Babatunde listened to her wails as he quietly dressed himself in his traditional medicine dress, dropped a white traditional wrap on his shoulder, and quietly left the room
As he stepped out of the main house, he met Sasa; somber and dressed like him. Babatunde was startled. “What are you doing here on Earth?”
Sasa laughed and it sounded like the peals of thunder. “Fancy pants, you look droll in that dress of yours, we have a meeting remember?”
Babatunde was now bewildered. “We? Who is we? What meeting?”
Sasa simply tapped his shoulder and he was transported.
~~~
It was a journey that burned itself into his mind. He found himself on a horse traveling through brush and sand dunes that assumed the most fantastic landscapes. He barely noticed Sasa, just sensed that he was not alone. He also sensed that he was part of a group of silent men; he knew them as brown men and warriors. He was also dressed like them and he enjoyed the air whipping his hair about his face and sometimes clouding his vision. They had to travel silently and Kadine, his horse, knew the way better than him. At the head of a group of men he rode swiftly.
As soon as they left the sand dunes the vegetation improved and Babatunde was able to appreciate a softer greenery. They might be able to reach the boundary of Ka-Tun-wo if they maintain the pace. Kub-ii-lan country had the wolf-men and he did not want to tangle with them. At least not now. He had a pressing mission to deliver to the islanders.
He passed the camp of the white gowns. They were so called by the fact that they tended to wrap their men in white gowns before killing them and he remembered the last time he had been stranded there. He shrugged the thought off as he concentrated his thoughts and held them spear-like in front of him. The sky darkened and he smelled rain. One rain baby blew him a kiss and he grinned.
Kadine sniffed the air and became restless which made him alert. He smelled the stench of the next camp. It was a dying camp. The water had died a long time back and the beings had left. There was a lethargy that could drag him to the depths if he did not close his thoughts. He sent warning signals to his men as his mind roved the horizon before the tangles came out of hiding. He held his spear high and one rain baby touched it making it gleam. It was the touch he and his men needed.
He told his men to push the leaves deep into their ears to avoid the songs that were wafting to them. This was also Emere kingdom and if you looked well, you could see them; their tears and their mats. Suddenly the clearing lightened and he saw her. He sent up a prayer for help and the clearing darkened again. It was a trick. Babatunde sighed. His momentary loss of concentration could have landed him in trouble because his horse avoided by bare inches the precipice that suddenly yawned.
He asked Mother Earth if she would close her mouth so he could pass in peace. Then he wondered where Sasa was and was pelted by rain instantly. He shook his head free from the raindrops and continued on his journey. Soon he saw people passing by and he knew he was close to the last camp before his destination.
Sasa was waiting for him and grinned as Babatunde climbed down from the horse, shaking off the last of the rain from his skin.
“You dawdled like some skittish Miss on the way,” Sasa remarked.
“As a matter of interest, how long have I been stuck with you?” Babatunde snapped.
“Wouldn’t you just like to know, brother?”
“I have not the slightest wish—” He was interrupted by a very beautiful woman coming towards them. She had a steaming bowl and gave them a smile. Babatunde stared in childlike wonder as she set up a small feast for them and left.
Sasa observed his expression and smiled.
“Who is that?” he asked after the lady had left.
Sasa shrugged. “I have not the slightest idea, but she generally welcomes warriors whenever they come to this camp and she never speaks.”
“Wow.”
“Some welcome, right?”
Babatunde gave Sasa a look.
“Yes I know, you are beginning to wonder about some things and you are being shown so many things. We would like you to learn and hopefully come to a decision. Soon enough, I will be reassigned and I wanted to increase the bits of knowledge that you have so you can understand.”
Babatunde knew that Sasa was not really a human being but had always appeared to him as one. So many things had puzzled him in the past and he was happy that answers to some of his inner seeking might be made possible to him.
Sasa read his thoughts and laughed. “I am from the spiritual just like you. You could say though that I have evolved more since the last time I physically incarnated. The human spirit has levels that can gain consciousness and experience the expanse of creation granted to him. Most of the time though the human being living in the world of matter has lost the ability to use his intuition to get answers for his seeking soul. Human beings have evolved away from the childlike into sometimes really evil, and turned more and more into the darker impulses. Some of you have become mechanical, intellectual enthusiasts and it is painful when you make fun of those you should be learning from.
“You are full of different sicknesses and desires that make you sicker and so your threads hang heavier. I understand you call it education these days. Your drugs were once plants and it is the essence of the drugs that the beings have worked into the plant that works within the beings in your body to make you humans healthy.
“I was considered a very powerful medicine man in my time, but a young girl floored my arrogance and taught me a very necessary lesson.”
Sasa gave his friend a smile again and told him that they will be visiting a few places and he would learn a few things then shocked him by telling him that all their travels will be concluded before he gets to the grove. Babatunde became really confused and asked where he was, and Sasa told him he was in a realm that was so akin to the Earth that he should have been experiencing it simultaneously. He explained that in bygone days, man was able to experience these realms and absorb what they saw into conscious experiences.
