She is the symbol of a people who live in the southwestern part of Nigeria. ‘Oronshen’ is not really her name but it is the name she identifies with. A festival in her honor has been celebrated since the 15th century in the kingdom of Owo and faithfully every year, for a period of three weeks, the people of Owo remember a story of love, jealousy, betrayal and adoration. It’s a universal theme that you’ll find in any story, Western or not. It is deification that underlines the finer emotion of sacrifice and fidelity. Who was this lady?

In true legend and myth form, she was a half human, half spirit being who was discovered by a hunter late at night during his hunting trip. The hunter took the lady home and she lived with him not as a wife but as a guest. However, a powerful neighboring king, the King of Owo, saw her and fell in love with her. He married her and thus started a train of jealousy and rage from the other queens in the palace. ‘Oronshen was stunningly beautiful, she brought riches and good advice to the king. He was immersed in her. The queens, unable to tolerate being so totally upstaged, decided to find out what her secret was. Every god or goddess has an Achilles’ heel, and the other queens soon discovered it through seduction and trickery.

With her taboos broken, Oronshen disappeared into the forest, never to be seen again. There is no tomb of this goddess that gives her immortality, mystery and emotion. However, there is archaeological evidence of the existence of a festival cult that was instituted by the afflicted king and his chiefs to which the entire kingdom joined.

In commemoration of the love and service he rendered to the kingdom. A festival is enacted every year. The king is decked out in coral beads made into a beautiful dazzling bodice, he has a white coat like skirt around him, his hair is in braids like a woman, he has heavy coral beads on his wrists and with his golden sword, he dances to the grove of the goddess, asking her to continue protecting the kingdom. His dance is the climax of weeks of preparation. He sees in every man, woman and child of Owo, the pride of the community in the pristine worship they give.
The Owo kingdom has a distinct culture; religion and a class system that will make some Western cultures wonder why they tried to call Africans savages. If you look closely, you will find that it is the same all over the world.

Ignorance breeds fear and creates superstitions; it is the hallmark of the seeking man. Experience gives you knowledge and clarity and makes you progress. No one is so perfect that you need to look for areas for improvement. Perhaps if we embedded this information in our psyche, we could earn respect for each other’s culture and be tolerant of what makes us different. You do not call a collection of weeds in a garden. However plants of different colors and shades make up the garden that is creation. We are all guests of creation, atheists, agnostics, believers and fundamentalists. The creator teaches us a lesson because of the opportunity he gives us to learn from our differences.

What is the lesson of Oronshen?
That love is universal, in its dark hues and light highlights. When we hate, we deny ourselves the opportunity to experience the greatest emotion of all!

Love is the axis on which creation balances. It helps us grow. For this reason, each year, the people of Owo have the opportunity to reflect on the consequences of heartbreak, they renew their commitment with a symbol of Love that unites them. They remember Oronshen, their own Venus.

There is a Venus in every culture that reminds us of the essential redeeming quality of man. When we find our Venus, we can find that reason is better than yesterday and move more confidently into tomorrow.