Where you from Sir uh originally from South Florida grew up around Broward County um as I got older I kind of bounced around a lot to Miami and Palm Beach and eventually made it up here towards Orlando area for all the people who don’t know what Miami’s like what’s Miami
Like it was definitely a fun place to grow up but uh as I got older and had kids it wasn’t some where I wanted my kids to grow up that’s crazy because um that was kind of the same answer I got from Mom I remember I was born in ’92 we
Left around 97 98 right and um Miami in the 90s was crazy it was it was it was a wild place it was crazy I mean you just you hear the stories um like put it this way my uncle um worked at the opaka airport okay and um he would work
Security right now mind you this is like the famous era of when you know the carjackings were happening and you know it was the chop shops in opaka you know it was to the point it was getting so dangerous he actually um got caught on camera sleeping in a car
Because what he would do is cuz he knew a lot of the guys from the neighborhood would actually you know do what they would do and they were hitting up the airport pretty hard and um he wanted no parts of that cuz the security guards were getting it too so he would just
Lock himself in a car with the tinted windows and he would just wake up and you know [ __ ] out but one day they were like Hey we’re missing a lot of inventory and they looked at the camera and they were like could you please explain why you’re in a car and these 20
Guys are you know completely busting down a car and leaving with it he just took off his badge and he said thank you for your time I’m done with this done so I uh I really was you know it’s always nice to meet somebody from the same
Place I it was crazy when you told me you lived in Lago yes yeah my actually my first apartment was there yeah yeah y I was there for like a year year and a half about that yeah that’s pretty much where we lived cuz I was born on uh 27th
Around 151st in Locka but we lived in logo and that area has completely changed too yeah yeah even when I lived there this was maybe maybe like 10 years ago now but even even when I lived there it was a lot calmer than it was you know a few
Years prior yeah actually I remember during the far when um it was the day of the Y and days remember w Lord William will have him on soon he blessed me with a haircut but he took me down memory lane he took me back like was we lived
By the pool and he took me to PR and you know his barber shops over there nearby so it was it was really emotional because it’s crazy how you can start in one place you know 25 years will go by and then you accomplish something so
Great right back where you started y so the way the world moves is is wild so did you see any bits of the religion while you were still living down there cuz some people live there and they have no idea yeah I definitely saw a lot of
It um I had a lot of friends I knew a lot of people so you go to people’s houses and you see Warriors and stuff like that behind the door um I didn’t really understand it though at that point I didn’t really come to know what
It was until I was living up here yeah yeah and um what were your first impressions of it I mean maybe you saw like a SOA or what was even though you didn’t fully get it like what was the vibe to be to be honest when I first saw
It down there it was kind of just I always been very respectful of other people’s beliefs so I see it as their thing and you tell me a little bit about it and I kind of just kept it moving after that yeah um I wasn’t really too
Inquisitive to be honest yeah it’s kind of one of those things that hides in plain sight too like you’ll see like this you know huge SOA for like obala or somebody be like oh that’s a nice piece of furniture maybe with like some religious con connotations but uh yeah
Let’s get back to what we were talking about right so um cuz Mom’s a pretty spiritual Lady Too extremely so like what were some of the things you saw growing up or that started spiritualizing yourself or maybe recognizing you know the beliefs yeah so I grew up my mom mom was always into
Like wiah and more Pagan things like that um I remember being a kid we would be going to different metaphysical shops and she would be sitting in circles and going to other people’s houses and stuff like that and it definitely put me on a path to look for
Something a little bit deeper than what some other uh more common religions kind of offer yeah like someone such myself that we were just you know Cuban Catholic you know but uh that that is an interesting path to begin on because you know you hear so many like Dynasty stories of like my
Grandfather was about my great great great-grandfather was B and you know this cousin was a Santa and people that come from like these you know dynasties lineages of just orisha practitioners and then you know you see somebody such as yourself you know now and you know some of your first spiritual experiences
Were wiah yeah you know yeah and um I I think that’s really awesome because when you look at the literature of EA and you look at all the paths thatum walked it was definitely one of them you know with nature-based worship and things like that I think it even sometimes make
Things makes things a little more legitimate because you see some people who are very keen on uh you know you come from a religious family right or are you Cuban or you know you basically get I I I’ve had people call the wanika and be like are they Cuban um you know
