Letâs get something straight: OlĂłdĂčmarĂš is not âGodâ â and trying to make that equation is not only inaccurate, itâs lazy. The attempt to force Yoruba cosmology into the mold of Western or Abrahamic religious concepts is exactly how culture gets erased.
Letâs start with the word âGod.â Itâs not some ancient, divine label handed down by the heavens. The English word God is a derivative term, believed to come from the Proto-Germanic gudan, itself related to the Proto-Indo-European root ǔʰu-tĂł-, meaning âthat which is invokedâ â often in the context of pouring libation or making a sacrifice.
Here is the first version of OlĂłdĂčmarĂš written by the late legendary Prof. Sophie Oluwole - The True meaning of OlĂłdĂčmarĂš (Olodumare)
In early usage, it referred to any powerful, invoked entity, not a singular supreme being. Thatâs right: the word God originated from a verb â to call upon, to pour to. It was never a title for the Source of all things. Over centuries, shaped by Roman, Greek, and later Christian theology, âGodâ evolved into the singular, all-powerful figure we now see in religious texts â usually male, usually jealous, and usually portrayed in human terms.
In short, âGodâ is a deified being. A powerful one, yes â but still part of a pantheon in many cultures. In fact, conceptually, âGodâ is closer to SĂ ngĂł, á»ya, ĂgĂșn, and other ĂrĂŹáčŁĂ â divine entities with form, personality, worship, and story â than to OlĂłdĂčmarĂš, who has none of those attributes.
Now letâs talk about OlĂłdĂčmarĂš â and get the meaning right:
OlĂł / OlĂș â Owner, Source
OdĂč â Sacred code, divine mystery
Má»Ì â To know ĂrĂš â Vastness, boundlessness, infinity
So OlĂłdĂčmarĂš translates as:
âThe Owner and Knower of the Sacred Mystery of Infinite Vastness.â
Thatâs not a name. Thatâs a description â a cosmological map embedded in language. Our ancestors werenât naming a character; they were describing a force too vast to be named, too complex to be idolized. OlĂłdĂčmarĂš is not prayed to for favor. OlĂłdĂčmarĂš is aligned with right living (ĂŹwĂ páșčÌlĂș á»ÌrĂșn), balance, and harmony with creation.
Meanwhile, the Christian âGodâ (and yes, I was sarcastically asked if âGodâ is a noun â of course it is; itâs literally named) is a gendered, emotional being. He kills, blesses, chooses sides, punishes, regrets, and demands exclusive worship. Even the Bible says, âLet us make man in our own imageâ â implying multiplicity and shared divine agency. That is already foreign to the concept of OlĂłdĂčmarĂš.
Letâs be clearer still:
âGodâ is gendered (âHeâ/âFatherâ/âLordâ)
âGodâ has a name and a personality
âGodâ is worshipped, invoked, pleased, and angered
OlĂłdĂčmarĂš?
No gender
No face
No temple
No priesthood
No flattery rituals
And thatâs by design.
The ĂrĂŹáčŁĂ â like SĂ ngĂł, á»ya, ĂáčŁĂč, á»bĂ tĂĄlĂĄ â are divine forces that interface with human experience. They are not the Supreme. They know this. They say this. They are expressions of the cosmos, not the Source of it.
So to reduce OlĂłdĂčmarĂš to the label âGodâ is not only inaccurate â itâs disrespectful. It tries to cram an indigenous, complex, non-linear worldview into a colonial, doctrinal, linear framework.
God â OlĂłdĂčmarĂš
God = A deified being
OlĂłdĂčmarĂš = The infinite, unknowable cosmic force, encoded in language, not named
You can engage with the God concept if thatâs your path. No hate. But donât flatten my language or insult my ancestors by equating their deepest metaphysical insight to a character from someone elseâs scripture.
Because, as we say:
ĂdĂš ĂšnĂŹyĂ n nĂ ĂŹdĂĄnimá»Ì ĂšnĂŹyĂ n
Your language is your identity.
And my language never called OlĂłdĂčmarĂš âGod.â Yours might. Mine knew better.
by Akinkanju Valor
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