Apetebi Revealed: The Sacred Woman Beside The Babaláwo — Her Hidden Duties, Honour, Secrets And Place In Ifá

Posted by: ayangalu in Breaking News, Culture 0

Apẹ̀tẹ̀bí
An Apetebi is the name given to wife of Orunmila. It is also the name given to the wife of BABALAWO.

In the Odu Ifa ogbe sa, Ifa gives the story of how the Apetebi became the wife of Orunmila.
Ifa relates that Orunmila went to war in the town of Ilu obinrin after all the efforts of the other orisas were unsuccessful.
Orunmila consulted ifa, made the proper sacrifice, and subsequently was able to defeat the uprising in Ilu Obinrin. The town of ilubinrin was inhabited by only women. These women were tied together with rope and taken back to the town where Orunmila resided. Once they arrived in town Orunmila’s advisers wanted to kill all of the women.

Instead of killing the women, Orunmila decided to make them APETEBI.
The difference between an Apetebi and an Iyanifa(female ifa priest)is that an Apetebi is not necessarily initiated into Ifa but is the wife of a Babalawo.

Whereas an Iyanifa is not only initiated to ifa but is a learned to ifa….
After a woman marries a Babalawo, she is required to clean the area and house of ifa every 5days. It is necessary to clean the area where Ifa rests. She offers water to visitors when they arrive in the house; she must also honour her husband and cannot be rude. She should be respectful of all her husband’s Omo awo; she must be the keeper of her husband’s secrets and be careful of her words outside the house!

A babalawo’s duties to an Apetebi include treating his wife with respect. He cannot beat or use harsh words towards her but must be cool tempered and patient. If a problem arises between a babalawo and his wife, it must be solved amiably.
When feeding Ifa, the Apetebi should bring Esin and use these materials for iwure. There are many songs specific to Apetebi… Apetebi will have Aro, which are roles specific to Apetebi in the Agboniregun and Ifa festival. When Odu is being carried out, Apetebi have orin that is sung specifically at that time.

— in Oyo, Nigeria.