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The Odd Pairing of Esu and Joan Rivers

odd-pairing-of-esu-and-joan-riversI am always fond of saying that I learn something new in orisa everyday and this week was no exception. For those of you not familiar with me, I work as a Iyanifa and Iyalorisa priestess, a cowrie shell diviner, a maker of Ifa medicines using plants and leaves and also as a physical medium of spirit and orisa. A large part of my work is attending to clients who come to sit “face to face” with a spirit guide, or, most often, Esu, the “most human” of all orisa, for a one on one about their life and all things under the sun. At times the sessions are gut wrenching and tearjerkers, other times the people are almost rolling on the floor with laughter; with Esu, especially, one never knows what is going to occur.

This week a client came to me (and they have approved my sharing of small parts of their story), beset with troubles; they wanted to talk with Esu.

It was a hot night, a restless wind swirling outside. Esu arrived quickly with his usual commanding energy and presence, cackling and cracking a joke to those present. Always the Master of Ceremonies, he settled in to get to the subject matter at hand.

The client.

As she had talked to Esu before, the approach was direct. Sometimes Esu comes in slow and from a side angle, circling in until he gets to the core nut each person has protected, or is not even aware of protecting, but in this case she laid it all on the table. A middle-aged woman, no debt, no children, paid off house, good income, but nothing was going right. All was dark and dismal, roads blocked, marriage troubles, frustration, anger and sleepless nights waking up at 3 a.m. to worry ’til dawn.

Okay. Anyone who knows a bit about the Ifa and orisa tradition would say:

“Esu will say they need to make sacrifice!”

“He will say, go to Ogun to open your road”.

“He will say, let’s take a look if someone (Iyami, enemies etc.), has done something against you”.

Maybe. Maybe not.

Here I must insert that I have a helper at my side, a patient soul who’s game for late night sessions and orders barked at 1 a.m. by spiritual powers who can be-let’s just say-adamant, about what needs to be done. They act as a go between for cultural reference or choosing the proper word in English Esu is searching for.

After her litany of complaints-Esu listening quite interested the whole time-began his conversation with her:

“So, with all the hubbub in the world, the one unchanging thing that everyone has within their reach are their thoughts and their attitudes. A winner remains a winner until the end. You see, you cannot say: “Last week I was a winner but this week I’m not.” You have to say: “I’m always a winner, always a believer.” Like that lady that passed away today, she was a winner.”

Looks exchanged between the client and helper.

Client: “I don’t understand.”

Helper: “Esu, which lady do you mean?”

Esu: (waving arms) “You know, that funny one.”

Helper: “Funny one….”

Client: “Joan?”

In unison: “Ohhhhhh! You mean Joan Rivers!”

Esu: “Yes, Yes, her! She was a winner! Why? Because of her attitude. And she kept her attitude up when others would have withdrawn from society. People could say “Well, she had money, she kept herself looking good.” That wasn’t it, it was her drive and her ability to look ahead and know, “I’m going to overcome this one way or the other!”

A winner pushes right up until death comes. You either give up before your time and live a self imposed type of death, or you keep pushing. That’s what you do.“

The session continued on going into other areas, but after it was over I was curious as to why Esu had singled out Joan Rivers as an example to be held up during a session. This was quite possibly one of the strangest pairings (Esu speaking of Joan Rivers) to date.

I know he was pushing for us to understand that ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING, and that if we say we have FAITH, than we must put that into action, unfailingly, and if the chips are down WE MUST ALWAYS BELIEVE THAT WE ARE A WINNER, no matter what, but what was this odd pairing of Esu on a moonlit night bringing up the name of Joan Rivers in my Ile-Ifa, my shrine? I did a little internet research and came away with a profound respect for this remarkable woman.

She was born to Russian-Jewish immigrants as Joan Alexandra Molinsky in 1933, raised in New York, and listened to the constant bickering of her parents fighting about money, though they were “comfortable”. She was pudgy, in her own words, and the ugly duckling in comparison to her older more beautiful sister. She was terrified of poverty-and failure:

“I could not endure the reality that I might end up Joan Molinsky, an unattractive, nondescript little Jewish girl, run-of-the-mill, who might just as well have stayed in Brooklyn and married a druggist and had a normal life. I had come from normal life, from real life, and nobody there had been happy”, she said in her 1986 autobiography, “Enter Talking.”

