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Her Excellency Chief Aina Olomo

Aina Olomo is a Yoruba chief and a priest of the divinity Sango, an Iyagan, Mother of the Ancestral Masquerade and an Iyalawo of Ifa, priestess of the deity that resides over destiny and divination. Oloye taught Yoruba Religious Studies at the John L. Warfield Center for African and African American Studies at the University of Texas, is a faculty member with The Women’s Thealogical Institute and the award-winning author of “The Core of Fire: A Path to Yoruba Spiritual Activism.” Her Excellency is committed to social change, the spiritual advancement of Yoruba thealogical concepts and was ritually en-stooled to honor her connection with the Primordial Mother. Chief Olomo is an independent scholar, an international conference presenter, an ordained interfaith minister, member of the Memnosyne Foundation’s board of advisors and participant in their Speakers Series and film, “Many Paths, One Source.”

While in the People’s Republic of Benin, Igbo Iyalase was ritually en-stooled. The stool she received is carved from the sacred Iroko tree of the Great Mother. This tree is believed to be a sacred residence of the divine feminine principal honored by Yoruba, Ewe and Fon peoples.

Initiation in Benin

Gelede

Dance by Iroko Tree

Oloye was given the title, ‘Her Excellency Igbo Iyalase’ along with the mask and guardianship of Gelede which honors her connection to the Iyami, the divine feminine principal of the Anago Yoruba, identified as her ancestral Mother and the womanly precept of Yoruba spirituality.

The year 2008 marked the first time a Gelede from the Republic of Benin was brought out in the United States under the leadership of a female.

Her Excellency is available for lecturers, workshops and seminars. For further information contact her here through her contact page

Published Works:

Olomo, Aina. Core of Fire A Path to Yoruba Spiritual Activism. Althelia Henrietta Press. Brooklyn, New York. (2002).

— African Spirituality, Identity, Racism and Conflict. From: Global African Spirituality Social Capital and Self Reliance. Eds.Tunde Babawale and Akin Alao.Malthouse Press Limited. Lagos, Nigeria. CBAAC. (2008).

— First Commentary: Accepting Destiny. From IFA The Yoruba God of Divination in Nigeria and the United States. Eason, Louis Djisovi Ikuomi. Africa World Press, Trenton, New Jersey. (2008).

— Sango Beyond Male and Female in Sango in Africa and the African Diaspora. ed. Joel Tisken, Toin Falola, Akintunde Akinyemi. Indiana University Press, Indiana. (2009).

— Invocation in Toyin Falola The Man, The Mask, The Muse. Carolina Academic Press, Durham, North Carolina. Page 53. (2010).
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Her Excellency, Aina Olomo, is recognized as a spiritual and cultural leader in many communities throughout the world including many in the United States, Benin and Trinidad. Here, her family greets her in Benin as she returns home to receive her installation honoring her connection to the Divine Feminine Principle. This event was of historical as well as personal significance as it is the first time a female has been bestowed with the Gelede; the mask used to assist in the communication with the ancestral realm, and allowed to bring the mask to American soil. By this move, Elders in Africa recognize the need for African Americans to resetablish their ancestral link to tribes in Africa. The recognition of the wisdom and ability of Oloye Olomo to assist in the healing of the dispersed of Africa and be an ambassador of healing to people of all cultures is inherent in their benediction of the ancestral mask.
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Oloye Olomo Shares at Memnosyne Foundation Conference

Her Excellency, Aina Olomo, is committed to social change by helping to uplift the spirit of all people regardless of race, gender physical condition or spiritual beliefs. She advcates or personal-spiritual development without the constraints of relious dogma. She is on the board of advisers of the Memnosyne Foundation, a non-profit organization committed to creating centes of learning which honors the divine essence of all cultures. Her image is sprinkled throughout the video as she shares and learns with others gathered to share spiritual and cultural learning.