Developing Universal Ogboni Philosophy and Spirituality : My Journey
Abstract
This is a statement of my goals, the rationale for those goals, a description of my methods and an account of my progress in developing Universal Ogboni Philosophy and Spirituality, a new school of the Yoruba origin Ogboni esoteric order, centred in Ogboni veneration of the feminine, represented by Ile, Earth, universal mother, represented by male and female human beings as her children.
This initiative is grounded in the aesthetic values of Ogboni bronze sculpture in dialogue with Ogboni philosophy and spirituality, within the context of classical Yoruba thought, framing these conjunctive streams in a global framework integrating African, Asian and Western thought.
This creation is part of my effort in contributing to the development of female centred spiritualities in general, represented outside Africa by my expansion of the Hindu Sri Devi Khadgamala Stotram ritual dedicated to the Goddess Tripurasundari, of which I have published the first part of this reworking of the ritual as “The Journey of Shakti,”.
The larger project contributes to cultivating the potential of African female centred spiritualities, represented by Yoruba origin Iyami spirituality and Igbo Uli art and spirituality, and the further development of the contemporary and timeless significance of classical African thought and practices, from the Yoruba origin Ifa to the Fulani Kaidara and the Ghanaian Adinkra along with other bodies of knowledge beyond Africa.
The essay titles below are linked to the essays in their publication on various platforms.
The cover image above is of an Ogboni sculpture of Onile, Owner of Earth, Owner of Land, representing Ile, Earth, Earth as mother of all and the Ogboni Iledi, sacred meeting house, as integrating the community, and by extension, one may deduce, the human community in its home on Earth, itself nestled within the cosmos.
Immediate Inspiration and Acknowledgement
My immediate reason for producing and distributing this compilation of my work on Ogboni is that of preparing a foundation for unifying my studies on classical Yoruba conceptions of the feminine, correlating Ogboni, the feminine dimension in Ifa, the female focused Gelede and Iyami conceptions, relating these to Igbo Uli art, in the implications of the latter’s origins as an art practiced primarily by women, perhaps relating these with my work on the Hindu ritual the Sri Devi Khadgamla Stotram, dedicated to the Goddess Tripurasundari.
The formulation of the introduction to this listing of work is largely inspired by questions asked of this project by a family friend, David Olusegun Juwape. May he prosper.
Goal
I am developing Universal Ogboni Philosophy and Spirituality, a new school of the Yoruba origin Ogboni esoteric order, in order to demonstrate the glorious significance of Ogboni philosophy, art and practice in contrast to its association with evil and secrecy in the minds of many Nigerians and general ignorance about Ogboni within and outside Nigeria.
Ogboni is one of the world's great celebrations of the sacrality and universal motherhood of Earth in relation to her children, the human male and female, projecting these ideas through inimitable art.
Ogboni thought, practices and art demonstrate a profound sensitivity to the Earth as a matrix sustaining all terrestrial existence, in the fraternity between men and women and between them and all other beings on Earth, a bond reaching into the cosmic home within which the Earth is nestled.
Ogboni philosophy develops in a distinctive manner this ancient idea which is gaining increasing recognition as human development threatens the ecosystemic harmony of the Earth.
These ecological sensitivities are expanding through those human technological and social developments taking humanity into space. The trans-terrestrial vantage point enabled by space exploration further foregrounds the uniqueness, fragility and life sustaining power of humanity's terrestrial home, qualities created by the fortunate convergence of cosmological factors that enable life on Earth, from the balance of gravitational forces in relation to other celestial bodies to Earth’s distance from the sun.
Reinforcing Ogboni reverence of Earth is Ogboni development of one of the world's richest forms of veneration of feminine capacities, understood in Ogboni as an expression of identity with Ile, Yoruba for Earth. This is demonstrated with particular force in the evocative range, beauty and power of Ogboni metal sculpture. This art, a blend of the figurative and the stylized, is uniquely powerful in its evocation of the feminine in terms of a balance of maternality and wild vigor, lyrical resonance and arcane force, voluptuous presence and preterhuman power, venerable potency and nurturing capacity.
Ogboni philosophy also suggests ideas about how best to conduct the journey of life within the terrestrial frame that is humanity's envelope within the cosmic framework. Part of this vision of how to live involves, through the enablement of ritual art, penetrating into and sharing in the point of intersection of spirit and matter.
