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Each year, the Yoruba people in Nigeria offer thanks to Yemoja, goddess of the river and mother of all other Yoruba gods. It is an important way for them to remember and celebrate their traditional roots and beliefs.
Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria – During the annual festival to celebrate Yemoja, the goddess of the river, the day begins with music, dance and prayers. There are 400 gods – called òrìsà in the Yoruba language – each representing a force of nature. Yemoja is considered the mother of them all, such is the importance of water to life.
Yemoja devotees dance in front of the temple at Popo Ibode Yemoja, Ibadan [Femi Amogunla/Al Jazeera]
But in Ibadan, where faith in all orisa – the Yoruba gods – remains joyful and strong, celebrations of the old religion continue. The 17-day-long Yemoja festival in October is as old as the Yoruba people. It has been celebrated since “time immemorial”, according to the priestess, Ifawemimo Omitonade.
October 31 is the grand finale of the Yemoja Festival in Ibadan, when different groups of orisa devotees dance to the rhythm of thrumming drums in front of the Yemoja Temple.
Inside sits Ogunleki, a 400-year-old statue of Yemoja, a woman breastfeeding a baby, 3 feet (about 1 metre) high. Devotees, young and old, sing Yoruba songs, giving thanks to the òrìsà for keeping them healthy since the previous year, and for allowing them to see another festival.
A Yemoja worshipper kneels in front of Ogunleki, a more than 400-year-old artistic portrayal of Yemoja [Femi Amogunla/Al Jazeera]
Inside the temple, Chief Akinola Olaosun prepares the items to be presented to Yemoja at the river. Chief Akinola is also known as “Aare Adimula fun Odo Babalawo Ilu Ibadan”, which translates as “President of the young herbalists of Ibadan”.
Chief Akinola Olaosun during the preparation of Yemoja’s food at the temple [Femi Amogunla/Al Jazeera]
After these preparations are complete at the temple, prayers are said by Chief Egbelade Omikunmi, who is the Baale Yemoja – the chief priest to Yemoja – his hands outstretched to the devotees, who respond with “Ase”, the Yoruba ending to a prayer. Then the procession to the river begins.
Baale Yemoja of Ibadan land prays for the celebrants at in front of Yemoja’s temple [Femi Amogunla/Al Jazeera]
Chief Akinola Olaosun takes one of the calabashes containing food to Baale Yemoja for propitiation [Femi Amogunla/Al Jazeera]
Some of the attendees and devotees offer prayers to the deity as the propitiation continues in the river [Femi Amogunla/Al Jazeera]
“It is good to know that people actually came and demonstrated their faith in our mother,” says Ifawemimo Omitonade, the priestess to Yemoja. As for the chief priest, the priestess is chosen by worshippers who have “consulted” with the orisa, Yemoji, through divination and prayer. Once a person has been chosen for this rank, they undergo a nine-day initiation process of rigorous self-examination to bring them closer to their chosen orisa, known as ita. Once chosen, a priest or priestess keeps his or her title for life.
Iyalorisa Omitonade uses ‘Aja’, an instrument used in invoking Yemoja’s spirit, during the propitiation process [Femi Amogunla/Al Jazeera]
Iyalorisa Omitonade guides one of the calabash carriers during a procession to the river [Femi Amogunla/Al Jazeera]
Friends of the Yemoja priestess who came to celebrate with her pose for a picture just before the procession to the river [Femi Amogunla/Al Jazeera]
When the prayers at the river, at the end of the celebration, are over, Ifawemimo takes some of the water from the river in a bucket and sprinkles it on her fellow devotees. In addition to the sprinkling, some of the devotees collect some of the river water in bottles. This sacred water is considered medicinal – mixed with the water people drink or added to a bath to heal ailments.
