When power corrupts...danger!

While the overwhelming majority of Priests and Priestesses are of good heart and soul, some are not. They are a problem that must be recognized and dealt with.

In Africa, one of the foremost attributes of the successful Priest is considered to be their ability to "keep their cool." Indeed, years ago, when my wife and I appeared on a Jerry Springer show about animal sacrifice, I received a number of calls from African Babalawos complimenting us on the way we remained cool and collected despite the ambush techniques of Springer and his other guests. Yet, in the last few weeks, I find it increasingly difficult to maintain that attitude in the face of those Priests out there who are so corrupted by the power of their office that they are using their energy to manipulate, control, harm or frighten people rather than help them. These individuals are the single most offensive blight to the philosophy we practice.

In the last two weeks I have performed readings for three women, all of whom had manipulative, frightening and immoral relationships with the babalawo they trusted. Having confused the individual with the office they held, they trusted the instructions of the priest because of the fact that he was an initiated babalawo. When these instructions led them to the bedroom, they obeyed. One even thought she had fallen in "love" with the babalawo, until, eventually abused and taken for granted, she tried to leave. She was then threatened with dire magical consequences if she left. Fear replaced charisma.

Unfortunately, these are not three isolated instances. Too often, priests of the Orisa begin to confuse themselves with the Orisa themselves. The powerful energy that initiation has given them becomes overwhelming and corruptive. They begin to believe they, not the orisa, are all powerful. They are, in simple terms, insane! And, they can be dangerous.

We would like to pretend such things do not exist. I am sure the Roman Catholic Church wanted to believe that none of their priests were Pedophiles. Yet, the simple truth is that you can not protect the priesthood or the parishioner by denying the problem exists. Ifa cannot maintain its own character by ignoring the bad character of some of the practitioners. A " Good Old Boys" club can only exist if the "old boys" are indeed "good!"

Personally, I am sick and tired, I am embarrassed and angry, I am outraged and furious about these types of behavior. Early in my career, I broke with a babalawo after two young girls were brought to him by their mother. One was 15 and one 16. They were being sexually abused by a stepfather. This particular Ifa Priest ended up bedding both girls. The 15-year-old bore his child. It was too much for me. I left.

I don't retell this except to give those of you out there who encounter evil wearing the robes of good, some insight, advice and hope. For you see when I turned my back on this long time babalawo, he publicly swore to destroy me and my family. I was a virtual neophyte, a beginner who knew almost nothing. Yet, the one thing I did know was that I loved and trusted Orunmila. That love, and that trust, as naive, innocent, untrained as it was, proved much more powerful than all the years of spells, sacrifices and techniques of the priest who sought to destroy us. Indeed, decades later, my life and the life of my family speaks for itself. The Ifa Foundation, The Way of the orisa, the Sacred Ifa Oracle, Ola Olu and on and on, all represent growth and accomplishments made possible by the very energies he sought to use to destroy us.

The reason is simple. It can serve and protect you as it has served and protected us. It is: The smallest piece of positive or "white" energy can absorb or negate the largest, most sophisticated and powerful piece of negative or "black" energy that can be directed towards you. If you truly trust in the orisa, in their goodness and love, no evil can hurt. These delusional individuals who have begun to believe in their own omnipotence instead of the omnipotence of Oludumare and His orisa, can only exist if you buy into their nonsense! If you buy into the goodness, character and whiteness that is the genuine reflection of orisa energy, they will be impotent to harm you.

The above, I know. I also strongly suspect that the gift of divination, use of energy and healing that initiation provides us, are gifts that require character and responsibility. I have always been amused by the Western view of initiation as a goal. It is not, it is simply the beginning of a process that will reflect your love, respect or lack of it. That, should we abuse these gifts, they will be taken away from us. They are not ours by some divine right of initiation, they are only "on loan" from the orisa. If we use them properly to help others, to acquire more wisdom and knowledge, the gifts grow. When we abuse them, when we use them to manipulate others for our own pleasures, or to harm others from our own anger, these gifts begin to diminish and fade until they disappear entirely.

Evil comes in many forms. Sometimes in the robes of an Ifa Priest. Learn to recognize it early. Learn to stay away from it. And, ultimately learn that it can never harm you if you trust and love the orisa.

Blessings,

Oluwo Philip Neimark

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