ÌṢẸ̀ṢẸ Is Diverse: We Must Learn to Respect Our Different Lineages
There are many Ifá and Òrìṣà lineages within Yorùbáland and across the world. ÌṢẸ̀ṢẸ is not a single household with one uniform expression, one set of customs, or one way of practicing every aspect of the tradition. It is a diverse ancestral tradition that has been preserved through different families, communities, temples, and lineages over generations.
ÌṢẸ̀ṢẸ is practiced differently from one household to another. What is accepted in one lineage can be restricted or considered a taboo in another. I have personally encountered situations where something that we would never do in my own lineage, and which is regarded as a taboo, is completely normal in another lineage—even among people from the same state.
This diversity should not automatically make one lineage wrong and another right.
Our traditions developed through different ancestral experiences, geographical environments, historical circumstances, revelations, teachings, and lineages of transmission. Different communities preserved different bodies of knowledge and different customs. This is part of the richness of ÌṢẸ̀ṢẸ.
The mistake we sometimes make is assuming that our own household's practice is the only authentic expression of ÌṢẸ̀ṢẸ.
We must be careful with this.
Your lineage is your lineage.
Another person's lineage is their lineage.
Your Òrìṣà tradition is worthy of respect, and another household's tradition is also worthy of respectful understanding.
This does not mean that we should abandon discernment or accept everything without question. We should continue to study, investigate, ask questions, preserve our lineages, and distinguish genuine ancestral knowledge from practices that have been introduced recently or misunderstood. But disagreement does not require hostility.
We can say, "This is not how we do it in my lineage," without saying, "Therefore, nobody should do it."
We can learn from one another without attempting to erase one another.
We can preserve our differences without becoming enemies.
We can sit together as Babaláwo, Ìyáláwo, Ìyánífá, Òlórìṣà, elders, scholars, practitioners, and students and discuss our different traditions with humility.
The strength of ÌṢẸ̀ṢẸ is not necessarily found in making every household identical. Its strength can also be found in the extraordinary diversity of knowledge that has survived within different lineages.
We need more learning and less unnecessary opposition.
We need more dialogue and less condemnation.
We need more respect and less competition.
If we genuinely care about preserving Ifá and Òrìṣà spirituality for future generations, then we must learn how to disagree without destroying one another.
ÌṢẸ̀ṢẸ is diverse.
Let us embrace that diversity.
Let us learn from each other.
Let us preserve our individual lineages while respecting the lineages of others.
And above all, let us remember that we are connected by something greater than the differences between our households: the ancestral wisdom we have inherited and the responsibility to carry it forward with dignity, understanding, and good character.
— Olusegun Daramola
Founder, World Builderr