West+African+Creation+and+Destruction+Myths

1. [] **__2. [] 3. [] The West African Creation (Beginning)__** In the beginning the world was a formless chaos, just a marshy waste. I found that the supreme being in West African myth was Olorun who lived in the sky. Olorun ordered Orisha Nla (the Great god) to make the world. Orisha Nla was given a small shell full of magic earth, a pigeon and a five-toed hen. Some of these seemed like items some African tribes use today in chants or special services. He threw the shell (magic earth) in a patch where the hen and pigeon scratched at it until the land and sea was entirley seperated. So the first place on Earth in West African myth was known as lfe (Yoruba:wide) and later lle (Yoruba: house) was added. Today lfe-lle is the most sacred to the Yoruba people. It took Orisha four days to create the earth and on the fifth he rested; like in the christian religion God created the earth but it took six days and on the seventh he rested. Olorun then made rain to water the seeds planted by Orisha which grew into forests. Orisha made the first people also later but only Olorun could give them life. The Yoruba people had two other main gods which was Olokun the sea goddess who lived in a palace under the sea. She had human and fish attendents and her name actually meant "owner of the sea." Before the destruction of the gods Olokun challenged the supreme god "Olorun" to a competition of who had the finest wardrobes, and Olorun won. The other Yoruba god was "Shango" the god of thunder and lightning. I found he was actually proven to be the fourth king of the ancient Oyo empire (West african center of culture and politics for the Yoruba people. He was a powerful king but when two ministers challenged him for the throne he fled into the forest and hide out until he hung himself from a tree. After he died his enemies' houses were set on fire, and people belived when he died he went to the heavens and was sending fire down. (Thats how he got to be known as the god of thunder and fire.)

The ancient mythology started to become myth when during the 18th and 19th century the Yoruba people and west Africans were being taken by the Americans into slavery. The Oyo empire strived from the 15th century to 1835 when this began to happen. But still today their are belivers and people who came from the Yoruba people who still believe in these gods. There are currently a new generation of Yoruba people in West Africa at 30 million. Even though scientist have proven things untrue like about the Shango god really being a mortal king whose friends set his enemies' houses on fire, not him from heavens. I found their religion to be similar to mines (christianity) like god creating the earth, the beast (666) rising out of the sea from the book of revalations in the holy bible is similar to the sea goddess Olokun. Shango the god of Thunder and lighning sculpture
 * __Destruction__**