How to Start Your Ifa Journey: A Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners

Ogunda Onisese | Ogundẹrin Temple

Stepping into the path of Ifa is not a trend it’s a return to your destiny. Whether you are in the diaspora seeking spiritual grounding or feeling the ancestral call, this guide offers a clear and respectful foundation to help you start your Ifa journey with confidence and clarity.

🪔 Step 1: Listen to Your Ori to Start Your Ifa Journey

Before seeking any priest, shrine, or ceremony begin with yourself. In the Ifa tradition, Ori is your inner divinity, your personal guide, and your first connection to spirit.

• Sit in silence.

• Speak aloud your desire for clarity.

• Ask your Ori to align you with truth, not ego.

  
  

🔍 Step 2: Seek Authentic Knowledge, Not Aesthetic

Social media can spark curiosity, but it cannot guide your spirit. Begin your journey by learning from verified sources:

• Elders and initiated priests (Iyanifa, Babalawo, Apetebi)

• Books written by respected Yoruba scholars

• Traditional proverbs (òwe) and oral teachings

Be wary of commercialized “spiritual influencers.” Ifa is not a costume it is a covenant.

🤝 Step 3: Connect with a Respected Ile or Temple

Ifa is not practiced alone. You must be connected to an Ile (spiritual house) or Temple led by an elder who walks with discipline and integrity.

What to look for:

• Clear lineage and initiation history

• Community-centered teachings

• Respectful communication (no fear tactics or spiritual threats)

• Patience to teach, not pressure

Let your Ori confirm the connection not your desperation.

🧎🏾‍♀️ Step 4: Begin Ritual Cleansings and Offerings

Before asking for your destiny, begin by cleansing blockages that keep you misaligned. This may include:

• Ceremonies to honor, cleanse, and uplift your ancestors

• Personal spiritual baths (òwó or omi tútù)

• Offerings to Ori, Egbe, or Eshu (as revealed in consultation)

This process opens your path for Ifa to speak clearly and for your ancestors to walk beside you with peace.

📜 Step 5: Receive a Divination (Dafa) Reading

Divination is how you begin formal dialogue with Ifa. A qualified Babalawo or Iyanifa will use the sacred Opon Ifa and tools to:

• Identify your guiding Odu

• Reveal taboos or things to avoid

• Determine the Orisa that walks with you

• Prescribe Ebo (sacrifice or offering) if needed

This reading is a spiritual map it doesn’t solve everything, but it shows you the road.

🕊 Step 6: Walk the Path Before Rushing to Initiate

Initiation is sacred. It should never be rushed.Live the teachings before seeking the title.

Ask yourself:

• Am I doing this to serve or to be seen?

• Am I honoring taboos and rituals I’ve already received?

• Do I understand that initiation is responsibility, not reward?

When the time is right, Ifa will call your name.

✨ Final Reflection

Your journey with Ifa will test your character, heal your spirit, and restore your ancestral connection. There is no “one way” but there is a right way: with patience, humility, and reverence.

Ori will guide. Elders will confirm. And Ifa will align you when your heart is ready.

This path isn’t walked alone. It’s built with discipline, community, and Ori.

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When your Ori leads, the road will rise to meet you.

— Ogunda Onisese | Ogundẹrin Temple