IFA DIVINATION: EXPLORING YORUBA TRADITIONAL BELIEF SYSTEM IN
ODU CORPUS TO TEACH AND DEVELOP MORAL STANDARD IN NIGERIAN
JUNIOR SCHOOLS
BY
OJELABI Cornelius Olufemi Ph.D
Department of Music
School of Secondary Education (Arts and Social Science Programmes)
Emmanuel Alayande College of Education, Oyo
E-mail: ojelabioluwafemi@gmail.com Phone: 08162735503
AND
THOMPSON Elijah Olagoke
Department of Music
Lagos State University of Education
Otto-Ijanikin, Lagos State
E-mail: tundemogba@yahoo.com
Abstract
Like the Holy Bible of the Christians and Quran of the Muslims, Ifa Oracle is believed in
Yoruba land to have contained instructions and guide for its worshippers in order to live a
worthy and successful life as well as provides solution to all problems (physical or
spiritual). As Christians refer to Bible and Muslims refer to Quran for psycho-physical and
spiritual teaching and development so also the Yoruba traditional believers depend on Ifa
Oracle and Odu corpus. Above considered, through interview, literature review and
personal observations, this paper took an in-depth to the moral teaching in Ifa corpus and it
relevance to modern day educational system especially at junior school level. It was
realised that Ifa means of configuration called Odu consists of 256 possibilities and each
containing mythological stories backed up with songs which are apt to teach positive
behaviour about different aspects of life since story telling/folklore is a viable mode of
teaching young minds. It was concluded that such mythological stories being taught in a
play-way method can make a positive impact on junior school students towards good
behavior, moral standard and appropriate integration into the society as regard norms and
values. It was therefore suggested that these mythological stories should be encouraged to
be used by music teachers to teach different moral and extra-moral concepts via Creative
Music Teaching (CMT) in order to assist the society in building a country devoid of
corruption, insurgency, nepotism and other socio-political vices towards realizing good
leadership and peaceful co-existence among Nigerian citizens for meaningful development.
Keywords: Ifa Divination, Traditional Believe, Moral Standard, Creative Music Teaching
(CMT), Odu Corpus
Introduction
Before Christianity and Islam religions came to being in Nigeria, Yoruba speaking
people of South-western Nigeria had a unique believe system (religion) which is Ifa. Ifa as
an oracle is believed to be endowed by God (Olodumare) with special knowledge about
everything concerning the creation of the world and existence of humanity vis-a-vis other
creatures. There are many gods (Orisa) believed to have descended from heaven but Ifa
stand out with its knowledge and thus people consult it about virtually every facet of
human life ranging from understanding of situation, prophecy, luck (good or bad),
commercial activities, socio-cultural events and many more. All the gods in Yoruba land
have different method of divination. Literatures abound on Ifa as an Oracle, wisest Yoruba
god, the belief of Yoruba about it and the formation and uses of Ifa divination. Such
authorities include not limited to: Ajuwon Bade (1972), Ajayi Bade (1972) , Abimbola
(1983), however, this paper will on stories as they can be used in teaching. Bascom 1960
and Awolalu 1979 in Bade 2002 opined that of all the methods of divination employed by
Yoruba, Ifa divination is considered the most important, the most reliable, and the most
popular means.’’
Complimenting Bascom and Awolalu’s submission, Bade 2002 opined that: ‘Ifa divination
is both a body of knowledge and a system of social, emotional and pathological control,
employing relevant historical and mythological precedent contained in the special
divinatory verses to be recited, chanted or sung by Babalawo’ ( An Ifa priest). Ayoola and
Akano, 2007 in Ojelabi and Thompson (2012) observed that Yoruba people ‘—believe that
supreme essence or force from which all creation emanated is recognized as ‘Olodumare’
while Christians refer to it as ‘Almighty God’ and the Islamic people call Him ‘Almighty
Allah.
It is instructive to note that Babalawo is the Ifa priest who understands the language of Ifa
through divination and interprets to devotees or those that needed spiritual clarification,
just like the holy Bible to the Christians Pastors or Prophets, holy Quran to the Muslims
Imams and Sheu so is the Odu Corpus to the Ifa Priests (traditional worshippers). Odu even
though oral in nature, is the compilation of sacred knowledge of Ifa.
Explaining modus operandi of Ifa divination through Odu, Bade 2002 asserted that: ‘Ifa
divination is operated by means of configuration called Odu. In the Ifa collection there are
256 possibilities; 16 principals and 240 minor Odu, each containing mythological stories
which the Babalawo narrates in the process of divination’.
