Kari Ocha is the ceremony that we call "making the Saint" in english. This is the grand ceremony when one's guardian angel is "crowned" on the head of an initiate. What does this mean? This is a way of descibing the initiation ceremony without giving away any details. The Orishas are "seated" on your head, and that way you guardian angel is always with you to help and protect you and to bring you all the blessings that they can in this life.

Why do people make the Saint? There are many reasons. Sometimes for health reasons, a person must make the Saint so that the person's guardian angel can take away some terrible disease that medical science cannot. Many times one makes the Saint because the Orishas wish for one to become a priest or priestess, so that one may serve them and humanity. When you make the Saint, and Ocha is crowned on your head, you receive the Ache of the Orishas, and become a medium for them. Many times you transmit their messages in the trance state, but not always, because the Orishas are always there with you and often speak through you, even without your knowing it. Priests and priestesses are mediums of the Orishas who help others by working with the Orishas. We are in fact the Servants of the Servants of God. It is a great honor to be chosen to be a servant in this fashion. As for the actual ceremony of making the Saint, priests and priestesses are not really permitted to say, so disregard anything you have read in books, because they were not written by initiates.

Initiates would never reveal such secrets to the non-initiated. The actual ceremony for making the Saint takes 7 days, but there are many preparatory ceremonies that have to be done. Seven to sixteen days before the making of the Saint, the Oluo must do a ceremony that begins the process. In the interim before making the saint, other ceremonies have to be done, including spiritual sessions with mediums to determine if the person's spiritual guides and ancestors are in agreement with what is about to happen, and also to remove any negative spiritual influences that might be detrimental to the ceremonies that are to follow.

A reading with Orunla has to be done to determine which ebbo or cleaning must be done before the ceremonies start as well as any other necessary ceremonies that might be indicated. After making the Saint, one is a Iyawo. Iyawo means bride in Yoruba, and the initiate is considered to be a bride of the Orisha whether they are male or female. You are literally wedded to the Orisha. One must follow certain restrictions for the year following the making of the Saint, one of which includes wearing write clothes. This is to protect the Iyawo, who is like a newly born baby spiritually speaking, and has to be protected from negative influences. After making the Saint, one's ache grows with the years that one has Ocha crowned. That is why one must respect elder priests and priestesses in the religion. The respect is for the orisha crowned on the elders' head, not so much the person, themselves.

Respect is of paramount importance in this religion, respect for the elders, for godparents and of course, respect for the Orishas. This is perhaps one of the things that is most difficult for americans, who live in a society where there is no respect for parents, teachers, elders or authority in any form. Perhaps this religion can also serve to recivilize our society, because in other parts of the world, those without respect are considered to be uncivilized and barbaric.