“It is where you fellows call the beyond.”
“I am dead?”
Sasa laughed. “All those times you talked to me, were you dead?”
“Okay this reincarnation stuff and time sequence is really confusing for me. How old were you when we met for the first time?”
“You mean the time you stole that palm wine?”
“I beg your pardon. I did not steal palm wine.”
“So why were you acting in such a funny way?”
“I fell.”
“How long ago was that?”
Babatunde stared at him.
“See? That was when we met and I bet you have had one more incarnation since then.”
“Papa said…” Babatunde stopped as thoughts of his father flooded into him. He found himself on the path of the grove alone. He blinked.
Everywhere was dark and the small lamp he had lit was out. He was in his room but not on his bed. He was fully dressed and he had sweat on his shirt, his back hair stood on end when he saw what he was wearing. It was the battle dress of ancient warriors with cowrie shells sewn onto a white traditional dress slung over his shoulder. He shivered with fright because Babatunde knew he did not have such an outfit. He wondered if he was going mad. He walked to his bed and sat on it trying to determine if he had at any time left his room. The house was silent. A small lamp was burning in the communal passage as was the habit because it reflected into his room. Babatunde stood up to check the door—it was bolted from within. He unlocked it and slowly returned to his bed and wondered. He fingered the material draped on his shoulder. He felt the soft texture and absently patted it as if he was comforting a small child. He did not know what to make of the night. He did not know how long he sat until he heard the cock crowing the break of dawn.
The door opened and his mother walked in. Suddenly he saw the picture of the beautiful woman he had seen in his strange journey in his mother. He stared at her in shock
but the picture faded. His mother gave him a greeting placing a gentle hand on his knee then she saw the cloth on his shoulder and her eyes opened wide as the words died in her throat.
They stared at each other in recognition.
“Who are you?” Babatunde whispered, as he felt himself shaking.
He saw the tiny thread of connection leaving his mother fade. His mother smiled. “That is a funny dress to wear this morning.”
Babatunde stared at her in some nameless frustration. He had almost touched something and it had slipped away. He sighed and silently removed the traditional wrap and told his mother he needed to have a walk and would be back. He needed to clear his head and walked out.
~~~
When Babatunde returned, he was tired but fairly emotionally balanced. The chief medicine man, Babamogba, was waiting to see him. The man was speaking to his father. Babatunde saluted the two old men in the traditional fist salute and hunched down beside them. The old man gave Babatunde a smile and asked him where he had been. They chatted for a while and then the old man asked Babatunde to see him off to the main street.
As they walked away, the old man explained that there was going to be a meeting later tonight in the palace. The town crier would be out this evening to announce that all women must be indoors by six every evening for the next three days.
“Is the Oro festival due then?” Babatunde asked, surprised.
The old man laughed. “I understand this is the first time for you. By the way, have you received your wrap? You will need to come with it on your shoulder.”
Babatunde in his shock almost collided with the palm wine tapper with his gourds of palm wine as he whirled to give the old man a look, but the old man was gone.
Babatunde was beginning to feel pissed by all that had been happening so he marched straight back into his room, changed into his suit, and prepared to head back to his job in the city. He muttered his frustrations angrily to himself, then the hair at the back of his neck started to rise and he knew something was wrong. By the time the laughter came, he knew his anger was going to cost him something. Kike was standing in front of him and she was laughing.
Bile rose in his mouth and his saliva grew slimy, so he tried to spit it out. Babatunde summoned all his strength and a deep growl left his throat. That stopped Kike who stared at him in shock. Babatunde shook his head assuming the stance of a lion about to shake its mane and he bared his teeth.
Kike disappeared. Babatunde dropped back trembling and he broke out in a sweat. He stared at his feet as sobs shook his frame. He knew the lesson—never to give way to his frustration or anger. A tiny voice finished it for him.
“Anger is the weakest point of man’s true ego, because it springs forth from conceit. A real team player goes along with the flow and joins—not making demands. You are part of a wheel, not the wheel. Anger was your ego asking for a special consideration.”
He stood up and changed into his casual clothes with a sense of acute remorse washing over him, and opened the door to find his mother—eyes wide—by the door. He asked her how long she had been there and she simply shook her head bemused. He knew she must have heard the growl. She was aware he was initiated into the inner circle of medicine men.
I am sure she didn’t bargain for me behaving like an animal, he thought. He patted her on the shoulder and looked deep into her eyes. “I am still your son, Mama.”
“I wish you peace, Babatunde, whatever got you so angry.” She picked up the calabash of cold water she had placed on the floor and offered it to him. “The Lion is never afraid, it has no consciousness of anger, but courage and steadfastness. It lives as the king of the forest because it has its strength tempered and responds only to defense, protection and never kills for sport—always remember that.”
