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Concept
Ifá
Summary
Ifá is a divination system and Yoruba religion that represents the teachings of the Orisha Ọrunmila. Its oracular literary body is made up of 256 volumes (signs) that are divided into two categories, the first called Ojú Odù or main Odù that consists of 16 chapters. The second category is composed of 240 chapters called Amúlù Odù (omoluos), these are composed through the combination of the main Odù.
The system of divination used in Ifá is a code to access the scientific and metaphysical knowledge in the literary corpus, the Odu Ifá. Orunmila is identified as the Grand Priest, as he revealed (read; invented) the foundational divinity and prophecy (the first 16 Odu) to the world. Babalawos or Iyanifas are usually called Ifa priests, but really, they are scholars; the equivalent of professors in classical university systems. They use either the divining chain known as Opele, or the sacred palm or kola nuts called Ikin, on the wooden divination tray called Opon Ifá to mathematically calculate which Odu to use for what problem.
Ifá is practiced throughout the Americas, West Africa, and the Canary Islands, in the form of a complex religious system, and plays a critical role in the traditions of Santería, Candomblé, Palo, Umbanda, Vodou, and other Afro-American faiths, as well as in some other traditional African religions.
The 16-principle system has its earliest history in West Africa. Each Niger–Congo-speaking ethnic group that practices it has its own myths of origin; Yoruba religion suggests that it was founded by Orunmila in Ilé-Ifẹ̀ when he initiated himself and then he initiated his students, Akoda and Aseda. Other myths suggest that it was brought to Ilé-Ifẹ̀ by Setiu, a Nupe man who settled in Ilé-Ifẹ̀. According to the book The History of the Yorubas from the Earliest of Times to the British Protectorate (1921) by Nigerian historian Samuel Johnson and Obadiah Johnson, it was Arugba, the mother of Onibogi, the 8th Alaafin of Oyo, who introduced Oyo to Ifá in the late 1400s.
Official source
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