Babalu-Aye
Yoruba · deity · mythic · Recorded classification
Feared orisa of smallpox, disease, and healing, called Shopona; son of Nana Buruku.
Parentage
- parent: Nana Buruku
Domains
- disease smallpox
- healing pestilence
- earth and the cold ground
Powers
- Inflicts and cures smallpox and epidemics
- Heals through knowledge of forest plants
- Send and withdraw plague at will
Epithets
- Bàbá-lú-ayé 'Father, lord of the world (earth)' — propitiatory praise-title of Shopona, the smallpox orisha, whose true name was tabooedBascom, William. The Yoruba of Southwestern Nigeria, Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1969 (secondary scholarship); Verger, Pierre. Notes sur le culte des Orisa et Vodun, IFAN, 1957 (secondary scholarship)
- Ọba-lú-ayé 'King, lord of the world' — the euphemistic praise-name used to avoid pronouncing the dreaded name ShoponaIdowu, E. Bolaji. Olódùmarè: God in Yoruba Belief, Longmans, 1962 (secondary scholarship)
- Ṣọ̀pọ̀nná smallpox / the god of smallpoxIdowu, Olódùmarè: God in Yoruba Belief (secondary)
- Asòjaanò byname of the disease-orisha (Arará/Lucumí)Brown, Santería Enthroned (secondary)
Relations
- equated with: Earth Lord of SmallpoxThe same West African deity under its Gbe/Yoruba reflex (Sakpata/Babalu-Aye).West African vodun/òrìṣà cognates: the same deity across the Gbe (Ewe, Fon) and Yoruba traditions (M. Herskovits, Dahomey, 1938; G. Parrinder, West African Religion, 1961; P. Verger, Notes sur le culte des Orisa et Vodun, 1957) (secondary)
- equated with: SakpataThe same West African deity under its Gbe/Yoruba reflex (Sakpata/Babalu-Aye).West African vodun/òrìṣà cognates: the same deity across the Gbe (Ewe, Fon) and Yoruba traditions (M. Herskovits, Dahomey, 1938; G. Parrinder, West African Religion, 1961; P. Verger, Notes sur le culte des Orisa et Vodun, 1957) (secondary)
Sources
- existence: Wikipedia, Babalú-Ayé (secondary)