Writer & Storyteller
Luisah Teish is an elder (Iyanifa) in the Ifa/Orisha tradition of the West African Diaspora, and she holds a chieftaincy title (Yeye’woro) from Ile Ife, Nigeria. She is also a devotee of Damballah Hwedo, the Haitian Rainbow Serpent, under the guidance of Moma Lola.
Teish is a writer, storyteller and consultant. She is the author of Jambalaya: The Natural Woman’s Book of Personal Charms and Practical Rituals, a women’s spirituality classic. She co-authored On Holy Ground: Commitment and Devotion to Sacred Land with Kahuna Leilani Birely.
She has studied indigenous Native North and South American traditions (including the Caribbean) and conducted workshops on Black and Native American culture at Medicine Wheels (under the directions of Sun Bear’s tribal elders).
She is a member of the Shift Network Faculty, the Emergent Studies Institute and the Crossroads Spiritual Studies Series through Balade Black Productions. She has performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and St. John the Divine Cathedral in New York, the Galaxy Theater in Auckland, New Zealand, and the Scottish Rite Temple in Oakland, Ca.