MYTHS OF

JOHN WYNDHAM

IFE

ERSKINE MACDONALD, LTD. LONDON, W.C.1

William Bascom, Director

Museum

of Anthropology

University of California

Berkeley 4, California

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University of California

Berkeley

WILLIAM AND BERTA BASCOM

COLLECTION

MYTHS OF
By

IFE

JOHN WYNDHAM.

MYTHS OF
By

JOHN

WYNDHAM

LONDON, W.C.I ERSKINE MACDONALD,

LTD.

All Rights Reserved.

First published 1921.

TO MY

WIFE,

AUTHOR'S NOTE
The author spent
District
Officer

several

years as an

Assistant

among

the Yorubas in Nigeria,

and

was thus enabled to collect the folklore contained in

this

book from native

sources.

The

reticence of the natives

on

religious subjects

made

it

necessary to piece

much

together from init is

cantations and chance remarks, but

hoped that

the notes will

show that no great

liberty has been taken

with the beliefs of a tribe which inhabits a large area in

West

Africa.

The legends
to present

are bare

and uncertain, and

it

seemed

that blank verse would prove a

more

suitable form

them than

prose.

The author
Mr. Ford

desires to express his indebtedness to

Madox

Hueffer for advice

when

this

work
Royal

was

half-finished,

and

also to the Council of the

Anthropological Institute for permission to re-publish

Notes
"

and XI-XIV which appeared originally in Man." The suggestions contained in Note IV on
I

the Creation of Man, and in Note VII on the possible

connection between the Edi Festival and the Saturnalia,

are offered after a subsequent reading of the
"

Golden

Bough."
9

PERSONS
Ardmft
Orisha

God

of

Thunder and Father

Son
Son

of the Gods.

Creator of men.

of Aramfe.

Odtiwa or] Odudiiwa j

tfgun

King

of

men.

of

AramfS.

God

of

Iron.

Son
of

of Odiiwa.

Ordnyan
Lddi

The warrior son

Smith of Ogun.

Ogun.

Obdlufon

worker in brass.
N

Mdrimi

Wife

of Obalufon.

Ifa

The Messenger of known by reason

the Gods, principally of divination.

Oldkun

Goddess of the Sea. Goddess of the Lagoons.

Oldssa

Oshun

Goddess who transformed and became

the River Oshun.

The
led

Perverter.

A God

of

Evil

who

men

astray.
10

PERSONS
shu

Now regarded as
as the

Undoer

the Devil, but originally of the favours of the Gods.

Peregrin 'Gbo

Forest

God who

caused the Forest to

bring forth wild animals and watched over the birth of Orunmila.

Orunmila

A God who
children.

watches over the birth of

Offun Kdnran

messenger of

f fa.

drni Odtim'la

The ancestor

of the Ornis of t fe.

Ojtimu

priest.

Osdnyl

priest

and maker

of

charms.

The Sun, Moon, Night, Day, Dawn and Evening~were also Gods and Goddesses sent by Aramfe, who is often spoken of as God. But a higher and very distant Being is mentioned by some of the Priests.
Oibo means White Man.
a charm used in the divination of

Okpelle

is

Ifa.

The

final

is

as in bon,
all

and French pronunciation

11

is

nearly correct in

the above names.

A
The
and

white

man

visits

Ife,

the sacred city of the

Ydnibas, and asks

to hear the history of the place.

Orni, the religious

directs

head

of Yorubaland, begins,

the Babalawo Araba, the chief-priest of

Ifa, to continue.

12

MYTHS OF
I.

F E

THE BEGINNING.
The 6rni of
Ife speaks
:

Oibo, you have asked to hear our

lore,

The legends of the World's young hours

Could truth in greater surety have
its

and where

home
Those
of priests

Than

in the precincts of the shrines of

Who made the World,

To whom
their doings

and

in the

mouths

have been handed down

From
Ardmfe
reigns in

sire to

son

Before this World was

made
around him

There reigned Aramfe in the realm of Heaven

Heaven

Amidst

his sons.

Old were the

hills

The Sun had shone upon The

father of the
of

his vines

and

cornfields

Since time past reckoning.

Old was Aramfe,

his

Gods
.

youth had been

The youth

Heaven.

Once when the King

reclined

Upon
his

the dais, and his sons lay prostrate

feet,

In veneration at his
telis

he spoke
:

Of the great things he purposed

"

sons of the
creation of

My

But

fair

you know things which I made

sons,
spirits
13

for you, before

:

Heaven

I called

your

from the Dusk

for

always

THE BEGINNING
On waving An
Is

Your eyes have watched the shadows and the wind corn, and I have given you
the chorus of the night

The dances and

age of mirth and sunrise (the wine of Heaven)

your existence. You have not even heard Of the grey hour when my young eyes first opened To gaze upon a herbless Mass, unshaped

And

unadorned.

But

knew
the

well the heart

far-felt

Of Him-Who-Speaks-Not,
that gave

Purpose

Me
The

birth

laboured and the grim years passed

;

Streams flowed along their sunny beds

stars

I set
;

above me, and the

trees,

hills

about

and taught the birds budding Their song the unshapely I had formed to beauty, And as the ages came I loved to make
I fostered

The

beautiful

more

fair.

All

went not well

noble animal

my

mind conceived
form to prey upon
a river, born to bask
hills,
;

Emerged

in loathsome
;

My

gentle creatures

In sunlit channels and mirror the steep

Tore down

its

banks and ravaged

field

and plain

While cataract and jagged

precipice,

Now

grand with years, remind

14

me

of dread

days

MYTHS OF
When Heaven
tottered,

F E
rifts

and wide

sundered

my
Fair
hills,

young and all seemed

if

lost.

Yet

I prevailed.

Think, now,

the accomplished whole be Heaven,

How
And

wonderful the anxious years of slow

hazardous achievement

a destiny

For Gods.
Creation

But yours

it

has not been to lead

by

the cliffs-edge

To

Paradise."

way from Mass He paused on the remembrance,

"
:

And

Great Orisha cried

Can we do naught
?

What

use in godhead without deeds to do

Where yearns a helpless region for a hand " To guide it ? And Old Aramfe answered him
sends them
to

"

My

son,

your day approaches. Far-off, the haze

make

the

Rests always on the outer waste which skirts

World.

Our realm

beyond, a nerveless Mass

lies

cold

'Neath floods which some malign unreason heaves.

Oduwa,

first-born of

my

sons, to

you

give
(1)

The five-clawed Bird, the sand of power.

Call a despairing land to smiling
life

Go now,

Above the

jealous sea,

and found sure homesteads

is

For a new race whose destiny

not
are their judge
;

The
(1)

eternal life of Gods.

See Note
I

You

on the Creation of the Earth.

15

THE BEGINNING
Yours
is

the kingship, and to you

are subject.
is
(1)

all

Gods
sons,

And men

Wisest of

my

Orisha, yours

the grateful task to loose

Vague spirits The race that

waiting for the

Dawn
I

to

make

shall

be

and

to

you

give

This bag of Wisdom's guarded lore and arts

For Man's well-being and advancement.

And you,

My
The

younger sons, the chorus and the dance,

voice of worship

and the

crafts are yours

To

teach

that the
of

new thankful
"

race

may know

The mirth

Heaven and the joys

:

of labour."

Theft Odtiwa said

Happy our

life

has been,

And 1 would gladly roam these hills for ever, Your son and servant. But to your command
I yield
;

and

in

my
:

kingship pride o'ersteps

Yet, Lord Aramfe,

Sorrow and heaviness.

I

am

your

first-born

wherefore do you give

to Orisha
;

The

arts

and wisdom
will

I,

The King,

be obeyed

the hearts of

men

Will turn in wonder to the

God who
said

spells

Strange benefits."

But Aramfe
is

"

Enough

To each

is

fitting task

given.

Farewell."

(1)

See Note IV on the Creation of Man.

16

MYTHS OF
The Gods
leave

F E

Here the Beginning was

from Ardmfe's vales

the
exiled

Through

the

desert

regions

Gods

Heaven.

approached

The edge

of

Heaven, and into blackness plunged

(1)

A
To

sunless void o'er godless water lying

seize

an empire from the Dark, and win

Amidst ungoverned waves a sovereignty.

Oduwa
steals the

bag and
causes

But by the roadside while Orisha slept Oduwa came by stealth and bore away The bag Aramfe gave. Thus was the
:

will

War Of God undone

sand

for

thus with the charmed

on Earth.

Cast wide on the unmastered sea, his sons

Called forth a

World

of

envy and

of war.

Of Man's Creation, and of the restraint

placed upon the chafing sea, Of the unconscious years which passed in darkness Till dazzling sunshine touched the unused eyes

Oldkun

(2)

Of men, of War and magic

my priest shall tell you,

And

the Great Ones did before the day They vanished to return to the calm hills
all
(1)

(2)

I on the Creation. The Goddess of the Sea.

