In Yoruba religion, the spiritual realm where ancestors and deities reside is called Orun.
Yoruba cosmology commonly distinguishes Orun, the spiritual or invisible realm, from Aiye, the visible world inhabited by humans. Orun includes the dwelling places of oriṣa, the divine powers, and the ancestors. The two realms are not understood as completely isolated: ritual, sacrifice, prayer, dreams, and moral conduct can connect human life with the spiritual world.
The Yoruba concept of the afterlife is not simply a single reward-or-punishment destination. Ancestors may continue to influence and protect their living families, while a person’s character and conduct matter greatly in determining spiritual status. Some Yoruba accounts also discuss reincarnation and the return of ancestral qualities within families.
Spelling and interpretation vary because Yoruba religious knowledge has been transmitted through oral traditions and has developed across West Africa and the Atlantic diaspora. Orun remains the standard name for the otherworldly realm.