The characters of the sixteen principal Odus’ are paraphrased below:
- Eji Ogbe: denotes plenty of good and plenty of evil
- Oyeku Meji: denotes that death and all other evil will disappear. The red cloth should be used for sacrifice.
- Iwori Meji: enemies are around, and this client’s heritage is about to be taken away from him.
- Odi Meji: evil is close to this client and will have many wives, including a princess.
- Irosun Meji: this Odu belongs to Sango (Sango is the Yoruba god of thunder: He stands for bravery and victory over enemies). The client should heed his wife’s advice.
- Owonrin Meji: the client will be victorious over his enemies, though the people will try to injure him and spread untrue rumors about him.
- Obara Meji: denotes poverty and lack of things, but prosperity and happiness will last.
- Okanran Meji: denotes good fortune, but the person must beware of enemies.
- Ogunda Meji: denotes victory. It relates to Ogun (Ogun is the Yoruba god of war and heroism. His symbol is iron, and he stands for bravery). This client’s good fortune is with his Ori (Head/spiritual guarding). There is a certain barren woman close to this client.
- Osa Meji: relates to Oosaala (Oosaala is the Yoruba creation god) and the witches. It denotes the prospect of many children and great wealth.
- Ika Meji: this client will live long. People will always want to harm this client, but they will not succeed.
- Oturupon Meji: denotes prospect of twin babies. It relates to Egungun (Egungun is the Yoruba masquerader belonging to the cult of ancestor worshippers). It also denotes that the attack of witches is imminent.
- Otua Meji: relates to Ifa and deserters from his cause. It denotes victory over enemies and the prospect of many children.
- Irete Meji: relates to Soponna (Soponna is the dreadful Yoruba god believed to be the carrier of smallpox; It denotes death, enemies, and evil
- Ose Meji: denotes plenty of children, victory over enemies, and good fortune
- Ofun Meji: this client will be great. The people of his household should not mock strangers. Enemies will not be able to harm this client.
From above, we discover that whatever an Ifa priest tells his client is read from the signature of Odu-Ifa, which is taken directly from the Ifa corpus. At the same time, the Odu is essential for the divination aspect of Ifa, the ese form the main bulk of chants in the Ifa literary corpus. Ese Ifa’s form is predominantly poetic.
Worship in Yoruba Ifa Mythology:
Worship of Ifa testifies to the Yoruba man’s beliefs, creed, myths, and philosophy. Yorubas respond to their spiritual world by worshiping the Supreme Being and His functionaries – the divinities and spirits. Worship is given to these divine beings regularly and appropriately, searching for their wellbeing. The failure to perform the customary rites and ceremonies or the adoption of the wrong modus of worship is regarded as fraught. It comes with severe consequences to the individual or the community.
