Contemplation on the Odu Otura Ogunda

It's still
Out here
Lying in the grass
Looking up at the night sky
Body hurtling through space
A million miles an hour
Quickly going nowhere in particular
I am humbled by the thought that
Even a state of rest
Is a state of extreme motion
The immensity of it all
Reminds me
How meaningless it is to hate
How insignificant it is to fight
How pointless it is to divide
We live on this rock as one
We die on this rock as one
Why not choose to spend
What little time you have
Making everyone’s journey
Through space
A beautiful one
Do something
Anything
To spark
Love
Then sit back
And enjoy the
Fireworks

Contemplation on Iwori Ogunda aka Iwori Aweda

There is a magic that lives
In the space where
Survival meets opportunity
A spark that when ignited
Breathes life into the lifeless
Pulling us back from the brink of
Extinction
Those who possess this gift
Know Esu expects his due
A conjurer's toll for traveling between the
Light and dark
An inescapable shadow
Forever attached to our soul
It's the cost of
Doing what is necessary
No matter how unpleasant
In order to see another day

Ofun Meji (Eepa Odu)

Ritual without theology
Is like a
Body without a soul

Contemplation on the Odu Ofun Ogbe ( Ofun agbe)

I am adrift on an ocean of thought

Trying to find my north

In a starless sky

Nothing but horizon

In every direction

I pray the sun has not abandoned me

That she guides me out of this darkness

Towards the shores of half a century

Three thousand possibilities

Flash before my eyes

In a single moment

None more clear

Than another

There is not much I can say

Except I am still sea worthy

Despite my missteps into

Raging tempests

I will listen to the winds

Whispering the secrets of sirens

To find the tower of Pharos

That it may pierce the darkness

With a golden path

To safe harbor

Thank you for staying by my side

You are the wind in my sails

On a still day

Contemplationon the Odu Osa Irete

There is no line between
Right and wrong
Good and bad
Love and hate
Everything lives somewhere on a
Spectrum
Actions that seem clear
Often fade and change
Like a well worn rug
Only time it seems
Can cast true judgement
On events of the day
Even then
Truth can lie
In the eye of the beholder

Nigerian smoked catfish / pescado ahumado , Esu offering Lucumi and YTR

One of Eshu's favorite offerings and a part of almost all Lucumi ceremonies is Pescado Ahumado, smoked fish (Catfish to be specific). It's incredibly easy to make, and sooooo much better than what you get at a botanica, which is usually some dried out old crumbly garbage. Here are some links to better understand and perhaps make Eshu extra happy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-f97jvFBF8

and also a nice article

https://freshtodommot.com/blogs/life-hacks-tips/nigerian-smoked-fish


Ashe!!

Contemplation on the odu Obara Iwori

Deep within us

Lies a shared river of memories

Flowing across generations

Feeding our thoughts

Fueling our emotions

Nourishing our soul

A torrential outpouring of experiences

Sprung from a single source

Growing as it moves through time

We inhabit the tributaries

Sometimes flowing freely

Other times stagnant

We must learn to swim

Read the ebbs and flows

That make up our home

Or be left to drown

We are the river

It runs forever in our veins

Contemplation on the Odu Oshe Ogbe

I saw it
That light in your eyes
I saw it flash so brightly
The whole room was
Blinded
It’s quite magnificent
Like a midsummer rain
Washing over everyone
Drenched in you
I could not help myself
I had to paint a picture
Of your night sky
A voyager enchanted with
Stars so clear I could
Reach out and touch them
I hope to see them again
But even if I don’t
I still have this painting
Of you

How to greet a priest in the Lucumi / Santeria tradition

I posted this in response to question on facebook, but realized it should really be stand alone. In the lucumi/santeria community, aleyos always greet Santeros/as with the greeting "Benedicion" (blessings in spanish) and if an informal setting, they cross their arms and touch each shoulder to the priest's opposite shoulder. In a formal setting, you would dobale (or prostrate yourself on the ground). If you have a male Orisa as your guardian Orisa, you lie face down in front of them, if a female, you first lie on your right side, then on your left (arm supporting head) as they touch your shoulders and say their blessing. If you don't know who "owns" your head, it's assumed to be Obatala and you do the male prostration. 