What does he look like you know how old is he you know how has not fitting The Stereotype been for you um it’s definitely had its challenges um trying to fit in culturally when you’re brought up a different way and things aren’t always the same from house to house
Um definitely language has been a huge barrier as well um especially when you’re working in ceremonies you got groups of guys together everything is in Spanish all in Cuban Spanish at that or Caribbean Spanish yes all the books and at least most any book that’s worth
Reading is written in Spanish um a lot of the English books really don’t they have a little bit of value to them but a lot of them have seem to have a lot of stuff missing so that’s definitely been a little bit of a struggle but uh Google
Translate and stuff definitely helps out a lot shout out to Google translate man yeah shout out to Google but has it ever really been a discouraging fact or did it motivate you more no not discouraging if anything it’s been uh to amp me up to make me
Want to learn how to do Spanish to make me push harder to make me try harder cuz it’s it’s an obstacle that you have to overcome and it’s are you going to let the obstacle overcome or you going to push through it and persevere you know
At what point then do you start not only recognizing the Seda landscape but start saying hey I’m interested in that well so when I first got into this I was looking for some kind of spiritual connection and something I didn’t really know what I was looking for um I had
Went to get a tarot card reading and it really wasn’t deep enough for me I guess I I left there very unfulfilled um and I had a conversation with my mom and she was telling me to go and look for someone who could read shells you know
So I made a phone call to a few botanicas and I found a babalau which ended up being my godfather and I went in there to get a reading and everything was good um he actually ended up telling me that I was going to get really sick
And I’m not a person that gets sick very often um and he told me to get insurance I didn’t have insurance at the time so I listened and I got the insurance and about a month later I was in the hospital with like $30,000 in medical bills and thankfully I had the insurance
So it it worked out but I you know as soon as I came out I went to him I’m like man you called it you said this was going to happen you know and um started asking how to move forward after that and we started talking about going and
Doing my Warriors and I went to uh drumming and I saw goon came out of the drum and when I saw that that was really my confirmation that it was like this is the truth you know that’s really interesting especially mom being from a a different you know background and her
Kind of providing that you know that guidance like hey look towards this and you know there’s very excellent tarot card readers but not everybody’s going to resonate with everyone the same way you know absolutely I’m not sure how your tarot card reading I remember the
First time I got read the one of Cups came up and the lady was like oh no oh God so I I I get it you know you kind of look for a little bit more and um it’s not that it can’t get there but he F
Profoundly on another level um would you mind sharing what you were sick with they really couldn’t even tell me I just had a stomach bug but that stomach bug lasted for like 3 weeks I lost like 30 lb I yeah I went to the hospital two or
Three times if I remember correctly yeah 10 $10,000 a visit man that ER that ER stuff my father he’s a he’s an emergency room doctor and he says man it’s $1,000 just to sit down yeah it’s wild you know and they it might literally be like here’s this cream you know and there
Another1 thousand cream so you know but you kind of look at it kind of I don’t maybe not saved your life but he definitely saved the situation your abely absolutely things yeah and those are the moments that kind of build Faith because it’s like you know especially something that close absolutely so at
That point when you go through that process with him before we get into like the initiation steps what’s going through your mind being that this guy just called this completely phenomenal like bug I mean going through my mind at that point was just nothing
But Faith at that point I was sold I was told I’m like where does this road take me let’s go I’m rad let’s get there you know wow so you go through your Han OFA process right was obatala on your radar did you know about the odisha to that point to
Not really um I had spoken to a few people I thought I was going to be a child of chungo coming in welcome to the club yeah me too y I thought it was going to be a child of chungo um my godfather said he thought I was going to
Be a child of Gua um we did my M do I came out with ad and yeah banging we asked Chango first Chango said no and then after that they went to obatala and obatala said yes and I mean after that I learned a lot about obatala and I mean
Now I love about he’s everything to me yeah and um I mean as far as characteristics between him and you what what commonalities do you see positive and negative definitely need to do things completely start do things completely start to finish he would get bored very quickly he was so intelligent
And you know to be frank with you speaking about him as older man he was a little bit lazy or a little bit lethargic I mean the snail right so yeah I get that sure yeah yeah but um I mean from a virtuous standpoint or a positive standpoint what resonates
