Across south western Nigeria and neighbouring parts of Benin, twins occupy a powerful and intimate place in Yorùbá life. In some communities, twin births are unusually frequent, with Igbo Ora in Oyo State often described as a place where twins are born at one of the highest documented rates in the world. This abundance has shaped more than celebration. It has shaped belief, ritual, and a deeply human response to loss.
Twins are commonly understood as sharing more than a womb. They share destiny. Their lives are thought to be intertwined in ways that affect the well being of the household itself. When both twins live, this shared destiny is watched carefully. When one twin dies, the imbalance is felt not only emotionally, but spiritually. Yorùbá tradition responds to this moment with a practice that turns grief into care, the creation of an ère ìbejì.
The Meaning of Ère Ìbejì
The term ère ìbejì refers to a sacred twin figure, a carved image made to stand in for a deceased twin. It is not a symbol meant to sit quietly in memory. It is treated as a presence that remains active within the home. The figure becomes a point where attention, responsibility, and affection continue to gather.
This understanding explains why the figure is not hidden away. It is kept close, seen daily, and included in ordinary routines. The relationship does not end. It changes form.
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Twin Names and Shared Destiny
Yorùbá twin names reveal how deeply this idea of shared destiny runs. The first born twin is often named Táíwò or Táyé, meaning the one who tastes the world first. The second born is named Kẹ́hìndé, the one who comes after. Yet, Kehinde is frequently regarded as the elder twin in spiritual terms.
The common explanation is that Kehinde sends Taiwo ahead to test whether the world is safe. Taiwo’s cry becomes a signal. Only then does Kehinde follow. These names express a philosophy, courage paired with wisdom, movement paired with reflection, and lives that are meant to unfold together.
When death breaks this pairing, the response is not to erase the bond, but to preserve it carefully.
Why an Ère Ìbejì Is Commissioned
After the death of a twin, families may commission an ère ìbejì to maintain balance within the household and protect the surviving twin. The figure stands in for the one who is gone, ensuring that the shared destiny is still acknowledged and tended.
The carving is not meant to capture the child’s exact likeness. Instead, it provides a stable form that can receive care, attention, and ritual handling over many years. This stability is essential, because the figure is expected to remain part of daily life.
Adult Features on Figures Made for Children
Many people are surprised to see that ère ìbejì figures often look adult rather than infant-like. They may show mature proportions, elaborate hairstyles, and facial markings associated with adulthood.
This choice is deliberate. The figure represents completeness rather than fragility. It presents the deceased twin as a composed presence, capable of receiving respect and care. The goal is not realism. The goal is endurance, dignity, and balance.
Daily Care, A Routine of Love
An ère ìbejì is treated much like a living child. It may be bathed, rubbed with oil, dressed in cloth, adorned with beads or cowries, and offered food. In some households, the figure is carried close to the body, especially by the mother.
These actions are repeated daily or regularly, not as performance, but as routine. Over time, the surface of the figure becomes smooth and darkened. This patina is the physical record of years of touch, oil, and handling. It is not decoration. It is evidence of relationship.
Indigo and the Calm of the Inner Being
Indigo plays a visible role in the care of many ère ìbejì figures, particularly on the head. The head is closely associated with destiny and inner balance. Indigo is applied to cool, calm, and steady the inner being of the twin.
Other materials may also appear, cloth, beads, pigments, and ritual substances, depending on the household and its traditions. Each addition reflects ongoing care rather than a one time act of mourning.
Grief Shaped Into Responsibility
What makes ère ìbejì so powerful is the way it transforms loss into action. Grief is not silenced, but it is given a shape. Washing, oiling, dressing, feeding, and carrying become ways of continuing love without denying death.
The figure acts as a bridge. It connects the living twin with the unseen one. It keeps the household attentive to balance and relationship. In doing so, it protects the living while honouring the dead.
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Where the Figures Are Now
Many ère ìbejì figures now reside far from the homes where they were once cared for daily. Yet their surfaces still tell their stories. The worn contours, polished wood, and traces of pigment speak of hands that returned again and again, choosing care over forgetting.
Even removed from their original setting, the figures continue to communicate their purpose, to show how mourning can become a form of living responsibility.
Author’s Note
Ère ìbejì teaches that remembrance does not have to fade into silence, it can live in routine, touch, and commitment; when loss is shaped into care, love is not erased, it is carried forward in a form the living can hold.
References
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Twin Figure (Ibeji), Yorùbá peoples, catalogue description of ritual care, bathing, dressing, and feeding practices.
The Art Institute of Chicago, Twin Figures (Ère Ìbejì), collection text describing indigo use and the calming of the inner being.
The Art Institute of Chicago, Twin Commemorative Figure (Ère Ìbejì), documentation of adult physiognomy on figures made for deceased children.
PLOS ONE, 2020, Omonkhua et al., Community perceptions on causes of high dizygotic twinning rate in Igbo Ora, South western Nigeria.
Smarthistory, Ère Ìbejì Figures (Yorùbá peoples), object based art history resource describing figures as receptacles for deceased twin spirits.
University of Michigan Museum of Art, Twin Figure, collection entry describing washing, clothing, feeding, and carrying of ère ìbejì.
