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THE PROCESS OF IFA DIVINATION

The two categories of the Ifá literary corpus, the Odù and the ÷s÷ but the process by which the priest of Ifá uses both the Odù and the ÷s÷ to solve the problem of his client is yet to be described.

The long and complicated process of Ifá divination begins when the client confides his secret problem to Ifá. This is done in several ways. The most popular way is for the client to whisper his secret problem to a coin and then throw the coin inside the paraphernalia of Ifá divination laid out before him by the priest of Ifá.

Another method is for the client to take up the paraphernalia of Ifá divination in his hands and unfold his mind to it in a whisper. The Ifá priest is not allowed to hear any part of the client's whisper at this stage.

The next stage of the divination process begins when the priest of Ifá takes lip the divination instruments and starts chanting certain poems to them. These chants usually include a salute of the Almighty God, a salute to Örúnmìlà and sometimes salutes to certain other authorities. A typical introductory chant is quoted below:

Ifá o gbö.
Æmæ ¿nír÷;
Æmæ ¿nìr÷
Æmæ ejò méjì
Tí í sáré ganranganran lórí eréwé
Akéré f’inú «ægbôn;
Akônilôràn bí ìyekan ÷ni.
Ìbà Ajôdá.
Ìbà A«ëdá.
Ælöjö òní ìbàà r÷ o.

Listen, O! Ifá.
You, the son of ¿nír÷,
The son of ¿nìr÷.
You the son of two snakes
That dart about over the leaves.
You, the small person
With a mind full of wisdom.
You are the giver of wise and brotherly counsel.
By your leave, Akôdá.
By your permission, A«ëdá.
The owner of this day,
I seek your authority.

The proper performance of the divination follows the introductory chants. If, for example, the Ifá priest chooses to use the divining chain, he takes it firmly in the middle and casts it on the ground before himself and reads the signature of the Odù that appears.

He then chants the ÷s÷ which he considers to be most representative of the character of this Odù. He could also give his client further details by chanting more ÷s÷.

The amount of detailed explanation that the Ifá priest gives his client at this stage depends on the number of different kinds of ÷s÷ that he knows from the particular Odù, which has appeared. At this stage, however, the Ifá priest usually prefers to make a broad and general statement. He relies on the use of the ìbò to spell out further details.

The ìbò are used by the Ifá priest to translate his broad pronouncement into concrete details. As mentioned in the preceeding chapter, the ìbò are mere lots based on the two opposite alternatives of 'yes' and 'no'. It is the belief of the Ifá priest and his client that the client's Orí win make the right choice of alternatives for him when lots are cast

The commonest and simplest form of ìbò is a pair of cowry shells tied together and a piece of animal bone. Generally speaking, the cowry shell stands for 'yes' while the piece of bone stands for 'no'.

After chanting the most representative ÷s÷ in the Odù that appears, the Ifá priest gives the set of ìbò to his client and asks him to put to it a question requiring the answer 'yes' or 'no', If, for example, after the first performance of divination, the Ifá priest has made the general statement that Ifá says that someone is in danger of death, the client may use the set of ìbò to find out exactly who is in danger of death.

Is it one of his children, one of his friends or one of his relations? Is it he himself? The client may then whisper a statement like this to the set of ìbò: Ifá, you say someone is in danger of death, is the person my mother?'

As usual the Ifá priest is not allowed to hear this whisper. The client then drops the set of ìbò on the paraphernalia of divination while the Ifá priest picks it up immediately and gives it back to the client after using it to touch the paraphernalia and saying: 'The cowries mean 'yes' and the bone means 'no' '. The client then picks up the ìbò and keeps the cowries in one of his hands and the bone in the other.

The priest of Ifá then takes up the divining chain again and casts it on the ground twice. If the Odù obtained during the first casting of the divining chain is senior to the Odù obtained during the second casting, the Ifá priest asks his client to produce the piece of ìbò in his right hand.

But, if the Odù obtained during the first casting of the divining chain is junior to the one obtained during the second casting, he asks his client to produce the piece of ìbò in his left hand. If the piece of ìbò kept in the right hand turns out to be the piece of bone, it means that the answer to the client's question is 'no', but if it turns out to be the pair of cowries, it means the answer is 'yes',

If the answer to the client's question is 'no', it means, of course, that the person who is in danger of death is not the mother of the client. In this case, the client uses the set of ìbò to put another question, substituting someone else's name for that of his mother.

The ìbò are thus used as a means to amplify the first prediction of Ifá, which, as mentioned above, is usually very broad and general. If, for example, after the first casting of the divining chain, the Ifá priest says that Ifá sees good fortune, the Ifá priest and his client may want to know what kind of good fortune it is, when the good fortune will come, and to whom it is likely to come.

Whatever the nature of the amplification desired, the process described above is usually followed until all answers are obtained. Therefore, the Ifá priest may have to cast the divining chain many times when using the ìbò to find out a specific point.

When the client is satisfied that all his questions are answered, he tells the Ifá priest the actual problem he has brought before Ifá. The client's problem is then discussed and the Ifá priest helps further by analysing the different ÷s÷ he has chanted.

In this way, the client is made to understand the prediction of Ifá about his own problem. If the divination is a successful one, both the Ifá priest and his client feel quite satisfied at the end of the long process of divination.

But it is not unusual for the client to feel that he is not quite satisfied at the end of the divination process; If he tells his Ifá priest that he is not satisfied, the divination process is repeated all over again, and, if at the end, he is still not satisfied, the Ifa priest may ask him to come back to repeat the process the next day. In this way, some divination processes may take several hours or days to complete.