strong winds, tornadoes, and lightning. She is also
the initiator of feminine leadership.
Categories of DivinitiesIn some societies, especially those of the Yoruba
and Bini where the gods are hierarchically
arraigned in pantheon, there are basically three
main classes of divinities. These are the primordial
divinities, divinities associated with natural phe-
nomena, and the deified ancestors.
Primordial divinities are divinities of Heaven
who had been with God from the creation and
participated in the work of creation. Among the
Yoruba, Obatala or Orisa-nla is said to have
come to the Earth to assist Olodumare in the cre-
ation of the Earth. Ogun helped in the construc-
tion of roads to Ife. Esu, also known as Elegbara,
was forced down to the Earth to take over the
responsibility of a midwife between evil and good
forces. Osun was sent to represent the power and
the sacredness of womanhood. When they got to
Earth, they became energy and forces through
which the will of Olodumare for humankind
came into reality.
Other divinities came into being as a result of
the personification of natural features. These
include spirits associated with hills, mountains,
rivers, rocks, caves, brooks, lakes, trees, and
thick (dense) forests. Such places may be set
apart as sacred. Mountain divinity among the
Yoruba is Orisa-oke (the divinity of the moun-
tains). Most of the river divinities in West Africa
are principally feminine. Among the Yoruba,
some of the river divinities are Osun, Yemoja,
and Oya. Among the Edo people, Olokun, a
masculine divinity, is the lord of the seas. Tano,
a prominent divinity of Asante pantheon, is
associated with River Tano. Bosompo is con-
nected with the sea while Bosomtwe is linked
with a lake.
Finally, there are deified personalities. Among
Africans since the times of the ancient people of
Kemet, some individuals who had lived on Earth,
through the process of transition became divini-
ties. The first human to be deified was Imhotep,
the builder of the first pyramid. Indeed, the great
philosopher of the 18th dynasty, Amenhotep,
son of Hapu, was also deified. These individuals
are deified because while they were alive they
manifested some measures of prowess in war,
practice of medicine, or styles of rulership.
Some deified personalities include Oduduwa, who
is regarded as the ancestor of the Yoruba. He is
believed to have lived and ruled in Ilé-Ifè, the capi-
tal city of the Yoruba. Sango was the fourth Alaafin
(king of Oyo). Sango is now believed to be in
Heaven, from where he controls the thunder and
lightning. In Dahomey, Gu, the god of iron and war,
was a smith. He is now the patron of blacksmith.
Among the Igbo, the thunder divinity is amadioha,
and among the Edo, he is Jakuta. Among the Nupe,
he issoko-egba, “the one who throws god’s axe.”
Okomfo Anokye, the great priest of Asanteman,
may be included in this pantheon.Deji Ayegboyin and Charles JegedeSeealsoOrisha; ShangoFurther Readings
Asante, M. K., & Nwadiora, E. (2007).Spear Masters:
Introduction to African Religion. Lanham, MD:
University Press of America.
Barnes, S. T. (1989).Africa’s Ogun. Bloomington &
Indianapolis: Indiana University Press.
Etuk, U. (2002).Religion and Cultural Identity. Ibadan,
Nigeria: Hope Publications.
Idowu, E. B. (1962).Olodumare:God in Yoruba Belief.
London: Longman, Nigeria.
Omolafe, J. A. (1999). The Significance of Cosmological
Categories in Traditional Thoughts.Journal of the
International Association for Mission Studies, 15 , 31.DOGON
The Dogon are a modern-day African people
who live at the border between Mali and
Burkina Faso, alongside the cliffs of the
Bandiagara escarpment, south of the Sahara
desert, near Timbuktu, and not far distant from
the Niger River in Mali, West Africa. Their
group numbers approximately 100,000 mem-
bers who reside in some 700 villages. Although
the geographical origin of the Dogon people is
not certain, by their own account they moved
to their current location during the 14th or 15th
century from a prior home along the Niger River212 Dogon