Alyssa Falco
Annotated Biography
Abimbola, Wande. “Aspects of Yoruba Images of the divine: Ifa divination artifacts.” Dialogue and Alliance 3, no. 2 (1989): 24-29.
This source was found by using a database, the ATLA Religion Database. The keywords entered in the search were Ifa and Divination. To summarize this article talks about three different tools used in Ifa Divination; the chains, the tray and a container, which does not pertain to my research. He ties the tools into a god, Orunmila, and describes how the tools or artifacts and associated with him. The author talks about what the objects mean and why they are important as well as giving details about what the objects may look like. He states how each object has a certain movement that is important. He gives a little background story of the objects to help better understand them. He was key on characteristics of the gods and how they may have behaved that would have an affect on the board in the way they were represented.
The author himself gave off a tone that was very resourceful. He did not use language that may offend the objects meaning in anyway. He was an outsider with background knowledge that he wished to share with the audience. He wrote in a way to help the reader understand why these objects mean something, and by helping to enhance this, he added in quotes from poems. The author was very informative about meaning and the story behind the artifacts.
Clarke, J. D. “Ifa Divination.” The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland 69, no. 2 (1939): 235-56. doi:10.2307/2844391
This source was found using JSTOR. I typed into the search bar of the title of a known article which was African Arts and in that I did a sub search using the words Ifa Divination to then come accross this article. This article can be summarized by an experience that took place in the author’s point of view. The author himself was present at an Ifa Divination ceremony and thus he was able to witness everything and give some sort of background information to the reader based on his previous knowledge. Not only does this article tell an actual story but in the beginning it gives the reader some background information on Ifa himself. Which in turn allows the reader to understand what is going on or why something is going on throughout the story. There were some pictures and charts as well that was accessible to the reader in order to understand what was happening or what some of the vocabulary meant. There is also background information on the Babalawo themselves and what their life might be like while having this profession. Some examples of some couplets and stories that might come up and are recited by the babalawo are also listed with a translation that may be confusing for the reader because of the Yoruba language.
The author tells this story in a way where he is almost in the same position as the reader. By being an outsider. By not actually taking part in the ceremony itself but by reiterating what is going on to then ask the same questions the reader might ask and in turn he may give some answers the reader has based on reading the story. The audience he addresses is to a group of people who have some but limited knowledge of Ifa Divination all together. Making it a little easier for the reader to follow along with what is being done during the ceremony.
Olupona, Jacob K., and Rowland O. Abiodun. Ifa Divination: knowledge, power and performance. N.p.: Indiana University Press, 2016.
This source was found by a request to look up from my professor. I used the library catalog to input the title of the book and was able to access the ebook. This book has a some personal stories inside it. There is a story of a woman going through her own Ifa Divination ceremony. She goes into detail about the things she experiences with the babalawo. Not only does it have primary sources as the stories being told first hand, but it also has essays from scholars that go on to give their professional thoughts about the process as well. The stories that are being told are what make the whole meaning of what the scholars say about this process from an outside perspective, really make the idea come alive to the reader and allow the reader to fully understand in two different ways, personally and professionally.
The author himself doesn’t ever make the reader feel like they should feel poorly about this process of Ifa Divination. He doesn’t deliver the stories in a way to try and persuade the reader from one side to another. He simple tells the story with the detail necessary to get the full picture. He writes the article that is in somewhat of an essay form but also in a personal informal way as well. He has some points that are studies that show research and then he has some personal experiences where he was able to have first hand experience in this ceremony.