BOOK REVIEW ON REVELATION OF OUR DREAMS BY OLALEKAN ODUNTAN.

REVELATION OF OUR DREAMS is a book that interprets the meanings of our dreams to us. People dream everyday without knowing the meanings of their dreams. And dreams are divine messages from God to us. Dreams foretell things to come and they also warn us against impending dangers ahead. There is this school of thought that says if you don't dream dreams, you can never see visions. Dreams are proverbs from Almighty God to mankind. Some people do not remember their dreams and those who remember ought to know the meanings of them. The book is available for sale on www.amazon.com

EJI OGBE, THE HEAD OF ALL IFA CORPUSES BY OLALEKAN ODUNTAN

OLALEKAN ODUNTAN

Of all the corpuses of Ifa , Eji Ogbe is seen as the head or father of them all. It is this corpus of Ifa that talks about the origin of creation and its first inhabitants. It also talks about the four elements that make up life and they are the earth, the water, the air and the fire .Ejiogbe says the mother earth gave birth to water while the water in turn gave birth to the air. The air finally gave birth to the fire. And these four elements begged the creator for  relevance in life and the creator asked them to sacrifice two squirrels , two fishes and two hens for this purpose .They did and thereafter sand was given to the world . But one day the sand begged the creator for relevance and usefulness, and the creator asked her to sacrifice two squirrels, two fishes and two hens for her wish to be

EJI-OGBE

accomplished. She did this and thereafter the first man known as Akoda (Adam) was molded and blew life into by the creator. From then on, Adam was left alone with other creatures of the creator like the trees, the birds, the rivers, the animals, the sun, the moon, the stars etc . But the first man too got tired of loneliness in the world and begged the creator for a partner that would be assisting him in the world. And the creator asked him too to sacrifice two squirrels, two fishes and two hens for this purpose which he did. After the first woman known as Aseda (Eve) was created from the right ribs of the first man Akoda (Adam). Ejiogbe further says that the first man (Adam) and the first woman (Eve) were then left all alone to themselves in the world by their creator, an idea which they did not like as time went on. So, one day, they begged their creator for childbearing and the creator asked them to sacrifice two squirrels , two fishes and two hens so that their wish could be accomplished . They did this and thereafter mated to give birth to all sorts of colored people in the world today. Be it white, red , black or indigo colored people , we are all children of Adam and Eve . From then on they have been paying home age to the first man (Adam) and the first woman (Eve). Conclusively Ejiogbe is the beginning of creation and everything in it.

DIVINATION OF IFA WITH IKIN BY OLALEKAN ODUNTAN

COWRIES WITH PALM OIL

COWRIES IN ENCLOSED DISH

What are Ikin? Ikin are the palm kennels used by Orunmila to divine and bring messages forth from Ifa oracle. Orunmila is the god of divination. From the very beginning before the divining chain known as OPELE was being used by ORUNMILA to divine, it was the palm kennels that were used to know the things from the past, the present and the future. While divining, a yellowish powdery substance known as IYERI OSUN is used to indicate the corpuses of IFA that will come out on a wooden tray. 

Unlike the divining chain that is owned by the Ifa priest alone, palm kennels are used to divine for all and sundry and it is allowed to be kept personally by the individuals that are divined for. Palm kennels are kept in a white dish during and after divination by their owners. Once a corpus of Ifa is indicated for somebody, that is the ODU IFA of the person for lifetime. From that moment on, whatever Ifa decrees to be done from time to time must be adhered to by the person. 

In addition to that, both positive and negative attributes of the corpuses that come out must also be followed very well by such person. The destiny of any individual is the corpuses of Ifa that come out during divination by the Ifa priest. All the necessary things are then followed and done to appease the oracle of the person by the Ifa priest. This is a special day for any person because a lot of merriment is followed by all the well-wishers around. 

While all this is going on, the palm kennels would have been kept back in the white dish with the reminder from the Ifa priest that its appeasement must not be neglected from time to time. The white dish is either taken home or is kept with the Ifa priest. 

Where are the palm kennels got from? They are got from the palm trees. And the palm oil is got from palm kennels. This is the reason why the palm oil is used during IFA divination with the palm kennels for customers or people by the Ifa priest. 

In conclusion, the corpuses of Ifa that come out during divination for any individual must be remembered by such person at all time.

© Olalekan Oduntan 2014.

