Culture

Ikú solves the mystery of Death. Ikú is death in the sense of loss of emí or life sustaining breath, the end of terrestrial life but unlike Egúngún, it was one of the beings in Òrun that came to Aiyé. Ikú was assigned the task of ending peoples life. The …

Ase or àṣẹ is a Yoruba concept that signifies the power to make things happen and change. It given by Olodumare to everything – gods, ancestors, spirits, humans, animals, plants, rocks, rivers, and voiced words such as songs, prayers, praises, curses, or even everyday conversation. Existence, according to Yoruba thought, …

To’ju iwa re, ore mi, Ola a ma si lo n’ile eni, Ewa a si ma si l’ara enia. Olowo oni ‘nd’olosi b’o d’ola, Okun l’ola, okun n’igbi oro,   Gbogbo won l’o nsi lo n’ile eni; Sugbon iwa ni m’ba ni de sare’e, Owo ko je nkan fun ni. …

Obinrin ni aya okunrin, Obinrin ni iya okunrin Okunrin a ma lagbara sugbon obinrin a ma l’ete Ete si niyi, ni iwon ju agbara lo Ni won ma fi ni wipe Okunrin ti obinrin o le mu, iyen ti mi tan l’atano Obinrin a pa eje modi, atun fidi le …

That a daughter is born in a family is never seen as a bad omen like in some societies. Both genders are welcome in the Yorùbá family with all fanfare. The family members would even posit that ‘Owo ero lo fi bere (lit. She starts with softness/gentleness) when a wife …

In Yorubaland, giving birth is an important occurrence and congratulatory message is always followed by the question ” Ako̩ n B’abo ” which simply means ” Male or Female ? This was a normal question which I believe would be common in any community around the world.   Previously in …

The culture that teaches that a king could become a slave and a slave could become a king in their midst and that the way a child is born is the same way a slave is born put the Yoruba culture up front amongst world cultures, East, West, North and …

The Odun Aje in Ondo kingdom is literally referred to as a festival of the goddess of wealth and fertility. The festival is one of the over 50 traditional festivals annually celebrated with pomp and pageantry in Ondo. The festival is dedicated to Aje, the Yoruba goddess of wealth and fertility, it …

WHAT IS ORÍKÌ? Oriki is an important and cultural, but unwritten (oral) genre of Yoruba literature that is usually used in praise singing. The Yoruba people have very rich cultural oral literature, oriki is on of them. Oríkì is used during individual or communal ceremonies, for individuals or the community. …

Those who founded Ondo were no commonplace wayfarers with a prosaic, pedestrian pedigree. They were men and women enveloped in royal garments straight from the palace of the Alaafin of Oyo, the then powerful leader of the Yoruba race. Among the cities, towns and villages that make up the Yoruba …