Understanding Yoruba Life & Culture
Bade Ajayi
INTRODUCTION
Divination is a phenomenon found in all races at all times.
It is universally concerned with practical problems of everyday
life. The divinatory arts are many and a broad understanding can
only emerge from a survey of actual practices in various cultural
settings. Divination is of various forms. Forms such as palmistry,
dream interpretation, and astrology are popular in highly
developed societies. Diviners are also of different kinds; they
include many types of media who communicate with the dead, and
crystal gazers, all of which are popular in the Western world today.
Like the other peoples of the world, the Yoruba have
various forms of divination. They include Erindinlogun which
involves the casting of sixteen cowries. Agbigba, which employs a
set of separate strings with four markers each, and iyanrin tite
(sand printing). Others are obi dida (kolanut casting)', omiwiwo
(water gazing), owo wiwo (palmistry/ owo wiwo (money gazing),
atipa or abokuusoro, wiwo oju (eye gazing) and digi wiwo (mirror
gazing). Of all these methods of divination employed by the
Yoruba, Ifa divination is considered the most important, the most
reliable, and the most popular.2 We are aware that scholars3 have
analyzed the structure of ese Ifa (Ifa verse). But in this chapter, our
attention is focused on the totality of what happens from the
moment a client enters a babalawo^ house till he departs after
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offering a prescribed sacrifice. Babalawo is the diviner or Ifa
priest.
THE STRUCTURE OF IFA DIVINATION PROCESS4
The early stage Ifa divination session begins as soon as a
client gels to the Babalawo1 s house. First, he greets the diviner
after which he then tells the diviner what his/her mission is. The
Babalawo asks the client to whisper his/her problem to the divining
chain. The Babalawo then holds the opele. a common divinatory
object and "pays homage" to some unseen power. After that he
starts divining. Ifa divination process has a structural which
distinguishes it from other forms of divination among the Yoruba.
Ifa divination process can be divided into three broad structural
parts, namely prologue, narrative, and epilogue. The prologue
begins the process, followed by the narrative, and ends with the
epilogue. Although there are a number of subsections, each of the
three major divisions adopted in this study cohesive unit. The
internal structure of each division is as follows:
1. The Prologue
(a) Babalawo divining for an Odu5 to
emerge.
(b) Emergence of an Odu
2. The Narrative
(c) Interpretation of Odu sign
(d) Narrating Related stories.
(e) Explanation of the Message contained in
ese Ifa (Ifa verse).
3. The Epilogue
(f) Client's view of the Revelation.
(g) Details findings with the use of Ibo.
(h) Prescription of Sacrifice.
(j) Performance of Sacrifice.
CRITERIA USED FOR THREE DIVISIONS
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The three-fold division is adopted after a careful
observation of the process of Ifa divination. The criteria used for
the trichotomy are the consideration of the content, the form and
the sentence types that characterize each part. The prologue
contains essentially the homage, seeking the support and blessings
of the spiritual powers and invoking their presence in the
divination process. The narrative part consists of the story of the
past events or incidents which serve as a precedent to the case at
hand. Also contained in the narrative is the interpretation of ese
Ifa. The most important parts of the epilogue are the sacrifice and
the rites which will be prescribed.
The form of presentation is another criterion upon which
the three-told division is based. The prologue is rendered
essentially in verse form. The language here is partly esoteric as
the Babalawo directs the invocatory utterance to the super-natural
powers and partly in prose {sometimes in verse) so that the artist
(the Babalawo) might have effective communication with his
clients. What he expresses in esoteric verse is often explained or
interpreted in prose form for the client. The epilogue is usually
more in verse than in prose form. This is because the Babalawo is
supposed to direct his appeal to the gods or goddesses as the case
may be and some spirits whom he asks to bless and accept the
offerings.
The most recurrent sentences in the prologue are in
imperative form.
For example:
Onmmila a gbo o, Akinoosa,
B 'o ha li ri ni o wi o,
Ma fire pebi, mafibi pere.
(Orunmila you certainly heard, Akinoosa [a brave deity],
Tell exactly what you heard,
Don't call a good thing a bad one or vice versa.)
