Osun Across the Waters : A Yoruba Goddess in

289 Pages·2001·6.59 MB·English

by  Joseph M. Murphy

(cid:1)
o`sun across the waters
..
Indiana University Press
bloomington (cid:1) indianapolis
`
O. s.un across the
Waters
a yoruba goddess in africa
and the americas
Joseph M. Murphy & Mei-Mei Sanford
editors
Publicationofthisbookismadepossibleinpartwiththe
assistanceofagrantfromtheNationalEndowmentforthe
Humanities,afederalagencythatsupportsresearch,
education,andpublicprogramminginthehumanities.
Thisbookisapublicationof
IndianaUniversityPress
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Bloomington,Indiana47404-3797USA
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Telephoneorders 800-842-6796
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Ordersbyemail [email protected]
2001byJosephM.MurphyandMei-MeiSanford
Allrightsreserved
Nopartofthisbookmaybereproducedorutilizedinany
formorbyanymeans,electronicormechanical,including
photocopyingandrecording,orbyanyinformationstorage
andretrievalsystem,withoutpermissioninwritingfromthe
publisher.TheAssociationofAmericanUniversityPresses’
ResolutiononPermissionsconstitutestheonlyexception
tothisprohibition.
Thepaperusedinthispublicationmeetstheminimum
requirementsofAmericanNationalStandardforInforma-
tionSciences—PermanenceofPaperforPrintedLibrary
Materials,ANSIZ39.48–1984.
ManufacturedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
Cover:O.`s.unRiverinO`s.ogbo,Nigeria,1998.Photoby
Mei-MeiSanford.
Frontis:TitilayoSangoyoyin,O.`s.unRiverinIragbiji,Nigeria,
1998.PhotobyMei-MeiSanford.
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Osunacrossthewaters:aYorubagoddessinAfricaandthe
Americas/JosephM.MurphyandMei-MeiSanford,
editors.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN0-253-33919-7(hardcover:alk.paper)—
ISBN0-253-21459-9(pbk.:alk.paper)
1.Osun(Yorubadeity)—Cult—Africa,West. 2.Osun
(Yorubadeity)—Cult—America. I.Murphy,JosephM.,
date II.Sanford,Mei-Mei.
BL2480.Y6O782001
299(cid:1).63—dc21
00-046096
1 2 3 4 5 06 05 04 03 02 01
a juana, una diosa
—j. m. m.
for my mothers and fathers
—m.-m. s.

Contents
ListofIllustrations / vii
Orthography / ix
1. Introduction / 1
JosephM.MurphyandMei-MeiSanford
2. HiddenPower:O.`s.un,theSeventeenthOdu` / 10
RowlandAbiodun
3. ARiverofManyTurns:ThePolysemyofOchu´ninAfro-
CubanTradition / 34
IsabelCastellanos
4. O`rı`s.a` O.`s.un:YorubaSacredKingshipandCivilReligionin
`
Os.ogbo,Nigeria / 46
JacobK.Olupona
5. NestaCidadeTodoMundoe´ d’Oxum:InThisCity
EveryoneIsOxum’s / 68
IedaMachadoRibeirodosSantos
6. Ma˜eMenininha / 84
ManuelVega
7. Ye´ye´ Cachita:Ochu´ninaCubanMirror / 87
JosephM.Murphy
8. OsunandBrass:AnInsightintoYorubaReligiousSymbology / 102
CorneliusO.Adepegba
9. OverflowingwithBeauty:TheOchu´nAltarinLucum´ıAesthetic
Tradition / 113
YsamurFlores-Pen˜a
viii contents
`
10. AuthorityandDiscourseintheOrinO.du´nO.s.un / 128
DiedreL.Badejo
11. TheBagofWisdom:O.`s.unandtheOriginsoftheIfa´Divination / 141
’WandeAbimbola
12. OchunintheBronx / 155
GeorgeBrandon
13. “WhatPartoftheRiverYou’reIn”:AfricanAmericanWomenin
`
DevotiontoOsun / 165
RachelElizabethHarding
14. E.e.´rı`nd´ınlo´gu´n:TheSeeingEyesofSacredShellsandStones / 189
DavidO.Ogungbile
15. MamaOxum:ReflectionsofGenderandSexualityin
BrazilianUmbanda / 213
LindsayHale
16. AnOxumSheltersChildreninSa˜oPaulo / 230
TaˆniaCypriano
17. LivingWater:O.`s.un,MamiWata,andOlo´ku`nintheLivesof
FourContemporaryNigerianChristianWomen / 237
Mei-MeiSanford
18. OrchestratingWaterandtheWind:Oshun’sArtinAtlantic
Context / 251
RobertFarrisThompson
Contributors / 263
Index / 267
Illustrations
Figures
TitilayoSangoyoyin,Iragbiji frontispiece
2.1 O`to`n`po`ro`,E.pamask 12
2.2 YeyeOlo´rı`s.a`,arankingpriestess 13
2.3a O.baO`gu´noye` II,O.lo.´wo.` ofO.`wo.` withplaitedhair 14
2.3b Rankingmalechiefswithplaitedhair,inO.`wo.` 14
2.4 PriestessofO.wa´rı` 20
2.5 TheO.lo.´bu`nofOn`do´ 23
2.6 Igba´ aje´,O.lo.´bu`n’sritualcalabashcontainer 24
5.1 OxuminCandomble´ regalia 70
5.2 Ma˜eMenininha 80
6.1 Ma˜eMenininhabyManuelVega 85
7.1 PopularlithographofCaridaddelCobre 89
8.1 Brassgroupfigures 103
8.2 Brassequestrianfigurecontainer 105
8.3 Brassbirdfigurecontainer 106
8.4 Brassmusicians 107
8.5 Brasscrocodiles 109
9.1 Ochu´ninitiationthrone 121
10.1 TheA`ta´o´jaofO`s.ogbo,O.`s.unfestival 135
14.1 Arugba´ ofO`s.ogboinprocession 192
` `
14.2 DevoteesatO.s.unRiver,Os.ogbo 198
14.3 I`ya´lo´deO.balu´aye´,Iragbiji 200
14.4 I`ya´ S.a`ngo,O.`s.unpriestesswithE.e.´r`ındı´nlo´gu´n,O`s.ogbo 201
14.5 E.le.´e.´rı`ndı´nlo´gu´nOyekunleOlatona 202
14.6 I`ya´ E`we,O.`s.unpriestesswithE.e.´r`ındı´nlo´gu´n,O`s.ogbo 203
15.1 UmbandaaltarforOxum 218
16 PhotoEssay:PaiLae´rcioZaniquelliofSa˜oPaulo 232–236
17.1 Iya´ala´se` O.`s.un,theseniorpriestessofO.`s.uninIragbiji 243
17.2 ChiefVictoriaAbebewithexpectantmothersunderhercare 245
17.3 ChiefVictoriaAbebeatherinstallation 246
17.4 ChiefVictoriaAbebeinadorationoftheBlessedVirginMary 248
18.1 BrassfanforOshunbyAjirotituofIles.a 253
18.2 BronzefemalefigurefromJebba 256
18.3 FanbyClodomirMenezesdaSilva 257