Today we visited the Olori Obatala, the Head Priest of the House of
Obatala, also called Orisa Nla. I was blessed as a priest of Obatala
by the Olori and invited to return to Ile-Ife and the Temple for my
full initiation as a Babalawo. My long awaited response from Orisa had
finally come. Here I was in Ile-Ife, Nigeria, the Root of Human Spirituality,
kneeling before the High Priest of the House of Obatala, being invited
to fulfill my souls longing. While at the Temple I called upon Orisa
to bless my Opele (divining chain) and other elements of my Ifa that
I had brought with me from home. On the way home Ibiyemi related a story
to me about Jesus.
"Jesus is an Orisa. All the Yoruba people knew this at
one time, but Christianity has confused most of us. One night when
his
mother
was with child, she was experiencing great pain. She went to see the
Babalawo. The Babalawo reminded the mother that the herb that she needed
must be picked from a tree and since it was evening she should try
to
endure until morning. It is the wisdom of Ifa that the leaves of the
tree should be allowed to sleep at night. The mother was in too much
pain and pleaded with the Babalawo. The Babalawo slapped his hand on
his wall three times and the needed leaves appeared in his hand. He
gave the herbal remedy to the mother and told her that she should name
the child Jekiewsesun which means, "allow the leaves to
sleep". The name was later shortened to Jewesun and still
later to J'esu. J'esu is a powerful Orisa, one of the 401 Orisa
in the Ifa tradition. The Europeans later added the 's' and called
the
Orisa Jesus, but covered up his true identity so that his power would
never again be connected to Ile-Ife, but instead to the Christian Church."
All I see is rooted in a secret war, a war between the Western Cornucopia
Worldview and the Indigenous Ecological Worldview. The Western World
has compromised truth for profit. The oil industry is devastating Nigeria.
It has Nigeria in an economic and political stranglehold. And Religion,
and the secrets of human spirituality are critical elements of the conflict.
And in many respects, the fate of the world is hinging on the outcome
of this battle.
