The Orishas...

[Tarot dance]

A discussing concerning Santeria (La Regla de Ocha) and Orisha was started in another thread and I thought to continue it here....

I have been working with my Tarot of the Orishas. though it is not ideal, in regards to La Regia de Ocha...I found that I could use it each day to see what Orisha spoke ot guided me that day....

Today I pulled Eshu...

Eshu’s dwelling is in the crossroads. He is syncretized with St. Micheal the Archangel and with St. Peter. As St. Peter holds the keys to Heaven, Eshu hold the keys to the roads of life. He opens the roads and guides in our selected conscious or unconscious paths. He is the first Orisha to be acknowledged in any ceremony for he is the meditator between Man and the Orishas. His colors are red and black, he is associated with the number 3, his day is Monday. He is manifest in three ways, much as the Holy Trinity…The Old Man, the Child and the Man in the prime of his life.

Eshu is one of the 21 path's of Eleggua...

But Eshu is also a Trickster God or the Devine Trickster with a sense of humor and will often throw a spanner in the works to keep life interesting. This could explain why we don't always get what we want.

He is a warrior. He is one of the four given when someone receives there Warriors (The Guerreros) along with Ogun, Ochosi and Osun.

*** Eshu, I ask you to guide me on my journey safely and spiritually…..Ashe…

 

[greatdane]

Thank you, Tarot Dance!

I find this fascinating and look forward to learning much more .

 

[Hemera]

This is very interesting!
Isn´t it so that the Divine Trickster can be found in almost all religions? I remember having read that the Greek/Roman Hermes/Mercurius is one of them?

I think my favorite Orisha must be Yemaya. Her color is blue and she is the Goddess of the sea and ocean. I think her day is Friday but I´m not sure. She reminds me of Aphrodite..

 

[greatdane]

I am finding it so interesting to learn

about the Orishas! The books you had mentioned have made it so much easier, thank you, Tarot Dance. I saw a deck called Tarot Lukumi (I think that's it). Was wondering your thoughts about this deck. I found Tarot of the Orishas on Amazon, I didn't know it existed til you mentioned it, so that was helpful. I look forward to more posts!

 

[le_charior]

I have a little statue of Eshu that I bought in Brasil. Not home right now, or I could post a picture of it... I was fascinated by the Orishas when I was there, and by the Candomble and Umbanda religions... have to read up on all this, so I will try to find the thread with the books you recommended! Thanks for posting this!

 

[Tarot dance]

I have Dal Negro's Lukumi Tarot but I have not used it yet. Tarot of the Orishas is not a great deck, IMHO....the book gives the cards generic outthere intrepretations...or at least I thought so. I found it very hard to try to read with and the only way I have found that did work for me was to use it to pull an Orisha a day....That has been working great...

I start working with the New Orleans Voodoo tarot this week....I'll see how that goes...

Tarot of the Orishas as other than a collectors deck...I don't know....Does anyone know anyone who has really used this deck, i would love to see what they think........

 

[le_charior]

I have Dal Negro's Lukumi Tarot but I have not used it yet. Tarot of the Orishas is not a great deck, IMHO....the book gives the cards generic outthere intrepretations...or at least I thought so. I found it very hard to try to read with and the only way I have found that did work for me was to use it to pull an Orisha a day....That has been working great...

I start working with the New Orleans Voodoo tarot this week....I'll see how that goes...

Tarot of the Orishas as other than a collectors deck...I don't know....Does anyone know anyone who has really used this deck, i would love to see what they think........

I looked through the deck (Tarot of the Orishas) and decided not to buy it. IMHO it is weird to force a system (the Orishas) into another system (The Tarot) - but that is of course only my point of view. In this case I thought the differences between the two systems were HUGE... so it didn't really work for me...

 

[Chiska]

Please remember that discussion of the Orishas in their spiritual context is more than welcome and definitely encouraged, however, discussion of tarot decks wanders outside this context and would need to be taken to Talking Tarot or Tarot Decks.

Thank you for your understanding. And I look forward to hearing more about the Orishas. Very much outside my frame of reference and I find the discussion fascinating.

Chiska
Spirituality Co-Moderator

 

[Tarot dance]

I looked through the deck (Tarot of the Orishas) and decided not to buy it. IMHO it is weird to force a system (the Orishas) into another system (The Tarot) - but that is of course only my point of view. In this case I thought the differences between the two systems were HUGE... so it didn't really work for me...

I agree in so many ways... A Santero throws Coco or Coconuts or the cowrie shells (Diloggun) for am Orisha reading...I have never had a Santero give me a reading with Tarot cards or even suggest it. Though I have Known many Santeros who read the Tarot...

Also the deck does not express any aspect of Ancestors worship, the Eggun. This is an important aspect of the religion. The Eggun are acknowledged in daily practice and in the rituals. The deck makes no mention of a Mesa Blanca (White Table)….these are set-up in the home to acknowledge our ancestor. Though the Mesa Blanca is more associated with Espiritismo, they are used in acknowledgement of the Eggun.

This come from an article about the Eggun from OrishaNet….

“In any rite in the religion, first Olorun (God) is saluted, then eggun, the orishas being reserved for last… Your eggun are also a fundamental part of who you are and where you come from. In fact, when saluting your eggun, you are declaring who you are in a direct way by the act of declaring where you came from. By connecting with your eggun you affirm the continuum from the distant past towards the distant future as we can all look forward to becoming eggun one day.”

“There are two classes of eggun worship. One form of eggun worship is usually practiced in a corner of a bathroom or in a basement, in an area marked off with efun (chalk made from ground egg shell). Offerings to eggun are placed here and an opa ikú or eggun stick (a stick consecrated to eggun using nine colors of ribbons with bells attached) is used in calling them. The other which is the most common interaction with eggun for most people is the practices of Mesa Blanca which has its roots more in Kardecian Spiritism than in Africa. This heavily involves the spiritual mass and the use of the bóveda.”

http://www.orishanet.org/eggun.html

 

[greatdane]

Question please....

Are the Orishas different, or portrayed differently, for those in, say, Brazil or Cuba? Would a practitioner in one country likely see the Orishas much differently than another? Or perhaps have different influences or rituals? I am just starting my reading and I'm trying to get a handle whether it makes much difference if I read a book relating more to one country or another. Thanks for any help!