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Nigeria is a country with so many tribes and these tribes have different cultural practices that they hold in high esteem. The Yoruba tribe is one of the three major and largest tribes in Nigeria and as a result of this they do not take their culture and traditions with levity. Culture and traditions are passed from generations to generations in order to maintain the sanity of the community as well as serving as a shield against trampling or abusing their cherished age long culture.
Taboo is one of the practices that is common among the Yoruba people of Nigeria. Some of these taboos have gone into extinction and some others are still practiced till date. The elderly ones in the society pass on these information to the younger ones through words of mouth. Most of the taboos origin can be traced to past events in the society or basically to make the people disciplined.
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Wikipedia defines taboo as an implicit prohibition on something based on a cultural sense that it is excessively repulsive or, perhaps, too sacred for ordinary people. Such prohibitions are present in virtually all societies.
Taboos in Yoruba culture are the things that people are not expected to do and some of them have sanctions. There are repercussions that follow commiting some of these taboos. However, not all these taboos are unique to the Yoruba tribe, they are general taboos which are peculiar to other tribes too.
- The Yoruba culture strongly frowns against adultery, that is, a married man or woman to have sexual relations with another woman or man that is not his or her husband or wife. The taboo is gender sensitive and puts the women at a higher risk. The man can use what is called "magun" on his wife which may lead to the death of her male lover or make the man and woman get stucked during the act.
It is a taboo in Yoruba land to sit on a mortar. A mortar is very important among the Yoruba people as it is used in preparation of food such as Pounded yam, fufu etc. It is a measure to prevent unhealthy and unhygienic use of the mortar. Therefore in order to prevent people from sitting on it, the elder ones instill fear in the younger ones using it as a taboo.
It is forbidden for a King in Yoruba land to look inside their royal crown. A ruling King that try it is believed to join his ancestors on that day. This is the reason why Kings do not remove their crowns facing down.
It is forbidden for a baby to fall from the back of the mother. The Yoruba people believe that if a male child fall from his mother's back, he will lose his wife when he grow up and for a female child, she will always lose her lover during sexual relations. This taboo is enforced to ensure that mother always treat her children with care and not allow them to fall as this may cause severe injuries to the child.
It is a taboo to talk while removing the feathers of a chicken. It is believed among the Yoruba people that the more you talk during this process, the more the feathers grow. This is a taboo that was made to prevent people especially children from wasting time and to increase their speed.
- Children are restricted from collecting rain water with their hands during rainfall. It is said that anyone that collects rain with his hands will be strike by thunder. This is to ensure children do not play inside the rain, thereby promoting healthy lifestyle.
Let's discuss in the comment section by sharing some of the notable taboos in your culture.
Thank you for your time lovelies.
The post is originally written by me 💕@debbie-ese💕
