Osun Osogbo, NIgeria

 

Osun Osogbo History.

Every August, many people from round the world throng to Osun State, Nigeria, to attend and participate within the famous, two-week long Osun-Osogbo Festival. it's held at the illustrious and sacred Osun Grove, which was named as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005. Although a large number of the participants are Osun indigenes, the festival has, over the years, morphed into an occasion that draws the eye of tourists and visitors from other parts of the planet .

The Early Years...

According to legend, the festival was borne out of the yearly sacrifice done to celebrate the river goddess, who is the protector of the the clan. The legend goes thus: about seven centuries ago, when the present Osogbo community was founded. The river goddess assured the people of her protection and promised to bless their women with fruitfulness of they might offer a sacrifice to her annually. The contract was sealed and therefore the sacrifices and ceremonies became a thing - approximately the legend goes.

The Susanne Wenger Effect...

The Osun-Osogbo festival has evolved beyond just being a cultural event celebrated by the Yoruba peoples of Osogbo to being a renown international celebration that keeps attracting new participants yearly. The story of the festival would be incomplete without talking about the many impact that Susanne Sawyer - the Austrian born artist - had on the culture.
Susanne Sawyer and her husband, Ulli Beier, where stationed in Ibadan within the early 1950s. Ulli was hired at the University of Ibadan as a phonetician. They relocated to Osun soon afterwards and, there, Susanne cultivated a deep interest within the Yoruba religion, meeting and communicating with one among the priests of the faith at the time. She later became a Yoruba priestess herself, with the normal title: Iwinfunmi Adunni Olorisha which loosely translates as ‘the beloved who or serves the deity.’

The White Priestess:

Susanne Wenger's influence is extremely remarkable within the scheme of things, as her ability to find out and interpret a number of the intricate details about the Yoruba culture through her profound artistic gift and activism greatly contributed to creating the festival more renown. because the guardian of the Sacred Grove of Osun goddess on the banks of the Osun River in Oshogbo, she helped restore many of the shrines that were in varying states of ruin from neglect. She also managed to preserve the forest round the grove, ensuring that no hunting or fishing was done round the groves, the tress weren't felled which the scenery was kept sacred. She passed on 12th of January, 2009 at the Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Hospital in Osogbo

 

Main Attractions...

 The Osun-Osogbo festival, without a doubt, is quite just sacrifices performed to celebrate the Osun River goddess. Not anymore, at least. There are several activities planned round the festival, as tourists and visitors all come to witness, interact and partake within the two-week long celebration. However, there's a sequence of rituals that begin the celebrations and that they are:

•   The Iwopopo Ritual: this is often a ritual done to cleanse the town from evil. it's done first before the festival starts properly.
•   The Ina Olujumerindinlogun Ritual: this is often the normal ritual that involves the lighting of a 16-point lamp which is believed to be 600 years old. This ritual is administered three days after the Iwopopo ritual is completed .
•   The Iboriade Ritual: The Iboriade ritual is when all the crowns of the past kings - Ataojas - are assembled for blessings by the sitting Ataoja of Osogbo, the Arugba, the Yeye Osun, and a committee of priestesses.
•   The Arugba Ritual: this is often one among the main highlights of the festival. A calabash containing the sacrifice materials that might be wont to appease and worship the goddess is carried across town by a votary virgin, on her head. As she leads the procession to the river, the people, seeing her as a representative of the goddess, cast their problems on her and say prayers.Beyond the normal rites enumerated above, the Osun-Osogbo festival features a lot of other side attractions and activities that make the event a wholesome experience for even first time visitors and tourists. There are trade fairs, games and other fun activities mapped out that make it an exciting fortnight of celebration.