₦airaland Forum

This thread is full of dumb comments. People just throwing hidden attacks against each others ethnic groups

nnofaith: do i look like i give a f**k about what he is?!

then u are a fool to even mention is name in the first place

[quote author=barack_o_handso]Not much. Just that it's a Hindu religion.
You can enlighten me if you know better[/quote]buddhist don't care about God or gods. They live for themselves, and strive to acquire one thing : reinvention in opposed to reincarnation in order to escape suffering. They believe the sins of the former life brings suffering to the new life which the reincarnated soul lives. Their rituals are basically, meditating to harnessing ones inner consciousness(wat I like to call Ori) in order to change the course of their lives.

Hope u get what Buddhism is about now

nnofaith: which of the almighties?! ogun, allah, yahweh, odin, which one?!

u are really lacking in knowledge. Ogun is not Almighty, do not put Ogun in Olodumare's level

.

Ubenedictus: ok, ifa is wisdom, the past, present and future, what is, what was and what will be. Orumila is high priest, the balawo is suppose tn aquire that knowledge by interpreting a set of chanced circumstance usually palm nut or bead and using a technique of divinition learned from an elder.
Now is ifa an orisa itself or just the technique orumila and his initiates use to access a certain supernatural knowledge?

you are following. Good

Ifa is the system of divination, but the spirit behind it is Orunmila, it is all Orunmila's knowledge that is stated in the odu-ifa. it's not wrong to call ifa an orisa because Orunmila is Ifa, without Orunmila there won't be Ifa. Ifa exist because Orunmila exist(and would always exist). It is true that Orunmila and his initiates use it to access supernatural knowledge but It is all Orunmila's knowledge. And as the closest and most loved orisa by Olodumare, he knows the will of Olodumare, and Ifa is the pure word of Olodumare as interpreted by Orunmila.

FOLYKAZE: Viewing this topic: aManFromMars

lol

I thought he un-followed

[quote author=barack_o_handso]Yeah I get it. You love its philosophy but technically Buddhism is monotheism. You say Sam Harris is an atheist that supports Buddhism, but he's not a Buddhist right?

Ifa followers treat it as theism.[/quote]wat do u know about Buddhism?

asco15: Oh i wish CAN cn make dis as part of d rules dat guide all xtians, so dat wen we see an indecent gal or boy, we won't tag dem as xtians. Den d indecent gal nd boys will knw dat dey r nt xtian and cn only be xtians wen dey r ready 2 be decent.
I luv dis!:-)

reasons why Christians these days don't allow accessories is because slaves don't use should things

holypower: Oneday, he will know that you haven't seen light and the devil will laugh laugh at you and ask you, who told you to believe false things? GOD bless your pastor. GOD has touched his heart. GOD bless the G.O. Bible condemn outward appearance(1pet 3:3). Seeing that you are going to Church to show your cloth and not to be talk with GOD. #speaking in love

The devil can't laugh at me cause he doesn't exist. I don't even care wat u Christians wear to church. And I believe in the truth and wisdom in the world.

IFA
Ifá refers to the system of divination and the verses of the literary corpus known as the Odù Ifá. Yoruba religion identifies Orunmila as the Grand Priest, as he who revealed Oracle divinity to the world. Such is his association with the Oracle divinity; in some instances, the term "Ọ̀rúnmìlà" is used interchangeably with Ifá.
Ifá originated in Ile-Ife in the form of a stringent Yoruba religious system, and is celebrated in traditional African medicine, Santería (referred to as Lukumi),Candomblé, West African & Diaspora Vodou, and similarly in Orisa'Ifa lineages all over the globe.

