By Nomathemba Pearl Dzinotyiwei

There are some interesting similarities between spiritual practices in Southern Africa & Ifa – Yoruba spiritual tradition. Take the wearing of beads for instance. Beads called ubuhlalu in Nguni languages or dipita in SeSotho or SeTswana are worn by people with a spiritual gift or calling in Southern Africa on instruction by the ancestors often in dreams. In the Ifa tradition the beads or eleke are gifted to initiates by the Ifa priests and priestesses according to the Orishas whose energies are dominant in that person. Common colours are white, blue and white, blue, clear and red beads, red and white, black and white bead, yellow & Amber beads. The designs can be a simple single strand worn on the wrist or around the neck or multiple strands with elaborate designs sometimes including seashells, bones or crystals.

A possible reason for the similarities is the spreading of African Spirituality with the migration of Bantu people in different waves from north, east, central and west Africa to the south. Some of the songs sung by South African healers learnt from being passed on by other healers in a trance state have lyrics that are not in a recognized South Africa language and sound like West and Central African languages that sound like BaMbara, BaMileke known to be older Bantu languages and Luyana and Tshiluba spoken in the Congo.

The colours correspond to a cosmic energy which is personified as a god or Orisha. Similar correspondences are found in Kemetic Spirituality. The colours also correspond to the elements – earth, water, air, fire. There are many Orishas but there are the most popular ones. 

Yoruba tradition recognizes the Source Or Creator, called Olorun or Olodunmare. The Orishas are manifestations of Olorun as cosmic energies present in the universe and in all human beings. An Orisha is a spirit that reflects one of the manifestations of God. There are four hundred and one of them in total, each playing a role within the Yoruba pantheon. Twelve of them however can be equated to the twelve signs of the Zodiac along with their respective houses.

Olokun was the first of the Orishas. He dwells in the depths of the ocean & is associated with wisdom, divination & revered for giving prosperity. He is associated with the astrological sign of Pisces. This sign deals with the unconscious and things beyond the physical plane. Olokun’s aspects are therefore expressed within the astral, the subconscious, and altered states of consciousness that is experienced during meditation, initiation, and spirit possession. The colours of Olokun’s eleke are blue, white and clear beads. His element is water, particularly sea water. His qualities are similar to those of the the Ndau spirits of Southern Africa who are associated with rivers and the ocean. People possessed by Ndau Spirits, particularly those of Ndau ancestry from Zimbabwe, Mozambique and north-eastern South Africa are highly spiritual, skilled healers and some are feared or sought after for their prowess in dark magic.

Some believe Olokun to be a male whose wife is Yemaya or Yemoja, the Mother of all Orishas & Goddess of the Ocean. She governs water, motherhood, and protects pregnant women. The colours of her eleke are blue & white & some designs include red similar to Olokun and seashells. She is associated with the sign of Cancer, the crab, a sea creature with a protective shell that does not let go once its claws grab something, also known for being maternal, protective, nurturing, and instinctive and the 4th house associated with the home. Her name is a contraction of the Yoruba words “Yeye omo eja” which means “Mother whose children are like fish”. This represents the vastness of her motherhood. The ebb and flow of the ocean tides are a result of the moon, the fourth house’s ruling “planet”. Her element is water, particularly sea water as all rivers flow to the ocean. Yemaya’s qualities are also similar to Ndau spirits that are associated with the oceans. Female healers are strongly affected by Ndau spirits because they dwell in the sacral chakra, close to the belly and reproductive organs.

A popular Orisha is Oshun, goddess of divinity, fertility, femininity, beauty & love. She is the daughter of Yemaya & consort of Shango. Taurus is the ruling sign of the second house, which is the house of possessions. This should not only be understood as material possessions but also as traits and characteristics that we value about ourselves. The ruling planet Venus is also the Roman goddess of love, whose Orisha equivalent is Oshun. Oshun is the goddess of fresh water (opposite to the salty, ocean waters of Yemoja), sensuality, prosperity, love, and fertility. The colours of her eleke are yellow and gold. She is associated with fresh water like the Ndau spirits that also reside in the sacral chakra and govern creativity, sexuality and prosperity. Ndau people, women especially are reputed to be very resourceful and enjoy the finer things in life, particularly clothes, jewelry, shoes and perfume. Oshun is often depicted as a beautiful young woman with a mirror. Beyoncé is believed to be a follower of Oshun.

Shango the god of iron and fire is the most feared and powerful of the Orishas and believed to create thunder and lightning. He is the consort of Oshun. He rules the astrological sign of Aquarius which is associated with rapid social change, upheaval, and rebellion. These traits all reflect Shango, the warrior Orisha of thunder, lightning, and fire. Once a living king on Earth, Shango is known for working miracles after his death. This elevated him to the status of Orisha. The colours of his eleke are red and white. His qualities are similar to the Nguni Spirits which are associated with war and are powerful, protective energies. Beads worn by diviners with Nguni Spirits are red and white.

