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196 At the Back of the Black Man's Mind By R. E. Dennett
APPENDIX
Extracts from Yoruba Heathenism, by the Right Rev. Bishop JAMES JOHNSON,
and Astrological Geomancy in Africa, by Professor J. A. ABAYOMI COLE. [Transcription
note: diacritics have been ignored in the following].
Yoruba Heathenism, by the Right Rev. Bishop James Johnson, is so intensely interesting
that when once you begin to quote from it it is very difficult to leave off doing so. The
work was written some years ago, which may account for its title which I am sure my
friend the Bishop would now call by some other name. A native of Africa, Bishop
Johnson stands out not merely as a learned and earnest divine, but as a patriotic African
anxious to instil into his fellow countrymen true nobility and independence of spirit and
character. It has been my privilege to have discussed with him on many occasions some
of the religious problems now troubling the mind of the educated African, who is
beginning to be conscious of the higher teaching in his own mythology. I take this
opportunity to thank the Bishop for having placed this work at my disposal and
allowing me to quote so liberally from it.
The Divine Being.
God is commonly called "OLORUN," a contracted form of "Eniti-o-ni-orun," "the Owner
of the Heavens; or of "Olu-orun," the Chief in the Heavens; or "Orun," the heavens, which
is an abbreviated form of Olorun, and is intended to imply both heaven and earth
together, which are sometimes spoken of together as the Universe. "ALAIYE,"' a
contracted form of "Eniti-o-ni-aiye," "the Owner of the Earth," or of "OLUWA-AIYE," "the
Master of the Earth," the term "Aiye" being understood to include both the earth and the
heavens together; "OLUDUMARE," which some interpret to mean The Chief, or The King
who is the Son of "ERE," and some regard as representing THE "EVER RIGHTEOUS
ONE," and some "God the Almighty"; and "Oloni," a contracted form of "Oluwa ini," the
Owner of all our possessions, and other like names, many of which are commonly
applied to inferior and subordinate Deities, as was the case with some of the ancient
nations, as, for instance, the Greeks and the Romans.
Man, both from his inability to fully grasp the Infinite and for his own convenience, has
been wont to represent this Being to himself by some attribute of His that impresses
him more forcibly than others, or, through some special blessing from Him to which he
attaches unexceptional value, and sometimes to content himself with transferring to
Him a name he had applied before to some subordinate deity. Thus the Greeks like other
Aryan races speak of Him as "Zeus" or "Jupiter," "The God of light," or the "God of
heaven," and "Theos," the "Being who has made and arranged all things"; the Jews speak
of Him amongst other names as "The Mighty One"; the English still apply to Him the
Saxon name "God," "a graven image," which they had before their conversion to
Christianity applied to an inferior deity; and the Yorubans speak of Him as "Olorun," "the
Owner of the Heavens," or, "The Chief One in, or, The King of the Heavens."
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