Then we have the narrative part of the process. In this part,
the diviner plays the role of an interpreter and messenger (one who
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is merely passing on messages and information). He would tell the
client what Ifa said. For instance, he will say:
Ifa ni ki Oniyen ntbo,
Ifa pe oitn o ni i je ki eleeni o (e.
(Ifa said that the person should offer a sacrifice).
(Ifa said that he would not let the person be disgraced.)
The third structure we need to consider is the epilogue.
Like the prologue, the epilogue is dominated by imperative
sentences, but also punctuated by questions, as if to express
anxiety on the part of the client, and the Babalawo. A typical
question is Kin ni a bo ru lebo (What we offer for sacrifice?). And
when an Odu says ire (blessings), the Babalawo would have to find
out Ire kin ni? Ire owo? Ire aiku? (Which kind of blessing?
Blessing of money? Blessing of long life?). Every Ifa divination
manifests these three-fold division.
INTERELATION OF STUCTURAL PARTS
When a man is faced with some problems such as the fear
of death or of enemies, or is in want of something, he consults
Orunmila through the Babalawo ( the diviner of Ifa priest) for
advice and guidance. The man’s belief is that the Babalawo is the
only trusted traditional "consultant pharmacist" and herbalist who
is capable of solving his problems. And to do this, the Babalawoi
seeks the support of the deities and other supernatural beings to be
effective. So he goes into invocation. The interpretation of the Odu
(the sign that the babalawo interprets) that appears after the
invocation is narrated to the client. Where there is need for
clarification the Babalawo also provides it. In the process the client
is also given some prescriptions of what he is required to do and
invariably some kind of offering or sacrifice is prescribed. The
client invariably goes home feeling satisfied and believing that if
the prescribed sacrifice is performed the problems which took him
to the Babalowo would be solved.
MERITS OF THE THREE-FOLD DIVISION
As discussed above, the three parts of Ifa divination process
- the prologue, the narrative and the epilogue are closely related.
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The three-fold division enables us to see the process as a unit.
Furthermore, the division signifies the form, content and language
structure of the divination process. From the foregoing it can be
said that every Ifa divination manifests the threefold division we
are trying to present in this chapter. The three-fold structure is
therefore a proof that the narrative does not exist in isolation. It is
preceded by a prologue and followed by an epilogue.
APPLICATION OF THE THREE-FOLD DIVISION
Several Odu 5 emerge during the series of Ifa divination
processes which we observed during our research. The following is
an excerpt of the cases when Eji-Ogbe (the premier Ifa corpus)
emerged during the divination process we observed. This example
is used here to illustrate the three structural parts. We will present
the matter first in Yoruba in order to preserve our recording, and
then attempt to translate into English as nearly as we can best
render it.
Ibere
Babalawo: f!4 wo di opele mu laarin, o na an siwaju re)
Onmmila o gbo o, Akinoosa.
Balogun lode orun, Olimmoran lode Owo,
Arihinin rohunun,
O gbo ohun to wi o,
Iwo lawo, emi logberi,
B 'o ba ti n ni o wi o,
Mafirepebi, mafibipere.
Iwaju opon o gbo,
Eyin opon o gbo.
Olumu lotunun, Olukunran losi.
Aarin opon o^gbo ita orun.
lleo gboAghalagude,
Atiwaye ojo, atiwo oorun,
Aje iwo naa gbo;
O gho ohun ti olowo yii wi o,
Ire! (Babalawo da opefe)
Babalawo:Eji-Ogbe-Ogbe, baba Ifa (Odu to hu)
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Ire ni Ifa I 'ohun ri.
Ire owo, aya, omo (awo gbe opele sanle)
Beeko, ni awo yii? (o gbe opele sanle leeekeji)
Owo otun (Owo-eyo to duro fun
bee,ni ni adibo/onibeere kokoju sile).
Itan(Ifa)
.
Babalawo: (Awo bere si i so ohun ti Ifa wi,
o n ki Ifa)
Eni te da Eji-Ogbe, Ifa ni ki oniyen rubo. Ifa I'oun o nij'oju
o ti i. Ifa pe gbogbo ohun ti elemi ba ti dawole ni o ma yori si
daadaa. If ape ki oniyen o rubo aje, ko rubo obirin,
ko rubo omo, pe ire to tori re dafa si, pe ire naa o sun un
bo.
