Obara Meji

Nowhere, more than with Obara Meji, does an Odu present its multi-faceted face. Often times with multiple meanings.

It is very easy, for the diligent practitioner, to begin to forget when he made the previous adjustments. That's correct. Some few of us, the Ifa Foundation in the forefront, are continually watching, assessing and deciding WHEN the validity of this once vibrant definition, is no longer justified...and the time for the new LIVING energy/s has occurred. This is never done capriciously. But, if it were never done on a continuing basis, I would still be dealing with how to deal with a car that starts ONLY when I crank it. Or better yet, how to figure out the appropriate ebbo for what I just cast to insure I can travel to New York in a single day!  After all, I live in Central Florida, and frankly, I just think I have no suitable ebbos for a seven thousand mile journey, by foot, horse or even a hyped up model car that could handle the trip!  The point here, and one you and most practitioners have never truly confronted, is that there is no magical way of freeze framing the past...as if it was the present!

And while you can simply apply this to the entire Ifa compendium, I shall save that for the more appropriate setting.

In the meantime, what is the largest recent change to how casting Obara in current living truth is currently accomplished?

Back a hundred to a hundred and fifty years ago, the primary meaning was to be very cautious regarding false opportunities. As Obara, and particularly Obara Meji, have come to represent the Babalawo (or Iya's) life path, it must be considered a genuine warning sign for those wishing to be initiated back in those times. Indeed, If one examine the current crop of Ifa Priests, who refuse to answer questions, who insist on a set of "rules" that either infantilize the neophyte or leave them lost in an Alice in Wonderland setting, or asked you to follow every antiquated custom - not simply those that lend a beauty and awe to what we do and the gifts we are given...well, they have certainly slid through the cracks.

In realty Obara was, as are so many Odu, with dual meanings...but here, while we certainly must keep a wary eye on the character of those we attend or initiate, the real meaning was for men, and women. For men, Obara is about assertively (not aggressively) going for that you wish for or need...and if you are an Ifa priest extending yourself not to the simplest answer, but to the correct one.  For women, it means DO NOT SETTLE, by basis of your gender for anything less than you wish to accomplish. PERIOD!

Until next time

Love and blessings

Oluwo Philip John Neimark