Thank you hey family thank you for tuning in to Our Roots podcast with Joseph babaiifa we’re only the strongest Roots see the light brought to you by multani got candles and more and if you haven’t had the opportunity please hit that like button and tap on that subscribe button
Today’s episode is on the 16 Commandments of ifah and these Concepts can be found in the old and what happened in this sign was there was a time when the bawalawus were not seeing a lot of results from their practice so they went to visit where divination was performed for the ODU
Ikafun to be revealed where olodumare sent a personal message to each of them where each of the Follies that they were committing were being basically corrected so as we delve in and we look at what each of them is saying it was unfortunately a behavior that they were
Delving into previously that caused dolo dumari to have to reprimand them right and once they start started Living correctly and following these laws not only themselves but the olorishas and Humanity at large whoever chose to follow the light that was ifah in the direction of IFA started Living
Prosperously and having a lot of longevity so question here um I know if I has been around literally forever pretty much yeah these are the 16 Commandments I know there are some other Commandments that are pretty familiar yeah um in the you know religious world and are referencing Christianity here sure
Um are there any parallels between these uh these two because I know um some stories have been borrowed you know and interpreted adapted well you know when we talk about legitimacy and the original and authenticity you know we never want to bring anyone else’s into question but I will say that Africa was
Around before everybody um the Yoruba Tribe just like various other tribes had you know codes and laws I mean even if you look back to Samaria like Hammurabi’s law on the tablet and all these different things there were things around far before Christianity um and possibly even Judaism right you
Know just based completely on chronological order carbon dating having nothing to do with religious debate or discourse whatsoever so you’re going to see a lot of parallels from these things or that which was African indigenous translated into more abrahamic faiths being that you know we have to see where were these
Conclusions drawn from especially if there was something beforehand but when you look at African law those Concepts like it was completely based on that which was natural and moral and anything that went against that went against nature and ultimately the Supreme Being who created it so that’s where those
Concepts come from so you brought us a present here you actually have a physical list physical Commandments and you send it to me so we’re going to share that on the screen yeah guys and this is this is really special stuff when uh Phil pulls it up so this is
Actually the paper or piece of cardboard that I had when I was about to do IFA and my godfather actually told me that I needed to learn these memory so the best list I ever found was actually in one of the pieces of literature he gave to me
With the original story that I just mentioned and I actually wrote them out to be able to learn them by memory because he said he wasn’t going to initiate me into IFA unless I recited them um to him now now mind you I I don’t recall
Them like before you know when you you have a prerequisite and you need to have it to be able to move forward um you know at that moment it’s right at the front of the mind now you know they’re pretty much ingrained to where you know being in a culture for over 20
Years you know it’s uh highly unlikely I’m ever going to digress from these but um you know this is the original piece of paper I actually don’t know where this poster is um I hope to find it in my garage eventually but I have the photo because
This is the same photo I share to everybody that we’re going to initiate whether um whether any far or In audition I actually wrote it in Spanish because I learned Define Spanish but I’ll be sure to translate them now I just wanted to share that with you guys
Because it was hanging in my room and my grandmother I remember the first time she walked in she’s like what’s this and I said this is what I’m studying right now she’s like oh it looks serious you know so she saw the ones in the zeros
And she knew it was having to do with uh IFA scripture is that your handwriting yes it is you you actually got a pretty good handwriting yeah I’m very last my mother my grandmother had excellent penmanship and I actually learned uh you know cursive well really I learned
Cursive in school but I imitated my grandmother quite a bit and then print I print a lot like my mom but if you notice it kind of goes to the right a little bit because I I prefer cursive um but for some reason and I kind of do
A mix sometimes if you’ll see some words or like half cursive has print it depends on how I feel but I’ve always gotten compliments on that but I give that to really my grandmother and my mother they have excellent penmanship you mentioned a minute ago about the X’s
X’s O’s and the ones and zeros yeah what’s that about so that right there that combination is um which means the right leg is which the left leg is or phone so that is because ifaz read the same way that nature moves from right to left or counterclockwise if you notice within
Any of our practices everything is a against the clock you know because the world kind of rotates that way we’re going and they say that’s why the people who perform a lot of Ebola they stay so young like you look at the old Wawa Laos it would be like 80 and they’d look
Fabulous it says because they were always going backwards in time so they were kind of taking years off of you know their that are adding years to their life that are said like taking some mileage off of the odometer all right well um I guess let’s get started with um with
Number number one right absolutely yeah I’ll say it uh as I read it and then we’ll go ahead and translate it so it says the priest of the person never says what they don’t know and what that makes reference to is that you know we don’t act like we know something when
We don’t you know it’s kind of like a form of lying like portraying something that we are not if I is all about humility so you know for example very early on in life I learned that if you don’t know something be honest that you don’t know it but let them know you’re
Gonna go ahead and find that piece of information for them you know as quickly as possible and I really took that to heart as well when I opened my business because you know we were incorporating a lot of products from Traditions that weren’t native to ours right so we would
Hear about new things or they would ask us if we had it and we were very Frank you know we don’t have it but where we’re going to separate ourselves from the competition is by getting it right and that’s where our inventory grew so with any five was the same thing um you
Know I was always very honest with my clients about what I had the knowledge to do and what I was going to learn to do to be able to serve them better so if they asked me hey can you swear me into autumn no at that point I didn’t have
