| Here are afew excerpts from some scholarly books discussing IFA/Yoruba's cosmology and conceptions of evil forces (the demonic): "Another unifying factor is Yoruba religion's rather usual pantheon of gods and antigods. According to Ifa, the sacred scriptures of Yoruba religion, the religion has a pantheon of 600 + 1 (not 601) supernatural powers. Ifa identifies two main categories of these powers: Irinwo o mole ojukotun Igba mole ojukosi owuro Four hundred primordial supernatural powers of the right, Two hundred primordial supernatural powers of the left. In this excerpt from an Ifa poem, the cosmos is divided into two halves: right-handed and left-handed halves. We have 400 primordial powers on the right, and 200 primordial powers on the left. The powers on the right hand side are the Orisa (I.e., divinities). They are benevolent, but sometimes punish humans who corrupt society. The Yoruba pray and offer sacrifice to the Orisa to achieve their desires. Inhabitants of the left-hand side are the Ajogun (the "antigods"), and they are irredeemably malevolent. The word "Ajogun" literally means "warrior"; hence the Ajogun wage war against both humans and the Orisa. They include Iku (Death), Arun (Disease), Ofo (Loss), Egba (Paralysis), Oron (Big Trouble), Epe (Curse), Ewon (Imprisonment), and Ese (Affliction). There are, however, two supernatural forces that straddle both sides of the left-right divide. These are the Aje (who are usually improperly translated as "witches") and Esu (the universal policeman). Esu is a neutral element in the sense that he is neither good nor bad. He is simply the mediator between all the entities and forces on both sides of the right-left divide. Although the Aje ("witches") also straddle the two sides of the divide, they, unlike Esu, are not neutral. They are allies of the Ajogun. They suck human blood, eat human flesh, and can afflict humans with various types of diseases. The Aje are, however, sometimes benevolent. They can bless particular individuals by making them rich and successful. Often, their blessings come at a high price. For instance, it is believed that one of their favorite prices is to ask for the child of whoever is seeking their favor." [Source: Encyclopedia of Diasporas: Immigrant and Refugee Cultures Around the World. Edited by Melvin Ember, Carol R. Ember, and Ian Skoggard, Pp. 321-322] "Ebo (sacrifice) is a means of symbolic and ritual communication between all the forces of the universe. The Yoruba believe that apart from man himself, there are two opposing forces in the universe, one of which is benevolent to man while the other is hostile. The benevolent forces are collectively known as Ibo (the divinities) [also known as Orisa], and the malevolent agents are known as Ajogun (the warriors against man). The Aje (the witches) are also in alliance with the Ajogun for the ruination of man and his handiwork. Man needs to offer sacrifices to both forces in order to survive. He needs to offer sacrifice to the benevolent forces so as to continue to enjoy their support and blessings. Man needs to offer sacrifice to the Ajogun and the Aje in order that they might not oppose him whenever an important project is embarked upon. The divinity who acts as the middle-man between the three parties mentioned above is Esu who shares a little of the attributes of the benevolent and the malevolent forces. He is the policeman of the universe. Furthermore he is impartial since he will only support the man or divinity who performs sacrifice. This is the meaning of the statement 'eni o rubo, IEsuu gbe'. Once he receives the prescribed sacrifice, he will forbid the Ajogun from harming the supplicant. Esu is the keeper of the ase, a copy of the divine power and authority with which Olodumare created the universe. Esu is therefore the effective ruler of the universe, the principle of order and harmony, and the agent of reconciliation. His wife, Agberu, receives all sacrifices on his behalf. After taking his own share of aaruun (five cowries) and a little bit of the other materials offered for sacrifice, Esu takes the offering to the divinity or the Ajogun concerned. The effect is usually the return of peace and reconciliation between the warring parties." [Source: African Intellectual Heritage: a book of sources. By Molefi K. Asante, Abu Shardow Abarry, Pp. 98-99] I am also attaching a great article to this email exploring IFA's teachings on evil further. Adesh! -Aghor Pir
--- On Fri, 10/22/10, toyin adepoju <toyin.adepoju@googlemail.com> wrote:
From: toyin adepoju <toyin.adepoju@googlemail.com>
Subject: Re: [EvocationalMagics] Re: Angels and Demons
To: EvocationalMagics@yahoogroups.com, "Aghor Pir" <aghorpir@yahoo.com>
Date: Friday, October 22, 2010, 9:51 AM
Aghor,your views are always exciting even though I dont share significant aspects of your approach to life. I'm keen on knowing about African approaches to demons and angels since my knowledge of those traditions is so limited.I would also appreciate any relevant references. I would be happy for a personal communication if Moloch's discomfort about discussing ATR on his list.still stands. Thanks Toyin > Think about it. Say a dude wants to get laid. What kind of girl will a crip, blood, or italian mafioso hook a guy up with? Eh? A diseased crack whore, one in their employee who will make them some cash. <
Not necessarily dude! Have you seen some of the chicks that hang out with the mafioso? We are talking about HOT chicks here! Yeah, there's afew messed-up crack whores, but I find many HOT CHICKS seem to like BAD BOYS much better than nice guys. Ever heard the phrase Nice guys finish last? Tis' true. This world from the start is imperfect. That's because its regulated by an imperfect demiurgic system. Bad people come out on the top, and good guys are left struggling. Fuck the law of Karma! You can play by the rules all the time and still end up horribly fucked over. If you pay attention in the world you'll see the stronger always having the advantageous position in this world. The most horrible people die peacefully in their sleep in comfort. Take Stalin and Mao as an example. Its not a fair world. There is a saving grace... MAGIC(K).. Its one of the few tools that will help you crack through the matrix we are all living in. And to just work exclusively with the guardians of the matrix (translation: angels) is to short-change yourself. Sometimes we need to work with the baddest of the bad, even the mafia, to get ahead, to crack through the prison the archons have placed us in. Thats because these same mafia (translation: demons) have been working against the system all along. They've learned how to get away with breaking the rules to circumvent the matrix and to get their way in life.
