Ifá

Ifá is a Yoruba religion and system of divination. Its literary corpus is the Odu Ifá. Orunmila is identified as the Grand Priest, as he is who revealed divinity and prophecy to the world. Babalawos or Iyanifas use either the divining chain known as Opele, or the sacred palm or kola nuts called Ikin, on the wooden divination tray called Opon Ifá.

Sixteen Principal Odu
Name	1	2	3	4
Ogbe	I	I	I	I
Oyẹku	II	II	II	II
Iwori	II	I	I	II
Odi	I	II	II	I
Irosun	I	I	II	II
Iwọnrin	II	II	I	I
Ọbara	I	II	II	II
Ọkanran	II	II	II	I
Ogunda	I	I	I	II
Ọsa	II	I	I	I
Ika	II	I	II	II
Oturupọn	II	II	I	II
Otura	I	II	I	I
Irẹtẹ	I	I	II	I
Ọsẹ	I	II	I	II
Ofun	II	I	II	I
Sixteen Principal Afa-du (Yeveh Vodou)
Name	1	2	3	4
Eji-Ogbe	I	I	I	I
Ọyeku-Meji	II	II	II	II
Iwori-Meji	II	I	I	II
Odi-Meji	I	II	II	I
Irosun-Meji	I	I	II	II
Ọwanrin-Meji	II	II	I	I
Ọbara-Meji	I	II	II	II
Ọkanran-Meji	II	II	II	I
Ogunda-Meji	I	I	I	II
Ọsa-Meji	II	I	I	I
Ika-Meji	II	I	II	II
Oturupon-Meji	II	II	I	II
Otura-Meji	I	II	I	I
Irete-Maji	I	I	II	I
Ọse-Meji	I	II	I	II
Ofu meji	II	I	II	I

Ifá is practiced throughout the Americas, West Africa, and the Canary Islands, in the form of a complex religious system, and plays a critical role in the traditions of Santería, Candomblé, Palo, Umbanda, Vodou, and other Afro-American faiths, as well as in some traditional African religions.

History

The 16-principle system seems to have its earliest history in West Africa. Each Niger–Congo-speaking ethnic group that practices it has its own myths of origin; Yoruba religion suggests that it was founded by Orunmila in Ilé-Ifẹ̀ when he initiated himself and then he initiated his students, Akoda and Aseda. Other myths suggest that it was brought to Ilé-Ifẹ̀ by Setiu, a Nupe man who settled in Ilé-Ifẹ̀. According to the book The History of the Yorubas from the Earliest of Times to the British Protectorate (1921) by Nigerian historian Samuel Johnson and Obadiah Johnson, it was Arugba, the mother of Onibogi, the 8th Alaafin of Oyo who introduced Oyo to Ifá in the late 1400s.[1] She initiated the Alado of Ato and conferred on him the rites to initiate others. The Alado, in turn, initiated the priests of Oyo and that was how Ifá came to be in the Oyo empire. Odinani suggests that Dahomey Kings noted that the system of Afá was brought by a diviner known as Gogo from the Yoruba town of Ketu in eastern Benin.[2]

Orunmila came to establish an oral literary corpus incorporating stories and experiences of priests and their clients along with the results. This odu corpus emerges as the leading documentation on the Ifá tradition to become a historical legacy.

Yoruba canon

In Yorubaland, divination gives priests unreserved access to the teachings of Orunmila.[3] Eshu is the one said to lend ashe to the oracle during provision of direction and or clarification of counsel. Eshu is also the one that holds the keys to one's ire (fortune or blessing)[4] and thus acts as Oluwinni (one's Creditor): he can grant ire or remove it.[5] Ifá divination rites provide an avenue of communication to the spiritual realm and the intent of one's destiny.[6]

Igbo canon

In Igboland, Ifá is known as Afá, and is performed by specialists called Dibia. The Dibia is considered a doctor and specializes in the use of herbs for healing and transformation.[7]

Ewe canon

Among the Ewe people of southern Togo and southeast Ghana, Ifá is known as Afá, where the Vodun spirits come through and speak. In many of their Egbes, it is Alaundje who is honored as the first Bokono to have been taught how to divine the destiny of humans using the holy system of Afá. The Amengansi are the living oracles who are higher than a bokono. A priest who is not a bokono is known as Hounan, similar to Houngan, a male priest in Haitian Vodou, a derivative religion of Vodun, the religion of the Ewe.

