Ifá Divination, Knowledge, Power, and Performance

Jacob K. Olupona is Professor of African Religious Traditions at Harvard Divinity School and Professor of African and African American Studies at Harvard University. He is author of City of 201 Gods: Ile-Ife in Time, Space, and the Imagination and editor of Orisa Devotion as World Religion: The Globalization of Yoruba Religious Culture.Rowland O. Abiodun is John C. Newton Professor of Art, the History of Art, and Black Studies at Amherst College. He is author of Yoruba Art and Language: Seeking the African in African Art and What Follows Six is More than Seven: Understanding African Art.

Ifá Divination, Knowledge, Power, and Performance provides an invaluable glimpse into the richness of indigenous African spiritualities, even when they are transmitted into new geo-cultural environments as African-derived religiosities. . . . This book is a must read.(Reading Religion) Ifá Divination, Knowledge, Power, and Performance is a valuable addition to the scholarly literature on Ifá. The essays, with amazing depth and complexity, situate this practice and the religion it represents into a broader global context.(H-AfrArts) This is a rich book with diverse perspectives converging on Ifa divination as a complex knowledge system. It informs readers new to Ifa studies, challenges experts to question their presuppositions, and does all this with multidisciplinary acuity.(Magic, Ritual, and Witchcraft)

• Foreword / His Royal Highness Oba Okunade Sijuade Olubuse IIPreface / Jacob K. Olupona and Rowland O. AbiodunIntroduction / Jacob K. Olupona and Rowland O. Abiodun with Niyi AfolabiPart I. Ifá Orature: Its Interpretation and Translation1. Ayajo as Ifá in Mythical and Sacred Contexts / Ayo Opefeyitimi2. Continuity and Change in the Verbal, Artistic, Ritualistic, and Performance Traditions of Ifá Divination / Wándé Abímblá3. Recasting Ifá: Historicity and Recursive Recollection in Ifá Divination Texts / Andrew Apter4. Ifá, Knowledge, Performance, the Sacred, and the Medium / Olasope O. Oyelaran5. "Writing" and "Reference" in Ifá / AdeìleìkeÌ AdeìeÌòkoòìPart II. Ifá as Knowledge: Theoretical Questions and Concerns6. Ifá: Sixteen Odù, Sixteen Questions / Barry Hallen7. Kín N'Ifá Wí?: Philosophical Issues in Ifá Divination / Olúfeìòmi Táíwò8. Diviner as Explorer: The Afuwape Paradigm / Rowland O. Abiodun9. "The Hunter Thinks the Monkey Is Not Wise. The Monkey Is Wise, But Has Its Own Logic": Multiple Divination Systems and Multiple Knowledge Systems in Yorùbá Religious Life / Mei-Mei Sanford10. Dagbon, Oyo, Kongo: Critical and Comparative Reflections on Sacrifice / Wyatt MacGaffey11. Ifá: The Quintessential Builder of Our Bank of Images / Akínwùmí Ìsola12. Odù Imole: Islamic Tradition in Ifá and the Yorùbá Religious Imagination / Jacob K. OluponaPart III. Ifá in the Afro-Atlantic13. Ifá Divination as Sacred Compass for Reading Self and World / Velma Love14. Ìtan Odù Òní: Tales of Strivers Today / John Mason15. Orunmila's Faithful Dog: Transmitting Sacred Knowledge in a Lucumí Orisha Tradition / Joseph M. Murphy16. Mofá and the Oba: Translation of Ifá Epistemology in the Afro-Cuban Dilogún / Ysamur M. Flores-Peña17. The Pai-de-santo and the Babaláwo: Religious Interaction and Ritual Rearrangements within Orisha Religion / Stefania Capone18. The Role of Women in the Ifá Priesthood: Inclusion versus Exclusion / M. Ajisebo McElwaine Abimbola19. Transnational Ifá: The "Readings of the Year" and Contemporary Economies of Orisa Knowledge / Kamari Maxine ClarkePart IV. Sacred Art in Ifá20. The Creatures of Ifá / Philip M. Peek21. Of Color, Character, Attributes, and Values of Orunmila / Bolaji Campbell22. Signs, Doors, and Games: Divination's Dynamic Visual Canon / Laura S. Grillo23. Ifá: Visual and Sensorial Aspects / Henry John Drewal24. Art, Culture, and Creativity: The Representation of Ifá in Yorùbá Video Films / Akintunde AkinyemiList of ContributorsIndex