I want to take a moment to share my personal journey of becoming a Priestess with you so you can have a small insight into this richly rewarding way of life.
The concepts of priestess, goddess and medicine woman are becoming more widely understood in modern society as we reconnect to our ancestry and return to the old ways.
It is a beautiful path of rituals, worship, divination, being of service and guiding people toward their highest good. For me, it is about honouring the energy of the land, of the ancestors and traditions. It is, for the most part, a ritualistic and devotional way of life.
My initiation as Priestess in 2012 was at the foot of Uluru. With the blessing of the Aboriginal elders to do ceremony on that sacred land, I was initiated by my mentor, Oluwo Robert Lavtar and my chosen path in my work as a Priestess was divined.
The ceremonies went over two days and one night. A special herbal tincture was used to symbolise blood, I received my divination tools, my name Iyanifa Ifaponle and the gift of prophecy.
I had spent three intense years learning about the path of Ifa, though my training began once I was initiated. I learned to work with the different aspects of divination and how to provide a lifepath reading using the Sacred Ikin and divination of 256 Odu with the Opele, I became intimate with the various universal energies of the Orisa and gradually integrated the significance of this path into my very being. It is a learning that never ends.
Another integral part of my training was (and still continues to be) through the Ifa Foundation International of North and South America – Temple of Sacred Healing Science, located in central Florida with the leaders Oluwo Philip Neimark and Iyanifa Vassa Neimark.
In 2018, I was initiated by Iyanifa Vassa into the Nana Bukeen Society, which is the sacred path of the wise woman. This beautiful path has been imprinted with ancient wisdom brought forth through generations of the sacred feminine.
An ordinary day in the life of an Ifa Priestess
I start each day with prayer, blessings and a symbolic offering as I connect to the energies and my ancestors. I then use divination tools to prepare myself for the day ahead so that I can be in a better space to help others.
Depending on people’s needs, my work may involve both the light and the dark. However, a priestess understands that all of life is comprised of opposites. The energies are always available to support us when we know how to connect to them. We also understand that whether working with the dark or the light, the energy itself is neither good nor bad. It is the intention of the person working with them that creates it as such. That is why integrity is extremely important in the work that I do. It is an honour but a huge responsibility because everything I do has to be done in the right space. As the power is given to me, it can also be taken away.
My path also includes very strong ancestor worship. It has been through this process where I’ve worked to cleanse my ancestral lines, shedding what needs to be shed, not only healing myself but my ancestral line as well.
Becoming a Priestess has opened up the world for me. If I feel I need more clarity in life, I know exactly what energy to connect to and what offerings to make to gain that clarity. The same goes for joy, or abundance, or truth. Life can be incredibly challenging at times, but I understand from personal experience that when we have our faith to fall back on, and we can see how much we are actually looked after, the obstacles appear less and less.
Becoming a Modern-day Priestess
I follow the line from the traditional medicine man in Yoruba tradition from Africa and I feel this energy really complement my rituals and divinations. Knowing the lineage we walk is very important and brings honour to our work.
I’m not sure if I ever searched for it, but I was drawn to the path from a very young age. I recall my childhood friend having masks of the orishas in her home. As a child, the masks both intrigued and scared me! As things have been unveiled to me, I’ve realised that these energies have always been around me, guiding me to where I am today. It took years for me to reclaim this wisdom and now my path is to share this ancient tradition in a way that others can understand.
As our society has changed, so too have our rituals.
My practice is in keeping things as traditional as possible while bringing it into the 21st Century. For example, I do not perform sacrificial rituals. I believe the ways of seeing things and sensing things are accelerating. The energies are becoming more readily available for us to work with. While sacrifice is important in the exchange, a sacrifice of time or money or something I want to hold onto is equally effective. I do not need to sacrifice life. And, the one thing I will never sacrifice is my character.
Being a Priestess in the 21st Century is about coming back to the truth of who we are, recognising that the only way to empower others is by being an example of good character. I choose to see the best in people. As human beings, there is always a possibility that we can stray away from our path, so I help people return to their path and empower them to do the work they came here to do.
Living life as a Priestess is a discipline, a humbling practice and an incredibly rewarding way of life. It affects every aspect of my spiritual, mental and physical life as I am guided each day by the orishas and the philosophy of Ifa. I am still a normal person with normal challenges, but when I step into the space of priestess, the entire aspect of who I am changes. I feel my power and connection come in and the space becomes a sacred one.
The beautiful thing is, everybody has the potential to experience this.
It begins by reconnecting to the earth, the elements, the things we can feel and touch with our senses, and then we open to our spiritual nature, believing there is a force that guides us and will not lead us astray.
Through the good times and bad, this force will help us to complete the journey that we came here to fulfil. And that is something that I know to be true.
If you feel a calling to delve deeper into this path, I offer mentoring in the Ifa way. As long as your divination supports your calling, you may be initiated into the order.
If you would like to learn more, you are welcome to reach out and learn more about Ifa.
Ase
