Raising Children In Orisha...Step One-Conception

From my bone marrow to my hair follicles I am Oshun's Child

This colors everything I do

Everything I say

Everything I am

It makes much of my life a mystery to "mainstream" individuals and it allows me to see the daily rituals and mediations in what most simply consider a part of life

My 15 years of Orisha worship and priesthood work have taught me that in order to truly devote yourself to the Orisha in the Western world you must be willing to turn a deaf ear to that consciously silent but subconsciously ever buzzing overwhelmingly influential inner voice Daniel Quinn called "Mother Culture" in the highly recommended life changing story of Ishmael. "Mother Culture" was Quinn's name for the ways and mores of society that have become so much a part of our psyche that they subconsciously led and guide our actions at all times. Like some cosmic check and balance system, to make sure that we do not stray to far from what our "culture" teaches us is the norm, even in our thoughts

To ignore Mother Culture you must look at life as it "IS"

I call it "Believing your eyes"

Many of the things we take as a given simply are not true when we look and believe what we see with our eyes

As opposed to looking and then convincing ourselves that we see something different

Convincing ourselves that the truth cannot be true because it does not validate our socialization

Allow this to be the platform from which we discuss the topic

CONCEPTION

Life is the result of passion , of desire, of longing, of a deep felt attraction that is acted upon. We are all the products of ecstasy. As is everything around us. Most ancient cultures understood that the universe was the result of an eternal cosmic coupling and some even envisioned what the lovemaking of Mother and Father God must look like.

Buddhist iconography imagines it as Yab Yum

Our Ancestors in Dahomey and their descendents in Haiti referred to it as Damballah and Aida Wedo, two serpents intertwined in a loving embrace so powerful that it holds the Universe together

In Dahomey they also saw the moon as the Mother Mawu and the sun as the Father Lisa (depicted here in front of their mother Nana Buluku) whose lovemaking was signalled by eclipses

Our Ancestors, then, operated from the enlightened viewpoint that Life itself on every level is a sexual thing.

Sexuality is not something to be hidden away in the darkness. It would be impossible to do so because it is all around us and happening all the time. Wherever there is existence, there is sexuality creating that which exists. For some this is a terrifying leap from what we have been socialized and religiousized to "believe"...however, as my ex-husband is fond of saying "belief exists where knowledge is absent".

This is where we must turn a deaf ear to Mother Culture who is now screaming inside you saying that these words are blasphemous and heretical. Don't listen to Her... She has ulterior motives.

Listen to yourself, specifically to your body. What does your body say about conception? That sex, the union of opposites, that being that close , that intimate, being one with someone you are deeply attracted to is one of life's greatest joys. That is the truth. Sex does not feel sinful or bad or dirty...it is only so when we make it so. In and of itself sex is a great pleasure, a reliever of stress, a healing act. Sex is good for you, it is excellent exercise, powerful aromatherapy, it also creates strong connections between lovers as well as validates your feelings of self worth and thereby assists with increasing your self esteem. Sex is good. Any and all sex between individuals who desire it is holy or as I choose to say instead, Wholy as in part of the Divine Whole. This is the simple truth. When we are honest with ourselves and listen to our bodies we know these things to be true. With the advent of the patriarchy, it became necessary to categorize sex. To determine which kind of sex was okay and which kind was not, but prior to that, this was not the case. Humans are extremely social, and sexual creatures. We love touching and being touched. Touching is so much a part of our nature that it is possible to develop illnesses from lack of it. And conversely, healing can take place with touch alone. Some are familiar with laying on of hands and all will recall how the comforting touch of a mother or grandmotherwas able to make us feel better instantly.

Sexuality is touch experienced on the deepest level. And orgasm is a result of touch being so powerful that it takes us outside of our physical selves. All conception is the result of the deliciousness of orgasm. We are ALL products of bliss.

For me, the first step in Raising my children in the reality of Orisha was beginning to understand conception on this very basic level.

When it is the result of two individuals deep desire for one another conception cannot EVER be wrong. Every sexual act does not result in conception. The vagina and womb are environments that are hostile towards sperm. The fact that sperm survives in the vagina and lives to penetrate an egg is a Divinely Ordained Miracle each and every time it happens. So I will go so far as to say, not only is Conception always wholy, Conception is most certainly ALWAYS and ALL WAYS DIVINE.

Marriage does not make conception divine.

Therefore, being unmarried does not make it un-divine, or bad or sinful.

The fact that one conceives IS in and of itself DIVINE. Because it only takes place when it is Divinely Ordained.

Being Divinely Ordained is the result of several factors coming together at once. The universe deems that the mother is physically and emotionally healthy enough to produce eggs that can survive the descent into the womb from the fallopian tubes. And so she does. The universe deems that the father is physically and emotionally healthy enough to produce sperm that is strong enough to combat the spermicides in the vagina and swim upstream into the womb and still have enough strength to penetrate the tough outside of the egg. All of this is useless if the two individuals are not emotionally secure enough to develop a relationship that allows them to become fully intimate with one another to the degree that ejaculation occurs freely. When all of these factors come together at the specific one or two days during the month when an egg is actually in the womb...conception has a high chance of occuring. Yes, even with all of these factors are in place conception is still a matter of chance. Placing it squarely in the hands of the Orisha that governs chance, Eshu Elegba. Because it is Papa Legba who is the conduit of Ashe. In order to occur, conception requires Ashe, the Divine Spark, the Divine Power...the nod, the go ahead from Olodumare.

For those having difficulty conceiving...the next post will be
Increasing the Ashe of Conception