Babalawo

A Babalawo is a priest of Ifa, also referred to as Orunmila, who is probably the most popular deity of the Yoruba pantheon and certainly one to whom great attention is paid by all. Indeed, Ifa is the deity of divination, a most important and favored epistemological mode in Africa in general. African people turn to divination on a daily basis and, therefore, to Ifa in Yorubaland for guidance and advice on all kinds of issues, trivial or critical. It takes, however, a person specially and carefully trained to decipher Ifa's messages to the humans, and this is precisely the function fulfilled by a Babalawo.

Those called into Ifa's priesthood must undergo a long and expensive initiation process, which may last anywhere between 3 and 15 years. During that time, the initiate must acquire an extensive body of sacred and secret knowledge and memorize no less than 4,096 couplets associated with Ifa. When the initiate has shown readiness, she or he must then prepare for two important rituals: a ceremony of purification by water, and a final testing by fire, known as Pinodu. The latter demands that extremely hot oil be poured on the initiate's hands and rubbed on his or her body without leaving any sign of burns. It is at this point that the initiate is declared to be finally ready to undertake their most noble function—that is, to provide assistance and protection to others in their community.

Traditionally, there have been three levels of initiation into Ifa: the olori level, where a person may worship Ifa, but not divine with it; the orisa level, where a Babalawo may worship and divine with Ifa; and, finally, the Amon ti a te ni Ifa, the highest level, where a Babalawo may not only worship and divine with Ifa, but also may partake in the eating of food offered to Igba Odu—that is, the sacred calabash of Odu. Such a level is achieved by Chief Babalawos only.

Babalawos who have undergone proper training and whose initiation has successfully ended must remove every hair from their body as well as shave their head. They are also expected to wear white and light blue clothing. Babalawos are highly respected because they are believed to have privileged access to the wisdom of the Ancestors and the gods and to be able, therefore, to share it with the rest of the living for their benefit.

To fulfill their obligations, that is, divining to answer the questions of their fellow men and women, and possibly alleviate their anxiety, Babalawos typically use a divination board, known as opon Ifa, whitened with “divination powder,” iyerosun. The divination board is usually round, but may also be rectangular. It may be decorated or not. In addition to the divination board, the Babalawo uses 16 palm nuts, ikin. The Babalawo would most often hold all the palm nuts in his left hand and then attempt to grab as many as possible with his right hand with one grasp. He would repeat this “exercise” eight times. From this, and depending on the number of nuts left in his left hand each time, the Babalawo would draw signs on the divination board and a pattern, or more precisely an odu, would emerge.

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