Ọlọrun

Ọlọrun
An artist concept art of Olorun
Supreme King and Creator of the Gods, Heavens, Earth, Creation
General Information
Species	God
Aliases	Olodumare Olofin Eledua
Titles	Supreme God
Abodes	Orun
Relationships
Children	Obatala, Odudua
Allegiance	Himself, and the Orishas
Affiliation	Orishas
Languages
English	Ruler of Heaven God
Equivalents
Hindu equivalent	Para Brahman
Israelite equivalent	Yahweh
Norse equivalent	Óðinn, Sól

Olódùmarè is the unique, supreme, omnipotent and creator God of everything. Its name comes from the Yorùbá Olòdúmàré, whose true meaning is debatable as it is archaic. Olodumare is the material and spiritual manifestation of all the existing one. It is not in direct bonding with the men, but through their other form, Olorún (directly) or Olofi (indirectly). It's not received, not offered, and has no necklaces.

As Ọlọ́run, Owner of the Orún (sky/heaven). He is the one that is in direct bonding with the men and all of existence. It is the owner of the life, giving energy, sustenance in the material world, owner of the colors, the light, the air, the vigor and of the effort.

It is not received as an Orisha but associated with the life-giving energy of the sun.

As Olofin, also Olofi, he is the ruler of the earth and conduit between Orún and Ayé, whose palace is the heaven/sky. Olofin is the one that is in indirect bonding with the men through the Orishas, is he who directs and supervises them his workings. Nothing can be obtained without its mediation.

God in Yoruba Belief presents evidence that the concept of the Supreme Being is a Monotheistic principle of the Yoruba religion. According to Idowu, Yoruba religion is a “diffused monotheism” in that the many Yoruba divinities are “no more than conceptualizations of attributes of Olodumare” the Yoruba Supreme God.

Like a Yoruba ruler, or oba, Olodumare reigns supreme in the distant sky and rules the world through his intermediaries, the orisha. The sky dwelling Olodumare is transcendent, all knowing, and all-powerful.

Unlike the orisha, he has no temples or priests, and no sacrifices or offerings made to him because his will cannot be influenced or changed. Yet Olodumare may be invoked by anyone, anywhere, at any time and let him know their needs. He is seen as invisible. Because of the invisibility of God, the Yoruba make no concerted efforts to erect a shrine of Him or any kind of “physical representation”

Originally, Olorun gave the job of creating the world to Obatala. When he (Obatala) couldn't quite manage it, Odudua also tried and failed, forcing Olorun to finish the job himself—though he assigned specific tasks to several orisha, or lesser deities.

Accounts vary in just how active he is in worldly affairs, either remaining aloof and above it, or interfering regularly.

Etymology

To achieve an accurate view of the Yoruba concept of the Supreme Being, it is important to examine the names and the meanings, which are associated with the Supreme Being. It should be emphasized that the Yoruba interchangeably use the terms listed below to describe the supreme God. To the Yoruba, they are known as “oriki”, loosely translated as “nicknames” or “honorifics”. According to Idowu, the Supreme Being is “acknowledged by all the divinities as the Head whom all authority belongs and all allegiance is due. He is no one among many. His status of supremacy is absolute. In worship, the Yoruba hold him ultimately first and last in man’s daily life. He is the preeminence. These names and their definitions follow:

• Olodumare: The concept connotes one who has the fullness or superlative greatness, the everlasting majesty upon whom man can depend. The name comes from the phrase "O ní odù mà rè" meaning "the owner of the source of creation that does not become empty," "or the All Sufficient".
• Olorun: The owner (Olorun) of the heaven above or the Lord whose home is in heaven above, or Lord of Heaven. Sometimes the Yoruba use Olorun Olodumare together. This double word means the Supreme Being whose abode is in the heaven. From the Yoruba language, his name is a contraction of the words oní (which denotes ownership or rulership) and ọ̀run (which means the Heavens, abode of the spirits).
• Eledaa: The creator. As the name suggests, the Supreme Being is responsible for all creation.
• Alaaye: The word means the living one. This means that the Yoruba believe that God is everlasting.
• Elemi: Elemi is the keeper of life. Used to refer to the Supreme Being, it suggests that all living Beings owe their breath of life to the Supreme Being. It is believed by the Yoruba that when the keeper of life withdraws “life breath”, the living soul dies.
• Olojo Oni: This word means the owner and controller of this day or of the daily happenings. To call Him Olojo Oni portrays that all men and women totally depend of the Supreme Being.

