Professional Documents
Culture Documents
16 Odu
16 Odu
16 Odu
issue No. 2
Western science is biased against the validity of
Divination divination as the source of inspiration. Divination deals
with the invisible/spiritual forces that exist in our
Except for the day you are born and the day reality. Western science deals with these unseen
you are supposed to die there is not a single influences, but calls them "laws of physics". The
methodology used by Western science, in its futile
event in one's life that cannot be forecast and attempt to understand unseen influences, is to conjure
if necessary changed. You are born with a up theories and create experiments that test their
specific path, divination serves as a road map theory. If the experiment produces the expected result,
given static circumstances, the theory is considered
to your path.
valid. This process is based on the belief that the
Divination is defined as the faculty of foreseeing. universe functions in a mechanistic and ordered
Divination (Ifa) is an art and it involves having insight manner and that the spiritual (unseen) influences are
into one's fortunes and misfortunes from birth to death non-existent. However, the spiritual realm does exist
and beyond. Each person has a certain God given life and has an influence in our lives that parallels the
potential. As a person grows, the world challenges him/ obvious (physical). Divination deals with these unseen
her with obstacles that tend to throw him/her out of influences that play a life and death role throughout the
alignment with whom he/she has the potential to be. duration of our lives on earth.
Divination serves as a means to realign a person to
Africa is the cradle of civilization. This cradle nurtured
their rightful path that was decided upon in heaven
many different means for man to communicate with
before one's arrival to earth. If one aligns himself with
God. Throughout the African Diaspora only one form
the forces of nature, which are within us all, one will
of communication, via divination and spiritual virtues,
have a more fortunate outcome with one's endeavors .
has reigned supreme. Ifa. Through the Ifa apparatus,
Divination is a means for achieving one's endeavors
divination is performed and fate is revealed. Ifa is
(spiritual aspirations) and teaches us to balance
expressed in all African countries in one form or
ourselves with our environment. This crucial element
another by one name or another. The slave master had
(divination) is missing in the masses of the African
to eliminate this ancient power that the African used in
descendants in the New World and even in Africa itself.
order to enslave the African in the New World.
However, through it all, Ifa survives. Ifa is still intact
and is as accurate and as relevant today, as it was vertical columns. Each column is made up of four sets
10,000 years ago. of either single or double vertical lines. This system
generates two hundred and fifty-six different sets of
There are many forms of divination. You have the quadragrams. Each quadragram is a representation of
physic network, palm reading, crystal balls, the I Ching, several fundamental energy patterns that entail all of
and so on. And of course we have Cleo! All these Creation. Each of these 256 energy patterns is born
methods are supposed to give the client insight into from sixteen major forces called Olodus. The remaining
their unknown future. The Ifa system of divination, due 240 are combinations of the first sixteen and are called
to the amount of information and the number of Odu. Each Olodus/Odu is bought to life during a
possibilities is the most robust, ancient and the longest divination session and the message contained is revealed
standing of all forms of divination. In the African via the intuitive association of the Babalawo.
tradition it is unthinkable to embark upon any major
task without first consulting the oracle (Ifa) to ascertain The Babalawo's are priests of Orunmila that are
whether or not the proposed action is favorable or not specially trained, via years of instruction from elders on
and to probe the probable outcome. To embark upon the secrets of divination. Babalawo literally means,
serious actions like marriage, child conception, new Father of Secrets. Within the same verses that detail
business ventures or the treatment of dis-ease without your fate you have the appropriate sacrifice prescribed
first seeking the guidance of Ifa is careless and by the Babalawo to assure a favorable outcome. This is
foolhardy. This is a major mistake for the masses of similar to visiting a MD in the western world. You visit
African descendants in America that desperately need the doctor; he reads you with his instruments and
such guidance. prescribes some medicine. Your body will sacrifice
something for the betterment of the targeted problem if
Ifa works with the unseen forces of the universe the prescription is followed. Babalawo's are spiritual
through the inter-play of the forces of expansion and doctors that use the instruments of Ifa through
the forces of contraction. The forces of expansion are divination to heal and guide our spiritual being
symbolized by a single vertical line (I). The forces of (prescription). Divination can also be referred to as
contraction are symbolized by a double set of vertical Managed Care.
