The two worlds leak into each other.
Aye and orun are not separated by a barrier — the crossroads, the market, the river, the forest edge and the threshold are all places where the traffic between them is heavy, which is why so much practice happens at exactly those points rather than in a building.
The permeability of the two worlds is why Yoruba practice happens where it does. The orita, the crossroads, is Esu's and is where offerings are left because it is a junction in more than one sense. The market is Oya's and is regarded as spiritually dense — the proverb has it that the market is the world and the world is a market, and the dead are said to move among the living there, which is why certain people should not go to market at certain hours. Rivers, the forest edge, thresholds, the base of particular trees and the space in front of a compound gate all function similarly. The consequence is architectural: comparatively little Yoruba religion is conducted inside a purpose-built sacred building. It happens at the places where the two worlds are held to be thin, most of which are ordinary public locations that everyone also uses for something else.
The world is a market; the beyond is home.
Yoruba proverb (rendered)The market is Oya's, and is held to be where the living and the dead mix most freely.
The same ground, other faiths
claims that share this one's ideasSign in to open the first thread. Everything here is attributed.