Ifa Think

Examining different initiations and the difference in initiations

First, let us understand exactly what Orisa are. Orisa are pure, potent, energy matrixes, each expressing a specific focus or potential experience. Each contains both male and female aspects of that energy. What the Orisa are not, are human like entities endowed with human behavior or goals. The stories, or pataki, that have become the staple of Orisa understanding were never made to be interpreted literally. Yet, like almost everything else in Western culture, the "sizzle" replaced the steak. The problem is not simply a semantic one, it is a critically significant issue that has to do with your ability to get your life on track and fulfill your chosen destiny. This can only be accomplished by absolute connections with the potent energy the Orisa represent. It cannot be accomplished by trying to relate to what amount to Disney characters! When one examines the tales that were constructed to explain this energy, you see the essence quite clearly. When one examines the tales in a literal fashion, one gets lost in a morass of anthropomorphic confusion. As humans sought to explain the divine energy that they had learned to work with, they did so with Human like examples. When we take the anthropomorphic (giving human attributes to something not human) view, we immediately make the energy less that it truly is…in our attempt to understand divine energy in human terms, we humanize the energy. In so doing we diminish its power…and our ability to truly utilize it. There is another important aspect to understanding Orisa energy. That has to do with differentiating between the essence of the energy itself, and the expression of that energy in our lives. The essence is pure. The expression is our individual use and integration with that essence in our daily lives. The essence will remain pure. The expression of it will be ever changing!

Ori plays an important role for Ifa devotees. The word itself, in Yoruba, has many meanings. It means head, or the apex or highest pinnacle of achievement. In a spiritual sense, the head, as the highest point of the human body, represents Ori. The head of a company or organization is known as Olori, or Ori for short. The supreme being, our single God, is known as Oludumare, another form of the word. In the human body, Ori has two roles: the physical and the spiritual. The physical functions of Ori will be familiar to us: our brains think, our eyes see, our noses smell, and our ears hear. Our mouths speak and eat and breathe. Our faces are different from all others and provide our physical identities. Our spiritual Ori are themselves subdivided into two elements: Apari-inu and Ori Apere. Apari-inu represents character; Ori Apere represents destiny. An individual may come to Earth with a wonderful destiny, but if he or she comes with bad character, the likelihood of fulfilling that destiny is severely compromised. Character is essentially unchangeable. Destiny is more complex. In Ifa we believe that we choose our own destinies. And we do this through the auspices of the Orisa Ajala Mopin, or the god of Ori. Ajala is responsible for molding the human head, and it is believed that the Ori we choose determines our fortunes or tribulations in life. Ajala's domain is close to Oludumare's, and it is he who sanctions the choices we make. These choices are documented by what we call Aludundun deities. All of us received our destinies at this place. An Ifa verse helps explain: E lee mo bi olori gbe yanri O E ba lee yan teyin ibi kannaa la gbe yanri O Kadara a papo ne... You said had it been you knew where Afuape got his Ori You could have gone there for yours. We all got our Ori at Ajala's domain. Only our destinies differ.

Why, how and when to utilize orisa energy for healing, cleansing, shedding, abuse & conception.

Ifa's worldview can be thought of as the spiritual representation of Einstein's theory of relativity. our belief in, and practices of, ancestor worship bridges the time gap that Einstein believed must exist between the past, present, and future. In Ifa, we understand that the invisible world of our deceased ancestors combines with the visible world of nature and human culture to form a single organic truth. Through ritual we bridge the relationship between the past and the present and in the process improve the future. The ritual process of ancestor worship can provide us with profound, quantifiable changes in our everyday lives. But the concept often meets with resistance.

The unique power, place and empowerment of women in Ifa

Negative energy - why it exists and how to deal with it