Gbădù and the Depth of Fá Cosmology
For 𞤾𞤮𞤣𞤵𞥊𞥅𞤲𞤾𞤭𞥇 Vodúnvǐ ("devotees of Vodún", lit "offspring of Vodún"), one’s well-being is the fulfillment of one’s purpose in life. This purpose is called 𞤸𞤹𞤲𞤣𞤮𞤱𞤢𞥈 hɛndowà. 𞤦𞤮𞥇𞤳𞤮𞤲𞤽𞤲 Bõkonɔn (Fá diviners) provide to their querents the root causes of their issues in addition to the issues themselves. Help the poor, honor one’s family, empower oneself to work hard in the face of adversity – each of these spirited messages are designed to help the seeker reestablish their spiritual balance to fulfill their destiny. Living a life of happiness and void of destitution is the reward for maintaining that balance, not the means by which that balance is achieved.
Because of the focus on an individual’s destiny, people from varying backgrounds seek to learn which of the 256 signs (Kpólí/Fádù) governs and guides them in life. Again, no need for any Greek zodiac when you have your own Afrikan spiritual sciences.
Every Afrikan, regardless of their level of overstanding, could benefit from knowing their destiny. However, knowing one’s destiny is not about knowledge for the sake of knowledge. It is not as if folks should consult Fá as a curiosity or as a form of entertainment; they consult Fá to learn how to behave, live, and interact with others in ways that fulfill their destinies on earth and help them live the most fulfilled or fifa (cool) life possible.
The 𞤬𞤢𞥉𞤣𞤫𞥊𞥅𞤳𞤱𞤭𞥊𞥅𞤲 fádékwín (called 𞤭𞤳𞤭𞤲 ikin in Yọrùbá - the sacred palm nuts used by a diviner) are not symbolic. They are not representational. They are the powerful presence known as Fá and are equipped with tremendous agency and social power. They provide Vodúnvi with a road map to their destinies and guide their actions toward goodness, coolness, and the fulfillment of well-being.
Fá is diagnostic, caught somewhere between ritual and medicine where, much like taking a surgical biopsy, diviners perform what I call a "sociopsy" in search of the social tumors that are keeping their clients from fulfillment. The information provided during these sessions helps insofar as it assists them in returning to a state of balance and goodness in the world.
The 𞤣𞤢𞥉𞤧𞤹𞥇𞤲 Fásɛ́n
For diviners, the Fásɛ́n represents the power of the bõkɔ́nɔ̀n [Yorùbá, babaláwo] to conquer death; it possesses performative power [acɛ̀], which is continually nourished with 𞤾𞤮𞥇𞤧𞤢𞥈 võsà (sacrifice/offerings). When used with incantations, the fásɛ́n acts as a weapon against death and other destructive forces. This is due to the pact that 𞤬𞤢𞥉 𞤢𞤴𞤭𞥊𞤣𞤫𞥊𞤺𞤵𞥊𞥅𞤲 Fá Ayìdègún made with the earth and the 𞤳𞤹𞤲𞤲𞤹𞤧𞤭 Kɛnnɛsi (mothers of the night). In fact, only women can eat the meat we offer to the fásɛ́n. Only women know how to prepare the fásɛ́n. Think about that. It is to never fall or even lay on its "side". Fásɛ́n keeps you strong. If it is upright, you’ll be upright too!
𞤩𞤢𞥇𞤣𞤵𞥊 Gbădù: The Womb of Creation
Gbădù is the cosmic womb of creation. She is said to have 16 eyes that "see" everything. By "seeing", we are speaking of the knowledge of the cosmos as represented by the primary 16 Kpólí Fá (Odù Ifá). As Gbădù ’s natural esoteric heat, generated by her power to create, is cooled, her power is made safe for the community. The community uses coolness to maintain Gbădù’s well-being in the cosmos, and Gbădù uses her power to maintain the well-being of her devotees. As such, a social focus on well-being is confirmed each time a devotee approaches her shrine. Gbădù represents the totality of knowledge of Fá.
Fá divination is more about the application of wisdom, which brings long term well-being, than it is about ways of knowing that may reveal short-term answers to one’s questions and quick fixes. Indeed, the knowledge that Fá and Gbădù provide to devotees and querents is the effect of their joint quest for well-being in the world. For instance, learning the identity of that which is attacking you won’t make you better. It’s the sacrifices that Fá tells you to do and the subsequent work you put in that will bring you well-being or coolness. It is important to remember that divination accomplishes many tasks simultaneously. It can no doubt shape one’s future interactions with friends, acquaintances, and family, while also helping to mold rituals.
