IFIS1\1

THE COMPLETEWORK
OF ORUNMILA
Scanned for the first time
July 2012
Lowo Awo Ogbe Ate, "R.G."
De Puerto Rico.

About the Author

Mr. Cromwell osamaro lbie was born on 29th September; 1934. He
received his elementary and secondary education at Benin City in the Bendel
State of Nigeria between 1941 and 1953. He joined the colonial Civil service
on tsr February, 1954 where he rose to the rank of Executive Officer before
proceeding to the United Kingdom for further studies.
During his stay in the United Kingdom ne studied at the Universities of
London and Strathclyde where he obtained the B.Sc. <Hons) in Economics
from the University of London and B.A. (Hons) in Economics from the
University of Strathclyde.
He returned to the Nigerian Federal Public service in September 1963
where he rose to the rank of Permanent secretary, a position from which he
voluntary retired on tst April, 1980.
Mr. lbie is currently engaged in private business in Lagos and Benin. He
is the Chairman/Chief Executive of several industrial and commercial
companies notaoiv-
Efeh i Ltd, Lagos.
AEG - Nigeria Ltd.
Eurotrade cement works (Nigeria) Ltd.
Odin Biscuits Manufacturing Co. Ltd,
TRW Investments (Nigeria> Ltd.
He is also a member of the Governing council of the University of Benin.

······- - ·-···-··------------------
1.

PREFACE.
This work was embarked upon at the instance of orunmua, who
expressed undisguised anxiety for his followers to know more about him. The
works revealed in these books are not just fairy tales contrived to tell
interesting stories. They reveal the true account of life both in heaven and on
earth. In the first instance, it will only have a meaning to initiates into tfism,
followers of orunmila, as well as to students who are looking for materials to
enrich knowledge of the unfettered ways of life.
The work is not designed to negate the relevance of the lfa priest.
It is only meant to provide a clearer understanding of the significance of
whatever the lfa priest reveals at divination or does, for suffering humanity.
This set of books will neither produce an lfa priest, nor tell all there is to know
about lfism. It will still be necessary to seek the assistance of the lfa priest.
My gratitude goes to the following lfa priests who were nominated by
orunmua himself to make their contributions to this work;
<1> or. aavo lfaniyi of Ode lrele in Ondo State who now resides at 29,
Ajaguna Street, Stadium Area, sango, Agege in Lagos State.
<2) Dr. ldahosa tmasuen who resided in Benin but who unfortunately
joined orunmila in heaven two weeks after completing his
revetatlons. He specialised in the heavenly works of orunmila, his
OLODUS and ODUS.
(3) Chief ornoruvt Edokpayi of Ondo who specialises in the works done
on earth by orunrnna and ms apostles and disciples.
<4> Chief Adedavo ooalora of llesha, who is an all-round specialist on the
works of orunmila both in heaven and on earth. He has lived for
over 110 years and is still growing strong.
<S> My father, Chief Thompson lbie Odin, the osaoue of aenm. who
prepared the infrastructure for me to embark on this divine
assignment.
My gratitude also goes to my expatriate secretary, Mrs. Patricia Mary
sassev, who has developed tremendous interest in this new facet of
knowledge and closely assisted in the completion of the work.
I am equally grateful to Mr. Osazuwa osacie who did the lfa instrumental
drawings as well as to Mr. Sylvester Ohenhen who did the bulk of the typing.
More importantly, my sincere gratitude goes to orunmila himself who
chose to make me the vehicle for imparting this rich and bottomless body of
knowledge to mankind. I only hope I have suceedec in conveying his
message.
rt is hoped that the writer will live long enough to complete the work of
preparing all the seventeen books, and that orunrnua will continue to assist in
providing the time, health and the means of funding the completion of the
work.

c. osamaro lbie,
Efehi Ltd,
P.O. BOX 10064,
Lagos, Nigeria.
 TABLE OF CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I Author's Early Association with
orunmila.
The Author's early association with orunmila. Pages 4-10
The Divine Invitation. Pages 10-11
CHAPTER II orunmila and Other Divinities.
orunmila and other Divinities. Page 12
The Foundation of the wortc. Pages 12-13
The creation of the Divinosphere. Page 13
CHAPTER Ill The First Attempt to Establish A
Living on the Earth.
The First Attempt to Establish a Living on the Earth. The Pages 14-16
other Divinities return to Heaven. Page 17
The Divinities return to the World. Page 17
Money comes to the world. Pages 17-18
The beginning of Physical conflicts. Page 18
The beginning of the end of the world. The Pages 18-19
final destruction of the world. Page 19
CHAPTER IV The Second Habitation Of the
Earth.
The second habitation of the Earth. Pages 20-24
The arrival of the other Divinities. The Pages
world settles down. 24·25 Page
CHAPTER v How mankind comes to the world 25
from Heaven.
How man comes to the world from Heaven. Page 26
The influence of the Obstacle Divinity on our Destiny. The Pages
role of the Guardian Angel. 26·27
The force of Destiny in our lives. Pages 27-
The place of Divination in our Lives. 28 Pages
The origin of the problems experienced by human 28-29 Pages
belnqs on Earth. 29-30
CHAPTER VI Man's Relationship with Cod. Pages 30-32
Man's relationship with God. Pages 33-36
CHAPTER VII The Effect Of Sacrificial Offerings on
our Lives.
The effect of sacrificial offerings on our lives. Pages 37-39
CHAPTER VIII The Place Of Esu In The Planetary
system.
The place of Esu in the Planetary System. Pages 40-46
The special significance of the he-goat to Esu. Page 46
CHAPTER IX The place Of Witches in the
Planetary system.
The place of Witches in the Planetary system. Pages 47-49
CHAPTER x orunmna's code of conduct.
code of conduct. Page so
orunrntla's Eulogy on Perseverance. Pages 50-51
Efficacy of patience in lfism. Pages 51-55
lfa's concepts of good and evil. Pages 56-58
CHAPTER XI How Does one come In contact
With orunmila.
How one comes in contact with orunmtla. The Page 59
role of Guiding Divinities in our lives. Pages 59-63
The importance of devout fellowship in the lfa religion. Pages 63-64

CHAPTER XII The lfa Genealogy.

The lfa genealogy. Pages 65-66
The Order of seniority. Pages 67-76
CHAPTER XIII The Olodus I Apostles Of Orunmila
Ejiogbe or Ogbe-Meji.·
Ejiogbe or Ogbe-Meji. Page 77
The Head as a Divinity. Pages 77-78
Ejiogbe leaves for Earth. Page 78
His Birth. Pages 78-80
His Earthly works. Page 80
The Miracle at the Market Place. Page 80
The Miracle of the Cripple and the Blind. Page 80
The result of ignoring the advice of Ejiogbe. How Pages 80-82
Ejiogbe survived the wrath of the Elders. How he Page 82
got peace of mind. Page 82
He returns to Heaven for Impeachment. Pages 82-84
His Marriage. · Pages 84-85
His second Marriage. Pages 85·86
How he helped a Litigant to win his case. Page 86
How he made a barren woman to have a child. Pages 86-87
How he helped the Mountain to resist the onset of his
enemies. Page 87
He saves his son from the hands of Death. How Pages 87-88
his Mother saveshtrn from his enemies. Page 88
How Ejiogbe became the King of the OLODUS <apostles) Pages 88-91
The contest between Ejiogbe and otoren. Pages 91-
His battle with death. · 92 Page 92
Remarkable features of Ejiogbe. Pages 92-94
The Puzzle Of the AWOS. Page 94
His Poem for Progress and prosperity. Pages 94-95

CHAPTER XIV Oyeku-Meji

Pages 97-98
oyeku-Meji. Pages 98-99
Other Heavenly works of oveku Meji. Page 99
How the Fish came to multiply.
oveku Meji reveals the return of the Divinities to·the world. Pages 99-100
The Birth of oveku Meji. . . Pages 100-
God sends his only son Jewesun to Earth. 101 Pages
How.he came to be called Jewesun. 101-102 Page
The Earthly works of Oyeku Meji. 102 Pages
Why the Children of oveku Meji do not wear caps. 102-103 Page
103
How Eji-Oye solved the problem of Death. Pages 103-104
How oveku Meji won favours and gifts. How Page 104
he became King of the Night. Pages 104-105
How he named a child Adenimi. Pages 105-106
CHAPTER xv lwori-Meji
twori-Meji. Page 107
1wori-Meji's works in Heaven. Page 107
Ejikoko lwori makes Divination for the Sun, Moon and
Darkness. Page 107
1wori-Meji makes Divination for Akun <the coral Bead). Pages 107-
He also makes Divination for the Lead. 108 Page 108
Ejikoko twori makes Divination for the Lion, the cow and
the Buffalo. Pages 109-
1wori-Meji leaves Heaven for Earth. 110 Pages
His Birth. 110-111 Page
He contests for seniority on Earth. 111 Pages 111-
How he eventually excelled his Brothers. 112 Pages 112-
How he became a strong lfa priest. 114 Page 114
The later works of lwori-Meji. Pages 114-
He made divination for an only child He 115 Pages
made divination for orare 115-116 Pages
He made divination for Kiniun 116-117 Page
Advice to the sons of 1wori-Meji. 117 Pages
CHAPTER XVI Edi-Meji. 117-118
Edi Meji. Page 119
ldi-Meji helps Ode <outside> to regain prosperity. Page 119
How the Groundnut came to multiply. Pages 119-
ldimeji makes Divination for the male sperm and the 120
female menstruation.
ldi-Meji as a prominent fighter. Page 120
He leaves for the Earth. Pages 120-123
He cures the Cripple and the Blind Man. Pages 123-125
The healing of the Blind and the Hernia afflicted. Pages 125-126
Pages 126-127
CHAPTER XVII Obara-Meji.
Obara-Meji. Page 128
The rough passage of Prosperity to the world. Pages 128-134
Obara-Meji's encounter with enemies. Pages 134-135
He turns black into white. Pages 135-136
He shows ingratitude to the Mother. He Pages 136-137
wins a Chieftancy title. Pages 137-138
He endures in his prosperity. Page 138
The last major miracle performed by Obara-Meji. Pages 138-139

CHAPTER XVIII Okonron-Meji.

Okonron-Meji. Page 140
He makes Divination for the Ant. Page 140
He makes Divination for the tree family. He Page 141
leaves Heaven for the World. Pages 141-
He becomes the Head Chief of nave oko. 143 Page 143
He makes Divination for Akpan to be able to bring
peace to lfe. · Pages 143-144
The Salvation of Akertwave. Page 144
The ill - fated coronation of Adeguoye Page 144
CHAPTER XIX 1rosun-MeJ1.
irosun-Meit. Page 145
He makes Divination for all the Divinities before they left
Heaven for the Earth. Pages 145-
He makes Divination for the crocodile. 146 Page 146
He makes Divination for the Fish and the Rat for them to
multiply. Page 146
He comes to the world. Pages 146-148
He makes Divination for the Earthworm. He Pages 148-149
begins a new life on Earth. Pages 149-150
The benevolence of trosun-Mejl. Pages 150-
He makes Divination for Airowosebo and Queen Mother of the 151
Benin throne. Pages 151-
How he got popularity with kingship. He 152 Page 152
makes Divination for Olowu of owu. Pages 152-
He makes Divination for the Eko and Akara seilers of 153
Odere.
lfa-alaaye takes the crown of Odere. Page 153
The last test for trosun-Meii. Pages 153-
154 Page 154
CHAPTER xx . owanrin-Meji.
Page 155
owanrln Meji Pages 155-
He prepares to come to the world. He 156 Pages
ties the hands of nts enemies. His 156-158 Page
experience as a Trader. 158 Pages 158-
He tries his hands at Farming. 160 Pages
He takes a new wife. 160-161 Page
He checkmates the machinations of his enemies. 161 Pages
owanrin-Meji on the threshold of Prosperity. 161-162
He becomes famous through his son. Pages 162-163
The last major work of owannn-Meli - he saves the favourite
wife of Olofen from the evil machinations of her mates.
He makes Divination tpr two wives of the same Pages 163-164
husband.
Pages 164-165
CHAPTER XXI Ogunda-Meji.
ocunoa-mell. Pages 166-
The Heavenly works of ocunda-Meit. · He 169 Pages
makes Divination for the Boa. 169-170 Pages
He makes Divination for ODE. 170-172 Page
Eji-oko .seduces the wife of Death. 172 Pages
Eji-oko's second wife. 172-174 Pages
He escapes from Heaven to the Earth. He 174-176 Page
makes Divination for ovi 176 Pages
He settles down on Earth. 176-177 Pages
Ogunda-Meji cures the barreness of olofen's wives. 177-179 Pages
He makes Divination for Aguofenla <the trench nunteo He 179-184 Pages
makes Divination for 2 fiSh catchers. 184-185
How Ogunda-Meji got the sobriquet of oounca-Ja-Mejt. His
surrogates take over Divination for the crown Page 185
prince of Benin Kingdom. · Pages 185-
He helps the people of ovo · in their war with uesna. 186 Pages
Ogunda-Meji leaves for Heaven. 186-187 Pages
187-190
 CHAPTER XXII osameji.
osa-Meji. Page 191
He makes Divination for the cotton plant. Pages 191-
osameji prepares to come to the world. His 192 Pages
Birth. 192-193
ssu finally gets his he-goat from osamen. Pages 193-
The Witches discover the Truth. 194 Pages
osarnejt makes Divination for sixteen Obas. 194-195 Pages
He is accused of being a Witch. 195-196 Page
He discovers the cause of his problems. 196 Pages
He finally settles his score with Witchcraft with a
196-197 Page
197
concordat.
CHAPTER XXIII Etura-Meji.
Pages 197-200
Etura-Meji. Page 201
He makes Divination for the Groundnut. Pages 201-202
He makes Divination for the Whiteman when he was
anxious to know how to manufacture a live human
being. Page 202
He makes Divination for Truth and Falsehood. Pages 202-203
Otumeji leaves Heaven for the world. Pages 203-205
He opens the way for wealth to come to the world. The Pages 205-
origin of coup d'etat against seniority. 206 Pages 206-
He goes to lmodina to help the tmoles, 207 Pages 207-
He goes to imeka 209 Pages
209-211
CHAPTER XXIV lrete-Meji.
lrete-Meji. . Page 212
Eji Elemere reveals how orunmua fought the battle for Pages 212-
prosperity on behalf of his followers. 213 Pages 213-
Eji Elemere comes to the world.
How success evoked emnity for Eji Elemere. How 220 Pages
the he-goat became the staple food of Esu. 220-221
The Divination for <Yeve Olomo Mefa> the Mother of six Pages 221-
children. 222
CHAPTER XXV Eka-Meji. Pages 222-
Page 224 Page
Eka-Meji. 224 Pages
He makes Divination for the cat. He 223
224-225 Page
prepares to come to the world. He
leaves for the Earth. 225 Pages
He wins a crown. 225-226 Pages
Poem for correcting the difficult features of Ekameji. 226-227

CHAPTER XXVI Ologbon-Meji.

Ologbon-Meji. Page 228
He makes Divination for Ekun and lfaa <the Tiger and Pages 228-229
the Bush CatJ
He makes Divination for Egherun the most beautiful Pages 229-
bird in heaven as well as Ugun or Vulture. 230 Pages
He makes divination for the hunter with a stubborn
Wife. 230-231 Page
orosbon-melt leaves heaven for earth. 231 Pages 231-
He .seduces the wife of Ogun.
How orunmila left the world . 232 Pages
232-233
..------· -------------------------------------· · .. -· ...... -··
 CHAPTER XXVII Ose-Meji.
ose-Meji.
His activities in Heaven. Pages 234-235
He leaves for the Earth. Pages 235-237
Pages 237-240
He takes to lfa art and practice. Pages 240-241
He makes Divination for Aktnvete of lwere. The Page 241
hard luck story of otokose. Pages 241-242
The Divination for the otuoaoan of Ibadan. He Pages 242-243
makes· Divination for otokun. Page 243
The personal experience of Osemeji. He Pages 243-244
lives longer than any other otocu. Page 244

CHAPTER XXVIII Ofun-Meji.

Ofun-Meji.
Ofunmeji reveals how lon_g it took for God to complete his Page 245
creative works.
Pages 245-246
How the Parrott became a symbol of nobility.
Orunmila converts the authority of all the other Page 246
Divinities to himself.
Ofunmeji leaves for the Earth. Pages 246-
His Birth. 247 Pages
He returns to Heaven. 247-248 Page
The origin of the secret fraternity. 248 Pages 248-
OfunmeJi's second coming to the Earth. 249 Page 250
The Divination for Orangun and Akogun. Divination Page 250
for Aganbi, the barren woman of lfe. Pages 250-251
Page 251
 THE COMPLETE WORKS OF ORUNMILA - THE DIVINITY OF
WISDOM

INTRODUCTION

fa philosophy is one of the oldest forms of knowledge revealed to mankind.

I
Unfortunately, the revelations of orunmila have since the beginning of time,
been shrouded in utter secrecy and those who could

afford the time and leisure to acquire it, had no means of leaving any records
behind them. Whatever we know of lfa today has been handed down from
generation to generation. A lot of what people know about lfa is also revealed,
even to this day, by orunmila himself because he constantly appears to his
adherents in dreams, to teach them what they ought to know about him and
his works. Knowledge of lfa has mainly survived by oral tradition from one lfa
priest to another. No conscious effort has ever been made to record the
complete works of orunmila for public consumption. Even the lfa priests
themselves are often reluctant to part with their knowledge for fear that if the
knowledge becomes public property, the mythical facade behind which they
operate will be destroyed. This is not entirely their fault because it takes at
least 21 years of indentured servitude to produce a proficient lfa priest.
But for the fact that this work was directly inspired by orunmila himself, it
would not have been easy for anyone to afford the cost in time, effort and
money, to embark on such an endless adventure. That is to say that the body
of knowledge called lfa is endless, ageless and eternal. It will be seen from his
revelations that orunmila, although the youngest of all the divinities created by
God, was actually God's own witness when he began to create other organic
and inorganic substances. That is why he is referred to as Eleri upln. He alone
knows the true nature and origin of all animate and inanimate objects created
by God.
This knowledge has given him such unparalleled powers that make him
the most effective of all the divinities, who were the first creatures of God. His
followers who are able to acquire some of the knowledge therefore wield
tremendous powers which have often baffled many into calling it magic or juju.
on the other hand, the expression "lfa" encompasses the revelations,
way of life, and religion taught by Orunmila. That is why it is often sate that
Orunmila is the divinity but lfa is his word.
The lfa priest is the mouth-piece of Orunmila and until relatively recently,
he was the axis around which daily life revolved in the community. In those
days, it was respectable to go to him openly to seek solutions to the problems
of living. In recent times, it has become fashionable to consult the lfa priest in
absolute secrecy and stealth. Three factors have been responsible for this
spectacular change in attitude.
The first is the advent of modern civilization and the education it brought
in its wake. The second is the over-bearing influence of later-day religions
which were used by mankind as weapons of conquest not only of mortal
minds but also for manifestly territorial ambitions. The third is the aggregate
impact of the first two forces. The children of lfa priests no longer wish to be
associated with the religion and way of life of their parents, which they dismiss
as superstitious paganism.
Many lfa priests endowed with brilliant knowledge of the theory and
practice of lfa or lfism have since died leaving no records of their wealth

r=---------------------------· -----··-----
 of knowledge and experience. The volumes of books which I am about to
embark upon, are therefore an attempt to leave a historical account of the
great works of orunmila. They are meant to provoke debate for the
enrichment of knowledge so that upcoming generations will know about
orunmila and his approach to religion, and in time, be proud to be
associated with it.
This work is also designed to assist students of lfa philosophy in
acquiring more in-depth knowledge of lfism, as well as to generate greater
interest in it. It will also provide assistance to those who have been initiated
into the lfa religion, but who continue to doubt the veracity of the entire
concept of orunrnua. All too often when people go to an lfa priest, he
chants away to his clients, the incantations of the particular oou that has
appeared to him. Thereafter, he prescribes the sacrifices to be made
without bothering to tell the enquirer the history underlying the sacrifice he
is required to make. lf'a priests do so because they believe that the
uninitiated mind will not understand it. The client begins to wonder whether
or not the sacrifice is relevant. Whether or not he does the sacrifice
becomes contigent on the reputation of the lfa Priest and not on his
conviction of the necessity for it. More importantly, it is an attempt to make
the religion of lfa <or lfism> rank parlpassu with much younger religions like
Judaism, Christianity, Buddism and Islam. These other religions had the
advantage of earlier documentation. Otherwise we shall see that lfa is a
much richer and an older body of knowledge.
It is important to note however that this work lays no claim whatsoever
to a complete account of the lfa religion. It is said that no one can know in
full the complete works of Orunmila. This work is therefore a beginning and
the research will continue through out the life of the writer. It is hoped that it
will be updated from time to time in the light of the out-come of further
researches and revelations.
on the other hand, the writer hopes with these volumes of seventeen
books in all, to de-mystify the onuosopv of lfa religion. contrary to all
outward appearances there is nothing magical about lfa. The art is
analogous to the work of Astrology. An astrologer tells a man's future by
reading the behaviour of the stars that were in the sky at the time the
person was born. In the same way, when a child is born and lfa's principal
divination instruments are used to touch its head and sounded, the
instrument will declare the name of the oou that is his guiding star. The lfa
priest will then reveal the life history of the oou that has appeared to him
and can proclaim with 100% certainty that the life of the child will take the
same path like that of the appearing oou. It is the same thing that happens
when a particular oou appears at divination when a person is being
initiated into the lfa religion at the secret conclave <Ugbodu>.
For example, if at a naming ceremony or during lfa initiation, Ejiogbe
is the oou that appears, the person can conveniently be told that his life
story will follow the path of Ejiogbe's life. If for instance, the initiate is dark
complexioned and of average height, he can be told that if he is able to
follow the ethos and taboos of Ejiogbe, he will surely prosper in life and will
spend most of his life in the service of humanity. If on the other hand the
person is fair in complexion or short, he can be told that he is not likely to
be exceedingly prosperous unless he assists his lfa through special
sacrifices to remove the obstacles that Ejiogbe had in similar
circumstances. In his case, Ejiogbe had to return to heaven to regenerate
himself before
fortune smiled on him on earth. ·
In the same way, if any particular oou appears at divination the lfa
priest is going to advise the enquirer to perform the same sacrifice
2
 3
performed by that oou or which he advised his clients to do in the same
circumstances when he was practising in the world. If divination reveals
that death is imminent for a person, the lfa priest will merely tell the person
to do the same sacrifice that orunmila did or was told to do and which he
advised others to do, to avoid the danger of untimely death, in similar
circumstances.
It is reasonable to imagine from the foregoing analysis that far from
being a magician, the lfa priest is only a skilful interpreter. As long as he
can develop a retentive memory, since most of them cannot read and
write, he has only to relate the problems of a client to a corresponding
situation that occurred thousands or millions of years ago to reveal the
problems besetting an enquirer of today and put them in the proper frame.
These accounts of the work of Orunmila are an attempt therefore to assist
non-initiates as well as neophytes to be able to translate lfa revelations for
themselves in order to appreciate what the priest tries to do in the course
of his lfa art and practice.
It is important to appreciate from the outset that orunmila does not go
about looking for converts. This is religion for the individual, which does
not rely on the weight of numbers for survival. lnfact, orunmila teaches that
the best way of knowing and appreciating his teachings is through the
efficacy of his work and not by the melody of his music.

3
 l/
CHAPTER 1
AUTHOR'S EARL V ASSOCIATION WITH ORUNMILA
or a man who was born into a Christian Family, baptised with the name
F of Clement, and confirmed with the name of Joseph in the Catholic Faith,
and who at an earlier stage in life even contemplated a sojourn

into the priesthood, it is difficult to imagine how the writer came about a
"primitive" religion like IFA, or lfism. That perhaps goes to indicate the
strength of the traditional pull that the lfa religion has on the minds of its
followers.
My father retired as a civil servant at the age of 48 in 1951 after which
he took to farming and politics. But the lfa pull became so strong that he
eventually gave up farming for an moeptn study of the lfa religious corpus.
At eighty three today, he is a practising lfa priest. I had always argued with
him that it bordered on laziness for him to take to such "fetish idolatory". He
would always respond by ridiculing me with the remark that in time I would
change my mind. Nonetheless, each time I saw people coming to thank him
for saving their lives, those of their children or other members of their families
or for helping them to avert what to them was a near catastrophe, I began to
wonder whether there was actually something miraculous about this
seemingly mundane religion. I have seen ardent Christians and Muslims
coming to him and his colleagues for succour. 1 have seen people coming to
see him from places far and near because they were told that unless they did
so and so in an lfa shrine, they would not be free from their afflictions. I have
also seen such people return days, weeks, or months later to express
profound gratitude.
Although I was still too much of a practising Christain to give any
positive thought to these contemporary developments, there is no gainsaying
the fact that I was beginning to ask myself certain questions. When I
therefore retired from the civil service in 1980, I decided to find out more
about this religion in an irresistible quest for answers to the many questions
that man has tried to answer over the ages. What is the actual relationship
between man and God? What is the relationship between heaven and earth
and what is the relationship between man and the divinities.
I wish however to narrate a spectacular development soon after my
retirement from the public service in 1980. There was this Yoruba man in his
nineties who had been associating with my father since my childhood but
who I had not seen for over eleven years. His name is Chief obatota, himself
a practising lfa priest all his life.
one day, I was buying materials for renovation work in my house at
Benin when this old man walked up to me and I knelt down to greet him. He
asked after my father and I told him he was very well. He then asked me
whether I was still in Lagos and I told him that although I had retired from the
public service, I was nonetheless still very much in Lagos. curiously, he
asked whether I already understood the Yoruba Language and I confirmed
that although I had lived in Ibadan and Lagos since 1959 1 still could not
speak a sentence in Yoruba.
He shook his head and remarked that he sympathised with me. 1 told
him that I did not think I needed sympathy since I was not missing much from
my non-understanding of the Yoruba Language and that in any case I had a
Yoruba wife who could always fill in the gaps. After a deep reflection, he told
me that ever since I was a child, he had told my father that orunmila had a
special assignment for me and that he was only larnentlnq on that day
because orunmila had told him that if I had understood his language
4
 5
<Yoruba> he would have done great things through me. I asked what in
this world would orunmila hope to do through me when I did not even
believe in him. As he was leaving, he told me to look out carefully so that I
would not have to be between the devil and deep blue sea, before
appreciating the place of orunmila in my life.
When I got home, I told my father what Chief Oba Iola told me and he
confirmed that they had discussed the matter ever since I was eight days
old when they did my naming ceremony through lfa religion.
When I retired voluntarily in March 1980 at the age of 45, I discovered
soon afterwards that I did not have much to do to keep me busy, so 1
decided to write a book on the Economic History of Nigeria between 1960
and 1980. I had scarcely gone one fifth of the way in writing the book when
the lfa pull became too strong for me to ignore. I do not believe in
mysteries and miracles, but I must confess that by 1981 I did not think of
any other thing except how to make other people know about the secrets
of the lfa religion.
1 have however since discovered that there are no mysteries in the
tfa religion. It is just that its knowlege has down the ages been left in the
brains of illiterate old men, who having spent scores of years learning
about tfa are not too keen to part with the knowledge except to those who
are prepared to subject themselves to the apprenticeship process that they
too went through. I have since discovered that to become an lfa priest, the
student has virtually to become an indentured servant to an lfa priest, for
anything between twenty and thirty years.
In the first place, there was a Mr. save lfaniyi, an lkale man from Ode
trele in Ondo state whom I met in 1967 when a relation brought him to my
house to help him secure a menial factory job to do. I subsequently
introduced him to Enpee Industries Ltd at uupeju. Lagos, where he was
employed as a machine operator. He did that job for about 2 years after
which he gave it up but I did not know at the time why he gave up the job.
About seven years later, he visited me in the company of the relation who
brought him to me in the first instance. I gave them kolanut which he split
and began to say sooth through the kolanut. In a mood of impatience with
his unsolicited fortune telling I told him to eat his kolanut and drink the beer
I gave him and go away. He however said one or two things - I did not
quite listen to him - but which manifested within a matter of days. A week
later, I told my cousin to invite him. It was at that stage I was told that he
had given up his factory work because orunmila wanted him to take to the
practice of lfa on a full time basis. He was therefore the first person I
invited to tell me more about orunmila when the call came to me in 1981.
I also recall another young man who I met in 1969. He is Mr. ldahosa
lmasuen of Benin. I got to know later that my father prepared my own lfa
for me in 1944 when I was in Primary II in the elementary school. All I can
remember of that incident is that I suddenly became crippled and could no
longer stand on my two feet. For about six weeks I was a cripple, crawling
all over the place on my knees. l'!IY father got a paper from his office and
took me to see a white Medical Officer at the General Hospital in Benin
City. I think his name was or. Stevenson, who examined me and
suggested I should be taken to Lagos for proper medical examination. My
mother would not buy the idea of my going to Lagos for treatment for fear
of having my legs amputated.
I had become very irritable because I loved my classroom life and my
role as a mass server in the catholic Church. I was also too fond of my
Catechism lessons under the late Brothers James and Pius. I was missing
5
 all those exhilirating chores, for, since I could neither walk to school nor to
church, I was not in a position to participate in any educational or Christian
activities.
I have vague recollections of what happened after I had been ill for
exactly six weeks. My father had invited some old men who came to his
house to prepare some black kernels which they placed in a calabash full of
oil and I was called into that room. I cannot quite remember what happened
thereafter nor do I know whatever it had to do with me. But I do remember
that later that night, I was able to stand on my feet again to walk outside the
house to urinate. I was however not quite awake and so I did not raise any
alarm about the change in my physical condition. The following morning I
woke up normally and walked to my father's room to offer him the traditional
morning greetings. He was surprised to see me back on my feet. He muttered
something which I could not quite comprehend, but I was able to go back to
school that morning and there has been no relapse ever since.
However, in 1955, I had left secondary school and was working at warri,
still a practising catholic. In August of that year, I had an attack of malaria. I
was treated with Mepacrine Tablets, the popular anti-malarial tablets
available at that time. It was a Doctor Ezekwe who treated me. The Malaria
persisted for quite sometime and when it became serious, I was put on three
days sick leave.
I was at the time living alone as a young bachelor at No.4, Ginuwa Road
in warri. one afternoon, my guardian in warri, a Mr. Wilfred o. osunde, himself
a Nursing superintendent cum Radiographer at the warri General Hospital,
visited me and found me in a pretty bad shape. He asked whether I had been
taking the medications given to me at the hospital and 1 answered
affirmatively. He administered four tablets to me on the spot and left.
soon after he took leave of me, I began to perspire profusely and soon
felt well. My temperature went down and the fever had ostensibly gone. It was
a Saturday, and I was able to light my stove to prepare a meal. My late friend
and next door neighbour at No.4, Ginuwa Road, warri, Mr. Joseph Okuofu
had planned to go to Benin when he returned from his UAC job that
afternoon. At about 1 p.m, he came into my room to find out how I was faring.
seeing that I was virtually well, he suggested that I should accompany him to
Benin for the week-end since I had not been home for weeks. Since I felt
strong enough for the journey, I readily agreed to go with him.
At that time, the oroobo river between Sapele and Benin was flooded
and the stretch of the road between Koko junction and oloqbo town had
become unmotorable. People travelling from warri and sapele to Benin at the
time had to disembark at the Koko junction to ferry across the river by
canoes, to take motor transport from Ologbo to Benin. I still remember that
we travelled with Joseph's girl-friend, Elizabeth, an urnobo girl. When the
Armers lorry took us from warri to Koko junction, we all dismounted and the
three of us walked down the slope to board a canoe to oroobo town. I was
beginning to feel dizzy by the time we boarded another motor vehicle at
oroono. I must admit that to this day, I have no memory of what happened
between otocbo and Benin.
I was later told that I was rather passive in my reactions during the rest
of the journey to Benin, not talking to anyone and not replying when spoken
to. on getting to Benin, Joseph and his girl friend bade me good night and
went away. I must have hovered around a. bit and took the direction of the
first road I saw. I did not regain consciousness until about
6
 7

1op.m that night when I suddenly found myself in the middle of no where.
When I saw a young man on push bicycle coming along the road, I
stopped him and asked him to show me the way to No.4 Edo College
Road, my father's residence in Benin City. The young man alighted from
his bicycle and asked what was wrong with me. I told him I was coming
from warri but was not altogether feeling fine, when I left warn for Benin.
In an exclamation of sympathy he told me that I was five miles away
from Benin at a village called OKA. He then offered to take me to Benin
with his bicycle. Since he did not know Edo College Road, he stopped as
soon as he got to the town to ask for directions and he eventually landed
me in my father's house at about 11.15p.m. When he narrated how he
found me at Oka village to my parents, my mother burst into tears. They
compensated the young man after he told them to take good care of me.
I slept soundly that night, although I had renewed bouts of hallucina-
tions the following day. It was now clear that I was suffering from
spasmodic paranoid psychosis. Since I was on three days sick leave which
had expired the previous Friday, I had to return to warn on Sunday and to
the Doctor. My mother accompanied me to warri on Sunday. The following
morning, my mother accompanied me to the hospital where she made a
passionate plea to place me on a week's sick leave to enable her take me
back to Benin for adequate care. The Doctor felt insulted and instructed
that I should immediately be hospitalised for observation and treatment.
I was given a bed at the General Hospital and my blood samples were
taken by the late Pathologist lkomi. He diagnosed what was later called
"Mepacrine Psychosis". For the next three weeks, I was receiving
treatment at the hospital with very little or no change in my condition. My
cousin and guardian Mr. w. o. osunde then made a special appeal to the
Doctor to discharge me for traditional treatment at home. Reluctantly, Dr.
Ezekwe agreed to put me on two weeks sick leave and told me to report
back at the end of that period.
My mother and I travelled back to Benin immediately. on getting
home, my father told me that we had to complete my lfa ceremony
immediately because orunmila was said to be complaining that he had
remained for too long inside the oil - eleven years (1944 to 1955). I must
confess that I had no idea of what he was talking about. During my
hospitalization he had once again invited the old men who prepared the
initial stages of the lfa ceremony. He disclosed to me that the old men had
told him that orunmila followed me to the world because of the hydra-
headed problems I was destined to come across on earth and that I did not
recognise his importance in my life. My father told me that all was set and
that the ceremony was to commence at once.
All that was Greek to me because I remember telling him that if he
wanted to eat meat, I would buy a goat for him to kill but should not tell me
anything about some black kernel juju which had remained for too long
inside a calabash of oil. In any case, I soon lost my memory again and by
the time I regained consciouness, my hair had been clean shaven as part
of the ceremony. The Old men who I recognised later to be lfa priests,
were gathered in my father's sitting room and they began to tell me about
my Past, present and future. They mentioned the name of my orunmila
and told me that my life would go according to the life of that Orunmila. It
was from that moment that I began to follow the rest of the ceremony, and
exactly seven days after I came from warri, I was well enough to go back
to work.
When I returned alone this time to Dr. Ezekwe, I was able to discuss
7
 6
intelligently and flawlessly with him once more. He laughed and later told my
cousin that traditional medicine had worked wonders. I was back to work
soon afterwards and have had no more hallucinations ever since.
I got married in 1959 and had a daughter by that marriage. I married my
wife with the blessings of the catholic Faith because I still could not have
anything to do with this orunrnua, which my father kept with him. Throughout
my course of studies in the UK, I remained a practising catholic with my wife,
who is also from a catholic family. While in Glasgow, I was such a devout
catholic that the Chaplain of Glasgow untversttv, Reverend Father Matthew
Dooley and even Bishop ward of Glasgow virtually became my parents-in-
Christ. I spent all my leisures at the chaplaincy, and was always a mass-
server in the chaplaincy. At one stage, I even gave serious thought to the
idea of priesthood. The only factor that checkmated my admiration for the
priesthood was that I wanted my wife to have a boy in addition to my
daughter. But providence did not chance us to have any other child.
I returned home in 1963 and remained a practising catholic, attending
st.Antnonvs Church at surulere and later st.porruntc's Church at vaoa. MY
wife still did not have another child and my parents were really beginning to
mount pressure on me to take a second wife, which was for me, out of the
question, true to the tenets of the catholic faith.
The crunch came in 1969 when out of frustration at not having any more
children coupled with temporary impotence, I almost took my life on a
Saturday night in August, 1969. The lfa priests had warned me during the
final lfa initiation ceremony in 1955 that If I did not take to the lfa religion, lfa
would not be in a position to help in abating the danger to my life by an
incident of temporary sexual impotence, which was bound to occur at one
stage in my life. My father kept reminding me that he was told when I was
eight days old that I was destined to have many children, but that orunmlla
would not be able to usher them in if I did not take to the ways of lfa. on the
other hand, I preferred to die rather than abandon my Christian ways.
I was only miraculously saved from taking my life on that fateful
Saturday night in August, 1969 at about 3.00a.m at the back of my 2 Elmes
Road residence at the Medical compound in Yaba. As soon as my attempted
suicide was foiled by divine intervention, I wept for the rest of the night
without having any sleep.
The following morning, which was a Sunday, I went as usual to st.
norntnlcs catholic church at Yaba. on my return from the Church, I met a man
at the entrance to my residence dressed in the regalia of a Bini chief. 1 asked
him what his mission was and he replied that he was asking for the address
of the late Dr. ldehen, when he was directed from the vaba roundabout to the
house of a Bini man inside the medical compound, who might direct him to
Dr. roenerrs residence. He introduced himself as Chief lgbinovia of No.8
Nekoenekoen Street in Benin City.
I took him to my sitting room and entertained him to the traditional
kolanuts and drinks. When he split the kolanut in the traditional way, he threw
it on the plate on which it was presented and he muttered something to
himself. Meanwhile, I telephoned Dr. ldehen who regretted that he could not
see that man immediately because he had a job to do at the State House. He
asked me to tell the man to see him later that day, between 5 and sp.rn.
Coming back to Chief lgbinovia, he asked me whether I had Orunmila,
and I told him that although my father was supposed to have prepared one
for me several years before, I was nonetheless a Christian, as he could see
that I was just returning from the church with prayer books and a
8
- 9
Rosary in hand. To my utter amazement, he brought out his lfa chain
(OKPELE> and inquired whether it was my house orunmila sent him to
visit in Lagos. With all I had heard about the ways of these "quack native
doctors", I began to wonder whether he was looking for an opportunity of
making a few pounds on me. After he threw down his Okpele three times,
he turned to me and said that whether or not I believed what he was going
to tell me, he was in duty bound to give me the divine message all the
same. He then disclosed that he was sleeping in his house the previous
night, when at about 3a.m orunmila woke him up and told him that one of
his children was between life and death in Lagos and that he should go at
once to tell him to return home to where his lfa was prepared for him, and
feast it with a goat, so that he, rorunrnnai could disclose the cause and
cure of the man's problems.
In view of the fact that the time of 3a.m at which he supposedly had
his dream in Benin coincided with the time I had attempted to take my life
the previous night in Lagos, I became more interested in his expose and
began to listen to him with rapt attention. Without disclosing to him what
happened to me the previous night, he told me that whatever problems I
had were not bereft of solutions, provided I went home to make the
sacrifice prescribed by orunrnua. The only question I asked him was
whether orunmua was the cause of my problems because I had refused to
tread his path. He replied that orunmila was not given to punishing or
blackmailing those who refused to follow him. He added that the reason
why orunmila insists on being recognised by those who he accompanies to
this earth, is to be put him in a position to help them thwart the evil
machinations of their enemies. He also disclosed that my temporary
sexual problems, preceded by ten years of childlessness was caused by
enemies who contrived them as a way of bringing an abrupt end to an
otherwise long and eventful life. I promised him that I was going to do the
sacrifice and he left. He refused to accept any money from me except his
transport fare of £2. I never saw him again until ten years later in 1979, at
a relation's house, nor have I seen him again since then.
The following Monday, I successfully applied for my annual vacation
leave and immediately travelled to Benin. For about three weeks before
my attempted suicide, I had been totally impotent and absolutely incapable
of having sex, both extra-rnurauv and intramurally. on getting home I told
my father what happened and once again he invited some of the lfa priests
who were still alive to help in offering the sacrifice to my orunmila. After
serving it, the priests were assembled five days later to sound lfa as they
call it - that is, to ask him what revellation he had to make. What I can
disclose of what they told me on that day is that 1 should keep my orunmila
shrine with me wherever I chose to live and since I was living in Lagos, I
should go to Lagos with it.
Incidentally, Chief obatota who was once again available, asked me
pointedly whether I was still a complete man as I was standing before him.
I could not help but answer negatively, although I had not discussed that
aspect of my problems previously with anyone at home. He also asked me
Whether I had tried to take my life and I answered in the affirmative. He re-
assured me that having survived those two pre-destined ordeals, that was
going to be the turning point in my life, provided I stopped neglecting my
Orunmila. He predicted that any woman I would have an affair with from
then on would become pregnant, but I should not decline responsibility or
get scared. I was not to take any medicine for my condition and the
surprising aspect was that he asked whether my wife was around and I
told h~m she was not around. He told me that if I had any girl friend in
9
 lO
Benin, I should invite her that night to steep with me. He reassured me that
orunmita told him I would regain my potency from that night. Suffice it to say
that everything he said came true as he predicted.
I have come to have several children between 1970 and the present
time, and my life has been a success story since then. one of the lfa priests
present on that day was Mr. rcanosa lmasuen, who is a major contributor to
the subject of this book.
1 met the third of my lfa teachers soon after my retirement in 1980.
He is Chief ornoruvl scokoavl, who lives in Ondo. He visited me on the 21st of
May, 1980 at my new residence in Ajao Estate at osnoci on the precincts of
Lagos. He came in the company of a relation of mine. Once again, in
accordance with the Bini tradition, I gave him kolanut and when he split it and
threw it on the plate he looked at me with astonishment. I became baffled
again, because I had seen many of such ominous looks in the past. He told
me that orunmila had asked him to tell me that people were going to be sent
to come and kill me unless I made sacrifice to lfa immediately. He told me
that if I made the sacrifice I would escape death but would be the victim of
some theft, to atone for my life.
He called one of my wives and told her to make sacrifice to orunmila
with a sword to avoid being killed or injured with a sword. She, being the
daughter of a Bishop, never used to give much attention to such things, so
she did not do the sacrifice although I added a sword to the materials with
which I made the sacrifice.
Exactly seven days after I made the sacrifice, which was on the ·1st of
June 1980, forty armed Robbers attacked my Lagos house at 2a.m. They
broke every door in my house and removed everything of value in the house.
But by the Grace of God, no life was lost even though the head of the robbers
did at one stage of the nearly two hours operation, order the three men
pointing guns at me, to shoot. I do not know how I was saved from them.
They were probably dazzled by the items of value which they took away.
one of them tried to rape my wife who was told to make sacrifice with a
sword. As the rapist tried again to tear up the girdle she was wearing, the
sword also injured her thigh. She was saved by the timely orders of their
commander to move when time was running out on them.
It was during the cause of reflecting on these spectacular events in my
life that I began to wonder whether a ortma facie case was not already
established for researching in-depth into the mysteries of lfa. When Chief
Edokpayi interpreted the life history of my own orunmila, he told me that
everything that happened to me since I was born, coincided with the life
history of my own orunmila.
This book is therefore an attempt to find out the correlation coefficient
between the life of orunmila and the lives of Ordinary mortals, who suddenly
find themselves more by accident than design, becoming the followers of
Orunmila.
The Divine invitation:
1 did
not know that the voice which stopped me from taking my life on the
zsro of August, 1969 was that of orunmila. I only recognised it on the 3rd
June, 1979 when the voice spoke to me again in Hamburg, western
Germany. 1 had been to Germany for medical check-up, at which I was given
an untidy bill of health. The Doctors had told me to go easy in whatever job I
was doing and I had been contemplating a strategy for giving myself a more
liveable schedule of work.
I went to bed very early that evening and at about 1a.m, a man dressed
10
 {1

in a white robe with a horse tail in hand, woke me up. He also wore blue
beads on his right wrist. He introduced himself as the Eleri ukpln and the
servant Of God. He asked me whether I had forgotten that he
accompanied me to the world. He told me that I had promised in heaven
when I was leaving for the earth that I would only serve humanity up to the
age of 45 after which I was to begin to serve the divinities. He told me that
I should not allow the first anniversary of his appearance to me, to meet
me in the service of the public.
He also told me that if I allowed the attractions of office to becloud my
vision, I would pay for it with my personal freedom. Before departing, he
reiterated that I should not allow the middle of the following year to meet
me still doing the work that I had been doing for the past 25 years. 1 was
quite confused. I did not know whether it was an apparition or a dream, but
I was wide awake and did not sleep much for the rest of that night.
1 flew back to Lagos soon afterwards and went straight to Benin to
seek my father's advice on the significance of that strange experience.
When I disclosed to my father how the man appeared to me and what he
called himself, he told me that it was orunmila that appeared to me. He
advised that notwithstanding the fact that I was not ready for retirement, he
thought it best to put in my notice of retirement right away. When 1
returned to Lagos the following day, I quickly called my secretary and
dictated my notice of retirement.
once again in January, 1980, the same voice ordered me to wake up
and see the board he had positioned in front of me. In that single night, he
taught me the names of the sixteen apostles <OLODUS> of orunmila and
how to mark them on the lfa tray. He promised to let me know
subsequently how to construct the names of his 240 disciples <ODUS>.
With that he again disappeared from view and I got up quickly to jot down
the sixteen names and their markings.
He appeared subsequently to me to teach me the names of the 240
oous and I wrote all of them down on a big chart which I have to this day.
Three days before my notice of retirement was to expire, he appeared
once more to tell me that he wanted me to let the world know about his
role in the planetary system. He also taught me how to recognise and read
the divination instrument called Okpele. Before leaving, he told me that
since I did not understand his language <Yoruba>, I should look for a man
called save lfaniyi to tell me what to do. I had not seen savo for almost
seven years. I then quickly sent for him and told him that orunrnua asked
me to consult him. That was the beginning of my long sojourn into the
endless work of orunmila and the lfa philosophy which form the basis of
this book.
I wish to end this chapter by paying tribute to orunmua for giving me a
timely warning to leave the public service in 1980. I did hesitate for a long
time, because I wondered whether it was reasonable to live at the beck
and call of a voice from the unknown. It was not easy to give up the lofty
post of Permanent secretary in the Federal Public service; a position which
I had occupied for five years. When I however realised that it was the
same voice that stopped me from Harakiri in 1969, I reassured myself that I
would not lose anything by heeding the advice of the voice.
It is significant to mention that if I had disobeyed the instruction, there
is no way I would have totally escaped the unpleasant events that
occurred in Nigeria between 1983 and 1985. In a negative way, I also thank
the last Minister I worked with, whose intractability and intransigence
helped to firm up my decision to retire from the public service.
II
 CHAPTER II
ORUNMILA AND OTHER DIVINITIES

N o one should confuse the world by trying to equate the divinities with
God. Orunmila has clearly revealed that all the lower divinities were
created by God to assist him in the management of the

planetary system and that without exception, they all owe total allegiance to
Him. The divinities regard themselves as servants of God sent by God to the
world to help Him make the world a more liveable place for lay mortals, so
that through them, man may be able to appreciate how God loves his
creatures. When for instance a priestess of the water Divinity COLOKUN)
gets possessed, she starts off by singing in praise of God and appreciating
the supremacy of God over all that exists. When Ogun (the Engineering
Divinity) priest is possessed, he too, starts by paying tributes to God Almighty
and thanking Him for making it possible for him (Ogun> to tell mortals what
they would not otherwise know about themselves. The same is true of the
Electricity Divinity, sanoo, and indeed of each of the 200 divinities created by
the God Almighty. They are said to be the members of the Divine council of
God.
In the same way, the lfa priest begins his operation by acknowledging
God as the repository of all knowledge and wisdom. Let no man therefore
think that service through any of the divinities is a substitute for service to
God.
orunrnua has revealed to his followers that the first creations of God
were the lower divinities. They were the first inhabitants of heaven, and they
all lived normal lives in heaven each in the image which took after God's own.
Death is one of the favourite creatives of God, and he it was who fetched the
clay with which man's image was moulded after those of the divinities. After
casting the human image in clay, it was time to give it the breath of life, so,
God told all the divinities who were present to close their eyes. All of them
closed their eyes except orunmila who merely covered his face with his
fingers without closing his eyes. As God was breathing the breath of life into
man He discovered that orunmua was watching Him. As orunmila tried to
close his eyes after being caught spying, God beckoned to him to keep his
eves opened since nothing spectacular was ever done without a living
witness. That is why Orunmila is called Eleri Ukpln or Eleri ortsa <God's own
witness>.
Following the creation of man, it was time for God to carve out the earth
to be inhabited. But man was still too young and inexperienced In the ways of
heaven to be exposed to the task of founding a new abode on his own
discretion. God therefore chose to send the Divinities to earth to found it with
their own knowledge, experience and discretion.
THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD

When God sends any one a message, He does not give him detailed
terms of reference. He expects the messenger to use his own common sense
or discretion to carry out the assignment. God only expects positive resuits
and it is left with the messenger to make four of two and two.
The first inhabitants of this earth were the 200 divinities. The earth was
then called DIVINOSPHERE, at a time when the Divinities, as it is today,
were the only ones with the Spiritual Capabilities to communicate between
heaven and earth. They are able to know at once what is happening on earth
and in heaven with their extra-visionary powers.
The heavens were becoming over-populated, and God Himself, who
12
 'f 3

could at the time, like the omnipotent Father that He is, attend physically to
the complaints of all His children in Heaven, found the task becoming
over-bearing for Him. He therefore decided to found a new Firmament for
Divinities and Humans alike to dwell in, as a means of depopulating the
heavens. intact. what He did not disclose to his creatures was that he was
going to transfigure into thin air, so that thereafter he could only be
communicated with in Spirit.
THE CREATION OF THE DIVINOSPHERE:

This work is not going to challenge all the other accounts of "the
creation" which have previously been given by earlier seers and prophets.
It is merely going to narrate orunmnas account of how the geographical
phenomenon now referred to as the earth, came to be a part of the
planetary system.
At one of the weekly meetings of the Divine council, God asked the
divinities which of them was prepared to go to the earth to found a new
habitation. God told them that whoever voluntered to go was going to
operate within a Divine council injunction to establish on earth, the natural
laws which made heaven such a beautiful place to live in. He told them
that the same rules should operate on earth. There were only two broad
body of rules he gave them.
2. No one should take undue advantage of His (God's) physical
absence to arrogate to himself His role as Father of all the
Universe. They should all give his due respect to Him as the
creator of all, that is, they should always begin their works on
earth by paying due respects to Him as their everlasting Father;
and
1. No one should do to the other what he would not like others to do
to Him - which is popularly known as the golden rule. This meant
that they were not to kill without due judgement by all the
Divinities. They were not to steal one another's property since in
heaven, the punishment for stealing was death. They were not to
lie against one another, seduce one another's wife, or do any
other thing to one another that could result in pain. They were to
resist the urge to take vengeance against one another since all
mutual dis-agreements were to be resolved through the
communal judgement at the council of Divinities. Above all they
were to respect his divine rule that whatever anyone did to wrong
his fellow divinity, the retribution would come to the offender ten-
fold. Finally, He told them the secret of success was to listen
always to the silent voice of the divinity called Perseverance.

13
 I
CHAPTER Ill
THE FIRST ATTEMPT TO ESTABLISH A LIVING ON EARTH
gainst the background of this set of rules and regulations, God evolved

A a plan for dispatching all the divinities to earth simultaneously but

without any advance warning. one fine morning therefore,
God called on his maid ARUGBA to invite each of the Divinities from their
respective homes to appear at the Heavenly Palace the following morning for
a special assignment.
ARUGBA set out very early that morning. However before then, God had
prepared a special Chamber completely equipped with various implements
with which He expected the divinities to carry out their assignments on earth.
Aruqba's message to each of the Divinities was clear. "My Father has sent
me to invite you to prepare for a special assignment tomorrow morning. You
are to get your self prepared to set out for the assignment as soon as the
Divine message is given to you. You are not to return to your house before
embarking on the mission".
Most of all the Divinities took the message literally and did not bother to
enquire from their own counsellors or guardians on how to set about the
assignment that God had in store for them. Arugba visited the houses of the
divinities in order of seniority, which meant that Orunmila, the most junior of
the divinities, was the last to be visited.
Meanwhile, orunmua who was in the habit of making a situation
divination every morning, was advised by lfa to make a feast on that particular
day in anticipation of all callers to his residence. At the time that Arugba got to
orunrnna's house, it was already very late in the evening. Not having taken
any meal since morning, Aruqba was already very hungry when she got to
orunmlta's house. Before allowing her to deliver the divine message, orunmila
persuaded her to have a meal. She ate to her satisfaction and then told
orunmila that God wanted him to report to His Palace the next cav. together
with the other Divinities for a special errand.
In appreciation of orunmltas hospitality, she confided further in him by
disclosing the details of the errand that God had in store for them. She
advised him to ask for three special favours from God in addition to whatever
instruments he would collect from God's inner-chamber for his mission. He
was to ask for the CAMELION, <Alagemo in Yoruba and ornaenerokhi in
BinD the multi-coloured hen in God's household, and God's own special bag
<Akpominijekun in Yoruba and Aqbavboko in BinD. we shall see the
significance of these special requests later. In a final aside, Aruqba told
orunmila that if he so desired he could also persuade God· to let her
accompany him on his mission. With these words of advice Aruqba left for
home, having completed her assignment.
The following morning, one after the other, all the divinities reported at
the Divine Palace of God. As soon as they got there, God ordered each of
them to proceed on the journey to earth without returning to their respective
homes. One after the other they came and got the marching orders to leave
for earth. The first divinities to get to the earth soon discovered that there was
no ground there to tread upon. The whole place was still water-logged. There
was only one palm-tree which stood in the middle of the water with its roots in
heaven, which was the gateway from heaven. As they were coming in, they
had no where else to stay except on the branches of the Palm-tree. It was a
very hard time indeed.
Before leaving heaven, each of the divinities collected from God's inner
Chamber all the materials and instruments of their choice. It is the same
instruments that initiates to the cults of each divinity use for initiation
14
 to this day.
By the time orunmila came to the Palace of God, all the others had gone.
When he reported to the Atmlontv Father, he too got the marching orders to
proceed at once to earth. He was told like the others, to collect whatever
instruments he found in the inner Chamber. However, all the available
instruments had at that time been collected by the others and since there was
only one empty snail's shell left, he had no choice but to hold on to it. He then
appealed to God that since he had nothing to collect from the inner Chamber,
he should be given:-
< a> The carnelian -the oldest creature in the house of God to advise him on
how to tackle the teething problems of terrestrial habitation;
(b) The benefit of going to earth with the multi-coloured hen in the
divine household of God;
(c) The Almighty Father's own Divine Bag, to collect the things he was
going with; and
< d) The privilege of going to earth with Arucba, to remind them of the rules of
heaven.
His four wishes were granted. As he was leaving, he collected four
different plants, which lfa priests use for all their preparations to this day. He
also collected a sample of the plants and animals that he could lay hands
upon.
He kept all his collections inside the bag which God gave to him. The
Divine bag had the mysterious capacity of accommodating anything no matter
the size and also of producing whatever was required from it.
When orunmila reached the gate-way to the earth, he found all the other
divinities hanging on to the palm-tree branches. He too had no option but to
join them.
After Orunmila had been sitting or standing on the palm-tree branch for
some time, Aruqba advised him from within the Divine Bag where she was
kept, to turn the mouth of the snail's shell downwards into the water below
because it contained the foundation soil of the earth which would make the
ground hard for treading on. Orunmila who had collected the empty snail's
shell from the inner chamber of God did not know its contents. It is also
obvious that he only met the snail's shell inside God's inner Chamber
because all the others had ignored it. None of them except ARUGBA knew
that it contained the Secret of the Earth.
As orunmila turned the snail's shell face downward, the scanty sand
content dropped into the water below and the water began to bubble. Within a
very short time, heaps of sand had started piling up around the foot of the
palm-tree. After so many heaps had formed, ARUGBA once again spoke to
orunmila from within the bag, this time, advising him to drop the hen down to
the heaps of sand. As it scattered the heaps, the area of the ground began to
spread. It is the same operation that the hen is still performing to this day.
Wherever the hen is found, it is seen to be using its feet to scatter the sand
on the ground.
After the grounds had been extended over a large area, the other
divinities who were now amazed at the mysterious performance of Orunmila
ordered him to go down and tread on the ground to verify whether it could
support them.
once again, ARUGBA advised orunmila from within the bag, to drop the
carnelian to tread first on the ground. The carnelian walked about stealthily on
the ground, for fear it would collapse under its feet. But the ground held
together, and it is that same cautious walking process to which the carnelian
became accustomed, to this day. That is why the carnelian treads softly on
the ground.

15
 As soon as orunmila was sure that the ground was strong enough, he
came down to earth from the palm-tree branch and his first task was to
transplant the plants he brought from heaven. Thereafter, all the other
divinities came down to earth one after the other.
That is why the palm-tree, the first creation of which had its roots from
heaven, is respected by all the divinities. It is the root of their genealogy. All
the divinities spread out from the palm-tree to establish their various abodes
in different parts of the earth.
orunrnua, being the youngest of all the divinities, stayed with and served
each of the more elderly ones in turn. He served OGUN, SANGO, OLOKUN,
EZIZA ETC. In the course of his servitude, one of the divinities seized
ARUGBA from him. He was thus deprived of his Chief counsel and confidant.
It is significant at this stage to mention thatthe process of initiation into
orunrnuas religion of lfism is an attempt to commemorate this process of
leaving heaven and coming to the world to settle through the palm tree. The
woman who carries the IKEN on her head to UGBODU is called ARUGBA. In
view of the fact that orunrnua never married Arugba, it is also not advisable
for any IFA initiate to marry the woman who followed him to UGBODU. By the
same token it is not advisable to use one's wife for the ceremony, lest the
woman will surely be seduced from one sometime later after the ceremony,
either by death or by others.
The presence of Arugba as the only woman around created a host of
problems for the divinities. one after the other, they fought to retain her. The
struggle for Aruqba soon brought out the worst in the divinities. The more
ferocious ones, namely, Sango, sankpana, ooun etc., fought one another with
all the weapons at their disposal. There was complete confusion which led to
acrimony among them. This time, orunmila was the first to return to heaven to
make a report to God. The guardian role of Arugba became lost to the
divinities because she had been deprived of the company of Orunmila with
whom she came to the world.
All the other divinities had established themselves with the instruments
they collected from God's inner Chamber. on his part, orunmila had lost the
use of all the things he brought including even the Divine Bag which without
the advice of Arugba, he did not know how to use. After living a life of
deprivation and penury, he decided to go back to heaven to ask God why life
on earth was so painfully different from life in heaven. Even the four plants he
brought from heaven did not help him although they are the ones used during
IFA initiation to this day, and they are also used for any medicinal preparation
done by orunrnua.
When it was time for orunmua to return to heaven, he went to the foot of
the palm tree and climbed up to its branches. From there he transfigured into
heaven. Back in heaven, he was one of the few divinities to see the last of
God's own physical existence. The Almighty God who was never known to
lose his temper was obviously annoyed at the sight of orunmila. He
apologized to God for seeing the remains of his corporeal, from the neck
upwards, but explained the difficulties he had experienced on earth in the
hands of his brother-divinites. He complained that surprisingly, the rules of
heaven were not being adhered to on earth.
After hearing out orunmua's report, God cleared him to remain briefly in
heaven but sent Obstacle, the most powerful of all the divinities, <Elenini in
Yoruba and ldoboo in Bini) to go and verify orunrnuas report. When Elenini
got to earth, he watched the performance of the remaining divinities at close
quarters. He was not only satisfied that orunmuas account was correct, he
became afraid that with the deprivation prevalent on earth, the divinities
would end up warring against one another.
16
other Divinities return to Heaven
As soon as orunmna left for heaven, the other Divinities refused to co-
operate with one another. Their youngest brother who used to serve all of
them had left and none of the rest was prepared to serve anyone else. Life
became intolerable especially as there was no medium of commercial
exchange. The need for money had become very evident. one after the
other, they all trooped back to heaven to report mission impossible. They
also decided that they were going to request God to give them Divine
authority (ASE) with which they could cause things to happen, for mortal
servants to serve them and for money with which to do business with one
another.
on getting to heaven, they asked for these favours and God gave it to
all of them, but promised to despatch money after they returned to earth.
All of them including orunmila were ordered to return to earth to complete
the mission they had started. This time, since the grounds had been
formed on earth, it was possible to return by the land route to earth.
one by one, the divinities began to troop back to earth with their
human followers. As they were leaving none of them bothered to find out
the mysterious factors responsible for the difficulties, they had en-
countered on earth. Esu, the Evil divinity, had vowed to create problems
for any divinity who failed to enlist his support before returning to earth.
oveku Meji will later reveal how Esu unlocked the rain pipes of heaven to
cause a three year rainfall which prevented the divinities from getting to
their destination on time. Before leaving however, orunmila sought the
advice of his counsellor who told him not to be in a hurry to get hold of the
money which God had promised to send to the world, and to offer sacrifice
to Esu before leaving heaven. orunrnua did as he was told.
Divinities return to the earth
Before departing from heaven, orunrnua had been advised by God to
return to the foot of the palm tree from which the divinities alighted in the
first instance because it was the foundation of their existence on earth. As
soon as the divinities set out on their return journey to earth, a heavy rain
began to fall. The rain continued for several days and nights. But orunrnlla
had been advised not to seek shelter from the rain before getting back to
earth. In defiance of the rain he moved straight on to build a hut at the foot
of the palm tree. All the others did not find their way until after the rain
stopped, that is, one thousand days and one thousand nights later.
Following the abatement of the rain, they met a road side sooth-saver
called Okiti kpuke who advised them that they could only settle down
properly after paying homage to the seat of their foundation which is the
foot of the palm tree.
It took them time to trace the location of the palm tree where orunmila
had meanwhile established a viable habitation. Since he was the keeper of
the palm tree, he reaped the benefits of all the sacrifices made by each of
the divinities at the foot of the palm tree.
Money comes to the world

After they were all reasonably settled down, the parrot was the first to
discover the heap of cowries which decended from -tne sky to the ground
by the side of the expanse of water separating heaven from earth. The
parrot alerted the divinities, who, without adequate preparations
17
 \8
proceeded to extract money from the heap. we shall see later how those
who tried to extract it, were all perished under its avalanche. Esu was still
at his game of destroying all the divinities who refused to acknowledge his
influence and authority. When orunmila saw that all the other divinities who
ran after money failed to return home he decided to go and find out what
was happening to them. He subsequently discovered that they had all
perished under the avalanche of money. He therefore decided to sound
his guardian angel on what was responsible for the mass destruction.
He was told that any one who approached money with greed and
avarice was bound to be destroyed by it because money was always a
hungry phenomenon. Anyone who desired to enjoy the benefit of money
had first to feed it. He was told what to do to feed money and how to
extract it. He did as he was told and he became the only divinity who
succeeded in making money his servant. That is why an lfa shrine seats on
money and cowries to this day.
The beginning of Physical conflicts

The success with which Orunmila discovered the secret of money

earned him the wrath of the remaining divinities, who resorted to open
aggression to destroy him. By special sacrifice revealed by Ejiogbe,
orunmila made his enemies to be fighting among themselves. There was
complete pandemonium on earth over the sharing of the money. Mean-
while news was getting to heaven that there was general commotion on
earth. God sent Death to go and bring those responsible for the conflict
back to heaven, but he tried and failed. He only succeeded in removing the
followers of the divinities but not the divinities themselves. With their
followers destroyed by death, they discovered that they could not achieve
much without the help of their auxiliaries.
The beginning of the end of the world

Death and Money had succeeded in breaking the backbone of the

divinities because they had totally ignored the laws of heaven when they
got to the world. It was the turn of the strongest divinity (Misfortune or
Obstacle> to come and finish them up. He left the palace of God with clear
instructions to come back to heaven with the rest of the divinities. He left
with his Akpo-rntntjekun to collect all of them and bring them back to
heaven.
Meanwhile, orunrnua made his daily divination one morning and saw
that catastrophe was approaching. He was advised by lfa to prepare an
elaborate feast for a powerful visitor that was coming from heaven. He was
told that he would have a sign appearing on the horizon three days before
the arrival of the visitor. on the day of the visitor's arrival he was to collect
all his followers and dance in procession from his house to the town hall
where they would dance and sing in praise of the "August" visitor. From
the town hall, he was to invite the visitor to his house for a feast. That was
the only way he could save himself from the imminent catastrophe.
He did as he was told. About seven days later, he saw a red star
appearing on the sky and he realised that the visitor was on his way. He
made the preparation he had been advised to make and was in a
maximum state of preparedness. Unknown to him, the visitor was already
in the world. Misfortune Divinity, the most powerful of them all, was
around.
His first port of call was at the home of Ogun. He met Ogun in his
18

r ----
 workshop and quickly turned him into a leaf and pocketed him. He did the
same thing with all the other divinities over the next three days. on the third
day he had imprisoned all of them inside his bag and it was time to go to
orunmila.
As he was heading for orunmnas place he met a long procession of
praise singers and dancers. They gave him kola to eat and water to drink
calling him the father of them all and the closest divinity to the Almighty God.
For the first time since getting to the world, Misfortune smiled. orunmila then
came out and told him that he suspected that he must be hungry and had
prepared a feast for him. He followed them home at the head of the
procession amidst singing and dancing. On getting to orunmlla's house, the
heavenly visitor was elaborately feasted with all his staple foods and he was
exceedingly happy. At the end of the feast, he remarked that if all the other
divinities were as magnanimous as orunmila, heaven would not have been
replete with news of internescine atrocities on earth. He told Orunmila and his
followers that God did not design the world to be an antonym but as a
synonym to heaven. He reported that God was determined to destroy the
world rather than allow it to continue as an embarrassment to the goodness of
God's image and reflection.
He wondered if orunmila with his wisdom could make it a better place.
He replied that the task was not easy but that he would continue to do his
best. With that, Misfortune gave him the bag containing all the other divinites,
and proclaimed that from then on, he was to have authority over all of them.
That explains why the only diviners who succeed in the ways of heaven are
those who have the support and co-operation of orunrnua to this day. Be it an
Ogun priest, olokun priest, sanoo priest etc, unless they have their own lfa,
they do not have the blessing of heaven. Otherwise they become the victims
of all kinds of obstacles.
The Final Destruction of the world

No sooner did the divinities regain their freedom than they went back to
their fratricidal feuds. They were particularly angered by the realisation that it
was Orunmila who brought about their salvation from the cold hands of
Misfortune.
News of their atrocities continued to go to heaven. God had been told
that orunmila was the only divinity who was abiding by the laws of heaven on
earth. God then invited the palm tree to go to earth to provide a platform for
orunmila to return to heaven with his followers. one night, Orunmila was
invited by his guardian angel to arrange to climb up a palm tree which had
suddenly grown in front of his house. He was given three days to prepare. He
climbed up the palm tree and asked all his followers to climb after him. As
they got to the top of the palm tree, they were all absorbed into heaven. As
soon as they were all safely in heaven, God, released the dyke holding rain in
the sky and the ensuing downpour of rain flooded up and consumed the
world.
That was the end of the divinosphere and of the first attempt to found a
habitation on earth. It can be seen from the foregoing analysis that the devil
played very little or no part in the destruction of the world.

19
 zo
CHAPTER IV
THE SECOND HABITATION OF THE EARTH
runmila reveals that seven generations had passed in heaven before

0 God decided to embark on a second experiment for the habitation of the

earth. The divinities had argued that the first attempt failed
because there were too many cooks preparing the soup. God yielded to the
suggestions of the divinities and decided to give each of them a chance to
exhaust his capabilities. It was Elenini the Misfortune divinity who prosposed
that osuo. the Engineer should be given the first attempt. ooun accepted the
challenge and decided without delay to set out for the mission. That is why
he is regarded as the path finder of the universe.
Alagbede (Ogun) the Metal/Iron Divinity was then sent by God to
prepare the way for the others. As the Iron-monger of the divinosphere (the
world of the divinities) he was to lay the infrastructure for others to build on in
the world. He was sent with 200 human beings (men and women) to inhabit
the world. ooun was however so egocentric that he did not see any point in
consulting anyone else in heaven for advice before setting out with his
followers on his mission. He left for earth with his 200 followers without
bothering to make adequate preparations for feeding his followers on earth.
He thought that founding a habitation in a virgin environment was like going
to war. Ogun is also the warrior divinity. When he goes to war, he goes
without making any provision for feeding. He feeds his army from the
plundering he does along the war path. He left for earth on the same
assumption.
As soon as they crossed the last of the seven hills before the boundry of
heaven, they came to the grey zone between heaven and earth. The grey
zone is called Hades, which is the home of the faes, (Abiku in Yoruba and
lgbakhuan in Bini>. From then on they moved to the dark zone of the
boundrv, where there is no sunshine. It is called Erebus. Many travellers
used to get lost in that zone at the time when people travelled freely between
heaven and earth. It now approximates to the darkness of the female womb
for travellers coming to the world.
on getting to earth, he set his men to work without any delay, preparing
temporary abodes and roads. The following morning, his 200 mortal followers
asked him what they were to eat. Since there was no food around, he told
them to cut sticks from the surrounding bush to eat. They ate sticks to their
hearts' content but it only whetted the appetite of their alimentary canals.
Within 14 days he had lost more than half of his mortal followers to
starvation.He was left with no option but to retreat to heaven with the feeble
remnants to tell God that he had no food with which to feed his followers.
That was how Ogun gave up his mission and returned to heaven.
Next, God invited the water divinity totokurn to go to the world, to found
an auxiliary habitation there. He too was given 200 persons to accompany
him to the world. Like ocun before him, otokun also set out without making
adequate preparations for the trip. On getting to earth, the followers of the
water divinity also asked him what they were to feed on and he gave them
water to drink, which failed to give them any nutritional satisfaction. As his
followers were getting depopulated by starvation, otokun, like Ogun before
him, returned to heaven to report the failure of his mission.
God invited a number of other divinities for the assignment, but they
politely declined to go since they doubted whether they stood any chance
20

-----· ------=----
 2, l
of success in a mission which had defied the efforts of their elders, Ogun and
Olokun. Determined to found a habitation in the world, God finally invited
Orunmila (the wisdom divinity) to have a try. Orunmila immediately sought
counsel from the heavenly elders who advised him to seek the assistance of
Esu (the trickster divinity). He made sacrifice to Esu who advised him to come
to the world with a luggage comprising samples of all the foodstuffs, birds,
reptiles, animals etc. available in heaven. He collected all these items in his
divination bag called (Akpo-minijekun in Yoruba and Agbavboko in BinD and
got his followers to carry them with him to the world. This mysterious bag has
two spectacular features. It takes whatever is put into it weightlessly, and it
produces whatever is demanded of it.
orunmia made the initial mistake of not seeking advice from his senior
colleagues Ogun and Olokun, who had earlier made abortive attempts to
found the world. As he left on his journey from heaven, Esu went to ridicule
ooun and Olokun that orunmila had sought and obtained clearance from him
before leaving for the world and that he was going to succeed where they had
failed. He disclosed to them that their failure was their punishment for not
seeking and enlisting his support before going to the earth. He reminded them
of the heavenly saying that the dog only follows those who treat it
benevolently.
out of envy and anger, ocun caused a thick forest to block the path he
had earlier made to the world. on getting to that point, orunmila and his
followers could not proceed because they lacked the instruments for clearing
their way through the thick forest. While waiting, the Mouse volunteered to
trace the path-way to the earth. He actually traced the pathway but being a
smallish animal, the path he cleared was not wide and high enough to provide
adequate thorough-fare for the human figure. It was at that stage that
Orunmila sent for Ogun to assist him. Ogun appeared and rebuked Orunmila
for not telling him before leaving for the world. orunmila instantly apologised
to ocun and explained that far from ignoring him, he had in fact sent Esu to
inform him rocum of his impending journey to earth. When Ogun remembered
that Esu actually came to inform him, he piped down and agreed to clear the
route he had blocked. He however warned orunmila that while on earth, he
should feed his followers with the same food (sticks) with which he toour» had
fed his followers during his brief stay on earth. With that, the forest cleared
and Orunmila continued on his journey with his followers.
Before they got to Erebus the boundary of heaven and earth, olokun also
caused a big river to intercept the path-way earlier constructed by Ogun to the
world. When orunmua and his followers got to the bank of the river, they
could not proceed on their journey. After wandering for sometime, Olokun
appeared and queried orunmila for daring to leave for the world without telling
him. once again orunmila apologised to olokun and explained that he had in
fact sent Esu to tell him of his proposed journey to earth before setting out.
Remembering that Esu had in fact told him, Olokun forgave orunmila and
instantly dried up the river for orunmila and his party to proceed to the world.
Before leaving however, olokun ordered orunmila to do what he did by
feeding his followers with water when he got to the world. With these
injunctions orunmila entered the world.
The point at which they entered the world was a thick forest, so he
quickly got his followers to build make-shift dwellings for themselves while he
was busy planting the crops he brought from heaven. As they were being
planted, Esu intervened and made them grow and bear fruits the same day.
By the following morning, the crops were all ready for
21
harvesting. These included maize, plantains, yams, cocoyams etc. and a
variety of fruits. The birds and animals they brought also multiplied overnight
through the machinations of Esu and they were ready for slaughtering at
dawn.
In the morning, orunmuas followers gathered to ask for their food.
In deference to the undertaking he gave to Ogun in heaven to feed his
followers as he did, orunmila gave sticks to all his followers to eat. Next, he
also respected the wishes of Olokun by giving them water to drink. This is
very symbolic, because from then on, the tradition became established that
human beings begin their day by chewing sticks to clean their teeth. This is
followed by the use of water to rinse their mouths. This tradition has
subsisted to this day albeit with slight modifications with the use of brushes
and toothpastes - which still approximate to the chewing stick. After brushing
the teeth, water is still used to rinse the mouth.
After giving his followers sticks and water, they were still asking for more
food. He told them to go to the farm which had then blossomed and harvest
foodstuff to eat. They had a field day and began to eat all descriptions of food
to their hearts' content. The animals and birds were also available in
abundance to provide meat for all of them. Thereafter they happily stayed on
earth as its first inhabitants.
orunrnua later travelled to heaven to report his success to God, and all
the other divinities began to come to the world one after the other with their
retinue of followers. we shall see in the ensuing chapters and volumes that
orunmlla's achievements evoked enemity for him from other divinities. This is
the never-ending envy in the world today between doers and loafers,
excellence and indolence, success and failure and all other positive and
negative forces affecting human lives. It explains why those who strive to
succeed incur the displeasure of those who tried and failed or those who
refused to try at all.
It is significant at this stage to remember, that whatever we do that
benefits us in life is a function of the guiding divinity accompanied to the
world by our original ancestors who established human habitation on earth.
The adherents of tfa today are decendants of the first set of human beings
who followed orunmua to the world. The same is true of Ogun and his
followers sango and his followers, Olokun and his followers, sankpana and
his followers, etc. etc.
Meanwhile, orunrnua went back to heaven to report the success of his
efforts to the Almighty Father. on getting back to heaven, orunmila reported
the success of his mission first to God and finally to the council of Divinities.
The news of his success was greeted with murmurs of envy and it marked
the beginning of the end of the close affinity which previously existed among
the divinities.
In this connection, contrary to the commonly held belief that Esu, or the
devil, is the most wicked divinity in the planetary system, there are more
aggressive ones. The only reason for which Esu is blamed for everv mishap
is because he is the embodiment of evil. we shall see later that although he
has no creative powers, he has the ability to mutilate anything and anyone
created by God, which is to be expected, because God appeared to eliminate
the forces of darkness which Esu represents. on his part, Esu has ensured
that far from being eliminated, the force of evil which ne represents,
continues to flourish. This struggle has continued to express itself in the
preponderance of evil over good on earth, to the present time. we shall see
more of this argument when we come to examine the influence of Esu on the
firmament.
At the head of the more ruthless divinities, is the Divinity of Death,
22

-----
 who is responsible for the demise of all beings created by God. lnfact, we
shall see that he is the only divinity who feeds directly on human beings and
who was the happiest among all the divinities when man was created ov God.
He exclaimed at the creation of man, "at last God has created a staple food
for me". He gets at his victims through four of the most aggressive divinities.
The first of them' is Ogun who is responsible for all destructions resulting from
strife, fire, wars and accidents. He kills by the mass. There is sango, who also
destroys albeit only when his victim contravenes natural laws. There is
sanpana. who destroys indiscriminately through epidemics, and the sickness
divinity, who is the wife of Death and who destroys by euthanasia. There is
also the Night Divinity who destroys innocent beings by the mass. These are
all divinities created by God and given their destructive powers by God. we
shall see that the most powerful of all the divinities created by God is
Misfortune or Obstacle. He is the closest divinity to God because he is the
keeper of the Divine palace of God.
Most of these divinities immediately assumed an aggressive stance the
moment they knew that orunmila had stolen the show from them. They
immediately vowed to go and destroy the world established by orunmila. on
his part, he quickly approached Esu for help who told him not to worry. Esu
assured orunmila that the bellicose divinities would destroy themselves before
destroying the world created by him. orunmua also went to the Obstacle
Divinity <Elenini in Yoruba and ldoboo in Binn and feasted him elaborately to
enlist his support and co-operation.
Meanwhile, all these divinities began to make arrangements for their trip
to the earth. ovekurnejt will later reveal to us how they all left for the world and
how it took them three years to get there.
orunmila had been advised at Divination to make sure that he was the
last to leave for earth. He was also warned that there was going to be a very
heavy rain on earth which would last for 1,000 days and nights. He was to
defy the rain and not take any shelter before getting to his destination.
one after the other all the divinities left for earth. on getting to the
boundry of heaven and earth, they discovered that they had to cross the last
river in heaven with a tiny rope bridge which could only accommodate one
passenger at a time. It took them quite a while to cross to the earthly side of
the river. on getting to Erebus, the land of continuous darkness, they
discovered that it was raining and they all began to seek shelter where ever
they could find one. All their designs for world destruction had evaporated into
thin air as a result of the difficulties they encountered on the way, which were
contrived by Esu.
Among the friendly divinities who were on the side of orunmila were Ule
<House> and lgede <Incantation>. The House who does not move, told
Orunmila to carry him in his Divination bag. Incantation, who has no limbs told
orunmila that the battle that awaited him on earth was going to be very stiff.
He therefore advised orunmila to take him along by swallowing him up so that
whatever he said would come to pass. orunmila agreed to the two requests.
As advised, he waited for all the aggressive divinities to leave for earth
before he left. When he got to the bank of the river, he met only one divinity
left. It was the Queen of witchcraft<called tvaml osoronga in Yoruba and
rventoneekce in Binn. She was too weak to cross the bridge. She had
beseeched all other divinities to help her cross the bridge, but they all
refused, because they were traditionally afraid of her. When she saw
Orunmila coming, she begged him to help her but he replied by saying that
the bridge could only take one occupant at a time. She then proposed
23
 ,z,----q
that orunmila should open his mouth for her to fly inside promising to
come out at the end of the bridge. With that, orunmila agreed to oblige.
He had ignored the fact that she was one of the divinities that vowed to
destroy him on earth. At the earth's bridge head, Orunmila told her to
come out but she refused on the grounds that his stomach was a suitable
abode for her. He bluffed that she would starve inside his stomach, but
she called off his bluff by taking a bite at his intestines telling him that all
her staple foods <heart, liver, intestines etc.: were abundant inside him.
Realising the risk he had taken on, he quickly used his divination
instrument to seek a solution. He pulled out a goat from his bag,
slaughtered and cooked it. Having cooked it ready, he invited her to come
out to eat but she said that she could only eat in private. He got out a
white cloth and made a makeshift tent with it. She then came out and
concealed herself inside the tent and fed on the goat meat.
While she was enjoying her meal orunmila disappeared into the
darkness of Erebus, braving the rain, and without looking back, continued
non-stop on his journey.
He met all the divinities taking shelter at one spot or the other by the
road side. In consonance with the advice he was given in heaven, he
continued on his journey under the rain until he got to his destination. He
was happily received by his followers who were beginning to wonder why
he had kept so long in returning.
on getting home, he told lgede and Ule to come down. Ule came
down but died instantly, while lgede told him that he would be more
effective inside his stomach. That explains why orunmila is regarded as
the patron of incantations, and the only divinity capable of conjurnno with
the spoken word.
He told his followers to prepare a fitting grave for Ule. As he lay in
state awaiting burial, the most wonderful occurrence since the establish-
ment of the world occurred. Rows of houses suddenly began to spring up
all over the settlement, similar to the type of houses they have in heaven.
That was the beginning of the architectural foundation of the world. In
place of the huts previously built by the followers of orunmila, oatacta:
buildings began to spring up all around.
The Arrival of the other Divinities

Those who took shelter from the rain camped permanently in all
kinds of squalid locations for the long duration of the rain. By the time the
rain subsided, they had become so used to their make-shift
accommodations that they saw no point in moving out of them. That is
why divinities like Ogun, sanoo, otokun, ovla, Ake, sanoana. uwen, Ora,
Leron, etc. have their shrines outside the house to this day. orunmila,
being the only one who came straight home in defiance of the rain is the
only divinity, <apart from ortsa Nia who came later> being located and
served in the home.
It will be recalled that the aggressive divinities who came with
orunmila to the world did so with one determination, to come and destroy
the world he had built. Unfortunately for them, they were ill-prepared for
the trip because they obtained no formal clearance from God before
leaving heaven. on getting to the world, they soon discovered that without
God's own authority, they could not accomplish their mission. They then
got together and decided to return to heaven to obtain proper clearance
from God. Led by Ogun, the most senior of them all, they left for heaven.
on getting to the palace of God, they asked for the Divine authority
<ASE> with which to make and unmake. Since God does not refuse any
24
 request, he gave them and they all surrendered their own ASE to Ogun to
take custody of them. Anyone who wanted to make use of his own ASE
went to Ogun to collect it, and to return it after making use of it.
With these instruments of authority, they began to create all sorts of
problems for orunmua and his followers, who in turn began to make all
kinds of sacrifices to defend themselves against the evil designs of the
aggressive divinities. When it came to the point at which orunrnua and his
followers were using all their money to make sacrifices to dispel the
wicked machinations of the divinities, he decided to ask his guardian angel
what to do about it. He was advised to prepare a special charm now
referred to as Gbetugbetu in Yoruba, or Ataighi mua in Bini. After
preparing it, he was to use it to visit ooun and to order him to surrender all
the ASEs he had in his custody, to him. With that charm it is possible to
conjure anyone to behave as directed by the user.
He accordingly prepared the charm as directed and he paid a visit to
ooun. on getting to ooun's house orunmila told him that he came to collect
all the ASEs with him. Without any hesitation whatsoever, Ogun went to
his treasury and brought them all out and surrendered them to orunmila.
With the ASEs in his hands, orunmila left for home. on getting home, he
swallowed all of them up.
Five days later, Ogun wanted to use his own ASE and went to his
treasury to fetch it. To his amazement, he discovered that not only was his
own nowhere to be found, the whole lot belonging to the other divinities,
had also disappeared. He tried to remember who visited him during the
last five days, but since his memory had failed him, he decided to check
on the divinities. He went first to Orunmila to ask whether he was the one
who came to collect the ASEs from him. orunmila denied ever visiting him
let alone to collect the ASEs from him. With the ASEs of the Divinities
gone, orunmila and his followers had some respite and they began to live
happily and peacefully.
The world settles down

As soon as a firm foundation was established for permanent

habitation on earth; more inhabitants of heaven began to make frequent
visits to the earth. Those who found Heaven unbearable to live in, escaped
to the world. Others came out of curtousltv. The vast majority of those who
followed the divinities to the world, were their followers in heaven. This
book will however be limited to the orunmua kindred and those who
followed him to the world.
Initially, it was for a long time possible to walk on one's feet from
heaven to this world and back. It was the appeal made by the feminine
gender to Esu that ended the physical passage between heaven and
earth. Previously, it was possible to leave heaven and to get to the world
with clear recollections of whatever one wished to accomplish on earth. It
was Esu and Elenini who blocked that memory passage.
When the divinities left for heaven one after the other, they left their
followers and decendants to keep life afloat on earth. we have already seen
the conflict which characterized the earthly cohabitation of the divinities. As
they returned to heaven one after the other, the conflicts became even
more ferocious among the lay mortals. That explains the fights, wars,
treacheries, commotior.s and mutual destruction that subsists among the
inhabitants of this earth to this day. It was so from the beginning and so
shall it remain to the end of time. It is not entirely the fault of men. It is a
reflection of the never ending conflict between good and evil.
25
 ~

CHAPTER V
HOW MAN COMES TO THE WORLD FROM HEAVEN
here is always a tendency to see man strictly from a biological
T perspective. A man and a woman mate and a child is born to them and
the new child is seen as an independent entity. we have already
seen that at the beginning of terrestrial habitation, human beings travelled to
this world under the leadership of one or the other of the divinities. we shall
see from the up-coming chapters that a man's sojourn to the world is merely
a continuation of his activities in heaven. we have already seen that before
man came to live in the world, the inhabitants of heaven travelled on their feet
to and from earth, completed their assignments on earth, and returned to
heaven. It was Esu who blocked the free passage between heaven and earth
and made the female womb the passage way between the two places.
Before then, the pelvis in all animals, like in plants, was on the forehead and
it was neither recognised nor respected, both in animals and human beings.
The pelvis which was a living organism in heaven went for divination and was
advised to make sacrifice with a black he-goat to Esu and it did. Thereafter,
Esu asked the female to open her legs and extracted the pelvis out of her
forehead and positioned it between her !egs. He then extracted a part of the
skin from the body of the black he-goat with which the pelvis made sacrifice
to him, and Esu used it to cover the pelvis up in its new abode between the
female legs.
Thereafter, Esu went to the boundary of heaven and earth and blocked
it forever with total darkness. That part of the planetary system approximates
to what in Greek mythology is called Erebus. It was Esu who blocked it
permanently and ordained that rather than keeping the gates of heaven
permanently busy by travellers coming from earth to ask for children in
heaven, from then on, any one, animals and humans alike, who wanted to
have children should appeal to the pelvis, and the womb of all females was
made to symbolise the darkness and mysteries of Erebus. The gestation
period it takes for a +emale to bring forth a young one also approximates to
the time it used to take for different species of the animal family to travel to
and from heaven for a child.
we shall also see how the mutual attraction between the productive
organs of mates and females came to characterize the basis of their total
existence. we will also discover from later chapters how the penis and the
pelvis on the one hand and the ovum and the spermatozoa on the other,
made sacrifices to make it possible for them to co-operate to bring forth a
child from heaven.
Before coming to the world, all human beings make their own wishes at
the divine palace of God. some merely choose to make flying visits to the
world and to return to heaven as quickly as they came. Others prefer to
return at the prime of life - middle age, while others prefer to return at a ripe
old age. When we make our wishes at the divine attar in the palace of God,
the favourite servant of God called MISFORTUNE, the most powerful of all
the divinities, is the only one present. The Yorubas call him Etenini while the
Binis call him roo-aoo. This is the only force capable of standing in the way of
realising our destiny on earth because he is there present when we are
making our life wishes. Those who are painstaking enough to pay homage to
him before leaving heaven are given a free hand to go about their business
on earth without let or hinderance.

THE INFLUENCE OF THE OBSTACLE DIVINITY ON OUR DESTINY 26

 1woribogbe, one of the senior oous <disciples) of orunmila will later
reveal the influence on our lives, of the Misfortune Divinity. Elenini udoboo:
is the keeper of the inner chamber of God's divine palace where we all go
on our knees to make the wishes for our sojourn to the world.
once we have completed our departure arrangements, we are led by
our guardian angel to the inner chamber where we make our own wishes.
God does not tell us what should or should not happen to us or give us
any special assignments. Whatever we say we wish to do or become, He
merely blesses by saying - so be it my child.
When lworibogbe was leaving for earth, he made a wish that he
wanted to change the face of the earth by eliminating all wicked and
vicious elements. To be able to accomplish his task, he requested from
God a special power over life and death. God replied that his wish was
granted. overwhelmed by the power bestowed on him by God, he set out
quickly for his journey to earth. His guardian angel reminded him of the
need to underwrite his wishes with Elenini and the more powerful
divinities, but he told his quardian angel that there was no force greater
than God and that since he had obtained divine clearance he saw no
justification for appealing to any lower authority.
As soon as he left the divine palace Elenini introverted the wishes of
twortooobe. on getting to earth, he discovered that contrary to his wishes,
he was running into difficulties. It transpired that the opposite of whatever
he wished was always manifesting. When he prayed for people to live,
they would die, while those he wished dead, lived. He became most dis-
illusioned, because no one dared go to him for divination or assistance,
since those who did, paid dearly for it. After starving in frustration for
sometime, he decided to return to heaven.
on. getting to heaven he went to his guardian angel who reminded
him of the advice given to him before leaving heaven. It was at that point
that he agreed to go for divination where he was told to make elaborate
sacrifices to Elenini and the more senior divinities. He did the sacrifice and
returned subsequently to earth for a more prolific and fulfilling life.
THE ·ROLE OF THE GUARDIAN ANGEL

The principal architect of our fortunes both in heaven and on earth is

our guardian angel. He tells us what to do before leaving heaven for the
world. Anyone who follows the directions and instructions of his guardian
angel never goes astray. The vorubas call him Eleeda and Bin is call him
Ehi. Those who are meticulous enough go for divination in heaven before
coming to the world, and do whatever they are advised at divination to do,
stand a better than even chance of a reasonably smooth sojourn on earth.
Those who refuse to abide by the prescriptions or do so halfheartedly
encounter all kinds of problems both in their journey to, and their life in the
world.
All animate creatures of God have their individual guardian angels.
The lower divinities and humans alike are known to have their guardian
angels. These angels reside in heaven and keep close vigil over our
activities on earth. It is believed in mythology that an individual's shadow is
the image of his guardian angel. It follows us wherever we go.
occasionally, when we are asleep, we dream of up-coming events and
some people are actually advised through dreams. our guardian angels
are believed to be the ones mirroring these events to us through dreams.
These books are going to be replete with instances in which the guardian
angels of various people appeared to them in dreams to guide them in
their activities on earth. This
27
happens mostly when an individual is veering away from the path of his
destiny and he is not given to going for divination. It is in such instances
that the guardian angels resort to the use of dreams or advice through
close friends and relations, to forewarn us about impending events. When
a guardian angel discovers that his ward does not believe in dreams, he
can even speak to him through other diviners. There are many instances
in which some strange seer will come along to a person along the road, in
his place of work or his house to warn him of impending dangers and what
he can do to ward them off. All such instances are master-minded by our
guardian angels.
For those who believe in divination and sacrifice, they are often
advised to make sacrifices to their guardian angels. we shall discover
from these books that the materials for such sacrifices are used by the
guardian angels to entertain higher powers in order to enlist their support
in achieving our various objectives in life. The most important role of the
guardian angel is to use the sacrifice made by his ward in heaven to feast
all the divinities likely to play a role in his daily activities on earth. Those
who fail to make such sacrifices in heaven are the ones who become
paupers on earth. The sacrifices we make through our guardian angels
before departing from heaven approximate to the seeds we sow, which
like the night follows the day, produce the benefit which we reap later in
the world. It is a travesty of divine justice to eulogize a life of perpetual
deprivation and penury as a rectitude. Poverty is not synonymous with
virtue, because no one given the option to choose between affluence and
penury, will choose the latter.
The simple truth is that no one reaps what he did not sow. No one
goes to collect his pay packet from where he did not work. No one goes to
collect money from a bank in which he has no deposit or goodwill. No one
expects to collect dividends from a company in which he has no
investment. And no one, expects to collect a certificate or diploma for a
course of study he has not successfully undertaken. In the same way, no
one can expect a good life on earth, if he did not make sacrifice for it
before setting off from heaven.
THE FORCE OF DESTINY IN OUR LIVES

As already indicated, the length of our stay on earth, the type of work
we do, and the degree of our success or failure in life are all functions of
our own chosen destinies. we shall see for instance from the· works 01
1woribogbe, that if a person chooses to pay a flying visit to the world,
there is virtually nothing anyone can do to prolong the life of such a person
or earth, except in rare instances, where his guiding divinity can change
the subject's destiny. This class of people who are called fays umere in
Yoruba and lgbakhuan in Bini) come to the world for a few hours, days,
weeks months or years and die when their chosen time is up. It is only
orunmu: who discovered the secret of how to prolong the lives of such
persons or earth, that is only if the parents of the child are able to discover
rrorr divination, well in advance, that the in-coming child is a fay.
For instance, a person leaves heaven with a determination to become
a farmer on earth. Depending on the type of clearance he got from the
heavenly forces, he could take to farming as soon as he grows up in the
world and thrive in it immensely. If on the other hand he failed to obtalr
clearance from the higher powers in heaven, he might take to a completef
different profession in which he would never be able to make ends meet
having strayed away from his chosen vocation or profession.
28
 A significant point to bear in mind is that no one ever remembers his
wishes in heaven on getting to earth. Esu uses the waiting period in Erebus
and the process of childhood to obliterate all memories of what we were in
heaven and what we planned to do on earth. No one ever leaves heaven
except the fays with bad wishes for themselves. Everyone desires to succeed
in whatever he does, but his success depends largely on the amount of
clearance he got from the higher divinities before leaving heaven.
some people do run away from heaven without obtaining clearance from
anyone. These are the people who wander about in the world for want of a
settled life. Almost invariably a tranquil life eludes them throughout, since
they did not programme for it. such people come to the world to blame God,
their guardian angel, or their heads, and fellow human beings, for their
misfortunes and failures. But they only have themselves to blame. It is like
some one leaving for a new farm without a matcnet to work with, nor food to
eat.
on getting to the world, a number of people are fortunate to have good
parents who go for one kind of divination or the other. If the parents are able
to discover in time the type of child they have, they can embark early enough
on the task of preparing the child's feet on the right path of his destiny.
one very important aspect of a person's destiny is the ruling divinity of
his life. As earlier indicated, man's forebears came to this world under the
leadership of one divinity or the other. It is a person who came under the
ruling star of orunrnua that will be required to thrive by serving orunmila in the
world. The same is true of all the other divinities, like Ogun, sanco, osun,
Olokun, Oya etc. In the same way, it is the person who came under the
guiding star of ortsa Nia <God's personal representative) that will thrive by
following the path of modern religion. The tragedy of human existence is that
when a follower of one divinity, sees the followers of other divinities, happy
and contented in their own sect, he believes that he will thrive equally by
giving up the service of his own divinity for the service of another. These are
the people who either fall from the frying pan to the fire or live through life as
if they are engaged in a never-ending search for a base.
The advice to such people is to go for any form of divination they are
used to in order to discover their ruling divinity. As soon as they discover their
base, a sizeable proportion of their problems will have been solved.
THE PLACE OF DIVINATION IN OUR LIVES

Divination is defined as the faculty of foreseeing. It comes from the Latin

word Divinatus, Divinare - to foresee. The art and practice of foretelling future
events or the unknown by occult or oracle means. A prophesy, prediction or
augury.
Divination is the art of having an insight into one's fortunes, misfortunes
and future. It can be done either by prayer through Christian seers or through
the lfa priest, or any other divine priest, or through any other form of oracle.
The Ogun, sanoo. otokun etc. priest who foretells the future When possessed
is a diviner. With particular reference to the lfa divination, it is done in one of
four ways by the lfa priest.
. It can be done with a four-piece kolanut thrown on the floor, and interpreting
the proclamation of the Odu appearing through the pieces Of kolanut, The
range of divination through the four-place kolanut is limited and only highly
proficient lfa priests see and say much from it.
29
r --~
 30
Divination is more often done with okpere, which is capable of
translating the entire range of the lfa oracle. we shall see later that there
are 256 oous in the lfa corpus. The principal ones called OLODUS are
sixteen in number. The remaining 240 are simply called oous. All of them
are however addressed by their individual names. When the okpete is
thrown on the floor, the priest reads out the Odu that has come out to
speak to the enquirer. As soon as the odu's name is known, the priest
immediately recalls the work of that Odu relevant to the question asked.
Let us assume that a man preparing to leave heaven for earth goes to an
lfa priest in heaven for divination and the priest decides to use Okpele. Let
us further assume that after throwing down his okpere, oobeOligun comes
out. The lfa priest will merely recall the sacrifice which OgbeOligun did
before he left heaven for earth at the beginning of time. If on the other hand
Ogbe-Oligun comes out in an earthly divination for a man who wants to
proceed on a journey, the lfa priest will also recall the experience of osoe-
oncun in a similar situation when he was in the world. The Odu coming out
from this kind of divination is similar to the star which astrologers read
when a person is born. The highly knowledgeable lfa priest has a
reasonable knowledge of what each odu did in heaven and during his life
on earth. If one therefore goes for divination and a particular Odu appears,
the priest has only to recall the particular event in the life and works of that
oou, relevant to the subject of the enquiry and tell the enquirer to do what
orunmila did in similar circumstances. If he recommends sacrifice and it is
accordingly done, the enquirer will certainly obtain the kind of relief that
orunmila had in a similar situation.
The third form of divination is the lkin or Uken in Bini>. This is made
up of 16 lfa kernel nuts shifted between the two palms of the hand. The lfa
priest gets the enquirer to touch his head with the sixteen nuts and the lfa
priest starts off by shuffling the nuts between his two palms. Using the left
palm as the base of the sixteen nuts, he tries to remove all of them with the
right palm. If for instance he removes all of them leaving two seeds on the
left palm, he then marks one stroke on the lfa tray laden with tve-rosun or
divination powder. He also marks two stokes if only one seed is left on the
left palm. He goes through this process eight times until a full odu appears
on the lfa tray. It is this first oou that appears on the lfa tray which will
provide the information that the priest will interprete later.
After marking the first Odu, the priest goes on to seek confirmation
through the same process to obtain a second oou. To complete the
process he finally asks whether there are any obstacles on the subject of
the enquiry. If it is disclosed from the third marking on the tray that there
are obstacles, the priest will proceed to ask for the cause and type of
obstacle there is, before finding out what has to be done about it. The
details of these processes will be explained later in the books.
The fourth and most important form of divination is the one that takes
place when a person is preparing his own Orunmila - or when he is
initiated into lfism. That is when he goes to uqboou. The process takes the
same form as the last one, but this time, the first Odu that comes out at
usnoou becomes the name of the Inttlate's orunmila. The life history of that
orunmua is narrated to the initiate and his life wm experience the same
problems and prospects like those of the orunmila.

THE ORIGIN OF THE PROBLEMS EXPERIENCED BY HUMAN BEINGS ON

EARTH
If the guardian angel realises that the number of enemies who are 30
------ 3l
determined to destroy his son or daughter or frustrate his or her fortunes in
life, are too many, he approaches one or the other divinity to follow his son
or daughter to the world to protect him against the machinations of such
enemies. On getting to earth, if the person is fortunate to come across the
guiding divinity early enough in life, he is able to live a comfortable life. If
on the other hand the person misses his way and chooses say a religion
that will keep him or her at arms length from the guiding divinity, he or she
becomes the victim of all the difficulties created bv sworn enemies.
That is why our fore-fathers devised the practice of naming cere-
monies as a means of discovering the prospects and problems awaiting a
newly born child in order to begin early to remove the obstacles in his way.
Those who have lived a reasonably inoffensive life in heaven may
come to the world without olenttv of problems. These are the people who
are seen to succeed without many difficulties in life. Such instances are
however few and far between.
Normally, we grow up in the world to find ourselves having difficulties
with our parents, brothers, sisters, colleagues, contemporaries, associates,
marital partners etc., etc. without knowing exactly why. People get disliked
by others at first sight for no visibly justifiable cause. At the same time, just
when all hopes seem lost, someone comes out of the blue to offer
succour. Those who understand the secrets of life are not often surprised
at these developments, because the design was made in heaven.
No one comes to the world with a bad destiny. contrary to the
commonly held view that God ordains whatever fate befalls us on earth,
the Almighty Father only confirms whatever we wish for ourselves when
we appear at the Divine altar to make our wishes for our sojourn on earth.
It is unrealistic to imagine that the all merciful and loving God will
discriminate by ordaining some to become successful and others to
become failures on earth. Everyone coming to the earth wishes for
success and prosperity. A practical illustration will explain this
phenomenon.
As already demonstrated in the chapter on destiny, our life on earth is
a continuation of our life in heaven. We had as many enemies and friends
in heaven as we have on earth. When a person therefore goes before the
Divine altar to make his wishes for his journey to the earth, he prays for all
the good things of life. When he completes his wishes, God stamps his
. mace of authority on it and says, "so be it for you". Almost immediately, a
detractor in heaven comes before the altar of God to say that as soon as
the first person starts climbing the ladder of success he or she will drag
him down. Again God stamps his mace of authority on the wishes of the
enemy of the first wisher. A friend of the first person comes along to wish
that whenever the enemy sets out to strike the first wisher, he or she will
defend the wisher. God will also confirm the wish of the third person. The
chain of wishers continues in this manner without anyone of them knowing
what the last person's wishes are for or against him or her. They all leave
for the world and they can be born as children of the same or different
parents. As they grow up in life, they can meet as brothers, sisters,
friends, schoolmates, workmates, members of the same club, lovers,
husbands and wives or wives of the same husband.
Efosa was having a lot of problems in heaven, and he understood
from travellers returning from earth, that it is an interesting place to live in.
He decided to end his problems in heaven by travelling to earth. He went
before the divine palace and made several wishes for prosperity and
longevity on earth. The Almighty Father blessed his wishes and he was
31
 32..
convinced that that was all he needed. As soon as Odioma heard that Efosa
was leaving for the world, he too vowed to follow him to earth to settle his
score with him. Odioma went before the Divine altar to wish for success in
getting Efosa to repay his debt of 30k on earth. Madam Akaruosa who stood
surety for Efosa on his indebtedness to Odioma also went to the Divine altar
to wish that she too was coming to the world to get Efosa to relieve her from
her bond. Her wishes also received the blessing of God.
The heavenly guardian of Efosa, being an angel who operates in spirit,
knew what Odioma and Akaruosa had in store for his ward on earth. Before
setting out for the earth, srosa's guardian angel advised him not to leave
heaven without repaying his debt. He replied that if he had enough money, he
would not be leaving for earth. Without making any sacrifice of any kind,
Efosa left for earth. Nonetheless, his guardian angel went to Ogun and
appealed to him to lead Efosa to the world. Ogun agreed.
Efosa was subsequently born on earth into a polygamous family. He
was the fourth son of the senior wife of the family. A sister of Efosa's father,
also gave birth to Odioma, while the mate of Efosa's mother gave birth to
Akaruosa. As the children grew up, they lived in the same locality, but they
were always fighting and arguing among themselves. one day as Efosa was
returning from his father's farm, he saw a trap set by Odioma which had
caught a grass-cutter. He released the grass-cutter and brought it home as
the catch of his own trap.
on getting home he got his sister Akaruosa to sell the grass-cutter for
him in the market. The grass-cutter was sold for 30k. Meanwhile, Odioma
went to the farm and saw all the indications that his trap had been tampered
with. On a closer examination of the trap, he discovered all the signs that his
trap had caught a grass-cutter because all the hooks of the animal's skin
were still on the ground. He was not aware that Efosa had brought a grass-
cutter home.
When he got home he narrated his misgivings to his mother, who knew
that Akaruosa had brought a grass-cutter to the market for sale the previous
day. The woman paid a visit to Efosa·s home and probed Akaruosa on the
origin of the grass-cutter she sold in the market the previous day. She replied
that it belonged to Efosa.
on getting home the woman narrated her findings to her son Odioma,
who became convinced that Efosa was the culprit who removed his grass-
cutter. m tne ensuing confrontation with him, Efosa had no option but to
confess that he removed the animal but intended to surrender the money to
Odioma. Asked to produce the money, he said he had spent it.
That debt of 30k dragged on until the elders of the night intervened.
Efosa became ill and died subsequently. Akaruosa was also taken ill.just
before she was to be given out in marriage and she too died. It was the turn
of Efosa·s mother to appeal to the divinities to destroy whoever was
responsible for the death of her son. Odioma was eventually taken ill and he
too died.
The triple tragedy provoked a meeting of the village elders, who ordered
that the deaths should be investigated. An lfa priest was invited who after
divination, revealed that they all settled the score that took them from heaven
to the earth. He revealed that the tragedy couid only have been averted if
their parents instead of appealing to the elders of the night, had made the
necessary sacrifices, which the trio had failed to make in heaven.

32

r
 CHAPTER VI
MAN'S RELATIONSHIP WITH COD
his question has engaged the attention of thinkers through the ages.

