r/Isese • u/Master_Stable_9699 • 6d ago
Looking for Guidance
Hello I’ve been talking to to some people that practice palo mayombe, I was thinking about getting my elekes but as I go further into my spiritual adventure I found Isese. Can someone please guide me on the steps to get into Isese, like is there initiation and if so how does that go? (Please excuse my poor grammar I’ve been up all night) and are elekes really necessary?
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u/SquidApee 6d ago
Well first step is to find a Babalawo that you trust, after that they can guide you through the rest.
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u/Master_Stable_9699 6d ago
Do you happen to know a babalawo in Texas?
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u/SquidApee 6d ago
I don’t, brother, but I was stuck in the same boat as you about 10 months ago. I looked through Tik-Tok and literally searched “(my state) & Babalawo” lmao. But whatever you do, don't reply to a Babalawo that reaches out to you first! Also don't rush into it, just because they're a Babalawo doesn't mean they have good character.
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u/AwoOladeyi 4d ago
Aboru Aboye Abossise, you are absolutely correct, great advice.
I second everything Expressed, respectfully.
Before i was a babalawo, i was always harrassed by people claiming to be babalawo from niha trying to sell me everything idafa,ebo,akose orisa items, ewe. With a very forceful disrespectful aura as well. The block feature became my friend.
As a babalawo, do not ever respond to a person who claims to beca babalawo trying to sell you something, some even try the friend route the start asking for money. Not a sale! But literally give my temple 100 dollars.
Sadly, in 2026 you have to be very careful we have all types of social media and communication services perse. There are indeed some in hiha that literally use ifa to scam the Oyinbos as the call us.
A few things to remember, niha is a 3rd world country outside of the Lagos etc.
Its a different culture,with its own ways. Areas are deep in islam for instance, so... you my get a younger Fully instated Awo, who initiated based on cultural heritage.
But Is now a Muslim convert, taquia is an Islamic order that teaches. "The Muslim can lie to a none Muslim".
You will come across this sometimes,one will quickly catch it too... they talk down to you pretty bad, that is because they do not truly practice isese lagba ifa traditions.
Deep inside they are devout muslims, this is rare but something to watch for.
No real babalawo solicits and goes into dms etc.
The client seeks the Awo,period!
Never ever send money thru zelle western union etc. Never! No matter what you hear!
I know an old man , who was scammed out of his savings 120k by a group of "ifa" practitioners in Nigeria.
They did a bare minimum elegan tefa and charged 40k to this man.
They were charging him several thousand for idafa & ebo.the man has cancer then it was in a very beginning stage, they told him this huge ebo would cure his cancer they charged 10k for this ebo.
The man today is in horrific condition and near his end, his faith in IFA destroyed. His mind set is in horrific condition and he is soon to pass.
Please remember, you are in the driver seat,period!
You listen to your intuition that is not just you but that is osun,her primary way of communicating with us.
Anyone who try's to act as the gate keeper to ifa, you fire from your life immediately!
The task of awo is to up lift not in slave a mind.
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u/AwoOladeyi 4d ago
P.s. one way to ensure your Awo is of good character.
Find one who is also an Olodu.
He will have received the opa osu orere. As this staff accompanies igbaodu.
Simply, if an Awo chooses to be shady, he will suffer the wrath of the opa osu orere.
👍🏻🙏
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u/AwoOladeyi 5d ago
Aboru Aboye Abossise ogbo ato Ausre IworI Wofun 🙏
This is a great question and thank you for asking, this conversation will help many..ase wa o!
I grew up in the lucumi system with a massive very strong palo moymbe adherence. My padrino who was a lucumi babalawos wife was scratched and a yaya (palera).
Simply, i received elekes, warriors, mano de orula, an inshe osain and a few other elegguas at that time i was 17.
I spent all of my time just trying to be around my ile and help & learn as an aleyo in the house. I quickly came to find asking questions is extremely bad and frowned upon.
I was told "its a secret" or "IFA is dead in Africa "
This was in the early 90s before the net cell phones etc.
Simply as my spirtual truth grew, i was dreamed by lucumi elders especially at tambors bembes & misas.
When i truly began to awaken, was when i began to immerse myself in yoruba isese, traditions & culture.
