Selah: A Báyò Akómoláfé Reader

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Publication date: Winter 2025

About the book

“This is the sanctuary we need— the
one that knows when times are urgent
we must slow down.”

Selah: A Báyò Akómoláfé Reader (Aora Books) is an invitation to pause and feel deeply in a world that seems to demand our urgency. In a time of accelerating crisis, Báyò engages with ecological thought, Afro-diasporic wisdom, and contemplative practices, to challenge dominant narratives of progress and change. Drawing from diverse strands of ancient myth, epistemological aesthetics, and emergent decolonial thought, Báyò Akomolafe weaves a poetic and philosophical exploration of the meanings of true presence. Rooted in the spirit of the Hebrew word, selah—meaning a pause in the midst of a psalm—this book brings readers into a realm of radical unknowing, where cracks in the familiar reveal portals to new worlds. Selah is a meditation on the spaces between moments, and the unexpected possibilities that arise upon surrendering to a rhythm that honors stillness, ambiguity, and the sacred art of getting lost. In tenderly urging readers to go astray, Báyò reminds us that “Wisdom is what remains when we’ve come to the end of everything we know.”

About the author

Renowned Yoruba philosopher, Báyò Akómoláfé, is a prolific writer, trans-public intellectual, and director of the Emergence Network. Selah: A Báyò Akómoláfé Reader is an accessible and evocative introduction to Bayo’s voluminous writings and teachings. It is also among the initial books to be published as part of Ayin Press’s newest imprint, Aora Books, which explores transformational thought and culture beyond borders, disciplines, and traditions.