FROM THE SUITCASE--Oliha Yiwama

Oliha has managed to send another missive out from Nigeria, and I'm going to sprinkle it with some background info in brackets--he has big plans for implementing some of his RL interests into SL....

I have been in the great city of Benin for over a month now, researching African spirituality. What a wonderful place!

Ifa, better known to Americans through the Yoruba, has been widely practiced in Great Benin, according to oral traditions. [Ifa is a divination system that relies on the Yoruba orisha Orunmila to reveal the order apparent in the other world, even when our lives look chaotic here. A Yoruba Ifa diviner, or babalawo, apprentices as a youth and memorizes verses and explanatory stories. When a client comes to him, he either uses a short cut--an opele, or divination chain--or the full equipment of carved wooden tray, tapper, and sacred palm nuts to elicit a numerical

combination. This links to certain verses, and the babalawo tells the client the source of his problems and prescribes a sacrifice to bring harmony to his world. The Yoruba also have another divination system that uses the throws of cowrie shells to pull the veil from the other world; this system survived in Brazil and Cuba, and has come to the US with the orisha religion.]

Benin Ifa is somewhat different from Yoruba Ifa. Some Benin Ifa priests believe that Orunmila, divination deity, originally came to Benin before going to the Yoruba center of Ile-Ife, while others accredit Ifa to the Yoruba. The associated verses used in Benin territory are definitely Edo, with many Edo symbols. There are also many oral stories of Ifa priests contributing to the tradional Edo pharmacopeia.

Ifa exists in Benin along with Olokun, an original Edo deity of the great waters, Ogun, the deity of iron, Esu, the Yoruba trickster deity, Osun, the Edo equivalent of Osanyin, god of medicine, though he is more hot and fiery.

The Ifa organizations in Benin City are very structured and organized according to seniority--one's date of initiation into the Ifa system. Priests and citizens alike are very respectful of the ancestors and elders, and it is a privilege to work with them.

It is the elders who guide correctly!

--Oliha Yiwama