That knowledge like I do now so I would take them to my godfather and we’d you know collaborate to be able to take that person through that process or whether it was odisha or whether it was doing a parado in the beginning you have to be very honest and most clients don’t have
An issue with you not knowing how to do something especially if you’re at those beginning stages they’re not choosing the profession they’re choosing the professional so if they see that you’re growing with them and you’re progressing and you’re learning and you’re getting results and you’re being you know recognized as competent they usually
Won’t leave if you’re honest now where you have a real issue is if you lie you know and they catch you in that lie and then oh you know this I don’t think it’s a funny story but it is ironic there’s been stories of people who have done
Like for example let’s say a guy came to me and said I want you to do ephotomy and I’m like yeah sure I’ll do it but then the day after tomorrow when we’re doing he thought of the other guy the same guy who said he was going to be doing to him
Is doing it as well like I heard a story like that like the guy said yeah I’ll do we follow you but the guy during the ceremony was like well Paladino Godfather why do you have to go through everything I’m going through if you already did it and another guy was like
That’s not your godfather he’s doing it together with you because the guy had actually stolen the money um and used the other guy to be able to initiate as well so you know obviously that’s completely taboo and situations came from that from what I understand but that’s just an example of you know
We don’t say what we don’t know because you lose all prestige in order never delved into that well what about the the quote fake it till you make it um but there’s ways to fake it without lying for example like I think you know one of the greatest examples I heard
About that was uh Mr uh P Diddy right and this is hearsay but they said he had you know these huge diamond earrings on and whatnot and they said that he had just bought him at a corner store before going into an award show now mind you
You look at a gentleman such as this hundreds of millions of dollars you know you’d think you know he’s wearing you know a million dollars worth of earring diamonds when in reality you know now mind you he had already made it but impression is everything yeah um I think
You’re able to you know avoid lying um to not you know arrive at the you know the point of being disingenuous or untruthful you know but you don’t but if you are asked and you are confronted on it you really want to take that moment to clarify things but if you’re in that
Position anyway that means you did something initially wrong you know so it’s it’s better to be authentic from the beginning and you avoid all those situations because ifan odisha is a very small world and people are getting checked now more than ever with you know social media people are getting put on
Blast and that’s why I really lean on the Integrity of this channel because no one has anything negative really to say about us as far as Integrity you know they might have some issues with pricing or maybe the you know the views by some of our our guests but as far as a
Reflection of us and our integrity as practitioners never yeah I think that’s a deaf and testament for you your integrity is very high you’re very high regarded that’s that’s all we’re about you know that’s all that’s that’s how we were trained so you know and it’s given us great results and
I think it comes from patience you know we try to do too much too early or too soon it causes us to get into those kind of situations and that’s not that’s not a plan for longevity all right let’s go number two number two do not perform rights of which you do
Not have the knowledge so it kind of leans a little bit on number one but it is its own because now we’re talking straight ceremony so for example like I said if if someone comes to me and they say Joseph I’d like you to direct or coordinate this IFA for me being that
I’m going to initiate somebody else if I do not have the knowledge or complete an absolute certainty of the product and service I’m about to provide I need to alley-oop that to somebody else because you’re playing with people’s Destinies you’re playing with people’s money their time and it’s going to end very
Negatively because the thing about it is even if said person doesn’t know how to direct it themselves they know how it should look they know the elements you know this isn’t our first time in the room at that point if you’re initiating somebody else you’re going to get
Checked and called out very quickly and it’s going to lead to pretty negative situations so whether it’s a hand of IFA whether it’s a reading whether it’s a random cleaning whatever you have not studied and prepare yourself to do you should not do because not only is it
Going to have negative ramifications on you more importantly it’s going to have negative ramifications for your family IFA does not punish the wrongdoer he punishes that which the wrong doer holds dear so you know I’ve heard of various cases where people did things that were unethical and randomly a family member died
Um a disease somebody got sick out of nowhere some phenomenon and by adhering to this second law is how you really avoid that the problem is when we have elements that you know could materialize in thousands of dollars or the The Prestige that comes from initiating or being you know seti Faro odisha
Professional that knows what they’re doing it causes people to to to to to act and that really doesn’t it’s not a plan for longevity it will not get you far um very wise words man oh man all right here you go number three do not take people down false paths or
The wrong path there’s actually an ODU known as where it’s known as the false prophet and this guy had a really you know a really big gift when it came to you know verbalizing things he was uh he was almost hypnotic when he came to the way
He would say things to people and people would listen to him and cheer for him and say they’d follow him so it says that he went for divination World romila told him to stop you know because he was trying to lead people down a path um based on you know his own false
Virtue and um you know he was so intoxicated by the fame and notoriety that was coming from this public discourse he was providing he chose to persist where he made a false claim to people that he knew of a promised land where there was no pain no poverty you
Know the streets are paved in Gold you know a Utopia situation and he actually LED them into the desert right some people say it was 40 days 40 years very similar to other biblical texts that we may have heard of but the issue is is this guy never LED them to the promised
Land he basically LED them in a circle for you know however much time until people became very disgruntled and checked him on it and when he realized they were going to kill him he escaped and left them there to die so that’s so that’s probably where this one comes
From you know it says do not lead people down the wrong path so for example if someone’s asking you hey this is what I want to accomplish in life but rather than taking them down the quickest way from point A to point B you take them on this goose chase that
