Category:Obi and Diloggun Divination
From Association of Independent Readers and Rootworkers
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Obi Divination is a West African system of foretelling the future that originated within the traditional Yoruba religion and its various New World lineages, such as Santeria. The African form of this work employs kola nuts, but in the Americas, Obi readers use either four pieces of coconut or four cut cowrie shells to answer "yes" or "no" questions for clients. Obi means "kola nut" or "palm nut" in the West African Yoruba language, and within the religion Obi is an Orisha or deific spirit in his own right. Within contemporary hoodoo practice, both initiates and gifted non-initiates of these religions use obi in order to divine answers for clients. If cowries, coconuts, palm nuts, or kola nuts are not available, American obi readers also use four coins, after the manner of I Ching readings, which can be done with traditional yarrow stalks or with three coins.
Diloggun Divination is also African in origin, and it too is found among Afro-Caribbean practitioners, but diviners who use this method are initiated priests, and they employ specific religious techniques while performing a fairly complex ritual before and during the casting of the cowrie shells.
A similar form of cast or thrown cowrie or coconut shell divination that originated in the Congo is called Chamalongos. It is practiced in the Americas by initiates of Cuban lineages of the African Diasporic Palo religion.
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Obi Divination with Four Shells or Coconuts
Obi divination is a quick and easy form of fortune-telling comprising a cast or thrown reading determined by four coconut pieces, four cowrie shells that have had their tops cut off, or four coins. Obi readings entered through contact between American spiritual practitioners and initiates of African Diasporic religions such as Santeria (also known as Lukumi, or La Regla de Ocha).
Obi will only reply to questions that can be answered "Yes" or "No." To tell your fortune, the obi reader will hold the set of four items in his or her hand, pray over your question, then gently toss the items down onto the ground or onto a mat, and look to see how they fell. Cowries can fall "mouth" side up (open) or "mouth" side down (closed). Coconut pieces can fall white meat side up or dark skin side up. Coins can fall heads up or or tails up. Mathematically, the toss will generate one of sixteen possible combinations, which are grouped into five possible answers:
- Alafia: 4 mouth-up cowries; 4 white coconuts; 4 heads.
Blessings! A “Yes” to whatever you asked about — and you may get even more than you requested or it will come sooner than you hoped. Alafia means "peace." It represents all of the light that is available and able to assist you. It is "Yes" with a blessing of peace.
- Etawa: 3 mouth-up and 1 mouth-down cowries; 3 white and 1 dark coconut; 3 heads and 1 tails.
A "Maybe" answer. Etawa is an unstable response, and requires a second throwing of the Obi to ascertain whether the answer is yes or no. If the second toss is Alafia, Etawa or Ejife, the answer is yes. If the second toss is Okanran or Oyekun then the answer is no.
- Ejife: 2 mouth-up and 2 mouth-down; 2 white and 2 dark coconuts; 2 heads and 2 tails.
This is an absolute “Yes” -- but you are cautioned not to ask any further questions on this subject, or the Orisha Spirit of Divination may get mad. Ejife is positive because it represents perfect balance. It indicates blessings of knowledge with experience, and, as such, it may require more effort than Alafia.
- Okana Sode or Okanran: 1 mouth-up and 3 mouth-down; 1 white and 3 dark coconuts; 1 heads and 3 tails.
“No.” What you asked won’t happen. Okanran is a firm no. The level of contraction or opposition indicates much work needed before the blessings in question could come to fruition.
- Oyekun: 4 mouth-down cowries; 4 dark coconuts; 4 tails.
This is a very strong “No,” and it furthermore indicates that you may need serious spiritual cleansing in order to clear away the negative conditions that surround this issue in your life. Oyekun represents total darkness and the spirits of the dead can speak through this answer. There is an elusive element to the situation, or the spirits may be asking for something. Obi readers will proceed with a series of questions to ascertain the nature of the darkness, or if the spirits desire something. Once the obstacle is determined, the remedy is applied and the reading addressing the original issue can resume.
