{{Infobox deity | type = Yoruba | other_names = Ọbaluaye or Sopona| member_of = Orisha | venerated_in = Yoruba religion, Candomble, Santeria, Haitian Vodou, Folk Catholicism | image = ObaluaiyeFestival.jpg | caption = Babalu-aye manifested in a human at the Obaluaye Festival in Ibadan, Oyó State - Nigeria. | deity_of = Deity of smallpox, healing, and other epidemic diseases | color = | region = Nigeria, Benin, Latin America | ethnic_group = Yoruba | symbol = }}Babalú-Aye (from yoruba Obalúayé), Oluaye, Ṣọpọna, or even Obaluaiye, is one of the orishas or manifestations of the supreme creator god Olodumare in the Yoruba religion of West Africa. Babalú-Aye is the spirit of the Earth and strongly associated with infectious disease, and healing. He promotes the cure for illnesses. He is always close to Iku (the force responsible for taking life), as he promotes healing for those who are close to death. However, some fear Obaluaye because he is believed to bring disease upon humans, including smallpox, in which he is known as Ṣọpọna. His cult powers and spells are used against all kinds of diseases, but particularly against skin diseases, inflammation and airborne diseases that can cause epidemics. They are also used to cure people with seizure problems, epilepsy and catalepsy. Heat is also a property of Babalu-aye, like fever, the body heating up to expel a disease, it is Babalu-aye acting on the human body, as well as the heat that comes from the depths of the earth. Therefore, any kind of sacrifice or offering to this orisha must be done during the day, when the temperature is higher. Usually considered hobbled by disease, he universally takes grains as offerings. In Africa Yoruba Venerated by the Yoruba, O̩balúayé is usually called Sopona (Shopona) and said to have dominion over the Earth and smallpox. He demands respect and even gratitude when he claims a victim, and so people sometimes honor him with the praise name Alápa-dúpé, meaning “One who kills and is thanked for it”. In one commonly recounted story, Ṣopona was old and lame. He attended a celebration at the palace of Obatala, the father of the orishas. When Ṣopona tried to dance, he stumbled and fell. All the other orishas laughed at him, and he in turn tried to infect them with smallpox. Obatala stopped him and drove him into the bush, where he has lived as an outcast ever