List of Yoruba deities

The following is a list of Yoruba orisha (òrìṣà), or deities.

Supreme being

The Supreme God has three manifestations:

  • Olodumare - The Lord God of the Source of Creation
  • Olorun - The Lord God of Heaven
  • Olofi - The Lord God of the Palace, conduit between Orún (Heaven) and Ayé (Earth).

Metaphysical personifications or spirits
  • Orunmila - spirit of wisdom, divination, destiny, and foresight
  • Ori - personification of one's spiritual intuition and destiny

Àwọn òrìṣà ọkùnrin (male orishas)
  • Aganjú - orisha that was a warrior king, walked with a sword as a staff, and is associated with fire. He is not associated with volcanoes in Yorùbáland in West Africa, contrary to what is believed in cuban-style practice of orisa.
  • Ọbalúayé - orisha of the Earth and strongly associated with infectious disease and healing
  • Erinlẹ̀ - an elephant hunter and physician to the gods
  • Èṣù - Èṣù is the orisha of crossroads, duality, beginnings and balance
  • Ibeji - twin orisha of vitality and youth
  • Lógunẹ̀dẹ - a warrior and hunter
  • Ọbàtálá - creator of human bodies; orisha of light, spiritual purity, and moral uprightness
  • Odùduwà - progenitor orisha of the Yorubas
  • Ògún - orisha who presides over iron, fire, hunting, agriculture and war
  • Okó - a hunter and farmer
  • Osanyin - orisha of the forest, herbs and medicine
  • Oṣùmàrè - divine rainbow serpent associated with creation and procreation
  • Ọ̀ṣọ́ọ̀sì - orisha of the hunt, forest, strategy and of the knowledge
  • Ṣàngó - orisha of the thunders and lightnings
  • Akògún - a warrior and hunter, wear straw

Àwọn òrìṣà Obinrin(Female Orishas)

Difference between Yoruba òrìṣà worship and what is practiced among Afro-Hispanics

These are the major orisha worshipped in Santería / Regla de Ocha / Lucumí religion:

  • Elegua, Yemayá (Yemọja), Oshún (Ọ̀ṣun), Shangó (Sangó), Obatalá, Oya, and Ogún etc. (missing: Elegba and Oshosi),

or:

  • Elegba, Yemayá (Yemọja), Osún, Shangó (Sangó), Obatalá, Oya, and Oshoshi. (missing: Elegua and Ogún)

As one can see, Babalú-Ayé (whom "Ricky Ricardo" sings to in his famous song) is a very lesser deity in Afro-Hispanic worship.

Cuban orisa worship, sometimes referred to as Santería, is still widely practiced in Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Panama, Venezuela, Colombia, Tobago/Trinidad and Brazil, a number of practitioners are Yoruba descendants to certain degrees. Remnants of the Yoruba language is still used ceremoniously as a ritual language, and is referred to as Lukumí. Due to 200 years of separation from the motherland, Lukumí became a lexicon of words and is not a spoken language. Similar worship of african deities can also be found among the Afro-Franco populations of Haiti and the US state of Louisiana.

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