This book won The Noma Award for Publishing in Africa in 2001. The jury describes it thus: 'The work is an outstanding and significant cultural document, and an important part of the movement of cultural reclamation from within Africa. It assumes direct intellectual responsibility by the Yoruba for their collective history and culture; and extends the scope of Ifa studies in a new and original way…the author displays deep familiarity with indigenous sources, living practitioners and scholarly literature. The book, the product of thirty year's work, will stand as a benchmark for years to come."