Olódùmarè: The Unseen, Still, Silent, Genderless Creator

By Olóyè Adéyẹlá Bennett

Ìyalájé Ọbàtálá ni Ifè

In the cosmological system of the ancient Yorùbá Empire in present day southwest Nigeria -- and now in the modern Yorùbá dispersion in the Americas -- Olódùmarè is the all-knowing, benevolent, infinite, just and ever-present Supreme Being.

Olódùmarè is too vast to comprehend and describe completely; however, in this article, I offer my humble experience with Olódùmarè, also spelled Èdùmàrè, our Creator, as follows:

• The Nature of Olódùmarè

• Etymology of Olódùmarè

• Odù Ifá, or The Word of Olódùmarè

• The Stages of Creation

• The Globalization of Ifá Spirituality

• How to Experience the Peace of Olódùmarè

Yorùbá Cosmology is scientific and mathematical.

The author is Olóyè Ìyalájé Adéyẹlá Bennett.

The Nature of Olódùmarè

Olódùmarè is perfect. And eternal. Olódùmarè is the maker and owner of our Solar System, including, the planets, the Earth, the sky, the oceans, the rivers, the mountains, the valleys, the animals, plants, minerals and elements. And humans.

Olódùmarè has no form.

No race.

No nationality.

No religion.

The One, Olódùmarè, is neither female nor male, yet has both "masculine" and "feminine" attributes.

Olódùmarè is a formless spirit. Nonetheless, most Yorùbá speakers today assign male pronouns to describe the Supreme Being. Some Yorùbá speakers conjecture that there are no male or female pronouns in the Yorùbá language; therefore, they resort to the masculine term for Olódùmarè to conform with gendered pronouns in English and other European languages. While the "fathering" of Olódùmarè is convenient, it is not 100 percent factual.

Please enjoy this Oríkì Olódùmarè, or traditional Praise Poetry for Olódùmarè, to better understand our Creator's attributes.

This òríkì (poetry) for Olódùmarè by Remmy Chanter helps to describe some of the Supreme One's innumerable positive attributes.

Etymology

Sophie Bosede Oluwole, PhD, the late Nigerian professor and philosopher, contended that the Yorùbá people of southwestern Nigeria have a singular Supreme Being, Olódùmarè. Despite the reputation for having many gods, Dr. Oluwole said the Yorùbá people have only one Creator.

Dr. Oluwole deciphered the etymology of the word, Olódùmarè, as follows:

Olú: The Owner

Ọ̀dù: The Pot or Cauldon (Universe)

Máré: Always Full (Never Exhausted)

Sophie Bosede Oluwole, PhD.

In English, Olódùmarè can then be defined as The All-Sufficient Owner of the Container of Goodness that is Always Full.

You may ask: "Full of what?" Olódùmarè is the The Owner of the Container that is Always Full of Virtues, such as Beauty, Bliss, Compassion, Justice, Love, Light, Knowledge, Peace, Power, Purity, Understanding, Wealth and Wisdom.

Odù Ifá, or The Word of Olódùmarè

Yoruba traditionalists generally learn spiritual concepts through Odù Ifá, or The Word of Olódùmarè. There are 256 books in the holy Odù Ifá literary corpus. Ifá holds all the knowledge in the Universe, including:

• Cosmology and the Environment

• Ancestry, Family Life and Relationships

• Spirituality (including all global religions traditions)

• Health

• Economics

• Governance

  
  

Ọ̀sá Ọ̀sà Alásùwàdà, which is book number 160 in the holy Odù Ifá literary corpus, tells the story of the "ever becoming" process that creates Life as we know it.

The Stages of Creation

Ọ̀sà Alásùwàdà says there was a Time Before Our Time. It was the Time Before Time.

During that Time, there was No-Thing. No Water. No Gases. No Humans, Animals or Plants. The Yorùbá Ancestors refer to that No-Thingness as Àkàmárà, the Universal Consciousness.

It is from No-Thingness or Universal Consciousness, Àkàmárà, that multiple universes came into existence. Àkàmárà came from Iyami, the Primordial Mothers. In other words, Àkàmárà is Elu Efe, or Omo Iyami, the creation of the powerful, unseen forces of the divine feminine.

Let me share how No-Thingness can Create Everything.

• Awon Babaláwo and Ìyánífá, or Father of Secrets and Mothers of Ifá, write Ifá "letters' from right to left.

• The numeral 0 visually represents Nothingness. Rest. Silence.

• From this place of Nothingness we can create Everything. So, add any number in front of 0 to multiply or expand its quantity, as such: 0, 10, 20, 50, 100, 250, 500, 1,000, 10,000, 100,000, 5,000, 1000,000,000, 999,000,000 and so on and so on.

  
  

The Globalization of Odù Ifá

With zero proselytization, following the Principle of Nothing-ness, the Yoruba spiritual practice is now global. This is due in large part to the 15th to 19th centuries Transatlantic Slave Trade. Between 1780 and 1850 alone, more than 1.12 million Yorùbá women, men and children were forceably kidnapped from their communities and brutally enslaved in the Caribbean, Central and South America, and the United States.

