Ifá oracle

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Oracle bowl ifa agere of the Yoruba, Nigeria, 19th / early 20th century; Museum Rietberg , Zurich

In the Yoruba religion and in the religions derived from it, the Ifá oracle is the central religious instrument for coping with life .

It has been recognized as an Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO since 2005 and was added to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2008 .

Text corpus Odù-Ifá

The Ifá oracle is based on the extensive and only orally transmitted text corpus Odù-Ifá, which contains the wisdom of the Yoruba and is regarded as their cultural and collective memory . The Odù-Ifá collection is divided into 256 chapters. Each chapter (odù) is assigned an oracle mark (also odù ) or a signature from 256 possibilities.

Oracle sign (odù)

Oracle signs are only allowed to be used by a Babalaô or Babalawo (Yoruba babaláwo "father of secrets") [ babala: 'o ] (in the Cuban Santería : highest degree of initiation; in Yorùbáland: own priesthood) on important decisions of a person or a community be interpreted.

256 possible oracle characters (odù) can be signed with eight digits in a dual system with the two digits I and II (2 8 = 256). If you look at these groups of eight as a combination of two groups of four, then there are exactly sixteen of the 256 possibilities in which the first and second groups of four match. These sixteen possibilities are the main sixteen modù. According to the Ifá Convention, I and II correspond to the numbers 1 and 0.

The sixteen main
order of rank according to Ifé and in brackets the order of rank in the Santería
No. Surname 1 2 3 4 No. Surname 1 2 3 4 No. Surname 1 2 3 4 No. Surname 1 2 3 4
(8) 1 Ogbe  I I I I  (15) 2 Oyẹku  II II II II  (14) 3 Iwori  II I I II  (7) 4 Odi  I II II I 
(6) 5 Ọbara  I II II II  (1) 6 Ọkanran  II II II I  (4) 7 Irosun  I I II II  (11) 8 Iwọnrin  II II I I 
(3) 9 Ogunda  I I I II  (9) 10 Ọsa  II I I I  (13) 11 Irẹtẹ  I I II I  (16) 12 Otura  I II I I 
(12) 13 Oturupon  II II I II  (2) 14 Ika  II I II II  (5) 15 Eyelet  I II I II  (10) 16 Ofun  II I II I 

Procedure

Chain (okpele ifá)

The opele is a divination chain, originally made of seed pods from the opele tree (schrebera golungensis) attached to a string. The total length varies roughly between 75 cm and 125 cm. Eight seed pod halves showing a convex and concave side, or other corresponding objects, are strung together on a chain (often made of brass) so that when they are thrown they can show either the convex or concave side. A middle piece (longer than the distance between the individual capsules) is used to hold the chain, objects (mussels, cowries, metal rings, etc.) attached in different numbers to the lower end ensure that the left half can be distinguished from the right half is. The babalaô "throws" the chain away from him with his right hand (even if he is left-handed) in such a way that the two open ends come closer to him. The concave side means "I", the convex "II" (the concave side can be marked in the middle). With one throw an Odu (a Meji figure or one of the 240 combinations) is determined. One throw of this chain results in an oracle sign (odù) .

Palm nuts (ikin ifá)

With palm nuts (ikin ifá) an oracle mark (odú) is determined in eight valid throws . The babalaô takes the 16 ikin (as much as one hand can hold) in both hands and quickly claps them several times. Then he tries to grab as much as possible with his right hand. If a nut remains in the left hand, he marks two, if two remain, one. If more or less, the process is repeated. It therefore takes at least eight attempts to determine an odu.

Òrunmìlà , the patron saint of the Ifá oracle, is said to have left sixteen palm nuts (ikin) for his children so that they can ask him questions. The sixteen consecrated palm nuts (ikin ifá) are in a bowl (agere ifá) . At the beginning of the oracle, the babalaô knocks with the divination staff (ìróké-ifá) on the divination board (opon ifá) to call Òrunmìlà and the old babaláwos. The babalawo notes each result of a throw on the divination board prepared with wood dust.

Web links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/index.php?lg=en&pg=00011&RL=00146 (English), cf. the presentation in: William Bascom: Ifa Divination. Communication Between Gods and Men in West Africa. Bloomington 1969 (English).
  2. ↑ Hans Gerald Hödl : Index to Afro-American Religions: Odù
  3. ↑ Hans Gerald Hödl: Scriptum West African Religions, p. 86: PDF.
  4. ^ Hans Gerald Hödl: Index to Afro-American Religions: Ikin
  5. ^ Met Museum New York 12. Carved Calabash ( Memento of January 7, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) (English).
  6. ↑ Met Museum New York 15. Ifa Divination Vessel: Female Caryatid (Agere Ifa) ( Memento from January 7, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) (English) and
    16. Ifa Divination Vessel: Equestrian Warrior (Agere Ifa) ( Memento from January 7 2006 in the Internet Archive ) (English).
  7. ^ Met Museum New York 14. Ifa Divination Tapper (Iroke Ifa) ( Memento from January 7, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) (English).
  8. ^ Met Museum New York 13. Ifa Divination Tray (Opon Ifa) ( Memento from January 7, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) (English).