Egúngún is the collective spirits of the ancestors who occupy a space in heaven, hence they are called Ará Òrun (Dwellers of heaven).

These ancestral spirits are in constant watch of their survivors on earth.

They bless, protect, warn and punish their earthly relatives depending on how their relatives neglect or remember them.

Egúngún is a special class of divine beings all together and notes that Egúngún did not came from heaven together with the other Orisa and Ebora but entered the world of men at a later stage when the communication between the worlds were crumbled.

Egúngún visit the earth in given festivals where the masquerades are prominent. The main festivals are in June.

These masquerades functions both as a reinforcement of the link between òrun and aye as well as a vehicle for advise to the living by the spirit coming down and possessing the dancers mask and clothes.

Egúngún can be contacted either collectively or individually in order to provide guidance, advices and protection against malignant forces.

The complexity of Egúngún worshipers are further demonstrated by these beings association with family lineages and accordingly can be a source for great prestige in the community when the songs recounting the heroic deeds of a specific family line are retold by performance and song.

Egúngún secrets are never disclosed by worshipers and initiates. In order to get a notion of what these secrets are about, I will advised you to turn to the Òdù Ifá in order to understand the complexity of Egúngún and thus make possible assumptions of Egúngún secrets.

Thank you for reading, leave a comment

Babalawos

Nice

TheCarpenter:
Nice

Thank you

hmmmmm

Egunguns are psychotic who wear rag and dirty clothes.

Baba also enlight us about eguniko

CRAP!!!!

Heathen

MonitorSpirit:
CRAP!!!!

Heathen

If egungun is heathenic, then it means your greatgrandparents were heathens because your bible brainwashed you so. Well IMO, heathens are even wiser than the sheeple. Read this passage and learn wisdom from our ancestors.

doctufos: Otem Erectus 101:1-21


Chapter One Hundred and One

1. ododoodo was a king who was loved for his great humility. And in his humility, he said to the people, make no throne for me. Let me sit on the ipeku which you also sit upon. I am a drummer who went about to beat the drum and I shall remain as a drummer.
2. For I am first a drummer before becoming a king. And I shall not cease to beat the drum.
3. Now take the apete and keep it as a sacred seat. And only in the days of festivities shall I sit upon it.
4. Now ododoodo had two wives. And the name of the first was Onyareyi while the name of the second was Epemiro. And Onyareyi gave birth to five children. And her first four children were female while the last was a male. And the name of her last child was Onini.
5. Now also, Epemiro had three children. And they were all male children. And the name of the first was Anoze and the second was Epe and the third was Asuku.
6. Now Onyareyi and Epemiro began to quarrel, for they were not sure which of their children would be made heir by the king. For Onyareyi was the first wife, but her only son was the second son of the king, because she did not give birth to a male child quickly.
7. And the first son of Epemiro was blind at birth. And she was worried, saying, I fear that the king shall not agree to make him king after him.
8. Now Epemiro sought the mind of ododoodo her husband. And he said, the matter of who shall be king after me should be left out for now. Am I not the king whom you have? Shall we fight the fight of tomorrow today?
9. What if we do not wake up to see that tomorrow?
10. Now ododoodo called Anoze and Onini when they were of age, being about twenty-five and twenty-four years respectively. And he asked them which of them would be the king. And they were in the presence of their parents.
11. And Anoze said, let Onini my younger brother be king. For he is complete. For he has eyes to see. And Onini said, let Anoze my elder brother be king, for he is more patient than me.
12. And ododoodo wept when he had heard the sayings of his first two sons. And he said to their mother, if everybody in the world can be as selfless as Onini and Anoze my sons, there shall be no thieves, nor murderers. Neither shall there be jealousy nor war.
13. And ododoodo vowed to himself in the secret, saying, I shall make sure the two of them become king together.
14. Now ododoodo told the homo who chose kings what he wanted. And he gave him two bracelets which he had tied together, saying, these are the bracelets of my two sons which I have tied together.
15. Show it to them after I am dead. For with it shall they know that they have been chosen to be the kings after me.
16. Now ododoodo married another wife, who was the princess of the land of Koto. For the king of the land was a descendant of Obaji who was an Uvoites many years before. And when the land of Koto and the land of Obaji were allies, the families of Obaji lived with the Kotoans until they were made kings in Koto.
17. Now the name of the Kotoan whom ododoodo married was Echozi. And the son of Echozi was Ohida.
18. And ododoodo died five years after his last son was born. And Epe the second son of Epemiro married the last wife of his father, for he thought that by her support, he shall become the king.
19. And Epe told Echozi, saying, use your influence to see that I become the king of this land. And I shall take good care of Ohida your son. And after me shal he be made king.
20. And Echozi saw that the plan was good, for she said, Ohida my son has no chance at all to be crowned king in the future. For he has four brothers before him. And the children of his brothers are even older than him.
21. Now I shall make sure Epe is crowned king so that he shall make Ohida king after him. So Echozi went to the land of Koto see his father. And the king of Koto came to the land of Otori and went to see the kingmaker whom ododoodo had committed the bracelets into his hands. And he said, make sure that Epe is crowned king.
22. And he gave the kingmaker twenty servants and three beautiful ladies to make his wives. And he gave him precious stones also. And the kingmaker said to Echozi, bring the bracelet of your husband secretly. And she brought it.
23. Now when the day was drawing close for the king to be made, Onini and Anoze began to feel uncomfortable. And they feared that one of them would be picked to be king. And on the eve of the coronation, Onini went to Anoze his brother and said, I am leaving this land tonight. For I cannot be king.
24. And Anoze said, take me with you. For I have thought of fleeing this land also, but because I am blind, I cannot do so.
25. And Onini took Anoze with him. And they fled the land together that evening.

