The Orisha Today. philip neimark

not human) view, we immediately make the energy less that it truly is…in our attempt to understand divine energy in human terms, we humanize the energy. In so doing we diminish its power…and our ability to truly utilize it.

      There is another important aspect to understanding Orisa energy. That has to do with differentiating between the essence of the energy itself, and the expression of that energy in our lives. The essence is pure. The expression is our individual use and integration with that essence in our daily lives. The essence will remain pure. The expression of it will be ever changing!

      Orunmila/Ela

      One cannot mention Orunmila, the deity of Divination, without mentioning Orisha Ela. It was Susanne Wenger who allowed Ela to be restored. She had written a small booklet in the early 1950’s, the only thing ever penned in her own hand, which referred to Ela as the Fountain, or pool, of Wisdom and Knowledge from which Orunmila drank. It was awe inspiring to me. It put one of the final pieces into the puzzle of why Divination had gone so wrong.

      As someone who has devoted his life to Orisha for almost 40 years, there were, nevertheless, things which bothered me. It seemed to me that Divination had, in many instances, lost its purpose, its directional barometer. Certainly a skilled Ifa priest could deal with the questions, which seemed overwhelmingly to focus on what the individual wanted, but the genuine question remained: were we doing the client any favors by getting the girl/boy, by securing the “better” job or by the ways in which we were getting the client out of the trouble they had involved themselves in?

      It seemed to me that Orunmila/Arula had turned into the Yellow pages of Divination. That we had, in some horrible kind of a way, degenerated into the “Hit Man” of peoples problems! How had we lost our soul? Certainly “we” were doing a great job for the Western mindset of: “I want what I want…and I want it now”, but were we doing what was right? Were we delivering on the wisdom that Ifa had shown for thousands of years, and “if not” what had gone wrong. It seemed we had “lost” Ela.

      We had lost that component of Wisdom, compasion and caring, that had always made the advice of the ancient Babalawo so useful. The ancient Babalawo always asked “why?” Why did you want the job? Why do you want the girl/boy? Why did you get into the trouble you are in? He also asked, “Was it good for you?” Not in the short term, but in the longer term of building a worthwhile life, meaningful relationships, and contributing to the community. Only with the understanding of these issues, could he lead the client to the right conclusions, and do an intelligent job. So the Ifa Foundation’s search began…

      The Ifa Priests can perform initiations only with the presence of the Igba Iwa. I was fortunate to receive, from the late Afolabi Epega, the Igba Iwa of his grandfather, the Patriarch of the family, and the primary informant to Professor William Bascomb. To make a very long story short, it seemed that beginning in the early 1950’s Igaba’s were constructed without the component that connects them with Ela!

      After all, it was the end of the Korean war, the beginning of the interstate highway system, suburbia and a general feeling that the “best” could be purchased, and the future was unlimited. As someone who lived through this era, it seemed like the floodgates had been released and we welcomed in the era of greed. Why then should the connective pool of Divination be included?

      It became all about getting it done and the wisdom of the divination seemed a needless complication. Perhaps it was the fact that I had received a more than 100 year old Igba. Perhaps not. As time rolled by, practitioner’s could easily ignore the Igba and continue down the fast track of personal aggrandisement and greed. As my father always told me, ” Philip, they will eventually give you the bill.” So they have done. If the last four years of the housing crash, bank failures, auto failure and massive unemployment, met with a very sluggish recovery, we were all frightened. We needn’t have been…

      All the talk regarding the “end of the world” can reflect the world as we knew it and the beginning of the world that should be, and once, almost was. If it is to be, it will require Ifa priests that ask “why?” Is it “best” and a client willing to listen.

      http://alturl.com/mybed