With you with him oh absolutely NOA is the judge and I’ve always been very right is right and wrong is wrong you know um I mean there’s definitely gray areas and everything but there’s always has to be a balance awesome so you have your hand of Bea how’s that you know cuz
After the hand of Bea you know it’s a very eye openening experience and you know you’re seeing processes you’re seeing the pulling of eing which is like wo at least for for me it was at that moment absolutely you know at at was it a point in that ceremony where you’re
Like I can do this or I want to do this I don’t even think I had made that much of a thought process going into it at that point um I left from there and I had known what the I knew what the cost was to get crowned and it was a very
It’s a very costly C astronomical in my head at that point time I’m like I’m not going to spend that kind of money that’s not happening I I believe in this and all that stuff but I don’t that that’s a lot you know um and then about a month
After that I did my kids mono deas okay and my mom had went in with them and they all did their monoa together yeah and about two months after that I ended up receiving o sign oh wow yeah I received o sign and then after I received o sign everything just kind of
Fell into the place the money fell into my lap and I was like let’s do this man SOS on the books that’s wild especially with ad you know especially when you were living that phase or even now your oldun especially he speaks very heavily but but um you know when Mom receives
Her hand of ifah and you know comes with the ODU she comes with you know kind of identifying it’s ideal for you guys to go together or if not her before you know what what was going through your mind now when you’re about to take these huge spiritual steps in correlation with
The person that has kind of guided your spiritual journey up until that point I was very happy for her I was very happy that she was open to coming into this face with faith with me and taking these steps with me and ultimately to have someone to go through my yahad with you
Know I wasn’t just one person walking around in white pretty much everywhere I mean aside from work we spent a lot of time going and doing whatever it was that we did together and it was nice to have someone to go through that process with me yeah that resonates a lot cuz
You know your mom and my mom have the same oldo which is pretty wild different Guardian Angels but just to see the similarity in process and um even you know Journey how you know she fulfilled one step and then ultimately you were meant for more but to be able to share
That it really resonates with that ODU um and then to see your CH what was it like seeing your kids receive it it was very humbling I was very a lot of trust it was it was and it was a very I was very proud that I was able to
Bring them through that step um I feel whatever anyone’s beliefs are in life whatever religion anyone decides to ultimately practice I feel everyone could benefit from having their mono deula and from knowing their sign of EA and having that guidance and especially to have it for the children at such a
Young age to know how to guide them through their trajectory of life I was very happy to have been able to do that with them at such a young age yeah I really love that brother cuz that’s really what Ula is about he’s about making us better husbands better Sons
Better Brothers better fathers and um you know the positive effect it could Happ on the kids or like you said everybody you know CU there’s a lot of people I know people that live my grandmother lived to ‘ 86 just hand OFA and she had a sign that was like Crown
Do this do all that 84 year old woman when she received you know she was very blessed to be able to make it that that far I think oruma you know was very kind to give us another two years with her but just the hand OFA just to know who
You are and to have kind of like that spiritual blood type that spiritual MRI to be able to treat them yep absolutely my godfather used to call it the Medicaid card yeah very very sound analogy there because you I have clients right that you know have been attending
Themselves with me for years and they’ve invested enough funds to be bala’s by now orishas by now and you know I tell them I said I’d really love it if you just do the hand ofah and you know I don’t overstimulate them too much cuz everybody’s different but um it is ideal
You know what I’m saying because just the profoundness of the effects of doing it at both from your sign or doing anything from your your sign which is your spiritual DNA it just it it can’t be compared you know without going into ceremonial detail you know what was OS
Like you know I mean is because we get so much questions on him like they’re like Baba do another episode on oos and there’s only so much we could talk about but you know what was the energy like sign is an intense ceremony it’s a very intense ceremony very rigorous um not
For the faint of heart yeah for gentlemen as I like to say definitely for gentlemen um going into that ceremony not being a babalau yeah not really knowing physical ceremony I was into was definitely yeah it was a lot they’re going to try you more yeah they’re going to try you more because
Like uh usually if you’re hopping o before EA it’s cuz you’re going to do EA at some point so they’re they’re they’re testing and whatnot so you got to hold sturdy but you know one thing I noticed about that energy cuz mine was actually done during the day mhm and um it was
