and the rain fell down like a blessing from Olorun

My mind is thinking back to that dance production about Oshun I saw last month. The story was a bit of a different spin on the story of Oshun and Ogun. In the play, Ogun and his warriors were wreaking havoc on the earth, spreading destruction and terror in their midst. In one scene, the drummers started playing a slow mournful beat and the singer sang a song of praise to Olofi, the Supreme Creator. Normally most orisha music sounds joyous but there was something different about the way he was singing it. It was so slight but it sounded more like a cry for help although sounding like praise still. Two women entered on the stage. One was an old woman in a white gown with long white hair. She fluttered in and looked like she was suffering. Her body contorted in anguish. A younger girl in a red dress came out and clung to her. They looked like a mother and daughter clinging to each other in sorrow, distraught by the suffering caused by tragedy and war. They leave the stage and Obatala enters declaring that Ogun's raw brutality must be kept in check and there will be peace. Much later the girl becomes one of Oshun's handmaidens.
Oshun and her handmaidens enchant Ogun and his warriors and the drums of war become the sensuous Ijesha rythmns of Oshun. Love conquers War and peace and civilization are allowed to continue. The old woman who in my mind represents the human soul burdened by suffering now glides on stage and her daughter leads her to Obatala. She kneels before the King of the White Cloth and prepares to enter the next world. In Candomble, Obatala is sometimes associated with death, the final ending that brings peace and a ceasing of suffering.
This play brings to mind another story of when Oshun in the form of a peacock flies up to the throne of Olofi to beg the Creator to send rain. The sun blackens her feathers and she becomes a vulture. Once again she saves the world from extinction.

Sometimes I feel like that scene in the play where humanity cries out to the Creator for an explanation. But sometimes the explanation is there is NO explanation. Our human minds were not meant always to grasp these mysteries. Sometimes the only answer the orishas can give me is We love you. Sometimes I pray and the rain falls down like a blessing from Olofi.
I'm not always sure what path to take. I know what I have to do in this life. I may have to do it alone or perhaps may have someone at my side to love me. In either case, the only strength I can rely on is my own. I thank all of you here, whom I have mentioned and those not mentioned for giving me such love, good advice, and friendship.
In the words of a fellow priest, Omi Leti "The chains are broken and my waters will engulf the world." I say let the rain fall, whether its tears of joy or tears are sorrow, both are equally sacred. Whether a smooth flowing sweet water of love or an angry tidal wave in the end all that is negative, all that is not of the divine is washed away. Ashe.

Le roi monte sur son trône

So the dating thing didn't work out but it's cool. We're still friends. as a
result I think I want to become a monk and say 12 rosaries a day.
However doing so would deprive society of my magnificent presence so
NO! :) I will still say rosaries however but no monastery. Ah but the love of my heart is furthest from me.
In the meantime, it's time for the mission to continue. I need to get moving on my spiritual work again. I'm officiating the wedding of one of my co-workers next month in Central Park. This will be the third wedding I've officiated.
I'm currently reading the book Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert and enjoying it immensely. It is supposed to be made into a film starring Julia Roberts. I like the author's writing style and her approach to her quest for happiness.
My love for the orishas and especially my own crown, Baba Logunede has deepened recently. All I can say is Orisha is Pure Love!

La Gente Unidos

Sunday I attended my first protest march with my friend Shanali in Jackson Heights, Queens. It was protesting police brutality against the local street vendors. Apparently they have been harassing the vendors with excessive tickets and in one case attacking one woman.
We took to the streets and marched down Roosevelt Avenue (a major road in Queens) all the way to the police precinct. Our slogans were "Si se puede, Arriba, abajo, la policia tan carajo! What do we want! Justice! When do we want it, Now!"
The energy was amazing and the people on the street who were watching us voiced their approval. The police had denied our group the use of bullhorns but you know when you get a group of people together we can yell in one loud voice and get our point across. They even threatened the organizer of the march with arrest merely because he was a few inches outside the police barricade. I think they were more angered at the words he was saying. The truth hurts sometimes. I was proud to see young people from the Filipino community as well come out to support the Latino community. Many have this image of Filipinos that we are go along with the status quo and are conservative. They forget the Filipino rebels who fought against American imperialism at the end of the 19th century.

Here is Shanali's commentary on the march.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xghmau14S94

The mission is what matters

Greetings dear readers,
I have been absent from here as of late. I still don't have a new computer so I must be content to use the ones at the public library. Thank God my phone has internet access or I would be totally cut off.
Spiritually things have been moving in a good direction. From tambors of the orisha I've attended to Pagan celebrations of Beltane, the Universe indicates things are moving smoothly with a few bumps here and there of course.
I am currently dating someone and I hope it works out :)
I have discovered a new patron saint for myself. She peeked out at me at a Haitian botanica. I've known about her all my life but never really connected with her until now. It is Saint Theresa of the Little Flower, a French Carmelite nun who lived at the end of the 19th century. She is the patron saint of people with AIDS, aviators, florists, and missions. She is kind of like a female St. Jude because she deals with cases of emergency and the impossible. After readings a few of her writings, I liked her style because she tended to be more spiritual and mystical rather than dogmatic. Also homegirl wanted to be a female priest and that was pretty forward thinking of her time. Her writings seem so spiritually affirmative. Well maybe she can help me on my "mission" since she is the patroness of missions. My goal is to go back to school and get a degree in Theology. As an initiate of an African Traditional Religion, I realize that very few of our priests and priestesses have clergy status in this country. I think this has to change. After all do we not perform the same functions as our counterparts of other religions?
Mother's Day and my birthday I saw a play about Oshun with my mom at the National Black Theater in Harlem. It was beautiful and it was a great experience to see the stories of our tradition visually enacted.
I spent the day today listening to various Candomble songs and writing the Yoruba words out phonetically. I think I am starting to learn them better.

Well I'm off to Brooklyn today to see Capicu Open Mic event.
Te Amo mis amgigos y amigos. Bendicion!