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What is an Ere ibeji?
If a twin dies in infancy, the family have a wooden figure carved to represent the dead twin. These carvings are called ere ibeji (‘ere’ means sacred image, ‘ibi’, means born and ‘eji’ means two).
What does ibeji mean in English?
“Ibeji” means “twin”. In traditional Yoruba culture, twins are regarded as sharing one soul. If one twin dies in infancy, the family have a wooden figure carved, to symbolise the dead twin.
Who are the ibeji twins?
The Twins. The Ibeji are named Kehinde and Taiwo. The firstborn is named Taiwo and the second born is named Kehinde. Kehinde literally means ‘the one who comes after’.
What is twins in Yoruba?
In the Yoruba language, twins are called “Ibeji” (Mobolade, 1997, p. 14). The first-born twin is usually named “Taiyewo” and the second is named “Kehinde.” In Yoruba religion, twins are believed to be under the protection of Shango, the God of thunder and lightning.
What do Yoruba call twins?
In Yoruba culture twins are so common that they are traditionally given specific names. They are called either Taiwo or Kehinde depending on whether they were born first or second.
What is mother of twins in Yoruba?
Iyabeji
Iyabeji (Mother of Twins) Yoruba.
Why do they throw away twins in things fall apart?
In Chinua Achebe’s acclaimed novel, Things Fall Apart, I learn that the Earth goddess had decreed that twins “were an offence on the land and must be destroyed. As a consequence, whenever twins were born, their parents had to leave them at the “Evil Forest” to die.
Who is Taiwo Osuolale?
Taiwo Osuolale Of Ibeji Oran Twins Is Dead: Nollywood Actor Dies A Year After Death Of Twin Brother. The family of the Osuolale twins is bereaved. Exactly a year after the death of his twin brother, Kehinde, the only surviving star of the Ibeji Oran twins has died.
What country in Africa has the most twins?
Benin
The small West African nation of Benin has a higher concentration of twins than any other country in the developing world. That’s according to a study published in PLOS ONE, which surveyed twinning rates in 75 low and middle income countries from 1987 to 2010.
How many ibeji are there in the world?
While there are two individuals when twins are born, the Ibeji is one orisha. Twins are considered sacred by birth among the Yoruba people. The Yoruba people have one of the world’s highest rates of twin birth (average world rate of twins is 0.5% where the Yoruba people have a 5% twin birth rate!).
Why are ere Ibeji figures a collector’s item?
Ere ibeji figures have become Western collector’s items and artists are now carving for the tourist market.
Why did the Yoruba use ere Ibeji carvings?
While Ere ibeji carvings have a distinct style, the fact that another medium can successfully serve the same purpose suggests that for the Yoruba, art is dynamic and flexible. While Western collectors demand an Ere ibeji that is similar to the image above, Yoruba practitioners were not constrained by a stylistic cannon and specific materials.
What was the first artificial Christmas tree made of?
Germans fashioned artificial trees from goose feathers. In the early 1900s the Addis Housewares Company, a U.S. firm that manufactured the first toilet bowl brushes, used their technology to construct and artificial tree from brush bristles.