two studies of ifa divination. introduction: the mode of divination

International African Institute

Two Studies of Ifa Divination. Introduction: The Mode of DivinationAuthor(s): Peter Morton-Williams, William Bascom and E. M. McClellandSource: Africa: Journal of the International African Institute, Vol. 36, No. 4 (Oct., 1966), pp.406-431Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the International African InstituteStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1158049 .

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[406]

TWO STUDIES OF IFA DIVINATION

INTRODUCTION: THE MODE OF DIVINATION

PETER MORTON-WILLIAMS

T O the Yoruba, divination is of great concern, as the means by which they discover and hope to influence the changes in their relationships with the gods and

ancestors and other spirits in their complex cosmos, and so to gain their aid in their

pursuit of health and good fortune. They employ a number of divinatory techniques. The one that yields the fullest information is the system of geomancy known as Ifa, for which there are three procedures of varying complexity, the two most complex being used by professional diviners (babalawo). The Ifa oracle is animated by a deity named Orunmila, but also often called Ifa.

The diviner consults the oracle to find out the odu which governs his client's predicament. An odu is a sign that he draws in powder sprinkled over the divining board

(opon-there is a tradition that the earliest diviners traced their signs in the earth); it is governed by a spirit of the same name as the odu; and it has a set of incantations and myths explaining the client's own situation by reference to an archetypal situation, and prescribing certain offerings to be made to the odu spirit and perhaps to other deities as well, if the client is to gain his ends.

An odu sign is made up of eight elements of short single lines arranged in two columns of four. The diviner may throw down a rope or chain on which are strung eight similar objects-half shells of palm nuts, domed brass disks, etc.-that can give a 'heads or tails' arrangement. He takes the divining chain (oppl) by the middle, letting the ends hang so that the four objects hang on either side, and throws it in a manner that preserves the two lines of four heads and tails. Or he may hold sixteen

palm nuts in one hand and pick as many as he can from the handful with one movement of the other hand, noting whether one or two are left. Two or a 'head' is denoted by a single line on the divining board, and one or a ' tail' by a double line. For this, he must perform the operation with the nuts eight times to get a complete odu, while a complete one is obtained from a single throw of the divining chain. The odu is built up on the divining board by marking the bottom right-hand element

first, then the bottom left, next the second right, and so on, going from left to right and from bottom to top. (Odu are sometimes painted on walls as charms, and then the elements are drawn as dots or round blobs.)

It will be evident that there are sixteen possible signs in which the right and left columns are identical. These are the principal odu and it is the order in which they are

arrayed and memorized by diviners that is discussed in the following two papers. A further 240 odu have dissimilar columns; these are properly called pmp odu, ' children of the (principal) odu '. Each of the sixteen possible combinations of four elements in a column-a pattern of single and double strokes-is named, and the name of the odu is simply the name of the right-hand column followed by that of the left. If, for instance, the pattern pse appears on the right and otura on the left, the odu is Osetura; but if both columns are psf, the odu is Qsf Meji, ' two Qs ' or ' double Qse '.




The diviner memorizes a vast number of odu myth formulae; he is expected to be able to recite many for each of the 256 odu signs. He may recite to his client the for- mula he judges most suitable; another procedure is for him to recite one after the other the formulae for whatever odu appears, continuing until one seems to the client to refer to his predicament, the nature of which he is not expected to tell the diviner. The diviner then tells him what rituals to perform and what offerings to make. If the client wants further enlightenment the diviner may make more casts, and add more odu to the one on the board.

The question of the order in which the sixteen principal odu are arranged is discussed from two different points of view in the papers that follow. Professor Bascom continues his empirical survey of the order actually recorded from a very large number of informants, not only among the Yoruba but also among neighbouring peoples who practise the system, and among the descendants of the Yoruba in Cuba. Besides

discovering the limited range of variation in the order of listing the odu, he is able to assess the originality and reliability of the many ethnographic descriptions of Ifa divination. Dr. McClelland analyses the principle on which is structured the order

accepted by members of her sample of diviners in the central Yoruba area; her study also presents valuable new information on the insight of diviners into their procedures.

These two specialized studies of one part of the system of Ifa divination relate to

problems of much wider interest, concerning the ethnography and history of West Africa. The sixteen columns in the set of odu signs are identical with the signs used in a system of geomancy originating in antiquity in the Near East. The procedure survived to be acquired as a form of astronomical geomancy in Medieval Europe and continued later (see, for instance, Franz Hartmann's The Principles of Astrological Geomancy; The Art of Divining by Punctuation According to Cornelius Agrippa and Others, London, I889 and I 9I3). It was also accepted by the Arabs, and several authors have surmised that not only Ifa and related forms in West Africa but also Sikidi divination in Madagascar were developed locally as variations on the system as diffused by the Arabs into Muslim Africa. Useful material is to be found in C. H. Becker's Islam- studien, ii (Leipzig, 1932), ch. 22, and especially J. C. Hebert's notable paper ' Analyse structurale des geomancies Comoriennes, Malgaches et Africaines' in the Journal de la Societe des Africanistes (Paris), xxxi (I961), 2. Indications of an Arabic origin for the basic procedure of Ifa divination are given in the names Ifa, which may derive from Arabic al-fa'l, pl. fu'l7 and af'ul (auspice) and Orunmila, possibly the Yoruba vocalization of Arabic ar-raml (sand-a colloquialism for darb ar-raml, 'divination

by sand'; Hebert, p. I 17, notes that ramouli is the Sudanese Muslim term for geomancy). The borrowing would have been made some centuries ago, when If? and not QyQ was the cultural centre of the Yoruba, if any reliance is to be placed on Yoruba traditions.

What is especially interesting is the way the system has been thoroughly incor-

porated in Yoruba cosmological conceptions, from the myths of the first descent of Ifa-Orunmila from Heaven at If?, to the details of the odu; so that the Yoruba Muslim diviners who today practise darb ar-raml (called abigba by the Yoruba) are

thought of, as Professor Bascom observes, as consulting a different oracle. The careful analyses by Professor Bascom and Dr. McClelland show that the Yoruba have

Ee

407



408 TWO STUDIES OF IFA DIVINATION

evolved a logical structure for the relations between the odu that is expressed through the mythology of the system.

I. ODU IFA: THE NAMES OF THE SIGNS

WILLIAM BASCOM

IN a previous articleI the order in which the sixteen basic figures of Ifa (odu Ifa) are ranked was examined. This was based on seventy-two lists from fifty-three sources for the Yoruba, the FQn, and the Ewe of West Africa, and the Lucumi (Yoruba) of Cuba. Thirty-six of these lists from twenty-five sources followed the same order (A) which was clearly predominant; but a different order (E) was found in the north- eastern part of Yoruba territory and the possibility of other regional variations was

suggested. Fourteen additional lists have subsequently been examined. Their orders should be discussed before proceeding to the consideration of the names of the

figures. The named orders which will be referred to here are shown below in Table I.

TABLE I

A i 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Io II I2 13 14 I5 i6

E i 2 3 4 7 8 5 6 9 Io 14 13 12 II 15 i6 F I 2 3 4 7 8 5 6 9 Io I4 I3 II I2 I5 i6 L I 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Io 12 13 14 II I5 i6 M I 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Io I3 I2 I4 I5 1I i6 0 I 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Io 9 I2 I3 I4 II 15 i6

S I 3 2 4 5 6 8 7 Io 9 12 I3 I4 II I5 I6 T i 2 7 8 4 3 I2 II 9 IO I4 13 5 6 15 i6 U I 2 4 7 Io 13 I6 14 5 8 II 3 6 9 I2 I5

Six of these additional lists are identical with the dominant order (A), including one which I recorded at QyQ in I965, one given by Parrinder in I961 for the Yoruba at Ibadan,2 two by $owande for the Yoruba3 and, disregarding one obvious error, one given by Bastide for the Nago (Yoruba) of Brazil.4 The sixth is that recorded in

pyrography on the wooden ' royal calendar of Gcdcgbe ', the famed diviner of King Glele of Dahomey. This list must be read from left to right, as Maupoils notes, rather than from right to left as in reading the derivative figures such as Ogbe-Qy(ku. In reading the excellent photograph of the copy of this calendar in the Musee de l'Homme (no. 36-2I-IO8) recently published by Palau Marti,6 one must be aware that it is upside down.

Two of the additional lists, recorded at Ife in I965, confirm order (E) as a legitimate

I William Bascom, ' Odu Ifa: The Order of the (c. I964), pp. 38, 38B.

Figures of Ifa ', Bulletin de 'Institut Franfais d'Afrique 4 Roger Bastide, 'Le Candomble de Bahia (Rite Noire, xxiii. 3/4 (I96I), 676-82. See this paper for Nag6)', Le Monde d'Outre-Mer Passe et Prdsent, bibliography of sources not cited in the footnotes Premiere Serie: Etude v, 1958, p. I05. The question here; the present paper was delivered at the annual of errors is discussed later. meetings of the American Anthropological Associa- 5 Bernard Maupoil, 'La Geomancie a l'ancienne tion at Detroit in November I964. C6te des Esclaves ', Travaux et Admoires de l'Institiu

2 Geoffrey Parrinder, West African Religion, Lon- d'Ethnologie, vol. xlii, 1943, p. 217. don: The Epworth Press, 2nd ed., 196I, p. I41. 6 Montserrat Palau Marti, 'Les calendriers daho-

3 Fela $owande, Ifa, Yaba: Forward Press, n.d. meens ', Objets et Mondes, iv. I (I964), fig. 3, p. 34.



TWO STUDIES OF IFA DIVINATION 409

regional variation; it has been reported in ten lists from seven sources for If?, Ilepa, and Omu. For order (F) a third instance of Clarke's' corrected ' list was inadvertently overlooked in the earlier article, giving a total of four lists from two sources. Two lists by Alapini for Dahomey in the same publication2 have the same order (M) as that given by Trautman; but the evidence is still insufficient to consider either (F) or (M) as legitimate variants.

The three remaining orders differ from all eighteen orders previously published and can safely be disregarded. Fiawoo3 gives (S) for the Ewe of Ghana and there are two earlier lists published by Parrinder4 for the Yoruba in 949 (T) and in I953 (U). Of the twenty-one listings that have been reported, it is only in these two by Parrinder and the one by Fiawoo that there is any discrepancy in the order of the first four

figures. With these additions, 42 out of 86 or still almost half the lists follow the dominant

order (A), based on 3 out of 61 sources. This order is found in 3 out of the 6o Yoruba lists, 4 of the i6 Dahomean lists, i of the 3 Ewe lists, 5 of the 6 Cuban lists, and in the single list available for Brazil. In the present article the variations in the i6 names and their association with the 16 figures, regardless of order, are examined. Of the 86 lists, 6 must be omitted because they give only the figures without the names.

