Ero Atilẹba Iwoye Agbaye – The Archetypal Expression
There are concepts we see expressed by different cultures around the world that center around certain universal phenomenon. The expression or even the idea of such concepts are not necessarily always copied from or borrowed from another culture. For instance, most cultures experience cold/coolness, heat, rain, thunder, lightening, rivers, lakes, the moon, the sun, seas, oceans, forests, mountains, various animals, kwk. The base of all archetypes, according to Afrikan traditions like Vodùn , Iṣẹṣẹ, Akan, and Odinani ais Air, Fire, Water, and Earth. People aware of this base are able to observe these entities and phenomena and express them in a way that is indicative of their specific worldview; their inherent nature. These archetypal expressions are often expressed through certain symbols, signs, bodily expressions, myths, prayers, invocations, dances, overstanding of the world, kwk. One must overstand thought that it was the Afrikan that mastered these things and were the only ones who were truly in touch with the divine….before the fall.
In Yorùbá, I have coined the term “ero atilẹba iwoye agbaye” to describe this. It means “the original/base worldview – the archetypal expression”. It is the natural phenomenon that all experience and apply their own various cultural meanings to. Many people do not overstand this concept and automatically think or assume a particular people stole or borrowed a cosmological idea from another when, in most cases, it is not true. News flash: the Norse god of thunder, Thor, is not stolen from Ṣàngo (Kawoooo Kábíyèsí!!!) or any other Afrikan deity! What they are, are two thunder deities from two different cultures who realized that there was an essence behind the thunder and lightening that was bigger than the thunder and lightening itself. To my hardcore Afrikans: everything is not necessarily stolen from Afrika. We really need to stop that “everything comes from Afrika” thought. For one thing, if you say that, that means all that degenerate Greek stuff you say you don’t like…the stuff you say is anti-Afrikan… you’re going to have to say that THAT came from Afrika also, right? Not.
The fact is that we need to overstand the concept of the archetypal expression. For those that believe all of these other concepts were copied from Afrika, just examine them in more detail. You will see many non and sometimes anti-Afrikan elements present. But because of the archetypal expression concept, we see how 20 different cultures may have, let’s say, a “goddess of the wind”, and not even know anything about how any of the other cultures express that concept. Yet, because of “ero atilẹba iwoye agbaye”, you will see similarities. The collective conscious of each culture connects with this in its particular way.
By Ayìnɔ̀n Àgɛ̀lɔ̀gbàgàn Jǐsovì Azàsinkpontín Àgbɔ̀vì I
This above a small Yorùbá ìwúre (prayer) to affirm comfort and peace at home and abroad. It is also about claiming victory and blessings no matter the odds. The word ilé is “home” and ọ̀nà is “path”. This is an affirmation ìwúre that says our home and social engagements (jobs, friends, traveling, kwk) will be peaceful ventures. No enemy within, nor without, will touch us. And of course, we must have ACTIONS that match the prayer. This is no “I do what I want and ask a savior for forgiveness and it’s all good all of a sudden”.
About the word “Prayer”
When we translate things from African languages through a European language, things tend to get lost and tossed up. The European word “prayer” is derived from the Latin “precari” which means “to BEG”. That is in line with worshipping a god that ur supposed to fear. The Yorùbá word, ìwúre, means “to speak/pour blessings”. Two totally different concepts. The latter concept is Afrikan. The one mentioned before is biblical and all religions based on it. We are Mãwùfɛnugbetɔ (Afrikan people).
Kani ka bwe, kana ku lumoso-ku lubakala-ku n’twala-ku nima-mu zulu evo mu nsi ukwenda, vutukisa va didi i yand. No matter what, you may walk leftwards, rightwards, forwards, backwards, upwards or downwards, you must come back to the core/center.
