Spiritual Orientation

The most important factor in every spiritual orientation is the person who is performing it. In our everyday lives, we receive orientation from our friends, colleagues, neighbours, inquisitive persons, teachers, and others, but instead we should be getting it from people who are actually able to point us to the right direction in life and who are unbiased in doing so. 

It is even better if we get the chance to receive an orientation that is based on experience and knowledge.

That is why we have priests called bàbáláwo and bàbálórìṣà and the priestesses called ìyánífá and ìyálórìṣà – they serve as the orientators whose orientation is based on the instruments of divination that enable them to provide us with answers to our questions. In our philosophy, these orientators are trained to listen to and understand people’s problems and to know how to explain them to their clients. They receive information from divinities and are trained to act as mediators between people and deities. In this way, the orientation is not based on their own imagination nor is it adapted to their own personal interests; rather, it is founded on specific information they receive from the divinities via the divination system based on the Ifá divination system (using ikin or ọ̀pẹ̀lẹ̀), the Òrìṣà divination system (using 16 cowries), or the divination system with sacred obì nuts, which are also used as an offering to the Òrìṣà.

It is important that those who perform spiritual orientation are emotionally stable and have sufficient self-control, that they are emotionally and mentally healthy with a well-developed sense of responsibility, and that they possess spiritual dignity; furthermore, they should not be irritable or judgmental towards people.

Nowadays, it is difficult to talk about true orientation, even though this notion was known in all ancient cultures and civilizations. More specifically, the so-called folklore divination is widely spread, but people fail to distinguish between the two notions.

In case of a true orientation, the priest has a mission to learn of a client’s fate and takes a vow to improve the client’s life. We believe that spiritual orientation is intended to make people’s lives easier and their positioning in life more accurate.

If you get the chance of consulting with a person capable of serving as a spiritual orientator and protector of human life, such a person can tell you what actions to take in your life that are in sync with your mission, and they can tell you what not to do as well. In this way, you can avoid taking the wrong steps and prevent things and achievements from being delayed because of your own ignorance.

If we knew everything about our existence in advance, we would live entirely different lives. But since we do not know everything, we need someone to guide our thinking and point us in the right direction.

The success of the orientation depends on how effectively the orientator manages to calibrate our thinking and help us understand our lives properly, thus leading us to take the right steps and reduce the number of mistakes we make to the minimum. This is also the fundamental reason why people take part in the spiritual orientation in the first place.

Practical aspect of spiritual orientation in the Òrìṣà philosophy

Divinities know our “predestination”, but we are usually ignorant of our fate, our time, our lives, our existence, our actions, and orientation.

When priests use the instruments of divination and the knowledge of the divinities, they acquire accurate information about the source of the problem and its potential solutions.   

The success of these solutions is only partially dependent  upon the rituals determined by the orientation. To a larger degree, success is contingent on the clients’ discipline and their readiness to take responsibility for their own lives. For example, it is impossible to expect that a ritual will bring prosperity to our lives while we just sit back and wait for it to start working. This is simply not the way things operate. The Òrìṣà Ajé (the divinity of opportunity, richness, progress, and money) is powerful, but she cannot deposit money into your bank account. By performing a ritual, we can ensure that someone starts to attract a specific energy and is accompanied by good luck. Subsequently, that person will be able to recognize an opportunity whenever one presents itself and rise up to the challenges it brings with it.

The ultimate success, however, depends on this person’s actions. Divinities help people through other people, meaning that the Òrìṣà Ajé is going to bring a certain person into a client’s life with an offer for a job or a contract; this is why we should not wait for a miracle – the miracle will find us, but only if we allow it. Money, however, can only be a consequence of action, and a ritual can only make the circumstances more favourable for someone, ensuring that the money starts flowing in and stays in someone’s life. Many people do not have problems with “earning” money but with “keeping” it.

The same is true of other most frequently occurring problems that cause people to seek advice in the field of health, love, success, etc.

A true priest or a priestess is primarily an educator, and the extent to which a client understands the messages relayed by the divinities depends on the priest’s experience, spiritual foundation, and wisdom. People tend to ignore messages urging them to change their behaviour and attitude; they all wish to receive solutions on a silver platter.

We have to be aware that the sweetest victories in our lives are those that include our own effort.

When to go for a spiritual orientation?

When you fail to find answers to your questions within yourself or refuse to accept them, when you are turning a new page in life (when moving house, starting a new job, suffering from an illness, etc.), or when you encounter problems.

Orientation is welcome whenever you need to look at a problem from a distance. Because the problem is a part of you, you are often unable to see it clearly.

Orientation is recommended when you lack direction and motivation in life, when you are somewhat static and do not know how to move on.

Orientation is not consolation, even though it will console you; it is not a prediction of the future, even though it will predict it. It does not provide excuses, only answers.