The Fifteenth Truth of Ifa: The Orisa Live Within Us! Part II
August 2020
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!
Thank you for visiting our website and for reading our blog! We pray you find some of what you are seeking to remember.
In addition to being a Babalawo and member of the Isoro Traditional Council of Chiefs in Ile-Ife, Nigeria, I am also a Sociologist by education. Sociology is the study of the development, structure, and functioning of human societies. My undergraduate Social Science degree emphasized Cultural Anthropology and Experimental Psychology. I completed my Masters Degree in Sociology specializing to Social Change, Social Problems, and the Sociology of Health and Illness, and then spent the next three decades teaching college level students, providing consulting services informed by my areas of studies and interests, and continuing to study and observe human societies, and the driving forces of social change.
This background provided me a powerful framework through which I could observe, experience, and affect the world. And I value that knowledge to this very day. However, in the mid-1990’s, I was introduced to something, a way of thinking, that improved the power and clarity of that framework, enhancing my insights by many orders of magnitude. The world I was observing became the L’oja, the marketplace, and the social activities I was witnessing were based on Sociological principles, but also rooted in the Spiritual Laws of the L’oja as understood from the Ifa Tradition of Ancestor and Orisa Worship.
The greatest shapers of social change on Iya Ile (Mother Earth) are the Eniyan (human beings). No matter how many hurricanes, tornados, volcanoes, floods, fires, or droughts occur, and no matter how much the land is moved and reshaped, what ultimately sets the course of social change are the choices of the Enia (people). What we see happening around the world today is an expression of the actions of the Orisa as ‘something that exists out there…’ as we mentioned in our last Post. But for true social transformation to occur the forces of nature can act as facilitators, but it is the choices and actions of the Eniyan that will bring about manifestation of transformative growth in human societies.
The other aspect of the concept of Orisa is that which dwells within each and every human being. The potential energies of all of the Orisa are there, waiting for elevated consciousness and expansion of the heart to unlock and clear the avenues of expression. Every Ifa Priest and Priestess, every Ifa initiate and devotee, every Ifa Babalawo and Iyalorisha understands in his or her mind, body, and spirit the idea that must rest within and express itself without:
Emi ni Olukoni enia!
I am a teacher of the people!
The role of the Babalawo and Iyalorisha is to use their particular talents and areas of expertise to elevate the consciousness of the rest of the people so that Orisa can have a fertile field and abundant repository through which to express their Ase. Ifa guides each individual to ask themselves three important questions:
How and what am I feeding my body temple (Ara Ojubo) to make it a conducive and favorable vessel to house the Ase Ami (Energy Signature) of Orisa?
How and what am I feeding my mind (inu) in order to make it more suited to be a Moju Isale (Clear Channel) for the expression of Orisa’s Ogbon (wisdom) and agbara (powers)?
How and what am I feeding my spirit (emi) in order that I may be one who walks and talks with Orisa and as Orisa?
According to the Ifa Corpus, the gods (Orisa) lived on the earth and were responsible for the creation of Eniyan (human beings). In time some of the Orisa mated with the Eniyan and produced children whose descendants are still with us today. There were also Eniyan, who lived such lives, that they were able to use the gateway of death to transform into Orisa. Ifa teaches us that, in addition to being something ‘out there’, the Orisa are also very much ‘in here’, in each of us. All of this points us to a very close relationship between us, and the Sentient Energetic Energies that we call Orisa (Orisha).
Something took root in Ile-Ife Nigeria many millennia ago that is now ready to bear fruit and fulfill its own prophecies. More than once over the past few decades I have pondered and asked the question, how will the next great social shift take place? So close to the edge! So close to the edge! How will the energetic imbalance, the social fragmentation, and environmental devastation be reconciled? Surely, the Orisa must be involved, but what does that mean? And then, the pieces began to come together. In March, 2005, I asked my Babalawo, Chief Adeyela Adelekan about Ifa verses in the Ifa Corpus that speak about the ‘Return of the Orisa’. Here is an excerpt of his reply:
3/26/05
7:00PM
Alafia Baba Sharif,
In answer to your question;
Orunmila said in his Odu Ogbeweyin;
AJO ONIRO TI OBA FI ERIN KUN LOWURO AFI EKUN TULA LOJO ALE ADIFA FUN AWON IRUNMOLE NIGBATI WON NFI IBINU PADA LOSI ODE ORUN NI TORI IWA IBAJE OMO ARAIYE.
