IFA DIVINATION
Ifa is an ancient spiritual system that studies and interprets the forces of nature both around and inside of us. It is a map that helps us navigate through life in flow, gracefully, and in alignment with our Ori (the Destiny that our spirit agreed to experience in this lifetime).
In Ifa we always strive to be in good character rather than at the whims of “the windmill of the mind” with its attachments and emotional traps that more than often lead us into poor decisions that bring about more emotionality, doubt and confusion.
Ancient Science
“Ifa teaches that, with the exception of the day you are born and the day you are supposed to die, there is no single event that cannot be forecast and, when necessary, changed.”
Divination is a reliable tool for interacting and communicating with the subtle, invisible and spiritual aspects of life. The mind struggles with that concept as it always wants to see proof. Similarly to Western medicine/science which never gave much credit to thousand-year-old traditions such as TCM or Ayurveda. Modern science considered these systems to be no more than superstition because they addressed “invisible” energies that couldn’t be described scientifically. Only in recent years, technology has proven the existence of the electrical grid of Nadis and Meridians.
So, how did the whole meridian grid get mapped out precisely without modern technology thousands of years ago? The answer is: Consciousness. The greatest technology ever created in this universe.
The I-Ching, Runes and IFA Divination all revolve around the number 64 (64 hexagrams, 64 runes, 64x4 Odus in Ifa) which is also the number of codons contained in each DNA nucleus. Out of the three traditions, Ifa is the most intriguing in its similarity to our DNA. On each strand of DNA, there are 4 nuclei. Each contains 64 Codons.
In Ifa we have 256 Odus (64 x 4) just like in each DNA strand there are 256 possible combinations at any given time! Our DNA receives photons (light) at different frequencies and different vibratory rates. They are defined by intervals of light and dark. Codes of zeros and ones. Which is exactly the language that is “used” by Ifa divination tools such as Obis or Opeles. How did the ancients put together accurate divination tools that are based on the workings of our DNA?
Consciousness seems to be the only possible answer. The same Consciousness that has inspired all of our modern digital technology. Consciousness creates tools and ways to bring us closer to ourselves when we lose our ways. Those tools connect our inner and outer worlds. Just like a computer helps us to organise our world and information, Ifa divination helps us to harmonise the relationship between our micro and macrocosm. Ifa Divination is an ancient version of a computer. Just like any other digital system, it is based on binary codes: Dark and Light. 1010110001011010010.
This is not surprising, considering they all stem from One Consciousness that has created the Universe which revolves around the infinite dance between Light and Darkness.
The Opele is the divining chain used by a Babalawo, an initiated priest of Ifa. It consists of two arms made of 8 beads on each side. In Computer Science, a byte consists of eight bits and a nibble represents four bits. The four beads on one side of an Opele can be likened to a nibble and all eight nuts a byte.
Bits are arranged in different patterns of zeros and ones to form a particular binary number or digit. The binary number formed from the arrangement or combination of 0 and 1 can be likened to an Odu (a pattern) in Ifa divination. All 256 Odu’s come with parables that precisely describe how the energy of each Odu affects our everyday life with its unique dance between light and dark.