Mythology

The Yoruba creation story, like many others, has different versions. In one, far back at the beginning of time, Olodumare created the Orishas and spread powers between them randomly. The Orishas then huddled by the great baobab tree that provided them with everything they needed and refused to use their powers for creation, preferring to satisfy their own needs. Olodumare then took care of the act of creation through the Orisha (or god) Oduduwa, who made the Yoruba people and established life at the city of Ife (also Ile-Ife) as well as the concept of cultural identity and kingship. Whether the Orishas then decided to participate in creation is not addressed.

Their participation in creation is given in another version, however, where the Orisha Obatala separates the land from the waters and Olodumare then sends down 17 Orishas to complete the work. 16 Orishas are male and the 17th, Oshun, is not only female but the youngest among them. The males ignore her efforts and suggestions and wind up failing in their task. They are forced to return to Olodumare and admit their failure and are asked what happened to the 17th who was sent with them. The male Orishas confess they ignored her because she was a woman and much younger and are told only she can complete the work. The Orishas return to earth and apologize to Oshun who finishes creation with the gifts of beauty, fertility, love, and sweetness, instilling the need for these things in all people everywhere who had been given life through the breath of Olodumare.

Nature of the Supreme Being

To further enhance understanding of Yoruba belief, it is also necessary to explore the characteristics of Olodumare that differentiates God from other things that he created.

