Professional Documents
Culture Documents
at
Cosmogenesis
The
Three
Awo
Before
Time
the
Descent
of
r
and
Asuwa
and
the
Splitting
of
Oyigiyigi
Universal
Implications
of
Three
Yoruba
Cosmogonic
Narratives
Summary
2
Contents
3
6. Amplifying Yoruba Theory of Discourse through Comparison
With Ibn Arabi's Futt al-Makkya, The Meccan Revelations
67
a. Sonic 74
b. Visual 75
4
Images and Accompanying Verbal Texts
15. Figure 15: Opon Ifa, Oju Odu Ifa and Cosmic Structure 58
5
20. Figure 20: Cosmogonic and Cognitive Foundations in Yoruba
Philosophy and Orisa Cosmology 73
22. Figure 22: Opon ifa, inscribed with vertical lines, as the face of
Esu looks on at top centre 79
23. Figure 23: Opon ifa evoking primal power in its minimalist and
yet elaborate construction 83
6
7
Image
on
Previous
Page
Figure
1
Our
Journey
by
Obiora
Udechukwu
A
masterly
evocation
of
what
may
be
seen
as
cosmological
progression.
The
painting
adapts
the
evocative
powers
of
the
Nigerian
Igbo
Uli
and
Cross
River
Nsibidi
motif
of
the
spiral,
depicting
it
journeying
through
a
landscape
peopled
by
abstract
forms
defining
a
zone
unidentifiable
by
conventional
markers
of
time
and
space,
possibilities
beyond
the
borders
of
emergence.
Within
the
Uli
context,
the
spiral
and
the
concentric
circle,
the
latter
also
evident
in
the
painting,
evoke
unity,
the
circle
of
life
and
the
coiled
bodies
of
reptiles
such
as
the
python,
as
described
by
Robin
Sanders
in
The
Legendary
Uli
Women
of
Nigeria.
Within
the
framework
of
the
Igbo
belief
in
the
mutual
identification
between
animals
and
those
who
revere
them,
the
python
symbolism
encodes
"knowledge
of
the
sacred
feminine-Ala-
whose
grace
(represented
by
the
majestic
body
and
sinuous
movements
of
the
Royal
Python-Eke-
)
emphasizes
the
role
of
...the
sacred
feminine...in
Igbo
cosmology
as
the
foundation
without
which
all
the
components
of
cultural
life
become
impossible"
as
summed
up
by
Sylvester
Okwunodu
Ogbechie
on
another
artist
working
within
the
same
symbolic
field,
in
Ndidi
Dike
:
New
Beginnings."
Also
prominent
in
the
painting
is
the
Cross
River
Nsibidi
symbolism
of
the
spiral,
described
at
the
website
of
the
Inscribing
Meaning
:
Writing
and
Graphic
Systems
in
African
Art
exhibition
as
suggesting
the
sun,
journey
and
eternity.
The
visual
and
associative
unity
of
spiral
and
snake
symbolism
in
Uli
and
Nsibidi,
of
coiling
and
uncoiling
motion
perceived
in
terms
of
creative
rhythms,
may
be
amplified
through
correlation
with
the
image
of
Iyandezulu,
the
8
cosmic
snake
whose
movements
are
in
thousands,
suggestive
of
cosmic
motion,
as
depicted
of
Zulu
cosmology
in
Mazisi
Kunene's
Anthem
of
the
Decades.
9
evoked
by
Udechukwu's
spiral,
of
a
cosmographic
tapestry
culminating
in
the
space
of
infinity.
1. Overview
The
poem
I
name
"The
Descent
of
r"
since
no
title
is
given
for
it,
comes
from
D.
Adeniji
and
is
presented
and
discussed
by
Rowland
Abiodun
in
his
Yoruba
Art
and
Language
:Seeking
the
African
in
African
Art.
The
other
poem,
"Ayajo
Asuwada",
is
translated
by
Akinsola
Akiwowo
in
"Towards
a
Sociology
of
Knowledge
from
an
African
Oral
Poetry",
in
International
Sociology
1986;
1;
343-358.
I
expand
the
poem
in
order
to
clarify
its
concepts
by
integrating
within
it
selections
from
its
accompanying
glossary
of
terms
and
Akiwowo's
commentary
on
the
poetry.
In
the
name
of
greater
clarity,
I
also
replace
a
part
of
Akiwowo's
translation
of
the
poem
with
Babatunde
Lawal's
translation
of
the
same
section
of
the
poem
in
The
Gelede
Spectacle:
Art,
Gender
and
Social
Harmony
in
an
African
10
Culture.
Both
"The
Descent
of
r"
and
"Ayajo
Asuwada"
are
examples
of
ese
ifa,
literature
of
Ifa,
the
central
Yoruba
cognitive
system,
a
variant
of
a
network
of
correlative
African
disciplines
which
bear
underlying
philosophical
and
organizational
similarities
with
each
other
and
with
the
Chinese
I
Ching
divinatory
and
philosophical
discipline.
"The
Splitting
of
Oyigiyigi"
is
a
very
brief
prose
account
from
Awo
Falokun
Fatunmbi's
Esu-Elegba
:
Ifa
and
the
Spirit
of
the
DivineMessenger".
This
essay
also
draws
upon
and
complements
Awo
Fategbe
Fatunmbi's
comparison
of
"The
Descent
of
Oro"
and
a
selection
from
"Ayajo
Asuwada"
in
"The
Yoruba
Metaphysical
Concept
of
Ori"
in
terms
of
a
closer
attention
to
how
the
larger
body
of
the
poetry
coheres
to
generate
meaning
shaped
by
aesthetic
force,
presenting
this
analysis
within
a
multidisciplinary
context
enriched
by
multicultural
correlations.
11
The
essay
is
organized
in
terms
of
three
major
units.
The
first
is
represented
by
the
commentary
addressing
the
cosmogonic
accounts
and
Abioduns,
Akiwowo's
and
Fatunmbi's
expositions
of
them.
The
second
consists
in
the
contemplative
and
ritual
segment.
The
third
is
the
complementary
sequence,
presented
within
breaks
in
the
main
text,
represented
by
indentations,
of
images
of
works
of
art,
accompanied
by
italicised
commentary
on
the
art
used
in
amplifying
the
referents
and
themes
of
the
cosmological
stories
and
their
explications.
One
could
read
the
main
text
first
or
begin
with
the
images
and
their
accompanying
commentary
so
as
not
to
break
the
continuity
of
exposition.
12
Figure
2
"That-which-was-suspended/But-did-not-descend/
Was
the
[
awo
]
in
[
orun
]
[
the
Place
of
Primal
Origins]"
here
evoked
by
'Numinous
Beast'
by
Bruce
Arnott.
South
Africa.
Its
bulging
form
and
arcane
head
shape,
framed
by
the
multicolored
depths
of
the
expanse
of
the
sky
may
suggest
potential
that
could
burst
forth
at
a
time
unanticipated,
like
the
mysterious
identity
suspended
between
primal
origination
and
material
manifestation
in
"The
Descent
of
Oro".
Image
source
:
Bruce
Arnott's
Numinous
Beast
in
the
Company
gardens.
Wikimedia.
Accessed
27/10/2016
13
A.
"The
Descent
of
r"
and
the
Three
Awo
Before
Time
O
da
kese,
kese
Awo
ile
aye,
O
ro
dede-dede-dede
Ko
ba
le,
Awo
ode-orun
O-ri-fanranyan-fanranyan
Agbadagudu
Nna
ani
ni
Awo
Afonifoji
There-were-no-living
things
Was
the
[awo]
on
earth
That-which-was-suspended
But-did-not-descend
Was
the
[
awo]
in
[orun]
All-was-just-empty-space
With-no-substance
Was
the
[
awo]
of
Mid-
Air.
14
what
it
acts
upon,
with
the
metaphysical
principle
known
in
Yoruba
as
"awo",
a
principle
embodied
particularly
in
the
Ifa
adepts,
who
are
thus
known
as
"babalawo".
15
Figure
3
"All-was-just-empty-space
With-no-substance
Was
the
[
awo]
of
Mid-
Air"
evoked
by
a
collage
of
Victor
Ekpuk's
"Good
Morning,
Sunrise"
and
an
Ife
head,
Nigeria,
depicting
an
exalted,
contemplative
expression,
in
alignment
with
the
spiral
of
eternity,
the
latter
represented
by
Ekuk's
depiction
of
the
Nsibidi
spiral,
the
eternal
being
the
space
within
which
the
cognitive
journey
progresses,
within
the
physical
vitality
of
existence
represented
by
the
sun
and
the
light
of
illumination
made
possible
by
life
within
the
material
universe.
