646 Taboo
that any woman who enters theorogroove by
accident will be barren for the rest of her life or
she may give birth to a monster. Also, in most
African societies, it is forbidden for a pregnant
woman to go out at night or go to the market in
the afternoon. If she does, she will give birth to an
abnormal baby.
There are prohibitions on devotees of certain
deities. For example, an initiate ofOrisanla(the
creation divinity) should not drink palm wine. This
is because in the Yoruba mythology of creation,
Orisanlagot drunk with palm wine and made some
mistakes while creating human beings. Orisanla
created people with hunchback, leprosy, paralysis,
and all kinds of disabilities with which humanity
has been bedeviled. As a result of this, it is a taboo
for any initiate ofOrisanlato drink palm wine.
If anOrisanlapriest or priestess drinks palm wine,
he or she will have complicated skin problems. This
can be treated only through the pacification and
application ofOrisanla’s medication.
There are professional taboos. AnIfadiviner or
Babalawoshould not eat rabbit. The reason given
for this prohibition is that rabbits are believed to
be professional diviners because they always have
kernels in their holes. It is believed that any
Babalawowho eats a rabbit has “eaten his profes-
sional colleague.”
There are taboos associated with some category
of deaths. In almost all societies in West Africa, it is
a taboo to bury a person who died by drowning in
a river away from the river where the victim
drowned. The reason is that the onus of performing
the rites of burial is on the priests and priestesses of
the river divinity. Also, the priests and priestesses of
Sango, the divinity of thunder and lightning among
the Yoruba, and Amadiora, among the Igbo of
Nigeria, must bury a person who died through
lightning in a thunderstorm. Failure to meet the
terms would cause more people to die.
There are dietary taboos. It is held especially
among the Yoruba that drinking of coconut water
can cause forgetfulness. Also, in eastern Nigeria, it
is forbidden for some Igbo women to eat gizzard
because it can cause barrenness.
Some taboos have to do with what children
should not have fun with. For example, collect-
ing rainwater with the hollow of the palm when
it is raining is outlawed because doing so may
invite the wrath ofSango, the god of thunder,
who can launch an attack on the offender with a
thunderbolt.
Some expressions are tabooed usually for pro-
priety-related reasons. Among the Yoruba and
the Akan, especially, because of the taboos asso-
ciated with the king’s office, a number of alterna-
tives are used in reference to theobaorohene’s
death. The Yoruba would rather sayoba waja
(the king has entered into the roof), whereas the
Asantes would say, for example,Nana asore(the
king has stood up).
Evidently, these taboos are not moral issues;
they are issues bordering on sacredness, things in
bad taste according to social norms, or things that
one should not be associated with to avert omi-
nous consequences. Thus, they are designed to
establish good behavior in terms of social and
individual etiquette in relationship to one’s partic-
ipation in a particular deity service or group.TaboosandSanctions
There is an intricate relationship between taboo
and sanctions. In most African societies, it is
observed that in virtually all taboos there are
inherent sanctions. The taboo is believed to be
potent enough to be able to sanction its violators.
Thus, in taboos, there are intrinsic powers of
social, natural, and divine justice. This, of course,
goes a long way to validate the virility and viabil-
ity of taboo.
The breaking of a taboo is always against the
“sacred or necessary order,” and therefore it is
held to be sacrilegious and abominable. By its very
nature, a taboo protects itself, and it is believed
that it is not possible to escape the consequences
of breaking one. An individual who breaks a
taboo may not be arrested by police or be probed
by any court of law. Incest, for example, in Africa
is a crime and a taboo. One who commits this
kind of offense is liable, and he must face sanc-
tions by the community. But beyond this, it is
believed that if the necessary propitiatory rites are
not performed, the male violator will become
impotent, whereas the female will become barren
for life. The consequences of breaking a taboo are
believed to be always fatal and irrevocable except
if propitiatory and usually expensive sacrifices
are offered. Violation of taboos according to
traditional African belief systems may result in