Armstrong5 has recently reported that his list of sixteen figures from the Idoma turned out to be 'strictly cognate, position for position, with the Yoruba list' and that Bradbury has collected strictly cognate lists from Benin, the Western Ibo, and the Igala. He lists the names and figures according to order (A), but it is not clear whether ' position' refers to the rank order or to the figure itself. It is possible that the names have been rearranged to conform to this order, as apparently was done with the FQn names; their source is not indicated, but they seem to come from Her- skovits who listed them in a different order (L). The Idoma system of divination, known as Iba, employs four strings of four pods each,6 rather than a single string with eight pods as in Ifa. This corresponds to a related system of divination widely practised in Nigeria and known as Agbigba or Agbagba among the Yoruba, who

distinguish it from Ifa even though the names of many of the figures in the two

systems are cognate. The apparatus associated with Bradbury's three lists is not indicated, but the Agbigba form of divination is known as Egbigba among the Igala,7 as Ogwqga at Benin,8 and as Afa or Aha among the Ibo.9 The rank order of the

I J. D. Clarke, 'Ifa Divination ', Journal of the and Ethnographic Data in the Study of Idoma and Royal Anthropological Institute, lxix, part 2 (I939), Yoruba History' in The Historian in Tropical Africa p. 256. (J. Vansina, R. Mauny, L. V. Thomas, eds.), Lon-

2 Julien Alapini, Les Noix Sacrees, Monte-Carlo: don: Oxford University Press, I964, pp. I37, I39.

Regain, I950, pp. 68-69, 8 -82. 6 Robert G. Armstrong, personal communication. 3 Dzigbodi Kodzo Fiawoo, The Influence of Con- 7 A. F. Mockler-Ferryman, Up the Niger, London:

temporary Social Changes on the Magico-Religious Con- George Philip & Son, I892, p. 45; R. Sidney Seton, cepts and Organization of the Southern Ewe-Speaking 'Notes on the Igala Tribe, Northern Nigeria', People of Ghana. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Journal of the African Society, xxix (I929-30), 43. University of Edinburgh, 1958, p. 69. 8 R. E. Bradbury, The Benin Kingdom and the Edo-

4 Parrinder, West African Religion, London: The Speaking Peoples of South-Western Nigeria, Ethnogra- Epworth Press, Ist ed., I949, p. 55; Religion in an phic Survey of Africa, Western Africa, part 13, 956, African City, London: Oxford University Press, p. 59. 195 3, PP. 34-3 5 * 9 P. Amaury Talbot, The Peoples of Southern Nigeria,

s Robert G. Armstrong, 'The Use of Linguistic London: Oxford University Press, 1926, vol. ii,




figures in Agbigba divination as recorded from an Igbira diviner at Ife by myself, at Isapa by Clarke, and among the Igala by Boston' differ markedly from those for Ifa and from each other.

As Ifa divination has been reported for Benin and the Ibo, it is not certain that these names are Agbigba names except in the case of Armstrong's Idoma list and Boston's Igala list, but they are considered below along with Agbigba names reported by Beyioku,2 Clarke,3 and Ogunbiyi,4 and those which I recorded from two Agbigba diviners, one a Yagba Yoruba from Figbe practising in Ab?okuta and the other an Igbira man practising in If?.

Errors in the associations of names and figures, such as the one by Bastide mentioned above and two in Parrinder's 9 5 3 list, are recognizable beyond any reasonable doubt. As such, they are interesting for the light they throw on the question of ethnographic reliability, as will be shown later. Obvious errors in the transcription or the printing of the names of the figures are also recognizable. In broader perspec- tive this may be the major contribution of this paper, although it was undertaken as a simple but extensive survey to determine basic ethnographic facts.

The meanings of the names of the sixteen primary figures of Ifa divination have never been determined. What interpretations have been suggested are on the level of folk etymologies, such as the interpretation of Qycku as meaning Qy9 dies (Qye ku), which appears in one of the verses for the figure Qycku-Edi; or they are based on similarities of the names to common words, such as camwood or barwood (irosun), wickedness (ika), soap (p,r), and loss (ofun).

In order to render comparisons less difficult and to simplify printing, tones and diacritical marks have been omitted except for the Yoruba e, 9, and $ and differences in orthography have been reduced by substituting ? for its equivalent (E), 9 for its equivalent (v) and, where appropriate, ch for c which in some spellings replaces a or its equivalents (f or sh). Nasalization of vowels, which is indicated by various conventions in the sources consulted, has been rendered according to customary Yoruba usage by an n after the vowel. Other differences in spelling have been retained.

Many of the variations in the names are more apparent than real, for one thing because all diacritical marks are omitted by some writers or their publishers, making it impossible to distinguish between ? and e, 9 and o, and s and s. Moreover, English, French, Spanish, and German writers have followed different orthographic conventions. Some English writers, including Wyndham, have indicated the ? and the 9 as e and o followed by a double consonant. The Yoruba p, which is actually pro- nounced kp, is sometimes written as such; in Cuba it sometimes becomes k or c, while k is often written as c. The Yoruba j is variously written as j, dj, dz, dy, and y; and in Cuba it often becomes 11, while y is written as j or 11. Some French writers use ou for w; and in Cuba w is usually given as gu, but sometimes as gb or b, and gb becomes b or gu, or even nd or nl.

The names of the figures, and other Yoruba words as well, have been modified in both Cuba and Dahomey according to the phonetic patterns of Spanish and of FQn, pp. 187-8; C. K. Meek, Law and Authority in a Press, I940, pp. 34-35. Nigerian Tribe, London: Oxford University Press, 3 Clarke, op. cit. (Isapa column), p. 252. I937, p. 82. 4 Thos. A. J. Ogunbiyi, Iwe Itan Ifa, Agbigba,

J. S. Boston, personal communication. 'Yanrin Tite ati Owo 1rindilogun, Lagos: Ife-Olu 2 Fagbenro Beyioku, Ifa, Lagos: The Hope Rising Printing Works, 1952, pp. 49, 50, 55.



TWO STUDIES OF IFA DIVINATION but different pronunciations are also apparent in these areas and in different parts of Yoruba territory. In Dahomey, 1 is commonly substituted for r, and initial vowels are often dropped. The l-r substitution also occurs occasionally among the Yoruba in Mqk9, Ilara, and other Nigerian towns along the Dahomean border, and it appears in some of the Igala, Idoma, and Ibo names. The dropping of initial vowels is fairly widespread among the Yoruba. Thus we have (I)mek9 and (I)saki as town names and (I)jqa and (I)jibu as names of Yoruba subgroups; and the initial vowels are commonly elided in the second half of the names of Ifa figures which are combinations. In Lijadu' we can find this for all sixteen names of the primary figures as they occur in the second half of the following combinations: Idi-Gbe (p. 5 z), Ika-Yeku (p. 72), Qsa-Wori (p. 33), Ogbe-Di (p. 12), Q?-Rosu (p. 2I), Ogbe-W9nrin (p. 30), Ogbe-Bara (p. 52), Ogbe-Kanran (p. 6i), Ogbe-Guda (p. 24), Ogbe-Sa (p. 33), Ogbe-Ka (p. 5), Ogbe-Turuppn (p. 6I), Ogbe-Tura (p. 45), Qbara-Rqte (p. 56), Idi-$? (p. 55), and Ogbe-Fu (p. 46).

In contrast to these combinations, the sixteen principal odu are paired or double figures which might be written Ogbe-Ogbe, Qy(ku-Qyqku, Iwori-Iwori, and so on. Instead they are usually designated by the name of the primary figure followed by the word meji (two), as in Ogbe Meji, Qyeku Meji, and Iwori Meji. The double Ogbe figure is also commonly known as Eji Ogbe (two Ogbe), and this pattern may be applied to other figures as well; a diviner in MkQ9 referred to all sixteen double figures in this fashion. We are not especially concerned here with the variations on the spelling of meji, but it is given as magi by Skertchly, megi by Burton, meji by Maupoil withjimr as an inversion, medji by Herskovits, and medji by Alapini, Bertho, Frobenius, Quenum, Trautman, and Garnier and Fralon. In Cuba it is given as meji, meje, melli, and melle. Eji is given as Edju and Edschu by Frobenius, and it often becomes oji orji in Dahomey and elli in Cuba.

Eji Ogbe or Ogbe Meji, as the highest ranking of all 5 6 figures, was spoken of as the 'head' (olori) by diviners at Modakekq and Ilesa, while the second figure, Qyeku Meji, was referred to as the 'junior sibling' (aburo), although these are not actually alternative names such as are found for some figures. Neither apparently are Aluku Gbayi, Awulela, or Alafia which Maupoil gives for Ogbe Meji, although he does give Alafya as an alternative name for Otura Meji. Skertchly refers to Ogbe Meji as the head mother, and Burton says it is called 'Mother of all'; but in If? it is regarded as the ' Father' (baba). Maupoil speaks of Ogbe Meji as the father and Ofun Meji as the mother, giving Qbafa or 'King of Ifa ' [Qba-(I)fa] as one of the former's honorific names. In Cuba its name is often prefaced by 'Father' (baba), as in Baba Eji Ogbe.

Some of the alternative names for the sixteen double figures are included in the following discussion, but it is not possible to consider here the many which are used for the combinations, such as ' Ogbe look back ', Ogbe-w(o)-ehin, for Ogbe-Iwori. These are cited only when substitutes in the combinations seem to confirm alternative names mentioned for the sixteen primary figures.

By starting with the Yoruba names as the basis for comparison, I do not wish to imply that I uncritically accept the legends of the Yoruba, F9n, and Ewe that Ifa

' E. M. Lijadu, Ifa: Im9l1 Rp ti Ise Ipile Isin ni II Yoruba, Exeter: James Townsend & Sons, 1923, pages cited in parentheses above.

4II




divination originated in the Yoruba city of If9 and spread outwards from it. I do so, and I speak of phonetic changes in ' Yoruba words ' in Dahomey, simply as a matter of convenience. But I do believe that the evidence presented in these two articles demonstrates that the Cuban and Brazilian lists are derived from those of the Yoruba because they are closer to them, both in their names and their rank order, than to those of the F9n, Ewe, or other African lists. This is further evidence, of a very specific kind, of the importance of the Yoruba influence in Havana and Bahia. The

listing below follows the dominant Ifa order (A) mentioned earlier.

I. Ogbe (ir i). This figure is given as Ogbe, Ogbe Meji, or Eji Ogbe for the Yoruba in all but four cases. It is written as Ogge by F. S., and as Qgbe by Clarke (p. 245) but in only one of five lists. Maupoil notes that it is also called Ogbe-Oji, Oji, and

Oji-nimon-Gbe by Nago (Yoruba) diviners in Dahomey. For the FQn, Maupoil gives Gbe, Jiogbe, and Gbe-Jim?, explaining the latter as

the reversal of the syllables of Mqji. Gbe is also given by Herskovits, Monteil, Trautman, Quenum, and Le Herisse. Ogbe is given by Alapini, Eyogbe by Grandin, Gbe and DyQgbe by Bertho, Bwe by Burton and Skertchly, and Buru by Ellis. For the Ewe, Gbe is given by Spieth, Kpolidzogbe by Fiawoo, and Eghe, Gbe, and Bge by Garnier and Fralon. Cuban sources give Baba Eji Ogbe, Baba Ellionde, Baba Ellionle, Baba Llogbe, Baba Yogbe, Egbwe Ogue, and Obe. Bastide gives Ogbe for Brazil. Except for Ellis's Buru all these variants on Ogbe can be explained by differences in pronunciation and orthography, or by apparent typographical errors as in Bge.

