Casting Your Pearls Before Swine...I am awake now

It has become clear and apparent to me that I have been casting my pearls before swine. Another way of saying this is that I have been spending time with people and on things that I shouldn't have.  Not only did I spend my time with people and on things I shouldn't have, I tried to share with them the very best parts of myself. I started to  hear myself say, "Nobody listens to me" more and more.  I started wondering if my contributions made a difference because nothing seemed to change after doing so.

Once I started to get disgruntled and angry with these people and projects, I had to ask myself why am I so upset?  I tend to be pretty easy going so for me to be upset means that I need to figure out what is going on and address it.  My frustration and anger were indicators that I was in the wrong place, spending time with people who I shouldn't be spending time with and doing things that were not worth my time.

After further investigation, I realized that for some reason I had allowed myself to think that I was in the right place doing the right things with the right people though time after time it seemed that my efforts were making little to no impact.  I don't know exactly how I  didn't see what was really going on other than I needed to learn this lesson of  being selective with who and how I spend my time.  Honestly, that is why I think this has happened.  The kicker is that I have to change this habit.  I have to create a system within my consciousness that allows me to  determine when to share my gifts and talents and when it is best that I don't share them.

Though I have been frustrated at how much I have shared with people who don't seem to appreciate the full value of my gifts, I maintain that they are not bad people and have done no wrong.  Casting pearls before swine is a strong statement but really it means for me, "DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME ON PEOPLE AND PROJECTS THAT YOU HAVE NOT BEEN TRULY GUIDED TO WORK WITH."  It is better for me and the world that I give where there is receptivity.

The good news from this lesson is that I am way more clear about where to put my focus and comfortable with turning my back when I see people and situations that are not for me to pour into.  Even when they are begging for my help, if I am not called to help, I won't.  Sounds mean but I have been there done that too much to know that in the end, most everyone is just fine without my help because with it, they didn't listen to me and made it some how.

Additionally, if I am called to help people, I need to realize to what extent I am to help and help that much and no more.  I am happier as a result of reclaiming my focus and attention and placing them where they should be. This is a clear indicator that I am making the right choice.  I am also more clear that some of my gifts need to be used in a different platform. I am a natural mentor, I need to turn that into a career path instead of using it so much with friends.  If people pay for my professional advice and don't take it, I am less likely to feel like I am wasting my time. But more than likely, if I am  helping within a professional capacity, a customer may be more likely to listen to me than a friend who is asking the same question and to whom I would give the same counsel for free.

I don't like feeling angry and frustrated but I do give thanks for this lesson.  I feel like I will be more free and even take more risks as I look for ways to channel my gifts.

My suggestion to anyone reading this is that if you know you are wasting your time  on people and things to stop doing so and find other places to channel your valuable attention and gifts.   It really is a waste of your time to cast the best of before people and situations that are not open to receiving and don't value them.   Choose to channel the best of you where it will be received and make a true difference.

REPOST from Awo Falokun: Perfectly explains my own initiatory process .

Agbo ato In order to continue our discussion on altered states of consciousness we need to first examine the ori and discuss why a healthy ori is the foundation for altered states of consciousness as used in Ifa and Orisa ritual. The ori is translated as head but refers to information that is known to the knower. Anything we can consciously retrieve from memory, or recognize in the moment is the content of ori. The Ori inu is our inner self. The idea of Ori inu is the idea that every conscious thought is supported by an emotional feeling tone response. The reason for this is because memory is organized not based on subject, or chronology. Memory is organized based on emotional memory chains. We create a memory chain by associated the feeling tone of a given experience. This means we have a memory bank of happy feelings, a memory bank of sad feelings, a memory bank of grief and so on. Some of these chains are long and powerful which is why some events will trigger the chain and create an overwhelming emotional reaction.

The purpose of initiation is to start a memory chain called connection to spirit. Oriki is a mnemonic device meaning it is the first link in a new memory chain that can be called upon to access a particular memory bank. An elder says an oriki during initiation, that oriki causes the elder to go into possession. The ase of the elders possession is contagious meaning it will push the initiate into an altered state. As part of the Ifa Orisa discipline we engage a very complex prayer cycle. Part of this cycle includes repeating the oriki that put us into an altered state commonly called possession every four days. By repeating this oriki on a four day cycle were are reinforcing and extending the memory chain linked with our initiation.

The Yoruba word for possession is oogun meaning medicine. Possession is medicine because Ifa teaches that alignment with Spirit is alignment with Destiny and Destiny brings a pleasing of family, abundance and long life meaning good health,

Oriki only work as a tool of invocation when the head and the heart of the initiate are in alignment. This is a subtle process that is not easily explained. Our head and our heart are in alignment when we have consciousness access of our feeling tone memory tape. In the language of Ifa this means the ori has access to the ori inu. What blocks access of the ori inu is fear based resistance to fully experiencing our emotions. If as children we experience severe trauma in the form of verbal, emotional, physical or sexual abuse we will leave our body instead of processing the emotional pain. The ability to leave our body is called oso in Yoruba.

