Amazing story of American Ifa devotees

IT was a revealing interaction that began on a dramatic note. The reporter had approached Brazilian Ifa priest, Gilmar Oliveira, calling him Mr. Oliveira. 

But the Brazilian immediately protested, telling the reporter in smattering Yoruba that he preferred being called by his Ifa name, Ifagbaiyin Agboola. “Oruko mi ni Ifagbaiyin Agboola, ore Araba Agboola (my name is Ifagbaiyin Agboola, friend of Araba Agboola),” he protested. He then launched into the traditional way of greeting among Ifa devotees, saying, ‘aboru boye o.’

The encounter with Ifagbaiyin and several other Ifa devotees from different parts of the world was an indication of a quiet African cultural renaissance which ironically is being championed by cultural enthusiasts from Europe and America. It spoke volumes about the extent to which the western world is embracing the African traditional religions, especially the Ifa divination which, ironically has lost meaning to the average Yoruba, the supposed custodians of the practice. And the quiet revolution is lost on many until they meet and make friends with foreign Ifa priests or devotees on the social media, particularly the Facebook.
And unlike their African counterparts who are usually shy to publicly identify with the traditional religion, the American and European Ifa devotees proudly post pictures of their initiations, ceremonies and sacrifices on their walls. 

Almost on a daily basis, they inundate their walls with pictures of their activities. Little wonder some of them are boasting that in a few years from now, they would be the ones teaching Africans about their culture.
Findings conducted by The Nation showed that beyond their love for Ifa, many of them have dumped their European and American names as well as their mode of dressing for those of Yoruba. It was also discovered that they have been thronging different parts of the South West to acquire more and more knowledge about the Ifa divination with the aim of returning to their countries to improve and expand the practice.

Ifagbaiyin was highly elated when the reporter sought to know how and when he became an Ifa devotee. He said: “I have been a traditional worshipper from my childhood, because that was what my family also practised. I believe and trust Ifa and it does me good in many ways. The main thing is that I feel strong and safe. I will get people in various countries and study Ifa for all it represents.

“I have been an Ifa priest for the past 24 years, but I have been worshipping orisa for 56 years. I speak with Ifa in Portuguese. If Ifa is to be consulted only in Yoruba, the practice would not have come to Brazil and other countries where people don’t speak Yoruba.”
While traditional religion increasingly looks an endangered species in the face of the growing influence of Christianity and Islam, Ifagbaiyin believes that the Ifa divination will never cease to exist in Nigeria.

He said: “I believe that the learning process is deficient. I respect my ancestors and my whole family of Ifa, but I think the Yoruba should already have a good University of Ifa to ensure that all this knowledge is taught independently of the family plural form. I sincerely think the Yoruba should look for a new teaching that transcends the family circle. Everyone should be free to practise his faith, but it is imperative that people should not disregard the ancient religions and wisdom.”

Not alone
Like Ifagbaiyin, Manuel Sanchez, a native of Venezuela who is currently studying Ifa divination in the country, prefers to be called Ifasola. Saying that he got the name from his personal odu Ifa (corpus), he was as excited as one who had won a jackpot as he narrated why he came to Nigeria to deepen his interest in Ifa divination.
As a proof of his mastery of the practice, Ifasola exhilaratingly sang the praises of Ifa in Yoruba language, saying: “Orunmila wi ihin. Ifa molo di minisinsin, bara mi agbonniregun. Eniti o ba fi omi rubo, oun lonisinmi…”
Recalling how he became an Ifa priest, Ifasola said: “I studied Metal Work and Photography in the university. I was born into a Christian family, but it got to a point in my life that I developed interest in searching for deeper spiritual knowledge. I searched everywhere but didn’t get anything that satisfied my interest.
“Somehow along the line, a friend told me that he practises Ifa and asked if I was interested. I sarcastically asked what Ifa was all about and he took time to explain to me. 

He linked me with Oluwo Solagade Popoola who I followed to different parts of the world learning Ifa. Today, my friend and I have seven temples in Venezuela. I decided to come and fully learn it the real African way under Oluwo after he told me that I would have to learn to consult in Yoruba.”
Even though he has spent 15 months during which he has had a good grasp of the practice, Ifasola said he has just begun his studies.

He said: “I have spent one year and three months so far learning it. But I have about five or six years more to spend here to have a full grasp of the practice and the language. I will stay that long because Ifa is very broad and I am here to give it all the time and attention that is required to learn it. As you can see, I have started speaking and consulting for people, using Yoruba language.

