How many tens of thousands have gone for Divination only to miss most of the message as a result of fixating on whether they come in good fortune or bad? Too many, I fear. While the literal translation of ire', ebe', or in Santeria, osorgbo, may well be good or bad...positive or negative, that is not what it really means or implies.

One of the most important things I teach my newly initiated Babalawo is what I call the "real estate secret" as it applies to divination. In the real estate business, there are three cardinal rules for being successful when buying property. These three rules are: (1) Location, (2) Location, (3) Location! In divination there are also three cardinal rules. They are: (1) Path, (2) Path, (3) Path!

What does this really mean? When an individual comes for divination, the Babalawo, through his relationship and communication with Orunmila, is examining the particular energy that person is currently living through. That energy is represented through specific sacred Odu, which define the particular vortex the individual is dealing with. Each Odu differs subtly or profoundly in the energy it defines. Some few are overwhelming favorable. Some few are overwhelmingly negative. The vast majority, however, are various combinations and permutations of both. The critically important thing for both babalawo and client to remember, is that it is this energy or path, that determines the probable success, growth or opportunities currently going on in the individuals life and in their immediate future.

What then is the true meaning of ire', ebe' or osorgbo?

The actual relevance may best be described as: are you getting the most out of the current energy pattern (ire') or are you not (ebe'/osorgbo)?

As Westerner's we are so fixated on goals, that it is easy to fall into the trap of viewing good or bad fortune to be the critical determinant of a reading. Nonsense! How many times have I tried to explain to individuals that they would much rather be ebe' in an overwhelmingly positive energy, than ire' in an overwhelmingly negative one. Certainly, we should all be looking to get the most out of, or learn the most, from any energy... but the critical issue is the path itself. That path defines where we are in life at any given point. The guidelines of good or bad fortune are the fine tuning for that path. Their specifics may define in which ways we are most likely to benefit from the particular energy or which ways are most likely to impede our progress... but the focus is and must remain on the energy itself!

One quick look here on the issue of Death as the probable cause of bad fortune. I don't know how many times individuals being divined for have seen the issue of bad fortune be further defined by the issue of death. How many have run to purchase the Rooster, obtain the talisman or seek immediate relief from this horrifying specter? Once again, too many! In truth, the vast percentages are that, if you did nothing at all, you would not die. This can be best explained this way: If today, simply on a statistical or actuarial basis you had perhaps a 1 in 95,000 chance of dying, a reading in bad fortune, for death, might increase those odds to say 50 in 95,000. The odds are certainly against death. As a sensible human, I prefer to keep those odds as favorable as possible, so, I will always perform the offering or sacrifice indicated...but I will do it calmly and without terror...and I will not allow it to deflect me from analyzing and understanding the energy that I am currently dealing with. It is my path I want to understand and concentrate on, not the rocks I might theoretically stumble on in the road.

One further word about ebe and death. In our philosophy, death, when it is your time, is not a bad or negative thing. Therefore, logically, if you come ebe or osorgbo, with a subset of death, understand it cannot possible be your time to die! If it were, you would not be in bad fortune! Indeed, from the logical and philosophical construct of IFA, once you perform the sacrifice, you will have eliminated death absolutely from your current path. If I personally am off path in my readings, I hope that death is the defining stumbling block. Unlike money, relationship, family or difficulties, death, in negative fortune, can always be eliminated completely as an issue. These others may only be moderated or mitigated,. You may, for example, lose only $50.00 instead of $5,000. You may have a small argument rather than a physical fight...but death...like pregnancy, is something you either are or are not.