I have encounterd many spirits so far in my lifetime. I have seen them, felt them, communicated with them, danced with them (Zion revival/ Traditional initiations), fight with them, and even heard them speak. Jamaica full ah duppy more dan Africa. Let me rectify that statement. Here in Yorubaland it is never good for people to see the spirit of the dead, neither physically nor within your dreams; the dead has no business with the living they would say. For if you do see them, it means that that spirit has not gone off to their next life or that someone (an enemy) intends for you too to make your transition. So when they bury people here, there are rites and rituals done to ensure that the spirit is sent off safely and does not walk the earth in non-physical form. You will hardly find an African priest/spiritualist that will send "duppy" offa smaddy. It is never good to unearth spirits that has been buried and have gone off to their next life. Yes, one can go onto their gravesite to make offerings and pray or sit. This is symbolic because of course the spirit of the person never lingers in that hole, but there is forever a connection there, so going there is indeed symbolic and the message will be heard and the offering received a (if done correctly). However, Africans (more specifically Yorubas) do not spend time on the dead (as in reporting seeing them much or sending them on errand like how Jamaican Obeah people love do). They rather respect them, in the way that they once lived and have gone on to continue to bless and support the family left behind. This is not to say some people do not use them, but there is much more power here in Africa greater than that which is utilized. But the dead are indeed celebrated, such as Egungun or Masquerade (ancestral spirits). ...

I have encounterd many spirits so far in my lifetime. I have seen them, felt them, communicated with them, danced with them (Zion revival/ Traditional initiations), fight with them, and even heard them speak. Jamaica full ah duppy more dan Africa. Let me rectify that statement. Here in Yorubaland it is never good for people to see the spirit of the dead, neither physically nor within your dreams; the dead has no business with the living they would say. For if you do see them, it means that that spirit has not gone off to their next life or that someone (an enemy) intends for you too to make your transition. So when they bury people here, there are rites and rituals done to ensure that the spirit is sent off safely and does not walk the earth in non-physical form. You will hardly find an African priest/spiritualist that will send "duppy" offa smaddy. It is never good to unearth spirits that has been buried and have gone off to their next life. Yes, one can go onto their gravesite to make offerings and pray or sit. This is symbolic because of course the spirit of the person never lingers in that hole, but there is forever a connection there, so going there is indeed symbolic and the message will be heard and the offering received a (if done correctly). However, Africans (more specifically Yorubas) do not spend time on the dead (as in reporting seeing them much or sending them on errand like how Jamaican Obeah people love do). They rather respect them, in the way that they once lived and have gone on to continue to bless and support the family left behind. This is not to say some people do not use them, but there is much more power here in Africa greater than that which is utilized. But the dead are indeed celebrated, such as Egungun or Masquerade (ancestral spirits). ...

Imagine being home, let's say you're cooking waiting for the children to come home from school. You're a housewife. You know the mailman comes every afternoon to drop mail into your mailbox between the hours of 1-2PM. The children get home by 3:30. But on one particular day, between watching television and watching the food on the stove and waiting for the children to arrive... an eerie strange feeling comes over you. The doorbell rings. It's the mailman with a package that can not fit in the mailbox. You go outside, sign for the package, and return inside, but that strange feeling persists. Perhaps if you're prayerful or religious, you may pray. If you're present in your life, you may pray about this feeling. Or let's say, in this particular instance, you ignore it completely. All of a sudden, when the children arrive home, and the husband arrives in the evening, the whole house turns upside down. Everyone begins to argue and fight. You perhaps have no idea where this has all come from. But you don't question it. Things begins to change within your household ever since that day. Let's walk back just a moment. You felt an eerie feeling, your mood changed and you became a little cross, and even more so when you had to leave your television show to get a package from the mailman. And then later, the crazy disturbance in your home between everyone. Since then, the house has not been peaceful. There are many things that can create strange personality behaviors or discontent within a home. In the case above, bad spirits has entered the space via the mailman who came knocking. I'll explain how. ...