The holy Odù Ifá Ọ̀ṣẹ́ Ògúndá states:
E baa lo loo lo bi olo
E baa re ree re bi ere
Ibi ti e ti lo naa
Le o pada si
Dífá fun Ojola
Ọmọ Ere L’apa
E ma ma paa o
Eran ab’ohun ni o
e ye e ma p’Ojola
Ọmọ Ere L’apa
Ifá ni Ìṣẹ̀ṣẹ lo máà leke
Ìṣẹ̀ṣẹ lo máà gbeniyan
No matter how far you wander like the grindstone
No matter how far you wind like the boa constrictor
It is your starting point
to which you shall all return
These were the declarations of Ifá to the royal python
the offspring of the boa constrictor of Apa town
Pray, do not slay it
Do not slay the royal python
The offspring of the boa constrictor of Apa town
Ifá says Ìṣẹ̀ṣẹ will prevail
Ìṣẹ̀ṣẹ will allow mankind to prevail.
*Ìṣẹ̀ṣẹ – the original primordial wisdom and the true name of the Yorùbá spiritual and cultural way of life
It is my belief that most of the problems in our Afrikan communities stem from the fact that we have forgotten how to walk in what the Kongo call the 7th direction; the direction within. Abrahamic religious devotion and distortion is part of the reason. Yet, we have the information now. It is time to go back within to the core. The core? Our inner being where our true Creator, ancestors, personal and familial spirits and our true Self reside. To do this is to engage in a constant process of de-polluting and shedding of the old body forced upon you from a deviant oppressive culture. This is our strength and our victory. Claim it, for this is the true knowledge of self.
Ayìnɔ̀n Àgɛ̀lɔ̀gbàgàn Jǐsovì Azàsinkpontín Àgbɔ̀vì I
Importance of Names and the Power of Words: How One Letter Can Change the Game
(The following is just one reason I don’t play with or let people play with my name.)
A Kɔngo proverb says:
Kanda diakuta Nzundu, nkio diawunuka, ukitele Zundu. Nga zeyi diswasani diena va kati kwa Nzundu ye Zundu e?
Meaning: The community named you Nzundu, you thought it was mistaken itself; you call yourself Zundu. Do you know the difference between Nzundu and Zundu?
This proverb contains a very simple, but basic philosophical truth about proper noun and name meaning among Afrikan people, i.e., a) to be what one is supposed to be and live their destiny, and b) live up to what the community (society) expects from you in accordance to the label (name) you bear. If you are supposed to be “Community-Anvil” [Nzundu-a-kanda], be that community “Anvil” and don’t make yourself a “Frog-Within-The-Community” [Zundu-mukanda], i.e. a “Drunkard-Within-The-Community.”
By eliminating the “N” from the above name, the name becomes Zundu (frog); for the Kongo, Zundu is the symbol of a habitual drunkard. By taking certain letters or sections out of Afrikan names many bear names with vulgar meanings or simply meaningless names, as in the case of the name Zundu.
Something similar happens with the Akan and other people who bear day names. Because many of these Afrikans have taken on a European reference to time (12 midnight starting the day), many of them bear the wrong day names. For example, a male born on a Wednesday is called Kweku and a Thursday born male is named Yao. Let’s say a boy is born at 2 am on the Gregorian thursday. Because their worldview has been thwarted by a Western one, most Akan will name that boy Yao when, in actuality, it is still Wednesday according to our original time-reckoning as the day does not actually start until sunrise!
Let’s not fall victim to this form of de-culturalizarion that is effecting the world over due to the negative influence of European culture.
Ayìnɔ̀n Àgɛ̀lɔ̀gbàgàn Jǐsovì Azàsinkpontín Àgbɔ̀vì I
Human life progression can be looked at as a spiral – togodòtlɔ́n in the Fɔ̀n dialect of the Ajã language. Though life goes in a circular motion according to Afrikan cosmology, for forward movement to happen, the two ends of the circle must not meet. Thus, each circular movement goes around and extends outward, resulting in a spiral pattern. The extensions of the circles, resulting in spirals, represent growth. The wider the extension, the greater the growth. The level of growth can be assessed by how close each circular segment of the spiral is to one another. The more extended in distance, more ia the growth and vice versa. However, as it is said and is so, there is always room for growth; room for your spiral to extend.
Each person’s spiral is just that – personal. As in the case of the togodòtlɔ́n depicted here, we see an evenness in its motion. According to the individual, this can mean a consistency in positive action, or a stagnation of sorts. It’s time for us to assess what kind of spiral we have.