This aspiration to inter-dimensional conjunctions is centred in methods of facilitating the intersection of what are understood as sentient, sentience enabling and sentience enhancing forms of energy and the human mind within the context of material existence. The goal of this effort is to expand sensitivity to various dimensions of being, cultivating appreciation of the meaning of life and how to best understand its issues and direct the course of one's living.
In Ogboni thought, practice and art, human possibilities are demonstrated at a high level, resonant with the best that has been achieved in related fields while demonstrating unique actualizations of these universal potentialities.
My task is the demonstration of this achievement and an adaptation of its possibilities through modes of expression and media of presentation readily accessible to everyone .
This project aspires to an examination and adaptation of Ogboni philosophy, art and practices, in the context of classical Yoruba philosophy and spirituality, in relation to correlative bodies of knowledge within and beyond Africa, demonstrating Ogboni’s contribution to the global fund of ideas about the meaning and character of existence, enabling the study and practice of Ogboni philosophy and practice by anyone in ways convenient for them.
I have never been a member of Ogboni nor do I seek membership, being largely a do-it-yourself, solitary spiritual and philosophical practitioner and learner. My encounter with the beauty and power of Ogboni thought, however, inspires me to share these ideas with others and contribute to the development of Ogboni thought, art and practice.
Information Sources
My knowledge of Ogboni comes from academic journals and scholarly books, interpreted through the prism of my study and practice of related Yoruba, Benin, Igbo, Akan, Zulu, Asian and Western philosophies and spiritualities, and exposure to nature and other spiritualities in Australia and South America, within the context of a grounding in the intersection of art, philosophy and spirituality in African, Western and Asian contexts.
Method
I prefer to construct my own cognitive systems though dialogue with existing frameworks. I bring to my work on Ogboni this flexibility of approach, developed through grounding in traditional material, interpreting them in new ways, demonstrating both my sources and the directions in which I take them as well as the logic of the novel orientations developed from the older contexts.
The old orientation my work is built upon is constituted by what is already known about Ogboni. The new orientation consists in making this information more widely accessible through the use of such platforms as social media offering greater visibility than traditional academic spaces where most of what is publicly known about Ogboni is published.
The new orientation I bring to bear on Ogboni also consists in degrees of development and adaptation of the previously existing material. This involves interpreting the significance of the knowledge currently available beyond its current level of explication as well as the adaptation of this knowledge in new directions, facilitating its use by people in contexts different from the traditional framework in which they have been previously employed.
These novel strategies of use involve the development of new prayers and rituals adapted from existing knowledge or freshly constructed but inspired by that knowledge.
These new developments are relevant to Ogboni members because they demonstrate possibilities of Ogboni yet unrealized by the group on account of the fresh interpretive strategies and frames of knowledge brought to play on the existing material.
They are instructive to non-members in enlightening them about existing Ogboni values and practices, while demonstrating the yet undeveloped potential of these older orientations, clarifying how they can take advantage of these ideas, living Ogboni philosophy and spirituality without being members of Ogboni in the conventional sense, an approach that could prove attractive to people who might not be inspired by the idea of being members of Ogboni in the traditional manner though they admire Ogboni ideas as clarified by this project.
This project contributes, therefore, in moving knowledge of Ogboni from the shadows of rumor to the light of certainty.
Current Context of Public Knowledge About Ogboni
The name "Ogboni" is associated with occult evil in the minds of many Nigerians, its country of origin. This association is not helped by the secrecy of its older body, the Aboriginal Ogboni Fraternity, as different from the newer Reformed Ogboni Fraternity. The Aboriginal, however, and perhaps even older and more secretive bodies before it, are arguably the historical and ideational core of the place of Ogboni in Nigerian history.
Ogboni social media presence, represented particularly by Facebook, often does not prove very helpful, on account of the difficulty of distinguishing between genuine Ogboni Facebook pages and those set up to propagate questionable claims of being able to assist members secure wealth, that being another value associated with Ogboni in the public mind, along with human sacrifice, evil Satanic associations, among a constellation of the most gross negativities constituting the coming together of people to gain advantage in a society often bedeviled by inequality and uncertainty as Nigeria has increasingly become in its 50 plus years of existence.
There is almost no depth of information on Ogboni beliefs and practices readily available within Nigeria, with more, ironically, readily accessible outside Nigeria. Some books on Ogboni have been published in Nigeria and the West but their visibility is highly limited.
Serious scholarship of significant depth on Ogboni philosophy, practice and history does exist, but this information is confined to academic journals and scholarly books, all published in the West, largely inaccessible to those without access to these resources. Even when, as with the journal archive JSTOR, access to the archive is eased for developing countries, the institutional platforms through which JSTOR can be more readily accessed puts the archive outside the reach of many Nigerians on account of the low level of library culture in the country.
