WHAT AIN'T IN IFA--CHAKRAS

                                                                               WHAT AIN'T IN IFA--CHAKRAS                                                                                                                       *  ORISHA’s & IFA'S  ARA (BODY) "ASHE" COMPARED TO SIMILAR   CONCEPTS IN EASTERN       
                                                         THEOSOPHY AND KEMET'S VITALIST THEOLOGY

                                                                                                                                   ©Alashe Michael Oshoosi, 2019                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          PART ONE                                                                         Why I Have Written This Essay                                                                                                                                               While I do not encourage Orisha/Ifa practitioners to use the language of Kemet or of Kundalini yoga’s “chakras” in explaining the functioning of human beings, plants and animals, the fact is that on the Internet one finds hundreds of entries that freely analogize to (or literally “incorporate”)  these  Mediterranean-rim  and  Eastern conceptions into Orisha/Ifa rel- igion. True, in many ways their concepts are roughly analogous to  the  dis- tribution  of  "ashe"  in  the  body  in Orisha /Ifa  ideation, but  because they  are  similar  does not authorize  one  to claim  that the “Pillar of Djed” (i.e., the spinal column containing  its "seven Souls of Ra" IN KMT RELIGIONS) nor the “chakras” of Kundalini yoga are a part of Orisha/Ifa religion per se. They are not.                                                                                  * Tragedy will have authored its masterpiece if some people take this opinion to be a ‘put down’  or dismissal of the “subtle energy”  conceptions of  the ancient Kemites or the  Eastern  theosophists. I have no such intention. I  do  believe  that  there are “energies” that, ipso facto, permeate all physical masses, including the bio-stuff of which we are made. And  some scientists believe  indeed that all “mass” and "matter” particles are but conglomer- ations or PEAK concentrations of various and sundry energy fields. They call them "quantum fields." No problem.                                                                                  That said, there is a good likelihood then that humanity has  been on to something for millennia  in  its  views, of  which there are myriads,  that subtle  energy may be manipulated by one living thing so as to affect the functioning—great or small—of some  other  living things; even  at a dis- tance—near or far. (But  I  must  admit  that when  most  people  that I  hear  start  explaining  things  in  terms  of “energies” is  when I start  thinking about putting one of my  hands on  my  wallet and  the  other on my knife because—except for scientists—I know that most often they are using this catch-all  euphemism  to conceal the sad fact  that  they  do  not  a have a clue as to what they are talking about in bandying about this term—"ener- gy"--the most abused one in the English language. Thus, I do have questions as to whether the explanations or “constructs” like “chakras" are partic- ularly informative, sufficiently definite, reliable, and falsifiable as to be regarded as accurate.                                                                                                                                                     They, as concepts,are more likely than  not “place holders”for real know- ledge. That  is,  they  may  serve  merely  as  provisional  concepts  awaiting  (so  far  for  about twenty  thousand  years) truths  about subtle “energies” that are actually demononstrable and  of predictive value. But, as  proxies--albeit  hopelessly  metaphysical  ones--they yet serve as a common vocabul-ary that gives  their  proponents  a sense of shared  understanding. And, in  respect of practical  and  even clinical reality, for them this shared exper- ience--because this term is so widely used--appears to be virtually self-val- idating. And, therefore, is in no need of further reflection.                                                                                                                                                   My  concern is  not  whether  the  concepts of  “chakras” (or  the  seven "Souls of Ra” in Kemetic theology  and  theosophy) are valid or useful. I  think  that it  is patently obvious that  people, in great numbers, will attest  that  gurus,  shamans, Reiki "energy"  manipulators, Tibetan  bell  song  practitioners, Kemetic  priests  and  numerous  other “healers” must be doing something right in THE LIVES OF OTHERS BY increasing their health and theIR  content- ment and well-being in life by  the manipulation and alignment of the chak- ras (or of the breath, or whatever ELSE they see themselves as doing) for their clients by making references to them--the "chakras"--even if they are at a loss—speaking honestly--to explain their metaphysics  in the slightest.                                                                                  After all, there was a time not  long  ago  when “chi” (“energy”) was manipul- ated  in the body with  acupuncture  on  the  theory  that  it  was channeled through “meridians” distributed in the  body (like lymph vessels)  though no anatomist  in  the  world  had  ever  dissected a  body   and   found  a  single branch  of  one. Yet, truth  be told, in recent years evidence  of such  bodily “energy” channels have  been  demonstrated. So, I am not saying that “chak- ra” centers (or "wheels") of  energy  do  not  exist, but I do believe that, so far, we know nothing about them except their putative or proclaimed proper- ties.                                                                                  Now know that the Mediterranean-rim world, including lower Kemet, and the Eastern world have been built on ideas of physics and mechanics (and metaphysics) and mathematics that have given them an unshakable faith in “exactitude,” “precision,” and “purity.”And they  also believe  that  the  high- est  form  of existence  is permanently  to  experience  departure  from  rein- carnation  back  into  this  rather  messy world; one steeped in suffering. But nothing could be  further  from  the  world-view of traditional sub-Sahar- ans of  west, central and Bantu south African extraction and its diasporan progeny (that would be us).                                                                               Not so in our heritage: Our's was moreso rooted in  orality  and  biology; and much less so in  mathematical computations, mechanics, cosmic geometry and broader physics (including theIR metaphysicS "physics" of the  "energy flows" and "energy circuitry "in the body.  We  were the  world’s original zoologists and ethologists, botanists  AND HERBALOGISTS and mineralists. That is, our’s was a world of living qualities more so  than a  world  of  pure, transcendent "perfect  forms," of categorical  essences, or of abstract mathematical quantities and their relationships that are embedded--"num- erically"--in the universe. That is, for them, ours was a universe (and "nat-
ure" within it) which WERE embedED and governED BY mathematical  AND  "EN- ERGY" METAPHORS OF PHYSICS AND PUTATIVE "ENERGY" METAPHYSICS OF THE BODY.
                                                                                       By contrast,  concerning  THEIR obsessions  with  exactitude, we know  that  there are no straight lines in nature and we know  that, with the obserVA- ble "lawful" regularities of physics notwithstanding, there are no math- ematics, per se, embedded in nature. And we know that  there  are no exam- ples of  complete  purity in nature--not even in  respect of the overly-educ- ated  pieces  of coal  that we  call  diamonds nor even with the presumed pur- ity of rain water. (Please see the essay entitled "What Ain't In Ifa--MathEM- ATICS"-- in this website).                                                                                        Our spirituality was, therefore—quite unapologetically—“BIO-animist” in nature;   thank God! And, therefore, we respected  a  creative, not formal- istic, qualitative version of life’s “energies” and cultivated  them in every dimension of  this  world  that involved any living thing. In Yoruba  relig- ion, whether the “Isheshe Alagba'ye” original versions in Nigeria, the Luc- umi  version in Cuba and  the United States, or the Candomble version in Brasil, this concept is called “ashe" (pronounced "ah-shay").                                                                                   ThIS idea—ashe--is  somewhat  akin  to  the  concept  of  “ki” or “chi,” or prana, in the East.  But  for  us, our vitalism connotes “creative  force”; not  just an 'energy force.' It  also  connotes  the  concepts  of  affirmation,  menstrual  blood,  blood  in  general  and  even  the  parts of the animals’ innards that are necessary for it to live and that we offer the orishas when we "feed" them (we give them only the "ashes" of  the  animals  and  plants  that  we work with). Thus, black  African culture speaks of the biological and  the spiritual—life-based and  affirming “ashe”--and  not  so much the  abstract  "energies"of  physics and metaphysics like the Kemitic, Grecian and Eastern theosophists do.                                                                                                                                                                                        PART TWO                                   Why This Essay Is Directed to Yoruba Practitioners                                                                                                                                                         This reflective piece is addressed to Yoruba religious practitioners; case-closed, full-stop. All, however, are free to consider my thoughts, but it is directed to those who, to one extent or another, are accolades of Yoruba  thought and  the Yoruba mentality.                                                                                    Whether you are an onlooker, or an alejo (“aleyo” in Spanish), or an abori- sha, olo’risha, awo, baba’locha, iya’locha, babalawo, oba oriate, iyanifa, an italero, an obasa—i.e., whatever may be your role, stake or station in the religion (but especially if you are a pre-initiate, an  initiate or  a  full-on‘ working’  priest  or  priestess), I urge you to attend to this polemic. It is, es- pecially among us African-Americans, quite noticeable that we tend tow- ard the eclectic and toward  freely “mixing  our  saints” and “working on two or three mats at a time” in  expounding  and appropriating Yoruba  rel- igion, on the one hand, with Kemetic  theosophy  (including what they know of “Egyptian religion”and Hermeticism) and Eastern ideas, on the other.  This is, of course, understandable, but not wise, per se.                                                                                   This is a misunderstanding. Our people put “African”in every aspect of life that was, otherwise, Catholic-Hispanic in the New World. But you can ,be sure that there was virtually nothing (except  a candle here or there)  that was  Catholic  going on inside Yoruba religion i.e., inside “the Room” or the sacred groves--igbodu(s)--that preceded "the Room(s)." In other words, nothing Catholic was brought into the inner sanctums of the Isheshe Ag- baye, Lucumi (Santeria), Candomble nor any other variant of Yoruba relig - ion. (And what goes on in “the Room” is,in fact, the only thing that really counts as sanctified or non-negotiable, ritually-speaking, and in respect of secrecy)!                                                                                  AND, again, do not let us lose sight that  there  are also significant world view differences between  that  of  the “black African” world view, i.e., the  west  Africans, the Bantus of central and south Africa (not to mention the Sans or forest people of central Africa), on the one hand, and  the  Mediter- ranean-rim  cultures (i.e., those countries near the Mediterranean) or the far East, on the other, as alluded to above.                                                                                   It is only for this reason that I  have  entitled this  series of essays  quite colloquially: “What  Ain’t  In  Ifa” (i.e., “what  ain’t in Yoruba's Orisha/Ifa religion”). Our  focus here, of course, is  on  the  concept of “chakras” and  the seven "Souls of Ra” but, in due course, I will take on matters like what extent, if any, are the ideas of mathematics, astrology, melanin-racism theory,” and PHYSICS, ETC.,  as “being in Ifa” (or not).                                                                                                                                     We, African-Americans have a distinct penchant for unwisely, and impul-
sive ly taking eclectic liberties (even with the  best of naïve intentions) in naively combining doggone nearly everything of interest to us that, per- chance, we have been exposed to that is not western (or that they mistak-- enly believe in non-western) . But this  habit can, at times, be disrespectful to our particular cultural heritages and  our priestly  lineages with ATR's that extend back into west and central  Africa history  and projects to us right here in north America today--particularly if we do so wittingly.                                                                                    Orisha/Ifa is a complete psycho-spiritual  religious  system  that does not need “legitimatization” by naïve  syncretization with  other world views. The hard-core roots and  nature  of  the  Kemetic and Eastern  world views  are  substantially  different (especially  psychologically-speaking) from  THE west and  Bantu  central African world-views of the true ancestors of the diasporan African-Americans.                                                                                                                                                But, alas, for those who simply “must” make naïve comparisons and syncret- izations, I offer the following: IN ORISHA-IFA religion THE "ENEGRY CENTERS" OF THE BODY ARE ALL OVER THE BODY; NOT JUST IN "7" SPECIAL POINTS OR ORGANS                                                                                                                                                                                         PART THREE