T some philosophers argue that the relationship between man and God
is like the relationship between a dead father and his surviving off
springs. Others have argued that God once lived but died several millenia
ago and that it is his spirit that continues to direct the affairs of the
planetary system just as some believe that the souls of one's departed
ancestors continue to play a leading role in one's affairs.
orunrnua's revelations confirm that God's existence cannot and should
never be a subject for debate. The way he has ordered the design of
heaven and earth and the retributive justice for those who contravene the
laws of nature are unquestionable testimonies to the interventionary role of
God in our lives.
It is my considered view that the concept of a personalised and per-
sonified God who is constantly watching over the affairs of all his creatures
wherever he may be, might on closer examination, be defective. The idea
of an unforgiving Almighty Father who condemns offenders to ever lasting
hell fire is simply atrocious and untenable. If an ordinary mortal cannot be
unforgiving enough to condemn a bad child to the wolves or into a burning
fire, why should anyone think of the Almighty Father as being even more
heartless and ruthless. The punishments for contravening any of the
natural laws are laid down. They are not based on the will of God. we shall
not sketch for God therefore, the picture of a disciplinarian who sits in
judgement over any and every offence committed by his creatures. The
penal sanctions for offending the laws of nature are retrtbutlvetv
automatic. They are similar to the application of terrestrial laws. The law
enforcement agencies will carry out the dictates of the law on any offender
whether or not he is the son of one of those who made the law - that is
under normal circumstances. It goes without saying therefore that God
cannot harm humanity, the way he is adjudged to do, to those who offend
natural laws. After all, any harm done by God to man is a harm done to
himself, since humanity is an embodiment of His own being.
God is equal to all that is and exists, and that includes both organic
and inorganic creatures. we all play one role or the other to make His
whole body work more effectively. The forces of good and evil co-exist
within his physiological make-up just as they exist within our microscopic
bodies. The relationship between God and ourselves is analogous to the
relationship between ourselves and the living organisms operating inside
our bodies. To perform and live as human beings we have millions of cells
operating within our bodies each of which performs a distinct role.
There is no means through which we can directly influence the way
these cells perform their individual functions except through our general
behaviour. For instance, when one hits one's hand on the table to make a
point, one has destroyed or injured hundreds of thousands of living cells
inside one's body and these are cells which may have been praying inside
one's body for some fOrm of deliverance.
In the same way, what excitement can it give to God to kill hundreds
of thousands of his creatures, made up of mankind, plants and animals,
In an earthquake? Nor does it give him pleasure when the world destroys
itself in wars. wars are intra-fratricidal conflicts within the body of God
since conflicts are part of the living orocess, '

33
 ---3 l-f
we have no means of knowing the wishes and aspirations of the living
organisms inside our bodies except that their conditions reflect on our own
out-look and health. If they are hail and hearty they perform their jobs well
and we also feel healthy. In the same way, God is happy when all the tiny
little cells inside his body, plants, animals, water, fire, sun and moon, men
and women are all performing their functions happily and satisfactorily.
orunmila on the other hand reveals that God once had a physical
existence and that it was often possible for his closest aids, the divinities and
living beings to interact with him like we openly interact with our parents. As
the planetary system expanded in size and population, the task of listening to
everybody coming to him became cumbersome. It was at that point that He
decided to evaporate into thin air. Before doing so however, he appointed the
200 divinities to assume the responsibility of adjudicating and intervening in
the affairs of heaven and earth. It is therefore not an accident of history that
each of the various divinities has his own retinue of adherents. The
worshipers of Ogun, osun rosonvtn in Yoruba) olokun. ortsa Nia, sango,
Christ, witchcraft, sudda, Judaism, orunmila, Asukporu etc have no
justification for claiming superiority in their modes of worship over others,
because according to the revelations of Orunmila each of these agencies
came to different parts of the world to assist the forces of good to become
preponderant over the forces of evil. The common dominator between all of
them is that they advise their followers not to do any evil and not to destroy
their fellow beings, because it is against the laws of nature so to do.
They are all subject to the natural laws, that their followers should do to
others what they also wish for themselves. Those who contravene this golden
rule get their due reward in punishment here on earth.
In the light of the foregoing, it is clear that the relationship between God
and man is likened to the father who dispatches his children to leave home to
pursue different vocations for the total advancement of the whole family. The
father leaves each of his children the discretion to determine how best to
carry out their assignments. He is only interested in the end result of his
children's efforts.
God creates us with hands, feet, intelligence and discretion to enable us
fend for ourselves within the broad rules of the body of ethics called Natural
Laws.
God does not stop anyone from doing good or evil, because it is
ordained in the divine laws that like the night follows the day, whoever does
good shall have good coming his way and he who does evil will surely reap
the fruits of evil.
orunmila reveals that God only laughs in two circumstances, when a
wicked person who plots evil against his fellow men, goes on his knees to
beg God for a favour, God laughs hilariously at him. on the other hand, when
people are plotting against a person with a clean heart, and they pray to God
to bless their evil plans to manifest, God laughs at them.
If you sow corn, you can only expect a corn harvest. No one can
justificably expect the serpent to give birth to a fowl. These are against the
divine laws of the universe. That is why the divinities can only listen to the
voice of the righteous. Those who resort to the use of diabolical medicines for
giving manifestation to their evil intentions, do so because they could not
enlist the support of the divinities. Neither God nor any of his servants will
cooperate with anyone who prays for help to destroy or harm his friends,
relations or neighbours. To engage in wicked behaviour against one's fellow
men in the hope that praying round the clock can save

34
 35· ·
one from the long arm of retributive justice, is to put the efficacy of prayer
in doubt. One can only wish for success if one also appreciates or
encourages success in others. one cannot constantly obstruct the cause of
justice and expect the higher powers to do justice to one's cause. That is
the law of retributive justice.
several messengers from heaven have through the ages tried to
teach the world how to serve God. They have all emphasised that we do
not serve God by flocking into a house of prayer to praise and flatter Him
or to pray for selfish favours. They have all emphasised without exception
that the only true way of serving God is by doing good to our friends,
relations, neighbours and even enemies.
What favour can a man expect from God when he refused to use his
car to convey the neighbour's wife to the hospital when she was in labour.
The man who sped his car past a dying victim of a motor accident without
helping to take him to the hospital, may call for the help of God sixteen
times a day, it ·will never come to him because he did not sow for it. If he
had obliged the needy in his critical moment, God would also send help
through any source to him when he was in difficulties. can prayers bring
deliverance to the man who refused to oblige a jobless relation with N2.00
to feed his family, when in fact he had over N300.00 in his cupboard at that
material time. we do not have to pray for what we have not earned. we
could only earn the benevolence of the divinities if we did not hesitate to
assist those who needed our help on any previous occasion.
Here lies the similarity between prayer and sacrifice. For prayer to
manifest there must be evidence that the offerer had previously sacrificed
his effort, time or money to assist the needy. This approximates very
closely to the physical sacrifice often made to divinities when we desire
their assistance.
That is why arunmila advises his followers never to refuse assistance
to needy friends, relations and neighbours. we shall see how the forces of
the night punished the man who concealed the deer which he killed in the
bush, to look like a human corpse merely because he did not want any
member of his community to share out of it. He lost two of his children
before he was able to determine the causal relationship between his
treachery and the children's deaths. In fact orunmila advises his followers
to always have food at home so that chance or hungry callers may have
something to eat. He assures that anyone who behaves in this manner will
never be denied the means of funding his hospitality. As long as we are
behaving the way God ordains us to do, we shall remain happy because
one is only truly happy by making others happy. There are many ungrateful
persons in the world, but the victim of ingratitude always lives longer and
happier than the ingrate.
The story of how God sent Nene to fetch snails for sacrifice to soften
the heat of heaven will illustrate how we are expected to use our discretion
to chart the course of our lives. Nene, a maid in the Divine Palace was
sent by God to fetch snails for sacrifice. Without asking any questions, she
left for the assignment. God called her back to collect four gifts for the
journey; one kolanut, one aligator pepper, one piece of white chalk and a
piece of white cloth.
She knew that at that time, snails were not available in heaven, but
she was determined to comb the length and breadth of heaven and earth
to get the snails. After wandering in the bush for sometime, Esu, the evil
divinity, transfigured on four different occasions to tempt her. First, an
elderly woman appeared to her who cried for chalk to do some work for her
daughter who was in labour. Nene obliged with the piece of chalk that
35
God gave to her. Next, an elderly man appeared to her crying for a piece of
white cloth to bring relief to his grand child who was suffering from
convulsion. In a gesture of genuine concern and sympathy, Nene parted with
the only piece of white cloth given to her by God.
Not long afterwards, a woman emerged with a child crying on her back.
The child was hungry. As soon as Nehe heard the cry of the child, she ran to
the mother to find out what was happening. She explained that she had been
in the forest all day without any food to give the child. kolanut is the staple
food in heaven. Nene gave the only kolanut she had to the woman who was
very happy.
Finally, a hunter came along to ask her for an aligator pepper which she
also willingly parted with. With that, she had done favour with all the materials
given to her by God. As soon as she gave the aligator pepper to the hunter,
he moved a little distance forward and returned to meet her.
He asked her what she was doing in the forest. when she explained that
she was sent by God to fetch snails, the hunter told her to wait. He opened
the aligator pepper and threw the seeds into the bush. He then told her to
enter the bush in the direction to which he threw the seeds of aligator pepper.
She went into the bush and saw a countless number of snails. It will be noted
that it was only by parting with what Nene had that she was able to obtain
what she was looking for. If she had sat at home or kne!t down in the forest
to pray for the snails to come to her, she would have failed in her mission. It
should also be noted that God did not tell her what to do with the gifts given
to her. She was left to use her own discretion.

36
 37
CHAPTER VII
THE EFFECT OF SACRIFICIAL OFFERINCS ON OUR LIVES
he ordinary dictionary definition of sacrifice is the offering of anything
T to a deity. A giving up or foregoing of some valued thing for the sake
of something of greater value or having more pressing claim. Thus
said

Addison. "If thou preserveth my life, thy sacrifice shall be ......... " Whatever
a person desires to have in heaven or on earth involves some sacrifice or
giving up of something. Life does not thrive with taking alone. It also
involves giving, hence it is said that life is a process of giving and taking.
The simplest sacrifice one makes for anything is time. one sacrifices time
and effort for whatever is worth having. Even the relatively simple task of
begging, involves the sacrifice of one's human pride and independence.
How many things does one get from one's fellow man without begging for
it, bribing for it or making some prior atonement or gratification even if it
has to be promised in advance.
When it comes therefore to benefits desired or won from the divinities,
a greater sacrifice is required. It is not enough to merely beg for such
benefits or favours. It must involve physical sacrifice. There are sacrifices
involving the offering of animate or inanimate objects. When one desires
any form of progress or gain, it must involve some sort of investment. A
farmer sacrifices part of his seeds for planting in the following year in order
to reap a harvest at the end of the year. A trader invests his savings or
borrowed funds in his business in order to realise the profit that will
discharge his recurrent commitments.
In the same way, when one deals in the sphere of the divinities, one
must give them what they want in order to beseech them to come to one's
aid. Hence, the sheet anchor of the lfa religion is the making of sacrifice.
orunmila says, sacrifice is deliverance. No matter what problems one may
have at any. time, if one promptly makes the sacrifice prescribed at
divination, there must surely be a relief. orunmila reveals that before
anyone leaves heaven for the world, he is advised to obtain clearance
from the guiding deities. If he abides by the advice given to make sacrifice
he will find the world an easy abode. But if he refuses to make sacrifice
before setting out from heaven, unless he makes the sacrifice, after getting
to the world, he is bound to have problems on earth.
we shall discover from the lives of the 256 OLODUS and oous of
Orunmila that virtually all of them were advised to make sacrifices before
they left heaven. vve shall also see what happened to those who made
sacrifices as well as to those who failed to make sacrifices. All these
sacrifices involve the offering of one or more he-goats to Esu, who can be
very helpful to those who make offerings to him and disruptive to the
fortunes of those who refuse to make offerings to him. That is why some
people refer to Esu as the bribery divinity, because he does not help any
one ex-gratia.
The fundamental difference between orunmila and the other divinities
is that right from the time they were created by God, he was the only one
who recognised the disruptive powers of Esu and devised a strategy for
having a rapport with him. That strategy was sacrifice. He realised that Esu
was only interested in recognition and food. Esu has often told orunrnua,
"my friend is the one who respects and feeds me, while my enemies are
those who olsptse and starve me. I neither have a farm nor a trade of my
own. My farm is the entire universe and my wares are the creatures of
God". 37
 3
we shall see later that he was able to infiltrate and mutilate everything created
by God. It is for this singular recognition of the power of ssu and how he has
put it to his own advantage, that God named orunmlla, "The wise one".
ovekumeit will later reveal how the life of a man called ODO Ag utan <the
heavenly shepherd) or uewesun as lfa calls him) was short-lived on earth on
account of his refusal to make offerings to Esu before he left heaven. After
giving him more than an even chance of changing his mind, Esu eventually
infiltrated his flock and ended his life. This is in spite of the fact that when
Jewesun went before God to make his wishes for the earth, he promised to
live physically in this world for one thousand years. He vowed that during that
period he was going to wipe out any trace of evil and the hand of ssu from the
face of the earth. He was however advised to offer sacrifice to ssu. which he
indomitably refused to do because he could not imagine the logic of making
sacrifice to a scoundrel that he was going out to destroy. The rest of the story
is history and the forces of evil continue to thrive on tne face of the earth. It is
not enough to condemn ssu as the "devil" who does no good. He can be a
dispenser of good tidings
depending on one's attitude to him.
In the same way, on getting to the world, man is required to make
even more sacrifices for whatever he desires to have. we shall see that no
problem in life can defy the efficacy of sacrifice provided it is made promptly.
we shall also see the iives of people who after refusing to make sacrifices
initially were required to make doubled sacrifices when they were
between the devil and the deep blue sea.
There is often a tendency to think that an lfa priest who recommends
sacrifice with animals like goat, ram or he-goat simply wants an excuse for
having meat to eat at the expense of a helpless enquirer. Far from it. Any lfa
priest who recommends more sacrifice than is ordained for any purpose will
pay for it ten-fold. In the same way, orunmila even advises lfa priests to use
their own money to fund sacrifices for demonstrably destitute enquirers. He
proclaims that such priests will be recompensed ten-fold. we shall see from
orun-ocbe. how orunrnua used his own materials and money to make
sacrifice for ortsa Nia and how he was eventually
compensated zoo-roio.
There are two major sacrifices which should not be delayed. These are
sacrifices to ssu and ooun. The writer has seen people who were advised to
make sacrifice so ssu but refused and only a few days later ran into major
difficulties. one young man was advised to give a he-goat to ssu in order to
avoid being apprehended for an offence he did not commit. He did not refuse
to do it but promised the lfa priest that he would perform the sacrifice when he
received his salary at the end of the month.
The priest warned the young man that the danger foreseen at
divination was too imminent for the sacrifice to wait. The young man who was
also an Aladura man told me in an aside that his church had seen the same
vision for him, but that he had been advised to offer special fasting and
prayers. The lfa Priest, a very old man in his nineties, told him that if he had
money, he would nave done it for him, so he could repay him at the end of
the month. The writer also offered to neto. but like the proud man that the
enquirer is, he preferred to wait until he got his next salary.
Exactly three days later, a team of gun-totting policemen raided the
house in which the young man lived, in search of a wanted Armed Robber.
Everyone knew that the young man had no track record of criminal
behaviour. But he was inadvertently arrested by the policemen and taken
away. He was in detention for 23 days. As soon as the writer was informed of
the incident, he travelled to Benin to inform the victim's mother about
38
the sacrifice he had been told to make. The writer eventually funded it and the
sacrifice was quickly made. Three days after the sacrifice was made, the
young man was released after the actual culprit had been apprehended. A
sharp coincidence one would imagine?
There is also the case of another man who was advised by an lfa priest
to offer a cock and a dog to Ogun at a divination, he made on a Saturday
morning. He had been told not to travel anywhere before making the sacrifice.
He gave money to his wife to buy the sacrificial materials and went out to visit
a friend. In the friend's house, they got a report that his friend's mother was
seriously ill in a village called tguosodin, about sixteen kilometers away from
Benin. Forgetting the advice he had been given, and before making the
sacrifice, he decided to drive his friend in his own car to the mother's village.
on their way to the village, they met a burial procession and he drove into the
crowd killing two of the funeral celebrants. His car was not only burnt, he was
instantly lynched to death. These are very bitter memories because the
unfortunate victim was a dear friend.
Of equal importance is sacrifice to one's own guardian angel (ELEEDA
OR EHi>. one's own guardian angel is a little more patient and accom-
modating. None-the-less whatever sacrifice one is told at divination to make
to one's guardian angel should be made even if it involves borrowing money
to do it. The guardian angel does not ask for sacrifice unless he has cause to
use such sacrifice to appease other deities to which his ward may not have
easy access. For one to starve one's guardian angel of prescribed sacrifices
amounts to starvation of one's self. The guardian angel is one's solicitor and
advocate in the dlvlnospnere.

39
 40
CHAPTER VIII
THE PLACE OF ESU IN THE PLANETARY SYSTEM
su is commonly referred to as the "Devil". we have been told by other

E religions that he was the angel of God who fell from Grace and was
subsequently banished out of paradise. At best Esu can be described
as the magic deity. He is often dismissed as the Chief of evil forces in the
cnvtnospnere although there are more deadly deities than himself. The King
of Death destroys massively. Ogun, Sango and sankpana do not forgive
when they are offended, and they destroy ruthlessly. They are divinities in
their own rights and not agents of Esu. The penalty of offending them is
death. on the other hand, Esu would create obstacles in one's way to give his
victim a chance to recognise him after which he could transform misfortune to
fortune. He is a trickster alright but only to those who belittle him. He is the
divinity of confusion and obscurantism.
There has been a conscious effort to approximate Esu the divinity of evil
with the biblical Lucifer, who is said to have fallen from grace in heaven. we
shall see that the difference between them is that one existed autonomously
side by side with God whilst the other was created by God and infiltrated by
Esu.
we shall see from Ejiogbe how Esu came to be. It is revealed that
darkness existed before Light. Darkness, that is whatever we cannot see
through, or comprehend readily, represents the force of Evil, which heralded
the existence of Esu. Just as Darkness heralded the advent of Esu, that is
how Light heralded the advent of God. Light represents truth, goodness,
objectivity, honesty and positivism. Good and Evil exist side by side and are
in constant and never-ending competition. One is not a creation of the other
because good cannot beget evil just as evil cannot beget goodness.
In the light of the foregoing, the divinity called Esu which we shall be
referring to in this book is an entity that should be seen as independent of
God. He came to be at about the same time as God. The superiority of God
lies in the fact that Esu cannot create, whereas God is the only authority that
can create. But he can multilate, transform and damage, when he likes and
he can also be constructive and even objective, when he is persuaded to do
so. God is the only agency that can be good and dispense the objective good
from the beginning to the end. He does not have to be bribed to dispense
favours on his creatures. on the other hand, Esu is always taking every
opportunity to demonstrate that if one does not recognise his authority, he will
compel one to do so, by deliberately creating problems for one.
we shall also discover that Esu in his capacity as the dispenser of evil,
can conquer the greatest minds, take them over and manipulate them. It was
this Esu, who took over the mind of Lucifer and turned him against God. He
was also the one who took over the mind of Judas Iscariot and turned him
against Jesus Christ. It is the same Esu who turns a son against his father,
who turns a wife against her husband, who turns friends against friends,
brothers against brothers, men against men, nations against nations, earth
against heaven, etc., etc.
It has been argued that he has the greatest amount of rouowersmo
among any community of living creatures. There is nothing that God creates
which he cannot manipulate. Beginning with the divinities that God created
first to assist him in the administration of the universe, Esu created so much
problems for them that he uses them at will. When the divinities
40

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 Lf t
perpetrate evil, either against one another or against defenceless mortals,
they are doing so under the influence of Esu and not as servants of God.
some of the divinities often think they can ignore Esu and get away with it.
As already disclosed in the preceding Chapter on the creation of the
world, God sent the favoured 200 divinities to the world, but Esu came with
them as the 201st divinity. All the others came with instruments they
collected from God's inner chamber except Esu, who is an independent
phenomenon. The instruments and paraohenaua which the favoured
divinities brought to the world constitute the materials with which their
followers get initiated to the priesthood of their various faiths and orders, to
this day. The difference between the other divinities and Esu is that Esu
has no religion of his own and no one gets initiated to his cult. Apart from
the stone procured from a moving river which is used to prepare his shrine
and his favourite he-goat, there is no other instrument with which Esu can
be associated. His shrine is often prepared only by those who prefer to
enlist his support rather than his antagonism, and not that he is served in
any discernible manner.
The truth of the place of Esu in the divinosphere is that he is about the
most treacherous of them all. we shall discover later in these books that
soon after he came with the other divinities to the earth, they all ostracized
him. They refused to recognise his power and authority. we shall also see
what problems he created for the whole lot of them as a means of
compelling them to recognise his powers. We shall discover later that
when all the divinities decided on getting to the earth to contest for
seniority, they agreed that each should in turn feast all the others in their
individual homes in order of seniority. orlsa Nia was told to start the
feasting, since he was God's chosen representative on earth. Esu however
warned them that no one could claim to be senior to him because he was
around before any one else came into existence. He was told by all the
others to keep his mouth shut.
onsa Nia then proceeded to organise his own feast. on the day of the
feast, as soon as the table was laid for the eating and drinking to
commence, Esu blinked his eyes to two of ortsa Nla's children and they
were instantly afflicted with convulsion. As the feast was about to begin,
shouts were heard from the direction of Orisa Nla's harem and everybody
abandoned the dining table to find out what was happening. Before
anyone could do anything about it, the two afflicted children died.
The same incident in varying degrees occurred when it came to the
turn of all the other divinities. In the end they all agreed to let ssu start with
the feasting. Thereafter all the others made their feasts without let or
hinderance.
This incident clearly illustrates that no one can win in any contest with
Esu. Even God Himself, who is supposed to have the power to eliminate
Esu from the face of the planetary system, left him to dwell freely among
lay and helpless mortals. orunmila is the only one of the divinities who
knew how to handle Esu to this day. we shall see from oqbe ldi, how Esu
became a close associate of orunmila. He is the only Deity who knows
how to placate Esu and get the best out of him. That is why Orunmila,
knowing that Esu is the architect of misfortune often advises his followers
to make frequent sacrifices to him. Anyone who wishes to succeed in
farming, trading, hunting, etc., is advised by orunmila to begin by giving
he-goat to ssu. VIie shall see later from oobe-okonron how a stranger who
wanted to farm was asked by his host to farm on the swamps, when they
knew only too well that during the rains any crops planted on the swamps
would normally be destroyed by floods. Orunmila asked the farmer to give
a he-goat to
41
 42-
Esu, who reacted by holding up the rains for that year. Since all the other
indigenes of the town made their farms on the hilltop and on the valley, their
crops got burnt for want of rain water. All the other citizens of the town had to
buy food items from the stranger-farmer that year because his farm on the
swamps was the only one that bore a rich harvest.
The following year, the stranger-farmer was told by the elders of the
town to make his farm on the hills, while all the natives made their farms on
the swamps. The visitor-farmer again went to orunmila who once more
advised him to give another he-goat to Esu. After making the offering to Esu,
the farmer proceeded to make his farm on the hill-top as directed by his
hosts. Having accepted his offering, Esu went once more to unlock the plug
with which he stopped the rain pipe from heaven during the previous year. It
began to rain so heavily that only the stranger's farm on the hilltop flourished
immensely. All the other farms made on the swamps were destroyed by flood.
once more the entire town had to buy foodstuff from the stranger-farmer
throughout the following year. These two incidents made him easily the
wealthiest man in the town. we shall read more of this story on how the man
was later crowned the Oba of the whole area, when we come to consider the
works of Ogbe-Konron, one of the oous of Eji-Ogbe.
At this stage, this story is only meant to illustrate that Esu can be helpful
if one does not under-estimate or undermine him. That is why I had earlier
described him as the divinity of reason - or the interplay of good and evil. He
operates in a variety of ways. He can influence the mind of a judge
adjudicating in a case to make or mar a judgement affecting people
depending on whether or not the person offers sacrifice to him. we shall see
later how Esu punished the conceited Army general who was sent to conquer
an enemy town by the king. Before leaving for the warfront, he went for
divination where he was advised to give he-goat to Esu. He was so sure of
his ability that he did not consider it necessary to make any sacrifice. He then
proceeded to war, but was warned by the diviner to beware of misfortune
after his battle exploits.
He was actually victorious in battle, and when he came back to the king
to report on his success, Esu influenced one of the king's counsellors to say
that it was not enough to narrate how he beheaded the king of the
vanquished town, but that the General should be told to demonstrate how he
actually did it. As he was dancing and demonstrating with his sword, Esu
jettisoned the sword from the General's hand and it fell from his hand and hit
the king, who immediately fell down unconscious.
The General was immediately apprehended and bound in chains
awaiting trial and execution. It was while in custody that the general
remembered the sacrifice he had been advised to make in order to avoid
disaster after his victory in battle. He then sent words to his wife to
immediately offer a he-goat to ssu Having got what he wanted, Esu went in
spirit to orunmua. who was also the king's physician advising him to use a
particular leaf to revive the king. Orunmila instantly left for the palace to heal
the king. As soon as he used the leaves prescribed to him by Esu, the king
regained consciousness. Once again, Esu took over the mind of the king's
counsellor who earlier made the suggestion culminating in the General's
catastrophic sword demonstration and made compassionate auto-suggestion
to him. The same man then appealed to the king to remember all the good
works of the General in the past by recalling the saying that "a loyal servant
cannot be condemned on the basis of a single fortuitous and unintentional
error." His suggestion was readily accepted by the king and the General was
pardoned and ultimately praised for his.
42
 victory.
This story, as we shall see later, clearly illustrates what orunrnua has
told his followers, that no one can win a battle against Esu, because he has
the power to influence all of God's creatures and can manipulate them at will.
Esu is capable of twisting man round his fingers. Man can only therefore
strive to avoid the wrath of Esu by feeding or placating him from time to time
without necessarily submitting to him. Esu is capable of turning parents
against children, wives against husbands, friends against friends, the
innocent to become guilty, witches against man and fortune to misfortune,
depending on whether or not one courts his support or incurs his displeasure.
The role of Esu as the divinity of good and evil will be clearly illustrated
in the revelations of irosun lrete, who will be telling us later how a priest called
okpint was advised by lfa never to leave his house on divination missions,
without first giving roasted yam to Esu early in the morning for seven days.
He carried out the spirit and letter of the advice for six consecutive days.
on the seventh day, he was summoned very early in the morning to the royal
palace because the king wanted him for an urgent assignment. Without
waiting to give roasted yam to Esu, he left hurriedly for the palace although
he had the intention of doing it after returning from the palace. ssu was
annoyed and decided to make him pay for deferring more to the King than to
himself.
okplm got to the palace and he was told that th1ngs were not going well
with the king. He was told that subjects were no longer paying regular
homage and that the fortunes of the palace were flagging. The King wanted
him to find out what was responsible and how to improve the situation.
After divination, okptm told the King to make sacrifice so that the
situation might show signs of improvement from that very day. He predicted
that after the sacrifice, hunters would bring to the palace on that day; a boa
constrictor, a live deer and news from two hunters that they had shot a
buffalo and an elephant.
The king quickly made the prescribed sacrifice and waited for okptnrs
predictions to manifest. After divination, okotnt left for home. All his
predictions would have come true, but Esu was determined to thwart their
manifestation.
Meanwhile, Esu transfigured into an elder .cttlzen and took position on
the town's gateway ruoooe in Yoruba and uonee in- Bini). When the man with
the boa constrictor came by, the elderly man told him not to proceed to the
palace in his own interest, because the king was performing some sacrifices
in the palace and that the lfa priests had told the king that any hunter who
came to the palace with any animal or to report the shooting of any animal <it
was the tradition in those days for anyone shooting big games to report and
surrender them to the King> should himself <the hunter> be used in
performing the on-going sacrifice in the
- Palace on that day.
As soon as the man bringing the boa constrictor heard the bad news he
thanked the old man and sat there to wait at Ubode. The man with the live
deer, the man who shot a buffalo and the man who shot the elephant also
took temporary refuge at the same venue. All of them spent the night there,
neither daring to enter the town, nor proceeding to the palace.
After waiting in vain for okotnrs forcasts to come true, the King became
annoyed and on the next morning, he sent for okotnt once more. By this time,
okpin! had given the roasted yam to Esu, albeit belatedly.
43
 on getting to the palace, the Oba accused him of lack of proficiency
and of being a liar and a cheat. He was thoroughly disgraced. Dejected,
okptru returned to his house, bundled up his lfa and threw it into the river
osnun for deceiving him in his predictions.
However, as soon as he left the palace, Esu, having got his roasted
yam, went to tell the hunters waiting at Ubode that the palace sacrifices
had been completed and the way was clear for them to proceed to the
palace. All of them got to the palace at the same time and surrendered
their games to the king.
The king however wondered why they all had to arrive in the palace at
the same time. He asked them whether they all went to the same place for
their hunting expedition. In reply, they explained how they had, out of
fright, spent the night at Ubode, otherwise they would actually have arrived
severally the previous day.
At that point, the king realised that okplni's predictions manifested
after all, but for the evil machinations of the unknown tale bearer, who
scared the hunters away. The king quickly sent for okotnt once more and
apologized for embarrassing him earlier in the morning. He told him that all
his predictions had in fact come true. He compensated him elaborately
and conferred a higher title on him. okpln' later returned home at the head
of a triumphal dance procession.
As soon as he got home he went right back to river osnun to retrieve
nts lfa, and on getting home, appeased it with the goat given to him by the
king. Readers can imagine how, failure to give ordinary roasted yam to
Esu, gave rise to so much upheaval. That is why in lfism, people are often
advised to offer sacrifices prescribed for Esu without any delay.
A final example is given by rrosun-osa. of the royal barber who was
advised to make sacrifice to Esu in order to avoid doing things in half
measure. He refused to make the sacrifice.
Meanwhile, the King sent for the barber to come and give him a hair-
cut. When he realised that the barber had refused to make sacrifice to him,
Esu turned into an elder citizen of the town and went to the barber for a
rialr-cutjust as he was about to leave for the palace. The old man prevailed
on the barber to give him a hair-cut quickly before leaving home. Try as he
would to convince the old man to come later because he was going to
answer a royal call, the barber could not shake him off.
In the end he decided for the price of s kobo to cut the old man's hair.
But it turned out that as he shaved the hair it was always growing instantly,
so much so that he spent the whole day on the old man's hair without a
single hair dropping to the ground.
At the end of the day, the old man accused the barber of inefficiency
and refused to pay him because his hair was even more bushy that it was
before he came for a hair-cut. It was at that stage that the barber having
disappointed the King for that day, realised that he had to make the
prescribed sacrifice.
The point to note from these analyses is that like all other divinities,
ssu is invisible and can influence situations and events in diverse ways. It
is wrong to assume that God expects us ordinary mortals to antagonise
Esu, because we cannot even see him for open combat. He operates in
spirit and more often than not, by proxy. The rule in lfism is to give to ssu
whatever it takes to please Esu, and unto other divinities, whatever they
desire, so that one may have the chance to reach the goals of one's
destiny.
As we go through life, we have no means of confronting the unseen
forces which have good or evil influences on our lives. True enough, as
long as we keep to the golden rules, doing to other children of God what
we
I ---- 44
 expect them to do to us, we are squarely in the service of God. But that
does not mean that we are not going to be vulnerable to other evil forces
who are envious of our virtue and who are determined to wipe out the
attributes of goodness from the face of the earth. orunmila reveals that the
way God expects us to react to the forces of evil is not to do evil ourselves,
but to defend ourselves against them.
The question therefore is how many human beings who complain
about the evil acts of others against them, can themselves claim total
absolution from evil practices?
The boss in an office who insists that his subordinates must give him
bribes before promoting them, male bosses who insist that their female
subordinates whether or nor married, should go to bed with them before
they recommend them for routine rights and privileges, the worker who
demands a bribe from a concessionaire before granting statutory and civic
dispensations, the policeman who takes a bribe on a case in order to alter
the cause of justice, the bank employee who causes untold sufferings to
the public by selling foreign exchange in the black market, thus depriving
them from being used for discharging more legitimate national obligations,
those who use physical and diabolical <which comes from the Latin word
Diabolus or the Greek word Diabolicus both meanin_g deviD to procure
the death of anybody adjudged by him to be standing in his way of gain,
profit, promotion or contest, anybody who falsifies any situation at the
expense of others for his personal gains, any person who participates in
rigging any position or appointment to the detriment of others for his selfish
ends, anyone who steals overtly or covertly from his neighour, and any
public officer who inflates the cost of projects and contracts because of his
own kick-back, cannot expect to invoke the grace of God, no matter how
hard he prays. It is a fundamental principle in the rules of the ctvtnospnere
that those who seek the blessing of the divinties must do so with
reasonably clean hands. No man, can, with any justification, expect better
justice from the higher powers, by casting aspersions on the intergrity of
others when they are themselves guilty of similar offences. When we
engage in any unwholesome practice, we are operating as agents of evil
and not as the servants of God. If such a person is praying or wishing for
anything and expects God and the divinities to hear his prayers he is
merely expecting water to come out from a stone.
It is therefore reasonable to conclude that since not many people can
serve God the right way, it is only logical that we should go for the second
best alternative of reaching God through his agents, the divinities and
hence appeasing the forces of evil from which we are not ourselves free. In
other words, those who are truly clean at heart, and they are few and far
between, can afford to ignore Esu and get away with it. But as long as we
swim, bath and drink from the stream of evil, we are in no position to
condemn ssu. It is only through absolute good that we can fight and ward
off Esu. That is why in the New Testament when the crowd wanted to
stone Mary Magdalene to death for prostitution, as was the custom of the
Jews in those days, Jesus Christ asked any member of the crowd who
considered himself as abiding fully by the commandments of God, to be
the first to stone her. No one did.
In the same way, we have no legitimate right to cast ssu aside if we
are not sufficiently clean, that is, if we do not truly obey the command-
ments of God with all our hearts, and if we do not love our fellow human
beings enough to protect and serve their interests as much as we do our
own.
That is why orunmila, the Wisdom Divinity, tells us that the best
45
 L-/ (p
approach to Esu is to appease him so that he might not obstruct our paths in
life, because we are neither physically nor spiritually strong enough to
engage him in any combat.
THE SPECIAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE HE-COAT TO ESU

Readers will find out later in this book that the he-goat is the staple
offering to Esu. we shall see later that, the he-goat together with the dog used
to be the domestic servants of Orunmila in heaven. It was the disloyalty of the
he-goat that turned him into a sacrificial victim for Esu. More importantly
however, the he-goat became the staple offering to Esu because of the debt
which orunrnuas son owed to the King of Death. lrosun lrete will later reveal
how the son of an ODU of orunmila called trnonton (lrenfoo in Bini> or "Know
all" annoyed the King of Death. To test whether he actually had all knowledge
as his name implied, the King of Death gave him a he-goat to rear for him,
ordering him to bring the kids delivered by the he-goat to him every year.
Although orunmila had thought of buying a female goat to live with the he-
goat. Esu warned him that that approach was not going to be acceptable to
the King of Death. Esu told orunmila to give him the he-goat to eat and that
he would know what to do when the time came.
Four years later, the King of Death sent a message to orunrnua's son to
bring him his he-goat and its off-springs. At that point, Esu asked Orunmila
to buy him another he-goat which he also killed and ate leaving one of its
limbs and tne nead. He used the foot to mark foot-prints on the ground to
feign the movement of a large herd of goats. Esu also prepared ropes
supposedly used for tying plenty of he-goats. Esu next accompanied
Orunmila to answer the riddle of the King of Death. on getting there Esu
explained that when they were coming with the kids born by the he-goat, a
group of armed bandits attacked them, stealing the he-goat and its children.
To substantiate his explanation, Esu showed the king of Death the ropes
used to tie all the goats. He added that they had killed the original he-goat
and that is why they brought him the hand and the head.
The king of Death then turned to Esu saying that he would have to pay
for the he-goat in perpetuity. Esu in turn, assembled the 200 divinities and
told them that from then on, if they wanted peace and prosperity, they should
always offer him he-goats to repay his debt to the King of Death. That is the
he-goat we all pay to Esu to this day. As far as the writer can verify, all known
divinities often advise their followers to offer he-goats for sacrifice to Esu from
time to time.

46
 47
CHAPTER IX
THE PLACE OF WITHCHES IN THE PLANETARY SYSTEM

itches are commonly referred to as the evil spirits operating in the

W night to bring hardship and sufferings to human beings. Like the
devil, we are supposed to dread witches and run away from them.
n the course of my research, I have come to discover that they belong
to a cosmogonic sphere, which has earned them the name of the
elders and owners of the night. we shall see from osamej how they
came to settle down in the world and how they became so powerful
that no other divinity can subdue them. They can thwart the efforts of
all other divinities that fail to give them their due regard.
I have also come to discover that they are not as evil as they are often
painted to be. Like all other collections of celestial and terrestrial bodies,
there are good or white witches and there are bad or black and red
witches. They probably operate the most equitable system of justice. They
do not condemn without a proper and fair trial. If anybody approaches
them with an indictment against anyone, they will consider all sides before
reaching a decision. ose-osa and osamejl. will tell us how witches came to
the world and how they over-powered all the other divinities. orunrnua tells
us why he does not kill anybody unless the person has traversed the oath
taken between ortsa-Nta, orunrnua. and witches. The witches do not kill
any man who truly operates according to the ethoes and taboos
proclaimed by the Almighty God.
we shall also see how orunmila revealed that witches were originally
more considerate than lay mortals. It was human beings that first offended
them by killing their only child. It so happened that the witches and the laity
tosbort in Yoruba and oabot in Bini> came as sisters to the world at the
same time. The laity had ten children while the witch had only one child.
One day, the laity was going to the only market available at the time called
Oja Ajigbomekon Akola <Eki Adagbon Aderinmwin in Bini>. It was situated
at the bounorv between heaven and earth. The inhabitants of heaven and
earth used to trade in common.
As the laity was going to the market she asked the witch to look after
her ten children during her absence. The witch took great care of laity's ten
children and nothing happened to any of them. Then it was the turn of the.
witch to go to the market. Her actual name was tvarnt osoronga in Yoruba
and rvenurono in Bini. As she left for the market, she also asked her sister
to look after her only child during her absence. While she was away, the
ten children of the laity became interested in killing a bird to eat. osnort
told her children that if they wanted a bird meat she would go to the bush
to catch birds for them to eat, but that they should not touch the witch's
only child.
While their mother was away to the bush, her ten children got
together and killed the witch's only child and roasted his meat to eat. As
osborrs ten children were killing the witch's son, the latter's supernatural
power gave her a sign that all was not well at home. She quickly
abandoned her trip to the market and returned home only to discover that
her son had been killed. She was understandably annoyed because when
her sister was away to the market, she succeeded in looking after her ten
children without any hitch, but when it was her turn to go to the market, her
sister could not take care of her only child. She wept bitterly and decided
to pack out of the house where she lived with her sister.
They had a brother with whom they came to the world at the same
47
 time but who preferred living in the middle of the forest because he did not
wish to be disturbed by anyone. That was the rroko. When iroko heard the
witch crying, he invited her to find out what was happening, and she
explained how the children of their sister ocbort killed her only child, without
their mother being able to stop them.
iroko pacified her and assured her that from then on, they were to feed
on the children of ocbort. It was from that day that, with the assistance of
iroko, the witch began to pick the children of the laity one after the other. we
shall also see how orunmila intervened to stop the witch from destroying all
the children of the laity and why the feud has continued to this day. It was
orunmila who appealed to troko and the witch and asked for what they would
accept in order to stop killing the children of lay mortals.
That is how orunmila introduced the sacrifice of <Etutu) the offering to
the night, which involves a rabbit, eggs, ptennv of oil and other eatable items.
Like Esu, we cannot antagonise the witches without adequate back-
bone. We only try to find out through divination what we can give them to
enlist their support and the moment they are given what they ask for, they
often get off one's back. Those who do not understand this aspect of human
existence are the ones that fall easy victims to witchcraft.
we shall also see from Ogbe-rukusa how the men of lfe once decided to
antagonise their witches, as a result of which the witches withdrew to the
town of flu omuo or llu Eleye on the outskirts of ife. From their new abode, the
witches resolved to depopulate lfe by killing its inhabitants one after the other.
After lfe had lost many of its sons and daughters, the elders decided to wage
war on the town of Eleye. All the armies sent to fight them never returned
alive. All the other divinities were approached to save the situation but their
efforts were neutralized by the superior prowess of the witches of ornuo.
Finally, orunmua was adjudged by public divination to be the only one
capable of engaging the women. As soon as he was approached for the
assignment, he made the necessary sacrifices and instead of going to llu
ornuo with an army, he went with a dance procession which danced right into
the town. When the women saw a long procession of gorgeously dressed
men and women dancing in the town with melodious music, they realised that
it was time to return home to lfe. Before they knew what was happening, they
were allback in lfe and there was general reconciliation and jubilation.
This incident again clearly illustrates that it is not easy to overcome the
forces of witchcraft through aggression, without resort to a superior authority.
The easiest way of dealing with them is through appeasement.
orunmila does not solve any problem through confrontation unless all
available means of conciliation have failed. Even then, he often seeks the aid
of the more aggressive divinities to do the dirty jobs for him. He is a very
patient divinity. He says that he can only react after being offended thirty
times and even then it takes him at least three years to be offended after
giving the offender ample opportunity of repenting.
The only force that can overcome the strength of witchcraft is the
ground/earth. we are told by ose-osa tosemoturai how God himself proclaimed
that the ground (Oto or Ale) should be the only force that would destroy any
witch or divinity who transgresses any of the natural laws. This decree was
proclaimed at the time when a powerful Witch Doctor from heaven called Eye
to vu oke To vu orun was engaged in the destruction of the earthly divinities
because of their wicked behaviour on
48
----------

earth. osemolura, who ferried the mother of witches to the world, because
no one else agreed to do it, will also tell us that the oath which ortsa Nia
made witches to take was the ground. The oath was taken against
unjustifiable destruction of human lives. It tells us why the witches have no
power to destroy the true children of God as well as devout followers of
orunmila.
we shall also see that the strong power wielded by the elders of the
night was given to them by the Almighty God at the time when God lived
freely and physically with the divinities. The witches were given the
exclusive power to keep vigil whenever God was having his bath just
before the crowing of the cock. It was forbidden to see God in the nude.
The witch divinity was the only one given that authority. The witch divinity
often gave signal to the cock that God had taken his bath, after which the
cock crew for the first time in the morning.
God did not however leave the rest of creation helplessly at the mercy
of the eiders of the night. Through osa-ose, orunmila will reveal how God
expected us to protect ourselves against the powers of witchcraft. There
was a beautiful girl at the palace of God who was ripe for marriage. ocun,
osonvtn tosurn. and orunmua were interested in the girl. God agreed to
give the girl in marriage to any admirer who proved himself worthy of her
hand. The task to be performed as proof of eligibility for the girl's hand was
to harvest a yam tuber from the Divine farm without breaking it, a
seemingly simple task.
Ogun was the first to volunteer to perform the task. He went to the
farm and up-rooted the yam tuber. As he pulled it up, it got broken, which
clearly dismissed his candidature.
osun was the next to try his luck. He too ended up with the same
experience. It was orunmuas turn to go to the farm. He did not move
directly to the farm. He decided to find out why those who tried before him,
failed, and what to do to succeed, He went for divination, during which he
was told that unknown to all of them, God had appointed the elders of the
night to watch over the divine farm. They were therefore responsible for
conjurrtnc yams up-rooted at the farm to break. He was told to feast them
with akara, eko, and all items of edible food stuff, and a big rabbit, and to
deposit the feast at the farm in the night. He accordingly performed the
sacrifice in the night. That night all the custodians of the divine farm
feasted on the food. In the same night, Orunmila had a dream in which the
witches sent someone to tell him not to come to the farm on the next day.
He was to come on the following day. Next day, the witches caused the
rain to fall heavily in order to soften the ground.
Thereafter all the witches took a solemn oath not to conjure
orunrnua's yam to break. The third day, orunmila went to the farm and up-
rooted the yam successfully and brought it to God, who instantly gave the
girl to him in marriage.
It will be observed that God did not tell any of the girl's admirers the
Odds awaiting them at the farm. He also did not tell them how to attack the
problem he knew they were going to face. He expected them to use their
discretion. It was only orunmila, who never leaps before looking deeply,
that knew that it was only by appeasing the witches that he could get what
he wanted.

49

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 50
CHAPTER X
ORUNMILA'S CODE OF CONDUCT

nterestlnqlv enough, all the divinities have similar ethoes and taboos.

ISubject to their varying degrees of aggressiveness, they all accept the

immutability of natural laws, which theologians and theosophists have
codified into the ten commandments of God. This is not to say that some
divinities do not kill when they believe they have strong justification for
doing so, just as terrestrial and celestial codes allow for capital punishment
to be meted out to convicted capital offenders. Without exception, all the
divinities also accept the supremacy of the Almighty God. In the case of
orunmila, he makes a point of reminding all his apostles, disciples, priests
and followers that he is only a servant of God, and at best God's own
witness, which is why he is generally called Ajiborisa koeero and Eleri
ukptn. Alibortsa kpeero means the one only divinity who wakes up in the
morning to go and greet God in the court of destiny while Eleri ukptn
means the divinity who sat as God's witness in the court of destiny when
the destiny of every creature was being designed. we shall see later in this
book how orunmila was appointed as God's witness when the Almighty
father began his creative work. oounca-mef will reveal to us later in this
book why God ordered all the divinities to return to heaven after founding
the earth. When the earth was in a state of turmoil, he sent Elenini to
capture all the divinities and return them to heaven. Eji-Ogbe, the most
senior apostle of Orunmila, will, in this connection, reveal how he returned
to the world under the name of ornoonlqnorocoo to teach the people of the
world how to behave in accordance with the wishes of God. He
demonstrated by precepts, examples and deeds how to live and operate in
accordance with natural laws, and how to live at peace with God. He also
demonstrates that true happiness only comes when one devotes one's
time to the selfless service of others. He also illustrates the virtue of love
for one's fellow men. It goes without saying that if one loves one's fellow
man, one cannot seduce his wife, kill him, bear withness against him, steal
his property and cheat him.
As a practical philosopher therefore, Orunmila appreciates that much
as one may extend all the love to one's neighbours, the good turn is not
often reciprocated. Nonetheless, he strongly advises against retaliation
and vengeance because the divinities will always intervene on the side of
the righteous. A man's first obligation to himself is to preserve himself
through divination and sacrifice. If a stronger person is waging any overt or
covert war on someone who lacks the power to fight unseen forces,
orunmua advises resort to divination when in doubt and to make any
sacrifice prescribed for the higher powers. once sacrifice is made, the
recipient of the sacrifice will almost immediately assist in thwarting the evil
machinations of known and unknown enemies.
orunmua advises his followers not to engage in destructive medicinal
preparations because they can lead to self immolation. There are however
some disciples of orunmila whose stock in trade is the preparation of
medicines, but only for constructive purposes, salvation and deliverance.
orunmila is the best teacher of the effectiveness or efficacy of
perseverance. He teaches that while there may be medicines that are not
efficacious, there is no patience that fails to overcome all difficulties -
because the divinities will in the end come to the succour of those who
persevere.
ORUNMILA'S EULOGY ON PERSEVERANCE
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orunmila advises perseverance in all that his followers do. they should
not on their own volition avenge any wrong done to them by others. He
does not want his followers to get involved in diabolical acts especially
those aimed at the destruction of other persons. He advises in a poem that
those who take the souls of others will also pay with their own souls or with
those of their children and grandchildren. He insists that he is in a better
position to protect his children if they do not take the laws of nature into
their own hands. orunmila maintains that if anyone plots death against his
children, he will make sure that the conspirators do not succeed. But if his
children however retaliate by also scheming the death or downfall of those
who offend them, he rorunmna: is denied the justification of arguing the
cases of such children when the divinities sit in judgement over the matter.
No matter is settled without being determined by the divinities.
The divinities on their part, do not condemn anyone without a fair trial.
But if anyone preempts divine judgement by returning tit for tat, he has lost
the justice of his cause. orunmila advises that if his followers know of
anyone who is planning evil against them, their first reaction must be to go
for divination to find out whether the person will succeed. More often than
not, if the balance of guilt is against the other person, one will be told that
the enemy will not succeed. If on the other hand the balance of guilt tilts
slightly against you, you will be advised during divination on the sacrifice
which you must make so that the person plotting evil against you might not
succeed. Instead of making sacrifice, some people prefer more revengeful
acts by going to local witch doctors to prepare deadly medicines with which
to fight the enemy. In some cases, if orunmila sees that the medicine his
son is preparing against his enemy will do him harm and earn him painful
repercussions in the end, he will neutralise the force of the medicine and
render it ineffective. In that case, the person might begin to wonder
whether the witch doctor deceived him. He did not. orunmila has merely
demonstrated to his son that to destroy one's enemy is to destroy one's
self. If you point one finger at your enemy, the remaining four which are
more in number, and symbolising repercussion, are pointed at you.
orunmila will illustrate that anyone digging the grave of his enemy is at the
same time digging his own grave. That is why the common prayer of
orunrnua is for the good of friends, enemies, witches, divinities, brothers
and sisters, nut that those who therefore wish him evil may not succeed.
He advocates that it is even more rewarding for you to pray for an
enemy who is planning evil against you so that when the divinities gather to
determine the case, the balance of righteousness will be on your side. It is
better to have the support of the divinities in such a situation than to incur
their condemnation.

THE EFFICACY OF PATIENCE IN IFISM

orunmila says that when he is in a hurry, his speed of action is not as

fast as the pace at which the smallest ant or the fastest snail moves. He
says that even when he is moving and a tree falls to obstruct his advance,
he stays by the fallen tree, until it rots away before continuing on his
journey. If on the other hand a stone blocks his movement he will wait until
shedded foliage heaps up to the height of the stone before crossing with
the bridge provided by the heap of leaves. Even when he decides to react
he does not do so directly. He appeals to one of the more aggressive
divinities like Esu, ooun. sankpana or sango, by making sacrifices to them
51
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and exhorting them to act on his behalf.
orunmila says that if he reacts too soon, he will do so in three years and
only when his patience has been exhausted. But when he finally decides to
react, he does so rutntesstv. oobe suru provides the clearest illustration of
how orunmila operates in this connection.
once upon a time, a princess lived at two whose beauty was so
captivating that all the men of two were not considered eligible enough for her.
Her father, the Oba of lwo had been told not to betroth her to anyone except
to a man chosen by herself. When the people of lfe heard of her fame and
beauty, they decided to contest for her hand in marriage. Ogun was the first
to make an attempt. ooun went to two and the sight of the princess completely
un-nerved him and he vowed to stop at nothing to win her for himself.
When ooun professed love to her she accepted him without any
hesitation. She however insisted that she had to live with her suitor in her
father's house, in which suggestion osun readily acquiesced. She entertained
Ogun elaborately for the first seven days. on the third day of his arrival at lwo,
she asked ooun to tell her what he forbade in order to narrow down the
margin of friction between them. Before Ogun left lfe for lwo, he had been
warned to make sacrifice to his guardian angel and to Esu in order to return
home alive from his mission. Ogun boasted that since no battle had ever
defied his strength and valour he did not see the justification in making any
sacrificial preparations when he was going to meet a woman. He did not do
the sacrifice.
In reply to the princess's question Ogun told her that he forbade palm
kernel oil <Adin or udern and menstruation. In other words he is forbidden to
see any woman's menstrual pad or discharge. As soon as the seven days of
hospitality were over, the princess saw her menstruation. She then prepared
a meal with palm kernel oil for ooun to eat. When she passed the food for
osun to eat, she deliberately sat on his shrine without padding her menstrual
discharge.
When Ogun settled down to enjoy the meal he discovered that the soup
was prepared with palm kernel oil. When he raised up his head in fury to
query her he saw that there was also menstrual discharge on his shrine. In
fury ooun rose up to strike her and she quickly ran into her father's apartment
for succour. When her father saw Ogun pursuing his daughter, the Oba used
his ASE to conjure him to stop and quickly commanded Ogun to transfigure
into the sledge hammer used by blacksmiths, which he is to this-day. That
was the end of oourrs attempt to win the princess of two for his wife.
After waiting in vain for ooun to return with the princess to lfe, his junior
brother osonvln rosun in Bini> decided to proceed to iwo for the dual mission
of searching for Ogun and if possible, of winning the princess for himself.
Before going to lwo, he too was advised to make sacrifice to his guardian
angel and to offer a he-goat to Esu. He also boasted that as the owner of all
the diabolical medicines that existed, it would be degrading for him to make
any sacrifice to any other divinity. He then set out for lwo.
on getting to two, he was quickly introduced to the princess who
extended to him the initial reception and hospitality to which she previously
treated Ogun. on the third day of osonvrns arrival, she also beseeched him to
disclose to her what he forbade in order to minimise the risk of friction. In
reply, osonvtn wanted to know if she had previously met Ogun. She confirmed
that she did, but that in view of the shabby reception she gave to Ogun, he
felt too embarrassed to return home and
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 decided to seek a new abode far away from tfe and two. tn a mood of
flattery designed to elate osonvin she told him that oauns eyes were too
frightful for her liking and that the soft-spoken osonvtn was her kind of
man. With that, osonvln was disarmed and proceeded to disclose to her
that he forbade palm oil and menstruation. She re-assured osonvtn, like
she did Ogun before him, that she merely asked the question in order to
obviate the risk of any misunderstanding between them.
Shortly after the expiry of the honeymoon the princess began her
menstruation. She then prepared a pottage with fine palm oil for osonvln to
eat. She also went to his bed to stain it with her menstrual discharge.
When osonvtn was about to start his favourite pottage meal, he discovered
that it was prepared with palm oil. He then abandoned the food, reminding
her that he forbade palm oil in his food. She apologised to him by
embracing him and cajoling him into his bedroom for romance. But as
soon as he was about to lie down on the bed, he saw menstrual discharge
and accused her of trying to kill him.
When he brought out his wand to curse the princess, she again ran
into her father's apartment and the father stopped osonvln with his ASE.
The Oba commanded osonvln to transfigure into a pot of water, which is
what he is, to this day. once again, that marked the end of osonvirrs
attempt to win the princess for himself.
After waiting in vain for Ogun and osonvln to return home, the people
of lfe enjoined orunrnna to go in search of them. He then invited his Awos
for divination and thev told him that Ogun and osonvtn were no more. He
was advised that before going to two, he should make sacrifice to his tfa
and give he-goat to Esu. He was warned that very shabby treatment
awaited him at two, unless he made up his mind never to exhaust his
patience until the very end. He made the sacrifice and then left for two,
after resolving to forebear whatever he experienced.
on getting there, he began to dance at the gateway to the town, and
people gathered to welcome him. Subsequently, the princess came along
and professed love to him. He returned her love and agreed to live with her
in her father's house. She extended the usual hospitality to orunmila, and
ended up by asking him what he forbade. Before agreeing to answer her
question, he asked for the whereabouts of his elder brothers, who came
earlier to two to seek her hands in marriage. She told orunmila that the first
one was too aggressive for her liking, while the second one was much too
diabolical for her comfort. That was why she turned down their overtures
and as a result of their disappointments, they decided never again to vlslt
lfe or set foot on the land of two. She presumed that they had gone to
found new homes in other towns. orunmila did not believe the story; but it
was enough to put him on guard.
Finally, he revealed to her that he forbade rat, fish, hen, goat, bush
goat <Oguonziran in Bini and Edu in Yoruba), palm oil, palm wine and
women's menstruation. Incidentally, apart from the last item, all others
happened to be the staple food of orunmila.
A few days later, the woman started her menstruation and she
Prepared food with rat for orunmila and sat squarely on his lfa shrine.
When Orunmila saw the rat in his food, he asked her why she gave him
what he forbade. She explained that it was because there was no meat at
home. After a deep reflection, orunmila said to her; the essence of
marriage is the sharing of mutual pains and pleasures. It is on account of
one's loved one that one eats what one forbids. Why should I be afraid of
death, when I have the queen of beauty by my side. With those amorous
remarks, he embraced the woman and decided to eat the rat to please
her. After he
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had eaten, as she got up from where she sat on his shrine, to collect the
plates, orunrnua saw that the white cloth adorning his shrine, had been
soiled with menstrual discharge. once again, she apologised to him on the
grounds that the discharge came unexpectedly. He forgave her reaonv and
went out to wash the soiled cloth by himself. The princess was puzzled.
one after the other, the woman gave him, each of what orunmila told
her that he forbade, but he refused to lose his temper. After exhausting the
list of orunmllas forbidden foodstuffs, and he did not lose his temper, the
princess of two decided on a completely new act of provocation. She
invited a lover from outside to come and visit them under the guise of
being a relation of hers. In the night, the lover made love to her before the
very eves of orunmila. That was exactly three years after orunmila had
been living with her.
The following morning, orunmila fetched water for the lover to have
his bath. As he was about to leave, orunmila suggested that he would join
the woman to escort him. It was time for him to react.
As soon as they were out of the town, he invoked Esu to intervene.
Esu used his own head to constitute a stumbling stone, on the pathway,
and the lover who was in front, hit his foot on it, and he fell. At the same
time, orunmila pointed his uranke at him and he transfigured into a snail,
which he quickly broke and used to annoint the woman's body for the
pollution she got from the intruder.
When they got back home, the princess, who became very frightened
at the prowess of this endlessly patient suitor, went to her father to
proclaim that she had found the husband she would agree to marry. Her
father quickly invited orunmila and his daughter and they both professed
that they were willing to become man and wife. The following month, she
became pregnant.
It was at that stage that orunmila sought the permission of his father-
in-law to return to his home town of lfe with h!s wife. He readily agreed. on
getting home to lfe, he introduced the wife as tva ile two - meaning the
product of my sufferings at lwo. That is the origin of the Yoruba word
"tvawo" which means a wife.
orunmua then composed a special song in praise of perseverance,
and made a feast of jubilation for the success of his over-three years
mission to IWO.
This experience also went to confirm a fundamental lfa philosophy
that if a man reveals what he forbids to his wife, it is exactly what she is
going to do to him when she plans to undo him. The person who does not
forbid anything only prolongs his life. That is why orunmila does not forbid
anything. we shall soon see how Ejiogbe's mother gave his father palm
wine to drink because she knew he forbade it.
Under osa-Etura, orunmila will teach us the virtues of prosperity
without vanity and strength without arrogance. This is how orunrntta
teaches us to be modest. He likened modesty to the slow but graceful
movement of the mutpede who has 200 limbs. Normally, a creature with
that number of limbs should run faster than anyone else. On the contrary,
the mtltpede moves very slowly but gracefully.
When one finds oneself in a state of prosperity, one should use it not
to the detriment of others, but for promoting the overall welfare of
humanity. Anyone who uses his power or prosperity to suppress the rlghts
and interests of his fellow men will have destruction awaiting him at the
pinnacle of his success. To be able to harness one's strength and
prosperttv judiciously, orunmila savs that one should always appeal to the
inner head not to destroy the outer head. He describes the mind as the
head in the
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stomach and the main head as the outside head. It is the mind that directs
the fate of the head and it is therefore the director that must always be
persuaded to monitor the direction to which the head moves.
In fact orunmila says that he respects three sets of human beings:
<1} a beautiful woman or a handsome man who does not flirt;
<2> a wealthy person who is humble and unassuming; and
(3) a powerful functionary who is liberal and equitable in the exercise
of his or her authority.

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IFA'S CONCEPTS OF COOD AND EVIL

0 runmila is a strong advocate of the objectivity of Truth. He is however

realistic enough to say that truth is bitter and that people strive a great
deal to avoid or circumvent it. In spite of the difficulties, trials
and tribulations associated with the defence of truth, and the exigency and
cheap popularity of falsehood, he advocates that in the final analysis,
Truth is more rewarding than falsehood.
orunmila illustrates quite clearly the problems associated with the
defence of the objective good. Right at the outset of the work of the first of
orunrnuas apostles to come to earth, we shall see from Ejiogbe, who was
in heaven called Omoniqhoroqbo (Odolevbo in Bin) <one who stands for
liberalism and objectivity) that he came to the world to improve the quality
and standards of human behaviour. He got himself deeply involved in
humanitarian gestures to mankind, without expecting or demanding any
reward in return for his gratuitous services. One would have thought that
his behaviour would not only be appreciated but also serve as a shining
example to others. on the contrary, those who were in the world before him
were so disapproving of his actions, that they began to send incessant
messages to God in heaven, that Omonlqhoroqbo, rather than improve the
condition of the world, was in fact damaging the code of conduct he met in
the world, so much that he was making life unliveable for others.
These reports became so prevalent and persistent that God, who
never condemns without verification, sent a heavenly constable to the
world to invite omonlcnorocoo back to heaven, after investigating his
performance on the spot. The policeman, after concealing his own identity,
got to Omoniqhoroqbo's house early in the morning and offered to serve
him as an auxiliary. From that very morning until dusk, the policeman saw
that omontonorocno spent so much time in the service of others,
delivering pregnant women, healing the sick, making divination for the
distressed, settling quarrels between people etc., all without any
gratification of any kind, that he did not even have time to take his
breakfast.
After watching his performance throughout the day, the heavenly
policeman, subsequently revealed his identity and disclosed-that God
wanted him in heaven. Almost immediately, he dressed up for the return
journey to heaven. on getting to heaven, God rebuked him for going to
damage virtues in the world. Before omonlqhoroqbo had time to explain, it
was the policeman who spoke on his behalf. He explained that those who
came to complain against him were those who could not be at ease with
his benevolence, because it posed a threat to their own extortionate
behaviour. He added that the vast majority of people would miss his
invaluable role on earth, if he was to remain permanently in heaven.
With that testimony, God ordered him to return to earth to continue his
good works, but that in order to survive the evil machinations of his
enemies he should henceforth charge reasonable fees for his services to
human beings. That was how the lfa Priests obtained God's clearance to
charge fees for whatever they did. It will be remembered that Ejiogbe was
the first of orunmuas apostles to come back to the world.
This experience of Ejiogbe clearly illustrates that those who work in
defence of the objective good, court the risk of envy and open aggression
from others less endowed with benevolence and magnanimity_ Those who
insist on doing things the right way, incur the displeasure and wrath of
those who stand to benefit from chaos, cheating and confusion. Those
who do their work without expecting any extra-curricular benefits in return
get called all kinds of discreditable names.in fact false stories are even
invented
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against them because the selfishness of human nature does not allow
people to concede to others more credit that they are able to admit to
themselves. ror their own peace of mind, the less righteous must of
necessity surround their consciences with a facade of false assumptions
and justification. They must assume that others must be doing what they
themselves are doing. If they demand bribes and kickbacks before doing
the jobs for which they are otherwise paid handsomely, they must assume
that everybody else is doing it. If they suddenly discover variations to their
assumed norms, their immediate reaction is to move to the offensive. That
is why those who live by, and in defence, of the objectivity of truth, stand to
suffer tremendous hostility and deprivation. However, their consolation, like
God advised omonlonoroobo in heaven, is to continue on their chosen
path in defence of truth. After all, there is eternal satisfaction and candour
in being different. If every one else loses his head and one is able to keep
one's own, the ultimate and inevitable vindication that comes to those who
stand by the truth, is more rewarding than all the transient attractions that
money can buy.
The question which one must ask therefore is, what are the material
benefits deriving from ethical objectivity. It is fashionable to measure
material satisfaction in terms not of man's immediate requirements, but of
avarice. The man who steals from the public coffers to be able to acquire a
private jet in an environment, where people cannot even get jobs to
provide for respectable living, must be avaricious, when there are
commercial air lines to take him to where ever he wants to travel. The
public officer who doubles the logical or functional cost of a project
because of the kickback he expects to receive has committed an
unforgiveable crime against humanity, because the aggregate cost of his
disloyalty to society would have provided additional opportunities and
benefits to the suffering masses of people.
When the righteous looks at the unscrupulous in society and sees that
they are ostensibly more prosperous, there is a tendency to wonder
whether there is virtue in selfless objectivity. orunmila tells us that the
benefits of cheating are purely transient. The cheat may be seen to
prosper ostensibly but if one came close enough to him, one might
discover that his material contentment was hollow and that he was not
what he seemed to be. And if he gets away with his greediness, the
punishment will be handed to his children and grand children until he
atones in full for what he has undeservedly extracted from society.
In this connection, we shall see how Orunmila postulates the spiritual
satisfaction deriving from living one's life in accordance with divine laws,
and the spiritual poverty of those who believe they can make it by cheating
throughout life. Although instances abound in the works of orumna in
Which sacrifices were made for evil doers in order to succeed in their
nefarious designs, nonetheless, Orunmila makes it quite clear that such
success is only ephemeral.
As soon as God appeared through light to conquer darkness and the
forces of evil, Esu vowed that he would put up a fierce battle to gain
ascendancy over God's creatures.
The prosperous man is the one who derives final contentment from
What he has and what he is, and the poor man is the one who although
materially wealthy, goes insatiably in quest for endless material acquisition
at the expense of others. For, what is the difference between a common
thief and a gentleman if they both seek monetary goals at the expense Of
integrity. There is no eternal justification for mortgaging ones conscience In
quest of wealth to bequeath to one's children, whilst denying his
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children the pride of inheritting his good name, because the best legacy a
man can bequeath to his children are his principles, and his identity.
The children can be proud of his good name, but not of his wealth if
everybody knew he acquired it unscrupulously.

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CHAPTER XI
HOW DOES ONE COME IN CONTACT WITH ORUNMILA

fism is not meant to be a universal religion in terms bf fishing out for

Iadherents and converts. The hard-core of lfism is made up of the re-

incarnates and off-springs of the original followers of Orunmila and his

OLODUS and oous, all the way from heaven. It is not everybody who can
become a follower of orunmila unless they are specifically chosen. orunmila
does not seek to convince anyone to belong to his flock. In fact, many people
come to him when they are having difficult problems, and he often
demonstrates that such problems are not insurmountable. If a person is
fortunate, he will have an early means of knowing that he was destined to be
a follower of orumila. Once a person is chosen as a follower, he should
endeavour to follow him fervently, because half-hearted followership used to
pose lots of problems, not necessarily caused by orunmila, but because half-
hearted service will not put him in a. position to tackle his followers' problems
effectively. There are a variety of ways in which one may come into
association with orunmua,
In the past, the significance of naming ceremonies for newly born
children was to enable parents to know which path the child should follow in
life. Eight days after a child is born, lfa priests and other seers, who specialise
in the astrology of newly born children are invited to read the life of the child.
In some parts of Africa, the oou which appears for the child at the naming
ceremony is later prepared for him as his own tfa. It is from that ceremony
that orunmila tells the parents the type of child they have. If it is a Fay Cl
mere or Elegbe> who is making a short trip to earth only to desert the parents
soon after endearing himself to them, orunrnua will tell the parents what to do
to prevent the child from returning to heaven prematurely. Amost invartabtv,
lfa is prepared for that kind of child very early in life, as a counterpoise
against untimely death.
on the other hand, some people run into serious problems in the course
of their lives. If a person is a potential lfist from heaven, orunrnua can appear
to him in a dream or cause his guardian angel to reveal to him in a dream,
that he is experiencing difficulties because he has not discovered the divinity
that accompanied him to the earth. If such a person is experienced enough in
the ways of life he then goes for divination where it will be confirmed to him
that he should arrange to obtain his own lfa. There are many people who
come to this point of realisation only when they are between life and death.
out of ignorance, some neophytes who obtain relief from their problems
soon after their initiation into lfism, are tempted to conclude that orunmila
recruits followers by creating problems for them. That will most certainly be
an act of ingratitude because orunmila does not create problems for his
followers. It is only when a person's guardian angel discovers in heaven that
his ward is going to experience certain problems in life that he <the guardian
angen appeals for the support of orunmila in order to be at hand to assist
when those problems occur.
The Role of Guiding Divinities in our lives:

At this point I should like to illustrate the part that a ruling divinity Plays in
the lives of mortals. Amaya decided in heaven to come to the world. He went
for divination on what to do in order to have a successful stay on earth. At
divination he was told that he was going to succeed in
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 whatever he did on earth. His star would shine brightly but enemies would try
to extinguish it. They would not succeed provided:-
{i) He succeeded in persuading Ogun and orunmila to follow him as
patron-divinities to the world;
(ii) He did not marry a light-complexioned woman while on earth,
because a light complexioned woman had sworn in heaven to
shorten his life on earth; and
<iii) He did not neglect his patron divinities while on earth.
He was then advised to pay homage to all three divinities which he did
in heaven with the aid of his guardian angel.
He was subsequently born into an average family on earth. He
completed his education up to University level. While in the University, he
met Ayo, a light complexioned damsel. Since no one remembers on earth the
co's and dent's of his destiny, he fell head over heels in love with Ayo who
was studying medicine.
When Arnavo was leaving the University as a history graduate he got
married to Ayo who finished her education two years after their marriage. Ayo
became pregnant as she was leaving the University. They soon had a baby
boy and the couple lived a reasonably happy life. They both came from
Christian families where no one knew anything about the higher divinities.
one night when Amaya had a fever, he had a dream and someone
looking like him (apparently his guardian angel> told him that he had
forgotten the pledge he made in heaven. The voice talking to him in the
dream told him to proceed without delay to his uncle at Udo. He was told to
abide by whatever advice his uncle gave him.
When he woke up, he mentioned the dream to his mother who insisted
that they should both go to Udo to see his uncle. His uncle happened to be
an Ogun priest. He refused to go to Udo but sent his driver to take his mother
there. on getting to Udo, the mother met the uncle who, possessed by the
Ogun divinity, was telling the people present about their future.
As soon as the possessed uncle saw his brother's wife, he inivted her to
come to him and to kneel down. She did as she was told. The priest then told
her that it was the son's guardian angel that instructed him to come. Asked
why he did not come, she explained that her son was indisposed. The priest
told her that the sickness was going to be prolonged and serious and that it
was going to be a turning point in his life. The priest then revealed that
Amaya should immediatley arrange to have his Ogun and orunmila and since
he could not advise him to divorce his wife, he should not insist on keeping
her if she chose to leave him. The priest warned the woman not to allow the
son to ignore his advice, lest the next story she would bring to him would be
to report his demise.
The woman quickly went home and told the son about the revelation. on
his part, he preferred to die rather than get involved in fettish ldotatorv. The
mother went to report the matter to Amavos father who also could not
persuade his son to change his mind. Meanwhile, the Doctor diagnosed that
he had hypertension and he was being treated accordingly.
one night, he had a mild stroke which did not do much physical damage
to him but affected his speech. He was then moved to the doctor's private
clinic for bed rest. He stayed there for five weeks. Subsequently, his uncle at
Udo sent another message that if he did not carry out the pledge he entered
into in heaven he would not live to see the new moon.
At that stage, the mother came to seek the advice of a prominent lfa
priest who told her to arrange to prepare Orunmila for her son not later
60
 (pl

than the following day because the son's life was about to extinguish. Poor
woman, she wept bitterly and went to the market to buy all the prescribed
materials. By the time she saw the son the next morning at the hospital, he
was already unconscious.
Nonetheless, the woman went ahead with the ceremony of preparing
orunrnna for the son. At the same time, the father invited the brother from
Udo to come and prepare ooun for his son. The ceremonies were
completed on the same day and the parts that required to be used to touch
Amayo·s head were sent to his sick bed in hospital.
That night, Amaya was heard crying in his dream that he could not
accompany someone on a journey to which he was being invited. When he
woke up he asked for his eighteen months old son, who was instantly
brought to the hospital. He then began to regain consciousness. A week
later he was discharged from the hospital.
It was not until a month later that close friends and relations knew that
the sickness had left an indelible scar on his system. He was sexually
impotent.
His wife now began to infer an association between the "juju" that his
relation forced him to do, and his impotence. The argument became so stiff
that the wife, herself a medical doctor, decided to leave the house.
Obviously, Arnavo loved his wife and was not prepared to see her go. But
the wife told him that the only condition for her return to him was a written
promise not to have anything to do with the "juju" prepared for him. At that
stage his father intervened that Amaya should choose between his wife
and the rest of the family. Remembering what the uncle in-law's ocun told
her at Udo, the mother appealed to Amaya not to forsake his family for a
woman who chose to desert him at the darkest moment of his life. With
that, the wife was allowed to leave the house with her only child for Arnavo.
Not long afterwards, Amavo became fully well and is now happily
married again to another graduate who already has four children by him.
He is also doing very well in his job, and has built his own house and has
also completed his ooun and orunmila ceremonies.
The problem Amavo had was the delay in discovering the true path of
his life. Happily, he had a good mother who would not take "No" for an
answer. It is believed that many people run into similar difficulties without
being able to do the right things about them.
It goes without saying therefore that far from creating problems for
their wards, the ruling divinities only expect us to keep them by our side,
against the contingency of the inevitable problems, we are destined to
encounter in the course of our lives. The divinities do not come to us
because they do not need anything from us. It is our guardian angels that
go to them to solicit their support in seeing us through life. we shall see
later that the sacrifices we make to the divinities with the solitary exception
of Esu, are used as feasts to bribe the forces of evil to get off our backs.
on the other hand, those who have developed the habit of going for
divination, or their friends and relations, may be told during routine
consultations that if they are to avoid imminent problems, they must have
their own orunmila without any delay. Many people have ignored such
advice at divination because not many people are interested in subjecting
their freedom to the beck and call of any divinity. In most cases, such
people come round to it again when the problems foretold actually
manifest. I know of a specific instance of a man who was told in 1968 to
have his own orunmila in order to avoid being put in chains <that is, going
to prison or detention> later in life. This man was reasonably successful in
61
 4, 2.
life. He had a University Education overseas and rose rapidly in his
employment to the position of a head of his department. When his parents
told him of the revelation that he was required to get initiated into the lfa
religion, by having his own orunmila, he reacted by telling his parents to
mind their own business because he was satisfied with his Christian Faith.
seven years later, there was a national calamity which landed this
man in all kinds of problems inter alias. First, he lost his lofty job and next
he was put in chains and spent several months in detention. It was during
his detention that he remembered what he was told seven years earlier
and he told his parents to prepare for the ceremony.
He was tried along with others subsequently and eventually regained
his freedom.
I am aware of another case of a man who was always spending his
time in and out of prison, on stealing charges. He was not the dare-devil
type of robber. He was often caught stealing trivial things like a fowl, yams,
goats, etc. by the road side or in farms. He never broke in to people's
homes. once again he was jailed for petty larceny, and when the situation
became embarrasing to his relations, they decided to find out why he could
not have a settled life. They were advised that Orunmila was the only
divinity who could save him and he should therefore have his own. When
he came out of prison his relations gathered together and contributed to
fund the expenses of having his own orunmila. soon after the ceremony,
he decided on his own, but influenced by the advice of lfa, to start his own
farm. He soon made enough money from farming to build his own house,
marry two wives and to raise several children. He is today a highly
respected citizen. He has not been to prison or been arrested for any mis-
demeanour during the last fifteen years.
In the cause of having one's own orunmila, one is often advised to do
or not to do certain things, the adherence or otherwise, to which accounts
for one's subsequent performance in life. A person might be told to give up
a particular habit because it is repugnant to his own orunmila or his
Guardian Angel. some are told to give up certain professions or vocations
for other callings. some others are even told to divorce their wives or
husbands. Others are advised to perform additional ceremonies in order to
have an antedate against up-coming problems in life. One can only ignore
such warnings and advice at one's peril.
I know of a man now late, who as soon as he got his own lfa was told
that he should give up drinking of alcohol in order to avoid an incurable
stomach trouble later in life. This man was a very lively person but try as
he would! he could not give up drinking. Later. he developed stomach
ulcer. and even after having the ulcer. he continued to drink. I still have
very clear memories of how he died in 1957. He attended a New Year
eve's dance a few houses away from my father's, where he again had a lot
to drink. At about 3.00a.m. he had a severe attack of stomach griping.
Subsequently, he began to vomit blood. He was then rushed to the
hospital, but died before he got to the hospital.
I am also aware of another successful man who also died because he
could not abide by the advice he was given during his lfa initiation
ceremony. When he was preparing his own Orunmila, he was told that he
would succeed tremendously in life but that if he wanted to live long, he
should do away with his wife. He was so infuriated by the advice that he
even disclosed it to his wife, who from then on, held the priest who
prepared the lfa for him, at arms length. He became very successful in his
job by getting very close to the apex of his career pyramid. He had plenty
of assets and was living in affluence. At the height of his success, his wife
62
 began to create lots of problems for him. They soon got separated and he
subsequently became so ill that he got hospitalised for over one year,
during which time his wife could not as much as call on him in hospital.
I still clearly remember him in his state of unconsciousness crying out
in his sleep at night and calling on his wife to spare his life, even by taking
all that he had. He died soon afterwards and today his widow is the
beneficiary of his legacy.
The lfa religion is not all about hard luck stories. There are more
interesting stories of those who followed the advice and guidelines
enunciated by their orunmila and have survived in peace and prosperity.
I know of a top rate business tycoon, unfortunately now late, who was
an ardent lfa follower. He rose to the pinnacle of success in both moral
and material excellence. He was even named after lfa. Still alive is another
octo-generian who is an industrial pioneer in Nigeria. He is the son of
ovekuMeji whose life in terms of moral integrity, intellectual dignity, and
material dexterity, has been a source of inspiration to many generations.
The point to stress is that like Equity, those who follow orunmila must
do so with clean hands. lfa cannot guarantee one's individual success in
one's endeavours and aspirations if one is in the habit of either hindering
the progress or procurring the downfall and death of others. In fact those
who spend their lives plotting evil against others may succeed for some
time. In the end all their evil designs for others are eventually visited upon
them and their off-springs.
The importance of devout followship in the lfa religion

There is no need to worship orunmila in the same way that we

worship God Himself. All that orurnua demands of his followers is to bring
all their problems to him. He will advise through divination or dreams what
sacrifices are to be made from time to time. Like in all other religions, there
are many people who think that orunrnua is a Magic Divinity, who can
double money for them, or who can avenge injuries caused by others. He
does these things in his own subtle way and at his own pace. Some
followers are in a hurry to realise their objectives and when they are late in
coming forth, they caste the orunmila shrine aside and look for something
else to accelerate the manifestation of their desires. That is a most
unfortunate thing to do because all those who have thrown their lfa shrines
into the river or bush out of frustration have almost invariably been worse
off for it. Others abandon their shrines after being initiated into the lfa
religion and expect miracles to happen. The centre-piece of lfa art and
practice is sacrifice. If one takes orunmua and keeps it inside the cupboard
or abandons it in a place where it is not cared for, it will not be in a position
to protect the life and interests of the follower.
As soon as one completes the lfa ceremony the next task is to find out
what problems his own orumila encountered both in heaven and on earth
during his time. one should then set about trying to resolve such · problems
or anticipate them by making the requisite precautionary sacrifices and
ceremonies. Whatever problem one has, should be referred to Orunmila
through divination by inviting experienced lfa priests to sound him on
appropriate occasions.
A follower of orunmila should not lose faith in his ability to solve r
.Problems provided one bothers him through divination and sacrifice with
/those problems from time to time. The purpose of this book is partly to f
educate followers of orunmila on the ways of orunmua so that they might
rnot lose faith. There are good and bad patron-orunmilas. Those who are
r 63
(
 (p '-I
unfortunate to come to the world under the patronage of unfortunate Odu-
lfas should not despair. There is a way to improve their lots, by
approaching lfa priests, because orunmila can turn misfortune to fortune,
hard luck to good luck and a bad head to a good head. In fact he says that
the more difficult a problem is, the happier he is to solve it.

64
 5
CHAPTER XII THE
IFA GENEALOGY

There are sixteen principal apostles (OLODUS) of orunmila. They are in

order of seniority as follows:
ORDER OF ORDER OF SENIORITY
SENIORITY ACCORDING TO THE OYO,
ACCORDING TO ONDO AND BINI SCHOOLS.
THE
IFE SCHOOL.
1. Eji-Ogbe Eji-Ogbe (1)
2. Oyeku-Meji oyeku-Meji (2)
3. twori-Meil lwori-Meji (3)
4. ldi-Meji !di-Meji (4)
5. Obara-Meji Obara-Meji (5)
6. Okonron-Meji Okonron-Meji (6)
7. trosun-Mejt lrosun-Meji (7)
8. owanrin-Meji owanrin-Meji (8)
9. Ogunda-Meji Ogunda-Meji (9)
10. osa-Meji osa-Meji (10)
11. Etura-Meji lrete-Meji (11)
12. lrete-Meji Etura-Meji (12)
13. Eka-Meji sturukpon-Mejt (13)
14. sturukoon-nen ose-Meji (14)
15. ose-Meji Ofun-Meji (15)
16. Ofun-Meji Eka-Meji (16)

The difference is realty as between the places of Etura and irete and Eka
and Ofun. Each school of thought has very cogent reasons for its own order of
seniority. The difference between them is only a matter of tradition. The effect
will become clear later when we examine the place of seniority in the lfa kindred
for purposes of divination. They are nonetheless agreed on the name and
number of Odus in the lfa family tree.
At this juncture it is nonetheless necessary to mention briefly orunmuas
explanation for the difference between the two schools. That reason partly
explains why it is forbidden to expose the lfa divination tray (Akpako) to the open
air. It is often covered with a piece of white cloth or paper when it is being carried
from one place to another, when it involves exposure to the open air.
Long after the town of oyo was founded by oronmlvan, whose name was
actually Jegbe, the senior son of Otofen, the ococuwa of lfe, the people of Oyo
decided to meet Ogbe-Alara, a disciple of orunmila at lfe to teach them the
markings of the sixteen crocus of lfa. Ogbe-Alara marked out the sixteen olocus
for them on the lfa tray and they decided to carry the tray back to oyo with the
markings of the otocus on it.
on their way home, there was a gale force wind which upset some of the
markings. on getting home they tried to recast the markings from memory. They
recalled the names and numbers all right, but missed the sequence after the
tenth Odu. Ogbe-Atara returned to heaven before they could meet him again,
and that is why the people of Oyo have held on to their sequence ever since. on
account of the special relationship between Oya and Benin kingdoms, the Binis
learnt lfa art (Not Oguega - the Bini equivalent of lfa art) from the Awos of oyo.
65
 G,~
Each apostle <OLODU> of orunmila has fifteen disciples <ODUS>. It
means in effect that there are sixteen OLODUS and 240 odus in the lfa
kindred. The order of seniority of the 256 apostles and disciples is listed out
in the table to this Chapter. This book is going to be arranged in such a way
that there will be seventeen volumes on the whole.
The first volume will be devoted to the life and works of the sixteen
OLODUS (apostles>. The remaining sixteen volumes will deal with the work
of the fifteen oous of each OLODU. Every effort will be made to reflect the life
history of each apostle and disciple right from heaven to this world. The
heavenly account will reflect what the particular Odu did or did not do in
heaven before he came to the world. The earthly account will reflect what
each of them did for themselves and for others, and what was done for them
while on earth. Each of them will be referred to in the book as orunmila, in
consonance with tradition.
This is very important because it will be seen that if a person gets
initiated into lfism, and one of the disciples or apostles comes out at Ugbodu -
(which is the secret conclave in which one finds out the name of one's ruling
ODU> - it must follow as the night follows the day, that one's life story will
take the same course as that of the patron oou.
This book will therefore be of immense benefit to those who have their
own orunmila and who may otherwise not have the opportunity of knowing
the history of their patron-odu and ipso facto their own. The book will also
contain the names of the lfa priests who revealed these historical accounts in
case anyone is interested in probing them further on the details of the broad
revelations embodied in the various volumes.
The second volume will start with the details of the lfa oracle, and the
science of divination.

66

1-~---
 I • -
.,....

IFA GENEALOGY
ORDER OF SENIORITY

<ORUNMILA FAMILY TREE)

1. EJI-OGBE 8. OWANRIN-MEJI 15. OSE-MEJI

I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I
2. OYEKU-MEJI 9. OGUNDA-MEJI 16. OFUN-MEJI
I I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I I
3. IWORI-MEJI 10. OSA-MEJI 17. OGBE-OYEKU
I I I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I
4. IDI-MEJI 11. ETURA-MEJI 18. OGBE-IWORI
I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I

5. OBARA-MEJI 12. IRETE-MEJI 19. OGBE-IDI

I I I I I
I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I
6. OKONRON-MEJI 13. EKA-MEJI 20. OGBE-OBARA
I I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I

7. IROSUN-MEJI 14. ETURUKPON-MEJI 21. OGBE-

OKONRON
I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I I

67
 22. OGBE-IROSUN 31. OGBE-OFUN 40. OYEKU-OSA
I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I
II I I I I II
23. OGBE-OWANRIN 32. OYEKU-LO-OGBE 41. OYEKU-ETURA
II I I II I I I
II I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I II
I I I II I II
24. OGBE-OGUNDA 33. OYEKU-81-IWORI 42. OYEKU-IRETE
I I II I I I II
I I II I II
I I I II II II
I I I I I I I I II
25. OGBE-OSA 34. OYEKU-IDI 43. OYEKU-ETURUKPON I
I I I I I I I I
I I I I I II II
I I II I I I I
I i I I II II
26. OGBE-ETURA 35. OYEKU-OBARA.
I I
44. OYEKU-BE-EKA I
I I I I I I
II I II II I II
I I I I I I I I I I I I
I I II II I I
27. OGBE-IRETE
36. OYEKU-OKONRON I 45. OYEKU-OSE
I I I I I I II
I I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I II
I I I I I II II
28. OGBE-EKA 37. OYEKU-IROSUN
II I 46. OYEKU-OFUN
I I I II II
I I
I II I I I
II I
II II II II
I I I
II II I II
29. OGBE-ETURUKPON . 38. OYEKU-OWANRIN 47. IWORl-80-0GBE
II I
II II I II
I I I
II II I I
I I
I II I I
I I I
I II I I I
30. OGBE-OSE 39. OYEKU-OGUNDA 48. IWORI-OYEKU
I I I II
II I I I I I
I I ! I I
I I I I I
I I I I I
II II I I I

68

r
49. IWORI-IDI 58. IWORI-EKA 67. IDI-IROSUN
I II II II I I
II I I I I II
II I II I II II
I II II II II I

50. IWORI-OBARA 59. IWORI-ETURUKPON 68. 101-0WANRIN

I I i II II II I
II I II I II II
II I I I I II
II II II II I I
51. IWORI-OKONRON 60. IWORI-OSE 69. IDI-OGUNDA
II II I II I I
II II I I II
II I I I II
I II II II II I

52. IWORI-IROSUN 61. IWORI-OFUN 70. 101-0SA

I II II II II I
I I I I I II
II I II I I II
II II I II I I
53. IWORI-OWANRIN 62. 101-0GBE 71. 101-ETURA
II II I I I I
II I I II II II
I I I II I II
I II I I I I
54. IWORhOGUNDA 63. IDI-OYEKU 72. IDI-IRETE
I II II I I I
I I II II I II
I I II II II II
II II II I I I
55. IWORI-OSA 64. IDI-IWORI 73. 101-ETURUKPON
II I ! II I II I
J I I II I II
I I I II II II
I II II I II I
56. IWORI-ETURA 74. 101-EKA
65. IDI-OBARA
I II I I II I
II I II II II II
I I II II I II
I II II I II I
57. IWORI-IRETE
66. 101-0KONRON 75. 101-0SE
I II II I I I
I I II II II lI
II I II II I II
I II I I If I

69
 76. 101-0FUN 85. OBARA-OSA 94. OKONRON-IWORI
I I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I
77. OBARA-OGBE 86. OBARA-ETURA 95. OKONRON-101
I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I
78. OBARA-OYEKU 87. OBARA-IRETE 96. OKONRON-OBARA
I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I I I
i I I I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I I
79. OBARA-IWORI 88. OBARA-EKA 97. OKONRON-IROSUN
I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I I I

80. OBARA-101 89. OBARA-ETURUKPON 98. OKONRON-OWANRIN

I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I
81. OBARA-OKONRON 90. OBARA-OSE 99. OKONRON-OGUNDA
I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I I
82. OBARA-IROSUN 91. OBARA-OFUN 100. OKONRON-OSA
I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I
83. OBARA-OWANRIN 92. OKONRON-OGBE 101. OKONRON-ETURA
I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I
84. OBARA-OGUNDA 93. OKONRON-OYEKU 102. OKONRON-IRETE
I
I I I I I I i I
I I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I

7
0

r -~----
103. OKONRON-EKA 112. IROSUN-OKONRON 121. IROSUN-OFUN
II II II I II I
I II II I I I
II II II II II II
II I I II I II
104. OKON RON - 113. IROSUN-OWANRIN 122. OWANRIN-50-0GBE
ETURUKPON II I I II
II II II I I II
II II I II I I
I II I II I I
II I 114. IROSUN-OGUNDA
123. OWANRIN-OYEKU
I I II II
105. OKONRON-OSE
I I II II
I II
II II I II II I
I II II II II I
II I
115 IROSUN-OSA 124. OWANRIN-IWORI
. 106. OKONRON-OFUN II I II II
II II I I I II
I II I II I I
II II I II II I
I I
116. IROSUN-ETURA 125. OWANRIN-101
107. IROSUN-OGBE I I I II
I I II I II II
I I I II II I
I II I II I I
I II
117. IROSUN-IRETE 126. OWANRIN-OBARA
108. IROSUN-OYEKU I I I II
II I I I II II
I I I II II II I
II II I II II I
II II
118. IROSUN-EKA 127. OWANRIN-OKONRON
109. IROSUN-IWORI II I II II
I I I I I II II
I I II II II I
I II II II I I
II II
119. IROSUN-ETURUKPON 128. OWANRIN-IROSUN
110. IROSUN-IDI II I I II
I I II I I II
II I I II II I
I I I I I I I I II I
I I I
120. IROSUN-OSE 129. OWANRIN-OGUNDA
111. IROSUN-OBARA I I I II
I I II I I I I
I I I I II I I
II II II II II I
II II

71
 130. OWANRIN-OSA 139. OGUNDA-IWORI 148. OGUNDA-EKA
II II I I I II I
I II I I I I
I I I I II I
I I II II II II

131. OWANRIN-ETURA 140. OGUNDA-101 149. OGUNDA -

I II I I ETURUKPON
II II II I II I
I I II I II I
I I I Il I I
II II
132. OWANRIN-IRETE 141. OGUNDA-OBARA
I II I I 150. OGUNDA-OSE
I II II I I I
II I II I II I
I I II II I I
II II
133. OWANRIN-EKA 142. OGUNDA-OKONRON
II II II I 151. OGUNDA-OFUN
I II II I II I
II I II I I I
II I I II II I
I II
134. OWANRIN - 143. OGUNDA-IROSUN
ETURUKPON I I 152. OSA-OGBE
II II I I I II
II II II I I I
I I II Ii I I
II I I I
144. OGUNDA-OWANRIN
135. OWANRIN-OSE II I 153. OSA-OYEKU
I II II I II II
II II I I II I
I I I II II I
II I II I
145. OGUNDA-OSA
136. OWANRIN-OFUN II I · 154. OSA-IWORI
II II I I II II
I II I I I I
II I I II I I
I I II I
146. OGUNDA-ETURA
137. OGUNDA-OGBE I I 155. OSA-101
I I II I I II
I I I I II I
I I I II II I
l II I I
147. OGUNDA-IRETE
138. OGUNDA-OYEKU I I 156. OSA-OBARA
II I I I I II
II I II I II I
II I I II II I
II II II I

72

r-
157. OSA-OKONRON 166. OSA-OFUN 175. ETURA-OGUNDA
I I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I
158. OSA-IROSUN 167. ETURA-OGBE 176. ETURA-OSA
I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I
159. OSA-OWANRIN 168. ETURA-OYEKU 177. ETURA-IRETE
I I I I I I I I I
I I
I I I ! I I I
I I
I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I
160. OSA-OGUNDA 169. ETURA-IWORI 178. ETURA-EKA
I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I
161. OSA-ETURA 170. ETURA-101 179. ETURA-ETURUKPON
I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I
162. OSA-IRETE 171. ETURA-OBARA 180. ETURA-OSE
I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I
163. OSA-EKA 172. ETURA-OKONRON 181. ETURA-OFUN
I I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I
164. OSA-ETURUKPON 173. ETURA-IROSUN 182. IRETE-OGBE
I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I
165. OSA-OSE 174. ETURA-OWANRIN 183. IRETE-OYEKU.
I I I I I I I I I
I I i I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I

7
3
184. IRETE-IWORI 193. IRETE-EKA 202. EKA-OKONRON
I I I I I I I I I I
I ! I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I
185. IRETE-IDI 194. IRETE-ETURUKPON 203. EKA-IROSUN
I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I
186. IRETE-OBARA 195. IRETE-OSE 204. EKA-OWANRIN
I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I 1 I I I
187. IRETE-OKONRON 196. IRETE-OFUN 205. EKA-OGUNDA
I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I I I
I
I I
I I I I I I
188. IRETE-IROSUN 197. EKA-OGBE 206. EKA-OSA
I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I
189. IRETE-OWANRIN 198. EKA-OYEKU 207. EKA-ETURA
I I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I
190. IRETE-OGUNDA 199. EKA-IWORI 208. EKA-IRETE
I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I

191. IRETE-OSA 200. EKA-IDI 209. EKA-ETURUKPON

I I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I
192. IRETE-ETURA 201. EKA-OBARA 210. EKA-OSE
I I i I I I I I
I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I I

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4
 211. EKA-OFUN 220. ETURUKPON-OGUNDA 229. OSE-IWORI
II II I I I II I
I I I 1· I I I I
II II I I I I
I II II II I I I I
212. ETURUKPON-OGBE 221. ETURUKPON-OSA 230. OSE-IDI
I II II II I I
I II I II II II
I I I I II I
I II I II I I I
213. ETURUKPON-OYEKU 222. ETURUKPON-ETURA 231. OSE-OBARA
II II I I I I ·1
II II II II II II
II I I I II I
II II I II II II
214. ETURUKPON-IWORI 223. ETURUKPON-IRETE 232. OSE-OKONRON
II II I II II I
I II I II II II
I I II I I I I
II II I II I I I

215. ETURUKPON-101 224. ETURUKPON-EKA 233. OSE-IROSUN

I II II II I I
II II I II I II
II I II I I I I
I II II II II II
216. ETURUKPON-Oe.!\RA 225. ETURUKPON-OSE 234. OSE-OWANRIN
I II I II II I
II II II II II II
II I I I I I
II II II II I I I
217. ETURUKPON 226. ETURUKPON-OFUN
-OKON RON
235. OSE-OGUNDA
II II I I
II II I II I II
II II II I I I
II I I I .I II II
I II
227. OSE-OGBE
218. ETURUKPON-IROSU~ 236. OSE-OSA
I I II I
I II I II I II
I II I I I I
II I I II I II
II II
228. OSE-OYEKU
237. OSE-ETURA
9. ETURUKPO II I I I
N -OWANRIN III I II II
II II II I
I I
I I I I II II
I II
I I
I I I

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238. OSE-IRETE 247. OFUN-OKONRON 256. OFUN-OSE
I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I
239. OSE-EKA 248. OFUN-IROSUN
I I I I I I
I I I I I
I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I
240. OSE-ETURUKPON 249. OFUN-OWANRIN
I I I I I I I
I I I I I I
I I I I I
I I I I I I
241. OSE-OFUN 250. OFUN-OGUNDA
I I I I I I
I I I I I
I
I I I
I I I

I I I I I I
242. OFUN-OGBE 251. OFUN-OSA
I I I I I I I
I I I I
I I I I I I
I I I I
243. OFUN-OYEKU 252. OFUN-ETURA
I I I I I I I
I I I I I I
I I I I I I I
I I I I I
244. OFUN-IWORI 253. OFUN-IRETE
I I I I I I I
I I I I
I I I I I I I
I I I I I
245. OFUN-101 254. OFUN-EKA
I I I II I I
I I I I I
I I I I I I I I
I I I I I
246. OFUN-OBARA 255. OFUN-ETURUKPON
I I I I I I I
I I I I I I
I I I I I I I
I I I I I I

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6
 CHAPTER XIII
THE OLODUS I APOSTLES OF ORUNMILA
EJIOCBE or OCBE·MEJI
I I
I I
I I
I I
he most remarkable work of Ejiogbe in he. aven is his revelation of
T how the Head, which was itself a Divinity, came to have a permanent
abode on the body. The Divinities were originally created without the
Head as it is today, because the Head itself was one of the divinities.
The Head as a Divinity

The Awo who made divination for the Head, Ori-omo Atete Ni Iron
(hereafter called ORI> was called Amure, awo eba ono, who lived in
heaven.
orunmila invited Arnure to make divination for him on how to have a
complete physical feature, because none of them (divinities> had a head
at the time. The Awotolo orunrnua to rub both palms upwards and pray To
have a head <Dumusori in Yoruba or uhunmwunarabona in Bini>. He was
told to make sacrifice with four kotanuts, clay bowl, sponge and soap. He
was told to keep the koianuts on his lfa shrine without splitting them
because an inconsequential visitor would later come to break them.
ORI (Head> also invited Amure for divination and he was told to
serve his guardian angel with four kotanuts, which he could not~fford to
buy, although he was told that he would only begin to prosper after
making the sacrifice.
After making his own sacrifice, orunmila left the four koianuts on his
lfa shrine as he was advised to do. Thereafter Esu announced in heaven
that orunmila had four beautiful kolanuts at his shrine and was looking for
a suitable divinity to break them.
Led by oaun. all the divinities visited Orunmlla one after the other,
but he told each of them that they were not strong enough to break the
kolanuts. They felt slighted and left him in annoyance.
Even Orisa Nia (God the son> himself visited orunmlla, but he
entertained him with different and better kotanuts, remarking that the
controversial kotanuts were not meant for him to break. Since Odd fs
never known to lose his temper, he accepted the fresh kotanuts given to
him
by orunmua and left. · ' '
Finally, ORI decided to visit orunmila, since he was the only divinity
who had not tried to break the mysterious kotanuts. especially as he could
not even afford to buy the ones with which he was required to serve his
guardian angel. He then rolled up to orunmuas house.
As soon as Orunmila saw ORI rolling down to his house, he met him
and carried him up inside the house. Orunmila immediately got the clay
bowl, filled it with water and used the sponge and the soap to wash ORI,
clean. After towelling him, orunmila cameo ORI to his shrine, and
reouesteo him to break the kolanuts because tnev-nao for long been kept
for him.
After thanking orunmua for his honorific gesture, ORI prayed for
orunrnua with the kotanuts that whatever he did should have fulfflment
and manifestation. Next ORI used the kolanuts to pray for himself to have
77
a permanent abode and plenty of followers. ORI then rolled backwards
and charged against the kolanuts and they broke up with a verv loud
explosion which echoed throughout the length and breadth of heaven.
on hearing the sound of the explosion, all the other divinities
immediately realised that the kolanuts at oruornaa's shrine had finally
been split and they were all curious to know who succeeded in breaking
the kolanuts that had defied everyone including God. When Esu
subsequently announced that the kolanuts had been split by ORI, all the
divinities agreed that the "Head" was the right divinity to do it.
Almost immediately afterwards, the hand, feet, body, stomach, chest,
neck etc., each of which before then had distinct identities, all assembled
and decided to go and live with the head, not having previously realised
that he was so important. Together, they all carried the Head high above
them and right there at the shrine of orunrnua, the Head was crowned the
king of the body. It is on account of the role played by orunmila in his
fortune that the head touches the ground to defer and rever to orunmila to
this day. That is also why in spite of being the youngest of all the
divinities, orunmlla is more important and more popular than all of them.
For the son of EJlogbe to live tong on earth, he must look for
knowledgeable Awos to prepare a special bathing soap for him on the
skull of any animal. Ejiogbe is the patron divinity of the head because it
was he in heaven, that performed the sacrifice that made the Head the
king of the body.
Ejiogbe has turned out to be the most senior 01.odu or Apostle of
drunmlla on earth at~ough he was originally one of the most junior. He
belongs to the second generation of the prophets who volunteered to
come to this world in order, through examples, to make it a better place
for those living In it. He was a verv benevolent apostle of orunmita both
when he was in heaven and when he came to this world.
EJIOGBE leaves for Earth

Meanwhile, ortsa Nia was already in the world and was married to a
woman called Afin, who, unknown to him was not too keen on having a
child. But ortsa Nia desperately wanted to have a child on earth. At the
same time in heaven, omonrcnoroaoo had gone to the altar of God to
wish to come to the world as the child of Afin and Orisa Nia. He was also
determined to show the world what it takes to be benevolent and kind
hearted. His wishes were granted by the Almighty Father. After obtaining
clearance from his guardian angel, he left for earth.
The Birth of EJlogbe

Meanwhile, Afin, the wife of ortsa Nia became pregnant on earth.

Traditionally, onsa Nia forbade palmwine, white his wife Afin forbade salt.
ortsa kol mu emo. Afin koi je lvo. The pregnancy of A fin did not altogether
defuse the tension that existed between the couple. The woman became
even more pugnacious as her pregnancy advanced in months.
Nine months later - a male child was born. soon after deUverv, orlsa
Nia realised that there was no food in the house for feeding the nursing
mother. He Quickly left for the farm to fetch yams, okro and vegetables.
He was a bit late in returning from the farm, which infuriated the wife. She
began to complain that the husband had tefther to starve on the very day
she delivered, and remarked that it was a confirmation that he had
78
no love for her. She thought it was time to terminate the marriage by
ending his life. Knowing that onsa Nia forbade palm wine and that drinking
it could end his life, she proceeded to add palm wine to his drinking water
pot. As soon as she did that, she left the day-old child on the bed and
went out to visit her neighbours.
Meanwhile, ortsa Nia returned from the farm and proceeded to
prepare food for the wife. While the yam was cooking on the fire, he went
to the room to fetch water with his traditional cup, a snail's shell, from the
poisoned water pot. As he was about to drink the water, the day-old son
lying on the bed spoke to him, "Father, do not drink that water because
my mother added palm wine to it." surprised at the ability of a day-old
child to speak, he nonetheless heeded the advice.
ortsa Nia however completed the cooking but in a gesture of
retaliation, he added salt to the soup knowing that it was his wife's poison.
After keeping the food for the wife, he went out to play Ayo game with his
friends. Meanwhile, the wife returned and made for where her food was
kept. As she took the food out to eat, the son again said to her - "Mother,
do not eat that food because my father added salt to the soup."
Almost immediately after hearing out the son, she became hysterical
and shouted on neighbours to come and save her from a husband who
was trying to kill her for bearing him a child. Her screams attracted
spectators from the neighbouring houses. soon afterwards, a meeting of
the divinities was convened in Orisa Nla's house. Orisa Nia was invited
from where he was playing Ayo and he staved calm throughout, even as
his wife gripped him and was tearing away at him.
Ogun was the one who took the chair at the conference, since onsa
Nia, the traditional Chairman was himself in the dock this time. Ogun
Invited Afin to state what happened and she narrated how the husband
added salt to her food which he knew she forbade. Asked how she knew
that salt was added to the soup, and that it was the husba~ who did it, she
explained that she was informed by her day old Infant child. The divinities
thought she was mad because no one could appreciate how a day old
child was capable of speaking to the mother.
ortsa N1a was invited to defend himself against the accusations and
contrary to expectation, he confirmed that he actually added salt to. his
wife's soup. He explained however that he did it to avenge a similar
treatment meted to him by his wife earlier on the same day. He accused
the wife of adding palm wine to his drinking water pot when everyone
including herself knew that he forbade it. Asked how he knew about the
wife's alleged action, he again explained that it was his day old child that
warned him not to drink from his traditional water pot because his mother
had added palm wine to it.
All eves then turned to the child who was already being looked upon
as a mysterious creature. Without being asked in so many words, . he
volunteered the missing pieces of the puzzle by saying, "Eji mogbe mi
ogbe enikon. The translation meant that he came to the world to save the
lives of his two parents and that was why he gave each of them the
warning that saved them from mutual destruction. It was no small wonder
therefore thatwhen the child was to be named seven days later, his
parents decided to call him EJIOGBE or Double Salvation.
It is on account of this first earthly work of Ejiogbe that when it comes
out during tntttatlon ceremony at Ugbodu, all the sacrificial materials are
required to be produced in doubles - 2 goats, 2 hens, 2 snails, 2 fishes, 2
rats, etc. When Ejiogbe comes out at uebodu, salt and palm wine are
always added to the initiation materials in commemoration of the events
79
that transpired on the day Ejiogbe was born.

