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Spiritual Journeys: a Study of Ifá/Òrìṣà Practitioners in the United States Initiated in Nigeria

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Spiritual Journeys: a Study of Ifá/Òrìṣà Practitioners in the United States Initiated in Nigeria SPIRITUAL JOURNEYS: A STUDY OF IFÁ/ÒRÌṢÀ PRACTITIONERS IN THE UNITED STATES INITIATED IN NIGERIA TONY VAN DER MEER A DISSERTATION Submitted to the Ph.D. in Leadership and Change Program of Antioch University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy February, 2017 This is to certify that the Dissertation entitled: SPIRITUAL JOURNEYS: A STUDY OF IFÁ/ÒRÌṢÀ PRACTITIONERS IN THE UNITED STATES INITIATED IN NIGERIA prepared by Tony Van Der Meer is approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Leadership and Change. Approved by: ______________________________________________________________________ Philomena Essed, Ph.D., Chair date ______________________________________________________________________ Laura Morgan Roberts, Ph.D., Committee Member date ______________________________________________________________________ Tim Sieber, Ph.D., Committee Member date Copyright 2017 Tony Van Der Meer All rights reserved Acknowledgements Completing a dissertation requires a time where one has to get in flow and sacrifice time to spend with family and friends. It is also a time when you pull from other people who sacrifice their time from their family and friends in order to assist you. But before I thank those who are still living in the present with us, I would like to acknowledge all of my close relationships with people who have departed and my ancestors, those known and unknown for the sacrifices they made for me and others to have the privilege to be able to do a PhD dissertation. Many of those persons had no degrees and some where barely literate. Yet they endured the hardships and indignities so that I and others would have a chance at a better life. A special acknowledgement to my mother Lilly Price; my Father Rudy Van Der Meer: My second mother Rosalina Wartes; my grandmother Sadie Morgan, my sisters, Regina Price, Elizabeth Togbah; my brother Reggie Brooks; my aunts, Gonda, Irene, and Betsy Van Der Meer; my uncles Lutie and Henny Van Der Meer; my sister-cousin Ingrid Van Der Meer; my mother-inlaw, Momma Zoila Lee, my secondary school Principal Robert Dotson; my high school Guidance Councelor and good friend Eve Foreman, and her husband Robert Foreman; my good childhood friends Alvin Jessamy, and Sharon Offut; my comrade Eugene Godfried; and to my High School and College girl friends who left us to soon: Debbie Timbrouck and Vastoria Grant. To all of them I say Mo dupe (Thank You!), your sacrifices were not in vain. To those who are still with us in the present, I want to thank my children: Heather, Damali, January, Makeda, Marcus Mandela, Babatunji, and Kayataina for teaching me from the challenges we shared. Thanks to Maria Clemencia Lee for helping me and all of my children stay grounded, and to Everlyn Watkins for being a good friend and mother. i To my teachers and comrades who help transform my life: Dr. Ken Edison, Dr. Ramona Edelin, Dr. Greg Ricks, Alzonson Speight, Awo Rhett Lewis, Donnell Cussac, Stephen Eaton, Berly Bailey, Makeda Gwendolyn Smith, Selwyn Carter, Awo Aukram Burton, Awo Zaid Haynes, Dr. Muhammad Ahmad (Maxwell Stanford, Jr.), Saladin Muhammad (Phillip White), Naeema Muhammad (Patricia White), Shafeah M’Balia, Askia Toure (Roland Snellings), Dr. Jemadari Kamara, and the late Queen Mother Moore. Special thanks go out the all my research partiticipants for opening up their homes to me and sharing their experiences: Babaláwo Fatóòjolá Ajala Aukram Burton, Ìyánífá Ifájọkẹ́ Nefertiti Burton, Babaláwo Babatunde Gregory Anderson, Babaláwo Aikulola Nathan Lugo, Ìyánífá Ajiṣẹbọ Michelle Abímbọ́lá, Babaláwo C. Awólọ́wọ̀ Johnson, Babaláwo Adeyemi Michael Lythcott, and Ìyánífá Ifálobá Mawakana Onífádé. It is also important to acknowledge all of the practitioners in the Diaspora in the various systems of Ifá/Òrìṣà practice who carried on the tradition. Thank you to my colleagues Dr. Sylvia Assante, and Dr. Janice Ferguson for checking up on me and encouraging me to stay focus. Thank you to Dr. Wandé Abímbọ́lá and my colleague Dr. Tim Sieber for their mentorship in my Individual Learning Achievements (ILA) in my research respectively on the history and origins of Ifá/Òrìṣà belief system, and ethnographic research methods. Thank you to Antioch librarian extraordinaire, Deborah Baldwin and, my editor, Dr. Norman Dale. Finally, a big thank you to my Advisor and the Chair of my dissertation committee, Dr. Philomena Essed, for helping me navigate the various phases of my PhD journey and the dissertation process. Also, thank you to the other members of my dissertation committee: Dr. Laura Morgan Roberts; my colleague, Dr. Tim Sieber, and my external