The Yoruba calendar (''Kọ́jọ́dá'') is a calendar used by the

Yoruba people The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitut ...

of southwestern and north central

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

and southern

Benin Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the nort ...

. The calendar has a year beginning on the last moon of May or first moon of June of the Gregorian calendar. The new year coincides with the Ifá festival. The traditional Yoruba week has four days. The four days that are dedicated to the

Orisa Orishas (singular: orisha) are spirits that play a key role in the Yoruba religion of West Africa and several religions of the African diaspora that derive from it, such as Cuban, Dominican and Puerto Rican Santería and Brazilian Candomblé. Th ...

go as follow: * Day 1 is dedicated to Obatala, Sopona,

Iyami Aje Iyami Aje is a Yoruba term of respect and endearment used to describe a woman of African ancestry who is considered to be an Aje, a woman who wields myriad arcane creative biological, spiritual, and cosmic powers. Etymology In Yoruba language, ...

, and the

Egungun Egungun, (''egúngún'' with Yorùbá language tone marks) in the broadest sense is any Yoruba masquerade or masked, costumed figure. More specifically, it is a Yoruba masquerade for ancestor reverence, or the ancestors themselves as a collectiv ...

* Day 2 is dedicated to Orunmila, Esu, and

Osun Ọṣun, is an orisha, a spirit, a deity, or a goddess that reflects one of the manifestations of the Yorùbá Supreme Being in the Ifá oral tradition and Yoruba-based religions of West Africa. She is one of the most popular and venerated ...

* Day 3 is dedicated to

Ogun Ogun or Ogoun (Yoruba: Ògún, Portuguese: Ogum, Gu; also spelled Oggun or Ogou; known as Ogún or Ogum in Latin America) is a spirit that appears in several African religions. He attempted to seize the throne after the demise of Obatala, who ...

Oshosi Oshosi (Yoruba: Ọ̀ṣọ́ọ̀sì, Portuguese: Oxóssi) is an Orisha of the Yoruba religion in West Africa and subsequently in Brazil and Cuba. Yoruba Oshosi is the spirit associated with the hunt, forests, animals, and wealth. He is spirit ...

* Day 4 is dedicated to Sango and Oya To reconcile with the Gregorian calendar,

also measure time in seven days a week and four weeks a month. The four-day calendar was dedicated to the Orisas and the seven-day calendar is for doing business. The seven days are: Ọjọ́-Àìkú ( Sunday), Ọjọ́-Ajé (

Monday Monday is the day of the week between Sunday and Tuesday. According to the International Organization for Standardization's ISO 8601 standard, it is the first day of the week and in countries that adopt the "Sunday-first" convention, it is t ...

), O̩jọ́-Ìṣẹ́gun (

Tuesday Tuesday is the day of the week between Monday and Wednesday. According to international standard ISO 8601, Monday is the first day of the week; thus, Tuesday is the second day of the week. According to some commonly used calendars, however ...

), Ọjọ́rú (

Wednesday Wednesday is the day of the week between Tuesday and Thursday. According to international standard ISO 8601, it is the third day of the week. In countries which have Friday as their holiday, Wednesday is the fifth day of the week. In countrie ...

), Ọjọ́bo̩ (

Thursday Thursday is the day of the week between Wednesday and Friday. According to the ISO 8601 international standard, it is the fourth day of the week. In countries which adopt the "Sunday-first" convention, it is the fifth day of the week. Name ''Se ...

), Ọjọ́-E̩tì (

Friday Friday is the day of the week between Thursday and Saturday. In countries that adopt the traditional "Sunday-first" convention, it is the sixth day of the week. In countries adopting the ISO-defined "Monday-first" convention, it is the fifth d ...

) and O̩jọ́-Àbamé̩ta (

Saturday Saturday is the day of the week between Friday and Sunday. No later than the 2nd century, the Romans named Saturday ("Saturn's Day") for the planet Saturn, which controlled the first hour of that day, according to Vettius Valens. The day ...

). Time (Ìgbà, àsìkò, àkókò) is measured in ìṣẹ́jú-àáyá (seconds), ìṣẹ́jú (minutes), wákàtì (hours), ọjọ́ (days), ọ̀sẹ̀ (weeks), oṣù (months) and ọdún (years). There are 60 seconds (ọgọ́ta ìṣẹ́jú-àáyá) in 1 minute (ìṣẹ́jú kan); 60 minutes (ọgọ́ta ìṣẹ́jú) in 1 hour (wákàtì kan); 24 hours (wákàtì mẹ́rìnlélógún) in 1 day (ọjọ́ kan); 7 days (ọjọ́ méje) in 1 week (ọ̀sẹ̀ kan); 4 or 5 weeks (ọ̀sẹ̀ mẹ́rìn tàbí márùn-ún) in one month (oṣù kan); 52 weeks (ọ̀sẹ̀ méjìléláàádọ́ta), 12 months (oṣù méjìlá), and 365 days (ọjọ́ mẹ́rìndínláàádọ́rinlélọ́ọ̀ọ́dúnrún) in 1 year (ọdún kan).

Calendar examples

The Yoruba traditional calendar is called “KỌ́JỌ́DÁ” 'Kí ọjọ́ dá,' meaning: may the day be clearly foreseen. The traditional Yoruba calendar (Kọ́jọ́dá) has a 4-day week, 7-week month and 13 months in a year. The 91 weeks in a year added up to 364 days. The Yoruba year spans from 3 June of a Gregorian calendar year to 2 June of the following year. According to the calendar developed by Remi-Niyi Alaran, the Gregorian year AD is the year of Yoruba records of time.YÒRÚBA KỌ́JỌ́DÁ 10053(2053CE)
/ref> With the British colonial and European cultural invasions, came the need to reconcile with the

Gregorian calendar The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It was introduced in October 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian calendar. The principal change was to space leap years dif ...

