Yoruba culture, while recognisable to most in Trinidad and Tobago, is still mystifying as much of it is only practised by a select few who work hard to maintain its traditions.
Ifa is the spiritual belief system of the Yoruba people of Nigeria in West Africa. In TT, this spirituality has been passed down for generations and new recruits, looking to find a deeper connection to their ancestral past, are initiated and taught by practising members.
“I grew up in a very Christian home,” said author Ifarounke Deidre Prescod, who was initiated into the Ifa tradition in 2009.
“As an unwed mother I was outside of what my sisters did, who were both married. I was on the cusp of finding things out for myself. I had this energy, going through all the things women go through.
"I suppose I was always meant to be a loner. The things I have done I would not have been able to do if I was hitched to another.”
Prescod was born in Trinidad but has lived in Tobago for the past 30 years. She said she began writing in 2013, leaving behind her children and her life in TT, to the astonishment of her family, to journey to Nigeria in West Africa.
Her first book, Letters from Nigeria – Reflections of an Ifa Initiate (2017) reflects on her journey after joining the Ifa spiritual path.
“I had a store doing my craft and a guy came in one day and told me about Ifa initiation. I was going through a lot and shared that with him and he asked me if I had ever heard of it.”
Prescod said, being curious about how it could help her alleviate her life’s burdens at the time, met with a Babalawo (spiritual leader or high priest) and decided to do her first reading.
[caption id="attachment_963399" align="alignnone" width="802"] Author Ifarounke Deidre Prescod: "Because Ifa is such a hands-on tradition, you’re not practising Ifa if you’re not practising divination. I decided I wanted to be in charge of my own spirituality... And so, I went to Nigeria.” -Photo by David Reid[/caption]
A divination reading in the Yoruba tradition is done by visiting a Babalawo who connects the client to their ancestral and spiritual guides.
“Because Ifa is such a hands-on tradition, you’re not practising Ifa if you’re not practising divination. I decided I wanted to be in charge of my own spirituality. If I am to follow this tradition, I am to find out more about it. And so, I went to Nigeria.”
In 2020 Deidre launched her podcast called Embracing Wisdom and in 2021 she released her second book, Coming Through with a Boule De Feu, a collection of essays which she said encourages people to reflect on their present circumstances as a result of years of misguided indoctrination and injustice.
Boule de Feu, a French term for ball of fire or fireball – also known in TT as a flambeau, or a flame torch usually made with glass bottles – was used before the advent of torchlights. Prescod uses the term to represent shining a light on the deliberate manipulations of past colonial influences.
Prescod said, “Knowingly or not, we have been seduced by beliefs that
