Yoruba gods are thriving without us. I lived in Berlin with my family this year. Right in Berlin, in the heart of Europe, is a Candomble, the Brazilian name for Orisa houses. It was founded by a Brazilian Babalorisa (Pai-de-Santo) who has since become a very dear friend. My husband and I attended several ceremonies which celebrated different Orisas each month. These ceremonies were elaborate and beautiful affairs.
I took time to assess the worshipers and guests. Apart from Brazilians, they were also attended by Europeans and a few Americans. No Yoruba was ever in attendance, even though many of our people live in Berlin. They are more invested in foreign gods, having founded several churches which are branches of the Pentecostal churches at home.
I talked to many of the European orisa worshipers. Two Danish guys drove from Denmark to attend the ceremonies, sitting in thick traffic on the highway for hours. The Berlin Candomble is the only one in Europe. The Orisas, they told me, solved their problems. A German doctoral student and his wife were having difficulty getting pregnant. They tried for years. And then they went to Osun. They now have twins, he said. There were all kinds of stories. But this is not just about the utility of the orisas. Many were seeking deep spirituality, a way to make meaning in their lives and be one with God. People come for different reasons.
The remarkable thing is that this is a religion without a book. There is no proselytizing, no threats or promises, but it keeps growing. People find some truth there that speaks to their souls.
We went to Stockholm earlier in the year and the first thing our Swedish host did was to take us to the museum where they were having the last day of ancient Yoruba art exhibition. I saw sculptures I had never seen in my entire life. They were cast in the 9th C by our ancestors! People from whom we were descended were casting in copper ( a very difficult process), iron, gold and zinc. Many of the pieces depicted Yoruba life at that era. This was serious technology, none of which we could use for our benefits (in any way) today with our Western education. Ironic, isn’t it? Gazillions of engineers and we can’t make the simplest tools, not to talk of art!
The point is, we are inheritors of a great civilization. We ignore, abandon and defame our gods, yet they formed the basis of the philosophy, creativity, political and social organization, and the moral template of the Yoruba. We were not the only people swept into the Atlantic Slave Trade. Many African nationalities also suffered this fate including the Hausas who kept records of their experiences in slavery, because they could write Arabic. All African nationalities must have practiced their religion while enslaved. Yet, the only gods that survived today are Yoruba gods, worshiped and celebrated all over the world.
Orisa worship in Miami, Brazil, Cuba and other places is generating whole industries. Tourism is major. Also, Food, Textiles, Metal work, the Arts (Painting, Sculpture, Dances, Decorating,etc) and other forms of creativity are generating real economic and productive activities. In Brazil, the clothes used for the Orisas are made of the finest linen and lace (hand woven). They are usually very expensive. Each Orisa has its colors, food, dances, songs, taboos and other preferences.
Yoruba is always the language of liturgy, regardless of the country where ceremonies are taking place. Drums are very important. They are consecrated. Worshipers sing Yoruba songs, which sound Yoruba, but some of the lyrics have lost their fidelity, because no one really speaks Yoruba among the people.
My purpose of writing is not to preach or convert, just to share information. If we don’t know where we are going, we should at least know where we are coming from. Christian and colonial propaganda about our belief systems is probably the most effective destructive weapon deployed against us as a civilization. It’s a gift that keeps giving to the people who rubbished our society. I’m sure they themselves are amazed at how successful their strategy had been.
We are coming from a great civilization which Europeans themselves compared to Greek civilization, which is the bedrock of European civilization. In the present era, we are confused and disoriented. A tree without its roots, no matter how mighty, cannot do well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9Pg88MIfBo
Ms. Matory, a writer, education policy expert, and culture entrepreneur, lives and work in Durham, North Carolina, in the United States.
