Oke Itase festival: How the World-Wide Ifa Divination Was Born

The knowledge of what is now Oke Itase festival has been transmitted primarily by oral tradition in Ifa temples and in teachings among Babalawo from generation to generation. There is no single written document that describes its exact origin; rather, it is a conjunction of ancestral stories, records from certain temples, and the day-to-day experience of the priests who have participated year after year. This combination of oral tradition and documents provides the basis we use today to reconstruct how the Oke Itase festival was born and to understand its historical evolution.

Despite being a millenary festival, the main rites are still maintained in the Yoruba tradition. Priests perform an Ifa divination using what is believed to have been the first handful of ikin used by Orunmila himself to reveal the Odu through which Olodumare sends the “universal message” to the entire Yoruba population. Originally, it was celebrated only once a year, at the beginning of the Yoruba new year, in order to anticipate the circumstances that would affect the harvest, warfare, healing, and social harmony.

Over the centuries, the ceremony of the Oke Itase festival solidified as an act of unity. When the Yoruba diaspora crossed the Atlantic, the festival spread to Latin America and the Caribbean, although it adapted to Western customs and calendars. Despite the distance, practitioners maintained the tradition: performing an annual divination (better known as the “Letter of the Year”) held in December. Although it differs from Oke Itase in several ways, it continued to be the moment when Ifa “spoke” collectively.

Today, the Oke Itase festival involves two key elements:

•Collective offerings: to Ifa and the Orisa to invoke protection, prosperity, and clarity.

•Community divination: when the Odu is revealed, Babalawo from different regions share reflections, thereby unifying the interpretation of Ifa’s world-wide divination.

With the arrival of technology, the Oke Itase festival is no longer limited to Ile Ife. Today, Ifa temples around the world stream the ceremony live, allowing the global community to participate in real time. At Ilé Awo, we have the honor of being among the first to follow and participate in the annual festival, and even now we are the first to publish Ifa’s designs for each year in exclusive advance.

Thus, Ifa’s world-wide divination has become a shared experience, where practitioners everywhere reflect together on the revealed sign.

From Ilé Awo, this year we will offer the Oke Itase in exclusivity: the interpretation of the sign and guidelines for performing the ebo correctly. All of this will be available through the Ifa Traditional, Idafa, and Apolas apps. Follow the latest on the Oke Itase festival at Ilé Awo and in our applications, and join the ceremony that unites the Yoruba community in every corner of the planet.