WHAT IS EGBE?

Chapter 1 of the book

“Egbe – the Heavenly Mates of Every Human”
by Ayo Salami

Egbe may be described as the heavenly/spiritual peer group of a human being. Though
biologically the human body is known to be a result of the union of the egg and the sperm,
most religions agree that the human soul comes from heaven to be born on the Earth.

THE BEGINNING OF THE HUMAN SOULS AND THE HEAVENLY DOUBLE

According to Ifa, the journey of every man on Earth starts from Heaven. Ifa teaches that
the breath of Olodumare into the Ori moulded by Obatala signifies the formation of a soul
which energizes or activates the “clay”. At this point, Ifa says, the newly formed soul
wanders around the realms of Heaven waiting for the parents through whom it will be born
on Earth. It is about this time that the “Heavenly Double” comes to be. The Heavenly
Double is the spiritual identical twin of the soul that is eventually born on the Earth as a
human person.

The exact point of activation of the Heavenly Double is not fully understood. What is certain
is that the Heavenly Double is closely related to the Egbe and I have not come across any
poem of Ifa that declares the beginning of the Heavenly Double. However, there are
several theories on how it begins. Two of these seem to make most sense to me.

The first theory states that when Olodumare breathes into the Ori made by Orisa Obatala, a
pair is formed from the single breath leading to two souls cohabiting the same Ori. The
theory explains that since the newly formed souls for not undertake the journey to the Earth
immediately, the pair stays together, getting to know more about each other, go to the
market of Ido and Ejigbomekum together to choose Ori and Iwa respectively. They wait till
the determination of the lineage into which they will be born on the Teath. This theory
states that immediately this lineage is determined, separation occurs with one soul
emigrating to the Earth and the other staying back in Heaven.

The secondtheoty differs only in that the formation of the double does not occur until at the
instance of revelation of the earthly parents. This means that the one soul created by
Olodumare divides into two with one staying back in Heaven as the Heavenly Double for the
one on Earth.
What is certain is that every man on Earth has a spiritual double in Heaven. This entity,
according to Ifa, is an exact replica of the human on Earth in character. The only difference
may be that the heavenly double is higher spiritually. Also, according toe Ifa, the latter,
being higher in spiritual echelon, has access to material things which may be benefiaial to
the counterpart on Earth. This is termed the Enikeji Orun (Heavenly double/companion).
This heavenly double is the simplest form of Egbe and it is the aggregation of all Enikeni
Ofun (including for those beings who had passed as spiritus do not die) that are now known
and called Egbe. The Heavenly Double or the astral mate also shares spiritual essences
with the mates of the other human beings also living in Heaven.

The reasons for the astral mate staying back in Heaven are numerous. This may range from
acting as a helper for the being on Earth, so that they both can have access to the
spirituality of the realms of Heaven; harnessing the spirituality of the one on Earth for
better living on earth; removal or managing some traits that are undesirable in the life of
the one on Earth. In a verse of Obara Oyeku, Ifa says:

Omo kekere nii feyinju tanna ale

A did fun Egbe
Awon Egbe ni n torun bo wale aye
Ebo ni ki won o se, Ki won si t'oju Egbe won laiye
Eyin Egbe mi
E mo mo je nte o

Translation

It is little children that use their eyes as lamp in the night

Cast divination for Egbe
Egbe was coming from heaven to the earth
They were asked to offer sacrifice, and take care of their Egbe on earth
My Egbe, do not let me be disgraced
Our Egbe on Earth will not be disgraced, for the one in heaven will not allow it
Please don't let us be humiliated

Another verse of Ifa from Osa Meji also says:

Isansa meji nii kiraa won jeejeeje
A difa fun Egbe Aye
A bu fun torun
Borokinni Orun o nii je kit Aye o te
Translation
It is two fugitives who greet each other in whispers
Cast Ifa for Egbe on Earth
Also cast fo the one in Heaven
The nobles in Heaven will not allow the ones on Earth to be shamed.

It must be noted that Egbe is different from Ori. While Ori is basically responsible for
humans choosing their destinies and guiding them to whatever they chose, Egbe is
responsible for behavioural patterns of the individual. It is the guiding spirit to linear traits
like anger, stealing, brilliance, laziness, work habits, etc.

As they are uncountable human behavioural patterns, there are innumerable forms of Egbe.
Most of these traits are beyond the control of the person concerned.

DREAMS

Reconnection with Egbe usually begins through dreams. The dream may tell stories or it
may be disjointed; the ones that tell stories may be good or may be nightmares. Often,
when a particular dream is recurrent, Egbe is at work and possibly calling for attention. In
the olden days, it was common practice to consult Ifa over disturbing dreams. Dreams
featuring a woman wearing red or white cloth and carrying a baby or dancing with many
children are traceable to Egbe. Having sex, masturbating or carrying pots to fetch water
from a stream also have Egbe colouration.

Egbe, like most Yoruba divinities, do not just fret or cause trouble. They must have been
offended. They will call for redress and if such calls are ignored they begin to express their
anger. Therefore, when one has recurrent dreams, it is good to either consult Ifa or seek
the advice of a priest of Egbe to avoid trouble.

Egbe is propitiated for longevity, good health, prosperity, success and victory. Many people
are in the habit of losing many things. This might be due to their carefree attitude towards
their astral mates. Some mysterious deaths might be due to oaths with the astral mates.
In order to avoid unnecessary tragedy or loss, thus is the need to take care of the astral
mates.

There are many verses of Ifa which attest to this. Let us consider the one found under
Ogunda Ofun:
Aja n kulu mo kulu
A difa fun Orunmila
 Igba ti oun Egbe re jo n se Ogbe nu
Won ni Igba to n rook
Awa re ni
Ajankulu mokulu se waa depe
Igba to n ko ebe
Awa re ni
Ajankulu mokulu se waa depe
Igba to n wa isu
Awa re ni
Ajankulu mokulu se waa depe
Igba to n ya oka
Awa re ni
Ajankulu mokulu se waa depe
Translation

Aja n kulu mo kulu

Cast Ifa for Orunmila
When he was having disputes with his astral mates
They said “when you are farming
We were together
Ajankulu mokulu, why do you curse us
When you were making the heaps
We assisted you
Ajankulu mokulu, why do you curse us
When you were harvesting yams
We were together
Ajankulu mokulu, why do you curse us
When you were harvesting sorghum
We assisted you
Ajankulumokulu, why do you curse us.
When Orunmila stopped taking care of his astral mates, he started to lose his valuable
items. He thought thieves were responsible so he decided to curse the thieves, not knowing
that his astral mates were responsible. When the truth was revealed, Orunmila had to
apologise to them and his valuables were returned.