You know cost thousands of more dollars because it conveniences you that is where the taboo lies here or you know if somebody wants to do something negative and you encourage them down that path you know Say Hey I want to do witchcraft to my boyfriend you know a competent and
Ethical about allow is not going to delve into this because that is taboo what the right path would be is hey this is what your sign says this is what you can do for your own betterment you know really coach that person so they don’t delve into that behavior and if they
Choose to to not allow them to do it there but that’s what it means we’re saying taking people down false paths and you know if you notice each law builds upon each other don’t say what you don’t know don’t do what you don’t know how to do don’t lead people down
You know this Rabbit Hole they all build upon each other because one leads to another leads to another man wisdom after wisdom yeah all right next one Sona so it’s saying never trick people right and once again it builds upon the previous one so um what could tricking somebody be it
Could be hey I’m about allowed when I’m not it could be hey I know how to do this when I don’t um it could be scamming people which we’re seeing a lot of now like I know a case where a woman paid five thousand dollars for a kakaria and for the people
That are watching they know what that is and somebody told them it was the manorula and obviously we know it is not um you know I had one case where a woman paid thousands of dollars for a painting and they it was a la Caridad or Our Lady
Of Charity and they said well you have crown Del Chung now you know and and it was just a painting you know so we’re seeing a lot of that now a lot of it is being dissipated now because you know with the internet and with the information that’s out there and there’s
People that are very Vigilant we’re avoiding a lot of that from happening now but there was a point where people were really being taken advantage of especially in places where he fought was beginning or going through a Renaissance period and people didn’t know any better so it’s basically do not do anything to
Anyone that they are not actually Desiring or aware enough to be able to decide whether they want it or not all right here we go number five nope that then they said don’t act like you’re wise when you are not um it comes back to humility right I
Mean when we talk about wisdom urumila was wise because he was humble you know when we talk about wisdom wisdom is characterized by silence so when it says don’t act like you’re wise when you’re not people who are actually wise don’t act like they’re wise because if you have to act like
You’re wise you’re more than likely not just like if you have to act like you’re rich you probably don’t have that much money if you have to act like you’re tough you probably have never practiced you know martial arts or what have you because usually the people who are in
Those positions of Competency they’re extremely humble you know if if I’m a trained Fighter um I’m probably avoiding fights you know because at that point my hands are weapons right or if I actually am knowledgeable and wise and if I’m probably avoiding conflicts because I understand the power of the energies
That I work with or any of these other things you know the richest person in the room is usually the most humbly dressed you know people are not wearing designer and things like that when they actually have you know wealth so you know don’t act like you’re wise when
You’re not you notice that and this is happening this is kind of an epidemic now especially in the online scene of IFA you have a lot of people who leave comments on whether it’s our videos other videos debating or trying to you know prove something to be incorrect now
Most of the time these people are uninitiated and usually when we check their credentials they don’t respond because they have no basis to be discussing IFA or Isha or do Centric themes with initiated priests so that’s one example of that but then you actually have initiated people um who actually haven’t studied this
Philosophy or this school of thought and they want to debate with people because they actually haven’t learned anything so we see a lot of that as well and you’re trying to engage in a pseudo philosophical conversation with somebody trying to prove them wrong based on your own incompetency and lack of preparation
So that’s what odomila was saying when people try to debate or Rula or run up on orula and be like what’s that in the third he would you know respond very calmly and he’d be like are you a priest have you studied said ODU have you gone
Through said process and time and time again the aggressors did not and we see that now even on an online Spectrum where the majority of the agitators are either uninitiated or initiated but untrained so that’s what that one’s referring to interesting okay here we go number six
You should be humble and not egocentric um if I sang humility is the way to be able to avoid all of these ultimately what is humility humility is not you know being a fan of yourself humility is not having to mention all the wonderful things or negative things that are happening to you
Um it’s allowing your actions to speak for themselves it’s not debating with someone even though you know they’re wrong when we talk about humility it’s really a product of patience and good character which is the central themes and ideas of our whole spirituality when we talk about egocentricity it’s
Something that has to be avoided because an oath to save Humanity we’re literally entering into a life of servitude or public service so you cannot be egocentric at that point for example you know I’ve had situations where my God children have emergencies and I get called at an ungodly hour
Um and you know sometimes it takes time away from my family or there’s a phone call and they’re going through a pressing situation or you know hey my day off is now gone because I have this situation that I need to attend to there can be no egocentric City within this
Priesthood or within this practice now of course everything is balances and limits please have a life you know because you deserve it but um IFA says that ultimately to enter into this pact and into this lifestyle is to give yourself up for Humanity do you think there’s a fine line between
Humility and Eagle oh yeah definitely I mean you have we used to have this joke me and my godfather bless them wherever he is he used to he actually told me about a ceremony he went to one time and the guy you know he seemed humble you
Know he wouldn’t speak much you know it was it was another guy directing um some funeral rights but you know he would always take kind of this moment to kind of put in oh but this oh but I know this or this is how I do this you know and
Rather than just allowing his position of direction to kind of bear weight to the ceremony I mean you’re already directing it you already have that Prestige he would like you know throw in these little nuances that would make it seem you know that he was everything but
