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Before the emergence of western civilization, each tribe worshipped their own traditional god and had deities associated with various things.

The uniqueness of deities in Yoruba mythology | Pulse Nigeria

Oluwatumininu Dunmade

The Yoruba culture, however, is one whose deities are relatively unique compared to other cultures.

The Yorubas, for one, do not always assign gender to some of their deities, the gender of some gods was never specified. Èṣù, the deity of chance, change and uncertainty, is considered male in a part of Yoruba culture and female in other parts.

Olókun, the ruler of the ocean in some communities in Yoruba land, is considered a male while in other parts, Olókun is seen as a female, a goddess.

In certain mythologies like Greek and Roman, beauty is associated with a certain deity, Aphrodite and Venus, respectively. Beauty, in Yoruba mythology, is not associated with a certain deity.

It was said that all the goddesses were beautiful, as beauty was a characteristic feature of each goddess. But if one had to refer to a beautiful goddess, Olókun, the goddess of the ocean and Yemọja, the goddess of the deep sea, were the most commonly mentioned.

The Yorubas also had a separation of power among the rulers of water bodies, and there was no particular god or goddess in control of water; instead, there were goddesses.

Yemọja is associated with the deep sea, Ọ̀ṣun, Ọya, and Ọbà are related to rivers, while Olókun is associated with the ocean and large bodies of water. These deities often differed from community to community.&nbsp;

Death, in Yoruba mythology, is seen as a force and not a god to be worshipped. The Yorubas believed that only Olódùmarè, the supreme God, could control death, and it was not a messenger of the supreme God.&nbsp;

This, amongst many other things, is what singles Yoruba mythology from other cultures.

The uniqueness of deities in Yoruba mythology

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