The Many Gods of Yoruba Lore
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 พ.ย. 2022
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In recent years we have seen a very welcome uptick in the number of fantasy books inspired by West African folklore. The Afrofuturism and Africanfuturism movements have paved the way for Black authors across the diaspora to build worlds and tell stories influenced by their heritage, allowing wider audiences to finally meet the spirits of Yoruba lore. But who are these deities, and where do they come from?
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Hosted by Dr. Moiya McTier & Dr. Emily Zarka, FATE & FABLED explores the stories and characters of mythologies from all around the world - why they came to be and how they impact us still today.
Host / Writer: Moiya McTier, PhD
Director: David Schulte
Executive Producer: Amanda Fox
Producer: Thomas Fernandes
Editor / Animator: Steven Simone
Assistant Editor: Jordyn Buckland
Illustrator: Sophie Calhoun
Expert/Consultant: Oluseye Adesola, PhD
Script Editors: Emily Zarka, PhD & Moiya McTier, PhD
Fact Checker: Yvonne McGreevy
Additional Footage: Shutterstock
Music: APM Music
Executive in Charge (PBS): Maribel Lopez
Director of Programming (PBS): Gabrielle Ewing
Assistant Director of Programming (PBS): John Campbell
Fate & Fabled is produced by Spotzen for PBS Digital Studios.
Descriptive Audio & Captions provided by The Described and Captioned Media Program
To the people of this illustrious channel, as a Yoruba/Igbo man. Thank you. Thank you so much for this. You've no idea how long I've waited for my country's mythology to be brought to the forefront. When my late father told me about our gods, it began my deep interest in world mythology. Fun fact, my great grand mother was the high priestess for Shango, my dad would tell me stories of how he'd follow her to the shrine and eat all the food offerings when she left. In my mother's words, "Your father was a rascal"
Ur father get mind😂😂😂😂
@@aviastro2162 Abi?? Zero fucks given, that man I tell you.
It's really unnecessary to insert Igbo into everything to do with Yoruba culture, history and identity. It stinks of attention seeking and inferiority complex.
For the thousands of years Yoruba civilization flourished and thrived, the knowledge of the existence of anything called Igbo, was nil.
Please don't cheapen an independent culture, with irrelevant distractions, especially from people who claim to be Isrealites.
There are no cultural, linguistic, historical similarities between Igbos and Yorubas, until after the creation of Nigeria in the early 1900s. There are no military treaties. There is no evidence of trade or interactions, there are no similarities in vocabulary or exchanges of words or phrases, which would be the easiest evidence of historical interactions.
Every confluence of both cultures that exists today, is a recent development. It adds no relevance or value to Yoruba history or Yoruba diaspora.
Be rest assured, that the time will come, when that chapter will be told.
@@MKRex We are a country with a rich and diverse culture and people, why silence that compadre? Are we not equals meant to shine as children do?
my favorite story is that Oshun questioned why the woman orisha couldn't participate in the meetings about how manage humanity if they were so powerful, they told her that it was simply none of their business. So, as the orisha of child bearing, she made impossible for women to continue their pregnancies. Seeing the chaos that ensued, the male orisha allowed her and the others to participate in the meetings
fun fact: Eshu is the orisha of fecundation, Oshun of pregnancy and Yemoja takes care of the children after they are born✌🏽
I love the story of Ogún and Ochosi trying to hunt.
are you from Brazil
@@joaoguedes9303 perhaps for your belief, but this is not African ifa accurate
@@sincerelyeugene6638 okay
As a disabled person, it’s very refreshing to see a religion with such a positive view of disability and visible deformities. Wish more faiths were like that.
I noticed how that was specifically mentioned. I liked that also
The tail goes that he created deformed humans because he was drunk, he is literally pointed out that it was a drunken mistake, so not sure how you found this to be a compliment
@@rodolfopierre2129 he still made us, tho. Didn’t throw us out. Also less cruel than other disability origin myths, usually we’re cursed for sin or our parents mistakes or something awful. This is more neutral, and I’ll take it.
Its because Western culture literally focuses on Love. An
Well... That's not completely true.
As a Yoruba who lives in western Nigeria (and fluently speaks the language)
Disabled people in some forms were picked on too.
