A Babalawo Shrine in Yorubaland
‘We are magical knowledge; we are ancient knowledge; we are traditional culture; we are sacred traditions’ [1].
by Anna Catalani
In the Yorùbá [2] language, a shrine is known as ‘ojubo’, which literally means ‘the face of worship’ or ‘where to face to worship’ (Thompson Drewal and Drewal 1983: 64): gods, indeed, are active forces, residing in the shrines and needing to be awakened, fed and nourished so that they do not leave the shrine. Yorùbá shrines and altars can be found in areas which are considered sacred either because of a historical connection with the ancestors or because they are believed to be inhabited by gods.
Although different in size, shrines and altars are all characterised by the presence of objects, physical features, and powers that are unique to them and that hence allow the devotees to perform specific ritual roles (Thompson Drewal and Drewal, 1983). As special places of worship, shrines can belong both to the head of the clan and to the entire family (including extended relatives) and, in certain circumstances, also to individuals with special gifts, such as Babalawo, the Ifa priest, the ‘Father of Secrets’ [3] (Aluko et al. 2008). Sacred places can be used to worship either the family ancestors or the gods of the entire society. In shrines, the sculptures of the gods allow the worshippers to focus their respect and devotion, as they will know where to face and how to contact the gods: the altar, indeed, is the place of conciliation, where votive pottery is placed and libations are poured (Farris Thompson, 1995).
The objects from Nottingham Museum considered later on in this piece belonged probably to a family shrine, with the exception of the Gẹlẹdẹ masks (which if ‘old and no longer danced, would [have come from] an altar/shrine within a Gẹlẹdẹ Society House to serve as a focus for venerations’) [4]. Therefore, before describing, although briefly, a Yorùbá shrine (which may have included objects similar to the ones of the collection we are focusing on here), it is useful to provide a short explanation of the Yorùbá pantheon, of the role of the Babalawo and of the Gẹlẹdẹ cult, one of the most prominent cults in Yorùbá society.
The Yorùbá Pantheon, the Babalawo, and the Gẹlẹdẹ cult
In Yorùbá traditional religion, the sacred permeates every aspect of people’s lives and activities: it is manifested through the existence of the Olodumare-Olorun – the Supreme Being who oversees the order of things – and of the Òrìṣàs, his functionaries on earth. The Òrìṣàs (whose number is estimated to be between 200 and 1,700) are abstract entities and can inhabit any type of object. Furthermore, as the intermediaries between God and humans, they can have a great impact on people’s lives. This is especially the case when the communication between man and the divine breaks down and humans suffer numerous calamities. When this happens, it is crucial to renew the close relationship with the divine being and maintain a clear communication through ritual devotion, so that humans can enjoy once again the peace and the wellbeing that come from it.
The Babalawo fulfils this function by seeking a solution to the problems (either public or personal) presented by the afflicted. The Babalawo is in fact the Priest of Ifá, the divination system that represents the teachings of Ọrnumila, the Òrìṣà of Wisdom. Especially in the past, Babalawos were considered high ranking individuals and were treated with the greatest respect by Yorùbá society. Because of their special status, Babalawos were the only individuals allowed to use beaded materials and beaded objects (like divining bags), a privilege usually reserved for the Yorùbá kings.
The need to keep a peaceful relationship with the divine is also at the basis of Yorùbá masquerade performances. Masquerades and ceremonial masks are another important element of Yorùbá religious traditions and, like in the case of divination, they fulfil the purpose of maintaining the delicate harmony between human beings and the divine.
Gẹlẹdẹ masquerades, for instance, are held every year, between March and May at the beginning of the farming season, to pay tribute to the special powers of women (both elders and ancestors, who are referred to as ‘our mothers’) and to invoke their benign spiritual force (ase). The masks used during the masquerades are light headpieces, worn only by men and fixed firmly to the colourful costumes during the vigorous dances. The masks are decorated by elaborated superstructures, representing social figures, animals, or important historical events. They also often make visual reference to traditional proverbs (Lawal 1998). Ceremonial Gẹlẹdẹ masks would have been kept in the meeting place (an altar or shrine) of the Gẹlẹdẹ Society between annual festivals and only before the festivals, they would have been prepared for the special performance, by being cleaned, repaired and added to the costumes [5].
