Form Follows Function

The confusion surrounding women's roles in Ifa is symptomatic of a larger, more important problem, which is the absence of standards. Not to be confused with rules, standards define acceptable haviors and activities that assure a certain level of quality, as well as integrity. Each lineage with each tradition has the latitude to define how they will incorporate or not incorporate Iyanifa. In truth, it's been done, but people have to respect those decisions. People who do not have a firm understanding of their own lineages practice should not project their insecurities onto what they see in other lineages. Bottom line, some lineages do it and some don’t.

Ifa says, "What’s being done is only known by the doer.” The details of the ceremony, the purpose of the ceremony and the role and function the person will have once it is complete are all known by the presiding priest. Often people won’t tell you unless they really trust you… But it behooves us all to make it really simple and plain for people. We need people to break it down, what’s going on and what’s not going on- rather than playing to people’s egos and ignorance as they seek spiritual development.

Some people have glanced at the women's participation in Ifa from far away, made conclusions, then spread and acted upon a misunderstanding essentially turning a misperception into a practice. The challenge - to anyone who really wants to get to the bottom of it - is to find more than 3 sources on the definition and analysis of Iyanifa. When examining those discussions, you’ll see there are very few resources that truly analyze what it means to be Iyanifa, aside from the idea that she is a female equivalent to a babalawo. So where are all of the conclusions coming from? This is a form of gossip.  Ifa says,  “Gossip kills the gossiper. Gossip destroys the community."

No one has even really exposed and defined the truth about Apetebii, which is well established in Nigeria and Cuba. Why aren’t we going deeper into what we know? Araba Elebuibon has a small book on it. But what other references do we have? But in that exact same vein, we don't even know what a babalawo is, really. More than half of the men who get initiated aren’t priests… They are initiated to Ifa so that they can master their destinies, master their crafts. Ask people "What is your destiny?" and listen to the weak, vague and ambiguous responses you get. Ask people what their natural gifts and talents are and then listen to the confusing, meandering laundry list of jobs and activities they have done. This is not meant to be rude. But we have to face the reality of what we're doing, relative to what we SAY we're doing. You won’t have to tout your title when you're doing the work. People will refuse to let you call yourself anything OTHER than a priest if that is how you're serving the community, day in and day out. 

In addition, most people have zero concept of Yoruba culture and history. Most people know nothing about the Yoruba kingdoms etc… You cannot be a Yoruba priest and know nothing about the history and the culture. By analyzing Yoruba civilization and culture, you get a sense of the placeholders and roles. Form follows function. You have to understand where Ifa fits in the form of Yoruba civilization.  Then you can make a parallel analysis of your civilization. What is our equivalent of a king, chief, priest, family compound, hunter, etc…? If you don’t understand, then you are trying to blindly impose one set of activities onto a social order. Everything is out of context.  It’s a messy situation. But when the people themselves are tired of being confused about the context,  they will start to seek truth, not convenience.