It was the task of the early shamans of the bird and the
serpent to insure only those with good character and
good intentions had access to the radiant energy
manifesting as unformed consciousness. To this day
the society of Obatala initiates are considered to be
guardians of moral and ethical behavior. They enforce
this mandate through the traditional Yoruba judicial
process called Ogboni. In Ogboni meetings the
Obatala elders are the senior priests and priestess.
The male Obatala initiates worship the radiant energy
of the earth (serpents), which is considered feminine,
and the female Obatala initiates worship the radiant
energy of the sky (birds), which is considered
masculine. Between them the world is born. The
Ogboni temples have the same floor plan as Egyptian
temples; an outer open courtyard, leading to a covered
inner courtyard leading to the inner sanctum. The inner
sanctum is the place of manifestation of radiant energy
and only accessible to initiates. In Egypt the radiant
energy of the inner sanctum is directed from the
Pyramid at Giza to the various temples through
underground waterways. If Yoruba culture has been
influenced by Egyptian culture there should be
pyramids in Nigeria as part of the fundamental
structure of Ifa spiritual technology. There is a pyramid
shaped mound in Eredo surrounded by a wall seventy
feet high and one hundred miles long. Local tradition
associates the earthworks with Bilikisu Sungbo, which
is the Islamic name for the Queen of Sheba. The
British archeologists investigating the site refuse to
believe it is associated with the Queen of Sheba
because they do not understand the word Bilikisu
Sungbo is a title and not the name of a person. Hakim
Awyan says the royal position of the Pharaoh in
ancient Egypt was granted by matrilineal selection,
which means the priestesses of the royal court
selected the heir to the Egyptian throne. The
priestesses who were a part of the selection process
worshiped the cow and the cow is represented in
Egyptian sculpture resting its chin on the head of the
Pharaoh a symbol of "making the head" or initiation.
The cow is sacred to Hathor and Hathor is the
Egyptian equivalent of Iyaami Osorango, the women
who have direct involvement in the selection of Kings
in Yoruba culture. The temples run by female devotees
of Hathor typically were surrounded by large circular
fences most notably the temple compound in Yemen
located due east from Ethiopia which is also a temple
of Bilikisu Sungbo. This means we have a Yoruba
temple in Erdo of Egyptian design honoring an
Ethiopian Priestess. Archeologists have no clue. (This
anomaly will be discussed in a future installment of this
article)
I I II II
I I II II
I I II II
I I II II
Eji Ogbe becomes Oyeku Meji
I I I II I II I II I II I II I II I II II II
I I I I I II I II I II I II I II II II II II
I I I I I I I II I II I II II II II II II II
I I I I I I I I I II II II II II II II II II
There are an infinite numbers of ways in which you
can track the movement of Eji Ogbe to Oyeku Meji and
back from Oyeku Meji to Eji Ogbe. The point is that
everything in existence is in a constant state of flux,
moving in cyclical patterns from source to its opposite
polarity and back to source. Nothing in Nature is
unambiguously progressive, including the development
of culture. Most earth-centered spiritual traditions
speak of at least three previous cycles of development,
extinction and re-birth. In the Ifa Creation Myth, the
earliest of these cycles is referred to as the time when
Obatala ruled the world with a silver sword.