Ancestor Letting You Know They Are Near

Photography: Volition Coleman, Ph.D.

This is an agere Ifa (divination container).  It is the" firm" of diverse implements used for divinatory purposes.  It is like a microcosm of the universe that is sustained by a ubiquitous feminine ability.  Like an "ark of the covenant" it is numinous and conveys a subconscious mystery of bequeathed knowledge and practices.

OUR ANCESTORS ARE WITH United states At present

I f you lot want to locate your most immanent connectedness with the multidimensional spirit earth, tune within.  Consciously connect with your ancestral DNA and everything else will be revealed through yous.  According to ane of my teachers, Baba Medahochi Kofi Zannu (of blessed retentiveness), our ancestors are literally inside of united states.  They eat what nosotros eat, drink what we drink, become where nosotros become and practise what we do.  This is an crawly fashion of comprehending who nosotros are, wherever nosotros are.  We are living, organic bequeathed shrines.

At the same time, creating and working within a  defended concrete space enhances our focus and appreciation for and connection with those ancestors who have lived exemplary lives before us.  Besides, It can become a space of healing.

Building AN Antecedent SHRINE

In traditional Ifa culture, anybody is believed to have the ability, and the obligation to communicate with the ancestors on a daily basis. According to Ifa oral tradition, communication with your ancestors is a birthright and requires no special sanction. At times this communication can but involve remembering a revered ancestor and making use of the retention as a basis for making an of import decision. In many means ancestor communication is an extension of the grooming and wisdom we receive from our parents and grandparents. In Yoruba civilisation, it is common for the uninitiated to make straight contact with ancestor spirits. The virtually prevalent method of communication is through dreams. Data too comes through participation in almanac ancestor festivals. Because such festivals are not common in the United States, Ifa worshippers in the diaspora take created several viable alternatives. throughout the Caribbean area islands the various expressions of carnival celebrations are retentions of the African forms of communal ancestor reverence. It is likewise common to build a small bequeathed shrine within the home to exist used as a focal point for prayer and meditation.

There are a number of traditional Yoruba methods for edifice antecedent shrines; some of which are very complex and crave straight personal preparation. For those who practice not have access to lineage elders, I recommend the ancestor shrine be constructed with minimal elements. One time the bones elements are in place, the ancestors can be consulted directly for guidance on further additions and modifications to the shrine. Once the shrine is congenital and once you establish a link with the ancestors, they will communicate to yous straight either through divination, visions, or altered states of consciousness.

When the altar is finished, it should stay as clean as possible. Ifa teaches that dirt, clutter and disorder can concenter unwanted and undesirable spiritual forces. This may seem simplistic, just in my experience information technology is a very important consideration. Our external environment reflects our internal state of being and either supports or blocks the procedure of growth.

Observe a place in your home or apartment that can be used for prayer and meditation. Make clean the surface area so it will be complimentary from dust. In Native American traditions, sacred space is cleansed through the apply of smoke. I observe this exercise to exist effective and consistent with many cultural earth-centered traditions. It is a common exercise in Native American and Pagan traditions to place leaves in either a big seashell or clay pot. Any effluvious leaf can exist constructive, with cedar and sage being popular choices. Light the leaves and fan the flames until you generate a steady plume of smoke. Walk through the unabridged business firm making sure smoke gets in every corner of every room. As you fan the smoke say a prayer asking that all negative influences be removed from your dwelling. The container selected for this purpose should exist kept near the ancestor shrine and only used for spiritual purposes. A Yoruba prayer may be used to bless the leaves used to create the smoke. this prayer is a dispelling invocation and you may add together the kinds of negativity you want removed from the sacred space.

Iba se Egun

I pay homage to the Spirit of the Ancestors

Emi (your proper name) Omo (listing your lineage starting with your parents and working backwards)

I am (you name) kid of (lineage)

Iba se Ori Ewe

I pay homage to the Spirit of the Leaves

Ko si 'ku

Transport abroad the Spirit of Death

Ko si arun

Transport away illness

Ko si wahala

Ship abroad all gossip

Ase

May it be and then

The prayer is spoken directly over the leaves. When the prayer is completed, breathe on the leaves and say the give-and-take to pronounced "toe." The word ways :"enough," and is used to indicate the invocation or prayer is completed. This is known as placing your ase or spiritual power on the prayer. The word to functions equally a seal locking the prayer on to the object that is being consecrated or blest. The word is too used to indicate the invocation is over and then that words spoken after the end of the prayer are not heard by spirit as part of the prayer.