YAMS , NOT ONLY FOODS FOR HUMANS BUT DEITIES BY OLALEKAN ODUNTAN

MRS LATEEFAT AKINPELU

 

Yams have been the foods for both humans and deities from time immemorial and they are either boiled and eaten with palm oil or pounded and eaten with soup. Sometimes yams are roasted and eaten with palm oil or fried stew. According to Mrs Lateefat Akinpelu, a yam seller of note for so many years said that yams have many different species and they are gotten from different parts of the country. The first specie of yam is called 'Paper' by the Hausa people and another one is called the

BENUE YAM

Benue yam from the Gara people of Nigeria. Another specie of yam is Abuja yam which is also from the Hausa people from the Northern part of the country while another one is called Efuru and it is from the Yoruba people who are from the south west of Nigeria. Mrs Lateefat Akinpelu said that unlike the farmers from south western part of Nigeria whose farming skill is no longer on the high side anymore owing to white collar job, the northern farmers are farming all the time and they are the food basket of the nation. She said that if not for the northern farmers today, yams production would have gone into total extinction because our young farmers down here in the south have left

ABUJA YAM

farming for white collar jobs in the urban areas. Tubers of yams are very expensive depending on the sizes that one’s money can afford. Like i said at the beginning, yam is not only eaten by human beings  because it is also used to appease deity like Ogun (the god of iron) during its festive period. The Ogun devotees do not joke with the importance of yam during their festivity because they can either make it as pounded yam or have it roasted to appease their deity. The Efuru yam belongs to the people in the south west and it is going into the extinction right now as a

YORUBA YAM

result of neglect from our farmers who do not get enough back up (financial assistance) from the government in their chosen profession. This is the reason why all the yams being consumed by the people  in the south west today are brought by the farmers from the northern part of the country, a development that is not very good. Mrs Lateefat Akinpelu urged the government to assist our farmers who are in the yam business to give them incentives for farming so that yam production will not be a thing of the past. She also begged the government to assist the yam sellers association in the market to give them opportunity to receive loans so that they can also

PAPER YAM

continue to be in their yam business. As one of the sayings of our elders say, if hunger is eliminated from the problems of the poor, the poverty is vanished! Let us encourage our youths who are out schools to go into farming business. And this is only achievable through support in terms of loans from our local, state and federal government by making farming to be an attractive business to all and sundry. After all, we all can not be working in the offices! Thank you!!

Copyrights: © Olalekan Oduntan 2014

APPEASEMENT OF OUR HEADS IN YORUBA LAND BY OLALEKAN ODUNTAN

PRIEST LUKUMON ADESANYA

In Yoruba tradition, there is a deity that is always appeased almost on daily basis and that deity is called Ori (the Head). It is believed that the head is the bringer of both good luck and bad luck. And whatever someone will become in life, it is the head that would sanction it to be accomplished. Once upon a time, some people visited Orunmila at his shrine. Their mission was to know whether God existed or not. And they wanted Orunmila to show them where God was.

THE APPEASED HEAD

 Orunmila divined and told them that the birds cannot fly without their heads, that the fishes sleep and wake up in the seas with their heads, that the animals sleep and wake up in the jungle with their heads, that the man that sleeps at night and hears the cock crow in the morning before waking up is said to be woken up by God. Orunmila said that the head of man is his God. Man cannot exist without his head likewise some other species of God. Our heads must be appeased at all times to pave ways for us in all our undertakings. The corpus of Ifa responsible for appeasing the head is ODI MEJI. Before appeasing the head, an Ifa priest is consulted to know the appropriate step and things to use. Most of the time catfish or guinea fowl is killed for the appeasement with other things like water, kolanut and schnapps.

ODI MEJI

And everything is always conducted by the Ifa priest. The night that the head is appeased is always special for whom it is done as all the problems will be a thing of the past. 

OGUN, THE DEITY WITH THE BRASS CUTLASS BY OLALEKAN ODUNTAN

CHIEF SHAKIRU OLUGBEMI OGUNLADE

Ogun is the deity referred to as the god of iron. After the world was created by Olodumare (the Almighty God), some part of the world was filled with water while some other part was bushy. Olodumare started looking for a deity that would be sent to clear the bush for other deities that He was sending to the

OGUN SHRINE

world. Ogun (the god of iron) agreed to clear the bush with his brass cutlass. Thereafter, deities like Orunmila (the Oracle) and Esu (the god of war) were sent to join Ogun (the god of iron) in the world. The three deities met each other at the cross roads and from there they formed a tripod. Ogun is a powerful deity that clears the ways for those who do not neglect to do his bidding. He is a deity known as the path clearer and he rules the motorists, the bricklayers, the butchers and carpenters. People doing any work relating to iron are advised to appease Ogun because the iron is his symbol. The devotees of Ogun are mainly hunters because Ogun himself used to be a good hunter while alive.

OGUNDA MEJI

He was very good in using his gun to kill animals while hunting. Ogun enjoyed drinking palm wine during his lifetime which is one the items of things used to appease him today. Other things used to appease Ogun are roasted yam, roasted corn, dog, a cockrel and schnapps. Some Ogun devotees are good chanters and they are like the hunters who are very good in using oral tradition to appease and praise Ogun.

SACRIFICIAL DOG

Ogun onijan ole, ejemu to nj'Oluwanran,

Ogun O.... A.... aori, aose,

Akala funfun eyin osa,

Ogun abelepon fa riyeriye,

Elepon nke, Ogun nfa a,

Oko mi o ma ma lepon o o o!

Ijarayin ori o! Ogun ye e e e!!

Ijaranyin ori o! Ogun ye e e!!

Ogun a gbe wa o!!

Aseee!!!

Copyrights: © Olalekan Oduntan 2014