Ositola’s shrine: a Babalawo shrine
Thompson Drewal and Drewal (1983) have described the family shrine of Kolawole Ositola, a prominent Babalawo from Imodi: his shrine included objects connected to his ancestors and to his practice, and provides a good example of a Yorùbá family shrine.
Ositola’s shrine is square and houses containers with vital ingredients to activate the spirit; objects necessary for the diviner's performance; often a formal "seat" or a base, which serves to raise the containers and other objects off the ground; and "medicines" buried under the ground where the shrine is placed, which attract the spirit to the site (Thompson Drewal and Drewal, 1983: 64).
Like in every Yorùbá shrine, the location of the objects and sculptures is based on their functions and on the gods’ roles: this is, for example, the case with the ritual staff made from iron (opa osun), placed in front of the Babalawo house and representing the power of the Babalawo in conquering death [6]and of the figurine representing Esu (a major divinity, a "special relations officer" between heaven and earth’ [7], which can be found at the entrance of the shrine room.
Obitola’s shrine has an enclosed, dark inner sanctum (called odi), inhabited by specific Orishas, in this case: Onile, Agemo, Odu Logboje, Olokun, Iya Alaje, Oko, Awo Opa. It is characterised by the presence of objects associated with Ifa (a system of divination) and Osugbo (an organised society), which both have played key roles in the history of Obitola’s patrilineage (Thompson Drewal and Drewal, 1983). Hence, in the odi of this specific shrine , the following Osugbo ritual objects can be found: an ipawo ase (whose function is to rattle during ritual occasions and in response to the prayers or curses) and two Onile brass figures (one male and one female) joined at the heads [8]. Other Orishas (e.g. Shango and the Ibeji for example), decided, through the divination process, where to be placed within the shrine: often though they are grouped together in the same area, because they are fed with the same food. Objects belonging to Ifa, the other important institution in Obitola’s family history, are located around the perimeter of Obitola’s shrine. The most significant Ifa ritual objects in here are the sacred palm nuts (iken), used for the Ifa divination. Each Babalawo has indeed both his own personal set and one for his clients (akoda iken): the akoda iken have to reside in a carved wood container (agere), which can be of different types [9].
Finally, it important to explain that each Babalawo owns an Esu: therefore, a Babalawo’s shrine includes a separate Esu shrine – in this specific case, located ‘inside the entrance to the room, on the left hand side’ (Thompson Drewal and Drewal, 1983: 67). The Esu shrine is inhabited by four small statues, a short iron staff and five lateritic cones, symbolising the different types of Esu, which have been owned by family members over the generations.
Yorùbá religious material culture is extremely rich in terms of meanings, rituals and symbols associated with it. The objects found in family shrines are the tangible traces of the people who used them as well as of their personal stories and relationships with certain gods. These objects held special meanings for their owners: meanings which unfortunately have been lost when the objects have been forcefully removed, during colonial times, from their original contexts to Western museum glass cases.
Yorùbáland and the British expansion: a brief historical context
The last decades of the 19th century represent the peak of the British influence and expansion in Africa which, as a consequence, contributed to the rising interest in ethnographic collections in the West. Although Christianity was introduced to Nigeria already in the 15th century (by Augustinian and Capuchin monks from Portugal), the first mission of the Church of England was established only in 1842 in Gbagli (now Badagry) in the Lagos State, by The Reverend Henry Townsend. During his time in Nigeria, and more specifically in Abeokuta (1846-1867), Townsend worked closely with a Yorùbá Anglican priest (Samuel Crowther) and some local chiefs to be accepted within the community and, ultimately, to convert the locals. Regarding this, the role of local chiefs was actually extremely important: for instance, after becoming the King of Lagos in 1852, Akitoye
made a treaty with the British government to suppress the slave trade and human sacrifices; to open the port to legitimate trade, to give full liberty to missionaries or ministers of the Gospel of any nation to enter Lagos and follow their vocation of spreading the knowledge and doctrines of Christianity, and extending the benefits of civilization (Payne 1893, 3).
