Yorubaland: A photo-book to honour the Yoruba ancestors of West Africa.

A photo-book to honour the Yoruba ancestors of West Africa. I made this book during my first solo trip back to my motherland - Nigeria. I was motivated in discovering and learning more about the traditional religion of my ethnic tribe which are the Yorùbá People of West Africa. Christianity is now the second-ranked religion in Nigeria, mostly followed by Yorùbá people. The Yorùbá people are known for having a strong faith in their religious choice. It's not surprising that Nigeria has the largest Christian population of any country in Africa, in a country of a hundred and ninety-five million people, an estimated forty-nine per cent of the population are Christians. My curiosity regarding our religious choice sparked when we were settled in the UK. I was researching Yorùbá culture and discovered a deity named Sángo. Sángo is the Òrìsà (deity) of thunder and lightning in the traditional Yorùbá religion, the third king of Òyó Kingdom in Nigeria, a royal ancestor of the Yorùbá and he's one of the most worshipped gods all over the world. I was fascinated by this deity. Thanks to my fascination with Sángo, I was able to discover the true essence of the Yorùbá religion. It felt amazing to learn about the values, life philosophy, and respect for nature the Yorùbá religion sustains yet I found it strange why the traditional religion isn't widely recognised and appreciated amongst the Yorùbá people. When I was growing up in Nigeria, I was conditioned to believe any form of worship associated with the traditional belief system was a form of witchcraft hence why I avoided the traditional religion. But having developed a different perspective on the subject, I wanted to find out where the narrative I was fed originated from. Learning about the traditional Yorùbá religion made me feel closer to my ancestors, it felt wholesome to learn about their way of life. After immersing myself in hundreds of articles about the traditional religion, I began to yearn for an experience. To progress within spirituality and religious practices, the best way to truly learn is through experience. I came across the Sángo Festival. The Sángo Festival is an annual festival that celebrates the traditional belief system in Òyó Town, Nigeria, which also happens to be the town my ancestors are from. I knew I couldn't let this opportunity slip by so I decided to travel back home for the festival to experience the traditional religion.

• | Author: Anthony Shintai Olabayo Amao
• | Publisher: Independently Published
• | Publication Date: Feb 14, 2025
• | Number of Pages: 00062 pages
• | Binding: Paperback or Softback
• | ISBN-10: NA
• | ISBN-13: 9798307726846