Awo Study Center V.3 .::Initiations::.

The purpose of initiation is to give the initiate a direct experience of connection with Spirit. This involves putting the initiate in an altered state of consciousness commonly called possession. Contrary to Western believe, possession is not the intrusion of Spirit into consciousness from another realm. The Yoruba word used to describe the altered state experienced during initiation is ini meaning I am. This suggests that possession is an expression of the higher self, it is a process of unlocking frequently unused and inaccessible portions of the brain that expand our ability to perceive self and world.   Initiation does two things to accomplish this goal, it first aligns the initiates ori and ori inu meaning self and inner self. In psychological terms this means aligning the head and the heart by removing internal emotional contradictions. When the initiate places the ori and the ori inu in alignment the door is open for an experience of connection with the higher self. In the Yoruba language the higher self is called the iponri. The quality of the experience of connection with iponri for the initiate is shaped by the invocations chanted by the elders who are performing the ritual and it is enhanced by the collective ase(spiritual power) projected on to the initiate by the elders during initiation.   Connection with iponri can lead to an experience called Laelae. In the Yoruba language Laelaeis the word used to describe the mystical experience of connection with Source. The experience is usually an unexpected blessing from Creation to those who actively engage in the process of developing iwa-pele(good charactering.)
Initiation sanctions the initiate to study the sacred technology associated with a specific Spirit as it is understood in by the ancestral wisdom of traditional Yoruba culture. The purpose of sacred technology is to develop and maintain the link between human consciousness and the influence of invisible forces from the Spirit Realm as the basis for developing iwa-pele.. There can be no effective training of sacred technology without some direct connection to Spirit. This is the foundation for the understanding of the metaphysical principles that are used to organized our sacred scripture called Odu Ifa.
          I have a concern about making sure effective initiation is available to those students of Ifa/Orisa who have supported the Awo Study Center. For those students who are interested in receiving Ifa and or Orisa based on the initiation process I have learned from my elders in Ode Remo Nigeria information on how to begin this process is now available from Iyanifa Fasegun Fatunmbi osomina@hotmail.com
          My commitment to this process is to make the fees reasonable and to insure that the initiates receive the training they need to function fully as elders in their own communities. For those who are initiated who want to learn the initiation process for both Ifa and Orisa. Awo Falokun Fatunmbi makes the following initiations:

Iyanifa Fasegun does the following initiations with the assistance of Awo Falokun Fatunmbi:
Iyanifa

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