The Sexual Voodoo Diaries

OLA offers 10 Tips to Supporting Orisa Lifestyle

A few simple changes can go a long way to creating an Orisa Lifestyle. And because a healthy spirit is tied directly to a healthy environment, making Orisa Lifestyle Agreements will have a long-term impact on your relationship to the orisa.

There’s a direct link between environmental health and spiritual development. As we become spiritually and socially mature, we learn the true value of decreasing our impact on the environment while working to create healthier communities, and starting in the orisa house is essential.

To help address growing environmental concerns at the local level, OLA16 suggests following tips for those who want to make healthy, sustainable culture part of their spirituality:

1. Buy smart: Orisa Aje. Buy only the quantity that will be used and purchase durable and reusable goods whenever possible. Choose products made with recycled materials and with minimal or recyclable packaging. Shop in bulk and reduce the cost.

2. Avoid harmful chemicals: Orisa Olokun, Osun, Yemoja, Oya. Use unscented products, avoid polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and investigate the contents of the cosmetics and personal care products you use (cosmeticsdatabase.com). Avoid children’s jewelry that contains lead and toys that contain phthalates. Use detergents that don’t contain phosphates and avoid bleach.

3. Make your own cleaning supplies: Orisa Olokun, Osun, Yemoja, Oya. Using simple ingredients such as baking soda, soap and vinegar, you can make cheap, easy and nontoxic cleaning products that work. Additionally, you save money and improve indoor air quality.

4. Reduce paper and plastic shopping bags: Orisa Ile, Osanyin. While shopping, if you buy only a few products, don’t take a bag. For larger quantities, bring your own reusable bags.

5. Buy local: Orisa Aje, Ile, Oya, Oko. Buying locally produced fruits and vegetables saves energy by reducing the amount of fossil fuels needed to transport the items around the globe. Additionally, the food is fresher and tastier. Support local farmers’ markets.

6. Change your thermostat: Orisa Sango, Ile. Set your thermostat a few degrees lower in the winter and a few degrees higher in the summer.

7. Install energy-saving devices: Orisa Olokun, Osun, Yemoja, Oya, Sango, Ile. Install low-flow showerheads and take shorter showers to save water and energy used to heat it. Wash clothes in cold water whenever possible and use a drying rack or clothesline.

8. Replace incandescent light bulbs: Sango, Ile. When incandescent lights burn out, replace them with longer-lasting, low-energy compact fluorescent bulbs.

9. Avoid bottled water: Orisa Olokun, Osun, Yemoja, Oya. Rather than using single-use bottled water, filter tap water for drinking. Not only is bottled water expensive, but it produces large amounts of container waste.

10. Eat meatless at least one day a week: Orisa Ori, Ile, Oko. The livestock sector accounts for nearly 18 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. Americans eat about eight ounces of meat per day per person, approximately twice the global average “It has been estimated that a 20 percent reduction in meat consumption (eating only 145.5 pounds per year instead of 182.5 pounds) would save as much energy as if everyone drove a hybrid vehicle instead of a standard sedan.