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THE IFÁ CULT.

The paraphernalia of the Ifá divination system.The custodians of this paraphernalia are priests and diviners known as babaláwo (fathers in the divination cult).

They wear light-blue dresses and adorn themselves profusely with beads, prominent among which is idè, which they tie to the wrists and the neck. Another distinguishing mark of Ifá priests is the jèrùgbé, a bag made of cloth which most of them hang on their shoulders.

It is because of this habit of carrying a bag that the term akápò (bag-carrier) is used to connote an Ifá priest. A senior Ifá priest sometimes carries about with him as a walking stick, a decorated staff made of wood or of wrought iron called òsùn; it is always held carefully for, according to a certain taboo, it must never fall flat on the bare ground.

It is also usual for an Ifá priest to carry on his person a carved club-like object known as Ìrökë, which is used to invoke Ifá during the process of divination. There are five classes of Ifá priests.

The first and most important class is made up of priests known as Babaláwo Olódù. These are full Ifá priests who have been initiated into the secrets of Odù the mythical wife of Ifá.They are the most qualified Ifá priests being at once both diviners and healers.

The second class of Ifá priests consists of priests who have not been initiated into the secrets of Odù and who have all the paraphernalia of Ifá divination and are fully authorized to practise the art of divination.

The third class of Ifá priests is made up of people who have all the paraphernalia of Ifá divination but who are forbidden to use them to divine for people outside their own households.

To the fourth class are consigned those Ifá priests who are healers; they are full Ifá priests but they divine solely for healing purposes. The fifth class is made up of trained Ifá priests who are neither diviners nor healers but who have been trained as Ifá priests. They have all the paraphernalia of Ifá but they do not use them.

Each of them is usually in some full time gainful employment but he attends the regular assemblies of Ifá priests and he maintains a disciplined attitude to life, which is characteristic of Ifá priests.

In ancient times, the Ifá cult was centrally controlled by the king of each Yoruba kingdom through and officer who acted as a contact man between the cult members and the government.

In Öyô for example, the Ifá cult was under the control of a chief styled Önàilémölë, who was the political head of the Ifá cult in Öyô. Government control on the cult was however only of political nature. The cult retained the full freedom to choose its own chiefs and regulate its affairs so long as it did nothing contrary to the government's civic orders. Nowadays, the control of kings over the Ifá cult has almost completely disappeared.

The Ifá cult is not a secret cult although some of its deliberations are held as secrets, which the un-initiated must not know. The opportunity for training as an Ifá priest is available to all male children and adults throughout Yorubaland.

There are some female diviners who are sometimes called Ifá priests but they do not belong to the inner core of cult members. It may, therefore, be said that the Ifá cult is essentially a cult of male adherents.

The Ifá cult is one of the best-organized cults among the Yoruba. At the head of the cult is the Àràbà, who is the supreme high priest of a very large area, which sometimes covers an entire district with many towns and villages. After 'the Àràbà comes the Olúwo, who is the Ifá high priest for a particular city or community. From the Àràbà downwards there are altogether sixteen major chiefs of Ifá.

The following are the sixteen most important Ifá priests in Öyô area.

1. Àràbàmm 7. Àràõsàn jjjj13. Ajerò
2. Olúwo mml8. Balêsin jjjj14. Æwáràngún
3. Ojùgbönàll 9. Ætún Awo j15. Æbalêyô
4. Akôdáooo 10. Òsì Awo jj16. Àgbængbö
5. Asëdá ooo11. Ëk÷jæ Awo
6. Erìnmì ooo12. Alárá

There are, however, many other minor chiefs responsible for the Ifá cult in very small communities. Furthermore, every Olúwo has his own retinue of sixteen chiefs who assist him in administering the cult in his own area.

Sometimes a chief subsidiary to the Olúwo also has under himself a number of chiefs responsible for minor duties such as settling disputes among cult members.

The first day of the Yoruba four-day week is devoted by Ifá priests to the worship of Ifá. The day is known as æjô awo (the day of Ifá divination). On this day, Ifá priests assemble at the house of their local chief priest. There, they eat, drink and make sacrifices to Ifá. Chanting of excerpts from the Ifá literary corpus is not unusual at such congregations. As they chant, some of them produce special dance music on the traditional Ifá drum and to this they dance merrily around the house.

