Connecting with Ifa

For years my feelings were it was somewhat counter-intuitive that Christians should begin the new church year and Advent contemplating the end of things. Particularly this Luke passage has this troubling verse " Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away ."  Troubling, I think, because our lives are lived linearly. If " until all things have taken place" is read like " There will be signs... all these things must happen and then comes one final, apocalyptic outcome " then this Jesus prediction on its face seems wrong 2,000 years later.  However, let's move this from the idea that the end of an age is a one time event and, instead of a revelation and resolution or a one time rapture, imagine the resolutions, revelations, and ruptures that happen throughout human history. The opportunity is there for every generation to bring the kindom ...

 SIXTEEN TRUTHS OF IFA / My Reflection on Those Truths on this Sunday 1. There is a single God . - This is what I have been taught and believe.    2. There is no Devil. - I have always believed this deep in my heart and have been troubled by the various Christian apologists when they try to explain the Biblical Devil concept.   3. Except for the day you were born and the day you are supposed to die, there is no single event in your life that cannot be forecast and, when necessary, changed. - I doubt I fully understand the impact of this statement but I do not find it hard to accept.   4. It is your birthright to be happy, successful, and fulfilled. - I have faith that the achievement of arriving at your destiny's destination, or the road to a liberation from being captive, leads to happiness, success and fulfillment.    5. You should grow and obtain wisdom during the process. - I agree life is our opportunity to grow and obtain wisdom.   6. You ar...

Yes, Babá sent my Itá Guardian Orisha Reading together with reference material for my own research. We are scheduled for Tuesday for the detailed reading.  This Sunday also ended the Mark passages in the lectionary cycle we have been following at my church for 2021 This has been a profound and jarring Gospel to follow during a time of trouble affecting us all, namely a pandemic. There was a tie with the reading Babá revealed to me which is why I will describe it here. According to tradition, the author, Mark is not an apostle himself. Not one of the original disciples, but rather the follower of one of them. Traditionally, he's supposed to be the disciple of Peter We don't know exactly where this Mark was or where he actually wrote. However, tradition places him at Rome, but one more tradition also has him located at Alexandria, and it may be the case that the story that we call Mark's gospel, which supposedly derived from Peter, is also an example of this passing o...

The refrain of Dylan's Ballad of a Thin Man is on my mind. It has been for a month. " Something is happening but you don't know what it is." Someone reminded me that I am not the same person I was at the beginning of the month. A profound, fundamental truth I learned through the four Sundays this November. The first Sunday was All Saints Sunday where the Gospels for the month were alternating between Mark and John. The Gospel reading in this cycle was the story of Lazarus. And, for me, this year I was focused on Mary.  Mary Magdalene, of course, is mentioned in all four gospels as a witness of the crucifixion and empty tomb. In Matthew and John, she also encounters the resurrected Jesus. Yet only in Luke is Mary mentioned earlier in Luke's narrative. Luke 8 refers to Mary, called Magdalene, as one of several women who traveled with Jesus and the disciples in Galilee. There is a Biblical scholar from Duke University, a woman who looked at the oldest Papyrus that...

I ordered my HooDoo Tarot Deck and Book for Rootworkers a week ago last Sunday. It arrived today, just in time to begin the recommended homework. Between yesterday's class and today's mail arriving I found a YouTube video of Tayannah Lee McQuillar talking about the construction of the deck and the Elders selected. A story she recounted was Miss Robinson, who represented the power the Devil card plays in other tarot decks. Miss Robinson was McQuillar's real life cousin whose story she heard through McQuillar's grandmother  (6:30 in the video) Once again the " something is happening but I don't know what it is" feeling I had last night came back. I remembered the card might mean "stop what you are doing" but I really didn't have anything to stop besides watching the YouTube video, which I did.   I wasn't sure how much of this two week story to go into with my wife but she was curious about the cards and deck. She is also great at following...

The contours of my life's road trip became a little clearer today as Babá deftly filled in the meaning of the work done on my Itá Guardian Orisha. At one point as his work on the reading was progressing he asked whether my grandparents were alive when I was conceived. I responded all but my mother's father was alive at that time. The reading showed my guardian Ancestor is my Mother's Father. When I asked about it Babá told the story of how he threw for my Guardian Ancestor further and further back simply assuming that all my grandparents would have been alive when I was conceived. He kept getting a "no"with each ancestor until he eventually asked the question. This admission certainly surprised me and helped build a trust something was happening beyond the stories that tend to circulate about cold readings being fed by the reactions of the person who is asking the questions. Actually, after going through the other details I felt he understood the subtleties of the...

This is what our Babá teaches. Believe what your Babá and your Iyá teach. We are not here to dispute what was passed on to them. As long as they are your teacher, they are your teacher . We honor them for the work they have done. -  Babá Awó Amósun  In the spiritual life it is not necessary to have a complete map of the path in order to begin traveling. On the contrary, having such complete knowledge may actually hinder rather than help the onward march. The deeper secrets of spiritual life are unraveled to those who take risks and who make bold experiments with it. They are not meant for the idler who seeks guarantees at every step. Those who speculate from the shore about the ocean shall know only its surface, but those who would know the depths of the ocean must be willing to plunge into it. God cannot be explained... God can only be lived. - Meher Baba  My childhood was filled with Lutheran traditions and theology. When I was in my late teens my deepest spiritual...

The carefully assembled bricolage around the classroom was overwhelming and the invitation was there to discover the power within each of the objects. Baba began his lecture and his knowledge and wisdom on the History of Conjure was apparent. Baba did not lecture so much as gave those assembled an enlightening introduction. This was not what expected. There was a practitioner who was present in the room and undoubtedly gaining more from Baba than me in my shallow first-time knowledge. Yet time after time what I did understand floored me.This was experiential learning. We handled, smelled and heard many of the objects first-hand. For two years now I have been trying to accompany BIPOC and LGBTQIA siblings and I was reminded how far and deep that accompaniment could go and what there was to that could be learned. Baba asked how we would feel if we were tasked with the healing of a community and a knowledge of the local environment and were then transplanted in a new land where you did n...

Lenny announced to his United States of Grace substack team , that in November he will share classes on his PHD which he described as his personal spiritual walk, and practices which he believes will be integral for our spiritual health and development of this new world we find ourselves in. This new awakening, or Dawn as he names it, is the whole premise of his dissertation, so far.   People in my circle were intrigued by, and eagerly explored, Lenny ’s comments in the email. Many were confused by the accompanying flyer as he talked about integrating his ancestral-infused practices and language into Christian-inspired spirituality.  For most this was our first exposure to his community ’ thecliffatdawn.com ’ and Ifá. One commented by syaing this reminded her of the Native American pastors & theologians (i.e. George ’Tink’ Tinker, seminary professor and an EMO Collins lecture speaker in 2015) who finds more inspiration from their Native spirituality than from traditi...