Between Myth and Reality: Yoruba Egungun Costumes as Commemorative Clothes

Abstract

The Yoruba mythology embraces its people’s religious beliefs and aspirations, thus serving as a sort of mirror to their sociocultural conditions. The Yoruba people believe deeply in the mythical, as well as in the realities of life. Their mythical stories have a very sharp pyramidal shape that has a broad base with intricate and interwoven traditional complexities. The study of the commemorative clothes or costumes worn in the Yoruba Egungun Masquerade is closely linked to the important position that the various Egungun occupy in religious devotion among the Yorubas. Egungun is an ancestor cult. Egungun masqueraders L‘are the ancestors from heaven who had returned to hear and put right the complaints of their peopIe Ieft behind, to bIess them with human and crop fertility and also with general prosperity” (Ojo, 1966, p. 189). These masqueraders appear in various costumes, which are sewn to cover the entire body and worn during annual festivals or whenever traditional needs arise. Among the Yoruba people, religion and mythical stories are very important. This importance is linked with the various Egungun costumes, despite the efforts of unbelievers who sabotage and campaign against all that is good about this aspect of traditional beliefs. The campaign is particularly aimed at altering the mythological beliefs and taboos that support traditional emblems. This attitude is undoubtedly shaking the actual roots of their existence because it is always armed with proofs. These proofs are, in fact,