Osun across the Waters: A Yoruba Goddess in Africa and the Americas

8. Osun and Brass: An Insight into Yoruba Religious Symbology

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Osun and Brass An Insight into Yoruba Religious Symbology Cornelius O. Adepegba Understanding the Brass Symbolization of Osun The popular saying, Ide . ni àpébo O .̀ s .un, meaning, “brass is collectively worshiped as Osun” sums up the symbolism of brass objects in the Osun worship context. Most of her shrine objects and the jewelry of her votaries are made of brass and the variety of brass objects in her worship context depends on the means of the owners and whether the shrines belong to individuals or communities . In individual shrines, the brass objects may not be more than bangles— unadorned, twisted, or engraved—simply called ide ., brass alloy. Whereas in community shrines such as Ikere Ekiti, there are cutlasses, fans, and staffs in addition to such bangles (see Agboola 1997). During the finale of Osun’s popular annual festival at Osogbo, two brass anthropomorphic figurines, e .dan, carried to the river in a covered calabash, are said to be her symbol (Beier 1957: 170). In Ikere, hair pins, aginna, and hair combs, òòyà, which are usually made of ivory in most of her other shrines, are also in brass. Also in Ikere, a brass basin referred to as a calabash is a substitute for the covered calabash in which all her brass objects are carried to the river during her annual festival (Agboola 1997: 24). In addition, various figural sculptures, especially human group compositions and animals such as the crocodile, chameleon, and lizard, all in brass, used to be in the collection of the Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan in Nigeria (Adepegba 1991: 51–54). Although Obalufon is the deity credited with the introduction of brass and brass work, Osun is variously referred to as the owner of brass in their oral traditions . In O .̀ śe . Tùrá, the Ifa poem that narrates the position of Osun among the leading Yoruba deities, her peers gave her the appellation, a rı́ pe .pe . kó ide . sı́ (Adeoye 1985: 205) which literally is, “she who has a shelf to keep brass.” Her other praise names which have to do with brass include a fi ide . re . o .mo . (she who lulls her baby with brass) and a gbé inú òkun yı̀n ibo .n ide . (she who shoots a brass gun from the sea), the sea in this context meaning any river with which she is associated (Ibid.: 208, 214). Association of Osun with Rivers The worship of Osun in annual festivals in communities such as Osogbo and Ido Osun takes place in the biggest river named after her that passes by or through the communities. Her association with the river in such communities is so strong that Osun appears human only in her deified conception. For example, in the story of how she became the titular deity of Osogbo, she is said to have manifested herself as a river spirit, complaining of her dye pots which Timeyin, the founder of the town, unknowingly broke as he felled a tree into the river (Osogbo 1977: 5–7). In the tradition, she is portrayed as existing as a water spirit before the town was founded and although brass objects—two brass figurines in Osobgo and a variety of brass objects in her sanctuary in Ikere—are carried to the river during her annual festivals, offerings and supplications are made to her through the rivers designated as hers (Speed and Beier 1964). An explanation that quickly comes to mind for associating her with rivers is Osun and Brass 103 8.1 Brass group likely for Osun (18 ⫻ 27 cm). All photos in this chapter by C. O. Adepegba, reprinted from his Yoruba Metal Sculpture. the claim that Osun, like some other female Yoruba deities, did not die but became a river at the end of her life. According to the story of her last day as narrated in the Ìká E . le .́ja Ifa poem, Osun, Yemoja, and Yemoji were fellow wives of Sango, the god of thunder (Adeoye 1985: 222). Orunmila predicted for Sango that unless he sacrificed that feather of the parrot’s tail which he always wore as an ornament on important occasions, he would lose three of his valuable belongings . But Sango did not heed the prediction. Then came a general festival of all deities for...