AIM FOR THE HEAD.

Okay, so whole time I'm coming out the

bathroom at this Indian Mexerican spot

off U Street I got from a sponsored

Instagram ad and out of nowhere there

was this [ __ ] spewing [music] the

most vile [ __ ] to whom

I do not know.

Damn oh, that's how we walking out the

crib today? With them shoes? What are

those eyes?

At first I wasn't even sure he was

talking to me.

So my eyes are down, washing my hands

kind of [music] even chuckling inside

like [ __ ] he cooking somebody like

somebody put that suya on the outdoor

stove.

You know those type of conversations you

have with yourself in the shower after

you lost a conversation in real life.

But then the [ __ ] started

getting

specific.

Fake ADHD having ass, forgot to take

your meds again ass, can't record a

video without a pre-game panic attack

ass,

can't eat a house without a bae ass,

broke ass, lame ass, short ass,

you are nothing my [ __ ]

and never will be.

I was standing in there.

The faucet stuck on loop one.

What the [ __ ]

I'm only trying to wash my hands, trying

to get back to a reason I'm half with a

bulgogi kimchi and a side of fried rice.

I let the tap run for a long while.

Jag of water slicing and the sucking

valleys of skin

thinking about what he said.

Considering what should or

could I say back.

Am I supposed to be the bigger man or

are we already too far gone?

I might have to bring the jazz and these

dudes not Ellington but don't make you

dance.

Nah.

I'll choose peace.

I read the Quran and [ __ ] now.

Then I thought I heard him open his

mouth again and

[ __ ] tree one

as it often does.

The craziest part

I had to raise my fist before I raised

my eyes.

When I finally looked up

it was a mirror.

>> When you listen to what other people are

saying about you, which is their

insecurities,

you're becoming them. You have to find

your own identity. You have to find your

own meaning of who you are, and stand on

it every single day.

>> Hey.

Welcome to Color Mind, a place where I

talk about things that I thought about,

so maybe you could think about them,

too.

And lately,

I've been thinking about Ifá. Ifá is the

divination system at the center of most

of Yoruba culture. It is practiced

across Nigeria, or most where Yoruba

people came from, Benin, Togo, as well

as throughout the Afro-Caribbean

diaspora as Voodoo and Santeria.

Now, metaphysics is generally seen as

concerned with explaining the

fundamental nature of the being and the

world. It's the arena of asking

questions like, what is a person? Or, if

it is what it is, then what is it

exactly? And other annoying questions I

bring up during the blunt rotation.

Ifá is not a work of metaphysics in the

same way that Aristotle's metaphysics

is, but it is the main archive from

which Yoruba metaphysics gets

reconstructed. And it commits its

practitioners to a definite and fairly

detailed picture of what exists. Ifá

seeks to answer ontological and

cosmological questions of the human

experience from a Yoruba lived

experience. For example, Babalawos,

translating aptly into fathers of

mysteries, are custodians of the Ifá

knowledge and play a crucial role in

performing Ifá divination ceremonies,

interpreting the messages of Orunmila,

the Orisha or deity of wisdom, and

therefore also of Ifá knowledge, who

often is depicted by the colors of green

and yellow, and providing guidance to

individuals and communities. They

undergo extensive training before being

initiated into priesthood, often passing

down their knowledge through

apprenticeship and almost exclusively

oral tradition. The body of knowledge is

contained in 256 Odu, books or chapters

of varying length, memorized over

decades by Babalawo. For reference,

actually, let me let me grab this, man.

So, for reference, each each Odu, right?

I got the book here. Each Odu Oh, okay,

hold up. Each Odu

is a book and chapter in and of itself.

Some of them are short, some of them can

be longer, but for reference, the Bible

has, I believe, 66 books, right? And the

Quran has 114 chapters or surahs. This

book holds more than four times the

content of the Bible and more than twice

the content of the Quran. Also, another

fun fact is that Odu is the title of the

second ever Grammy-nominated album made

by

uh Nigerian uh

uh artist, uh

King Sunny Adé.

Uh this this isn't the Odu album, but

but y'all should listen to to

the King Sunny, for for real. The 256

Odu in the holy Odu are believed to be

applicable to all situations,

circumstances, actions, and consequences

in life. But also, as a living

historical document told orally,

chapters are still subject and

encouraged to adaptation and evolution

across both time and space as a portal

of cultural wisdom. So, today I want to

briefly look at the teachings of Ifá the

same way we look at Buddhism or

I don't know, Stoicism, those other

Western philosophies, because I think it

has something beautifully pragmatic to

say in a way that, especially today's

contemporary self-help culture, never

really could

articulate for me. In Ifá, there are an

uncountable number, or 400 plus one, as

we say, of Orisha or deities, including

the big names like Ogun, Eshu, Orunmila,

Shango,

that one can seek counsel and comfort in

many areas of life for. According to the

teachings of Orunmila, Orisha, or

spirits sent by the supreme creator

Olodumare to assist humanity and teach

them to be successful on Aye.

Earth.

>> According to Yoruba mythology, the

universe and all of the forces therein

were created by a single supreme being

most often known as Olufin. Also known

as Aloran or Olodumare, this genderless

creator god is all-knowing,

all-powerful, and eternal.

>> [music]

>> It might be tempting to compare Olufin

to the Abrahamic god, but they are a

unique being and no other deity is like

them. In the beginning of time, Olufin

crafted the universe and invented day

and night. They gave divine energy

called Ashe to all the objects and

beings and breathed life or emi into

every living thing. They did not,

however, want to manage every living

thing, so Olufin created the Orisha to

act as intermediaries between Arun, the

spiritual heavenly realm, and Aye,

[music] the world of tangible visible

things. There are hundreds of Orisha in

Yoruba folklore, though it may be

impossible to give an exact count

because their characteristics are

malleable. A single Orisha's name,

gender, and parentage can vary depending

on when and where you hear the story,

though their core traits remain largely

unchanged. Some of the Orisha, like

Obatala and Orunmila, are primordial

figures who were involved in the