![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/vlbrenna-rel095fall2017\/files\/2017\/11\/MG_0194-200x300.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
On September 26, I walked into the Spirited Things Exhibition at the Fleming Museum for an exclusive look at the unfinished exhibit. Greeting the class at the doorway was Eshu-Elegbara, an Orisa who specializes in spiritual communication. As the class was set free to roam, I moved past Eshu where a flash of tiger print caught my eye.\u00a0 Looking at the object, front to back, I realized it was an outfit composed of an intricately woven maroon shawl and a vibrant synthetic tiger print skirt. The shawl, which was separate strips of cloth woven together and decorated with cowry shells, was accompanied by an undershirt, also riddled with hundreds of shells stitched in parallel lines along the seams. There were so many shells stitched into the outfit that the wearer would likely experience a small party with each step, hundreds of jingling shells clacking together. The skirt however, was made of a synthetic cloth, patterned with tiger stripes. The skirt itself was an unnatural, but striking orange color which had purple cloth framing around the seams. As my gaze was drawn up to the head of the mannequin, I noticed it had intricately woven braids as well. After this observation, I realized I had yet to look at the actual title of the artifact, it read \u201cAttire of the Manifest God \u1e62ango.\u201d The description informed me that this outfit is worn by devotees who are preparing to be \u201cmounted\u201d or in other words, spiritually possessed by the Yoruba god \u1e62ango.<\/span><\/p>\n I noticed in the description that all <\/i>devotees wear this outfit while worshiping, and I wondered how this outfit contributed to spirit possession among those individuals. With this I began to investigate why the outfit worn by a bride was essential for spirit possession. In this essay I will provide background on Yoruba cultures and customs, and explain how this outfit contributes to spirit possession in ritual. A crucial key to understanding this contribution, is getting to know the Orisa \u1e62ango himself.<\/p>\n \u1e62ango is the Yoruba god of thunder, who yields his Thunder Axe, Oshe, and now represents the powers of the Oyo kings. Glazier, author of \u201cIf Old Heads Could Talk\u201d writes, \u201d\u1e62ango is the most powerful and the most feared Yoruba deity both in Africa and in the Diaspora.\u201d(Glazier, 2012, 199) It is in his reputation that one can can really understand his power. Like previously mentioned, \u1e62ango takes many brides, as he manifests his soul in the body of his devotees. Miles Richardson, author of \u201cBeyond Conversion and Syncretism\u201d illustrates that wives of \u1e62ango constantly bring about the presence of the Orisa. This honors the god and creates an incentive for him to ble<\/span>ss and protect those who worship him. (Richardson, 2011, 146-156) He is worshipped all over the world for this reason, ranging from Africa itself, to South America and the Atlantic. Do to his position in the Orisa hierarchy, \u1e62ango is hugely worshiped for power and protection. However, hundreds of other Orisa are worshiped by Yoruba culture, particularly through the use of structures called altars and different objects which are placed on the altar.<\/span><\/p>\n An altar is device used to communicate with the spirits or the Orisa living among the Spirit world. They are stages for worship which are uniquely designed to communicate with different spirits. Altars are a place to generate energy for spiritual communication, this is done in many ways. The most frequently seen is the use of objects on an altar. These objects are set in a particular spacial arrangement which generates \u00e1se<\/i>, the primordial life force residing within all beings. Rowland Abiodun, professor of The History of Art and Black Studies at Amherst College, explained the concept of \u00e1se as being the life force which resides within all of us. Professor Abiodun explained how \u00e1se, despite abundant, has to be drawn from any environment to be presented to an Orisa, and this ultimately happens through art, music, and dance. He accompanied this statement with an anecdote about objects on an altar. He said, an object is only an object until it is charged with \u00e1se, after an object is charged it has the power to do work.