Moremi Ajasoro

Moremi is a goddess of great beauty, which is worshiped by the Yoruba in Ile - Ife ( Osun State in southwest Nigeria ) and some surrounding cities, especially in Offa.

Legend

According to the legend, Moremi went to the supernatural Igbo, there to unravel the secrets of her undead warfare and by them committed kidnapping. The king of the Igbo fell in love with her, made ​​her his concubine, and consecrated them in the secret of his mask bearing warriors. With knowledge of the combustibility of the masks Moremi returned to Ife. She had there but it was only her beloved only son - Ela or Oluorogbo - sacrifice before it could instruct the inhabitants of the city is to arm yourself with the attack of the Igbo with torches to burn as the existing raffia mask robes of threatening Igbo can. With the defeat of the Igbo Moremi became the savior of her people.

Edi hard

In Ile- Ife and some neighboring places Moremi is still revered today in the Edi - hard by Moremi be represented by a priestess and the Igbo of the members of a cult group. In Offa, the king and the last followers of the tradition and had to accept the fact that Muslim believers made ​​the observance of the feast after the destruction of the Moremi shrine in 2000 impossible.

Parallels to the ancient Near East

Local authors have pointed out early on parallels between the Moremi legend and Miriam narrative of the biblical Exodus book (Ex 15:20-21 EU). Noteworthy are also next to the ancient Near Eastern mythology analogies of Ishtar.

Bibliography

• Ademakinwa, JA, Ife, Cradle of the Yoruba, Lagos 1958.
• Olupona, Jacob K.: City of 201 Gods: Ile- Ife in Time, Space and Imagination, Berkeley, 2011.

Footnotes

• Deity
• Religion of the Yoruba