Ọlọrun

Ọlọrun (Yoruba alphabet: Ọlọrun) (Ede language: ɔlɔrun) is the ruler of (or in) the Heavens, creator of the Yoruba, and the Supreme Deity or Supreme Being in the Yoruba pantheon and related syncretic religions. Ọlọrun is also called numerous other names including Olodumare (Yoruba alphabet: Olódùmarè), Eledumare and Eleduwa/Eledua. However, in some in belief systems the different names refer to particular deities or aspects of the same deity.

Ọlọrun
Monarch of the Heavens, Supreme Monarch of Deities, Sky, Earth, Universe
Other names	Olorun, Olodumare, Olafin-Orun, Olofi, Olofin
Venerated in	Yoruba religion, Umbanda, Candomble, Santeria, Haitian Vodou, Folk Catholicism
Region	Yorubaland, parts of Latin America
Ethnic group	Yoruba
Genealogy
Children	Oluwasojon

Etymology

From the Yoruba language, Olorun's name is a contraction of the words oní (which denotes ownership or rulership) and ọ̀run (which means the Heavens, abode of the spirits).

Another name, Olodumare, comes from the phrase "O ní odù mà rè" meaning "the owner of the source of creation that does not become empty," "or the All Sufficient".^[1][2][3][4]

Yoruba

In Yoruba culture, Ọlọrun is credited with creating the universe and all living things. Ọlọrun is frequently perceived as a compassionate entity who protects its creations and is thought to be omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. People do not worship Olorun directly; there are no sacred areas of worship, no iconography.

Ọlọrun's ordained are known to be Obatalá^[5] of which is appointed a divine sun OlúwaṢójon.^[6] Olorun is outlying, distant, and does not partake in human rituals. There are no shrines or sacrifices dedicated directly to them, although followers can send prayers in their direction.^[7][8]

For Yoruba traditions, there is no centralized authority; because of this, there are many different ways that Yoruba people and their descendants or orisha-based faiths can understand the idea of Ọlọrun.^[7]

Historically, the Yoruba worship Ọlọrun through the agency of the orisha; thus there is no direct image, shrine or sacrifice for the deity.^[7] It is generally believed that Ọlọrun is manifest in all of existence, and the believer is therefore bound to be grateful and loving towards all beings.^[9][4] However, there are those who also worship directly. Believing the deity to be the origin of virtue and mortality, and bestower of the knowledge of things upon all persons when they are born. Ọlọrun is omnipotent, transcendent, unique, all knowing, good, and evil^{[clarification needed]}.^[9] Orishas, the deity's manifestations, are supernatural beings, both good (egungun) and bad (ajogun), who represent human activity and natural forces, and who maintain universal equilibrium.^[10]

Trinidad Orisha

Main article: Trinidad Orisha

The one supreme god in Trinidad Orisha is Oludumare, the Yoruba supreme being who created the aye, the world of the living, visible to us, and the Orun, the invisible spiritual world of the gods, spirits, and ancestors.^[11] Creator of the cosmology and all that exists, Babalú-Ayé.^[12]

Santería

Main article: Santería

Santería teaches the existence of an overarching divinity, known as Olodumare, Olofi, or Olorun.^[13] Practitioners believe that this divinity created the universe but takes little interest in human affairs.^[14] As this creator deity is inaccessible to humanity,^[15] no major offerings are dedicated to it.^[16] The three facets of this divinity are understood slightly differently; Olodumare represents the divine essence of all that exists, Olorun is regarded as the creator of all beings, while Olofi dwells in all creation.^[17] In taking a triplicate form, this deity displays similarities with the Christian Trinity.^[17]

Gender

Ọlọrun has no gender in the Ifá Literary Corpus, and is always referred to as an entity who exists in spiritual form only. ^[18][19] Christian missionaries, such as Bolaji Idowu, aimed to reinterpret traditional Yoruba culture as consistent with Christian theology as a way of pushing conversion. The first translation of the Bible into Yoruba in the late 1800s by Samuel Ajayi Crowther controversially adopted traditional Yoruba names, such as "Olodumare/Olorun" for "God" and "Eshu" for the devil, and thus began associating Olorun with the male gender.^[18]

Western ideology

Comparisons to western idelogy:^{[citation needed]}

• Olodumare – the Lord God of the Source of Creation
• Olorun – the Lord God of Heaven

In popular culture

• Olorun is mentioned in the song "The Rhythm of the Saints" from the 1990 album The Rhythm of the Saints by Paul Simon.
• Olorun is mentioned in the song "Lua Soberana" from the 1992 album Brasileiro by Sérgio Mendes (composed by Vítor Martins and Ivan Lins).
• Olorun appears as one of the gods in the 2014 video game Smite.
• Eledumare is mentioned in the 2018 song "Soco" by Starboy featuring Wizkid.