Babatunde nodded, shamed again by the reaction he had shown to the appearance of Kike. He felt he had been tested and a sinking feeling came to him that he had failed again. He decided he needed to go to the forest. He explained to his mother that he would go for the meeting but would not be coming home. He would be in the forest for three nights.
His mother stared at him, anxiety and fear jumping into her eyes. He replied with a wry grin that he would be alright. It was time to deal with his ghosts, his fears, and come to terms with himself.
He returned to his room and put through a call to the hospital exchange switchboard. His boss was not in but he told the secretary that he had an emergency and would be extending his casual leave by a week. He packed a simple bag and quietly left the house.
~~~
It was time to begin the process to select the new king. They were back in the inner recesses of the palace and Babatunde sat and listened to the priest explain what they had to do. They were going to invite every king that had reigned to say something about the applicants as they were brought forward. Babatunde was startled by the process, wondering if he would see Adewunmi. Babamogba told him to keep still in a fierce whisper as the priest saluted all the kings and asked them to come forward one after the other.
An old man came forth and sat in the middle of the circle they had made and Babatunde saw that there were different colors around him. That was the first time Babatunde had seen colors around a person and he was startled. He felt himself merging with the man and then a type of great force propelled him to stand and move.
The old man’s eyes suddenly opened and he beckoned for him to come closer.
There was silence all around him.
Babatunde sat in front of the old man and touched him.
The old man said, “Hello Babatunde, I am you in the future. We will now return to our past and tell those in the present what has been and will be. Come, let’s go.”
~~~
He was back in his uniform, his stave on one side of the tent. They had been hunting for days now and had very little success. Kabiyesi was not going to be pleased and he doubted if he would be willing to stand all that anger. He shrugged off the last animal skin and in his clean white traditional outfit moved towards the central fire made by the rest of his men. His horse Kadine chewed peacefully and he knew it was trying to regain its strength from the last hard push. They had been chased by the roar of a lion. Babatunde did not realize that there was a lion’s lair close by. He got close and sat on one of the logs, accepting the roasted yam, palm oil and clean water. Oyewunmi came over and told him that there was some palm wine if he wanted it. Babatunde said he didn’t fancy facing the Kabiyesi with the very little game they had after three days in the forest. He ate his roasted yam and listened to the tales of his men about the deer they had sworn was a lady.
That kind of story was rife amongst his people so he just paid half-attention as his mind wandered. What is wrong with me? he had asked himself. He was expected to make his intentions known about a bride but he felt nothing. He listened to the stories of his men about the lady they had met in the forest and he became intrigued. Ifeolu saw his interest and sat next to him.
“You like the story?” she asked.
He shrugged and grinned. “What will a sane woman be doing in the forest?”
“She is a being, Baba.”
Ifeolu had released him from the sacrificial stake when he was only seven and brought him up as a younger brother. He had green eyes and a very strange way of picking tracks out of dense forests. He was never frightened but would sit very still for long moments. Fiercely loyal and silent most times. The rest of his men tended to keep their distance from Ifeolu but the young man never appeared to have noticed.
“What do you mean she is a ‘being’?” Babatunde asked.
Ifeolu smiled. “Will you like to see her? I don’t know her name but I can show you her favorite spot. Come, let’s go.”
Babatunde suddenly felt like a young boy and chuckled. He stood up and followed Ifeolu.
They made silent foray into the dusky forest stepping so softly on twigs without making a sound and soon enough they came to a clearing. Babatunde was startl
ed to find that the clearing was lit very brightly but he could not ascertain the source of lighting. He suddenly felt a longing that he could not identify. The lights parted and he saw a very dainty, beautiful being with the most glorious light wings tipped a soft golden color. She was picking up rose petals. The pair watched in silent awe as she folded her wings and with a gentle almost silent flap lifted up high into one of the trees.
Babatunde stood still for long moments watching the spot where the being was as it gradually darkened. Then they heard the roar of a Lion. It was very close and they sprang into action—spears in their hands crouching low ready to strike. A small laugh emerged from the thicket. Babatunde saw Sasa and he had a mask of a lion.
Babatunde frowned and stood up. Ifeolu straightened but said nothing.
Sasa walked up to them.
“You boys would have served for dinner two minutes ago. Did you not smell the vibrations of a powerful beast? That is not the way of the hunter. You must be always watchful. You were so entranced by the enticement that you not only left your duty posts but would have been dead in seconds.”
Babatunde sighed shamefaced that he had so easily been lured away from his primary assignment. Sasa invited him to a small tree stump.
“I have a small story to tell you. Listen deep within your hearts and allow my words to become a picture. The lion never shows fear; does not recognize it because it is a human failing. When you need to know the truth of a story, look deep within and into the soul. In there you will find answers hidden from all conscious thoughts. Learn the power of silence for it is only in that silence that you will find the answers. A true initiate talks sparingly and listens for ninety percent of his time.
Rose of Numen Page 9
