Deity · Yoruba · c. 1500 CE
Olodumare
Also called Olorun, Olofin-Orun
The Yoruba supreme being, who has no images, no temples and no priests of his own — the orisha are the ones addressed, and the corpus's clearest example of a high god who is not worshipped directly.
Single lineage
Almost every element of Yoruba practice on this site is directed at an orisha rather than at Olodumare, and that is doctrine rather than neglect: the supreme being delegates. He assigns each person their ori, the destiny chosen before birth, and the divination corpus exists largely to find out what was agreed. For the comparative argument this corpus runs, the case matters because it breaks a common assumption — that a religion with many spirits has no single god above them. Here there is one, and the reason he has no cult is that he does not require one.
Identity
Where does the name come from?
Where it was actually worshipped
None, and not from neglect: no image, no temple and no priesthood is the doctrine
A figure with temples and a figure that only ever existed on a page are different kinds of thing, and the difference is easy to lose once both are entries in a list.
At a glance
Vitals
Vitals
Also known as
- Named there as
- Olorun
- Rank
- The Supreme Being
- Pantheon
- Yoruba
- Order
- Yoruba pantheon
- Base of operations
- None, and not from neglect: no image, no temple and no priesthood is the doctrine
- Era
- c. 1500 CE
- Traditions
- Yoruba & Diaspora
Traits
- Domain
- Existence itself, destiny, the breath of life
- Traditional form
- Not represented; no image, no shrine, no priesthood
3 attributed
What is it said to do?
Where these powers cluster
The 3 offices attributed to Olodumare, grouped by kind. Segment width is the share of powers falling in each category.
A bar dominated by one colour means a specialist; an even spread means a figure the sources credit with almost anything.
- divination1
- martial1
- material1
divination
martial
material
2 texts
Which texts say so, and where do they disagree?
When these texts were written
Each dot is one of the 2 texts that names Olodumare, placed at that text's approximate date.
A wide spread means the figure was carried across many centuries and traditions; a tight cluster means a single period produced the whole record.
2 texts, all inside a single century
Where the texts differ
- Name: given as Olorun, Olodumare
- Rank: given as Lord of heaven; Owner of the endless heavens
Recorded as the supreme god of the Yoruba, distinguished by having no image, no temple and no priesthood, in a book written by a Christian clergyman who found the distinction worth insisting on.
The authority the odu appeal to and the source of the destiny each person receives; addressed through the orisha rather than directly.
Connections
What is it connected to?
Answered from the sources
Common questions
Which texts mention Olodumare?
What rank is Olodumare?
How else is Olodumare spelled?
What is Olodumare said to do?
How old is Olodumare?
Nearest in the corpus
If Olodumare is what you came for, these are next
Chosen by proximity rather than by popularity: the same pantheon first, then the same rank, then the same kind of figure.
Eshu
Divine Messenger · Yoruba
Messenger between humanity and the orisha, addressed first in any rite. Missionaries met a trickster at a crossroads and called him Satan, and the mistake has proved very hard to undo.
Obatala
King of the White Cloth · Yoruba
The Yoruba orisha who moulds human bodies before birth, and who made the disabled ones while drunk on palm wine — which is why he is owed to them and why his worship forbids the drink.
Ogun
Orisha of Iron · Yoruba
Orisha of iron and of the tools made from it — patron of smiths, surgeons and soldiers alike, since all three cut.
Orunmila
Witness to Destiny · Yoruba
The Yoruba orisha of divination, who was present when each person chose their destiny and is consulted to find out what was chosen — the figure the whole Ifá corpus belongs to.
Oya
Owner of the Wind · Yoruba
The Yoruba orisha of wind and storm, wife of Shango and keeper of the gate between the living and the dead — the one who goes ahead of the thunder.
Shango
Orisha of Thunder · Yoruba
Thunder-orisha and a remembered king of Oyo — a historical ruler who became a god, which is euhemerism running the other way.
The books behind Olodumare
Every claim on this profile is attributed to one of these. They are public domain, listed oldest first, and each links to a full text where one is freely available.
The History of the Yorubas
Samuel Johnson; edited by O. Johnson · Written 1897, published 1921 · English
Read The History of the Yorubas in full ↗The Odu Ifá
Oral; transmitted by babalawo · Oral tradition, first transcribed 19th-20th c. · Yoruba
Read The Odu Ifá in full ↗Cover: Public domain · Toluaye · Wikimedia file page
Corpus last revised 29 August 2026. A reference site’s credibility rests on being maintained, so this is the date the sourced records last changed — not the date the page was rebuilt.