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Where did Orisha originate?
The Orishas are mediators between the human and spiritual realm, and are the major source of communication with the Supreme Being. Originally in Yorubaland—the cultural region of the Yoruba people in West Africa that spans modern day Nigeria, Togo, and Benin–many Orishas were worshipped.
How many African Orishas are there?
Number. Yoruba tradition often says that there are 400 + 1 orisha, which is associated with a sacred number. Other sources suggest that the number is “as many as you can think of, plus one more – an innumerable number”. Different oral traditions refer to 400, 700, or 1,440 orisha.
Where do the Orishas live?
orisha, also spelled orixa or orisa, any of the deities of the Yoruba people of southwestern Nigeria. They are also venerated by the Edo of southeastern Nigeria; the Ewe of Ghana, Benin, and Togo; and the Fon of Benin (who refer to them as voduns).
How old are the Orishas?
Their number is usually given as 400 + 1 as a kind of shorthand for “without number” or innumerable. Belief in the Orishas is thought to have developed between 500-300 BCE but is most likely much older, as this dating is supported by archaeological evidence and there are many West African sites still unexcavated.
Can you have more than one orisha?
An individual may over the course of a lifetime worship several Orisha. In fact, according to Bascom, most Yoruba worshiped a group of five or six deities acquired under different circumstances, and regardless of how one came to the worship of an Orisha, he or she was eligible to become a priest of that Orisha.
Who is Chango?
Shango, also called Chango, major deity of the religion of the Yoruba of southwestern Nigeria. Like all of the Yoruba gods (orishas), Shango is both a deified ancestor and a natural force, both aspects being associated with a cult and a priesthood.
Can you have more than one Orisha?
Who are the most powerful orishas?
Ṣàngó
Ṣàngó is viewed as the most powerful and feared of the orisha pantheon. He casts a “thunderstone” to earth, which creates thunder and lightning, to anyone who offends him.
Where are the Orishas now?
The Orishas secured their first studio deal in France, although they went on to live scattered throughout the world, meeting up to record and perform. “It’s part of what enriches us,” said Ruzzo, known for his high-speed rapping in syncopated Spanish, who now lives in Pamplona.
Who is the youngest orisha?
Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Ayagunna is the youngest path, or avatar, of the undergod Obatala in the Lukumi (Santería) pantheon. In this manifestation, Obatala is a youth who battles with a scimitar. He is credited with having spread gunpowder throughout the world.
Who is the youngest Orisha?
Who is the first Orisha?
The Yoruba people believe that the orishas were sent by Olodumare, who is considered the Supreme God, to populate the Earth. Oshun, being one of the original 17 sent to Earth, was the only female deity. The other gods, all male, failed at their attempts to revive and populate the Earth.
Who are the Orishas and why are they important?
Who Are the Orishas? The Orishas are a group of spirits originating from Yorubaland, which is a region in Africa spanning Nigeria, Benin and Togo. Some people liken the Orishas to gods and goddesses. They are similar but not quite the same.
How did African Americans begin Orisha-worship?
Over time, increasing numbers of African Americans have undergone initiation in Cuban-American Santería/Ocha, traveled to Nigeria for initiation in Yoruba ęsin ibilę, or been initiated by Nigerian orişa priests in the United States, Oyotunji African Village remains the capital of a distinctly African-American tradition of orisha-worship.
What is the difference between Oyotunji and Orisha worship?
Among the other distinctions of Oyotunji are its formal practice of polygyny and its commitment to Black racial nationalism. No other major tradition of orisha-worship in the Americas or Africa excludes people of other races from initiation, and no other such tradition in the Americas formally endorses plural marriage.
What is the difference between an Orisha and a cult?
These specific forces of nature are part of the orisha because the cult of the orishas directs itself toward them. The orishas, however, are only one aspect of these natural forces. An orisha is that part of a natural force that is disciplined and controllable and that can be cultivated by people using ritual means.