Visual Ifa in Ormond Beach, Florida

Presented by:

Robin Poynor

ART HISTORY Professor and Assistant Director University of Florida

E: rpoynor@ufl.edu 

Dr. Poynor presented this paper at the 14th Triennial Symposium on African Art 

The Ifa Foundation of North America.

This paper addresses visual forms connected with the Ifa Foundation, among them personal shrines, the Ola Olu Retreat in rural Florida and the uses of spiritual tools in ritual, spiritual tools offered on the Ifa Foundation website, and sculpture created by Iyanifa Vassa.

All are used in personal devotion or in the context of practitioners brought to the retreat for initiation and training, their education in Ifa College, and their ongoing relationship with the Neimarks through visits, Skype, telephone, and website.

In looking at the context the Ifa Foundation, I have discerned issues linked to ideas of race and racial ownership of African-derived practices, orthodoxy in Yoruba derived religious systems, and the pluralistic culture involved in Ifa Foundation.

An important facet of the Diasporas is that not only those who descend from displaced Africans are influenced by the facts of African philosophies, religions, and aesthetics that move along with the migrations of peoples, but those who come in contact with them are impacted as well. For example, while we recognize the African roots of jazz, the blues and rock ’n’ roll, we realize too that these art forms and the experiences they bring about are not hermetically sealed in ethnicity or descent or DNA.

In fact, many practitioners of these art forms are not of African decent. Indeed, the phenomena have spread not only through many layers of North American culture, where they were originally nourished by Black culture, but they have also spread to other parts of the world. Today jazz, blues, and rock are owned by the citizens of the world, not just people of African descent.

A similar set of phenomena seems to be observable in the evolution of religion on this side of the Atlantic. Elements in the practice of some variations of American Christianity not discernable in European variations may be in part traceable to African derived practices such as dancing, shouting, trance-like states, and possession. There is still debate and controversy in sorting out exactly what is African in some strains of Pentecostalism, for example.

There is little denial about what is African in such Atlantic religions as Vodun, Santeria, and Candomblé. African roots are explicit. And one of the most definite is Yoruba. Participation in religious practices by individuals whose ancestry is not African has been an ongoing process in Santeria and Candomblé, but when orisa veneration was introduced into the United States, there was often an element of racial identity as well. Some still prefer to think of the orisa as an African-only phenomenon. Others realize that religious experience is not bound by DNA.

Ile, which loosely interprets “the place of the spreading.” “Ile” indicates place while “fe” means to widen, to distend, to enlarge, to broaden.

Over centuries, the spread of Yoruba concepts has not always followed the paths one might assume -- from Ile-Ife to other Yoruba kingdoms, to neighboring peoples, and eventually across the Atlantic. Over time, Yoruba gods, concepts, myths, music, songs, and drumming – have all moved. Strands of Yoruba thought have diverged and merged and re-diverged and remerged – even into the 21st century. There is a consciousness of a worldwide Yoruba religion with many practitioners working in the contexts of many variations, but the “truths” of Yoruba religion manifest themselves in many ways.

My paper deals with ideas and visual images used in the context of Ifa Foundation, based in Florida. The genealogy of this manifestation of Yoruba spirituality can be traced from Nigeria to Cuba to Miami by way of Santeria, and from Santeria to a husband and wife team who have attempted to understand the meaning of the way of Ifa by looking back to Nigeria through study of written resources, through mediation of a Nigerian babalawo, and through the Ifa system itself. They have lived and worked in Chicago, Bloomington and now in Florida.

The Neimarks state that they started their exploration of Yoruba religion partly out of need, partly out of curiosity, and partly out of dissatisfaction with what Western spirituality seemed to offer. Dissatisfied with their ventures in Lucumi because of its secrecy and their objections to racial, sexual and gender discrimination they perceived in that tradition, they made a conscious effort to find its African roots.

The Sacred Ifa Oracle, translations of odu by Epega with introductory material by Neimark, has made primary material available for academics and practitioners.

Along the way the Neimarks created a spiritual retreat with shrines and gardens named Ola Olu, Gift from God,

They also set up an extensive web presence to provide free information on Orisa and to combat what they perceive as intellectual and emotional slavery brought about by secrecy and lack of knowledge,

Vassa advocates personal reflection and daily meditations, prayers and offerings, starting the day with a prayer to Orunmila, spending some time with the designated orisa of the day, and involving oneself in ancestor veneration at least monthly.

In these practices, shrines and tools are intended to incorporate ase to improve the quality of life and bring one closer to the energies. Individual shrines are placed throughout the Neimark home, easily accessible. Some are obvious in their visibility, but most blend in with the décor of the house, Esu placed in baskets or decorative boxes. Sculptural forms may also refer to or represent the orisa.

