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389 ààlè àmì Ààlè that incorporate symbolically loaded objects as markers of ownership and warnings to transgressors; most commonly used on farms and in other exterior spaces. ààlè oògùn Ààlè that contain àṣẹ of medicine (oògùn) and words (�r�); widely used to protect interior spaces such as homes and persons; may be hidden from sight or may employ symbolic elements as visible warning, as required by the individual user. abíkú “Children who are born to die,” embodying a selfish, usually malicious spirit. àfiwé Analogy, comparison, simile. agà Literally, “ladder”; a type of ààlè; a structure from which collections of individual ààlè are displayed. àgbàdo Maize or corn, associated especially with blessings of plentiful wealth (owó), children (ọmọ), good health (àlàáfíà), and fine clothing (aṣọ). Cf. ṣùkù àgbàdo. àìlè Ìj�bú dialect for ààlè. ajogun Worldly sufferings, personified as “warriors against humanity.” àkó Wooden memorial figures, esp. in �w� region; carved with relative naturalism, arrayed with clothing and accoutrements of the deceased (usually a respected or wealthy person). àpáàdì Broken fragment of clay pottery. àpàkó Màrìwò denuded of its “unclean” midrib, in the process becoming “ancestral cloth.” àpèjúwe Description; closely translated “calling out what the eyes see clearly”; not written in-scription, but rather a confluence of vision and voice. àrokò A system of communication employing objects rather than written or spoken signifiers. Ààlè is a type of àrokò. àṣà Tradition, practices associated with antiquity. The root verb of àṣà is ṣà, “to pick” or “to select,” suggesting that novelty, change, and individual choice are fundamental to Yoruba conceptions of tradition (Yai 1994:113). àṣẹ The “power-to-make-things-happen” (Thompson 1983:5); the fundamental life-force that imbues and transforms persons, words, and things; drawn forth from sources always antecedent to and greater than any individual utterance of power. aṣ�ko A type of ààlè, “The one that watches over the farm.” aṣ�komásùn A type of ààlè, “The one that watches over the farm without sleeping .” aṣ�lé A type of ààlè, “The one that watches over the house.” aṣúf� Hallowed practice, from the phrase, A ṣé bí wọn ti ṣé ní If�, “We perform as they performed in the most ancient past.” àtúnbí Rebirth, reincarnation. awo Mystery; secret; arcane wisdom; priest of Ifá, who possesses such Glossary 390 Glossary knowledge; a member of an initiated society, e.g., Ògbóni/Oṣúgbò; the initiated society itself; cult. aw� Color. àwòrán Image, from À wò rántí, “What we look at and remember.” ayáj� A type of incantation often used to empower ààlè, from A yá ọj�, “We borrow the day.” ayé Literally, “the world,” connoting the world itself; a category of people endowed with powers associated with great age or arcane knowledge, which can often be used to negative ends. “The term ayé (world) can be used in Yoruba cosmology to explain any tendency towards downward mobility” (Láwuyì 1988:36). bàbá Father. A term of respect addressed to an older man. babaláwo A ritual specialist, master of the divination orature and techniques of Ifá, and usually skilled in the manufacture of medicines. bur�wà Bad character; also antithetical to �wà. burúkú Evil. dídán Luminosity; smoothness; finishedness; the carver’s careful final polishing of a work to achieve a condition of smooth, bright finish. dòbál� Prostration. dúdú Black; also used to express a broad range of dark colors. ẹbọ Sacrifice. ��kan Spear grass, used in the manufacture of �pá, a type of ààlè; also connotes “once.” èèwò Interdiction; a food that must not be consumed; an act that must not be done. ẹgàn A type of ààlè, made of knotted màrìwò. Elédùmarè See Olódùmarè. �mí Indwelling spirit, the foundation of unique personhood or objecthood ; self. ènìyàn Person, humanity. �rí ọkàn Conscience. �r� Cooling antidote; remedy. �san “Payback”; repercussions, consequences; also connoted by àb�ábá, closely translated as “something that we will return to meet.” ẹsẹ Ifá A verse of divination text. There are sixteen ẹsẹ Ifá in each of the sixteen Odù Ifá. �wà Beauty, considered as a condition of moral/ethical import. funfun White. ìb�rù Fear. ibi Evil, badness. Ifá System of divination, containing encyclopedic knowledge of virtually every aspect of traditional Yorùbá life: medicine, sacrifice, ritual instruction, keys to understanding the will of spiritual and material others, and much more. If...

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