venerated as a female orisha. E. Bolali Idowu
takes this position given the goddess tradition in
Yorubaland, and words found in existing liturgy
even in Ilé-Ifè, the sacred city of Ifa, where the
male-orisha tradition is strongest. He also stresses
thefactthatOduduwaisclearlyafemaleorishain
the city of Adó and elsewhere in Southwestern
Yorubaland. In one narrative, she is the wife of
Obatala, and together they represent the merger
of Heaven (Obatala) and Earth (Oduduwa).
Moreover, in this tradition, Oduduwa, as wife of
Obatala,theprincipalmaleorisha,istheprincipal
femaleorisha.Sheisalsoanorishaofloveandthe
mother, with Obatala, of Ye.mo.nja (representing
water) and Aganju (representing land).
Awo Awolalu states that the male orisha
Oduduwa has two sources of origin. First, he is
seenasacreatingorishawhotooktheassignment
Olodumare gave his senior brother Obatala to
create the Earth when he failed to carry it out.
AccordingtoIfatheology,Oduduwadescendedat
Ilé-Ifè and poured divine sand in the primeval
water below the heavens and the sand hardened
and formed the Earth (ile ayé). However, Obatala
did not take well Oduduwa’s assuming of his
mandate and challenged him. Olodumare settled
the conflict by giving Obatala a commission to
form the human body and afterward breathed
into it the breath of life. The conflict between
Oduduwa and Obatala is staged in a mock battle
between adherents of both orisha annually during
the Obatala festival at Ilé-Ifè.
The original inhabitants of Ifè, however,
acknowledged and worshipped Obatala as the cre-
ator of Earth. But at an early time in Ifè’s history,
there appears to have been an invasion and con-
quest of Ilé-Ifè. This assumed dynastic change at
Ilé-Ifè thus seems to also bring with it a religious
change. For it seems that, subsequently, the con-
querors supplanted the worship of Obatala with
that of Oduduwa, the female orisha. Awolalu con-
cludes that, after the conquering leaders died,
his followers perhaps deified him and called him
Oduduwa after the name of the female orisha
whoseworshipheestablishedatIfè.Thus,hesays,
Oduduwa has two personalities: one as a primor-
dialdivinespiritandtheotherasadeifiedancestor.
Inthefinalanalysis,Oduduwaemergedashav-
ing a male form. He is the ancestor who estab-
lished the worship of Oduduwa and became the
King of Ilé-Ifè, bearing the title, as Kola Abimbola
points out, Olofin-Aye—Lawgiver (of the) world.
Butheisalsotheorishawhowascommissionedby
Olodumare to create the world, and, as has been
noted, the ancestor and divinity seemed to have
merged into the orisha worshipped now at Ifè and
elsewhere.However,heisespeciallyworshippedin
Ifè where the Obadió, his high priest, resides and
reigns. He remains there in Ifa tradition as divine
ancestorandfoundingking,thesymbollandfoun-
dationofYorubasocialandspiritualunity.Infact,
theYorubaconsideredthemselvesomo Oduduwa,
offspring of Oduduwa. In the Odu Ifa (78:1),
humanbeingsingeneralarecalledomoOdùduwa,
offspring of the Creator. For it says in closing,
“Thus when the children of Oduduwa gather
together,thosechosentobringgoodintotheworld
are called human beings (eniyan), chosen ones.”
Here both the role of Oduduwa as creator of the
Earth and his role as divine father, orisha of the
inhabitants of the Earth, are reaffirmed as central
tenets of the Ifa tradition.Maulana KarengaSee alsoYorubaFurther Readings
Abimbola, K. (2006).Yorùbá Culture:A Philosophical
Account. Birmingham, UK: Iroko Academic
Publishers.
Awolalu, J. O. (1996).Yoruba Beliefs and Sacrificial
Rites. New York: Althelia Henrietta PR.
Idowu, E. G. (1993).Olodumare:God in Yorùbá Belief.
New York: Wazobia.ODU IFA
TheOdu Ifais the sacred text of the spiritual and
ethical tradition of Ifa that has its origins in
ancient Yorubaland, which is located in modern
Nigeria.ItholdsauniquepositionamongAfrican
religionsastheonlyonethatsurvivedtheenslave-
mentholocaustandcolonialismanddevelopedon
aninternationallevel.Infact,Ifaisfoundinmod-
ified forms and under various names in numerous
countries. For example, there is Lekumí in Cuba,Odu Ifa 475