Ogun and Its Protection (Ki Ogun da ọwọ le wa)
Ori yeye ni mogun
Ti aise lo ju
English
There are many heads in the Ogun shrine [There are many severed heads
in Ogun Shrine—result of executions]
Many of the heads are innocent .
In ancient history, across cultures, punishment for capital offense
used to be execution. In the particular instance in reference,
however, the execution used to be in Ogun shrine. At the time, there
used to be community Ogun shrines which were most times centrally
located or situated close to palaces. As deterrent, evidence of such
execution was left on display. The above quote from a verse of an Odu
Ifa speaks of that ancient practice. In it, two friends were passing
by an Ogun shrine when the comment was made by one of them. The
result of a counter comment to the initial comment, reaction and
counter-reaction, was unpleasant. However, the initial comment was
true to fact, to this day in our modern time, whereby execution is
still sometimes the preferred punishment for capital offense, across
cultures.
However, as it was in that ancient time that sometimes, someone found
himself a victim of crime that he did not commit, so it is today in
the twenty first century. There have been media reports of wrongly
convicted people who had spent decades on death row, but made it out
of the death row alive. One can only imagine how many "offenders" in
such dilemma were not so lucky. Beyond capital offense and execution,
no crime should be committed in the first place. Definitely,
offenders should be punished, accordingly. Worldwide and
paradoxically, it is probably difficult to ascertain the number of
innocent people who are fighting for their freedom at this moment in
modern history. This is the situation being addressed in the above
verse of an Odu Ifa.
As we go about our daily activities today, be it around our homes, on
the road, on our jobs, in our places of business, even in search of
our livelihoods—for those looking for jobs—may we not be innocent
victims of any crime, ase. May we also be correctly guided in the
right directions by Ogun, ase.
In respect to Ogun's mishap yesterday, the reality of which was a
plane that crashed in Buffalo, New York, may the souls of the dead
rest in peace, ase. Also for us the living, may Ogun continue to work
with us—never against us ("May Ogun d'owo le wa" as it would be said
in Ifa), ase. But, two plane crashes within weeks! Human errors or
human interference? May Ifa help the investigators in finding the
culprits, natural or human influenced, Ase.
A ji ire ni oni o (we wake up with ire today—"Good Morning").
Responses or electronic correspondence should be sent to Chief FAMA
at Ifaseeyen@yahoogrou ps.com (http://us.mc01g.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=Ifaseeyen%40yahoogroups.com) or at Ileorunmila@ aol.com (http://us.mc01g.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=Ileorunmila%40aol.com).
Aboru aboye.
Chief FAMA
Ileorunmila. com