tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27390278432590368172024-03-12T22:33:05.269-05:00Ask YeYeAn Eighteen year veteran of unschooling, home schooling, breastfeeding, attachment parenting, the family bed, cloth diapers, vegan family, pagan parenting, raising children in orisha, afrikan centered home schooling, goddess worshipping...answers questions and gives adviceYeYe: Sweet Motherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12781408887250549136noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2739027843259036817.post-86175050861869131412009-03-03T11:04:00.002-06:002009-03-03T11:07:43.687-06:00http://raisingrevolutionaries.ning.com/Greetings readers both loyal and sporadic,<br /><br />At the behest of a couple of commentors...I will leave this blog here and not delete it.<br /><br />HOWEVER....from today , March 3, 2009 forward you will find any further informatin on Raising Children In Orisha at<br /><a href="http://raisingrevolutionaries.ning.com/">http://raisingrevolutionaries.ning.com/</a><br /><br />Raising Revolutinaries....this is a social network, which means you will be able to join, create friendships with like minded parents AND read my blogs , participate in forums and watch videos that uplift and support the raising of revolutionary children of Afrikan descent!<br /><br />Please visit the network and join!<br />Hope to see you there!<br /><br />love, light and ecstasy!<br />OYeYe: Sweet Motherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12781408887250549136noreply@blogger.com66tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2739027843259036817.post-29589797354168744192009-01-04T22:05:00.002-06:002009-01-04T22:06:32.476-06:00Deleting This BlogGreetings All,<br />I will be deleting this blog shortly. Please find all Raising Children in Orisha blogs at my social network <a href="http://raisingrevolutionaries.ning.com/">http://raisingrevolutionaries.ning.com/</a> Raising Revolutionaries: Where Afrikan Centered Parents Meet.<br />OYeYe: Sweet Motherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12781408887250549136noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2739027843259036817.post-24614911216925235242008-08-13T12:25:00.007-05:002008-08-13T14:06:14.838-05:00Registering with the Board Of Education for Home Schooling<div align="center">Greetings Queen, I saw that you homeschool and wanted to ask your personal opinion about registering a child with The Board of Education, for the purpose of homeschooling. I've homeschooled my 15 year old for seven years, using my own curriculum and never registered with The Board. He's now in high school and I'm now homeschooling my six year old daughter. This is my second year educating her! I never registered my son because I didn't feel the need to. I ask for nothing from the school board and I have a strong opinion about these state mandatory tests. I never had a problem with not registering with the board, but it seems that now, the board has a problem with me not registering. I'm always on my A game with my children and their education. I have a GREAT curriculum, I keep proper files and data of all work and activities. So with all this said, I've been asking all my homeschooling families their opinion about the situation. To register or not, is the question.<br /></div><div align="center">Thanks for your time Queen, PEACE </div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;">Sticky, sticky, sticky...the question of registering or not! Hmmmm...I guess it comes down to how much of a Quilombo your school is. I educate and rear my children in a Quilombo spirit...allow me to explain...</span></div><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5234070636850492674" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimRXLFEx3LjLC1RuHRLanvXoCvPqrP8MjlfPyzIYPCWczQlekSYXzWyn_p4G1p0q4jZpBO7VivV5LMZTkhrYhM_89eAjIaUoLVzRsn-EgDaz3L-eyaSl9WKxq4tk3axiLVGuQkeKCtCh_O/s200/harriet+tubman.jpg" border="0" /> Harriet Tubman-Quilombo queen in the US<br /><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;"></span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;">When our Afrikan Ancestors were brought to this hemisphere as captives they resisted captivity in any and every way possible. The highest form of resistance was to flee from captivity and to create their own societies on this land. These societies were created by merging with the Native Americans of these lands against their common oppressor. In the language of the people of the Kongo of West Afrika the young men's warrior society is called a Quilombo...this name was also used to describe the societies that our Afrikan and Native American Ancestors banded together to create as a stronghold of resistance and opposition to oppression , colonialism and imperialism. The most famous Quilombo by far is Palmares of Brazil which was founded by Dahomean queen AgoTime and ruled by the charismatic Ganga Zumba</span></div><div align="center"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5234070638104362674" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPfj1_Yq_lAtwXtryrhJkzq54YJ0WKpsE9LCB5Sr2nh5MITDjp8BJOhKZ2P2rFmv9WxQu1tb3Q1TxDsLa4KjHH6xtTYVQ5vRCf4MqyESY6Zo6vzu-bgzLm8QixX6Khu2P9cKMY32nleufm/s200/ganga+zumba.jpg" border="0" /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;">and later by his nephew Zumbi</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;"></span></div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5234071482077278642" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUFd_5GeBdspW-6qmJFu69HVNpLBxIkvB05RZ_Lj5EByZAFDFM_QMwZGuFLUURZZzwvAXZEBbZU5wcqo8Ln-tAoMPi_iBPjm0K-9IsE9f5xdYr2rT4_bEsodCkkdl9qAFS4uIKlbXhYnxN/s200/quilombo+1.jpg" border="0" />This is a revolutionary film about Palmares, known as Quilombo and above it is a movie about Ganga Zumba known by his name</span> <div align="center"></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;"></span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;">I look upon the education of my children as a Quilombo, meaning it is a method of resistance. It is revolutionary. Its existence alone is a thorn in the side of the status quo. With that in mind, I deal with the authorities, also known as The Oppressor, the Slave Master, or Babylon, only when I absolutely have to. Otherwise, I render unto Caesar that which is his and I keep unto myself that which belongs to me...my children. The more you allow the System into your life and into your school the more control they will wish to have. I registered my children ONCE in the 18 years that I have homeschooled. I had planned to do it at least two other times but it wasn't high on my list of priorities so I never got around to it. As far as standardized testing is concerned my eldest took the SAT and ACT when she decided to go off to college, did well and has been accepted at Fisk. She has taken NO OTHER standardized test in her life. I, much like yourself, find them to be unnecessary, biased, and a tool of the oppressor.</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;"></span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5234071484768561170" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUNgg8v3MLEmy9RH-AcKvWJz2NjlHYolWlD5x6uSq0DohNV4w5IEuggsVtIMEQ5f8gwYuyjPhkEsrJ6jh2lfq8WFQolElWS13oJ5D_aGuGbc7cm7kQJjUXH3yQpE-cfPXQQzTTgxCympQy/s200/nanny.jpg" border="0" /></span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;">Nanny, leader of Jamaica's Quilombo </span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;"></span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;"></span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;">Mothering is a revolutionary act when done properly. Schooling is part of mothering. We do not have to bow or kowtow to any procedure that is not in the best interest of our children. I do not vaccinate, or circumcise or feed my children according to the four food groups because my research has shown these things to be detrimental to their highest good. I did not register them with the School Board or any other organization because none of them had my children's best interests at heart...they are day care facilities at best, and trainers of worker bees to build pyramids for the patriarchal white supremacist power structure at worst. I used the examples that I am placing in this blog as photos, as my examples of how to live life and how to raise my children... Our Ancestral Leaders of resistance against oppression from all over the world! I call them all Quimlombo leaders!</span></div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5234070630039375938" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcAqWKfCaOA1CQKem2YwtCut3E862DSQrAFNJKTAaFI3oSk5iHygxZR9VMQYnZxk_8JhiNZ5RSsenmPmDBLwvpiR5cSUim2w3qt2stBCTR36Pdr63rsj35i5KcPifbbpKequXWT0-_slv_/s200/cuffy+of+guyana.jpg" border="0" /></span> <p align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;">Kofi, Guyana's Quilombo warrior</span></p><p align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;"></span></p><p align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;">We have to be as fierce, as strong and as determined as these Ancestors in our home schooling! Our children do not want watered down information or sugar coated affiliations with The Beast! They want the Truth and they want it from those whose duty it is to give it to them, US, their parents!</span></p><p align="center"><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5234070627920011986" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-TazbkTjpIInzFd8wHoUn47Vgn_rnyI_451NQX4mogOiQ-u7iPkF5n4bwISc44keKqVJaO6KfnIdHHqSaYmOxV-QEDkOPaI_IzUbn6V0MDvPAQSYwK8XQb606oWYCyY99GG-fm1WImmBE/s200/bussa.jpg" border="0" /></span></p><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;">Bussa, Barbados' Quilombo fighter</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;"></span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;"></span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;">Stand firm Mama, you are your children's example of how to view and deal with the outside world! You are their role model and their guide...your actions today will be your children's actions tomorrow...act wisely and as our Irquois Ancestors said consider the effect of all of your actions for the next seven generations, because that is how powerful, how influential, how elemental and quinessential you are in the lives of your children, their children, their children's children and on and on...you are pivotal...act with that in mind!</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;"></span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;"></span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;"></span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5234056476005763330" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvJMs1GP0yz0Aqwc-fBg9NOb6QBMggvRq03nvEpC9U6lS4Oa_VKtjcxH_jKP6HHQeysjOWDkOCfh-tVp_yC4rluS_pb1W4GW0V8jgyD5DcC4We-v1U0F9CngtJRKiAZEABK5Dp3lS3MRtt/s200/my+lil+scholrs.bmp" border="0" /></span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5234071104134227906" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl6MwcB044hzgWYFc1Tai6xrELddjZ21SWWZz-KeVt4asvUWkvGtLyyBOd4FSngIRYCKBYmojgZCwqU2J3HF74_sWYZ3_gdi_OpNFG-AN_ANZUelrmrcKATj-5dNtSi_gDat0mFyAUVBUt/s200/quilombo2.jpg" border="0" /></span></div>YeYe: Sweet Motherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12781408887250549136noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2739027843259036817.post-19711130362159936952008-08-10T13:49:00.004-05:002008-08-10T15:04:30.511-05:00High Risk Pregnancies<div align="center"><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSmvQrmbqIqqTkrcuGipp3hdIw6pFFUrPTkHPtmhSfX2ishNdkEt-dKn-3bgZKxVXn3f6SMsIrVwOKkFHGhuYQnOm-gFiucyTZ0QwM7Y9ZRo-1lGxD0-9xQDhLZ8JrbDbh7kH6KoWY_Qsh/s1600-h/P1010020+copy.jpg"><p align="center"></a> <br /><br /><br /></p><div align="center">Peace sister, </div><br /><div align="center">My indigenous name is Aziza. I have been asking all over the place on myspace if anyone knew anything about natural childbirth, water birth, having your child at home vs. a hospital. I am 22 years old staying in Michigan with my parents for the time being while my King finishes our sanctuary in each of our rooms in our house back in Nashville, NC. I am having twins, this is my first pregnancy and I want this to be so sacred and spiritual as I can have BUT because I had to get checked up for the gender the doctors told me I am "high risk" Mainly because I am having twins and I am a petite person. I have had a lot of people come at me telling me all the negative things about pregnancy more so then the beautiful things. I have kept my body in the best condition, I eat all natural foods, foods that have melanin and nutrients. I don't eat any fast foods. It would mean so much to me if I could have not just a midwife with me during this event but a spiritual midwife. I was told over and over again that no midwife would deliver twins. I honestly believe because I have the right state of mind, I eat well, take care of myself, and chant my mantras that everything will be wonderful. Is there anything you know about twins? Would you be so kind as so guide me into a direction or feed me the knowledge on child birth? I am open to anything! =) I appreciate anything that you have to offer sister.</div><br /><div align="center">Be blessed! </div><div align="center"> </div><div align="center"> </div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;color:#33ccff;">I too have been considered "high risk" since my first pregnancy...my blood pressure has a tendency to rise during pregnancy and during two of my five pregnancies I have also had protein in my urine resulting a diagnosis referred to as toxemia...someone telling you that you and your body's natural ability to conceive and bear children is High Risk makes you feel out of control and as if you cannot trust your body to do what it was made to do...I have been there, I know how that feels and my advice to you is to pause, be still, listen to the voices of your children growing inside you and understand that you create the reality in which you live</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;color:#33ccff;"></span> </div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;color:#33ccff;"></span> </div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;color:#33ccff;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5232965873892039122" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMigtrgXcxwPt9AU_bFQpyoS34UsQh3UpHj-84Ew59Glb2M5spgBFRHruk7zbslg9dVZQosz0OPnKR6qSLUb7uA8GRdz5_PrL1_od3W34pWe079zdElfi6sz88O9focJG95GgpNYgzqMiF/s200/raising+children+in+orisha+BIGGER.jpg" border="0" /></span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;color:#33ccff;"></span> </div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;color:#33ccff;">Consider carefully and deeply ALL possibilities, consider each and everything that can occur while giving birth and make peace with every possible method and every possible way that your children may come into the world...because the result that you want is healthy babies and as a mother you cannot always be attached to how you receive that result</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;color:#33ccff;"></span> </div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;color:#33ccff;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5232965851394863202" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV9yTGmvK1AvWJXu1rdIJCjWHeQM43YBGVs2S2PrepOpL5Wv7PnzRb1VP0igLBuRjhVEB-5lM1XuVDe-m3xYLKTlPDhLo8NK7YK6J9N_VTZiZzsU-pI8NcUmXDlVfIIGSW4bvv6lYYHeB2/s200/P1010007+copy.jpg" border="0" /></span></div><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;color:#33ccff;"></span> </p><p align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;color:#33ccff;">Once you have made peace with caeseran, and epidural and doctor assisted and midwife assisted and any other methods of birth that come to your mind, you will relieve yourself of the fear of that kind of birth happening to you...once the fear is released begin to meditate and visualize the birth that you want, what you need, who will be there, the sights, the sounds and the smells that would be the most helpful for you in the birthing arena...see them, smell them and hear them daily...hold them in your mind and speak of them with folx you know will uplift and support you</span></p><p align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;color:#33ccff;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5232965866902460946" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6S_ODdaL9dQbMJoT0cVykMmfek6Ein3T5JcnLDz93CELo3c84JFsyr5UUaxfRv1PxCDhDIJNcqjvSAg9ISDjMtwBopuNdbHMr7WCaSGzTpZQQRaQym6PlcbhVLwuMmlJUEjWdbsv952Hw/s200/P1010026.JPG" border="0" /></span></p><p align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;color:#33ccff;">And then...