Ifa is an ancient sacred science that has been passed down generationally for thousands of years. Ifa is a means of communicating with the spiritual world. Through ifa we can see what cannot be seen- in the past, present and future, therefore when we place our trust on the word of ifa, we are always ensured hope, no matter how dire the situation may seem.
Performing Ifa divination is called Ifa dida or idafa (ounte ale), also called consulting Da'fa. Ifa dida / Idafa is performed by a Babalawo or Iyanifa (an initiate of Ifa oracle). Babalawo can be translated as "father of the secrets" while "Iyanifa" means "mother that has Ifa(i.e. its blessing)". The babalawo or iyanifa casts for the odu or "pattern" and provides insights according to the odu about the current circumstances impacting the life of a person requesting this information and provides any necessary information to aid the individual. Awo is a reference for devotees in the Orisa tradition. It includes Babalawos, Iyanifas, Babalorishas, Iyalorishas and even uninitiated devotees. Traditionally in Lucumi, women have not been initiated into Ifa priesthood, according to the teaching which allows them as little a single Ikin and as many as 12 (according to the Sode tradition). In the USA and abroad (in Yorubaland), practitioners of the Ifa tradition do initiate women into Ifa.
Initiation into Ifa requires rigorous study. The Babalawo or Iyanifa must learn and understand each of the 256 chapters (Odu) of Ifa. The minimum of four verses will of necessity include ebo (sacrifice) and oogun (medicine) that are embedded and relevant to each of the verses, plus other issues that complement divination. An accomplished initiate must know about ten verses of each of the 256 chapters of Ifa (256 Odu Ifa). Other sources say that before an initiate can serve others through Ifa divination he or she must first be able to recite at least four verses from each Odu. Everyone who is initiated to Ifa can serve others through the Ifa oracle. Ifa service is an office bestowed once you have received training from an elder. Those who aspire to serve through Ifa must have this qualification.
Odu — a special Orisa — can only be received by a Babalawo (male) who decides to perform the special initiation that will allow him access to Odu. In essence, initiation into Ifa is the first step towards initiation into Odu. A woman cannot be initiated into Odu. This is because since she already has a womb, she has no need to receive Odu.
Character Traits of an Awo: Orunmila demands humility from his initiates, therefore, a Babalawo/Iyanifa should be an embodiment of patience, righteous character, honesty, and humility. The respect that one would give to a Babalawo is to also be extended to his Apetebi (the wife and assistant of a Babalawo).
Conversely, in Cuba and parts of Nigeria such as Ode Remo, Ijebuland and Ibadan (and Ile Ife up until at least 1992), the position of the Iyanifa as a divining initiate of Ifa is hotly contested on the grounds that in the Odu; Ogunda 'Ka, Irete 'Gbe and Oshe 'Yekun, no one can become a full Awo Ifa without the presence of the Orisa Odu, and in the Odu Ifa Irete Ogbe, Odu herself says that she would only marry Orunmila if he promised not to permit women to be in the same room as her. Also, Dr. Ikulomi Djisovi Eason reports that in Ile Ife, widely considered Ifá's capital among traditional Yoruba, did not initiate women as late as 1992. These views appear to be confirmed by books published in Nigeria as far back as the 19th century. For instance, the eminent Yoruba author James Johnson wrote in one of the most detailed early descriptions of Ifa that "Whenever this should be the case, a woman would receive from a Babalawo only one Ikin or Consecrated Palm nut called Eko, which she would carry about her body for her protection, and whenever divination should recommend and prescribe to her sacrifice to Ifa, she would, for the time being, hand over her Eko either to her husband or to her brother, or any other male relative according to prescription, who would include it in his own Ikins for the purpose of the worship and sacrifice in which she would participate. Sources from Yorubaland going back to the mid-19th century clearly state that only men can become Ifa diviners. The idea that any woman's womb is the equivalent of Odu, the force that created the universe, is not a tenable one to traditionalists. This is the theological equivalent to a man who might want to claim to be a Babalawo without initiation due to the virtue of having male Instruments as does the Orisha Orunmila.
Apetebi is a title given to the wife of a Babalawo. In many shrines houses any female who has the hand of Ifa is viewed as apetebi. Apetebi is the name Orunmila gave to his wife, whom he cured from leprosy before giving birth to his child. This is from the Sacred Odu Ifa Obara Ogunda.
Iyanifa is the title of female initiate to IFA, but can mean several other things as well depending on region and tradition.

