Yes! It has finally happened and my husband has come to join the livejournal community ... now I'm SO happy because I can sit back and spy on his life *he he he he he*

Friend him at alimoo_nz ... hopefully he'll write something interesting every now and again.

I'm not really that much of a tech savvy person. It's like I can send and receive email. For the most part I've mastered the art of blogging and I can follow the forums that I like, such as Ochuns Ile and a couple of others. I can twitter [thank you twitterific for making this SO much easier] and I can even google search so long as I can figure out the exact phrase that matches what I'm looking or [but I generally get my husband to do it for me *lol*]. But, I'm not tech savvy which has meant that for a long time I haven't been able to set up a website, either for our Shih Tzu kennel [Tenzin Shih Tzu] nor for our Spiritual house, Ile Obatala and Temp du Montay. Well, all of that has changed now.

Through the wonders of webs.com our kennel now has it's own website. It is available at www.tenzinshihtzu.com [or it will be in 24 - 48 hours!] and our Santerian and Vodou site is up and running [although still very much a work in progress] at www.vodounz.webs.com [although hopefully in about a month when it is all finished I'll transfer it to www.vodounz.com

So thanks webs.com ... it's awesome that you made it so easy!

A Novena to Our Lady of Mount Carmel:



Prayer to the Virgin Mary:
[Never known to fail]

O most beautiful flower of Mount Carmel, fruit of the vine, Splendorous of Heaven, Blessed Mother of the Son of God, Immaculate Virgin, assist me in this my necessity [mention your request].
O Star of the Sea, help me and show me herein you are my mother.
O Holy Mary, Mother of God, Queen of Heaven and Earth, I humbly beseech you from the bottom of my heart, to succour me in m necessity.
There are none that can withstand your power. O show me here, You are my Mother.
O May conceived without sin, prayer for us that have recourse to thee.
O May conceived without sin, prayer for us that have recourse to thee.
O May conceived without sin, prayer for us that have recourse to thee.
Thank you for your mercy towards me and mine. Amen

[Must be said for three days and this prayer must be published.]

Today was the first time that we let our two precious little Shih Tzu go and play with my folks dogs. It's been quite traumatic because of Wednesday night they were attacked by another dog while we were out walking. It was very scary for all of us, and so today we really wanted to see how they would cope and ensure that they weren't too traumatised but what had happened. They most certainly weren't. My folks have a puppy the same age as our eldest, Toby, just on 14th months old. They played their little hearts out! It was great to watch. We took them all for a walk to the local park where they played in the fenced area that the local dog obedience club have and they just ran and ran around for hours, jumping and playing and enjoying each others company. It was a great time, even my dad really enjoyed it.

Toby though is feeling a little sorry for himself. I think he over exerted himself, he's not used to that level of play and I think he has some sore muscles, I can't feel anything wrong, just some tension in his back legs which will be from all the hard-core play! It was a wonderful time for everyone though, and we really liked watching them, and by tomorrow morning I am sure he will be back to normal, running around again and getting annoyed because Cartier will be having her bath and wont be allowed to play so hard-core!

We had the folks over for dinner after all of that, and as usual I cooked far too much food. We all ate far too much, and because mom and dad had brought some deserts we ate too much of that too. It was delicious though. We started off with a lovely bread that with balsamic vinigerette mixed with olive oil and some delicious cheeses. That was followed by my tuscan fried chicken breast with leek, brocolli, cauliflour and of course roasted yams and my home made cheese rue made from raclette and tasty cheese mix. Desert was fruit salad, with apple and apricot strudel with passionfruit ice cream and cream [beat with tahitian vanilla extract!]. It was a perfect meal enjoyed by all a little too much!

So, I'm tired, I'm WAY too full for words and tomorrow we've got to do gardening, bath Cartier, do some general house work which will probably just be limited to house cleaning and pot some palm trees. I've promised Ogou that I will find a way to fit him onto the rada altar as well, and have also promised him a new machette [don't know if that was a good plan].