She went to college, acted in plays and bit parts in the movies, worked at upscale department stores, but her attempts at leading a “normal” life as her parents wished, did not go well. Her first marriage lasted only 6 months. Penniless, she changed her name to Joan Rivers and hit the nightclubs of Greenwich Village to do standup comedy, much to the horror of her parents. Comedy at that time was an all-male bastion and she suffered greatly, hitting a low playing at a strip club in Boston:

“Even sobbing in the filthy shower in Boston, telling myself, ‘I’m not going to do this anymore, I’m not going to do it anymore,’ I had known I would keep on going, no matter what. My parents were not going to defeat me.”

Jan Wallman, who booked the Duplex club in New York, recalled Rivers hauling around a clunky tape recorder to record her routine for later self-evaluation.

“She’d come in the next night with the material refined just perfectly, until she’d make it even better the next night,” Wallman said in an interview on the Cabaret Exchange site.

“I never knew anybody who worked that hard.”

Fast forward to years of success with Johnny Carson and then a heart crushing blow as their personal and professional friendship came to a complete end after she left his show to host her own comedy talk show. He hung up on her twice and they never spoke again. Her new show failed. She was blackballed. She could not get work.

After 22 years of marriage (in which her only child Melissa was born), her husband committed suicide on August 14th, 1987, which Joan blamed on the stress and heartbreak of what had happened with Carson, NBC and the Fox show fiasco. During this difficult time her daughter did not speak to her for almost a year as they both struggled with their pain. Joan always wanted to have a big family but several miscarriages ended those dreams and it was at the low point of her husband’s suicide that she considered killing herself. What kept her from carrying it out was knowing that her daughter would be alone in the world with no family with no one to care for her. So what did she do? She fought back to “climb out of the well” and went to work.

She came back for a 5 year stint on the “Joan Rivers Show” and continued on to win an Emmy award, star in Celebrity Apprentice, create a jewelry line for QVC and host various other shows such as E! Fashion Police. She never gave up. In her documentary “Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work”, which was warmly welcomed at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival, she was discussing her anxiety over getting older and staying culturally relevant. She pointed to her empty calendar and exclaimed:

“I’ll show you fear. That’s fear.”

She fought her childhood demons. She went against the dictates of her time and broke into an all-male enclave of comedy. She stayed true to her self. She cried alone in strip club bathrooms after stand up sets where she needed that money to live off of. She lost longed for children to miscarriages, she lost the love of her life, a man she was married to for 22 years, to suicide, and she contemplated following him in the same manner. She lost her best friend in show biz and was snubbed and blackballed in the industry. She overcame all, but at the peak of her 81 years she left us much too soon, but she left behind such a shining example of human spirit that even Esu, yes, the Yoruba orisa deity we call Esu, found her life worthy of use as an illustration of what to strive for:

“A winner pushes right up until death comes. You either give up before your time and live a self imposed type of death, or you keep pushing. That’s what you do.”

Mo dupe o Esu, thank you Joan, may you rest in perfect peace, Ase o!

Joan Rivers Rest in Peace

© 2016 by Farin da Silva, All Rights Reserved. Pursuant to the Copyright Act of 1976 and subsequent amendments, codified as 17 U.S.C. §§ 101-810, the works contained within are protected by United States laws and by international treaties. This includes the literary and pictorial works created by Farin da Silva contained herein, as well as any other original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression. The unauthorized copying, distributing, displaying, or production of derivative works is strictly prohibited by Farin da Silva. Copyright infringement may subject you to civil liability of a minimum of $750 per infringement for statutory damages, as well as the costs incurred to enforce these rights. 17 U.S.C. § 504. A court may award up to $150,000 per infringement. This copyright holder takes copyright infringement seriously and does enforce their rights.

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Wake Up Your Life with Prayer

Prayer and Spiritual HealingPrayer is an often forgotten ally in our modern world, even for traditionalists who call themselves orisa worshipers or followers. Certainly we all pray when ebo is being made, when we are bowed standing or on our knees in a shrine, but what about when we first wake in the morning? How many people can honestly say they pray, or even know how to pray? While this is easy for those who are initiated into Ifa, if one is not initiated into Ifa with a hand of ikin (the sacred palm nuts of divination which represent Orunmila), then what exactly is one supposed to pray to?

I was brought up in the “Xango” tradition in NE Brazil, and while we had orisa and our own personal spiritual guides we worked with and prayed to, we were never taught certain things that were lost over the centuries of slave trade from West Africa. Though my Mae de Santo’s Ile-Ifa had a Yoruba title and orisa, we were missing many basic Yoruba practices which bring about a healthy psychology and life.

