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Ifa Orisa Religion - Is This Our True Identity: Our True Religion - Religion (13) - Nairaland

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Re: Ifa Orisa Religion - Is This Our True Identity: Our True Religion by twaintoy(f): 7:23am On Nov 23, 2014
macof:


Long ago, some few thousands years actually when Orunmila spread Ifa knowledge, he married the first Iyaami called Odu, she promised to be with him and her spirit flow through his disciples to enable them understand the mysteries of the universe and change lives only on the condition that no women must see her, this law was carried in Ifa cult even after her death
Got it though I have read abt It online. Am just wondering why she doesn't want women to see her.
Re: Ifa Orisa Religion - Is This Our True Identity: Our True Religion by macof(m): 7:48am On Nov 23, 2014
ghostofsparta:



I agree ofcourse, I've retracted my earlier statement which was a mistakening of another aspect of it. Meanwhile, why don't you share your opinion on what you think about this video of a housemaid who turns the child baby kept in her care into a beat-toy fitting the profile of those types who will quickly lie against the devil as responsible for her cruelty. I posted the video link there: https://www.nairaland.com/2010889/see-what-happens-folks-leave
Oh yh I saw that later..I'll check out the video
Re: Ifa Orisa Religion - Is This Our True Identity: Our True Religion by macof(m): 7:56am On Nov 23, 2014
twaintoy:
Got it though I have read abt It online. Am just wondering why she doesn't want women to see her.

Well I guess only a Babalawo can tell u that
Re: Ifa Orisa Religion - Is This Our True Identity: Our True Religion by twaintoy(f): 8:00am On Nov 23, 2014
macof:


Well I guess only a Babalawo can tell u that
hmm, ok then. Thanks
Re: Ifa Orisa Religion - Is This Our True Identity: Our True Religion by tpbabyface: 9:40am On Sep 22, 2015
Ejowo mo fe mo oriki odu ifa Ose Ogunda(Ose omolu) ati eewo e... Ti o ba je odu ifa to bi ni niyi... Ki ni eyan lese... Ekini eewo ounje eyan?
Re: Ifa Orisa Religion - Is This Our True Identity: Our True Religion by lawani: 6:32am On Dec 04, 2015
PastorAIO:


Hi Akin 101.  I cannot really answer that question as to whether they can accurately foretell the life of a person.  I have heard people say they were disappointed with divinations they had and others have said that they were amazed by the accuracy of it.  I suspect it depends less on the tools of Ifa, the ikin and the opele,  and more on the personal Ase (ability) of the diviner.   Some people can foretell a lot about someone even without the need to cast an odu. 
However, apart from the use as a divinatory tool, I find the odu and their contents very deeply philosophical and they present an amazing cosmology that is second to none. 
There are various dos and don'ts for each odu.  They have their various ewoo (taboo).  They have their various herbs, and their various objects or foodstuffs for sacrifice.  I can write a post later on describing the process of divination and how the babalawo arrives at a diagnosis and decides when moves to  make in order to ascertain Ire (good fortune) and block Ibi (bad fortune). 
I sometimes find that I can read situations and the dynamics around someone and thereby make predictions without requiring any divination instruments. 

Irete meji is an odu that talks about hitting rock bottom and coming back up again.  The theme of Death and resurrection is strong in this.  It is also this same process that is parallel during initiation which is a death and rebirth too.  Ifa is said to spend 3 days and 3 nights under the earth before it re-emerges during the initiation.  This same process can be portrayed as orunmila falling into a hole, or a well.  Other times it is portrayed as throwing the Ikin (ifa) away into the sea, or into a lake.  After 3 days it is miraculously retrieved. 
In short, it talks about loss and recovery.   Sometimes it is portrayed as a child losing contact with his parents and then one day being reconciled back to them (often after a series of tests to prove descent from the father).  After initiation it is important not to discuss what happened with the Ogberi, that is the uninitiates.  So the theme of secrecy is strong here too. 

I don't know much about Ogbe Alara, but Ofun Meji is known as the Yee pa Odu.  That is the Odu of the Ogboni society.  It is also the Odu of Odu herself.  Oduduwa.  Ofun is the giver, known for generosity.  It talks about how the world was created and supported.

http://www.cultural-expressions.com/ifa/odu/ofun.htm

One of the images of Ofun is the world as a calabash that is supported by 4 staffs connected to it via 4 chains.  As these staffs move it stirs different currents in the calabash that cause the various events that occur in the world.  I like to think of these 4 staffs as the 4 elements. 

