A pilgrimage to my motherland/Chapter 7
CHAPTER VII
RELIGION
Shango exorcised—Existence of Spirits—Ifa—Agugu—Oro—Aspect of a City on Oro-day—Gymnastic Sports—Pugilistic Encounters—Missions.
There are many Mussulmans among the Akus, but chiefly the people are heathens. They acknowledge one supreme being, of whose attributes they have as clear a conception as civilized people generally, but they do not worship him directly, but through subordinate deities representing those attributes. Thus in Shango, the god of thunder, lightning and fire, and the most revered of their deities, the Omnipotence of God is worshipped. Oro represents the retributive power, and Ifa the Omniscience of God. They profess to be sometimes possessed by these deities. The Reverend Mr. Stone, of the American Southern Baptist Mission at Ijaye, once exorcised Shango in a very summary manner from a mischievous boy living in the neighborhood of his dwelling, who, in retaliation for some affront of his parents, had procured a fagot with which he attempted to fire their dwelling. Had he succeeded, a great conflagration might have ensued, from the combustible nature of the materials of the houses. The inmates of the jeopardized dwelling made no other attempt to arrest him in his projects, than pitifully imploring the deity to leave him. Mr. Stone, however, hearing of the affair, procured a rod, and seizing the young scamp soon dispossessed Shango, and so well too, that the god is never likely to possess him again.
They believe in the spirit after death, and in its power of being present among the living for good or evil purposes, hence they frequently resort to the graves of the deceased with offerings, consulting them in affairs of importance, and imploring their protection from the dangers of life.
Ifa, one of their inferior deities, is much resorted to as an oracle. He has a numerous corps of priests, who realize great profit from the offerings made the god, to induce favorable responses, He is consulted by means of a sort of checkerboard, covered with wood-dust, on which the priest traces small squares. The party consulting the god hands him sixteen consecrated palm-nuts, which all the votaries of Ifa carry constantly. He throws them into a small urn, from which taking a few, the number being left to accident, he disposes them at random on the board, and from the order they assume, determines first whether the offering shall be a goat, a sheep, or otherwise; next he ascertains whether the god is satisfied with the offering; if not, he manipulates further to ascertain whether a pair of pigeons or fowls should not be added. The preliminaries being thus arranged, he enters into his business, all the time holding a free and easy conversation with the applicant, through which he is sure to ascertain the kind of responses most welcome.
The Agugu, a fantastically attired individual, is frequently seen at Abbeokuta and other places interior. He represents the spirits of the departed, who are frequently consulted through him. No one is permitted to say he is a man, nor to touch him, under penalty of death. If he touches any one, the party touched must die—a dangerous power, it seems, to place in the hands of ignorant men, nevertheless, one never hears of its abuse. He is so dressed as to leave no part of his body exposed, and speaks in a guttural voice, assumed as a disguise.
Next to Shango, Oro, as wielding the executive functions of the government, is certainly the most terrible of their subordinate deities. Whenever a malefactor is to be punished, he is given to Oro, and after that no one knows his fate until his head is seen nailed to a tree in an open place before the king's palace. Every night, after the women are within doors, what is called the voice of Oro is heard around the city. It is on this account that the women of Abbeokuta are not permitted to be abroad after dark. The penalty is death to any woman for saying that she knows how the voice is produced, although it is certain that all know. Any man would also be slain for revealing it. This voice is a peculiar whirling noise, produced by a simple mechanism which the reader must conceive for himself, as a description might involve the writer in trouble on his return to Africa. The town is sometimes given to Oro, generally when any important matter is to be considered. This occurred twice during my sojourn there. The day preceding, announcement is made by the town-crier, who goes around ringing, or rather striking a substitute for a bell. On the first occasion I went out early in the morning, determined not to lose, if possible, any part of the ceremonies of the day. The city, usually from the earliest dawn as busy as a hive, was apparently deserted. It was like a body from which animation had fled; and this, all this because woman was not there, her voice was unheard, and her cheerful smile beaming from her countenance on the stranger, even as she toils beneath her heavy yoke, was not seen. A few men and boys were occasionally met, all looking as if discovered in the perpetration of some guilty action, because, forsooth, they were compelled to perform some office regarded, according to their customs, as proper only for women. All the gates of the compounds were carefully closed and watched. I sought and procured admission to two or three of them, and found the women engaged as usual in their varied occupations, except of course, in those which the circumstance compelled men to perform. I continued my perambulations without meeting any thing remarkable until about ten o'clock A.M., when a large number of persons gathered on the open ground in front of the king's palace, singing very prettily and keeping time by striking together two small pieces of very hard wood, which each carried. In a few minutes the king's messenger or lieutenant, with his suite, came out, representing the king. He thanked the company for their praises to the king which formed the burthen of their songs, and having for a few minutes joined with them in a dance, he presented them some cowries and retired. Later in the day I repaired to another part of the city, where I learned several of the elders and chiefs were to meet. Much of the ground was already occupied by young men and boys in active competition for the applause of the crowd which was always liberally accorded to those who performed satisfactorily with their Oro apparatus. Here and there also were other groups, engaged in tumbling, and other active gymnastic sports, which they accomplished excellently. A procession was formed by the elders of the Ogboni lodges and the king's people, and with drums, etc., beginning with the king they went from chief to chief. Of course they remained without the gate. The chief comes out and all together enjoy a vigorous dance. They then sit down, all but one, who praises the chief to his face. A few strings of cowries are then distributed and the procession moves on. Returning homewards late in the afternoon I met some terrible fights. In one instance particularly, a young fellow was most unmercifully whipped. His offense seems to have been of the sort in which one of the other sex was participant. Punishment for these offenses is often reserved for such days when, as on election-days with us, there is greater freedom to engage in pugilistic encounters with impunity.
The next Oro day was only a week before my final departure from Abbeokuta. It was on the occasion of holding a council to consider the duty of the Egbas in relation to a war between the people of Ijaye, their friends and allies, on the one side, and Oyo, and Ibadan on the other. Early in the morning the chiefs and great men of the town, in great state and with many followers, began to assemble in front of the king's palace, at which the king, surrounded by the male members of his household, was seated. There was present the largest concourse of persons I ever witnessed. The young men and boys were engaged as on the other occasion. When all who were to participate in the council had arrived, the king and chiefs repaired to an Ogboni Lodge near, where their business was transacted in secret. This concluded, they returned to the square, to inform the people on what they had determined, and to procure their concurrence, which at Abbeokuta is very essential, particularly as the rulers have no power to execute their designs without the popular arm.
There are five missionary stations, with a school attached to each, at Abbeokuta, and about the same number at Lagos. The congregations of these churches consist principally of people from Sierra Leone. There are many native pupils who also attend the services at the churches, but the number of adult converts is small, except as above remarked, from among the people from Sierra Leone. All the people from Sierra Leone, as well as many of the natives speak English, and some also read and write correctly. I have seen at Abbeokuta several boys, who have never been out of that town, having a pretty correct knowledge of most of the branches of a common English education, English grammar, arithmetic, geography, etc., besides a good acquaintance with Scripture history. They make apt scholars.