Imagine being home, let's say you're cooking waiting for the children to come home from school. You're a housewife. You know the mailman comes every afternoon to drop mail into your mailbox between the hours of 1-2PM. The children get home by 3:30. But on one particular day, between watching television and watching the food on the stove and waiting for the children to arrive... an eerie strange feeling comes over you. The doorbell rings. It's the mailman with a package that can not fit in the mailbox. You go outside, sign for the package, and return inside, but that strange feeling persists. Perhaps if you're prayerful or religious, you may pray. If you're present in your life, you may pray about this feeling. Or let's say, in this particular instance, you ignore it completely. All of a sudden, when the children arrive home, and the husband arrives in the evening, the whole house turns upside down. Everyone begins to argue and fight. You perhaps have no idea where this has all come from. But you don't question it. Things begins to change within your household ever since that day. Let's walk back just a moment. You felt an eerie feeling, your mood changed and you became a little cross, and even more so when you had to leave your television show to get a package from the mailman. And then later, the crazy disturbance in your home between everyone. Since then, the house has not been peaceful. There are many things that can create strange personality behaviors or discontent within a home. In the case above, bad spirits has entered the space via the mailman who came knocking. I'll explain how. ...

Hi everyone. Here is the second part of my fascinating discussion with Oladayo about Egbe (here is a link to part one). I pondered very hard about doing another post on this even though I had promised, and the reason is because I worried that the subject may be too deep or confusing for most people. Yet something deep within me urged me to go on because who is to get and understand or become curious about this very important piece of knowledge, will, and I am confident that who ever's life may be disturbed by this phenomena will gain clarity through these posts. Also, I would like to announce that I have added a new Forum to the blog. I hope that you all will take great advantage of it and write topics that you may want to discuss, or questions so that we can have conversations there and learn from each other. You can find the Forum in the navigation above, in the sidebar to the right, or you can click here. ...

Hi everyone. Here is the second part of my fascinating discussion with Oladayo about Egbe (here is a link to part one). I pondered very hard about doing another post on this even though I had promised, and the reason is because I worried that the subject may be too deep or confusing for most people. Yet something deep within me urged me to go on because who is to get and understand or become curious about this very important piece of knowledge, will, and I am confident that who ever's life may be disturbed by this phenomena will gain clarity through these posts. Also, I would like to announce that I have added a new Forum to the blog. I hope that you all will take great advantage of it and write topics that you may want to discuss, or questions so that we can have conversations there and learn from each other. You can find the Forum in the navigation above, in the sidebar to the right, or you can click here. ...

Hello to you all! I have been missing for some days as I have been busy with Egbe initiations and also I was (still am) fighting the flu. Here on Embracing Spirituality, I have written on Egbe before (read here), and I have done many initiations for people here in Nigeria. I even have initiated Egbe myself and so have my children. I have video footage of the recently done Egbe initiation this past week, but the young lady has not yet agreed to me showing them, so I may post some audio in the comments instead. Egbe is a Yoruba word which can translate to mean society. With Yoruba language, the words and their meanings are not easily translated into English, because the words and tones with it, carry a much deeper meaning, something we do not have in our English language. ...

Hello to you all! I have been missing for some days as I have been busy with Egbe initiations and also I was (still am) fighting the flu. Here on Embracing Spirituality, I have written on Egbe before (read here), and I have done many initiations for people here in Nigeria. I even have initiated Egbe myself and so have my children. I have video footage of the recently done Egbe initiation this past week, but the young lady has not yet agreed to me showing them, so I may post some audio in the comments instead. Egbe is a Yoruba word which can translate to mean society. With Yoruba language, the words and their meanings are not easily translated into English, because the words and tones with it, carry a much deeper meaning, something we do not have in our English language. ...

The subject of death is scary to most people. It is a topic I have explored here on this site more than once, but have had comments which showed an unwillingness to venture deeper into the subject. When I was a child I feared death as I think most people do. I could never understand how some people took their lives or lived their life in such a risky way that death was sure to find them. The greatest thing that happened to me was when it became time for me to wake up. Up until then I really believed death was final. Christian people would preach in church, "Where the tree falls there shall it lie, judgement shall find it same place," and they (de Jamaican Pastor dem whey love frighten people an mek big ooman (me) roun ah back ah bawl) with the Bible in hand would shout "Oonuh stop it! bout duppy and dead can come back, whey de tree fall, ah deh so it ah tan fi eternity until de day ah judgement!" and the congregation would cry "Amen!" In my mind I saw oblivion. Nothing. Death was final. But then I saw Jesus who rose on the third day, and when the disciples saw him, they were astounded (nuh duppy form him did inna?). Thomas (mi bredrin who doubtful like me) asked him to see his hand, he wanted to see the nail holes and touch them in order for him to believe. I began to doubt Pastor. I began to doubt the Book which contained the word. I did something no good Christian should ever do. I began to question everything I grew to believe. ...

