For several years I made a number of ineffective attempts to place my relationship with Òrìsà into some type of conceptual framework. Looking back, I suspect my efforts were ineffective because they were limited to examining rational concepts that attempted to define Spirit. I was trying to consciously understand something that was at the foundation of consciousness itself. My effort was, I believe, a reflection of the arrogance of most Western paradigms of self-understanding. Modern urban civilization is based on the idea that Nature is something to be understood and controlled. This idea is in contrast to the Ifà paradigm that conceives of Nature as a living, breathing, conscious reality that is in a constant state of growth, evolution and transformation. Those who were trying to teach me the wisdom of Ifà were suggesting the effort to consciously understand Òrìsà was like trying to catch the wind in a basket.
Thanks to the patient efforts of several Ifà priests, I was eventually able to appreciate the idea the true wisdom only comes through the integration of thought and emotion. This integration usually occurs during those real-life encounters that force us to transform our relationship to self and world. For many years I considered myself fearless when it came to dealing with Spiritual Forces. That was before I was introduced to real Spiritual Power. Once those doors had been opened, I was forced to confront the very real experience of fear. This confrontation was further confirmation that an understanding of my relationship to Òrìsà could not be illuminated by books alone. The fear I experienced was not apprehension about the phenomena, it was the fear that comes from resistance to personal growth.
The message of those Ifà elders who introduced me to the realm of Spirit was a direct assault on my cherished notions about the relationship between self and World. They taught me Ifà is a point of view rather than a collection of beliefs. It is a process rather than a doctrine and it remains an open-ended exploration of those Sacred Mysteries that define our relationship to Being. Once you say “Òrìsà is. . .” the concept of Spirit becomes limited, rigid and ultimately rooted in illusion. Awó Medahochi once told me describing Òrìsà is like trying to grasp the inner nature of a man and woman by simply smelling their perfume or cologne.
The words in this book are not the definitive explanation of Spirit. At best they are arrows pointing in the direction of transformative experience. Symbols are carriers of transcendent forms of information that push us beyond our limited concepts of self and World. May some of the words in this book create an opening for expanding both our understanding and experience of the interaction between self and those Immortals who shape Creation.
Iba'se Orisa Book Introduction,
- Awo Falokun
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