An opele (spelled opuele or ocuele in

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

) is a divination chain used in traditional African and

Afro-American religions African diaspora religions, also described as Afro-American religions, are a number of related beliefs that developed in the Americas in various areas of the Caribbean, Latin America, and the Southern United States. They derive from traditional ...

, notably in

Ifá Ifá or Fá is a geomantic system originating from Yorubaland in West Africa. It originates within the Yoruba religion, traditional religion of the Yoruba people. It is also practiced by followers of West African Vodun and certain African diaspo ...

and Yoruba tradition. A

babalawo Babaalawo or babaláwo in West Africa (babalao in Caribbean and South American Spanish and babalaô in Brazilian Portuguese), literally means "father of secrets" (or “father of mysteries”) in the Yoruba language. It is a spiritual title tha ...

(diviner) uses the opele in order to communicate with the deity of wisdom/knowledge in the Yoruba tradition (

Ọrunmila Ọrunmila (, also Ọrúnla or Orúla in Latin America) is the Orisha of Wisdom, knowledge, and Divination, is the creator of Ifá and Babalawo concept. He is a high priest of Ifá. Historical and literary sources Following the categories dev ...

), who is able to identify the causes and solutions to personal and collective problems and restore harmony in the person's life through re-balancing of the person's destiny and/or ori (personal deity). The opele is the minor divination tool used by babalawos for Ifá divination; it is believed to be an "assistant" or "slave" of Ọrunmila, who communicates Ọrunmila's desires to the babalawo and from the babalawo back to Ọrunmila. It is used for the majority of daily divination work. For divination regarding important ceremonial revelations or life-long information about a client or for very important decisions, babalawos elect to use their ikin seeds, which they consider to be the physical representation of Ọrunmila himself.

References

Religious objects Yoruba culture Yoruba words and phrases Traditional African religions Afro-American religion Objects used for divination Yoruba art {{Africandiaspora-stub