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| -Signs, Portents, and the Weather- |
| Euro Marketing 'killing Nigerian Osun-Osogbo festival' |
| 2008-09-08 |
| An annual gathering to celebrate a traditional spirit-god in one of Nigeria's few remaining virgin forests is one of the last places you would expect to hear complaints of over-commercialisation. But experts on Nigeria's traditional religion say the 600-year-old Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove Festival is under threat. The event is now sponsored by international phone company MTN, Star beer, and Seaman's Schnapps, an alcoholic drink that touts itself as the "number one prayer libation drink". Devotees believe that the sacred grove is one of the last remaining places that the spirits, or "orishas" will reveal themselves. If the spirits decide not to come, the festival will die, they say. Traditional beliefs involving animist spirits are still widely held in Nigeria, by people who say they are Christians and Muslims alike. Each devotee family has a specific orisha, who their members will worship for the whole of their lives, but people also make offerings and sacrifices to other spirits who have responsibility for different aspects of life, hoping for their blessing. Sacrifices can include killing chickens or rams, or token offerings like kola nuts, or libations of alcohol poured on a shrine. The popularity of the festival has increased dramatically over the last 30 years, mostly due to the dedication of Austrian-born artist Susanne Wenger, who rebuilt the shrines and worked to get the grove protected. Financial trouble in the last eight years has led organisers to turn to commercial sponsors for funding. |
| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #2 Good luck with your animist spirits, the rest of us will wait in the 21st century for you. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2008-09-08 10:48 |
| #1 Send in the Earth First Dogs !! |
| Posted by: Mad Eye 2008-09-08 08:29 |