: Yoruba people also measure time in seven days a week and 52 weeks a year.

Calendar terminologies

Worship of the Òrìṣà in specific months

Ṣẹrẹ/January

* Dedicated to Obatala

Èrèlé/February

* Dedicated to Olóòkun = Òrìṣà of òkun, the deep seas or oceans, patron of sailors, and guardian of souls lost at sea. Èrèlé/Feb 21-25

Ẹrẹ́nà/March

* Annual rites of passage for men Ẹrẹ́nà/March 12 – 28 * Dedicated to

Oduduwa Oduduwa was a Yoruba divine king. According to tradition, he was the holder of the title of the ''Olofin'' of Ile-Ife, the Yoruba holy city. He ruled briefly in Ife, and also served as the progenitor of a number of independent royal dynastie ...

"Iyaagbe," Òrìṣà of Earth and matron of the Ayé (the world), father of the Yoruba people Ẹrẹ́nà/March 15 – 19 * Also dedicated to Ọ̀ṣọ́ọ̀sì = Òrìṣà of Adventure and the hunt Ẹrẹ́nà/March 21 – 24:

Igbe/April

* Onset of rainy season

Èbìbí/May

* Dedicated to Egúngún (Commemoration of the Ancestors, including community founders and illustrious dead).

Òkúdù/June

* June 3: Onset of the Yoruba New Year ( is the year of Yoruba culture). Ọrúnmilà / Ifá = Òrìṣà of Divination and custodian of the Ifá. It includes a Mass gathering of the Yoruba in the city of Ife, regarded as the center of creation. *

Sopona Ṣọ̀pọ̀na (or Shapona) is the god of smallpox in the Yoruba religion. The Yoruba people took their traditions about Shapona to the New World when they were transported in the slave trade. He has become known as Babalú-Ayé, among many ot ...

- Òrìṣà of Disease & smallpox, also known as Obaluaye. Ṣọ̀pọ̀na is also the word for

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...

disease. * Ọ̀sanyìn - Òrìṣà of Plants, magic, Medicine, and patron of the healing professions * Òkúdù 10 - 23: Annual

rites of passage A rite of passage is a ceremony or ritual of the passage which occurs when an individual leaves one group to enter another. It involves a significant change of status in society. In cultural anthropology the term is the Anglicisation of ''rite ...

for women * Òkúdù 18 - 21: Yemoja = mother of the Òrìṣà, Òrìṣà of fertility, women, and water).

Agẹmo/July

* Agẹmo: first and second weeks in July * Oko (Agriculture) - Harvests & worship of the Òrìṣà of Farming

Oko OKO ( rus, ОКО, r=, literally means eye, also an abbreviation for Ob'yedinonnyye Kristallom Osnovaniya ( rus, Oбъединённые Кристаллом Oснования, r=, literally means Foundations Bound by a Crystal)) is a complex o ...

* Dedicated to Èṣù "Ẹlégba" - one who has power to seize. He is the great Communicator and messenger of the will of Olódùmarè. * Dedicated to

Ṣàngó Shango (Yoruba language: Ṣàngó, also known as Changó or Xangô in Latin America; and as Jakuta or Badé) is an Orisha, a deity in Yoruba religion. Genealogically speaking, Shango is a royal ancestor of the Yoruba as he was the third Alaafi ...

"Jakuta" - the Òrìṣà of Energy, àrá (Thunder), and Mànàmáná/Mọ̀nàmọ́ná (lightning)

Ògún/August

* The annual Ọ̀ṣun-Òṣogbo festival occurs in August * Dedicated to Ọ̀ṣun - Òrìṣà of Fertility and custodian of the female essence who guides pregnancies to term. * Dedicated to

- Òrìṣà of iron/metals (i.e. - a

smith Smith may refer to: People * Metalsmith, or simply smith, a craftsman fashioning tools or works of art out of various metals * Smith (given name) * Smith (surname), a family name originating in England, Scotland and Ireland ** List of people wi ...

), war crafts, hunting, technology and engineering. The custodian of truth and executioner of justice, as such patron of the legal and counselling professions who must swear to uphold truth while biting on a piece of metal. (last weekend of August)

Ọwẹ́wẹ̀ or Owewe/September

* It is the month in which festivals such as New Yam Festivals, are being celebrated and it is a month of blessing. It celebrates how Yoruba is a rich culture.

Ọ̀wàrà or Ọ̀wààrà/October

* Ọ̀wàrà refers to the intense rain showers that occur during the month * Dedicated to Oya (Òrìṣà of the

river Niger The Niger River ( ; ) is the main river of West Africa, extending about . Its drainage basin is in area. Its source is in the Guinea Highlands in south-eastern Guinea near the Sierra Leone border. It runs in a crescent shape through Mali, ...

whose is the guardian of gateway between the physical realm (Aye) and the spiritual realm (Òrún). * Also dedicated to Ṣìgìdì - Òrìṣà of Òrún-Apadi, the realm of the unsettled spirits and the ghosts of the dead that have left Aye and are forsaken of Òrún-Rere (Heaven). * Also the onset of the dry season

Belu/November

Ọ̀pẹ/December

* Dedicated to Ọbalúayé (Òrìṣà of disease & healing). * Onset of the Harmattan Season - "Ọyẹ́"

References

External links

Yoruba calendar
Afropedea {{DEFAULTSORT:Yoruba Calendar Calendar Specific calendars