I have come come across more online fodder and Fuckery than I care to admit to. I have seen huge groups of people from neo pagan white witches to hotepian American African descendants taking creative license and authority over well established living and breathing traditions that have survived and have been surviving and thriving with priesthoods. Take that last part in yall... LIVING AND THRIVING PRIESTHOODS!! We are not talking about the entire greek pantheon with old ruins of temples of glorious times past. We are talking about multiple lands in the diaspora by which Africans were brought and left in motion strong rooted legacy by which some of us were initiated into operating within and entrenching ourselves in the work to keep it going so that future generations can use it to benefit themselves and others.
And here come along any ol body who has access to a mouse, a keyboard, monitor and such to come scooping on in and COLUMBUSING what was already there and established.
These are some of the very “progressive” folks who can understand Christopher Columbus was not shit and gets the credit for “founding” America which was already inhabited.
They will not nor can they even try to see that they are themselves inserting them into a space as guests and possible heirs and trying to upsurp what has already been rooted.
Listen here.. You aint coming up in my house and uprooting anything, and if you are successful in your attempts you are catching these hands or this good ol juju.
On my amazing friend and Sister friend, Okantomi’s @spiritualteabath page on IG, there was a post about upheld traditions and how to navigate to and through them. Out comes vegan Susan from accounting who does yoga all her life, eats granola and dried cranberries and owns several rescue animals decides to come in and give her testimony of how Orisa has been speaking to her all her life. Once told by several initated priests that there are certain ways one is called to the priesthood or lifestyle associated with orisa worship she decides to perform her well rehearsed routine... Sparkling mayo-tinged bleached tears and indignation. Miss Susan, aka @seekyoursoul333 on IG proceeds to post the following:
“The only thing I take issue with is spiritual Elitism. Those that judge anothers path by their own ego. Their need to feel they are special or more entitled to a path than another. To me, if the spirit of any path calls you, you should listen. Develop your relationship and understand what is between you and the Orisha, God, Goddess ect, is between you and them. What relationship another of anyone’s business but them.”
@SpiritualTeaBaths responds again, kind as ever:
|” Yes, Orisha worship is now universal. The Orishas are worshipped by people of all races and national origins, but legitimacy depends upon adherence to established orthodoxy. Lukumí/Regla de Osha (AKA Santería) has a very rigorous orthodoxy. Heads are marked in very specific ways, by ritual specialists who are priests of divination. It is possible to have connections to many Orisha, but in that system only one owns your head; and it’s not something that you can just be told by a practitioner. What we view as capricious is the desire of outsiders to interact with these deities while disregarding the systems of worship the Orisha established for us thousands of years ago. I don’t suggest that you have no affinity with Oshún. However, if she had actually called you you’d be experiencing such terrible upheavals in your life that you would be forced to seek initiation. It’s a common thread across all traditions, people get initiated because they must. If you’re ever interested in reading about Orisha worship, I can recommend some great books. Ki Oshun agbe o. I understand your perspective, but it is antithetical to every tradition of Orisha worship. Orisha religions are systematic and hierarchical. Their “fundamento” (foundation) consists of “regla” (rules and order), “Awo” (secret, sacred knowledge), and “licencia” (ritual authority) among other things. These are intact systems of worship that are links in an unbroken chain that is thousands of years old. They are orthodox and structured. They are neither random, nor are they eclectic. Their structure and orthodoxy were established and maintained at great personal cost by “lagba-lagba” (revered elders), mandated and guided by the Orisa themselves. As a communal system, initiated have a responsibility to ensure the integrity of these traditions. So yea, it is absolutely the business of others. Just as my practice is the business of others. Orisha cannot be separated from its culture, orthodoxy, or priesthood. Orisha worship is hierarchical. It is your sense of privilege and entitlement that has created your misperception of elitism. If you ever become involved in any form of orthodox Orisha worship, your perspective will shift. P.S. I view exchanges of this nature as enlightening and beneficial. It helps me to understand your perspective, and it exposes you to the tenets and orthodoxy of Orisha religion. ”
Others now hip to Susan’s trail of entitled tears and tantrums are getting riled up and calling her out.. and here she goes again:
“And there comes the “entitlement” and “privilege” words. No, I’m sorry it is not your business. I think Im’ probably going to take an Orisha over you. If you want to talk about what matters, I’m going to follow what the Orisha has led me to and not you. I will never tell another what to do in their spirituality and you maybe should do the same. You are frankly making judgements about relationships you know nothing about. Religion is man made. I do not follow a religion. I go where I am led as everyone should. My path is mine alone. I am involved in Santeria. And yet Oshun has come to me, as a child. Showed me things I should not know was not exposed to. So yeah I’m going with Orisha here. You are free to practcie as you are led. We all are. That is not entitlement or privilege.”
