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By understanding osogbo, the spirits of misfortune, we can better overcome them and return to health and balance in our lives
* Explains how misfortune works in this world as living spirits that plague humanity but are also a catalyst for self-development and conscious evolution
* Shows that we can overcome osogbo through ebo, sacrifice, and hard work as prescribed by consulting the orishas through the casting of the diloggun
* Shares more than 40 ancient African sacred stories about the spirits of osogbo
Beginning with the story of his goddaughter's battle with stage IV cancer, Lucumi priest Ocha'ni Lele explains the role of osogbo, or misfortune, in our lives. While everyone seeks blessings in life, undeserved blessings make us weak and lazy. It is tragedy that encourages us to grow and persevere. Exploring the Lucumi beliefs regarding osogbo, he shows that the Lucumi faith is neither fatalistic nor defeatist but healing and life affirming. He shares more than 40 patakis--stories stemming from the ancient Yoruba of West Africa--about the different spirits of osogbo, who like the orishas once walked the earth in human bodies. He explains the place of these spirits within the 256 odu of the diloggun, the divination system used in Santeria to receive guidance from the orishas.
Lele shows that the spirits of osogbo are not only concepts but also real deities and that we can, if we understand their nature, fight them through ebo, sacrifice, and hard work. He reveals how the osogbos see themselves as entities of misfortune who stand against life and all that is good in the world, but in truth it is misfortune that strengthens us, misfortune that motivates us, and misfortune that brings great evolution to the world. As the author shows, "Without bitterness, one could not know sweetness." Likewise, without misfortune in our lives, we would never know blessings or what it means to be blessed.
By understanding osogbo, the spirits of misfortune, we can better overcome them and return to health and balance in our lives
* Explains how misfortune works in this world as living spirits that plague humanity but are also a catalyst for self-development and conscious evolution
* Shows that we can overcome osogbo through ebo, sacrifice, and hard work as prescribed by consulting the orishas through the casting of the diloggun
* Shares more than 40 ancient African sacred stories about the spirits of osogbo
Beginning with the story of his goddaughter's battle with stage IV cancer, Lucumi priest Ocha'ni Lele explains the role of osogbo, or misfortune, in our lives. While everyone seeks blessings in life, undeserved blessings make us weak and lazy. It is tragedy that encourages us to grow and persevere. Exploring the Lucumi beliefs regarding osogbo, he shows that the Lucumi faith is neither fatalistic nor defeatist but healing and life affirming. He shares more than 40 patakis--stories stemming from the ancient Yoruba of West Africa--about the different spirits of osogbo, who like the orishas once walked the earth in human bodies. He explains the place of these spirits within the 256 odu of the diloggun, the divination system used in Santeria to receive guidance from the orishas.
Lele shows that the spirits of osogbo are not only concepts but also real deities and that we can, if we understand their nature, fight them through ebo, sacrifice, and hard work. He reveals how the osogbos see themselves as entities of misfortune who stand against life and all that is good in the world, but in truth it is misfortune that strengthens us, misfortune that motivates us, and misfortune that brings great evolution to the world. As the author shows, "Without bitterness, one could not know sweetness." Likewise, without misfortune in our lives, we would never know blessings or what it means to be blessed.
Acknowledgments
Lucumí Spelling and Lucumí Cosmology
Preface: Life Is Messy Like That
Introduction: Like Iré, I Was Sleeping
1 The Philosophy of Orisha Worship
2 The Concept of Osogbo
3 The Concept of Orí and Destiny
4 Osogbo, Orí, and Elegguá
5 Ikú, the Spirit of Death
6 Arayé, the Spirit of Wickedness
7 Other Stories about the Osogbos
Afterword
Notes
Glossary
Bibliography
Index
Ócha’ni Lele (1966-2019) was immersed in the underground culture of Orisha worship in 1989. He made Ocha in 2000 and was crowned a priest of Oya. His other books include Sacrificial Ceremonies of Santería, Diloggún Tales of the Natural World, Teachings of the Santería Gods, The Secrets of Afro-Cuban Divination, Obí:Oracle of Cuban Santería, and The Diloggún: The Orishas, Proverbs, Sacrifices, and Prohibitions of Cuban Santería.
“Finally we have an author willing to serve up the spiritual beauty
of ancient Africa at the table of the modern world. Clearly, there
is a legacy beginning to unfold.”
*Iyanla Vanzant, founder of Inner Visions Spiritual Institute, host
of the TV show Iyanla, Fix My Lif*
“Once again, Ócha'ni Lele has demonstrated his masterful grasp of
an often confusing subject with clarity, compassion and wisdom; a
must-read volume sure to be eagerly studied by newcomers and elders
alike for generations to come. As Lydia Cabrera is to Palo Mayombe,
Ócha'ni Lele is to Lucumi.”
*Candelo Kimbisa, host of Candelos Corner, Blog Talk Radio*
“I loved Osogbo. I don’t say that often, or lightly; to earn such
praise a book has to open up a whole new world for me, to change my
point of view, to teach me something I can use daily. This is such
a book. When misfortune visits your house and you wonder why, you
may find enlightenment and comfort in the pages of his book. You
will, if nothing else, find a great teacher.”
*Susan Starr, Spiral Nature, September 2014*
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