Babalawo, Santeria's High Priests by Frank Baba Eyiogbe

Author:Frank Baba Eyiogbe
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: babalawos, babalawo, balalowo, santeria, babalawos, santerias high priest
Publisher: Llewellyn Worldwide, LTD.
Published: 2015-01-08T05:00:00+00:00

[contents]

Chapter Seven

Initiations

When the world was still very young Orula was sent to earth in search of a land called Ilé Ifé, the spiritual capital of the world, where he was to teach Ifá and the proper way to live to the people who lived there. When Orula came to the world with his Ifá, he arrived at a place called Onika, which was on the shores of the sea. Leading out from Onika were sixteen roads, and Orula patiently began taking each road to its end, one at a time. Each road was more difficult than the last, and on his travels he encountered all the peoples of the world, but none of the roads led to Ilé Ifé.

There was finally only one road left, a desolate path leading straight into the shifting sands of the desert. Orula followed this last road until he was stumbling blind through the sand, his clothes in tatters, and with no food or water. As he was about to give up out of despair, through clouded eyes he thought he spied a tiny oasis with a small pool of water and somehow managed to crawl his way over to it.

When he arrived at the oasis, he found three sacred trees. An iroko, an araba, and a palm tree were growing next to the spring. Orula was delirious as he cried out to Olófin that he had failed his quest to find the sacred city of Ilé Ifé and that he was tired of the endless traveling and hardship.

Suddenly Orula heard a thunderous voice saying, “The more you look, the less you see. You do not even see what is right in front of your own nose.”

The voice then ordered Orula to take his Ifá in his hands, submerge the ekin nuts in the spring, and throw the water into his eyes and over his back. As he did so, he heard singing. “Alagba nfo gede … oju, alagba nfo gede … ofo.” 1 When he looked up his eyes were clear, and just in front of him was the entrance to Ilé Ifé.

And from that day forward that spring with its three sacred trees became the first Igbodún for the initiation of new babalawos.

“The best way to know nothing is to try to learn everything at once.”

At OrishaNet.org I am asked more questions regarding initiations than all of the other subjects combined, with at least three quarters of the e-mails I receive being about initiations. Often enough they are straightforward requests to be initiated, but important questions regarding initiation also come in on a regular basis. How do I know if this is the right path for me? What kind of commitment will be expected of me? What steps do I need to take to get initiated?

Is Santería the Right Path for Me?

The first piece of advice I can give is unless there is a real emergency, take your time to learn about the religion to see if it’s right for you. Santería is

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