Ifa

[Teresa]

This has been of interest to me. I am very thankful that one of Tony's workers is from Nigeria and he has been kind enough to share information with me and tell me the stories and explain things. This is fascinating and I appreciate him taking the time to share with me each week. I am also learning the local dialect for his state in hopes to be able to visit there with him as a guide and see Africa and where Ifa began.

[Starry Night]

That's very cool Shalaye. :thumbsup:

It is good to see you posting again, :hugz:

[plumedsnake]

Hi Shalaye. I'm also happy to see you up and about again. It also pleases me that you are looking deeper into Ifa because this is the discipline that I follow. What is the dialect that your friend speaks? Is he also an Awo, a practitioner of Ifa?
Ifa is widespread amongst many tribes, not just the Yoruba and is called slightly different names but it is essentially the same. The Yoruba are considered to have the highest form of it. Certainly the most elaborate form of Ifa. But Ifa is believed to be worldwide.

They Lie
Ifa cannot be afflicted
They are being spiteful
Ifa cannot be afflicted
We come into the world and Find prints on the palms
Yet no one knows who wrote them
They Lie
Ifa can never be diminished.

Like the palm prints Ifa is not invented but discovered. It is inscribed into the very fabric of reality.

Please check these links: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ifá

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geomancy

They provide a good overview and they layout they 16 primary signatures.

[Teresa]

He is from Lagos, Nigeria does that tell you about his dialect? He also speaks French and English. Thank you so much for the links! :thumbsup: I wish to know more about Ifa. Yes, he is a practitioner of Ifa too. I am planning to carry out the plans my husband and I had to visit Africa and see these places I am hearing about. My husband had been there many times doing contracts. I have never traveled outside of the States since the 80s.

We have been talking about eegun, and eyo which is performed in Lagos. Also ebbos too.

[plumedsnake]

He is from Lagos, Nigeria does that tell you about his dialect? He also speaks French and English. Thank you so much for the links! :thumbsup: I wish to know more about Ifa. Yes, he is a practitioner of Ifa too. I am planning to carry out the plans my husband and I had to visit Africa and see these places I am hearing about. My husband had been there many times doing contracts. I have never traveled outside of the States since the 80s.

We have been talking about eegun, and eyo which is performed in Lagos. Also ebbos too.

Ah yes! Eyo is one of the most famous eeguns from Lagos. Lagosians have a song that goes:
Eyo o Eyo O
Eyo baba n t'awa
Ti on fi Gold s'ere
Awa o le san owo onibode
O di le!

Eyo o Eyo o
The great Eyo is ours
who treats gold as a plaything
So we don't need to pay to cross the border
Let's go home.

The idea is that those who own the eyo masquerade have a right to come and go as they please in lagos because lagos is their home.

He could be from Ikorodu. I also grew up in Lagos although my parents are not from lagos. Families in Africa have hometowns and lands that they are connected too regardless of whether they live there or not. So though I grew up in Lagos I am not strictly speaking a lagosian. Lagos has a complicated history because great parts of it used to be, not a yoruba colony, but a Benin Colony called Eko. Then the portuguese came in the 15th century and called it lagos (meaning lagoon in portuguese). Then after the portuguese the English took over. Then it was the capital of Nigeria for many years so you find everyone from nigeria there. When I was a kid I remember finding it very weird that people actually hailed from Lagos. I was so used to people saying that they're going on holiday to their family home town in the rural country, that I was stunned when a friend of mine said (as a joke) that he was going back to his hometown which was just round the corner. At first I was puzzled. He said yes, I going to Ikorodu, my hometown. There is this big highway that goes through Ikorodu, it's hardly rural and hardly what I imagined anybody's hometown would be. It took me a while to get his joke.
Even today I still find it strange to think that there are people who are actually indigenous to Lagos.

[Teresa]

Edited to get this correct: He was born in Lagos. His Father moved there(Lagos) to do business. His father was born in Osun and also his Grandparents. So I guess Osun would be considered their homeland?

[plumedsnake]

Aah, so he is like the most of us. Actually there are indigenous lagosians but most people who were born and/or grew up there are not Lagosians. Osun state is where Oshogbo is located. That is one of the biggest cult centers of the orisha Oshun. hence the name Oshun state. The actual river Oshun (who is the goddess and our mother) runs through Osogbo. I would definately recommend going to Osogbo if you want to see the way Orisha is practiced in Africa.

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-osun-osogbo.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oDNQSuMoUo&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-QmY1GeuqQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pc31x15xgD8&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzbMjVqcXBg&feature=related

[Teresa]

Thanks for posting those!

[Teresa]

http://mysticwicks.com/picture.php?albumid=380&pictureid=4208


This was one of Tony's Favorite Pictures and I felt moved to share it.

[Teresa]

Aah, so he is like the most of us. Actually there are indigenous lagosians but most people who were born and/or grew up there are not Lagosians. Osun state is where Oshogbo is located. That is one of the biggest cult centers of the orisha Oshun. hence the name Oshun state. The actual river Oshun (who is the goddess and our mother) runs through Osogbo. I would definately recommend going to Osogbo if you want to see the way Orisha is practiced in Africa.

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-osun-osogbo.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oDNQSuMoUo&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-QmY1GeuqQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pc31x15xgD8&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzbMjVqcXBg&feature=related

Yes his grandfather had land in Osogbo that is one place that we are going to visit! He is Yoruban too BTW. The more that I am learning the more I thirst for more knowledge of Ifa.

[Teresa]

Hey plumedsnake would you recommend The Sacred Ifa Oracle by John Neimark as a good book to read ? Could you recommend some good books on the subject?

[plumedsnake]

Hey plumedsnake would you recommend The Sacred Ifa Oracle by John Neimark as a good book to read ? Could you recommend some good books on the subject?

That Neimark book is mainly a collection of verses, but it covers all the signatures. There are 256 odu and he gives 2 verses for each one. I find that the tradition he seems to be coming from is quite different from what I know. A lot of the verses are kind of obscure to me. Not that I'm that widely versed in them. Also the way he orders them are quite different from what I know. The practice of Ifa as many variation depending on what part of Nigeria we're talking about. Generally it is best to just stick to the tradition that you start off in. I don't really reference Neimark's book that often.

A book that I have learnt a lot from is 'Ifa- A complete divination' by Ayo Salami.

Like Neimark he also gives Ase for each verse. An 'ase' is a word that is used in two or three different senses. Ase often means authority, or creative power. Prayers are often punctuated with people saying Ase so it is kinda like Amen. There is also ase in everything so you can use the ase of a herb to heal yourself.

Then also Ase is the exegetical interpretation that the babalawo makes of a verse. In neimark's book there are two ase given for each verse one, I think from a nigerian babalawo and the other from Neimark himself which he calls the western interpretation. To be honest I couldn't really relate to Neimark's Ases.
This is not to invalidate it. Far from it. Ase is a very personal power that resides within everyone. Many a time a novice or a child has been called to give an ase on a verse which has proved more accurate than what the old masters said. You don't learn ase it is given to you from birth or before. Therefore everybody, masters as well as novices, respects everybody else's ase.

All that been said, I prefer the ases in salami's book. This book also has 2 verses for each signature. and starts with a short ase before each verse. They are only suggestions though not dogmatic interpretations of the verse.

[Teresa]

Thanks for the reccomendation. I will check that book out. :thumbsup: