Publisher's Synopsis
This book integrates the Ifa 16 Major Oracles of 256 Ifa Signs (16 x 16 System) with the 64 I-Ching Hexagrams (8 x 8 System) to allow readers to function with both systems independently. The Ifa Intellectual System was inscribed in 2008 on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Humanity. UNESCO describes the Ifa divination system as follows: "The Ifa divination system, which makes use of an extensive corpus of texts and mathematical formulas, is practiced among Yoruba communities and by the African diaspora in the Americas and the Caribbean. The word Ifa refers to the mystical figure Ifa or Orunmila, regarded by the Yoruba as the deity of wisdom and intellectual development. In contrast to other forms of divination in the region that employ spirit mediumship, Ifa divination does not rely on a person having oracular powers but rather on a system of signs that are interpreted by a diviner, the Ifa priest or babalawo, literally "the priest's father". The Ifa divination system is applied whenever an important individual or collective decision has to be made. The Ifa literary corpus, called odu, consists of 256 parts subdivided into verses called ese, whose exact number is unknown as they are constantly increasing (there are around 800 ese per odu). Each of the 256 odu has its specific divination signature, which is determined by the babalawo using sacred palm-nuts and a divination chain. The ese, considered the most important part of Ifa divination, are chanted by the priests in poetic language. The ese reflect Yoruba history, language, beliefs, cosmovision and contemporary social issues. The knowledge of Ifa has been preserved within Yoruba communities and transmitted among Ifa priests."
According to Yoruba tradition, Orunmila was the being present at the time of Creation (Big Bang), therefore having knowledge of the blueprint of the universe. The Big Bang is described as the Odu, the Original Mother, the Mother of All Creation, as the Cosmic Womb that give birthto the forces of expansion and contraction that comprise the universe. These forces, which can be understood as binary in nature, assembled into 16 metaphysical patterns. From these 16 emerged another 240 combinations of expansion and contraction. These principles range from pure light (pure expansion) to pure darkness (pure contraction). We are the living embodiments of these metaphysical principles. Through research, it has been found that Ifa was developed over 11,000 years ago in N.E. Africa. The original 8-bit form of Ifa is still practiced today in Nigeria among the Yoruba and Benin (Ifa); in Benin/Dahomey among the Fon (Fa); in Togo and Ghana among the Ewe (Afa); in North Africa among the Arabs (Ilm al Raml) and (Khatt al Raml); in Madagascar among the Malagasy (Sikidy); and among the people of the African Diaspora located through N. America, S. America, & the Caribbean, found in Santeria, Candomble, Macumba, and Vodou. It is noted in the Yoruba tradition that Orunmila visited China. It is postulated that I-ching, a 6-bit binary system, is a subset of Ifa that arrived in China between 5,300 and 6,000 years ago.Readers can utilize any I Ching book with interpretation preferences along with the geomancy tetragrams in this book. Included in this book are the Sixty-four I Ching Hexagrams with unique author interpretations along with one imbedded tetragram corresponding to both Pen-Kua, and Hu-Kua Hexagrams. The Tetragrams explanations are the same sixteen geomancy codes found in the beginning of the book. This book is designed to function with both systems independently, and as explained above enhancing one another.
