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Showing posts with label Orunmila. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Orunmila. Show all posts
Friday, April 17, 2015
Sunday, April 5, 2015
Irete-Ogbe - How Odu Became Orunmila's Wife Part 12
Odu told Orunmila if Aje wanted to destroy them, she would be destroyed."
Commentary:
Oso is a reference to the power of male ancestral societies and Aje is a reference to the power of female ancestral societies. These powers are used to protect family lineages within any given community and family lineages can and do develop conflicts that do not necessarily contribute to the harmony of the entire community. Giving Ifa a position of authority in a community requires protection from both personal and collective efforts to influence that authority in negative ways. The verse is saying Odu has that power.
How does that power manifest?
When an Awo or Iyanifa integrates right brain/left brain they have the ability to go into possession with Ela. In a state of possession Ela can take a person down the right hand path, meaning the path of elevation or down the left hand path, meaning the path of protection.
Having both witnessed and experienced the left hand path of Ela I can say that it is an extremely powerful weapon in the medicine bag of communal protection. For this reason presentation to the Odu pot is limited to those who are considered capable of embracing iwa pele.
"Odu told Orunmila that he should never make fun of her. Odu said if he did not make fun of her all of her work would be good and she would never fight with Orunmila."
Commentary:
Not making fun of Odu means respecting women and women's power. The verse is saying that if Orunmila and by inference Ifa initiates abuse, denigrate or disrespect women in any way they will loose access to the ase and protection that comes from Odu.
"Odu told Orunmila if he knew what he wanted to send her to get it and it would be his.
Odu said if Orunmila sent a message for someone to suffer, that person would suffer.
Odu said if someone wanted to harm Orunmila even if only slight, she would go to war against that person.
Orunmila said I know you are important. Orunmila said you are stronger than all other women in the world.
Orunmila said he would never be displeased with Odu. Orunmila said none of his children would ever make fun of her because Odu is the power of the Babalawo. Orunmila said if a Babalawo possesses Ifa he would also possess Odu."
Commentary:
Here Ifa is affirming his commitment to the taboo of Odu. Those who believe this taboo is limited to who can and who can't see the contents of a specific pot are, I believe, missing the point.
Ire,
Awo Falokun
Thursday, March 26, 2015
Irete-Ogbe - How Odu Became Orunmila's Wife Part 10
Commentary:
On a social level this verses is affirming a commitment by the women's secret societies to support the public work done by Orunmila. It is an affirmation of acceptance of the principles of good character advocated by Orunmila and a commitment to preserve and protect Ifa as the fundamental principle for social organization.
"Orunmila said, not bad."
Commentary:
Orunmila is acknowledging his appreciation for this support. The notion that Iyaami should be considered a group of evil women is total nonsense not supported by Ifa scripture and the teachings of the prophet Orunmila. The denigration of Iyaami started with British colonialization. The women of Iyaami are the guardians of the crown of the Oba or traditional Yoruba kings. The crowns are adorned with the icon of Iyaami. There is no way that any culture let along Yoruba culture is going to adorn the regalia of political leaders with icons representing evil in the world.
The British demonized Iyaami because they were afraid the elder women of Iyaami would block their efforts to exploit Nigerian resources.
Ire,
Awo Falokun
Saturday, March 21, 2015
Irete-Ogbe - How Odu Became Orunmila's Wife Part 9
Commentary:
Here we have the relationship between Odu, representing raw spiritual power, and Orunmila, representing social order and the development of good character, being facilitated by Esu.
The word good character in Yoruba is iwa pele from the elision I wa ope ile meaning I come to greet the Earth. We greet the Earth because the Earth is our teacher the Earth teaches us how to live in harmony with self and world. By seeing the offering Odu is expressing her understanding the Orunmila is a good man, who was attempting to do good things in the world.
In this section of the verse Odu takes the offering and feds Aragamaga. This is the first reference in the verse between Odu and Iyaami Osoranga. The bird Aragamaga I would translate to mean the body of female power. This is a symbolic reference to the collective power of all women. This power is accessed through Odu or the womb and links all women through Ori or consciousness. The power of Iyaami is the ability of women to pray in the astral realm as a group.
Iyaami as an Egbe or religious society was set up to do three things. There first responsibility is to protect the women of a given community. In the olden days all women were automatically members of the Iyaami Egbe. The elder women of the community were initiated into the secrets of the Egbe but all women were members. If any woman was the victim of male violence the elder mother of the Iyaami Egbe would go to the Chief Ifa priest of the village and ask him to mediate. If the mediation was unsuccessful the women would invoke the collective power of Aragamaga which is the power to prevent a man from going to sleep by inducing nightmares. After two or three nights of no sleep the abusive man was often willing to consider changing their abusive character.