Edudu o wule du,
Okunkun won o wule kun.
Jalagba I' awo aghara.
A difafun Atenilara awo okun.
Edudu o wule du.
Okunkun won o wide kun,
Jalagba I 'awo aghara.
A difa fun Atenlara awo osa.
Edudu o wule du,
Okunkun won o wule kun,
Jalagba lawo agbara,
A difa fun Atenilara awo atan omi
Atenilara awo okun,
Eni ti o ba ni lowo ko ni isinmi.
Bee ni ti awo osa,
Bee ni ti atan omi.
Orunmila lo wa da/ape awon atenilara yii, mateela le
pefoun, oun o
le te bayii? Won ni ebo ni ko ru, Orunmila si rubo.
Atenilara awo okun lontko a ape aje.
/fa pe ki eleeni o rubo aje.
Atenilara awo osa loruko a ape obirin,
Ifape ki oniyen o rubo obirin
Atenilara awo atan ami I'oruko a ape omo
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Understanding Yoruba Life & Culture
Ifa pe ki Oluware rubo omo.
Orunmila lowo lowo, o lobinrin, o si bimo, ni inu re wa dun
ni n se?:
Ori mi apere,
Aya mi afobi kan
Orisa-agbo ko ma ma je ki Atenilara o te ni.
Ifape oun o ni ije ki eleeni o te. Ifape oun o oje ire o to
oniyenkm. Agbebo adie, oke mefa, eku ati eja ni ebo re.
Ipari (Ikadii)
Onibeere: Eseun awo. Gbogbo ahun ti mo daniyan ni eja,
nigbatia kifa. Mo setan lati ru ebo ti e ka silefun mi. (Onibeere
rubo, babalawosigk ebo naa siwaju.)
Babalawo: Nigba ti a da Ifa fun Ajibade, Eji-Oghe lojade,
0 ni ire. k kin ni? Oni ire aje, ire aya, ire omo. Kin la o se? O ni
ebo ni ki a ru. Ni igbom gbooru lo ru ebo tia ka silefun un. Ebo
naaniyio, Ifa. Je kojinjekoda.jek to ode orun, je ki ebo re to owo
Eledaa. (Awo kifa lo hi ile bi eni)
Eji-Ogbe dakun ba ni se e, fiye denufiye dekun, jive de
gbogbo am, Olalekun., Ominikun, atatabiakun...
Oyeku Meji wa a ba ni se e...Ko o fiye denu, ko o fiye
dekun, koo fiye de gbogbo ara. Eji iwori waa ba wa se e...
Ogundabede waa ba wa se e... Okanransa waa ba se
e...Okanransa wa a gbebo naa. Okanransa awo ofo ile lo difa
funle, okanransa awo aso lo difa f'aso.
Won lawon meteeta o wa rubo. Oko rubo, ile rubo, aso naa
rubo, won o ku, won o run, won n se:
A i i gboku oko,
A i i gboku aso,
A i i gboku ile,
Aft bo gbo.
Je ki Ajibade o gbo kangeje ofapajo,je oferigijobi Okanran o two, o ni b 'oun o niyo, oun o gbonara sebo (habalawo
gbon opele si ebo, o gbe le onibeere lowo). Gbogbo ohitn to
banfowo gbamu, majeobaje. (Awogbeebo si ori ile) To ba kan ile
tan orun elebo ni i lo. (Won gbe ebo lo idi Esu).
Adimula :
O gbo Ifa o Adimula
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Biku ba n bo, bo o,
Ban-in ba n bo o, bo o,
Bese ba n bo, bo o,
Begba ba n bo, bo o,
Eire aje, ire aya, ire omo, ire aiku pari iwa
Ba n ho, ko o si i sile. (Onibeere si
owo re mejeeji to da de opele)6.
Prologue
Babalawo: (The priest holds the divining
chain in the middle and streches it forward)
Orunmila you heard? Akinoosa
The officer in heaven, the
knower in the town of Owo.
One that sees everything,
You heard what the client said silently.
