What is Ifà

A Lecture by Professor Idowu Odeyemi

“It is a very curious phenomenon that Yoruba scholars are reluctant to come to terms with
Yoruba (lfà) religion.

The worst part of it is that those fellows who speak about “false consciousness” … are all
totally preconditioned. Even when they are trying to ‘be objective about ‘African religion’ in
general, they are totally incapable of relating to it. They say it is a contemporary world.
What use is Traditional Religion today? … and I feel tempted to say to them What use is a
system of beliefs like Islam or Christianity in the contemporary world?

And they cannot see that they have totally failed to make the leap: to take Yoruba (Ifà)
religion on the same level as any system of belief in the world; that they are committing a
serious scholarship lapse. In other words they are totally brainwashed by what I call these
“elaborate structures superstition” – Islam and Christianity particularly. They have accepted
these as absolute facts of life which cannot be questioned.

They lack the comparative sense of being able to see Yoruba (Ifà) religion as just another
system – superstition, belief, world view, cosmogony or whatever. You have to do it on the
same level with any other system. Once you do that, many questions which have been
asked become totally redundant because they have not been asked about other religions.
But when our scholars come up against their own religion, their faculty of comparison
completely disappears!”

So, rather than take that giant leap of faith (so to speak!), Yoruba (and African) “scholars”
on African religion are too timid to accept their very African-ness as an inexorable fact. The
liquid of TRUTH (Ifà) being too bitter and unsavoury to swallow, they thus become hardened
alcoholics of illogically and unabashed peevishness.

For instance, if Olodumare is God in Yoruba belief, with attributes which are universal, non-
tribal, and non-partial, with no chosen race, with fundamental laws which have universal
and pan-ontological applicability, why run away from such an Almighty Mega force and cling
to a sectional Jewish Deity who abandoned his own creation and chose a small desert race
as his “chosen people”?
This unfortunate oversight and crass self-abnegation has led to the absence of a Holy Book
and instead, a proliferation of magazines, pamphlets, treatises, commercial books and so
on.

Yet, although such proliferation serves to keep Ifà perpetually on the table of universal
religious discourse, Ifà is not merely a collection of verses, proverbs, parables and
anecdotes. Ifà is God’s sacred message to mankind. It is the embodiment of the totality of
human existence. It is.

As Orunmila (BA) told us in Ejiogbe 1:36, the basis for understanding the beginning and end
of all things:

Orunmila ni hunhun un un
Ifà mo ni ki lo se o ti o nkun si Bara Elesin Oyan?
Orunmila ki lo se o ti o nkun si Bara Adagba Ojomu?
Ifà ki lo se o ti o nkun si Baara Agbonnin!igun,
Okinkin tii j’eyin erin o fon?
O l’oro lo po ninu oun
Oun o r’eni t’a a M a so ni
Ogun ni oun nko?
Meebi ore ni wa?
Orunmila ni t’oran ore ko
Eni to mo iwaju oro to meyin oro loun o ri
Ogun loun moo, 0 mooti
Gbogbo okookanlenu /runmole l’awon moo
Won mooti
Won ni Orunmila, iwo nko?
Orunmila ni oun o mo iwaju oro at’eyin oro
O ni Ifà lo mo iwaju oro to meyin oro
Lfà, Olodumare, Atenilegelege, fori sapeji!

Through Ifà is revealed the Great Mysteries of life. Only Ifà explains the reasons for the
existence of life, living, death, sickness, success, failure, poverty, wealth, life before birth
and life after death. Only IFÀ reveals the spiritual basis for reincarnative experience; why no
living thing, having sucked from the, breasts of mother Nature, will fail to taste the bitter
truth of death (Ogbe Tomopon, 27:6), Why ORI is more important than religion, why we all
chart different courses during our sojourn on planet Earth, and why sacrifice is pivotal to the
lives of men of all races and all religions (Okanran-Osa, 130:12).

Only Ifà tells it exactly as it is. In short, only Ifà guides the life of man from cradle to grave!
Although, as a result of close association through the several millennia, Orunmila has been
regarded as being synonymous with Ifà (the two names are actually frequently
interchanged in the Sacred Verses) this, in realitv is not so. Ifà as the embodiment of
Olodumare is the ultimate level of esoteric consciousness, a level attained only by Orunmila.
Presumably anyone can reach that level, but so far, it is not achievable by mere mortals.
According to Osa Meji 10:18, we all live a life of perpetual struggle (to reach the level of
Ifà).

Orunmila is not Ifà just as for instance, OGUN is not Iron, Mohammed is not the Quoran,
Moses is not the Bible, Orunmila is the harbinger and interpreter of the Divine Message of
Olodumare. That message is Ifà. Clearly, Orunmila hears and understands the message, but
he is different and detached from it. Orunmila, as the Deputy of Olodumare in all things
pertaining to omniscience, wisdom and spiritual salvation knows the secrets of man’s being
He was with Olodumare is the beginning and knows how creation was begun and completed.

He is endowed with the extraordinary wisdom and foreknowledge, an attribute, which allows
Him to perceive the beginning and end of all things. He is present when each individual is
created and when each individual’s Destiny is sealed. Thus, Orunmila can predict what will
come to pass and prescribe remedies to effect or avert eventualities. Ifà, as the Divine
Message is the Word, which was with Olodumare in the beginning. The Word is Olodumare,
in as much as the Word (Ifà) cannot be divorced from its owner (Olodumare).

