In
the beginning, there was only the sky above, water and marshland below.
The
chief god Olorun ruled the sky, and the goddess Olokun ruled what was below.
Obatala,
another god, reflected upon this situation, then went to Olorun for permission
to create dry land for all kinds of living creatures to inhabit.
He
was given permission, so he sought advice from Orunmila, oldest son of Olorun
and the god of prophecy.
He
was told he would need a gold chain long enough to reach below, a snail's shell
filled with sand, a white hen, a black cat, and a palm nut, all of which he was
to carry in a bag.
All
the gods contributed what gold they had, and Orunmila supplied the articles for
the bag.
When
all was ready, Obatala hung the chain from a corner of the sky, placed the bag
over his shoulder, and started the downward climb. When he reached the end of
the chain he saw he still had some distance to go.
From
above, he heard Orunmila instruct him to pour the sand from the snail's shell,
and also immediately release the white hen.
He
did as he was told, whereupon the hen landing on the sand began scratching and
scattering it about.
Wherever
the sand landed it formed dry land, the bigger piles becoming hills and the
smaller piles valleys. Obatala jumped to a hill and named the place Ife.
The
dry land now extended as far as he could see.
He
dug a hole, planted the palm nut, and saw it grow to maturity in a flash. The
mature palm tree dropped more palm nuts on the ground, each of which grew
immediately to maturity and repeated the process. Obatala settled down with the
cat for company.
Many
months passed, and he grew bored with his routine.
He
decided to create beings like himself to keep him company.
He
dug into the sand and soon found clay with which to mould figures like himself
and started on his task, but he soon grew tired and decided to take a break.
He
made wine from a nearby palm tree, and drank bowl after bowl. Not realizing he
was drunk, Obatala returned to his task of fashioning the new beings; because
of his condition he fashioned many imperfect figures.
Without
realizing this, he called out to Olorun to breathe life into his creatures.
The
next day he realized what he had done, and swore never to drink again, and to
take care of those who were deformed, thus becoming Protector of the Deformed.
The
new people built huts as Obatala had done, and soon Ife prospered and became a
city.
All
the other gods were happy with what Obatala had done, and visited the land
often, except for Olokun, the ruler of all below the sky.
She
had not been consulted by Obatala, and grew angry that he had usurped so much
of her kingdom.
When
Obatala returned to his home in the sky for a visit, Olokun summoned the great
waves of her vast oceans and sent them surging across the land.
Wave
after wave she unleashed, until much of the land was underwater and many of the
people were drowned.
Those
that had fled to the highest land beseeched the god Eshu who had been visiting,
to return to the sky and report what was happening to them.
Eshu
demanded sacrifice be made to Obatala and himself before he would deliver the
message.
The
people sacrificed some goats, and Eshu returned to the sky.
When
Orunmila heard the news he climbed down the golden chain to the earth, and cast
many spells which caused the flood waters to retreat and the dry African land
reappear.
So
ended the great flood.
Source:
http://www.gateway-africa.com/stories/Yoruba_Creation_Myth.html