The subject of death is scary to most people. It is a topic I have explored here on this site more than once, but have had comments which showed an unwillingness to venture deeper into the subject. When I was a child I feared death as I think most people do. I could never understand how some people took their lives or lived their life in such a risky way that death was sure to find them. The greatest thing that happened to me was when it became time for me to wake up. Up until then I really believed death was final. Christian people would preach in church, "Where the tree falls there shall it lie, judgement shall find it same place," and they (de Jamaican Pastor dem whey love frighten people an mek big ooman (me) roun ah back ah bawl) with the Bible in hand would shout "Oonuh stop it! bout duppy and dead can come back, whey de tree fall, ah deh so it ah tan fi eternity until de day ah judgement!" and the congregation would cry "Amen!" In my mind I saw oblivion. Nothing. Death was final. But then I saw Jesus who rose on the third day, and when the disciples saw him, they were astounded (nuh duppy form him did inna?). Thomas (mi bredrin who doubtful like me) asked him to see his hand, he wanted to see the nail holes and touch them in order for him to believe. I began to doubt Pastor. I began to doubt the Book which contained the word. I did something no good Christian should ever do. I began to question everything I grew to believe. ...

Ever since I was a little girl growing up in Kingston, Jamaica, my mother always spoke almost in fright about Rio Cobre and the bridge that runs across it called Flat Bridge. Located in Bog Walk, St. Catherine, it is said that the bridge was built by slaves, and according to Wikipedia, "When the bridge was being constructed, the sixteen plantations in the Bog Walk area were obliged to send one enslaved African in every fifty to work on the River Road, sometimes called Sixteen Mile Walk. Gravel, marl, lime, sand and stone had to be dug. Slaves often lost their lives as they performed dangerous tasks in the Gorge. Contracts for timber and for masons to work on the bridge were authorized at vestry meetings."  This bridge has claimed many lives, much to the mystery of the Jamaican people and there are also tales of spirit (duppy) sightings as many people have said that the spirits of the dead slaves usually gather at the bridge, and there are times when they seek the blood of passersby. But the truth, as the saying goes, is stranger than fiction. ...

Ever since I was a little girl growing up in Kingston, Jamaica, my mother always spoke almost in fright about Rio Cobre and the bridge that runs across it called Flat Bridge. Located in Bog Walk, St. Catherine, it is said that the bridge was built by slaves, and according to Wikipedia, "When the bridge was being constructed, the sixteen plantations in the Bog Walk area were obliged to send one enslaved African in every fifty to work on the River Road, sometimes called Sixteen Mile Walk. Gravel, marl, lime, sand and stone had to be dug. Slaves often lost their lives as they performed dangerous tasks in the Gorge. Contracts for timber and for masons to work on the bridge were authorized at vestry meetings."  This bridge has claimed many lives, much to the mystery of the Jamaican people and there are also tales of spirit (duppy) sightings as many people have said that the spirits of the dead slaves usually gather at the bridge, and there are times when they seek the blood of passersby. But the truth, as the saying goes, is stranger than fiction. ...

There is spirituality in every culture and within every movement. Anything that deals outside of the human being and deals with a God or a deity, consciousness, the Universe and it's cosmology, things that are unknown to the human mind or unexplained, is viewed as spirituality. There is no single agreed upon definition of spirituality, but what certain groups or individuals look towards as this consciousness or their conscious level of elevation, having to do with their journey or pathway through life, this is their spirituality - the search. When I was a little girl growing up in Kingston, Jamaica, I once asked my father why he didn't pork, and he told me that because he was a Rasta man, and in my innocence, I asked him "but daddy, I don't see any dread locks," and his reply to me was "I am a Rasta Man in my heart, mi baby." Every since that time and events after this, I have always been fascinated with this movement and it's people. Their philosophy, the way they live their life, their community, their wisdom, their oneness with nature, and their back-to-Africa-movement. ...

There is spirituality in every culture and within every movement. Anything that deals outside of the human being and deals with a God or a deity, consciousness, the Universe and it's cosmology, things that are unknown to the human mind or unexplained, is viewed as spirituality. There is no single agreed upon definition of spirituality, but what certain groups or individuals look towards as this consciousness or their conscious level of elevation, having to do with their journey or pathway through life, this is their spirituality - the search. When I was a little girl growing up in Kingston, Jamaica, I once asked my father why he didn't pork, and he told me that because he was a Rasta man, and in my innocence, I asked him "but daddy, I don't see any dread locks," and his reply to me was "I am a Rasta Man in my heart, mi baby." Every since that time and events after this, I have always been fascinated with this movement and it's people. Their philosophy, the way they live their life, their community, their wisdom, their oneness with nature, and their back-to-Africa-movement. ...

