WHO ISA BABALAWO?
Babalawo literally means the father of mysteries/wisdom. It is a spiritual title that denotes a priest of Ifa knowledge corpus. Ifa is a divination system that represents the teachings of Òrúnmìlà(the Òrìsà/Irúnmòlè of wisdom), who in turn serves as the oracular

representative of Olódùmarè. A babalawo female counterpart is called an ìyánífá. The babalawo ascertain the future of their client through communication with Ifá. This is done through the interpretation of either the patterns of the divining chain(òpèlè) or the sacred palm nuts

called ikin, on the traditional wooden divination tray called Opón Ifá. Babalawo and Iyanifa undergo training in the memorization and interpretation of the 256 odù and the numerous verses inherent in them. Traditionally, the babalawo and Iyanifa usually have additional

specialities. For instance, they also specialize in herbs and using their knowledge to extinguish the troubles caused by Ajogun(malevolent/evil forces). Babalawo and Iyanifa are however, primarily trained in divination, determining problems, assisting clients on how

Ìwà(character) can be maintained so that Ìre(Good fortune) may manifest, and the application of both spiritual and related secular solutions. Babalawo and Iyanifa assist people in understanding, and being in alignment with their Orí(one's spiritual self or chi) until they

experience spiritual wisdom as part of their daily experience. Babalawo and Iyanifa help people develop the discpline and character that support their spiritual growth called "Ìwàpèlé(good character). This is done by identifying the client's spiritual destiny and developing

a spiritual blueprint which can be used to support, cultivate, and live out that destiny.

To become a competent babalawo, one needs to be trained in Ifa oral corpus for a period of 4 to 10 years. After training, a babalawo will continue learning Ifa till he dies- Ifa is wide.

A competent babalawo must be able to memorize at least 4 verses in each of 256 Odu of Ifa, that's about 1,024 verses. Some babalawo can memorize about 10 to 15 verses in each of the Odu ifa. An average babalawo is a very intelligent person- some of them are even professors.

A lot of Babalawo lecture Ifa in several universities in the US, because Ifá is a course in about 26 universities in the US, e.g Prof. Wande Abimbola and Àràbà Ifayemi Elebuibon lecture Ifa in about 3 universities in the US alone. Ifa is now a property of the world.

Ifa is not a religion, but religion is in Ifa, Ifa is not science but science is in Ifa, Ifa is not philosophy but philosophy is in Ifa, Ifa is not cosmology but cosmology is in Ifa. There's no topic in life that Ifa does not address- it encompasses the whole of human existence.

A babalawo is not dirty, a babalawo does not tie red clothes in his house, a babalawo does not decorate his walls with drawing of human skull, a babalawo does not live in the bush or hidden locations, a babalawo does not do evil.

Many indigenous practitioners that people know as babalawo are mere Onisegun, Adahunse, Iyalorisa/babalorisa.

Babalawo are learned in Ifa oral corpus, they are representatives of Òrúnmìlà(divinity of wisdom) on earth. A babalawo is a righteous man.

However, there are a lot of fake people out there, a lot of ologun ika(evil spiritualist) who call themselves babalawo, they are the ones giving our heritage a bad name. Ifa/Orisha spirituality practitioners must be more organised, roots out fake practitioners out there.

Ifa is all about truth, a babalawo does not deceive. In one of the Ifa verses, it says that the liar and the wicked shall die and burn in fire, but the truthful shall die and be buried in a golden casket, he who is truthful will be favoured by Olódùmarè.