The word "Ifá" itself has 6 layers of meanings: (i) It is the name for the body of knowledge called the Ifá Literary Corpus, which is the Holy Scriptures of Yoruba Religion and Yoruba-Derived Religions (such as Santeria, Lukumi, and Candomble); (ii) Ifá is another name for Orunmila, the Yorùbá god of wisdom who created the Ifá Literary Corpus; (iii) Ifá is the name of the divination process associated with the Ifá Literary Corpus; (iv) Ifá is the name of any one specific poem (also called ese) from the Ifá Literary Corpus; (v) Ifá can be used as the name of a special herbal mixture or talisman prepared for medicinal purposes (the recipes for these are explicitly stated in some Ifá poems); and, (vi), there are some special Ifá poems (called Ifá) that function as incantations or powerful words. When uttered, these words reveal truth in the sense that whatever they state will come to pass. These Ifá are used mainly for medicinal purposes--for example, reciting one such poem in the appropriate manner "calls out" the venom of certain types of snakes from the human body.

Just as Ifá (in all its meanings) offers esoteric knowledge on the basis of which people moderate and guide their day-to-day lives, Aye Ifá provides you with knowledge and information on the basis of which you can better understand Ifá’s world.

Ifá is master of today,
Ifá is master of tomorrow.
Ifá is master of the day after tomorrow as well.
To Ifá belongs all the four days of the week created on earth by Oosa.
My friend, hasten to Ifá.
My friend, hasten to Ifá.
If someone is deceiving you,
Do not yield.
If someone is deceiving you,
Do not yield.
Truth is bitter,
Ifá will inherit the world.

—Wande Abimbola.

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