Abstract
Ifa divination in Yorubaland and the diaspora provides a comprehensive analysis and exposition of the importance of hospitality to strangers, harmony, and interreligious linkages. Ifa corpus is a geomatic knowledge template through which trained specialists diagnose, interpret, and predict time-space events. Ifa is a non-canonical literary, poetic, and oral corpus that has provided the foundation for social, religious, political, and economic worldviews. This paper explores the vibrancy, versatility, and vitality of Ifa divination in terms of how it grapples with cross-cultural conversations and connections. Ifa’s epistemology, hermeneutics, and performance reveal fascinating insights into the dynamism and complexity of cross-cultural communications. The insights from Ifa divination may be instructive in a world desperately seeking new and creative paradigms for engaging the other. The paper explores Wande Abimbola’s pioneering contribution to Ifa divination and Yoruba studies in addressing the themes of hospitality, harmony, and interreligious connections.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
2021 Special Focus—Modeling Traditions from the Margins: Non-Canonical Writings in Religious Systems
KEYWORDS
Ifa, Divination, Africa, Interreligious, Harmony
