Orisa Workshops and Movie Night!

[OsunkoyaIfayomi]

Orisa Workshops and Movie Night!

***Please forward this to all your elists and others that may be interested.***

Asaforitifa Temple of Orisa is proud to announce a series of workshops to raise the awareness of our Orisa community here in the Diaspora.

EGUNGUN TRADITION IN YORUBA SPIRITUALITY!

Saturday July 8th and Sunday July 9th at 3pm
Monday July 17th and Tuesday July 18th at 7pm

The Egungun society of priests, its practices and functions are of utmost
importance in Yoruba traditional society. As more Orisa
devotees become initiated in West Africa and in the Diaspora there is a greater
need to explore this central concept.

In this workshop we will discuss the importance and function of
Egungun tradition in Indigenous Yoruba Traditional Religion. The
workshop will be 2 hours long and will include the following:

-Definition of Egungun (Eegun) from a linguistic perspective
-Role of Egungun in Orisa tradition
-Honoring and sacrificing to ones' ancestors
-How Egungun practices were retained and transformed in the Diaspora
-Diaporal tradition of Spiritism and how it relates to Egungun
-Myths about Egungun practices
-Traditional foods prepared for ones' Eegun
-Egungun initiation
-Egungun masquerade
-Hierarchy of Egungun priesthood
-Stories of the origin of Egungun in Ifa and Oosa (Eerindinlogun)
-Egungun and Oya

This is a two-part workshop. Each will be 2 hours long. The first day we will discuss and clarify concepts of Orisa. The second day will be dedicated to teaching one how to set up a basic ancestral shrine and offerings to one's ancestors.

COMPARATIVE OF VARIOUS ORISA TRADITIONS AND COMMUNITIES!

Saturday July 8th at 6pm
Tuesday July 11th at 7pm

This workshop will be offered to gain an understanding of the parallels and variations in practice and thought among various branches of the Orisa tradition. We will discuss the Brazilian Candomble tradition, The Cuban Lukumi tradition, The Trinidadian Orisa tradition, and of course the Indigenous Yoruba Orisa tradition.

These topics and more may be discussed:

-Linguistic preservations and shifts in the Yoruba language of West Africa and the Diaspora
-The iconography of the Irunmole
-Syncretism
-influences of foreign religious and spiritual traditions such as Palo, Spiritism, and Dahomean traditions
-Variations in initiatory practices
-Cosmology and world view
-Variations in protocol and prostrations
-Orisa festivals, drummings, feasts
-Aesthetics in shrine construction and decoration
-Initiatory practices and rites of passage
-etiquette and styles of dress

This workshop will be 2 hours long.

FUNDAMENTALS OF THE ORISA SPIRITUAL TRADITION!

Monday July 10th at 7pm
Thurday July 13th at 7pm

In this workshop we will discuss the basics of the Orisa tradition as practiced in Yoruba land and the Diaspora. It is meant for those that have an interest in Orisa or are new to the tradition. It is also ideal for those that have gone through the rite of initiation to one orisa or another but who haven't been exposed to good sources of information to better understand the basic cosmology of the religion.

We will discuss:

-history of the Yoruba people and Yoruba Diaspora
-Values of the Orisa tradition
-Cosmology
-Ancestral veneration/worship
-Sacrifice
-Worship
-worship cycles
-priesthoods and initiation
-trance-possession
-spiritual and herbal medicine
-beliefs in after-life and reincarnation

This workshop will be two hours long.

YORUBA PRAYER WORKSHOP!

Sunday July 9th at 6pm
Wednesday July 12th at 7pm

Due to popular demand we will be providing this opportunity
for devotees and priests of the Orisa tradition to enhance their
knowledge and practice of prayer in the Orisa tradition. Topics will include:

- Prayer cycles and worship days
- Prayer postures
- Preparation for prayer
- Oriki and salutes/hails for various Orisa
- Foods for various Orisa
- Tools for prayer and invoking ase
- The meaning and dynamics of ijuba (paying homage)

This workshop will an hour and a half long.

The tuition for each of these classes will be $50 payable by paypal, money-order, or cash in person. Folks using paypal can use the paypal icon on our website that says "donation". The website is www.asaforitifa.org. The two-part Egungun workshop will be available for $75 for those that take both parts of the workshop back to back.

*Some of these workshops will be available online for those that are interested but live out of state.

Folks are required RSVP in order to reserve their space in the workshops!

MOVIE NIGHT!

Friday July 14th at 7pm till...
Monday July 17th at 7pm till...

Each of these nights we will be showing clips of documentaries on Orisa, Yoruba films with an Orisa theme, and video footage taken of Orisa festivals taken in Yoruba land. There will be discussion throughout. Each movie night will be $20 and folks can pay at the door or prior to coming through paypal or money order. Call in advance to save your seat!

For more info please call 347-789-1750.

May the Orisa bless you and yours,

Baba Awo Aiku



Baba Awo Aiku
Asaforitifa Temple of Orisa

Brooklyn, NY

347-789-1750
(in Nigeria) 011-234-80-696-88-400
www.asaforitifa.org
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/indigeneorisa/