Some even used for barbaric human sacrifices
1. The Yoruba aren’t a tribe. Just say ethnic-group. Not everything in Africa is tribal. Yorubas built cities, kingdoms, queendoms & a few empires (like Oyo) for thousands of years.
2. Olodumare is most commonly called “Olodumare”, not as often called Olofi.
3. The Orishas are not gods, but god-like. Only Olodumare is truly GOD.
4. Yemoja is a primordial Orisha, one of the 16 sent from Orun to help create earth & humanity.
5. There is more than one traditional creation-myth in Yoruba indigenous religion.
6. Both the Orisha Olokun & Obatala are traditionally gender fluid.
7. In some creation-myths Oduduwa isn’t helping Obatala.
8. In some creation-myths Yemoja “gives Obatala water”. According to Baale Olukunmi Egbelade-“Yemoja is the Orisa (deity) that brought water for Obatala-the creator, god, during the time man was moulded with clay by Obatala”.
9. Yemoja isn’t only the mother of Shango. Yemoja is “the metaphysical mother of ALL the Orishas”. And like Oduduwa is a Yoruba forefather, Yemoja is “the mother of humankind”, the Yoruba foremother.
10. There are hundreds of Orisha but only a few of them are core, irreplaceable, aspects of the religion.
11. Oshun is also responsible for the existence of traditional Iyalawos or “Mamalawos” (female-priests of Odu-Ifa).
12. Reincarnation doesn’t always happen, sometimes ancestors & loved-ones stay in the Afterlife or Orun. But, African reincarnation isn’t just different from Eastern concepts, because of “reincarnating in one’s blood line”. But many scholars point to that fact, that in African thought, ancestors can live in the Afterlife & simultaneously live or “partial-reincarnate” within their descendants. Peace.
Thank you!
Yes, thank you.
There's rarely ever a valid reason to refer to _any_ group of people as a "tribe". The word is an expression of the colonial belief that Africans and other colonised people were uncivilised and primitive, and that Europeans were civilised and superior. Once this view is rejected, it becomes difficult to come up with an unbiased, consistent definition of a "tribe".
Ashe Ashe Ashe O
@@MelodiousThunk I SAY THIS ALL THE TIME!!! Even First Nations peoples do not refer to themselves as tribes but NATIONS. It's my bug bear that we're 40m+ Yoruba in Nigeria alone and we refer to ourselves as tribes
My favorite story is about Eshu's hat. One day Eshu passed by a village with a new hat. After he passes the people started a fight, because some people said that he was wearing a white hat and some people said that he was wearing a red hat. The fight was vicious and after some time they asked Eshu wich was the real color of the hat and in fact it was half red, half white. Eshu did it on purpose just to have fun about how people can fight over something as stupid as a color of a hat without ever considering that they can't see every point of view simultaneously.
Tricksters -- ya gotta love 'em!
That reminds me to that picture of a dress that circulated on the internet a few years back. The one that looked blue for some people and gold for others.
@@damedesuka77 well, now we might have an idea about who designed it!
@@damedesuka77 I knew a guy who saw it as blue and he said very harshly "anybody who says it isn't blue is lying." So I didn't bother to tell him it looked gold to me. smh
4:35 this is a Jomon period (Japanese) sculpture 👀👀👀👀 Nigeria had these too???
Brazilian culture is deeply linked with West African religions and folklore, and is nice to see an episode on that! Umbanda and Candomblé are still very present in our culture, even though sometimes less aparently.
BTW, there's a song by the great Brazilian composer Moacir Santos called "Oduduá", a beautiful account of the creation myth.
SOOOO TRUE! This video is amazing when thinking about many things in Brazilian Culture and it's links to West African religions.
Olori Xangô eieô!
I recognized so many of these names and references to them are still everywhere in Salvador. Also Axé is a whole genre of music from Bahia with deep roots in this lore
Sim!!!
So many diaspora cultures in latina America are influenced by the stories of the Yoruba, I'm a Puerto Rican who grew up with these tales and love seeing the rise in literature!
Exactly!! Me too! I just wish she pronounced their names better 😅
@@bruja_cat I thought I was the only one lol. I didnt wanna judge in case I was just used to hearing them pronounced one way.
