The Òrishà within Us…

Beloved Òsun, thank you for showing me the divine within me. Thank you for granting me access to the orisha that I am. You are the mirror of my own sacredness. I love you as I love myself. Ashé!

In the Yorùbá cosmology, the òrishà are the deities, the sacred embodiments, who guide us through life, mirroring our realities in order to show us our greater potentiality. Yet, the òrishà are not merely sacred beings “out there” or “above and beyond us” that guide us from the “other” realm. We, too, are òrishà. The worlds of the spiritual and the material are constantly entwined and intermingled. This is not necessarily a customary reflection on Yorùbá theologies one might hear or encounter today, but the beauty of African religious traditions like Yoruba is that there is abundant theological and cosmological flexibility. In the Yorùbá cosmology, according to Ifá, it is said that the anti-gods of the left, the ajogun, are 200 +1  and the deities of the right, the òrishà are 400 +1.

These numbers are not meant to be exact. What is most significant about this cosmological notion is the +1, which signifies the ability for new spiritual beings to be added and included in Yorùbá cosmologies and theologies. This +1 demonstrates the centrality of theological and cosmological flexibility to the Yorùbá life-world. There is no one Yorùbá cosmology nor is there one  theology, just as the Yorùbá peoples themselves are numerous and diverse. Thus, in any particular context, often the òrishà that is most significant to the concerns of the particular community are emphasized. In Trinidad, Shàngó is often seen as the most prominent and most important òrishà. While in Oshogbo, Nigeria, Òshun reigns supreme. Thus, new gods and old gods refashioned and made new can be added and adapted to the needs of the Yoruba life-world. I would like to suggest that this theological and cosmological flexibility and diversity provides a basis for us to reflect on our own place in the universe. The above cosmological diagram provides only one among various ways of understanding the Yorùbá cosmology. The scholar Kólá Abímbólá suggests that all Yorùbá cosmologies should be considered functional rather than dogmatic and static. Thus, this cosmology is based on policing, law, and order. From this perspective, rather than Olodumare, the main creator deity and often considered the “Supreme God,” Èsù, the deity of the crossroads, who takes all sacrifices to the other gods and acts as a mediator and a judicial leader, is at the highest point of power. Yet, once again we must remember this cosmological diagram is functional meaning that Èsù is not always either the most important or the most powerful. In this cosmological hierarchy, humans are below the òrishà and thus conceived of as other than them. However, can we imagine humans as having an important function in the universe that would constitute us as not only cosmologically significant but as òrishà as well? After all, the renowned Shàngó of lightening, thunder, and rain was an aláàfin (ruler) that became a great ancestor and then a great òrishà. In actuality, it is relatively uncommon for a human being to become an òrishà. Yet, the narrative and mythology of Shango teaches us something nonetheless about our own human-divine abilities and about the òrishà that lies within each of us. It is to this òrishà to whom we must also give thanks and sacrifice. The following odu provides an glimpses into our òrishà nature.

…Olóòyìmèfún, when s/he was going to establish a farm on a piece of land that belonged to Olówu[,] s/he was advised to offer sacrifices to her/his family’s Ancestors, S/he offered sacrifices to her/his family’s Ancestors, Her/his sacrifices could not be appropriately presented. S/he was advised to offer sacrifices to the divinity of the market place,  S/he propitiated the divinity of the market place, S/he was not accepted. S/he was advised to offer sacrifices to her/his personal divinity called Orí, S/he offered sacrifices to her/his Orí… until she became bald. S/he was advised to offer sacrifices to the goddess Earth, S/he propitiated to the Earth… The Earth sank. S/he was than asked to propitiated Olúbòbòtiribò the most important of all sacrifices. S/he said: “I know that my physical head is the symbol of my personal divinity, I know that the earth is the symbol of the goddess Earth. I know that my father is what is being referred to as the family’s Ancestors. I also know that my mother is the one you are calling the divinity of the market-place. But I do not know what Olúbòbòtiribò, the most important of all sacrifices, is.” They [i.e. the Ifá priest/essess] replied: “People’s mouths are what is called Olúbòbòtiribò the most important of all sacrifices.” What do we propitiate at Ifè? Their mouths, Their mouths are what we propriatiate at Ifè. Their mouths. I gave to the calabash, I gave to the plate. Their mouths. Their mouths are what we propritiate at Ifè. Their mouths. I am concerned about the welfare of those of my household, I am concerned about the welfare of passers-by. Their mouths. Their mouths can no longer be against my interests. Their mouths. Their mouths, Are what we propitiate in Ifè. Their mouths.[1]

