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The 401 Orisa
In the Ifa Tradition of Yorubaland, West Africa, the attributes of the Source of All Things are personified as the sentient Beings called Orisa. In the Sacred Oracles of Ifa, the text and oral tradition of the faith, there are 256 of what westerners would likely refer to as Chapters. From the standpoint of Ifa, these 256 Odus are not merely divisions of the text, but instead represent the wisdom of 256 of the 401 Irunmole (Divine Attributes of Olorun, God) or Orisa. A listing of the 256 Odu is available in our publication, Adura: An Ifa Prayer Book For Beginners, Vol. 1, 2nd Edition. Some of the 401 Orisa have been lost in the diaspora as a result of the machinations used to subdue Africans during the period of the European Slave Trade and Imperialism, but there are many who have survived and are worshipped by practitioners around the world in various African based spiritual systems. There are 8 Priniciple Orisa who have maintained their presence and power throughout the various Ifa based spiritual traditions across the African Diaspora and who are considered to be the primary Spiritual Forces that can 'crown a persons head' (i.e., be our personal link to home and guide and protector in the marketplace.)
The brief descriptions, prayers, and quotes sited in this section
are excerpts from Alufa Sharif's unpublished manuscript entitled,
"SOS Planet Earth: Thinking in the Cosmology of Yoruba Ifa"
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