On Past Human Sacrifice in the Yoruba Ifa Knowledge System
237 views
Skip to first unread message
Oluwatoyin Adepoju
Nov 11, 2023, 7:19:13 AM11/11/23
to usaafricadialogue, Yoruba Affairs
See Facebook post and rich thread at link
ABOUT HUMAN SACRIFICE IN IFÁ.
I am aware of the controversy raised by a post on human sacrifice in Ifá, written by Efemena Aletor.
As much as I do not subscribe to vulgarity in any form, more so at a time like this; when all hands are on deck to detach from our past. At every given opportunity, we should all strive to project our Isese in a very positive light.
This does not however mean we should not tell ourselves some home truth. There is nothing bad if we look at where we are coming from to see where we are today and where we intend to be in future.
People who follow my posts on social media knows I do not go beyond Ifá declaration. It is because I am more concerned with His reformative nuggets of wisdom.
I was taken aback however, by the comments of those I think should know better on this issue. And this have prompted me to recite this controversial Ifá verse from Ìrẹtẹ̀ Meji here. Otherwise, I would have kept mute.
The verse goes thus:
Igbo ni igbo ina. Odan ni odan oorun. Egungun ba mi so igbo. Oporoporo ba mi so obi. Akoko ba mi so agogo mi. Agogo mi agogo ide. Da fun Orunmila, Oke-Iponri Baba gba eran agbonrin ni owo re.
The forest is that of fire. The desert, is of scorching sun. Let Egungun guard my forest. Oporoporo keep watch over my kola nut. Akoko guard my bell for me. My bell made of brass. Cast Ifá for Ọ̀rúnmìlà, his Sacred Ikin demanded for a hind as sacrifice.
Ọ̀rúnmìlà did not have enough on him to buy this animal in the market. He took his gun and went into the forest in search of a hind. He wandered in the bush without any success. As he was about to give up and return home, after several days of futile search; he sighted a hind! Pronto, he aimed his gun to shoot her. But the hind took to her heels. With vigor, Ọ̀rúnmìlà chased her until they both landed in a very deep ditch!
All passersby who saw Ọ̀rúnmìlà there mocked him and no one was willing to lend him a hand of help.
Pooroye was a barren woman from Ido Ekiti. She was after consultation, being directed to take her sacrifice beside a ditch in the forest. Coincidentally, she took it to the one where Ọ̀rúnmìlà was stuck. He pleaded with the woman to help him out. She did. One thing led to another and Ọ̀rúnmìlà slept with Pooroye right there. As they are about to part ways, Ọ̀rúnmìlà told her that she will conceive and give birth to a baby boy. He asked her to name the child Olomo. They went their separate ways. Everything happened as Ọ̀rúnmìlà had predicted.
Sixteen years later, a ravaging war broke out in the city of Ido where Olomo and Pooroye reside. Both were taken captive. While Pooroye was given as booty to the reigning King in Ijan Ekiti, Olomo was sold into slavery and taken to Ile-Ife.
Those were the past dark times when Oluwo is used for human sacrifices. They are slaves or aliens, bought in the market. They can equally be sacrificed by the master. (This can be corroborated by the story of Oluwo: the first woman to be initiated into Ifá; written by Oluwo Solagbade Popoola).
It was time for Ọ̀rúnmìlà to propitiate his Ifá. He sent that a slave be procured for him for that sole purpose; and they brought Olomo – his sired son to him. That was a day to the festival. Knowing the purpose he was to serve, Olomo remembered home. He began to sing the cognominal praise of his ancestry; as taught by his mother. He began to recite flawlessly, Ọ̀rúnmìlà’s lineage cognominal praise and ended with: “you do not know that Pooroye begets Olomo?” His strange lamentation was brought to the notice of Ọ̀rúnmìlà, who questioned him to verify his story.
Having established that the slave he bought to be sacrificed was his own son, he devised means to safe his child from being slaughtered by him…
This Ifá I learnt directly from my father Olagunju Akomolafe. He was one of those whose feet, late Baba Kola Aniyeloye (Ifá Professor) of Imesi Ekiti learnt from.
This is our own version of the story in Ekiti. And I stand by it.
Ifá says in Ogbè Ate that the dialectal tone of Oyo is different from Egba. That of Egba is distinct from Oyo. Cast Ifá for Ọ̀rúnmìlà, the Sage will learn diverse languages of the world…
The diverse languages been referred to here are the recitation of Ifá verses. It is not static in nature, it is wide.
Know that no two tribes ever share completely, the same Ifá stories. Our own order of the sixteen major Odus in Ekiti is quite distinct from the rest. Ife and Oyo neither agreed on the order of the Odus. Egba and Akure do not share same.
I have seen, on many occasions; same Ifa stories being narrated differently, by people from different areas. I pick what I think is most prone to truism. But that does not mean we cannot find a common ground.
Aside from the small notes I inherited from my late father of blessed memory; I have traversed almost every part of Yorubaland in search of sacred knowledge. So to some extent, I know my onions and am pretty sure of what I say.
Let those omo Awo who do not know anything about the language of Ifá refrain from dabbling into this stormy water. Tell those self-acclaimed babalawo on social media, who never go out of their father’s compound not come here and posit on what they know nothing about.
Aboru aboye.
OLUWO AKOMOLAFE WANDE.
Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages