DIFAnation, Duality and Binary Theory

Introduction 
I mentioned in my previous essay, "Ifa vs I Ching," that the origin of Ifa divination science might be shrouded in mystery. I was, by and large, thinking out loud the argument of the proponents of “foreign conception” model – which tends to prove that Ifa divination science was conceived in a foreign land and was imported much later into Africa. This essay is concerned with “local conception” model, in which I will prove that the concept of Ifa divination system was conceived locally and it was from the indigenous African people that the concept spread to the rest of the world. I shall begin with my favorite quotation from Dan Brown, “The ancients possessed profound scientific wisdom...mankind had once grasped the true nature of the universe…but had let go…and forgotten…the world needs this understanding…now more than ever!...The secret hides with the order 8 Franklin Square…of the numbers 1 through 64…" My use of this quotation above is an attempt to convince a diligent reader that, in spite of our modern scientific breakthroughs, we are still far removed from our potentials. If we can tap into the profound wisdom of the ancients, only then can we move closer to a measurable distance of our potential. Let's examine order 8, and numbers 1 through 64, as mentioned by Dan, above. The order 8 represents the original 8 markings of Ifa divination system. When combined (i.e., 2^8 = 256), the result is a 256 dimensional odu elements; denoting all actions and outcomes in the universe. The numbers 1-64 are 64 dimensional elements (i.e., 2^6) found in I Ching hexagram system. I should mention that I Ching is a subset of Ifa.  

What is Ifa Divination System?
Ifa is a 256 (i.e., 2^8) robust binary system based on 16 principal odu elements – each coefficient of original 8 odu markings takes binary states of 0 or 1; resulting in 16 principal odu elements. In Ifa divination, the coefficient 2 is geometrically fractalized into 256, which can further be fractalized to build more complex coefficients or sub hierarchies of Odu elements. The Odu elements of Ifa divination system represent all actions and outcomes in the universe, whose prime coefficients determine everything that exists or that could possibly reverse engineer the creation as such. With the Ifa priest as domain expert, he is ordained with the interpretation of Ifa structure and patterns. Since one Odu has to emerge out of possible 256 Odu elements, the probability of having or displaying one Odu is clearly 1/256.

Origin of Ifa Divination System
Some say it originates from Egypt; some say it originates from the Far East; some even say it’s a derivative of Arabic sand cutting divination (science of sand). This is the conventional view among the proponents of “foreign conception” model. In the “local conception” model that I have proposed, Ifa divination system was conceived by indigenous Africans around 12,000 years ago. And it was from Africa that the knowledge spread to the rest of the world. The dualistic or binary aspect of the ancient African world view was precisely what led to the conception and development of Ifa divination system. It is old and well known that Africans use a number system in which they count by multiples of two (Ron Eglash “African Fracals” 1999) – many cases of African mathematics are based on multiples of two. “The presence of doubling as a cultural theme occurs in many African societies, and in many social domains, connecting the sacredness of twins” (Ron Eglash “African Fracals” 1999), male and female principles (see Ankh), anatomical and physiological realities (i.e.,two eyes, two noses, two lips, two hands, two legs, two testes, and two kidneys) etc.  In ancient Egypt, it was widely held that divisibility by 2 was the path to truth (i.e., you can seek the truth via dimidiation, halving of objects - see mitosis). Said another way, ancient Egyptians and Ethiopians understood that any set of positive real numbers could be represented by the sum of powers of two - 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64 etc. Basically, the powers of two are place holders for any set of positive real numbers. I must mention, multiplication via halfing and doubling of numbers is perhaps the coolest arithmetic I've ever done, try it. Archeological evidence suggests that ancient Egypt’s use of base 2 calculations was derived from the use of base 2 in the interior of Africa (Zaslavsky, 1973). In non-African systems, base 10 or “Hindu-Arabic” decimal notations were ubiquitous. In fact, the ancient Greeks thought 10 was the sacred of all numbers, but it was in the cultural belief of ancient Africans in nature and duality that grounds the Ifa divination system in base 2 notation.

Ifa and the Birth of Binary Code Theory
It is widely held among ethno and Philo mathematicians here in the West that the binary code theory, which later was the base for Boolean algebra and modern computing system, has its origin in Odu Ifa. The binary system is thought to be a modern system, recently invented for constructing all these wonderful computer systems and mp3 players (Viznut, “The mystery of the Binary” ALT magazine). However, binary system is perhaps the oldest mathematical concept known to mankind. I have established, in my “local conception” model above, the local origin of Ifa divination system. Let me now take you through its diffusion into the power house of 17th century Western Europe. The trajectory path of this diffusion started with the Almoravids (also see the Moors) invasion of Ghana empire around 1070 AD.  It was in the Kingdom of Ghana that the Almoravids were exposed, first hand, to the science of geomancy (i.e., Ifa binary system). At the height of the Almoravid empire in the 11th century, it stretched from West Africa to Al-Andalus (Portugal and Spain). However, the concept of Ifa geomancy would not reach Spain until 12th century AD, when Hugo of Santalla, a well-known alchemist translated the subject from Arabic to Latin. Following the translation to Latin, geomancy was taken up by hermetic/Rosicrucian intellectual elites in Spain and France. Raymond Lull built his “logic machine” on the basis of geomancy and Gott Leibniz (around 1670-1703) applied Lull’s machine to counting; developing geomancy into a robust binary code system (Egondu Onyejekwe et al, “indigenous science for education and development”). We know, in order to recapture the lost wisdom of the ancients, Leibniz obsessively pleaded with the then king of France to invade Egypt. We also know that, in the late 16th century, Leibniz was exposed to I Ching (i.e., Yin Yang hexagram) system, but couldn't make sense of it because of  the language barrier (Franklin Perkins "Leibniz and China" 2004) - Chinese written language has symbolic characters that were not easily understandable and translatable by foreigners of that era. So it's implausible for Leibniz to have developed binary code theory on the basis of I Ching hexagram system. It's a fact, however, that Leibniz was exposed to the binary science of Ifa divination much earlier since it's readily available in Latin. It was this ancient knowledge that Leibniz pieced together to develop the binary code theory we know today.

Is Ifa Deterministic or Stochastic?
It is plausible that Ifa divination is stochastic (i.e., probabilistic or pure chance) because it is not recursive. However, I know without a doubt that Bamana divination technique, excrement of Ifa divination system, commonly used in Senegal is deterministic. In Bamana divination system, the priest use base 2 arithmetic to generate a set of outputs which are further looped back (i.e., recursion) as the next inputs – clearly this system is deterministic since its output depends on its input. This realization led me to a different, yet related, topic – quantum mechanics. We know from our knowledge of relativity that physical and celestial activities are deterministic (i.e., we can determine precisely the movement of earth, on its axis, around the sun; we can determine, simultaneously, the speed and the direction of a moving car); however, sub-atomic activities are stochastic – we encounter unpredictability and uncertainty in the sub-atomic level (i.e., photons behave as waves and particles, the speed and direction of electron cannot be simultaneously determined). We find at the primordial level of our existence some elements of probability distribution. What does this mean? Is our consciousness both deterministic and Stochastic (i.e.,unpredictable)? Einstein didn’t think so because he clearly stated that god was not a trickster, one who is both deterministic and unpredictable. I'm certain that Ifa would answer these questions sooner rather than later.

Conclusion
“To live in the world without becoming aware of the meaning of the world is like wandering about in a great library without touching the books.” (Source unknown). To my brothers and sisters who castigate Ifa system without knowing anything about it, it is not too late to move away from the radius of ignorance.