The suggestion that Oranmiyan had Vitiligo, a two tone skin condition, is how foolish we become when we want to interprete the profound wisdom our Original African ancestors from a Western civilizational perspective. The disputed parentage of Oranmiyan between Oduduwa and Ogun, whereby he was said to have a light skin tone of Ogun and dark skin tone is genetically impossible and can only be understood from the perspective of philosophical and spiritual cyclical essences of African Spiritual Sciences, and not from linear physicality of Eurasiatic perspectives.
We can’t begin to fully understand and benefit from our rich knowledge bank – Ifa-Afa-Iha-Fa-Efa – the world’s oldest knowledge bank until we understand that traditional African names and history are recounted as spiritual and philosophical essences, not individual physical attributes. Ifa is a body of knowledge of the universe broken into hundreds of concepts known as Orisas. Orisas are in actual fact the conceptualizations of specific spiritual and philosophical essences, which are cyclical and measurable in nature.
The Ori of each individual is a combination of various Orisas in different measures and manifestations at the time of birth, which are discernible with what astrologers call the birthchart, or done as Akosejaiye by Babalawos. Orisas are tied to different planets known to emit specific essences as they revolve round the Sun (Orunmila), which replicates a complete system. The orbit of each planet is divided into twelve stages of life, and the effects of Orisa/planet is determined by which stage the planet is at the time of birth.
I had wondered what spiritual and philosophical essence or combination of essences that guided Oranmiyan, the progenitor of the current Oyo and Edo monarchial dynasties. His name translated into ‘fruition of words’, like Ase, which are more like essences of Obatala and Esu, which didn’t fit his territorial warlike expansionism in Oyo. For example, Ossosi, the guardian of the civilizational spiritual realm, the myth was that he was a brother to Ogun but guided Obatala spiritual realm, so he was a combination of Ogun and Obatala essences.
The Oranmiyan story only became complete when I heard the birth story of Oranmiyan that claimed he was the son of a woman captured by Ogun at war, and impregnated by both Oduduwa and Ogun, which resulted in his two toned skin. I was marvelled how our ancestors weaved the essence of Ogun (war, affirmation action) with that of Oduduwa of the Olokun Age, Olokun being essence of leadership, consciousness, religious and political dogma).
The Ogun essence is one of the few essences of Pathfinder leadership that can be seen in other ethnic groups of the Original African civilization. It was Ogun that followed Ojo, a son of Oduduwa of Ife Ooyelagbo, the second of the three known Ife epochs, to discover and open up the Niger Delta, where his name Ojo was corrupted to Ijo and later Ijaw by the British. Also, Ogun was the name of the Prince that turned Benin into an empire, capturing 200 towns, and renamed the great Oba Ewuare 1.
These Oguns are definitely not the same individual which shows that names are given by the specific spiritual or philosophical essence exhibited by the person, which is how we come about the word Orisa meaning Eni Ori Sha, the person whose Ori excels in a specific essence out of the combination of essences in his Ori. We didn’t have surnames but essences identified from birth, either through social or genetic trends. Neither did we keep individual egoist historical records but those of collective essences, which is a better way to make history more understandable and utilitarian.
The same cyclical principle applies to all Orisas. Oduduwa is a cyclic essence of collective leadership, starting with Oduduwa moving us from spiritual beings to those that walk on Earth as humans. Oduduwa is planet Earth, or as Igbos interpret it to be spiritual leadership of the world. Tens of thousands years afterwards, Oduduwa led us from Obatala theocracy to dynastic monarchy, as crowned kings spread from Ife to Benin, Oyo, Onitsha and elsewhere. Contrary to the Eurocentric interpretation of the fight between Oduduwa and Obatala, which some misguided African Modernists have misinterpreted as a fight between two tribes or peoples, Oduduwa is global consciousness and it is believed to have a cycle of 2000 years during which it elevates human sociopolitical and spiritual realities.
The Osun that was one of the 16 Irunmoles sent to Earth by Olodunmare, whose initial marginalization by other male Irunmoles resulted in stagnation and failure, can not be the same Osun that married Shango, nor the Osun that helped drug and defeat the Fulani invaders. Shango Alaafin was definitely not the first Shango essences of Justice and justified use of information, nor the Shango known in Edo. Shango, essence of Justice, and Oya essence of revolutionary change, are only popular in empires that forcibly subject others to their political system like in Oyo Empire.
The Eurocentric linear system misinforms us to wrongly equate all Orisas/planets to Orunmila, Eleri Ipin, the Sun, from whom they split 4.6 billion years ago and revolve around for continued existence. If the Sun/Orunmila Ifa dies, burns out, the entire system dies and all Orisas will seize to exist. Even Obatala, Orisa Nla, Jupiter the biggest of all planets/Orisas will die.
There is scientific evidence that billions of years ago when the system was forming, Obatala/Jupiter was about to swallow up all planets and take over from Orunmila, if not for Obaluaye/Saturn that balanced the gravitational pull to strengthened the solar structure, which enabled Oduduwa to crystalize planet Earth. If Obatala had been successful, the solar system would have collapsed since Obatala can’t generate the heat and magnet pull to make other planets revolve around it. This was the story of Obatala versus Oduduwa before Oduduwa used the rhythmic spiritual influences of Olokun essence with that of Orunmila, the Sun to take leadership.
Unfortunately Western coloniality has warped our perceptions of our knowledge bank, making us come to wrong conclusions and actions both personally and collectively, which is why we remain sociopolitically and economically retarded as a people. Yorubas, according to DNA evidence are the world’s oldest full sized humans and from where the tenets of Original civilization evolved and spread, but can’t fully understand it anymore. Nor Igalas, the second oldest indigenous African group. Nor Igbos, the second most populous indigenous African that have even forgotten the language of Afa, to become the most Christianized Indigenous African groups. Little wonder the whole Black Race is at the bottom of the civilizational ladder.
Just as we witness current Obatala and other Orisas practitioners challenge Ifa Orunmila, the Sun, unknowingly pushing for the collapse of the system, so do we individually chose the wrong lifestyles, visions amd leaders. Or Igbos with the red and white essences of Ogun and Shango, wrongly trading in other civilizations iron products, and pushing for Shango’s Justice as Zionists instead of Afa, ending up frustrated. If you don’t know your spiritual or philosophical essences from your surname and history, how do you know your comparative advantage for economic, social and political advancement?
For me, my strongest essence is Esu/Mercury essence, the morning star that illuminates and enlightens with knowledge, guided my strong Obatala essence of civilization, philosophy and law. My real ruler/motivator is Obaluaye/Saturn essences that comes to restructure the indigenous African civilization, intellectually, economically and politically from coloniality. With a strong Shango essence of Justice and justified use of data pushed strongly with an Oya essence of revolutionary change. All positions of Orisas at my time of birth, akosejaiye.