For Agbigba there is an alternative name, given as Osika by Clarke and Ogunbiyi, Osika by Beyioku, and Osinka by the Igbira informant at Ife. A Yagba Yoruba diviner practising at Abqokuta, who named thirteen of the sixteen figures, gave this one as Ogbe. Ogbi is given by Bradbury for Benin and the Western Ibo, Ebi by Bradbury and Boston for the Igala and by Armstrong for the Idoma.

2. QyrkU (2222). This figure is given as Qyqku or Qyeku Meji or, without diacritical marks, as Oyeku or Oyeku Meji in most cases for the Yoruba. Eji Qy? is an alternative name, given by an Ife diviner and by Maupoil. It is given as Qyeku by Clarke for Ilgfa and by Bakare, as Oyeku by Ataiyero and Ogunbiyi, Qyqkun by Johnson, Oyekun by Monteil, Ojako (p. I9I) and Ojaku by Frobenius, and Oyeku and Byeku by Parrinder.

For Dahomey, Y9ku and Ji Qy9 are given by Maupoil, Yeku (p. 214) and Yqku by Herskovits, and Yeku by Bertho, Burton, Monteil, and Skertchly. It is written Yekuro by Ellis, Oyekou by Alapini, and Yekou by Le Herisse, Quenum, and Trautman. Grandin gives it as Oyetin. For the Ewe, Yeku is given by Garnier and Fralon, Yeku by Spieth, and Yeka by Fiawoo. Cuban sources give Ojqkuje, Ejeku, Elleco, and Ollegun; and Bastide gives Oye Ku for Brazil. Eji Qye is an alternative form and all others, with the exception of Grandin's Oyetin, are recognizable as variants of Qy9ku.

For Agbigba, Qyeku is given by Beyioku, Clarke, and the Yagba Yoruba informant, and Oy9ku by Ogunbiyi and the Igbira informant. Qyqkwu is given by Boston for the Igala, and Bradbury gives Aku for the Igala, Ako for Benin, and Akwu for the Western Ibo. Akwu is also given by Armstrong for the Idoma.




3. Iwori (2112). This figure is given as Iwori for the Yoruba with few variations. Maupoil gives Iwori and Iwoli as Yoruba forms, with the common r-l shift. It is given as IwQri in one instance by Johnson, as Evori (p. 191) and Ewori by Frobenius, and as Iwori and Ewere by Parrinder. A Mk9q informant called it Iwoye, and Q)iga gives Awoye as a substitute for Iwori in two combinations, Irosu-Awoye and Qsa- Awoye.'

For Dahomey it is written Avri by Grandin, Owori by Alapini, Iwori or Holi by Bertho, Holi by Trautman, and Oli by Herskovits and Quenum. Ouoli is given by Le Herisse, and Woli by Maupoil and Monteil. Ode is given by Ellis, Ode or Wudde by Burton, and Ooe Magi Wudde by Skertchly, these being the only forms not readily recognizable as variants of Iwori. For the Ewe, Woli is given by Spieth and by Garnier and Fralon, and Oli by Fiawoo. In Cuba it is given as Iguori, Ibori, Igbori, and Iworo, and in Brazil as Iwori.

For Agbigba, Iwori was given by the Yagba Yoruba, and Ogori by Beyioku, Clarke, Ogunbiyi, and the Igbira informant. Ogoli is given by Boston and Bradbury for the Igala, by Bradbury for the Western Ibo, and by Armstrong for the Idoma. Oghoi is given by Bradbury for Benin. These forms are closer to the Agbigba alternative name, Ogori, than to the Ifa name.

4. Edi (1221). Edi, Odi, and Idi are all acceptable variants for the Yoruba. Edi is given by Ataiyero, Clarke, Johnson, Wyndham, and was recorded from informants at Ara and Ife. Odi is given by Beyioku in one list and by Abraham, Bakare, Fro- benius, Lucas, Monteil, Ogunbiyi, Ogunlqyq, F. S., Sowande, and by informants at QyQ, Ibadan, Mck9, and Modakqk?. Idi is given by Beyioku in three other lists, by Epega, and by a second informant at Ilara. Edi and Idi are given by Maupoil for the Yoruba, Edi and Odi by Parrinder, Idi or Odi by QSiga, and Edi, Odi, and Odin by Dennett.

For Dahomey, Edi and Odi are given by Bertho, Adi by Grandin, Odin by Alapini, and Odi or Di by Maupoil. Di is given by Burton, Ellis, Herskovits, Le Herisse, Monteil, Quenum, Skertchly, and Trautman. Di is also given for the Ewe by Spieth and Fiawoo, and Edi by Garnier and Fralon. In Cuba Edi, Odi, and Idi are each given in two or more sources, and in Brazil it is given as Ode. All of these are readily recognizable variants.

For Agbigba, Ogi is given by Clarke, and Oji by Beyioku, Ogunbiyi, and my two informants. Oji is given by Armstrong for the Idoma and by Boston for the Igala; Bradbury gives Odi for the Igala, the Western Ibo, and Benin.

5. Irosun (1122). This figure is given as Irosun for the Yoruba in most cases. In one instance Beyioku gives Iroun, a misprint corrected four pages later and in three other publications. Irosu is given by Epega in six lists (with Irosun in a seventh) and by Ogunbiyi, Ogunlqy?, Qsiga, and F. S.; and Iroshu is given by Lucas, Iroshun by Dennett, and Irochum by Monteil. Parrinder gives Irosun, Iroshun, Iroshu, and Orosu. Irosun and Urosu are given by Ataiyero, and Urosi by Johnson. One Ilara informant gave Orosun, which Beyioku lists as the Agbigba name for this figure. An Qyo informant gave Ilosun Meji and a Mqko informant Eji Olosun. Frobenius writes it Hosso.

A. O. QOiga, Iwe Adura Mime ti Ijp Qrunmila Adulaw9 li Ede Ilf Yoruba, n.d., 3rd ed., pp. i, ii, (at end).

413




For Dahomey, Maupoil gives Loso, with Losun, Olosun, and Oji Olosun as variants. Loso is given by Herskovits, Le Herisse, and Quenum; Losso by Monteil and Trautman, Losho by Ellis, Orossou by Alapini, and Strossin by Grandin. For the Ewe Loso is given by Spieth, Luso by Fiawoo, and Logo by Garnier and Fralon. In Cuba, Irosun, Irosu, and Iroso are used, and Bastide gives Irosun for Brazil.

Typographical errors probably account for Hosso, Logo, Luso, and Urosi, all other forms being recognizable variants of Irosun with the possible exception of Grandin's Strossin.

For Agbigba, Irosun is given by Clarke and Ogunbiyi, Irosu by the Igbira informant, and Orosun by Beyioku. Oloru is given by Boston and Bradbury for the Igala, Olo by Armstrong for the Idoma, Oruhu by Bradbury for Benin, and Ulushu by Bradbury for the Western Ibo.

6. QwQnrin (2211). This figure is given as Qw9nrin or, without diacritical marks, as Owonrin by most Yoruba sources. Eji tlerin is given as an alternative name by QOiga, with tFrin as a substitute for QwQnrin in the combination Ogunda-1rin;' and Elerin was recorded in If9 as a substitute in the combination Ofun-Elerin. Qw9nrin, OwQnrin, and QwQrin were given by If9 informants; Qwonrin and Qw9nri by Ataiyero and Epega, Qwaran and Owaran by Johnson, Qworin or Qwara by Abraham, OwQri and Qwara by Parrinder, Qwara by Lucas, and Qwqnran by OdumQlayQ. QwQnrin and IwQrin are given by QSiga, IwQnrin by Ogunbiyi, Owurin by Monteil, Owourin and Owonrin by Dennett, Oworin and Aworin by Wyndham, and Jwuoli (Iwuoli) by Frobenius. Maupoil gives Qwonlin, Iwonlin, Owonrin, Iwonrin, and Oji Wenle as Yoruba forms, but the last is clearly Dahomean.

For Dahomey, Maupoil gives Wenl?, Wenle, and Wonlin. Nwenle is given by Herskovits, Wenlen by Monteil, Ouenlen by Le Herisse, and Henli by Quenum. Owarin is given by Alapini, Uram by Skertchly, Uran by Burton, Oron by Ellis, Houlin by Trautman, and O Koni by Grandin. For the Ewe Spieth and Fiawoo give Noli and Garnier and Fralon give Enloe. In Cuba it is given as Oguani, Aguani, and

Agbani, and in Brazil as Dwonrin, probably a misprint. There is wide variation here, but phonetically QwQnrin is one of the most difficult names, and except for Grandin's O Koni all of these forms may be related.

For Agbigba, the Yagba Yoruba gave both QwQnrin and Qga, and Qga was

given by the Igbira informant and by Beyioku, Clarke, and Ogunbiyi. tgali is given by Boston and Bradbury for the Igala and by Armstrong for the Idoma, Qgai and

Qgali by Bradbury for the Western Ibo, and Oghae by Bradbury for Benin. These forms are closer to the alternative Agbigba name, Qga, than to Qwynrin and its variants.

7. Qbara (1222). This figure is given as Obara or Obara for the Yoruba in most cases. Opo Meji (two posts) was given as an alternative name by an informant at Modakeke. Obara, ]3bara, and Bara are given by Parrinder, Bara by Lucas and John- son, Qbara and Qbala by Maupoil, Oballa by Frobenius, and Ibara by an informant at Ileqa.

For Dahomey, Abla is given by Burton, Le Herisse, Maupoil, Monteil, Quenum,

siga, loc. cit.

414




and Skertchly, and Skertchly gives Unun as an alternative name. Abala is given by Herskovits, Abila by Ellis, Obara by Alapini, and O Bara by Grandin. Spieth, Fiawoo, and Garnier and Fralon give Abla for the Ewe. In Cuba it is usually given as Obara, with Ogbara and Obari as variants; and in Brazil it is given as Obara. Except for the two alternative names, Unun and Opo Meji, all these forms are clearly related.

For Agbigba, Qbara and Obara were given by the Yagba Yoruba, Obara by the Igbira informant, and Qbara by Beyioku, Clarke, and Maupoil. Qbala is given by Boxton and Qbata by Bradbury for the Igala, Qbai by Bradbury for the Western Ibo, Qbla by Armstrong for the Idoma, and Qvba by Bradbury for Benin.

8. Qkanran (2221). This is given as Qkanran or Okanran by most Yoruba sources. Qkanran, Qkaran, and :lkran are given by Parrinder, Qkaran or Qkara by Lucas, Qkaran by Ataiyero and one informant at Ilara, Qkanran and Okaran by Johnson, Okanna by Frobenius, and Qkanran, Qkanlan, and Qtunwa by Maupoil. QkQnrQn is given by Abraham and Bakare, and QkQnrQn, Qkanran, and Qkanrgn by Epega. Okonron and Okouron are given by Dennett and Okuron by Monteil.