Translation:
The gathering of liars,
If it assembles with laughter in the morning, it will be displeased with tears in the evening.
This was the last word of the old man…
Aboru Aboye
Adelekan
He went on to say, ‘Today you could see what is going on in the world. And it is our belief that one day, the truth of the Orisas will rule the world.’ That was in 2005! Look at the condition of the world today in 2020. The conditions are even riper for the emergence of the Orisa.
I found Chief Adeyela A. Adelekan’s answer informative and encouraging. But I was not finished asking. One of my favorite sayings is, ‘The road to wisdom is paved with questions!’
On December 12, 2011, I again raised the question about the Return of the Orisa with the Isoro Council. Here is an excerpt from their reply:
It is very interesting and significant to read the question you asked Oloogbe Adelekan on the issue of the return of the Orisas and we will explore it further here. Instances abound in the Odus of Ifa about the Return of the Orisas into the realm of men. The time and place of return for each Orisa varies according to the message, power and purpose of each Orisa.
According to Odu Ose Itua,
iwa ibaje omo araye bale aye je otitio sonu,
ile aye di rudurudu,
awon orisa keru odikole orun,
wiwa laye wa otito dele orunmila,
inu yin lotito wa,
ao ma gbeyin wo bi ewu fi tunle aye arayin se.
Translation:
The wickedness of man has turned the world upside down, truth is lost, the world is in ruins, the Orisas returned to Orun, man shall be seeking for truth all the days of his life till he gets to the house of Orunmila, truth is in man, we the Orisas shall take up the shape of man to help rebuild his world.
Are you and I living in that timeframe?Did we choose to come into the world at this time so that we could be a part of a process of global transformation? This Odu goes right to the heart of my question and right to the point that I’m hopeful you will get from reading this Post. Truth (15): The Orisa Live Within Us! The idea of the Orisa returning to earth, and the idea of fasting and rituals transforming us into the image of the Orisa point us in the direction of how to navigate, orchestrate, and create a transformative process of personal metamorphosis, social change, and global transmutation.
It begins with each individual choosing to follow the wisdom of Ifa that resides within each of us and within the very nature of Olodumare’s creation. It’s about choosing to live Ifa, not as a religion or something imposed from the outside, but as a way of life, as a way of being in the world that emerges from inside, from within the space of heart-mind coherence. Ifa is expansive enough to have space for your other systems of understanding and being in the world. Ifa invites each of us, regardless of other held beliefs, to choose our path going forward with the light of wisdom that Ifa provides through Ifa Divination and the Sacred Odus of Ifa.
Yes, the Orisa will and are returning to earth, to this world, both as sentient energetic entities with presence and power in their own right, and as energetic expressions emerging in and from the human processes of consciousness, Isoki (contraction, contrast), Isopo (connection, connectivity), and Na Wa (expansion, growth). The Ase Ami of Orisa is growing among the people. Even non-devotees are becoming aware of an energetic-shift taking place.
In the social realm and in the spiritual realm,
“Dissatisfaction brings about change!
Thirty percent dissatisfaction will bring about modest and possibly temporary change.
Seventy percent dissatisfaction will bring about significant and more permanent change.
One hundred percent, total dissatisfaction brings about total transformation.”
The Babalawo and the Sociologist in me is gaging the dissatisfaction meter and the corresponding popular social movements calling for change around the world.Watching!
Iba se Orisa!
Ago Orisa!
Awa pe ti yin!
Itunde!
Homage to Orisa!
Listen Orisa!
We call to you!
Return!
How dissatisfied are you with the condition of our world?
Your answer leads us to the last of the Sixteen Truths of Ifa, We need have no fear! Who we are and what we are experiencing is much bigger than the ideas lurking in the minds of small selfish thinkers.
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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Karl Stone Art Collection
Another way that you can support the activities of the Ifa Community is by purchasing something from the Karl Stone Art Collection. These Art pieces make beautiful additions to your home decorations, and great gifts for special occasions. A portion of your purchase will be donated to the Isoro Traditional Council of Chiefs in Ile-Ife and a portion to Ile Awo Orisa. (View Art)
Modupe! Thank You!
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!
