Yoruba / Ifá Tradition
A living West African spiritual system centered on destiny, divination, and relationship with the Orishas. Wisdom, balance, and personal alignment with one’s path stand at the heart of this tradition, which continues vibrantly across continents.
Introduction
The Yoruba / Ifá tradition is a living West African spiritual system rooted in the culture of the Yoruba people of present-day Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. It centers on the relationship between humanity and the Orishas—divine forces or intelligences that govern aspects of nature, character, destiny, and cosmic balance. At its core is Ifá, a sacred divination system through which trained priests (babalawo or iyanifa) interpret signs to guide individuals toward alignment with their ori—one’s spiritual destiny or inner head. Unlike mythic systems preserved only in texts, Yoruba religion remains actively practiced, with ritual, drumming, sacrifice, initiation, and ancestral reverence forming an integrated spiritual life. Through the transatlantic slave trade, its cosmology traveled and evolved, giving rise to related traditions such as Santería (Lucumí) and Haitian Vodou. At heart, Yoruba spirituality emphasizes relationship—between human and divine, individual and community, destiny and choice.
Yoruba Ifá is the Orisha tradition of Nigeria and West Africa, rooted in divination, ritual, and the sacred power of ashé. Guided by babalawos and the vast corpus of Odu Ifá, devotees honor deities like Ogun, Oshun, Shango, and Esu through offerings, drumming, and possession. Explore how this living faith endures across Africa and the diaspora.