By:
Yelena, Niki,
Neha, Natalie,
and Natasha
Yoruba Religion
 Is a major African religion, based in Nigeria
 Over 25 million Yoruba people
 One overall god
 Other gods are the Irunmole and the
Orisha
 Respect ancestors
 Sprit lives after death and reincarnates in
blood relatives
 Moments in life can be predicted
African Gods: Introduction
Many different gods each have
different roles. African gods are
similar to Greek gods. They have
emotions and act human-like.
With that said: Lets meet the top 11
gods of African Mythology!
Olorun
 Top God
 God of the sky,
peace and
justice
 Creator of the
Earth and
humans
 Father of two:
Odudua and
Obatala
 Favorite Color:
White
Olokun
 Olorun’s
brother
 God of the Sea
 Possibly a sea
goddess
 Married to
Olorun
Bumba
Obtala
 God of vomit and
creator
 Had a stomach ache
for centuries
 Threw up the world
and creatures on it
 Creator god of
humans
 Loved wine
 Made humans
when under the
influence of
alcohol
Shango
 God of thunder
 Fourth king of
Yoruba
 Colors: Red and
White
 Likes to party and
feast
Eshu
 Trickster god of
decisions and
choices
 Offers advice to
those in need
 Owns the roads
of life
 Has a sense of
humor
Orishas
Yemaya
 Guardian spirits
under control of
Olorun
 One of the Orishas
 Mother of water and
childbirth
Anansi
 Spider god
 Creator god: created
sun and moon
 Sneaky, Trickster, Sly
Elegua
 Provides more
opportunity + second
chances
 Trickster: can make
some choices seem
difficult
Orunmilla
 One of the Orishas
 Spirit of Wisdom:
Divine
 Makes Prophecies
 Has his own priests
 Equipped with
“divination chains”
African Gods’ Family Tree
OLORUN
OLOKUN
ODUDA
OBATALA
ORUNMILA
OBATALA
AGANJU
ORUNMILA
YEMAJA
ORUNGAN
OKUN
SHAKPANA
SHANGO
OSHUN
OYA
OBA
KEY
BLUE= male
PINK= femaleD
Important Cities
Ife“First city” in the world.
The spot of land Obtala (aka Odudawa) landed on
Prosperous and religious center
Important center of art and culture
OyoShango ruled here
Prosperous and powerful empire (partly because of
appearance of horse)
BeninBrass casting techniques from Ife
Creation of the Universe
 Most important things, like religion, are
at center of their life
 The most important god, Oluddumare,
created a force for each gender.
 Oloddumare said that Olorun was
female
 Nana gave birth to two eggs named
Mawa and Lissa.
 They created Oshumare the rainbow
serpent.
 Irunmole then created the universe and
the gods
 The Orishas created spiritual leaders
QuickTi me™ a nd a
TIFF (Uncompre ssed ) decomp resso r
are need ed to se e th is p icture.
Creation of Life and Land
Life or no life? Land or no
land?
The choice was Obtala’s!
How Obtala Created Land
and Animals on Earth
Irunmola and Oloddumare debate
on expanding the universe
Oloddumare agreed, adding there
must be something to hold the entire
universe together
Oshumare (Rainbow Serpent)
was created to hold the universe
together
However, when Oshumare gets
hungry and starts eating his own tail,
the world will become uncreated,
falling apart
PB wiki
In order to collaborate and improve our rate
of success we used a website called PB
wiki to share the information we found.
http://hydeafricamythology.pbwiki.com/
“The Gods of Africa.” African Mythology. Godchecker Inc. 04 November
2005. 5 February 2006. <www.godchecker
.com/pantheon/africa_muthology.php.>
“West African Mythology.” Windows to the Universe. Window Team. 28
March 1997. 5 February 2006. <www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link
=/mythology/African_culture.html>.
“Yoruba Mythology.” Yoruba Mythology. Wikipedia. 24 March 2006. 16
February 2006. <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoruba_mythology>.
Unknown. “Yoruban Religion: It’s cosmology and mythology.
www.mythome.org/yorubareligion.html (16 Feb. 2006).
“Ifa Religion.” IFA Religion, Yoruba Religion, Babalawo. New Orleans
Mystic. 11 March 2006. <http://www.neworleansmistic.com/services
/santeria/ifa.htm>.
Also thanks to . . .
Mrs. Miller!