Drewal, Pemberton & Abiodun, The Yoruba World. Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers, New York, (date needed), pp. 26-33

I found this excerpt from a book via our class readings list and skimming through until I found any reference to my subject matter. A section in this chapter touches on the fundamental significance of the head and what the ori inu is. The authors go on to write about ile ori (house of the the head) as well as ibori (head container). Including in detail the materials used, as well as how it represents a person’s individuality. This seems like a great resource for providing an introduction to the Ile Ori in my object analysis.

Through this chapter we seem to be looking at strict facts with little room for opinion. I think the reader gets an inside scoop so to speak as Abiodun is a nigerian and practitioner of the religion itself. I think that having three separate authors for a piece helps separate personal opinions from the text.

Desmangles, Leslie G. The Faces of the Gods: Vodou and Roman Catholicism in Haiti. The University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill & London, 1992, pp. 64-68

I was recommended this book by the librarian when I met with her. We found the book through CAT Quest using the keywords Vodun, Voudou, Vodou, Voodoo, Bonnanj, Bonanj, Zanj, Angels, and Angel. In the cited section the concepts of gwo-bon-anj and ti-bon-anj are described. A remarkable similarity between these personal spirits and one’s ori inu can be drawn. Desmangles goes over many aspects of the “communal self” including how one participates in visible and invisible communities, as well as the many spirits governing one’s human experiences. It may be too early to draw conclusions yet, though at a glance it may appear that the yoruba concepts of ori inu and ifa roughly translated into guardian angel spirits tending their person’s destiny.

Desmangles leaves out some information she considers unimportant. The reader only receives a filtered view of the multiple “compartments of the spirit”, only seeing what Desmangles considers valid/important/relevant enough to be put into her book. To quote her: “…and they need not be discussed here in detail;”(66) this leads me to believe there may be other things that “need not be discussed.” So I may be getting an incomplete picture.

Abimbola, ‘Wande Ifa: An Exposition of Ifa Literary Corpus. Oxford University Press Nigeria, Ibadan, 1976, pp. 113-118

I found this book during my meeting with the librarian as well. I used the keywords Ifa, Ori, and Yoruba in a CAT Quest search. The majority of the book is on various aspects and properties of Ifa, yet one chapter explains the significance of Ori in relation to man’s choice of destiny. A particularly interesting tidbit described is that the Yoruba regard Ori as one of the gods of their pantheon. Abimbola goes on to say that in some ways, Ori is the greatest god of all because Ori is each individual’s personal deity “who is expected to be more interested in his personal affairs than the other gods…”(114). Going off on a tangent here, this reminds me of Haitian Abimbola quotes a great deal of sayings, proverbs, and other yoruba oral literature. Lastly he writes everyone has a destiny even the gods, who will also consult Ifa and Ori to inquire about the course of their destiny.

Abimbola is a yoruba man from Nigeria. He actually wrote this book based off his PhD thesis which he submitted in 1969 to the University of Lagos. He has a lot of first hand experience with yoruba tradition being nigerian and immersed in the religion since childhood. He seems quite credible and if anything gives too much extraneous information. I do not know for sure if he’s a practitioner of orisa worship though I believe it’s a safe assumption.