The Egungun Festival is an important part of the religious practices of the Yoruba people, Nigeria.

The
Yoruba religion is based on oral traditions. Beliefs and practices are preserved by passing history,
customs, and traditions from one generation to the next. Authority for interpreting events and
establishing proper conduct of ethics and morals rests with a bureaucratic structure of rulers who
function in both religious and political realms.

According to traditional Yoruba belief, all power in the universe emanates from a supreme being,
Olodumare. Olodumare, known as the owner of everlasting abundance, among many other praise
names, holds all power and is the giver of all life. Olodumare is the mystical remote source of all things
and is not identified by gender. All that exists, including supernatural divine realities and natural earth
realities, are part of Olodumare.

The Egungun is a secret society among the Yoruba people of Nigeria. A hereditary chief called the Alagba
heads the society, which celebrates its most important festival in June. Members of the society come to
the marketplace and perform dances for the Timi, or chief, wearing MASKS that represent the spirits of
deceased ancestors. Which spirits are worshipped each year is decided by the Ifa oracle. A man who is
instructed by the oracle to worship his ancestor has a special mask made for the dance. Although he
himself doesn't participate in the dance, he is considered the owner of the mask. He takes it to the
Alagba, along with appropriate gifts, and the Alagba secretly appoints a member of the Egungun society
to wear it during the festival.

About thirty masqueraders in long, colorful robes gather in a grove not far from town and then arrive as
a group to perform their dance in the marketplace. Some Egungun dance in one place, while others
make sudden movements toward the surrounding spectators. When one leaps forward, the young men
acting as guards lash out with their whips to prevent anyone from coming near the masked figure. The
high point of the festival is the appearance of Andu, the most important and powerful mask. The other
masqueraders clear a path for him, and the drums beat louder and faster as Andu rushes into the
marketplace.

It is the Egungun who listen to the requests of the living and carry their messages back to the ancestral
community in heaven. Women who are having difficulty conceiving, for example, frequently ask the
masked figures to grant them children. The responses of the Egungun can be fierce as well as generous.
They expect their descendants to uphold the highest moral standards and are quick to expose the evil
thoughts that neighbors harbor against one another. Even though the annual appearance of the
Egungun in the streets of Yoruba towns and villages inspires a certain amount of fear, it also assures the
people of their continued guidance.

The word "Egungun" is sometimes translated literally as "bone" or "skeleton." This is probably the result
of a misunderstanding of the correct tone, since Yoruba is a tonal language. When the word is
pronounced with the correct tone, it means "masqueraders." Today there is a thriving community of
Egungun worshippers in Salvador da Bahia, Brazil, where they wear the colorful costumes of their
Nigerian counterparts.
SYMBOLS AND CUSTOMS

Masks

Some of the Egungun masks consist of colored cloth and leather that cover the entire body while the
dancer looks out through a closely knitted net. Others are wooden masks worn in front of the face, and
still others are carved heads worn on top of the dancer's own head. The mask-wearers are always
accompanied by men holding sticks or whips who keep the crowd from getting too close. This is because
it is considered extremely dangerous to approach the spirits of the deceased. According to an old
Yoruban proverb, "Even a Prince cannot go near an Egungun with impunity." At one time, anyone who
saw even part of the man who was wearing the mask could be put to death as a punishment.

Each mask represents the spirit of a particular ancestor. In reality, everyone knows that there is a human
being beneath the mask. But it is believed that the spirit of the deceased may be persuaded to enter
into the masquerader while he is dancing. At the height of the dance, every true Egungun enters into a
trance-like state and speaks with a voice he has never used before.

Yam

The Yoruba honor the annual return of the ancestors to the world of the living during the season of the
yam harvest. Their arrival not only brings a blessing upon the crops, but stands as a reminder that it was
the ancestors who first cultivated Yoruba land.

When a Yoruba man dies, the Egungun are especially concerned about the separation of the dead from
their former life. So after a certain amount of time has elapsed, the widow is led to a mound of earth
that represents her husband. From this she takes a yam, which symbolizes the last gift she will receive
from him. Then, a week or so later, one of the Egungun visits her house and calls to the dead person in a
high-pitched or nasal voice. This is a signal for the dead person to leave the earth and his family behind.