You are the knowledgeable one.
I am an ignorant person.
That he said you heard, I did not hear it.
Tell exactly what you heard.
Don't call a good thing a bad one
nor bad, a good one.
Front of the divining tray you hear.
Back of the divining tray you hear.
One on the right, one on the left.
Middle of the divining tray you hear,
open air in heaven.
The ground (praised) Agbalagude: you heard
The dawn and the sunset.
Goddess of money you also heard, - . •
You heard what the owner of this money said.
Goodness! (Babaiawo casts opele)
. ..- .
Eje-Ogbe: father of Ifa (Babaiawo
names the Odu that emerged)
Ifa said he saw blessing, is it blessing of
money, wife and children? (Babaiawo casts
opele again)
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Understanding Yoruba Life & Culture
This broken plate signifies "No" (he casts
opele a second time).
The right hand (the concealer dropped cowry
shells indicating "Yes" to the question).
Narrative7
Babaiawo: (The priest interprets and narrates Ifa message)
The people for whom Eji-Ogbe is cast,
Ifa requested him to offer a sacrifice.
Ifa said he would not let the person
fall into disgrace and disrepute.
Ifa said whatever that person might lay his hands on
would prosper.
Ifa instructed the person to perform sacrifice in respect
of money, wife, children, that he would have all
required blessings in abundance.
The blackness was not merely blackened
Darkness was not merely darkened
Jalagba was the priest of erosion.
Is the one who performed Ifa divination for Atenilara
the priest of the sea?
The blackness was not merely blackened,
Darkness was not merely darkened,
Jalagba was the priest of erosion,
is the one who performed Ifa divination for Atenilara
the priest of the sea?
The blackness was not merely blackened,
Darkness was not merely darkened.
Jalagba was the priest of large water
Atenilara the priest of Ocean
He who has no money has no rest of mind,
So it was in the case of the priest of sea
The same was that of large water.
It was Orunmila that consulted his priest if he could have
the three in his possession, he would not be disgraced. They
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instructed him (Orunmila) to offer a sacrifice. Orunmila performed
the prescribed sacrifice.
Atenilara the priest of Ocean is the name of money,
Ifa said the person should offer sacrifice because of money.
Atenilara the priest of sea is the name of women
Ifa instructed the person concerned to offer a sacrifice
because
of a wife
Atenilara the priest of the large water is the name of
children
Ifa instructed the person to offer a sacrifice because of
children
Orunmila had money, he had wives, and he had children,
he felt
happy and began to sing;
My head is a good one
My chest that is touched with kolanut
Orisa-agbo does not permit Atenilara to disgrace me
Ifa said that he would not let that person be disgraced.
Ifa said that the person would be blessed.
A hen, three Naira [Nigerian currency], rat and fish
constitute
The sacrifice to offer.
Epilogue
Client: Thank you, the priest. You have touched all the
things that I had in mind. I am now prepared to perform the
prescribed sacrifice. (The client offers the sacrifice and the
Babalawo places the offering in front of him).
Babalawo:(directing his attention to the divinity) When we
divined Ifa for Ajibade, Eji-Ogbe emerged. It said blessings.
Blessings of what? It said blessings of money, wives, and children.
What shall we do? It said we were to offer a sacrifice. Instantly, he
performed the prescribed sacrifice. This is the offer, Ifa,
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Understanding Yoruba Life & Culture
Please let the sacrifice be accepted in heaven and let it
reach the Creator. (The priest at this point narrates many related
stories).
Eji-Ogbe. please help us, assist us and whole-heartedly
support us in this offer.
Olalekan. Ominikun, atatabiakun Oyeku Meji please come and bless this offer - please
pardon us, whole-heartedly support us. Eji-Iwori come and support
us. Ogundabede come and join us - Ojekulogbe come and join us Osetua come and support us - Okanransa come and accept the
sacrifice. Okanransa the priest of hoe divined for hoe. Okanransa
the priest of ground divined for the ground. Okanransa the priest of
clothes divined for clothes.