BTW: I'm now addicted to Twitter! I can't believe I haven't twittered before now, but it's true, I'm now a fan, absolutely love it, and you can find me with the screen name ochemeji or under my real name, Liam Richard-Howes. More ways to pass the time in new and creative ways.

My bed calls, my husband is already in it, and that makes it even more attractive!!!!

Night all!

A couple of months ago we realized that at least for now we would need to sideline our new car. We have a car, it's still a late model Holden and there's nothing wrong with it, but we wanted to upgrade to a Holden Rodeo of Toyota Hilux to make traveling to dog shows a little easier with everything we had to carry, still it wasn't a sound economic purchase while I'm not working, and with our trip to Haiti in January so that Alistair can Kanzo and I can re-kouche with La Belle Deesse Soceity we decided that the new car could wait until the rental property in Auckland had sold. So these last two weeks we've also only been a one car family while we waited for his new work car to arrive. Well, that arrived yesterday and so, last night we went out to pick it up. Brand new, 21km's on the clock from driving on and off the truck. Well, Alistair is reversing my car out the garage and doesn't notice that the garage door hasn't gone all the way up [stupid technology] and so scratches the top of the car and manages to take the ariel off the top. It's not worth putting on insurance because we'd loose our no claims bonus so now we have to come up with all the $$ ourselves! And all on the day when he gets a brand new car and I am left without one. Talk about pissed off!

I'm a very proud dad right now.

This last weekend, our young Shih Tzu Denem Diamonds are Forever [or "Cartier" for short], entered her first show as a puppy. Here in New Zealand we can start showing our dogs from the time they are 3 months old. We decided not to show Cartier until she was 4 months old and although a lot of people told us we were making a mistake waiting, she has been kicking her litter brothers ass, and he did start at 3 months. In just 7 shows Cartier was the 5th top ranking Shih Tzu rising star in New Zealand, and 46th in New Zealand.

Well, that was all in Baby Puppy Class. She turned 6 months old on the 16th of this month and so on Saturday she entered her first show were she was eligible for what's called a challenge. That is where she wins Best Bitch in Breed and once she has 8 Challenges she will be made up to a Chapmion!

She went into the ring, has had a month off for while we've moved, and took it out against some much more experienced show dogs and so, she now has her first challenge certificate! It doesn't look like there will be anything standing in her way to make champion by the time she is a year old.

And so, I'm a very proud dad ... she has really proved herself to be far better than her breeders thought she would be, and shown us that she is everything that we knew she could be and more.

Go Cartier!!!!!!!

Well, just a week after moving into our new home and having all [well, almost all] of our furniture delivered the house is finished. Everything is away, everything is in it's place and it looks absolutely amazing. We finished the igbodu/badji first. There'll be some photo's eventually, but it was quite funny. We had originally thought that we would keep the Oricha and L'wa separate in the new house, there are certainly enough rooms and spaces, but when I consulted the L'wa they said NO! We want to stay together, so I asked the Oricha and got exactly the same response. It seems like they've spent so much time in cohabitation [there really wasn't any choice at our old house] that they really like hanging out together, and so, they each have their own parts of the room, but the have all the altars in there and it's a wonderful place to go and sit back, relax and just visit a while. The placement was interesting too, each Oricha had a really strong view of where they wanted to go. Obatala and Ochun were very happy enthroned the way they were when all the other Oricha were packed away and so they are now permanently enthroned next to the cabinet, while on the other side of the cabinet Oya and Chango are also enthroned outside the cabinet. Also outside the cabinet we have Olocun [of course], Orunmilla [still of course], Obba who for some reason has insisted against my better judgement on been seated over by Oya and Chango, and Yewa who is of course happily ensconced herself away in the wardrobe where it's quiet and dark. I really do love her!

