Santeria/Lucumi - a final comment
If you allow them to keep it personal, you will allow them to enslave you!
Over the years The Ifa Foundation, but more primarily, myself, have been the subject of intense criticism and attacks. These fall into two categories. The first, personal attacks have been primarily directed at my current skin color, background and resentment of my Western accomplishments. These, of course, need to be dismissed as both simple resentment and complex envy, and the overwhelming percentage of thoughtful individuals do, and have, dismissed them as such. It is the second category, which causes more confusion. This category has to do with procedure. It is here that various groups will proclaim that because " Neimark advocates doing it differently" it is somehow automatically wrong. This has revolved around virtually dozens of issues through the years. They have involved such simplistic differences as the offering of Olive Oil rather than Palm Oil ( although it seemed inarguable that Oludumare would not have prevented his creations from accessing and benefiting from Ifa unless they lived in a tropical climate where Palm Oil was available . Couldn't Eskimos wishing to appease Osun offer Whale Oil, or were they cut out of the loop? ) to more complex issues such as Divination via e-mail or phone ( once again, if the energy of Ifa is limited to a space of a few feet where the client must be present for the Diviner to access and triangulate their energy with the energy of Orunmila, we aren't talking about the power, wisdom and knowledge that a Universal meta-intellect like Orunmila must represent. Just as the drums gave way to telegraph, telephone and finally the Internet as ways of communicating accurately, so also the living energy of Divination can, and is able to, adapt to the technological and cultural changes of the Universe. ). Perhaps the most contentious procedural furor had/has to do with Icofa, where for thousands of years both men and women receiving their single hand of Orunmila MUST receive a minimum of 16 Ikin...and where, of course, Santeria/Lucumi has consistently provided women with only one or two Ikin. This has even overshadowed the procedural differences the Santeria/Lucumi Babalawo's who, for the most part, refuse even to address, the differences in accurate African Ifa Divination where BOTH sides of EVERY cast must be compared ( utilizing 256 possible comparisons compared to only 16) instead of examining only the right leg of the cast. This, by the way, has resulted in innumerable incorrect Guardian identifications, mistakes in ire and ibi ( osorbo ) and with what ebbo are really called for. I could go on and on regarding single versus multiple ebbo offerings, the necessity of wearing white clothing and shaving the entire head, the prohibitions regarding eating the foods most loved by the orisa that supposedly lives inside you etc. etc., but I don't think arguing about procedures is really the point I wish to make. That point is world view.
Quite simply, if you believe that a worldview that expresses discrimination, secrecy and control is what you want to entrust your life to, then there is no point in discussing logic, common sense and universal values. If you believe that women are less than men, that skin color defines a persons value, that sexual orientation can only be expressed in limited ways, that there is a devil, that this is a malevolent universe, that logic and intellect do not apply to spirituality, that secrecy and learning can ever go hand in hand, that you need to be taken care of rather than learning to care for yourself than our work, teaching and concepts are not for you. But, if you really are willing to accept these limitations, then frankly you would be better off in other, more organized, more thoughtful, more intellectual Western religions. Catholicism for example will provide you with most of the same discrimination and disempowerment, but with far less of the social chaos and upheaval that permeates Santeria/Lucumi. At least it's only a fictional devil out to get you, not everybody else wanting your job, your mate or your strength...all armed with spells, evil eyes and negative thoughts.
If however, you are interested in learning, in using the mind Oludumare gave you to empower and gain control of your own life, perhaps this is the place for you.
Blessings,
Oluwo Philip Neimark
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