</span></p><p align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;color:#33ccff;">Remain open...the truth of the matter of birth is that each child will have the birthing experience she or he needs in order to fulfill his or her own unique destiny<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5232965873403466610" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqnDsYXbwSLg3iCut-wdV-9wdy2ICbGh6qTwhGGnr455s3aWddl-B807wPSk2RdKVL6i3tyFYX2_cq8inV-n3-Qk7aQRqCoelBXKH2A6O2sxY-uZCDYtcJVdh1pkRYqynH0w4g0TVh7O2w/s200/abiyamo.jpg" border="0" /></span></p><p align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;color:#33ccff;">And you as Mama are fully equipped to handle any and all of these possibities...your body, your mind and your spirit are capable of birthing these babies...they chose you to be born to because you are the PERFECT vessel for their growth and birth and raising do NOT EVER allow any medical test or negative comment to make you forget that</span></p><p align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;color:#33ccff;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5232965865551555394" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSmvQrmbqIqqTkrcuGipp3hdIw6pFFUrPTkHPtmhSfX2ishNdkEt-dKn-3bgZKxVXn3f6SMsIrVwOKkFHGhuYQnOm-gFiucyTZ0QwM7Y9ZRo-1lGxD0-9xQDhLZ8JrbDbh7kH6KoWY_Qsh/s200/P1010020+copy.jpg" border="0" /></span></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;color:#33ccff;">That being said...YOU ARE ON THE RIGHT PATH! Continue to eat right, recite your mantras and search for a midwife who delivers twins...I would suggest calling The Farm in Summertown TN where most lay midwives in the US are trained and asking them for referrals...I KNOW they deliver twins and have trained other midwives to do the same</span></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;color:#33ccff;"></span> </p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;color:#33ccff;">You can and WILL have the birth experience you desire and need and that your babies desire and need...YOU CAN DO IT SIS! DO NOT FEAR!</span></p>YeYe: Sweet Motherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12781408887250549136noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2739027843259036817.post-28362142554415106662008-08-10T13:06:00.003-05:002008-08-10T13:39:09.824-05:00What If The Other Parent is Opposed to Home Schooling<div>A concerned mommy-to-be asks...</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>"I am looking to home school my child. He is not born yet, but I want to get as much info as I can. My husband is totally against it. He says my son is going to public school just like I did. Do you know of any information that I could give him that may change his mind"</div><br /><div></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5232954124018728882" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMRtWaMC5hYnmlZBOliKRHIMo-QKA4d2-h8VLuUaR__ryOjHQgk7jSHobbNWMTno3MVGrzWjk06_06NoBUrBakw4r-hKK2fXe9YzHXwXa4YG3mn-FTsY_vG0iia1pB-lHFUpURPNBISjQs/s200/The+Ujamu%27s-02.jpg" border="0" /><br /><div></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;">When I first decided to home school my children, my then husband was totally against it as well...his reason? He said I didn't have the patience required to do it...*blink*...I told him I was going to do it anyway, and I resigned from my job and did it. About 2 months into the process he was bragging to all of his co-workers and friends about how much our children were learning and now 18 years and one college bound graduate later he still is not as pro-home school as I am BUT he remains a doting daddy...</span></div><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;"></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;">The truth of the matter is...we fear and are unsure of those things we do not understand and have not experienced. Most of us went to school as children and do not see another alternative. I would suggest sitting down with your husband and asking him if he honestly recalls his time at school being mostly positive or mostly negative? For most of us, school memories contain a great deal of fear, negativity, bullying, fighting and ridiculing by teachers and fellow students alike. If he recalls the negativity he experienced in school, tell him that you all have the opportunity to fill your son's life with mostly positive experiences in regards to his education by home schooling him...</span><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5232954125319190946" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC9vX_RZeeXyXJ60OAdmwXWuh56uW806i6vkYpsPAodcNYmVz-hquEDCfrDfCjV6t08HkaZedEsehCtIeTzuVChhPDQSoA1P618Xw0jZ51zmMWwyaNiYHTIfnT4-MBWUmSoNFNsQy5JjR-/s200/The+Ujamu%27s-08.jpg" border="0" /></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;">Suscribe to Mothering magazine which supports home schooling and may be able to offer him differnt perspectives on it via its articles...research home schooling yourself so that you can give hm examples of people who home school and how their children are learning growing and succeeding...one high profile couple that comes to mind is Will and Jada Pinkett Smith and their children...find out what the source of his opposition is and speak with him about it...sometimes we have a fear of our children being "different" because we feel that it was the fact that we were "different" that caused us to be picked on and bullied during school...if that is the case with your husband discuss it with him in depth and explain that picking on other children comes from socialization being left to children as opposed to being led by adults...it has nothing to do with being "different"...we are all different in some wonderful way</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5232954139097086434" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm2bCh9qJ1aHqiY7N3AGv5kilPrNmkTpXYt3yO6klE6fI-ot8-fW94BdXgn6MuKkyWk-pZxfn5SBxLYE8icf5EZAitb0HTUNit7IGA5A4VOSJspFMsVar-b78DVrlwkFD_0gds1L_07ibt/s200/The+Ujamu%27s-45.jpg" border="0" /><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /><span style="font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;"></span></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;">And...perhaps most importantly and MOST POWERFUL...explain to him what your end result is...when I received paternal opposition for deciding to practice extended breastfeeding with my son, I was hurt and confused and did not know how to explain my decision to those who did not support breastfeeding. I prayed and asked my Ancestors to help me explain why this part of mothering was so crucial and after meditating to some Afrikan drums I was able to speak My Truth on the topic...I said " I will raise a Prince for you if you let me, my methods are unorthodox and what I do will not look like what other people are doing with their children, because I am seeking a different result. I promise you that if you trust me on this, you will be blessed with a son that you will always be proud of...who will be successful in anything that he puts his hand to...but you have to trust me and support me..."</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5232954146936096402" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnBb1lJWxWGl5izI1AE6XI18ARdRKe1qImk_YiBJssYdpb9GF2nO80v6ZFujaiBham_aPM0u610IC7pt7yUaVAgcSyK7ZbeYMo3wHEFCHEViu7VOmPLsMW0zKhorGMn2X0KRMy47wvTfQz/s200/The+Ujamu%27s-16.jpg" border="0" /></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;">I was honest about what my the end result is that I am looking for and the oppostion could NOT stand in the face of that....let your husband know why you want to home school, let him know what the end result is you are working towards and let him know that you will not sacrifice your child for any doctrine but will ALWAYS do what is best for him...but that you are willing to make sacrifices to give him the BEST each and every day...open up the dialogue on the topic with Truth and Honesty so that yall can discuss it and it does not become a matter of you against him but a matter of we both want what is best for our child</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5232954137831733122" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnqhm0Gn2rbfmTanpXswyaOt6qO7EhWJVe7JU3Q5Hx154M2DvpAS11p0ZvTDA6U40EWrsDfUZQUQVQ4WEuOyo02liBC3Hi9YyBBECZrAabKV3OZA_P4kZ7SS2jeLfBOgN2V5AfyuEgx_EK/s200/The+Ujamu%27s-12.jpg" border="0" /></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;"></span>YeYe: Sweet Motherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12781408887250549136noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2739027843259036817.post-44540998289106899832008-07-18T11:49:00.005-05:002008-07-21T11:26:29.833-05:00Home Schooling High School Transcripts and Other Status Quo Traps<div align="center"><span style="font-size:130%;">"Peace sister,how r u doing? </span></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-size:130%;">I'm interested in building with u about homeschooling as well as other natural and traditional life styles. I am a single mom of three, and I am currently homeschooling my eldest child right now. he'll be seven this year and i plan on sending him to public school this year because I really don't have any family around in NC and the homeschooling school that he is enrolled in can be exspensive. I really don't want to send my son to public school so I'm planning on moving closer to family to get some help and I have also been researching cheaper methods of homeschooling and how to obtain transcripts so my children can go to college if they choose to. If you have any info on cheaper methods of homeschooling and obtaining transcripts for homeschoolers who are not enrolled in a curriculum that offers transcripts I would love to chat about it.</span></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-size:130%;">Peace sis! "</span></div><p><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></p><p align="center"><span style="font-size:130%;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5224399233186475522" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjY0BCU7cXgF-M3EOvRAFpw7jnjHX1OFXwb22b5L5B_Z9fmdnOUlkKJO7vQkLLQUzh4UDjPDJEqXV75gg32c8M6FYqthszvuIM_QzRDmWKTnx5NqlMaE7A18Ro9Dyrxi5N8SMCVy3QbvKk/s200/Picture+435.jpg" border="0" /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;color:#cc6600;">Above is a picture of my 18 year old...when she was four I paid lots and lots of money to send her to the local black private school...she could already read a little bit by the time I sent her to school and could write a few things as well...however once her teacher began to send home words lists for her to learn my daughter told me she could not read...I was shocked and hurt and dismayed...she then said but look what I learned in school today and began to recite the Hail Mary...!!??!!??</span></span></p><p align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#cc6600;">It was at that moment that I decided to home school and I never looked back...she "graduated" from Irunmole Aimoye Lewa Academy May 24, 2008...she is our first graduate and by the time we had her graduation celebration, she had been accepted at the Illustrious Fisk University...I wrote her transcripts </span></p><p align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;color:#cc6600;"><span style="font-size:130%;">She is also the author of </span><a href="http://stores.lulu.com/adjua"><span style="font-size:130%;">Life Without Art is Unbearable</span></a><span style="font-size:130%;">, the creatrix behind </span><a href="http://goddesscreates.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-size:130%;">Empress Creations</span></a><span style="font-size:130%;"> handmade jewelry , an Afrikan dance instructor and the leading co-educator in our home school/unschool...she is my success story...allow her to be your proof that it CAN BE DONE! and DONE WELL! I never home schooled under an umbrella. The method that I used was to ask for the exit requirements for each grade from my local school district and make sure that my children met those requirements. I would then visit the local Parent Teacher Store and Half.com and find books that would assist us and the rest was information that I felt was relevant to living life properly and life itself.<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5224399247217224338" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhllt-VBRjOBivv-JZb5J4bN6M0XydnFeH0O0tS-x3cawOh0mFHxEUwNZnLu3mcKDByJ9B2tRmwMkUf4RKpEjhBLFahFRQYAm_nwkTIUK0gcr3x-Z0XKNB5tgf1M1EEMq5Btm8BOHCBQ_Ur/s200/nai_meeks_sabs_&fas.jpg" border="0" /></span></span></p><p align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#cc6600;">Do not allow an irrational fear of not having High School Transcripts force you to place your most prized possession in the hands of ignorant strangers...a high school transcript is nothing but a list of classes your child has completed and the grades made in each class...it is easily typed up on Microsoft Word...*shrug*...it does not have to come from some official thus and so to be acceptable...many children all over the country are attending private schools that have never been accredited and their parents do not have worries about them attending college...because there is no need to worry</span></p><p align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#cc6600;">Remember that you are equipped to give your child EVERYTHING that he needs to fulfill his destiny...that is why he chose to be born to you...he viewed you living your life from the Spirit Realm and said yes that is what I need to set my destiny in order...*smile*..mothering is sacred, holy and the single most important action in the universe...whether or not we succeed is solely based upon who we choose to mother us</span></p><p align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#cc6600;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5224399261737710498" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGqIvxuEXdkzKncsQkEnk_zaR2AGxQLe6J0bAuvdxgFruzoYlU2vl6VcPolUd34KeAf7T4PSNfhh_cphJoSA626IShqjuwo8yVzP5TW-97qidKMctDCdBQqaJTEJnpX8CrloT4ITtc8Q95/s200/Picture+122.jpg" border="0" /></span></p><p align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#cc6600;">I found that the cheapest method of homeschooling was to buy used textbooks that cover the subject matters we needed to cover...I used the Home Edcuation Curriculum which is a rudimentary guide for each grade that runs about $60 or $70 tops and can usually be found on Half.com used for less than that</span></p><p align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#cc6600;">I am also creating an Afrikan Centered Gynocentric Home School/Unschool Curriculum that will be available in August of 2008 for $150...it will share methods and activites and books I have used in our home school/unschool for the past 18 years</span></p><p align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#cc6600;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5224399267560443906" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP6ZQjy9s3FSnP73HwMhOUdvvV7vPEM4-mEZmD1UeBTypxtozUiK1vgPUdUMhPrveaihhC66UoJOU8kaMnqH8Ksqu9m9I7gRVn7rqmCOmxsIeKNCh6vvpQVmodHC0WRJKUqBXW2HYfvj-a/s200/Picture+226.jpg" border="0" /></span></p><p align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#cc6600;">In the meantime Sis...allow me to suggest to you Ishmael by Daniel Quinn, The Continuum Concept by Jean Liedloff , The Story of B by Daniel Quinn, The Unprocessed Child: Living Without Schooling by Valerie Fitzenreiter and the collective writings of educator John Holt which are too numerous to mention. These writings will help you to remember that you are equipped to teach your children, fully equipped. They will boost your confidence and inspire you. </span></p><p align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#cc6600;">Just as your body expanded to carry these children within it and your breasts filled with milk for them and you reconfigured your life and your home and your hopes and dreams once they were born...your mind and your self will expand to school them...it is the way of the Wombniverse in which we live...trust it and trust yourself and trust your children </span></p><p align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#cc6600;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5224399277954823378" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi45OcaUyt_Mn3Y2M0KfaB1KY5HZ6JntMk8pfc8teb2uQU1RhQI9o9Yk9pkGSI3ddjM8qKnXqODk6M9x7LrV4GRh2rGvCH2NnVEqkDTHXHzxGNRMM_WmrIJcO3EgcP_5XWw7hk7zdKHpmvJ/s200/Picture+244.jpg" border="0" /></span></p><div align="center"><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></div><p><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></p><p><br /></p><div align="center"></div>YeYe: Sweet Motherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12781408887250549136noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2739027843259036817.post-63500966461713666512008-07-14T10:28:00.004-05:002008-07-14T11:12:11.901-05:00The Global Orisha Community<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPnzdcTPZ_YDWIqEaWUvdD-yuARFF4KmD4zYsIgIwAz4ly0DP_TEzuzlYVfnxXEoVmxX4qliXOmJWGZ7k0fBocfFZsiixAy-znIwnNltM0570dkOVvvSIuaYx7N_8qcc3xs6oFvtxQ7lyp/s1600-h/oshun+shrine.jpg"><span style="font-size:130%;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5222894971878379394" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPnzdcTPZ_YDWIqEaWUvdD-yuARFF4KmD4zYsIgIwAz4ly0DP_TEzuzlYVfnxXEoVmxX4qliXOmJWGZ7k0fBocfFZsiixAy-znIwnNltM0570dkOVvvSIuaYx7N_8qcc3xs6oFvtxQ7lyp/s200/oshun+shrine.