Description: This book fills a gap in Yorùbá history and religion to provide an extensive analysis of two deities: O?bàtálá and Olókun. Drawing from oral accounts, chants, folk songs, praise poems, and verses from the Ifá corpus, the authors provide new insights into the worlds of both deities hitherto missing in the literature.
Brief description: Oluwafunminiyi Wasiu Raheem teaches at the Osun State University, Osogbo, Nigeria. He holds a Ph.D. in History and International Studies from the University of Ilorin, Nigeria, with research interests in African religious spirituality, sacred water bodies, contemporary popular culture, and Yoruba Islam. His latest co-authored book is titled Myth, Ritual, and Visible Expressions of O?batala and Olokun in Ile-If? (2024).
Review Quotes: "Myth, Ritual, and Visible Expressions of O?bàtálá and Olókun in Ilé-If?` is a brilliant work in religious studies and makes a significant contribution to the literature on Yoruba cosmology. Oluwafunminiyi Wasiu Raheem and Ayowole S. Elugbaju offer a thorough account of the role of sacred stories and rituals in Ilé-If?`, a city steeped in religious and philosophical significance. The authors explore and reimagine Yorùbá Traditional Religion through robust ethnographic research and meticulous observation in Ilé-If?`. This groundbreaking manuscript illuminates the history of Ilé-If?`, colonialism, and traditional beliefs and knowledge through the famous O?bàtálá festival. Using the O?bàtálá festival to interrogate questions of religious pluralism, the growth of Abrahamic religions in Africa, and modernity, the authors weave together Yorùbá Traditional Religion and history in this pioneering and well-written work. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in religious rituals, Yoruba religion, and more broadly traditional African religions." --Jacob K. Olupona, Harvard University