By Anna Funke
According to Yoruba mythology, Obatala was a creator God; he made human bodies, and his father, Olorun (the Supreme God, also called Olodumare), breathed life into them. Obatala created handicapped individuals and albinos while drunk off palm wine, making him the patron deity of such people.
Creator of crippled and albinos
I was reading a book ‘Open city’ by Teju Cole and came across his story when he meets a crippled man and after a blind man in the street of New York. The author says ‘I got the idea that some of the things I was seeing around me were under the aegis of Obatala, the demiurge charged by Olodumare with the formation of humans from clay. Obatala did well at the task until he started drinking. As he drank more and more, he became inebriated, and began to fashion damaged human beings. The Yoruba believe that in this drunken state he made dwarfs, cripples, people missing limbs, and those burdened with debilitating illness. Olodumare had to reclaim the role he had delegated and finish the creation of humankind himself and, as a result, people who suffer from physical infirmities identify themselves as worshippers of Obatala. This is an interesting relationship with a god, one not of affection or praise but of antagonism. They worship Obatala in accusation; it is he who has made them as they are. They were white which is his color, and the color of the palm wine he got drunk on.’
Creator of crippled and albinos
I was reading a book ‘Open city’ by Teju Cole and came across his story when he meets a crippled man and after a blind man in the street of New York. The author says ‘I got the idea that some of the things I was seeing around me were under the aegis of Obatala, the demiurge charged by Olodumare with the formation of humans from clay. Obatala did well at the task until he started drinking. As he drank more and more, he became inebriated, and began to fashion damaged human beings. The Yoruba believe that in this drunken state he made dwarfs, cripples, people missing limbs, and those burdened with debilitating illness. Olodumare had to reclaim the role he had delegated and finish the creation of humankind himself and, as a result, people who suffer from physical infirmities identify themselves as worshippers of Obatala. This is an interesting relationship with a god, one not of affection or praise but of antagonism. They worship Obatala in accusation; it is he who has made them as they are. They were white which is his color, and the color of the palm wine he got drunk on.’
So, albinos are considered to be children of Obatala. White is the color of Obatala, representing purity and cleanliness and his children often wear white to please him and also as a protection. It is said that Obatala throws his white mantle over his children so that evil cannot touch them.
Obatala was a founder of the first Yoruba city Ife (which is located in Osun State, Nigeria).
Obatala outside Africa
Many ethnic Yorubas were taken as slaves to Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Brazil and the rest of the New World (chiefly in the 19th century, after the Oyo empire collapsed and the region plunged into civil war), and carried their religious beliefs with them. These concepts were combined with preexisting African-based cults, Christianity, Native American mythology.
For example, in Salvador Obatala has been merged with Our Lord of Bonfim and is celebrated during Festa do Bonfim, which takes place in January in the city of Salvador and includes the washing of the church steps with special water, made with flowers.
In Brazil, he is often identified with Christ the Redeamer (Cristo Redentor). Snails are used as deity offering to Obatala in Brazil. Giant snails (Igbin in Yoruba) are considered the best delicacy in Yorubaland.
In Haiti, Obatala is known as Damballah. When he possesses his children, they move about on the floor in the manner of snakes. Damballah is the primordial serpent. One of the oldest representations of the world or universe is the symbol of the serpent biting its own tail.
Obatala was a founder of the first Yoruba city Ife (which is located in Osun State, Nigeria).
Obatala outside Africa
Many ethnic Yorubas were taken as slaves to Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Brazil and the rest of the New World (chiefly in the 19th century, after the Oyo empire collapsed and the region plunged into civil war), and carried their religious beliefs with them. These concepts were combined with preexisting African-based cults, Christianity, Native American mythology.
For example, in Salvador Obatala has been merged with Our Lord of Bonfim and is celebrated during Festa do Bonfim, which takes place in January in the city of Salvador and includes the washing of the church steps with special water, made with flowers.
In Brazil, he is often identified with Christ the Redeamer (Cristo Redentor). Snails are used as deity offering to Obatala in Brazil. Giant snails (Igbin in Yoruba) are considered the best delicacy in Yorubaland.
In Haiti, Obatala is known as Damballah. When he possesses his children, they move about on the floor in the manner of snakes. Damballah is the primordial serpent. One of the oldest representations of the world or universe is the symbol of the serpent biting its own tail.
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