The Orishas are the gods of the Yoruba religion of West Africa and several religions of the African diaspora in the Americas that derive from it, such as Haitian Vodou.
History
The Orishas are deities sent by the supreme creator, Olorun, to assist humanity and to teach them to be successful in the world. Most Orishas can incarnate as humans in the physical world, but because they had their origin in the divine, they had great wisdom and power at the moment of their creation.
New Earth
In the beginning was Mawu, morther of the gods and creator of worlds, who rode into the void upon the rainbow-serpent Oshunmare. Coil upon coil, Oshunmare rose through the void, creating a whirldwind in which Mawu sowed the worlds. That which is living is distinguished from the inanimate by lido--"the bit of Mawu", her own life-force--that they have. And so creation continues, rising in a spiral in the whirlwind.
And the Voice in the Void speaks from the whirldwind in a whisper to those who can listen. And those who listen learn their name, which is very importante, for to name a thing is to have power over it.
Many are the mortal lands, but only one was given a soul--the living land. And the Voice in the Void spoke to the living land and told the land its name and its name is Ifè.
Slowly, Ifè became aware of itself and that consciousness has a name: Olorun--the first-born, he-who-is-the-sky. From awareness grew the knowledge of impulse and reason, of chance and fate, that guide our decisions. These, too, have names: the brothers Eshu, the trickster, and Orunmilla, the lawgiver.
As Olorun rose over the land, awareness of self increased and other Orishas were born, for everything in the land has a name: Adiremi, the wind; Moremi, the birds; Ogun, who is iron; Ochun, the stream, the sweet water; Jakuta, the stone; Erinle, the fire; Agemo, the chameleon; Osain, the leaves; and more, besides.
Finally, there is the love of the Orishas for the land and the land for them. And this love, too, has a name: Obatala, lord of the white cloth. It was Obatala who fashioned the golden chain and descended from Ifè into the waters below and there created the lower lands.
Obatala fashioned the first people and had Mawu breathe on them that they might live. Obatala took a delight in his people and was their intercessory to Ifè. He beseeched Olorun for light, that they might live and Olorun gave them a Sun fashioned like himself. And each of the Orishas visited and gave something of themselves to live in the lower lands. But only to humanity was given lido.
Obatala took human form so that he could walk among mortals without they not fear him too much, and he traveled the golden chains between Ifè and the lower lands to share his joy with his brothers and sisters Orishas. But humanity became proud and greedy, created kingdoms, and in the greatest city, Benin, they forgot their creator and the king sold his own people into slavery. This angered Obatala, who demanded that the King of Benin free the people, but was ignored and killed, his mortal body torn to pieces by four elephants tied to his limbs. Shango, Lord of the Orishas, in anger and with the agreement of his grieving brothers and sisters, ordered Ogun to sever the golden chains that bound Ifè to the mortal world, severing ties with human beings.
The love that they felt turned back in on itself and shadows began to form in Ifè. Despair began to swallow the Orishas, and from the shadows would step Orisha-Nla ("Great Orisha"), dark and shadowy forms of themselves originated in the Shadowlands, with half their power and more. As the shadows grew longer, the Orishas grew weaker, and they realized that they must find Obatala, whose mortal body was reincarnating on Earth as the last remaining link between the Orishas and humanity. And so, once again, Shango descended to the mortal realm in modern times to search for Obatala, his beloved brother, before the Orisha-Nla devoured not only Ifè, but the mortal lands as well.[3]
Prime Earth
Yemaya, the mother of all Orishas, is the major water deity from the Yoruba mythology. Yemaya was awakened in modern times by her lover, the Akan god Nyame, through the golden necklace of the Seven Godly Emblems that he placed on Vixen, causing the Orisha goddess to take over the superheroine's body.[4]
One of Yemaya's many children, the goddess of winds and lightning Oya, was part of a group of deities led by the Sumerian demigod Gilgamesh who faced and defeated the importal Vandal Savage, then corrupted by the Seven Godly Emblems, which were then scattered throughout the world so that they would no longer be a threat.[5]
Powers and Abilities
Powers
- Godly Physiology
- Immortality
- Additionally, the Gods have some power related to his/her individual sphere of influence.
Miscellaneous
Representatives:
- Adiremi
- Agemo
- Erinle
- Eshu
- Jakuta
- Mawu
- Moremi
- Obatala
- Ogun
- Olorun
- Orunmilla
- Osain
- Oshun
- Oshunmare
- Oya
- Shango
- Yemaya
Notes
- These characters are an adaptation of the Orishas, characters in traditional stories. These include, but may not be limited to religious texts, myth, and/or folk lore. More information on the original can be found at Wikipedia.org.
Trivia
- They are unaware of the existence of Jehovah, whom the Spectre claims is above all. For them, the creator god is Mawu.[6]
See Also
- Appearances of Orishas
- Race Gallery: Orishas
- Images of Orishas