Sorry I didn’t post an update last week, but after I explain the Odu Ifa for the past two weeks (and also the last one!) it will all make sense. I chose Obara-Egun Tan because in this Odu, Orunmila leaves Ile-Ife and goes to take a bath in a river, and enjoys himself so much he looses track of time and actually almost drowns! Fortunately I haven’t drowned (although to this day Babalawos aren’t allowed to enter that river for that reason), but since I have been at my grandparents’ house on Agbeja street in Ibadan with very little to do everyday, I have lost track of time just like Orunmila.
Last week I picked Kyle up from UI, but Aunty Bimbo still had some things to do in Ibadan, so we’ve just been here whiling away the time. I’ve been using this time to finish transcribing all of the Odu Ifa that I hadn’t gotten around to yet, and also compile and edit all of the stories I have learned. I have finished a draft of the first book, about all of the major gods, goddesses, and important Yoruba stories, and even though I’m a bit sick of reading it right now, I think it’s pretty good! The other book, which contains practically all of the stories I have learned from Ifa chapter-by-chapter, is much, much longer, and since electricity is scarce, I haven’t been able to finish that one yet, but hopefully soon.
I also thought about choosing one of my favorite Odu, Owonrin Dagbun for this week because it contains a story about Orunmila and the Yoruba game of Ayo (very similar to Mancala, just with different rules). I bought my Ayo board in Ibadan a long time ago, and since there isn’t light most of the time, I have played a lot of Ayo with Mama Ibeji’s kids, especially Bidemi, the youngest. Since I still have some Naira left, I decided to go out and buy another Ayo board for her so she could keep playing after I left. The interesting part of this story is the man in the neighborhood who sold me the Ayo board is also named Ogunnaike and went to the same school that my grandfather attended! He couldn’t believe that I bore the same surname, but since he is also Ijebu, I couldn’t get him to give me a discount on the Ayo board... Like they say, it’s easier to get blood from a stone than money from an Ijebu.
Since the tailors in Lagos are more expensive and all seem to take forever to finish sewing clothes, Aunty Bimbo put me in touch with Uncle Seun’s tailor here in Ibadan. I went with Kyle to buy a ton of fabric for myself, Damini, and some friends, and the tailor came by to collect it all. Since a full outfit for a man here takes 4 yards of fabric, and they only sell this type in 5 or 10 yards, I had an extra 2 years of several different colors left over. So I asked the tailor to make some dress shirts for me out of the remaining 2 yards and I also asked him to put some of the Odu Ifa that govern my life on the sleeves. He’s bringing the clothes back today, so we’ll see how well they turn out, but if all works well, they could be really nice. Since the divining chain or Opele has two “arms” each with one sign for each Odu, I put the sign for the right “arm” of the Opele on the right sleeve, and the sign for the left “arm” on the left sleeve or arm of the shirt. I think I may have frightened the tailor a bit when I started drawing the Ifa figures and reciting their names, but I think I paid well enough that he didn’t mind. The colors also have something to do with each sign, and weren’t chosen randomly, but you’ll have to ask me about those if/when you see me wearing one.
To come full circle, in Obara Egun Tan, Orunmila gets out of the river, but he decides to go back once more and meets his wife Olokun there. She loves him so much that she begs him not to leave here again, so he says farewell to everyone in Ife and leaves to be with her since he can’t stand to see her so sad. I hope I’ll come back to Ife at some point in the future (and some people say Orunmila did come back as well), I’ll be crossing bodies of water not swimming in them, but I will be meeting my own Olokun in Israel this coming Thursday.
This is the last post, at least for this adventure, so I want to say thank-you to everyone who has been following what I’ve been up to here. While I’ve been looking back through all of the stories I’ve learned (and everything else as well), it’s difficult for me to believe that I knew none of it just 9-10 months ago. It has certainly been a great, fascinating, and of course legendary experience for me from treating crazy people, to witnessing traditional euthanasia, to being paid to tell someone’s future, to hearing the voice of a god, and much much more, and I hope I was able to convey at least a little bit of that to you. Also don’t forget to get a copy of the book when it comes out hopefully in the next year or so! You’ll have the inside scoop on the origins of all of the stories and how they came to be there!
:) thanks Deji
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