Younger priests usually greet elder priests with that same "Bendicion".  Aleyos and santeros/as greet babalawos by saying "Iboru Iboya Iboshishe" or the Yoruba language version "aboru aboye aboshishe" and touch the floor with their left fingers. Iboru Iboye Iboshishe and Aboru Aboye Aboshishe are the same (different pronounciations), and the mean "May ebo (offerings) reach heaven, may ebo be accepted, may what ebo was made for come to pass"

The response made by santeros/as or babalawos who are greeted is "A wa wato" or in Yoruba "Ogbo ato".  Awa wato and Ogbo ato are really the same thing and mean essentially "may you have long life". Babalawos who are from a Nigerian (not afro-cuban) lineage may go a bit longer and say "Ogbo ato isuri iwori wofun", which means many you have long life with the blessing of the odu Iwori Wofun" That particular Odu is Iwori Ofun and is famous for turning war into peace.

I hope that is helpful for the beginners in this tradition.

Contemplation on the Odu Odi Meji

As comforting as religious ritual is

It is simply the codification of

Something that helps us

Commune with God

To say that there is only one way

Or that the path remains immutable

Is sheer lunacy

Life has only one constant

Change

As the world around us

Evolves

We must not allow ourselves

To become stagnant

Like the still pond

Unchanged rituals and ideas

Breed disease

The moving river always

Finds it’s way to the

Sea 

Contemplation on the secret of Ofun Meji (eeepa odu)

I was told
To dance for joy
To give praises to God
Years passed and I felt nothing
Perhaps God did not answer because
I was not using the right name
I had to look deep within
To realize I needed
To find my own
Secret name
For God
It finally worked
So I must take my leave
I’m meeting a good friend for tea

Contemplation on the Odu Otura Okanran

Your eyes
Haunting pockets of ice
Hide the glacier underneath
A siren bewitching the simple
Hearts of men
I dislike that I have
Fallen under your spell
That I know under
Different circumstance you would have
Passed me by without a second look
Or even a first
Yet still I yearn
I’m trying not to judge
We are who we are
What saddens me is seeing the
Fissures in my own character that let me feel
Less than
I know the greatest wisdom sometimes lies
In the torn pages of forgotten books
That as the colors fade
The words remain
Revealing their true worth
Perhaps it is I that will haunt you
Perhaps I give myself too much credit
In the end
When we shed our skins
All that will be left are the words of a few
Lucky souls
Until even those become
Stardust

More Contemplations on odu Ifa Ogunda Irete

Be careful
Not to loose yourself
In an ideological fog of your
Own making
Shake out your rigid mind
Free yourself from the shackles of knowledge
Drink the wine of intuition
Until so drunk you stumble into
Truth

New review of my book "This poem called life"

So excited to have received these beautiful words about my book from a dear friend:

"The deep and endless wisdom of Ifa has shaped and inspired the beautifully thoughtful words of the poet Marcos Sanchez. May they guide us on our life’s journey….ASHE/ACHE/AXE! "

— Henry John Drewal (Ifasola)

Evjue-Bascom Professor of Art History, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Thank you henry!! If you'd like to pick up a copy, go here: https://www.blurb.com/b/8256683-this-poem-called-life

contemplation on the Odu Otura Owonrin (otura alaketu)

When night has fallen
And you have lost your way
Embrace your fears and
You will see that
Once the clouds have parted
Only the darkness of night
Can reveal the wondrous beauty of the
Vast universe that surrounds us

Contemplation on the Odu Oshe Owonrin ( oshe niwo )

There is a certain beauty

In this bowl of soup

Steam floating in the air

Warning me not to be too eager

Lest my lips suffer

And my tongue scald

Depriving me of its sweetness

There is wisdom there

Giving me pause

Allowing the words to dance in the air

Unfolding this way and that

Like a child chasing bubbles

I bob and weave

Hoping to capture even one

Without shattering the illusion of its

Existence

Then there is you

The softness in your lips

The warmth in your hug

The sureness in your eyes

Are you my bubble

Or am I yours 

Contemplation on Ofun Meji ( orangun meji )

If I told you today
What will happen tomorrow
You’d think me mad
If what I told you was
Tomorrow doesn’t exist
You’d think me insane
And yet
For all our desire to
Know
Tomorrow is only an illusion
Created to help us feel control
Over something that is completely
Unpredictable
God
Is
Our
Tomorrow
Embracing us
Today

Contemplation on the Odu Oshe Ofun (ose fun)

The structural Dynamics of love

Are such that

In its presence

We can endure the weight of the world

Filled with the warmth of a thousand suns

We are

Weightless

Yet in its absence

Even a feather can seem too much to bear

Chilled through to our very core

We are

Sunken

Thankfully there is no life 

Without at least some love

If nothing else

We can learn to find the love

That surrounds us

And most importantly

Within us