Humble so you have those false people you have those manipulative people who will you know do everything in their power to seem humble and wise but you know that immaturity and that lack of preparation always comes through sooner or later because it comes from a lack of self-confidence when you’re confident
About what you know and who you are you will not be swayed you know so that that’s there’s a very fine line and you constantly have to be checking yourself because it’s easy to fall into one just like it is to fall into the other we’re at number six right I think we
Just did number six okay number seven you should not be fake or come with negative intentions if I once again it touches on authenticity you know being yourself not trying to be something you’re not um you know there’s a lot of frustration unfortunately in our fraternity sometimes where people may have gone
Through negative situations that haven’t allowed themselves to fulfill what they want to be in this you know the best advice I can give for all those brothers and sisters is you know keep looking there are good people out there whether it’s us whether it’s some of the other channels we’ve interviewed there are
Great people and elders and leaders of houses that exist but you know it’s it’s very traumatizing where that First Choice didn’t fulfill what they were supposed to and now we have to trust again where some people actually choose to stay in a negative situation rather than risking
Um a more negative one in the future but you have to take that risk unfortunately because life is ongoing you know some people go through horrible first experiences and relationships and luckily some of them are able to get away but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try again unfortunately Life Is trial
And error but we learn from those mistakes without failure we learn nothing that’s in the old and coming with negative intentions we should not be false with each other or Machiavellian in in that regard you know if I’m interacting with a brother um I should only have good intentions
For him I should only have good intentions for us and what we have planned if I notice that we’re incompatible it’s better for me to distance myself rather than being you know Machiavellian and you know trying to see what I can get out of them when in reality I’m only thinking about
Myself and unfortunately there’s a lot of those elements within this religion now where we actually aren’t getting along as much you know it’s really interesting because I look at some other fraternities and you know if if I was the original and all these afro-indigenous schools of thoughts were the original expressions of humanity
Philosophically these concepts of fraternity and humility and all these other things were begotten by us to them but I’m noticing at this point that there’s other organizations that are actually serving as better examples of these Concepts than we are sometimes so we have to really get back to Our Roots
We have to get back to you know our fundamentals our basises so that we can be the best example of that being that we were the first ones to teach it all right so back to the list here we got number eight number eight no problem do not break prohibitions and taboos
Um in reality we initiate into IFA not to know what to do but more importantly to know what not to do um we had a great episode with my brother Damiano bedrois about taboos and prohibitions and whatnot where we listed a couple of the most important ones
Those are the ones we definitely want to avoid based on law number eight um but our taboos um we have to respect them why because these are the things that we promised not to do in heaven when we got to Earth to live the best life when we’re talking
About a gift as incredible and and Monumental as life it comes with sacrifice now the ironic thing about the taboos is our taboos save our life at an indicated moment so for example let’s say your sign says don’t eat red beans but you persist in eating red beans and
Red beans and red beans now you know whatever negative effects come from that you’re going to suffer and then apart from that you know when we actually need the red bean for Spiritual purposes to be able to protect us it no longer has that Effectiveness the same way a
Vaccine or a cure or any of these things won’t if we over indulge in them right it’s like if we eat cake and cake and cake and we’re diabetic and then we just want to shoot you know a whole syringe of insulin into our cells you know we’re
Really just playing volleyball with our life so it’s the same thing you know we avoid these things to lead the best life possible big taboos apart from the things from your sign are the ones that to come because if you notice this second half Now is really you know
Talking about you know the actions that we take or should not take to lead the best life best based on what IFA says all right okay here we go number nine El ago limpio the award of the priest should maintain his instruments or his sacred instruments and tools clean so in the old
Um there’s a proverb that says IFA does not mix with pestilence or that which stinks right um and what it means is in that sign of was where the law was working a lot of ifah he was a very high-paced guy and sometimes he would feed his ifah icon
And not have the time to be able to clean it and it would go days like this sometimes and he started noticing that things started going negatively for him where he wanted to perform a divination to see if he was working so much he find doing so many great things why wasn’t he
Feeling well so when the Divination was performed was revealed where if I said that he needed to cleanse his icon on a more consistent basis to be able to not fall you know backwards or in atraso right and when he did that he felt great he started seeing
The fruits of his labor he cleaned his EFI Khan his he fought tools his area his Temple and um you know based on that he was able to get great results so we’re talking about the tools whether it’s the bawalau with his idofah whether it’s the old Orissa priest with his
Beads or his shells whatever it may be cleanliness is close to Godliness I actually got that from the movie ATL Phil and um you know it’s very very important you know because for example one of the great compliments we get at the voltanica is that it’s more like a
Boutique than a wudanika we keep it very clean the air is nice you know the energy forgive me um all of these things are really on point where some sometimes you walk into certain you know ATR establishments where you see the chicken beheaded in the corner or the blood on the floor or
A powder everywhere you know people leave worse than when they came and some of them just walk right out so ifasa is here cleanliness is close to Godliness all of our icons all of our things unless otherwise stipulated by a sign for a specific reason need to be maintained clean and hygienic
The same way we’re talking about that as well as our bodies interesting yeah um being clean is like really really important in my house because my life says the same thing oh yeah Lucia’s not playing man it’s important you know because what what happens is if we allow
Things to become cluttered and whatnot you know this is where negative spiritualities love to hide that’s where like wow would hide under the pile of clothes in the corner or the garbage you know next to our TV you know when you got teenagers you know this all too
