470 Obatala
taking the oath of kingship. If one does not fol-
low the oath, then one has violated the people.
Therefore, the African idea of oath is often con-
nected to the same spiritual idea as the quest for
ancestor approval.
Molefi Kete AsanteSee alsoAncestors
Further Readings
Quarcoopome, T. N. O. (1987).West African
Traditional Religion. Ibadan, Nigeria: African
Universities Press.
Randall, F. (1976). African Proverbs Related to
Christianity. In G. H. Anderson & T. F. Stransky
(Eds.),Mission Trends No. 3(pp. 181–189). Grand
Rapids, MI: Eerdmans; New York: Paulist Press.
Ranger, T. O., & Kimambo, I. (Eds.). (1972).The
Historical Study of African Religion. Berkeley:
University of California Press.
Ray, B. C. (1972).African Religions:Symbol,Rituals
and Community. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Roheim, G. (1988).L’animisme, la magie et le roi divin.
Paris: Payot.
OBATALA
UndertheleadershipoftheSupremeBeingOlurun
or Olodumare, who created the universe, Obatala
is the god who created humanity and the world
intheYorubareligioninNigeria.Obatala,whois
also known as Oxalá, Orixalá, and Orishanla, is
theoldestofallOrishas.SomeofObatala’spraise
names include Oluwa Aiye (Lord of the Earth),
Alabalase (he who has divine authority), Baba
Arugbo (old man), Alamo Re Re (the one who
turnsbloodintochildren),OHoHo(thefatherof
laughter), and Baba Araye (father of humanity).
Obatala descended from Heaven on a chain to
mold the first humans and now molds every child
inthewomb,accordingtotheYoruba.Obatalacre-
ated the world and humanity, whereas Olurun
breathed life into humanity. Obatala is therefore
consideredthefatherofhumanityandownerofall
theheadswherehumansoulsreside.OtherOrishas
may claim individuals, but Obatala still owns the
head or soul of individuals until those individuals
areinitiatedintothepriesthoodofthatOrisha.
One day, as Obatala was creating humanity, he
started drinking too much palm wine, the Yoruba
creationstorygoes.Asaresult,someofthepeople
he created became physically or mentally handi-
capped. Olurun chastised and forbade him from
drinking palm wine while doing his work. Full of
remorseandshame,Obatalavowedtobethedeity
or father of people who have defects, as they are
called“eniorisa”or“peopleofObatala.”Making
fun of these people became totally prohibited.
Obatala is also considered the father of albino
people. Furthermore, Obatala can never be wor-
shipped by anyone with palm wine, oil, or salt.
Also, palm wine is prohibited among his worship-
pers. However, they can ingest palm oil and salt.
Obatala formed the first humans out of clay in
Ilé-Ifè, the home of the Yoruba, where the world
originated, according to Yoruba cosmology. Soon
after, a dynamic personality and leader emerged
onthescenebythenameofOdudua.Thereareat
leasttwostoriesaboutwhereOduduacamefrom.
One story says that when Obatala got tired of the
hard work of making people and from drinking
palm wine, Odudua stepped in and finished the
task. Another story has it that Odudua came to
Ilé-Ifè from the east.
After Odudua emerged and Ilé-Ifè had an ade-
quateamountofpeople,Oduduainstructedthata
constitution needed to be drafted and a govern-
ment to be created with Odudua as the leader.
Obatala challenged this order because of his spe-
cial role from Olodumare of creating the Earth
that made him proud, and tradition said that he
was stronger than Odudua,who is regularly iden-
tifiedashisbrother.Obatalafeltthatheshouldat
least share the leadership and at the most have a
higher position than Odudua. A struggle for lead-
ership ensued between the two spiritual entities.
Theybothsoughtoutallies—Obatalateamedwith
Obawinni and Odudua partnered with Obameri.
Because Odudua and his allies eventually won the
battle, he became the leader and the first king of
the Ilé-Ifè. Subsequently, all the kingdoms of the
YorubahavetracedtheirlineagebacktoOdudua,
as the first kings of all of their kingdoms are
regarded as the sons of Odudua. According to
somestories,afterObatalawasdrivenfromIlé-Ifè
after being defeated, he went to live in exile with