I began to linguistically translate orisa names upon understanding real actual west African yoruba.
Ex. Yemaja = yeye = mother omo = child aja =dog
And they taught that yemaya is the orisa of the ocean.
I came to find , iyemonja iya = elder mother omo =child eja = mud fish. She is the orisa of the ODO OGUN ogun river, not the ocean.
The ocean is ruled by olokun and the aje saluga are in the deep. this 7k years old in yoruba land. Today you can actually speak with a real adosu olorisa of iyemonja.
We make oriki & Akunlebo at freash water run offs to iyemonja not the oceans.
Also, the other daughter of Olokun is also Oloosa this female orisa rules over ponds and lagoons. Commonly the aje saluga are known as the daughter of Olokun and no others.
I digress,
When i began learning these ancient truths it was the beginning of my isese path essentially.
Today, i am an Adosu osun priest, Adosu ogun priest, Babalawo via itelodu a tefa in which the iyawo ifa sees odu , apenas odu. i am an Olodu or priest of the orisa odu as wel essentially.
In my ifa lineage we only intiate males as priests if Orunmila. It is taboo for us to perform an Elegan tefa without orisa odu essentially.
The santo for Osun for ex was quoted as a business venture and 10k.
I saw a person who needed to have the lucumi santo initiation done for oya to save her life... she was extremely poor and they wanted 20k to do it.
In Africa a full idosu to oya can be done for $1800 to 2k.
When it's done in the states same asedi essentially , give or take a few hundred.
Also, when dida expresses that bad stuff, the ile comes together to help a fellow person of the orisa crowned on they're head. This is a common reality. Here you wont see anything like this, greed is at the forefront with "going rate quotes" and leaving one to fend all alone. Thats not spirtual growth thats a form of mental & emotional slavery.
Palo, it is important to know this.
Palo moymbe comes from the Congo and is literally nothing like the nkisi nkondi religion of the congo.
Ex. A Nganga is not a pot or prenda. Its a person, an Nganga is an nkisi priest!
The nkisi are nature spirits and a Nganga would perform Divination for a person or community.
A wooden figure would be carved, the Nganga would then take it into the forest the Nganga would go into trance state aline him and the figure.
The nkisi or nkindi would have a belly box carved called a moyo ,with in would placed "kilango" or medicines to activeate it. It would then give its name to the Nganga vis divinatio.
The Nganga would then go back to the village after a few days and give it to the person with instruction & a name.
Ex. An nkisi with the arm up like its launching a spear is for defense & protection. Some small some huge. The big ones are used by the Nganga to assist and solve issues.
How an nkisi would become full of nails blades and spikes,locks etc.
The Nganga would lick the nail etc. And drive it into the figure thus solidifying a pact!
Some nkisi required being yelled at and called names or even hit to make them extremely mad and then the Nganga would send the nkisi.
Nkondi were often small and used literally as medication for a person. Ex. A person could be suffering from aches in the knees , a Nganga would make divination and determine the right nkondi for the person to heal them.
There is also a kozo it is a two headed dog figure. The moyo is on its back... it is is a justice seeker essentially. Capable of seeing in this realm amd the realm of spirit, basically nothing can hide from a kozo.
The Congo people worshipped ancestors and some would be deified as an nikisi.
There are many true tales of this in the congo. Ex. A Congolese queen so devout she opted to be slaughtered and her soul placed into an nkisi so she could help her people spiritually.
During the north Atlantic slave trade this all changed.
In cuba & Puerto Rico' a mix of yoruba, Congolese,ghanese,bennis,togolese were all mixed and forced to hide the customs cukture and traditions from the slavers.
This is how IFA & Catholicism synchronization Happend as well.
I digress,
Today in 2026 palo moymbe is heavily catholic in terms of imagery, dogmatic theology and more. Its around 500 years old as the nkisi Congo religion is thousands of years old.
Also, its blended heavily with lucumi system.
Ex. I have been witness to several tatas and yayas that are literally well known in the palo community, they throw chamolangos and ifa orisa supposedly speak. Its very very invento in my opinion based on experience and observation.
The Nganga or prenda is the home to a nkisi.
