Iwa- Yoruba ConceptConcept"Good Character"
Also known as: Ìwà, Iwa Pele, and Ìwà Pẹ̀lẹ́
Titles & Epithets
Domains
Description
Personification of good character who became Orunmila's wife. When the god of wisdom drove her away for more beautiful women, his life fell to ruin. He wandered the world singing her name until she returned.
Mythology & Lore
Orunmila's Marriage to Iwa
In Yoruba, iwa means both "character" and "existence." The proverb "Iwa l'ewa," character is beauty, is the highest ethical ideal in the tradition. Iwa is that ideal given a name and a body.
The story comes from the Ifa verse Ogbe Ate. Orunmila sought a wife who would bring him lasting happiness, and divination advised him to marry Iwa, a woman of plain appearance but extraordinary inner virtue.
At first, everything flourished. Iwa kept the home in order and treated visitors with generosity. Orunmila's divination practice thrived, his reputation grew, and prosperity followed. But he grew dissatisfied with her unassuming looks. Attracted to more outwardly beautiful women, he began to neglect her, then mistreat her, and finally drove her from his home.
After Iwa departed, everything unraveled. His divination failed. His clients abandoned him. Desperate, he consulted Ifa and was told that all his misfortune stemmed from losing Iwa. He searched the world for her, singing as he went: "Iwa, Iwa, Iwa, character is all I seek. Iwa, Iwa, Iwa, where have you gone?"
He found her at last and begged her to return. She agreed. Orunmila swore never again to take good character for granted.
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