The Mouthpiece Of The Orichas

The prayers begin for Obi, the binary system of divination from the Yoruba religion to obtain "Yes" and "No" answers to questions in various levels of intensity and meaning. The spirit of Obi, once a mortal on earth, ascended to being an Oricha once good deeds had been done, fell from Grace because of Ego. Upon descending to Earth, Obi's spirit embodied the coconut palm tree. Although Obi cannot speak with the use of his tongue, he communicates through the white ("clean") side or brown ("dark") of coconut meat. If cowrie shells are used, it is the side that has been filed open to indicate "Yes" ("clean") and the closed ridged side that indicates a "No" ("dark") side of the answer pattern that fell during questioning. After ritual libations and prayers, some utilize Obi divination with coconut to answer questions during a divination reading in the presence of the client. Obi also gives clarity to confusion in regards to the message of the cards when used with cowrie shells in a tarot card reading for a client.

Clients can ask Obi a question and the consultant or spiritual worker may also be prompted to ask as well when the layers of cards upon themselves are not in association with the clients' dilemma. Obi divination is not to be taken lightly and is regarded as a tool to help Mankind seek clarity in decision making, regardless of whether you are fully initiated into the religion or not. There are 5 levels of intensity to Obi; two affirmative or positive in different severities, two negative or "no" answers, and a "maybe" answer that needs a second question to extract a less ambiguous answer. This is the most affirmative answer but because it can be over eager in it's delivery, it must have a second toss to confirm and secure the answer. The second fall of the cowries must be another "Alafia" or an "Ejife" or "Etagua" answer to be taken as a "Yes" answer. This affirmative answer is interpreted as a "Yes, and your World is balanced", meaning that what you have proposed or achieved (or about to) brings balance to the give/take, yes/no, or contradictory struggles of the World to keep in harmony.

One open shell and three closed ones indicate to focus on the small beam of light in the darkness. The most serious "No" answer as it tells of the client being out of touch with their spirituality and walking in darkness. This is a dire warning; it presages unforeseen problems, accidents, fires and even portends death. Additional questions need to be asked in the clients' behalf to determine why Oyekun has come. Water must be sprinkled on Oyekun and if it appears more than once, the shells must be placed in water to 'cool' down the answer. After the full tarot card reading, the client has an opportunity to ask questions that were not addressed in the card reading. These may be of additional clarity on the original shell toss or other unrelated questions on relationships and business strategies. Once we begin to receive multiple "Etaguas" to questions in an obvious pattern, this is an indication that the line of questioning needs to end as the client is asking questions to obvious answers in front of their face. While not always an immediate answer, Obi gives insight on things to come.

Personal and collective patterns of perception, reaction and inaction can and do form as a result of personal psycho-dynamics that can be re-enacted in relationships at work. The core competence for all care providers and all care giving is the capacity for, and the ability to develop, empathy. The Oxford American Dictionary defines empathy as: “1. The ability to identify oneself mentally with a person or things and so understand his feelings or its meaning. In his book Emotional Intelligence, Daniel Goleman states: “Empathy builds on self-awareness; the more open we are to our own emotions, the more skilled we will be in reading feelings”(p. In other words, our ability to connect with others is closely tied to our ability to be open and honest about our own emotions. Self-honesty and transparency really are some of the keys to personal growth and transformation. Empathy is the ability to attune our own sense-perception to the “frequency” of another as though we could actually pick up on another person’s personal frequency.