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span><div align="center"><em></em></div><br /><div align="center"><em><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></em></div><br /><div align="center"><em><span style="font-size:130%;">"Hi. </span></em></div><br /><div align="center"><em><span style="font-size:130%;">I see that you invite people to ask questions, so I am taking advantage. I wanted to know if you are practicing the same Orisha as in Hispanic Afro-Caribbean culture?Thanks alot for your time.</span></em></div><br /><div align="center"><em><span style="font-size:130%;">Peace,</span></em></div><br /><div align="center"><em><span style="font-size:130%;">Mariam "</span></em></div><div align="center"><em><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></em></div><div align="center"><em><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></em></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;">"Orunmila says there should be a gathering together like trees do to form a forest</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;">Ifa says we should gather together and not walk alone"</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;">Holy Odu Oyeku Meji</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;"></span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;">The above odu provides the explanation as to why human beings form societies. Societies were called egbe by our Yoruba Ancestors. Egbe, in the West has come to mean a gathering of believers, a group of individuals who worship the Orisha. Those of us who have returned to the ancient way of our Ancestors have a responsibility to participate in what I call the Global Egbe, those all over the world who worship the Orisha.</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;">NOW you would think, that because of the perceived smallness of our numbers and the pervasive nature of Christianity within the modern world that we would be more than happy to align ourselves with all others who know and revere the Orisha and their Ancestors...</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;">HOWEVER</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;">The tyrannical force of colonialism continues to keep us from uniting.</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;">Let me pause here to give creidt where it is due and pay homage to Ancestors...during the time of the Maafa (enslavement of our Ancestors) and after our Hispanic bredren and sistren kept much of the song and dance and ritual of the tradition alive...it remains a integral part of their culture today. We must respect and honor this reality. Without the tenacity of those of our Ancestors who were enslave by the Spaniards we would not have much of the music and the oral history of the tradition that we have today.</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;"></span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;color:#ff6600;"><span style="font-size:130%;">And that being the case, it is important to note, and I quote here from </span><a href="http://stores.lulu.com/store.php?fAcctID=698889"><span style="font-size:130%;">Ona Agbani</span></a></span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;">"from the West Coast of Afrika, to the shores of the Americas and the islands of the Caribbean we were all polluted by the Western mentality that attempted to turn us into chattel. There is NO form of Ifa that remains untainted by the stain of the Maafa...we must see the differences in our ways of practising the tradition as ecological necessities due to the circumstances our Ancestors found themselves in. Did the Yoruba captive see himself as more or less Yoruba if he were taken to Cuba instead of Haiti? History suggests not. Were you more Yoruba than me because your colonizer forced you to speak Portuguese while mine beat English into my tongue? Our shared culture says no. Then we cannot continue to argue that Santeria is better than Lukumi or Voodoo more sacred than Shango Baptiste. We cannot say that one is not truly initiated unless his or her spiritual leaders come from Nigeria or Cuba or Brazil. This is essentially an argument over WHO HAD THE BEST OPPRESSOR! When we compartmentalize the tradition in this way we are saying " MY SLAVE MASTER WAS BETTER THAN YOURS!" If we look at this huge controversy from the perspective of our Ancestors, those who are responsible for creating the Western forms of practising the tradition, it is clear that they did not see slavery in one place as being better or worse than slavery in another place! Our Ancestors created these forms of the tradition to achieve the goal of NO SLAVERY AT ALL! In which THEY SUCCEEDED! All praises to their couragous spirits!"</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;color:#ff6600;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Adupe, Sistah Mariam for recognizing the global egbe</span>!</span> </div><br /><div align="center"><em></em></div><br /><div align="center"><em></em></div>YeYe: Sweet Motherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12781408887250549136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2739027843259036817.post-54164393226030338142008-07-13T11:55:00.009-05:002008-07-13T15:53:11.206-05:00Ise Is The Medicine For Poverty<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0v0Py6kTbMLyRFk33fazymCroYZKOpPK5qMruGQ6Jhfpsho-C3ijsFl8ObN2FMQkaMnI_cJGRF__LBH1GLnD9xQpYf7KKXt_MlOOvKs3gTddaXJE4Gnw3dh3nU6RXaRdReDYpgtEya0uT/s1600-h/boy+fishing+in+barbados.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5222591210796539922" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0v0Py6kTbMLyRFk33fazymCroYZKOpPK5qMruGQ6Jhfpsho-C3ijsFl8ObN2FMQkaMnI_cJGRF__LBH1GLnD9xQpYf7KKXt_MlOOvKs3gTddaXJE4Gnw3dh3nU6RXaRdReDYpgtEya0uT/s200/boy+fishing+in+barbados.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></span><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;color:#ff6600;"></span></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;">"Ale mura e mura Ise O</span></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;">Ise O </span></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;">Ise"</span></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;"></span></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;color:#ff6600;"><span style="font-size:130%;">(phonetically from the song by </span><a href="http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=175503952"><span style="font-size:130%;">O.J. Ekemode</span></a><span style="font-size:130%;">)</span></span></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;"></span></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;">"Doing is the medicine for poverty</span></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;">Doing Ohh</span></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;">Doing"</span></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5222591219446874514" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" height="182" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFLxHRAh4Dxx42xQGAfUA8aYyV7VjfbSaxEXWWXxT_dcv3Sw-weEIK7bCaDLLYYFqfPbD5yfrIcmKt6AnSshaVU04l4pZys6AKL9nkcuAj0Ct_4YZ3gDyz3HDTqbGcD_bI5Y40_LvPZ0uz/s200/roasting+breadfruit.jpg" width="200" border="0" /><br /></span><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;color:#ff6600;"></span></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;">The Yoruba word "ise" (pronounced ee shay) is normally translated as the English "work"</span></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;">I translate it differntly</span></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;">It appears to be related to the Yoruba word "ase" (pronounced ahh shay)</span></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;"><span style="font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;">Ase is the power to make something so...we sometimes think of it as an incantation at the end of a prayer or spiritual request that is a way of asking the Wombniverse to make it so</span></span></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;"><span style="font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;">But from the perspective of Our Ancestors , to whom the word belongs, ase IS the power to make it so...the word itself not only describes the phenomena, but actually IS the phenomena</span></span></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;"><span style="font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;"></span></span></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;"><span style="font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;">Back to ise...because it is closely related to ase which is the power of making things happen...ise from an Ancestral perspective seems to be the doing of things...the act of doing</span></span></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;"><span style="font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;">It is necessary to separate this from our English term work because the word work is generally related to groups of meaningless acts that accomplish gargantuan piles of NOTHING</span></span></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;">Seriously...for example</span></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;">My former job was as a counselor of juvenile deliquent youth in a treatment/correctional facility</span></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;">Of an eight hour day....the first six hours were spent, answering emails, returning phone calls, completing never ending stacks of forms, entering information onto the computer system....and only about 45 mins of the last hour was spent counseling the youth</span></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;">While all of this was work</span></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;">None of it was ise</span></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;">None of it accomplished any task in particular</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;"></span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5222591218586418274" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtqxMiNvyYB2ae-lPISKBlr3k5VnEbCOtB8hIaHMN5o5NRyky0z9UAf8a39PVOv8rUgwgHJeKPh3qZypU07QIaNstP3iie_15vNXfUFzsKI_vOk6d8iD-H5rPwytmu2EDMpyDTZ0MdDhmv/s200/diggin+a+canoe.jpg" border="0" /></span></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;"></span></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;">Ise is...growing the food that you eat</span></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;">Making the clothes that you wear</span></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;">Creating your home...building it and beautifying it </span></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;">Sharing information with others</span></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;">Dancing</span></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;">Singing</span></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;">Acting out and telling stories</span></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;">Making music</span></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;">Ise</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;"></span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;"></span></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;"></span></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;">And according to Our Ancestors...Ise</span></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;">Actual doing...is the medicine for poverty</span></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;">You cannot be hungry while actively gathering, hunting and growing food</span></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;">You cannot need clothes while weaving cloth and creating clothing</span></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;">You cannot be homeless while building and beautifying a home</span></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5222591217796069586" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG57qvTs7rVlP1rlc65YN0-zTYjUQREPObYEGTrBvz3DbBO5Ch1lHeMoZnRcPah63ty-YJaVp2DR4J_Uf8pKa65sUi-W2uteO8o_688XnMqSp_S2vKu0wXjJrRZl3nOvwbIgJPFtRLzMlk/s200/ndebele+woman+painting+her+home.jpg" border="0" /><br /></span><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;color:#ff6600;"></span></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;">"Doing is the medicine for poverty"</span></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;">I am always moved by the simplicity of the wisdom of Our Ancestors</span></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;">While we will create programs and build institutions and homeless shelters and welfare assistance</span></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;">It is only through doing that poverty can be alleviated</span></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;"></span></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;">I have taken this mantra to heart and realised that it is as simple as this in my own life as well</span></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;">Working...stringing together meaningless, unfulfilling, status quo maintaing tasks in order to pay the bills will never alleviate a state of want</span></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;">It is only ISE that can cure poverty</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;"></span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5222591222970527826" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihKIgDzTn6GaFaHXajaSriuwNUQyo0xwZv3gMGMfWVBKysl84Qbdhfo7mUpxslRzNFdOJCJp9BtKHGXqZAVqK2OIDKATTHUMiMs1TlGp50zAhklcs4wD8jnPlMUtqigBQRLAL7SmDXrmoX/s200/real+cooking.jpg" border="0" /></span></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;"></span></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;">Doing...being....fully existing within the context of the environment that I live in is all that will destroy the negative energies of want and need</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;"></span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;">"Ise is the medicine for poverty"</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;">"Ise Oh Ise"</span></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;color:#ff6600;"></span></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;color:#ff6600;"></span></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;color:#ff6600;"></span></div>YeYe: Sweet Motherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12781408887250549136noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2739027843259036817.post-76580692097451567882008-06-26T14:17:00.001-05:002008-06-26T14:20:28.273-05:00Update on Online Courses On Raising Children in Orisha, Afrikan Spirituality and Gynocentricity<div align="center">Today will mark the official beginning of my online correspondence courses on Raising Children in Orisha, Afrikan Spirituality and Gynocentricity...<br />Those who have ordered a course will receive their first lessons via email today...<br />For those who did not order a course...each online lesson is $10 and there are up to 8 lessons per course<br />Each lesson may be purchased individually by clicking on the order an online course button to the right of my blog<br /> Also here are short descriptions of each course for those who are interested...<br /><strong></div></strong><div align="center"><strong>Raising Children In Orisha</strong><br />This course will offer information and support for parents or parents to be who want to integrate ancient spiritual practices into the lives of their children...the course will not be limited to information on the Orisha but will cover Earth based cultural practices from other areas in Afrika and the Caribbean as well as North and South America<br /></div><div align="center">How does raising children in Orisha differ from mainstream parenting?</div><div align="center">How can I "ritualize" my birth experience? (whether at home or in the hospital)</div><div align="center">How can I include my child in rituals? (newborn to young adult)</div><div align="center">Bringing ancient ways into the modern world</div><div align="center">A year and a day, when one parent leaves the home (divorce/separation)</div><div align="center">Can they and should they still go to church with grandma?