The Ifa system of knowledge as founded by Orunmila, is one of the most, if not the most interdisciplinary broad ranging classical African educational system, grounded in the intersection of literature, spirituality, mathematics and philosophy, extending to sculpture, herbalogy and vocal music, represented by lyrical chanting, a system of training requiring about ten years from commencement to being able to practice, after which learning continues infinitely, through consultation with experts, at times involving significant travel.
Orunmila’s Ifa system is an entire educational system, from its basic to tertiary to doctoral, post-doctoral, professorial and professorial emeriti levels, if we are to use the terms of the Western academy.
The term “university” is a Western term but the ideal of universal, comprehensive knowledge across disciplines, involving the study of existing knowledge and the development of new knowledge, predates the Western invention.
Orunmila’s Ifa sysyem is a powerfully developed interdisciplinary learning strategy currently undergoing deep and broad ranging revision by practitioners and scholars across the world, in dialogue with correlative disciplines and others in various fields of knowledge, across the humanities, social sciences and sciences.
Great thanks to Iyalode Adeyinka Bello for the inspiration that triggered this summation.
Image Below
Opon ifa, Ifa symbol of cosmological harmony, mediation and transformation
Culled from: Olúwatoyìn V. Adépọ̀jù
