The Orisha who is King of the Nile

As a child and warrior of the orisha, Obatala, I have an affinity for water. In the beginning, when the earth was without form and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. Olodumare sent Obatala down to create land upon the face of the waters. From this primeval sea, the mud/clay was used to shape humans. Like the oceans of today, this primeval sea was about 3 percent salt. While developing in my mother’s womb, I lived in a peaceful near-total aquatic environment and was protected from extreme temperatures, noise, and injury. Maybe this is why I enjoy a hot bath saturated with healing herbs. This is my way of trying to recreate the primal feelings I first experienced in the womb.

I think this water affinity was first encoded into my maternal Haplogroup. My genome shows that my maternal ancestor originated in ancient Nubia (Sudan).  About 45,000 years ago my maternal fore-mother migrated through east Africa into west-central Africa. A female offspring of hers, a greatly removed grandmother of mine, moved into the Cameroonian Highlands about 14,200 years ago. She and her descendants lived here for thousands of years. About 3,000-4,000 years ago, my descendants became part of the Bantu Migration. My maternal ancestor(s) backtracked into East Africa, likely to the area where (ancient Nubia) Sudan and Uganda met, and then 2000 years ago began traveling south on the Nile into Tanzania, Malawi and finally into Mozambique where she settled in the southern part of the country. All these areas are flush with waterfalls, lakes, and rivers.

After the Europeans exhausted the supply of slaves who could be taken from the west coast of Africa, they started looking to the east coast. Taking slaves from East Africa began about 1795. Until then most slaves in Brazil and the West Indies were taken from Angola/Congo mainly, as well as from other places in west-central Africa. My maternal ancestor was likely taken from southern Mozambique. The Dutch were more prominent in the south, close to South Africa and a large number of their slaves found themselves in Northern America. Two of the more prominent tribes in southern Mozambique, the Tsonga, and Chopi got caught in the slave trade.

My orisha path is old and has been interpreted by many to go back to Ancient Egypt and Nubia. Obatala is divided by words OBBA, translated to Powerful King and TALA translated to mean spilled, extension, or expansion. The word ALA is a form modified from the words Latur au, (laur-au) the name given by the Ancient Egyptians/Nubians to the River Nile. The Nile has two main tributaries that spill, extend and expand into 18 distinct tributaries and lakes. Oba Ptah is one of the later creator gods of Egypt but Khnum (the source of the Nile) is the original creator and he was thought to be the molder of the bodies of human children, which he made at a potter's wheel, from clay, and placed in their mothers' wombs. He later was described as having molded the other deities, and he has the titles “Divine Potter” and “Lord of created things from himself”. In essence, OBATALA could mean King of the Nile.