Reflections Without Mirror
The Mystery of Iwin & Oro (Ghommid) Myth or Reality
In the olden days, there were so many stories about the ghommids and their interventions or appearances in human affairs. It is part of our culture and belief in the existence of these different species who are thought not to be Homo Sapiens but understand human languages or they knew how to communicate with human beings.
My perspective on this is from Yoruba background and what I have heard from my father and uncles. The most surprising things are the facts that not much is heard about them these modern days anymore. What happened ? Have we drove them away through encroachment on their natural habitats, or have they never existed at all?
In my village, Ajagba, near Iyana Church Ibadan, many stories abound on the encounters of these extra ordinary species with my people. According to history , Oro is different from Iwin. Oros are usually tall, whereas Iwin are naturally short. The Oros usually lived inside the tree like Iroko trees, Araba trees, Ojia trees and there were those who lived inside Banana trees , particularly area where Banana trees were highly concentrated and in the thick forest The Iwins habitat were inside the rocks, Ant bear Hill, (Okiti Ogan) the Yangis etc.
One of my uncles told me about a ghommid living in Ojia Tree and used to come and fetched fire in their backyard late in the night. Remember that the only method of cooking in those days was the use of firewood and so once the women finish cooking there would still be live coals that the ghommids will use their hands to collect for their own cooking. It appears their intelligence were not developed enough to start fire on their own to cook, they had to rely on human beings to make the fire but they were not aftaid of fire like animals.
My uncle said these Oro would not only take the fire but he would be disturbing the house by climbing upon the roof and his father the Baale of Ajagba then would follow him to his abode and warned him because they knew where he lived. However , this Oro and his children continued trespassing and so the Baale invited my grandfather and others in the village and they burnt the tree and chased him out , he cried out of the tree and left the place.
On one occasion, my late cousin was pressed by nature in the night and had to go and relieved himself outside the house. In those days they have to go and pass faeces outside, one of his dogs accompanied him and whilst he was relieving himself, one Oro was on top of the tree, which the dog started barking , the Oro came down and chased my elderly cousin into the room of my grandfather and my grandfather just took his tobacco pipe and puffed the smoke into the air, the Oro retreated , they cannot bear the smell of tobacco. Perhaps tobbaco is dangerously harmful to their health. One day again , the same cousin of mine and his friends, about four of them were playing in the moonlight and they suddenly noticed that their numbers had increased to about eight. These were people that they had never seen nor looked like them. They understood that the Oro children had joined their group, and they left the place for them tactically. There was another man in our village who used to go and sleep inside Iroko tree. He had befriended one of the ghommids. My friends claimed to have encountered Egbere ( a weeping ghommid that always carried mat around) as recent as 1981 in a thick jungle and they all ran away.
A friend of my father told me the same story of when he was coming from a village party with his girlfriend and how the Oro stood on the road with his lamp, he was on his Motor bike( Vespa) the lady was scared but he approached the Oro with incantation and told him to give way, he gave way . There are so many stories from other people that I can not write here, but those were the hear say evidence that I have with me and rely on as far as ghommid is concerned . I have not seen any Oro or Iwin myself.
Reading the books , Igbo Irunmale by D O Fagunwa gave me deep insight on the pattern and behaviours of these species. I accept that there could be a bit of exaggeration in his book but the ghommid encounter by the hunters was prevalent in the olden days, which late Fagunwa exemplified
Who are these Ghommids?
I always think of how anyone can survive inside Iroko tree or Araba tree, I have gone as far as taking measurement of Iroko tree and cannot fathom how anyone with children can live there. How do they sleep? standing or lying down?, lot of questions that I cannot answer. I approached the elders and they told me they are spirit beings and they said the inside tree was like a very big house.
I think of the pygmies of Congo Basins. If per adventure, they lost their ways and we found them in our forests, won’t we think they are ghommids. What of the ‘Tribes’ in the amazon forest, they still use palm leaves to cover themselves. If one encounter them, you will think they are Iwins.
My Opinions
Are these Iwins or Oros another retarded species of Homo Sapiens that failed to embrace civilisation or are they fallen angels as some people told.
The demons are definitely not ghommids in my opinion. The demons are falling angels , they can operate on their own and they can be summoned by human beings for evil purposes against their fellow human beings.
The Oros and Iwins lived their own lives in their own ways and lived in their own habitats. They had their own powers and also good in the use of herbs. They belonged to stone aged species who did not develop from their primitive life. Human beings can easily conquer them since they have no modern weapons to fight and protect themselves. Hence, our encroachment on their habitats drove them away or annihilated them completely.
The Neanderthals were another species like Homo sapiens and in fact we interbred with them because they can still find their DNA amongst some Europeans but they did not survive the harsh life and dissapeared from the face of the earth about 40,000 years ago.
I therefore believe that the Ghommids had existed in the past but they had face extinction and did not survive human development.
What is your opinion on this yoruba belief ?
Niyi Aborisade is a lawyer, a Human Rights Activist and an Historian
