The 256 chapters are subdivided into verses
called ese, whose exact number is unknown
because they are constantly increasing (there are
around 800esefor eachodu). These keys contain
myths, legends, rituals, and taboos to be pre-
scribed for the appropriate questioner and their
needs. The verses, considered the most important
part of Ifa divination, are chanted or incanted by
the priests in poetic language. It is pertinent to
note that Ifa divinatory permutations (and as a
system of knowledge) are akin to associative alge-
bra, which generates complex numbers using
quaternions or a four-dimensional number system.
Clearly, Ifa is an important African epistemology
rooted in a specific spirituality—Yoruba.
God of DestinyIfa (or god of destiny) is often conflated and
assimilated with Orunmila, the deity of Wisdom
who, according to Yoruba mythology, is believed
to have been the only deity present whenOlorun
Olodumare, or God almighty, embarked on cre-
ation. Thus, Orunmila, whose appellation literally
means “only God knows where the lines (of des-
tiny) fall,” is the keeper of God’s secrets. Because
Ifa is Orunmila’s son, it is understandable that he,
too, will be privy. Therefore, among the Yoruba,
when one saysIfa, most people know that the per-
son is speaking of Orunmila. Many scholars agree
that Ifa must be understood both as a method of
and a deity of divination.
As the preeminent orisha, Ifa is the cornerstone
of Yoruba religion, metaphysics, and spirituality.
Therefore, other major divinities such as Ogun,
Sango, Eshu, and Obatala appear to play support-
ive roles because ritual, sacrifice, oblation, and
other forms of religious practice only follow Ifa’s
dicta and prescriptions. Yet it must be emphasized
that this supportive role by other deities does not
mean that they are subordinate to Ifa because
whole families, clans, and communities may adopt
specific deities to the exclusion of Ifa over many
generations, either for totemic, artisanal (guilds), or
ontological/historic (ancestral veneration) reasons.
An example is hunters, warriors, farmers, and
various types of metal craftsmen who worship
Ogun (god of war and iron). Farmers in particu-
lar tend to worship Ogun, in addition to their
veneration of lesser deities such as orisha oko
(god of agriculture). Indeed, diachronic analyses
of Yoruba patronyms provide clear indications of
the evolution of Yoruba religion and devotion to
the various divinities of the pantheon.Sacred Text
Although they have, like most other African peoples,
come under the influence of both Christianity and
Islam, due largely to slavery and colonization,
and have adopted these scripture-based theolo-
gies, the Yoruba, however, have not abandoned
their original belief systems, which are the matri-
ces of their cultural identities and ethos. With
that said, the Ifa can be considered as a sacred
text—just like the Qur’an and the Bible. It is sub-
ject to exegetical interpretation and discourse
simply because it provides a unifying and verifi-
able vision of the world, and of ultimate reality,
for more than 30 million Yoruba—even as they
adhere or claim to adhere to Christian or Islamic
doctrines and dogma.
As a sacred text that deploys several epics, Ifa
is, as in all religions, eschatological, apocalyptic,
and cosmological in terms of its message. For the
Yoruba individual, it gives moral direction and
purpose to living through regular reiteration and
interpretations of the odus (or esoteric chapters).
Socially, Ifa provides for the Yoruba people the
essential cultural and ethical foundation of their
identity as expressed through its literary corpus of
myths, legends, and morality tales—of which only
256 are available as transliterated texts. Ifa is thus
the sacred text of the Yoruba people.Becoming a Priest(ess)
To become an Ifa priest or priestess, one must
submit to a rigorous training and initiation
process guided by an Ifa expert known asoluwo
(master of esoteric knowledge). This training can
last from 8 to 12 years. During that time, the
neophyte (omo awo: child of secrets)learns by
mnemotechnic the 256 esoteric chapters of the
corpus. This is facilitated by the ingestion ofisoye
(literally that which awakens the mind), a psy-
choactive drug not unlike the Amerindianpeyote
or the Brazilianayahuasca.Ifa 331