The alò (proverb in Ajã language) is one among the most important sources that best explain the Măwùfɛnugbetɔ/Muntu (authentic Afrikan human in Ajã and Ki-Kongo resoectively) and their gbetínmɛ̀ὲ or worldview. In debates, in ceremonies, in judgments, in joy as well as in misery, proverbs are freqeuntly used to reprimand, to criticize, to compare, to segregate, to encourage, to punish, and to heal. They are used to teach, to explain and to thoroughly code and decode. For Afrikan people, proverbs constitute a special language. Sometimes, for many, proverbs are considered both a secret and a sacred language in their communication where the expression—“talk in proverbial language” (do alògbe), an expression used within the community to prevent the leak of very fundamental principles of the society, i.e., to prevent the outsider from auditing the debate to have access to any basic systematic concepts of the structural organization of the society, especially its esoteric values.
However, because of the “danger” presented by this language, one must perfectly overstand the meaning of the alò (proverb) one uses. For instance, one Kɔngo proverb says “Wata ngana bangula ngana kadi na Kimbonga-ngana wafwila mu ngana”—literally, “know the explanation of any proverb you use for ‘mr Proverb-teller’ died upon the proverb he used.” One may be condemned for what one says if they can’t culturally back up the proverb.
Proverbs, in the Afrikan context, are laws, reflections, theories, customs, social norms and values, principles, and unwritten constitutions. Take the time to de-code some Afrikan proverbs and apply them to your individual and families’ lives.
In Afrikan Vodún way of life, and Ajã culture in general, the massive ߊߕߌߣ ߟߦߊߤߎߣ atin lyahun (banyan tree) is the tree of life. According to this Ajã proverb, in time, the ߊߜ߭ߊߣߡߊ aganma (chameleon) becomes the master (climbs to the top) of the sacred lyahun (banyan) tree due to patience, the power of will and the application of wisdom. This is the mundane of it.
Yet, there is another layer. As the banyan tree is sacred to the Ajã and other Afrikan nations, the aganma’s slowly reaching the top indicates that self mastery, spirit mastery, will come bit by bit and with patience. The lyahun teaches us to be still, centered, and strong no matter the weather. The lyahun’s (banyan’s) intricate and multitudinous roots represent the prosperity that exudes from such practices.
The symbolism of the lyahun tree is the story of life; continually growing stronger roots and reaching new heights, expanding wide into the world claiming all the space it was meant to. It means to claim our destinies. We all should be climbing our own lyahun (banyan) daily.
In Afrikan Vodùn, what the Yorùbá refer to as the Odù Ifá, the Ajã people (Benin, Togo, extreme SW Nigeria, and Southern Ghana) call Kpólí Fá. The same 256 Odù Ifá chapters that the Yorùbá have are among the Ajã. However, in many cases they are expressed differently. There are verses and stories that appear in the Kpólí Fá that do not appear among the Yorùbá.
Each Kpólí has a marked sign. As in the case of the illustration above, this Kpólí Fá sign is called Aklan Méjì (Òkànràn Méjì for the Yorùbá). When using the 16 sacred palm nuts called Fáděkwín in Vodùn and IkinIfá among the Yorùbá, each of the eight marks of the sign are marked one by one on the Fáte (Fá divination board) until the eighth is reached: right to left, top to bottom. When the sacred divination chain is used, agŭmaga for Vodún and opẹlẹ for the Yorùbá, it is cast by the Fá priest in front of them is read as mentioned above: right to left, top to bottom. Also, the sign is read from right to left.
In order to grasp the mystical scope and the deep meaning of the Kpólí Fá (also called Fádù), it is very important to remark on the elemental aspects of the four marks of a leg of a Kpólí Fá, a concept applying to both legs, and how they relate to the four ancient natural elements which are zo, jɔhɔn, sin, and ayi (fire, air, water and earth respectively), whose combination is the source of all manifestation in the terrestrial world. The legs are simply the two columns. The two marks at the top of the Kpólí leg are referred to as zo and jɔhɔn respectively representing yɛ (spirit) and those two bottom ones are sin and ayi respectively representing jánján (matter). Our earthly world and life being nothing other than a combination, a fusion of these four elements, we will find these four elements in different proportions here below. Each human entity, each human situation represents an addition, a combination and a fusion of these four elements in different proportions symbolized by the various Kpólí Fá. In other words, each human is a manifestation of the sign to which he or she is governed by. The sign thus makes it possible to reveal the human type, her/his peculiarities, her/his faculties, his/her destiny, taboos, honté. Thus we say “Un na yi bɔkonɔn do Fá yíyí ce. – I am going to the bɔkonɔn to receive my Fá.” Meaning this person is going to the Fá priest so that they may know their personal Kpólí and their destiny.