Image
sources:
Ife
head
from
Basil
Davidson,
Africa:
History
of
a
Continent.
Photography
by
Werner
Forman.
London:
Macmillan,
1972.
Detail
of
"Good
Morning,
Sunrise"
and
information
on
its
symbolism
from
"Nsibidi"
in
Inscribing
Meaning:
Ways
of
Knowing
:
Writing
and
Graphic
Systems
in
African
Arts.
National
Museum
of
African
Art.
Accessed
30/10/2016
16
The
concept
of
priesthood
in
all
spiritualities,
like
the
Yoruba
concept
of
awo,
includes
profound
ideas
about
relationships
between
the
human
and
the
divine,
the
sacred
and
the
profane.
These
conceptions
are
related
to
the
range
of
human
capacity
in
projecting
itself
into
a
world,
which,
as
understood
in
Orisa
cosmology
in
the
concept
of
"ori",
is
inhabited
by
the
immortal
and
invisible
essence
of
individual
being
derived
from
the
creator
of
the
cosmos,
Bolaji
Idowus
Olodumare
:
God
in
Yoruba
Belief
and
Olabiyi
Babalola
Yais
review
of
Henry
John
Drewal
et
als
Yoruba
:
Nine
Centuries
of
African
Art
and
Thought
in
African
Arts,
Vol.25.No1,
1992,
representing
my
best
encounters
with
summations
of
the
concept
and
Adegboyega
Oranguns
Destiny
:
The
Unmanifested
Being
the
richest
exploration
I
know
of
the
complexity
of
the
idea.
This
is
a
mysterious
aspect
of
the
self
and
its
world
which
is
often
strange
and
may
be
frightening
to
the
other
aspect
of
the
self,
the
aspect
that
directly
navigates
the
material
world.
The
secularization
of
those
societies
from
where
the
English
word
"priest"
emerged
means
that
many,
if
not
,
most
people,
are
not
likely
to
be
adequately
aware
of
the
scope
of
the
meaning
of
priesthood
in
Christian
theologies,
the
central
religion
of
these
English
originating
regions,
the
priest
perhaps
becoming
to
them
little
more
than
a
person
doing
a
job
like
anyone
else,
rather
than
a
representative
of
the
human
aspiration
to
broach
and
embody
the
numinous,
the
sacred
as
an
arena
of
both
captivation
and
dreadful
awe
in
some
of
its
most
intense
manifestations,
which
may
be
seen
as
the
true
character
of
priesthood,
in
most,
if
not
all
religions.
Awo
is
a
particularly
rich
concept
in
Yoruba
literature,
a
central
metaphysical
principle
in
Yoruba
philosophy
and
Orisa
cosmology,
an
evocation
of
numinous
power
employed
to
designate
experts
in
particular
spiritual
disciplines,
particularly
Ifa.
Awo
Falokun
Fatunmbi
and
Aina
Olomo
provide
mesmerizing
interpretations
of
this
concept
which
I
sum
up
in
"Esoteric
Knowledge
and
the
Orisa
Tradition
:
Perspectives
on
Awo".
Fatunmbi
in
"Obatala
:
Ifa
and
the
Chief
of
the
Spirit
of
the
White
Cloth",
states,
"awo
refers
to
the
hidden
principles
that
explain
the
Mystery
of
Creation
and
Evolution.
Awo
is
the
esoteric
understanding
of
the
invisible
forces
that
sustain
dynamics
and
form
within
Nature.
The
essence
of
those
forces
are
not
considered
secret
beceause
they
are
devious,
they
are
secret
beceause
they
remain
elusive,
awesome
in
their
power
to
transform
and
not
readily
apparent.
As
such
they
can
only
be
grasped
through
17
direct
interaction
and
participation.
Anything
which
can
be
known
by
the
intellect
alone
ceases
to
be
awo".
Olomo
describes
awo
as
the
"inexplicable
power
of
transformation...
a
realm
of
phenomena...unavailable
for
total
absorption
by
the
human
mind...the
space
in
the
universe
where
the
[elusive]
answer
to
how
dwells...inexhaustible
because
of
its
closeness
to
the
ultimate
and
Supreme
Being,
the
Infinite
Mystery".
Interpreting
my
own
experiences
with
Ifa,
at
the
intersection
of
practice
and
scholarship,
in
terms
of
the
concept
of
awo,
I
describe
awo
in
"On
the
Path
of
Initiation
:
Encounter
with
Awo"
as
"the
concentration
of
intelligence
and
power
that
becomes
a
part
of
you
when
you
and
that
nucleus,
a
sentient
force
beyond
space
and
time,
are
ready.
It
is
the
invisible
presence
of
the
tradition,
the
teacher
who
is
as
intimate
to
you
as
your
own
mind
but
who
enables
understanding
that
your
mind
alone
cannot
create.The
unseen
but
palpable
presence
by
your
side
as
you
dialogue
with
this
ancient
field
of
knowledge".
I
first
came
across
the
term
in
the
Yoruba
oral
narrative
I
name
"Abababalona",
which
I
learnt
from
my
mother,
Jhalobia
Ojemu,
in
which
a
man
in
search
of
the
animal
who
killed
his
father
positions
himself
on
a
tree
overlooking
a
river
where
all
animals
come
to
drink,
challenging
each
of
them
as
it
approaches
the
body
of
water
in
order
to
slake
its
thirst,
"Ma
mu!
ma
mu!
[
Dont
drink!
Dont
drink!
]
Awo
okatakpiri
awo!
Se
wo
lo
kpi
ba
mi?
[
Are
you
the
one
who
killed
my
father?!
]
Awo
okatakpiri
awo!"
The
refrain
"awo
okatakpiri
awo!"
is
described
by
my
interpreter
Sonya
Olatayo
as
more
of
an
evocation
of
the
spiritual
and
magical
power
of
the
hunter
than
an
expression
with
a
clear
lexical
meaning,
"awo",
referring,
in
this
context,
to
numinous,
magical
power,
while
"okatakpiri"
has
no
translation
in
terms
of
any
concepts
but
is
chosen
for
its
sonic
quality
in
evoking
a
sense
of
tremendous
and
dangerous
potency
through
its
rhythm,
characterized
by
forceful
plosives,
thereby
reinforcing
the
evocation
of
numinous
power
in
"awo".
18
an
idea
John
Mbiti
in
African
Religions
and
Philosophy
describes
as
unifying
classical
African
cosmologies.
19
A
magnificent
conflation
is
thereby
realized,
of
cosmogonic
state,
cosmogonic
process,
the
metaphysical
concept
"awo"
and
the
human
being
understood
as
embodying
this
metaphysical
conception.
This
convergence
of
cosmogonic
possibilities
is
depicted
through
a
sequence
that
begins
with
the
state
of
the
earth,
the
final
or
central
sphere
in
the
impact
of
the
cosmogonic
process
the
poem
eventually
describes,
moves
to
orun,
the
zone
of
primal
origins
associated
with
Odumare,
the
creator
of
the
cosmos,
the
point
from
which
will
be
initiated
the
actions
that
transform
the
state
represented
by
the
emptiness
of
life
demonstrated
by
the
earth,
and
concludes
in
the
absence
of
substance
represented
by
primordial
empty
space.
20
Figure
4
"There-were-no-livingthings
Was
the
[awo]
on
earth"
evoked here by a Batabwa figure from
African Sculpure by William Fagg and
Margaret Plass who describe it in terms
of the sense of both familiarity and
gravitas that is represented in some
African ancestor figures. This image is
used here in suggesting a primordial
ancestor from before the emergence of
time, human, but predating humanity as
it is conventionally known. The sculpture
could also be related to the idea of what
the Irish writer James Joyce, in another
context, called the "jocoserious", the
combination of the serious and the
jocular, an attitude, which,
incidentally, is central to the
communicative ethos of Ifa. Olodumare,
the author of existence, is also depicted in
Yoruba literature as a kindly grandfather
figure, covering his head with white
chalk to give an appearance of great
age, and yet is understood as the ground
of being, so distant from human
perception that he cannot be directly
approached, as described in Bolaji
Idowu's Olodumare : God in Yoruba
Belief. Along similar lines, Orunmila,
recognised as the divine source of the Ifa
system, who gave counsel to Olodumare
at the creation of the universe, is
described, in the same spirit of geniality,
as the "small man with a head full of
wisdom".
