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Picture of  Ifa practitioners  undergoing Ifa initiation Credit: Google Ifa initiation known as itẹnifa or itẹlodu in Yoruba dialect is not foreign to your ears and if it is, then you have to learn the basics of IFA initiation before this particular post make sense to you. Almost every practitioner, if not all have had Ifa initiation, even those who are not practitioners find themselves initiated for a convinced reason known to them. However, some IFA initiates raise their respective voice, lamenting​ why their initiation is futile, no improvement, no progress or whatsoever of any sorts.  Despite the assurance of being wealthy (or any desire) after initiation, everything seems to remain stagnant, some even went from bad to worse. Some even have abandoned Ifa because of this unfortunate reasons. While experiencing​ this, numerous questions pop up in mind; among are: why is this itẹlodu not effective? why is IFA initiation overrated? Why are my problems not solved yet despite what IFA

Are you an Ògúndá Méjì child (initiate)?  Are you searching for additional information on your odu? If these questions speak to you, then this information am about to share might answer your questions, courtesy of my late grandfather, Adébóyè Oyèsànyà (Late Àràbà of Odì-Olówó Mushin, Lagos Nigeria).  Ibaye!

A babalawo performing Ebo riru Credit: F.O.B Ẹ bọ is of the essence of the Ifá religion or let me say Yoruba religion as it is of every religion of the world has ever known. Unless we want to run away from the fact, every religion offers Ẹbọ to the Supreme Being one way or the other.   For example, the Muslims go on 30-days fasting, and after, they offer a ram as a sacrifice (ẹbọ).  The Christians also offer Chicken whenever it is Christmas. These are all forms of Ẹbọ whether we like it or not.

Ifa we all know is a very complex practice that requires a well-trained and endowed practitioner PKA Babalawo to understand and translate just for the main purpose of revealing and proffering solutions to mankind's problems.

There is always at least a reason behind every ebo. Reason which most of the time boils down to the fact that the person who offers the ebo wants to eliminate, perhaps find lasting solution to.  People offer ebo for longevity, for wealth, well-being, for spouse, as regard their place of work only to mention a few among several reasons.

All divinities accept kolanut but that of Sango is exception as he prefers Orogbo (bitter kola). I have been messaged any some practitioners in the diaspora having some difficulties in reading the formation and meaning of the kola nuts when it is been propitiated to any Orisa or Ifa.

"It is as naural to die as to born; and to a little perhaps the one is as painful as another - Francis Bacon'             As it is impossible to prevent or stop the manifestation of life in the flesh, so is it impossible to maintain the spirit in the flesh indefinitely. There is a law that governs all' things and the law makes it impossible to stop the spirit from passing out of the flesh whether the human being desires it or not. 

There has been a general confusion of Orunmila with Ifa; it is being thought or said that the two names are synonyms. In reality, it is not. Most people do not know what Ifa is and who Orunmila is. Orunmila is the name of the Oracle divinity while, technically Ifa is the geomantic system or science, the methodology by means of which the relevant odu is obtained through the inspiration from Orunmila. 

Expectations of the Committee from all Ifa/Orisa devotees and practitioners worldwide; what the committee approves; and what it encourages. The Yoruba Tradition Elders Committee resolved at its meeting held on the 9th of July, 2017 at Osogbo, Osun State Nigeria to fashion out aspirational principles and enforceable ethical standards that provide a moral map and ethical framework for Ifa/Orisa devotees and practitioners. 

The method of testing and determination of Egbe taboos is slightly different from the conventional methods adopted for most other Orisa and Ifa. Apart from the food items which may be associated with specific people, there are other events and or observation which the new initiate has to watch out for and which may even be more dangerous than the taboos related to food or other consumables. Energy levels, sound or distortion in certain atmospheric factors may also be among taboos for the new initiate. For instance, the high-pitch noise produced by rubbing metals against metal or beating of gongs can be very dangerous to some Egbe devotees.