Candour: Really? From MFM to atheist? What happened?

no. from Christian to Yoruba paganism

Apart from the Orisa, there are other spritual forces:
Ori
Irunmole
Ajogun
Egungun
Emi

The ori is a very important spirit in the religion. It can be literalised as “head” (physical nd spiritual) it is its own entity which contains our destiny, character, memory(before life/heavenly life) it allows us make decisions through our own free will, it is also our guardian angel. Ori should be worshipped first before any orisa(worshipping orisa is never a must but gives an advantage to achieving ur destiny). As Ifa teaches that he himself is not worthy of sacrifice, that ori alone is worthy of sacrifice because all thoughts start within our own minds/heads and if our heads are focused, then so will our lives. The Irunmole and Orisa are there for the times our heads become detached (Modakeke). Basically, when we're not thinking correctly. Therefore, before seeking the assistance of any of the Irunmole or Orisa use your own head first to solve your problems (use your Ori). Ori is the owner of our destiny, he chooses it for us and we must strive to accomplish our destiny.

The Irunmole are pure spiritual beings/forces, each irunmole has specific assignment given by Olodumare, they are his personal messengers. Its the believe that there are 601 irunmole(400 constantly stay in heaven) and 201 move all around the Universe

Ajogun are the spirits that bring bad tidings. Iku(death) is their leader but it seems they work only when Esu permits them. They are called to duty when a human commits a taboo. Apart from the regular taboos of the community u live in, humans have their personal taboo could be food, cloths, drink, to acting with anger. The way to discover ur taboo is through ifa or connecting with ur Ori

Egungun is also another group of spirits, this ones are the spirits of our ancestors who have lived on earth, who could seek for reincarnation at any time, or probably be ordered by Olodumare to come to earth again; most egunguns come back to earth in that same family of their before life, usually as their grandchildren. Names like babatunde, yewande, babajide etc. Are given to children believe to be reincarnates of their close ancestor.

Emi are the souls of humans. when an Emi is ready to come to the world, Ori then Chooses the destiny.

[quote author=PAGAN 9JA]Its because they usurped power from us.[/quote]yeah. a lot of so-called pastors seek powers from Paganism

aManFromMars: U escape MFM, leave Christianity patapata.... surprising...

Yeah I began to see the light

That was my church when I was still Christian. so this is wat its turnned into

Orunmila

Esu

yemoja

Ogun

pictures of Olokun and Obatala

Ogun and the Invention of Iron when Ogun and the other orisa first decended to earth, they told the humans to settle and prosper. The people were on able to do so as they wished and so Ogun had to show them an example, he talked with Orunmila about this, and was advised to invent something strong and sharp to cut the thick grasses and make holes on the earth. Ogun created an axe, after that a cutlass and finally a sword. The people used this new knowledge to make better life for themselves.

Ogun and circumcision :at the beginning Olure was created to wife Ogun, but she had no interest in him. One time she wanted to get to earth but got stuck at the entrance so she asked Ogun for help. It was a palm tree that was the cause and Ogun had to cut it down, wood from the tree entered Olure causing her great pain, she begged Ogun to get it out, he told her to first accept him as her husband, She agreed and Ogun used his cutlass to scrape out the wood from her vagina, leaving her with scars. Both of them went came to earth together as couples. Ogun couldn’t ejaculate quickly and so he thought cutting of the tip of his manhood would make it faster.



