The power of prayer

The power of prayer... the best way to pray is to keep it simple and genuine, you don’t really need some elaborate ritual to make the connection, you can of course but it’s not really practical when you consider our busy lives, and being busy should not be the reason why you don’t pray. You can always find a quiet moment in your day, if only for a couple of minutes. Go for a walk if you need that extra time for yourself. Remember that you can pray anytime and anyplace because you don’t even need to say it out loud, it’s just as effective to pray in your thoughts, I do it all the time. More importantly, you don’t even need to memorize a prayer, let it come from the heart and pray like if you were having a private conversation with someone, not like if you were reading from a book. You’ll also make a stronger connection if you can visualize the outcome of what you’re praying for.

Visualization takes practice because when we communicate, we often rely solely on spoken words.  So imagine for a moment that in front of you is a person that doesn’t speak your language and somehow you’ll need to convey what you need to this person through pictures. What pictures would you show? …Practice doing visualization, each time you pray, add more details to your vision to reinforce it. Just be careful you don’t limit your options by having a too narrow view.

Why is it important to pray regularly?  As Ifa followers, just like when you do an Ebbo (offering), it strengthen you bond with the Orisas. You want to have an ongoing dialogue. Just remember to not just pray when you need or want something, pray to show gratitude too, you should always say thanks when things are going well for you.

Who should we pray to? While you can pray to any of the Orisas, keep in mind that you have a guardian Orisa that’s there to help you navigate your life experiences.  This connection is strongest and should be your primary resource. Even if you’re not initiated, the guardian Orisa is still there for you to guide you. Initiation is where the guardian Orisa is crowned on your head to make the bond even stronger. Your guardian Orisa is determined via divination.

What to pray for? Avoid trivial things. Think of it in terms of having a wise being that you can always turn to for guidance to help you navigate the experiences in your life. Some people may be disappointed to learn that it’s not wishing well where you make a wish then sit back to wait for a miracle. It doesn’t work quite that way. You need to be part of the solution, you need to be empowered! This is your life to live after all. The main point I want you to take away from this is, “don’t ask to be taken care of …ask for guidance, wisdom and support”.

This analogy will further your understanding, “You are in the driver’s seat of your vehicle on a road trip to your destination and find that you need help with navigation so that you don’t get lost. You also want to be warned of danger to get there safely. You still want to visit all the places you planned on seeing, but at same time you want to avoid the bad part of town, the road blocks, potholes, and so on”.

We don’t always know what’s good for us …We think we know what we want, but that’s not necessarily what we need, so when asking for something, always say “If it’s for my greater good”.

Finally, learn to listen! It’s not a one-way conversation, pray then pause to listen, messages will come to you, not in spoken words, but in the form of pictures in your mind’s eye. It takes practice to recognize messages from the Orisas. But once you become attune to them, the easier they will come.

Love and Blessings!  Javier Lujan {Babalawo Ifajuitan}

Osa-Wori - the story of the Shaman and the Vulture

There’s an old and endearing Pataki (story) associated with the Odu “Osa-Wori”, it speaks of competing interests and the importance of doing your Ifa work and not worrying about whether it will succeed.

It tells the story of the “vulture” and the villagers that wanted to eat him as they ate other birds.  “Osa-Wori” was cast for the “vulture” who was told to make an Ebbo (offering) of Kola nuts to Esu to prevent his enemies from eating him. The worried vulture heeded the advice and placed the Ebbo to Esu at the crossroads between heaven and earth.

The villagers who wanted to eat the vulture, pleaded with a shaman to go to heaven and ask Olodumare (God) if the vulture could be eaten like other birds. The shaman departed to heaven and on his way there he found the Kola nuts at the crossroads between heaven and earth, unbeknown to him that these were the Kola nuts that the vulture had offered to Esu. The shaman took the Kola nuts to later give to Olodumare when he got to heaven. When the shaman arrived, he was so happy to be in heaven, Olodumare thank him for the Kola nuts and invited him to stay.  

