Cultural Background

The legend of Olokun comes from West Africa, especially along the Ivory Coast. The Edo people in southwest Nigeria worship Olokun as a powerful god who rules the Earth. In addition, worshipers of Olokun can be found in South America in the Candomblé cult of Brazil and in the Caribbean as a part of the Santería religion, an African-American religion that developed in the Spanish Empire with Western African influence. The story of Olokun exists today in South America and the Caribbean because of the Atlantic slave trade, a practice in the 15th to 19th centuries where Africans were sold into slavery and then sent to the Americas.

Once upon a time...

There lived a powerful prince by the name of Olokun.

Olokun, the first-born son of the King of the Gods, was sent down to Earth by his father to rule the people.

Before Olokun went down to Earth, his father gave him a beautiful queen and six other wives to marry.

All together, they piled up a boat with treasures, such as gold, pearls, and intricately-patterned boxes, tightly stacking each one onto the other.

Also, the king of the gods gave Olokun the power to make treasures out of thin-air and give away as many of them as he pleased.

On Earth, Olokun was happy to see all of the beautiful, tall mountains and deep, royal-blue seas. He felt lucky to be able to rule over such a dazzling and special place.

But God told Olokun that the price to pay for being on Earth was that he must not kiss any of his wives.

This was a problem for Olokun, as he was in love with his beautiful queen and wanted to show his love for her by kissing her.

Olokun decided to disobey his father and kiss her anyways because he thought that God would not find out.

But, God is always watching, and He never misses what goes on down on Earth. God found out that Olokun kissed his queen, and he was red and steaming with anger.