon of Oya surrounded by water buffalo horns.

In the section on Goddesses, Marriage, and Power relations, a contradiction emerges in which the author first asserts that Yoruba gender construction tries “to maintain balance by accommodating and reconciling all contraries, but in the next paragraph describes the harms women suffer within a polygynous system: “envy, jealousy, and struggles for a husband’s favor.” She states that relations between goddesses are not immune to this sexual politics. [85]

She says, “some of the goddesses exercised powers on behalf of their husbands; others utilize their powers independently. In other instances, a goddess outwits her husband in the use of power.” She asks, “to what extent do goddesses and their marriages influence the marriage relations of women? Is there any possibility that the conduct of goddesses in their marriages influenced the assumed or accepted conduct of women in marriages in Yorubaland?” [We might expand that to the conduct expected of women.] [86]

“Osun was married at different times to at least three deities: Ogun, Sango, and Orunmila (some have suggested Obatala as well).” She married Ogun but that didn't last long since she ran off with Shango, taking some of the powers of Ogun with her. Ogun chased them, and it was Oshun who turned to fight him, telling Shango to leave the battle to her: “At the end of the encounter, both of them split into pieces, and this is why we find the worship of the two deities all over Yorubaland.” [86] Olajubu comments that Oshun is presented as a disloyal wife, and points up proverbs that paint women as traitors, and dangerous when they are beautiful.

“Osun’s marriage to Sango placed her in a polygamist setting, where she had to struggle for favor with her co-wives… good relations with her co-wives reflect to some extent the situation in Yoruba polygamist settings.” [87] She relates for example how Oshun tricked Oba into cutting off her ear in the belief that this was the ingredient that would make her cooking please their husband. Stories like this reflect the dissymmetrical power relations between husband and wives. But Luisah Teish’s forthcoming book will bring a new angle on this story that differs from the usual jealous females theme. It's important to understand that there is no single story in original cultures, and that the sacred texts and mythologies we are presented with are layered, stratified as historical text criticism puts it, and they are also diverse in their regional expressions, not just the transformations that are wrought on them over time. Untangling this is a crucial part of depatriarchalization.

Another husband of Oshun is Orunmila, who gave to her the Eerindinlogun divination system using 16 cowries. (Here again we have that secret number 16 which is foundational to Ifa  divination and which we have already seen in the story of the 16 primeval irunmile). Olodumare refers to Oshun’s power of divination, as a teacher of divination, in the story we've already seen. Eerindinlogun encompasses not only prophecy but also do use of herbs and roots. Its practitioners, whether female or male, are referred to as wives of Oshun. This implies that as she has authority over them so husbands have over there wives. [87]

Classic sculpture of Oya in her aspect of Oshe Shango, crowned with the Double Axe whose blades are thunderstones. The oshe shango was a dance wand in ceremony.

Oya Locks Shango in the Palace

Another story illustrating the competition between co-wives, shows that Oshun also leaves Shango because she is unhappy with the arrangement.

"Oya became furious when she learned of Shango's womanizing once more. So while he was sleeping she took advantage of this and placed her peons (Egguns, the dead ) who where loyal to her around the palace walls. Knowing that Shango did not like this phenomenon , he would not dare try and escape . In other words she pretended to keep Shango by force, using the Egguns ( spirits) to keep him faithful to her.

"Oshun knowing this decided to carryout her plans to free Shango from his prison. Oshun knew the only way to save her children and save Shango was to release him . she thought he would come to reciprocate the love she felt for him. Decisive , Oshun goes to where Oya had Shango surrounded by her loyal soldiers. But before she left Oshun cut all of her hair made in two long braids, along with Onyi and (honey) and Oti ( firewater) these where part of her plan to set Shango free.

"As Oshun approached she noticed that there where many soldiers around the home. They reacted suspiciously to her presence . You have to remember that Oshun is astute she actually started to flirt with the soldiers. They could not resist her charms , and soon they thought they had her where they wanted her, she pulled out the Onyi and mixed it with the Oti , and gave it them to drink. As soon as they were drunk enough Oshun slipped by them and entered the palace. she found Shango depressed and in deep thought . When Shango looked up sullenly he thought he would see Oya and was a big surprise when he saw none other than Oshun.

"Oshun motioned to him and said, 'Here put on my tunic and place my braids upon your head .. quickly , before Oya returns or, worse, the Egguns regain their senses .Shango quickly dressed . Oshun continued , Walk outside, they will think it is me and they will not bother you . Shango asked Oshun how would she escape and Oshun said to him . 'I will leave after you . Wait for me in the forest . If I am delayed come for me because I could be in trouble.'

Shango left and everything went as planned . No one bothered him since the soldiers were so drunk they were unconscious. He waited in the forest for Oshun, who arrived a few minutes later. Once they free from danger it was Oshun who spoke first saying: 'Shango , you are the only man I have ever loved. It was this love that I gave birth and compelled me to free you from that prison Oya put you in. I want for you and me to belong to each other and we can find our Ibeyi .'

"After hearing Oshun's words , Shango said, 'Oshun I am very grateful to you for what you did , but I can't be yours because I belong to Oya. at this time I do not desire you because I love Oya. In the future Oya and I go our seperate ways, I will be the one looking for you. It was I that took the ibeyi, they are safe in my mother's Ile Ocum, I was afraid Oya would take vengeance upon them for our act of love.'

"These words spoken burned Oshuns heart and drove her mad; she got so upset with herself for thinking she was so irresistible that she left running without direction through the kingdom, her time of misery had come the loss of love and the loss of child proved to much for the Queen. She ran and ran , till she could not run more and Laroye found her and nursed her. In order to make her eat , Laroye would do the unthinkable. Oshun had only ate female goats, Laroye only raised male goats so he took a goat and neutered the animal so that Oshun was fooled and gained her strength back."  

Altar to Oya draped with her signature red (also purple) colors. She is also depicted in a multicolored skirt. One of her titles in Iansa, "Mother of Nine." (In future i'll have a short video on this aspect.)