Here in America they stole our stories and languages. But it’s refreshing to see these stories.
Same in Brazil
@@bruja_cat speaking as a yoruba guy, she did pretty well. The Latin American pronunciations are off from the original pronunciations as well.
It's good to learn about the cultures of west and central Africa. Because they're often times neglected by the larger world.
13M?
this isnt central African, we have our own gods and pantheons
The Kongo groups (especially those of the Yombe and Vili) also have a ton of Minkisi (spirits).
@@Luba.Lukasa where in the comment did they say that this is “Central Africa”? They said it’s nice to see West African AND Central African beliefs being highlighted. That would include also videos about central Africa 🤷🏾♂️
@@Elias_Truth they literally said cultures of west and central africa. imagine getting this upset because someone pointed out africa is not a monolith. Orishas are a west african tradition, we have our own panethons in parts of central africa
It's a shame that bearly anyone talks about african mythologies. They are all so intreasting and they deserve to get some of the spotlight.
"No one" in the US outside of Louisiana, you mean. In the Spanish-speaking Caribbean countries, you can hear a lot
@@LindaC616 Good point
Yemoja, or Iemanjá, is extremely popular here in Brazil. There are countless celebrations to her in New Year eve.
Also a bit more south as well! I was once on vacation in Uruguay and saw a lot of people celebrating Iemanjá on the beach. I have also seen it here in Argentina, but here I have seen mostly people celebrating Oshun. My sibling's ex is Brazilian and once they told me that depending on the area the celebrations can be quite big.
In Spanish-speaking countries Iemanjá is Yemayá 🙂
@@LindaC616 I have seen it written as both Iemanjá and Yemajá, but the first spelling is more used, at least here in Argentina. If you enter a santería somewhere you'll usually see the former spelling. The spelling for Oshun is different, here she is called Oxum, if I'm not mistaken. Probably some of the other deities have had their names changed as well.
@@LindaC616 sometimes Yamaya
@@sakuramikichan because you're closer to Brasil. In the Caribbean it's with a y 🙂
I love the fact that African creation myths tend to have the only reference to people with imperfections and this culture's religion literally says that's why we should look out for them even more
As a Nigerian whose maternal family originate and live in the ancient Yorùbá kingdom of Ilé Ìfẹ with the family being dedicated priests of Ifá (Ifaniyi) for generations but have now mass converted to Christianity in the last century, it warms my heart to see how far reaching Yoruba culture and her deities have gotten in the diaspora.
It's great to see mainstream positive coverage of the culture after centuries of negatives. I hope this extends to the whole of Sub Saharan Africa as a whole culturally. Right now Nigeria is dominating worldwide with a cultural renaissance but I hope for a time when Black Africa as a whole is as dominant in world cultural output as Europe and North America is.
Side note, please we're not a "tribe". I'm so sick of hearing that word used to describe ethnic groups, nations and peoples on the continent. The closest group that could fall into that classification of tribal are the pygmy people of the Congo or the San bushmen. Continuing to refer to complex nations of people as tribes is demeaning and patronising as well as a relic of the colonial age. It needs to be deleted from peoples' vocabularies
True I agree with that..
@Angelina we were never tribe. We are great nation until colonisation
What you said about the word "tribe" is so interesting because I never really thought about the word and I have always referred to myself as being from the yoruba tribe.
Hi, I'm white English, my partner is Yoruba, we have 2 kids, so I look for material on here to help teach them about their heritage. I'm always looking to learn more, thanks for sharing your perspective. Only the other day I asked a man which tribe he was from not thinking it could be offensive in any way. I will be more mindful of my vocabulary.
I'm omo Oshun and still learning, there is so much to learn. One of my favorite stories is actually about Ochoosi. Someone stole a bird he had hunted. He shot an arrow and commanded it to strike the thief and end their life. The one who took the bird was his mother. The moral is to be less quick to out of pure emotion and anger. It's a lesson I'm still working on. and yes, we always thank Eshu.