For the rest of the world, publication on Ogboni has not reached anything near the volume and consequent visibility enabled for knowledge systems that share its engagement with similar ideas and aesthetics, such as Western Paganism and modern Western witchcraft, Tibetan Buddhism and Tantra.
On account of these limitations, the power of Ogboni ideas, practices and art as one of the world's great philosophical, spiritual and artistic traditions, and one of the world's great celebrations of the sacrality and universal motherhood of Earth in relation to the primordiality of the human male and female being is largely unknown within and outside Nigeria.
Having gained some exposure to great demonstrations of similar ideations across the world, particularly in Western Paganism and witchcraft and in Buddhism and Hinduism, and come to better appreciate the epistemic significance of Yoruba esotericism, awo, in the context of world esotericism, I am developing a new school of Ogboni.
The new orientation involves making this information more widely accessible through the use such platforms as the social media spaces Facebook and Google and Yahoo groups and open access online document archives such as Scribd and academia. edu which offer greater visibility than traditional academic media.
I am sharing this work in various social media groups to which I belong, targeted at Nigerians and Africans and cross-continental groups centred in various disciplines relevant to the study of Ogboni, My Facebook account gains attention from Nigerians and non-Nigerians who are responding with significant interest to what I have shared so far on this project, interest also demonstrated by responses on the one listserve where this work has been shared, USAAfrica Dialogues Series Google group.
Earlier Vision Statements and Summation of Progress
Progress of Exploration and Construction
20. A. Mystical Journeys in Lagos: Ogboni Mysticism in Urban Space : A Philosophy of Peregrination: Photo Essay (USAAfrica Dialogues Series Google group with a discussion thread)
B. Mystical Journeys in Lagos: Ogboni Mysticism in Urban Space : A Philosophy of Peregrination: Photo Essay [ Facebook with a discussion thread]
26. From a Horned, Naked Woman to Cosmological Physics and Explorations of Consciousness: Developing the Wisdom of the Yoruba Origin Ogboni Esoteric Order through its Multi-Cultural and Trans-Disciplinary Associations : A Voice from the Universal Ogboni Fraternity Part 1
27. From a Horned, Naked Woman to Cosmological Physics and Explorations of Consciousness: Developing the Wisdom of the Yoruba Origin Ogboni Esoteric Order through its Multi-Cultural and Trans-Disciplinary Associations : A Voice from the Universal Ogboni Fraternity Part 2
28. From a Horned, Naked Woman to Cosmological Physics and Explorations of Consciousness: Developing the Wisdom of the Yoruba Origin Ogboni Esoteric Order through its Multi-Cultural and Trans-Disciplinary Associations : A Voice from the Universal Ogboni Fraternity Part 3
29 . From a Horned, Naked Woman to Cosmological Physics and Explorations of Consciousness: Developing the Wisdom of the Yoruba Origin Ogboni Esoteric Order through its Multi-Cultural and Trans-Disciplinary Associations : A Voice from the Universal Ogboni Fraternity Part 3
30. From a Horned, Naked Woman to Cosmological Physics and Explorations of Consciousness: Developing the Wisdom of the Yoruba Origin Ogboni Esoteric Order through its Multi-Cultural and Trans-Disciplinary Associations : A Voice from the Universal Ogboni Fraternity Part 4
31. From a Horned, Naked Woman to Cosmological Physics and Explorations of Consciousness: Developing the Wisdom of the Yoruba Origin Ogboni Esoteric Order through its Multi-Cultural and Trans-Disciplinary Associations : A Voice from the Universal Ogboni Fraternity Part 4
32. From a Horned, Naked Woman to Cosmological Physics and Explorations of Consciousness: Developing the Wisdom of the Yoruba Origin Ogboni Esoteric Order through its Multi-Cultural and Trans-Disciplinary Associations : A Voice from the Universal Ogboni Fraternity Part 5
