Osun-Osogbo Festival:

          A Tradition Shared Across the High Seas

   The Osun-Osogbo festival is an event where Yoruba people and descendants alike come together for a celebration of good fortune under the goddess Osun. In Yoruba culture, many different gods and goddesses are worshipped for their critical role played in guiding life. Osun is the goddess of sweet water, love, and giving. The festival honoring her lasts for a duration of 2 weeks in the western part of Nigeria, where people of all cultural backgrounds and preferences come to pay homage to Osun. With that being said, the festival is known as an African diaspora religion due to the mix of individuals present as well as their unique experiences with the Yoruba religion.

   African diaspora is the result of the mass movement of African people to the New World during the years of the Atlantic slave trade. The new communities formed in the Americas from this event created what is known as African diaspora religion, or religion that stems from several related traditions brought together by the people who practiced them. The Osun-Osogbo festival is littered with traces of African diaspora because of the idea of syncretism. Syncretism is a matter of organization and unity that occurs following the displacement of differing cultures.

The Osun Osogbo festival commences with the lighting of an ancient lamp that represents the goddess Osun and the kingdoms that persist in the heart of Yoruba land. The town surrounds the lamp in the form of glee, dance, and music. Mass excitement expressed by traditionalists and non-traditionalists alike is awe-inspiring. The lighting of the lamp is the first instance of how the Osun-Osogbo festival is an example of African diaspora religion. That is due to the fact that the gathering of people who share a love of Osun are not all necessarily avid practitioners of the Yoruba lifestyle. Amazingly, the people who attend originate from several different continents! Their exposure to the religion in their respective countries brought them to the festival from near and far. Professor Badejo is a participant who traveled from the University of Baltimore in the United States. She remarks during the ceremony that, “It’s like St. Patrick’s Day, you don’t have to be Catholic to enjoy it”. The professor’s statement is telling of a diasporic nature about the festival, further proving that Yoruba culture influences people from all parts of the world.

Additionally, diasporic characteristics are found surrounding the festival from the story of Alafia and Oni. They are graduate students who make their first pilgrimage to the heart of Yoruba land to gain status as priestesses. In days, they transform themselves into a “bridge” between the real world and the goddess Osun. They use various objects such as the Bell of Osun in prayer beside the Sacred Grove to implement their newly founded devotion. The Grove is a spiritual spot set in a dense forest intersected by a meandering river, which thousands line on the final day of the festival to cement good fortune for the coming year. The bell used by Alafia and Oni is important because in order for their prayers to be heard, they must do so loudly by ringing it. Like the two graduates and many more, practitioners of this specific culture are present at the festival to revive hopes and dreams that may have dimmed over time. Professor Paul C. Johnson, an expert on African studies from the University of Michigan, provided a definition of diasporic religion that relates to the explained reasoning behind attending. That being, diaspora as an internalized conversion of consciousness among those involved. (pg. 518 para 3). Alafia and Oni traveled to Nigeria to take part in a conversion of their mindset, an adoption of a new way of life. In essence, they embody the very definition of diaspora.

The Osun-Osogbo festival is a symbol of resilience among other religions that dominate the worship community. The diasporic aspects of the extended ceremony can be realized through analyzing the specific people who attend from all corners of the world. The contagious energy of the celebration is a reminder that African culture is very much alive and experiencing a sort of renaissance. Set aside your pre-conceived notions of religion, and it is easy to see the complex devotion and awesomeness that exists among Yoruba culture.

Alyssa Falco

The African Diaspora is something that is practiced very actively in Nigeria and other parts of Africa. Throughout a video of the Osun-Osogbo annual festival, is was always stated how the people of Africa were forced away from their homeland and now they chose to come back. This idea of them coming back gives them the power back as to what they may have lost by leaving. However, I believe that if you wish to practice something you do it at your own will. Even when the slaves were brought over from Africa, they still continued to practice their religion even if it was in secret. The idea of there being one God or many Gods, and depending on what that God or Gods may represent, whether you are Catholic and worship God and Jesus or you worship Osun, it is a person’s choice. In the movie the priest said “we left Africa but Africa didn’t leave us.” I find this very powerful that he has that kind of spirit and faith in his religion. The evidence is in the festival and the worship they show year round and at all times.They were given a choice when they left africa and they chose to follow or continue practicing their religion.

