Women of Ile-Ife in Yoruba Religion and Culture

Abstract

Ile-Ife is construed as the cradle of human civilization and the origin of the Yoruba people. Ile-Ife has been described as a place where symbolic and historical myths intersect; and as representing a point of intersection between heaven, earth and the underworld (Olupona 2011). The great influence of Ile-Ife manifest in the past as in the present among the Yoruba, in Nigeria, Africa and the Diaspora till today. The worship of orisa is a daily affair in Ile-Ife which explains the popular adage that orisa worship is only absent on a single day in a year in the town. Deities worshipped in Ile-Ife include Obatala, Ifa, Olokun, Olojo, Esu, Osun, Aje and Akire. Women play different roles in the rituals for these deities, as priestesses, custodians of tradition, and conveyor of messages from the deities to worshippers through spirit possession. This paper aims to investigate women’s roles in the culture and religion of Ile-Ife by discussing roles played by women in Yoruba religion. It is of qualitative design with twelve purposively selected key informant interviews (KII) and participant observation as tools for primary data gathering, while books, academic journals and the Internet supplied secondary data. Data will be analyzed through content and descriptive analysis. Keywords: Ile-Ife, women, Yoruba religion, orisa, rituals