Even without Jesus, our fore fore parents still have moral standards they maintain

oregan:
Baba also enlight us about eguniko

Read my new post on this thread and you will learn new things "Odu Ifa Of Egungun"

ODU IFA FOR EGUNGUN

Today, I will be teaching you the Odu Ifa of Egungun and I will start with Òtúrúpòn Méji.

Òtúrúpòn Méji speaks about the transmigration of souls and emphasizes that mans spirit leaves the body upon death. This Òdú also speaks about the funeral rites and gives the reason for the complete covering of body and head to the fact that during the funerals the body are complete covered with cloth.

Ogbéríkúsá (Ogbésá) speaks about how Agbo (the Ram) tried to offer Iki (an honest man) as a sacrifice to the divinities by tricking Iki to engage him self into a game that would lead to his death by deceit.

Three diviners come from heaven to rescue Iki from death and as a consequence Agbo are used as a sacrifice. It speaks accordingly about the types of offerings given to Egúngún and also that Egúngún protect the honest man against deceit.

Ìwòrì Òyèkú speaks about the use of masks and clothing in the masquerades and how this arrangement neutralizes the elements of chaos and untimely death and brings respect and wealth.

The Òdú also speaks about the importance of the family line of Egúngún, from the line of the father.

Ìwòrìdi speaks about principles such as rebirth and immortality and also how Egúngún was considered the force that brought orun and aiye into communication and interaction.

Ìwòrì kó Rekú (Ìwòrì’Yèkú) speaks about impeding danger for death (Ikú) and tell how this can be averted. It is also a sign speaking about the phenomena Abikù, those whoa re born to die, meaning infant death syndrome.

Òbàrà Òsá speaks about how the society of witches threatened to spread discord in aiyé and how Egúngún intervened in order to change this situation, as a good example of the being that make things straight.

Òwònrín Aséyìn (Òwònrínsá) is one of the most interesting Òdùs speaking about the origin of the Egúngún cult. This Òdú speaks about how Edun, a red monkey made a woman pregnant by raping her.

The woman took revenge by again entering the woods and offering her self to the money whereupon he killed the animal and buried it in the woods.

The son she gave birth to became a successful man, in fact a king of his town at the age of twenty.

There was however one much needed fortune that did not manifest for the king, children.

He went to a diviner with this problem who said that this sterility was caused by the neglect of the funeral rites for his dead father. The king’s mother divulged the secret and it was decided that the bones of the Edan should be brought to town for a proper burial.

At night a procession was made and the covered bones of the kings father was brought into the town. In this regard that the word Egúngún means masquerade while the word for bones is egungun.

I would suggest that the linguistic similarity are connected into the “masking of the bones” in harmony with the secrets of the cult. The Edan is also called Eró and this suggest that this Òdù also speaks about the origin of another cult related to Egúngún called Orò given the wild and untamed nature this procession caused.

This specific monkey is reputed to possess incredible magical powers and its cultivation is subject within a side cult of the Egúngún, Agemo, which is based upon the more aggressive nuances of this otherworldly being.

Edan is the cause of the supernatural powers in possession of the priests of the cult of Egúngún. The cult of Oró was unlike Egúngún not headed by the king but the members of the Ogboni society and used in legal disputes, especially in cases touching anti social use of the powers of witchcraft.

The conclusion that Oró therefore is opposing the society of female powers for instance but this is not so. Rather the various cults are in discourse with each other and are established in order to retain a balance between forces, both good and evil.

Òkànràn eléégun (Òkànràn Ògúndá) gives another account of the origins of Egúngún. In this Òdù, Egúngún was the ninth son of Oya, whereupon she received the praise name Iyansan, “mother of nine”, fathered by Sangó.

It speaks about how Oya used the Queen ant as a fertility charm in order to be pregnant and was told to deliver the ninth child inside an anthill.

The ants disfigured the face of the ninth child in such way that the people thought Egúngún was an ébórá and as a spirit of the underworld endowed with supernatural powers.

Thank you for reading, leave a comment

Babalawos