The three of them were instructed to offer sacrifices. He
performed a sacrifice, ground performed a sacrifice, and clothes
also performed a sacrifice. They neither died nor fell sick, they
started saying:
No one hears the death of a hoe,
No one hears the death of a clothe,
No one hears the death of the ground.
Let Ajibade grow very old, let him dance with his arms
(when he could not stand to dance); let him eat kola nut when he is
toothless - Okanran has no salt, it said if it has no salt, it would
shake its body over the sacrifice (the Ifa priest shakes opele on the
sacrifice and places the offering on the palms of the client. (The
priest places the offering on the ground). Once it touches the
ground, it goes to the world beyond (the offering is taken to the
Esu shrine outside the priest's house).
Adimula: (Blessing offered after taking offering down).
You hear Ifa, Adimula - When disease is coming, cover him up.
When ese (paralysis) is coming, cover him up; if egba (a deadly
desease) is coming, cover him up. But when the blessings of
money, wives, children and long life are coming, uncover him.
(The client removes the two palms with which he covers the
divining chain).
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THE PROLOGUE
This structural part of Ifa divination process consists of
divining for an Odu to emerge. The main function of this part is to
introduce the performance of If a divination that leads to the
emergence of an Odu.
After the client has told the Babalawo of his or her intention,
whispered to the opele as instructed by the diviner, he (the
Babalawo} pays homage as usual to the unseen powers. He then
casts the divining chain for a decisive Odu to emerge. It is
noteworthy that the appearance of an Odu marks the beginning of
the structure of Ifa divination process. In the excerpt, Eji-Ogbe, the
first principal Odu depicting blessings of all sorts appeared. It is
the duty of the Babalawo to find out details as to which kind of
blessing the client should expect. The Babalawo did so in the last
three lines of the prologue.
THE NARRATIVE
The second main part of Ifa divination process is often
marked1 interpretation of the Odu sign, or narration of the stories
connected with tin The interpretation (the first few lines of
narrative part) has much of the ] Ifape or Ifa ni (Ifa said that). This
part may be in prose or verse or a combination of the two forms,
depending on the narrator. For example, a Babalawo may sing the
whole narrative, exemplified above, while some others like Chief
Agboola Fasina8 whose text we have reproduced here presented
the ese in pro; verse. Under narrative, the message of Orunrnila is
communicated to the and the Babalawo would want to ensure that
he is understood; hence he used prose to make his points explicit.
Events reported in the narrative are generally accepted as
true. The credibility of the narrative is further supported by a
cosmological j in which relations between human beings,
divinities, ancestors and other mythological figures are viewed as a
projection of relations between people in a particular society.9 By
recounting consultation believed to have ai happened, the
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Babalawo is able to induce the client to identify situations: or
relevant to his own case. The client now believes and sees a
precedent even his present problem would also be overcome.
Offer of sacrifice is very important in Ifa divination.
Whether \ revealed is fortune or misfortune, the client is expected
to perform the pres sacrifice. In the text, the client was asked to
offer a sacrifice so that he might have money, wives and children.
Ifape ki oniyen o rubo owo, obinrin, ko rubt (Ifa requires that the
person offer a sacrifice in order to have money, wives, and
children). Here the items of sacrifice are not specified but in some
cases, to offer are listed (see the last statement in the narrative part
of the excerpt).
THE EPILOGUE
The explanation given to the Babalawo as to the
applicability; narrative to his (client's) own case and the offer of
sacrifice form the c theme of the epilogue in the excerpt. Orunmila,
for whom a similar divination was performed, offered the
prescribed sacrifice and he was blessed money, wives, and
children. Perhaps it is this incident that encouraged present client
to offer the same sacrifice instantly, with the hope of g equal
rewards- blessings of money, wives, and children.
Normally, the function of the epilogue is to signal
conclusion of the divination process. It must be emphasized that in
most cases, the prescribed sacrifice is offered, but it might not be
performed immediately. Rim ebo ni igbe ni, aim ki i gbeeyan (It is
the making of sacrifice that brings blessing; neglect of sacrifice
pays no man) is the warning every Babalawo gives when narrating
the relevant .stories.
