Orisha

Q: What religion believes in Orisha?

In the Yoruba religion of West Africa, Orisha are seen as supernatural entities usually referred to as deities. The Orishas traveled to the Americas and the Caribbean via the Transatlantic Slave Trade, and there they became syncretized with the Christian saints of Catholicism.

Q: Is Orisha a goddess?

Orisha are supernatural entities usually referred to as deities in the Yoruba religion of West Africa, though they are actually emanations or avatars of the supreme being Olodumare.

Q: Who is the most powerful Orisha?

In one story, 17 Orisha are tasked by Olodumare to finish creation. 16 Orishas are male and the 17th, Oshun, is not only female but the youngest among them. The male Orishas fail because they ignore the young woman Oshun, and have to apologize to her while she finishes the task.

Joshua J. Mark

Orisha

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Definition

Orisha (also given as Orisa and Orishas) are supernatural entities usually referred to as deities in the Yoruba religion of West Africa, though they are actually emanations or avatars of the supreme being Olodumare. Their number is usually given as 400 + 1 as a kind of shorthand for "without number" or innumerable.

More about: Orisha

Timeline

c. 500 BCE - c. 300 BCE
Approximate dates for development of the Orisha as aspects of the Yoruba Religion of West Africa.

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