Would be nice if we could see films about West African mythology
@@gavincato9488 nollywood
Maybe start by learning the yoruba alphabet so you’ll know there’s no h in Osun and Esu. A lot of foreigners who like learning this stuff never learn from the original source, which is weird
@@urmom90210 don't be a nitpicker. The ṣ in Oṣun is commonly pronounced as sh. Spelling Oṣun as Oshun is equivalent.
@@bukster337 In portuguese, we write Oxum. What we are doing is a romanization. In fact, the Yoruba alphabet use roman letters to write stuff, because it doesn't have an original alphabet. Of course it has it's own ortography, because it's an official language now, but before the 17th century there was no official romanization. At the time they use arabic letters to write. People that are brought to America already knew their gods, but did not learned this official alphabet, that came to be centuries later and they developed their own transliteration to a lot of languages. So, Eṣu, Eshu or Exu are one and the same and are not more or less correct, the same way that Mary and Maria are the same person.
I’m Ghanaian, so I don’t know much about Yoruba traditions, but this was a nice little video about the culture and the mythology of the Yoruba people! Thank you Storied!
We have afa,yoruba have ifa
There is Ghana’s Akan Mythology.
I’m sure you have heard of Tegare,Asuo Gyebi, Adade Kofi Nana Esi ketewa and the mmoatia (dwarves) just to name a few.
@@emmanuelboakye1124 Isn't afa specifically Ewe, not globally Ghananian? I believe it is the Ewes who have Afa
I’d love a video on the Lwa of Haitian Vodou mythology. I’m even writing a book about it based on my culture and stories I was told by elders growing up.
Will buy when you finish.
That is great!
This!!! It’s also highly misunderstood
@ZAXBIEZCHICKENCOOP Yes Vodou is from Africa originally but it is Haitian culture too.
Please do, Im Haitian, but have grown up in the US most of my life and I want to connect with my Haitian and African roots. I would love to learn more about Haitian Vodou lore!
Love this. I’m from Brazil and the Yoruba mythology has shaped candomblé. This video does a good job explaining the basis of the stories 👏🏼 👏🏼
There is a pataki (story) within Ifa that says that hurricane season is the result of Yemaya's remembrance of the slaves lost during the trans Atlantic slave period. Her rage boils over as massive storms and she grieves.
Love it. The expected reaction for a mother losing her children for any reason let alone slavery.
"the enslaved"
Let us rehumanize our people.
As a Yoruba man I'm happy that our stories are told. Hopefully all yoruba descendants in Africa and the Americas will unite one day to take their rightful place in the world.
Thank you
We are all slowly awakening
For sure
I was introduced to Papa Legba as a child and found enormous love, appreciation and admiration for the other Orishas since. Whenever I see sunflowers, peacock feathers, vultures or bees I have a burst of love for Oshun. Oya has been a positive influence this last year and I am so grateful for the very real presence of Orishas in the world.
I love yall for making this video. It's wonderful that more people can learn about Yoruba dieties. However, I wish you had enlisted one of the MANY Yoruba-speaking descendants who are historians here in the USA to help with this because the pronunciations of the names are killing, me! LOL.
Yeah... about 90% of the names were mispronounced. I understand a few because of regional difference. But just about every word here had some... artistic license.
Ase 😂
I'm not yourba speaking but I was cringing and the few words I recognized I had never heard pronounced the way she did it. With how consistent it was, I thought I had somehow forgotten how these words were supposed to be pronounced.
@@pairofdragonflywings Yes, that was the main disappointment here. Otherwise, I enjoyed it very much.
Omg, yes! If the names weren't visually in the video, I would have been like, "Who?" I am thankful that more Non-European Spirits are being brought to people's attention.
Thank you for doing a video on Yoruba spirituality. I just have one little squick here: the pronunciation. It would be a good idea to actually talk to practitioners and Yoruba people, and listen to how they pronounce the names and terms. It's hard to listen to and I don't know if y'all are aware but even some of us mortals have a particular sensitivity about people mispronouncing our names when they're not actually difficult to pronounce properly. It's just kind of minimal respect to try.
🗣️ THIS!!! I wholeheartedly agree! They could have had an actual priest tell the pátakis. Her mispronunciation is grating.
