THE ARRIVAL OF A NEW BORN BABY INTO A YORUBA HOME IN THE OLD DAYS.
The arrival of a new baby into a family among the Yorubas' is usually greeted with joy. The reason is that the Yoruba believe that the family which has the new baby is expanding and prosperous. They regard the gift of a child from Oduduwa, their progenitor, as a mark of the fact that the fact the family is not forgotten by its forefathers. Immediately a child is born, a message is sent to all the relations who are around in the village or town and to those who have gone to farm to come home for the naming ceremony of the baby. The naming ceremony for a male child comes up on the ninth day after his birth while a female child usually named on the eight day. The reason for this is that the Yoruba people believe that a man has nine bones while a woman has eight. So, those relations at home and those in the farm know the day a new baby will be named due to the sex of the new born baby. On the day of the naming ceremony, the entire family will come together at the house of the "Olo...