“When I complete my study, I will go back to teach Ifa all over America. Before I came to Nigeria, many people back there in Venezuela were coming for consultation. I want to go and establish and teach Ifa the real way it is done here.

“Back there in Venezuela, what you have in most places is mixed practice of Ifa. This is because some of the Ifa devotees who were captured as slaves and converted to Catholicism secretly practice Ifa and openly profess Christianity. I don’t want this type of practice for my people. I want to take the practice in the original form back to them. As I speak with you now, many people are already eagerly waiting for me to come back home and teach them. They can’t just wait for the long time I want to spend here.

“What I have come to discover about Ifa is that it helps you in every area of life and cuts across every religion of the world as long as you are doing the right thing. When you stop doing the right thing, Ifa turns its back on you.”
Language barrier
While he acknowledged that Ifa can be consulted in different languages, he noted that foreign Ifa priests who do not understand Yoruba language often face language barriers that affect their jobs negatively.

He said: “Why I even became very keen to study Yoruba language is because sometimes, Ifa could prescribe that somebody should feed Osun (river goodness) using akara (beans cake) to solve a particular problem. Back at home, my people don’t understand what akara is. What they do is to bake cake and offer it to Osun instead of akara. It is contradictory and it doesn’t work because that is not what Ifa said. Now, I, Ifasola, know akara. I know moinmoin, I know fufu, I know eko and all that.”

He hinted that many Nigerians who have seen him casting Ifa tell him that he is crazy, adding: “When some Nigerians see me casting Ifa, they marvel and wonder what a white man is doing with their culture. Some would tell me that I am crazy for leaving my country where all is well to come here to be doing Ifa. That line of thought is primitive because you people don’t appreciate what you have.

“It is here that I see that people eat three times in a day. It doesn’t happen like that in Venezuela where many people only manage to eat once. With this kind of thinking among Nigerians, it is very possible that we who are not Africans would in the future be coming to teach the blacks their culture. That is my mission.

“I initially learnt Ifa in Spanish. Oluwo translated it to English and some people later translated it to Spanish. When I decided to study Ifa, my family said I was crazy. But today, I have initiated my mother and my brother. They are Ifa devotees now. The government in my country recognises Ifa as a traditional mode of worship. They often declare public holiday every year whenever there is global celebration of the practice.”

Different strokes for different folks
While Ifasola gladly celebrates his new name, his colleague, Donald Williams, from Florida in the United States of America, is disturbed that he has not got an Ifa name. “I want an Ifa name. Ifasola has got his but I am yet to get mine. I am new, but I need an Ifa name,” the dreadlocked American lamented as he spoke with The Nation.
Reliving how he developed interest in Ifa, Donald said: “My parents had been practising Ifa before my sister decided to come to Nigeria to study it. My parents got to know about it through some people in the US. I used to see them doing it and would ask, ‘hey, what are you guys doing’? They always explained what it is to me and also made me to understand that it is necessary for them to do it.

“They have a separate room in our building where they do the practice. Strangers are not allowed to enter the room. My sister is also practising it as we speak. I came here to have a deeper study and understanding of it. I will stay here as long as it takes me to understand it.

“I have started learning how to read the odu and how to cast them. I will use the knowledge to help people solve different problems confronting them in the US.” He added: “Many people in the US didn’t want anything to do with this belief before, but their mindset is changing now. My knowledge of the practice is going to be a light for the blind ones.

“I have never been a Christian, but I have always believed that God exists and that it is proper for one to be good to his fellow man. I have chosen to learn Ifa because I have seen that it is not a bad thing as it is painted by those who are ignorant of what it is.

“I like the Nigerian food. I like the transport system because it is very accessible. I had no shock or fears mingling with the people here because I am seeing more of what should be my real culture. I feel at home here.”

Another Venezuela-based Ifa priest, Enver Arbelaez, has Awo Olayemi as his Ifa name. In a chat with our correspondent, Olayemi described Ifa as pure energy as he spoke about how he became a devotee. He said: “I became a devotee when I was 16 years old. Then, I was looking for a spiritual guide because Christianity did not offer me what I longed. So, I started researching into traditional beliefs and found Ifa. When I started learning about its philosophy, I fell in love with its way of seeing life.

