CHRISTIAN HARVEST AND IJUSU FESTIVAL OF ILAJE-ETIKAN: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF RITUAL AND SYMBOLIC CORRELATES - STEPHEN OLA AJIMISAN

           

The crux and kernel of this research is the study of comparative parallels between the Ijusu (Yam Festival) in Ilaje-Etikan and the Christian harvest feast thereby bringing out the areas of convergence and divergence in the two religious observances or ceremonies. The Christian Harvest is a Judeo-Christian feast in which harvested or reaped farm or agricultural products are brought to the church or temple as a token of appreciation to any deity, the God of harvest and the supreme Maker of the universe. In agrarian communities, fruits, tubers and meat are brought to the church while in littoral communities like Ilajeland where fishing or fisheries is their staple occupation, fish and other sea foods are presented with agricultural products. This is done in appreciation to the deity of the sea (Malokun) and that of the forest or soil (Oluwoko). The two religious observances are done with spiRITUAL communions between human and super-human/supernatural forces. Ritual dedication, appreciation or even memorialisation are liminally exemplified both Ijusu Festival and the Christian harvest.

Likewise, during the Yam festival (locally called Ijusu Etikan) yam and fish are brought as symbols of the two occupations in the Kingdom (fishing and farming) or as representative symbols of the  two crucial periods of the people’s history and existence. Yam and fish are allegorical of the fishing and farming occupation. The fishermen and farmers are seen annually coming to the traditional square which houses all the shrines in the Ilaje-Etikan Kingdom with what they have harvested, as a token of gratitide to the benevolent ancestors and other deities believed to rule in their affairs. These benevolent ancestors and deities are believed to have given the farmers rain, fertile soil and good catches to the fishermen. They are approached as intermediaries between men and the maker or the paramount ruler of the universe. Another connotation for the use of yam and fish is that yam stands for the period of history when the people of Ilaje-Etikan were still farmers, and fish represents the people’s existence in the present  location. This second connotation also betokens a sense of appreciation to the Maker for seeing them through the turbulent period through the thicks and thorns onto the present clement location. The two totemic and symbolic ritual objects also symbolise the ritual bond between the people, the objects and the habitats of the objects as well as the deities believed to rule over them.

In the pre-colonial days, the yam festival is approached and observed with the utmost sense of piety and reverence as the time of reunion between the living descendants and the dead ancestors of the land. Nowadays, people no longer accord it the veneration that it deserves due to stereotypical colorization and its attendant demonization of  all indigenous ideals. However, the two practices or feasts are akin to each other in the following respect. During the Christian harvest, the farmers and those practising other trades or vocations come to the church or the temple with what they produce. The same thing is applicable to the Yam Festival in which people bring yam tubers and fish as occupational signifiers to the hallowed square or Oghonne Temple. The church is the bulding believed by the Christians to be the hallowed habitation of the Maker. The "Ogwa" (the traditional square/Oghonne Temple) in the ljusu is also  the tenement of tell dead-but-ubiquitous ancestors who carry the supplications of men to Olodumare, the all-knowing Creator of the universe and all the things therein. The two feasts have correlations in the area of where the produces are taken to, in veneration of the deities in contexts.

The presence of the priests;  the Abojutoro as in the case Ijusu and the Vicar / Pastor; as in the case of the Christian Harvest are common to the duo (Ijusu and Harvest). In the Christian harvest the pastor stands at the altar or chancel to receive and bless the fruits or the elements. In the case of Ijusu the priest (Abojutoro) also sits before the Oshin shrine to receive and  also bless the materials. The oshin which is the deity of the foundation of the town is the  deity that takes than supplication of dedication to Olodumare. The Oshin shrine, like the chancel is treated with sanctity. The prayers that are said at the Ogwa are said through the pantheon of the land while the ones said at the church are said through Jesus Christ. In each of the cases, the supplications are carried to the supreme deity through intermediaries.

Another correlate worthy of attention is the intentions behind the bringing of the elements or materials to the places of worship. Some people, out of their tendency to demonise the festival believe that the material are brought to the shrine so as to dedicate them it the gods. This is a brazen display of religious prejudice. The materials are only brought before the deities who are believed to deserve to see and taste the harvested materials first, before the mortal. This is exactly what the Christian scripture writes and commands that the farmers should bring their first fruits to God’s house. The intention, therefore, is to bring the materials to the various places of worship as a signification of gratitude. The activities performed at the shrines and the church are superficial, while the intentions are penetrating, even beyond verbose verbal articulation and amplification.

The contrasting aspects of the feasts are interesting. In the aspect of the dedicated materials, the Christians have no regard for or reservation for the gender of the materials. In Ijusu, the water- yam which is believed to be “female yam" is not brought to the square because it is a taboo and a desecration of the square to do so. This is a discourse which has been taken care of in one of my major research, Ajimisan (2022). In the Christian harvest, everything is considered sanctified before the holy one, both male and female. In Ijusu, there is restriction of movement around the traditional square. This is not so, in the case of the Christian Harvest. In the case of Ijusu Etikan, the delicacies preponderantly served are pounded yam and drawling-soup “obe-gwigwo/ obe-yiyo” while in the case of the Harvest everything that is “godly” can be served. Nothing is considered sacrilegious to be served because there is no restriction in Edumare.

After a through examination of the two feasts or religious ceremonies, what is clear is that the people are doing the same thing (application to the maker for the end of a season) in different ways. Behind the superficial activities of the priests from various religious backgrounds is the attitude of gratitude which supersedes the overt display of piety. The two activities are, however, significant in the sense that they serve as occasions of re-union for various entities both mortal and supernatural. They give men free access to interact, wine and dine with their ancestors from the hereafter in a pious attitude of sharing coupled with veneration. 

Thus, it is culturally unwholesome and disdainful for the adherents of one religion to see the other as a “demonic other” or practice of savagery. The Ijusu festival, if well planned will not only enable the people to visit Ode- Etikan on reglious pilgrimage, but will also make the town a “Mecca of eyes and legs” for tourists from all over the world. This is also known as the commodification of indigenous festival for revenue generation. This paper also showcases the spiRITUAL significance of Ijusu Festival among the Ilaje-Etikan as aspects and liturgy of Afrotheology.