Ọ̀run and Ayé: the Structure of the Cosmos
The two-part Yoruba cosmos, why translating orun as "heaven" and aye as "earth" gets it wrong, how the two are joined rather than opposed, and what the calabash image actually claims.
Yoruba philosophy divide everything wey dey exist into two half wey join together. Ọ̀run na the realm of the òrìṣà, the ancestors, the ones wey dem never born, destiny and àṣẹ. Ayé na the realm of the living people, things wey eye dey see, the town, the market and the body. Dem no be two places like say na two countries for map, and the way dem relate no be like the Christian way between heaven and earth. Dem enter inside each other. Movement dey happen between the two of dem non-stop, and every important Yoruba institution, divination, sacrifice, naming ceremony, burial, masquerade, kingship, dey exist to manage that movement.
The main big mistake wey person wey grow up for Christianity dey bring come this material na the assumption say ọ̀run mean heaven and ayé mean earth, and say the two therefore mean holy place for up and ordinary physical world for down, wey death separate, where good people go go up and bad people go go down. Almost every part of that thinking dey wrong for Yoruba thought. To understand this part well na the first condition before person fit understand any other thing for this section.
The calabash
The picture wey dem dey use pass to explain this structure na the calabash wey dem cover, ìgbá. Dem dey cut calabash into two come join the two half back to make container wey seal. The upper half na ọ̀run, the lower half na ayé, and that joint where dem meet na the whole point of the image . The two half no be say dem arrange dem on top each other like different floors for building. Dem na two sides of one closed object, and each one no get meaning without the other, and any calabash wey the two half separate na broken calabash.
Two things follow from here wey heaven-and-earth explanation no fit show. First, the universe get boundary and e complete, no be earth wey hang under heaven wey no get end. Second, the place wey matter pass na the joint. Yoruba ritual practices dey focus well-well on the joint: the crossroad, the entrance of the compound, the market when evening dey fall, the grave inside the house floor, the moment of birth, the moment of death, the divination tray. These places no just happen by chance. Na there the two half of the calabash dey touch.
Ayé l'ọjà, ọ̀run n'ílé
The proverb wey dem dey quote pass about this relationship na this one.
Ayé l'ọjà, ọ̀run n'ílé.
Ayé (the world, the realm of the living wey eye dey see) l'ọjà (na the market). Ọ̀run (the unseen realm) n'ílé (na the home, the house, the compound).
Translator: Ìpilẹ̀ṣẹ̀ editorial rendering, unreviewed
"The world na market, ọ̀run na home." Na so the corpus translate am here from standard transcription; the proverb dey appear plenty for Yoruba proverb collections and for academic literature about Yoruba ideas of the person and of death . Confidence: medium on the exact phrasing, wey dey vary between ayé l'ọjà, ọ̀run n'ílé and ayé lọ́jà, ọ̀run nilé for different printed collections.
Almost everything wey dey important here dey carried by ọjà and ílé, and English dey usually flatten the two of dem.
ọjà no be shop or marketplace in the modern retail sense. For Yoruba towns, the market na the central public institution, the place where strangers dey meet, where women get economic and political authority, where news dey travel, where you go to buy and sell then leave. E dey crowded, noisy, temporary, business-minded and mixed. Nobody dey live for market. You go there for purpose, do your business, and return.
Ílé na the family compound. Na where your people dey, where dem bury your father father, where you belong by birth and no be by purchase, and where you dey return go. To call ọ̀run ílé dey make claim about ownership and belonging, no be about reward. The proverb no dey talk say the world bad and afterlife good. E dey talk say the world na where you transact business and ọ̀run na where you come from and where you dey go back to, wey be claim about origin and continuity instead of virtue and punishment.
The idea say market na the place where the two realm mix no be dead metaphor either. Èṣù's shrine dey stand inside market, dem understand say when evening dey fall for market na place where beings from both realm dey present, and Yoruba market days dey structured by the ritual calendar. The proverb carry cosmology inside am, no be moral lesson.
Why "heaven" is the wrong word
Ọ̀run take get the meaning of "heaven" for English because Samuel Àjàyí Crowther and the CMS translators use am for biblical heaven when dem translate Yoruba scriptures for middle of the nineteenth century, and because Ọlọ́run, the name wey most Yoruba people dey use for God today, clearly come from ọní-ọ̀run, owner of ọ̀run . Once the Yoruba Bible start to circulate, ọ̀run carry the full load of the English word, and for over one century now, Yoruba Christian wey dey read the word for hymn and the word for proverb dey read the exact same syllables with two different cosmologies behind dem.
The mismatch dey specific and e good to list am clearly.
Ọ̀run no be reward. Yoruba thought no get general doctrine say person dey earn admission to ọ̀run through wetin e believe or through moral performance for ayé. Everybody wey die dey go ọ̀run. Wetin dey vary na the quality of the reception and the condition wey person take reach there, wey be totally different claim.
Ọ̀run no be say na only good e good. The source dem describe ọ̀run rere, good ọ̀run, and ọ̀run àpáàdì, wey dem dey usually translate as the ọ̀run of potsherds or the ọ̀run of broken pot pieces . Make the reader dey careful here. The way dem match ọ̀run rere against ọ̀run àpáàdì fit heaven and hell so well dat people fit think say na original Yoruba thing, but e still get serious argument on top how much of this clear difference don dey before missionary dem come and how much na the missionary come make sharp. J. Ọmọṣade Awolalu, wey dey write under religious studies, take this difference as traditional thing . Scholars wey dey look the missionary influence dey point out say Idowu and im generation dey read Yoruba matter with Christian ideas about end of the world for mind, and dem get reason to find things wey match am . Wetin person fit talk without argument na say ọ̀run àpáàdì no be place of eternal punishment wey one enemy dey control, say e no be destination for people wey no convert, and say the way person take reach there depend on how the person die and how im relationship with people dey, no be wetin the person believe.