Just as our physical heads signifies our personal divinity and the Earth symbolizes the goddess of the Earth, we may think of our physical mouths as symbolizing the òrishà of humanity, in general. Thus, when we feed and give sacrifice to the human spirit, body, and mind, we feed the human community and the universe. When we give ebo, i.e. sacrifice, we give gratitude. As I have previously stated, ebo is not merely a blood sacrifice, it is any act of divine communication. We are doing ebo when create and build our spiritual-material relationships and when we repent for our wrongs and shortcoming providing the sacred space both within and around ourselves to be our deeper òrishà selves. As omoòrishà meaning “children of the òrishà,” we too are òrishà. To be an òrishà, does not mean to be perfect, rather it means being a mirror of truth and a catalysis for transformation. We are òrishà: when we love, when we give, when we dance, when we cry with joy, when we heal, when we mend, when we destroy to build again, when we grow, when laugh to transform, when we truly and authentically exist…

Òsun, ye ye o! Beloved Òsun may your beautiful waters continue to wash us with wisdom and truth and reflect back on to us our own sacred humanity. Ashé!

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[1] Odu Òwónrin Méjì from Kólá Abímbólá, Yorùbá Culture: A Philosophical Account, 63-64.

Washing our Ori in the Rivers of Osun

Beloved Iya Osun, mother of fertility, of sexuality, of feminine empowerment, of wealth may you continue to wash over me, protecting me, guiding me, sustaining me. Ashé!

 

Òbàrà Méjì

Òsòló the priest of Awòn

Casts divination for Awòn

On the day she was going to wash her Orí of wealth in

the river

‘Would it be easier for me’? she asked

They told her that it would be easy for her

But she was advised to perform sacrifice to Òsun

She offered the sacrifice

Life then pleased her

She started having children

She afterward took all her children to Òsun

‘Death must not kill the child of Awòn,’

they instructed

Life pleased them so much

Òsun took good care of her ad her children

And also petted them all

She was dancing and rejoicing

She was praising her Babaláwo

Her Babaláwo was praising Ifá

She said it was as her Babaláwo had said

Òsòló the priest of Awòn

Casts divination for Awòn

On the day she was going to wash her Orí of wealth in

the river

Òsòló is here really

S/he is the priest of Awòn

Don’t you all know that good Orí is what Awòn

washes in the river?[1]

 

In the Yoruba world-sense, the bird is the symbol of women. The bird motif points to cosmic divine authority, ase, in general, and the powerful mothers, the àjé, fondly known as àwon iya wa, “our mothers.” The bird symbolizes the deep connection between the feminine powers of women, the mystical powers of the cosmos, and the great Iya, Iya Ilé, the mother of the earth (our ultimate home and shrine). The powerful woman is the bird woman, the woman with the powers of the cosmos, the woman without whom the world would cease to function. The oba, the Yoruba king, is crowned with symbolic birds. These birds signify the importance of women to his authority and his acknowledgement and harnessing of the powers of the divine cosmos. Even the oba, cannot ignore the “bird women,” the great mystical women whom can both create and destroy.

In this Ifá sacred text, it is Awòn, who like the birds at the banks of a river, dips her orí, i.e. her physical and spiritual head, into the waters of Osun. Awòn is actually a long-necked bird found by river banks; thus, in my interpretation of this text, she seems to signify the connection between Osun and women, in particular, and between Osun and the feminine side of all human beings, in general. Awòn is the wo/man with the good orí, the wo/man whose “head” is filled with loving-kindness, who has gone to the banks of the river in search of easy. Like Awón, many of us wonder, will our way be easier? Like Awón, many of us have good orí, but our way has not been easy; it has not been filled with wealth. Osun is the god/dess of feminine power, sexuality, and fertility. However, she is also the great Ìyá of wealth. Thus, especially in Oshogbo, Nigeria, her devotees both men and women shout her name in praise. Osun, ye ye o! We all need wealth and fertility. Fertility is not merely about the bringing forth of children, though Osun is widely known for her procreative powers. Fertility is about growth and procreation in all aspects of our lives, for we can give birth in many ways and to many things. Similarly, wealth is not merely about the attainment of money. In ancient times, money in the form of cowries was not only a form of financial exchange. It was and still is a spiritual currency. Cowries have been used for centuries as a tool for divining the wisdoms of the divine cosmos. Thus, wealth is about overall abundance: financially, socially, spiritually, physically, and mentally.

