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Yoruba tradition

One thing I love deeply about my tradition is how calm, grounded, and balanced it is. Our spirituality is not built on fear, competition, or noise. Eledumare does not ask anyone to defend him or fight battles on his behalf. You honor Eledumare through your Iwa (character), your Ori (inner alignment) your Iba (reverence), your Ase (the power you carry responsibly). Our Orisas are not beings that need defending. They are forces of nature. Wind, thunder, destiny, river, earth, intuition, transformation. You don’t defend nature, you align with it. Oya moves. Sango speaks. Esu balances. Yemoja nurtures. Osun heals. Each one handles their own domain with quiet authority. There is no pressure to convert anyone. No war. No shouting. No spiritual competition. Just balance, character, and respect. That is the beauty of Yoruba spirituality. It teaches us how to walk in awareness, how to honour our ancestors, how to develop our character, how to seek harmony with nature, and how to protect our inn...
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Alimotu Pelewura

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British colonial authorities tried to tax women so Pelewura, an Awori Yoruba woman, mobilised thousands of her fellow market women across the Lagos colony.  She organised marches, petitions, and strikes as a leader of the  Market Women’s Association of the 1920s. The colonial authorities were forced to negotiate directly with her, and she became one of the  Lagos colony's most influential leaders.
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Oriki use

Do you know that most of the oríkì(praise names) for our cherished Òrìsà are now being used to praise God in churches and others? Let me give some examples.  1. A b'owó gbo gbo gbo tí ńyomo tiè l'ófìn He who has long hands to rescue his children from ditch  This is one of the praise names of Obàtálá. This can be found in the Odù Ìretè Òsá 2. Alágbádá iná  This is Oya Òrirì who covers herself with apron of fire. This can be found in Òbàrà Òkànràn and several others.   Some of them would sing as follows:' Oba le ó majé  Oba tí a pè tó ńfiná dáhùn Oba le ó majé  You shall always be King The King we call and answer us with fire You shall always be King  I pay homage to Olúkòso/ Oya 3. A tún Orí eni tí ò sunwòn se One who correct unfavorable destiny.  We all know this is Òrúnmìlà. This can be found  in Ìwòrì mejì and several others.  What do you think? If you know some, you can add them so that we can learn from one another.  The above p...
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The elders can’t know it all.

Let me tell you about what ifa says concerning the youths and Elders.  The elders cant know it all  According to ifa, as we have areas where the elders can function well, so we also have areas where the youths can handle perfectly that no matter how experienced the elders are, they can never be effective as the youths in that area. In this odu ifa:  Owó omodé ò tó pepe  T’àgbàlagbà ò wo kèrèngbè Ise èwé be àgbà kó mó se kò Ón’ísé ti Baba n se f’ómo. Translation: The little one’s hand cannot reach the roof The elder’s hand cannot enter inside a calabash’s gourd An elder shouldn’t reject an errand the youths send him Their are errands that a father should do for his child. In a given society, both the elders and the youths need to work together hand in hand, some decisions should be left to the youths to make on behalf of all while the elders too should perform diligently in their own area because even the elders can’t know it all.  According to Eji Ogbe, there’s ...
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Truth & Lie

ONE DAY a man named Truth and a man named Lie stood by a river just outside of town. They were twin brothers.  Lie challenged Truth to a race, claiming he could swim across the river faster than Truth.  Lie laid out the rules to the challenge stating that they both must remove all their clothes and at the count of 3, dive in to the freezing cold water swim to the other side and back.  Lie counted to 3, but when Truth jumped in, Lie did not.  As Truth swam across the river, Lie put on Truth’s clothes and walked back in to town dressed as Truth.  He proudly paraded around town pretending to be Truth.  Truth made it back to shore, but his clothes were gone and he was left naked with only Lie’s clothes to wear.  Refusing to dress himself as Lie, Truth walked back to town naked.  People stared and glared as naked Truth walked through town.  He tried to explain what happened and that he was in fact Truth, but because he was naked and uncomfortable ...
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African History

DID YOU KNOW THAT... One of the most influential Afrikan Scholars Cheikh Anta Diop, was the first person to scientifically prove not only that ancient Egyptians were descendants of black Afrikans, (that Egypt was a black society) but that the cultural achievements of that society predated and directly influenced the cultures of Greece and Rome, and consequently, modern Western civilization.  Cheikh Anta Diop, a modern champion of Afrikan identity, was born in Diourbel, Senegal on December 29, 1923. At the age of twenty-three, he went to Paris to continue studies in physics. Within a very short time, however he was drawn deeper and deeper into studies relating to the Afrikan origins of humanity and civilization. He was a nationalist and an advocate for Afrikan federalism. He returned to Senegal following independence in 1960 and dedicated himself to teaching, research and politics.  Diop revealed the cultural influence of earlier Afrikan peoples on the Egyptian civilization and...
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