21
Abiodun
has
a
lot
to
say
about
that
which
is
suspended
and
which
may
descend
and
is
the
core
of
his
thesis
on
relationships
between
expressive
forms
and
creativity
in
Yoruba
philosophy
,
but
before
we
go
into
that,
we
could
try
to
correlate
the
powerfully
evocative
story
he
has
given
us
with
another
account
of
the
creation
of
the
world
from
another
ese
ifa,
"Ayajo
Asuwada",
a
selection
from
which
is
recreated
here,
so
as
to
construct
a
richer
network
of
ideas
that
will
amplify
the
understanding
of
both
cosmogonic
accounts.
22
Asuwa
ni
t'oyin.
Asuwa
ni
t'ado.
Asuwa
leeran
n
hu
ninu
oko.
Asuwa
ni
ti
Elegiri.
Teeming
heads
congregate
at
the
grove
of
Ogun.
The
anthill
is
the
morere,
a
place
where
two
or
more
individuals
congregate
to
deliberate
or
worship,
of
the
eeran,
the
brown
ant.
Asuwa,
the
one
who
brings
existence
together
to
form
a
new
entity,
the
process
of
coming
together
for
a
purpose,
is
the
morere
of
humankind.
It
was
with
the
principle
of
asuwa
that
the
Heavens
were
established.
It
was
with
the
principle
of
asuwa
that
the
Earth
was
created.
In
asuwa
forms
all
things
descended
upon
the
Earth
activated
by
purpose.
Asuwa,
the
principle
of
cohesion,
is
the
expression
of
iwa,
being
in
general,
as
well
as
individual
expressions
of
being.
Complete
and
actuated
for
a
purpose
was
iwa
at
its
first
emanations.
For
a
set
purpose
was
iwa
when
it
poured
down
upon
Earth.
When
iwa
first
emanated,
when
iwa,
was
complete
and
perfect
iwa
poured
down
on
Earth
like
rain.
It
was
by
asuwa
that
Ori-Orun,
the
Ultimate
Head,
of
the
Zone
of
Ultimate
Origins,
the
Directional
Essence,
the
One
and
Only
Metaphysical
Archetype
of
Mind,
was
formed
in
order
to
be
the
Father
of
All.
23
Figure 5
I can't find a source for this image but identical versions, though not as
clear as this one, are readily found online. The painting is both delicate
and powerful, unifying its complex structure through careful distinction
between the constituent elements while indicating their interrelationships,
the use of colour both radiant and tranquil, all elements, from the
gloriously unfurled lotus to the majestic figure it emanates from, to the
magical presence of the many headed serpent to the elegant tenderness of
Lakshmi, coming together to create a demonstration of the efforts of the
human mind to project itself to the beginning of time in terms of images
drawn from its own elemental, animal, anthropomorphic, social and
spatial universe and its casual laws.
24
Origun,
the
Complete
Head,
the
One
Perfect
Mind,
the
one
and
only
Origun
in
Orun,
in
the
Ultimate
Generative
Space,
from
whom
each
earthly
Ori,
the
essence
of
individual
being,
branches,
each
Ori
improving
affecting
two
hundred
others,
Origun,
the
source
of
Oluiwaaye,
Lord
of
Earthbound
Existences.
Baba
asemuegun
sunwon,
Father
Who
Selects
and
Makes
All
Things
Perfect
and
Balanced,
the
emanate
of
Oluiwaaye.
25
until
one
sees
particles
of
water
on
leaves
and
other
objects
exposed
toit.
symbolic
of
life,
continuity,
fertility
and
regeneration
in
contrast
to
other
harsh
and
opposing
objects
of
nature,
evocative
of
an
indispensable
element
of
life
without
which
the
opposing
forces
of
nature
would
have
destroyed
themselves
leaving
the
Earth
in
utter
chaos
and
confusion
a
principle
of
generation
and
harmony
was
used
to
mould
the
Earth.
26
Figure 6
27
Otete,
you
are
Alasuwada,
the
Author
of
all
things,
the
Great
Being
Who
Creates
All
Existences
in
Groups
for
a
Purpose
The
creator
of
togetherness,
I
invoke
you
Let
myriads
of
togetherness
come
to
me.
28
Figure 7
"It is not dead which doth eternal lie and with long eons even death may die",
US writer Howard Philip Lovecraft's evocation of the pre-human entity
Nyalarthotep from his self created Cthulhu Mythos, comes to my mind in
relation to this magnificent image of Vishnu at rest on the serpent Shesha on
the primordial sea. Lovecraft's sonorous evocation of numinous accents
resonates with the sense of mystery created by the picture of the figure resting
within the coiled dynamism of the serpent's undulations submerged within the
dark translucence of still waters. The venerational flowers that bedeck the
figure and the very fact of its existence testify to the profound human need to
engage with something transcendent of the circumscriptions of material
existence, no matter how broadly conceived in terms of cosmic expanse the
material world may be. Image source : Alamy : "Vishnu Narayana asleep on the
Primordial Waters at the beginning of time, while the Worlds of the event were
still in the making. Budhanilkantha Temple, Kathmandu valley, Shivapuri Hill,
Nepal". Accessed 27/10/2016.
29
This
introductory
thematic
framing
is
further
developed
in
terms
of
the
description
of
the
same
principle
as
a
manifestation
of
iwa,
being
in
general,
and
being
in
its
distinctive
expression
in
various
forms
of
existence.
These
conceptual
projections
are
further
incarnated
through
a
sequence
of
entities
dramatizing
conceptions
of
ultimate
creative
direction.
This
creative
focus
is
shown
as
having
its
roots
in
the
concept
of
ori,
the
head
as
both
physical
and
cognitive
centre
and
symbol
of
the
immortal
essence
of
individual
being,
this
essence
embodying
the
ultimate
potential
and
direction
of
the
self
as
derived
from
the
creator
of
the
cosmos.
30
31
Image
on
Previous
Page
Figure
8
The
Cognitive
Triad
of
Ogbon,
Wisdom,
Imo,
knowledge
and
Oye,
Understanding
evoked
here
by
Lagana
symbolic
and
sculptural
figures,
a
central
artistic
form
of
the
Mumuye
people
of
northeast
Nigeria.
The
figures
evoke
a
sense
of
the
hieratic
and
the
dynamic,
harmonious
with
Abiodun's
description
of
Oro
as
a
divine
personality,
grounded
in
orun,
the
World
of
Primal
Origins,
but
active
and
mobile
within
aye,
the
terrestrial
world.
These
sculptures
are
shaped
in
terms
of
relationships
between
empty
space
and
concrete
space.
Elongation
of
forms.
Sweeping
movement
of
arms
amplified
by
the
aerodynamic
patterning
created
by
the
spaces
between
the
arms
and
the
body's
trunk.
The
forward
looking
gaze
is
amplified
by
the
helmet
like,
downward
sloping
forms
on
heads
rising
above
sturdy
necks,
design
patterns
realised
in
different
ways
in
each
work,
projecting
the
combination
of
poise
and
power
that
is
the
hallmark
of
this
art.
The
National
Museum
of
African
Art
describes
a
similar
figure
as
the
central
sculpture
in
a
manner
that
indicates
the
evocative
force
of
this
design
within
the
variation
achieved
within
the
design
template:
"Full
of
angles
and
edges,
this
very
staccato
Mumuye
figure
is
alert
and
ready
to
act
on
behalf
of
its
owner.
Indeed,
the
notched
legs
may
echo
the
jagged
edges
of
lightning
bolts,
and
may
encapsulate
the
potential
of
the
spirits
inhabiting
it
to
act
at
lightning
speed.
The
zigzag
imagery
may
also
echo
that
of
Mumuye
iron
rainmaking
wands".
Image
source:
mo
Dra.
Accessed
27
July
2016.
Image
composition
sources:
Left
Image:
Native
Auctions
06
Africa
and
Oceanic
Art,
25
January
2014.
Middle
Image:
Sothebys
In
Pursuit
of
Beauty:
The
Myron
Kunin
Collection
of
African
Art
New
York
Auction,
11
November
2014.
Right
Image:
Sothebys
Arts
dAfrique
et
dOcanie
Paris
Auction,
24
June
2015
32
A.