Chamalongo Divination with Four Shells or Coconuts
Chamalongo is the name for the shell or coconut oracle as practiced in the Congo. In the Americas it is favoured by initiates of Cuban lineages of the African Diasporic religion of Palo Mayombe. Chamalongos are four pieces of polished coconut shell (not coconut meat as is used in Obi divination), which are thrown to form patterns of heads or tails. The patterns formed by the Chamalongos are mathematically similar to those formed in Obi divination, but the Kimpungulu or spiritual powers being consulted are completely different. The prayers which precede a Chamalongo session will, likewise, be completely different from those that precede a consultation of Obi.
Diloggun Divination with Sixteen Cowrie Shells
Diloggun is a method of divination used by initiates in the African or African Diasporic spiritual path of La Regla de Ocha to ask questions of the Orishas. It is relatively rare for hoodoo practitioners to use this system of fortune telling, because one must be initiated in this religion to learn it.
The shells are generally associated with altars of the Orisha Eleggua. Ocha initiates who are readers throw sixteen cowries twice to generate one of 256 patterns, or Odù, each composed of two figures, or Letras.
The Odù Ifá, a collection of wisdom sayings, is used to interpret the 256 possible readings and it is considered a sacred text among adherents, much in the way that the Chinese I Ching, with its 256 line interpretations, is considered both a book of divination and a sacred text.
The sixteen possible outcomes of a single Diloggun throw, considered mathematically, are:
- Okana (one mouth up), .
- Eji Oko (two mouths up).
- Ogunda (three mouths up).
- Irosun (four mouths up).
- Oche (five mouths up).
- Obara (six mouths up).
- Odi (seven mouths up).
- Eji Ogbe (eight mouths up).
- Osa (nine mouths up).
- Ofun (ten mouths up).
- Owani (eleven mouths up).
- Ejila Shebora (twelve mouths up).
- Metanla (thirteen mouths up).
- Merinla (fourteen mouths up).
- Marunla (fifteen mouths up).
- Merindilogun (sixteen mouths up).
There is also a seventeenth possibility,
- Opira (no mouths up).
but this is not considered an Odù, per se. Rather, it indicates significant problems with the reading, either on the part of the client or the diviner.
Once the two Letras for the reading have been determined, the diviner may refer to the teachings of Odù Ifá for interpretation, and further questions may be asked to refine the reading by asking yes/no questions using a pair of eight possible objects called ibo, one hidden in each hand, and then casting the sixteen cowrie shells to select which hand or object represents the answer to the question.
These additional questions reveal whether the figures cast come with blessings (ire) or obstructions (osogbo), as well as the sources of those blessings or obstructions and the nature of the blessings or obstructions indicated. Possible sources of blessing or obstruction include the ancestors, Orisha, the client's own ori, another person, or a witchcraft curse.
Using Diloggun to Determine a Person's Tutelary Orisha
A person’s tutelary or guardian orisha may be determined through diloggún divination.
Ocha-centric houses use the diloggún of Eleggua or of the godparent’s crowning orisha to divine a person’s head orisha. This is done in a ceremony known as a bajada (bringing down) of the guardian orisha. The divination is performed on a grass mat wrapped in a white sheet and placed on the ground. The diviner sits on the ground and the client is seated on a small stool on the covered mat within reach of the diviner. The client places his head on the mat while the diviner throws the diloggun to bring his guardian orisha "down to the mat" and determine which owns his head.
Ifá-centric houses use the ikin (palm nuts) of Orunmila. Three babalawos beat the palm nuts and mark out Odù on the table of Ifá (Opón Ifá) to determine which orisha rules that client's destiny. This ceremony, or Plante, is also performed on the floor like the one done in Ocha-centric houses. It is unacceptable for this ceremony to be done with the okuelé or opele, the diviner’s chain that is often used in Odù Ifá readings.
Credits
This page is brought to you by the AIRR Tech Team:
- Authors: catherine yronwode, Dr. E., ConjureMan
- Contributors: Papa Newt, nagasiva yronwode, Lukianos
- Images: Lukianos, Dr. E., RitualsBotanica, SweetOoniDesigns, unknown photographer
See Also
Divination
- Divination and Fortune Telling by Obi Shells and Coconuts and by Diloggun Readings
AIRR Readers & Rootworkers Who Perform This Work for Clients
Pages in category "Obi and Diloggun Divination"
The following 8 pages are in this category, out of 8 total.
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