                        ORISHA / IFA CONCEPTIONS OF BODILY “ENERGY" CENTERS AND FLOWS                                                                                                 THE ELERI CAN ONLY BE LIKENED TO THE CROWN, AS THE "7th  CHAKRA")

THE "ELERI" OR "ATARI," AT THE TOP OF THE HEAD, IS LIKE THE CROWN "CHAKRA."  IT ISA VERSION OR THE "HEAD OF THE HEAD" OR OF "THE  Ori."  AS ONE'S "HEAD,"  IT IS,  
In Its ESSENTIAL NATURE, Godly (I.E., A DEITY, AN ORISHA).  BUT IT IS NOT "Pure"--THOUGH A DEITY-- BECAUSE Only GOD-ALMIGHTY, Olodumare ,is "TRULY Pure"  (MEANING Invisible). Olodumare is "Oba MimỌ"--The Pure King)                                                                             THE (el)'ORI (head, destiny, intelligence, consciousness) IS ONE'S most impor-
tant PERSONAL orisha). AND IT MANIFESTS ITSELF IN A PERSON IN MANY WAYS.  ORI ODE, FOR EXAMPLE, IS one’s persona OR the “head” (its looks and habits) that IS presented to the public. WHILE THE ORI INU  (OR Your “inner orisha”) or your oju inu IS ONE'S or “inward-looking eye.  AND EVEN THIS IS DIFFERENT, BY  CON-TRAST,  TO WHAT IS CALLED ONE'S  ori apere /ORI-OKAN (“Eri- okan”)  or your “heart 'S conscience."  INDEED, THE CONCEPT ORI  HAS MULTIPLE OTHER MEANINGS THAT GO TO ONE'S PERSONAL EXISTENCE. THE OLORI  MEANS ONE'S "guardian  ANGEL" OR THE orisha  who “owns” your  head,  I.E., your asiniwaye. AND THIS TOO MAY BE CON- TRASTED TO ONE'S IPONRI  OR ONE'S "ego ideal” HEAD;  the ideal you THAT REMAINS
IN HEAVEN (IKOLE ORUN) EACH TIME YOU REINCARNATE BACK INTO AN EARTHLY LIFE.

ORI’RE’RE (“ori’ire’ire") MEANS "a really “good” or  intelligent  head" vs. ori-buruku or ori ibi--a “bad” head. A BAD HEAD  that can only be ADDRESSED BY cultivating a  good  character) BY A RITUAL OF STRENTHENING THE HEAD CALLED EBBO’LE’RI . THIS RITUAL  IS an  act  of  feeding or  strengthening  and  aligning the  Ori.  FINALLY, AN ORISHA (a deity)  IS a “selected or special head." AN OBA ORIATE  (or an Obasa, if  female) is a  master-of-ritual ceremonies (like INIT- iations) that serves as the Lucumi equivalent of a babalawo WHO sits at  the  head of the mat WHEN DOING DIVINATIONS. 

THE TERM HAS MULTIPLE MEANINGS. FOR EXAMPLE, as shea butter OR AS IN;  Orisha Ikole Obirin (motherhood/ femininity). ORI EGUN is the isheshe aLAgba'ye (or TRADITIONAL NIGERIAN TERM FOR THEcollective wisdom of the ancestors of the world.   ORI'RE DAADAA  (IS LIKE THE PHRASE "good luck" EVEN THOUGH the Yoruba do not belieVE in random "luck" of any kind; something is always "behind" it).                                                                                                                                           ORI  or IBORI MAY BE a ritual deity object --i.e., a pot or vessel --that can  be  made  and “fed” in place of one’s actual head AS WELL. (This is analogous to the "reserve head"--a statuette of a person's head--that was often placed in the tombs of the deceased in Egypt in case the mummy's actual head  was  damaged or  degenerated--so that he  or  she  could  successfully make  it  into the Eternal Afterworld). It is an  altar  dedicated  to propitiating  0Ne’s own ori inu) / ORUN ORI (one’s  hair  style  that shows confidence, ORGaniz- ation, beauty, and  is a  part of the ori ode).  IMORI (a reading  done  by a baba-lawo  for an infant at three days of age to  determine  the  nature  of  the infant's Ori Joto (his  or  her destiny, intelligence and persona). 

