Ifa Then and Now!. philip neimark

times into its practice. Ifa, like the world its Practioners lived in, was a living entity, constantly changing and adapting to changing conditions. Even some of our currently accepted Orisa were incorporated from neighboring tribes and cultures as their relevance became clear.

      All this changed with the incursion of the Western World and the Western world view into Africa.

      It is simplistic to draw the philosophical battle lines between the officious and self righteous missionaries who viewed themselves as “soldiers of God” sent to “save the heathen.” It is also dangerous. It is dangerous because it implies that having selected Orisa over Christianity we are safe in our decision. Simply because we work with the energy of the Orisa rather than Jesus is not enough. It is not enough because the overwhelming majority of Practioners be they African, American or Latin; be they Ifa, Santeria or Lucumi, are practicing their craft with a Western World View!

      They have allowed the Philosophy to become frozen in time in the same way Christianity has frozen its philosophy to “The Word.” They claim to be Traditionalists, but they are simply mimicking the methodology of those who ultimately unsuccessfully attempted to enslave their bodies, but have successfully enslaved their philosophy and their souls. They have allowed the living, ever changing, eternal energy of their Orisa to be embalmed in the time capsule of Western Religious world view. They do things by rote…”because that is the way it has always been done,” rather than by logical, analytical observations which created the African World View that made it work.

      In essence, they have allowed Ifa to be hijacked by the mind/spirit dichotomy that is the foundation of Western Religion. This dichotomy states: “you can not use your logical mind to make spiritual judgments.” It is the lynchpin of how Western Religion forced people to ignore their minds and enslave their spirits…to accept Original Sin, Gender inequalities, a Devil, Supremacy and a host of other ideas that made us emotionally and spiritually dependant and crippled.

      Yet, Ifa remains alive to those who would approach it in the way it was created. At the Ifa Foundation it is this logical, living, applicable energy that we access and use in context with the social, political and technological realities of the time and place we are using it. In this way we leave the hijacked sitting on the side of the road looking for the hand crank to start their engines, while we travel the highway of living energy.

      Ori

       Ori

      It was back in 1980 that the Ifa Foundation was forced to re-introduce the terribly important concept of Ori to Santeria and Lukumi practioners. Lost, following the Diaspora, this concept is one of the most important in African practice. Indeed, it is said that ” Ori is the most powerful of all Orisha!”

      Today, Ori plays an important role once again for Ifa Devotees. The word itself, in Yoruba, has many meanings. It means head, or the apex or highest pinnacle of achievement. In a spiritual sense, the head, as the highest point of the human body, represents Ori. The head of a company or organization is known as Olori, or Ori for short. The supreme being, our single God, is known as Oludumare, another form of the word.

      In the human body, Ori has two roles: the physical and the spiritual. The physical functions of Ori will be familiar to us: our brains think, our eyes see, our noses smell, and our ears hear. Our mouths speak and eat and breathe. Our faces are different from all others and provide our physical identities. Our spiritual Ori are themselves subdivided into two elements: Apari-inu and Ori Apere. Apari-inu represents character; Ori Apere represents destiny.

      An individual may come to Earth with a wonderful destiny, but if he or she comes with bad character, the likelihood of fulfilling that destiny is severely compromised. Character is essentially unchangeable. Destiny is more complex. In Ifa we believe that we choose our own destinies. And we do this through the auspices of the Orisa Ajala Mopin, or the god of Ori. Ajala is responsible for molding the human head, and it is believed that the Ori we choose determines our fortunes or tribulations in life. Ajala’s domain is close to Oludumare’s, and it is he who sanctions the choices we make. These choices are documented by what we call Aludundun deities. All of us received our destinies at this place. An Ifa verse helps explain:

       E lee mo bi olori gbe yanri O E ba lee yan teyin ibi kannaa la gbe yanri O Kadara a papo ne…

       You said had it been you knew where Afuape got his Ori You could have gone there for yours. We all got our Ori at Ajala’s domain. Only our destinies differ.

      Destiny itself can actually be divided into three parts: Akunleyan, Akunlegba, and Ayanmo. Akunleyan is the request you make at Ajala’s domain - what you would like in specific during your lifetime on Earth: the number of years you wish to spend on Earth, the kinds of success you hope to achieve, the kinds of relationships you desire. Akunlegba are those things given to an individual to help achieve these desires. For example, a child who wishes to die in infancy may be born during an epidemic to assure his or her departure. Both Akunleyan and Akunlegba can be altered or modified either for good or for bad, depending on circumstance. Ayanmo is that part of our destiny that cannot be changed: our gender or the family we are born into, for example.

      In many respects, Ori may be the most important deity in the influence of one’s life. Although it would seem that everyone would choose wealth and success for their destiny, such is not the case. The reason can be found in the fact that in Ifa, material success and accomplishment, though pleasant and encouraged, are not the yardsticks of existence. That yardstick is Ori-inu, or character, and the ways of showing strong character are often not by traveling the easy path. Also, if an individual’s character is bad, his or her choice of destiny may not be fulfilled. In the sacred Odu Ogbeogunda, Ifa says,

       Ise meta ni omori odo nse Ka fi ori re gun iyan ka fi idi re gun elu ka fi agbede-meji re ti ilekun dain-dan-in dan in Awon ni won difa fun Oriseku omo Ogun Won ki fun Ori liemere Omo Ija Won difa fun Afuwape Omo bibi Inu agbonmiregun Nijo ti won nlo ile Ajala-mopin Lo ree yan Ori Won ni ki won rubo Afuwape nikan lo mbe leyin to mebe Ori Afuwape wa sun won ja Won ni awon ko mo ibi olori gbe yan Ori o Awon ko ba lo yan ti awon Afuwape da won lohun wipe: Ibikan naa la ti gbe yan Ori o Kadara ko papo ni.

       A pestle performs three functions: It pounds yam It pounds indigo It is used as a bar lock behind the door. Cast divination for Oriseku, Ori-ilemere, and Afuwape When they were going to choose their destinies in Ajala Mopin’s domain. They were asked to perform rituals. Only Afuwape performed the rituals. He therefore became very successful. The others lamented that had they known where Afuwape chose his own Ori, they would have gone there for their own too. Afuwape responded that even though their Ori were chosen in the same place, their destinies differed.

      The point here is that only Afuwape displyed good character. By respecting his faith and performing his sacrifices and rituals, he brought the potential blessings of his destiny to fruition. His friends, Oriseku and Ori-ilemere, failed to display good character by refusing to perform their rituals, and their lives suffered accordingly.

      If a person’s Akunleyan and Akunlegba are very bad, it can be detected on the third through 7th day after his or her birth through that we call Ikosedaya. This is a special ritual divination ceremony performed on a newborn infant by a Babalawo in order to determine his or her Ori and what must be done to appease or enhance it. In the case of a bad destiny, there are only two possibilities for altering it: ritual/sacrifice and the presence of good character. Through good character individuals may be led to successful, knowledgable people who will be prepared to guide and help them. Ritual and sacrifice can provide the same results. using these two avenues may not make individuals with difficul destinies rich or successful, but it will certainly make their lives more comfortable.

      In the sacred Odu Owonrin-Meji, Ifa says,

      Agbon mi jia-jia ma jaa [name of an Ifa babalawo] cast a divination oracle for Bayewo when she was told to perform rituals. After