When performing the sacrificial rites, several Odu are
presented and certain texts of these Odu are sung to bless the
offering. The Odu that are specifically meant for sacrificial rites
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include all the principal Odu mostly from Eji-ogbe) Ogundabede,
Ojekulogbe, Iworiwofun, Obarabogbe,Owonrinsogbe,Okanransa
and Osetua, all of which are collectively called Agbebodo (those
that make a sacrifice acceptable). As mentioned earlier, any jf the
256 Odu can emerge at the first casting of opele during a
divination
session. It is from such Odu that a relevant ese lfa will be sung
when performing
he sacrifice. Then, the Eji-Ogbe, Oyeku Meji, Iwori Meji and as
many of the principal Odu as the Babalawo picks relevant stories
from the above specific minor Odu are presented. Each story, or
song is punctuated with deep hearted prayer for the clients. As
emphasized by our informant Babalawo (Olaifa Ajayi. Oyedele
Isola and Anafi Ajala), it is not compulsory to narrate ese Ifa from
all the principal Odu and the minor Odu mentioned above at a
particular offering. The Odu that first appears, then Eji-Ogbe and
the two or three other Odu that first appears, then Eji-Ogbe and the
two or three other might be sufficient for a sacrificial rite,
depending on the circumstance.
CONCLUSION
In the foregoing, an attempt has been made to show what
happens from the time a person approaches a Babalawo for
consultation till he (the client) departs. The part played by the
Babalawo at the different stages of the sacrifice has been shown.
We have also specified the essential Odu (out of the 256 Odu in
the Ifa corpus) from which relevant stories are to be narrated in the
process of Ifa divination generally.
NOTES
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Understanding Yoruba Life & Culture
1.
Kolanut and bilternut methods of divination are restricted
in what they can forecast primarily because they lack the
verses associated with Ifa.
2.
Most of the various forms of divination among the Yoruba
take their sources from Ifa divination, confirmed Awo
Yemi Elebu-Ibon, the Awise of Osogbo, and Awo Oyedele
Isola of Beesin compound, Oyo. Among others, Ogunbiyi
(1952) AvroJaJu (1979) Bascotn ([969) and Olatunji
(1984) have described some of the forms of divination
among the Yoruba.
3.
See the following texts: Abimbola, W.,1975, Sixteen Great
Poems of Ifa. UNESCO
------------, 1976, IFA: An Exposion of If a Literary Corpus^
O.U.P. Ibadan. Nigeria
Ajayi, B., 1988, A Descriptive Analysis of Eje-Ogbe, the
Premier Ifa corpus. M. Phil. Thesis, University of Ilorin,
Ilorin, Nigeria.
Bascom. W. 1969, Ifa Divination: Communication between
Gods and men in West Africa, Indiana University Press.
Olatunji, O.O 1984, Festures of Yoruba Oral Poetry. University
Press, Ibadan, Nigeria.
Prince, R.. 1965, Ifa: Yoruba Divination and Sacrifice.
Ibadan, Ibadan University Press.
4.
Akinnaso (1983) uses these terms when analyzing
Erindinlogun, another form of divination among the
Yoruba.
5.
An Odu in this context is a sign which the Babalawo
interprets in the process of Ifa divination. When the Odu is
verbalized, it forms a collection of stories (ese Ifa) having a
similar theme.
6.
The structure of Ifa divination process was collected when
I went to divine from Awo Oyedele Isola within May and
June 1986, for the purpose of research.
7.
This narrative has interpolations, which are not stated in the
data because they are not part of the structure. These
interpolations can be regarded as introductions,
explanations and/or questions for further clarifications by
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the diviner. We have to note that a different Babalawo may
have this narrative in a different way depending on his
imagination, gesture, and competence in the Odu corpus
and the use of words.
8.
Agboola, F. (1972), Oju/owo-Eeki-Ifa^Part 1, Univ. of
Lagos Press.
9.
Akinnaso, F. N., 1983. The Structure of Divinatory Speech:
A Soc to linguistic Analysis of Yoniba " Sixteen Cowry "
Divination. Ph.D, Thesis, Univ. of California, Berkerly.
+
Adapted with permission, from Bade Ajayi, "The Structure of Ifa
Divination Process," vol. 12, no 1, 1987, pp. 13-21 ^,
128