Ancestor Reverence

My name is Tanya and my spiritual name or priestess name is Oba Ilari Aladokun.  I was born and raised in New York City and have lived in New Jersey for the past several years.  I am a priestess of Yoruba/Lukumi and have practiced spiritualism for over a decade and because of my experience, I feel that I am the perfect individual to write on this subject matter.  I have been initiated into several mysteries:  Received Hand of Ifa (mano de Orula), January of 2000 and Palo Mayombe, July of 2000.  Shortly thereafter, I reached the seat of Kariocha, initiated August of 2000 in Havana, Cuba as a child of Obatala.  My godmother is Oyaewo, Kathleen Bullock olo Oya and my ajubona is Adeosun, Carmen (Loli) Nieves olo Oshun.  Recently, I received Obe, Pinaldo, by my godfather Alamito, Jose Galarza, olo Obatala and my ajubonna Olochunde, Lucy Garcia, olo Oshun.

I graduated from Murray Bergtraum High School for Business Careers in New York City and one and a half years later graduated from the American Business Institute where I have been working in the field of Business Administration for the past 18 years where my creativity and personality has afforded me the opportunity, over the years, to work with many people at various levels and disciplines.  I have a compassionate commitment to knowledge and understanding of my culture while at the same time, my vision is to share and promote education of mind, body, and spirit through the inspiration of articles, poetry, prayer, rituals, veneration, health and healing.

 

I WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU - Comments, Questions, Advice

ALADOKUN - ANCESTOR PATHS

P.O. BOX 634, CLIFTON, NJ  07013

ancestorpaths@aol.com

 

SIGN GUESTBOOK

 

To My Spiritual Community:

 

I just wanted to let you know that I have become an Ordained Spiritualist Minister.  For me, it’s a great accomplishment and a way for me to better serve my spiritual community and humanity as a whole.

 

Nowadays, just about anyone can become a minister.  Some people take courses, like I did, whereas other people just pay for the title.  Just to give you some background, the spiritualist seminary program itself consists of 4 levels, each 8-15 weeks in duration that anyone can take and do not have to become ordained.  However, to become ordained one must take and pass other courses in psychic development, séance training, and trance work which can take well over 2 years to complete.

 

This all started with a dream I had where Elegba told me that I would have some kind of legal issues doing my spiritual work.  Now as an Orisa priestess and cultural spiritualist I didn’t quite know how or why I would have problems, especially when there are thousands of botanicas, spiritualist, orisa priests, and fraudulent people doing work with no issues.  Although I didn’t understand, I knew that Elegba wouldn’t say it if it weren’t true, so for several years I kept this dream in the back of my mind because as we all know anything is possible.  A couple of years had passed since the dream but one day while searching the net, I came across this program.  The funny thing is, this program is given only once every five years, talk about timing!  So I said to myself, “let me look into it”, and I’m glad I did because I didn’t realize all the rights that ministers have.  I thought back to my dream and I knew this program would definitely give me a way to protect myself legally from the warnings that Elegba showed me.  I checked with egun and orisa, who both confirmed and gave me the green light to do what I needed to do.  So I did it, Yeaaaahhh!!!!

 

All I can say is that Elegba was on point because every time I turn around, I get an email or I see a news story about the government trying to shut down holistic practices or other things spiritual in nature. 

 

Although I’ve been official since June 2007, the actual ordination ceremony is coming up and I’ll be sure to post the pictures on the website as soon as I get them.  Becoming a spiritualist minister as Reverend Tanya Lawson, will definitely save me aggravation from the government, unless of course, I do something stupid or unethical.

 

Now that I’m a fully functioning minister, I can legally perform:

·        weddings (traditional or non-traditional)

·        commitment ceremonies (same sex marriages)

·        funerals

·        baptisms

·        naming ceremonies

·        healings

·        hospital visits, and counseling.

 

I know that I am growing, leaps and bounds.  Spirit is teaching me that spirituality can extend itself to great lengths and you don’t have to limit yourself.  Your power is infinite if you believe in yourself beyond what others may think!

 

Even greater news is that there will be a new spiritualist church in New York City called the Spiritualist Church of New York City and historically I will be listed as one of the founders.

 

For anyone interested, the location will be:

     

                114 East 35th St.  (Between Park & Lexington)

6 PM Church Service (led by one or more of our ministers, with spirit messages given during the service--a free will offering is collected during the service)

 
7 - 7:30 PM Fellowship-refreshment time (we encourage you to bring refreshments if you can)

 
7:30 - 8:30 PM Séance -- Fee $15 per person (this is to help defray our costs and is conducted by a Certified Séance Conductor)

The format of these spiritual services will be different from the spiritual format given by the spiritualist within the African diaspora.  However, if you are interested continue to visit the website for upcoming services and/or changes in the schedule.  If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to email me at ancestorpaths@aol.com.

 

Well, this is the latest.  Be good everybody.