Arabirin Sola

  “The Àjé (Iyami) represents the mystical powers of the woman in her most dangerous and destructive form.  The dance of the GELEDE is the expression of the guilty conscience of men, stemming from a time when the matriarchic society became patriarchic. The great mystic power of the woman, originally used in a productive way for the working of the soil, etc., can be transformed into a destructive weapon. Everything must therefore be done to calm the woman, to appease her, and to give her compensation for the loss of her political position. If Àjé was taken to be a wholly evil being and the enemy of society, the obvious recourse would be to hunt her down and kill them whenever possible. The Àjé are therefore not truly witches. They are the grand mothers, the angry mothers, and without their good will, Life itself would not be able to continue; without them society would collapse.” Ulli Beier

  Yorùbá "Ẹ kú/A kú" Greetings... In the beginning, the people called Yorùbá today used to call themselves Ọmọ ilẹ̀ káárọ̀ o jíire (Children of the land where they greet you “Good Morning, Hope you woke up well”). Káárọ̀ is a diminutive of Kú-àárọ̀ (Good morning). For this reason, the Yorùbá are also called The Akú from their salutations. "Ẹ kú" or "A kú" is a reoccurring phrase in Yoruba greetings and when it comes to greetings, the Yorùbá go the extra mile! We have greetings for every situation you can think of. In fact, we have greetings for someone who farts - Ẹ kú ìtàdí and for someone messing around - Ẹ kú òṣì or Ẹ kú ìranù! We have greetings for different time of the day/night: Ẹ kú àfẹ̀mọ́jú (dawn): 4 a.m to 5 a.m Ẹ kú ìdájí (very early morning): 5 a.m to 6 a.m Ẹ kú ìdákọmu (early morning): 6 a.m to 7 a.m Ẹ kú àárọ̀/òwúrọ̀ (morning): 7 a.m to 10 a.m Ẹ kú ìyálẹ̀ta (mid morning): 10 a.m to 12 noon  Ẹ kú ọ̀sán [Ẹ k...