Ifamatters

Types of Initiation

Opon Ifa with Opele

Presently in my country there is quite a bit of debate about initiation. I know about the ritual called Hand of Ifa, but please clarify the different types of Ifa initiation that exist.  What are the levels?  After Itefa, are there other stages of Ifa initiation?

IyaKemi

There are 3 types of initiation
1. ONIRELE

This is a type of initiation that our local military in the days of our ancestor do before going to war or if there is a war like situation
.2. ELEGAN

This is another type of Ifa initiation in which the Odu -sacred calabash is not present and the Ikin are not buried in a special prepared place by the Osun staff.  The Elegan initiation only takes two hours. The Ori of the initiated is appeased and some Ifa chants are said. Ifa will be cast to know the Odu and sacrifices may be made at that time or postponed to some other time. The Elegan initiation can be elevated to Olodun.
The origin of Elegan
The origin and explanation regarding the beginning of ELEGAN INITAITION can be got from the Odu of Ifa called  OTURA OSA.
Osun Funmilayo has 4 children, Agbe, Aluko, Odidere and AWODI. The  Awo ALAPAASIKI initiated and taught  Agbe, Aluko, Odidere the act and science with  all they need to know  to becoming a Babalawo or Iyanifa, but Awodi  never got intiated nor learnt to because a Babalawo or Iyanifa
Awodi went to IFE, because  he knew they needed a babalwo there and presented himself as a babalawo, divining and initiating people.  Word got to the Awos Alapasiki and Awodi’s  siblings of what he was doing, that he was  pretending to be a babalawo and initiating people. Agbe and Aluko were sent to Ife to ask and summoned him home. They asked Awodi on whose authority he was using to do all that he claimed he knew.
Because of the initiation he was doing and parading himself as a babalawo. Awodi had become a very influential personality in Ife. He asked some of his members who were in the position of authority to imprison and kill his brothers.

As a result of not hearing from the other two, AGBE AND ALUKO, Odidere was sent to Ife to find out what happened. Odidere went to the babalawo  to divine concerning his trip and was told to be very diplomatic in relation to the message he has been sent to deliver to his brother Awodi. When he got to Ife he never spoke or behaved  like the way the other brothers behaved and spoke. He told Awodi that what ever he was doing is good and ok but he need to come home to see their mother and get initiated. Yes Awodi got initiated but did not change the way he has been conducting initiations. They name of this type of initiation he was doing was called ELEGAN. That was the begining of Elegan in Ife.

3. OLODUN IFA INTAITION.
This is a type of initiation where the SACRED ODU CALABASH is present. The initiation process takes almost 15-20 hours.
The process is to call on the energies who were present at the time of your birth, when you choosing your IPIN (literally destiny) and also call on the universal energy, to be unlocked into the person so that he/she could be able to fulfill his/her destiny and know what to do and of most importance is the taboo, which prevent one from achieving one aims and objective.
Unlike Elegan, the each person Ikin are buried in a special prepared place in front of the Osun Staff. The name of the place is called Oju Oree, which signified the boundaries between the Material world and the Spiritual world.

IyaKemi went on to describe some of the many steps in the  Olodun Itefa initiation.  Others are secret and cannot ever be described to the uninitiated)

On you question if there is still any initiation to do after Itefa, if you do Olodun itefa and it was properly done, and all the processes, I highlighted above were done, including the ones that I did not mention here, you will not need to do any other Ifa initiation.
I hope I was able to answer your question.

Me

Modupe.  Thank you very much.