Alligator Pepper Morning Ritual

Alligator pepper aka ataare(Yoruba), ose oji(Igbo) or whatever you call it in your language, is a mainstay and powerhouse in West African spirituality. Alligator pepper is used as an offering to the deities and also in numerous protection and manifestation rituals. I will be posting more videos on the NaijaZen Spirituality Channel, but in this blog post I want to share an easy but powerful alligator pepper morning ritual.

When it comes to the average individual or non-initiate, the power of alligator pepper lies in its ability to give Ase(ase in this instance, means power) to your words. This means when you speak words of protection or banishment, they are more powerful and when you speak words of manifestation, they are also empowered. Whether you are speaking your affirmations, doing your Ori work, making declarations, speaking that which you seek into existence(manifesting) or banishing negative energy, alligator pepper can add more power to your morning rituals.

Carefully open the alligator pepper pod behind your back. I like to pay homage to the spirit of whatever I am working with, while opening, cutting, plucking etc. So, in this case, pay homage to the spirit of the alligator pepper and give thanks for the blessings and/or protection it is about to bring. If any of the seeds fall on the ground, while opening the pod, discard them. Each pod has lots of seeds and you won't be using them all at once, so I like to place them in a ziploc bag. The number of seeds used depends on your gender. Ladies use seven and men use nine.

Place the seeds in your mouth and chew them while speaking your declarations, affirmations etc. I suggest chewing with your front teeth, because you are going to spit them out afterwards and it makes it easier. Speak your protection declarations - for example, evil never locates me, poverty never locates, ill health never locates me. Now speak whatever it is you would like to manifest - for example, favor always locates me and favor finds me each and every day, money always locates me and I am making money everyday, good health always locates me, happiness always locates me. You can be as detailed or as general as you want, it is YOUR morning ritual. You can also use any of my affirmations or whatever resonates with you. When you are done, spit the seeds out outside.

This simple, yet effective morning ritual can easily be incorporated into even the busiest of lifestyles. Start as you are getting ready to leave the house and spit the seeds out on your way to work or to drop off the kids.

As I mentioned earlier, alligator pepper gives your words more ase, so be mindful of what you speak about your life or the lives of your children. Mothers, you want to be especially mindful. Even without alligator pepper, what you say about your children has power, so do not speak negativity into their lives or yours. Remember, words are spells and alligator pepper makes the spells even stronger.

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