Osunic Pregnancy and Birth: Decolonial Pathways to Reproductive Wisdom
This workshop explores pregnancy and birthing through the lens of Osunality—a decolonial, African-centered framework rooted in the sacred teachings of Oshun and the wisdom traditions of Ifá and Yoruba spirituality. Facilitated by Dr. Zelaika Hepworth Clarke, participants will engage with embodied practices, ancestral knowledge, and cultural concepts that honor the spiritual, sensual, and relational aspects of pregnancy and birth as sacred rites of passage.
Integrating erotic justice, reproductive sovereignty, and Afro-indigenous birthing traditions, this session centers lessons associated with Oshun as a guide toward reclaiming intuitive and communal approaches to reproductive wellbeing. This offering is ideal for birthworkers, sexuality professionals, doulas, midwives, and therapists seeking to deepen their understanding of decolonial pregnancy, pleasure-centered birth, and the erotic power of gestational life.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
1. By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to describe the concept of Osunality and how it applies to pregnancy and birth as spiritual, erotic, and liberatory experiences.
2. By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to identify at least one decolonial practice or concept rooted in Yoruba or Ifá wisdom that supports reproductive sovereignty and/or pleasure-centered pregnancy care.
This program meets the requirements of the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists (AASECT) and is approved for CE 1 credit. These CE credits may be applied toward AASECT certification and renewal of certification.
AASECT Categories: CK: G (Sexual and reproductive anatomy/physiology), C (Socio-cultural, familial factors in relation to sexual values and behaviors)
Presented by Dr. Zelaika Hepworth Clarke Carnagie, PhD, MSW, MEd, CSE, CST
Dr. Zelaika Hepworth Clarke Carnagie (they/them, zie/zir) is an AASECT Certified Sexuality Educator, Certified Sex Therapist, loveologist, decolonial eroticologist, and consultant. The first Jamerican (Jamaican-American) to earn three degrees in Sexuality Studies from accredited U.S. universities, Dr. Hepworth Clarke holds a BA from NYU in Sexuality, Culture, and Oppression, an MEd, and a PhD in Human Sexuality from Widener University. They are an adjunct professor at Columbia University School of Social Work and a graduate of the National Academy for African-Centered Social Work, the International School of Transnational Decolonial Black Feminism in Brazil, and the Decolonizing Knowledge and Power Summer School in Barcelona. As co-founder of the anti-racist decolonial sexuality studies program at Goddard College and co-creator of the Decolonial Sexual Attitude Restructuring (D-SAR), their work reimagines eroticism beyond colonial and capitalist frameworks. Through The Pluriversity LLC, they offer decolonial guidance, love education, and counseling centered on erotic sovereignty, sensual justice, and the liberation of marginalized communities.
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