Though chattel slavery has been over for hundreds of years, the descendants of enslaved Africans still endure its effects.  One of the areas there has been the least recovery is our spiritual and religious enslavement.  Enslaved Africans were forced to abandon their ancestral faiths.  Under the threat of death, lynching, beatings and rapes, enslaved Africans and later, their descendants, were programmed to believe their beautiful spiritual legacy was bad, evil and “of the devil.”  
 
The images of African deities were disfigured and destroyed and later, replaced with religious images that were a reflection of the perpetrators of slavery.  This horrific act of religious oppression had a destructive impact on the psyche of the descendants of enslaved Africans.  Among the effects were self-hate, the inability to recognize themselves as a divine being and the loss of ancient indigenous theology that was the cornerstone of their survival, empowerment and cultural preservation.  

Ifa initiation along with study, practice and observance of a traditional African spirituality begins the restorative process for the descendants of African slaves. Little by little, they come to know and experience the beauty of an ancestral wisdom born from their biological beginning.

While economic, social and cultural empowerment are key in the healing of descendants of enslaved Africans, nothing brings forth transformation like connecting with a spirituality that is inherent to one’s own DNA. Regardless of one's ethnic identity, Ifa is a powerful tool is bringing forth healing of our soul, spirit, mind, body and our ancestral generations.

Please contact us for more information if you feel called to the practitioner or priesthood path in Ifa spirituality.