INFINITY AND TIME
ESU AND THE JOURNEY FROM ORUN TO AIYE
Toyin Adepoju
the path has crossed the river.
Which is the elder?
consulted Ifa on behalf of Esu
When he was about to come to the earth from orun, the place of origins.
"Be careful of any place where roads meet.
Give to the elders of the night,
one leaf divided in two down the middle,
a kolanut broken in two down the centre.
Break your sleep in two down the middle,
by waking up in the middle of the night to offer these sacrifices.
As you offer them, repeat and reflect on the following:
'It is wavering between possibilities
that is the undoing of the indecisive.
It is hasty decisions
that is the undoing of the impulsive.
May I know when to decide.
May I know when to watch and think.
May my vision be whole as the two parts of a leaf are whole.
May I see the various sides of anything, as the kolanut is made of two equal sides, as the night broken in two is incomplete."
So Esu was told by the disciple of Ifa.
Esu gave the sacrifices as instructed. He kept the wise words to heart.
It came to time for Esu to come to earth.
The process involved working out the relationship between time and infinity.
Orun,the world of origins, belongs to lae-lae,infinity.
Aiye,the earth,belongs to the world of time.
To move from orun to aiye,from aiye to orun,from the world of origins to the earth,from the earth to the world of origins,you need to work out the relationship between time and infinity.
Each person has to do that individually,
because the relationship between infinity and time is both universal and unique to each person.
Esu tried to work out this relationship.
" 0 = T ?
where 0 is infinity and T is time.
is infinity equal to time?
No. That cannot be.
Is infinity not the transcendence of time?
0-T?
Is infinity the absence of time?
But the notion of infinity implies time at least as an oppositional concept, because without something different from infinity how can we conceive infinity?
0+T?
Okay...can infinity and time be unified then, since they are both related to duration?
Hmm, intriguing but problematic. Are they not mutually exclusive?
Does infinity not imply the absence of time, timelessness?
But even if they are to be understood as unified, is it in terms of addition?
Or is it in terms of mutual implication, in which one implies the other?"
But even if they are to be understood as unified, is it in terms of addition?
Or is it in terms of mutual implication, in which one implies the other?"
Esu continued searching for the right relationship, still struggling to work out an equation that would help him move from one zone of being to another.
" 0>T ? Is infinity greater than time?
That could be seen as implied by my earlier reflections but does this idea not still imply an opposition between time and infinity?"
T<0
Is time less than infinity? Hmm...probable. But is the relationship between infinity and time one of greater or lesser?
?Is time divisible by infinity? Intriguing.
Is this possible? If infinity is timelessness can one divide it into units? Or should infinity be understood as continuous motion of time?
I suspect I need a way to show time and infinity as part of each other."
So Esu thought.
"Instead of trying to work out linear relationships between time and infinity, why don't I try an imaginative relationship?
Why not try to relate the visual forms of the symbols I am using for time and infinity and see what emerges?
How?
Use topology-demonstrating relationships through imaginative manipulation of form.Showing two different forms are similar beceause one can be imaginatively transformed into the other on account of their underlying visual similarities.
Can the symbol for time T , be shown to have a relationship with 0, the symbol for infinity?
Stretch the T into a form like the 0.
Like this: ?
Yes.
At last.
Time and infinity are then shown to be correlative through one visual symbol.
Esu praised the babalawo.
The babalawo praised Ifa.
The babalawo always consults Esu in order to speak to Ifa.
To learn from Esu how to move between time and infinity.
We made the path and found the river.
The path is the road we have been walking since the beginning of time.
The river is from long ago.
The river is from before time.
The river is from the creator of the universe.
The path is the road we have been walking since the beginning of time.
The river is from long ago.
The river is from before time.
The river is from the creator of the universe.
This poem is inspired by the literary tradition of Ifa,the system of knowledge,spirituality and divination first developed by the Yoruba of southern Nigeria but which has been further developed within Nigeria and its neighbours and spread globally,particularly through the African Diaspora.
The poem is part of an effort to develop a system of knowledge inspired by the ancient tradition, developing this in terms of a modern context that draws from as broad a range of knowedge as possible,reflecting an interpretation of the cosmic aspirations,some would say the cosmic reach, of Ifa.
The immediate inspiration for the composition of this ese ifa is Carolyn Hillyer's use of symblic short stories of varying length,along with songs, in her exploration of a relationship between the human feminine and the terrestrial and cosmic worlds in Sacred House:Where Women Weave Words into the Earth and Martin McLaughin's description of the correlation of the philosophical,the comic and the cosmic in Italo Calvino's The Complete Cosmicomics,Penguin Modern Classics 2010, in his introduction to the book.