I believe that the men who misread this verse are often in denial about their own abusive issues.
The bird used to administer justice is described as a black bird. In Iyaami Osoranga there is also a white bird whose job it is to make sure the power of the black bird is used fairly. Just because a woman accuses a man of violence does not automatically make the allegations true.
The third bird in Iyaami Osoranga is a red bird who job it is to locate abundance.
When Odu or the portal of female power accepts the offering of Orunmila and feeds it to the black bird the gesture of accepting the offering is recognition of the fact that Orunmila was not a threat to the safety and well-being of women.
This primal relationship is symbolized in Ifa initiations when offerings are made to Iyaami and it is symbolized when portions of ebo (personal offerings) are giving to Iyaami. This represents a primal covenant between divergent forces in nature and this covenant is reaffirmed during initiation and when making offerings prescribed by Ifa divination.
Ire,
Awo Falokun
Friday, March 20, 2015
Irete-Ogbe - How Odu became Orunmila's wife Part 8
Commentary:
In the previous section of the verse the point is made that the power of Odu is morally neutral from the point of view of human judgment. This section of the verse is saying that Odu comes in alignment with Orunmila so that the power of Odu will be used for the good of the people. One of the primary responsibilities of those who are initiated into the mysteries of Orunmila is to provide communal guidance through the study and use of Ifa divination. Morally judgments are based on weighing the needs of the individual against the needs of the collective. If all decisions were made based on personal needs there would be little if any communal harmony. Odu aligns herself with Orunmila to insure harmony in nature and harmony in the world of humans.
Again if we look at Ifa scripture as multi-dimensional metaphor the Concept of Odu is the concept of inter-dimensional transference of ase or energy. Olodumare from the elision Olo odu osumare meaning the owner of the mystery of the Rainbow Serpent is a reference to Olodumare being the source of physical reality. The concept of Rainbow Serpent is the concept of the full spectrum of light which in Western Science is created by sound and in Ifa is created by Oro or the power of the Primal Word. Olo odu is a reference to the primal womb that gave birth to all of Creation.
As topographical metaphor this section of the Scripture is saying that balance is essential in the Natural World to avoid self-destruction. The physical world comes into Being through the polarity of electromagnetism and gravity and through the polarity of the weak and strong forces that create atoms. If gravity were to become stronger than light the Universe would crash in on itself and implode.
On a personal level the verse is suggesting there is value in balancing the male consciousness with female consciousness in both men and women. This is the reason why it is common in many lineages to identify a father and mother Orisa. It is the integration of these primal forces of expansion and contraction that gives shape to personal identity.
The verse is also saying the power of Odu is stronger than the power of Orunmila and that the power of Odu must be given to men by women. The reference is the idea that Orunmila must take Odu as his wife. Some would incorrectly interpret this to mean Orunmila must control Odu. I believe a better interpretation would be that Orunmila needs to create harmony with Odu.
This harmony is created by men in a number of ways. When a man enters Igbodu he is presented to Igba Odu or the pot that represents primal female energy. This presentation puts a man in contact or I would say puts a man in possession with female ase. The experience of being presented to the Odu pot puts a man’s ori in balance. It balances right brain, left brain polarity which can be described metaphorically as integrating the male and female aspect of the Ori.
The integration of Ori is the event that allows an Ifa initiate to become an effective diviner. If a diviner cannot empathize with the female experience he cannot accurately identify the source of problems brought to him by a woman and this inability makes his divination ineffective.
The reference to the idea of teaching someone to be stupid makes someone stupid and the idea of teaching someone intelligent makes them intelligent is I believe essential to understanding the Ifa system of initiation.
Intelligence is not about how much you know, intelligence is about transforming experience into wisdom. The process of integration experience into wisdom involves the integration of the male and female aspect of Ori. Without this integration there is ongoing conflict between men and women that leads to conflict in family which leads to conflict in the community until the world becomes an unsafe place to live.
The current state of violence in the world is a testimony to the failure of culture to teach wisdom.
The verse is saying that if you teach a person to be wise they will use spiritual power in a positive way. If you teach a person to be stupid they will use spiritual power in a thoughtless and potential destructive way. The implication here is that spiritual power is given in conjunction with ethical guidance and development of good character as an issue of survival.
Ire,
Awo Falokun
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Monday, March 16, 2015
Irete-Ogbe - How Odu Became Orunmila's Wife Part 7
This I believe is a key point in understanding Irete -Ogbe. Here the verse is saying Odu initiated the association with Orunmila. It was Odu that wanted to align herself with Orunmila.
