An Exploration of the Aesthetic, Philosophical and Spiritual Significance of Vegetative Nature, Particularly Trees, in Ile-Ife and Benin-City: Progress Report

[Oluwatoyin Adepoju]

An Exploration of the Aesthetic, Philosophical and Spiritual Significance of Vegetative Nature, Particularly Trees, in Ile-Ife and Benin-City: Progress Report

Magnificent  Networks of Life at Jhalobia Recreation Parks and Gardens, Murtala Muhammad Airport Road,Lagos.

My mother’s garden,of which Jhalobia Recreation Parks and Gardens is its most mature form so far, was my first encounter with the beauty of vegetative nature, from which domestic spaces I ventured into the glory of wild nature, experiencing its spiritual potencies.

            Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju 

                      Compcros                                               

Comparative Cognitive Processes and Systems

“Exploring Every Corner of the Cosmos in Search of Knowledge”

Enabled by the generosity of various donors, consisting of family, friends and readers of my work, from my base in Lagos I was able to visit Ile-Ife and Benin-City between the 5th of October 2022 and the 8th of November 2022, exploring the aesthetic, philosophical and spiritual significance of vegetative nature, particularly trees.

I took thousands of pictures, made videos, met unforgettable people, encountered magnificent places, gaining wonderful experiences some of which I have shared with readers and viewers on social media and more of which I shall share through the same and other platforms.

This project contributes to highlighting the place of Africa south of the Sahara and Nigeria, in particular, in the growing international sensitivity to the significance of nature in its contribution to human psychological, spiritual, intellectual and material well being.

This is a subject in which, to the best of my knowledge, the West, in particular, is very well represented in the literature, in which Asia and the Americas are very visible in various books and other texts, but in which Africa and particularly Africa south of the Sahara is underrepresented.

This situation also applies to explorations of sacred spaces in Africa outside Christianity and Islam and the ancient spiritualities of North Africa, nature being particularly strategic to what may be called primal religions, humanity’s experience of the sacred in nature as its fundamental relationship with the holy before the more abstract spiritualities that later became dominant.

My immediate motivation for this exploration was my encounter with the awesome landscape of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife,  where I attended the burial ceremonies of my family friend Professor Efere Obuotor at OAU between the 6th and the 7th of October 2022, seeing for the third time in my life, across decades, the sublime space of the university and for the first time appreciating the glory of nature it represents, leading me to transform my trip into a research project exploring the aesthetic, philosophical and spiritual value of vegetative spaces, particularly trees, in Ile-Ife and later in  Benin-City, Benin being where I had been introduced to the beauty and power of trees through previous explorations when entering adulthood in the ancient city.

My posts sharing my discoveries, discoveries in the sense of my own appreciation of what has long existed as well as reflections on possibilities not prominent for many people, have been largely though the scholarly platform the USAAfrica Dialogues Series Google group, to which I submit longer essays, and Facebook, which I use for pictures, videos and very short essays.

I shall be going forward with more posts showcasing my encounters with trees, landscapes, shrines and spiritual masters in Benin-City as well as the magnificent landscapes of OAU and trees at Ife. 

All posts will eventually be accessible through a link tree, a sequence of links at my central website, Compcros.

Great thanks to all donors for making this adventure possible. Salutations to all who provided moral support and logistical guidance, magnifying the quality of the experience. A comprehensive “thank you” to you all concludes the essay “Ọkha, Ikhinmwin and Iroko: Intersections Between Beliefs in the  Spirituality  of Trees and in  Witchcraft in Benin Thought: Realities, Questions, Prospects” at the USAAfrica Dialogues Series Google group.