As you walk through the infinite fanning the smoke, proceed your conscious thoughts focused on the intention of the cleansing. The smoke volition magnify whatsoever thoughts you are projecting into the room so brand sure your thoughts back up your intention.

Traditionally, fume has the event of clearing away all spiritual influences from a room both positive and negative. When starting the do of regular advice with the ancestors, it is helpful to begin with a neutral environment so that you consciously invite specific ancestors to the shrine and know who is making their presence known. Ifa teaches that emotions accept substance and that emotional energy lingers in a room long later on information technology has been discharged. This is particularly true of intense emotions like anger, hate, disappointment and jealousy. If these emotions build up around an ancestor shrine for a prolonged period of time, they tin accept the effect of invoking ancestors who indulged in negative emotions. for this reason, periodic cleaning with smoke after the initial cleansing should be part of the ancestral reverence subject.

After the space is cleansed with smoke, use the same procedure to cleanse your physical body. Start with the front end of your torso moving the smoke from your feet to the top of your head and downward your dorsum. Each pass should exist fabricated in the aforementioned direction. Exercise not move the smoke from front to back and so from back to front because this would exist returning the influences to the place where they were removed.

In Ifa once an area has been cleansed, it is traditional to seal the space with water and herbs. Ifa makes utilize of a wide range of herbs for the purpose of locking in the positive outcome of prayer and invocation. the simplest seal for the uninitiated is articulate water mixed with either efun or cascaria. Efun is white chalk made from fossilized body of water shells and cascaria is an efun substitute made from egg shells. If these materials are not bachelor, it is traditional to add either perfume or cologne to the water. Make sure your choice of fragrance is something you periodically wear. In add-on, add a small amount of body fluid to the h2o, either saliva or urine. By doing this yous are placing your own essences in the seal. This becomes a argument to the Spirit realm that they are entering your shrine area and indicates they need your invitation to enter.

A traditional Ifa prayer may exist used to enhance the power of the water to function as a seal. This is an enhancement prayer so you may add any of the things you want to manifest as a result of ancestral intervention.

Iba se omi tutu

I pay homage to the Spirit of H2o

Emi (your proper name) Omo (list your lineage starting with your parents and working backwards)

I am (you proper name) child of (lineage)

Fun mi

Bring me

Ire alafia

the proficient fortune of peace

Ire l'era

the proficient fortune of a stable home

Ire omo

good fortune to my children

Ire owo

the good fortune of abundance

Ire agbo ato

the good fortune of long life

Ire iwa-pele

the good fortune of good character

Ire igbodu Egun

the good fortune of an antecedent shrine

Ire l'ona iponri atiwo Orun

the practiced fortune of the approval brought past my higher self from the Realm of the Ancestors

Ase

May exist be so.

The prayer should be spoken straight into the water followed by the word to. Sprinkle the water over the places that were apple-pie by the smoke. Conscious attention should be placed on the matter of claiming the area as sacred infinite. Most of u.s.a. have some ancestors who would not exist welcome at the altar because of a lack of character development. It is necessary to exclude these ancestors and to make information technology clear no advice with them is desired. In particular it is of import to exclude ancestors who suffered from addictive behavior and those who exhibited violet or sexually abusive behavior. the presence of these kinds of ancestor spirits can unconsciously trigger similar influences. they are identified in Ifa every bit Spirits who carry a family unit curse. The seal may include the names of those ancestors who are welcome to communicate at the shrine.

In some instances, there are those who do not know their ancestors. do non let this hinder the procedure. Just identify the types of issues you will not allow within your altar infinite and identify the types of Spirits who are welcome. In time, as your advice with Spirit develops, yous volition be able to use this skill to begin the procedure of identifying unknown ancestors.

Construction of the Ancestor Shrine tin can first later the cleansing process is finished. the shrine is a place to think; it is a memorial for those who have gone before united states. It is a place to consider the wisdom of our lineage and to ponder the ways in which that wisdom tin can inform and guide us through electric current bug.

In the beginning, keep the construction simple. Place a box or table in the spot selected for a shrine. Cover the box or table with a white cloth. Place a drinking glass of water and a candle on the cloth. At this point, you take the basic elements that create human beings;  you have earth, air, fire and water. Use the walls backside the shrine to mount pictures of your relatives. This is a identify to remember, just seeing a picture of a revered antecedent might remind usa of a way they might have handled a detail crunch. remembering can lead to inspiration and inspiration can pb to resolution. Pictures of our ancestors can serve as a subliminal reminder of the contributions they have fabricated.

