These specific forces of nature mentioned are
part of the orisha because the cult of the orisha
directs itself toward them. The orisha, however,
are only one aspect of these natural forces. An
orisha is that part of a natural force that is dis-
ciplined and controllable and that can be culti-
vated by people using ritual means. There is
always the other part—the part of the natural
force that can be explored but never completely
known, the aspect of nature that will always
remain wild and escape definition. To the benefit
ofmankind,theorishamediatebetweenhumanity
and these forces of the natural world by putting
the tamable aspects of nature under human con-
trol while standing between humanity and that
part of nature that cannot be tamed, hemmed in,
or controlled by human beings.
Witnessing Objects and the PriesthoodOrishaworshippersseethetamednaturalforceand
the deified ancestor as indissolubly linked. This
unityisrepresentedbyawitnessingobjectthatacts
as the material support of the orisha’s power to
commandandcausethingstohappen.Acollection
oftheseobjects,evenifitisnotpermanent,consti-
tutesanaltarwheretheorishaispresentandcanbe
addressed through prayers and offerings. In this
context, the altar may be referred to as the orisha
or as the orisha’s face. Everything that went into
forming these witnessing objects—from leaves,
Earth, metal, pottery, or animal bones to the
incantations and sacrifices that praised and
coerced the orisha’s many powers to lodge in one
place—becomes part of the object’s (and the
orisha’s) secret.
Priesthood translates the general idiom of
descent and the idea of the orisha as a deified
ancestorintoreferringtothemembersofanorisha
cult group’s priesthood as that orisha’s children
and undergirds a practice of secrecy that excludes
from some part of an orisha’s ceremonies people
who have not been initiated into its priesthood.
However, it becomes the responsibility of the
orisha’s human descendants to transmit to subse-
quent generations the objects and secrets through
which human beings can interact with the orisha.
Because each orisha has particular occupations,
places, skills, preferences, diseases, problems,
capabilities, and misfortunes with which it is
closely associated, devotees—through the orisha’s
priesthood—can make appeals to the orisha best
able to resolve the problem they are experiencing.
Itistheorishawhoaretheguardiansandexplica-
tors of human destiny; despite the ascendance of
Christianity and Islam, many Yorubas and other
West Africans still turn to the orisha for help, aid,
andadviceinthegreatandsmallproblemsoflife.George BrandonSee alsoOdu Ifa; YorubaFurther Readings
Awolalu, J. O. (1979).Yoruba Beliefs and Sacrificial
Rites. London: Longman.
Bacom, W. (1944). The Sociological Role of the Yoruba
Cult Group.American Anthropologist, 46 , Memoir
No. 63.
Brandon, G. (1993).Santeria From Africa to the New
World:The Dead Sell Memories. Bloomington:
Indiana University Press.
Mason, J. (1992).Orin Orisa:Songs for Selected Heads.
Brooklyn, NY: Yoruba Theological Archministry.
Peel, J. D. (2000).Religious Encounter and the Making
of the Yoruba. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Thompson, R. F. (1983).Flash of the Spirit. New York:
Random House.
Verger, P. (1966). The Yoruba High God—A Review of
the Sources.Odu, 2 (New series), 19–40.
Verger, P. (1998).Notes on the Cults of the Orisha and
Voduns in Bay of All Saints,in Brasil,and the Old
Slave Coast,in Africa. São Paolo, Brazil: Editoria da
Universidade de São Paolo.ORISHANLA
Orisha Nla was sent to create the world by the
SupremeDeityoftheYoruba,Olorun.Itissaidthat
at the beginning there was nothing but a marshy
wasteland with no definite Earth or water. There
weremanydeitiessurroundingandattendingtothe
AlmightyOlorun,butonlyOrishaNlawasselected
tocarryoutthetaskofcreatingaworld.
Olorun gave Orisha Nla several gifts for his
task. These gifts included a shell filled with Earth
that had been infused with special energy, a five-
toed hen, and a pigeon. These gifts were to506 Orisha Nla