In brasil we were taught to bow at the doorway of the shrine in greeting and recite the xire of the orisa while pressing our palms of each hand firmly on the front, back and sides of the head, to gather the energy up with our hands and press it to our head but there was never any talk of how to care for our ori (our divine spiritual self/destiny/life path), though we used the term “ibori” when speaking of feeding the head of an initiate when entering the realm of orisa through initiation and blood offerings.

The laws of attraction are that what you put your thoughts, your mind to, and what you speak, becomes who and what you are and live. Ofo is the power of spoken command, backed by Ase or spiritual force, spiritual energy, but how does one achieve that type of ofo, that power, to transform their own life? How does one turn around a life that seems without hope or direction? I believe WE are responsible for what comes out of us, more so than any prayer to orisa to come enter our life and “save” us.

Firstly, we hold within us, all of us, our divine inner self, our spiritual double which knows exactly what is best for us, and that divine self is called ori and is situated in our head, is our spiritual head. The Yoruba believe also that the big toe is a type of head of the body, and for this reason it is anointed with offerings when we make any ebo, especially an offering to our ori: an ibori.

So, interestingly enough, getting cut off from one’s ori can also mean that one is lost in life, not sure of their direction, like having a wonderful sailing ship full of food and water, riches, but not having the sail raised nor the understanding of how to raise that sail in order to maneuver the ship. Do you know the expression “he/she can’t see beyond their own nose” ? That is similar to a person who is lost, is seemingly “living” in their head and not seeing the bigger picture, stuck in their head where so-called thinking goes on, but at the same time they are completely lost, not knowing that their divine head has been there all along, but has just not been awakened, not recognized, not called into power and use! But while life would seem a bed of roses if we all chose “good heads”, some of us are born with some inner flaws, perhaps a hot temper, perhaps a tendency to be negative, perhaps with a desire to just “do bad” or going through tough times and not able to stop the loop of negative and self fulfilling thoughts. These are problems and issues that Ifa can address, that worshiping our ori can aide, but for some people, going against the negative they were born with can be a tough march through thick grass. We must gather everything within our power to awaken and reinforce the positive.

The Ifa divination oral corpus makes no mistake about it; our ori IS the most important orisa amongst all the orisa who can help us!

“kosi orisa ti danigbe lehin ori eni, ori pela atetegbenikosa”
“there is no orisa that guides one without his/her ori, it is our ori that leads us to orisa”

The Yoruba believe that the ori is actually a type of orisa, a divinity that is to be respected and paid respects to. In actuality it is our own divinity that is being honored, and having chosen our destiny before birth, the best outcome for us is to align ourselves with the universe in order to fulfill this destiny. When things are not going right in our life we must look at ourselves and see where we perhaps have been maltreating others before we point the finger, and more importantly, where we have perhaps strayed from honoring and acting from our innermost divine ori’s Truth. We only hurt our Self when we do not love, nurture and support our inner and outer Divine Self, our ORI. Offerings to the ori (ibori), are done to bring about peace and equilibrium in your spiritual world; harmony between the inner and outer cosmos.

If I have money

it is my Ori I will praise

My Ori, it is you

If I have children on earth

it is my Ori to whom I will give praise

My Ori, it is you

All the Good things that I have on earth

It is Ori I will praise

My Ori, it is you

The head, or ori, to the Yoruba is believed to hold the seat of ASE, divine power or universal intelligence. Ase is the emanating power that determines our identity and existence, influencing our behavior and personal destiny. The head is seen as the Lord of the body and therefore must be acknowledged and propitiated with offerings to ensure a smooth life. Many personal shrines in Yorubaland in Nigeria contain a relic to the owner’s ori that is worshiped and fed. The physical head is viewed as nothing more than an enclosure for the inner spiritual head called ori inu, which localizes the Ase that empowers the physical self. Although Ase emanates from the Supreme Force or being of Olodumare, this Ase is mediated by Esu, the Divine Messenger.

Reasons to make offerings to our own ori can vary from small offerings to our own ori to bigger ebos dictated by another orisa through divination by a priest or priestess; offerings are useful during periods of spiritual stress, mental stress coming from problems in the personal life; a need to make an offering to our spiritual ori in the realm of heaven (this spiritual ori is our mirror self which knows the destiny we have chosen before birth). The Ifa priest or priestess can use the cowrie shells, opele or cast Ifa using the divine palm nuts to discover which orisa is calling for the need to bring harmony between the inner and outer ori.

