Ori which means head in Yoruba, is usually used in such a way as to refer to a man’s destiny and path in life. Below is a beautiful poem from Sixteen Great Poems of lfa UNESCO and felt I should share with you. DO enjoy!
‘It is Ori,
It is Ori alone
Who can follow his own devotee to a distant journey over the seas.’
Orunmila said, ‘When an Ifa priest dies,
People may ask that his divination instruments should be thrown into the ditch.
When a devotee of Sango dies,
People may ask that his Sango instruments should be thrown away.
When a devotee of Oosaala dies,
People may ask that his paraphernalia should be buried with him.’
Orunmila asked, ‘Ever since human beings have been dying,
Whose head is ever severed from his body before burial?’
Ifa said, ‘It is Ori,
It is Ori alone
Who can follow his own devotee to a distant journey over the seas without turning back.’ (21)
If I have money
It is Ori whom I will praise.
My Ori, it is you.
If I have children on earth,
It is Ori whom I will praise.
My Ori, it is you.
All the good things that I have on earth,
It is my Ori to whom I will give my praise.
My Ori, it is you.
Ori, I hail you,
You who always remember your devotee,
You who give blessing to your devotee more quickly than other Gods.
No God blesses a man
Without the consent of his Ori.
Ori, I hail you,
You who allows children to be born alive.
A person whose sacrifice is accepted by his own Ori
Should rejoice exceedingly!
from Sixteen Great Poems of lfa UNESCO (1975),
by W. Abimbola
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