And  this  is  done  before  the  infant’s  feet  are  permitted  to  touch  the ground in the essent’aiye naming ceremony between seven and nine days of age). When a destiny-reading "itan" is done anytime after the person is an infant, the process is called an AKOSEJAYE ceremony. In the west we call the destiny reading of a new initiate his or her "itan" or destiny story. IPORI is the in-dwelling 'heavenly head' that can rise to the level of a possession, the experience of INI.  ORI is also  a type of wild pigeon.  finally, the "oke ipori" is a state of possession cultivated by babalawos on a weekly basis that MEAns "the summit of their ego ideals."
                                                                                                                                                                                        Similarly, in Yoruba  culture we have  the term ORIKI  (a praise  name or  leg- endary  account of an ori's--that  is, a person's--reputation  in life). Also there is a concept called ORILE  (that signifies the avatars of an ori ). ORI-OTUN (one's hairstyle that shows itself to Heaven (Otunowa), and ORI-IKA (are one's finger tips that comb the hair IRUN ORI  or a grove of hair) and IPONRI (collective unconscious & ego ideal = clairvoyance and psychic ab- ility's source; as ogbon inu or intuition and ISIRI  (FROM ishe ori   MEANING THE ORI'S inspiration WORK). 

The APARI'S (deep unconscious) ability,a part of ori inu, allows one to have iwa pele--intuition or sensitivity. Finally,the OSUN (not to be confused with "Os- hun," the orisha) is directly connected to the ori in the sense that it (they) are "transmission wires"  between Ikole Orun or Ile'run ("heaven"), on the one hand, and one's ori, on the other: warning, as it does, of imminent dan- ger to the head. It may be a fetish of a large of small metal rooster atop a cup-and-stand, it may be a design painted on the top of the skull or on the floor (like a Haitian veve, Yoruba ATENA, OR THE SANTERIA "FIRMA"), or it may be a  filled water-gazing glass set atop an ancestral alter. A good diviner sal- utes his or her Osun before divination for self-protection. The IGOGE are the various maturational stages of the ori  AND THE IPARI is the spirit that moves the body.                                                                              Finally, in addition to the points of  the  body described  here as “owned” by various orishas (i.e., like "chakras"), Orisha/Ifa  priests/esses also stimulate  and  “feed”  at  least five points on the cranium: Iwaju, (the forehead and the "third eye"), Eleda / eleri /ATARI (the crown), Eshu ni paco" (back of head/neck and which means"MAY Eshu NOT decapitate my wisdom." and is said as one touches both temples AND BACK OF THE NECK),   as well as  the sternum, the  abdomen and  all  of  the  major joints and  feet  of  the body  (see below). These  are  places  of  ori 'sheshe  or places where spiritual power enters the BODY.                                                                                                                                                    We  do not speak of the “cleansing” the “Ori” per se since, when it is “fed” in a “rogation"or “ebbo l’eri” ritual  (as  described  immediately above), it  will "cleanse"  itself. The fetishization of and  obsession  with “pure” states  of  life   and  the  concept of “purification cleansing” from  outside  manipulat- ions  and   ministrations of priests  /esses  or  gurus  is  not  the  way "align- ment" is  conceived of  in Orisa /Ifa  religion (especially  in  the Afro-Cuban  Lucumi  variation). "Purity" in  the  west  and  central  African cultures does not operate obsessively as it does for Kemite adepts, Americans (generally), and Eastern religionists and philosophers (like Hindus or Buddhists).