The guest bedroom is looking wonderful! Unfortunately the movers did do some damage to our antique kauri dressing table mirror and that's been a little frustrating, but it's at the back and no one except us knows. Hopefully once the insurance claim is submitted we should be able to get it fixed really quickly as well ... at least this is what we are hoping! They did some terrible damage to an antique buffet that is in our living room as well, but I'll get to that. The guest bedroom has the cutest use of a suitcase I've ever seen though. In our old guest room at our Auckland house, we had an open fire, so on the mantle we had some soft toys. We put them in a suitcase for the movers, and when we unpacked, Alistair created this explosion of soft toys escaping from the suitcase. This looks just so cute in the guest room, and last night when the family were all over for dinner everyone loved it! Along with the classic lines, and soft lighting, it's just a great space and now we can't wait to have someone come and stay so that they can enjoy it.

There is another room that is looking very bare at the moment. I think I might turn it into a healing space. I still have to find a new massage table, but I might set that up with beautiful lighting, soft music, calming curtains and lots of soft fabrics and create a calm and soothing healing space where I can do massage [the legal kind ;)], Reiki and SKHM and Karuna and whatever other kind of healing work people are looking for. I may even look at teaching a few classes. Well, heck, I've got to find something to do with my time now that I am gainfully unemployed! Oh, the joy of moving somewhere where I don't have a job. Still, since the Oricha have not seen fit to give me a job, I wonder if they really do intend for me to carry on with this kind of work. Healing, teaching, and developing my botanica. There's also the plan to develop the religion here, and that's almost a full time job, one that will require trips to Cuba and the states with those who are called to kariocha so it could be quite exciting. I wish I had a better copy of my Ita with more information. There is so much going on, and there is so much from my Ita that was never recorded ... I really wish I knew so much more so that more of all of this made sense!

I'm also hoping to develop a Shih Tzu dog club nationwide. A specialty club where we can eventually have our own speciality shows and the like. This is a work in progress, and while I'm job hunting next week, working on developing the healing and the businesses I'll have to get in touch with NZKC [New Zealand Kennel Club] and find out exactly what is involved in that process, and also check how our application to become accredited breeders is coming along.

The living room is so fantastic, and it was so wonderful to get all of our wedding photos up and on the wall. Our amazing photographer, Maree Turner [see her at www.mareeturner.co.nz] had given us a bottle of fantastic champaign to drink once they were all on the wall, and they are now on the wall and the champaign was delicious! There's a few feng shui problems though, and although Ali has corrected most of them [being that he is our household feng shui expert], it would seem that we need to go get at least one more crystal. There is a ch'i draft in our living room with two windows facing each other and we really need to correct that!

The worst ch'i is in the hallway. From our double internal access garage [I just love saying that] we have a very long hall which creates some very yang shar ch'i! We've tried to tone it down, there is a crystal near the beginning of the hall, which all corrects three doors that all come onto each other at 90 degrees, and a mirror ball half way down to allow the ch'i to circulate better, and a beautiful pictures of dolphins in water at the end to try and bring in more yin energy, but it may need a little more. A piece of art fell off the wall tonight, and that could be attributed to the shar ch'i!

The dinning room is so wonderful! I've really missed having the space, and we had to go and buy some real dinning room chairs instead of the stools that were the only thing that would fit in our old tiny kitchen! We also have a breakfast bar, so some stunning white bar stools were in order and it just looks so perfect!

My kitchen ... it's huge! I love it! I have a double fan oven, separate hobs, so much cupboard space that I'm still working out what to do with it, and double dish drawers ... honestly, this house in wonderful! Our bedroom is the perfect size, we have a walk in wardrobe with changing area and our en suite is just so lovely, there's even space to feed the ancestors behind the door!

Now, for those who saw our old house, y'all know how much we love it, we just hope that our tenants are looking after it, but this house is about three times the size, has a yard that the dogs can go and play in [when it's not raining] and we got to set it up together! It's just wonderful. The Oricha are happy, the L'wa are happy and Ali and I are happy.

