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On the Orisha's Roads and Pathways:
Oshún, Deity of Femininity

Miguel W. Ramos, Ilarí Obá, PhD

Obá Miguel "Willie" Ramos, Ilarí Obá, Lukumí olorisha of Shangó, was born in Havana, Cuba, and raised in Brooklyn, New York. Ordained into the Lukumí priesthood at the age of thirteen, he has been an oriaté for over forty years. His devotion and dedication to Orisha has earned Ramos considerable status in the religion. Today, he is one of the most respected oriaté in the United States, and his leadership has been recognized by members of the Orisha community, internationally.

Obá Ramos is a life-long student of Lukumi/Yoruba religion, specializing in the Orisha traditions of Brazil, Cuba, and the Cuban Diaspora. He holds a PhD in History from Florida International University. Ramos's dissertation, "Lucumi (Yoruba) Culture in Cuba: A Reevaluation (1830s-1940s)," focused on the sociocultural significance of the Lukumi peoples and their religion in Cuba in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Ramos has published several books about Lukumi religion and contributed to several scholary texts and journal articles, including his important La Dividión de La Habana..., based on oral history and fieldwork in Cuba and the United States. Orí Eledá mí ó... Si mi cabeza no me vende (2011), Adimú: Gbogbó Tén unjé Lukumi (2012), and Obí Agbón - Lukumí Divination with Coconut (2012) have received considerable admiration from the Orisha community. The Oshún book was the first of the On the Orishas' Roads and Pathways series. Ramos's most successful publications. So far, the series consists of three volumes - Oshún, Obatalá and Odúa, and Yemojá. The research continues and other volumes are in the works.

Over the years, Ramos has participated in numerous conferences in the United States and abroad. He has conducted fieldwork in Cuba, Brazil, and Yorubaland (Nigeria), and is a pioneer in defeating passé ideologies about learning the religion by offering seminars on Lukumi rituals and consecration ceremonies for ordained olorishas. Presently, Ramos hosts Eleda.org, a website, and a corresponding Facebook discussion forum about Lukumi religion and culture.

Currently, we are thrilled to announce the publication of the long-awaited English version of Orí Eledá Mí Ó... If my head Does Not Sell Me. The translated book is an expanded edition with an extensive wealth of data that will indubitably be of great interest to the Orisha community, and a valuable contribution to the existing body of serious literature about the faith.