The closet thing that we have to the concept is"meticulous cleanliness" that is maNdated  when  the  odu  "Ofun Mafun," as an  example, shows  up in  an Ifa divination reading. Awere,  a type of sage, the smudging of which fac- ilitates a  cleansed  soul, can be helpful in appeasing this Olodu.).                                                                                 But, between shit and piss are we all born! That is, from this rather "impure" and messy scene, the  most  exalted,  potent  and  complex thing  in  the Univ- erse  is born. And  in this world, therefore,  one  can  never be born  into  nor remain in a  "pure” state (clean  is  okay--but “pure"?--for  very  long?  Doubt- ful!) So  why  fetishize  it?  As an illustration: Both in the western, Mediter- Ranean-rim  and  Eastern  world  views, sexuality  is  often  neurotic.  For them, sexual intercourse is alien; some thing "impure"; something reflect- ng our "lower selves," i.e., or our"concupiscent nay-chas!" (Oh... ooo ... mio!)  But,  abstention  from  sex  does  not  make  people  "pure!"  Fidelity and loyal- ty with one's sex partner(s) is what makes one AS CLOSE TO "pure" AS YOU ARE LIKELY TO GET!                                                                                  But  the “Revealed  Religions”  of  the  Mediterranean-rim  world,  and  the  Eastern world, with all of their sex guilt complexes, would make you think differently on the questions  of “purity” and “impurity” in one’s life. In  their  views  you  were  literally born into guilt and sexual sin (except in al-Islam where one is born into a state of Islam--peace! but then that only  lasts for a moment UNTIL "RE-SUBMISSION" TO ALLAH LATER IN LIFE OCCURS).                                                                                                                                            But I  invite you to think deeply.  FEEL NO GUILT FOR NOT HAVING, HERETOFORE, A RICHER UNDERSTANDING OF OF THE MULTIPLE MEANINGS OF THE TERM "ORI."After all, “guilt,” upon reflection, is  really  nothing but fear; IN FACT, two  kinds of  fear, to  be exact: the  fear  of  abandonment  and the fear of reprisal for having committed SOME “transgression.”                                                                                                                                            I recommend  not  burdening yourself with abstract obsessions  like  the  nature of "purity" and its pursuit. It is cleanliness that is "next  to Godlin- ess, not “purity.” And thus the Ori strives, therefore, for“Godliness.” And it accepts  that God engendered orishas and in their personifications they sometimes had foibles,"impurities," situational ethics,  and inattentive mom- ents. I suggest leaving the OCD (obsessive-compulsive  disorder  complexes) about "purity" to the Mediterranean-rim folk and the far Easterners like the Buddhists and Hindus.                                                                                  Similarly, in the true legacy of West and Central Africa, obsessions with “higher and lower selves” do not apply (as implied by the "Pillars of Djed" when projected onto the  body  as  the  seven "Souls  of  Ra" or  as “chakras” as  the  Easter  theosophists would have it). There is  only  one “self.” And  that “self” (as one’s ori)  has  multifold foci or locations in the  body as  well as in the “heaven” from which a body periodically finds its reincarnation source. But no aspect of ori is "higher or lower" than any other aspect of it while we are here on Earth.  YOUR Ori is a MULTIPLEX, BUT STILL UNIFIED, ORISHA.                                                               So, again,  for those  anguished  souls  who simply must  syncretize Mediter- ranean-rim sentiments and Eastern theosophy into their Yoruba under- standings (or misunderstandings as may be the case) let me indulge you further:                                                                                                 IN IFA THE "IWAJU" CAN ONLY BE LIKENED TO THE FOREHEAD'S  "THIRD EYE" OR "6th" CHAKRA".
                                                                             IFA (ORUNMILA) IS THE  WITNESS  TO DESTINY AND INSIGHT. IFA "CONNECTS THE DOTS" OF THE WORLD;  “IFA HAS A  MIRROR  CAPABLE  OF  SEEING THE LENGTH OF A YEAR. THAT IS, IFA 'HAS  GREAT  UNDERSTANDING)'; “IFA  HAS  SEEN  IT  ALL”;  “IFA LOOKS IN ALL DIR- ECTIONS AT ONCE” AND IFA HAS  HINDSIGHT, FORESIGHT,  AND INSIGHT). THE ORI OJU INU  IS ALSO IFA'S "IWAJU" AREA BUT IN ORISHA-IFA THERE IS NO "THIRD EYE" CONCEPT PER SE; THIS IS  BUT A METAPHOR FOR INTUITION OR "OGBON INU".  THIS 'INNER WIS- DOM' AREA OF THE FOREHEAD--THE   IWAJU--IS THE "FACE (EYE) OF THE CHARACTER." THE CROWN OF THE THE HEAD, THE "ATARI" OR "ELERI," IS THE SOFT SPOT THAT ORI EN- TERS THE BODY.                                                                                                   