Ruler-Deity

Human Origins. Part of the creation mythology of the Yoruba people, Obatala is one of several Yoruba deities thought to have been living people. In the Yoruba cosmology he is one of the sixteen envoys (orisa, or deities) whom the Supreme God assigned "to create some order out of the confused watery mass on earth below." According to what Omofolabo S. Ajayi describes as "the sacred myth," Obatala was in charge of creating "solid earth" and human forms, which he then presented to Olorun "to breathe life into." According to one myth, Obatala got intoxicated one day, after drinking palm wine offered him by Ogun, and started being sloppy in his creation. He fell asleep, and when he woke up, Oduduwa had usurped his place, becoming the ruler of all the Earth from his capital at Ile- Ife. Thereafter, "Obatala's people became known as the 'Igbo'...