Myth, Ritual, and Visible Expressions of Obatala and Olokun in Ile-Ife`

Omtale

In Myth, Ritual, and Visible Expressions of Ọbàtálá and Olókun Ilé-Ifẹ̀, Oluwafunminiyi Wasiu Raheem and Ayowole S. Elugbaju explore Ọbàtálá (Yorùbá deity of creation) and Olókun’s (preeminent owner of the ocean) existence in myth, history, and religion through various facets of pan-human worship, belief, and everyday ritual practices. Raheem and Elugbaju explore Yorùbá’s history and religion to provide an extensive analysis of core themes in Ọbàtálá’s and Olókun’s stories. They argue for a more complex reading Ọbàtálá beyond the often sustained and single narrative of struggle and defeat as well as a more nuanced reading of Olókun’s presentation as a holy well beyond its popular exemplification of a female deity of wealth, childbirth, and pre-eminent owner of the world’s ocean. Drawing from oral accounts, chants, folk songs, praise poems, and verses from the Ifá corpus, the authors provide new insights into the worlds of both deities hitherto missing in the literature.