How Do I Make The Transition?

The hardest thing to do is to change how we think. In Ifa it is a critical factor. It is because it is a constant balancing act between the traditions of the past, and the promise for our future. Let me put this into real examples. Let's say you have the issue of how to heat your home. You can continue to pay the electric provider or the propane or gas company as you have always done. You could say: "I'm tired of these expensive bills month after month, and decide to install a fireplace as your ancestors once did. You could try solar heating. You could get ready for new Tesla battery that generates enough power to not only supply your house, but in some instances, to sell the excess capacity to the Grid.

The answer of which to select is both a practical AND a moral decision. The easiest, but perhaps not the smartest thing to do, is to not burden yourself with the decision, but to continue to use method you have always utilized. But, will that change your life in even the smallest way? You should examine whether or not the power company is part of fracking, and whether you feel this is harming the planet or not. You must weigh the costs of old fashioned ways, like the fireplace, and if you want to huddle around a single space during the cold winter nights. Solar heating is clean but costly. Tesla promises a new direction, the battery has apparently been in testing in 230 houses in California, with 100 more .Tesla Stationary Batteries being placed in homes out of the state. A 10kWh battery could cost $13,000 with a 50% rebate from PG&E. The buyer who talked to the analyst purchased his unit for $1,500 down, followed by 120 monthly installments (10 years) of $15 each. I am not telling you which you should select, I am telling you need to think about it! That no decision IS a decision. The wrong one.

It is no different when you accept "Only Palm Oil will work”…or that women cannot be initiated as Ifa priests…or that gay men, lesbian and transgender individuals are somehow "less than REALLY" qualified to worship in an equal fashion. When you believe it is critical to eat on the floor for a year, wear nothing but white clothing, and be unable to get answers to the questions you know need to be answered. 

All these and thousands more are critical to your happiness. To a better world. To better relationships and harmony. But each and every choice must be compared to the reality of our world, to how things have changed. If you do this, a few steps at a time, your life and the planets future can be improved.

Blessings

Oluwo Philip Neimark

ORI-AWARE OR NOT?

Three Simple Exercises To Improve Your Ori

What are we without our memories? Who would we be, if we had no memories? How would we multitask and respond effectively to rapidly changing information? How would we take advantage of future opportunities? Or make better or more well-informed decisions? This is a great way to understand our ORI, as the most important, authentic memory that you don’t ever want to forget. It is the memory that grounds and affirms our personhood, our uniqueness as existing individuals, who have a contribution to make to our slice of the world.

Our ORI, as a memory, reminds us to remember three very important things:

1) We Are Descendants. We are carriers of the past into the future, while at the same time, making a “new” and “different” past for those after us. We are the incomplete, but ever-expanding product of our lineage. We are the "To Be Continued" of our family's experiences, held accountable for doing just that. Some refer to this symbolically as one’s “Guardian Ancestor.”

2) We Are Means. We are made available for the enrichment of ourselves and others. We come with a personality, an approach and a perspective that human existence and our communities need. Somewhere in this world, your energy, your most authentic and informed viewpoint is needed. Some refer to this symbolically as one’s “Guardian Orisha.”

3) We Are Explorers. We have set out to learn and unearth new knowledge and insights. We are intentional creatures, purposeful beings, on a journey of self-discovery and enlightenment for the common good. We have a responsibility to stay the course before us in a productive and meaningful way for the growth of all. Some refer to this symbolically as one’s “Life Path.”

Our “Guardian Ancestor”, our “Guardian Orisha” and our “Life Path” make up our ORI, our foundational memory. And just like the neurons and hippocampus of our brains that facilitate short-term and long-term memories, its importance cannot be overstated. Without our memory, the ability to achieve goals, make intelligent choices, learn and improve, or add to what has come before, never truly materializes.

So how can we keep our ORI strong and functioning optimally?

Here are 3 simple and practical exercises to consider for ORI maintenance?

1) Appreciate your “family narrative”. Psychologists refer to this as developing a healthy “intergenerational self.” Studies have shown that knowing your “family narrative” helps creates emotional resiliency and well-being. Take the time to celebrate the culture of your ancestors, from food to catchphrases. Be open to reenacting their best traditions. Visualize and retell the “highs” and “lows” of their stories – It’s your story now, too.

2) Get to “know” yourself. Discover the values, beliefs, and understandings that guide your thoughts and actions. Your way of “being-in-the world” is distinctive. Take the time to figure out where, and in what circumstances, you “being you” is needed. Visualize examples in which all of what makes you who you are can be of the greatest benefit to yourself and others. Remember what makes us, makes us for others.

3) Revisit your purpose.   Studies have shown that a strong sense of purpose improves physical and mental well-being and increases life expectancy. A “Life Path” helps us make sense of the world and keep our bearings, so we know exactly where we are and where we’re headed. Write down what you expect to learn and encounter our your as you live purposefully and then prepare to be surprised during the journey.

These few steps are just the beginning of boosting your ORI. And though sometimes it might be a challenge to remember to incorporate ORI-awareness in your daily life, trust me, when you begin to experience its positive effects, you’ll never want to forget about your ORI again. And even if we wanted to forget it, thank goodness, Orunmila reminds us.

Living High on Ifa,

S. Emmanuel Epps

S. Emmanuel Epps

S. Emmanuel Epps, a native of Chicago, Illinois, following in the steps of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., matriculated at Morehouse College. He studied at Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York, an affiliate of Columbia University, under world-renowned theologian James Cone.