The fire, air, water and earth concept is known by the acronym of FAWE. This concept is unique to the Aja Vodún aspect of the Fá oracle and does not appear in the ̀Iṣẹṣẹ of the Yorùbá. It allows the bɔkonɔn (Vodùn Fá priest…can be female or male) to get a much deeper overstanding of the dynamics of a reading when a Kpolí Fá appears.
Every Máwùfɛnugbeto (Ajã word for “Afrikan person) has a Kpólí that governs their entry into, progression through, and leaving this world. Thus, we say in Ajăgbè (Ajã language), Kpolí le wɛ jo wɛ, bo nù le vɛ wè – You are born under this particular sign. A culture who goes by such adages will measure the character and behavior of individuals based on what they know about Kpóli Fá. When a person acts outside of the gbεsù, or divine laws of the universe, you may hear a phrase like E ka yi àgbasa n’i à – Has he/she been through the àgbásá rite? This is in reference to a behavior that counters the order that Vodún teaches and mandates. For those who unfortunately have not, we say E do kpoli é ji à – the messages of the oracle does not support their life.
It is quite interesting that in the Ajã (the Fɔn being a subgroup) language the word Kpólí means “destiny”. In this sense, it is the container that reveals one’s destiny and purpose at any given moment. It is the system we consult to maximize blessings, avert or minimize negativity, and elevate in our destiny. It contains all the answers to life’s endeavors: mundane and spiritual.
A few reasons why would consult the Fá oracle through a bɔkonɔn:
* When a child is born
*Upon the death of a person
*Marriage consideration (is the couple compatible, the parameters, rituals and other things needed pre-marriage, kek)
*starting a business and other business decisions
*to achieve peace and balance
*school choices
* Career direction
*Averting the negative machinations of enemies whether human or spiritual
* To know what to do to eliminate negative spirits from an area
*Before, during, and after initiation
* To find out one’s Afrikan family lineage in detail
* To find out one’s sponsoring ancestor
* To heal ancestral curses and wounds
*To find out which spirits are closest to and/or govern you
The above is not an exhausted list. It’s just a small sample. Later I will be posting actual verses from the Kpólí Fá. The reason I’m doing this is because many New Afrikans are curious about Afrikan Vodùn and want to know its deeper teachings. And primarily because there are no published verses from Kpólí Fá/Fádù outside of my work. Yet, we need to know our original deep teachings. These are the very teachings that the victims of the Clotilda captive ship followed before they were captured and sent to Mobile, Alabama.
What are Fágbesisa?
Fágbesisa are incantations or chants. It is like what we call ese, or verse, in the Ìṣẹ̀ṣẹ̀ tradition of the Yorùbá people. The term is a morpheme made up of “Fá” plus “gbesisa“- incantatory speech. The term “gbesisa” or gbesa formed by elision means “the voice of effective speech”. This is the mantra. It is the effective, active, activating and amazing speech of Fá. It’s an incantatory poem, a noema, a motto or a moral maxim.
