The Woman Of Ase Ire!
In December, I was interviewed and featured in the Spotlight section of the website Ase Ire. Ase Ire is the creation of Iyalorisa Efúnfúnláyò Ifákemi Easter Wood, an Orisa priestess and doctoral student in African and African American Studies at Harvard University. In the spirit of reciprocity and to share this beautiful woman’s goal to promote the power of positivity, I decided to interview her and share her purpose and vision for Ase Ire with all of you. Enjoy!
1- What is Ase Ire?
Ase Ire is a labor of love. It is a place where I can share all of the excitement and positive energy that I have been blessed to receive with my community using universal principles as conveyed through the Orisa. I pray it is a place where people can come to learn, to reflect and to share.
2- What prompted you to create Ase Ire?
As a practitioner of the Yoruba Ifa-Orisa tradition, I noticed that a lot of the websites and information out there was about ritual, practice and other very specific aspects of the tradition but didn’t address the “human factor.” How do I apply this knowledge to my everyday life? Where are the Orisa-centric principles in everything that we do? I wanted to create a space to answer some of those questions and also to engage those who may not be practitioners, but who could relate to the principles. As well, I am engaged in scholarship on the tradition and I use Ase Ire as a place from which to share some of that information with the community.
3- What is your long term goal for Ase Ire?
Long term, the sky is the limit! I’m allowing it to naturally live and evolve. I am organizing the first of what I pray will be many collaborative events with Ase Ire in April called “Sacred Healing & Wholeness in Africa & the Americas.” This is a day-long symposium that will take place at Harvard University and allow those who study and practice African, African Diasporic and American Indigenous religions the space to discuss the many meanings of health, healing and being whole. The concepts within these traditions are often very different than that expressed by Western medicine and, as I feel the world is in dire need of healing, I thought this would be a great point of focus. I’m also hosting a workshop with Luisah Teish called “The Mirror in the Water: Autobiography as a Spiritual Practice.” She is a dynamic woman and priestess and I’m proud to be working with her. These types of events and many more are what I see as Ase Ire’s present and future.
4- What is your personal mantra / life affirmation and how does it guide your life’s purpose?
My personal mantra, which I first heard from my Master Teacher Awo Oluwole Ifakunle Adetutu is that “Ifa says we should be thankful, I say we should be thankful!” which comes from the odu Ifa ose ogunda. I approach each and every moment of my life from a position of gratitude and seek always to give back to the world at least a small portion of that which I have been given.
5- Words of wisdom
Love hard, laugh harder and allow the tears to flow when they will. All are sacred. Know that nothing worth having will come without sacrifice and that the missteps are a part of the journey.
Please visit aseire.com and watch Funlayo YouTube Video.
