Sixteen Principal Odu Cowries Transistors

Ifa is a computing system and the Babalawo should be a programmer, except that he doesn't understand the science of Ifa.

Ifa has sixteen primary codes called the sixteen principal ODU. The Ifa codes and their names are:

Oyeku || || || ||

Okanran || || || |

Otuurupon || || | ||

Owonrin || || | |

Ika || | || ||

Ofun (Orangun) || | || |

Iwori || | | ||

Osa || | | |

Obara | || || ||

Odi | || || |

Ose | || | ||

Otura | || | |

Irosun | | || ||

Irete| | || |

Ogunda | | | ||

Ogbe | | | |

Ifa Transistor:

Note that the codes are made up of double and single vertical lines which are a coded way of writing the two digits in binary numerical system.

Cowrie shell is the transistor at the core of traditional African divination system. Each shell has a smooth side and a split side. The split side is the double line in Ifa codes while the smooth side is the single line.

Double line: || (split side)

Single line: | (smooth side)

The double line stands for broken or split. While the single line represents unbroken or unity. Which means the double line is yin and the single line is Yang.

Since yin and yang are black and white respectively, the double line is off while the single line is on. When light is switched off the room becomes dark. Yang is white because the room turns bright when light is switched on.

|| = 0 (off or black)

| = 1 (on or white)

Probability:

The sixteen principal ODU are all possible outcomes of throwing on a tray four cowrie shells. The probability that the outcome is one of the sixteen principal ODU is 1/16.

Example: When four cowries are thrown randomly on a tray, the probability that the outcome is Ogbe is 1/16.

The probability that it is Ogbe or Oyeku is 1/16 + 1/16 = 2/16 = 1/8

Probability that it's the sixteen principal ODU = 16/16 = 1

Ifa is a probability board game played by Babalawos. Ludo is the name of the game.  Opon Ifa divination tray is the Ludo board, ikin seeds are the dice, and the sixteen principal ODU are the sixteen seeds divided into four squares in a Ludo board, each square having four seeds in the beginning of the game.

Throwing the ikin seeds on an opon Ifa divination tray is throwing a dice on a Ludo board. Although a dice has six faces, there are only two possible outcomes:

1. Odd number

2. !Even number

The six square faces in a die are numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 represented by dots. Examples:

1 is a single dot in a square face

3 is three dots in a square face

6 is six dots in a square face.

If you roll a die on a Ludo board the all possible odd number outcomes  are 1, 3, and 5. All even number outcomes are 2, 4 and 6.

Therefore,

the probability that it's an odd number is 3/6 = 1/2

Probability of even number is 3/6 = 1/2

Odd number + Even number = 1/2 + 1/2 = 1

Ludo game is a binary computing system in which the dice is a transistor. When a dice is rolled and the outcome is an odd number, the transistor is off. If the outcome is an even number, the transistor is on.

The odd number is the split side in a cowrie shell and the double line in Ifa machine codes. On the other hand, the even number is the smooth side of a cowrie shell and the single line in Ifa machine language.

Ikin is a dice composed of 21 palm kernels in Ifa divination system.

The six square surfaces in a dice are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6.

Therefore,

Dice = 1+2+3+4+5+6 = 21 (ikin)

In a Ludo game there are the following four colours housed in four squares: red, green, blue and yellow. The purpose of rolling the is to bring out these colours and set them on a race whose possible outcome is determined by the numbers.