YORUBA BELIEF REGARDING 'ORI' AND 'ELEDA'

By

Sanusi Lafiagi

There’s something about the Yoruba connotation of the words “ori” and “eleda” that I still find hard to comprehend. I’m not a Yoruba person so it’s possible that my understanding is faulty. Literally, “ori” connotes ‘head’ while “eleda” implies ‘creator/God’. 

However, in certain contexts, both terms appear to be used interchangeably to imply Creator. This is why I find it confusing. Is it that the Yoruba believe that one’s head is his/her creator or what? Take for instance the popular song: “ori mi, eleda mi” meaning, “my head, my creator.” If my knowledge of grammar has not failed me, ori in this context implies ‘my creator’. This can be  better understood when one listens to “ori mi ma jente” (My creator, do not put me to shame) by Ebenezer Obe, or “ohun gbogbo l’owo ori (everything is in the Creator’s hand). 

In some other contexts, it is said that “ori mi ja fun mi” (my creator, fight on my behalf), “ori mi gba mi/ ko mi yo” (my creator, save me), ori eni ni ni akunle bo”,(one’s creator deserves to be worshipped) “ori eni ni apesin”, “ori sun mi ba ire”, etc.

In none of the above contexts does it make sense to interpret “ori” as ‘head’. However, in contexts like, “ori mi ma gba abode” (my head, do not betray me), and “ori mi ma ta ko mi”(my head, do not sabotage my efforts), it’s even more confusing, as “ori” in this context is more spiritual than literal. The Yoruba do not mean, by those statements the physical head housing the medulla oblongata. However, what confuses me even more is the fact that people who use these expressions touch their heads while saying them. Could they be referring to the head? Or are they merely confused?

أفيدونا يا أرباب اليوروبا وباباها، أليست هذه الكلمات مخالفة للعقيدة الإسلامية في مفهوم اليوروبا قديما بل وحديثا؟

Sanusi Lafiagi