Hidden in the dense forest of the Osun Sacred Grove we encounter a large number of ancient very puzzling odd-looking figures with huge eyes and strange features.
Who were these beings? Where did they come from and what happened to them?
Located on the outskirts of the city of Osogbo, in southern Nigeria, we find the dense forest of the Osun Sacred Grove. This amazing place is regarded as the abode of the goddess of fertility Oshun, one of the pantheon of Yoruba gods.
Oshun shares many similarities with the Egyptian goddess Isis. The goddess Oshun, was not only the goddess of beauty and love. She brought also the teaching of divinations, mysticism, agriculture and culture to humans.
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She is known as the mother of the fishes of the seas and the birds of the forest. Isis used to be represented as the mother of the fishes and the Queen of the seas. Oshun was also protector of the poor, the mother of all orphans, and the one who brought them what they needed in this life through periods of weakness or strength.
A century ago there were many sacred groves in Yorubaland: every town had one. Most of these groves have now been abandoned or have shrunk to quite small areas.
Through the forest meanders the river Osun, the spiritual abode of the river goddess Osun. Set within the forest sanctuary are forty shrines, sculptures and art works erected in honour of Osun and other Yoruba deities, many created in the past forty years, two palaces, five sacred places and nine worship points strung along the river banks with designated priests and priestesses.
Osogbo is now unique in having a large component of 20th century sculpture created to reinforce the links between people and the Yoruba pantheon, and the way in which Yoruba towns linked their establishment and growth to the spirits of the forest.
