The Twelfth Truth of Ifa: We are born with a specific path. It is our goal to travel it. Divination provides our road map!
Birth and Path
April 2020
Homage To The One Who Sends and to those who are sent! Homage to Orisa and Egun!
Ifokanbale Omo Orisa! Peace of Mind from Olodumare Children of Orisa!
Ire ati Ayo!
Good Tidings and Joyfulness!
I honor your gods, I drink from your wells, I bring an undefended heart to our meeting place. I have no cherished outcomes, I will not negotiate by withholding, and I am not subject to disappointment. I am here! And They are all here with me! Ase! Ase! Ase!
Lord of my Ancestors, I have no knowledge except that which is given to me through inspiration, that which is sent to me by way of an angel, and that which I am blessed to acquire by way of some discipline. I thank you for guiding my words, my thoughts, and my actions so that all that I say and do may serve to point the seekers in the right direction. Ase! Ase! Ase!
Thank you for visiting our website and for reading our blog! We pray you find some of what you are seeking to remember.
It is April 1, 2020 and virtually all of humanity is in lockdown, or some attempt at social distancing because of the virus called COVID-19. It is a virus that has earned the infamous title of Pandemic and threatens hundreds of thousands if not millions of lives around the globe. Although many of us may want to linger in denial, deep down inside we all know, and science reaffirms, how we got here. The simple Universal Rule, the Spiritual Laws of the L’oja state that ‘we will live the consequences of our choices’. We, humanity, have made choices along our journey in the L’oja that have shaped the current experience that we are going through together. We have engineered an environment in which we suffer the ravages of greed, prejudice, hatred, war, murder, disease, and famine. So many are overwhelmed with feelings of helplessness, hopelessness, fear, desperation, confusion, and depression. How seemingly suddenly our world has changed. But it was not sudden at all. This shared moment is the result of the gradual and unending processes of choice, chance, and change. So many have been longing for, and praying for something to happen that might change the present condition and course of our world. On some level, in some strange way, COVID-19 may be the answer to those prayers as it drives us to abandon our everyday routines, to draw closer to family, and to ponder the things that are really important to us, and the path we are currently walking!
Mo juba Awo Eshu Elegba!
Iwo ni Oluwo Awo Yiyan, Eshi, ati Iparo!
I humble myself before the Mysteries of Eshu Elegba!
You are the Owner of the Mysteries of Choice, Change, and Change!
In our last Post, March 2020, I laid out a list of 9 questions for you to reflect upon. Did you spend any time in that reflective meditation? I hope so, and if not yet, you can still make the choice to do so. Now I have three more important questions but before we discuss them lets look more deeply into this present Truth of Ifa, Truth (12): We are born with a specific path. It is our goal to travel it. Divination provides our road map!
As we move into this discussion bare in mind the following Truths of Ifa that we have already discussed.
Truth 3: There is no Predestination!
Truth 7: Heaven is our Home, and the Earth is the Marketplace!
Truth 8: We are part of the Universe (Multiverse) in a literal, not just as a figurative way!
Truth 9: We must never initiate harm to another human being!
Truth 10: You must never harm the universe of which you are part!
Also remember that in discussing the History of the Beginning we have stated that ‘we, you and I choose to come into the world' (the L’oja, the Marketplace). Why? The most direct answer, based on things we have previously discussed is - because SOURCE is moving through and expressing itself as each of us according to the Law of Isoki(Contrast, Contraction, Conflict), the Law of Isopo, (Connection, Connectivity, Belonging), and the Law of Na Wa (Expansion, Transformation, Ascension). This is the framework of our journey in the L’oja. So we choose to come to be a part of this Divine Process. We choose to come to serve as the vehicles through which INFINITE BEING witnesses the process of BECOMING in the REALM OF INFINITE POSSIBILITIES.
“We are born with a specific path!” What does this mean? What could it mean?