lines (II). These forces are seen as existing in eight
dimensions which form two spheres, one inside the
other. This sphere is symbolized through the use of two
Many of us are unaware and do not realize that the
Sacrifice spiritual realm like the physical one requires some
sort of giving in order to receive. Imagine walking
Sacrifice/Ebo guarantees success! into Human Resources at IBM and demanding a
We all should know what sacrifice is. "The giving up paycheck knowing that you never (sacrificed)
or foregoing of some valued thing for the sake of worked a day at IBM. The Spiritual realm works
something of greater value or having a more the same way.
pressing claim". Whatever one desires in this life
requires the giving up of something. Life does not The Yoruba believe in one supreme God called
strive on taking alone. Life also requires giving; Olodumare. Olodumare is very remote to the
hence life is a process of give and take. The simplest Yoruba by virtue of the duality that exists with
form of sacrifice one can give is time. The most Olodumare. In other words God created both the
complex form of sacrifice one can give is change. "good" and "evil" forces at play in the universe and
This subject of sacrifice takes on many facets. This he gave Ase (power) to both sides. "When you speak
page will only touch on the fundamentals of sacrifice about 'good', you have already presupposed 'evil'."
from an African/Ifa worldview. One cannot exist without the other. There are two
sides to every story or problem. Within Olodumare
The sacrifice of time is the most fundamental form lay both sides to one story, so directing energy to
of sacrifice. In America we sacrifice most of our Olodumare directly can be vain. Within Ifa the
youth towards school. We then sacrifice our time cosmos is divided into two halves. The right side is
towards daily labor to acquire finances for daily inhabited by the benevolent supernatural powers
living. On a deeper level the sacrifice of time and the left side is inhabited by the malevolent
involves patience. supernatural powers. The benevolent powers are the
Orisa and their helpful associations with humans.
Time sacrificed does not always bring about the The malevolent powers are evil and destructive
desired result in our lives. Nor does time spent on energies like Iku (death), Arun (sickness), Ofo (loss),
something guarantee you peace of mind. When these Epe (curse) and so on. There is no peaceful
disharmonies are prevalent we are taught to seek
the spiritual realm and pray to beg God for favors.
coexistence between these two powers, they are All of God's creations have some relationship with
always in conflict. God and communicate with God at some level
beyond our comprehension. Within Ifa, animals are
The Africans believe that verbalization is not sometimes used to communicate our message to the
enough in one's relationship with the supernatural. spiritual realm. Each animal species have distinct
Ifa divination serves as a preamble to prayer. Via Ifa properties that are beyond our comprehension. For
divination we can ascertain how to pray, to whom to instance, most humans cannot smell sugar, however
pray and for what. For the Yoruba, divining (Ifa) if we put sugar or honey on the table, ants will flock
serves as an approach to prayer and shows one why there by morning because they have smelt it. Their
they need to pray and shows one the best procedure sense of smell is much higher than our own. The Ifa
for elevating one's prayer via some form of sacrifice. sacrificial rituals use the unique communication
In this world of many choices, this complex and abilities of animals to relay our messages to the
varied approach is still miraculously accurate and supernatural forces at play. The chicken is the first
effective. In this world of choices, this complex and animal inhabitant of the earth and she accompanied
varied approach is necessary. The variety of the divinities/Deities from heaven to earth. The
sacrifice includes time, song, dance, money, change chicken is a favorite communicator of messages to
and life force offerings. the spirit realm because of its close association to the
Deities from the very start. Life force offerings
Communication with the sprit realm is what Ifa is direct prayer via the animals' force to a specific
all about. Sacrifice is an attempt to rearrange the force in nature to elevate our prayers for our benefit
forces of the universe so that they can work for us, and to rearrange the universe to work in our favor.