• He is the Creator, Cause and Origin of All Things: The evidence that Olodumare is the creator of everything is displayed in virtually all accounts of the relationship between Olodumare and the Universe. Where He did not directly cause or create, He instructed the divinities to create and He supervised the creation work. So, He created both the good and the bad, the well-formed and the deformed, the rainy season and the drought. Through Him must be sought the cause of all things. And everything there is has a rationale and can be understood and used by the thoughtful and gifted like the herbalists and medicine men. Among the Yoruba, the myth of creation holds that in the beginning the world was a marshy, watery wasteland. Olodumare and some divinities lived in heaven, descending and ascending by means of spiders’ webs or a chain. They frequently visited the earth, particularly for hunting. Humankind was non-existent because there was no land. One day, Olodumare summoned His Chief, Orisa-nla, to his presence and commissioned him that He (Olodumare) wanted to create firm ground. For materials, Olodumare gave him loose earth in a snail shell, a pigeon and a hen. Orisa-nla descended to the marshy wasteland. He threw the earth from the shell. He put the chicken and the hen on earth, and they started to scratch and scatter the soil about. Orisa-nla reported to Olodumare that the work had been completed. Olodumare then dispatched a chameleon to go to inspect the work. The chameleons told Olodumare that the work was done but not dry enough. The chameleon was sent the second time. This time the report was that the land was wide and dry. Olodumare next instructed Orisa-nla, the chief divinity, to equip the earth. Orisa-nla took with him Orunmila, the oracle divinity, as his advisor and counselor. The mission was to plant trees and to give food and wealth to humans. He provided the palm tree to be planted to provide food, drink, oil and leaves for shelter. Following the equipping of the earth, Orisa-nla was asked to lead a delegation of sixteen persons already created by Olodumare. To populate the earth, Olodumare asked Orisa-nla to mold human forms. Orisa-nla molded human forms and kept them lifeless. Occasionally, Olodumare would come and breathe life into these forms. All that Orisa-nla could do was to mold the lifeless, human forms, but he lacked the power to give them life. The creation of life was entrusted to the Supreme God, Olodumare. It is said that Orisa-nla became envious of Olodumare for not sharing the ability to create life with him. So one day, when he had finished molding human forms, he hid himself in with the forms overnight so that he could watch Olodumare. But, Olodumare, being all knowing, put Orisa-nla to sleep, and when he awoke, the molded human forms had come to life. This is the story of the creation as told by the Yoruba.
• He is Unique. The Yoruba believe that Olodumare is unique. This means that He is the only one; there is no one like Him. It is this belief in his uniqueness that prevents people from creating graven images or pictorial paintings of Him. There are symbols or emblems but no images for nothing can be compared to Him. Perhaps, this is the reason foreign observers of the people’s religion mistakenly assume that Olodumare is a withdrawn God about whom men are uncertain.
• He is Omnipotent. As omnipotent, the Yoruba believe that with Olodumare, nothing is impossible. They describe Him as “Oba a se kan” meaning the King whose works are done to perfection. The idea is that when He sanctions something it is easily done. The Yoruba have a saying: “A dun ise bi ohun ti Olodumare lowo si, a soro bi ohun ko lowo si (anything that receives the approval of Olodumare is easy; what he does not sanction is difficult)”. This is why He is known as “Olorun Alagbara”-the powerful God. He is also called “oba ti dandan re ki iseke”, the king whose biddings are never unfulfilled. Here the powers of obas, ancestors elders, witches, herbalists, medicine men, divinities, etc., are all derived from Olodumare and are limited and limitable by Him. It is this feature which transmutes in the language of patristic and scholastic church-men into the concept of omnipotence, and this cannot be quarreled with, since the Yoruba obviously believe that all good and bad take their origin from Olodumare. Here, as in the creativity of Olodumare, one should not be surprised that good and evil are all in the control and dispensation of Olodumare. Ultimately, each proper usage or improper usage of such power is subject to Olodumare's final pronouncement of judgement. His ways are such that evil doers never escape punishment.
• He is Immortal. The Olodumare never dies. The Yoruba believe that it is unimaginable for Elemi (the owner of life) to die. They praise him by singing “A ki igbo iku Olodumare” meaning Never can we hear the death of God. It is pertinent to buttress it with concrete examples from extant materials in Yoruba tradition. In Idowu's works one finds: (i) the account of how solid earth was created reported the commissioning of some divinities to perform the job, how someone failed and how ultimately the task was completed by others and the report had to be carried back to Olodumare. (ii) Olodumare once consulted the oracle to find out about His possible death and we hear this Ifa passage saying: Korofo, the cult of the underground Is the one which consulted the oracle about Olodumare and declared that his death would never be heard of Another one says: Olodumare has rubbed His head with bar-wood dust (Iyerosun) He will never die (His) whole head is become exceedingly hoary All these are recorded in Ogbe (O) yeku by Idowu. The English translations provided by him do not seem to be either the most appropriate or the most accurate and faithful. The second line of the first Ifa quoted speaks as if it was not