For Dahomey, Aklan and Qkanlan are given by Maupoil, Qkanran by Alapini, Akanan by Herskovits, and Aklan by Le Herisse, Monteil, Quenum, and Trautman. Akala is given by Ellis, Akli by Skertchly, and Akla by Burton. Grandin gives O Kouro. Spieth, Fiawoo, and Garnier and Fralon give Akla for the Ewe. In Cuba it is given as Okanlan, Okana, and more commonly as Ocana; and in Brazil it is given as Okaran. Except for Qtunwa (cf. Otura) and Skertchly's Akli, all of these are recognizable variants.

For Agbigba, Qkanran is given by Clarke and Ogunbiyi, Qkn9Q by Beyioku, Qk9na by the Yagba Yoruba, and Okanan by the Igbira informant. Qkgna is given by Boston and Qkara by Bradbury for the Igala, Qka by Bradbury for Benin, Qkla by Armstrong for the Idoma, and Qkai by Bradbury for the Western Ibo.

9. Ogunda (IIr2). This figure is most often given as Ogunda for the Yoruba. Oguda is given by Dennett, Frobenius, F. S., and Monteil. Ogunda and Qgunda are given by Clarke, Ogunda and Oguda by Parrinder, Oguda and Eguda by Ataiyero, Eguda by Beyioku, Egunda by one Ife informant, and Ogunda or Egitan by Ogunlqye. Egutan is given by Wyndham and an informant at Ilepa, and Eguntan by Odum9layQ. As substitutes for Ogunda in combinations, Eguntan and Egutan are given by OdumQlay9, Eguntan by Q?iga, Egutan by Lijadu, and Eguntan and Egunda by Epega. Eguntan or Egutan is an accepted alternative name, and there are similar variations in the spelling of the Yoruba word for ewe (aguntan, agutan).

For Dahomey, Guda and Gudgji are given by Maupoil, Ogouda by Alapini, and Gouda by Le Herisse, Quenum, and Trautman. Guda is given by Burton, Herskovits, Monteil, and Skertchly; Kuda by Ellis, and Ogude by Grandin. For the Ewe, Guda is given by Spieth and Fiawoo, and Gouda by Garnier and Fralon. In Cuba it is called Ogunda, Orgunda, and Oguda; and Bastide gives Oguda for Brazil. With the exception of the alternative name, all of these are clearly variants on Ogunda.

For Agbigba, Ogunta is given by Clarke and my two informants, and Oguda is given by Beyioku and Ogunbiyi. Ogwutp is given by Boston and Ejita by Bradbury for the Igala, and Ejita by Armstrong for the Idoma; Bradbury gives Eghita for

415




Benin and both Ejite and Ogbute for the Western Ibo. Ejite or Ejita appears to be an alternative name.

o1. Qsa (2111). This figure is given as Qsa or Osa by most Yoruba sources. Qsa and Osa are given by Clarke, Ossa by Wyndham, and informants gave Osa in Modakckq and Q(a in Ara.

For Dahomey, Osa is given by Alapini, Osu by Grandin, and Sa by Burton, Ellis, Herskovits, Le Herisse, Maupoil, Monteil, and Trautman. Ba is given by Skertchly and Ta by Quenum, both probably due to typographical errors. For the Ewe, Sa is given by Spieth, and Esa by Fiawoo and Garnier and Fralon. In Cuba and in Brazil, Osa is given by all available sources. All of these are clearly variants on a single form.

For Agbigba, Osa and Oha were given by the Igbira informant, Osa by the Yagba Yoruba, and Qsa by Beyioku, Clarke, and Ogunbiyi. Bradbury gives Qha for Benin and Qsha for the Western Ibo, Armstrong Qla for the Idoma, and Boston and Brad- bury give Qra for the Igala.

i i. Ika (2122). Ika is given by most Yoruba sources, with Ika as an accepted variant. tIka is given by Ataiyero, Johnson, Odum9layQ, and informants at Ara and Ilara. Ekka is given by Wyndham, Eka by Frobenius, Eka and Ika by Clarke, and Ika

by Parrinder and by informants at Ife and Ilesa. 1]ka is substituted for Ika in combinations such as Iwori-]ka by Epega, and Lijadu substitutes Qka in the same combination, Iwori-Qka. Maupoil gives Ika, Qka, Iji Qka, and Faa as Yoruba forms.

For Dahomey, Ka is given by Burton, Ellis, Herskovits, Le Herisse, Maupoil, Monteil, Quenum, Skertchly, and Trautman. Oka is given by Alapini, and I Ku by Grandin. Spieth, Fiawoo, and Garnier and Fralon give Ka for the Ewe. In Cuba it is given as Ika, Ica, and Ca, and in Brazil as Ika. Except for Faa and I Ku, these are all variants on a single form.

For Agbigba, Oyinkan is given by Beyioku, Clarke, Ogunbiyi, and my two informants. 1ka is given by Boston and Bradbury for the Igala, by Armstrong for the Idoma, and by Bradbury for Benin. Bradbury gives Aka for the Western Ibo. These forms are closer to the Ifa name, Ika or Itka, than to the Agbigba alternative, Oyinkan.

12. OturupPn (2122). This figure is usually given as OturupQn or Oturupon for the Yoruba, but Eturup9n is an accepted variant and Qlgbgn is an alternative name. QlQgbQn is given by OdumQlayQ and by informants at QyQ, If?, and Modakeke, and it is identified as an alternative name by Ogunlcy9 and by informants at Ibadan, If?, Ilesa, and Ara. Ologbon is given by Wyndham, and Ql1gbQn Meji and GbQmQpQn are given by Q(iga as an alternative name for OturupQn Meji. Oturupgn and EturupQn are given by Ataiyero, EturupQn by an informant at Ileqa, EturapQn by Clarke, Oturapyn and Oturupgn by Epega, Oturup9n and IturupQn by informants at Ilara, and IturupQn by an informant at Ibadan. Oturupgn and Otrukpan are given by Parrinder, Qtulukpon by Maupoil, and Oturuqua by Frobenius.

For Dahomey, Maupoil gives Turupen or Turukpon, with L?lo, Lelo Jime (another inversion of meji), Awonon L?lo, and BokQnon L?lo (Diviner Lqlo) as alternatives. Trukpcn and Trukpen, with Lelo as an alternative name, are given by Herskovits, Otouroukpon by Alapini, Troukpen by Le Herisse, Troukpin by Quenum, Toulouk-




pin by Trautman, Trupen by Monteil, Turupwen by Burton, Durapin by Ellis, Tumpwu by Skertchly, and Obul by Grandin. For the Ewe it is given as Trukpe by Spieth, Tukpe by Fiawoo, and Lelu by Garnier and Fralon. In Cuba it is given as Oturupon, Otrupon, Otrupan, Eturuco, and Etrukg, and for Brazil Bastide gives Oturuson. OturupQn is also phonetically difficult and there are some apparent misprints, but all forms are clearly cognates except for Grandin's Obul, Q(iga's GbQgmgpn, and the two alternative names, Ql1gbQn and L?lo.

For Agbigba, Qtaru is given by Beyioku, Otaru by Clarke, Qtaru and Otaru by the Yagba Yoruba, Otarun by the Igbira informant, and Qta by Ogunbiyi. Atunukpa is given by Boston and Bradbury for the Igala, Itrukpa by Armstrong for the Idoma, and Bradbury gives Atokpa for the Western Ibo and 1rhoxwa for Benin. Again these forms are closer to the Ifa name than to the Agbigba alternative, Qtaru.

13. Otura (1211). Otura is given by most Yoruba sources, but Etura and perhaps Otuwa or Qtunwa and Qtura appear to be accepted variants. Both Otura and Etura were given by informants at Ife, and Etura by informants at Ibadan, Ilepa, and Ilara. Etura is also given by Ataiyero and Clarke, Eturah by Wyndham, and Eture by Johnson. Qtura and Otura are given by Qsiga, Qtura by Beyioku, Qtura and Qtunwa by Maupoil, Otura and Oture by Parrinder, Oture by Lucas, Otua by Frobenius and an QyQ informant, Otuwa by Abraham, Oturawun by Odum9lay9, and Qt1le by informants at MekQ and Ilara.

For Dahomey, Maupoil gives Tula with Qtula, Qtura, and Qtunwa as variants and Alafya or Kalafya Alafya as alternative names. Tula is given by Burton, Hersko- vits, Monteil, and Skertchly; and Toula is given by Le Herisse, Quenum, and Traut- man. Otura is given by Grandin, Otoura by Alapini, and Ture by Ellis. Spieth, Fiawoo, and Garnier and Fralon give Tula for the Ewe. In Cuba it is Otura, Otua, and most commonly Etura; and in Brazil it is Otura. Except for Maupoil's alternative names, all these are readily recognizable as variants.

For Agbigba, Otura is given by Beyioku, Ogunbiyi, and the Igbira informant, and Turu is given by Clarke. Otula is given by Boston and Bradbury for the Igala, Otre and Otle by Armstrong for the Idoma; and Bradbury gives Etule for the Western Ibo and Etur9 for Benin.

I4. lret? (1121). This figure is given as Irct? and Irete for the Yoruba in most cases.

Maupoil also gives Oji-lct? (i.e. Eji Irt?e) and Qli Ate; Ate is given by Epega and Lijadu as a substitute for Irete in such combinations as Ogbe-Ate, Iwori-At?, Irosu-At?, and Qkanran-At?. Q?iga gives Eji Fllmere as an alternative name;1 Trautman names Elemere as one of the parents of this figure, which was given by informants as Iler? Meji at Ilara and Eji 1l1re at MqkQ. It is given as Irete and 1rett by Parrinder, Ifrt? by Johnson, Erette by Wyndham, Jlette (Ilette) by Fro- benius, and Ireke by Monteil.

For Dahomey, Iseba is given by Grandin, Irete by Alapini, Lcte by Maupoil, and Lcte by Herskovits. Lete is given by Burton, Le Herisse, Monteil, Quenum, Skertchly, and Trautman. Lete is also give for the Ewe by Spieth, Fiawoo, and Garnier and Fralon. In Cuba it is Irete, Irete, Ret?, and Rete; and in Brazil it is Irete. ]lflmqre or

I Qsiga, op. cit., p. i.




13lre and Ate are probably alternative names, and all others except Grandin's Iseba are derivatives of a single form.

For Agbigba, Irate is given by Beyioku, Clarke, Ogunbiyi, and the Igbira informant. Qlete is given by Boston for the Igala and Ete for the Igala, Idoma, Western Ibo, and Benin by Bradbury and Armstrong.

