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Spiritual Journeys: A Study of Ifá /Òrìṣà Practitioners in the United States Initiated by Nigeria

Van Der Meer, Tony
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=antioch1487938234573904

Abstract Details

2017, Ph.D., Antioch University, Leadership and Change.
The purpose of this study is to understand the culture of one of the newest branches of traditional Yorùbá Ifá /Òrìṣà practice in the United States from practitioners born in the United States that were initiated in Nigeria, West Africa. The epistemology of the Ifá /Òrìṣà belief system in the United States has been based on the history and influence of Regla de Ocha or Santeria that developed out of Cuban innovation and practice. This is an ethnographic and auto-ethnographic study that pulls from participant observation, field notes, interviews, and photos as data. The central question of this dissertation is what are the challenges and opportunities for this branch of practitioners in the United States who were initiated in the Ifá /Òrìṣà practice in Nigeria? Some of the main findings indicate that the opportunities include: opening doors intellectually and spiritually about African philosophical thought and ethics were that: it instills a sense of spiritual discipline; it lays the foundation, giving confidence that one can achieve what they set their minds to; and, it offers spiritual technologies and systems that are liberating and relevant in the Unites States in terms of identity, direction, and purpose. Some of the challenges included: a rugged Nigerian experience, and cultural change; a transformative experience from the initiation rituals; understanding and learning the Yorùbá language; and, the contradiction of Africa being the idea of utopia. The challenges in the United States also included: understanding and learning the Yorùbá language; understanding the different systems of practice in the Ifá /Òrìṣà belief system; the role of women as Ifa priests; ecological concerns in disposing ritual sacrifices; accessibility to traditional (African) ritual items; issues of acceptance, inclusion, and exclusion on the basis of race, gender, and sexual identities from other systems of Ifá /Òrìṣà practice; and, developing new communities of practice base on the experiences of this newest branch of practitioners.This dissertation is available in open-access at OhioLink ETD Center, www.ohiolink.edu/etd and AURA:Antioch University Repository and Archive, http://aura.antioch.edu/
Philomena Essed (Committee Chair)
Laura Morgan Roberts (Committee Member)
Tim Sieber (Committee Member)
216 p.
African American Studies; African Studies; Black Studies; Caribbean Studies; Cultural Anthropology; Divinity; Epistemology; Religion; Spirituality
African Belief Systems; Ifa; Orisa; Orisha; Orisha Vodo; Santeria; Lucumi; Regala de Ocha; Traditional Yoruba Belief System; Transformational Spiritual Practice; Ethnography; Methodology; Leadership Studies; Leadership and Change; Religion; Spirituality

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Van Der Meer, T. (2017). Spiritual Journeys: A Study of Ifá /Òrìṣà Practitioners in the United States Initiated by Nigeria [Doctoral dissertation, Antioch University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=antioch1487938234573904

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Van Der Meer, Tony. Spiritual Journeys: A Study of Ifá /Òrìṣà Practitioners in the United States Initiated by Nigeria. 2017. Antioch University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=antioch1487938234573904.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Van Der Meer, Tony. "Spiritual Journeys: A Study of Ifá /Òrìṣà Practitioners in the United States Initiated by Nigeria." Doctoral dissertation, Antioch University, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=antioch1487938234573904

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

antioch1487938234573904
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This open access ETD is published by Antioch University and OhioLINK.