resulting in peace and harmony for us in our
environment. Within Ifa, sacrifice (in Yoruba it is For example, if someone is sick and a sacrifice is
called ebo) is an attempt by human beings to send a prescribed by a diviner, that sacrifice is meant too
message to all these supernatural powers of the appease the left and right side divinities. Humans do
universe regarding our own human affairs. When not give sacrifice directly to the supernatural powers
all the supernatural powers accept our sacrifice/ebo, on the left, they give it to their own guardian
everybody is happy and are committed to work for divinity who is on the right. The closest of these
us and we can achieve peace.
right hand divinities is Ori (head) and can include a Ifa the holy Odu Irete-Meji and OturuponTura
host of other Orisa and Eguns (ancestors). Esu, the forbids human sacrifice! Within the traditional
divine messenger, who is almost always supposed to African worldview you are for the most part
get part of any blood sacrifice and who shares responsible for your own self-improvement. If you
elements of both the left and right side, will assure want to change your condition you must make
that the left hand divinities get their due. Esu plays sacrifice. Sacrifice often times does not require
a very important part in reordering universal events blood. Sacrifice sometimes requires one to look in a
for the good of anyone that sacrifices in this manner. mirror and see beyond what is reflected and to make
some psychological change. This can be the most
Sacrifice is essential to human well being. Some difficult of sacrifices. However, we here at Cultural
people live happy lives sacrificing their pride to beg Expressions are well aware of why the chicken
from strangers. Some people sacrifice half of their crossed the road, and now you know.
adult life in school earning PHD's. Meat eaters in
our society directly benefit from blood sacrifice to
accommodate their daily meal. Most meat eaters are
disconnected from the total disregard of the poor
animal's life during its slaughter/sacrifice for their
benefit. The Jews have their kosher food, which is
prayed over animals, sacrificed for consumption.
Within Ifa most sacrificed animals are consumed as
to further their power (Ase) for our cause and the
animals are treated with respect. The European
sacrificed the lives of an estimated 100 million
African men women and children for their Gods of
materialism, greed, lust and conquest. The
Christians celebrate the human sacrifice of Jesus
Christ and to this day still symbolize this via
cannibalism with their communion ritual. Within
Orunmila the Deity and frustrating for even Orunmila, this great
God of Wisdom. So Olodumare (God) endowed
Orunmila is the God of Wisdom and Destiny upon Orunmila a means for mankind to
Like the other Deities, Orunmila existed before communicate with Orunmila to reveal ones
man and is the only Orisa to witness creation. individual fate. This means is called Ifa. Ifa is
Orunmila therefore has the knowledge the embodiment of Orunmila and is also another
concerning the fate of every man, woman and name for Orunmila. Ifa is a literary corpus that
child. Orunmila is the youngest Deity out of all entails the fate of man and all of his
the Deities created by God before the creation of accomplishments and transgressions. Only
the earth. This circumvents the position for priests of Orunmila have the authority to sound
Orunmila to be the final manifestation of virtue the voice of Ifa. These priests are called
for man to follow. Babalawo. Orunmila vowed to serve man in
Orunmila sojourned to earth on various spirit with his infinite wisdom and the Babalawo
occasions to assist man at the crossroads. The hold the same secrets to creation and the fate of
crossroads I speak of are the moments we come man that Orunmila held through the medium of
to in life that require major decisions or points Ifa.
we get to in life that will affect the rest of our Orunmila the Deity represents the power of
lives. Esu, the Deity that sits at the crossroad, is wisdom to overcome misfortune.
forever indebted to Orunmila and has vowed to Orunmila the Deity represents the power of
serve and assist Orunmila like non other (Ogbe- Divination to analyze our past, reveal our present
Di). and forecast our future.
Orunmila, through the sheer power of wisdom, Orunmila the Deity represents the power of
sacrifice and patience became the commander sacrifice to achieve what would other wise be
and prosper of all Orisa (Irete-Wori). impossible.
