Ifá

Ifá is the divination system of the Yoruba, a people of Nigeria and Benin, placed under the authority of Orunmila, the deity of wisdom. The diviner, called a babalawo, obtains one of the two hundred fifty-six signs known as odu using sixteen palm nuts or a divining chain, then recites the verses and stories attached to it. This vast oral corpus is at once literature, memory and a guide for living. UNESCO recognized it as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, proclaimed in 2005 and inscribed in 2008.