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=73809211150



@Pastor AIO. Sir, I am surprised that with your vast knowledge about Ifa that you have doubts that it is a communication channel with Olodumare sir, with the other world. Even in science, things like Quantum entanglement can not be explained. Riemann's theory is used without anyone knowing why it is true. This is the case with Ifa but if you don't believe in its efficacy by submitting yourself to Olodumare, then I doubt if your divinations can be reliable. I have a hunch that there is a need to believe it works, a need to pray before using the instruments. I have been following your comments sir and I find it a bit dissappointing that you think it may not be reliable. There are charlattans definitely, those who are not real scholars, but a real Ifa scholar, an Awo who also has integrity is a servant of God. Thanks sir.
Re: Ifa Orisa Religion - Is This Our True Identity: Our True Religion by lawani: 4:42pm On Dec 04, 2015
WHO WERE JESUS AND MOHAMMED?

Many people point to some verses in the Ifa corpus mentioning Jesus or Mohammed as validations of those characters when the truth is that the Awos of say twenty thousand years ago knew Ifa in a language we would not be able to understand and thousands of verses too, then Ifa verses are not absolute truths, nothing is. It is only fraudsters, liars and evil people who claim to possess absolute truths. A honest human being will advise people to make further research and reach better conclusions as Buddha advised his followers but a criminal would not. All Orunmila did was to create or establish a system of stories that encompasses all possible situations in life, 256 in all, then he devised a system to point the Awo or a diviner to a particular one to help an enquiree, under the assumption that Olodumare is always trying to assist human beings and therefore he will point the Awo or infact anyone, to the right odu for guidance, for the Awo with integrity, under Olodumare, the assumption works like the Riemann's hypothesis works in science despite that it has not been proved. You can create your own odus too, as many Awos have done which led to the stories of Jesus and Mohammed and it will work as well. They are not absolute truths! And will never be. Nothing is. Jesus and Mohammed were not orisas, far from it, to be an orisa, you have to bring advancement to humanity, not set humanity backwards and against each other, leading to killings, arguments, bigotry, hatred and general backwardness as Jesus and Mohammed have done. If anything, Jesus and Mohammed were probably incarnates of some wily Ajogun (malevolent irunmales) who manifested against the will of Olodumare, Allah, Ubangiji as the case may be in any culture, just like we have humans of that nature. There is a need to be clear about this. Jesus and Mohammed were the opposites of what an orisha is.

To the ancient Yoruba, Olodumare does nothing by himself or alone, including the creation of the universe. He chairs a council of 401 irunmale with himself being one of them. This is the equivalent of the Elohim headship of which the Jewish tribal deity may be a member. This idea is also what the ancient Arabs believed before Mohammed came to spoil the air with his Islam. It is basically what was acceptable to all humans before the advent of religious fascism whose basis is worship only one God which makes no sense just like bribe only one Judge makes no sense. There are innumerable irunmales called fairies by the English, jinns by Arabs and etc. For someone to now come and say 'I am the sole God, I am the only son of God or I am the last prophet and sole mouthpiece of God, the only person who can announce the decisions of God' is sacrilegious, mischievious, dangerous, sad and unfortunate. We have to get conscious and break free from such blasphemy and heresy to move forward as a specie. No one is anything that others are barred from. Even extra terrrestrial humans that we are yet to encounter are not. Not to talk of mere men like us who became human because of the people they met on ground as well as those who came before them.

In the past, people became expert diviners after long years of rigorous training under different teachers, among the Yoruba, all the diviners were Awo, someone of high integrity and not criminals, liars and etc. Their camaraderie and fraternity made sure that the power of Olodumare was not abused. An Awo that abuses that power would no longer be an Awo, but an Odale which means traitor. Just like a Doctor can not become a billionaire on account of practicing medicine, an Awo too can not become a billionaire on account of helping people access the 'Ase' of Olodumare. Only business men become billionaires while diviners fall under the category of artisans.

