EBO: The offerings of sacrificial animals to the animals to the Orisha; the offering of any plant or object that has been first utilized to spiritually cleanse oneself (as in baths, rubbing fruit over the body, etc.) and offerings that invoke the work of the devotee such as cooking food and carving statues.
Types of EBO presented to the Egun and /or Orisha are:
· Spiritual baths
· medicinal herbs
· prayers meditation
· offerings of fruit, flowers, tobacco, clothe or foods of the Orisha’s.
· Socially charitable acts, fruit and flower cleanings
· Incense and oils
· self-reflective directions
· blood sacrifices
· altars and shrines
· stronger religious involvement
· song and dance flaws of character
ADIMU: The offerings of clothes plants and fruits; cooked or uncooked foods; and tangible objects to the Orisha not prepared or carved by the devotee.
Divination by one’s priest/priestess determines the type of ebo or adimu that is prescribed. – Yoruba belief in the reciprocity of ashé. The human purposes to reach the divinity through themselves and their world. Sacrifice – in the physical/spiritual sense is an active proponent of all religious involvement.
OFFERINGS
4 parts of sacred art of sacrifice (making Ebo)
· Priest presents the devotee and the Ebo to the holy symbol representing the deity.
· Prayers over the devotee and to the Ebo are made to consecrate them.
· The deity is invoked to participate and receive the sacrifice.
· The offering is placed at the shrine of the deity. The blood is let upon the religions object as prayers are uttered.
Orisha Sacrificial Offerings:
Obatala: white fruits, coconut, white kola nut, Efun, white yams, snails, snail water, shea butter, rice, hens, pigeons, female goats. (Efun: Earth)
Orisha & Objects:
Obatala: Elephants, white birds, statues of elder African men in white, images of mountains, white cloth.
Reasons for sacrifice:
· To give thanks for granting a need/desire.
· Promise/sacred vow to a deity
· To prevent cause of suffering
· To remove the suffering
· As a way of substituting the sacrificial animal for the devotee
· To provide strength, stability and courage to achieve in the visible/invisible world
Sacrifice is only one aspect in the complexity of ritual. Prayer, dance, praise, symbolic gestures, personal and communal elevation, the sacrificing of negative thoughts and destructive tendencies, the sacrifice of the lower based self-tendencies for the divine principles of being. All other sacrifices are intended to enhance this human endeavor. (source: unknown)
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