In the same vein, one of the resource persons contacted by the researcher Chief Faniyi
Adeyi ( Asoju Awo, Isale-Oyo, Oyo town) asserted that it is forbidden for Babalawo (Ifa
priest) to be involved ordinarily in moonlight story telling or arbitrarily narrates a folklore
because all are embedded in Odu. According to him, there is always Etutu (spiritual
atonement) attached to each narrative either to avert a danger/evil or to attract good luck in
no distance time the; Etutu (spiritual atonement/sacrifice) must be done according to the
directive of Ifa through Odu that appears in the process of divination.
The mythological stories embedded in Ifa corpus are so enormous that a single Ifa priest
cannot exhaust. However, the more of the corpuses a Babalawo (an Ifa priest) can recite
and interpret the more efficient, professional, respected and popular he becomes. Bade
(2002) observed that:
‘under no circumstance does a babalawo divine without using
Either the opele (the divine chain) or the ikin (sacred palm nuts);
For he would not guess the dictate of the Orisa. He thus serves as a
link between two worlds : the physical and the eternal, the material
and the spiritual’.
The assertion of Bade is in tandem with Wande (1976) definition of Ifa which stated
that: ‘Ifa as a system of divination based on sixteen (16) basic and twenty-four (240)
derivation figure (Odu) neither obtained either by the manipulation of sixteen palm nuts
(Ikin) nor by toss of a chain (Opele) of eight half-seed shells’. Talking about the wisdom of
Ifa and its importance in Yoruba land, Abosede (2000) explained that, Ifa is the word that
proceeds from the mouth of the omnipotent. She defined Ifa as the totality of god’s
message to mankind on earth sent through Orunmila.
Considering above information about Ifa, it’s referred wisdom/knowledge vis-à-vis the
richness of Odu in mythological stories, it is important to have good record of how this
knowledge could be used in teaching students in Nigerian Junior schools knowing fully
well that children learn faster through storytelling and thus the crux of this research work.
Opele
Examples of Odu, their Interpretations and Lessons:
This sub-topic presents examples of Odu, their symbol, interpretation and lesson they can
be used to teach
Example 1:
ODU
“Eji Ogbe”
SYMBOL
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Nibi ta ti maa da eji ogbe, nibi ohun rere, tabi ohun aya awon baba wa ma ki ifa kan pe,
Olorun dakun ma je ki won mo asiri wa ni imofun bala, ki won ma mowa ni imo ayoyo ko,
eji ogbe nipa ore ayo loba wa nibe ni ayoyo go, ayoyo go yo go difa fun orunmila baba lo
muyo yora orunmila muyo yora, iyo tanse yip e ore ayo to de fun o wa nyo ni ona to to ati
ona to ye, beni nkan orunmila wa n beni. Orunmila bere orin wipe
Oro ayo lo ba wa/2ce Awa tamu yoyo, ro Oro ayo lo ba wa
Interpretation:
Where you hear “eji ogbe”, it has to do with celebrating our father, recite an ifa verse that
god should not expose our secret like imofunbala, but know like ayoyo go Eyi ogbe means
happiness, when joyous things happen, something that will cause celebration will happen,
ayoyo go, Orunmila takes iyoyo and this iyoyo means goodness that has come to
Orunmila’s ways. And he is rejoicing in a way that its right so Orunmila’s things starts
prospering and he starts singing:
He has iyoyo, things of joy will always be his portion /2ce
Lesson:
Eji Ogbe in Odu Ifa has to do with celebrating our fathers by reciting the Eji Ogbe verse
that is always doing with goodness and happiness.
