Ọkha, Ikhinmwin and Iroko: Intersections Between Beliefs in the Spirituality of Trees and in Witchcraft in Benin Thought: Realities, Questions, Prospects 1
Oluwatoyin Adepoju
Awesome Ọkha Tree Outlined Against the Sky at the Grounds Used for the Temporary Palace of the Edaiken of Uselu, the Crown Prince of Benin, in the sequence of activities culminating in his ascending
the throne as the Oba of Benin. The picture is composed to evoke a sense of
opening into expansive possibilities suggested by the upward thrust of the
tree's bulk as framed by the translucent blue of the sky in which clouds float,
luminous and free, foregrounded by the delicate beauty of the tree's leaves.
Power and dynamism, force and freedom, stability and creativity, combined.
May contemplation of such glories of nature as this tree facilitate expansion of the human mind into latent possibilities of the self shared with other aspects of nature, such as a spiritual equivalent of the aerial mobility of birds, a motion the human being may demonstrate in the various dimensions at times associated with trees, from the Norse Yggdrasil, its massive branches representing various zones of existence, to the ọkha and iroko believed in Benin and Yoruba thought to be privileged spaces of convergence of matter and spirit, interdimensional platforms employed by spiritually powerful people, the azen of Benin and the aje of Yorubaland?
Why should ideas of interdimensional motion facilitated by trees in Benin and Yoruba beliefs be often associated with powers dangerous to humanity, an anti-social potential ironically co-existing with the capacity for beneficence? Why are similar conceptions in other spiritualities much richer in terms of dramatizing ideas of human creativity, of capacity for understanding and navigating the cosmos within its overarching mystery, such as the image of soul travel at the core of the New Religion Eckankar and notions of spirit flight in various accounts of shamanism?
Those other systems represent strategies of human development the methods, benefits, dangers and practitioners of which are clearly known, constituting a central aspect of humanity's cultural heritage, its effort to understand and take advantage of the range of possibilities offered by the universe. Why should something similar not apply to beliefs in the enabling power of trees in Nigerian spiritualities?
Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju
Abstract
A first-hand account of relationships between beliefs in the spirituality of trees and in witchcraft in the traditional thought of the people of Benin-City, Nigeria, in conjunction with questions about these ideas and the creative possibilities they may suggest, presented through accounts of my encounters with various trees and culture bearers in Benin-City, correlated with other examples of ecosystemic spirituality.
The visual force of trees, specifically the ọkha, ikhinmwin and iroko, among the most significant arboreal forms in traditional Benin spirituality, is projected through pictures taken and edited by myself at times suggesting their aesthetic power, their atmosphere shaping character and evocative potencies, images aligned with commentary describing their cultural significance and my responses to their inspirational force. The pictures were taken using an iPhone 6s and edited on an HP laptop.
I could not use all the images I would have liked to employ for this essay on account of the limitations of Google Mail, my primary template for essay composition. The essay is also complemented by videos I made and by many other pictures I took, which, ideally, should be referenced in the essay, linking to the online locations of these video and image libraries, a comprehensive mapping of my discoveries which I intend to present with time.
Ethics of Spiritual Practice of Chief Ebengho and his Son Osarobor
''What is that?'' I asked the cab driver, referring to the huge and clearly ancient tree starkly outlined against the sky.
Sitting on a log facing the tree, I considered the behemoth, a glorious monster ordinarily not to be found outside a forest of similarly ancient trees. Its majestic physicality is complemented, in my eyes, by the unique presence some trees, groves and forests demonstrate as I have observed them through earlier fascination with such phenomena in Benin-City, and rarely, in a park in England, a dense aura, a concentrated sense of presence suggesting something arcane, palpable but beyond grasp by the conventional understanding, sensed through its impinging on the eyes but beyond the penetrative capacities of the mind untrained in such occult realities.
Picture of the
Ọkha on the Edaiken of Uselu's palace grounds, composed and edited to suggest the uncannily potent atmosphere of the tree, the manner in which it charges the surrounding space with its eldritch presence, its sense of multitudinous assemblage, as huge trunk and myriad, many leaved branches congregate in projecting a sense of numinous cosmos.
Photographic picturing and editing adequately evoking the amazing combination of bulk and ancient power dramatized by this tree are, however, beyond my technical resources and editorial skill, if such capacities are within the reach of anyone.
