Travel & Tours
IN IFA LITERATURE (ESOTERIC LANGUAGE OF GOD) CHAPTER251,
OFUNSA
“OFUN SAA LE FUN, OFUN SAA LOSUN,
OFUNSAA NI MORIWOOPE YEYEYE,
ADIFA FUN ALAGEMO TEERE KANGE, TI SE OMO ORISA IGBO WUJI,
NIJO TI N LO ILE OLOKUN, ENIYAN O LE TE OUN LAJO NI NDAFA SI,
EBO LO NI KO WA SE, ALAGEMO RUBO,
ONIDUDU YO DUDU, ALAGEMO GBAA,
ENIYAN O LE TEMI LAJO,
ONIPUPA YO PUPA, ALAGEMO GBAA,
ENIYAN O LE TEMI LAJO,
ALAYINRIN YO AYINRIN, ALAGEMO GBAA,
ENIYAN O LE TEMI LAJO,…”
Ofunsa paints thee with white chalk, Ofunsa paints thee with red chalk,
Ofunsa clad thee with palm fronds,
Ofunsa divinates for slender Alagemo (chameleon), the child of Orisa (Obatala)…
Alagemo was to represent Obatala at a meeting to be held at the home of Olokun, he prayed not to be disgraced and divines accordingly.
At the meeting, Alagemo excelled in all tasks put before him. He was able to assume the different colours of all the other Deities present at the meeting. All the Deities commended him and said, “truly Obatala has a son that can always make him proud. Obatala has trained his son to take over the mantle of leadership.”
Obatala has secured his tomorrow, his legacy lives on as he has trained his son in his ways and given him the opportunity to practise what he has learnt. Obatala knows his tomorrow is secured.
Now the big question, how secured is our tomorrow?
How sure are we that we have children that can take over from us?
Have we trained our children to take over from us?
How much opportunity and exposure have we given our children?
Have we prepared our children for the challenges that await them?
Can we say that when such opportunities present themselves, our children have the knowledge, teachings and practice of the Deities backed by a sound western education to effectively convince all that they are “ALAGEMO TERE KAN GE, the deserving child of Obatala”.
At Healing, Teaching and Tourism Temple of African Faith International (HATTAF WORLD) – Ajo Aboru Boye Agbaye with branches in 4 countries of the world, we have realized that the future of traditional religion can only be secured by nurturing the child of today, to become the leader of tomorrow.
An embryo is a growing human in its earliest stages of development, with all the potentials to be born, grow and become an adult human being, if favourable conditions are available at every stage of development. At HATTAF WORLD, Hattaf Embryo is our tomorrow, the tomorrow of Orisa tradition and worship. We are nurturing the chick to be able to crow tomorrow.
Hattaf Embryo exists in all branches of HATTAF WORLD and it is our young people assembly. The principles adopted to secure the future include;
Continuous teaching in the ways of the Orisas.
Promotion of western education
Explore opportunities for children to excel
At Hattaf Nigeria, the Embryo comprise of over 50 male and female children between the ages of 5 and 27 years. The children participate in our usual "every 17th day Itadogun praise worship" where they learn to emulate the ways of the Orisas and also learn IFA verses.
Hattaf Embryo, Nigeria also has the subset called the Hattaf Ariya group, which is the performing arts group. This is where our children exhibit their various talents in the playing of music instruments, composing and performing songs and dancing all to the glorify of OLODUMARE, God Almighty.
Western Education is required today for the growth and development of any society and at Ajo Aboru Boye Agbaye, the Embryo group is being encouraged to attain whatever educational height they desire. English as a second language (ESL) is being taught regularly on weekly basis at our temple home to improve the spoken English of our children. This English language tutorial class has been going on for over 8 years and the positive effects are manifesting.
The first ever scholarship programe for children of traditional religion was organized by Hattaf and various educational scholarships now exist at the temple. The $500.00 per term scholarship fund and OTURA-RETE educational fund among others exist which are sponsored by individual temple members across the world.
Computer Literacy is also being sought for all children at Hattaf Embryo. In pursuit of this, some of our children have participated in the Train the Trainer Computer learning programme with the sole purpose of becoming trainers for the other children. It is our vision that all our children will be computer literate..
Opportunities to compete will always serve as an encouragement and expose the child to realize his strength and weakness. At Hattaf, with the support of sister organizations, our children are being exposed to different exhibitions and competitions. In recent times, some of our children’s artworks have represent Osogbo in the “Me and My Family Children Arts Competition" organized by Asheville Sister City, North Carolina. The Hattaf Ariya dance group is presently gearing up for a world tour with their unique “DANCE OF THE DEITIES”.
