Lost Words/Lost Worlds

In the second podcast, we shift our attention from the global language crisis as we focus on the Yoruba language, which scholars say is also threatened. The Yorubas inhabit Southwest Nigeria. In this interview with Chief Aikulola Iwindara, we zero in on the sacred texts of Ifa, an ancient philosophy and culture that has been transmitted orally for thousands of years.

As language erosion continues, scientists say we're losing priceless knowledge in virtually every field imaginable because the collective knowledge of humanity is encoded in language and many languages have not been adequately documented.

"The next great steps in scientific development may lie locked up in some obscure language in a distant rainforest," say the authors of Vanish Voices. Indeed, as we lose words, we lose worlds.

As a student Ifa priest and a speaker of Yoruba,
I often wonder how much deep ancestral knowledge has already been lost as Christianity, Islam and the forces of globalization dominate Africa. Vanish Voices haunts me. It always has, and I suspect that it always will.

I was pleased to interview Chief Priest Aikulola Iwindara (pictured on the left). I sometimes say that we're twins because we're both from the Caribbean (Puerto Rico, St. Croix, Virgin Islands), and we've both learned to speak Yoruba fluently. In this photo that appears on his website, he's sitting next to the Iya Osun, the highest ranking priestess of the orisa, or divine spirit, Osun.

In this podcast, Chief Iwindara shares some of the insights he's learned about the divine spirit, Obatala, by closely studying the sacred Ifa texts. He chants several verses, gives advice to those who wish to learn this language, and talks briefly about the time he's spent living in Yorubaland.

James Weeks (email: james@sacredjourneyworldwide.com)