Eshu causing commotion: There were two humans who lived on adjacent farms, they had been good friends for a long time and Orunmila told them to offer sacrifice to Esu ut they refused(or forgot to do it at the right time) so Esu decided to break their friendship. Esu being a trickster made a hat- red one side, blue one side and passed the two men. They talked about how beautiful Esu’s hat was, One said it was blue the other said it was red and this brought a fight between both of them until Esu came to clear the mystery

A human king once refused his regular sacrifice to Esu, and of course Esu loves to punish does u forget him. He went to one of the king’s wives, told her he would help her to secure her husbands love, but she had to cut a strand of his hair and bring to him. He went to the king, told him his wife planned to kill him. Went to the son had told him to assemble warriors cus his father needed to address them. That night the wife came with a knife to get the hair, the king woke up, thinking this wife wanted to kill him, he struggled with her and collected the knife from her, his son heard the screams and went to the room with some men, the king thought his wife and son conspired against him, the son thought he wanted to kill his mother. Until he finally offered that sacrifice Esu came back to settle everything.

best thing is for us to be independent. We are causing too many problems to ourselves, lets disintegrate. Am sure the new nations would fare well

FOLYKAZE: you know some people are just silly.....some might think Olokun is a half human, half fish and have gold crown on her head. You need to make them understand olokun. I just did that in my previous post. Read it pls

oh! I just understood u now

FOLYKAZE: This is an atheist with thinking cap on.

@OP. Pls after the story, kindly break it down to our age. Those names are symbolic. Good job you doing bro

break it down to our age how do u mean?

JMAN05: I am. so show me where the bible talked about the age of the earth.

ur Bible says it took God 6days to create the earth. 6days plus Adams years down to Jesus is about 4000 years, plus 2000 after Christ= 6000

Ubenedictus: wow, great work, shongo is a bit of irony, how come the orisa who advises against rash decisions is in charge of an overcharge and raging force like thunder.
A yoruba man once argued with me that sopono is small pox and not an orisa, how did so many orisas become unpopular.
I thought olokun was alway a she.
Anyway good job.

making rash decisions brought Sango's downfall when he was king, we are suppose to learn from his mistakes. Sopona afflicts small pox and all kinds of illnesses.
I guess the only ones known to man are the ones that were interested in spending some time on earth, some Orisas can't leave heaven, as Olodumare doesn't give them permission and Ifa doesn't tell us about all of them.

Aborisa simply means worship of orisa(orisha). The Orisas are seen as the first borns of Olodumare. Some are nature forces, controlling a particular element of nature. The major Orisas that fall into that category are Olokun and Oodua, being the nature forces for water and earth respectively. It is believed that these two alongside Obatala have no definite gender, changing to either male or female as they wish at any time, although Obatala is almost never described as a female.

List of Orisa
Obatala
Olokun
Oodua
Orunmila
Esu(Eshu)
Ogun
Yemoja
Aganju
Orungan
Sango(shongo)
Osun(oshun)
Oya
Oba
Sopona(shokpono)
Osumare
Oko
Erinle
Osanyin
Ososi(oshosi)
Ibeji
Aje
Aja
Orule
Iwa
Odu
Oye
Olosa
Sigidi(shigidi)
Olarosa
Dada
Aroni
Oke
Olori-Merin
Afefe
Moremi
Oranmiyan

The list is actually suppose to be much longer but it's impossible to name all the Orisa

Major/most honoured Orisas

Orunmila: (my personal favourite, my real name is to his honour). The right hand man of Olodumare, he stresses the need to achieve knowledge, wisdom and understanding in order to maintain balance in character(Iwa-pele). He can't be absent when Ori chooses a destiny for a life, he stands out from other orisa and is sometimes considered a different entity. He invented the Ifa system. Palm nuts and seeds are his signature

Obatala: Eldest of the Orisas, he forms humans out of clay. He teaches purity, patience and creativity. He is all about the white colour.

Yemoja: Oldest female orisa, she protects the defenceless and cares for children, she's the one who opens the gate to life for a new born baby, she cares for children right from the womb. She's the goddess of waterbodies, it is believed that the moon came from her. She's the mother of fishes and patron of fishermen.

Esu: records keeper of heaven and earth, he sees everything and knows the mind, he is both prosecutor and defence for u in Olodumare's presence. He gives advise to our Ori when faced with difficult challenges, however he is a trickster and plays a lot, while giving u one helpful advise he could confuse u with an unhelpful one, he oversees the ajogun and doesn't hesitate to punish ur offences, he is the propagator of what the hindus call "Karma". He is placed in charge of keeping balance in the world, and transports sacrifice to the Orisas. He takes his own sacrifice seriously.

