OYIGIYIGI OTA OMI : THE DEATHLESS STONE OF THE WATER (S)

                                                               Oyigiyigi ota omi


The eternal rock of creation in the waters of being

The eternal rock of creation in the waters of genesis

The eternal rock of creation in the waters of becoming

The mighty, immovable rock in the waters of being

The immense power in the depths of being

The mighty rock emerging from the depths of being

The great stone in the waters of being



                                                          Awa di oyigiyigi. A ki o ku wa.


We become the eternal, immovable rock. We do not die.

Image credit

Detail from Tokai-an garden,Myoshinji temple,Kyoto,Japan from Reading Zen in the Rocks: The Japanese Dry Landscape Garden.Francois Berthier. Trans by Graham Parkes. Chicago: University of Chicago Press,2000.75.

Text credit

Yoruba text from "Awo Training Part 1" by Awo Falokun Fatumnbi at Scribd.

Translation assisted by Falokun's translation,Bolaji Idowu Olodumare: God in Yoruba Belief and "The Yoruba names of God" thread on Nairaland