Olorun

Olorum (in the Yoruba orthography Ọlọ́run, theologically revered under the names Olódùmarè and Ọlọ́fin Ọ̀run) is the uncreated, transcendent and omnipotent Supreme Being of Yoruba cosmology and traditional religion. Dwelling in the supreme celestial space (Ọ̀run), Olorum is the matrix and the inexhaustible source of àṣẹ (axé), the sacred vital force that animates, sustains and transforms the whole manifest universe (Ayé) and the immaterial one. Unlike the orishas, which are immanent divinities that interact directly with nature and with human beings, Olodumare stands on a plane of absolute transcendence: he has no anthropomorphic sculptural images, no altars for direct sacrifice and no exclusive priesthood, since all the prayers, daily greetings and ritual offerings addressed to the orishas ultimately refer to his cosmic sovereignty. In the cosmogonic narrative of Ifá, Olodumare commissioned Ọbàtálá and Odùduwà to condense the solid crust of the earth over the primordial waters of Ilé-Ifẹ̀, reserving for himself alone the sovereign power to breathe the breath of life (èmí) into the clay figures that formed human beings.

6 min read · Reviewed on September 29, 2026 · How we research

The infinite sky, the vital breath, the light and the pure white

Primary sources

• Wande Abimbola, Sixteen Great Poems of Ifá. translation: Bilingual Yoruba-English edition, UNESCO / Niamey, 1975.
• Samuel Johnson, The History of the Yorubas: From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the British Protectorate. translation: Routledge & Kegan Paul, Londres, 1921.
• Pierre Verger, Notes sur le culte des orisha et vodun à Bahia, la Baie de Tous les Saints, au Brésil et à l'ancienne Côte des Esclaves en Afrique. translation: Mémoires de l'Institut Français d'Afrique Noire, Dakar, 1957.

Studies

• E. Bọlaji Idowu, Olódùmarè: God in Yoruba Belief. Longmans, Green and Co, 1962.
• Wande Abimbola, Ifá: An Exposition of Ifá Literary Corpus. Oxford University Press / Ibadan, 1976.
• J. Omosade Awolalu, Yoruba Beliefs and Sacrificial Rites. Longman Group, 1979.