Teorías de competitividad

The term Oro-Imole can be literally interpreted as ‘Imole ritual’ or ‘ritual of Imole’. In practice as applied to the second phase of the late Chief Olugbami’s funeral rites (Oku-Sise), Oro-Imole incorporates all the ritual performance by the members of the Imole group (Onimole) at the start of the funeral ceremony. It (Oro-Imole) began at around 10:00 in the morning and ended two hours later at Noon on December 14^th, 2000.

Before I present the performance context of the Oro-Imole, it is necessary to first explain the reasons for its inclusion in the funeral rites for the late Chief Olugbami, as the reasons also apply to other deceased titleholders in Ijumuland. First, the people of Adde

hold that when performing the funeral ceremony for any titleholder, it is important to first placate, with certain ritual sacrifice(s), the spirit being Imole, who is considered the mouthpiece of all other spiritual beings. Such propitiatory sacrifices are believed to encourage Imole to plead before her contemporaries to accept the spirit of the dead into the realm of spiritual forces. The second and last reason, is that before the dead can be released from inside the grave, underneath the earth/land (the domain of Imole), and let go into the world of the spirits, certain ritual sacrifices must again be offered to Imole, who is figuratively the ‘owner of the earth/land’. The following is detailed information on Oro-Imole performed by the Asorin faction of the Ekinrin-Adde’s Imole society during the late Chief Olugbami’s Ikaro second funeral ceremony.

The ritual started at approximately 10:05 a.m. when the group leader (Iye-Mole) poured some drops of blood of the animal victim (a cow) on the floor, very close to where the title symbols of the deceased that include beaded necklaces (Akun-Oye) and stool (Otita), were laid (Figure 3.4). The insignias symbolized the spiritual presence of Olugbami at the venue of the funeral ceremony, while the blood offering was for Imole, goddess of the earth/land. Next, she (Iye-Mole) laid a kola nut on top of the blood with her left hand (Figure 3.5i), an allusion of femininity, indicating that the sacrifices (animal blood and kola nut) are specific to the earth goddess Imole. Still holding the kola nut on the floor with the left hand, she invoked first the spirit of Imole and next, that of the dead (Chief Olugbami) by chanting the praise poems (Oriki) of both.

At the end of the invocations, Iye-Mole engaged in a ritual dance and was at once joined by the group members (Onimole), who danced in an anti- clockwise direction,

signifying that the ritual dance was for the realm of spiritual forces. At a certain time, the dancers shifted the venue of the dance to the outside, in front of the deceased’s house, where his grave was located (Figure 3.5ii). As the ritual dance continued, so also the participants sang repeatedly one particular song of praise that acknowledged the Supreme Being, whom they addressed as Orisaloke (‘God in heaven’), as the Creator of Imole and all human beings. The song goes:

Oludarin: E e semi ko daa

Olugbe: Orisaloke oun ko da’Mole Oludarin: E e sawa ko daa

Olugbe: Orisaloke oun ko da’Mole Oludarin: Ee seyin ko daa

Olugbe: Orisaloke oun ko da’Mole Oludarin: Ee sewo ko daa

Olugbe: Orisaloke oun ko da’Mole Oludarin: Ee sawon ko daa

Olugbe: Orisaloke oun ko da’Mole [Lead singer: I am not the one

Chorus: God in heaven is the Creator of Imole Lead singer: We are not the one

Chorus: God in heaven is the Creator of Imole Lead singer: You people are not the one Chorus: God in heaven is the Creator of Imole Lead singer: He/she is not the one

Chorus: God in heaven is the Creator of Imole Lead singer: They are not the one

Chorus: God in heaven is the Creator of Imole.

As simply composed as it is, this song is significant in the sense that it furthers our understanding of the Yoruba concepts of God and spirit beings as they relate to ritual sacrifices or offerings (Ebo). In his work on Yoruba sacrificial practice, Omosade Awolalu raised the thought-provoking question: “To whom is sacrifice offered?”¹⁷⁰ A similar question can be asked, as it applies to the song of Onimole as well as to the associated rituals above: Are the song and invocation rituals for Imole, late Chief Olugbami, or Orisaloke (‘God in heaven’)? Before commenting on my question, I want to first consider Omosade’s own response to the question that he raised:

The divinities and the spirit beings are subservient to God, and they owe their “almightiness” to God. Furthermore, from our observation we know that even though the name of the particular divinity being worshipped is invoked, we hear the worshippers say Ase, Ase (May it be so); and they add

Lase Edumare (By the power of Edumare) or Olorun a gbo (May God hear).

This means that the final say rests with God.¹⁷¹

It is evident in Omosade’s response (above) that even though the Yoruba invoked or called the name of the particular spirit being to which the sacrifice is offered, the

worshippers strongly believe that the ultimate, to whom all invocations and worships are directed, is God, the Supreme Being. Thus, by extension, it could be argued that any sacrifice made by the Yoruba is in fact not to the particular spirit being, whose name was invoked, but rather to God to whom all spirit beings are subservient. This is indeed reflected in the song sung by the Onimole, in spite of the fact that all the invocations and ritual performances were associated with Imole and the deceased, they (Onimole) still concluded with the proclamation that God is the Creator of all creatures.

170 Awolalu, “Yoruba Sacrificial Practice,” Journal of Religion in Africa, vol. V fascicule 2 (1973): 92

171 Awolalu, “Yoruba Sacrificial Practice,” 92.