THE EIGHT PARTS OF ESE IFA                    

           I. The Name of the Divining Priest
                A. Human Beings
                     1. Actual Names (oruko)
                     2. Nicknames (inagije)
                B. Animals or Plants
                     1. Personified
                          a. Sometimes closely related to the client. 
                         [i.e. eesun (elephant grass) is mentioned as the Ifa priest of igbo
                        (forest) because eesun thrives best in the forest belt.)

          II. The Name of the Client (s)
                A. Preceded by
                     1. "A dia fun" (Ifa divination was performed for…)
                     2. "Lo dia fun" (Was the person who performed Ifa divination for…)
                B. The Name of the Client is given.
                     1. Orisa as clients
                     2. Community as client
                     3. Animal, plant, reptiles or insects as client
                     4. Human being as client
                C. Sometimes followed by a short introduction
                     1. Giving their residential address
                     2. Giving their praise name (oriki)
                     3. Describing them
                     4. Giving their occupation

          III. The Reason for the Divination
                A. Prominent reasons are:
                     1. Illness
                     2. Fear of death
                     3. Fear of enemies
                     4. Lack of a spouse
                     5. Lack of children
                     6. Lack of money
                B. Forms in which reasons are given.
                     1. Statement (Woke up and found himself surrounded by enemies)
                     2. Question (Could he possibly have honor and respect?)
                     3. Narrative (Who would take riches home from the farm)

           IV. The Sacrifice (ebo)
                A. Prescribed by the Priest
                     1. Animals
                     2. Foods
                     3. Gifts
                B. Relationship to the Reason
                     1. Associated to the reason for the divination (They told him 
                         to perform sacrifice in order to have children)
                     2. No association to the reason for the divination given
                        (He was told to perform sacrifice)
                C. Where does the sacrifice go?

          V. The Clients Decision.
                A. Compliance.
                B. Non-compliance.

           VI. Outcome.
                A. What happened after the client complied?
                B. What happened after the client refused to comply?
                     1. Esu as the enforcer.
           
           VII. Reaction of Client to results.
                A. Joy.
                B. Regret.

           VIII. The Moral.
                A. Emphisizing the importance of sacrifice.
                B. Calling everyone's attention to the abundance of good fortune.
                C. It doesn't take long for an obedient client to get his hearts desire.
                D. Ifa acts quickly.
                E. A prayer is put into the clients mouth (I am certainly destined to
                    become rich)
                F. Repetition of the central theme.