Nov 15, 2021 - Babá Reads the Itá Guardian Orisha - Baba Speaks to Class on Rootwork

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 reading much more than I would until I had a chance to work with the reference material more.   

As I said in my past post my Guardian Orisha was Obatala, the King of the Orun, at the trial a silent judge, defender of the disabled, Creator Orisha, owner of the chain of the court who leans on a white metal staff felt right. I didn't know my mother's father, of course, but I did know he practiced law and sketched very well. I didn't know if it was usual for my Guardian Ancestor and Guardian Orishá to share qualities In my reading it seemed they did.

Apparently Sunday is a key spiritual day for me. The suggestion was that I light a white candle and meditate on Sundays. If yesterday was an indicator of the future I could definitely be convinced.

Class was later that evening. Babá was dressed in white. The focus tonight was on the HooDoo Tarot deck. One of the first cards he talked about was Miss Robinson. Babá told the class her story and the story of other rootworkers. Her story, in particular as it was told, was challenging. There was an acknowledgement for the work I had undertaken that I was a white man trying my best to do the right thing. I suddenly felt like Mr. Jones in Dylan's Ballad of a Thin Man.

Something is happening and I don't know what it is

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Four Sundays in November - First November Sunday - All Saints Day

Image
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...
Read more

Four Sundays in November - Fourth November Sunday - The Beginning and End of Ages - The Wheel of Time

Image
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 ...
Read more

Four Sundays in November - Second November Sunday - Babá Sends My Itá Guardian Orisha Reading Coinciding with a Sunday Sermon

Image
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...
Read more