Many of united states come up from mixed ancestry. Within the spectrum of our lineage there might be a wide range of religious and spiritual influences. You might want to represent some of these influences on the table through the use of a Bible, the Koran, Buddhist Sutras or a copy of the I Ching. All that is required to integrate this into an Ifa globe view is an understanding of the universal nature of spiritual principles that have been expressed time and again in a variety of cultural expressions.

To utilize the shrine stand in front of it and light the candle. The get-go statement that should be fabricated to the ancestors is a delivery to regular use of the shrine for meditation and prayer. I phone call this type of agreement self-regulated discipline. It does non matter how often you agree to make use of the shrine; what is important is that you lot alive up to your understanding to brand use of it on a regular footing. In my feel it is meliorate to commit to one twenty-four hour period a week and keep the commitment than to commit to every day and break the agreement. You are establishing a connectedness with the ancestors and telling them when you volition be bachelor for communication. The white cloth, candle, water and pictures tin can be idea of as an electron magnet that draws Spirit to the shrine. The electric current that drives the magnet are the prayers directed towards the white table. If y'all only turn to your shrine in moments of crisis, the current will be weak. If y'all accuse the batteries on a regular basis, the spiritual connection  volition remain dynamic and accessible.

At this point, you may spend fourth dimension remembering those relatives who take served equally role models considering how they might have dealt with any of the circumstances causing bug in your own life.

ANCESTOR Offering

Following the opening invocation to the ancestors you may make a food offer to the shrine. the Yoruba term for this blazon of offering is adimu egun. the idea behind making an offering is reciprocity. If we inquire the ancestors for their guidance we demand to give them something in return. Offer nutrient is not meant to literally feed a Spirit; information technology is meant as a gesture of honoring the memory of those who once ate with united states of america.

In Africa the most common offering to the ancestors is a small portion of every meal placed on the edge of the eating mat. Considering Western culture generally eats meals at a tabular array, the offering to the ancestors may be placed on a pocket-size plate that is assail the floor in forepart of the Egun chantry or it may exist placed on the altar directly. It is traditional in the Diaspora to use a plate with a crack. the cleaved plate is symbolic of the trunk that is discarded when the man soul (emi) is elevated.

In add-on to food, information technology is traditional to offering something to drink. A cup of coffee, tea or alcohol may be placed adjacent to the plate. If you are pouring libation hold the bottle with the left hand and cover the spout with your pollex and sprinkle a few drops on the floor.  Flowers can too be used as an offering and they can exist placed directly on the altar. It is common practice in the Diaspora to use cigars as offerings to the ancestors. the fume is used as a method of cleansing similar to smudge. One time y'all are in advice with the ancestors they will make specific requests for the kinds of offerings they want. You lot should make every try to comply with the asking, because in my feel information technology will enhance the quality of advice.

After making the offering, give thanks the ancestors for all the blessings you lot have already received. Yous may limited your cheers in your own wrods or you may use the following Yoruba oriki (praise poem).

Due east nle oo rami o

I am greeting yous my friends

Be ekolo ba juba ile a lanu

If the earthworm pays homage to the earth, the earth ever gives it admission

Omode ki ijuba ki iba pa a

A child who pays homage never suffers the consequences

Egun mo ki e o

Ancestors I greet you

Egun mo ki e o ike eye

Ancestors I greet you lot with respect

Ohun ti wu ba njhe lajule Orun

Any good things are being eaten in the realm of the ancestors

No mo ba won je

Consume my offering with them

J'epo a t'ayie sola n'igbale

Consume richly from the earth

Omo a t'ayie sola n-igbale

The children of the world are grateful for your approval

Ori Egun, mo dupe

I thank the wisdom of the ancestors

Ase

May it exist and so

Feeding the ancestors should exist done on a regular footing to keep them shut to your shrine. The frequency of the feeding is function of the agreement y'all brand with your ancestors. In Africa, some elders make an offering to Egun at every meal and before they potable whatever liquids. In the Diaspora, information technology is more common to brand an offering once a week to the shrine. Information technology is adequate to feed the ancestors less frequently every bit long as you lot go on to your schedule and your agreement.

For those who have not been initiated, having an ancestor shrine volition give them a identify to apply the system of four cowries for divination and will provide access to ancestor spirits who volition speak through divination. In all the systems of divination based on Dafa (Odu Ifa), the divination is directed towards a specific Spirit. That Spirit may bring messages from a number of sources, just the invocations to open up divination are always directed to a item Egun or Orisa.

By Awo Fa'lokun Fatunmbi

AKA David Wilson

grosehalicur.blogspot.com

Source: https://research.auctr.edu/c.php?g=1122253&p=8185273

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