See Note

17

THE BEGINNING
Life in Ife Of Old Aramfe's realm
is
. . .

They went away

as

it

was But

still

with us their altars and their priests

in the time Remain, and from their shrines the hidden of the

Gods

Gods Peer forth with joy to watch the dance they taught,

And

hear each night their chorus with the

drum

For changeless here the early World endures

In this
first

stronghold of humanity,
of the

And, constant as the buffets

waves

Of Queen Oldkun on the

shore, the song,

The dance
ThjrlifeZ^
.

of those old
.

Gods

abide, the mirth,

:

I,

too,

am

born of the Beginning

Odum'la
speaks for
the

F[or;

when from
passed,

the sight of

men

the Great Gods

Gods

They To be a

left

on Earth Orni Odum'la

(1)

charged

father to a

mourning people,

To tend
Inspired

the shrines and utter solemn words

by Those invisible. And when Odum'la's time had come to yield the crown,

To wait upon the River's To Old Aramfe Ifa/ 3 in

*

brink,
his

(2)

and

cross

wisdom,

(1) (2)

See Note II on Odum'la, the first Orni' of He. The River which separates this World from the next. See Note XIII. The Messenger of the Gods.
his divination.

(3)

See Note XII on

18

MYTHS OF
and
lives

F E
Odum'la's soul
;

Proclaimed that son with

whom

for ever in

Abode.

Thus has

it

ever been
is

and now

the person

With me that Being

about, within
lips

of the
6rni.

And on

our sacred days these

of

pronounce

The words

Odudiiwa and Orisha.

II.

THE DESCENT
:

Ardba speaks
I

am
all

the voice of Ifa, messenger

the

Of

Gods

to

me

the histories

Are known, and

I will tell

Of the Descent.

How

you of the days Old Ardmfe sent

stole

The Gods from Heaven, and Oduduwa The bag

day

my

king has told you.

For many a

Across un watered plains the Great Ones journeyed,

And sandy
The Gods
arrive at
the edge of

deserts

for

such

is

the stern bar

^gCty Aramfe
Tremblingly,
till

'twixt his smiling vales

And the stark cliff's edge which his sons approached

from the sandy brink they peered

Down

the sheer precipice.

Behind them lay

;

Heaven.

The parched, forbidding leagues but yet the Sun Was there, and breezes soft, and yet the mountains

faded line beyond the shimmering waste

Called back to

mind

their ancient

home.

Beneath

Hung

chaos
roar

dank blackness and the threatening

Of untamed waters.
"
Orisha, what did we
;

Then Oduduwa spoke And what fault was ours?

:

Outcasts to-day

to-morrow we must seek

Our destiny

in dungeons,

and beneath

20

MYTHS OF

F E

That yawning blackness we must found a For unborn men Better a homeless life
In desert places
:

city

dare

we

turn and
?

flee

To some

lost valley of the hills

Orisha,

What

think you

"
?

Then spoke Orisha whom

men
The Great
:

call*

"Is

this

Oduwa
stole

that I hear
gift,

My

mother's son

who

Aramfe's

And thought
The
arts I

to filch

away

the hearts of
to give
?

men

With blessings which were mine

For me,

know
first

long to use, and yearn

To

see the

of toiling, living

men
is

That

I shall

make.

Forbidding

our task,

You say but And Heaven's

think, ere

we

return to peace
is

calm,
!

how

boundless
is

the fate
?

You

flinch

from

Besides,

Godhead blind

You
Aramfe would not know
?

think

Has Might no bodes

spirits

With eyes and

Odtiwa
sends

ears
:

Dumb

hungering

For

life

await us

let

us go."

So spoke

Orisha

and Oduwa hung a chain

cliff

Ojtimu
with the
Bird,

Over the

to the dark water's face,

priest, to

And

sent

Ojumu, the wise

pour

The magic sand upon the sea and

21

loose

THE DESCENT
The
five-clawed Bird to scatter far and wide
(1)

Triumphant land.

But, as Earth's ramparts grew,

Ever

in the darkness

came the waves and sucked

by
foot

Away
The
and
Oldkun and
Oldssa.

the crumbling shore, while foot

Lagoons crept up, and turned

soil
(2)

to reedy

swamps

of hope.

So Oduduwa called
(3)

Oldkun

and Oldssa
"
:

to the

cliff

And thus he spoke

Beneath, the waters wrestle

With the new-rising World, and would destroy Our kingdom and undo Aramfe's will.
/Go 4xrthe
fields of

men

to be, the

homes
to the sea
shall
!

That they

shall

make.

Oldkun

For there your

rule

and your dominion

be

To curb
For
ever.

the hungry waves upon the coastlands

And

thus, in our first

queen of

cities

And

secret sanctuaries

on lonely shores

Through every aeon as the season comes,

Shall

men

bring gifts in homage to Oldkun.

And
The The
(1)
(2)

you, Oldssa, where your ripple laps

fruitful

bank, shall see continually

offerings of thankful

men."

See Note

on the Creation of the Earth.

of the Sea. of the Lagoons.

(3)

The Goddess The Goddess

22

MYTHS OF
Of Heaven passed by, while

F E
The months

in the

moonless night

The Bird
makes
Earth,
the

Beneath the Bird

toiled

on until the bounds,

The corners of the World were steadfast.

Odiiwa called Orisha and the Gods

And then

To
"

the

cliff's

edge, and spoke these words of sorrow:

We

go to our sad kingdom.

so let
it

Such

is

the will

Of Old Ardmfe:

be.

But

ere
for us

The hour the wilderness which gapes

Of those loved

Engulf us utterly, ere the lingering sight

hills

can gladden us no more

May we not dream awhile of smiling days Fair was drenched morning Gone by ?
. .

in the

Sun

When
The

dark the

hill-tops rose o'er

misty hollows

Fair were the leafy trees of night beneath

silvering

Moon, and beautiful the wind

Good-bye, ye plains

Upon
The Gods
descend.

the grasslands.

we

roamed.

Good-bye to sunlight and the shifting shadows Cast on the crags of Heaven's blue hills. Ah! wine

Of Heaven, farewell

".

So came the Gods to

Ife.

Then

of

an age

of passing

months untold
lore repeats

By wanings

of the

Moon our

23

THE DESCENT
A
sunless

The

dirge of wasting hopes

in a strange
of

and the lament

World.

Of a people

Beneath the thunder

World shuddering the unseen waves

Always the marsh

On

crumbling shores around.

f fe
;

Pressed eagerly on

but ever the Bird

Returned with the unconquerable sand

Ojumu poured from his enchanted shell, And the marsh yielded. Then young Ogun bade
The Forest grow her whispering trees but she Budded the pallid shoots of hopeless night,
/And^dl was sorrow round the sodden town

Where Odudiiwa
Orisha
creates

reigned.

Yet

for live

men

Orisha, the Creator, yearned,

and

called
;

To him

the longing shades from other glooms

(1)

man.

He

threw their images

into the

wombs

Of Night, Oldkun and Oldssa, and all The wives of the great Gods bore babes with eyes Of those born blind unknowing of their want

And
But The

limbs to

feel

the heartless wind which blew

From

outer nowhere to the

murk beyond.

as the unconscious years wore by, Orisha,

Creator,

watched the

unlit

Dawn

of

Man

Wistfully
(1)

as one

who

follows the set flight

See Note IV on the Creation of Man. 24

MYTHS OF

F E

Of a lone sea-bird when the sunset fades

Beyond a marshy wilderness To Odudiiwa " Our day is

:

and spoke
endless night,

And deep, wan woods enclose our weeping children.

The Ocean menaces,
chill

winds moan through

Our mouldering homes.

Our guardian Night,

hours

who spoke
To us with her
Of Heaven
is

strange sounds in the

;

still

here
task.

yet she can but bewail

Her

restless
!

And where

is

Evening

Is

Oh Dawn ?

where
"

He

ceased,

and Odudiiwa sent

If a,

the Messenger, to his old sure

To

crave the Sun and the

of

warm

flame that

lit

The torch
Ardmfe
sends fire,
the

Heaven's Evening and the dance.

deep compassion moved thundrous Aramfe, The Father of the Gods, and he sent down

Sun
the

The vulture with red

For men
Still
;

fire

upon

his

head

and

and,

by the Gods' command, the bird

Moon.

wears no plumage where those embers burned

him

mark

of

honour

for

remembrance.

Again

The Father spoke

the word,

and the pale Moon

Sought out the precincts of calm Night's retreat

25

THE DESCENT
To
share her watch on Darkness
wings,
;

and Day took

And

flew to the broad spaces of the sky

To roam benignant from the floating Which cling to hillsides of the Dawn

mists
to

Eve

Who
The Age
of Mirth
,

calls the

happy

toilers

home.