</div><div align="center">What about holidays?Afrikan centered/Orisha based Home Schooling/Unschooling ( a rudimentary curriculum that can be used whether your child is in public school or home schooled)<br /></div><div align="center"> </div><div align="center"><strong>Afrikan Spirituality</strong><br />This is a course in Afrikan spirituality and worldview. The objective of the class is to offer an understanding of this ancient way to those who are interesting in practicing it as a way of life or studying it or even adding it to their own current practice.<br /></div><div align="center">Who are the Orisha/Vodun/Loa?</div><div align="center">What is the nature of Ancient Afrikan Supreme Being?</div><div align="center">Affects of the Maafa (slave trade) on Afrikan Spirituality</div><div align="center"> Role of Women in Afrikan Spirituality</div><div align="center">Family in Afrikan Spirituality</div><div align="center">Sacred Orature: Sacred Oral Texts of West Afrika</div><div align="center">Power of the Spoken Word, Incantations</div><div align="center">Western Adaptions of West Afrikan practices<br /></div><div align="center"><strong>Gynocentricity <br /></strong>This course will discuss the Matriarchies and what life looks like when the womb is the focal point of all daily interactions. Instructions on creating a womb centered focus in your own life will be given. Examples of how womb centered-ness looks in the ancient and modern world.<br /></div><div align="center">GYNOCENTRICITY what it is and what it is not(2 sessions)</div><div align="center">The Matriarchy: A Brief Historical Overview(2 sessions)</div><div align="center">Praise the Mother: Goddess Veneration: Historical Overview(2 sessions)</div><div align="center">Modern Matrifocal Societies and How they Operate</div><div align="center">How we intergrate Gynocentricity into our own lives </div>YeYe: Sweet Motherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12781408887250549136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2739027843259036817.post-8586732065357114892008-06-24T12:18:00.004-05:002008-06-24T17:42:35.223-05:00Write What You Want to Read<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;color:#ff6600;">When I first began to study Ifa, Yoruba culture and Orisha worship. I was appalled by the lack of truthful, Afrikan centered, historically correct information available on this ancient spiritual tradition. I was also crushed by my own family's reaction to my decision to study and then practice Afrikan traditional spirituality. I was all but disowned by mother, and was told by my sister's that I was damning myself and my children to eternal hellfire. I was terrified that they may be correct BUT inside me I could hear the voices of my Ancient Ancestors screaming..."We were not wicked, we were not evil, our ways were good and pure, uplifting and powerful...do not fear us...come and know us and through knowing us, know yourself". </span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;color:#ff6600;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;color:#ff6600;">I followed the voice of my Ancestors and they have NEVER steered me wrong since. However, early in my study I recognized the need for simple, factual, well written information on the tradition written by a practitioner. I was also painfully aware of the fact that the view that the majority of people have of Afrikan spiritual traditions was negative mostly contrived from Hollywood's degrading depictions of evil "voodoo" practitioners and "witch doctors". Afrikan's born in the West in particular have been bred to be terrified of our ancient traditions, our way of life, our belief systems. I have even heard elders speak of how glad they were that their Ancestors were taken into slavery so that they were not born into wicked Afrikan society but were instead born here in America! As if American society is ANYTHING BUT wicked! We perpetuate this fear by vehemently discouraging others who are courageous enough to study Afrikan traditions. Once I began to study the traditions of Our Ancestors, I was SURE that if others but had the information, they would not be so ashamed and terrified of our ancient ways of life. Out of that need for factual information and a concise explanation of what our way of life was before the Maafa (the great tragedy that befell us)</span><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;color:#ff6600;"> was born</span> <span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;color:#ff6600;"><a href="http://stores.lulu.com/got2boshun">Ona Agbani</a> my book. It was my prayer upon writing the book that it would serve as a beacon of light and truth in the Yoruba/Ifa/Orisha community and that it would enlighten those who were seeking the deeper wisdom and truths of our Ancestors. </span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;color:#ff6600;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;color:#ff6600;">Once folx began to read it and comment...I was elated with the response...below are some of the responses from readers who have been touched...</span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;color:#ff6600;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;color:#ff6600;">All praises to My Munificent Mother Oshun...My Ancestors and My Ori !!!!</span><br /><br />Good, Concise Intro to Ifa [ No Rating ] 1 Mar 2007<br />by <a href="http://stores.lulu.com/carameldom">carameldom</a><br />This is the most concise book I've read on Ifa so far. One of those things you can read in a day, but refer to for a lifetime. If you're curious and don't know where to start, this book is a great starting point. If you're already a practitioner & tired of explaining what it is you do/all that stuff in your house (lol), I'd recommend buying a copy for friends, family, or anyone who has heard of Ifa but has no idea what it's really about.<br /><br /><br /><a class="active" href="http://ymib.com/raising-children-orisha-ask-yeye#comment-6962">I couldn't put your book down!</a><br />On June 17th, 2008 <a title="View user profile." href="http://ymib.com/sis-nzinga">Sis. Nzinga</a> says:<br />Sistah,<br />As my spirit is being led to know more about Ifa, I knew I had to purchase your book. I was not disappointed. I gathered so much knowledge & information and I am now making arrangements to find local practitioners to learn even more. Thanks for giving birth to a wonderful resource.<br />Ase!Sis. Nzinga<br />~I affirm that I am a divine wombman who lives a life of courage, adventure and bliss!<br /><br />On May 17th, 2008 <a title="View user profile." href="http://ymib.com/namaste27">Namaste27</a> says:<br />The Book is beautiful. Maweyah hipped me to it and others. Yours was the first one that came, and the first I have ever read that I overstood. Thank You!!!Peace & Blessings<br /><br /><br /><a title="View user profile." href="http://ymib.com/mawiyah"></a><br /><a class="active" href="http://ymib.com/sis-nzinga#comment-6991">You read Ona Agbani</a><br />On June 18th, 2008 <a title="View user profile." href="http://ymib.com/mawiyah">Mawiyah</a> says:<br />Mawiyah Kai EL-Jamah Bomani<br />It was a wonderful read wasn't it? My husband has my copy and won't put it down. Let me know what happens on your quest.Ase Homegirl<br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;color:#ff6600;"></span>YeYe: Sweet Motherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12781408887250549136noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2739027843259036817.post-48827091425569581012008-06-20T11:33:00.014-05:002008-06-23T12:48:38.104-05:00Oriki: Increasing The Vibrations Without and Within<span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;color:#ff6600;">A Spiritual Consultation I performed for her incited the following question in a sistah...</span> </span><div><div><br /><p align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff0000;"><em>"Peace Sistren,</em></span></p><p align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff0000;"><em>It has been a few months since you have done a reading for me and I have yet to formally thank you; so let me take the time to do so now. The reading you did for me inspired and comforted me. I thank you and I hope many blessings are being sent your way. Since I requested your services I have been doing some spiritual searching in an attempt to form a stronger to connection with our glorious mother Oshun. She has made her presence in my life very apparent and she has given me many blessings. I always remember to thank her and acknowledge her but I'm wondering if you know the best way to pay respect. I also wonder what ways I can pay respect to Chango. I feel as if maybe I haven't accepted him the same way I have Oshun because I don't recognize his influences as often. If you can advise me of any ways to pay respect to my parent Gods I would be very appreciative. Also do you have any advice on how to ask for assistance or for a favor? Lastly are their any books you'd recommend reading? I hope to hear from you soon!Ashe"</em></span></p><br /><p align="left"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;">I am especially pleased that your Spiritual Consultation was a comfort to you. To consult the deities is to have a dialogue with those amongst the Oldest of Ancestors and as such should be a source of security, warmth, and positivity for all who participate. Please click on the Buy Now button underneath the words <em>Order a Spiritual Consultation from Yeye</em> to the right of this blog to have Oshun consulted on your behalf.</span></p><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5214131714398531490" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaK0FhQvI4JiNHHdna0BFCrKmkbeaS7W7ZkdhHBdBmMMB6ttEZNKZwy1uyypGYrXS3BjCNi-7w_HpjHnKNylFpSAYn1DtXna4LhKXctMts2hyYNVh1In7No8UaCra6iU-xEJ03Hbyzwtar/s200/oshe+and+mazo+for+oba+koso.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br /></span><p align="left"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;">The orisha known as Chango, Xango, Sango, Shongo, and Shango is the force of Divine Justice in the universe. After saying his name we always say "Kawo Kabiesile" meaing greetings to his majesty to pay homage to his royal status. He is also known as Oba Koso meaning the King of Koso and often misinterpreted to mean "the king did not hang" due to colonizers spreading a story of him hanging himself to try and persuade his followers to convert to Christianity. He is physically manifested in thunder, lightening, cedar and iroko trees and rain. Animals that contain his ashe are rams and horses. The colors that contain his vibration are red and white together and the color purple that the sky becomes during lightening. His numbers are four and six. These are the colors, numbers and images used to create altars or shrines to Shango. Children of Sango, regardless of gender are referred to as "sons". His sons have a deep love of adornment, dance, and the drum. They abhor liars but struggle to be honest themselves. They are powerfully attractive and always have a host of disciples. They feel injustices deeply even if the injustice involves someone other than themselves or folks they have never met. They have the power to influence others very heavily with their words. They are extremely good parents with a natural connection to youth. They are highly sensual with a high sex drive and are good lovers when they are open to this side of themselves. Look for these qualities within yourself and you will see the many ways in which Oba Koso is influential in your life. </span></p><br /><br /><p align="left"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;">Pay homage to the orisha that rule your head daily by chanting Oriki. Oriki means praise chant. Oriki is used in Yoruba culture to stimulate the vibrations of the ori-the highest self/the truest self of the person who is being chanted to. Oriki are used daily by the Iyalode ("mother of the outside") the "Big Mama" or matriarch in the Yoruba compound to awaken the rest of the family. Oriki to family members include phrases such as <strong>Asabi</strong>-she who is of select birth and <strong>Arike</strong>-she who in spite of being small is strong, <strong>Ajamu</strong>-he who fights for what he wants and <strong>Akande</strong>-he whose turn it is to come into the world. Each family member is awakened by the elder mother of the compound singing his or her praise, what a powerful way to start each day!!! Every time I think about this practice I am awed by our Ancestors anew. When naming a child in the Yoruba tradition, an oriki name is always selected.</span></p><br /><br /><p align="left"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;">As part of the tradition, the Orisha too have their own oriki. Phrases and terms that increase the vibration of that deity within you, within your space and within your life. One of Oshun's orikis is <strong>Laketi</strong>-she who has ears to hear the cries of her followers. Obatala has an oriki of <strong>Aremu</strong>-the first born. Oriki to the various orisha have been preserved in the form of lyrical poems which contain several of that deities praise names as well as mention of his or her heroic feats and exploits. As a son of Oba Koso, you should chant his oriki daily to excite his vibration within you...here is one you may use:</span></p><span style="font-size:130%;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5214135173974983906" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9-AaSCJ-9UqR95ORP5TZxOa905JLzpoux1LI-wXv4yj37d2UEM4iOyyLcALbl7hAFmetyF_SmQfefzbC5sUZFAjRfBEmRRJpshWxclJfpt3u2-TVfvvAB1rHcVkQyDqDo8I4t9FosmUfN/s200/shango+pic.jpg" border="0" /><br /></span><p align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;color:#ff0000;"><em><strong>Kawo kabiesile, Oba Koso<br />Etala mojuba gdagba mojuba<br />Sango pele o<br />Sango pele o<br />Sango pele o<br />Ngba meta<br />Sango pe o<br />Sango pe o<br />Sango pe o<br />Baba aladufe<br />Sango nuaaa jeke awon wa iku<br />Ma ja kiki wa orun<br />Aiku Baba wa</strong></em></span></p><br /><br /><br /><br /><p align="center"><strong><em><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff0000;">We greet His majesty, the King of Koso</span></em></strong></p><p align="center"><strong><em><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff0000;">Sango we request permission to greet you</span></em></strong></p><p align="center"><strong><em><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff0000;">we request permission to greet you</span></em></strong></p><p align="center"><strong><em><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff0000;">we request permission to greet you</span></em></strong></p><strong><em><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;color:#ff0000;"><p align="center"><strong><em><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:130%;color:#ff0000;">Thirteen times we greet you</span></em></strong></p><p align="center"><span style="font-size:130%;">Sango we are thankful for you</span></p><p align="center"><span style="font-size:130%;">we are thankful for you<br />we are thankful for you</span></p><p align="center"><span style="font-size:130%;">Ruler in the realm of the spirits</span></p><p align="center"><span style="font-size:130%;">We greet the citizens of the Spiritual Realm</span></p><p align="center"><span style="font-size:130%;">May we not see the death of our fathers</span></p></span></em></strong><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5214182568790681138" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4Ed-DqauqyUWYYK6fVDSWqwkt1SNaFyTLDnIhyzVoo0DgkTy0elNcKPbkV1iC-tvJq-WKuhmCWWdmQkV6fhEdTXhYXNBV1BDlg8lwiTdzz7R6Jf02OLCwOg1j82d8oY-oTcbkPApAyQfT/s200/shrine+for+shango.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br /><br /></span><p align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;color:#ff6600;"><span style="font-size:130%;">I recommend my book </span><a href="http://stores.lulu.com/store.php?fAcctID=698889"><span style="font-size:130%;">Ona Agbani: The Ancient Path Understanding and Implementing the Ways of Our Ancestors</span></a><span style="font-size:130%;">. It was written to give an intense culturally and historically correct understanding of the spiritual tradition of the Yoruba people. Within </span><a href="http://stores.lulu.com/store.php?fAcctID=698889"><span style="font-size:130%;">Ona Agbani</span></a><span style="font-size:130%;"> there are prayers, incantations, descriptions of the Orisha and the ways in which the ashe of each orisha manifests in humans, on the Earth and in the cosmos. A Yoruba language pronunciation guide is also included as well as an explanation of the role of women from a Yoruba perspective. What our Ancestors viewed as the meaning of life and the reason for living is also included.