The expansion of man all over the earth and the Ase O!
frequent needs for Orunmila to sojourn to earth
for the benefit of mankind became cumbersome
Notes
Ogbe-Meji / Eji-Ogbe This Odu denotes plenty of good and plenty of evil.
Artistic creations
EjiOgbe expresses a need to acquire wisdom and
humility.
Represents perfect alignment between the Ori and
Ipori.
Maintain high ethical standards which will be
rewarded with enlightenment and abundance.
I I Time heals the pain of any matter.
I I We have cut off our own head to make us grow, like
I I the banana tree.
I I The hands belong to the body, the feet belong to the
Serving Sizes body.
Victory over enemies, spiritual awakenings, long life,
In the fixed order of Orunmila, EjiOgbe occupies the and peace of mind.
first position. In EjiOgbe barren women are blessed with children
after sacrifice!
EjiOgbe symbolizes all that is known and unknown
in the universe. It is an image of all those forces that
create the day.
The White Hole -- The Light Two words have spoken
EjiOgbe is the sign of life --- A vigorous awakening Two tasks have given themselves to me
EjiOgbe rules the head --- Facing East The road is open
Physical element = Water...Water takes the
Good medicine stays,
precedence of all the other elements. It is recognized
Told a certain person way back when tears of
as "The Father of the Elements."
compassion refused the curse of barrenness
Physical body element = Brains and Nerves
that she should take a long-necked jar, and when
Children would be disposed to be Travelers,
her sacrifice was done go to the place where water
Pioneers,sailors or heads of organizations.
seeps slowly, slowly until the womb is full.
She sipped the dreaming water and they called her earned him admiration from the beneficiaries of his
child Osun, generous river. magnanimity. He also developed enemies that were
Ifa says to sacrifice is beneficial, envious and plotted against him. EjiOgbe went for
nothing waits for nothing good. divination and was told to make sacrifice to his Ifa
Come and see my bouncing newborn baby at the with a basket of snails. EjiOgbe's Awos collected Ero
foot of Lord Orisa! leaves and mashed them in the snails' liquid for
EjiOgbe to bath with. After the sacrifice he began to
Story... of how Ori (head) was the only divinity that live a peaceful life.
broke the kola nuts that Orunmila kept at his
shrine. Ori's wish was for a permanent abode Death held me and left me.
(home) and plenty of followers. Upon hearing the Sickness tried me and left me
news of the finally broken Kolanuts, all the other No one eats tortoise along with its shell.
divinities agreed, (since they all tried to break the No one eats a Ram together with its horns.
nuts) that the "Head" was the right divinity to the The shell of the snail is kept after eating its meat.
Kolanuts. Almost immediately the hand, feet, body, I have survived the evil plans of my enemies.
stomach, chest, neck etc, each of which bfore then
had distinct identities, all assembled and decided to Serious minded people do not listen to the bird
go and live with the Head. Together, they all carried singing the songs of woe;
the Head high above as the king of the body. It is on Difficulties and problems bring out the best in man;
account of the role played by Orunmila in his Patience and sacrifice make the impossible to
fortune that the head touches the ground to defer become possible;
and revere to Orunmila to this day. Give me a difficult problem to solve that doubters
may believe;
The benevolence of the young EjiOgbe made him so Give me a war to wage that mortals may appreciate
popular that his house was streaming with callers the strength of divinities;
night and day. He healed the sick, made sacrifice for To learn from past misfortunes is to be wise;
paupers to become rich, helped the barren to have Not to learn from previous mistakes is folly;
children and safely delivered all pregnant women The person who fails to make sacrifice vindicates the
who demanded his assistance. These activities diviner;
Local Catering Local Catering
Just as the one who ignores advice turns the adviser
to a seer. shall be mounted in the practice of our profession
The man who learns from quarrels and the man who With EJi-Ogbe as the owner of the world Horses
does not learn from quarrels were the shall be mounted in the practice of our profession.
two surrogates of EjiOgbe who made divination for
the land of Quarrels. If one is rich without good character The wealth
belongs to someone else That which we are after is
Orunmila enquires on how the situation is I respond character Good character If one is blessed with
that it is fine. Early in the morning children without good character The children belong
I met all Irunmole followers where they were to someone else That which we are after is character
offering snails for ritual. They asked me to state Good character If one is blessed with houses without
what I was lacking. I said that it is wealth, I good character The houses belong to someone else
responded that it is a spouse, I said I needed That which we are after is character Good
children, I also needed all the well-beings of life. character.