And

all

Was changed Had lifted from

:

for

when the

terror of bright

Day

the unused eyes of men,

Sparks-flew from Ladi's anvil, while

The/iise~bf iron,

Ogun taught
(1)

and wise Obdlufon

Made brazen
out

vessels

and showed how wine streams

From

the slim palms. (2)

And in the night

the

Gods

Set torches in their thronging courts to light

The dance, and Heaven's music touched the drum

Once more
as in its ancient home.
reigned.

And

mirth

With Oduduwa
(1)
(2)

See Note V on Obalufon. Palm-wine, an efficacious native intoxicant.

26

MYTHS OF
III.
Ardba continues
Oibo,
I will tell

F E

THE WAR OF THE GODS.

:

and chronicle

A
The fable
of Earth,

second chapter from the histories

.

Bequeathed from other times.

tale is told

How God

in the Beginning sent three sons

Water and Into the World

Forest

Earth, Water and the Forest

gifts for
;

With one and twenty

That are the sons
of

Earth and men

all

Earth

and
stole
;

save one

The Forest and the Rivers

and how

God promised
Of that

to his first-born, Earth, that

gifts

men

Should win the twenty

last one, Good

again

by

virtue
:

Humour.

And

this is true

For in those years when Ogun and the Gods

Made known

their handicrafts

men

learned to seek

Thatch, food and wine in Forest and in River

Strife

between

So Man prevailed but in those days. Came strife and turmoil to the Gods for still
Patiently.
;

Odtiwa and For jealousy and pride Odiiwa held

Orisha

The bag Aramfe gave

Often Orisha

to Great Orisha.
;

made

entreaty

oft

suppliant

came before

his brother

in vain

Till

once when Odudiiwa sat with Ogun

27

THE WAR OF THE GODS

In that same palace where the Orni reigns,

The sound
"

of

drums was heard and Great Orisha

skilled Obalufon,

Approached with

and said

The time has come

to teach Aramfe's arts

(for it is

To men.
That
I

Give back the bag

mine
Else,

!)

may

do our Father's bidding.

not told

Have a

care, is it

how

caution slept

In the still woods when the proud leopard fell, " Lured on by silence, 'neath the monster's foot?

Odiiwa angered exceedingly

^~
-v.

not king

Did not Aramfe make

?

Me lord of Gods and men

His load."
(2)

Begone

Who speaks

Unseemly words before the king has packed

Orisha and Odiiwa called
brings
to tfe.

war To arms

their followings of

Gods and men,

wars began
fall

And on

that day the

first of

In Ife and the Forest.

Such was the

divine,

Of the Gods from paths

and such

for
;

men

The woe that Oduduwa's

But
(1)

theft prepared

little

the Gods recked of their deep guilt

to

cp.

Yoruba threat " The Elephant has power

crush
the

(2)

Leopard, though he be silent." (Communicated by drum-beats, I think.) Yoruba saying. The speaker is probably prepared
to travel.

28

MYTHS OF
Till

F E
for then

darkness

fell

and

all

was quiet

Returned the memory of Calm,

their heritage,
for the

Of Heaven born and destined

Gloom,
too,

World
:

with the

still

night

came down

sense

Of impious wrong, ungodly sin, weighed down Warriors aweary, and all was changed. Around,
Dead, dead the Forest seemed, its boughs unstirred
;

Dead
The
Ardmft
tries to

too,

amidst

its strangling,

knotted growth

stifled air

while on that hush, the storm's

distant thundrous voice
:

Mute

herald,

came the

Of Old Aramfe as he mused

"In

vain
sons

stop

it ;

Into the Waste beneath I sent

my
to

The

children of

my
:

happy

vales

make

World

of mirth

for desolation holds

The homes
Are outcast

of ffe,
in the

and women with

naked woods."

their

babes

But when
in the

The whirling clouds were wheeling

sky

And

the great trees were smitten

in his ire

by

the wind,

Thundrous Aramfe
His erring sons
:

rebuked

"At my command you came

had made
its

To

darkness, where the Evil of the Void

Insentient Violence

home,

To shape

in the

Abyss a World of joy

29

THE WAR
And
How,
then, this soul

OFTHE GODS
ways of Heaven. brawling ? Did the Void's black

lead Creation in the

Outmatch you, or
Again into
I grieve
;

possess your hearts to

?

come

its

own

For Man's misfortune

but you have borne them on the tide

Of your wrong-doing, and your punishment For now my thunderbolts Is theirs to share.
I hurl,

with deluges upon the land

To^nll the marshes and lagoons, and stay

If or

aye your impious war."

but fails t

Dawn came
Was
But
gone, and Old

the storm

Aramfe

in his grief

Departed on black clouds.

still

But

still

the wrath,

the anger of his sons endured,

And
The
"

in the dripping forests

and the marshes

rebel

Gods fought on

while in the clouds

:

Afar Aramfe reasoned with himself

I

spoke in thunders, and

my

deluge
;

filled
still

The marshes that Ojumu

dried

but

They

fight.
?

Punish,

may
tell,

but what can

:

I
?

Achieve

In Heaven omnipotent
?

but here

What means it

cannot
I

In the Unknown,

Beyond the sky where

30

have

set the Sun,

MYTHS OF
Is
: :

F E

He-Who-Speaks-Not He knows all. Can this Be Truth Amidst the unnatural strife of brothers

TheWorld was weaned: by strife must

Oibo,

it

endure

?"

how

the

first

of

wars began,

And Old Aramfe

Of blood

sought to stay the flow

;

your pen has written

'

but of the days,

The weary days of all that war, what tongue Tis said the anger of the Gods Can tell ?
Endured two hundred years
:

we know
all

the priest

Osanyi made strange amulets for

The mortal

soldiers of the
aside, a

Gods

one

charm

Could turn a spear

second robbed
its

The wounding sword of all Made one so terrible that a

Must
flee

sting,

another

full

score

but not one word of the great deeds,

fears, of

Of hopes and

imminent defeat
is

Or victory snatched away

handed down

No

legend has defied, no voice called through

baffling years.

The dimness and the

But when

An end was come

calm

to the

ill

days foreknown
of the

To Him-Who-Speaks-Not, remembrance
Of Heaven
stole

upon the
31

sleepless

Gods

THE WAR OF THE GODS

For while the Moon lay
soft
;

with
while

all

her spell

On

ff

of the

many

battles

With sorrowful reproach the wise trees stood And gazed upon the Gods who made the soil

The

Of peace

And

voices of the Forest crooned their dreams " "Sleep, sleep all weary Nature craved, " " the slumbrous reed-folk urged, Sleep
:

and

'twixt
silver'd leaf, for sleep
.
. .

The shadow and the

igun asks

Oduwa

to

The drowsing dawn

breezes yearned.

And

with the

give back
the bag to

Ogun, the warrior, with his comrades stood

Before the king, and thus he spoke
"
:

Oduwa,

Orisha.

We
The

weary

of the battle,

and

its

agony

Weighs heavy on our people.

careless hours of

Have you

forgot
?

Old Aramfe's realm

What means
You
Will

this war, this

?

empty war between

it so,

One mother's sons

say.
. .

Orisha willed

'Twas said of old 'Who has no house

(I)

buy no broom'.
In Heaven

Why then did Great Orisha

in

Bring plagues on those he made

love

Afar Ardmfe gave to you the empire,

(1)

Yoruba

saying.

32

MYTHS OF
And
to Orfsha

F E

Of mysteries and hidden

You seized
The

ways The bag things. but not its clue the skill, the wisdom
knowledge

of the

Of Great Orisha which alone could wake

sleeping lore.
:

The nations

of the

World

Are yours

give back the bag, and Great Orisha

Will trouble us no more."

But neither Ogun

Nor the

soft voices of the night could loose

thrall of
:

Odiiwa from the

envy the rule Of men and empire were of no account

When
But
Its

the hot thought of Old Aramfe's lore

his black ire anew.

Roused
all

the faithless

The bag he held years had not revealed

Bitterly he answered

promised treasures.

Odiiwa
refuses
;

"

These

many

years
;

my

brother has

made war
its

Upon And greatness,

his king

while for the crown,

power

have wrought unceasing.

To-day

My

son

hope of

my

cause,

Wearies of war, and joins

my cause itself my enemies.

to hold
of kings

Weak son, the sceptre you were born And hand down strengthened to a line
Could not uphold your
Until the end.
Priest bury,
will

and be your spur

"
Shall one

Is it not said,

and anon
33

his

mate dig up

THE WAR OF THE GODS

The corpse ?"
undone,
(1)

No

day's brief work have you

But

all

my

heart has longed for through a

life
!

Of labour.

So

let it

be

God

of Soft Iron

Upon your royal brow descends this day The crown of a diminished chieftaincy,
With the sweet honours
For
I

of a king in
hills

name

go back to Old Aramfe's

and

transto

And the calm realm you prate of." Then Oduduwa

Transformed to stone and sank beneath the
Bearing away the fateful bag.
soil,

forms
stone,

taking the

And
Beneath, through
all

thus,

bag with

the ages of the World

arts

Mm.

voiceless lore

and

which found no teacher

Have
(1)

lain in bondage.
saying.

