In a cultural context the idea of working together addresses structures used in traditional Yoruba culture to guide the working relationship between men and women in the larger community.

What becomes more clear as the verse unfolds is the fact that this Odu makes references to the cultural structures that guide the working relationship between husbands and wives. It is impossible to work effectively with others until you have first learned how to integrate the conflicting elements of the inner self. On a personal level the metaphor of working together is a clear reference to right brain, brain integration. The name of the diviner is telling us that this verse of Odu Ifa is a revelation of the mystery of working together.

The steady growth in population is, I believe, a result of the effective distribution of labor in the rural areas making it possible to maximize limited natural resources. Nigeria has the highest population density of any region on the continent of Africa. The inference here is that we approach the issues of survival individually and we approach the issues of survival collectively. In Yoruba culture you go into the bush to gather herbs, to hunt, to make a clearing to start a farm and countless other tasks related to survival. Walking into the bush means leaving the comforts of the home and the village to travel into the natural environment. In Yoruba the word bush is a reference to the forest outside of a village. In this verse the name of the diviner is you walk over the bush, I walk over the bush, we walk over the bush together. In Odu Ifa the name of the diviner is a key to understanding the solution to a particular problem. 'You walk over the bush, I walk over the bush, we both walk over the bush together were the Babalawo who cast Ifa for Odu on the day Odu made the journey from Heaven to Earth.'

Ifa odus travel