Olodumare that Himself consulted Korofo, the Ifa Priest of the Underground, but Korofo who did the consultation, without any request, about Olodumare. Also, the second one speaks of the oracle as supporting the immortality of Olodumare. However, properly understood, it will be obvious that it was Olodumare who consulted His wise men. In the same vein Okanran Osa says, The young never hear that cloth is dead Cloth only wears old to shreds The old never hear that cloth is dead Cloth only wears old to shreds The young never hear that Olodumare is dead Cloth only wears old to shreds The old never hear that Olodumare is dead Cloth only wears old to shreds. Apart from the picturesque and onomatopoeic presentation of the stanza, one must bear in mind a crucial elucidation made by Idowu himself which is of singular importance in the consideration of Olodumare's attributes. He says: The myth connected with this verse also has it that it was Olodumare Himself who sought the means of immortality. In consequence, he was told to make some sacrifices to provide Himself with a large piece of white cloth. When the necessary rite had been performed, the white cloth was spread over Him so that He was completely covered. From that time He became immortal. Contrary to the earlier misleading translation, one must observe that Idowu was being faithful to his sources in this passage. Here he was able to purge himself of the shackles of Christian ontological categories and theological demands.
• He is King and Judge. The Yoruba see the Olodumare in the important position of King. The people often call Him “Oba Orun” (the King of Heaven). He is sometimes referred as “Oba dake dajo”, the King who sits in silence and dispenses judgment.
• Olorun, the sky God. Olorun is the creator of all things and other deities, and, like the Nyame of Ashanti and other West African cultures, He stands above and beyond other lesser gods. However, unlike other deities, Olodumare is not worshipped, prayers are addressed to him but no sacrifices are offered. Not only does Olodumare create, sustain and protect men, He also shields men from mechanizations of other men. Nevertheless, Olodumare is neither so remote nor unconnected that He does not intervene in affairs on earth. Most of the sacrifices prescribed by Babalawo-the, his priest, are taken to Olorun by Eshu. According to the Yoruba, all men are children of God. As the deity who assigns and controls the individual destinies of mankind, Olorun can be considered as the God of Destiny. What should be emphasized is that the Yoruba give the Supreme Being various names and that the deities do not live independent from the Supreme Being -Olorun. He is their creator.
• He is Omniscient. Olodumare knows everything. There is nothing hidden from Him. He is the wise one. Everything is within the reach of Olodumare. The knowledge of God penetrates all things. The Yoruba people often describe Him as “A-rinu-rode Olumo okan ” (the one who sees both inside and outside). Olodumare's knowledge is incomparable and hence has no equal. Having avoided the usage of the classical and neo-classical diction of omnipotence, it is also advisable to avoid the nomenclature of omniscience in the description of the over-arching knowledge and wisdom of the Supreme Deity among the Yoruba people. This is not because it has built-in conceptual difficulties and engenders dilemmas. There is no disputing the fact that Olodumare has the greatest knowledge. However, the fact that some things happen "behind His back" or "without His direct awareness" has been borne out in the practical aspects of creation, sustenance, and running of the universe, here, there, and everywhere, including even the domain of Olodumare (Orun or heaven). He has had recourse to the use of Orunmila and Ifa, the wise ones and the means of discerning the situation of things past, present, and future. There are multiple instances relating to the omnipotence, omniscience, and creativeness of Olodumare, but only one more instance will be cited. Thus, Idowu says: [...] there is a story which has it that Olodumare Himself was once perplexed over a very important matter. All the other divinities tried but failed to tell Him the reason for His perplexity; only Orunmila succeeded in putting his finger on the source of the trouble [...] This shows that although Olodumare has the supremacy of wisdom, yet He has endowed a divinity with the task of divining the causes of problems, pronouncing cures or remedies and advising. To mellow the full implications of this fact Idowu then states: Obviously, this story was formulated to enhance the importance of Orunmila without any realization that it might detract from Olodumare's attributes of "all-wiseness". Obviously, contra Idowu, this fact is neither anathemic to the Yoruba, nor does it present any incongruity in their perception of Olodumare. Also, it does not in any way detract the least bit from the "all-wiseness" of Olodumare. This is because he mistakenly supposes that since Olodumare created Orunmila and his wisdom in the first place, so, tapping from the resources of a created being cannot amount to a reduction in the attribute of the creator. Supporting this point Wande Abimbola suggests: According to the myths, there were occasions when there being no physical barrier between heaven and earth, Ifa was summoned by Olodumare to use his great wisdom to solve problems for Him. The results from the fact that Abimbola was concerned with the corpus of Ifa as the embodiment of the wisdom of Olodumare as bequeathed to Orunmila. He was not concerned with a definition of the attributes of Olodumare. Later, he recounts a story of a quarrel between an Ifa priest and Orunmila, and how Olodumare had to ask for both sides to the dispute. The Yoruba do not see anything incongruous in this type of arrangement because justice demands fairness to all concerned in any dispute. Apart from that, "the child is wise, the adult is wise, is the foundation of which Ile-Ife is built", as the Yoruba popular saying goes, and it indicates that nobody should pretend to have all knowledge.
