Ori Veneration: Liberation through Adornment
There is an ancient Sufi adage that has been popularized in the West, “What you seek is seeking you”. It speaks to the inevitable reconnection between a being and their essence. The process of remembering how to honor the sacred nature of your experience and existence. Colonialism has cultivated and sustained conditions for rampant forgetfulness. This is especially true in the United States, where the violent prioritization of white dejection continues to gnaw at the Black psyche until any semblance of ancestral memory dissipates. In spite of these active attempts to distance Black people from their profound ancestral inheritance, Blackness itself is the embodiment of the ancient technologies employed to maintain our connection with the divine. Sown into each Black creation is a seed, a blessing from our ancestors, reminding us to recenter in Truth.
“The electricity here comes from invisible wires strung across thresholds into the Otherworld of the ancestors.”
Oba (Yorubaland, Nigeria)
The practice of Ori adornment, widely perceived as head covering, is a technology that supports the human soul and body in maintaining energetic sovereignty. Through the use of scarves, crowns and hats individuals are able to focus the energy conducted through the use of the Ori and human mind. This practice over time greatly extends the capacity of the human body to alchemize divergent information and experiences. In Yorubaland, Ade Ileke are worn by royalty who can trace their lineages directly to Ododua; the originator of the Yoruba people. The design of Ade Ileke integrates the use of beaded veils to disassociate the power of the Ori from the individual; a reminder that even the greatest within a community is only a fractalized aspect of the Creator. Each Ade Ileke includes a compartment for herbal medicines intended to strengthen the physical health and extend the life of the wearer.
In ceremonies venerating the Orisha, Ade Ileke are worn by priests and spiritual leaders embodying the Orisha or ancestors. Orisha are ascended beings of the spiritual realm, often likened to the European concept of gods and goddesses, responsible for supporting humanity as we grow to fully embody our true Orisha state. Global iconography of the Orishas depicts them wearing these beaded veils, emphasizing the importance of Ori adornment for all spiritual beings.
“Wearing ceremonial garments in public is not a random act. Rather, it is a ritual statement. The garments are a display of the intention of his tribe to continue to exist, even in the cacophony of the modern world.”
Image by Kiyonah
The Western world is vigilant in its attempt to disconnect and dehumanize through the desecration of ritual. In France, the war on Muslim women’s sovereignty in covering themselves evidences the sheer disrespect for sacred practices. In the United States, archived experiences of enslaved Black women being forced to cover their heads as a symbol of subordination has moved many Black people away from this tradition in favor of white American aesthetics. These same white aesthetics police all levels of Ori veneration by requiring removal of head coverings and ancestral haircare.
Returning to the practice of head covering is radical. Through this ancient technology, we reclaim our bodies as sacred vessels and dissolve the hypervisibility forced upon us by Western surveillance. In the face of crude detachment from the true nature of the Ori and human body, this ritual gives us a taste of presence. From this state of presence, we have the capacity to expand as liberated beings into the realm of the infinite.