OBATALA  CAN ONLY BE LIKENED TO  THE THROAT AS THE "5th CHAKRA"                                                                                 WISDOM, FOREBEARANCE,  CREATIVITY, HEALTH, COOL-HEADEDNESS  ARE  THE ATTRIB- UTES OF OBATALA. HOT SENTIMENTS ARE COOLED AS THEY ESCAPE THE THROAT, THUS OBATALA GIVES THE  CLIENT CONTENTMENT AND COURAGE, AND  SELF-CONFIDENCE AND A ROYAL BEARING."ESHU (ELEGBA) GIVES  US  THE  ROAD,  SHANGO  TEACHES  US  HOW TO FIGHT ON THE ROAD, BUT  IT  IS OBATALA WHO  KNOWS THE  REASONS FOR THE ROAD." HOWEVER, IN SOME VARIANTS OF IFA, OBATALA IS LIKENED TO THE BRAIN AND THE BODY'S HAIR.                                                                                                                     OGUN CAN ONLY BE LIKENED TO) HEART AS THE "4th CHAKRA"                                                                                 OGUN!  PROTECTOR  OF  THE  HEAD AND THE  PEOPLE,  SKILL,  SELF-POSSESSION, MOUNT- ING  TALL  (CHALLENGING)  THINGS,  BOUNDLESS  ENERGY, STINGY WITH TALK,  OWNS POWER,  IRON, VIRILITY, SENSITIVITY, MECHANICAL AND MEDICINAL CREATIVITY, SKILL, CRAFTSMANSHIP  AND   DIPLOMACY (VERSUS)  BEING  STUCK-ON-STUPID LEVELS OF AG- GRESSION WHEN ANGERED OR AT WAR, OR WHEN HE IS IN THE THROWS OF SELF-DES- TRUCTIVE, SELF-IMPALING, EMOTIONALITY. OGUN PROTECTS THE SKELETON.                                                                                            OSHUN CAN ONLY BE LIKENED TO ABDOMEN; THE NAVEL or "3rd CHAKRA"                                                                                USING  FREE-FLOWING  AND  REPLENISHING FRESH  WATER,  PLANTS (AND HERBS, PAR- TICULARLY)  FROM  HER  RIVERINE  AREAS, OSHUN  DOES  NOT  LIKE  STAGNATION  AND  PUTRIFICATION. SO  SHE  WASHES  AND  CLEANSES  THE  BODY  WITH “CLEANSINGS” (AND  INGESTIONS  OF  HER  POTIONS  SO  AS  TO  STIMULATE THE BLOOD AND THE INTES- TINES TO CLEANSE  THEMSELVES) AND, THUS, CAUSE HER “3RD CHAKRA” NAVEL PORTAL ENERGIES TO FLOW, TO NOURISH THE FETUS, AND THE BODY, AND  TO  ELIMINATE  THE  POISONOUS  WASTES  OF  LIFE. WITH FRESHNESS, “RECOGNITION,” AND  HARMONIOUS- NESS  ALL OUTCOMES  ARE SWEETENED AS WELL  BECAUSE  SHE  ALSO GIVES  US, AS "ANYA," THE FREE-FLOWING  SOUND  OF THE BATA DRUMS.                                                                                    YEMOJA CAN ONLY BE LIKENED TO REPRODUCTIVE TRACTS AS THE "2ND CHAKRA"                                                                                    ‘A HUMAN BEING IS JUST A SPERM AND EGG'S WAY OF MAKING NEW SPERMS AND EGGS,’ / (LIFE IS ALL ABOUT REPRODUCTION), MOTHERHOOD, AND NURTURANCE  "IT IS YOUR MOTHER WHO INTRODUCES  YOU TO YOUR  FATHER" (MOTHERHOOD IS CENTRAL). IN  DEPARTING  FROM  ADDICTIONS, PENT UP ANGER AND RANCOR, WE EMERGE INTO SIM- PLE AND RELAXED FAMILY FELLOWSHIP (EVEN FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE  THE GUESTS OF A FAMILY NOT THEIR OWN] WITH  THE  ASHE  OF YEMOJA. (YEMOJA = "YEYE OMO EJA" = 'MOTHER OF THE FISH CHILDREN').                                                                                                                    *SHE  IS  THE  OWNER  OF  THE  ARK, THE  CRADLE, THE  UTERINE  GOURD  OF  THE WORLD. ODU  LIVES  IN  HER  POT:  THE  UTERUS  OF  REINCARNATION,  LIFE, SEX- UALITY AND ALL THAT IS  ASSOCIATED  WITH  MOTHERHOOD, MOTHER WIT,  AND MOTHERLY  DISCIPLINE.   HER  SALT  WATER (AMNIOTIC FLUID) LIVES  INSIDE  THIS WOMB AS WELL AS IN THE PLAS MA OF THE BLOOD STREAM AND IN THE PLACENTA. ONE EITHER EXPERIENCE HER, YEM- OJA, AS UNPOLLUTED, UNMOLESTED, AND RECEPTIVE  TO  SEXUALITY AND  NURTURANCE OR (OR ELSE!)   IT’S  TOTAL  OBLIVION  FOR  ALL  LIVING  THINGS. YEMOJA IS  A  MOON CHILD  AND SHE  TARRIES  IN THE PLAYGROUND OF THE EMOTIONS. IN THE OLD WORLD, SINCE YEMOJA IS JUXTAPOSED WITH MOST RIVERS, SHE IS CONSIDERED THE OWNER OF THE BLOOD VESSELS--AND SO IS OGUN--WHILE OSHUN, THE OWNER OF FRESH WATER RIVERS, IS SO CONSIDERED IN THE NEW WORLD.                                                                                                                                                           SHANGO CAN ONLY BE LIKENED TO THE ANAL REGION AS THE "ROOT CHAKRA"                                                                              THE ANATOMICALLY LOWEST POWER CENTER OF THE BODY IS OWNED BY SHANGO ("CHANGO"). WHEN HE IS UNGOVERNED, LUST AND POLLUTIONS RUN AMOK. SHANGO’S  ASHE  GIVES  US  PROSPERITY  AND  THE  MASTERY  OF  TACTICS , AND GIVES  US  SOCIAL  ENTHUSIASM, EXCITEMENT,  COURAGE, “SLICK  WISDOM,” SEXUALITY, AND  GENEROS- ITY.  AND  HE  EASILY  USES  THE  GAMESMANSHIP  OF  THE “PLAYER.” BUT, AGAIN, WHEN  HE  IS  GOVERNED  BY LUST,  POWER, AND POLLUT- ION, HE CAN BECOME  A  SELF-DES- TRUCTIVE TRAGIC-HERO: MANIPULATIVE, THE SUBJECT  OF  DERISION, BRAZEN, ARROG- ANT, COCKSURE, AND EVEN TYRANICAL.

