UNDERSTANDING THE MYSTERY OF BLOOD SACRIFICE IN YORUBA INDIGENOIUS SPIRITUALITY OF ISESE .
"Blood is the rose of mysterious Union."---Jim Morrison.
INTRODUCTION
In the recent time, there emerge a school of thought among Yoruba traditional religion devotees, claiming a lot of blood has be sprinkled on the mother earth already, hence, their claim for a need to put an end to blood sacrifice.
Majority of the promoter of such ideology seems to be ignorant of the power of blood in relations to sacrifice, and the fact that bunch of the blood sprinkled on the mother earth are product of man desires to satisfy their taste and nourish their body with diverse categories of meat of all kinds .
The primary essence of this write up is to enlighten the reading public and lovers of Yoruba spirituality about the mystery of blood sacrifice in Yoruba spirituality.
SACRIFICE AND BLOOD
Sacrifice is of significant value in Africa religion, in which the Yoruba religion is at the fore front, in relation to other religion of the world. It entails material and immaterial things that man offers to a spiritual being to appeals for support, blessing and favor. The concept of sacrifice is said to involve the death of a victim or animal i.e living being for the maintenance of a relationship between man and anything/being considered sacred.
Gabriel O.Abe (2004:2) reiterates that such sacrifice connotes the surrender to the divine, and could be with blood or without blood of a person, an animal, bird, food or anything. Blood on the other hand is said to be essential to life. It acts as an important power-laden substance that bring fertility. It is moistened over the field in order to increase harvest.
Hence, blood sacrifice is the consecration of animals with fully red blood cell or white blood cell or combined as an offering to the divinities, for diverse purposes.
MYSTERY OF BLOOD SACRIFICE IN YORUBA SPIRITUALITY
Blood sacrifice is essential for human well-being. it is an avenue for restoring whatever negative to positive. Philip John Neimark posited in his book, the way of Orisa that "blood sacrifice is absolutely necessary if major change is to take place." the essence of blood sacrifice in some instances is to involve the four elements (I.e water, fire, earth, and air) and balance everything, so as to make what ordinarily would have been impossible possible in all circumstances.
In Africa and Yorubaland in particular, blood is perceived as an important linking factor between families. In Yoruba spirituality, no initiation to which people will claim being son and daughter of one or two Orisa is complete without the offering of blood sacrifice.
Blood cements the degree of relationship between man and divinities. Meaning, they are now linked by a life, which human being rhetorically called blood.
In the ancient time, if a person is perceived highly sick and death is imminent, our ancestors have an understanding through IFA that we can only substitute a life with a life- nkan abemi la fi n wo abemi. so, a required animal will be offered as sacrifice to save the life of the sick person, as it was revealed.
It is important to know that majority of woman have to sacrifice their blood at the point of first sexual intercourse and on a monthly basis to make themselves fertile and productive for child bearing in their relationship with men. This must be the reason IFA regards vagina as the city of blood.
All other forms of sacrifice are productive, but not in the class of blood sacrifice. Fruit or other forms of sacrifice cannot be used for redemption purpose.
CONCLUSION
Blood sacrifice is sacrosanct in Yoruba spirituality and to human spiritual and physical development beyond human rationality. Hence, it is a divine phenomenon that no mental exercise can change or substituted.
Authored by Yusuf Adetola Kareem