Well, almost happy. Our older Shih Tzu Tenzin Tobesocuteisacrime [or Toby for short] isn't cut out for the show ring. He has an overbite, he has a very sensitive stomach and because of both of these it would be really irresponsible for us to breed him. With that said, our younger Shih Tzu Denem Diamonds are Forever [or Cartier for short] is at 5 months the 46th best show dog in New Zealand, the ONLY Shih Tzu Baby Puppy to have made it onto the raising stars list for show dogs, and is currently number 5 Shih Tzu in New Zealand. Now, she is perfect and we will certainly breed her with a stud that is close to her equal, but Toby, well he keeps trying to mount her, so tomorrow, he's off to the vet to get neutered. I am SO very sad, I hate to do it to him because I never really intended to, and I had hoped that eventually he would be able to be bred from, he has the most incredible personality, our special little man, but it's not to be, so tomorrow morning he goes in for the surgery and I'm tempted to make ebbo to Ogoun to ensure that it goes well! [I'm just afraid Ogoun might eat him!].

And so that's it ... I am so happy, so satisfied with the wonderful house and how great it looks, and I'm nervous as all hell about my handsome little Toby .... Say a prayer for him .. it's gonna be a big day.

PS. If I haven't replied to an email, text or comment/message then please forgive me. Our lives went on hold while we moved, and well now, I'm trying to remember where I was at. A reminder is never a bad thing :)

Good to be back!

I always thought I'd be New Orleans?!?!?

You Are Austin

A little bit country, a little bit rock and roll. You're totally weird and very proud of it. Artistic and freaky, you still seem to fit in... in your own strange way. Famous Austin residents: Lance Armstrong, Sandra Bullock, Andy Roddick

I know I have been very quiet. For the most part I'm reading, but not posting. Alistair and I are in the middle of moving at the moment. The packers came in today to box up our stuff and tomorrow they come to finish up and to load the truck. From first thing tomorrow morning I don't have internet until everything is connected at the new house, but I will post soon.

Tonight, I was reading on one of the Santerian sites that I belong to, and there was a discussion about whether or not abortion affected the way that Americans voted for their president. The question asked was in essence, being as abortion is considered Taboo in Santeria, did that Obama was pro-choice affect the way in which people voted.

I guess as most have very strong opinions on this subject, it brought up many comments, strayed far from the question and I worry is on the verge of turning into something horrible and judgement :( ... it makes me sad that this is the case, there is so much judgement polluting our religion, but I thought I would share my reply here as well, it's important to me, and so, I get to share it ... hey, that's why it's my livejournal!

Bendicion todos, I look forward to writing and reading more once the move is over.

"For me, a great deal of this is hypothetical, not the abortion but the subject of voting for an American President. I live in New Zealand, hanging upside down here on the other side of the world where each and every day, Olofi has blessed us to be the first to see the Sun. With that said, and in the Spirit of Peace and deepest hope that we all continue this most interesting of threads in that Spirit, as a non-american who perhaps has a different perspective because he isn't involved, Obama seemed the most logical and choice for President, and like many non-americans I was happy to see him become President-elect.

Throughout the world America is portrayed as the leader of the free-world. Without getting into whether or not that is true [please don't attack me for not saying yes or no here *smiles*], what lessons are taught by America, a country that upheld slavery longer than most other civilised nations condoned, elected a black president! A liberal black president at that! Have 8 years of the religious right, 8 years of the world seeing a personification of ignorance and bigotry, stupidity and down right bad speech writing, there was a chance for us to see America embracing change! Maferefun Olofin! It was an honour for me to be alive at the moment.

As for abortion, Savannah, I do hear what you are saying, and I hold my own personal a religious views. When I was in nursing school I had to read a complete medical outline of each step of the procedures [they do vary according to where in the pregnancy the woman is at] but I did refuse to attend an abortion. Not because I judged the woman who was undergoing the procedure, I am not God and I am not her Ori and I do not have the right to make that judgement, but because abortion pushes my buttons. I am not going to force my religious beliefs onto someone else, nor my morality. If I did, how would I be different from the spanish slave masters who forced the ancestors of our religion to submit to their Catholic religion and culture?