AND  THOUGH  HE  LOVES  THE  PEOPLE, HIS  BAD  TRAITS  CAN REALLY “BLOW IT” FOR  EVERYONE. OFTEN, HE  ENDS  UP  SUICIDING  HIMSELF.  SO, FOR BETTER OR  FOR WORSE,   SHANGO  DRAWS  ON  ALL  OF  THESE  THINGS. HE  EITHER  HAS STRENGTH (TOTAL BACK- BONE!) EMANATING FROM HIS FOUNDATIONAL LEVEL OF LIFE-POWER, OR  HE  LOSES  CONTROL AND SHITS OVER EVERYTHING AND EVERY- BODY WHEN THIS—HIS OR  HER--"ROOT CHAKRA’S” LOWEST  CENTER  IS “OUT OF ALIGNMENT.” (ONE KNOWS THINGS ARE  BAD WHEN EVEN ONE’S  ASS IS ‘OUT-OF-WHACK). DO'BALE SHANGO, KAWO KABIESI- ..OOO OOO! (PRAISE SHANGO)!                                                                                   Please note here that we in Orisha/Ifa religion also have a concept called "odus" which describe 256 basic conditions of life that a person may be sub- ject to at any given time. Interestingly, these odus are also considered oris- has in their own rights. As such, they can be prayed to and offerings made to them as well. They are the signs that come up (and speak) during a divin- ation "reading." Each of the sixteen main odu(s) also has its body-parts that can be "fed" as a part of appeasing them. What they are and how this is done is beyond the scope of this small essay, But I mention it because it is akin to addressing "chakra"-like body zones.

