Òrìşà devotion as world religion: The globalization of Yorùbá religious culture

626 Pages·2008·33.928 MB·English

by  Jacob Obafemi Kehinde Olupona, Terry Rey

ORISA

DEVOTION
AS WORLD RELIGION

Orisa Devotion as World Religion

Orisa Devotion as
World Religion
The Globalization of
Yoruba Religious Culture
Edited by
Jacob K. Olupona
and
Terry Rey
THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN PRESS
This book was published with the support of
Temple University and the University of California, Davis.
The University of Wisconsin Press
1930 Monroe Street, 3rd floor
Madison, Wisconsin 53711-2059
www.wisc.edu/wisconsinpress/
3 Henrietta Street
London WC2E 8LvU, England
Copyright © 2008
The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
All rights reserved
2453 1
Printed in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Orisa devotion as world religion : the globalization of Yorub4 religious
culture / edited by Jacob K. Olupona and Terry Rey.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-299-22460-0 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN 0-299-22464-3 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Orishas. 2. Gods, Yoruba. 3. Yoruba (African people)—Religion.
I. Olupona, Jacob Obafemi Kehinde. II. Rey, Terry.
BL2480.Y60755 2007
299.6'8333—dc22 2007012910
This book is dedicated to
Professor John Pemberton III
and to the memories of
Professor Cornelius O. Adepegba,
Professor Ikulomi Djisovi Eason,
Professor Christopher T. Gray,
Babatunde Olatunji, and
Connie Francés Rey.

Contents

Acknowledgments Xi
Introduction
JACOB K. OLUPONA AND TERRY REY
Part One: Yoruba Religious Culture in Africa
I. The Tolerant Gods 31
WOLE SOYINKA
Who Was the First to Speak? Insights from Ifa Orature
and Sculptural Repertoire 51
ROWLAND ABIODUN
70
. In What Tongue?
QOLASOPE O. OYELARAN
Orisa: A Prolegomenon to a Philosophy of
Yoruba Religion 84
OLUFEMI TAIWO
. Associated Place-Names and Sacred Icons of
106
Seven Yoruba Deities
CORNELIUS O. ADEPEGBA
Twice-Told Tales: Yortba Religious and Cultural
128
Hegemony in Benin, Nigeria
FLORA EDOUWAYE S. KAPLAN
Vil
Vill Contents
7. Meta-Cultural Processes and Ritual Realities in the
Precolonial History of the Lagos Region 164
SANDRA T. BARNES
8. The Pathways of Osun as Cultural Synergy 191
DIEDRE L. BADEJO
9. Religious Encounter in Southwestern Nigeria:
The Domestication of Islam among the Yoruba 202
H. O. DANMOLE
10. Yoruba Moral Epistemology as the Basis for a
Cross-Cultural Ethics 222
BARRY HALLEN
Part Two: Yoruba Religious Culture beyond Africa
11. Yoruba Religion and Globalization: Some Reflections 233
OLABIYI BABALOLA YAI
12. Clearing New Paths into an Old Forest:
Aladura Christianity in Europe 247
AFE ADOGAME
13. Globalization and the Evolution of Haitian Vodou 263
LAENNEC HURBON, TRANSLATED BY TERRY REY
14. Historicizing If4 Culture in Oy6tanji African Village 278
IKULOMI DJISOVI EASON
15. Ritual Change and the Changing Canon: Divinatory
Legitimization of Yortba Ancestral Roots in
Oyotanji African Village 286
KAMARI MAXINE CLARKE
16. The Dynamic Influence of Cubans, Puerto Ricans,
and African Americans in the Growth of Ocha in
New York City 320
MARTA MORENO VEGA
17. From Cuban Santeria to African Yortba:
Evolutions in African American Orisa History,
1959-1970 337
TRACEY E. HUCKS