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Re: Ifa Orisa Religion - Is This Our True Identity: Our True Religion by PastorAIO: 2:46pm On Dec 05, 2015
lawani:

@Pastor AIO. Sir, I am surprised that with your vast knowledge about Ifa that you have doubts that it is a communication channel with Olodumare sir, with the other world. Even in science, things like Quantum entanglement can not be explained. Riemann's theory is used without anyone knowing why it is true. This is the case with Ifa but if you don't believe in its efficacy by submitting yourself to Olodumare, then I doubt if your divinations can be reliable. I have a hunch that there is a need to believe it works, a need to pray before using the instruments. I have been following your comments sir and I find it a bit dissappointing that you think it may not be reliable. There are charlattans definitely, those who are not real scholars, but a real Ifa scholar, an Awo who also has integrity is a servant of God. Thanks sir.

I didn't cast doubt on the ability of Ifa. I just stated my experience, I've heard some people speak highly of it, and I've heard others say that they were disappointed. Of course when we factor in the possibility that there are charlatans then that would account for the disappointments.

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Re: Ifa Orisa Religion - Is This Our True Identity: Our True Religion by Nobody: 2:40pm On Dec 30, 2015
Aboru, Aboye gbogbo awo ati omo awo Oo!
Re: Ifa Orisa Religion - Is This Our True Identity: Our True Religion by lawani: 9:22pm On Jul 18, 2016
Omotawede said:



Please write on things you know about. The original Egyptians were jet black Africans and this was recorded by the ancient Greek visitors to Egypt like Herodotus, and Diodorus Sicilus.

Linguistic and other cultural evidence THOROUGHLY supports Nile Valley ancestry of not just Yorubas, but many other West African groups. Read Prof. Olumide Lucas' 'The Religion of the Yorubas', where he clearly shows using top notch research, Yoruba ancestral links to dynastic Egypt.

Archaeological evidence shows that West Africa was the last region to be inhabited in Africa, and was a ''safe haven'' for Africans fleeing foreign raids, including Jihads, in antiquity.

Yoruba tradition and oral history holds that the Yorubas were led from the Nile Valley by Oduduwa to protect their Ifa religion from Jihadist invaders of north Africa. This Arab invasion of Egypt we know happened around 633 AD.

Thousands of Africans  fled southwards from Egypt  and Nubia into West and East Africa over centuries of upheaval caused by these invasions, as well as desertification of the once lush, inhabited Sahara.

That's the history.

Excerpts from Olumide Lucas' work regarding the Ancient Egyptian ancestry of Yorubas.

http://www.philosophos.com/knowledge_base/archives_13/philosophy_questions_1320.html


Here's a 1908 report from the British Royal African Society on Yoruba origins:

http://www.jstor.org/pss/714629

It is more complicated than you think and there was no Ifa in Egypt nor Orunmila, Ogun, Obatala and etc. Those are indigenous to this area. However we speak an Egyptian language that was spoken in Egypt thousands of years ago. The linguistic evidence is valid and a ressurrected Egyptian of 5 thousand years ago would be able to communicate with Yoruboid speakers to a large extent. Those Egyptians gave us names like Daodu which is David and Moremi. I am still looking for the equivalent of Moses, it may be Amusan cheesy. Those early Hebrew names were definitely Egyptian in origin especially Moses, Miriam and Aaron, Joshua which means victor and may infact be same as Ajase. Joshua is same as Yisha which is Jesus. Akhenaten means effective for Aten as Akinogun means effective for Ogun. Peter is Apata which means rock. So the evidence is more than overwhelming. Sueg is suegbe which means fool. Ika is ika meaning wicked, ibudo is ibudo which means dwelling place. Majority of modern Yoruba words were used exactly in same way in Egypt. The language of the Israelite was ancient Yoruba of Egypt before they switched to the Semitic language they speak now. Those are the incontestible facts.


My position.

During the peak of Egyptian empire, the Ife people spoke proto Akoko. The Egyptians established Egypt from Ife over 5 thousand years ago and saw Ife as home, so when their civilization collapsed, a large contingent of them relocated to Ife that they saw as the remnant of the lost Atlantis that we here call Ife Oodaye, they met people on the ground speaking Akoko on Yoruba land. Akoko is still spoken in Kogi, Kwara, Ondo and Edo states, in remote parts of Yoruba lands forming a semicircle over Yoruba land sort of. Those are the people who kept the old language, the remainder now speak Kemitic Egyptian but we are not wholly or majorly descended from them. That is hardly possible. Ife is from the very beginning and I blv Orunmila was not Egyptian. He is infact described in Ifa as going to Ejigbokoro or Ejigbomekun, Ejigbo for short, which apparently means Egypt.