The Yorùbá spiritual practice is called by the following terms in the diaspora:

• Brazil: Candomble

• Cuba: Lucumi or Santeria

• Trinidad and Tobago: Shango Baptist

• The United States, Europe and elsewhere: Ifa Orisha

• Nigeria and elsewhere: Ìṣẹ̀ṣẹ

While the Yorùbá spiritual practice has spread to some 200 million people around the globe, Christianity and Islam have taken a stronghold among the Yorùbá people in Nigeria. Between 1842 and 1843, missionaries arrived in Abeokuta, Nigeria, and began the colonialization process through Christianization. Today, nearly half of Yorùbá in Nigeria identify as Christians, while another half identify as Muslims. The culture, that is, the language, manners, dress and food remain distinctly Yorùbá.

Because of the influence of the Abrahamic faiths, modern Yorùbá people are using concepts to define Olódùmarè that are not necessarily consistent with African tradition. This originated with Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther, a Yorùbá linguist and the first African bishop in the Anglican Church. Bishop Crowther used the name Olódùmarè to represent Jehovah when he translated the Bible into the Yorùbá language.

Olódùmarè is The Source of Everything in our Universe.

Yorùbá people -- Africans in general -- are very open minded and accepting of other cultures and religions. That is easy to do when you are confident in your role as the mothers and fathers of civilization. However, let us be clear: Olódùmarè is not uniquely the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Olódùmarè is the Yorùbá expression of the Still, Silent Maker of our Universe Who Transcends all Religions.

All ethnicities.

All languages.

Olódùmarè has always existed in our World, and always will.

Olódùmarè transcends time itself.

Olódùmarè breathes Èmí into human beings to give life or soul to our bodies, called Ara. Olódùmarè then embues each human with Orí, or individual destiny.

In their wisdom, enslaved Yorùbá leaders in Cuba, and elsewhere in the diaspora, disguised their spirituality as Catholicism. This literally allowed the Yorùbá ancestors to survive at a time when African names, language and spirituality were considered barbaric and outlawed.

Nigerian gospel singer, Labisi, sings soulfully in Yoruba about Olódùmarè.

In his books, IFA: An Exposition of IFA Literary Corpus and Ifa Will Heal Our Broken World, Yorùbá scholar Chief (Dr.) Wande Abimbola, the Àwísẹ́ Àgbáyé, or Spokesperson for Ifa in the world, said all of us are Olódùmarè's children. Dr. Abimbola; therefore, encourages interfaith dialogue about strategies to heal humanity and the planet.

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, Pope Benedict XVI, Rabbi David Rosen and Wande Abimbola, representative for the Yoruba religion of Nigeria, smile as a dove is held up during the interfaith meeting for peace outside the Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi, Italy, Oct. 27, 2011. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

How to Experience the Peace of Olódùmarè

It is Olódùmarè whom we greet first thing in the morning and last thing at night.

Respectfully kneel and put your Orí, or Head, to the ground to greet Olódùmarè.

Hold your Orí between your two hands, and chant:

Ìbà Olódùmarè

We give reverence to the Creator of all Life

Ẹ̀sẹ́ùn Olódùmarè

Thank you Owner of the Universe

Ìbà Yẹyẹ

We give reverence to our Mother

Ìbà Bàbá

We give reverence to our Father

After the morning and evening greeting, make Ìwúre, or Manifestations, to Olódùmarè.

Ìwúre to Olódùmarè can be made anytime.

Anywhere.

In any language.

There is no shrine or temple to Olódùmarè.

You can experience Olódùmarè's presence by silently sitting still in the early morning hours. Preferably, in Nature: In the woods, in the garden, at the seaside, at the river, in the mountains, or under the sky.

And breathe!

The most effective way to receive Olódùmarè's blessings is by living with Ìwà Pẹlẹ́, or Gentle Character.

Empowering your Orí, or Spiritual Head, by living with Ìwà Pẹlẹ́ positively influences others to also have Gentle Character. Creating ripples of peace and love in our Universe.

Odù Ifá Ọ̀sá Ọ̀sà Alásùwàdà says:

If  one Ori is  blessed

It  extends  to  200  others

My Ori that  is  blessed

Has  affected  you  positively

Your Ori that  is  blessed

Has  equally  affected  me  positively

If  one Ori is  blessed

It  will  affect  200  others.

In the next article, I will expand on the Creation of Humans in Ile-Ife, Nigeria, The Cradle of Civilization, some 1.5 million years ago.

The author is Oloye Iyalaje Adeyela Bennett, a traditional Yorùbá Chief enstooled at the Obatala Temple in Ile-Ife, Nigeria, in July 1999 at the recommendation of The Apena of Ife Chief (Dr.) Omotoso Eluyemi. Likewise, Chief Eluyemi initiated her into the Priesthood of Obatala on February 19, 1996. She is the author of Only the Strong Survive: A Womanist Journey. Born Sharon Albury, the author hails from The Bahamas, and lives in Montgomery, Alabama. Please contact her at info@womanistjourney.com.