CENTRAL CONCEPTS IN THE AFRICANA IFA SYSTEM OF KNOWLEDGE
ODU IFA AND AWO
Toyin Adepoju
Odu Ifa refers to the structural organisation of the Ifa system beceause it is organised in terms of 256 categories called Odu.In that sense,therefore,the body of knowledge embodied by Ifa is understood as Odu Ifa. Odu Ifa can be described as embodying an esoteric and an exoteric dimension.The exoteric dimension is the publicity known aspects of Ifa,accessible to non-initiates.The esoteric aspect is the part not accessible by the public and is known only to initiates.The esoteric dimension is what is known as 'awo'.
The esoteric dimension of that knowledge is known as "awo", term "awo" related to from the appellation of of the Ifa priest-babalawo-master of esoteric knowledge-a superior translation to the usual translation "father of secrets"-beceause the term "baba" in Yoruba may refer not only to fatherhood but to mastery and accomplishment.The term "awo" also appears in other contexts which indicate magical,hidden power such as the expression " Awo okatakpiri awo!" used as an invocatory exclamation in a particular Yoruba folk-tale, my first encounter with this term which my friend Sonya Olatayo translated along lines correlative with the more expansive interpretation by Fatumnbi. "Awo" therefore,is better understood not simply as "secret" but as "esoteric knowledge in the sense of a kind of knowedge arrived at only through special procedures of the kind that enable the depth of vision of "oju inu" and the access to the spiritual insight of "ori inu",an access which babalawo Joseph Ohomina describes Ifa divination as being centred on in the first place.The knowledge is esoteric not just beceause it is not known to most,but beceause it is reached through an expansion of consciousness not available to most people.
The exoteric aspect of Ifa is represented by the literal and even the metaphorical meaning of the ese ifa,the Ifa literature that constitutes the content of the Odu Ifa as well as its organizational structure in terms of the permutations of the odu ifa.Even some Ifa herbalogy,in its therapeutic, spiritual and magical dimension,can be seen as exoteric because it has been made available in Pierre Verger's Ewe:The Uses of Plants in Yoruba Society.
The psychological aspects of the method and process of training,the relationships with spiritual entities which the babalawo cultivates in the process of training ,the specifics of the interpretive process conducted by the babalawo in the process of reading the divination instruments,the process through which the babalawo is supposed to abe able to gain insight into hidden worlds of being,communicate with the Ori inu of the client and with the sentient personalities of the odu (I will address this concept in another post),and help address people's challenges using this hidden knowledge, are esoteric.This esoteric dimension refers to the psychological and psychic dimensions of practice.Another aspects that is esoteric beceause it might not be taught to the public is the use of particular incantations and other magical practices.
I would describe the esoteric dimension in Ifa as describable in terms of two levels.The basic level refers to those aspects that can be learnt in terms of conventional human capacity for understanding but are not taught to non-initiates.This might include incantations.
The second refers to those which can be learnt only through the cultivation of cognitive faculties and interpretive abilities developed through training and which could be different from the kind of knowledge gained through the conventional training of the intellect and imagination.
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