Today we’d like to introduce you to Omilola Wilkinson.
Hi Omilola, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Spirituality was something that has always been prominent in my life. I was raised catholic, but I also grew up watching my mother read tarot. Throughout my childhood, there were signs that I was gifted myself, but my mother was always too weary to answer my questions, worrying that I wasn’t mature enough to handle the truth. But despite it all, my curiosity for the occult was nurtured by my parents in a way in which they thought was safe. In the second grade, my father purchased me my first book of spells, and by the 8th grade, he had gifted me my first deck of tarot cards that I still use till this day.
It wasn’t until my father passed away in 2014 that my spiritual journey was placed on the fast track. I was living in NY in my childhood home at the time when strange things kept reoccurring. I kept hearing voices, seeing shadows, and feeling things touching me that weren’t there. This is when I started spending my time going to Botanica after Botanica searching for answers. I gained a lot of knowledge along the way, but it wasn’t the answer I was looking for.
Eventually that’s when my mother told me I should start learning about the Orisa. I did all the research I could but hit a dead end once I learned that you needed to find an ilé (house) and a Babalawo or Iyanifa to study under. So from there, my studies were shifted to hoodoo, and that’s where my focus remained for the next few years.
Then one day in 2018, I walked into a Botanica in Mableton, looking for candles to perform some road opening work for myself. I was so wrapped up in what I was doing that I didn’t even realize that I had walked into the shop at the same time as someone who would become my Babalawo. A man came up to me and asked me if I had ever been interested in learning about the orisa. I eagerly blurted out, “Yes!” After all, this is the moment I had been waiting for. The man informed me of an Obatala shrine day they were having and proceeded to tell the young boy working in the shop to show me the shrines for the orisa that they had in the back.
I spent the next couple of days researching Obatala and putting together the perfect offerings for him. I made my own cascarilla and everything. The day of the shrine day, I packed up my offerings and brought my mother along with me. She had started me on this journey, and I refused to leave her behind. We sang and danced in honor of the king of the white cloth, and afterward my mother and I waited around for a chance to speak with the man who invited us in the first place.
His name was Baba Sola, and he was one of the owners of the Botanica and a Babalawo. My mother and I both booked readings with him for the following day. The day of the reading it was told to me that I was a child of Osun and that a part of my destiny was to heal women and children with herbs. There was more that revealed, but I won’t disclose that information here. Just know it was the most accurate form of divination I’ve had done for me, and I was hooked to the practice instantly.
From that point forward, I started attending all of the classes that they had to offer and eventually started working for Yeye’s Botanica. It was there where my gifts were truly nurtured, and I began to thrive. I eventually went through a program called Moods, Moons, and Magic facilitated by Iya Omisaro. Then I began making my skills available to the public, taking clients for ritual consultations, house cleansings and selling my custom-made products.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The road definitely hasn’t been smooth. But that was to be expected in a way. For example, in my first reading, Ifá told me my path to initiation wouldn’t be easy. Some of the struggles along the way were losing my father in 2014 and my mother in 2021. Losing your parents at such a young age leaves you feeling lost, and myself personal, I fell off of my spiritual path completely. It wasn’t until recently I started getting back to myself, my spiritual practices, and my community.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am a spiritual advisor or what they call the “juju lady”. I offer tarot readings, pendulum readings, ritual consultations, and other services such as house cleansings and teach a candle magic 101 course. I also handcraft products such as baths, oils, and incense. As well as supply different curio such as dirts, animal parts, and other oddities.
I specialize in work that helps black people, specifically black women tap into their own personal power to manifest their wants and needs. I’m a firm believer in giving my clients the tools & resources to do the work themselves. I think that’s one thing that sets me apart from others. I’d rather a client pay me to teach them than them continue to return to me for work I know that they’re capable of doing themselves. I’d like to think I’m known for my openness about my beliefs that spirituality isn’t always “love and light”. There’s dark and light and duality in everything. I believe in tapping into what’s needed, and that’s not always pretty. I could prescribe you a pretty-smelling money oil to anoint yourself with today and a chicken foot to hang in your car for protection tomorrow.
Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
Some of my favorite books that have helped me on my spiritual journey have been The 7 Spiritual Laws of Success, The Alchemist, and Mules & Men.
Other resources have been my elders and community at Yeye’s Botanica and Osé Logbe Ifá Temple. They offer an Orisa 101 class as well as a plethora of other classes. And my soujern through the Moods, Moons, & Magic program.
My greatest resource of all is my ancestors and my ability to communicate with my ancestors. There’s lessons and juju in everything we learn from the people who came before us.
Pricing:
- Ritual Consultations $75
- House Cleansings $150 & up
- Candle Magic 101 Course $180
Contact Info:
- Website: bighomieomi.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/0milola
Image Credits
Ade Wilson Melody Glynn
