OBATALA – Owner of all Heads

September 15, 2016

 Obatalá
 Orisa’nla
 Obatarisa: Father of all Orisa and Humanity; The Orisa of Wisdom,
Knowledge and Pureness
 Eepa Oosha Obatalá Alasho Funfun

Known as an ancient energy, it embodies the patience, clarity of mind and wisdom that can
only be attained through thoughtfulness and careful and sober consideration. Thus, Obatala
is also associated with the concept of justice.

Those operating in this Orisa’s field are often highly intelligent and extremely thoughtful,
possessing lofty yet realistic ideals. They are the observers and intellectuals among us who
strive for peace, truth and clarity above all else.

Father of humanity, the right hand of Olodumare, Obatala is the supreme deity of justice,
wisdom and life. Obatala’s colour is white, which is often accented with other colours - red,
coral, green or purple - according to the road. His symbols are a single, solid silver bracelet,
a white horsetail switch (Irukere), a cane and a silver bell or “Agogo-Oje,” which is used
when saluting him.

Obatala is the Orisa responsible for molding the physical form of humanity before
Oludumare gives us life with his divine breath. He’s always perfectly clean and expresses
himself with the presence of Efun (white chalk). Liquor and red palm oil are taboo to him
and his followers. Obatala is the Orisa of logic, thought, and clarity and as such children of
Obatala are generally logical and “heady”. In fact, children of Obatala invariably require
more “alone time” than most other people as their lives are often ruled by their ability to
think quietly and process.

Obatala is symbolized by

 the colour white;

 white doves;
 the number 8;
 the metal silver
 Sunday is said to be his sacred day of the week.

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Obatala, Owner of all Heads
Obatalá is “King of the White Cloth” and he represents peace, sober decision making,
creativity, purity, and divination. The social role associated with him is that of an Elder or
Sage and his elements or natural stages are the mountains, clouds, and palm trees.

Some of the most distinctive features of Obatalá are the myth of creation that has been
linked to him, the traditional offerings presented to him and the location of his supposed
home, his “claim over individuals”, and the many associations with others saints and gods
that he has received through time.

As the myth points out, Obatalá enjoyed drinking palm wine and continued to do so
although it had previously led to his shame and humiliation. Due to his weakness for
alcohol, he would even drink while carrying out his duties of molding and creating human
bodies. Due to his carelessness, some of the beings he created were born with deformities
and malformations so he was ordered by Olodumare to abstain from drinking while creating
humans. Therefore, people born with birthmarks, albinos, the handicapped, or other
children born with deformities are recognized as “Obatalá’s children”. This originates from
the belief among people that “Obatalá always marks his children”.

Priests and priestesses of Obatalá wear only white in his honour. Traditionally, offerings to
“King of the White Cloth” are white, such as

 white foods

 white cloth

 white clothes

 white beads

 white flowers

 coconut

 coconut water

 cotton

 cocoa butter

 cornstarch

 bitter kola

 silver jewellery and coins

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Obatala, Owner of all Heads
The home to this deity is said to be the mountains and for this reason, gifts and food are
carried to these specific regions.

Obatalá is said to be the Owner of all Ori, which means heads. This is an important concept
because it is believed that the souls of people are located in their heads. It has been
claimed that Obatalá is one of the oldest Orisa and that he is the “King of Kings”. For this
reason, he is also recognized as the father of all Orisa.

He is known to have three wives, Oduduwa, Yemoo, and Igbin.

Obatalá is known to be patient and to possess good judgment; he is also believed to cause
earthquakes when he becomes infuriated.

Obatala is the father of all children on earth, is the creator of human beings and everything
that inhabits the planet. As the creator is ruler of all human body parts, mainly the head,
thoughts and human life, the white owner or where it participates essentially white to
symbolize peace and purity.

Obatala represents the creation that is not necessarily pristine, so magnanimous and above,
also the pride, anger, despotism and those with defects and physical and mental difficulties.

