For example the lucumi version of Ifa the odu Oyeku Ogunda is described as a fight against premature death. The words oyeku ogunda from a sentence describing the content of the ese found in the verse. Oyeku Ogunda from the elision oye iku ogun da meaning understanding the end of a cycle clears away obstacles for moving forward. The failure to understand Oyeku Ogunda meaning Oyeku Ogunda in ibi is resolved through the invocation of ogbe okanran. The sentence ogbe okanran from the elision o egbe okan ran means the spirit of the source of consciousness creates a new beginning from the heart.
The Stoping Of Time With Divination
In this post Ifa is defined as time. However, in the symbolic gestures and the words used to invoke divination in traditional Ifa divination there is a clear expression of the need to stop time so that the influences moving into the future can be examined. The symbolic gesture for this idea is the counter clockwise circling of the opele accompanied by the words Iba Baba Iba Yeye. These words are a symbolic references to light as wave and light as particle that come into being at the moment of Creation. The symbolic movement of the opele is intended to place the ori of the diviner in a place that exists outside of time. This place is called oyigioyigi and the entrance into this place is called Lailai. Oyigioyigi is the foundation of the awos connection to Ela elerin ipin mean the Spirit of light is the witness to Creation. The closest translation of Ela elerin ipin would be to call Ela what the Vedas call the Akashic Record. Ela is the holographic record of the complete unfolding of time and space. Divination invokes the stopping of time to examine a moment in time without the constant onslaught of alterations to the Akashic record or elerin ipin.
The lucumi story presented in this post does not fit the traditional format for an odu. Having said that it does make a good point in that you ability as a diviner improves as you increase your life experience. This is not an issue in egbe Ifa in traditional Yoruba culture because rarely is divination done by one awo. It is traditionally a collective process where the youngest awo interpret first and the collective works its way up to the oldest awo on the mat. As the divination unfolds awo who go into possession with the Spirit of Ela say Hekwa Baba indicating they are in possession so the diviners in the room will know who is interpreting odu based on personal experience and who is interpreting odu based on inspiration from the Immortals
Ire baba