15 . Qf (1212). This figure is given as Q)q or without diacritical marks as Ose or Oshe in most Yoruba sources. Agba Meji is given as an alternative name for the primary figure by Epega, as is Oni Badan by Q)iga. Both Q)e and Qse are given by Johnson and QOiga, Qse by Abraham and Lucas, Qse and Oshe by Parrinder, O? by Clarke, Qche and Oji Qche by Maupoil, and Oche by Monteil.

For Dahomey, Ose is given by Grandin, Ch? by Herskovits and Maupoil, and Che by Burton, Quenum, and Skertchly. Shi is given by Ellis, Otche by Alapini, and Tche by Le Herisse, Monteil, and Trautman. For the Ewe, Tse is given by Spieth, Tsie by Fiawoo, and Tche by Garnier and Fralon. All Cuban sources give Oche, and Bastide gives Ose for Brazil. Except for the two alternative names, all these are clearly variants.

For Agbigba, both Oche and Qkin were given by the Igbira informant, Okin by Clarke, and Qkin by Beyioku, Ogunbiyi, and the Yagba Yoruba. Och? is given by Boston for the Igala, Oche by Bradbury for the Igala and by Armstrong for the Idoma, and Ose by Bradbury for the Western Ibo and Benin. Again these forms are closer to the Ifa name than to the Agbigba alternative, Qkin.

16. Ofun (2121). Ofun is given for the Yoruba in nearly all cases, with Qrangun as an alternative name. Offun is given by Wyndham, Ofun and Ofu by Ataiyero and Johnson, and Ofu by Dennett, Frobenius, Lucas, and Monteil. Qrangun Meji and Afin Meji are given as alternative names for Ofun Meji by Q)iga, who uses Afin as a substitute for Ofun in the combination Irosu-Afin.I Qrangun or Orangun is also given as an alternative name by Ataiyero, Bakere, Epega, Sowande, Wyndham, and by informants at Ara and If?. Other informants gave Qrangun I3kun at Ileqa, QrQgun at Ilara, and Qry-(o)gun d(i)-ehin lkun at Ibadan.

For Dahomey, Maupoil gives Oji Ofun, Fun, Fu, and Ofu, with Qlongun, Langun, and QlQgbon as alternatives. Ofoun is given by Alapini, Ofon by Grandin, and Fou by Le Herisse, Quenum, and Trautman. Fu is given by Burton, Ellis, Herskovits, Monteil, and Skertchly for Dahomey, and by Spieth, Fiawoo, and Garnier and Fralon for the Ewe. In Cuba it is known as Ofun, Aragun, and Baba Aragun (Father Aragun), and in Brazil as Ofu. Qrangun is an alternative name with the Yoruba Qr9gun, the Cuban Aragun, and Maupoil's Qlongun and Langun as variants, and Afin appears to be another alternative name. Except for Maupoil's QlQgbon (cf. OturupQn), all other forms are readily recognizable as modifications of Ofun.

For Agbigba, Ofun is given by Beyioku, Clarke, Ogunbiyi, and my two informants. Ofu is given by Boston and Bradbury for the Igala, by Armstrong for the Idoma, and by Bradbury for the Western Ibo. Bradbury gives Ohu for Benin.

Despite these variations in the spelling of names and in the different orders in which they are listed, there is a remarkable consistency in the association between the

I QOiga, op. cit., p. i.

4I8




figures and the names. The exceptions can be taken with complete assurance to be errors. Some of the lists give only the names and some record only the diagrams of the figures, but the Ifa names and figures are both given in fifty-three of the lists available. Each separate listing is a possible source of errors.

For the Yoruba we have thirty-three lists with seven by Epega, three by Beyioku, three by Parrinder, two by Frobenius (the names in a third being illegible), two by Bakare, one each by Abraham, Ataiyero, Clarke, Lucas, Odumglay9, Ogunbiyi, Ogunley?, Q(iga, F. S., $owande, Wyndham, and one informant each from Ara, Ibadan, Ife, Ilara, and Ilepa. For Dahomey we have thirteen lists with two by Alapini and one each from Burton, Ellis, Grandin, Herskovits, Le Herisse, Maupoil, Monteil, Quenum, Skertchly, and Trautman, including an incomplete list by Bertho from which all but four names were omitted. For the Ewe we have two lists by Spieth and by Garnier and Fralon, for Cuba the list of one informant and three manuscripts, and for Brazil one list by Bastide.

In these fifty-three Ifa lists, in which there are 836 associations of names with figures, only forty-eight errors have been found, or about 6 per cent. Of these, forty errors are found in the Dahomean listings, with two sources accounting for more than half. Monteil and Le Herisse each have twelve errors out of the sixteen figures, or only 25 per cent. correct. Both reverse Ogbe (IIII) and Qyeku (2222), Qbara (1222) and Ogunda (1112), Qkanran (222i) and Qsa (2III), Ika (2122) and Iretq (II2I), Oturuppn (2212) and Otura (I2II), and give Iwori (2II2) as Edi. In addition, Monteil gives Edi (I22I) as Iwori, and Le Herisse omits figure I221 but

gives 1212 twice, once correctly for Q?e but incorrectly a second time for Iwori. Eleven of these twelve errors are identical, and as they are not confirmed by other Dahomean sources, this suggests that Monteil followed Le Herisse's list, rather than that a variant pattern exists in Dahomey.

The only confirmation, in fact, is in two of Skertchly's four errors; he also reverses the figures for Ogbe and Qyeku, and he reverses Qbara (I222) and Q)? (I212). Quenum also has four errors, but he reverses the figures for Ika (2122) and Oturupgn (2212) and for Q(? (I212) and Ofun (2121). Grandin has six errors, listing the figure 2121 three times, correctly for Ofun but incorrectly for Iwori and Oturuppn, listing the figure 1122 (Irosun) incorrectly twice for Edi and Irqt?, giving the name of Edi (122I) as Irosun and of OturupQn (2212) as Ika, and omitting three figures (2II2,

2122, and 1121). Both Burton and Ellis make the same error, which may be typographical, giving the figure i i i for both Ogbe and Qyeku while omitting the figure 2222 (Qyqku). There are no errors in the two lists of Alapini, the lists of Herskovits, Maupoil, and Trautman, or in Bertho's very incomplete list.

For the Yoruba, Bakare makes four errors, listing the figure 2122 three times, correctly for Ika but incorrectly for OturupQn and Qbara, while omitting I222 and 2212; and these two errors are repeated in another edition of the same publication Parrinder (I953) repeats two common Dahomean errors, again reversing Ogbe and Qycku. Lucas repeats the error of Burton and Ellis, giving i i I for both Ogbe and Qycku, making a total of seven errors in thirty-three Yoruba lists with 528 associations, or about i - per cent.

There are no errors in the two lists for the Ewe of Togo and Ghana, and none in the four Cuban sources. For Brazil, Bastide makes one error, giving the figure I122

4I9




twice, once correctly for Irosun but incorrectly the second time for Qq?, while

omitting the figure 1212.

There are no errors in the two lists of Agbigba names with thirty-two associations

given by Beyioku and Ogunbiyi (Clarke gives only the names), in the two lists with

twenty-nine associations by my two Agbigba informants, or in the five lists with

eighty associations recorded by Armstrong, Boston, and Bradbury. However, unless one reads all the figures from the bottom up, there are twelve

errors in an article, which has just reached my desk, on Afa (i.e. Agbigba) divination

among the Northern Nsukka Ibo by Shelton.' He uses C to indicate the ' closed' and O to indicate the ' open' position of seeds in the divining chains, equivalent to the numbers 2 and i respectively in the notation used above and to X and O in

Armstrong's article reporting Bradbury's findings among the western Ibo. It is not clear what Shelton means by restricting his 'meanings' (i.e. names of the figures) to line ' a ' in each cast, but if this is disregarded the names of the figures represented in the columns can be identified; for example, in Cast no. i the four columns are

equivalent to Ogbe, Iwori, Ofun, and Ogunda. On this basis the names of fifteen of the sixteen figures can be identified and compared with Bradbury's names for the Western Ibo; only three or 20 per cent. are correct.

The figure I i i (0000) is given in Cast no. i, column i, and again in 5:3 as Obi and Ebi, which corresponds to Bradbury's Ogbi and the Ifa name Ogbe. 2222

(CCCC) is given in 6: I and 26: i as Akwo and Akwu, corresponding to Bradbury's Akwu. 2112 is given in : 2 and 6: 3 as Ogoli and 'Goli, corresponding to Bradbury's Ogoli. 1221 is not represented and hence not named.

The names for I22 and 2211 are reversed, as Uhu (2:3) corresponds to Bradbury's Ulushu, and Egale (4:4, 26:4) corresponds to Bradbury's Qgali or Qgai. 1222 and 2221 are also reversed as Qbara (3: I, 3:3, 4:3, 5:4, 15:4) corresponds to Bradbury's Qbai and the Ifa name Qbara, whereas Qkara (I5:I) corresponds to Bradbury's Qkai and the Ifa name Qkanran. 1112 and 2111 are reversed, with Ogute, 'Gwute, and Ijite (3:4, 4:2, 6:2) corresponding to Bradbury's Ogbut? and Ejite, and with Qha (i :4) corresponding to Qsha. 2122 and 2212 are reversed, with Eka (5:I, 15: 3) corresponding to Bradbury's Aka and to Ika in Ifa, and Eturukpa (I 5: 2) to Bradbury's Atokpa and to OturupQn in Ifa. Again 1211 and 121 are reversed with Oture (2: ,

5:2) corresponding to Bradbury's Etule and Otura in Ifa, and with Ete (2: 2, 2:4, 6:4) corresponding to Bradbury's Ete and Irct? in Ifa. Finally 1212 and 2121 are reversed with Ose (I:3, 4: I) corresponding to Bradbury's Ose, and Uhu (3:2, 26:2, 26:3) to Ofu. In all there are twelve errors, all attributed to one source, for I 56 associations in the ten Agbigba lists, or about 7-7 per cent.

The relatively small proportion of errors for most observers supports the sugges- Austin J. Shelton, 'The Meaning and Method from right to left and then read upside down from

of Afa Divination among the Northern Nsukka left to right; then the rows are read from top to Ibo', American Anthropologist, lxvii. 6 (I965), bottom starting at the left side and then from bottom 1441-55. Despite the author's statement that he is to top starting at the right. Thus the figures for an initiated afa-caster, I seriously question his Shelton's Cast no. I would read: I. OOOX, description of the method. He regards the names of 2. XOXO, 3. XOOX, 4. 0000, 5. 0000, the figures as a secret language giving the meaning 6. XOOX, 7. OXOX, 8. XOOO, 9. OXXO, of the divination, and he reads the strings from left o1. 0000, xI. OOXO, 12. OXOX, 13. XOXO, to right, and only from left to right. According to 14. OXOO, 15. 0000, x6. OXXO. my informants on Agbigba, the columns are read

420



TWO STUDIES OF IFA DIVINATION tion that variations in the rank order of the sixteen figures are not due to errors or ignorance on the part of the diviners, or to their deliberate attempts to conceal the truth. Regional variations in the order of the sixteen figures has been suggested as one possible alternative, but errors on the part of the investigator is another.