Recently, two of the children were selected to travel to the USA for two years and participate in a ESL, Computer literacy and leadership skills acquisition training programme .
Similar programmes to develop the Embryo exist in our other temples in Mexico, USA and UK. Probably some day we will bring all these children together to participate in a HATTAF WORLD Embryo festival. All these activities are steps to nurture the chick, for the cock to crow tomorrow.
At HATTAF WORLD, we are empowering our children to secure their tomorrow.
At Ajo Aboru Boye Agbaye, we are equipping our children to sustain our legacy
At HATTAF WORLD, we are ensuring that our children can effectively represent the principles we uphold and protect and promote the course of the ORISAS.
At the Healing, Teaching and Tourism Temple of African Faith International (HATTAF WORLD) – Ajo Aboru Boye Agbaye, we are ensuring that our children become our “ALAGEMO TERE KANGE, the deserving child of Orisa”.
HOW ABOUT YOU? Food for thought for all.
Dr. Oluseyi O.A. Atanda
National Coordinator,
Hattaf Int’l, Nigeria.
www.hattaf.org
hattafn@sbcglobal.net
Preservation of the Environment
For many years the western society has demonstrated little or no regard for nature which sustains him. In the name of development water is polluted with chemical wastes, dangerous fumes are emitted into the air depleting the Ozone layer, farming soil is destroyed by pesticides and so much more. The results are the volcanic eruptions, floods, forest fires, tornadoes, earth quakes, growing number of fawn and fauna that are becoming extinct, and other natural disasters that plague our world today. In an attempt to right the wrongs that have been done to nature, Hattaf organizes specific veneration ceremonies to appease the Orisas whose respective domains are water, land, air, fire, to name but a few. These veneration ceremonies include, but are not limited to, the HATTAF Sacramento Water Festival in Sacramento, California and Osogbo, Nigeria, Ifa Coastal Ritual Virgil in Florida. Dates of events are dictated by tradition.
Workshops and Seminars
Chief Priest Sola Atanda gives lectures on different aspects of life, i.e. work, worship, marriage, health, life purpose as it relates to Ifa/Orisa including topics which give a better understanding of Ifa and the Orisas themselves. Some lectures are only for members while others are for the general public. Baba Atanda is also available to travel to speak at any occasion he is invited to.
Our Programs
Family Support Program
Annual HATTAF Sacarmento Water Festival
New Year’s Eve Night Prayers & Rituals
Initiations
Itadogun
The Annnual HATTAF Sacarmento Water Festival, promotes the essential role of water in communities and around the globe. Water is very important . Water promotes LIFE! Water HEALS! Water CHANGES THINGS!
The festival is a family day packed with live performances and activities that promote preservation and the importance of water to human life and the environment.
HATTAF International follows the ancient practices of the 5th day (OSE) and 17th day (ITADOGUN) libation, kolanut breaking, divination and ritual ceremonies. The 17th day libation ceremony and ritual brings together each of the HATTAF branches for a SHARED international spiritual experience. Moreover, the Itadogun sermons, lessons and teachings are based on a divination and not the coordinating priest's inclinations for that day.
HATTAF International invites omos of all of the Orisas and non-practitioners interested in personal spiritual development to attend our Itadoguns.
A collective prayer session simultaneously involving members of Hattaf temples all over the world is done on December 31st of every year to herald in the New Year.
Most often when relief monies are sent to Africa, it is usually Christian families who are the beneficiaries. We are very much aware of the infamous Christian Children Funds, Red Cross, UNICEF, and Salvation Army. Families of African traditional religion are usually marginalized for failing to destroy their traditional concept of God. As more and more western products come into African countries and a greater need for western made product is created in the society, it is the Christian and Muslim families that will have an easier access to whatever the products are. The result is that families of African traditional beliefs are poorer and less educated than their counterparts..
In order to try to alleviate poverty among African Traditional Religion families, Hattaf raises funds to support these families in Nigeria. Presently, two families are being given a monthly donation to help raise their standard of living in Nigeria. Hattaf hopes to be able to help get more families of African traditional religion out of poverty.
Hattaf organizes travels to Nigeria for Initiations, vacations and excursions. Please contact us for more details.
We perform initiations which help to marry a person’s physical and spiritual aspects, thereby facilitating divine guidance in the life of an individual. Initiations help to refocus one’s life towards good health, success in life, good social behaviors, and a healthy spirituality. Individuals can be initiated into Ifa/Orisas depending on the result of a divination.
HATTAF Embyro