Example 2:
ODU
“IDI FUN”
SYMBOL
00 0
0 00
00 00
0 0
Ninu odu yii ni ifa ti soro nipa keniyan ma maa se igberaga, ki eniyan ma se ro enikeji pin,
ni ifa ti so, nibi funfun ni oniran agba ti o fi tie gbole difa fun Orunmila ohun Oniwolapo
won jo n sore, sugbon won o ni owo, sugbon ogun ti Oniwolapo ni wa gun kosi ohun ti ko
lese, awon mejeeji wa lo si odo awon awo pe awon le laje, awon le laya, awon le bimo
nkan awon le gboro nkan awon le da, nitori e ni won lo dafa, won wa ni ki Orunmila oun
Oniwolapo rubo, pe nkan won yoo da. Oniwolapo ni awon awo wa nkan ti won o je ni e wa
ni kemi rubo, ebo kini mo fe ru? Emi ti mo logun ti n ba ti sa ogun mi nisiyi, owo yi de ,
mo ti rise, ona ti la fun mi, Orunmila rubo ni tie, nigbati Orunmila rubo, ore re bere sii ni de
nijo muri kan (N20), nijo waso (N50). Orunmila o se igberaga si Oniwolapo ti on ba de odo
Orunmila, Orunmila maa tun fun ni owo, ounje, ase Oniwolapo ti lo se igberaga si
Orunmila sa si pelu, won dafa fun Orunmila pe ko maa gba oju ita re jade, ko si maa gba
wole fun odidi ojo meje, nigba ti Orunmila o sun oorun akunwoju, ase Oniwolapo ti lo se
ogun lati pa Orunmila, ati ba nkan re je, o dip e orun se bi awon awo ti kilo fun, nigba ti o
di ojo keje, Oniwolapo ni jeki lo woo mo baba yii nile, o ye ko ti ku, o ba ilekun Orunmila
ni titi pa, enu ona Orunmila ti Oniwolapo ri ogun mo, o ba daa koja, Sango ti Orunmila ti
bo at esu, beeni afefe fe, Sango san ara lati oju orun, o ba pa Oniwolapo, agbara omi ba gbe
e lo, iwa igberaga at aini itelorun, ati aini igbagbo ba so Oniwolapo di agbegbin. Inu
Orunmila waa dun wipe a tebo ni aitebo ru oni idi funfun ni oniran, atigba ti o fi tie gbole
difa fun Orunmila oun Oniwolapo won jo sore oromila ni bele nka sebo ebo tire nikan
loladaju kipe ona ajia bayii sebo baba ile so orisa.
Interpretation:
Ifa says pride is dangerous and attitude that is not expected of a person and looking down
on anyone is not good. Orunmila and Oniwolapo were close friends but both friends were
poor, Oniwolapo is someone that has charms that are effective and he his boastful of it.
The two friends went to consult Ifa and they were told to perform a sacrifice to make them
wealthy, to have wives and children so that their ways may prosper. Orunmila heeded to
the instruction and everything good starts happening in Orunmila’s life but Oniwolapo did
not take to the instruction and his life was stagnant as ever.
Orunmila was not boastful about what he has, he was humble and ever helped Oniwolapo
whenever he needs helps. All these make Oniwolapo more jealous of Orunmila and starts
plotting evil against Orunmila. He set an evil trap at the entrance of Orunmila’s house, but
Orunmila was warned by the Ifa priest not to go outside of the house through the front door
for seven days and he heeded to the warning.
Oniwolapo was expecting the death of Orunmila on the second day he set the evil trap so
he went to Orunmila’s house to check if Orunmila is dead. But he eventually fell into his
trap, when he went to Orunmila’s house to check up on him, Sango and Esu struck and
Oniwolapo died.
This taught us that pride goes before fall; Orunmila was saved because he was humble and
heeded to the warning while Oniwolapo believed in his charm and proud of it and Karma
caught up with him.
Lesson:
Idi fun speaks about pride attitude and unbelievable person, this Odu was told us about two
friends when told to make sacrifices to make them wealthy in life, but Oniwolupo friend of
Orumila was so arrogant and pride with boastful mouth.
This verse of Odu told us not to boastful and pride in everything we are doing in life.
Example 3:
ODU
“OYEKU LOGBE”
SYMBOL
0
0
0
0
00
00
00
00
Ninu Oyekulogbe ni ifa ti so ka mu nkan pelepele, ka ma mu nkan kolekole, Ifa ni a maa
balo gbe u, awo irele difa fun Orunmila mo kunkun aye le baba lowo, won ko gbogbo ohun
to wa nile aye le lowo pe eni ba fe ni, aje, aya, owo abbl le lowo. Nigba ti won ko fun
Orunmila tan, Eledumare waa ni pe nigba ti oun ba gba nkan ohun pada lowo re, ko si ara
to le da si, sugbon mo fe ko ma fid a awon omo eniyaaaan leko, nigba ti Orunmila de ile
aye to ba ti fun eniyan lowo, aa ni ranti ojo ti maa gba pada lowo re, iwo to ni alaafia ranti
pe ojo kan ni waa ku. O wa ni emi Orunmila t’Eledumare ko ohun ile aye le lowo, o wa
bere orin wipe baye bati ja oniso o si mo, e ja fakun aye denge re.
E rora feso jaye o, E rora feso, E rora feso jaye o, E rora feso
Baye ba ti ja oniso osi o, e rora feso jaye o.
Interpretation:
Ifa said we should be mindful of what we do. Everything is not forever there is time for
everything and this life is not permanent.
In Ifa verse said Olodumare gave Orunmila so many good things, and told him that giving
him is temporal and he will collect it from him anytime he wishes. So, Orunmila was
instructed to give people all this good things therefore as Orunmila was giving out all these
good things to people, he kept reminding them that whatever he gave them is temporary,
not permanent. It can be taken from them at anytime. He started singing that:
We should take this life simple/2ce If it breaks, no one can reform it back etc.
