No monolatry here, it seems, although I'm very iffy about the term itself and its application.
He says this in p. 197:
"It is significant that the Yoruba apply the verb "sin", meaning to serve or worship, to
Olodumare, but not the verb "bọ", meaning to offer sacrifice or venerate through ritual
offering. Both verbs are applied to the oriṣa. The oriṣa have specialized priesthoods
and traditions of worshippers/followers, whereas Olodumare has no specialized priesthood
and his cult is either universal or nonexistent." (I added the quote in "sin" and "bo" to substitute for italics)
There is no worship of one any oriṣa that will not entail sacrifice to other oriṣa. If one whrsips Ọrunmila, one also worships at least Olodumare. They are family. There is usually a focal oriṣa (Ọrunmila for Babalawos), but because of their relations you cannot avoid the others. They are always present. Even for Babalawos, Ogunnaike mentions that each of the "Odu" (sacred verse of Ifa) is its own deity, and every Babalawo has one which is their own special deity, according to whose life pattern Including taboos) they must live according to. The "Odu" are children of Ọrunmila. So I'd call it a complex ritual system of multiple nested allegiances. "Worship" here means something a bit different than terms like "monolatry" assumes to be normative.
I think people even in religious studies often under note the influence egypt and the whole of africa has had on both christian and muslim liturature and thinking given how popular they were there early on in thire histories
I love the igbagbọ concept. It really leads to humility.
If I understand it correctly, Babalawos have to worship Ọrunmila, but can they worship other deities as well or is it more a kind of monolatry?
No monolatry here, it seems, although I'm very iffy about the term itself and its application.
He says this in p. 197:
"It is significant that the Yoruba apply the verb "sin", meaning to serve or worship, to
Olodumare, but not the verb "bọ", meaning to offer sacrifice or venerate through ritual
offering. Both verbs are applied to the oriṣa. The oriṣa have specialized priesthoods
and traditions of worshippers/followers, whereas Olodumare has no specialized priesthood
and his cult is either universal or nonexistent." (I added the quote in "sin" and "bo" to substitute for italics)
There is no worship of one any oriṣa that will not entail sacrifice to other oriṣa. If one whrsips Ọrunmila, one also worships at least Olodumare. They are family. There is usually a focal oriṣa (Ọrunmila for Babalawos), but because of their relations you cannot avoid the others. They are always present. Even for Babalawos, Ogunnaike mentions that each of the "Odu" (sacred verse of Ifa) is its own deity, and every Babalawo has one which is their own special deity, according to whose life pattern Including taboos) they must live according to. The "Odu" are children of Ọrunmila. So I'd call it a complex ritual system of multiple nested allegiances. "Worship" here means something a bit different than terms like "monolatry" assumes to be normative.
I think people even in religious studies often under note the influence egypt and the whole of africa has had on both christian and muslim liturature and thinking given how popular they were there early on in thire histories