The Earthly works of EJiogbe

The wonder boy did a lot of mysterious things when he was growing up
but the first major miracle he performed was at the age of fifteen when his
mother took him to Oja-Ajtgbomekon, the only market existing at the time and
in which traders from heaven and earth transacted all kinds of businesses,
from sale of goods to divination. Everyone having any kind of goods, skill, art,
technology etc., for sale, came to that market to trade in them.
The Miracle at the Market

on their way to the market, he met a woman. He stopped the woman

and told her that she had a problem. As she was about to speak, he told her
not to bother because he knew her problems better than she herself. Ejiogbe
told the woman that she had been pregnant for three years, but that it had
not developed. He told her to make sacrifice with 16 snails, one hen, one
pigeon, five "laughing" kotanuts and honey. He also told her to use a he-goat,
Akara <bean buns> and Eko to make sacrifice to Esu.
The · woman brought the materials for the sacrifice and after performing
it, Ejiogbe assured her that her problems were over. He however told her that
after she had delivered safely, she should bring a small boa, a serpent of the
constrictor family called Oka in Yoruba and Arumwoto in Bini to,.>ffer
thanksgiving to orunmila. He told her to add snail and whatever else she
could afford. The woman did the sacrifice and went her way.
The Miracle of the Cripple and· the Blind

The next person Ejiogbe met on his way to the market was a cripple
called Aro. Like he said earlier to the pregnant woman, he told Aro that he
had a problem, but the cripple replied that he ha~ no problem and that it was
the young boy CEjiogbe> who had a problem. EJ1ogbe brought out his uroke
<divination wand> and pointed it at the cripples hands and legs. lnstantlv. the
cripple got up to walk. It was at that stage that Aro realised that far from
dealing with a boy, he was dealing with a priest. Aro went on his knees to
thank Ejiogbe for curing him of a deformity that he was born with. Ejiogbe
however advised him to go and be serving Orunmila but should in future
refrain from concealing his problems because he would never know when
God would respond to his prayers. Ejiogbe remarked that if anyone
concealed his ailment, the ailment would bury him inside the ground.
Next, Ejiogbe met a blind man and asked him if he had a problem. The
blind man replied that he had no problem whatsoever. once again, Ejiogbe
stretched out his uroke towards the man's eyes and he instantly regained his
sight. The man was overwhelmed with Joy but Ejiogbe advised him to
arrange to become a follower of orunrnua in order to minimise his difficulties
with mankind. He also told him to serve his head with a cock on getting
home. With that EJiogbe got to the market.
Ejiogbe performed the foregoing miracles without asking for any reward
from the beneficiaries.

The Result of Ignoring the advice of EJiogbe 80

 on their way home from the market, his mother left him behind.
Ejiogbe came across a squirrel by the side of the road. He advised the
squirrel to make sacrifice to Esu with a he-goat so that the words spoken
from his mouth might not bring him destruction. The squirrel retorted that If
the young man wanted meat to eat, he could not get it from him. The squirrel
is called OTAN In Bini and Okere in Yoruba.
Just near-by, he also saw the boa called Okaa In Yoruba and Aru in Bini.
He told him that death was lurking around and that It would be brought to him
by a loquacious neighbour. To avoid the calamity, he advised the serpent to
serve his head at a secret place with a snail. He was not to allow anyone to
encore Amen to his prayers when serving his head.
Finattv, he met the thick bush (Eti in Bini and mo in Yoruba> and advised
him to offer he-soat to Esu in order to avoid unwarranted trouble. He also
met the palm tree who he advised to give hegoat to Esu so that someone
else's problem might not break his neck. The palm tree did the sacrifice
without delay, 1110 did not.
After that performance, Ejiogbe went home. The journey to and from
, Oja Ajigbomekon normally took about three months. As soon as he got home,
he received a message that the woman he met on his way to the market was
in labour. He quickly ran to the woman's house and delivered her with the
use of an incantation which lfa tradition does not permit to be reproduced in
this book. That is one of the Incantations with which lfa priests deliver
pregnant women to this day. She gave birth to a male child.
As soon as the woman put to bed, the husband took his hunting
boomerang, (Ekpede in Bini and Egion in Yoruba) and leftfor the forest in
search of the boa as well as the meat with which to feed his wife.
When the boa heard that the woman who had been pregnant for three
years brought forth a child, he realised that her husband would soon come In
search of him as he was told that Ejiogbe had directed. Rather belatedly, he
ran into the house of 1110 (th~ thickest part of the bush) to serve his head
privately there. 1110 gave him permission to serve his head in-his house.
As soon as the Okaa sat down to pray to his head, Okere came Into
uio's house. As Okaa said his prayers, Okere encored ASE, ASE (Amen)
Okaa retorted by warning Okere that he did not require Amen from anyone to
his prayers. He then ran farther into uto's house. At the same time. Okere
changed his tune and began to sing; Okaa, rokoo xoekoe re kpe,
At that point, the man with the boomerang who was searching for okaa
heard the squirrel shouting and began totrau his position. As the squirrel
continued to shout hysterically, Okaa shot him and he died. The man then
cut a fork-stick to clear the thick bush unoi. While he was cutting and clearing
1110, he saw the boa on the ground and killed him. At the same time he saw
by the side of the okaa, the dead squirrel and the snail that the boa was
going to serve his head with. He collected all of them and went home.
The thick weeds that the hunter cut with a fork stick were on the body of
tall palm tree. The palm tree rejoiced and had a new lease of life as soon as
the shrubs disrupting fresh air from reaching his body were cut off. That is
because he was the only one of the lot that made sacrifice at the right time.
To this day, it is the mouth of the squirrel that kills it. It is also the squirrel that
tells people where the boa Is hiding, and Invariably attracts death to it.
This· also explains why the appearance of EJiogbe for a tall dark
complexioned man at Ugbodu, signifies assured prosperity for the person,
because of the height of the palm tree who alone made sacrifice. If on the 81
other hand it comes out for a smallish fair complexioned man, unless he
makes sacrifice he will not make It in life. That is the significance of the
failure of the short but dark 1110 and the fair complexioned squirrel and boa
to make the prescribed sacrifices.
How EJlogbe survived the wrath Of the Elders
The benevolence of the young EJlogbe made him so popular that his
house was streaming with callers night and day. He healed the sick, made
sacrifice for paupers to become rich, helped the barren to have children and
safely delivered all pregnant women who demanded his assistance. These
activities earned him admiration from the beneficiaries of his magnanimity,
but Incurred him the enlmltv of the more elderly Awos who could not match
his altruism and benevolence. He soon became restless and one night, he
had a dream in which his guardian angel told him that some elders were
plotting against him. When he woke up In the morning, he was so confused
that he decided to go for divination.
How EJIODbe got peace of mind
He went to the following lfa priests for divlnatlon:-
Ajogodole ere ni mo kpe lfa mi.
Osigi sigi le ekpo
usee _ mi ooJagba igbo
Abu kete kon lo obe Ide.
They advised him to make sacrifice to-his lfa with a basket of snails.
Since he did not even have r,,f,ney to buy snails, au the people he had
helped previously brought all the required snails to him. The snails were
broken up and the IIQuid from them was collected. The Awos collected Ero
leaves and mashed them in the snaus' llquid for EJiogbe to natn with.
After the sacrifice he began to live a peaceful life. That Is wh_y when
EJiogbe appears during divination, the person Is advised to offer snails to lfa.
When it comes out at Ugbodu the goat for the ceremony should not be
offered on that day until five days later. What are to be offered on that
ucooou day are snails, dried rat and dried fish. When peace of mind
returned to Ejlogbe after the ceremony, he rejoiced singing: uroko lro, Erero
lu uroko iro Erero.

EJlogbe returns to Heaven tor Impeachment

Before he made the sacrifice, the elders, who felt that he had blocked
their means of livelihood by performing miracles for gratis, were going to
heaven one after tne other to report to God. They accused him of spoiling the
world and of introducing a new code of behaviour which was totally alien to
the ethos on earth.
on his part, EJiogbe had no life of his own because he spent all his time
in the service of others. When children had convulsion he was called upon to
heal them, which he did with incantations. He delivered pregnant women,
settled disputes for people and went to the rescue of the oppressed. Little did
he know that these humanitarian activities had annoyed the traditionally
extortionate priests to the point of even plotting to kill him.
At that stage, otooumare. tosatooua in Binn the Father in heaven, sent
for EJiogbe. He sent a Knight of Heaven to fetch him. The knight used his
discretion to decide on a strategy for arresting EJlogbe to heaven. Before
82
 he got to Ejlogbe's house, he removed his Knightly uniform and kept it In his
bag and feigned an unemployed applicant looking for a job. on getting to
EJiogbe very early in the morning, he begged to be given a menial Job to
enable him earn a living. Ejiogbe told him that he had no jobs to offer
because his own occupation was to give free service to the people of the
world. He was about to have his breakfast when the visitor arrived. He invited
the visitor to eat with him, but the man explained that he did not Qualify to eat
on the same plate with Ejiogbe. The visitor insisted he would eat whatever
remained after Ejiogbe had eaten.
While this argument was going on, some new callers came in crying for
help. They complained that an only child of the parents had convulsion and
wanted Ejiogbe to go and revive the child. Without eating the food, he set
out, followed bv the Knight from Heaven. He got to the house, put his left
knee on the ground and repeated an incantation after which he called the
child's name three times and he answered. The child then sneezed, opened
his eves, and asked for food.
As he was completing that healing operation, other callers accosted and
beseeched him to help them deliver a pregnant woman who had been in
painful labour all night. He went straight to the woman who was almost
taking her last breath when he arrived. When he got there, he made a Quick
divination and assured the people that the woman would deliver safely. He
gave her iverosun <divination powder> and water to swallow It. As she was
swallowing the water he repeated an incantation and the child together with
the placenta all came out at the same time. There was general rejoicing in
the house, and as usual, he left without demanding any compensation.
Ejiogbe and his visitor then left for home. This time, it was wen past mid-
day and he had still not had his breakfast. As they were getting home, he
meta large crowd waiting. The people had.ii dispute which thev wanted him
to settle for them. one after the other tfe settled all the disputes for them and
the people trooped back to their respective houses happily.and reconciled.
By the time he became free enough to eat his meal, the sun was almost
setting. He settled down to eat the food prepared for him and once more
invited the visitor who insisted on eating after him. As he was beginning to
eat, the visitor went into the room and put on his knightly garment.
The sight of the visitor in the heavenly dress told Ejiogbe that he was a
divine messenger from heaven. He QulCklV stopped eating and asked the
celestial knight what message he had for him. The man at that point told him
tnat.coe wanted him to come to heaven at once. He Quickly dressed up and
left for heaven with the man.
As soon as they were out of the town, the Knight embraced him and
almost Instantaneously, they were both in the palace of God. As soon as
they arrived, the voice of God asked for omontanoroabo <Ejiogbe's heavenly
name before leaving for the world> to give an explanation for creating so
much confusion in the world that he had upset the other divinities on earth.
omontanoroaeo went on his knees to offer an explanation, but before he
could sav a word, the messenger sent to fetch
I him, volunteered to explain on his behalf. The Knight explained that the ·.
Almighty Father Himself could not have done what omontcnorosbo was
doing on earth. He illustrated that since morning omontanoroano had not even
had time to eat a proper meal because he was In the yeoman service of
mankind, without receiving anv reward whatsoever. The messenger explained
that it was his attempt to behave on earth as they did in heaven that annoyed
the money-loving divinities on earth.
/ 83
 on hearing the details of the observations of the messenger, God
ordered omonicnorocoo to rise from his kneeling position, since it was clear
that allthe representations made previously against him wereoome out of
envy and jealously. God then ordained him to return to the world to continue
his good works, but that from then on, he should charge reasonable fees for
his services, but should continue to help the needy. He then received God's
blessing and left the palace of God.
Before returning to the world, he decided to meet his heavenly Awos
who made divination for him before he left heaven In the first instance. He
went to:-
<1> Eduwe koko rnejmja won sarawon kpelenje kpeienle. <
2 >Ejo-Mejinja, won sarawon ioroku loroku. Meaning -
<1> When two cocovam leaves are Quarrelling, the wind carries them about.
<2> When two snakes are fighting, they embrace each other.
They advised him to offer another he-goat to Esu. They told him that he
would come across a fair complexioned woman on earth whom he should
marrv. After marrying her he was to give a big he-goat once more to ssu so
that the woman might not leave him. He was assured that his marriage to the
woman would bring him strength and prosperity, but that If he allowed her to
leave, he would return to penury. He made the sacrifice to Esu in heaven
and then returned to earth. As soon as he closed his eves, as he was told by
the heaven Iv Knight, he was just waking up from his sleep on earth. Callers
were beginning to wonder why Ejiogbe slept for so long
that morning. ,

The Marriage of EJiogbe

••
When he woke up eventually, the first person he met that morning was
a fair skinned woman called EJi-Alo. He fell in love with her as soon as he
set his eves on her and the womanalso told him that she came to offer
herself to him in marriage. After marrying the woman he forgotto give a big
he-goat to Esu as he was directed In heaven to do. Eji-Alo was the daughter
of a very wealthy chief at lfe. She soon became pregnant and gave birth to a
male child who was crippled from the womb. The father who was able to heal
other cripples could not heal his own child; That is how the saving came that
a "doctor'.' can heal others but not himself.
Eji-Alo was so frustrated over the birth of the cripple that she refused to
stay with Ejiogbe to look after mm.. Eventually she packed out of Ejiogbe's
house leaving the child behind. subsequennv, Esu, ocun and Obalifon met
Ejiogbe to ask him why he had not been seen out side for sometime. He
replied that Ejl-Alo had left him with a crippled child to look after. Esu then
volunteered to approach an awo in heaven. The two awos turned out to be
Eduwe Koko meJi and Ejo mejinja, who coincidentally were 'the two Awos
who made divination for EJiogbe during his last spiritual trip to heaven. They
reminded Ejiogbe of the big he-goat they told him to give to ssu after
marrying on earth so that his wife might not desert him.
The two awos prepared medicine to wash the child's legs 'and life
instantly returned to his limbs. That was after giving the he-goat to Esu.
msmte of the sacrifice and the l'lealing of the child, EJi-Alo did notcome back
to Ejiogbe because she had meanwhile married Oluweri. Nonetheless, a
portion of the medicine used to cure Ejiogbe's child was prepared Into an
ASE for him to use to command the wife to return to him if he so desired.
Since he realised that she was already married to another man, EJlogbe
84
3.

preferred to use it to call Eji-Alo to meet him at a venue far removed from
lfe's environs. He also used the ASE to command Oluweri, who seduced
his wife, to meet him at the same venue.
As soon as the couple appeared before him he conjured them to fall
down and he fused them into one body and to move forward forever never
to look back anv more. With that, Eji-Alo and Oluweri turned into a flowing
river, which is the river now called Oluweri in Ondo State of Nigeria.
When Ejiogbe comes out of diVination for a woman who is thinking
of leaving her husband, she should be advised not to do so because the
consequence will surely lead to death, especially if the woman is the wife
of an lfa priest. ·
The second Marriage of EJlogbe
The first wife of a true son of Ejiogbe will never stay long with him,
1 unless she is fair in complexion. The next woman Ejiogbe met was called
iwere were who was a witch. No matter however much they may avoid it,
Ejiogbe's children <that is those for whom Ejiogbe appeared during lfa
initiation or Ugbodu> are, more often than not, marrying women who
belong to the world of witchcraft. If he has three wives, at least two of
them must be witches.
Ejiogbe was still very poor when he remarried and they were always
living below the starvation line. Whenever they killed a rat, orunrnua
would give the head to the wife. The same thing happened with a fish, a
hen and even a goat. By the time they were able to afford a goat it was
clear that their fortunes were beginning to improve. Eventually they
became sufficiently well-off to build their own house, raise children and
marry other wives. At that point he decided to offer thanksgiving to his lfa.
He then bought a cow for a big feast, to which he invited other priests
who
were the members of his family. • ·
During the feast, when the meat was being shared among the
invitees, the senior wife expected as usual to be given the head of the
cow. After waiting in vain to be given the cow's head, the senior wife drew
it to herself. Almost instantly, some of the more vindictive priests rebuked
her on the ground that the head was not the right part of a cow to give to
a woman. The cow's head was then taken away from her. She paused for
some time to allow the husband to intervene to redress the situation.
When no positive reaction was forthcoming from him she retired from the
feast chamber to her room.
Three days later, she collected her belongings out of Ejiogbe's house
and went to live with her brother called iroko who gave her sanctuary
soon afterwards. With the thanksgiving ceremonies over, Ejiogbe went
out in search of her. After combing everywhere in vain he went to her
brother who confirmed that he gave her refuge.
on seeing lwere were, Ejiogbe asked her why she left him so
unceremoniously. With tears in her eves she reminded him that when
they were poor he often gave her the head of whatever animal they could
afford to slaughter for food and no priest or member of his family showed
up at that time. She went on to ask why It was, that It was only when they
ere well-off enough to feast with a cow that they came to deny her the
privilege of keeping its head. Why did any member of his family not come
:o demand the heads of the rat, fish, hen, etc? In a poetic incantation
she
,xclaimed:- ·
What man can boast of being bigger than the elephant?
Who can claim to be bigger than the buffalo?
85
 Who can boast of being more influential than the king?
No head-tie can be wider than those used by the elders of the night! No
rope can be as long as the one used ov the witches!
No hat can be more famous than a crown;
In width or in breadth, the hand cannot be taller than the head; The
palm frond is often taller than the palm leaves on the head of a palm
tree;
Wherever there is a musical performance it is the sound of the bell that
sounds louder than all other instruments; and
The palm tree is more influential than all other trees in the forest. As
soon as EJiogbe heard this poem he too was in tears and apologised
to the wife to forgive him. The wife then took pity on him and agreed to return
with him to the house on the condition that he would agree to appease her
with a piece of white cloth, some money and to serve her head with a goat
This explains why whoever is born by EJiogbe at ucooou is required to
serve the head of his senior wife at the height of his prosperity, with a goat.
When it comes out of divination for a person who was born by EJiogbe
he should be asked whether he has already served his wife's head with a
goat. He should be told that his senior wife, if yellow, is a benevolent witch
who would help him to prosper in life provided he could refrain from
despising her.
If, on the other hand, it comes out of divination for a man whose senior
wife has left his house, he should be advised to go and·beg her to return to
him without any de!ay lest he would return to penury.
How EJlogbe helped. a Litigant to win his case

As soon as he became prosperous, he was able to afford to invite other

awos to work for him. When therefore Baba Jagba Loorun came to him when
he had a case, Ejlogbe invited another awo called: Ajagba, Agbagba,
AJagba jagba, ni Ira. Toon difa fun Baba jagba jagba lo orun.
The awo told the litigant to make sacrifice in order to be free from the
case. He was told to make sacrifice with 2 hens. hand spun thread and
plenty of ginger <Unien in Bini and Eruru in Yoruba>. He produced all the
materials and the awo prepared the sacrifice for him. The feat-hers of the
hen and the ginger seeds were sewn with the thread into a necklaceworn
round his neck, and it was removed with uroke at the shrine of Esu. When
the case eventually came up for trial and judgement, aaoalacoa won the
case.
When EJiogbe therefore appears at divination for a person who has a
case pending, he should be advised to make the above sacrifice, which has
however to be done for him by an Awo who knows how to do it.
How EJlogbe ma~ A Barren woman to have a Child.

Eblti okpale Ugbe

oowo le kuuru ku
Adifa fun otorno Agbuti.
These were the names orotner Awos invited by Ejiogbe when he made
divination for Elerimoju when she came to Ejlogbe because she could not
have children. EJiogbe told her to make sacrifice with a hen, a guinea fowl
and a goat. She made the sacrifice without any delay. After preparing the
sacrifice, Ejiogbe told her to carry the offering to a running water drain
86
<Agbara In Yoruba and oroano in Bini>. She did so accordingly.
Esu was however annoyed because he got rio share of the sacrifice, but
Eleri-Moju otherwise called oiorno Agbutl replied that she had previously
made plenty of sacrifices to ssu to no avail. ssu then invoked rain to fall In
order to stop the drain from enjoying the sacrifice. The rain fell so heavily that
the flood going through the drain carried the sacrifice right up to the river
«nokurn, the water divinity who in turn carried the sacrifice to heaven.
Meanwhile in heaven, the son of Olodumare was ill and the heavenly
Awos had been invited to cure him. While the awos were performing
divination on the illness of the child, tnev.askeo Olodumare to go to the back
of his house to bring one sacrifice that was coming from earth for them to use
to heal the child.
When oiooumare got to the back of the house, he saw the sacrifice of
Eleri Moju. He took the sacrifice to the awos, who added iverosun <divination
powder> to it after which they touched the sick child's head with it. Almost
immediatlev afterwards, the child became well.
As soon as the child became well, oiodumare invited otokun to ask him
what he was looking for that made him to perform the sacrifice that saved his
son.
Olokun explained that he did not know from where Agbara or orocno
<drain> brought the sacrifice. otokun invited the drain torocno or Agabara> to
explain where he got the sacrifice from and he otsiosed that is was Eleri Moju
who performed tt. Her .guardian angel in heaven was then invited and she
explained that her ward was advised by orunmna to make the sacrifice
because she had remamedbarren since getting to the world. The guardian
angel explained that Elerl Moju even lamented that the sons of her
contemporaries with whom she went to the world at the same time, were
even growing up to woo her for love.
oiooumare then brought out his maee of authority and proclaimed that
Elerl Moju would have a child and before her eves were closed, her children
and grandchildren would also have children before her own eves.
Before the following morning, Eleri MoJu saw her menstruation. When
she became whole and clean again, she mated with her husband and
became pregnant. After nine months, she gave birth to a child who was
named AdevortJu. She had several other children, grand children and great-
grandchildren before she returned to heaven.
When EJtogbe therefore appears at divination for a woman who is
anxious to have a child, she should be advised bv the Awo to make the
foregoing sacrifice and she would unfailingly have plenty of children.
HowE)logbe helped the Mountain to resist the onset Of his enemies.

Aja kulu mo, Alaa kuulu mo.

Adlfa fun Oke, Ota le lu run okoo.
Ebo oke snoota, ota legbeJe Adaa.
Ebo oke snoota.
Oke, or mountain, was advised to make sacrifice and he did, because of
the evil ptans of his enemies. Plottlng to destroy him were the Hoe and the
cutlass. After the mountain had made the sacrifice, the hoe and the cutlass
left to destroy him, but they could not even scratch his body. He even got
bigger. He then rejoiced and offered thanksgiving to his diviner.
Ejiogbe saves his son from the hands Of Death.

87
 Ono gbooro miti fewa - was the lfa priest who made divination for
Abati, the son of Ejiogbe when Death planned to take him away in seven
days time. Abati was told to rnake sacrifice with one cock, one hen and
snails and to give a he-goat to Esu. Death made three vain attempts to
remove Abati from this earth after which he left him to complete his
sojourn on earth. He then sang the following poem:~
Uku gbeml, otimi;
Tiri Abati, Abati tirl;
Arun gbemi. Otiml:
Tlrl Abati, Abata ttri.
Death held me and left me.
Sickness tried me and left me.
No one eats tortoise along with its shell. No
one eats a Ram together with its horns.
The shell of the snail is kept after eating its meat. I
have survived the evil plans Of my enemies.
How EJ)ogbe's mother saved him from his enemies.

Efifi nii snolu omo teeree te

okpa Teere be ejo levln
osnuoi Eereke
osnuot Ereeke.
These are the names of the awoswno made divination for oiavon, the
mother of Ejiogbe. when people were making sarcastic remarks against
his good works. She made sacrifice with 4 pigeons and 4 bags of salt.
After the sacrifice, the same people \JIJho were despising his works
began to make favourable comments about him. This Is so because no
one puts salt in the mouth and makes bad comments about its taste. As
soon as the hen comes to. roost on it eggs, it will change its voice.
How EJlogbe became the King of the OLODUS <apostles)

After all the sixteen OLODUS had come to the world, it was time to
appoint a head among them. Ejiogbe was not the first oioou to come to
the world. Many others had come before him. Before them, oveku Meji
who was the king of the Night had been claiming seniority. The lot fell on
orisa Nia <God the son, or God's representative on earth> to appoint a
king of the otodus.
onsa Nia invited all of them and gave them a rat to share between
themselves. Oyeku-Meji took one leg, 1wori-Meji took the second leg, ldi·
Meji took one hand and obara-rnejt took the remaining hand. The other
parts were shared in the order of conventional seniority. Ejiogbe being
very Junior was given the head of the Rat.
. In order of sequence, God subsequently gave them a flsh, a hen, a
pigeon, a guinea fowl and finally a goat - which were all shared in
accordance with the order established with the the rat. In each case,
Ejiogbe was given the head of each of the slaughtered animals.
Finally, God invited them to come to him for a decision after three
days. on getting home, Ejiogbe made divination and he was told to give a
he-goat to Esu. After eating his he-goat, ssu told him that on the
appointed day, he should roast a tuber of yam and keep it In his bag
together with a gourd of water. Esu also advised him to go late to the
meeting of the otocus in God's palace.
on the appointed day, the olodus came to invite him to the
88
conference but he told them he was roasting yam on the fire to eat before
leaving for the meeting.
After they had left him, he got out the yam, peeled it and kept it inside
his bag with a gourd of water. On the way to the conference, he met an old
woman just as Esu predicted and in consonance with the advice given to him
by Esu, he relieved the old woman of the burden of fire wood she was
carrying, because she was already so tired that she could scarcely walk.
After gratefully accepting the offer, she complained that she was terribly
hungry. Instantly, Ejiogbe brought out the yam inside his bag and gave her to
eat. After eating the yam she asked for water and he gave her the gourd of
water inside his bag. With the refreshment over he carried the fire wood while
the old lady walked along with him, He did not realise that the woman was
the mother of God the son.
Meanwhile, as he seemed to be in a hurry, the old woman asked him
where he was in a hurry to get to. He replied that he was already late to the
conference at which onsa Nia <God) was going to appoint a king from
among the otoous. He said he was taking his time anyway since he was
nonetheless too junior to aspire to the kingship of the sixteen apostles of
orunmila.
In her reaction, the old woman assured him that he was going to be
made king of the apostles. When they got to the woman's house, he was told
to deposit the wood at the back of the house. It was on identifying it as onsa
Nla's house that he realised that the woman he had been helping was no
other person than the mother of God the son. He then heaved a sigh of relief.
The woman told him to follow her inside her apartment. On getting there she
brought out two pieces of white cloth, tied one on his right shoulder and the
other on his left shoulder. She then inserted a red parrot's feather on
Ejiogbe's head and a white chalk on his right palm. She next showed him the
1,460 rota legbejel stones outside the front of Orisa Nla's house and directed
him to go and S'tand on top of the white stone at the middle. In his new outfit,
he went to stand there while the others waited in God's outer chamber.
After some time, God asked the others who they were still waiting for
and they all replied that they were waiting for Ejiogbe. orisa Nia then asked
them for the name of the man who was standing outside. They could not
even recognize him as Ejiogbe. onsa Nia directed them to go and pay
respects to the man. One after the other they went to prostrate and touch the
ground with their heads at the foot of where Ejiogbe stood. Thereafter, God
formally proclaimed Ejiogbe as the king of the otonus of the Orunmila
kindred.
Almost unanimously, all the other olodus grumbled in annoyance and
did not dlguise their disapproval at the appointment of a junior oiocu to be
head amongst them all. At that point God asked them nowtnev shared the
animals he had been giving to them over the seven days trial period. They
explained how they shared them. He asked them who was taking the head of
each of these animals and they confirmed that they were giving the heads In
each case to Ejiogbe. orisa Nia then exclaimed that they were the ones who
unwittingly appointed Ejiogbe to be their king because when the head Is out
of the body, the rest has no life in it. on that note, they
all dispersed. ·
When they left orlsa Nla's place, they all decided to keep Ejiogbe at
arms length. Not only did they all resolve not to recognise him; they also
decided neither to serve him nor to visit him. Before dispersing EJIOgbe
composed a poem which he used as an incantation.
OJa Nil ki owo won jaa

89
 owuwu oni koo wo won wuu.
lkpe Akiko kllga aklka deenu
lkpe orlre kil gun orire deenu
Etuu kil 010 tu won ni mo
mu 10 otln ire ero eblre waa
With that speclat Incantation, he expected to neutralise all the evil
machinations against him. He used special leaves for that purpose.
After that Incident, they told him that before they could accept him as
their king, he would have to feast all oetnem wlth:-
200 calabashes of pounded yam
200 pots of soup prepared with different kinds of meat
• 200 gourds of wine. 200
baskets of kotanuts Etc.,
etc.
giving him seven days to arrange for the feast.
Needless to say that it seemed an impossible task because they knew
that EJiogbe could not afford to finance a feast of that magnitude. Ejiogbe
sat down tamennnc over his poverty, and the prospect of remaining a
Sheperd without a flock.
Meanwhile Esu came to him to find out the cause of his melancholy and
he explained that he had no money to fund the elaborate feast demanded by
the otoous before they could agree to submit to him. ssu retorted that the
problem could be solved If Ejiogbe would give him another he-goat. EJlogbe
lost no time in giving another he-goatto Esu. After eating the he-goat, Esu
advised him to prepare only one each of all the things demanded for the feiljt
and to produce 199 additional empty containers of each item and line them
out at the feast chamber on the appointed day. EJogbe followed the advice
of Esu accordingly. In the meantime, each of the olodus had been making
jest of him since they knew that there was no way Ejiogbe · could afford the
feast.
on the seventh day, they began to visit him one by one to askwnetner
he was ready with the feast. Since they did not hear the sound of a pestle on
mortar from the direction of his kitchen, they knew there was going to be no
feast after all. Meanwhile, having lined out the empty containers, Esu went to
the. feast chamber and commanded the single preparation to multiply into
the empty containers. Instantly, all the calabashes, soup pots, gourds,
baskets, etc., were filled up with fresh preparations and the feast was ready.
As soon as oveku Meji got to the feast chamber to find out what was
happening, he was atontsneo to see that the feast was ready after all.
Without waiting for any formal lnvttatlon, he sat down to help himself to the
food. He was followed accordingly by 1worl-MeJI ldl MeJI, Obara Meji,
Okonron-MeJi, trosun Mejl, owanrln-MeJI, Ogunda-MeJI, osa-MeJI, otuu
MeJI, lrete-Meji, Eka Meji, sturukoon Meji, ose MeJi and Ofun MeJi. Before
they realised what was happening, they had all dined and wined to their
hearts' content.
After the feast, they all carried EJlogbe high above their heads and
began to dance in a procession singlng:-
Agbee geege.
Agbee saoaa
Agbee Geege.
Agbe saoaa
They danced in the procession right through the town. When they got to
the bank of the sea, EJlogbe told them to put him down and he sang in
praise of the awos who made divination for him and of the sacrifice he
90
 made. With that he was formally crowned the head of the apostles of
orunmua with the title of Akoko-otokun,
At that spot, he slaughtered four snails on the banks of the sea and it
was the last sacrifice he made before he became prosperous - and the
throne began to flourish.
contest between EJlogbe and Olofen

In his position as the king of the oioous, EJiogbe became very famous
and weaitnv. uneasy over the presence of a powerful king In his domain,
Olofen, the tracmonai ruler of lfe, assembled an army to fight EJlogbe.
Meanwhile, EJiogbe had a dream In which he saw that an attack on him was
Imminent. He then invited an awo called OOLE JAGIDA, OLUPE KPEROJA
<An easy compromise ends up in hostility> to make divination for him. He
was told to fetch a porcupine COkhaen In Bini, urere In Yoruba>, which was
used to prepare a meal but he was told not to eat out of It. All others present
feasted on it. Thereafter the plot against him came to
naught. ·
Not long after-wards, when Olofen saw that EJiogbe was still around
and was becoming even more popular than himself, he raised another team
of night elders to fight him. He went once more to the same awo who advised
him to fetch a hedgehog <Akika in Yoruba and Ekhul in Bini> for another
sacrifice. The lfa priest added the revelantleaves and used it to prepare vet
another feast, advising EJiogbe once more notto eat out of it. After tnereast.
those appointed by the Olofen to fight him oiaooucenv became too shV to
face EJlogbe. After each feast, the awo had collected the head, skins and
bones of the two animals.
When otoren discovered that EJlogbe was still In town and as popular
as ever, he invited people to openly expel him from the town. once again,
EJiogbe invited the priest who aovtseo trim to produce a he-goat and a whole
antelope for a special sacrifice to Esu. EJlogbe got the two animals and they
were both used to make sacrifice to Esu. The Awo used the meat to make
another feast out of which EJlogbe was told not to eat. Even after enjoying
the feast, the people insisted that they would have to expel Ejiogt,e from lfe.
Try as they would, It did not materialise.
At this point, Olofen decided on a new strategy altogether. He Invited
Ejiogbe for a meeting In his own palace, in three days time. on the I
appointed day, Olofen requested his royal executioners or assassins to lay 1 in
ambush for Ejiogbe and to murder him during his Journey to or from : the
palace.
Before leaving home for otoeen's palace, EJiogbe went to the shrine of
Esu with a kotanut, a spoonfU1 of palm oil, and a snail to invoke Esu with an
incantation to escort him to and from the Invitation since he did not know
what plot awaited him this time. Before actuaav setting out, he made his own
sign on the ground and repeated another Incantation. He walked past all the
ambushes without any Incident and got safely into the palace. ororen was
surprised to see him and since he had nothing tangible to discuss, the
meeting ended as It started. oloren was sure that the ambush would strike
when Ejiogbe was returning nome.:
As the assassins waited to deal the fatal blow on him It was time for Esu
to Intervene. As soon as EJiogbe was approaching the al1'1bUSh, Esu called
on the antelope with which EJiogbe had earlier made sacrifice to become
whole again and it jumped out Of the midst of the assassins In the ambush.
Almost Immediately, they au abandoned their vigil and pursued the antelope
untll they got to· oioeerrs patace As the antelope entered
91
oiorerrs palace there was general pandemonium and communal fighting
in the town of lfe. While the commotion was going on, Ejiogbe quietly
walked back peacefully to his house without any molestation whatsoever.
on his part, otoeen accused the assassins he sent to waylay Ejiogbe of
; failing to carry out his instructions and they were all locked up. It was i
Ejiogbe who later came to the palace to quell the confusion that had been
created by the mysterious antelope ... He used his, divination tray and
another incantation to return peace and tranquility once more to lfe.
Thereafter, Ejiogbe invited all the lfa priests, chiefs and elders of the town
for a feast prepared with a cow, goats, and hens for thanksgiving to
orunrnua, the divinity of wisdom. After the feast, he resolved never to
fraternise with otoren anymore. He then sang in praise of the awo who saw
him through the molestation of otoren and of Esu who used the antelope
with which he made sacrifice to scatter his enemies. .
It is for this reason that all the usnoou children of Ejiogbe forbid por-
cupine hedge-hog and antelope to this day because they were the
animals he used to fight off the evil plans of Olofen against him. It also
explains why the children of Ejiogbe do not get on very well with any Oba
or King in their domain.
Ejiogbe's Battle with Death

It is now clear that Ejiogbe suffered in the hands of all imaginable

enemies because he stood out to defend the objective good. He had
survived problems from the laity and priests alike, from his household,
from fellow divinities and frOfi the king. It was the turn of Death to take
him up in combat.
The name of the Awo who made divination for him on this occasion
was lku kii ja nille olodumare. Aron kil.la nitle otooumare.
<Death and sickness do not wage war on the House of coc.i Ejiogbe
was told that he would die before the end of that year, unless he made
sacrifice with 200 bells and a he-goat to Esu. The bell will always ring
because it does not die. The bell was prepared by the two Awos for him to
be ringing every morning. With that newas able to survive to the end of
the year and beyond. This is the kind of sacrifice that is made when
Ejiogbe appears at divination and predicts death to the enquirer.
When Death saw that Ejiogbe had survived him that year, he made
vet another proximate plan to take the breatheout of him within seven
days. As soon as Death firmed up his morbid strategy, Ejiogbe had a
dream that night and saw Death hovering round him. He quickly invited
one of his surrogates to make divination for him. The Awo, called Una
Oke, rororo moota, told him that Death had slated him for slaughter in
seven days time. He was advised to make sacrifice with a he-goat, a cock
and 20 kolanuts. The he-goat and the cock were given to Esu and he was
to be breaking each of the 20 kotanuts for lfa over a 20 day period. He
was to pinch the broken kolanuts on lfa seeds llkin> and to say as he did so:
Let me live to break koianut.ror lfa the next day;
Whoever pinches kolanuts for lkin never dies.
In the end he lived for the next fifty years.
Remarkable Features of EJlogbe

In a special poem, Ejiogbe reveals that if he appears at Ugbodu for a

person who is very fair in complexion, the fatherhood of the person must
be thoroughly examined because there may be some misgiving about it.
92
He emphasizes that if the truth about the parentage of the neophyte is not
examined, the risk of premature death is very real. He says that no one
should blame orunmila over the untimely death of the initiate if the truth is not
told about the duplicity of his fatherhood. He insists that there is no way the
person, especially if he is short, will ever prosper in life.
on the other hand, he proclaims emphatically that if he appears at
ucooou for a person who is dark complexioned and tall, he must be the true
son of Ejiogbe. He will not only prosper but will be famous and popular. The
person will surely be conferred with a state or traditional title later in life
provided he clears the way for lfa to assist him. The person will not be given
to playing dirtv tricks or to ambivalence.
i He savs that it is the short and light complexioned initiate of Ejiogbe ; who

takes to treachery and double dealing. on the whole, the children of Ejiogbe
have a lot of difficult hurdles to cross before seeing the limelight.
All children of Ejiogbe should however refrain from eating the meat of
the following animals:- Antelope, hedge-hog <Ekhul In Bini and Akika in
Yoruba>, porcupine toknaen in Bini and ururee in Yoruba>.
The children of Ejiogbe should also try to avoid eating plantain and red
yam in order to obviate the risk of stomach ache.
When Ejiogbe assists anyone, he does so whole-heartedly. If on the
other hand he is provoked into aggression, he destroys irreparably. Children
of Ejiogbe are otherwise very persevering and forgiving.
All the same he is auite capable of changing fortunes because orunmila
does not believe in impossibilities as can be seen from the following poem
composed by Ejlogbe:-
serious minded people do not listen to the bird singing the songs of woe;
Difflculties and problems bring out the best in man;
Patience and sacrifice make the impossible to become possible; Give
me a difficult problem to solve that doubters may believe; give me a war
to wage that mortals may appreciate the strength of divinities;
To learn from past misfortunes is to be wise; Not
to learn from previous mistakes is folly;
The person who fails to make sacrifice vindicates the diviner; Just
as the one who ignores advice turns the adviser to a seer.
The man who learns from Quarrels and the man who does not learn
from Quarrels <AJaagbon, Aagabon> were the two surrogates of Ejiogbe
who made divination for the land of Quarrels. They advised the people to
make sacrifice with 7 dogs, 7 tortoises and 7 snails so that they might be rid
of incessant Quarrels. They got together and made the sacrifice. Two each of
the sacrificial materials were offered to Ogun, who with osonvin were always
fermenting quarrels for the town. rwo each of the sacrifica1 victims excluding
the snails iosonvm forbids snails> were given to osonvin, four snails were
offered to the ground divinity. The three remaining dogs were prepared and
left to wander about in the town. It is on account of this sacrifice that some
children of Ejiogbe are advised to rear dogs. ·
· The dogs soon began to produce and multiply. Any time Ogun was
bringing trouble to the town, the dogs would all start barking at him. In anger,
Ogun would pursue and kill one of the dogs to eat, thus abandoning his
mission.
on his part, any time osonvin approached the town to cause chaos, the
ground would release plenty of snails to line his path. The sight of the snails
would always annoy him and he would run away.
That was how peace and concord replaced turmoil and discord In the
93
town. This explains why dogs bark at Ogun priests to this day.
Normally, when EJiogbe appears at ucoodu during an initiation
ceremony, before the ceremony is completed, there is bound to be a heavy
rain. The lfa priest who made tnts disclosure intimated that he had a personal
experience. He recalls that during his own initiation ceremony in 1953, there
had been no rain for over five months in Ondo. Even the osemawe of Ondo
had invited rain makers to induce rain, but no heavy rain fell.
When the sacrifice to his Lfa, which happened to be Ejiogbe, was being
prepared, the Awos told him that before thesacrifice was completed, there
was going to be a very heavy rain. At that moment, the heat of the sun was
so intense that he just dismissed their prediction as trash.
Before the sacrifice was halfway through the weather had changed.
By the time he was told to deliver the sacrifice at the shrine of Esu, the rain
became so heavy that he could not reach the shrine because of the
consequenttat flood. According to the priest, Awo ornoruvi Edokpayi, that was
the first wonder that orunrnua did to him. He has experienced several other.
instances since then .
The Puzzle of the Awos.

After hearing so much about the activities of orunmila in the days of

Ejiogbe the king of tfe decided to test him along with the other awos in the
hope of denting or dwarfing his-growing popularity. The King got a calabash
and inserted in it, the sponge and soap used by a newly wedded bride. He
also added can wood and black woven calico <Asho snn and tied up the
calabash with a piece ot cloth. The King tnen kept it on his lfa shrine after
which he invited the Awos to come and reveal the contents of the calabash.
All the other Awos tried and failed until it was the turn tJf an awo called Adaro
eeku, ashawo kookuta, oke-otobeun ofiyi she okpe. OQbo occo ogbo, one of
the surrogates of Ejiogbe. As soon as he was seated, he sounded his
divination wand turoke: on the divination tray <Akpako> and Ejiogbe
appeared. He then named the matertats to be used to make sacrifice as
sponge and soap used for bathing a bride, can wood and black calico. The
king had ot the answer he wanted and he was Quite satisfied. He then
9_

compensated the Awo with-a cmertamcv title androur wives, 2 dark

complexioned and 2 fair in complexion.
EJIOCBE'S Poem for Progress and prosperity

ENI - Shee inoo ni moo

EJI - Jiji le ekoon agbo oji - eeJaa.
ETA - Maa taaku nu, Maa raarun oaanu.
l:RIN - Bi a baarln, adife ooye la agbo.
ERUn - Maarun kaasha, maada mi.
El=A - l;fa uls, sfa one ouniti erukoo.
EJE - Bi acnoro ba tii snore, aakiije. EJo
- _uwaami aalo, evln mi aaio.
ESOn - uwaami aasuon, Eyinmi aasuon.
ENO - moo wale svo, Kuroiita.
OKONLA - Elereni eleno diiro
Alara, sieno diiro Ajero, eleno ooiro
Oba ado, oont Oka siru Eleno diiru re.
Osemowe aamu udu ghaaran
eteno onrure, orunmua ome kikan
94
4.

IFA
ATE-IFA (Akpako)
(Divination Tray)
 OKPELE
(Principal divination ·
instrument)
AGOGO (Gong) .
5.
AJA (knife)
ILU (Drum)
 OROFA
(Divination staff)
 OKPON-IFA
(lfa seeds· container)
6.

URAN KE
(Horse Tail)
 AKE SHE
(Musical Instrument)
 eekekun ro rabe eleno dnru re.
Ta ago, Teeru nuso ni ile oioja
• cbeiemt soomieeton ntnuule Alade
Aasofun oluware Yi aatesto.
English Translation

ONE - A person adds to wnatne already has.

TWO - No matter how much the testicles of a ram shakes, It does not sever
from Its body.
THREE - I will survive the cote nanos of deatn.
FOUR - A long discussion takes one as far as lfe.
FIVE - When I eat fire, I will swallow It.
SIX - The hoe drags home gifts from inside and outside the house.
SEVEN - When a priest serves his divinity, it lasts 7 days.
EIGHT - I will prosper in life as well as beyond.
NINE - I will succeed in life and hereafter.
TEN - Ayo can only be played on its container.
ELEVEN - Only respectable gift parcels are presented to the Kings of Ara,
ljero and Benin. Gifts to the ooni of lfe, Osemawe of Ondo and
orunmila are also presented in multiples. The nails of a tiger are
not used like knife to scratch human body. The gift carrier
discharges his luggage in front of the elderly recipient to which it
is consigned. Loading and unloading as well as going and coming
never end In the home of the ants/termites.
The person should be told after the special ceremony that goes
with this poem that progress and achievements would always
remain with him. It takes a lot of persuasion before Awos can
agree to perform this soeciat ceremony for the children of
Ejiogbe. •

Akpetebl annoys EJlogbe

EJlogbe was known to be particularly patient and tolerant. one day, one
of his wives lrratated him so much that he decided to leave the house in
anger.
on the way, he met the following agents of destruction, one after the
other, Esu, Witchcraft, Fays, Sickness and Death, each asking him where he
was going with such fume and fury. In reply he told them that he was leaving
home for his wife who was not allowing him to have peace of mind. Each of
them promised to return home with him to deal with the offending wife.
on the night EJlogbe left home, the offending wife had a dream which
scared her so much that she decided to go for divination the following
morning. She was told that misfortune, sickness and sudden death were on
her trail because orunmila had reported her to the higher powers. She was
told to sweep and clean the house, wash his clothes, and prepare a feast in
five multiples of soup, pounded yam, meats, wine, kolanuts, water etc against
the husband's return, and to present the feast on her knees to him as soon
as he returned to the house.
EJlogbe was away for five days. As he returned on the fifth day, all the
five divinities followed him home. As they got to the main entrance to his
house, he told them to wait and he went In through the back entrance. In
tears, the offending wife went on her knees to embrace him and to beg for
forgiveness. She gave him the muttlple feast, one for everyday he was
away.

95
 eekekun ro rabe eleno ouru re.
Ta ago, reeru nuso ni ile oiola
• cbeternt soomt eeton ni nuule Alade
Aasofun oluware Vi aalesto.
English Translation

ONE - A person adds to What he already has.

TWO - No matter how much the testicles of a ram shakes, It does not sever
from Its body.
THRee - 1 wm survive tne com nanes ot neatn.
FOUR - A long discussion takes one as far as lfe.
FIVE - When I eat fire, I will swallow it.
SIX - The hoe drags home gifts from inside and outside the house.
SEVEN - When a priest serves his divinity, it lasts 7 days.
EIGHT - I will prosper in life as well as beyond.
NINE - I will succeed in life and hereafter.
TEN - Ayo can only be played on its container.
ELEVEN - Only respectable gift parcels are presented to the Kings of Ara,
uero and Benin. Gifts to the ooni of lfe, osemawe of Ondo and
orunmila are also presented in multiples. The nails of a tiger are
not used like knife to scratch human body. The gift carrier
discharges his luggage in front of the elderly recipient to which it
is consigned. Loading and unloading as well as going and coming
never end in the home of the ants/termites.
The person should be told after the special ceremony that goes
with this poem that progress and achievements would always
remain with him. It takes a lot of persuasion before Awos can
agree to perform this special ceremony for the children of
Ejiogbe. •

Akpetebl annoys EJlogbe

EJlogbe was known to be particularly patient and tolerant. one day, one
of his wives lrratated him so much that he decided to leave the house in
anger.
on the wav, he met the following agents of destruction, one after the
other, Esu, Witchcraft, Fays, Sickness and Death, each asking him where he
was going with such fume and fury. In reply he told them that he was leaving
home for his wife who was not allowing him to have peace of mind. Each of
them promised to return home with him to deal with the offending wife.
on the night EJlogbe left home, the offending wife had a dream which
scared her so much that she decided to go for divination the following
morning. She was told that misfortune, sickness and sudden death were on
her trail because orunmlla had reported her to the higher powers. She was
told to sweep and clean the house, wash his clothes, and prepare a feast in
five multiples of soup, pounded yam, meats, wine, kolanuts, water etc against
the husband's return, and to present the feast on her knees to him as soon
as he returned to the house.
EJiogbe was away for five days. As he returned on the fifth day, all the
five divinities followed him home. As they got to the main entrance to his
house, he told them to wait and he went In through the back entrance. In
tears, the offending wife went on her knees to embrace him and to beg for
forgiveness. She gave him the multiple feast, one for everyday he was awav.

95
 Being the soft hearted man than he was, Ejiogbe collected the feast and
gave them to the five divinities waiting outside. After eating, they moved to
attack the woman, but Ejiogbe told them that she had atoned for her
transgressions because she was the one who prepared the feast they had
just enjoyed. He reminded them of the divine rule that one does not kill the
person who feeds one. That was how he saved his wife from destruction.
When Ejiogbe therefore comes out of divination for a married woman,
she should be asked to prepare the above-mentioned feast in multiples of
five because she has offended her husband so much that the destructive
divinities have taken a hand in the anger:

96
 CHAPTER XIV
OYEKU-MEJI
I I I I I I
I I I I I I
I I I I

t was oveku men who revealed how orunmila taught mankind how to ward

Ioff th@ menace of premature aeatn. wnen man. was createo, Qeatn saw the
new creature as the best staple food for him to feed on. Death
was thus the only divinity who rejoiced at God's creation of man. While other
divinities saw man as a lower being created to serve them, Death saw man
as feedstock. He however waited for man to multiply and thereafter went at
will to their abode to pick them up for use as food. Lacking in the means of
self-defence, let alone of fighting back, man resigned himself to the fate Of
incessant onslaught ov Death. They had no one to appeal to, because the
logic was that Just as man saw the lower animals as food for him to feed on,
that was how Death regarded man as meat to feed on.
As long as we understand the over-riding Philosophy of the existence of
plants and animals, who were created to serve a purpose in the planetary
system; we should not be unduly disturbed at the inevitability of death. Just
as we use the lower plants and animals to satisfy our routine and staple
desires, we are also at the mercy of the more powerful divinities. Having
given us a role to perform in the planetary system, which includes, provision
of food for the higher powers, God has given us the intellect to defend
ourselves as best as we can, either by appeasement or by diversion. This is
clearly illustrated in the following Revelations of oveku Meji.
Uku yee
truku Yee
Eku mejt Looruwe
EJa meji AJoko
Loore Olule Adiye
ioeresbe Aaba murede
Agboghaka,EJi Laba odurneta
Ako Elila toun to osnukaare,

Death rejoiced at man's creation, He

plundered humans at will to eat, Two
Rats were playing on land,
TWo fishes were playing in water,
The hen had laid its eggs and gone to roost,
The goat had delivered many kids,
The strong three year old Ram,
The fat male cow endowed with beefy flesh,
were all created to appease Death,
This assemblage of livestock
Gave Death neither appeasement no satisfaction,
Death continued to focus,
His gaze on the human flesh.
When man eventually approached orunmila for divination on how to
check the menace of Death, he told them that no sacrifice could ever divert
Death's attention from man. His flesh constituted the only meat, that could
97
satisfy his divine appetite. Altothers,, rats, fish, fowl, goat, Ram and even cow,
were the staple food of th.~,pries_t$sOf the divinities. He asked them 1 whether
anything could stop them ·from feeding on their own staple food. · He however
told them that the best way to ward off an evil divinity was to make sacrifice to
him wlth>what he forbade. orunmila in his capacity as Eleri ukpln <God's own
witness at creation> is the only one who knows what each of the other divinities
forbids.
He then advised them to prepare scrambled or mashed yam tobobo in
Bini and Ewo or Elo In Yoruba> to be laden with small pebbles. He also
advised them to fetch a small live chicken. They collected the materials and
all tnernen assembled at the conference hall where Death used to pick them
uoone after the other: orunmllaadvlsed them to eat the mashed vam,
butthrow the pebbles away. They were .' also to tie up the chicken at the
entrance to the house of Esu, without kilting it.
As Death approached the conference Chamber for vet another attack,
he found the pebbles that the men were discarding from their meals. When
he put the pebbles In his mouth to taste the food men were eating, he could ·
not chew it . He then wondered that those who were able to eat such strong
obJects must be terrifying creatures, who could fight back If over-provoked.
As Death was contemplating what to do next, the chicken at the entrance to
the house of Esu began to cry uku vee. on hearing the crv of the chicken,
Death ran ~ because he forbids the sound of a chicken. Death then left the
men -in· peace· and they rejoiced, thanking orunmila for demonstrating to
them the secret of Death. It was since that time that death devised other
ways through proxies of gettlng at man.
From then on, Death could not kill man directly because. he is otherwise
a chicken-hearted dnilnltv. He has since been relying on his more aggressive
and vindictive brothers like; oeun, the Iron divinity who kills by fatal accidents,
saneo, the thunder divinity who kills through lightening, sankpana, who kills
through epidemics like smau-pox, chicken-pox and measles, the Night
divinity who kills through witchcraft etc. Where these deadly divinities are
slow to fetch food for Death, the King of Death uses Sickness who is his wife
to fetch food for the family. But tnatwas after man had learnt the secret of
how to scare Death awav. Before then, Death used to prey on man by
himself.
When oveku meji therefore appears during divination, the person can be
told that Death Is lurking around him, but that he should make sacrifice to
Esu with mashed yams mixed with salt and palm oil and laden with pebbles.
He is also to tie a live chicken on the shrine of Esu to scare Death awav.
When oveku meJI however comes out at divination fora·newly born
child, the parents should be told to make similar sacrifices like Rain made
before coming to the world so that the child might tower over the several
powerful enemies he is bound to have during his life time. This kind of
sacrifice requires special incantations which can only be made by adepts of
lfism.

Other Heavenly works of Oyeku MeJI

With the nickname of Edldu kpere kpere ojurnuna, he made divination
for Rain in heaven before he came to the world. Rain was called Ojogidigidi
Tiinshe omo okurtn Orun. He advised Rain to make sacrifice because he was
going to come out In the midst of enemies on earth. Rain was told to make
sacrifice with a he-goat, black cloth, and a bundle of cudgels. Rain made the
sacrifice- before leaving for the earth.
98
 As he was about to be born his more aggressive elders were already on
earth. These are: the sunshine, brightness and drought. Before the arrival of
rain, they had all vowed that there was not going to, be a place for Rain on
.earth. Meanwhile, the Rain began to threaten. since he had already made
sacrifice to esu, he set out onrus journevto earth. Esu then brought out the
dark cloth with which Rain made sacrifice and spread It out to form a thick
layer of cloud over the sky. There was total darkness on earth: Esu then
gave Rain multiples of the cudgels he used to make sacrifice and advised
him to use them to beat any one who dared to stand in his way. Those
cudgels are the showers wmcn.tne rain uses to beat both kings and slaves,
high and low alike, to this day. Thus, he was able to subdue the dews,
drought, heat, dust, trees etc. all of which were his enemies.
How the Fish came to multlPIV

lwo.ove
Emi ove
ave ontoke no
OShebl oju ioorno
oveku mejtrnade dMnatlon for the Fish when she was coming from
heaven. The Fish was the daughter of the River in heaven. He advised fish
to make sacrifice In order to be able to have plenty of children on earth.
She' was told to make sacrifice with a goat, hen and pigeon. She did the
sacrtsce anct came.totne world where she began to have cnuorenin
multiples of hundreds at a time.
Oyeku MeJI reveals ttle return ,of the, Divinities to the world .

UJi ooo Nimo gbu uJi odo

lbl ono meewa mo gbu Ji eoun . •.
Akeke ge igi nu ugbo
Agboun re gegerege
ivovo Agbo nl rin konre konre
onne ole gbrironmu romu o;a tontonton
Olule etl gblronmu
Ron mu oJa tltl ronronron
Ad•fa fun orunmna ni igba to ti ko
Run bowa kote ave.
The sound of the mortar echoes from the spot where it sits;
I stood on the pathway anct heard the axe felling the tree; The . · axe
was felling a tree in the .forest and the sound ecnoeo several miles
away;
As the ram moves, its hood oscillates from left to right;
The man living in a house near the market hears tne-notse ·of. the
market place.

These are the names of the awos who made divination In heaven for
oveku meJI when he was coming to tne world. They advised rum to make
sacrifice with a he-goat to Esu, and to offer goat, cock, pigeon.white cloth
and cowries to olokun, the water dlvtnitv. He did the sacrttlces,
The 200 divinities <Ugba run. mole in Yoruba and lhenurl In Bini>
decided to visit the earth to find out how Its inhabitants were faring. wnen
they got to the boundary of heaven and earth at OJa AJlbomekon,thev met
two women called Oja and AJe. These women personlfted money and
99
prosperity. As we shall see later, nearly all the 200 divinities made no
sacrifice before leaving heaven nor did they bother to obtain clearance
from esu, who they atl msplseo as an obscurantist.
No sooner did they leave heaven than Esu unlocked the rain cord
from heaven. The rain soon began to fall heavily, and all the other
divinities took shelter at one point or the other. orunmna who had been
advised by his diviner not to stop on the way until he got to earth, no
matter how heavily it rained, proceeded on the journey alone, In the
company of the two women. When they reached the earth, his children
gave them clothes to change into. They were given white apparels to
wear.
The rain fell connnousiv for three years. Meanwhile, Orunmila lived in
marriage with the two women AJe and Oja and they had produced
children, but the other divinities had ~till not arrived.
After waiting in vain for the other divinities to arrive, their children and
followers on earth decided to go and search for them. When citizens of
earth met the divinities and persuaded them to follow them home, they
declined the offer on the ground that they were quite comfortable in their
new abodes and environments.
on his part, orunmila had been practising the lfa art successfully on
earth and had recruited several new converts. He also took to trading with
the assistance of Aje and Oja, who had become his wives. They both
made him exceedingly wealthy.
This revelation explains why the shrines of most other divinities are
kept outside the house to this day, except orunmila, together with Aje and
ojatoioeom who followed orunmila to the world. The others are kept at the
various locations where thiY took shelter from the rain when they were
coming to the world. The reason whv Olokun and orunmila are served
with white apparels to this day, Is because that was the cloth, they
changed into upon arrival on earth after being drenched by the rain during
their journey.
The revelation also explains why the children of oveku-men are not
expected to use umbrellas, because their patron divinity did not take
shelter from the rain that soaked him during his journey from heaven. If
the Ono ifa <Odiha> is carefully prepared for the children of oveku meji
<that is, those for whom he comes out at usoooui they will be very rich
and prosperous in life, provided they are able to forbid the use of
umbrellas and never to allow the rain to stop them from proceeding with
whatever they are contemplating to do. Their prosperity is often
influenced by wives if they are fortunate to marry the right woman early In
life.
The best profession for the children of oveku rnej is livestock farming
or trading. This was the advice given to oveku-mejt before he left heaven
that he should trade in sheep or live stock, fowl, pigs, goats, cows or
whatever. It will give them a good start in life although they wrrr from
there graduate into the higher reaches of economic endeavour.
The Birth Of Oyeku Mejl

The father of oveku rnef was as patient as the rubbish dump cotiton
in Yoruba and Otiku In Bini> while his mother was as strong as the three-
road junction. In other words, the father was a layman while the mother
was a witch who used to transfigure into the astral or psychic world to
hold meetings with the elders of the night.
When the powers of the wife became too over-bearing for him, he
went for divination and he was told to make sacrifice with a boa rokaa in
Yoruba and Arumwoto in Bini>. He did the sacrifice and the wife soon
became pregnant. 100
 on the nightshe was to deliver, she again transfigured into the witch
world. When she woke up, Esu had positioned the boa serpent with which
the husband made sacrifice, at the back of their house. Meanwhile, she felt
like easing herself. She then went through the back of the house to the toilet,
which was traditionally far removed from the house. on her way from the
toilet, she saw the snake and ran off in fright beyond the house until she got
to a three-road junction. It was there she developed instant labour and
delivered a male child unaided.
She was so happy at the double salvation and joy she had in one night,
that the child was named OYE KU MEJI. She h~d escaped death by
surviving the attack of the boa, and at the same time, got a child she had
been longing for in years.
When oveku rnef comes out at divination for a woman who is longing for
a child, she should be told that she is responsible for her barreness because
she is not only stronger but also sees farther than the husband. She should
be advised to submit to the authority of the husband if she truly wants to
have a child.
If it comes out at divination for a man who is anxious for the wife to have
a child, he should be told that his wife is not as desirous as himself for a
child. In order to get the wife to have a child, he should use a boa to make
sacrifice to his lfa if he has one, or he should make arrangements to have his
own lfa, in order to contain the superior diabolical powers of his wife.
The coming of Jewesun to Earth

It was also oveku meji who revealed how Jewesun came to this world.
The awo who made divination for him before he left heaven was called:
Bi aoa kpe oku ni kponkpo
Atavlve, loorna oaun
Odifa fun. Odo agutan
tunsne okonol omo olodumare
Obe laa arlnrtn igbatema omo araye
Meaning:-
when death is called at a distance,
it Is a living being that will answer the call.
The son of God who was called Jewesun In heaven was told to make
sacrifice with a sheep and red cloth in order to survive the plot that was going
to be hatched by human beings against him on earth. He was told also to
give a he-goat to ssu which he bluntly refused to do because he had vowed
to come to the world to destroy the forces of evil represented by Esu.
He however agreed to make sacrifice with· the sheep and red cloth.
The awo told him that if he did not make the sacrifice to Esu, it was the
agents of Esu that would kill him and shorten the span of his life and
missionary works on earth. Since he had however made sacrifice with the
sheep, he would wake up after three days and his fame would outlive him,
after returning to heaven. .
When he got to the world, as he was about to begin his work of
preaching the objectivity of truth, the way people live in heaven and the love
of God for his creatures, Esu appeared to him in a dream and warned him
that not even God himself had succeeded in eliminatlng his <Esu's>
influence from the entire planetary system. Esu told him In the dream that if
he did not give him a he-goat he would have himself to blame because he
would infiltrate his followershlp to destroy him. Jewesun once again
IOI
refused to serve EStJ on the ground that goodness could never surrender
to evil.
Jewesun was actually killed three years after he began his work on
earth.
I
How did he come to be called Jewesun
His mother had secretly gone to orunmila on the eve of Odo aautarrs
departure tor earth and persuaded him to make the sacrifice to ssu. which
her son had rerused to do. She came to orunmna's place with the he-goat
just after sunset. orunmila told her that he would have to pluck 201 different
leaves In the bush with which to wash the head of her son on the shrine of
Esu. Since It was not oossnne to wash anyone's head in absentia, there
was no way of performing the sacrifice to Esu. When the woman lntsteo that
orunmila should Improvise some arrangement, he replied by saying that the
leaves in the forest were already asleep and should not be disturbed. That
expression in Yoruba means "Jewesun", which orunmila said should be the
name of Odo Agutan, tunsne okonbl omo oioournara when he got to earth.
1

Since Jewesun was due to leave tor earth the following morning, there was
no opportunity of making the sacrifice to Esu,, and it was never made.
When this oou comes out of divination for a conceived child, the
parents should be told that the child is coming to the world as a reformer,
but that unless the special sacrifice is made for him, like Odo Agutan was
told to make in heaven, he would notllve to accomplish his task and that
his popularity would only blo1Som after his death.
The earthly works of Oyetu .••• JI
He made divination for (OLOiA, Fire:
Aamu Eku, Eja, Adiye, kpelu ewure
Amushe a ve oioba,
Aye otoba ku dududu.
won lo bere iowo Eji ove;
Kini laama mu shave oioea
K'aye re aotde.
oioba (Fire> was sick and dying
The rat, fish and hen were offered as sacrifice;
The goat was later used to make sacrifice to revive Fire,
msplte of these sacrifices;
His illness became even more serious.
orunmila was then asked what could be done to revitalise Fire (otoba>.
After divination, orunmila revealed that the only way of bringing fire back
to life was bV using palm oil, 3 dried pieces of kolanut, dried palm leaves
and a cock to prepare special sacrifice for him to bath with. After the
~tdfice was prepared, orunmtia took rum to a roao Junction ana wasneo
him up. After the bath, oioba was taken back to the house. The three-
piece kotanut, the palm leaves and the oil were ground together and
marked on the head of Oloba.
Shortly afterwards, Sango released lightening from heaven, which
invoked Oloba back to life and it ignited fire and he Quickly unleashed a
conflagration.
That is why orunmila is praised with the song I poem which says that
he was the only divinity that brought life back to Fire when he was so ill
and feeble that he could neither burn anything nor anyone.
102
 But orurnua told him that he should never repay him with Ingratitude
and should always remember what he did for him. That Is why, to this
day, when fire enters a house where orunmua is, If it consumes at an, It
wlll at least not touch the shrine of orunmua It would always make a circle
around the shrine. The poem/song IS the Incantation used by lfa priests
for putting out burning fire when It is threatening to do any havoc.
Why the Children Of Oyeku MeJI do not wear· caps

uaoo Lere Ugbo

ugoo naa re er,
ucbo naa tleri Elede Ule
Ligba naa ri awori
Airi eron ekon jeun rnooun modun
There is virtue In valour,
It is vigour that multiplies;
That enables domestic pigs to multiply unmolested.
It is vigour that makes guinea fowls congregate in large flocks. It
is also vigour that multiplies.
The sheep when they get to a town.
These are the names of the awos who made divination for ovekua
meji. They advised him to make ·sacrifice so that he might multiply. He
was told to make sacriflce with the meats of bush and domestic pigs,
guinea fowl, and two sheep, so that his kindred might multiply. He made
the sacrifice.
The priests prepared one of the sheep with medicines, adding the
appropriate leaves and the iverosun of ovekumeji. Thereafter, they took
the sheep to the foot of the palm tree, where ft Wa5 bathed With the
prepared leaves.Oyekua-Meji himself was also told to have his bath with
the leaves at the foot of the same palm tree.« was a young palm tree
which
had Just started growing. ·
After the bath, the pot and its contents was turned mouth downwards
to cover the young palm tree. The young palm tree was expected to cast
the pot aside as It grew. That is how oyeku-MeJi flourished after casting
aside the hat of poverty at the foot of the palm tree. That Is why the
cnuoren of oveku-mej are not supposed to wear hats on their heads.
oveku MeJithen brought home the bathed sheep. The second sheep
and the remaining animals/meat were prepared and burled on the floor of
his house. That was how Oyeku-MeJl's head became strong. He left the
sheep to wander about In the town, while taking good care of It. As the
sheep gradually began to multiply, oyeku meJi also began to multiply. He
had several wives and chlldren.
When oyeku meJI comes out during an initiation at ucboou the
person should be told that his head Is not strong. He should therefore be
taken to a road Junction by a knowledgeable priest who knows the
appropriate Ono lfa <Odtha> with a cock, 3-plece koianut and dried palm
leaves and bathed there. He should also be told that he Is a fay and that
he was to be washed by awos at a road Junction. If he Is able to make
sacrifice he will flourish on earth. He shOUld be advised to start-life with
the rearing of sheep or pigs, Which would develop Into wider dimensions.
HOW EJI-Oye SOIVed the problem Of Death

As soon as oyeku-Meji began to prosper, death was on

hlstrallbecause It is often-said that death does not klll a goat that has no
settled existence.
103
In the same way, Death scarcely goes tor paupers and vagrants. It is when a
person begins to climb the tree of prosperity that Death goes after him. That
is why orunmila says that the path to prosperity is often very tortuous and
rugged. This time, Oyeku-Meji began to have horrifying dreams. He then
invited some of his surrogates to make divination for him.
The Awos he invited were called: okca
gboungbo ounsnlwaju du ona. Ese
mejeji onjija du ona.
They told him to make sacrifice with 4 hens, 4 rats and 4 fishes in order to
survive the evil machination of Death against him. He did the sacrifice and
Eji-ove lived to a ripe old age. It Is revealed that he did not actually die. He
walked back to heaven.
How oyeku-meJI won favours and gifts

To be able to enjoy the fruits of his labour without molestation and the
risk of return to penury, oyeku-Meji had to make another sacrifice. After
offering one rat and one fish to ward off death and illness, he was told to
offer one pig to lfa and a second goat to his head. He did the sacrifices and
he became so wealthy that he could himself not beuevetnat he alone owned
his possessions. The children of oveku Meji are often very prosperous,
because of the sacrifice made by him at the beginning of time.
The awos who made that divination for him were called Eroke ile aaneru
gegere and Eroke lie abidl birikpe. He also gave he-goat to Esu, cock to
Ogun and Tortoise to osonvin. Thus he had bought prosperity from all the
principal divinities.

Oyeku MeJI beeomes KIIIQ of the· Night

The divinities are In the habit of holding meetings every five days. At
one of their meetings, they carried a motion that each of the divinities should
demonstrate his prowess for the others to see. On his part, ovekuMeji
boasted that he was the only one who knew how to prevent worms from
entering a rotten object, and how to make a dead animal more famous than
its live equivalent. He was told to demonstrate these avowed capabilities. at
the next meeting.
The following day, oyeku-Meji went to the market and bought a goat,
which he walked round the town with a rope tied to its neck. Throughout the
walk, the goat only made the usual innocuous sounds of which no one took
any notice. The next day Oyeku-MeJI slaughtered the goat and removed the
skin to dry It up. As soon as it was dry enough, he made a - drum out of the
skin. After preparing the drum , he began to beat it and its sound was heard all
over the town so much that people began to wonder what he was up to.
On the appointed day, he went to the meeting with his drum dubbed
wtth a prepared blatl< soac, which was soeciallv oreoarect for exoellino
witches from one·s environment. He was then called upon to prove the
points he made at the previous meeting. He responded by asking whether
anyone heard the sound of the live goat he paraded round the town recently.
A few of the members confirmed that they heard the cry of the goat, but
manv others said they did not hear the sound. He again asked whether
anyone heard the sound of the drum he had been beating during the last two
days. Everybody confirmed hearing the sound of the drum, but they
wondered how that proved his point.
He then exptamed that the messy soap on the face of the drum was

104
the rotten animal that had no worms while the drum represented the dead
animal that sounded louder than a living animal. All the members then
comprehended the points and he was instantly made the king of the
Night.
If oyeku-Meji comes out of lkin divination for a man, he should be told
to offer a dead goat to lfa - ov killing the goat before serving lfa with it. It
is a special offering because orunmila wishes to make a secret revelation
to the man.
If it comes .out for a woman, she is very likely to be pregnant or is
having her menstruation. If the two probabilities are not applicable, she
should be advised to offer a cock to Ogun to prevent any incident likely to
lead to her spilling blood within the next three to five oavs. sne snoul~ be
told that there is an old woman close to her who is troubling her with
witchcraft. She should then offer a hen and nine eggs to the night to
neutralise the evil machinations of the old woman. He or She should also
be told that if she or he has not already lost some money, it would soon
happen, but she should not be unduly bothered about it, because the loss
is meant to atone for more grievous calamities.
How Oyeku-Meji named a child Adenimi
Liimko, Miimiiko le nnmlkoo.
Mi ejiogbe vlo she teere kaarl.
urmko miimiko erimiko.
Mi iwonrnej vro snabe firiyan.
Liimiiko rnumllko. ierimiikoo.
Mi edimeji vlo gbiku tuei tuet.
urniko mimiko, ierimiko,
Mi obarameji vto snort te neie
Limiko mimiko, rertmlko.
Mi okonromej vto snose gberege
Limiko mlrnlko, ierimiko
Moje wo o non wooda snoromi
Memo tii miiko ta fi owun
oveku meji vlo owun nukon mlmlave konem nern
Omo tounba ti bi ni wa kati teun a ankpe ladenimi
When it come out of divination for a pregnant woman, the child will
surely be a girl, who shall be name Adenimi. oveku asked his followers:
Who has a plump and stout physique.
They replied, Is it Ejiogbe? He answered, Ejiogbe is tall but thin.
The dialogue continued on four other otoous,
For each one, oveku replied:
twort has big head and fat legs but tiny abdomen. ldi
has small head and tiny legs but pot belly. Obara has
a small head, but big abdomen, and legs.
okonron has big head and big stomach but tiny and disproportionate
legs.
oveku Meji then boasted that there was no other oioou with
svmetrtcai physique from head to foot.
It is he alone oveku-rnejt endowed with a stout body from top to
bottom. He then proclaimed that anyone born during his time should
be called the plump and stout crown <Adenimi>.
The significance of this egocentric eulogy can only be appreciated by
taking another took at the signs of each of the OLODUS mentioned
above:
105
 90
1

" eJeqo aq6o.

mt a UOJUO>tO !P !JOMI
Ao l
CHAPTER XV IWORl·MEJI I I I I
I I
I I I I
. I I

hile in heaven, iwori-meJI w_as the most senior OLODU <aoost_ le>
W of onmmna He was verv proficient In lfa art and practices. He
brought up-several heavenly priests and he also had many
surrogates
working for him. He was however very conceited which explains why he
eventually lost seniority to EJlogbe and oveku-meji, who were otherwise verv
Junior to him In heaven. He did a lot of works In heaven for which there are
no accounts because he did not allow his followers In heaven to come to
earth, who would have revealed his heavenly works on earth. A few of his
heavenly works have however been told by some of those who benefited
from them.
IWORI-MIJl'S WORKS IN HEAVEN.
EJIKOKO IWORI MADE DIVINATION FOR THE SUN, MOON AND DARKNESS
His title In heven was KPAU YAKATA. He made divination for the sun,
the Moon and Darkness when they were coming to the world. In Yoruba they
are called oio for sun, osnukpa a tor Moon and Okuku for Darkness. he
advised the three brothers to matce sacriftce as follows:-
SUN - to make sacrifice with a bundle of brooms, white cloth, white cock and
a.white hen.
MOON -to make sacrifice with red cloth, a,,rown cock and a brown hen.
DARKNESS-- to make sacrifice with black cloth, a black cock and a black
hen.
He advised them to make the saciflce so that the people of the world
might honour and respect them, but more especially so that people might not
look conternpttouslv at them on the face. More Importantly, the sacrifice was
meant to give them power and energy which would make them
lnldspensable, wherever they went. The moon said that he was too
handsome and popular to worrv anoutanv sacrifice. The Darkness said he
was already endowed with adequate features to command respect and fear
anywhere he went. He too refused to make any sacrifice. The sun was the
only one who made sacrifice. The Moon had however earlier made sacrifice
for love which Is why peopte rejoice at the sight of the new moon.
After his sacrifice, the sun was given the bundle of brooms with which
he made sacrifice to hold In his hand always with the advice that he should
point the broom at the face of anyone who dared to stare at him on the face.
That broom is the rays of the sun which dazzles the eyes of anyone who
tries to look directly at the face of the sun. He Is nonetheless admired,
because the heat he generates is used for a variety of purposes throughout
the planetarv system.
No one cares verv much about darkness and it ts not used for any
tangible purpose because he made no sacrifice. For the same reason, the
moon is merely admired but Is neither dreaded like the sun, nor used for any
productive purpose.
IWorl Mell made divination for Akun <the Coral lead>
f07
 Before leaving heaven, the Bead also went to iwon-mej for divination.
He however directed three of his surrogates to make the divination for the
Bead. They were:-
AFUN YIN YIN
AKE YIN YIN and
OYIN YIN KE Bl ALA.
They made divination for the coral bead <Akun in Yoruba and Ivie in
Bini> who was called Olomo Akeriwaye In heaven. They advised him to
make sacrifice so that he might live forever on earth as an instrument of
adornment and nobility and in order to be handled with respect and dignity.
He was to make sacrifice with a he-goat, a rat, a fish, a white hen, a white
pigeon, white cloth and white thread. He made the sacrifice before coming to
the world where he was easily received with jubilation. Since coming to
earth, he has come to command the respect of all and sundry to his day. He
is associated with regal aristocracy and ceremonial adornment.

He Also made divination for the Lead.

In heaven, two awos who were working for iwon-rnejl, made I dlvlruatlon
for the lead <Oje in Yoruba and oze In Bini>, when he was being commonised
as useless, in heaven. The two awos were:-
Kaun gere awo lie Aran, and
Afoslle awo ode kanran Musi, adifa fun oje mini mini nlqba ti
gbogbo orun fi oiu imere wo ole.
Since he had a maleable physiQue he was told that he would not live long
when he got to earth. He was regarded as a fay who would die as soon as
he got to the earth.
At divination, the awos told him to make sacrifice with a duck, a cock,
and vulture. He did the sacrifice and came to the world where he lived so
long that he outlived all those who expected him to die young.
That is why a poem was composed in praise of his longevity which is
song by awos to this day: ugun-ugun
kii ku Lewe; Kange;
Maadagba rnaadanebo kange - meaning
The vulture dies not in infancy,
I will live to a ripe old age, because,
Neither the lead rots, nor
the brass goes rusty.
When iwon-men comes out of divination or at Ugbodu for a sickly
person, this special sacrifice rono lfa> should be prepared for him so that i he
might live long.
This work is said to be the last done by Ejikoko iwori before he came to
the world. He composed the following poem before finally coming to the
world:-
Ejikoko lwori
Alade teeju momi koo, womi ire Bo
ornode baa telu. moma ri owo, Bo
omode baa teju, aamora:
Eji koko lwori
Ataoe Teeju momi ko wo omi ire;
Eji koko iworl
Jengen Jengen Jengen
Awaade olode lgbodo.
108
 Ejikoko lwori made Divination for the Lion; the cow and the Buffalo

The Lion, the cow and the Buffalo were born of the same father, who
was king of the animals of heaven. When he left for the world, it became
necessary for one of his children to replace him as the king of animals.
The Lion meanwhile ran to their father's diviner, Ejikoko lworl for
divination. He was advised to make sacrifice as follows:-
m To throw ten pieces of elephant meat to the river; <ii>
To serve his head with a pigeon and a kotanut, and <Iii>
To give a he-goat, filter and· beads to Esu.
Me did the sacrifice without any cetav and was assured tnat ne would
eventually take his father's title. Meanwhile, the cow being the eicesc or the
1

three brothers did not bother to go for divination since the law of
primogeniture in heaven, entitled him to take his father's crown. He was
meanwhile crowned the king of animals.
soon afterwards, the cow's wife went to the river and saw a big lump
of meat and picked it up. As she was going home with it, ssu transformed
the meat into fresh elephant meat with blood oozing out of It. At the same
time, Esu drew the attention of the lion to the piece of meat on top of the
water pot which the cow·s wife was carrying home from the river and
persuaded him to trail the woman right up to her house. soon afterwards,
the cow's wife, now a queen, was publicly accused by the lion of stealing
his meat. Since steanns Is punishable by death in heaven, the cow knew
what the consequences were and Quickly abdicated the throne and
escaped to earth with his wife.
Following the sudden disappearance of King cow from the throne,
the buffalo was next invited to become the king. Since he never expected
to become king, he too entered the throne without bothering to go for any
divination. Right from the outset, he was a very ferocious king. Whenever
two or more animals appealed tcfhlm for settlement of mutual disputes,
he would horn the complainant and resoondant to death. His flock then
began to run away from him.
When the lion saw that the buffalo had been crowned king, he went
back to ask Ejikoko lwori why his prediction that he would become king
had not come true. Ejikoko lworl advised him to exercise patience, but
that if he wanted the prediction to manifest Quickly, he should arrange to
have his own lfa, after which he would surely become king within a period
of three months. The Lion got his own lfa and it was lwori-meJI that
appeared for him at usoodu.
Meanwhile, the community of animals who were perplexed by the
aggressive and destructive reign of the buffato also went to EJlkoko lwori
for divination on what to do to end the BuffalO's reign of terror.
He advised them that they would only have peace and tranquility If
they succeeded in returning to their fold, the three children of the forest
that had earlier been banished by king Buffalo.
They were:-
<i> Oten - omo uara
cm ocoro - omo otooe: <iii>
olu - omo ijarere.
He also advised them that their rightful king. was still hiding inside a
rocky cave in the forest. He gave them a full description of the place and
the animals qui'cklY went there for hint When they got to the cave, they
saw the lion and had him thoroughly beaten up for hiding away Instead of
joining them to combat the menace of the buffalo.
Thereafter, they assembled an army and drove out the buffalo'from
109
the throne and he too escaped to earth. It was after the expulsion of the
buffalo that the lion was brought in to the town in triumphal procession
with a cloth tied to his neck.
Meanwhile, they went for OTEN who insisted on being carried on
someone's shoulder. Ogor:o also insisted on being brought home on
someone's head, while OJu was carried back home in someone's hand
because they left the town helter skelter.
The lion had been on the throne for four days without uttering a word.
He was scared of bei.ng beaten agajn like they did to him in the cave.
As the lion was being beaten. he told them wnere.ms late father kept
all his instruments of authority including his diabolical wands. With that he
was formally proclaimed king and all the animals went on their knees to
greet him traditionally.
1wori-meJi Leaves heaven for Earth
While in heaven 1wori-meji was the most senior OLODU of Orumila.
It was procrastination and complacency that brought him to the third
position when he got to earth. When orunmila returned from his first and
only trip to earth, he invited his sixteen children to accompany the
children of other divinitiesto earth to found a permanent abode there. on
second thought he proposed that they should go one after the. other
instead of leaving in one fell swoop, iwon-meu was the first to come out to
say that he was so useful in heaven that it was not yet time for him to
leave. Besides, he remarked, "a good general does not send his best
soldiers first into battle." He then proposed that omoruanoroeoo who
became Ejiogbe on earth, should be the first to Q'e. In amooa to flatter
Ejiogbe, he described him as being the only OLODU - sociable enough to
interact effectively with the other divinites, and that he wou.ld be a better
ambassador of the orunmila kindred. Ejiogbe voiunteeredto lead the way
since he had a good reason to go to earth.
As we have already discovered under EJiogbe he was made the
king. of the Day as soon as he got to the earth because he got there in
broad day light.
When Ejiogbe did not report back his findings on earth, it was also
rwon who proposed to orunmila that Oyeku-Meji should next go to earth.
As we have already discovered under oveku-rnen, he was born by night
and was eventually crowned the king of the night.
When he began to hear news of how life was flourishing on earth, 1wori-
meJi decided to follow his two brothers. As soon as he decided to come
to the world, the following Awos made divination for him:Akaka ra ka,
Mani tuka.
owara wiri, oju egun
Iba afo demi, mu akpoko, - Akpowa mo mu ko.
Strong persons make others strong.
A divine shrine is aiwavs shrouded in mysteries.
MY father told me to carry the bag of success on my neck, and so, I
will not surrender the bag of prosperity to anyone.
These are the names of the three awos who made divination for iwon-rnej
before he left heaven for the world.
They advised him to give a he-goat to Esu and a cock to his head or
whatever he knew he would eat. He gave the he-goat to Esu, a pigeon to
his head and a ram to lfa. He also went to olodurnare <The Almighty
God> for clearance and blessing. As he was leaving the divine palace, he
asked God for Akoorntnuekun <mystery bag> which he was given.
Thereafter he
110
 set out for the world.

The Birth of 1worl-MeJI

His father was a pauper while his mother was a divine priestess. The
mother was called Jetti <the untidy one> and his father was called AKO-
OKO. While In the womb, he attracted gifts and benevolence from all and
sundry to his parents. While his mother carried him in the womb, she was not
often allowed to pay either for services rendered to her, or for goods she
bought
I from people. She was often told that the child In her womb was a great lfa

priest who deserved to be respected.

on the day he was born, he cried in front of the father's house but the
cry echoed at the back of the house. He was often left on his own because of
the mvsterv surrounding his life. He often strayed into the bush where he
used all kinds of foliage to rub his head. He had a chequered upbringing
because his parents could not altogether make ends meet.
Even as a bov, he was already a seer. He would often tell people about
their problems. On one occasion, he told his parents to serve their heads
mutually so that they might prosper. The father was to use a hen to serve the
mother's head, while the mother was to use a cock to serve his father's
head. After that sacrifice, their lot improved dramatically.
1worl-meJI contests for seniority on Earth
on getting to the world, he discovered that his two younger brothers,
Ejiogbe and oveku-meji, who got to earth before him had respectively been
crowned kings of the oav and Night. From the outset he was determined to
establish his heavenly seniority on earth over his two brothers. Even
his marking sign:- 11 II
I I
I I •
11 II
two in and two out, were designed to challenge the authorities of oaoe and
oveku. on their part they were equally determined to impose their earthly
authority over 1wori.
one afternoon, iwort was sitting in front of his house when he saw a
large procession approaching. He saw every-body bowing in reverence to
the man on the horse at the head of the procession. When the procession
got to where lwori was sitting he saw that it was Ejiogbe to whom all that
reverence was being made. When he saw Ejiogbe he did not kneel down to
greet him like everyone else was doing. He merely shook his own horse tail
toroke: to greet EJiogbe as awos are wont to do. He did not see why he had
to kneel down to greet ntsluntor brother, although there Is nothing In the
tradition which exempts the elder brother of a king from kneeling down to
greet him.
Ejiogbe then stopped the procession and ordered that if lwori knew he
was too big to greet him like anyone else, he should In future lock himself in-
doors throughout the oav, if he could not see himself as coming under the
authority of the king of the day. 1worl-meji then retired inside his house in
anger.
At nightfall, he came out of the house to move around. As he came to
the road Junction near his house, he again saw another procession at the
head of which was oveku-mej with dazzling lights that were as bright as the
rays of the sun. Again, rather than go on his knees to greet ovekumej like
everyone else was doing, he only waved his horse tall at him. once
111
7.

more, oveku-rnej told him that if he could not subject himself to the autnorttv
of the king of the Night, he should refrain from leaving his house at night. He
then retired home.
He was thus effectively banned from leaving his house by day or by
night. In that situation, he coutcnot even leave his house to fetch his daily
bread.
When Esu saw that iworrs condition was becoming untenable, he
transfigured into a chief and went to lwori to advise him_ to invite his two
brothers to a rendezvous to settle their scores. The benevolence of ssu was
In return for the he-goat which Ejikoko iwort gave him before leaving
heaven. _ ._
lwori accepted 'the advice of the chief and invited ocoe and oveku to
meet him at the foot.Of the palm tree where the divinities climbed down from
heaven, ano through which orunmila himself returned to heaven. They
eventually met at that point to discuss their problems. Both Ogbe and oveku
insisted on holding on to their terrestrial superiority over 1wori. It was finally
agreed that iwort should occupy the third position. He only accepted the
decision reluctantly. In fact, it is revealed that he went back to the heavenly
awos who advised him to give a ram to his lfa to enable him to command as
much authority as his two brothers. He did the sacrifice in heaven before
returning to the world. The special significance of this part of the life of 1wori
is that when it comes out at ucooou. the person must be a third child in his
family. He must either have reincarnated previously or he must have died
soon arterblrtn and been born again tnrouon tne same parents. In this
connection, I should like to reveal that I. have a child who was given his own
lfa soon after he was born when he
s at the point of death. It 'etas revealed to me by lfa priests eight years
agbefore I knew a. nythlng about lfa, that the child did not wish to live b
cause he lost his seniority. They asked me whether I had lost a child e r r. It
was then I remembered that the first children delivered by his
er were a pair of twins both males. The first to land of the two ren died
five days after birth at the General Hospital in Benin City in
Bendel State of Nigeria. Two years later, his mother had another male
cild. The next child birth was also a male and it was this child for whom If had
to be prepared. He became well after the completion of the c emonv. His lfa
is lwori-Meji
ow 1wori-meJI excelled his Brothers eventually

Back to the life history of lwori. several years later, the awos who made
divination for lwori in heaven decided to visit the world's nobilities with a
proclamation that whoever was able to disclose their names would be made
rich. That proclamation added that whoever they visited, that did not know
their names would be sent back to heaven for retreat.
They began visiting the reigning monarchs, and those who could not
reveal tnetr names were forced to return to thGir JnCG!;tOr!; in hs::1v~n -
and all their earthly belongings were confiscated and packed In a mysterious
bag that was neither full nor weighty. At that time most of the reigning kings
died one after the other in mysterious circumstances.
After dealing with the kings, their next point of call was the home of
lwori-meJI who was serving his head when they arrived. Before then,
appalled at how death had been striking at the reigning monarchs, 1wori
consulted ms lfa, who told him to Quickly give a he-goat to ssu in order to
survive the test that was soon coming to him. He was told to add Akara, Eko,
a gourd of palm wine and three cudgels to the sacrifice to Esu. He
112
was also to serve his head with a guinea fowl after making the sacrifice to
Esu. He made the sacrifice to Esu without any delay.
After receiving his offerings, Esu built a small kiosk on the free space
near the entrance to lwori's house. on the fateful day when the heavenly
knights were to visit lwori, Esu arranged freshly prepared Eko, Akara and
palm wine in multiple units, at the kiosk. Thereafter, he (Esu> waited
there for any intruder.
Shortly afterwards, as the heavenly knights were passing by, ESU
invited them to a feast, where they dined and wined inside the kiosk to
their hearts· content. As the feasting progressed, Esu asked them what
was me ooject ot mar rmsston to tns wono. wnen tnev nao so muen to eo
in heaven.
In reply, they told ssu that they were bound for iwon-melrs house to
give him the test of his life. If he succeeded In knowing their names, they
would make him a wealthy man. If he failed, they would make him return
to heaven. ssu lied to them that iwort was a very wicked man and that he
would be happy to see him die because he was too conceited. Esu
however persuaded them to tell him their names so that after they had
killed lwori, he would at. least know the identities of the men who finally
succeeded in eliminating the wicked man from the face of the earth.
The eldest of the three of them took one of the three cudgels inside
the kiosk and beat his legs with It saying:-
·
unokare, Akaka ra ka moni til ka - which he said was his name.
The next one similarly used the second cudgei and pronounced his name
as: owara wiri oju egun.
The last one took the third cudgel and used lton his leg disclosing his
name as:- Ibara fo demi- mu akookco. Esu assured them that the wicked
man would have to go to heaven to be able to know their names,
As soon as they left the kiosk, ssu transfigured into another person
and entered lwori's house through the baek entrance and Quickly alerted
him to the approach of the killer- knights from heaven. Esu then gave him
thefr names in order of seniority. Thereafter, ssu sat down with
lwori~meJi to await the arnvaros the heavenly knights.
Not long afterwards, they arrived. As soon as they appeared· in his
house, lwori embraced them by mentioning their names with an air of
familiarity, one after the other while shaking hands intimately with them.
This was how he did it:-
Akaka raka Moni tiika - olure ree
owara wiri olu Egun - Odolo meta
lbarafo demi mu akpoko - olure re - Ekerubo
He then motioned them to sit down while he went inside his room to
bring them kolanuts, after thanking them profusely for coming to help him
serve his head.
As soon as lwori went inside, Esu askedtne visitors whether they
were awos and they answered affirmatively. Meanwhile they hung their
mysterious bag of treasures on a nail by the side of the wall of the sitting
room.
When esu saw that they had hung the bag, he told them that three days
earlier, a diviner had told lwori that three awos from an unknown land
would visit him as he was serving his head. The diviner advised lwori to
use the three awos to serve his lfa so that he might prosper. With that
they took to their heels In fright, leaving behind the bag of treasures.
When iwort came out of the room with the kotanuts, esu told him that
the visitors had left. He however told113Esu to go and call them back, ssu
hailed at them to return to collect their bag. But they replied that as a
compensation for knowing their names, they left the bag behind for the
benefit of rwort-meu. ssu then told iwort that the visitors had run away and
had no wish to return. Esu drew iworrs attention to the bag they left behind
disclosing that it was a bag of wealth left behind to enrich him. At first, the
bag gave the appearance of oozing outfresh blood but when they brought it
down, It was seen to contain all kinds of Items of wealth - money, brass,
human beings and animals of all descriptions in multiples of several
hundreds.
rwon-mell then thanked Esu, with. another strong he-goat. Thereafter he
invited all the awos including his two brothers for an elaborate feast - at the
end of which he sang in praise of the heavenly awos and there was rejoicing
and merriment.
Thus, although iworl-mef lost the battle for seniority to his two elder
brothers on earth, he became exceedingly more prosperous than the two of
them. If twori-mef comes out at uanoou, the Initiate will surely become very
prosperous later in life provided he does not abandon his lfa and keeps in
close touch with Esu through frequent sacrifices.

How 1worl-meJI became a strong Ha priest.

Having become wealthy, he began to Incur the envy of everyone else.
He then went for divination to an awo called Atari Ogbigbo mu arayen bi oje
<the beak or rnb.on the mouth ora tiokam Is as strong as lead metal>. The
awo advised him to-maktfsacrifice with a strong ram to the elders of the Night
and a he-goat to esu. He did the two sacrifices.
After the sacrifice, the elders of the night worked on him for seven nights
to make him a strong and lnvln-cible man. on the seventh night, they gave
him four eyes with which to see In the night.
Simultaneously, Esu also invited the strong men of day light to prepare
him for seven days. on the seventh dav, they gave 1wori four eyes with
which to see whatever happens in the day. That is why he is regarded as the
strong OLODU of the day and the night -which eventually made him more
powerful than the kings of the day <Ejiogbe> and the Night roveku»

The later works of 1worl

As soon as he became strong and wealthy, he was surrounded by many

subordinates, who were trained by him In lfa art and practice. Having
imparted his knowledge to surrogates, they assisted him In making
divination for whoever came to him for succour. '
The first of his surrooates wa~ Oleiti to bQrQbQrn m:J\IQ - who m~d~
divination for Oni 1wori eve when his fortune was about to be transformed
from penury to prosperity. He advised Oni 1wori eyo to make sacrific~ith
plenty of corn and beans because he was going to prosper before theend of
that year. He was to add for the sacrifice, a white cock, and a white pigeon.
He made the sacrifice.
After doing the the sacrifice, the lfa priest divided the corn and the
beans into two portions each, glVing him one portion to carry with him to
wherever he went. At the same time he was advised to move about from

114
01ace to place. In consonance with the advice of the priests, Oni iwor: eyo
began to travel about until one day he came to a place where the birds of the
forest were holding a conference.
on getting to the meeting place, the birds demanded food from him and
he gave them corn. When they finished eating the corn, tnev asked tor more
food and he poured the beans down for them. After eating the beans, tnev
asked whether he had anything left and he replied that he had nothing more
to offer.
In a gesture of gratitude, the birds assured him that he would become a
wealthy man before that year ran out. A bird called Aluko <Awe in Binn
plucked two of Its feathers and gave to him; while the parrot also plucked two
of his red feathers for him. Another bird called Okin, the peacock, also
plucked two feathers and gave to him. Thereafter, he proceeded on his
Journey.
Not long afterwards, he met Ogun, the great warrior returning from
battle with 200 captives in his front and 200 captives to his rear, all carrying
the spoils of war. When he met the convoy, he stopped to greet Ogun, but
told oaun that In spite of his bellicose looks, he lacked dignity and nobility.
ssu Qulckly inspired oeun to demand from omwon eyo to show him how to
avail himself of dignity and nobility. oniwon eyo tnenordereo all of ogun's
followers to close their eves and they did. He Quickly Inserted two feathers of
Aluko <red In colour) on the head of ogun. Thereafter, he asked osurrs
followers to see the new look of their Lord and master. When they saw the
two red feathers on Ogun·s head, all his followers exclaimed, Ogun Yee!
which to. this day is the traditional greeting to osun When ogun asked his
followers to comment on his new look, they au confirmed that he looked
noble and honourable. oaun wears red feathers to this day
to complete his regalia. •
oaun then surrendered the 200 captives in his front together with what
they carried to onlworl eyo as compensation. oniwort Eva then
proceeded on his Journey. He next came to the palace of the Olofen, who
was sitting on· his throne. once more he told the king that although· he was
looking very prosperous, his looks lacked majesty and nobility. When the king
asked onlworl evo to demonstrate what majesty and nobility meant, he
Inserted the feathers of Okin on oioeerrs crown. He told the palace audience
to comment on the new look of the king and they au hailed, Aba iveooi.rnev
all confirmed that he looked majestic.
otoren then gave a part of his kingdom to Onlwori·Evo to administer and
he continued on his Journey. He next came to where ortsa-rna was sitting on
his divine throne. once again, he told orlsa-Nla thatartnouan he had authority
over the entire universe, his appearance lacked dignity and majesty. When
ortsa Nia told him to demonstrate how to look honourable and majestic, he
told all .the divinities present to close their eves and oniworl evo inserted the
two parrot's feathers on the head of onsa Nia.
When everybody opened their eves tothe new look of orisa Nia, they all
shouted, Baa raa Laa oot onsa felt so contented that he gave oniworlevo ten
units each of all treasurable valuables on earth.
At the end of his tour, onlwori-evo became a very wealthy man, richer
than any body around.
He made dlvlnallon for an only chlld:
Agbonmota lo otun, agbonmota loort - were the two followers of 1wor1 who
made divination for ornokon or Okonbi an only daughter of her
115
parents. They warned her to refrain from the habit of going out alone by
day and in the night. .
She was advised to serve her head with a cock and to offer a he-goat to
Esu. She was also to collect all eatables and tie them in a rafla bag toke in
Yoruba and Ebo in sinn including Ekuru <Emieki in Bini> and a smau chicken
for sacrifice In the heart of the forest - to her enemies <Erhee in Bini and Ota
in Yoruba>. She was also to offer a cock to sanao. She did the sacrifice to
Esu and was about to leave home with the sacrificial rafia bag to make the
forest sacrifice when her father instructed her to prepare food for him.
Before she completed the cooking of her father's food, all the market
women had left for the market and the road had become desolate and
lonesome. That was the setting in which she left nome alone to deposit the
sacrifice, and for the market, to buy the remaining materials for her sacrifice.
on getting to the heart of the forest, she settled down to pray with the
sacrificial bag. Instantly, one man came out from the forest. He was the
notorious forest bandit who had terrorized people in that stretch of the forest,
for a long time.
When the bandit called her, she began to tremble. The bandit was about
to murder her when he was stopped by Esu who meanwhile took over his
mind with more conciliatory thoughts. The bandit dropped his matcher and
told her to go first to buy him some articles from tne market. He gave her
money to buy him a cock from the market, showing her the route to take on
her journey to and from the market, and warning her to return
unaccompanted.
on getting to the market, she bought her own cock for sacrifice to sanco
as well as the cock oraered by the bandit. While she was in the market a
strong gale-force wind began to blow followed by heavy rainstorm. The
strong wind uprooted a t;lg tree In the Vicinity of where the bandit lived in the
forest and It smashed his hut killing him outright.
When the rain subsided, the girl set out to return to the forest to deliver
the cock to the bandit. When she got to the spot where the bandit directed
her to wait for him, she hailed on him to let him know that she had returned.
There was no response. She however saw the signs of a fallen tree. She
followed the foot-path until she came to find the bandit dead under the fallen
tree. She then used the bandit's cock to serve her head on the spot.
When she lifted herself up, she saw all the loot of the man's banditary
over the years. She then collected what she could of the valuabie treasures
and went home. on getting home she narrated her experience and discovery
to her father, who Immediately accompamed her to the forest to collect the
remaining valuables.
Meanwhile, she served sanoo with the cock she bought from the market.
Thereafter she went with 2 goats, cloths and neck-beads to thank the lfa
Priests who made divination for her, adding a bag of money and plenty of
yams. This experience translated her Into prosperity thereafter.
When tnrs ocu appears at divination the person should be advised not to
move alone in Quiet moments in order to avoid the risk of falling victim to
marauders, who might kill him unless he makes the sacrifice recommended
above.
He made dlvlnallon for orare:
The third of the followers of iwon-rnej was Aro Ni lkpin who made
divination for orare, a pauper who was suffering below the starvation line.
Having suff~red penury for a long time, his guardian angel appeared to
116
 him one night and advised him to go to orunmila for consultation. He then
went to Eji-lwori who asked Aronikpm to make divination for him. He was
advised to strive to make arrangements to have his own orunrnua. He was
also told to give he-goat to ESU and to rear a wretched dog after making all
the sacrifices. He went about to look for money with which to do the things he
was asked to do.
The tradition of the town at the time was that when the King died, all
male adults in the town would each buy a dog and tie it up at a road junction.
Koriko, the lion would them come from heaven to take away one of the dogs.
Meanwhile, tne Oba of the town died and every male adult began to tie up
their dogs at the various road junctions of the town. orare
i followed the example of others and also tied up his wretched dog at a road
junction. He only did it to satisfy the custom of his people because he was so
sure that the heavenly vtsttorwouto not be interested in his miserable
dog. <
When kortko eventually visited the towh, he only took away orares dog.
Next morning everybody else found his dog where they were tied except
orare whose dog had been take away by Koriko.
The custom of the place was that the person whose dog was taken
away had to be crowned as the next king of the town. When the Kingmakers
finally verified that it was orares dog which was taken away he was invited to
the secret conclave and prepared for the coronation. He was subsequently
crowned as the new king.
After the coronation, he prepared an elaborate thanksgiving feast in
which there was general merriment and he sang in praise of the awo who
made divination for him.
He made divinalion for Kinlun:
The fourth follower of Ejiwori was AlatuslTe kiite Atushe Arare Kuu - who
made divination for Kiniun (Dinosaur> when the other bigger animals were
trying to deprive him bf his father's land. He was advised at divination to
make sacrifice with a ram, a goat and a he-goat.
After the sacrifice the priest advised him to go to the disputed land and
encircle it with his urine. Thereafter, he was to stand on the middle of the
land and shout a proclamation asserting his title to the land. He was to stay
there and watch subsequent developments.
He actually did as he was told and after encircling the land with his
1 urine, he stood at the middle and shouted that anyone who felt justified to
contest the ownership of his father's land should meet him for combat. Since
the other contestants challenginJJ his title had been looking for Kiniun for a
long time they went into the bush determined to kill him. Anyone who crossed
the urine circle fell down and died instantly. When the others saw what was
happening, they ran away abandoning Kiniun to inherit his father's land in
peace. That is why Kiniun is described as Eni tomu ito gba uyi owo eron
Koogbo. When it comes out of divination for anyone competing for the
ownership of anything which rightly belongs to him, he should be told to
make a similar sacrifice and he will surely win the contest.

Advice to the sons of lwori-meJi

At the height of his prosperity, an lfa priest visited iwon-mejl. The 117
priest was called Eni ala baawa ni aja canto - meaning:- the dog returns
home with the person with whom he went for an outing. He gave iwori-
meJi the following advice in the form of a poem:-
lfa teju mo ml,
Koo woml rirle,
Eji koko lwori,
okoe teju mo mi rire
Eji koko iwort.
My ifa has taken good care of me, I
will also take good care of my lfa,
The divine palm tree should protect me
as I will also serve orunmila with au my heart.
When lwori-meji comes out for a new initiate into the lfa religion at
ucooou. the person should be advised to serve orunmila whole-heartedly
because orunmila will also take good care of him always.

118
 CHAPTER XVI
EDI-MEJI
I I
II II
I I I I I
I
dimeji is one of the strongest oiocu in the lfa family. He is very aggressive

E and pugnacious. While in heaven, he was better known for his bellicosity
than for priesthood. He was nonetne-tess a proficient
lfa priest. on account of his various out door activities in heaven, he did not co
much of tra practise. msteao. mat part of ms worK was maln\V none bv
surrogates. For instance, when ODE (Exterior or OUTSIDE) went to him for
divination when his fortunes were flagging, it was one of idlmejrs assistants who
helped him .
.,IMEJI HELPED ODE <outside) TO RECAIN PROSPERITY

The surrogate was called EWURE ABORI KPETEKI LOON DIFA FUN ODE
NIJOTIUWA ODE SUN. Ode's three wives had deserted him when he became
too poor to satisfy them materially. The names of his three wives were: <1> Ire
or play Oku in Bini>
<2> ovtn or Pleasure <Oyenmwen In Bini>
(3> ulo or Dance Uku-owe or Ugbemwen in Bini>
It was the active support and cooperation of his three wives that gave ODE
his Identity. When they left him tle became very dull. It goes without saying that
Outside only becomes attractive and Interesting when there are outdoor plays,
pleasantries, music and dancing. People go outside to play and dance. Pleasure
Is mainly manifested nv people's expressions outside their homes.
To get his wives back, the lfa priest advised ODE to make sacrifice with one
goat and to slaughter a second goat for a feast in his house. He was to cook
yam on the fire and was assured that while the yam was cooking on the fire, his
wives would return to him one after the other. He did the sacrifice as advised.
After making the sacrifice, he prepared a pot of yam and put it on the fire.
The Invitees to the feast were wining and dining on the meat when Esu went out
to meet ODE's wives. When Esu got to Ire, he gossipped to tier that It was a
mistake to have left the husband merely because his fortunes suffered a
temporary eclipse. He remarked that since eclipses were transient and
ephemeral, ODE was at ready back In prosperity In a big way - so much that
people were always feasting in his house dally. Esu added that at that moment
one of such elaborate feastswas In progress. Esu visited the other two women
and told them the same story.
The wives then decided to go and verify the story where-upon they found
the yam cooking on fire and they Joined hands to prepare the food. Thereafter,
they all agreed to stay with ODE for good. With the return of nts wives ODE's
prosperity blossomed once more. When ldimejl comes out
divination for a person whose tortunes are flagging, the lfa priest will tell him
to make a feast with two goats, one through lfa to feast the elders Of the night
and the other to make a feast to the people around him and nts prosperity will
surely return to him.
NOw the croundnut came to multiply
119
sneotve Kimi bae joke loon difa fun skpa, tlolo run ebe obtsba omo.
He made divination for the groundnut when she left heaven to produce
200 children on earth. Ekpa or groundnut had no offsprings and was anxious
to procreate. She went to ldimeji who advised her after divination to make
sacrifice with a hen, cock, rat, fish and one bag of money. She did the
sacrifice after which she was taken to the farm to be washed. She
subsequently gave birth to 200 children and the groundnut kindred became
very prosperous.