<\/p>\n \u00c1se is essential to all Yoruba worship, conceptually it can be considered fuel, like gasoline powering a car. It is \u00e1se that charges objects on an altar, giving them energy and turning them into more than just pieces of material. After objects are used or prepared in particular ways, \u00e1se can be generated and used to call spirits before those who have summoned them. Objects are charged with \u00e1se in many ways. For instance, J. Lorand Matory found himself stepping outside the Fleming Museum nearing the opening of the Spirited Things exhibition to puff cigar smoke on his personal altar object. The smoke charged the object, giving the corresponding Orisa what it likes and prefers. These methods of preparation charge objects with the energy required for spiritual connection. Just as important as \u00e1se, are the physical objects on the altar which is being worshiped. Particular items can symbolize a broad range of things which summon and worship particular Orisa. Each object can be a particular offering to an Orisa, as they are things that the Orisa specifically prefers. For instance money or liquors are offerings which bring about \u00e1se and strive to enrich and nourish that Orisa, but an Orisa may prefer a certain food or liquor. With this being said, every object is specific to the preferences of the Orisa.<\/span><\/p>\n Those who worship the Orisa \u1e62ango specifically undergo spirit possession during ritual, where the soul or energy of a particular Orisa enters your body. \u1e62ango possession is a particular form of spirit possession where the bride can be either male or female. The term bride is gender inclusive of those devoted to \u1e62ango. Spirit possession in general has been typical of Yoruba ritual ceremonies and is a means of communication with spirits. It is in the crossover to a parallel reality where those undergoing possession can find solutions to problems, see future events, and communicate with their Orisa. It is a process that is deeply important, yet deeply hard to understand. In Yoruba culture they do not have the same notion that death means one<\/span>\u00a0is completely gone, but spiritually transferred to a different world, the world of\u00a0 the spirits. Throug<\/span>h this world Yoruba people connect to the spirits. However, spirit possession can not occur without the presen<\/span>ce of \u00e1se.(Glazier, 2012, 204)<\/span><\/p>\n With this being said, the outfit worn by a bride of \u1e62ango must link a devotee to the spirit of \u1e62ango himself. Previously stated, Yoruba culture primarily uses altars with many objects to bring about \u00e1se, which can summon different Orisa. However, in this worship there is no apparent altar. It was at this point in my research where I looked to a reading by Thompson where he states the altar of River goddess, O\u1e63un, is not a tangible altar, but instead the holy river she once touched. (Thompson, 1993, 270)\u00a0 From this I could conclude that the body of a \u1e62ango devotee serves as the altar which calls to \u1e62ango. An altar does not have to be a physical structure, but anything decorated with objects to worship an Orisa. Just as a Santeria altar would be decorated with offerings to bring about \u00e1se, the human body is decorated for the same purpose, but on a different form of altar. Each aspect of the outfit is a different offering, and also a method of drawing \u00e1se to charge the body itself.<\/p>\n If the body of a mount serves as the altar which worships \u1e62ango during ritual, then the outfit which they wear must consist of various artifacts which can charge them with \u00e1se, enabling them to connect with \u1e62ango. Glazier writes, \u201c\u1e62ango devotees belief that illness and misfortune result from a lack of attention to the Orisa, and a belief that when properly attended to, will help them in their daily lives.\u201d(Glazier, 2012, 193) This serves as evidence to support why brides wear this outfit during rituals to communicate with \u1e62ango. By wearing the outfit, brides are decorating their altars with power objects which generates \u00e1se within them, summoning \u1e62ango to possess those who worship. From here, \u1e62ango can help them in their struggles. In the same article by Glazier, he states that devotees attempt to establish binding contracts with \u1e62ango by wearing this outfit, however Orisa are fluid and characterized by a large degree of uncertainty. It is by wearing this outfit brides try to solidify their commitment to \u1e62ango, constantly worshiping him throughout the ritual.(Glazier, 2012, 193)<\/p>\n Each article of clothing represents something different, much like how individual altar objects represent different symbols as well. The synthetic tiger pelt worn by devotees represent \u1e62ango\u2019s ferocity and power. The tiger is a jungle cat with a high social status on the food chain, \u1e62ango is similar to this in a lot of ways. He is a highly respected god who resides near the top of the Orisa hierarchy, containing the ferocity of a wild tiger. This pelt is used to symbolize those qualities on the altar, paying tribute to \u1e62ango\u2019s strength. Also, when \u1e62ango does possess, he wants to be bold and noticed. This eye catching garment is bright and resonates confidence for the Orisa. The\u00a0skirt is also red and orange, \u1e62ango\u2019s own colors.