In the many aspects which comprise human existence on earth, Yorubas and other Africans
consult Ifà in order to know the wishes of Olodumare. Ifà, throughout the history of Yorubas
over the past several millennia, has always been an essential part of life. The real key to the
life of the Yorubas lies in Ifà. It forms the foundation of the all-governing principle of life for
them.
Before a betrothal, before a marriage, before a child is born, at the birth of the child, at
successive stages in one’s life, before an Oba is enthroned, before a chief is installed, before
anyone is appointed to civic office, before a war is prosecuted, before a journey is made, in
times of crises, in times of sickness, at any and all times, Ifà is consulted for guidance and
assurance.

Because Orunmila is the Great Interpreter of Ifà and Witness to Destiny, both He and Ifà
are held by Yorubas of whatever religious persuasion with awe, respect and reverence. Even
the Catholic Priest respect Ifà and now quotes freely from the Sacred Verses. So does the
Anglican Bishop and the Muslim Scholar. Orunmila himself seeks guidance from Olodumare
through Ifà. Ifà is not a message for Yorubas alone.

It is the Divine Message of Olodumare to mankind and for all those who seek to receive it.
Ifà’s universal relevance lies in the fact that, when an individual from any race, colour or
creed approaches an Ifà Priest for a personal message, Ifà may reveal a message national,
continental or even global importance. For instance, the message may be a warning of an
approaching war, famine, or pestilence, although the message – seeker may be concerned
only about marriage! As a result of the spread of Ifà over the millennia, it has assumed
different names in different countries and among different races.

Thus, it is called Ifà among the Edos of Nigeria, Fa among the Fon of Republic of Benin. Eva
BY Nupes, Ifà in Cuba, USA, Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Surinarm and Haiti, Afa
by the Ewe of Togo, Ephod by Jews, Geomancy by Europeans and Malagasy, as well as
Ramal or Hati by Arabs. Ifà is also widespread in Africa… It is practiced among the Igbos of
Eastern Nigeria, the Kamuku and Gwari of Northern Nigeria, the Igbirra in South Central
Nigeria like Jukun of Eastern Nigeria, and all the tribes in the region around the Cross
Rivers. Among the Siwah people in the Sahara, Ifà is known as “Derb el’raml” or “Derb el
fu” It is also widely practiced in Ivory Coast, Ghana, and Sierra Leone as well as in Liberia.
The Napoleon Book of Fate is based entirely on Ifà. The Jewish Kabbala is based on Lfà.
Indeed since Ifà is coexistent with Olodumare, the actual title of Ifà is Ifà Olodumare.
Others call Him Orisa Agbaye (Lord of the Universe), Olorun (Owner of Heaven), Oodua
(creator of Character and Destiny).

Orunmila, in order to make access to the retrieval of the Divine Message (Ifà) easy, devised
the computer compatible binary coding system, thousands of years before the emergence of
computer consciousness in so-called modern man! So, Ifà is preserved in binary coded
format and is output Parable – Format.
Ifà is coded within 256 Odus or Corpus, each Odu representing an esoteric pigeonhole, itself
divisible into 256 sub-holes. Within each of the 256 Odus, there are 1,680 Sacred Verses all
presented in Parable – Format. Thus, the body of Ifà consists of 430,080 messages for
mankind.

That is why one cf Orunmila’s appellations is “Oluwa mi, amoomotan” (My Lord,
unfathomable!) This compendium constitutes the AKASHA, kept by Olodumare (the
Omnipotent God), from which revelations are made to man throughout the entire length
and breadth of the universe. These revelations are made through the medium of selected
individuals called “Orisa”, “Prophets”, “Messengers”, “Apostles”, “Saviours”, “Avatars”,
“Messiahs” etc.

Ifà does therefore represent the Greatest Unwritten Holy Book on Earth, a perennial
fountain of esoteric knowledge from which all Orisas, Prophets, Messengers, Messiahs,
Apostles past, present and future sip and which message they spread at different times in
human history to diverse peoples in their respective habitats. The Holy Quran puts it very
clearly in Suratul AI Nahl (The Bee) Chapter 16:36

“Among every nation, we raise a Messenger with the message: serve God and eschew the
Devil”

It is from this theme that the “Law of the Prophets” was formulated. Ifà is thus the source
of the keynote to all Religions on Earth. To this aspect, we shall return later.
The Eight Essences of lfà

A thorough study of the ramifications of Ifà shows that it comprises eight basic essences,
listed as follows:
The Spiritual Essence: This relates to the place of man (as a spirit) in the cosmos, the
powers of matter and all aspects of ontological evolution and development.
The Religious Essence: This relates to faith, catechism and Ifàgelism (preaching)
The Divine Essence: This relates to the methods of Divination and accessing of esoteric
information; the mechanics of Divination and the systematics of Divine Message collection,
processing and interpretation.
The Worship and Sacrificial Essence: This relates to the basis and meaning of worship
and sacrifice.
The Medicinal Essence: This deals with both magical and materialist medicine
The Historical Essence: This deals with the history of all creation, including the creation of
materialist, non-materialist and spirit worlds.

The Scientific Essence: This deals with the power of observation, axiomatic, astronomy,
cosmology, cognitive and pre-cognitive experience, astral science, physical and biological
sciences, logic, philosophy mathematics, statistics and computer science.
The Cultural Essence: This relates to rites, rituals, politics, socio-economics, language
dress and normative value systems.

As it is obvious, these eight essences of Ifà are also in the main, coincident with the human
essences, of planet earth and the non-human essences in the entire universe. It is also clear
that Religion, Worship and Sacrifice are but few aspects of what constitutes the Divine
Message known as Ifà. It constitutes what is also known as the Great Mystery System.
Thus, while Ifà Religion represents the transcendental and Evangelical (Ifàgelical) dimension
of Ifà worldview, Worship and Sacrifice epitomize the corrective and restorative facets of
that worldview.