THE YORUBA AND AFRO-CUBAN DEITY IFA TEACHES AND GUIDES US THROUGH LIFE S TUMULTUOUS TIMES

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1 THE YORUBA AND AFRO-CUBAN DEITY IFA TEACHES AND GUIDES US THROUGH LIFE S TUMULTUOUS TIMES By Oluwo Ifawumi African Traditional Religions (ATRs) are regaining their lost prominence by providing much needed counsel, direction, and magical intervention to improve the lives of twenty-first century men and women. Many persons of various ethnicities, nationalities, cultures, professions, religious affiliations, and interests routinely consult professional diviners to discover their fate, avoid calamities, prevent illnesses, cure debilitating diseases, increase wealth, cure infertility, restore virility, and communicate with ancestors. There are a number of important occasions where divination can provide us with critical information about our lives. In West Africa, diviners and mystics called bokono or babalawo perform sacred divination rituals to determine an individual s genetic composition and correlated biological and metaphysical traits. The primary system of divination in West Africa is called Ifa. Ifa divination is a complex and elaborate system, usually considered by many academic scholars, anthropologists, and metaphysicians to be one of the oldest and most accurate divination systems in the world. Ifa divination is performed exclusively by Ifa priests called Awo Elegan, Babalawo, Olodu, and/or Oluwo. The sacred, oral divinatory text of Ifa is memorized and recited exclusively by experienced and highly educated Ifa priests. These esoteric texts called the Ifa literary corpus, Oracle of Ifa, or Odu Ifa are comprised of literally thousands of poetic utterances, chants, incantations, and rituals that provide an Ifa diviner with lessons and tools to educate, heal, and uplift humanity. The following excerpted text is transliterated from the Ijebu Yoruba dialect and exists as a prime example of one of literally hundreds of Ifa s oracular passages teaching us the need for divination in the search or quest for healing, wisdom, and spiritual advancement:...if you are very, very poor, Then you must seek much more wisdom. If you are ailing with disease and your bones break easily, 1

2 Then you must seek more wisdom. If your family life is unhappy, Then you must seek more wisdom. Ifa is the teacher of Wisdom. Wisdom will show you how to gain more money. Wisdom will teach you how to cure disease. Wisdom will make you more capable to solve your family problems. If you already have plenty Wisdom, Then you should go and get more wisdom; Cause with Wisdom you can always make life even better. To acquire wisdom you must come and seek divination with Ifa. When you listen to the advice of Ifa, Your backbone becomes sturdy-stronger than iron; Your hands become large-filled with many possessions; Your name grows like a vine in the mouths of many people-people wish you well; Your house increases in size and value-filled with many, many happy children. Sit patiently with the words of Ifa and, Ifa will make your darkest day bright, And your brightest day brighter. Then and only then will you be at ease inside and out... The West African divinity of wisdom, divination, and herbal medicine is commonly referred to as Ifa, Fa, Afa, or Orunmila. Ifa plays important roles in our lives. Firstly, Ifa exists as a system of holistic medicine, whereas, persons afflicted with various physical, psychological, social, and spiritual illnesses seek help from Ifa priests who use Ifa divination and Ifa medicine s complex pharmacology of herbs, roots, and barks to diagnose, treat, and cure dis-ease. Secondly, Ifa is a system of preventive medicine employing medicinal, dietary, and magical means to strengthen, cleanse, and rejuvenate bodily systems. Thirdly, Ifa is a social system of ethics, moral teachings, psychology, metaphysics, prophetic revelations, and personalized spiritual training. Ifa has innumerable praise names that accurately and succinctly describe Ifa s efficacy and magnitude. Many of these praise names are used during magical incantations and chants 2

3 during divination ceremonies, they include the following: Agbónìrègún (Hunter/Gatherer of Medicine); Lólòtunla-pèluè (Foreseer of the day after tomorrow); and Ajejuoogùn (Stronger than Witchcraft). Agbónìrègún alludes to Ifa s capacity to bring Good Fortune into our lives by treating and curing illnesses by magical and naturopathic means. Lólòtunla-pèluè underscores the fact that Ifa can see the realities of the present and potentialities of the future that escapes the shortsighted vision of modern man. Ajejuoogùn confirms Ifa s mastery over malevolent witchcraft. It also validates the parables declaring Ifa s ability to solve any malady including aggressive envy, malevolent witchcraft, psychic negativity, et. al. Ifa, both the divination system and divinity, teaches us important life lessons and problem solving skills by chronicling the collective experiences of the Yoruba Orisa (deities) and Eegun (ancestor spirits) within an oracular, poetic or proverbic form. Ifa diviners perform divination rituals that reveal an individual s past lives, life purposes, strengths, and vulnerabilities. The sacred materials of Ifa divination simultaneously acts as the apparatus or tools of divination and the emblems and symbols of the divinity. In this vein, Ifa is called oke ipori, which means figuratively the blueprint of destiny or the knowledge of life. Essentially, many West African divination rituals inform participants with pertinent information about their familial lineage and fate. This information plays an important role in forming solutions to present-day and future dilemmas. Ifa divination plays a significant role in the lives of many persons who want to lead lives free of the disillusionment, confusion, anxiety, and schizophrenia that is particularly apparent in modern life. People seek the services of professional Ifa diviners to eliminate obstacles by opening the path to success in all types of endeavors. Entrepreneurs use Ifa divination to lay a solid foundation in the launch of a new business. Prospective homebuyers employ Ifa divination to provide critical information to help them choose a financial plan, neighborhood, realtor, mortgage broker, and home. There are a number of specific divination ceremonies that are used by Ifa diviners to provide a successful foundation for communal, familial, and personal enterprises. Two of the most prominent divination rituals related to an individual s material and spiritual advancement are called Esen taye (or Ikose W aye) and Imori (or Igbori). Esen taye and Imori are prime illustrations of the value and necessity of Ifa divination. Esen taye is a divination ritual and naming ceremony for newborns. By means of 3