Ọ̀run no dey far. For Christian arrangement, heaven dey far place wey person dey reach after death, and prayer na the way to talk to am. For Yoruba thinking, the movement back and forth dey happen everyday and na normal thing. The ancestors dey right there for the compound. Dem dey talk to the òrìṣà for shrines wey dey inside towns. Divination na working channel to communicate with ọ̀run wey person dey consult about work, marriage, journey or sickness, no be some kind mystical experience. New baby na traveller wey dey return from ọ̀run, and dem dey use divination ask who return come.
Ọ̀run no dey up in a way wey go make ayé dey under for rank. The language to describe up and down dey, and dem dey talk say ọ̀run dey up, but the ranking wey English word "higher" and "lower" dey carry no dey inside the Yoruba structure. Ayé na where life dey happen, where character dey form and show, where destiny dey work out, and where the things wey dey make life sweet, like pikin, long life, and respect among people, dey happen. Yoruba tradition no get any habit to look down on the world or to see the body as prison. Person target no be to escape ayé. Na to spend long and good time inside am, and then go house properly.
Sacred and secular
Another related idea wey person suppose drop na the division between sacred and secular. No Yoruba word dey wey do the work of "religion" as one separate part of life wey person fit separate from politics, medicine, farming, and family. J. D. Y. Peel make this point over and over about the missionary encounter: the missionaries come dey find Yoruba religion and dem come have to form the thing wey dem dey find, because wetin dem meet na set of practices wey join together with kingship, family lineage, farming, healing, and business, wey no get any join where person fit pull the religious part comot .
This matter dey important for understanding everything wey follow. An ọba's installation no be political event wey dem attach religious ceremony put. Herbalist treatment no be medicine plus superstition. Farmer offering before planting no be farming plus religion. For each case, na the person wey dey look the matter na im dey divide am into practical part and religious part, e no dey inside the thing itself. Where this work use the phrase Yoruba religion, na just English convenience, and make the reader no take the term too tight.
The many ọ̀run
Ọ̀run no be one single type of place, and the sources dey talk about several ones. The ones wey dem commonly name include ọ̀run rere, the good ọ̀run; ọ̀run àpáàdì, the ọ̀run of potsherds, wey dem join with people wey die bad death or wey their character scatter community; ọ̀run àlàáfíà, wey dey connected with peace; and ọ̀run bàbá ẹni, person father ọ̀run, the ancestral land of person own lineage . Different sources dey give different lists and different numbers, and the difference na real thing, no be say one account fail. The material depend on region, and na through family lineage of practitioners dem take pass am down instead of through one central holy book, so systematic map of the ọ̀run wey person fit compare to Dante cosmology no dey, and make nobody try form am. Where source present neat arrangement of seven or nine levels, that neatness na usually the author own addition.
Ọ̀run bàbá ẹni deserve special mention because e carry the weight of ancestral practice. Where person dey go na im own lineage domain, among im own dead people wey know am. This na one of the clear ways wey Yoruba afterlife take be homecoming to specific people instead of arriving for just any general place.
Crossing points
The crossing points na where the cosmology dey turn to real practice.
Birth and death. These na the two main gates, and Yoruba tradition dey treat dem equally as arrival and departure instead of creation and complete destruction. Person wey die for old age with living children, dem dey talk say e don go house, and the burial of such person na celebration in a way wey no be just emotional but part of the whole structure: the traveller don complete the journey. Death of small pikin, death from certain sickness, death by thunder, and death by suicide, dem dey handle dem differently because the departure no follow normal way.
The crossroads, orita. Where roads meet na where different realms meet. Na here Èṣù's dey stay, and na here dem dey drop certain offerings, because crossroads na the point for ayé wey dey open enter ọ̀run.
The threshold. The doorway of compound na boundary in that same way but for smaller scale, and na why Èṣù also dey stand for the entrance and why dem dey do plenty household rituals there.
Divination. Ifá divination na proper, standard, and professional channel to ọ̀run wey person fit repeat. The fact say e exist as technical practice with trained priests, fixed body of knowledge, and clear procedure na the strongest proof say Yoruba thinking dey treat the boundary as something wey person fit work with, no be something wey lock totally. Dem treat that system for section 05.
Sacrifice. Ẹbọ na di way somtin dey take move from ayé go ọ̀run, and Èṣù na im be di carrier. Check di file on ẹbọ for dis section.
Masquerade. Egúngún na di ancestors wey people fit see for ayé, for street, for broad daylight. Masquerade no be symbol of di ancestors like how statue be symbol. Wetin di institution dey claim na say dem dey cross dat boundary during di performance.
Wetin dis cosmology dey do
If we put am plain, di structure na dis. Na one single cosmos wey get boundary, but e get two sides. Person dey start from ọ̀run, collect destiny for there, cross enter ayé when dem born am, live out and negotiate dat destiny for ayé, and return go ọ̀run when dem die, where dem fit cross come back again. Àṣẹ, di power wey dey make anytin happen at all, dey move between di two sides. Di òrìṣà and di ancestors dey for ọ̀run but people fit reach dem and dem dey involve. Notin for dis arrangement be only spiritual and notin be just material, because di difference wey reader fit wan draw between di two categories na somtin wey dem bring come from outside.
Na why di way people take dey call am demonic dey misrepresent wetin dem dey look so bad. To call òrìṣà practice devil worship, person go first assume say di cosmos get good side and bad side wey dey fight war, and come divide di Yoruba figures put inside di two box. Di Yoruba cosmos no arrange like dat, so di sorting dey cause nonsense, and di figure wey suffer pass from dis na Èṣù, wey get im own file for dis section.