> Say a man wants to get rich. For some reason, he goes to M13 and says, hey, can you guys make me rich? What are they going to do? They're going to be all, yeah, man, sure, we'll make you rich, and then they'll go to his house, take his shit, fuck his wife, and put his daughter into forced prostitution while they brainwash his son to believe their way is the right way. Is he goin to be rich? No, but he will appreciate the riches he had before dabbling in shit he couldn't handle. <
Ah, but don't you see that the initial approach is the wrong way? Demons are mostly destructive by nature. They've grown up in the hood, and are bad-asses. You don't ask them to get you rich. You channel their energies into destroying the blocks that are keeping you from getting rich, and you channel their energies carefully for specific situations under specified time-limits. For example you try getting a loan for your business project. Some asshole fat-cat who doesn't like your metrosexual looks prevents you from getting the loan. You don't ask the demons to get you rich. You ask the demon to get rid of the ass-hole fat cat who is preventing you from getting your loan and to replace him with another agreeable fat-cat who will approve it. And you do it while place specific time limits and constraints on that demon, calling his superior if necessary to make sure he keeps to his agreement. So the demon gets rid of the ass-hole fat cat (he gets fired, gets hit by a bus, or whatever... ) and you end up getting your loan. Now you pay the demon what you agreed on. And you don't necessarily invite him into your house like bosom buddies afterwards. You maintain good relations, but you also maintain your space. You have an amicable business arrangement with him. You have an alarm system and a gun in your house to keep out the unwanted, and if things get heavy you call upon the Law (translation: Angels) to patrol your house. And you go to confession afterwards if you feel bad for the ass-hole fat cat. ;)
> Think about what you're saying when you say, "a few bad experiences with them." Most folks are normal average Joe the Plumber types with no experience dealing with the real world underworld. Most folks would get their asses beat if they tried to go into the hood and get instant gratification for the thing you're suggesting heading to the demons for. Most folks' lives would be *seriously fucked.* <
Ah, but is that what I really suggested? I suggested people getting spiritual fortitude (by working with Angels or HGA and attaining spiritual initiations) for 18 months to 2 years before messing with demons. That's like building up one's armor and getting celestial allies just in case the hood turns on you. I never said just jump in and start working with demons. I'm saying you have to build up to it. If you are going to go to the hood to negotiate with the mob, then you need to be in shape, have a weapon (for protection if necessary) and have allies to watch your back. Thats what I said. My way is basically quite similar to Abramelin's way, except that I don't focus exclusively on the HGA, but angels in general. This way was also followed by the Old Grimoire Masters (many of whom were clerics). Even the Golden Dawn expected you to do much spiritual order work before working with demons. > It takes a ruthlessness, a strength, and a cunning wisdom to be able to go into the gangland underworld and make a profit. And you never hear any stories about it ever turning out well when a non-mafioso makes a deal with a mafioso, do you. No, there are always, always strings attached. The only people comfortable in that environment are those who grew up in it and don't know any better. <
In the West there seems to be a more clear line between angels and demons. In the East (most of Asia, especially India, China and Tibet) and in Africa people seem to work with both and have done so for centuries with good results. They make offerings to both demons and angels, and work with either side as needed. Did you know that in Hindu religion that the Judeo-Christian god and angels would be considered demons? Yes tis' true. Over there the gods are called davas and demons are called asuras (there are other types of demons as well such as rakshasas, pretas, etc). Some anthropologists have shown that the Zoroastian deity Ahura Mazda, who was the proto-type of "YHVH" and "Allah" was one of the Asuras in India before the religion moved into the Middle East. In the Zoroastrian teachings devas are called demons, and asuras are called angels. So to a learned Hindu all Christians, Jews and Muslims would be demon worshippers (i.e. Daemonolaters). Heck, even some of the Hindu gods have been classified as demons such as Ganesh the elephant-headed god who ended up as Behemoth in the grimoires. So it may give you a different perspective to see your own religion labeled demonic. Even the peaceful Tibetan Buddhists go so far as to say in the Kalachakra Tantras that Muhammad, Abraham and Jesus's religion is demonic and anti-dharmic, and that there will one day be a great religious war when these demonic religions will be wiped out. So how does it feel to know that more than a billion Hindus and Buddhists consider Monotheistic religions as demon worshippers? One mans demon is another man's god. Thats why I prefer a mono-polytheistic (Hinduism is both) religion which says that we should worship the gods (devas) but still respect and make peaceful offerings to the demons (asuras). And thats why you will see the Virgin Mary and Jesus on the altars of Hindus right next to the idols of Hindu gods. Adesh! -Aghor Pir __._,_.___ . ![]() __,_._,___
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