Mentioned in the Maria Gutierrez thread as one of her teachers, Wilson is a white imposter posing as a Cuban Santeria priest. While there are white and mixed ancestry Cubans, Dominicans, and Puerto Ricans who are Santeria priests and priestesses, they grew up in the culture and faith.
Santeria forum discussion.
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http://www.orishanet.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=311&sid=6e3cdeb51c9527ca437442937b30a0a6rank Baba Eyiogbe
Falokun Fatunmbi Declared a Fraud by his own Lineage
Posted: Tue Nov 29, 2011 4:28 am Post subject: Falokun Fatunmbi Declared a Fraud by his own Lineage
Falokun Fatunmbi (David Wilson), who has written several books on Ifa and the Orishas, has been declared a fraud... by his own lineage (including his initiators) in Ode Remo. A council of 21 elders, including the Araba (the eldest Babalawo), have declared that he was partially initiated under the understanding that he was doing it to write books on the religion, not to work as a Babalawo. They state clearly that he had no authority to initiate anyone to Ifa or any Orisha. They state that he did not have the training or permission to even see anyone with Ifa.
It's interesting to note that at the end of their proclamation, they stated clearly that he had no power to declare himself superior to anyone in the Diaspora.
You can go here to read the declaration in full:
http://www.ileifeorunmilla.com/exposingthefraudintraditionalifa/falokunsreallineage.html [Unfortunately the site is down and the declaration is not archived.]
Frank Baba Eyiogbe
Tue Nov 29, 2011 4:42 am
On a number of occasions, people have appeared here on OrishaNet claiming to be traditional African Babalawos, almost always proclaiming themselves to be a greater authority than traditional Lucumí Babalawos. My usual response is to ask them to show that they have undergone the years of training required by their branch of our tradition. The overwhelming majority can't answer that request because they have not gone through the training nor do they have the permission of their own elders to divine or initiate people. In other words they aren't a Babalawo in either the African, the Afro-Cuban, or any other branch of Ifa. Therefore they have no authority to speak for any branch of the tradition, especially to denigrate another branch of the religion.
Ochun Kofa De
Location: East Harlem, NYC
Another glorified Awo Fakan!! Pffffffffft......
"be gone with you, before someone drops a house on you" - Glenda the good witch, Wizard of Oz
This is my personal opinion: I dont think much of these folks, even knowing they are legit, they let this man do this for YEARS and only complained when it started to affect their reputation, and he didnt send money "home" from his many many books.
What about all the people he harmed?
OKD
Another forum
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https://www.abibitumikasa.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-45796.htmlbadele Kambon
Falokun Fatunmbi (David Wilson), who has written several books on Ifa and the Orishas, has been declared a fraud... by his own lineage (including his initiators) in Ode Remo. A council of 21 elders, including the Araba (the eldest Babalawo), have declared that he was partially initiated under the understanding that he was doing it to write books on the religion, not to work as a Babalawo. They state clearly that he had no authority to initiate anyone to Ifa or any Orisha. They state that he did not have the training or permission to even see anyone with Ifa.
It's interesting to note that at the end of their proclamation, they stated clearly that he had no power to declare himself superior to anyone in the Diaspora.
You can go here to read the declaration in full:
http://www.ileifeorunmilla.com/exposingthefraudintraditionalifa/falokunsreallineage.htmlOkomfo Akosua
This is a FINE example of why he should have NEVER been given or shown anything!!!!!
Obadele Kambon
12-13-2011, 09:19 PM
?k?mfo Akosua, magye atom'
I agree. His teachers need a history lesson. How did it come about that they know so much about Ifa?, but they couldn't see that this o?yi?nbo?'s character would end up being like that (like all the other o?yi?nbo? who've ever come to Afrika)? If "spiritual" knowledge isn't combined with historical knowledge, it doesn't amount to much)
?errthan
?k?mfo Akosua, magye atom'
"Knowing everything doesn't (necessarily) make you intelligent (wise)."
--Haitian proverb
Akua Ma'at
nuff said. WHY do we insist on still allowing them access to us, our traditions, spiritual systems kwk??? Are we that thick in the skull or is it a matter of simple ignore-ance of our history? They have NO PLACE in our spiritual traditions and should never be allow anywhere near them.
