7/31/2019 OBA1

1/5

"OBA-A MOLA"

"The king, by knowing whom, we have come to salvation."

"BABA YE OMO"

(The Father who reflects honor on his children, or of whom his children may justly be

proud)

Father of Mysteries

Ifa, to speak more properly, an Odu delivers his responses in and through the channel ofParables, which every Babalawo is expected to be able to interpret. Hence it is commonly

said:-

Owe ni Ifa ipa,

Omoran ni imo-Bi a ba wipe mo-

Omoran a mo-

Nigbati a ko ba mo,A ni, ko se!

Ifa speaks always in parables,

a wise man is he who understands his speech,

when we say understands itthe wise man always understands it,

but when we do not understand it -

We say it is of no account or the prediction is not fulfilled.

Ifa lays claim to every plant in creation as sacred to his worship, and thus it is come to passthat upon consultation by a Babalawo, one Odu will advise the use of the leaves of certain

plants; another will prescribe one of these, or others totally different along with them, and

so other Odus. But the plants whose leaves are always in demand, and which areconsidered as especially sacred to Eji Ogu, the Prince of all Odus, are Tete, Odundun,

Renren, Gbegi, the Oriji herb, lpoye, omini, and the Iwerejeje plant; but some of these are

known and described by sacred names on occasions of, or for purposes of divination. Then

the leaves of the Tete herb become Ewe attedaiye, i.e., the herb that betokens our seniority

7/31/2019 OBA1

2/5

7/31/2019 OBA1

3/5

It is sometimes described in praises by the honorable title of "Baba, abebe oloran ku si

oran, Oran oloran li obi i ku si." "Our father who intercedes in another person's matter till

he dies over it; Cola is commonly put to death over other people's affair," which isevidently intended for the divinity which it represents, and which refers to his work of

intercession between parties at variance with each other with a view to peace making, andthat death over it which it entails on him, and which, together with a further division into

plugs and into smaller pieces, and an immediate mutual consumption of them by the partiesinterested in the peace making, and their respective friends, confirm and seal the peace

made. It is this circumstance that has given rise to the phrase so often used, "A ti pa obi si

oran na." "We have split Cola over the matter," which is equal to saying, "We have settledthe matter."

It, or the god it represents, is often spoken of as one whose entreaty or intercession is on no

account to be refused; hence the saying, "Ebora," or " Ebo-ara ki ko ebe fun obi." "The

gods are not in the habit of refusing to listen and accept entreaty or intercession from the

Cola nut;" and it is this that has suggested the presentation of Cola nuts amongst otherthings by a suitor for the hand of a young woman in marriage to the parents, urging with

them his suit, his desire and request for a betrothal, and his prayer for their acceptance of it.

The spirits of all the dead go after death to "Orun," the heavens or the world above. It isdivided into two parts. One part is commonly called "Isala Orun" or as a mark of

excellence; "Orun" merely, or "Orun Afefe rere," the heaven of sweet air, or "Orun Alafia,"

the heaven of peace and happiness, where the souls of all the good from this world areadmitted and live after death; and another part is called Orun Apandi, the world of

potsherds, where the spirits of the wicked here pass to and live in after death as a heap of

refuse and rubbish, a mass of God rejected souls-and who are treated there as potsherds are

here where they are commonly flung to a dunghill. Sometimes this world is described asOrun ihariha, the heaven of the dry leaves, covering an ear of corn, or the heaven where

the spirits that go there are treated as such leaves generally are here by being thrown intothe fire, and it is also thus described, "Orun ihariha, ibi ti Orun ati ina pade ti nwon nhoye," "the heaven of the Ihariha, where both the sun and fire meet together, and where the

roar of their united flames and heat is like the shout of a great multitude."

The spirit of a good dead returns from the spirit world to be again born into this world ashad been the case with it before and into the family of which it had been before death a

visible part. Hence it is that after a child's birth and when a name would be given to it a

Babalawo is consulted by the parents that they might know whether or not the child who is

a departed one that has returned to them has come through the father's or the mother's line,that the family might know with what line they would formally connect it by the name that

would be given to it. This accounts for such names as these given to children:-" Yeye-

tunde"-"Our mother has returned to us; " and "Babatunde"-"Our father has returned to us."This transmigration is spoken of as "Yiya"-or the shooting forth of a branch.

7/31/2019 OBA1

4/5

Extract fromAstrological Geomancy in Africa, by Professor J. A. Abayomi Cole:-

In those early days of the world's history, when the gods associated with men and rendered

them valiant help in all their struggles for existence, sacrifices were offered unto them. At

these offerings they became so delighted that they came down from heaven in such greatnumbers that it was not possible to obtain sufficient meat to distribute amongst them.

Having cultivated a taste for flesh, and the worshippers not being able to supply all they

demanded, the Gods were therefore obliged to resort to various pursuits so that they might

obtain food.

Ifa, the God of Divination, took to fishing.

On a certain day Ifa returned from the sea hungry and exhausted, having caught no fish. He

thereupon consulted the God Elegba what to do.

Elegba, in reply, said that there was near the forest a farm belonging to Orunga, the son of

the Goddess (Yemaja). It was planted by Odudura, the wife of Obatala (Heaven). It boreonly sixteen nuts, and if Ifa can succeed to obtain the sixteen palm nuts from Orunga-who

now owns the lands-he would, with them, teach him the art of divination, by which food

will be secured for the Gods without resorting to labour; for every one wishing to consultthe Oracles will pay a goat, and knowing the anxiety of mankind to pry into the future, he

was sure that the Gods would thereby have more flesh than they would need, stipulating at

the same time that the first choice of all such should be his.

Ifa at once proceeded to the farm of Orunga. He bargained for the sixteen palm nuts,

promising in return for them to teach Orunga how to forecast the future, assuring him thatby this knowledge he will become very rich, and at the same time be of great service to

mankind.

Orunga went and consulted his wife, Orisabi, who agreed that they would part with thepalm nuts, if by so doing they would become both rich and useful. Both of them set out to

get the nuts, which they collected by the aid of Monkeys. All, sixteen in number, were

wrapped in a bundle of clothes, and Orisabi tied the bundle on her back in the manner inwhich babies are generally carried, and she with her husband took them to Ifa.

Ifa received and took them to Elegba, who taught him, as he promised, the art of

divination; Ifa in turn taught it to Orunga, who thus became the first Baba-alawo ( i.e.,Father of Mysteries).

Hence in all geomantic operations the Baba-alawoes use the common formula:

7/31/2019 OBA1

5/5

Orunga ajuba oh!-i.e., Orunga, I respect thee!

Orisabi ajubi oh!-i.e., Orisabi, I respect thee!

This accounts for the sixteen palm nuts used in Yoruba divinationall corresponding to the

twelve houses of the heavens + two geomantic witnesses + one geomantic judge + onegrand judge obtained by the permutation of the judge, the fifteenth figure, with the figure

of the first house, all equal to sixteen figures.

There are various methods of divination, either with sixteen stones taken from the stomach

of an alligator, used largely by tribes in the interior of Sierra Leone, or with sixteenordinary stones, beans, palm nuts, or cowries.