In Yoruba creation myth, which pairing is central to the creation of the world and humans?

• A. Obatala alone shapes the world.
• B. Shango and Oshun.
• C. Olodumare and Obatala.
• D. Olorun and Ifa.

Answer: (C)

The main idea here is who brings the world and humans into being in Yoruba myth. Olodumare, also known as Olorun, is the supreme creator who entrusts the act of creation to Obatala. Obatala acts as the craftsman, shaping the land and fashioning humanity, with Olodumare providing the life force that animates what Obatala forms. This collaboration between the high creator and the shaping deity is what the myth centers on.

Shango and Oshun and the other pairing options don’t fit the creation story because they represent distinct domains—thunder and lightning for Shango, river and love for Oshun—rather than the act of creation itself. Ifa is a system of divination rather than a creator partner, and while Olodumare and Olorun refer to the same distant creator, pairing them with Ifa isn’t how the myth is framed. Obatala alone is not paired with the supreme source of creation in the traditional telling; it’s the partnership with Olodumare that underlies the creation of the world and humans. So the central pairing is Olodumare and Obatala.