Homage To The One Who Sends and to those who are sent! Homage to Orisa and Egun!
Ifokanbale Omo Orisa! Peace of Mind from Olodumare Children of Orisa!
Ire ati Ayo!
Good Tidings and Joyfulness!
I honor your gods, I drink from your wells, I bring an undefended heart to our meeting place. I have no cherished outcomes, I will not negotiate by withholding, and I am not subject to disappointment. I am here! And They are all here with me! Ase! Ase! Ase!
Lord of my Ancestors, I have no knowledge except that which is given to me through inspiration, that which is sent to me by way of an angel, and that which I am blessed to acquire by way of some discipline. I thank you for guiding my words, my thoughts, and my actions so that all that I say and do may serve to point the seekers in the right direction. Ase! Ase! Ase!
Although Ifa exposes and addresses all of the frailties of humans it does not proclaim us to be born sinners or born in sin (Original Sin). Quite the opposite! The History and Corpus of Ifa make it clear the humans can be grand beings with the potential to ascend into ascendant beings. We are not created to be victims of God’s wrath! Ifa acknowledges the existence of negative forces in Creation but none of these forces or entities exercises the power of gods beside the Supreme God, Olodumare. We are created to fulfill the legacy of creation, to choose to overcome the forgetfulness brought on by the dynamics of the L’oja (marketplace), and to live in harmony with the agency and agents of Olodumare. We are Divine Spiritual Beings having a physical experience according to the Will and Intention of Olodumare. Ifa entertains no concept or need for the existence of an entity called the Devil.
Europeans have long assumed that Esu Elegba was the personification of the European/Christian concept of the devil (Satan). According to Iya Ekundayo, Iyalorisa priestess, spiritual medium of the Xango tradition, initiated as Iyanifa in the Ifa tradition of Yorubaland of Nigeria, author of the Farinade Olokun Blog, we can trace the history of this misunderstanding (intentional or unintentional) to the arrival in West Africa of Sir Thomas Powell and his translator in 1841. When the European, Sir Thomas Powell set out on his Niger Expedition, he traveled with a native born Yoruba linguist named Bishop Ajayi Crowther. The name should give you some sense of the potential for witting or unwitting bias. Funso Aijejina, Professor of Literature at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago gave a lecture at the National Theatre in Lagos, Nigeria in 2008.
According to Professor Aijejina, ‘Bishop Crowther was and is responsible for the association of Esu with the devil’, and therefore of the false notion that there is a concept of the devil in the Ifa Spiritual Tradition and other African Spiritual Traditions. He is responsible for the course of this history because as Bishop Crowther was translating the Bible into the Yoruba language (for the purpose of wittingly or unwittingly assisting the Europeans in the process of mentally colonizing the African People), he chose to translate the word for the Christian concept of ‘Satan’ as the Ifa Primordial Entity we call Esu Elegba. It is difficult to imagine that this was unintentional. As a linguist and as a native born Yoruba, Crowther would and should have known that the Yoruba name ‘Esu’ means ‘the Divine Messenger’, and the Yoruba name ‘Elegbara’ means ‘Spirit of Good Character’. (Eshu/Esu)
It is understandable that some humans would come up with the concept of a Primordial Devil. After all, a lot of ‘bad things’ happen to the life of humans and the concept of ‘The Devil/Satan’ is useful in providing an explanation for some of these events, or at least a direction towards which to direct our anger, rage, hatred, angst, and pain. Sometimes ‘God’ serves that purpose, but not in every bad situation. In my growing understanding of Ifa I have come to the realization that from the Ifa perspective, ‘bad things’ happen because of the spiritual mathematics of the L’oja (marketplace). Remember what we stated in my previous Post regarding the L’oja. Several of my past Posts, if not most of them, bring together the elements of this Spiritual Mathematics.
Olodumare determined to create what you and I call creation, life, existence, so that the Realm of Infinite Possibility could be manifested and witnessed as an experienced.
There is only One Consciousness and each of us is expressing that Consciousness and reflecting back to IT or in IT our experiences (thoughts, emotions, choices, and actions). Ifa refers to this special relationship between the SEE (Sentient Energetic Entity), the Source and humans as Kadara (a divine share), and Ipin (a pre-destined share), and Spiritual Ori (spiritual head, personal god).
Olofi-dumare, the Eleda (Creator aspect or Will of Source) set into motion the Principle of Manifesting by the energy of Thought. Thoughts become Things! And Olofi-dumare also provided an avenue for Eshu Elegba to exercise supreme authority over the affairs of humans in the realm of the L’oja by giving humans the ability and opportunity to make choices (one of the domains of Eshu Elegba).
Olofi-dumare also set into motion the Principle of Na Wa (Expansion) as a fundamental necessity if the goal of experiencing the Realm of Infinite Possibility is to be realized. Everything in creation is operating under this important principle and that includes humans. Na Wa, Expansion necessarily implies ‘change’, so Olofi-dumare also established the Principle that ‘Anytime You Change A Thing, You Change More Than What Was Intended’.
If humans are to experience Na Wa, then the opportunities for them to make choices must be such that they are encouraged to learn and grow in that process. Humans must learn the consequences of doing ‘this as opposed to that’, and then grow, expand into the wiser choice, and Higher State of Being. That is, our physical Ori, which is emotionally attached to the L’oja, must transcend and enter into a state of Isopo (Connectivity) with our Spiritual Ori. Therefore, the Principle of Contrast (this versus that) is an ever-present manifestation of the architecture of the L’oja.
Ori inu wa maba tode je!
May our Spiritual Ori not be in conflict with our physical Ori!
So, we say, ‘bad things’ don’t happen because of ‘The Devil’. Bad things happen because of the Spiritual Mathematics of the L’oja and the human capacity to make both good and ‘bad choices’. The Ajogun (Iku – Death, Arun – Sickness, Eyo – Tragedy, Ofo – Loss, Idina - Obstacles, Akoba – Unforeseen Evils, Fitibo – to be Overwhelmed) are a part of the Spiritual Mathematics of the L’oja. And Ifa provides its devotees and adherents a way of working with the Spiritual Mathematics and shifting the Ase to our advantage by making the best choices.
The choices we make and the actions we take can certainly result in what we might refer to as devilish behavior or a devilish state of being, but to assign the consequences of our choices to ‘the Devil’ is an unsuccessful attempt to circumvent the experiential reality of the L’oja. Nor does Olodumare want the credit or blame for our choices. Through Ifa, the opposing or alternative choices in serious life situations, are put before us and we are left to make the choice for ourselves. We share that experience of choosing with the One Universal Consciousness, the SEE (Sentient Energetic Entity), the SOURCE of Everything, that we call Olodumare.
All this brings us to the Third Truth: There is no Predestination!
I hope you will reflect on this message and share your comments and questions with me for our future Posts on this and other topics.
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Modupe!
Aajiirebi! May the Unblemished Cloth of Orunmila Continue to cloth us with the Wisdom Of the Here and the Hereafter!
Ase! Ase! Ase!
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Ki Olodumare, Orisa, ati Egun fifun e ni Itona, Imoye, ati Opo Ire!
My Olodumare, Orisa, and Ancestors bestow on you Guidance, Wisdom, and Abundant Blessings!
