Opon Ifá

Structure

Opon Ifá are wooden trays, generally between 15 and 46 centimeters in diameter, flat and usually circular, though rectangular, semi-circular, and approximately square specimens exist. They have a raised outer perimeter often embellished with carved figures, objects, and abstract geometric designs; the intricacy of these carvings serves as a status marker among babalawo. The top of the tray is called the oju opon ("head"), and the bottom is the ese opon ("feet").

The head typically bears a carved depiction of Esu, the messenger of Ifá, and some trays have two, four, eight, or even sixteen faces of Esu; in such cases, cowries designate the head. Cowries are also used to spread the sacred divining powder, iyerosun. The peripheral markings divide the perimeter into nine sections, each named after an ancient diviner. When the babalawo sits facing east with the tray before him and the feet closest to him, the oju opon, ese opon, ona kanran ("straight path"), and ona murun ("direct path") lie on the east, west, south, and north sides respectively.

On the diagonals are four additional sections: alaselosi (northeast), alabolotun (southeast), afurukeresayo (northwest), and ajiletepowo (southwest). The ninth section is the center of the tray, the erilade opon ("the meeting place that crowns all"). During consultations, the babalawo evokes the presence of Ifá and the nine ancient diviners before reading the tray.

Yoruba beliefs

The face of Esu, the intermediary orisha between Ifá and the babalawo, is generally carved into the opon Ifá's perimeter to acknowledge his critical role during consultations and to allow the babalawo to confront him directly. The relationship between Ifá and Esu is outlined in the Yoruba canon, specifically among the 256 odu verses interpreted from the tray. According to an account by an Ifá chief from Oyo, Nigeria, Ifá and Esu are two of the four-hundred orisha sent to Earth by Olodumare, the supreme being.

Ifá knows the predestined fate of all humans, while Esu is the keeper of ase (divine power). Esu, confident in his wisdom, tested 398 of the other deities, all of whom failed, before testing Ifá. Esu asked Ifá to supervise his monkey for a week while he journeyed. Ifá agreed but first had Esu tie the monkey to a tree.

After Esu left, Ifá consulted an oracle, which prescribed a sacrifice of bananas in a thick forest. Ifá performed the sacrifice, but upon returning found the monkey missing. Esu, having abandoned his trip, returned and wept, saying Ifá would be cursed if the monkey were not found within seven days. Ifá consulted the oracle again, which told him to return to the forest where he had sacrificed bananas; there he found the monkey.

He returned it to Esu before Esu's tears fell, completing the test and sealing their partnership. Esu then swore to be a companion and accomplice to Ifá, acting as the mouthpiece through which Ifá imparts his knowledge.

In divination consultations

During a divination session, the babalawo orients the tray with the feet facing him and sits facing east, the direction from which Ifá is thought to have come from the spiritual plane, ensuring light illuminates the tray and no shadows fall on the wood. An iroke Ifá (diviner's tapper) is used to rhythmically drum on the tray's surface to evoke Ifá's presence, and the nine diviners depicted on the perimeter are also summoned. Sixteen palm or kola nuts (ikin Ifá) are thrown onto the tray, and the babalawo interprets which of the 256 possible sets of odu (verses) the nuts display.

An odu is a sign of eight marks drawn in the iyerosun powder scattered over the tray, and each sign has corresponding verses chanted according to the client's situation. Each odu is constructed by determining each "letter" stepwise, starting from the bottom-right division of the border, then bottom-left, working upward six more times. If sacred palm nuts are used, the babalawo holds sixteen nuts in one hand and snatches as many as possible with the other; if one nut remains, he draws two vertical lines in the powder, and if two remain, he draws one line. This continues until two figures of four segments each are formed.