In most communities Ifá priests also meet regularly once every month and once every year. The yearly meeting is observed as a festival, which is known as Mælë. The annual Mælë festival is very elaborate and it is usually held in honour of the king. Most of the important activities of the festival therefore take place in the palace of the king. These activities include offerings, chanting of Ifá verse and dancing. In some communities, Ifá priests dance round the town during the annual Mælë festival.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the annual Mælë festival and the other congregational assemblies of Ifá priests is the chanting of Ifá texts which is referred to as ìyërè.

The chanting of ìyërë is a well-developed art among Ifá priests and it is usually done in choral form, led by someone who is a good chanter. To every complete sentence chanted correctly by the leader of the chant, the other Ifá priests chant han-in, meaning 'Yes, that is right.'

However, if the leader has chanted a sentence wrongly, the other priests inform him of this and tell him to correct his mistake. If he makes another mistake, he might be shouted down and another priest who is sure of himself immediately takes over from him.

Where a priest makes serious mistakes while chanting and refuses to stop chanting in defiance of the expressed wishes of the congregation, he might even be thrown out of the meeting in shame. By this rigid insistence on the correct recital of Ifá texts, Ifá priests have made it almost impossible for spurious passages to appear in the Ifá literary corpus.

To illustrate ìyërè chanting, the following ÷s÷ is quoted from the Ifá literary corpus in the manner that it will be delivered at an ìyërë session with the han-in refrain chorally chanted in response to every correct sentence. The last few lines of the ÷s÷ contain the chorus proper, which is chanted together by the leader of the chant and the other priests. This chorus proper is sometimes repeated several times by the priests as they dance to the music of their drums and gongs.

LEADER: Igbó gbæræræ ni mo lè é «ákê.
GROUP: Han-in
LEADER: Òdàn gbæræræ ni mo lè é hækùn.
GROUP: Han-in
LEADER: Kí n tóó dé, Wôn joyè lêyìn mi.
GROUP: Han-in.
LEADER: Mo dé, mo bá mörìwò öpë y÷÷-yëë-y÷÷ lálàdéè mi.
GROUP: Han-in.
LEADER: A díá fún Olóógundúdú, Èyí tí ñlæ lèé j’Àjànà n’Ífë
GROUP: Han-in.
LEADER: Olónímoró j’Àjànà n’Ífë.
GROUP: Han-in.
LEADER: Barapetú j’Àjànà n’Ífë.
GROUP: Han-in.
LEADER: A ò kú mô,
GROUP: Han-in.
LEADER: Àj÷pê loyè awó j÷.
GROUP: Han-in
LEADER: Àj÷pê loyè awó j÷
GROUP: Àj÷pê loyè awó j÷. Olónímoró j’Àjànà n’Ífë. A ò kú mô, Àj÷pê loyè awó j÷. LEADER: I went into the vast forest to fetch building poles.
GROUP: That is right
LEADER: I went into the vast savannah to fetch building ropes.
GROUP: That is right.
LEADER: Before I returned, they installed a chief in my absence.
GROUP: That is right.
LEADER: I returned to find plenty of palm fronds in my abode.
GROUP: That is right.
LEADER: Ifá divination was performed for Olóógundúdú who was going to be installed as Àjànà of Ifë.
GROUP: That is right.
LEADER: Baraapetú was installed as the Àjànà of Ifë.
GROUP: That is right.
LEADER: We will not die.
GROUP: That is right.
LEADER: Ifá priest is installed into a long lasting title.
GROUP: That is right.
LEADER: Ifá priest is certainly installed into a long lasting title.
GROUP: Ifá priest is installed into a long lasting title. Olónímoró was installed as the Àjànà of Ifë. We will not die. Ifá priest is installed into a long lasting title.

In ancient times in Yoruba land, Ifá priests were usually very poor. This was because they were not paid directly for the services they rendered to the community. For their livelihood they had to depend entirely on certain parts of the offerings given to Ifá and sometimes on gifts from clients.

No babaláwo should use his position to enrich himself in any way; he must not refuse anybody his service on account of money-if any person is too poor to pay the customary pittance for divination, the babaláwo must divine for him free of charge; or if the person cannot afford the prescribed sacrifice, the babaláwo must take whatever he can afford and translate the will for the deed.

It seems, in fact, that the babaláwo is under a vow of poverty, to spend himself in the service of the community, making just enough to keep himself, his real reward being in the service of Örúnmìlà.

One important attribute of all Ifá priests, whatever their status in the cult, is humility. Humility is manifest both in their appearance and their manners. This, as will be shown below, is an outcome of the great discipline and perseverance involved in their training. It can hardly be gainsaid that the Ifá cult, comprising as it does properly disciplined, humble and well-informed priests, is one of the most important and most useful cults of the Yoruba people.