What I do know, from talking to many woman who have undergone this procedure is that is is perhaps for many the most difficult decision of their lives. Our opinions expressed too openly or too loudly can only make that more difficult. It can only serve as a reminder to their own doubts, fears, and concerns. Let us not fall into the traps of the Christians of judging everything based on our own morality, if only because such judgement can lead us down a road that is less that beneficial for ourselves.

Life is sacred, All Life is sacred, and yet in Africa, and throughout all of the old world there were spells and works, charms and potions that did for woman then what abortion does for woman today, although often times with much greater pain.

Obatala, Father who fashions forth life in the womb, remind us always of the sacred nature that is inherent in your every creation. Remind us also to live in Peace with our number, our cousin, our sister and our friend, for ours is not to judge, ours is to live a live of good character, of a cool head, not to tarnish our crown, but to live as benefiting a priest of the Oricha. May Your blessing Baba mi be with us all, now and always.
Maferefun Obatala!"

Ahijados. Es tan duro con ahijados. Usted les da todo lo que pueda. Usted ama. Usted trata de mostrarles la mejor manera de servir y honrar la Oricha. Usted puede hacer todo, pero al final del día, sólo puede orientar y tratar de dar ejemplo y, a veces, bueno, a veces eso no es suficiente. Se le rompe el corazón y te hace triste, pero ¿qué puedes hacer otra cosa que coloque su fe en los santos y la confianza de que tarde o temprano lo van a hacer las cosas bien y llegar a un lugar donde hay paz y serenidad. En todo lo demás fuera de nuestro control.

Todos los días rezo por todos y cada uno de mis ahijados, los que sigo en contacto con la actualidad y dos que han pasado a hacer su propia cosa, y se rompe mi corazón cada vez que mencionar estas dos. El la más reciente sería una decepción! Ah, yo tenía grandes esperanzas en ella, tal vez ese fue el error fatal? Que se espera? Yo debería haber sabido que finalmente sería que ella es y aprovechar y cuando no consigue lo que quería, arrojar sus juguetes y pie. ¿Por qué estoy tan decepcionado? ¿Por qué estoy actuando como me sorprende? No estoy realmente sorprendido de que en todos los ... Sabía quién era, sabía que esto era posible, no es la primera vez que causó el teatro, y el fondo creo que hay todavía un pagano dedicado al igual que el título de manbo delante de su nombre.

Mi corazón duele y estoy triste por ella y me preocupo por ella ... Espero que su vida tiene la felicidad, y confío en el Oricha de la cuidar de ella siempre, le pido a Obatala que envolver a mantener su seguridad, y poner mi confianza en él y todos los santos, y rezar, y ahora siempre por el bien de flujo. Ruego a Dios que fluyen a todos mis hijos, todos mis hermanos y hermanas, primos, tías, y por supuesto mis padrinos también. Oro para que la tristeza nunca se convierte en la amargura o el odio, y que yo recuerde siempre a orar por ellos, y que sepan que siempre voy a estar aquí para ellos.

Mi Dios, escuchar y responder a mis oraciones.

So with the Oricha all packed up and ready to move to our new home in about a month, we've only got our Vodou altar left. Thought I'd share a pic or two :)

( photo's of vodou space )

Oh my! I can't believe it's a month till we move! And there is still so much to do, but on the bright side, at least we are now starting to pack, and I think we have narrowed down to three houses we're going to be moving into so that's a start, but it just keeps everything so busy! Especially with us being in dog shows every weekend. At least next weekend is our last one until we move *sigh* ...

