Ori — Personal Destiny, the Inner Head

Ori (literally 'head') is the Yoruba concept of personal destiny — the inner spiritual head that each ẹ̀mí (soul) selected in the àjàlé ọ̀run (the heaven of destiny-choosing) before birth, in the presence of Ajala the potter who molds physical heads. As documented in the Wikipedia entry on Ori (Yoruba) and by Bascom, ori is not externally imposed fate but a pre-birth covenant: 'Orí ẹni ni ń ṣe é' (it is one's ori that shapes one's life). Crucially, a 'bad ori' (ori burúkú) is not permanent — it can be repaired through specific ẹbọ orí (head sacrifice), alignment with one's tutelary Orisha, and the cultivation of ìwà pẹ̀lẹ́ (good character). The entire Ifá divination system functions in part as a diagnostic tool for ori — the babalawo reads the Odù to determine whether a person's life circumstances align with or deviate from the destiny their ori originally chose.