This page groups deities by the domain or function myth assigns them, the area of life, craft or natural force a god is called on to govern. Wikipedia's overview of deities gives a clear example in the Yoruba god Ogun, described as "the primordial masculine deity as well as the archdivinity and guardian of occupations such as tools making and use, metal working, hunting, war, protection and ascertaining equity and justice." Browsing by domain lets a visitor find every god of, for example, war or the harvest, across many different pantheons at once.
Facts
Overview
What Defines This GroupingThe 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. 2 Peoples and Traditions CoveredCandomble in Brazil, where the orisa are the orixas 3 Peoples and Traditions CoveredLucumi, also called Santeria, in Cuba and its diaspora 4 Peoples and Traditions CoveredThe Yoruba of present-day Nigeria and Benin, the source tradition 2 Origins
Origin of the NameThe 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. 2 Attestation
Veneration TodayServed today in Yorubaland and across Cuba, Brazil, Trinidad and the wider Americas. 2 Learn More
The 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.
Justice, law and oaths
Filter Results4 entries
Connections
Belongs to Tradition
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 Matory
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. Brown
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 Abimbola
Sources
1. Divinity Atlas Directory Taxonomy, First Edition Category Tree
2. Olodumare: God in Yoruba Belief
3. Black Atlantic Religion: Tradition, Transnationalism, and Matriarchy in the Afro-Brazilian Candomble
J. Lorand Matory, Princeton University Press, 2005IntroductionView the Source 4. Worldview, the Orichas, and Santeria: Africa to Cuba and Beyond
Mercedes Cros Sandoval, University Press of Florida, 2006chs. 1-2
Divinity Atlas Directory Prose, First Edition Category Descriptions
Santeria Enthroned: Art, Ritual, and Innovation in an Afro-Cuban Religion
David H. Brown, University of Chicago Press, 2003
Ifa: An Exposition of Ifa Literary Corpus
Wande Abimbola, Oxford University Press, 1976
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.