Commentary:
The relationship between Odu and Orunmila is a fundamental polarity in Ifa Cosmology. Again like Ifa references it is a metaphor that applied to various realms of Creation.
Let’s revisit the meaning of these two important words. Odu the womb of rebirth. I say rebirth because after the moment of Creation all birth is rebirth. The is the great awo or mystery of the Holy Odu Odi Meji from the elision O idi meaning the Spirit of a woman’s root chakra or pelvic area. The idi contains an Odu. Idi incubates the process of rebirth while Odu is the portal through which rebirth enters the world of manifestation.
The word Orunmila is commonly translated to mean Heaven is my salvation. I would translate it a little differently from the elision Orun mi ala meaning the invisible realm is my light.
With the words Odu and Orunmila we are dealing with the fundamental polarity between contraction and expansion. In Nature this polarity is the contrast between gravity (gravity) and expansion (electromagnetism). According to Western Science and Ifa Science this polarity creates physical reality.
Ifa is a expression of Nature worship, so all aspects of Ifa ritual reflect the fundamental elements of Creation.
On a personal level the polarity between Odu and Orunmila is the polarity that integrates right brain and left brain. This integration is the basis for the Egyptian discipline known as the mystic eye. In traditional Ifa this integration is accomplished through Tefa for men and through Iyaami for women. In Tefa men receive right brain ase to balance the ase of left brain male energy by being presented to the feminine ase of the Odu Pot. In Iyaami Osoranga women receive the right brain ase of what can be described as the male energy of becoming a warrior.
The relationship between Odu and Orunmila in the personal real is the foundation for the ideas associated with proper conduct in marriage in traditional Yoruba culture. The marriage relationship is rooted in gender equity that in fact reflects the nature of reality in the Universe.
In the Earth Realm the light that comes through the Portals of Earth called Igbodu from the elision igbo odu meaning womb of the forest is the light that shapes the Earth. It is also the light that allows humans to communicate with the Ori of the Earth manifested as Spirit of Orisa.
In the Universe the metaphor of the relationship between Odu and Orunmila is a reference to the light that comes through the womb of pulsar to create new stars and new galaxies.
Awo Falokun
Thursday, March 5, 2015
Irete-Ogbe - How Odu became Orunmila's wife Part 2 by Awo Falokun
Commentary:
In Odu Ifa the name of the diviner is a key to understanding the solution to a particular problem. In this verse the name of the diviner is you walk over the bush, I walk over the bush, we walk over the bush together. In Yoruba the word bush is a reference to the forest outside of a village. Walking into the bush means leaving the comforts of the home and the village to travel into the natural environment. In Yoruba culture you go into the bush to gather herbs, to hunt, to make a clearing to start a farm and countless other tasks related to survival. The inference here is that we approach the issues of survival individually and we approach the issues of survival collectively. Nigeria has the highest population density of any region on the continent of Africa. The steady growth in population is, I believe, a result of the effective distribution of labor in the rural areas making it possible to maximize limited natural resources. The name of the diviner is telling us that this verse of Odu Ifa is a revelation of the mystery of working together.
On a personal level the metaphor of working together is a clear reference to right brain, brain integration. It is impossible to work effectively with others until you have first learned how to integrate the conflicting elements of the inner self.
What becomes more clear as the verse unfolds is the fact that this Odu makes references to the cultural structures that guide the working relationship between husbands and wives.
In a cultural context the idea of working together addresses structures used in traditional Yoruba culture to guide the working relationship between men and women in the larger community.
The concept of Odu also functions as a metaphor for the way in which the earth regulates itself so abundance will be available to those who live on earth.
Finally, I believe the description of the relationship between Orunmila and his wife is a topographical metaphor that describes the polarity between electromagnetism and gravity. In Ifa physics this dynamic is described in terms of gender based symbols which male energy representing expansive movement and female energy representing contractive movement. According to Einstein the building blocks of Creation can be described as both wave (expansive energy) and particle (contractive energy). He also stated that all energy carries both manifestations of movement and the difference is simple a matter of perspective. I believe Einstein’s ideas were foreshadowed by the wisdom of our traditional Yoruba ancestors.
Awo Falokun
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Irete-Ogbe - How Odu became Orunmila's wife Part 1 by Awo Falokun
1. Odu describes the spiritual way in which as individuals we integrate right brain and left brain as the foundation of spiritual development.
