MY FIRST LOVE: ESPIRITISMO

It happens every now and then that folks reach out to me and ask me about going into traditions like Orisha, or Voodoo (in some form), and what it takes to gain access to the spirits within those ATRs. Honestly, a lot of times people find my answers disappointing. This is almost always because people are approaching their interest in ATRs from a western/American mindset. Just speaking of my country, individualism is still the overculture on many things. By this, I mean that many people think they can practice, develop, and go far in ATRs as solo practitioners. 

There are many reasons why this misperception is untrue. I have written about some of this in the past, when I have gone over exactly what it means to be a part of an orisha house in the Lucumi tradition. In short, you will do an inordinate amount of grunt work all the way to becoming a priest, and beyond. You don’t have to like it, but you DO have to have a spirit of wanting to come to work. And work in whatever capacity is needed. Just because a person is a priest does not mean they suddenly become exempt from cleaning floors, plucking chickens, and cleaning shit. 

But this post is about another slice of that that is seldom discussed in public. It’s not a secret, so I am a bit surprised that people haven’t been talking about this. That is that, in many ATRs, you start your development through mediumship. In Lucumi it is almost always through espiritismo. Now, not every spiritual house does espiritismo. But the reason why the vast majority of us do is because even a new member has a team of ancestral spirits walking with them. The first step of development is to unpack who those spirits are. Those spirits are the ones who run the show, no matter what other “bigger” spirits you grow to work with. 

But it’s even more than that. Espiritismo is where you begin to understand what spirits are and how they influence the unique person that you are. They are how you learn how to sense the guidance of spirits. They teach you so many things that go beyond what I can break down in a blog post. As just one example, my first experience being a horse for a spirit was seeing their life flash before me like a movie. But I also FELT that spirit in my body. That spirit for the time he possessed me actually changed the way my body works so I understood how he was when he had a body. It was unreal to me because until that moment it was all theory and faith. But that moment I knew what I practiced was true because he showed me Truth in my own body. THAT is the power of espiritismo. 

I encourage people looking to get into an ATR to look for how a spiritual house will develop this aspect of you. It is what sets a lot of what we do apart from other paths. It is also why espiritismo will always be a first love of sorts for me. I hope you find the same in your own walk.