This particular part of the Neimark home is devoted to Nana Buuken, an orisa that has taken on particular meaning for Iyanifa Vassa.

In a small room off the entry way, several shrines are apparent, but that of Nana dominates.

Nearby, a “hut” or ile-Nana, contains the Esu for Nana. Vassa makes these by tying bits of palm frond midribs, covering them with other vegetal matter. When all the materials are tied together, they symbolize the ancestors and communicate with the initiates at the time of initiation. The structure accommodates the clay pot to hold the stone associated with Nana. Decorative boxes and baskets hold other significant objects.

While Vassa’s own worship takes place daily at home, meaningful interaction between the orisa and the energies that are of interest to the Neimarks find vital expression in a retreat they established in rural Florida.

Before arriving in Florida, they had created a retreat in Indiana. One reason for moving to Florida was a warmer climate where the outdoor functions would be more enticing.

Ola Olu retreat is located on the fringe of the Ocala National Forest outside a small town. Ease of transportation via Orlando was another factor in choosing the site.

The secluded nine-acre retreat is near a small lake. It offers peace and serenity required for ceremonies and initiations. Such a setting is preferable to those in basements or garages where many orisa initiations take place on this side of the Atlantic. Their viewpoint is that Ifa is based in nature and that the energies are best “embodied and learned in a setting without televisions, car alarms, sirens or noisy neighbors.”

Vassa states, “in order to begin to understand, feel and restore ourselves to the proper relationship with Nature, we must once again become part of it.” Like those who established Oyotunji in South Carolina, the Neimarks felt that it is not easily accomplished in urban centers such as Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, London or Paris.

“The overwhelming dissonance of energy that Western societies’ metropolitan areas exude makes it virtually impossible. Instead you MUST find the time to place yourself in a quiet, Natural environment, an environment where the sounds of car horns, sirens, trains and planes cannot be heard.”

Ola Olu is conceived as a retreat and teaching center for initiations and ceremonies. Hidden in the woods off a limestone road, it is a private space that allows ceremonial work to be done with freedom.

The retreat is laid out in small “gardens” connected by trails. Each orisa is given a place where an appropriate shrine is set up.

This shrine site is dedicated to Ogun, the god of iron and creativity, Vassa’s patron orisa. In Ifa Foundation, Ogun is the “muscle of how things are created,” -- “the matrix needed for finding greater focus for the task at hand and the matrix that aids in more dynamic creativity in all one does.”  Ogun is deemed “the foundation required for moving forward.”

As with most altars to Ogun, metal containers and metal objects dominate. Here the collection of found metal objects is identified by an expressive iron heading in which the name of the energy is spelled out in bold letters. Vassa made this altar to honor the matrix of Ogun because she wanted to build a place to show her gratitude for having the opportunity to work with one of her favorite materials...metal.

Here one kettle associated with Ogun hangs from a metal arch over posts. Another rests on a table like support. Appropriately, Ogun is near a forested area, and his companion Ochosi is nearby. Vassa sees the Ogun shrine as a powerful place, radiating strength, focus and creativity.

Prior to becoming a metal sculptor, Vassa had worked with architects, contractors and artisans in the creation of high-end custom homes.  She always chose metal where she could. These elements in the Ogun shrine are some of the first of her work as a metal sculptor.

She takes pride in the fact that many people have come from across the globe to spend time at this altar devoted to the God of Iron.

Other gardens are defined for Esu, Osanyin, Osun, and so on. Locations are carefully chosen. In these too Vassa has used her creative energies to name them with distinguishing identification signs and to organize the spaces in appropriate forms and colors. For example, the shrine of Yemonja/Olokun, embellished with blues and whites and seashells, is near the water’s edge.

Within the context of the Gardens and the initiations and ceremonies that take place in them, spiritual tools will vary depending on the occasion and the orisa for whom they are used.

When one is initiated at the retreat, Iya Vassa creates an ori staff from a three branched tree trunk to represent three legs we stand upon for balance.

Iya Vassa states: “Ancestors come with us as our Guardian . . . , and we chose Orisa energy (Nature) to work with in filtering our actions, and last, but not least, we chose what our Life Path was to be.”

Iya Vassa creates this representation of the “Three-legged Staff” that she calls the Ori staff, for the individual who wants to become whole and balanced.  

The staff is consecrated along with a special rock and a number of cowries equal to the age of the individual. Each year another shell is added in a smaller ritual.

Vassa says that at Ola Olu, people have come from all over the world to the Ori altar to perform the ceremony. On leaving, they take their personal Ori staff, their individual rock, and their cowries to begin using them as connecting tools to help them become better at finding their destiny.