I also had this thought, but since I know it from Lucumí (diaspora) I wasn't sure if there was some way in which her pronunciation could be considered not wrong. But it certainly didn't seem right.
My favorite Orisha is Obba. While there is only one story about her that survives, I love how it shows a capable woman who's love was used as a weapon against her, yet discovers love for herself.
Obba being the Orisha of the home and defender of those mistreated by those they love is both powerful and comforting.
And she’s the first wife of Shango right?
That’s my crown 🥰. There actually are many more stories about her. She’s also the Orisha of reading, writing, nautical navigation, and mathematics, as well as being a war strategist. And yes, she’s the first wife of Shango 😊
theres a myth where oba gets jealous that oshun was getting all of shangos love so oba said make shango a dish and oshun made a musroom that looks like a ear shango liked the ear shaped mushroom so oba cut off her ear thinking the ear shaped mushroon was oshun ear shango said ew oba why did you serve me your ear so thats why oba is often depicted with a one ear
@@glamorgirl911 yeah I heard Oba and Oshun don’t get along.
@@angelacooper8973 that’s not true. They’re best friends. It’s Oyá she doesn’t get along with. Also, Obbá was the one who cooked her ear into a soup and that was why she and Shangó separated. That’s why depictions of her cover her ear
As a West African, I am so proud to hear these stories finally being told.
Said politely: Your pronunciation of the names of the Orisha is in need of improvement. Obatala+ OH bah T lah, Oya: oi - yah, Olofin: OH low fin, Achè'= AH tchAY. Olokun: OH low koon. Eshu=AY shoe. 27 years initiated to Eshu Laroye.
THANK YOU
Gracias as a Cuban priestess of Yemaya, listening to her butcher the names and Yoruba words is😳
Exactly
Thank you. I noticed they made sure to pronounce the Gaelic words on the Irish folktales episodes. Gaelic isn't even phonetically spelled. African languages get transliterated, it's pronouncing on easy mode compared to Gaelic. They made sure to say Cú Chulainn properly but can't even bother figuring out how to say Eshu properly. Disgrace.
Thank you . That's the only thing that was irritating me
I really like that fact that Obatala watches over human with physical differences. So it's kind of built into the culture to care for such persons, like the very creator of humanity, rather than ostracize them. I also see it in the spirit of atunwaye that a parent who drinks is responsible for their children's condition, congenital or otherwise, and that it would be right to not do that in the first place, or at least care for them instead of abandoning them. Great example of mythology being a vehicle for social ethics.
This series is amazing and love when West African mythology gets a chance in the spotlight.
I hope for a future episode you can cover some of the Papuan mythology from New Guinea. They have some incredible stories that have unfortunately been overshadowed by sensationalist accounts and the difficulty of traversing the mountainous interior of the island to do field research.
as a son of Oshun herself (Oxum in Brazil, OṢÙN in Yoruba), her stories always move me to tears. She taught me the power of compassion and inner beauty, as well as the importance of self love and appreciation for the beauty in the world. Since I started worshipping mother Oshun, she made sure I never went through financial struggles. I feel her blessings every day.
Ora Yeye O, Osun 💛
Having grown up in Brasil I have been Blessed to know and worship these wonderful Orixas! Here Candomblé and Umbanda are widely practiced religious traditions built around the Orixás. This is beautiful!! Axé my friends!
I remember learning some of these names, especially Chango, while learning about Voodoo in New Orleans last year. It's cool to hear about their origin stories, so thank you for telling them.
Voodoo is more Fon than Yoruba traditionally. However I guess that there is blending in modern times especially in diaspora.
“Weird pronunciations” I thought, until I realized I know the syncretic Caribbean pronunciations of the African terms.
Touché … self touché
Same! As a Spanish speaker, I'm struggling! (Tbf, I think rhe stress is indeed off on some of her pronunciations)
Her inflections are off, and some of her vowels are just wrong (i.e. Ifé as "Ee-fuh"), but it's a noble effort.
