Opele and Ifa divination
The divining chain of the Yoruba Ifa tradition, which a babalawo casts to find one of 256 odu.
Also: opele chain, Ifa, odu, babalawo
In Ifa, the divination system of the Yoruba people of Nigeria and Benin, a trained priest called a babalawo asks the oracle by casting an opele, a chain of eight half-shells or seeds, or by marking an ifa board. Each throw gives a pattern which belongs to one of 256 odu, each tied to verses, stories and sacrifices that the priest recites and applies to the client. Ifa is overseen by Orunmila, the orisha of wisdom. Training takes years and much of its knowledge is initiatory and not shared with the uninitiated. UNESCO listed Ifa divination as a masterpiece of intangible heritage in 2005. Ifa is practised in Brazil, Cuba and the United States as well.