Oduduwa

The one whose abode covers the entire world, the mighty one of the world, he who blesses his devotees and never causes them harm. King Odùduwà is Ilé-Ifè’s tutelary god. He accuses Obàtàlá of getting drunk and falling asleep when they were supposed to create and populate the World, so that Olódùmarè sent Odùduwà after them to finish the job. Odùduwà created the Earth, sparking a long rivalry which ended with Odùduwà seizing Ilé-Ifè from Obàtálá — a conflict that humans ritually reenact every year. Odùduwà and Obàtálá never get along even at the best of times: Odùduwà thinks Obàtálá weak, and Obàtálá thinks Odùduwà stuffy, stuck-up, and presumptive. Even more controversially, Odùduwà alone among the Òrìshà or Loa believes in Titans as a separate category from Gods. He claims to have defeated ancestral spirits of the river, sun, and fire when he first took power in Yorùbáland.

Odùduwà believes in ending threats and problems swiftly and forcefully. The god-king who rules Yorùbáland from Ilé-Ifè is Odùduwà’s current Scion and Incarnation. Ritually sequestered from mortal humans, he participates on Odùduwà’s behalf in various important ceremonies.

Odùduwà’s best-known Scion, Oranmiyan, represents what Odùduwà expects of every child: perseverance and greatness. When it came time for Oranmiyan to leave home, Odùduwà sent three lice to each king of Benin, bidding them care for the lice for three years and then return them. When they succeeded, Odùduwà judged Benin worthy to receive Oranmiyan as their godking and warrior hero, thus founding the Òyó Empire.