Repository of endangered knowledge
At Oduduwa Europe, we strive to collect, store, research, encourage, and
promote the Yoruba sacred orality.
The Oduduwa Europe Repository of Endangered Knowledge is a perennial research project aimed at continuous expansion of digital assets in collaboration with source communities. We are planning to digitalise and document different genres of sacred Yoruba orality and related millennia-old practices.˝
— Maja Mesesnel, Project author
Sacred knowledge acknowledgment
This repository contains material drawn from the sacred corpus of Yorùbá indigenous knowledge, transmitted through oral tradition from master to disciple over many centuries.
It is presented here with the utmost reverence, and solely for educational, cultural, and spiritual purposes.
Certain passages may bear sacred or initiatory significance. Readers are respectfully urged to approach this material with discernment and integrity, and to refrain from any form of misuse or commercialisation outside its proper spiritual and cultural context.
Authors’ Rights
The arrangement, translation, interpretation, commentary, and presentation of the material in this repository are the original intellectual work of the authors and are protected by copyright law in Slovenia, Nigeria, and other countries under the Berne Convention.
The repository comprises the following separate collections:
The Bàbá King's
Ẹ́rìndílógún Collection
The Ìbà, Oríkì, Ìwúre,
and Orin Collection
The Bàbá King’s Ẹ́rìndílógún Collection
A collection of 514 versions of sacred odù Ifá
within the divination with 16 cowries
This collection forms an integral part of the book “Érìndílógún – the voices of the òrìṣà: A practical manual for the divination with 16 cowries including 514 versions of odù”.
Introduction to the Collection
The Bàbá King’s Ẹ́rìndílógún Collection” is the largest single repository of the sacred Yoruba odù Ifá within the divination with 16 cowries in the world.
Amounting to a total of 514 versions of the odù Ifá, the collection is a personal sacred repertoire of bàbálórìṣà Bàbá King, collected by the author himself over more than 40 years of spiritual development, from his apprenticeship to the present day.
Through audiovisual recordings, transcribed materials, and exegesis, the materials found here are of broad interdisciplinary interest, relevant to members of the source communities, academic researchers, and practitioners of the divination of 16 cowries, among others.
The collection is the result of collaboration between the Oduduwa Europe Research Centre and the Centre of Yoruba Traditional Culture Nigeria in Abẹ́òkúta.
Together with the publication “Ẹ́rìndílógún – the voices of the òrìṣà: A practical manual for the divination with 16 cowries including 514 versions of odù”, written by bàbálórìṣà Bàbá King, with co-author Maja Mesesnel, the Collection forms part of the infinite knowledge of Ẹ́rìndílógún and is considered not only permanently valuable record, but also a unique and pivotal academic and spiritual reference in itself.
Title: The Bàbá King’s Ẹ́rìndílógún Collection
Format: MP3
Year: 2026
Publisher: Oduduwa Europe
ISBN: XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Map
The map of Nigerian cities where professor Sàlámì has chronicled the sacred repertoire of several Yoruba bàbálórìṣà and ìyálórìṣà includes Abéòkúta, Ọ̀yọ́, Òṣogbo, Ìbàdàn, and Ifẹ̀.
How to cite this project (Oxford style)
If you use material from “The Bàbá King’s Ẹ́rìndílógún Collection” in your research, teaching, or publications, please cite the project as follows.
If you are using a different citation style (APA, Chicago, ABNT), please adapt the reference accordingly.
Footnote (first reference)
Adéṣínà Síkírù Sàlámì (Bàbá King) and Maja Mesesnel, The Bàbá King’s Ẹ́rìndílógún Collection (Oduduwa Europe Repository, 2026), https://www.oduduwa-europe.com/repository/ accessed 5 February 2026.
Short footnote (subsequent references)
Sàlámì and Mesesnel, The Bàbá King’s Ẹ́rìndílógún Collection.
Bibliography entry
Sàlámì, Adéṣínà Síkírù (Bàbá King), and Mesesnel, Maja. The Bàbá King’s Ẹ́rìndílógún Collection. Oduduwa Europe Repository, 2026. Accessed 5 February 2026. https://www.oduduwa-europe.com/repository/.
Content
Odù literary corpus in the divination with 16 cowries
| CHAPTER | NR. OF VERSIONS | RECORDING | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 35 |
|
|
| 2. | 20 |
|
Access to password- protected recordings
A selection of the recordings is freely available. Further recordings are accessible via password-protected access. The unique password is provided in the accompanying
book in order to ensure contextualized and respectful engagement with the material.
Transcription, translation, and exegesis
For the transcription, translation, and exegesis of the recordings, please consult “Ẹ́rìndílógún – the voices of the òrìṣà: A practical manual for the divination with 16 cowries including 514 versions of odù” at www.babakingerindilogunbook.com.