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Tradition described: Yorùbá / Ìṣẹ̀ṣe
What is a babaláwo?
A babaláwo is a priest of Ifá: the word is usually glossed as “father of secrets” or “father who has the secret”. He has been initiated into Ifá, has learned the manipulation of the ikin and the ọ̀pẹ̀lẹ̀, and — the greater part of the work — has memorised verses of the Odù over years of apprenticeship, typically beginning in childhood and continuing for life. Bascom's informants counted their training in decades.
In a consultation the babaláwo produces the Odù, recites verses from it, and helps the client see which of them speaks to their situation; he may use the ìbò to narrow the reading to a yes or a no, and he prescribes what the verses prescribe. Every one of those steps rests on training and transmission. A website can produce the Odù. It cannot do the rest, and this one does not pretend to.
The babaláwo's standing in Yorùbá society — as diviner, healer, keeper of history and adviser to households and to kings — is the subject of most of the scholarly literature, and of this section's Sources page.
Sources for this article
- William Bascom, Ifa Divination: Communication Between Gods and Men in West Africa (1969), chapter 2 — page reference not yet checked
- Wande Abimbola, Ifá: An Exposition of Ifá Literary Corpus (1976), chapter 1 — page reference not yet checked
- UNESCO, Ifa divination system — Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity (2008)
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