Ika

Negative Aspect: To avoid reality only makes you face the same issues again and again

Regent Orishas: Oshumare, Iyewa, Ossain and Iroko

Keywords: Dramatic personality; has a tendency to overexaggerate situations; lives on an emotional rollercoaster; impulsive, takes everything to the extreme; has difficulty trusting others; carries trauma due to physical and sexual violence

As if playing with a powder keg at the edge of a bonfire, the negative influence of Odu Ika in this moment alerts to the dangers of aggression and imminent explosive violence. This is often gratuitous; you’ve reached your limit and from there all that remains is the leap into the unknown abyss. It’s not always easy to see the reality of life and not be hurt when you realize that, despite all your efforts, it seems that happiness is getting farther and farther away. Still, giving in to these impulses will not cause revolution, just more confusion.

Breathe for a moment and, looking inward, seek to recognize how much of all that anguish and hurt comes from the demands you impose on yourself and others. No matter how strong your will, your self-sufficiency and your ability to achieve, not everyone around you is prepared to experience a rollercoaster of emotions like you and demanding it from them will only reinforce the loneliness that adult life has imposed on you. In the same way, just because others can’t keep up with your pace doesn’t mean that they don’t deserve your trust. As difficult as this may seem, it is possible to delegate tasks and responsibilities to people around you, as long as you can recognize their limitations and, especially, learn who and what to trust.

On the other hand, as an Odu of contrasts and revolutions, Ika often ends up rocking your emotional stability, which can lead you to act aggressively and make decisions based on passion instead of reason. Sometimes yes, sometimes no, always maybe: that way, neither you nor the universe will know which direction to take, so any effort will be in vain. Instead of accelerating and tripping over your own feet while trying to accomplish everything at the same time, how about slowing down and moving forward with the certainty that the path you have taken is the one you really want? Remember: life changes happen one step at a time.

Ika’s Shadow Meditation: Thinking about the smallest goal I wish to achieve, do I honestly know where I am right now, where exactly I want to be and what steps I need to take to get there? And am I prepared and do I have the necessary courage to face the challenges, or do I fantasize that everything around me changes but I don’t? If any of my answers bout my smallest goal were “No”, how do I intend to achieve the biggest one without transforming myself and the way I walk through life first?