Yoruba

34

MYTHS OF
IV.

F E

THE SACRIFICE OF
Ardba continues
Oibo
I
:

M 6RIMI

(1 >
.

have told you of the days

Orisha fought
;

When Oduduwa and

But
also.

of the times of peace our annals hold

.

Strange legends

Now in

the age

when mirth

And Oduduwa
Mdrimi
has no
sons.

reigned, grief ever-growing

Befell Great Morimi, the wife of skilled

Obalufon

for while his lesser wives

Proudly bore

many

sons unto their lord,

daughter only, young Adetoun,

granted to his queen.

Was

And

as the years

Lagged by, a strangeness which he always seemed

day With doubtings, and waylaid her in the paths Of her fond nightly dreams. Once with the Spring,
She saw the clustered tree-tops breaking into
Copper and red and every green, and she
leaf

To keep

in hiding chequered the fair

Remembered how beneath the new

It

year's

buds

was ordained by Peregrin 'Gbo, lord

Of uninhabitable woods, that Life

(1)

See Note VI on M6rimi's 35

sacrifice.

THE SACRIFICE OF M6RIMI

Should spring from Forest, and Life from
tiU all
Life,

The Woods were gladdened with the And birds and thus she reasoned
:

voice of beasts

"Is

it

not told

How How

Peregun 'Gbo

(1)

spoke, and from the

sloth that laughs

womb
?

Of Forest leaped the

by night

'mid the boughs the sloth brought forth the

ape

That bore the leopard

And

did not Peregun

Watch

o'er the birth of

young Oninmila,

And
Must
Fair

ever,

when
up

the morrow's sorrowing

dawn

yield
life,

to the leaguing fiends the child's

did not the watchful

God send down

and surely one " must I appease ?
;

His messenger to stay the grasping hand

Of Death
Will give

Thus do the Gods

me sons.

Ah whom
!

She
consults

Quick with new hope Great Mdrimi sought out

(2) in his courtyard dim, priest of Ifa

tfa

Where from each beam and smoke-grimed

hung

pillar

The charms the wise man

set to

guard his home,

ills

His wives and children from the

(1)

contrived

See Note

XI on Peregun

'Gbo.
Ila.

(2)

See Note XII on the divination of

36

MYTHS OF
;

F E
she whispered,
priest

By the bad spirits. To her gift And laid it on Okpelle and the
Seizing the charm of ifa said
"
:

Okpelle,
;

To you the woe of Mdrimi is known You only can reveal its secret cause,
Its

unknown cure

"
!

Then he laid down the charm

And
Of

Offun Kanran stood before them.

The
:

face

Ifa's priest

was
is

troubled,

and he said

Who

"
tells

Mdrimi, this
:

the message of

my

lord
for.

her to
sacrifice

f fa

a son, nay

many

sons,

you long

You have

a daughter, and your husband's love

her
daughter.

Was
But

yours.
in

The Gods would give you many

sons,

your path stands Flshu, the Undoer,

shrine calls out for blood, for sacrifice
:

Whose

Adetoun."

Without hope Mdrimi

Went

forth,

and loathing

of the

ways

of the

Gods

Possessed her

while indignation fed her love

.
.

Of her one

child.

The months passed by

Moons came,

And

in the smiles of happier wives she read

;

Moons faded from the sky, mockery And grief and her Adetoun remained
Companions of her hours. " But sons I asked for I
;

At
will

last she cried

go again

37

THE SACRIFICE OF MORIMI

And pray
The
last

for sons
is

and

my

Adetoun.
Oldkun's tide
"
?

word
:

not yet.

Has ebbed

will it

not flow again

Yet hope
She
consults

Went not with Mdrimi

Of
tfa's priest
self -same
;

to the dark court

and when a torch

of sorrow in the

disclosed

Ifa again.

The

bode

dusk

To her

drear

home Great Morimi

fled

back

In terror of the deed which love commanded,

And
di advises

love condemned.
fidi,

Silently in the night

Came

the Perverter, the smooth of tongue,

"
:

her to act

Who
To
Of

with his guileful reasoning compels

on Ifa's
message.

conscious sin

The forms
ffa,

of messengers

Reveal the thoughts of

ifa,

and the

ears

the God-Messenger, have heard

The far-off, thundrous voice. Would you hold back?

Is

not the birth of Nations the

first

law

Aramfe gave ? Can any wife withstand His will, or maid stern Ogun's call ? (1) To-day Is yours, oh, mother of great kings that shall be
:

The green shoots greet the Spring-rain and forget The barren months, and Morimi shall know
Her grief and her reproach no more."
(1)

Then doubt

Ogun

kills

unmarried
38

girls of

marriageable age.

MYTHS OF
Seized Mdrimi but
still

F E
"
;

she answered

Will Gods

Not give ? Is the grim World a morning market Where they drive bargains with the folk they made ?
Are babes as bangles which Obalufon
Fashions to barter
" "
?

But

fidi

answered her

But once Aramfe spoke to Odudiiwa, And with what heavy hearts the Gods went

forth

From Heaven's
thrice,
(1)

valleys to the blackness

Now

Thrice to the

woman Mdrimi

the word
:

Has come

with promise of the World's desire

Not every wife is chosen for the mother " Of a house of kings. And think Obalufon
! !

Then

di,

the Perverter, hid his form

;

In darkness

and with the dawn a young

while

girl

lay

The death
of Adetoun.

On

the Undoer Iishu's altar

of early

The lazy blue

morning smoke
hills.

Crept up the pass between the

(1)

According to the legend, M6rimi consulted Ifa^three times before acting on his advice.

39

THE UBO WARS.*

Ardba continues
After the
:

1*

Oibo, graven on

War

of the Is the sad legend which

my memory my father
.
.

told

me

Gods, ffe
returns
to the arts

Of the Great Gods' departure.

Unnoted while King 6gun (2)

The years slid by reigned. The World

Was young
Shot forth

of peace.

upon the craggy slopes the trees red buds, and ancient ffe, gaunt
:

With

suffering,

dreamed again her early dreams.

Taught by the Gods, the folk began to learn The arts of Heaven's peace anew the drum
;

Returned to measures of the dance, and Great

Orisha saw the joy of
life

once more
lived

In his creatures' eyes.

Thus

mankind among

The Gods, and multiplied until the youth foundation Of ffe sought new homes and wider lands In the vast Forest and thus was born the of Ubo
The
;

first

Fair daughter of Odiiwa's city.

Men
name

called

Her Ubo, and the

Olubo
is attended

leader took the

of

Ubo

with his chieftaincy.

But

to these colonists the Gods, their Fathers,

gifts
:

by

strife

Gave no good

'midst battles with the Wild,

from
first.

the

'Mid struggles with the Forest the town grew

While dull remembrance of unnatural wrongs See Note VII on Ubo and the Edi Festival. (1)
(2)

See Note

on Ogun.
40

MYTHS OF IFE
Bred Man's
first

rebel thought against the

Gods

And when

the time of festival was near,

to f fe that the folk of tJbo
gifts,

Word came
Would
Of Ogun.

bring no

nor worship at the feet

:

But the King scorned them, laughing

lights

"Who
The Chief
of Obo

His lamp between the leopard's paws

"
?

(3)

Years passed
In grieving while Oliibo sought the homes

seeks advice,0i spirits of the Forest springs, laid gifts

At crossway Or wandered

shrines where childless

women

go,

to drear coasts to share his

wrongs

With Ocean chafing But rivers answered

Of

at his old restraint.

not, not brooks, nor

Gods

crossway altars at the light of

dawn

And

through the unceasing hissing of the foam

.
.

No

voice of counsel came.

With Autumn's

fall

Olubo came with

gifts before the shrine

Of the grim Forest-God who hedged

his land,

And prayed him to And the fat beasts, And

the

accept the corn he brought

nor seize his lands again.

oil,

God saw

the
;

and smelled the blood

Of birds and
(3)

cattle

and the longed-for voice

Yoruba

saying.

41

THE UBO WARS

which the

Came

to Oltfbo

"
:

See with the rain

fields

come
trees,

Forest-God Each year apon your

gives

with springing
:

him

Rank-growing grass and vegetation wild Your work of yester-year is all undone

By my swift desolation. Be this your symbol Go thus against the Scornful Ones arrayed
As
I."

In Ife was great joy

the last

Black thundercloud has passed

wed,

the maids were

And
Oltibo in-

all

men

feasted on the sacred days

Of Ogun and the Lord of

Day when

sudden,

vades Ife,

From

the

still

Forest o'er the walls there broke

and
the

takes

Portents of moving trees and hurrying grass

men

On

Ife's stone-still revellers.

