Obatala
Obatala (; or Oriṣanla) is the king of all oriṣa in the Yoruba religion, believed to have created the Earth (Ile Ayé) and humans. In some versions of the story, he failed the task by being drunk on palm wine after being tempted by the trickster deity Eshu and was outperformed by his little brother Oduduwa. He was instead given the job of creating human beings. This was authorized by the Supreme Deity, Olodumare which gave Obatala the name "sculptor of humankind". "Now Olodumare [the supreme being] once called on Obatala and told him that he would love him to assist in creating human beings that would live in the world he was about to create. This is because as he (Olodumare) said further he would not like the world he was planning to create to exist without human beings."
Obatala had worked on his task with the assistance of Yemòó. He is believed to be successful at creating human beings with water and clay.
According to the oral traditions of Ifẹ, the mortal Obatala was the founder and king of Ife during its classical period. His position as the King was challenged by Oduduwa who assumed leadership of the town for a brief moment. However, Obatala was able to emerge victorious in the contest and it led to the murder of his rival Oduduwa and the retrieval of his throne.
While there exists an Obatala in the Yoruba pantheon, the understanding of the qualities of the deity Obatala was merged into the human Obatala that ruled in Ifẹ upon his posthumous deification. Thus, the human Obatala who was the king at Ife was admitted to the Yoruba pantheon as an aspect of the primordial divinity of the same name.
Obatala
- 2011-12-20T00:00:00.000000Z
Okémâyalé
- 2011-10-20T00:00:00.000000Z
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