The Osun-Osogbo festival allows other non practicing people to be a part of their religion and to see for themselves what it means to the people who practice it. The festival is a huge part of explaining what the African Diaspora is and what it can mean. Just by watching this video and seeing how people worship Osun you can tell that they put their faith in her. The people have a sacred river that they use at their altar for the God, Osun. Here there offer animal sacrifices as a sign of their respect for Osun. This is their “temple”, where they can practice their religion and be as one with Osun. The king even comes and worships with them during the festival at this sacred river. Again allowing outsiders to know that this is their way of life and this is what these people put their faith in. In the reading “Intro to Philosophy of History” by Hegel, a philosopher who looked at the African Diaspora religion, says “Religion begins with the consciousness that there is a being higher than man.” (92). No matter how cruel Hegel may have been by threatening this religion with his words stating this religion really isn’t its own, that it was just combinations of others. This quote logically makes sense and it is very well seen that that is exactly what takes place in Africa. These people too, believe there is a higher being than man and Hegel himself is saying that that itself is a religion.

Towards the end of the video the question kept arising, “how can a church be next to a temple and coexist with one another?” How can they not is my response. Look at America, for example, we are a mix of all cultures mushed into one area. Where I grew up, in a small Vermont town, there are 3 different kinds of Christian and Catholic churches within 5 miles of each other. In the next town over there is a Jewish center across the street from a Christian church. This happens all over America. Yes, some religions may be more popular than others, however no brawls broke out in my town about what religion you prefer or what religion you practiced. The people who worship Osun have numbers, not even that, they have people who support their religion that don’t even practice it. This then makes it possible for them to be a community and live by what they believe. Along with every religion comes the idea of wanting to make yours bigger because you may be so passionate about your religion you want everybody to be a part of it, so you ask people to join and ask them to give it a try. But it shouldn’t matter who comes knocking at your door, you can chose to believe in what you wish and these people of the African Diaspora are doing just that. Their festival is known worldwide. People are aware of them, people respect them. Not only that but they believe in themselves, they worship a higher being and they will worship their being until they can’t any longer. That’s all a religion needs, followers, people who believe.

Robert Thompson talks extensively about his Afro-Atlantic altar concept throughout Face of the Gods, placing importance on material objects, significant locales of worship, and connection with Orishas, or deities. The Oṣun-Oṣogbo Festival taking place in Oṣogbo, Nigeria, reflects Thompson’s discussion of the altar concept in many ways. The festival incorporates many traditions into a multiday celebration and worship of Oṣun, one of the most important and powerful of the Yoruba Orishas.
Similar to traditional Afro-Atlantic altars, material objects have a supreme place in the celebration and build up to the festival. Cloth and textiles include elaborate patterns and eloquent designs, with each color corresponding to a different Orisha. Participants in the religious ceremonies of the festival will wear these outfits to symbolize their connection with their related Orisha. Two women from New York are depicted being indoctrinated into the Yoruba faith during the film, Sacred Journeys. Their multiday ceremony takes place both in public and in private, with the transformation occurring after days of seclusion with holy priests and priestesses. Upon indoctrination, the women don elaborate clothing and sacred crowns, which signify their completion of the ceremony. They then make their way to the banks of the Oṣun, where they officially become members of the Yoruba faith. Their intensive indoctrination process allows them to better understand and honor their faith.
Other material objects closely associated with the festival include ceremonial bells. Small and portable, participants will ring these bells to help connect them to the gods while praying. Similar to altars found on both sides of the Atlantic, small sacrifices of food and drink, such as fried foods, gin and cola, are offered to Oṣun.
One of the central components of the festival is the march from Oṣogbo to the Oṣun river, which surrounds a young virgin woman who carries the main sacrifice to the riverbank. The woman’s ceremonial preparation is long and intensive, she is kept sheltered away from the outside world for weeks before the ceremony. The preparation of the young woman is led by the high priestess, who lives in a temple reflecting the sacred grove of the Oṣun river. As Thompson said, “Yoruba building altars thus construct a face/surface/door, a complex threshold for communication with the other world,” (Thompson 30). The high priestess’s home and secluded staging ground for the young woman’s training is rife with symbolic connections to Yoruba faith and to Oṣun. The young woman’s connection to Oṣun is sacred and powerful after this intense ritualistic experience. In the days leading up to the festival, she, along with many other priests and priestesses, make final preparations and prayers, often in hot, crowded rooms in order to closely connect with Oṣun. These rituals, along with the ceremonial bells and intricate fabrics, help Yoruba devotees to bridge the divide between the gods and the mortal world.
In the film, host Bruce Feiler visits a Yoruba priest in order to have his prayer heard. Feiler notes the close, personal relationship induced by the environment of the Priest’s temple. Feiler also comments on the closeness of the sacred objects of the Yoruba religion, in fact, he holds these objects and touches them to his head and chest while making his prayer. This personal, tight-knit atmosphere allows Feiler and other worshippers to better focus on the divine, and connect with the gods so that they may hear their prayers.
The atmosphere of the festival is largely communal and jovial. City residents of Oṣogbo and pilgrims alike partake in a celebration full of food, music, laughter, and dance, culminating in the march down to the river. The festival includes both religious ceremonies and exciting festivities throughout its duration. The main tenets of the festival closely reflect Thompson’s altar concept, placing importance on material objects, communal worship, closeness with the divine, and an opportunity to honor and connect with Oṣun, so that she may hear one’s prayers.

