Click here (YouTube) to watch a short video from UNESCO about Ifa divination among the Yoruba people of Central Africa...
How do the actions/behaviors of the Babalawo (divination priest) generally compare/contrast with those of the Pythia? the Biblical prophets?
4 comments:
these diviners seem to get their messaages from teh tossing of stones adn marking the sands. There does not appear to be any chemical helpers involved as with the pythia and the Babalawo don't seem to be praying to any Deity, simply chanting and rocking in order to reach an ASC.
Bob
The video doesn't give us a ton of information about the actions of the Babalawo. We see, as Bob said, the throwing of palm nuts, marking of sands, and chanting. The clip seems to stress the mathematics and precision of the process, so I'm wondering if an ASC is even something that the Babalawo is striving for? Biblical prophets and the Pythia seem to have relied an intangible talent to communicate with the divine. In contrast, Ifa seems a little more calculated and tangible.
Sophie
There is spirit involved, but it differs dramatically from that of prophets and the Pythia. The Babalawo are said to interpret signs through the mediums they preform divination with. This means that spirits are influencing the mediums. This contrasts sharply with the prophets and the Pythia, because spirits and/or deities influence them directly. The same end is achieved though, and that is a message from the supernatural world.
Last comment by me Sydney.
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