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"What did the Òrìsà do originally to merit our respect and worship? Òrìsà are women and men who were buried by earth or water and then selected, after careful & serious reflection, to be honored for their deeds & characters that redefined the possible and ushered in new ages. What great inventions, deeds, teachings did they initiate to cause us to evoke their spirits through tales, songs, and dances, in our times of need and distress? Hundreds and thousands of years later, through wars, social upheavals, savage transplant- ings, & chattel slavery, their spirits & sagas continue to inspire devotion, emulation & action; even when those contributions are no longer clearly understood. This vagueness is definitely in evidence when the inventions, deeds, and teachings of the women who were raised, after serious consideration, to the status of òrìsà, are discussed. Often, men have usurped the credit for and control of those inventions. Women turned oppression into a window of opportunity. Women with equal rights and availability to education and economic parity contribute directly to the economic welfare and social stability of their family, community, city, region, and nation. This book will highlight clearly and fully examine the innovations of nine of those women: Odu, Aaja (Ayan), Yemowo, Orisa Oko, Yemoja, Oba, Oya, Osun.
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