Comparing
Mythic
Structuration
in
"Ayajo
Asuwada"
and
the
Hindu
Image
of
Vishnu
33
remoteness
from
being
and
becoming
in
the
conventional
sense
suggested
by
his
depiction
as
reclining
in
a
passive,
restful
state
as
he
holds
in
his
hands,
their
multiplicity
indicating
his
multifarious
significations,
various
objects
symbolizing
the
variety
and
unified
complexity
of
his
significance,
his
reclining
and
seemingly
passive
state
incidentally
correlative
with
Odumare's
paradoxical
somnolence
depicted
in
the
middle
section
of
the
"Descent
of
Oro"
discussed
later
on
in
this
essay.
34
Figure
9
Mysterious
painting
by
Eze
Chimalio,
incidentally
conjoining
the
various
motifs
evoked
by
the
picture
of
"eleye"
swishing
their
wings
against
the
face
of
the
narrator
in
"The
Descent
of
Oro".
This
painting
depicts
a
bird
in
fight
over
the
head
of
a
person
who
seems
preoccupied
with
something
else,
like
the
individual
taken
by
surprise
by
the
action
of
"eleye"
in
the
poem.
Amplifying
the
bird
motif,
an
aerodynamic
shape
near
or
on
top
of
the
figure's
head
demonstrates
structural
similarity
to
the
form
of
the
bird
in
flight.
A
mature
feminine
figure
who
recalls
the
mysterious
mothers
representing
"eleye",
"owners
of
bird-like-space-traversing-powers",
as
they
may
be
called,
looks
on.
The
entire
tableau
suggests
either
a
visionary
or
dream
sequence,
something
outside
the
structuring
of
reality
by
conventional
parameters,
a
state
in
which
various
dimensions
bleed
into
each
other
to
create
a
composite
image
suggestive
of
mythic
realities
emerging
at
the
beginning
of
time
to
structure
the
unfolding
of
being.
Image
source:
Eze
Chimalio's
Facebook
account.
Accessed
27/10/2016.
35
B.
Paradoxical
Conjunctions
of
Tenderness
and
Power,
the
Surreptitious
and
the
Epic
in
"Ayajo
Asuwada"
36
development
might
have
made
it
less
likely
that
people
are
able
to
observe
such
phenomena.
This
quality
of
nature
is
made
more
precious
by
its
subtlety,
making
more
urgent
the
need
for
the
sensitivity
represented
by
the
appreciation
of
this
natural
phenomenon
at
the
level
of
biology
and
the
philosophy
it
represents
in
this
ese
ifa.
These
values
are
amplified
by
the
current
dominant
world
picture
of
increasing
urbanization,
of
economic
and
social
struggles,
and
the
magnification
of
the
power
of
technology
in
shaping
human
life
outside
the
context
of
nature.
37
Figure
10
An evocation of the concept of Igba Iwa, the Calabash of Existence as described
by Babatunde Lawal in "Ejiwapo: The Dialects of Twoness in Yoruba Art and
Culture". The concavity of the calabash may suggest the womb, the matrixial
creative centre resonating with all generative spaces that enable being and
becoming. Intertwined spirals and interlocked triangles, evoking pervasive,
complex systemic interrelations, are engraved on this example of a Yoruba
cosmological image. They are complemented by a gracefully poised bird,
possibly evoking transformative power enabling transcendence of
conventionally understood laws of nature, actualized through the use of ase,
the creative cosmic force pervading existence.
38
dmr
then
created
him/herself.
Being
the
Primal
cause
This
is
the
reason
we
call
dmr
The
only
wise
one
on
earth
The
only
cause
in
creation
The
only
wise
one
in
[
orun]
Who
created
humans.
Without
a
companion
dmr
applied
wisdom
to
the
situation
The
only
wise
one
The
one-knowing
mind
39
Disturbed
for
several
"thousand"
years
by
the
incessant
humming
of
gbn,
Im,
and
ye,
dmr
disturbed
decided
to
get
rid
of
them
in
order
to
have
some
peace.
So
dmr
ordered
gbn,
Im,
and
ye
to
descend
(r)
making
the
sound
h.
Thus
the
three
otherworldly
bodies,
bundled
together,
now
known
as
H-r
or
r,
were
made
to
descend
to
earth.
Since
they
were
life
forces
heavily
charged
from
the
otherworld,
their
descent
was
accompanied
by
lightning
and
thunder.
All
solid
matter
in
rs
path
melted
and
became
jelly-like.
For
a
while,
r
was
suspended
in
mid-air
like
an
egg
and
did
not
melt,
but
then
it
dropped
to
the
earth
and
split
(l).
40
A
dia
fun
Oro-oro
oro
Nigba
un
o
ri
enikan
ba
soro
Mo
gba
ngbin
Ase.
Oro,
the
cause
of
great
concern
for
the
wise
and
experienced
elders
It
sounds,
Ku
(making
the
heart
miss
a
beat)
Ke
(as
a
ponderous
object
hitting
the
ground)
Gi
(making
the
last
sound
before
silence)
and
La,
with
a
loud
cracking
sound
is
transformed
into
a
new
state
called
Ela.
The
oro
that
drops
from
the
elderly
is
stupendous.
It
was
divined
for
Oro-oro
oro
Who
did
not
have
anyone
to
communicate
with
and
he
started
groaning.
B.
Correlating
Verbal
Music
and
Metaphysical
Concepts
in
The
Descent
of
Oro"
"Sisun
bi
aisun/Sisun
by
aisun".
These
lines
are
beautiful
in
their
creation
of
music
and
amplification
of
meaning
through
repetition.
The
gliding
vowels
and
consonants
are
mellifluous,
in
their
evocation,
through
sonic
pattern
and
lexical
meaning,
of
the
mysterious
somnolence
that
characterizes
the
sentient
yet
inactive
state
before
the
emergence
of
the
cosmos.
Jhalobia
Ojemu's
translation
"Sleeping
but
not
quite
not
sleeping
reinforces
Abioduns
rendition
of
this
paradoxical
condition.
Abiodun's
translation,
"Seemingly
asleep
but
awake/Seemingly
dormant
but
alive"
is
magnificent
in
its
choice
of
words
for
rendering
the
relationship
between
life
in
its
various
possibilities
that
is
the
core
of
this
evocation
of
a
subliminal
dynamism
embodied
by
the
sleeping
figure
and
the
potencies
the
figure
created
and
which
they
have
swallowed,
only
for
these
potent
entities
to
throb
within
the
creator
figure
in
dramatizing
dynamic
activity
within
contained
force.
These
cognitive
essences
complement,
by
contrast,
the
state
of
the
creator
figure
who
is
withdrawn
from
activity
of
the
kind
the
cosmos
represents.
The
activity
realized
by
the
cosmos
is
the
outcome
of
a
power
that
is
very
different
from
its
own
character
as
a
created
form,
even
as
the
cosmos
demonstrates
aspects
of
the.
41
42
Image
on
Previous
Page
Figure 11
Lagana
figure,
the
human
form
stripped
to
its
most
basic
essentials
in
evoking
an
idea,
that
idea
being
perhaps
the
dynamism
of
the
force
or
spirit
embodied
by
the
metallic
structure.
The
upward
aerodynamic
thrust
of
the
sculpture
is
used
here
in
evoking
the
drive
towards
divine
comprehension
represented
by
Abiodun's
description
of
the
significance
of
Ela
as
a
bridge
between
ultimate
wisdom
and
humans.
This
interpretation
is
reinforced
by
Susanne
Wenger's
depiction
of
cognitive
flight
in
relation
to
Ela,
an
idea
incidentally
emblematised
by
the
aerodynamic
momentum
evoked
by
the
Lagana
statue.
"Like
the
arrow
in
the
instant
of
being
placed
between
the
drawn
string
and
the
bow-timeless
and
beyond
individual
intent-the
transcendent
actuality
of
Ela
is
reminiscent
of
the
ritual
archery
of
Zen,
holistically
at
once
arrow,
bow,
marksman,
flight
and
target
on
the
unsurpassably
sensitive
balance
of
being",
as
stated
in
Susanne
Wenger
and
Gert
Chesi.
A
Life
With
the
Gods
in
their
Yoruba
Homeland.
Perlinger
Verlag
:
Worgl,
1983.
She
continues,
Ela
is
"...Ifa's
most
sacred
inner
life...vulnerable
and
yet
ready
to
hit
ferociously
the
high-and-fast
flying
target
in
the
unimaginably
complex,
intertwined
swarm
of
possible
constellations
of
destiny..."
configurations
of
possibility
primarily
manifest
as
the
ese
ifa,
"the
word-cathedrals
of
Odu",
the
literary
forms
of
Ifa.
