Money and Spirituality

Several weeks ago I “stepped out of the closet” and wrote, for the first time in 40 years, a brief history of my ability to make money. It was truly a gift, but one I didn’t understand at the time. It was almost as if I could “manifest” the money in whatever field I entered. The problem was I was never satisfied, and so left each accomplishment once I decided it had nothing left to teach me. For those who didn’t see that blog, (I urge you to scroll down to view that piece our home page)

The reality is...I had missed the point! What Western man wouldn’t? If money remained my goal it would never provide real contentment inside. It took Ifa to show me the difference. 

Yet, I have been reluctant to bring that understanding to the vast audience of Ifa. My own previous experience, in a world where money was always most important to the vast majority of people, I had become skittish about joining the money parade. Well, at age 76, I am going to give it a try…

First, you must think in Ifa terms. What does that mean in the big picture of your life? For example, when you are speaking with Iyanifa Vassa, prior to performing a personal divination, you would be going through a full discussion about your purpose for being here and what would use your gifts and strengths and produce the level of income that would work in connection with the whole picture of your life. Considering your true destiny path. There would be solutions to the align everything in your life to open the possibilities and become successful in achieving true lasting fulfillment.

There may be one or more ebbo’s to use that could you may be directed to do one or more times. There may be ebbo’s that may require the strength level of an Ifa Priest. Only a full divination would enable that certainty and clarity. Iyanifa Vassa has at her disposal untold plants/herbs, Orishas, and materials which she can apply correctly once she has all of your information...all your needs...all your fears…and all your aspirations.

There is a difference using the worldview of the Ifa Foundation. There is NOT one answer for everyone! Do not allow the shininess of the money blind you from using real wisdom and knowledge. It is not all about the money…and it is not all about what you want.

You should include wanting the knowledge and the results of divination as they pertain to your need for the money, what is appropriate, what is the time frame, what changes will the money produce in yourself and family plus a host of other things that our “money fears” stop us from seeing... but make all the difference whether or not things will be better for the long-term.

Don’t be afraid...fear prevents solutions. Trust me! Trust Ifa! 

With love and blessings Oluwo Fagbamilia, Philip Neimark

What IS an Ebbo?

Most of us think about Ebbo as the "get out of jail free card" of Ifa. Oh, if it was only so. Unfortunately, the vast majority of practitioners, have begun to pop out Ebbo in a cookie cutter fashion... a "fashion" which, unfortunately, delivers very little.

 

An Ebbo is a finely crafted, totally individual, "idea," which takes shape from the combination of the skills and experience of the priest, and the applicants’ knowledge of the event, or issue... It takes place from understanding exactly what the parameters of the problem truly are... through a detailed understanding of what the issue actually is, not necessarily how the applicant "feels" regarding it. It may have do with any of life's events... health, money, relationships, family etc. but in each and every case in order to be effective it must be individualized. This is not "one size fits all," indeed the level of its effectiveness is directly related to the specificity of the Ebbo. 

 

At the Ifa Foundation International we treat YOUR Ebbo with the respect it deserves, combined with the most complete plant and materials, that grow in Central Florida on what was once African land! We combine that with the Ashe of our sculptures, which as the late Susanne Wenger used to express, were the incarnation, the embodiment, of the Orisha they represent.

It would be unthinkable for Vassa to simply accept that your Ebbo needed the same plants as another with different dynamics and history... it simply would not work with the care necessary. 

 

Our Sacred Orisha gardens, with their African heritage and out host if "living" sculptures represent over 40 years of meticulous work, loving care, and the promise that your Ebbo IS special… and the results will mirror that need.

Love and blessings

 

Oluwo Philip Neimark

My Life Journey...

I have never mentioned my Pre - Ifa life to viewers of this site. Yet, without the understanding of who I had been, it is impossible to evaluate what I have become.  To understand that certain things, like being successful, keeping my eye's on "something", and my refusal to accept doing the same thing, even as I was bored, all have relevance to my life today.   So, allow me to condense thousands of pages, into a paragraph or two… 

Initially I wrote and produced several television shows. From the "Jessie Owens" Sportscast to the "Phil Lind Interview - For Adults Only". The show won me an Emmy, and after seeing I had reached the Pinnacle of my success in Chicago, I explored a few months in California, deciding very quickly that it was not for me.     It propelled me to my second career.   I had always been interested in finance, so I became a floor trader on what was to become The Chicago Mercantile Exchange, where I embarked on the singular task of making money.  I traded for my own account, and after a couple of years, being part of the International Money Market where we traded currencies, gold futures etc. it lost all interest for me and I became very bored.  Along the way I had built a retail operation, with branch offices throughout the United States, but even that failed to hold my focus.  

So, following a propitious illness, I decided to retire to Florida…of course taking my family with me. There, a tennis career, at age 30 seemed a little non-sensible, and of course, after several months, much shorter than my usual pace, became totally bored. So, I took something I had been doing before and decided to see what would happen. I had always traded...for myself - but quickly decided that in the vast yet, unexplored rolls of Market Letters… I would write a monthly letter which would tell people what I, a professional trader, was doing. They were free to follow it, or ignore it! 

