Neither Alfas nor Pastors are on the list of the world's richest men, and yet people go to them for money blessings! Does that immediately mean Alfas and Pastors are fake?
Native doctors themselves are not ritualists or Babalawos in reality. They are Onisegun or Oloogun, depending on what you have in mind.
And to be candid, money ritual is real and more common among pastors and alfas than Babalawos.
Most of the people the police have arrested for money rituals are either Muslim or Christian and their clerics. That should tell you a lot.
Meanwhile, Babalawos are not the kind that devote themselves to money, based on the ethics of their profession. They may or may not collect money from you. There is a reason for this.
But of more importance is to differentiate between all these distinct traditional practitioners because not every Babalawo is a healer, and not every healer is a spiritualist.
I think the blame falls on ignorant Yorubas who do not even know the difference, and hence outsiders interpret for them.
A Babalawo's basic task is to consult Ifa and help people find answers to questions that confuse them, serving as the master philosopher, historian, and diviner of Ifa.
Ifa is not a religion and not worship. The art and knowledge of Ifa have been systematically integrated into other religions. They may not do it openly. Who cares? People only care for results. It is also now studied and linked to science itself.
The Onisegun is a healer whose basic job is to heal using all sorts of herbs, roots, and concoctions. They specialize in botanical science, traditional medicine, and physical pharmacopoeia.
They are not worshippers and the practice is not a religion, though they may have their own religion.
Many Muslim and Christian clerics have integrated this into their system. Many Mallams of northern extraction still practice this as well.
The Iyanifa is a fully initiated high priestess of Ifa who undergoes rigorous training, possesses profound knowledge of the Odu Ifa, and performs divination and initiations as an equal spiritual pillar to the Babalawo.
The Olorisha is a general devotee or initiated practitioner dedicated to the worship and service of specific deities like Osun, Sango, or Ogun. These are the religions. And they are many.
The Abore is the specific shrine keeper or chief ritualist charged with maintaining the physical sanctuary and keeping it ritually clean, and performing routine daily worship for a particular deity. These are also connected to a religion.
The Onimoti is an individual gifted with natural clairvoyance and visual spiritual sight who can perceive spiritual dimensions without necessarily casting Ifa instruments. These are natural gifts, though they can be learned.
They have nothing to do with religion, and most clerics of Islam and Christianity have deeply integrated this into their practice. This is where they get their miracles of seeing and prophecy. And call it holy. Anyone can do it if gifted or duly trained. It is not an affirmation of faith, piety, or holiness.
The Ode are traditional experts and hunters rooted in deep bush exploration who focus heavily on protective metaphysics, energetic shields, and specialized adjustments to a person’s environment or path. Because of their forage into the evil forests, and encounters with spirits in dark worlds, they master the art of creating charms to protect them from spirits and attacks. This is not connected to religion but a skill that is transferable. It still exists in modern days.
When you hear of people doing bullet-proof charms and things like that, it originated from these people. It has nothing to do with religion either, though individuals are free to practice a religion of their own.
Then you have the Agba of the Ogboni / Osugbo Fraternity, or cult, who are the custodians of the Earth deity, holding immense judicial and spiritual power to handle high-level civic oaths, societal balance, and justice. They were constantly involved in politics even before modern days.
Regardless of what they do, both Muslims and Christians constantly mix up these things, deliberately sometimes and get obsessed by them. Some become intolerant of other religions and seek their extermination by campaigning against them while stealing traditional method for their own uses.
These acts have also been backed by the state, which systematically demonizes anything traditional and turns people into underground practitioners.
The cost is huge. For example, we now depend on swallowing cancer creating chemicals and have largely lost our natural cures because we regarded those natural cures as idols.
Ironically, we don't mind consuming the same made abroad and packaged in a plastic bottle as a natural cure.
Muslims and Christians need to focus on their religion and stop nosepoking into other religions.
They should stop assaulting or denigrating them.
The Quran 6:108 already warned Muslims: "And do not insult those they invoke other than Allah, lest they insult Allah in enmity without knowledge. Thus, we have made pleasing to every community their deeds. Then to their Lord is their return, and He will inform them about what they used to do."
The Bible in James 4:12 recalled, "There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbour?"
Live and let live. If you do not like it when other people mock your religion or practice, you have to desist from mocking theirs. When people mock Muslim women who wear the hijab we go out to mount defence and explanation, but we don't mind doing the same to others and think we are having fun.
An Alfa recently beheaded a fellow muslim in a city where many think represents Islam. The case is in court. Did you all generalised that Muslims are ritualists, and Islam is responsible after reading that? If you didn't do that, then it is about time to stop generalising about other religions before they start doing what you do to you.
Najim
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