WHAT IFA IS AND WHAT IFA IS NOT

IFA IS NOT A RELIGION BUT IT CONTAINS RELIGION WITHIN ITSELF. IT IS NOT HISTORY; BUT IT CONTAINS HISTORY. IT IS NOT PHILOSOPHY; BUT IT CONTAINS PHILOSOPHY. IT IS NOT SCIENCE; BUT IT CONTAINS SCIENCE WITHIN ITSELF, AND IT IS A VERY A PROFOUND KIND OF SCIENCE, BY WHICH WONDERFUL THINGS ARE PERFORMED. IT IS NOT MUSIC; BUT SOME OF YOU WOULD HAVE NOTICED THE MUSIC IN THE STANZA OF IFA THAT I HAVE RECITED TO YOU. IFA IS NOT ANYONE THING, BUT IT CONTAINS EVERYTHING WITHIN IT, IN IT'S TOTALITY

Why it is Forbidden for Cobra to Eat or Swallow Giant Rat

Aise ile aye nigbe                                  - It is forbidden it exist on earth(name of awo)

Ti aba se emi niise?                               - If its done what will happen?(name of awo)

Difa fun Ewu                                         - Consultation was done for Giant Rat

N loree te Oka nifa                                - when he wanted to initiate cobra into Ifa

Ebo n woni o se(o rubo)                        - He was told to make ebo and he did

Oka bo o gbawo mi ibi lose                   - Cobra if you swallow awo you betray

Oka bo gbawo mi wa a ku                     - Cobra if you swallow awo you will surely die

The Importance of Making Ebo and Heeding the Voice of Ifa.

Aboru boye to all my brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers in African Traditional

Religion. I hope and pray this note finds you in peace and not in pieces. May all our

Orishas and Olodumare(God) continually bless us in all our endeavors.

I want us to look into this Odu Ifa and learn from it. The name of the Odu Ifa is

called Irosun-dii. I strongly believe that if we apply the knowledge of Ifa into our

daily life, we shall remain on the path of success. This verse speaks of two close

friends. The verse goes thus:

Irosun odi babalawo eku lodifafun eku   -  Irosun odi is the awo that consult for rat

Eku nii tii se omo onibu                          -  Rat was the owner of river

Irosun odi babalawo eja lodifa fun eja    -   Irosun-dii is the awo that consult for fish

Eja nii tii se omo onipapa                       -   Fish was the owner of the bush

Ebo ni woni kii won o se                         -  They were both warned and told to make ebo

Rat and fish were close friends. They were both going through some difficulties in

life, so they both went for Ifa consultation with the above babalawo. The Odu Ifa that

appears for both of them is Irosun-dii. The babalawo told them to make ebo

and be careful when it comes to sharing their property with other people. Remember that Fish was the owner of the

bush and Rat was the owner river.

They both refuse to make ebo and they did not heed the advice of Ifa. Fish used to

find it so hard to survive in the bush during the dry season. Rat, on the other hand,

was enjoying his home river come rain or come shine.

Fish went to his friend rat and explained all the difficulties he was going

through trying to survive in the bush. Fish ask his friend to please help him. He

said Rat should please let him stay in the river for a little while and when the dry

season is over he shall leave the river and go back to the bush where he belongs.

So Rat was like "what are friends for? I will stay in the bush and let my friend stay

in the river for a little while.". As we all know, Rat has the adaptation to

survive in the bush, so they both agree on this.

Fish got to the river and felt so comfortable. He was feeling so much like he is

home. So when the dry season was over Rat went to his friend fish and told him that

its time for him to leave the river and go back to the bush where he belongs.

Fish said back to Rat that he had found the place where he will live for the rest of his

life. Rat was very upset at what his friend said and remind him of the agreement

between them. Fish said there was nothing as such between them.

However, Fish was smart enough to go for a consultation about his stay in the river.

Eyokoro babalawo eja lodifa fun Eja       Eyokoro is the awo that consult for fish

Ebo was prescribed for Fish and special Ifa medicine to rub on the body. The awo assured

Fish that there will be no problem for him. Rat tried all his possible best to

get back to the river, which used to be his home, but all his efforts were to no avail.