33. Ogboni : From Myth to Physics: Yoruba Esotericism at the Matrix of Disciplines:A Response to Olayinka Agbetuyi Part 1
34. Ogboni : From Myth to Physics: Yoruba Esotericism at the Matrix of Disciplines:A Response to Olayinka Agbetuyi Part 2
35. Ògbóni :From Myth to Physics : Yorùbá Esotericism at the Matrix of Disciplines :A Response to Olayinka Agbetuyi 2 Part 1
36. Ògbóni :From Myth to Physics : Yorùbá Esotericism at the Matrix of Disciplines :A Response to Olayinka Agbetuyi 2 Part 2
37. Ògbóni :From Myth to Physics : Yorùbá Esotericism at the Matrix of Disciplines :A Response to Olayinka Agbetuyi 2 Part 3
38. Ògbóni :From Myth to Physics : Yorùbá Esotericism at the Matrix of Disciplines :A Response to Olayinka Agbetuyi 2 Part 4 [Mistakenly named part 5 at the link]
39. Ògbóni :From Myth to Physics : Yorùbá Esotericism at the Matrix of Disciplines :A Response to Olayinka Agbetuyi 2 Part 5 [Mistakenly named part 6 at link]
39. Ògbóni :From Myth to Physics : Yorùbá Esotericism at the Matrix of Disciplines :A Response to Olayinka Agbetuyi 2 Part 6 [Mistakenly named part 7 at link]
40. Ògbóni :From Myth to Physics : Yorùbá Esotericism at the Matrix of Disciplines :A Response to Olayinka Agbetuyi 2 Part 7 [Mistakenly named part 8 at link]
41. Ògbóni :From Myth to Physics : Yorùbá Esotericism at the Matrix of Disciplines :A Response to Olayinka Agbetuyi 2 Part 8 [Mistakenly named part 9 at link]
42. Ògbóni :From Myth to Physics : Yorùbá Esotericism at the Matrix of Disciplines :A Response to Olayinka Agbetuyi 2 Part 8 [Mistakenly named part 9 at link]
43. Ògbóni :From Myth to Physics : Yorùbá Esotericism at the Matrix of Disciplines :A Response to Olayinka Agbetuyi 2 Part 8 [Mistakenly named part 9 at link]
44. Ògbóni :From Myth to Physics : Yorùbá Esotericism at the Matrix of Disciplines :A Response to Olayinka Agbetuyi 2 Part 9 [Mistakenly named part 10 at link]
45. Ògbóni :From Myth to Physics : Yorùbá Esotericism at the Matrix of Disciplines :A Response to Olayinka Agbetuyi 2 Part 10 [Mistakenly named part 11 at link]
45. Ògbóni :From Myth to Physics : Yorùbá Esotericism at the Matrix of Disciplines :A Response to Olayinka Agbetuyi 2 Part 11 [Mistakenly named part 12 at link]
46. Can One Achieve Wealth and Power through the Yoruba Origin Ogboni Esoteric Order?:Insights from the Universal Ogboni Fraternity
47. Reworking African Esotericisms : Cultivating Psychic Perception and Cosmic Vision through Sacred Trees, Groves and Forests : Universal Ogboni Fraternity and Aje Initiation Retreat
48. Ogboni and AMORC : Correlating African and Western Esotericisms
49. Majesty and Mystery in the Sculpture of the Ogboni Esoteric Order
50. Majesty and Mystery in the Sculpture of the Yoruba Origin Ògbóni Esoteric Order : The Eldritch Couple
51. The Limits of Esotericism : Concealment and Revelation in the Yoruba Origin Ogboni Esoteric Order
52. Ogboni Mysticism and the Quest for Ultimate Reality
53. From Ogboni to Witchcraft
54. Classics in Ogboni Studies : Babatunde Lawal, Philosopher of Ogboni
Ogboni Explorations blog
55. Self Initiation into the Universal Ògbóni Philosophy and Spirituality: Reworking Classical African Esoteric Systems : 1
Ogboni Explorations blog
56. Self Initiation into the Universal Ògbóni Philosophy and Spirituality 2: Invocation of Ògbóni Philosophers, Thinkers on Ògbóni
57. Self Initiation into the Universal Ògbóni Philosophy and Spirituality 3: Invocation of Onile
58. Self Initiation into the Universal Ògbóni Philosophy and Spirituality 4:Concluding Invocations
59. Self Initiation into the Universal Ògbóni Philosophy and Spirituality 5: Ògbóni/Adinka Stanzas
60. Self Initiation into the Universal Ògbóni Philosophy and Spirituality 6 : Invocation of Edan Ògbóni
61. Self Initiation into the Universal Ògbóni Philosophy and Spirituality 7: The Ògbóni Quest
Ogboni Explorations blog
62. Self Initiation into the Universal Ògbóni Philosophy and Spirituality 8: Seeking Meaning in the Terrestrial Journey
63. Self Initiation into Universal Ògbóni Philosophy and Spirituality 9: Invocation of Ògbóni Forces and Women of Power
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