Initiation into Afro- Caribbean and Taino traditions
When Ni Bon Te Ban was first presented to Palo Nkisi (Fundamento) back in 1988, access to our Spiritual traditions was through word of mouth, extended family, neighbors and so on. It was clear that if one found oneself in front of Fundamento, one clearly had a destiny within, if not Palo, then within one of our sister traditions within the Caribbean. While this did limit who could find their way to Fundamento or Zemis (Taino Nkisi), it did simplify the process of finding an elder. For good or bad, your elder was your elder, and you could not just go out and "shop" for a new one. We reflect back on this process, because today our traditions and specifically INITIATIONS are marketed heavily on social media, radically changing the process of finding an elder.
When Guariche Kao first sat with Ni Bon Te Ban for a divination in May, 2000, he asked her "who brought you here?" She replied with the usual response, pointing to the person who had told her about Ni. "No!" Ni replied. "Spirit brought you here, your Ancestors brought you here!" At the time the internet was in its infancy and very few books were readily available concerning Palo, and only few concerning Taino. The idea of shopping for an elder had not yet manifested. There was a clear understanding that DESTINY had brought one to the mat.
Destiny brought Ni to Tata Justino back in 1988. Destiny brought him to the elder (who we will just call JV at this time) who initiated him back in 1995 into a Briyumba line of Palo. Justino was a Tata of integrity, love and great wisdom, who sadly (for us) returned to our Ancestors soon after Ni met him. Meanwhile destiny brought Ni to a crossroads with the newly emerging Taino resurgence in 1989 in NYC with L'Association Indigena Taino (which later split into La Nacion Taino de las Antilles and Maisiti Yucayeke Taino).
In sharp contrast, Tata JV was petty, vicious, and completely lacking integrity. In today's environment, Tata JV would have been thrown to the side and another elder sought out. However the 90s were a lifetime away from where we stand now. Now we can all fact check or get a second, third or fourth opinion on social media, back then, we had to figure it out ourselves. The spiritual battle that Ni had with JV was an epic one, which perhaps one day we will share in its own book. Looking back, we cannot deny it was destiny for us to fight that spiritual battle to its conclusion. It contributed greatly to making us who we are today. As per the Lucumi proverb "Your enemy will do you evil, your enemy will do you good", this irony, or apparent contradiction, is woven deeply through many aspects of life.
A strange trait of destiny, is that when one comes upon those crossroads, nodes of destiny, there can be an overwhelming desire to run away from them. After all, physical death, is destiny, one that we find incredibly hard to prepare for and deal with and which we would rather avoid.
Many people are initiated into Afro-Caribbean traditions, especially now with the resurgence of interest and increasing social acceptability of our traditions. It is even "trendy" to be initiated these days. These initiations which are being marketed on social media, range from being legitimate initiations with responsible elders, to being diluted initiations, to being down right fake. It can be very difficult determine one from the other with all the dust in the air. Those with an experienced eye can easily tell the difference, but for those who have little experience, it is not so easy.
Let us assume that one does receive a legitimate initiation into one of our traditions. This does not insure that one has an elder of integrity. One's elder may pass to the Ancestral World, as Tata Justino did. Or one's elder may be using the Fundamento to manipulate, confuse and entrap, as Tata JV has done. This does not mean that receiving the Initiation was in error. If one receives a legitimate initiation into one of our traditions, it was a destiny that emanated from the Ancestral realms, and should be valued as such. The spiritual battle that sometimes comes along with it should also be valued as destiny.
Initiation is a rebirth, and just as a baby takes time to develop her ability to discern shapes and colors and understand what they are, the initiate takes time to be able to make sense of the new entities that they are sensing. Initiation is not a winning lottery ticket, it is not a guarantee of success, it is not an ego trip or an item on our resume. Initiation is an opportunity to express our best and highest and to embody our true selves.