Almost like I remember like a gust of wind really coming like when we first started and just seeing it move through the leaves and stuff like that and you kind of saw nature moving around like a squirrel was staring at me I’m like whoa
You know but the energy is is so it’s so profound but if it’s I think if it’s done correctly and with proper intention it’s almost Airy it’s almost light you know even with all the intensity that’s in it so yeah I I I enjoyed it thoroughly I mean the parts
When you’re not going through pain right but um for sure so you have oos the money’s there now we’re on our way to Crown o badala um you know was certain gree what was that process like what’s going through your mind uh moving forward towards crowning OB excitement
Yeah excitement and eager and jumping out of my skin like I just want to be in the room already for sure I was very excited very eager to get there and then once you get there it’s hurry up and wait yeah and whole long year yeah hurry
Up slow me down yeah and and you look at your sign of ad at that point you know the proverb the famous proverb his voice will fill the room ofish Anda you know what I’m saying so it’s a very grandiose is speaking of great things especially with obadah being really integral when
It comes to the practice of you know eism right which is what we do and um I I I you know what’s crazy brother is like I feel like orisha was difficult and Nea was easy like at least in my situation I I had been wanting to Crown
Since I was like nine or 10 you know and um you know you’re young you make a lot of mistakes you don’t know how to save money you know you’re not really working um and I remember just thinking like wow if I ever actually get a a
Chance to Crown this lady you know I don’t know if I’m going to do anything else because it was such a long and arduous path and you know she she really spanks us I think y’all’s y’all’s process might be a little different not saying you have it easier but the yellow
Team is like it’s just it’s she’s very very like minute with us like she she expects a lot from us especially the boys yeah you know so you crowna you see a bunch of things you’ve never seen before um I think Mom said you finished your year in white yep yep went through
The whole year in white presented to the drums whole nine yards what advice can you give to somebody going through their year in white cuz I’ll be frank with you my year in white was horrible stick with it stick with it I remember remember someone told me a lot ofishas are ending
Up in the garbage now it’s a shame it’s a shame um it saddens me to hear things like that you know that’s ultimately not what anybody wants yeah um someone told me when I first did my Santo when I was a yo they said your year in white is the
Most powerful that you will ever be in life but it is also the most vulnerable you’ll ever be in life because you’re the baby of the Santos so you’re a baby everything touches you when you feel everything but at the same time you’re so protected by everything but because
Of that like I said you can feel everything and you’re so open to everything around you it’s easy to get deterred and I feel like when you’re on that path things are always going to come and to test you to pull your away to see if you’re deserving of those
Blessings as well and you got to persevere and push through it yeah and I think even more so you guys because literally the rules of the yahar are basically the rules of the child ofala y you know everything and that’s why the white cloth and all those things and
You know when you look at a baby it’s swaddled in a white cloth unfortunately when we pass away based on our rights we’re in a white cloth you know like you know or people are you know it’s it’s just it makes a lot of sense especially
With your process but that’s why I I’ll tell you I think me doing my yahar well really set things up for the rest of my life you know cuz I really I behaved and my grandmother didn’t have Aisha done but she had you know Kaa and stuff like
That and she was like monitoring me she’s like oh you’re not sitting on the floor oh she’s on it oh it’s 6:05 you’re not home yet and I was around the corner yeah so you know just to have that support system from her or Mom and obviously you and your situation is it
Helps system definitely helps absolutely yeah cuz there’s this huge video going on now of you know people throwing like this some woman you know basically you know converting and things like that and completely destroying her orishas now really yeah and now mind you it’s not only the economic amount yeah it really
Isn’t because cuz you know you pay a couple dollars for this stuff you know but just just the the sacrifice it’s really ironic to me how people can sacrifice so much for something I I would imagine and then all of a sudden you have it and then it’s disposable to
You absolutely absolutely all the animals that had to give their lives for they to be born the first thing whenever I give somebody an animal and you present them with it I always tell them the first thing thank the animal for a sacrifice that’s always the first thing
I tell people you know and I feel like a lot of people lose sight of that yeah now before we move on what would you say to somebody who’s on the brink of throwing their stuff out don’t do it don’t do it put them in a bag and put
Them in a closet think about it another year from now wait just wait because your mind will change and you’re going to end up regretting this maybe not today maybe not tomorrow but you will regret it and you’re going to have a lot of negative repercussions in your life
