What is a babalawo in Santeria?
A babalawo is a Santeria priest who acts as a medium channeling the prophecy from the Orishas. Orishas are spirits who are a manifestation of the supreme God Olodumare.
How long does it take to become a babalawo?
A Babalawo in discharging his duty, always believes he has an obligation to fulfill in respect of his client (s) and this he does willingly. Twitter: https://twitter.com/IfaBabalawo On average it can take at least 10 years of solid study, practice and application of Ifa concepts in real world scenarios.
Can a woman be a babalawo?
The position of Iyalawo is found in both West Africa and in the Americas. Every town, country and lineage has different customs, although most towns in Yorubaland initiate women at present. The priesthood of women is denied by many in the Lucumí tradition in Cuba.
What does OCHA mean in Santeria?
Ocha (Kariocha, making Santo): The initiation of a new priest or priestess where his/her tutelary Orisha is put on his/her head (crown) during a seven-day ceremony.
Who was the first Babalawo?
Ño Remigio Herrera Adeshina Obara Meyi
Ño Remigio Herrera Adeshina Obara Meyi (1811/1816 – 1905) was a babalawo (Yoruba priest) recognized for being, along with his mentor Carlos Adé Ño Bí (birth name, Corona), the main successor of the religious system of Ifá in America.
How old is the Ifa religion?
Ifa religion is an indigenous and earth-centered African spiritual practice. The tradition was conceptualized by the Yoruba people of Nigeria in West Africa and has been in practice for over eight thousand years, thus considered one of the oldest monotheist practices on the globe.
What is a Ifa priest called?
Yoruba priests of ifa are known as babalawo (fathers of secrets). Trained from their youth in the rituals of divination, they are masters of a vast corpus of oral literature known as ese ifa often referred to as containing the wisdom of ifa.
How is the babalawo a priest of IFA?
The Babalawo as a priest of Ifa, can predict the future and how to handle it through its communication with Orunmila. This is done through consulting Ifa divination chain Opele call or calls ikin sacred seeds on the board of Ifa divination.
Who is the Babalawo and what does he do?
The Babalawo is thus in effect and practice, a Shaman of African descent, and a very powerful one for that matter. He is bound by a code of conduct intrinsic to his line of work to be at peace and in harmony with members of all other religious sects, as his duty is to humanity and not members of his believing cohort.
Is there a price tag on a babalawo?
The price tag of a Babalawo on his divination fee, consultation fee, spiritual bath fee, ebo (sacrifice) fee, medicine (charm) fee and other babalawo fees doesn’t determine the genuineness of a Babalawo.
Who was the largest branch of the babalaos?
Bernardo Rojas of the largest branch of Cuba Babalawos arises. Bernardo was the most devoted godchildren.