Fate, manifest destiny and divination have always been a focal point of philosophical debate. The balance between humanity's innate compunction to understand itself, its surroundings and the unknown was always the center of Greek philosophy and all of the obscurely documented preceding cultures. It has often been debated whether fate plays a role in one's capacity to implement goals. Does success come from pure human intellect? Does self-fulfillment come solely from human drive and persistence? Does an individual's birth circumstance and subsequent ensuing social strata dictate one's possibilities in life? These questions have always been at the center of every philosophical, religious and political concern. Certainly some consensus can be reached by all thoughtful disciplines. Orisa worship through Ifa divination puts forth a view which, upon close scrutiny, merges both science and religion.
If one dissects what must be taking place during a session of accurate divination — regardless of Oracle, regardless of spiritual discipline, and disconnected from personal intuition and/or human bias — one can only come to the conclusion that there are other forces which interact with human affairs. For said forces to have the capacity to interact with, influence and affect human affairs could only be explained, to the best of our capacity, by a deep understanding of the Oracle in question, relativity, and quantum mechanics. Divination, regardless of form, in order to be accurate must have the capacity to peer into the past, see the present, and peer into the future. Accurately analyzing an individual's past life experiences arguably could only come from an entity's capacity to retrieve memories from a person's mind and relay them through its diviner host. Accurate analysis of a person's contemporary situation can perhaps come from intuition and/or human intuitive skills, but would be flawed within the context of divination, as divination cannot be accurate without objectivity — so this too would require an outside force analyzing and relaying accurate data to a diviner host. Peering into the future opens up an entire Pandora's box, as accurate assertions in this matter would require a deep understanding of a person's personal desires within the context of decisions not yet made.
Yoruba practices and Ifa divination give clear explanations on this subject matter, along with detailed insight into human possession.
— Oluwo Ifalasa Omolodun