Human beings are an interesting interesting group absolutely you know what I’m saying we we’re so emotional and um we’re so quick to you know want to discard or distance oursel like the old B fi says people hate sickness so much they’d rather die than be sick no
But they still lose sight of the fact you’re alive exactly you know what I’m saying we don’t want to go through the struggle we don’t want to go through the obstacles that come with success you know and success isn’t only a vehicle it’s not only a certain amount in our
Bank account it’s it’s sometimes it’s just resilience yeah and I think that’s a really important message for viewership and people in general yo like but um so we get through our year in white y what’s going through your mind going through to the end of the year the white oh yeah we just
Finished just finished I’ve already paid for EA yeah I already paid for EA at that point and we’re on track getting everything ready um to walk in from one room to the next it’s a different Dynamic right it was it was for me like how you said Santo was very difficult
And if I was easy for you I was the opposite Santo I was the baby and everything was just I feel like everything just happened and everything fell into my lap and once I got tah it was pump the brakes and it was like you
Need to work on a lot of stuff yeah and then we can start helping other people yeah and I say it was it was difficult for me because just my process up until that point I feel like oong had had strung me out to the point where I
Really didn’t have any juice left yeah so I’m like she’s really not going to get much out of me at this point and you know the money fora came out of nowhere at the end of my year so I’m happy I stuck it out of course um and then you
Know I was very lucky my godfather he really facilitated things in a way where you know I was just able to start learning um but I tell you one thing that really attracted me to it and I loved so much was just the B yeah you know when you’re going through kind of
That honeymoon phase where it’s like you’re you’re coming in you’re meeting everybody you know your Godfather’s like this is my guy and you know what was that like just to experience that fraternity maybe at least the first time with within the spirituality because there’s nothing like it yeah it was very
Nice to have that kind of community and that family in a sense you know that Brotherhood that it something you don’t really find any other place you know so now you’re bow yep what what are some of the obstacles that we’re we’re seeing now cuz you know
Like I was uh recently talking to another brother and you know there’s always the plateau you know you want to eat the book as soon as you come out you’ve seen all these glorious processes you’re like I want to learn I want to learn but you know I’d be lying if even
Me you know 6 months in 8 months in you just you don’t want to look at the books sometimes so what are some of the things you noticed that you had to overcome as far as study and things like that you know when you hit that point definitely
That you know even when you’re tired when you don’t want to it’s been a long day you still got to crack the book you still got to look at it you know you had another video where um another gentleman was saying you leave Ula for a day and
He leaves you for two weeks oh yeah that’s something that’s definitely stuck with me you know and you got to push through it uh Plateau I guess for me would definitely be the language barrier I struggled a lot with the language barrier when it comes to studying you
Know like like I said Google translate it does the world but it definitely doesn’t translate everything completely so at that point I end up with a lot of questions and I’m calling you at that point hey I’ve read this it translated this way but what’s your take on it am I
Understanding this correctly and how many people do you think we’re losing because of language a lot a lot I think if there was a good solid English book it would change the community CU that’s the thing A lot of people are like I want to read but I don’t want to read
Something that I have to to unlearn um obviously I won’t mention any titles but I think I’ve unlearned maybe almost as much as I learned yeah you know I’m right there with you absolutely and it serves its purpose too because knowing what not to do is maybe even more
Important than knowing what to do sometimes but um you know it just it’s it’s it’s it is it is a motivating factor for us to continue doing what we’re doing because the idea of you know losing all these great people who are interested in luki you know is a
Practice because of language you know we we got to do better in that regard yeah you know because it’s it’s it could be drastic because you have a lot of great english- speaking people who are interested in the afroc Cuban side of things because it’s like I’ve told other
People I’ve had the opportunity to practice ises I’ve been invited by really great Brothers over there but honestly I enjoy ours so much yeah um so was lukumi I mean now that you you’re a little older and EA um how do you feel about the lukumi practice you know as
Versus maybe the things you’ve been able to see from ises you know what are some of the things that kind of keep you here ultimately I feel with the community that we live in the way that we practice makes a lot more sense we don’t live in
