This article provides a high-level summary of the topics reviewed respectfully. It will give the reader a good sense of the concepts and processes involved within each section. We will go over what a Babalawo is and their responsibilities. We will also review how to become a Babalawo, what to look out for when choosing an Ifa teacher and a summary of the Ifa learning process. The topics mentioned here go into more depth between the elder Awo (Ifa teacher) and omo Awo (Ifa student) when going through the process of initiating into Ifa.
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What is a Babalawo?
A Babalawo is an experienced and highly skilled Ifa priest in the Yoruba religion and the system of divination known as Ifa. The literal translation and meaning of Babalawo is “father of secrets” or “father of wisdom”. An Iyanifa is the female counterpart of a Babalawo. The literal translation of Iyanifa is “mother of secrets” or “mother of wisdom”. We go into more details about Iyanifa and Yoruba Ifa priestess here.
Babalawo and Iyanifa posses the knowledge and wisdom of Ifa
Awo Ifa may be used as a gender-neutral term for both Babalawo Ifa priest and Iyanifa Ifa priestess. In this article we use these terms interchangeably.
You’ll also find that omo Awo is defined as an Ifa priest or priestess in training, preparing to become a Babalawo or Iyanifa.
At a deeper level of understanding, Awo refers to the secrets and mysteries of natural creation and evolution. Those who practice ifa divination are known as Awo.
A Babalawo or Iyanifa identifies him or herself with an Ifa state of mind and consciousness. It is a state of being positive, having a clear mind and maintaining good energy. Being certain of their path and secure of their destiny allows them to be confident and humble with their actions.
There is no room for negativity, impurities or anything else that darkens the thought process.
Babalawo Responsibilities
A Babalawo that chooses to practice Ifa is typically tasked with the responsibility of primarily helping other individuals and whole communities. They are experienced in determining solutions to problems through Ifa divination. They can help individuals or whole communities understand their purpose. They help provide clarity and understanding of how to live life in the most positive way.
An experienced Babalawo is able to provide the help necessary due to a combination of his intelligence, self-character, life experiences, and a thorough understanding of the Yoruba religious concepts and the literary corpus of odu Ifa.
A Babalawo or Iyanifa is a person that is always ready and willing to help guide people and communities. They understand their responsibility to the community and want to help solve problems.
A genuine Babalawo or Iyanifa is always ready and willing to help
Each Awo can help in different ways depending on their specializations. An Awo has the option of specializing in different practices. For example, one Awo may lean towards practicing Ifa in more of a counseling role while other Awo’s may specialize in a medical healing role.
The responsibility and services of a Babalawo include (but are not limited to):
- Spiritual guidance through Ifa readings or Ifa divination. A Babalawo communicates with Ifa during this process.
- Prescribes and performs ebo sacrifices; these are used to correct issues that are being experienced in a person’s life or the life of a community.
- Prescribes herbal medicines to improve health, heal and prevent illnesses.
- Ise’fa – hand of Ifa ceremony; this provides protection and improves life circumstances. It is one step closer to Ifa.
- Itefa – initiation ceremony into Ifa priesthood.
- Custodian of information related to Yoruba culture, tradition and rituals.
The title of Babalawo is earned after many years of Ifa study and practice. Those recently initiated into Ifa that plan to practice the Yoruba religion, spend most of their time studying and learning the secrets of odu Ifa. There are 256 odu Ifa in the literary corpus of Ifa. These are the verses that contain the knowledge and wisdom of Ifa and that help to bring light into and guide people in their lives.
Learn more about the literary corpus of odu Ifa here
Babalawo Powers
As previously mentioned, a well trained Babalawo priest would have undergone many years of study and training to obtain the knowledge and wisdom necessary that aids in helping others. The number of years and practice vary between each individual person. It primarily depends on the dedication and effort the person puts into the process of learning Ifa.
A good Ifa priest understands and accepts the heavy responsibility of helping others in good faith. It is very important that the person going through the process of becoming a Babalawo or Iyanifa, has looked inside themselves to assess and address any shortcomings they may have.
Along with the privilege of becoming a Babalawo comes responsibly and accountability
A person contemplating the initiation into Ifa needs to first determine if their character is ready for such a responsibility that comes with the Babalawo powers. Understand yourself, ask yourself the reason why you want to become an Ifa priest and analyze your own answers. Are they sincere and do they come from an honest and humble place?
The abilities gained by a person pursuing the practice of Ifa as a Yoruba Ifa priest or an Ifa priestess can be very beneficial. The knowledge gained through the process is a blessing and should be treated as so.
Learning to intelligently and respectfully use the Ifa divination system provides a channel of communication between Ifa, Orula (the orisha of wisdom) and the Babalawo. This opportunity is what ultimately guides us all towards our chosen destinies and provides clarity of our purpose on Earth.
How to become a Babalawo
There is a preliminary process involved in determining if becoming a Babalawo is in a person’s destiny. Not everyone is destined to become one.
This process involves consulting a Babalawo which will use the Ifa divination system to foresee part of the persons destiny. Through the process of divination, the Babalawo will use various Ifa divination tools and interpret the odu signs that are marked by Ifa. Specific questions may be asked during an Ifa reading that will also help to guide the communication with Ifa.