Since we can be positive in our identification of the errors cited above, this study provides an unusual test of ethnographic reliability. Many of the mistakes appear to be due to carelessness in investigation and note taking, to uncorrected typographical errors, and to repeating the mistakes of earlier investigators. Grandin's renderings of the names are especially inaccurate. But whether the errors are due to the variety of observers who have written on Ifa, including explorers, colonial officials, mission- aries, anthropologists, and Africans, or to their informants, it is not difficult to distinguish reliable from unreliable reporting. Eliminating only those authors who made four or more errors, including Bakare (4 in two lists) for the Yoruba, Quenum (4), Skertchly (4), Grandin (6), Le Herisse ( 2), and Monteil (I2) for the FQn, and Shelton for Ibo Agbigba, we still have 46 Ifa lists with 734 associations, and only six errors in all (0o8 per cent.). This leaves one error for Brazil out of 16 associations (6 per cent.), two for Dahomey out of 116 associations (I 7 per cent.), three for the Yoruba out of 496 associations (o.6 per cent.), none for the Ewe out of 32 associations (o per cent.), and none for Cuba out of 64 associations (o per cent.). Nor are there any errors in nine additional Agbigba and/or Ifa lists with I4I associations recorded by Beyioku, Ogunbiyi, and myself, and by Armstrong, Boston, and Bradbury (o per cent.).

It can be taken as established that the same Ifa figures are known by the same names throughout Yoruba country, and with some modifications in pronunciation and spelling among the FQn in Dahomey, the Ewe in Togo and Ghana, and among the Afro-Americans in Cuba and Brazil. Armstrong considers the names of the figures recorded at Benin and among the Igala, Idoma, and Western Ibo to be cognate also. In contrast, although sixteen similar figures are used in the Sikidy divination of Malagasy and in the Islamic sand divination of West and North Africa, these are completely different both in their names and in their order, indicating a separate historical development if not separate origins.

II. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF NUMBER IN THE ODU OF IFA

E. M. McCLELLAND

THE collection of material from each of the QmQ-Odu, the recitals outside those of the sixteen Principal Odu, has yielded interesting information about the complex arrangement of the whole system not discernible from a study of the single Odu. This material has been gathered over a period of years in a strip of country in Western Nigeria about twenty-five miles wide, stretching northwards from a few miles south of Iwo, along a line to the east of QyQ and Oshogbo to Ikirun and Okuku. The area was chosen purposely to exclude, as far as possible, sophisticated districts where, it was felt, the growing adulteration of the cult would tend to be greatest and where corruption and commercialism would be likely to have debauched the system to the greatest extent.

421




In order that the material should be as trustworthy as possible, certain limiting factors were imposed on the collection. The informants used, twenty-two in all, were all Babalawo well advanced in years who, in their youth, would have had a long and careful training when the status of the cult was very high indeed; they were men and women who had had no education in the European sense of the word; they had no connexion, however tenuous, with Christianity. Difficulties springing from normal failures of memory were largely overcome by the careful collating of several accounts on the same theme. Wherever any conscious manipulation of facts or methods was even suspected, the material so gained was not accepted. With these precautions, enough data have been collected to show a calculated mathematical framework.

Since the whole arrangement of the 2 56 Odu and QmQ-Odu is seen to depend on the order in which the names of the Odu appear, a list was first compiled of the order given as correct throughout the area selected. There proved to be no variation in this, either as regards the place of each Odu in the list or the figure, that is the characteristic pattern, associated with him. The place order is given below.

Name of Odu

Ejiogbe Qyeku Meji Iwori Meji Odi Meji Irosun Meji Qw9nrin Meji Qbara Meji Qkanran Meji Ogunda Meji Qsa Meji Ika Meji Oturupon Meji Otua Meji Irete Meji Qse Meji Ofun Meji

His figure as the Opelf shows it All nuts concave' No nuts concave Middle two nuts concave Outer two nuts concave Top two nuts concave Bottom two nuts concave Top nut concave Bottom nut concave Top three nuts concave Bottom three nuts concave Upper middle nut concave Lower middle nut concave Top nut and bottom two nuts concave Top two nuts and bottom nut concave Top nut and lower middle nut concave Upper middle nut and bottom nut concave

This list agrees with that of Dennett, who collected his information in Western Nigeria.2 J. D. Clarke, however, after a careful comparison between his own and other lists, gave what he calls a' corrected ' list, on the strength of what he considered to be ' a logical arrangement of symbols ' in the figures themselves. It differs in two respects from the one above. In it Qbara and Qkanran are placed fifth and sixth, respectively, instead of seventh and eighth; and he makes Ircte immediately precede Otua in the eleventh place instead of following him at fourteenth. He maintains that there is an appropriate order in the way in which the patterns fall with regard to the number of concave nuts, that in his corrected list he has restored the right order; that ' 5, 7, 9, (top I, top 2, top 3) is a proper sequence. . . . The Qm9-Iloffu lists recognise this sequence whereas Dennett's list upsets it by placing 7 before 5.'3 The

I A nut concave side up is equivalent to i mark 2 See Nigerian Studies, 19Io. on the Ifa board, that is, the result of the retention 3 See'Ifa Divination', Journalofthe RoyalAnthropo- of 2 palm nuts in the left hand. logical Inst. lxix (I939), 235-56.

I.

2.

3. 4. 5. 6.

7- 8.

9. IO.

II.

12.

13. 14.

I5. I6.

422




theory is tempting enough but it does not agree with the facts as they are revealed by a study of the recitals attributed to the Odu involved. Moreover, it is more important to regard the Odu as arranged in pairs; the figure three has no significance in Ifa. Babalawo, consulted specifically on this point, stated categorically that all things were arranged in pairs in forward and reverse order. It will be noted that the lists examined by Clarke were compiled either in the IlQrin area or in Dahomey. It is not impossible that the recitals there may also differ in number; if so the over-all arrangement could be adjusted to be acceptable. In the area under discussion here, it was asserted that the order depends on the time factor of the arrival of each Odu in Ile Ifs.

The list given here is convincingly supported by two things: first by the underlying myth which accounts for the existence and the dual nature of the Odu, and secondly by the number and arrangement of the 240 QmQ-Odu, as will be shown.

There is great diversity in the accounts of the origin, nature, and function of the Odu. It is by no means easy to arrive at a clear conception from the complex and mystifying stories that overwhelm the inquirer. Any discussion of the various versions is beyond the scope of this article. There are many good accounts.' There is, however, one characteristic common to them that concerns us here, a feature on which the whole system is based; the concept of duality. It is such an integral part of the system mathematically that it gives a consistent internal logic.

The fact that the Odu are regarded as both personages of importance and also as groups of verses, 'heads', or chapters has its importance in this dual conception running through the whole. In the area chosen as a random sample for investigation, the first is said to have arrived mysteriously at Ile-Ifq, having travelled there from 'the cradle of man' stated to be 'near the River Siminin'. Pieced together, the story runs like this. Olodumare, the supreme being, is said to have been the son of a Boa called Ere who hatched him, in the beginning of the world, from an enormous egg, sturdy as a great water pot (odu). This explains why he bears his name; it is a contraction of olodo (owner of the pot) pmp-ere (son of Ere).2 In due course others came into being in the same way, among them Aranisan, the chief of all wisdom, and sixteen helpers, all divine and all representing parts of the heavens, connected with certain constellations and also endowed with the wisdom of the gods. When Qrunmila was sent by Olodumare to make a new world and set newly created man on it, he was assisted by Ajagunmanle, the trusted courier of Aranisan, and, together, they evolved a way by which wisdom could be spread throughout this new environ- ment. If this were to be possible, a representative must inherit wisdom and teach it. It is round this mysterious figure that all the varying accretions of story have clustered. His characteristics and his origin vary considerably. But whoever he was, he lived and taught in Ile-If? having brought the system with him-some said from Abyssinia, others from the Sudan, others from an unspecified sea-shore where he learnt it from ESu, and so on. In the district visited he is believed to have been the son of Qrunmin and the one-breasted 1Fla and to have been of divine origin. His name is given as

For instance: Yoruba Speaking Peoples of the Slave of the Yorubas, J. Olumide Lucas, C.M.S., I948; Coast of W. Africa, A. D. Ellis, I894; Nigerian West African Religion, G. Parrinder, I96x. Studies, R. F. Dennett, S.P.C.K., I9Io; The History 2 For the consideration of the derivations of of the Yorubas, S. Johnson, Routledge, 1921; Faith, Olodumare, see Olodumari: God in Yoruba Belief, Fancies and Fetish, S. Farrow, S.P.C.K., 1926; 'Ifa B. Idowu, 1962. Divination', W. Bascom, Man, 1942; The Religion

F

423




Agbaniregun. He is thought to have learnt the system from Ifa himself who taught him how to finger-print by sending down from heaven a copy of all the Odu figures printed on a huge eggshell with a mixture of pounded camwood and wet chalk. This

paste is still used in the initiation of a Babalawo, though a white cloth has been substituted for a giant egg.

Before he died, or was mysteriously translated to heaven-both stories are current -he had taught and initiated sixteen beings who had presented themselves at Ile-Ifq to learn the system. They were all of noble family and curious circumstances attended their birth. Each was a twin, an essential qualification. The vital importance of a dual birth is to be seen in the position of Qs(tua, a seventeenth claimant who was not

acceptable as he was not a twin, even though he was the son of E?u himself by QSun, herself a powerful witch and mother of Ejiogbe. The son of such parents inspired dread and could not be wholly disregarded. He was attached to Agbaniregun and acted as a special courier from earth to Ifa in heaven. He has a recital though it is not

formally acknowledged and never chanted out loud. It was given to the writer with much misgiving and only after the eating of salt and copious libations of oil poured on the earth with prayer.

The association of the Odu with their towns of origin is very strong.' An appendix has been provided giving some facts about their parentage and some alleged characteristics.

The twins, then, came to Ile-Ifq in a definite order. Ejiogbe, son of Qrunmila and Q?un, became the first in rank and importance. While they lived in Ile-If9 they taught and initiated thousands of pupils but these were never called Odu-always Babalawo. The original sixteen are stated to be of divine origin and to be the earthly counterparts of heavenly beings. Each stands for four entities, a pair on earth and a

pair in heaven. The paraphernalia of their art reflects the duality inherent in the

system. The Qp1le has eight half-nuts; it is thrown so that it must fall in two parallel groups of four. Of these four there are two possible interpretations-they may fall either with the outer, or convex, side uppermost or with the inner, or concave, side turned up. Similarly, the sixteen palm nuts used in finger-printing will be manipulated eight times, and marks or finger-prints will be made on the board arranged in two

parallel lines; a double mark, equivalent to a convex nut, if there is one palm nut retained in the left hand and a single mark equivalent to a concave nut if two are left, after each 'racking'. The procedure is too well known to need elaboration here.2 It is necessary to point out this recurrence of 2 and its degrees. The objects used as ' messengers ' by the clients to convey their questions are used two at a time and hidden in two hands. They bear two possible interpretations, negative or affirmative. The number of possible arrangements of Odu is 256. The number 4096, constantly mentioned but not, as yet, convincingly explained, is also significant. All these

I Surprisingly, Old Qy9 is not included. Accord- a great fire and an epidemic of smallpox, consulted ing to Johnson (I921), Ifa had been brought to the Ifa through the Alado of Ado, a famous Babalawo. town by Arugba Ifa, a Nupe woman, when she He was told that misfortune would continue till he married Onigbogi's father. She was forbidden to accepted Ifa. He and his Chiefs were initiated. practise it. On the death of her husband she went to 2 Good accounts are given by W. R. Bascom, Qta and became the head of a powerful witches' cult. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Inst., 1941, ' The Ifa was accepted in the town during the reign of Sanctions of Ifa Divination' and T. A. J. Ogunbiyi, Alafin Ofinran, who, troubled by disasters including Yoruba Oracles and their Modes of Divination.

