'Isese'- A Perspective in Arrays of The Search For The Creator

By Taiye Olaniyi

There are numerous socio-cultural, mythical and religious ways of doing things which from time immemorial associated man with his biotic and abiotic environment when marveling at the mystery of existence and the universe as a whole.

To everyone ever living here on the earth plane from time immemorial and till date, there is always the question, "Where am I coming from and where am I going from here?”

Honestly it seems there's no answer to that question or any kind of mathematical exactitude from one person to another individual.

The Biblical allusion states that: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 2And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” Similarly In the Glorious Quran (7:4) it is equally intoned that there is a Creator behind His creation: “Surely your Lord is none other than Allah, Who created the heavens and the earth in six days,40 and then ascended His Throne.”

World over, different concepts, inferences, dictates, submissions, and convictions including fundamentalism, have been associated with who the Creator is, should be to His creatures in His creation from time immemorial

There have been that array of primordial traditions as to who God is, should be or must be according to the dictates of time, geographic space and man's interplay with the environment hence, the role of Man and the sociocultural influences thus push him to search for the sole purpose of knowing his Creator in creation but with different means of approach.

Some in their variegated manners look up to the universe and explore the zodiac as principal determinants of fate and destiny while numerous others lay claim to the influences of the four principal elemental forces such as Air, Water, Fire and Earth.

These to them in various places, time and modes have been the means of appeasements to the higher forces beyond their reach.

With time and growth of understanding the deification and apotheosization of God continues to change with time and tides, fortunes and misfortunes that daily befall man.

The advancement in philosophy and scientific feats are now altering the previous protocols and decorums associated with man and his perceived relationship with God, the Creator of every living being everywhere. Thus in language, arts, custom and traditions different ways and means of approaching the one and only God were established, some upheld or modified in world geographic spaces.

Who and what name is given to God Almighty and how He is to be worshipped would surely be slightly different from one's sociocultural, geographical and environmental perceptions and implications through ages.

For example the Supreme Being In many of Yoruba ancestral religions are approached through certain modes and decorums including rituals involved amongst the Ifa, Ogun, Obatala, Sango and Oya worshippers. They are all in submission to the supreme power of the Almightiness of Olorun, Olodumare whose mightiness is so immense and may not be directly approached except through lesser ancestral deities and what have you Hence their varying shrines, grooves and temples including their varying initiation processes to ascertain the authenticity of who truly is genuinely a member against the profane. Such goes with even many established foreign religions in our midst the Christian and Islamic religions with their creeds, doctrines including dogmas to which believers are obligated to conform.

They have their obligatory protocols established from ancient past which like those of the traditional religions are to ensure doing it the way of the forebears so that good results be obtained. The Yoruba ancestral religious worshippers allude to this as, "E je ki a se bi won se nse ki o le ri bi o se ye ko ri." Attesting to such viewpoint Jesus the Christ submits, "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill the law."

We have in the Holy Bible so many prophets of old who in their relationship with nature and the four elemental forces have proven the authenticity of the spirit nature of God.

Is it not a truism that God's revelation to humankind varies from one tradition to another and in modes and fancies?

Our understanding of such an "Isese" phenomenon aligns with the submission that: God sent us revelations as we had with Noah, to Abraham, Ismael, Isaac, Jacob and to a number of the apostles.

"IQRA" is“Read! In the Name of your Lord, Who has created (all that exists)” is a command to recite from memory, not from a written page to Prophet Mohammed on whom be the peace of Allah.

So, as it was with these prophets and sages of old, so it had been with our age long Traditional religion worshippers whose revelations are not properly documented as we have in the scriptures. The sages of old in the Rosicrucian age long initiatory tradition say:"Those who believe in God and His prophets without discriminating between them, to them we reserve a reward. God is mild and merciful and His manifestations are like Christ stated on the importance of the purity of "Isese" as a means to unraveling the mystery of existence. According to this Teacher of Light to his disciples.

And He said, “To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is given in parables, that 'Seeing they may not see, And hearing they may not understand.”

This may also account for the ascension of Moses on Mount Sinai, Elijah, the baptism of Christ at the sea of Galilee, the fire by night and clouds in the day during the Israelites journey are all replicas of miracles arising from Isese as dictated by the Divine. Because of their "Isese" nature, miracles are still being replicated in the lives of even you and I today with certain slight modifications and moderations.

Our Muslim brethren till date still fast, go on pilgrimage to Mecca, embark on circumambulation of the Ka'bah and observe the killing of rams during Ileya festival. All these are protocols, decorums and standing on the existing protocol and refinement of tradition. Holy scriptures abound with all these rituals but only the Deep can be called to the Deep.

Whatever be the case, I concur with the Yoruba in one of their orthodox Christian songs, "Mireku nlo repete bi ti atijo, awa la sin Baba bi tatijo mo." This in a nutshell explains that miracles still obtains in the life of Man but such are limited to him because of his ignorance of the Divine template for such.

While a truism that the night and day, the sun and moon are among the proofs of the existence of God, the mystical admonition goes thus, "Do not Adore the sun and moon. But adore God, their creator, if you have faith."

I concur with the Sufi mystic admonition that, "He who is of God, of God pursue."

Let their be peace on earth and let it begin with me and you.

God bless us all.

Taiye Olaniyi, a retired postman lives in Lagos