If the practicing Priest has any intellectual curiosity at all, they will spend a great deal of time in attempting to understand exactly how Ifa works. This is quite different from the Priest who has accepted the Western Religious view that all power, and truth comes from the Word. And, that the Word, is not to be questioned.

The intellectually curious Priest wants to understand exactly how, and why, the ebbos, divination and cleansings work. How, in the most pragmatic way, does the sacrificing of a rooster, the offering of honey, the chanting of a prayer reverse the seemingly irreversible negative trends in an individuals life? How can it cure cancer, allow for conception, improve business and restore mental balance in such unorthodox fashions.

The non curious practioners simply accepts that it does. They believe that the Word and the offerings carry with them the inherent ase' or Divine energy, to accomplish the task.

And, you might reasonable ask: " what difference does it make when both accomplish their goals?"

The difference is potentially enormous and critical.

For example, when you believe in, and accept, the Word as unassailable and unchanging, you limit yourself , and the client, in a host of ways. Simply because you were taught that red Palm Oil is the suitable offering to Esu, you are dependent geographically on obtaining it. You are also dependent intellectually on a given solution. You are also reaching an illogical conclusion which will negatively impact all your work.

Was an Eskimo cut out of the loop by Oludumare ( God) because, geographically, red palm oil was impossible to obtain?

Certainly, logically, it is not the red Palm Oil that performs the change. Certainly, logically, olive oil, whale oil, peanut oil etc. would all work as well. The same applies to the language used in your invocations or prayers. To assume it must be Yoruba, Spanish etc. is equally illogical. Certainly God understands all languages. With this being the case, the question still remained: " How does it work."

Recently, I was e-mailed an article regarding a man who could change weather patterns. The author, a well known Awo, compared the situation to an event he had witnessed. An event in Africa where a ceremony was taking place. Suddenly a major wind began to blow, knocking down implements etc. The head Priest, hearing this, poked his head from the building he was in and shouted, angrily, at the top of his lungs for the wind to stop blowing. It did.

Later the Awo asked the head priest how he could do this. " Because I believe I can," replied the priest.

Most, particularly, those that adhere to the divinity of the Word, would accept this. Frankly, while sounding good, this was not adequate, or logical, to me. As I thought about it I realized that even if I truly believed I could beat Pete Sampras at tennis, or Michael Jordan at Basketball, the truth was that the moment I got on either's court, with racquet or basketball, I wouldn't have a chance.no matter how truly I believed!

So, it had to be something else. Something that could, at the same time provide enormous change yet was logical and consistent.

The answer came in relationship to my son's tennis game. Dashiel is 10 years old, a Babalawo for 5 years, who has a gift for tennis. Playing seriously for just six months, he consistently beats 12 - 14 year olds who have been playing for years. Yet, there is one ten year old girl he has been unable to beat. Admittedly, she is the number one ranked 10 year old girl in the State of Indiana, but, on a skill level, he should be beating her, at least occasionally. I didn't know how to get him over this hump.

Together, he and I had discussed the concept of visualization. It is becoming a powerful tool in competitive sports. Recently, at the Olympics, the Gold Metal U.S. diver was a girl that had injured her foot and been unable to train until just before the Olympics. What she had done was spend several hours each day visualizing the perfect dives she would have to make. And, when the competition began, she made enough of them to win against all odds! A Javelin Thrower, at the Olympics, who had undergone rotator cuff surgery had done the same thing, and when he was able to practice after months of inactivity, his toss was the best he had ever done!

So, wasn't this a matter of believing they could do it?

NO!

It was a matter of KNOWING they could do it!

You see, unlike my visualizing beating Michael Jordan on a fast break to the basket, these Olympic athletes had ( at least from time to time) executed the perfect dive, the perfect Javelin throw. So, when they went into their minds they were re-enforcing what they KNEW they could do! They were taking the occasional perfection and reinforcing it until it became repetitive. It wasn't dependent on their reading, or being told how to execute the dive or the toss, it was based on the body/mind memory of having performed them. In other words, it wasn't the words, it was the energy reality of their bodies and minds.

Because this concept may be slightly esoteric to a ten year old, I explained it to Dashiel in a different way:

"Do you remember when you couldn't swallow vitamins or pills?" I asked.

He nodded.

"Well, " I went on, "it was because you believed you couldn't. That they would get stuck in your throat, that you would choke or throw up. And what happened?"

Sheepishly, he answered "They got stuck, and I did throw up."

" And now, " I went on, " since we spent that night insisting you swallow a teeny vitamin, what happens now?"

"I swallow them without chocking, and I swallow big ones too!," he answered.

The reason I explained to him was because now he KNEW he could. He had experienced the energy of swallowing, and could repeat and expand on it.

"And, " I finished, " Stephanie (the girl he used to believe he couldn't beat) is just another pill. You know you have the strokes, the game, but for some reason you think Stephanie is the one pill that will still choke you. You must rely on knowing, and you will win.

So, ultimately, being a Tennis Dad gave me greater insight than being a Babalawo. It allowed me to understand " How It Works!"

It Works because we Know it will. Because we have been there, done it, and because we know that we are not bound by language, words, or items. In our knowing, we can logically substitute items for what is available, and use the language and words we are most comfortable with. For it is our knowing ( not our believing) that joins the energies together to accomplish the goal we have set.

It is critical to note that one of the operable tenets of Western religion is that much of what it offers is said to be "unknowable." Acceptance of that will severely diminish your abilities. It is also worth noting that, ultimately, the con man, or charlatan, can never truly accomplish anything.for, at their core, they know, they do not know.

The thrust of initiation and the training that follows it is to see that the Priest begins to know . To structure their training so that they are not the slaves to others words, implements or methodologies, but rather empowered by eternal Truths and their experience of them. At the Ifa Foundation we have developed a teaching method that allows the initiate to know. From there, all things are reality.