Dɔte Consultation: An Ancient Afrikan Vodún Philosophy of Properly Utilizing the Flow of Àṣẹ in Our Homes and Buildings
In the Afrikan Vodún tradition as relayed among the Ajã culture (Southern Benin, SW Nigeria, Togo, Southern Ghana), we have the ancient practice of Dɔte. Dɔte literally means “upright, balance”. It is the science of arranging edifices (temples, houses, palaces, markets, kwk) and shrines in their proper directions, building them at the right time, kwk. It additionally deals with properly clearing clutter and spiritually maintaining one’s personal life. It is a science of plants, air quality, balance, direction, and harmony. It is about living in harmony with your environment, with nature, and with spirit. Dɔte includes the use of geographical, cosmological, astronomical, architectural and topographical dimensions.
Dɔte is particularly concerned with the flow of àṣẹ̀, which is the divine substance/energy that vitalizes an flows through humans and nature. All things contain degrees of àṣẹ. Outside of humans, plants have some of the most significant àṣẹ for our environments due to them being the basis of all of our nourishment and balancing the air through photosynthesis. Yet, just as humans and plants have àṣẹ, the places where we do business and lay our heads also contain specific types of àṣẹ. That àṣẹ can flow in a smooth or not so smooth way.
Dɔte takes into account a combination of factors that makes it a potentially powerful source for a harmonious communities, peaceful homes, and successful businesses when properly used. One of the elements used in Dɔte is the effect of the for cardinal directions on a home, domicile, or shrine. During Dɔte consultation, we take into consideration the direction the edifice is facing and which energies are dominate in each of the four directions surrounding it. Some edifices that are already built, may be facing a favorable or a not so favorable energy direction. In the latter case, we use our tools to make the spiritual position of the edifice as positive as possible to increase the positive dissemination and flow of àṣẹ. Why is this important? Amerikkka is a country with a facade of success in the guise of big buildings and aesthetically nice looking houses. However, just one quick peep behind the scenes will show different. A couple of many reasons may be because there is a total lack of culture and spirit employed in the design and erection of these places. This causes a war of energies so to speak. No balance and everything is out of place and in conflict.
Dɔte is about creating and/or maintaining tuto (order), and in many cases, dispelling avajà (disorder). In the case of Dɔte, order represents proper balance and flow.
A Note on Avajà – disorder
Disorder is the absence of order. It is an active sign of something that has probably existed for some time. Disorder is the result of the strong insertion of unnaturalness within and without, what is supposed to be, the natural divine order. It is disturbance of spirit. Disorder is likened to placing a rotten apple in a barrel of fairly healthy apples. It is the nature of the rot to spread sot hat it may thrive/live. If this apple is not removed, if the rot goes undetected, the one apple will spoil the many.
With the removal of disorder and restoration of order, we are now poised to be in less stressful mental conditions, especially in those situations that are by nature stressful (major decisions, whether to buy or sell, kwk).
Ancient Afrikans from Ta Mare (Kemet/Egypt) to the Ajã and Yọrùbá of West Afrika, kwk have had these practices for thousands of years. This is not specific to, nor does it come from, Asian cultures. This is not African Feng Shui. We must quit thinking we have to supplement our culture with foreign ones. If you study your own in-depth, you just may find that your ancestors worked out these concepts on their own 1000s of years ago. A study of history will show that many cultures have and have had geomantic traditions of they own.
All throughout the Dɔte consultation and assessment, we use the ancient Fá (Ifá) oracular system to guide and root us in our preferred and proper reality. Fá or Ifá as referred to by the Yọrùbá, is our ancient oracle of wisdom. It contains all things related to life in this world and the universe. During Dɔte, one of the 256 Kpólí Fá (Odù Ifá) is revealed and it guides us through the process. The Kpólí Fá/Odù Ifá is a binary system similar to the binary communication system of computers. Each Kpólí has stories and sacred verses in it. In addition, the Kpólí guide us on the directions we should go with building or buying a house, birth, marriage, death, business, kwk. The 256 Kpólí reveal to us the positives and negatives of all situations and let us know of any taboos associated with our mission. On a personal level, we use the Kpólí Fá/Odù Ifá to reveal a person’s destiny and how best to maximize that destiny. This ancient oracle is consulted by a bɔkonɔn which is a Fá priest in Vodún of the Ajã people, and by a babaláwo, which an Ifá priest in the Iṣẹṣẹ tradition of the Yọrùbá people. However, since Dɔte is specific to Vodún, this Fá work would be done by a bɔkonɔn and not a babaláwo.
Things used and considered within Dɔte consultation:
– The four cardinal directions and their effect
– A personal Fá reading on the person/family if it’s a house or apartment
– A Fá reading on the business if this is a business
– In relation to previously occupied edifices, a spiritual check on spirits that may still be present and their nature
– Àṣẹ assessment…the nature and degree of flow of the àṣẹ in relation to the edifice overall and per room and how to redirect the flow of negatively flowing àṣẹ
– In relation to those that have shrines, the best places and directions to place those shrines
– What are the governing spirits of the edifice
– The spirits that are dominate in the area and how to remove unwanted spirits
– Proper use of colors
– One’s birth day, birth date, and time of day ine ia born (usually reserved for deeper consultation)
– What spirits and ancestors walk with individuals involved
Cardinal Directions – Wεkε zo εnε (the four cardinal directions)
Zǎnzǎnhwejí – East/red
Totaligbé – North/blue
Gbadahwejí – West/black
Tofɔligbé – South/yellow-gold
Within the cardinal direction conundrum, certain spirits are more dominant than others per direction and situation. So one building/house may facing the same as another, but let’s say 1-2 miles from one another, and yet their eastern directions, for example, may be predominately governed by different spirits – house 1, completely by fire spirits and house 2, a mix of fire and air spirits. We look to see the edifices position to trees, rivers, other buildings, kwk.
In ancient times, when Afrikans ruled the world and were more in their natural state, the Dɔte concept, under various regional and cultural names, was used to plan villages, situate shrines, graves, and the like. The concept of Dɔte is very complicated and would require direct consultation for a deeper overstanding than even the plethora of information given here.
At the end of consultation, we look forward to the Fá oracle saying ɖò alɔjí – things are in order. This is when we would do a final consecration of the edifice. It will be up to the humans involved after that to maintain order.
For those that feel that this type of ancient Afrikan science can enhance their living spaces, their family order, their businesses and business spaces, for those that want to know the spiritual energies that may be surrounding spaces they frequent and more, please feel free to contact us at ekaabokilombo@gmail.com