Biography
Early Life
Luisah Teish, also known as Iyanifa Fajembola Fatunmise, is best known as a teacher and author of Jambalaya: The Natural Woman’s Book of Personal Charms and Practical Rituals.
Luisah Teish was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. Her father, Wilson Allen, Sr. was part of the African Methodist Episcopal faith. Her mother, Serena “Rene” Allen, was a Catholic of Haitian, French, and Choctaw heritage.
Her original ancestry also includes Yoruba West African. She is an Iyanifa and Oshun chief in the Yoruba Lucumi tradition.
In the late 1960s, Teish was a dancer in Katherine Dunham’s group, where she learned and performed traditional African and Caribbean dances.
After leaving the dance company, she became a choreographer in St. Louis. In 1969, she joined the Fahami Temple of Amun-Ra, and it was here that she took the name “Luisah Teish”, which means “adventuresome spirit.”
She led the Black Artists Group (BAG) dance troupe in St. Louis after the departure of BAG’s first dance leader.
Spiritual Influence
Teish’s spirituality influences her extensive body of work.
The following quotes were taken from her book Jambalaya: The Natural Woman’s Book of Personal Charms and Practice Rituals:
“Sometimes the ancestors deem certain information so important that they send it to the subconscious mind without being consciously asked”.
“Birth is the beginning of physical life and death is the end of it. But the essential energy of existence (Da) continues beyond physical life. Both life and death simply exist and are two sides of the same coin of existence.”
Advocacy Through Media
Teish has contributed to 40 anthologies, most notably Spiritual Guidance Across Religions: A Sourcebook for Spiritual Directors and Other Professionals Providing Counsel to People of Differing Faith Traditions.
Magazines such as Ms., Essence, Sage Woman, and the Yoga Journal have provided further accessibility to her poetry and essays.
Her articles and artworks appear in Coreopsis: Journal of Myth and Theater, and the Cascadia Subduction Zone Journal of Speculative Fiction.
In 2022, Teish published her latest book titled A Calabash of Cowries: Ancient Wisdom for Modern Times. “The book is a collection of tales featuring the Orishas and the wonders of the natural world.”
Luisah Teish currently resides in Oakland California, where she works as a spiritual consultant, priestess, and writer.
Teish has said in an interview “My tradition is very celebratory – there’s always music, dance, song, and food in our services – as well as a sense of reverence for the children. It’s joyful as well as meditative.”
Her work will remain with us long after she has transitioned out of this physical world.
