What is an ìyánífá?

Tradition described: Yorùbá / Ìṣẹ̀ṣe

What is an ìyánífá?

Ìyánífá — “mother of Ifá”, or mother who has Ifá — is the title of a woman initiated into Ifá. Abimbola, writing of the tradition in Africa and the diaspora, says plainly that women are and have been initiated into Ifá, and discusses the place of women in it; the historical literature, written mostly by and about men, says much less. How far a woman's role in divination reaches, and what is reserved, differs between lineages and has been argued within the tradition and in the diaspora.

This article is short on purpose. It states what can be sourced — that the title exists and that women are initiated — and stops. A fuller account belongs to a practitioner or scholar, and is marked below as needing one.

Needs sourcing The statement rests on Abimbola (1997); the passage has not yet been checked against the book, and no practitioner has reviewed this article. Treat it as a placeholder until either happens.

Needs sourcing — see the note at the foot

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