Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, has explained that Orisa worship, an African religious practice, resonates more deeply with him due to its artistic, creative, and non-violent nature.
Making this disclosure in a recent interview with CNN’s Larry Madowo, Soyinka reflected on his spiritual upbringing, saying, “I was fortunate to be born in two worlds – the Christian world and traditional Orisa worshippers.
“My grandfather was an Orisa person and a chief before he, too, converted to Christianity. His side of Orisa fascinated me a lot more.”
For Soyinka, Orisa worship was far more engaging and mysterious than the Christian and Islamic faiths.
He noted: “Orisa was more artistic, creative, and also more mysterious. I don’t find much of the mysterious in Christianity and even less in Islam.”
Soyinka says Orisa’s non-violent
Soyinka praised the non-violent and inclusive nature of Orisa worship, which, he believes, contrasts with the more rigid structures of Christianity and Islam.
He explained: “Orisa is open and very ecumenical. That is why these foreign religions were able to penetrate it and even distort the truth. Because of the generosity of this spirit, it is not violent.”
The literary icon also expressed his disinterest in conventional religious beliefs, stating, “I don’t believe in the Islamic or Christian God, and if that makes me an atheist, so I say, I am an atheist.”
During the interview, Soyinka also revealed his discomfort with watching adaptations of his life or works.
He admitted: “Turning anything in my life into what other people can watch pains me. It makes me extremely uncomfortable.”