Gbădù is much more than just the source of Fá’s power to know; she is Fá’s wife. She is what gives bõkɔ́nɔ̀n their ability to peer into one’s destiny. She is an 𞤢𞥁𞤫𞥊𞤼𞤽𞥇 azètɔ́ ("witch") and, some would say, the source of both 𞤢𞥁𞤫𞥇 azĕ ("witchcraft") and 𞤢𞤰𞤹𞥇 acɛ̀ (divine power) that combine to animate the cosmos. She is what existed before us all. On a philosophical level, she is the nothingness that existed before things began to manifest in the world. She is the embodiment of creation and the condensation of the universe’s creative power. These powers are reflected in some of the objects that fill the four small calabashes (Gbădù ká) that rest hidden away inside Gbădù’s shrine. White kaolin chalk 𞤸𞤱𞤫𞥇 (hwě), the primary component of Gbădù ’s first calabash, brings with it the necessity of coolness; Gbădù’s second calabash is filled predominantly with black charcoal, which points to the power of 𞤧𞤢𞥂𞤢𞥉𞤼𞤢𞥉 Sakpátá, the hùn (deity) of the earth and of eruptive diseases, and therefore reminds Vodúnvi of the power of the earth and the value of good health; the third calabash is filled with the powdered red-colored bark 𞤧𞤮𞥂𞤢𞥉𞥂𞤹𞥇 (sokpákpɛ́) of a local tree known as sotín (tree of thunder), which indexes Xɛvíoso (Sogbó), the hùn of thunder and rain, and Gu, the hùn of fire, metal, and blacksmithing. Here folks are taught the importance of strong crops brought from the rains of 𞤿𞤹𞤾𞤭𞥊𞥅𞤮𞤧𞤮 Xɛvíoso and worked using the metal of 𞤺𞤵 Gu. The fourth and final calabash is filled with mud from the bottom of the ocean, which points to the mysteries of 𞤸𞤵𞥊 Xù/Hù, the hùn of the sea. These objects, when taken together, materialize the four pillars of the universe and the four virtues that one should master and respect to live one’s life in good character. Simply put, Gbădù and Fá embody – quite literally – the road map to one’s density. By focusing through divination on coolness, good health, sustenance, and the mysteries of the hùn (deities), one can illuminate one’s path to well-being.
Gbădù is the 𞤸𞤱𞤫𞥊𞥅 hwé (family). Gbădù is the family’s womb. She embodies women’s natural and esoteric powers and clearly links women to the overall well-being, continuation, and protection of the family. Women don’t need Gbădù. They already have her power in them. Men need Gbădù to be able to do what women can do without her.
Like a parent, Fá provides his "child" with the road map to coolness, well-being, and success. Fá steers his devotees in the right direction, provides them with the wisdom to live a fulfilled life, and teaches them how one might use sacrifice to overcome life’s obstacles.
The 𞤣𞤢𞥉𞤼𞤹 Fátɛ̀ (divination board) is Gbădù. When you mark the dù on the surface of the Fátɛ̀ you place the Kpólí/Fádù/Odù into the cosmic womb. The Kpólí then come alive. As a cross-section of Gbădù, the womb of creation, the Fátɛ̀ is, in effect, Gbădù in plain sight. The Fátɛ̀ at once conceals and reveals Gbădù ’s esoteric connection to Fá, creation, and to individual destiny. When a diviner inscribes one’s Kpólí onto the board and then speaks the name of the Kpólí aloud, the diviner’s voice mingles with the primordial dust on the board to give birth, and therefore life, to the querent’s destiny. In the sacred forest that dust is simply the soil of forest’s floor, but during consultations outside of the forest the diviner covers his Fátɛ̀ with a light dusting of either ìyè̩rosùn (the dust produced when a termite chews on a camwood tree) or, as is generally the case in Vodún, hwě (white kaolin chalk). All serve to cool the heat of creation that is generated on the board’s surface. They temper Gbădù and allow creation to occur safely since each act of divination is a reenactment of a time before the world existed, when Gbădù is purported to have given birth to the universe.
Fá is a profound phenomenon and most adherents know that part. However, many do not know that the whole support of Fá is from female deity; the Great Mother Gbădù. More to come.
Ayìnɔn Àgɛ̀lɔ̀gbàgàn Fáwɛnsagun Jǐsoví Agbɔvì I
The Gànlɔdóxɔsú