Ìpèsè: Appealing to Divinity

As was taught to me by my elders, the word Ìpèsè may be born from the practice known as Ìpà Asè which is the tradition of contributing money, food and drinks towards a communal gathering. Typically, one person would be selected to be the Alásè or main contributor and would provide the provisions necessary for a successful gathering. Anyone who consumes apart of the Asè (proceeds) either by way of food, drink or monetary gain would have some word of praise or well wishes for the contributor. 

Ìpèsè is a form of Etùtù (atonement and nourishment); it is means of seeking the support of divine beings whether seen or unseen. Ìpèsè is the process of appealing to others mouths and hearts with edible and non edible items. Ìpèsè can take the form of giving food or money to human beings with the intention that they will go on to wish you well. In fact, Spirit can use these human beings as vehicles in which to respond to whatever prayers and requests are made through Ìpèsè.

Ìpèsè is different from Ẹbọ in that it can be done for and on behalf of a specific spirit or spirit group. Whereas Ẹbọ is done for all different spirits through Èṣù, which are then nourished through the materials used during the offering. Ìpèsè can either be prescribed by Ifá or it can be done without recourse for spiritual inquiry. Anyone can prepare certain foods and drinks and place them outside so as to seek the divine favour of various spiritual essences. It is only Ẹbọ that has to go through the Ọpọ́n Ifá to be done correctly, while Ìpèsè to spiritual groups like Awọn Ìyáàmí Àjẹ́ and Ẹgbẹ́ Ọ̀run do not need to be done exclusively by an Awo.

When Ifá prescribes Ìpèsè it is based on the Odù that comes out during the consultation process. The materials used can be both broad or specific depending on what Ifá advises. Ifá may prescribe Ìpèsè along with Ẹbọ as a way of petitioning certain spiritual forces directly. Some Ìpèsè might prescribe food or drinks for a group of people, whereas others may be prescribed with some items that are inedible. Again, Ìpèsè prescribed by Ifá during a consultation are specific to an Odù. Here certain materials are used and specific chants are spoken to energize and remind those forces that what happened in the past would be repeated in the present favourably in the life of the client. Different Ẹsẹ̀ Ifá speak to different items to be used for Ìpèsè. Some Odù, apart from the Ẹbọ, will prescribe Ìpèsè to be done with Èkuru, Akara, or Olele, whereas others may prescribe the intestines of a specific animal. Every Ìpèsè, is rooted in one Ẹsẹ̀ Ifá or the other. Ifá describes the how, the why, and the way these materials are used and in some cases where the Ìpèsè must be placed to manifest optimally in the life of the client. Below are a couple of examples of how Ìpèsè with specific items are prescribed by Ifá based on different Ẹsẹ̀ Ifá.

In the Odù, Ọ̀sá wóò Ìwòrì wóò (Ọ̀sá Ìwòrì), Ifá speaks about Ìgúnnugún, the Vulture, who used Ìpèsè to bring about long life and blessings for themselves. 

Ifá says,

Ọ̀sá wóò Ìwòrì wóò,

À dáa fún Ìgún, 

Gbogbo ayé pejọ, wọn nfẹẹ jẹẹ,

Wọ́n ran ọmọ lọsi isalu ọ̀run kiolọ bere wa,

Wọ́n niki Ìgún rúbọ…

Ọ̀sá wóò Ìwòrì wóò,

Cast Ifá for Ìgún, 

When the whole world came together wanting to eat Ìgún, 

The wise man was sent to the spirit realm to inquire,

Ìgún was asked to make offering…

In Ọ̀sá Ìwòrì, Ifá narrates how Ìgúnnugún was asked to make a special Ìpèsè with Obì (kola nut). Ìgún made the Ìpèsè and was directed to place it by Èṣù. After throwing the Obì before Èṣù, Èṣù instructed Ìgún to go to Ọ̀run and seek favour from Olódùmarè directly. Meanwhile in Ayé, people were conspiring to consume Ìgún as food. However, they were not allowed consume Ìgún without first getting direct confirmation and permission from Olódùmarè. The people of the earth sent a wise person to Ọ̀run to request for the authority to eat Ìgún. When they arrived in Ọ̀run they were supposed to meet with Olódùmarè, but Olódùmarè was busy seeing about Akọnbì and needed Obì to do so. So, they requested from the person who had been sent to ask for permission to start eating Ìgún to help get some Obì to take care of Akọnbì in Ọ̀run. The person started travelling back to Ayé, but as they got to the boundary between realms where Èṣù resides, they saw Obì there. In fact it was actually the Obì that Gúnnugún had used when they had made their Ìpèsè. So the messenger took the Obì that Gúnnugún had used as offering and carried it back to Ọ̀run. When they got returned, Olódùmarè collected it and used them to take care of Akọnbì and entertain Ìgún in the other room.