Fágbesisa 1
ߦߍߞߎ߫ߡߍߖ߭ߌ Yɛkúmɛ́zì (the 2nd of all the 256 Kpólí Fá. Ọ̀yẹ̀kú Méjì among the Yorùbá)
Yɛkú Mɛ́zì wɛ nyi Mɛtɔlɔnfin sin vĭ mɛxo
Bɔ Gbe Mɛ́zì wa jɛ nɛgbé tɔn Mɛtɔlɔnfin wa ylɔ yĕ gbeɖokpo
Eé yĕ ɖo ali jɛ nɛgbé tɔn
Yɛku Mɛ́zì ɖɔ nu Gbe Mɛ́zì ɖɔ ni zɔn
Lé mi na ze nŭɖé ɖo zunkan mɛ
Xɛsi wɛ zé é ka ɖi
É wa ă kaka
Bɔ Gbe Mɛ́zì ɖokpo gbɔ yi
È blo tɛnkpɔn ni
Kpo Lɛgba kpo hùn lɛ kpo
Bɔ e ɖu déji
Eé Yɛku Mɛ́zì wa é ɔ
It’s Yɛku Mɛ́zì who was Mɛtɔlɔnfin’s (the Creator) eldest
Then Gbe Mɛ́zì the youngest Mɛtɔlɔnfin called them one day
On the way Yɛku Mɛ́zì told Gbe Mɛ́zì to continue Pretexting that he was going to look for something in the bush Gold,
he was afraid
He stayed there for a long time
At the point where Gbe Mɛ́zì went alone to Mɛtɔlɔnfin
He was put to the test With Lɛgba and the deities (his authority is challenged since he was youngest)
And he came out victorious
As Yɛku Mɛ́zì arrived
Gbe Mɛ́zì had already become chief (the head of all 256 Kpólí in rank)
Tínmɛ̀ὲ – (translation/interpretation)
Simply put, Yɛku Mɛ́zì lost her birthright to Gbe Mɛ́zì because of fear. But the deeper meaning is how far perseverance and determination can take us. It reminds us to always be ready even if all the odds seem stacked against us. Yɛku Mɛ́zì was the shoe in. But not!!! And Gbe Mɛ́zì did not allow that idea of Yɛku Mɛ́zì being a shoe-in stop him from following his destiny. Gbe Mɛ́zì followed divine law and prevailed. He did the proper spiritual work before embarking on the journey, but his sister did not. If she would have, the Fá priest would have told her what to do when confronting with her fears. Because she did not follow divine law, she is the oldest of the two that has to play second.
Fágbesisa 2
Loso Lɛ̀tɛ̀ (Ìrosùn Ìrẹ̀tẹ̀ of the Yorùbá)
So na yi ji
The hill must go up
Bɔ ajinakugéli gbɛ
But the elephant is against it
Bo nɔ gbidi i do do
And sunk it into the ground
Titigweti ma sɔ atin bo xo ajinakugeli
The small Titigweti bird does not even reach a twig but has defeated the elephant
Nukun é mɔ so
The eye that saw the hill
Nɔ mɔ so kudo mɛ à
Will not see the tomb from the hill (the person will live long and their enemies won’t see them in fall or die. On top of the hill is where the person will be)
Agidigbanwun nɔ xò àjà mlă só bo nɔn kú a
The guinea pig that rents the hill does not perish (as long as the person swears allegiance to the spirits of its ancestors, it will always be out of danger)
Zan ku bɔ dodo nɔn jiwu
At night the holes are scary (watch for the traps of your enemies)
Hwe wɛ vi jɛ ayi ɖo Alangba The fish falls (from the sky) into Alangba
Alangba vi lɛ ɖɔ ku wɛ
The inhabitants of Alangba exclaimed that it is death! (they received a reading declaring they were in trouble due to self inflicted actions and saw that as a sign)
Fá Ayìdègún ɖɔ mi sɔ hwe nɛ bo ɖa ɖu
Fá Ayìdègún declared that we should take the fish, cook and consume it (the fish was one of the items of the vɔ or sacrifice/offering)
Kú de de mɛ ã
There is no death in there (Reminder of the blessings we have on the table, not to squander them, but also a metaphoric way to say avoid superstitions and thoughts that can thwart our progress)
Lines 1-3 are speaking about self sabotage. No matter how heavy an elephant is, it should never be able to sink a hill. However, in this allegory, hill did not do what it was supposed to, and that lack of self duty created an unnatural weakness. On the flip side, the small bird defeated elephant because it did do all the work it needed to do to go into certain environs and triumph when it wasn’t supposed to. This titigweti bird is in reference to the small oxpecker birds that you see on elephants. So the titigweti bird figured out how to make a giant subservient to them)
