09/04/2023
⭐️ From Babalawo Ifatayo Tifashe
⭐️ Ifa Theology the ways of the Ancenstors
⭐️ THE IMPORTANCE OF IFA TO HUMAN LIFE
⭐️ IFA is an ancient sacred science that has been passed down generationally for thousands of years. IFA is also known as FA or AFA in different parts of West Afrika, as it is practiced by various ethnic groups in the area. IFA is a science of divination – a means of communication and interaction with the unseen, spiritual world. Through the practice of IFA we can see what cannot be seen – in the past, present, and future – and thus diagnose problems that are beyond our scope. Therefore when we place our trust in the word of IFA, we are always ensured hope, no matter how dire the situation may seem to us.
Much like when one goes to see a modern medical doctor, going to the Babalawo or Iyanifa (IFA priest or priestess) starts off with something much like diagnosis. Instead of the doctor physically checking you out with instruments such as stethoscope, thermometer, etc. the Babalawo will consult the IFA oracle on your behalf to ask IFA what the energies in your situation are. Even if you do not reveal any symptoms or details to the Babalawo, they will consult IFA and IFA will reveal all. The Babalawo must interpret the divination and they will most usually do so with the use of Ese IFA, verses of divine poetry that has been passed down for thousands of years. The Babalawo will unravel details of your own situation from the poems and then they will help you make sense of it all and how it applies to your own personal current situation. Often the patient or client will have an internal reaction to the messages of IFA and they themselves will come out and tell the Babalawo further interpretations and insights into their own situation or problem. The Babalawo and the patient will discuss the interpretation and there is much healing psychologically. Certain things that were before overlooked or subconsciously “swept under the mental rug” are now brought to light, by IFA and by the person's own Ori (divine head/consciousness), and the whole issue is given a new shade of light. These new perspectives, and this outside divine word of IFA, help the patient to reexamine their situation and to look at it from an externalized view. Much like modern counseling or therapy, this helps the patient to deal with their situation and their problems.
⭐️ On this IFA says:
Ogbe touches the matter for it not to break
Ogbe touches the matter for it not to bend
A beautiful bride is desirable when passing by
When she moves into the home
She becomes trouble
Cast IFA for Orunmila
When he was in debt in six different places
And IFA requested a goat from him
He then made his cry a cry of shouting
And made his song a dirge of lamentation
Now those who write one off do not know tomorrow
If one is not yet dead
One's chances for achievement have not yet ceased
Those who write one off do not know tomorrow
Travelers to Ipo and Ofa
Join us in the midst of abundant Ire
⭐️ Next, again much like a modern doctor, the Babalawo will interpret the Odu IFA to prescribe medicines and sacrifices necessary to ensure blessings and to keep away all negative forces. If the patient is sick with a disease, IFA will have revealed the sickness even if the patient exhibited no symptoms, and then IFA will at the same time offer solutions to overcome the illness. The prescribed remedy may be in the form of medicine to be ingested, topical medicine, medicine to be used in the form of a soap or other substance, and many times the prescribed remedy will include sacrificial offerings on behalf of the patient to the ORISHA, the Primordial Forces. By giving prescribed offerings and placating the ORISHA, the Divine Spiritual Energies, we are able to overcome all obstacles in life. The issue is knowing what to offer and to which (out of hundreds and hundreds) ORISHA to give the offering to. IFA oracle will reveal this information and more, and thus help the patient to overcome their issues in life.