So anyway, today, being Good Friday, I though it was time to pack up the Oricha. It's harder than I thought to put them all away, and to think about consulting each Oricha when we unpack! Making sure we find exactly the right place! But now all we have left is our Vodou altar.



It really is strange not having the Oricha around :(

So, I've spent the last week neglecting almost everyone. With Cartier's first dog show this last weekend we just had, I've got to admit that almost everything else took second place ... even I'm sad to say, the light I've been setting! Okay, but it was a big weekend, and now that we have some idea of what we're doing, I think we have it back under control at least some ... next weekend we've only got one show day and that's on Sunday, and well, we don't do mystic work on Sunday anyways! :)

But, I bet you all are just dying to hear about the results. Well, I'm not going to keep ya in suspense any longer!

On Saturday, at Cartiers very FIRST EVERY dog show she one, Best Baby Puppy of Breed, Reserve Bitch of Breed and Best Baby Puppy of Group [non-sporting in New Zealand]. It was REALLY exciting. She did so well, and came close I think to taking out Best Baby Puppy of Show except that she was tired, it was hot and it ws a lot for her all in one day. She did amazingly well though and we know we have something very special with her. We are both SO proud of her!

Now though, with the show over, I'll get around to answering that stack of emails that are sitting there demanding my attention and which I have so neglected. I'll get back to setting my light this week, and making the Esu Aye for my god-daughter. An exciting weekend we have had!

Well, this weekend Cartier [Denem Diamonds are forever] is off to her first show!



She's definitely champion material, there's no doubt about that, but there is so much pressure! She's so young and so special and can off course, as those of you that have read some of my journal know, is so bad! But she is a beautiful little girl and I am very worried that she might make a mistake!

The worst bit is that if she does not do well, our breeder is going to be annoyed ... they expect a lot and it can be a lot of pressure from the. But worse than that if she does too well and bets our breeders dogs then they'll be just as angry with us! Oh, stressful! And then there's all the practice. Alistair is taking her into the ring on Saturday, if he does well he can take her on on Sunday as well, but if he loses Saturday I will take her in Sunday just so I can hear what the judges say about her. My goodness though, there is so much to make sure he learns. He's mastered the ovals, the back and forth and the triangle, he's just got to learn to listen to make sure he does the right thing at the right time ... some judges want to see a triangle, others a back and forth ... and some of them, well, they're not the greatest communicators. So, bottom line is I'm pretty quiet at the moment, got a lot to think about, and I will get back to writing with some more regularity soon!

On a more spiritual note, my asson was re-beaded today! There were a few reasons for it, but it looks amazing! Feels great too! I was saluting when it was finished and I could really feel the spirits hear!

Wow! What a week it has been. It's reminded my why I'm a godparent and it's reminded me what hard work being a god parent can be!

One of my godchildren has been in the middle of some drama with her ex. So last weekend I made her an amulet on the point of Ti Jean Petwo. It was interesting working with the L'wa this way, but the Oricha just were not standing up for her in consultation with the Diloggun [probably because she had ignored them despite all she had been taught and asked]. So I thought we'd try it with the L'wa. So I made the amulet [similar to an Osain] on the point of Ti Jean, and petitioned Erzulie Dantor and Ti Jean for her. Why? Well, she's a single mother and her ex who is the father of her three year old son is very abusive. Well, she went into court today and after 5 hours in Family court she came out with the outcome that we had petitioned Ti Jean and Danto for. The are indeed powerful and it's great to work with them.



Aside from this work, my job has been hectic ... so much paper work pilling up and getting out of hand! It's just been a little crazy and I'm looking forward to the break. Aside from that I'm doing some Hoodoo work taught to me by Coyote, and working up the courage to ask him to teach me hoodoo via email! ;) ....

One of my other god children is staying tonight and tomorrow we've got to go out with our photographer to have a photo shoot with the dogs!