Obatala embraces all her children with patience and love. Among its many qualities is that
he brings intelligence, peace and calm to the world. He intercedes with any Orisa for any
individual to have difficulty, because it is considered the father of mankind and owner of all
heads.

When we seek to Obatala, we looked at the top of the mountain. He’s in the snow covering
the mountain peak and is seen as the wise old man of the hills.

Obatala provides justice, renewal and new beginnings. Their children, “direct” are Albinos
and those born with physical and or mental. The unique function of Obatala within the realm
of Mysteries of Nature is to provide the spark of light that animates consciousness. To call
an Orisa the Chief of the White Cloth is to make a symbolic reference to that substance
which makes consciousness possible.

The reference to White Cloth is not a reference to the material used to make the cloth, it is
a reference to the fabric which binds the universe together. The threads of this fabric are
the multi-leveled layers of consciousness which Ifá teaches exist in all things on all levels of
being. The ability of Forces of Nature to communicate with each other, and the ability of
humans to communicate with Forces in Nature that gives the world a sense of spiritual

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Obatala, Owner of all Heads
unity. It is the understanding of this ability which gives substance to the Ifá concept of good
character, and it is Obatala who guides us towards developing this understanding.

All Forces in Nature come into being through the manifestation of energy patterns called
Odu. Ifá has identified and labeled different Odu which can be thought of as different
expressions of consciousness. But because consciousness itself is generated by Obatala,
every Odu contains an element of Obatala’s spiritual power. In metaphysical terms, this
means that all of Creation is linked to Obatala as the Source of Being. All forms of
consciousness contain a spark of spiritual power from Obatala, and it is this spark that links
everything that is, to its shared beginning.

The name means “Lord of the White Cloth” (Oba-ti-ala), and is explained by the fact that
white is the colour sacred to Obatalá, whose temples, images, and paraphernalia are always
painted white, and whose followers wear white clothes. Obatalá is always represented as
wearing a white cloth.

Obatala likes dark places. Thus when we find ourselves placed on the altar cloth to keep it
away from the light.

There are many incarnations of the deities who had lived before and who had translated to
eternity. Ogiyan in Ejigbo, Ayelala in Ekiti and Ijebu may have been incarnations of Obatala
as well as Oluorogbo in the city of Ile-Ife. This is evident in the feeding preference and
dressing of the devotees of these deities. These incarnations may have been his children
who migrated out of Ilé-Ifè, to resettle in these new locations. They were subsequently
honored and later deified probably because of their father’s magnanimity and prowess.

Baba arugbo temi ni obamise – Obatala temi ni o bamise Bi eniyan soro fun e leyin
monmongba o… Temi ni o bamise…

Obatala Uses Elephant Teeth….. (Otura-Odi)

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Obatala, Owner of all Heads
The insignia of Obàtálá is ‘Opa, the staff; and is consequently the word to which a suffix or
prefix is added to make the name complete. In other places, Òrìsà is used instead of Opa to
delineate Obàtálá as the king of all the Òrìsàs. It is to the same Opa that sacrifices are
offered. It is taboo for it to lie by its sides.

There is a myth that speaks of a time when Heaven and Earth were side-by-side. And
human beings could travel back and forth between Heaven-Orun and Earth -Aiye with little
difficulty. But as with such things a man violated a temple regarding such travel that
Obatala had put in place. When Obatala became aware of the situation, he became furious.
He took the Opa in hand and begin to pound furiously on the ground. He commanded that
from thence fourth, human beings would no longer be able to travel into heaven. He
decreed that only after death would man be able to enter Orun. And at Obatala’s command,
the Earth and Heaven became separated

”Simplicity is the key to brilliance.”

Measure the breadth & the length – the hand reaches much higher than the head – no
forest is so dense that the iroko tree cannot be seen. May your life be clear and pure like
water drawn early in the morning for the holy spirit of Obatala…

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Obatala, Owner of all Heads