Unschooling-Being Guided as opposed to Leading

Owner of Keeyshas Kreations asks...

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

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

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

Western Indo-European Patriarchal society teaches not to trust our children

Teaches us that they are stupid, they are lazy, they are manipulative, they are unruly, they are dangerous

We as parents are made to feel that we have to control and contain our children

Staying at home with our babies teaches us the truth

That every child's deepest desire is to please his parents and be a productive member of the society he was born into

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

That our children are Highly Intelligent, Motivated with boundless energy and eager to learn new things each and every minute

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

We do not have to guide their learning...we have to allow ourselves to be guided

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

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

I also make sure and provide my children with the history behind current events...the war in Iraq for example

I speak truth to my children and do not sugar coat any current or historical event to fit a particular political or world view

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

When asked a sincere question by my youth...I give sincere and truthful answers and I provide the history behind them

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

books like Roots and Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee

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

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

She is not missing anything and IF she is...there will always be time for her to pick it up later

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

It was not the children who burned out...it was me

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

So I relaxed...I meditated , I breathed, I prayed and I submitted to the fact that it is okay to trust my children

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

I would know when they needed extra help in this area or more information in that area

Trust yourself mama and above all trust your child

Ona Osun-Roads of Oshun

"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!"

I am not familiar with this road but it sounds like two roads that I am familiar with

the road Ibu Kole....which is the road of Oshun representing the muddy depths of the river

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

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

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

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

I pray that this is my reality when I pass into the Ancestral realm...*smile*

Iwure to Your Highest Self

Odo Oshun-River Oshun








Sista,


Would you give us the ori prayer, the one that means, "it is ori alone that accompanies me on my journey....


"Give thanks!"

Our Ancestors were skilled in the art of iwure, meaning literally "to pull ire to you"...


Ire is the Yoruba word for blessings, good fortune, goodness





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





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 ori





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





Ori nikan


Lo to alason


Barokun


Ori mi iwo ni


Bimo ba lowo lowo


Ori ni oro fun


Ori mi iwo ni


Bimo ba timo laiye


Ori ni oro fun


Ori mi iwo ni


Ire gbogbo timo laiye


Ori ni oro fun


Ori mi iwo ni





It is Ori alone who will accompany the devotee on a distant journey (the journey of life) without turning back


If I have money it is Ori I will praise


My Ori it is you


If I have children on earth, it is Ori to whom I will give the praise


My Ori it is you


All good things that I have on earth, it is Ori to whom I will give the praise


My Ori it is you

Integrating the Orisha into the lives of those who follow other paths...

My dear Sistah Goddess Raet...mommy, phenomenal woman and author of Holistic Parenting from the Pan Afrikan Perspective says...

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?"

Raet

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 Kabiyesi (iba ara torun) of Oyotunji Village for the Royal Academy 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.

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.

Any and all resources must be used to actually raise, uplift and fortify our children this is THE REVOLUTION.

Raising Children In Orisha...Increasing the Ashe Of Conception-Fertility

As my Sistah Goddess says in her piece "Why Won't She Leave?"..."perception is such a funny thing"

Perception is funny and powerful

How we perceive life and our place in it determines how free we feel to live our lives

Being a devotee of the Orisha requires a return to an ancient way of perceiving...or regaining the perspective of our Ancestors

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

It is always helpful to delve deeply into your Ancestral psyche and allow it to guide you through the awo of life...the mysteries

Fertility...according to our Ancestors is the greatest mystery...the deepest awo

I remember reading Tell My Horse...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

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

A state of realizing that as part of the Earth you operate according to the natural laws of the Earth

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

Fertility is a state of what our ancestors call suuru...a coolness, a calmness, a patience, the ability to wait for life to take place, the sureness that you are fulfilling your destiny

When you are seeking fertility, seek this mindset

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

Some of our Earth Siblings that help us to become fertile are

Ewe-Leaves, Herbs

Otan-Stones

Omi-waters

Particular ewe and otan possess the ashe, the divine power of fertility, using them draws this ashe to us

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

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

Okay...*claps hands together*...that being said

Useful ewe includes :

Red raspberry leaf-tones the womb, assists with menstrual cramps, regulates menses, decreases nausea in early pregnancy, shortens labor

Dandelion root-purifies blood, helps calcium retention and therefore boosts iron levels in blood, increases energy and positive outlook

Damiana-increases libido, tonic for all sexual organs

Red clover- purfiies blood, overall tonic for entire body

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...

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 omiyero. 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.

Useful otan include:

Moonstone: regulates menses, tones womb, calms womb and heals all womb issues, Yemonja's stone

Rose Quartz: ultimate female stone, increases self love, increases self esteem, heightens sense of self worth, Oshun's stone

Clear Quartz: brings clarity, heightens communication with Ori(Highest Self) and ancestors and orisha, Yemonja' stone

Lapis Lazuli: attracts mothering, nurturing, caregiving energy, Yemonja/Olokun stone

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.

Jewelry made using sacred stones is created by Sistah Goddess Selewa

and Dawta Goddess Nailah

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.

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.

Remove physical and spiritual toxins by bathing daily in epsom or sea salt.

Those who live by the sea should bath in the sea daily.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Raising Children In Orisha...Step One-Conception

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

This colors everything I do

Everything I say

Everything I am

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

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

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

I call it "Believing your eyes"

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

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

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

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

CONCEPTION

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

Buddhist iconography imagines it as Yab Yum

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Marriage does not make conception divine.

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

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

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

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

The Far Reaching Rewards of Unschooling

A simple truth


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"


I watch and listen to my children and they never cease to AMAZE me with the things they are achieving at such tender ages


My eldest...the old soul who started me on this path has published her first book
read a preview herehttp://www.lulu.com/content/1615296
and is also creates wearable works of art like the earrings on her cover...

And tonight...I realized that my second oldest can play anything by ear
ANY
THING...
She got a keyboard a few months ago and has gone online, found a song that is dear to her heart
Pachebel's Canon
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
When a counselor from her summer program begin giving her some lessons

Whenever there is a free moment
The child just sits there and plays
Beautifully


But tonight...after we had decided not to stay up any longer and to finish the raw strawberry cheesecake we were preparing tomorrow

She bops in, in a typical sixteen year old way and says "Mommy watch this"
Picks up her baby sister's acoustic guitar

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
While we were living in Barbados, a sister friend who is a folks singer gave her some very very rudimentary training
She spends her time creating songs on the guitar and sometimes she and the older girl collaborate

But back to tonight
Tonight my second oldest
The pianist *smile*
Picks up the acoustic guitar
And says with typical teenage nonchalance
Mommy, watch this
And plays Bob Marley's Redemption Song

A piece which is , of course, nearer and dearer to me than Pachebel

I made her play it five or six times, which of course embarassed her

But...it is such a powerful example of what unschooling is and how it allows the mind the freedom to expand and evolve