The next step
At a past workshop, an important point was made: We chose our destiny. While on the surface, this is something most practitioners would readily understand and believe; it appears that its deeper, more important, meaning remains elusive. If one is to practice and benefit from Ifa and its teachings, this concept must be understood and acted upon.
Ifa teaches that:
At the moment of conception, in the domain of Ajala Mopin (Ori), certain irreversible decisions are made. They are made in two areas: the physical and the spiritual. The physical area with which we are obviously familiar includes gender, sexual orientation, race, color, and the host of physical senses such as sight, smell, hearing and touch. All of these will be, in some sense; dependent upon the choices we made in our physical self.
The spiritual side of Ori is also chosen, but it is divided into two areas. The first, Apari-inu represents character; Ori-Apere represents destiny. Destiny itself is divided into three areas: Akunleyan, Akunlegba, and Ayanmo. Akunleyan is the request you make at Ajale's domain- what you would like in specifics during this lifetime: the number of years you wish to live, the kinds of success you hope to achieve, the relationships you desire, the wisdom you seek to accumulate. Akunlegba are those things given to you to help you achieve these things. Both Akunleyan and Akunlegba can be modified or enhanced by sacrifice and ritual throughout our lives.Ayanmo is that part of our destiny which cannot be changed: our gender, race, sexuality etc. The famous Yoruba wisdom: "It is easier to change a man's destiny then his character" flows from this dichotomy.
All of these areas are designed to produce positive results in our life. That is why we chose them.
Let me give you an example:
It must be presumed that, at the moment of conception, basketball star Michael Jordan made a host of choices that fell into the above three categories. He picked his gender, race, body type (the once in a lifetime reflexes and skills that went with it), his sexual orientation, his destiny and his character. BUT, it was what he did with it that mattered. Easiest, undoubtedly, were the physical skills that allowed him to become the greatest basketball player in history. Yet, even here, without the commitment and character and dedication to work at bringing them to their peak potential, he might simply have taken the "easy" way and been a journeyman basketball player. In the spiritual areas, his character was expressed in the work ethic he exhibited, in the role model for children he presented and in the general good behavior with his wife and family. So, to date at least, here is an example of someone fulfilling his or her choices.
Without naming names, let's take a look at a host of young talented basketball players who have exhibited and worked with their physical choices, but whose character has made their life a shambles. Drugs, fighting, illegitimate children all are examples of failing to fulfill their Ori-Apere. These are also individuals who came to this life experience with many of the same three components as Michael Jordan.yet their lives and the impressions they leave are far different. That's where character comes into play. That's why we say, "It is easier to change a man's destiny than his character."
These are simplistic example of how Destiny works; more important is the everyday behavior of so many practitioners who would deny the reality of these choices, and the importance of WHY they were made. Unlike Christianity, our choices were designed to help us achieve positive things in our life, our relationship with others and the world we live in. Perhaps this is why Lucumi, in its adaptation of some of the Ifa philosophy, virtually left Ori aside. How could you accept that Oludumare constructed a world that encouraged us to make free empowered choices for our lives, and then say these choices were wrong? Well, if you accept such concepts as Original Sin, The Devil, Homosexuality being a sin, women being second class citizen's etc. you have to dismiss the tenet of Ori. If you dismiss it, you may be practicing something, but it isn't Ifa!
We didn't choose to be Gay in order to suffer, we didn't choose to be black in order to be discriminated against, we didn't choose to be female in order to be a second class citizen! We made our immutable choices because they were positive attributes designed to increase our wisdom and fulfillment during this life experience. And, we had better quit complaining about some of them as if they were some kind of Divine punishment! Instead, we should be focusing on learning the positive aspects of our choices and how they can allow us to fulfill our destiny.
Equally important, we had better stop complaining about other people's choices as if they were, in some way, invalid. Oludumare did not assign a cultural police force for our color, gender or sexual orientation! Those who would wear that badge, and who do so under the contention that " it is God's will and word," are dismissing the foundation of Ori. If you want to practice Ifa, you do so by accepting certain unalterable tenets...and one of these is Ori and the choices we all make. If this is the way Oludumare structured it, and if these choices include a diversity of color, gender, race, physical attributes, sexual orientation etc., then ALL these choices must be valid for the individuals that express them and for the world they live in. Had Oludumare wanted these truths to belong to only one group, one gender, one nationality, it would have been exquisitely simple for Him to do so. He did not! Don't you dare take that choice into your own hands!
If you do not want to accept that reality, then quit pretending you are an Ifa worshipper, and slide back to all the other great world religions that teach theirs is the only way, and that only one group will reach heaven. Retain you rights to judge those who exhibit bad character, but not as a result of their being gay, or female, or black, or Latin or white. For, if you judge by discrimination, you have automatically judged yourself ...and the result will be your separation from the energy matrix of the universe, and your inability to reach your own destiny. Diversity is inherent in Ifa. Accepting and respecting this is the next important step for a number of so called priests.
Blessings,
Oluwo Philip Neimark
e-newsletter sign-up 