First three lines-from "Akan Drum Poetry" translated by Kwabenia Nketia.
Last stanza adapted from "Akan Drum Poetry" translated by Kwabenia Nketia.
I would have liked to arrive at the conclusion in a more sophisticated manner but I dont know to do that yet.
Esu's solution to the infinity-time dilemma is represented on various opon ifa,Ifa divination trays.Esu's face is shown at the top of the opon ifa,overlooking the empty space of the tray where the babalawo,the master of esoteric knowledge of Ifa, explores questions in the context of the intersection of time and infinity.
This intersection could be seen as suggested by the image on opon ifa of interlaced circles forming a spiral as described by Babatunde Lawal in "Aya Gbo Aya To:New Perspectives in Edan Ogboni"with reference to edan ogboni, Ogboni art, which shares central symbolism and metaphysical values with Ifa:
"The spiral or concentric circles motif....represents the spin (ranyinranyin) of the cone-shaped bottom of the small snail shell (okoto), a children's toy associated with increase, dynamic motion,and, by extension, with the transformatory power of Esu, the divine messenger who mediates between the orisa and Ile[orisa-divine personalities;Ile-Earth]
Others identify the motif with the motion of a whirlpool, signifying the expansive power of Olokun, the goddess of the sea and abundance. ... Earth and Water... in essence...two aspects of the same phenomenon.. Iya Nla [the Mighty Mother] (Mother Nature), alias Olokun ajaro okoto ("The sea goddess, who whirls like okoto").
... black mud from a river or lake is a vital part of the ingredients used in consecrating an altar to Ile, and a fish-legged figure often dominates the relief decoration on Ogboni doors and drums thus linking the terrestrial realm with the aquatic. ... the spiral or concentric circles motif [ is ]a metaphor for the rhythm of life, and increase (iresi)".
As described by Denis Williams,the presence of mud in the Ogboni symbol and energy matrix that embodies Earth stands for earth.The symbolism of mud in correlation with that of the spiral in Ogboni cosmology evokes Earth as universal mother. In Ifa cosmology it evokes Oduduwa, understood as both historical progenitor of the Yoruba people and a primal progenitor of the human race,active at the creation of the earth.
As described by Bascom,Johnson,Gleason and Soto,the presence of mud in the Ifa Igba Iwa,the calabash of existence embodying the unity of being, indicates Oduduwa as one of the four primary constituents of this unity.The Igba Iwa is also known as or is related to the Igba Odu,the calabash of Odu,a calabash often used as both embodiment and symbol of the encapsulation of creative power understood in terms of the generative capacities suggested by the visual similarity between the stomach of the pregnant woman and the calabash.
Odu is the generative personality manifest in the intersection of matter and consciousness,as described by Awo Falokun Fatumnbi in "The Ifa Concept of History" and suggested by Joseph Ohomina's description of odu ifa as the names of all possibilities of existence,from the abstract to the concrete,from situations to objects and emotions.
The wisdom of Ifa emerges through the intersection of the cosmic wisdom of Odu with the specificities of existence.
Witte describes the interlace pattern motif as expressive of "Osumare, the ever moving rainbow serpent, symbol of continuity and permanence…who encircles the world to hold it together…the principle of movement, the integrating force that bids the primordial elements together".
Taken together, the Lawal and Witte interpretations correlate images of cosmic continuity, linkage between differing ontological forms, macrocosmic and microcosmic elements and the process of mediating between them as these mediations suggest change and transformation from one state of being to another.
Taken together, the Lawal and Witte interpretations correlate images of cosmic continuity, linkage between differing ontological forms, macrocosmic and microcosmic elements and the process of mediating between them as these mediations suggest change and transformation from one state of being to another.
Can the spiritual authenticity of ese ifa,Ifa literature,which is used in a divinatory context,and is bound with magical values,be actualised in a context different from that sanctioned by the custodians of the traditional understanding of Ifa? What is the value of this literature beyond this spiritual context? Can it serve as an inspirational form for a purely secular literature? Is that desirable?
These questions emerge in the context of the fact that ese ifa has hardly been approached, adapt, or used outside its traditional context,even though it is perhaps the world's greatest collection of literary texts developed within one system,although created by different artists over centuries,in different parts of Yorubaland and present day Nigeria and its neighbours.
I will examine these questions with time as well as present the views of others on these issues.
The structure of this ese ifa is modeled on the ese ifa collected and translated by Wande Abimbola in An Exposition of Ifa Literary Corpus and Ifa Divination Poetry.
Also blogged at Ese Ifa.
You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin.
For current archives, visit http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
For previous archives, visit http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue-
unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
No comments:
Post a Comment