Mérìndínlógún: Òrìsà Divination Using 16 Cowries: Revised and Extended Edition - Paperback

by Tenjin Ikeda (Illustrator), Awo Falade Fatunmbi (Author), Iyanifa Fasegun Fatunmbi (Editor)

Traditional Yorùbá culture is founded on the idea that everything in Nature has Orí or consciousness. This belief leads to the idea it is possible to communicate with Forces in Nature called Òrisà. One form of communication is through altered states of consciousness commonly refered to as possession. The other is to communicate with Nature through the use of divination. In traditional Yorùbá culture divination is the manipulation of either seeds or shells to create numberical patterns these patterns refer to specific verses of oral scripture. These verses are a way of preserving the wisdom of the ancestors. Traditional Yorùbá culture has four main systems of divination that are interrelated and inter connected. The first is obi obata, which essentially is used to give yes no answers to direct questions. The second system is bàsed on the use of sixteen principles that traditional Yorùbá culture considers the foundation of Creation. This system is called Mérìndínlógún from the elision mérìn meaning four, dín meaning subtract from, and lógún meaning twenty. In the Yorùbá system of counting Mérìndínlógún is the word for sixteen.

Author Biography

AWO FÁLÒKUN FATUNMBI BIOGRAPHY In 1984 I received omolawo from Awo Fágbèmí Fásínà and started the process of studying Ifá. Five years later, in 1989 I made my first trip to Ode Remo in the Ijebu region of Ogun State Nigeria. During that trip I was fully initiated into Ifá by Araba Adésànyà, Awóyadé, and the members of Egbe Ifá Ogunti Ode Remo. At that time my training started under the guidance of Awo Wasu and Títílayò Adésànyà. I returned to Ode Remo in 1991 to finish the Tefá (Ifá initiation) process by completing the three month ebo that seals Ifá initiation. At that time I was also initiated as a member of Ògbóni which is a traditional judicial council in Ode Remo. One year later in 1992 I was initiated into the mysteries of Ògún by the elders of Ile Ife and was given permission by my elders to perform Òrìsà initiations. I have subsequently made a total of six trips to Nigeria as part of the training process and in the year 2000 I was given permission by my elders to perform Ifá initiations. While pursuing my studies I have founded Ifá communities in California, New York, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Illinois, Florida, Oregon, Indiana, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Mexico, Columbia, Uruguay, Venezuela, Ukraine, Russia, Japan, Holland, and Italy. In 2000 I founded the Awo Study Center for the purpose of providing training in the sacred technology of Ifá/Òrìsà as it has been preserved by the elders of Ode Remo and Ilé Ifè. Awo Study Center provides study material, classes, workshops and a website for learning the fundamental prinicipals of Ifá/Òrìsà theology and ritual practice. In 2004 I co founded Ilé Osomi'na with Oloriya Fasegun Fatunmbi. Ilé Osomi'na sponsors classes, provided traditional initiations, publishes Ifá related training material and gives personal guidance to the extended family of those who have been initiated by Ilé Osomi'na. Ire Awo Fálòkun Fatunmbi Omo Ègbè Ifá Ogunti Ode Remo Olorí Ilé Osomi'na, México City, México