Iyami Osoronga
Yoruba · deity · primordial · Recorded classification
The mothers are the power nobody in this tradition wants to be on the wrong side of. The name is 'my mother' said with enormous care, the praise names run to the owner of the sacred bird and the wise and formidable elders, and the whole Gelede masking tradition exists to keep them pleased. Whether Iyami Osoronga is one goddess or the collective name of many is not a question the sources answer cleanly, and the record does not force it.
Variant accounts
- Whether Iyami Osoronga is a single goddess or a collective is not settled by the sources.The name is used both as a proper name for a Great Mother figure and as a collective for the powerful ancestral women generally, and the praise names — 'Our Mothers', 'the Wise and Formidable Elders' — are plural while 'my mysterious mother' is singular. This programme does not ingest collectives; the record is authored because the name also functions as a proper name, and this variant states the ambiguity instead of resolving it.Reference treatment of Iyami Aje, which gives both the singular address and the plural praise names. (secondary)
Domains
- ancestors
- fertility
Sources
- Iyami Osoronga is the Yoruba female ancestral power, protective and dangerous, associated with fertility and addressed under praise names including Our Mothers and Owner of the Sacred Bird.: Reference treatment of Iyami Aje, her names and her character. (secondary)