IDIMEJI MADE DIVINATION FOR THE MALE SPERM AND THE FEMALE
MENSTRUATION
It will be recalled that at the beginning of time, plants and animals did
not procreate as we know it today. Following the creation of men and
women, they merely lived together without knowing how to procreate. we
have already seen a synopsis of how Esu re-positioned the female pelvis
from the forehead to between the woman's legs. The woman did not know
what to do with her pelvis and the man did not know what his penis was
meant for beside respiration. The sperm and menstruation who had separate
identities then went for divination in the home of ldi-meji where they met his
servants called:-
Ogan ofori so siki
Ofese so yeghe
Ofi aabede gbede mejl son lebe
Ibo efun obaie de rumu rumu
Awon lo difa fun ATO <or Ekui_.in Bini> Abueun ASE <or sne in Bini>.
spermatozoa and Menstruation were both anxious to know how to procreate.
God had created them leaving them to use their own intelligence to contrive
how to procreate. They were both advised to make sacrifice with a goat. The
sperm was told to add a chalk, white cock, white cloth, white pigeon and
okro, Menstruation on the other hand was to add red cock, and can wood - to
her own sacrifice. They produced all the sacrificial materials and the lfa
priests used them to prepare medicine for them to eat.
Thereafter, the sperm was told to go and live with man while
menstruation was advised to visit the woman and stay with her for five days
after every thirty days. That is how we became the children of the sperm and
menstruation through the instrumentalities of man and woman.
This is the kind of medicine that an lfa priest will prepare for anyone
who is anxious to procreate.

IDIMEJI AS A PROMINENT FICHTER

As already stated above, ldi-meji was famous or notorious in neaven
more for his pugnacity than for his lfa practice. His daily chore consisted of
challenging the stronger divinities in heaven to combat and almost invariably,
he was always victorious.
He was in the habit of going ouside his house every morning to shout
toosban-ot one day, when he shouted Loogbaan-oo! the King of Death
himself came out to challenge ldimeji to a wrestling contest. In a sarcastic
and conternntlous response, ldimeji told the king of Death that he was not in
the habit of wrestling with one-headed beings because he would not have
the opportunity of demonstrating the superiority of his strength to them. He
insited that he only accepted challenge from creatures with more than one
head.
120
 As soon as the news got round that ldimeji would only wrestle with
people carrying more than one head, a divinity with two heads came out
to meet him. As soon as he engaged the challenger, he plucked off one
of his two heads leaving him with one. Explaining his objective, he
declared that no one had a right to carry more than one head and he was
determined to reduce all inhabitants of heaven to single~headed
creatures.
The next day, the divinity with three heads came out to challenge
ldimeji and he plucked off his two extra heads, leaving him with one. The
process continued until he came across the nine-headed divinity. The
nineheaded divinity was the first to come out In the morning to challenge
ldimeji by also shouting tooaben-oot
When ldimejl engaged him, he quickly Plucked out the divinity's eight
extra heads. No sooner did his oponent fall to the ground than he was up
again to re-engage ldimeji for a second contest.
Meanwhile, Alata otherwise known as Agbede-Ogun who is the head
moulder In heaven rejoiced that as long as ldi was In heaven he would
have plenty of work to do. He was at the venue of the wrestling contests,
When Ajala saw that the contest was becoming stiff, he made an
oxymoron to ldi by leading him with an expression that Ajala knew how to
cast all parts of the body save the vertebral column. That was a hint to ldi
to attack his opponent by the vertebral column.
ldi immediately got the message, and instantly threw up his opponent
lifting him on the vertebral column and he fell to the ground. After
defeating his opponent, ldl went home with the wives and properties of all
those he vanquished as was the custom in heaven. The last divinity he
defeated was the Alara of heaven.
on getting home, ldi invited an the awos of heaven and told them to
reveal the name of Alara's wife, the last woman he inherited from his
contests. Her real name was Bola wun ml - meaning my favourite wife.
To proclaim her name the literary way woffld connote a desire to seduce
the woman which would get the person revealing her name Into trouble
with ldL Anyone who mentioned her name that way was immediately
challenged to another spear (Okparere In Yoruba> tosoaan in Binn
pinning contest on a stony floor.
All those who went through this ordeal failed and ldi seized all their
belongings In the process, until it came to the turn of Ollgharabafe, who
had been advised at divination to offer a fowl to his head and prepare it
with Eko. He had been advised to reserve the hand of the fowl for his first
visitor on the morning following the sacrifice to his head.
on the other hand, he was to prepare another sacrifice to Esu with 1 Okro
pudding, made up of corn comb, and other slippery objects. He was '
advised also to insist that he would only fight on top of an lfa tray called
Akpako.
On the morning of Oligharabafe's contest with ldi, the latter sent his
three children called iboru, ioove and ioosise to visit Ollgharabafe, and to
invite him to visit him because he was very ill. When the boys got to
Oligharabafe's, he told them to Inform their father that he would visit him
as soon as he collected some leaves from the bush for his treatment.
AS the boys were about to leave, he remembered the hand of the
fowl he had been advised to give to whoever was his first visitor that
morning. He quickly called back the boys and Invited them to eat
something before returning home. They ate Eko and the fowl's hand.
After eating, the eldest of tors three sons remarked to his other two
orotnerstnat no one kills a host after enjoying his hospitality. In other
words, the law In heaven was that no one should kill a person after eating
his food. With that, they
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resolved to reveal au their fathers secrets to Oligharabafe to save him
from the machinations of their father. They taught him the correct way to
pronounce aoiawunmrs name, as well as the point on the stone floor at
which to pin the okparere ·or soear to the ground of their father's private
chamber, that is, at the water drain turorarnen in Bini or Oriole in Yoruba>
at which point a frog was used for sacrifice every morning. They also told
him how to position his Akpako, advising him that as soon as their father
stopped, he should proclaim that he had fallen. With that the boys left for
home.
When Oligharabafe got to ldi's house, he complained about his
illness, but told him that before doing anything to heal him, he should first
reveal the name of his wife as a testimony to his prowess. Oligharabafe
Quickly asked him, 1s it not the former wife of Alara called Bolawo kpe
uwa jewon - awo <that is, the only woman who enticed the lfa priest>. ldi
became annoyed and immediately challenged ouenarabaee to a fight on
the seventh day. Oligharabafe Quickly replied that there was no point
waiting for seven days because he was ready for the contest there and
then without any further preparation. ldi however insisted that since he
was not well enough for any instant contest they should hold it in
abeyance until the seventh day. It was a deal and with that, ouanaraoaee
brought out the medicines he prepared for ldi, gave them to him, telling
him how to use them and left for home. Before leaving, Oligharabafe
warned ldi that the name of Bolawumi actually meant that if he failed to
return her to Alara, he would lose his own life on account of her
seduction.
on the seventh day, ouonarabaee returned to tors house for the
contest. As soon as the contest started, ldi sat on the Akpako of
Oligharabafe, which made it difficult for the latter to operate. Not knowing
what to do next, Oligharabafe brought out his divination instrument and
sounded it and he was told to Quickly offer a ne-coat to Esu, which he did
frying the meat and putting it in front of ldi who was then hungry from his
sitting on the lfa tray. He was also advised to use a pigeon for sacrifice
which he roasted and dubbed it with palm oil after which he tied it to a
string hanging from the roof on where ldi was sitting. The oil from the
pigeon was dropping on rors head. When he looked up he saw the
roasted pigeon.
When ldi lifted himself up to reach for the meat, oucnarabare Quickly
pulled his Akpako clear of ldi. ldi then saw the attractive he-goat meat in
front of him. As he got up to take out of it to eat, his opponent finally
removed his Akpako. As soon as ldi discovered tnat Oligharabafe had
succeeded in pulling off the Akpako, he conceeoeo that his opponent had
passed all the tests, but that there was a final one to go. He invited him to
pin his spear on the floor of his inner chamber. Oligharabafe Quickly saw
the water drain and he hit the spear there and it stuck to the ground, a
feat which no one before him had accomplished.
At the end of the contest, ldi exclaimed that his work in heaven had
been completed, having met someone as strong, intelligent and skillful,
as himself. He then decided that it was time to leave heaven for earth,
like all his three other fellow OLODUS - had done before him.
When ldimeji comes out at ueboou, the person should be advised to
make sacrifice so that he might not suffer from the problem of children.
When it comes out of divination, the person should be told to beware of a
contest over a woman. He should be told to offer he-goat to Esu, in order
to succeed in the inevitable contest. He should also make sacrifice to his
head and to ocun.
When it comes out of Okpele divination, the person should be told
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that he is preparing for a journey which he should refrain from undertaking.
But If he must go, he should serve ocun before embarking on it. He will also
be Invited for settlement talks which he should not undertake without serving
ocun first.
IDl·MEJI LEAVES FOR EARTH

ldi was so conceited that he never bothered to do any prior divination

before embarking on his exploits. For one thing, he did not see why he had
to go for divination with inferior lfa priests or divinities. For another, he was
always sure that his skill and strength would see him through all challenges.
When he concluded that it was time to leave heaven for earth, he decided
only to travel with his two main instruments of power and authority - tunder-
stone and a blast furnace. These are instruments used ov the thunder
divinity tsaneoi and the metal dlVinlty cogum. Both instruments were
embedded Inside his head.
When his followers saw him leaving for earth without any prior
preparations, some of them gathered together and reminded him that he
never had a wife of his own choice while in heaven. They told him that by the
same token he was going to go through fife on earth without a wife of his
own unless he made sacrifice with a he-goat to ssu and a guinea fowl to his
guardian angel. He retorted that if no one was able to subdue him in heaven
who. was it on earth who could withstand him or stand in his way. He vowed
that he was going to accomplish on earth similar feats like he recorded in
heaven. They told him to remember the disruptive influence of all the other
divinities whom he had disgraced in heaven. He would be powerless to
subdue them on earth, since they got there before him.
Among his surrogates who gave him the warning·were:-
Abimi Lorigi - Omo igl ni ml, ••
Edo okpe nl monje ·
Edo oke nl mo mu
okuro mi ogbigbo
He was born on earth to a father who was an Ogun Priest, and a mother
who was a sanso priestess. He came out of the womb with a tunder stone
and a blast furnace which were preserved for him to use when he grew up.
At the age of ten, he was already fighting with adolescents who were several
years omertnan himself. No one could ever touch the ground with his back.
He became so ferrocious that every one was afraid of him. He was
nicknamed the invincible one.
Meanwhile, ~e had gone to keep the wands he brought from heaven at
a secret place where he retreated to use them from time to time. one day, he
saw his father preparing to serve his head with a dog. He told the father it
was forbidden to serve the head with a dog. He took him to where he kept
his blast furnace and slaughtered the dog there. When the people present
challenged his action, he told them to go to the spot where he slaughtered
the dog and verify whether they would not find a live goat there. The dog had
been transfigured Into a live goat and it was brought to his father to serve his
head with it.
on a second occasion, his mother was preparing to serve her head with
a female sheep. once again, he told her that it was forbidden to servethe
head with an ewe. He took the ewe from her to where he kept his tunder
stone and slaughtered it there. He was again challenged by the elders
around and he told them to go to where he slaughtered the ewe whether
they would not find palm oil and a cock there. The people collected the
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oil and the cock and the mother offered them to her head - while he directed
her to drink the oil. ·
At that stage, he toldthe parents that he came from heaven to remind
them of their patron-divinities, Ogun and sango which they had ignored. He
then gave the blast furnace to his father to use to perform all acts of
manufacturing with iron and steel and gave the tunderstone to nlsmotner for
use In her assignment as a sango priestess. He taught his father how to
serve Ogun and his mother nowto serve sango. This re-discovery of their
paths of· destiny· immediately transformed them into a famous and
prosperous couple. It was ldi who taught the world how to serve ocun and
sanoo. It Is intact believed that he was the first oou who brought. the service
of the two divinities to mankind. Thereafter he left his parent's home and
wandered into the heart of the world. Wherever he went, no one could
subdue him. But he Was so much dreaded that no woman agreed to marry
him nor did any man agree to live with him.
When he discovered that he had become effectively ostracized, he left
all towns and villages of human habitation and built an abode for himself in
the heart of the forest. As soon as he began to live in the forest. he was
written off as a. mad man.
In his new abode, he planted kola trees, walnut plants and pear trees.
They soon grew up and began to bear fruits. one night, his guardian angel
appeared to him in a dream and told him that the reason he was suffering so
much deprivation was on account of the sacrifices he refused to make In
heaven. The angel told him that although it was getting late because he was
then an old man, he should nonetheless make the sacrifice.
Not knowing who was talking to him, he decided next morning to consult
his lkin divination andft was his own tfa that appeared. He realised that it was
his guardian angel who appeared to him during the night. From the proceeds
of the sale of his fruits, he was able to buy a he-goat for Esu and a guinea
fowl for his tfa. At last, albeit belatedly, he did the sacrifice.
After performing the sacrifice he again sounded his lfa who told him that
something strong was going to happen in the town nearby and that he would
have to play a decisive role. Meanwhile, the eldest daughter of the Oba was
having a difficult labour. All the lfa priests and the priests of other divinities
had tried and failed to· make her deliver the baby. When there was no other
awo around to be invited, Esu entered the mind of one of the oea's
counsellors, who Instantly reminded the Oba that ldi could be invited to try
his hand at the problem.
ldi was instantly invited. Ori getting to the palace he brought out his
divinition bag <Akpo rninuekum and brought out some leaves from it. He
prepared the leaves and added his tverosun, <divination powder). After
preparing the leaves he· repeated the following Incantation, which lfa priests
use to this day to deliver women in difficult labour:-
Awo laafi rabe taafi dae loko gbaa (3 times)
Edon a moju ganranwu <3 times>
oruko taankpe oko <3 times>
Ila abenukpa ka (3 times>
oruko taankpe obo <3 times>
Ala arisa no ti gbe omo otornooe slnu <3 times>
stu omo oromo no ooboro orite ele wave
While he was repeating the incantation he was using the leaves to wash the
woman's abdomen, after making her to drink out of it. As soon as he
mentioned the last stanza of the poem, the child together with its placenta
came out at the· same time.
The only reason why I have chosen to bring out this incantation like
124
1 did not do in other instances, is to mustrate the significance of
incantations generally. It will be remembered that it was ldl In heaven who
made it possible for the man's penis and woman's pelvis to bring forth
children. on earth, he merely reminded the vagina that it was only
appointed as a passage for taking In a child and bringing it out of the
womb. The whole essence of incantation is to remind the subject of his
heavenly name and his earthly role and thereafter It can be conjured to
behave as desired.
As soon as the woman brought forth the child, all the palace chiefs
began to marvel that the man who was written off for a lunatic had such
geat powers. His worth was at last appreciated, and only after he had
made sacrifice. To compensate him, the Oba gave him a gift of money as
well as a man and a woman. Since he was already too old to mate, hetold
the man and the woman to live with him as man and wife for the rest of
his life.
once his worth was recognised, his abode was freauented by people
who had all sorts of problems and he was able to help all of them. He was
eventually given a title by the Oba and told to transfer his abode to the
town of lfe. In a warming up ceremony In his new abode, he sang in
praise of his awos in heaven lamenting for Ignoring their advice. tn the
song he advised people to make prescribed sacrifices to avoid suffering
his kind of fate - because he had planted cash crops which others were
going to reap since he was leaving no one behind on earth to reap his
heritage. ldi is known to have performed very few assignments thereafter
before he returned to heaven.
ldi cures the Cripple and the BHnd man
Having settled down at last, ldi soon got some auxiliaries who were
assisting him in his divination works. Ameng such people were:Dimi
Dimi sarakata,
Cron gbintin gbinrin,
Okuku gbinrin,
Agada bute are re Je,
fo un na kole.
Together they made divination for the blind man and a cripple who
were very poor. They went to ldimeJi to help them and he told them to
give a he-goat to ssu The cripple had previously sJghted the skull of a he-
goat somewhere. Since he did not Imagine how they could afford to buy a
live goat, he craw!ed to collect the skull where he had seen one
previously.
Thev subsequently offered the he-goat's skull to Esu with a promise
to bring him a live he-goat if and when they prospered enough to afford
one. Meanwhile, they continued to tive in penury. In a mood to end their
sufferings they hatched a plan to commit mutual suicide. one day, they
set out for the river. The blind; with a stick in hand carried the cnpcte on
his shoulder to lead the way to end the worthless fife by naraktrl.
on getting to the river, the encore .suggested that the blind man
should firstJump Into the river. The bund man refused on the ground that
he could not see his way to the river. He then suggested that the cripple
should Jump first into the river so that the soiasn of his impact would
make him know the direction from which to dive Into the river.
Wtth that suggestion the cripple crawted and collected a mud image
built by ants <Ulelefe in Bini> moved to the embankment of the river,
made his last wish bidding farewell to his friend and threw the mud image
into the river, thus hoping to oecteve his blind friend. The blind man
called: on
125
the cripple several times but there was no response. so, he assumed that he
had drowned.
After lamenting that he was going to die in poverty and deprivation, thus
suffering to the end, he began to hit the ground with his stick towards the
direction in which the cripple is assumed to have jettisoned into the river. on
getting there he used his walking stick to hit continuously hard on the ground.
When he felt the presence of an obstacle on his way, he continued hitting
that spot, not knowing that he was in fact hitting the legs of the cripple whose
hitherto numb legs instantly regained life. The former cripple was now able to
stand on his feet. As the blind man was hitting the ground towards the river,
he was shouting that a man-about to die must make a last ditch effort tin Bini
- okola te wu, To zighaza>. While the cripple was getting up, he shouted that
the blind man was trying to kill him and as soon as he was on his feet, he
slapped the blind man, who also instantly regained his sight.
As they were blaming each other, they went into open embrace and
began to rejoice, They both walked home for the first time, completely healed
and looked for monevto buy a he-goat which they offered to Esu without any
delay. Eventually, they both went to thank the old man ldi for the efficacious
divination he made for them.
The Healing of the Blind and the Hernia Afflicted

ovln ferere mtore, made divination for ldimeji when a new child was
born in his house. He invited Arukuku Taaku, awo ono Alara and Arukuku
taaku, awo ono ijero. The Awo of the Alara had hernia while the Awo of uero
was blind. ldi invited thetwo of them to participate in the divination for the
naming ceremony of the new child.
The Awo of ljero <Adeve>was the first to arrive and he proceeded at
once to make lkin divination for the child. As the Awo of Alara <Aro> was
coming, he heard the sound of lkin divination and he immediately declared
outside before entering the house that the Awo who was divining without
waiting for him had hernia. The Adeve on hearing the proclamation of the in-
coming awo, said that the awo who declared his own problem was himself
blind on one eve.
The Adeve asked the awo outside what he was to do to cure his hernia
He was told to serve his late father with a ram. In reply the oarnauv-buno awo
asked the awo inside what he was to do to heal his blind eve. He was told to
serve his head with a cock.
The one-eyed awowent back home without seeing his colleague. The
Adeve also aoanooned his dlvinational assignment and went to his house to
serve his father. As he was serving his father with the ram, the animal kicked
one of its hind limbs and it hit the awds hernia and all the pus in his testacles
got burst and began to ooze out. He instantly tainted and was taken to his
bed.to rest without completing the sacrifice.By the time he woke up the
hernia was gone.
-wnen the one eyed awo also got home, he Quickly arranged to serve his
head with a cock. As he was praying to his head with the cock; it shot out one
of its toes and it hit his bad eve, and amidst severe pain, he
regained the use of the blind eve. _ -
From their respective houses, each of them, after being cured of his
affliction, decided to go and thank ldimeJi in his house. The two awos met for
the first time as they were crossing the bridge Just before getting to ldi's
place. After formal introduction, they embraced each other, and together,
decided to go to ldlmeji to complete the divination for the new
126
8.

ild.
on getting there they both thanked orunmila and themselves for the
iracle.

127
 CHAPTER XVII
OBARA·MEJI
I I
II II
II II
II II
onfusion and misunderstanding began with this fifth OLODU of the lfa

C genealogical corpus. With the first four OLODUS, <Ogbe, oveku, lwori
and ldi>, whether their marking signs are turned upwards or down
wards, they will retain their identities. It was with Obara that turning their
signs downward began to give a different nomenclature. If the marking of
Obara is turned upside down, it becomes Okonron. so it is with the
remaining eleven oiocus of orunmila.
It was therefore ooaramejt who ordained that before giving food to
orunmua the offeror has got to beg him to accept the food. Whether the
food is a rat, fish, hen or goat,theofferors will have to beg orunmila on
their knees before he can accept any food offered by them. That is why It
is said that it is not difficult to beg for favour from one's patron divinity.
obararnejt was famous for his concern about the poverty of God's
creatures. People had deluded themselves with the feeble and defeatist
Philosophy that there was virtue in material poverty. He demonstrated
that a creature's destiny was his own choice and that whether or not a
person
, stayed poor was the measure of his personal effort. For instance, when tne
coconut was leaving heaven fd\- the earth with her other sister, the ;royal
palm, they both went for divination with an awo called Jeemfi di hee.
The name of obararnejt in heaven was Jeemfidihee. He made divination . for
them and advised them to make the prescribed sacrifice. on getting :. to the
world both sisters became married to Ode <that is outside>. The
•reoconut produced a lot of fruits which made her the favourite of all people.
~0n the other hand, the Royal palm, although more beautiful than her sister.
, coconut, remained an object of barren decoration to her husband, lacking
tn any significance to anyone else.
He also made divination for the Frog when she was coming to the
•world. He advised the frog to make the same sacrifice prescribed for the
.;t)alm sisters. She did it, and she began to multiply as soon as she got to
tearth. After helping several others in heaven, he saw a lot of poverty on
earth and he decided to come to the world to bring prosperity to it.
- First, he went for divination to an ifa Priest called urore - koo taaaqba,
tgbogbo won lo rnaada wenke wenke. urore advised him to make sacrifice ~
four pigeons and a white piece of cloth so that prosperity and wealth '
tmlght accompany him to benefit the world.
-~

: · ,.._ rough Passage of Prosperity to tne world

When the king of Death heard that one awo was leaving in the i
company of wealth and prosperity for earth, he decided to stop whoever
•·It was. Not knowing exactly who it was, he decided to put all the awos in
heaven to the test under pain of death. He had fourteen of his counsellors
,With him.
Meanwhile, the king of death wore his wife's garment, that is, illness.
because the wife of Death is illness. He became so ill that his body even
•see the table of seniorities.
J28
 began to 'emit a very, offensive odour. He also prepared a number of kola
nuts, Which were, actually eggs, and· kegs of wine containing sheep's urine,
forentertaining,hls invitees. He then invited the heavenly awos one arter.tne
other to come andcure him. He gave eachot themseven days
i within which to cure him. failing which they would not return home. As soon
as any visiting awo arrived, Death would give him the kotanutto break
as a testimony to his prowess. Most of them failed in the kola breaking test
and were mstantlv outin chains. The few who passed tne-kolanuttestbv
reveallngwhat it actually was, an egg, could not survive the actual healing
test because the more.tnev tried to.aemlnistermedlclne to the king Of Death,
the more -·indisposed ne looked. He already had several neavernv
awos in his cell, when it came to the turn of obarameji. ... '. ..
·· When obaramen received the king of Death's rnvltatton, he <otherwise
called Jeemfidi Hee or let me sit quietly and inoffensi.velv, as hewas' caned in
rreaven.rdectceo roconsutt.ntsuawnoaovrseo him to offerahe-goat to Esu
and a goat to his guardian angel. He Quickly pertormeo tne.sacrtnces, When
he wasieaving for Death's-place, he wore.ms magic necklace <Ude>, which
was. ·his main instrument of authority ...•.• ASE. He had also been told to
give a ladder each· to ·his guardian angel and to esu, wrucn ne ·did. ·.
When he got to Death's house, he knocked at the door, but before
opening the door for him, newas totd to reveal tnenumeer of people in the
room within;· ano.what they· were· doing .at that instant. He ;Quickly looked
into tne .crystal b~lt'of his necktaceand revealed that there were
fourteen·o.f:. them in tbe, room; each, holding a ,wine cup from which he was
drinklng:Withthatne was, cieared to enter the room with his back
to tnedoor. The door then OP.enectanctne entered. ,
Eventually; the. king of Death· .appeared looking seriously ill. ·As soon
as he took his seat, peatnordereutnat.kojanut endwtne be gjventohim~ When
the kotanut was served'; Jeemftdi neetoiotne others tnatkotanuts had arrived
and. he told them to break tti,m .. · . , , . . ,
Using .a special incantation in which he"invoked them bytheir.heavenly
names, neeonjured the koranutarmme wine that if they. wereactuanv wine
and·kotanut as God created tnem.tnev should stav as sucn.otnerwise. they
snouio before nts eves; change into their true and real identities. mstannv, all
the poisonous concoctions contained in the wine immediately surfaced and
the sheep's unneoase was at the bottom. ·At the same nme.. the kotanuts
turned into eggs:,Hethenprotested to the:king mf eeatn for· treating him so
innospreamv, o.eatll,apologized to mm .and appeased- him by bringing him
proper kotanuts anct wine. eeam nowever apoeatea.to him that in spite of
nts initiatupset,\tonanetheJess assist mcunnc mm of his anment, He·reptiecl
by saving: tnat·tie tlatt to eat-and drink first, because
he was hungry from hts tong,joun.,ey. ·.
As Obarameji was being served·.Wfth rooo, esu transfigured into a
vawsafflicted. Q;OV and stood by the gate •. Betore,eating the food/ he· brought
out his okpele divination instrument and -his own ifa appeared. That mace
him to .wonder whether'thecfoocLwas wnolesomeand,.safe. He then jnVited.
the yaws.boy. toeat out-of tnetooa. The boy.swallowed.up the whOlemeat'
and its container. mreturn, the boy told Obarameji to dispose of the clay. pot
which.· was,actum1v· the container- with which ntsvaws was-norrnauv
treated: As he went out to :dispose-,of the pot, the boy advised him to
consent to· cure the, king of Death;
wnen:he got back-to Death's cnarnbernevotunteeree to do his utmost to
heal him.. He also. agreed not to: returrr.to his nooseu ne.-faited to
accomplish thetask within seven days. on hiS part, ObaramEji stated that
since there was. no debit without a corresponding credit;: he wanted.to
129
know the reward that awaited him if he succeeded in curing the ageless
king of Death of his ailment and Death promised to surrender half of his
heavenly belongings to him, If he succeeded. By the same token, the
yawsed boy also askedooara what he would do for him If he succeeded in
helping him and Obara promised to give him half of whatever he got as a
reward.
The King of Death was In the habit of removing his sick dress at night
whenever he went to bed only to put It on again first thing In the morning.
on that first night, as soon as he went to bed, Esu used the ladder with
which Obara made sacrifice to cllmb Into Death's bedroom. As ssu was
doing that, he conjured Death to sleep soundly away. As soon as Death
fell heavily asleep, Esu, as the vawsed boy, led Obara to climb up the
ladder to see how hail and healthy the old man looked and particularly
how smooth his body was without his sick garment.
on the next morning, Death Invited Obara to begin the work orcurma
him. In response, Obara collected all available leaves and added
tverosun, his divination powder, and prepared them for Death to bath with
for 7 days. Death however did not bath with the preparations. Obara was
meanwhile always giving the lion's share of any food given to him to the
yawsed boy.
on the 6th day, the king of Death told Obara that he was notgetting
any better and that on the contrary, he had been having sleepless nights.
on that night, Esu again conjured Death to a heavy honey dose of
slumber and he catapulted Obara and the yawsed boy through the
Invisible ladder into Death's bed room. When they got Into the room, the
yawsed boy told Obara to carry the pot containing Death's side garment.
once outside, ssu conjured the way to the rivefto be cleared Of all living
creatures, because It Is forbidden for any IIVlng being to see that pot.
Thereafter, they proceeded to take the pot to the river Into which It was
Jettisoned. on
their return from the river, they both went back to sleep. .
Shortly afterwards, It was dawn and the fateful day had arrived. As
soon as It was broad daylight, a crowd of heavenly host had gathered to
witness the fate of ObarameJi. Meanwhlle, Death had his bath and
reached out for the pot containing his sick garment, but It was no where to
be found. on failing to find his sick garment, Death decided to lock up
himself in the room. After waiting in vain for the king of Death to emerge
from the room, obara sent for him because he was anxious to know what
his fate was going to be. After knocking several times at the door of
Death's bedroom, the old man got dressed and came out. He took his
seat on the throne with his body shining radtannv and transparently
looking hail and healthy. Obara then asked Death to announce the result
of his efforts and he confirmed that his treatment had given him a clean
bill of health.
Death then went inside to bring out all treasures in twos to give to
onara. The yawsed boy advised obara to scream because the king of
oeatn had gone back on h\s words. Obara accordinoh,1 criQd out ~no
wa~ amplified and echoed by Esu, which sound, made the very grounds
n,~ erv
of heaven to Quake. The incident shook the king of Death and he then
went Into the room to enclose half of all his belongings in a casket of
kolanuts and brought it out. Before he came out, the yawsed boy had
advised Obara that he should only accept a casket of kolanuts from the
king of neath.
Eventually, Death came out with two containers - a brass box
containing rubbish and a casket of kolanuts and asked Obara to choose
one of the two. In consonance with the advice of the yawsed boy, Obara
chose the casket of kotanuts and left for home. Meanwhile Esu had
transfigured into an old man and was waiting for Obara on the way. Obara
searched
130
 in vain for the yaws-boy and when he could not find him, he leftsome of the
gifts to his own guardian angel and continued on his journey.
Before getting to his house, he met an old man in a make-shift hut which
was not on that spot when he was going on his mission. The old man told
Obara to show him the reward of his mission. He began to wonder whether It
was esu at his game again. To disabuse his misgivings, he brought
i out his ASE and conjured the old man to transform Into his real self. The old
man instantly transformed ftrstinto the vawsed boy and next Into Esu in his
full regalia. Obara then thanked him for all the assistance he rendered to him
during.his impossible mission. He brought out the casketof kolanuts and told
him to take whatever proportion he wanted from it. In reply, Esu tote him to
talce him along to wnerever ne was going anct to ~a giving him a part of
what ever he ate as he did generously to him during his exploits.
on getting home, Obarameji gave another he-goat to Esu and a goat to
his guardian angel. He then invited his friends for a thanksgiving feast, being
the only awo who succeeded In frustrating the treacherous machinations of
the king of Death. Forthat reason when ObarameJI comes out of divination
for a person and death is seen to be knocking at his door, he should be
advised to make the same sacrifice that Obara made before leaving for the
test of Death,
At that stage, obararnejl decided tl'lat It was time to leave for earth.
Before leaving heaven, he sent for his lfa priests to make divination for him.
The awos were called:-
wosemi kpetembe kpelembe
oromi mlml miml
Lake Ori Udi koko nl kpa eron
temne lernbe aabe be
ouni mo Ju oiola titu rtn nn rm.
He was told that to succeed in carrying nrosoerttv to the world he should
make sacrifices with a goat to h·ls.&fa, adding acasket of kolanut - and to
give a he-goat to Esu. He did the sacrifice and left for earth.
He was born of a father who only had the left hand, whilst the mother
was blind on one eve. In spite of their physical deficiency, his parents had
otentv of enemies. It was obaramej who Introduced dreams to the world
because while in the womb, he was always reveanng impending dangers to
his parents. While in the womb, the elders of the night saw that a child was
going to be born who would bring prosperttv to earth and they were
determined to make him still-born.
one night, he told his father In a dream to prepare one medicine in a
soap worth 35K to be bathing with in order to ward off the onslaught of the
elders of the night. He told the father In the dream that as soon as the
leaveswere collected, he should leave them overnight on the shrine of Esu.
He was to grind them the following morning and mix them with soap for them
to be bathing with:
ObarameJi was eventually delivered safely and they had no more
problems from the elders of the night. When he was born, the parents
approached an lfa priest for birth day divination. The Awo was called:
AfenJu omo
omo are kil kon fene fene
Kpobl gbite gbite va aiumen
lte onave rnaqba.
Nlo nl gbe lte orun.
Obarameji was the only child of his parents. He quickly grew up to be
very rascally. He was always telling fortunes that made nonsense of all the
elderly awos of lfe and they were not happy with him. At a very early age,
131
he was always attending the meetings of the elders where he ortenstole the
show. Therewas a meeting of elderly awos held every seventeen days in the
palace of the king of lfe. The game of avo was often played after the
meeting, but the game often ended with the death·ofoneof the kings'
children.
At the first meeting attended by Obarameji he had a lot to drink and after
getting drunk, he boasted that at the next meeting he would reveal the
names of those who were responsible for the periodic deaths of the king's
children. There was one high chief called Oshin who was stealthily
performing all the attrocitles. After the proclamation of the young obararnejl,
the meeting dispersed on the note that if he failed to carry out his promise,
he would be.executeo,
convinced that ObarameJi coutd not reveal their names, the
consiorators natcned.out a plan of hOw to kill him. They sat by the bush path
to hatch out their plan,.and oearamejrsmotner, who they did not know, was
returning from the farm, overheard the men firming up their nefarious plan
against her son. After hearing the details of the plan she ran home to consult
their lfa. priests <named above> on how to save the
life of her only son. .
The mother was advised to prepare three pounded yams and three pots
of soup and to send them to the bank of the river. Shewas to wear a bead on
her waist when going to the river, where she was to have her bath. While
having her bath, she would discover what to do in order to save the son's life.
She got home and did as she was told. on getti,ng to the river, she
deposited the pounded yam ano the soup on the embankment and went into
the river to have her battfWhile she was bathing, a man called okcoro came
to the river and greeted her. The man Quickly had a bath in the river and
went out in a hurry. When the woman asked him why he was in a hurry, he
told her that he was hurrying to attend the day's meeting at the palace of the
king. She invited him to eat out of the food she left on the shore before
leaving. Since no fOod was normally served at the long meetings in the
king's palace <which exotams why they were killing his cnudrem oeooic was
only too happy to eat befOre leaving for the meeting.
While eating, he remarked that an important event was going to take
place onthat day at the king's conference because they were going to kill the
iocuacious and presumptuous ObarameJi, since he would not know the
section of the ayo players who were responsible for the deaths of the king's
children, as he boasted. He ended by disclosing to the woman that he,
okeolo was in fact one of the conspirators because the king was so stingy
that he was never serving any fOod or refreshments at the long meetings.
The next man to come along was obuko, who behaved in much the
same way. After eating the pounueu yam, ne tom tne woman tne uetaus of
their mission for that day, adding that he was one of those killing the king's
children, because of his stinginess. He also disclosed that as one of the
conspirators, they were bent on killing the garrulous and boastful obararnej at
the conference, since he would never know their names. He then introduced
himself to the woman as obuko - Omo iuoenere tube - and that the others
were:- Agbo - omuloloauole and Okpolo - ami sosu run. He ended by
confirming that they were the three plotters who were killing the children of
the oioeen after playing the avo game. He further disclosed that obaramej
had boastfully promised to reveal the name of Oshin as the sole conspirator
whereas Oshln was in fact not going to take the chair at the conference on
that day - and that the senior son of osnin called AREMO was going to
occupy his father's place at the day's

132
meeting while osmn was going to sit at the side. He finally disclosed that
a special seat was going to be prepared for ObarameJi under which
would be a hole covered with a mat. The indiscreet obuko even went on
to «iisclose that the only way Obarameji could avoid the fate awaiting him
was by coming with a dog and a parcel of eko and akara. If he threw the
eko and akara on the mat beneath the chair reserved for him, his dog
would go for them. In her own remarks, the woman emphasised that it
would be good riddance for Obarameji to die because the town would be
a more peaceful place without him. With that obuko left for the king's
palace.
Agbo, was the last to come to the river. He too went through the
same revelation ritual after eating the pounded yam and confirmed what
Okpolo and Obuko had disclosed before him. He also revealed why and
how they proposed to kill ooaramen. After eating his share ot the
pounded yam Agbo Jeft for the conference.
soon afterwards, obararnejrs mother left for home to brief her
husband and the son about what transpired at the river. She qulcklvwent
through the sequence of events telling ObarameJi what to do. He was to
go with his dog called aosnove ale -- eJobi. She advised him to throw the
eko and akara under the chair prepared for him and to call on the dog to
fetch them. If the dog fell into the hole he should get up and ask for the
person called obuko, As soon as the person identified himself, he should
order that he should be offered as sacrifice to Esu.
He should next ask for the person called Agbo and if he identified
himself, he should order that he should be offered as sacrifice to the
public Shrine of the town's forebears.
Finally, he should ask for the person called okpoto and as soon as
he identified himself, he should order that an arrow be pierced through his
mouth and anus and he be offered for sacrifice to the ground divinity
coriole>.
When asked why the three men were«> be killed, he should disclose
that those were the conspirators responsible for the death of the children
of the oioeen, after playing ayo game with him. After that episode, he
should order the man on the throne to vacate it because he was an
impostor - and that he should give way to his father osnm. who at that
time would be smoking from a long pipe called Ekltlbe - by the side of the
hall. When Obarameji was leaving for the conference, he wore his
father's gown called gbariyee and his cap called tabasacen. He went with
his dog called socnove atoju ma oko, on getting to the main outer
entrance to the town hall, the spectators began to sing his praise with
cries of obaramej arenlu - omo.
When he got inside the hall, he was quickly directed to occupy the
chair set aside for him. At that stage, he stood still, brought out his
parcels of Eko and Akara and threw them under the chair earmarked for
him, directing nts-oos to go for them. The dog went straight for them but it
fell right through the mat covering Into the deep hole laden with hooks
and thorns below.
Reversing the order In which he was to carry ·out the day's
assignments, he began by ordering the man sitting on the throne to
vacate it at once, and gtve way to Chief Oshtn, his father. The man on the
throne Quickly vacated it and, his father moved up to occupy the. seat.
He then called out for the man called obuko and ordered him to get
up and identify himself. He also asked the men caned Okpoto ancLAgbo
to get up and identify themselves. They all got up accordingly. ObarameJi
directed that obuko should be sacriftced to esu, Agboto the shrine of the
public forefathers and okpolo to mother earth <Oriole>.
133
 When osnm asked Obaramejl for the offence committed by the three
men, he reminded him of his vow at the previous meeting to reveal the
conspirators Who were responsible for the deaths of oiorerrs children,
after playing the gam.e of Ayo with him. He confirmed that the three men
were the culprits. After saying that, the three men were accordingly used
for sacrifice. The culprits were actually the he-goat, the Ram, and the
Frog.
The whole conference then rose up in a thunderous applause and
ovation to Obarameji. He was carried shoulder high in open procession
outside. Before he left home, obaramejrs parents had vowed to commit
suicide if their only son lost his life in his encounter. As soon as his father
heard shouts, he concluded that his son was dead and he took his own
life. When the mother saw the son being carried shoulder high at the
head of a triumphal procession, she removed her head from the rope into
which she had hung her head preparatory to suicide. She then used the
rope <Oja or Oza> to thank her own mother. That is the rope that people
use to tie the shrine of their departed mothers In parts of Yoruba land and
Benin to this day.
That Is why it is said that it was obarernelrs mother who saved him
from the cold hands of death.
When Obarameji comes out at usboou during lfa initiation ceremony,
the person should be told that if his father is still alive, the father's end is
at hand. The person should be told to forbid wine drinking entirely. He
should also avoid sharing out of the legacy of a deceased person. Three
days after coming out of ucooou, he should immediately prepare the Esu
shrine for his lfa. Thereafter, he should buy a guinea fowl. for his mother -
if alive - to serve her headJor him. If she is already late, he should use it
to serve his mother's shrine, or on his left big toe. He should also serve
his own head with two guinea fowls. Later, he should prepare shrines to
the Divinities of osun and Eziza for himself.
If onararnejt comes out from lkin divination, the person should be
advised to serve his neao quickly with a pigeon or a fowl. If it comes out .
for a pregnant woman, she can be told in all certainty that she will deliver a
set of twins.
When Obarameji comes out of Okpele divination, the person should
be told to serve Ogun and sztza each with a cock. He should be advised
not to enter into any thrift contribution <Esusu> with anybody. He should
also beware of permanently joining any clubs or meetings - lest his
untimely death will source from there.
ObarameJl's encounter with enemies

After that incident, Obarameji naturauv became very famous. His

fame and popularity soon began to evoke envy and enimttv. He was soon
to realise that success breeds envy, and envy evokes ammosltv which
begets emrnttv. Generally, people do not fall in love with those who excel
them.
The more elderly Divine priests from wnom ooara appeared to have
stolen the show lost no time In plotting his downfall. Meanwhile,
obararnejrs guardian angel appeared to him in a dream and gave him a
preview of the machinations of the plotters. When he woke up, he invited
two awos to make divination for him. Their names were:-
Oni bara, ota bara, Eshishi
bara Eeku ookii ku so otin
Eye bara, kii ku sl ast tuno In Bini>
1. The fly which does not get 134greedy, never dies inside a wine
container, and
 2. The fly which flies high up in the air, and who Is not tempted by the
baits on the low ground, does not get caught in a gum trap.
They advised obararnej to make sacrifice with a cock and a hen. He
made the sacrifice which explains why he triumphed over his enemies, after
they had tried on earth and failed, and they also reported him to the elders of
heaven. Meanwhile, an itinerant lfa priest was visiting lfe and he stopped by
the house of ObarameJi, who extended elaborate hospitality to the visitor.
The name of the awo was Eroke Ule Abiditlrigi. When the man made the
libation divination, he warned Obara that a messenger was being sent from
heaven to fetch him. He was advised to give a he-goat to ESU and a goat to
lfa. Not only did the awo do the sacrifices for Obara, he also did traditional
clearance <Ono lfa In Yoruba and Odlha In Bini> for him. He prepared the
relevant medicine for him to be taking everv day.
Five days later, a ttokam came from heaven to arrest Obarameji. When
the tlokarn flew on top of obara's house, he caned on him to prepare to go to
heaven. In an incantational reply, Obara told him that his father had told him
before his death, that he was leaving for heaven to answer the early call that
would have taken him <Obara> away from this world - and that his father also
said that he was not to leavethe world until a tree called Aro in Yoruba and
uruaro in Bini, produced leaves, and until the roots of a Parasite plant called
ose In Bini and Afuma in Yoruba <which grows on top of trees> touched the
ground - and until Elaa shed its leaves. ObarameJi · collected the tree plants
and gave them to the tlokam to give to the king of Death, who sent for him in
heaven.
When the nokarn delivered the message ln heaven to the king of Death,
he ordained that ObarameJI would have to get lost on earth never to know
his way back to heaven. That Is why Obarameji is said to have lived on earth
for about 260 years and In the end he had to beg God to accept him back
Into heaven. If the children of ObarameJI are able to prepare this Ono lfa,
they must live to a--,ripe old age.•
I

OBARAMEJI TURNS BLACK INTO WHITE

The last major test undergone by ObarameJi before seeing the limelight
occured when his fellow awos cajoled him to get drunk at a party In the
king's palace. This explains why the children of ooararnej are forbidden to
drink any alcohol whatsoever. After getting drunk he began to make
pronouncements which he could not live up to. Among the proclamations he
made In his state of drunkeness was that he could serve the oroserrs head
whereas it was forbidden for any Awo to do so. He also boasted that he
could wash a black cloth to become white. The proclamations of Obaramejl
were Quickly reported to the king Who invited him to perform the feats In
seven days time, falllng which he would be executed.
on getting home he told his mother what transpired at the king's palace.
His mother cried out in disgust, for daring to make such empty boasts, which
no one else had done previously. He explained that he was drunk when he
made the proclamations. The only person that used to serve the head of
Olofln was a man called Okete. There was also a man catled Aro, who alone
was capable of washing black Into white.
ooarernejrs mother went to befriend the two of them. on the seventh
day, the Olofen brought out a ten yard piece of black cloth and gave It to
Obara to clean It in the river to become white. Before getting to the river, his
mother was already waiting for him. The king sent messengers to
accompany him to verify the operation. When the party arrived, Obara·s
135
mother was stnging to invoke Aro to appear. When the Aro fish heard the
song, ne moved to where obaramejt was washing the black cloth, seized it
fro~hlm, swallowed it and vomitted It out and it was snow white.
As soon as obara saw that the cloth had turned white, he brought it
outorip-orv and showed It to the two witnesses sent by the king to verify the
washing operation. They all trooped back to.tne palace and everyone
including the king was astonished by the miracle performed by ooaramejt
The next operation was the ceremony of serving the oicnrrs head.
The man who used to serve otorerrs head annually, was called Ewu-okete.
He had a tradition of going for his own divination and sacnrtce before
performing oroarrs annual sacrifice to his head. on this parncutarvear. he
had gone for divination and was totd to offer a he-goat to Esu. He failed to
do the-sacrifice.
When the time came for him to serve otoarrs head as usual, the
cermony failed to manifest. The climax of the festival was Invariably for the
cloth with which the ceremony was done to turn Into white. In view of the
sacrifice which Ewu-Okete refused to make to Esu, the black cloth refused to
change Its colour to white.
It was clear from then on that the festival was a failure and the sacrifice
to the head did not manifest. Normally the festival of otonn's head was
invariably followed by peace, prosperity and progress both for king and
kingdom. But after the abortive ceremony of the head for that pattlcular year,
things began to get difficult for king and country. That was the year in which
the king's children were dying after playing Ayo with his visitors. There were
no rains and food and cash crops got burnt. Tilerewere several cases of still-
births and abortlye pregnancies. ThJswas the.state of affairs at lfe, when it
was time for1 another festival. While the search was on for a new- person to
serve Olofin s · head ObarameJi boasted he could do it.
Before doing anything about It, the mother went for divination and she
was told to give a he-goat to Esu which was Quickly done, subsequenttv. she
invited Ewu-Okete to teach her son the incantation with which to serve
oioan's head.
woni ki oba wa bort olofen
Kori Olofen fin
Kl obara no ava oioren
Kaya otoren - gba
Ko fowo kan ala
Ko di dudu
Obara bon Olofen
Ori oioeen fin Obara
noava otofen Aya
oioren gba Obara
fowokan ala Ala
didun dun
when the time came for serving the King's head, Obara did it without a
hitch ena1ng up ov toucnma tne wrnte cloth he brought from the river <Ala>
and with the Invisible help of Esu, as soon as obara touched it, It Quickly
turned to black. That was enough to indicate that the bad days were over.
The ensuing year proved to be very prosperous for the king and the country.
Obara was also amply rewarded.
OBARA SHOWS INGRATITUDE TO THE MOTHER

After seeing Obara through all these trials and tribulations, he accused
the mother of being a flirt. The mother became so annoved that she
136
concluded that it was time to return to her ancestors. Before giving up her
life, she proclaimed that from then on, the hand with which Okete
serveootoren's head should be used-for digging the earth, which is what the
rabbit does to this day. She also proclaimed that the white cloth which the
Aro fish produced should henceforth be used for wrapping human corpse.
This part of obaramejt is used to cause havoc at the shrine of ssu when there
is justification for it. It is not possible to go into the details of it In this book.
OBARAMEJI WINS A CHIEFT ANCY TITLE

Following the Death of his mother he had to learn to take care of

himself. He had stopped drinking and so was no longer in a position to make
statements and proclamations that landed him in trouble. He had learnt from
his mother the virtues of divination and sacrifice. When he therefore
discovered that in spite of all his achievements, hewas still very poor, he
resolved to get to the bottom of his problems. He then mvlteo an Awo called
isne toon snemt ko nl sna Alarln ni oaun <There is no poverty that does not
have an end>. He was advised to make sacrifice to his lfa with a goat,
kolanut, melon and his covering cloth, and to make a feast of pounded
varnwltn the meat of the goat. He was also to give a he-goat to ssu.rne awo
also advised him that he was not to go anywhere on the day ne was to
make the sacrifice ..
Meanwhile, the king sent for him, among other awos, to come to his
palace -for a special divination contest on that day. The awo told him to
makethesacrifice on that day but not to answer the King's invitation. He then
made tne.sacrtnce to his Ifa, -out could not find a koianut cask and melon
(Elegede or Kakamisi in Yoruba and Even in Bini>. He also gave a hegoat to
Esu.
When the other Awos came to call h"'1 to answer the klng's invitation,
he declined to accompany them because he was making a special sacrifice
to his lfa.
When the awos got to the king's palace he told each of them to reveal
the contents of a room which he had locked up in the palace. oneaeter the
other the awos tried but could not reveal the contents of the room. It then
came to the turn of an awo called ocueaa who revealed that the room
contained 201 persons. That was the correct answer. The king then went
inside and gave a gift of one cask of kola and one melon to each of the
awes. He atso sent ooararnejrs share to him in spite of his absence.
rneawos had spent a long time in oiorerrs palace without having any
food or drink as a result of wntcntnev were already very hungry. on their way
home, they decided to call on Obarameji, who, meanwhile, had set his feast
tablewith fresh pounded yam and the goat meat. As if the feast was
earmarked for them, they all sat down and ate and drank to their hearts·
content. When obaramef asked what Olofen gave them, they all replied that
they were given kolanut and melon - and also gave him his own share -
which he was very happy about, because they were the two materials
remaining to complete the sacrifice-to his lfa.
When the others asked him why he was so happy with such ostensibly
worthless gifts, he replied that they were the staple materials used for
making sacrifice to his own guardian angel.
With that remark, all the awos surrendered their own gifts of kola and
melon to him, so he could have a good stock of them. Before taking leave of
him, they informed him that otofen wanted all of them to visit him once more
In eight days time.

137
 After the awos left, he served his head and his lfa with some of the
melon and kola casks. But when he cut them open with a knife, he
discovered that far from containing kolanuts and melon seeds, each of them
was stuffed with au kinds of treasures ranging from money to beads etc.
From the Jewels he collected from the casks, he was able to sew a beaded
gown, a beaded pair of shoes and a beaded hat for himself and a beaded
dress for a horse, which he bought meanwhile for his own use.
on the eighth day when they had to see Olofen again, he made sure that
he was the last person to arrive at the palace. Before the meeting, Olofen
had decorated a throne similar to his own meant for seating the best dressed
man on that occasion. As the awos began to arrive, none of them had the
courage to occupy the special throne, beside the king. They all took their
seats by the side of the hall. When Oguega, the victor at the last contest, got
to the hall in his tattered dress, he took his seat on the floor, which Is where
his divination Is done con the floor> to this day.
Finally, ObarameJI arrived with a retinue of pages accompanying him.
After offering the traditional greetings to the Olofin, he looked round and saw
the decorated throne beside the king, and went straight to sit on it.
As soon as they were all seated, Olofln asked them what they did with
the melon CElegede or Even> and the kola cask CObiala in Yoruba and
Ohlevbee in Bini> which he gave to each of them after the last meeting.
onearter the other, they all replied that since they were not given to eating
sucti--thlngs, they presented them to onaramen whose staple food they
were.4'1ofin then understood how ObarameJI came by his regal dress.
~he king then brought out his Instrument of authority <Ase> and told
Oguega that in spite of being 11te winner of the test he gave them eight days
before, It was his· stupidity that kept him In the poverty that made him sit on
the floor. He then cursed tnatoaueaa would always languish In poverty and
rags. He flnally ordained that Obarameji would always tower above his
colleagues and thrive on thrones and prosperity.
HOW OBARAMEJI ENDURED IN HIS PROSPERITY

Having obtained all he Wished for and more, one day, Obarameji
received a visitor called Efun yemi abort bebele, who advised him to make
sacrifice so that his new found prosperity might endure to the end of his llfe.
He was told to make sacrifice with a cow, having black, brown and white
colours and one goat of the same colours, to his lfa. He was also to offer one
he-goat with the same colours to Esu. He did the sacrifices. That is why
ObarameJI lived for so long in affluence until all his children also became
very old. The grey hair on his head and body turned to be as white as cotton
and his wealth sustained to the end of his life. This Is the last major special
sacrifice tone lfa or Odiha> which every person born at ucbocu by
ObarameJI, must do in order to have long life In prosperity.
THE LAST MAJOR MIRACLE PERFORMED BY OBARAMEJI

There were three bogeys from heaven which terrorised all the sixteen
main towns of Yoruba land. They were called:-
1. obuko omo iuoene - The He-goat
1. Ejo omonl rongo - The snake
1. Ekuku Ale, Omonimene - The Pigeon.
Ota loon ba aye atl orun Jaa - They were sent to ravage the earth bV
the king of Witches in heaven. They caused the Death of so many men and
women In various places and there was pandamonium all around. The three
138
heavenly plunderers took their victims in mysterious circumstances and
always seemed to be picking on important personalities adjudged to be the
useful citizens of the towns. mcldentauv; they seemed to have been given
the principal assignment of bringing ObarameJi back to heaven.
When they finally set out on oosramejrs trail, his own guardian angel
appeared to him in a dream and warned him of Imminent danger of death.
Although he did not worry unduly about death, he was nonetheless still
enjoying his hard-earned prosperity. He then decided to sound his lfa
through an lkin divination. His domestic surrogates called uroke and oroke
told him to Quickly make sacrifice with a cock, a rabbit and mashed yam
robobo In Bini Eewo in Yoruba> which sacrifice he was to carry by himself to
a road Junction. He was also to give a he-goat to Esu. He did the sacrifices
promptly.
As he was carrying the sacrificial offering to the road Junction, Esu got
up and told the three evil messengers from heaven, that ObarameJI, who
they had been searching for, was at the road Junction. The three men
Quickly rose up to meet ObarameJi. While ObarameJi was offering prayers,
after depositing the sacrifice at the position, ssu also warned him of the
approach of the evil killers from heaven. With that warning ObarameJi
Quickly took to his heels and ran Into the safety of his house.
Incidentally, onuko omo oiubebe forbade cock, EJo omoni rongon
forbade marshed yam tonoooi, while Ekuku ale omoni mene forbade rabbit.
Those were the very materials with which ObarameJi made sacrifice at the
road Junction. When the three evil men got to the road Junction, Esu again
appeared to them,telllng them the food on the ground was the feast which
Obarameji was sending to the 200 divinities <lhenuri In Bini and uoba
orumole In Yoruba>. Esu convinced them to eat It because Obara had to
abandon the food, when he saw them approaching.
After eating the food, they remained determined to pursue ObarameJi
right to his house to· engage him ther• Meanwhile, on their way to
ooararnejrs house, the poison In the forbidden food had begun to react on
them. on their approach to ObarameJi's house, they began to drop dead one
after the other. All this happened in the night.
The following morning, Obarameji came out only to discover that the
three evil men were dead on the approach to his house. He then sent
messages to all the sixteen monarchs of the towns that had long been under
seige by the heavenly terrorists. As soon as they were all assembled in the
palace df the Olofln, ObarameJi told them how he procured the death of the
evil men and they all rejoiced and thanked orunmua profusely for protecting
them from the menace.

139
 CHAPTER XVIII
OKONRON - MEJI .
I I I I I
I I I I I
I I
I I
konron-meji performed a few important works in heaven before leaving

0 for eart. h. He was called Okonron kon loun, okonron kon N. ihin. - He
made divination for Araba tobaoan in Bini> and iroko unoko in
Bini>, before they left for the world. Araba and iroko were always cats ancl
dogs and never saw eve to eve on any issue. At that time, iroko was so
powerful and strong that everybody dreaded him.
The diviner advised both of them to pay homage to Esu .with a hegoat,
a cock, an axe and a cutlass'. Araba made the sacrifice but iroko refused to
do it because he considered himself strong enough to be invulnerable.
After feasting on the offerings made to him, ssu went to advise human
beings how strong iroko was for making doors. Before then, the iroko tree
looked so ferocious that no one dared to think Of attacking him In any wav.
For one thing he is physically very strong and huge and for another, his
house is the meeting ground of the elders of the night
The intervention of Esu was to destroy the myth shrouding irokos image
and to make him look as ordinary as.anv other tree. Esu even offered to lead
human beings to the home of iroko, giving them an axe with which to mow
him down. The peorJlle were atfirst reluctant to use the axe on troko, but with
the encouragement gtven to them by ssu, they made an
onslaught on him. ... ·
The fall of troko wasso great that the echo reverberated throughout the
forest. When Arana heard the fall, he wondered what was happening and he
was told that the greattroko had fallen to the axe of human attack. Realising
that irokos fate was the result of his refusal to make sacrifice. Araoa
congratulated himself for abiding by the advice of okonron-mej. Araba then
sang in praise of the diviner who made divination for him to overcome the
menace of iroko who was otherwise. a thorn in this flesh.
When this oou comes out of divination, the enquirer should be told that
he or she has a strong and tall enemy who is seeking his or her downfall. To
overcome the. problems posed by the enemy, he should be told to make
sacrifice with a he-goat, a cock, an axe and a cutlass to Esu.
He made divination for the Ant <Erlra>

Okonron-meji also made divination for the ant before he left heaven for
eartn. rne ant was so small tnst ns wonosreo how hG was going to be
able to work for a living on earth. He then went to Okonronmeji, otherwise
known as Okon feere and Eji feere. He told the ant that he would be given
governance over all the food in the home if he could make sacrifice. He was
told to make sacrifice with 2 pigeons, 2 rats and 2 fishes, in order to gain
everlasting control over all household materials in the world. He made the
sacrifice and left for earth.
This situation explains why the ant treads and feeds freely on all
household food and materials to this day. They move freely about in the
house unhindered and what to eat is never a problem to them. That is the
manifestation of the sacrifice they made in heaven.
140
He made divination for the tree family
The last major work associated with okonron-rnejt before leaving for
earth was performed on his behalf by one of his followers called Efunfun
Lele <the wind>. At that time, all the trees were preparing to come to the
world. Before leaving, they went to okonron-rnejt for what to do in order to
have a successful mission to the world. Since okonronrnej was himself
also arranging to leave for the world, he was busy making his own
preparations. He then asked one of his subordinates called Efunfun Lele
to divine for the trees. Efunfun Lele accordingly divined for all of them
advising them to make sacrifice to asu with a he-goat, to serve their
heads with cock, pigeon, and kola nuts, and to serve Ogun with a cock, a
tortoise, a keg of wtne and roasted yam, and to serve sango w\ttl a cock,
D\tter-\lol~ and wine.
All the other trees refused to make the sacrifice with the exception of
Agbon nirua in Bini> or Royal palm. Thereafter they all left for the world.
Manvvears later. after thev had all flourished on earth, news reached
heaven that there was too much wickedness on earth. The divinities
commissioned sango to go the world to find out what was happening.
Efunfun Lele <the wind> who made divination for the trees, was told to
accompany sanso on his mission to earth.
on getting to the world, the-heavenly commissioners discovered that
many trees had been contaminated by the wicked ways of the world. one
after the other the thunder and the gate force wind destroyed all the trees.
When they got to the abode Of the Royal Palm or urua, he began to sing
in praise of the diviner who made dtvination for him in heaven, recalling
the sacrifice he had made and thanking him for his success on earth. The
royal palm was therefore the only tree whose Hfe was spared. That Is
why to this day, the Agbon <Urua) is the only tree that is insured against
any
attack - from thunder and gates. -•
OkonronmeJI leaves ·Heaven for the World

Realising that his colleagues had left for earth, he too decided to
obtain clearance from God to emigrate from heaven. He went to a diviner
<Awo) called Asokon deji who advised him to make sacrifice before going
to receive his Instruments of authority <ASE> from Gad. He was told to
make sacrifice with a rat, a fish, a hen, a goat, a he-goat and a pigeon. He
accordingly made the sacrifice and went to the divine palace to make his
wishes for earth.
His original plan wasto travel tn the company of the gourd and the
clay pot, but the awo told him to travel atone by a different route.
on his way to the world, he came across a farm. on the edge of the
farm was a trap wnlch caught an antelope that was beginning to
decompose. He removed the antelope from the trap and butchered it, and
set about to prepare fire in the farm to dry the antetope·s meat.
As he was arranging the meat on the drier, the owner of the farm
came and challenged him. He however explained that he did It out of
magnanimity to prevent the meatfrom total decomposition. When the
farmer realised the kind gesture of OkonronmeJi, he thanked him and
gave him one hand of the antelope, which is the part of any animal which
the tfa priest who slaughters an animal for sacrifice, takes to this day.
That Is why OkonronmeJi Is described as tneua who was given-the free
hand to prosper In life.
For this reason, the children of okonronmef are advised to take to
141
9.

farming because he came through the farm. When he was subsequenttv

born in the world, he grew up to be a farmer but he was initially very
unfortunate. He was mainly planttng yams and corn, but his harvest were
often devoured by animals. He decided to go for divination, where he was
told to make a gown for himself having pockets all over it, stuffing them
with kola nuts and bitter kola. He was to annoint his body with a cnlcken
and to hold a walking stick called okparere in Yoruba or osoean in Bini. He
was also to collect materials from the top of two hills close to each other,
as well as from the two gable ends of the house, all to be used to invoke
Esu to drive away the Intruding animals from his farm. He did the sacrifice
accordingly.
After being appeased, Esu planted lnvisibletraps round okonrorrs
farm which caught the animats one after the other. Having rid it of the
intrUding animals, his farm was left to flourish. He also made plenty of
money from selling the meat of the intruding animals caught in the traps
prepared by Esu.
With the money so realised, he decided to get married. After
marriage, his wife did not have a child for a long time. However, one night
the wife dreamt and saw okonronrnej dancing about the town with a
multitude following him.
She decided to go for divination to find out the significance of the
dream. The Awo told her to prepare two sticks with sharp pointed ends
and to get a parcel of spicy pepper <Otawewe in Yoruba and Akpoko in
Binil. They were to be used to make sacrifice to Esu beseeching him to
transform her hard luck to good fortune. She quickty made the sacrifice
and things began to change for the better In all facets of human
endeavour.
But the woman still did net become pregnant. Little did he know that
the woman was a destructive and ruthless witch. These facts were
subsequently revealed to him in . a dream by his guardian angel who
disclosed that he <the guardian angel> was responsible for making it
impossible for his wife to have a child. The guardian angel told him in a
poem that:
A snake begets a snake.
Like a witch begets a witch
From its mother's womb
The snake inherits the venom sac
Just as the witch sucks
Witchcraft from the mother's bowels.
The woman eventually left him, and soon afterwards, his parents also
died. When this oou comes out of lkin divination, the enquirer should be
asked whether there is a deceased member of his or her family who has
not vet been given a final burial. He or she should also be asked whether
there ls a woman in their family who is not having any child. If the man nas
a childless wife, he should be told that the woman will suretv leave him
oecause his marriage to her was not sanctioned by his guardian angel.
After the loss of his wife and parents, he decided to change aboo
temporarily and he went to an lfa priest called koonnkoon Abidi Tirigi fo
divination. He was told to make sacrifice in order to avoid getting lost in
the forest. He was told to give a he-goat to Esu and a pig to his lfa and t
hold 16 packets of Eko and Akara for his journey. He was also to travel wi
2 dogs.
He did the sacrifice and left nave Ule, his permanent abode for uav
oko where he sought to retreat temporarily. Before then, but unkno to
him, the journey between the two places had been a tortuo nightmare.
Those travelling between the two places rather mysterious
142
never got to their destination and no one knew exactly what happened to
them.
Half way on his journey to nave Oko, his two dogs were hungry anc he
gave them part of the Eko and Akara to eat. As the two dogs were eating, a
mysterious boa constrictor emerged from nowhere, pounced on the two dogs
and swallowed them up.
Having swallowed the two dogs the boa became helpless and
okonronmej got a strong stick and killed It. He left the serpent there and
went to nave Oko. When he told them what he had experienced. It was then
the people realised that it was the boa constrictor that was swallowing up
travellers between the two towns.
The people followed him to the spot to butcher the boa. He only took the
small stone found in the boa's stomach uvln osunrnarei and the oil, leaving
the meat for the town's people.
That singular experience launched him into fame and popularity as an
lfa priest. While in the town he was given several women In marriage.
OkonronmeJI became the Head Chief of Haye Oko

on getting to nave oko. he soon developed a close association with the

elderly diviners of the town, for doing for the town what they could not do
after several years of trying. one of such awo was called Ojikutu ooneoe
sorun - Orin gbere gbere xaave .. The man advised him to make sacrifice
with a he-goat for Esu, a goat for lfa, a Rabbit for the night and a cock for his
head because he was likely to receive an elevation. He was told to beat a
drum and dance outside his house. The occasion was.the eve of the
appointment of the Head Chief of the Town. Being a visitor, he never aspired
to the headship of the town, but he made the sacrifices all the same.
After making the sacrifice, he got peQf>le to beat the gong and drums,
gave uroke to his wives and they all danced tlll day break. All the divine
priests in the town came up to participate in the dancing.
Early the next morning, It was concluded that he wasto be the next
Head Chief of nave oko and there was general merriment and rejoicing.
Thereafter he recruited a number of subordinate lfa priests, who
practiced the lfa Art in his name.
He made divination for Akpon to be able to bring peace to lfe
when it was In turmoil
once upon a time, lfe was experiencing a severe famine. There was a
long drought and all the rain makers around had tried In vain to procure
rainfall. Meanwhile, they heard of okonronrnejt and sent for him. He was
otherwise a farmer and not vast In the lfa art. Before answering the invitation,
he went for divination and he was told to make sacrifice before leaving for lfe.
on getting to lfe, he actuanv saw the devastation already caused by the
drought. Having got his share of the sacrifices, esu, who was responsible far
the difficulties, Quickly unscrewed the rain plug from the sky and from the
very evening of his arrival after merely using 1ve-rosun and the appropriate
incantation, the rain began to fall. It rained continuously for three days and
the people of lfe began to rejoice In praise of okonronrnejt, who performed
the miracle. The Incantation used by okonronmen was that:
The battle of the heat never conquers the spoon and the spoon never
143
breaks Inside the soup.
The Salavation Of Akerlwaye

Two of his subordinate priests were snekutu Motagua, OJo okpa akiko
ivere Re occct who made divination for the mother of Akerlwaye when
enemies were wishing death to the girl. The mother was told to make
sacrifice with 2 cocks and she Quickly did It. The cocks were used to make
sacrifice to Ogun and Esu. Meanwhile, Akerlwaye was asleep one night,
when an evil spirit came to her in the form of a snake to enter the room
where she was sleeping. As the snake was about to enter through the door,
Esu Quickly released the iron bar supporting the door and It fell on the snake
crushing It to death. The sound of the fall of the heavy Iron object, woke up
the mother and when she saw what happened. she went on her knees and
sang in praise of okcnronmej who made sacrifice for her.
When this oou comes out of divination normally <that is if It is Ure> the
person will be told that his or her mother had just made sacrifice for him or
her and that It has now manifested.
If it comes out abnormally <that is as Ayeol the person should be
advised to tell the mother to make sacrifice for him or her against imminent
danger or death.
The Ill-fated coronation Of Adeguoye

Eti Lawo moruge. ita aare nueata ono, were the lfapriests who made
divination for Adeguoye, the only son of the king. Adeguoye was born when
his father was already vefA{ old. The lfa priests advised Adeguoye soon after
the death of his father to make sacrifice to the elders of the night with a goat
and to offer a he-goat to Esu, so that he might llve through the coronation
ceremonies. Being a young man, he did not appreciate the significance of
sacrificial offerings. He therefore could not understand why he had to make
the sacrifice for what was merely a traditional ceremony.
Meanwhile, after the burial of his father, the kingmakers invited him to
arrange to succeed to the throne. The ceremony was to commence with a
retreat into seclusion in a secret conclave for fourteen days.
one night, the witches, who will not normally strike without giving their
prospective victim advance warning, visited him and rubbed his body with
their hands. The next morning he became ill. In spite of his indisposition, he
still was not convinced that he should perform the sacrifice. His mother who
would have been the only one to advise him was already too old. to do
anything. on the seventh day in the conclave, he died, but his death was not
formally announced. Under the cover of a curfew (ORO> his corpse was
borne to the house and the coronation csrsmonv was completed post-
humoustv oy ms Infant son, who was made the king.
When this oou comes out of divination for a person who is planning to
take up a new appointment, he should be told that there is success awaiting
him but that death stands between him and the achievement of success. He
should therefore make a sacrifice to the elders of the night
•and to ssu in order to remove the danger of death from his way.

144
 CHAPTER XIX
IROSUN - MEJI I
I
I I
I I I I
I I I I
ery Htt. le is known of the heavenly works of lrosunmeji. He is
V associated with two main works and one minor one in heaven.
(1> He made. divination for all the divinities befOre they left heaven
fOr the earth
In heaven, he was called Akpejo Uku, that is, the man who canaiter the
course of death. He advised the 200 divinities before leaving heaven that on
getting to the earth, they should refrain from laying down inflexible rules and
regulations because - rigid laws breed avoidance and evasion. He told them
to seekthe support of Esu by offering a he-goat to him. They refused to do it,
because they all traditionally despised the trickster divinity. orunmlla was the
only one who gave a ne-aoatto Esu. Thereafter, all the divinities left for the
earth.
As soon as they settled down on earth, the first decree they enacted
was tnatas soon as any Of them grew grey hairs, that divinity should return to
heaven.
In consonance with the decree, whoever had grey hairs died In turn.
Eventually, It was orunmua's turn to nave grey hairs. As soon as grey hairs
became prevalent on his head, the other divinities reminded him that it was
his turn to die. He agreed with them that It was Indeed time for him to return
home to heaven.
Meanwhile, he sounded his lfa, who acwised 'him to make sacrifice with
a he-goat to Esu. He was also to grind dried water yam mixed With ashes
and tie the powder In a bag, made from the raffia palm, to the main entrance
to his house. Thereafter, he was to serve lfa with a pig and to feast all the
remaining divinities with It. He made all the sacrifices and preparations as he
was advised.
Then came the day of the feast which was supposed to be the sendOff
party for him before leaving for heaven. rraotnonanv, it Is forbidden m enter
the house of any of the divinities with a cap on the head. As soon as any of
them got to the entrance ororunmna's house, he had to remove his cap and
at that point, Esu would rub the visitor's hair with the powder Inside the bag
at the entrance and he would go instantly grey. He would place his cap back
on his head after crossing the entrance. That rttual was done to each of the
visiting divinities, but unknown to them all.
As soon as the feast was over, they all asked orunmila when he was
going to die. He replied that he had completed his arrangements to die that
very night because he was very pleased to participate in the mass death that
was about to take place. They wondered what he meentbvmass death, since
he was the only known divinity slated to die. He then explained that since he
was not the only one who had got grey hairs, he concluded that all of them
would have to die simultaneously. He told them to remove their caps from
their heads and they all discovered to their amazement that everyone in the
chamber had gone completely grey.
In the face of the ensuing perplexity they Qulckly passed a unanimous
resolution that from then on, only those who where old enough to die, should
die. The resolution emphasised that the appearance of grey hairs
145
on anyone's head should no longer constitute the yardstick for measuring
the time of death.
That was how orunmua changed the morbid decree of the divinities
because if that law had persisted, no one would have been living for more
than 40 to so years on earth.
He made divination fOr the crocodile

While in heaven, the crocodile was often a helpless creature. He only

had his mouth with which to eat, talk, and defend himself. As he prepared
to come to the world, he went to orunmila for divination on what to do to
live happily on earth. He was advised to make a sacrifice with an iron saw
and a he-goat for Esu. After the sacrifice was made, he was given a
second mouth which was his tail made from the sacrificial iron saw. With
the second mouth, he was to defend himself and to fight for his food. But
he was warned not to be ungrateful to his diviner.
That is why on getting to the earth, the crocodile being an amphibian,
would use his tail to beat up and weaken his victim, and then use his real
mouth to drag the victim into the water. The crocodile can swallow
anything but not the seeds of orunrnua Okin>. The day he swallows lkin,
he will surely die.
He made divination fOr the Fish and the Rat for them to multiply He
made divination for the Rat and the Fish with the following
Incantation when they were coming to earth:
Ejeji taasun Lere, EjeJi
taasan, Eji Lomo Eku sun
toko, Odeta, Eji torno Eja sun
tomi. ooeta.
Males and Females mate to multiply
Two Rats must mate on land to beget a third rat Two
Fishes must mate in water to beget a third fish.
They wanted to find out what to do in order to multiply while on earth. He
told them to make sacrifice with a hen, a pack of yams, a gourd of water,
a fermented melon, tubobo ogiri in Yoruba and Evbarie in Bini>, and all
the condiments used for preparing soup.
He used the materials to serve his lfa, beseeching him to bless their
offerers with children. He also prepared vegetables for them to make
soup with for their consumption, with parts of the sacrificial fowl especially
the gizzards. The soup was to be consumed by them as we.II as their
husbands. soon afterwards, both the rat and the fish became pregnant
and delivered within three months and they soon multiplied by leaps and
bounds.
If this ODU comes out for a woman who is anxious to have a child,
the proper leaves are collected to prepare a soup with the gizzard of the
hen used for making
1rosun-meJi - comessacrifice to lfa, and she will surely become pregnant.
to the world

The lfa priests who made divination for him before leaving heaven were
called:
Anro sowo gini gini moko,
lrawo bese levln eran,
Oju imo kirawo matu eron se.
He was advised to make sacrifice with a cock and a tortoise to the
misfortune divinity <Elenini or idobo: and a he-goat to ssu He was also
told
146
to give a guinea fowl to his guardian angel. He refused to do any of the
sacrifices. He then came to the world where he was practising lfa art. When
he grew up, he was so poor that he could not afford to marry let alone have a
child. The hardship became so severe on him that out of frustration, he
decided to throw his lfa seeosawav. Meanwhile, he had a dream in which his
guardian angel appeared to· him telling him that he was the one responsible
for his problems because he had stubbornly refused to make the sacrifice
prescribed for him. When he woke up in the morning, he decided to sound his
lfa and it was only then he realised that It was his guardian angel that
appeared to him in the night.
He Quickly arranged to do the sacrifice to his lfa and gave a he-goat to
Esu. His lfa advised him to return to heaven to report back to God from whom
he failed to obtain clearance in the first place. For his trip to heaven, he was
told to go with a cock, a tortoise, a pack of yams, a gourd of water, a gourd of
oil, oepoer, okro and snuff. He collected all the things and packed them up in
his divination bag <Akpominijekun or Agbavboko>.
After travelling as far as the boundary of heaven and earth, he had to
cross seven hills before getting to heaven. on getting to heaven, he went
straight to the divine. palace where he met the keeper of the Divine
chamber ... the misfortune divinity orYeye Muwo, the mother of obstacles.
He knelt down at-tne Divine chamber and proclaimed that he came in all
humility to renew his earthly wishes; Veve Muwo intervened that it was too
early In the morning to make any wishes because there was no food in the
house. From his divination bag, he immediately brought out his fire wood,
water, oil, pepper, salt, okro, snuff and finally, the cock all of which the mother
of obstacles demanded in turn, as her usual delaying tactics, but irosunmej
was fully prepared.
Thereafter, Yeve muwo cleared him to make his wishes. Since it was
forbidden to knee down on the bare floor, heknelt on the tortoise which he
nroucntrrom earth. After making all hli wishes, God blessed them with his
Divine Mace. When Yeye muwo heard the sound of the mace she Quickly
finished her cooking, but before she could come out, ssu motioned irosunmeji
to leave Quickly for earth,
When the mother of obstacles finally emerged from the kitchen, she
asked God for the man who had been making his wishes and the Almighty
Father replied that he had gone. When she Queried why He did not ask the
man to make bad and. good wishes God replied that it was not His tradition
to interfere when His children were making their wishes.
In spite of all the gifts he had given to veve muwo, she nonetheless
left Quickly in hot pursuit of irosun-mejt As she was pursuing him, she sang:
Ariro sowo gini gini rnoko,
irawo be sese le' evin eron.
olu Ima ki irawo ma tu eron lse,
010 orire ornomt duro demi buwo ooo
He replied with a refrain of the same song saying that he had already
made sacrifice and his wishes, leaving nothing out. As he was singing he was
racing along in fright.
When Yeye Muwo saw that she could not reach him, she stood still and
stretched out her thumb and tore through his back with it. That is the hollow
line running through the hUman back-bone, to this day, which is to constantly
remind us that the only way we can escapetne long hand of misfortune is by
making sacrifice. With that mark, Yeye muwo proclaimed to lrosun mej - and
ipso facto to the rest of numanttv=- never to remember his heavenly wishes
on getting to earth since the f!rles cannot see the '.back of the body and that
before realising his wishes, he would have to grope in darkness for a long
time and experience a lot of hardship
147
in the process.
The pain of the Injury made irosun meJI unconscious and he lapsed into
a trance of utter-darkness. When he woke up, he found himself on his bed on
earth. He had forgotten everything that happened before then. He however
went about his business and prospered long afterwards.
The state of darkness Is symbolised by the length of time that lfa stays
in palm oil before being brought to life. It also symbolises the gestation period
we spend In the womb, during which we lose all recouecnons of what we
plan to do on earth.
1rosun-meJI made divination for the earthworm
The first work he did on getting back to earth was for a very beautiful
woman who had been married to the Rain In heaven, a man called OJo ouou
botojo ra le lede orun. He made divination for her and advised her to make
sacrifice with a parcel of ashes, salt, the dried branches of palm tree, dried
leaves, adding a he-goat for esu. He also told her not to abandon her
husband in order to avoid physical disability that could cripple her. She
neither made the sacrifice nor heeded his advice not to divorce the husband.
As soon as she meta more handsome man called orun <sunshine> on earth,
she despised her former husband on tt'le grounds that his abode was too
filthy, wet, and cold for comfort. She heaved a sigh of relief on meeting
sunshine saying that she had at last met the right husband. In defiance of the
advice of lrosunmeJi, she began to live with sunshine, her new husband.
Not long afterwards, the home of sunshine began to get heated up.
The weather became very hot and dry. She was not used to Intense heat,
which made her very uncomfortable. Meanwhile, she began to avoid her new
husband and left his house to look for a cooler abode. When sunshine
realised that she was giving up on him, he prepared a fire wand and with it
visited her in her hide-out. When he was leaving, he told her to escort him
which she agreed to do.
When they got to a very dry spot, he asked her whether anyone at home
would over-hear a cry from that spot. She replied that the place was not
within ear-shot. She became afraid not knowing what was going to happen
next. He Queried why she had left him and was Ignoring him. She replied
that his house had gotten too hot for her because she was not used to over-
heated surroundings.
He then brought out his fire wand and set the dry leaves on the ground
ablaze. The fire soon spread and surrounded her. As she was about to be
consumed by the fire, she remembered her former husband in heaven
<Rain>. She begged Rain to save her from the fire unleashed on her by
sunshine wltn tne fo\lowino ooem:-
ojoo Arata OJo
Uno kPikpa beleJe o
ojo Arata ojo
OJo ouou bolojo
OJo Arata oJo.
When Rain overheard her cry in heaven, he was moved with sympathy
for her, and almost immediately, the rain started falling and soon
extinguished the fire gutting her. The rainfall provided immediate relief and
she began to rejoice.
However, in view of the sacrifice which she refused to make to Esu, she
was not altogether free from danger. As she moved to return home, she did
not know that there was a hole In the ground containing some
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burning wood inside the ground which the rain could not reach. She fell with
her two feet and hands into the fire hole and her limbs got burnt. With that
she lost her limbs and became crippled.
That Is how the earthworm came Into being and she began to crawl on
her abdomen from that day. That explains why the earthworm disappears
Into the earth In search of wet grounds during the dry season and only
happily crawls about during the rains. Thus the saying goes that a woman
never appreciates a good husband until she has had cause to'trv a second
one.
lrosun-meJI begins a new life on earth

Having forgotten his wishes In heaven, he did not exactly find life easy
initiallv. He was to grope for sometime before finding his bearings In spite
Of th~ ~aeriflces he had made. That was due to the effect of the curse of the
mother of obstacles. He became an ubtquttous traveller moving from one
town to the other for his lfa art and practice.
During one of his travels, he married a woman called Moromokpe
nmtomone In Bini> who was in the habit of flirting about whenever he was
away from home. She however became pregnant, and during labour for
delivery, she could not deliver the child. After trying everything he knew, he
became perptexeo, At that point; another lfa priest called Adawara se wara,
came to visit him. He was famous for making divinations and predictions that
manifested instantly. When he made divination on why the woman had a
difficult labour, he revealed that she had committed adultery after becoming
pregnant and that she would not deliver unless she confessed her misdeeds.
When the woman was Questioned closely, she confessed to having affairs
with two men after and during her pregnancy. After the confession she
delivered the child safely.
on the 7th day, lrosunmeji again visited ~awara se wara for a Naming
ceremony divination. He disclosed that he had a good child but advised that
sacrifice would have to be made wtth a cock and a he-goat In order to
minlmse the problems the child was bound to encounter In life. The child was
named lfamude unasameo in Bini>. As the child grew up, he prepared a
boomerang <Ekpede> for himself. The lfa priest had warned that the child
should be told never to go Into the forest on sabbath days, In order to obviate
the risk of seeing his guardian angel in the forest. His mother was also called
Devi.
one dav, 'his father was away to the farm, while his mother went to the
market teavlng him atone In the house. out of rascautv, he climbed through
the roof of the house and hid hlmself hold Ing his boomerang. To his utter
amazement, the goats in the house came out in different dresses belonging
to his mother. Almost in unison the goats began to sing.
UJa bele bele ta ko ko
Devi LO Oja
Eran wute ogbedo kpasne ba
Eye wuie egbedo koa seve
UJa bele bele ta ko ko,
The significance of the song is that the goats were complaining that
1rosun-meJi and his wife Deyi were so niggardly· that they could not afford to
offer any of the several goats and fowls they had In the house to their fore-
bears.
lfamude was so stunned by the Incident that he Quickly came down,
took the father's gun at the shrine of Ogun and shot the singing goat. The
remaining goats ran into the bush with Devi's clothes which they had· on.
149
 When oevl came back from the market, she disc.overed that all the
goats had disappeared with all her clothes. When she saw the dead goat
that could not run away, she enqulred from the son what had happened
and lfamude narrated the events to her. He explained that the reason he
could not pursue. the goats Into the forest was because it was a sabbath
day when he was forbidden to enter the forest.
When the husband returned from the farm he too was told what had
happened and he thanked his forefathers for sparing the llfe of his son In
the circumstances In which he found himself. Almost Immediately he got
one grey coloured goat, two hens and a fish, to make sacrifice to their
forebears.
When this ODU comes out of divination the subject should be told to
beware of the risk of robbery and theft against him.
The benevolenee Of ll'OSlln-meJI

lrosun-meji was always prepared to assist anyone In dlfflcultv. one of

the beneficiaries of his benevolence was a hunter called ODE who
approached him for assistance In collecting from the forest the animals he
had shot In his hunting expedition. -He obliged without reservation.
Another was the farmer called osoe who also approached him for help in
harvesting his crops from the farm. fie also obliged wlthOut Qualms. Not
only did he help the hunter In collecting his game from the forest, he also
helped to roast and butcher them.
While he was roasting the games, fire accidentally burnt his eves and
gave him a permanent disfigurement. soon afterwards, while he was
harvesting crops for the farMer, the ravs. of the sun dazzled his eyes and
made them red. These two accidents blurred and affected his sight. In
spite of this Inconvenience, the hunter and the farmer clearly repaid him
with crass Ingratitude.
The two of them went to meet his lover and Queried her for
continuing to befriend a man who could hardly see. They wondered
whether she could not get a complete man to marry.
During his subsequent visit to his lover, she began to cotc-snoutoer
him, and finally told him that she was no longer in a position to marry him
because of his occular defects. She however disclosed to him . that his
friends ODE and Ogbe had come to scandalise him before her.
He then appealed to his guardian angel and his head to rid him of the
affliction that brought the defect to his appearance. The following night,
someone appeared to him In a dream and told him to make sacrifice with
a goat and some leaves with which he was to wash his head and eves for
seven days. He was to be washing his head into the water drain
<Uroramen
in Bini> of his house. ·
At the end of the head and eves washing operation, the defects to
his eyes had disappeared and he was as handsome and as presentable
as ever. He then went back to the lover who was so happy to find him
with his new looks. soon afterwards they got married and became happy
and prosperous ever after.
Meanwhile, he decided to deliver a curse on his ungrateful friends in
the following incantation: inc
loma kpanju ode orun
loma kpanju oebe
It meant mat forever after, the hunter will be identified by the redness
of his eves while the farmer will always be beaten by the rays of the sun
before . he can derive any · benefit from his farm. He lived to be verv
150
prosperous and famous.

He made divination for Airowosebo and queen mother of the

Benin throne
Arigala rigala made divination for Airowosebo, the man who was too
poor to afford the sacrifice prescribed for him in order to prosper in life.
Airowosebo in turn made divination for the wife of the Oba of Benin when she
was anxious to have a son. At that point in time, the woman had just
commenced her menstruation. As soon as she entered the house of
Airowosebo, he told her that she was having her monthly period, and that if
she made sacrifice, she would become pregnant the following month and
would bring forth a male child who would ascend to the throne of Benin. She
was told to make sacrifice with a he-goat, a cock, a duck, a hen and 16
cowries. She quickly made the sacrifice.
True to the prediction of Airowosebo she became pregnant soon
afterwards, and subsequently gave birth to a male child who was being
groomed to become the next Oba of Benin. When his father Joined his
ancestors, the crown prince became the Oba of semn.
All these years Airowosebo still could not earn enough money to make
the sacrifice which stood between him and prosperity. One day, Airowosebo
was passing by the ocas palace in Benin and the oueen mother saw him In
the distance. She Quickly ran up to him and greeted him reverently on her
knees - a most unusual occurence in Benin City to see the mother of the Oba
greet anyone on her knees.
When the Oba saw Ris mother greeting one wretched looking subject on
her knees, he sent for his motner and the man. He Queried the mother for
paying such unregal respects to a commoner who was demonstrably a
pauper. The mother however exptained that far from being a pauper, he was
in fact the man who had made it pessible for her to have him when his late
father had no male child.
The Oba then turned to Airowosobe and asked him why he was
incapable of helping himself, if he truly had the power to help others to
prosper in life.' He explained that he was wretched because he could not
afford to perform the sacrifice prescribed for him to make decades previously
by Arigala rigala. Asked what the sacrifice involved, he disclosed that it was a
rat and the meat of a pig. The oba asked him whether he believed that
making a sacrifice with these two animals would truly solve his problems, and
he confirmed that It would do so.
Under pain of the death penalty, the oba decided to help him on the
condition that he became visibly prosperous after the sacrifice. He was then
given a special accommodation in the royal guest house at the Ogbe quarters
of Benin City. The Oba then ordered for 200rats and a live bush pig, which
were assembled before sunset on that very day. Of course the word of the
Benin monarch was law at the time. In those days there were no domestic
pigs in the Benin Empire, so, a wild pig had to be fetched from the forest.
Atrowoseno took only one of the rats added kolanut to it to serve his late
father. There was one tree of life CAkoko in Yoruba and lkhlnmwin In Bini> in
the rear court-yard of the royal guest house. He tied the pig to the tree
awaiting sacrifice, the next day. That night, It rained heavily, and the pig dug
up the grounds surrounding the tree. As it dug into the earth, the pig
unwittingly unearthed pots of treasure apparently buried there by a departed
king. After digging up the treasure pots, the pig cut the rope with which it was
fastened, broke loose, and ran back Into the forest. ·
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 Next morning, Airowosebo came out, to Inspect the pig only to discover
that it had escaped, leaving behind the pots of treasure It had unearthed.
The pots contained plenty of money, beads, clothes etc, He removed all the
treasures Into his house. He then used some of the beads to make a beaded
dress, shoe, cap and neck lace for himself. He sold some of the rest and
used. the proceeds to buy himself a horse.
Four days after the sacrifice, he got himself dressed up In his new
beaded outfit and rode on the horse to the palace to demonstrate to the oba
that his sacrifice had manifested. On seeing him, the oba congratulated him
and proclaimed him a proficient lfa priest. He was then appointed as the
Royal Diviner and he lived In affluence and influence ever after In the Benin
kingdom.
How 1rosunmeJt got pc,pularlty with kingship

His association with the king of Benin brought him popularity in all the
neighbouring towns.and villages throughout the kingdom. Hewas on a
divination round on one occasion when he met an lfa priest called Aoavooko,
who made divination for lrosunmeji otherwise called Eleko Odere. He was
told to make sacrifice with 7 rats, 7 fishes, 7 cocks; 7 hens, 1 he-goat, 1 pig,
1 goat and 3 dogs. He made the sacrifice adding NS.00.
After the sacrifice, all the onas from far and near began to send gifts to
him on account of the services he rendered to them. Among the gift offerings
he had were human slaves, cows, goats, money etc. That was how his
prosperity became boundless.
He made divination for Otoltu Of owu

Yeri Yeri, AfashO didu bora, was his nickname when he went to make
divination for the Olowu of owu. He aovised the Olowu to make sacrifice in
order to have power and Influence. He, was told to make two sacrifices one
with a Ram. and the other with cow·s meat. a goat. a pig, a dog, a tortoise, a
duck, and a rabbit, in order to avoid having problems from a yellow woman.
He made the first sacrifice but refused to make the second one - although he
also made sacrifice with the cow·s meat.
Meanwhile, the Armed Forces of Oyo launched an attack on owu - an
event which was a regular feature in the relationship between the two
kingdoms at the time. The attacking forces from Oyo were surrounded by the
owu army and they were all taken captives. The king of ovo then went for
divination and was told to make the kind of sacrifice that the Olowu refused
to make Including 201 eggs, 45 rabbits and 41 gourds of on. The
king of ovo Quickly made the sacrifice. ·
There was one yellow woman in the town of owu who was so powerful
that her wishes were law, but had failen out with the Olowu or owu. The
woman who felt slighted, Quickly decided to make the Olowu realise how
high was the price of offending her. She prepared a concocnonor wine and
can-wood and threw it into the power house of the Olowu of owu, while he
was asleep. The woman was in fact a witch and was only able to perform
that operation psychically.
At that point, the troops from ovo attacked owu, and in the process
massacred the entire owu army, and took the Olowu himself captive.
When the Olowu was brought as a war prisoner before the king of ova,
the latter agreed to let him return home to his domain. The Olowu, otherwise
a very proud king, replied that he had no home to return to. He then
pronounced an incantation for self Immolation and he died
152
instantly. The yellow woman, who was also captured, was used to make
sacrifice to the fore-bears;
He made divination fOr the Eko and Akara sellers of Odere

There were two women in the town of Odere. one prepared Eko
<porridge} for sale while the other prepared akara <Bean Buns> for sale.
When their trade began to decline, they both decided to approach irosunmeji
for divination. At that time, he had three tfa priests lodging with him namely
Aoarooko. Adaroodo and Ada toro 1vangan. They were the ones who made
divination for the two women in the home of irosunmejr.
After divination, the three tfa priests told the women that their trade
would flourish if they could make sacrifice. The Eko producer was told to
make sacrifice with a hen, 2 pigeons and one snail, while the Akara producer
was told to make sacrifice with a cock, 2 pigeons and one snail. They both
made the sacrifices.
Thereafter, their trade became very prosperous and the two items
became complementary foods, and from then on, people scarcely took Eko
without akara. Alakara was a fair skinned woman while the Eleko was very
pale in colour <almost white>.
If danger <Ave O> is indicated at divination, the sacrifice is made with a
brown or red cock, areo cloth which the person already has in the house,
and pepper. Flames of fire extinguished with water are used to wash the
person's face, in order to avoro-a catastrophe that could make the person
weep.
If it comes out normally <URE> he Should be told that a light skinned
woman would be coming his wav, to whom he woutd eventually get married,
and whose first born would be a baby bov. He should however be advised to
make sacrifice with a goat.
If on the other hand it comes out for a person anxious to have children,
a sheep is offered to tfa and the person will surety begin to have children.
lfa-Alaaye, takes the crown of Odere

At this stage of his life rrosunmej had become very prosperous and his
popularity had spread to the four winds. Meanwhile he had a number of other
lfa priests serving under him. one of such awos was called oukutu kutu
gbede.
one morning tfa Alaave came for divination. The Awo made divination
for him and told him to make sacrifice Quickly because of an up-coming
contest. He advised him to make sacrifice with 7 cuoseus. so as to win a
crown that was lurking around him. He was also to make sacrifice with 7 he-
goats, one goat, one pig, one ram and his own wearing apparel, in order to
survive an imminent battle. He did the sacrifice but only with 3 he-goats to
Esu.
Meanwhile, it was time to choose a new King for the town of Odere,
where irosunrnef lived. The favourite choice was tfa-Alaave, but all eves
meanwhile turned to a man called oquntana. lfa Alaave came back to ask
irosunrnej why his name was not being mentioned in connection with the
contest. He sounded lfa and it revealed that Esu was still expecting four more
he-goats from him, and to add a drum to the sacrifice. He Quickly
, completed the sacrifice.
1
The following night, Esu got up and beat the drum round the town
singing, Ogun dee, ava jamagere giri giri. It was a song heralding the
153
approach of war, and the people of Odere all hid themselves In their
houses. That night oaumana. the favoured candidate for the Kingship lost
his senior wife and his eldest son. The ensuing grief and melancholy
made him to lose interest In the contest for the kingship. There was also
so much confusion and devastation In the town that all those who
favoured OQunlana for the contest were either dead, bereaved or
mourning.
When the actual contest fell due, It was only lfa Alaaye who was left
and he got the crown and rejoiced exceedingly. He went to thank
lrosunmeji with plenty of gifts In appreciation for the divination and
sacrifice made for him.
The last Test for lrosun-meJI
He was now a successful man revered by kings and commoners alike.
He was aiso very prosperous. one morning, one of his domestic priests ,
called Eyindede Eso llu, made the traditional morning diVlnatlon for him and
revealed that he should make sacrifice so that his Influence and popularity
might not nose-dive into a bottomless precipice. He was advised to make
sacrifice with a cow, a he-goat, 3 pads tosuka in Yoruba and Ukoki
In smn and 3 cunceus. He did the sacrifice.
Three years after the sacrifice, the king of death dug a mysterious
trench stretching from· heaven to the house where the children of
lrosunmeji resided. The ground divinity <Ebora lie in Yoruba or Erinmwin
Oto In Bini> revealed to EJI-Olorun in a dream that there was a
bottomless grave under his house which could only be closed with a cow.
He Quickly offered the cow to the ground. soon afterwards, there was an
influenza epidemic which ravaged tnatown. All the children of lrosunmeji
were also afflicted, but they all survived the epidemic. He then rejoiced
and lived to a ripe old age before returning to heaven.

154
 CHAPTER XX
OWANRIN - MEJI I
I I I
I I I I
I I
I I
he most important work done in heaven by owanrlnmeji was the
T divination he did for two brothers,Fefe and Ale <the wind and the
sround.i when they were coming to the world. He advised them to
make sacrifice in order to command the respect of all and sundry on
earth. They were both told to make sacrifice with a palm frond, a parrot's
feather and a sheep to their guardian angels and to give a he-goat each
to Esu. ALE was very calm, patient and a very good listener. He quickly
did the sacrifices. Fefe was on the other hand, very swift, rascally and full
of alacrity. He was so conceited that he did not consider it necessary to
make any sacrifice. They both left for the earth at the same time. on
getting to the boundary of heaven and earth, they parted ways.
Ale was very successful on earth, where he became the sheet-
anchor of God's living creatures. They had been told in heaven that they
would live for ever if they did thee sacrifice. Since it was Ale alone that
made the sacrifice, It turned out that every plant and animal coming to the
world had first to pay respect to him by touching its or his head on the
ground for Ale. Fefe on the other hand could not live a settled life on
earth. His habitation was ephemeral because he took to shuttling
between heaven and earth. That is why the ground has a stable and
permanent existence on earth, while the wind is not only Invisible but has
no known existence. His presence can only be felt but not seE¥1.
owanrinmeJI Prepares to come to the world

on seeing that most of his elder brothers in heaven had left, he too
decided that it was time to come and see what the earth was like. Those
who came before him had given a situation report on what things were
like on earth. He was so scared by the hard luck stories told by the
others, that he decided that before coming to the earth, he had to fortify
himself.
He approached an tfa priest in heaven called osnukpa, omo alasho
Aranklje, who made divination for him. He was advised to make sacrifice
with 3 rats, 3 fishes, 3 goats, 3 he-goats, 3 cocks and 2 dogs as follows: 2
he-goats to ssu obaoara
1 he-goat to Esu - Jelu
1 goat to ortsa
1 goat to lfa\
1 goat for Sarah
1 dog for Ogun
1 dog for Obalifon
1 cock to uja Atikiriji
1 cock to osonvln
1 cock to srurnrtv
He was told that he was going to come across three trials while on
earth and that these sacrifices were necessary in order to survive them.
He was told that he would lead a prosperous life, but that Death would
always be on his trail with a cudgel. Also on his life chart, was the risk of
155
a verv long and incapacitating Illness. At the rear of the two trials would be
the welcome air of prosperity and wealth. He made all the sacrifices.
on account of the elaborate sacrifice he made to Esu, he began to see
the good effects of it even before he departed for earth. As soon as Esu ate
his he-goat, he removed the skufl of the dog given to Ogun and put It at the
entrance to the house of the King of Death. Meanwhile, oaun was searching
for the skull of the dog he had eaten and traced it to the house of the King of
Death, who at the time was away on his daily chores to the earth In search of
food.
Ogun eventually saw the King of Death somewhere on earth and
apprehended him. Needless to.sav that Ogun Is stronger and more vicious
than Death. Ogun accused Death of stealing and ingratitude, saying that he
was not satisfied with the human meat he fetched for him through accidents
every day but had also began to lust for his own <Ogun's>favourite food, the
dog.
Knowing that he was helpless In a combat with Ogun, Death dis-
appeared as he Is wont to do. Ogun on the other hand, does not have the
capacity to disappear. He however ran swiftly back to heaven to meet Death
in his house.
When Ogun met Death rn his house. he began to attack him with his
matcnet, Death, who is a fat and tall divinity, finding the punishment too
much for him, cried out for all the dogs In heaven to be assembled. His
followers collected 201 dogs and roasted seven of them right away for Ogun,
who had meanwhile destroyed many lives and properties in heaven.
While Ogun was punishing Death, his wife, the Sickness divinity, was
injured in the stampede and could not follow owanrlnemji to earth, as she
had planned to do. It Wai during the furore in heaven that owanrlnmeji
sneaked out of heaven on his Journey to earth.
When the dust settled and Ogun had left Death in peace, Arlku and Aje
<Long life and Prosperity> had the chance to accompany owanrlnmeJi to the
world. It is significant to observe how the elaborate sacrifices made by
owanrinmeji began to manifest themselves, by diverting the attention of the
obstacles that would have disturbed him on earth. That is why the children
and followers of owanarlnmeji are endowed with wealth, long life and
prosperity, provided they are able to make the same sacrifice that he made
before he left heaven for the earth.
owanrlnmeJI ties the hands Of his enemies
Just before leaving heaven, he met other lfa priests called:
oronkpon roio Toto
lri arimo nlrln biri biri biri ojo
koa aaoatacba Ninu oko Ode
le eerasno mu bura.
They advised him to make sacrifice in order to avoid being the victim of
a conspiracy while on earth. He was to give another he-goat to Esu on the
verv eve of his departure. Thereafter, he made the feast with a grey coloured
goat to the elderly Awos of heaven and they all gave him their blessing,
promising him eternal support while on earth.
Finally, he went to God for blessing and clearance with a piece of white
cloth, a big white chalk, a parrot's feather and two white kolanuts. God
received the offering; and gave him His good wishes, thus clearing him
formally to go to earth.
He came out of the town of oyo and took to his art as an lfa Priest -
whilst also trading on the side-line. He was initially· successful In both
156
vocations, but his prosperity soon began to evoke envv from the more elderly
lfa priests.
The elders soon began to plot against him. They did a collective
divination on what to do to dwarf the popularity of owannemejl. They finally
decided to goto him for divination on what to do to oestorv him. He told them
to make sacrifice with a goat to his lfa and a he-goat to ESU'. Meanwhile Esu
warned him that the sacrifice was being made against him and he reassured
Esu that he had seen it during divination for them and that he knew what to
do to checkmate their machinations. They did not return for the sacrifices.
Meanwhile, it was time for the annual festival of one ofthe deities in the
town. The conspirators invited owanrinmeji to accompany them to the
ceremonies. They had dug a hole in the ground on the route to the venue of
the ceremony, that is, the shrine of the deity. They expected him to take that
route while they took a different route. It was customary for visitors to the
shrine to come and go by different routes.
After their conspiracy had unfolded itself to him, owanarinmeJI told them
that he was forbidden to visit any other shrine, other than orunmua's but they
retorted bY threatening to expel him from the town If he failed to be present
at the ceremony, because it was a civic obligation of all the inhabitants of
oyo.
With that threat, he decided to consult lfa on what to do and his lfa
asked for sacrifice to him with a grey coloured goat, and a he-goat for Esu.
He did the sacrifices after which he set out for the journey to the shrine,
where all visitors were required to stay for fourteen days. It was customary
for all ortnem to go in groups, but to return home severally.
on the fourteenth day, an the ceremonies were over and It was time to
disperse. The conspirators told owanrinmeji that being a neophyte, he should
lead the way on the return Journey home. This was how they hoped to lure
him to fall into the hole they haf camouflaged on the path.
As he approached the location of the concealed noje, ssu transformed
the skull of the ne-qoat with which he made sacrifice, into an obstacle on the
ground. He hit his foot against the stud installed by Esu, jumped over the
hole, and continued safely on his journey home. People rejoiced with
him when he arrived safely home. ·
Meanwhile, Esu covered the hole dug nv the conspirators and prepared
another one just outside the main gate to the shrine. After owanrrnmejrnac
long left, the conspirators decided to leave one after the other.
Without having cause to suspect the presence of another hole just
outside the shrine gate, asu had installed the he-goat's skull as a stun on the
Immediate approach to the hole. The first conspirator knocked his feet
against the stud installed by ssu and he fell right into the hole. Esu then
prepared the stud and the hole for the next conspirator, until atl of them were
safely inside the bottom-less grave dug by Esu.
once the last conspirator was in the hole Esu sealed it up as if nothing
had previously been there. That was how an the conspirators disappeared
out of sight without the slightest indication of what happened to them. From
that day, It was ordained bv orunrnua that whoever goes to seek salvation
from a holy shrine must eo so wtth a dean heart, because the wicked ones
may not return alive.
soon afterwards, there was complete pandemonium in oyo as many
families began to look for their missing husbands, sons and relatives. The
town decided to go for mass oivinatlon; They again went to owanrinmeji, who
after divination revealed that the King of Death nao sent messengers
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from heaven to abduct all those returning from the shrine, who had wicked
intentions. He: disclosed to them that it was on account of that vision he
had told them before they left for the shrine to offer a goat to his lfa to
appease the King of Death and a he-goat to Esu, to ward off the danger,
but they did not return to perform the sacrifice. He also advised that to be
able to buy the lives of those who were by then, too scared to leave the
shrine, the sacrifice still, had to bemace. The sacrifices were Quickly done
and it was only then that Esu cleared the way for the remaining celebrants
to return safely home.
When the blizzard was all over, owanrinmeji made a large feast at
which he rejoiced with a song in praise of the priests who made divination
for him in heaven; thus;
The elders of oyo were told to make sacrifice,
But they ignored it.
I was told to make a similar sacrifice,
I listened and did the sacrifice.
I missed my steps and survived,
Because I made sacrifice.
Others missed their steps and died,
because they failed to make sacrifice.
Those who make sacrifice,
unfailingly receive salvation.
owanrinmeJi's experience as a trader
His first trial as an lfa priest shook him so much that he thought he
should give up the practice atlld take on a less contentious vocation. He
was astonished by the emmitv that success and achievement engendered
in the lfa art and practice and decided to limit his activities to trading with
the following poem:
Gbi kooo tecunmala
Gba aghen mu bo ri
uma sno Lugobodo
Jogun fe mava
Ja ayo jere tumodon
He was trading with the water divinity, but not having made aoeouate
preparations before embarking on it, his effort failed woefully and he lost
all his money and became heavily indebted. He then aooroacneotne
parrot for assistance, but the parrot told him that he too was in debt up to
his neck. The parrot proposed that since no one ever agreed to give
financial assistance to debtors, they should begin by both practising the
lfa art. They decided to leave Oyo for another town where they were not
known.
owanrinmeji had one good luck soap which did not help him in his
trade. But when he gave it to others to use, it was Quite efficacious and
those who used it came back to express their gratitude with plenty of gifts.
His partnership with the parrot paid off and together they succeeded in
assisting several people to flourish in their trading activities. That is why
the saying goes that a doctor can cure others but not himself.
owanrin-meJI tries his hands at farming
He was a successful farmer. compared to his experience in trading,
he recorded an impressive harvest. one vear, he had a prolific yam
harvest and as the yams were being barned, he had a disagreement w1th
his mother. When he shared the yam barn 'between his two wives and his
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mother, the latter complained about the size of the barn allocated to the
wives. He had two wives; who unknown .to him, were both witches. His
mother had often accused him of glVing more attention to his wives than to
the mother who brought him to the world. The sharing of the yam barn
rekindled the grievances of the mother and she again complained olttertv. In
the ensuing scuffle, he pushed his mother who burst into tears accusing him
of beating her. She left the farm and cried all the way home.
When she got to the town, she met the elders holding a meeting at the
town hall. They asked her why she was weeping and she explained that her
son had beaten her up in the farm on account of his wives. Among the elders
at the town hall were some of owannnmejrs deadliest enemies who also
belonged to the witch cult. They had previously sought In vain to find fault
with him as an excuse for concemrnnq him tn the witcn C\UO.
Normally, the rule of the club is that no victim is punished without the
benefit of a fair trial and conviction.
In fact it is well known that no matter however much witches may hate a
person, they do not strike until the person has been tried and found ouutv.
For as long as the person cannot be charged and convicted, they will not
touch him. In this case, his own mother had provided a nnrnaracte case
against him. unknown to him, his two wives had long teamed up with his
enemies in the witch-club to destroy him, but he had refrained from providing
them any Justification for doing so.
Following the public complaint levelled against him bv his mother -
which explains Why it Is Important for people to resist the urge to ventilate
their domestic grievances in public, for fear that some evil minded listener
may amplify it in the witch-world - the matter was tabled at the next meeting
of witches.
During the deliberations, his two wives corroborated the allegation of his
mother and he was summarily tried and convicted, albeit, In absentia,
because he was not a witch himself. He wa! slated to be killed. That night
however, his lfa gave him in his dream an esoteric picture of his trial and
conviction. Frightened by the dream, he asked lfa the following morning,
whether the dream signalled the approach of danger and lt was so
confirmed. He was told to give a he-goat to Esu immediately and to refrain
from going to the farm on Sabbath days until further notice - to avoid falling
victim to a treacherous conspiracy. He made the sacrifice.
Meanwhile, one of his wives proposed that they should go to the farm
on the next Sabbath day because there were no foodstuffs at home. That
was the day he was proposing to make the sacrifice. He told the wife that he
was not in a position to leave the house on that day because he was going to
make a sacrifice. wh·en that plot faltered, his enemies immediately resorted
to another strategy. They invited and told him that since he often went to the
forest to fetch leaves for,hls lfa practice, he should be Initiated into the secret
cult <ORO> of the forest. He agreed to get intitlated and he was told to come
along with a cock, white chalk, a parrot's feather and aligator pepper, Into the
forest for the initiation ceremony. He was to be led blindfolded into the shrine
of the ORO cult. He Immediately sounded lfa for advice and he was told to
give.another he-goat to ssu who would foil the morbid plot being hatched
against mm, He did the sacrifice and told the town·s elders that he was ready
for the initiation ceremony to the ORO CUit.
on the appointed day, the Chief priest of the cult led him In a nocturnal
procession from the town towards the forest shrine, amid a townwide curfew.
As soon as they left the town's precincts, they told him to stop and his
blindfold was removed. They told him to stretch out his hands
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to touch the sky. He replied that the hands of a child could not stretch out to
touch the sky. Next, they told him to clench his fist and put it Into the mouth
of a gourd. He again replied that the fist of an adult could not enter the mouth
of a gourd.
He wasthen told that any neophyte to the cult, who failed to perform the
two feats, never returned home alive. He was instantly pushed forward
apparently to be sacrlfied to the shrine. Meanwhile, Esu was poised to
intervene, having installed an Invisible obstacle on the ground against which
he hit his foot - injuring himself -" and he disappeared into invisibility. He
miraculously found himself in his house.
WhHe he was nursing the inJurv he sustained, the men at the shrine
trailed him to his house where they met his mother and asked her for his
whereabouts. She told them that he was indisposed. They pushed her over
and ordered her to produce her son because she was the one who
precipitated the mayhem against the son by complaining at the town hall that
he had beaten her up In the farm. They told her that as a result of her
accusation, the son had been slated for ritual execution.
She then knelt down to beg them not to execute her son because she
had forgiven him. In the light of her passionate pleading, they told her to get
the son to produce a goat to be slaughtered at the town hall for a feast to the
town·s elders. After the feast, they still insisted that owanrmmej should be
properly Initiated to the Forest cult since he had seen part of the secrets of
the shrine.' The ceremony was subsequennv completed without any incident
and they gave him one parrot's feather to wear from time to time, as a staff of
membership.
Eventually, they disclosed to him that his two wives were the culprits
who instigated the cult of witches against him, although the catalyst was his
mother's complaint. Nonetheless, it was his mother who also pleaded for his
life. The witches then took one of his wives In lieu of himself and the woman
suoseouennv died in her sleep. He eventually did away with the second wife.
When this oou comes out during lfa's initiation ceremony, the person is
warned never to ill-treat his mother and to beware of his first two wives, if he
is married, or his first two marriages because the women are likely to be
witches. He should also be advised not to allow himself to be initiated into
any secret cult, unless he makes the requistte sacrifice.
owanrtnmell Takes a New Wife
suru La fl wa owo
Eni to fe kpa eja todo, koeiu awon ni lati fi
suru kpelu e .
. The search for honest money requires patience. catching fish
with a net also Involves a lot Of patience.
These are the names of the two Awos who made dlVinatlon for the
princess of Ado romo ewi Ado> when she was going to commence the
trading business. She was told that she was the wife of orunmila, who alone
would help her to succeed In the business.
Meanwhile, owanrinmeJi visited the palace. He was attracted to the
princess and asked the Ewl of Ado <the girl's father> to give her to him in
marriage. The Oba responded that he would raise no objection If his
daughter agreed to marry him. The Oba Offered to give owanrlnmeji a
chleftaincy title If he succeeded In making his daughter's trading business to
flourish. owanrlnmeJI however promised to help the girl, but declined the
offer of a chieftalncv title.

