What is initiation to Orisha?

Initiation is a seven-day process rich with prayers, animal sacrifice and divination. During the ceremony, orishas are placed inside the initiate's head, which is why the heads of Thomas' initiates were shaved.

What happens during Santeria initiation?

The annual celebration of one's initiation into the religion is known as the cumpleaños de santo ("birthday in the saint"). As an initiate becomes more deeply involved in the religion, they learn about each of the different deities and make offerings to each of them in exchange for spiritual blessings and aché.

What is Yoruba initiation?

Yoruban History and Diaspora

Two American women who are to be initiated into the Yoruba faith as priestesses travel to Nigeria to take part in a ceremony that involves prayer, head shaving, animal sacrifice, music, and dance.

Do you have to be initiated to work with orishas?

REQUIREMENTS FOR MEMBERSHIP

The Orisha-worshiping religions are traditions that require initiation rituals for membership.

What is the purpose of the orisha?

The Orishas exist to help humans reach their goal of self-actualization, but these entities are not perfect themselves. Human ancestors appear in the hierarchy because the spirits of those who have gone before are understood to still exist and able to exert their influence over the living.

Orisha Initiation: Facts and Misconceptions | Yeyeo Botanica

How did the orishas get their powers?

An orisha may be said to arise when a divine power to command and make things happen converges with a natural force, a deified ancestor, and an object that witnesses and supports that convergence and alignment.

How do you know if you are a child of Oshun?

She is one of the most popular and venerated orishas. If you see the number 5 a lot (my two most recent apartments were on the 5th floor), are attracted to the color yellow or gold and enjoy sweets, specifically honey, then you too may be a child of Oshun.

Can you worship more than one orisha?

An individual may over the course of a lifetime worship several Orisha. In fact, according to Bascom, most Yoruba worshiped a group of five or six deities acquired under different circumstances, and regardless of how one came to the worship of an Orisha, he or she was eligible to become a priest of that Orisha.

Who is the most powerful orisha?

Ṣàngó is viewed as the most powerful and feared of the orisha pantheon. He casts a "thunderstone" to earth, which creates thunder and lightning, to anyone who offends him. Worshippers in Yorubaland in Nigeria do not eat cowpea because they believe that the wrath of the god of iron would descend on them.

What does it mean to be crowned orisha?

In the crowning ceremony, the symbols of the patron orisha are placed on the head of the devotee, and he or she may enter a ceremonial trance and become a medium for that orisha.

How do you become Ifa?

How do you become an IFA? In order to become an IFA, you first need to complete a Level 4 Diploma for Financial Advisers (DipFA). This qualification is made up of two units, with the first being based on financial services regulation ethics and the second focusing on advanced financial advice.

How much does Santería cost?

A full-on initiation ceremony into Santeria, which grew out of the Yoruba religion brought to the Americas by African slaves, would cost a foreigner well over $1,000.

How many orisha are there?

Yoruba tradition often says that there are 400 + 1 orishas, which is associated with a sacred number. Other sources suggest that the number is "as many as you can think of, plus one more – an innumerable number". Different oral traditions refer to 400, 700, or 1,440 orishas.

What do you call people who practice Santería?

Practitioners of both Santería and other Afro-Cuban religions are called creyentes ("believers"). Some people external to the religion have referred to its practitioners as "santerians" although this is not used by adherents themselves.

What does it mean to be a daughter of Oshun?

She is considered one of the most powerful of all orishas, and, like other gods, she possesses human attributes such as vanity, jealousy, and spite.” Encyclopedia Britannica.

Who is the father of all orishas?

460. Obatalá Obatalá is the kindly father of all the orishas and all humanity. He is also the owner of all heads and the mind. Though it was Olorun who created the universe, it is Obatal who is the creator of the world and humanity.

Who is the Orisha of death?

Ọya (Yorùbá: Ọya, also known as Oyá or Oiá; Yàńsàn-án or Yansã; and Iansá or Iansã in Latin America) is an orisha of winds, lightning, and violent storms, death and rebirth.

Is Oshun My Orisha?

Oshun is commonly called the river orisha, or goddess, in the Yoruba religion and is typically associated with water, purity, fertility, love, and sensuality. She is considered one of the most powerful of all orishas, and, like other gods, she possesses human attributes such as vanity, jealousy, and spite.

What does ASE mean in African?

Ase or ashe (from Yoruba àṣẹ) is a Yoruba philosophical concept through which the Yoruba of Nigeria conceive the power to make things happen and produce change.

What food does Oshun like?

Oshun's favorite thing to eat is honey, and her contagious laugh can either put you under her spell or send shivers down your spine… And despite her generosity and irresistible charm, this Orisha is also the most dangerous when crossed—Oshun is as sweet as honey, but her honey can also turn sour.

What are Oshun colors?

Ceremonies and Ritual Colors

Osun is the orisha of the river. Her devotees leave her offerings and perform ceremonies at bodies of fresh water such as rivers, streams and canals. She is associated with the colors white, yellow, gold, and sometimes coral.

What is Yemaya?

Often depicted as a queenly mermaid, Yemaya is considered the Ocean Mother Goddess in Santería, an Afro-Caribbean religion practiced around the world. With anchored roots in the Yoruba religion, Yemaya was brought over to the New World by enslaved Africans as early as the 16th century.