Friday, April 12, 2013

ỌJọ́ ÌSỌMỌLÓRÚKỌ (YORÙBÁ CHILD NAMING)



* Ọmọ niyì, ọmọ nidẹ, ọmọ l’adé orí *
......................................................................................................

The j́ ìsọmlórúkọ (day that a child is named) is 7 days ij́ keje after the birth of the child for a male child; fún ọm okùnrin, 9 days - ij́kẹẹ̀sáfún ọm obìrin for a female child and 8 days for ìbejì (twin).

After the birth of a baby; m, the mother is expected to stay indoors (ìỳwù), kí ó sì fún ọm ĺyàn (breast feed the child ) with tender, love and care and not go outside till the j́ìkómọjáde; the day the baby will come out of the house for the first time.

Kó tó di ọj́yìí; before this day, the father of the child would have consulted Ifá fún orúkọ tó dárajù fún ọm tuntun ̀hún; to get the best and most befitting name for his child. But this is not applicable to all families. 

Níj́ yn, obìrin àgbà ilé tàbí ìyálé-ilé yóó dami sórí orùlé, ẃá sì fi ara m à gba omi ̀hún; on that day, the senior wife (ìyálé ilé) or the oldest woman in the house - ilé will pour some water on the roof and will place the child under the roof for the water to drop on baby. 

Bí a bá e eléyìí, okùnrin àgbà ilé/baálé ilé yó gba m à láti ṣàlàyée bí a ṣe bí m The baby is now given to the head of the house (baálé ilé) who will tell the story of the child including the father and mothers efforts before the pregnancy, during pregnancy and after the birth of the child. 

He will talk of situations before the birth of the child and compare with situation after the birth of the child. Also, the background story of the family where the child is born, whether by a rich merchant; onísówo, hunter; d, farmer; àgb̀, ruling family (ìdílé ọĺba) respectively will surface at this gathering.

Along the line, from the explanations of the baálé ilé, one can predict what the name of the child would likely be.

Lára àwn èlò ìsmlórúkọ níl̀ Yorùbá nìwọ̀nyí:
·                     iyọ̀
·                     oyin
·                     ìrèké
.                     
·                     àádùn
·                     omi
·                     orógbó



orógbó
As the story goes on, the head of the family picks the ìrèké; sugar cane, orógbó; bitter kola, iyọ̀; salt, oyin; honey, omi tútù; water and gógó; hot drink as well as any other sweet things that can be eaten or of significance to the family respectively, bites a little, gives to the child and says -

mlábak̀, gba orógbó, wa gbó bi orógbó se gbó” 

and all reply;
" àṣẹ́, àṣẹ́, àṣẹ́!!!"




ìrèké
This is how he will pick the iyọ̀, tastes it, puts in the babies mouth and say “Lábakẹ̀, iyọ̀ re o, aiye rẹ̀ a niyọ̀, a dùn bi ti iyọ̀, ki o dùro jẹ iyọ̀ à pẹ o” and all answers amen, amen, amen!!!.


Next thing is the oyin, he does the same thing, saying -



Lábakẹ̀ oyin rè é, dídùn ni ti oyin, ayé ẹ á dùn bí oyin o”, he does similar process with the ọtí, and will say “Ọmọlábakẹ̀, ọtí kì í tí, o ò ní tí ”, response from the audience will be, àṣẹ́!!!

The olórí  or baale ilé picks all these symbolic items to usher in the child to a good life, he taste it first puts in the child's mouth, pray for the child and passed the foods on for other to have a taste of the good life too.

Omi- tútù ló kàn, gbogbo ènìyàn níkàlẹ̀ yó gbé ọm tuntun, olúkúlùkù yóó sàdúrà, yó sì fẃ sínúu igbá omi yìí; water in a calabash is next in the naming rite, everyone will carry the baby, prays for it after which owó; money will be dropped into this water placed at the centre of the house. The money is to be used to purchase some items for the use of the child.

Everyone has prayed, left to the baale ile to do the last prayer to ‘cement’ the whole process. “ĺrun á dá a sí, ọĺrun á wòó” he says.

It all ends here, Yoruba food, palm wine, ogogoro, and Yoruba music thrills and entertainment guests, and well wishers.

Have you witnessed any Yoruba naming ceremony? What did you see?



Check out www.yobamoodua.org for more on Yorùbá education and information.

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