This tribal setting where one set of deities can kind of take care of the town you know what I mean we need to have our own things we need to have a collective we need to have these things living with us in our home because we’re not in that kind
Of tribe we’re not in a Village everybody practices a different religion from house to house so it’s a much different setting um and for that reason I feel the lukumi makes the most sense on this side of the ocean yeah that’s a great Point brother I never really heard
To put into those terms but yeah I mean because you know you look at The Rustic way of doing things it makes a lot of sense within that clan-based village-based practice right where you know we’re all shangle priests and we’re going to resolve everything with shangle
And ISU and the ballow and but when you come over here and you’re interacting with so many different heads and so many different situations and even they started doing it you know before you know the slave trade happened and things like that the pilgrimage and the apprenticeship was always the norm um
Where you go to other places and learn and possibly receive other deities it was more like when we arrived over here we were kind of forced yeah because if not you know these things are going to be lost and then the scary thing is how
Much did we lose yeah you know and and it’s promising how much we were able to preserve as well but it really it makes sense what you’re saying you know your partner’s initiated your wife yes yep she’s got her de how uh how has the dynamic been different you know uh
Presumably you had other relationships before her um you know how is it benefited you how has it motivated you how has it stabilized you to have a partner who not only supports you but is also a part of what you’re doing it definitely helps um being a working
Priest it’s long nights a lot of hours you know and having someone who understands that and understands what this religion is it helps a lot um to understand things of that matter as well if you both share one Faith there can be nothing in between you guys does
That make sense absolutely um so I feel for that sense it helps a lot as well um just for things that I’ve gone through in other relationships it’s always kind of been like well this is standing in between us cuz I don’t agree with this or that or whatever and it’s it’s really
Not in between us we’re just on different pages yeah it’s a scary idea right when especially being in this priesthood where you’re like you know you want to give your kids hand of vah at least and if you’re with somebody who’s completely adverse to that you know just the uh the
Emotional roller coaster point doesn’t work usually yeah I I’m not saying it’s not possible but it’s very very improbable I haven’t I haven’t seen many situations where that actually works out and usually if it does work out it’s because they’ve been together decades already yeah um but new budding relation ships different
Viewpoints um usually you know there’s there’s just things that are insurmountable I actually had relationships and at almost all of my initiations really yeah as I was going to Santo a relationship ended as I was going into ifah a relationship ended it’s wild yeah and that that lets you
Know that you know it’s it’s not that the odisha are getting rid of anybody but it’s like nature is moving in a way where if you’re going in One Direction and I’m going in another if we’re not growing together we’re growing apart exactly so I I tell you at least in my
Situation as well as yours like it’s been gratifying but also very comforting to know I don’t have to think about that you know like when my you know my my step kids had hand ofah before I came into the picture but just being able to have my daughter and you know not even
Have to have that conversation is just very relieving you know for sure um ethnically what are you my friend uh so my mom is English and my dad is spartic what is that spartic were Je Jews there translat to Spanish Jew um they were in Spain and they were eventually kicked
Out of Spain and they were nomadic people they went through turkey into Greece into Italy and eventually over here most of them through Ellis Island wow so the dad dad was from New York did he live in y my dad was born in New York
Um his mom and dad were they all came in through Ellis Island okay yeah yeah so I hope it wasn’t my ancestors the Moors that got rid of your ancestors you know they were a bad Bunch those guys you know cuz when I did my ancestry you know
Very heavily Sicilian a lot of North African yeah I don’t know and and the 1% of Nigerian blood I got was from my dad so you know I hope I hope we we’re good there but um you know we don’t necessarily fit the bill yeah you know
When people look at us they don’t think bow per se for sure um what’s that been like you know not being you know aesthetically stereotypical of this position you know because we don’t look like oua presumably yeah it definitely always leaves people kind of when they
Find out that I’m white like oh he is yeah and you hear me moyuba or speak or something and it’s like it doesn’t sound like he’s white word you know um so it definitely always takes people back for a second um but other than that I’ve never really felt any difference from it
Um I’m just a guy just like everybody’s a guy and we’re just here yeah it’s a conversational piece at best I mean ultimately at least I mean I uh I’ve heard accounts of very famous Bala in Africa actually going through like moments of real Enlightenment or eye openening moments where some of their