The journey to Ifa requires a solid positive foundation of self-character
Your current state of mind plays a big part in determining your readiness of going through the process of becoming a Babalawo. Having a good positive foundation of your self-character is important for yourself and for others that you will be helping along the way.
If you aren’t in good moral standing with yourself, you will want to start making the cognitive behavioral changes to include honesty, humbleness, integrity, loyalty, patience and understanding. These are just a few of the basic moral attributes a Babalawo should possess. Developing and maintaining good morals such as these mentioned will start you off in the right direction towards becoming an honest practicing Ifa priest.
Positive changes at a Conscious and sub-Conscious level create good character – Iwa Pele
You may be required to start the study of Ifa prior to becoming a Babalawo. This depends on which region of the world you are living in or in which region of the world you choose to go through Ifa initiation.
It also depends on who you have chosen as your Ifa teacher or elder awo. Learning Ifa will become a part of your life If you want to benefit from the great opportunities Ifa has to offer. Ifa is a lifelong progression of positivity. The following section will provide tips on how to choose your Ifa teacher.
Choosing your Ifa teacher – How to find a good elder and mentor
Choosing your Ifa teacher is also an important and integral part of starting your journey in the right direction towards Ifa. It will be very beneficial for the student when a highly experienced and knowledgeable Babalawo is training them.
Having common sense is a trait you’ll want to exercise when choosing a qualified Babalawo as an Ifa teacher.
Becoming familiar with the type of person you will be working with may provide a glimpse into the type of results you will see in your apprenticeship. The duration of the apprenticeship depends on how efficient the apprentice can learn Ifa concepts and put them to practice.
A few things to be aware of and questions you can ask yourself when choosing your Ifa teacher:
- Get to the know the Ifa priest you will be working with, asses the type of person they are
- Do they have good morals? Are they honest, humble, genuine, patient, understanding and loyal?
- Look at their surroundings; how do they live and treat their home
- How do they treat others?
- Are they responsible and reliable?
- What type of people do they affiliate themselves with?
One other characteristic to validate about a potential Ifa priest you plan to work with is their willingness to teach an Ifa student. They may possess this characteristic if they meet most if not all the bullet points previously mentioned. However, it is something that should also be verified. After all, how good can a teacher be that doesn’t like or want to teach.
A good Ifa teacher is always willing to teach those that are willing to learn Ifa
One way to verify the willingness to teach is to get to know other students taught by the same Ifa priest. Ask them about their experiences and how long they’ve been training. How much knowledge have they gained as an apprentice learning from the potential Babalawo you plan to work with.
Using your common sense and the information provided here can help you understand from what perspective you can go about when choosing an Ifa teacher. This will be a choice you make that will affect your path towards your destiny.
Be mindful that assessments are done both ways between Ifa teacher and student. Be respectful if you plan to ask these types of questions in a direct manner; you wouldn’t want to insult anyone. That said an experienced Babalawo with traits like those mentioned previously should not get offended.
In the meantime, you can always start or continue working on your Iwa Pele or building good character without being initiated – always work towards building good character.
Learning Ifa
In Ifa practice the literary corpus of odu Ifa is referenced by all Ifa priests. This is similar to how the Bible in the catholic religion is referenced. Although, there isn’t one main source or one main book from which the information is available for study. You will find books and websites like this one that provide helpful information about Ifa. Information that can give you a good understanding of what Ifa is all about. Read more about Ifa concepts in the What is Ifa section of this website.
Learning and obtaining the wisdom of Ifa is a lifelong endeavor
For the most part, Ifa traditions related to the wisdom and positive advice of each odu Ifa involves passing down the information verbally from generation to generation and from Babalawo to Babalawo.
An individual recently initiated into Ifa is known as omo awo. One of the tasks of an omo Awo is to recite and memorize the versus of each of the 256 odu Ifa. They must also be able to interpret their meanings and apply them appropriately during Ifa practice.
A person recently initiated into Ifa is referred to as omo Awo
Babalawo Training
The literary corpus odu Ifa consists of 16 major odu Ifa and 240 minor odu Ifa.
The sum of the 16 principle odu ifa and 240 minor odu ifa results in a total of 256 odu Ifa containing the wisdom and guidance of Ifa that help guide humanity towards their destiny.
There are many ese Ifa or Ifa stories within each odu. The student will start by learning and memorizing the first 16 principle odu or 16 meyis.
Once the student has memorized the 16 major odu and has a good understanding of the ese Ifa (verses) within each odu, they can move on to the remaining 240 minor odu which is a combination of these first 16 odu. A proper apprenticeship will typically include a form of examination to determine the student’s readiness to move onto learning the remaining 240 minor odu.
Depending on the dedication of the Babalawo or Iyanifa, it can take many years of study and practice to become proficient in Ifa. On average it can take at least 10 years of solid study, practice and application of Ifa concepts in real world scenarios. Only then can the title of Babalawo priest or Iyanifa priestess be appropriately earned by the individual.
The simple act of itefa (initiation ceremony into Ifa religion), does not immediately earn a person the title of Babalawo or Iyanifa.
Learn more about Ifa concepts here
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