The Ibukun Lati Olorun (Blessings From God) has resurfaced, and it has become a topic of interest in Nigeria, the UK and other parts of the world. The reason is the claims of Shojon Skygod, a British Yoruba entrepreneur who says he is accessing the divine power of the book to become affluent and influential across waters.
Skygod, an entrepreneur and musician from the UK, is said to be an incarnation of Oluwasojon, a divine son of Olorun who appears on Earth to fulfil his destiny and guide the Yoruba people to Eledua. Followers of Oluwasojon's Iwure (bringing forth good fortune) in Abeokuta have accepted Skygod as that incarnation. He has given a series of seminars across Nigeria entitled "Eto wa ti de" (Our Right Has Come) and invested ₦10 billion to create the Blessings from God research initiative, a charity organisation of the same name as the book.
The rare leather-bound book is a sacred piece of literature in Yoruba culture and part of the Yoruba heritage. It holds prayers, divine guidance, prognostication and the history of generations. The main text and margins are filled with handwritten notes in Yoruba and Arabic with dates stretching back over a hundred years. It contains deeply poetic translations of the Psalms, Christian hymns (Orin Dafídì), guidance for dua, and specialised family blessings meant to be read aloud during specific periods of Yoruba existence, including milestones like coming of age, naming ceremonies, harvest and other significant life events.
The book details how Oduduwa, Yoruba's progenitor, led a migration from Northeast Africa into southwestern Nigeria. It collates the findings of historian Samuel Johnson, who researched the origin of the Yoruba to be Sudan. Oduduwa, upon arrival with his group, integrated with local populations, of which the book names Igbo specifically as "new neighbours," before establishing Ile-Ife as the cradle of the Yoruba civilisation.
The Ibukun breaks down the magic of the spoken language of Yoruba (Ede). It makes comparisons between Ori (destiny) and the philosophical concept of Iwa (character/existence), where thoughts and words function as the literal hands of the potter. In Yoruba cosmology, humans are sculpted from clay, but it is the breath and the spoken word, Oro, that activates that clay, giving it form, purpose and identity.
The book suggests that embedded within Yoruba ede, the language shapes the reality of its speakers through several distinct linguistic and cultural mechanisms, giving power to thoughts and speech of a divine nature only. It makes reference to Genesis 1:27: "So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them and mankind's stewardship over the earth."
The book uses the Talking Drum (DunDun), which can mimic the exact tones, pitch and rhythms of spoken Yoruba, to explain how to resonate with the structure of the Yoruba language to mould the clay and speak the blessings of God into your life. It draws on praise poetry (oríkì) and hunter chants (Ijala), and uses language and characteristics outlined in the kabbalah (Jewish mysticism) that explain a secret relationship between the infinite God of all and the physical plane.
Proclamations in the book explain that Oludumare is Oduduwa as an ascended being in the cosmos, granted privilege to find new land (Nigeria) in which to create the Yoruba existence and Ile-Ife, the ancient city in southwestern Nigeria known to many as the spiritual conception and cradle of civilisation for the Yoruba people. After a time, Olodumare was said to have been granted sight by a higher power, the god of all, and given an understanding of the Multiverse.
He witnessed thousands of variations of Earth spinning through the cosmos like beads on an invisible string. In some worlds the land never rose from the waters; in others, different gods shaped the clay. But in countless reflections of reality, the Yoruba existence saw a new beginning and direction under "Eledua" (the one who is the source of existence).
Oludumare realised that, to guide Yoruba existence across the multiverse, he must transcend his current form under the guidance of Eledua. The story dictates that Oludumare looked down at the primary Earth beneath him, where he would soon descend from the heavens as Oduduwa to found Ile-Ife. But he was already stepping into the parallel tracks on alternate Earths, where the people look up to a singular majesty. "Eledua" he chose to present himself as Olorun, creator of the Yoruba, on numerous versions of Earth before submitting his name and presence to Eledua, ensuring every one of his progeny knows Eledua as the father of Abraham.
The Ibukun states it was through Olorun's ascension to walk with God like Enoch, similar to the stories of the creator of the Igbo people, Chinike, and the creator of the Akan tribe, Onyame, that he secured wisdom, blessings and safety for the Yoruba in the multiverse. He ensured the change of Olu and Oluwa, the traditional Yoruba term for a leader or lord that used to refer to traditional rulers, deities and spirits like the Orishas, to be a prefix in devotion to Eledua, the father of Abraham, similar to Hebrew names.
Pages within the Ibukun outline family heritage spanning back centuries, with the stories of Adenuga, Olorunfemi, Taiwo, Bakare and many more. It also explains legacies and remnants from the Yoruba 401+ Pantheon occurring on other planes of existence. The book seems to have resurfaced due to the legacy of Oluwasojon, whose legacy in the book mimics that of Deuteronomy as he obeys the commands of the god of Abraham. Skygod's ₦10 billion research initiative is now the public face of that resurfacing.
According to Pulse.ng.
