Expanding Understanding of and Access to Yorùbá Origin Ògbóni Esoteric Order Philosophy, Spirituality and Art

Ogboni edan sculpture holding an edan pair

The figure projects a sense of quiet majesty, expressing an inward identity. The regal bearing is paradoxically enhanced by the figure's freedom from clothing, a nakedness suggesting openness to the gaze of Earth, mother of all and centre of Ogboni veneration.

The genitalia is made prominent to symbolize the creative energy in the procreative capacity that perpetuates humanity, an aspect of ase, creative cosmic force permeating the cosmos as it emanates from Olodumare the ultimate creator.

What is Ogboni?

Ogboni is constituted by a number of esoteric orders, centred in social and spiritual secrecy, concealing the details of their activities as they engage with hidden spiritual knowledge.

Ogboni is a nexus of Yoruba political, judicial, spiritual, philosophical and artistic history.

They were once one of the highest political and judicial authorities in Yorubaland, parallel with Obas.

Image Above

Edan ogboni, Ogboni sculpture representing the human couple as children of Ile, Earth.

Fundamental Coordinates of Ògbóni Philosophy

Ogboni philosophy is one of the richest in history in terms of its underlying concepts.

It unifies the ultimate creator, Olodumare, with Earth, the most immediate reality enabling human existence in the material world and conjoins Olodumare and Earth with the human couple who ensure the perpetuation of the human species.

Ogboni philosophy thus centres Olodumare, the ultimate creator, transcendent and immanent, beyond the reachable yet present everywhere.

Ogboni philosophy conjoins Olodumare with the material universe represented by Earth.

Earth itself integrates spirit and matter, through ase, a cosmic force emanating from Olodumare and permeating existence, enabling creativity and dynamism in all forms of being.

Olodumare and Earth are unified with the human couple.

The human couple dramatizes this unity of complementary opposites that defines Ogboni philosophy.

Image Above

Ogboni sculpture depicting Onile, Owner of Earth and of the Ogboni iledi, Ogboni Sacred House of Congregation built on that Earth.

She squats naked, her genitalia prominent in the traditional Yoruba posture of child birth, as she holds her breasts, firm and ripe, gazing ahead in a stance evocative of feminine erotic and procreative power and its spiritual associations, a complex at the core of Ogboni thought and art.

The Glory of Ogboni Metal Art

Ogboni metal art is magnificent, evoking the unity of the mysterious and the human, potently evoking feminine power and the glory of the human.

Current Problems in Understanding Ogboni

Yet, this great institution that helped sustain Yorubaland for centuries has fallen into disrepute with many in its country of origin, Nigeria, making the Ogboni name synonymous with the inhuman in the minds of many.

True, Ogboni is described as once engaging in human sacrifice as a judicial process, but I dont expect such practices to persist to the present day.

Whatever inadequacies are demonstrated in Ogboni history, Ogboni represents a philosophical, spiritual and artistic culture that can greatly enrich humanity.

This culture is significantly accessible, without joining any Ogboni fraternity.

This is so on account of the high quality scholarly publications on Ogboni.

These publications reflect only a small fraction of Ogboni thought and practice, but they are rich and suggest the scope of Ogboni knowledge, even though significant details, such as the details of Ogboni ritual, are not publicly known.

As a seeker of knowledge who has never been a member of Ogboni, I find this available information on Ogboni sublime and wish to share it with you.

I shall be presenting free online short explanations of Ogboni philosophy, spirituality and art.

I shall also be listing, summarizing and providing works on Ogboni.

I am doing this as a person who is not aspiring to join Ogboni nor trying to recruit members for Ogboni.

My goal is to demonstrate the glory of Ogboni philosophy, spirituality and art.

I also wish to show that this culture can be significantly studied, understood and practiced outside membership in Ogboni, like one can do with Christianity, Buddhism and Hinduism, systems which I also study and practice.

In the process, I develop a new school of Ogboni, the Universal Ogboni Philosophy and Spirituality, one that is open while the other schools are secret.

This effort is one stage in my aspiration to unify African knowledge systems, facilitating their access through texts that guide study and practice.

Ogboni, as one of humanity’s great philosophical, spiritual and artistic achievements, must take its place on the world stage and this is my own contribution, sharing the inspiration I gain from this school of thought and practice.

Image Above

A man and a woman, children of Earth, kneeling in reverence to the great mother.

The woman holds her breasts, symbolizing maternal nurturing of humanity by Earth, nurturing capacity expressed in the human woman.

The man holds his hands in the Ogboni gesture of a finger held in the fist as one fist stands on the other, suggesting the Ogboni centring on quest for hidden knowledge, knowledge symbolized by the depths of Earth, richly nurturing yet far from human gaze, as the finger is concealed within the thumb.

Both figures are kneeling in reverence to Earth, she on whom we walk, whose air we breathe, whose water we drink and from whose body we eat, the mother of the human couple who make life possible, the mother of the family so generated across space and time, the mother whose power keeps us aloft within the cosmic void.

This image is an example of an edan ogboni, a central symbolic form of Ogboni. It is also used as a focus for a spiritual presence to guide the Ogboni initiate.

Image from the Femi Akinsanya Art Collection

You can contribute materially to this project, facilitating research and publication in this landmark in Ogboni Studies, the study of the ideas and practices of Ogboni.

Click here to donate at Ogboni Explorations blog.