Well you’re saying God bless them all right here we go next one number 10 olympio the AWOL or the practitioner we found must maintain their Temple clean now it kind of reiterates the last one but it expounds itself upon where our Temple right our home you know our Botanica our
Studio wherever it is that we manifest or express ourselves need to needs to be clean now we’re not only talking hygienically we’re talking socially we’re only legal things are happening there it’s also referring to our bodies being our Temple you know we need to put good things into ourselves to get a
Great output right um and that’s what if I was saying here anything that goes against this concept is completely taboo so putting the right things in our body making sure healthy moral and natural things are going on in our home businesses this is what led to uh great results and a great lifestyle
For the fun practitioner wow alrighty here we go number 11. the priest or the fire practitioner should respect the weak and treat them well um the babalawo has always been seen as a man’s man you know in the history of the fraternity he was seen as a maid man
He was seen as somebody that was kind someone that was affable someone that was patient someone that was understanding the babalawas were even called in at the moment of you know litigation and whatnot to consult IFA to see who had divine right in a dispute or misunderstanding to be able to calm the
Situation so when we’re talking about somebody who upholds that figurehood within a culture or Community it only makes sense that we would not you know take advantage or abuse of those that can’t defend themselves whether it’s people with special needs the handicapped um the homeless the displaced anyone
That is going through a difficult situation is meant to be supported by the law not necessarily economically or monetarily that that could happen as well though but just treatment the balawu has to know how to interact with everyone on a respectful and equal level you know whether it’s all odisha
Practitioner this is very very very important because there’s really nothing more deplorable than somebody who is arrogant enough to um you know take advantage of their position or how well things are going for them to kind of look down upon or mistreat those who are incapable of doing it for themselves the
Greatest satisfaction is helping someone or assisting someone to be able to do what it is they need to have the same quality of life we all deserve would uh Bob allow be considered as like a protector as well absolutely you know we’re the protector of Secrets we’re the
Protector of nature you know what I’m saying um when they say when we die not only about allow but the practitioner before they say when we die we’re going to be judged by three groups or three kingdoms right the first kingdom is the plant kingdom how did you treat plants how did you
Treat nature you know did you litter did you not litter did you did you kill the random plant because you were bored and you needed that sense of self-gratification you’re going to be judged by them then you’re going to be judged by the animal kingdom you know
Did you mistreat a dog you know if I even says even a dog deserves respect did you mistreat a dog did you mistreat an animal you know did you did you not consume everything within an animal that you sacrificed did you sacrifice unnecessarily how did you treat the
Animal when you sacrificed him you’re going to be judged by them and ultimately mankind you know how did you treat your fellow man you know how did you treat the person that was handicapped or the person that you know needed assistance you know did you deny
Them politely did you tell them off you know how were you with Humanity because the way you are is the way you will be treated and you know this law really reiterates that to perfection okay all right here we go number 12 El ago almost respect and treat well the elders
Um if as a culture in Yoruba as a culture completely based on respect not only to our ancestors those who are not here but to our elders those that are here IFA says the only way to heaven the only way to the great beyond is through two people
Um our children if we choose to procreate and are able to procreate but more even more importantly sometimes our parents right those who are above us whether it’s our spiritual parents birth parents IFA says there can be no blessing without the blessing from these people the oduo Sanchez says the
Greatest blessing we’ll ever receive is from our mother right so that means IFA says he who is blessed by his parents will always be blessed by God because to be able to get to God we have to go through our parents we have to go through our children so the
Respecting of Elders whether it’s throwing ourselves on the floor whether it’s reserving an extra word that’s unnecessary whether it’s questioning something we’re not completely versed upon it’s very important to you know pay homage and give space to these people who allowed us to be here spiritually or you know within the world
This is also in the urdua Baba namaji where the respect to the elders really started because there’s a story where there was two friends right and they went for divination where this Urdu was revealed where they were both recommended to have children if they were able to and completely dedicate
Themselves to their families um one chose to and the other one chose not to ridicuing the one who was choosing to because he said you know you’re wasting time look at all the women we could be with look at all the parties we could be in and you want to
Be with one woman and have kids you know you’re crazy so they split ways you know 60 years goes by and one day the friend who chose not to create a family was on a corner you know and he was going through he was displaced he
Was homeless he was poor and there was a great procession that was going through the village of a man that was going to be recognized by his children and you know the guy on the corner was like you know they’re interrupting me this is my corner you know this guy you know who
Cares who gives a damn about him and when he looked he saw his friend and he ran up to his friend he said oh my God my friend how are you where the friends stopped the procession and took a moment to speak to him he said how are you my
Brother he said well life has gone really horribly for me you know I I don’t have a family I’m alone I’m probably going to die alone you know it’s uh I have a lot of regret and he said how have things gone for you did you see the guy they’re doing the
Procession for he said well to be honest with you they’re doing the procession for me my children have chosen to celebrate me on my 80th birthday because they feel that I treated their mother well I raised them well I provided them with everything they needed and I give
All praise to epha because he gave me a place to be and to be loved and at that moment you see the uh the manifestation of what IFA said the greatest investment um you know we can make is within our children or within the people who came
