Ibeji- Yoruba GodDeity"Divine Twins"

Taiwo and Kehinde

The first twin to emerge is named Taiwo, "the one who tastes the world first." The second is Kehinde, "the one who comes last." Yet Kehinde is the true elder, the one bold enough to send Taiwo out as a scout to test whether the world was worth entering.

The Ibeji are children of Shango and Oshun, inheriting thunder's temper and the river's allure. Colobus monkeys, with their stark black-and-white coloring, are their animal doubles. Twins must be fed simultaneously and given identical gifts. To favor one over the other invites the Ibeji's displeasure, which falls on the whole household as illness or poverty.

Ere Ibeji

When a twin dies, the surviving twin's soul remains tethered to the one who has crossed over. To keep the dead twin present without pulling the living one toward death, the family commissions an ere ibeji, a small carved wooden figure that becomes the dwelling place of the departed twin's soul. The figure is fed and anointed with palm oil, then carried alongside the surviving child as though it were still alive.

Hundreds of thousands of ere ibeji have been carved over the centuries, each bearing local styles of scarification and elaborate hairstyle. Families accumulate offerings on the figures over years, beads and cowrie shells, until the wood gleams with decades of oil.