86 Babalawo
viewed as the presence of Ba. For example, the Sun
was believed to be the Ba of Re while Apis the bull
was believed to be the Ba of Ausar (Osiris).
Serie McDougal IIIFurther Readings
Asante, M. K. (2001).Egyptian Philosophers. Chicago:
African American Images.
Bunson, M. (1991).Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt.
New York: Facts on File.
BABALAWO
A Babalawo is a priest of Ifa, also referred to as
Orunmila, who is probably the most popular
deity of the Yoruba pantheon and certainly one to
whom great attention is paid by all. Indeed, Ifa is
the deity of divination, a most important and
favored epistemological mode in Africa in general.
African people turn to divination on a daily basis
and, therefore, to Ifa in Yorubaland for guidance
and advice on all kinds of issues, trivial or critical.
It takes, however, a person specially and carefully
trained to decipher Ifa’s messages to the humans,
and this is precisely the function fulfilled by a
Babalawo.
Those called into Ifa’s priesthood must undergo
a long and expensive initiation process, which
may last anywhere between 3 and 15 years.
During that time, the initiate must acquire an
extensive body of sacred and secret knowledge
and memorize no less than 4,096 couplets associ-
ated with Ifa. When the initiate has shown readi-
ness, she or he must then prepare for two
important rituals: a ceremony of purification by
water, and a final testing by fire, known as
Pinodu. The latter demands that extremely hot oil
be poured on the initiate’s hands and rubbed on
his or her body without leaving any sign of burns.
It is at this point that the initiate is declared to be
finally ready to undertake their most noble func-
tion—that is, to provide assistance and protection
to others in their community.
Traditionally, there have been three levels of
initiation into Ifa: theolorilevel, where a person
may worship Ifa, but not divine with it; theorisa
level, where a Babalawo may worship and divine
with Ifa; and, finally, theAmon ti a te ni Ifa, the
highest level, where a Babalawo may not only
worship and divine with Ifa, but also may partake
in the eating of food offered toIgba Odu—that is,
the sacred calabash of Odu. Such a level is
achieved by Chief Babalawos only.
Babalawos who have undergone proper train-
ing and whose initiation has successfully ended
must remove every hair from their body as well as
shave their head. They are also expected to wear
white and light blue clothing. Babalawos are
highly respected because they are believed to have
privileged access to the wisdom of the Ancestors
and the gods and to be able, therefore, to share it
with the rest of the living for their benefit.
To fulfill their obligations, that is, divining to
answer the questions of their fellow men and
women, and possibly alleviate their anxiety,
Babalawos typically use a divination board,
known as opon Ifa, whitened with “divination
powder,”iyerosun. The divination board is usu-
ally round, but may also be rectangular. It may be
decorated or not. In addition to the divination
board, the Babalawo uses 16 palm nuts,ikin. The
Babalawo would most often hold all the palm
nuts in his left hand and then attempt to grab as
many as possible with his right hand with one
grasp. He would repeat this “exercise” eight
times. From this, and depending on the number of
nuts left in his left hand each time, the Babalawo
would draw signs on the divination board and a
pattern, or more precisely anodu, would emerge.
It is then incumbent on the Babalawo to inter-
pret Ifa’s answer, the Odu, correctly for his or her
client. The Odu, however, is always a parable;
because the Babalawo is not supposed to know
the specific situation that brought one in for
consultation in the first place, it is ultimately the
client’s role to apply Ifa’s answer, the parable, to
his or her specific situation.
Another method of divination also commonly
practiced involves the use of a divining chain,
whether made of metal or string, and to which
four half-nuts have been attached on each half
of the chain. The diviner throws the chain away
from him or her and then reads the answer based
on the way each nut fell. Finally, a divination ses-
sion is not complete until the Babalawo has also
informed his or her client of Ifa’s recommendations