“There is no blindness like
ignorance”---Dictionary of Proverbs
INTRODUCTION
Sacrifice is an important element
in every religion. It’s an act that is undertaken to receive from the throne of
grace. This sacrifice is either given to fellow human being or terrestrial
being to feed upon or possibly one’s time for the benefit of oneself or others.
The sacrifices given to Orisa in the form of food cannot be an exemption. Lack
of understanding about the kind of sacrifice that is offered to Orisa to feed
upon has been misconstrued by many in ignorance as human sacrifice in “Orisa
bibo”. This misconception is what the writer intends to precisely and concisely
explained for the enlightenment of all lovers of Yoruba culture and tradition,
since profound ignorance inspired dogmatic tones, which must be avoided in this
century. Hence, does Orisa accept human sacrifice?
ORISA BIBO
The concept, “Orisa bibo”, means
nothing special, but to feed Orisa. Why feed Orisa? Orisa are human being that
once lived on earth, and eat what we also eat as servant of God on earth. So,
as a race that takes everything naturally spiritual, and spiritually natural,
we entertain or feed Orisa with their individual favorite delicacies while on
earth. For example, Orunmila favours pound yam, with melon soup, fish, rat etc,
while Ogun , Sango, Obatala etc have their own.
The food that is offer to Orisa
is to entertain and honour them, while invoking their name and presence to
receive something from Olodumare(God). It should be noted that the food might
not necessarily be eaten by the Orisa themselves, but will sometimes serves as
food to birds of the air, animals or extra terrestrial being. This view was
corroborated by Ayo Salami when he opined that if one feed a group of people in
a particular community; the prayer of such people for one will surely be
answered, coupled with the fact that mouth is also metaphorically regarded as
Orisa. It should be noted that during the time of Orisa on earth, every
sacrifice is offered to God to get his favour, and not to themselves.
ORISA AND HUMAN SACRIFICE
Reading through IFA and listening
to different IFA scholars, there are no single verses where Orunmila or any
Orisa requires for human sacrifice. This is a concept that is absolutely
strange to the tradition of Orisa. Orisa are feed with normal human food in
rat, goat, hen, dog, pound yam etc, and not blood of human being. Ogun lakaaye
is usually feed with dog/blood of dog and not human blood. Since the act is
strange to IFA and Orisa, any one that does that offered such sacrifice to
demon and not Orisa.
HUMAN THAT ARE OFFERED TO OGUN IN
THE ANCIENT TIME
Ogun as an important Orisa in
Yorubaland has never required for human sacrifice at any point in time, but in
the ancient time, whenever an unknown spirit is disturbing the peace of a community,
the Oro cult will decide to carry out spiritual cleansing by ordering every
living being to stay indoor while they undertake their role for the good of the
society. Most of the time, each household will be required to put akoko leaves
at the entrance of their houses to deter the spirit from entering such houses
for a cover. If any human being is caught outside within the period of that
spiritual cleansing with “Oro” is taking place, such a person will be taken to
the king palace for verdict. If the king is visibly angry that his order was
not followed by his own subject, he might order such a person execution to Ogun
shrine, and if such a person is favoured, he will be taken to Oro grove to die
their or possibly find his way to another community. This action is usually
taken to prevent the spirit that is being sent out of community from coming
back through a human being as a veil. No Orisa demanded for such, and Ifa has
warned against such in whatever situation.
CONCLUSION
Having critically examines the concept
of “Orisa BiBO”, and what different Orisa are feed with as a means to an end ,
and not an end in themselves, it is the believe of the writer that he had
succeeded in enlightening the lovers of Yoruba culture and Orisa tradition
about the fallacy that surrounded that noble religion of worshipping Olodumare
through Orisa.
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