160
 At that point, the Ewi Invited his daughter to sound her on the marital
proposition of owanrinmeji. When the princess was asked if she would agree
to marry owanrinmeji, she readily confirmed that she was interested in him
and would agree to be his wife. There were several other admirers in
thetown who had been having their eyes on the princess. As soon as the
news went round that the Oba had betrothed his daughter to owannnmejt,
they reacted by deciding to stop paying homage and respects to the Oba.
on getting home, owanrlnmeJI asked lfa how to make the princess
succeed In her trading business. orunmlla advised him to make sacrifice with
16 pigeons, 16 ducks, 16 guinea fowls, 16 bags of money, 16 pieces of cloth,
16 parcels of soap and a he-goat to Esu.
owanrlnmeJI began the sacrifice ev giving a he-goat to Esu. He
collected ·the relevant leaves from the OUStl ano USeO fOUf each Of the
things prescribed for the sacrifice to prepare a soap dish. He left the 12
remaining pigeons to be reared at home. He gave the soap to the princess to
be used for bathing.
The following day, she travelled to Oja AJigbo mekon. Before arriving at
the market Esu had collected all the valuable wares onto a central stall in the
market. Having done that, Esu also went round with a bell in hand,
announcing throughout the market that the princess of Ado had beautiful and
durable-wares-for sale. She sold all the merchandise at supernormal profit
and those who could not buy from her wares beseeched her to come with
more wares on the next market day.
That was how her business flourished· until she eventually became
richer than her father. She was a lovely wife to owanrinmeJi and they had
several· children between them.
owanrlnmeJI checkmates the machinations of his enemies ••
He soon began to wonder whether there was Justification for au the
problems he was getting from his enemies. He therefore decided to go for
divination on what to do about it. He went to an lfa priest caned Alakpata
Abiye gongonron, to find out what to do to tie the hands of his enemies. -He
was advised to make sacrifice with 3 rats, 3 fishes, one goat, one he-goat, 10
snails and cow meat. He was to use the Jaw bones and the tongue of the
cow, and therelevantleaves were to be added, for preparing an ASE with the
Incantation that the cry of a cow does not assemble a conference of human
beings. This is the Ase with Which owanrlnmeji neutralised the evil plans of
his enemies and it is one of the important preparations for the children of
owanrinmeji.
owanrlnmeJI on the threshold. of ProSD8f'ltv
Among the awos who visited him during the feast that went with the
sacrifice made with the cow was a powerful priest called osomusore Abira
fiun. When the feast was over, it was thatawo who split the last kolanut
<Obitaven>. After throwing the kolanut on the ground, he told owanrlnmeJi
that there was going to be a heavy r:ainfall which was bringing wealth to him
from heaven, because his prosperity was stm outside.
He was advised to make vet another sacrlftcewlth one pig, one pigeon,
8 eggs, 2 hens and one cock. He again made the sacrifice to the night, Oguo
and Esu. one month after making the sacrifice, a very neavv rain fell,
Thereafter the pregnancy of his wife which had- not developed for several
months, suddenly matured and she delivered shortly afterwards; The rain
161
fell throughout the night, and in the morning, three persons came through
the rain to visit him.
The visitors complained of being hungry. He told his wife to arrange
for pounded yam to· be prepared for them. Later that afternoon,
owanrinmeji went out to visit his friends, but before he returned home,
one of the three visitors died. The next day, another one of the visitors
died and the third one also died on the fourth day. He buried each of
them.
However, the visitors had come to owanrtnrnelrs house with loads of
treasures, which were left behind in the house, after their deaths. one of
them had a luggage of beads, the second had a load of clothes, while the
third had a load of money. It was ctear thereafter that the expected gifts
from heaven had arrived, but owannnrnej did not know about the parcels.
It transpired that the visitors had been in the rain for five days, during
which no one agreed to give them shelter. Following the deaths of the
visitors, he invitedthe awo who made the divination for him to perform
another divination on the significance of these events. Without any
previous knowledge of the facts, the Awo told him that he had three
parcels of money, beads and clothes in his house. That was how he knew
that the parcels existed in his house. He quickly organised a search and
found the parcels in the room occupied by the strange visitors. He then
thanked the Awo who made divination and sacrifice for him and gave him
a share of the gifts amidst general rejoicing. That was how prosperity
came to him.
owanrlnmeJI becomes famous through his son
owanrinmeji had a sing~ar dislike for the chieftalncy institution. Hf!
had on a number of occasions stoutly rejected offers of cnlertalncv titles.
Since the conferment of titles was the high-water mark of prosperity and
popularity at the time, he was relatively socially unknown. His marriage to
a princess however, brought him to the threshold of societal luminance.
Meanwhne, an itinerant lfa priest paid a routine visit to the home of
owanrinmeJi. As was the tradition, the visitor had to make divination for
him. The visitor was called Aiya osnuru gongon gagbon. He told
owanrlnmeji that his son was going to become the Olowu of owu. He was
told to avoid becoming temperamental and to persevere so that his son's
fortune might not be shattered. He was advised to make sacrifice with 2
dogs, 3 he-goats, 3 goats, 3 pigs, 8 rats, a fishes. and 8 snails. He made
the sacrifice. Ultimately, the son became the Olowu of owu.
Subsequently, he travelled to owu. The Olowu of owu had
meanwhile, made divination on what to do to prosper to the end of his life.
He was told to make sacrifice to the head of his mother with a goat and a
pig so that his mother might not upset his prosperity. He got the goat but
could not get a pig to bU\J. The mother took th~ go~t but did not serve
her head wltn it. instead, she bought a hen to serve her head. The next
day, she stealthily took the goat to the market, sold it, and kept the
money.
subsequently, the Olowu succeeded in getting a pig. He quickly took
the pig to his mother to serve lier head, but the mother retorted that no
one served the head in broad day-light but by night. With that, the Olowu
returned to his palace in the hope that ms mother would serve her head
with the pig at night time. The mother again did not serve her head with
the pig. Instead, she used a dog which she slaughtered to use for
preparing a meal for her husband.
She served the food to her husband in the night, when it would be
difficult to recognise the dog meat. As her husband sat down to eat the
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food, the son's wife told him not to eat it because she felt the smell of a dog
in the food. Remembering the warning he had been given not to lose his
temper in the face of provocation, he ignored the wife's action wondering
what her Intentions were. . '
The following morning his wife totowu's mother> Invited her husband to
empty the container with which she had passed human waste In the night.
He refused to do it with the explanation that although he gladly did it for her
when she was a bride, he did not thl"nk he should repeat It when they were
both already old. He then accused neror provoking him the· previous evening
by trying to feed him with dog's meat, which he would have eaten but for the
vigltance of his daughter-in-law. His wife retorted by calling ·him the son of a
dog. This annoyed him so exceeotnaiv that he did not have the peace of
mind to perform what he came to do for his son.
Nonetheless, he told his son to bring his divination Instrument Ok.in> as a
result of which he told the son that he was recurred to serve his <the
father1s> head with an elephant, a buffalo, and a tiger. He QuickfV ordered
all the hunters of owu to go Into the forest to fetch these animals. Before
noon they returned with the young ones of the three animals. owannnrnej
extracted some blood from the skins of the three young animals and
released all three of them to return to the forest.
With the blood so extracted. he prepared a medicine for his son to mark
on his body: on arrival at owu, owanrmmej had observed that his son, the
Olowu, did not prostrate to greet 'him, as tradition demanded. All the same
he did for his son what he had to do, in spite of the embarrassment he got
from mother and son.
As he was preparing to return home, he brought out his divine
instrument of authority <AS8and proclaimed that from then on, the pure
citizens of owu would always prbSper but that their prosperity would only get
to the evening of therr Hves after recetvlng from their wives and children the
kind of treatment he got at<IWU. It Is believed that as a result of this curse
pronounced by owanrlnmeji, the wealthy and successful sons and daughters
of owu may find It difficult to live to a ripe old age without making the special
lfa sacrifice for revoking the curse.
it is also believed that this curse is responsible for the fact that the Alake
of Abeokuta; who was the son of the daughter of the Olowu, has since
become more influential than the Olowu of owu. It was the crown of Olowu
that was subsequently given to the Alake of Abeokuta which, explains why
the Olowu· is said to have had no ·crown.
The Last maJor wort of. owanrlnmeJt - He·savecl the favourite
wife of Olofen from the evH machinations of her mates
The king of lfe.had many wives but one· of them held the key to his
heart. This naturally evoked the envv and hatred of her mates. They
succeeded in using diabolical means to render her barren. That waswnv the
king invited owanrinmeJl to come to his palace at lfe to help his
favourite wife to have a child, The woman was called Enlnlkpola. ..
on getting to lfe; he made divination fOr the woman, advising her to
make sacrifice with a dog and a cock to ocun and a he-goat to ESU; She
was advised not to allow anyone to see the animals before the .. sacrifice
was made.
With the excitement of making the sacrifice, she forgot the aspect of
secrecy associated with the sacrifice. After buying the.sacrificial animals, she
kept them in the open courtyard of the palace harem. Meanwhile; the king's
tiger disappeared and was nowhere to be found. A proclamation
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had gone out for the tiger to be returned live to the palace.
It was at that point that she made her sacrifice. As was the tradition.
the heads of the sacrlficlaJ victims had to be left on the shrine of the
divinity served. After offering the sacrifices to oeunano Esu, the heads of
the he-goat, dog and cock were left on the two shrines. All these things
were done to the fUII knowledge of her mates.
Later that night, the mates arranged to obtain the head of a freshly
slaughtered tiger and deposited It on the Ogun shrine, thus preparing the
grounds for accusing Eninlkpola of using the king's tiger for ritual sacrifice.
Next morning, after seeing the head of the tiger on osurrs shrine, the
mates went to report to the .king that someone had used his missing tiger
to make sacrifice. He asked from au. the women of the harem and all the
accusations pointed to his favourite. wife. He then invtted her for
Questioning; accusing her of kllllng his tiger and warning her that the
penalty was death. She was Quickly bound In chains.
Meanwhile, ssu had transfigured into a co-aoooerwno removed the
tiger's head from the shrine, replacing It with the dog's head. During the
ensuing adjudication, Esu Influenced one of the Olofln's counsellors to
propose to the king that before condemning the woman, the offence
should be verified and the tiger's head produced. Agreeing with the
plausibilltY of the suggestion, the king appointed two persons to go to the
ooun shrine and come back with whatever they saw there. They brought
in the severed heads of the .dog and the cock.
At the sight of what they brought, Eninlkpola confirmed that those
were the heads of the dog and the cock with which she made sacrifice to
ooun, When asked what was the purpose of the sacrifice she made, she
explained that It was maae to .enable her hav.e a child .
. She was instantly unchained. An investigation was conducted to find
out the origin of the Tiger's head allegation and the woman who contrived
the conspiracy was summaruv executed.
· At the end of that month, Eninlkpola became pregnant and sub-
sequently gave birth to a male child. She eventually rejoiced and thanked
owanrinmeji for solVing her problem.
He makes divination fOr· two wives of the same husband
Akiriboto had two wives, who had a Quarrel, A few days after the
Quarrel, the child of tne junior wife Uyawo> became ill. As the child was
about to die, they went for divination to owanrlnmeJi, who asked a vlstlng
Awo to make divination for them. The Awo was .called:
Akitikpa Odigba mu uroko -:- The rope hetd 1roko
uroko Odigba mu Akltipa - The iroko held the rope.
He asked the senior wife <lyaale> to narrate how she discussed the
dispute between herself and her mate with a friend on her way to the
market.
She Quickly recalled that one market day, after a misunderstanding
with 1yawo, she decided to go to the market with a friend. After telling her
friend how 1yawo offended her, the friend advised her to forgive the
young .woman because she was still too inexperienced to appreciate the
enormity of her actions. ·
The Awo told her that the witches were lncidentall~ hOldlng a
meeting on top of the iroko tree by the side of the market road at the time
she was narrating the story to her friend. It was before she got home from
the trip to the market that her mate's child became ill, because the witches
had intervened In the matter.
164
 The Awe told them to make sacrifice to the night with a rabbit to be dug
out at the foot of the iroko tree on the way to the market. He advised them to
go to the foot of the iroko tree where they would find a small hill, which had a
rabbit in a hole by its side, He advised them to dig for the rabbit, kill it and
use it for the sacrifice. They actually did as they were told and they killed the
rabbit and used It for the sacrifice. Soon afterwards, the sick child became
well.
When this oou comes out of divination for a woman, she should be
advised to refrain from narrating her domestic Quarrels, especially with her
mate, on the way to the market. If it comes out for a sick child, it is clear that
the sickness was caused by a Quarrel his mother had with her mate. They
should be advised to make sacrifice with a rabbit to the elders
ot the night.

165
 •CHAPTER XXI
OGUNDA·MEJI
EJI-OKO OGUNDA
JA MEJI
I I
.. I I
I I
I J· tI
gunda rnej was one of the most powerful diviners both Jn heaven
0 and on earth. He is reputed to have combined the strength of osun
and the intelligence of orunmila in his work. He was the one who
revealed the story of the second attempt made by the divinities to Inhabit
the earth. Obara boot one of the disciples of orunmua will later reveal the
details of the first attempt to inhabit the earth and how it was founded.
Ogun, the iron divinity and the most senior of the divinities created by
God, was also physically the strongest of all the 200 divinities. He is often
referred to as the Path - finder, because he led the second reconnaisance
mission from heaven to the earth. we are told by oounoa-men that it was
on account of the physical attributes of osun that God appointed him to
blaze the trail for the second habitation of the earth. He is known to be
self-centred and conceited and scarcely ever consults anyone else for
advice. He relies almost exclu_sively on his manufacturing skills and
physical strength. That explains whylle never bothered to go for divination
or to consult anyone else when he was nominated by God to undertake
the task of establishing a habitation on earth. As soon as he received the
marching orders from God, he proceeded almost immediately. God gave
him 400 men and women to accompany him on the mission. on getting to
the earth, it took no time before he discovered the consequences of not
making adequate preparations before departing from heaven.
His mortal followers soon became hungry and demanded food to eat.
Since they did not come to the world with any food-stuffs, he could only
advise them to cut sticks from the surrounding forest, to eat. The process
of feeding on sticks gave them no satisfaction and very soon many of his
followers began to die of starvation. Apprehensive of losing all his
followers to death by starvation, he decided to return to heaven to report
mission impossible to the Almighty Father.
God next invited Olokun, the water divinity to lead a second mission
to earth. He too is equally proud and full of self-confidence. He was also
given 200 men and 200 women to accompany him on his mission. He
neither ctict any consultation nor mvmanon witn tne neavenrv elders
before leaving for the earth. on getting there, he too had no clue on how
to feed his followers. He only asked them to drink water when they
became hungry. Since water could not feed them effectively, they began
to die of starvation. soon afterwards, he too returned with his surviving
followers to heaven to report the failure of his mission.
God then invited orunrnua accompanied by 200 men and 200
women to found a habitation on earth. orunmlla pondered whether he
could succeed on a mission which had defied the efforts of more senior
and stronger divinities like Ogun and oiosun. God persuaded him to try
his utmost, because it was necessary to depopulate heaven by
establishing
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 a satellite habitation on earth. His faithful servant okoeie advised
orunmua not to decline the assignment because with aoeouate
preparations, he was convinced that success awaited him.
With the coaxing words of his favuorlte Okpele, orunmila agreed to
embark on the mission but appealed to God to grant him the Indulgence
to prepare for a few days before setting out. orunmua approached the
elderly dMners of heaven to assist him In planning for his mission. They
assured him that he would succeed in founding a living on earth; oeunoa-
Mejl, one of his own children asked him for six cowries and advised him
to collect one each of all the known plant and animal foodstuffs In heaven
for the mission. -He also advised him to give a he-goat to Esu and to
appeal to Esu to follow him to earth on the mission.
After making all the sacrifices prescribed for him to make, he went for
final clearance from God. Before leaving he begged God to allow uie,
towa In Bini> the, Dwelling divinity, to go with him. But God told him that it
was not His divine Intention to dispatch two divinities to earth at the same
time since He intended to send them one after the other. Goo however
assured Orunmila that if he succeeded on earth, he should dispatch his
servant okneie to return to heaven to fetch Ule towai to assist
him. He then left for earth. -
As soon as orunmua set out, Esu went to tell Ogun that orunmlla was
travelling to earth through the route which he <Ogun> established. osun
immediately wentto block the route with a thick forest. When orunmna's
party came to the forest, they did not know what to do next. He sent the
rat to find a path through the forest. Before the rat returned, osun
appeared to orunmlla and Queried him for daring to proceed to earth
, without Informing him; He however explained that he had sent Esu to
inform him and when osun remembered that It was ssu whO actually
came
' to alert him, he Quickly cleared the forest for orunmua to proceed on his
journey. Before leaving him, osun to1ci.orunmlla that the only other
obligation he owed him was to feed his followers with the sticks as he did
and orunmila promised to do so.
Meanwhile, Esu also went to report to oiokun that orunrnua was on
his way to earth to succeed where he failed. otokun reacted by causing a
wide river to block orunmua's advance. When orunmlla came to the bank
of the river, he dispatched a fish to find a passage through the river. While
waiting for the fish to return, oiokun appeared to him and- Queried why he
dared to embark on a trip to earth without obtaining clearance from him.
orunrnua explained that far from Slighting otokun, he had In fact
dispatched Esu to Inform him of his mission to earth. When Olokun
reansed that Esu had in fact came to him he cleared the water for orunmlla
to proceed on his Journey. He however warned orunmila that he was
under divine obligation to feed his followers like he toiokum did, with
water. orunmlla promised to abide by Otokun·s advice. With no more
obstacles in his way, orunmua proceeded on his Journey to the earth.
on getting to the world, he quickly advised all his male followers to
clear the bush and to construct temporary huts roofed with mats
<Aghen>. When that assignment was completed, they brought out the
crops and seeds he brought with him for his followers to plant In the bush
they had cleared. At dusk, they all retired to sleep lntnelr respective huts.
Esu, who had been given a ne-aoat before the mission left heaven, went
to work on the planted seeds and the animals. When they woke up at
sunrise; they discovered that all the crops had not only germinated, but
had brought forth fruits, ready for harvesting. These included yams,
plantain, maize,
167
vegetables, fruits etc etc. At the same time, au the livestock they brought
from heaven had multiplied over night. That was. the first miracle
performed by Orunmila on earth, as a direct manifestation of the
sacrifices
he made before leaving heaven. ·
When his followers then asked for food before embarking on the
day's chores, he told them in deference to oeurrs injunction, to cut sticks
from the surrounding bushes to eat. They did as they were told. After
chewing the sticks for a long time, he told them to drink water as he was
enjoined to do by otokun. The process of abiding by the instructions given
to him by Ogun and olokun, is carried out to this day by all humanity,
through the routine of beginning the day with the chewing of sticks or
brushing of the teeth and rinsing of the mouth with water.
Having deferred to the wishes of his elders, orunmua told his people
to feed themselves on the plants and animals that abounded in the
settlement. They had succeeded in setting the stage for a permanent
habitation on earth. satisfied . that nothing then stood in their way to
succeed on earth, okoeie next proposed to orunmlla that it was time to
send him to inform God that the earth was already adeauateiv habitable
enough for Ule to join him. orunmila agreed, but told him that he should
first invite Esu to Join him on earth before asking for Ule. Having
previously promised to join him as soon as he was invited, ssu readily
agreed to accompany okoeie to earth.
Before arriving, orunmila aSked his followers to build a hut for Esu at
the entrance to the settlement. As soon as Esu settled down in his
quarters, orunmila sent a he-goat to him. He was very happy to feed on
his usual staple food, which he thought would not be available on earth.
When Okpele came tot:heckwhether Esu was alright, the latter told
him to beg orunmila to forgive him on account of the initial difficulties he
created for him before he left heaven by inciting Ogun and Olokun
against him. orunmila forgave him and implored Esu to stay on earth to
be his listening post, promising to feed him always.
After waiting In vain for Orunmlla to fail and to return to heaven with
his followers, oiokun decided in heaven to return to earth to find out how
the mission was faring. When oiokun got to the earth, he met Esu who
told bim that orunmua had succeeded in making the earth habitable.
When oiokun got to orunmila, he asked for forgiveness on account of the
initial obstacles he created for him. orunmua told him that the apology
was not necessary because success is not gratifying without initial
difficulties. orunmila however told Olokun to agree to live with him on
earth. He agreed to do so but insisted that he would have to go to heaven
to request the Almighty Father to permit him to come back with his
followers .. otokun got to heaven and God cleared him to return to earth
with his .followers.
When Ogun heard that oiokun had left to join orunmna on earth, he
too decided to go and see things for himself. When OkPele saw osun
leaving neaven tor tne earth, he alerted orunmna who immediately
instructed his followers to give another he-goat to Esu to avoid any clash
between Esu and Ogun. By the time Ogun arrived, Esu was still eating
his he-goat and was too busy to annoy osun. He merely motioned Ogun
to proceed to where Orunmila lived. As soon as orunrnua saw osun, he
went on his knees to greet him, being his eldest brother.
oeun retorted by apologising to orunmila for the ihitial difficulties he
created for him. once again, orunmlla explained that the apology was
scarcely necessary because without that teething problem, he would
probably have had no clue on how to feed his followers. orunmila then
persuaded oaun to stay with him on168 earth, because without him (Ogun>
it was Impossible for any technology to develop on earth. orunmna
explained that he only knew how to make divination but not how to Invent
or manufacture. Feeling flattered, Ogun readily agreed to return to
heaven to obtain clearance from ooe to come back with his fOHowers to
earth. Ogun eventually come back with his fOllowers.
It was at that stage that orunmlla flnally sent Okpele to fetch Ule from
heaven. When Okpele narrated orunrnna's message to Cod, the Almighty
Father Instantly Invited Ule to proceed to earth to Join orunmlla. Esu was
again the first agent that Ule met on getting to the earth. Esu directed him
to meetorunmlla In his hut. Far from challenging Ule like he did Olokun
and OQun, Esu prayed for Ule that he would forever be more successful
than all his elder brothers and without him, no one would have full
satisfaction on earth.
That was because he was charactertsncauv patient and Inoffensive.
When Ule met orunmlla, he paid respects to him for making It possible for
him to come, and Join him on earth.
orunmlla retorted by proclaiming with his Instrument of authority
<ASE) that:-
(i) Whatever respect was given to him, should always be extended
to Ule;
<Ill otokun would always reside In water In view of the river he used
to block his approach to earth, but that. he should be the
dispenser of wealth and prosperity to mankind.
nm Ogun should always be used to perform great achievements but
that he himself would always restlessly work night and day and
have no peace of mind.. .
He then told the three of them to go their separate ways. The three
of them left orunrnna's chambers.·Thev·had scarcely moved away from
orunmnas apartment when Ule suddenly dropped dead. As soon as he
dropped dead, his corpse vanished out of sight and in Its place a
constellation of houses, halls, and dwelling apartments appeared on the
ground. Thus, Ule had transfigured Into respectable dwelling houses far
all the existing and future inhabitants of the earth to live In.
orunrnua instantly left his mat-roofed hut and went to stay In the best
palatial apartment provided for him by Ule. osun was annoyed and
refused to stay In anv of the apartments provided by Ule. He then built his
own ramsnaodeo house called lzegede which ts where he stays to this
day.
otokun also felt challenged and turned into water to constitute the
oceans, seas and rivers of this earth. The men and women brought to the
earth by orunmsa; oioxun and Ogun soon began to Intermarry and
multiply to spread to the fourwinds .of this earth. It is Important to
remember that the off-springs and subsequentremcarnattons of the
followers that inltlally came with orunrnna, oaun, otokun and other
divinities to the earth, became the priests and cnudren of these divinities,
to this day and to eternity. Those who veer away from the flocks, or who
are notprlVlleged to discover their kindred, are the men and women who
run Into all kinds of dtfftculties on earth.
At that stage, Okpele left for heaven but told orunmila to look for him
after sometime on the way to the farm. He eventually turned into a tree
whose fruits are used to this day to prepare the OJcpele atvlnatlon
instruments. Okpele told orunmita how to use tne seedS ne would bring
forth for DIVlnatlon.
The HeavenlY works Of OgunctameJI:
,

169
 In heaven he was called Ejl-oko. He made divination for the tiger with
this incantation - onosne muroko niJo to onto oko ode - when the tiger
wanted to commence hunting. He advised the tiger to make the following
sacrifices; to give he-goat to ssu, and to serve. lfa with hen, fish and rat, so
that he might be able to· hunt successfully. The sacrifice was necessary to
avoid hunting in vain, or suffering a set-back called - <Amubo in Yoruba and
osobonomasunu In Bini>. He refused to make the sacrifice . . . · The
fol_lowina dav. he left for the forest to hunt. The tiger has two
1d10syncras1es. When any heavy object falls behind him, he Instinctively
runs away In fright. secondly, when he Jumps over any animal he has killed,
he is forbidden to eat the animal. on getting to the forest, he saw an antelope
and he killed It by drinking Its blood. As soon as he released the antelope to
fall to the ground, he heard the sound of a tree-branch which fell behind him.
out of fright, he jumped over the antelope and instantly abandoned it.
Next, he killed a black antelope called Edu In Yoruba and oguonziran in
Bini. once again, the heavy bunch Of a ripe fruit dropped from the tree behind
him and he Jumped over the prey, leaving it behind him. By this time, the
tiger was becoming tired and hungry not having eaten anything since
morning. As the sun was about to set, he was preparing to leave for home
when he saw a deer. He again succeeded In killing the deer but Just before
reaching for it, a bunch of palm fruits fell to the ground behind him and he
again Jumped over the deer and he had to abandon it. He became
hopelessly frustrated and left for home. ssu was obviously responsible for his
unusual misfortune.
on his way home he sighted a rabbit and pursued it until the rabbit
entered its hole. As the rabbitwas entering the hole, the tiger held on to its
tail and began to drag it. But the rabbit stuck its nails to the hole so firmly that
the tiger only succeeded In unsklnnlng the exposed lower end of the rabbit's
tail. The rabbit then pulled free Into the safety of Its hole. That is why the
lower end of the rabbit's tail Is white to his day, which distinguishes it from
other mammals of its size. This last Incident got the tiger to draw a
correlation between his failure to make sacrifice and his abortive hunting
expedition.
on getting home, he reported his fruitless venture. To determine the
veracity of his story a search party went into the forest and actually saw and
brought home the three animals killed by the tiger. The animals were brought
to Ogunda meJi. It was then that he went to oounoa meJi to make the
sacrifices.
After performing the sacrifices he went to the forest the next day and
killed a deer which he brought home without any incident. From then on, the
tiger became a skillful hunter and he went to express his gratitude to Ogunda
meji.
He made Divination fOr the Boa:

After creating the various species of the snake family God distributed
weapons to each of them in the form of poison but forgot to give any to the
boa, who is called Oka in Yoruba and Aru in Bini. The boa began to starve
because he lacked the weapons with which to fetch food to eat. He then went
to oaunoa meji for divination to advise him on what to do to overcome his
difficulties. The Arrow was one of the surrogate priests living with osunda
meji and It was the Arrow who made divination for the boa. The Arrow's full
name was Okofl doo, oko revln ya bo olooko-Odafa fun Oka, etewu-ooobo
meaning -The Arrow with which the boa kills an animal
170
returns to its stomach. The boa was described as the velvet skinned reptile.
The Awo advised him to make sacrifice with three tiny arrows, koianuts,
and a hen. He brought the materials the next day and the Awo used the hen
to serve lfa for him. With the blood of the hen, leaves and iyerosun, the Awo
prepared a medicinal portion for him to swallow. He was also advised to go
with the koianuts and serve his head with it bV the roadside. He was to
abandon the parcel of koianuts at a conspicuous Place by the roadside and
to conceal himself in the bush nearbvto watch for anyone who wm pinch the
kolanuts. He was to hold on to the three arrows. He was advised against the
risk of uncontrollable temper, which explains wt,y the boa remains the most
patient snake to this day.
That day coincided with the day that God was going to attend the
meeting of the divinities which traditionally began with the oreaklng Of
kolanuts. God forgot to hold any kolanuts when he left nome.jte was
accompanied by his favourite servant, the rabbit who held his divine bag
(Akpominijekun or Agbavboko>.
When God saw the parcel on the road, He asked the rabbit to pick it up.
He was relieved to see that It contained kolanuts which he forgot to take from
home. As the kotanut was being put in the divine bag, the boa cameJorward
and wondered why God should also take his food when he had forg.otten to
give him any poison. He complained that he had been starving· because he
lacked the weapons with which to fight his food.
GOd immediately svmpathisedwlth·him and explainedthat he did not
forget him. He told the rabbit to bring out whatever remained in the divine
bag, and he·came outwttn an ASE:The boa had explained thatorunmila
prepared three arrows for him ano God took the arrows from him and blessed
them. After oiessmctnem God directed the boa to open his mouth to swallow
them. After swauowlng the three arrows, God told him that whenever he saw
any victim, the arrows would automancanv come out to his nostrils and he
should shoot them •t the victim. He was not to run after the victim but to wait
on the spot, for it to return to him. ·He should then swallow the victim and the
arrow would return to his stomach for
subsequent use. ·· .
Before leavlngthe boa, God introauceotne rabbit to him and warned him
never to use his weapons on the rabbit. When God arrived at the venue of
the conference, he discovered thatthey had left the divine bag behind at.me
spot where he gave.weapons to the boa. God was reluctant to despatch the
rabbitto fetch the bag, tor fear that the hungry boa might be tempted to use
the newly acouireo weapons on him. But the rabbit assured cod that he
would discreetly conectthe bag without provoking
the boa. ·
When the rabbit got there, he started teasing the boa. He accused him of
being lazy for remaining cm one spot, when he was supposed to move around
in search of food. The rabbit teased the boa so tantalizingly that he even
began to. drag the boa's tall; which the latter forbids. overcome witntemper,
the arrows in his stomach moved to his nostrils and he struck them home to
hit the rabbit, who then Quickly removed the divine bag and ran back to meet
God .at the conference.
When the rabbit got back to God , he reported that he had been attacked
by the boa. God told the rabbit that he must have provoked the boa to
incur.his wrath and advised the rabbit that true to nlsprociamatton, he
ttnerabmn should return to the boa to die. The rabbltstruggled back to
thatspot and died as soon as he got there and the boa swallowed him up.
This incident reassured the boa that the weapon given to him by God was
effective indeed. He then became very happy.
171
 At the end of the meeting, God had to carry his bag home ov Himself.
on getting to the spot where the boa lay, he saw the boa who Instantly
prostrated to thank the AlmlghtlY Father for the assistance given to him. God
however Queried him for contravening his order not to attack the rabbit, his
servant, and the boa explained how he was 'provoked by the rabbit. God told
him that he was prepared to forgive him on that occasion
because he acted on provcatton. .
God however proclaimed that from then on, the boa himself would die
on the very day he attacked and killed any rabbit. God then appointed the
squirrei to be chronicling the location of the boa as a means of warning
animals that the boa was around. As soon as God left, a swarm of squirrels
surrounded the boa and began to shout at him with the words:
Okaa reeoo - Elewu obobo
waa wooo - Elewu obobo
Since that day, the squirrel has become the bitterest enemy of the boa.
He made Divination fOr ODE

Ode Is the Yoruba word for the exterior, that Is, outside courtyard of the
house. There was a time In heaven when there was famine and everywhere
became dull. People became too hungry to engage In outside chores, and
ODE was very Ill. He. managed to go to oaunoa meJi for divination and he
was advised to make sacrifice with 200 baskets of pepper, and ginger seeds,
Clghere in Yoruba or Ozlza In Bini>, 200 seeds ofallgator pepper and a cock.
He was also advised to give he-goat to ssu The 200 baSkets of pepper were
set dtl fire and people ran out of their houses to fetch fresh air outside. Life
soon began to bubble again outside and the people began to sing and
dance.
EJi-Oko seduces the wife of Death:

It was one of his followers called Ala boun noun lofo kplrirl kparara, who
made divination for Eji-Oko when he unknowingly seduced Eplpayem1,
the fair complexioned wife of the King of Death. Ala noun boun was lnfact the
wasp, who warned EJioko to avoid having anything to do with a yellow
woman who was going to be the Queen of Death. He was however advised
to give a he-goat to Esu which he refused to do because he had no intention
of having anything to do with a yellow woman or the King of Death.
Not long afterwards, the King of Death sent his wife Eplpayeml with a
bag of money to buy a he-goat for him from the market of OjaAjigbomekon
Akira. At the same time, EJI-Oko, had, on second thought, resolved to make
the sacrifice and set out for the market to buy himself a h~-goat for an
offering to i;su.
When Eplpayemi got to the market, she bought the he-goat and a
number of cooking condiments, and kept them in her stall to look for other
things in the market.
Meanwhile, Eji-oko got to the market and discovered that the only he-
goat In the market was the one tied up at the stall of Eplpayeml. He held on
to the he-goat with the determination that he would buy it from whoever
owned it. Soon afterwards, Eplpayeml arrived at her stall to meet a man
holding on to her he-goat. She was lrreslstably beautiful. She told EJl-oko
that she owned the he-goat because her husband, the King of Death, had
sent her to buy It from me market.
msptte of this disclosure, EJl-oko forclbly took the he-goat from her
172
and left with It for home. Indomitably, the woman held on to its rope and
struggled along with EJl-oko until they got to his house. on getting to his
house, he used the he-goat to offer sacrifice to Esu and professed love to
Eplpayeml. It was now nightfall and It had become too late for Epipayeml
to return home.
She had no option but to spend the night with EJl-oko who made love
to her during the night. She however warned him of the consequences of
his action because she was sure that EJioko could not withstand the
wrath of her husband.
The following morning when Eplpayemi failed to return home, Death
began to enquire from people who went to the market the previous day,
why his wife failed to return home. They explained to him that tnev saw
her struggling over a he-goat With one ClarK commenonec man neueveo to
be one of the children of orunmlla.
Death then sent two messengers to EJl-oko to warn him that for
seducing his wife, he was coming In seven days time to deal with him.
It was at that point that he remembered what the wasp told him at
divination about the risk of seducing the wife of the King of Death.
Knowing that he was helpless In the face of the punishment awaiting him,
he decided to resign himself to It. He began to lament and stopped eating
any food.
on the fifth day, osonvm, a brother divinity of orunmlla decided to visit
EJi-oko. Ol'I getting to EJtoko's house, he met him in recluse awaiting
death. osonvtn told him to pluck up courage and to brace up. He
volunteered to go and confront Death.
osonvin asked EJioko for the dress with which he used to transfigure,
as well as his dlVlnatlon wand <uro.ke> and his cap. He wore the dress
and the cap, holding the wand in his hand. When osonvin arrived at the
home of Death, he quickly recognised the. house because It was
scrubbed daily
with human blood. •
On entering the house, he sat down in the sitting room and
demanded to see the King of Death because he had come to pay him a
visit. When Death was given the description of the visitor, he knew It was
EJl-oko that sent osonvln to come and trv him. In anger, Death gave
Instructions for the visitor to be apprehended, executed and slaughtered
Into tiny pieces. The followers of Death got osorwm thoroughly beaten
and butchered Into tiny bits and pieces. on Death's orders, the pieces of
osorwurs corpse were scattered at the road Junction.
BY the time his executioners got back to the house osorwm was
sitting down complacently waiting tor them. As soon as they saw him, he
Insisted that they should not waste his time because he came to see the
King Of Death. Gripped with fright and amazement, the messengers
reported to Death that the visitor was back 1n the house before them after
they had killed and chopped him into pieces. Death ordered them to klll
him again and throw his pieces Into the river to feed the fishes.
Once more, they killed and chopped his corpse Into verv tiny bits and
jettisoned it Into the river. When they returned home to report mission
accomplished, they met osonvm again in the sitting room this time fuming
why It was so difficult to see the King of Death. He queried whether the
ferroclous Death was afraid of seeing a Junior divinity.
When they reported his mysterious resurrection to Death, he told
them to chop him up once more, cook the pieces thoroughly and throw
them Into the Incinerator to be burnt Into ashes. They did as they were
directed, but before they got back to the house, osonvm was once again
waiting for them in the sitting room raglng,that he was going to gate-crash
173
on Death if he continued to refuse to see him.
Not knowing what next to do to him, Death sent his messengers to
ask osonvtn to tell his brother that he had surrendered Epipayemi to him
in peace. When they narrated the message to osonvm, he roared that if
he was not to create an uproar in heaven, Death should be told to send
one of his messengers to accompany him to deliver the message to his
brother. Death immediately conceded and sent one of his bodyguards to
accompany osonvtn to carry the message to EJloko.
osonvtn also sent a message to Death insisting that he should bring
him kolanuts. The kolanuts were Quickly sent to him but osonvln Insisted
that Death should have come out to split them by himself. Death
eventually came out to sptlt the kotanuts giving a piece to osonvm, while
he ate one piece himself. osonvm went home with the remaining pieces
after thanking Death for his befitting hospitality.
Back home, EJioko was short of words with which to express his
gratitude to osonvtn for his unparalleled achievement. EJioko then Invited
the wasp who made divination fC>r him to sing in praise of him amidst
wining and dining.
Ala boun boun lofo kplriri koarara and osonvin added the refrain:
Eseml luku koaa Odldi mode luku kpaa Odidlmode meaning;
It was not myself that Death killed but the mud Image of me that
Death killed because osonvm often disappeared when the executioners
of Death were killing him. With that, Ejloko held on to Epipayeml as his
wife.
EJloko's second wife:
•
He made divination for the cock and the parrot when they were both
looking for wives to marry. He advised them to give a he-goat to Esu so
that the habit of passing excreta In their bed-rooms would not deprive
them of the honour of marrying respectable wives. They both argued that
the sacrifice was unnecessary since It was their tradition to pass wastes
wherever they slept.
There was also a beautiful maiden who went to him for divination on
how to get a responslblenusband to marry. She was advised to make
sacrifice to avoid the misfortune of engaging in two abortive marriages
before settling down In a third one. She thought that It was unnecessary
to make the sacrifice because her good looks and native intelligence were
enough to see her through any difficulties.
Not long afterwards she met the cock who was very good looking.
She fell at once for him and agreed to marry him. She moved into his
house without any delay. Thus, a couple who both refused to make
sacrifice, had married In defiance of the advice of the lfa priest. The
following morning the bride discovered that her husband had Uttered their
bed with excrements. The woman was thoroughly disgusted. People
immediately began to ridicule her for marrying a husband who discharged
excreta on his bed. She could not withstand the embarrassment, and so, left
the cock as Quickly as she married him.
A little later, she met the parrot, another very handsome person. She
fell In love with him Immediately and agreed to marry him. When she
prepared the first meal, the parrot told her that they would have to eat
their meals separately. She was curious to find out why the husband
imposed such an embargo on her. When she prepared corn for the
parrot, he only ate the soft nucleus of the corn and abandoned the rest.
The leftovers littered the whole room.
On a second occasion after serving him a meal, she went to hide to
174
 watch the parrot's eating namts. She saw that he was eating with his feet and
scattering the remnants of the food around him. When she later confronted
the parrot to ask him why he was scattering his food around him, the, parrot
replied that life was so short that it was not his habit to eat the roughage of
any food. Asked why he ate with his feet, he explained that It was the custom
of his people so to do. Once again, she considered the situation too much for
her and for the second time, she left the parrot. The prediction of the lfa
priest had so Quickly manifested.
At that stage, she decided to go again for divination - and she was told
to give he-goat to Esu and a ram to her father's lfa. She gave he-goat to Esu
but could not afford to buy a ram for lfa. She had been told that to settle
down, she would have to marry an lfa priest.
At the same time, Ejloko dreamt that ne was going to marry a second
wife. He consulted lfa, and his own oou came out. He invited his surrogates,
uroke and orora to interprete the significance for him. They told him that a
woman was coming to him and that she was a princess. He was told to give
he-goat to Esu and a ram to lfa. He made the sacrifices the following day.
At the same time, the Princess left her father's house for an unknown
destination to consult two Awos called Elemo Ugo and osoro Ugomugo. She
left home with a bag containing Eko, Akara, Ekuru, and Adun. Just
, before she got to the town of itoko where Ejioko lived, she felt like easing
herself. unknown to her, she passed excreta on top of a patient boa.wntcn
was lying on the ground and the leaf with which she cleaned her anus fell on
a snail close by. After easing.herself; she continued on her journey. The two
Awos had gone to visit EJIOko.
As she got to the town ofJtoko, she heard Awos making divination and
hitting the ground with the divine knife, <Ajain Yoruba and Aza In Bini>, and
chanting incantational songs. sne. br.ought out her bag to eat out of the food
Inside it. As she began to eat, EsuJtretched his hands towards her and an
the food she was eating got stuck in her throat. As she was beginning to
choke, she ran for help into Ejioko's house. When she got inside, she
beckoned for water. They gave her water with lfa's water cup and Esu
Quickly released his hands from her throat and she was Instantly relieved.
She was then motioned to take her seat. Feeling relieved, she greeted lfa by
bowing her head to the ground.
They made divination for her and told her that she was a princess. rnev
also told her that she had had two abortive marriages and was preparing for
a third one .. She was told that her father nad his own lfa, to which she was
previously advised at divination to off.er a ram, but had failed to do it. They
told her that she did a sacrlflce to esu but not to lfa and she confirmed their
revelations. They however Insisted that she still had to serve lfa with a ram
before she could settle down.
She was also told that she passed human waste In the bush by the roadside
just before she arrived at ttoko town. They disclosed that the sickness she
suffered before coming into the house was because Orunmlla 1 was already
annoyed with her for passing excrement on the boa that was going to be used
1

to serve him, and covering tne snail with which he was going to cool down her
1

life, with the leaves she used to clean her anus.

She did not know about these disclosures but offered to go and show the
Awos the spot where she eased herself.
When they got to the place, they all saw that the boa was stlll lVlng
under the excreta she discharged and further off a snail lay uncter the leaves
she used to clean her anus. The two things were brought home to be used to
serve lfa. Before the food used for the sacrifice was cooked, it was already
dark. The princess was given pounded yam to eat. She later
175
Joined EJloko to serve his head with the boa. She spent the night with
EJioko. soon afterwards she missed her menstruation and became
pregnant. She gave birth to a female child who was named Ayo.
When this ODU comes out for a spinster at divination, she should be told
to make sacrifice lest she would marry two husbands before settling down
with a third one. If she Is already married she should be told that she Is
either In a third husband's house or Is preparing to leave for It, but should.
make sacrifice.
EJloko escapes frOm Heaven to the earth:
When he finally made up his mind to escape to the world, he did not
come llke the others through the womb. He ran off from heaven to the earth
with his possessions. He went for divination to an lfa priest called oion Ire
oylnkpln nlgba kara ofun orlsa loorun. He was preparing to go to God to
collect the flag of his guardian angel. He was told to make sacrifice with a
pig, a goat, a sheep, a ram, a male cow, one male tortoise and one female
tortoise, one duck and one drake. After making the sacrifice, he left for the
divine palace of God.
He got to the palace when God was having his breakfast. It Is forbidden
tor anyone to see God when eating and EJloko did not know that God was
having his meal. God passed a small flag of Ejloko's guardian angel to mm,
but he Ignored the small one and preferred to steal the bigger flag he saw
there, and left. The one he picked belonged to a King's angel.
As soon as he collected the larger flag, he quickly embarked on the
long Journey to earth. He was already cllmblng the sixth hill leading to earth,
when God reallsed that EJioko had:left with the wrong flag. Gqd sent
a messenger to call him bactc. .
Before the messenger could reach him, he had already entered the
world. The messenger went back to report to God that EJloko had escaped
Into the world, thus, he was left to prosper Immensely on earth. Before
leaving heaven, he had been warned by the Awos not to allow himself to
become temperamental. He was advised that for him to prosper he should
learn to be patient and even - tempered, to avoid the risk of being
surrounded by evil-minded people.
He makes divination tor Oyl:
As soon as he got to the world, the first-person he worked for was a
woman called oyl. Abemale Ekokan, AboJu regun regun, adlfa fan oyi toto
lie lgba. The woman had married several husbands without having any
children. When she was preparing to marry an lfa priest called lgba, she met
EJloko who made divination fOr her. He advised her to make sacrifice with
ao rats, '.20 fishes, 1 pigeon, 1 he-goat. one cock and ::1 h~n. Th~ ~00~ fOund
In the bowels of the hen were used to prepare medicine for her. She was the
daughter of orisa Nia of itakpa,
She did the sacrifice and left for a town where she met an lfa priest called
lgba and married him. She became pregnant the following month. She gave
birth to a set of twins. on the whole, she had two sets of twins. i After
producing four children for Jgba, she left him, lea\ilng the children · behind to
find another husband because the man felt he had had enough chlldren.
She again went for divination and was told to make sacrifice with a pair
of 20 different things. She made the sacrifice and left for the town of
Ewi·Ado where she got married to a man at okeua. who had no wife.
176
She soon became pregnant and delivered three sets of twins during this
second marriage. When the man proposed that they had had enough
children, she again deserted him In search of another husband .
. once more, she went fOr divination and she was told to make sacrifice
with a pair of 40 different materials. After performing the sacrifice, she
travelled to ljero where she got married In a village called lkoro, about three
miles from the town of IJero. She had four sets of twins for the new husband
at lkoro. She was fair In complexion, but none of her children had taken her
complexion.
Meanwhile. one of the four children she had for the first husband
persuaded his father to go with him in search of his mother. At the same
time, the lkoro husband told her that he was not Interested In having more
children. She Insisted that she wanted more chHdren and when the husband
would not budge, she left him for ljebu.
At tJebu she again went for divination and made sacrifice. Thereafter
she met another husband for whom she had six sets of twins. once more a
quarrel ensued when the man refused to matewlth her for fear of having
more chlldren. All the man's other wives had left him because they did not
have children. As soon as they saw OVI having chHdren for him, they an
came back to him.
But Oyl was on the move again, this time to Abeokuta; AS she was
getting to Abeokuta,Jhe met a hunter who was returning from the fOrest with
5 different animal$. She overheard the hunter lamenting lntears that even
though he had kllledflve animals lri the fOrest, he had no wife in the house
who would prepare t~,m~t. Oyl Instantly agreed to go with him to his home.
When the husband maoe. dlvtnatlon for his new found wife, he was told that
the woman WQLJlct teave-tilm If he took on a second wife. With that.
warning, the man did· nqt .~ootemptate having another wife because Oyl
had seven sets of twlns•tor hlmeven inner old age. She was now very old
and lived In Abeokuta to th! end of her life. When It comes out of divination
for a barren woman, she should be told to make sacrifice but that sne would
have many enneren for several husbands.
EJloko settles down on earth:
Soon after arriving on earth, he decided to go for dlVlnatlon with three
Awos called UglJn sortre sorlre Okparl, Akala lgbo sonre sorlre, ogblJoJoso-
run, meoe sonre. When he got to their house, he met Alamlyo, the Head
Hunt,r of itoko who also came for divination.
Both the hunter and Qgunda meJI were advl~d to make sacrifice
against the problem of Ingratitude from the beneficiaries of their generosity.
OgundameJI was advised to give aolaek goat to his lfa and a he-goat to Esu.
He did the sacrifice. On the other hand, the hunter was told to offer he-goat
to esu and to serve oeun with dog, tortoise and cock. He did not do the
sacrifice. ·
The hunter was very proficient In his profession, which explains why he
did not consider It necessarv to perform any sacrifice. several years later,
the hunter had a dream which frightened him and he went for divination. He
was again reminded ofthe sacrifice he had eartter been advised to make. He
Insisted that he (ild not need the assistance of any sacrifice. The next Awos
he approached were called onre suml slsee and Mada bola tlse orlre, won
difa fun Alam Iyo tllshe Olori ode nlle ma orangun. He was himself called
Alam Iyo and he was the head of the hunters In the town of ma oraneun.
They warned him that If he did not perform the sacrifice, his kindness and
benevolence would shorten his llfe. This time, he was told to give 3 he-

177
goats to ssu, a goat to orunmlla, a goat to his head, a dog, cock, tortoise to
Ogun and 6 eggs and a rabbit to the elders of the night. He still did not
perform any of the sacrifices.
Meanwhlle,-he left home on a hunting expedition with his hunting
Instrument, a boomerang <Ekpede In Bini or Akatapo In Yoruba>. At nightfall
he got to the town of Jpogun. The people of ioosun had for long had one
menanclng problem caused by a mysterious bird which used to come to the
town and leave a trail of human deaths behind it. The bird Is called Agbe In
Yoruba or Ukhiokhlo in Bini. Whenever It shouted "kpogun" three times It
would leave and soon afterwards 20 persons would die In the town. The bird
had defied. the skill of the best known hunters around. on the last occasion
they offered a he-goat to Esu who assured them that the hunter who would
klU the bird was going to travel by himself to the town.
When Alamlyo woke up the next morning, he was invited by the Head
Chief of the town, and told about the problem of the mysterious bird. As they
sat outside the Chief's house discussing the matter, the bird once again
emerged. It shouted "Pogun" once, but before shouting the second time,
Alamlyo took aim and shot It dead. The news soon spread around and It
brought general rellef and rejoicing to the town.
While people were stilt rejoicing, Esu went round to incite the young
men of the town to protest to the elders to expel Alamlyo from the town on
the ground that a hunter who was able to kill such a mysterious bird with one
shot would not spare the whole town If anyone dared to offend him In future.
The head Chief appreciated the objections raised by the youths and
submitted to their wishes, by expelling Alam Iyo from the town of lpogun,
which he had jU~t delivered from a long standing calamity.
Perplexed by the turn of events, ·A1amlyo went to the next town called
!ylnta where he was again Invited to solve an age old problem of a
mysterious bird tnat used to bring mass deaths to the town. The bird, called
Aluko In Yoruba and Awe In Bini, used to visit the town periodically. As soon
as It came Into the town, It would stand at the entrance to the town and shout
"Pogbon" three times after which thirty persons would die. As he was being
told about the endemic calamity, the bird arrived and took position on the tree
of life <Akoko or lkhlnmwln> at the entrance to the town. Alamlyo waited for
the bird to shout "Pogbon" two times before taking aim. He shot the bird and
It fell to the ground, dead. once again, the whole town rejoiced and sang In
praise of the hunter who performed the miraculous feat.
soon afterwards however, Esu again Instigated the people of the town
against him and he was driven out of the town. He was already beginning to
pay the price of his stubborness.
He travelled next to the town of lye, where he was greeted with relief
ana exoectancv b9cau~e thev h~d he::ird what he did in the two places he
had previously visited. He was assured that they were not going to repay him
with the kind of ingratitude shown to him In the earner places he visited. They
told him of a deer <Agbonrlo In Yoruba and Erhue In Bini> which used to visit
the town from time to time to stand on top of a hlll to shout "Palura", Which
led to the death of 40 persons and the destruction of several buildings. Not
long afterwards, the deer took position on the hill and as soon as It opened
Its mouth to shout "Palura", It was shot dead by Alamlvo.
He Intended to settle down In the town Of lye, but while the rejoicing
was ln progress, Esu generated the rumour that Alamiyo was the one who
used to send the deer to the town, which explained why he was the only
hunter who succeeded In getting rid of It. As If that Incitement was not
178
enough, Esu turned into a visitor from llu lpogun and IVinta and asked them
whether he shot the deer without loo king at it and If the arrow returned to
him. They confirmed that the same thing happened at ive. He asked whether
it was not possible for such a man to destroy a whole population from one
spot With that the vlsitor/Esu started a war song with which they expelled him
from the town of lye - kuode Jere, kuode Jere, kuode Jere.
After being expelled from the town of 1ye, he decided to hide his
boomerang in order to conceal his profession. He was also a diviner. He then
took to practising Awo art which he also did very well. This time, he sneaked
quietly Into the town of uesha. But he was not recognised although he
succeeded in getting married to the daughter of the owa of ljesha. The
princess had four children for him. His wife had Just had the fourth child
when war broke out between ovo ann uesha. The 1nvacung army of ove was
dealing a devastating blow on the people of ljesha. The owa of uesna
assembled his people and told them to engage in mass divination on how to
check the menace of the Invading Army.
At the gathering, Esu transfigured into a visiting lfa priest, who disclosed
to the populace of ljesha that present In their midst, but unknown to them,
was the famous hunter of itoko who performed wonders In lpogun, lyinta and
lye.The man announced that the hunter had concealed his profession and
identity since coming to uesna on account of the ingratitude shown to him in
those places. The Esu-turned-Awo also announced that the man with "Iyo"
suffixing his name and married to a princess, was the only one who, with his
mysterious weapon, could check the advance of the Oya troops. As all eves
turned to the direction of Alamivo, the visitor added that the man himself had
one problem, which followed him all the wav from heaven and had since
persisted on earth. He had stubbornly refused to make the sacrifice
prescribed for him. If he succeeded in doing it, he would become the
mostfamous person in Uesha. If he continued to refuse to do it, he weuld
end up committing suicide by burying himself alive.
With these revelations Alamiyo got up and the visiting Awa told him,
after he agreed that he had always failed to make the sacrifices, that the
sacrifice had multiplied. He was then required to give 3 he-goats to Esu, a
goat to lfa, a goat to his head, 2 dogs, 2 tortoises and 2 cocks to Ogun, and a
rabbit, hen, and eggs to the elders of the night.
Alarmvo then in tears said that he had done so much favour to
humanity, and had been repaid with so much Ingratitude, that he did not
consider himself to be under any obligation to continue to be charitable to
anyone. At this stage, the women of the town who had lost many of their
husbands to the war, volunteered to contribute money to buy the materials
for the sacrifice. The sacrifices were Instantly made, and on the following
morning, he brought out his boomerang from where he had kept it, brushed
it, closed his eves and shot three arrows in the direction of the invading army.
Each shot killed 200 ovo soldiers and the three arrows returned to him.
Wh.en the ovo arr:nv saw how their strength was being depleted by an
unseen attacker they panicked and took to their heels In fright. Peace
returned immediately to uesna, soon afterwards the King of uesna died and
since he had only one daughter, Alamtvo who was the husband of the only
princess, was crowned the owa of ibokun ljesha. He was the one who gave
the name of lbokun to nesna - meaning, where one became tired of doing
favours. He finally rejoiced and sang in praise of his Awos. His reign was
very peaceful and prosperous.
Ogunda-mell cures the barreness of OIOfen's wives:

179
 The king of lfe was worried that his three wives had been pregnant
for long but could not dellver. He had sought the assistance of all the lfa
priests around to no avail. Meanwhile, he heard of an lfa priest caned
OQundameJI who was livlng alone In a village on the Uesha road called
lluOgun. He was fOrced to retreat to the village when he was declared
persona non grata In the town of ltoko where he had lived since coming to
the world: His success as an lfa priest had been acclaimed all around but
It also incured him the enmity of the more elderly Awos who lived at ltoko
before
him. ·
He had earlier prepared a good luck soap for the King of lfe which he
used commonly with his three hunters. The soap helped his hunters to
return from the fOrest with good games, but could not help his wives to be
delivered of their pregnanctes.
His three hunters were called:
(1> Orlsl Taasi
(2> Oriisl Taasi
and (3> Atama
Taasl.
one day, the three of them went to the forest on a hunting expedition.
The first hunter shot an elephant in the forest and It came to the town to
die at the courtyard of the King. wh·en the elephant was butchered, a live
human child was fOund Inside Its stomach wearing a crown on Its head
and beads on Its limbs.
The second hunter shot a buffalo In the forest and it came to the
palace to die on the same spot. When It was butchered, a closed wooden
plate with two compartments having 16 lfa seeds on either side, was
fOund inside its bowels.
The third hunter shot 3':Jeer In the forest that also came to die on the
same spot. When it was butchered, ltS stomach produced a calabash
containing one magic wand <ASE>.
The king was obviously puzzled. He wondered what message was
borne by these strange developments. The king brought out his own lfa
and he sounded It and ocunda meJI was the Odu that appeared. At that
point he sent messages to all the Awos In his domain to come and
lnterprete the significance of these events and the oou that appeared.
They all tried but failed to lnterprete the meaning of the strange
occurrences. As they all failed one after the other, they were chaf ned and
Imprisoned in the palace cell. All the known lfa priests in the kingdom had
been similarly treated and there was none left. The king then
remembered the Awo who prepared the good luck soap for him, although
no one seemed to remember about him. However some people reported
that the only remaining Awo In the kingdom was OQunda-meJI who was
living in seclusion on the IJesha road, In a vlllage called nu Ogun. The
king qulcklV ordered that the man should be brought to the palace without
any delay.
That coincided with the day Ogundameji was serving his head. As
the messengers were crossing the river to meet ogundameJl, they met
the three grown up princesses of lfe, washing their clothes in the river.
The girls had grown to marriageable age but had vowed that they would
only marry the man or the men who succeeded in knowing their names.
They were only known as, and called, princesses. The two royal
messengers greeted them and continued on their lournev.
on getting to OgundameJl's village, they discovered that he had Just
served his head and the soup and pounded yam were being prepared.
They delivered the royal message that the king wanted him at lfe
Immediately . . soon afterwards, they got up to return to lfe, but their host
insisted that they must eat out of the pounded yam before leaving. They
sat down to
180
enjoy the meal to their heart's content. After eating, he gave them fresh
palm wine to drink and finally gave them koianuts as a sign of respect.
After enjoying his hospitality, they resolved to tell him why he was
invited by the King, so that he mfg ht not end up In chains like all the
other Awos invited before him. First, they gave him the names of the
three daughters of the King who had vowed only to marry the man who
knew their names. They told him that If he wanted to marry new wives, he
could have the three girts by pronouncing their names as:- <1> lboru <2>
ibove and <3> mosise. This incident explains why orunmlla does not forbid
rnarrvlnq more than one wife from the same house or family.
Next, they disclosed what the King wanted him to do which was to
interorete the significance of the strange discoveries in the bowels of the
three animals killed by the three royal hunters on the same day. since
they themselves did not know the meaning, he was forewarned to
prepare to unravel the· puzzle which had defied the competence of all the
Awos throughout the kingdom of lfe, and who were already Imprisoned In
chains, Theywarned him to keep their confidence. He thanked them for
telling him as much as they did and begged them to tell the king that he
was serving his head, but would turn up the following day.
As soon as they left, he brought out his divination seeds and
consulted lfa. He was told to give a he-goat to Esu and to travel with
kolanuts and ripe plantain for his journey. He was also advised to be
generous to anyone· he came across on the,wav eecause-tne solution to
the puzztes would be given to him on, the way to lfe. He did as he was
told.
He left for lfe very early the,next morning. As soon as he entered the
last stretch of forest before lfe, he met at old woman sitting by the side of
the road. The woman was looking wretdledand hungry. She called him
and begged for food because she hact,not eaten for tne past three days.
He gave her roasted ripe plantain anct water trom his baQ. After eating
and drinking, he gave her kotanut to keep wlffl her, as well as the rest of
the ripe plantain In his bag. The old woman thanked··htm. As he was
about to take leave of the old woman, she asked him where he was going
and he replied that he had been Invited for a mission to the king's palace
at lfe.
The woman told him that victory and success awaited him at lfe. She
told him that he was invited to lfe to:
<1> Reveal whV Olofen's three wives who had been pregnant for a
lon1>tlme had still not deUvered;
<2> The significance of the Elephant, Buffalo and Deer which were
shot respectively by ortsl Tasl, ornst Taasl, and Atama Taasi, but
which cameto die at the palace courtyard;
<3> The message borne by the three mvstertous objects found In
the bowels of the three animals; and
<4> If he cnosero marry new wives, to reveal the names of the three
grown up daughters of Olofen.
She warned him that the first feat he would perform at the palace
would be to get rid of an old witch who often sat at the entrance to the
king's palace and who had the power to blot out the memory and
knowledge Of all the Awos cornmsto the palace, which explained why the
other Awos Invited before him had failed. The old woman advised him to
order the execution of that woman before stepping Into the palace
because she was responsible for all the misfortunes besetting the
kingdom.
HJs next performance would be to order the retease Of all the
Imprisoned Awos and to proclaim that It was forbidden to bind any Awo in
chain or Jail, because any town where an Awo was put In chains would
always be In turmoil. Thereafter, he was to enter the palace. The first
people
181
to recetve him would be the King's three daughters. They would greet him
on their knees and he should reply by calling them by their names, lboru,
lboye and lbosise.
As soon as he met the Olofen. he would request him to interorete the
ODU-IFA which was on the lfa tray and to teu'mm why his three pregnant
wives had not delivered for more than three years. He should begin by
revealing to the King that his three wives were not pregnant at all. one of
them had an ant-heap, (Odidimade in Yoruba and Ulelefe In Bini> in her
stomach. The second one had an ant-hill in her stomach, while the third
one had water yam in her stomach.
He should then move to disclose the incident of the animals and the
strange finds in their stomachs. He was to do It by saying that the King
had three hunters, who he permitted to use for hunting, the soap he was
expected to use exclusively. It was the successful use of the soap for
hunting that made the King of the forest to stock his wives wombs with
these materials since he preferred forest animals to human children. He
was next to say that the elephants, buffalo and deer which came to die in
his courtyard, after being shot in the forest, was the last warning from the
king of the forest, that enough was enough.
Finally he was to interprete the contents of the animals' bowels as
follows:
(a> The live human child, wearing a crown and beads, found in the
stomach of the elephant was a message that the time was
approaching when he would no longer have elders In his domain
to counsel him except young people;
(b> The significance IJf the lfa plate found In the stomach of the buffalo
was a message from God that orunmlla is the divinity he should
always consutt to reveal the future to him; and
(c> The calabash with Ase found In the stomach of the deer meant
that no Oba would again reign In his kingdom who would be as
famous as the Olofen.
As he prostrated to thank the old woman, he could not see her again.
She had evaporated into thin air. He then proceeded on the Journey and
soon got to the palace.
When he got to the palace, the sequence of events was slightly
reversed. The three girls were outside the palace walls spreading their
clothes to dry. As soon as he saw them he greeted them with a familiar air
by camng on their names one after the other. He greeted them one by
one with good morning lboru, good morning move and good morning
lbosise. They Quickly left the clothes they were spreading outside and
embraced him with the words that at last they had got a husband. They
immediately offered themselves to him in marriage and when he told them
that he had an assignment In the King'S palace, they told him that they
were the King's daughters and would follow him to proclaim him to their
father as their husband.
When he arrived at the entrance to oioeerrs palace, he stood outside
and told the Oba to come out. He proclaimed that the elderly woman who
s~t at the entrance should be cudgelled to death at once, because she
was singularly responsible for all the misfortunes besetting King and
kingdom in recent times. The woman was Instantly beaten to death and
dragged away.
Thereafter, he walked with the King into the inner chamber of the
Palace. where the Olofen showed him the ODU-IFA that appeared at
divination, which happened to be his own lfa. He then told the Olofen that
he had sixteen Awos locked up in the palace cell for not being able to
182
translate the oou. He told him that It was not due to lack of skill on the part of
the Awos, but the result of the evil spell cast upon them ovtne witch-woman
who had Just been executed. She sat at the entrance to blacken out all the
knowledge, memory and soothsaying abllltv of anv Awo that walked passed
her. That is why those Awos forgot what to say when they got into the
palace. He told the King that it was forbidden to lock up an lfa priest and that
he should release them at once.
The king immediately ordered that all the Awos should be unchained
and brought to the outer chamber of the palace. Thereafter, he looked again
at the Odu-lfa on the floor and asked for the Royal hunters called:-
(i) Orlsl Taasi, who had recently shot an elephant in the fOrest that
came to die in the palace courtyard, and carrying a human child,
wearing a crown on its head, and beads on Its urnes, wnen the
hunter emerged to identifV himself, he turned to the Olofen and
told him that the significance of that event was that unless he
made sacrifice, the time was imminent when all the elders of his
domain would die In turns leaving him to be surrounded by
youngsters.
(ii) Oriisl Taasl - who on the same day shot a buffalo in the forest that
came to the palace courtyard to die on the same spot and carrying
an lfa plate with 32 seeds In Its stomach. He turned to the King
and told him that it was a message from orunmila that he should
always consult lfa to solve all his problems. By divining With those
seeds, he would atways find the solution to all his problems.
um Atama Atasl - who atso shot a deer In the forest that c:ame to the
palace to die on the same spot and carrying one ASE moulding
(OghorlboJe rn Yoruba and Ekhuae In Bini>. Still addressing the
king, he said tnat rt meant that no other king after him would
match his fame; lnfluer!:e and authority.
He then Queried the King for allowing the good luck soap prepared for
him to be used for hunting by his three hunters. He added that the King of the
Forest sent the three animals to warn him to stop plundering them with
medicine. He exclaimed whether the King did not know that it was because
he preferred animals to children that his wives had ceased having chfldren,
and even the three who were pregnant had their foeti turned into an ant-
heap, an ant-hlll and water yam. He disclosed that as soon as he.:stopped
using the soap for hunting, his wives would give birth to normal human
children.
oounoa meJI was given a standing ovation and carried shoulder high in
a procession round the town. He was proclaimed the most proficient lfa priest
that lfe nad seen In recent times. Back in the palace, he told the King that for
peace to return to lfe, he had to appease the Imprisoned Awos by
compensating each of them with a goat. The King agreed wltnout qualms. In
appreciation for their salvation, all the Awos surrendered their goats to
ogunda meJI, but he declined to accept them. He told them to serve their lfa
with it but after killing the goat, they were to say that It was he, oaunoa meJI,
who killed the goat and not they. That has, become the lfa tradition to this
day, whereby, after slaughtering any animal to orunmlla, the person
slaughtering it will say, Eeseml iookoaa, OgunctaJameJI loonkpa, and touch
the slaughtered offering with the knife.
Meanwhile, the king decided to thank ocunoa meJI with a song: -
ojuou loon snawo Alara
Ota LegbeJe loon shawo Uero,
Okon shosno ata mode loon daun iooni,

183
Okpe - mo daml daml daml, orere, oo orere
darnt dami daml orereoo
. oami daml daml orere daml dami dami orere
Dami IOWO uku,
orere dami darm daml oo orere
Dami lowo ojolo,
orere daml darnt daml orere,
lgbese orun mi, ose arin
The King rewarded him with pJenty of giftS In addition to betrothing
his three daughters who had proctalmed him their husband. He was also
made the aaatoeun of lfe, the next Chieftaincyi title. to the King.
He mates divination fOr A~ Cthe trench hunter>

The trench hunter used to dig massive pits for catching animals.
When any animal fell Into the burrowed pit, it would not be. able to climb
out. The next day, he wouJd come and catch the victim. It was a prolific
business for him and he used to make divination and sacrifice on lteverv
year. The
Pit Is called Ofen In voruba and and uye in Bini. .
on this particular year, he went to oaunoa rnej to divine for him in
order to have a successful hunting year .. He was asked· to give a he-
goat to Esu, but to release the first two catches after the sacrifice and to
kill the third catch. He made the sacrifice and excavated the ptt for the
next hunting year. The first victim was the boa <Oka or Aru> which tte
took out and set free. After being released, the boa looked back and
promised to return the good turn one day, Aguofenla wondered how a
boa could ever
be of use to him. •
The following day, the pit caught a rabbit which he again released.
The rabbit also looked back afterbetno set free and promised to return
the good turn some day. Hetolotherabbltto.go his way because he could
not Imagine how the rabbit could be of any use to him.
The next day; the pit caught a bust, cat, <Ogbo or Abon>. Instead of
killing It as he was advised to do, he released it because he expected
something bigger. After that the pit did not catch anything else.
Meanwhile, he began to suffer deprivation.
After some time, the rabbit visited Aguofenla and found his house
bare and replete with penury. The rabbit decided to help him by boring a
hole from Aguofenla's house to the King's treasury Inside the palace.
Through the hole, the rabbit was able to empty the Klng'streasury into
Aguofenla's house. very soon he became very wealthy and his home
began to boom with affluence.
The bush cat, Ogbo, who was released by Aguofenla Instead of
being killed as he was advised to do, also visited him. Ogbo asked him
how he eame by his new found prosperity and he betrayed his benefactor
by disclosing that the miracle was performed by the rabbit. OQbo auickly
went to report the Incident to the King who summoned Aguofenla to his
palace for explanation. The King had observed the robbery in his treasury
and he was now sure that Aguofenla was the culprit.
After Interviewing Aguofenla, who denied the charge, the king
promised to confront him with witnesses in seven days time, during which
Ogbo was to be presented to confirm his allegations: Aguofenla cried
home In distress, knowing that the Inescapable pe_palty was death. on
his way home he met the boa who told him not toworrv because the
situation presented the opportunity for him to return the good turn earner
done to him.
184
 on the seventh day, oebo, himself a wine tapper, wanted to collect
some wine from the bush before going to the palace. The boa had
meanwhile taken position, by concealing his tall on the path which Ogbo
was going to tread to the palm tree. As soon as osno stepped onthe boa's
tail, the latter Shot his arrows at him instantly. When he begged the boa
to release his arrows from his body he said it was too late since ococ
knew that it was forbidden for anyone to touch his tail. He still went to
collect his wine and hurried home to prepare for the palace court session.
He had his bath, dressed up, and left for the palace. As he was
going, the poison contained In the boa's arrows overcame him and he
moved aimlessly to give up the ghost at the spot where the boa shot him.
Meanwhile, the palace court was seated and all eyes were on the
watch for oceo to emerge. After waiting in vain for a long time, someone
came later to report that Ogbo dropped dead on his way to the palace.
The King then concluded that the ancestors and divinities had delivered
their own judgement and he was prepared to abide by their decision. He
remarked that osno died because he must have lled. Aguofenla was then
acquttteo and discharged. It was at that stage that Aguofenla sang In
praise of ogundameji, the rabbit and the boa. In his eulogy he proclaimed
that sacrifice manifested for those who performed them, but that no one
should ignore the advice of a diviner, like he did by falling to kill oobo the
third victim of his pit trap. He went on:-
Who could .ev.er nave believed that an ant could assist the elephant.
That the earth worm could save the boa constrictor from the Jaws of
death. · · .
The rabbit and the boa were his life long benefactors.
Indeed one good turn deserves another.
As one bad turn begets another. ·
He alSo made divination fOr 2 flsll catctl'9rs:
How OgundameJI got the sobriquet of Ogund•Ja-MeJI
There were two friends who were partners in the fish pond business.
one of them called Oni had the fish pond while the other called oonl had
the catcher or bale for catching the fish.
OniNubu,Enugha
ooniNugba, Enubu
They notn went for divination to ogundamejl and he advised them to
give a he-qoat to ssu They did It. Thereafter, they went to tne ·pond, but
caught onty one large fish. oni'tne pond owner Insisted on taking the fish
because he owned the pond. Oonl the bale owner argued that without his
instrument. they would not .have caught the fish. He too insisted that he
was entitled to ·keep the fish. A quarrel ensured. At the same time,
ocunda mejt was alerted by Esu to go to the direction of the pond. He met
the two friends fightfng and he was able to settle the matter for them by
declaring that th·ey were both entitled to a share of the catch.
He then used a cutlass to split the fish Into two eouai halves from
head to tail, giving one half to each of them. They were both satisfied.
That is where he got his nickname of oounea ja ela mej or in short,
osunoa la Meji, that is, ocunca who split a fish into two equal halves.
His surrogates take over Divination for the crown prince of Benin
Kingdom:·
At this stage of his life, oaunoamen decided that It was time to retire 185
from active practice. He had become so prosperous and famous that he
had several surrogate Awos working for him. After the fish pond incident
he decided that he would only divine for the king thereafter. If anyone else
came to him, he directed his followers to divine for him. These
subordinates were however eQuaUy proficient in lfa art and practice.
Among such surrogates were the following:
Abe kekere mu ioode 1yango;
soon oiude wole dere dere dere:
raa bl ta Awo omode
1re1e bl irele, Awo agba lagba
Abugbegbe sorun Awo aJero kin
Osa; Ajaa ku, omu orl 1ugbogbo;
Adlye ku, oko ose mej sl evm tloriwo tiorlwo;
Awon lo difa fun Aganmurere;
runsne omo oye oba ado ajuwaJeke;
The small knife is used for all minor chores;
The big testicles that stretch to the ground;
The young lfa priest Is as sharp as pepper;
Patience and calmness are the attributes of the experienced lfa
priest; The priest with a head tumour Is the diviner for Alara;
The priest with neck tumour is the diviner for Ajero;
The dead dog laid Its head on the cudgel used for whipping It to
death; The dying hen used Its two feet to dig behind It.
These are the surrogate Awos of oeunoa mej who made divination
for Aganmurere the heir to the throne of the Benin Kingdom where the
King adorns himself with beads. They advised the heir apparent to serve
Ogun with a dog, a cock and'a tortoise on account of an Imminent war.
He was also told to serve the ground.divinity with a sheep, and to.serve
his guardian angel with a white goat, In order to have a peaceful reign.
Meanwhile, the people of Taakpa, a province of the Benin kingdom,
rebelled against the throne of Benin. Aganmurere led the Invading troops
that subdued the people of Taakpa. The Bini troops were victorious and
Aganmurere suoseouennv ascended to the throne of his father and
became the orongun or orocbua of Ado.
He had a reasonably peaceful reign because no war was fought on
the Benin soil during his reign. He was also credited with expanding the
eco empire to Eko, istdahome <or oenomevi lga or Ga In the old Gold
coast, and the west of the Congo, itoco etc. He was also reported to have
brought salt to Benin from lsidahome for the first time.
Later In his life, he Invited oaunoa meJi and his surrogates to Ado
where he expressed his gratitude with elaborate gifts to them.
He hels,s the people of Oyo In their war with llesha:
one day, whlle llvlng in ovo, he had a dream which frightened him.
He Invited threeot his surrogates to make divination on the dream: <1>
Ekun lu ukl ovo
<2> Ookl lu ukl uesna
<3> Alklkl le eruse ale ano ioovo oonun,
Odafafun Orunmila, Uku etegldigbe gldlde.
<1> Ekun Is the traditional greeting at ovo:
<2> OOkl Is the traditional greeting of ljesha;
<3> A greeting reflecting a bad deed done the previous day does not
give Joy.
These are the names of the surrogates who made divination for
186
ogunda meJi when, like the sword of damocles, the danger of mass death
was hanging over the world. The King of Death had slated the strong men
of the earth for a ruthless kind of mass destruction. The three Awos
advised oeunda meJi to make sacrifice with a whole bush goat <Edu In
Yoruba and oauonnran in Bini> cock and Sk in 201 places. He was also
advised to give he-goat to Esu. He was to use the skin of the bush goat to
make a large drum and to give a cock to Ogun.
suosequennv, war broke out between ovo and ljesha, which caused
a 24 hour curfe~ to be imposed in ovo. No one was allowed to go out. It
however became necessary to make diVinatlon for the Alaafin of ovo, but
no one caren to go out. Esu wentto osunoa meji In his capacity as one of
the royal diviners and told him to go to the palace to divine for the King.
He was too scared to go but Esu persuaded him to beat the drum he had
just made from the skin of the bush goat right up to the palace.
Singing with the names of the Awos who made divination for him, he
sang and drummed to the palace. By the time he got to the palace,
hostilities had ended with the withdrawal of the invading ljesha Armv.
Peace and tranqunitv then returned to ovo.
Ogunda-MeJl leaves for Heaven:
Just like he came to the world without passing. through the female
womb, he left for heaven at a ripe old age without passing through the
grave. As already inctlcated, the King of Death had contrived a ruthless
scheme for ellmlnatin·g the strong Awos on earth; They were invited to
heaven one after the otner.to.eeme and cure the King of Death who was
"ill". Following the end Of the JJesha-Oyo war, he had a dream in which
he found himself in heaven but could not return to the earth. He invited
two of his most proficient surrogates catted:
uroke mi lawo ligonrin, and •
oroke milawo le eturuve
to make divination to interprete the dream. They told him that the King of
Death was sending a message to him to come to heaven to divine for
him. They told him that the task he was going to be invited to perform was
a tedious and arduous one, but that since no task was impossible for
orunmila, he would survive it if he made aoequate preparations. He was
told to give one he-goat to Esu at home and also to give a small he-goat
including Akara, Eko, Ewo toccco in Bini> water and cotton wool, to Esu
in the forest. He was to perform the second forest sacrifice on his way to
heaven. He made the first sacrifice at home and got prepared for his trip
to heaven to meet the King of Death. The following day, he was visited by
two men dressed in the uniform of the knights of heaven. He did not know
how they got to his house. He Just found them in his sitting room. They
told him that he was required by the King of Death to come and cure him
in heaven. He offered to entertain them but they refused because they
were under orders not to eat or drink from anvone they visited. He asked
them how he was going to travel to heaven and they told him that he was
supposed to know what to do. With that, they disappeared out of sight.
To travel to heaven, he had to wear his mystical garmentwith which
he could disappear. As soon as he got fully prepared, he went into his
mvsterv room and instantly, he found himself on the last gate to heaven.
Before entering heaven; he went into the forest to make the second
sacrifice. As he settled down at a spot In the forest to make the sacrifice,
he saw an old woman with her limbs stuck to the ground, and her eves
oozing out offensive liQuid as if at the point of death. Other people used
187
to see her and pass her by, but he stopped to help her. He got her hands and
feet released from the bolt with whleh they were fastened to the ground, and
brought out the cotton wool for his sacrifice to dean her eves. seeing that the
woman ,was obviously hungry, he gave her the Eko and Akara to eat and the
water to drink. The woman asked him for the he-goat In his pocket and he
gave it to her.
He then continued on his Journey satisfied that he had served the Esu
of the forest. Before getting to the house of the King of death, he met a
beautiful girl who asked him whether he recognised her. She asked him
whether he did not see an old woman In the forest. The girt lled that the
woman was her mother, but It was Intact herselt now transfigured Into this
good-looking girl. She asked him where he was going and he replied that he
was going to answer an Invitation from the King of Death. She disclosed that
she was the mother of the King of Death and he was startled.
She told him that the King of Death was not Ill at all and that he merely
wanted to destroy all the proficient Awos on earth, because they were
draining his source of food supply bY saving human beings from dying. She
added that she was going to help him on account of the good turn he did to
people Including herself.
She disclosed that every morning, the King of Death was In the habit of
putting on his wife's garment, that Is, the sickness dress (Sickness being the
King of Death's wife> which would make him look as If he was about to die.
The garment was usually tied to the back of his leg. several Doctors had
previously been Invited to cure him but they had all failed. None of them was
able to survive the preliminary trial by whlCh Death tested their capabilities.
They were required to sncka spear tokoaorere In Yoruba and osogan in
Bini> on the floQC of the Inner chamber of the King of Death. Unknown to
them, the floor was lined with stones. When the spear could not stick to the
ground the Awos were tied up for execution. She disclosed that thirty Awos
from earth had already been tied up that way.
She advised him that to be able to stick the spear to the floor, he had to
strike it at the mouth of the water drain of the Inner chamber, which was the
only soft spot in the room. He would recognise the place by the presence of
a giant frog on that spot. He should not be afraid of hitting the frog, because
It would disappear as soon as he aimed to strike. If he did not see the frog,
he would meet one old woman sitting and spinning cotton wool, with her foot
covering the soft spot. He should not be afraid of hitting her foot, because
she would remove It as he took aim.
Finally, she gave him the following warnings:
m He was not to split the evil kolanut to be presented to him before
seeing the King of Death;
(II) He was to insist on seeing the King of Death unaccompanied; nm He
was to cernanc tne release of the 30 Awo~ in cnams bgt=ore accepting
any reward; and
Uv> He was not to accept any physical gifts because the heavenly
police would not allow him to take them away. She then gave him
a small calabash from her head which he could knock on the
ground to take whatever was given to him. He should use the
calabash to disappear back to his house.
He thus realised the manifestation of the sacrifice he had made,
otherwise there was no way he could have come by this vital Information.
Before, the girl disappeared, she promised that she would always come to
his rescue at critical moments during his exploit.
Without much apprehension therefore, he proceeded to the house of the
King of Death where he was welcomed by the knights of the Death

188
 squad. As soon as he Introduced himself, they told him that the tradition was
for him to stick a spear to the ground before taking his seat. He was directed
to the inner chamber where drums were beating and he began to dance to
the tune of the music with the spear in hand. He danced round the room and
without any warning, he startled the old woman sitting near the water drain
and by reflex action she removed her foot from the mouth of the drain and he
stuck the spear right on that spot and it held on to the floor. He won the
applause and praise of all those who were present.
He was then given a kolanut to welcome him. He remembered the girl's
warning and Insisted that before enjoying any entertainment, he had first to
see who invited him to perform the task for which he was invited. He
demanded to see the King of Death alone.
He was then allowed to see the King of Death alone. Death recognised
, mm as tne man who seduced his wife several years before, and praised him
for getting away with It. He prayed him also to cure him of his seemingly
Incurable ailment. Ogunda meJI laughed hltariously and greeted the King of
Death. He told him that he was aware that he had to pay the debt he owed to
death in the end, but that he was not going to do so on the King of Death's
terms. He settled down to serious business and told Death that he was on1y
feigning mness by wearing his wife's garment and that nothing was· wrong
with. him.
OgUnda meJI tnen lcnett down to unfasten the garment from the heels
of the King of Death and with that, he removed the sickness garment and
Death looked hall and hearty. OgundameJI threatened to burn the garment,
but Death refused on the ground that It truly belonged to his wife. But the
King of Death warned him not to give his secret away to anyone In heaven.
Thereafter, OgundameJI came to the outer-chamber with the King of
Death having apparently cured him. He was again praised and applauded by
the heavenly host as the king of Deat" took his seat on the throne.
Before taking his seat, ocunoa meJI knocked his head and there was a
loud roar which shook the grounds of heaven and everybody begged him to
soften up. He then demanded the Immediate release of an the 30 Awos who
were put in chains before him. Knowing what Ogunda mej was capable of
doing, Death Quickly ordered the release of the 30 Awos from earth, but
since they refused to make sacrifice before leaving earth, they could not
longer return to earth.
Death gave him several gifts knowing that It was impossibte for him to
take them away from heaven. After comotetmc arrangements for his return
home, he surrounded himself with the gifts he was given and brought out the
calabash the glrl gave to him. He sprinkled Its content on all the gifts and he
told them, lncludlng the 30 Awos to prepare for home. With that Incantation
they all disappeared and were Instantly at the sitting room of ocunoa men's
house on earth.
All the Awos thanked him and promised always to remember him In
whatever they di"d. some accounts have it that Ogunda mej did not return
from heaven because he preferred to remain there. The account which was
given to the writer Is that he returned to earth but died a normal death soon
afterwards.
Before finally leaving the earth, he told hts children that they should
always do favours, although they would always be repaid with Ingratitude. He
advised them not to allow that problem to deter them from humanitarian
behaviour, because as long as they could operate as loyal disciples of
orunmila, benevolence would always bring them salvation and prosperity. He
added that Ingratitude done to them by their beneficiaries
189
them multiple rewards, from the Almighty God.
His last words on his death bed are contained in the following poem:
oroo (a plant without leaves> was so benevolent;
That It was leftwlth no leaves;
But it is the only plant that survives all climatic conditions. lgeregere
or Afuma (a plant that grows on other trees> was so benevolent;
That it has no roots on the ground;
But it was · crowned the King of all pla_nts.
The ground does so much favour to the world,
That his significance Is not even appreciated;
But he Is the final Inheritor of the universe, The
sun Is so benevolent;
That he Is cursed and praised by his beneficiaries;
But he lives forever.
His children would always be more prosperous;
Than those who show them ingratitude.
Just as a thief can never prosper;
As much as the victim of his theft.
Finally, he told his children not to take to hunting of any kind as a
profession, be It for animals, birds and reptiles in the forest, or for fishes
In the water. With those words of advice, he lapsed into the great beyond
.

190
 CHAPTER XXII
OSAMEJI
I I I I I I I I I I

ot much is known about the work of osamej in heaven. It is said that

N
poem:
he made divination for the white man when he was coming to the
world. He Is said to have advised the white man In the following

Oyi odade owo

ov1 owewu okun
ov1 rogun - OVi boeun ovl
roobon - OVi boebon
Adlfa fun ovibo nigbatl ovmo maa gunle slkole ave.
The white man was advised to make sacrifice In order to be able to
create, Invent, develop and achieve great helgt,ts - and to command
universal honour and respect. He made the sacrifice.
When this oou comes out of dlvlnatlon, the person will be told that he
will give birth to a child who wm command the respect of all and sundry.
When a woman called oeodo vava was teaving heaven, she went to
the Awos listed above to make divination tor her In order to be able to
have a child who wm change the course of events in the world. She was
advised to make sacrlflcewlth cotton, rat, fish, cock and hen. She made
the sacrifice and came to the world. on getting to the world, she did not
have chlldren, so she went to two Awos .Qfl earth called ukporo bayl and
1
Aila naavt She was told to make sacrifice ~th a rat, fish, cock and hen.
She did the sacrifice after which she began to have cnuoren.
Later, she wanted to have more children and again went for
divination. She was told to make sacrifice with 40 eggs and a he-goat to
Esu. After making the sacrifice a child was born with a pale skin and curly
hair. Afraid of the kind of child she had, she ran to the Awos who made
divination for her to explain what It meant. They told her that since she
left heaven-with a wish to give birth to a child who would alter the face of
the earth, her wishes had manifested and she was told that the child was
going to begin a new generation Of white men on earth. That is how the
white race came into existence.
When this oou comes out of divination for a woman, she will be told
that after having several children, she would give birth to an Albino. That
is why It is said that the black man came to the world before the white
man, although the white man was the one who changed the course of
events on earth.
He made divination· for the cotton plant:

The cotton plant also went to osameJI In heaven for divination when
it was coming to the world. At that time, the people of the world were only
wearing leaves. The cotton was told to make sacrifice because It vowed
to come to the world to provide clothing for humanity. It was told to make
sacrifice with a he-goat to Esu adding oientvoe white chalk. The cotton
was otherwise brown In colour, but When It produced children on earth,
the chlldren were surrounded bV white hair tor wool> to which esu
changed the white chalk with which the cotton made sacrifice.
191
 It was also Esu who advised mankind to spin and weave the cotton
into clothing for wearing instead of wearing leaves.
osameJI prepares to come to the world:

When osarnej discovered that most of the divinities had left for earth,
he decided to go and see what the place was like. He went to three Awos
called:
Age eni je, ee mo odun
Ala ra ra ije eemaagbe
Ogbologbo ekutete, EeJe erln ogtnl ninu uie.
Whatever bites one does not know when the year ends.
He who buys cooked food to eat does not bother to know the
farmer who produced it.
The big domestic rat does not allow the cat to stay at home. osarnej
was advised to make sacrifice because he was going to practise
his lfa art in the midst of witches. He was told to give he-goat to Esu, a
guinea to his lfa and pigeon to his head. He did not perform the sacrifice
as he was in a hurry to come to the world.
Although he was one of the sixteen children of orunmila who decided
to come to the world at about the same time, he did not find the way to
the world In time, because of the he-goat he failed to give to Esu. His
guardian angel could not guide him because he also made no sacrifice to
him. His Head did not come to his rescue either, because he offered no
sacrifice to it. He was therefore wandering on the way until he came to
the last river in heaven befo!e crossing to the world. At the bank of the
river, he met the mother of witches, 1yami osoronoa who had been there
a
for long time because no one else agre.ed to help her to cross the river.
She too was coming to the wortd but was too feeble to cross the tiny
thread bridge over the river. 'f'he bridge Is called akoko Bridge.
lvaml osoronaa begged him to back her through the river, but he
explained that the bridge would not take two passengers at a time. She
then proposed to him that he should open his mouth so she could get into
it. He agreed and she took a position inside his stomach. When he got to
the earth end of the bridge, he told her to come out, but she refused on
the ground that his stomach provided a suitable abode for her. His
problems with witchcraft had begun. When she refused to disembark, he
thought he could bluff her by saying that she would die of hunger inside
his stomach, but she said that she would not die for as long as he had a
liver, a heart and intestines, because those were her favourite meals.
. He realised what problem he was up against, when the woman bit his
liver. He then brought out his divination instruments and sounded lfa on
now to get out or tne impasse. He was tore by lfa to make instant
sacrifice with a goat, a bottle of on and white cloth, which he brought
outuulcklv from his Akpo mlnuekun.
He Quickly cooked the liver, heart and intestines of the goat and told
lyami that food was ready for her. When she smelt the inviting scent of
the food, she came out of his stomach. She however told him that it was
forbidden for her to eat in full view of anyone. He then made a tent with
the white cloth and she went under the tent to enjoy the meal. As she
was eating osarnej ran away and Quickly found a womb to enter to come
to the world.
As soon as lyami finished eating, she looked round for osarnejt but
he was nowhere to be found. She began to shout his name osasa, osasa,
osasa which is the cry of the witches to this day. She is still looking for
osamejl
192
up till now.
The birth of osameJI.

osamej ran into the womb of the first woman he came across as he was
running away from ryami osoronga. Little did he know that he was merely
running from the frying pan to the fire, because the woman who was to
become his mother was a member of the cult of 1yami osoronea,
He came to the rescue of a husband whose wife had completed
arrangements for offering him as a sacrifice to the elders of the night. When
he was born, he was always crying out late at night but no one knew what
was responsible for his nocturnatcrtes. The father was a layman who had no
knowledge of what was going on. As soon ~$ he <;rlect out In the night the
parents would wake up to pacify him. It was only the motner who knew the
secret of why the child was always crying out at night.
The child used to cry to Intercept the ritual process of sacrificing the
father for a feast in the witch cult. That process continued until the child was
old enough to speak. suoseouennv, as soon as he grew up to be able to talk,
Instead of merely crying In the night, he would shout the word 1yami
osoronga, which would instantly wake up the mother and she would thus
abruptly depart from the night's ritual ceremony of trying to sacrifice the
husband. This used to happen on a particular day of every week.
one night, thewitchessubpoened the mother to explain why she used to
leave their meeting abruptly whenever she was praying with the goat (she
used to turn the husband into a goat before trying to kill him, because the
witches do not klU human beings without first turning them Into animals>.
She explained thatltwas her son who coincidentally used to shout the name
of the witch-mother <tvaml osoronga> at that point of the proceedings. She
was instructed to come With her son to the next meeting which was the
General Assembly meetln~nd feasting day. All the witches had contributed
money to serve the;r heads on that night.
When that day arrived they served the heads of all their members one
after the other. When they got to where osameJI was sitting they also served
his head but he did not eat out of the goat used for serving their heads
because he did not contribute towards the cost of buying It, since
he had not been Initiated Into the cult. ·
Next morning he wokeup and went to his father to advise him to serve
his head with a goat because of a dream he had. He told mm-to do it so that
he might get well because he had been HI tor a long time. The father
accepted the advice of the smaff boy and bought a goat to serve his head.
After making the sacrifice, osameJt asked his mother to provide an open clay
pot and plenty, of oil. He collected parts of the goat and all the uneaten
remains of the ·WOat's meat and put them tn the pot adding oil and salt as
well as sand from the ground <represented today by 1yerosun>. He then
went to deposit the pot at the Incinerator <Otitan In Yoruba and Otlku In
Bini>. That was the first offering by any human betng to the elders Of the
night and Is also how offerings are made to them to this day. After the
sacrifice they all went to sleep but by the next morning his mother did not
wake up. From then on his father became wen. Things became clear to him
after the death of hJs mother and eventually he told the father that his
mother was all along responsible for his. Indisposition, and narrated how he
used to see her In his. dreams.
It Is for this singular reason that some lfa priests refer to osameJI as a
witch, but he never was, From then on people began to respect him. Anyone
who wanted to serve his head always Invited osameJI to perform

193
the sacrifice for him or her. He was able to hold meetings with the witches
right from the time his mother touched his head with the wand that made it
possible for him to accompany her to the meeting of witches. He was from
then on able to hold meetings with them but could not eat with them
because he was not formally Initiated. To this day, it is possible with the
aid of similar preparations, for a novice to hold meetings with witches,
without being formally Initiated Into their cult.
Esu finally gets his he-goat from osameJI.
His first performance as an lfa priest was to deliver a pregnant
woman.
Esu had all along been waiting for him to begin his ministry before holding
him to ransome for his he-goat. As soon as he grew up to be a man, he
got married to a young, beautiful girl who was also a witch. The house he
lived In was also inhabited by witches. The entire town in which he lived
was a witch-infested place. Esu pushed him to the place as a punishment
for stubbornly refus~ng to give him a he-goat. When he got to the town he
discovered that everybody had gone out of the town to the farm, so he
waited until the following day throughout which the town was still desolate
but for one pregnant woman who was in labour. As the only person
around, he helped the woman to deliver the child.
Not having eaten any food since the previous day he was now very
hungry and as he tried to find something in the house to eat, he moved to
the overhead food storage counter where he inadvertently dropped an
egg which broke into pieces. The next object he touched Instantly
changed the pigmentation of his two hands to albino white. This Incident
scared him so much that he 1'an Into the bush.
When the town's inhabitants returned from the farm the newly
delivered woman told them of a vtsitor who came to the town. As soon as
they heard of his arrival they began to search for him as he was sure to
become the next·sacriflclal victim In the cult of witchcraft. Meanwhile, he
met a hunter In the forest who told him that the town he came to settle in
was totally inhabited by witches. He also told him that the people were
searching for him at that instant and that his life was In danger. To ward
off the danger, he was required to give a he-goat to ssu lmmedtatelv.
He then provided a he-goat from his diVlnation bag and gave It to ssu
After sacrificing the he-goat, the hunter got leaves from the forest and
washed osamejrs head with them. osameJI did not know from where the
man got the water and the pot with which to wash the leaves. It was then
he realised that ssu had probably transfigured into the hunter. The hunter
washed his two hands with the substance as well as his entire body.
Instantly, his two hands regained their normal pigmentation.
MGanwhile, the newly delivered child who spoke from the day It was
born, narrated how osameJI came to the town and how he got the colour
of his two hands changed. With that mark of indentlflcatlon the people
thought It would be easy to apprehend him whenever they eventually
caught up with him, but after the washing the hunter gave him, his whole
body became darker than ever before.
As he tried to escape from the area, Esu told him not to abscond
because It was necessary to belle the information given about him to the
people by the newborn child, lest the witches would pursue him wherever
he went until they killed him. Esu emphasised that he was already a target
and that once the witches marked anyone down for execution, there was
no escape, except through checkmate and sacrifice. With that he agreed
to follow ssu to the town. 194
 When he got to the town, the woman lndentifled him as the man who
dropped the egg and fouled their medicine. When they asked him, he denied
it. Thev told him to stretch out his two hands which they were told had turned
white from the medicine he touched. They discovered that his two hands had
the same colour as the rest of his body, as dark as charcoal. The people then
turned to the woman to explain how she knew that it was the stranger who
committed the offence and she disclosed that it was her day old child that
told her.
Since it was clear that the woman had lied, they accused her of crass
ingratitude for trying to destroy the man who came to her aid in the
procurement of a safe delivery at a time when nobody was at home. The
elders Quickly returned a verdict of death by execution on the woman and
her child. osameJi pleaded in vain for them to spare the lives of the two, but
they told him not to waste his words, because there was nothing like
forgiveness in their own tradition. The mother and child were executed
because it was forbidden under pain of death for anyone to lie in the town.
To thank osamef for the assistance he rendered in their absence, they
rewarded him with gifts made up of a man, a woman and a goat - all witches.
on getting home, he offered the goat to lfa and gave another he-goat to
express his gratitude to Esu for coming to his rescue at a critical moment. He
then did a feast in praise of orunmila.
The witches Discover the truth:
During the next meeting of the witches they discovered that It was Esu
who helped osamen to falsify the account of the story given to them by the
executed woman and child. They then decided that osamej was to die before
the end of that year. He saw It in his dream and he decided to approach the
following Awos for Divination:
Ajibola ni sawo ki maaki, meeki
oeoio mi ko vongidi le wa
Akidara mi Ata mode
ojo ko ba mo ni run, Oni moni dede.
When they sounded lfa for him, his own oou came out. They told him
that death was in store for him betore that year ran out and that nothing could
be done to stop it. After this sordid news, he went Into recluse and began to
weep. When his wife saw that the end of her husband was at hand, she
packed her belongings out of his house and left.
on getting to the marketplace she met two tfa priests called Oleu ken bi
ala and Olurin kurln oma erukunse soro soro. They asked whether she was
not osarnell's wife and she confirmed but added that the witches had passed
a death sentence on her husband and that It had been confirmed at
divination that ne was going to die before the year ran out, and that it was on
accountoetne hopelessness of the situation that she was leaving.
They persuaded her to return with them to the house and she did.
They assured her that they were convinced there was going to be a remedy
because Orunmlla does not surrender to Impossibilities. They met osameJI
still crying his eves out. When he told them the oou that came out, they
wondered why he was crying because the meaning of It was that, that was
the vear that prosperity was coming his way, if he could make the necessary
sacrifice. They told him that he was going to have a new chHd that year, build
his own house and have plenty of money provided he could give:
m He-goat to Esu;
(II> Pig to lfa and
OIi> Pigeon to oioeon.
195
 He Quickly brought the things out and they helped him to make the
sacrifice. He compensated the visitors and they left for home.
At the end of that month his wife missed her menstruation and she
became pregnant. Not long afterwards his popularity soared and his work
became very prolific and money came to him from all directions. As soon
as he felt that he had enough money, he built his own house. After
completing his house, his wife delivered. He entered the New Year with
unprecedented affluence and contentment.
To express his gratitude to the divinities that brought him prosperity
he gave a pig and a goat to lfa, a he-goat to Esu and cock and pigeon to
otokun. For the feasting; he invited the two sets of Awos who made
divination for him and after the wining and dining, he sang in praise of the
Awos and the divinities and everyone rejoiced with him for surviving his
difficulties.
osameJI makes divination fOr sixteen Obas:

Ofuu fuu Lere oooo giri, oduie atara tsaomo ojlbolu. owote saka
saka. owole soko soko.
The ubiquitous wanderer, or wind, who does what he likes and
means what he does, was the nickname of Osameji.
He went to the palace of Alara, a very strong Oba who was famous
for destroying strong Awos at will. He told A1ara that Death had
completed arrangements to bury someone in his house and that that fate
was earmarked for him, the Alara, because the night elders had tried and
condemned him to death and that nothing was going to save him except
sacrifice with a goat, a hen, a rabbit and tnsstern of plantain. Alara Isa
refused to take the young Awo seriously. Seeing that his advice was
ignored, osarnej left the palace.
He also went to the AJero, 01owoof owo, the Illa of orangun, the owa
onokun of uesa. the Ewl of Ado, Oba Ado Ajuwaleke and the rest of the
sixteen Obas of the known world at the time. one after the other they all
ignored him. They did not know much about witches ano.tneir influence
over the world and so did not know what credence and weight to give to
the advice of osarnelt. He felt he was under divine oouaanonto alert the
Obas of their imminent demise and he had done his duty. He then
returned home. on getting home he too went to his Awos for divination
and he was told that oeatnwasaiso on his trail and that a grave had been
prepared by the elders Of the night in his house, He was also told to make
sacrifice with a goat, a hen, a rabbit and the stem of plantain prepared as
a coffin. He QuicklV did the sacrifice.
one month later the sudden death of the Alara Isa was announced
and one after the other all the sixteen Obas he had forewarned, joined
their ancestors. When the agents of the night who were consuming the
Obas, got to the house of osameJi, they saw that he had built fortifications
round himself and they left him unscathed. They feasted on the feast he
had prepared for them through the sacrifice he had made, but since they
had prepared a grave in his house, they buried the skull of the goat and
the coffin of pJantain stem inside it, and left his house. He lived to a ripe
old age.
OsameJi is accused of being a witch:

one night, he dreamt that he was arraigned before the conference of

the divinities and accused of an undisclosed offence. The following
morning he went to an Awo called Asare Lo, Awa AJoyo, for divination.
He
196
was told to make sacrifice with a ram, 10 snails, a rabbit and a fish to lfa so
that someone might not level a false accusation against him. He did the
sacrifice.
Meanwhile there was confusion among the 16 OLODUS of orunmila
when orongun-meji accused osarnej of being the witch who was killing the
children of Ejl-Elemere. The accusation created so much furore that the
sixteen otodus convened a conference to resolve the matter: They
discovered that the children of Eji-Elemere were being killed by his wives.
osamejt was then victorious and orangun-meji was told to apologise to him
for lying against him.
osameJI discovers the cause of his problems:
He was becoming worried as to why he was just solving one problem
after the other. He went to an Awo called Esi Saara, Esi Jasan, who told him
to give a he-goat to Esu and a pig to lfa and eight eggs and a castrated he-
goat to the elders of the night. He made the sacrifice.
soon after the sacrifice, his senior wife fell. flat on her face one night and
began to confess how she had been fermenting one problem after the other
for him through witchcraft. The woman confessed everything she had done
and promised that from then on he was not going to have anvmore problems
and that he would be enjoying· perpetual bliss for the rest of his
life.The:woman then begged him for forgiveness and he reacHly forgave·
her: Thereafter, osamej did not have any more problems from witches.
osameJI finally settles: his score with witchcraft with a concordat:
He was the one who brought them to the world and he was the one who
saved them from total extmenon frQfll the face of the earth. The
matteroncmanv concerned orisa Nia who, as coosown representative on
earth, was the head of all the divinities, including the witch community.
ortsa had two lakes at the back of his house. one of them used to dry up
during the dry season whilst the other provided year-round water supply: The
two lakes were used commonly by all and sundry. But onsa's wives were
Jesting at him for allowing witches, among others, to make use of his lake.
He reacted bv making the au-season lake exclusive for the use of his
household,whilst allowlng the wltchesto use the one that dried up in the
drvseascn; ·
Knowing tttat their lake could not provide them with water during the hot
seasomtne wltehes wentfor divination on what to do to ensure year-round
watersupply from their lake. They were advised to give a hegoat to Esu. After
Esu had eaten-ms he-Qoat; he dived into ortsa Nla's exclusive lake, removed
the stone with which the spring of the lake was dVked and transferred It to
the witches' lake. The effect of the stone was to stoptnewater from flowing
uncterground. Assured that thetr lake would no longer dry up, tney appointed
two birds to watch over It against intruders. The birds were called lkaare
<Akpalakperan In Binn and otuutu <Erlmohl In Bini>.
When the dry season came orlsa Nta·s lake Quickly dried up, while that
ofthe witches remained fllled with water. The witches gave the two birds the
call sign with wmcnto alert them if any Intruder cameto fetch water from their
lake. When onsa Nta·s household became short of water, they went to the
witches· lake. The birds allowed them to fetch water but the wives alsowent
into the lake to navetneir baths. It was at that stage that
197
the blrdS began to give the can signs to their principals.
lkaare was the first to announce "Ava onsa weee" and otuutu shouted
"Ava Orlsa ponml tu tu tu tu". With that, the Intruders realised that there were
guards watching the lake. They Quickly took to their heels and ran home.
When the witches came, they asked the guards who the Intruders were
and they reported that they were members of orlsa Nla's household. They
swore to punish ortsa Nia tor contravening the proclamation he made by
hlmself, by allowlng his famlly to use their lake.
The witches marching song was:
Enl Asoro, omo eronko aarobo onlvan,
To Orlsa Taavare, Aarlje, Aarlmu.
Pandemonium Is let loose today
All the birds of the forest will
speak llke human beings.
we shall comsume onsa Nia and
his wives this day.
When onsa Nia heard the witches' war song from the distance, he
escaped from his house to take refuge with osun. Ogun got prepared to do
battle with the Invaders and sat In front of his house waiting for the witches to
arrive. As soon as they arrived at ocun's gate, he threw up his matcher and it
sparked fire. But they swallowed OQun up with his fighting Instruments - and
onsa Nia escaped through the back door. He took refuge In saoeo's place
and the same fate befell him. onsa Nia ran to the homes of all the other
dtvlnltles but they were an swallowed up by the Invading witches.
onsa Nia finally ran to ~nmna·s house and he prepared a hiding.place
on his shrine for him to hide. He made orisa Nia to hide under the shrine and
he covered him up with a white cloth with his head protruding through the
white cloth. That Is today signified by the elevation protruding under a white
covering on the shrine of orunmila. It Is called Orlte.
osamej then brought out his divination tray <Akpako> and prepared
tne.dlvmatlon powder and the markings of his own lfa and with uroke, he
blew it over his house shouting Ero, Ero, Ero, (that is peace, peace, peace,»
When the witches got to the road junction close to his house they lost their
bearings and were confused. But they sent their two path-finders to
dlrectthelr advance to wherever ortsa Nia was. The two scouts found
orunmlla in front of his house and they told him that they had traced ortsa
Nla's footsteps to his house. He confirmed that he was lnfact keeping him,
but appealed to them that he was already so pale and lifeless that If they
killed him in that condition, there would be no flesh In him. He convinced
them to give him seven days to fatten him up neeore killing him. He then
offered to share out of ortsa Nla's meat.
He spoke to them with an Incantation which is forbidden to be
mentioned or spoken because It evokes havoc. The summation of it Is that
he conjured them to accept whatever explanation he gave them for keeping
ortsa Nia. Under the Influence of the incantation they agreed and retreated to
base.
The following morning osameJi made divination and he was told to
•give a black hen to lfa and a he-goat to Esu. He Quickly did it knowing that
the witches would shorten the length of the ensuing days and nights. He was
also told to prepare a feast with rabbits for the witches and to prepare palm
wine poisoned with iverosun and the Incantation which could not be
mentioned above.
He also prepared a fenced-in enclosure in front of his house and got
198
a kind of adhesive gum, called aare in Yoruba, and Uho in Bini, to daub
the fence. He prepared sixteen wooden seats, also daubed with the gum,
and positioned them within the reception enclosure.
Not long afterwards the appointed day arrived and on that day,
osamef prepared the feast and placed the food and drinks within the
reception enclosure. As soon as the witches arrived, they took their seats
and began eating and drinking. After eating and drinking they told osamef
to produce Orisa Nia and before he could respond one of them sighted
onsa Nia within orunmua's shrine from where he peeped to see the
invaders. The one who saw him shouted that ortsa Nia was under
orunmila's shrine. As they moved to attack, Esu had glued them firmly to
their seats and they were helpless. As they tried to roll the seats the glue
on the fence held up their wings. They were totally over·powereo.
At that point, Osameji gave his lfa knife CAza> to Orisa Nia and he
held on to the uroke and they began to destroy the witches one after the
other. When they had destroyed all of them, they heaved a sigh of relief.
They did not know that one of them managed to crawl to take refuge
under orunrnua's shrine, the same place where ortsa Nia had hidden
before the attack.
As they were killing them they were singing:
"Ota ml po yee
Okon kon nu uku saan paa
yeye. My attackers are many.
1 will kill them one after
the other."
When onsa sighted the one hiding under the shrine of orunmua, he
wanted to kill him as well, but osamej stopped him on the grounds that he
could not destroy anyone who took refuge under his lfa shrine just as his
tonsa Nla's> life was spared after hiding under the same shrine.
They then brought out the witch whQ,.was a woman and removed
the glue from her body. When they examined her closely they discovered
that she was pregnant. osarnejt then remarked that it was forbidden to
knowingly kill a pregnant woman. In Bini it is said "Aigbozigbeken".
onsa Nia insisted that if the woman was allowed to survive, she
would produce more witches that would attempt to destroy the world like
the first generation of witches tried to do. It is strongly believed that if that
woman had been killed that night, it would have meant the end of the
genealogy of witchcraft on the face of the earth. onsa Nia however
suggested that she should be made to take an oath not to destroy
Innocent persons on earth.
osameji then proposed to onsa Nia that the ground was the only
divinity capable of destroying the witches if they misbehaved, since the
ground is the only force that supervenes all other earthly forces and
agencies. He dug a hole on the ground and filled it with all eatable Items
of food with kotanut put on top of It. They then made her to swear on the
ground to kill her or any of her off-springs from generation to generation if
they ever killed any of God's or orunmua's children without just cause.
She took the oath and ate the kotanut on top of the heap.
She however asked them to let her know how she was to feed if she
could not kill any of God's or orunmua's children. onsa Nia replied that If
he or any of his children offended them or their matter was brought to
them, he would atone for the offence by killing an animal, be it ram, goat,
fowl, etc and spill the blood outside the house. That is a signal that the
offender has atoned to them for the offence committed. They should then
leave him alone. That is the significance of the saran which children of
God
199
make to this day. It Is a sign that the offering Is from a child of God and the
witches wm accept It and grant the offerer's wishes.
On the other hand osameJi told her that If she saw any food prepared In
a pot and deposited at a road juction, by the wayside or on top of an
Incinerator, she should know that It is from orunmua's child and she should
accept the food and leave the Offerer alone. This Is the Etutu uzobo In Bini>
that orunmila often advises his followers to make to the night when they are
In trouble with the witches. That Is why the iverosun markings of osameji are
often marked on the divination tray when offerings are being made to the
night.
The Incantation, which cannot be mentioned here, and which lfa priests
repeat when making an offering to the night, Is toremmo them that the offerer
belongs to orunmlla and that they should remernbertne oath they
administered to their mother on the fateful day.
The significance of this revelation Is that no other divinity Is able to
withstand the witches when they decide to fight. They can always subdue an
of them, with the exception of God and orunrnua, due to the way they
handled them on that fateful night. Anyone who believes that charms and
other diabolical preparations can subdue witchcraft Is merely deceiving
himself, unless they transgress the concordat which their mother entered
Into on that night and which saved them from total extinction.