Omintonade sprinkles water from the river on some of the attendees after the propitiation. ‘This is some form of rejuvenation and blessings from the Orisha,’ she says [Femi Amogunla/Al Jazeera]
Yoruba culture enthusiast Foluke Akinyemi, who hosts the local Yoruba radio talk show, Awa Ewe which means “We, the Youth”, has come along to this year’s festival. She has been invited by Omitonade who she met through social media. Raised a Christian, she says the festival is an opportunity to reconnect with her Yoruba roots by worshipping the deities her ancestors prayed to.
‘I am happy I am part of this year’s festival … I will continue to let other this the beauty in this tradition,’ says Foluke, a culture enthusiast and radio host [Femi Amogunla/Al Jazeera]
Women play an integral part in the worship of Yemoja, from preparing the offerings and carrying the calabashes, to carrying out duties as priestesses.
One of the calabash carriers, Efuleye collects food to be taken to the river from the fire minutes before the procession begins [Femi Amogunla/Al Jazeera]
Efuleye Orisatara on her way to the river with the calabash containing the food for the Orisha [Femi Amogunla/Al Jazeera]
“She says specifically what she wants each person to carry. If you carry what you have not been called for, the person will become unfortunate.”
The calabashes used in carrying the food of the deity. Yemoja chooses whoever she wants to carry the calabash each new year [Femi Amogunla/Al Jazeera]
Each year, new initiates undertake religious rites.
Johnson Omisegun, one of the new initiates, says she ‘feels comfortable,’ in her newfound religion [Femi Amogunla/Al Jazeera]
“I first got to know about Yemoja through my mother, after we moved from Lagos to Ibadan. After some years, I decided to take things further by getting initiated fully. That is why this particular festival is special to me. That is what is responsible for my haircut and these beads I wear,” she explains.
She points to the three-layered, choker-like, blue-and-red collection of beads around her neck. “Once it is a month from now, I will cut one of the layers off; two months, the second one goes off and then the third one.” At that point, Toluwani will be entitled to wear the transparent, long, white beads worn by Yemoja devotees.
Toluwani now has a new name – Omisegun, which means “water conquers” – and says she considers that Yemoja is her personal orisa.
Atiku Jelili, a Yemoja devotee, says ‘civilisation has made us lose some of our core values and traditions’ [Femi Amogunla/Al Jazeera]
One of the devotees of the Orisha takes tubers of yam to Baale of Yemoja during the propitiation process in the water [Femi Amogunla/Al Jazeera]
Baale Yemoja alongside other devotees cut the new yam into sizeable portion before offering them to the deity [Femi Amogunla/Al Jazeera]
A pigeon, offered to Yemoja as sacrifice, slowly gets taken away by the river [Femi Amogunla/Al Jazeera]
Baale Yemoja alongside other devotees prepares to offer porridge, one of Yemoja’s preferred delicacies, to her [Femi Amogunla/Al Jazeera]
“The breeze from the river is cooling and whoever has anything to ask of Yeye [another name for Yemoja] goes ahead to ask. If by the next year you do not have answers to such requests, please check yourself and ask yourself why.”
Chief Egbelade Omikunmi, “Baale Yemoja” – or Chief Priest to the orisa – also serves as the leader of all traditional Yoruba worshippers in Oyo state. After the singing and dancing at the temple – before the devotees go to the river – he prays for everyone, his hands stretched forward.
After the procession to the river, Chief Egbelade is assisted by other male devotees. He sits by the water and communes with Yemoja. One by one, he drops the offerings from the calabashes into the river. As he does, murmured prayers rise from the watching crowd, many hands pointing towards the river.
Baale Yemoja waits for the next batch of offerings to be brought by one of Yemoja’s devotees [Femi Amogunla/Al Jazeera]
“People come with different prayers. Last year, if someone came with a prayer and had their wish granted, the next year, they will come with more friends. Whenever prayers are answered, more people will come,” he says.
Some of the attendees look from the bridge into the water below as the propitiation process continues [Femi Amogunla/Al Jazeera]