First thing in the morning it is good to give thanks for everything positive you are receiving that day upon awakening. I like to pray first to God/Olodumare and give thanks for everything I have, for all. If you are more comfortable using another word for the heavenly creator, that is great, as long as we pray, we are opening ourselves to the divine and for divine alignment and harmony.

Yoruba tradition holds that we should rinse our mouths out, and also the arms and legs as a minimum before praying to God. I understand the desire to cleanse ourselves before the most Holy of Creators, but I also can’t help but think that some of this was adapted from Muslim ideology. Regardless, and this is my opinion and mine only, if you are in a state of mind of discomfort/depression, if your living situation does not easily allow for rising and taking a shower first thing, if you are simply not motivated to do so, then don’t. It is better to simply lay in bed first thing upon awakening and pray, than to start heaping more self hatred upon yourself for not being able or wanting to follow another “spiritual rule”. There are people who are severely depressed in the world, looking for help and answers, and if you are one them, please, open your eyes from sleep and I want you to bring your thoughts first thing to ALL OF THE POSITIVE ASPECTS OF YOUR LIFE, whether you believe you are in permanent misery or not, I want you to try this for a week and you will find that hope is alive, there is a way out, let your ori lead you! If you slept well, give thanks for that. If you have the use of your arms, limbs, legs, hands, eyes, ears, give thanks for that. If you are one of the lucky ones with food for breakfast, give thanks for that. Start with what you have and praise God for that blessing. Say:

“Olodumare/God/Heavenly Father…

It is I,__________(state your name)

the daughter/son of,_____(state your mother’s name).

As I take my place in your world today,

I ask that I be given the opportunity to send and to receive divine Ase (power backed by Divine wisdom).

I ask that I be worthy of doing your work,

protect me and my loved ones as we live our day today,

…etc….make your prayers for your life and your family etc, for particular petitions… and close with

Amen/Ase o”

Next put your hands on your head, palm on forehead and other palm securing the back of your head and call out:

“Ori!  Ori!  Ori!

You are the first and the foremost!

You are the King and the head!

There is no orisa more powerful than you, my Ori,

Without ones’ ori, no one can go anywhere,

The fish in the stream use their head to find their way,

The animals in the bush use their head to find their path,

My Ori, it is I ,_________(state your name)

the daughter/son of , _____________(state your mother’s name),

who received the odu of,_______(state your birth odu if you know it),

who is calling on you now,

Please come and hear my pleas,

Guide me to the people, places and things that will help me and further my life, (here you can ask for everything you need, explain that you desire to be open),

Help me my ori, guide me well this day,

Ase Ase Ase O/Amen Amen Amen!”

Make your prayers for the day and tell your ori what it is that you need and desire for immediate help, what has happened to you in your life. When times are tough we sometimes cannot count on others, but we can most certainly count on our own ORI, our divine inner self that God gave us to lead us to the good things we need in life to be happy. I always say, “If we are not for ourselves, than who will be? If we do not love ourselves, than who will love us? A house divided cannot stand.”  So be good to your SELF, LOVE your SELF, take CARE of your SELF and start on the path to happiness.

Life success is not measured by having everything work out perfectly. That is impossible. There will always be positive and negative things that happen to us, but we can minimize or avoid completely many of the negative by using our ORI to lead us in the right direction and choices, by forming our character, our positive actions/reactions, by counting to 10 before speaking/acting in haste,and by using our POSITIVE ATTITUDE to minimize the harm any negative circumstance might do to us.

We guide our ori as much as it guides us. We don’t want the negative parts of our “destiny” we were born with to override our inner head which knows what is best for us, and we don’t want a hot head to ruin our destiny which might be very good, by making bad choices, speaking things which create conflict or close doors for us. Having a healthy ori, a good head, is very important, and most people who suffer, suffer because their ori is out of alignment. They are not behaving in a way which harmonizes the outer and inner destiny. A lot of people lack self control, and it can be hard to change ingrained patterns and habits. It takes prayer and will power to overcome a “bad ori”, but it can be done. Even with mental illness, there are ways to apply ewe oogun /Ifa medicine, and prayer, to bring about change, but the person must also participate and work consciously on themselves, make an effort.