My boss is Yoruba, and he has twins! Thank you for helping me learn more about his rich culture ❤️
My ancestors were west African so seeing the yoruba tribe get covered makes me supper happy
Ethnic group :)
I literally asked Storied to do a video like this one a while ago! I'm SO happy it did end up coming out! 🤩
I don't worship the orisha myself, but have been PASSIONATELY reading stories about them ever since I was a little kid. Also, a good friend of mine is a child of Oya, and told me she was possessed by Oya herself a few times! 😍
The cult of the orisha (called Candomblé where I live) is one of the main reasons I fell in love with West African traditions, alongside the existence of jeliw (people specialized in music, storytelling and/or the art of making speeches that were key figures in the Mali Empire, and remain important til this day). I've read about many of them helping the WHO as interpreters and communicators!
Wonderful! As a Yoruba from Nigeria, I've been waiting for the time when Yoruba mythology would receive the attention that other prominent mythologies get aka Greek and Roman mythologies. Looks like that time has finally come. As you can see, Yoruba mythology is just as sophisticated as any of its peers. Thanks
It is not even about sophistication, there are interesting parallels between some of the characters in Yoruba, Indian, Greek, Roman, Norse mythology, and I am sure there are many more
It is not a myth 🙄
@@tiasingz lol
As an outsider I find this fascinating and I’m glad that your stories can now be shared without being completely oversimplified or misunderstood by westerners, all peoples deserve to tell their own stories
@@seismicvertigo345 Fair point. Also, there are plenty of parallels between Ancient Egyptian and Yoruba mythology. I'm no anthropologist but I'd guess these parallels in mythologies can be attributed to ancient peoples trying to make sense of the universe while similarly handicapped by limited science. So, they came up with these mythologies to answer the same questions hence the similarities in the resulting religions.
In Puerto Rico and Cuba this is also our lore and in a lot of our music😍 aché para todos
Nobody understands how happy it made me to see my culture represented on my favorite channel! Pronunciation and spelling aside, this video was awesome.
Thank you so much for this video. Just a helpful pronunciation tip @ 2:25 it’s oh-bah-tah-LAH (Obatala) and oh-RUNE-mee-lah (Orunmila). Asé
Thank you! I feel if you are going to do a video like this, at least do your respectful research and say their names right.
I think this is my favorite episode of Fate and Fabled yet! The stories and presentation are terrific. Thanks for teaching me more about a culture I knew next to nothing about before today.
We need more like this. West African Folklore and History is VERY Neglected. The only thing I learned in this episode is the Oshun as a peacock story. That's interesting and I wonder how old it is since Peacocks aren't native to Africa or Yorubaland. Maybe they saw one through trade which shows we weren't isolated from the rest of the world. We as a People really need to know this stuff because they tell us our history begins with slavery and our ancestors didn't have a history in West and Central Africa before a European or Arab showed up.
As you know, folklore is based on descriptions, maybe the bird in the original story has gone extinct but shared a similar appearance with the modern peacock.
You're right. The peacock is definitely indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. That didn't stop the peacock from being adapted to mythologies outside India. In addition to its use in Yoruba mythology, the peacock is also prominent in Nordic, Roman, Greek and Chinese mythologies.
It can also refer originally to another bird. There are many cases where multiple species are considered interchangeable for the purpose of legends and rituals. For example, a "tiger" can also be a leopard or jaguar. Many cases for plants too, for example even Ikín can be one of two or three different species that are used in different regions.
Oya is my Orisha 💜🙏🏽 happy to see this being showcased 🥰
The Orisha have heavenly orgins (Orun) but were believed to have lived on earth in a tropical paradise (Aye) of the Pacific Ocean, where they bring the chicken and sand from. Gold and Palm nuts come from the north. Olofin & Olokun, Obatala, Orunmila and Oshun all wear pacific symbols of spiritual protection. Thank you for sharing. Much love and Respect ❤
I remember being told the same
THANK YOU for this! Hoping to see MORE African and black inspired fantasy and medieval fantasy stories!
Well done. Please make this a series. I would love to hear your team explore the variations of this cosmology throughout the continent as well as the diaspora and the ways that it has shaped history (such as during the Haitian revolution), popular culture and contemporary movements in literature.
This is amazing! I love all of the stories from around the world. Definitely going to be looking for more Yoruba lore 😍
This is fantastic. I just finished the Raybearer books so I love the idea that more and more of this mythology is being recognized and shared. Please do more of these!!