Teachers were actually white B house who actually were over there and had apprenticed and learned and function and it was actually a little traumatic because they’re like oh my God you know especially with the occupations and things that have occurred and then you know them speaking about the profound
You know filial love that they they built for these men who taught them regardless of of uh skin tone so you know as as we come in now into this Beyond Modern Age where you know these things are accessible to everybody I think what’s beautiful is that we are
Seeing the varied faces that oruma wanted yeah as far as B Because when you look at Odus like even to a certain degree initiated a different looking man from each of the 16 ancestral lands yeah so you know it’s it’s it’s nice now that there is more awareness and there are more Brothers
Involved that that look a little different um even though we’re not focused on that that but you know you always have to work with the impression of the client and the people that are coming in and help Comfort them I tell you one thing that you know we we get
Calls at the WAN all the time is he Cuban you know it’s yeah amongst other things but yeah you know what I’m saying so it’s strange the things that matter to some people the poor things they they some I mean you know I don’t want to get too stereotypical but you know there’s
Certain things that people associate with certain ethnicities that you know I’ve met great professionals from every Walk of Life and eah is really no different and I make a a point to mention it here between you and I because we really have to overcome this predisposition towards you know our
Professionals have to look a certain way yeah because you could really be missing out on some great Services because you know like for example the other day I saw you know a Japanese Bala on YouTube or I’ve seen I’ve seen him I know what you’re talking about a beast
He’s a beast or the drum players or you know it’s like it’s it’s really the the religion of man yeah absolutely I saw one time uh it was a piece of literature of but it was written in Arabic yeah yeah speaks of them getting initiated b as well exchanged a lot of philosophy
With basically everybody every prophet he interacted with all of them and he took the best from each and he just brought it back through his travels so you know that’s that’s that’s definitely key as we’re moving forward as a community um what are your goals now I mean how
Old are you in ifan now three I’m three now I’ll be four come June um and um four in Santo I’ll be five in April what are some of the things you’re kind of looking at that either you’re refining or you’re trying to delve into even more really I’m just focused on my
Studies right now um trying to I feel like I’ve got a pretty good idea of working the religion performing ceremonies things like that I’m trying to work dive deeper into signs and memorizing stories and and that aspect of it as far as goals man my real only
Goal is to make a Lo happy make him proud of his son you know that’s really my only goal in life I always joke with my wife all the time I said do you think Ora knows who I am you know you get to heaven and you’re kind of like uh hi and
He’s like who are you you know but I think he all of us have a special place within him um and I think it’s like anything with with children like you know the more you’re around your parents the more present you are to them and vice versa and I think we are entering
Into a time where we do need professionals like yourself that take it seriously yeah um and understanding that IFI is far beyond mythology and folklore it is alive um we’re still so blessed to have it you know and um the idea that you know people are willing to take it
As a profession rather than a hobby is is really comforting as well because people want results absolutely you know and and people I I say this time and time again people will invest but they just want to make sure they’re getting the product they’re paying for you know
Absolutely you have a lot of tats I do look good thank you would you like would you like like to share some of them with us and the symbolism behind it I see the word Baba over there I see uh yeah so that’s uh my Santo name me and nice for
Got the Dolphins on there they could be doing better but you know they could always be doing better fish you know what I’m saying yep um yeah this was a this one was for um a promise that I made to my guardian angel to abala and
That was to represent that um other than that man I had I got sleeves when I was like 16 oh man at this point they’re kind of [ __ ] out man looking good yeah but um what do they symbolize to you what what is the process of
Tattooing really what is it I mean at 16 I don’t know how profound we could have been with our thought process but I thought they were cool at that age yeah we had a million ideas but as you’ve gotten older now you know what is what does the process represent to you as
I’ve gotten older um to be honest I really don’t haven’t gotten much more tattoos in older life when I went through the Santo yamaya recommended to me not to to get more tattoos okay um so I’ve definitely treaded lightly with that and if I wanted to get something it
Was think about it for a very long time make sure I want it talk to odula make sure everything is good and then at that point move forward um but yeah it’s really been a long time since I’ve wanted to put something permanently on my body oh for sure and that that’s