In the odu of Ofun Otua, there is a verse which relates the story of a simple man who was so poor that he had only one sheep. And each day he would walk with this sheep to his farm and tether the sheep to graze while he weeded his crops. The odu begins by speaking in the parable:

“If the eye did not see difficulties like one being bound by tight ropes;

It may not see things as shining as brass”

The parable continues that one day the sheep spoke up wearily that even she could no longer tolerate such wretched poverty. To make a long story short, the amazed farmer immediately went to the King to announce that his sheep had spoken. Of course the King did not believe this and said if he were to hear the sheep speak he would give the farmer half of his kingdom. Naturally the sheep did not speak upon command, even with the pleas of her simple owner, but just stared back at him stupidly. Several days went by like this til the King ordered the death of the farmer for making such a ruse and causing commotion. The henchmen began to torture the farmer and he pleaded for his life. At the last second the sheep spoke saying “Do not kill him!”. The farmer’s life was spared and the King was aghast that he had almost taken an innocent man’s life. The farmer asked the sheep why she had taken so long to speak, imperiling his life and she explained that the King would not have kept his promise and be moved to give half of his riches had she spoken immediately the first day. She had thus secured the King’s promise to share half his wealth with the poverty stricken farmer.

So we learn from Ofun Otua that even poverty has its lessons, that there are times in life when we can feel we are bound and tied, in absolute poverty and misery, but that our riches are coming and we must pass through these times with the faith that our good things are coming. Ifa speaks in parables, and Ifa speaks the truth, our good things are coming. We must keep our heads up, our mouths speaking truth, we must follow our good sense and ori to bring about our positive victory in life!

One of the hardest times in my life was when I was suffering after a terrible car accident. It had not been my fault. A man who was emotionally distraught and going through a divorce had tried to commit suicide (I believe) by running a red light while  speeding through an intersection long after the light had already turned green to proceed. My car was T-boned and spun in a complete circle. I blacked out hitting my head on the window. My life changed for the worse for at least 4 years after that. Everything was difficult. I walked with a limp, I had no use in my left arm, I could not do even the simplest of things such as brush my hair or take care of the house, I could barely walk or carry a simple bag of groceries, and worse, my pelvis had been damaged inside so that I could not share in a normal happy marriage between husband and wife. But the worst was that I was being drug over the coals by the insurance company of the man who had hit me and who was at fault. I hired a lawyer to try to secure a settlement to pay for the mounting piles of bills not covered by my own insurance. We tried out of court settlements; I had audiences with judges, lawyers, it was terrible. Doctors failed me, judges failed me, the insurance companies failed me. I leaned upon my rock, Esu, and one day while manifested in me he passed a message which I clung to until I had my day in court and a unanimous 12 person jury victory in my favor. Esu said:

“When you allow man’s decisions to touch you, you have given away your God-given power, You have to say: “I don’t recognize man as my maker or my keeper, therefore, I do not respond to him.”  Have faith in God and you will be rewarded.”

ASE ASE ASE O ESU! It took me many more years to recover but with the help of capable hands of specialists in brasil and much effort on my part, today I do not walk with a limp and have recovered with very little pain and trouble. So please, take heart, and remember we all have our battles and struggles, but help is here for us if we open up and reach out in faith and prayer. With Ifa all things are possible, Ase o!

© 2016 by Farin da Silva, All Rights Reserved. Pursuant to the Copyright Act of 1976 and subsequent amendments, codified as 17 U.S.C. §§ 101-810, the works contained within are protected by United States laws and by international treaties. This includes the literary and pictorial works created by Farin da Silva contained herein, as well as any other original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression. The unauthorized copying, distributing, displaying, or production of derivative works is strictly prohibited by Farin da Silva. Copyright infringement may subject you to civil liability of a minimum of $750 per infringement for statutory damages, as well as the costs incurred to enforce these rights. 17 U.S.C. § 504. A court may award up to $150,000 per infringement. This copyright holder takes copyright infringement seriously and does enforce their rights.