</span></span></p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p align="left"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;color:#ff6600;">To ask for assistance or a favor, first chant the oriki of your orisha to awaken the energy of that deity around you and inside and then verbally request what you need. Chanting should take place in a quiet,peaceful area where you are not distracted. Ideally, before your Shango altar or at a cedar tree would be places where you can access the energy of Oba Koso readily. Make your request as you would to a loving, indulgent father for that is exactly what Shango is for his sons.</span><br /><br /></span></p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p align="left"><span style="color:#ff0000;"></span></p></div></div>YeYe: Sweet Motherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12781408887250549136noreply@blogger.com234tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2739027843259036817.post-56605777010834490832008-05-19T00:41:00.002-05:002008-05-19T00:48:18.509-05:00Introducing Orisha to your childrenA myspace friend "Righteous" aka Oyabomi asks...<br /><br />"I did have a question...how did you first introduce the orisa to your children. My daughter is oni sango and we always talk about Kabiesi when there is a thunderstorm outside (along with Oya...my head orisa). She is showing true interest because he is shared like a real person even though she can't see him. Is this a smart approach?"<br /><br />A GREAT APPROACH SISTER GODDESS!<br /><br />We introduce the Orisha to our children by allowing them to see how the Orisha are a part of our lives. Children should participate in all family rituals and spiritual discussions from the beginning. Encourage your children to pour libation, pray and use divining tools at EVERY age and they will feel a part of what happens in the spirit realm and this connection will be second nature to them.<br /><br />I would also suggest reading stories about the Orisha, straight from the odu (Yoruba oral history) with William Bascom's Sixteen Cowries and Ifa Divination and Chief FAMA's Sixteen Mythological Stories and Maulana Karenga's Odu Ifa: The Ethical Teachings. Stories transmit knowledge, symbols, proverbs and incantations that your child will remember well into adulthood.YeYe: Sweet Motherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12781408887250549136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2739027843259036817.post-80141835292677075632008-05-12T16:50:00.007-05:002008-05-14T10:50:08.242-05:00New Beginnings to Celebrate Beltain and the Grand Trine<div align="center">May 1st marks Beltain. The Celtic name for the time of year when life is reborn in the Western Hemisphere. Beltain, is an actual New Year, in that it is the time when life springs forth new and fresh once again. We celebrate Beltain by celebrating fertility, our own and that of Earth Mother in any and all ways possible. </div><div align="center">This year Beltain is also falling within an astrological vortex of power called a Grand Trine...</div><div align="center">According to Wikipedia " a grand trine occurs when you have three planets or other points in the horoscope that are all separated by a span of 120 degrees. With the placement of the planets, the grand trine visually looks like a large triangle across the horoscope of the recipient. It is a special configuration that is thought to promote high ideals, insight, vision, creative expression and well being..." This Grand Trine is the alignement of Venus, Pluto and Saturn.</div><div align="center">In conjunction with the Juicy Goodness that EarthMother is exemplifying at this time...I am bringing forth some fruit of my own in the form of three classes I wish to offer.</div><div align="center"><a href="http://magicaljourney.com/events/Afrika.htm">Afrikan Spirituality</a></div><div align="center"><a href="http://magicaljourney.com/events/Geo.htm">Gynocentricity</a></div><div align="center">and</div><div align="center"><a href="http://magicaljourney.com/events/Parent.htm">Pagan Parenting</a></div><div align="center">Are being offered at Magical Journey, a local witchy hotspot</div><div align="center">AND</div><div align="center">Beginning this week HERE ONLINE as well!</div><div align="center">Tomorrow I will add a paypal button for those who wish to purchase the class information online The cost will be $10 per class</div><div align="center">If at least ten students purchase one class, we will also meet for a conference Instant Message session once a week to discuss the topics of that class in depth</div><div align="center">As always, I offer Online and Face to Face Spiritual Consultations through the Orisha Oshun for $50 </div><div align="center">And my book, full of basic information, prayers, incantations, rituals and history of Yoruba spirituality</div><div align="center"><a href="http://www.lulu.com/content/501547">Ona Agbani:The Ancient Path Understanding and Implementing the Ways of Our Ancestors </a></div><div align="center">is available for $20 paperback and $14.29 download as well</div>YeYe: Sweet Motherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12781408887250549136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2739027843259036817.post-10461097352725687672008-05-10T11:36:00.006-05:002008-05-18T23:37:47.689-05:00Raising Children In Orisha - Pregnancy:Being Full of Love<div align="center"><br /><br /></div><br /><div align="center"><br /><br /><br /></div><br /><div align="center"><br /></div><br /><div align="center">Below is a blog I wrote at the height of my last pregnancy...</div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5201205911564737218" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZDPUUKyUcqby0-W5fnQ-IcpvarmCU3poA2sc3FZPKZIxQV-u-3aJVtLz9J0wXPzNEyJZ1Zw_EtUXem_lI_ClsmGJkLCraIlAibqb7afZJwexb2h0g3u_Vh9miwQvmywAT0UagdHU5Upxo/s200/P1010007+copy.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br /><p align="center"><em>Had my first appointment with my Tennessee based midwife today<br />It went well<br />I realized, upon leaving her office that to be pregnant means to be full full full full full<br />of Love<br />And that is how I feel<br />I am full of the love the Universe has for me and so She/He/It has chosen me once again for such a sacred and monumental task<br />I am full of the love I have for myself, because I have accepted my mission with joy, thanksgiving, pride, awe, and downright giddy gigglishness over the fact that there is a PERSON growing inside my body AGAIN! </em></p><em><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5201205915859704530" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKAyJM27sZHlxHJHlAGsvhUdpPDL3mK9DLCTu0VNFcHQUfIqmOM3TiHxhkxZJuy4DKGCPFbB7pkjsjkg7feFbmlukIS1FuL9ckFGEY7itlOkxF03q3KPQLxLljpfuGQEwfdJVnVlN0rBcN/s200/P1010020+copy.jpg" border="0" /></em><br /><p align="center"><em>I am full of the love I have for my four children, whose lives, whose dispositions, whose characters, whose beauty, whose births have taught me that to give birth is one of the greatest spells a woman can cast<br />And I am full of the love that my lover and I were experiencing for one another at the moment<br /></em></p><br /><div align="center"><em>of conception,</em></div><br /><br /><div align="center"><em><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5201205920154671842" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2pvGqKxUJgJWNeTKF_wL_fin2TmVqJhubW2rQ_eAlPeLAOmCtgqnJHJoCA2K2i1MCx6yJ_7RKyPBk_4Rbsw6rcWzvIxE0-OKLUzx8XPAI53kSUpBRXSEbIhQetzRKOIWoujEJyxX2QyFY/s200/P1010027.JPG" border="0" /></em></div><br /><br /><div align="center"><em>full of the fact that we were able to break through all kinds of societal barriers, and touch one another, be close to one another and interact with one another sooo deeply<br />That the Most High in Her Holy Sanctuary was moved by our union and therefore blessed us with a new life<br />Soon there will be a lil mouth to suckle<br />A lil body to hold and bathe and caress and oil and kiss<br />Lil hands and feet to kiss and smell<br />Lil eyes to look into<br />A lil head to sniff and sigh onto<br />Soon I will have to stretch my body wide enough to allow ALLLLLL of that LOVE to flow out and join us all on this journey called life<br />BUT<br />I will always remember you thus <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5201207728335903474" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieb193jcHsleDGP3NGgOErjurKhhyzTChabrRAt2hWdGGzyGEM9Vb4FG1xyekuq3em9nQkJUjUol1CKxNrUl7C0kv_4j3_FcBR4dSeIQcSmp0Bhroj3gddxLrhnft22cE1KD5pu5NuDZiW/s200/The+Ujamu%27s-08.jpg" border="0" /><br />My baby's womb name is Damou<br />Zulu for "my love"<br />A womb name is a name that identifies the child for the time she/he is growing inside the mother and is no longer used once the child gets here<br />I must admit it is only today that I gained a full realization of why I chose that name<br />And even after having given birth four times before<br />I must admit that is was only today that I KNEW that to carry a life inside me is to be full<br />of love<br />My Love<br />Damou<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5201207732630870786" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5aqAQiR9_4IM-Gc8avvuPp7DRbE0m2OZYofwnv3T1OPBsIt7dMV9JTHFID7cpxAyqP43usYDmn0Tk2oJ9FtV_mXl6PrTGuOT4YOvky0sAsBuPKH4gf2TgjJxrEtEDU3V3cceE4UNXiXTP/s200/The+Ujamu%27s-03.jpg" border="0" /></em></div><br /><p align="center">Pregnancy is not an illness...women who are carrying children are not weaker or less competent or more delicate than everyone else on the planet</p><br /><p align="center">Quite the contrary...unborn children and the mothers who carry them survive and thrive in some of the world's most harsh conditions....starvation, war, slavery and rape </p><p align="center">The continuation of life is stronger than all of these adversities</p><br /><p align="center">Pregnancy is a time of unbelievable strength, life altering change, forceful epiphanies, intense dreams, terrifying nightmares, and pure unadulterated POWER</p><br /><p align="center">Divine Power... called Ashe in our Yoruba Mother Tongue</p><br /><p align="center">When pregnancy and childbirth was taken out of the Magickal Hands of Granny Midwives and placed in the medicinal claws of obstetricians and gynecologists<br />Women had to be convinced that they were powerless, needy, weak, and physically vulnerable during pregnancy<br />And so modern pregnancy propaganda was produced and disseminated</p><p align="center">I have seen women shrink from washing dishes because their bellies touch the counter and women who cry out when riding over potholes, women who are afraid to raise their arms above their heads thinking it would wrap the umbilical cord around the baby's neck, and on and on</p><p align="center">I have seen how we have accepted the propaganda and believed the hype and therefore allowed others to dominate an area that is totally and unequivocably our domain</p><p align="center">In actuality...pregnancy is the mystery of life, the magick of existence in plain sight on the physical plane</p><p align="center">When you are carrying a child, listen closely...to your own desires and the voice of your unborn child </p><p align="center">Allow these voices to be your guiding force</p><p align="center">Pregnancy grants you the power that you need to manifest your dreams and with each child that power heightens and deepens and you as Mother gain a better understanding of it</p><p align="center">Pregnancy is a ripening of womanhood, it is a higher level of womanliness, not a weaker diluted version</p><p align="center">To the contrary, a woman's power is more concentrated than ever when she is carrying life</p><p align="center">Bask in this power </p><p align="center">Use this power</p><p align="center">Embrace this power</p><p align="center">Pregnant women have been said to be short tempered, irritable, surly and generally unpleasant I look upon these descriptions as indications of the fact that women who are carrying life are less able to deal with the inconsistencies and lies that they expected to cosign on a daily basis </p><p align="center">Instead...the woman who is with child tells the truth more often than not</p><p align="center">she does not lend her energy to maintaining the status quo and this is problematic and therefore viewed as negative</p><p align="center">Pregnant women also take up lots of space...their big bellies, their big appetites and the sheer force of the energy they exude is big and wide </p><p align="center">Bigness and wideness are not allowed in acceptable definitions of modern womanhood<br />Be WIDE ENOUGH...spread out...make room in the universe for the new bigness of yourself and the life that you are bringing into the world</p><p align="center">More than anything pregnancy is used by the medical profession to convince a woman that she cannot trust her body and therefore herself, to do what it is supposed to do....you are made to feel that your body can and will turn against you at any time and cause harm to you and your coming child</p><p align="center">When the truth is...your body all by Herself...is built to house, produce and maintain life</p><p align="center">Your body houses the seed, the fertile soil, the water, and the nutrients to grow human life several times over</p><p align="center">Woman is the house of power...and at no time is this more evident than when she is carrying a child</p><p align="center"><br /></p><p align="center"></p><br /><p><br /><br /></p><br /><p align="center"><br /></p><br /><br /><br /><div align="center"></div><br /><br /><br /><p align="center"><br /></p>YeYe: Sweet Motherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12781408887250549136noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2739027843259036817.post-52210156435584037592008-04-12T15:47:00.009-05:002008-04-12T18:49:26.037-05:00The Afrikan Woman...The Source<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCJsLHY9WZWnmHsz93QLKzZ9PAZ3mMZmuKl8D9aEhO3nmXn7IEM3h76LMwvLmedzzKTNBpr3o4xqb3o_xxsQPnVq4i6s20GSlauBEhl9BEokTEa4eKK2aCaFLhTPFrEww21yDgstBIY2iW/s1600-h/back+the+baby.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5188464043571798962" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCJsLHY9WZWnmHsz93QLKzZ9PAZ3mMZmuKl8D9aEhO3nmXn7IEM3h76LMwvLmedzzKTNBpr3o4xqb3o_xxsQPnVq4i6s20GSlauBEhl9BEokTEa4eKK2aCaFLhTPFrEww21yDgstBIY2iW/s200/back+the+baby.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" href="http://www.blogger.com/profile/03095613023147536697" rel="nofollow"><em>Akua</em></a><em> said...<br />YEYE~ What are some values in femininity and African-centeredness that you instill in your daughters and HOW did you instill these values?</em><br /><em></em><br /><em></em><br />Values...hmmm...that particular term carries with it some connotations that I actually rebel against and hopefully live my life in such a way that my dawtas and my sun will do the same...let me explain<br />Most Afrikan centered individuals and organizations while claiming to be anti oppression and anti Western ism still uphold oppressive Western patriarchal values when it comes to women, mothering, femininity and womanhood<br />These individuals and organizations claim to have embraced an Afrikan way of life when in actuality what they are doing is taking Western patriarchal so called "morality" and wrapping it in Kente cloth<br />They have not actually examined and changed the toxic beliefs that enslaved our Ancestors and prevented us from practicing the Ancient Ways...they have only begun to call these beliefs by Afrikan names and they feel like by doing so they have somehow validated them and made them something whole or something different...not so<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbjqUGW8hIGn9m4EjoXtUGFvMSMayKZq6IsN_D3DvVXyiBDgRef990fNnCzeioVQnpUguJcc10znIu5Ss3bEP4NTv4EwqLkXCOgU0ujKr1KnqunifsoG8owzycyBz6MLvrPvAN9aSrPK1l/s1600-h/three+mommies+nursing.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5188464447298724802" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbjqUGW8hIGn9m4EjoXtUGFvMSMayKZq6IsN_D3DvVXyiBDgRef990fNnCzeioVQnpUguJcc10znIu5Ss3bEP4NTv4EwqLkXCOgU0ujKr1KnqunifsoG8owzycyBz6MLvrPvAN9aSrPK1l/s200/three+mommies+nursing.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />You still find women be treated as help meets in most Afrikan centered homes and organizations...you still find their roles being ones that are not taken seriously or revered...you still find their position being seen as beneath the man and the man being treated as the Head of the household or organization<br />When in actuality according to our Ancestors women are the repository of Ashe, we ARE the carriers of The Divine Power which cause anything and EVERYTHING to work...we transmit this ashe through our milk , our presence, our influence, our words, our wombs , our vulvas and our vaginas<br />Our Ancestors knew this and as such, they listened to their women and held their words in high high high esteem and were proud to say that women were the center of their culture, their world , their universe...the colonizers laughed at this position by the way<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJC7vHAi6e8D8cY8xy_arPRKYeXiQeO8myywA6amIEfRJJXjQgc2feJ4k11R9mU0CI4FcW0YMYh6fN2lgw5UYFX3rDKc_-wKJisfGLuXjZCzgLFgMVFUdMs8IfDg9HqXUojCABRoZeBQOF/s1600-h/yekuana+mom.