From my book “Kpólí Fá of Afrikan Vodún”
Fire, Air, Water, and Earth in Relation to the Kpólí Fá/Odù Ifá of the Afrikan Individual
“The fire, air, water and earth concept of African Vodun is known by the acronym of FAWE. This concept is unique to the Ajã Vodún aspect of the Fá oracle and does not appear in the Ifá of the Yorùbá or Afá of the Igbo. It allows the Vodún bõkonɔn (Fá priest) to get a much deeper overstanding of the dynamics of a reading when a Kpolí Fá (Odù Ifá among the Yorùbá) appears on the Fáte (fah-tay) divination tray by reading the Fádékwín/Ikin divination seeds, or through the Agŭmaga/Opele divining chain.
Every Máwùfɛnugbeto (Afrikan person) has a Kpólí that governs their entry into, progression through, and leaving this world. Thus, we say in Ajăgbè, Kpolí le wɛ jo wɛ, bo nù le vɛ wè – You are born under this particular sign. A culture who goes by such ancestral wisdom will measure the character and behavior of individuals based on what they know about Kpóli Fá. When a person acts outside of the gbεsù, or divine laws of the universe, you may hear a phrase like E ka yi àgbasa n’i à – Has he/she been through the àgbásá rite? The àgbásá rite is how one receive their Kpólí Fá or destiny. The phrase itself is in reference to a behavior that counters the order that Vodún teaches and mandates. For those who unfortunately have not, we say E do Kpólí é ji à – the messages of the oracle does not support their life. This is often seen in a person’s character if they follow the advice of Fá or not. The Fágbesisa say statements like:
Fá dè vó, Bo é sa
Fá prescribed a vo (sacrificed), he/she complied
Or
Manyi mo ã o. “The person refused to do vosa.”
Gbèmézì Tototo, lololo. Mi kan Ji-Ogbe, kuli ma hun nu mi o! So mo no jɛ aguidigbahun do so nu o!
We have consulted Jiogbe, that the road of death does not open to us oh! Lightning never reaches the aguidigbahun rodent in the heart of the mountain.