Lou Florez (Awo Ifadunsin) is a diviner and metaphysical reader who facilitates spiritual connectivity and transformational empowerment throughout his myriad roles as a Priest, lecturer, author, medicine maker, and activist. His work is inherently interdisciplinary and intersectional—bridging the fields of herbalism, ecology, divination, poetry, psychology, religious studies, gender and sexual studies, mixed-media art, and perfumery. Lou investigates the emanating Spirit present within all these fields and incorporates them into experiences that activate the Spirit within.

As a Priest, spiritual adviser, and leader of an Orisha-centered community, Lou (Awo Ifadunsin) has served his temple, students, and clients with poignant care and profound generosity. Lou was initiated into Orisha priesthood (2007-2008) under his godmother Iyanifa Love Ifalade Ta’Shia Asanti and received his Itefa (high priesthood) in Ile Ife, Nigeria (2016). Lou was elevated by his elders to the position of Co-presiding Priest for his spiritual congregation, Ile Ori Ogbe Egun (2021).

Lou is also a diviner and card reader, spiritualist, and medium with a refined craft and a global audience (1998-present). He has studied and apprenticed with a number of elders in the southern United States and Central America, and he teaches divination and the oracular arts to aspiring mediums, budding spiritualist, and those interested in connecting to their inner selves  through online and in-person classes, conferences, and events (2015-present).

Lou is an author and creative who recently released his first book, The Modern Art of Brujería: A Beginner’s Guide to Spellcraft, Medicine Making, and Other Traditions of the Global South (2022, published by Ulysses Press and distributed by Simon and Schuster) and his essay “Craft of Witches,” has also been featured in the anthology Poetry as Spellcasting: Poems, Essays, and Prompts for Manifesting Liberation and Reclaiming Power (2023, North Atlantic Books).  His work “When the Goddess is Brown: Towards a Hermeneutics of Reparations” from the anthology Bringing Race to the Table: An Exploration of Racism within the Pagan Community (2015) has been taught by scholars of race and spiritualism and cited in articles on spirituality, witchcraft, and brujeria. As a featured columnist, Lou has written for Remezcla, “‘Penny Dreadful: City of Angels’ Offers a Heartless Vision of Santa Muerte” (2020), and The Wild Hunt, “Conjured Bodies, Transgressive Witchcraft, and the Politics of Resistance” (2017). Lou cofounded and facilitates WitchCraft (2020) with Dorthea Lasky. WitchCraft is a monthly online gathering that shares full moon happenings and consists of poetry and witchcraft experiments. Lou was also a creative consultant for Katy Perry’s Dark Horse performance at the Grammy’s (2014).

To read more about Lou and his work, visit www.louflorez.com, where you order his book “The Modern Art of Brujeria,” book a reading, or explore his wonderful products.

Follow him on Instagram @louflorez_consultations

Photo credits:
Images of Lou by Andrew Macpherson.
Upper Right: Eleggua y Los Guerros by Koko
Upper Center: A traditional party in the honor of Iemanja in Salvador, Brazil by Antonio Thales
Upper Left: An image of a guia for Eleggua by Jorge Ferreiro