Ironic you being a son ofala um it’s not taboo by any means I mean Ora in general the tattoos are born in like OB B and a bunch of different signs but you know to see a you know basically Inked out um it really sets aside that uh stereotype you
Know badala wasn’t perfect yeah um you know he went through a lot of processes to go from ayaguna to osang you know what’s youra path by the wayo oh very nice very nice the king that speaks that’s that’s mine oh yeah yeah yeah the white and purple for sure but it is nice
To see real examples you know what people actually look like and we don’t all have to fit you know necessarily that space um going back to the kids you know them being initiated is fabulous but you know as far as uh I’m not recalling their ages all per se but like
What are some of the routines like how are you exposing them to the faith like are you guys taking care of things together or are they kind of just watching you function or you know yeah so we’ll typically take care of their they just have their Warriors but we’ll
Typically take care of their Warriors together um on usually on Monday but whatever day of the week that we can um we just try to get taken care of at least one day a week and we’ll tend to the Warriors whatever they need um get their things candles rum whatever and
Really just having them talk to them and try to build a relationship with them and know who they are and have that I don’t know to say like I don’t want them to Fe feel awkward having a communication with Gods yeah and to be
Able to pray and to be able to know that someone on the other side is listening you know and you’re not alone you’re not here talking to a rock that’s not anything you know like someone’s listening to you right now and they’re going to help you um definitely yeah I
Think the scariest thing in The Human Experience is loneliness absolutely Solitude you know just being by yourself yeah you know it’s it’s completely against all that you know we biologically are composed of so the idea that you can speak to something that’s not going to speak back to you and still
Get a result is maybe the most comforting thing that you know anybody could think of maybe that’s the whole reason the religion’s around now kind of thinking about it because you know when you have nothing else or no one else you have this cement head absolutely you
Know and I think that’s maybe why ASU is the first guy because he’s kind of our first friend he’s you know you talk to him and he all he does is listen yep I think it’s a really resonating message because we as Bala ideally we should be listening more than we’re speaking Yeah
You know absolutely if we’re Consulting I think you know coherently um brother what advice would you give to somebody who’s pondering EA or interested in EA after all of your experiences and what you went through faith have some Faith take that step until you take that first step
Nothing nothing is going to manifest for you nothing is going to change you know you need to believe and have faith and take that step and you’re going to see how the entire world opens up for you any cothing any closing thoughts for our community at large you know our
Roots podcast any words you’d like to leave them with as a lasting message it’s pretty grandiose right that is a big question a big question besides besides Faith yeah as far as a closing statement just means more this this Faith needs more open-mindedness a lot of closed-mindedness around it I feel
People need to be a little more open to spiritual aspect of things not have things such on a pedestal and have it on such an unreachable distance from you and put it more at a ground level where we can actually relate and interact with these deities and have an actual relationship
With them I think that’s definitely resounding because it’s like we were talking about before we started recording you know sometimes between all the sacrifice and you know yelling and uh you know all the things that are going on because you knowa or inisha process is an organized circus as I like
To say you know you have to find those moments within it to kind of have that Union um so I think that’s the real initiation I think that’s the real process it’s not an animal dying or a song being sung it’s the feeling absolutely you know that we share with
Them and that energy that vibrates off of us that Oneness absolutely my brother I I sincerely want to thank you for being on and you know our closing words to you is thank you for being a professional for being a son of eah for being faithful to eah for
Being a prime and proper example of what it is to be Balu as you continue in your journey your study your refinement and elevation um I think you’re to be studied I think you’re to be analyzed and I think a lot of people are going to
Gain a lot of benefit from watching this interaction or interacting with you directly how can people contact you um IG yeah yeah Instagram what’s the ig name again M Mike Hayes yeah Mike Hayes with three e yeah for sure for sure definitely definitely uh add me friend
Um message me anything I’m always hear doors open anybody who needs help absolutely thank you Pap for sure thank you so much for having me absolutely it’s headphone time we got some shout outs so ahead and throw those things on that’s right what a great show thank you
Mike that was a great show man thank you so much hope everybody watching got some enjoyment out of that and if you did just make sure you leave a a comment if you haven’t already and to subscribe and hit that like button but it’s time time to show some love to the people
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