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5188464786601141202" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJC7vHAi6e8D8cY8xy_arPRKYeXiQeO8myywA6amIEfRJJXjQgc2feJ4k11R9mU0CI4FcW0YMYh6fN2lgw5UYFX3rDKc_-wKJisfGLuXjZCzgLFgMVFUdMs8IfDg9HqXUojCABRoZeBQOF/s200/yekuana+mom.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />You still find the unAfrikan practice of producing, teaching and growing babies not being seen as the most important revolutionary work in the Afrikan centered community...bros still distance themselves from their families and put "reasoning sessions" with other bros or work or lecturing or touring or any and everything else over spending time at home with the source of their immortality<br />Our Ancestors said "if the child does not know his father the world is upside down"...while fatherhood was not the equivalent of motherhood it was seen as essential...with a wholistic view and way of living life children were intergrated into all aspects of it<br />Youth were not viewed as the property of the father and the sole responsibility of the mother<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtoK9TfoCdUJkqBlUvmNafEucVg6CoZ3Ujskh7TvbGn3x-iiII272-BMOxx4H-WxXEX-eEgak1fF5U1dOhvFoKAi-vedfpXIwu4QDn_GnAY2EfBmp0MHSaPMoII8-02GeHfI-dnfYa8VfB/s1600-h/ancestralmothers.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5188464975579702242" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtoK9TfoCdUJkqBlUvmNafEucVg6CoZ3Ujskh7TvbGn3x-iiII272-BMOxx4H-WxXEX-eEgak1fF5U1dOhvFoKAi-vedfpXIwu4QDn_GnAY2EfBmp0MHSaPMoII8-02GeHfI-dnfYa8VfB/s200/ancestralmothers.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Et cetera,et cetera, et cetera....but enough ranting *smile*...what I teach my children is truth...is that we, we as in black, brown and red women of the world are the Source of all that we can see and all that we cannot see...every tree, every herb, every sacred stone, every planet and every star came from the fertile soil of our wombs and the juicy ripeness of our vaginas...there is nothing that is not the child of the Mother Goddess and we are she...research Her, with Her many names...Isis, Auset, Ishtar, Inanna, Lilith and you will see us looking back at you....listen to her stories, her myths, the oral history about her and you will hear the stories of our lives repeated again and again...look at the world alllll around you and you will feel the love of a mother for those she has brough forth<br /><br />I teach my dawtas not to ever live in shame, not to ever feel cursed by their bodies or their beauty because it is the attraction to this same beauty that creates life ALL LIFE<br /><br />I teach them never to feel that they have to cover that which is our reason for being here, unless they feel so inclined<br /><br />I teach them that their sexuality is a sacred and wholy gift bestowed upon them along with the wisdom to use it properly and with love and ecstasy always and all ways<br />I teach my dawtas..."as it harm none, do as you will"...because truth and oneness with the universe creates a purity of heart that does not require endless rules and regulations<br /><br />And these things , this truth, this love, this living in the beauty of reality and relaxing in the loving arms of the Wombniverse allows them the opportunity to be the amazing Children of Light that you see, and that they areYeYe: Sweet Motherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12781408887250549136noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2739027843259036817.post-6929445859852210522008-04-04T11:13:00.007-05:002008-04-12T16:32:50.843-05:00Unschooling-Being Guided as opposed to Leading<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwAXHgnv40lwz_d2ij4kWPJt-7wKdTEc4wFbMYFxiru_0IqMOg3Y4r07iyyBzldbQZxEt5ILN1izc6JDWZyTaXuI6MkGTAzRi-82bNSAglqvZrgiP0T1v0cjAVykuMlQMWps8dzy7bn5az/s1600-h/asabi+and+fas.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5185425469093179266" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwAXHgnv40lwz_d2ij4kWPJt-7wKdTEc4wFbMYFxiru_0IqMOg3Y4r07iyyBzldbQZxEt5ILN1izc6JDWZyTaXuI6MkGTAzRi-82bNSAglqvZrgiP0T1v0cjAVykuMlQMWps8dzy7bn5az/s200/asabi+and+fas.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div>Owner of Keeyshas Kreations asks...</div><br /><br /><br /><div><em></em></div><br /><br /><br /><div><em>Greetings Queen,I have been homeschooling for 4 years now and my eldest daughter who is now 7 has always been advanced academically for her age. I wanted to know what teachings have you implemented in your schooling maninly in the subjest of History. Right now Wysdum is deep into Khemtic studies. This is her favorite subject right now. I am just providing the resources. I am not teaching her history in a chronological order right now. I am just letting her pick and choose, but every now and then I feel like she may be missing something. Her math is at a 3rd grade level, her reading is at a 3-4th grade level. I just don't want to overwhelm her and cause "burn out" Do you have any suggestions?Peace</em></div><div><em></em></div><div><em></em></div><div></div><div>Using my soon to be 18 year old and my own 38 year old self as examples I must say that we retain that material that we LOVE and are allowed to discover and understand at our own personal pace</div><div></div><div></div><div>Not only is this true...but when we allow our youth to lead their learning, no time is wasted, much much much less time is spent on disciplining and motivating them therefore they achieve much more than they do when we force them to learn those things that we have deemed important</div><div></div><div></div><div>Western Indo-European Patriarchal society teaches not to trust our children</div><div>Teaches us that they are stupid, they are lazy, they are manipulative, they are unruly, they are dangerous</div><div></div><div>We as parents are made to feel that we have to control and contain our children</div><div></div><div>Staying at home with our babies teaches us the truth</div><div>That every child's deepest desire is to please his parents and be a productive member of the society he was born into</div><div>That every child has a unique destiny he was born to fulfill and from the minute he is conceived he is ACTIVELY working towards fulfilling that very unique, very personal destiny</div><div>That our children are Highly Intelligent, Motivated with boundless energy and eager to learn new things each and every minute</div><div>And our role as parents is to have the resources available that allow them to learn those things they are interested and to make sure they are safe and that their basic needs and met</div><div>We do not have to guide their learning...we have to allow ourselves to be guided</div><div></div><div></div><div>It is not possible to live in this modern world and not have a rudimentary understanding of math, reading and science....include your children in your daily activities and they will pick these things up naturally...just as they walk and talk and use the toilet and eat with utensils...they will look around them and see what is the norm in their family and imitate it...this is how life continues....a beautiful cycle created by the Ancestral Mothers...we do not have to re-invent it, we only have to use it properly</div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSyWN4Xptht4QhsJaRmEg7AAX8cas4-oFkpXrhAPRvRiacwQjZOYyHlQ-L-HYta6GNuQ9K3WPfGcOGCa7TDxi9PVsV453z7iXplSvjEWHn68__D-UIfMDMLtvICmALFVcXG1wO9pojdjZf/s1600-h/Picture+490.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5185426336676573074" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSyWN4Xptht4QhsJaRmEg7AAX8cas4-oFkpXrhAPRvRiacwQjZOYyHlQ-L-HYta6GNuQ9K3WPfGcOGCa7TDxi9PVsV453z7iXplSvjEWHn68__D-UIfMDMLtvICmALFVcXG1wO9pojdjZf/s200/Picture+490.jpg" border="0" /></a></div><div>For the study of history, I make sure that many world history books are available for my youth...these can be purchased at any used book store or at Half.com</div><div>I also make sure and provide my children with the history behind current events...the war in Iraq for example</div><div>I speak truth to my children and do not sugar coat any current or historical event to fit a particular political or world view</div><div>I provided the world history behind our own family practices...the historical reasons we are vegan, we home school, we wear nappy hair...et cetera</div><div>When asked a sincere question by my youth...I give sincere and truthful answers and I provide the history behind them</div><div></div><div>When they are reading world history I make sure that they are considering the perspectives of our Afrikan and Native American ancestors because our perspectives usually are not given in world history books and I provide them with reading that gives our perspectives</div><div>books like <strong><em>Roots and Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee</em></strong></div><div></div><div>I also make sure that my youth have an understanding of the position and contributions of women in our society and do not take it or themselves for granted...I do not and therefore they do not assume that all significant events were led by men</div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcYVHIMXBDNuTZtr6lm1xoTrEQhtHwIBI1QTN2Cwhg41-fTfd30gY-SbR-e6jfZBHMRM_Sk6T1lxowWSiGLE_zkbV2XGhAm7go3pqrjWcCw5b9dZULOF5k8r2mjqsqVtBl7RlQDiYyioo-/s1600-h/Picture+523.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5185426972331732898" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcYVHIMXBDNuTZtr6lm1xoTrEQhtHwIBI1QTN2Cwhg41-fTfd30gY-SbR-e6jfZBHMRM_Sk6T1lxowWSiGLE_zkbV2XGhAm7go3pqrjWcCw5b9dZULOF5k8r2mjqsqVtBl7RlQDiYyioo-/s200/Picture+523.jpg" border="0" /></a></div><div>As long as you continue to allow lil Wysdum to guide her learning, you can be assured that she will remain motivated and will retain that information which is relevant to the fulfillment of her destiny...history does not have to be taught chronologically in order to be relevant</div><div></div><div>She is not missing anything and IF she is...there will always be time for her to pick it up later</div><div></div><div>When I first started home schooling, I worked hard to make our environment a School in Our Home...we had a room set aside, set times for this, permission to go to bathroom...posters on the wall to motivate and on and on </div><div>It was not the children who burned out...it was me</div><div>By bringing the poisonous toxic Western education mindset into our home, I created an environment that I did not like and did not enjoy being a part of</div><div>So I relaxed...I meditated , I breathed, I prayed and I submitted to the fact that it is okay to trust my children</div><div>And that they would learn, were learning ALL the time whether they were seated at a desk or not and that just as I as their mother knew when they were hungry or tired or overwhelmed </div><div>I would know when they needed extra help in this area or more information in that area</div><div>Trust yourself mama and above all trust your child</div><div></div><br /><br /><br /><div><em></em></div><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><br /><div></div>YeYe: Sweet Motherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12781408887250549136noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2739027843259036817.post-81918539615246816992008-03-16T20:43:00.005-05:002008-03-16T21:10:33.465-05:00Ona Osun-Roads of Oshun<div><br /></div><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj33uqEFqON8hu_jvvd7xsMy5Foi10o2-3DX322YfeqFD0vj8T3JHgCqJhEUPd8SkCvZqQWWJNT4QB3mez5WSfSNpYtVOwrdQuTlcjVEsUALwE2drcJxFhj5kVDISi2JycKtNo3xqOJh3V/s1600-h/dismalswamp.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5178522256533762338" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj33uqEFqON8hu_jvvd7xsMy5Foi10o2-3DX322YfeqFD0vj8T3JHgCqJhEUPd8SkCvZqQWWJNT4QB3mez5WSfSNpYtVOwrdQuTlcjVEsUALwE2drcJxFhj5kVDISi2JycKtNo3xqOJh3V/s200/dismalswamp.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div><em><strong>"One of your god children referred me to you. I recently received my osun> pot - not initiated yet -just had to receive her and her pathe is Osun Ibu> Oddoi - she represents the dry river bed and her crown contains a> sunflower. Do you know any more about this road? I look forward to learning> from you...you are inspiration your blogs are filled with ofo ase!"</strong></em></div><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><br /><div></div></div><br /><div><br /></div><br /><p>I am not familiar with this road but it sounds like two roads that I am familiar with</p><br /><div><br /></div><br /><p>the road Ibu Kole....which is the road of Oshun representing the muddy depths of the river</p><br /><div><br /></div><br /><p>In Ibu Kole we see a side of Oshun that departs from how she is usually depicted in that she is old and has but one dress that was bright yellow but has become almost white from constant washing and wearing, in this road her companion is a vulture which also teaches her the secrets of sorcery and witchcraft</p><br /><div><br /></div><br /><p>the road Ololodi...which is the road in which the Oshun meets the sea and I have also heard described as the road which represents the waters under the ground...a sistah friend who is a priestess of Yemonja also spoke to me of a road of Yemonja by the same name and we wondered whether or not Ololodi was a road that Yemonja and Oshun share...we decided that in truth you cannot separate the waters and that Yemonja and Oshun flow together over and under the Earth whenever they get the chance</p><br /><div><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzFBLT_e40tPQXQeDDDNwLUuRdiHryCXSSvM-UsyCsLLreJIoFBUciIi-_htO8oZ8BeRm0H8270qBrfGysRBn8U0juBvzDgVKwTuDcnuMSsDukXTThVY-KcfoSdkLxpyO3RWMjIb1REx-D/s1600-h/duck+river+at+home.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5178526564385960258" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzFBLT_e40tPQXQeDDDNwLUuRdiHryCXSSvM-UsyCsLLreJIoFBUciIi-_htO8oZ8BeRm0H8270qBrfGysRBn8U0juBvzDgVKwTuDcnuMSsDukXTThVY-KcfoSdkLxpyO3RWMjIb1REx-D/s200/duck+river+at+home.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><p></p><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjlFtUl0UtvPG2lhyHPeGkbDTUyiU2_LfMCv73r9c7xGjlXp1oGPNxL8euOgw3AS0QGWmedfHFwsstpp5Z8EOhQnOQi87Iqegd4cto3uABHhD90W6KeuRpRQnDWgltvYG50iotPER-32Zh/s1600-h/fallcreekfalls.jpg"></a></div><br /><div></div><br /><div>The roads of Orisha represent the different ways in which they manifest themselves on the Earth , in the case of Oshun that would be rivers, lakes , lagoons , waterfalls et cetera</div><div> </div><div>Roads of an Orisha are also indicative of initiates of the Orisha who made their marks on the world in a particular way...for example an Oshun priestess who was particularly adept at the womanly art of witchcraft may have been called IbuKole, when she passed away and her descendents elevated her departed spirit to the level of Orisha she merged with Oshun and became a "road" of Oshun</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>I pray that this is my reality when I pass into the Ancestral realm...*smile*</div><br /><div></div><br /><div><br /></div><br /><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjlFtUl0UtvPG2lhyHPeGkbDTUyiU2_LfMCv73r9c7xGjlXp1oGPNxL8euOgw3AS0QGWmedfHFwsstpp5Z8EOhQnOQi87Iqegd4cto3uABHhD90W6KeuRpRQnDWgltvYG50iotPER-32Zh/s1600-h/fallcreekfalls.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5178523695347806514" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjlFtUl0UtvPG2lhyHPeGkbDTUyiU2_LfMCv73r9c7xGjlXp1oGPNxL8euOgw3AS0QGWmedfHFwsstpp5Z8EOhQnOQi87Iqegd4cto3uABHhD90W6KeuRpRQnDWgltvYG50iotPER-32Zh/s200/fallcreekfalls.jpg" border="0" /></a></p>YeYe: Sweet Motherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12781408887250549136noreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2739027843259036817.post-88639248975606586812008-03-11T21:23:00.007-05:002009-02-15T12:29:16.460-06:00Iwure to Your Highest Self<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZsmgREGfo-FQ0ctyjpynr1SkWNpCtyL4PQRwxrFVYK5l7pZ9piOr59TnMP4-pgnicsuFvjKxkZBNkwz9EVyy_bu1ZoZY5cfDv0yr3gHP5mU1fBR1wJbojiDfCXprcGVnM6Eg2xwtJvoN_/s1600-h/oshun+river.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5176678933879730450" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZsmgREGfo-FQ0ctyjpynr1SkWNpCtyL4PQRwxrFVYK5l7pZ9piOr59TnMP4-pgnicsuFvjKxkZBNkwz9EVyy_bu1ZoZY5cfDv0yr3gHP5mU1fBR1wJbojiDfCXprcGVnM6Eg2xwtJvoN_/s200/oshun+river.jpg" border="0" /></a> <strong><em>Odo Oshun-River Oshun</em></strong><br /><br /><em></em><br /><em></em><br /><em></em><br /><em></em><br /><em></em><br /><em></em><br /><em></em><br /><em>Sista,</em><br /><br /><br /><em>Would you give us the ori prayer, the one that means, "it is ori alone that accompanies me on my journey....</em><br /><br /><br /><em>"Give thanks!"</em><br /><br /><p></p><p><strong><em></em></strong></p><br /><br /><em></em><br /><br /><br />Our Ancestors were skilled in the art of <em>iwure</em>, meaning literally "<em>to pull ire to you"</em>...