Yoruba: Traditional Wisdom Of the Yoruba - African Spirituality  

By George Adams  

Yoruba: Traditional Wisdom Of the Yoruba - African Spirituality  

The tradition of Orisa worship was kept alive by Yoruba slaves. But the second generation Yoruba had lost much of the memory of the primal worldview of our Yoruba ancestors. This work was achieved through my personal experience with the Oku folk culture in Guyana, and direct contact with the people who were struggling to maintain the little know-ledge they retained of Olodumare, whom they called Olorun, and the beautiful Orisa tradition.

The Orisa are invisible and represent the various material aspects of nature. They also represent the spiritual nature within us. Ogun is the iron will in us, the cutlass and fork; all iron tools are his.

In an alien society, slaves were forbidden to speak their languages or to congregate together, other than to work. The real cultural disruption occurred with the arrival of the Christian missionaries in 1808 when the Yoruba and other ethnic African groups were discouraged from practising their religion. But some religious tenets of life survived. The Yoruba worldview remained strong, but invisible. Songs, drumming, and dances were the Oku way of preserving their culture.

One day, while on an errand for my mother, I entered the Archer's Tailoring Establishment in Cummingsburg. The shop was filled with tailors and their customers, who were gaffing about the recent invasion of Ethiopia by Mussolini's imperial armies. Said one man: "If Ethiopia is the land of the Gods, why don't they answer the prayers of their children?"

As the argument mildly went on, another person was explaining that he heard from a friend while working in Santiago de Cuba, that there is one God of Africans and his name is Olodumare. He said that he was reliably informed by a devotee, that Olodumare created all that is created in the world, the animate and inanimate are His. He exists alone, and is in all things. Another said the Garveyites sing a song suggesting an all-pervading God named Nzambi. The argument was still flourishing on the gods, their names and powers when I left the shop.

From this encounter I realised that the African people had their own ideas about God. I sought to find out for myself, Olodumare. I later joined the Jordanites, a local Christian sect established by elder Jordan, espousing an ethical philosophy of life. I got no information about the existence of Olodumare here.

During my search, some old folk said: "Do not search for Olorun. He is hidden at the centre of all things. All the worlds and their fullness are His. He cannot be contained because of His presence. Not a stone, a shell, not a tree is His person, but He is within all, He is invisible. No one knows how to know Him."

It was not until I had joined the Ecbe Afrugbin (African Society), a more recently established cultural organisation founded by the late Bro Jacob 'Jake' Croker, that I found out I was living the religion of the Yoruba all along. The Yoruba slaves of British Guyana, on arrival, called themselves Oku, meaning he/she/it is dead. Perhaps they felt that they would never return to their homeland. "Okun o baba" they greet each other.

The primal worldview of the few active African-centred Oku in the country, is that Olodumare whom they call Olorun is the one and only. He is uncreated and exists alone and is hidden in pure white light. He is holy and all wise. He is everywhere at once, but no one knows how to find Him. He is the essence of all things seen and unseen. "There is no icon raised to Olorun." Those who worship Him do so in spirit and in truth!

(The writer is from Guyana)

.

.

More from same author see: George Adams  

See also: Yoruba, Faith and Belief, Spiritual Guidance, God and Religion, Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)