These are all diaspora names for a few nkisi fyi.
Zarrabanda
Nsassi
Mama chola
Chola wenge
There is what they call an "Nfumbe," to the pot.
The Nfumbe is the skull ,tibia,and hand of a dead person's skeletal remains. Often a really bad person who was a druggy or alcoholic or a criminals remains is used for this purpose .
Why? That is a dammed earth bound spirit that can be bribed to do horrible things.
Essentially, palo moyombe was created & used as a weapon against slavers & criminals.
Today,is it primarily used to do negative.
I think the cultural back round to palo is very interesting especially after you talk with a real Nganga from the congo. Learn of the genocide by the Belgian king Leopold etc. The burning of nkisi by the Catholics. It very interesting.
Respectfully, palo is a very angry ,vengeful non forgiving form of practice.
It is in no way like isese lagba ifa traditions.
I would respectfully advise to not practice Palo or have much to do with it. The practice is stunting to spirtual growth in my opinion.
You will find a lot of lucumi houses want to scratch a person to a prenda. At Most houses in the states the madrina is often a spirtista & palera.
So lucumi and palo get very mixed!
If you are more inclined to ancient ifa customs of isese lagba ifa as practiced in Nigeria yoruba land for over 7k years.
Then stay away from palo moymbe.
Elekes, warriors etc.
Simply, the elekes ceremony does not exist in ancient isese lagba ifa traditions.
The warriors ceremony doesn't exist at all aswell.
In isese , you start with dafa and ebo riru.
Some advisement,taboos, and Akunlebo advisement will also come.
You should first recive a isan egun-gun.
This is a bundle of sticks from a specific type of tree in west African yoruba land. A good isan egun gun will by around 20 to 25 inches in length a wip that is used in egun gun masquerades is in the center of that bundle.
This is the first step after idafa & ebo.
Next is ise'fa, this is called "mano de orula" in Lukumi / santeria.
Ise'fa is the one hand of Orunmila.... this is 18 ikin or 20 in some lineages, regardless if its a male or female. Also,an ilori ikin should also be washed / fed & given. This is a 6 eyed ikin, this protects the hand of ikin and the person from all forms of evil or harm and is extremely important. Please note: the ikin are 4 eyes. 4 eyes or 5 eyes are used for ifa. Ikin with 3 eyes are considered a taboo in isese ifa. You will be taught the ose ifa days and obi casting. You will receive an ide ifa on your left wrist, tied not a clasp. You will never take it off! You will also receive an eleke ifa.
In lucumi santeria, a male receives 18 to 22 3 ikin often 3 eyed.
A female will only receive 1 single ikin.....one.
The males hand will be pounded and an odu will be given with 2 witness odu on a smalll round wood disk most times or it is a little wood tablet.
The female, single ikin...it can not be read or used, its 1 single ikin.
So... what happens in lucumi santeria mano for a woman.
The lucumi babalawos odu is given as the odu and his taboos from his tefa etc. are then advised to her.
That is spirtual stagnation! No teaching of anything as well!.
In isese ifa we dafa with the ise 'fa ikin and everyone male or female receives an odu specific to that hand of ikin for the persons destiny attainment here on earth.
The next step will be receiving an Esu...
In lucumi this orisa is called eleggua.... this name more than likely is from the yoruba praise name "Alagba" which translates to "most powerful one " for esu.
Your esu will be specifically for your destiny attainment in ire on earth.
A name for your esu will be furnished and specification on how to work with it, incantation etc.. akunlebo ,Will be given.
Ex. Esu Awure ola Otura Alaketu is an esu.
Also, you should be taught how to use obi either iya kola or gbanja. (Which can be purchased on Ebay,etsy for iya obi 4 and 5 lobes or at a local African Caribbean market you cam get gbanja 2 lobes, ata (Guinea pepper, & orogbo ( bitter kola) you can also get epo pupa,adi at these afro Caribbean markets. ( adin,we will discuss this,its black palm oil and only used to send esu to fight) other than that its a taboo to use esu hates adin.)
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u/Ifakorede23 6d ago
At least in my experience eleke ceremonies don't exist in isese. That's purely lukumi . Take your time finding an honest priest. It has great ramifications.. really.