Ogun: He is the god of metal works, wars and creativity. He is patron to Warriors, hunters and blacksmiths. Often very violent and doesn't hesitate to pass swift judgement on any form of injustice brought to his hearing. Dogs and palm fronds are his signature.

Sango: He was once human, as the 3rd king of Oyo and 4th paramount ruler over the Yorubas, he stresses truth, righteousness and protects justice. Sango teaches against making decisions while ur emotions are running wild. He is the god of thunder, fire and lightening. Double headed axe is his signature

Olokun: Owner of all waters, the deep parts of the ocean is where he stays, he is the protector of sailors and ship wrecks at sea are his doing. He is the patron of those close to the sea or have dealings with the Oceans.

According to Yoruba myth,
In the beginning there was only water beneath heaven, Obatala thought of how Boring the constant, everyday water had become. He went to Olodumare, he was asked to go and create dry land on the waters, Obatala after seeking advice from Orinmila took a cockerel, snail shell, seeds and a chain(made by Ogun). On getting to the world, Obatala first used the seeds to grow a palm tree and partied with some other Orisas, he got drunk, When Oduduwa saw him in a tipsy state, he simply took all the items from Obatala and went ahead to complete the job.

Oduduwa commonly called Oodua, poured the unending sand from the snail shell, and placed the cockerel to scatter the sand; everywhere the sand dropped turned solid. Esu with much curiosity asked the chameleon to test how solid the land was; although the chameleon struggled while standing out of fear that it might not be solid enough, but when he finished, he reported that Oduduwa did a good job. Olodumare promised to make Oduduwa king of that land. The land started expanding and it was called Ile-Ife meaning- "Home of expansion"(could also be understood as "Land of expansion".

Olodumare was disappointed at Obatala, but asked to form Human bodies in their image(Olodumare's will was for them to inhabit this Land). Obatala got clay from the earth which had just been created, and started forming bodies, at first Obatala didn't get the image properly, so he kept trying until he came to the perfect human image. Obatala already tired and with the Joy of finally getting the perfect human image, decided to chill and relax with fresh wine which got him drunk again, out of drunkenness he created deformed bodies, without realising what he had done, he asked Olodumare to give life to his creations. Olodumare sent the breath of life and the clays came alive. Obatala promised to personally take care of the deformed.

Obatala divided his time between heaven and earth, teaching the humans how to survive, he advised them against drinking wine(Obatala devotees don't drink any form of alcohol till today). Most of the Orisa were interested in visiting this new world, and Olokun got angry because this land had been put over water and the humans were disturbing her peace and quiet so Olokun caused a great flood that killed many humans. The humans climbed mountains and asked Esu to deliver a message to Obatala who was in heaven at that time, Esu requested for a sacrifice and they promised him a goat. Orunmila heard about the flood from Esu and decided to come and fight off the flood. Olokun threatened to make another flood and boosted about her ranks being as powerful as Olodumare, Olodumare sent Esu to shut her up, Esu got to Olokun, and she declared a creativity contest Olokun made beautiful Items, but Esu simply called upon his chameleon to copy the colours of everything Olokun did, Olokun got frustrated and just gave up. Apologising to Olodumare was next, after declaring to never flood the whole lands of the earth again. The land kept expanding and humans were migrating, building communities for themselves. Then Orunmila came to teach humans his new invention of divination called Ifa.

Follow this thread. More updates coming soon....

noblefada: I won't bother showing you because you won't believe if I do.

just proves ur lack of true Christian doctrine

noblefada: Actually not only animals but the whole earth! Man was giving dominion over all the earth and its inhabitants Gen 1:26- 30, pls go back and read the charge God gave to Noah after he came out of the ark. So man's disobedience did not only bring corruption n death to him alone but to everything he had authority over. In fact the earth is gradually dying.

rubbish! u are Christian. Where in ur bible was dat ever stated