What Are All Those Beads About

"People often comment on the colorful beaded necklaces I wear. While they may seem like simple adornments, they hold profound spiritual significance within the religion of Lukumi, or Ocha. Sometimes, I have to politely decline when people reach out to touch them. It can be a bit awkward, but it's important to explain that these aren't just accessories; they're sacred objects."

The Sacred Nature of the Elekes

These necklaces, known as Elekes, are not mere fashion accessories. They are sacred objects, imbued with the energy of specific Orisha, or divine spirits. Each Orisha has unique colors and bead patterns associated with them. For instance, Eleggua, the Orisha of paths and opportunities, is often represented by red and white beads.

A Deep Connection to the Divine

As a priestess in Lukumi and Ifa, I have undergone rigorous initiation ceremonies to receive my Elekes. These sacred objects connect me to the divine and serve as a constant reminder of my spiritual commitments. They are not to be touched by anyone but myself or my spiritual guide, as they carry potent spiritual energy.

A Misunderstood Tradition

Living in Canada, where Lukumi is relatively unknown, I often encounter curious glances and questions about my Elekes. While I appreciate the interest, it's important to understand that these are not simply decorative items. They represent a deep and personal connection to the divine, and handling them improperly can disrupt the delicate balance of spiritual energy.

A Legacy of Faith and Resilience

Lukumi, a tradition rooted in West Africa, was brought to the Caribbean and the Americas by enslaved Africans. Despite the horrors of slavery, the faith endured passed down through generations in secret rituals and oral traditions. The Elekes became symbols of resilience, a tangible link to the ancestral heritage.

Path of Devotion and Service

The path of an Olorisha (Lukumi priestess) is demanding and requires unwavering dedication. It involves strict adherence to spiritual practices, including specific dietary restrictions and rituals. The Elekes serve as a constant reminder of these commitments.

I hope this sheds light on the significance of the Elekes and the rich cultural and spiritual heritage they represent. By understanding the sacred nature of these objects, we can appreciate the depth and beauty of the Lukumi tradition.

Lukumi: A Timeless Tradition

Often, I'm asked about Lukumi. It's an ancient spiritual tradition that honors ancestors, nature, and balance. At its core, Lukumi recognizes the One Creator, a universal force that we all worship in diverse ways. The goal of a Lukumi practitioner is to strive for personal growth and spiritual enlightenment.

As a Spiritualist Minister within the interfaith Spiritual Science Fellowship of Canada, I find Lukumi's principles align seamlessly with many world religions. Both traditions emphasize the importance of individual spiritual development and respect for all beings. While Lukumi is a lifelong journey of learning, my late start in my thirties, coupled with language barriers and cultural differences, has presented unique challenges.

To provide a deeper understanding of Lukumi, I'd like to share the words of a respected Elder who has given me permission to do so.

Seven Lukumí Rules For Happy Lliving

• Get the habit of happiness.

Smile, intimately and make this feeling part of yourself. Create a happy world for yourself. Wait every day, even when some clouds obscure the sun, you always find something good.

• Declare war on negative feelings.

Do not allow unreal hardships to devour you. If some negative thought invades the spirit, fight it. Ask yourself, because you, who have every natural right to happiness, must you spend hours of the day struggling with fear, boredom, and hatred. Win the battle against these insidious scourges of the twentieth century.

• Reinforce the image of self.

See how it was in your best moments and give yourself some attention. Imagine the happy times and the pride you felt in yourself. Create pleasant future experiences. Give yourself credit for what or who you are. Stop hitting your own head.

• Learn to smile.

Sometimes adults smile or giggle between their teeth, but not everyone laughs, that is true laughter that gives the impression of relief and freedom. Laughter, when genuine, purifies, and is part of the mechanism of success, casting it to the victories of life. If you’ve stopped laughing since the age of 10 or 40, go back to the spirit school and learn again what you should never have forgotten.

• Discover the hidden treasures.

Do not let your abilities and your resources die within you; give them an opportunity to submit to the trials of life.

• Help the next of kin, your neighbors, and others.

Giving to your peers may be the most rewarding experience of your life. Do not be cynical; understand that many people who appear unpleasant or hostile are wearing a facade that they think is able to protect them against others. If you give to your neighbor, you will be amazed at the grateful response, for the recognition they will have. People who look tough are actually gentle and vulnerable. You will feel satisfied when you give without thinking to yourself.

• Look for activities that make you happy.

Swimming, tennis, volleyball? Paint, sing, sew? I cannot tell you. You have to choose yourself. But life is happy if you do what pleases you.

There is a tendency in man to reduce the new phenomena with which he confronts preexisting ideas and definitions in his mind from previously known facts. This reduction hinders a correct view and interpretation of what is analyzed. Thus, the cultural facts of the blacks of the Yoruba–Benin in their ceremonies and rites become, in this distorting view, a primitive religion.

Lukumí is not primitive, let alone a religion. First of all, this set of precepts, rules, rites, and practices forms a weltanschauung (world view, global conception of apprehension of reality) and a technique that allows the confrontation with nature and with their fellows, using the energy of their own mind (the Orí).

The above Seven Lukumi Rules For Happy Living I feel is a wonderful guide for anyone who wishes to live a happy life of high vibration. I am happy to have permission to share this with you today.

