[size=4]I'm a Child of Damballah and I been seeing a lot of Yoruba practicianers lately. When I talk to them they like all groups feel their Religion is Oldest but can't substantiate it, What are the major differences between the two practices?

I'll give it a shot.

Yoruba cosmology is older, with roots in ancient Egypt, from where the Yoruba people migrated westward.

The long migration westward, occurring over hundreds of years, gave birth to several offshoots of the original Nile Valley cosmologies, from the rather arcane Yoruba concepts to the more earthy Vodun,and even more earthy, less sophisticated belief sysytems among more isolated groups deep in the rain forests. The underlying thread connecting all of them is the belief in a supreme Creator, a pantheon of dieties said to be different aspects of the supreme Diety and given expression in the forces of nature and in human beings.

The Yoruba pantheonof Orishas more closely parallels the ancient Egyptian. We can draw direct connections betweenOshun and Isis,Shango and Osiris, Orunmila and Ptah, and between Olorun and Amun/Ra. Some orishas can be said to be composites of two or more Egyptian Dieties.

The OrishasLegba, God of the crossroads or the intersecting planes of the spiritual and corporeal,corresponds directly to the God Thoth. This Orisha, andOgun, God of iron and war, are also prominent in the Vodun pantheon of Loa.

Yoruba focuses on understanding the energy forces swirling within, through and around us, and how they are expressed through the different archetypes of human nature.

Voduntoo seeks understanding of the underlying forces of nature. It also goes further in its attempts to actually manipulate those underlying forces, through theRada and Petro rites.

Rada takes its name from a city-state in what is now Benin and represents the beneficent expressions of the Loa.

Petro represents the other side of the Loa, the not-so-nice aspects of the same Dieties. For illustration, this was the side of Vodun that drove the bloody, successful Haitian slave revolution of 1791.

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BTW, that's a powerful name u've got there, Baron.

Peace!

@Omoshango- thankyou very informative post!

I'll just like to add that when we look traditional Afrikan Spirituality, the more we seek to find the differences between particular traditions, we find there are more similarities. as i heard one brother put it the difference is more in form than essence.

that is to say that the way a ritual is performed from may differ for different traditions, but the meaning behind the ritual, and what it represents can always be seen! Omoshangos post demostrated thjis also, in the similarities between Acient Kemit & Yuroba. the principles, the values, the theology is more or less all the same. i just tought that was important to note.

1!

Omoshango,

Thank you for the thoughful and coherent breakdown of the two practices. I've been looking at the similarities between the two and with those practices of The ancestors in Egypt/Kemet. Once I tie a up a few loose ends on my practice I want to explore the Yoruba system.

Thanks,

Baron_Samedi

Does anyone on BN practice an African traditional religion or specifically Yoruba style.

Taking a look at the forum suggests that all our people can do is quibble over whether a white pale Jesus or an Arab should be the saviour of all mankind.

I wonder what the rate of success is for traditional healing/(which is part of a belief system) has for mental health within these societies.

Nice thread.

Mansamusa:

In my opinion you can't be of African mind if you practice a white/Jewish derivative religion, Vodun been in my fam since Africa ya dig! You can't talk black while worshipping white! You can't be Afrocentric, practice Negritude or any other ideology while immitating Arabs, Jews and europeans and worshipping them.

Why don't you start a thread on this subject?

Peace!

in answer to MedusaS question- yeah i wouild agree! infact there is a kemetian text that basically states this- i cant remember the exact wording but its something like "weoriginate from the south, from the foot of the mountain of the moon (kilamanjaro) where the God Hapi (God of the Nile) Dwell. It has been Historical research and proven that Nile Valley civilisation did not originated in Kemit but did develop there at a later date!

I agree with the point on how we worship. there does seem to be a bit of contradiction between being Africentric and worshiping in a way alien to ourselves! maybe a thread should be started on this topic, especially seen as there appears to be allot of confusion in terms of Afrikan tradition and the role of other religions in our History!

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Any of these systems that brings us back into the fold of are ancestors can only be a blessing in this day and time.

I second that one, when you worship another man's god and he doesn't answer your calls for help during genocide, slavery, famine and more it is no wonder why so many of us suffer. Allah, Jesus, Yahweh and the gang don't represent us!

Menelik:

Thats a good explanation and I agree, you can't be Afrocentric or of African mind if you are a practicing Christian, Muslim or other Non African traditional belief systems.

hello afrikan peoples,i am practioner of camdomble/yoruba,unfortunately,there is none here in toronto,in the great white north,to teach me ifa lessons,sniff sniff,if somebody knows ofa babalawo or iya( afriikan that is! no white leechs or vultures lol, please let me know! afrikan warrior zumbi