They told me that when I return home I should wash
my master's hands cleanly I should also clean my Let us not run the world hastily;
master's divination bag thoroughly I should offer Let us not rasp at the rope of wealth impatiently;
sacrifice to Ifa with a big, matured kolanut I should What should be treated with mature judgment,
offer sacrifice to my ancestors with bean- cake When Let us not treat in a fit of temper;
I looked at my back, what did I see? I saw all Whenever we arrive at a cool place,
prosperity coming towards me, They were coming Let us rest sufficiently well;
abundantly. And when I turned to look back, what Let us give prolonged attention to the future,
did I see? I saw good wives coming towards me, And then let us give due regard to the consequence
They all looked beautiful and elegant. When I also of things,
looked back, what did I see? I saw many children And that is on account of our sleeping (end/death).
coming towards me, They all looked healthy and
strong. When I looked back, what did I see? I saw all Ase O!
well-beings of life coming towards me, They are all
abundant and satisfying. And I declared: Horses
The messenger of death
Oyeku Meji
Physical element = Fire
Physical body element = Hairs of body and
Neck.
Children would be disposed to be
agriculturalised, masons, or market masters.
II II Wisdom of the departed Ancestors.
II II Symbol of the fish, for it was this Odu that
II II brought food/nourishment into the world.
II II
Organization of wisdom
In the fixed order of Orunmila, Oyeku-Meji This Odu denotes that death and all other evil
occupies the second position. will appear or disappear
From a child to adulthood hence death of child
Oyeku-Meji is the Black Disk or Hole. This Odu represent the power of spiritual
Odu signifies darkness and unhappiness and transformation as well as physical
warns of death, sickness, worries and a bad reincarnation
omen, yet also carries with it the solution to all We are composed of flesh and death;
these problems. Turn and return, father of transformations.
It symbolizes all those forces which can never
be known.
It is an image of those forces that create the An honest sage is no longer in existence
night A truthful person is very rare indeed
Speaks of the comings and goings between When I no longer have any reliable person to
heaven and earth confide in
I choose to keep my thoughts within small ebo, he would awaken after three days
Those are the declarations of the oracle for and his fame would outlive him, after his
Ajao who is being befriended by earthly return to heaven.
beings When Jewesun got to the world, as he was
and heavenly beings about to begin his work of preaching the
He was asked to offer sacrifice, He complied objectivity of truth, the way people lived in
Alas, all the human beings seeking my heaven and the love of God for his creations.
friendship I harken not Esu appeared to him in dreams and warned
My thoughts had been kept within me him that God had given him, Esu, Alewelishe,
All heavenly beings seeking my friendship Onisegun, the influence of all that existed in
I am not interested in your friendship the planetary system. Esu told Jewesun that if
I have kept my thoughts within me. he did not give him what he asked, Jewesun
would have himself to blame because he would
This Odu is the incarnation of Jesus. The son cause his followers to destroy him. Jewesun
of God was called Jewesun in heaven and was once again refused to recognize Esu. Jewesun
told to make sacrifice in order to survive the was actually killed or went home 33 years
plot that was going to be hatched by human after he began his works on earth.
beings against him on earth. He was told to
give to Esu, which he bluntly refused to do. he Let us behave gently,
however agreed to make a small ebo. The That we may die peacefully;
Awos told him that if he did not make the That our children may stretch out their hands
sacrifice to Esu, it was the agents of the earth Upon us in burial.
that would kill him and shorten his life and
missionary works. But since he had made the
Death rejoiced at man's creation,
He plundered humans at will to eat,
Two Rats were playing on land, Iwori-Meji
Two fishes were playing in water,
The hen had laid its eggs and gone to roost,
The goat had delivered many kids,
The strong three year old Ram,
The fat male Cow endowed with beefy flesh,
were all created to appease Death,
This assemblage of live stock
Gave Death neither appeasement no
II II
satisfaction, I I
Death continued to focus, I I
His gaze on the human flesh. II II
Ase O!
