ÀMÓDI IN THE PRACTICE OF IFÁ DIVINATION: DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS
4.3 Classification of Àmódi
Àmódi by its very nature expresses its symptoms in similar ways as àìsàn ara. There are no consistent patterns to the occurrence of symptoms. It has no age restrictions which can help in the process of diagnosis, no link to particular disease aetiology. Àmódi is capable of changing perceived symptoms as well as have multiple symptom expressions in one body and at the instance of one condition. The only
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consistent nature of àmódi is that the disease aetiology is culturally concealed. This explains why diagnosis is difficult and impossible with the use of Western diagnostic tools.
4.3.1 Difficulty in Classifying Àmódi Using Manifested Symptoms
Given the findings of this study, one can readily say that Ifá divination becomes relevant when nothing else works. Medical diagnosis in Western parlance begins with an attempt to describe a category of disease, after which follow-up tests help to get more data to support or reject the diagnosis. These help to classify symptoms or conditions into known categories like bacteriological, hereditary, reactionary/consequential, etc. This process does not usually present too much difficulty given the established patterns in the field.
This is different in Yoruba traditional medical practice with particular reference to àmódi, given the findings of this study. Conditions in àmódi were found to be difficult to categorise with the use of manifested symptoms. This is so for three major reasons: (1) the same symptom can have different disease aetiologies; (2) different disease aetiologies can express themselves in the same symptom, and (3) one disease aetiology can manifest itself in diverse symptoms.
All the babaláwo that were interviewed for this research hold a common belief that there are some diseases that may have natural causes which may then be taken over by some other forces, thereby making the diagnosis require tools different from the ones used in the diagnosis of naturally caused diseases. For them, headache may result from hard labour without rest. But the same headache can be taken over by some forces thereby making the diagnosis require tools different from the ones used in the diagnosis of naturally caused headache. In such cases, symptoms will be known, and they will be symptoms of headache, but the regular treatment for headache will not work because the cause of the headache is not only natural.21
Table 4.9: Same symptom with different disease aetiologies
Symptom Disease Aetiology Patients
stomach pain, fever and sterility *Òrìsà
*èèwọ
*orí
*ìwà-búburú
A, B, F, I & J
skin ulcer * èèwọ
*ìwà-búburú
C & K infection in private parts *orí
*àì-kò-béèrè
G & L Swollen stomach, sleeplessness,
weight-loss, migraine, cough, weakness, stomach pain and paralysis
* èèwọ
*ìwà-búburú
*orí
*àì-kò-béèrè
*ìrírí ayé
D, E, M, R, S, T and U
21Ak gun Awo-agbaye, Ifatayo Awogbile on the 8th of March, 2011gave an example of someone fighting.
He said if ―àwọn ìyà mi‖ had planned to hurt the person, once the partner threatens, the threat is made real by some forces and whatever results from the threat is never diagnosable or treated using Western method of healthcare.
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strange behaviours likened to psychological conditions
*orí,
*ìwà-búburú and
*ìrírí ayé
H, N, V and W (Source: Author‘s compilation from fieldwork)
Patients A, B, F, I and J exhibited the same set of symptoms (stomach pain, fever and sterility) but the diagnosed aetiologies varied. Òrìsà, èèwọ , orí, ìwà-búburú were diagnosed respectively. This clearly indicates the difficulty in categorising a set of symptoms to a particular aetiology.
Patients C and K exhibited the same kind of symptom (skin ulcer), but these similar conditions were diagnosed to have two unrelated aetiologies: èèwọ and ìwà-búburú. This again makes it difficult to conclude that these similar conditions must have the same cause.
Patients G and L exhibited similar symptoms (defect in private parts), but these similar conditions were traced to different disease aetiologies: orí and àì-kò-béèrè. This made it difficult to classify the exhibited symptom as a consequence of either orí or àì-kò-béèrè.
Patients P and Q exhibited similar symptoms (strange objects observed moving and making sound in the body). In the case of these two patients, unlike the other groups, these two similar symptoms were diagnosed to have had the same disease aetiology: ayé/àjẹ /àwọn ìyà mi. This gives the impression that one can group these conditions and always link them to ayé/àjẹ /àwọn ìyà mi; but it still does not imply that any other disease aetiology could not have been responsible for these different conditions. Again, this makes it difficult to group all similar conditions as flowing from a particular disease aetiology.
Patients D, E, M, R, S, T and U exhibited symptoms that are typical of àìsàn ara (swollen stomach, sleeplessness, weight loss, migraine, cough, weakness, stomach pain and paralysis). But each of these symptoms was diagnosed to have different causes, èèwọ , ìwà-búburú, orí, àì-kò-béèrè and ìrírí ayé, respectively. This again made it difficult to categorise symptoms of àmódi.
