We honor and revere our elder priests … the great ‘wisdom keepers’ among us. We are blessed and strengthened by their prayers and visions. Mother Taylor, Chief Priest of the Yoruba Temple of Spiritual Elevation and Enlightenment, is a pillar in the traditional African community in the U.S. and among the elders who offer blessings at the Prayer Vigil each year.

The Yoruba creator is called Olurun or Olodumare and is often assisted by the lesser god, Obatala. In the beginning, there was only water and chaos. The supreme being sent Obatala or Orishanla down from the sky to create some land out of the chaos. He descended on a long chain (umbilical cord) and brought with him a rooster, some iron, and a palm kernel. First, he put the metal on the earth and the rooster on top of that. The rooster scratched the metal and spread it out to create land. Then he planted the palm seed and from it grew the earth's vegetation. Olurun named earth "Ife" and the first city "Ile-Ife." Orshilana created humans out of the earth and got Olurun to blow life into them.