Ifá’s Predictions for 2002 From Cuba's Comisión Organizadora Para la Letra del Año

Cuba’s Comisión Organizadora de la Letra del Año (Organizing Committee for the Yearly Ifá Divination) met to consult Ifá for the year 2002. Because of their importance, we make available Ifá’s predictions for the year. The Committee, made of 600 Babalawos, met on December 31, 2001 in Havana, Cuba, to perform the ceremonies and castings. The Babalawo Guillermo Diago headed this group.

A press conference was called today, January 3, 2002, in the Casa de Cultura de Angola (Angolan Cultural House), to make public the predictions. Lázaro Cuesta, president of the committee, stated, “these predictions will assist us to choose the best routes to follow, and the best projects and endeavors during the coming year. They will assist us in choosing the right paths to follow to reach our goals, and warn us of those things from which we need to protect ourselves. These words will show us the right actions to follow to bring us closer to the Divine and to our sacred traditions. These words will help us overcome our destinies and futures. Although we are not obliged to change faiths or beliefs in order to benefit from these divinations from Ifá, He helps all to reach their goals in life and destinies.”

Ruling Odu:
Ogbé Yonu – Ogbé satiates his belly.

Ruling Divinity:
Changó (Divinity of War and the lightning bolt, praised in all of Nigeria, specially at Oyo and Koso).

Co-Ruling Divinity:
Yemayá (Divinity of the waters and mother of the fishes, praised at the Ogún river in the township of Ibara, in the region of Abeokuta, in Nigeria).

Flag for the Year:
Red with blue tassels or strips.

Warning against sickness:
Beware of neurological distress, i.e., embolisms, thrombosis, etc. Also be especially aware of diseases of the stomach, skin and mouth.

Items of global interest:
There will be many deaths due to outbreaks of epidemics through contagious diseases. Coup de états. Hardships due to economic sanctions. Much waste and pilfering of public monies. Thefts. Maritime accidents.

The war will escalate, affecting the maritime industry. Many treaties and covenants will be broken as well as accords of great magnitude and of global reach.

Ifá Recommends:

1. Do not overindulge in pork meat.
2. Prevent at all costs violent acts and anger.
3. Do not pile trash or have piles of stuff around the house. Keep your living quarters neat and orderly.
4. Beware of spoiled foodstuffs.
5. Paint your house white.
6. Either burn or bury organic wastes.
7. Be tactful and diplomatic to others and be mindful of your interpersonal relations and skills.
8. No minor (child) should go alone to the beach or to the river.

Orúmila says that on order to follow the path, we must learn the art and efficiency of perseverance and patience. Orunmilá says that any medicine or concoction not properly prepared by trained personnel will fail and cause more harm than good. Patience is as constant as the existence of the land and the heavens.

Proverbs of the Odu:

1. As the crocodiles live in the river, Ogbé Yonu will be eternal.
2. The sheep that socializes with dogs will eat excrement.
3. He who carries fire in his hands cannot wait.
4. He, who sleeps with the wife of another man, will always have an enemy.
5. The eye cannot kill the bird.
6. The glutton will fill his belly, but shrink his head.
7. The goat that breaks the drum, will fix it with his own skin.
8. The vain lagoon tries to distance itself from the brook, as if the water was not common to both.