Description
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewIfá Divination, Knowledge, Power, and Performance provides an invaluable glimpse into the richness of indigenous African spiritualities, even when they are transmitted into new geo-cultural environments as African-derived religiosities. . . . This book is a must read.
* Reading Religion *
Ifá Divination, Knowledge, Power, and Performance is a valuable addition to the scholarly literature on Ifá. The essays, with amazing depth and complexity, situate this practice and the religion it represents into a broader global context.
* H-AfrArts *
This is a rich book with diverse perspectives converging on Ifa divination as a complex knowledge system. It informs readers new to Ifa studies, challenges experts to question their presuppositions, and does all this with multidisciplinary acuity.
* Magic, Ritual, and Witchcraft *
Table of ContentsForeword / His Royal Highness Oba Okunade Sijuade Olubuse II
Preface / Jacob K. Olupona and Rowland O. Abiodun
Introduction / Jacob K. Olupona and Rowland O. Abiodun with Niyi Afolabi
Part I. Ifá Orature: Its Interpretation and Translation
1. Ayajo as Ifá in Mythical and Sacred Contexts / Ayo Opefeyitimi
2. Continuity and Change in the Verbal, Artistic, Ritualistic, and Performance Traditions of Ifá Divination / Wándé Abímblá
3. Recasting Ifá: Historicity and Recursive Recollection in Ifá Divination Texts / Andrew Apter
4. Ifá, Knowledge, Performance, the Sacred, and the Medium / Olasope O. Oyelaran
5. "Writing" and "Reference" in Ifá / AdeìleìkeÌ AdeìeÌòkoòì
Part II. Ifá as Knowledge: Theoretical Questions and Concerns
6. Ifá: Sixteen Odù, Sixteen Questions / Barry Hallen
7. Kín N'Ifá Wí?: Philosophical Issues in Ifá Divination / Olúfeìòmi Táíwò
8. Diviner as Explorer: The Afuwape Paradigm / Rowland O. Abiodun
9. "The Hunter Thinks the Monkey Is Not Wise. The Monkey Is Wise, But Has Its Own Logic": Multiple Divination Systems and Multiple Knowledge Systems in Yorùbá Religious Life / Mei-Mei Sanford
10. Dagbon, Oyo, Kongo: Critical and Comparative Reflections on Sacrifice / Wyatt MacGaffey
11. Ifá: The Quintessential Builder of Our Bank of Images / Akínwùmí Ìsola
12. Odù Imole: Islamic Tradition in Ifá and the Yorùbá Religious Imagination / Jacob K. Olupona
Part III. Ifá in the Afro-Atlantic
13. Ifá Divination as Sacred Compass for Reading Self and World / Velma Love
14. Ìtan Odù Òní: Tales of Strivers Today / John Mason
15. Orunmila's Faithful Dog: Transmitting Sacred Knowledge in a Lucumí Orisha Tradition / Joseph M. Murphy
16. Mofá and the Oba: Translation of Ifá Epistemology in the Afro-Cuban Dilogún / Ysamur M. Flores-Peña
17. The Pai-de-santo and the Babaláwo: Religious Interaction and Ritual Rearrangements within Orisha Religion / Stefania Capone
18. The Role of Women in the Ifá Priesthood: Inclusion versus Exclusion / M. Ajisebo McElwaine Abimbola
19. Transnational Ifá: The "Readings of the Year" and Contemporary Economies of Orisa Knowledge / Kamari Maxine Clarke
Part IV. Sacred Art in Ifá
20. The Creatures of Ifá / Philip M. Peek
21. Of Color, Character, Attributes, and Values of Orunmila / Bolaji Campbell
22. Signs, Doors, and Games: Divination's Dynamic Visual Canon / Laura S. Grillo
23. Ifá: Visual and Sensorial Aspects / Henry John Drewal
24. Art, Culture, and Creativity: The Representation of Ifá in Yorùbá Video Films / Akintunde Akinyemi
List of Contributors
Index