Before us to have that Prestige to be recognized by both okay yeah all right here we go next one number 13 must respect the moral laws if I is completely based on nature um in my opinion just like you father’s opinion nature is perfect what’s right
Is right what’s wrong is wrong of course there’s gray areas to a certain degree but if it goes against the laws of nature it’s ultimately you know we look at modern law it’s based on nature right why should you know children never be abused why should we not murder
Indiscriminately why should we not steal why should you know all these different things this is based on natural law and it really comes down to how would one feel seeing horrible things like that occurring um is seen as the judge of nature I mean when we sit down at the Obama and
Whether we have an Iraqi or a Nido PHA whatever it is we use to tap the side of the the tray it’s reminiscent of the gavel and mallet and you know what the judge uses um to be able to you know dictate you know his his uh response or you know his
Determination so ultimately or IFA being manipulated is meant to identify that which is moral in that which is not but if something is not moral or goes against nature is seen as heinous and inhumane the father does not does not support it whatsoever as a babalau in 2023 do you find that
The line of what’s moral and what’s not um thinner and thinner I don’t even know if there’s a line anymore brother I mean when you kind of look at Society now people always doing that which conveniences them people always doing you know or making an excuse for
Whatever Behavior they see is proper and proper um that’s why we need epha more now than ever because we have no moral compass I think or social Compass anymore people are willing to do whatever it is to get something that they’ve been told is what they need so for example if I’m looking
At this Gucci this pair of Gucci socks right this false impression that has been you know placed upon me through propaganda or frustration social trauma is telling me I need that to impress somebody whether it’s myself or those who can really care less whether I have
It or not so what am I willing to do to be able to get that item and the sad thing is is you know people are doing whatever they can to get whatever they want not realizing it’s really it’s it’s it’s deteriorating the moral fiber that
Is to help us get through life because that’s the only way we find strength you know we’re a place you know we’re constantly facing decisions and issue every day right wrong what should I do what should I not do sometimes less is more but you see people trying to do the
Most now trying to get things that really don’t matter we’re not seeking Enlightenment Enlightenment we’re not seeking God we’re being placed within a system where we don’t even have time to look into our higher selves that’s why we need this more than ever because if we have no higher power the scariest
Human being in my opinion or the scariest thing that could exist is that which does not believe in a higher power now mind you that doesn’t need to be God but you know your higher power it could be your your children your higher power could be I don’t know whatever it is but
Man has to be accountable to somebody because we’re not God we live amongst laws and codes and all the things that you know the Commandments are talking about so you know it’s it’s it’s it’s a thin line if there is a line anymore good one there all right here we go
Number 14 is the world never betrays a friend or sleeps with his wife um now mind you these are very old scriptures like you know the ultimate betrayal was seen as infidelity you know especially from one brother to another but you know we’re talking about betrayal it’s it’s seen as completely
Taboo and it kind of leans back on number seven where you know we shouldn’t have false intentions or be be fake with people um do not betray what is betrayal the most important thing you know is trust we should never betray the trust of those who deposit it within us whether
We’re getting along or not you know for example you know I’ve interacted with people um on a client basis on a social basis where I might know more things than I’d like to and we might not interact anymore but that doesn’t mean I need to divulge anything that was you know
Placed within me in confidence and that’s one example of many you know whether it’s you know respecting someone’s loved one respecting someone’s children their home their best interests we should not betray and you know there’s so many levels to that but really what is betrayal betrayal is when
You are doing something for your convenience without the knowledge of the other person to be able to determine whether they want that to happen or not yeah very very wise there it seems like it’s harder to have loyal people now because people are always in it for themselves people don’t want to
Go through painful I think that’s what really leads to betrayal is for example um let’s say I don’t know let’s say let’s talk about theft right let’s say my friend has a Rolex watch that I love right you know I just I want it it’s the Dream It’s the rolly presidential with
The with the diamonds so rather than going through the pain of accepting I don’t have it or I don’t have the means to get it right now or rather than becoming envious and jealous rather than that get motivated to find ways to collaborate to get there somehow or even
Establish my own situation and get what I want I’d rather just take so you begin to see the core thing there is pain they don’t want to go through the pain of recognizing inadequacy at the moment of achieving what they want at that moment
What can I do better to be able to get what I want rather than taking it from somebody so the Betrayal rooted in pain will lead me to take something from my brother further even though he’s worked and done everything I haven’t to be able to get it now what could that
Materialize in I can steal when he’s not looking God forbid you know take actions to take it from him right in front of him you just don’t know but I mean you look at any like you look even you know in the communities like even you know
Music and things like that artists being killed over materials you know just a bunch of nonsense you know over something that depreciates it really means nothing yeah that’s true all right here we go all righty then number 15 never reveal Secrets or be a gossiper this is this is so important
Um the word babalawo means father who father of the secrets of or father of that which will not be seen our whole basis is silence it’s kind of like omeda right it’s the Code of Silence it’s the oath of silence um and I think it’s the one that’s being
Most betrayed right now I think when you look online we’re one of the few options that has never betrayed the dogma of IFA by speaking about what goes on behind the curtain because I remember when I took that oath you know in a room with
16 leopards like I like to say you know I swore to never reveal anything behind that curtain and I have it and um I think that really separates us because whether what people are saying or is right or wrong or legitimate or not they’re presenting it in a way where it
