By OLAJIDE IDOWU

Devotees and worshippers of Osun goddess have explained the reason they worship the deity annually.

The devotees spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at the grand finale of the festival on Friday, in Osogbo.

They explained that their worship to the goddess was a form of appreciation for her multiple blessings in their lives.

Iya Osun Osunsewa, a devotee and Priestess of the Osun goddess, said she observed the annual festival because the goddess had been providing for her needs.

“Osun goddess is the mother of all Osun devotees. It is very important for us to be part of any Osun activities and the Osun-Osogbo festival.

“When we were young and people call us “Omo Osun”, we usually disregarded it, but as we grew older, we found the need to embrace our true identity.

“As it stands now, I am one of the highly ranked Osun worshippers and a female Osun king, in Osun Esa-Odo”, she said.

According to her, Osun goddess is a very powerful fertility goddess that comes to the rescue of her children.

“There is a time I was sick and almost lifeless, unable to eat, left naked on the ground for six months.

“It was when I fully embraced and accepted the Osun goddess that I became healed.

“Also, everything that had been difficult for me before I embraced Osun goddess, is now easy for me,” she said.

Another devotee, Osundunsin Famuyiwa, said he was born into the Osun tradition in Osogbo, adding that his family had always been part of the Osun-Osogbo festival.

Famuyiwa said irrespective of the location they are, the family always converge on Osogbo to celebrate the Osun-Osogbo festival annually.

“Osun is our source and we have a strong bond with the goddess and she has always been blessing us.

“We don’t have any barren person in my linage because the goddess is always blessing us with children, even without including it as part of our prayers to her.

“We believe in the Osun goddess and she has been blessing us and we are always proud to show our appreciation and join others to celebrate her,” he said.

NAN reports that the event, which started on July 29, is expected to end with a young maiden, Arugba (a virgin female girl), with a calabash on her head as a symbolic sacrifice to the river goddess.

The Osun-Osogbo festival, whose history dates back to many centuries, is usually celebrated in a Grove outskirts of Osogbo.

It is among the last of the sacred forests that adjoined the edges of most Yoruba cities before extensive urbanisation.

In recognition of its global significance and cultural value, the Sacred Grove was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005.

For the people of Osogbo land, the festival represents traditional cleansing of the town and cultural reunion of the people with their ancestors and founders of the Osogbo Kingdom. (NAN)

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