Later in the 7th century, the Ifa oracle halted the installation of an Olofin Aye in Ife, saying a stranger will arrive and that stranger must be given the position. That stranger crowned in Ife instructed his children that he is a descendant of Nimrod which brings South Arabia into the equation. A monarch or aristocrat from South Arabia, Mecca was made Olofin Aye in Ife because Nimrod is a property of South Arabia just like Osiris is a property of Egypt.


That is my submission. The large group that gave us our language were Egyptians but Oduduwa was a South Arabian that came from Mecca.
Re: Ifa Orisa Religion - Is This Our True Identity: Our True Religion by cbravo(m): 2:14pm On Apr 10, 2017
Re: Ifa Orisa Religion - Is This Our True Identity: Our True Religion by PastorAIO: 6:30pm On Apr 25, 2022
twaintoy:
Thanks. A friend told me females are not allowed to see Odu. How true is this and why?

I've found out that Women can witness Odu but only post menopausal women. Any fertile woman that sees Odu will have her womb ruined. Perhaps being charged naturally with Odu already it will cause an imbalance in femininity.
Re: Ifa Orisa Religion - Is This Our True Identity: Our True Religion by DeepSight(m): 6:45pm On Apr 25, 2022
PastorAIO:


Itefa is the Ifa initiation.

Odu is the sacred wife of Orunmila, the womb of the world, a sacred container, a deep mystery.

Can you expatiate on this please? And how do men

PastorAIO:


I've found out that Women can witness Odu but only post menopausal women. Any fertile woman that sees Odu will have her womb ruined. Perhaps being charged naturally with Odu already it will cause an imbalance in femininity.

How do men witness Odu please.
Re: Ifa Orisa Religion - Is This Our True Identity: Our True Religion by PastorAIO: 2:46pm On Apr 26, 2022
DeepSight:




How do men witness Odu please.

You go into Igbodu (the forest of Odu) and get initiated, that is the process called Itefa. They open the calabash of Odu and you look inside.


Can you expatiate on this please? And how do men

Odu is talked about a lot in Ofun Meji, that is an Ifa odu (small letter odu).

Ogbaragada li o dia fun Odu
Ogbaragada made the divination for Odu
when Odu was going to create all the character in the world (Iwa gbogbo)
He was told to make sacrifice.
Four poles and one big calabash with a lid and a chain.
He heard and made the sacrifice
No one would ever question his authority he was told.
He should plant the 4 posts and place the calabash on them
and use the Chain to attach the poles to his hands.
He did as he was told.
The day Odu created all the characters and forms in the world is called Oodua ( Odu ti o da Iwa).
He created all that exists within the calabash
We and all creation are all living inside that calabash.



A deep study of Ofun Meji will reveal that those 4 posts are nothing other than the 4 Elements that Hermetic traditions tells us that the world is made out of. White, Red, Yellow, and Black.
Re: Ifa Orisa Religion - Is This Our True Identity: Our True Religion by Nobody: 2:58pm On Apr 26, 2022
PastorAIO:


You go into Igbodu (the forest of Odu) and get initiated, that is the process called Itefa. They open the calabash of Odu and you look inside.


Perhaps this is what is putting most people off (I'm only thinking aloud before anybody slays me).

You have to go into a forest etc.

With Christianity, you simply believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and you shall be saved.
Simple.
Re: Ifa Orisa Religion - Is This Our True Identity: Our True Religion by PastorAIO: 3:20pm On Apr 26, 2022
PastorMIsBack:


Perhaps this is what is putting most people off (I'm only thinking aloud before anybody slays me).

You have to go into a forest etc.

With Christianity, you simply believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and you shall be saved.
Simple.

You miss the part about Baptism. 'Repent and be baptised'.

You also miss the subsequent Tithes and First Fruits that you have to keep up with if you want to 'make heaven'.

As they say, "if you are not paying for it, YOU are the commodity". Facebook is free but those that own Facebook know how they are using you to make money. (a victim of technological money ritual). Jesus is free, but you will still pay one way or the other.

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Re: Ifa Orisa Religion - Is This Our True Identity: Our True Religion by DeepSight(m): 3:35pm On Apr 26, 2022
PastorAIO:


You go into Igbodu (the forest of Odu) and get initiated, that is the process called Itefa. They open the calabash of Odu and you look inside.




Odu is talked about a lot in Ofun Meji, that is an Ifa odu (small letter odu).

