Osun Community Deifies Well After Claim Of ‘Spiritual Voice’

Some residents of Modakeke in Osun State have claimed an existence a spiritual being in a well, which they now deify.

The residents claimed they heard a voice, thought to be that of Osun, the goddess of water in Yoruba mythology, from the well on Wednesday. The well is on the Jatina Street of the community.

Since Wednesday, Osun worshippers, led by a priestess named Osunfunke, have been dancing and rendering peans of the Osun.

Many of them said the goddess spoke the delivery of a pregnant woman on Wednesday and the woman delivered a baby today, Friday.

According to the Yoruba mythology, Osun is believed to be a goddess of fertility and good health. The celebration of this goddess is done at the riverside across Yoruba towns, especially Osogbo, where a glamorous UNESCO-supported Osun Osogbo Festival holds annually.

Speaking with Victoria Oladipupo, 69, she narrated that a Hausa man who re-dug the well recently told them of a ‘terrestrial house’ he found during the process.

She said that the water from the well is no longer used for domestic purposes but as a cure for infertility in women and other diseases.

However, many including the monarch of the town do not believe any goddess exists in the well.

Oba Frances Olatunji stated that the occurrence was strange and that the river goddess, Osun, was said to be everywhere but no one had seen her.

“If you give people a chance to tell you a bundle of lies, that’s your problem.” the monarch said.

A man who goes by the alias, Alado, residing house where the well is situated, explained that everything started on Wednesday when someone told other occupants about a speaking voice in the river.

“For the past 7 years that I’ve been living in this house, I have not seen anything of such,” said Alado, responding to our question in the Yoruba language. “I don’t believe in superstitions.”

He added that “the King has ordered the closure of the well so that no one will fetch from there since the day of the whole claim.”