<\/p>\n Equally as important is the cowry covered shirt and shawl. First off, cowries were a form of West African currency. With this being said, the cowries are meant to enrich \u1e62ango with offerings of money. Also, the noise in which the shells make generate \u00e1se by the jingling they make. Often noise, particularly drums, are used in Yoruba ritual to bring about \u00e1se and coerce spirits to visit altars. The cowries can function as their own device, generating noise and drawing \u00e1se into the altar through movement and dance.<\/p>\n The braids worn by \u1e62ango brides are also an important object on the altar. The braids which mounts of \u1e62ango wear in their hair symbolizes their marriage to \u1e62ango. This style is called agogo and is taken very seriously, as different braiding patterns all symbolize different things. In Justine M. Cordwell\u2019s \u201cThe Fabric of Culture,\u201d he states \u201cDevotees of \u1e62ango don\u2019t shave their head after initiation\u2026head shaving upon death marks passage from life and membership, to death and nonmembership.\u201d This specific pattern of braiding is thus an altar object which broadcasts ones devotion to \u1e62ango and his worship on a permanent basis.(Cordwell, 385) The braiding is a life long commitment, much like the devotion to \u1e62ango.<\/p>\n By devotees wearing this particular outfit, they can transform themselves into a fully charged altar. The different elements of the costume embody \u1e62ango and deliver \u00e1se to the body, inviting him to reside within his altar during ritual. By wearing the outfit the mount creates a particular spacial arrangement of objects, noises, and practices which act as any regular altar to draw \u1e62ango from the spirit world into the vessel of the human body. With this being said, the outfit worn by a bride of \u1e62ango is meant to generate the continuous presence of \u00e1se and charge the body with energy to attract \u1e62ango. The outfit is crucial in the physical spirit possession of a mount as it is the synthesis of \u00e1se, the power which drives the ritual to success. From the hundreds of cowries, to the furious tiger pelt, each piece of the outfit serves as an altar symbol, an effort to communicate with \u1e62ango, the mighty god of thunder.<\/p>\n Bibliography of sources which relate spirit possession among African Diaspora religions.<\/strong><\/p>\n Cordwell, Justin M. The Fabric of Culture<\/i>. Paris: Mouton Publishersn.d<\/p>\n Glazier, Stephen. If Old Heads Could Talk<\/i>. Vol. 54, Canadian Anthropology society, 2012.<\/p>\n Matory, J. L. Sex and the empire that is no more : gender and the politics of metaphor in Oyo Yoruba religion<\/i>. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1994.<\/p>\n Richardson, Miles. Beyond Conversion and Syncretism: Indigenous Encounters with Missionary Christianity<\/i>. N.p.: Berghahn Books, 2011.<\/p>\n Thompson, Robert F. Face of The Gods<\/i>. New York City: The Museum of African Arts, 1993.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On September 26, I walked into the Spirited Things Exhibition at the Fleming Museum for an exclusive look at the unfinished exhibit. Greeting the class at the doorway was Eshu-Elegbara, an Orisa who specializes in spiritual communication. As the class was set free to roam, I moved past Eshu where a flash of tiger print […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4540,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-544","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/vlbrenna-rel095fall2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/544","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/vlbrenna-rel095fall2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/vlbrenna-rel095fall2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/vlbrenna-rel095fall2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4540"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/vlbrenna-rel095fall2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=544"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/vlbrenna-rel095fall2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/544\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":569,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/vlbrenna-rel095fall2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/544\/revisions\/569"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/vlbrenna-rel095fall2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=544"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/vlbrenna-rel095fall2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=544"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/vlbrenna-rel095fall2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}