(Hope perishes

away as
slaves.

In the dark hour a mother sees the dance

Of white-robed goblins (1)

of the

midnight streets
sick child
is lost).

glimpse, no more

and her

Despair held rule

Their

the

new-wed wives were lone

men were
silent,

slaves of tibo lords.

The drum

Was

A
(1)

listless

and laughter mute. About dull tasks but not so people wandered
;

See Note XIII.

These goblins are called

42

Etere.

MYTHS OF
Mdrimi
consults
tfa,

F E

Mdrimi

for she, assured of triumph, strode

ffa,

To

the dim court of

gift.

and

laid bare

Her

vision flickered
:

And

the priest prophesied

sick

"

and was gone, The bode is good.

As when a
I call

man

lies

beset

by

fiends

(1)

not to the Gods for aid, but take

The pepper on

my

tongue and thus invoke

Those very fiends

in their

dread mother's name,

And

then

command
now

the Prince of leaguing

lip)

Woes

(Though hastening to the River's

Again
such
is

to turn

ffa's counsel,

borne

Swift in the form of Messengers to

me
ffe:

who advises His

her to go
to tjbo.

priest, his voice

'Evil has

come down on

By

Evil only can desire prevail.

six he-goats to fishu, the his aid

Take

Undoer

Thus crave

and

go, Great Mdrimi,

A
She finds
out the
secret.

harlot to the land of

Ubo
;

'

'
.

So sped

Mdrimi to the rebel town

and when

A
Of

lord of tibo sought her midst the shades

night, the Undoer's will possessed his lips,

And he

betrayed the

way

of tJbo's downfall.

While lishu's shrine yet ran with blood,

the Gods,
(1)

See Note XIII for the incantation.

43

THE UBO WARS

Meanwhile, Unknowing, sat alone in their abasement, the gods And Ogun said " We scorned our upstart son
:

transform
to stones,

Scorned him and

let

him be
'

nor bore in mind

little

The wisdom
Is yet

of the Past,
(1)

snake

rivers,
etc.,

a snake.'

See

now

the end has

come

Swift from the sight of mocking

men we must
wide
"
?

Depart.

The sage Osanyi

of

will lay
:

The door
For naked

of our deliverance

come then

dominion what are we Gods

his

And one by one Osanyi gave

To
"

charms

the lorn Gods.

Orisha could but

moan
and sank
(2)

Children I

made you
soil

who but

I ?

"

Beneath the

he loved.

And 6shun
:

threw

Her body down but never ceased a stream Gushed up, the sacred stream that flows for ever.
Oldkun
(3)

fell

'neath the wide Earth she flowed

.

To
except

the broad spaces of her troubled realm.

;

So went the Gods

but

last, as

Osanyi gave

6gun.

The charm

to

Ogun,
rebel

last of all the

Gods

Back from the

town Great Morimi

"
:

Rushed back, and

brought
(3) (4)
(5)

cried

The

fire

the vulture

Yoruba

saying.

See Note VIII on Oshun. See Note IX on O16kun.

44

MYTHS OF IFE
Shall slay the hosts of l)bo
!

".

The months

crept

by
King Ogun's warrior
son,

Fate-laden, while

Ordnyan
destroys
the tJbo

Oranyan,

(1)

schooled the sireless lads to

festive season came,
fire

War

But when the

he hid
city,

Them
The

with red

prepared within the

army.

And, as the invading hosts of l)bo scaled

walls,

a rush of flaming boughs destroyed

Grass garments and rebellious men.

tfbo before Ordnyan, and her folk

Thus

fell

Saw

slavery in

ffe.

Time spared

these deeds

But gave to the impenetrable wilds The place where Cbo stood, her rebel Gods,
The
di

Her

rites.

And

here in

f fe,

by command

Festival

Of Morimi, the children of the captives

Worship Olubo, but must flee before Oranyan's fire. And on those days of feasting No man may blame his wife for her misdeeds
All-mindful of the guile of Morimi.
(1)

See Note

on Ogun and Ordnyan.

VI.

THE PASSING
Ardba continues
:

OF

OGUN.

After the
tJbo

An

age passed by, and

;

f fe

knew no more

Wars, Of battles

for

Ogun, grey and bent, chose out

6gun reignsThe way

in peace.

of peace beloved of

Old Aramfe.

Forgotten

lives

were

lived,

and shadowy

priests

Kept warm the altars of the departed Gods Old men went softly to the River's lip (1)

Unsung

'twixt

hope and fear mute

colonists

Went

forth to the strange forests of the

World

And unremembered
Of the givers
of

wives sought out the shrines

life.

new

Their names are

lost.

Yet now, Oibo,

let

final tale

Be

told

for, at

the

last,

that silent age

fall.

Yields

up the legend

of its

In those

Last tranquil years the mothers blessed King

Ogun

For peaceful days and night's security

And
The

old

men used

to tell of their brave deeds

led,

In battles where Oranyan

torch-lit
.
.

applaud
last

dance and pass their

calm days

Happily.
(1)

But then came

traders from the wilds

The River which separates

46

this

World from the next.

MYTHS OF IFE
By
thorn and tangle of scarce-trodden ways
tales

Through the dim woods, with wondrous

heard

they

At crossway markets

(1)

in far lands of deeds

Oranyan did on battlefields beyond The region of the forests. These tales,
In house and market,
filled

oft-told

the air with rumours

And dreams
Of ancient

of
ife

war which troubled the repose

for,

while the fathers feared

The coming Aweary

of the

day when the grey God,

would go back home, the young men's dreams

of Earth's Kingship,

To

his first far-off

Were always
Oranyan
returns

of
.

Oranyan, and their pale days

Lagged by.
of

Such were the various thoughts

men

from
distant

In

ife,

when on a day, unheralded,

(2)

Wars

to

Oranyan with a host appeared before Her peaceful gates. None could deny his entrance
the

demand
crown.

The hero

strode again the streets he saved

From

the Oliibo's grass-clad men, and

came

Before his father to

demand

Of Oduduwa.
(1) (2)

King Ogun spoke

the crown "

:

My son,

Markets are often found at crossroads See Note X. on Ogun and Ordnyan.
47

in the forest.

THE PASSING OF OGUN

and you are welcome. But why with these armed men do you recall Times well-forgotten and the ancient wars ?
Tis long since you were
here,

This

is

a land of peace

beneath the shade

Of

ffe's trees

the mirth of Heaven's vales

Has found a home,

Their measure. hurt

the chorus and the dance

Lay by your arms, and may no

restful

Attend your coming or your

"

hours
:

"
!

Harshly Oranyan answered his old father

You speak

of peace, Great
for a

Ogun, and the calm

to be.

Aramfe destined

World

Aramfe spoke and Oduduwa's dream Of wisdom linked to supreme power begat

theft

(1)
!

And

that same night on Heaven's rim

Devised another destiny for men.

What Heaven-sent

art has

Ogun

to

undo
Besides,

That deed, and bid the

still-born live ?

Who

taught the peaceful peoples of the World

Their longing for red

War

Who

forged their

weapons

With

steel

Ardmfe gave

for harvesting

Who slew young maids who would not wed to bear

(1)

The

theft of Orisha's bag.

48

MYTHS OF
More sons for ancient wars
?

F E
pray, but Ogun,
?

Who,

The God

of

War
field

What

then

Tis said

'The

The

father sowed his son shall reap

'
!

And Ogun
Made answer
"
:

The

story of

my

life

has been

As the succeeding seasons in the course Where Oshun pours her stream. First, long
The sunny months
of

ago,

heaven when

roamed
;

careless

boy upon the mountains

then,

As a whole season when the boisterous storms

Fill full

the crag-strewn bed with racing waters,

And the warm Sun is hidden by the clouds, Doom brought me journeys, toils in darkness, wars And yet more wars. Again the barren months
Are here
:

the wagtail lights upon the rock

;

The

river hid
in

a lazy trickle moves

And

my

age Aramfe's promised peace

f f.
. . .

Gives back her stolen happiness to

And now, And

(2)
(3)

the sage

Osanyi^
:

is

no more,

His charms forgotten

vanish like

I
;

cannot turn to stone

I

Oduwa

cannot cast

Yoruba

saying.

Osanyi made the charms which enabled the Gods

to transform.

THE PASSING OF

6 G U N

My worn old body down to rise instead A river of the land, as Oshnn did.
No, Earth must hold me, glad or desolate,

A King
Till

or outcast in the vague forest,

call

Heaven

me when
.
.

the locked pools bask.

And Oshun
In peace
;

sleeps.

Till

then

ask to be

and, with

my tale of days accomplished,

Aramfe's bidding done
fair

My
I,

last arts taught,

the lone

God on Earth who knows

life

Heaven,

And

the calm
I,

the Father bade us give

will

To men, Upon
"

Ogun,
I

make way, and go

But Oranyan said
:

the road
first

came."