Image
source
:
"Mumuye
Statue"
at
Kathy
van
der
Pas
en
Steven
van
de
Raadt
African
Art.
Accessed
27/10/2016.
43
nature
of
that
creator,
being
constituted
from
the
being
of
the
creator.
This
cosmological
formation
is
enabled
by
contents
of
the
creator's
self,
throbbing
potencies
the
creator
brought
into
being
and
then
swallowed
and
whose
ceaseless
dynamism,
their
"incessant
humming",
"throbbing
like
a
bee",
compelled
their
being
dispatched
to
Earth
to
enable
the
cognitive
possibilities
of
the
Earth's
life
forms.
The
cosmos
is
thus
depicted
as
grounded
in
the
ultimate
possibilities
of
cognition
represented
by
gbn
(wisdom),
im
(knowledge)
and
oye
(understanding).
The
summative
lines
that
begin
with
"Oro
gbe
nu
agba
gbin
kin
Oro
ku","
Oro,
the
cause
of
great
concern
for
the
wise
and
experienced
elders",
run
through
a
gamut
of
the
potencies
of
sound,
as
a
primary
means
through
which
oro,
discourse,
is
expressed
in
speech.
The
lines
evoke
the
intimate
interactions
of
sound
with
the
human
body,
sound
as
activating
the
acoustic
properties
of
space,
sound
as
constitutive
of
the
contrastive
complementarities
represented
by
sound
and
silence
and
sound
as
dramatizing
the
divine
source
of
cognition
through
the
expressive
capacities
of
human
beings,
a
mediation
between
the
ultimate
and
the
contingent
embodied
by
Ela.
This
succinct
but
comprehensive
picture
is
used
in
framing
a
depiction
of
the
gravitas
of
oro,
of
the
weight
and
power
of
cognition
as
a
manifestation
of
the
divine,
communicated
through
speech
activated
by
wisdom,
demonstrated
in
the
expressions
of
elders.
This
encyclopedic
thumbnail
survey
of
speech
as
a
demonstration
of
cognition
is
communicated,
in
the
original
language,
through
a
combination
of
repetition
and
structural
brevity.
A
sonic
rhythm
is
thus
generated,
the
cumulative
force
of
which
accentuates
the
emphasis
on
two
central
words
in
the
phonic
configuration,
underlining
their
semantic
value,
"oro"
and
"agba",
elder,
thereby
evoking
through
memorable
verbal
melody
the
idea
of
the
transmission
of
the
divine
essence
of
discourse
through
wisdom.
"Agba"
is
further
accentuated
through
the
use
of
words
that
echo
its
phonetic
structure,
"gbin",
"agbe",
"Nigba",
"ba"
and
"gba
gbin",
building
a
delightful
melody.
The
sonorous
dramatization
concludes
in
an
image
both
amusing
and
telling,
of
oro
groaning
becease
she
had
no
one
to
communicate
with,
"Nigba
un
o
ri
enikan
ba
soro",
no
44
45
Image
on
Previous
Page
Figure
12
He
argues
that
these
equestrian
sculptures
are
less
significatory
of
the
actual
practice
of
babalawo
riding
horses
than
they
are
suggestive
of
the
physical
and
cognitive
mobility
of
babalawo
in
their
journeys
in
search
of
knowledge
as
well
as
their
intense
investment
in
the
hermeneutic
strategies
through
which
knowledge
is
encoded
and
decoded
in
Ifa.
The
hermeneutic
techniques
of
Ifa
referenced
by
Abiodun,
as
well
as
his
own
interpretation
of
the
sculptural
forms
in
question
as
symbolic
of
cognitive
rather
than
physical
mobility,
exemplifies,
par
excellence,
the
Yoruba
expression
about
the
primacy
of
owe,
imaginative
forms
of
communication,
in
relation
to
the
never
ending
quest
to
penetrate
deeper
into
oro.
Oro
may
be
understood
as
cognitive
capacity,
rooted
in
the
metaphysical
source
of
existence,
but
actualised
in
the
terrestrial
world.
The
expression
states,
"Owe
lesin
oro,
t'oro
ba
sonu,
owe
lafin
wa",
"Owe
are
the
steeds
or
horses
of
oro,
if
oro
goes
missing,
owe
is
used
in
seeking
it
out'",
suggesting
the
character
of
owe,
imaginative
forms,
as
privileged
carriers
of
cognitive
possibility
and
explicatory
potential.
Their
distance
from
linear
and
plain
expression
enabling
perhaps
the
embodiment
of
possibilities
of
integration
of
zones
of
meaning
that
would
otherwise
be
inaccessible.
The
penetration
into
cognitive
value
in
the
face
of
difficulties
of
understanding,
"seeking
out
oro
when
it
gets
lost",
is
thus
pursued,
not
through
linearity
and
plainness
of
expression,
but
through
imaginative
evocation,
for
only
within
such
evocative
complexity
or
associative
matrix
can
the
range
of
possibilities
represented
by
a
subject
be
adequately
framed
or
foregrounded.
"Bi
owe
niifan
soro",
"In
imaginative
forms
does
Ifa
speak",
another
Yoruba
expression
employed
by
Abiodun,
also
complements
a
Yoruba
observation
referenced
by
Abiodun
in
arguing
that
the
concept
of
"owe"
covers
the
entire
gamut
of
imaginative
forms,
including
and
exceeding
the
verbal.
"Bi
owe,
bi
owe,
lan
lulu
agidigbo'",
Abiodun
quotes,
translated
by
one
source
as
"Like
a
proverb,
like
a
proverb,
is
the
war
drum
beaten"
suggesting
the
configuration
of
sonic
rhythms
through
non-verbal
patterns
that
nevertheless
resonate
in
terms
of
semantic
value
for
those
who
can
interpret
the
complex,
non-verbal
"vocalisations"
created
by
those
patterns.
46
This
amazing
sculpture
incarnates,
par
excellence,
the
multi-semantic
dynamism
dramatising
the
capacity
of
imaginative
expression
to
stretch
the
mind
by
stimulating
it
through
the
simultaneous
evocation
of
various
realms
of
meaning
which
converge
to
generate
the
explicit
and
implicit
significatory
universes
enabled
by
particular
expressive
forms.
The
unification
of
various
possibilities,
various
zones
of
being
and
interpretive
options
round
a
semantic
axis
is
thus
evoked,
like
the
central
pillar
unifying
the
calmly
seated
figure
and
the
dynamic
multiplicity
of
the
double-headed
form.
The
human
figures
are
organised
in
relation
to
the
horse
whose
motion
is
suggestive
of
the
multi-
perspectival
embodiment
inspiring
journeyings
of
the
mind
represented
by
this
work,
exemplifying
the
consciousness
expanding
character
of
imaginative
expression.
The
sculpture
exemplifies,
with
unique
force,
the
boundary
traversing
and
ontology
mediating
character
of
owe
as
imaginative
expression
that
explores
correlations
between
contraries
in
weaving
unities
between
the
distinctive
identities
that
constitute
existence.
47
one
to
express
her
nature
as
oro
with,
no
one
to
speak
with,
no
one
to
open
herself
to
as
the
drive
of
the
creator
of
the
cosmos
to
communicate
themself
to
their
creation.
The
original
text
does
not
indicate
gender
for
Oro,
but
I
use
the
feminine
pronoun
in
referring
to
Oro
beceause
of
the
particular
association
of
the
feminine
with
beauty,
a
correlation
suggested
by
the
relationship
between
nakedness
and
taboo
in
the
depiction
of
Oro
discussed
later
on
in
this
essay.
Beauty,
like
the
tension
between
accessibility
and
transcendence
associated
with
Oro,
may
be
understood
in
relation
to
sensory
immediacy
as
well
as
semiotic
and
metaphysical
transcendence.
Semiotic,
in
terms
of
the
limitations
of
human
descriptive
or
analytical
capacity,
as
in
relation
to
the
Sublime,
particularly
as
described
by
Immanuel
Kant
in
the
Critique
of
Judgement.
Metaphysical,
on
account
of
the
idea
that
beauty
may
go
beyond
material
and
even
humanly
constructed
abstract
frameworks.
Beauty,
like
Oro,
may
be
seen
as
existing
in
terms
of
a
continuum
that
includes
the
familiar
at
one
end
and
the
numinous
and
uncanny
at
another,
these
extremes
coming
together
in
the
mystical
orientation
to
divine
beauty
in
terms
that
may
be
inspiring
or
compelling
of
withdrawal
on
account
of
its
strangeness.