200
 CHAPTER XXIII
ETURA- MEJI I
I
II II
I I I I

ahlla_ llala nu, That IS the ca.II slg_n o_ f OtumeJI - because he was the
L one In heaven who made divination for Baba imote, before he left heaven
for this world. He went for divination to otumeJI who In heaven was

called Enl Baba laaba

Enl a ba la aoa, Eenl abaa laaba,
Enl aoa la baa ianpe nt.bana, adlfa fun imote
abewu gereJe nolokost iblkon tlo maakere ave Je - meantng:The person
you meet once, meet again, and meet later as an elder
in a town, Is called an old man. That was the name of the Awo cotumeJD
wno.made divination for the head of the 1moles to enable them Inherit the
prosperity of the earth with mlnlmal effort, from a sedentary position. Baba
imote, .was told to make sacriflce with 4 hens, 4 cocks, 4 pigeons and 4
snails; and ns.maee.tne sacrifice.
When: he got to tlle world, he struggled for a long time before he was
able to realise his destiny, but when he finally met otumeji again on earth, he
made the same sacrifice for him In the cave and told him that his flock was
going to multli,ly but tnattne reward of his sacrifice would be reaped by his
descendants and followers. H.e was told that money would always come to
them with very little or no effort. Those who wanted to know the truth about
God would always come to him for the message •.
He ma• .divination fOr the Groundnut:
When the groundnut was coming to the world, It was otumeJI, who made
divination for her. The groundnut was anxious to have plenty of children on
earth so that her kindred might enJoy everlasting popularity on earth .. sutsne
was told to make sacrifice so that after having so many children, her brothers
and sisters might not turn round to destroy them. She was advfsed to serve
lfa with a Ram and esu with a he-goat. She refused to do it, and Jeft for the
world without performing any sacrifice.
on getting to the world, she was Indeed very productive becauce she
gave birth to several children at a time. MeanWhlle, Esu Informed the rabbit
who had also Just had her own chUdren and was looking for food with which
to feed them, that the groundnut had Just had children, but hid her young
ones underground. esu also drew the attention of the hedgehog COkhaen In
Bini or Urare In Yoruba>, and the hare <Ekun In Yoruba or orere in Bini> to
the nutrient value of the groundnut's children. FolloWfng upon the advice of
Esu, they all began to feed on the children of the groundnut. When she
dlscovered.tnat she was running out Qfchildren, she went to an Awo called
Jeml Sudl for divination. The Awo also advised her to serve lfa with a ram and
Esu with He-goat. After the sacrlffcles, esu went to the farmer to advise him to
set traps round his farm In order to catch the intruding animals who 'were
ravaging his farm. The farmer accordingly encircled his farm with traps which
caught severat of the Intruding an·1mals. When the animals saw that the
groundnut had been effecttve1v fortified. they gave UJ) the farm, and the
groundnuts and her chfldren were left to thrive and survive to become
profitable cash crops for humanity. The seeds
201
o,me:groundnllts·atso sut"*'tOl..,{tM1f"generation flourishing to i this
dav. The ·groundnut later went tothank orunmlla for helping her to survive
the onslaught of her relations.
He made Divination fOr the white man when he was anxious to
know how to manufacture a Hve human being:
The most Important work done in heaven by otumeJI Is the revelation
of how the white man attempted to learn from God how to produce a
human being'. The white man had become so vast on earth in the field of
Inventions that he thought he should crown his achievements by ·going to
God to teach him how to manufacture a human being. When he got to
heaven, he approached an Awo called Ayegbe koosne gbere gede, "No
mirror can be wide enough to see the length of a whole year". Kafiriron
kadun - <loon dlfa fun ovibo tooma ko usne ona omo lowo onsai. The
white man was advised to give he-goat to Esu but he refused to do It
because he did not believe In making fettlsh sacrifices.
Without making the sacrifice he went to the palace of God and asked
to be taught how to produce a human being. Since God never refuses any
request made to him, he told the White man to fetch mud for the work,
which he did. God has a large mirror In his workshop which he looks at
when moulding any object. He examines the reflection of the object from
the mirror and he must pass It as perfect before confirming it as being fit
for existence.
With the mud fetched by the white man, He moulded the image of a
human being and the white man watched him. After moulding the human
Image, God left i\: to dry and meanwhile moved to his inner chamber to
attend to other callers.
As soon as God left, Esu came Into the workshop In the shape of a
heavenly police and asked the white men whether he could not replicate
the Image prepared bV God. The Visitor confirmed that he could. Esu
then told him to leave for home with the Image, because it would speak
after drying up.
With that piece of deceptive advice, the white man left with the
human Image. When he however got home the Image could not speak
after drying up. That is why the white man Is unable to cast any speaking
Image to this day. It was on account of the sacrifice which the white man
refused to make. When otumeJI comes out of divination for someone
anxious to do something, he should he advised to exercise lots of
patience so he might get to the bottom of the matter.
He made divination fOr Truth and Falsehood:
With the following poem- he advised Truth and Falsehood in heaven
when they were quarrelling;
oso gegege - obeke
Odewu gereJe gereJe, oft iboka mole
Enl toba vole ca onun were were
Aamavo Oluware she.
I threw a missile;
And It hit a trickster;
Who made a long dress;
To conceal his treachery.
Whoever hides to practice;
Wickedness against others;
202
 Will have ev!I endangering him openly.
Truth and Falsehood were arguing between themselves. Truth argued
that he was more powerful than Falsehood. on the other hand Falsehood
argued that he was stronger than the Truth.
otumeJi told them that the power of falsehood Is transient and
ephemeral and that Truth, although slow and weak, overcomes Falsehood in
the end. He then sang:-
tojokon, tolokon;
Alekpo slka tolokon;
No matter how powerful wickedness is;
Righteousness overcomes wickedness In the end.
otumeJI leaves heaven for the World:

There were two friends in heaven who agreed to leave for earth at the
same time. Ori Ala (who was called OtumeJI on earth> and Ori Atosi. They
went for divination with two Awos called ooocoo kon Areyi and Odogbo kon
Oro orun. They were both advised to make sacrifice with a ram each to their
guardian angels. The ram was to be used to feast the divinities. They were
also advised to make sacrifice with he-goat to Esu, Including, a cutlass and
pap (Ogtrn. Ori Ala made the sacrifice, but Ori Atosl refused to make any
sacrifice. He insisted that as soon as God cleared one to go to the world, It
was a waste of valuable money and effort to make any additional sacrifice to
lower divinities. They both left for the world.
After they grew up on earth, they turned out to be bosom friends.
Their profession was to fetch firewood for sale. one day, OtumeJi insisted
that they should both go for dlvtnation to find out how to prosper in their
trade. His friend, who was named AJaroye on earth, argued that it was an
exercise In futility to waste the valuable money they earned from the sale of
wood on divination. rnev went to an '4.wo called Peremu sheke for
divination. otumej collected all his savings which amounted to 65K and
dragged his friend to accompany him for divination. Each of them had a
rnatcnet with which they fetched firewood in the bush and a cock to wake
them up In the morning to prepare for their daily chores.
At dlVinatlon, each of them was told to make sacrifice with a cutlass, a
cock, and the cloth In which he travelled to the bush. Alaroye Jested that the
Awo wanted to deprive them of their only possessions and insisted that he
was never going to make such a self-depriving sacrifice.
When otumeJi got home, he decided that he was going back to the Awo
to make the sacrifice. He collected his only cutlass, his only and favourite
cock anct the apparet (Etatugbo tn Bini and Bamte In Yoruba> leaving only
his pant on him. He also went with all the money left with him at home.
He was also tolct to add the pad with which he used to carry fire wood
from the forest and to the market.
The Awo maoetne sacrifice bY burning the pad and the cloth and left the
cutlass on the Esu shrine. Through an Incantation, the Awo told Esu that
otumeJi had made the sacrifice with all the instruments with which he
pursued a vocation that ran counter to his destiny and begged Esu to
prepare his feet to tread on the right path of his destiny. He then slaughtered
the cock on the Esu shrine. After the sacrifice, otumeJi came home empty
handed, without the slightest Idea of what to do next.
The following morning, Alaroye came to htm for the day's round to the
bush to fetch fire wood. When they got to the bush; otumeji collected
firewood with his· hands t>ecausei he Aid no0cut11SS:tqruse.1MIS :friend
203
fetched better fire wood with the cutlass which he refused to use for
sacrifice. ·
It was time to fetch a rope with which to tie his fire wood. He
appealed to his friend to lend him his cutlass for that purpose but Alarove
refused to obllge, on the grounc:ts that If he had not surrendered his
cutlass, he would not have gone aoorrowlns. His friend completed his own
task and left for home, leaving oturnen to 'roast in his own juice'.
After his friend left him, he used his teeth to cut a rope to tie his
firewood. As he was cutting the rope with his teeth, he saw one giant
tortoise, carried It, and used the rope to tie it up. He then went to fetch
another rope with which to tie up his fire wood. As he drew the second
rope, he saw vet another tortoise and again tied It up. He tied up the first
tortoise within his pack of wood and tied the second tortoise on top of the
luggage. He then carried the firewood home with one tortoise clearly
visible on top of the luggage, whHe the other tortoise was concealed
Inside the fire wood bundle. sv tne time he left for home, It was already
dark and he was very hungry.
Back in heaven, the daughter of oiokun, the water divinity, was
having a dlfficult labour and had been told that they needed a tortoise with
which to make sacrifice in order for her to have a safe delivery. otokun
had sent errands to the market of Oja ajlgbomekon to fetch a tortoise at all
cost. That market was commonly attended by the Inhabitants of heaven
and earth. At the same time, the wife of Ala, the divinity of Prosperity, was
also Ill In heaven and at the point of death. Ala was told at divination to
make sacrifice with a tortoise so that his wife might get well. He too, had
sent a messenger to the market to fetch a tortoise at all cost. The heaven
Iv messengers had scanned 'the ennre market all day to buy anv available
tortoise, but could not get anv ta buv. When they got back to heaven to
report the failure of their mission, they appealed to GOd for divine
assistance, who despatched-the,t,eaventv police to take positions at the
nounorv between heaven and earth and to crystal-gaze Into anv location
where tortoises existed. Esu· had meanwhile caused all living tortoises to
bury themselves beneath the ground and they were all eclipsed into
invisibility.
That was the point at which otumej was returning from the bush with
a tortoise on top of his load of fire wood. From the positions they
occupied, the heavenly police saw Otumeji walking home with a tortoise
on top of his load. They telescoped the distance and in no time they
accosted otumej and offered to buy his tortoise. The bargain re the
tortoise then began. The bargain had reached the point at which they
were prepared to pay 200 men 200 women, 200 bags of money, 200
bundles of clothing, 200 busneus of beads, 200 goats, 200 rams, 200
cows, etc., when esu emerged in the shape of a neutral hunter. He
advised the heavenly messengers to return home to bring the prizes they
had offered so he might convince the seller to agree.
otokurrs representatives were the first to return and thevwere given
the first tortoise in exchange for the prizes they brought. esu then asked
Otumeji whether he had anv other tortoise to sell and he replied that he
had one left inside his load of fire wood. As soon as oiokurrs
representatives left, esu advised him to hide their prizes In a hut nearby.
Thereafter, they took position to await the arrival of Ala's representatives.
soon afterwards, Ala's representatives arrived with their prize offerings
which they gladly and hurriedly paid and collected the second tortoise,
reJolclng that they had beaten otokun's representatives to It. With the
departure of the celestial messengers, Otumejl took all the things to the
hut and the human
204
prizes were Quickly made to b.uild an abode for their new master. Esu
however advised him to go arild sell his fire wood and to eat with the
proceeds. He sold it for 65K and Esu told him to use the money to buy his
usual food to eat. That was the last of his fire wood trade.
His life was Instantly transformed from penury to affluence and he
easily became the richest man around. He now had a new settlement to
himself with plenty of wives, servants and tradesman at his beck and call.
one day, his friend realised that he had not been seeing otumeJI in
the bush for a long time. He decided to go and look for him. He arrived at
his gate with his pad and cutlass. He saw an air of prosperity all around,
with massive buildings dotted all over the settlement. He was confused.
His first Inclination when he did not see otumeJl's usual hut was to think
that he had probably been dispossessed by wealthier occupants. As he
was wandering around, the gate men challenged him, and he explained
that he was looking for his business partner, otumeJi. For daring to
mention their Lord's name, the gatemen began to molest him. He
however insisted that the man was his friend and they took him inside to
meet their master.
When he saw OtumeJi, he could not recognise him. He however
insisted that he was looking for his friend with whom he used to trade in
firewood. otumeJi asked him whether he would recognise the man If he
saw him. With that otumeJI began to shed tears and Identified himself. He
disclosed that it was the day he abandoned him in the forest after refusing
to lend him the use of his cutlass that he discovered his new-found
wealth. otumeJi reminded him that his prosperity was the outcome of the
sacrifice he made. He also asked him whether he was ready to make his
own sacrifice and he replied affirmatively but nagged that he had no
money for It.
At that stage, otumeJI gave him money with which to make his
sacrifice and collected s men, s women, five goats, five bags of money
etc for thanksgiving to the Awo who made divination and sacrifice for him
and begged him to make the overdue sacrlfl<:e for his friend. He also
gave Esu five he-goats to thank him for the assistance he rendered to
him.
After the sacrifice, otumeJi brought him home to give him a house to
live tnwlth his own retinue of followers. They both lived together and
prospered immensely everv. after. They remained very close to Peremu
sheke, the Awo who made divination and sacrifice for them.
otumeJl,openecl the way fOr wealth to come to tlle wortd:
It is slgntftcant to emphasize that It was :Esu who caused the
Illnesses of the daughter·of Olokun and the wife of Ala. He was also
responsible for concealing all the available tortoises In heaven and on
earth. He contrived the subterfuges to create a favourable atmosphere for
helping otumeJI.
When the heavenly Policeretumed to heaven, they reported to God
the high cost of buying a slngte tortoise from earth. God wondered that it
was probably on account of the prevamng povertv on earth that they had
become so extortionate. God then ordered the treasury keeper in heaven
to open the treasure gates for money to leave for earth. A constellation of
money then left for earth.
once more, esu went to otumeJI and told him that money was coming
in large armies to the earth, but that they would only enter the home of a
host who was able· to decorate his home- with what they ate and liked.
Esu advised otumeJi to spread a whtte cloth in front of hi$ house eno to
keep plenty of mashed yam (Ewo in Yoruba and onobo In Bini> to throw
round his house.
After alerting otumeJI to the approach of the heavenly visitors, Esu
205
 went to meet the host of money on the way, and warned them that the
people of the world were too untidy to provide suitable accommodation for
them. He told them that there was only one man called otumef who was
capable of giving them befitting hospitality.
Without stopping at any other place, they trooped to oturnejrs house
where they actually found a familiar atmosphere for them to thrive. That was
how otumeu became the most wealthy person in the known world at the
time. When otumej comes out of divination for a poor man, he should be
told to have his own lfa and to make the necessary sacrifice after which his
fortunes would doubtlessly blossom.
The origin of coup d'etat against seniority I Authority

The next revelation of oturnef is how it came about that both the young
and the old have some sort of authority. Traditionally, seniority of age was
the test of wisdom and authority. A young person was not allowed to, and
dared not, interfere when the elders were deliberating. Otumeji
. has told us how the tradition was altered to make it possible for junior
persons to contest for position and Influence, with their elders. He tells us
that when the young person <Youth> and the elderly person <Elder> were
going to ask for ASE from God, they went for divination to three Awos called:
OTIN LOTIN EJO - Soft sweet drink
OBILOBI UWA - Noble koianuts
EMULEMU ARA JONJO - Alcoholic wine.
Loon dlfa fun omooe ipaoo:
Abufun agbalagb;1 lpapo.
They were both advised to make sacrifice, after which they left for
heaven.
When they got to heaven, God told them to return after seven days with
201 cowries each. That was before Esu closed the route leading from heaven
to earth, the details of which we shall see in later books. It was still possible
at the time to travel back and forth between heaven and earth. The Elder had
no difficulty in collecting 201 cowries. Youth could only raise 50 cowries. on
the appointed day, they both set out separately for heaven.
Meanwhile Youth met Elder on the way and offered to assist in carrying
the load of cowries, for the Elder, who was grateful forthe kind gesture. Youth
however told Elder that he could not travel at his slow pace. Youth therefore
travelled ata faster pace but promised to wait for Elder at the gates of
heaven. Youth moved very fast and soon got to heaven.
Before getting to heaven, Youth tied up his so cowries together with
Eider's 201 cowries in a single parcel and left with it straight for the divine
palace of God. on getting to the Palace, he surrendered the parcel of 2s1
cowries as If it was his own prize for a higher authority. God however told him
to await the arrival of Elder.
When the Elder subsequently arrived, he thanked the Youth for assisting
him in carrying his parcel and for waiting for him. But when he demanded his
cowries from the Youth, the latter denied ever relieving him of the burden and
insisted that the whole parcel belonged to him. He intact accused the Elder of
attempting to rob him of his parcel. The ensuing argument attracted the
intervention of God who asked how much each of them brought. The young
man explained that he left home with 251 cowries because he was anxious to
have a stronger authority. When the parcel was counted, it actually contained
251 cowries. God then decided that the cowries belo~ed to the Younger man
and He gave him the ASE.
\ 206
~
 This incident explains why the Youth are able to seize authority and
the reins of oower from their elders In various communities of human
beings to this day. Before that, one had to attain the status of an elder
before aspiring to any height of authority. That is why younger persons
participate in governance to this day, by seizing power from their elders in
the world. That is not the situation in heaven where the Elders still enjoy
supremacy.
When it comes out of divination, the person should be advised not to
allow anybody to carry his bag for him if he is travelling, lest he runs the
risk of losing it. The lfa priest who is responsible for this revelation, Chief
ornoruvt Edokpayi, confirmed that it manifested wonderfully for a man
who once came to him for divination.
Awo omoruvt Edokpayi once visited another Awo called Adeniyi, who
was making divination for a Muslim <Alfa> priest called vesuful Adeniran,
of Usi inthe Ekiti area of Ondo State of Nigeria. Edokpayi is from Benin
City, whilst Adeniran was from Usi in Ekiti and Adeniyi was from irnest in
Ekiti.
When Edokpayi got to Adeniyi's house, he met the oou of otumeJi on
the lfa tray and as it is the tradition in lfism, the host asked Edokpayi to
interprete the lfa on the tray.
sookoavt told vesuru to make sacrifice with a tortoise, cudgel and
cutlass, in order to avoid losing his money or his life during a proposed
trip. vesueu made the sacrifice before leaving for the trip to the town of
lgbomina In Kwara state.
His alfa work was very lucrative and he realised a net gain of
N600.00 from the payments made by his clients. He then gave the money
to his host to keep for him pending the date of his departure. Thereafter,
he made some additional monev which he kept by himself.
Meanwhile, his host who was lndebted to several creditors spent
Yesufu's N.600.00 to defray part of 111s indebtedness. After vesuru had
announced the date of his departure, tne host began to wonder how he
was gotng to get the money to return to his guest. sventuauv, since there
was nothing he could do to raise the money, he decided that the only
soumonwas to rnatcnet Yesufu to death in his sleep.
By the eve of his departure, his host had firmed up his morbid plans.
That night, he kept pacing the corridor adjoining the guest room In which
vesufu stasen. But Yesufu was engaged in special prayers until very late
that night. At about 2 a.m. the host's patience ran out and he decided that
sleeping or not, It was time to carrv out his nefarious design.
He then moved stealthilV into the room with matcnet in hand to
butcher Yesufu,from behind. Just before he raised his hand up to strike,
he fell flat on hisface and his fatl attracted all members of the household
including the astonished Yesufu himself. Esu and Intervened on account
of the sacrifice made by Yesufu.
The host later explained tne circumstances which led him to such a
desperate decisionand appealed toresutu to forgive him, but at the same
time to thank God for stopping hlm from carrying out his plan. Yesufu
forgave his host and told him to forget about the money.
He left for home the following morning and went to narrate the
incident to Awo Edokpayi.
This practical real Ufe diversion was brought tn to illustate how close
the interpretation of the· lfa oou corpus can be to perfect exactitude.
otumeJI goes to lmodlna to ·help the llnOleS

It Is revealed that OtumeJi travelled to irnoolna and that he was the 207
one who taught the Alufas, the art tnev practice to this day. Before
leaving, he went for divination to a group of Awos called:
Ru Ru. Ru Laha
RU RU RU tonun
00 hOIOO 10 nun
Agbada mofi Odo
Odo ni fi lu acoaoa.
Awon loon difa fun otumef niJotofe
Ko awon Alufa jade nl nu oou ale.
These are the Awos who made divination for OtumeJi when he was
going to bring out the imoies from the cave.
He was advised to make sacrifice with he-goat to Esu because of the
lfa gospel he was going to preach in an unknown land mu Aimon>. After
travelling for a long time, he was beginning to wonder whether he had any
clear idea of where he was going. When he could not answer the
Question of where he was bound for, he decided that It was time for him
to go back. He was accompanied by sixteen Awos Including those
mentioned above and several members of his oornesttc staff. They had
taken enough food to last them for three months, but the stock was
running out.
That night, orunmlla appeared to him and told him that people were
already waiting for him at the place where he was going. He told him that
he would have to travel for about three hundred days and 300 nights
before getting to the place. He assured him that he would have a lot of
work to do both on the way and at the place. orunmna assured him that
he was never going to be in want of what to eat during his journey.
Meanwhile, he had passed through all the forest belts and was
beginning to come to hlltv and sandy territory. It was also beginning to get
much hotter. His party was beginning to get bored and they sat down by
the side of a very big rockto rest. Asthev were resting, they heard voices
as lf thev were those of people, nving underneath the earth. otumeji
Quickly organised a tour of the rock and saw an opening - as well as
footsteps leading into and out of It. He decided to sit bY the hole to see
the kind of people who would move into or out of It. Not long afterwards,
he saw some people coming out of what looked like a cave. The people
were surprised to see him because they had thought that they were the
only Inhabitants of the world around. He did not understand their
language and they did not understand his own, but somehow, they were
able to communicate with one another. tt was clear that otumeJI and his
followers wanted food and the cave men were Quite happy to oblige.
After providing them with food, OtumeJi decided to perform a
divination and he Quickly discovered that they had a problem. He asked
for their leader and after identifying himself, he demonstrated to him that
the reason he brought his followers into the cave was because he was a
eunuch. The men confirmed his story. This problem is often associated
with all the uoboou children of OtumeJi. The onoifa has to be prepared for
them on the Esu shrine with a he-goat, after which their problems will be
over.
He told the man that it was because of the pap <Akamu> which he
used to drink that he developed the impotence. He told him to give up
taking pap. He also pointed to the next man and told him that he was
complaining of lack of money. When he asked them the name of the
place, they told him It was a village on the town of imomna
He told the second man that the reason for his financial problem was
because he had abandoned the divinity tsnancoi that followed him to the
world. Thereafter the people wondered with what force and power
208
orunmna was able to make these revelations. To prove the power to
them, be began to teach them his own art of divination. Before they could
attain perfection, they all had to leave to fight a war and their leader who
was called Momodu led them into battle, leavtng only the mother of their
leader behind In the cave. Unknown to otumeJi, no one was left to look
after the aged mother as he too went out on his divination exploits.
Thlrtyone days after the departure of the lmoles for war, otumej returned
to the cave only to discover that the mother of Momodu had died of
starvation.
on the wall of the cave the woman marked 31 strokes indicating that
she starved for 31 days, before giving-up the ghost. However otumeJi
preserved the corpse of the woman in a special drier.
Meanwhile, outmeJI had started making his own farm which
produced a very good harvest. As soon as Momodu and his followers
returned from the battle field, they ravaged all the farms around including
that of otumeJI. He then made divination on how to save his farm and he
was told to make sacrifice to Esu with a he-goat, a cock, a chain and a
matchet. He Quickly made the sacrifice.
Following the return of Momodu, he discovered the death of his
mother, and after seeing the mother's markings on the wall, he realised
that the helpless woman had starved to death. Almost immediately he
proclaimed that all his followers should starve for 31 days to mourn the
death of,his mother. He also proclaimed that the sacrifice of starving for
31 days In commemoration of his Mother's death should become an
annual obligation.
It is strongly believed that the tutelage gtven to the imoies by oturnejt
explains the close simllarltv between lfa diVtnatlon and the Alfa divination.
The markings are the same although the names are different. They also
go in multiples of sixteen. •
After the sacrifice made by otumejl to Esu, the latter got set to work
for the food he had been given. When the followers.of Momodu returned
to otumejrs farm to ravage It once more, ssu had used the chain with
which he made sacrifice to set an lnvtslble trap round the farm. As soon
as they made an Impact on the farm the trap Jettisoned and captured
seven of them, who clsaopeated into the sky. The remaining seven fell to
the ground. Ftomthen on the seven began to pray with their hands and
faces turned to the direction of the sky to beg Cod to bring back their
seven colleagues who disappered Into the s!<y.

otumeJI goes· to,lffleka.

After the deatn of his mother, Momodu moved to nearb irneka to
settle down, and newas soon followed ov otumeJI who now had a large
retinue following him. When OtumeJi got to lmeka he met Momodu who
told him that he had -been trying to solve the following three problems for
the people of lmeka:
Ci) To rid the town's environs of a dinosaur <locally called keneuni
which was terrorising the lives of the people from the caves and
rocks around; -
cm To solve the problem of barrenness then prevalent In the place:
and
CIII) To reduce the height of the rock, which was hanging over the
town as a cliff.
OtumeJI had one container called Ado which contained his
Instrument
209
of authority. With It he could make and unmake. In the first instance he
brought out oart of the content of the wand and ordered all the rocks
surrounding the town of lmeka to crush Into a wilderness and Instantly all
the roekseeme crumbling down and at the same time, all the dinosaurs
were crushed to death. That is how the generation of dinosaurs became
extinct In lmeka and rock crumbled Into rubble.
As soon as otumej performed the feats of reducing the height of the
rock and eliminating the bogey of the dinosaurs, one girl instinctively went
on her knees and bowed her head to the ground to thank him. Others in
the town followed suit, and from then on this girl became one of the
followers of otumeJI. otumeJI told Momodu that before solving the third
problem of barrenness, he would like to see the King of the town.
He was told that It was only possible to see the King once a year. At
this point, otumeJI told one of his followers to bring out a pebble which he
had brought all the way from lfe. As soon as he put the pebble on the
ground, It mumeueo into 200 pebbles. When the by-standers saw the
miracle, they flocked around otumej and his followers. In no time, a
crowd had gathered. He told each of them to pick one of the 200 pebbles
ano throw It In the direction of the King's palace. He told them that the
operation was necessary In order to get their King to come out. As he
threw the pebbles the wind carried them to drop on the roof of the King's
residence. When the sound of the pebbles dropping on his roof became
unbearable, the King decided to come out himself to verify what was
happening. When the King came out, he saw oturnej and his followers
and the king was Quickly briefed on the wonders already done bY the
visitors.
The King also confirmed to him that their major problem In the
country was one of childl&ness. otumeji asked him what reward he would
give him if he succeeded In sotvlngthe problem. He promised that he and
his people would from generation to generation continue to sing the
praise of orunmila. At that stage, otumejt also asked the King to throw one
of the pebbles in the direction of his palace as the others had previously
done before him. otumejl also asked one of his followers to strike
Momodu with a cudgel which he had with him. After striking Momodu,
oturnej asked him whether the effect was painful and he confirmed that It
was indeed painful.
otumej then asked him why he went to hide Amina, the wife of Audu
his second-in-command. Momodu confessed that he did so because he
loved the woman. At that point, Audu, who was present at the time,
brought out his dagger and stabbed him. Momodu was fatally injured, but
oturnejt brought out a coco-yam and gave it to Momodu to eat and the
stab wound healed immediately. oturnej however directed Audu to the
cave where his wife was hidden and he went there and met his wife and
they embraced. The wife Quickly went on her knees to beg for
forgiveness with the explanation that she had been told that he was lost in
combat during the war. The husband told her that it was one strange
visitor who directed him to where she was hidden. When she was told of
the wonderful work already done by the visitor, she offered to meet him to
help her to have a child.
They both went to meet oturnejt who told her to rejoice because she
was going to get pregnant and that her first child would be a girl. The
woman asked how she would express her gratitude to orunmila if his
prediction manifested. The following month, Amina bcarne pregnant after
otumeit had left lmeka in continuation of his tour. She later gave birth to a
child wnom mev named tfatumo, meaning lfa is sufficient to depend on,
which was later corrupted to Fatima. As soon as Amina became pregnant,
210
all the other women in 1meka started getting pregnant. But Otumeji told the
King of imeka that the divinities were not happy with the manner in which
Momodu hid Audu's wife and that before any woman under his kingdom
would become pregnant, she had to be concealed from public view in a like
manner. Anybody therefore who wanted his wife to become pregnant had to
hide her from public view. This Is how the convention of wearing veils by
women starrted in lmeka. From that time all visitors to irneka were required to
throw stones as oturnej directed the lmoles to do, at the foot of the rock that
once hung as a cliff over the town.
OtumeJi Is said to have lived in the land of Aimon for over twelve years.
Much as his followers preferred to spend the rest of their lives there, the
custom and tradition of the area were far too alien to otumej to conduce to his
staying permanently. That is why it is said in lfism that orunmila liked the
people of imeka, but since it was a land where position and wealth carried
greater Influence than age, he preferred to return home to lfe. He was
particularly disturbed by the assumption which underscored the norms and
mores of life in the entire area, which gave pride of place to abJect porvertv
and mayhem as tests of righteousness. As a wealthy man himself, he wanted
everyone to be comfortable in life since no one in heaven wishes for a life of
deprivation and penury in the court of destiny. The divinities were sent to the
world to live In peace with one another as they do in heaven and to abhor
violence and discord. He returned to heaven soon after getting back to lfe.

211
 CHAPTER XXIV
IRETE MEJI EJI -
EDE EJI -
ELEMERE I I
I I
I I I I
I · I

ne of the Important works done by Ejlede In heaven was that he made

0 dlvlnatlon for the Pigeon and the swamp before they left heaven. He
also made divination for the dried palm fruits chaff, uronvln, 1mon
- Edin In Binn. He was called Ugbakun and or ugba, yeke, veke, yeke,
Odlfafun, kpakpa kuuru, <or Eyele> Abufun ERE (Swamp> ati lronyln (Palm
fruit chaff>. He adlvsed all three of them to make sacrifice in order to live
peacefully and healthily on earth. They were to make sacrifice with one egg,
their wearing apparel, Eka, Eko and Ewo <or oboboi. Only the Pigeon and
the Palm fruit chaff made the sacrifice as they were directed.
. The swamp (Ere In Yoruba> or (Ekhuoro In Bini> refused to make the
sacrifice. Thereafter they left for the world. on getting to the world the Pigeon
lived a very peaceful and healthy life, and each time she flew out, she would
always shout, Ugbakun, ugbakun, difa fuun, kpakpa kuuru, ounvon, lfani,
okurevm, okurevm, okurevin, That Is the triumphant cry of the Pigeon to this
day, In which she Is thanking orunmua for making divination and sacrifice for
het, which made her to stay _healthy and that progress lies ahead.
on the other hand the palm fruit chaff uronvm or lmon edin in Bini> also
became dry and well, whilst the swamp who refused to make sacrifice
remains sick and wet to this day.
When this oou comes out of divination, the dlvlnee should be advised to
collect his used clothes preferably black, adding Pigeon, egg, eko, eka, and
Ewo <or Obobo> for sacrifice In order to become well, if he happens to be
Indisposed at the time. All the materials for the sacrifice will be wrapped up in
the black apparel and the parcel Is used to rub his body from head to toe and
buried in the swamp of the river and he will become surely well.

EJI Elemere reveals how orunmlla fOught the battle for prosperity
on behalf of his followers:
After God had completed his creative work, He decided to create the
tree of prosperity called, EGE CIGI EGE In Yoruba> or CErhan uwa in Bini>
in other words, the tree of wealth. To protect the tree, God appointed the
Boa, the Ram, and the cock to act as the custodians. As soon as the tree of
wealth grew up, all the two hundred divinities (Ugba orumote In Yoruba or
lhenuri in Bini> tried in vain to pluck prosperity from the tree. They all failed
because they did not bother to discover the secret of harvesting its fruits. It
was the turn of orunmlla to make an effort. But before daring the tree, he
decided to go for divination from the following lfa Priests:
Akponml, owo Ule ela,
okpanba, owo Ule okparo,
Alugbogbo, kuuku ni shegun,
ogugu tutu, meaning:--

212
 1. The person who bales out water from the river, demolishes the
home of the fish.
1. only a patient man can succeed in kHHng a small animal called
Okhuokhua who builds two hundred houses but lives in one of
them.
1. It is a strong headed missile that destroys evil.
These were the three lfa Priests who made divination for orunmila
before he attempted to climb the tree of wealth <EGEL
He was told first to destroy his house in heaven before he could bring
his prosperity to the world. He was advised to build a house with special
leaves <Ebe ane in Bini> on the shrine of Esu and for the Awos to destroy it
with a he-goat. That is why when this ocu comes out of divination the person
can be asked whether he is building a house, and if he so confirms, he will be
advised to suspend the construction of the house for sometime.
After performing this initial sacrifice, he went to vet another lfa Priest
called Ogbolugbo Odo, Odon Oun iocon orun run, otherwise known as
<Agogo Illa, aberun, varnunva, awon loon difa fun orunrnua nigbatl, ovaoun
ege lgi agunla.> He was told to make sacrifice with plenty of corn, plenty
pieces of yam and plenty of rats. He was to make the sacrifice to Esu with a
he-goat and a ladder, and was to go with some of the sacrificial materials in a
bag when going to the foot of the tree of wealth.
on getting to the precinct of the tree, the Boa snake was the first to
charge for attack. As he was told to do, he Quickly threw a rat to the Boa who
instantly swallowed It. The cock then flapped it's wings in preparation to crow,
but he Quictclythrew plenty of corn at it and it settled down to eat the food.
With these moves, the threats from the Boa and the cock were abated. The
Ram next dug in for attack. once more he threw the pieces of yam at the
Ram and it began to eat, so with his bag on his side, orunmna climbed the
tree with a ladder installed by ssu and he plucked
all the fruits on top of the tree. •
Having eaten all the corn he wanted to eat, the cock looked around for
orunmila and saw him on top of the tree of wealth. He then flapped his wings
and crowed saying; orunmila gegoo or. That is the crow of the cock to this
day, and it means that orunmua was the first to climb the tree of wealth, In
reply, orunmila sang, Okege, lgi agula, ifa gege, lgi ooia. logun, Okege, lgi
acuia.
When this ocu comes out during initiation at ugbodu, the initiate
should be made to plant three trees as follows:-
m A cock to plant Ege tree called usa In Bini>.
cm The nead of a Boa to plant <Ebe Alano In Binn.
<Ill> The Ram to plant Ukpogun-kperegon, and the stone removed from
the bed of a flowing river Is used to prepare Esu for him.
This is the secret of how orunmila is able to make his children rich and
prosperous.
EJI. Elemere comes, to the. world:
After acoumnc the secret of prosperity, Eji Elemere decided it was time
to come to the world. He went to two lfa priests called EJi wewewe, oabolo,
and OJo giiri, oun.abatl ba owuro. These were the two Awos who made
divination for him. They advised him to make sacrifice to avoid problems in
having children in the world. He was told to serve his lfa with a goat and to
give a he-goat to Esu. He QulcklV did the sacrifice and left for the world.
on getting to. the world, he came to a town caned Oke mesi where
213
 1. The person who bales out water from the river, demolishes the
home of the fish. · ·
2. Only a patient man can succeed. in killing a small animal. called
Okhuokhua who builds two hundred houses but lives in one of
them.
2. It is a strong headed missile that destroys evil.
These were the three lfa Priests who made divination for orunmila
before he attempted to climb the tree of wealth <EGE>.
He was told first to destroy his house in heaven before he could bring
his prosperity to the world. He was advised to build a house with special
leaves <Ebe ane In Bini> on the shrine of Esu and for the Awos to destroy
it with a he-goat. That is why when this oou comes out of divination the
person can be asked whether he is building a house, and if he so
confirms, he will be advised to suspend the construction of the house for
sometime.
After performing this initial sacrifice, he went to yet another lfa Priest
called Ogbolugbo Odo, Odon Oun lodon orun run, otherwise known as
<Agogo lila, aberun, yamunya, awon loon dlfa fun orunrnua nigbatl,
ovacun ege lgi agunlaJ He was told to make sacrifice with ptentv of corn,
plenty pieces of yam and plenty of rats. He was to make the sacrifice to
ssu with a he-goat and a ladder, and was to go with some of the sacrificial
materials in a bag when going to the foot of the tree of wealth.
on getting to the precinct of the tree, the Boa snake was the first to .
charge for attack. As he was told to do, he Quickly threw a rat to the Boa
1 who Instantly swallowed it. The cock then flapped it's wings in preparation
to crow, but he Quickly threw plenty of corn at it and it settled d.own to eat
the food. With these moves, thethreats from the Boa and the cock were
abated. The Ram next dug in for attack. once more he threw the pieces of
yam at the Ram and It began to eat, so with his bag on his side, orunmua
climbed the tree with a ladder lnstaUed by Esu and he plucked
all the fruits on top of the tree. •
Having eaten all the corn he wanted to eat, the cock looked around
for orunmila and saw him on top of the tree of wealth. He-then flapped his
wings and crowed saying; orunrnua gegoo or. That ls the crow of the cock
to this day, and it means that orunrnua was the first to climb the tree of
wealth. In reply, orunmila sang, Okege, lgi agula, lfa gege, lgi ooia, logun,
Okege, lgi acuta
When this Odu comes out during initiation at uqboou, the Initiate
should be made to plant three trees as follows:-
<i> A cock to plant Ege tree called usa In Bini>.
<ii> The nead of a Boa to plant <Ebe Alaho tn Bini>.
um The Ram to plant Ukpogun-kperegun; and the stone removed
from the bed of a flowing river is used to prepare ssu for him.
This is the secret of how orunmlla is able to make his children rich
and prosperous.
EJI Elemere comesto the.world:

After acquirinq the secret of prosperity, Eji Elemere decided It was

time to come to the world. He went to two lfa priests callectiJi wewewe,
ocoojo. and OJo gliri, oungbatl oa owuro. These were the two Awos who
made divination for him. They advised him to make sacrifice to avoid
problems in having children in the world. He was told to serve his .1fa with
a goat and to give a he-goat to Esu. He Quickly did the sacrifice and left
for the world.
on getting to. the world, he came to a town called Oke mesl where
213
ha oractl~ lfa art. MA wac. nrnsnerous but t:\Q did not havl.! a child. Me later J
married a wife Who gave birth to a daughter. He however remained anxious to
haVe more chllelren. one day he decided to consult his lfa on why he was not
able to have a male child, as he was otherwise so prosperous that he used to
make elaborate sacrifices during his Annual lfa festival. He used to Invite all the
Awos around to participate In his annual festivals.
After the dlvtnatlon, his lfa told him to make sacrifice with a whole deer
(Agbonrln In Yoruba or Erhue In Binn. Not being a hunter, he travelled to the
nearby village of Udo where he used to practice his lfa art, as his base. When
he got to the village, he met a woman called Kporoye who was married but
childless and came for divination on what to do to have a child. He made
divination for her and assured her that she would have a child, If she could
make sacrifice with a hen and a rabbit. The woman quickly provided the
rabbit and the hen for the sacrifice. EJl-ede used the hen to make sacrifice to
lfa and prepared the rabbit for offering to the elders of the night. He told her
to deposit the sacrifice near a dug out pit In the night.
After performing the sacrifice for her, he left for the forest to fetch some
leaves for his work. we went with his mesmeric cnrvstat mirror. As he was
fetching the leaves, he saw a deer in the distance through his mirror and he
conjured It to come to where he was so he could catch it. It was a very big
deer. The animal obeyed bis command and he gripped it. As soon as the
deer realised that It was In danger, It began to struggle with Its captor. In the
struggle that ensued, they both feil Into a deep pit. Inside the ditch, they met
a long snake who had also fallen victim to the pit: once Inside the pit, he was
able to klll the deer with a stick, but could not bring It out to the surface. He
shouted for help but no one over-heard him, so he had to spend the night
inside the Pit.
The following morning, he looked at his mirror, and saw a group of
young children on their way to the forest to check their traps and he then
sang to them:
omondeudo,
Moya gbamila,
Atano, ano,
AarltlJe, aaritlmu,
Ela rnlnu Olofln yl,
Ela mlnu Olofln yl Orunmila,
Ela mlnu oionn yli ooo.
When the children heard his song which was an sos call, they went to
the ditch to peep at him. They wondered what they could do to help him out
of the pit, so they left In frustration. It was time for the adults to go to their
farms. When he saw them through his mirror he again sang.
Agba Udo moya gbamlla
Agba Udo moya gbamlla
His song attracted the men and they came to the pit to peep at him.
When they saw him, they Jeered, questioning wnv a Doctor who was capable
of saving others was so helpless to save himself from the pit. They ridiculed
him with the words that he was always asking them to make sacrifices with
hens, goats, and he-goats, and without making any effort to rescue him, they
left.
Next, It was time for the women to go to the market. After seeing
them through his mirror, he sang to them.
Obinrln Udo moya gbamlla
Obinrln Udo rnova gbamlla
When they heard his cry for help, they went to look at him in the pit

214
and recognised him. They also challenged him that If he was as
proficient; as he clalmed to be, he should not need the help of others to
come out of the pit. They too ridiculed him with all the meat and money he
had taken from them In the past and also left without lending a helping
hand.
Next Kporoye whom he had advised to deposit her sacrifice near a pit
was coming to lodge her sacrifice. He saw her through the mirror. After
depositing the sacrifice she turned to go back when he sang from the pit.
koorove omon aoaiu
Udu omun
Ekpo jere Otlkpa
Iman gba mna etc etc etc.
When she heard the song she returned to the pit and saw him Inside
it. She asked how he got there and he explained that he fell Into the pit
whlle trving to catch the deer with which he was reculred to make
sacrifice. He appealed to her to help him out of the pit. She complained
that she had nothing with which to help him out. He then advised her to
remove her neao-ne and drop It Into the pit while holding fast to one end
of It. When she stretched the head tie down It did not get anywhere down
the depth of the pit. He then conjured the head tie to lengthen itself down
and It obevec his command until he held on to It. He first tied the headtie
to the paw ofthe dead deer. The woman wondered whether she could pull
him and the deer out, out he Insisted that he could not come out without
the deer. He then sang the following song:-
Baml gbe bara
Goegoe leyin
Mole goegoe
rrms is the song used oy lfa priests to move lfa from one position to
another). .
As: they were about to come out fully from the pit, the paw of the
deer to which the head tie was fastened'severed from Its oocv and the
rest of the boov fell back into the pit. At the same .nrne, Kporoye fell flat
on her back and the cloth she wore pulled out of her bodv and She
became naked.
The sight of the naked woman WBs too much for EJiede to resist. He
instantly pounced on the woman who reminded him that It was foroldden
to make love on the empty ground. He then pulled back and plucked
enough Ahe leaves for a makeshift oed and then properly proceeded to
make love to her. Annoyed that EJlede took advantage of her, after
lending him a helpln~ t1and, she Intimated that she had Just completed.
her menstruation. ln;r:ePtv he told her not to worry because she was going
to become pregnant following that lnclttent arid that she would give Dirth
to a male child." ·
Before they pjtted, the woman however Insisted on havtng the
means of locating him Iii tase his prediction came true. He Informed the
woman that he was from a place called Okemesl. His house was
scrubned with clack dyestuff. He acdeothat there was a dried human
corpse at the entrance of his house and that' there was a tree at the main
entrance to his compound which was .famous for producing crown seeds
from its top, beads from Its stem, arid corals from Its root. The tree was
called okporo, kporo. After glVlng him this Information, they went their
separate ways.
on getting home, EJfede used ttie severed paw of the deer to serve
his lfa. on her part, Kporoye· missed her period at the end of that month
and becsmepreanant. She was the daughter of tne oea of IJero. She was
at that time also married to the Oba of Illa wnere she lived. It was d
lfftcutt for anvone to betlevethat She cautct ar,atn become i,regn~nt
because she
215
w:u~ n~~t child J1Q~~lno !10~ Uut: i~t~Eµlln"" of timet ~o gave birth
to amate d\'l1d wt10wasthe carbon cop_v of EJl aemera The husband was
so happy that 1(poroye had given him. a chlld that he gave her the privilege
of giving him a name. She named the Child Olomo <Nonyamon In Binn.
The child began to grow and as he attained the age of reasoning, she
told him how he was born. To the astonishment of his age mates, he was in
the habit of singing the kind of songs that his father whom he had never met
used to sing. He was also In the habit of picking leaves all about as his father
used to do and his play mates were always ridiculing him for mimicking the
lfa priest who once came to the town. When he got home on one occasion
he asked his mother who his real father was, in the light of what people were
telllng him outside. The mother Insisted that he was stlll too young to be told
the full story. When he however persistently demanded to know the truth,
she narrated the story of how she was pregnated and gave him the
description of his father's house In the town of Okemesl and of how she met
the father.
on knowing the story of his birth, he insisted that the mother should at
once take him to his father. The woman had no choice but to obey his
command. The following morning, he set out on the journey to Okemesi to
look for EJlelemere. The Journey to the town, Involved the risk of going
through a forest that was terrltorlsed by three bandits. one of the bandits
lived In Ado-Eklti, where xoorove's father was the Oba. The second bandit
came from Okemesl where EJielemere lived. The third one was from Illa
where xoorove was married. The names of the bandits were:-
m lkpata ~le ado
Cli> Efifo kelo onon IJero
<Iii> Amonlta, amonlde, lfe se ml la ale ugotun.
They were the Kings of that forest.
When Mother and son got to ~- forest, they were apprehended by the
three bandits. one of the bandits suggested that the two captives should be
kllled. The other two however strongly objected to the proposal. The bandit
who \lved In the town from Which they departed proposed that the two
captives should be sold Into slavery and that the proceeds should be divided
equally between the three of them. The t2and.lt llving In the town where
xoorove's father lived, took her for sale into slavery, whilst the bandit living In
the town where Ejielemere lived, took Olomo to be sold Into slavery.
All this time, EJlelemere stlll had no child. At the time of his annual
festival he gave money to his wife to buy him a slave for use as human
sacrifice to his lfa together with other materials and animals. When his wife
got to the market, she· saw Olomo who although small In stature,
nonetheless, had a good body. She liked him Immediately and bought him.
As he was getting home with his buyer, Olomo saw the tree laden with crown
beads, and coral at the entrance of the compound to which they were
entering. When they got to the house, he also saw the dried human corpse
tied up to the main entrance of the house, which was painted with black
dyestuff. oiomo was satisfied that this was his father's house because it fitted
the description given to him by his mother.
When EJielemere saw the slave boy, he consigned him to the custody
of an elderly woman who lived near him. The woman was to take care of him
for the seven days preceedlng the festival. Next morning, EJlelemere left for
the forest to collect leaves and other Instruments for the up-coming festival.
The old woman gave the slave boy a heap of palm kernels to crack, and this
incident explains why It is forbidden to crack palm kernels In any home
where an lfa Initiation ceremony Is taking place for the duration of
216
seven days. It also explains why It Is forbidden tor an lfa priest to crack
palm kernel by himself.
As the boy was cracking the palm kernel, he began to sing a song
which recalled the events leading to his birth, as he was told by his
mother. When the old woman heard the song, she was determined . to tell
EJlelemere about it. When he returned from the forest, she narrated to
him the song of the slave boy. The woman subsequently proposed to
EJlelemere to conceal himself the following day, after pretending to have
left the house to enable him listen to the boy's song.
The next morning he left the house under the guise of going to the
forest with his bag to fetch leaves. He however returned to the house
through the back door. Meanwhile, the boy was given another portion of
palm kernels to crack and as he sat down to crack the palm kemelS, he
again began to sing:
My name Is Olomo.
My mother's name is xoorove:
Daughter of AJero kin
osa. In the land of IJero;
Married to Ewi of Ado.
My mother Kporoye told me;
The story of how the Quest for a child;
Brought her for divination to Udo;
Where she met an lfa priest;
Who made divination and sacrifice for her.
As she went to deposit;
The sacrifice near the pit;
She heard a distant cry- for help.
From within the pit.
Behold, it was the lfa priest;
Who made the sacrifice for ner; •
Who was Inside the pit.
As she helped him;
To get out of the pit;
She fell to the ground;
And her feminine glory was exposed.
The lfa priest;
Who could not resist;
The vrg~. of nature;
on
• Fell 1bJr;
And ma~·;lpve to her.
My mot~r·,l(poroye;
Has not seei); the lfa priest since then.
sut.true toshl$ prediction; . .
That the fortt.tftous event-would bring forth a male child; t
was . born to Kporove;
In .her old age;
At a .nme when no one;
Expected her to bring forth a chHd,
Although my mother's husband;, The
Oba of Ale ugotun;
Accepted me as his Child;
The blood of. my real father;
Runs., through my veins.
• Ancfthe fact that I w~nt ab.out;
Singtnosongs~d COi~~;-,
217
 Like my father was said;
To be In the habit of doing;
Made mv otav mates:
To call me funny nick-names.
one day, I confronted my mother xporove:
To tell metne true story of my birth.
She told me that my father;
comes from the land of Okemesl;
And that at the entrance to his house;
There Is a money bearing tree.
The branches and folllage;
Of the tree bear crowns.
The stem bears beads;
And the roots bear corals.
At the entrance of the house;
Is the dried corpse of a human body.
After hearing the story;
I insisted on coming to see my father.
on our way to Okemesl;
we were apprehended by three bandits;
And sold separately into slavery.
I lamented that I would never;
see my father again.
Even If I die as a slave;
I can now rest assured;
That I have come at last;
To the land and the houst! of my father ..
The description given bY my mother;
Assures me that the house;
To which I was finally sold Into Slavery; ·
And where I now crack this palm kernel;
Is Indeed the abode of my father.
EJletemere of Okemest;
If I die In six days time;
It would no longer be In vain;
Because I have come to die;
on the bosom of my father.
As EJiede listened to the pathetic song of the stave boy, he was In
tears, and he wondered whether the boy was the product of the love he
made perchance to a woman near the pit Into which he fell many years
before, whllst in search of a deer with which to make sacrifice In order to
have a child. He then left for his apartment where he asked for the boy to
be brought to him to re-echo the song to which he had Just
eavesdropped. He ordered the boy under pain of Instant death to sing the
song once more. While on his knees, the oov again sang the song, this time
in tears. After nearing th~ refrain of the song, EJielemere decided to
test tne veracity of his story. He caused a strong burn-fire to be prepared.
As the flames of the fire were stretching Into the sky above, he told the
boy after rubbing him with his divination powder to walk Into the flames.
He conjured the fire to consume the boy If he was teltlng a false story, but
to rub his body with the chalk of victory If he was truly his son. Without
any hesitation whatsoever, the boy walked Into the burning flames, and
danced and sang Inside the fire until It was completely extinguished.
msplte of that miraculous feat, EJlelemere was stlll not satisfied. He
had also prepared a giant pot of bolting water Into which he threw the
218
boy In a similar ritual. While inside the pot of bolling water, the boy began to
sing.
0ml are domt tutu.
That. is "hot water has turned Icy cool',
while he was dancing Inside the pot of bolling-water.
Finally he called on his father to remove him from the pot because he
was getting chilly. His father now embraced him, and found that his body was
as cool as Ice. He exclaimed pleasantly that he had got a son at last, and he
embraced him as his true son. subseouennv the day of the Festival dawned,
and all the Awos from places around had assembled. Before then Ejielemere
had given a he-goat to Esu, who then Influenced the traditional executioner at
the ceremony. When the time came for offering the sacrificial victims, the
goats, rams, hens etc had been slaughtered, When It came to the time, for
offering the human sacrifice the boy had been tied up awaiting execution. But
the executioner under the Influence of Esu, who knew that the boy was lnfact
orunmua's son, blunted the blade of the knife so it could not cut the neck of
the victim. The executioner surrendered saying that lfa had refused to accept
the victim. He then untied the boy, stood him up and challenged the Awos to
look at him side by side with the host, EJlelemere to see whether there was
no keen resemblance between them. The Awos Identified and accuiescee In
the keeness of the resemblance. The Awos then agreed that the boy should
be set free to the father at· once.
MeanWhUe ttie divinity called Egl whose role it was to carry the skulls of
an the beheaded victims to heaven arrived to perform his duty. The Awos then
sang to him.
Egl mogbori eku,
or1 eku lomagba,
Mama gborie nio.
Egl mogbo rteja, ,.
Orie ja lomangba,
Mama· gborlenlo.
Egl moaborteron
Ori eron Ioomaneba
Mama,gborlenlo.
The Awos were touching the heads of father and son with the skull of
each anfmat. There-after Egl left for heaven.
At that point EJlelemere brought out his Instrument of authority <Ase>
and proclaimed that from that day orunmila would no longer offer a human
being as sacrifice to lfa. That marked the end of human sacrifice in lfism.
When the ceremony was over, EJfetemere asked his son the
whereabouts of hls mother Kporoye and the son narrated that the mother had
been sold lntosiaverv to her father's home town. He Quickly decided to go In
search of the woman to fetch her home to live with him for good.
The father of Kporoye, the AJero of IJero also offered human sacrifice at
his annual festivals. He had also ordered for a slave to be used for sacrifice
on that year. The messenger Who went to the market, colncldentally also
bought Kporoye for her father. When she was brought to the father's palace,
she was ordered to scrub the house In preparation for theJestlval. The Oba
had forgotten that he ever had a daughter by the name of kporove. As she
was scrubbing the floor, she began to sing the story of her life, her father, how
she left home, where She got rnarneo, wno sne was married to, how she had
a child, and how she was apprehended by bandits and sold Into staverv.

219
 The woman who was taking care of the slave called the Oba to listen to
the song of the slave woman. After hearing the song, the father called her ov
her name Koorove and she answered. Thereafter the Oba called her mother to
come and Identify Kporoye. on seeing her they both burst into tears rejoicing
at the re-appearance of a daughter they had long given up for dead. She was
Instantly released from bondage and dressed properly as a Princess. The
AJero also proclaimed that from that day, human beings were no longer to be
used for sacrifice in his kingdom.
Meanwhile, Princess KPOroye told her parents that her next problems
were how to reach the father of her son and how to find her son. At the same
time, EJielemere had left Okemesl In search of Kporoye. He got dressed in
tatters and waited by the road side. on her way to the river, koorove saw
EJleJemere and recognised him at once in spite Of the tattered clothes he was
wearing. on another occasion he turned intoa firewood seller and Kporoye saw
and recognized him again as she was returning with herslaves from the farm,
but on each occasion she resisted the temptation to betray her enthusiasm.
Thereafter, EJlelemere went into the bush, prepared palm fronds and with
them dressed himself up as a masquerade and he began to dance towards the
direction of Uero. When the AJero and his household saw the masquerade he
dance.d towardsthem. When xoorove saw the masquerade she told her
parents that that was orunrnua, but they disagreed with her because orunmila
was never In the habit of dressing as a masquerade. After watching him from
the distance for some time, Kporoye came out to the courtyard of her father's
palace to admire the masquerade. The masquerade then began to dance
towards her. As he came close to her, the masquerade gripped her and
escaped with her. As soon as they were out of sight he removed his mask and
Identified himself to Kporoye and appealed to her to return home with him.
In order to obviate the risk of being challenged on the way he dressed up
xoorove as the masquerade and followed her as the escort to his home town.
When they got to his house at Okemesi, he unveiled the masquerade and
xoorove embraced her son Olomo who then went out to rejoice with his age
mates to commemorate his re-union with his mother. It was days later before
the people of the town realised that EJlelemere had taken a second wife.
xoorove settled down with him and had flve other children in addition to
Olomo. once the family was fully re-united they lived a prosperlous life ever
after.
success evoked enlmlty for EJI Elemere:
EJi elemere had meanwhile become very wealthy and famous and was
subsequently specially appointed as one of the four royal diviners of ovo, The
other three lived In heaven and Eji elemere was the only one living on earth.
The names of the other three were:-
m okootere - Awo Ode omanikin
<m otaarata Awo lmina Ale
<im Agbara miJa gidi gidi - Awo Ode uakporo.
They used to come for divination at the oiorerrs palace every five days.
The King had become so uneasy about the proficiency and oopularttv of
EJlelemere, that he decided to plot his destruction. The King caused a hole to
be dug on the ground of his palace into a bottomless precipice, covering the
mouth of the hole with a mat spread over It. He subsequently Invited
EJlelemere to visit him In the palace. As soon as he arrived at the palace, he
was motioned to sit on the mat spread over the bottomless hole. No
220
sooner had he sat on the mat than he fell Into the hole instantly finding
himself in heaven. While in heaven, walking aimlessly about, he came across
one of his heavenly Awo companions with whom he used to have the
divination round at the Alaafin·s palace.
The man asked him what he was doing in heaven and he replied that he
came to pay the three of them a visit. All the three heavenly Awos soon got
together and slaughtered a goat to feast him, and when the feast was over,
he got prepared to return to earth. But his colleagues prevailed on him to
spend the night with them and he agreed. Next morning, as he was set for
his return journey, the Awos presented him with a goat and showed him the
short circuit route to earth. He instantly found himself back In his earthly
home. As soon as he got home; he feasted his friends and followers with the
goat he brought from heaven.
Three days later, It was time for the next divination visit to Alaafin's
palace, but on that occasion he refused to go to the palace. As soon as the
three Awos from heaven turned up at the palace, they did not see EJI
elemere. When they asked Alaafln why orunmua was not present, he replied
that Ejielemere had decamped from earth. The Awos however lnslstedthata
messenger should besenttofetch him from his house. TWO messengers
were sent to his house before he responded. When he finally turned up he
took his usual posttton.aerore the daV'S work commenced, he disclosed how
he had been treated by the Alaafin four days previously. The' Ataaftn- nad, no
defence to the accusation, so he was Instantly fined, four goats, arid four
·casks of wine.
The King paid the fine and the day's divination was accordingly done.
Asthe Awos rose toreturnto,thelrrespecttve homes and destinations, they
chanted a song as follows:
osooteere Awo Ode-omanlkln
• Otaarata, Awo imma Ale
Agbaramija gidi
AWO Ode llakporo
EJi elemere, awo Ode ovo
Awa merennn toon shawo, awa merenrh1 tona faatun
Olofen
oshetnde Jomiln, jomnn,
osnelnde tomun, jornun,
meaning, we came to make divination for Alaafln but he rewarded us
with Ingratitude, remember that ooe,good turn deserves another, whilst a bad
tum·destrovs a mutual relattonshlp.

How the he _. became the staple. food of Esu:

At the helQbt<Jf his prosperity, all the Awos decided to be holding
meetings In the hOUse of EJI etemere, because he used to make elaborate
feasts for them. ~had a palm on mm In the fOrestwhere he produced
palm·oll. AJa and Obuko were his two servants. on a particular day after the
morning divination, he was advised not to go to the palm oil mm on that day.
It was the day of the meeting of the Awos. But his wife soon discovered tnere
was no 011 for use In preparing the day's feast. He decided to dash to the mm
toreten palm 011 for the day's feast. Before he left, he warned his two
servants not to tell anyone where he was gotng.
Before he returned from the mltl, the.Awos began to arrive. one after the
other. When they asked hts two servants tne wnereabouts of their master,
Obuko replled that he had gone to the Palm on mm. He had completely
Ignored his master's instruction not to reveal his mission to
22f
anyone. But AJa however came to the rescue of his master's Image by
accusing Obuko of tying. He corrected that their master had only left for the
bush behind the house to fetch leaves for use In a special sacrifice for tho
d~y'c mooting. AJa sneaked out through the back door of the house, with a
piece of white cloth In hand to go and tell his master what had happened.
AJa told him that he had been betrayed by obuko,
EJI ede, then Changed Into the white cloth brought to him by the loyal
AJa, telling him to return home to clean up the conference chamber. As soon
as Aja left for the house, he too, returned home with some pieces of yams
and dried palm fruit chaff uronvln In Yoruba> and omon edin in Bini>.
on getting home he greeted his guests, but they refused to answer.
He however apologised for not being at home to welcome them; but
explained that he only went out to collect materials for making a special
sacrifice in their coaecnveinterest, He disclosed that lfa recommended the
sacrifice as a result of the morning divination he made on that day. The
sacrifice was to be made to Esu by washing the heads of all of them on the
shrine of Esu with the severed head of a live he-goat. He complained that the
only material remaining for the sacrifice was the he-goat. Since obuko was
himself, the he-Qoat, all eyes turned to his direction. obuko was Instantly
apprehended and used for the sacrifice. This Incident explains why:-
1. It Is commonly said that It was the mouth of the he-goat that killed him.
1. From that day a he-goat became the popular Instrument of sacrifice to
Esu.
1. AJa or the dog is never used by orunmlla for any sacrifice. on account of
his avowedtovattv to "Is master.
When this oou comes out of divlnatlon,-the dlvlnee should be advised to
beware of his servant who is planning to betray him or lie against him.
The divination for lYeye OIOmO mefa> the mother of six children.
When a colleague of EJiede visited him on a sabbath day, a woman
who had lost three of her six children, visited him for divination. The name of
the guest-Awo was Ekpukpu dedede. At a suosequent divination the woman
was advised to make-sacrifice because Death was still very much on her
trail, and that she ran the risk of losing her remaining .cnncren to the cold
hands of Death. The lfa priest told her to make sacrifice with palm kernel oil,
a sponge, soap, a comb, okro, pepper, oil, a rat, a fish and a rabbit and to
give a he-goat to Esu.
The sacrifice to Esu was made and the remaining sacrifice was
prepared for her to deliver by herself to the mother of Death in heaven. She
carried the sacrifice to heaven at a time when It was still possible to move
from earth to heaven and back. on getting to heaven, Veve Olomo mefa met
the mother of Death at home. When asked for the object of her mission, she
explained that she came to heaven to beg her to assist in persuading her
son, Death, not to take anymore of her children;
The mother of Death told the woman to sit down and await the return of
her son who was then on a mission to the earth. As soon as she sat down,
she asked the old woman whether It was not vet time for cooking food to eat.
The mother of Death explained that before cooking, she had to wait for her
son to arrive with his human catches, which they would cook to eat, but the
old woman complained that there were no condiments at home for preparing
the soup. The visitor then produced the sacrifice she brought from the earth
which contained all the traditional condiments
222
for preparing soup. Yeye Olomo mefa then set about preparing the soup for
the house. As the soup was being prepared, the visitor observed that the old
lady's hair was care-worn. She proposed that she could plait the hair for her
but Death's mother explained that she had no soap and sponge to bath with
and that there was no palm kernel oil and comb for plaiting the hair. Yeve
Olomo meta then brought out all the materials because they were among the
things contained in her sacrifice. The old lady took her bath with the soap
and sponge and after eating they began to plait her hair.
After plaiting the hair the old lady told her to enterthe house because her
son was due to arrive shortly. Not long afterwards, Death returned with one
human being which was the only catch he brought from the earth. His mother
Quarrelled with him for coming back with only one victim after being away for
such a long time. Death explained that all the others had made sacrifices and
that it was the only foolish man who refused to make sacrifice that he was
able to apprehend. The mother then told him to admire her new look but told
him to take his meal first. After eating, the mother told him that It was a visitor
from earth who came to appeal to him for help that gave her the new look
and prepared the food he ate. She then explained that the woman came to
solicit for the salvation of her three remaining children having lost three of
them to him.
At this point, Yeye Olomo mefa came out and at the sight of Death, she
began to shiver. Death re-assured her not to shiver because If he had
wanted to kill her, he would have done so pefore returning home to heaven,
having seen her long in advance. It was then she heaved a sigh of relief and
mustered enough composure to explain her problems. After hearing her out,
Death told her to mention the names of her three remaining children and she
gave the following names:-
m oota <stone> ,
<Ii> Aate <ground>
<HI> Abirl snoko (Olikhoro in Bini> - a soft plant that grows with short
hooks all over its body and -having a big tuber.
After hearing her appeal, Death promised that never again would he
touch any of her three remaining children. That Is why orunmila says: Ota m·
eeku
cm ;Ale eerun
om Abirl snoko eerare eshl
meantng:-
(i) The stone does not die.
<ii> Ground does not fall m. <
<iii> No year passes that does not see Ablri snoko plant.
That is why the three of them do not die because of the sacrifice made
by their mother. When this lfa comes out of divination, the person should be
asked whether he or she has six children. If so, the person should be advised
to make sacrifice to avoid losing three of them to death, if It has not already
happened.

223
 CHAPTER
XXV EKA-
MEJI I I I I
I I
I I I I I
I I I
he name of EkameJI In heaven was lkere 1vansl. He was a very powerful
T AWo In heaven having many followers under him. Among such followers
were,·Ekpo-keun, and Enlnuo keun who made divination for
utukpa. In other words, It was the small oil and the small thread that made
divination for the lamp when he was going to reap the reward of a human
being. The tamp was told to make sacrifice with a cock and a hen and he did
It. Thereafter he was given a human slave to serve him to etemltv. That Is
why to this day, It is a human being who refuels or rekindles a lamp when It Is
about to extinguish. When a tamp Is about to go out, people often call on a
boy or a girl to refuel or rekindle It. If there ts no one around the person does
it by himself, all In the service of the tamp. Important as food, air and peace
are to the body, they act for themselves while on the other hand, It Is only the
open lamp that Is often aided by human beings.
That Is why when EkameJI comes out of divination the person Is told to
make a similar sacrifice. If the dlVlnee Is a man, he wm be told that one
woman Is coming to marry him for free and that the woman will serve him
obediently and loyally to the end of her life. If It Is a woman, she wm be told
that she wm come across a new husband who will virtually serve her as a
slave and who wm not think of marrying any · other woman after marrying
her.
He made divination for the cat:
one of EkameJl's surrogates called lbarere was the lfa priest who made
divination for Uno <fire>. Another priest lketewll was the one who made
divination for the cat when he was coming to the wortd for hunting. The cat
was told to make sacrifice with a knife and a grip scissors <Awan In Bini and
Eemu In Yoruba> adding cock and pigeon. He was reouireo to make the
sacrifice so that any victim he gripped might not escape. After making the
sacrifice, he came to the world. For his hunting, he developed a strategy. The
fire In respect of which he made sacrifice became the sharp light Inside his
eve-balls. As soon as he sees a victim, he will take a position and focus the
bright light on his eves to dazzle the victim, and say Moottshebo lkelewi and
Jump at the victim and hold it. That is how a cat hunts to this days.
At divination the person should be told to make sacrifice so that
whatever he Is aspiring to achieve might fructify.
EkameJI prepares to come to the world:
Originally, he used to be a very Junior disciple rooin of orunmila. He
usually sat among the disciples and not with the fifteen apostles tolodusi. As
he prepared to come to the world he went to an lfa priest called Ukere,
gbagburu, wamu-awo oJI. He advised him to make sacrifice with a he-goat to
Esu, and a ram to his lfa. There after, Esu went to orunmlla and told him that
lkere ivansl <Eka meJI> was proficient and experienced enough to be an
otocu That Is how he became one of the sixteenth oiocus,
224
 The way Esu did it was to tell ortsa Nia that the grey haired oous were
junior to Ekameji and ortsa Nia sanctioned him to leave the group of Odus
and join the oioeus,
EkameJI ··leaves for earth:
Before finally leaving heaven he went to two Awos for divination and
they were called Awi are, Ese Ori ejo and Ure elo onalawa. They advised him
to give another he-goat to Esu, a guinea fowl to his lfa and a pigeon to his
head, In order to avoid the danger of having insurmountable problems on
earth. He did the sacrifices and left for the world, in his new capacity as one of
the oiocus. on getting to the world he discovered that because of his Juniority
in the apostolic genealogy In the lfa llterarv corpus, he was often under-
minded by the Olodus, who attached little or no importance to whatever he
said. He was also having problems in making ends meet. He had no wife and
no child.
Meanwhile, Esu created new problems for God by disrupting His creative
art and designs. As God was wont to do, he decided to go in disguise to find
out what was causing His problems. The first Awo he met was EkameJI.
Before making divination for him and without knowing he was the Almighty
Father, EkameJI demanded one bag of money or the equivalent to SOk as
divination fee. He told the dlvinee that ssu was responsible for disrupting his
work, and that he had to offer a he-goat for sacrifice. God replled that he
could not raise the money to buy a h&Qoat. Ekamejl brought out a he-goat
from his house and used It to serve Esu for the supposedly "destitute
dlvlnee", who he could not recognize as the God Almighty. He merely did the
favour on humanitarian and compassionate grounds. The divinee then
thanked EkameJI, and asked for the residence of the remaining senior Awos.
He showe~ him the direction of the house where EJI Ogbe lived down town.
The visitor left for Ejl oaoe's house for divination. on getting to EJi Ogbe's
house, his reaction to God's request for divination was that he had no time for
divination at that material time. With that rebuff, God turned back and returned
to heaven.
Before he got home, Esu had let-go of his arts and designs, and things
had returned to normal, having feted him. Three days later He got dressed up
in his full regalia as the Almighty God and again left for earth. When Ekamejl
saw Him he shook and shivered. He told EkameJi not to be frightened
because he came to repay the cost of the sacrifice he made for him three
days before. After compensating him for the he-goat, God ordained that from
then on no one should challenge whatever EkameJI said. That is how
EkameJI received his mstrument Of authority <Ase> from God which makes It
forbidden for any tfa priest or divinities to challenge whatever he proclaims.
God also told him that he would have all the prosperity he wished for while on
earth. Thereafter, he had plenty of money, wives and children.
EkameJI wins a crown:
When he got to the world, EkameJI was one of the most Junior oioeus
and he therefore had no crown of his own. When he discovered that au the
other olodus already has crowns, he decided to go for divination on what to
do to have his own crown. He went to an lfa prlMt c::.IIQd i;fuye Miile, who
advised him to make sacrifice with a rat, a cock and one tortoise. After the
sacrifice had been made, he was Invited by the Kng of lfe to solve a puzzle
which he did successfully. To compensate him, Olofen sent him
225
a Beaded crown, dresses, shoes, and walking stick.
very early the next morning, he dressed up in his new outfit, in which he
looked so gorgeous as to even win the admiration of his wives. After dressing
up formally in the new outfit, he decided to make a thank-youcall on the King.
When he eventually emerged at the palace, his outfit angered the more
senior oioous. He was warmly received by the King, but returned home,
worried about the reaction of the oiodus.
on getting home, he Invited an Awo called Agbe Onide, Awo Olode
lgbodo, for divination. The Awo told him to make sacrifice for long life and
prosperity. He told him to give a he-goat to Esu, a dog to ogun and a
castrated he-goat Including eight eggs for the elders of the night. After doing
this sacrifice he had no more problems from the elderly orodus, He ummatelv
lived to a ripe old age.
Poem for correcting the dlfflcult features of EkameJI:

It Is said that when EkameJI appears for anyone at an uoboou Initiation

ceremony the person Is Ukely to experience tremendous problems in life
unless he Is able to get a proficient lfa Priest to clear the Inevitable obstacles
for him. orunmlla was able to do it for his son Ekameji with the following
poem:-
Ablmonkon nule oom
Aroleka abl lkejire
Aro likaun kaun gbara
Kai bikon tiibimon rnejt ioooe
Aroo nlkaanl
Agbalikaka Okani moeun
okanne Ojijl
oioo cola rlornon eja
Okalule toroml
OJo ioja riomon eku
Oka lnon ojo oloJaara
Oka lule orisa
owe wu oje
okaune oduro kpekpekpe
OJo oioja lkin
ocuro osnokunaoem ikin joko
owa maawo evtn re ashetil
The English translatlon:-
A child was born at home;
It was interpreted as a difficult problem. A
second child was born;
It was said to be a pleasant omen.
This was a puzzle.
How does one explain the arrival;
Of fortune and misfortune in the same house. Will
misfortune allow fortune to flourish?
A sage was sought to explain the puzzle.
The wise man explained that;
The difficult child is eel or electric fish;
Which dwells In a river;
Full of ordinary harmless fishes.
That is why the electric eel;
Is the King of fishes;
And why the harmless fishes;

226
 Plentiful as they may be;
cannot dare the electric eel.
In like manner the mouse;
With sharp pointed nose;
Is so dreaded that it is the King of rats.
It is called ltoroml in Yoruba;
And Okhan in Bini.
That is also why the unpredictable abdomen;
Became the King of the body.
And why the lead gains prominence;
In the house of God.
Because it does not rust;
Ann why the oturo became;
The King of all lkins;
In the house of orunmila;
Because its front and its back;
Are lined with prosperity.
When Ekameji comes out at ucnoou, it means that the subject will
have a difficult life and live in the midst of powerful enemies, who will
alwavs seek to destroy him unless all the materials mentioned above are
collected for the purpose of preparing the ono-lfa <Odiha In Binn to
facilitate his passage through life.

227
 CHAPTER XXVI
ETURUKPON - MEJI
OLOGBON - MEJI I I
I I
I I I I
I I
I I I I

E turukpon rnej otherwise known as otoqbon-rnejt reveals how the .

faculty of intelligence came to the world. This revelation is contained
in the names of the Awos or the lfa Priests who were his heavenly

diviners. Their names are revealed in the following poem:-

Ologbon ioobon kii taa koko omi.
omoron moron eekika vekpe Ode.
okpltan eekpttan mun Ekiti,
Ubore Jade leewa.
meaning:-
No one can be skillful enough;
To parcel water with his cloth.
No one can be intelligent enough;
To count the sand of the earth.
No sage can be vast in proverbs enough; To
reveal his own secrets through parables.
It was also Ologbon mej who revealed how Orunmila and the other
divinities returned to the world. Before going into the details of these
revelations, it is important to refer to some of the known works he did in
heaven.
Ologbon meJI made dlvlnltion for Ekun and lfaa <the Tiger and the
Bush cat.>
For the purpose of this chapter, we shall refer to the Tiger as Ekun
and to the bush cat as ocbo. ocoo had a frightful dream and decided to go
to orunrnua for divination. Ekun and oceo were born of the same parents.
After divination Orunmila told ocno that he was required to make sacrifice
to his head with a guinea fowl because his brother, Ekun, was contriving
to kill him to eat. He was also advised to refrain from serving other
people's heads, no matter the closeness of the relationship. Above all, he
was to be very careful and vigilant of events transpiring around him. He
did the sacrifice.
Ekun also went to orunrnua for divination on what to do to be able to
kill his brother Ogbo for food. He was advised to give a he-goat to Esu.
Although he promised before orunrnna to make the sacrifice, nonetheless
he changed his mind on getting home. He argued with himself thatthe
meat of the he-goat with which he was required to make sacrifice was
richer than that of the feeble ocbo. He therefore refused to do the
sacrifice. Ekun, meanwhile, approached other animals and promised to
refrain from killing any of them if they could lure Ogbo into his trap. He
told them to persuade ocno to agree to come and serve his <Ekuns·s>
head, thus providing the opportunity of apprehending him. The leopard,
also of the same parents with the two of them, volunteered to convince
oebo.
Meanwhile, Ekun tied up a goat with which to serve his head.
Thereafter, he rubbed his body with palm kernel oil to feign illness. When
228
the ieopard got to osbo's house, he told him that his brother Ekun *B' very
m and that the dlVlner had advised that only he, ocoo. could savefflM by
serving his head. Although he remembered the advice given to ht~ aw·
orunmlla not to serve anybody's head, he was reluctant to refuse to obttge his
brother. He therefore set out for Ekun•s house to serve his head. on getting
there, he met all the other animals commiserating with Ekuh. There· was an
atmosphere of unspeakable melancholy and It looked as If EkUl"l was truly at
the point of death. However, on looking straight Into the eves Of Ekun, oenc
realised at once that his brother was pretending. He Instantly proposed that
the sacrlflcial victim the goat, should be slaughtered by another animal after
which he would use the severed head of the goat to dub Ekun·s head In
accordance with tradition. His suggestion was accepted, and the Hyaena
slaughtered the goat and gave the head to Ogbo. As ocoo was oravlng with
the goat's head In hand, he was steadily dancing backward while pointing the
goats head In the direction where Ekun lay. As he did so, he was singing. He
praised orunmuawno made divination for him. ThUS:-
otoaoon iocbon kll snebt OJo,
lfa bolo bolo niitee Ekun,
Odifafun funml Olu lfaa.
Mogbo, moru.
evun eylln lamuJo,evun Jo are.
As nesang, he kept dancing t>acl<Wards. After taking a vantage
position in the'CJISt!ance, herubbedhtsown head With the goat's skull and
ran,aWay. When Ekun saw the· unexpected turn of events, he accused the
other animals surrounding him Of connivance In tneescaoe of oceo, He
Instantly pounced on and devourftl:some of them. Thus, oaoo survived the
evil strategem of Ekun because.Of tne sacrifice he made, ·Whilst the evil
designs of Ekun against Ogbo failed to· mat~aHse because of the sacrifice
he
refused, to make. ,.

He mat1e divination fOr IIINNWI tlle .most beautiful Bird .In heaven as
wea1as ugun or Vlllbn.
Otogbon Ologbon shoro OlogbOn
Ufa· veve snoro ave
Odafa fun egherun
Abufun Ugun.
meantng:-'-
The sage worships wlsek>m;
The fox practices hunting.
These are the names Of tne two Awos who made divination for Egherun,
when snewas going to marrv tne vutture. The more ellglble birds had made
marriage overtures to her but she turned down all of them. Ugun began to
wonderhow a beautlfurglrt could so flagrantly rebuff an eligible suitors lusting
for her hands In marriage. He decided to challenge her by working out a
proper strategy for blackmalling her into submission. He went to the forest to
fetch a bunch of fresh palm fruits which he kept by the road side. He then
went Into ntcttng nearby to keep watch over the fruits. on her part, Egherun
could never resist the temptation to pluck palm fruits wherever she found
them. on that particular day, she had gone to the matte et. on her way back
from the market, she saw the attractive palm fruits by the road side and eould
not restst tne urge to pJck from the nuncn. After cottectlng as much palm
fruits as She could conveniently carry, she was about to take off when Ugun
came out to accuse her of stealing, an
229
offence which carried the death penaitv. She began to beg Ugun who not
surprisingly, refused all her entreaties. She offered.to pay any amount of
money to atone for her crime but ugun refused all the same.
sne men asxeo ugun wnat ne wantea Of ner to traae off the indignity
and risk of being arraigned before the elders, where the punishment for
theft was death. At thatpoint, Ugun proclaimed that the only effective
atonement for the crime was to marry him.
She agreed to marry him but ucun insisted that she had to go with
him at once to his house. She had no choice but to agre'e:"She could not
live with the embarrassment of the subsequent public knowledge that the
proud and Indomitable Egherun had condescended at last to marry the
ugly vulture, after rejecting the proposals of several more etegible
admirers.
After suffering a number of sleepless nights she decided to go to
orunmila for divination. After divination, orunmila told her to make sacrifice
with two cocks which she instantly produced. one of the cocks was split
open for offering as sacrifice at the road junction. She was told to deposit
the cock by herself at the road junction after which she was to go into
hiding close by to keep vigil over the sacrifice. Ugun had left home to go
and look for food with which to feed his bride. It is common knowledge
that the Vulture cannot resist the sight of dead meat. As he was returning
home, he came to the road Junction, where he saw the sacrificial cock.
He flew to the spot and settled down to feed on it After eating to his
heart's content, he parcelled up the remnant to be sent home to his wife.
As he got set to go home, Egherun came out of hiding to accuse him of
stealing. When he argued that a husband could not be accused of
stealing from his wife, she countered by explaining that such argument
could only be admissible within the matrimonial home of a couple, and
that even then It had to be verified before the grand moulslnon of the
elders. She insisted that she did not make the sacrifice at the road
junction for him, which meant that he had stolen.
Realising that his position was neoeiess, ucun enquired to know what
he was required to do to atone for the offence. In reply, Egherun
explained that all he had to do was to rescind the marriage he imposed on
her by duress and to proclaim publicly that she was no longer his wife.
usun had no option but to release Egherun from the marriage bond by
proclaiming that she was free to leave him and return to her house.
Egherun instantly went back to ugun's house to remove her belongings
and to leave him for good.
It was from that day that the saying began:Mii
omon lgbatii Egherun do uoun:
Mii omon lgbatii Egherun ko usun, meamna»-
No one knew when Egherun married the vulture and when she left
him.
When this Odu comes out of divin3tlon tns person will oe told that he
or she will marry someone under duress, but that the marriage will not
last, if sacrifice is made.
He made divination for the hunter with a stubbom wife:
There lived a hunter who had a secret agreement with the elders of
the night to help him in his hunting expeditions. They provided him his
game on the condition that he would always allow them to drain the blood
of any animal he killed. Meanwhile, his wife was anxious to find out why
he usually came home with headless animals. She decided to follow him
230
to the forest to find ot what was happening to the heads and blood of the
animals he was killing. He did not know that the wife usually accompanied
him to the forest.
on one occasion, the elders of the night told him to warn whoever
was following him to the forest to desist from doing so. on getting home
he told the wife about the warning and she pretended as if it had nothing
to do with her.
on his next hunting expedition, the wife trailed him to the forest
behind his back. on getting to the forest he started hunting. When he
finished hunting, he went into conference with the elders of the night and
they drained all the blood and emptied them into a clay pot. At that stage
the elders of the night asked him wnetner in Clefiance of their instructions,
he came with any spy. He denied coming with anybody. They insisted that
someone came with him. They told him to keep watch. They removed the
leaves with which his wife covered herself and ordered her to come out.
When the hunter discovered that it was his wife, he begged them to spare
her life and forgive her. They told him that there was no forgiveness in the
witch world.
They called her up and told her that since she was so curious to find
out what they were doing with the blood of the animals being killed by the
husband, she would have to pay the price of her transgression. They
collected all the blood drained from the animals shot by the husband that
night and made her to drink it. After drinking the blood, she began to
suffer from patsy, or issue of mood. She became so ill that the husband
had no time to devote to his hunting. The night people had turned their
backs on him because of the action of his wife. He later went to appease
the elders of the night and after paying the fine snputateo by them, they
agreed to modify the woman's punisttment,· by proclaiming that from then
on, the woman would only see btood once a month which is the
menstruation that all women have to tllis day.
At divination, a man should be told that he has a wife who Is stronger
than himself and planning to damage his business. If he makes sacrifice
with a he-goat to Esu, the woman's evil plans will either be exposed or
she will leave him before executing her nefarious plan.
Ologbon-meJI leaves heaven for earth:

The three awos referred to at the beginning of this chapter were the
ones who made divination for Ologbon-meJI before he came to the earth.
He was advised to make sacrifice with a duck to his lfa, a tortoise to his
head, and a he-goat to Esu. He was required to make the sacrifice
because he was going to be the beneficiary of atl the intellect of the
divinities on getting to the world. That is how he eamed the name of
Ologbon-meji after making the sacrifice.
on getting to the world, he was in the service of virtually all the
principal divinities. He served each of them in turns, and he was able to
learn their ways and their secrets. When he attained freedom, they
subjected him to several tests which he passed because he had learnt so
much from them. That is why any one who is born by sturukoon-mej at
uaooou must procure all the main divinities in addition to lfa hamely,
sango, ooun, Olokun, Eziza, sankoana, etc, etc. He became so proficient
that others began to learn from him. He had plenty of children, houses,
and cuentete.
He seduces the wife of ogun:
231
 UJa <or Efae in Bini> had been married to Ogun for a long time without
a child. one day, Eturukpon-meJI went to the forest to fetch leaves for his
work. He met a woman in the forest who, unknown to him, was ocun's wi~o.
Tho ro=icon cno could not have ~ child was because she was in the habit of
feedi"g on the blood of the animals killed by the husband from the forest. She
readily returned the affection of Eturukpon-meji and agreed to marry him, but
insisted on remaining in the forest.
She however told him that her former husband often fed her with animal
blood and meat and told him that he would continue to feed her with the same
foodstuff. He however slaucnterd a goat and prepared pounded yam with
soup for her to eat and added lyerosun. When he took
the food to her, he sang a poem as follows:
Alaghere, ava ose art,
wa ya gbi eJe oni,
Alsode 1aari ibi,
Awo onJe leeyi oo .
. He then concealed himself and the woman came out to collect the food.
She ate the food and returned the pots to where Eturukpon-meji left the food.
That was how he fed her for seven days. It was on the seventh day that she
followed him home from the forest.
on getting home, she became ill. Having discovered that Ujaa had been
seduced, osun began to curse her, and she became ill. Her new nusbno
invited his Awos for divination and he was advised to go and pay a dowry on
her.That is why it is necessary for any son of orunmilato pay a dowry on a
woman whom he has seduced. To pay the dowrv, he was to make sarlflce
with a he-goat, cock, tortoise and. dog. He· was to prepare a. hut surrounded
with palm fronds,.cook the meat tnere.and leave the food for her former
husband to collect In the hut. He did as he was told, on the spot where UJaa
lived temporarily In Ule forest.
When Ogun got there, ne saw the food inside the hut and without
bothering to find out who seduced his wife, he ate the food, satisfied that the
seducer had paid for her.
At the end. of that month, Ujaa became pregnant and had a child for the
first time in her life.
How orunmlla left the world:

ouou cuou Aboju gberegede, OJo

baba aluwe taa gudugudu, oiocnon
logbon koota koko omi, Omo ran,
koo moove yekpe ile.
Alaa raa raa, emo bibi ale gbe kpekun,
AJe kuru jakara ni moru ko eere,
Odlfa fun orunmua baba snawo losl,
lgbe ri okun tlnvin tlnvtn.
The large-faced arum.
The water used to bath,
In the bathroom,
Sprinkles on the walls and floor,
Of the bathroom.
No man is wise enough,
To count the sand of the earth. ·
No one travels far enough,
To know the dimension of the earth. He
who eats akara and rnovtn rnovln,
232
10.

Knows the sobrtouet of beans.

These were the Awos who made divination for orunmila when he was
returning to heaven through the sea. As he left for the sea <Okun> his
followers asked him. Now that you are leaving us for good, who shall we
call our father. He told them to refer to anyone they pleased as their
father. He decided to go back to heaven never to return to the world
physically again. He however told themthat he would send them the
instruments through the tree of life <the palm tree> through which he
would always talk to them.

,·.,-:,·,,..,

233
 CHAPTER XXVII
OSE - MEJI
I I
I I I I
I I
I I I I

segunmeJi .is not known to have done any spectacular work in

0 heaven. He was only notorious for His pugnacity. He was the one
who, however, revealed how money came from heaven to earth. He
disclosed how an Awo called OROKUN ARO KOOSE MUNUKUN made
divination for money when It was preparing to leave heaven for the earth.
The same Awo also made divination for the divinities on what to do to be
able to enjoy the benefits that money could bestow. The meaning of the
name of the Awo is-The knee of the cripple does not bend. Each of the
divinities was told to make sacrifice with 16 pigeons, 16 hens, 16 rats, 16
fishes, 16 bean buns <Akara> and 16 eko. Instead of making the sacrifice
individually as they were advised to do, they decided to join hands to do a
single sacrifice. Thereafter money left for the world in the form of cowries,
by growing from the sky until it touched the ground.
As soon as they sighted money's impact on the ground, the divinities
got together and deliberated on how to get it to their various homes for
spending. orunmila however warned them not to extract the money until
they did fresh divinatiot1 and sacrifice. osun challenged orunmila to stay
at nome ana do ms divination and sacrifice whilst the rest of them went to
excavate the money. He wondered what was the neccesltv of performing
divination and sacrifice before eating the food served on the table for one
to eat. orunmlla accepted the challenge and told them that he neither had
the Intention of joining in the excavation of money at that point in time, nor
of imposing his wish on the rest of them and that they were free to
proceed without him.
Ogun took the hoes and diggers which he had manufactured for that
purpose and left for the money heap. on getting there, he dug far into the
heap of money, keeping at one side whatever he was able to extract. As
he dug deeper into the heap, the top layer gave way, and the avalanche
fell on Ogun and buried him alive under the debris, leaving four pieces of
cowries on his chest.
sanpanawas the next to go to the heap, and he ended up the same
way with 16 cowries left on his chest. All the other divinities had similar
experiences including sango and orokun. When they did not return home,
orunmila began to ponder on what had happened to them. He decided to
go and verify for himself what was holding them back. on getting there he
found all of them dead and collected and tied up in separate parcels the number
of cowries he found on the chest of each of them.
Thus it is said that it was avarice that sent back the first generation of
divinities who Inhabited the earth, to heaven. osecunmen therefore
advises that if the Quest for money is not bridled with discretion and
patience, it will come in an avalanche to the seeker after it and destroy
him. That is why all those who seek after money with greed and avarice
get buried prematurely under the avalanche of money.
Meanwhile, orunmila decided that there was no point in approaching
money the way others did and went home without touching the heap. He
chose to approach the situation with his characteristic surreptitiousness.
234
on getting home, he sounded lfa who told him to make sacrifice with 2
pigeons, 2 ladders, and 4 u-noits, lfa told him to nail down the u-notts on
each of the four corners of the heap, and to serve the heap with the two
pigeons after nailing down the u-botts. He was told to throw mashed yam
tooobo in Bini and Ewo in Yoruba> right around the heap because pigeon
and mashed yam are the staple food of money. He was told to position the
ladders on the heap and begin ov excavating it from the apex instead of the
base.
He did as he was advised by lfa and as he offered the sacrifice to
money, he spoke an incantation telling money that no-one kills the offerer of
food to him, and begged money not to kill him as he did otners, nav1ng
offered his food to him, Thereafter he climbed the heap with the ladder and
excavated it in small units until he got everything to his house. It was from
that day that orunmila started sitting on top of money which Is why his shrine
Is often decorated with a throne of cowries. To consult orunmlla for serious
divination, the lfa priest has to sit him first on a throne of cowries.
After getting the money heap to his house, he invited the eldest children
of the dead divinities and gave each of them the number of cowries he found
on the chest of their fathers respectively. It Is the number of 'cowrtes which
orunmlla gave to the children of the demised divinities that they use for
divination to this day.
The children of Ogun use four cowries for divination, While the children
Of&atlpana and sango use sixteen cowries for divination.
·· rnaris WhV·~nvttme OSegunmeJi comes out of divination for anyone,
the person lsadvlsedto·took for money with caution and discretion so that
money might not destroy ntm.

osemeJl's activities In heaven:

'
' He was originally one of the four eldest aoosnes of orunmlla which is
why he is called Arugbo-lfa (the elderly apostle of orunmuai. He was however
verv,powerful and treacherous. For instance, his parents used to leave
hisJunlor brothers and sisters under his care whenever they were away to
the farm or the market. He was however in the habit of inciting the children to
fight among themselves, and the children used to sustain several injuries in
the process.
once, when his two most junior brothers, Olugbodo (Akoble> and Fefe
<Ehoho> were left under his charge, he Incited Fefe, the most Junior, against
Olugbodo, and they began to fight. lnthe course of the fight, Fefe used a
cudgel to whip oiucbooo's legs and he became crippled which ;s why the
tatter has no legs to walk with. Hethen became the divinity of Infants, who is
served by little children to this dav.
on hts part. he was a never do well and when he grew up to be an adult,
he was only notorious for carrying fights Into the four corners of heaven.
Everyone feared him. His name was AJakadi. His parents who were worried
that he would live to be a nuisance, advised him to go for divlnatton and he
went to an elderly lfa priest who aovtseo him to make sacrificewlth a !malt
he-goat and the vertebral bone of snake to Esu, a goat for his head, a ram for
lfa, killing the ram before offering It to lfa. His head was to be washed With
the neao of the ram actdlng 201 leaves.
He was advised that as his head was b~lng w~had, ho was to ~ing
the following incantation:-
cboaooroaoo nl lka she yoJu orl
AlaJa lesunmare la ju orun,
235
 Osika Awodi tont Keye miin mara,
Eleda mi, jeklml begbe Jo.
The hand is tonger than the head,
when stretched upwards.
The rainbow cuts the sky wholly,.
and not In halves.
It Is a wicked bird that tries, to
prevent other birds, from
flying In the sky.
My guardian angel
let me prosper along
with my contemporaries.
on account of his total reliance on hJs strength, he did not bother to do
the sacrifice. He grew up to become a very strongly built man. He was an
Invincible wrestler. Every morning, he would go outside his house In heaven
to challenge each of the divinities to a wrestling contest, In which he was
invariably victorious. That is the purpose for which he was told to add· the
vertebral bone of a snake to the sacrifice. to Esu to mellow his strength. That
Is also why the children of osegun meJI are.advised to forbid snake's meat.
It will be recalled that when he was born, his father prepared medicine
with an axe and the crown of a cock and embedded them into his head. That
Is why he grew up to be an Invincible. wrestler.
He began his wrestling contests with OQun who he vanquished with
ease. He followed that up with each of other divinities and he was victorious
over all of them. But he was scarcely ante to afford food to eat because all
the good dtvmttles of heaven became afraid of him.
one day, his guardian angel who was not happy at his plight was
determined to do something to weaken nlm so that he might prosper. His
guardian angel went to beg ssu with a he-goat and the vertebral bone of a
snake to subdue Ajakadi. ssu ate the he-goat and worked outa strategy for
dealing with him.
When it was again time for the annual wrestling contest Jn heaven, all
the heavenly hosts were gathered, and the divinities had taken their
respective positions In order of seniority. once again, Ajakadlwas the first to
come out to be challenged. As usual, he stood out for a long time and no one
dared to come out to challenge him. As was the tradition, If no one
challenged a wrestler, he was free to challenge anyone. He pointed to the
direction In which oaun, the war divinity and the most senior and the
strongest of all the divinities sat, and challenged him for the opening match.
ooun had no option but to accept the challenge. As soon as he stepped
out Into the arena, AJakadi engaged him. He Quickly lifted Ogun with all his
strength into the air, but as he released ogun to drop to the ground, Esu
focussed his mvsterlous oaze on him and miraculously, he fell to the ground
first before ocen fell on him. Even ogun did not know how it happened that
his challenger was the first to drop to the ground.
Whtie on the ground, he called on ogun to behead him with his sword.
He lamented that not having fallen to the ground before in a wrestling
contest, he could not fathom the indignity of standing on his feet again. As
ogun brought out his sword to behead him, Esu intervened· and announced
that If anyone dared to behead AJakadi there would be an endless tribulation
and cataclysm in the whole of heaven.
To demonstrate what he meant, Esu caused the very grounds of heaven
to Quake. The sky and the ground of heaven began to close up on
236
each other and instantly, there was total darkness in heaven.
Meanwhile, God saw the confusion that was generated and shouted
to enquire who was disturbing the peace of heaven. God was told that
osun had Just fallen Ajakadl, the Invincible wrestler In the annual
wrestling match. God immedlately ordered that Whatever had to be done
to appease AJakadl should be done to return trancuiutv to heaven. once
again, Esu Intervened and announced that It was forbidden for Ajakadl to
fall to the ground, and that to appease the ground on which he fell, the
following atonements should be presented to him:
200 men
200 women
200 cows
200 goats
200 rams
200 dogs
200 bags of money, and
200 of every Item of wealth.
The atonements were quickly produced and Esu muttered into the
ears of Ajakadl that he should get up to accept the offerings. As soon as
he got up, the ground and the sky moved back Into place. There was light
again and calm returned to the fOur winds of heaven.
on getting home with his newty acquired wealth, he gave a strong
he-goat to ,esu to thank him for coming to his rescue. He also gave the
biggest of the cows:and the biggest Of,the goats and rams to his guardian
angeLttwas attm~.stage tnatosemejt realised that his wrestling days
were over in heaven ancttnat·rtwas time he moved to earth. He however
vowed that Whtie on eartn.ne would contlnue·wlth his wrestling contests.

