Vultures mark the beginning and end of a long search that brought me to Florida years yrs ago. I finally found them in Myakka River State Park, St. Lucie River, and various other public lands. I found myself involved in a profound study that has changed my life in ways that are more complex and rich than can be shown in a single image.
Some words from Odu Ifa that were spoken about this large raptor that stayed with me for those years:
“Ogbe Meji: Igun ni kinni on yio se ti o yio fi di arugbo? O lo si odo awon babalawo, nwon ni ki o ru(e)bo ti o si bu iye re le ori, ori re si bere se funfun bi enipe o wu iwo ati igba na or Igun ti ma nfunfun ti o si dabi iwu; a ki si mo omode Igun ati agba yato nitori ti ori gbogbo won ni a pa.”
English translation:
(Ogbe Meji: Vulture asked what he had to do in order to live to old age. He went to the babalawos, and they said he should make a sacrifice and sprinkle divining powder on his head, it became white, like a person whose hair is turning grey. From that time on, Vulture’s head has always been white, and it looks like he has grey hair. We cannot tell the difference between young and old vultures, because the heads of both are bald.)
The path opened in a strange manner. I saw it from my canoe. I had paddled out into Myakka Lake to get across the narrow fork off to the southeast when I saw it. I ran up onto the gritty shore and managed to get out of the canoe without tipping over. It was very windy. I climbed a concrete embankment and followed a broken path toward an overgrowth of vines, scrubby grass and moss-covered trees that had huge thorns on ‘em. I walked on my tiptoes so as to not disturb any of the animals that might be nearby. I needed to get up close to my target… as close as I could without having myself endangered.
I had come here to the shores of Myakka Lake what seems like twenty-five years after the fact. After the fact of having been on a quest to find what one might call a talisman… if one could call it a talisman. The strength of my search was the miracle, the miracle that after so many years I had actually never forgotten it.
”Ofun Owonrin-Owonrin,” the babalawo of Vulture, was the one who cast Ifa for Vulture and shared it with Fish Eagle on the day that evil spirits who seize people were coming from heaven, when evil beings from heaven were appearing. They said they should sacrifice to avert accidental death. The Fish Eagles refused to sacrifice, but the Vultures sacrificed one he-goat each, 103 coins each, one pot of palm oil each, and the sashes from their waists. Fish Eagle said that whatever Olorun has made, he has not left unfinished. Vulture said that his luck was not good; he said that he would make the sacrifice; and he made it.
When Vulture had completed the sacrifice, the babalawos told him to walk about bravely. They told him that he would not meet with accidental death. They said he would not be hungry; they said that whenever he was hungry, his spiritual double in heaven would remember him. They said we never see how Vulture dies. From that time on, when Vulture alights, human beings must not lay a hand upon him; but when a Fish Eagle alights, humans catch him and kill him, and they cook him to eat. A bird who tries to imitate Vulture, will ”sleep behind the hearth.” This means it will be cooked and eaten if it tries to be as bold as Vulture. (This is why Vulture never goes hungry and why dead Vultures are never seen.)
(Bascom, William Russell, Ifa Divination : Communication Between Gods and Men in West Africa, (1969) Indiana Univ. Pr; pp 517)
I walked so slowly under the dark canopy of the moss-covered trees that it was hard to believe I was actually not sleep walking. I looked up into the trees to see a few vultures roosting. The vultures cocked their heads over to watch me coming into their territory. I saw hardly a living blade of grass under those trees. What I did see was a scattering of feathers and under the roosting trees splatterings of white to grey of bird droppings. It was giving me chills… I heard only sounds off in the distance and they were so muffled as to be in another world. I knew I was the one in another world.
I saw broken palm fronds with feathers scattered about as my eyes and ears became accustomed to my new world. I saw standing on a downed tree trunk a black-headed vulture looking at me as I walked closer. I waited behind a palm tree so I wouldn’t disturb this young specimen. The bird tilted its head to see what I was doing but refused to move… vultures are not afraid of humans for sure. There were bones here and there. I’m sure the bones were from feedings but I doubt vultures brought the food back here.
One thing I had not expected to see were the vultures splashing around in the shallow water of the lake. Of course, other birds bathe that way, but seeing vultures splashing around in the water was surprising.
I walked away to gather some stones and feathers to make a small sculpture/design. I made my work off in an isolated area under the darkness of a low-branched tree. It was to be left here in an honoring of the space, and the bold and stately vulture. I marked the soft black dirt with Odu Ifa and made my way back to my canoe. Thorns. I wanted thorns and dirt and stones… memory devices for future use.
Once collected they were taken back across the lake to the encampment where my car was parked. I had seen other things in that dark space but I am not at liberty to disclose the details. I had collected the materials that would eventually change the direction of my art production.
Onajide Shabaka 1990s