Babalawo
Cosme Guio (Ibae), Ifa divination tray (tablero de Ifa
in Spanish ; opon-Ifa in Lucumi), lath-turned wood, hand-incised
surface designs, and gold leaf paint, 15 3/4" diameter by 1," Havana, 1996.
The Ifa divination tray is utilized for the highest form if Ifa divination
( el bajon de orula ) by babalawos, who work with the authorization
of the orisha called Orula (Orunmila). Orula is considered to be
a fair ( justiciero ) judge capable of settling disputes among the
orichas and other spiritual forces. The tray's surface is dusted
with yefa (aka ache de orula ). The babalawo manipulates
16 palm nut kernels multiple times, the result of which produce an octogram
of single or double marks made with the middle- and forefinger in the yefa.
This "sign" ( letra or odu), is interpretated by at least
three babalawos. The tray may also be used by on a daily basis to
perform ebo del tablero --cleansing sacrifices and "works" for protective,
and sometimes offensive, purposes. The four cardinal points of the tray
orient the reading cosmologically, and draw into the session an array of
spiritual forces (life, death, spiritual, material, God, orisha, egun ,
etc). Yoruba trays, as do many Cuban Lucumi trays, often feature up to four
low relief figures of the universal messenger, Elegba, one at each of the
four cardinal points. More commonly, as in this one, a crossroads figure,
signifying the "head" of the tray, marks the north (associated here with
the odu Iwori = "air"/the "spiritual"), a skull to the south (Odi
= "earth"/the "material"/"rebirth"), a sun to the east (Eyiogbe, life),
and a crescent moon to the west (Oyekun, death).
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