Yoruba

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At the beginning of time, there was only the sky, ruled over by the orisha, or god, Olorun, and the waters below, ruled by the female deity Olokun. Many other orishas lived with Olorun in the sky, including Ifa, also known as Orunmila, the deity of divination; Eshu, the orisha of chance and master of languages; and Obatala, Olorun's second son.

Obatala, looking down on Olukun's domain, saw a watery monotony and decided to make solid land in the sea. He proposed the idea to Olorun, who approved of it, and then went to Orunmila, who divined how it might be accomplished. Following Orunmila's instructions, Obatala had a gold chain made. He hooked it to the edge of the sky and climbed down, taking with him a snail shell full of sand, a white hen, a black cat, and a palm nut. There had not been enough gold in the sky to make a chain long enough to reach the sea. Obatala clung to the end of it and could go no further.

From above, Orunmila yelled, "the sand." Obatala poured out the sand from the snail shell. Orunmila said, "The hen." Obatala released the hen. It scratched at the sand and scattered it in all directions, creating dry land. Since it was scattered unevenly, it formed hills and valleys. Obatala let go and dropped to the newly created earth. He named the place he landed Ife. He built a house there, planted a palm tree, and lived there with his cat.

After some time, Olorun sent his servent Agemo, the chameleon, down the gold chain to check how things were with Obatala. Obatala sent word back that the world was too gray, so Olorun created the sun and set it moving.

Later, Obatala decided to make people for company. He sculpted many from clay, but he became tired and thirsty in the process, so he stopped to make palm wine. He drank much wine and went back to work, but because he had drunk so much, some of the figures were misshapen. Obatala called on Olorun to put the breath of life into the figures, which he did, and the people came to life and built a city around Obatala's house. When the effects of the wine wore off, Obatala saw the misshapen people and felt remorse. He resolved to abstain from drinking in the future and to be the special protector of deformed people.

Obatala gave the people tools, and they began farming and procreating. Obatala ruled them for awhile, but he became lonesome for the sky and returned there. Other orishas, though, heard his story and decided to live among people. Obatala instructed them always to protect humans, and Obatala himself returned to visit from time to time.

Olokun, orisha of the sea, was angered and humiliated by the encroachment on her domain. So one time while Obatala rested in the sky, she sent waves against the shores of the land, flooding low areas, causing marshes, destroying fields, and drowning many people. All of Obatala's work was threatened with destruction. The people called to Obatala for help, but he could not hear them, so they went to the orisha Eshu, who lived on earth then, and asked him to carry the message to Obatala.

Eshu refused to move until they brought him a proper sacrifice. They sacrificed a goat for Obatala, but he told them that the messenger on a long journey deserves a gift too. When they brought him a sacrifice, he went and informed Obatala what was happening.

Obatala did not know how to deal with Olokun, so he consulted the diviner Orunmila. Orunmila consulted his divining nuts and determined to handle the problem himself. He went to earth and, with his powers, weakened Olokun's waves and dried the land. At the people's request, he stayed on earth awhile and taught certain men the arts of divining, or how to ascertain the wishes and intentions of the Sky God Olorun. Earthly order progressed.

Olokun was still upset and sought a way to humiliate the sky god. She challenged Olorun to a contest of clothmaking, at which she excelled. Olorun sent Agemo, the chameleon, as a messenger, asking Olokun first to show some of her cloth. Each fabric she showed, Agemo duplicated exactly on his skin. Seeing such a power in a mere messenger, Olokun wondered at Olorun's powers and acknowledged his greatness.

Courlander, Harold, A Treasury of African Folklore, (New York: Marlowe and Company, 1996), 189-194.

A god, Ifa, tired of living on earth and went to dwell in the firmament with Obatala. Without his assistance, mankind couldn't interpret the desires of the gods, and one god, Olokun, in a fit of rage, destroyed nearly everybody in a great flood.

Kelsen, 1943, 135.

A prolonged drought came to the city of Ilesha. The wells failed, the crops failed, people suffered and died. The Oba, or ruler, of the city sent for babalawos, diviners, to come and explain what was the reason for the drought and how to end it. The babalawos came and performed their divinations, but there advice had no effect.

After many months, a babalawo named O came from a distant city. He cast his divinations and told the Oba, "This drought has been sent because the people of this city have neglected their sacrifices to the orishas, and the orishas are dispeased. To appease them, you must make a sacrifice of seven cola nuts, seven peppers, seven bush rats, and seven fish, and seven of every other edible things. Mix these with the blood of a stranger, and place them at the crossroads outside town."

The Oba listened and immediately sent for all of the items. However, the only stranger in town was the babalawo. Though he had misgivings, the Oba saw no alternative, so he ordered his soldiers to be ready to sacrifice O when he gave the signal.

As O was preparing the offering, he asked where the stranger's blood was. "Don't worry, it will come in time," was the only answer he received. O, understanding the situation, decided that if he was to be killed, at least the city would not benefit from it, so he withheld the cola nuts from the offering, hiding them under the soil.

At last O announced that all was ready except the blood. The Oba gave the signal, and his soldiers beheaded O, added his blood to the mixture, and began carrying it to the crossroads. Even before they got there, a great storm arose. The Oba ordered that O's body be thrown into the bush.

The people were happy, but the Oba still worried, fearing that O might extract revenge somehow. He ordered his men to check O's body, and he wondered with fear when they reported back, "O ra," meaning "O's body has not decayed." For seven days they checked, and each day the report was "O ra," which reached the ears of everyone in the city.

On the seventh day, O's body transformed into a raging river which flowed through the city of Ilesha, devastating it and killing many of its inhabitants. The Oba escaped with some of his family, and by consulting other babalawos, he learned that O had withheld the cola nuts from the sacrifice. The Oba added them back, and the river subsided, but it is still called the Ora River in memory of the babalawo it came from.

Harold Courlander, Tales of Yoruba Gods and Heroes (New York: Original Publications, 1973), 109-113.