However, it was only because of political and personal gains that Yorùbá rulers allowed the missionaries to establish their stations in the territory: rulers were led both by the need to gather allies in the ongoing local power struggles and by a desire for ‘cultural enhancement’. Both these objectives saw European colonisers as pivotal elements in their achievements. In addition to wanting access to European technologies, Yorùbá rulers had a strong interest in the ‘white man’ priests who ‘professed expertise in the world of spirits or the hidden sources of power (awo) and were […] comparable with the religious spiritualists they already knew, such as diviners and Muslim alufa’ (Peel 2003: 124).
Yet the relationship between locals and missionaries was not always smooth and was characterised by frequent assaults on the missionaries and their stations: only those stations close to political urban centres (e.g. Abeokuta and Lagos) managed to be more successful in their acceptance while benefiting from a system of reciprocal gifts and amicable visits. This may well have been the case with the objects belonging to the collection considered here.
A Yorùbá collection in Nottingham
Yorùbá traditional religious objects, like the ones considered in this piece, constitute a common feature of Western museums. Assembled as trophies, curiosities or even as symbolic gifts during colonial times, objects belonging to the Yorùbá ethnic group (but more generally to non-Western cultures) are the tangible legacies of historic encounters, which have shaped the post-colonial relationship between the ‘West and the Rest’ as well as the contemporary attitudes towards non-Western cultures.
The collection considered here is a Sub-Saharan collection from Yorùbáland, West Africa, housed in the open storage of the Nottingham Life Museum. The collection can be defined as a ‘Colonial Collection’, meaning that it has been assembled during colonial times by British missionaries and HM functionaries in West Africa. Unfortunately exactly how, by whom and why this collection was assembled remains unclear because of the paucity of the records associated with it.
The collection seems to have arrived at Nottingham Castle Museum at the end of the 1870s, although there is no complete record of the acquisition of the individual objects or of their entry to the museum. The only proof of the museum entry for some of the items, is given by four labels, all dated around 1878. The labels give a brief description of the objects donated and include the names of three donors: Rev. William Jones, a Methodist minister (who donated a Gẹlẹdẹ mask and some pottery), John Augusts Otonba Payne [10], a Sierra Leonean Chief Registrar and Taxing Master at the Supreme Court of Lagos (who donated another Gẹlẹdẹ mask) and Sancho Martinez [11], of whom there is no information provided apart from the label with his name on it. The collection counts about 300 objects, the majority of which can be traced back to the Yorùbá ethnic group. Part of this collection was exhibited for the first time in 2003, in a temporary exhibition.
The temporary exhibition ‘Objects of religion: Yorùbá beliefs on display’
Although the collection considered here has never been fully exhibited in any museum and has never been labelled officially as ‘religious’, thirteen objects belonging to it were put on display for the first time in 2003 at the Nottingham Life Museum in the temporary exhibition, ‘Objects of religion: Yorùbá beliefs on display’ (Fig.1).
Figure 1. ‘Yoruba beliefs on display’ Temporary Exhibition, Nottingham Life Museum, Nottingham, UK. Copyright - author’s own image.
The objects were selected by the author of this piece with the assistance of members of the Yorùbá diaspora (living, at the time, in Nottingham, Beeston and Leicester) who also gave information about the functions and names of the objects. This was done in order to respectfully display and interpret the sacredness of the objects, as well as to define the perspective and cultural reclaiming by the Yorùbá diaspora of their traditional religious material culture.
