Interactive

The 256 Odù

Every Odù is a signature of eight marks across two columns. Browse the full set of 256, open any one for what the corpus holds about it (its ẹsẹ Ifá verses, themes and narratives), toggle the marks yourself to feel how 256 follows from the structure, rotate the 256 as points of the binary space their signatures define, or see where the historical ranking orders disagree.

What this is, and is not: This explains the Odù and what the corpus records about each one. It never enacts divination. There is no randomiser and no casting simulation: every mark on this page is chosen by you, never by chance, and nothing here reads a fortune for you or for any situation of yours.

Right column—Left column—

Turn the outer ring, then the inner one. The right column is filled first and reversing the pair names a different figure. Every position is your own choice: this explains the structure, it never casts.

256 Odù shown

Olódù (principal)Ọmọ Odù (combined)Contested

No single canonical order

Names are standard across Yorùbáland, the Fọ̀n, the Ewe, Cuba and Brazil; the order is not. No single canonical order exists. A lineage's order is correct within that lineage.

Lists examined

Sources

Follow dominant order

Alternative orders recorded

Òfún is simultaneously sixteenth and eighth, and ties resolve by order of casting. Any presentation of the 256 as a clean numbered sequence is a simplification.

#	Ifẹ̀ orderBascom Table 3A	Southwestern orderBascom Table 3B	Abimbola's orderAbímbọ́lá, Sixteen Great Poems of Ifá
1	Ogbè	Ogbè	Ogbè
2	Ọ̀yẹ̀kú	Ọ̀yẹ̀kú	Ọ̀yẹ̀kú
3	Ìwòrì	Ìwòrì	Ìwòrì
4	Òdí	Òdí	Òdí
5	Ọ̀bàrà	Ìrosùn	Ìrosùn
6	Ọ̀kànràn	Òwónrín	Òwónrín
7	Ìrosùn	Ọ̀bàrà	Ọ̀bàrà
8	Òwónrín	Ọ̀kànràn	Ọ̀kànràn
9	Ògúndá	Ògúndá	Ògúndá
10	Ọ̀sá	Ọ̀sá	Ọ̀sá
11	Ìrẹtẹ̀	Ìká	Ìká
12	Òtúrá	Òtúrúpọ̀n	Òtúrúpọ̀n
13	Òtúrúpọ̀n	Òtúrá	Òtúrá
14	Ìká	Ìrẹtẹ̀	Ìrẹtẹ̀
15	Ọ̀ṣẹ́	Ọ̀ṣẹ́	Ọ̀ṣẹ́
16	Òfún	Òfún	Òfún

Names shown in a colour other than the body text mark a rank where the orders disagree on which Odù sits there.

Right column—Left column—

256 Odù shown

Olódù (principal)Ọmọ Odù (combined)Contested

No single canonical order

Names are standard across Yorùbáland, the Fọ̀n, the Ewe, Cuba and Brazil; the order is not. No single canonical order exists. A lineage's order is correct within that lineage.

Lists examined

Sources

Follow dominant order

Alternative orders recorded

Òfún is simultaneously sixteenth and eighth, and ties resolve by order of casting. Any presentation of the 256 as a clean numbered sequence is a simplification.

#	Ifẹ̀ orderBascom Table 3A	Southwestern orderBascom Table 3B	Abimbola's orderAbímbọ́lá, Sixteen Great Poems of Ifá
1	Ogbè	Ogbè	Ogbè
2	Ọ̀yẹ̀kú	Ọ̀yẹ̀kú	Ọ̀yẹ̀kú
3	Ìwòrì	Ìwòrì	Ìwòrì
4	Òdí	Òdí	Òdí
5	Ọ̀bàrà	Ìrosùn	Ìrosùn
6	Ọ̀kànràn	Òwónrín	Òwónrín
7	Ìrosùn	Ọ̀bàrà	Ọ̀bàrà
8	Òwónrín	Ọ̀kànràn	Ọ̀kànràn
9	Ògúndá	Ògúndá	Ògúndá
10	Ọ̀sá	Ọ̀sá	Ọ̀sá
11	Ìrẹtẹ̀	Ìká	Ìká
12	Òtúrá	Òtúrúpọ̀n	Òtúrúpọ̀n
13	Òtúrúpọ̀n	Òtúrá	Òtúrá
14	Ìká	Ìrẹtẹ̀	Ìrẹtẹ̀
15	Ọ̀ṣẹ́	Ọ̀ṣẹ́	Ọ̀ṣẹ́
16	Òfún	Òfún	Òfún

Names shown in a colour other than the body text mark a rank where the orders disagree on which Odù sits there.

The 256 Odù · Ìpilẹ̀ṣẹ̀