The Cracked Water Pot

We here have all chosen a spiritual path and we walk it doing our best. Life happens daily, we make decisions based on our experience at that moment. Sometimes decisions are based on emotions and ego. Along this path of trial and error, we all make mistakes. Is this process wrong, are we wrong?  Of course not! Each and every one of us has been created by the divine and we all contain God within us. How can any one of us be judged as imperfect? The reality is it is, that we judge ourselves.

I want to share with you a story which is said to be a Sankript. You may have read these words before but they are worthy of being read again as tales like these always have so much to offer.

The Cracked Water Pot Story

A water bearer in India had two large pots, each hung on each end of a pole which he carried across his neck. One of the pots had a crack in it, and while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water at the end of the long walk from the stream to the master’s house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.

For a full two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water in his master’s house. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, perfect to the end for which it was made. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do.

After two years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream. “I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you.” “Why?” asked the bearer. “What are you ashamed of?” “I have been able for these past two years, to deliver only half my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your master’s house. Because of my flaws, you have to do all of this work, and you don’t get full value from your efforts,” the pot said.

The water bearer felt sorry for the old cracked pot, and in his compassion, he said, “As we return to the master’s house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path.” Indeed, as they went up the hill, the old cracked pot took notice of the sun warming the beautiful wildflowers on the side of the path, and this cheered it some. But at the end of the trail, it still felt bad because it had leaked out half its load, and so again it apologized to the bearer for its failure.

The bearer said to the pot,”Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of the path, but not on the other pot’s side? That’s because I have always known about your flaw, and I took advantage of it. I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back from the stream, you’ve watered them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate my master’s table. Without you being just the way you are, he would not have this beauty to grace his house.”

Internal Suffering From Perception

This is an interesting story, notice it takes the cracked pot two years of internal suffering to even begin to speak about what it saw as its own failure. It was too caught up in what it perceived as it’s imperfection to notice the beauty around it. Then, after all that time and suffering it discovers that it’s perception of how it saw things were incorrect as it is shown the beauty of it’s reality of its existence. The flowers in this story can be considered symbolic of the growth happening around us in life as a result of us being who we are. They are also symbolic of the symbiotic relationships around us, and the effect we have on others' lives without the awareness that we are contributing in any way.

The process of life for us is, one of expansion of the soul. Our experiences mold us into what we are and who we are becoming. We need to be open to the idea that situations around us may seem catastrophic at times but really are like the crack in the cracked pot, they allow expansion of our soul.

It is said that all emotions and actions stem from either love or fear. Being judgmental does not stem from love thus it is fear based. The cracked pot judged its own worthiness based on false perception. When we are children and grow up, we learn to become independent. At the same time, we may become afraid of being alone, abandoned, and not loved. At times we may enter worlds and situations that are not safe and loving environments, here we learn fear. We may become detached of who we really are. We may learn from our peer's cruelty and find ourselves unsure of our own worthiness. We can learn to compete and to become defensive. We may struggle to raise ourselves above others so we can be important. Just as in the story the whole pot gloats proudly over its accomplishments. In reality, maybe the whole pot sees what it can not do, water the wildflowers. The ego is the perceptions we have of ourselves through the experiences and memories we have in life. The cracked pot watched as the other pot did what it could not, and compared itself, instead of seeing what it was and the beauty because of its actions, it saw what is was not and felt unworthy.

Our perceptions come from what we see and our memories in life. If we had no memories we would not know we are here as memories provide us with the resonance of our being. It is the color we put on these memories that gets us caught up in them. If we did not color our past memories and experiences as darkness we could not cast negative judgment as the crack pot judged itself.

Through watching my own thought patterns at times I am still surprised at just how often I am judgmental in my daily life without consciousness. Maybe if you take a moment and just reflect, perhaps you can think of times you have done this recently. We all do it. It really is amazing when you make yourself more aware of what is going on around you. We as human beings see ourselves in other human beings that we relate to. That is a natural mirroring effect that happens in life. Sometimes we see things that we like, other times it is things that we do not like about ourselves, and perhaps then object to these things in others. If you recognize this mirroring effect you can begin to nurture your own growth and beauty in the world. Just like in the story when the cracked pot finally recognizes the flowers on the path in which it has traveled. With time you may find you will release whatever it is you are holding within yourself and begin to love yourself thus seeing more to love in the world around you.

I wanted to tell you another story, one told to me by a long-time friend, Simon Thwaits. Simon had an uncle who spent time in Morocco and shared with Simon stories about his work in carpet factories there. At one of these Moroccan factories, young boys worked, trained, and were supervised by master weavers. Whenever a boy made a mistake in a rug, instead of punishing the child or having him rip out the mistake, it was the job of the master weaver to turn the mistake into part of the rug. This results in one-of-a-kind masterpieces. We are all one-of-a-kind masterpieces!  

With all of this being said I want to put the idea out to you that maybe the next time you find yourself being judgmental towards yourself or even another, perhaps you could try to imagine seeing this master weaver assisting with an amazingly beautiful woven rug. On this rug, there is a scene. A scene of a water carrier with a cracked pot on a path covered with beautiful wildflowers.

Rev. Eileen Casey Gonzalez