The items for the displays included both objects belonging to a Babalawo’s personal kit as well as objects used for other religious ceremonies, both private and public. The items on display were: a calabash with drawings symbolising the universe (the upper world, or Aye, where the human beings reside, and the lower part, Orun, the realm of deities, ancestors and spirits) (Fig.2); a wooden baboon carrying a duck, symbol of wisdom and knowledge; a wooden figure, possibly an Ebora (Fig. 3); a crested crane amulet used most likely as a traditional medicine and prepared by an Ifá priest (Fig. 4); two wooden bowls, usually used for the Ifá divination; a cylindrical container made of leather with crystals inside, used for divination or as a medicine; a Gẹlẹdẹ mask (Fig. 5); a wooden spoon with decorative patterns from North Nigeria, possibly used to poor libations (Fig. 6); a wooden stool with carved circular geometrical motifs symbolising the cycle of human existence (Fig. 7); a Babalawo bag (apo abira or apo Ifá); a pair of Babalawo sandals (Fig. 8); and a handful of cowrie shells.
From left to right: Figure 2: Calabash with drawings, symbolising the universe. Figure 3: Wooden figure, most likely representing an Ebora. Figure 4: Crested Crane amulet. Figure 5: Gelede Mask. Nottingham Life Museum, Nottingham. Copyright - author’s own images.
From left to right: Figure 6: Wooden spoon with decorative patterns. Figure 7: Wooden stool most likely used for religious ceremonies. Figure 8: Babalawo’s sandals and bag. Copyright: Nottingham Life Museum, Nottingham. Author’s own images.
The items were arranged in two display cases and their interpretation was supported by ten panels, which briefly explained how the idea of the holy is embedded in any culture; how it can be represented by ceremonial and ritual objects like the ones on display; the meaning of divination in Yorùbá culture and the importance of cult of ancestors. A key point of the exhibition was to present traditional Yorùbá religion as a living religion, by linking the displayed objects from the past with contemporary Yorùbá culture and society.
Yorùbá religious material culture: Western museums and the Yorùbá diaspora
When it comes to the displays of Yorùbá objects in Western museums, the involvement of Yorùbá scholars and more generally of African experts has been really scant. Furthermore, objects belonging to non-Western cultures and collected during colonial times have been generally interpreted by Western museums according to outdated Westerncentric canons and categories (exotic art or ethnographic collections), symbolising far away and extinct cultures. Therefore museum classifications of African objects have been primarily based on their function (e.g. cooking) and/or style of the items (e.g. ceremonial). Such classifications have often overlooked the distinctiveness and complexity of the different African groups, flattened the representation of the items into broader geographical categories (e.g. African Galleries) and undoubtedly ignored the religious meaning and essence of the items. This has been aggravated by the fact that non-Western collections and their displays have rarely been interpreted (at least in Europe and until very recently) with/by the source communities. Additionally, the removal of religious objects from their original sacred settings and their subsequent placement in a secular, public environment like a museum, has contributed to their misrepresentation. Within a museum, indeed, religious objects lose their original purpose and meaning and become obsolete and lifeless items. Some Yorùbá religious objects, for example, were considered possessed by spirits (like the crested crane amulet) possessing the power to bring together the human and the supernatural worlds. For this reason, they were supposed to be handled or seen only by a limited group of initiated people, and certainly not exhibited in a public space. This was undoubtedly an issue in planning the temporary exhibition at Nottingham, since most of the members of the Yorùbá diaspora interviewed for the project refused to be exposed to the real objects, but agreed to talk about the photographs of the items on display, which were perceived less harmful.
