There is an Ifa story of Orisa Sonponno (Babaluaiye - the Orisa of smallpox and infectious diseases) who was mocked by the other Orisa because of his wooden leg while they danced and drank at a celebration. The story provides a lesson in forgiving others because of an offense, insult, or hurt. In another Ifa story the Orisa Ogun slaughters the people of a town because they would not speak to him nor give him water as he passed through their town. After the slaughter a traveler he met on the road informed Ogun that the reason the people did not speak to him was because they were engaged in a special traditional ceremony during which they were not permitted to speak or engage in other social interactions. The Orisa Ogun felt profound regret for his actions and took to the forest vowing never to again enter a city so that he might avoid future interactions that would be cause for such weighty remorse. This Ifa story provides a lesson in forgiving yourself. No one who passes through this world will fail to encounter moments for forgiveness.
There is another Ifa story that describes events at the beginning of the creation of this world. It tells of the occasion when Olodumare decided that the powers required to maintain this creation should be divided among the various Orisa. Up until that time the Orisa Eshu was the Keeper of the Ase (spiritual powers). Orisa Eshu was dissatisfied with Olodumare’s decision and tried to incite the other Orisa to rebel. The matter was finally settled, as Olodumare would have it. Orisa Eshu’s actions in this story help us to understand why Olodumare would challenge each of us, you and me, with total control over this powerful choice – the choice to forgive, as Olodumare forgave Eshu. Even in the beginning, and even among higher spiritual entities, whom-so-ever is given the power to choose is also assigned the possibility of offense and mis-takes. Therefore forgiveness is in our DNA and manifests in our Ase Ami (energy signature).
To forgive means to stop feeling angry or resentful toward someone (including yourself) for an offense, flaw, or mis-take. To forgive and to forget are not the same thing. Ifa is about balancing the matrices and energy that are manifesting as our life experiences. Ifa prescribes prayers, rituals, ceremonies, and ebos to help the believer affect and move the Ase. When you are filled with anger and resentment towards another person they have power over you because the mere thought of them can cause your entire metabolic system and energy signature to shift in a negative way. This is one of the reasons that Ifa may prescribe a coconut cleansing of your head to cool your Ori. So that you can maintain control over the state of your mind-body-spirit rather than giving that power to others. The first and most important reason to forgive is to lift your own burden. So much of what the believer brings to the priest or Babalawo is rooted in the challenge of forgiveness.
Generally people fall into two categories, the forgiving and the unforgiving. The forgiving seem to be able to forgive even the most horrific of offenses, while the unforgiving tend to be angry, resentful, bitter, and hostile even over someone’s foibles, ignorance, impoliteness, lack of maturity, or lack of social etiquette, not to mention more serious offenses. One difference between the two may be whether or not they have been able to forgive themselves for some offense, flaw, mis-take, foible, or event in their own life.
When you act as the forgiver you are in the position to bestow a great gift upon yourself or another while at the same time lifting a great burden from your spirit and resolving a disturbance in your Ase Ami. Your capacity to forgive cannot serve you if you fail to use it. This life is going to challenge you because our world exists on the border between chaos and order. You will experience moments of forgiveness. Consider the experience of the one seeking forgiveness. What thoughts, emotions, and feelings are reflected in their energy signature? Are they feeling shame, guilt, remorse, low self-esteem issues, regret, depression, and so much more? More than they can put into words. Are they feeling helpless and hopeless about being absolved of their real or perceived crime? Can you see why forgiveness is such a gift? To be forgiven is to be freed from the dark places of isolation that one can go when an offense or mistake breaches the relationship bond between individuals or with one’s own self. So much of how you and I treat the world and how we perceive the world is rooted in our own relationship with our self. You need to forgive yourself first!
We each choose to come into this world in order to create something wonderful for Olodumare to experience. That is our collective destiny. We each come with the power to choose and therein lay the mystery of fate. Your fate is the consequences of your choices. The choices you make regarding your capacity to love and to forgive will be some of the most important choices you will make in your life. In the final analysis, what will take on the most significance about your journey in this world will be the moments of love and forgiveness that you’ve shared with others. Love and forgiveness are not signs of weakness. They are expressions of Olodumare's omniscience and omnipotence as well as the compassion of Creator.
If you feel that you are holding on to anger and resentment or are stifled by remorse and regret please feel free to comment on this Post or write me for information about the coconut ebo for cleansing and cooling your Ori.
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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!