For it to become clear, we must distinguish between the notion of ‘path’ and that of ‘predestination’. Remember, Ifa states that there is no predestination. Predestination implies ‘the divine foreordaining of all that will happen, especially with regard to the salvation of some and not others.’ Predestination implies the absence of choice, and therefore it places a constraint on the processes of Isoki, Isopo, and Na Wa, which is contrary to the Law!
Path, on the other hand, lays out a much broader range of possibilities for each of us. There are more choices, more chance encounters and synchronicities, and more opportunities to experience change, both the expected and the unexpected. Path is the course or direction in which a person or thing is moving. It is a course of action or conduct. It may be the order in which certain things will happen in your life. We’ve all had the experience of reading a book and coming away with very little, and then reading the book again, perhaps years later, and the material unlocks volumes of knowledge and wisdom that did not emerge before.
Things changed, and so did you! Path allows for those changes, adaptations, transformations based upon Your Choices along Your Path.
Path does not define or specify what you will experience on your journey in the L’oja. Rather, it lays out the general parameters of your persona, way of being, and your direction in life. In this sense you may be off your Path if you are choosing to act in ways or to go in directions that undermine your ability to live in alignment with Truth (4) - It is your birthright to be happy, successful, and fulfilled! If our choices lead us off path, then:
Truth (12) also states: It is our goal to travel it. Divination provides our road map!
Your goal in life is to follow your chosen Path, a path that was chosen by you for you before you came into the world. It is a path that carries the thread of continuity running through your multitude of lifetimes, rebirth after rebirth. Divination is our way of gaining insight into the shadows of confusion that will occasionally and naturally occur on our journey. And today, as you read this Post, you are now mindful that you chose to come into the L’oja at this time. Yes, right in the midst of a Global Pandemic called COVID-19.
Why did you choose to come?Is it because you looked on the world from the ‘before-time’ and saw the pain and suffering of humanity in this time and this place?Did you come to be a part of the answer to humanity’s longings and prayers?Did you decide that you were up to the challenge of making a difference in the world (large or small), and helping to turn the tide of energy flow in the L’oja? Whatever moved you to come, Ifa celebrates your existence in our world. We celebrate because we understand the awesome power that you bring with you. We celebrate because we know that in each of you Olodumare, SOURCE, the SEE (Sentient Energetic Entity) is present in all of its power and glory! We celebrate you because we believe that as you answer the three questions listed below, you will align your physical and Spiritual Ori, you will remember who you are and why you chose to come, and you will make a positive and profound change in our world (the L’oja as you and I are living it today).
Now that you’ve spent some time with the previous nine questions and have a deeper understanding of yourself, spend some time with these questions.
Looking at the world, the L’oja, as you see it today,
(1) What problem do you want to solve? (What problem is calling/speaking to your heart and brain?)
(2) How do you want to solve that problem? (What talents, skills, capacities do you have, or can develop, that can be directed towards the problem you have chosen?)
(3) What do you need to know to solve that problem? (What do you need to research or study? Whom do you need to speak to about your ideas? Whom do you need to learn from, even indirectly, from books or videos?)
(Ref: Jaime Casap, Chief Education Evangelist at Google)
No problem that we face in the L’oja is too big for us to solve! It’s just about each of us doing our part! One element of doing our part is accepting the Thirteenth Truth of Ifa: Our Ancestors exist and must be honored!
I would love to hear some of your comments, experiences, and questions regarding this Post and process. Please feel free to contact me to share your results with this exercise.
I hope you will reflect on this message and share your comments and questions with me for our future Posts on this and other topics.
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Modupe! Thank You!
Aajiirebi! May the Unblemished Cloth of Orunmila Continue to cloth us with the Wisdom Of the Here and the Hereafter!
Ase! Ase! Ase!
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Ki Olodumare, Orisa, ati Egun fifun e ni Itona, Imoye, ati Opo Ire!
My Olodumare, Orisa, and Ancestors bestow on you Guidance, Wisdom, and Abundant Blessings!