reader, Dr. Deidra ii Badejo for their insightful questions and comments helping me to bring out broader and clearer perspectives in my research. iii Dedication Dedicated to Walter Van Der Meer (1957–1969) iv Abstract The purpose of this study is to understand the culture of one of the newest branches of traditional Yorùbá Ifá/Òrìṣà practice in the United States from practitioners born in the United States that were initiated in Nigeria, West Africa. The epistemology of the Ifá/Òrìṣà belief system in the United States has been based on the history and influence of Regla de Ocha or Santeria that developed out of Cuban innovation and practice. This is an ethnographic and auto-ethnographic study that pulls from participant observation, field notes, interviews, and photos as data.The central question of this dissertation is what are the challenges and opportunities for this branch of practitioners in the United States who were initiated in the Ifá/Òrìṣà practice in Nigeria? Some of the main findings indicate that the opportunities include: opening doors intellectually and spiritually about African philosophical thought and ethics were that: it instills a sense of spiritual discipline; it lays the foundation, giving confidence that one can achieve what they set their minds to; and, it offers spiritual technologies and systems that are liberating and relevant in the Unites States in terms of identity, direction, and purpose. Some of the challenges included: a rugged Nigerian experience, and cultural change; a transformative experience from the initiation rituals; understanding and learning the Yorὺbá language; and, the contradiction of Africa being the idea of utopia. The challenges in the United States also included: understanding and learning the Yorὺbá language; understanding the different systems of practice in the Ifá/Òrìṣà belief system; the role of women as Ifá priests; ecological concerns in disposing ritual sacrifices; accessibility to traditional (African) ritual items; issues of acceptance, inclusion, and exclusion on the basis of race, gender, and sexual identities from other systems of Ifá/Òrìṣà practice; and, developing new communities of practice base on the experiences of this newest branch of practitioners. v Table of Contents Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................................... i Dedication .................................................................................................................................. iv Abstract ....................................................................................................................................... v Table of Contents ....................................................................................................................... vi List of Tables ............................................................................................................................. ix List of Figures ............................................................................................................................. x Chapter I: Introduction ............................................................................................................... 1 The Journey ............................................................................................................................ 1 Situating the Researcher ........................................................................................................ 3 Purpose of the Study .............................................................................................................. 5 Ifá/Òrìṣá Revival Towards Spiritual Reconnection Through Initiation in Nigeria ............... 6 Research Question ................................................................................................................. 7 Innovation ............................................................................................................................ 10 Wàndé Abímbọ́lá as Innovator ........................................................................................ 12 Learning as a Mode of Innovation ................................................................................... 17 Ifá/Òrìṣá Practice as Transformation ................................................................................... 22 Ethics in Research ................................................................................................................ 23 Summary .............................................................................................................................. 23 Chapter II: Literature Review ................................................................................................... 25 Ifá/Òrìṣá Belief System .......................................................................................................
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