Customer Reviews

Ifa Divination: Communication between Gods and Men in West Africa (Midland Book)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book was recommended to be by a very trusted person - I thought it would tell me all I need to know about Ifá. I was mistaken. Much of the Yoruba faith is secret, so I was not looking to find what I knew I could not. However, women seeking to learn about Yoruba practices should not read the book as women cannot use the divination methods that Bascom describes in the book. Not to say that one should not order it...all reading is good. Do not expect to read about anything that is not involving Babalawos, and divination using Merindinlogun. The information was informative and interesting, but not useful for me at all since I am female and cannot become a Babalawo. This book would be most helpful for men without an Awo as of yet, seeking to learn more about Ifá. The most, for a woman, that this book has to offer is the Odu verses - which are not complete. For that I would have purchased the complete Odu-Ifá with additional books on the Orisa and other aspects of this spirituality. I would recommend, for beginners, books by Karade instead.

Bascom is truly one of the all time best authors and anthropologists of the Yoruba religion and culture. He has brought out many kept secrets, legends and patakis of this religion out to the new world so as to not loose this wonderful knowledge with watered down versions of same. This book is a wonderful insight to the Yoruba religion and culture for students and practitioners alike. IFA Divination is a must have to any avid collector, practitioner, or student of African Religion, Yoruba culture or Ifa practice in the Western world.

Mo dupe William Bascom

Once again Bascom leaves us in awe !

Awo bascom has left his mark here at IKOLE-AYE (earth)with this systematic approach so simple that any non-practitioner of the Ifa religion could understand.It at the same time contains detailed information that any Awo or Babalawo would not part.Any purchaser would greatly get their money's worth.

This is the most objective and complete IFA Divination book I have yet read commercially. For those westeners who practice or follow IFA, this book is a most-read. I presents researched details about the IFA religion, its methodology, religious and cultural background, and IFA wisdom.

It is a indispensable adquisition for any babalawo or Ifá religion lover. Bascom has made a deep investigation about rules, ethic, procedures and full content of Ifa Divination giving a solid base to all who needs to reach a advanced knowledge of sacred yoruba culture.
Awósanmí

THIS IS AN EXCELLENT BOOK I WAS LOOKING FOR LONG TIME AGO AND IT CAME IN A RIGHT MANNER, FAST AND GOOD ASPECT. THIS WAS AN EXCELLENT PURCHASE I MADE!

This book is really great, it goes very deep into what Ifa divination is, and thus we can learn who divination was from 300 to 400 years or more, it also has a lots of prays specially from the Mejis, and its meaning, it doesn't contains all 256 Oduns but it does contains like 198 african patakies with its meaning that I believe it would be a great used for those who like to have a general knowledge, and of course for those babalawos who would like to use it on the Ebbo. it has pictures and a wide history of Ifa and how it differs in Africa from one region to another for example in Ife Ifa is called Ifa meanwhile in Dahomey is called FA and there are a couple of discrepancies between one region to another but at the End is Ifa. THIS BOOK IS REALLY WORTH IT FOR ITS PRICE AND FOR THE KNOWLEDGE, IN CONCLUSION IS A BOOK EVERYONE SHOULD HAVE. SPECIALLY BABALAWOS

Este libro es realmente genial, es muy profunda en lo que es la adivinación de Ifa, y por lo tanto podemos aprender como ha sido la adivinación de 300 a 400 años o más, tiene bastantes rezos especialmente de los Mejis, y su significado, no contiene informacion de los 256 Oduns pero sí contiene como 198 patakies africanos con su significado, que creo que sería una gran utilidad para aquellos que gustan de tener un conocimiento general, y por supuesto para los babalawos que quieran utilizarlo en el ebbo. Tiene imágenes y una amplia historia de Ifá y cómo se diferencia en África de una región a otra, por ejemplo en Ife, Ifá se le llama por su parte Ifa,y en Dahomey se llama FA y hay un par de discrepancias entre una región a otra, otro podria ser el orden de Importancia de los Mejis varia tambien, y estos son unas pocas cosas que contiene, pero al final es Ifá. Este libro realmente vale la pena por su precio y por el conocimiento, EN CONCLUSION ES UN LIBRO que todos deberían tener.ESPECIALMENTE BABALAWOS.

Since this area is on reviews for the excellent tomb on Ifa by Dr. William Bascom, it is fitting that we might look into what he said regarding the subject.

William Bascom, the foremost academic authority on Ifa up until the time of his death, also states "only men can become babalawo" and never encountered a single female Ifa priestess acting as a diviner during any of his extensive field studies in the cities of Ife, Igana, Meko, Oyo, Ilesa, Abeokuta, Osogbo, Sagamu, Ilara, Ondo, Ijebu Ode or Ekiti.

When people have spent the 14 years of in depth research in Nigeria that Bascom did, THEN they can laugh. Not two weeks or two months which is the average for most of these self-proclaimed 'experts'.

Bascom has done an excellent job of presenting some of the sacred Ifa verses. Also, women looking to become initiated into Ifa should continue to search for the right baba mentor to take them under their wing. I am a babe in the woods as far as this religon is concerned however, I managed to find a very good baba mentor whose sister-in-law is an Ifa priestess. When I mentioned about women not being able to get initiated they laughed.

aboru, aboye, abosise-o my name is fa'kolade ogunrinde awoyade. i went through igbodu in ode-remo-ijebu in 1998 in the egbe of late Baba Alashala Awoyade's compound. I feel that times has changed just like it has with most religions. women are given certain rites into societies where long ago were unheard of. then why are we allowing them to be initiated into Ifa' and they can't see odu? If i am correct, when we (Awo's) receive our odu aren't we told not to look into odu? We can only feed odu in a very dark place and if we disobey and look inside that calabash........our osun staff must fall to the earth huh (mean we havve commited suicide)? there are some women who even have some of the elements of odu in there Ifa's. this must be addressed with our elders in Yorubaland and then and only then will we take a stand. do they become apetebe's when they have cofa? some women have even become iyanifa's. head of all apetebe's. i really do see any senior women here in america qualified to have such titles nor have ifa'. i could be wrong now. even certain so-called Awo's calling themselves Awo's are questionable. odabo