On account of only ONE of the present two dozen applicants for ordination having followed the instructions to the end (i.e. the PayPal link - grin!), it seems useless to continue this service. I have removed the options.



As most of my readers know, in the Ifa-Orisha religion I am much more fond of honest Aleyos ("lay people") with a lot of power or Ashe, than of Olorishas and Babalawos who have squandered their energies on the eternal pursuit of white-clad pussy, on the imbibing of enormous amounts of ritual rum, on the consumption of colossal crates of crack, or on trying to bamboozle their sorry flock out of as many dollars, rupiahs, euros, pesetas, yens or nuggets as possible.

I believe an Aleyo with Good Character and Ashe much more worthy of ordination/priesthood, than an Ashe-less gangster with a total lack of Iwa Pele but with Ocha, AwoFaka, Pinaldo and even "passing to Ifa" on his list of utterly wasted initiations. As a solipsist I believe that only a person him/herself can honestly decide whether they are worthy of the priesthood or not: from a humble heart, a little bit of Good Character, and with a relativating view towards ones own importance or lack of same.

Initiation means little in my book: the initiate is given a cigar out of his own box. What counts is not this cigar, but attitude, willingness to work for others, a sound sense of the ridiculous (which shows in the ability to laugh about oneself), and all this may be backed up by legal ordination in a legally recognized and incorporated Church.

Formal and official ordination

This page supplies the possibility of formally ordaining not only initiated Olorishas, but also Aleyos in my Church, i.e. making them legal priests in a legally recognized church of Ifa-Orisha, and registering them in the archives. This registration can be made available to authorities in case of trouble with the law or such. For all of you in the United States it will not be as good as being a priest in a Church that is actually incorporated in your own State, but it sure's the next best thing. And in order to build in an extra safeguard I can (if you want), throw in a free ordination in the Universal Life Church. This is a registered and recognized Church in the United States, and the combination of both ordinations will cover your ass in the US and make you an official priest in a true Ifa-Orisha House.

The Dutch Church of Ifa-Orisha will ask a donation of 25 US$ for the total ordination, to cover the costs for keeping the archives, and sending the new clergy person a certificates - that kind of thing. Later on some more goodies will be made available, all based on the official position of the Church here in Holland and overseas: for our Church of Ifa-Orisha is where its clergy people are.

It is time that "initiation" again becomes separated from "priesthood". Priesthood is a job, and as such should be a matter of ordination (appointment), not of initiation. That's much more like the original African concept, where on the one hand the vast majority of Olorishas and Awos are not priests at all, while on the other hand, especially in rural areas, the father of a family functions as that family's priest, whether initiated or not. The concept of "lay priests" is ancient, and wide-spread.

To wrap it all up: a priest of our religion is a person who is able to help solve the problems of their community using Ashe, knowledge, logic and science. ... possibly but not necessarily supported by initiation. Anybody who agrees that our religion is (or at least should be) based on science, logic, knowledge and Ashe, can become an ordained priest.

Interested? Then check it out via the link "Ordain me" near the left top of this page.