Honouring Ori, The Deity of Wise Living

As I prepare for my B’Ori ceremony, I have been reflecting deeply on Ori - my life, my destiny, my head, my inner deity that guides me. B’Ori is not about receiving a vessel or an object of power. It is about recognising, honouring, and strengthening the part of ourselves that makes good decisions - the part that directs us toward a long, healthy, happy, and prosperous life. It is about aligning our choices with the wisdom we carry within, the intelligence that shapes our destiny. It is one of the most beautiful ceremonies in Candomblé - a celebration of your own existence! This is not the first time I’m taking B’Ori. While Santeria has started to present people with Igba Ori, a vessel prepared in some but not all Candomblé houses, the B’Ori is not a one-of exercise in Brazil. Where possible, it is done annually, or at worse, every seven years.

Ori is a much talked about but little understood foundation of Orisha religion. It has been oversimplified and over-complicated at the same time. Yet it is simpler than people think, and at the same time more complicated. It is more than the sum of its parts, more than the abstract idea of destiny, of a personal deity, or the physical head. It is the foundation of consciousness, self-awareness, and insight. It is the centre of our capacity to act with foresight, discernment, and personal responsibility. In Yoruba thought, each person is born with a unique Ori, a destiny, a personal blueprint for life, a head that thinks and makes decisions. It is through the careful cultivation of our Ori that we navigate the complexities of existence. To translate Ori simply as destiny does not in any way capture its true essence and importance. We must understand it as our head. Only then can we understand the deeper meaning of Orisha spirituality and practice.

Worshipping Ori is not abstract or passive. It is about honouring our own intelligence and judgement that allow us to live well, and recognising that our actions shape our destiny in profound ways. Ori is our own head. The seat of our intelligence, where we make choices and decisions.

Reflecting on my own journey, I see Ori as the teacher that has guided me through challenges, setbacks, and successes alike. Every decision I have made, whether in my spiritual path or in everyday life, has been an act of conversation with my Ori. Sometimes a clear guidance, sometimes more of a lesson learned from error. It reminds me that living well is inseparable from the quality of the choices we make. Honouring Ori is to honour the path of wisdom, the ability to act in ways that sustain health, cultivate happiness, bring long-term prosperity, create peace and avoid unnecessary friction.

Decision-making is central to Ori worship. In Yoruba philosophy, intelligence is sacred, not as a collection of knowledge but as the capacity to perceive clearly and act wisely. Each choice carries weight: decisions about our health, relationships, work, spiritual practice, and personal conduct all shape the trajectory of our lives. Ori teaches that even small, everyday decisions - how we respond to a challenge, how we treat others, how we invest our energy - are opportunities to cultivate alignment with destiny and the divine order. When we neglect Ori, we neglect our capacity for a fulfilled life. When we pay attention to Ori, we ensure that our actions reflect foresight, ethics, and responsibility.

What I find most profound about Ori is its immediacy. Unlike other Orishas or spiritual forces that may guide from a distance or through ritual, Ori works directly through our thoughts and choices. The head is a living altar. Every decision is a ritual. Prayer, reflection, or meditation may focus our attention, but the essence of worship lies in living thoughtfully, making choices that support life, health, happiness, and prosperity. Ori rewards careful, sometimes slow and mostly deliberate action. It teaches through the natural consequences of our decisions. Each misstep is a lesson; each well-considered choice is a reinforcement of alignment.

Celebrating Ori is, in part, about recognising our responsibility. We honour this inner deity when we live consciously. It is not enough to defer entirely to external guidance from Orishas, spirits, ancestors, or elders. True spiritual and personal development begins with the cultivation of our own discernment. Ori is the arbiter of clarity, teaching us to act ethically, plan wisely, and approach life with balance. This is why I find myself reflecting so deeply as I prepare for my B’Ori: fifteen years of initiation have shown me how important it is to listen to this inner wisdom, to trust it, and to let it shape large and small decisions.

Every human life is shaped by the person’s Ori, yet each person’s Ori is unique.

The depth of this statement only becomes evident when we digest it as an often overlooked translations: Every human life is shaped by the person’s head, yet each person’s head is unique.

Honouring Ori is about understanding our own strengths and limitations, respecting our path, and making decisions that support the long-term flourishing of body, mind, and spirit. It is about choosing wisely, not just acting piously. It is about integrity, foresight, and awareness, recognising that the quality of our choices directly affects the quality of our lives.

In daily practice, honouring Ori can take many forms. It might be moments of quiet reflection, journaling thoughts and intentions, meditating before major decisions, or simply pausing to consult our inner wisdom before acting. Quite simply, it is thinking carefully before we speak or act. It might be offering gratitude for clarity, insight, and good judgment, recognising that intelligence and ethical discernment are gifts to be nurtured. It is appreciating how our words and actions shape the quality of our lives. Every choice becomes an opportunity to honour our head, our destiny, and every decision made in alignment with wisdom strengthens our capacity to live well.

Ori also bridges the internal and external. While other Orishas influence events and circumstances, our head determines how we perceive and respond to them. Esu tests us, bur our Ori response to the test. Nothing can be done to or for us if our Ori - our head, our destiny - does not accept it.

Our head is the lens through which life is filtered. Good decisions - those informed by discernment, foresight, and awareness - create lives that are balanced, prosperous, and harmonious. Poor decisions, made without reflection or respect for this inner guidance, lead to imbalance, frustration, or suffering. We have all experienced this, me included. Our head is not punitive. It teaches through natural consequences, guiding us toward alignment when we commit to honouring it.

As I reflect on my own path, preparing for B’Ori, I notice more and more that Ori is a source of empowerment. It is a reminder that I am not at the mercy of circumstances alone. The decisions I make matter. Every decision to act with insight, intelligence, and calmness shapes my life in profound ways. My head is the inner deity that supports this work, a constant guide and teacher, helping to navigate the journey toward long-term happiness, health, and prosperity.

Ultimately, honouring Ori is about celebrating good decision-making, the capacity that aligns us with our destiny. It transforms everyday life into a practice of conscious decision-making, teaching us that living wisely is itself an act of devotion. Ori reminds me that spirituality is inseparable from conscious living. To worship my own destiny is to commit to a life guided by insight, foresight, and wisdom. I have to choose in every moment the path that sustains health, cultivates joy, and ensures prosperity. It may not always work, but I have to try! It is in our choices, and in the discipline of our decision-making, that our destiny, our head, our Ori is truly honoured and our lives flourish.


Everyday Axé - Daily Rituals, Spirit Work, and the Power of the Orixás