OSE - MEJI leaves for the Eartll: •

osemej left heaven for earth wlthOut teutng anyone. He neither
made any tltvlnation nor sacrifice. He was born to aged parents who had
lost the hope Of'MVlng any chlldren. He was born with grey hairs on his
head and he lived tctarlpe old age on earth, but only after returning to
heaven to make sacrifice, we shall see later how he did It.
As he grew up, he proved to be a terror among his age mates. His
parents died when he was stlll a bOV and he llved on his own
contrivances thereafter. He neither practised· the lfa vocation nor any
respectable profession. He was an Itinerant wrestler. But he was not living
a happy life. He could scarcely afford to feed himself because he did
nothing that was capable of earning him a living.
one· day, he went out for his wresting contest, being the only
profession he knew. He went to the palace of the Alara to challenge him
to a wrestnng match. He defeated the Alara In the contest, but got no
reward for hls victory. He then moved to ljero where he also challenged
the AJero to a contest. He was also victorious over the AJero but got no
compensation for the achievement. He moved to owo where he defeated
the OfOWo. He next moved to Benin where he defeated the Oba-Ado. He
did the same with an the sixteen Obas of the known world of the time.
After his wrestling rounds, he was returning home empty-handed
when he met three tfa priests by the roadside between Ado and lfe and he
was stopped by them.
Ttle Awos were called:---
. . OShe· !Cele, Ogba ogun ~la,·~ff•~Jf'-· .C.,. •c ,
.. , .•

237
 EkoJI Otunla, Ogba agrlkpa oouko, meanlng:one
who summersaulted and got 20 rewards. one
who moved forward and got 40 rewards.
One who won a he-goat after 3 days. .
They told him after divination that he was starving because he was not
doing the profession he was supposed to do on earth. They assured him
however that he would prosper in the end from his chosen wrestling
profession, but only after making sacrifice which he had to do In heaven. He
did not take them seriously because he could not imagine how he was going
to travel to heaven to make a sacrifice. By that time, Esu had closed the route
between heaven and earth. The Awos told him that he could not expect
anyone he had defeated In a wrestling contest to reward him with any gifts.
He was however advised to give whatever he could afford to his late father
who would save him from his plight. on getting home, he offered a cock to his
father and begged him to help him to tread on the path of his destiny.
Meanwhile, his father went to his guardian angel in heaven and
complained that osemeJI was not doing well on earth. His cuardian angel
replied that it was because he was very pugnacious. Between his father and
his guardian angel, they decided to persuade the good things of heaven to go
and visit osemeJI on earth.
Traditionally, as soon as the cock crows In the morning, it Is a sign that
all the good things of life are leaving heaven on their daily visits to the world.
The group, consists of children, peace, wealth, abode; money, health and
prosperity. They all leave heaven In the early hours of the morning to visit
whoever can receive them on earth. They visit the Quarter of heaven
inhabited by the guardian angels of everyone living on earth before they
leave heaven in the morning.
osernelrs father spent that night with his son's guardian angel in
heaven. In the early hours of the following morning after the cock crowed, the
good things of heaven were reporting to the guardian angels thatthev were
leaving for earth and asked whether they had any· messages for their wards.
OsemeJl's guardian angel came out and appealed to them to visit his ward
osemeJI on earth. They were all unanimous in replying that they dared not
visit him because he would destroy them. They reminded his guardian angel
of how pugnacious he was in heaven and the commotion he caused in
heaven before escaping to the earth. They Insisted that good and evil did not
live together except as combatants, and· that heat and coolness could not
live together, Just as light and darkness did not live in the same environment
at the same time. As long as he Insisted on antagonising and disgracing
those who would have benefitted him, they would never go In his direction.
With these pronouncements, the.good tidings of heaven left for the earth.
Thereafter his father began to weep over the hopelessness of his sons
situation. He then appealea once aQain to his guar<1ian ana~, who dl!;elo~ed
that he made him to spend the night with him so that he could be a witness to
what he had been experiencing since AJakadi left for earth. His guardian
angel said that he had for years been persuading the good tidings of heaven
to visit OsemeJI, but that they had consistently refused to do so for the
reasons they had just given.
As a result of the persistent entreaties of his father, the guardian angel
decided to evolve a new strategy for dealing with the situation. He told the
father to return to his house and that he would see his son before the cock
crowed next morning. The father did not understand the Import of what the
guardian angel said. As soon as osemeJl's father left, the guardian
238
angel went to the wife of Death and gave her gifts of kola nut. It will be
recalled that Sickness is the wife of the King of Death. Just as the good
tidings of heaven visit the earth daily, Sickness, the wife of the King of Death,
visits the world daily. Death himself does not come to the world, he sends
errands.
The guardian angel of osemej persuaded Mrs. Death to meet his ward
on earth and invite him to heaven because he had something important to do
for him. The old woman agreed to deliver the message that very day.
Meanwhile on earth, osemejl was suddenly taken ill, which was a
novelty because he had never been indisposed hitherto. Towards evening of
that day, the sickness became serious and he went Into a coma. Since no
one liked him, he did not have anyone to attend to him. In fact, people were
rejoicing when they found him in a coma. Just before midnight, he gave uotne
ghost, and nobody even knew that he was dead because there was no one
to attend to him since he had no wife and no child of his own.
As soon as life departed from him, he appeared Instantly in heaven
before his guardian angel, who had earlier told his father to return to his
house after dusk on that day. His father was therefore present In the home of
his guardian angel when osemeJi turned up in heaven. It was then his father
reauseo what his guardian angel meant, when he said that he would see his
son beroretne cock crowed the next morning. They both welcomed him and
before the cock crowed the next morning, his guardian angel directed hfm to
hide behind a mat he had prepared for the occasion.
soon after the cock crowed, the good tidings of heaven were again
visiting the honte',ofeach guardian angel. When they got to the gate of his
guardian angel, ,the latter caaeo them each by their respective names,
children, fellowship, wealth, health, prosperity, money etc, and begged them
once again to visit his ward QsemeJI on earth because he was suffering
there. once more, they told him that tney were not used to singing the same
song day in and day out. They told him that his wrestler-ward was too
vindictive to accord a befitting reception to any of them and that they
hactvowed never to go near the street where he uvedon earth, let alone, to
visit his house. They said in unison that it was not their custom to visit any
onewno would destroy them, since the man was very bellicose. They added
that anvene who dared to fall down Kings and Princes and Divinities alike in
wrestttng contests, would crush them easily between his fingers.
His father then shouted that the man behind the mat should listen to
what the agents of the fortune dlVlnttv were saying about him. He was dumb-
founded behind the mat. It was only then he realised that he had been
pursuing the wrong ends In life.
As-soon as the hosts of beneficence passed, he came out to ask his
guardian angel and his father what he was to do and he was told to make the
sacrifice that he failed to make before he left heaven. He was advised to give
a he-goat quickly to Esu, whO would wash his head and his back to whittle
downms physical and diabolical strength. He did the sacrifice at once
because the goats he left behind In heaven had multiplied manifold. He also
told his guardian angel to offer the biggest of his cows to the heavenly police
for a feast
Thereafter, his guardian angel told him to take a special path with which
to return to earth. As soon as he set his feet on that path, he blinked his eves
on earth and Instantly regained conciousness. Three days later, he became
well and inspite of what had transotred In heav~n. which h@ remembered
vividly, he once more began to prepare for his wrestling rounds. Before then
he brought out one .of ·his goats and slaughtered It to his father and gave a
ram to his tfa; which is the earthly representation
239
of his guardian angel and made a big feast with them. The people around
wondered what had changed his outlook since he was not known to have
mace any sacrifice previously. He alSO .gave a he-goat to Esu. TWo days
after tnat, ne teft tor tne paiace of Alara. on his way, he met an old lfa
priest, who was a transfiguration of Esu and the man pretended to be a
soothsayer. The old man told him that he was going on a wrestling
contest, but that although he could defeat his opponents, he should
pretend to fall to the ground as soon as he engaged them and that he
should watch out for subsequent events, the outcome of which he would
not regret. The man clear1y told him that as soon as he shouted Gidlgbo,
Gidigbo, which is the signature tune for a wrestling match, he should
pretend to fall to the ground.
He started with the palace of the Alara, where he shouted Gldlgbo,
Gidlgbo, and the call sign brought out the Alara. As soon as they engaged
each other, osemejl threw up the Alara but he quickly fell down to the
ground before the King fell on him. In consonance with the advice which
the old lfa priest cesu> had given him, he remained fallen on the ground
without getting up. ·
Meanwhile, Esu created an unprecedented commotion in the town.
The whole town was engulfed In total darkness and the ground began to
quake. The cocks began to lay eggs and the hens began to crow. The
women who. were pregnant began to have false labour and. the animals
Of the forest were running helter-skelter Into the town, while the domestic
animals began escaping Into the bush.
When Alara saw what was happening, he begged osemeJI to get up
from the ground. once again, ~he elderlY'.lfa· priest that OSemeJI met on
the way, appeared from nowhere and Intervened. The man told the Alara
that It was forbidden tor the son of orunmHa to fan to the ground and that
for him to get up, It was necessary to appease him with 100 each of able
bodied men, young and unmarried women, cows, goats, cocks, hens,
bags of money etc.
out of fright, the Alara, qulckly ordered each house in the town to
produce the required atonements. As soon · as they were assembled,
osemeJi got up and the old man prepared lyerosun, CdlVinatlon powder>
and blew It into the air, and light, peace, and tranquility QulcklV replaced
darkness, commotion and confusion. osemeJI then ordered the human
gifts to carry the atonements to his house at lfe and to start building new
abodes before he returned home. .
The following morning, he went to the palace of the AJero kin osa
where the same thing happened followed by similar visits to the ma
oronaun, Olowo, oonl, Oba Ado etc, where he collected similar rewards.
At the end of his mission, he became an exceedingly wealthy man and
prosperity had come his way at last.
This Incident marked the beginning of paying money for divination,
because throwing the okpete divination Instrument on the ground signifies
the fall that osemeJi had in the hands of the Kings, for which they paid
atonements.
That is why when osemeJI appears at divination, the person should
be advised to refrain from doing anything that Involves a show of strength.
He should be told that he Is not prospering In life and that prosperity
would not come his way unless he changed his ways to resort to caution
and discretion in all his activities.
osemeJI takes to lfa art and practice:

240
 As soon as he became wealthy, osernej decided to give up wrestling.
Since he knew no other profession, he decided to employ a number of
indentured lfa priests to livewith him. He got some of the most proficient
Awos in the world around either to live with him or to make divination visits to
his place. one of such lfa priests was ose kele naoa laro ile orunmila.
He makes divination for Aklnyele of 1were:

Akinyele was a famous chief in the town of lwere. one night he had a
dream in which he saw a man with a horn, carrying a gun on his shoulder,
and guarding the gate of a house with no rooms, filled with treasure. Akinyele
himself was attracted by another bystander, who advised him to try to open
the house because his wealth was stored in it. As he moved to the gate of
the house, the horned man aimed the gun at him, and he stopped. Try as he
would to persuade the gate-keeper to let him into the house the man was
indomitable. He woke up panting for breath.
The following morning, he went to the home of ose kele, but he was told
that he had been to lfe to visit osemej the wrestler. on getting there he told
the lfa priest about the dream and he made divination on It. He was told that
good fortune and death were lurking around him, but that if he made the
necessary sacrifice, the fortune would come within his reach and he would
avoid premature death. He was advised to make sacrifice with 10.rats, 10
fishes, 10 pigeons, <S hens and s cocks>, 10 guinea fowls, 2 goats, and 3.
he-. goats, male andjemale pigs and one ram. He made the sacrifice. He was
told that it was.Esune saw in thedream who was sitting on top of his fortune.
He was ,therefore to serve Esu bv spilling the blood of the he-goat, not on the
snrine of ssu but at a short distance on the empty ground away from
tnesnnne.
After the sacrifice, as Esu moved fro,v his shrine to eat the he-goat
given to him outside his base, he unwittingly got off from Akinyete·s fortune
on which he had been sitting, and his guardian angel dragged the fortune into
the home of Akinyele. Thereafter, things began to take a better turn for him.
one night, there was a heavy gale storm and he felt like easing himself.
He got up to go to the pit-latrine outside the back of his house. It was raining
heavily. As he was in the latrine, he suddenly heard a big sound and as he
got up to find out what was happening, he saw the roof of the latrine
collapsing. He was already outside the door when a tree crushed the latrine
under its falling debris. But he was· already outside the latrine. He was
grateful to God for sparing his life from the accident.
The following morning, he discovered that it was the ageless kolanut
tree at the back of his house that had been uprooted by the gale force wind
that accompanied the heavy rain of the previous night. When he went to
inspect the root of the fallen tree, he saw that beneath the root of the tree lay
a brass casket, which contained several beads, money and a crown, which
had been buried there by his ancestors. He took the casket to his house and
the contents made him exceedingly wealthy. He was able to make a beaded
dress for himself and he was later crowned the King of 1were.
True to the dream he had, he suceeded In getting his hidden fortune,
and in avoiding the incidence of death. When this oou therefore comes out
of divination, the person should be advised to make sacrifice so that the
obstacles be-clouding his prosperity might abate.
The hard. luek story of Olokose:

241
 olokose was one of the Awos living with osemeu. one day he decided
to go on a tour for lfa practice. He was to be accompanied by his wife,
ornuce, Before leaving, osemeji Insisted that he should ask his
colleagues to make mvmanon tor mm. rne to11ow1ng 1ta priests also
liVlng wttn osemej, were assembled to divine for him.
ojurt, koogbi, koofo,
Aje okoo uva maabi,
Oun toosne gbagba to fi ile re sile,
Oun tooba tiri koofi rera,
The eve which saw,
but did not disclose.
He who persevered in suffering,
but did not nag about it.
Misfortune befell many people,
but it did not sack them from
their homes.
·whatever a man experiences,
he should bear with equantmltv.
The four Awos advised oiokese to offer a he-goat to Esu before
travelling, so that he might not loose all his gains from the tour and his
wife to a more powerful man. He refused to perform the sacrifice because
he relied on his competence and capabilities.
He left for the tour with his wife. He was otherwise a very proficient
lfa priest and wherever he went, he suceeded in impressing his hosts
which earned him a lot of profit and compensation.
Finally, he came to a man called Agunfan. Who was so oowerful that
he was an ubtouttous fighter. When he saw Olokose he engaged him in
combat and seized all his belongings and his wife from him. Thereafter he
expelled Olokose from the town. He then returned home empty-handed
and without his wife.
When this ODU therefore appears at divination for a person who is
proposing to embark on a tour, he should be told to make sacrifice against
the risk of losing his property to a vindictive person without being able to
fight back.
The Divination for the Olubadan of Ibadan.

The KinQ of Ibadan had a stubborn son called Okoko manlko who
was always causing trouble in his fathers domain. once upon a time, the
son became ill and he was at the point of death. Having heard of the fame
of osemejt at lfe, the King sent errands to go for divination in his place. on
account of the importance of the message, osemej assembled the
following lfa ortests to do the divination:
l<ii Aroju 1<aa wo lgbo
Biaba de Odan ton, ofeni vto daa.
If one is patient in the forest,
one will come across a clearer ground
which will make movement easier.
They advised that a he-goat should be offered to Esu at once so that
he might be saved from dying in the hands of the evil forces that were
determined to take him away from the earth. The sacrifice was Quickly
made and before the messengers got back to Ibadan, Okokomaniko was
already beginning to get better.
When this ODU therefore comes out for a sick person, he should be
told to make sacrifice because of his stubborn wavs. The person should
242
be told that he has a stubborn child who does not listen to advice. He 1
1
should be told also to prepare lfa for the son If he Is to live long. If the
person does not already have a child, he should be told to prepare lfa for
the first son he will have.
He made divination fOr Olokun.

When Olokun got to the world, she was so beautiful that she did not
bother to find out what her destiny was. She was suffering and men were
afraid to venture near her. She then heard of OsemeJI and went to him
for divination.
osemej invited one of his Awos called JeJe Jeje mule to make
divination for her. She was advised to make sacrifice with a goat to her
guardian angel, a he-goat to Esu, and a bag of money, and white cloth to
the market place. She qulcktv did all the sacrifices. She was also told that
the reason she could not marry and have children was because the elders
ottne night had their eves on her and had enveloped her entire being with
a veil that made her sight repugnant to men insoite of her beauty. To
wash off the evil spell on her, the Awo told her to fetch a pot and a cock.
The Awo collected leaves called Ewe 1wo (Ebe Asivbogo In Binn to
prepare for her to be bathing. She was assured that as soon as she
started bathing with the pot, all her enemies would begin to die one after
the other. She was taught the incantation to repeat whenever she was
bathing with the pot.
soon afterwards, the men and women she had relied on as her close
confidants aneassoetates began to die in turn. Not long after that, the
Oba of the town invited her to become his wife and she agreed. She soon
became pregnant, and had several children. Her trading activities became
prolific and her star sprinkled wealth an" prosperity on her husband and
his domain.
The']Jel'Sonal experience .of osemeJI.

osemeJI had become very famous and prosperous. He was not

aware that one of hts wives was a witch and that she was planning to
destroy his fame and wealth. He had a frightful dream one night In which
he was bound in chains. He then invited two of his more proficient Awos
to make divination for him. They were caned Eshi saare and Eshi joson,
They told him to make sacrifice at once in order to avoid the danger of
trlal and Imprisonment. He was told to give a he-goat to Esu, a pig to lfa
and a goat to his head.
Meanwhile, his Junior wife went to the market and alerted hat sellers;
hen sellers, goat sellers, cloth sellers, pig sellers, and the sellers of all
imaginable wares in the market, to take proper care of their merchandise
because a robber (who she gave a description that fitted the identity of
her husband> was in town planning to plunder. The people of the market
began to wonder where the woman came from and they were told that
she came from Oke Tase In lfe where her husband lived.
The news was reported to the king of lfe who ordered the royal
executioner to get prepared for the summary execution of the thief after
positioning the local police to apprehend the robber as soon as he moved
to plunder.
It was at that stage that osemeJi made the sacrifices to Esu, lfa, his
Head, Ogun, and the night. After the sacrifice, the woman who was,
otherwise the expelled wife of Esu in heaven, from where she escaped to

243
the world, stole a number of materials from the market and concealed them
in her husband's (Osemeji'sl house.
Meanwhile, the owners of the stolen wares were tracing the home of the
thief with the description earlier given oy tne woman. Having eaten his he-
goat, Esu Quickly installed a mysterlousveil round osemejrs house which
made it difficult for anyone to match the outward appearance of the house
with the description given by the woman. The problem thus abated and not
knowing that it was his wife who started it all, he continued to live with her
and she gave birth to five children. After scheming several evil machinations
and falling, she gave up and lived happily with the husband nonetheless.

osemeJI lived longer than any other OIOctu.

The oioous, that is, the sixteen main apostles of orunmila, were in the
habit of going to the river to wash the signs of old age from their bodies. After
each such bath; they often came out looking several years younger than their
ages. At one Of their weekly meetings, the sixteen oioous agreed on the date
they were to go to the river for their annual cleansing session.
on getting home from the conference, osemeu invited one of his Awos
called Gere Gere snalu Gere, to make divination for him against the
upcoming trip to the river. He was advised to offer a he-goat to Esu because
of the benefits awaiting him at the river. He did the sacrifice without any
delay.
on the appointed day, all sixteen crocus asserneteo at the river and they
began to have their dives into the river in order of seniority. Each of them was
required to make three dives Into the river. When it was the turn of osemeji to
dive, being the fifteenth oioou. he dived the first time and came out of the
river with a dried. fiSh on the left hand and a fresh fish on the right hand. He
made a second dive and emerged with a white cloth on his left hand and a
black cloth on the right. In his third and final dive, he came out with 200
cowries on his left hand and beads on the right
hand. ·
The other oioous accused him Of playing magic, but he declined saying
that he did not know how to make divination, let alone magic.
on getting home he assembled all his surrogate Awos and told them to
mterpret.nls finds in the river. They told him that the fishes indicated that he
would live long enough to enjoy all the good things of life. The cloth meant
that he would live in peace and concord to the end of his life, which was
going to be verv long. The last finds meant that he was going to live a life of
prosperity and aounoance. He actually lived a full life and lived longer than
any other oicou on earth.

244
 CHAPTER XXVIII
OFUN- MEJI
II II
I I
II II
I I
funmeji, who was called orangun devln ekun In Heaven was the
O most senior son of orunmlla In heaven. He was originally the first oou
to come to the world, but we shall see the circumstances in which he
returned to heaven to become the last of the Olodus to come to the world.
He It was, who revealed that it took six days for the Almighty God to
complete his creative works, after which he rested on the seventh day. we
shall read more of this story shortly. Meanwhile, let us examine some
other Important works associated with OfunmeJI In heaven.
OfUn,neJI reveals how Iona It took God to complete his creative works:
Odibi reku reku lere
Odlbi ridi ridi
Je aje .akakpo
ogun xooo etedare
lbi reku reku
Odjbi reku reku lere
Odlbi ridi ridl
Je akakpo orunmlla
xobo eledaare
ibi reku reku , Odibi
reku reku lere Odibi
ridi ridi
Je aje Ugba Erumole
Klwonbo eleedaa won
lbl reku reku.
The difficult problem,
That was.resolved
peacefut.ilY, In the end:
was the name of the Awo who made divination for Qgun, oiokun,
orunmlla, and an the other divinities. He advised them to make sacrifice to
their guardian angels over a period of six days, In order to rest In peace
and tranqunttv on the seventh day.
orunmlla asked why the sacrifice should last for seven days Instead
of one day. The Awo replied that It took Olodumare mod> six days to
create the land, seas, atmosphere, plants, animals and humanity. The
reason God created all organic and Inorganic matter before creating the
mankind was to provide abode for man, water for. him to drink, food to
eat, air to breathe and for hlm to settle down to a routine life In heaven
from the seventh day. He dlscl.osed that God •. rested on the seventh day
after completing the creation of the dlvlnosphere. He told them that In
consonance with the precedent established by Cod at creation, It would
take slx days to complete the Initiation ceremony of any divine priest, and
he should clean the house and rest on the seventh oay. It I) only through this
process that the sacrifice will manifest.
Orunmila asked again whether a ceremony lasting seven days will
not
245
breed arguments and confusion during the span of the ceremonies. The
Awo replied that It Is forbidden to have quarrel and discord during the
Initiation ceremony In the home of a priest. Al koro Lule awo. orangun
deylln ekun - eexpaa,

How the Parrot became a symbOI Of nobility:

It was OfunmeJi who in heaven revealed how the Parrot was

transformed Into an honourable bird and how it acquired its red feathers.
He did so through the following poem:-
ldemu Odlde werewe,
om battl annl AJe lie ·eni dide nmde,
Ayaa lie enl dtoe runde,
Omo lie enli dide ninde, meaning:lt
multiplied In small measure. He
who attains riches multiplies.
He who has plenty of wives also multiplies.
Just as he who has many children has multiplied.
This Is the Incantation with whleh divination was made for the Parrot,
before all the divinities came to discover him not only as an instrument of
decoration, but also as a symbol of authority and influence. He was
advised to make sacrifice with a piece of red cloth, a red cock, black cloth,
a pigeon, a hen and can-wood. He did the sacrifice in the house of Esu.
Thereafter Esu invited the Parrot for a transformative operation.
Esu daubed the red cloth with can-wood and wrapped It round the
tail feathers of the Parrot and blew it Into his anus; At the end of the
operation, all the feathers at t'he tail end of the Parrot's body became red.
When Esu was asked for the significance of the operation, he replied by
proclaiming that from then on, all the divinities would only be able to have
authority and see into the future, through the use of the Parrot's red
feathers. He directed them to be buying the red feathers from the Parrot
for adornmentand decoration. That explains why there is no divinity that
does not use the red Parrot feathers to this day, being the light with which
they-see Into the future. From then on, the Parrot became a noble bird
as well as a wealthy one. ·
ONnmlla converts the authority Of all the other divinities to himself:

Ofunmeji also reveals how Orunmlla succeeded in collecting and

converting to his own use, all the Instruments of authority <ASE> given ov
God to all the divinities. He does so In the following poem:-
Oklti kpuke,
Awo eba-ono,
Adlfafun orunmila,
Nlgbatii Ofelogba ava gbogbo,
Erumole lowo osun.
Ogun, the metal divinity, and the most senior of all divinities, was the
custodian of all the ASE <Instruments of authority> given to them by the
Almighty God. This meant that any of them who wanted to use his
instrument of authority had to go for his own from osun.
Meanwhile orunmila the wisdom divinity contrived a ploy for taking all
the powers from ocun. That was why he went for divlnltion to Okltlkpuke,
the road side soothsayer, who told him that he would succeed, If he could
make sacrifice with a sheep, a pigeon, and a horse tall. He accordingly
made the sacrifice.
246
 After the sacrifice he set out on a visit to ocurrs house. on getting there
he told Ogun that he came to pay him a visit. After the usual exchange
ofcourtesles, he told his host with the foHowlng Incantation that he actually
came to collect all the powers of the divinities which were kept under his
custodv=-
An Infant chlld does not refuse the mother's milk. The fowl
does not refuse the invitation of the corn. The penis does
not refuse the Invitation of the pelvis. one cannot ignore
the bite of a snake.
No one resists the invitation of the cough. No
one ignores the bite of a scorpion.
The earth cannot refuse the rays of the sun.
The cloth does not refuse the onslought of a needle. No
one can stop the cat from mousing.
No one disobeys the call of nature.
Even you, Ogun cannot resist the sight of a dog.
As soon as he completed the recitation of the Incantation, without any
hesitation whatsoever, osun went to his safe and brought out all the ASE
and sheepishly surrendered them to orunmlla. With the powers safely in his
hand, orunmlla took his leave. As soon as he got home he swallowed Up all
the ASEs. All this time, Ogun acted' as If he was In a trance. It did not occur
tomm to ask orunmlla why he came to collect the powers from him.
Five days later, Ogun realised that the powers were no longer In his
possession. After combing his house for the whereabouts of the powers, he
remembered that the only divinity who visited him during the last five days
was orunmila. He decided to visit orunmlla because he did not know how to
explain the loss of the powers If any of the divinities came to ask for their
own. When he got to orunmua's house, he enquired what he came to do in
his house during his last visit. Mote emphatically, oeun asked orunmua
whether he was the one who came to collect the strength of all the divinities
from him.
When orunmlla realised that Ogun did not have any clear recollection of
what transpired when he collected the powers from him, he decided to
capitalise on oaun's temporary mental hallucination. orunmlla denied ever
visiting Ogun, let alone collecting any powers from him. Rather dejectedly,
Ogun walked back home helplessly. That was how Ogun lost all the powers
of the divinities to orunmua who although one of the most junior of them all,
has since become more powerful than all of them. When Ogun left his house,
orunmlla sang the following song:-
Shlgo shlgo agoton, Mukomi
ton klo to shliyere, Shigo
shigo agoton,
That is why, on the appearance of this Odu at divination the dlvlnee is
told to make sacrifice in order to avoid the risk of looslng a treasured asset to
a surrepttclous schemer.
OfunmeJI leaves fOr earth:
tn heaven, he was called orongun devlnekun. He was said to be highly
temperamental and harsh as he contemplated coming to earth. His guardian
angel told him that unless he did something to soften up his temper, he was
not going to have an easy time on eartn, He men ueuuso to go for
divination and went to a female soothsayer who had no llmbs.
She was called:- Ugbln eenowo eenose, ·
Ejo kodu koou, meantng:-
247
 After the sacrifice he set out on a visit to ocurrs house. on getting there
he told Ogun that he came to pay him a visit. After the usual exchange of
courtesies, he told his host with the following incantation that he actually
came to collect all the powers of the divinities which were kept under his
custoov.=
An infant chHd does not refuse the mother's milk.
• The fowl does not refuse the invitation of the corn.
The penis does not refuse the invitation of the pelvis. one
cannot ignore the bite of a snake.
No one resists the invitation of the cough. No
one ignores the bite of a scorpion.
The earth cannot refuse the rays of the sun.
The cloth does not refuse the onslouant of a needle. No
one can stop the cat from mousing.
No one disobeys the call of nature.
Even you, oeun cannot resist the sight of a dog.
As soon as he completed the recitation of the incantation, without any
hesitation whatsoever, osun went to his safe and brought out all the ASE
and sheepishly surrendered them to orunmlla. With the powers safely in his
hand, orunrnua took his leave. As soon as he got home he swallowed
• up all the ASEs. All this time, Ogun acted as If he was In a trance. It did not
occur to him to ask orunmua why he came to collect the powers from him.
Five days later, Ogun realised that the powers were no longer in his
possession. After combing his house for the whereabouts of the powers, he
remembered that the only divinity who visited him during the last five days
was orunrnua. He decided to visit orunmila because he did not know how to
explain the loss of the powers If any of the divinities came to ask for their
own. When he got to orunmua's house, he enouireo what he came to do in
his house during his last visit. Mofe emphatically, Ogun asked orunmila
whether he was the one who came to collect the strength of aH the divinities
from him.
When orunmila realised that Ogun did not have any dear recollection of
what transpired when he collected the powers from him, he decided to
capitalise on ogun•s temporary mental hallucination. orunmlla denied ever
visiting Ogun, let alone collecting any powers from him. Rather dejectedly,
oeun walked back home helplessly. That was how Ogun lost all the powers
of the divinities to orunmna who although one of the most junior of them all,
has since become more powerful than all of them. When osun left his house,
orunmua sang the fol1owlng song:-
Shlgo shlgo agoton, Mukomi
ton kio to snuvere, Shigo
shigo agoton,
That is why, on the appearance of this oou at dtvlnation the divinee is
told to make sacrifice in order to avoid the risk of loosing a treasured asset to
a surreottctous schemer.
OfunmeJI leaves for earth:
In heaven, he was called Orongun devlnekun, He was said to be highly
temperamental and harsh as he contemplated coming to earth. His guardian
angel told him that unless he did something to soften up his temper, he was
not going to have an easy time on eartn. He tnen aec1oeo to go for
divination and went to a femafe soothsayer who had no umbs,
She was called:- Ugbin eenowo eenose,
Ejo kodu kodu, meaning:-
247
 The snaH which has no hands and no legs.
The snake which moves on its abdomen.
She advised Orongun deyenkun to make sacrifice In order to prosper on
earth because he was going to be a man of many parts provided he was
able to take control of his temper. She advised him to serve his lfa with 16
snails, which would soften him up and tone down his aggressiveness. He
was also advised to serve esu with a he-goat. He made the sacrifices and
received the clearance of God and his guardian angel before he left for earth.

The birth Of OfUnmeJI:

He was born as the son of a King, who named him Aoa-aoave. Even as
a child, he had the rare gift of whatever he said coming true. He was the last
born of the King, and whatever he asked for was given to him. As he grew up
to be a man; he became very dictatorial, and was not in the habit of listening
to any advice .. Hls wishes were law and he insisted on having his way all the
time. After the death of his father he became the King of his place. His reign
was marked by extreme arbitrariness and tension. His people under-went
severe stress and mental agony. When the going became too uphill for
comfort, his people got together and told him defiantly that they could no
longer tolerate him as their. King. As if to lend manifestation to the plot being
natcneo against him, he too decided to abdicate from his throne. AU this
time, he had no wife and no Child. .
OfunmeJI retums to heaveat:

He too was so disgusted with his Inability to make it on earth that he

decided to return to heaven to probe his problems. During his Journey back
to heaven, he met the limbless woman, who made divination for him before
he left heaven but he d1d not recognize her oecause.ne naciost an memories
of what previously transpired in heaven. Otherwise, he would not have
Ignored the advice given to him before leaving heaven in the first instance.
He was surprised to see the unusual creature having neither hands nor legs
and ran back in fright. The woman beckoned OIJ him to move nearer and not
to run away. He moved nearer to the woman reiuntannv.
The most obnoxious aspect of the woman was that she was also
afflicted with leprosy. on seeing her condition he exclaimed "eekoa" In
astonishment. That Is the traditional exclaimatlon to this day as soon as
Ofunmeji appears at divination. The woman however begged him to make
divination for her because, she suspected that he was an lfa Priest. The
woman told him that the two things she wanted most In her life were how to
cure her affliction and to have a child. He then brought out his divination
Instrument and divined for her.
After divination, he told her that if she could make the necessary
sacrifices, she would become well and also have children. She was requlreo
to make sacrifice with three goats, three hens, three pigeons, three snails,
three rats, three fishes, three bitter kolas, three kotanuts, and three yards of
white cloth.
It was at this stage that she asked OfunmeJI whether he realised that
they were In heaven where she could not obtain these materials. orunmelt
invited her to return with him to earth so he could make the sacrifice for her
there. Thereafter he carried her on his back.

248
 soon afterwards, they came to the three road junction tontametai,
Before they got to the three road junction the woman told him that in the llght
of her condition she was not only forbidden to llve In the town but also not to
travel by daylight except In the night. At that point, they met a man who was
the controller of the three road Junction, called Ashipa. With the assistance of
the Ashipa, they cut a path into the bush and built a hut there. At the Instance
of the woman, the hut had no door and the only way of knowing the entrance
to the hut was the point at which the tree of life <Ako oko in Yoruba and
lkhinmwin in Bini> was planted, as well as the point at which a palm frond
was tied to the hut. Before leaving her to fetch the· instruments for the
sacrifice, OfunmeJI asked her how he would be able to see her since the hut
had no Inlet. She taught him the incantation to repeat after which he was to
put his back to the wall under the Palm frond and the gate would open to let
him in. He was to say "Oro ovtn kiimu evon, eekpa - aikoro une awo". Before
leaving her; Ofunmeji c:Uscovered that she had only one breast. That hut
was called He-Odi popularly know today as lledi.
Before resuming his journey to heaven orunmej visited his close
confidant called Akpena who had been looking for a wife. After telling him the
condition of the woman he asked whether he was prepared to marry a
woman having those deformities. surprisingly, Akpena agreed to meet with
the woman. Thereafter OfunmeJI asked Akpena to collect all the materials for
the sacrifice and they both returned to the hut to makeme sacrifice. After the
sacrifice, Ofumeji formally introduced Akpena to the woman.
Before the woman agreed to become Akpena's wife she brought out a
mysterious wand on Which he was made to swear an oath never to reveal
her condition. She also said that If anyone else was coming to the hut to see-
her for any reason, he should t>e t:>llndrfolded to prevent him from seeing
her condition. The only exception was OfunmeJi and all other lfa Priests after
him. Before anyone else saw her, the same Oath had to be administered to
him or her, not to reveat her condition.
OfinlmeJI returns to heaven:
As soon as the sacrifice was made, the crippled woman became cured
of her leprosy, and her beauty as a young and beautiful woman became
noticeable. Thereafter Ofunmejt decided to resume his journey to find out the
cause of all his mysterious problems. On getting to heaven he Quickly
headed for the home of the crippled female lfa Priest who had previously
divined for him. The woman was nowhere to be found. His guardian angel
told him that the wornan had since left for earth and advised him to do
everything to locate her because she was the only one who could make him
prosper on earth. It was then he realised that it was the woman he had just
settled Into the hut on earth. He Quickly returned to the world.
Ofunmeji was the first of the otoous or Apostles of orunrnua to become
a king on earth because he was the first to come to earth. He fell from grace
because of his dictatorial tendencies. During his second coming to the earth
he became the last of the sixteen oiodus of the lfa genealogy after Ejiogbe
and others had come. That was however not untll he reestablished contact
with the woman whose turn it was to make divination for him. After divination,
the woman advised him to make a saerlflee with two pigeons, black cloth, a
walking stick, mashed yam, kotanuts and cowries at the road junction, and
that he would become a king again. we shall see later how the sacrifice
benefitted Ofunmeji.
249
The Origin of the secret fraternity:
'rne marriage or me cnppiea gtn to Akpena nounsneo immensv rnev
are said to have had sixteen children between them. Little is known however
of the other children with the exception of the two eldest ones, who were
called oabo nicknamed Yaya and the next one called Onl nicknamed Yoyo.
They grew up as cats and Dogs always fighting each other. At one time they
even resorted to the use of diabolical means of mutual destruction. When
their parents discovered that they were running the risk of destroying each
other, they took them into the hut previously Inhabited by their mother and
made them to swear on the mother's charm called Edan. In the oaths, they
swore never to plot or do anything against each other. That was the first
initiation ceremony Into the secret fraternity.
The name ocnont is a derivation from the names of Its two founders,
oaoo and ont,
It is reputed to be the first secret society on earth, according to
orunrnua.
OfunmeJl's second coming to the earth:
When he got to the world the second time, he took to the practice of lfa
art, specializing in the preparation of good luck charms for people. Thus, It
was said of him, Ofun lofueni owo, Ofun lofueni Omo, Ofun lo fueni Ava,
meaning:....;. That Ofunmeji is responsible for providing assistance to people
desirous of having the benefit of money, marriage and child birth. He was a
proficient benefactor In these matters. Nonetheless, he was being despised
and ridiculed by his pebple who saw him as having climbed down from grace
to grass. He however retorted to these jibes by warning people not to
tantalise him unduly becaucse he still had the means of barking and biting in
the face of provocation.
In spite of his warning, several smart alecs continued to despise and
tantalise him. He began to destroy those who were undermining him. As
people began to feel the wrath of his reaction, they started dreading him.
MeanWhile, he decided to go for divination, where newas advised to desist
from his aggressive stance. The Awos who made divination for him on that
occasion were:-
Afuye Omo aje
Ewon bale lowoji
Odidere Awo aabado
Elomon biriti
sanalawo Edu.
They told him to make sacrifice for peace, prosperity, wealth and long
life.
They made all the sacrifices for him and eventualllv he became so
wealthy that he ended up being made the orongun of Illa orongun. He also
lived to a ripe old age. It is said however, that his friend Akpena who married
the crippled woman finally settled down In rtacooiu where the shrine exists to
this day.
The Divination for orangun and Akogun:
ooo to bo tori eku
Ekutele to soro fun toni ojo oroiu
olona gooni ojo oroju
Adifa fun orongun. Abufun akogun.
250
 The monkey tied to the roof,
Became hungry from neglect,
is the name of the awo who made divination for two brothers orongun and
Akogun when they were contesting the throne of their departed father. As
they fought to the point of destroying each other, the kingmakers
intervened. They decided to give the throne to their uncle. Their uncle did
not last long on the throne. Following the death of their uncle, the two
brothers settled their score amicably. Eventually, the Kingmakers decided
to give the throne to the eldest of the two brothers, orongun, while the
junior one Akogun, was made the spokesman of the town, without whose
consent, no decision of any significance, was ever taken. orongun had a
long and peaceful reign with the active support of his brother Akogun.
Divination for Aganbl, the barren woman Of lfe:

Ofun tututu bi eleji

Amuji kutu wenu,
lbi Titu maa kanju
orunrun ale won maa nissin.
Adifa fun Aganbi ile ife nllo toon fl oml oju snubere omo tuuru tu.
Ofun the white one,
was as cool as rain water.
The Drinking water pot,
Is washed clean every morning,
Before refllllng it.
The cool shade need not fret,
For lack of company,
Because the sun,
Will soon drive clients to him.
These were the Awos who made dlVlnatlon for the barren woman of
lfe when all her relations abandoned her as a hard luck case because she
did not have children. She was advised to make sacrifice with white cloth,
white cock, white hen, corn, and honey, and to marry an lfa priest. She
made the sacrifice and eventually got married to a practicing lfa priest.
She soon became pregnant and gave birth to a child. Her next
pregnancy gave birth to a set of twins. Thereafter, all her friends and
relations who had written her off, returned to rejoice with her. She became
very happy and sang in praise of the Awos who made divination for her.
When this oou comes out of divination for a person who is anxious to
have a child, he should be told to exercise patience and to make sacrifice.
If the subject is a man, he should be told to arrange to have his own lfa. If
a woman, she should be advised to marry a practising lfa priest after
making sacrifice.

AU RIGHTS RESERVED

251
 IFISM
'
Los Trabajos Completos de Orunmila
Los volumenes
Diez - Once - Doce -Trece

El Odus de Ogunda

El Odus de Osa

El Odus de Etura

El Odus de Irete

Dr. C. Osamaro Ibie, J.D.

B. SC. ECONS. (HONS.) EL LICENCIADO EN FILOSOFIA Y LETRAS DE
LONDRES ECONS. (HONS.) STRATHCLYDE FIAMN (HONS.)

LA ATHELIA HENRIETTA PRENSA

PUBLICANDO EN EL NOMBRE DE ORUNMiLA
© 2005 C. OSAMARO IBIE

Editorial y Produccion: Roger Francis

Rudolph Francis

El Plan interior: Rudolph Francis

El Plan del tipo y Tipografia: Joshua Knights

Todos los derechos reservados. Este libro no puede reproducirse en el todo o en parte, o
transmitio en cualquier formulario, o por Cualquier medios electronico, mecanico,
fotocopiando, grabando o por otra parte sin el permiso escrito anterior del publicador,
exceptue por un critico que puede citar los pasajes breves en una revision.

Biblioteca del Congreso Cataloging-in-Publishing Datos 2001 135751

El autor y publicador han hecho cada esfuerzo en la preparacion de este libro asegurar la
exactitud de la informaci6n. Sin embargo, se vende la informacion en este libro sin la garantia,
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Impreso en EE.UU.

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Publicacion En El Nombre De Orunmila

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 IFISM
'
Los Trabajos Completos de Orunmila

Volumen Diez
El Odus de Ogunda

Volumen Once
El Odus de Osa

Volumen Doce
El Odus de Etura

Volumen Trece
El Odus de Irete
Otros Titulos por C. Osamaro lbie

Ibie, C. Osamaro,
IFISM: LOS TRABAJOS COMPLETOS DE ORUNMiLA
251pp. 2 b/w, 1 lline, Deben Tela - ISBN 1-890157-04-X

Ibie, C. Osamaro,
IFISM: LOS TRABAJOS COMPLETOS DE ORUNMILA El
vol. 2 o El Odus de Eji-Ogbe
Como el Hombre Creo Su Propio Dios
242pp. 5 b/w, 41 linea, Deben - ISBN 1-890157-05-8

Ibie, C. Osamaro,
IFISM: LOS TRABAJOS COMPLETOS DE ORUNMILA
Vol. 3 - El Odus de Oyeku-Meji
101 pp. 1 b/w - ISBN 1-890157-06-6

Ibie, C. Osamaro,
IFISM: LOS TRABAJOS COMPLETOS DE ORUNMILA El
vol. 4 o El Odus de lwori
l 72pp. 1 b/w - ISBN 1-890157-07-4

Ibie, C. Osamaro,
IFISM: LOS TRABAJOS COMPLETOS DE ORUNMiLA Vol.
5 - El Odus de Idi
144pp. 1 b/w - ISBN 1-890157-08-2

Ibie, C. Osamaro,
IFISM: LOS TRABAJOS COMPLETOS DE ORUNMILA
Vol. 6 & 7 - El Odus de Obara y Okonron
153pp. - EL 0-9638787-6-X DE ISBN

Ibie, C. Osamaro,
IFISM: LOS TRABAJOS COMPLETOS DE ORUNMILA
Vol. 8 & 9 : El Odus de lrosun y Owanrin
178pp. - ISBN 1-890157-09-0
 Tabla de Contenido

IFISM
Los Trabajos Completos de Orunmila
Volumen Diez
El Odus de Ogunda
Sohre el Autor
Una Madre Quintaesencial
Pr6logo-c6mo para Aplacar Esu

Capitulo 1 Ogunda-
Ogbe Ogunda-Obori-
Ogbe Ogunda-ser-
Ede-Ole
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para la Palma Arbol 1
La adivinaci6n para Dos Fastidios - Ogunda y Ogbe 2
La Adivinaci6n para los Miembros de la Casa de Odio 3
Su experiencia con las Personas de Ife 3
La adivinaci6n Constituy6 Orunmila Cuando El estaba Recorriendo para IFISM: 6
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para el Caracol en Cielo 9
El Divined mas Tarde para su Amigo Oro 9
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para el Cazador tacai'io 10
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para Tella-Roko, Cuando El Era Pobre 11
La Adivinaci6n Constituy6 Orunmila Cuando Su prosperidad Vino 13
La Adivinaci6n para Orunmila Cuando El Compr6 a un Esclavo 13
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para Aban, el Esclavo de Oni-Taaji 14
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para Ataparapa y Su Amigo Ole 15

Chapter2
Ogunda-Oyeku
Ogunda-Ariku
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para el Canto Oge 19
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para el Vino de la Palma y el Ciervo 19
La adivinaci6n para El Cuando El Viaj6 a Ikimi para lfa Practice 21
C6mo Orunmila Knew el Secreto de Vida Larga
22

El capitulo 3
Ogunda-lwori
Ogunda-Leedo
Ogunda-Odo
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para Dos Mujeres en Cielo 23
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para Sango 24
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para la Mayoria 24
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para Orunmila Cuando la Muerte estaba Cazando con escopeta
para El 24
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para las Ratas 25
Dispute Entre dos Compitiendo [ el fa Sacerdotes 26
La adivinaci6n para Asese-Lagodo, El yo llevo Servidor 27
El Divined para la Catapulta 2
8
Capitulo 4
Ogunda-Idi
Ogunda-Di-Ugbin
La Adivinacion para El Antes de Salir yo hago fermentar 31
La adivinacion Constituyo Orunmila en el Cielo Anticipar los Planes de Enemigos para
Acortar Su Vida 32
Como Su Baston de Propiedad De Cielo 33
El Hizo la Adivinacion para Shaaki Al Ir a Racer la Adivinacion para Olokun 35
El Hizo la Adivinacion para Ekiri, el Rey de Antilopes 35,
El Hizo la Adivinacion para Idaho y la hija de Olokun 36
El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Caracol Casarse Uke, la Hija de Dios 37,
El Hizo la Adivinacion para Yeye-Oja Save la Vida de Su Unico Hijo 38
Otro Sacrificio Especial (Ono-Ifa u Odiha) de Este Odu Para que la Fortuna Buena
Siempre Vendra a El 40
La Adivinacion Constituyo Okusu Cuando El Viajo a Ila para Adivinacion 41
El Sacrificio especial (Ono-Ifa u Odiha) Contra los Enemigos Mortales 41

El capitulo 5
Ogunda-Obara
El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Avestruz Cuando El Estaba Endeudado 43
El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Ciervo y el Granjero 43
La Adivinacion que El Hizo Antes de Dejar Cielo 44
El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Oludaren de Idanren 44
El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Olobahun 45
El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Catcher de la Serpiente y el Granjero 46
Por eso Sacerdotes de lfa Cantan el Poema 47
El Sacrificio especial Contra la Muerte por este Odu 48

El capitulo 6
Ogunda-Okonron
Divined para el Caiman Cuando El Sedujo a la Esposa 49 de Sango
El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Buitre Cuando El se Caso Egherun 49
El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Loro Casarse Jimi 51
El Hizo la Adivinacion para Orisa-Nla, Oshere-Igo cuando El estaba Viniendo al
Mundial 51
La Adivinacion lo Constituyo Cuando El estaba Viniendo al Mundial 52
El Hizo la Adivinacion para Ako, El Fisherma 53,
El Hizo la Adivinacion para Ogun Cuando El Iba a Emprender la Guerra en el Pueblo de

Egba-ruku-Esido 5
El Divined para Dos Queridos Amigos para Evitar Quarrelling El 4
Orden de Orunmila a sus Sacerdotes y Ninos 5
4
El capitulo 7 5
Ogunda-lrosun 5
La Adivinacion en Hecho para El Antes de Dejar Cielo 5
El Hizo la Adivinacion para las Dos Paginas del Oba en Benin El 7
Hizo la Adivinacion para Dos Amigos 5
8
5
9
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n Para Shede, mientras Aconsejandole que no Fuera A La Granja En el
Dia 60 de Nuevo Afio
El Sacrificio especial para Matemidad 61

Capitulo 8
Ogunda-Owanrin
Ogunda-Mi-Lerin
Ogunda-Derin
La Adivinaci6n hecho para el Semilla-fiame 63
La Adivinaci6n le Constituy6 Antes de Dejar Cielo 63 El
Divined para la Esposa de Ogun 64
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para Ogun y Su Esposa 65
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para todas las Divinidades en Tierra 65
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para los Granjeros y las Personas de Kosoko Pueblo 66
Como Este Odu Became conocido como Ogunda-Mi-Lerin 67
El Elogio de Orunmila s en la Eficacia de una Sonrisa 67

Capitulo 9
Ogunda-Osa
Ogunda-Maa-Saa
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para las Ranas y los Sapos en Cielo 69
Para Ponerlo En Yoruba, Ellos Revocaron Que lo que Ellos Dijeron Era 69 El
Tambien Hizo la Adivinaci6n En el Cielo Para EkunKun 70
La Adivinaci6n le Constituy6 Antes de Dejar Cielo 71
El Divined Para Sango Up-root el Obiri Tree 71
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para el Ajero para Su Esposa Favorita Tener un Nifio 73 El
Hizo la Adivinaci6n para Ogun y Su Esposa Antes de Ir a Guerrear 74
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para el Olowo de Owo Cuando una Rata lo Hizo Perderse en el Bosque
75

Capitulo 10 Ogunda-
Etura Ogunda-Te-
Tura-La
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n en el Cielo para el Parasito Planta 77 El
Hizo la Adivinaci6n para el Bush Ave 78
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para la Paloma Cuando Ella Tenia Muchas Amantes 78 La
Adivinaci6n para este Odu Cuando El estaba Dejando Cielo 80
Su Experiencia en la Tierra y Por que los Nifios Prohiben Alcoh6lico Bebe 80
Sacrifique para la Comprensi6n Mutua y Amistad 83

Capitulo 11
Ogunda-Irete
Ogunda-Kete
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n en el Cielo para Ukubi, el Hijo de Orisa Gbuwuji 85 El
Divined para Adibo, el Hijo de Orunmila 85
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para Orunmila Cuando El Sedujo a la Esposa de Ogoronigara 86 El
Hizo la Adivinaci6n para Igun Cuando El Fue por Ifa Practice a Ilode 87
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para Ogun en un Concurso para Antigiiedad 87
La Adivinaci6n que el Hizo Antes de Dejar Cielo 88
La Adivinaci6n Constituy6 Orunmila Buy un Cadaver para Sacrificio 89
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para Osanyin Cuando la Muerte estaba Arrastrandolo 91 El
capitulo 12 Ogunda-Eka
La Adivinaci6n le Constituy6 Antes de Venir al Mundial 93 La
lmportancia especial de este Odu 94
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para las Personas de Ofa 95
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para el Granjero Contra el Riesgo de Robo 95 El
Hizo la Adivinaci6n para Orisa-Nla 96
La Adivinaci6n lo Constituy6 Cuando El Viaj6 en un Viaje 96 Largo

Capitulo 13 Ogunda-Ba-
Eturukpon
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para la Vaca 99
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para Oluweri Become Prospero 99
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para Ogidi-Olu, Ajayi 100 Por otra parte Llamado, El
Hizo la Adivinaci6n Para Oluloko Cuando El Iba a Casarse 100
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n Para el Mercado Mujer 100
La Adivinaci6n el Hizo Antes de Venir al Mundial 101

El capitulo 14
Ogunda-Ose
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n Para El Pene 103
La Adivinaci6n El Hizo Antes de Venir A El Mundial 103 El
Hizo la Adivinaci6n para Orsemi-Lere 105
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n Para Ogun Cuando El Iba a Guerrear 106 La
adivinaci6n Para El Mayor Hijo de Ogunda - Alashe 106

El capitulo 15
Ogunda-Ofun
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para la Esperma 109 Masculina
El Constituy6 la Adivinaci6n el Padre de todas las Serpientes 109
Orunmila Advises la Limpieza en absoluto Times 110
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para el Cerda tener Ninos 110
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para la Madre de Alajunare 110
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para Ogun Durante su Disputa con Semejante 111 La
Adivinaci6n que El Hizo Antes de Dejar Cielo 111
 IFISM
Los Trabajos Completos de Orunmila
Volumen Once
El Odus de Osa
Capitulo 1 Osa-
Ogbe Osa-Lo-
Gbe-Jo
El el Baston al Mundo para Vivir en media de Enemigos 113
La Adivinacion lo Constituyo Cuando Tres Favores estaban Viniendo Simultaneamente a El
114
El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Principe de la Corona de Ife 116
El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Oloba de Obaa Survive el Ataque de Varios Peligros 118 El
Hizo la Adivinacion para Dos Amigos Anonimos de Orientaciones 119 Contrastantes El Hizo
la Adivinacion para la Rata Llamo Eku-Eda 120
La adivinacion y Sacrifica por Dar jaque mate Muerte 120
La Adivinacion le Constituyo Prosperar 120
El Consejo de Orunmila a las Esposas de lfa Adhesivos 121 La
adivinacion y Sacrifica por Aliviar Problemas 121
El Hizo la Adivinacion para Elemure Principal Cuando Esu Blocked Sus Fortunas 122

El capitulo 2
Osa-Oyeku
El Hizo la Adivinacion para Orisa-Nla Al Venir al Mundial 123
El Hizo la Adivinacion para un Hombre Que estaba Teniendo Diarrea 123 La
Adivinacion Constituyo al Cazador Que Ahorro Su Padre De Brujas 124 El Hizo
la Adivinacion para el Oloja de Dificultad y un Loco 125
El Cuidado de Orunmila para Sus Ninos 125
El Hizo la Adivinacion para Jogbo, el Cazador 125, El
Sacrificio especial para Prosperidad 126

El capitulo 3
Osa-Iwori
Osa-Awure
Osa-Olawure
El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Rio Al Venir a tierra 127
El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Perro y la Oveja (la Oveja) 127 El
Hizo la Adivinacion para el Perro y el Macho cabrio 128
El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Gorila 129
La Adivinacion le Constituyo Antes de Dejar Cielo 130
La Adivinacion que El Hizo Cuando El Era De viaje a un Destina 131 Desconocido El
Divined para Dos Babalawos 131
El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Hombre Cuya Fortuna no Fue consolidada 132

Capitulo 4
Osa-Idi
El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Cesped-deposito de alimentacion 133 El
Divined para Arawo la Madre del Halcon 133
El Constituyo la Adivinacion el Padre De Orofo 133
La Adivinaci6n que El Hizo Antes de Salir yo hago fermentar 134 La
Adivinaci6n que El Hizo Antes de Realizar Su Fiesta 135 Anual El
Hizo la Adivinaci6n para Lakola, El Amigo de Orisa 136,
El Sacrificio especial para los Nifios Productores

Capitulo 5
Osa-Obara
Divined para la Divinidad de Agua para Ponerse Grande 137
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para el Fuego Cuando su Vida estaba Menguando 137 El
Civined para 76 Animales 137 Diferentes
El Sacrificio especial Para El Nacimiento de Gemelos 138
Ellos Tambien Hicieron la Adivinaci6n para Orunmila Receive que Dos Favorecen 138 El
Hizo la Adivinaci6n para un Hombre Con una Piema 138 Deformada
El Sacrificio especial para Paz y Prosperidad 139
El Sacrificio que El Hizo Antes de Salir yo hago fermentar 139
Su Experiencia en la tierra - Cuando El Sedujo a la Esposa 140 de Sokoti La
Adivinaci6n que El Hizo Antes de Ir a Osogbo 141

Capitulo 6
Osa-Okonron
Osa-Kunrin
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para ahorrar la Guinea - el Ave del Tigre 143
Otra Variaci6n de la Misma Adivinaci6n 143
Todavia Otra Variaci6n de la Misma Revelaci6n 144
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para Ikon, El Rey de Termitas 145, La
Adivinaci6n que El Hizo Antes de Dejar Cielo 146
El Divined para Lemikan de Ijesha 146
Orunmila Advised Sus Adhesivos Contra Abandonar Su Ifa 146

Capitulo 7
Osa-Irosun
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para el Camwood y la Rata 149
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para la Oreja Cuando El Sedujo a la Esposa del Mosquito 149 El
Hizo la Adivinaci6n para la Cabra 150
La Adivinaci6n que el Hizo Antes de Dejar Cielo 150
La Adivinaci6n que El Hizo Antes de Casarse a una Mujer 152 Amarilla
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para Su Esposa Cuando Ella estaba Teniendo la Hemorragia 152
Genital

Capitulo 8
Osa-Owanrin
Osa-Olubi
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para Aromi, El Hijo del Rio 153, El
Hizo la Adivinaci6n para la Iguana 153
La Adivinaci6n le Constituy6 Antes de Dejar Cielo 154
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para Onirefi Cuando El Era Pobre 155 El
Sacrificio especial para Luchar a Enemigos 155
Un Poema 156 Especial

El capitulo 9
Osa-Ogunda
Osa-Ogunleja
Osagim-Ero
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para Osa Cuando El Sedujo a la Esposa 157 de Ogun
Divined Para Orunmila Cuando Sus Tres Esposas lo Abandonaron 157
El Sacrificio especial para una Vida Fresca y Paz de Mente 158
Divined para Songo Command el Miedo Universal y Respeta 158
El Sacrificio que El Hizo Antes de Dejar Cielo 159

El capitulo 10
Osa-Etufa
Osa-Alawure
Osa-Ilefiri
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para Alajuba Cuando la Muerte estaba Cazando para El 161 El
Hizo la Adivinaci6n para Osanyinmola Cuando El Tenia 111 161 afios
La Adivinaci6n que El Hizo Antes de Dejar Cielo 162
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n Para el Musico 163 Real
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para Nanakuana, El Cazador 164, El
Divined para Edigban Become el Oba de Ede 165
La Adivinaci6n lo Constituy6 Cuando las Brujas Estaban Despues de El 165 La
Adivinaci6n lo Constituy6 Cuando El Era De viaje a Edidi 166
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para Dos Hermanas 167

Capitulo 11
Osa-Irete
Osa-Oloyan
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para el Agua y la Arena del Rio 169
El Mismo Awo Made la Adivinaci6n para la Rana y el Bufalo 169
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para Orisa-Nla Cuando Sus Tres Sirvientes Corrieron Fuera en El 170
El Divined para Orisa Make el Sacrificio Con Su Vestido 171 La
Adivinaci6n que El Hizo Antes de Dejar Cielo 172
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para el Oloyan 1 73
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para las Personas de Oyan y Su Rey el Oloyan 173

El capitulo 12
Osa-Eka
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para Obe-Esilo 175 El
Hizo la Adivinaci6n para Salubata 175
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para la Calabaza 175
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para el Desecho Campamento 176

El capitulo 13
Osa-Eturukpon
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para la Trompeta Ponerse Famoso 177 El
Hizo la Adivinaci6n para una Planta Llam6 Kpanrikpan 1 77 El
Hizo la Adivinaci6n para la Cabeza y la Mente 178
La Adivinaci6n que El Hizo Antes de Dejar Cielo 178

Capitulo 14
Osa-Ose
Osa-Sesese
El Divined para 76 Bush Rats en Cielo 181
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para el Canto Eluulu y la Serpiente 181 El
Hizo la Adivinaci6n para Dos Granjeros 182 Vecinos
La Adivinaci6n que El Hizo Antes de Dejar Cielo 184
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para Ogun Prosper 185

El capitulo 15
Osa-Ofun
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para el Animal Llam6 Ikeeghe y el Aguila 187
El Divined para Ogun y Uja Cuando Ellos estaban Viniendo De Cielo 188 La
Adivinaci6n que El Hizo Antes de Dejar Cielo 188
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para el Cazador, El Granjero y el Awo 188
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para la Mujer Que se Divorci6 a su Marido 190
La Adivinaci6n hecho con la Cerveza inglesa el Hijo de Muerte y Ojiyan, El Hijo de Orunmila
190,
La Adivinaci6n lo Constituy6 Cuando El Era En ultramar De viaje 191
Divined para el Mono Cuando El Minti6 contra Orisa 192
 IFISM
Los Trabajos Completos de Orunmila
Volumen Doce
El Odus de Etura

Capitulo 1
Etura-Ogbe
Etura-Eleji
Etura-Orilana
Etura-Arodemi
Etura-Jobi
Etura-Rina
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para Tres Amigos 195 El
Constituy6 la Adivinaci6n el De cabeza 196
La Adivinaci6n que El Hizo Antes de Dejar Cielo 196
La Adivinaci6n y Sacrifica El Hizo Ganar una Corona 200 El
Sacrificio Especial de este Odu para Prosperidad 202
Divined para un Hermano y una Hermana Cuando Ellos estaban Buscando las Casas Buenas
de Vida 202
El Sacrificio Especial de este Odu para el Exito en Vida 203 El
Hizo la Adivinaci6n para el Gusano 203

Capitulo 2 Etura-
Oyeku Etura-
Ogoku Etura-
Ariku Etura-
Ariko Etura-
Akponkon
La Adivinaci6n El Hizo Antes de Venir al Mundial 205 El
Hizo el Sacrificio para Sankpana e Iya-Alaje 206 Divined
para Mooye, La Esposa de Orunmila 206
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para Okponremi, la Hija de Aremonijan 207,
Divined para Awogboro El Trompetista 207

El capitulo 3
Etura-Iwori
Etura-Awoye
Etura-Ole
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para el Caracol 209
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para la Tierra y el Cielo 209
El Divined para el Hombre Blanco Al Venir De Cielo 210
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para Ogbese y Oshun Cuando Ellos estaban Compitiendo para
Antigiiedad 210
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para Adeduntan 211

El capitulo 4
Etura-Idi
El Divined para la Mujer Embarazada y para Olabahun 213
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para el Macho cabrio Cuando el estaba Acordando Casarse 214 Bivined
para Baata Excel todos los otros Instrumentos musicales 214
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para el Elefante y el Hoyo 215
La adivinaci6n Constituy6 Orunmila Cuando El Viaj6 con Otras Divinidades 216 El Hizo
la Adivinaci6n para los Tambores 216 Musicales
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para el Camale6n o 216
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para el Grave Tambor 216

Capitulo 5
Etura-Obara
Etura-Araba
Etura-Ba-Ba-Ba
Divined para el Canto Ako Cuando se Endeud6 a Olokun 219
El Divined para Ebo y Sigidi Cuando ellos Disputaron para el Matrimonio de una Muchacha 220
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para Onibedo. el Partidario del Name 22Q La
Adivinaci6n lo Constituy6 Al Venir al Mundial 221
El Divined para el Pene y la Vulva para Ganar el Honor Universal y Respetar 221 El
Divined para Orunmila para producir a niiios Que Eran Volverse Padres 222 El Hizo la
Adivinaci6n para Alaraba

Capitulo 6
Etura-Okonron
Etura-Tiku
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para la Rata, Pez y Pajaro 225
La adivinaci6n para los Organos genitales 225 Masculinos y Hembras La
Adivinaci6n que El Hizo Antes de Dejar Cielo 226
Divined para El para Casarse a la Hija de Olokun 227
La Precauci6n especial Contra Calamidad 227

El capitulo 7
Etura-lrosun
Etura-Mosun
Etura-Olomu
Divined para la Oreja Cuando El Sedujo a la Esposa 229 del Mosquito La
Adivinaci6n que El Hizo Antes de Salir yo hago fermentar 229
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para un Awo Called Idereluma 230
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para Iwa tener Ninos 231
Divined para Oyadolu Save Sus Ninos De Tefiir 232
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para la Estrella Al Ir a Casarse la Luna 232 El Hizo
la Adivinaci6n para Pagida 232

El capitulo 8
Etura-Owanrin
Etura-Alaketu
Etura-Alaka
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para el Caiman, Cocodrilo y el Amonestador 235 La
Adivinaci6n Ikin Made Al Dejar Cielo 236
Divined para Olu-Jettu Cuando Sus Asuntos lo Abandonaron 236
Las Prescripciones de este Odu por Aliviar Problemas Causados por Enemigos 237
La adivinacion para una Mujer 238 Embarazada
Divined para la Cabeza de familia 238 Generosa
La Adivinacion que El Hizo Ponerse Prospero A traves del Trabajo 238 Sedentario El
Hizo la Adivinacion para Alaketu Cuando El Iba a ser Visitado por Esu 239
El Sacrificio Especial de este Odu para prosperidad 239

Capitulo 9 Etura-
Ogunda Etura-
Arira Etura-
Takuta Sole Etura-
Ta-Gitan
El Hizo la Adivinacion para la Planta del Parasito y la Estrella 241 La
Adivinacion le Constituyo Antes de Dejar Cielo 242
El Hizo la Adivinacion para Alagemo, El Camaleon 244,
El Hizo la Adivinacion para Agbe Al Ir a la Granja 245
El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Ironsmith 245
La adivinacion para una Mujer Yerma para Tener un Nino 245 El
Sacrificio especial para la Armonia y Entendiendo 246
Otra Variacion a las Hazafias de Afuma, la Planta del Parasito y Como Afumo Se
vuelto el Rey de Plantas 246

El capitulo 10
Etura-Osa
El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Halcon y la Gallina 249 La
Adivinacion que El Hizo Antes de Dejar Cielo 250
La Adivinacion lo Constituyo Cuando El Iba a Trabajar para Rey Onikaro de Dificultad 252
El Hizo la Adivinacion para Ogun Al Ir a Guerrear 253
El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Perro Al Venir De Cielo 256
El Sacrificio Especial de este Odu para Superar Enemigos y Dificultades 257
La Adivinacion Constituyo a una Madre Salvar a Su Hija De la Muerte en Su Casa 257
Matrimonial

Capitulo 11 Etura-
lrete Etura-hace
Itonlo-Etura-Itonlo
Etura Olugba-Ete
El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Gallo 259
El Hizo la Adivinacion para Tres Hermana-pajaros 260 El
Tambien Divined para Agborin, Agbe y Aluko 261 El
Tambien Hizo la Adivinacion para Ayinyan 261
La Adivinacion que El Hizo Antes de Dejar Cielo 261
Divined para el Barril, Olla De arcilla y la Calabaza Cuando Ellos Asaltaron el Rio 263 El
Sacrificio especial para el Exito en el Endeavour 263 de Uno

El capitulo 12
Etura-Eka
El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Frijol de Aceite Arbol 265 La
Adivinacion El Hizo Antes de Venir al Mundial 265
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para las Personas de Iroko y Eka 266 El
Sacrificio Especial de este Odu por Consolidar Fortuna 266 El
Hizo la Adivinaci6n para el Erizo 266
El Sacrificio especial Contra las Fortunas de Unconsumated (Amubo) 267

El capitulo 13
Etura-Eturukpon
Etura-Tiku Etura-
Olomu
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para el Canto Dogi-Dokpe 269 La
Adivinaci6n que El Hizo Antes de Dejar Cielo 269
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para Ogun en mi haga fermentar 270 El
Hizo la Adivinaci6n para Hacerse un Jefe 271 De cabeza

El capitulo 14
Etura-Ose
Etura-Alashe
Etura-Ori-Wese
El Divined para el Conejo Cuando El estaba Viniendo al Mundial 273 El
Hizo la Adivinaci6n para el Mono 274
La Adivinaci6n lo Constituy6 Cuando El estaba Viniendo De Cielo 274 El
Hizo la Adivinaci6n para una Mujer Llam6 Otun 276
La Adivinaci6n especial para el Honor y Dignidad 276
El Sacrificio especial para una Mujer Ansioso para Tener un Nifio 277 El
Sacrificio especial para Prosperidad 277

El capitulo 15
Etura-Ofun
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para el Albino (Afin o Eyaen) en Cielo 279 El
Divined para Meeriye Obtain la Bendici6n de Dios 279
La Adivinaci6n El MadeBefore Coming al Mundial 280
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para el Pobre Prosperar 281
El Sacrificio especial por Tener Nifios 282
El Divined para Ojol Gidigba, el Rey de Serpientes 283
 IFISM
Los Trabajos Completos de Orunmila
VOLUMEN TRECE
EL ODUS DE IRETE

Capitulo 1 lrete-
Ogbe lrete-Te-
Nu-Olu
Divined para Orisa Cuando El estaba Teniendo el Est6mago Dolor 285 El
Hizo la Adivinaci6n para Olokun Cuando Su Fortuna Mengu6 287
Otra Variaci6n de C6mo Ategbe Divined para Olokun Regain la Opulencia Cuando Todos
Pero Uno de Sus Esposas lo Abandon6 288
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para la Nuez Planta 289
La Adivinaci6n que El Hizo Al Venir al Mundial 290
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para los Reyes de Owo y Benin 290
El Sacrificio Ategbe Made para Olokun Regain Prosperidad 292

Capitulo 2
lrete-Oyeku
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n durante Mafiana y Tarde 293
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para el Pariente del Pajaro Cuando Ellos estaban Dejando Cielo 293
La Adivinaci6n que El Hizo Antes de Dejar Cielo 294
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para una Mujer Llam6 Osun-Onibuola 294 El
Hizo la Adivinaci6n para Olofin Prosper 295
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para La Nave 295
El Mismo Awo Made la Adivinaci6n para la Boa Y La Piton 295

Capitulo 3 Irete-
Iwori Irete-
Ajero Irete-Nte-
Awoye
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n Para La Paloma Cuando Ella estaba Viniendo al Mundial 297 La
Adivinaci6n que El Hizo Antes de Dejar Cielo 297
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para el Hijo de Sango 299
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para Shomolu Tener Nifios 299 El
Hizo la Adivinaci6n para Anibire 299
La Adivinaci6n especial para el Nifio Nacimiento 300
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para Shugunrinmi, La Esposa de Orunmila 301,

El capitulo 4
lrete-ldi
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para Seis Hermanas, Las Llamas, el Miel-utero, el Gusano, Hea, y la
Basura Descarga 301
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para la Cabeza Al Seguir Gira 302 El
Hizo la Adivinaci6n para Olakpade 302
La Adivinaci6n que El Hizo Antes de Dejar Cielo 302
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para la Rata no Casarse a una Mujer mas Fuerte Que El 303 El
Hizo la Adivinaci6n para la Madre de Osho 303
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para el Cazador Avido Que no Hizo Sacrificio 304

El capitulo 5
lrete-Obara
lrete-Alao
lrete-Oloba
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para el Canto Ogbigbo o Thiokam 305 El
Divined para la Luz y Su Hermano, La Termita 305
La Adivinaci6n que El Hizo Antes de Dejar Cielo 306
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para Oloba-Ahun 306
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para la Mujer Yerma tener un Nino 307 El
Hizo la Adivinaci6n para Alao 307

Capitulo 6
Irete-Okonron
Irete-Ege
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para la Soga y El Broche 309 De madera El
Hizo la Adivinaci6n para el Pene y la Vulva 309
La Adivinaci6n que El Hizo Antes de Dejar Cielo 310
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para la Madre de Adeyosola 310
Divined para Elekolo Give su Hija en el Matrimonio Fuera de Su Pueblo 311

Capitulo 7
lrete-lrosun
Atenurosun
lrete-Erijiyan
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para Oloba-Aghun, El Mujeriego 313, El
Hizo la Adivinaci6n para El Antes de Dejar Cielo 314
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para Olofin ahorrar las Vidas 315 de Sus Ninos El
Hizo la Adivinaci6n Para El Pescador 316 Avido
El Sacrificio Especial de Orunmila para Su Odu 317
El Divined para Sango Cuando El estaba Sufriendo 317

Capitulo 8
Irete-Owanrin
Irete-Arin
Irete-Ogege
Irete-Olota
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para el Amonestador 319
La Adivinaci6n que El Hizo Antes de Dejar Cielo 320 El
Hizo la Adivinaci6n para el Rey de Ife (Olofin) 321 La
Adivinaci6n que el Hizo Antes de Ir a Ota 322
El Divined para Abi Cuando Ella no Tenia Ningun Nino 323
Divined para Orunmila Cuando El Fue a Trabajar a Ota 323

Capitulo 9 lrete-
Ogunda lrete-
Ogunrere
Irete-Oyao
Irete-Egunre
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para el Puerco espin y Su Esposa 325 La
Adivinaci6n que El Hizo Antes de Dejar Cielo 326
La Adivinaci6n que El Hizo Cuando Eziza Came lo Desafie 328 El
Divined para Tres Trampa Setter 329
El Sacrificio Especial de este Odu por Ahorrar la Vida 331 de Uno El
Divined para la familia del Mono para no estar Avido 331

Capitulo 10
lrete-Osa
Arotesa
La Adivinaci6n que El Hizo Antes de Dejar Cielo 332
El Concurso para la Direcci6n Entre Esu y las Divinidades 332
El Divined para la Divinidad de la Noche Cuando El estaba Dejando Cielo 335 La
Adivinaci6n lo Constituy6 Antes de que El Prosperara 335
El Divined para el Multi-prop6sito Diviner 336
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para Olayoriju Omo Akpogbonshorun 336
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para Akerenikeyo Take Su Corona 336 Padre

Capitulo 11
Irete-Etura
Esekon-La
El hizo la Adivinaci6n para la Boca y el Abdomen 339
La Adivinaci6n que El Constituy6 a la Madre de Okpere 340 La
Adivinaci6n que El Hizo Antes de Dejar Cielo 340
C6mo Orunmila tenia su Primer Nino 341
La Adivinaci6n que El Constituy6 Sango 343 El
Hizo la Adivinaci6n para el Olofin 344
El Sacrificio Especial de este Odu para Prosperidad 345
Divined para Orunmila Antes de De viaje a Ekiti

Capitulo 12
lrete-Eka
Ateka
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para la Lengua Cuando en media de Enemigos 347 El
Hizo la Adivinaci6n Para El Okro Cuando Ella Iba a la Granja 347
La Adivinaci6n que El Hizo Antes de Dejar Cielo 348
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para el Granjero 348
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para Olawunmi del Pueblo de Ikpakpo 349
Sacrufuce ser Hecho Antes De viaje 349
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para la Corona Principe Ikukpolarun Aremu 350

Capitulo 13 lrete-
Eturukpon
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para la Paloma Cuando Ella Ofendi6 Muerte 351 El
Divined para el Puerco espin (Ira u Okhaen) 351
La Adivinaci6n que El Hizo Antes de Dejar Cielo 352
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para el Principe de Iwo Tener un Nino 352 El
Constituy6 la Adivinaci6n se Hace pasar por 354
El Sacrificio especial Contra la Enfermedad 354 lnfecciosa

Capitulo 14
Irete-Ose
lrete-Alaje
lrete-Sekpere
Uru-Ekun
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para el Tigre 355
La Adivinaci6n que El Hizo Antes de Dejar Cielo 356
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para una Muchacha Que el Baston De Cielo 356
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para Ajibola Cuando El estaba Moviendo Con Brujas 357 El
Hizo la Adivinaci6n para Omo-Lahere El Workaholic 357
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para Onigbolo Si Gbolo 358
La Adivinaci6n que El Hizo Antes de Prosperar 358
El Sacrificio especial Contra el Peligro 358 Inminente
El Sacrificio especial de este Odu para Prosperidad 359

El capitulo 15
Irete-Ofun
Irete-Afun
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para la Palma Arbol 361 El
Hizo la Adivinaci6n para Orunmila 362 Poen
especial Contra Miedo 362
La Adivinaci6n que El Hizo Al Dejar Cielo 362
El Divined para Orunmila Cuando El Fue a la Tierra de Albino 364
 Sohre el Autor

M r. C. Osamaro Ibie naci6 en la Ciudad de la capital del Imperio de Benin difunto

de Benin medio - Nigeria Occidental en los 29 de septiembre, 1934 a Jefe y Sefiora
Thompson Ibie Odin. El graniz6 de una familia cristiana. Cuando su ceremonia de la
denominaci6n era, realizandose ocho dias sin embargo despues de su nacimiento, expertos
en el analisis esoterico de los infantes de recien nacidos, con la referencia especial al
Obalola Adedayo Principal tarde que confirm6 a periodistas cuando Ifism:
Los Trabajos Completos de Vol. de Orunmila que Uno estaba lanzandose en 1987, predijo
ese Dios cre6 al infante como un sirviente a Orunmila, el propio sirviente de Dios y
divinidad de sabiduria, y que el mundo iba a saber sobre Orunmila y los torcimos, falsific6
y fabric6 la verdad sobre la verdadera naturaleza del uno y solo Dios bueno a traves del
infante cuyo estaban analizandose problemas futuros y perspectivas. De hecho, Obalola
Principal confes6 que el se pregunt6 por que Orunmila dej6 al todo de Y orubaland que era
su base venir a Benin que el visit6 primero pero no podria residir en, escoger su voce del
viva.

Segun el padre del autor el augurio era totalmente ignorado como improbable porque el
hombre estaba hablando con una familia cristiana que no podria imaginar ninguna
conexi6n con Orunmila.

El autor pas6 por su educaci6n primaria y secundaria en Ciudad de Benin durante que el
generalmente oper6 como un hombre-servidor en la Iglesia cat6lica. En 1947, el uni6
algunos de sus amigos para alistar en el sacerdocio de la Iglesia cat6lica, pero su padre
intervino con el Obispo insistir que su hijo no estaba fuera cortado para el sacerdocio
cristiano, y el Obispo difiri6 al deseo de su padre soltandolo.

En la realizaci6n de su educaci6n primaria y secundaria, el autor era empleado en el

Servicio del Publico Federal Nigeriano d6nde el subi6 del poste de un Funcionario
Clerical a la posici6n alta de un Funcionario Ejecutivo en 1959. Al mismo tiempo, el gan6
una Beca Gubemamental Federal para leer la Economia en Londres. El fue a Londres en
1960 y obtuvo un Segundo Grado de Honor de Clase en ambos Strathclyde, Glasgow y la
Universidad de Londres.

El devolvi6 al Servicio del Publico Federal Nigeriano d6nde el era designado como un
Assistant Secretary, el Diputado Permanent adecuado Ministerio en 1973 y Ministerio
Permanente en 1975.

El era designado como un miembro de en el mismo afio el nigeriano Economic y Comite

de la Finanzas que se cobraron con la direcci6n de la economia Nigeriana. Al mismo
tiempo, el era designado como un miembro de la comisi6n Gubemamental Nigeriana a la
conferencia consultiva intergubemamental entre los gobiemos americanos y Nigerianos en
que el sirvi6 entre 1976 y 1980.

Entre 1980 cuando el se retir6 voluntariamente del Servicio del Publico Federal Nigeriano,
y 1989, el oper6 el exgratiation como un analista econ6mico; escribiendo muchos
articulos del peri6dico en los imperativos categ6ricos e hipoteticos de politica econ6mica
y direcci6n. El tambien se dirigi6 varios publico e instituciones del sector
privado en las direcciones de politica economica, incluso el Instituto Nigeriano de Banqueros,
la Asociacion de los Fabricantes de Nigeria, el Instituto Nigeriano de Estudios Estrategicos,
varias instituciones educativas terciarias, etc.,

De 1985 y al presente, el ha estado sirviendo como un miembro del Concilio gobemante del
Gobiemo Federal poseyo la Universidad de Benin, en el Estado de Edo. Subsecuentemente su
jubilacion del Servicio Civil en 1980, el ha comprometido activamente en el negocio en el
sector privado. El estaba en 1992 otorgado un Compafierismo Honorario del Instituto de
Direccion Administrativa de Nigeria (FIAMN - Hon.) y reconocio como un Administrador
certificado y Distinguido (CDA). En 2000, Mr.C.Osamaro lbie recibi6 su Doctorado de
Jurisprudencia, la Universidad de Marlborough, Honolulu, Hawaii, E.E.U.U.,
El Odus de Ogunda, Osa, Etura e Irete

according a Orunmila, hay tres factores principales conducente a una estancia dichosa en la
tierra. Uno de algunas preguntas que yo me he hecho en varios ocasiones, estara necesario en
la salida definir lo que una vida dichosa o exitosa es, porque todos hay demasiado a menudo,
una tendencia para las personas definir verdadera felicidad y hedonistically de satisfaccion, es
decir, por lo que se refiere a la satisfaccion material y el placer sintetico,

Verdadera felicidad en la tierra solo puede venir de derivar la satisfaccion de las necesidades
simples y deseos, una vida gasto de acuerdo con las dotaciones naturales del verdadero Dios,
la manifestacion de suefios genuinos y verdaderos se hace realidad, y longevidad. Lo que
acorta nuestras vidas en la tierra no es las persecuciones de nuestras necesidades que Dios y
naturaleza mantienen ampliamente, pero la caza interminable para la codicia. Los pajaros del
aire, los animales del arbusto y el pesca de los rios y mares, viva alegremente de la dotacion
simple de naturaleza en sus habitats respectivos. Lo que trunca la vida humana en la tierra no
es nuestras necesidades pero la persecucion de codicia para que Dios y naturaleza se olvidaron
de proporcionar.

La felicidad aqui dentro se refirio a no es la codicia sintetica por la satisfaccion monetaria. l

Cuantas personas alguna vez detienen para simpatizar con los functionaries gubemamentales y
los hombres de negocios opresivos que despues de hipotecar objetividad etica y su conciencia
para saquear billones de dolares, como si ellos fueran a vivir para siempre, se nego como
consecuencia por los poderes mas altos, el derecho inmerecido para vivir para disfrutar sus
adquisiciones mal adquirido? Es la maximizacion del exito y el derivando de vivir bastante
mucho tiempo para disfrutar la satisfaccion de las necesidades pequefias y los deseos simples
de felicidad.

Contra el fondo anterior, yo procedere ilustrar las tres prescripciones de Orunmila para ahora
felicidad duradera en nuestro planeta. Estos tres factores son: Para pasar uno destino a los
padres al mundo; para tener la fortuna de encontrarse uno destino al compafiero matrimonial
en la tierra; y para nacer en el ambiente correcto.

Permitame ilustrar lo que yo quiero decir refiriendose a la experiencia de un alumna tarde y

admirador, el periodista Dele-Giwa intrepido de memoria bendita.

Tres semanas antes de que el se volviera la victima de homicidio burocratico, yo lo invite para
una cena a proporcionar la oportunidad de decirle algunas verdades de la casa. La primera
pregunta en yo aksed que el era si su madre estaba viva e iguala a la tarea que su audacia hizo
necesario. Cuando el no parecia comprender el punto que yo estaba hacienda, yo le dije que a
menos que el tenia una madre que era el teleguiding su supervivencia, seria catastrofico para el
continuar chamuscando las barbas del tigre. Yo lo recorde el aforismo de Bini que antes de
desafiar al mensajero de muerte un hombre joven debe tener un escudo proteccionista fiable.
Yo era por consiguiente, no sorprendio cuando, despues, menos de tres semanas el fue
informado para se haber muerto de repente segun se alega de una bomba mando por correo a el
por la burocracia.

Entre 1944 y 1989, yo tome tantos riesgos babosos que no eran el para la marca de padres que
que agrado Dios para darme, yo habria ido a unir a mis antepasados mucho tiempo. Entre 1942
y 1969, cuando yo todavia era la victima de religion extranjera
sintetica, era mi madre que proporciono los medias de regatear los ladrillos y morteros de vida.
En el momenta, me convencieron que ella era, y yo tenia las ocasiones para llamarla, el agente
del diablo. Eso era porque ella siempre estaba hablando sabre enemigas que buscan
destruirme. Ella pidi6 prestado el dinero de cualquiera y cada cuerpo realizar los sacrificios
id6latras supuestamente para guardarme vivo. Ella tenia cinco nifios todos de quien vivi6 para
enterrarla. Pero su gasto en mi solo estaba mas de todos sus otros cuatro nifios

reuna,

Ella foe preparada comer la perdida humana en el interes de sus nifios. Ella soport6 todos los
tipos de indignidades, sabre todo de los tios para quedarse alrededor cuidar a sus nifios en la
casa de mi padre.

Siempre que, en mi diablo-poder-cuidado caracteristico los descaros de laton, era mi madre

que a menudo manipulo los frenos para aplicar fuertemente cuando yo ignore los semaforos
rojos de vida para correr a lo largo de a la velocidad alta. Debe gustarme ilustrar este oximoro
con dos eventos espectaculares en mis aiios formativos.

En septiembre, 1955, yo estaba trabajando coma un Envio Assistant en el Departamento de

Comercializar y Exporto a Warri en lo que es ahora el Estado de Delta. Yo recibi un mensaje
de mi madre que le habian dicho al augurio para advertirme viajar a Benin durante los
pr6ximos tres meses para obviar el riesgo de volverse una victima de las maquinaciones malas
de esoterics y warlocks. Como un Cat6lico romano ardiente fanatico, yo habia desarrollado la
aversion indomable contra tal consejo id6latra. Yo tenia ninguna intencion de considerar el
consejo de mi madre. Temprano en octubre, 1955, yo tenia una fiebre y yo fui al Warri el
Hospital General por el tratamiento, yo me di Quinacrine o Mepacrine y aconsejado para
tomar dos lapidas tres veces por dia. Yo estaba tomando las lapidas coma prescrito. Cuando mi
guardian oy6 que yo estaba enfermo, el vino a visitarme. Sr. Wilfred Osaoyomwanobo
Osunde, el hombre que me dio mi primer trabajo y harboured yo durante algunos meses,
estaba entonces un Tecnico de la Radiografia en el Warri el Hospital General.

En oir que yo estaba enfermo, el vino a mi casa para verificar mi condicion. Cuando el vio que
c6mo alto mi temperatura era, el me aconsej6 inmediatamente que tomara una dosis del
propulsor de mepacrine que se habia dado a mi al Warri el Hospital General. Despues de que
el dej6 mi casa en ese viemes, yo sentia inmediatamente bien bastante para viajar a Benin, en
la compafiia de mi amigo y proximo vecino de la puerta, Sr. Joseph Okuofu. En libro uno, yo
he contado ya la historia de como yo perdi mi memoria en mi manera a Benin y no lo recobro
parcialmente hasta cuando yo me encontre a las aproximadamente 1 Opm despues de se haber
desviado encima de cinco millas lejos en el arbusto de Benin. Un simpatizador benevolo me
retrocedio coma consecuencia en su bicicleta a la casa de mi padre. Desde aquel momenta,
pero para la disposicion indomable de mi madre en la vida-cuidando, yo habria terminado
probablemente en un asilo o el hospital mental.

Era que el augurio que mi madre dirigi6 eso proporciono la soluci6n esoterica a mis
problemas. Eso era cuando una correlacion positiva era arrastrado entre mi encamacion
anterior y mi indisposici6n. Despues de que los sacrificios de la expiacion prescritos estaban
hecho en las umas hereditarias en mi pueblo maternal, mismo cerca del punto
en el arbusto en que yo me habia desviado misteriosamente en mi manera de Warri, yo me
volvi absolutamente bien. Esa tambien era la escena en que mi ultimo iniciacion en Ifism se
completo en el 1955 de octubre. Cuando Orunmila fue informado para se haber quejado ese
guarda el a la periferia de mi vida entre 1944 y 1955 sumo a encima deestirar mi suerte. Por
eso, al caso de mis padres, mi Ifa se preparo sin cualquier retraso extenso entre los 7 y los 12
de octubre, 1955.

Salvo un poco de hipos que son el resultado de mi primer matrimonio entre 1959 y 1969, mi
vida tenia una navegacion bastante lisa.

Despues de que mi primera hija nacio en 1960, yo fui a estudiar en ultramar en la tesoreria del
Gobiemo Federal Nigeriana. Es sin embargo, necesario revocar eso durante las fases finales de
mi iniciacion de lfa en octubre, 1955, una ceremonia que yo apenas puedo. recuerda porque yo
estaba en el momenta todavia padeciendo las alucinaciones severas. l Yo solo empece a saber
que esta pasando sabre la iniciacion de lfa en el quinto dia cuando mi horoscopo de vida fue
descubierto, despues de que diciendose que Orunmila, la divinidad era Dias me creo servir?
Yo recobre mi memoria totalmente. Yo recuerdo vivamente que mis padres fueron advertidos
que si ellos no desearan actuar cualquier ruptura evitable en mi vida que ellos no deben
escoger a cualquier esposa para mi a menos que tenia uno afios que yo pudiera escogerme y
podria estar de acuerdo en casarse.

A pesar de ese orden, mientras yo estaba preparando para el GCE Adelanto Nivel en 1957, con
una vista a llevar mas alla mi educacion, que mi padre propuso que yo debo casarme a una
muchacha que se mantiene en nuestra calle. Aparte del hecho que la muchacha nunca fue en
absoluto a la escuela, yo atraje a mi padre fuertemente que el tiempo no era oportuno para mi
casarse. El sin embargo, resistio su tierra e insistio que yo tuviera que obedecer sus
instrucciones. En la confrontacion resultante entre el padre e hijo, yo me negue a visitar Benin
de Warri durante el suceder diez meses. Antes de entonces, ninguna quincena expiro sin mi
viniendo a Benin para ver a mis padres porque yo los ame.

Entretanto, mi besought de la madre mi padre para recordar el orden dado a los dos de ellos
durante las fases finales de mi iniciacion de lfa, para no obligarme a que casarme a cualquier
muchacha a menos que uno escogido solo." Desde que la costumbre y tradicion estaban en el
lado de mi padre en un momenta cuando los padres de Benin todavia llevaban puesto la ultima
palabra quien, sus nifios se casaron, mi padre estaba en ningun humor componer su decision.
Por atreverse a desafiar su autoridad, mi padre manejo a mi madre de su casa en la tierra que
ella estaba apoyando a su hijo (mi ego pobre) qui en nunca tenia el theretofore desobedecido
sus instrucciones.

Mi madre, inmediatamente viajada a Warri para pedir a mi guardian, Sr. W.O. Osunde para
persuadirme salvarla de la ira de mi padre. Sr. Osunde me recordo que coma los mortales,
nosotros no tenemos ninguna armadura contra el destino desde que nosotros somos solo
peones en el tablero de ajedrez de destino. El uso su propio ejemplo para demostrar que el
nunca tenia cualquier intencion de casarse mas de una esposa y que cuando su madre le dijo
varios afios antes de eso que el fue destinado para casarse a tres esposas, el despidio la
sugerencia coma un chiste plastico, pero que con el tiempo el vino a tener tres esposas, todo
viviendo con el en el momenta que el estaba hablando conmigo.
El dio enfasis a que solo es cuando nosotros nos desviamos del camino de nuestro destino
que nosotros nos encontramos con las dificultades durante nuestra estancia en este planeta.
i,El me pregunto entonces si lo que mi madre revelo a el, ellos eran que dijo mi iniciacion
de lfa al okduring? Que cualquiera que tiene lfa, Ogunda-di - 'el gbin fue ligado casarse o
tener los nifios de por lo menos siete mujeres era verdad. Yo confirme la informacion pero
insisti que yo nunca lo creyera. El acab6 aconsejandome que dejara de perturbar a mi
padre porque sus oraciones y bendiciones me harian mejor que su angustia y maldicion.

En esa nota, yo estaba de acuerdo en acompafiar a mi madre a Benin que fin de semana
para someter al testamento de mi padre y pidio su perdon. Yo saltare los detalles y
rendimiento de ese hundimiento a otro libro que yo estoy escribiendo al caso de Orunmila
sobre el Lado "Oscuro de mi Vida." Baste lo para concluir en esta fase que casi me costo
mi vida en los 23 de septiembre, 1969, pero para los movimientos preventivos de mi
madre.

Despues de estar de acuerdo en casarse a mi primera esposa en la deferencia al testamento

de mi padre, yo fui determinado cepillar su analfabetismo total y multaponerla a punto
satisfacer mi estacion en la vida. En la superficie, la mujer demostrada ser tan inofensivo
que cuando yo estaba siguiendo al Gobiemo Federal Nigeriano En ultramar la beca en
1960, yo prometi poner en orden para ella unirme el afio siguiente.

Yo llegue a Londres para mi educacion universitaria, en septiembre, 1960, cuando mi

primer nifio era siete meses viejo, despues de haber nacido en los 6 de febrero, de ese afio.
Yo empece a ahorrar el dinero para conseguir que mi esposa unirme el afio siguiente
inmediatamente. Yo avise a mi padre inmediatamente para acordar hacerle un pasaporte a
mi esposa para permitirle que unirme en agosto, 1961. Mi padre estaba bastante
entusiasmado sobre mi decision, pero no mi madre que, en su aversion caracteristica a no
parecer completamente antes de brincar", decidio ir pone a no parecer completamente
antes de brincar", decidido a mi decision.

A estas alturas, es necesario revocar una casualidad que transpiro tres semanas antes de
que yo viajara a Bretafia en septiembre, 1960.

Mi desayuno se enveneno esotericamente por uno de las esposas de mi padre en que yo

habia confiado al punto de tratarla mas como una hermana que la esposa de un padre. El
veneno desafio la competencia de todos los doctores tradicionales en la Ciudad de Benin.
Como mi estaba a punto de dejar el fantasma, un pariente paternal que Sefiora
Ozomwogie Isibor entro para decirle a mi padre que ella conocio a una mujer de Urhobo a
la union de Oghara cerca de Sapele que podria ayudar. Yo me transporte inmediatamente
en un camion trazado, inconsciente al lugar de la mujer a las aproximadamente 8p.m. esa
noche.

Cuando nosotros, (mi madre, Sefiora Ozomwogie y yo) consiguio a Oghara, la mujer nos
dijo que ella pudiera determinar solo la causa y cura de mi problema despues de dormir.
Ella, sin embargo, alerto a mi madre que que yo debo hacer cualquier cosa que ella me
dijo que hiciera cuando ella se desperto, Desde que yo estaba en el dolor severo, yo no
podria dormirme. Por consiguiente, yo estaba extensamente despierto despues de
medianoche cuando ella me pidio que la siguiera en una jomada hacia el camino de Benin
con una olla de arcilla pequefia en la mano. Despues de recorrer para la mitad una
milla, cantando una cancion del incantational, ella me dijo que la siguiera en una ronda el
arbol siete veces. Despues de ese ritual, ella me dio la olla para tirar en el camino hacia
Benin.

Estaba regresando adelante a su casa que ella dio algun liquido para beber despues de
decirme que pero para la gracia especial de Dios, la mujer de tomarlo. Despues esa noche,
yo empece a vomitar y fuera de mi garganta un escorpion muerto vino. Despues de esto,
yo no tenia los dolores y yo dormi a lo largo del resto de la noche.
Yo no supe lo que pas6 entre la sefiora de Urhobo, Sefiora Keeke Efekeyan y mi madre
despues de que yo sali en ultramar para para los estudios extensos. Mi madre estaba
escribiendo para ponerme al dia pero yo no era ni apertura ni lectura sus cartas porque su
rareza estaba asustando a mi.

Yo muevo ahora al 1961 de agosto cuando mi esposa dej6 para Landres. Habia ocho de
nosotros estudiantes Nigerianos que esperan que nuestras esposas llegaran al avion de
BOAC de Lagos a Landres. El tiempo de la llegada normal del avion era 6 de la mafiana
A las aproximadamente 5 .15 de la mafiana nosotros oimos un anuncio raro a traves del
sistema del portavoz fuerte publico en el salon de descanso que los BOAC allanan de
Lagos a Landres tenia la caida aterrizada en Barcelona debido al problema del artefacto,
pero que todos los pasajeros estaban seguros y que un avion de alivio habia sido los
depatched para volarlos a Landres.

Yo escribi para agradecer mi padre y besought el a como consecuencia gracias a Dios para
la llegada segura de mi esposa porque el transporte plano ellos a caida de Landres
aterrizada en Barcelona. Yo era saber la importancia de la caida plana despues tres afios,
un afio despues de la casa llegando.

Entretanto, yo consegui a mi esposa se enrollada con una institucion instrucci6n privada

para ensefiarla desde el principio. Despues de un seis programa de caida de mes ella pudo
leer, escribe y habla ingles y como consecuencia consume vestido-hacer y programas de la
cocina. Yo compre una maquina de la costura electrica y otras cosas para ella usar. Como
declarado antes, en dos afios de vivir juntas en Landres y Glasgow, nosotros no teniamos
una sola reyerta a consecuencia de que yo vine a amarla mas que nunca antes. El unico
probem que nosotros teniamos era que aunque ella se trato por dos de Bretana la mayoria
del gynacologists habil, ella no extrafi6 su periodo una vez. Yo me preocupe cuando las
esposas de mis otros colegas incluso un compafiero llano, estaba esperando a segundos
bebes. La explicacion medica para su condicion era que su tubo del fallopian foe
bloqueado y los doctores hicieron todos ellos pudieron para despejarlo.

Cuando su condicion desafio los remedios todo clinicos, yo decidi devolver casa para
buscar las soluciones tradicionales. Me convencieron que un utero que trajo a un primer
nifio adelante debe poder acomodar a otros nifios. Yo apenas tenia entonces y todavia 29
afios un catholic muy ingenuos. Yo me habia negado a cultivar cualquier relaci6n con
cualquier otra mujer bruscamente y nunca jure tener un asunto con cualquier otra mujer
hasta que mi esposa tuviera un segundo nifio.

Nosotros devolvimos casa en el futuro en el 1963 de septiembre, y narr6 mis esfuerzos

abortivos para hacer a mi esposa tener otro hebe a mis padres. Yo incluso me probe en
Landres acerca de si la falta medica era mia. El consejo de mi padre en conseguir casa
era que desde que yo era mio. El consejo de mi padre en conseguir casa tener los niiios
por las tantas mujeres se destin6, yo debo tener las tantas novias cuando yo pudiera
permitirme el lujo de. Su consejo se cay6 en las orejas sordas, porque yo estaba en ningun
humor complicar mi vida de amor. Mi madre habia sugerido en varias ocasiones que yo
debo acompaiiarla para el augurio averiguar para mi por que mi esposa no pudiera tener
otro nifio pero yo me negue a asentir bruscamente.

Despues de perseverar durante dos aiios, yo decidi seguir la sugerencia de mi padre de

probar a otras mujeres. Mi primer esfuerzo era un desastre porque en cuanto la muchacha,
secretaria confidencial en el Ministerio de Asuntos Externos, se pusiera embarazada que
ella me confront6 con un ultimatum insostenible escoger entre tener el nifio para mi y
anular a mi esposa, porque ella no pudiera compartir a un marido con otra mujer.
Viniendo como el hicieron de una mujer de Bini cuyo padre era un poligamo, yo le dije
que si yo anulara a mi esposa para casarsela debido a un niiio, yo la anularia igualmente el
mas probablemente algun dia para otra mujer. Dos dias despues de bajar su propuesta, ella
hizo un D y C para terminar el embarazo. Ella ni tenia cualquier otro nifio para el resto de
su vida eficaz, ni se pasa una semana de matrimonio con cualquier otro hombre.

Entretanto, mi madre me persuadi6 que yo debo acompaiiarla ir y agradecer a la mujer de

Umobo que desaloj6 el veneno que casi termin6 mi vida antes de que yo viajara en
ultramar. Yo prontamente estado de acuerdo para acompaiiarla y yo fui con la ropa y
bebidas ademas del dinero con que para expresar mi gratitud profunda a la Senora Keeke
Efekeyan.

lCuando nosotros llegamos a la casa de la mujer a Union de Oghara que ella me pregunt6
si mi esposa tenia otro niiio? Cuando yo conteste que ella no tenia, su pr6ximo comentario
me sobresalt6, cuando ella dijo categ6ricamente que era imposible para mi esposa tener
otro nifio para el resto de su vida. Ella me traquete6 mas aun vivamente cuando ella dio
enfasis a que ninguna medicina o sacrificio pudieran resolver el problema de mi esposa.
Cuando yo pregunte si ese era su destino o una situaci6n provoc6 por la calamidad medica
o esoterica, la mujer vieja se ri6 y me dijo que me tranquilizara para entender las
realidades inexorables de vida.

Ella empez6 fuera de con un aforismo local que nadie puede hacer mucho para alterar lo
que un individuo ha escogido hacer para o con el tener siete niiios que ella prefiri6
rendirse el siguiendo siendo seis como consecuencia se destin6 cuando ella se confront6
con la opci6n mas dura de perder su vida. Yo fui sorprendido para ver que mi madre
estaba escuchando a las revelaciones de la mujer vieja con la ecuanimidad placida cuando
yo fui sacudido. La mujer vieja procedi6 narrar el cuento mas asombroso entonces que yo
habia oido alguna vez.

Ella explic6 que cuando yo estaba viniendo al mundo, yo vine con una marca en mi frente
insertada por el culto de demonios y warlocks. Ella agreg6, eso era por que yo habia
estado teniendo un problema despues de otro desde que mi niiiez a traves de las
maquinaciones de hechiceros. La mujer se volvi6 enfrentar a mi madre entonces. Ella le
pregunt6 una pregunta curiosa "Hizo uno de los amantes de su marido y dos de sus
compaiieros menores no hace su sumo acabar su hijo (yo) la vida desde que el naci6?"
lEso no es por que sus afios tempranos en la vida tuvieron que ser gastados con su madre?
(mi abuela maternal). Confirmando las revelaciones raras de la mujer, mi madre
borbot6 en un lamento de lagrimas y desde que yo era consciente de la mayoria de lo que
la mujer estaba diciendo, yo demasiado instintivamente el estallido en las lagrimas. Como
si restaurar un poco de lucidez, la mujer vieja felicitara a mi padre y mi madre por tener el
buen sentido para preparar lfa para mi muy temprano en mi vida, mientras agregando que
aunque ellos me forzaron virtualmente en el, yo habria sido renazca (reencam6) cuatro
tiempo desde entonces si Orunmila no hubiera sido invitado (via la iniciaci6n) a mi
rescate.

Entonces venido el descubrimiento grotesco de que me puso completamente. La mujer

vieja me aturdi6 revelando que cuando nadie parecia capaz acabar mi Ife, mi esposa -
quien era, hasta donde yo estaba interesado, el esposo mejor cualquier hombre podria orar
para tener - entonces se levant6 en el culto de warlocks y ofreci6 venir y casarseme
acabarme. La mujer agreg6 ese proffering para lograr la tarea corriente larga de terminar
mi vida, ella se dio una promoci6n reforzada en el culto. La mujer agreg6 eso era por que
ella hizo todo para aconsejarle a mi madre que no permitirle a mi esposa unirme en
Londres 1961 porque eso iba a darle el ambiente apropiado en que para lograr su objetivo
nefario contra mi. Era cuando yo insisti en su venida para unirme que la mujer le toc6
ultima tarjeta que culmina en el chocar-desembarco del aire-destreza que trae a mi esposa
para chocar la tierra en Barcelona en el 1961 de agosto, para permitirle que asir de mi
esposa las armas esotericas ella estaba viniendo a usar contra mi.

El precio que mi esposa tenia que pagar por su incapacidad para matarme, era la
confiscaci6n de los seis nifios restantes ella fue destinada para llevar puesto la tierra y se
repiti6 enfaticamente que aunque yo era totalmente adverso a casarse a cualquier otra
mujer que hasta que mi esposa tuviera un segundo nifio, ella era completamente incapaz
de tener cualquier otro nifio. La situaci6n se volvi6 para que el bizzare para mi que yo
tenia que dejar la casa de la mujer en el enojo por atreverse a preferir los cargos de la
brujeria contra una mujer joven que no podria herir una mosca ni siquiera. Su ultimo
consejo era que aun cuando yo intente tener otro nifio a traves de cualquier otra mujer, yo
debo hacer para que en el secreto sumo porque el embarazo abortaria en cuanto mi esposa
supiera sobre el.

Cuando yo entre en mi autom6vil y detuve en mi madre permitimos devolver casa, la

mujer hizo un ultimo progn6stico. Ella dijo mi madre y aqui, yo le citare "Edugie
literalmente a la mujer (mi nombre de la madre) lo que yo le he dicho a simplemente su
hijo que entr6 en su cabeza a traves de una oreja y el lo despidi6 a traves de la otra oreja,
el solo creera en cinco afios tiempo. Su tarea tenaz sea asegurar que el esta entonces vivo
apreciar la verdad de lo que yo le he dicho." Alli y entonces, yo nunca jure ver en la vida
de nuevo a la mujer.

En un esfuerzo por repudiar las predicciones de la mujer, primero, yo no deje ningun

unturned de la piedra durante los pr6ximos meses del eighten para usar otros metodos
tradicionales para conseguir que mi esposa tener otro nifio. El mas yo intente, el mas
cercano yo movi poco a poco en las realidades inmutables de mi dificultad.

Mi madre sigui6 sus rodillas varios tiempos para pedirme que tener un asunto con otras
mujeres. Era cuando mi padre que me dio mi esposa dio su apoyo a las suplicas de mi
madre que yo tenia el valor para favorecer a otras muchachas. El primero uno, un
Ministerio Confidencial, abort6 su embarazo cuando era cuatro meses viejo. El segundo
uno, Funcionario de Educaci6n, y un Cat6lico como mi, me dijo despues de dos abortos
que su mayor hermana le dijo despues del augurio tradicional que ninguna otra mujer
podria tener un niiio para mi con tal de que mi esposa estuviera conmigo. Eso era por que
yo deje a la muchacha. Infelizmente, un iglesia-vidente de Yoruba llamado despues
Michael me dijo que mi esposa habia daiiado el utero de la mujer irreparablemente y para
que ella no pudiera tener un niiio. Ella seguidamente casado otro hombre durante 25 aiios
y no podria tener un niiio hasta que ella consiguiera a la menopausia. Cada tiempo yo
recuerdo ese pobres Mary se puso yerma para tomar el riesgo de favorecerme en ella
primero, yo verti las lagrimas. Yo dej o el juicio a Dias.

