Ifá



Ifá is a divination system originating among the Yoruba people of West Africa. It plays an important role in Yoruba religion and certain African diasporic religions deriving from it, such as Cuban Santería.

According to traditional belief, Ifá is associated with Orunmila, who is one of the orisha spirits central to Yoruba religion. Its oracular literary body is made up of 256 volumes (signs) that are divided into two categories, the first called Ojú Odù or main Odù that consists of 16 chapters. The second category is composed of 240 chapters called Amúlù Odù (omoluos), these are composed through the combination of the main Odù.

The system of divination used in Ifá is a code to access a literary corpus, the Odù Ifá. Orunmila is identified as the Grand Priest, as he revealed the foundational divinity and prophecy (the first 16 Odu) to the world. Babaláwos or Ìyánífás are usually called Ifa priests, but really, they are both priests and scholars; the equivalent of professors in classical university systems. They use either the divining chain known as Ọ̀pẹ̀lẹ̀, or the sacred palm (Elaeis guineensis) or kola nuts called Ikin, on the wooden divination tray called Ọpọ́n Ifá to mathematically calculate which Odu to use for what problem.

History
The 16-principle system has 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. 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. She initiated the Alado of Ato and conferred on him the right to initiate others. The Alado, in turn, initiated the priests of Oyo and that was how Ifá came to be in the Oyo empire.

Yoruba tradition
In Yorubaland, divination gives priests unreserved access to the teachings of Orunmila. 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) and thus acts as Oluwinni (one's Creditor): he can grant ire or remove it. Ifá divination rites provide an avenue of communication to the spiritual realm and the intent of one's destiny.

Odù Ifá
There are sixteen major books in the Odu Ifá 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.

The Messenger sign of Ifá
In addition to the sixteen fundamental signs, Ifá divination includes a major sign, which is the combination of Ọse and Otura, from right to left (Ọse-Tura).

That sign must be written each time a ritual is performed: Ọse-Tura is the messenger and the carrier of the sacrifice. It is closely associated with the god Èṣù in the system of Ifá. That Messenger sign was known in Arab and Latin medieval geomancy as the Morning Star, that is as the planet Venus. In other words, Ọse-Tura is a remainder of ancient astrology in Ifá divination.

Babalawos
In Cuba, traditionally only heterosexual men are allowed to become babalawos, although homosexual male babalawos now exist due to the more open policy for Santería initiates. Women are typically prohibited from taking on this role, a restriction explained through the story that the òrìṣà Orula was furious that Yemayá, his wife, had used his tabla divining board and subsequently decided to ban women from ever touching it again. In spite of this legend, by the early 21st century, a small number of women have since been initiated as babalawos. Female practitioners have also been reported in Mexico.

Initiation as a babalawo requires a payment to the initiator and is typically regarded as highly expensive.

The Church of Ifá (Nigeria, Benin)
According to William Bascom, "an indication of the importance of Ifá to the [Yoruba] religious system as a whole is the fact that the most striking religious syncretisms resulting from European contact are to be found in a church established in Lagos in 1934, the Ijọ Ọ̀rúnmila Adulawọ, which was founded on the premise that the teachings of Ifa constitute the Yoruba Bible." It was also set up in Porto-Novo (Benin) the same year.

According to Erwan Dianteill, the Church of Ifá is still active in 2024, in Nigeria and Benin, with around 2000 followers in Lagos, Porto-Novo and Cotonou.

Ifá in Cuba
At the time of the Cuban Revolution in 1959, there were an estimated 200 babalawos active on Cuba; by the 1990s, Cuban babalawos were claiming that they numbered tens of thousands on the island. Ifá is used in the Afro-Cuban religion of Santería; it is the most complex and prestigious divinatory system used in the religion. The two are closely linked, sharing the same mythology and conception of the universe, although Ifá also has a separate existence from Santería. High priests of Ifá are known as babalawos and although their presence is not essential to Santería ceremonies, they often attend in their capacity as diviners. Many santeros are also babalawos, although it is not uncommon for babalawos to perceive themselves as being superior to most santeros. Other Cuban babalawos have been initiates of the Abakuá society.

The òrìṣà of Ifá, Orula or Ọ̀rúnmila, also has a prominent place within Santería. He is believed to oversee divination; once an individual is initiated as a babalawo they are given a pot containing various items, including palm nuts, which is believed to be the literal embodiment of Orula. Babalawos provide offerings to Orula, including animal sacrifices and gifts of money. In Cuba, Ifá typically involves the casting of consecrated palm nuts to answer a question. The babalawo then interprets the message of the nuts depending on how they have fallen; there are 256 possible configurations in the Ifá system, which the babalawo is expected to have memorised. Individuals approach the babalawo seeking guidance, often on financial matters, at which the diviner will consult Orula through the established divinatory method. In turn, those visiting the babalawos pay them for their services.

Ifá in Brazil
Although surviving in Cuban Santería, Ifá did not remain part of a Brazilian religion that owed much to Yoruba traditions, Candomblé. In Candomblé, dilogun instead forms the primary method of divination employed by its initiates. One of the earliest practitioners of Ifá in Brazil was the French ethnographer Pierre Verger, who had become a babalawo in West Africa and who was also involved in Candomblé.

As a result of growing links between Brazil and Nigeria, in the 1970s various educational efforts to promote understandings of Yoruba culture were established in Brazilian cities. This included the Yoruba Culture Research and Study Centre, founded in 1977 by Fernandes Portugal, and which brought in Nigerian teachers to run a course teaching Ifá. The closing ceremony took place in January 1978, attended by 14 students who were granted the status of omo (son of) Ifá. One of these pupils, a Candomblé initiate named José Nilton Vianna Reis (Torodê de Ogun), later went on to become a babalawo nine years later, before setting out his own Ifá teaching course in 1984.

Ifá in the United States
In 1978, Ifá ceremonies took place in Miami, Florida, overseen by the Nigerian babalawo Ifayẹmi Elébùìbọn Awise of Osogbo. He was assisted in this by two Cuban babalawos, Luis Fernández-Pelón and José-Miguel Gómez, both of whom were Abakuá members.

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".

Notable followers

 * Yoshiaki Koshikawa, Japanese professor of literature at Meiji University and first Japanese person to be initiated as a babalawo.
 * Susanne Wenger, Austrian artist
 * Patrisse Cullors, American co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement
 * Shéyaa Bin Abraham-Joseph (21 Savage), British-American rap artist.
 * Xolo Maridueña, American actor.
 * Iyanla Vanzant, American author, life and spiritual coach, Iyanifa and Priestess of Obatala.
 * Ifáyẹmi Ọ̀ṣúndàgbonù Elebuibon Nigerian writer, poet, author, linguist.
 * Wande Abimbola Nigerian academician, professor, researcher