The reader, whether novice or initiate will be amazed at the information contained in this never before published work. Through the sacred text of each Odu, the reader is brought into the world of the Divinity Orunmila, (the oracular divinity of wisdom), God's own witness to creation as He is called Eleri Ukpin.
There are variations in the oral sc
According to Omonighorogbo honesty is supported by selfless service to others. The desire for selfless service is rooted in love and compassion which makes it taboo to seduce another person’s spouse, to kill, lie, steal or cheat another human being. There is also recognition that love and compassion are not always reciprocated. For this reason good character includes a taboo against vengeance and retaliation. This means it is taboo to use spiritual power to harm another simply because you are disappointed, hurt or denigrated in anyway. Baba Ibie says the reason for this taboo is because Spirit always supports those who are righteous. This means that good character is the best protection against juju, hexing and spiritual intrusion. He also suggests that using spiritual power to harm another is always self destructive.
According to the teachings of Omonighorogbo the two most important qualities for developing good character are perseverance and patience. Perseverance is based on the notion we live in a just Universe. This means there is no need to avenge wrongs done to us by others. Ifa says the price of diminishing the soul of another is the loss of your own soul. Ifa is first and foremost a tradition that supports spiritual growth within the context of family. In order to grow spiritually a family needs to be protected and secure in the world. Omoonighorogbo taught we can only protect our children if we do not attempt to take the laws of Nature into our own hands. This means if we live in alignment with Nature, Spirit will protect us. We loose this veil of protection once we engage in acts of retaliation and vengeance. Ifa teaches the idea of consulting the oracle if you believe others wish you harm. If the other person is in the wrong and acting from bad character their own guilt will render their plot ineffective. Sometimes divination will indicate rituals that will neutralize the harm others are planning. Orunmila says beyond this we must not go because digging the grave of your enemy is the same as digging your own grave. The prayer for protection is a pray that those who wish me evil will not succeed. In simple terms life is good and Spirit supports the development of good character. Evil intentions are human intentions and in the struggle between Spirit and humans Spirit always wins. This can be a hard belief to embrace when we see so much greed, violence, death and destruction in the world. The short view makes the taboo against vengeance difficult to accept which is why Omonighorogbo teaches perseverance. The long view is that justice prevails, even if we need to wait over several lifetimes to see justice manifest. Spirit always has the long view which is why divination or communication with Spirit is the source of our vision of the proper resolution of conflict.
Baba Ibie identities patience is a key ingredient in the Ifa concept of good character. He says when the prophet Orunmila is walking in the forest and a tree falls he waits for it to rot away before moving forward. In simple terms this means human actions should be well considered and temperate. Hasty decisions are often made in anger and anger clouds logic. This is the reason Ifa places value on what is called ori tutu meaning a cool head. The reason for patience is to avoid the embarrassment of doing what we have accepted as taboo. Ifa is a spiritual tradition that teaches by example and to insure we are mentoring good character it is important to avoid impulsive behavior. The need for patience is rooted in the distinction between the ori and the ori inu. The ori is the face we present to the world; the ori inu is usually described as being in either the chest or the stomach. The ori inu is the inner emotional self that guides our actions. If we only respond to the ori inu when it is ori tutu we avoid the risk of anger causing inappropriate action.
Baba Ibie makes it clear in his book on Odu Ifa that the traditional Yoruba concept of good character is rooted in the Ifa concept of good and evil. Baba Ibie explains that the word Omonighorogo is both a praise name for the prophet Orunmila and a word used to describe anyone who comes to Earth with a destiny to be of service to others. The good works of Orunmila caused such hostility and envy among people who wanted to benefit from chaos, cheating and confusion. The reason for this is that a person who acts from a place of greed cannot imagine someone who acts from a place of benevolence. The problem is compounded by the fact that those who act from a place of greed can appear to be prosperous. This in turn causes those who are confused to believe there is inherent virtue in prosperity no matter how it is gained. Orunmila responded by saying prosperity is contentment with that which we accomplish in the world. Without contentment no amount of wealth brings inner peace and the quest for wealth becomes an insatiable search.
In English the word evil is live spelled backwards. This is interesting play on words because it reflects an ancient me
In Yoruba consciousness that moves towards development and growth is called ori ire, meaning consciousness that creates good fortune. The opposite of ori ire is ori buruku meaning consciousness that brings death and destruction. There is nothing in the break down of the word ori buruku that suggests it is some negative force that exits outside the boundaries of human choice.
To further analyze the linguistics the forces of death and destruction created by ori buruku are called ajogun from the elision ajo ogun meaning medicine of the unexpected. This suggests that negativity is the result of self destructive choices in conjunction with random events leading to unexpected negative consequences. The unexpected negative consequences tend to support the idea that negativity has a Primal Source which works to reinforce the idea that Elenini exist as an Immortal influence outside individual human consciousness. If we consider the idea that every fraction of the universe is a mirror of the whole, then we can conclude that consciousness is shaped by the 256 spiritual patterns Ifa calls Odu. The consequence of this conclusion is that human life is grounded in the idea of choice and that every moment presents us with the option of choosing ori ire or ori buruku. The choices we make influences our destiny in that in every moment we are either moving towards alignment with good character or behaving in resistance to the express of our essential nature. Because we have this choice we are responsible for creating our consensus reality. We can choose to live or we can choose to be evil. The choice is always ours and ours alone.
Ifa teaches that embracing ori ire coupled with patience brings a blessing of abundance, healthy extended family and good health. As we nurture our inner essence we strengthen the link between ori inu, our inner self and iponri our higher self. As this link becomes stronger we gain access to altered states of consciousness. These altered states of consciousness are designed to give us a glimpse of Creation that reveals our essential nature making the ability to embrace good character progressively easier. As this process unfolds we are occasionally given a glimpse of the big picture, a glimpse of our connection to Source and in Yoruba this connection is called Lailai. MsSVig