424



TWO STUDIES OF IFA DIVINATION 425 numbers represent the scale of two and may be written z2-Z3-24-28-2z2. This cannot be due to chance. It is a geometric progression. Quite apart from the symbolism involved, it gives a certain amount of intellectual satisfaction.

Even more striking is the arrangement of the 240 QmQ-Odu. They are set under the names of two Odu in each case, for instance, Odi-Qse or Iret? Ofun. Conceiving them first as personages and referring to the supporting myth, one can fill in the details of another mathematical concept. Working back from the names and numbers of the actual recitals, it is possible to detect a kind of measure, a stately choreographic movement of which the basic features are a constant pairing off, a regular change in partners, and a fixed path to tread until the measure, having worked itself out, comes to a natural end. It is true that, in some cases, the Babalawo could give no idea of the underlying pattern; in others, the motif was perceived but there was confusion as to why the QmQ-Odu were arranged in this way. But there was no doubt or variation on the form of the arrangement. The movement was understood.

The motif is always seen in personal terms. Odu are thought of as actual kings with distinguishing attributes, e.g. Iwori, the Conqueror; Irete, the Death-Post- poner, etc. They make royal progresses. Informants used the words for paths, roads, and kingdoms (Amunlumala-Odu, Apela-Odu, and Ij9ba). One referred to the visits as times when one Odu 'escorted' another (ti sin), through the kingdoms. One explained that Orunmila arranged this scheme so that 'all the world ' could come into contact with the Odu before they went back to Heaven. Another referred to the sacrifices that were obligatory when the king' stepping out 'returned to his kingdom. The return visits are seen as necessary. N.B. The proverb 'A priest who fails to return a visit from another nullifies the effect of it ' (Awo ti a nrele rf, ti ko rele awo Pgb? r?, Agba Adanu ni).

Each Odu, in his capacity as a monarch, goes to visit the Odu next below him in rank-that is the next below him on the list. He passes through his own realm, divining on the way. His journey takes sixteen days. He joins his host in services and consultations and feastings for a short time. Topical references to events recorded on the way are included in the recital attributed to this visit. Then the host Odu pays a return visit and the same procedure is followed. Thus, Ejiogbe visits Qyeku and the recital is under their combined names-Ogbe 'Ycku. The return visit would be under the names Qyeku-Ogbe. When this pair of visits has been concluded, Ogbe will visit the third Odu on the list, Iwori, and another pair of visits and another pair of recitals will result, under the names Ogbe-Iwori and Iwori-Ogbe. Ejiogbe works his way like this through the whole list and so makes I 5 visits, is visited in return 5 times and there will be 30 recitals. This is in fact so.

When this part of the cycle is completed, the second Odu will begin the same process with the next Odu, Iwori. Following the same routine he will make 14 visits, receive 14 return visits, and there will be 28 recitals. Odu 3 will follow suit and make I3 visits, be visited 13 times, and there will be 26 recitals. This movement is repeated, one Odu being eliminated each time, until Ofun is reached. The arrangement of Odu, therefore, is seen to be an arithmetical progression, in descending order, from 30 to o, since the last Odu cannot visit himself. The sum of the whole is 240, which, added to the I6 single Odu, gives 28. The table illustrates the progression.

The number of recitals is, thus, a sure guide to the order in the list of the two Odu



TWO STUDIES OF IFA DIVINATION mentioned above.' It must be remembered that in reading either the 9p?l1 or the finger-prints, the right hand of the pattern takes precedence when the figure is to be identified. This reading from right to left has been put forward as an indication of Arabic origin. In no circumstances can an Odu make a forward journey with one above him on the list. He must only proceed in reverse order in response to an initial visit. Complicated conjectures have been made by workers in this field2 that if, in an Qm9-Odu, the senior name comes first, the answer is favourable and if the converse is true, unfavourable; but they do not go far enough, since they have had to be formed on observations made during unrelated sessions, without the benefit of information about the whole arrangement. Nevertheless, they fit in with the idea suggested by the figures that in the original form of the system the rule was, precisely, that the reverse journeys did give a negative reply. But it is necessary to point out that negative is not the same as unfavourable and that therefore no adverse significance attaches to the Odu concerned. A negative answer may be the one desired if the questioner frames his request accordingly. Some blurring of this pattern may be due to the attempts of clients to ensure the objectivity of the answers elicited by various tricks such as reversing the normal questioning procedure or using a ' messenger' against its own fixed symbolism.

The form is, clearly, a genuine and significant ceremonial in the system contrived to spread wisdom through the world. The fact that skilled Babalawo understand the movement was illustrated during a session in Okuku arranged by the kind offices of the Qba. Twelve Babalawo were present. They were asked to go through the Qm(-Odu from the beginning, picking it up from one another. They set one of their number to call out the names of the pairs and another to give a sign for each new set to begin. They warmed to the work and chanted in correct sequence the first two groups of recitals, thirty followed by twenty-eight. If our time and stamina had permitted they would doubtless have gone on to the end. It was clear that, whether they fully understood what was behind it or not, they saw it as a whole. It may well be that the definite framework had helped them to memorize the enormous amount of lore involved. Not every recruit managed it. Even after a trial period of two years, and, in the case of the very dullest, a dose of medicine guaranteed to stimulate the sluggish mind, some fell out even before the first stage of competence was reached.3

Two questions arise: whether a diviner selects from the recitals arranged within this framework only those that seem likely to suit the needs of his client; and whether he interprets the odu recital variously according to the status of the client or the nature of his problem.

According to the normal procedure, the Babalawo, after identifying the Odu turned up, selects from it what he considers an appropriate recital, having regard to the situation and the problem of his client. It will contain (a) instructions for a sacrifice to avert a particular evil or obtain a particular blessing; (b) a piece of poetry, mostly in incantation language; (c) a story (myth) in illustration. The whole recital will have strong internal relevance. He can choose from anything up to seventeen or

See p. 422, above. worship but not divine; 2. Osria-who could wor- 2 J. D. Clarke and others; see note i on p. 424, ship and divine but not eat the sacrifices; 3. AwQn-a-

above. tq ni fa-a fully trained Babalawo. 3 There were three ranks: i. Olori-who could

426




eighteen sets of verses. The idea that variation in interpretation can occur is strongly repudiated though it is admitted that the Babalawo could select with intent.

Two differences are acknowledged:

(i) The sacrifice demanded is often increased or reduced, according to the status of the client. In some of the Odu alternate sacrifices are given and, in some, the statement is made 'Let him sacrifice according to his means '.

(ii) For an important or rich client the Babalawo often recites more than one set. He continues until the suppliant admits that he has heard something significant.

I have asked many people how the Babalawo, if the suppliant takes pains to hide his

question or his purpose from him, can select appropriately. The reply has always been the same, viz. the medicines given to him on his initiation, and consumed

regularly, enable him to know without being told. I deal with this medicine in a further article.

The emotional response of the client is strong. Fear of illness and death seems to be

always present. But, on the whole, the oracle is reassuring since no suppliant is

deprived of hope. The analogous story shows how some other person escaped from the particular evil by careful obedience to the instructions for sacrifice. Very rarely indeed do such sentences as 'This client should begin to put his house in order' or ' This suppliant must sacrifice often lest a sorrowful cry may reach his ears ', or the even more suggestive words-' There is no sacrifice' occur. Again, since Orunmila is said to be present at the dispatch of every person into the world and to be aware of the destiny of all, he is thought to be able to affect it, if he wishes. So there is always the hope that prayer may induce him to avert an evil fate. There is no finality, therefore, in the consultation itself and any fear is cushioned by the belief in the efficacy of sacrifice and prayer.

Although the spread of education has increased the ranks of the sceptic and the scoffer, and although the obvious greed of unscrupulous charlatans has brought the

system into disrepute, it still survives and confidence in it is surprisingly resilient.

Perhaps faith in it dies hard because it is founded on a theory of numbers and, because of this fact, is automatic in its responses. It calls for no emotional reactions, no acts of faith. The number and kind of sacrifices are prescribed and any consultation can be unrevealing to the intermediary if a client so desires it. Group consultations and omnibus questionings still occur and the patience with which all possible alternatives to the solution of the problem are eliminated is still remarkable.

A greater threat to the continued existence of Ifa as a trustworthy cult lies in the

attempts of well-meaning but misguided devotees to find some way of correlating it with the Christian faith. They try to equate the sanctions behind Ifa with the teach-

ing of Christ and the Revd. B. Idowu gives examples of spurious recitals that have ' The case of the moving of the town of Iwo is tury, their army was in the field and did not return.

legendary. The first site was at the confluence of the Unprotected and in an exposed position, they con- rivers Qba and Qshun. The town used to be flooded suited Ifa again about moving to a place more easily badly in the rainy season. A prolonged consultation defensible. After twenty castings, on the advice of with Babalawo is said to have taken place and the the Ifa priests, they moved to the site of the present Chiefs were advised to move it. They did so and town which is on a low plateau of rock surrounded settled about two miles to the south of the present by thick bush. town. During the tribal wars of the nineteenth cen-




appeared which follow some of the stories to be found in the Bible. The Church of Qrunmila is an interesting example of an attempt to raise the status of what is felt to be historically interesting but lamentably pagan. It is difficult to see how any of these

attempts can find a parallel with the valid and self-supporting theory of numbers on which the Ifa divination system is based.

THE ODU OF IFA

OGBE-OTUA COBE-IRETE 06BE-Os5 CTUA- OGBE IRETi-OGBE 9SE- OoBE

9YEKU-OTUAQVE KU- IRrTE OYEKU-9S:

.TUA- OYEKU RErt-OYEKU OSE-OYK.K

E J I OrFBE -

Q9?KU OGBE- IWORC

GE OVEU- OSBE IWORI-OGBE

1 1 OYE K U oy. xu- IO 1 1 ' -' ,WOm*I,cU 1 1 2 2 30 2 2

2 2 IWORI 2 2

28 22

2 2 1 1 1 2 2 26

00 I 1 1 2 2 2 2 1 1

24

IROSUN I 1 1 1 2 2 2 2

22

.ROSUN, IROSUN- OWN", D ' OA eA-

oWCN?;,,- o A;R..