2. Odu describes the spiritual way in which we relate to others on a personal one on one basis.
3. Odu describes the spiritual way in which we relate to our entire community.
4. Odu describes the spiritual way in which we to the Earth.
5. Odu describes the fundamental principles of physics and astro-physics meaning it describes the which is the universe is created and presents the fundamental laws of Nature needed to unlock abundance from Nature.
Each of these levels of interpretation include both a description of the context of the interpretation, a description of what is broken and guidance on how to fix what is broken. I want to apply these different levels of interpretation to a specific Odu, Irete Ogbe. This Odu is described in Ifa scripture as; How Orunmila found a wife. In my opinion it is a classic example of the way Ifa scripture is a multi-layered metaphor describing the Nature of reality.
Again in my opinion this is one of the most misunderstood and most frequently distorted Odu in the entire corpus of Ifa scripture. Many Awo will disagree with my interpretation of this Odu. Disagreement can be a good thing, and it is the basis of theological dialogue. Unfortunately I believe the most common interpretations of this Odu are rooted in a form of sexism that represents resistance to the issue of gender equity as taught by the Prophet Orunmila.
Let's start by an examination of the basic text as translated by the Late Pierre Vergier aka Awo Fatunbi (ibae):
You walk over the bush, I walk over the bush, we both walk over the bush together were the Babalawo who cast Ifa for Odu on the day Odu made the journey from Heaven to Earth.
Whenever she will arrive on Earth, the Babalawo said Odu this is your beginning. Olodumare gave her a bird. She took the bird on her journey to Earth.
Aragamago is the name Olodumare gave to the bird. Aragamago is the name of the bird belonging to Odu. Olodumare told Odu that anything she wished to accomplish would be done if you send the bird to do it. Olodumare said, anyplace you want to send this bird, it will go there.
Olodumare said if you want it to do bad things it will do bad things, if you want it to do good things it would do good things. Aragamago was the bird brought to Earth by Odu.
Odu said no other person will be able to look upon it, she said it must not be looked upon. If any enemy of Odu looks upon it, she will shatter his eyes; the power of the bird will make him blind.
Odu used this power to gain access to the house of Orunmila.
Orunmila consulted his Babalawo who consulted Ifa. Orunmila was told, "If we teach a person to be intelligent, that person will be intelligent, if we teach a person to be stupid, that person will be stupid. Ifa told Orunmila to take Odu as his wife. The Babalawo said a power is in the hands of Odu. They said because of this power Orunmila must make an offering to the Earth. They said the offering must be made in for the welfare of all people. The said the offering must be made so Odu will not kill people, and so Odu will not eat people because the power of Odu is greater than the power of Orunmila. They said Orunmila must quickly make ebo. The Babalawo gave him the ingredients for the ebo.
Orunmila made the offering. On the day Odu arrived at Orunmila's home she found the offering outside the door. Odu asked who has made this offering to the Earth? Esu said it was Orunmila who made the offering because he wants to marry you. Odu took the offering and fed the bird Aragamaga.
Odu entered the house of Orunmila and called to him. Odu said Orunmila I have arrived. Odu said I have many powers. Odu said she did not want to fight with Orunmila. Odu said if someone asked for her to help them fight Orunmila she would not help. Odu said she did not want Orunmila to suffer in anyway. Odu said she would fight anyone who wanted to make Orunmila suffer.
Orunmila said, not bad.
Together Orunmila and Odu went into the world. Odu said I will teach you my taboo. Odu said you must not let your other wives see my face. Odu said she would fight whoever looked at her face. Orunmila said he would honor her taboo.
Odu told Orunmila she would transform his burdens into good fortune. Odu said she would heal all things. Odu said she would change anything that went wrong and make it right.
Odu told Orunmila if he honored her taboo she would makes things good in the world.
Odu told Orunmila that no one could disturb them. If oso wanted to destroy them he would be destroyed.
Odu told Orunmila if Aje wanted to destroy them, she would be destroyed.
Odu told Orunmila that he should never make fun of her. Odu said if he did not make fun of her all of her work would be good and she would never fight with Orunmila.
Odu told Orunmila if he knew what he wanted to send her to get it and it would be his.
Odu said if Orunmila sent a message for someone to suffer, that person would suffer.
Odu said if someone wanted to harm Orunmila even if only slight, she would go to war against that person.
Orunmila said I know you are important. Orunmila said you are stronger than all other women in the world.
Orunmila said he would never be displeased with Odu. Orunmila said none of his children would ever make fun of her because Odu is the power of the Babalawo. Orunmila said if a Babalawo possesses Ifa he would also possess Odu.
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