“Ifá tells us that when he is enraged, Obaluaiye [Babalú Ayé] takes [his] special broom and spreads sesame seeds (yamoti) on the earth before him, then sweeps the seeds before him, in ever-widening circles. As the broom begins to touch the dust and the dust begins to rise, the seeds, like miniature pockmarks, ride the wind with their annihilating powers: the force of a smallpox epidemic is thereby unleashed.”
—Robert Farris Thompson, Flash of the Spirit: African and Afro-American Art and Philosophy, p. 63 (Vintage Books. New York, NY. 1984.)
Babalú gettin’ me up in the mornin’
I believe I’ll dust my broom
Babalú gettin’ me up in the mornin’
I believe I’ll dust my broom
I get to sweepin’ this sesame, baby
Babalú pox gon’ be ya doom
And you won’t get better—ya whole body covered in sores
No, you won’t get better—ya whole body be covered in sores
Be nothin’ but dogs a-lickin’ you, baby
Once these bristles start sweepin’ the floors
Lazy Pushin’ Daisy
I know that there’s a man
Who in Bethany stays
Erbody like to call him Lazy
Cause he lay still four days
Talkin’ bout that Lazy
I’d swear he pushin’ up daisy
I know that there’s a man
Who sleep like the dead
Only the power of the good lord
Rouse him out of his bed
Talkin’ bout that Lazy
I’d swear he pushin’ up daisy
I know a man name Lazy
Always got that bed breath
Got a twisted mouth so sour
Breathe out the smell of death
Talkin’ bout that Lazy
I’d swear he pushin’ up daisy
I know a man name Lazy
Who stink to his core
Body raw as his mouth
And dogs licking’ his sores
Talkin’ bout that Lazy
I’d swear he pushin’ up daisy
written by P.D. Newman
P.D. Newman is an independent researcher located in the southern US, specializing in the history of the use of entheogenic substances in religious rituals and initiatory rites. He is the author of the books, Alchemically Stoned: The Psychedelic Secret of Freemasonry, Angels in Vermilion: The Philosophers’ Stone from Dee to DMT, and the forthcoming title, Day Trips and Night Flights: Anabasis, Katabasis, and Entheogenic Ekstasis in Myth and Rite. The Secret Teachings of All Ages (TV Series documentary) 2023.
Theurgy: Theory and Practice: The Mysteries of the Ascent to the Divine by P.D. Newman, published by Inner Traditions, Bear & Company will be available on December 5, 2023
Feature photo: Cryptic God, la science des mystères by Mitchell Pluto. PD Newman collection