Idi Meji Divided circle-symbolizes the reproductive organs of
women
Indiscreet curiosity
Physical element = Earth
Physical body element = Buttocks and Hips
Someone sitting and they have to mark off their own
area.
Too much talk! "Ass backwards"
Children would be disposed to be rulers.
Idi is very aggressive and pugnacious
Conceited --- Containment
Prominent Fighter
How Orunmila calmed the Iyamis
Market woman and their use of honey to sweeten
the good things in life.
A restraining influence
This is the rest and completion that follows
I I anticipation. Known as the "Seal".
II II Babalawo said: A single chain-link does not break.
II II So ended the raging plague and death.
I I Awo's were decapitated for malpractice!
One divides, two perform, three sustains wants
In the fixed order of Orunmila, Idi-Meji occupies the accord hole up releases four.
forth position.
created them leaving them to use their own
intelligence to contrive how to procreate. They were
Yimiyimi, a beyin paale (alias of a Babalawo) both advised to make sacrifice in which they both
Cast divination oracle for Ori (head) complied. Thereafter, the sperm was told to go and
When suffering from unreasonable loneliness live with man while menstruation was advised to
Head was advised to offer sacrifices periodically live with the woman. That is how we
Head complied became the children of the sperm and menstruation
The ears came to keep head company through the instruments of man and woman.
The nose came to keep head company
The eyes came to keep head company "Hollowing is the foundation of the aran drum; if it
The mouth came to keep head company goes up, it becomes huge; if it goes up, it becomes
May my head not be without companion immense" was the one who cast Ifa for Ipesan, Chief
What this stanza is stressing is that with appropriate of the Market. Ipesan arrives, oh, Chief of the
sacrifice, one will be able to enjoy the company of Market; he is going to take new land on which to
others. It is also saying that loneliness is not good in settle. Ipesan is what we call the Odan tree. A lucky
any way. Just looking at the head without nose, person arrives at the market, Oh!
mouth, ears, eyes etc, is not pretty to percieve.
Ifa says this is someone who will have a settlement of
It will be recalled that at the beginning of time, his own and lots of room, but he should sacrifice lest
plants and animals did not procreate as we know it he encounter an enemy and a thing which will
today. Following the creation of men and women, decrease the size of his settlement. They said that
they merely lived together without knowing how to Odan tree should sacrifice one he-goat, one cock, one
procreate. The woman did not know what to do cutlass, and one shilling seven pence eight onions, so
with her pelvis and the man did not know what his that he would not encounter a slanderer at his
penis was meant for. settlement. They said he would find a large enough
The sperm and menstruation who had separate place in which to settle, and that he would stretch
identities then went for divination in the home of out his arms and stretch out his legs. Odan tree
Idi-Meji. Both Spermatozoa and Menstruation were heard the sacrifice, and he offered one he-goat and
both anxious to know how to procreate. God had one shilling seven pence eight onions for a place in
which to settle, but he did not offer the cock and the
cutlass that he might be able to stay there for a long
time. When Odan tree reached his settlement, he
stretched out his arms and he stretched out his legs;
Irosun-Meji
but when he had finished stretching them out,
people came and took a cutlass and began to cut off
his arms and legs.
Therefore this person should sacrifice in order that
what he has achieved in the morning of his life shall
not be destroyed by others in the evening of his life.
Ase O!
I I
II II
II II
II II
In the fixed order of Orunmila, Obara-Meji
occupies the seventh position.
Ase O!
II II
I I
II II
I I
Ase O!