The Western philosophical paradigm has always been self-limiting. The Western religious systems ALWAYS saw man in a secondary, or subservient, position in their world view. Secondary, not to animals, planet etc., but to some unattainable ideal that, do to inherent flaws at birth or exercise of God given sexuality, consigned them to failure. I really don’t want to spend much time on the insanity of this position…one that could only be “true” if it came from a confused, demented or sadistic god (unacceptable by definition ) . Rather, I would like you to genuinely understand the Yoruba world view and how it allows you to grow and guide your own lives.

The Yoruba world view sees us as part ( literally) of an incredibly complex organism we call the Universe. It sees our growth and self empowerment as directly related to this understanding, as well as our intelligent use of this knowledge, in working with the other parts of our “ body.” While the West sees no contradiction in using electricity to empower our lives and daily existence, they immediately brand the Yoruba expertise in using far greater energies in guiding and improving our lives to the scrap pile of superstition and ignorance. They are blinded by their own paradigm. I have often used the following analogy: if you sent a deaf man, from a deaf society to review a symphony orchestra, the deaf critic would write how the Conductor used his baton, how the violinist bows swept across the strings, how the flutist brought the instrument to her lips and blew into it etc. And, he would, from his perception, be absolutely correct and accurate. He would also never hear the music! The Western Cartesian paradigm has created a world deaf to the music of Natural energy. The Yoruba world immersed itself in its reality, beauty and power. So also can you.

It is this sense of limitation that has insidiously permeated the fabric of Orisa worship in the West. The influence of missionaries, Western religion in general and a society based upon “things” has created a smothering cover to the freedom and possibilities that working with the true energy of Nature affords. It is the reasons for the false hierarchy we see so many seek to impose, as well as the limitations on growth and knowledge within that false structure. In Truth, your personal growth and potential are LIMITLESS!!
An example of this comes from my own personal experience. While it is true that I have spent more than a quarter of a century working AND thinking 12 - 16 hours a day, seven days a week, in an effort to truly understand the philosophy, I was still, unthinkingly, locked into many of the perceptions that limited my growth. As an initiated Babalawo who had received the Patriarch Epega’s Igba Iwa from his son Afolabi, I felt that my growth was directly related to and, while I never articulated it specifically, limited to the implements and areas that are traditionally associated with the Babalawo. While these areas are quite broad, they always related to some “thing” the Babalawo worked with. Divining was connected to the Opele and Ikin, initiation the Igba Iwa, healing to specific herbs, and ebbos to specific energies. In much the same way as the non-initiate “works” with an Esu to create opportunities, or an ancestral altar to connect with the energy of their departed blood family, it was clear that the initial structure of Ifa had to do with representative or connecting objects. BUT, it became equally clear that it does not, and should not, be limited to that! These objects are connecting points, entryways, into vast fields of energy…and at some point, those truly evolved, truly open to it, will no longer find the objects the only way to access energy. It happened to me….

It was a quiet afternoon at our Retreat in Indiana. I had decided to lie down and rest for a few moments in order to take advantage of the unusual calm. It was then that, for the first time in my life, a had, what for lack of a better name, I shall call an out of body experience. First, you must understand that I am the most linear Ifa priest you will ever meet. The world I came from was both objective and analytical. Indeed, my license plate used to read: “ A is A”, the basis of Aristotelian logic. Academic friends have always said that the only reason they have given credence to this philosophy is because they knew I was so analytical, such a “hard sell”, that if I believed in it, there must be some Truth to it. So, when I suddenly found myself sitting on grass in front of several large rocks, the first thing I did was examine whether or not I was having a dream, hallucinating, or some kind of mental disturbance. I came to the absolute conclusion that, as bizarre as it seemed, it was real. At the moment of appearing there, I was in the process of placing 13 Vulture feathers in a perfect circle around myself. As the thirteenth, and final feather was stuck into the ground, I was instantly transported to the bottom of what appeared to be a canyon of some kind. On each side there were bare stone walls reaching hundreds of feet into the air. The ground I stood on was stone as well, and from the light I perceived that it was either sunset, or dawn…it was that kind of translucent gray/blue sky that is part of either. The second thing I noticed was the absolute quiet. Not a sound existed. Third, I saw that there was nothing alive there…there was no grass, no vegetation, no birds, trees or living energy of any kind. My mind sought an answer, but the best I could do was a tentative conclusion: this was either before time and life, or after it! Either possibility did not comfort me. Then, as I stood there looking up at the huge walls of stone on either side, the only sound of the entire experience occurred. There was a huge “ whoosh” sound, and at that very instant flames rose out of the ground in a perfect circle all around me. They reached hundreds of feet in the air, and they were within 5 to 10 feet of myself. Yet, there was no heat…no sensation or fear of being burned… ( Next week: Part III ) The rest of the story and what it means

Blessings