Ogun or Ogoun is a spirit that appears in several African religions. He attempted to seize the throne after the demise of Obatala, who reigned twice, before and after Oduduwa, but was ousted by Obamakin and sent on an exile – an event that serves as the core of the Olojo Festival. Ogun is a warrior and a powerful spirit of metal work, as well as of rum and rum-making. He is also known as the "god of iron" and is present in Yoruba religion, Haitian Vodou, and West African Vodun.
Shango is an Orisha in Yoruba religion. Genealogically speaking, Shango is a royal ancestor of the Yoruba as he was the third Alaafin of the Oyo Kingdom prior to his posthumous deification. Shango has numerous manifestations, including Airá, Agodo, Afonja, Lubé, and Obomin. He is known for his powerful double axe (Oṣè). He is considered to be one of the most powerful rulers that Yorubaland has ever produced.
Oshun is an orisha, a spirit, a deity, or a goddess that reflects one of the manifestations of the Yorùbá Supreme Being in the Ifá oral tradition and Yoruba-based religions of West Africa. She is one of the most popular and venerated Orishas. Oshun is an important river deity among the Yorùbá people. She is the goddess of divinity, femininity, fertility, beauty, and love. She is connected to destiny and divination.
Olorun is the ruler of the Heavens in the Yoruba religion. The Supreme God or Supreme Being in the Yoruba pantheon, Olorun is also called Olodumare.
Èṣù is a pivotal Òrìṣà/Irúnmọlẹ̀ in the Yoruba spirituality known as ìṣẹ̀ṣe. Èṣù is a prominent primordial Divinity who descended from Ìkọ̀lé Ọ̀run, and the Chief Enforcer of natural and divine laws - he is the Deity in charge of law enforcement and orderliness. As the religion has spread around the world, the name of this Orisha has varied in different locations, but the beliefs remain similar.
Orishas are spirits that play a key role in the Yoruba religion of West Africa and several religions of the African diaspora that derive from it, such as Cuban, Dominican and Puerto Rican Santería and Brazilian Candomblé. The preferred spelling varies depending on the language in question: òrìṣà is the spelling in the Yoruba language, orixá in Portuguese, and orisha, oricha, orichá or orixá in Spanish-speaking countries.
The Yoruba religion, or Isese, comprises the traditional religious and spiritual concepts and practice of the Yoruba people. Its homeland is in present-day Southwestern Nigeria, which comprises the majority of Oyo, Ogun, Osun, Ondo, Ekiti, Kwara and Lagos States, as well as parts of Kogi state and the adjoining parts of Benin and Togo, commonly known as Yorubaland. It shares some parallels with the Vodun practiced by the neighboring Fon and Ewe peoples to the west and with the religion of the Edo people to the east. Yoruba religion is the basis for a number of religions in the New World, notably Santería, Umbanda, Trinidad Orisha, and Candomblé. Yoruba religious beliefs are part of Itàn (history), the total complex of songs, histories, stories, and other cultural concepts which make up the Yoruba society.
Characters native to the African continent have been depicted in comics since the beginnings of the modern comic strip. Initially, such early 20th-century newspaper comics as Winsor McCay's Little Nemo depicted the racist stereotype of a spear-carrying cannibal, a comedic convention of the time. African characters later began to appear as another stereotype, the "noble savage"—a similar progression to that of depictions of Native Americans—and eventually as standard human beings.
Babalú-Aye, Oluaye, Ṣọpọna, Ayé in Trinidad Orisha, or Obaluaiye, is one of the orishas or manifestations of the supreme creator god Olodumare in the Yoruba religion of West Africa. Babalú-Aye is the spirit of the Earth and strongly associated with infectious disease, and healing.
Aganju is an Orisha. He is syncretized with Saint Christopher in the Cuban religion known as Santería.
Kélé is an Afro-Saint Lucian religion, originated from the Djiné people of the Babonneau region. Its primary deities are Ogun, Shango and Eshu. Kélé ceremonies include the drumming of the tanbou manman and the tanbou ich of the Batá drum family. The religion has its origins in African slaves of the Babonneau region. The religion is strongly connected to the Ogun festival in Nigeria. Repressed by the Roman Catholic church until the early 1960s, it had been practiced in secrecy underground. The ritual includes the display of smooth stones and iron or steel items in honor of Ogun. The faith itself is believed by some scholars to be a Saint Lucian version of Yoruba religion.
Ọbà is the Orisha of the River Oba whose source lies near Igbon where her worship originates. During the wars of the 19th century, her centers of worship moved to the more secure town Ogbomosho. She is traditionally identified as the senior wife of Shango. Oba was tricked by Oya or Oshun into cutting off her ear and trying to feed it to Shango. She is syncretized with Saint Catherine of Siena.
Christianity is the largest religion in Benin, with substantial populations of Muslims and adherents of traditional faiths. According to the most recent 2020 estimate, the population of Benin is 52.2% Christian, 24.6% Muslim, 17.9 Animist and 5.3% follows other faiths or has no religion.
The Yoruba calendar (Kọ́jọ́dá) is a calendar used by the Yoruba people of southwestern and north central Nigeria and southern Benin. The calendar has a year beginning on the last moon of May or first moon of June of the Gregorian calendar. The new year coincides with the Ifá festival.
Ṣọ̀pọ̀na is the god of smallpox in the Yoruba religion. The Yoruba people took their traditions about Shapona to the New World when they were transported in the slave trade. He has become known as Babalú-Ayé, among many other names, in the Orisha religion that developed in the Americas.
Iyalawo is a term in the Lucumi religion that literally means Mother of Mysteries or Mother of Wisdom. Some adherents use the term "Mamalawo," which is a partially African diaspora version of the Lucumi term, Iyaláwo and Yeyelawo are two more versions of mother of mysteries. Ìyánífá is a Yoruba word that can be translated as Mother (Ìyá) has or of (ní) Ifá or Mother in Ifá & is the Yoruba title for Mother of mysteries & the female equivalent of a Babalawo.
Yemọja is the major water spirit from the Yoruba religion. She is the mother of all Orishas. She is also the mother of humanity. She is an orisha, in this case patron spirit of rivers, particularly the Ogun River in Nigeria, and oceans in Cuban and Brazilian orisa religions. She is often syncretized with either Our Lady of Regla in the Afro-Cuban diaspora or various other Virgin Mary figures of the Catholic Church, a practice that emerged during the era of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. Yemọja is said to be motherly and strongly protective, and to care deeply for all her children, comforting them and cleansing them of sorrow. She is said to be able to cure infertility in women, and cowrie shells represent her wealth. She does not easily lose her temper, but when angered she can be quite destructive and violent, as the flood waters of turbulent rivers. She is the creator of “human bodies” along with her partner Obatala.Yemoja might be an evolution of the Orisha Yemoo.
In the Yoruba religion, Agemo is a chameleon that is the servant of the god Olorun, head of the Yoruba pantheon of deities. Agemo carries messages between the gods.