Let the

Mistress of the

World

decide.

These years the kingly power has passed away

From

the old sleeping town Odiiwa built

To me, Oranyan, battling in far Where no voice spoke of Ife. Let

Her way
:

lands
ffe choose

obscurity or wide
fell
:

renown

"
!

silence

the black clouds of the storm

;

Were overhanging human destiny The breathless pause before the loud wind's
Held
all

blast

men

speechless

though they seemed to

heave
50

MYTHS OF
The
old
desire
to
;

fc

For utterance.

At

length, Eteffon, the friend

of the old chiefs
:

men

Of Ogun, voiced the fond hopes

Ogun

Who
"

feared
is

Oranyan and

his

coming day

remain

Ours

the city of the shrines which guard the Gods, and

all

The

spirits of

our ways

Are ordered by the Presences which haunt

The sacred precincts

Is far

The noise of war and tumult

trees

from those who dream beneath the

.

Of

Ife.

There

is

another

way

of life

The way

of colonists.

By

God's command,

From
To

this first breast the infant nations stray

the utter marches of humanity.

let

Let them press onward, and

Till

Oranyan lead them

filled
;

the far corners of the World be

fall

Let the unruly

Until the

before their sword

Law

prevail.

But

let

not ffe

Swerve

from the cool road of her destiny

of conquest
;

For dreams

and

let

not

Ogun

leave

The

roof, the

evening

firelight

and the ways

Of men

to go forth to the
:

naked woods."
"

And

the old chiefs echoed

Live with us yet,

Oh, Ogunl

Reign on your stable throne."

51

But murmurs

rose

THE PASSING OF
but the

6 G U N
first,

From

the young louder

men

suppressed at

then

young men
acclaim
"

Until their leader, gaining courage, cried

Ordnyan.

Empty

our

life

has been

while from far plains,

lustre,

Vibrant with the romance, the living

Oranyan' s name bestows, great rumours came

To mock our
The

laggard seasons

and each year

Mdrimi's festival recalls alike

hero's

name and

ffe's greatness.

Must
?

All Ife slumber that the old

may

drowse

No

we

will

have Oranyan, and no other,

To be our King." And a loud cry went up " " From his followers Oranyan is our King And in that cry King Ogun heard the doom
: !

A
Of

chieftain of our

day

sees clear in eggs

(1)

fateful parrots in his

inmost chamber

The

walls of his proud city (his old defence)

rule of iron

Can never more uphold a

For victor treachery within.

And
"

wearily

He spoke his last

sad words

My boyhood scarce
hills

Had ended on
(1)

Aramfe's happy

gift

of oarrot's eggs to a Yoruba chief is an intimation that he has reigned long enough, and that, should he die by his own hand, trouble would be saved.

02

MYTHS OF IFE
When
And
I

came here with Oduduwa

I

with him,

Lovingly

watched

this ancient city growing,

planted the grand forests for a robe

f fe.

For queenly Sometimes

Ife,

have grown old with

If&

I feel that

Ogun

did become
still

and
years.

Ife

Ogun, with the

rejects

lapse

tigun goes

Of

Yet she

me.
to

Ah

my
I

trees

away.

Would be more

kind,

and

my

trees

go."

Dawn came and Ogun stood upon a hill To Westward, and turned to take a last farewell
;

Of

his old

queen of

cities

but white and dense,

O'er harbouring woods and unremembering ff6

A
As

mist was laid and blotted

islands from a

all.

Beyond,

morning sea, arose

;

and Ogun dreamed he saw Again those early days, an age gone by, When he and Great Oduwa watched the Bird
lone grey
hills

Two

Found

those grand
slopes,

hills

with magic sand,

bare

Yet born

to smile.

That vision paled

red-gold

Above grey clouds the Sun of yesterday So passed Climbed up to shine on a new order.
Old Ogun from the land.
53 Dl

NOTES
I.

THE CREATION.

The
stated

by different chiefs and priests by the same men at different times.

It appears,

relationships of the various gods are differently of ffe, and also

and sent
it.

however, that Aramfe ruled in Heaven, Odiiwa and Orisha, to a dark and below to create the world and to people watery region
his sons,

According to the legends told in were not sent away as a punishment

ife,
;

the gods but there is

some story of wrong-doing mentioned at 6wu in the Jebu country. Aramfe gave a bag full of arts and wisdom to Orisha, and the kingship to Oduwa.

On the way from Heaven Odiiwa made Orisha drunk, and stole the bag. On reaching the edge of Heaven, Oduwa hung a chain over the cliff and sent
down a priest, called Ojumu, with a snail-shell full of " " magic sand and a five-fingered fowl. Ojiimu threw the sand on the water and the fowl kicked it about. Wherever the fowl kicked the sand, dry land appeared. Thus the whole world was made, with f fe as its centre.

When
themselves

the land was firm, Oduwa and Orisha let down the chain, and were followed by
;

several other gods.

Orisha began making human beings was dark and cold, because Aramfe had not sent the sun with Oduwa. So Oduwa sent up, and Aramfe sent the sun, moon and fire. (Fire was sent

but

all

54

MYTHS OF fFE
on a vulture's head, and that is why the vulture has no feathers on its head.) Then the gods began to teach their arts and crafts to men.

made war upon Oduwa The various gods took sides, but some looked on. The medicine-men provided amulets for the men on both sides. Aramfe was angry with his sons for fighting and threw his thunderbolts impartially for he was the god of thunder in those days. The war is said to have lasted 201 years, and came to an end only because the gods on Odiiwa's side asked him to give back the bag. Oduwa, in a huff, transformed to stone and sank beneath the earth, taking
After

many

years Orisha

to get

back his bag.

the bag with him. became king.

His son, Ogun, the god of iron, then

II.

ODtiM

'LA,

THE FIRST ORNf OF

According to tradition, when the gods transformed, they ordered Odiim'la to speak for them, to be a father to the whole world and to remain on Earth for ever. " In the words of an old chief It is our ancient law
:

that the spirit of Odum'la passes from body to body, and will remain for ever on the earth. The spirits
of the gods are in their shrines, for them."
I

and Odum'la speaks

think the Ornf claims to be Odum'la himself.

is

This

a matter of dogma, and

55

express no opinion.

NOTES
III.

ODtfWA.
to the story of

There
in Parts

is little
I,

to
III.

add

Oduwa

told

II

&

Araba

told

me
:

another version of the end of the

War

Gods Orisha and Oduwa agreed to stop the fighting on condition that each should have a man Fourteen months was for sacrifice every seven months.
of the

then regarded as a year.

Another story Araba told me was The Moon is a round crystal stone, which is with Oduwa. They
:

"

take it in front when they go to sacrifice to Oduwa otherwise the god would injure the man who offers the Odiiwa is said to have taken the stone from sacrifice." a Moslem, and to have been in the habit of looking
at
it.

When

went

to Odiiwa's shrine, there

was a great

knocking I did not see the stone.

of doors to

warn the god

of

my

arrival.

IV.

ORISHA AND THE CREATION OF MAN.

of Orisha's creation of

The legend

Man

is

mysterious.

have thrown images into wombs. I I can was once told he put signs into women's hands.
is

He

said

to

only account for this story by the suggestion that it may date from a period when men had not discovered the connection between sexual intercourse and the
birth of children.
56

MYTHS OF IFE
As
said

"

to spirit life before birth, the priest of Aramfe child may have been with the spirits, but when
all

he

is

born he forgets
sacrifice

about
to

it."

The

offered

Orisha consists of eight

goats, eight fishes, eight rats Orisha was a god of great

and eight

kola-nuts.

knowledge (apart from the contents of the bag which was stolen from him), and taught his son, Oluorogbo who, according to
tradition,
is

the ancestor of the white races.

attributes ascendancy of Europeans to

The Orni

the up-bringing of Oluordgbo. Our ancestor has need of eggs, fowls, sheep, kola

and

snails.

V.

OBALUFON.
husband
of Morimi.

Little is told of Obalufon, the

Heaven by Aramfe, and was a weaver and a worker in brass. He also showed
sent from
to tap the palms for palm-wine. " he took care of everybody as Apart from that, a mother of a child, and used to go round the town

He was a man
how

the people

to drive out sickness

and

evil spirits."

His image represents him as a king.

VI.

MORIMI.