Could seem that way to somebody who is uninitiated causing them to delve deeper into information that is not compatible with them um so we don’t reveal Secrets whether it’s our you know our practice our ceremony or whatever it is our clients deposit and confidence in US within the privacy of a consultation room
Say less the wisest guy the smartest guy in the room practically says nothing and whatever his motivations are are his own but when you know what you know and you’re confident and you’re capable you don’t really talk that much I’ll be frank with you as I’ve gotten older I
Speak much less I think the most words people get out of me is on this channel because you know when I’m out and about I mean you really don’t hear Joseph’s voice um so it’s very important to maintain that because that’s the basis of our whole practice you know say less as far
As the gossiping we’re falling into that taboo horribly that’s why our community is suffering the way it is you know whether it’s situations of bow allows trying to question others publicly rather than pulling people to the side and having a adult conversation you know we’re being plagued by that within this fraternity
Um you know or just you know this person said that or having an unhealthy culture within you know their spiritual house due to lack of preparation preparation and study who are usually the perpetrators and culpits of the culprits of this Behavior this is probably the most transgressed
Law you know we’re talking too much and we’re talking about that which doesn’t matter or could divide us and and that’s why we haven’t been formally recognized as a world power religion um do you do you find that in in today’s world of technology and you know there’s
You’re not the only person to do this kind of on YouTube and correct you find that other Bob allows are kind of peeling back the curtain on things that they shouldn’t be yeah no and not just about allows um there’s a there’s a couple personalities out there that you know I
Would never you know gratify with a mention but you see a lot of people just talking a lot of what they shouldn’t be a lot of nonsense and then I think another thing is is you know everybody has a lot of uh confidence to say whatever they like behind a camera
Screen or a computer screen um the thing about me is that you know being somebody that that’s legitimate within this fraternity director somebody that you know is is really looked upon to serve um I’m always very careful about what I say and who I say it to because I more
Than likely will be face to face with that person one day um you know even though it’s not necessarily listed but it could be interpreted from these laws I always say never say in private what you wouldn’t say to that person publicly you know and um you avoid a lot of situations like
That and as an adult as a man that’s how I was taught you know you speak a certain type of way to be spoken to a certain type of way and you know some of the atrocities we see spoken over social media especially between us is
You know and really you know the verse person isn’t going to be Uber offended by it because unfortunately it’s become the norm but what scares me is the amount of people who are uninitiated that that’s the first thing they’re seeing um a priest say within our culture and
Them being like I don’t want to be a part of that like look how they speak to each other it’s terrifying not knowing that there’s more beautiful things within it profoundly but they’ll never be given a chance because of the way we’re representing ourselves on camera that’s true
So we had the last one now number 16 man and the reason there was 16 laws is because there were 16 megis you know the original 16 signs each of them was delving into one of these uh these I won’t say the word sins but transgressions you know sin is you know
It’s a connotation of evil and we really don’t have those Concepts we’re all about the balance of nature Action Reaction repercussion but each one of them had to own up to one of their issues to be able to build from it so yeah number 16. all right here we go
Never should always respect the other owl never sleep with his wife and they should have a mutual respect so once again the very old world hey you know respect another person’s partner you know um you know infidelity you know if you notice it’s been mentioned a couple times here
Um it’s not a joke you know everybody likes to say orula had a bunch of women well he was married to all of them and they all gave him permission so if that’s not your situation you know stay home focus on home because um infidelity within nature is punishable by death
It’s not a joke and there’s various signs that speak of it you know and then even more heinously you know sleeping with the wife of of a brother you know what I’m saying or somebody you care about or disrespecting and it doesn’t have to be as epic as an Unfaithful
Um entanglement Affair situation just just the disrespect or or not respecting those boundaries avoiding being situations that are that are dubious you know just completely respect another person’s home right um but you know when you look at the real root of the mutual respect or the respect between our walls
That’s probably besides 15 the one that we’re really messing up on the most we’re not respecting each other what is respect respect is a conversation respect is an opportunity respect is logic you know rather than attacking somebody on a public forum or rather than trying to discredit somebody
Based on something you know not factual or completely irrelevant you know I think we’ve lost the ability to be able to speak to each other as human beings and adults and um you know immaturity is not going to be a vehicle that we can use to grow into the future
So respect is huge so for example if I have a situation that I need to speak about with a brother while allow I speak directly to him in private you know as long as things have not gone out of control or you know there was always that you know and we never ever
Discredit each other in front of people who are not initiated or are not family or you know I actually had a situation um one time where you know I had a a God child who you know made a little bit of a mistake per se within a ceremony and
Um you know I didn’t say anything you know at that moment it was brought to my attention by some of the other people there as well and um you know I made it very clear to them that you know I’ll speak to him um when I see fit and you know I’ll
Address it in the fashion I see fit and I ultimately had that conversation with him very calmly and you know his first reaction was apologetic but you know he actually told me he said I wish you would have reprimanded me in front of the whole ceremony in front of everybody
Who you know to show how sorry I am and I said I don’t need to chastise you in front of people that aren’t family um to be able to you know get a reaction or for us to be able to grow from this because at the end of the day we’re a
Family I can never make you look weak um or you know unjustified in front of a group I would never do that to you because that breeds hatred um he really appreciated it and I I told him this is how you need to handle situations as well you know as a family