So he had to switch to plan B. He went to Cat and hired him to kill Fish. By so doing

he planned to get back to his home. He payed cat. When cat got to the river where he was to

execute his work, he tried to get a hold of Fish but the special Ifa medicine rubbed

on his body keeps making him slip away. He tried all his best but he couldn't get a hold

of fish. So he went back to Rat and told him it was impossible for him hunt Fish down and

Rat was left with no choice but to accept his fate. Eversince then... the river became the home of Fish and the bush became home of Rat 'til today.

I want all of us to meditate and learn one or two things from this verse of

Odu Ifa....May we be blessed as we continually grow spiritually. May we be

blessed abundantly.  ASE OOO!!!

Irosun odi babalawo eku lodifafun eku   Irosun odi is the awo that consult for rat

Eku nii tii se omo onibu                           -  Rat was the owner of river

Irosun odi babalawo eja lodifa fun eja     -  Irosun-dii is the awo that consult for fish

Eja nii tii se omo onipapa                        -  Fish was the owner of the bush

Ebo ni woni kii won o se                          - They were both warned and told to make ebo

Eyokoro babalawo eja lodifa fun Eja        -  Eyokoro is the awo that consult for fish

Nje mose boro molo                               -  I slip away and escape

Ate kii mu eja lodo                                 - Trap does not catch fish in the river

mose boro mo lo                                    -  I slip away and escape

The Importance of Good Character

Aboru boye to all my brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers in ATR,. I am writing this note to

discuss the importance of good character. The verse of Ifa below comes from IROSUN-GEDA. This verse

tells the story of Ori (head) and his younger brother Iwa (character) when they were both coming from

heaven to earth. I pray that Ifa will bless us as we read:

Aja sian aje e deyin                           -  name of an Awo

Agbo sian ti roro                               -  name of an Awo

Agbo ti o ba sian ti roro                    -  name of an Awo

Kaya magbo rele                               -  name of an Awo

Kalo mu agbo bo baba                      -  name of an Awo

Difa fun Iwa                                      -  Ifa reading was done for Iwa (character)

Tiise Abu leyin ori                             -  who is the younger brother of Ori

Igba ti won ti ode orun bowaye         -  they were both coming from heaven

Ebo n woni ki won o se e                  -  Awos told them to make ebo

Tiwa nikan losoro                             -  It is only character that needed to be taken care of

Tiwa nikan losoro                             -  It is only character that needed to be taken care of

Ori o kuku buru to e dele Ife             -  Ori is not unfortunate since the creation of the world

Tiwa nikan losoro                             -  It is only character that needed to be taken care of

Just like every other people, Ori went to the above Awos for a consultation before coming to earth.

The Odu Ifa that appeared for Ori was IROSUN-GEDA. The Awos told Ori that Ifa revealed that Ori

will have plenty of blessing. He needs to make ebo so the blessings will come and also make ebo with his younger

brother Iwa(Character) so that his younger brother will not be the one blocking his blessings. Ori

told the Awos to make ebo for him and he will make ebo for his brother later.

The Awos did as Ori said and he started the journey to earth with his younger brother named Iwa

(character). When they got to earth the ebo, that Ori made, started its manifestation by bringing good

fortunes to Ori,but because Ori did not make ebo with his younger brother some of the blessings

will not come to Ori because character will block them. When a particular blessing had decided to

come to Ori, Iwa(character) will cause problems which will make the blessing go away.   

My brethren I want to implore us to be mindful of our character, because it might be the master key

to all the doors of blessing we have been knocking and aspiring for in our life. We need to keep

good character cause it will attract blessing. If there is a man that have bad character that man

is automatically chasing away his blessing in life.

There is a yourba adage that says: Iwa rere leso eniyan - Good character is the life guard of a man.

May Ifa help all of us. Ase o! Remain blessed. Love always.

Awo Bibilari Abayomi Awolade Elebuibon