Egungun from Owo.
1950s.
Owo people can help us with the name of this Egungun and the story behind it.
It came out in the night in this occasion.
Credit: Historical Africa Yorùbá
Showing posts with label egun. Show all posts
Showing posts with label egun. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 12, 2024
If you ignore your ancestors, they would ignore you
If you ignore your ancestors, they would ignore you
We are in a western world where everyone thinks that our culture is evil and many have neglected their roots and culture.
You ancestors are laughing at you because one day whether you like it or not,you are joining them.
When you join your ancestors, you would know what it is to be an ancestors and you would also know the reason why you ancestors are laughing at you.
If you neglect your ancestors,your ancestors would also neglect you.
If you failed to do the needful for your ancestors, they would also failed to bless you , they would never fight your spiritual Battles for you.
Don't say because you are not going to church or mosques and because of that, you would never feed your ancestors.
You are only doing yourself more than any good.
Remember your ancestors because one day you would also be am ancestor.
Feed your ancestors because it is your duty ....
The white man are feeding their ancestors and told you that they are evil..
If you are still thinking that your ancestors are evil, repent before it is too late .
Your ancestors would not wade off bad spirit or any spirit that want to terminate your life prematurely if you failed to feed your ancestors .
Know this and know peace.
Egungun and what we need to know about our ancestors (something to learn)
There was this particular woman whose husband had died in the thick forest where they both lived with their children.
After the death and burial of the husband, the wife and children had to relocate to another settlement. Afterwards, life got horrific and horrible with the woman and her children.
They sought the advise of elders who in turn directed that they should consult with the oracle to show them the way out.
The oracle after consultation directed that they should go back to the grave of their deceased father in the thick forest and bring his remains home.
When they eventually got to their fathers grave, they dug up the grave and found his bone remains which is referred to as “eegun or egungun” in Yoruba language.
The oracle further directed that the “eegun or egungun” should be totally exhumed and wrapped in colourful clothes and be brought back to their new home with big fanfare.
That dead man bones is called Egungun also referred to as masquerade while the dead man “ara orun kinkin” is also worshipped in accordance to the directive of the oracle till date. Egungun is part of the Yoruba pantheon of divinities.
In the tradition of Orisa and ancestor worship, the Egungun represents the “collective spirit” of the ancestors. Ancestor worship or reverence is everywhere in traditional Africa and Egungun is part of this worship.
Ancestors assure a place for the dead among the living. It is their responsibility to compel the living to uphold the ethical standards of past generations. Egungun is celebrated in festivals (Odun Egungun) and family ritual through the masquerade or custom.
In family situations a family elder or Alagba presides over ancestral rites and may or may not be initiated into the local Egungun society.
But in community settings, Egungun priests and initiates that are trained in ancestral communication, ancestral elevation work and funeral rites are placed in charge of invoking and bringing out the ancestors.
Elaborate costumes adorn the Egungun masqueraders (dancers) and through drumming and dance, these dancers become possessed with the spirits of the ancestors.
The Egungun then spiritually cleanse the community and through exaggerated acting/miming demonstrate both ethical and amoral behavior that occurred since their last visit, exposing the strengths and weaknesses of a community with hopes of encouraging behavior more befitting of their descendants.
Once this occurs, messages, warnings and blessings are doled out to spectators. Some important Egungun include Oloolu, Alapansanpa, both of Ibadan land, Alamudu and Aladoko in Akure, Egemurege in Ado Ekiti, Omormo in Akokoland, Gbegbe in Iragbiji, Elewe of the Ìgbómìnà Yoruba sub-ethnics, which is common in the towns of Òkè-Ìlá Òràngún, Ìlá Òràngún, and Arandun
Monday, March 4, 2024
Oloolu Masquerade
Recalling the history and importance of one of the greatest masquerades in Ibadan and Yorubaland as a whole, the head of Aje family where the Oloolu masquerade originated, Chief Raheem Oyerinde, disclosed that their great fore father, Ayorinde Aje, who was a warrior along with Ogunmola, Ogbori-efon, Ibikunle, Oderinde, Oderinlo went to fight in Ogbagi in Akoko, Ondo State and Oloolu was a great war masquerade in that town and was so powerful such that no one could confront him during the war.”
