Guardian Irunmole/Orisa?

Response: I am aware that this is the practice in the USA and throughout the diaspora of enquiring who is ones' guardian Irunmole/Orisa and I am equally aware that it has become unthinkable for any followers of Orisa not to do this as such a person is considered incomplete in his/her quest for the truth of the Irunmole/Orisa.

I believe that if this practice brings people in the diaspora closer to the Orisas then it has served its purpose. It has created an avenue to embrace the realities of the Irunmole/Orisa. The truth however is that there is no such thing as having an individual guiding Irunmole/Orisa within traditional practice. What we have that is closest to this concept of guiding Irumole/Orisa is Ori. Ori is the extension of Olodumare in every individual.

In Eji-Ogbe Ifa says that there is no Irunmole/Orisa that can give support, comfort, assistance, or hope to anyone without ones Ori. In Otura-Owonrin Ifa says that any achievement that anyone does is not attributed to any Irunmole/Orisa but to Ori alone. In Oyeku-Meji Ifa says that no Irunmole/Orisa can follow one on a difficult journey in the absence of ones' Ori. All the Irunmole/Orisa whom we remember today are the ones who were specially endowed by their own Ori. That is why we call them Eni-Ori-Sa-Da or Orisa meaning "Those whose Ori's have been specially selected".

Response: Where did this concept come from? I don't really know but it is obviously alien to traditional practice. I believe it is one of the practices picked up from the western religions. In other words, it is a syncretic concept. Consequent upon this, it's practice is just like what is done in Candomble, Lukumi, Umbanda, etc... All what is required of us is to be initiated into Ifa so as to determine our individual destinies and identities. This may be difficult to accept in the USA and in the rest of the diaspora but it is simply the truth.

Note: What we do have in traditional practice is something known as Imori (Knowledge of ones head/destiny). This is something that is usually performed for a baby some time after birth which allows the parents of the baby to find out which side of the family the spirit comes from, mother or fathers side, and also which Orisa lineage the baby comes from.

If the father comes from an Ogun lineage and the babies mother from an Obatala lineage and the babies spirit is determined to be from the father's side of the family, the baby is automatically from the Ogun lineage. If the baby is determined to be from the mother's side then automatically the baby is from the Obatala lineage. The Orisa lineage from which the baby is from is important to know because that Orisa does support that person strongly but what is even more important is knowing ones destiny. For the destiny of the person is what truly describes that person's personality, possible successes, possible failures, character traits, etc...