We live in a culture that ostensibly extols individuality, but in reality, seeks conformity. Part of the explanation for this stems from the false premise the culture is based upon. That premise is that money and material goods will make you happy. That premise will “work” for 95% of the population…not because it is true, but because they will never have enough money to test the theory. But what about the remaining 5% who have the money and who buy the toys? Well, the statistics show that 95% of the anti-depressants are prescribed for the 5% of the population that makes the most money! Kind of shoots the premise to hell in a hand basket doesn’t it? Rather than examine the premise, our society has decided to chemically see the premise is not challenged through medications such as Prozac. These medications place the individual into that lovely dull zone of not feeling depressed…at the cost of not feeling joyful…and perhaps, not feeling much at all! Individuals pop the pills in order not to feel the pain…and they give up feeling joy as well. You see, our emotions work just like FM radio (frequency modulation). Whatever you take off the bottom (pain) and equal amount comes off the top (joy) in order to keep the signals balanced. The problem is the “balance” is muted, and the individuals are less than they should be.

This is not meant to be a diatribe against anti-depressants…it is meant to be a simple warning that, if you ever want to successfully work with Orisa energy, anti-depressants will make it almost impossible!

You see, ultimately, the connection that you make between yourself and Orisa energy is made through pure feelings! Acute feelings! Intense feelings! Powerful feelings! And pure, acute, intense, powerful feelings are exactly what anti-depressants prevent you from having.

A Neuro-biologist friend of mine at Indiana University once described our culture’s way of dealing with emotional problems. He said: “It’s as if we find that the breaks on the car don’t work. So our scientific approach is to have an elephant step on them!”

Instead of having an elephant step on your emotional capacity, it would be far better to explore through the Orisa how to achieve the balance between your mind and spirit. Once this balance (which is the ultimate goal of Ifa) is established, the need for the elephant disappears.

Blessings