Love the channel, love this episode! I just finished a class where we went over goddesses and their place in culture and society which focused heavily on the goddesses of Yoruba culture! Glad to learn more outside of class.
Loved this video! I’m interested in mythology and folktales, so hearing about another culture’s mythology is wonderful. The more we learn about other cultures, the better the understanding between different peoples around the world, and that’s no bad thing.
Yorubá mythology is simply beautiful and full of teachings that still today are really useful :)
I’ve just started reading Tomi Adoyemi’s second book in that series. I really enjoyed the first one & now I can understand it better with this knowledge! Thanks!
I love discovering new stories and myths from around the world. Thank you and more knowledge please!
It is great to see African and African-descendant religions represented here, but I would recommend paying a little more attention to the pronunciation of the names.
As a Brazilian man, and a workshiper of the Orixás, it's very interesting to hear the names of these deities like these. I'm a son of Xango and Iemanjá, and today i'll be offering some coins and candles to Exu. Exu is the one to call when you're distressed about finances, clients and more things of "material value". Great video, by the way. Love your content!
this is probably one of the most concise explanation videos of Yoruba folklore i've found seen yet. many thanks!
Love the subject matter, "yaruba" do be making the anime head-vein pop up ever so slightly tho 😆 💢
Yoruba does sound like it could be a Japanse word. There are some similar Japanese words and Yoruba words. Mountain is "oka" in Japanese and "oke" in Yoruba. House is "ie" in Japanese and "ile". It's just a coincidence, though.
I always love learning about the deities, spirits and beliefs of other cultures.
As a pantheist I love learning about deities I haven't heard of yet! Thank Eshu.
This channel just keeps getting better. Thank you for this.
I’m BEGGING you to bring more! I love the Orisha and I am EAGER to learn more!
This was fantastic! Very engaging narration with beautiful visuals and the ART! 😍😍 Really, this was awesome.
ENJOYED YOUR VIDEO. PLZ WORK ON THE PRONUNCIATIONS. IT MATTERS.
this is so wonderful to learn about! thank you for taking the time to make this video and share it with us.
This was beautiful PBS we need more of this type of content. ❤
In Brasil the Orixas still play a big role. I actually have a christian mom, but still we threw flowers into the sea, for Iemanja. The music is full of references, there is ton of books to read about. Also one of my favourite music genres is calles axe rock :D
I am from Brazil. We also praticte Candomblé there. I learned a little bit of it. Your video is just stunning! Really thanks! i loved seeing all the stories I heard about. Laroyê Eshù! Ele é mojoba!
The illustrations for this episode are especially wonderful!
This was a super good vid,i love learning about cultures and taking inspiration from them in my stories and i had never heard of this mythology before so thanks for the inpiration
~eshu be thanked~
In Brazil the Youruba orishas are very important and well known here. It's good to see those stories spreading in the world.
Never heard these before! They were fascinating, hope you can cover more like this in the future. :)
I need more of this alternative mythology!! OMG THIS IS SO GOOD
Great job! This is beautifully put together.
It’s always fascinating how the same themes are part of so many stories… floods and drought, thunder and lightning, constantly playing the most vital role in all the people of history!
I'm Brazilian, and was basically raised into the religion since a very young age. I felt a bit sad that my Orixá (as we write around here) was not mentioned: Omolu, god of Earth, Diseases (and it's cures) and also deeply related to Life, Death and Reincarnation cycles.
There are several stories about him, but the one I first heard was that he was born to a queen (the Orixá Naná) and that he had an apparently incurable disease. Naná, afraid, sent the child to the beach - either to die or to be raised by Yemanjá (depending on the version) - though I think the first one makes more sense, since he was left there for so long, crabs started to eat him alive. Yemanjá did eventually find him and use her power to heal him, nurturing him into a strong yet shy young man. This story goes on and on to explain how he got his clothing from Ogun (god of war and metallurgy) and how Oya figured out the shy Omolu was the god of Earth.
I have a really deep fascination for this culture and it is really great to see it being talked about outside the place I was born in.
This is great! Always down for new (to me) mythologies to learn about.