• Olorun is Grand Designer of Destiny: Olorun does not destroy life, he creates and nourishes life. He is the one who assigns destiny. When Olorun gives you sickness, he provides one with the appropriate medicines. Before a child is born, the guardian souls appears before Olorun, the Sky God to receive a new body, new breath and its destiny for its life on earth. Kneeling before Olorun, this soul is given the opportunity to choose its own destiny. It is believed that the soul may make any request be it reasonable or unreasonable. Destiny involves a fixed day upon which the soul must return to heaven and it involves the individual’s personality, occupation, and luck. The time of one’s death cannot be postponed, but other aspects of one’s destiny may be modified by human acts. The deities help individuals enjoy the destiny promised by God (Olorun). As a result, throughout one’s life, one makes sacrifices to his ancestral guardian and the deities. The charms and medicines are prescribed by Babalawo to assist individuals when in trouble. When one is in trouble, one consults a diviner of the God of Ifa (Babalawo) to determine what should be done to improve one’s lot on earth. The Yoruba believes that when one dies, one makes farewell visits to the clan members. If a person lived a full span of life, his multiple souls proceed to the afterworld where the Sky God lives. When the soul reaches heaven, the soul gives an account before Olorun. If a man has been good and kind on earth his souls are sent to good heaven (orun rere). If his deeds have been bad, such as poisoning his neighbor, committing murder and engaging in deceit he is condemned to bad heaven (orun buru) or to “orun apadi” (hell) by the Sky God. Those who did not live their full life remain on earth as ghosts. For example, one whose life was cut short by an automobile accident will exist on earth as a ghost. One thing is certain about the destiny assigned; any mortal cannot change it.
• Olodumare is a Good Judge: In Yoruba traditional religion many attributes are coincident in the goodness of Olodumare. These include impartiality of judgement, where a case is brought before Him He listens attentively to both sides. Others are holiness and benevolence. God dispenses justice with compassionate fairness, but He does not brook crookedness or pretentious smartness. As the Supreme King, after His court there is no other court of appeal for redressing wrongs; for this reason He does not take arbitrary decisions that conflict with the dictates of justice. Now, occasionally, because of the limitation of our understanding of God, man may impute judgmental defects or actions to Olodumare, whereas, to the Yoruba, this only underscores the fact that Olodumare is beyond human comprehension. If we had access to all antecedent factors and future events it would be possible to completely understand Olodumare's action. Here only Orunmila has access to this type of knowledge and he uses the knowledge to assist the universe. The inescapability of judgement in Yoruba belief is remarked by Idowu as follows: Olodumare is the final disposer of all things. He is the Judge. He controls man's destiny and each will receive from Him as he deserves. But here on earth judgement has already begun for every man according to his character [...] it is Olodumare who judges character. The Yoruba consider God to be judge over all, and when misfortune befalls a moral offender, people say, "He is under the lashes of God". In regards to this, Bewaji wrote: There is no doubt that God is the most powerful Being and that He has all the superlative attributes one can consider, but the Yoruba do no think that such a being cannot do evil or cause evil. It is part of the attributes of the Supreme Being to be able to utilize all things. The implications of these attributes of Olodumare are that He is the most Powerful Being, the Creator, the Wise and Impartial Judge who exercises inexorable control over all in the universe. The problem of evil fails to arise within the context of Yoruba belief in Olodumare because a being with all the attributes stated above is conceivable as capable of both good and bad. He uses both for the ultimate good governance of the universe. In fact, to say that He does not or cannot do evil is to unnecessarily circumscribe His power. Olodumare is a morally upright God who metes out justice here on earth and not necessarily in the hereafter where we are not sure anybody will witness and learn from it. All the scholars we have considered have agreed that evil, as such, is not understandable. Nothing is intrinsically evil. We call something evil because it does not favor us or because it causes us distress. We may not know or understand the reason for the event or action, but ultimately it forms part of the overall design of Olodumare. His attributes do not preclude the device and use of evil for the betterment of society. Olodumare is the creator. He created everything, both positive and negative. Why? We cannot know. His ways are incomprehensible. He is the most powerful Being, hence, He does and can do anything, including good and evil. It is only natural that the most powerful Being should not suffer any handicap or hindrance, especially in the execution of justice. He is all-wise (omniscient) and knows all things. Ifa aids Him in this regard as the agent He created as the repository of wisdom and knowledge. There is no conflict in saying this. He still remains the overall controller of this being to whom He has entrusted wisdom. Finally, Olodumare is Judge; He judges all according to their deserts; He rewards uprightness and punishes evil.

