Just in — 
Tradition described: Yorùbá / Ìṣẹ̀ṣe
Who is Ọ̀rúnmìlà?
Ọ̀rúnmìlà is the òrìṣà — the divinity — associated with wisdom, knowledge and divination, and Ifá is his oracle. In the tradition's own account he was present at the creation of human beings and knows each person's destiny, which is why one of his praise names calls him the witness of fate. Verses are spoken as his: the diviner does not claim the words as their own, but recites what Ifá says.
The name Ifá is used for Ọ̀rúnmìlà himself as often as for the system, and the two are not always distinguished. Scholars differ on whether they were originally one or two; the practice does not need the question settled.
What the tradition asks of Ọ̀rúnmìlà is a matter for the tradition. These pages describe him as its literature does and go no further — there is no prayer here, no offering, and no claim that a browser reaches him.
Sources for this article
- Wande Abimbola, Ifá: An Exposition of Ifá Literary Corpus (1976), chapter 1 — page reference not yet checked
- William Bascom, Ifa Divination: Communication Between Gods and Men in West Africa (1969), chapter 1 — page reference not yet checked
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