Illustrations and photos.

    This wise and intriguing volume combines the best of historical research and logical argument with a finely honed appreciation for the wonders of the stars.

    Since then my understanding of black madonnas has been deepened by geneticists finding that the origin of modern humans is Africa, that primordial migrations from Africa carried a belief in a sacred dark woman to all continents. Black madonnas may be considered a metaphor for healing millennial divisions of gender and race in concerted world movements for justice.

    The word Oshun is the name given to describe a complex convergence of Spiritual Forces that are key elements in the If� concept of fertility and the erotic. Those Spiritual Forces that form the foundation of Oshun's in the Spirit Realm relate to the Creation of new forms through the interaction between polar opposites. According to If�, Creation occurs through the polarity between the Forces of expansion and contraction. Together these Forces create light and darkness, which in turn sustains and defines all that is. If� scripture often refers to Forces of expansion as Orisha Okunrin, which means Male Spirit and to Forces of contraction as Orisha Obinrin, which means Female Spirit. Both forms of Spiritual Power are considered of equal importance in the evolution of all that exists. One is not better than the other because it is only through the balance of opposites that life comes into Being.

    

    Those Spiritual Forces that form the foundation of Oya's role in the Spirit Realm relate to the movement between dynamics and form, as it exists throughout the Universe. According to IFA, dynamics and form represent the polarity between the forces of expansion and contraction. Together these forces create light and darkness, which in turn sustains and defines all that is. Accor4ding to IFA, it is the interaction between light and darkness that generates the physical universe and it is Oya who keeps this interaction in a constant state of flux and motion.

    The male gods

    Includes advice for creating a unique and appropriate service to fit any circumstance. Offers material on writing obituaries, alternative settings, the rural cemetery movement, interment of ashes, cremation and selecting monuments and memorials. Plus sample services to be adapted or used as they are.