Just as we give homage to our ancestors in the form of prayers, flowers on their gravesite, lighting a candle, even pouring libation on the ground in their name. Homage must also be given to the Orisha.
Below is some of the most commonly known Orisha, along with a list of sacrificial offerings to each one. Some offerings are as simple as water, flowers, tobacco, rum, while others as complicated as animal sacrifice.
A quick note on sacrifice, I must make. Just about every culture, religion, and spiritual path in the world perform some form of offering or sacrifice. The Muslims have their Halal, the Jews have their Kosher, and the list goes on. The religion of the Yoruba have Ebó, which is another word for offering. To appease the spirits of nature or the deity, an offering is made to them. We make sacrifices of various types all the time, and of various degrees. Reasons for sacrifice may vary, from giving thanks for granting a need, to preventing or removing a cause of suffering, to making a sacred vow to the deity. The list is as followed.
Elegba
Tobacco; Roasted Corn; Palm Oil; All Fruits/ Nuts; Coconuts; Roosters; Male Goats; Yams
Obatala
Shea Butter; White Fruits; Coconut; White Kola Nuts; Efun; White Yams; Snail; Snail Water; Rice; Hens; Pigeons; Female Goats
Shango
Plantains; Yams; Okra; Green Bananas; Tobacco; Rum; Bitter Kola Nuts; Rams; Roosters (Red)
Yemoja
Molasses; Seafoods; Ducks; Hens (or Roosters)
Oshun
Huney; Cinnamon; Pumpkin; Oranges; Lettuce; Eggs; Guinea-Hens; Hens; Sheep
Ogun
Rum; Tobacco; Palm Wine; Palm Oil; Pineapple/ Fruits; Roasted Corn; Roosters; Male Goats; Yams
Oya
Rum; Red Wine; Eggplant; Rice and Beans; Plums; Tobacco; Purple Grapes; Hens (or Roosters); Female Goats; Plantains
*Taken from "The Handbook of Yoruba Religious Concepts" by Baba Ifa Karade.
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