The film Sacred Journeys with Bruce Feiler: “Oṣun-Oṣogbo” shares with us the festival of Oṣun-Oṣogbo, and all of its extraordinary features. The work uses the perspective of both scholars and practitioners to show us what literally and spiritually happens during this event. The festival is a celebration of the Oṣun, the goddess of beauty, love and fertility. It began with the first Yoruba King swearing to protect and honor Oṣun’s grove, and in return Oṣun would bless the all that kept it safe. Now, it is a great gathering of all who follow this indigenous African faith from all around the world to renew this ancient vow.

The first reason that this festival is an example of African Diaspora, is because the people who take part in the ceremony, come from many differents parts of the world. A large portion of non-native folk that attend, are from the Americas. This is mostly because the slave trade that took place between the 1500’s and 1800’s brought many of the Yoruba into the Americas. Once in the “New World”, the slaves were prohibited from following any religion from Africa. To get around this rule they, “managed to establish altars to their dead even while blending with the Christian world: they coded their burial mounds as ‘graves’ but studded them with symbolic objects…”(Thompson, Overture: The Concept “Altar”). Other techniques discussed in the film involved associating certain Oriṣa with certain saints, then worshiping those saints. This secret devotion to the Oriṣa kept the religion alive in a variety of forms across the continent, which is why so many people from so many places can come together and celebrate the same Goddess Oṣun. The diversity of the history in each participant is part of why I would consider the Oṣun-Oṣogba festival an example of African Diaspora.

The next reason that this great celebration is part of the African Diaspora is because of the art involved in each item used during the ceremony. The color and pattern of each dress signifies different Oriṣa, and one would wear the colors of the Oriṣa that speak to them. Beyond the colors, the fabric itself is tradition boutique fabric and is typically used during rituals. Other symbols that reflect the African Diaspora, are the altars for the different Oriṣa. The altars in the video had lots of similarities some of the altars we read about in Thompson’s article, with each item specific to the altar of the deity it is designed for. The interesting difference between the video and the readings, is that no two altars are identical in that each altar is both spiritual and personal. There are commonalities in which each Oriṣa represent in general, but the gods representation to the individual will vary. The Oṣun-Oṣogbo altars represent the African Diaspora well because they add to the variety ways the same god can by worshiped by many individuals.

The Oṣun-Oṣogbo festival is very representative of the African Diaspora because it is another variety of how the Oriṣa can be worshiped, and how others across the world can still devote themselves the same as those native to Oṣogbo.