Yoruba Religion

The beliefs of the Yoruba faith were passed down orally for generations until committed to writing and so there are a number of different versions of the same stories. In some, the supreme being is referenced as Olodumare, in others, it is Olodumare-Oloorun, in still others, Olofin, but all refer to the same entity – neither male nor female – who both created and is the universe. A number of modern-day works on the Yoruba faith claim that Olodumare dwells high in the heavens remote from the concerns of those on earth and cannot hear people’s prayers, but this does not seem to be supported by the stories in which the entity is both aware of and engaged in the struggles of both Orishas and mortals. Scholar Alex Cuoco comments:

Olodumare-Oloorun is the Supreme, Almighty God of the Yoruba and not an Orisha. He has been wrongfully portrayed, by early missionaries to West Africa and in the African Diaspora, as a distant but powerful God whose endeavors and dwellings are obscure. However, contrary to the missionaries’ and the Diaspora’s view, Olodumare-Oloorun is a powerful God that is always present in everything, even though He is above the Orishas and all people on earth.

Cuoco’s use of the male pronoun is for convenience as Olodumare is All Things and so both male and female. In Yoruba cosmology, Olodumare sits at the top of the hierarchy, and everything else descends down from him:

• Olodumare
• Orisha
• Human Beings
• Human Ancestors
• Plants and Animals

On the same level as the Orisha are the Ajogun, who are difficult to define but are often associated with the Western concept of a demon. An Ajogun is a supernatural being who causes trouble, encourages misunderstandings, brings illness, and causes accidents. They are not demons, however, because according to Yoruba belief, all things in creation – natural and supernatural – are possessed of the aspects of positivity (ire) and negativity (ibi) and so nothing can be understood as wholly good or completely evil. It is possible the Ajogun are Orisha tricksters, but whatever they are, they cannot be considered 'evil' or 'demonic' in a Christian sense.

Historically, the Yoruba worship Olodumare through the agency of the orisa; thus there is no image, shrine or sacrifice made directly towards him. There is some controversy about whether Olodumare is directly worshiped, due to his aloofness from humanity. However, there are those who also worship Olodumare directly. Olodumare is the origin of virtue and mortality, and bestows the knowledge of things upon all persons when they are born. He is omnipotent, transcendent, unique, all knowing, good, and evil. The Yoruba call on Olodumare when other deities (orishas) seem unwilling or incapable to help. These orisa or orishas are supernatural beings, both good (egungun) and bad (ajogun), who represent human activity and natural forces. Yoruba believe Olodumare created all other forces of the universe to help continue the evolution of the universe.

If every human being comes to the world with a prefixed destiny, and if Olorun is so kind, how do the Yoruba’s explain occurrences of premature death? The people in Yorubaland try to react to such incidents in the following ways:

1. First, the person might have offended the lesser gods thereby bringing the punishment to himself.
2. Second, the person might have been destined to the occurrence and this is what he requested from Olorun before being born.
3. Third, a Yoruba person may blame other persons for putting a “spell” on him thereby causing the misfortune.

Consequently, the Yoruba people believe in Olorun’s power of benevolence yet they hold that it is possible for both men and supernatural powers to induce men to engage in certain acts that will interfere with Olorun’s appointed destiny for each individual human being. So when misfortunes occur no one blames Olorun instead the Yoruba believe that it is the untrustworthiness of agents (deities) of Olorun that are responsible.

NB: Olodumare has no spouse, and his 'children' are created by him as all things were created.

hile the orishas are seen as

See Also

• Orisha