Divination is universally concerned with practical problems and it seeks information from which practical decisions may be made. The source of such information is not conceived as mundane.

The divinatory arts are many and a broad understanding of them can only emerge from a survey of actual practices in various cultural settings. Men all over the world practice divination and device various methods of doing this.

The Assyro-Babylonians have their Bam (seer and diviner) who employ hapatoacopy-divination by observing the liver of sheep which had been used for sacrifice. The Buddhists in India practice astrology and they use lots and oracles as a means of divination.

The Greeks had their oracular shrinks of Jupiter at Dodona and Apollo at Delphi. The Romans used the Sortes and the Japanese use Ornoplatoscopy. In Roman society, auspices (auspicia) are the means by which the Romans seek to ascertain the support of the gods.

Other forms of divination are palmistry, dream interpretation and astrology. Diviners of similar kinds include the many types of media who may communicate with the dead (necromancy process) as well as crystal gazers, dream interpreters, and diviners by automatic writing.

Like the other peoples of the world, the Yoruba employ various systems. Of all the methods of divination employed by the Yoruba, Ifa divination is considered the most reliable, and the most popular means of divination.

Ifa divination is both a body of knowledge and a system of social, emotional, pathological control, employing relevant historical and mythological precedents contained in the special divinatory verses to be recited, chanted, or song by the Babalawo. lfa divination is the most complex system of divination both in its repertoire of verses and in its range of applications. To the Yoruba, divination, or consultation with the supreme divinity (Orunmila) is of crucial spiritual importance. The oral tradition emphasizes the part played by Orunmila is guiding the destiny of man and divinities. One reason given for his intimate knowledge of matters affecting man’s destiny is that Orunmila is present when a man is being created. Therefore he knows all the secrets of human beings and thus he can reveal what one has destined and if the destiny is an unfortunate one, Orunmila can prescribe remedies to avert the misfortune. This is why Orunmila is being described as Elerii-ipin (the witness of destiny or lot), ‘Obirikiti A-pa-ojo-iku-da’ (the great one, who alters the date of death).

Ifa divination is operated by means of the configuration called Odu. In the Ifa corpus are as many as 256 possibilities (16 principal and 240 minor Odu) each containing mythological stories which the Babalawo narrates in the process of divination.

Chief Awodele Ifayemi

Oluawo

Chief Awodele Ifayemi comes from a long line of reputable Babalawos. He is the Awo Mayegun of Ilobu Land, Osun State Nigeria. He shares his knowledge of Ifá with whoever is seeking to find their “truth” in life. He teaches that Ifá is a Spiritual Philosophy that teaches Self-Empowerment via Self-Accountability.

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18 Comments

  1. I really like when people are expressing their opinion and thought. So I like the way you are writing

  2. Hi there, I found your blog via Google while searching for first aid for a heart attack and your post looks very interesting for me.

  3. You really make good articles I would say. This is the first time I visited your site and so far I am impressed with the research you made to make this article awesome. Good Job!

  4. I really like the fresh perspective you did on the issue. Really was not expecting that when I started off studying. Your concepts were easy to understand that I wondered why I never looked at it before. Glad to know that there’s an individual out there that definitely understands what he’s discussing. Great job.

    1. Alaafia Stephen;

      Thank you for your visit and comments. Hope to see you again. You may want to check out my new eBook “New World Obi.” This eBook gives you a solid foundation on the divination process. It is completely illustrated, and I go over the process of divination and so doing show how to interpret Odu. Although this eBook focus on using the New World Obi for divination, the principals shown are the foundation needed in order to understand the subtle relationships between Odu and the Opon Ifa.

      Ogbó àtó Asure Ìwòrìwòfún.

      O dábò!
      Chief Awodele Ifayemi
      Atunwase Awo of Ilobulan
      Follow Me on:
      Twitter: https://twitter.com/IfaBabalawo
      Facebook: https://ileifa.org/facebookfanpage

  5. I read about it some days ago in another blog and the main things that you mention here are very similar

  6. You really make good articles I would say. This is the first time I visited your site and so far I am impressed with the research you made to make this article awesome. Good Job!

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  8. Its very informative and interesting article.all the points are very useful. Simple but very effective writing. Thanks for sharing such a nice post.

  10. Buenos días, con todo respeto, en primer lugar saludos, en segundo lugar para felicitar por la presente página weeb muy importante e interesante y en tercer lugar para solicitar información si es factible adquirir a través de ustedes el libro IFA DIVINATION (Adivinación de Ifá) del doctor William Bascon, traducido al español, el cual consta de aproximadamente 545 páginas.

    Gracias

    Pedro

  11. hugo cardenas hugo cardenas says:

    mas contento con su pagina, aunque no hablo ingles, entiendo mucho de lo que explica olodumare lo bendiga

    1. Awódélé Ifáyemí Awódélé Ifáyemí says:

      Alafia Hugo;

      Gracias por su reciente visita. Espero volver a verlo por aqui pronto.

      Ogbó àtó Asure Ìwòrìwòfún.

      O dábò!
      Chief Awodele Ifayemi
      Atunwase Awo of Ilobuland

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