The International Ifá Forum

Ìwúre Egúngún (Ancestors prayer)

The one who descend with rain
Please protect us
Egungun is the essence of Olodumare
This essence is what we are made up of
And through us, Egungun descend upon Ayé
Please come to our defense
For we do not want our enemies to undo us

Àṣẹ Olódùmaré

Esu themed ⬛🟥 beads made by @Atipo ⭐ Well done. Looking forward to seeing your next creations. 👏

So you are interested in Isese or another Ifa traditions but you do not have any family or friends who practice the tradition. You try to scrounge up information you can collect from the internet but you find out that sources are far and few inbetween.

Do not worry. Many of us have been there before.

As African spiritual traditions become popular there are many who thirst for knowledge and are in a hurry to find any elder to initiate them. While this is understandable, I would like to say one go about this journey one step at a time. As finding the wrong priest can have serious repercussions. Because at the end of the day we are all human, and so like other religions/organizations there are frauds and scammers. These fraudulent priests will be in a hurry to initiate you and in a hurry to go by any means to extract money from you. They will come to you seeing you as an easy victim. Some will even tell you that your ancestors told you to pay them. This is emotional and spiritual manipulation. It is unfortunate that this is a reality and can give African Religious Traditions (ATRs) a bad name. But frauds and scammers have been around since the dawn of humanity. In fact there are verses in Odu Ifa that warns us of these wicked people. I will take a short excerpt from Odi Meji:

Òdí Méjì
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Alahanrangunkan awo ori ota
A difa fun Olokun lojo to omi okun o to bu boju, ti ko to bu sin se
Alahanrangunkan awo ori ota

From Odu Ifa, there is the story of Alahanrangunkan, who journeyed throughout Yorubaland pretending to be a clueless client in search of consultation with a legitimate priest. Alahanrangunkan came across many fraudulent "Ifa" priests who knew nothing of Ifa and charged a high fee. When Alahanrangunkan exposed a fraudulent priest:

Alahanrangunkan sọ ẹ̀yin ni ẹ̀ ń bá ayé olùfẹ́ jẹ́. Ó nàá nírònà. A dà wọ́n lorí jù sápò.

Alahanrangunkan beat him mercilessly and then beheaded him and threw it in a sack.

This verse tells us that the wicked will reap what they sow.

Though Ifa is not dogmatic, Ifa teaches us ethics when divined for us and Ifa does not condone fraud.

That being said, the seeker must know what he/she seeks. If you are in search of acquiring titles, then you will easily find "priests" who will happily give you those things for a price.

But if you are in search of a real babalawo/iyanifa to teach, enlighten and guide you through this life changing process of spiritual fulfillment, you may have to take the long bumpy journey. Many of us not born into these traditions have taken that road. One who has just started their journey into Isese should be at peace with this reality because Ifa also teaches us:

Sùúrù ni baba ìwà.

Patience is the father of good character.

And we should not only be looking for Godparents who exhibit that trait, but we should be exhibiting patience within ourselves.

May we surround ourselves with those who practice good character. Ase Edumare 🙏🏾

Adding to the importance of remembering your Egbe Orun. It is said that issues in ones life as a child, traumatic experiences that may have occurred frequently, could have been linked to Egbe Orun. There are quite a few ìtàn from Odu Ifa where Ifa told them that they have made a promise to give offerings to their mates in heaven before being born into the earth. And Ifa divined for that person that the reason why that person was not receiving blessings in life is because they forgot their promise. Therefore, it is very important to appease one's Egbe Orun if that is what Ifa says.

Abẹ̀bẹ̀ Ẹgbé is ceremonial fan and is one of the spiritual tools used by worshippers.

Àṣẹ Olódùmaré 🙏🏿

Ogbèkànràn (Eji-Ogbe Okanran)

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Ogbèkan Ọlọ̀kànràn kan
Adífá fún Orí
Orí wá ire lo ìlú Ìjẹ̀sà
Orí mi gbèmí, báun wá rere
Àkàrà ní ń wá rere fún epo

One ogbe, one Olokanran
Cast divination for Ori
Ori was seeking blessing in Ijesa town
Ori please support me, gather blessings for me
It is beans ball that seeks blessing for palm oil



(Ori bibo)

(An example of Ogun shrine)


Please Chant:

Ogun mama je n ri soso
Ogun mama je n ri soso
Eni wa soso
a ri soso
Ogun mama je n ri soso

Ogun does not let me see evil (2x)
Don't let evil evil happen to me
Don't let me experience evil
Ogun does not let me see evil
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Ìbà fún Ògún o 🙏🏿
Give homage to Ogun

Ogbèkànràn (Eji-Ogbe Okanran)

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Ení tere èjì tere
Òde olóde pìn mí
Adífá fún Lele
Who would be given Ogun's farm to cultivate.

Lele wanted to pick a farm outside of his city boundaries. He consulted Ifa to find out if he could get good land to cultivate. He was told to sacrifice three cocks and six hundred and fifty cowries. He made the sacrifice.
After the sacrifice, he was told to take whatever farmland he was given, but to make available palm wine, amala and dog stew when he started to cultivate it. Before he got to the farm, they had heard that he was a good worker. They did not really like him, so they pointed out Ogun's land to him, hoping that as soon as Ogun returns from war, he would kill Lele.
Lele remembered what he was told and the third day on the farm, he prepared everything and took them to the farm. Ogun returned from war that same day and he was hungry. On getting there, he met the aroma of dog stew. He went there and ate the meal with his followers. They also drank the palm wine. Lele met them there and asked them why they were eating his food.
Ogun apologised and asked him who was cultivating the farm.  Lele said he was the one. Ogun told Lele that he was given the farm so that he (Ogun) could kill him, for the land belonged to him. Still, Ogun told him to continue cultivating the land for he could not kill him at all.
Lele thus became a big landlord and thanked Ogun. Lele's enemies became sad when after some days they did not see Ogun fighting him, for the land was fertile. At the end of the year, Lele had the biggest harvest.
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We should not allow bad people to influence our decisions. According to Araba of Ibadan, Chief Ifalere Odegbemi Adegbola, if this Odu is divined for a person, he should offer the prescribed ẹbọ because he will be offered a doubtful but good thing. So giving the offering will make sure the good thing will be his and to also put his enemies to shame.

Quote from: Omowale on Mar 14, 2023, 01:47 PM@Atipo Very interesting! Are these rivers in Ijù connected? Are there festivals held for each orisa in Ijù town? Ẹ ṣé gaan

No these rivers aren't connected and usually just worshipped by the people of the neighborhood the river is in.
And each neighborhood has their own festival for each imọlẹ

More photos of Elehinle devotees.