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Artist's commentary:

Babalu Ayé: Lord of Pestilence and rightful owner of the earth, Babalu is
the orisha who controls disease. He also is a special intercessor for the
poor.

Babalu vs. Orunla: Orunla or Orunmilla are the proper names for the orisha
often called Ifa. Technically, Ifa refers to the Cultus of the babalawos and
the Yoruba system of divination. Orunla is the Witness of Destiny, who
records the contracts men make before entering the mortal coil. As such, he
knows all. His priests, babalawo, practice divination using palm nuts or a
divining chain. They are thought of as master diviners, who may read all of
the odu. Traditionally, Orisha priests do not often read beyond the twelfth
or thirteenth letters, althought some orisha priests challenge this notion.
The story of Orunla’s conflict with Babalu, called Sònpònná in this story,
follows.

During the peak of the dry season, when the wind itself walked as a man in a
hartaman, a plague of pox blighted Ile-Ife, the mythical birthplace of
mankind. The good people of Ife stopped sweeping their houses as fevered
people perforated with pustules, reminding them of a proverb about the
dread one who made the grains men ate stand out on their skins. They knew
Sònpònná walked in their midst

But rather than pray to him to spare them, they sacrificed to Orunmilla to
deliver them, and thus a surreal battle of titans ensued. Orunmilla set out
to meet the provocateur head on, and Sònpònná with two hundred flames
shooting from his head met him. Shocked at such a fearsome sight, Orunmilla
withdrew. Then he sucked up all the water in Ife and spat on Sònpònná to
put out his fire. Sònpònná charged Orunmilla and engaged him in hand to hand
combat. Again Orunmilla withdrew, and this time he ate all the crops in Ife
to gather strength so that he could bare down on Sònpònná. But rather than
recoil, Sònpònná hurled poison arrows at Orunmilla. Now Orunmilla grabbed
people to shield himself from Sònpònná's onslaught. Sònpònná spent his last
arrow. Orunmilla began eating people to gather up strength for one final
charge with which he finally repelled Sònpònná.

Finished with this harrowing ordeal, Orunmilla went back to the people of
Ife expecting tribute. Instead he met the few people left with looks of
horror etched into their faces. "Orunmilla, what have you done to us?" they
cried out. "We asked you to save of us from Sònpònná's affliction, and
instead you devastated us worse than he ever has."

Commentary:
This pataki reminds us of the age-old adage: sometimes the cure is worse
than the disease. Diseases test our mettle. Often our bodies and souls
find resources to stand up to their challenge. Medicines often have severe
consequences themselves. Constant use of antibiotics has been proven to
create stronger treatment-resistant pathogens. Many of the sophisticated
drug cocktails used to curb HIV-infection have now been shown to have
severe side effects, such as disfigurement, osteoporosis, bone marrow
depletion and compromised organ systems. This is not an argument to avoid
medical treatment of HIV or any other malady, rather a reminder that we need
to weigh our options. Also, the people of Ife failed to honor Babalu. By
turning to Orunmilla for help with something that was Babalu's rightful
province, they inadvertently made their situation much worse.

Related Resources:

Afro/Carribean Syncretism
African Diasporic faith at Alternative Religions.

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