It’s not a Curse. It’s Personal Accountability

Personal accountability forces us to address the issues in their life rather than blame others.

As a diviner in an African Spiritual Tradition, I encounter a number of people who believe they have been cursed, hexed, or someone is using witchcraft on them. More often than not, they either are not cursed or if it comes up positive. It is often a self hex meaning, it’s a pervasive thought, belief, or action that undermines them that causes a negative consequence.
Don’t get me wrong, there are sometimes people with negative intentions toward people. There are some who are jealous and want to undermine others for whatever reason. But it’s important to know, it’s not all of the time.
Today’s topic is when it is NOT someone else. We all enter this planet with soul lessons and things to experience while here. Some come with spiritual debt from previous lifetimes. Some accumulate spiritual debt in this lifetime. This is popularly called Karma but it is not quite just that. Okanran Di reminds us that whatever we do, there is a cost and we are not excluded from our own problems.

There is a spiritual law that states what you do to people will be done to you. This is why Iwa or character is emphasized in Ifa. Iwa is not so much about judging or shaming others. It’s about your attitude, actions, and approach matter when it comes to what you experience in your life.

Some individuals can be very disrespectful to others accusing them of doing the very things they themselves are doing. It is often a mirror for them to see themselves. Many water Orisa carry mirrors and this is one of the reasons. It’s important for self reflection. Unfortunately most people don’t want to hear that. It’s much easier to accuse someone else than admit our own shortcomings or that it’s coming from a trauma that has nothing to do with them. But if we are to grow, it is an essential piece to unpack or we will encounter issues that repeat themselves causing us to either believe it’s other people victimizing us.

Another mirror happens in dreams. Dreams can be complex because they can be literal but more often they are metaphor and symbolic for something else. Even if the spiritual world is giving a person a gem in their dreams, it is filtered through their own mind and world which may not be fully clear. For instance a person may have a dream that they are being attacked by someone. But the person experiencing the dream may believe it to be the literal person they saw, when that person was just a metaphor for someone, something else, or a reflection of themselves. The person they saw was what happened after being filtered through their fears, insecurities, anger, etc.

If a person says they had a dream, I ask Ifa if it was literal and their interpretation correct. Again most of the time it isn’t literal. So then we can unpack what is the dream trying to tell them from a detached point of view instead of the emotional intensity the dream produced. This is how we shift away from blaming others or external causes and look to internal ones with internal solutions. So personal reflection and accountability are the path to truly solving our problems.

Personal accountability means taking responsibility for one's actions, decisions, and consequences instead of blaming others or external circumstances for problems or failures. Cultivating a sense of personal accountability is important for a better life because it empowers individuals to take control of their lives and make positive changes. When people take ownership of their actions, they become more proactive and solution-oriented, which can lead to greater success and happiness. On the other hand, blaming others or external factors can lead to a sense of helplessness and victimhood, which can prevent individuals from taking the necessary steps to improve their situation. Ultimately, personal accountability can be a powerful tool for creating a better quality of life.Here are some other practical ways to take personal accountability:

1. Own up to mistakes: When mistakes are made, it's important to acknowledge them and take responsibility for them. This can involve apologizing to those affected and taking steps to make things right.

2. Focus on solutions: Instead of focusing problems and who may have done something to you, focus on finding solutions. This involves taking proactive steps to address the issue and prevent it from happening again. This may involve divination and Ebo. But it may also involve counseling, changing bad habits or just shifting patterns. Often Ebo is designed to shift things inside of you, not others.

3. Be honest with yourself: It's important to be honest with yourself about your attitudes, actions, and outcomes. This involves taking a hard look at yourself and your behaviors, and being willing to admit when you're wrong. This is key to any change you want to see in your life but also the most difficult. Most prefer to live in the ideal of who they would like to be and it makes it difficult to identify their flaws. On the other hand, others self criticize and judge to the point of debilitating themselves and they are unable to find anything empowering about themselves to change any outcome. So being honest can go both ways.

4. Take ownership of your life. This involves being willing to NOT accept victimhood and instead embrace personal power. Personal power means you have choices. All choices have consequences whether we enjoy them or feel challenged by them. We have to own our choices no matter the outcome and know we can make different choices for different outcomes. Honesty involves self-reflection to identify areas where you need to take more personal accountability. This involves taking time to evaluate your attitudes, actions, and outcomes, and making adjustments as needed. For instance, if you find you are not achieving your goals, it may be because those goals are unrealistic, not in alignment with your Ori, bad timing, lack of effort in the right way, an attitude they makes people not want to help you, lack of patience, self limiting beliefs, or any number of other things . Realizing that your attitude and beliefs may play a part, you can be empowered to change it to get a different outcome.

5. Release negativity and embrace gratitude. Expecting the worse produces the worse or at least makes our experience worse. Learning how to reframe negative thoughts to positive ones can change your life greatly. One way to do that is gratitude. Gratitude allows us to focus on what is working or has worked instead of what isn’t or hasnt. Gratitude also shows up as appreciation for the support we do get, the things we do have, in spite of not having our goals met. One adage in our tradition is to never repay kindness with wickedness. When people make an effort to help you, don’t assume they are against you the minute things don’t work out. There may come another time that you need help and they can help you. Ingratitude can block your help.

6. Seek feedback: It can be helpful to seek feedback from others to gain a better understanding of how your attitudes and actions are perceived by others. This can help you identify areas where you need to take more personal accountability.

These are just some ways to reconsider when things aren’t going the way you would like. Don’t be so quick to think it’s a curse.. It may be you are the problem and the solution.

Categories: Personal Mastery