The area designated for Nana Buuken activities is dominated by a mound. A ring of fire surrounds the site for the initiation of women into the society.

The mound is covered with an arrangement of tools created for their initiations. Among them are the ileeshin staff, the bamboo knife, the Esu Iya, the Nana dome and a staff with seed pods, each of which carries an initiate’s name.

The ileeshin staff, made of iron and wrapped in raffia, is given to the initiate as a tool to protect her from negative energies that interfere with her clarity, keeping her from being thrown off balance and from succumbing to illness, connecting her to the power of her birthright as a woman.

The Esu for Osun may be formed in a gourd and decorated with parrot or peacock feathers or embellished with a brass mask, as here. That for Yemonja/Olokun is in a seashell and decorated with blue feathers. One for Obatala is also be in a white shell, embellished with white feathers. The basic Esu is a container - a pot, a gourd, a shell, a horn, or even a ceramic figure or a box or a locket – filled with activating substances including cement and the wood that termites have chewed. These “secret” Esu are created for the devotee who cannot have a more obvious one on a desk or table.

The Esu is intended to serve as a connecting tool that opens the path to the orisa and the devotee.

Vassa also imports objects from Africa as tools -- ibeji figures, bells, divination cups, divining trays, oshe Shango, along with objects such as palm nuts for divining or stone axes for Shango.

Objects imported from non-Yoruba areas are transformed into Yoruba-related tools. Vassa told me, “They come in one thing and leave another.” In this case she was referring to modern Kongo minkisi transformed into Yoruba-related sigidi, whose function may be compared to that of the minkisi.

While the tools we have been looking at have aesthetic merit, they are considered primarily tools. Vassa does create sculpture that can be seen purely as sculpture, but at the same time each can serve as a spiritual tool.

Spirit Woman is one of the early figures created in Bloomington, Indiana. Over a four-month period, Vassa says she began before dawn, “using the special qualities of what happens when darkness becomes light, feeling there would be added spirit to the piece from the dawn of each new day.” While still commuting to Chicago each day, she attached hundreds of strands of hair. She saw the skin of the crone become heavily textured.

Vassa relates that she and the object “looked at each other eye to eye each and every day during the growth of this creation.” It was through this experience and others that she first experienced the power of Nana Buuken. “As this piece transformed into more than just a piece of art standing 6 ft tall...so did I Vassa transcend into higher levels of connecting to her higher feminine power.” 

Spirit of the Woods is a rangy object that stands near the entrance to the Neimark home.

Vassa sees it as conceptually related to the three-legged Ori staff. The figure made of a cast off sickle stands roughly six feet tall.

The arm-like element extends to welcome those who enter. Found and recycled objects create a being that relates to nature and refers to the orisa.

Osun the Warrior stands in the same area as Nana Buuken in the Neimark home. It is homage to the orisa Osun, the energy matrix of joy, femininity, sensuality. Standing over six feet tall on a rough cut limestone base, the Warrior is a strong feminine force with epaulettes of cowries and a Kudo skin cape. An antelope horn forms the center line of the face, and peacock feathers enliven the empty eye sockets. A slice of quartz alludes to the vulva, and small bits of amber serve as nipples on small breasts. Vassa created this piece while she was “addressing the realities of living in a man’s world of metal work and welding as I juggled life as a new mother with the demands of co-partnering with my husband in a busy practice as Ifa Priests and teaching men and women about connecting with energy through visual energized figures.”

The sculpture is multilayered in meaning for Iya Vassa and suggests for her that metal sculpture can be soft and sensuous.

The Oya Staff refers to Oya, the energy of storm and wind. The sculpture has been placed in the front of Oya shrines over several decades now. Oya is “the matrix of the wind, the female hunter/warrior, the movement of sudden change as well as the marketplace.”  All the elements that Vassa included in the sculpture were intended to represent ideas of movement and change. “Everything on the piece can move and sustain with strong winds.” Horse hair wisps move in the wind. Copper tubing can be reshaped with to suggest movement. Colorful parrot feathers on rebar rods and can rotate 360 degrees like weather vanes.

Sentinel – The Watchman stands over six feet tall, resembling a bird standing on one leg holding a special shaped eye rock to suggest that the sentinel keeps a mystical eye out for the initiate.

The concept of eyes dominates Eyes of the Soul, a sculpture in which Vassa wanted to focus on the eyes of individuals who had just undergone core ceremonies, “while they were in the ‘zone’ of the experience.” The sculpture stands a bit over head level and has, in Vassa’s view, the overall elliptical shape of an eye.  The ellipse is repeated throughout the piece. The twenty mounted photographs of “ceremonial eyes” are intended to connect the viewer with “what has taken place in the souls of the participants.