Ogbaragada li o dia fun Odu
Ogbaragada made the divination for Odu
when Odu was going to create all the character in the world (Iwa gbogbo)
He was told to make sacrifice.
Four poles and one big calabash with a lid and a chain.
He heard and made the sacrifice
No one would ever question his authority he was told.
He should plant the 4 posts and place the calabash on them
and use the Chain to attach the poles to his hands.
He did as he was told.
The day Odu created all the characters and forms in the world is called Oodua ( Odu ti o da Iwa).
He created all that exists within the calabash
We and all creation are all living inside that calabash.



A deep study of Ofun Meji will reveal that those 4 posts are nothing other than the 4 Elements that Hermetic traditions tells us that the world is made out of. White, Red, Yellow, and Black.

Ose ore.
Re: Ifa Orisa Religion - Is This Our True Identity: Our True Religion by DeepSight(m): 3:43pm On Apr 26, 2022
PastorMIsBack:


Perhaps this is what is putting most people off (I'm only thinking aloud before anybody slays me).

You have to go into a forest etc.

With Christianity, you simply believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and you shall be saved.
Simple.

And does it not occur to you that there is something manifestly ritualistic about the idea that one must -

1. Call a fellow human being Almighty God
2. Believe that he was born of a Virgin
3. Believe that he was tortured and slaughtered as a sacrifice for the propitiation of sins (effectively believing in ritual human sacrifice)
4. Hold on to the idea of this ritual human sacrifice as the source of one's redemption.

How is it that we Africans are so clear eyed when it comes to seeing the "paganism" and "barbaric ritualism" in our own traditions, but are so blind to seeing same even when manifestly obvious in other traditions. Is this a chronic self hatred, inferiority complex or what? ? ?

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Re: Ifa Orisa Religion - Is This Our True Identity: Our True Religion by PastorAIO: 6:06pm On Apr 26, 2022
Okanran Meji

Okanran speaks of the end of a linear process. A system that once worked but has now become stagnant, or worse, starts producing the opposite effects from what was intended.

Such a situation is often depicted as a drought, or famine.

Dynasties and lineages are such linear structures. There is something that has been passed down from generation to generation but it's reached the end of the line now. The crown prince will not inherit his father's throne. The son will not receive his inheritance. However, on the other hand, if he departs from the lineage and goes to a foreign country or another place he will get crowned there, or be bequeathed something from someone else's family. That change and the new energy and flow it brings is often depicted as a long anticipated rain fall that ends the drought.

O kan mi o
O kan ö of
ögbön a gbön ju
Imonran a mo ju
lo difa fun Laarumo
Ti o jeki won fi omo Oloye je oye
A se rerun ebo nii gbe ni
Ai ru kii gbe wa

It's my turn
It's your turn
Wisdom will out-wise itself
Schemes will over sabi themselves

This was divined from Laarumo
who didn't want the son of the chief to inherit the title.
Sacrificing ebo is what saves one
failure to sacrifice will not save us.



This is the story of a guy that was tampering with the election process of choosing the next King. He felt that as the son of the previous king the title should fall to him by rights. As a consequence of the tampering he lost his life.



2/ Bęlębo o ba peni
Ašefin won o yeni
Oro temi o se wo
Kolombo ni n o soju
A did fun Eji Okanran
NIjo ti n re ele Etilę
won ni o rubo
O d'Etilę lo d'omo
Igba ti o d'Etilę lo o fę Ile wa mõ
O d'Etilę lo di ömö


If the owner of the sacrifice does not call one
then the efficacy of the sacrifice is not one's concern
The matter that I'm not involved in
My face will not show anxiety over it

This was divined for Okanran Meji
when he was going to the land of Etile.
He was asked to sacrifice

"It is when you reached Etile that you became a recognised child"
"When you reached Etilę you refused to return home"
"It is when you reached Etilę you became a cherished child"

Whatever worked for the querent's ancestors no longer work for him/her. Yet s/he will go to a foreign land and prosper there. S/he will become an honorary member of the foreign land. In fact s/he might do so well there, better than the indigenes. Even to the extent that she is crowned the ruler of the foreign land.

In some verses it transpires that there was a famine or drought in the foreign land and the arrival of the querent brings about a refreshing rainfall. Because of that s/he is appreciated and honoured.
Something this person is doing is not being appreciated in his homeland, but if he were to travel abroad with it he will become successful.

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