Recently I spoke to the Oluwo who first went with me to Africa for the first set of my initiations. We were having a conversation of how initiations are done throughout the country by different people and the techniques most use. During our conversation, I began to remember my Osun initiation and the ten days I spent on my God mothers mat. I had been a spiritual practitioner before I was brought to tradition, and I was taught by non physical elders, no human being imparted anything upon me, other than what I learned from watching my mother, who never explained anything. Sure I had three spiritual mentors, three spiritual gurus who, at different times in my life, I was close to. I learned a lot from them, but the odd thing was that I was never taught by them. It wasn't until I began to wake up to me that I began to look back on my childhood and see the mystic of who my mother was. While on the compound in Nigeria, being surrounded by the oloorishas who were initiating me, I saw my mother and her wisdom in their actions. The atmosphere there on the compound reminded me of Jamaica and the spiritual churches, and although they (the Africans) did things differently, probably more intense, the energy was almost the same. ...

Recently I spoke to the Oluwo who first went with me to Africa for the first set of my initiations. We were having a conversation of how initiations are done throughout the country by different people and the techniques most use. During our conversation, I began to remember my Osun initiation and the ten days I spent on my God mothers mat. I had been a spiritual practitioner before I was brought to tradition, and I was taught by non physical elders, no human being imparted anything upon me, other than what I learned from watching my mother, who never explained anything. Sure I had three spiritual mentors, three spiritual gurus who, at different times in my life, I was close to. I learned a lot from them, but the odd thing was that I was never taught by them. It wasn't until I began to wake up to me that I began to look back on my childhood and see the mystic of who my mother was. While on the compound in Nigeria, being surrounded by the oloorishas who were initiating me, I saw my mother and her wisdom in their actions. The atmosphere there on the compound reminded me of Jamaica and the spiritual churches, and although they (the Africans) did things differently, probably more intense, the energy was almost the same. ...

During my first set of initiations I was plunged straight into spiritual school by means of non physical beings taking me to the realms of time and space on many trips. This occurred for 3 years and for the first 2 years I was a shell of myself. I had no idea at first what was to become of me after they were finished with me (or even if they would be finished with me). I was gifted many things during this time and yet I had no idea how to list them or even what they were. What is apparent though was that I can see spiritually as far as until the end of time, if there is ever such a thing, perhaps or perhaps not. Because within my gift, I could tell death as it approached, the time, day, and even the hour. I predicted death precisely and was even given the knowledge of how to stave it off. There were times when clients who would come to me never came back for a while, and when they did return, I'd ask "Why haven't I heard from you for a while?" to which the response would be: "Obara, I'm afraid of you." ...

During my first set of initiations I was plunged straight into spiritual school by means of non physical beings taking me to the realms of time and space on many trips. This occurred for 3 years and for the first 2 years I was a shell of myself. I had no idea at first what was to become of me after they were finished with me (or even if they would be finished with me). I was gifted many things during this time and yet I had no idea how to list them or even what they were. What is apparent though was that I can see spiritually as far as until the end of time, if there is ever such a thing, perhaps or perhaps not. Because within my gift, I could tell death as it approached, the time, day, and even the hour. I predicted death precisely and was even given the knowledge of how to stave it off. There were times when clients who would come to me never came back for a while, and when they did return, I'd ask "Why haven't I heard from you for a while?" to which the response would be: "Obara, I'm afraid of you." ...

Good morning, yesterday Ty sent this article from the Jamaican Gleaner to me. I read it and muttered to myself hmmmm! The Obeah man has always been an integral part of every society and every culture, matters not what you call him. Read it here. In the tradition of the Yoruba People of South Western Nigeria, the Babalawo, High priest of the Ifa/Orisha traditional practice is very important in every community. ...

Good morning, yesterday Ty sent this article from the Jamaican Gleaner to me. I read it and muttered to myself hmmmm! The Obeah man has always been an integral part of every society and every culture, matters not what you call him. Read it here. In the tradition of the Yoruba People of South Western Nigeria, the Babalawo, High priest of the Ifa/Orisha traditional practice is very important in every community. ...