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| Igba Iwa |
This calabash plays an important role during the initiation rights of any monarch in Yorubaland.
Ile Ife is the capital of Yorubaland, not Oyo. Oyo’s rise to a warrior nation was to defend itself and not other Yoruba nations. At its founding, it shared borders with powerful neighbours like the Baribas and Nupe. As such, it had to keep an army to stand up to them during seasons of war.
Ile Ife is the place where legitimacy is granted to all monarchies with the presentation of beaded crowns that elevated them to Igba keji orishas…. No other kingdom in Yorubaland had such powers.
In the sacred courts of the Oni at Ife. Diviners versed with Ifa coupus perform an important ritual where the oracle tells them to put certain things in calabashes and send them to a new king ascending the throne. He is to open one of such calabashes and what he finds inside determined what his reign on the throne would be.
At the ascension to the throne of Alaafin Adeyemi (son of Alaafin Atiba). Two of such calabashes were sent to him from Ife to open. One contained cowries and beads representing prosperity while the other consisted of gunpowders, bullets, jack knives and daggers. He opened the one with gunpowder and bullets and the oracle sealed his fate. Shortly after his ascension to the throne, the whole of Yorubaland went into the hottest civil war in its history.
It lasted for 16 years and active players included Are latosa, Ogedemgbe, Fabunmi and Efunsetan Aniwura…. Kingdoms involved included Ijebu, Egba, and Ekitiparapo and at the very centre of the whole campaign was Ibadan.
Ile Ife is the capital of Yorubaland, not Oyo. Oyo’s rise to a warrior nation was to defend itself and not other Yoruba nations. At its founding, it shared borders with powerful neighbours like the Baribas and Nupe. As such, it had to keep an army to stand up to them during seasons of war.
Ile Ife is the place where legitimacy is granted to all monarchies with the presentation of beaded crowns that elevated them to Igba keji orishas…. No other kingdom in Yorubaland had such powers.
In the sacred courts of the Oni at Ife. Diviners versed with Ifa coupus perform an important ritual where the oracle tells them to put certain things in calabashes and send them to a new king ascending the throne. He is to open one of such calabashes and what he finds inside determined what his reign on the throne would be.
At the ascension to the throne of Alaafin Adeyemi (son of Alaafin Atiba). Two of such calabashes were sent to him from Ife to open. One contained cowries and beads representing prosperity while the other consisted of gunpowders, bullets, jack knives and daggers. He opened the one with gunpowder and bullets and the oracle sealed his fate. Shortly after his ascension to the throne, the whole of Yorubaland went into the hottest civil war in its history.
It lasted for 16 years and active players included Are latosa, Ogedemgbe, Fabunmi and Efunsetan Aniwura…. Kingdoms involved included Ijebu, Egba, and Ekitiparapo and at the very centre of the whole campaign was Ibadan.
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| Igba Iwa |
When a king ascends the throne, the Oni must send a ‘sword of state.’ Or skeptre of office to him before he can rule his domain… without this important symbol from Ife, he can not sit on the throne, make laws or judge disputes. Without this important symbol of office, he can not sentence any citizen to the death penalty.
As an important show of homage, anytime the Oni passes through any Yoruba kingdom en route to a certain destination, all resident kings must vacate their palace until he has passed. At every river on the way on his journey, an animal must be killed.
These were the old sacred positions of the Oni of Ife…. He is a spiritual leader of Yoruba land and a preserver of its heritage. His roles give legitimacy to all other monarchs and his kingdom is the centre of Yoruba spirituality. It is the destination spot of the Orishas of Olodumare in Yoruba mythology...
As an important show of homage, anytime the Oni passes through any Yoruba kingdom en route to a certain destination, all resident kings must vacate their palace until he has passed. At every river on the way on his journey, an animal must be killed.
These were the old sacred positions of the Oni of Ife…. He is a spiritual leader of Yoruba land and a preserver of its heritage. His roles give legitimacy to all other monarchs and his kingdom is the centre of Yoruba spirituality. It is the destination spot of the Orishas of Olodumare in Yoruba mythology...
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