BabaLU

How do you spiritually cleanse yourself in preparation for the New Year?
In this Year Ending cleansing issue of Oya~N~Soro our Friends at FaceBook
have so graciously added their voice to this time enduring ritual.

Eni Osun David Sosa
I make a floor wash with Florida water, Knanga water, Molasses, Honey, Bay Rum, Bay leaf, Mint, Basil, Parsley, Alamo, Salt and some Ammonia... This gets mopped from back to front. The house gets smoked with incense blend of Benzoin, Copal, Myrrh, Frankincense, and Sage.  23rd Psalm or whatever other prayer I feel inclined to say, if not just speaking from the heart out loud. I sometimes may add sea/ocean water and or river water as well.

YeyeLawo Olomitutu
In Yorubaland according to each lineage, we Dafa for the year and we use the prescribed soap from the Ifa /Orisa reading. Next step we use the Ifa Omiero OR the Orisa Omiero that we washed to bathe and kill our animal, cook and then eat as one big family. Odunde Odun Ayo.

Javier Montanez
For the Lukumi, there is something called "Letra de Año" and this is where boards/a commission come together to perform a reading for the year for the members of our society. Cleanings are involved as well. Then to make it more personal, I consult with the Orisha to see what must be done to ensure ire this year. I always clean myself with fruit, put it in front of the Orisa, rray, and take one fruit to each domain (River, Ocean, Monte, Crossroad etc.)

When the snow is falling, we cross our arms "Maferefun Yemaya" (salute) and let the snow fall on our faces and rub it around and around our bodies. Winter is also a time of Eggun as everything (mostly everything) takes the path of transformation and Eggun are present. Spiritually there are many herbs around that you can use to clean yourself. Like pine...it's good to spread around your house and sweep out for negativity. Also I clean my self with let's say a dove. I don't oggun choro choro the bird :-) I clean my self and let it fly away. In the dead of winter we still find trees that have leaves (many of those leaves that survive harsh temp's are related to Eggun) Lucky Leaf, Laurel Leaf --- I use incense, clean out the house, open my door and let the incense burn at the door.  I go around clearing the energies with those leaves, cleaning everyone present, breaking those leaves and sweeping them out.

COCONUTS --- OBI --- that is the Yoruba power ball lmfao.  Some efunfun, oti, cigar smoke, throw that bad boy on the floor and sweep from back to front.  Take obi to a far away place or the forest and break it, saying "as I break this coco' I break the negativity." --- Words and the mind are the human's magic.

Ancestor Healing
Since the winter is a time of transformation, wind, and the dead, could it be a time of Oya as well? I also clean with sticks, and dried ewe. This is a very interesting question, especially for us in the mid-west. The natural ewe has ceased growing except for the evergreens. :) I also use snow as a halting agent as well as evergreen for a long lasting effect.

Marr W. Osolade
I take a bitter bath, do a floor wash, smoke out the house, recite prayers of purification and then take a sweet bath.

Kyle Smith ‎
Refreshing the water in those Orisa that have water and using what is taken out to wash through the house and all the parties therein.

Antonio Duan
I wasn't going to add this because it had to do with your cleansing your home instead of yourself, but yeah, filling up a bucket with hot water, adding salt, and mopping the corners of your home. In addition, there is placing a cup of water and a cup of salt at the front and back doors of your home just like your shrines.

Also, there are certain voodoo spells according to the days of your ori. Also someone advised me of bathing in a hot tub of water mixed in wine, rose petals, and salt. There are also special soaps baba's make for cleansing.  Oh, my mistake, I meant you have to use sparkling water instead to clean.

Kefentse Akim Bandele
Beans can be used. I can't remember how many we used (if memory serves me correct it was 15) but I did a cleansing with beans and eggs and tossed them into a brown paper bag. You can always just use eggs.

Iya Oyapidan
Heyyy time for cleansing for sure ... cannot wait to see how others do their thing. I start with ewe .. cleansing with ewe .. then water and smoke and moving things around in the abode.

Yawo Yemoja Meji is a nine-year-old student that attends Judson Elementary. She participates in such activities as honor choir and gifted talented arts. When she grows up, she will attend college. When she gets out of college, she wants to be a lawyer and an architect.  She created the piece entitled BabaLU at the opening of this article.