In the Yoruba region of Africa this is the Oral traditions of story telling where the Pitaki are told. Sometimes the deeds of a certain person became so well known they became part of the Itan, which often led to certain spirits becoming venerated as Saints or Gods.
The most common deities to feature in such things are:
- Olorun or Olodumare – this is the transcendent creator god.
- Eshu – this is the trickster and represents the uncertainty of life. Parallels are often drawn between him and Elegua of Santeria and Papa Legba of Hatian Vodun.
- Ogun – the hunter god who gives iron.
- Oranmiyan (Ogun’s son) – the god of male fertility.
- Olookun – the goddess of Oceans
- Orosa – the goddess of lagoons
- Shango / Chango / Aramfe God of thunder (known for dancing and promiscuity and husband to Oya)
- Onile-ile Goddess of soil
- Oko – Goddess of fields, farms and agriculture
- Oya – Goddess of Winds and the Niger River (wife to Shango)
- Orungan – Goddess of Air (daughter of Aranju and Yemoja)
- Ymoja – Goddess of the River Ogun and the Oceans
- Obaluaye – God of Smallpox, Disease and Death
- Ori – God of individuality
- Iwa – Goddess of character traits
- Ogiyan God of crush casava (celebrated in Africa where Casava would have only been brought over around 1600)
- Orunmila God of Wisdom and divination (son of Olorun-Olodumare). He can read pine nuts and cowrie shells to determine the unchanging will of Olorun and therefore personifies fate.