A Conceptual Architecture for Physics-Informed Knowledge Retrieval of the Yoruba Ifá Corpus Using Knowledge Graphs and Graph Neural Networks

The Yoruba Ifá corpus is one of the oldest and most complete knowledge systems in Africa. For many centuries, it has preserved wisdom about life, health, morality, history, and spirituality through oral tradition. Today, this sacred knowledge faces serious danger: the elders who carry it are passing away, young people are migrating to cities, and the Yoruba language is gradually changing under external pressures. Together, these factors threaten the survival of Ifá knowledge. This study asks a simple but important question: can modern computer science help to preserve and share Ifá knowledge without destroying its deeper meaning? To answer this question, the study proposes a new way of thinking about Ifá knowledge. Rather than treating Ifá verses as ordinary documents in a filing cabinet, it treats them as a living network of connected ideas. Just as a Babaláwo (Ifá priest) never reads a single verse in isolation but connects it to proverbs, rituals, history, and the client’s situation, the proposed computer system connects ideas to one another. The study brings together three modern technologies: Knowledge Graphs, which map the connections between ideas; Graph Neural Networks, which help computers learn from these connections; and physics-informed reasoning, which allows information to flow through the network much as water flows through a system of pipes. This research does not build a working computer program. It does, however, go beyond a purely conceptual sketch: it specifies a concrete technology stack, a formal data schema, a step-by-step retrieval algorithm with a computational complexity analysis, a phased implementation roadmap, and an evaluation framework with measurable success criteria. Together these form a blueprint detailed enough for future researchers to begin building and testing real systems, rather than starting from a blank page. The study is deeply rooted in Yoruba culture. It respects the sacred nature of Ifá and insists that any technology built upon it must serve the tradition rather than replace the Babaláwo.