Afolabi A. Epega

Afolabi A. Epega's English translations of the 256 "texts" included in the oral tradition of Ifa, together with Philip John Neikirk's brief commentaries, are a glimpse into a deeply rooted African tradition that exercises considerable contemporary spiritual influence worldwide. Needless to say, they are only a glimpse. As Neikirk points out in his preface, the process of divination that includes client, babalawo, and oracle, is a living process in which participants experience the living presence of the divine. That is more than a written text can communicate, and reading the text apart from the experience is akin to reading the Book of Common Prayer from cover to cover without the rich sensory experience of participating in a celebration of the Eucharist-useful, no doubt, but hardly exhaustive! Neikirk's preface establishes the context beautifully, and the introduction gives some insight into the mathematically and socially complex system of which the texts translated here are a part. The interplay of chance and necessity enacted in the divination process is a fascinating window on a Yoruba world that is full of insights into the "organic" character of both time and space. The book will invite readers familiar with other religious and philosophical speculations on that interplay to explore familiar territory in new ways. In the best cross-cultural tradition of oracles, it is a contribution to reading the present quite apart from any interest one might have in foretelling the future.… (altro)