From the Suitcase--Oliha Yiwama

What’s the Word

Alafia!!! Alafia means peace in the Yoruba language. Alafia is also a greeting. Similar to a|
namaste in Hindu, or a shalom in Hebrew, or a assalam alikum in Arabic, etc. Although these greetings are from many different ethnic groups from around the world, they all convey a single meaning, a word of power: Peace! In traditional African societies, words of power are used most efficiently by native doctors or what the West refers to as shamans.

What is a word of power? Words of power help one convey, imagine, manifest, control or manipulate transformative energy. Words of power can turn the unseen into the seen, the obscure into the secure, the imaginary into the real. Words of power sometimes can be a part of everyday language, such as the words conveying peace, reassuring hearers that all is well, envisioning a dove with a fig branch in its mouth and all the soothing symbolism that goes along with the concept. Words of power can also be restricted to mystical ritual practitioners that through the millennia discovered the secrets of transformative energies.

Some words of power that are used to make things manifest from a ritualistic view are ashe/ase of the Yoruba, ise of the Edo, and om of the Hindu. Roughly, the meaning is let these things that I ask for come true or may it manifest. Mystical practitioners take the use of words of power further than the layman. A mystical practitioner uses the words of power to make his/her desires manifest as well as those of their clients and community. From transforming the ingredients in a herbal potion to cure a disease, to transforming the human body into a four-legged animal, or flying to an undisclosed destination. Transformation is what the alchemist searches for--but the African mystic knows where to find it.

The African mystic uses incantations as one of the methods of transforming substances. Incantations consist of words of power. A good example is the phrase Yoruba word Eji Ogbe. Eji Ogbe is an Ifa Odu. An Odu is a word of power that conveys messages through the Ifa oracle. Eji Ogbe symbolizes spiritual awakening, peace and prosperity, victory over enemies, and long life. Once Eji Ogbe comes out in divination, the mystical ritual practitioner can utter these words to make this word of power manifest for the client or himself.

Words of power are also used to control nature, such as water, wind, fire, and earth. According to the world's oral literature, the creator uttered a word of power and everything came into existence. May you use a word of power to transform the world!