Home›Orisha Deities›All Orisha DeitiesBrowse ByAll Orisha DeitiesThe orishas of the Yoruba of West Africa and of the religions descended from Yoruba practice across the Americas. Each orisha carries their own colours, foods, rhythms, numbers and natural domains, and in the diaspora many were identified with Catholic saints under conditions where the older religion was forbidden. These are living traditions with initiated priesthoods.FactsLearn MoreAll Orisha DeitiesConnectionsSourcesComments (0)Reader Challenges (0)FactsOverviewWhat Defines This GroupingWell-attestedThe orisa of the Yoruba and of the African-diaspora religions descended from them. They are held to be emanations of, or intermediaries under, the supreme being Olodumare, and are served through drumming, offering, divination and possession. These are living initiatory religions. 2Peoples and Traditions CoveredWell-attestedCandomble in Brazil, where the orisa are the orixas 3Peoples and Traditions CoveredWell-attestedLucumi, also called Santeria, in Cuba and its diaspora 4Peoples and Traditions CoveredWell-attestedThe Yoruba of present-day Nigeria and Benin, the source tradition 2OriginsOrigin of the NameWell-attestedThe Yoruba word is orisa, written òrìṣà in Yoruba orthography. The spellings orisha, oricha and orixa are English, Spanish and Portuguese transcriptions used in the diaspora, and they do not name different beings. 2DirectoryCategoryWell-attestedDeities 1AttestationVeneration TodayWell-attestedServed today in Yorubaland and across Cuba, Brazil, Trinidad and the wider Americas. 2Learn MoreThe orishas of Yoruba tradition This group holds the orishas, the deities of the Yoruba religion of West Africa and of the African-diaspora traditions descended from it, including Cuban Santeria (Lucumi) and Brazilian Candomble. The orishas are emanations of the supreme being Olodumare who govern natural forces and human affairs and are served through drumming, offering and possession. The browser will find Eshu/Elegba the trickster and messenger, Shango the thunder-king, Ogun of iron and war, Yemoja of the waters, Oshun of the rivers, and Obatala the sky-father. The atlas notes both the West African source tradition and its diaspora forms, which often pair each orisha with a Catholic saint.All Orisha DeitiesFilter Results17 entriesMember OfAllThe Orishas (14)HistoricityAllNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human being (17)TheologyAllHenotheistic: a supreme being above served lesser divinities (16)Polytheistic: many gods (1)ArchetypeAllThe Caregiver (2)The Explorer (2)The Hero (1)The Jester (1)The Lover (1)The Rebel (1)The Ruler (2)The Sage (3)Veneration StatusAllActively venerated in a living tradition (17)Era Attested Start YearAll1741 (16)Worshipped InAllCandomblé (1)Santería (Lucumí) (1)Yorùbá Religion (Ifá) (16)Domain / FunctionAllBeauty (1)Cosmic order and truth (1)Craft, metalwork and smithing (1)Creation and cosmogony (3)Death (1)Disease and plague (1)Divine messenger (1)Fertility and generation (1)Fire (1)Guide of the dead (1)Healing and medicine (2)Justice, law and oaths (4)Kingship and sovereignty (2)Love and desire (1)Motherhood (1)Mountains (1)Prophecy and divination (1)Purification (1)Rain and weather (1)Rivers, lakes and springs (3)Sea and ocean (2)Storm and thunder (2)The hunt (1)Travel, roads and boundaries (1)Trickster (1)Vegetation and forests (1)War and battle (1)Wilderness and wild animals (1)Wind (1)Wisdom and counsel (1)GenderAllAndrogynous / dual-gendered (1)Beyond gender (1)Collective / plural, not a single figure (1)Female (3)Gender-fluid across the tradition (2)Male (9)PantheonAllOrisha (16)Show ResultsBrowseCompareSelect all 17AganjuOrisha DeitiesBabalú-AyéOrisha DeitiesEshuOrisha DeitiesObatalaOrisha DeitiesOchosiOrisha DeitiesOduduwaOrisha DeitiesOgunOrisha DeitiesOlodumareOrisha DeitiesOlokunOrisha DeitiesOrunmilaOrisha DeitiesOsanyinOrisha DeitiesOshumareOrisha DeitiesOshunOrisha DeitiesOyaOrisha DeitiesShangoOrisha DeitiesThe OrishasOrisha DeitiesYemojaOrisha DeitiesConnectionsBelongs to TraditionCandomblé, Religions Well-attested The orishas as held in Candomble, each orixa a personal guardian revealed to the devotee through divination, named in the group article.Source Black Atlantic Religion: Tradition, Transnationalism, and Matriarchy in the Afro-Brazilian CandombleJ. Lorand Matorytier 1Santería (Lucumí), Religions Well-attested The orishas as held in Santeria's own Regla de Ocha, named in the group article.Source Santeria Enthroned: Art, Ritual, and Innovation in an Afro-Cuban ReligionDavid H. Browntier 1Yorùbá Religion (Ifá), Religions Well-attested The orishas as held in the Yoruba homeland tradition, centred on Ile-Ife, held in Yoruba cosmology as the site of the world's creation, named in the group article.Source Ifa: An Exposition of Ifa Literary CorpusWande Abimbolatier 1Sources1. Divinity Atlas Directory Taxonomy, First Edition Category Treetier 12. Olodumare: God in Yoruba Belieftier 1E. Bolaji Idowu, Longmans, 1962chs. 3-5View the Source3. Black Atlantic Religion: Tradition, Transnationalism, and Matriarchy in the Afro-Brazilian Candombletier 1J. Lorand Matory, Princeton University Press, 2005IntroductionView the Source4. Worldview, the Orichas, and Santeria: Africa to Cuba and Beyondtier 1Mercedes Cros Sandoval, University Press of Florida, 2006chs. 1-2Divinity Atlas Directory Prose, First Edition Category Descriptionstier 1Santeria Enthroned: Art, Ritual, and Innovation in an Afro-Cuban Religiontier 1David H. Brown, University of Chicago Press, 2003Ifa: An Exposition of Ifa Literary Corpustier 1Wande Abimbola, Oxford University Press, 1976Comments (0)No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.Sign in to join the discussion.Reader Challenges (0)No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.