What are orisha beliefs?

There are five levels in the cosmology: Orisha worshipers believe in a creator who is called Olodumare or Olorun (God), the Orishas, human beings, human ancestors, and the lowest group, plants and animals.

What is Yoruba ritual?

Yoruba peoples of southwestern Nigeria conceive of rituals as journeys—sometimes actual, sometimes virtual. Performed as a parade or a procession, a pilgrimage, a masking display, or possession trance, the journey evokes the reflexive, progressive, transformative experience of ritual participation.

Who is the main God in Yoruba?

Olodumare
The Yoruba people believe that the orishas were sent by Olodumare, who is considered the Supreme God, to populate the Earth. Oshun, being one of the original 17 sent to Earth, was the only female deity. The other gods, all male, failed at their attempts to revive and populate the Earth.

How did the Orishas get their powers?

Orisha Ogun merged through the crowd and caught powers that made him very strong, so strong no enemy could defeat him. He received a machete that could cut through any evil and make way for divine progression. He became the owner of the power of iron and metals, and was known as a powerful blacksmith.

What do Orishas do?

Contemporary practices of orisha devotees It is the orishas who are the guardians and explicators of human destiny. Despite the ascendance of Christianity and Islam, many Yoruba and other West Africans still turn to the orishas for help, aid, and advice in the great and small problems of life.

Who is Jesus in Yoruba?

Oluorogbo
Yoruba deity, Oluorogbo, is like Jesus Christ – Ooni of Ife.

How did the orishas get their powers?

Are Orishas gods?

Orisha (also given as Orisa and Orishas) are supernatural entities usually referred to as deities in the Yoruba religion of West Africa, though they are actually emanations or avatars of the supreme being Olodumare. Their number is usually given as 400 + 1 as a kind of shorthand for “without number” or innumerable.