tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3366634514023339272.post7492739566124312845..comments2024-01-26T14:35:15.191-03:00Comments on Orações e Magia: São Cosme e Damião - Saints Cosmas and DamianRonald Stresserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02093661566829288070noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3366634514023339272.post-14799152721803731342011-09-21T18:38:50.567-03:002011-09-21T18:38:50.567-03:00From Wikipédia...
Ibeji is a term in the Yoruba l...From Wikipédia...<br /><br />Ibeji is a term in the Yoruba language meaning "twins."<br /><br /><b>Overview</b><br /><br />The Yoruba are a major African ethnic group; in their culture twins are traditionally very important beings. In the Yoruba language "ibeji" literally means "twins". Carved wooden figures made to house the soul of a dead twin are also called ibeji. These wooden figures, six to ten inches high and carved with the family mask, are often well tended. The Yoruba people believe that this care and tending helps ensure the survival of the other twin. In the Yoruba traditional religion, there is a deity that represents twins called Orisha Ibeji or Orisa Ibeji.<br /><br /><b>Origins</b><br /><br />While the birth rate of monozygotic twins is relatively constant worldwide, about 4 per 1000 births, that rate for dizygotic twins varies widely. The incidence of dizygotic twin births in much of Africa is significantly greater than in the United States, with the highest incidence among the Yoruba peoples of Nigeria, with a frequency of 45 per 1000 births. In fact, the Yoruba town of Igboora boasts of an average of 150 twins for 1000 births and is therefore considered Nigeria's, and the world's, capital of twins.<br /><br /><b>Practice</b><br /><br />Traditionally, when twins were born, the parents would visit a Babalawo, meaning, "father of mysteries", to find out their wishes. The first of the twins to be born is traditionally named Taiyewo or Tayewo, (which means 'the first to taste the world'); this is often shortened to Taiwo, Taiye, or Taye. Kehinde, "the last to come", is the name of the last-born twin. These are what could be called "celestial" Yoruba names; names due to birth circumstances. The child after the twins is called "Idowu" regardless of the sex, a boy or a girl. "Alaba" is the one after Idowu, either a boy or a girl, which is usually followed by Oni and Ola or "Idogbe", etc.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com