Yoruba Praise Poem to Sango ca. 1970

The Yoruba people of West Africa worship and pay homage to approximately two hundred deities. While some are recognized by relatively small communities, their worship even confined to single villages, some are universally acknowledged by all Yoruba, both within Africa and among their descendants in the Americas. Among these most powerful gods is Sango, god of thunder and lightning. Associated with royal power and justice and feared for his volatile temper and incredible destructive power, Sango is worshipped regularly to ensure his protection and goodwill. As with other Yoruba deities, the chief expression of devotion is praise poetry, a form of laudatory prayer. Devotees sing poems to offer praise, request aid, and remind worshippers that acknowledging Sango is essential to their well-being. The praise poem considered here contains all of the aforementioned elements, and though it was recorded in the late twentieth century, it is typical of the kind of oral scriptures that have been an essential part of Yoruba spiritual life for centuries.