Oh, okay.

Alafia to community,

I want to take this opportunity to respond to some of the post in motion. As I thought, the concept of IFA is misunderstood and Misplaced. I am not surprised as to the western conditioning and tolerance for Earth philosophies. My intent is to create a community in new England, besides other Ifa forms of practice that already encompassed an element of what IFA is. I am glad that some of what is not was partially summarized but IFA foundation does not teach traditional Ifa (not a forum to debate this point) neither does many of Ifa practice in the Diaspora. The lineage that my baba’s comes from is Ode Remo, Ogun State, ijebu rain forest. Who hold wisdom dating back 70, 000 yrs and with it have the complete Odu Ifa as proscribed by Orunmilia our prophet. Our goal is not through magic or rituals, or readings ( a complex system of odu ifa) which does play an important role when proscribed to proper divination, but an attainment of balance through AWE PELE. My intent again is to build community via elders in Earth bound practices via IFA. Community is one of the premises of Ifa. So beware of what you read and not to mistake with Santeria, Lucumi, Candomble, Vodun etc, which combine IFA, Catholicism, Cogo, European mysticism. The Yoruba have their own language, which incidentally 30 % Hebrew, which also proves the inter/intrapersonal relationship with Earth Cultures. Ifa Fa web site gives an illustration, Yoruba Medicine another, Cultural Expression and of course my Baba site to which I pay homage to and whose words I have used below to summarize Ifa ..WILL

Odu and the Ifa Concept of History -
The Historical Record
by Awo Fa'lokun Fatunmbi
A Yoruba proverb says we become who we are by standing on the shoulders of those who come before us. From the perspective of traditional Yoruba culture, remembering those who come before us is a sacred obligation. Each generation takes responsibility for passing foreword the wisdom of the past. In most earth-centered cultures, meaning those cultures that make an effort to live in harmony with nature, dissemination of ancestral wisdom is the foundation of the methodology used to guide children along the path leading to maturity and self-understanding. In psychological terms, modeling heroic behavior initiates the journey towards self-discovery and individualization. The effective completion of this journey carries the possibility of making each one of us a revered ancestor in the collective memory of our descendants. This potential is reflected in the bond of between grandparents and grandchildren. In Yoruba this bond is called ife, which is commonly translated to mean love. I suspect the word has a broader connotation related to the word ifa. If ifa means the wisdom inherent in Nature, the word ife suggests the expression of that wisdom in everyday life. Ifa teaches that everyone is born a good and blessed person (omo rere). As elders we make sure our dependants internalize this message so it continues to inform future generations.
Ifa says we come to earth to make it a better place for those who follow us (ire aye). Based on the Yoruba belief in atunwa (reincarnation), future generations include our own return to the earth we have previously helped shape. This cyclical process is the foundation for both Ifa ethics and the Ifa view of history. The cycles of birth and rebirth on a personal level are reflected in the movement between creative expansion and destructive contraction that characterizes the traditional African view of history.
Prior to the emergence of colonialism, historical accounts of past events were expressed in mythic terms. Myth views history as a cycle of re-occurring events based on universal principles that forever appear, disappear and re-appear. Myth teaches transcendent spiritual principles that can be applied to the unique challenges of each succeeding generation. Earth-centered myth is based on the belief that all of humanity is inter-connected and inter-related. It expresses the metaphysical idea that living in harmony with Nature results in benefit for the individual, the community, the global village and the environment.
Post-colonial myth is rooted in the idea of linear progression and is deeply influenced by the Darwinian concept of "survival of the fittest". In this world-view history is a sequential progression of events leading to greater degrees of "progress". The idea of progress is defined as the increased ability to use technology to "control" nature. Those who create the most effective technology for exploiting natural resources are considered the "fittest" from the Darwinian perspective. According to this world-view the fittest are entitled to "privilege" to ensure the continued linear progression of history. Myth based on this perspective supports the notion that some people are "better" than others. Consequently there is little attention given to the idea of personal growth and development. History written from a linear perspective places emphasis on "Divine justification" for acts of greed, exploitation, and conquest. In Western academia the Darwinian approach to history is described as "objective" because it tends to exclude references to God. The re-occurring message of Divine justification becomes an unspoken assumption and remains fixed in the consciousness of Western culture as long as it remains effectively unchallenged.

to cont. WLL