In the film Sacred Journeys with Bruce Feiler: “Oṣun-Oṣogbo,” two women from America journey to Osogobo, Nigeria to become priestesses to the river goddess Oshun. They witness and take part in the Oṣun-Oṣogbo festival in an effort to find their roots, rediscover themselves, and re-pave their path in life. Although understanding their past and where they came from was their primary goal, the girls also wanted to visit Nigeria and show the people and practitioners of Orisha that their culture was still known and valued in other parts of the world, especially because Orisha was under attack in it’s home of Osogobo. The Oṣun-Oṣogbo festival demonstrates the way that the African diaspora religions have traveled, changed, and come full circle back to their birthplace though people, events, and objects.

Scholars that we have read in class such as Thompson and Johnson all define the African diaspora religions a little bit differently. Johnson’s definition speaks more closely to the idea that diasporic religions were shaped by the forced and unnatural nature of the environment they were subject to, i.e. the Atlantic slave trade. During the slave trade, people all over the African continent were ripped from their homes and families, stripped of their traditions and culture, and brought to the Americas to perform slave labor. Many of these people managed to hold onto different aspects of their Yoruba culture/religion and did what they could to practice it in the Americas. The two women who visited Nigeria, Alafia and Oni, have ancestors who did just that. These women represent the journey of the Orisha religion. Although the girls’ ancestors suffered immeasurably, they were able to save bits and pieces of their Yoruba culture–enough to evoke a curiosity and longing in Alafia and Oni to visit Nigeria and immerse themselves in the culture that their ancestors grew up with.

In several of our class readings, animal sacrifices were discussed in depth–animals are a typical offering to Yoruba deities.  In the film, a chicken was sacrificed to the river goddess Oshun. A chicken was slaughtered and the blood was poured over the head of a young man standing at the foot of the Oshun River. He washed the blood over his head as it fell into the water as a sacrifice to Oshun. As a final offering, the young man threw the body of the chicken into the river. Sacrificing animals is a staple of diasporic religions and the film showed a great example of a natural offering to the Orisha.

In the Oṣun-Oṣogbo festival, soundscapes and movement are a large part of the atmosphere and ritual. The rhythmic drumming, chanting, and dancing serve as veneration to the Orisha. Soundscapes are a large part of the African diaspora–music in these religions went through a great formative period during the Atlantic slave trade. Slaves used music as a way to connect to each other and get in touch with the culture they were forced to leave behind in Africa. Slaves didn’t have access to instruments so vocals became increasingly important in diasporic religions, as demonstrated in the Oṣun-Oṣogbo festival. (Reshma)

Sacred Journeys Reflection

Seth Epling

African Diaspora is a term that is used to describe the mass movement of african culture and religion during the slave trade. During this time, the colonists who were taking away the slaves freedom, names, and life, did not take away their religion and belief.  The religion of Yoruba was able to spread to so many different areas on the atlantic coast during this time and with this came populations who brought their own, new culture to the religion. In this documentary, Sacred Journeys with Bruce Feiler: “Oṣun-Oṣogbo”, it follows two American girls journey to Nigeria in order to become priestess. The documentary is able to tell a story of thousands of people by following these two young adults.

The main story follows two students, Alatin Stewart and Oni Yebiye Hinton, and their journey to Oshogbo, Nigeria. It starts off with the back streets of the biggest city of Nigeria, Lagos. This is an compelling start because the images in the video show a part of town that is run down, dirty and has stray animals running everywhere. Then, a gate open for these two americans to show a beautiful altar. It shows the connective power that this religion holds. Later in the documentary, these Americans go to a sacred festival called Oshun-Oshogbo. This is an incredible, passionate festival in where anyone is welcome. It starts in the streets, where everyone is trying different foods provided by different types of people and culture. One of the most interesting parts about this festival is the shear number of people that the are not only African Diaspora followers. This is incredible because of the history. These people were forced out of their land and pushed to change religion. As the priest said towards the end of the film, “We left Africa, but Africa never left us.” This is an important detail in this religion that makes it a African Diaspora religion. They were able to spread out all over the globe hundreds of years ago, and each year are able to make it back to where their ancestors once lived and celebrate unity.

