She is the symbol of a people living in southwestern Nigeria. ‘Oronshen’ is not really his name, but it is the name by which he identifies. A festival in his honor has been held since the 15th century in the kingdom of Owo and faithfully each year, for a period of three weeks, the people of Owo remember a story of love, jealousy, betrayal and adoration. It is a universal theme that you will find in any story, Western or not. It is deification that underlines the finest emotion of sacrifice and fidelity. Who was this lady?
In the true way of legends and myths, she was a half human, half spiritual being who was discovered by a hunter late at night during his hunting trip. The hunter took the lady home and she lived with him not as a wife but as a guest. However, a powerful neighboring king, the King of Owo, saw her and fell in love with her. He married her and thus began a chain of jealousy and rage from the other queens in the palace. ‘Oronshen was incredibly beautiful, she brought good and rich advice to the king. I was immersed in it. The queens, unable to tolerate being so overshadowed, decided to find out what their secret was. Every god or goddess has an Achilles heel, and the other queens soon discovered it through seduction and deception.
With his taboos broken, Oronshen disappeared into the forest never to be seen again. There is no tomb of this goddess that lends her immortality, mystery and emotion. However, there is archaeological evidence for the existence of the worship of a festival that was instituted by the afflicted king and his rulers who were joined by the entire kingdom.
In commemoration of the love and service he rendered to the kingdom. Every year a festival is held. The king is dressed in coral beads turned into a stunning and beautiful blouse, he has a white wrap like skirt around him, his hair is in braids like a woman, he has heavy coral beads on his wrists and with his golden sword, he dances. to the Goddess Grove, asking her to continue to protect the kingdom. Their dance is the climax of weeks of preparation. You see in every man, woman and child of Owo, the pride of the community in the pristine worship they give.
Owo kingdom has a different culture; religion and a class system that will make some Western cultures wonder why they tried to call Africans savages. If you look closely, you will find that it is the same all over the world.
Ignorance breeds fear and creates superstitions; It is the hallmark of the man you seek. Experience gives you insight and clarity and makes you progress. No one is so perfect that you need to look for areas for improvement. Perhaps if we include this information in our psyche, we could earn respect for the culture of others and be tolerant of what makes us different. A collection of weeds is not called a garden. However, plants of different shades and colors make up the garden that is creation. We are all guests of creation, atheists, agnostics, believers, and fundamentalists. The creator teaches us a lesson by the opportunity it gives us to learn from our differences.
What is Oronshen’s lesson?
That love is universal, in its dark hues and light highlights. When we hate, we deny ourselves the opportunity to experience the greatest emotion of all!
Love is the axis on which creation turns. It helps us to grow. So, every year, the people of Owo have the opportunity to reflect on the consequences of a lack of love, renew a commitment with a symbol of Love that unifies them. They remember Oronshen, their own Venus.
There is a Venus in every culture that reminds us of the essential redemptive quality of man. When we find our Venus, we can find the reason to be better than yesterday and move more confidently into tomorrow.