The Colobus monkey is very manlike in its behavior, but remains an unpredictable and uncontrollable wild animal. Human twins have some of these characteristics. The Colobus female bears twins and carries them in the same manner as a human mother with one infant on her back and the other against her stomach. They do not die. The association of twins with the spirit world is somewhat more abstract than their association with the wild and erratic Bush.
Twins bridge the gap between the world of the gods and the world of humans.
According to legend it was once the practice to kill all twin children born to poor parents. One day the children of the rich and powerful began to die. The rulers sought the oracle god of divination, IFA, to determine the cause of the calamity and find some means to stop it. They were to be paid for this performance and from this they would become rich. Thus the birth of twins signals a change for the better in family fortune, but only if they are given very carefully prescribed care.