(“The Medicine Bird” by Artist Yoruba Artist Victor Ekpuk; See www.victorekpuk.com)

The Awón, the bird, is our wealth to come. May it be our medicine, healing what has ailed us! But, we must first give ebo, sacrifice. Giving ebo, giving sacrifice, is not merely what we have been conventionally taught; it entails any practice that has been initiated to specifically acknowledge and honor the cosmos and/or the divine within: creating sacred art, food offerings to the orisha, masquerading, dancing, feeding one’s community (as Ifá says the mouth, too, is an orisha), planting a garden, etc. This past evening my ebo, my way of honoring my communion with the sacred, was through creating a ritual bath. I burned my candles at my altar to my ori, my Ìyá Osun, my ancestors, and all the other spirits and orisha that guide and secure my life. I made sure to refresh my food offerings and sprayed my altar space with rum to ignite the energies of the spirits and orisha that would come to feed and abide in my consecrated ritual space, and then with water to provide clarity and healing. Water is the greatest and the purest of all medicines.  I then went about creating my ritual bath formula. I used:

1. 1/4 cup of Jojoba oil
2. 1/4 cup of Unscented baby-mild Pure-Castile Soap
3. 2 drops of frankincense essential oil
4. 2 drop of cypress essential oil
5. 1 drop of jasmine essential oil
6. 1 drop of peppermint essential oil
7. 1 drop of lavender essential oil

If you would like to try making your own ritual bath, pick essential oils that best address the issues you would like to work on and I recommend using oils that deal with your spiritual, emotional, intellectual, and physical health collectively, or you can pick on particular area to focus on. Not exceeding 6-8 drops of essential oil in each bath (since essential oils are extremely potent and can irritate the skin), create a mixture that best suits you and your goals and tastes. I used Jojoba oil as a carrier oil, which is often recommended, but other oils work just as well as a base. However, you can use as little of the carrier oil or as much as you want depending upon your specific body needs. I tend to use more oil so that my skin will not dry out from taking a bath, especially since it is winter.

During my bath, I  meditated on being enveloped in the sacred. I was the Awón dipping myself into the water to be cleansed and renewed, a sort of personal baptism, through which I could be spiritually rejuvenated and reborn. Such rituals are needed periodically, so that we may remain centered and focused on our divine life purpose. As an Omoosun, i.e. child of Osun, I took this time to reflect upon Osun’s message for me. However, you can utilize this ritual bath to reflect upon and be immersed in the glory of whichever spiritual being most guides and helps you, whether that be Jesus, Shango, Shiva, Yemaya etc. The important thing is to cultivate a practice for self-divine renewal. We all get beaten down by the world at times, and thus initiatory practices in the spirit are important for reminding us of who and why we really are.

After my bath, I went to my altar space and sitting bathed in the candlelight I began to look through the Ifá corpus. I came upon this odu: Òbàrà Méjì, a message to me from the spirit world. For when we do ebo, the spiritual world will find ways of speaking back to us. I have shared this message I received with you, so that perhaps you, too, will feel encouraged. May you know that your good orí has not gone unnoticed and that wealth, i.e. fulfiling abundance, is on the horizon!

May we be like Awón, dipping our orí in the rivers of Osun, and find easy and wealth! May our good ori attain the acknowledgement it deserves! Osun, ye ye o! Ashé!

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[1] Ayò Salami, Ifá: A Complete Divination (Lagos, Nigeria: NIDD). Though this text is gendered male in its translated form, I have changed nearly all references to gender the text female. The Yoruba language does not encode gender grammatically; however, translations into English tend to masculinize these narratives, giving men a more central depiction in the religious culture. I have chosen to gender the text female to signify the importance of women in this tradition and which even more seems appropriate with this text given that Osun is the deity that attained respect and acknowledgment for women. Remember that the Ifá sacred literary corpus is not the same as the Christian Bible. It is an oral text that has in the recent years been written down in part, but it is essential still oral in nature. Thus, you will find different versions of the odu from town to town and from babalowo to babalowo.