Unsurprisingly, the attitude of the Yorùbá diaspora towards its traditional religious objects in museums is rather complex and has resulted in a lack of engagement with Western cultural institutions. There are three main reasons for this. Firstly, museums as institutions are considered by many members of the Yorùbá diaspora as a symbol of colonialism and as a Western invention; traditional religious objects have been unlawfully brought to the West as exchange merchandise or trophies, and have been defined according to Western stereotypes, understanding, and practices, including religious ones. Hence, their true nature is not grasped by Western curators, and traditional objects become empty vessels because they cannot fulfil their purpose. Secondly, while the display of religious Yorùbá material culture in the West can certainly enhance the local public appreciation and knowledge of Yorùbá religion, and be a reminder to the diaspora of their traditions, it nevertheless deprives the Yorùbás back in Africa of the opportunity to see traditional religious objects in their original contexts. Thirdly, most of the Yorùbá diaspora in the West has converted to Christianity or Islam, and has an ambiguous relationship with their traditional objects and religious practices. While there is a strong sense of pride in the ethnic group, it is not possible to say the same thing in relation to their religious material culture and traditions, which are often perceived as something out-of-place and at the same time feared as the embodiment of evil spirits.
Concluding thoughts
Religious objects symbolise entire cultural and social universes, which are always difficult for outsiders fully to understand. This is particularly true of non-Western material culture and, in this case, of traditional religious objects, which have been brought to Western museums as curiosities from other parts of the world. In museums, though, traditional religious objects have almost never been treated as ‘Gods’ Collections’: their sacred essence and religious power have been overlooked in favour of their artistic features and Western-centric ethnographic meanings, because, as Constance Classen and David Howes have observed: ‘in museum settings, [ethnographic] artefacts are pre-eminently objects for the eyes’, with only the most visually ‘striking’ objects being put on display and the less visually ‘noticeable’ and more ordinary items (like non-Western religious items), kept in museum storage (2006: 200). This mistreatment has offered, though, the opportunity to ponder whether (Western) museums are suitable environments for the display and ‘care’ of such objects, especially given the current cultural climate, which sees some museums trying to repair historical wrongs by returning to the original communities some of the items unlawfully acquired and brought to the West. However, physical restitution may not be always possible owing to the fragile condition of some of the objects: therefore it is important to consider interventions that can be led by the heirs of the source communities, and which involve the appropriate respect and care that religious collections deserve.
References
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Notes
[1] Cuoco, A. (2017), ‘We belong’, p.304.
[2] The term Yorùbá describes both a language and an ethnic group from Western Africa, mainly from Nigeria, Benin, and Togo.
[3] ‘Babalawos practice in their homes or travel to do divinations for persons or communities. They have their own shrines/altars where they keep their instruments, herbs, amulets’ – from email conversation with Henry J. Drewal, 06/08/21.
[4] From email conversation with Henry J. Drewal, 06/08/21.
[5] From email conversation with Henry J. Drewal, 06/08/21.
[6] The opa osun is a powerful object, which possesses performative power (ase) and which is constantly fed with blood. Thompson Drewal and Drewal explained that: “medicines that give the osun much of its power are buried at its base. The tail (iru) of the osun, which is stuck into the ground, absorbs power through its tip” (Thompson Drewal and Drewal, 1983:65).
[7] Esu is ‘the inspector general who reports regularly to Olodumare on the deeds of the divinities and men, and checks and makes sure reports on the correctness of worship in general and sacrifices in particular’ (Bewaji, 1998: 13).
[8] These are also known as "The Owner-of-the-House," that is, the owner of the Iledi, the Osugbo lodge. They ‘are cast when a town is founded and an Osugbo house is established, in this case, around the late 18th century […] They are prepared with such powerful substances that to see them is to risk blindness or death’ (Thompson Drewal and Drewal, 1983:65).
[9] These can be: an agere (wooden bowl, usually ornamented with a figurine, on a stand); ‘an ajere (a perforated clay pot), an odu (another small clay pot without perforations), or simply a small lidded wooden or porcelain bowl’ (Ibidem: 66).
[10] Otonba is a variant spelling of Otunba, which means the "Second to the ruler" and which was a traditional title (from email conversation with Henry J. Drewal, 06/08/21.).
[11] The surname Martinez comes from the privileged Sierra Leone and Brazilian communities in Lagos and the donor was most likely Christian (from email conversation with Henry J. Drewal, 06/08/21).
