Each compound also maintains its unique rituals and ancestral shrines. Formerly, heads of compounds were also represented before the king and provided military support, as a unit, to the king in times of war. R eligion is equal in importance to kinship and politics for the structure of Yoruba society. Though both Christianity and Islam have made deep inroads, many forms of traditional religious expression persist and remain very much a part of Yoruba daily life. Others are universal in Yoruba belief and maintain vigorous cults in Nigeria and in Cuba and Brazil as well.
T winning as a biological phenomenon is exceptionally common among the Yoruba.
Forty-five births in 1000 are twins. This is a rate of twinning which is four times that of either the United States of Great Britain. Parents of twins greet their birth as both a blessing and a burden. Twins double everything. They are twice as much trouble, but bring twice as much good fortune to those parents who give them proper care.