Lesson:
Ifa let us understand in this Odu that we should be careful of what to do in everything in
life, because this life is for temporary not for permanent for human being .
Whatever god give you or you have don’t too much arch on it.
Oye logbe odu-ifa let understand that we should take this life simple.
Example 4:
ODU
“OGBE YONU”
SYMBOL
0 0
0 0
0 0
00 0
Ogbeyonu omo ladiba Ibinu odakan fun ni suru ni baba iwa Agba toba ni suru yio je ogbo
yio je ato yio je ola ifa gbinrin gbirin bi eni tin la oyin adifa fun Orunmila nijo ti ofe lore
gbe iya tin se omo oba olu iwo ebo lawo ni ko se orunmila si gbe ebo nbe lorubo nje iya ti
ifa je ni iwo o kere eya wa wo iyawo .
Interpretation:
Ogbe Iyonu the child of ladiba, you do not gain anything from anger, patience is the best
behavior, a elderly person that has patient will gain and acquire a lot from the world like a
person licking honey, cast divination upon Orunmila when he wants to go and seek for IYA
the daughter of OLU- IWO the ifa priest said he should make sacrifice before going and he
did the sacrifice, and Orunmila succeed in bringing IYA the daughter of OLU IWO to his
home,
And the IYA OF OLU IWO is known as IYAWO (a wife) till date
Lesson :
Patience is the best principle to a greater height in all endeavor
Conclusion and Recommendation
Having given a fairly comprehensive presentation, observation, data collection and analysis
of the topic under study the result showed that Ifa is a religion of peace, contrary to some
school of thought that Odu-Ifa and Ifa is a secret cult. Therefore, effort should be made to
encourage people to teach and guide their children to participate in ethnicity study
especially in the area of mythology, morality and Yoruba belief system. Ifa is adjudged as
the wisest of all deities in Yoruba land. The knowledge embedded in Odu Corpus cannot be
exhausted.
Music plays prominent roles in the day to day activities of the people in Africa. If music
teachers at junior school can imbibe the practice of learning about Ifa corpus with a view to
composing music with it by using play-way method of teaching; the learning of the young
ones will be very fast, and because it is entertaining in presentation, the children will want
to listen to it over and over. It is our wish that this research work will provoke the interest
of more Nigerian Musicologists towards enriching Nigerian institutions archives with more
works on Odu Corpus and its musical notations that will be easy to interpret and full of new
composition creativities and techniques...
Effort should be made by the Government at all levels and Curriculum Planners to include
the study of Ifa corpus as a subject like Christian Religious Study (CRS) and Islamic
Studies in Nigerian Junior School Curriculum.
The following recommendation are proffered as thus, Government should make Orisa
traditional research institutions more functional and responsive in order to uphold our
culture heritage
Reference
Abimbola, W. (1976) IFA: an exposition of Ifa Literary corpus. Ibadan: Oxford University
Press
Abimbola W. (1977) What is Ifa? Nigeria Magazine, Festac edition, Lagos Nigeria.
Abimbola, W. (1983) ‘Ifa as a body of knowledge and as an academic discipline’ journal of
cultures and ideas vol 1, pp. 1-11
Abosede, E. (2000) : Ifa festival, west African Book Publishers Limited Ilupeju, Lagos.
Ajayi, B. (1990) ‘a New Model of Ifa Binary System’, ABACUS: journal of the
Mathematical Association of Nigeria vol. 20, No. 1, pp.13 - 21
Ajuwon, B. (1972) Aditu Ijinle Ohun Enu Ifa Apa Kinni. Ibadan: Onibon-oje.
Bade , A. (2002). Ifa divination, its practice among the Yoruba of Nigeria. Shebiotimo,
Publications, Ijebu-Ode, Nigeria
Ojelabi, C. O. and Thompson, E. O. (2012) A Critical Analysis of Musical performance
practice at Ifa worship Centre, Oyo-Alaafin in Contemporary times
Informants:
S/N
1.
Name
Chief
Aleji
Age
Faniyi 78
2.
Mr.
Mayowa 34
Awosangodare
3.
Mr. Ajidagba 25
Ifakunle
Address
Asoju Awo of
Isale - Oyo.
Arinago
compound,
Isale-Oyo, Oyo.
Alaka
Compound,
Abolupe,Isale –
Oyo.
14,
Harmony
Estate,LajoIgbogbo, Lagos
Date
10/02/2020
12/02/2020
22/02/2020