                                                                                                                                                                                         PART FOUR                                               THE MAJOR ORISHA HAVE THESE FOCI IN THE BODY                                                                   (IN SOME YORUBA PRIESTS' BELIEFS)

Obatala    =   Brain, Nerves, Hair                         Osayin = Gall bladder,  Intestines    Oya   =   Pharynx,  Lungs                                                 Obba  =  StomachIbeji  =  Ears                                                                                    Ogun  =  Skeleton, Blood VesselsShango =   Heart (Okan, Egbe)                                Oshun  =  Pancreas,  Hormones, G.I
                                                                                                                                                  tractOsumare  =   Lymph nodes                                            Olokun = Blood                      Yemoja & Ogun  =  Arteries, Veins                      Erinle = SpleenOduduwa   =   Muscles                                                      Eshu = Liver, Kidneys, Bladder                            Oshoosi    =     Bone marrow                                       Ipari = Spirit that moves the body.

                                                                                                                                                                                         PART FIVE              THE SIXTEEN "OLODUS" OF ORISHA / IFA HAVE THEIR OWN FOCI IN THE BODY                                                                                                                                             The Orisha / Ifa religion recognizes sixteen basic categories of "life condit- ions and experiences" that are called "Olodus." These odus are not only con- dition of existence that change from time-to-time for (and within) the in- dividual--affecting his or  her experience while being so influenced,but also have certain body parts that are "PORTALS" for entry into the individ- ual as each of them is also considered a "god" in (an "orisha") in its own right.  Here are body portals for the odus: And "the energy" is called the Ipari is the spirit that moves the limbs of the body; the ashe, the chi, or the prana of movement.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            First Version:                               (Source: “The Handbook of Yoruba Religious Concepts,”            
                                                                                BY BABA OLOYE IFA Karade).                                                                                                                                              "Obara Meji" (The Head),  "Otura Meji" (The Mouth), "Ika Meji" (The THROAT),
Irete  Meji" (The  Right  Shoulder),   "Otura Meji"  (The Left Shoulder), "Odi Meji"  (The Chest),  "Iwori Meji"  (The Right Ribs),  "Oyeju Meji" (The Left Ribs), "Ogbe  Meji" (The  Stomach),   "Oshe Meji" (The  Right  Hand),  "Ogunda  Meji" (The Left Hand), "Ogun- da Meji" again (The Male Genitals), "Osa Meji" (The Female Genitals)- "Irosun Meji" (The Right Thigh),  "Owonrin  Meji," (The Left Thigh),  "Osa  Meji" again (The "Irosun--right Foot) and "Ogunda Meji" again (The Left Foot). There are two remaining Olodus, the body parts of which I am unfamiliar; but this is the basic scheme.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Second Version:                                    The Body’s  Correlates of the Holy Odus in Orisha – Ifa Religion                  (Source: "An Introduction to the Study of Ifa: A Workbook and Study                                       Guide for initiates Only)"; by Medahochi K.O. Zannu (Iba…eee!) Buttocks                                            =        Odi MejiSpinal Column                            =       Ogbe MejiBlood Vessels                              =       Ogbe MejiHuman Head                                   =       Ogbe MejiMenstrual Flow                      =     Irosun MejiHands                                                     =    Oworin MejiFeet                                                            =    OWORIN MEJI           Vocal Cords, Speech            =  Okonron MejiMale Genitals & Sperms   =    Ogunda MejiMouth                                                     =     Otura MejiBlood Circulation & Ears,                  "Cheeks                                                                          "Internal Organs, Eyes,      =       Osa MejiLips, Nostrils, Two Thighs,                "Female Genitals, Labias                        "Majorum and Minora                               "Thoracic Cage (except       =        Ika MejiSternum)Breasts                                              =   Oturupon Meji    
FEET AND HANDS                                            "Longevity                                          =       Irete Meji
 The Body’s Diseases and the Odu Stomach disease                      =    Oworin MejiErectile Dysfunction        =    Ogunda MejiSwellings of Body                 =   Oturupon MejiDropsy                                                   =   Oturupon MejiAbcesses & Diseases of     =         Oshe Meji  Putrification                                                                                                                                                                                    PART SIX

