The YORUBA from south west Nigeria and parts of Dahomey and Togo are twelve million in number and are the largest tribe in West Africa. They have settled in the city states of which Ife and Dyo are the most powerful At the turn of the seventeenth century, every province had its OBA and each village its chief. The OBAS still exist in Nigeria today but their power and wealth is greatly diminished. The older notables of each tribe belonged to the OGBONI society which appointed certain officials and conducted secret courts and its power is still effective at the present day. The OGBONI society was formerly supervised by smiths and is therefore of very ancient origin.
Although the YORUBA have largely received Christian baptism, they still feel a tie with the high god OLORUN and his spirit messengers the ORISHAS. The most important ORISHAS are SHANGO the spirit of thunder and lightening and mythical founder of the tribe; OBATALA the god of growth and creation, or purity and compassion; ODUDUWA wife of OBATALA, the earth goddess sometimes symbolized by a nursing mother. OSHUN and OYO river goddesses, OLOKUN god of the sea, IFA the personification of divine wisdom, ESHU, ELEGBARA or ERINLE the uncertain principle; OGUN or OSANYIN, life force in the form of “powerful medicine”, god of war, and IBEJI the god of twins.
Apart from the OGBONI society, are other secret societies such as EPA and EGUNGUN.
The IBEJI twins similar to that of the MENDE, are commissioned by the bereaved mother to replace a twin who has died and who’s spirit will roam the earth, unless it finds a resting place in the wooden statue. The twins are ranked by birth order and the first born will always bear the name of TAIWO. It is he who has come first to show the way to his dominant brother KEHINDE who is regarded as the senior twin. All lineage property descends through the male line and it would be KEHINDE who would assume the titles and properties of his father and in the event of his decease, then TAIWO would inherit.
The twinning birth rate among the YORUBA is extremely high, showing figures back in the mid 1970’s of 45.1 twin births for every 1000 babies born. This is roughly four times higher than the rate found in USA or UK. While the twins are both alive, they are fed each week on a special meal of beans and oil. Both these items are thought to calm the spirit and sooth the soul. Twins are looked upon with some fear as bringers of trouble, and as the stomach is looked upon as the “seat of anger”, it is felt that by feeding them this soothing dish, they will be less likely to bring problems. At the same time of this special meal, any other child in the compound is also fed on the same dish, and in one very strange case, a woman who had twins and was living in London, ensured that at the same time each week while she was presenting her twins with this special meal, that her mother in Nigeria was feeding the children present in her compound with the same meal at the same time.In the event of one or both twins dying, the IBEJI replacement or pair would be offered this dish at the same time each week and on the day chosen each year to celebrate the birth of the twins, the ceremonies would be still held for either the living or the IBEJI twins.
In the event of the death of one or both twins, the mother will consult the BARALAWO before commissioning the carver to sculpt the ERE IBEJI. She specifies the sex and the ILA (lineage face markings) that the statue will bear. Once carved—always in the image of a fully sexually matured adult figure normally with hands at the sides
touching either hips or thighs—the statues are presented to the mother who will then often decorate them with white chalk—EFUN—and indigo—OSUN. The sculptures are bedecked with cowries, beads, metal bracelets and anklets and are sometimes dressed in little hats and jackets and adorned with cosmetics. The mother will then proceed to wash, dress and feed the IBEJI in the same manner as she would a surviving child and honour it on the special day chosen each year. It is strongly felt by the YORUBA that if these rituals are neglected, the dead twin will then become dissatisfied and apart from bringing trouble to the household, will lure his surviving brother or any other siblings to the spirit world.
Properly honoured, they can bring great fortune to their families, but neglected, they can wreak havoc. The black and white COLOBUS monkey known as EDUN is sacred to the twins. The monkey is seen as similar to the YORUBA mother in that it carries its twins one in the front and one on the back. They are also likened to the monkeys as they can “climb up and come down” at will—i.e. they have the power to die and be reborn again to the same mother. The spirit ABIKU is much feared as it is felt that he lures the children to their deaths and great pains are taken to placate and keep him at bay. The YORUBA feel that since the twins are the keepers of one soul which carries the heavenly spirit and one which bears the mortal spirit, it would be very dangerous to neglect one or other twin not knowing which bore which spirit, so it is safer that both be treated as sacred from birth. A single child of a family who has twins does not have an easy life. He is always named IDOWU regardless of sex and must be subservient to his siblings, expecting nothing unless his brothers or sisters have received it first, but a subsequent child to him will be called ALABA and at this birth, the YORUBA parents can relax and feel that life has returned in some respect to normal.
The mother of twins will often be seen in the market place begging alms for her children—both living and dead—and it is essential that the identical alms be given to each child, never favouring one above the other as this would create antagonism and result in death or trouble. While begging alms, the mother will always carry either both live babies or one live and one IBEJI, or both IBEJI’s to ensure that both children are represented. Another means of income for the mother is the selling of palm oil in the market place and it is felt that these jobs are the ones that keep the twins happiest.There are cases now where a photograph of the surviving twin will act as an IBEJI. The negative is printed twice if the children are of the same sex. If different, the child is dressed differently for each photograph, and th negatives are printed side by side to create one photo of two children. These photos are venerated with the same food sacrifices in the same way as the wood sculptures.