“Diasporas are social products that must be rehearsed, represented and refreshed; they do not spring up or endure automatically; rather they demand continuous long-enduring effort.” (Johnson, 515) This quote comes from an excerpt from “Religions of the African Diaspora” written by Paul Christopher Johnson. This quote explains that the African Diaspora religion needs to be constantly practiced to ensure that the long history of the religion won’t be

forgotten. This is shown in the film by this festival. This festival is done often and most things about it do not change. These people are continuing to practice this religion over and over again and barely changing anything about it. This is in agreement with Johnson because these people are constantly keeping their religion in mind and making sure that the little aspects and traditions are being kept generation after generation. This is also an example of what Johnson said because this religion did not spontaneously arise. It has been worked on from the slave trade to present day  and will continue growing. This religion will be around for awhile because the people who follow and believe are accepting. They are not secluded, lots of the followers are also Christian and Muslim and they are able to integrate aspects of both religions into their own beliefs. This festival is a perfect example of why this is a African Diaspora religion.

Eli Van Buren

In Sacred Journeys: Oṣun-Oṣogbo the Nigerian festival is shown in its modern context, as a pilgrimage of sorts for not only peoples from around Nigeria (and surrounding countries) but also for those hailing from the New World. Throughout the episode we follow a handful of americans who have come to Africa for the festival and be apart of this ancient ceremony that speaks to their spiritual selves. That being said, whoever directed this series did so in such an unimpressive way, it’s ridiculous. It is more than possible that my expectations of the film were nowhere near the goals of the filming crew and writers of PBS- Sacred Journeys. I am definitely not a screenwriter, however I feel that if you are trying to make a tv show about religion, conveying the power practitioners feel is crucial. My main schtick is that throughout my time spent watching this I saw oriṣa worshipers with such fervor and energy and Bruce approached it in a bland way; calm narration, off cue music (ominous in mundane situations, light in more powerful ones), and a general isolation almost between the program and what oriṣa worship was really trying to get at. I feel like the enthusiasm and energy, especially surrounding Oṣun-Oṣogbo, is so key to oriṣa worship, and PBS fell a little flat in trying to capture it.

Religious mixture is very much present in Yoruba tradition. Nigeria in particular is religiously divided between Islam, Christianity, and Oriṣa Worship. Bruce Fieler states, in the film, that a big draw towards the christian church in Nigeria is the sense of community and connections the church gives to worshipers. Apparently the church even goes as far as to promise jobs to those who convert to the faith. In response to this, some oriṣa worshipers have begun to try and build a sense of community within their own practice, to keep followers from leaving their ranks. This is not necessarily hybridity or ‘religious mixing,’ I would say it’s more of an evolutionary process. One faith takes ideas from another faith and grows because of it. I am unsure if Nigerian Christians take ideas or components from Yoruba tradition, though I would not be surprised if that were the case. I feel as though there is, additionally, a mixing of American culture and Yoruba tradition. Paul Johnson states in his Study of Religions that the term “syncretism’s primary domain was ritual.” Nathaniel Styles goes on to say oriṣa worship is a way of life. In my own words, I would say that it is a culture. The Yoruba culture in the United States must be quite different than the relatively consistent Yoruba culture of “Yorubaland” or Nigeria. I think it would be pretty interesting if Bruce Fieler and the PBS team interviewed Alathia Stewart and Oni Yipiay-Henton (the two young women undergoing the priestess initiation rites for the Oṣun-Oṣogbo festival) asking them to compare/contrast the oriṣa tradition they grew up in, to the oriṣa tradition they were experiencing in Nigeria. This film leaves me with more questions than answers, does the influx of Americans influence the practices of Nigerians? How far have New World traditions deviated from those of old? Does oriṣa practice here in the States reach the same level of intensity witnessed in Lagos? Or are things more subdued due to the christian influence? Things to consider…

