| On the Path of Destiny By Bruce Davis Divination is a very important part of all African and neo-African religions. With the fall of cowrie shells or the number of palm nuts left in a diviner's hands, humanity communicates with the spirit world and receives answers for its problems. Particularly in the religions of Santeria and Ifa, divination can focus on mundane concerns, but its most important function is illuminating a person's true destiny. In the world view of Ifa and Santeria, before a person is born into this world, their individual soul (Ori, in Yoruba) makes an agreement with the Creator (Olodumare) and declares what kind of life they will lead. This includes the events the person will face and their goals in life. Thus, the person declares their own destiny (Ipin-ori) before they come to this world. At birth, the person forgets this agreement and the only way to remember it is through divination. There are several divination systems used in Ifa and Santeria, such as the obi system that uses four pieces of coconut or kola nuts, and the erindilogun system that uses 16 cowrie shells. The system used most often to reveal a person's destiny is called Dafa or Ifa. The basic equipment for this system is 16 palm nuts and a round or square carved wooden tray (called Opon Ifa, in Your). The surface of the tray is covered with a fine dust called Iyerosun. The diviner, a specially trained priest called a Babalawo, holds the palm nuts in one hand and tries to take away as many as he can with the other. If one palm nut is left, the Babalawo traces two lines in the dust on the tray. If two nuts remain, he traces a single line in the dust. The diviner repeats this until there are eight sets of lines on the tray. Each set of single and double lines makes up a pattern called an Odu. Each Odu has several stories, legends and myths (called patakis) associated with it, as well as practical advice and offerings. The Babalawo interprets the Odu in the context of a client's question or concern and recommends certain actions or sacrifices. There are 256 possible Odus and since each has several verses attached to it, there are thousands of patakis that might pertain to a client's concern. Dafa is considered the most accurate of all the divination systems used in Santeria and Ifa. Dafa is thought to contain the entire knowledge and wisdom of the Yoruba people and is thus suitable for ascertaining a person's destiny. There is no situation or condition that Dafa cannot address. The answers given by the Obi and Erindilogun systems are not as complex because they cannot look at a person's situation in as much detail as Dafa. The training period for learning to use Dafa is suitably rigorous because it requires many years of learning the Odus and all their accompanying patakis and verses. In addition, a Babalawo must be able to use his intuition to interpret the patakis and grasp the essence of a client's problem. Babalawos are highly respected members of their communities because they have undergone this training and dedicated themselves to the service of others. The patron deity of Dafa is called Orunmila, just one of the many Orishas (Spirits) revered in Ifa and Santeria. It is thought that Olodumare gave this system to Orunmila so humanity could communicate with the Creator at any time. Because he was present when the world was created, Orunmila knows everyone's destiny and is intimately connected with the concept of destiny. When a person makes an agreement about their destiny with Olodumare, Orunmila records it. Through consulting Orunmila, a person can remember that agreement. Even though a person's destiny is established before their arrival in this world, there is still free choice and individual will. The events that are part of a person’s destiny will happen whether or not the person wants them to. What matters is how the person deals with them. In Ifa and Santeria, it is believed that one's actions always have consequences, positive or negative, and what happens later in a person's life depends on their earlier actions. A person's destiny can be altered for the better or the worse by their charac | 