                      RELATED: COMPARING KMT AND EASTERN THEOLOGY AND THEOSOPHY
               KEMETIC  yOGA'S STIMULATION OF THE “CHAKRAS,” IT IS BELIEVED BY THEM____
Egyptians believed that from the bottom of the spinal column’s“root "chak- ra ”(speak ing analogously) to its top or“crown chakra,” there existed seven centers of psycho-spiritual consciousness and bodily  functioning. These  seven (or twelve, in some variants) centers  were  called  the seven- "Souls of Ra” analogous to the concepts of seven “chakras” as popularized in the Kundalini  yoga  system of  India. In  KMT language these  seven  souls  were  called “sefech Ba Ra” and their  “energy” flow  was  controlled  by  the  god- desses  Aset  and  Nebethet  through seven  serpents  (not  just  two  of them)--hence, their  concept of  serpentine (protective) energy of the serpent-like shape of the spinal column.                                                                                First, imagine  an  elongated  obelisk or “pillar” (“teken” or pylon) standing  straight up. That would be  the spinal column.  Now  also IMAgine the  arms  outstretched at about the  third center down  from the “crown” or head; where the chest is. This “t” looking figure—if we hung scale baskets from each hand of the outstretched arms--would be the “scale of Ma’at” used  for testing  the integrity of the self and balance of the soul (or lack of it) at that--The Heart'S KNOWLEDGE, WISdom and righteousness)  level . Now,  finally,  imagine a  cross-bar (out- stretched arms) being at any level of any of the other six  "CHAKRAS" ("souls of Ra") too.                                                                                  Ausar (Osiris),aided  by  Ma'at  and  Anubis, evaluates  one's  ethics  and  weighs on  the  balance  scale  the  soul (i.e., the  heart's  memories)  at  each  of   the levels of the “Seven Souls of  Ra” within  a person at  the  seven levels of  the spinal column. The  heart--with  its  deeds  and  memories--is  placed  on  one side of the scale and the Ostrich feather on the other.                                                                                                                                          In KMT  the  spinal  column  is  also  called  “The Djed Pillar” (or  the  Pillar of  Ausar-Osiris). Again, it  has its seven  levels. To  each  level  there correspond parts of the body. For example, the second level is near the sexual organs. So, for example, problems  with  sexuality (or  the  damning-up  of libido  and  the  personality   consequences of this) may be addressed  by  poses  and  seq- uences that affect this lowest “chakra” of  the Djed pillar (i.e., of  the  spine). Similarly, a  constricted  heart (with  its  many  implications)  may  be  profit- ably  affected  by  passing  energy  smoothly through  the “chakra” 

that  corresponds  to  the Djed  pillar  at  that--the 4th--   level. And  so  on. Unlike  the  other organs of  the body, the heart--that  for  the  Egyptians  was, again,  the  seat  of  thought and,  therefore, memory--was  left  inside the corpse  during  the  mummification  process And, as MENioned, the  ser- pentine  figures--usually depicted as two snakes--COILED  themselves  up and down  this Djed column in the human body, i.e., the spine in life, generally, as well as in death.                                                                                                                                                                In Asia, their power is called “chi” or “ki”; in Yoruba culture it is called “ashe” and in the West it  is  called “vital power” or “vitalism.” Indeed, in  KMT,  this  “energy”even curves around the “sun disk” crown  of  the  deity Shu (breath  and  wind) itself. If it flows freely it is considered good and healthy. But if these energies are damned-up at one or  more  of  the seven  levels, then  the  individual  may have  problems with the “soul(s) of Ra” and  the  correspon- ding  various  parts  of  their  bodies (or  their lives). Hence, it is yoga--'unit- ing  the  upper and  lower' through movement, breath, meditation, diet and ‘sacred geometry’--that  keeps  this  energy  flowing  smoothly. This is the “chakra” idea: the root, sacral, solar plexus, heart, throat, “third eye,” and crown that are analogized as the “Seven Souls of Ra.”                                                                                                                                              Yet, notwitstanding what Kemites and Indians believe (which may be highly valid for them), Orisha/Ifa religion has its own knowledge about the spirit- uality of body functions, body parts, and bodily integrity as set forth im-mediately above.                                                                                                                                  GOOD SOURCES TO UNDERSTAND THE CONCEPT OF ORI Footnote #1                                                                                                               1.      “ORI, THE SUPREME DIVINITY”  by Lanre Ola-Ifa Okemmuyiwa, Es Es                                                           Communication Ventures, Lagos2.      “ORI” by Babatunde Lawal,  found in many internet sources.3.      “The Handbook of Yoruba Religious Concepts,” by Baba Ifa Karade4.      "An Introduction to the Study of Ifa: A Workbook and Study Guide                     for Initiates Only)"5.      “Ancestor Ritual” essay in Oshoosi. com by Alashe Michael Oshoosi Footnote #2In a companion essay in this series entitled "What Ain't In Orisha/Ifa Rel- gion--Sectarianism" I will discuss how we may profitably evaluate the quality of religious beliefs. The first set of questions  are these: Is the  religion or a variation  of it authentic, valid,  reliable, and  useful? The  second  set  of questions  are  these:  Is the religion or one of its variants sectarian in nature (do its proponents argue with others--inside  or out 
of it--about its authenticity, validity,  reliability or utility)?                                                                                   Do its  proponents  proselytize others  who are not in  it in  order to  con- vince them to leave their own practices and join in with the proselytizer's religion or religious variation?  And, finally, are these religionists doc- trinaire and dogmatic about their beliefs; beliefs that are usually set forth as codes, rules or commandments that apply equally to everyone? Along these lines of inquiry we  may find important distinctions between (sub-Saharan) African Traditional Religions, on the one hand, and all other religions and theosophies, on the other.
NO CHAKRAS IN ORISHA-IFA