“Today, I am the Oluwo of the Temple Oturupon Isokun. I have no fewer than 1, 200 members. We get our members through hard work and visitors to our ile ijuba (house of worship). How Ifa manifests in the life of every person is different. How each person feels is different, but the love that Ifa has for us humans is immense.
“I can’t describe how it feels, but what I can say is that every morning I wake up, I have the feeling that Ifa is doing a miracle for me.”

In a terse response to The Nation’s question, Michael Billings, a United States-based Ifa priest, said: “I can’t adequately answer why ‘whites’ are coming into isese (traditional religion). Latinos on the other hand have been exposed to Orisa by products; Santeria, Lucumi, and Xandomble. So the transition is easier. These are my observations.

Another couple, Oluwo Philip and Iyanifa Vassa, also shared their interests and attraction to Ifa on their online publication, Ifa Foundation International. The elated couple said: “When we began our journey almost 40 years ago, we were motivated—probably much like you are—from a combination of need, curiosity, and dissatisfaction with what Western spirituality seemed to offer. When we first encountered the Orisa/Orisha, there was virtually no Ifa in America, only Santeria/Lucumi. So, Santeria/Lucumi was the initial path that we took.

“It soon became clear that we had simply traded the fear and dependency created by Western religions for an Afro/Cuban world view that mirrored these traits. When we asked questions, we were told that we were either not ready, being insolent, or that it was a ‘secret’. When we objected to the racial, sexual and gender discriminations that surfaced, we were told that the Orisa would punish us. Despite this, we resonated to the power and beauty of the Orisa, leading us to begin a journey to find its roots and its relevance to our lives.”

That journey, according to them, resulted in re-discovering Ifa in the African tradition, and the founding of the Ifa Foundation of North America. “We created the first spiritual retreat with genuine Orisa Shrines and Gardens that we call Ola Olu or Gift from God. We created the world’s most complete website with more free information on Orisa worship than anywhere else in the world in order to combat the intellectual and emotional slavery that secrecy and lack of knowledge creates. We initiated the first female Iyanifa, the first openly gay babalawo, as well as introduced the first scholarships for initiation, etc. as we began to restore Ifa to the inclusive world view it was created to provide.

“Through it all, we have raised our children in the tradition, learned how to maintain our own 30-plus year loving relationship, and have helped others to obtain or create their own. We have accomplished all of this by uniting our male and female energy to work together, by learning (and subsequently teaching) the imperative of empowerment rather than dependence, of confidence rather than fear, of self-reliance rather than paternalism, and of logic rather than blind faith.

‘How we convert Americans to Ifa devotees’

Chief Awodiran Okanlawon Agboola, the Asoju Awo Agabaye of Ile Ife (representative of Ifa globally) is one of the Ifa priests whose Ifa names a good number of American devotees adopted. In a chat with The Nation, the frontline Ifa priest explained how he has been converting the Europeans and Americans from their faith to being Ifa devotees.

Beginning with a definition of Ifa, Chief Agboola said: “Ifa can be described as the esoteric language of Olodumare (God) and the religion of the Yoruba. It is a medium for communicating with God. It is an intermediary between God and human beings.
“In my family, we don’t know any religion apart from Ifa. Ifa has too many advantages to mankind. There is an adage that says when you are in darkness, consult Ifa. It is a way of solving problems for people. It identifies the problems of people and prescribes solutions which could come in the form of making sacrifice.

“I have been visiting so many countries of the world, especially countries where we have African-Americans like Brazil, UK, Venezuela, America and so on. I have also visited many African countries. They do believe that they are Africans who migrated to these countries because of slavery and want to trace their origin back to Africa. That is why they are imbibing African culture. The moment they see people from Africa, they would want to associate with us.”

He added: “I was precisely invited in 1997 in San Francisco to deliver a lecture when they wanted to celebrate Orisa festival. Since that time, the African- Americans there got interested in me. Since then, they have been inviting me to the United States of America to teach them. They are Americans but they want to practise the African traditional religion.

“Some of them are throwing away their names because they refer to it as names for slaves. They consult Ifa before changing their names.
“The population of the white and black people who are embracing Ifa is on the increase. Ifa is not for the Yoruba and Africans alone. Ifa is moving all over the world. When white people consult, Ifa will identify their problems. And once their problems are identified, they get enthusiastic to know more about our religion. We are evangelising and converting people to the Ifa religion.

