Work Classification Layer

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Pick two or more works to set their attribute fingerprints, dimension-by-dimension passages, and shared school embodiments side by side. Especially useful for author-stage comparisons (Wittgenstein early vs late) and for setting a single tradition's foundational texts against each other.

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Work #419

The Odu Ifá Corpus

Anonymous / composite — the babaláwo (Ifá priest) tradition across centuries; the corpus is principally oral but partially transcribed and translated since the 19th century
Pre-literate origins (possibly Old Oyo era, c. 12th-16th century CE); ongoing oral tradition; partial transcription from the 19th century onward · Yoruba (with archaic ritual register)
Oral-divinatory corpus: 256 odu (signs), each with associated ese (verses), proverbs, narratives, ritual prescriptions · Yoruba religion / Ifá divination

The 256 odu of Ifá — the divinatory-religious corpus that organizes Yoruba and Yoruba-diaspora religious life

Attribute Fingerprint

Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.

Attribute The Odu Ifá Corpus
Time · Extent Infinite
Time · Ontological Status Relational
Time · Grain Continuous
Time · Freedom Non-Deterministic
Time · Traversability Cyclical
Time · Dimensionality One
Time · Direction Uni-directional
Space · Extent Infinite
Space · Ontological Status Relational
Space · Curvature Flat
Space · Dimensionality Three
Space · Locality Non-local
Matter · Extent Infinite
Matter · Ontological Status Substantival
Matter · Conservation Conserved
Matter · Dimensionality Three
Matter · Locality Local
Observer · Time Instance Multiple
Observer · Space Instance Multiple
Observer · Knowledge Extent Immediate
Observer · Knowledge Retainment Total
Observer · Physicality Both
Observer · Agency Active
Observer · Number Plural
Observer · Metaphysical Agency Spirit-relational
Observer · Moral Authority Tradition
Observer · Theological Method Mystical
Energy · Extent Infinite
Energy · Ontological Status Substantival
Energy · Conservation Conserved
Energy · Dispersibility Reversible
Information · Ontological Status Relational
Information · Cosmic Conservation Conserved
Information · Personal Conservation Conserved
Information · Granularity Continuous

Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence

What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.

⧖

Time

The Odu Ifá Corpus

Cyclical seasonal-ceremonial time; ancestral time is the present.

✦

Space

The Odu Ifá Corpus

Relational; sacred geography of the òrìṣà, the egungun, the ancestral compound.

◉

Matter

The Odu Ifá Corpus

Substantival but spirit-permeated.

◎

Observer

The Odu Ifá Corpus

Plural human and other-than-human persons. Spirit-relational metaphysical agency.

⚡

Energy

The Odu Ifá Corpus

Conserved through ceremonial practice that returns to balance.

⧉

Information

The Odu Ifá Corpus

Personal soul (ori) conserved across rebirths; the cloud of ancestors remains present.

Internal Tensions

Where each work's argument pulls against itself.

The Odu Ifá Corpus

The transcription of an oral-divinatory corpus is necessarily partial — each babaláwo carries their own variant; the printed corpora capture some subset frozen at a moment in time. The diaspora traditions (Cuban Lukumí, Brazilian Candomblé) have developed their own variants that have flowed back into West African practice in some cases. The relation between Ifá as religious-divinatory practice and Ifá as cultural-philosophical resource is a continuing question.