48
The
reference
to
the
Owners
of
Birds
is
particularly
pregnant,
since
birds,
in
Yoruba
spirituality
and
its
associated
arts,
are
a
primary
motif
in
evoking
the
conviction
in
the
capacity
of
humans
to
move
across
space
without
the
aid
of
conventional
physical
locomotion
or
mechanical
instruments,
using
a
mysterious
power
that
makes
their
motion
akin
to
the
flight
of
a
bird
or
even
demonstrated
by
transformation
into
birds.
49
50
Figure 13
The
Orisa
tradition
orisa
or
deity
Esu,
on
horseback,
in
concentrated
pursuit
across
ontological
and
cognitive
lines,
in
his
role
as
mediator
between
forms
of
being
and
modes
of
knowledge,
between
humans
and
non-humans,
between
humans,
nature
and
spirits,
and
between
human
enquiry
and
oracular
response
in
Ifa.
His
forward
looking
gaze
within
the
suggestion
of
the
forward
motion
of
the
horse
on
which
he
sits
is
counterbalanced
by
a
magnificent
coiffure
rising
from
his
head.
Its
spiralling
arc
demonstrates
an
aerodynamic
formation
rising,
with
delicate
force
and
power,
from
a
narrow
base
to
expand
into
the
centre
of
the
curve
of
an
arc
and
taper
down
again
to
another
narrow
base,
evoking,
in
a
different
context,
the
dynamism
represented
by
his
forward
directed
stance.
A
chameleon
like
form
perched
on
the
front
of
the
coiffure
resonates
with
the
concentrated
energy
actualised
by
the
rider
below,
a
chameleon
being
suggestive
of
the
identification
with
various
zones
of
existence
traversed
by
Esu,
identifying
with
them
as
the
chamelon
is
able
to
change
its
colour
to
blend
with
its
landscape,
a
cross-
ontological
capacity
evocative
of
the
babalawo's
ability
to
seek
understanding
in
journeying
across
realms
of
being
in
questing
for
answers
to
challenges
arising
in
human
existence,
a
task,
which,
according
to
babalawo
Joseph
Ohomina,
is
facilitated
by
the
babalawo's
relationship
with
Esu,
as
guide
to
the
opening
of
"the
doors
of
Ifa",
as
Henry
Louis
Gates
Jr
expounds
in
The
Signifying
Money:
A
Theory
of
African-American
Literary
Criticism.
51
often
dramatizing
the
paradoxical
blend
of
destructive
orientation
and
creative
capacity
with
which
this
concept
is
associated
in
Yoruba
lore.
Does
the
image
of
eleye
in
this
story
point
to
something
tender
and
humane,
away
from
the
negative
characterisations
of
aje
that
recur
in
some
ese
ifa?
Is
the
picture
drawn
here
closer
to
suggesting
a
mysterious
force
at
cosmogenesis,
even
more
mysterious
than
the
paradox
embodying
Odumare
who
is
awake
yet
seems
to
slumber?
Are
we
being
drawn
into
territory
suggestive
of
the
Tibetan
Buddhist
conception
of
another
group
of
female
forms,
the
dakinis,
the
Travellers
in
Space,
as
the
name
is
translated,
the
journeyings
of
the
dakinis
being
metaphorical
for
activity
across
the
zone
beyond
being
and
non-being
that
is
the
ground
of
being,
its
all
encapsulating
transcendence
suggested
by
the
image
of
the
sky,
its
spaciousness
evoking
the
womb
of
ultimate
expression,
the
"space"
the
dakini
traverses,
as
described,
among
numerous
sources
as
befitting
such
an
ancient
and
impactful
image,
in
June
Campbells
Travellerin
Space:
In
Search
of
Female
Identity
in
Tibetan
Buddhism,
remarkable
as
a
wrestling
with
the
nexus
of
abstraction
and
personal
experience
dramatized
by
her
encounter
with
this
conception
and
Judith
Simmer
Browns
Dakinis
Warm
Breath
:
The
Feminine
Principle
in
Tibetan
Buddhism,
superb
in
expounding
the
sublimity
of
dakini
metaphysics?
The
dakinis,
like
the
aje,
are
also
pictured
in
terms
of
imagery
evocative
of
death
and
life,
,
skulls
with
the
dakinis,
blood
with
the
aje.
This
incidental
confluence
may
suggest
similar
primal
evocations
of
foundational
human
realities,
elevated
with
time
into
soaring
cosmological
value
in
the
dakini
conception.
A
similar
process
is
evident
in
contemporary
re-interpretations
of
aje
lore,
moving
away
from
the
largely
negativising
ese
ifa
I
referenced
earlier
to
newer
efforts
represented
by
writers
and
activists
working
to
develop
aje
spirituality,
philosophy
and
practice.
52
Egbe
Aje
Iyami
Temple
of
America,
her
personal
Facebook
account
and
her
other
Facebook
account
at
Mercedes
Morgana
Bonilla.
The
aje
and
Iyami
conceptions
inspire
ideas
and
provoke
questions
shot
through
by
the
sense
of
something
compelling
and
yet
beyond
the
fringe
of
readily
assimilable
value,
for
some
a
powerfully
attractive
enigma
and
for
many
a
profoundly
disturbing
mystery.
53
54
Figure 14
"Kolombo
ni
Oro
nrin
"Oro
moves
around
naked"
but
it
is
forbidden
to
see
it
with
the
naked
eyes"-
Abiodun,
Yoruba
Art
and
Language.
Scholar
of
Jewish
mysticism
Eliot
Wolfsons
description
of
his
aesthetic
as
a
painter
evokes
a
related
orientation:
"Eliot
Wolfson[http://www.religion.ucsb.edu/faculty/wolfson/paintings.html
]
has
long
been
preoccupied
with
the
insights
of
Jewish
mystical
traditions
that
approach
an
imageless
god
through
the
mediation
of
an
intensely
visual
symbolic
imaginary.
His
painted
canvases
communicate
a
corresponding
sense
that
vision
hovers
ever
on
the
borders
of
appearing
and
disappearing,
disclosure
and
hiddenness.
As
the
imagination
seeks
to
give
form
to
what
remains
nonetheless
formless,
the
quintessentially
human
endeavor
of
hermeneutics
is
already
caught
up
in
the
transcending
eros
of
a
divine
creativity".
Image
source
:
Adam
and
Andrew
in
"Animal
Kingdom
Artifacts
:
Protection"
from
Disney
Hipster
Blog
:"Mumuye
Female
Figure
:
The
Mumuye
people
of
Nigeria
used
this
shrine
figure
to
influence
the
advent
of
rain".
Accessed
27/10/2016.
55
D. Communicative
Dynamism
and
Transcendence
in
"The
Descent
of
Oro"
The
ultimate
possibilities
of
cognition,
gbn
(Wisdom),
Im
(Knowledge)
and
Oye
(Understanding),
are
described
as
being
the
constituents
of
r,
which,
adapting
Pius
Adesanmi's
translation
in
his
essay
"Oju
l'oro
wa",
may
be
rendered
as
"discourse",
a
translation
that,
incidentally,
does
justice
to
the
scope
of
meaning
the
term
demonstrates
in
the
ese
ifa
explored
by
Abiodun
and
the
argument
he
develops
about
the
theorizing
of
expressive
forms
in
Yoruba
thought.
These
constituents,
emerging
from
their
divine
source,
have
experienced
a
"breaking
open",
of
an
original
unity,
thus
enabling
them
to
be
engaged
with
by
human
beings.
The
act
of
breaking
open,
"la",
is
personified
as
Ela,
described
by
Awo
Fategbe
in
"The
Yoruba
Metaphysical
Concept
of
Ori"
as
"the
manifestation
of
the
primal
urge
to
communicate.
[Ela]
is
the
link
between
human
and
God;
human
and
human;
and
human
and
the
universe".
56
terms
of
the
organization
of
cognitive
responses
to
phenomena
using
various
expressive
strategies.
57
58
mediated
through
linguistic
forms
that
reach
towards
its
all
encompassing
being
but
can
never
subsume
it.
Beyond
this
effort
to
express
in
expository
terms
what
is
a
magnificent
imaginative
conception,
the
summation
of
the
imaginative
leap
represented
by
these
brilliant
ideas
is
the
description
of
this
entity
as
mobile
and
unencumbered
by
the
forms
by
which
humans
accustom
themselves
to
terrestrial
existence,
it
"moves
around
naked",
a
nakedness
it
is
dangerous
to
perceive.