“There was a time I was travelling to Caracas. I was dressed in my Ifa regalia. When I got to the airport, a white immigration officer saw me and said ‘aboru, aboye’. I was so shocked that he could say that, and I quickly responded, ‘aboye bosise’.

“We talked and he said that he wanted me to teach him more about Ifa because he got his knowledge only from books. That was how he became one of my disciples. He allowed me to go without subjecting me to rigorous search. With that, you can also see how we are also preaching the gospel of Ifa.”
Tracing the interest of the foreigners in Ifa divination, Otunba Lekan Ajirotutu, the Public Relations Officer of the Association of African Tradition Religion Nigeria and Overseas, noted: 

“Among the Africans that the Europeans took away as slaves, they respected the Yoruba because of their voodoo or Ifa which makes it possible for them to consult and predict the future. This is the major reason they are visiting Nigeria to learn about Ifa.
“Ifa is regarded as god of wisdom, and that is why they are coming for it. Apart from Ifa, many of the foreigners are now also beating the talking drum.
“Initially, they told us that practising our traditional religion would make us go to hell. But now they are the ones embracing it. I still find it shocking that the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission closes its eyes to unrestrained condemnation of traditional religion by Christian and Muslim clerics. This is against the ethics of broadcasting. The same thing happens in our film industry where traditional religions are painted black and barbaric.

“Remember that this thing started way back during the colonial days when the Europeans went into our villages and either carried away our deities or paid pittance to our people to take them away. Did they throw those deities away? The answer is no. They kept them and told us that they are demonic. If they were demonic, why did they keep them?”

Fears of foreigners’ invasion of traditional religion

While appreciating the spread of Ifa devotion abroad, Awodiran observed: “There are many foreigners who have the knowledge of Ifa more than many Yoruba people. If care is not taken, people are throwing their legacy away in the name of civilisation while the foreigners know the efficacy of the African religion. If care is not taken, a white man will be teaching a Yoruba man Ifa and Orisa philosophy.”
Ajirotutu also said: “Some of the foreigners have said that in 20 years time, they will be teaching us Yoruba in our universities. Is it not going to be shameful that a lecturer of Yoruba language and culture will be a European or American? That means it is the foreigners that would now be divining for the Yoruba, the Igbo, the Hausa and Africans at large, because they are already taking our values from us. That is the danger and it has grave implications for the future of our culture and traditions.”

Ifa as science

In spite of argument in some quarters that Ifa does not have any relationship with science, Awodiran asserted that Ifa has scientific powers. He said: “We are trying to enlighten the world about the scientific powers of Ifa. It is true that the West have been using their knowledge in science to improve technological advancement. Our constraint is that the government does not want to hear our voice. There is marginalisation here. People of other religions are being sponsored to go for pilgrimage but none for us.

“If we also have the funds, we would also show the world that Ifa can be scientific. Ifa knows yesterday, today and tomorrow. People like us have been using our personal funds to promote Ifa, but there is a lukewarm attitude on the part of the government because they don’t even want the religion to survive because of colonial mentality.
“You can see a lot of propaganda on radio and television where they paint us as ritualists, killers and so on. But we are doing our best to tell the world that Ifa is a righteous religion.”
Ifasola shares Awodiran’s line of thought, adding that Ifa was instrumental to the existence of the computer.

He said: “Yes, Ifa has a place in the existence of the computer. This is because when we use the Odu Ifa, we are actually using binary numbers. That is a very deep subject. Ifa talks about everything. Ifa is science, it is culture, history, esotericism, spirit, society. You can imagine what the world can do if we all practice Ifa.

“Iyanifa also said: “I don’t have any doubt that Ifa has scientific qualities. This is because Ifa verses can find answers to many of our problems.”
We have been providing enabling environment -FG
The Federal Government said it would do everything possible to encourage culture and tourism in the country. The Minister for Information, Culture and Tourism, Alhaji made this known in a chat with The Nation.

He said: “We can’t afford to neglect our tradition if we want to promote our culture. The Federal Government provides enabling environment for culture and tourism. Promotion and preservation of the two is our major objective. As a minister, I have spent more time on culture and tourism than information itself. We attend every festival as we have no bias against any.
“What we are doing will benefit everybody because we have signed MoU with various international organisations and NGOs that will assist the government to give capacity building to people in the creative industry. 

We would be able to train festival managers, cultural managers and carnival managers. I want to assure you that this government will give full support to the culture and creative industry as a whole.”

Culled from:  THE NATION