The Odu Ifa tells us that the goal in IFA

Yoruba Scientific Spirituality is to BECOME AN ORISHA.

One of the main practices to becoming an orisha is the practice of ebo (sacrifice), which is the domain of Eshu, Lord of Decision Making. No matter what spiritual power (orisha) you are focusing your sacrifice, you must first go through Eshu because Eshu represents the recognition that it will be your decisions/indecisions that will manifest any outcome. However, we must have a clear understanding of what ebo is if we intend to use this power of Eshu usefully.

Ebo is sacrifice. However, putting foodstuffs on altars does not entail the true meaning of sacrifice, thus it does not make you an orisha, which is the purpose of ebo. To use ebo to become an orisha, what you are to sacrifice are the aspects of your lower self (materialism, fear, sexual-fetishes, passivity, poor diet, idolatry of other races, etc).

The providing of food sacrifice was a practice that made the providing of food for your community a spiritual obligation. The foods also had specific symbolism to reflect internal sacrifices. However, continuing to focus primarily on food sacrifice is not logical when our needs are not primarily food anymore.

We have lost control of our other important needs. We no longer have our own healthcare system, our own schools to educate our children, our own markets, our own justice system, etc. Thus, the sacrifice we need to do for our community is to help establish institutions that will restore those essentials.

This is the meaning of internal and external Ebo in Orisha Spiritual Science.

(painting of Eshu in female form, the overseer of the sacrifice of the lower self in order for the human to transform into orisha).