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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Ifa Divination and Healing |
Author: | Opeola, S. Modupeola |
Year: | 1993 |
Periodical: | Africana Marburgensia |
Volume: | 26 |
Issue: | 1-2 |
Pages: | 47-58 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | Nigeria |
Subjects: | healers divination Yoruba traditional medicine Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) Religion and Witchcraft Health and Nutrition |
Abstract: | In Nigeria, the practice of health care has remained for a large part in the hands of traditional healers. Most of the trained practitioners of African traditional medicine are 'babalawo' (Ifa priests). The author, himself a trained and initiated 'babalawo' and very much involved in the practices of Yoruba traditional medicine, describes the education required to become an Ifa priest, the purpose and principles of divination, the principal 'Odu' (sacred stories or oracles of Ifa) and the diseases with which they are linked, the relevance of Ifa divination to the art of healing and its therapeutic value. Bibliogr. |