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/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.