Twinship in an Ekiti Yoruba town

Attitudes toward twins in Ekiti Yoruba society have remained remarkably con sistent over the past hundred gears even while the outward signs of their t reatment have radically changed. Twins were considered to be extraordinary beings in the past and continue to be considered so. However, the markers o f this extraordinariness have shifted from open expressions reflected in pu blicly displayed twin shrines to private, personal shrines kept in individu al rooms. This essay examines both the everyday ways by which the special s tatus of twins is muted and the special circumstances in which this tendenc y is overridden.