The worried vulture noticed that the Kola nuts were gone and asked Esu if the Ebbo had been accepted, Esu told the vulture, you’ll find your answer when you visit Olodumare, the vulture took Esu’s advise and went to see Olodumare. While there, Olodumare offered the vulture some Kola nuts, the vulture recognized them as the same ones he had offered Esu and proceeded to tell Olodumare his story and why he had made that Ebbo. Olodumare told the vulture to return to earth in peace, that his Ebbo had indeed been accepted. The villagers never saw the shaman again and thus never got their answer.

There’s a proverb that goes something like this… “If we don’t see the shaman, we cannot eat the vulture, the shaman is in heaven and the vulture is on earth”.

Love and Blessings!  Javier Lujan {Babalawo Ifajuitan}

What does it mean to be “On Path” or “Off Path”?

When you’re “On Path” you’re getting the life experiences that you’re ready to handle.  These experiences can be opportunities that you can take advantage of, or it can be life lessons that you’re ready to learn to grow wiser. 

When you’re “Off Path”, you’ll encounter experiences that you were not ready for and thus struggle in the process, any opportunities that present themselves are either not right for you or if they are, you’re just not able to capitalize on them. Life lessons are too difficult, you just don’t get it. Resistance to learn from them and overall frustration would bring about your worst response.

So how do you stay “On Path”?  …Here are 5 principles to live by.

1. Character, doing what you KNOW is right. When you don’t, you are putting out this “guilty-like” energy into the universe that attracts repercussions to restore the imbalance.
2. Don’t get angry, it creates disharmony, it should be so obvious but it’s something we ALL do. If this is recurrent problem for you, work on your empathy (identifying with or vicarious experiencing the feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of another), you may get angry at the dog for chewing up your nice shoes when the dog is just being a dog and that’s what dogs do, laugh it off and next time remember to put your nice shoes away. You may get angry at another driver for cutting you off on the road, it startled you so your immediate response was to take it personal, and see it as a total disregard for your right of way. You could try to empathize and say to yourself, maybe this person is an inexperienced driver, or was not paying attention, or is having a bad day. Look at the positive, say something like “fortunately I’m an experienced driver and was paying attention and thank your good reflexes” and then by all means “let it go!” and move on, don’t dwell on it.
3. Stop worrying!, this is a form of “fear”, when you’re constantly thinking about what may or may not happen in the future, you’re not living in the moment and missing out on experiences you should be having right now, a big cause for regret later on.
4. Be appreciative, so often we take people and life for granted that we don’t enjoy them when we have them. Here’s a good way to strengthen this skill, go for a nature walk …look and touch the plants …acknowledge the harmony and balance that made this happened …feel the sun on your skin …walk barefoot to feel the fertile earth below you …sit under an old tree in contemplation …watch and hear the animals go about their lives …feel the rain on your face and recognize how much we depend on it.
5. Be kind and compassionate to every living thing, remember that we’re all in this together and your actions have a ripple effect. Make your actions honorable.

Love and Blessings!  Javier Lujan {Babalawo Ifajuitan}

Evaluating the Upcoming Election

We often think in terms of absolutes... and even Diviners much like myself, feel we must place the Orisa ahead of all else. Yet, this is not always the best way. There are always the times where we must weigh the whole... for without it we will find ourselves certainly lost and confused. And this will focus on those issues where TRUTH is resolved and human behavior returns.

I am, of course, speaking of evaluating the upcoming election of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. After several weeks of back and forth, my current thinking places Hillary Clinton a solid 6 points in the lead... More in the Electoral College that lead is even more pronounced.

Trump, Kasich, Cruz, or Hillary & Sanders?

It seldom occurs to our readers that the art of divination (if IS an art, not an automatic system) that divines the winners and losers in a cast.) It is even more significant when you are comparing the relative value of competing values.

Let’s look at Trump, Kasich or Cruz first:

Republicans:

Trump... Orisha: Ogun – current percentages: Out right winner of Republican primary 87%

Kasich... Orisha: Ogun – current 15.00... Out right chances 12% 

Cruz... Orisha: Ogun – current 30... Out right chances 30%

Democrats:

Sanders... Orisha: Oko - Current 37% ... Out right chances 30%

Clinton… Orisha: Esu - Current 85% … Out right chances 100%