Do you sense that something's missing in your life? Are you looking for answers in the right places?
Here's the reality. Without a robust religious base you can feel empty and you will roam forever.
It doesn't have to be this way...
Though the main line media won't tell you this, many millions of people from different races and cultural backgrounds are finding out that the spiritual customs of Africa have a load to give.
The most well-liked African spirituality system can be followed back to the Yorubas of Southwest Nigeria, who students say are the creators of one of the premier cultures of the Earth.
"At a time between the tenth and twelfth centuries, when nothing of comparable quality was being produced in Europe, the master sculptors of Ile-Ife were shaping superb art. Like custom Greece, Yorubaland consisted mainly of self-sufficient city-state characterized by inventive and poetic richness," claims historian Robert Farris Thompson, in the book, Flash of the Spirit.
The religion of the Yorubas, known as Ifa, is also very rich and deep. Ifa is called the antediluvian sapience because it's much older than both the Western and Eastern organized religion. Others call Ifa the foremost science. It really is a really complicated spiritual system that encompass poetry, history, medicine, maths, divination, dance, science, literature, ethics, metaphysics and more.
Because Ifa is so huge, one Yoruba proverb asserts, "Ifa covers everything."
Reverence for nature and the predecessors are core values in Ifa. "We never start from the foundation that we are higher than the remainder of creation," says Yoruba scholar, Wande Abimbola, one of the premier authorities on Ifa worldwide. "We bow down to trees, rivers, hills and mountains."
"Birds, animals, trees, and the dwellers of the sea aren't only our kin but our teachers and spiritual guides as well," says James Weeks, producer of Across The King's Brook, a upcoming documentary feature film that explores the linkages between African spiritual traditions and science.
The Yorubas believe strongly in a ultimate God is considered the force responsible for all phenomena in our universe. The ancients called this being Olodumare, that means "the owner of all destinies."
And the orishas are deities that represent different facets of Olodumare. Each orisha is associated with a force of nature as well as a express number and rules a particular area of the body. Through their steering, humanity becomes one with nature and the divine.
The orisa Esu or Ellegua, is known as the owner of the crossroads and is associated with the number 3. Esu is a dynamic messenger between humankind and the orishas and his colours are black and red. "Ellegua teaches us that we have to look at every side of the story in order to make a good decision. He reminds us the plain is not invariably the proper answer. He shows us there is far more to gain if we stop, think, and reflect before taking an action," says scholar Marta Moreno Vega, in the book, The Altar of My Soul: The Living Customs of Santeria.
Orunmila is the orisha of knowledge. In Ifa, it is assumed that Orumila experienced the creation of the universe and has intimate knowledge of past, present and future. Monks of Orunmila are called babalawos, meaning the "father of the mysteries." Babalawos are predicted to dedicate their lives studying the art of divination and herbal medicine. Orunmila's colors are yellow and green, and he's associated with the number 16.
Here's the reality. Without a robust religious base you can feel empty and you will roam forever.
It doesn't have to be this way...
Though the main line media won't tell you this, many millions of people from different races and cultural backgrounds are finding out that the spiritual customs of Africa have a load to give.
The most well-liked African spirituality system can be followed back to the Yorubas of Southwest Nigeria, who students say are the creators of one of the premier cultures of the Earth.
"At a time between the tenth and twelfth centuries, when nothing of comparable quality was being produced in Europe, the master sculptors of Ile-Ife were shaping superb art. Like custom Greece, Yorubaland consisted mainly of self-sufficient city-state characterized by inventive and poetic richness," claims historian Robert Farris Thompson, in the book, Flash of the Spirit.
The religion of the Yorubas, known as Ifa, is also very rich and deep. Ifa is called the antediluvian sapience because it's much older than both the Western and Eastern organized religion. Others call Ifa the foremost science. It really is a really complicated spiritual system that encompass poetry, history, medicine, maths, divination, dance, science, literature, ethics, metaphysics and more.
Because Ifa is so huge, one Yoruba proverb asserts, "Ifa covers everything."
Reverence for nature and the predecessors are core values in Ifa. "We never start from the foundation that we are higher than the remainder of creation," says Yoruba scholar, Wande Abimbola, one of the premier authorities on Ifa worldwide. "We bow down to trees, rivers, hills and mountains."
"Birds, animals, trees, and the dwellers of the sea aren't only our kin but our teachers and spiritual guides as well," says James Weeks, producer of Across The King's Brook, a upcoming documentary feature film that explores the linkages between African spiritual traditions and science.
The Yorubas believe strongly in a ultimate God is considered the force responsible for all phenomena in our universe. The ancients called this being Olodumare, that means "the owner of all destinies."
And the orishas are deities that represent different facets of Olodumare. Each orisha is associated with a force of nature as well as a express number and rules a particular area of the body. Through their steering, humanity becomes one with nature and the divine.
The orisa Esu or Ellegua, is known as the owner of the crossroads and is associated with the number 3. Esu is a dynamic messenger between humankind and the orishas and his colours are black and red. "Ellegua teaches us that we have to look at every side of the story in order to make a good decision. He reminds us the plain is not invariably the proper answer. He shows us there is far more to gain if we stop, think, and reflect before taking an action," says scholar Marta Moreno Vega, in the book, The Altar of My Soul: The Living Customs of Santeria.
Orunmila is the orisha of knowledge. In Ifa, it is assumed that Orumila experienced the creation of the universe and has intimate knowledge of past, present and future. Monks of Orunmila are called babalawos, meaning the "father of the mysteries." Babalawos are predicted to dedicate their lives studying the art of divination and herbal medicine. Orunmila's colors are yellow and green, and he's associated with the number 16.
About the Author:
Ochosi is the divine hunter of the Yoruba pantheon and is associated with the number 7. There are a lot more than 401 orishas. The imminent documentary film, Across The King's Stream, gives a superb outline of the orisa practice and other spiritual systems of Africa. For full information about this idealist film that people around the world is talking about, visit www . acrossthekingsriver . com