Jack Bechtold

Altars of the Black Atlantic

9-14-17

Reflection to Oṣun-Oṣogbo festival movie

After watching this film I can clearly see how the Oṣun-Oṣogbo festival and Orisha as a religion itself is a product of cultural and religious mixing, the roots of Orisha seem to have stayed the same since the beginning, yet all other aspects seem to be in constant motion of what is right for the time and place. This was especially clear when reading thompsons reading “the concept altar”, because it showed how the Africans used their environment and the religions around them to reinforce their own beliefs. At one point in thompsons book he talks about the fundamentals of the Afro-Atlantic altar he said specifically that “the fundamentals of the Afro-Atlantic altar are additive, eclectic, non exclusive.” This could not be more true. while slaves Africans used statues of christian saints as altars. They didn’t use just any random statue. Worshipers used statues of saints who showed the same strengths as the Orisha they worshiped. The two american women’s journey to become priestess’s was a great demonstration of the religious mixing because even though they have been separated and forbidden from their religion for hundreds of years their people managed to endure the prosecution of other religions such as  Christianity, judaism, and islam by imbibing the differences and celebrating the similarities. A priest in the movie said something along the lines of we are all worshiping the same one god we just have different ways of doing it. This was really eye opening. The idea that all of the mono theistic religions of the world are focused on one true god. The different Orisha are simply different aspects of the one true god. You pray to the specific aspect of god that you need help from. Orisha seems like a very similar form of communication as christians practice of speaking to god himself. Lets say you need help with conception for example, in the Christian religion you would go to god or specifically St. Gerard Majella. The same goes for Orisha. If you were having trouble with conception you would have an altar of the Orisha Oshun. This is a product of the cultural mixing that has been going on since the beginning of time. The Oṣun-Oṣogbo festival is a great example of the cultural mixing that was a byproduct of the slave trade because people travel from all over the globe to be part of the festival.  The only reason that the festival is as big on a global scale as it is is due to the cultural mixing of africans sold as slaves with those of other religious descent. Overall I am in awe at how historical events have cause such a dramatic change in a religion. I wish we could see what would have happened if there was no African Diaspora. Would Orisha still be one of the ten largest religions in the world? we may never know.  All we can know is that Orisha is a product of religious mixing.

The African Diaspora has been defined by many, and in many different ways. The definition that I find that connects with the Oṣun-Oṣogbo Festival best though, would be the how Johnson defines it in Chapter 30, “Religions of the African Diaspora” article we were given to read. “Diasporic religions are composed on the hand out of memories about space- places of origin, about the distances traversed from them since a time of exile, and the physical or ritual returns imagined, […] diasporic religious agents recollect the past through territorial and temporal ways of seeing, and from particular sites.” This idea of the rituals returns is clear in the video as the Oṣun-Oṣogbo Festival occurs every year in August and hundreds of thousands of people make the trip to return to Africa and to Oṣogbo for the festivities. The women in the film who came to Africa to be initiated as priestesses of the Yoruba religion said that coming back felt like they were taking back all that had been taken from them when their ancestors had been taken away from their homeland, and from their religion, where they were forced to hide their religion and keep it veiled behind Catholicism and Christian ideas during slavery. In the film they talked about how many of the traditions haven’t changed in hundreds of years, and that most of them are survived even through the toll that the African Slave trade took on Nigeria and the people from there. They kept the memories of Africa and these religions alive though which is a key part of being a diasporic religion, because they are composed of these memories, it’s the memories that keep the religion alive in the population. This is such an important part of diasporic religions, that the whole festival is based off of a memory. That memory being the one of how the goddess Oṣun became the patron orisha of Oṣogbo, and the reason being, because the first king of Oṣogbo chopped down a tree in Oṣun’s Sacred grove, breaking her personal dye pots, and in an attempt to fix what he had done and to forge this relationship between his kingdom and the goddess, promised her sacrifices and the festival every August. I think this film gave me a better understanding into the diasporic religions and to the Yoruba religions, because being able to see part of the festival gave me a better understanding of how large of a religion it actually is, I wasn’t aware that it was in the top 10 largest religions, so to see how many people traveled to come participate in this festival, and knowing from the article that we read recently about the festival celebrating Oṣun in Brazil really helped me to understand just how large of a religion it really is. As well as showing how popular of a religion it is, the film also showed us more into the intimate parts of the religion. When we saw Bruce Feiler, the host of the film go in and speak with the priest and watch a bit of a ritual, or when we got a look into the process of how the young girl was chosen to carry the sacrifices for Oṣun down to the river, we got to actually see a very important part of the religion that we normally do not get to see in the articles that we read.

–Sam Brady