At the same time my older brother, a published author of over 39 hard cover books, arranged for me to write a column in Consumers Digest Magazine, where I would analyze, financial markets... People seemed to like it a whole lot, and shortly thereafter, the publisher asked if I would consider returning to Chicago, and creating a new magazine, "Money Maker", on the stock market and writing the lead column of each issue.. As my boredom had negatively impacted my marriage, and the death of our son a contributing factor, returning "home" seemed like a great idea. Together the Publisher and I agreed, threw in his promoting (and sharing with) promoting the Market Letter, we created the third largest Market Letter (at that time) in the business. It was something designed, as so much of my life had been, to make me untold amounts of money, and to bore me to death...If you sense a theme here, you are sure right.   Each and every decision I had made in my life was a "bad" financial choice. No business was in trouble, it was simply that after I found myself "learning" all there was to learn, about each and every endeavor, I was bored. And then I moved on.  

While still living in Florida I had "accidentally" stumbled into Ifa (or Santeria as it was known). Little did I realize there are NO COINCIDENCES! 

In retrospect I was "saved" by Ifa. What had started by assuaging the wife's of my tennis player buddies in Florida, turned into a lifelong career...one that never would, never could, bore me ever again. There was always more to learn, and to do. Now at almost 76 years old, I am blessed to have found something so powerful, meaningful and potentially life affirming as Ifa. I have not scratched the surface...nor will l. My wife Vassa also left a hugely successful career in Interior design field and became the highest order Nana Priest of our religion, but most noteworthy…she created our Sacred Orisha Gardens which will stand the test of time. .. 

There is a moral here...about riches not giving me pleasure, about our society and what must be avoided, and yet has been learned. The use of these things is not the absence of wealth, but knowing how to use it...not to worship it. I have learned a great deal in the last 40 years, but the essence is… I love my work, I love my wife of 35 years, and I love Ifa. You are invited to experience the rest of the journey.

Anatomy of an Ebbo

Many have asked, “What is an Ebbo?” An Ebbo is the currency humans use to communicate with the primal force that have been part of this Earth since its beginning. It is a way of connecting with our genuine humanity, beyond any form of self-centeredness and ego. It unites us with the WHOLE. Yes, the WHOLE of everything, from our ancestors, to Nature's landscapes, and all of what’s lies beyond our physical living.  

Ebbos are given from a place of gratitude, appreciation, humility, joy and sometimes, even desperation.  And in today's world, we use it to change our path and outcomes.  We use it to untangle our lives from the problems we face so we can go forward in a manner that's healthy for the long-term. 

"It is not the honey we may offer for relationships, even the intricate offering's for job, freedom, health etc.," "To understand it is not simply a formula indicated for your feeling better, it is in immersing our self's into the Whole… 

"The Ebbo is simply the "point man" for all the energy of the planet to seek out and remove the issue. This takes understanding that we are NOT self-sufficient, accountable only to ourselves, and can rampage the planet as we see fit. The planet will not tolerate it...and is well into the pay back should we continue.” 

"Iya Vassa understood that the issues in recognizing our relationship with the Ebbo, depends on our ability to recognize our relationship with the planet we live on.” 

"Iya Vassa saw this, and on the fertile Florida land, exposed to nothing but the elements themselves, pristine since the bygone age when it ripped from the tech-tonic shift and, and became her opportunity for creating the bridge to our feeling, immersing with and benefiting from 

The Ebbo we are to perform. Doing no harm, but also understanding the potential of acting in good character and restoring our balance and life."

 

Love and Blessings

 

Oluwo Philip Neimark

What the Sacred Gardens can DO for you. - Part 1

Vassa created our Sacred Orisha Gardens as a sentient (having the power of perception and consciousness) in the same way her late friend, Susanne Wenger created the world famous Sacred Gardens of Osogbo, Nigeria. To read more of their powerful relationship, look on our site (www.ifafoundation.org/the-sacred-gardens)... but today we are exploring the Power of CONCEPTION! Some of you may have read the piece by S. Emmanuel Epps where he spoke of his wife Lisa.

How this 50 year old, highly successful woman, was determined to have a child, Unable to conceive, she had come to the Sacred Gardens, and to Vassa, to see if her wish could come true. As you read this. Lisa is in the final few weeks doing just that! What Vassa has done was employ her vast knowledge of plants, their behavior and their possibilities, along with an environment of loving care for both you and your conception. Nothing should be easier, more natural. More in rhythm with the Universe than conceiving, and bearing a healthy child to term. Unfortunately, in our society where women are vying to perform like men, fear, self-doubt and anxiety make the process increasing difficult. If you have a uterus and acceptable health there is NO REASON that you cannot conceive.

Vassa has demonstrated this with dozens of women. From young women to middle age. With poor women and rich... although those with a "comfortable" living seem disproportionately affected. In each and every case, Vassa creates an atmosphere of love, of positivity, of assurance where the mother to be can shed her fears and self-doubt, her worries and her anxiety and allow the process to take place. Cleansing baths, working with those energies that have always symbolized conception, and then following up in the process that once begun feeds not on self-doubt and anxiety, but in joy and bonding. It is, of course, a project that Vassa and her female staff carry out without men being involved. So it must be.

For further information, contact Iya Vassa at iyav.ifafoundation.org

Blessings!...

Oluwo Philip Neimark