Morimi

The

is the great heroine of the ffe legends. story of her sacrifice which I have adopted is

Araba's version.
57

NOTES
I

went

also to Mdrimi's priest,

who showed me
merit

her

image

of painted

wood and no

artistic

repre-

senting a naked negress. His story was much the same as Araba's ; but, in his version, Mdrimi sacrificed her only son, Ye"su, for the whole world and not to any god.
in Mdrimi but be doubted whether the missionary had heard Mdrimi's visit to tfbo (See Note VII).
;

It would appear that some early had recognised the Virgin Mary

Christian missionary
it

may

of

VII.

tiBO

AND THE EDI

Ubo Wars
is

FESTIVAL.
that some colonists

The
;

story of the
Ife to

found a new town which they called but as the gods had given them nothing, they T)bo invaded ffe. On the first occasion they were driven back but the next year they came dressed in grass, terrified the people of ife and took the men as slaves. (And hi those parts of Africa dead kings and gods in

went from

need of
men).

sacrifice are believed to prefer slaves

to free

Then Mdrimi consulted

six goats

f fa,

and was

told to sacrifice

shu, and go as a harlot to T^bo. Her mission was successful, and she returned with the necessary information only to find the gods had transformed to rivers, stones, etc. (It seems that Ogun did not transform, as he was after-

and

six bags of cowries to

wards displaced by his son, Oranyan). Acting on Mdrimi's advice, Oranyan tJbo soldiers on their next inroad.
68

set fire to the

MYTHS OF fFE
The end
festival of

of tfbo

is

commemorated by

di

(the

in

1913).

Mdrimi, which began on the 21st November Men dressed in hay parade the town, but
for their lives
is

have to
with
fire.

mn

when

others pursue

them

Fire
first

also taken out to the Bush.

of

On
remain

the

day

in the

Ann

the Orni appears, but must (Palace) for the remaining seven.
di,

this period the women do honour to Mdrimi's share in the victory by emulating her deed, and their husbands are not allowed to interfere.

During

The meaning

may have been

of the legend is doubtful. There such a town as tJbo, but it seems likely
is

that the Festival

connected with agriculture.

tJbo (or tgbo) means the Bush, and M6rimi may have advised the customary burning of the Bush to

prepare the land for crops. (early in the dry season), the
hay,
all

fire

The date of the Festival and the men dressed in

suggest

this

interpretation.

On

the

other

hand, the same arguments, combined with the seclusion of the Orni and the license of the women, would favour
the view that Fldi was the more general Festival of the Saturnalia. Possibly it was so originally ; and
the
in the

to be driven out appeared so material form of tropical vegetation that tJbo (the Bush to be burned) has obscured the former meaning of the If this be so, Mdrimi's mission to l)bo may Festival.

demons

be a later fable to account for the license of the

before farming operations begin.

women

NOTES
VIII.

OSHUN.
(or goddess)

Oshun was a woman

with both Odiiwa and Orisha.

"

in high favour

It

were well were

Oshun with us," said Odiiwa, and Orisha agreed Accordingly she took her place on Oduwa's left, Orisha that is to say Oshiin was considered being on his right
;

the third personage in

fie.

The second chief in ffe, the Obalufe, claims descent from Oshun for himself and half the people of his quarter of the town. He has a well in his compound, called Oshun, which is said to be the actual water into which Oshun transformed herself. He says his first forefather took a calabash of the water with him when he went to war, and this gallon became the source of the River. The source is forty miles from Ife, and perhaps the Obalufe is right. The well is never dry and it is needless to add that the water has many curative properties. One would be surprised if a descendant of Oshun died, except from other causes.
;

"
"
all

of the Oshun Festival," says Obalufe, her tribe collect sheep, goats, yams, agidi, palm-

At the tune

me

wine, kola, rats, fish and pigeons, and bring them to for the feast. Oshun gets the blood of goats, sheep

and pigeons, the head of a rat but not of a fish. eat the fish although they are the children of Oshun
consequently our brothers." laced than her descendants.
60

We
and

Oshun

is

more

strait-

MYTHS OF IFE
IX.

OLOKUN,

There is a pond in ffe called Okun (the Ocean), where Oldkun transformed to water. Thence she flowed underground, and came out in the sea.

Her priest showed me a bronze head of Oldkun, which has considerable merit. He told me that, in return for sacrifice, Oldkun gives beads. In Benin, Oldkun is considered to be the Goddess of Wealth as and a King of Benin, who must well as of the Sea have been alive about 1400 A.D., is said to have found the treasures of Oldkun laid out on the shore and to have looted her coral.
;

X.

OGUN AND ORANYAN

is

as the

Ogun was the son of Oduwa, and God of Iron and of War.

usually regarded

According to his chief-priest (the Oshdgun), he went away to war and captured a woman called Deshdju, whom he made his wife. When Ogun returned to There is thereffe, Oduwa took Deshdju from his son. fore some doubt as to whether Ogun was the father of Ordnyan who was born with a leg, an arm and half

body black, the remainder being white (according to the Oshdgun).

his

Ogun may have had other attributes. He may have been a Phallic Deity, because there are hewn stones in ffe, called the staves of Ogun, which appear
61

NOTES
to be of Phallic origin. at the time of his Festival,

girl he may happened once to Araba the prospective son-inlaw could not produce 5, and Araba, who gives no

marriageable
(This

noteworthy that, said to kill any find in her mother's house.

It is also

Ogun
;

is

credit, lost

a potential
is

five

of his daughter).

Further,

pound note in the shape when a child is circumcised

"

to put in a calabash of Ogun him (together with a snail in order that the worship

the severed skin

wound may

heal)."
also

Ogun may
of

have been the Sun-God

(or

a wor-

the Sun-God). His festival is shipper called Oldj j or (Lord of Day). Oshdgun says
;

commonly Ogun was

Araba says Oldjjor was someone else, the Oldjjor confusion being due to the circumstance that the two festivals take place at the same time. In this connection, the half-and-half colouring of

Ordnyan is suggestive.

to

The dog is the principal animal used for sacrifice Ogun. Ordnyan prefers a ram, a rat, kola and
palm-wine.

much

Eventually, Ordnyan displaced his father, who planted his staves in Ife and went away. I have presumed the death of Osdnyi, as I cannot otherwise " " instead of went away explain the fact that Ogun

In his transforming as the other gods had done. " went away he had too much medicine turn, Ordnyan
:

to die." 62

MYTHS OF
XI.
,

F E
'GBO.

THE CULT OF PEREGUN

Peregun 'Gbo (or Peregun Igbo) seems to have been a god who caused the forest to bring forth birds and He was a son of God, and came to earth with beasts.

Ebbor (worship) and fidi, a god who causes men do what they know to be wrong.
It
is

to

evident

from

the

incantation

below that

Peregun 'Gbo was originally approached by people in need of children, but nowadays the same formula is recited by the priest whatever a man may be asking for. The priest tells the man to bring a sheep, kola, also a live goat palm-oil, a pigeon, a cock, and a hen
;

for the priest.

The priest kills the sheep, pigeon, cock and hen. The three birds and a part of the sheep are placed in separate broken pots with palm-oil. The man is then
told to produce nine

pennyworth

of kowries,

which

The priest takes the balance are also put in the pots. of the mutton in addition to the live goat.

The

priest then faces the pots, puts

pepper (atare)
:

into his mouth,

1.

and

recites the incantation

Igbo Idbi iror

The
2.

forest bore the sloth.

tror Idbi dgubor The sloth bore the

monkey,

3.

dgubor

Idbi

dhan-ndmajd
leopard.

The monkey bore the

63

NOTES
4.

Ahan-ndmajd Idbi erelu-agdma The leopard bore the guinea-fowl.

relu-agdma. Idbi ekusd

5.

The guinea-fowl bore the hawk.

6.

kusd

Idbi dju-gbona
spirit

The hawk bore the evil

gate.
7.

who guards Heaven's

6ju-gbona

Idbi dfi ikere-tikere

ehin eku.

The

evil

spirit

bore the generative organs of

men and women.

8.

Peregun 'Gbo ni abobd Imdle. Untranslated. Imale is Peregun 'Gbo's messenger and is sent to do what the man asks.

9.

Oriydmi la-popo

Good
10.
se

luck

is

human.

ami Idpe The father

okute aba
of a lucky child
is

lucky.

11. Atorladdrla

Igbadd lordifa fun

Orunmila

nigbati

nwon

ft ojor iku re ddla. Atorladorla Igbada approached Ifa on behalf

Orunmila when they had fixed his for the morrow. (Atorladdrla Igbadd is a good spirit who keeps on postponing an evil deed contemplated by
of

death

someone.)
64

MYTHS OF
12.

F E

Orunmila ni kdtikun tikun kdtikere tikert. Orunmila says menstruation will cease," and
pregnancy
will begin.

13.

Orunmila ni on ko yunle orun. Orunmila says that he (the child) Heaven (i.e. will be born

will

not go to

alive).

When
man
The

the priest has finished the recitation, the

who now asked to send Imale to Orunmila with the applicant's

(The incantation is apparently in some form request. of archaic Yoruba, and the Babalawo had to explain

takes the pots to the shrine of fishu (the Devil). first ten sentences are in praise of Peregun 'Gbo, ordered Atorladdrla Igbada to go to ffa, and is

much

of it to the interpreter. tions are probably very loose).