I'm a fantasy enthusiast and just learning more about my biological heritage. There's so very little information about West African mythology and yet its so rich and diverse. Please, I'd love more on the Yoruba myths!
Finally, my people get their story told.
Thank you ❤️
Thank you so much for making this video, as a Nigerian American man it puts a smile to see the age-old beliefs of my tribe being talked about with respect and professionalism is just wonderful to see keep it up.
You couldn't just say a Yoruba man? Nawa oh.
Thank you Thank You Thank you Eshu for being our teacher, historian, and guide that sits between the mortal and immortal realms. This was an amazing video and I need to reorder my book on Yoruba mythology.
AWESOME episode, Moiya!!! 😍 I REALLY love Ibeji!!! 😊
I would love to hear more about Oya- thought I’m still learning much about the stories in the region- i am just eager to listen and absorb
As a brazillian from bahia, and a friend of African Brazillian religions, i am very grateful for this video!
This is good stuff! I've been learning about the Yoruba for about a decade now, but there's still so much I don't know. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
Thank you for sharing this!
I first discovered Yoruba mythology from the game Smite, (Olorun and Ymoja are playable deities in the game amongst gods and heroes of other pantheons).
As I learn more, I'm seeing the influences in a lot of stuff today and it is absolutely fascinating.
Africa is rich with myths that barely been discussed with. I'm glad these are not yet lost
Loved learning about this this. One of my fave YA fantasies that dove into the Orisha is the TJ Young and the Orishas series. Learning more in this video has just made my re read more informed
Amazing information and what a journey of culture. I am so inspired to write after learning of more about African Orishas. Thank you so much.
my professor of African Drama, Dr. Femi Euba, wrote a whole book about Esu if anyone's interested in learning more about him :) In fact, he's written numerous books about ritual and Yoruba culture and African drama. He's pretty incredible, I've been very fortunate to learn from him here at LSU.
and speaking of African Drama, write to WW Norton to bring back the Modern African Drama Critical Edition! It's gone out of print :O it's a great book if you find it, though, so pick it up!
Greetings it is wonderful to see you telling the stories. I do have a serious ask. The pronunciations are quite different than how the words are spoken in Yoruba or Lucumi here in the Americas. There are many Babalawos and other practitioners who can assist and help you to pronounce. It would be wonderful to hear the names of our language be pronounced accurately because our languages are tonal. Thank You again for your wonderful contribution.
The eloquence with which you say the stories are excellent
You have summarized eloquently about the Yoruba lore, dovetailing with literature, sociology, philosophy and cosmology. Thank you very much, thou princess of the Oduduwa dynasty.
As a Nigerian I'm so happy for this
Olofin (under the name Olorun) and Yemoja are playable characters in the moba Smite.
I had goosebumps watching this entire video. I LOVE HEARING about my ancestors! Will definitely be back for more content.
That was amazing and clear. Thank you
Any chance you could explore the lore/mythology of Portugal? I'd especially like to hear you talk about the Bat-Winged Horse creatures known as "Cavalo do Pensamento" & the "Cavalum".
4:35 is a Japanese "Dogū"-statue from the Jōmon period (1000-400 BC), famous as an often cited "evidence" for "Ancient Astronauts"!
Oh hey it straight up is lol, little bit of a mixup there lol
Great job on what you covered keep up the good work
This video is awesome. I love that you're covering this. I so so so so wish that the orishas were talked about and loved as much as Greek and Roman gods, if not more. The Yoruba are just utterly awesome, beautiful, and fascinating
one of my fav songs is Aguanile (Hector Lavoe)
Aguanile is a Yoruba word.The term Aguanile mai mai is praising the Yoruba orisha called Ogun. Ogun is the god of war and metal. He is the diety that works day and night without ever resting. He is the primordial black smith. He held the secrets of metals and forging tools. He held these secrets to himself until the orisha Oshun (river diety) seduced him out of the forest so that civilization could be created.
This video reminded me of a book I read as a kid about a pair of twins that keep getting reborn and were separated by the American slave trade and part of it was getting back to each other. I don’t remember what book this is or it was a part of a larger story and I hope someone else has heard/read of this book
Was it Homecoming?
@@RheaLady Home Going Yaa Gyasi