Ọrunmila (Yoruba ''Ọ̀rúnmìlà'', also Ọrúnla or Orúla in

Yorubaland Yorubaland () is the homeland and cultural region of the Yoruba people in West Africa. It spans the modern-day countries of Nigeria, Togo and Benin, and covers a total land area of 142,114 km2 or about 60% of the land area of Ghana. Of this ...

and

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) is an Orisha. He is the Orisha of wisdom, knowledge, and divination. This source of

knowledge Knowledge can be defined as awareness of facts or as practical skills, and may also refer to familiarity with objects or situations. Knowledge of facts, also called propositional knowledge, is often defined as true belief that is disti ...

is believed to have a keen understanding of the human form and of purity, and is therefore praised as often being more effective than other remedies. William R. Bascom: Ifa Divination: Communication Between Gods and Men in West Africa

Historical and literary sources

Orunmila is recognized as a primordial Irúnmọlẹ̀ (an Orisha that has a hand in the creation of the Universe) that was present both at the beginning of Creation and then again amongst humanity as a priest that taught an advanced form of spiritual knowledge and ethics during visits to earth in physical form or through his disciples. Orunmila is the spirit of wisdom among the Irunmole and the divinity of destiny and prophecy. He is praise named "''Igbákejì Olódùmarè''" (second in command to Olodumare) and "''Ẹlẹ́rìí ìpín''" (witness of fate). It was also Orunmila who carried Ifá (the wisdom of Olodumare) to Earth.Chief FAMA Fundamentals of the Yoruba Religion (Orisa Worship) Priests of Ifá are known as

babalawo Babaaláwo or Babalawo in West Africa (Babalao in Caribbean and South American Spanish and Babalaô in Brazilian Portuguese) literally means 'father of the mysteries' in the Yoruba language. It is a spiritual title that denotes a high priest o ...

s and Priestesses of Ifá are known as iyanifas.Chief FAMA Practitioners' Handbook for the Ifa Professional Orunmila is considered a sage, recognizing that Olodumare placed

Ori Ori or ORI may refer to: People * Ori (Hebrew), a Hebrew given name, and a list of Israeli people with the name * Ori Kowarsky (born 1970), Canadian filmmaker and lawyer * Ōri Umesaka (1900–1965), Japanese photographer * Amos Ori (born 1956), ...

(intuitive knowledge) in him as a

prime A prime number (or a prime) is a natural number greater than 1 that is not a product of two smaller natural numbers. A natural number greater than 1 that is not prime is called a composite number. For example, 5 is prime because the only way ...

Orisha. It is Ori who can intercede and affect the reality of a person much more than any other Orisha.

Priesthood and initiation

Awo in every tradition study the 256 Odu; each Odu is traditionally considered to include stories and prayers that have been passed down from the time that Orunmila walked the Earth as a

prophet In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings from the s ...

. Some initiatory lineages have only male priests of Orunmila, while other lineages include female priestesses. The term "''Awo''", meaning "secret" is a gender-neutral title for an initiated priest of Orunmila. The debate surrounding gender is a result of diversity in the history of Ifá in various locations. In

and some areas of

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Mau ...

, only men may become full priests of Orunmila, while in other regions of West Africa the priesthood is open to women. Ifá practitioners believe in duality in life: males exist because of the female essence and females exist because of the male essence, so every major rite or ceremony includes both genders. Every Ifá stanza has one portion dedicated to the issue of teaching the Iwa that Ifá supports. This Iwa, which Ifá teaches transcends religious doctrine, is central to every human being, and imparts communal, social and civic responsibility that Olodumare supports. Of great importance to this is the theme of

righteousness Righteousness is the quality or state of being morally correct and justifiable. It can be considered synonymous with "rightness" or being "upright". It can be found in Indian religions and Abrahamic traditions, among other religions, as a theolog ...

and practicing good moral behavior.Ifaloju
Iwòrì Méjì: Ifá speaks on Righteousness
(an extract from S.S. Popoola, Ifa Dida, Library, INC) 2011

References

Resources

* Chief S. Solagbade Popoola & Fakunle Oyesanya, Ikunle Abiyamo: The ASE of Motherhood 2007. * Chief S. Solagbade Popoola Library, INC Ifa Dida Volume One (EjiOgbe - Orangun Meji) * Chief S. Solagbade Popoola Library, INC Ifa Dida Volume Two (OgbeYeku - OgbeFun) * Chief S. Solagbade Popoola Library, INC Ifa Dida Volume Three (OyekuOgbe - OyekuFun) * James J. Kulevich, "The Odu of Lucumi: Information on all 256 Odu Ifa" *Ayele Fa'seguntunde' Kumari, Iyanifa:Women of Wisdom {{Orisa-Ifá Yoruba gods Traditional African religions Afro-American religion Yoruba deities Divination Wisdom gods Oracular gods

Historical and literary sources

Priesthood and initiation

See also

References

Resources