FB posting
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https://www.facebook.com/notes/charles-spencer-king/three-authors-ayo-salami-awo-falokun-fatunmbi-david-wilson-philip-neimark-and-wh/10151720413604813/Awo Falokun Fatunmbi (David Wilson) has one of the largest clientele in diaspora. His books include 1) Iwa-Pele: Ifa Quest: The Search for the Source of Santeria and Lucumi (1991), 2) Ogun: Ifa and the Spirit of Iron (1992), 3) Awo: Ifa & the Theology of Orisha Divination (1992), 4) Oshun: Ifa and The Spirit of the River (1993), 5) Esu-Elegba: Ifa and the Divine Messenger (1993). 6) Oya: Ifa and the Spirit of the Wind(1993), 7) Ochosi: Ifá and the Spirit of the Tracker (1993),
Shango: Ifa and the Spirit of Lightning (1993), 9) Yemoja / Olokun: Ifa and the Spirit of the Ocean (1993), 10) Ibase Orisa: Ifa Proverbs, Folktales, Sacred History & Prayer (1994), 11) Inner Peace: The Ifa Concept of Ori (2005), 12) Family Spirit: The Ifa Concept of Egun (2006), 13)Mérìndínlógún: Òrìsà Divination Using 16 Cowries: Revised and Extended Edition (2011), 14) Mérìndínlógún: Adivinación de Òrìsà Utilizando 16 Cowries: Edición Revisada y Extendida (Spanish Edition) (2011), 15) Iwa-Pele: Ifa Quest: The Search for the Source of Santeria and Lucumi (2013). There may be others, but this is what Amazon has.
Mr. Wilson's situation is a bit murkier than Mr. Salami's largely because A) He has a bigger support base of followers and B ) because a substantial amount of time passed before his Yorubaland council and araba (Ode Remo) made a judgement. Personally for me neither is a significant factor. The reason is the size of the fraud does not make it any less of a fraud, secondly in Yorubaland and particularly within our religion, internet access and expertise is a recent improvement, communication in all but the last few years there was weak at best, in fact it still falls woefully short of US and European standards. Like Ayo Salami, Mr. Wilson's situation is that he was not only writing books over the last twenty years, but selling services, leading ceremonies and "making" priests and Awo...that apparently he had no training for,nor permissions for. His supporters claim he did have permissions, yet according to the governing body of Ode Remo he did not. Therefore, as you will see from the evidence he was making rank and title through ceremony for a fee. Ode Remo to its credit has been very clear that not only does Mr. Wilson not have training nor permissions, but every individual he made is null and void. Once again if you are someone who received services, ceremony, rank and title and credentials from Mr. Wilson, they are null and void, this is a massive fraud, whether malicious or not in the cases of those who he made. I have several concerns about this whole fiasco starting with Mr. Wilson. He is obviously a man who after 15 plus books knows quite a bit about our religion, thus how can he have innocently been doling out ceremonies that he certainly knew he was not trained for (let alone have current permissions for). Also, he frequently accuses anyone who discusses his "situation" of gossip and thumps on his Iwa Pele books. Iwa Pele loosely means "good character".I am not against anyone receiving money for services. provided they are bona fide services that have a value and are as advertised. Yet here, according to Ode Remo the services, nor the provider (Mr. Wilson, and later those he made who made others) had little or no training and were lacking permissions. The result is much the same as buying a by mail diploma, it is not worth the paper it is written on. Yet unlike those who pay for and know their mail order diploma is a hoax, in the case of Mr. Wilson's clients, they assumed they were buying bona fide credentials or services. In closing let me say that for me Mr. Wilson is a huge disappointment, because he does have knowledge, his books are contributions, yet unfortunately it is his character or Iwa Pele that are in question.
[Followed by harangues from Wilson's supporters]
European "initiated" by Wilson defending him and smearing his critics.
http://www.iledafa.com/is-falokun-a-fake/The man does admit he paid $1500 to Wilson. It's acceptable to charge for healing in Santeria, but unethical to overcharge.