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​The Passage

Beads fall
across your face
pearl water drops
hidden dark beauty
radiant beneath
Queen that holds the iruke
Owner of all mysteries deep
I thank you
for dressing me in your clothes
Mo dupe O Mamae
Your body moves
glistening foam
steel blue
under moon
slivered
ships rock tossed
as you spray
salt fury
to the heavens
churning below
you roar undeniably
Who is foolish enough
to challenge you?
Centuries ago
branded,
beaten,
forced
the last step from land
your people
entered
darkness
Mother of all Waters
your groans mix
with sobbing pleas
crying out to you
Deep water
fear
deep water
fear
sliding tipped sideways
smeared in
excrement
vomit mixed with tears
crossing the infinite
Mysterious Mother
children carried away
on your breast
crying mother
hoarse father
skin bloodied raw
from terror
beating boards
above
below
no escape
only the rise and
fall
of ocean where
none had gone before.
Your promise your love
glows shining bright
night star
you hung
in the sky
closest star to earth
like a lamp
your people
sailing silently
womb imprisoned belly
of the ship
cargo wailing to the sky
those
who did not sink
who did not float
down
in grace
buried deep
in watery arms
took
weak steps on sand
while you kissed
their bodies quivering
fear
deep water
fear
unknown
Olokun
you did not
abandon your children
what agony
cut you
to ferry them away
against your will
Olokun seri aje
we learn from you
vast Mother of wisdom
owner infinite and deep
Even Orunmila went to you
looking for all riches known
and unknown to man
Great Mother
bring peace now
upon your people
wherever they walk
on whatever land
carry us back
through the Akoko
though scattered far
bring peace of mind
and heart
Bring us hope
the ASE of goodness
health
riches, happiness
long life
and loved ones
to our hands
Please, bring us understanding
bring us wisdom so when old
we may wear crowns
on our heads
Ase Ase Ase oooo!

© 2009 – 2016 by Farin da Silva, All Rights Reserved. Pursuant to the Copyright Act of 1976 and subsequent amendments, codified as 17 U.S.C. §§ 101-810, the works contained within are protected by United States laws and by international treaties. This includes the literary and pictorial works created by Farin da Silva contained herein, as well as any other original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression. The unauthorized copying, distributing, displaying, or production of derivative works is strictly prohibited by Farin da Silva. Copyright infringement may subject you to civil liability of a minimum of $750 per infringement for statutory damages, as well as the costs incurred to enforce these rights. 17 U.S.C. § 504. A court may award up to $150,000 per infringement. This copyright holder takes copyright infringement seriously and does enforce their rights.

 

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Praises to the River Goddess

Oreyeye Osun

Bright Mother
who flashes fire
reflecting yellow sun
Owner
of countless riches below
shell pearl river stone throne

you are seated
like a crown
diamond-filled and flowing
you spread your ribbons
cross land
to kiss sweet with salt sea tang.

Queen Mother
who carries a fan
you plait your hair
quick fingers
mid-stream
showing supple back
glowing gold onto the sand.

Blue-silver ice-green
frothing white
your arms
soothe beads of fever
dry throats
we drink coolness with our hands.

Bringer of children’s laughter
maker of happy homes
your nimble feet
dance quickly
chiming
like struck brass bronze and gold.

You delight our eyes and ears
fanning water
rainbow spray
a flash of color
tiny pearls
blown by the wind.

A shake of your skirt
makes fish leap
bubbling
from below
Kind Mother
who feeds the hungry net
fills the belly
of all who remember you.

Queen Mother
who gives life
you are the Owner
of infinite riches
jewel heart
bosom made of gold
let me rest my head there with you.

Omi ero to heal my body
Omi ero to rinse all sorrow
Omi ero to end all hardness
Omi ero to sweeten life.

The pot which virgins carry
if sits empty
silent is
the chorus of praise which firmly
seats the crown on your royal head.
Mo juba
Owner of the Fan
May your pots be filled at dawn.
Mo juba
Queen Mother
May your name be praised at river’s edge.
Mo juba
Radiant Mother who gives birth
May we respect your miracle of life.
Mo juba
Breast-feeding Mother who Commands
May we learn your patient strength.
Mo juba
Queen of Sweet Waters
May you be worshipped and admired
to run forever free.
O Mother,
Bring health, long life and wealth
to my name and hand
Bring me children
so I can taste
all riches savored sweetness
the nectar between woman and man.
Ase Ase Ase O!

© 2009 – 2016 by Farin da Silva, All Rights Reserved. Pursuant to the Copyright Act of 1976 and subsequent amendments, codified as 17 U.S.C. §§ 101-810, the works contained within are protected by United States laws and by international treaties. This includes the literary and pictorial works created by Farin da Silva contained herein, as well as any other original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression. The unauthorized copying, distributing, displaying, or production of derivative works is strictly prohibited by Farin da Silva. Copyright infringement may subject you to civil liability of a minimum of $750 per infringement for statutory damages, as well as the costs incurred to enforce these rights. 17 U.S.C. § 504. A court may award up to $150,000 per infringement. This copyright holder takes copyright infringement seriously and does enforce their rights.