While I try to keep things simple when I’m writing, I figured I should at least provide a brief definition for some of the words you might not be familiar with.
Botanica: Spiritual Shop. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, these are pretty tightly wrapped up with the religion. While every store is different, most typically sell candles, perfumes, incense, oils, herbs, and statues. Some also offer divination readings, spiritual consultations, etc. Buyer beware, however. These places are out to make money. Helping people is secondary to that.
Brujeria: Witchcraft. Ok, so there’s no old crone in a pointed hat cackling wildly in the night. Well, not usually. But some folks in the religion do practice witchcraft. Some folks work with their orisha to achieve their goals. Others work with roots, herbs, powders, etc. And, sometimes, it’s a combination of the two.
Diloggun: Divination through consecrated cowry shells. These shells are tied to a specific orisha. Typically, the shells of Elegua are used.
Eggun: Ancestors. Pretty straight-forward. These are relatives who have died. Where it gets a little more complicated are topics such as adoptive-family and other non-biological people that were viewed as and treated like family. These weren’t really issues from native Yoruba people, of course. Traditionally, eggun are limited to blood-relatives.
Kinkamache: This word essentially means “Be Well” and is used as a blessing to those, typically in your Ile or lineage.
Madrina: Godmother. Someone who looks out for you in the religion and helps you develop.
Maferefun: This word typically gets translated as “In praise of”. When someone says, “Maferefun Eggun”, for instance, they are giving praise to their ancestors.
Moyuba: This word means “I venerate”. There’s also a prayer that pays homage to the orisha, those in ones’ lineage who have passed away, and those who are still alive. This prayer is typically referred to as Moyuba, since that what it starts out with.
Muerto: Spirit. Ok, technically, the word means “dead”, but when it’s mentioned within the religion, it’s typically in the context of a spirit. One’s muertos are the spirits that surround them. Similar to a Christian “guardian angel”, there’s usually one main spirit that people work with.
Ocha: Typically used to refer to either the religion or the priesthood ceremony (e.g. “making ocha”).
Odu: This word is usually heard a lot in the context of a reading. It’s sometimes referred to as a “letter”. It represents the message being expressed and can contain different phrases, stories, etc. and is typically associated with one or more orisha.
Orisha: Deity. Sometimes referred to as ‘saints’. These are the primary forces worked with in the religion.
Otane: Stone. These are consecrated and considered the physical manifestation of the orisha’s energy.
Padrino: Godfather. Someone who looks out for you in the religion and helps you develop.
Pataki: Technically, it’s apataki, but without the ‘a’ seems to be more prevalent nowadays. This word is typically used when dealing with stories, specifically with those dealing with the mythology of creation, the orisha, etc. Often, these stories are told as a way of explaining things in the world that the Yoruba were exposed to. This might be anything from the serious issues of drought to more simply curiosities, like whether bats are related more to birds or to rats. A lot of pataki are linked to one or more Odu.
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