This
"moving
around"
may
be
understood
as
an
evocation
of
the
dynamism
demonstrated
by
the
pervasive
presence
of
cognitive
potential.
The
nakedness
which
it
is
forbidden
to
see
with
the
naked
eyes
may
be
interpreted
as
evoking
an
incandescent
nucleus
beyond
conventional
human
discernment
and
which
it
is
dangerous
to
encounter
directly
without
the
mediation
of
the
imaginative
forms
through
which
it
may
be
expressed.
This
is
one
of
the
richest
evocations
of
the
significance
of
cognitive
and
expressive
ability
I
have
come
across,
a
combination
of
simplicity,
beauty
and
sensitivity
to
the
mysterious
that
classical
Ifa
verbal
artists
have
made
their
own
in
a
unique
way.
The
entire
universe
of
speculation
on
the
ultimate
significance
of
discourse,
on
the
ability
to
mobilize
reflection
in
expressive
forms,
converges
in
these
simple
but
gently
potent
lines.
The
image
of
Oro
moving
around
naked,
a
nakedness
it
is
forbidden
to
cognise
with
the
naked
eyes,
and
which
can
only
be
mediated
through
owe,
imaginative
forms
that
project
its
character
without
revealing
its
essence,
its
nakedness,
is
particularly
remarkable.
This
picture
is
a
magnificent
encapsulation
of
the
paradoxical
combination
of
compelling
attraction
and
dangerous
remoteness
that
is
the
essence
of
much
of
humanity's
engagement
with
the
superlative,
particularly
in
its
expression
outside
what
is
created
by
humans,
summed
up
with
particular
vividness
in
Rudolph
Otto's
depiction
of
the
numinous
in
The
Idea
of
the
Holy
as
an
"
an
invisible
but
majestic
presence
that
inspires
both
dread
and
fascination
and
constitutes
the
non-rational
essence
of
vital
religion"
as
described
by
Webster's
Third
New
International
Dictionary
of
the
English
language.
59
qualities
humanity
is
accustomed
to,
thereby
possibly
evoking
both
awe
and
yet
desire
to
transgress
boundaries
by
perceiving
the
forbidden.
Like
the
moth
in
the
Islamic
mystic
Fard
ad-Dn
'Attr's
"The
Parable
of
the
Moth
and
the
Flame"
from
his
Maniq
a-Tair,
The
Conference
of
the
Birds,
the
moth
who
is
consumed
by
the
candle
flame
as
he
penetrates
it
in
order
to
experience
its
nature,
the
nakedness
of
Oro
forbidden
to
direct
perception,
may,
by
its
conjoining
of
power
and
taboo,
of
allure
and
danger,
motivate
the
desire
to
experience
what
transformative
and
even
destructive
encounter
may
be
enabled
by
trying
to
observe
it
directly.
60
Figure 16
61
correlative in terms of the cognitive missions they dramatize and
the concepts underlying them. The poems are efforts at exploring
the foundational character of existence. The concepts of iwa and
ori in "Ayajo Asuwada", concepts underlying various expressions of
Yoruba philosophy and its Orisa cosmology, are relevant for "The
Descent of Oro", even though the latter poem does not refer to
those concepts.
62
This unity may be further defined in terms of Babatunde Lawal's
presentation in The Gelede Spectacle, of relationships between
individual and universal being demonstrated in Yoruba
philosophy. He describes this unity in terms of the individuality of
each existent, its distinct character and ultimate orientation, its
ori, as this fundamental identity is depicted in Yoruba philosophy,
in relation to its unique participation in iwa, being, as the ground
of existence.
63
gbn
(Wisdom)
The
awo
in
orun
the
Place
of
Primal
Origination
the
Zone
of
Ultimate
Origins
the
Ultimate
Generative
Space
Ori-Orun
Origun
the
Ultimate
Head
the
Complete
Head
the
Directional
Essence
the
One
and
Only
Metaphysical
Archetype
of
Mind
the
One
and
Only
Origun
in
Orun
from
whom
each
earthly
Ori
branches
It
was
with
the
principle
of
asuwa
that
the
Heavens
were
established
Complete
and
actuated
for
a
purpose
was
iwa
at
its
first
emanations
Figure 17
64
Yoruba
Belief,
its
associative
possibilities
expanded
by
myself
with
a
contribution
by
Noyo
Edem
at
The
Orisa
Universe,
is
thus
conjoined
with
the
motif
of
the
calabash,
a
primary
cosmological
form
in
Yoruba
thought.
The story evokes the image of Igba Iwa, figure 10, the Calabash of
Existence, suggesting the integration of aye, earth, and orun, the
world of primal origins, through the image of a half calabash
resting on another half calabash. As a recurrent form in African
iconography that gathers associative momentum through its
multiplicity of occurrences, it may be correlated with Mazisi
Kunene's description, in Anthem of the Decades, of the calabash in
classical Zulu thought as symbolising the unity of being as well as
the cognitive scope required to cognise this unity.
65
and potential. Concrete forms such as plants, animals
and human beings; the elements as demonstrated by
rain, water, land, air and the stars; abstractions such as
love and hate, truth and falsehood; situations such as
celebrations, war and ceremonies, are all represented in
spiritual terms by the various odu.
66
dynamism
of
existence
will
reach
from
understanding
to
knowledge
and
from
knowledge
to
wisdom,
the
cognitive
triad
embodied
by
oro
as
depicted
in
'The
Descent
of
Oro".
Such
a
cognitive
adventurer
would
thus
penetrate
beyond
the
obvious
characteristics
of
phenomena
to
the
ordered
complexity
of
the
underlying
currents
they
express,
an
integration
of
surface
and
depth
facilitated
by
the
grasp
of
the
convergence
of
possibilities
in
enabling
existence
represented
by
the
odu
ifa.
67
Im
(Knowledge)
the
awo
of
mid-air
Baba
Asemuegun
Sunwon
Father
Who
Selects
and
Makes
All
Things
Perfect
and
Balanced
Olofin
Otete
Ruler
of
the
Palace
Infinite
Spaciousness
Who
Used
a
Basketful
Measure
of
Dust
Particles
in
Creating
Ile
Ife,
the
Earth
When
iwa
first
emanated,
when
iwa
was
complete
and
perfect
In
asuwa
forms
all
things
descended
upon
the
Earth
activated
by
purpose
Image
source
:
"Terracotta
head
of
a
woman;
12th-
15th
century."
posted
by
by
Aunt
Ruth
in
PoC...
Royalty...
Lords
&
Ladies...
board
on
Pinterest.
Accessed
27/10/2016
Figure
18
68
I
introduce
the
quotation
with
my
introduction
to
another
translation
of
the
same
lines
from
another
essay
of
mine
"Hijab
Aesthetics
and
Mysticism",
on
the
aesthetics
of
the
Muslim
headdress,
the
hijab,
in
relation
to
the
face,
where
I
briefly
discuss
the
concept
of
oro
in
terms
of
the
human
face
as
expressed
in
the
Yoruba
expression
"Oju
loro
wa",
which
may
be
translated,
adapting
Pius
Adesanmi's
translation
and
interpretation
in
his
essay
"Oju
l'oro
wa",
as
"the
face
is
the
abode
,
dwelling,
centre,
location
or
focus
of
discourse":
The
symbolic,
the
metaphysical,
the
emotive,
the
mysterious
and
the
human
form
converge
in
Ibn
Arabis
unforgettable
narration,
as
translated
by
Stephen
Hirstentein
in
The
Ultimate
Mercifier
:
A
Life
of
Ibn
Arabi
:
As
I
was
standing
in
rapt
amazement
in
front
of
the
Black
Stone,
I
encountered
the
[
Youth].
Then
I
was
informed
about
the
station
of
that
youth,
and
his
being
untouched
by
Where
or
When
[space
or
time].
When
I
recognized
his
station
and
landing
place
[
a
positioning
within
a
cosmological
matrix
],
and
I
saw
with
my
own
eyes
his
place
in
existence
and
his
states[perhaps
alluding
to
states
of
spiritual
development
and
cosmological
identity
subsumed
in
the
being
of
the
Youth],
I
kissed
his
right
hand,
and
I
wiped
the
sweat
[
like
the
Prophet
Muhammad,
the
founder
of
Islam,
used
to
get
from
the
experience
of
prophetic
revelation,
indicating
the
exertion
involved
in
receiving
divine
visitation]
off
his
brow,
and
I
said
to
him,
"Look
at
the
one
who
seeks
to
sit
with
you
and
desires
to
be
intimate
with
you."
