By Yelena Niki Neha Natalie and Natasha Yoruba

By: Yelena, Niki, Neha, Natalie, and Natasha

Yoruba Religion w Is a major African religion, based in Nigeria w Over 25 million Yoruba people w One overall god w Other gods are the Irunmole and the Orisha w Respect ancestors w Sprit lives after death and reincarnates in blood relatives w Moments in life can be predicted

African Gods: Introduction Many different gods each have different roles. African gods are similar to Greek gods. They have emotions and act human-like. With that said: Lets meet the top 11 gods of African Mythology!

Olorun w Top God w God of the sky, peace and justice w Creator of the Earth and humans w Father of two: Odudua and Obatala w Favorite Color: White

Olokun w Olorun’s brother w God of the Sea w Possibly a sea goddess w Married to Olorun

Bumba Obtala w God of vomit and creator w Had a stomach ache for centuries w Threw up the world and creatures on it w Creator god of humans w Loved wine w Made humans when under the influence of alcohol

Shango w God of thunder w Fourth king of Yoruba w Colors: Red and White w Likes to party and feast Eshu w Trickster god of decisions and choices w Offers advice to those in need w Owns the roads of life w Has a sense of humor

Orishas Yemaya w Guardian spirits under control of Olorun w One of the Orishas w Mother of water and childbirth

Anansi w Spider god w Creator god: created sun and moon w Sneaky, Trickster, Sly Elegua w Provides more opportunity + second chances w Trickster: can make some choices seem difficult

Orunmilla w One of the Orishas w Spirit of Wisdom: Divine w Makes Prophecies w Has his own priests w Equipped with “divination chains”

African Gods’ Family Tree OLORUN OLOKUN ODUDA OBATALA ORUNMILA OBATALA AGANJU ORUNMILA YEMAJA ORUNGAN OKUN SHAKPANA SHANGO OSHUN OYA OBA KEY BLUE= male PINK= female. D

Important Cities Ife“First city” in the world. The spot of land Obtala (aka Odudawa) landed on Prosperous and religious center Important center of art and culture Oyo. Shango ruled here Prosperous and powerful empire (partly because of appearance of horse) Benin. Brass casting techniques from Ife

Creation of the Universe w Most important things, like religion, are at center of their life w The most important god, Oluddumare, created a force for each gender. w Oloddumare said that Olorun was female w Nana gave birth to two eggs named Mawa and Lissa. w They created Oshumare the rainbow serpent. w Irunmole then created the universe and the gods w The Orishas created spiritual leaders

Creation of Life and Life or no life? Land or no land? The choice was Obtala’s! How Obtala Created Land Animals on Earth

Irunmola and Oloddumare debate on expanding the universe Oloddumare agreed, adding there must be something to hold the entire universe together Oshumare (Rainbow Serpent) was created to hold the universe together However, when Oshumare gets hungry and starts eating his own tail, the world will

PB wiki In order to collaborate and improve our rate of success we used a website called PB wiki to share the information we found. http: //hydeafricamythology. pbwiki. com/

“The Gods of Africa. ” African Mythology. Godchecker Inc. 04 November 2005. 5 February 2006. <www. godchecker. com/pantheon/africa_muthology. php. > “West African Mythology. ” Windows to the Universe. Window Team. 28 March 1997. 5 February 2006. <www. windows. ucar. edu/tour/link =/mythology/African_culture. html>. “Yoruba Mythology. ” Yoruba Mythology. Wikipedia. 24 March 2006. 16 February 2006. <en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Yoruba_mythology>. Unknown. “Yoruban Religion: It’s cosmology and mythology. www. mythome. org/yorubareligion. html (16 Feb. 2006). “Ifa Religion. ” IFA Religion, Yoruba Religion, Babalawo. New Orleans Mystic. 11 March 2006. <http: //www. neworleansmistic. com/services /santeria/ifa. htm>. Also thanks to. . . Mrs. Miller!