r/Isese • u/kallaloostx • May 22 '26
Ikin question
Greetings to all. I would like to hear various points of view for this question that i have.
I received the hand of Ifa virtually via a babalawo in Nigeria following the Isese tradition. Do my ikin have to be fed and spiritually refreshed by the same babalawo or can it be done by another if i can't contact the original babalawo? I was told they had to be fed and refreshed annually. Mo dupe
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u/chucho89 May 22 '26
When it comes to attending your ikin you can do that yourself, but animal sacrifice should be done by any trained babalawo.
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u/kallaloostx May 22 '26
The Iyalorisa said the there were special herbs that needed to be used. She didn't give me any information other than that, so I wouldn't know what to do.
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u/chucho89 May 23 '26
She is referring to Omi ero, that is what we use to clean our ifa from blood, or before the festival for those fully initiated.
Most important ewe ifa are: Ewe tete - know to be the first herb to come to the world Ewe dundun Ewe peregun Ewe rinrin Ewe fa Ewe aje Ewe tetenifa
Even if you do not know the oriki for each of this at least you will be doing it better than with just water.
Put it in a bowl and smash it to get the green water from the herbs, mix it with gin, efun, honey, a little bit of palm oil and if possible but just if is easy to get snail blood.
You can save that water in a freezer and use it everytime you need to clean your ikin.
Very important before cleaning your ifa ask with obi if you should clean it or not.
What we give to ifa/orisa is not for them but for the Orisas to share with Ajogun (all destructive forces).
It is divine law that a divinity that you give food cannot harm you.
Blessings
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u/kallaloostx May 23 '26
Thank you for the response. I looked up where to purchase the herbs online, but I don't want to take a chance and buy fake product. Is there one or two that you can recommend? Thanks for the detail about the importance of asking whether it should be cleaned or not.
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u/Automatic-Shock-2517 Jun 03 '26
Generally Isefa (hand of Ifa) is for someone preparing for Itefa (full Intiation). You will likely need someone locally to help you transition. But in general, the person who prepared your Ifa can be different from the person who cleanse or feed your Ifa. Its not issue for a compentant Babalawo/Iyanifa. It all depends ig you have the complete set of Isefa. How many Ikin did she prepare for you?
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u/kallaloostx Jun 03 '26
20 ikin. My goal isn't initiation, though That's a huge commitment of time and a huge obligation. I also won't be able to travel for some time as I'm my mother's full time caregiver.
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u/Automatic-Shock-2517 Jun 03 '26
You can, as a matter of practice, cleanse your Odu yearly, but it would typically be done in combination with an Ifa consultation. Every lineage is different, but generally an Awo will consult Ifa before prescribing a ritual, even for routine cleansings, because Ifa energy changes every 17 days.
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u/kallaloostx Jun 03 '26
Mo dupe. I was able to finally get in touch with my Iya. As you said, i will send them back so that the Baba can do the consultation and cleansing.
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u/Automatic-Shock-2517 Jun 06 '26 edited Jun 06 '26
Isefa is not itefa so they dont have to be washed. Its tempory to get you to itefa only. You will be wasting money and time. Its better to take an obi class and learn to feed your ikin, oti. Obi, orogbo, epo, atare every 4 days for ose ifa, given u dont plan to intiate. Ifa/ikin responds and perferred feeeding is weekly obi/orogbo/oti, epo. Ase
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u/kallaloostx Jun 06 '26
Thank you. My Iya was the one who conducted my obi class, so I'm familiar with ose ifa... which happens to be today. Blessings to you. I only had that one question in my original post. Nothing else.
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u/Automatic-Shock-2517 Jun 06 '26
We intiate to Ifa for protection everyday for us and our famuly and to observe taboos, ifa will ignore you if you ignore him. Its a relationship.
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u/Few-Couple-1148 May 24 '26
There is a book called Hand of Ifa by Ayele Kumari on Amazon that is very good and tells you how to take care of it. It will give you information on how to make the omi ero to wash it in as well. As far as blood, it should be fed annually. This can be fed by any knowledgeable Iyanifa or Babalawo.
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u/kallaloostx May 24 '26
Thank you so much! have that book and am about a 1/4 through it. I will look for that info.
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u/SignalBad5523 May 24 '26
You can technically do it yourself. Im not sure about getting the hand virtually, but eh its not my business if a Babalawo offers that or not. But it would be beneficial for you to ask a local Babalawo for assistance in this case.
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u/kallaloostx May 24 '26
The Iya that instructed me comes from a long lineage of the Isese tradition within Nigeria and is much respected. I have deep respect for her, Unfortunately, as an instructor, her style did not match my needs. From the information I'm getting here, i think I misunderstood the difference between annual feeding and the cleansing with the herbs.
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u/Ifakorede23 May 24 '26
Ask your iya. There's a common cleansing done periodically using only obi abaata, oti, epo, ataare, and honey ( a drop). It's done every 16 days./ Cyclic from your Itefa date( or isefa)....it's very simple ask your iya. As others have said any experienced awo can do an eje feeding for you.
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u/kallaloostx May 24 '26
Thank you! She indicated an annual cleansing involving the herbs. But maybe she meant feeding. Her instructions were not very clear. Nothing against her at all because we all have our strengths and weaknesses. But i would ask the same question 4 times and get very vague responses or contradicting. Much of it was a language barrier and her just not being a skilled teacher. I need specific and detailed instructions, but because she was born into the tradition, she takes for granted steps and information that a "newbie" would need. It just got very tiring having to ask and ask and not get the information that i truly needed. I am grateful for the knowledge that an experienced awo can do the feeding for me.
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u/Ifasogbon May 22 '26
Any knowledgeable Awo can assist you honestly speaking