JANUARY 29, 2020
Ara Oko Ifa Okan Ile
Australia
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Ifa. A response to the ecological crisis
The sacredness of earth.
In times when the survival of our species is threatened by global climate disruption,
resulting from unsustainable ways of living, the sworn duty of every Ifa priest to save
humanity and our rich tradition as a nature-based religion come together to remind us
of the sacredness of Mother Earth. The best way to address this crisis is not through the
intellectual traditions that have contributed to the current states of affairs, but rather a
transformation in the values and lifestyles of all industrialized societies. As an
alternative, and in fulfilment of our duty to humanity, our religion offers the ancient
wisdom of Ifa.
“We must say of the universe that it is a communion of subjects, not a
collection of objects” Thomas Berry, The Great Work (p.x)
Ifa is a sacred divination system of the Yoruba which includes a vast oral corpus. Given
to the world by Ọrunmila, the Yoruba deity of wisdom, this oral corpus is composed of
256 chapters (Odu), and is said to contain all of life. The wisdom contained in Ifa
literature in the form of poetry, proverbs, myths, and songs is used to help those
seeking Ifa's guidance through divination1.
Various Odu (chapters of Ifa tradition) tell stories or pataki (myth) that teach us about
the sacredness of earth and our duties to her. The Odu known as Osa She in Cuba tells
a story about Mother Earth.
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See Harvard definition at http://ask-dl.fas.harvard.edu/
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Osa She: There was a woman named Afokoyeri, the most beautiful daughter
of Inle Oguere. Afokoyeri did not accept anyone’s courting. However, a
powerful being of horrible aspect who lives in the dark depth of the earth
called Ashikuelu sow her once, when glancing through the entry of a cave
where he received the sacrifices of his children. Ashikuelu felt madly in love
with Afokoyeri, but he was aware of his horrific aspect.
Afokeyeri’s favourite food was pumpkin, so Ashikuelu using a magic pumpkin
vine led her close to a cave and darkening the sky with his power he
kidnapped Afokoyeri and took her into the depth of the earth. When
Afokeyeri’s mother, Inle Oguere, learnt about this, she desperately tried to
find her with not success. She knew about the prestige of Orunmila as a
diviner, so she went to see him.
The great diviner Orunmila spoke to her and said:
“Your daughter was born to live in darkness, because humans do not
understand the greatness and beauty of life. You must offer a pumpkin as a
sacrifice to Ashikuelu and pact with him”.
She did as Orunmila told her and Ashikuelu received her sacrifice and blessed
her. They made a pact and Ashikuelu said:
“Mother, you will have the right to have your daughter Afokoyeri for six
months with you and I will have her six months with me. You are the crust of
the earth, where all is light and everything blooms; I am the shadow of the
earth, where everything is dark, and things germinate”.
The supreme God and creator Olofin, was listening. Olofin said:
“You Inle Oguere will be known as Mother Earth, because you will always give
men your fruit to sustain their lives; all men will feed you and whoever wants
to see you will have to recognize you and your daughter in the ploughed
fields, as in the wilderness. They will see you in every fruit, in every mineral, in
both the crust and at the entrances of the earth. You will always serve as a
loving mother who support them and serve as the final abode for mankind,
your children. You will keep their memory of every human that walk on earth
and every time that they worship their ancestors, they will do it through you.
You shall be known as Mother Earth, to be honoured by all your children.”
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There are many lessons that can be extracted from Osa She to enlighten our
understanding of the current ecological crisis. Probably the most important lesson to
be learned is that Earth is not and object but a subject who is to be respected and
honoured as the great Mother that sustain us and carry the memory of our ancestors
in her heart. It is by her loving care and grace that we live and walk on her crust
enjoying her beauty, and it is in her bosom that we sleep with our ancestors.
The primary difficulty in responding to this crisis is not technological. The knowledge
and means exist to reverse global warming exist. But tons of scientific evidences are
not enough to move political and social will to act. As Eintein asserted, “the significant
problems we have cannot be solved at the same level of thinking with which we
created them”. Reversing global warming requires a different mindset, one that, as
Thomas Berry puts it in the quote above, recognises the universe as a living being. Osa
She teaches a mindset that relies in the recognition of the sacredness, care and beauty
of Mother Earth in every gift we receive from her: They will see you in every fruit, in
every mineral, in both the crust and at the entrances of the earth. It is not coincidence
that when Cuban Babalawos (high priests) divined that the regent odu for 2018 was
Osa She, they called the world to protect and take care of the environment.
Other odus teach us about our relationship with nature. Irosun Osa tell us how all life
on earth depend or the vital force aché which is both transcendent and immanent in
nature. Obara Meyi tell us that in ancient times plants would speak to humans who
would learn the secrets of nature from them, but now we can only do it through the
deity Osain because we misused that power. That is why our priest learn to talk to the
plants and pray to Osain to use their healing power. In any case there is a common
theme: we live in an animated world that is communion of living entities, not a
collection of objects that are little more than resources to be exploited.
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