Guiding Speech


 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Falola/ Adepoju Opon Ifa Mandala of the Spiritual/Physical Cosmos 2 : Visualizing an Architecture of Material and Spiritual Cosmology in a Journey

Image
  Short Abstract This essay analyzes the foundational ideas of Toyin Falola’s Yoruba Metaphysics: Spirituality and Supernaturality as a major breakthrough in articulating a systematic, indigenous Yoruba metaphysical framework and creatively expands it by introducing the Falola/Adepoju Opon Ifa Mandala—a visual cosmogram that synthesizes Yoruba symbolism with mandala traditions to map the architecture of existence. By grounding this philosophy in lived experience and comparing it to global traditions, the essay positions Yoruba thought as a sophisticated framework for universal concerns, using the mandala as a tool for pedagogy, analysis, and contemplative practice that honors cultural specificity while demonstrating its broader applicability. Long Abstract This essay engages Toyin Falola's Yoruba Metaphysics: Spirituality and Supernaturality (2025) as a striking achievement in African philosophical scholarship—introducing a fresh, comprehensive and systematic exposition of endoge...
Read more

The Wizard Paradigm : Aṣẹ and the Metaphysics of Creativity: Mapping the Cognitive Cosmos of Toyin Falola

Image
I've been, half playfully, half seriously, writing an essay describing the scholar and writer Toyin Falola as a wizard. Why so? I find the wizard paradigm useful for integrating the scope of his cognitive identity and professional culture.                     What do I mean by "cognitive identity" and by "professional culture"?        Cognitive identity By "cognitive identity" I refer to a person's style of developing and using knowledge. In Falola's case, this cognitive identity consists in an oscillation between intellectual work and what he describes in a personal communication as "spiritual direction" and “spiritual journeys”, along with entry into trance states, trance as fully alert mentation, yet deeply focused in an activity, perhaps to the exclusion of anything else, both orientations facilitating creativity.       ...
Read more

Dynamic Monumentalities : Toyin Falola’s In Praise of Greatness and its Intercultural Resonance in the Context of Classical Yoruba Hermeneutics

Image
  Rikki Wemega-Kwawu : There were people of all walks of life at El Anatsui's opening last week at the Haus der Kunst, Munich, Germany, and they travelled from all over the world to witness the unveiling of this spellbinding show. There were curators, artists, gallerists, art auctioneers, art collectors, art historians, art writers, museum personnel, general art enthusiasts, family and friends. Among the visitors were even kids. Here in the photo, a kid confidently strolls through the artist's masterpiece, "Lorgoligi Logarithms," 2018, which plays with the concept of opacity and transparency, and makes a poignant commentary on the vagaries and vicissitudes of life, and the complex, zig-zaggy journey we all have to undertake as humans, hence, the eponymous title, "Lorgorligi Logarithms." 11 th march     2019 “The work consists of 65 individual parts forming a walkable labyrinth. It was created by artist El Anatsui especially for this exhibition at ...
Read more