by Baba John Mason
"Obatala is the sculptor of divinity who, with his bill-hook cutlass, creates and shapes the body of man. He shapes the baby in the womb of its mother. He is the father of those who are beautiful and those who are deformed...The Yoruba see Obatala as the ideal model of ritual and ethical purity. He demands high morality of all his subjects, but of his children in particular. The unblemished whiteness associated with him symbolizes the purity of his character. 'The worshippers of Obatala must be upright and true: they must be clear in their hearts and behavior like water drawn early in the morning from a spring that has not been previously disturbed. Thus their lives would be as clear as such water. Obatala strongly advises us to practice monogamy. As the oral traditions have it, he himself is a monogamist...Obatala makes his worshippers great; he makes them increase and multiply by giving them children. He showers material blessings upon them. It is said that he stands by his children, makes them materially prosperous, and gives them reasons for laughter.
Obatala is "Iku ti ba ni gbe le ti 'f' ola ran ni!--Death, you who resides with a person and imbues him with nobility. Death is a designation often used for a being or person of high authority who is believed to have the power of life and death."
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