These days, I'm in the middle of (Re)writing Osun by Jessica M. Alarcon. Actually the full title is: (Re)writing Osun: Osun in the Politics of Gender, Race and Sexuality - From Colonization to Creolization. The book is an interesting read. As a spiritual initiate herself and a scholar, Alarcon easily invokes Obatala and Shango in the same breath as bell hooks and Audre Lourde. And she combines an insider's familiarity with Yoruba-derived spiritual practices with modern feminist concerns about the role of women. In the back of my mind I'm also asking myself if there are ways to integrate the Yoruba cosmology with an Islamic one; for example, can the Orisa be thought of as angels or jinn? I'm enjoying the book but still digesting.
Thursday, October 01, 2009
(re)writing osun
These days, I'm in the middle of (Re)writing Osun by Jessica M. Alarcon. Actually the full title is: (Re)writing Osun: Osun in the Politics of Gender, Race and Sexuality - From Colonization to Creolization. The book is an interesting read. As a spiritual initiate herself and a scholar, Alarcon easily invokes Obatala and Shango in the same breath as bell hooks and Audre Lourde. And she combines an insider's familiarity with Yoruba-derived spiritual practices with modern feminist concerns about the role of women. In the back of my mind I'm also asking myself if there are ways to integrate the Yoruba cosmology with an Islamic one; for example, can the Orisa be thought of as angels or jinn? I'm enjoying the book but still digesting.
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3 comments:
Being a former practitioner of Ifá and now Muslim, I have come to see the Orishas as angels. In Ifá that is what they are. I've had a brother try to tell me they are jinn but I must argue with that. Just like in Ifá there are spirits who try to impersonate the orishas I believe there are jinn that try to be the orishas.
Salaams, wow, thanks for the input. I'd love to hear more about you path to Islam and how you decided to convert/revert.
What a wonderful surprise to come across your blog. I am the author of the book you were reading and it is nice to see the feedback.
To answer your question, in Nigeria, where the Orisa tradition originates, there is a form of Islam that integrates Orisa into its practice. The priests in that tradition are called "Alufa" and they do divination with sand and are sometimes called "sand cutters" because they do not use "Opon 'fa" (divination tray).
Interestingly, my experience is the opposite of Nafisah. I grew up in Ifa, but practiced Islam a few years as a teenager and later returned Ifa.
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