Obatala was the Orisha tasked with creating land and human beings. He is believed to be the father of Shango, a warrior, a powerful & magical being, capable of manipulating cosmic energy & capable of reading minds. The colour of his eleke is white. His element is air. The Orisha of purity, Obatala was sent by the Supreme Being at the beginning of time to form the Earth. He also constructed the bodies of humans. Obatala completed his construction of the bodies he created by adding heads to them. He therefore became known as the owner of heads. The head is symbolic of intelligence, higher education, and deeper understanding, all which the ninth house represents. Obatala is associated with the sign of Sagittarius and the ninth house, which is is the house of philosophy and is ruled by the planet Jupiter, His qualities are similar to those of the AbaLozi spirits that communicate in whistles and bestow gifts of clairaudience and claircognisance among other psychic gifts to those they possess. AbaLozi spirits often give gifts related to prophecy and pre-cognizant dreams. They like to work with white candles and beads.

Elegua or Eshu is the messenger & Orisha of the crossroads. He is the ruler of the sixth house, and the sign Virgo. Health, work, and service are central to the sixth house. It is ruled by the planet Mercury, the messenger of the gods within the Roman pantheon. Eshu is the Orisha that stands at the crossroads between the physical world and the spirit world. His duty is to be the intermediary between man and the Orisha. Therefore, when one wishes to call upon the Orisha, he or she first gets permission from Eshu. This is symbolic of clearing and preparing the mind to receive whatever message the Orisha have for you. He is invoked to venerate the ancestors & open the path to Olodumare the supreme deity. The colours of his eleke are red, black and white. His elements are earth and air. African ancestral spirits are believed to carry messages from the Creator. Red beads symbolize the sacrifice that connects the healer to the ancestral spirits, while black beads symbolize death, a metaphor of dying to your old life and accepting your calling as a healer or diviner. Abalozi people in Zambia also dress in red and black for ceremonies. Healers with unMndiki spirits from our oldest blood ancestors among the Mandinka people of Mali and Burkina Faso also wear red and black or red and white beads.

Orunmila is the Orisha of knowledge, destiny & prophecy. He assisted Olodumare in creating the universe, planted the first plant on earth & designed the 16 characters of humanity & a healer of other Orishas. He is associated with the sign of Leo, the fifth house of the Zodiac, of is the house of creativity and pleasure, ruled by the sun. This house deals with gaining pleasure through acts of creation, artistically and even procreation i.e. the creation of offspring. The Sun, the ruling “planet” of the fifth house, is a symbol of creative energy, illumination, and knowledge. These are all aspects the Orisha of wisdom, knowledge, and divination Orunmila reflects. It is Orunmila’s duty to record the destiny of individuals the moment the breath of life is given to them. The colours of his eleke are green, green and yellow or green and brown. His elements are earth and water.

Some African healers wear green, green and yellow or green and brown beads and carry the gift of divination using whatever tools their ancestors use, be it bones, tarot cards, shells, crystals, water etc. They may also carry the gifts of alchemy the ability to transmute negative energy into positive energy and herbalism, the ability to heal using herbs and other natural elements. They are known as inyanga, those who use the phases of the moon to gather herbs or igedla: keepers of knowledge and able to heal the body and spirit using knowledge of plants and other natural elements.

Oya is the goddess of the weather, psychic abilities, rebirth intuition & clairvoyance. She also carried the souls of the dead to the next world. She is loving & fierce. Her symbol is a flywhisk or ishoba carried by sangomas. The colours of her eleke are the rainbow, purple & red. Her elements are air, water and fire. Oya, is associated with the sign of Scorpio and the the eighth house, ruled by Mars. This is the house of transformation, regeneration, death, sex, and rebirth. She is the powerful force in nature that can change the face of the Earth. She embodies the tornadoes and twisters that uproot trees and houses with her destructive winds. This powerful Orisha is also responsible for carrying the spirits of the newly departed to the spirit world.

In the Zulu Cosmology, the goddess Nomkhubulwane is one of the seven messengers of the Creator and rules over weather and rain and her symbol is the rainbow.

Some priests have associations with multiple Orishas so their eleke or beads with have sections or combinations for the cosmic energies they channel or work with. They have initiates & the eleke are specially strung & given to them. 7 African powers is an example. 

If you are drawn to unusual bead colours & combinations or see them in your dreams these may be clues to your ancestry or heritage & spiritual path. Beads used intentionally can strengthen spiritual connection & heal you through the vibration of colour. You don’t have to be an initiated healer to wear beads in Southern Africa. These usually indicate the nature of your calling, your dominant energies and the parts of your energy field or chakras that you need to balance and heal to effectively connect to Spirit and to protect you.

Sources: http://www.thegnosticdread.com