It was Saturday
- Day nine: At about 9:00am the sky was overcastted as usual. The
air was damp and comfortably cool. I contemplated the
social forces that caused populations to move away from the source
of abundance towards the centers of poverty and deprivation. Nigeria
is
not overpopulated but underdeveloped. But its future development can
not be along the path of the Western Cornucopia Worldview. I made
some
notes. I had eaten at Baba’s house on Friday. I had a rice, fish,
and plantain dish. Hot and kind of spicy for an Omo Obatala but I enjoyed
it and felt nourished for this new day. Baba and I stopped at a local
bank to see if we could exchange some traveler’s checks. We ended
up leaving the checks with the bank manager who said that he would
see
that they got to Lagos, exchanged, and the money returned to us in
about a week or so. Orisa had stripped me of all the things upon which
I could
depend for a sense of control; my communications device, my luggage,
and my money. Now I was ready for initiation.
A brother and sister from Trinidad and Tobago, and I were taken to the
Temple of Orisa Obatala (Orisa Nla) and Yemoo. We entered that place
in the Temple were only Obatala initiates are permitted to go. We knelt
before Babalawos whose faces spoke of the mysteries of time. Chief Adelekan
translated their instructions, prayers, and guidance. We were guided
through a secret and sacred ritual that has been handed down for generations.
We were introduced to the significance of our inclusion in this sacred
order of Omo Orisa. Orisa Obatala is the most important, respected,
cherished, honored, and most beloved of all the Orisa. He is the father
of the Orisa. He is syncretized with Jesus of Nazareth in Brazil and
with the Sacred Heart, The Virgin Mary in the Caribbean. He represents
the strength of purity and is the manifestation and glorification of
goodness in all of its conceptions, receiving supreme power from Olorun,
The All-Powerful God, directly. He is the symbol of wisdom, intelligence,
and ingenuity and has the knowledge of all times. He governs human bones,
teeth, and mind, and all things white. He has clairvoyance and the ability
to pierce the veil of time and the future. One of his symbols is the
white pigeon. This was the first stage in my process of becoming a Babalawo
of the House of Obatala. My reading had spoke of initiation, of becoming
versed in Ifa, and of being gifted with the ability to see things in
their true perspective.
The Sacred Shrine of Orisa Obatala
in Ile-Ife, Nigeria