Odù Ifá

Divination tray

There are sixteen major books in the Odu Ifá[8] literary corpus. When combined, there are a total of 256 Odu (a collection of sixteen, each of which has sixteen alternatives ⇔ 16², or 4⁴) that are believed to reference all situations, circumstances, actions and consequences in life based on the uncountable ese (or "poetic tutorials") relative to the 256 Odu coding. These form the basis of traditional Yoruba spiritual knowledge and are the foundation of all Yoruba divination systems. Ifá proverbs, stories, and poetry are not written down. Rather, they are passed down orally from one babalawo to another. Yoruba people consult Ifá for divine intervention and spiritual guidance.[9]

International recognition

The Ifá divination system was added in 2005 by UNESCO to its list of the "Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity".[10]

Notable followers

• 21 Savage, British-American rapper
• Osunlade, musician, record producer, DJ
• Wande Abimbola, Nigerian linguist
• Nisi Shawl, African-American writer, editor, and journalist
• Patrisse Cullors, co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement[11]

See also

• Babalawo
• Iyalawo
• Orunmila

References

1. Johnson, Samuel (1921). History of the Yorubas from the Earliest of Times to the Beginning of the British Protectorate. Nigeria Bookshops.
2. "Afa in the African Diaspora".
3. Lijadu, E. M. Ifá: ImọLe Rẹ Ti I Ṣe Ipile Isin Ni Ilẹ Yoruba. Ado-Ekiti: Omolayo Standard Press, 1898. 1972.
4. https://aseire.yolasite.com/meaning.php
5. Archived September 25, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
6. Adéẹ̀kọ́, Adélékè. "'Writing' and 'Reference' in Ifá Divination Chants." Oral Tradition 25, no. 2 (2010).
7. "Igbo Medicine".
8. Sixteen major 'books in Odù Ifá Archived July 2, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
9. Karade, Baba I. (2020). "The Handbook of Yoruba Religious Concepts". Google Scholar.
10. "Ifa Divination System". Retrieved 5 July 2017.
11. https://religiondispatches.org/the-role-of-spirit-in-the-blacklivesmatter-movement-a-conversation-with-activist-and-artist-patrisse-cullors/

Further reading

• Chief FAMA Fundamentals of the Yoruba Religion (Orisa Worship) ISBN 0-9714949-0-8
• Chief FAMA Practitioners' Handbook for the Ifa Professional ISBN 0-9714949-3-2
• Chief FAMA Fundamentos de la Religion Yoruba (Adorando Orisa) ISBN 0-9714949-6-7
• Fama, Chief (1994). Sixteen mythological stories of Ifá = (Ìtàn Ífá mẹ́rìndínlógún). San Bernardino, CA: Ilé Ọ̀rúnmìlà Communications. ISBN 9780964424722.
• Chief FAMA FAMA'S EDE AWO (Orisa Yoruba Dictionary) ISBN 0-9644247-8-9
• Chief FAMA The Rituals (novela) ISBN 0-9644247-7-0
• Awo Fasina Falade Ifa: The Key to Its Understanding ISBN 0-9663132-3-2
• Chief Adedoja Aluko The Sixteen (16) Major Odu Ifa from Ile-Ife ISBN 978-37376-6-X
• Chief Hounon-Amengansie, Mama Zogbé (Vivian Hunter Hindrew) Mami Wata: Africa's Ancient God/dess Unveiled Vol. I ISBN 978-0-615-17936-0
• Chief S. Solagbade Popoola library, INC Ifa Dida: Vol 1 (EjiOgbe - Orangun Meji), ISBN 978-0-9810013-1-9
• Chief S. Solagbade Popoola library, INC Ifa Dida: Vol 2 (Ogbe Oyeku - Ogbe Ofun), ISBN 978-1-926538-12-9
• Chief S. Solagbade Popoola & Fakunle Oyesanya Ikunle Abiyamo - The ASE of Motherhood ISBN 978-09810013-0-2
• C. Osamaro Ibie Ifism the Complete Works of Orunmila ISBN 1-890157-05-8
• William R. Bascom: Ifa Divination: Communication Between Gods and Men in West Africa ISBN 0-253-20638-3
• William R. Bascom: Sixteen Cowries: Yoruba Divination from Africa to the New World ISBN 0-253-20847-5
• Rosenthal, J. ‘Possession Ecstasy & Law in Ewe Voodoo" ISBN 0-8139-1805-7
• Maupoil, Bernard. "La Geomancie L'ancienne Côte des Esclaves
• Alapini, Julien. Les noix sacrées. Etude complète de Fa-Ahidégoun génie de la sagesse et de la divination au Dahomey
• Dr. Ron Eglash (1997) American Anthropologist Recursion in ethnomathematics, Chaos Theory in West African divination.
• Bàbálàwó Ifatunwase Tratados Enciclopédicos de Ifá (Colección Alafundé), ISBN 978-0-9810387-04