He
pointed
to
me
with
an
enigmatic
gesture,
[saying]
that
he
was
innately
configured
such
that
he
speaks
to
no
one
except
in
metaphor
and
is
only
spoken
to
metaphorically.
When
you
know
him,
and
verify
him
for
yourself,
and
you
understand
him,
you
know
that
the
purest
language
of
the
pure
speakers
does
not
perceive
him,
and
his
articulation
is
not
attained
by
the
eloquence
of
the
most
eloquent.
69
ye ( Understanding)
the
awo
of
earth
Oluiwaaye
Lord
of
Earthbound
Existences
It
was
with
the
principle
of
asuwa
that
the
Earth
was
created
iwa
poured
down
on
the
Earth
like
rain
Accessed
27/10/2016
Figure 19
70
71
timelessness,
and
there
is
nothing
but
a
wujd
[
unity
of
being
as
manifest
through
the
semantic
value
of
the
physical
structuring
of
the
Youth]
continuous
and
a
Vision
stable,
enduring.
72
73
a. Sonic
74
significance of such sonic combinations as represented by the
Hindu and Egyptian words.
b. Visual
75
The Presence
Posted by the artist in the Cosmos of World Art and Correlative Cultural Forms
Figure 21
76
perfect for suggesting both elevation above the turmoil of human
existence and a synthesis of the finest possibilities of human being,
associating with them ideas from "The Descent of Oro" and
"Ayajo Asuwada" in figures 17-19. I thus give visual form to the
poems' correlations of cosmogonic states and processes with
human like figures. I add to these the cognitive parameters
presented in "The Descent of Oro". This interpretation of the
verbal imagery of the poetry in terms of visual forms makes the
ideas being projected more memorable. The ideas are thereby
made even more accessible for reflection and internalization by
creating an image/idea nexus that grows in synergistic power the
more it is contemplated.
77
aspects of existence that are not created by human beings even
though mediated through imaginative forms developed by
humans.
78
Figure
22
Opon
ifa,
inscribed
with
vertical
lines,
as
the
face
of
Esu
looks
on
at
top
centre
Image
source:
Detail
from
The
Yoruba
Artist:
Nine
Centuries
of
African
Art
and
Thought
by
Henry
John
Drewal,
John
Pemberton
III
and
edited
by
Helen
Wardwell.
New York: The Centre for African Art and Harry N. Abrams, 1989. 21.
79
understood as penetrating to a dimension enabled by an aspect of
the self unlimited by the corporeal and the intellectual.
80
The unification of a number of Africana spiritualities through their
use of this cosmological symbol is evident through such
discussions as Leslie Gerald Desmangles' "African Interpretations
of the Christian Cross in Vodun" in which she argues that
81
conceiving cosmological order. The universality of this symbol
extends as far as the Jewish/Western Hermetic Kabbalistic
cross, the Native American medicine wheel and Buddhist
mandalas, a scope indicating its character as one of the
fundamental and pervasive forms through which cosmic structure
has been visualised across cultures, most likely derived from the
quaternary spatial orientation of the human being through the four
directions of the human body.
82
Figure
23
Opon
ifa
evoking
primal
power
in
its
minimalist
and
yet
elaborate
construction,
its
circular
frame
emblazoned
by
spirals
of
eternity
encapsulating
the
unity
of
spirit
and
matter,orun,the
world
of
primal
origination
and
aye,
the
terrestrial
world,
as
the
elementary
sculpting
of
the
face
of
Esu
stands
as
a
door
overlooking
the
landscape
of
intersecting
lines,
within
the
glow
of
colour
giving
a
numinous
sheen
to
the
elemental
power
of
the
opon
ifa.
Opon
ifa
symbolism
reaches
greater
elaboration
in
its
post-classical
development,
reading
into
classical
forms
meanings
not
explicitly
stated
in
accounts
of
the
older
hermeneutic
systems,
as
this
interpretation
does.
83
from individual and social being within a cosmic context require a
means of mapping and navigating this dynamic complex, hence the
development of a symbol system directed at this end as outlined
in "The Splitting of Oyigiyigi".
84
The Aristotelian and the Kabbalistic conceptions seem themselves
to be foreshadowed and are perhaps influenced by the ancient
Greek philosopher Plato's discussions of cognitive possibility in
terms of relationships between human awareness and the cosmos,
particularly in the context of his conception of existence, as
described in The Republic, as structured in terms of a
transcendental template, the Forms, which constitute the ultimate
character of forms of being. Other parallels also exist, as between
the Yoruba conception and Ahmadou Hampate Ba on philosophy
of language among a cluster of African civilisations from the Fulani
to the Bambara in "The Living Tradition", the Biblical book of
John on the Word as source of creation and salvation, the concept
of Vac in Hinduism and Indian philosophy as summed by Andre
Padoux in Vac: Conceptions of the Word in Selected Hindu
Tantras, ideas on relationships between text and divine meaning
in Ibn Arabi's Futt al-Makkya and English thinker Samuel
Taylor Coleridge's correlation of poetic imagination and divine
verbalization in Biographia Literaria.
85
Figure
24
A
supreme
example
of
opon
ifa
art,
magnificent
in
its
unique
combination
of
profusion
of
forms
and
tight
order,
the
dynamism
of
the
coiled
snakes
evoking
the
permutations
of
odu
ifa.
The
crowned
face
of
Esu,
beautiful
in
its
synecdochal
rendition
in
terms
of
two
elegantly
elevated
eyes,
creates
an
aerodynamic
platform
on
which
rests
a
delicately
carved
nose.
The
evocative
force
of
its
circularity,
suggestive
of
infinity,
as
summed
up
by
Ifalola
Sanchez
in
"Discourse
on
Meaning
and
Symbology
in
the
Ifa
Divination
System",
is
amplified
by
the
Voodoo
veve
placed
in
the
centre
of
the
opon
ifa
image,
radiating
in
a
beautiful
matrix
of
sixteen
lines
used
in
this
picture
in
evoking
the
sixteen
odu
ifa,
organisational
units
and
active
agents
dramatising
cosmological
permutations,
evoking
all
possibilities
of
being
in
terms
of
a
numerical
structure
and
its
associated
literary
forms.
Opon
ifa
image
from
Hans
Witte,
"Ifa
Trays
from
the
Osogbo
and
Ijebu
Regions"
in
The
Yoruba
Artist
:
New
Theoretical
Perspectives
in
African
Arts.
Edited
by
Rowland
Abiodun,
Henry
J.
Drewal
and
John
Pemberton
III.
59-77.
73.
Voodoo
veve
from
a
defunct
website.
Collage
by
Oluwatoyin
Vincent
Adepoju.
86
flame within the self that continuously impels the effort to pursue
meaning at its most fundamental level, an aspiration that
transcends particular explanatory frames, is it possible to step
beyond these interpretive windows and perceive being as it is in
itself without the mediation of explanatory constructs? Would that
not imply stepping outside the house in which those windows exist,
the house of being, to perceive being from a standpoint outside
itself, perhaps from within the transcendent ground described in
Dion Fortunes Mystical Kabbalah as the Unmanifest, correlative
with the Buddhist concept of the Void, beyond being and non-
being, possibly suggestive of the awake and yet seeming sleeping
state of Odumare? The concept of the Unmanifest, however,
suggests the transcendence of all conceptions and even the
possibility of being imagined by humans. Is human perception
therefore locked within the circumscriptive expanse of being?
87
become involved. In a related sense, observing the insights of the
ese ifa artists in "The Descent of Oro", "Ayajo Asuwada" and "The
Splitting of Oyigiyigi", insights that encapsulate, in imagistically
concise and narratively memorable terms similar perceptions
elaborated on in different ways by thinkers from other cultural
contexts dispersed across time and space, one becomes like Frodo,
observing a great story in which one is involved to a greater or
lesser degree, listening to and perhaps taking part in a sublime
conversation that spans all time across the Earth, adapting Robert
Hutchin's characterisation of a culture of inter-generational
dialogue across time and space that encompasses the globe beyond
his focus on the West, a conversation carried on when connections
are made between the comments of different speakers in different
places, as one struggles to understand what is being said in the
various conceptual languages employed by the interlocutors, the
entire complex merging into a seamless musical flow in which
unity in difference creates a beauty representing the cognitive
identity of homo sapiens.
88