Home›Sources›Ifa Divination: Communication between Gods and Men in West AfricaSourcesIfa Divination: Communication between Gods and Men in West AfricaCitation FormatsGeneral ReferenceGeneral Reference Citation TextDivinity Atlas. "Ifa Divination: Communication between Gods and Men in West Africa." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://divinity.interactivelion.com/sources/ifa-divination-communication-between-gods-and-men-in-west-africa.Copy General ReferenceAPA StyleAPA Style Citation TextDivinity Atlas. (n.d.). Ifa Divination: Communication between Gods and Men in West Africa. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://divinity.interactivelion.com/sources/ifa-divination-communication-between-gods-and-men-in-west-africaCopy APA StyleBibTeXBibTeX Citation Text@misc{divinityatlas-ifa-divination-communication-between-god, author = {Divinity Atlas}, title = {Ifa Divination: Communication between Gods and Men in West Africa}, year = {2026}, url = {https://divinity.interactivelion.com/sources/ifa-divination-communication-between-gods-and-men-in-west-africa}, note = {Accessed August 30, 2026} }Copy BibTeXWilliam Bascom's study is built from direct ethnographic fieldwork with babalawo, Ifa diviners, in Nigeria, recording a large body of odu verses as they were actually recited to him rather than reconstructing the corpus from secondhand description. That firsthand fieldwork basis, checkable against the verses the book actually transcribes, is the study's real evidentiary strength. This record has not independently traced later scholarly revision of Bascom's specific transcriptions or translations since 1969. Use it for the documented content of Ifa odu verses and the practice of Ifa divination as Bascom recorded it directly from practicing diviners; a claim about how the corpus has developed or been reinterpreted since needs a more recent source alongside it.FactsClaims Backed By This Source (253 claims)Comments (0)Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)FactsCitationAuthorWell-attestedWilliam BascomPublisherWell-attestedIndiana University PressPublication YearWell-attested1969URLWell-attestedhttps://iupress.org/9780253114655/ifa-divination/Source TypeWell-attestedacademic monographAssessmentReliability TierWell-attested1William Bascom's ethnographic study built from direct fieldwork with babalawo in Nigeria, recording a large body of Ifa odu verses as they were actually recited to him rather than reconstructed from secondhand description.NotesWell-attestedEthnographic study of Ifa divination with a large body of odu verses recorded from babalawo in Nigeria.Claims Backed By This Source (253 claims)This source backs 253 claims across the atlas. As facts: 162 well-attested. As cited relationships: 36 holds, 2 connected. Plus 53 entities citing it as a general reference with no single fact or relationship attached.Disposition By TopicOdu & Divination Signs, 64 claims: 48 well-attested, 16 general references.Articles, 58 claims: 51 well-attested, 1 holds, 2 connected, 4 general references.Sacred Objects & Ritual Items, 29 claims: 16 well-attested, 9 holds, 4 general references.Deities, 21 claims: 10 well-attested, 1 holds, 10 general references.Disciplines, 20 claims: 17 holds, 3 general references.Open Questions, 16 claims: 14 well-attested, 2 general references.Religious Roles & Titles, 13 claims: 4 well-attested, 5 holds, 4 general references.Calendars, 8 claims: 5 well-attested, 2 holds, 1 general references.Sources, 8 claims: 8 well-attested.Scriptures & Texts, 5 claims: 3 well-attested, 1 holds, 1 general references.Doctrines, 3 claims: 3 general references.Practices, 3 claims: 2 well-attested, 1 general references.Figures, 2 claims: 1 well-attested, 1 general references.Regions, 2 claims: 2 general references.Realms, 1 claims: 1 general references.Well-attested162ArticlesA Chain of Eight Halves, Cast Instead of Counted by HandA Dried Gourd Netted in Beads, Rattled for the OrishasA Memorised Corpus, and an Atlantic TransmissionA Published Selection, Not a CanonAn Address, Not an AnswerAn Implement, Not a TextBascom's Survey and What It RecordedCalling Orunmila to AttendCounting the Verses, and Why the Count Is UncertainDescribing a Living TraditionHow the Compound Figures Are NamedIfa, the Babalawo, and the Memory of the TraditionLearning by ApprenticeshipObatala, Oduduwa, and the Disputed First MorningOdu as a Unit of MemoryOne Family of Sixteen Figure SystemsOrunmila and the Name IfaPosition Thirteen and the Question of OrderPowder, Strokes and the ReadingReading the Order of SeniorityReading the TrickRecording an Oral Corpus in PrintSacrifice, and the Line Drawn HereSixteen Figures and Two Hundred Fifty Six SignsSixteen Principal Odu of Ifa DivinationThe Chain and the Palm NutsThe Diviner Behind a Printed VerseThe Face at the Top of the TrayThe Figure That Closes the SixteenThe Figure That Opens the OrderThe Great Oracle of the YorubaThe Hunter's Arrow and His Mother's DeathThe Sixteen and the Two Hundred FortyThe Tray, the Powder and the MarksThe Witness to DestinyTranslation and What It CostsTwo Columns, Eight MarksWhat Is Printed, and What Is Not Printed HereWhat Meji MeansWhat the Chorography Cannot ReachWhat the Record Does Not HoldWhere This Account StopsWhy the Verses Are Not Reproduced HereCalendarsThe Yoruba Four-Day WeekDeitiesEshuOrunmilaOshunFiguresOchosiOdu & Divination SignsEji OgbeIka MejiShowing 1 to 50 of 74 entities carrying this claim. NextHolds36ArticlesObatala, Oduduwa, and the Disputed First MorningCalendarsThe Yoruba Four-Day WeekDeitiesOduduwaDisciplinesIfa DivinationReligious Roles & TitlesBabalawoBabalorishaSacred Objects & Ritual ItemsCowrie ShellsIroke IfaOpeleOpon IfaScriptures & TextsThe Ifa Literary CorpusConnected2ArticlesObatala, Oduduwa, and the Disputed First MorningThe Hunter's Arrow and His Mother's DeathGeneral References53ArticlesObatala, Oduduwa, and the Disputed First MorningSixteen Principal Odu of Ifa DivinationThe Hunter's Arrow and His Mother's DeathThe Palm Tree at Ile-Ife and the Literary Corpus Orunmila Left BehindCalendarsThe Yoruba Four-Day WeekDeitiesEshuObatalaOduduwaOgunOrunmilaOshunShangoYemojaDisciplinesDiloggunGeomancyIfa DivinationDoctrinesAseIwa PeleOriFiguresOchosiOdu & Divination SignsEji OgbeIka MejiIrete MejiIrosun MejiIwori MejiObara MejiOdi MejiOfun MejiOgunda MejiOkanran MejiOsa MejiOse MejiOtura MejiOturupon MejiOwonrin MejiOyeku MejiOpen QuestionsHow far does the order of seniority of the sixteen principal Odu vary between regions and lineages, and which ordering is used where?Is the shared sixteen figure architecture of Ifa, Fa, Sikidy and Arabic geomancy the result of diffusion, and if so in which direction?PracticesKola Nut OfferingRealmsOrunRegionsWest AfricaYorubalandReligious Roles & TitlesBabalawoBabalorishaDivinerIyanifaSacred Objects & Ritual ItemsCowrie ShellsIroke IfaOpeleOpon IfaShowing 1 to 50 of 51 entities carrying this claim. 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