4 Esen taye, newborns are given their formal names. These names reflect the newborn s hereditary characteristics, predestined future, and metaphysical relationships with guardian or patron earth spirits, deified ancestors, and/ or deities. For example, the male name Ogundiipe is transliterated to mean one who has taken on the burden of solitude or introspection. An infant with the name Ogundiipe signifies, among other things, that the child will be a hot-tempered, deepthinking, and physically strong male who is blessed with the special patronage of the god of iron called Ogun. To attain happiness and prosperity, Ogundiipe should lead a meditative, contemplative life. This child must live in a remote rural or suburban area and practice the solitary professions of blacksmith, sculptor, or metallic jewelry designer in adulthood. Another poignant example is found in the name Fagunwa. Fagunwa is a very ancient male name of a warrior avatar or earthly incarnation of the divination divinity Ifa. Fagunwa is credited with launching an important, albeit unsuccessful, insurgency against the Muslim Hausa marauders in the late 12th century in a period of unrest throughout West Africa. Etymologically speaking, the name Fagunwa alludes to the following- one who fights using Ifa medicine. In West African culture, Ifa medicine suggests the use of powerful amulets, talismans, and incantations by a special class of warriors that defended the oba s (king s) palaces and shrines in times of war. The name Fagunwa indicates that the child is a very intellectually gifted, physically aggressive male blessed with the aid, guidance, and support of the divination divinity called Ifa or Fa. For this male child to attain everlasting material success, Fagunwa must become a high-ranking military officer, politician, or political strategist. Esen taye also analyzes numerous factors including the position and conditions of the newborn in the womb. For instance, when a male child is born with a thin membrane over his head or with the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck, he is considered to be born in a caul (ala, oke). This is an indication that this male child must be initiated to the priesthood of the deity of creativity, Orisanla. If a female child is born in a caul, then she must worship her father s lineage of ancestors and become an initiate of a fertility deity called Oba. In addition, Esen taye provides a family with a detailed analysis of the newborns predestined character, moral strengths, ethical flaws, ambitions, major life transitions, and age-specific needs in an effort to avail parents of the best ways to raise the child in the midst of a volatile, hyper-capitalist, and intolerant society. Esen taye also gives children a much needed reservoir of self-esteem, self- 4

5 respect, and dignity. The psychological and sociological affect of Esen taye on children is very, very positive due to the positive impacts of knowing the path to prosperity and success throughout various stages of one s life. This self-knowledge is absent from the lives of the vast majority of the world s population, which lead chaotic lives of doubt, self-deprecation, and perpetual apprehension. Imori is a divination ritual performed for children or adults seeking further spiritual and material advancement via initiation into the mysteries of a particular deity, secret society, or religious path. Esen taye identifies and reports one s genetic composition, while Imori provides further analysis of the esoteric spiritual dimensions of an individual s genetic composition. Imori focuses on revealing the specific earth spirits, deified ancestors, deities, and religious practices that a person must follow in order to enjoy a prosperous life on earth and in the afterlife. Imori emphasizes the messages, desires, and needs of a person s astral (Ori), ethereal (Emi), and physical (Ara) identities. Imori identifies whether an individual has reincarnated from the mother s or father s side of their ancestral lineage. This information is all-important because it is understood that specific physical strengths/weaknesses and supernatural powers/vulnerabilities are passed onto our offspring via the male and female sides of our familial lineages. As such, many West African gods and goddesses that convey material blessings to an offspring genetically through the father s lineage include the divination divinity Ifa and the patron deity of children Korikoto. Meanwhile, the Yoruba gods and goddesses associated with the mother s lineage that genetically convey intuition and psychic aptitude to an offspring include the river spirit Osun, the deified sorcerer Osanyin, and the patron divinity of herbalists, Erinle. In essence Esen taye and Imori employ Ifa divination to improve people s lives by identifying destinies, improving psychic defense capabilities, reinforcing strengths, bolstering weaknesses, preventing calamities, reversing potential misfortunes, maximizing predestined blessings, and minimizing the adverse impacts of predestined hexes (or black magic). As we have previously illustrated Ifa divination provides one with a blueprint for living a prosperous and harmonious life on earth. In a modern world often consumed by lawlessness, chaos, confusion, family instability, violence, indifference, and disillusionment, Ifa communicates with one s soul and most innermost intuitive consciousness to reveal a successful path for us to trod based entirely on our own personal histories, realities, capacities, and best interests. Ifa is 5

6 best known as the revealer of fates, supporter of the weak, and confidant to all. Ifa explains ways that we can maximize opportunities for prosperity and longevity, while mitigating and eventually overcoming our flaws and delusions. Ifa divination with a competent and experienced Ifa diviner teaches us the intellectual, instinctual, and intuitive capacity necessary for everlasting material success and long life. COPYRIGHT 2004 IFAWUMI JOSEPH ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. DISCLAIMER: This is an original publication written by Oluwo Ifawumi Joseph. Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited. This article has been distributed to a select number of websites and journals who have limited permission to present the work in its original form unadulterated and unedited with the author s name and contact information. No other use of this material is authorized. CONTACT: Oluwo Ifawumi is a knowledgeable and experienced Ifa priest, metaphysician, spiritualist, botanist, and herbalist. He can be reached via at ifawumijoseph@yahoo.com and by telephone at (202)