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Ms. Luisah Teish is an initiated elder (Iyanifa) in the Ifa/Orisha tradition of the West African Diaspora, and she holds a chieftaincy title (Yeye’woro) from the Fatunmise Compound in Ile Ife, Nigeria. Presently she is the Chair of the World Orisha Congress Committee on Women’s Issues. She is also a devotee of Damballah Hwedo, the Haitian Rainbow Serpent, under the guidance of Moma Lola. In 1983, she established Ile Orunmila Oshun (The House of Destiny and Love and the School of Ancient Mysteries/Sacred Arts Center in Oakland, CA). She is an ally to the Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers.

Ms. Teish is the author of several books on African and African American Spiritual Culture and Mythology. They include the women’s spirituality classic Jambalaya: The Natural Woman’s Book of Personal Charms and Practical Rituals, Carnival of the Spirit: Seasonal Celebrations and Rites of Passage, Jump Up: Good Times Throughout the Seasons with Celebrations from Around the World, and What Don’t Kill Is Fattening Revisited: Twenty Years of Poetry, Prose, and Myth. Her writing credits include several plays, and she has performed in venues such as The Scottish Rite Temple in Oakland, Ca., the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and St. John the Divine Cathedral in New York, and the Galaxy Theater in Auckland, New Zealand. She has contributed to fifteen anthologies, and published articles in magazines such as Essence, Ms., Shaman’s Drum, and Yoga Journal. Her writings have been translated into German, Spanish, and French. She is Associate Core Faculty at Sophia University-ITP, and Adjunct at California Institute of Integral Studies and the Institute of Noetic Sciences. She taught at the University of Creation Spirituality-Naropa Oakland and has been a guest lecturer at Stanford, UCLA, and Harvard.

Ms. Teish directs Dahomey Royal Design House, which produces mixed –media works of art, designs wearable art, and home decor and conducts private ceremonies and public celebrations.She is a native of New Orleans, Louisiana and a proud resident of Oakland, Ca.

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Bibliography =

• Carnival of the Spirit (1994) Harpercollins ISBN 0-06-250868-7, ISBN 978-0-06-250868-3
• Eye of the Storm (1998) E P Dutton ISBN 0-525-94032-4, ISBN 978-0-525-94032-6
• Jambalaya: The Natural Woman's Book of Personal Charms and Practical Rituals (1988) HarperOne ISBN 0-06-250859-8, ISBN 978-0-06-250859-1
• Jump Up: Good Times Throughout the Season with Celebrations from Around the World (2000) Conari Press ISBN 1-57324-551-8, ISBN 978-1-57324-551-7
• Soul Between the Lines: Freeing Your Creative Spirit Through Writing (with Dorothy Randall Gray) (1998) Avon Books ISBN 0-380-79142-0, ISBN 978-0-380-79142-2
• What Don't Kill is Fattening: Poems by Luisah Teish (1980) Fan Tree Press ASIN: B0007BJRRE
• Zulu Shaman: Dreams, Prophecies, and Mysteries (with Vusamazulu Credo Mutwa and Stephen Larsen) (2003) Destiny Books (New Edition of Song of the Stars) ISBN 0-89281-129-3, ISBN 978-0-89281-129-8

External links

• Ile Orunmila Oshun website
• Personal Website

Template:Persondata

• Living people
• American spiritual writers
• University of Creation Spirituality
• California Institute of Integral Studies faculty
• New College of California
• John F. Kennedy University faculty
• Naropa University faculty