Hail Orisha!: A Phenomenology of a West African Religion in the Mid-Nineteenth Century (Studies of Religion in Africa)

Orisha worshippers who were not subjected to forced migration to the Americas in the nineteenth century remained their own masters, inhabiting cities, towns and farm villages in their West African kingdoms. This study uses documentation from Yoruba writings and from the written record of European missionaries to describe the various facets of their religious life. Arranged in the form of a phenomenology, the work deals with such matters as the veneration of the environment; carved images of the divine; the orisha celebrated in festival, worship and sacrifice; systems of divination; female and male religious specialists; and the protean divinities themselves. The comprehensive use of archival material will ensure the abiding value of this historical picture of the orisha, useful for comparisons with the present day. Peter R. McKenzie, Ph. D. (1953) in Church History, University of Edinburgh, is former Head of Department of Religion, University of Leicester, England. He has published extensively on Phenomenology and History of Religion and West African Religious History including Inter-religious Encounters in West Africa (Leicester, 1976). Hail Orisha! Contents Preface Abbreviations Map of Yorubaland Introduction PART ONE: The World of Religious Phenomena I. Natural Symbols of the Òrìşà II. Images and Cult Objects of the Òrìşà III. Sacred Space for the Òrìşà Cults IV. Sacred Time for the Òrìşà Worshippers V. The Sacred Number in Yoruba Religion VI. Sacred Action: Purification VII. Sacred Action: Sacrifice VIII. Sacred Action: Unification IX. The Sacred Word from the Deity X. The Sacred Word to the Deity XI. The Sacred Person in the Òrìşà Cults XII. The Sacred Community PART TWO: The Conceptual World of the Òrìşà Cults XIII. The Concept Of Deity XIV. The Concept of Creation XV. The Concept of Revelation XVI. Salvation XVII. The Last Things PART THREE: Religious Experience in the Òrìşà Cults XVIII. Basic Forms of Religious Experience XIX. Supernormal Forms of Religious Experience Conclusion Appendix: Modus Operandi References Index

Orisha worshippers who were not subjected to forced migration to the Americas in the nineteenth century remained their own masters, inhabiting cities, towns and farm villages in their West African kingdoms. This study uses documentation from Yoruba writings and from the written record of European missionaries to describe the various facets of their religious life. Arranged in the form of a phenomenology, the work deals with such matters as the veneration of the environment; carved images of the divine; the orisha celebrated in festival, worship and sacrifice; systems of divination; female and male religious specialists; and the protean divinities themselves.
The comprehensive use of archival material will ensure the abiding value of this historical picture of the orisha, useful for comparisons with the present day.