Lessons . . .

Through my words, I am set free . . .

If you would have asked me years ago what I would be when I grew up, I don't know that I would have known. I think I would have likely said a lawyer, although I've always felt spiritual, and I've always felt the call to lead people. What do I do now? I am a marketer, who knows the power of words to move people to action, or inaction.

What am I now?

I am a priest who knows the power of words, but also knows the power of the the divine.

I am an Orisha priest - an Awo Orisha

I am an Ifa priest - a Babalawo

Most important of all, I am a priest of life

Is that how I define myself? Yes, it is. Perhaps that's a strange way of identifying oneself, but I feel moved by that which I can not understand. Marriam-Webster defines priest as:

one authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion especially as a mediatory agent between humans and God.

We all, in our own right should have a direct relationship with God, whoever or whatever we think that is. I call God Olodumare according to my beliefs, derived from the traditional Yoruba religion. My role in Ifa is to regularly commune with the divine in order to help interpret the messages left for us. My role in Ifa is to guide and help people develop. My role in Ifa is to do what I can to help improve myself, those who come to me, and if possible, the world.

If you would have asked me years ago if I would be religious? I would have said no. But I can't see the wonders of the world without seeing how they are all representative of something greater then me. Is that religion? not necessarily, religion is just belief system that attempts to define as much as is possible, that which is greater then us, and define the parameters for how we relate with that. Is religion stiff and unmoving? It can be, but as with the world, in order to survive, we must sometimes adapt, perhaps that's Olodumare's greatest lesson.