Patients H, N, V and W exhibited similar symptoms (in these cases, the patients mostly had strange behaviours likened to psychological conditions). These symptoms were diagnosed to have been caused by different disease aetiologies orí, ìwà-búburú, and ìrírí ayé. But in the Western method of healthcare, a patient is considered to be psychiatric when his mind and spirit are ill. This condition is symptomized in
―hallucinations, delusions, thinking in a very unusual or disorganized way‖ (Birrell and Birrell, 2000:148).
For the babaláwo, these conditions do not always reflect madness. And so, to handle seeming psychiatric conditions requires the understanding of the local culture; that is, the beliefs and habits that are normal in the patient‘s community. With the opening of Aro Mental Hospital in Abeokuta, Nigeria, the scope of
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people considered to be having mental illness included those that ―suffered from physical problems which clinicians labelled psychosomatic‖ (Sadowsky, 1999:60). Lambo (1955) argued that for Africans, psychological disturbances were often masked by their transformation into physical complaints. These masks make it difficult for clinicians to diagnose, because of their transformation into somatic problems (Morakinyo, 1983). This was seen exhibited in the patients H, N, V and W.
Patient O exhibited a condition (epilepsy) that is usually called wárápá, but the babaláwo called it ‗gìrì ar npá‟, a type of epilepsy that appears in old age. With Ifá divination, this condition was diagnosed to have been caused by ìwà búburú, which accounts for the sudden appearance. This does not limit such symptom to ìwà-búburú, making diagnosis difficult.
4.3.2 Difficulty in Classifying Àmódi Using Disease Aetiologies
The findings of this study show that diagnosis of àmódi is difficult using Western healthcare diagnostic tools because the tools are made to diagnose conditions that are only defined and understood within the sphere of Western paradigm, shutting out the elements that seem unexplainable but real within the culture of the Yoruba people. These elements Lambo (1955) called ‗masks‘.
The difficulty in diagnosing and treating àmódi may not be too far from the nature of the instruments used in the assessment. Katon and Dengerink (1983) noted that a review of the instruments used in the evaluation of somatisation shows that, for the most part, the instruments available focus essentially on somatic symptoms. While somatic symptoms are true expressions of distress, they do not indicate whether the distress is caused by social, psychological or physical aspects of the patients‘ life.
This study reveals that it is difficult to classify symptoms of àmódi because a single symptom can be traced to different causes just as different causes can manifest in similar symptoms, thereby making it difficult, if not impossible, to categorise a symptom or limit the ways in which a disease aetiology can manifest itself.
Table 4.10: Different disease aetiologies manifesting in the same symptom
Disease aetiologies Symptoms Patients
Òrìsà Èèwọ Orí Ìwà-búburú
Heat in the stomach, could not get pregnant.
A, B, F & I
Èèwọ Ìwà-búburú
Skin ulcer. C & K
Èèwọ , Ìwà-búburú, Orí,
Àì-kò-béèrè, Ìrírí ayé
Swollen stomach, sleeplessness, weight loss, migraine, cough, weakness, stomach pain and paralysis.
D, E, M, R, S, T & U
Orí, Ìwà-búburú,
Strange behaviour likened to psychological conditions.
H, N, V & W
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Ìrírí-ayé
(Source: Author‘s compilation from fieldwork)
This study reveals that it is difficult to classifying symptoms of àmódi with the use of disease aetiology, because different causes can manifest in similar symptoms.
The findings of this study showed that Òrìsà, Èèwọ , Orí and Ìwà-búburú manifested in a similar condition (always felt heat in the stomach and could not get pregnant) as found in patients A, B, F and I.
Èèwọ and ìwà-búburú manifested in a similar condition (skin ulcer) as found in patients C and K.
Èèwọ , ìwà-búburú, orí, àì-kò-béèrè and ìrírí ayé manifested in a similar condition that are typical of àìsàn ara (swollen stomach, sleeplessness, weight loss, migraine, cough, weakness, stomach pain and paralysis) as found in patients D, E, M, R, S, T and U.
Orí, ìwà-búburú, ìrírí ayé manifested in similar conditions (strange behaviours likened to psychological conditions) in patients H, N, V and W.
The nature of the disease aetiologies found in this study made it difficult for Western healthcare diagnostic tools to diagnose the conditions of the patients. These disease aetiologies belong to personalistic disease aetiology. As have been noted, it is a class of disease causation that has generated strong debates among practitioners of Western methods of healthcare, anthropologists and sociologists. It is regarded as non-empirical causes of diseases. Scholars such as Foster and Anderson (1978), Osunwole, (1989), Jegede, O.
(2010), and Jegede, A. (2010)) talked about disease aetiologies such as curses, witchcraft, ―belligerent enemies and powers that work against man‖ (Abimbola, 1976:152). ―Transgression or violation of natural laws‖ (Oyeneye, and Orubuloye, 1985:9), and ―the intrusion of occult powers as well as by forces from the physical environment, such that any long-lasting, enfeebling, pathological condition of the body may be attributed to the penetration of the body by malevolent forces, especially if it falls outside the range of those ailments readily explained by more apparent causes‖ (Wall, 1988:192).
