Getting back on track!!
I've just returned from my honeymoon and trying to get back in the swing of writing -- dissertation writing of course!!
I received some wonderful emails while I was gone and it just helped me to focus in again on what my personal goals are. Now that I'm a married woman, there is also the relationship itself, the marriage, that has a life and goals of its own. Both are equally important and I am now learning to balance the two.
For the last part of our ceremony, the entire wedding party and guests made our way to the ocean to offer white roses to Iemanja, one of my orixas, in thanksgiving for all of the blessings she has bestowed. She is the orixa that women appeal to for good husbands in many parts of Brazil. One year before meeting Shaun I made an offering of coral and pearl necklaces to Iemanja at the ocean, the beach in Carpinteria. I had written a list of all of the qualities I desired in a soulmate and slipped it inside one of the coral pieces, like a small scroll. I waded into the waves and threw the necklaces and scroll in with my prayer for a good husband. It felt wonderful to include a ritual of gratitude at our actual wedding!!
My other orixa is Oya/Iansa, whose colors are dark red and brown. I bought these color min votives for the tables at the wedding in honor of her. She is the orixa who protects and guides independent women. I've done more research on her lately and am writing about her trickster-esque qualities in one of my dissertation chapters.
Over the next 5 days I will be finishing up Chapter 1 of my dissertation, which outlines my thesis and introduces some of the main ideas of the study. I will post it as soon as I've heard from my advisor, Laura Grillo, and have polished it up according to her comments.
The only other ritual I feel that I need to do soon is an offering to Oxossi, Shaun's main orixa. We need to make his favorite fod and place it in the woods somewhere, as his domain is the forest.
I'm embarking on an exciting new journey with my beloved and wish for complete cosmic support!
Axe,
Kris Oster
I received some wonderful emails while I was gone and it just helped me to focus in again on what my personal goals are. Now that I'm a married woman, there is also the relationship itself, the marriage, that has a life and goals of its own. Both are equally important and I am now learning to balance the two.
For the last part of our ceremony, the entire wedding party and guests made our way to the ocean to offer white roses to Iemanja, one of my orixas, in thanksgiving for all of the blessings she has bestowed. She is the orixa that women appeal to for good husbands in many parts of Brazil. One year before meeting Shaun I made an offering of coral and pearl necklaces to Iemanja at the ocean, the beach in Carpinteria. I had written a list of all of the qualities I desired in a soulmate and slipped it inside one of the coral pieces, like a small scroll. I waded into the waves and threw the necklaces and scroll in with my prayer for a good husband. It felt wonderful to include a ritual of gratitude at our actual wedding!!
My other orixa is Oya/Iansa, whose colors are dark red and brown. I bought these color min votives for the tables at the wedding in honor of her. She is the orixa who protects and guides independent women. I've done more research on her lately and am writing about her trickster-esque qualities in one of my dissertation chapters.
Over the next 5 days I will be finishing up Chapter 1 of my dissertation, which outlines my thesis and introduces some of the main ideas of the study. I will post it as soon as I've heard from my advisor, Laura Grillo, and have polished it up according to her comments.
The only other ritual I feel that I need to do soon is an offering to Oxossi, Shaun's main orixa. We need to make his favorite fod and place it in the woods somewhere, as his domain is the forest.
I'm embarking on an exciting new journey with my beloved and wish for complete cosmic support!
Axe,
Kris Oster