Nobody could defeat Oloolu during that war but it was our father, Ayorinde Aje that fought him and removed his regalia and costumes, before he was brought to Ibadan as a slave.
His eyes caught the Egungun’s outfit and were attracted towards it. But as he moved towards the shrine where the outfit was kept, the war captive warned Aje Ayorinde not to go near it because it could put his life in jeopardy. Hence the name Oloolu, that is, O-LU-NKAN, meaning ‘you will put your life in peril.
Ayorinde took the advice but ordered his captive to take the outfit along with him back to Ibadan. He also ordered the wife of the captive to accompany her husband to Ibadan.
The woman refused. In his annoyance, Ayorinde beheaded her and ordered the captured husband to carry the woman’s head along to Ibadan in addition to the Oloolu outfit.
That woman’s head is what is permanently placed on the masquerade.
It is the original one.
It is because of the head that every woman is barred from setting eyes on the Oloolu. Any woman who sees the real Oloolu – not his pictures – will surely die. It is also true that the first person the Ololu sees on his first day will die.
The Olubadan usually warns the populace to take precautions. During his stay in Ibadan, there was famine, ill-health and crisis in the land and all the elders and chiefs were looking for a way out, that was how Ayorinde Aje suggested that Oloolu should be used to carry the ritual to appease the gods, so immediately he carried the ritual, there was rain and everything got back to normal in Ibadan.
Oloolu helped Ibadan to be what it is today. Since then anybody that is the head of the Aje family becomes the custodian of Oloolu masquerade.
No other Egungun must be seen on the streets whenever the Oloolu is out. However, during the reign of Olubadan Dada, a masquerade called Iponri-Iku tried it. Iponri-Iku came out on the same day the Oloolu was out and challenged Oloolu openly.
Oloolu then dropped a special cowry on the ground and challenged Iponri-Iku to pick it up. Iponri-Iku bent down to pick the cowry but could not. In the process, he got his backbone broken instantly and could no longer stand up.
His followers had to carry him home. Iponri-Iku died on the same day. Since that day, no other Egungun had dared to challenge the Oloolu. According to Chief Oyerinde, ”any area in Ibadan where the people try to fight the Oloolu anytime he is out, such areas will continue to experience bloodshed, and that is what is happening in Opopoyeosa area till date, because they tried to beat Oloolu there sometimes ago.
Oloolu is so great that he gives the barren children, he provides for the needy, he prospers business among other good things he can give to an individual who is ready to serve him”
The Oloolu masquerade is an individual masquerade.
It has its unique attire which looks like an elongated pyramid made from different pieces of clothes and a net. The most bizarre piece of the Oloolu masquerade is that it has the skull of a woman as its crown. As the Oloolu dances round the city in its strange rhythm with a female skull dangling on its head, the bearer proudly displays the human bone while accompanying the dreaded cult figure.
The bearer of Oloolu must not wear shoes nor carry any kind of load on his head. Also, he must not go to bed with any of his wives 30 days before coming out.
In fact, a few days before the festival opens, all females must vacate his compound and return after the Oloolu festival is over. Besides, he must not carry a child on his shoulders with his feet slung round his neck.
It is believed on good account that all the egunguns worshipped in Ibadan and probably in all of Yorubaland, none is as dreaded as the Oloolu Masquerade.
This cult figure is believed to have immense supernatural powers and one of these is the ability to mysteriously kill the first person man or woman who sets his or her eyes on the Oloolu (in his weird costume which is usually kept inside its own special shrine).
Oloolu still maintains all the acclaimed prestige and every year around July, its colourful festival is carried out with many Ibadan sons and daughters trooping out for the celebrations.
Source:
YorubaRenaissance
Credit: Tayo Johnson, Lazyeditor and Abiyamo.
Ancestral curse and unresolved dispute with your late parents - AJE NLA speak on the way out
Ancestral curse and unresolved dispute with your late parents - AJE NLA speak on the way out.
Sometimes we have issues and fights with our parents because someone told us that they are evil and at one point in life we need their blessings .you need to feed Egun
This is a video content where AJE NLA speak a universal English language for every tongue to listen and learn something.
Language: English
Content: what to do when they say your parents are source of your problem.
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