Palm-tree Grows its Leaves Right From the Ground

Diversity is a blessing and a burden at the same time. As Orisa Lifestyle goes careening into the future and the world stage, becoming more and more diverse every day, the blessings and the burdens abound with equal intensity. In these times of increasing uncertainty, devotees around the world seek Ifá's guidance, truth and wisdom. It is in these very crucial times that the babalawo is being challenged to demonstrate, beyond the shadow of a doubt, the value of Ifá as a system that enables harmonious and prosperous development. Here, the teachings of Ifá offer the following reassurances:  

Sudden-as-the-snapping-of-leather-string;
Leather-string-snaps,
The Ifá priest for them in the city of Ìtóri;
Crossbow-loses-its-string-it-dances-all-over-the-ground;
Cast Ifá for Òrúnmìlà,
When Ifá was going to mend the life of the king of Ifè
As one mends broken calabash.
Who, then, will help us mend these our lives?
Palm-tree grows its leaves right from the ground.
It is Òrúnmìlà who will help us mend these our lives.
Palm-tree grows its leaves right from the ground. 
- Holy Odu IworiMeji

Palm-tree grows its leaves right from the ground. It starts off both fresh and mature at the same time. In other words, Ifa is fully equipped to provide adequate wisdom with which to govern the world. What we need are priests who are willing to serve the community by helping varying segments of the population to see themselves as integral parts of a single vision. Here, let us look to the teachings of the Holy Odu OturuponMeji for insights: 

A woman grinds bean-meal softly, 
A man grinds the corn hastily, 
The lumped corn-meal is food for the pigs; 
Vulture-with-a-probing-eyes, 
Women-benefit-from-breasts, Men-benefit-from-breasts, 
Cast Ifá for Elébùtéé, the earthly priest, 
For Odùkèkè, the heavenly priest, 
On their way to redeem Ifè. 
Elébùtéé’s divination thrived, so did Odùkèkè’s.
We rubbed our hands together and they are clean 
We thus become two wise men of divine gifts. 
- Holy Odu OturuponMeji

The above verse relates how, in the distant past, two Ifá priests of different orientations and outlooks came together and exchanged views in the bid to restore peace and development in Òtufè, an ancient town. In Òtufè, Elébùtéé and Odùkèkè were the most famous and well-versed Ifá priests. But the two priests were sworn enemies, too, because each felt that he was superior to the other. As the two were now entangled in a war of rivalry, Òtufè continued to grow in constant bickering and strife. Social life was stifled and the natives became victims of all sorts of ailments. Gradually and gradually, Òtufè became desolate and was almost on the brink of extinction as people were seeking refuge elsewhere. The situation became so unbearable that the king of the day had to summon the two priests to his court. In tears, he pleaded that the two priests should bury the hatchet and, instead, use their wisdom to improve the situation in Òtufè. Of course, the priests themselves had turned victims of their war: each had lost wives and children to the strife. They listened, humbled themselves before their king and swore to improve the situation in Òtufè. Thereafter, the two priests dialogued and learnt that the only way to redeem Òtufè was hidden in a lengthy Ifá verse. Elébùtéé had only committed the beginning of the verse into memory and could not complete it. On his apart, Odùkèkè had long forgotten the beginning of the verse, but could assist Elébùtéé in completing it. The two priests then came together and interpreted the hidden meaning of the verse. In the end, the two were able to redeem Òtufè from the brink of ruin.*

In this lesson, we have a perfect analogy for the Yoruba condition within the African diaspora. Entire Yoruba kingdoms - like that of the Owu - have been uprooted, dismantled and dispersed across the globe. Today, as the cycle of rebirth unfolds, and the long lost ancestors of Yoruba civilization are reborn in Trinidad, the United States of America, Guyana and elsewhere, we are faced with the reality that every branch of the family tree is heavy laden with particular kinds of memory. This, while this certainly exacerbates the blessings and burdens of Yoruba diversity, it also indicates the importance of Pan Africanist thinking, planning and action within Orisa Lifestyle. Stated differently, in the exact same way that  Odùkèkè and Elébùtéé could only save Òtufè through their COMBINED efforts, it is only through a Pan Africanist approach that we will restore the dignity, wealth and spiritual development of Yoruba people in West Africa and abroad. 

Aboru aboye abosise. 

Obafemi Origunwa, MA | www.ObafemiO.com


*Omotade Adegbindin. Ifa & the Consequences of Literacy