The Yoruba people live in sub-Saharan Africa.
Names are extremely important in Yoruban culture. They are believed to be divinely ordained and reflect part of the essence of the child. One of the most important ceremonies for Yorubas is the naming ceremony. The child's name is not spoken or used before this time. After the ceremony, the child has three names: the personal name, the "praise name" expressing what the child is or is hoped to become, and the tribal name. If the child is born under special circumstances, the first name will be "brought from Heaven" corresponding to that situation.
Instructions
Preparation
1. Wait eight days after the child is born.
2. Bring the child outside in the early morning or afternoon of the eighth day. This should be the first time the child or mother has left the house since the child's birth.
3. Receive a gift from each person in attendance. Women give only to women, men only to men.
4. Bring the child to the elder who will officiate the ceremony roughly an hour after the guests have arrived.
The Ceremony
5. Have someone go to the roof of the house and pour water from a jug so it hits the child under the traditionally low eaves. Inside, sprinkle water up toward the ceiling. No words should be spoken until the child cries upon becoming wet. Crying is considered a good sign since only living things can make their own noise.
6. Watch the elder dip his finger in the water, touch the child's forehead with it and announce the name to all present.
7. Watch the elder feed the child and those present small tastes from each of the seven vessels containing important Yoruba cultural symbols. The first will be red pepper symbolizing resolve and command over nature. The elder will give some to the child then pass the vessel around for the assembled to taste.
8. See him pass the water vessel, symbolizing purity of body and spirit.
9. Pass salt, symbolic of either wisdom or how the child should be an enhancement to her community. Pass palm oil for power and health like royalty, then honey for sweetness and happiness, wine or liquor for wealth and prosperity and kola nut for good fortune.
10. Feasting, dancing and rejoicing begin and last all day.
