Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Obàtálá

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Obàtálá: Another in my occasional introductions to various godsworshipped the world over.According to the Yoruba people, Obàtálá isthe creator of human bodies, which arethen brought to life by the breath of Olorun.Obàtálá ownsall ori or heads. Any orisha (a spirit or deitythat reflects one of the manifestations of God) in the Yoruba religious system canclaim an individual, but until the person is initiated into the priesthood ofthat orisha, Obàtálá continues to own that head. In this religious system, the soul is believed to reside in the head.It's an interestingpoint that variations of this African religion now exist in many parts of theglobe and it's estimated there may be as many as 100 million adherents to thevarious cults and sects involved. But I'm willing to bet that most peoplereading this have never heard of the god or his religion. It's just anotherelement in my search for the reasons why religion has such a hold over manypeople. If an individual knows only about the god they were brought up to believein, how can they be sure that their god is the 'one', when they remain ignorantof all the others that exist with equal potency for those worshippers? Just athought.