<br /><br /><br /><em>Ire</em> is the Yoruba word for blessings, good fortune, goodness<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Iwure is sometimes translated as the English word 'prayer'...however, the concept of iwure involves not only an asking the Universe for what you need and want but also a rearranging of your life so that you are in the best position to receive your blessings and being open and willing to receive your blessings<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />An iwure that I was taught by the Medahochi Kofi Omowale Zannu, who passed away last year, (iba ara torun-we pay homage to the citizens of the spiritual realm) assists us in gaining a more productive and closer connection to our Highest Self , called in Yoruba the <em>ori</em><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Ori is the Yoruba word for head and according to our Ancestors the head is where the Highest Self dwells...our Ancestors said that it is our Ori that leads us onto the physical plane (by being the first part of our bodies to issue forth from our mothers' wombs) and that the Ori holds our destiny and assists us in fulfilling it<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><em>Ori nikan</em><br /><br /><br /><em>Lo to alason</em><br /><br /><br /><em>Barokun</em><br /><br /><br /><em>Ori mi iwo ni</em><br /><br /><br /><em>Bimo ba lowo lowo</em><br /><br /><br /><em>Ori ni oro fun</em><br /><br /><br /><em>Ori mi iwo ni</em><br /><br /><br /><em>Bimo ba timo laiye</em><br /><br /><br /><em>Ori ni oro fun</em><br /><br /><br /><em>Ori mi iwo ni</em><br /><br /><br /><em>Ire gbogbo timo laiye </em><br /><br /><br /><em>Ori ni oro fun</em><br /><br /><br /><em>Ori mi iwo ni</em><br /><br /><br /><em></em><br /><br /><br />It is Ori alone who will accompany the devotee on a distant journey (the journey of life) without turning back<br /><br /><br />If I have money it is Ori I will praise<br /><br /><br />My Ori it is you<br /><br /><br />If I have children on earth, it is Ori to whom I will give the praise<br /><br /><br />My Ori it is you<br /><br /><br />All good things that I have on earth, it is Ori to whom I will give the praise<br /><br /><br />My Ori it is youYeYe: Sweet Motherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12781408887250549136noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2739027843259036817.post-66739520814915837692008-03-09T21:31:00.004-05:002008-03-09T22:23:16.561-05:00Integrating the Orisha into the lives of those who follow other paths...<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRzPfMM2k6btiFOwGdFGFA7rCh0aYgaS2h8h_DnuZ-85DSZF9yqE283-LM8Db6lF5N-TOF65qJvWsua4vCGpFKKeGaojBxjEh3fliorJlKVBr6mI_B6NYRotRKjg5auRYoiZAd60SR9pxP/s1600-h/as+nefertari.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5175947668452946178" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRzPfMM2k6btiFOwGdFGFA7rCh0aYgaS2h8h_DnuZ-85DSZF9yqE283-LM8Db6lF5N-TOF65qJvWsua4vCGpFKKeGaojBxjEh3fliorJlKVBr6mI_B6NYRotRKjg5auRYoiZAd60SR9pxP/s200/as+nefertari.jpg" border="0" /></a> <div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div>My dear Sistah Goddess Raet...mommy, phenomenal woman and author of <a href="http://afrikanparenting.com/">Holistic Parenting from the Pan Afrikan Perspective</a> says...</div><br /><div><em></em></div><br /><div><em>Great post, I have a question, "What advice can you give to parents who are not initiates of the orisha tradition, but still want to the Orisha to be a part of their children's lives?" </em></div><br /><br /><div><em>Raet</em></div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><div>Well those who do not use the Yoruba tradition as their primary spiritual system can still intergrate the names and qualities of the Orisha into the lives of their youth by teaching them to the children as Forces of Nature. For example, explaining to a child on a windy day that the force they are experiencing was called Oya by some of our West Afrikan Ancestors or sharing that the ocean's name was Yemonja in ancient West Afrika.</div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div>Afrikans are part of a global family as well as a global majority. We exemplify this to our children when we acknowledge all Afrikans as Afrikans and as our sisters and brothers and we do this when we respect and teach as many Afrikan spiritual systems as we can to our youth as well. </div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div>I feel that it is important for my children who are raised in the Yoruba system to understand that RasTafari is an Afrikan tradition, Voodoo and Hoodoo are Afrikan traditions, the Akom system is Afrikan, and the KMTic system is ours as well. </div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><div>When we teach our children this oneness we also assist them in not feeling alone or singled out or abnormal. We help them to understand their place in the Universe.</div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><div>I suggesst giving your youth several Afrikan names for the same phenomena...fresh water is known as Oshun in the Yoruba language, Het Heru in KMT, Tingoi in Sierra Leone, Faro in Gambia; the ocean is Agwe in Haiti, Naete in Dahomey (Benin),Olokun in the land of the Fon and so on.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>I also suggest making those parts of any Afrikan system that is moving to you , part of your normal worship routine. My children and I perform libation in the Yoruba language, chant oriki (praise chants) to our personal orisha, recite the Yoruba pledge as created by <a href="http://www.oyotunjiafricanvillage.org/">Kabiyesi (iba ara torun) of Oyotunji Village for the Royal Academy</a> and then we chant a KMTic hesi and utter the 42 negative confessions of Maat as part of our morning ritual. Throughout the day we listen to RasTafari music as well as Native American and East Indian music to keep ourselves grounded and uplifted.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>As mothers and fathers it is imperative to be in tune with the behavior of your youth and then implement whatever ancient Afrikan practice you feel would be effective in managing this behavior. Sometimes this may be a ritual from the spiritual practice that guides your life, sometimes it may come from another part of our vast Afrikan tradition. Do NOT be afraid to claim that which is yours. Pull wisdom from all corners of the Earth...the tradition of any brown people is yours to use. </div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Any and all resources must be used to actually raise, uplift and fortify our children this is THE REVOLUTION.</div><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><br /><div></div>YeYe: Sweet Motherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12781408887250549136noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2739027843259036817.post-46009670113852590152008-02-29T10:07:00.004-06:002008-03-04T12:22:36.372-06:00Raising Children In Orisha...Increasing the Ashe Of Conception-Fertility<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu3y4uWKSBaLxt0F9EuB0plvSgPsB2YohqT9ofjmDfA48Nw_dsHtEtnRIDLYmCenUX8-ta4b_KcjqTGFQJf98bvsQBBczDV86qu4uo97cLjU7iZs9tFzsmj_i5ZMtyA-6oKB1pOU-l_JgJ/s1600-h/2006+fertility+goddess.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5172444334052758546" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu3y4uWKSBaLxt0F9EuB0plvSgPsB2YohqT9ofjmDfA48Nw_dsHtEtnRIDLYmCenUX8-ta4b_KcjqTGFQJf98bvsQBBczDV86qu4uo97cLjU7iZs9tFzsmj_i5ZMtyA-6oKB1pOU-l_JgJ/s200/2006+fertility+goddess.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>As my Sistah Goddess says in her piece <a href="http://www.hwproductions.org/productions/productions_WWSL.htm">"Why Won't She Leave?"</a>..."perception is such a funny thing"</div><div></div><div>Perception is funny and powerful</div><div>How we perceive life and our place in it determines how free we feel to live our lives</div><div></div><div>Being a devotee of the Orisha requires a return to an ancient way of perceiving...or regaining the perspective of our Ancestors</div><div></div><div>Throughout the day I ask myself "how would my Ancestors have viewed this ?"...it helps me to be aware of the magick in my life, the presence of the Orisha all around me and to keep life simple yet luxurious and blissful</div><div>It is always helpful to delve deeply into your Ancestral psyche and allow it to guide you through the <em>awo</em> of life...the mysteries</div><div>Fertility...according to our Ancestors is the greatest mystery...the deepest <em>awo</em></div><div>I remember reading <em><strong>Tell My Horse</strong>...</em>the first book I ever read on the Orisha tradition...the illustrious Ancestress Zora spoke of a ritual dance in which a priest continually asked a priestess "what is life?" and her answer every time was to lift her skirt and reveal her yoni...Zora concluded that there is no mystery greater than the mystery of life itself</div><div>Fertility is a state of openness, of oneness, of surrender to the Universe, of recognizing that you are not a caretaker of the Earth but a child of the Earth, a part of it, a mammal, an animal, another living creature</div><div>A state of realizing that as part of the Earth you operate according to the natural laws of the Earth</div><div>You cannot sidestep them or ignore them or attempt to change them without doing egregious harm to yourself, your body, your spirit and the Earth Herself</div><div>Fertility is a state of what our ancestors call <em>suuru</em>...a coolness, a calmness, a patience, the ability to wait for life to take place, the sureness that you are fulfilling your destiny</div><div></div><div>When you are seeking fertility, seek this mindset</div><div></div><div>Living with a knowledge that you are part of the Earth, grants you an overstanding that everything else that springs forth from the Earth is your kith and kin and like any real family stands ready and willing to help you in manifesting your Divine Destiny</div><div></div><div>Some of our Earth Siblings that help us to become fertile are</div><div><em>Ewe</em>-Leaves, Herbs</div><div><em>Otan-</em>Stones </div><div><em>Omi-</em>waters</div><div></div><div>Particular <em>ewe </em>and <em>otan</em> possess the <em>ashe</em>, the divine power of fertility, using them draws this <em>ashe</em> to us</div><div></div><div>Before listing the ewe and otan most useful in becoming fertile...I feel it necessary to STRESS that "No orisha blesses you without the consent of your Ori" according to the odu, the scriptural oral history of our Yoruba ancestors</div><div></div><div>Meaning, no herb, no sacred stone, no yogic position, no fertility procedure will be successful if you are not open and willing to receive it...attaining a cool, calm, peaceful open mindset of surrender is key. My personal mantra is "life is always right"...what life chooses to do, be it simple or difficult, is pushing me towards my destiny...knowing this and teaching it to myself on a day to day basis helps me to maintain and attain suuru</div><div></div><div>Okay...*claps hands together*...that being said</div><div></div><div>Useful ewe includes : </div><div><strong></strong></div><div><strong>Red raspberry leaf</strong>-tones the womb, assists with menstrual cramps, regulates menses, decreases nausea in early pregnancy, shortens labor</div><div><strong>Dandelion root-</strong>purifies blood, helps calcium retention and therefore boosts iron levels in blood, increases energy and positive outlook</div><div><strong>Damiana</strong>-increases libido, tonic for all sexual organs </div><div><strong>Red clover</strong>- purfiies blood, overall tonic for entire body</div><div></div><div> </div><div><a href="http://www.shop.healingearthlifeproducts.com/category.sc;jsessionid=53D58B63D169EC5550A06DB29E5C9252.qscweb22?categoryId=2">Kasimu Herbals-Healing Earth Life Products sells a wonderful pregnancy tea, created by mother/midwife/doula healer Naimah that includes these elements and many more...</a></div><div></div><div>Use ewe by pouring boiling water over a tablespoon of the dried herb and making a tea or infusion or by rubbing the fresh herb in between your hands while cool water is poured over them making <em>omiyero.</em> Tea or omiyero should be made fresh and consumed once a day. Drink at least two cups of this infusion for the best effect. Tea of course, must be allowed to steep to obtain a strong brew.</div><div></div><div> </div><div>Useful otan include:</div><div><strong>Moonstone:</strong> regulates menses, tones womb, calms womb and heals all womb issues, Yemonja's stone</div><div><strong>Rose Quartz:</strong> ultimate female stone, increases self love, increases self esteem, heightens sense of self worth, Oshun's stone</div><div><strong>Clear Quartz:</strong> brings clarity, heightens communication with Ori(Highest Self) and ancestors and orisha, Yemonja' stone</div><div><strong>Lapis Lazuli:</strong> attracts mothering, nurturing, caregiving energy, Yemonja/Olokun stone</div><div><strong></strong></div><div>Use otan by wearing them as amulets in any type of jewelry including waistbeads, rings, earrings, noserings, toerings, bracelets, armlets and anklets. Carry a stone in your bag or pocket at all times. Place stones upon your Ori shrine, your shrine to your highest self.</div><div></div><div> </div><div><a href="http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=122466411">Jewelry made using sacred stones is created by Sistah Goddess Selewa </a></div><div></div><div>and <a href="http://goddesscreates.blogspot.com/">Dawta Goddess Nailah</a></div><div></div><div> </div><div>Omi is used to attrack the Ashe of fertility by using it in the preparation of teas and or omiyero and by making sure that you are drinking lots and lots of it daily...at least a gallon of distilled is best yall. I know it seems like a whole lot but once you do it you will feel soo uplifted and at peace and well that you will KNOW it is just the right amount.</div><div> </div><div>Omi is also used to bathe, an act which removes not only physical dirt from our bodies, but which allows us to remove negativity from ourselves as well. </div><div>Remove physical and spiritual toxins by bathing daily in epsom or sea salt. </div><div>Those who live by the sea should bath in the sea daily. </div><div>Bathing is best done in early morning, in the darkness, by candle light, or the light of the rising sun. Remember that we all emerge from the watery abyss of the womb and we have the option of returning to it daily reminding ourselves that each day is a rebirth, an opportunity to do it all over again and make it better than yesterday.</div><div> </div><div>Fresh water is also sacred to the Yoruba Goddess of fertility Oshun. Oshun is the one who blesses the barren woman with children and makes her body swell like juicy palm fruit, according to our Ancestors. While bathing in fresh (not salted) water, ask Oshun to grant you children.</div><div> </div><div>Salt water is sacred to the Yoruba Goddess of motherhood, Yemonja. Yemonja is the owner of the oceans and seas and is the consumate mother. While bathing and purifying yourself in salt water ask Yemonja to imbue you with the ashe of motherhood.</div><div> </div><div>And finally, creating a family is a state of being "wide enough" called Ife by our Ancestors and often translated as the English love. A more accurate translation of the term however comes from the voices of our Ancestors themselves. When Obatala poured the sand onto the primordial waters to be spread about and create land he asked the chameleon to walk upon them to tell if they were wide enough for life yet. When the chameleon returned he uttered "ife", it is wide enough and so the place where life began is Ile Ife. </div><div>Therefore, when seeking to create a family we must make ourselves wide enough to hold them. We must make room for them ,create mental, emotional and psychic space for them. We must increase our generosity, our patience and our ability to share and be open to the vibrations of another in our space and in our lives. We must be open and ready for much sacrifice and full of love.</div><div> </div><div> </div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div>YeYe: Sweet Motherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12781408887250549136noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2739027843259036817.post-51292645871427664962008-02-19T13:54:00.007-06:002008-10-18T10:04:25.102-05:00Raising Children In Orisha...Step One-Conception<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGEQHSM_9cKZc6s-qJVP33isPGO2iIq-ogmPP-w6JRrpF3X9WRXTcXIsv50V0-FfxeTQDUGTVaL7KMkxKDdHcXpNqtP10UqSRSy40RCkNCiEAYf3rhVsVbsJSWdvy9r9V6w3JRmrym-_Hs/s1600-h/what+a+goddess+looks+like.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5172130845883846914" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGEQHSM_9cKZc6s-qJVP33isPGO2iIq-ogmPP-w6JRrpF3X9WRXTcXIsv50V0-FfxeTQDUGTVaL7KMkxKDdHcXpNqtP10UqSRSy40RCkNCiEAYf3rhVsVbsJSWdvy9r9V6w3JRmrym-_Hs/s200/what+a+goddess+looks+like.