Now yall... I read her response and all of my hairs stood up and I felt the heat in my ears I get just before I am about to THUMP/FIGHT/THROW HANDS. I had to breathe through it.
The nerve of this unititated ass woman talking to other priests about what she gonna do with their deities they serve and have been trained to serve and her relative free access to all that is based on a feeling of being “led.” Here is my thing, can you imagine walking into a sweat lodge or Pow Wow and through on cultural/spiritual regalia and just jump on in dancing the dances no one dances or danced, singing songs no one sings or ever sung and performed ceremonies/rituals no one ever uses in that group of people?
Would you enter a Hindu temple and offer steak to the Gods there in offering because you felt compelled and led by spirit to do so?
Would you enter a Catholic Churh throw Koolaid in their Holy Water and tell them the holy water shall now be red like the blood of Christ and its ok because spirit led you to do so?
No you wouldnt and you would do so at the cost of possibly catching a Tanya Harding to Nancy Kerrigan to the knee cap bust, or some generational curse ensured to your descendants fro years to come.
You do not get to enter spaces, that inhabited and established and simply request or demand changes. You have to be a part of said culture or group before you can even earn a right to say anything about anything and then even then you must earn your way to having a reputable name enough by your community to admonish such..
This is the nonsense I am seeing here that boggles my mind. You just gonna come in and make it what you think it needs to be and damn anyone else whose job it is to retain and ensure the survival of said traditions. You treating our tradition like you are the “Do Good” LA rich folk who want to stop the Yulin dog eating festival in a country you have nothing to do with. A people you havent yet got to know or emerse in their culture enough to see the hows and whys of anything they do. You just gonna throw your entitlement and privilege around to judge it from the outside looking in and then demand from the top of your lungs what you want to happen. GIRL BYE!!! SIR, FARETHEEWELL! Sayonora! Adios! Au Revoir! and Any other language you need to get the hint.
This was my final word on that thread and I stand by it 150% in the spirit of, “WHAT YOU AINT FITTIN TUH DO IS!”
“My biggest issue will be entitlement. If you are truly being "led" you will have been led to a community, an ile, and more than likely ocha if not the first preliminary steps leading into initiation. You don't just meditate and orisa come visit or just dream and these deities just come around. I'm convinced 99.9% of what's appearing to people are spirits who work with or in alignment with said deity or their energy. Or are appearing in a fashion in which is comfortable or significant for the person to accept and/or visualize. Some spirits may appear Oshun-esque but many spirits exist in the unseen realm or in the bodies of water. There are ways we as priest confirm if orisa is calling someone. There are ways as priests we call to orisa to incite, to calm... we even have ways to let them know what we doing..as far as lifting them up off the ground or taking off the lid to the sacred vessels that hold them.. yet these folks think they can just meditate and light a yellow candle and poof first image of femininity you see is an orisa simply because you called their Name and set an intention?! GTFOH! Don't google, YouTube, or Wikipedia orisa subjects and then form rituals around that or speak with authority online or otherwise. The truth of the matter is you are a child parroting grown folk business and ain't yet started sitting at the grown folk table. You still eating with the other children pontificating. I need folks to truly respect the legacy of ancestors and not cherry pick how they want to honor them. If it's ancestors you rever then rever the foundations of legacy they left by way of tradition. Follow the protocols that have been existent for over 500 years and don't feel entitled to practice or know what so many priests have busted their ass, bank, or otherwise to learn for the benefit of their community. Every practitioner of medicine must do apprenticeship, internship, tests and finally a review by their expert peers until they are deemed capable to practice.. Anyone else attempting to practice medicine without said license is considered illegal and liable to be jailed. Think about that because the same applies here.”
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