Oya

Oya! Uh-oh, was it Oya we invoked on election day? Oya is the powerful Yoruba Goddess of the Winds of Change; the Primeval Mother of Chaos; Queen of the Nine (for the nine tributaries of the Niger River). Using her machete, or sword of truth, she cuts through stagnation and clears the way for new growth. She does what needs to be done. She is the wild woman, the force of change; lightning, fire, tornadoes, earthquakes and storms of all kinds are ruled by Oya. She is also Queen of the Marketplace, a shrewd businesswoman and adept with horses. As the wind, she is the first breath and the last, the one who carries the spirits of the dead to the other world, which is why she is associated with cemeteries. The sculpture on the right is after the Oya Shrine: Female Equestrian by Bamgboye, Odo-Owa, Ekiti region, mid 20th century. The heads on her necklace are from the same piece. by Sandra Stanton (Visit her website at www.goddessmyths.com) Oya-Yansa is the Queen of the Winds of change. She is feared by many people because She brings about sudden structural change in people and things. Oya does not just rearrange the furniture int he house -- She knocks the building to the ground and blows away the floor tiles. She is the cyclone and the earthquake. Oya fans Her skirts and blows the branches from the trees; should She choose to cry, torrential rains fall on the earth. She is the Mother of Mind. She can impart genius, restore memory, or slap you with insanity. Oya opens Her mouth, flicks out Her tongue, and lightning strikes. She has nine heads; She is the River Niger. No one can be certain of Oya's movement; no one can capture Her smile. She is the mistress of disguises. yesterday Oya was a gentle lamb; today, a buffalo trampling the earth beneath Her feet. Tomorrow She'll be a rainbow -- maybe. from Jambalaya, by Luisah Teish (Order from Powells!) To seek adequate words with which to trace her elemental patterns is an act of homage to the goddess of tropical weathers in hopes that her compassion may reciprocally illuminate inner equivalents with which we have struggled in private darkness. It has been a struggle intensified by patriarchal discountenance of powerful emotion -- its problematic relegated to women "in need of help," as the saying goes. In being choaked by compliant mothers to stifle rather than outride our storms, to dam and conceal our floods, to bank our fires and give tinder over to future husbands, the Oya in ourselves froze in its tracks. Yet such ice particles, negatively charged at the heart of mounting storm are the mysterious, generative sources of Oya's lightning. Thus, in other way obstructed, Oya strikes us -- quirking here, cramping there. Soon with our brains, the indefatigable goddess goes jaggedly to work upon our bodies, cutting off circulation, opening sluices, instilling victims who could be votaries with a variety of "female complains," catching them up in mindless swirls of activity, throwing them down into incapacitating vortices, playing havoc with appetite. Stop, Oya, we beg you! We will sound your praises along all rivers from Hudson to Niger. We will hang prayer flags to flutter like laundry stretching from fire escape to fire, continent to continent. We will strive to know your winds the better to reclaim our part of fire. from Oya, In Praise of the Goddess, by Judith Gleason, 1987

ancestors

Ancestor/ Egun Reverence Effectively Communicating with Your Egun Part 1 Effectively Communicating with Your Egun Part 2 4- Cowry / Obi Divination w/ our Ancestors Part 1 While We Danced, Our Egun Sized Each Other Up! African Burial Customs (Interactive) NEW Feeding the Ancestors NEW What is Egungun Heaven for a Thug?: Why Libation and Young Warriors Don't Mix Trace Your Lineage, Genealogy

Evolution of the soul

Evolution Of The Soul........ Life Lessons Through Reincarnation You meet someone for the first time and feel as if you know them already. You're in a town that you've never been to before, yet you recognize streets and buildings. You start playing a new sport and amaze everyone, including yourself, at your natural abilities and intuitive knowing of the rules. We often describe such experiences as déjà vu: the experience or feeling that a new situation has happened to us before. Then again, the possibility does exist that we have actually lived these experiences in the past or, rather, in another lifetime. Many spiritual practices believe that reincarnation is real: Our souls return to this earth over a series of lifetimes to evolve, learn, grow, transform, and become more spiritually attuned through the course of each life. When we reincarnate, it is believed that we tend to cycle through our different lives with many of the same people. Often these traveling "soul" companions are the ones we enter into relationships with; we work through our unresolved issues together so that we may heal. When we struggle or keep encountering blocks that keep us from reaching our goals, there may be a specific lesson that we are supposed to learn in this lifetime. Being naturally blessed with a musical talent or another gift can be a special ability that you worked hard to develop in a past life. You may even have lived before as another gender or as part of a different social or economic class. Each lifetime brings with it specific lessons that are necessary for our spiritual evolution. Past life recall can give us valuable insights into our past, present, and future lives. The knowledge of how we lived before can help us overcome present obstacles, understand phobias, and resolve relationship issues. There are workshops you can take to learn about past lives, and past life regression therapists can guide you on your journey backward in time. You can learn to visit your past lives through your dreams, meditation, and trance work. It is even possible to see full scenes of a former lifetime flash before you in your mind's eye as if you were watching a movie. While looking back at your past lives can be exciting and enlightening, it is important to remember that the answers you are seeking to this life can only truly be found by living this one. Look to your past to see where you've been, but remember that the life that matters most is the one that you are living now.

Haitian performance

Friday, November 19, 8pmWorld Music Institute Presents:Vodou Drums & Dances of HaitiLa Troupe Makandal with Emilene MichelSymphony Space, 95th & Broadway, New York$26 - For tickets and information call: 212-545-7536http://www.worldmusicinstitute.org/The Brooklyn-based Afro-Haitian company La Troupe Makandal, under the direction of master drummer Frisner Augustin, is renowned for its performances of ritual chants, drumming and dances associated with Vodou (voodoo). The ensemble’s program, Rising Sun: A Vodou Drama of Death and Rebirth, takes the audience from the season of the dead through the mysterious birth of the cosmic twins. Emilene Michel, the reigning queen of Haitian song, will appear as special guest artist with guitarist Makarios Cesaire.