Yoruba Religion: Worldwide African Religion Explained

African religion is the new hot commodity, from Beyonce's "Black is King" to Anthony Mackie's "Ogun". We're finally seeing indigenous African religions in the spotlight. Especially the Yoruba religion of West Africa! This religion is widespread, you can find its followers from Nigeria to even Brazil! But what is it? What are their beliefs? Check out the video to find out!

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[lf]

This is the religion of my family. I am Cuban and Puerto Rican, a Yoruba descendant. 3 Babalawos from Oyo Nigeria were captured in the slave trade and brought to Cuba and Puerto Rico and they passed IFA down in our family. I am very proud of my ancestors and their enlightened religion that has brought such light and balance in my life.

[lilithpowers]

Thank you for making this video. I never knew about this religion. I actually met a man today that is a part of this religion, and he told me to look into it. I'm glad I did.😊

[markjohnson]

This is a beautiful religious tradition and must be preserved and protected, It is shocking to me that a religion with such a strong cultural, spiritual and moral foundation would be virtually unknown to the rest of the world!!

[etherealinsightstarot]

You did a great job explaining this in a short period of time! Thank you!!

[Umu_Eri]

Love the video, yoruba religion is very interesting from an igbo perspective

[bimbobabalola]

You've done a great job. This is a very brilliant documentary. I am Yoruba and I feel the need to buttress a point you made. All Yorubas worship Olodunmare, the Supreme Being and Creator. All orishas are merely means of reaching Olodunmare who was seen as being too high above humanity. The idea that Yorubas worshipped many gods is not correct as you pointed out. While each Yoruba kingdom may show a preference for a specific orisha as a means of reaching Olodunmare and their choice may differ from that of the next kingdom, all Yoruba orishas come from a common pantheon with Olodunmare at the very top. There is a lot more to say but I will leave it at this. This is a job well done.

[ethan-loves]

Excellent video! Thank you for sharing, and for advocating for the preservation of this beautiful tradition.

[izabelreis]

I’m from Brazil and we have a Yoruba derived religion called Umbanda, which mixes indigenous, African and Christian traditions. It is a very beautiful and loving religion. I’m a practitioner and I felt emotional to see our roots.

[JordyMeetsWorld]

Crazy how they taught us to hate Yoruba but we got pictures of white jesus in the crib😅😅😅

[Cruxador]

It is an interesting video. I wonder about the accuracy of attributing so much to Orunmila though. This seems like a very ifá-centric viewpoint. I don't know if this is the main way to see it in Nigeria but in Santería Lucumí and Candomblé which are the forms of the orisha faith that exist in Cuba and Brazil, not every ilé places so much importance this way but consider other orisha more strongly. Since it isn't rare among researchers to consider that Lucumí retains some features of the historical religion which were lost in Nigeria, I wonder if this might be a case where modern changes obscure the core of the religion. For example it is hard to think that the idea of ori, which is very central to so many concepts and symbolisms that have nothing to do with Orunmila, would not predate him. Additionally there are also the other forms of divination outside of ifá that weren't mentioned and things like that which by omission put more importance on Orunmila too.

Well, there's only so much you can put in a single video under ten minutes so maybe you're aware of this kind of detail but omitted it for clarity. I would watch more videos on this for sure.

[melissameehan]

I am a spiritual person, and I consider myself to be respectful of other people's beliefs.

I received a blessing from a person, who practices this faith: and I replied thanking them, and sending blessings their way, but I wasn't sure if I had responded correctly.

So I have been reading about the Yoruba people, and their beliefs: and I've found, that this is no different, to what I believe in: we just have slightly different versions.

I have found this fascinating, and enlightening: I am still working on my spiritual path, and I am learning from other people's experiences.and faith: I think it is important to remember your roots, and honour teachings, that have been passed down.

[khulekanimagubane]

This is a fantastic video and just the resource I needed for a fiction book that I'm currently working on. Turning on post notifications for any more videos that come from here.

[kheprineteru]

thank you for not trashing african culture

[ciciphatz]

I just found out from testing I'm Nigerian

[oyasuuruifawarinwa]

Sadly, there is just enough correct information to make this dangerous and yet this is much more respectful than many I've seen...

[sholaking]

Wow!! Great content. I would love to know more about your sources ( the book in the video is such an awesome one).

[SheisEileenLang]

I don’t know why but this video made me cry out of gratitude. Gratitude to find my path to know and understand that this practice is very scared. It is such a shame that what people don’t know they talk down and make it seem like IFA practitioners are terrible and evil. I am grateful to be of Yoruba practitioner/faith 💗

[pauzamsiska]

Wow ...thank you for this....we need more please.

[TIENxSHINHAN]

I'm African American and grew up in I guess an Americanized variant of this religion. It's nowhere near as organized as it seems to be in other countries though.

[RRose]

Beautifully said! Thank you for this. ❤