click on book to see sample pages
744 page paperback English translation.
ISBN: 978-0-9790264-0-9
In 1952 Pierre Verger was initiated as a babaláwo, father of secrets, in Keto --- nowadays the Republic of Benin --- receiving the name of Fatumbi, “reborn by the grace of Ifá.” He was subsequently obliged to learn the secrets of Yorùbá medicine, passed down to him orally by his masters, the babaláwo. Throughout the following years he gathered thousands of these medicinal formulae which explained not only the use of Yorùbá plants but also described the incantations required to activate them.
This book presents 447 of these formulae in their original Yorùbá version and in English, classified under: oògùn, remedies for healing the body; ìbímo, remedies relating to pregnancy and birth; Òrìşà, magical works used to worship Yorùbá deities; àwúre, magical works to beg favors, or “beneficent works;” àbìlù, magical works to beg evil favors, or “evil works” and ìdàábòbò, antidotes to evil works, or “protective works.”
The author provides an in-depth glossary of Yorùbá plant names and their corresponding scientific classifications, and explains the relationship between the names given and the action expected from them. This poetic association facilitates the communication of knowledge which has been orally passed down through the generations. In Ewé, Pierre Fatumbi Verger sheds light on the workings of a culture that is radically different from those founded on the written word.