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div>From my bone marrow to my hair follicles I am Oshun's Child</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>This colors everything I do </div><br /><div><br />Everything I say</div><br /><div><br />Everything I am</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>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</div><br /><div><br /><br /></div><br /><div>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</div><br /><div><br /></div><br /><p align="center">To ignore Mother Culture you must look at life as it "IS"</p><br /><div><br /></div><br /><p align="center">I call it "Believing your eyes"</p><br /><div><br /></div><br /><p align="center">Many of the things we take as a given simply are not true when we look and believe what we see with our eyes</p><br /><div><br /></div><br /><p align="center">As opposed to looking and then convincing ourselves that we see something different</p><br /><div><br /></div><br /><p align="center">Convincing ourselves that the truth cannot be true because it does not validate our socialization</p><br /><div><br /></div><br /><p align="center"></p><br /><div><br /></div><br /><p align="center">Allow this to be the platform from which we discuss the topic </p><br /><div><br /></div><br /><p align="center"><em><strong>CONCEPTION</strong></em></p><br /><div>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. </div><br /><div><br /></div><br /><p align="center">Buddhist iconography imagines it as Yab Yum</p><br /><div><a href="http://www.wildweb.de/pianoeater/images/yabyum-black.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 323px; CURSOR: hand" height="333" alt="" src="http://www.wildweb.de/pianoeater/images/yabyum-black.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /></div><br /><div><br />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</div><br /><div><br /><a href="http://www.medalia.net/store/media/large/5378.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://www.medalia.net/store/media/large/5378.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><div><br /><br /></div><br /><div>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</div><br /><div><br /><br /></div><br /><div><a href="http://www.freewebs.com/cosmologies/Dahomey1.gif"><img style="WIDTH: 316px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 116px" height="89" alt="" src="http://www.freewebs.com/cosmologies/Dahomey1.gif" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><div><br />Our Ancestors, then, operated from the enlightened viewpoint that Life itself on every level is a sexual thing. </div><br /><div><br /></div><br /><div align="left"></div><br /><div><br /></div><br /><div align="left">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". </div><br /><div><br /></div><br /><div align="left"></div><br /><div><br /></div><br /><div align="left">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. </div><br /><br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />For me, the first step in Raising my children in the reality of Orisha was beginning to understand conception on this very basic level.<br /><br />When it is the result of two individuals <strong>deep desire for one another</strong> 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.<br /><br />Marriage does not make conception divine.<br /><br />Therefore, being unmarried does not make it un-divine, or bad or sinful.<br /><br />The fact that one conceives IS in and of itself DIVINE. Because it only takes place when it is Divinely Ordained.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />For those having difficulty conceiving...the next post will be<br /><strong>Increasing the Ashe of Conception</strong><br /><br /><br /><br /><div align="left"></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><div align="center"></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><div align="left"></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><div align="left"><br /></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><p align="center"></p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p align="center"></p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p align="center"></p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p align="center"></p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p align="center"></p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p align="center"></p></div>YeYe: Sweet Motherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12781408887250549136noreply@blogger.com378tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2739027843259036817.post-60545025451306849342008-02-14T22:49:00.000-06:002008-02-14T23:29:03.419-06:00The Far Reaching Rewards of UnschoolingA simple truth<br /><br /><br />We all would have achieved so much more if we had been left to our own devices instead of incarcerated for 12+ years in "school"<br /><br /><br />I watch and listen to my children and they never cease to AMAZE me with the things they are achieving at such tender ages<br /><br /><br />My eldest...the old soul who started me on this path has published her first book<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXMvsYZuD2J4R2UZ27eY6ojNYesgOF3BSKMbECWiIrCpvN1DDf-zq2fX28UjR3olxZVr7jRP-h1Npiv0BjSFsV0YldKgk7FvSmV9t_Rw36kC6NrfhhLQVIxoR73R7Gz1WgmnRKjt7ULQRX/s1600-h/life+without+art.bmp"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5167066173203763426" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXMvsYZuD2J4R2UZ27eY6ojNYesgOF3BSKMbECWiIrCpvN1DDf-zq2fX28UjR3olxZVr7jRP-h1Npiv0BjSFsV0YldKgk7FvSmV9t_Rw36kC6NrfhhLQVIxoR73R7Gz1WgmnRKjt7ULQRX/s320/life+without+art.bmp" border="0" /></a> read a preview here<a href="http://www.lulu.com/content/1615296">http://www.lulu.com/content/1615296</a><br />and is also creates wearable works of art like the earrings on her cover...<br /><br />And tonight...I realized that my second oldest can play anything by ear<br />ANY<br />THING...<br />She got a keyboard a few months ago and has gone online, found a song that is dear to her heart<br />Pachebel's Canon<br />And taught herself to play the beginning of the song...she cannot read music (yet) and has not had any formal training until last Sunday<br />When a counselor from her summer program begin giving her some lessons<br /><br />Whenever there is a free moment<br /> The child just sits there and plays<br />Beautifully<br /><br /><br />But tonight...after we had decided not to stay up any longer and to finish the raw strawberry cheesecake we were preparing tomorrow<br /><br />She bops in, in a typical sixteen year old way and says "Mommy watch this"<br />Picks up her baby sister's acoustic guitar<br /><br />Now my middle baby asked for a guitar for Winter Solstice about two years ago and Baba and I were able to make it happen<br />While we were living in Barbados, a sister friend who is a folks singer gave her some very very rudimentary training<br />She spends her time creating songs on the guitar and sometimes she and the older girl collaborate<br /><br />But back to tonight<br />Tonight my second oldest<br />The pianist *smile*<br />Picks up the acoustic guitar<br />And says with typical teenage nonchalance<br />Mommy, watch this<br />And plays Bob Marley's Redemption Song<br /><br />A piece which is , of course, nearer and dearer to me than Pachebel<br /><br />I made her play it five or six times, which of course embarassed her<br /><br />But...it is such a powerful example of what unschooling is and how it allows the mind the freedom to expand and evolveYeYe: Sweet Motherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12781408887250549136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2739027843259036817.post-88481622684432674042008-02-12T15:51:00.000-06:002008-02-14T13:56:51.565-06:00An Eighteen Year Veteran of Attachment Parenting, Breastfeeding and Home Schooling<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHiQEc3fTVU-GRWAiCMfPViVR7rXdxD9_dSlF3ouBZXWNYkiK_zhg6osTtUIUwdHFVYjBSkvVcI33pujwrqNKP15r0ZcOVay466vF_LODcCGJI1G2sCXqelbUJK2S7y1cji6JwPCp1hXvB/s1600-h/immortality.jpg"></a><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><span style="color:#3366ff;">Tell me what you want to know...<br />And I will see if I can help...<br />Seventeen years ago, I had the most miraculous, life changing, self affirming experience...I gave birth.<br />It wasn't perfect, there were problems<br />ALLLL kinds of problems<br />LOTS and<br />LOTS and<br />LOTS of problems<br />I was only 20...<br />I had taken a leave of absence from undergrad to give birth<br />At the behest of my mother and some of my more conservative friends, I had gotten married...a marriage that rapidly deteriorated to verbal and physical abuse<br />I had no job<br />I couldn't drive<br />And I had been raised to believe that<br />I was selfish<br />lazy<br />and impatient<br />BUT somehow the Most High saw fit to send me<br />to give me<br />to bless me with<br />this beautiful perfect little person who looked to me for<br />everything<br />It was the beginning of the most perfect love affair<br />and it catapulted me into adulthood and<br />womanhood<br />and goddesshood<br />It has been my experience that each child you carry and give birth to takes you to a higher level of<br />womanhood<br />And you learn something new and different and powerful about yourself with each pregnancy and birth as well<br />My oldest taught me that I was loving, and kind, and hard working and very very very patient<br />I studied, and researched, and asked questions and listened to the advice of my mother, my mother-in-law, my sisters, my sister-in-law and I strove to be the best possible mother I could be<br />I very quickly realized that the most informative source of how to be a good mother<br />Was<br />The Baby Herself!!!<br />She taught me to listen to myself<br />to listen to her<br />and listen to my heart<br />Years later<br />I have breastfed<br />home schooled<br />and attachment parented<br />four more wonderful children<br />from an Afrikan centered<br />Gynocentric (woman and child centered)<br />Goddess affirming perspective<br />For the past 15 of those years I have also been a priestess of the Munificent Mother YeYe Oshun<br />Leading and guiding individuals to the "door of their own understanding" as my Ajugbona the late Medahochi Kofi Zannu taught me ( Iba ara torun)<br />I administer Difas(readings), officiate at weddings, perform house cleansings, preside over naming ceremonies, and provide libations among many, many, many other things<br />My connection to the Yoruba culture was fostered by a lifelong interest in history<br />and learning of my own West Afrikan and Cherokee roots has also placed me in the position of griot of West Afrikan history and ways<br />Culminating in the writing of my book<br /></span><a href="http://stores.lulu.com/store.php?fAcctID=698889"><span style="color:#3366ff;">Ona Agbani: The Ancient Way</span></a><br /><span style="color:#3366ff;">Life has given me more than I ever thought possible<br />we have lived both in the US and abroad<br />my four oldest are professional performing artists<br />and my oldest is a published author at seventeen<br />I raised them in a way that is a radical departure from what we are taught to consider "normal"<br />and I didn't "break " them , nor are they spoiled brats<br />They are very sure of themselves and their place in the world<br /></span><div></div><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-IlSPyWvYYhWaPZm2CORL7yfaI5XXfrn2wigK_KSBmxMxl1J5HnBjBF4pw4dZKlIknhTzix2qQotaZRLs3MjYh2rHE4PFOCcn0oTCTUPNd_PdavupOEjZ8bULfkvAUw4Ct86UGx6HsUWW/s1600-h/immortality.jpg"></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJaUpG02X3YWSoYp2rpKA0YAtza8v8s43xIPx6cogBkwlaV973RfpOrBUXeCi1oaRFXz2cdzXARoJ3Rs50bLr3vDsaESrOqslqB7q67fgQvyly7tifrrKO_OmHyHZE9-NyqiCOLEegncaJ/s1600-h/me+and+mine.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5166216074621833346" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 275px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 187px" height="127" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJaUpG02X3YWSoYp2rpKA0YAtza8v8s43xIPx6cogBkwlaV973RfpOrBUXeCi1oaRFXz2cdzXARoJ3Rs50bLr3vDsaESrOqslqB7q67fgQvyly7tifrrKO_OmHyHZE9-NyqiCOLEegncaJ/s320/me+and+mine.jpg" width="275" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><br /></div><br /><br /><br /><div><span style="font-size:130%;color:#3366ff;"><strong></strong></span> </div><div><span style="color:#3366ff;">They are polite, sensitive, caring, responsible and talented</span></div><div><span style="color:#3366ff;"></span></div><div><span style="color:#3366ff;">I followed my heart, with them, for them and through them and it was the best possible decision I have ever made</span></div><div><span style="color:#3366ff;">It worked and it continues to work, for them and for me</span></div><div><span style="color:#3366ff;"></span></div><div><span style="color:#3366ff;">This blog is for those of you out there who have a deep desire to follow your heart, to heed your inner voice and to listen to your highest self</span></div><div><span style="color:#3366ff;"></span></div><div><span style="color:#3366ff;"></span></div><div><span style="color:#3366ff;"></span></div><div><span style="color:#3366ff;"></span></div><div><span style="color:#3366ff;">Look at this as a 'how to' guide to </span></div><div><span style="color:#3366ff;">A</span><span style="color:#3366ff;">ttachment Parenting</span></div><div><span style="color:#3366ff;">Home Schooling</span></div><div><span style="color:#3366ff;">Unschooling</span></div><div><span style="color:#3366ff;">Pagan Parenting</span></div><div><span style="color:#3366ff;">Raising Children in Orisha</span></div><div><span style="color:#3366ff;">Blending Families</span></div><div><span style="color:#3366ff;"></span></div><div><span style="color:#3366ff;">one thing that I've never had that I've always desparately wanted is a mentor</span></div><div><span style="color:#3366ff;">That is what I am seeking to be for you</span></div><div><span style="color:#3366ff;">A mentor</span></div><div><span style="color:#3366ff;">A supporter</span></div><div><span style="color:#3366ff;">A personal cheerleader</span></div><div><span style="color:#3366ff;">A non judgemental observer in your world</span></div><div><span style="color:#3366ff;">A voice in the wilderness crying with you so that you are not crying out alone</span></div><div><span style="color:#3366ff;">someone who has been there</span></div><div><span style="color:#3366ff;">who has made it through </span></div><div><span style="color:#3366ff;">the sleepless nights</span></div><div><span style="color:#3366ff;">the stares and the jeers</span></div><div><span style="color:#3366ff;">the loneliness</span></div><div><span style="color:#3366ff;">the burnout</span></div><div><span style="color:#3366ff;">the lack of understanding from grandma's and inlaws and husbands and boyfriends </span></div><div><span style="color:#3366ff;">the days of staying in bed cause you do not have the energy to wage war with the rest of the world anymore</span></div><div></div><div><span style="color:#3366ff;">someone who can let you know that everything is going to be alright</span></div><div><span style="color:#3366ff;">Better Than Alright</span></div><div><span style="color:#3366ff;">Everything is going to be GLORIOUS!!</span></div><div><span style="color:#3366ff;">It is possible, and normal and good to raise children and live life on your own terms</span></div><div><span style="color:#3366ff;"></span></div><div><span style="color:#3366ff;"></span></div><div><span style="color:#3366ff;">Now I place the ball in your court...</span></div><div><span style="color:#3366ff;">Tell me what you want to know</span></div><div><span style="color:#3366ff;">and I will try to help you</span></div><br /><div><span style="color:#3366ff;">questions</span></div><br /><br /><br /><div><span style="color:#3366ff;">comments</span></div><br /><br /><br /><div><span style="color:#3366ff;">answers???</span></div><br /><br /><br /><div><span style="color:#3366ff;"></span></div><br /><br /><br /><div><span style="color:#3366ff;">I want to hear from you</span></div><br /><br /><br /><div><span style="color:#3366ff;">I am waiting to hear from you</span></div><div align="center"></div><br /><br /><div><span style="color:#3366ff;"></span></div><br /><br /><div><span style="color:#3366ff;"></span></div><br /><br /><div><span style="color:#3366ff;"></span></div><br /><br /><div align="center"></div><br /><br /><br /><div><span style="color:#3366ff;"></span></div><br /><br /><br /><div><span style="color:#3366ff;"></span></div><br /><br /><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;color:#3366ff;"></span></div></div>YeYe: Sweet Motherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12781408887250549136noreply@blogger.com8