All these make it is impossible for the Western tools of diagnosis to locate the causes and diagnose the observed conditions. This study found that these conditions of Àmódi are real and these disease aetiologies cannot be easily dismissed, making Ifá divination relevant in the search for holistic diagnosis. In all the in-depth interviews and FGD, the consensus is that there are clearly indicated diagnoses for the causes of symptoms and the findings corroborated this consensus.
Yoruba people believe that kò sí ohun tuntun lábẹ ọ run (there is nothing new under the skies). This seems to say it all for the babaláwo and the Ifá divination process. It is believed that everything is contained or
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explained in the Ifá literary corpus. In this study, all the patients manifested seeming naturally caused diseases, but the test results did not indicate the queried diseases. It was only after divination that the patients responded to treatments. These findings lay strong emphasis on the crucial value of diagnosis of a disease before the commencement of treatment.
4.3.3 One Disease Aetiology Manifesting in Different Symptoms
It is possible to have a particular disease aetiology manifest through different symptoms:
Èèwọ was responsible for the conditions of patients B (severe stomach pain and could not get pregnant), C (skin ulcer), D (swollen stomach, sleepless nights and loss of weight) and E (migraine).
Orí as single disease aetiology, was responsible for the conditions of patients F (could not get pregnant.), G (could not have erection) and H (mental problem).
Ìwà-búburú was found to be responsible for the conditions of patients I (could not get pregnant), J (worry and childlessness), K (skin ulcer), L (swollen vagina), M (coughing out blood), N (mental problem) and O (epilepsy).
Àjẹ /ayé/àwọn ìyà mi were responsible for the conditions in patients P (strange objects moving around in the body), Q (audible bird-like noise from the stomach, loss of weight), R (regular stomach pain), S (weight loss and loss of sleep) and H (mental problem).
Ìrírí ayé as a disease aetiology was found to be responsible for the conditions of patients U (feels tired and weight loss), V (strange actions) and W (mental problem). That is, one disease aetiology, but many and variable conditions, which makes it hard and difficult for diagnosis to take place. ―Clients may have the same illness and similar symptoms, but the methods of treatment employed may not necessarily be the same, because the causes of these illnesses may differ‖ (Jegede, O. 2010:10). With Ifá divination, the babaláwo takes the patient to his or her origin or the beginning of the condition, to trace what may be responsible for the symptoms or illness found in the client.
Table 4.11: One disease aetiology manifesting in diverse symptoms
Disease Aetiology Symptoms Patient
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Èèwọ *Severe stomach pain and could
not get pregnant
*Skin ulcer
*Swollen stomach, sleepless nights and loss of weight
* Migraine
B C D E
Orí *Could not get pregnant
* Could not have erection
* Mental problem
F G H
Ìwà búburú * Could not get pregnant
* Worry and childlessness
* Skin ulcer
* Swollen vagina
* Coughing out blood
* Mental problem
*Epilepsy
I J K L M N O Àjẹ /ayé/àwọn ìyà mi *Strange objects move around in
the body
* Audible birdlike noise from the stomach, loss of weight
* Regular stomach pain
*Weight loss and loss of sleep P Q R S
Ìrírí ayé * Feels tired and weight loss
* Strange actions
* Mental problem
U V W
22(Source: Author‘s compilation from fieldwork)
The findings reveal that each case is unique and so it is difficult to follow a general rule in the treatment of symptoms. This makes it difficult to group symptoms and prescriptions. There are no uniform questions asked; the treatment periods differ; the only constant thing in the process of treatment is the content of Odù; that is, the prescriptions, and this only happens when the same set of Odù appears through divination.
Odù is the same everywhere and they (odù) prescribe what is to be used as treatment. The variety that may occur may be from the interpretation of the odù and the relevance of the odù to the patient‘s situation. A condition may require all the prescriptions in the odù whereas some others may just require a fraction (ọ gangan) of what the odù prescribed.
4.3.4 Analysis and Grouping of the Found Disease Aetiologies
The findings of this research show, seven groups of disease aetiology that are different from the bacteriological and hereditary forms of aetiology found in Western healthcare paradigm. These seven disease aetiologies can be further subdivided into three: Spiritual (Òrìșà, orí and àjẹ), cultural (Èèwọ and àì-kò-béèrè) and social (Ìwà-búburú and ìrírí ayé). These types of disease aetiologies do not exist in the Western categories and so difficult to diagnose with Western diagnostic tools.
22 These diagnoses and related conditions are not exhaustive of the possible conditions that can result from a particular cause. This table only indicates the nature of disease aetiology that were found in the patients that were observed and the table also indicates the possible disease aetiologies that exist in Yoruba traditional health care which do not exist within the paradigm of the Western healthcare.