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Ashe: Add to: | Technorati | Digg | del.icio.us |

Name for the Life Force emanating from every living thing in the Universe. It’s also a reference to the Spiritual Power and Abilities of the deities and all living things. It is also used as a closing for prayers and powers statement, to give emphasis, much like “So Mote it Be” in Wicca or “Amen” in Christianity.



Olodumare: Add to: | Technorati | Digg | del.icio.us |

Supreme Deity of the Yoruba pantheon. In Santería, this Creative Force is also known as Olorun and Olofin. This Deity has no altars or representations and is said to divide its Ashe into different Orisha in order to interact with nature.



Orisha: Add to: | Technorati | Digg | del.icio.us |

Deities of the Yoruba pantheon that are worshiped to this day in the Santería /Ifá/Candomblé religions. The term comes from the union of “Ori,” the Yoruba word for head and consciousness, and “Sha” the Yoruba word for pick or picked, thus giving us “Picked Head” or more appropriately “Select or Selected Head or Consciousness." They personify different forces of nature and are thought to be different manifestations of the Creator/Creatix Spirit known as Olodumare.



Babalorisha: Add to: | Technorati | Digg | del.icio.us |

Priest initiated in the Santería/Ifá religion. It means “Father Possessing Orisha.” In the Santería religion, this title is given to a priest who has initiated others into the religion. Their initiates usually call them “Padrino” (godfather), denoting the influence Catholicism had on the development of the religion. Also called Babalosha.



Iyalorisha: Add to: | Technorati | Digg | del.icio.us |

Priestess initiated in the Santería/Ifá religion. It means “Mother Possessing Orisha.” In the Santería religion, this title is given to a priestess who has initiated others into the religion. Their initiates usually call them “Madrina” (godmother), denoting the influence Catholicism had on the development of the religion. Also called Iyalosha.



Babalawo: Add to: | Technorati | Digg | del.icio.us |

Title for a diviner priest of high rank within the Santería and Ifá community that means “Father of Mysteries.” The “mysteries” refer to the wide knowledge they possess about their divination systems and about the Spiritual Forces that surround us. They are the only ones that have the authority to consult Orunmila, Orisha of Divination and Witness of Destiny, through their ritual implements, such as Ikin Ifá (palm nuts), Opele (divining chain), and Opon Ifa (divining tray).



Candomble: Add to: | Technorati | Digg | del.icio.us |

Candomblé is an Afro-Brazilian syncretic religion that, like Santería and Vodou, has its roots in the ancient religion of Ifá and is also influenced by European spiritualist practices and indigenous folk wisdom along with Christianity. The worship and service to the Orixás (deities) and to the Egungun (ancestors) are the core beliefs, along with the practice of rituals to enhance every aspect of life and divination to communicate with the Orixás.



Santeria: Add to: | Technorati | Digg | del.icio.us |

Afro-Caribbean syncretic religion developed in Cuba and practiced worldwide, which roots are found in Ifá, an ancient Yoruba pagan religion from West-Africa and is influenced by Christian practices and folk wisdom and Spiritualism. Its main beliefs are centered on the worship of Orisha, a diversified pantheon of deities that personify different aspects of nature and of the creator/creatrix spirit called Olódùmarè. Other practices include rituals for health, protection, and prosperity along with ancestor reverence and complex divination systems.



Target: Add to: | Technorati | Digg | del.icio.us |

The subject that remote viewers have been assigned to observe.



Skepticism: Add to: | Technorati | Digg | del.icio.us |

A closed state of mind where one doubts or questions things, sometimes to the point where these doubts obscure the truth.