Speaking with audiences in storefront churches to National Public Radio, from Princeton University to the Junior League of New York, Epps is an ardent supporter of community development through spiritual empowerment. He has worked with a number of organizations, from People for the American Way Foundation to the U.S. Department of Treasury to TransAfrica.

Epps is a former Adjunct Instructor in Philosophy and Religious Studies for the City University of New York. He has authored

several articles and publications focusing on the sociology and political implications of political theology and existential ethics. Epps also served as a Higher Education Officer at Medgar Evers College, coordinating programming to recruit, retain, and graduate African-American males at the Male Development and Empowerment Center.

Currently, Epps serves as Executive Vice President for Business & Community Relations at Robateau & Associates, a neuroscience-based speech-language pathology practice focusing on cognitive and language development. As Chairman of the Robateau-Epps Fund, Epps, and his wife, have awarded over $70,000 dollars for scholarships and educational development for students and programs that promote minority participation in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Epps is a member of the Morehouse National Alumni Association, Boyer Lodge (Prince Hall Affiliation), the American Jewish Committee, Citizens Union, the Union League Club of Chicago and Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Incorporated. Epps is the proud father of two daughters, Addison Epps and Emerson Epps, and is happily married to Lisa Robateau of Belize, Central America.

Epps is pleased to continue his work of enlightenment and empowerment with the Ifa Foundation as Babalawo Ifasunlade, as well as his new role as Chair of Theological Studies, tasked with exploration and understanding of Ifa in today's world.

What's New and Worthwhile?

During the recent recession we heard a great deal about the necessity of getting an education. The airwaves were filled with statistics how anything from a two year degree, to four year degrees and advanced degrees, resulted in greater “employ ability” and subsequent increased work and salaries. I believe they were right.

It made me think of the model of the Ifa Foundation and how we work. While almost everyone in our line of endeavors has concentrated on one thing, doing the the work for which they are paid, we have constructed, and continue to, behave quite differently. Certainty we are willing to help individuals remove their problems, enhance their dreams, or find the significant other in their lives, but that barely scratches the surface of what we have to offer. Our Sacred Orisha Gardens stand as a growing monument to the Orisha energy, and Iya Vassa's continued creative work makes this living example inspirational to all that visit. Our initiation program was designed to support the initiate in a long term manner, from receiving their tools to learning how to use them. Each and every individual passes their reading on to me, via the internet, for as long as necessary. We will shortly introduce the results of our long term study reflecting the application in different cultures, technologies, economics, politics of how these latest changes appear... because failure to keep abreast of the changes will harm your results. So, we will shortly present, after years of scholarly work by many individuals, the result of that work as it applies to the 16 sacred Odu. 

We will continue to serve, through our Prisoners initiative, a program that has grown from seven death row inmates at San Quentin to dozens of prisons, both state and federal throughout the United States.

We will continue the incredibly successful WebEx computer programs where we both teach and learn to interactive groups who attend weekly at no cost. 

We will, or course, continue our work with ceremonies for joy and for healing. For weddings and for general counseling plus a host of other spiritual activities. You are, as always, invited , as in any institution of learning, to ask, question agree or disagree , to share your experiences and your disappointments , your hopes and your fears...or simply to listen, watch and learn. The one overriding TRUTH in the Ifa Foundation is there are no secrets...what people do not know, they make a secret.

Love & Blessings

Oluwo Philip Neimark

The Next Step...

It was just a few weeks ago that I made a strong case for many of the once traditional values to regain relevance and support. But, it was a precursor to today's larger picture. It wasn't a call for turning back the clock, it was a call for keeping the importance of these basic relationships while wending our way through the technological changes that promise the hope, or the destruction, of these very issues. Too often religion takes on the cloak of ALWAYS believing it was “better” in the past, than it could be in the future. That is what separates the Ifa Foundation International from other religions. This is a small blueprint for what could make it better...and what might make it worse.

Because so many human endeavors revolve around our family, and what appears to be the destruction of that, let me suggest the following. The previous concept of children doing what their parents did is all but dead. Both technology and education are geared to a new world...a world where our children can go distant places to work, YET keep in touch, and share, the meaningful parts of family relationships, advice and love. Our denial of that reality will only result in a fracturing of the fabric designed to hold the family together. Today's world of Skype, WebEx etc. allow for a more intimate connection than we used to have when our children, grandchildren lived down the block, or some distance away in the city we share. And, it is virtually FREE! I speak with my daughter Tanya three and four times a week, more often when family troubles exist, and offer the advice, support etc. that she and her family seek. She lives a shade less than 1000 mile from her mother and I, but we can share our grandchildren, perform the readings about their questions, enjoy their successes and help mitigate their failures. My son is searching for where to live and work with his new transnational computer degree, but I assure you, we share in person, and on the internet, the apartments he is looking at and the places he may or may not live. As our daughter graduates this spring she will be defined by all the same things, and share her life (albeit in closer proximity) than the others. 

And, don't worry about the Spirituality. All our kids ask for readings, and someday will divine for themselves. While it is difficult at times for my wife, and even for myself, when I step back and think about the technology that has brought this together I am filled with a vision of what Ifa will grow into, spreading across oceans and countries while still maintaining a very real sense of family... and I can't wait until the “virtual reality” my son speaks of will become another stepping stone in growing and maturing on all our parts. That is what will make Ifa great in the future as in the past... that desire to integrate the new with the values of the old.

Love & Blessings

Oluwo Philip Neimark