Hello to everyone in the Ecotrain community, this is my first post here in the community and I'd love to talk about the popular Oro festival in Yorubaland Nigeria.
Nigeria is divided into 3 major ethnic groups. The Igbo, Hausa, and the Yoruba. The Oro festival which I will be talking about is a festival peculiar to the Yoruba tribe in Nigeria. Oro is a Yoruba god or deity.
The Oro festival is a very secretive festival that can only be participated in by Initiated males of the confraternity therefore giving it a patriarchal nature. It is a festival mostly carried out in the middle of the night and in which females and non-initiated males are not allowed to see. The details of what happens during the Oro festival remains a mystery to most of the Non-initiates as anyone who is seen during the festival is killed and used as a sacrifice during the ceremony.
The Oro masquerade is recognized by it high pitched swishing sound and the initiates following it make very scary incantations which when accompanying the swishing sound has a very deep and scary tone.
The Oro festival is mostly carried out when a reigning monarch/king dies, when a new king is being installed or when unusual events have been happening in the community. It is widely believed by many that the Oro masquerade is carried by an initiate dressed in a white flowing robe/garment and covered with cowries plus a wooden mask covered in blood and that when a non-initiate sees it (especially males), the non-initiate dies. It is also believed that the meal prepared during the Oro festivals must be finished before the festival is over (which is usually just a night). So even if a cow is killed during the festival, it must be finished overnight and must not remain till this next morning.
There have some not really common cases of Oro festival being carried out in broad daylight in some part of Yorubaland but that is not so common as it a night festival. Whenever it is carried out during the day, notices are made days before the ceremony to warn the people not to come out during this ceremony. The Oro festival is an age long ceremony and is still widely practiced in all parts of Yorubaland.
This article is not in any way to defame the Yoruba people or culture as I am a proud Yoruba myself but to let the outside world know about the cultures and history of the Yorubaland. Most of the content here are from histories I have been told and what i have experienced/known of the Oro festival. I will really appreciate your feedback and comments on the post. Thank you
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Females aren't allowed to see this deity as they would die. I remembered when I was very young, there was to be an Oro sacrifice that day and we all were told to go inside and never to look through the window because the Oro is a spirit and would know if a female is peeping through the window and we all are scared then. Thanks for sharing and coming to the community for the first time. I hope you keep bringing interesting post here.
Yes, females are not allowed to see the Oro festival. Thank you for sharing. I am looking forward to posting more on the community too.