Day Six: June 14, 2021
ONYI invites you to surrender to the vibration of sound — the sound of prayer, the sound of song, the sound of healing and remembering. These sounds are experienced and have an effect on many levels and multiple senses.
She opens with a prayer to the Ancestors, continues with pieces from her album Songs of Soothing (“Bara Suwa Yo - A Song for Eṣu” and “For the Love of Ogun”), and closes with sweet reminders to your spirit over her additional meditative composition.
Eṣu (Esu/Exu) is the Divine Messenger and owner of the crossroads. He opens and closes the roads, and deals with choices and change.
Ogun is a warrior and protector. He reminds us of our connection to Earth and each other. He clears the path and helps us achieve breakthroughs.
May the road to liberation be opened wide and cleared completely. May we remember our freedom.
The songs in ONYI's performance appear as follow:
A Prayer to the Ancestors
Bara Suwa Yo - A Song for Eṣu (Complete)
For the Love of Ogun
A Closing Sound Immersion & Reminder
Reflection Questions
ONYI’s performance and story incorporate her deep connection with the Oriṣa — African divinities that are connected to the elements and to certain qualities of nature. How do you remain connected to nature, the elements, and your spirituality? Can you find a time this week — no matter how short or long — to connect to and feel the elements all around and allow them to support your sense of ease and connection?
Artist Q&A
How do you blend your music and healing practices?
A big part of what I bring and the healing work that I do is grounding energies and holding space for the divine to manifest. I also create an environment that allows for individuals to open up to more awareness, clarity, peace, and joy. It is often through music — sound vibration — that I support these experiences. Whether I am playing instruments that many people associate with sound therapy during healing sessions, using my voice in toning and chanting in ritual/ceremony, or doing a conventional performance, the energy of healing comes through. I have done (and continue to do) a great deal of work to clear and heal myself, and to become more at ease and at peace. The vibration of my own breakthrough and transformation emanates through all of my music to remind others that have permission to intend for and experience the same.
What messages and narratives do you explore in your current work?
In much of my work, the messages I bring deal with hope, remembering who we are, our connection to our ancestors, and everything/everyone else around us. I often incorporate the Oriṣa in my music—whether singing specific folkloric chants from different branches of Ifa/Oriṣa worship or making reference to them in some other way. As divinities that are connected to various elements and aspects of nature, their energies remind us of our natures and the divinity within us. By including the Oriṣa, I am also transforming a narrative that has a good portion of us believing that many things African —spirituality in particular — are wrong, irrelevant, or outdated. I am publicly claiming and communing with them and thus accepting myself given that they are a part of my genetic lineage. In reclaiming them and other elements of my ancestral practices, I am stepping into and forward as my power, and reminding others that they too can do the same.
How do you practice embodying joy and liberation?
The name that was given to me during my initiation into the mysteries of Oṣun is Oṣuntayo, which means Oṣun is [enough as] my joy. So the assignment I have been given is to literally be a walking reflection of joy. I had done much healing to chip away at thoughts, words, and behaviors that are contrary to joy. I practice embodying joy by not limiting what it can look like. I work to seek joy in all experiences, even the ones I may not prefer. By considering what I am learning from even the most challenging of situations, I remember the joy in growth and expansion. I give gratitude for it all, which supports me in maintaining the joy. When I hold hands with and come from my joy, I remember that I am free— I have always been free. Even if someone made an attempt to infringe upon my movement or access to resources, I have the freedom to choose how I respond to and transform that energy. I am at liberty to allow that experience to make or break me. I am free regardless of the actions of others. Freedom is my birthright. That is the joy of Existence.
How do you and your community honor and uplift the legacy of Juneteenth?
I am blessed to be a part of a larger community and connected in various ways to many other communities that embody so many inspirational qualities. When I look specifically at my Afro-diasporic communities, I see the richness and beauty of the various practices — spiritual, artist, cultural, reformational, etc. — they are steeped in, the reverence for our ancestors, the honoring of Earth, and striving towards remembering our balance and connection. To even make any of these a priority and way of life speaks to the immense amount of hope, faith, and trust we all maintain. The world(s) can be challenging to navigate at times, and people can be cruel to each other. To not give up on life or humanity in light of the negativity, is indicative of courage, grace, and steadfastness. In addition to any specific celebrations and festivities any of us may be a part of, maintaining these values is how we honor and uplift the legacy of Juneteenth.
Artist
ONYI LOVE
Vocalist, Composer and Healer
ONYI LOVE is an artist and healer. Modalities she utilizes include PureBioenergy, Sound Healing, Spiritual Life Coaching, Ritual and Ceremony. ONYI is a practitioner of Ifa, a traditional philosophical and spiritual system developed by the Yoruba people of West Africa (primarily Nigeria and Benin), and practiced throughout the world. Within this system, she is an initiate of Oṣun and Obatala, and is on a lifelong journey of priestesshood. As an artist, she goes by the name ONYI LOVE and expresses her creative energy through music (primarily as a vocalist), reflective writing, and adornment creation, amongst other things.
In all she does, ONYI is dedicated to guiding people through their journey of awareness, self-love, grounding, and healing. Through the powerful tools of her art and healing work (which often overlap), and the wisdom she has gained from life experiences, observations, and teachings from elders, she assists people in igniting the fires within to create energetic shifts that ripple through every part of their being. She encourages everyone to remember that we and all of our experiences are gifts. We have all been gifted with the power to transform and be in command of our existence.