JUSTICE BEFORE PEACE
Why duel in peace,
When war is interesting?
With the seven sons of olodumare
I have seen,
I have seen bloodshed
And peace talks.
Why rally for peace,
When the credo that amends, abides?
Let infatuation fall aside,
Like the fall of the iroko.
Let judicature prevail,
And lead us through.
Harmony is essential,
But justness is quintessential.
For it is better to be sure of the truth,
Than to conceal the truth.
Yoruba Creation Myth -- Base X
The supreme god of the Yoruba people has three manifestations: Eledumare the creator, Olodumare the coordinator of the universe, and Olofi the conduit between Orún (Heaven) and Ayé (the physical realm) who brought existence to earth on Olodumare’s orders. Olodumare had ase (the spark of life) over everything and hence was supreme, but was the impersonal, unconscious aspect of divinity, the source of energy, while the self-created Olofi was the conscious power. All living beings, including the Earth itself, interact in thought and action with each other. All humans are expected eventually to become one in spirit with Olodumare, and life and death are cycles of existence in a series of physical bodies while their spirit evolves toward transcendence. Their ori-inu (spiritual consciousness in the physical realm) must grow to consummate their union with their individual "iponri" (spiritual self), but they also possess an individual "ayanmo" (destiny). Each person attempts to achieve transcendence in Orun-Rere (the spiritual realm of those who do good and beneficial things), but those who stop growing spiritually, in any of their given lives, are destined for "Orun-Apadi" (the invisible realm of potsherds). During a certain stage in the process of creation, "truth" was sent to confirm the habitability of the newly formed planets, but Earth was considered too wet for conventional life. So Olodumare sent his second son Obatala to help Earth develop a crust; he took a mollusk with some sort of soil with him, which he emptied, forming a large mound on the surface of the water. Winged beasts then scattered the dirt until it took the form of dry land. Obatala leaped onto a hill and named it Ife. The land became fertile and plant life began to flourish, and he began to mold figurines from the earth. Meanwhile, Olodumare gathered the gasses from the far reaches of space and sparked an explosion that shaped itself into a fireball which he sent it to Ife, where it dried the land and baked the figurines. Then Olodumare released the "breath of life" across the land, and the figurines became the first people of Ife (“ife oodaye,” cradle of existence). Obatala was to be his father’s governor, but before he could return to Orún to report to his father, his position was usurped (due to Obatala’s tipsiness) by his younger brother Oduduwa, the power of the womb, who had omnipotent authority to alter or reconstruct physical reality at will. The two brothers then waged a long war against each other.
ReplyDeleteIroko is a large hardwood tree from the west coast of tropical Africa that can live up to 500 years and is believed to have supernatural properties; in some cultures it is shunned in fear or revered with offerings. The Yoruba believe it is inhabited by a spirit and that anyone who sees the “Iroko-man” face to face will become insane and die; that anyone who cuts down an iroko will bring devastating misfortune on himself and his family; and that the Iroko-Man’s screams can be heard in homes made of the wood since he is trapped inside.
The daughter of the Iroko can plant powerful words into the future. Justice before peace? Yes, because justice brings peace, not the other way round.
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