We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Baba Fasanmi / Erwin Thomas a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Baba Fasanmi / Erwin, thanks for joining us today. What was the most important lesson/experience you had in a job that has helped you in your professional career?

The first craft I committed to in my life experience was performance (Acting). I’ve been on stage since I was 15 years old, working on storytelling, using my body as an instrument, and developing a sense of presence, honesty, and intimacy in front of an audience. I’m classicly trained with a BFA and MFA. This laid the groundwork for finding ease in new situations Understanding what, no matter what, the craft is essential to develop a genuine sense of curiosity, composure, ease, and practice. Everything is a practice. I also learned that human beings are cable of anything. There is no benefit in passing judgment. Often we are motivated by not wanting to be seen because we judge ourselves harshly. A large part of choosing to develop a healing practice is to commit to seeing yourself and being so comfortable with all the parts of yourself that you allow others to see you. This can develop an authentic sense of compassion for the process of healing in all of its stages. I also learned that where you put your attention is where your audience or client will put their attention. There is also a beautiful parallel between facing a blank page or an empty room and filling it with intention and relationship, and meaning To trust in and cultivate relationships with the unseen.

Baba Fasanmi / Erwin, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My ancestors orchestrated a series of fortunate events that led me to this craft. Having been raised by my grandparents when very young, I developed a curiosity and love for cultural wisdom. In my late 20’s, I found myself searching for spiritual grounding. My father introduced me to a woman who practiced indigenous healing and was also a cousin of his mother, my grandmother, who had transitioned by the time I met this person. This priest/diviner gave me my first reading and instructed me about ways to spend time in nature to bring myself back to balance. Although I lost touch with her, Some months later, I was introduced to my present mentor and godfather, Baba Femi Fayemi. Through Baba Femi’s love of teaching and practice of Ifa, I have learned to practice Ifa through its universal definition as the wisdom of nature or the ‘natural order of things”. I’ve built Creative intelligence in Healing Arts to develop and harness the courage to change, grow, heal, and thrive.
We provide spiritual services. Supporting spiritual grounding, creative design, development, and healing through creatively informed spiritual consultation (divination), spiritual ritual, decolonized education, workshops, and restorative practices.
As a committed student of a master diviner, I”ve been able to support clients in identifying creative ways to cultivate spiritual practices. Heal family relationships. Learn more about their divinity. Learn to navigate life challenges supported by the wisdom of nature. With a commitment to building healing-centered relationships, communities, and cultural experiences. We also enjoy making indigenous medicines, soaps, baths,

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

Everybody’s journey is divine and their own. I have a passion and commitment to individual and collective healing from systemic harm and intergenerational habits. I am a bit of a romantic. Less interested in external wars but rather in bringing peace to generations of harm. How to completely shift the energetic relational current from power over to power with. How to re-member the divine wholeness that we are sourced from. This is my path, but the continued reminder is… Because I exist, someone with very opposite means and similar goals must also exist. Being trained in and a lover of theater. I understand that everyone has a role to play. The same is true for a facilitator of ritual and an energetic healer. There can be and often is generative conflict. And not everyone involved in the conflict may see it as generative at the moment. To remember this and to seek grace and ease while navigating conflict. It is a lesson that I continue to learn. Once you’ve found a practice or science that you know is right for you, it’s natural to want it to be right in the same way for others. But there are 8 billion people on this planet and 8 billion authentic ways to love the truth. I have to remind myself to be both curious and non-possessive. Inclusive and avoid the perceived temporary safety of groupthink. Or the myth of the single magnetic leader. We are all being asked to lead our lives in ways that add value to whatever group or project to which we lend our life energy.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

I worked for a very successful tech company in sales in Manhattan shortly after I was initiated into priesthood. I sought the job because I wanted to learn about the ethos and methods of this tech company whose products and services I supported and enjoyed. I learned a tremendous amount in my time with this company. I was very skilled as a salesperson and enjoyed meeting new people and supporting them in identifying their needs. All around, a great job. Then the Orange one was elected president. Many of my coworkers were younger and had no reference for the emboldened arrogance, racism, and white supremest behavior unleashed by the orange President’s supporters. Combined with the televised murderers of black and brown bodies. Tensions became high in the store that worked. I found myself wanting to support my younger co-workers in healing informed ways. Ways informed by history, critical theory, and spritual wisdom. I felt I needed to pour my energy and time into creating or co-creating a position that may look more like healing, informed, socially engaged human relations rather than sales support. I could not stand by and watch brilliant young minds come into work day after day be break down in tears over the social event. This corporation says and doe nothing that speaks to the hyper-violent shift in the civic and social-political landscape.
So, I when to the store manager and shared my passion and desire. I was informed that It wasn’t something they could respond to at the time. (a few years later, as the Age of the Orange continued, this company initiated company-wide initiatives that spoke to what I was witnessing). But at this particular time. After my dialogue with my manager. I was clear that it was time to move on. I could no longer give so much energy to a place that could respond to the needs of the people who ensured their place in the marketplace as industry leaders.
I began to research restorative justice practices and circle-keeping training. I actively began to visualize over the two weeks I gave myself to transition, I actively imagined building a personal practice that allowed me to support clients through divination and partner with other community energy healing organizations, Thus, Creative Intelligence Healing Arts was birthed.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.cihealingarts.com
• Instagram: @cihealingarts
• Facebook: erwine.a.thomas