CWqNRIN- OWONRIN I ' F.A

2 2 cwlnlN 7 2 1 1 ODARA

2 1

20 2 2 2 2

18

.oflPa- o NA.A- OKANRA-N 01 NOA-

OKANRAN o..uNo.A'6"

2 2 2 2 OGUNDA 2 2 1 1 1 1

16 T 1 1 1 2 2

14

REFERE NCE

1. The figure 1 represents either a half-nut which falls with its concave side uppermost or One mark mode on the finger -printing board The figure 2 represents either a convex nut or o double mark on the board N.B. In a principal Odu the two sides are identical

2. The patterns attributed to the Omo-Odu will consist of those of the two principal Odu whose names are combined eg Odi-irosun will be-1 1--0ODI

Irosun 1 2 2 2 2 1

N.B. The reading is from right to left

Birthplace Otun Ekiti Area

A4pa (Ogun's town). Shifted away from original site to Ogbom9sho area

Appendix

Parentage and Characteristics Son of Qrunmila by Qsun, daughter of the King of

Qtun. First in importance and rank. His twin, Orisunsola is often referred to in the verses.

Son of the King of Apa by Qyekun. His name means 'walking crookedly'. He is described as clumsy in build with a slight curvature of the spine. Very lucky for hunters. His figure appearing during a consultation is said to ensure the killing of any quarry.

TORUPpN-

DT- UOTNU-R u N

DTURUP91Or- ODI

ROSU`- IROSUN-0',A " C,JN DKA IROSItN r , PSeT Cw. IP 'P N-E QSFUN SE IROSVN- OrUN

OBUNDA cMXlJgOUP ON JGaUO^- ?SA -;.osuA ,KA-mPOSu OT7u10q- OT'-. mIOSUUN ,R:tE-I"OSUN QS9-ROSUN rOFUM-IROSUN

,. SUI , nOS u,

OGUNICO- OGUNDA- OCUNDA- OCUNDA- OCUNOA-

OOTUA 5 rrtT OS OFVN OTURuP- O . TUA- 9 IRE - o,Su- ?OF

r -

OCUNDA OG'JNDA OGUNOA OGJNoA OGUNA*

3SA 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1

1 2

IKA 2 2

2 2 2 2

10

GTURUPON

?A-OTuRUPO.

OTURU - PON

2 2 2 2 1 1 2 2

8

SA -OTUAI

OTUA-PON O s Sru,uPp4

-

OTUA I 1 2 2 1 1 1 1

.2.

QS -gSE

IK' - 9 SE

OSE-IKA

OTURUPqN- qsS QSE -

o2uP N

OTUA- 0S5

9SE - OTUA

IRETE- OSE

9SE -!ER TE

OSE

2 2 2 1 2 2

2

?SA- IRETE

IETE- OTU A

IKA- IRETE

IQETE-IKA

IRETE 1 1

T -

2 2 1 1

4

OSA-OFUN

OFUN - 05A

IKA- OFUN

OFUN- IOK

OTURUPON-

OFVN

OFUN 2 2 1 1 2 2 1 1

0

Odu

Ejiogbe

Qyeku

OGRE -OKAl." N|eG9E -

OGUGND

OrEKU-OKANNRAN 9"Ft.U- I OGUNDA

OKANR4N-OqYEU OGGUNDA-

I CF.u _ v 1 LI'

_ ~ ~ _ _ _ _

. .

- I - - I - I - ". . - . I I - I -- - . . 7 - I - I I - I

OCBE- OONRIN OGD[- B*ARA

OW?NRIN-OGBE OBARA-OCFOE

oYtKU-CWONR NwOYEku-OARA

OWONRIN-CYEKU eaRA .-OYEDO

OGBf - OFUN

OFUN- OOSE

qYEKU-OFUN

OCUN-OYEKU

CCE -OSA

oYEKU- OS;

pSA - o YtKU

IWOr- - OfUN

OFUN - IWORI

D00- OFUN

OrUN - D01

OWONRIN

OB90A- OSE

OSE - OBAR&

D9s.

PSK N,RAN




Odu Birthplace Iwori Igodo. In Senegal.

Modern name is Godogodo

Odi liu-Iper in Il9rin Province near Ipo

Irosun Idere in Ibarapa area

Qw9nrin Gbegbekunegb1 in Ketu area

Qbara Q9g. Destroyed and resettled in Ogbo- mgsho District

Qkanran Itile

Ogunda Oko near Old Qy9. Now in the Ogbo- m9sh9 District

Qsa Ota. Near Lagos

Parentage and Characteristics The King of Ogodo discovered a naked woman on

the bank of a stream where she had bathed. He had relations with her by force and Iwori was born as a result. The name means nakedness. Many of the moral aphorisms in the verses are attributed to him.

Son of the 1leju and Ibilola. He is sometimes referred to as Apereodagba (short stool) as he was very short in the legs.

Born to the king and his highly strung wife as the result of a stratagem. Finding that his wife did not conceive he drugged her before having intercourse with her. She bore Irosun with no difficulty. His name means ' conceived in sleep '.

Son of the king and born during a time of drought and famine. Persistent story that he was a change- ling but he brought good fortune. His name is variously translated: the two most common versions are that it is a corruption of the word meaning scarcity and that it means 'from the East'. In the beautiful prayer used in the initiation cere- mony of a Babalawo, Qrunmila is said to be with Qwonrin, i.e. the East.

The Paramount Chief of Q19 worked a very large farm. His son Qbara was born on the day when a splendid crop of melon seeds was being winnowed so he was called Olubarawaiye, 'he-who-comes- to-life-when-melon-seeds-are-hammered '. Later contracted to Qbara.

Born of a woman who, because she was suspected of being concerned in the killing of two people, was punished by being made a slave. She bore Qkanran to the king. The name means 'son of a woman criminal'. Noted for his wisdom.

Son of Ogun, the God of Iron. Born at Oko during a visit paid by Ogun to Oko. Terrifying person. He is said to have raped a woman so violently that her whole body broke up. She was restored again by Esu, friend of Ogun, called in for the purpose.

Ogunda = 'the God of Iron broke it '. This Odu inspires fear.

His mother, pursued and caught by the king of Otta. ' Son of a fleeing woman.'

429



430 Odu

Ika B

Ika. I very Its souti near

Oturupon Iwgya

Otua

Irete

se

Godogoa land to Ip

Tim9rrr

Ikolo. I Ik9le

Qfun


firthplace Parentage and Characteristics

Destroyed in Son of King Onikanmogun by a delicate rather early times. crooked woman thought incapable of having

people came children. Grew up mischievous-plucked other i and settled people's kola-hence name 'plucker'. Iwo

Oniw9ya, King of Iw9ya. Had boils on his testicles when he procreated his son. Name means 'child of damaged organ'.

to or Hausa- Born at a time when many strangers were staying in Sudan. Came his father's town-' strangers in the town '. Sent apo near Qy9 knowledge of Ifa back to his own people. Two

goats untied and left to roam on his birth-day.

His parents were King ]llemere and Ireile. Name from ]re-ni-e-te-man ' Son of woman trodden into the bog '. This is a reference to her fate; she was punished for wantonness. Obscure references occur connecting him with the male cricket, said to have been the first finger-printer on earth.

kole area near Son of the King of Ikolo. Said to have had extreme :-Ekiti dignity of demeanour because he was tall and

strong.

Or Orangun. Origin not known. Very prudent, gave good advice to his fellow Odu who deferred to him. One story relates that he should have been the first Odu but that he drank too much palm- wine, and went to sleep on the way to Ile-Ife and so arrived last. But his prestige was always great.

Resume

DEUX ETUDES DE LA DIVINATION PAR IFA

LES Yoruba pratiquent un certain nombre de techniques divinatoires. Celle qui fournit les renseignements les plus complets est le systeme de geomancie connu sous le nom d'Ifa; elle s'effectue selon trois processus de complexite variable, les deux cas les plus compliques etant pratiques par des devins professionnels (les babalawo). L'oracle d'Ifa est anime par une divinite nommee Orunmila, encore qu'on l'appelle souvent Ifa. Le devin consulte l'oracle pour decouvrir l'Odu qui regit la destinee de son client: c'est un signe qu'il dessine dans la poussiere repandue sur la table de divination. II est regi par un esprit du meme nom que l'Odu; il implique toute une serie d'incantations et de mythes qui expliquent la situation

Ila Orangun. Origin- ally called Ila Odo




presente du client en se referant a une situation archetypale et en prescrivant certaines offrandes a pratiquer a l'esprit Odu et, eventuellement, a d'autres divinites, si le client arrive a ses fins.

Un signe d'Odu comprend huit elements, simplement delimites, qui se disposent en deux colonnes de quatre. Le devin peut jeter une corde ou une chaine a laquelle sont accroches huit objets semblables qui donnent des arrangements tete-queue. Ou bien, il peut tenir seize noix de kola dans une main et en prendre dans la main pleine autant que possible avec l'autre main, en observant s'il en tombe une ou deux. L'on dispose l'Odu sur la table de divination en marquant le fond avec un element d'abord de la main droite puis de la main gauche, ensuite de nouveau avec la main droite etc ... en allant de gauche a droite et de bas en haut.

I1 est bien evident qu'il y a seize signes possibles dans lesquels les colonnes de droite et de gauche sont identiques. Ce sont la les Odu principaux et l'ordre selon lequel ils sont dis- poses de memoire par les devins est expose dans les deux articles precedents.

Le professeur Bascom poursuit une enquete empirique sur l'ordre actuellement suivi, d'apres un tres grand nombre d'informateurs, non seulement chez les Yoruba, mais aussi chez des peuples voisins qui pratiquent le meme systeme, et chez les descendants des Yoruba a Cuba. II ne se contente pas de degager l'etroite echelle de variations dans l'ordre des dispositions de l'Odu mais il apprecie aussi a leur juste valeur l'originalite et la veracite d'un grand nombre de descriptions ethnographiques de la divination par Ifa. Le Dr. McClelland analyse le principe suivant lequel est structure l'ordre adopte par les membres de son echantillonnage de devins dans l'aire centrale des Yoruba. Son etude presente en outre une nouvelle information appreciable en tant qu'apercu des processus des devins.

Ces deux etudes specialisees de l'une des parties du systeme de divination par Ifa ont trait a des problemes d'un interet beaucoup plus etendu, concernant l'ethnographie et l'histoire de l'Afrique occidentale. Les seize colonnes dans le tableau des signes d'Odu sont identiques aux signes utilises dans un systeme de geomancie originaire de l'Antiquite au Proche Orient. Ce qui est particulierement interessant, c'est la maniere dont le systeme a ete incorpore aux conceptions cosmologiques des Yoruba. Les analyses minutieuses du Professeur Bascom et du Dr. McClelland montrent donc que les Yoruba ont elabore une structure logique dans leurs relations avec l'Odu qui se trouve exprimee a travers la mythologie du systeme.



two studies of ifa divination. introduction: the mode of divination

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