In private and with class we’re not here to publicly you know skewer people cybernetically and you notice the really humble the really prepared the really wise we don’t behave like this we’re not on Reddit you know saying a bunch of random comments we’re not on Facebook
We’re not on any of these other you know mediums just talking a bunch of nonsense or trying to discredit people who have prepared themselves you know we’re about the business we’re about getting to work and we’re about to we’re about you know providing a great product and service to
Clients that are going to speak well about help us spread this across the world like it should be avoiding those kind of behaviors yeah okay so wrapping up here right yeah great video man yeah no that was impressive so remind us again when did you actually write these down
So check it right I’ll never forget um to be able to do IFA I actually had to sell my car what yeah so what kind of car would you have I had a at the time if I did when did I do if I Joseph um identify
I’m about to be eight this year we’re in 2023 so was it 2015 so it was in 2015 2014-ish I think and I had a 2013 Toyota Corolla S oh yeah a nice one all right man I was doing put it this way in my
Year in white I was doing Uber you know what I’m saying like you’d see on the reviews and Uber they were like Mr White was great because I would wear like all white like from head to toe and um when my godfather threw the number at me to
Do IFA I took that car and I sold it you know what I’m saying and I still had to work the next six months to fill up the rest of the money um but what I did was is the day I sold the car and I took him the lump sum for
Things to become serious was the day he told me regardless of the funds you’ve given me you need to learn these by memory by this date and um then you’ll be really eligible if not you lose your money it was it was a handsome sum of
Money so I remember when I came home from Miami that day I uh I wrote it on that last piece of cardboard I don’t think I even had a paper big enough to fit all of these and I sat down and I wrote them out after he gave them to me
And the reason I chose these were because you’re going to see a bunch of different versions of these laws these were the most like complete you know codified that made the most sense to me as far as like um a basis so I wrote it
On a piece of cardboard I think I found in my grandmother’s garage and I hung it on my wall and I enjoyed every moment of learning them I enjoyed every moment of incorporating them you know writing them out looking at them every day and and realizing how this was going to make me
A better man to fulfill this priesthood because before you can be a good priest you have to be a good man you have to be a good adult you have to be a good woman you have to be a good human being and what I loved about these was is
Regardless of spiritual persuasion you could use these to become a better human being and I think that’s what ifa’s done for me and the majority of people who have joined wow is there one that you know supersedes the the others are they kind of all on the equal plane there I
Think I love number 16 man because just the concept of mutual respect more than anything um 15 is very important to me as well because the you know the not revealing Secrets um that’s very important to me because you know everybody’s real gung-ho to Dewey far or take an oath
When everything’s lovely but um when you’re put between your morals and pressure you know who are you and that that really defines whether a busted pipe or a diamond is what you are because pressure will reveal either one so you know those two are probably amongst all of them but you know the
Secrecy is very important to me but I think even more important number 16 is the mutual respect because that’s that though in in my household being a cuban-american household um that was really the first concept that was taught to me as a young man I’ll never forget my uncle Martin may he
Rest in peace um he was he was the first man to ever instill that Concept in me he said what’s more important love fear respect and I said I have no idea you know I’m like five years old I’m trying to watch cartoons chicken nuggets yeah
It’s like you’re you’re a whole man in front of me asking me some really epic stuff and he said respect nephew and I said why he said because it’s a mixture of both yeah love and fear equalizes into respect because if people respect you um you know the love and the fear they
Have will mesh in a way where you know they won’t hate you but they won’t not take you seriously neither and if you want to survive in this world especially as a Young Man without your respect you won’t even be able to make it from here to the corner
I mean you know the part of Miami that we’re from was was starting to get a little hectic so you know these were Concepts that he held dear um so respect and when I saw that was the most important thing in IFA you know the 16th law the heaviest law
Um you know I realized quickly you know this is why I’m here and um it’s the one we need the most you know respect respect is it’s free it’s it’s necessary and you know even a dog deserves it so the fact that there’s moments when we’re
Not giving it to each other very sad thing but it also gives us the opportunity the opportunity to better ourselves and grow and through respect we will become great wow great episode man that a lot of good information from that that’s and you memorize that I
Don’t even have to show that that paper up there but yes that’s for all the viewers it’s ingrained it’s so ingrained and guys just a couple notes man this episode is brought to you by both I ain’t got candles and more um you know you can schedule consultations order products through the website
Um classes or do interpretations Etc it’s also brought to you by um you know the sapphire Team Elite Team Real Estate team headed by Porto yeah and my son Danny um you know definitely if you have any real estate needs whatsoever questions about this very very um you know active
Market please go ahead and take advantage of it um the podcast is on all major platforms um you know I can only imagine what the uh The Listener amount is at this point you know be sure to check it out as well if you’re out there driving or you know
Are able to you know take advantage of that as well like comment share subscribe any final notes Phil yeah so we got some shout outs oh God today I don’t have the elevator music have I have a harp I mean that’s cool right I love it I love it here we go
We’re going with some shout outs here all right VIP shout outs to mayonna Potter Fiona thank you we got kid Glide kid Glide hey we got cynia senya thank you you got Mark H oh awesome thank you Mark and here are the super fans we got Trinity young Trinity thank you this is
A two-month person here we got Reuben lawyer Reuben welcome thank you six months here with Eddie Brown oh Eddie man thank you and asata honey child oh thank you guys so much for your consistent support if you know somebody that can benefit from the channel membership please get in there we’re
Going through some great herbs and paths and uh I think they’ll be able to get some value from it guys let them know all right guys we’ll catch you later see the light Thank you
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