Ìgún then said, “this looks like one of my Obì, this is my Obì!!” Because Ìgún could easily recognize some of the Obì he would have presented to Èṣù. They told Ìgún not to worry. Olódùmarè remarked, “Okay, if you are the owner of the Obì, then what was your need and what was your request?” And Ìgún said, “I want to go to Ayé where people cannot eat me or treat me negatively or scorn me and so on and so forth.” And they told Ìgún to hold on and they went to the room where they kept the other person who came to request for the authority to start eating Ìgún. They asked the person, “Did you truly go to Ayé to get this Obì? And the person said, “No, I didn’t need to go to Ayé, I saw the Obì at the boundary between realms where Èṣù is and I took it.” And that confirmed that the Obì that the person brought back to Ọ̀run was indeed the Obì that Ìgún placed there by Èṣù. They understood that if not for the offering that Ìgún had done, they wouldn’t be able to get the Obì to use in such a short amount of time. They equated it to mean that Ìgún was actually the one that facilitated how Olódùmarè acquired the Obì. They told Ìgún to relax and leave for Ayé, that their prayers will be answered; they would hold onto the individual who came to request for the authority to eat Ìgún and they would never allow that person to return to Ayé. Up till today, those that sent the person to Ọ̀run are still waiting for confirmation from the person to tell them if they can eat Ìgún or not. And that is why Ìgún is not eaten in Ayé.

In another Odù, Ogbè Yọnù (Ogbè Ògúndá), Ifá speaks about Ìgúnnugún and Ọ̀rúnmìlà, who both benefited from Ìpèsè to bring about healing, transformation, and all forms of blessings. In this Odù Ifá speaks of a sick child of Olódùmarè named Ìgún. Ìgún was sick, he may have had some health or financial challenges and a lot of people had been contacted and had done work on his behalf, albeit unsuccessfully.  It actually got to a state where Ìgún was told that he had to leave the community or realm of existence where Ìgún was living with his parents and go to another realm of existence in order to heal themselves. 

Meanwhile Ọ̀rúnmìlà was seeking wisdom, knowledge and all the good things of life and began doing the offerings to have all these blessings. Ọ̀rúnmìlà was told to make Ìpèsè for three consecutive days with a the intestines of a three hens. Coincidentally, the first day that Ọ̀rúnmìlà did the offering, Ìgún flew from one realm of existence to the realm where Ọ̀rúnmìlà was located. Having flown for a long time he landed near the offering that Ọ̀rúnmìlà had made and began to eat it. When Ọ̀rúnmìlà wanted to do the second day’s offering, Ọ̀rúnmìlà discovered that the first days offering had already been consumed. Ọ̀rúnmìlà said to self that his offering had been accepted. Ìgún was still looking for a cure for his ailment so he went to the same spot to eat the food that he had found on the previous day and again found the food that Ọ̀rúnmìlà had left as offering. As Ìgún was eating he began to notice that he started to feel better and better - he was being healed. Ọ̀rúnmìlà then went back to the spot to check on his offerings and gave thanks when he saw that on the second day his offerings had been devoured and accepted - not knowing that Ìgún was the one eating it and getting better.  Ọ̀rúnmìlà left the third day’s offering and Ìgún consumed it once again. On the fourth day Ìgún realized that he was completely cured of the ailment that he had sought treatment for for so long. Ìgún thought to himself that he had been looking for a good healer and that in fact the offerings that Ọ̀rúnmìlà had performed became his cure. So Ìgún flew back home to meet with his parents and family. When he meet with his family and his parents saw that he was cured - they asked him where he got the cure, and Ìgún said he did not know; he just ate the offering food in another realm. They asked him who placed the food and where? Ìgún didn't know who placed the food, but he did know the spot where the offerings were placed. His parents then instructed Ìgún along with their emissaries to carry five blessings to the spot where he had eaten the offerings. So when the got the the other realm and found the spot and saw Ọ̀rúnmìlà. Ọ̀rúnmìlà said, “so you’re the one that ate my offerings?”  Ìgún then brought out the five calabashes and said that these are the gifts my parents have sent for you. Ìgún told Ọ̀rúnmìlà to choose one gift and that the remaining four had to return with him. The contents of the five calabashes were wealth, victory, growth and development, honour and dignity, and Sùúru (patience/tolerance/endurance). Ọ̀rúnmìlà was then confronted with the challenge of choosing one of the five calabashes. He asked those close to him which calabash he should choose and they all said the specific calabashes that would solve their own problems. Ọ̀rúnmìlà choose the calabash of Sùúru and sent back the remaining four with Ìgún. However because he choose Suuru, all the blessings of wealth, victory, growth and development, honour and dignity returned to him. Whatever money, knowledge, or power one acquires one must have patience, tolerance and endurance to keep it.  At the end of the day it was acquiring Sùúru which lead the acquisition of all other blessings and fortunes.

Fundamentally Ìpẹsẹ serve as a vehicle by which food, drink, or another source of energy is transferred to someone or something else which creates the strong potential to usher in your own needs and desires. It represents a symbiotic relationship between ourselves and the universe.

It is not uncommon for those who have not studied Ifá in great depth to use different items as offering coupled with their intentions and place them at a crossroads or near a river or some other location to bring about the manifestation of their desires. It is helpful to bear in mind that that all Ìpèsè in some form come from one Ẹsẹ̀ Ifá or another as Ifá contains the how and why such items are used to achieve specific results. Fundamentally, all Ìpèsè are a vehicle for energy transference which can bend reality and allow the universe to work in our favour. 

Aboru Aboye. 

Ifawuyi Opeifa