Markets
The market, which is a center of economic and social doings, is a very important aspect of the power of women. Women spend much of their time there because they are financially independent from their husbands and thus are able to trade their own products and make their own money. This allows them to acquire their own wealth and status at the market. Also, the Iyalode, the female head of the market, even has a position on the king’s council of chiefs. The market, therefore, is completely controlled and dominated by women and is a symbol of feminine power. (3)
It is thus very suitable that the Gẹlẹdẹ spectacle is held in the market, because it brings the celebration of women to their center of activity and their domain. There is a spiritual characteristic of the market as well. According to traditional stories, the market is known to be a place where spirits appear and interact with mortals. Strangers that visit the market during Gẹlẹdẹ are believed to be spirits that responded to the communication of the spectacle. (3)
The marketplace is also a metaphor for the material world. The market is temporary, somewhere where people visit and then return home. The market and the home is comparable to the world and the spirit realm. The earth is thought to be like a market, a place where people visit for some time, and the spirit world of the ancestors is like the home of the people, to which individuals eventually return after their visit to the market. (3)