So, it's busy, its hectic and I'm thinking bring on Sunday so I can chill out! :)

Onareo todo

Efunsegun

visited 40 states (17.7%)
Create your own visited map of The World or Best time to visit Bilbao

Ache d'owo Oloddumare

It's been a busy but an amazing weekend. The highlight of course was that we gave elekes to my new God daughter, Gwo Mambo Paula. It was a beautiful ceremony, vesting the Elekes is just such a beautiful moment, and this was even more special as she not only received the "fab 5" [Eleggua, Obatala, Ochun, Yemaya and Chango] but Oya also requested that she be received with them.

Her baths were beautiful, when she came forth from the bath it was as if you could physically see all that the Omiero washed away and standing before us was a beautiful youngest with a soul that was old a wise and really understood what she was to receive. The Omiero, poured from a bottled sequined to one of her Met Tet, Matress Erzulie had sat on my altar for Ochun for 2 weeks, filled with Omiero and it was just beautiful to share our ceremonies with her L'wa. Within the Igbodu it was just as wonderful to have her pakets from her Kanzo as Gwo Mambo here to witness the event as well.

Her Rogacion was just so beautiful. Alistair was her Ayubonno and his energy was such a calming presence. He sounded the tools of Oricha as we made the prayers, and although he wasn't ready yet to perform the rogacion himself he stood right next to me learning the prayers and mouthing along. He did a wonderful job and it was great to have him there.

We stepped beyond the usual questions when we consulted Obi for permission to grant the elekes, we asked her met tet who gave his approval, we asked Oya who also approved, we asked her ancestors or her blood and of her Spiritual lineage from her Vodou initiation. We got approval from all, without hesitation [well, except for Ogou, he had a moment :)].

In vesting the elekes there could be no doubt that the Oricha were establishing their connections with Gwo Mambo Paula. With each eleke been vested Paula swayed, sometimes a little, sometimes a lot. The connection was so obvious and it was so beautiful. Her face lightened with each eleke vested, she glowed, and the Oricha glowed through her ... how do you turn into words what happens to the face of one who is forming their deep connection with the Oricha. It was stunning!

For herself she spent the night at our house, a new member of our family so that we could be there in the morning to help her remove the cotton etc., from her rogacion ... Gwo Mambo Paula has the most amazing dreadlocks, she's had them for almost 16 years now so you can imagine they are very long and it made it hard to get all of the cotton from her hair, so I assisted, we went to Church together, and Paula began her first day in white of the next week. She looked beautiful, at Church all in white, her dress flowing and her elekes the flash of colour and her hear wrapped in a mushwa. So beautiful and I really wish we had a photo of it to share.

And so our family continues to grow, it was gorgeous to see, and it's great to see the Oricha family growing. Modupe Ocha!

Well, tomorrow is the big day when my new beautiful god-daughter, Gwo Mambo Sur Pwen Komande will receive her Elekes and become a member of our ile.

It's been so long really since I performed a rogacion that I really am nervous. I know that when the time comes it will all come flowing back to me, and I trust the Oricha completely on this, but it's still nerve raking. This isn't a person who is new the Diaspora, this is a woman who has worked her way up through the Vodou to become a Gwo Mambo Sur Pwen! It feels like so much pressure.

Even with the pressure there is a smile on my face. I am so thankful that the Oricha have given me the gift of being able to share this wonderful religion. I am so thankful that they chose me to share them in my small country hanging upside down at the bottom of the world, and I am so thankful for the changes that they work in my life, and the lives of others all the time. It's hard to believe that the Rule of the Oricha made it all the way down here, but indeed it did and it is a beautiful think to see it continue to grow.

Tonight I will spend some time in prayer, preparing for this event, preparing to become a godfather again and reminding myself of the responsibilities that I am taking on. Tonight I will fill my heart with love, love of God, love of the Oricha and love of the Ancestors who brought us all to this place, and I will prepare to fittingly perform my role as a Santero, with an open and loving heart.

What a calming effect writing has ... I will look forward to sharing on Sunday about the beauty of the ceremony.

Onareo