The Church of Spiritual Solipsism is the internet branch (the "web church") of the Nederlands Ifa-Orisha Genootschap (the "earth church"), also known as the Dutch Church of Ifa-Orisha.

The Nederlands Ifa-Orisha Genootschap is incorporated in The Netherlands as a Church. Since the Church of Spiritual Solipsism is not an independent organization but just a branch of the Nederlands Ifa-Orisha Genootschap, members and/or clergy in the former, are for all practical, theoretical, spiritual, magickal, official and legal purposes automatically members and/or clergy in the latter, while (you guessed it!) members and/or clergy in the latter, are for all practical, theoretical, spiritual, magickal, official and legal purposes automatically members and/or clergy in the former.

So what we in fact have is a "web church" and an "earth church" that, not unusual in religion (wide and wicked grin!), are at the same time different and one!

The Nederlands Ifa-Orisha Genootschap (incorporated as a Church in the Netherlands, full statutory name Nederlands Vrijzinnig Ifa-Orisha Kerkgenootschap) was founded in 1988 as the "Seculiere Kerk der Yaqub Khani" by Jaap Verduijn, using elements from pantheism, animism, magic, and a rather liberal dose of personal stuff. The Creator God has given himself (herself?) physical shape in everything that exists: Creator and Creation cannot be separated.

God, in Ifa-Orisha called Olodumare, being All That Is, is present in us all, and vice versa. There's a bit of Olodumare in me and you, and there's a bit of you and me in Olodumare. This being the case, within the frameworks of their individual destiny all human beings take part in creating their personal reality, both good and bad. Concepts like devil, hell and to a certain extend karma are inventions of the mind, preventing humankind from experiencing what might very well be the real truth: the need to live in harmony with nature, and the development of good character. Even if we can't be sure that it's the real truth (or insist on believing that it ain't!), living in harmony with nature, and developing something better than the usual lousy characer, are pretty good temporary rules to live by.

The Nederlands Ifa-Orisha Genootschap got its present name after 1994, when Verduijn was initiated as a priest in the Ifa-Orisha Religion, a rather level-headed earth religion, that within an existing frame teaches exactly those things that Verduijn had been trying to explain since 1988. Ifa-Orisha, a term that cannot easily be translated into English (or Dutch, for that matter...), is not only a religion but also a method of spiritual discipline, a system of ethics, a method of divination, a technology for the development of good character, a holistic approach to ritual, a collection of religious texts, and last but not least a way of life. Its source seems to be the Yoruba peoples of Nigeria, from where the Religion during and after the times of the Transatlantic slave trade (the diaspora) has spread out over large parts of North and South America, the Caribbean islands, and now also Europe.

In The Netherlands in general, and in the Genootschap in particular, the name given to the traditional Yoruba Religion and its various derivations is Ifa-Orisha. The name Ifa-Orisha however is not universally used; similar, closely, or less closely related religions can be found under various names: Yoruba, Ifa, Aborisha, Santeria, Lukumi, Candomble etcetera. This has a historical background: the wish to give the traditional religion of the Yoruba peoples an umbrella name only developed in the diaspora. In Nigeria, where the Religion traditionally is based upon family relationships, there was little need for a general name that exceeded the boundaries of the own spiritual family.

It should be kept in mind then that what in The Netherlands is called Ifa-Orisha, in other parts of the world might or might not be called differently, and what in other parts of the world is called Ifa-Orisha, might or might not coincide with the Dutch religion of the same name. Now that's nothing new, for also the ancient spiritual families in Africa show great variation in ideas, names and practices; the expressions of the Religion are many-sided, although they all have the same foundations: divination, ancestor reverence, and Orisha worship. Orisha's are combinations of spiritual and metaphysical forces of nature, more or less (probably less...) comparable to the archetypes from the Jungian psychology.

Right now Awo Jaap Verduijn is the only initiated priest of the Genootschap that (in its "earth church" form) meets in a thoroughly haphazard way at Verduijn's ancestral home in The Netherlands. The Genootschap has some 30 members/regulars/irregulars. Besides those, every year many people come for occasional divination, which is available to anyone, regardless of faith or philosophy of life.

Beliefs, teachings and practice of the Nederlands Ifa-Orisha Genootschap are solely based on African traditions and those memories of Africa that still survive in Europe. No connections with American Ifa-Orisha traditions are maintained; the differences between the liberal Genootschap and rigidly orthodox American groups do not allow for much mutual understanding. Sometime in future these barriers may come down. For the time being, however, the Nederlands Ifa-Orisha Genootschap sees no common ground for cooperation, and to the best of our knowledge this point of view is mutual.


And who might Jaap Verduijn be?

Unless and until somebody with better credentials shows up, Awo Jaap Verduijn (1945) likes to think that he was the first Dutch person to be ordained into Ifa-Orisha on his native soil. He was initiated as Awolorisha into the mysteries of Oshoosi, and he has also received the primary initiation as Omolawo into Orunmila or Ifa.

Verduijn specializes in divination with Opele and Owo Merindinlogun. His main objective is making Ifa-Orisha available to Westerners, partly by making use of the astonishing amount of African memories and techniques that still survive in Europe in general, and in Verduijn's ancient family in particular.

In 1994 Jaap Verduijn was initiated into Ifa-Orisha by Awo Fa'Lokun Fatunmbi from the lineage of Araba (leading Ifa priest) Adesanya Awoyade in Ode Remo, Nigeria. Due to fundamental differences of opinion, early 1997 Fa'Lokun and Verduijn split up. Since then an amendment to the Statutes of the Genootschap declares: "By its liberal/latitudinarian nature the Genootschap is not bound by what elsewhere may be understood under Ifa-Orisha. Although initiated within, and usually acting according to, the traditions of the Egbe Ifa in the Nigerian regio Ode Remo, the Chief Priest and with him the Genootschap are always entitled to individual interpretation." Nevertheless the godchild still has a sneaking fondness for his former godfather, on whose request we post: "Jaap, you may tell people that I initiated you, but you must also tell them that I am no longer your teacher, because of your refusal to learn the sacred technology of Ifa as it is practiced in Africa".

The Nederlands Ifa-Orisha Genootschap considers the personal experiences and the personal relationship between each individual and their God, more important than the rigid adherence to rules set by other human beings. That's where the "vrijzinnig", meaning both "liberal" and "latitudinarian" comes in: when all is said and done nobody should ever let any human being come between themselves and their God. Most clients/visitors of the Genootschap are neither members of the Genootschap nor followers of Ifa-Orisha, and that's exactly the way Verduijn likes it. "Suits me! This Dutch liberal Ifa-Orisha is not off-the-peg but made to measure, and it often says: come for divination because there's lots to be learned, but by all means remain a Christian, Muslim, Heathen or Hindu if that's your destiny."

Ifa-Orisha divination is universal: it's for everybody, irrespective of religion or philosophy of life. Consultation usually takes between two and three hours, in return for which a suitable donation is asked. For balance must be found and maintained, in Ifa-Orisha just as in your personal life.