Some

of the transla-

XII.

THE DIVINATION OF

IFA (A FRAGMENT)
is

If a

by

the

was the Messenger of the Gods, and Yoruba on all subjects.

consulted

-3$ ")

His priests (called Babalawo) profit considerably by divination, which they perform with sand on a circular board, or with a charm called Okpelle.
Okpelle consists of eight pieces of bark on a string.

These eight are arranged in

fours.

Each
the

outside

of the pieces of bark may _fall either with or the inside showing. Consequently 65

NOTES
each set of four

may

fall

in sixteen

different

ways

having

different

The
1.

sixteen
all

names and meanings. names are

:

6gb6
Oye'ku
Iwdri.
di.

face

down
up

2. 3.

all

face

inside showing. outside showing.

4. 5.
6.

Obara.

7.
8.

Okdnran. Rdshun. Ow6rin.

gutan. Ossa.
Ere"tte.

9.

10.

11.
12.

Etiirah.

13.

14.
15' 16.

Oldgbon. kka.
Oshe.

Offun or Ordngun.

When Okpelle is thrown on the ground and the two fours are identical the resultant is called
:

Ogbe Meji (i.e. Oyeku Meji

I

Two

Ogbes)

Egutan Meji
Ossa Meji
Ere"tte Meji

won

Meji

di Meji

Obara Meji Okdnran Meji Roshun Meji Aworin Meji

Eturah Meji Ologbon Meji

Ekka Meji
Oshe
Meji, or

Offun Meji
f fa.

These are called the Sixteen Messengers of

66

MYTHS OF
The chance, however,
left

F E

of the four

on the Babalawo's

agreeing with that on his right is only one in sixteen. The other fifteen combinations which may appear with

Ogbe on the right are called Ogbe Yeku, Ogbe Wori, Ogbe Di, &c., similarly with the other Messengers of
:

ffa.

These combinations are called the children of

is

the Messenger who appears on the right. Yeku is a child of Ogbe Oyeku Logbe
;

Thus, Ogbe a child of

Oyeku.

From

this it will

be seen that Okpelte can show

256 combinations.
Procedure.
ffa.

A man

comes to a Babalawo to consult

places a gift of cowries (to which he has whispered his needs) before the Babalawo. The latter

He

says
lays

takes Okpelle and places it on the cowries. He then " You, Okpelle, know what this man said to the
:

cowries.
it

Now

tell

me."
floor.

Then he

out on the

From

lifts Okpelle and the messenger or child

which appears the Babalawo is supposed to deduce that his client wants a son, has stolen a goat, or has

what he must bring

In
to
all

a toothache, as the case as a

may

be.

He

then

tells

him

sacrifice to achieve his ends.

Eshu

cases the sacrifice (or a large part of it) is offered (the devil) for fear that he might undo the good
:

For instance, the client is poor and needs money and the Babalawo tells his client to a dog, a fowl, and some cowries and palm-oil. bring The man splits the dog and the fowl puts palm-oil and
work.
di Meji appears,
;

67

NOTES
cowries inside them, and takes them to The shu. Babalawo presumably takes the bulk of the cowries
for himself.

The appearance of Ogbe Meji promises long but a goat must be brought.
If

life,

man

has no children and Oyeku Meji appears,

he must bring a ram and a goat.

Iwdri Meji demands eggs, a pigeon,

and cowries

from a sick man.

fidi Meji.

As above.

Obara

Meji.
is

sacrifice of

2 cocks, 2 hens, and

250 cowries

needed to purify after menstruation.

Okanran

Meji.

A
A
4

goat and 500 cowries bring on

menstruation.

Rdshun
headache.

Meji.

she-goat and 2 hens to cure a

Aworin

Meji.

cocks and 800 cowries to bring

about the death of one's enemy.

figutan Meji.
to cure a

A ram bad bellyache.

(large)

and

1,200

cowries

Ossa Meji.

Butcher's meat and 4 pigeons to drive

away

witchcraft.

Erette Meji. to get children.

2 pigeons, 2 cocks, and 600 cowries

Eturah Meji.

One

large gown,

a sheep, and 300

cowries to cure eye disease.

68

MYTHS OF 1FE
Oldgbon Mji. Sacrifice 4 snails and 4 pigeons you suspect someone wishes to poison you.
if

Ekka

Me*ji.

4 hens,

oil,

and 700 cowries

for earache.

Offun Mdji. If children keep on dying, sacrifice 16 snails, 16 rats, 16 fishes, and 1,600 cowries, and the following children will live.
Osse
Me"ji.

8 snails,

8 pigeons,

and 800 cowries

for children.

Ogbe Yeku.

(a)

If

man

has no money, he must

bring 4 pigeons, 2 shillings, and soap. The Babaldwo mixes leaves (ewe-ire) with the soap as a charm, and the man must use it for a bath.
(b) If

5s. 6d.

a man is very ill, he must He will then be better.

offer

3 he-goats and

Ogbe Won. (a) If a man is and a sheep. Otherwise he will

(b)

sick,
die.

he must offer

8s.

If

man

needs money, he must bring thread and

6 pigeons and buy soap. The Babaldwo gets ewe aji and puts them on the soap with the pigeon's blood. The thread is put inside the soap. The man then
washes.
(c)

If

man

7 cocks

and

35s.

has committed a crime, he must bring The Babaldwo kills the cocks, and

Wori from the

He takes the sand of Ogbe board and puts some on each cock's Five of the cocks are then breast, with 260 cowries.
takes the 35s. for himself.
ffa 69

NOTES
given to fishu and the other 2 are taken to a place Then either a necessary where three roads meet.
witness will not appear in court or the accused will be found not guilty.
(d)

If

two men want the same woman, and Ogbe

Won

appears (when one of them consults ffa), the Babalawo asks for 4 hens and a he-goat. The woman

then becomes the client's wife, fishu gets the hens and the goat's blood the Babaldwo, the goat.
;

XIII.

A CURE FOR SUDDEN AND SERIOUS

ILLNESSES.
priest puts

The
recites
:

pepper

(atdre) into his

mouth and

Akelejd!

AWejd !
breathing quick and uneasy.

A spirit who grips a man by the throat and makes

Akilewdssa
!

spirit
!

who

causes eye-disease.

Aktitobdrun

Spirits

which trouble sick persons.

I

Amtiror/dshorgtrrt
Spirits

now

called Anjanu,

who

cause delirium.

One who
Ojoboldro
I

causes bad bellyache.

Spirits..

who

cause severe headaches.

MYTHS OF
'

F E

Abiytte-ashdrmunydnyan " One who has a very sharp edge to his doth," and causes backache.
Asd-nUtt-tnofdrapd I Imps seen at night in white cloths.
Ele"re.

Now

called

They
!

afflict

children.

Ol6mo-dro, niyeye tshuku "

Oldmo-dro, who
does no

art the

harm but

is

mother of evils." She invoked because her

children, already named, will listen prayed in their mother's name.

when

Ardnposht freke!

The husband

of 01(5mo-aro
If

and the father of the

not invoked the sick

evil spirits.

he
is

is

man

dies.

He

also called

upon

to stop

his sons' mischief.

tshuku den linyimi!

"
Evil, leave

my

back

"
!

When

this

has been

spoken, the spirits leave the sick man.

Bi

bura Nla ba de Hi 6mi, afieyinda. " If the Great Evil comes to the river's bank, he will turn back."
fibura Nla
is

the master of

all

the

evils.

If called

by spirits, he comes to the further bank of the river Are*nkenken, which is described as the " water of Heaven ". If he crosses to the near side, the sick
the other

man

dies.

NOTES.

of the

After finishing the incantation, the preist takes some pepper from his tongue and puts in on the
is

patient's head.

The patient recovers, and take nourishment at once.

(The

able to

Yoruba

of

this

is

probably
it,

interpreter did not understand had to explain).

archaic. The and the Babaliwo

"

XIV. AjfjA (THE DUST-DEVIL). Ajija was a doctor who lived with Aramfe, and
to earth with another doctor.

came

They made various

asked to do so. and the man died.

medicines

one to

kill

man when
words,

He pronounced certain He could also kill' with

his walking-stick.

He

lives

on Oke Aramfe (6ke Ora), and can only be approached through Aramfe (the father of the gods), because he is a bad man. He is worshipped near Aramfe's shrine.
"

the town. the

fire

When he wishes to make trouble, he comes through He sometimes sets fire to a house by picking
up and putting
it

on the thatch.

Ajija, he should protect himself " in his mouth and saying Ahanby putting pepper " " ki fru re Shaomi (names of Ajija), rlyen, Fagada " The man should then b<5mi (put your tail in water).
:

"

When a man meets

spit the

pepper at

Ajija.

"

Sometimes Ajija turns into a big

lizard."

According to another story, Ajija is a devil with one leg, who throws men down and breaks their ankles.
72

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