The Ifa & Orisa tradition is a journey of loving yourself first. Depending on yourself first. Learning to hold yourself accountable first.
If you’re in the tradition and you are the same person that you were going into it, investigate that.
Before all the orisa, akose (spiritual medicine), and ebo (sacrifice)—all you have is yourself (your ori) and your character (iwa pele).
It’s self-action before devotion.
When it comes to devotion, it’s devoting your life to what resonates to what works with your ori (higher self). It’s doing things that align with your elevated self, that align with the destiny that you chose to live.
Codependency on the Ifa Divination System or Orisa is not it.
The Orisa that guards your head in diasporic traditions, is because the orisa is intertwined with your destiny. When you chose your destiny (yes, choose) in Heaven, an Orisa stepped up to help you accomplish it.
You’re partners. And when you initiate into them, you become them.
Initiation is becoming them in a personalized, tailored way that sits on your higher self. You ori is charged with orisas you initiated to, but they do not overpower them
Your ori desires to break out of the cycle of reincarnation and become elevated. To become the orisa itself.
I say this all to say that it’s more layers than to know which Orisa “guards your head”
We love things that make us unique, but the orisa shouldn’t be one of them. Because you already are. No two ori is alike.
There’s someone out there that thinks they’re lazy when they just have undiagnosed ADHD.
I think about this person a lot, because I was this person.
The abuse you tolerate from others because there are things that are difficult for you, leads you to a life where you think there’s something wrong with you.
Your brain works differently. And that’s okay.
People with ADHD have a deficit in activation (which is the opposite of procrastination). It’s *extremely* difficult to get tasks started.
To someone who doesn’t have ADHD it seems like laziness or being unproductive. But what is productivity anyway?
In Ifa, menstruation is not considered dirty or unclean. It’s actually seen as something very energetically potent.
There are many Odus (Odus refer to the cosmic algorithm of the universe) like Iwori Ogbe, Iwori Osa, etc that speak about menstruation being a sign of blessings.
Particularly ire omo (blessing of child).
That being said, those who menstruate are running energetically hot against hot spirits. The menstruation cycle (and the blood itself) can be powerful enough to render medicines and Ifa shrines impotent and unworkable.
You’re not gonna be able to pray away cognitive disorders or choose to not believe them.
A loved one could be silently suffering without the access to get help & the support. It will benefit the entire community to advocate for everybody in it.
Here in this thread, I have time again to talk about the 3 types of ADHD. And how emotional regulation and rejection sensitivity are one of many defining components you could probably recognize in an ADHD person