CELEBRATING IFÁ WISDOM
The Oduduwa Europe research and educational centre operates under the auspices of the Centre of Yoruba Traditional Culture Nigeria, headed by the notable Adéṣínà Síkírù Sàlámì - Bàbá King, Ph.D., the author of several reference works on the Yorubas. The centre's programme focuses primarily on Yoruba social and religious practices.
The Oduduwa Europe archive with its core focus on Yoruba oral literature and art is a documentation centre for primary source materials, including a prestigious collection of authentic Yoruba orality.
The Oduduwa Europe is an independent international publisher that promotes books with thematic emphases on Sub-Saharan Africa, especially Yorubaland and the Yorubas. The publishing house promotes distinguished authors in the fields of the humanities, social sciences and arts. Our publications are the result of decades’ worth of scientific collaboration between Europe and Nigeria and are intended for the scientific community as well as for readers broadly interested in the subject.
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bares in its denomination a name of the Yoruba deity Odùduwà who is considered the supreme descendant of the Supreme God Elédùnmarè. He is regarded as the spiritual father of all Òrìṣà worshippers and a spiritual protector of the Òrìṣà philosophy. In the primordial times he was sent to the visible world with the aim of explaining the secrets of life to humans, thereby helping them to recognise the truth and diversity of human nature. As the deity of the Yoruba civilisation, his Àṣẹ helped the Yoruba people organise their society in the sense of using the wisdom and knowledge for societal good.
A marvellous culmination of 30 years of study and research is presented in approximately 1,500 perfectly structured pages of English texts substantiated with expressions of authentic Yoruba orality, faithfully translated with added generous commentary and a selection of meaningful photos.
A unique and incomparable work for scholars, researchers, students, priests and devotees.
Maja Mesesnel, editor
In preparation
in collaboration with
Bàbálórìṣà Adéṣínà Síkírù Sàlámì - Bàbá King, Ph.D., is a Yoruba and a member of a family with a rich spiritual history of priests and priestesses belonging to the royal Kenta family in Abéòkúta, the capital of Ogun State in Nigeria.
He holds several pre-eminent hierarchical positions in Nigeria, including the titles of Bàbá Egbé of the society of bàbáláwo in Abéòkúta and Bàbá Ìṣẹ̀ṣè Ẹ̀gbà within the International Council for Ifá Religion in the Ẹ̀gbà District.
Bàbálórìṣà Bàbá King is a founder and spiritual leader of three active Òrìṣà temples on three continents. The temples’ core focus is on the Yoruba religious practices, the transmission of authentic Yoruba knowledge, and the provision of services for the community of Òrìṣà worshippers.
For almost four decades, professor Sàlámì has been dedicating most of his time to scientific research, in-depth study, and teaching of the traditional Yoruba culture and religion on an international level. As a university professor and a prominent academic, he authored several reference books on the Yoruba, paying special attention to the translation of different genres of sacred Yoruba orality.
In 2022, the Oduduwa Europe Publishing House intends to publish professor Bàbá King’s book “Erindilogun: the Voices of the Òrìṣà” – perhaps the most important publication on the divination with 16 cowries since the pioneering work of William Bascom in 1985.
As a communicator and elucidator of Ifá wisdom and knowledge, Sàlámì's contribution to the preservation and transmission of the traditional Yoruba knowledge and wisdom is pivotal, bringing the topic closer to Òrìṣà priests, priestesses, and devotees as well as the broader academic and non-academic readership.