The purpose of many Ifa/Orisa cleansing is to access unexpressed pain and to release it through grieving. The Mayans say there is no joy without grief, there is no grief without community and there is no community without trust. In the context of Ifa/Orisa this means that as preparation for initiation we need to release the emotional trauma of our childhood by experiencing it fully. This is function of the River day or the cleansing just prior to entering the sacred groove.

If the necessary grieving needed to access our full spectrum of memories does not occur a person can become stuck in the effort of avoiding painful memories. This becomes a fear based life, in which our ever action is designed to keep us in a protective shell that does not allow for the intrusion of unwanted memories. A fear based life makes it impossible to align the ori and the ori inu. When I say align the ori and ori inu I am describing the ability to access appropriate memories in any given moment. When we are in resistance to accessing certain memories the emotional content of our experience does not match what is going on in our life and we experience tension between what we think is happening and what is really going on. For example if as a man I have a really bad experience in a relationship with a women and I do not fully express the grief caused by the bad experience I run the risk of projecting that experience on to all women. I could be engaged in a positive, potentially healthy relationship, but as long as I am projecting the past on to the present I will not see, appreciate, or fully understand the person who I am with in the present moment. That is why when couples break up they tend to very quickly recreated the same problems in a new relationship.

Sometimes when we have had a long history of abusive experiences we create a very long chain of abuse memories. If those memories are suppressed, the chain becomes very long. When the chain is triggered and the person goes out of their body to avoid the pain the body itself will go into a regression. In clinical terms a regression is the act of reliving a past memory by actually believing and feeling you have returned to the moment of the abuse. Technically this is a form of possession, but instead of being possessed by Spirit we are possessed by an unexpressed part of our own consciousness or ori.

Unexpressed memories are not stored in our brain they are stored in our body. Specifically they are stored in what Eastern religions call chakra and what Ifa calls iwaju. During initiation when an elder goes into possession to read an oriki and the initiate is carrying unexpressed emotion, the oriki can trigger a regression instead of a possession. This has become so common in the Diaspora that frequently regressions are identified as possession. This is a terrible disserve to the initiate. Confusing a regression with a possession has the effect of elevating emotional illness and confusing it with spirit.

The possession I have witnessed in traditional Yoruba culture comes with suuru meaning coolness and inner peace. When a child grows up in a traditional culture and is participating in ritual on a regular basis it is very difficult to hold on to unexpressed emotion. Most folks who were raised in the West in Christian forms of religion learn to suppress their emotions so that when they are exposed to Ifa/Orisa that can be a huge emotional release. This release is not possession.

In the Yoruba language possession occurs when the ori, the ori inu and the iponri are in perfect alignment. That means possession occurs from the inside out. As someone does initiations I cannot give you something you do not already have. My job as an elder is to unlock the spirit within you. We are divine beings having a human experience. That means initiation is not being crowned with some outside force, being initiated means remembering who you really are. Sometimes remembering who we really are involves letting go of emotional abuse. As elders it is our responsibility to know the difference between release from the ori inu and connection to the iponri. If we do not recognize the difference we are doing initiations in an irresponsible manner meaning we are deifying dysfunction rather than supporting the elevation of the ori.

Ire
baba

Yoga....loving the community aspect of my class

YOGA: I have never been part of a yoga community. I actually have always been a solo yogini as I found yoga at home in a book. I have taken classes here and there with one of my notable instructors being Marcia, who taught at the Y for a while. Other than that, I mostly have DVD instructors. So to finally be in a yoga class taking with other people on a regular basis, I really do see how people get into going to yoga classes. I LOVE YOGA and will always have my home practice but I am loving getting together with others to do yoga

Wisdom 4 Your Week: Live Truth, Finish What You Start, Follow Your Vision

A Mental Freedom For You!

Giving thanks for today...

Giving thanks for today. I stepped outside to rainy and cloudy skies but I felt nature teaming with life. I heard birds chirping, saw green grass growing, trees getting leaves and felt a warmer breeze. I thought about my family and how we are good. We may be missing a few key players but those of us who are here are well. Life is not always perfect but I can always find the good and praise it. Wishing you all a great Monday!

Grateful for the experience of Spiritual Awareness

This morning as I was praying, I said that I was grateful for this experience of spiritual awareness.  I am not sure that I have ever said that or felt it in such a major way but those words and that feeling stood out to me.

I think that awareness is super valuable to me these days for it is awareness that allows me to access power and tools that are there but that I may not see at first.  Awareness allows me to stay hopeful and optimistic because what I see is not the only thing that is there.  All I ever have to do in times of trouble is wait to be aware of the solution and it will present itself.

I have felt lost at times in my life.  These feelings of being lost were due to lack of awareness of the truth.  The truth is that we are powerful beyond measure and that there is no limit to what we can experience in life. The truth is that we are limitless beings who can conjure whatever they desire in their lives.  The truth is that we live according to divine laws and principles that when used, create a life that is full of adventure, good quality and purpose.  Awareness is KEY living these truths.

So if I had only to choose a few tools for living a happier life, Spiritual Awareness would be one of the first that I would choose.  Awareness is foundational to moving beyond limits and challenges as well as to experiencing all that one wants in her life.

Again, I give thanks for Spiritual Awareness as it keeps me in a state of experiencing the unfolding of limitlessness.

Tirra Olufemi
www.Goddess-Body-Mind-Spirit.com