La pr6xima mujer que yo favoreci al caso del Slaede Azoba Principal tarde que tom6 la
piedad en mi condici6n cuando nosotros estabamos los proximos vecinos de la puerta en
Obispo Street, Idi-Oro en Lagos, fue la primera relaci6n que yo maneje ocultar durante
ocho meses. Cuando el embarazo era ocho meses viejo, yo me puse asustado que yo
pudiera tener los problemas demostrando la patemidad del niiio si yo no presentara a la
mujer a mis padres. En mi manera de presentarla a mis padres de su pueblo, despues de
que yo le dije a mi esposa sabre el, yo tenia un accidente con mi automovil a Uselu en las
afueras de Benin coma resultado de que la muchacha se puso inconsciente. Era un amigo,
Sr. Eghujovbo que estaba pasando por ese agua fria proporcionada de su frasco reavivarla.
Ella habria perdido el embarazo pero para el hecho que mi padre se encargo de la
situacion cuando nosotros conseguimos casa. Eso era como mi primer hijo manej6 entrar
en mi vida, pero desconocido a mi solo porque mi madre fue hecha realizar un ritual
especial por una Salvia de Ifa.

Era el hombre que aconsej6 a mi madre despues del augurio realizar el ritual que despues
revel6 a mi el aiio yo intente tomar mi vida que el le dijo que hiciera un veintiun dias
especiales atrae a Dias, su angel guardian y antepasados que aunque ella fue destinada
para tener diez niiios en la tierra, ellos deben transferir el siguiendo siendo cinco a mi. Eso
explica por que yo tenia cinco niiios por cinco mujeres diferentes en 1970, siguiendo la
terminaci6n de mi primer matrimonio en 1969, mi aiio de realisation. Estaba por la gracia
especial de Dias y los esfuerzos, actividades y oraciones de mis padres, que yo sobrevivia
el quinquenium entre el 1964 de agosto y el 1969 de septiembre para que yo permanezco
etemamente agradecido a Dias, mi angel guardian y mis padres. Por eso yo pondero a
menudo para preocuparse por seres humanos compaiiero que no son dotados de la suerte
rara de traerse al throught mundial el ambiente correcto y padres. Representa toda la
diferencia a nuestras vidas.

Esta seccion de este libro es meramente una vista preliminar del ultimo libro que yo estoy
escribiendo al caso Orunmila, el propio Sirviente de Dias de sabiduria - cuando el me
mando hace cuatro aiios, 1995 en un vuelo de Lagos a Londres-ese yo debo Decir Por
todas partes El Lado Oscuro de Mi Vida." Por otra parte, no es cornico revocar estas fases
lugubres de mi vida. Quien creera que yo estaba en las lagrimas coma

i Yo estaba escribiendolo ! Si mi madre tu vi era que comer la perdida humana para

guardarme vivo, ella lo habria hecho y mas. Yo no podria dejar de llorar y podria tener
que retirarse ir y dormir. Si hay errores en esta secci6n del libro, es porque yo no le lei un
segundo tiempo.

Yo he decidido saltar los eventos de esos cinco aiios porque ellos se han cubierto
ampliamente en "El Lado Oscuro de Mi Vida." Mientras todavia esforzandose con el
destino para tener mas niiios de mi esposa, yo habia tenido exito teniendo mi primer
hijo y mi segunda hija de dos otras mujeres. Yo no se si esos desarrollos marcaron una
oscuridad y guion de la sentencia en mi vida. En la limpieza a mis padres y nifios, ellos
resultaron los puntos volviendose positivos vueltos en mi vida. Entretanto, un intervalo
climatico empezo en mi vida de los 8 de junio, 1969 cuando yo descubri que yo ya no pudiera
copularme con cualquier mujer que incluye a mi esposa, y yo solo tenia 35 afios. Yo hice todo
medico, esoterica! y psicologico superar el problema hasta los 23 de septiembre, 1969. Esa era
la noche que yo intente to mar mi vida. Era Orunmila, cuando yo descubri despues, quien me
detuvo de realizar el harikari. De nuevo yo prefiero saltar los detalles porque, yo me habia
referido previamente a el en Libro uno de Ifism.

Estaba durante la primera apariencia de Orunmila a mi en el Hotel Atlantico en Hamburgo en

los 23 de junio, 1979, diez afios despues, que yo comprendi de su voz y palabras que el fue el
un Dios me detenia de tomar mi vida esperando la rama de un arbol del paraguas delante de los
cuartos de los muchachos de mi residencia oficial a No. 2 Camino de Elmes en Yaba, Lagos a
3am en los 23 de septiembre. Misteriosamente, lgbinovia Principal se volvio a en mi casa el
dia siguiente en las circunstancias igualmente misteriosas, para darme el mensaje de Orunmila
que yo estaba teniendo los problemas porque yo lo abandone, El jefe me dijo, que yo debo
regresar al patrocinador que paso para ser mi padre que preparo el lfa para mi aplacar
Orunmila con una cabra permitirle que guitar de mi casa la mujer que casi tuvo exito
terminando mi vida.

Yo segui el consejo del hombre y fue a Benin en los 25 del 1969 de septiembre servir mi lfa.
Cuando Orunmila estaba pareciendose despues para las direcciones unos dias, mi padre
invitado entierra alios, Adedayo Obaola Principal que le pidio a mi esposa. lCuando yo le dije
que ella estaba en Lagos, el hizo una segunda pregunta que la dio a usted? Yo conteste que era
mi padre. El le dijo entonces a mi padre que la mujer ya habia cargado mi equipaje en un barco
listo navegar para el cielo y que estaba por la gracia especial de Dios, y la intervencion de
Orunmila que yo todavia estaba vivo a la posicion ante el, para que no yo habria estado
muerto. El me hizo entonces dos preguntas en la presencia de mis padres y yo prefiero citarle
"Mi hijo, su cuerpo esta completo como usted esta estando de pie ante mi? " lCuando yo
conteste negativamente, el hizo la segunda pregunta - eso no "Es por que usted intento tomar
su vida, pero para la intervencion oportuna de Orunmila? Yo conteste de nuevo
afirmativamente.

Estaba alli y entonces que la decision se tomo para mi para devolver a Lagos para traer mi casa
de la esposa. Yo viaje a Lagos el proximo dia y devolvi con ella a Benin en los 27 de
septiembre, 1969. Cuando yo consegui casa, en lugar del convenining una reunion de los dos
familes para discutir la terminacion del matrimonio, la Sefiora de la tia de mi padre que
Imalele Uwangue habia preguntado que no era justo decidir el destino de mi esposa en las
declaraciones de Obalola Principal solo, sin buscar una segunda opinion. Ella convencio a mi
padre que era aconsejable referirse la materia a una sacerdotisa de Olokun - AKPOW A de
lyowa - quien proporcionaria una solucion satisfactoria al problema porque ella el divines por
la posesion,

En mi manera a Benin 10.30 postmeridiano y 2am en los 27 de septiembre, 1969, pero para el
oportuno la intervencion de mi esposa que tiro el whell dirigiendo de mi automovil a ella
nosotros habriamos acabado nuestras vidas probablemente en un barranco entre Ajebandele y
Onikparaga en Lagos - el Camino de Benin.
Era cuando yo consegui casa en los 28 que me dijeron que nosotros teniamos que ir y
encontrarse a una sacerdotisa de Olokun en los 29 de septiembre, 1969, (que paso para ser
mi 35 cumpleafios) al lyowa, en el Benin viejo - el camino de Lagos.

La tia de mi padre, Sefiora Imalele Uwangue se llevo mi esposa y a la uma de Akpowa al

lyowa la mafiana siguiente. El primer paquete de la sorpresa yo tenido sido dar la
bienvenida con una cancion por la sacerdotisa que "el hombre que nosotros hemos estado
esperando ha llegado" finalmente - (Enakhere, Enakhere gho rere 0). Proximo yo vi a la
madre de mi primer hijo que yo habia alienado temprano subsecuentemente 1969, cuando
sus seis y un media meses embarazo viejo desaparecieron virtualmente por nunca
desobedecer las instrucciones para entrar en mi casa en Lagos. Ella habia venido a
averiguar de la misma uma de Olokun por que sus pregancy retrocedieron y virtualmente
desaparecieron. Aparecia que cuando ella fue ante la sacerdotisa por el augurio, ella le dijo
que su marido estaba camino a ella porque Orunmila estaba dirigiendolo a ella desenredar
el d'etre del raison de este problema indomable. La sacerdotisa me dijo que ella le pidio a
la mujer que esperara, porque ella entenderia solo la causa de su propio problema, cuando
ella (la sacerdotisa) empezo hablando conmigo.

Cuando yo aparecia finalmente ante la sacerdotisa, la obertura penosa a sus revelaciones

(porque ella habla en las canciones con el acompafiamiento musical) era preguntar a todos
presente para pronunciar la vergiienza en mi por permitir la Cristiandad al becloud mi
vision, para tan largo. Ella proximo me pregunto significativamente y yo prefiero citarla,
"Esta mujer (mi esposa) estando de pie con usted, hizo a su madre de la Sefiora noctuma
que Keke Efekeyan de Oghara no le dicen hace cinco afios que ella no tendra los nifios ya
para usted y la hara el mejor detener a cualquier otra mujer de tener un nifio para usted? "
Yo conteste afirmativamente, y ella respondio preguntandome cuantos nifios mi esposa
tenia dentro de que cinco afios, y yo conteste, ninguno.

lElla enfrento a mi esposa entonces, "que este hombre ha hecho a usted que usted le hizo
su mision al destablise y si posible termine su vida? Dias que conoce que el ha hecho para
usted que que pocos hombres pueden hacer para cualquier mujer ha frustrado todos sus
planes demoniacos contra el, y esta en su propio interes saber que es una mision nuestro
Omnipotente Padre no le permitira lograr." Lue go, la sacerdotisa hizo la segunda
revelacion que reforzo la credibilidad de cualquier cosa que ella estaba diciendo.

Todavia hablando con mi esposa, el Priestness agrego "En el momenta que sus huband
vinieron a sacarlo de Lagos, usted supo que usted no iba al return a el en Lagos porque
Dias, sus divinidades y los antepasados de sus maridos habian barrido sus pies de su casa.

Para impedir a su secreto gotear, usted decidio hacer su automovil dar volteretas en un
barranco, pero cuando usted comprendio que usted tambien se moriria que si el automovil
entrara en la reguera, usted tiro el dirigiendo de su automovil. Es yo quedando, contra
usted". Ella confirmo que ese era lo que paso.

Una vez mas la sacerdotisa me enfrento diciendo "con tal de que usted estuviera bastante
contento con su unico nifio que ella tambien intento sin exito matar para ahorrar su propia
vida, el herfailure siguiente para lograr la tarea ella puso para ella. Gracias a su madre y su
madre de la noche, su esposa no se desespero. Era cuando usted
empezo intentando tener los nifios por otras mujeres que ella decidio darlo sexualmente
impotente. U sted ha sido un hombre completo en los ultimos cuatro meses? "

Cuando yo conteste el negativelly, ella le pidio entonces a mi esposa que dejara la camara
consultor y ella se llevo fuera. Ella me aconsejo entonces eso: (i) yo debo quemar todas
las ropas de cama con que yo habia estado durmiendo con mi esposa porque ella habia
instalado un U-SAETA en mi casa para que si yo atravese ese punto y despues voy a
copularse con cualquier otra mujer que espera a un hebe para mi, el embarazo
desapareciera al instante, o si cualquier tal mujer atravesara ese lugar, su embarazo se
evaporaria y ( el ii) Mi esposa me dio impotente enjaularme e impedirme procesar a
cualquier otra mujer para un nifio. La situacion se invertira si usted puede pasar revista el
valor para sacarla de su casa y su vida. Pero yo lo advierto, si ella todavia esta con usted
en tres dias cronometre, despues de desenmascararla hoy, ella conseguira sostenimiento de
uno de sus pantalones y lo usa para asegurarse que usted no podra tener el sexo para el
resto de su vida.

Yo deje la uma en una nota obscura, y en cuanto nosotros devolvieramos casa, yo fui ante
mi padre en mis rodillas e informe los desarrollos. Yo acabe en la nota que el debe
devolverle a mi esposa a dondequiera que el que la consiguio de, porque yo habia
terminado con ella como la hombre-y-esposa. Yo le di una pension y acabado con ella a
las 9.30p.m. en los 29 de septiembre, 1969.

La primera reaccion de mi madre era sugerir que nosotros debemos ir y debemos visitar a
la Senora Keke Efekeyan a Oghara confirmar que ella profetiza habia manifestado mas
alla de todas las expectativas y para persuadirla seguimos a mi residencia de Lagos para la
santificacion. Yo solo estaba demasiado listo, y ansioso para verle de nuevo disculparse
personalmente a ella por atreverse a los presentimientos del arroyo en la veracidad de sus
predicciones. Nosotros viajamos a su lugar en los 30 de septiembre, 1969, y con las
bebidas, dinero y ropa, yo estaba en mis rodillas disculparse a ella. Ella solo me dijo que
agradeciera a mi madre que sostuvo el fuerte mientras yo estaba dormitando entre 1960 y
1969, que yo no dude hacer en la man cha. i Yo me pre gun to cuantas personas son
dotadas de la fortuna de tener tal una madre prototipica! Ella era de hecho una de las cosas
mas buenas que Dios hizo para mi.

La senora Keke se sentia tan exaltado que ella se condenso para viajar inmediatamente
con nosotros. Nosotros nos pasamos la noche en Benin y dejamos para Lagos la mafiana
siguiente. En cuanto nosotros llegaramos a mi casa en Lagos, ella pidio el agua para beber
y yo llame a un pariente del varon menor nueve afio viejo que estaba quedandose entonces
conmigo y estaba adiestrando en el momento. En cuanto el muchacho moviera a traves de
la puerta trasera a la direccion del refrigerador sacar el agua, Senora que Keke, en un
paroxismo de desconcierto, me pregunto, "Quien ese muchacho es? " y yo conteste que el
es el hijo en una relacion envio vivir conmigo. l,Ella hizo una pregunta mas impugnando
entonces - "Por que es que usted siempre esta viviendo con las personas malas? l,Claro yo
le pregunte lo que significa yo tenia de saber quien era bueno y quien era malo? Ella hizo
una broma de mi entonces comentando eso "claro, yo me he olvidado que usted no tiene
una segunda vista." Ella invito al muchacho entonces para una charla mientras yo me
levante para sacar el agua para ella beber.

Cuando la mujer le pidio su nombre, el dio su nombre familiar. La mujer le dijo entonces
que ella estaba pidiendo su nombre secreto. A ese punto, el muchacho inclino
su cabeza encendido de sus hombros. Eso era que cuando la mujer vieja se molesto en
cierto modo que yo nunca habia visto antes. Ella desafio al muchacho si el estaba
probando su competencia y autoridad. Ella proclamo que ella era el segundo en el orden
entre todas las brujas y magos de tierra de Urhobo, agregando que en cuanto un hechicero
inclinara que los his/her encabezan en el hombro, nada harian los him/her para contestar
mas preguntas. La mujer descubrio entonces que el nombre que el muchacho tenia en el
club de warlocks era un nombre de Yoruba y que aunque ella no entendio una palabra del
idioma de Yoruba, (siendo Urhobo) ella traduciria el significado del nombre, en cuanto el
lo mencionara. A ese punto todos los presos que hablaron y entendieron el idioma de
Yoruba en mi casa tenian congregado para lo que era decir el menor, un espectaculo de
aspecto extranjero.

Eso era cuando, al parecer, bajo el hechizo de la mujer vieja, el muchacho dio su nombre
abrigado como "OLOWOMIFO". habia silencio total en mi cuarto. No obstante, de todos
los ocho otros individuos presente, nadie pudo adecuadamente traducir el significado del
nombre. Era de nuevo la Senora Keke que una vez mas proporcionado la pista a lo que era
obviamente un nombre diab6lico. Ella explico que el nombre el muchacho alojo la noche
significada a "Todas las personas prosperas y exitosas en su familia seria los permaturely
tefiendo. Despues de preguntarle si eso no era por que el el manoeuvered el en venir a
vivir conmigo, la mujer le obligo a que hiciera una proclamacion, mientras cambiando el
nombre al instante y el hizo. Esto probablemente es por que los miembros exitosos de mi
familia y yo todavia estan vivos.

La mujer tenia dos mas enigmas sin embargo para el desenredar. Ella lo recordo el
convenant que el firmo con mi esposa que simplemente habia salido, al efecto que (
aunque nadie dio cualquier indicacion que ella estaba saliendo para bueno) no era
probable que ella devolviera a Lagos, y por consiguiente, ella le enviaria algo dafioso que
plantar en mi cuerpo. La mujer le pregunto entonces si ella lo habia enviado y el confirmo
que ella no lo habia enviado. En esa nota, la mujer lo advirtio que si el lo acepto e intento
plantarlo en mi cuerpo, no solo no trabajaria, pero que el no viviria para ver la proxima
mafiana.

Secundariamente, la mujer le hizo confirmar que el arbol del paraguas delante de los
cuartos de mi muchacho era el poste organizando de que ellos ( el club de warlocks)
examinaba toda la ocurrencias en mi casa y de donde el enviaba casa de los mensajes a su
madre para una actualizacion de cualquier cosa estaba siguiendo en mi casa. De nuevo,
ella lo advirtio que si el alguna vez intentara jugar el papel del rapporteur inescrutable ya
en los acontecimientos en mi casa y vida, el no viviria para ver la proxima nueva luna. En
esa nota la mujer lo despidio del cuarto gallina ponedora. Ella sugirio entonces que
despues esa noche, el arbol del paraguas delante de los cuartos de mi muchacho en que a
proposito, yo intente tomar mi vida la semana anterior, tuve que ser reducido y
desarraigue. Ella agrego que despues de reducir el arbol, el muchacho no podria
permanecer en mi casa durante otro cinco dias. Ella tambien aconsejo que siempre que el
muchacho eligiera para devolver a Benin, yo no solo debo preparar los nuevos vestidos
para el pero tambien debo prometer continuar pagando sus cuotas escolares de Lagos.

Despues de despedir al muchacho, la sefiora vieja se volvio a mi madre decirle en teteun-

tete para preguntarme si yo todavia era potente y si yo no hice como resultado de eso,
intenta tomar mi vida. Cuando mi madre contesto sus preguntas afirmativamente,
ella descubrio que mi esposa habia plantado un U-SAETA del esteric en mi casa que no
solo lo hizo imposible para cualquier otra mujer tener un nifio para mi, pero tambien para
darme impotente. La mujer insistio que su visita a mi casa fuera un fracaso si ella no
pudiera localizar el U-SAET A.

En la limpieza al muchacho pequefio, me dijeron despues dos afios que mientras yo estaba
lejos trabajar un dia de la semana y el estaba en la fiesta, el lloro por la casa que el no
estaba contento en lo que los enemigos estaban haciendo a mi. El descubrio que ellos
plantaron un U-saeta en mi casa para cualquier otra mujer no tener un nifio para mi. El fue
informado para haber amenazado contar los frijoles. Mi esposa todavia estaba en la casa y
al parecer dijo a todos no permitirme saber sobre el arranque del muchacho. Entretanto, la
mujer y mi madre cenaban. Despues de esto, de aproximadamente 8pm hasta las 1.45am
ellos estaban buscando el U-saeta. Al mismo tiempo el arbol del paraguas estaba siendo
corto abajo. Despues de intentando y no localizando el U-saeta, la mujer vertio ciertas
substancias del cryptical por los cuartos en mi casa, mientras asegurandome que despues
de su depature, yo descubriria el y yo debe conseguir un melon salvaje listo en que yo
debo pegarlo en y lo echa en el tanque septico en los cuartos de los muchachos, desde que
mi esposa probablemente nunca uso alli el retrete.

Mi ch6fer devolvio a la mujer y mi madre a Benin y Oghara la proxima mafiana. El dia

siguiente mi muchacho pequefio fue a la escuela y no devolvio casa. Yo me volvi tan
desquiciado que yo informe su desaparicion a la Estacion Policiaca y el NBC. Estaba
como resultado de los anuncios de la radio incesantes que alguien lo descubrio por el lado
del rio y lo tomo al Y aha Policia Station, de donde el se escolto a mi casa. Despues de
que las escoltas Policiacas habian ido, yo le pregunte por que el se comporto la manera
que el habia hecho y su contestacion era que el quiso devolver a Benin. Dos dias despues
el se tomo a Benin, con la conviccion que yo pagaria sus cuotas escolares al nivel
cualquier de educacion que el aspiro a, que yo hice.

Tres dias despues de que el muchacho dejo para Benin, yo devolvi al St. la Iglesia del
Catolico de Dominic (la Masa Alta) en una mafiana del domingo y persiguio a la cama
tomando mi desayuno. Yo estaba teniendo una siesta cuando yo tenia una aparicion en que
la Sacerdotisa de Akpowa parecia preguntarme por que yo no habia quitado las ropas de
cama en que yo dormi con mi esposa cuando ella instruyo. De hecho, yo me negue a
quemar las ropas de cama deliberadamente porque yo los habia comprado simplemente
durante un viaje a Europa. Despues de ese phantasm, yo invite a los presos en los cuartos
de mis muchachos a ayudarme a quitar las ropas de cama. Yo tenia dos colchones en mi
cama, un algodon y una primavera. Despues de quitar todas las ropas de cama, cuando
nosotros quitamos los dos colchones, alli en la cima del tarpaulin era este U-saeta
misterioso, el tipo de que yo nunca habia visto antes. Yo fui inmediatamente por el melon
salvaje, lo pegue en el y procedi descargarlo en los cuartos de los muchachos el tanque
septico. Quien habria creido esta marca de cuento del hada. Pero paso a mi. Era de ese dia
que mi potencia sexual volvio en serio y yo tenia cinco nifios por cinco mujeres diferentes
entre enero y abril, 1970. Eso era la primera vez que yo vi el alivio en la cara de mi madre
durante los ultimos diez afios.
Una Madre Quintaesencial
 El prologo
Como Aplacar Esu

Antes de dar los detalles adelante c6mo hacer el sacrificio a Esu, es necesario entender algunos
rasgos fundamentales de la divinidad de Mal. Orunmila ya ha establecido indubitablemente
que la existencia de Esu es tan vieja como la existencia de Olodumare. El uno no cre6 el otro
porque la oscuridad no pudiera producir la luz o viceversa. El translucido enclave de que Dios
orden6 la luz para iluminar el nulo, existi6 el passu del pari al mismo tiempo como la
oscuridad del pristino.

Hay un punto que Orunmila no ha clarificado al autor que se subraya por la invocaci6n de Esu
sin embargo. Al suplicarle a Esu que aceptara cualquier ofrenda, la referencia se hace
tradicionalmente a los padres de Esu, su esposa y su amigo. Normalmente, es bastante para
mencionar el nombre de Esu que tres veces y el aceptaran cualquier ofrenda a haciendose
cuando quiera y en cualquier parte a el a diciendo:

E-esugba
E-esugba
E-esugba

Hasta ahora, Orunmila no ha confirmado al autor el genesis de las relaciones llamado y socios
de Esu, a menudo se referido a por los sacerdotes de Ifa tradicionales, al invocar la divinidad
de mal. Estes son: -

1) Agunmana Tidi Erukpe Olodi - como el padre de Esu;

1) Akuru mana nkpa - como su madre;
1) Egba - como su esposa;
4)Ighoroko - Su querido amigo que identifica todos aquellos que hicieron o no
realizaron el sacrifies prescribi6 para ellos a la adivinaci6n a Esu, con el prop6sito de ayudar o
castigarlos,; y
5) Agbirari que entrega todos los sacrificios a Esu.

Orunmila pidi6 que yo revelara todo para el beneficio de posteridad y desencamin6 la

humanidad. De las correcciones.

La invocacion de Esu

Yo estaba informado por el sacerdote tradicional que Orunmila inicialmente el pensamiento

encaj6 para referirseme al la manera tradicional de hacer la ofrenda a Esu es como sigue:

Para alertar Esu para despertarse si el esta dormido, usted empieza en la Uma de Esu usando el
Ifa Staff, Uranke para pegar tres veces a la piedra destacandose.

Esto se sigue rapidamente vertiendo el agua fria de una taza en la uma tres tiempo con las
palabras: -
 Omi Esu
Omi Egba
Omi Ighoroko, Olukesu,

Si la ofrenda esta estando hecho en momento del dia, entre la salida del sol y ocaso, que
los offeror deben el whilstle de nuevo para decir:

Esu Oologbe Egba

Oologbe Ighoroko
Oologbe.

Despues de esto, la encantaci6n siguiente es pronunciada si esta en momento del dia (entre
7am y 7pm)

Agbo Olonono - (3 times) Itaakun

Tere fori laluja - (3 times) Oruko
ton kpe' ejo.
Akuru mana nkpa (3 times)
Oruko ton kpe iya Esu.
Agun mana tidi erukpe olodi (3 times).
Oruko ti ankpe baba Esu

[Despues de esto, toque la piedra en la Uma de Esu 3 veces de tiempos en cada ocasi6n -
Oologbe!

A prop6sito, ese es el unico apodo para Esu que Orunmila le ensefio al autor a proferir
para invitar Esu a aceptar el sacrificio sobre ser ofrecido - sin todo los otros
embellecimientos y afectaciones pero incluyendo finalmente, Esu Tagrigba mientras
murmurando la palabra "O w i w i un" a menos que cualquiera oir que era el nombre
pristino de Esu.

Si la ofrenda esta siendo hecho despues del crepusculo o en la noche, el proceso que sigue
los cambios rituales agua-vertiendo, con el uso de las palabras siguientes,:

Esu Oologbe Egba

Oologbe Ighoroko
Oologbe

Ya no se hace silbando pero por las palabras de boca. Eso explica por que se prohibia
silbar en una casa que contiene Ifa, por la noche, porque a Esu no le gusta la idea de
invitarlo silbando, en la frivolidad y futileza.

El contines ritual agregando:

Oruko ye kpe' Esu Alamu lamu, Alamu lamu bataa -

(3 veces de tiempos ambas manos en cada ocasi6n)
Ofe bata Uja kun barn barn - 3 veces
Oologbe - 3 veces (Orunmila's version)
Esu tagrigba and muttering Owiwia.
Despues de esto, rompa los cuatro haralding de kolanut de pedazo el sacrificio y tira los
cuatro pedazos en la tierra preguntarle a Esu si el sacrificio es aceptable.
Desde que nadie, incluso las divinidades, comparte el kolanuts con Esu, todos los pedazos
del kolanut se salen en la uma. Despues del kolanut rompiendo y tirando la ceremonia, la
comida se ofrece entonces a Esu.

Finalmente, el fin puntiagudo del Personal de Ifa (Uranke) se fija a la tierra mientras
pidiendo a Dios y Sus divinidades, el angel guardian del offeror y antepasados, para
agregar su ASEs para permitir al sacrificio manifestar porque era el propio Dios quien
ensefio a sus divinidades y a las criaturas mortales c6mo sobomar Esu con la comida no
obstruir sus actividades en la vida.

Al final de la ceremonia, el Sacerdote de Ifa oficiando lleva la manera a la uma de

Orunmila con la cancion siguiente: -

Esu, mubo lowo otao, Ebibo bora olode, Ebibo Mububo lowo Odi,
Ebibo bora olode ebibo Mubolowo Iku o,
Ebibo bora olode, Ebibo Mubo lowo Aisan,
Ebibo bora olode, ebibo
Mubo lowo Aje o, Ebibo bora bora olode, ebibo,
Mubo lowo Aje o, Ebibo bora bora olode, ebibo
Mubo lowo Olosho, Ebibo bora olode, ebibo

En conseguir a la uma de Ifa, el sacerdote de Ifa oficiando pide a todos para arrodillarse
incluyendose informar que el sacrificio ha sido hecho y ha pedido Orunmila para
permitirle manifestar. Despues de esto, el dice:

Oode Awo - Eeshi.

Aunque Esu es el creador, arquitecto y generador de todo los males, el no se priva en total
de disposicion benigna. Dios diferente que no necesita ser alimentado por sus criaturas,
Esu exige la comida de aflija a seres organicos creados por Dios. Por eso despues de
crearlos, Dios ensefio a sus divinidades c6mo aplacar la divinidad mala. De hecho,
despues de establecer una relacion con el, Esu tom6 Orunmila una vez en la confianza
diciendole que si la divinidad de sabiduria pudiera darle una parte de cualquier cosa que el
come, el (Esu) siempre seria por su (Orunmila) la esquina para ayudarlo en cualquier cosa
el hizo. Esu puede quitar todos los obstaculos del camino de aquellos que lo alimentaban
regularmente. El puede luchar todas las batallas para, y facilita el pasaje a traves de la vida
de aquellos que reconocen y lo alimentaban. Permitanos ahora examinar c6mo esta
amplitud ambivalente de Esu, ser amable y hostil, se ha manifestado a traves del pasaje de
tiempo.

El Concurso para la Antigiiedad Entre las Divinidades de Dios y Esu

Se revocara que Dios creo la tierra como un nuevo experimento en un universo malolibre
despues de que Esu habia demostrado en el divinosphere y cielo que las criaturas divinas
no pudieran disfrutar inmunidad de sus maquinaciones disociadoras. Como ya revelo, a
proposito, cuando los divinties estaban llegando en la tierra, ellos se encontraron Esu que
espera por ellos encima de una piedra dentro del oceano.
En cuanto Dios comprendiera que Esu habia apropiado sus planes para el mundo, el el
despatched Orisa-Nla para ya unir las 200 divinidades en la tierra, como su substituto
personal. La llegada de Orisa-Nla al mundo marco el principio de otro conflicto entre las
divinidades adelante quien seria reconocido como el mas mayor de ellos todos. Aunque
Orisa-Nla fue dotado por Dios para ocupar la silla a las reuniones terrenales de las
divinidades que no lo confirmaron automaticamente como ser superior a sus colegas desde
que el era la ultima de las divinidades ser creado.

A la primera reumon presidida por Orisa-Nla, ellos se resolvieron la disputa de antiguedad

declarando ese principio con la divinidad de la silla, cada uno de ellos debe tirar una fiesta
para todos los otros a cada reunion y que se reconoceria el primero en tener exito
organizando una fiesta como el primus entierre corta.

En cuanto la decision fuera aclamada, Esu aparecia en su medio para levantar un punto de
objecion. El los desafio por atreverse a defender sobre la antigiiedad sin diferir primero a
el. Cuando ellos lo acallaron abajo recordandolo que el no era ninguno de ellos y por
consiguiente no tenia ningun standi del sitio al concilio divino, el contesto que el quiso
darles la oportunidad de apreciar el aforismo meramente que primero esta a tiempo
primero en la ley. Esu procedio no explicar eso Dios igual entonces que su creador podria
exigir ser mayor a el. Ellos retorcieron insistiendo que ellos estaban discutiendo la
antigiiedad entre las crear-divinidades de Dios y que a menos que el quiso considerarse
como la propia criatura de Dios, el debe dejarlos solo continuar con sus deliberaciones.

Antes de tomar licencia de ellos, Esu dijo a las divinidades que la antigiiedad ellos estaban
disputando se resuelto en una competicion para la supremacia y por consiguiente el estaba
exigiendo el derecho para empezar el festejando desde que el los precedio llegando en la
tierra. Cuando pidieron en el futuro que el se perdiera, el los advirtio que ninguno de ellos
iba a tener exito tirando una fiesta a traves de sin permitirle ser el primero en tirar uno.

Cinco dias despues, Orisa-Nla preparo una fiesta detallada repleto con la comida
suficiente y bebidas. Como el presidente del Concilio, Orisa-Nla tenia que decir las
oraciones de la apertura con la ruptura de kola-chiflado. Ningun mas pronto hizo el el
refran de la salida las oraciones que los chillidos y chillidos bramaron de la direccion del
haren de Orisa-Nla. Esu ha pestafieado sus ojos esotericamente a dos de los nifios
pequefios de Orisa-Nla que instantaneamente les hicieron desarrollar la convulsion. Antes
de cualquiera podria localizarlos, ellos los dos se murieron. El evento triste abruptamente
hecho la fiesta un non-evento.

Las mismas fatalidades se repitieron como consecuencia a las fiestas intentadas

preparadas por todas las otras divinidades hasta que viniera el el giro de Orunmila. Obviar
el riesgo de perder a sus nifios a la fiesta, Orunmila consulto lfa para las direcciones. Le
aconsejaron que sirviera Esu con un macho cabrio y las imageries de arcilla de un conejo y
un lagarto, y un pedazo de laton, El hizo el sacrificio despues de que el procedio poner en
orden para su fiesta con el desaliento del abajo-golpe, mientras no sabiendo que esperar.

En el dia de su fiesta, en cuanto Orisa-Nla estuviera rompiendo el kolanuts con las

oraciones, un el grito comico se tuvo noticias de la direccion del traspatio de Orunmila.
Se asombraron miembros de su casa para encontrar un conejo vivo y el lagarto vivo
ambos pigmentacion de laton teniendo, mientras luchando en el vertedero de la basura a la
parte de atras de su casa. Los lamentos de entretenimiento y desconcierto atrajeron las
divinidades para mirar los anteojoses extrai'ios. Despues de mirar el conejo de laton y
lagarto que lucha para lo que duro aproximadamente una hora, las divinidades solo
devolvieron a la mesa de la fiesta para descubrir que las aves, patos y otros animales
domesticos domesticos se habian ayudado a la comida. Una vez mas, la fiesta resulto a un
non-evento, pero Orunmila no perdio una alma humana a causa del sacrificio que el habia
hecho.

Ese era el punto a que las divinidades comprendieron el inexorability de la proclamacion

de Esu como resultado de que ellos lo invitaron aunque tardiamente, y despues del
tremendo costo en las vidas humanas, para empezar la fiesta. Es esa fiesta hecha por Esu
que todas las divinidades y sus sirvientes humanos, pague hasta el momenta en el
formulario de sacrificios a Esu que confirmo su superioridad encima de todas las
divinidades creo por Dios.

El evento tambien explica por que Esu es el unico receipient sentido unico de sacrificio
sin reciprocar o requitting. El recibe el sacrificio de todos y varios sin la obligacion para
hacer el sacrificio a cualquiera que le hace secundus del nulli.

Lejos de ser por consiguiente una divinidad totalmente malevola, Esu puede ser benefico
a, y a favor de, aquellos que tienen el buen sentido para apreciar su importancia
ofreciendo el sacrificio a el. Yo ilustrare esta trivialidad ahora con la experiencia del
elefante y la tortuga en la una mano y el bufalo y sapo adelante el otro.

La Disputa de la Tierra Entre el Elefante y la Tortuga

Habia un pedazo de tierra de la granja en el cielo la propiedad de que estaba disputandose

entre el elefante poderoso y la tortuga mansa. Los dos de ellos estaban defendiendo que la
tierra pertenecio a ellos por la herencia de sus padres. Cuando la disputa asumio que la
crisis proporciona, Dios invito el concilio divino a intervenir.

El concilio invito el elefante y la tortuga como consecuencia a indicar el hito fisico o rasgo
que ejemplifica su titulo confesado a la tierra disputada. Ellos se dieron catorce dias dentro
de que para venir con sus atestaciones. El elefante que fue convencido que la tortuga
inocua no resistio ninguna oportunidad con el, fue a la tierra y establecio sus pie-
impresion por el como la prueba que la tierra pertenecio a el. En su parte, la tortuga fue a
Orunmila por adivinacion a que le dijeron que sirviera Esu con un macho cabrio y plently
de frijoles crudos. La tortuga hizo los sacrfice inmediatamente.

Disfrutando el sacrificio hecho a el Esu persiguio con un equipo de obreros para cubrir a
todos los pie-marca del elefante, y planto los frijoles por la tierra. Dentro de un palmo de
tres dias, los frijoles habian germinado y habian crecido en una granja espesa de frijoles.

En el dia designado, ambos oponentes aparecian a la reunion del concilio divino. Una vez
mas, ellos eran que los dos pidieron establecer su titulo a la tierra. El elefante reiterated
que la tierra estaba abrumada con los pie-marca de su padre tarde y el. Sin
embargo, el angel guardian de la tortuga, mientras actuando como su abogado, observo los
pie-marca del elefante eran inminentes en otro los estiramientos del arbusto.

En su parte, la tortuga afirmo que sus padres y el plantaban el frijol en la tierras de labrantio
todos los afios, y agrego que los verificadores verian que habia una vegetacion del frijol lleno-
soplada a tiempo en el a ese punto. En esa nota, el despatched del concilio divino un equipo de
policia-hombres celestiales para verificar las verificaciones de los dos litigantes.

Cuando los verificadores consiguieron a la tierra, ellos vieron ningun rastro de los piemarca
del elefante. En el contraste, ellos vieron que era completamente cubierto a con plantas del
frijol que ya eran las frutas productivas. Siguiendo el informe de sus resultados al concilio
divino, el ultimo declaro que la tierra pertenecio de verdad a la tortuga. Esu habia intervenido
favorablemente en el lado del que hizo el sacrificio a el.

La Raza Entre el Sapo y el Bufalo

La decision de Dios siguiente que el Leon era ser el rey de todos los animales cuadrupedos,
habia una conferencia subsecuente a ponga las reglas molidas por asegurar la armonia y ama
entre ellos. La reunion habia recogido antes de que ellos comprendieran que ellos necesitaron
la pluma de un loro rojo para el presidente llevar en su cabeza como un ensignia de autoridad.
Para establecer su supremacia, el leon llamo en el bufalo que al instante objeto a la instruccion
de burla del leon, mientras preguntandose por que el no envio los cuadrupedos mas pequefios
como el sapo. El sapo no perdio tiempo tomando la sombra a los comentarios irreverentes del
Bufalo. El agrego tanto cuando el comprendio que el moveria mas rapidamente que el bufalo
encima de-pesado, el ultimo tenia ningun correcto para desafiar la autoridad de su Dios el lider
escogido. El leon persuadio el sapo sin embargo para ir a sacar la pluma de un loro rojo
rapidamente,

Desde que el Sapo estaba familiarizado con la fuente del arbusto donde una bandada de loros
fue bafiarse y beber el agua diariamente, el golpeo rapidamente fuera de a la mancha donde el
encontro las plumas del loro rojas suficientes. En una materia de minutos, el pudo volverse a
con tres plumas, mientras guardando el resto para su propio uso siempre que la necesidad se
levantara. La alacridad y agilidad con que el Sapo produjo las plumas del loro lo ganaron la
apreciacion de todos los animales excepto el bufalo que instintivamente desafio el sapo a una
raza. Despues de algun argumento acalorado, estaba resuelto que los dos de ellos serian
preparados para una raza en nueve tiempo de los dias.

El Sapo de que no descubrio el secreto como el el procurred las plumas del loro, era un poco
mas circunspecto en que oportunidad que el resistio ganando una raza con el bufalo rapido-
mudanza. En recibir casa de la reunion, el corrio rapidamente a Orunmila para adivinacion a
que le aconsejaron que sirviera Esu con una rata, un pez y la pluma de un loro rojo. El hizo el
sacrificio sin el retraso.

Tres dias despues del sacrificio, Esu transfigure en un caballero anfibio de la grial celestial y
visito el sapo en su morada aconsejarlo adelante como preparar para el concurso a-proximo
con el bufalo. El pregunto al sapo cuantos nifios el tenia y el descubrio que el tenia diez. El
caballero dio las plumas de doce loro rojo al sapo y lo
aconsej6 que en la noche de la vispera del concurso, el era alinear a sus diez nifios a lo
largo de la ruta de la raza, con cada uno de ellos sosteniendo la pluma de un loro rojo en
su boca. No hay ninguna diferencia notable subsecuentemente entre un sapo y el otro, el
sapo y su esposa tambien eran llevar la pluma de un loro en sus bocas. Su esposa era
empezar la raza con el bufalo mientras el era ocultarse a una mancha simplemente antes de
la linea acabada de la raza.

En cuanto la raza empezara entre la esposa del sapo y el bufalo, ella era devolver casa y en
los intervalos regulares, los nifios que ya estaban rayado a delante del bufalo estaban
Hamar en el animal gigante para darse prisa en cuanto el se acercara donde ellos estaban
esperando. El Sapo agradeci6 al Caballero para su consejo y el visitante se march6. Antes
del dia del concurso, el Sapo y su familia se habia posicionado a lo largo del estiramiento
entero de la ruta de la raza, con cada uno de ellos sosteniendo la pluma de un loro rojo en
su boca.

En cuanto la raza empezara, el Bufalo se pasm6 pronto a ya que el Sapo siempre estaba
delante de el. Eso hizo el anterior correr tan rapido como sus piemas y strenght pudieran
permitirse el lujo de, hasta que el se enervara completamente. Al ultimo estiramiento antes
de la linea acabada, el Bufalo que fue agotado ahora completamente se cay6 a la tierra, el
muerto. Ese era el punto a que su desafiador anunci6 su llegada a la linea acabada.

Hay ninguna otra manera discernible de servir Esu exceptue de vez en cuando ofreciendo
la comida a el. Su sacrificio favorito es el macho cabrio o el gallo y de vez en cuando,
camero. Si uno esta emprendiendo un proyecto mayor, de viaje o yendo por un concurso,
incluso sin ir por la adivinaci6n, es suficiente ofrecer el akara, (los bollos del frijol) el eko
(la gachas de maiz) la came de camero y pesca, a Esu para solicitar su apoyo. En lugares
d6nde estos materiales no estan disponibles, es bastante para ofrecer pan, pastel,
bizcochos, maiz frito, cacahuetes y frutas locales. La ofrenda puede hacerse en cualquier
parte fuera de la casa llamando en Esu en el nombre de Agbirari tres veces antes de
depositarlo, con las palabras,; Esu gba, Esu gba.

Tradicionalmente, todos aquellos que han sido comenzados totalmente en Ifism se exigen
repartir de comida cualquier con suerte ellos comen, a Esu. Eso esta de acuerdo con el
concordato alcanzado al principio de tiempo entre Esu y Orunmila, cuando el ultimo
prometi6 estar enviando una porci6n de cualquier cosa el come, al anterior. Cuando
cualquier sacrificio esta ofreciendose por consiguiente a Orunmila, una porci6n de else
envia primero a Esu antes de cualquiera come fuera de el. Las tales ofrendas son
diferentes de los sacrificios formales a Esu, porque aunque todos y varios se exige hacer el
sacrificio a el, ni no le obligan a que sirva, ni para hacer el sacrificio a cualquiera, revele la
sola porci6n de los sacrificios hechos a el con nadie mas. Por eso Esu es el secundus del
nulli por lo que se refiere a la importancia como el destinatario de ofrendas sacrificatorias.
 Capitulo 1
OGUNDA-OGBE
OGUNDA-ASI-ORIRE
OGUNDA-OBORI-OGBE
OGUNDA-SER-EDE-OLE

El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Arbol de la Palma

Lisa Liso, babalawo Okpe, odifa fun okpe, abufun lfatoun ni jo

ti awon mejeji fi omi oju shubere omo tuutu tu

Lisa Liso era el sacerdote de lfa que la adivinacion hecho para el arbol de la palma y una
mujer Hamada Ifatoun, cuando cada uno de ellos estaba desesperadamente ansioso tener
un nifio. El lfa que aparecia para ellos era Ogunda-asi-ori-re. Los dos de ellos fueron
aconsejados para hacer el sacrificio a Ogun con un perro, calabaza y campanilla tener los
nifios, pero tambien para servir Esu con el macho cabrio, machete, trepador de arbol de
palma y palmadita-cuchillo ( el ite en Yoruba y oya en Bini) es decir, el instrumento uso
ahora por taladrar el vino de la palma, para que los enemigos no puedan dafiar a ellos y
sus nifios.

El arbol de la palma hizo el primer sacrificio para tener los nifios, pero se neg6 a hacer el
segundo uno en la tierra que su belleza cautivando y la altura muy alta sea suficiente
detener a cualquier enemigo probable de atreversela. Ademas, ella confio en sus cosas
proteccionista (las espinas) para protegerla de cualquier agresor.

En su parte, Ifatoun hizo los dos sacrificios despues de que le dijeron que su primer nifio
seria un muchacho pero un problema-disparador (Onijogbon en el yoruba y Agberangbiri
en Bini). Pronto despues, ella se puso embarazada y en la llenura de tiempo, dio el
nacimiento a un nifio masculino.

Por otro lado, la palma no tenia ningun problema teniendo los nifios, pero a causa del
segundo sacrificio ella se neg6 a hacer, Esu paso para alertar a los animales, pajaros y
seres humanos que los nifios produjeron por el arbol de la palma podria usarse para una
variedad de prop6sitos. El dijo la humanidad que aparte de cocinar a sus nifios
directamente para la comida, ellos podrian aplastarse tambien para producir el aceite de la
palma, mientras la barcia que permanece despues de apretar fuera el aceite, podria usarse
como el combustible por encender el fuego. Ademas eso, Esu les dijo a seres humanos que
podrian comerse las semillas o granos como la comida o producian el aceite del grano
para el uso como el pomade por poner cremoso las pieles secas. La revelacion premiando
hizo tripular por Esu, era que despues de cortar sus bustos encantando, el jugo que fluye
fuera de ellos era en la vida uno de los licores mas estimulantes conocido.

Para experimentar adelante el consejo de Esu, el hombre uso al trepador con que ella no
hizo el sacrificio, para alcanzar la altura a que ella sostuvo a sus nifios (la palma
fructifica). Cuando ella vio un alpinismo del hombre a a ella, ella regocij6
momentaneamente, mientras diciendo que a pesar de las predicciones de Orunmila, un
aspirante estaba viniendo a cazarla por fin. Contrariamente a su expectativa, sin embargo, en
conseguir a su pecho, el hombre uso el machete ( con que ella no hizo el sacrificio) para cortar
todas sus cosas proteccionista (la palma espinosa echa ramas ). Despues de aclarar la manera a
su pecho, el hombre us6 el machete para cortar el haz que une a sus nifios y el manojo de ellos
se cay6 a la tierra. Como si el berefting ella de todos sus nifios no era bastante, el hombre
corto apagado de sus pechos y us6 el palmadita-cuchillo a aburra un agujero en su pecho y una
cafieria al embudo el liquido que fluye de el en una calabaza ( con que ella tambien no hizo el
sacrificio ). Como su sangre estaba dejando caer en la calabaza, ella recordo las palabras de su
diviner y empez6 a llorar "Lisa Liso, Lisa Liso" que es el sonido que sale de vino de la palma
que deja caer en un recipiente, calabaza o botella, y que era el nombre del Awo que le
aconsej6 que hiciera el segundo sacrificio.

En su parte, lfatoun dio el nacimiento a un nifio masculino que crecio para ser muy
bribonesco. El nombre dado a el era Igara y el tomo a cultivar. El era el granjero que Esu
instigo para atacar el arbol de la palma bonito. El era que el primer hombre para usar la palma
fructifica producir el aceite y taladrar el vino de la palma de ella.

Cuando este lfa aparece a Ugbodu, la persona se aconsejara para hacer el sacrificio al nuevo
lfa con una gallina y cinco fiames ataron juntas, y servir Esu con un macho cabrio, trepador de
arbol de palma, calabaza y palmadita-cuchillo, obviar el peligro de perder a sus nifios a los
enemigos y apartar el riesgo de un ataque del machete y la enfermedad de anemia. A la
adivinaci6n, la persona debe aconsejarse al saque del machete; Ogun con un gallo, lfa con una
gallina y cinco tuberculos de fiame, y Esu con un macho cabrio, para prevenir el peligro de
nifios perdedores y un ataque por merodeadores. La persona daria el nacimiento a un nifio
bribonesco masculino que debe ser dado su propio lfa para permitirle que curar las tormentas
de vida en la tierra.

La adivinacion para Dos Hermanos - Ogunda y Ogbe

Oto-to-to-to ni mo kpe Ifa mi.

Oro-ro-ro-ro ni mo kpe lfa mi,
Oto-to ni nje ekpa.
Oto-to ni a nje emu mi
I'n to re-to-re-o-to-re-to-o-re Ni a
nfun Oba mokin ni ode Iranje Ki
olefi nkan ti o to-to-o-re, to-o-re-ta
eni ni ore.

Estos fueron los cinco Awos que la adivinacion hecho para Ese-kan-Ogunda cuando el iba a
ocultar su hermano Ogbe con una olla en el arbusto prevenirlo de matarse. Le aconsejaron que
hiciera el sacrificio con un tuberculo salvaje llamado Abirishoko en el yoruba y olikhoro en
Bini, una olla gigante y un macho cabrio, Sin saber que Ogbe estaba contestando la Hamada
de naturaleza en el arbusto, Ese-kan-Ogunda fue dicho tomar el sacrificio al arbusto, poniendo
la olla en su cabeza e inclinando para permitirle caerse a al reves el molido detras de el.

Cuando el consiguio al arbusto, Ogunda inclino su cuello al reves y permitio la olla para dejar
caer boca abajo a la tierra. Desconocido a el, la olla cubrio Ogbe que intento
recibir fuera de la olla sin exito realmente. Al mismo tiempo, Esu sujeto la olla tan firmemente
que que habia nada que Ogbe podria hacer para recibir fuera de el. Esu lo cubrio firmemente a
en la tierra porque la Muerte habia estado buscando Ogbe para matarlo y tomarlo al cielo.
Despues de parecer para el en vano, la Muerte dejo su busqueda y fue a capturar a alguien
mas.

Como consecuencia, los dos hermanos vmieron a comprender como el sacrificio protegio
Ogbe de matarse por la Muerte y ellos los dos canto en la alabanza del Awos que la
adivinacion hecho y sacrifica para ellos.

Cuando aparece a adivinacion que la persona se aconsejara para hacer el rmsmo sacrificio para
frustrar las invenciones morbidas de sus enemigos.

La Adivinacion para los Miembros de la Casa de Odio

Kete ti eni di aiye ni eni ni aje. Okete gun

on Ebe fono nomu, Adifa won la akoko
yegele ni He Odio.

El momento que una persona nace a las marcas mundiales el principio de su fortuna. Ese era el
Awo que la adivinacion hecho para los miembros de la casa de Odio. Les aconsejaron que
hicieran el sacrificio con una rata, y servir sus cabezas con el fiame golpeado y sopa
prepararon con el pez secado. Ellos hicieron el sacrificio y empezaron a disfrutar despues de
esto la vida, y canto en la alabanza del A wo que el divined para ellos.

Su Experiencia con las Personas de If e

Legbe Legbe eye, Legbe Legbe eye - fue los dos Awos que la adivinacion hecho para Ogunda-
asi-Orire al venir del cielo. Le aconsejaron hacer el sacrificio con una cabra a su angel
guardian, el macho cabrio a Esu, y para hacer una fiesta con las ratas, pesque, fiame cocinado,
maiz asado, y chufas a los animales del bosque, debido al tiempo duro el iba a tener antes de
que la prosperidad viniera a el en la tierra. El hizo el sacrificio y salio a Ife donde el se hizo un
sacerdote de Ifa habil y popular. El se puso tan prospero que el tenia muchas esposas y nifios.
Su exito genero la enemistad sin embargo por el, tanto que sus nifios empezaron a morirse el
nacimiento poco despues, como resultado de la maquinacion de brujas.

El se persiguio por los problemas de] pilar para anunciar que le hizo volverse totalmente
desilusionado. En el futuro, el se manejo fisicamente por la noche fuera de su casa y el tomo el
refugio en una cueva que fue conocida para ser casa a las bestias salvajes gusta los leones,
tigres, pitones, hienas y leopardos. Paradogicamente, los animales estaban bastante contentos
recibirlo como su invitado. Todas las mananas, el pasaba el pueblo para hacer la adivinacion y
sacrificar para las personas como resultado de que el devolvio a menudo casa con came
suficiente que el compartio con los animales.

Despues de vivir en la cueva para la parte buena de un afio, Ife estaba herido con el farmine,
trago, destitucion, suspension y toda la manera de aflicciones calamitosas. No habia lluvia
durante el afio entero, la cosecha fallo tristemente, varios hombres se volvieron las mujeres
impotentes, embarazadas tenian los abortos, las personas de Ife
dejadas de pagar cualquier homenaje al Olofin y muerte estaban pillando el pueblo
indiscrimately del lation.

Cuando las personas empezaron a decir que la adversidad que los engolf6 era una funcion
y de hecho una reflexion, de la duro-suerte del Oba reinando, habia rumores de
levantamiento popular inminente para exigir su destierro. Las incertidumbres culminaron
en el Olofin que invita su concilio de jefes a convocar a los sacerdotes divinos, sacerdotes
de Ifa y videntes para averiguar la causa de la catastrofe y proponer las soluciones. Todos
los diviners invitados para la adivinacion eran unanimes profesando que los problemas se
levantaron coma resultado del sacerdote de Ifa que ellos persiguieron en el bosque, y que
el concilio divino estaba tan irritado sabre el que ellos invitaron Esu a visitar su ira en Ife.
Los diviners declararon que las dificultades solo acabarian si ellos buscaron el paradero
del hombre y lo persuadieron devolver a su familia en If e.

Los diviners recomendaron que deban despacharse los hombres jovenes robustos del
pueblo en los bosques para cazar para los animales con que para hacer el sacrificio para el
pueblo entero. Los hombres jovenes fueron cazar para los conejos, liebres, ardillas, ratas,
cesped-cortadores y seto vivo*-cerdos para el sacrificio. Despues de que ellos habian
vagado el bosque en vano para los animales pequefios, ellos se encontraron con una cueva
grande y decidieron descansar a lo que se parecia su entrada. Despues de comer alguna
comida el hombre joven pegar la cueva tan energicamente empezaron que la vibracion
agito Orunmila debajo. Orunmila reacciono con una encantacion en el dialecto de Ifa
coma sigue: -

El grito "ORAA'' - que los hombres jovenes no entendieron.

Si ellos supieran lo que significo, ellos,
habria contestado con "ARAJE" coma
la llave apropiada.

Cuando no habia ninguna contestacion, el continuo "IGE WOMI" que los hombres
jovenes no entendieron de nuevo, para que no ellos deben de haber contestado con la Have
de "KUE - 'RUBO-ORA. " Cuando el no recibio ninguna contestacion, el revirtio coma
consecuencia al dialecto de Ife literario preguntando quien era que eso golpeo la piedra y
ellos contestaron que ellos eran los hombres jovenes de Otu-lfe.

Despues de esto, el pregunto lo que su mision era, y ellos contestaron que les enviaron por
los superiores para sacar los animales pequefios del bosque para el sacrificio. El retorcio
profesando que si ellos mataran cualquier animal pequefio en el bosque, todos los
hombres jovenes restantes de Otu-lfe se moririan antes de que ellos llegaran a casa. No
sabiendo la implicacion de eso profetizan, los hombres jovenes hicieron sabre su negocio
y coma consecuencia tuvieron exito matando varios animales pequefios. Ellos estaban tan
contentos haber tenido exito en su encuentro, pero se puso desalentado cuando ellos
consiguieron casa para ver a todos los adolescentes masculinos en el pueblo se habian
muerto y alli habian estado llorando y lamentandose en cada casa de Ife. Siguiendo ese
desarrollo calamitoso, los superiores decidieron que era el hacienda vano el sacrificio.
Ellos decidieron hacer una segunda adivinacion.

Despues de la adivinacion, se recomendo que deben mandarse los adultos robustos de Ife
para sacar los animales medianos del bosque para un sacrificio pueblo-ancho. Los
hombres consiguieron juntos y salieron con las armas, las lanzas, las inclinaciones y
envenen6 las flechas para el bosque sin cualquier retraso. Una vez mas detras de recorrer
el bosque durante mucho tiempo, ellos vinieron a la cueva y se sentaban comer y
descansar. Cuando los adultos terminaron comiendo, ellos pegaron la piedra de nuevo y
una vez mas el el judered tan violentamente ese Orunmila tenia que repetir las mismas
encantaciones.

Cuando el grit6 "ORAA'', los adultos contestaron "ARAJE". Cuando el pronunci6 "IGE
WOMI", ellos contestaron "KUE'RUBO ORA". El lo sigui6 a con "IBO OHO" pero los
adultos no sepa la llave a esas palabras.

Cuando Orunmila pregunt6 que quien ellos eran, ellos contestaron que ellos eran los
adultos robustos de Otu-lfe. En la contestaci6n a la pr6xima pregunta de lo que ellos
estaban haciendo en el bosque, ellos explicaron que ellos estaban en el bosque cazar para
los animales medianos para el sacrificio en el pueblo. Una vez mas, el les dijo que ellos
encontrarian cerdos, deers, antilopes y cabras del arbusto, pero que si ellos mataran
cualquiera de ellos, todos los adultos masculinos restantes en Ife se moririan antes de que
ellos devolvieran casa. Desgraciadamente ellos no podrian comprender la importancia del
presentimiento porque ellos pusieron sobre el negocio de matar estos animales y
devolvieron casa con sus juegos con un sentimiento de logro. A su desmayo absoluto,
ellos consiguieron a casa encontrarse a las personas que claman sus ojos porque todos los
adultos de Ife se habian muerto. Una vez mas, el sacrificio era abandonado.

En el estado resultante de confussion absoluto, ellos hicieron otra adivinaci6n que

aconsej6 todavia que los superiores de Ife deben ir al bosque para sacar los animales
encima de-viejos para el sacrificio. Ellos dejaron como consecuencia para el bosque con
sus instrumentos de la caza. Una vez mas ellos vieron la cueva misteriosa y detuvieron a
su base para descansar. Cuando ellos pegaron la cueva de nuevo, agit6 Orunmila y el
empez6 los incantational dialogan diciendo "ORAA'' y ellos contestaron con "ARAJE".
En ese momento Orunmila estaba haciendo una fiesta como resultado de que todos sus
presos en la cueva habian sido el agua atractiva para la ceremonia. Por esa raz6n, habia ya
agua suficiente en la cueva. Cuando el pr6ximos "IGE WOMI", ellos contestaron el "KUE
ERUBO ORA". El sigui6 eso con "IBO OHO" y ellos contestaron el "AA OFIN".
Finalmente, el dijo que "OOTIGBEJI" y ellos contestaron con "OOLUMO". Cuando el
pregunt6 quien ellos eran y lo que su misi6n era, ellos contestaron que ellos estaban fuera
los superiores de Ife en el bosque en busca de los animales grandes para el sacrificio en
casa. El les dijo que ellos se encontrarian con los elefantes, los gorilas, los bufalos, las
pitones, pero que si ellos mataran cualquiera de ellos, todos los superiores restantes en Ife
se moririan antes de que ellos consiguieran casa. Eso era c6mo los superiores descubrieron
lo que habia vaciado la poblaci6n de Ife tan desoladamente. Ellos dejaron su expedici6n
de la caza al instante y decidieron sondear al ocupante mortifero de la cueva. Ellos
coleccionaron las hojas secadas suficientes del bosque y los llenaron en la cueva despues
de que ellos lo pusieron ardiendo. Cuando el fuego estaba ardiendo, Orunmila estaba en el
punto de su ritual cuando el estaba entrando a raudales el agua en la uma de la divinidad
de la tierra ( el Oropendola) de quien fiesta que el estaba haciendo. A ese punto, el dijo:

Legbe Legbe eye, Legbe Legbe eye,

Oda omo le ufe, olu agba ufe,
 Oma domi boo, kpere gun ese
Domi boo, kpere gun ese.

El no era consciente de lo que estaba pasando fuera de la cueva, pero el agua que el estaba
entrando a raudales en la uma estaba atravesando la entrada de la cueva y estaba
extinguiendo el infiemo llameante inadvertidamente. Cuando el complete el agua que
vierte la ceremonia, el decidio venir fuera de la cueva para ver como lejano el agua fluyo,
El salio para ver un humo pesado que rezuma fuera de la cueva y el empezo a preguntarse
que estaba intentando asarlo vivo dentro de la cueva. Al mismo tiempo los superiores de
Ife que se habia ocultado entretanto estaban surgiendo para averiguar si el fuego habia
matado el demonio diab6lico de la cueva.

Cuando ellos consiguieron a la boca de la cueva, ellos vieron Orunmila y por la accion del
reflejo, todos ellos siguieron sus rodillas para cantar su alabanza. Ellos dijeron que ellos
nunca supieron que el fue el uno en la cueva, porque ellos habian estado buscandolo
durante mucho tiempo. Ellos le dijeron que el pueblo de Ife estaba casi desolado y que
ellos habian estado intentando hacer el sacrificio para procurar su retomo a su casa, las
personas y familia, y para ayudarles a rescatar el pueblo de la destruccion total. En la
contestacion, el los recordo que el se persiguio fuera del pueblo y ellos igualan lo seguido
a la cueva donde el tomo el refugio. Ellos todos le pidieron perdonar y olvidarse. El les
dijo que si ellos quisieran que el devolviera casa, ellos deben traer una cabra, una gallina,
una rata, un pez, un bulto de tuberculos del name y una calabaza de aceite.

Los superiores dejaron su expedicion de la caza y la casa vuelta para traer los materiales
exigidos por Orunmila. Despues de recibir los materiales, el los aseguro que el devolveria
casa en siete dias cronometre y que ante entonces el usar los materiales para ofrecer una
fiesta de la accion de gracias a los organizadores que le dieron hospitalidad durante su
destierro iba. El uso los materiales como consecuencia para festejar los animales de la
cueva. Esa cueva se ha vuelto una uma subsecuentemente donde las personas de saque de
Ife Ifa anualmente, despues de que Orunmila lo nombro ODU, despues del nombre de su
madre. En su retomo a Ife, todas las tribulaciones se acabaron y paz y la prosperidad
devolvio al pueblo. Esa cueva es donde la ceremonia de la iniciacion en IFISM se hace en
Ife.

La adivinacion Constituy6 Orunmila Cuando El estaba Recorriendo para IFISM:

Inu ni gbe inu, abe ni kijeni. Eyanmu yanmu egberu ku oda,

Inajenijeni, Ujaje eniyanje eniyan. Anna kpaa. Anna kpaa A
i ri uya kpaa. Adiye ote tina nbo, ofi earn ni ale kuye kuye.
Iferi fe Ogun oh oroke. Ofan oye ude feere fe.
Adifa fun Omnmila baba shawo lo si ono jinjin gbon gbon gbon.
lo'de ibile re.

Esos eran los Awos que la adivinacion hecho para Orunmila cuando le aconsejaron
durante su gira para devolver a su casa hereditaria para hacer el sacrificio. El estaba en ese
momento muy pobre, mientras teniendo solo solo volvio del destierro. Le dijeron que
diem un macho cabrio a Esu antes de ir a su pueblo de la casa, y para agregar el machete
el heredo de su padre. El tambien era servir Ifa con el pez seco rodado, akara, eko, frijoles
y una boa, y servir su cabeza con un kolanut del unsplit fructifican ( el aila
del odidi-obi en el yoruba y Ohia-evbee en Bini). El era servir a su padre tarde con una cabra
en su pueblo de la casa.

El hizo todos los sacrificios pero se neg6 a partir con su machete. Su esposa que conoci6 que
la prosperidad seria el resultado del sacrificio, acord6 robar el machete de d6nde el lo guard6,
y lo dio al Awos para el sacrificio. Por otro lado, el no podria encontrar un kolanut del unsplit
fructifican para servir su cabeza, ni la Boa para su Ifa. Cuando el descubri6 despues que su
esposa habia partido con el unico machete que el tenia, el la tenia completamente pegado por
partir con su posesi6n que no tiene precio.

La mafiana siguiente que el sali6 con su esposa para la tierra de su nacimiento, desde que el no
tenia ningun otro machete el unico instrumento que el viaj6 con era su Uranke - el personal de
adivinaci6n, agregando el remanente de los eko y frijoles con que el sirvi6 su lfa. Como ellos
iba, su esposa buscaba y vio un solo kolanut fructificar encima del arbol del kola y atrajo su
atenci6n a el. En lugar de felicitar a su esposa para su vigilancia, el chasque6 a ella,
preguntando lo que el iba a usar para tirar, los kolanut fructifican cuando ella ya habia partido
con su unico machete. La esposa le dijo que no preocupara en el enojo, porque el kolanut se
requiri6 por servir su cabeza y no su propio. Sin embargo, en la desesperaci6n, el tir6 su
Uranke al kolanut fructifique y desde que ya estaba maduro, se cayo a la tierra en cuanto los
uranke impactaran en el. Era la unica fruta salida a la cima del arbol,

Cuando el movi6 para recoger la fruta del kolanut que el fue asustado para ver que se cay6 en
una boa que estaba descansando en la tierra. Una vez mas, el se volvi6 preguntar a su esposa
por distribuir con su machete alrededor porque no habia ningun instrumento con que para
matar la boa. La esposa retorci6 que el era a libertad para dejar la serpiente solo desde que el
no pudiera pensar en cualquier improvisaci6n sin su mucho acarici6 el machete. De nuevo, ella
lo record6 que la boa se requiri6 por servir a su angel guardian y no su propio. El le dijo que
soltara la bolsa en esa fase, ella estaba continuando su cabeza y el rod6 la serpiente viva en el,
mientras el ligamiento la boca de la bolsa. Despues del ligamiento la boca de la bolsa, el le dio
una vez mas a la esposa llevar.

Entretanto, ellos estaban acercandose un ningun-vaya bosque que fue conocido para ser la base
operacional de tres bandoleros armados. Uno de los bandoleros vivi6 en la Dificultad (ahora
Dificultad-Ekiti), el otro vivi6 en Ijero mientras el tercio vivi6 en Mara. Ellos se habian
encontrado el mismo Awos antes que el divined para Orunmila y ellos les aconsejaron que
sirvieran Esu con los machos cabrio apartar el riesgo de aprehender a una victima muy mas
fuerte que ellos, quien los mataria. Ellos se sentian para que insult6 por la predicci6n del Awos
que ellos totalmente negado a para hacer el sacrificio desde que ellos no pudieran imaginar
c6mo cualquier victima pudiera desafiar los poderes de los tres de ellos.

Como Orunmila y su esposa estaba atravesando el mucho los dreaded bandoleroinfestaron el

bosque, ellos se abordaron por los tres bandoleros. Ellos aprehendieron Akpetebi a causa de la
bolsa que ella estaba llevando. Cuando ellos estaban llevandosela, Orunmila intent6 seguirlos,
pero ellos le ordenaron que desapareciera si el no deseara ser matado. Desde que el era
totalmente indefenso, el fue a esconder detras de un arbol grande. Preguntado lo que ella
estaba llevando, la esposa de Orunmila les dijo ella estaba llevando la comida que ellos
quisieron comer durante su jomada. Ellos
intentaron violarla, pero desde que la comida estaba mas en la necesidad en ese momento,
ellos decidieron que la amor-fabricacion pudiera esperar.

Cuando el primer bandolero abri6 que la bolsa, la boa que ya fue cobrada por la accion, lo
mordi6. El se quej6 entonces a los otros que algo en la bolsa habia picado sus dedos. El
segundo bandolero tambien intento sacar lo que estaba en la bolsa y la boa tambien lo mordi6.
Cuando el tercer bandolero estaba dudando las intenciones de sus dos commrades, el tom6 la
bolsa de ellos y se zambull6 su mano en el, solo ser picado de nuevo por la boa. Despues de
esto, ellos ataron a la bolsa y le pusieron en orden a la mujer llevarlo y seguirlos a su poste
organizando en el coraz6n del bosque. Orunmila estaba sin embargo detras de ellos arrastrando
sus pasos furtivamente.

En cuanto ellos llegaran a su campamento que ellos vendaron a la esposa de Orunmila y

limitaron a sus manos y pies. Despues de esto, ellos subieron la bolsa una vez mas para abrirlo.
A proposito, a ese punto el efecto nocivo de la mordedura de la serpiente los habia agobiado.
Uno despues del otro, ellos se cayeron a la tierra, el muerto de la piedra, sin poder ver los
volumenes de la bolsa. La esposa de Orunmila oyo el sonido de su caida a la tierra, seguida
por lo que parecia el silencio total. Despues de no teniendo noticias cualquier sonido durante
mucho tiempo de ellos, ella imagine que el veneno de la boa en su bolsa habia pasado factura
en ellos. Todos los tres de ellos eran el muerto de la piedra.

Ella empezo a cantar en la alabanza de lfa como consecuencia y del Awos que la adivinacion
hecho y sacrifique para su marido. Cuando Orunmila oy6 la cancion de Akpetebi, el
comprendio que su sacrificio habia manifestado y habia corrido para encontrarsela
apresuradamente. Su primera inclinacion era quitar su venda y unblind ella. Era despues de
esto que ellos vieron los tesoros del campamento. Contuvo todos los articulos de valor que los
bandoleros habian estado robando durante mucho tiempo de las personas. Cuando Orunmila
descubrio que los bandoleros eran todo el muerto, el decidio embarcar en la adivinacion
instantanea para buscar las direcciones. Sus propios odu aparecian diciendole que que era el
fin de su jomada a su base de la casa y que el debe avanzar mas alla fuera del campamento. El
hizo como el se dirigio y el vino a un segundo campamento en conteniendo a los hombres y
mujeres previamente capturado por los bandoleros y ato a esperar a ser vendido en la
esclavitud. Orunmila los desato rapidamente y a cambio, ellos proclamaron la obediencia a el
como su nuevo sefior y amo.

Entretanto, desde que habia que ninguna otra manera de compensar la boa para el trabajo
bueno el hizo para el, el decidio ponerlo libre devolver a la libertad de su habitat del arbusto.
Al mismo tiempo, el uso su ASE para proclamar que alguien para quien este odu aparece a la
iniciacion (Ugbodu) deba de ese dia prohiba la matanza o comiendo la boa o de hecho
cualquier serpiente.

De acuerdo con el consejo de lfa, el les dijo a los cautivo humanos llevar el botin y
acompafiarlo atras a lfe. En segundo pensamiento, el detuvo calz6n de hacer una entrada
directa en lfe, porque el supo que Olofin pedirian una porcion de su suerte inesperada si el
entrara en el pueblo en el dia-luz ancho a la vista llena de todos. El decidio pedir a su medio
ambiente esconder en el arbusto en los recintos de lfe, mientras el fue al bargin con el Oba y su
amigo, el Oliwo ( el sacerdote principal) del culto de Oro que un queda
debe declararse que noche porque el iba a hacer una ceremonia especial para marcar el anual
de la muerte de su madre. Su demanda fue concedida.

De aproximadamente 8.00 pm en esa noche, el culto de Oro anuncio un queda a lo largo del
pueblo de Ife y todos y varios tenia que quedarse dentro. Bajo la tapa del queda y oscuridad,
Orunmila pudo traer sus tesoros humanos y materiales en su casa sin el conocimiento de
cualquiera en el pueblo. Cuando Orunmila estaba entrando su botin, el canto una cancion que
se ha vuelto parte de tradicion de lfa subsecuentemente. ORO LO, ORO LO SO varios
tiempos. Cuando las personas le preguntaron la mafiana siguiente que como el vino las
posesiones humanas y materiales en su casa, el explico que era su porcion del legado de sus
padres que el trajo de su pueblo de la casa. Incluso el Olofin se pregunto que ese Orunmila
debe de haber entrado de una familia prospera en su pueblo de la casa. No anhele despues, el
Oba fijo Orunmila a la posicion de un jefe alto y para volverse su hombre de la mano derecha.

Tres meses despues, el festejo el pueblo entero con una vaca, cabra, camero y aves e invito los
dos Awos que la adivinacion hecho y sacrifica para el. En la plenitud de la fiesta, el canto en la
alabanza del Awos que el divined para el.

Cuando este lfa aparece a U gbodu, la persona se aconsejara para hacer el sacrificio con los
materiales o compro a credito o con el dinero pedido prestado porque ese era lo que Orunmila
hizo en ese dia. El debe servir el nuevo lfa con una cabra, una gallina, paloma, pez y rata, y
para servir Esu con un macho cabrio. Despues de completar la lfa iniciacion ceremonia, el
debe proceder a su pueblo de la casa, es decir, su casa hereditaria, y hace el sacrificio alli con
una cabra. Si el sirve bien lfa, el se pondra prospero.

Cuando aparece a la adivinacion, la persona debe decirse tener su propio lfa y servir Esu con
un macho cabrio y la cabeza de una boa.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Caracol en el Cielo

Aha she kere mu legun, Odifa fun ibikunle to ma nu kon

kunle ara le

El arbol del paraguas es corto cuando joven, pero un poco despues, se pondra mas alto que el
tejado de la casa. Ese era el nombre del Awo que la adivinacion hecho para lbikunle, cuando
ella era solo-handedly yendo a poblar su casa solo. lbikunle es el nombre celestial del caracol
y significa el que produjo a bastantes nifios para llenar su o su casa. Le aconsejaron que
hiciera el sacrificio con la gallina, rata y pez. Ella hizo el sacrificio y empezo a producir a los
nifios para llenar su casa.

Cuando aparece a la adivinacion para una mujer ansioso tener los nifios, le aconsejaran que
haga el sacrificio porque ella tendra los tantos nifios que ella estara en el futuro cansada de
tener mas.

El Adivino mas Tarde para su Amigo Oro

Okon kpoki, Erigidi kpii, adifa fun Oro nijo ti Oro wo

orun kenge kenge.
Un sonido afilado ( el kpoi de Okpa en Bini) y un sonido fuerte ( el gbii de Okpa en Bini)
es los nombres del Awos que la adivinaci6n hecho para Oro cuando el estaba tan enfermo
que el pens6 que el iba a morirse, (esa es figura de discurso, "cuando el estaba mirando el
cielo" oblicuamente). le aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio con el eko, akara, pez de la
rata y un pollo. Los sacerdotes de Ifa le dijeron que lo llevara en su cabeza a la uma de
Esu despues de preparar el sacrificio. Le dijeron mas alla que en conseguir a la uma, el era
a atras el e inclina su cabeza al reves de tal una manera que el sacrificio dejaria caer en la
uma.

En cuanto el permitiera el sacrificio para dejar caer en la uma de Esu, mientras todavia
retrocediendo Esu, una voz le dijo que estirara sus manos y pies adelante. Primera, el
estir6 fuera sus miembros izquierdos y luego sus miembros correctos. El momenta que el
hizo que, la enfermedad que habia afligido su cuerpo de repente al punto de inhabilitaci6n
desapareci6. De la uma, el empez6 a bailar y cantar hacia la casa:

I Jo logo Ji Jo, erigidi kpii, erigidi. I Jo logo Ji Jo, erigidi kpi-kpi-kpi,

erigidi.

El estaba cantando en la alabanza de Orunmila y sus dos substituto para la curaci6n

milagrosa que el simplemente habia experimentado.

Cuando este odu aparece a la adivinaci6n como A YEO ( es decir, mientras presintiendo el
peligro) los divinee se diran que el he/she esta padeciendo una enfermedad que el o ella
estan ocultando, pero se aconsejara para hacer sacrificio para librarse de el. Si la
indicaci6n es UREE ( que medias que no hay peligro para preocupar sabre) la persona se
<lira estar esperando algun regalo o favor.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Cazador Tacafio

Ogunda-asi-Orire la adivinaci6n hecho para el cazador que era tan mezquino que el nunca
comparti6 su juego esta con sus vecinos. Le dijeron que sirviera Esu con un macho cabrio
evitar la turbaci6n. El no lo hizo. Un dia, el volvi6 del bosque con una sola paloma. Su
pr6ximo vecino de la puerta, una mayor mujer, lo pidi6 para la paloma porque ella lo
necesit6 para un sacrificio especial. Caracteristicamente, el se neg6 a bruscamente en el
pretexto que desde que la paloma era su unico juego en ese dia, el no podria partir con el a
cualquier precio.

Los ladrones noctumos siguientes fueron a robar una casa en la pr6xima calle. Cuando los
ladrones descubrieron que sus victimas estaban en la persecuci6n caliente de ellos, ellos
rogaron al cazador para permitirles fuera de-cargar su botin en su casa y el estaba de
acuerdo. A prop6sito, la mujer vieja estaba mirando todo los desarrollos. Los ladrones
escaparon bien, pero como las victimas del robo estaba devolviendo casa abatidamente
despues de no alcanzando a los ladrones, la senora vieja llam6 a ellos y ellos entraron en
su casa. Despues de esto, ella intim6 a ellos que su propiedad robada sea disimulada en la
casa del cazador.

Cuando las personas verja-chocaron como consecuencia en la casa del cazador, ellos
encontraron todos su propiedad robada en su salon. El se acus6 de ser un ladr6n y el era
sabre ser linchado, pero para la intervenci6n oportuna de la policia del palacio que lo
arresto para la acusacion antes de la carte real. El estaba en la detencion, cuando el recordo el
sacrificio que el no hizo. El estaba bajo la custodia cuando el le dijo a su esposa que le
implorara a Orunmila que hacer el sacrificio para el. El sacrificio era debidamente hecho.

A su ensayo judicial subsecuente, el explico que el obligo a algunas personas por que estaban
pasando meramente y besought el para tomar custodia de esos materiales antes de que ellos
volvieran para coleccionarlos. Esu influyo en al juez del ensayo para razonar que desde que el
genera se encontr6 en su sala, era una indicacion que el no tenia ninguna raz6n para creer que
ellos fueron robados. Si el hubiera estado de acuerdo en tomar custodia de genera robado a
sabiendas, el los habria escondido lejos en lugar de dejarlos en su cuarto de la sentada.
Ademas, Esu habia sobomado a un jefe alto entretanto para testificar al erswhile la integridad
impecable y la disposicion leypermanente del cazador.

En su veredicto, el juez que ya estaba bajo la influencia de Esu decidio que el cazador era solo
una victima de circunstancias y no ladr6n. El fue descargado de acuerdo con y se descarg6.

Cuando este lfa aparece a Ugbodu, la persona se aconsejara para servir: su cabeza con un
gallo: lfa con otra cabra; y Esu con un macho cabrio, para apartar el riesgo de perder una
suerte inesperada inminente. Nunca deben aconsejarle que permita a cualquiera para guardar
cualquier genera bajo su custodia. Es mas, el debe servir su propia cabeza antes de honrar una
invitacion, obviar el riesgo de perder su suerte a otras personas.
Cuando aparece a la adivinacion, la persona debe aconsejarse servir Esu con un macho cabrio,
un caracol y siete agujas, a causa de un robo inminente.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para Tella-Roko, Cuando El Era Pobre

Leke Leke ko ye didu. Ogbigbo lila fo raba hbi.

Adifa fun Telia Roko nijo ti won ni tie titan.
El aguilucho ganadero (Leke Leke en el yoruba y Enibokun en Bini) no
ponga los huevos oscuros,
El tiokam (Ogbigbo en el yoruba y Owonwon en Bini) es el
pajaro que vuela con las alas grandes.

Esos fueron los dos Awos que la adivinacion hecho para Tella-roko, cuando las personas le
escribieron fuera de como un caso de duro-suerte, y que el ya estaba acabado, en las palabras
simples, cuando el estaba languideciendo en la pobreza abyecta. El Awos confirmo esa fortuna
lo habia eludido para bueno a menos que el pudo hacer el sacrificio. Le exigieron que hiciera
el sacrificio con un gallo, rata, peces, seis kolas amargos, kolanuts, y caracoles. El hizo el
sacrificio sin el retraso.

Despues del sacrificio, el Awos le dio los seis kolas amargos, mientras prediciendo que su
prosperidad llegaria durante el name que planta la estacion, Entretanto, el cepillo su granja,
tumbo los arboles, quemado los arbustos, aclaro los tocones y empezo plantando sus cosechas.
El se volvio los restive mas bien y nervioso cuando era tiempo para plantar los names, cuando
el empez6 excavando los espinazos por plantar los names de la semilla. Despues de excavar
tres espinazos, el estaba en el cuarto uno cuando su azada peg6 un agujero que contiene una
olla ostensiblemente enterrado alli hace mucho
tiempo. Cuando el abri6 la olla, el descubri6 que contuvo dinero, cuentas y joyas. La
excitaci6n para que lo agobi6 que instintivamente, el empez6 a cantar y regocijar con las
palabras:

"Telia Roko, mojin showo loko, Telia Roko."

"Yo he pegado una olla de riqueza en mi granja."

El canto la canci6n para tan largo y tan repetidamente que el vecino con quien el comparti6 el
mismo limite de la granja, lo oy6 por casualidad. Despues de asegurar, escuchando
atentamente a la canci6n de Telia Roko de alegria, que el habia pegado una olla de dinero
enterr6 en la tierra de su granja, el vecino dej6 en seguida para el palacio del Oba. Cuando el
lleg6 al palacio, el inform6 que su vecino de la granja con quien el tenia una frontera comun,
estaba regocijando porque el habia descubierto una olla de riqueza enterrada en la tierra, el
sugiri6 que el Oba deba enviarles a policia ir y coleccionar la olla de Telia Roko, porque segun
la tradici6n de la tierra, algo descubierto de bajo la tierra pertenece al Oba. De acuerdo con, el
Oba despach6 un contingente de policia para ir y traer Telia Roko y la olla de riqueza.

A prop6sito, antes de que los policia reales llegaran a su granja, Esu transfigur6 en un
transeunte benevolo, para aconsejarle que cambiar el motivo y tema de su canci6n porque el
Oba les habia enviado a policia que vinieran para el y la olla de riqueza que el habia
descubierto confesadamente en su granja. Esu le aconsej6 cambiar la melodia de su canci6n y
dejar en seguida para casa. Esu le pidi6 el kola amargo con que el habia hecho el sacrificio y el
mostr6 todos los seis de ellos a el, atado a su tela del lomo. Esu le dijo que empezara
comiendolos en su camino a casa, despues de mostrarlo un amargo-kola el arbol con las frutas
maduras casi su granja que el no habia descubierto principio. Antes de dejarlo, Esu le ensefi6
las palabras para cantar con:

"Woni te mi ti ton,
Te mi oo tii ton
Telia Roko ti ri igi orogbo loko.
Moti ri igi orogbo to ma fun mi lowo.
Telia Roko, temi o tii ton".
"Las personas dicen que yo estoy acabado,
Pero yo no estoy acabado porque,
Yo he descubierto un arbol lleno de amargo-kola,
que me dara dinero suficiente."

Despues de esto, el dej6 inmediatamente para casa que mastica su amargo-kola y cantando con
el arbol del kola amargo el simplemente habia descubierto casi su granja. Esa era la situaci6n
en que los policia reales se lo encontraron en su manera a su granja. Los policia estaban
satisfechos que el no estaba regocijando por descubrir una olla de riqueza espuriamente en su
granja como su vecino supuesto, pero que el hombre pobre estaba entusiasmado encima del
arbol de kola amargo que el descubri6 su granja casi. Ellos le dijeron que los tomara al arbol
del kola amargo y el hizo tan de buena gana. Despues de esto, ellos le dijeron que los siguiera
al palacio contar su historia solo al Oba.

Cuando el lleg6 al palacio, el Oba le pidi6 la olla de riqueza el habia descubierto en su granja y
el fingi6 el desconcierto total. Cuando el pudo tranquilizarse para hacer una contestaci6n
inteligible, el dijo que que el fue enmudecido que porque el nunca tenia
antes oido de cualquier olla de riqueza, permita descubierto uno en su granja
exclusivamente. Preguntado que si el no canto para regocijar encima del descubrimiento
de una olla de dinero en su granja, el contesto que el solo canto y regocijo encima de su
descubrimiento de un arbol lleno de kola amargo en su granja. Para probar su asercion, el
produjo el kola amargo fructifica el tiro del arbol y cito a los policia reales como su da
testimonio de porque ellos vieron el arbol con sus propios ojos. El se puso sumamente
feliz porque la venta de las frutas iba a darle dinero suficiente.

Los policia reales que fueron a su granja confirmaron que antes de que ellos se lo
encontraran en su camino a casa de la granja que ellos lo habian oido por casualidad
cantando alegremente sobre el arbol del kola amargo el habia descubierto en su granja.
Ellos agregaron que el todavia estaba cantando la cancion del kola amarga cuando ellos se
lo encontraron y el estaba masticando algunas de las frutas de hecho en el momento. Ellos
tambien confirmaron eso para probar la veracidad de su historia, ellos le hicieron tomarlos
al arbol que ellos realmente vieron en la periferia de su granja.

A ese punto el Oba invito a su vecino de la granja a probar su historia. El explico bastante
abatidamente y deflatedly que el debe de haber interpretado equivocadamente lo que el
oyo por casualidad de la cancion de Tella-Roko. El se disculpo que el nunca supo que el
hombre estaba cantando con el arbol del kola amargo y que el penso que el estaba
cantando sobre el dinero. En esa nota, despues de reprenderlo por llevar los cuentos falsos,
el Oba decidio sumariamente que el seria ejecutado por quedar contra su vecino de la
granja.

Como consecuencia, Tella-Roko empezo tirando las frutas de los kola amargos obligan a
refugiarse en un arbol y preparandolos para la venta. Estaba despues de vender todo las
frutas que el compro otro macho cabrio para agradecer Esu e invito y festejo a sus dos
sacerdotes de Ifa opiparamente para la adivinacion eficaz y sacrifica ellos lo
constituyeron. Ese era el punto a que el fue a su granja para quitar los volumenes de la olla
a su casa. El se puso tan adinerado que que el Oba confirio en el futuro que un chieftaincy
alto titula adelante el. El se volvio el hombre mas adinerado facilmente en la comunidad,
sin cualquiera sabiendo el secreto de su prosperidad, aparte de Esu y su angel guardian.

Cuando este Odu aparece a la adivinacion, la persona se aconsejara no descubrir sus

secretos a cualquiera y no ser locuaz sobre su fortuna, sobre todo en sus relaciones con
amigos intimos que pueden traicionarlo facilmente. El debe hacer el sacrificio porque la
prosperidad esta camino a el.

La Adivinacion Constituy6 Orunmila Cuando Su Prosperidad Vino

Okete gun ori ebe, 0 ho ra kuye kuye.

Adifa fun Orunrnila nijo ti uwa re she she mbo.
El conejo subio el espinazo de un fiame plantado y
usado sus dedos para rascar su cuerpo suavemente.

Ese era el nombre del Awo que la adivinacion hecho para Orunmila cuando su
prosperidad empezo a florecer. Eso era cuando las pertenencias de prosperidad el cielo
izquierdo en su jomada a su casa. El regocijo cuando ellos consiguieron a el y empezaron
a cantar:
 "Okete gun on o gerere, Ni
uwa idu she ibo o gerere.

El estaba agradeciendo que el sacerdote de Ifa que predijo esa prosperidad estaba camino a el.
El agradeci6; su Ifa con una cabra, y Esu con un macho cabrio por pilotar la prosperidad a su
casa.

Cuando aparece a la adivinaci6n para un hombre, deben aconsejarle que tenga su propio Ifa
que para que su prosperidad se retrasara hasta aqui en el cielo, podria liberarse para venir a el.
Si aparece para una mujer soltera, deben aconsejarle que se case a un hombre que tiene su
propio Ifa. Si ella es una mujer casada, deben aconsejarle que le diga a su marido que tener su
propio Ifa para que ellos podrian prosperar.

La Adivinacion para Orunmila Cuando El Compro a un Esclavo

Ushe ti'nshe awo, kii she ashe ku.

Iya ti onje awo, aje la'ni.
Adafa fun Orunmila nijo ti onlo ra Igbira le eru.
Las suspensiones y sufrimientos de un sacerdote divino no hacen
acabe su vida.
La mayoria de las veces, los tales retrocesos son un el
preludio a su prosperidad.

Esos eran los nombres del Awos que la adivinaci6n hecho para Orunmila cuando el viaj6 a la
tierra de Igbiras (ahora el Kwara State de Nigeria) para comprar a un esclavo. Le aconsejaron
que hiciera el sacrificio con un gallo y una gallina antes de viaje. El hizo el sacrificio yen el
futuro compr6 a tres esclavos del lugar y les trajo casa para servirlo. Ellos lo sirvieron tan bien
que ellos le hicieron hacerse rico despues de que el proclam6 que los Igbiras fueron dotados de
las cabezas buenas y angeles guardianes, es decir, que ellos son heraldos de fortuna buena y
prosperidad.

Cuando aparece a la adivinaci6n, la persona se aconsejara que algunos sirvientes, si el no hace

ya tengalos, vendra a vivir con el. El debe tratarlos humanamente, porque sus estrellas le
traerian suerte buena.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para Aban, el Esclavo de Oni-Taaji,

Ibembe oku bi ojo. Odifa fun Aban, Aban loni kerun oro.
Aban ni ke run ode. Erun de, adifa fun Onitaji nijo to ma
kpa ire lo mi re.

El tambor grande parece las gotas de lluvia, era el nombre del Awo que la adivinaci6n hecho
para Aban, el esclavo del padre de Oni-Taji que a su vez, adivinaci6n hecho para el Oba de
Itaji. El idolo tradicional se rendido culto a por las personas de Itaji era la boa de la boa o piton
(Antes de que en el yoruba e Ikpin en Bini).

El sacerdote de Ifa le aconsej6 a Oni-taji que hiciera el sacrificio con una de las boas de la boa
para vivir a una vejez madura. El Oba hizo el sacrificio matando una de las sagradas boas de la
boa. Tradicionalmente, el Oba nunca dio cualquier regalo a Aban despues de hacer la
adivinaci6n y sacrifica para el porque el siempre se lo burl6,
mientras siendo su propio esclavo. Despues de que el Oba habia usado la boa de la boa para el
sacrificio, Aban decidio tener cuidado con los desarrollos subsecuentes. Por la noche, Aban
dejo la casa furtivamente despues de que las personas habian ido a dormir, y empezo a pegar el
bembe tamborilee, a lo largo del pueblo, cantando que el tambor del bembe estaba pareciendo
los lluvia-gota porque el Oba habia matado una de las sagradas boas de la boa por hacer el
sacrificio ( el Oni-taji ti kpa antes del je ).

El anuncio tan enfurecido la ciudadania entera de Itaji que ellos se atroparon fuera en un
levantamiento popular exigir el destronamiento de Oni-Taji. Cuando el Oba vio el giro agrio
de eventos, el llamo una conferencia de diviners e invito Orunmila que lo culpo de minar Aban
para tan largo. El consejo unanime de la conferencia era que el era invitar Aban y pacificarlo
dandole la comida, vestidos y dinero. De acuerdo con, el Oba invito Aban y lo pacifico
apasionadamente. Despues de darle compensacion adecuada en el dinero en efectivo y tipo, el
busco su opinion en que hacer para desactivar la atmosfera politica y social cobrada en el
pueblo.

Despues de expresar sus agravios contra la manera el Oba habia estado tratandolo, el le
aconsejo que cocinara los frijoles para festejar a todos sus jefes y miembros de las sociedades
del palacio. Despues de que el Oba habia hecho la fiesta, Aban tomo los bembe tamborilean
mas una vez despues de medianoche, y el empezo cantando y tamborileando con las palabras, (
el Oni-taji ti se antes del je) el Oba ha cocinado los frijoles para comer. El ultimo anuncio de
Aban confundio el populacho tanto que ellos empezaron a preguntarse si Aban estaba
cambiando su historia mas temprana. Eso era por que el explico con tamborilear y cantar que
su primer anuncio era el se de Oni-Taji" antes del je" y no el kpa de Oni-Taji" antes del je". A
proposito, los frijoles y media de la piton la misma palabra "Antes de que" en el yoruba. Los
jefes se disculparon a Onitaji por atreverse a trazar su destierro. Despues de esto, las personas
y Oba de Itaji vivieron en paz en la vida despues de.

Cuando este Odu aparece a la adivinacion, la persona debe decirse hacer el sacrificio para
apartar el peligro de minar cualquiera de sus personas a cargo. El debe traer sus personas a
cargo mas cerca a el, y los trata lo o mas humanamente para evitar su valor de la molestia.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para Ataparapa y Su Amigo Ole

Ogunda bede babalawo Ole odifa fun Ole, obufun Oluku meji re •
ti'anpe Ataparapa olori ole, nijo ti won ti kole orun bowa si kole aiye.

El hizo la adivinacion para Ole, y su amigo Ataparapa, el pionero y rey de robo en el cielo,
antes de que ellos vinieran al mundo.

Ellos fueron por la adivinacion porque ellos quisieron saber que hacer para crecer como los
ladrones en la tierra. El les dijo que festejaran a los policia de cielo que para que ellos puedan
crecer a traves de robar en la tierra, el tambien les aconsejo que sirvieran; sus angeles
guardianes con una cabra, cadena, matchete, los clubes y agujas, y Esu con un macho cabrio,
polvo del arma y llamas de fuego, antes de dejar el cielo, y tambien para servir Esu con los
mismos materiales en cuanto ellos consiguieran al mundo, para
que la tarde de sus vidas pudiera ser dichosa. Ellos hicieron todos los sacrificios antes de
dejar el cielo.

Ellos nacieron de padres diferentes en la tierra pero se levantaron en la misma situacion.

Ellos tuvieron el tanto exito como ladrones que otros empezaron a emularlos. Ellos nunca
se aprehendieron durante todas sus expediciones. Ellos tambien desarrollaron los tales
poderes diab6licos que en lugar de se cogido despues de cualquier robo, uno transfiguraria
en un gato y el otro en una rata, y siempre que ellos se encontraran en las situaciones
firmes, el gato agarraria la rata y los dos escaparian. Ellos se pusieron prosperos
ultrajantemente a traves de robar y las personas en su comunidad empezaron a preguntarse
si habia alguna virtud viviendo honestamente y honradamente. Su exito era tan notable
que ellos no tenian ninguna causa para ir por la adivinacion, permita la sola hechura
cualquier sacrificio a que era contrario el consejo dado a ellos en el cielo .. Ellos vivieron
a traves de la edad madura al principio de vejez. Ese era el punto a que Esu se levanto
para preguntarle Ighoroko a su amigo si los dos ladrones notorios hicieron cualquier
sacrificio. Cuando Ighoroko contesto que ellos no hicieron el sacrificio, Esu partio en su
sendero. Una noche, Ataparapa durmio y se murio en su suefio. Los miembros de su casa
descubrieron su muerte por la mafiana e inmediatamente empezaron a hacer los arreglos
para su entierro.

En cuanto el se muriera sin embargo en la tierra, el aparecia ante su angel guardian en

cielo que lo dirigio a un edificio destechado y ruinoso como su casa celestial. A estas
alturas, es necesario explicar que cualquier recurso uno adquiere honestamente en la tierra
se reproduce en el cielo, aunque recursos robados o inmoralmente adquirio de sus duefios
autenticos en la tierra, vuelva para enriquecer a los duefios justos en el cielo. Cuando
Ataparapa descubrio que su casa celestial estaba vacia e inhabitable, el le pregunto a su
angel guardian, la razon para su condicion desolada. El consiguio la contestacion
deprimiendo que, la condicion de la casa era una reflexion de sus posesiones
genuinamente adquiridas en la tierra porque los fradulently adquirieron las cosas habia
devuelto a sus duefios autenticos en el cielo. Tenia ningun tejado, ningun mobiliario y
ningun equipo de la casa y utensilios, porque el los robo para su casa en la tierra. Su mas
gran enigma era cuando el descubrio que dos de sus nifios que se habian muerto
previamente ante el estaban viviendo como el layabouts sin casa ni hogar en el cielo
debido a la condicion inhabitable de su casa.

Cuando el vino a comprender que privando a otras personas de sus posesiones para
enriquecer uno mismo en la tierra, no sirvio ningun proposito util en el cielo, el recurrio a
su angel guardian para permitirlo momentaneamente al return a la tierra advertir a los
miembros de su familia de las consecuencias de robar.

Su demanda fue concedida, pero Esu lo detuvo exigir un macho cabrio, pero desde que el
no tenia nada que ofrecer, el prometio cumplir la demanda de Esu en su retomo de la
tierra. Los miembros de su familia dejaron de llorar y lamentar, cuando su latido del
corazon reasumio y el recobro el conciousness. En cuanto el abriera sus ojos, el dirigio
que deben congregarse todas sus esposas y nifios para una reunion especial.

Cuando ellos eran todos recogidos, el los advirtio no utilizar dinero y materiales en su casa
para su entierro. El los aconsejo si posible pedir prestado el dinero para consolidar su
entierro porque esa era la unica manera que el podria derivar cualquier beneficio de ellos
en el cielo. El narro el horror de su experiencia breve en el cielo y fuertemente
aconsejado sus personas para abstenerse de robar. Cuando su familia se enter6 con las
realidades de su resurrecci6n, el transcurri6 mas una vez en un coma y en el futuro se muri6.
Su entierro se financi6 como consecuencia con el dinero honrado y todos los materiales
usados, fue a mantener una nueva salida lo en el cielo.

La experiencia de su querido amigo era ligeramente diferente. Cuando le dijeron sobre el

consejo de la resurrecci6n de su amigo, el lo despidi6 como un amaneramiento paranoico. El
reiter6 su filosofia caracteristica que si el dinero o propiedad pertenecieron al diablo,
divinidad, la muerte, o cualquier mortal, el era libre robarlo para vivir una vida llena aqui en la
tierra, porque el no pudiera molestarse con el de ahora en adelante, porque el cruzaria ese
puente cuando el lleg6 alli. Poco hizo que el comprende que su propio nemesis estaba en el
offing.

Tres meses despues de la muerte de su amigo, Ole se tom6 mal con una fiebre. Dos dias
despues, la fiebre se puso tan alta que el tenia un golpe que no s6lo paraliz6 uno la mitad de su
cuerpo pero lo dio mudo. El permanecia en esa condici6n desvalida para la parte buena de seis
meses. El periodo de su enfermedad permiti6 a sus nifios sin embargo a la empresa al arreglo
adecuado para su muerte inevitable y entierro. Ademas de preparar una b6veda pr6digamente
equipada para suyo permanece, un ataud de lat6n se mantuvo su entierro. Se guardaron
cafiones y arma-polvo en el s6tano de su casa magnifica para el uso durante las ceremonias
funebres,

Encontrandose viviendo como una verdura para tan largo se volvieron un sufrimiento
insufrible para el. Desde que el estaba demasiado desvalido para tomar su vida fisicamente, el
decidi6 al ayuno a la muerte. Seis dias despues de que el dej6 de comer y beber, el se muri6 en
el futuro. Su muerte era un gran alivio a su familia y pronto despues, el arreglo de exigencia
para su entierro era fijo en el movimiento. Despues de dar un bafio limpio a su cadaver, el se
visti6 magnificamente y puso en el estado. Durante el dia, las relaciones de los amigos y
simpatizadores archivaron en pagar sus ultimos respetos. Por la tarde, era tiempo por un ritual
familiar que seria seguido por los saludos del cafi6n a la memoria del muerto. Por la tradici6n
las marcas rituales el comienzo de las ceremonias funebres y es exclusivo a los miembros de la
familia del di fun to.

Cuando estaban haciendose los arreglos cargar los cafiones con el explosives, uno de los nifios
fue al s6tano con una lintema desnuda guitar algunos toneles de arma-polvo. De repente, habia
una explosion maciza del s6tano seguido por las explosiones secundarias del arsenal entero de
polvo del arma y explosives que en una materia de juego de los minutos la casa entera en la
conflagraci6n total. Todos los miembros de la familia de Ole, su cadaver, y el edificio entero
estaban quemados a las cenizas. Los espectadores que estaban mirando los eventos fuera de la
casa eran las unicas personas que escaparon indemne.

Algunos de los espectadores comentaron que el Ole notorio tenia un fin innoble a su vida.
Otros concluidos esa retribuci6n habian alcanzado al bandolero al final de su vida. El acuerdo
general general era de hecho eso que la retribuci6n ha establecido las cuentas con Ole por la
tarde de su vida. Eso era c6mo el adagio empez6 que esa "Retribuci6n espera a una ladrona (
el ole) a la tarde de su vida."
Cuando este Odu aparece por consiguiente a U gbodu, la persona se aconsejara para refrenar
de las practicas todo fraudulentas y malas para tener un fin dichoso a su vida. Cuando aparece
a la adivinacion, el sacerdote de Ifa chasqueara inmediatamente fuera su tercer dedo con su
dedo pulgar, para decir el "Cerveza inglesa kpa osika lojo kon" o ( el ota ihen khe ole en Bini)
es decir, la "retribucion lega una captura del dia a con el hacedor" malo. Los divinee deben
aconsejarse para hacer el sacrificio para apartar el peligro de un robo inminente.
 Capitulo 2
OGUNDA-OYEKU
OGUNDA-ARIKU

El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Canto Oge

Agbonrin lo'nfi oju kan efun. Lo tufi ese kun efun Orisa
oge lo oko de si ose oge. Mejeji lo fl ese oge mejeji da
ojuju. Ada fa fun yeye oge. Ebo ni ki oru tori arun ese.
Los ciervos pintaron su cara con la tiza blanca, y tambien froto el suyo Dos
piemas con la tiza blanca. Dios creo el canto Oge (Ahiamwen-osa en Bini) con
dos ajorcas de laton para llevar en sus piemas.

Estos son los nombres del Awos que la adivinacion hecho para la madre del canto Oge. Le
dijeron que hiciera el sacrificio con un macho cabrio a causa del nifio que ella estaba
esperando. Ella no realizo el sacrificio. El nifio nacio y desarrollo las heridas en las dos
piemas, la madre no hizo debido al sacrificio.

Cuando aparece a la adivinacion, la persona se aconsejara para hacer el sacrificio para apartar
el riesgo de desarrollar los problemas con las piemas. Cuando la adivinaci6n presiente el
peligro (Ayeo ), los divinee se advertiran para realizar el sacrificio para evitar a ser
envenenado en las piemas.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Vino de la Palma y el Ciervo

Ogunda-Ariku, babalawo Adokpe, odifa fun Adokpe, nijo ti

on fl omi oju shubere aje turuutu. Abufun Agbonrin.

El hizo la adivinaci6n para el tapper de vino de palma cuando el estaba ansioso vuelto
prospero. El tambien hizo la adivinacion para el ciervo cuando el quiso empezar el hurto.

El tapper de vino de palma no estaba prosperando de su negocio y el fue a Orunmila para

averiguar que hacer para hacer bien el progreso. Le dijeron que hiciera el sacrificio con cuatro
palomas, dos gallos, dos gallinas, y dos caracoles. El se nego a hacer el sacrificio en la tierra
que si el tuviera la cantidad requerida por consolidar tal un sacrificio detallado, el no se habria
considerado pobre.

Entretanto, los ciervos fueron a Orunmila por la adivinacion en que hacer antes de que el
embarcara en un programe del robo. El ciervo fue aconsejado para hacer el sacrificio a Esu
con macho cabrio del bebe que le dijeron que no comiera con Esu, y una calabaza de aceite de
la palma. El hizo el sacrificio pero contrariamente al consejo de Orunmila, el comio de la came
del macho cabrio con que el sirvi6 Esu.

Entretanto el consigui6 un pedazo puntiagudo afilado de cafieria de hierro larga (Okpakata en

el yoruba y Oha en Bini) preparo por agujerear en y vaciar con sif6n el
vino de la palma de una calabaza. El decidio usar la cafieria ferrica puntiaguda porque sus
manos no pudieran alcanzar la situacion de la calabaza de vino de palma. El pudo asi
coleccionar el vino de la palma punzando las calabazas con la cafieria de hierro
puntiaguda afilada. A proposito, los tapper de vino de palma pidieron prestado las
calabazas por coleccionar el vino de la palma taladrado. Cuando los tapper de vino de
palma descubrieron que su vino de la palma no solo era estado robando, pero que tambien
estaban destrozandose las calabazas que el pidio prestado, el decidio ir a Orunmila por
otra adivinacion. Orunmila le dijo que su riesgo doble era una funcion de su negativa para
hacer el sacrificio.

En la adivinacion resultante, Orunmila le aconsejo hacer el sacrificio con un macho cabrio

del hebe a Esu y no comer de el. Este tiempo, el pidio prestado el dinero para hacer el
sacrificio. Despues de esto, Orunmila le aconsejo que fuera temprano por la mafiana
esconder su palma casi obliga a refugiarse en un arbol aprehender quien estaba robando su
vino de la palma y estaba punzando sus calabazas pedidas prestado. La mafiana siguiente
que el fue al arbusto encontrar fuera que el culpable estaba. En el futuro, el descubrio que
el culpable era el ciervo. Cuando el salio de ocultacion para confrontar el ciervo, el ultimo
corrio lejos y la palma agasaja los tapper lo siguieron el derecho a al sitio de una accion de
la reunion de todos los animales.

En cuanto los animales vieran la palma agasajar el tapper, ellos lo arrestaron para la
intrusion y espiando. Cuando el explico sin embargo que el tenia ninguna intencion de
interrumpir o espiar en su conferencia, y que el estaba siguiendo solo el ciervo que habia
estado robando su vino de la palma y habia destruido las calabazas que el pidio prestado,
los animales explicaron a el que el ciervo era de hecho un ladron porque ellos siempre
estaban dandole dinero para comprar y no robar el vino de la palma. En esa nota, los
animales decidieron pagar por todo el vino de la palma que los ciervos habian estado
robando y para las calabazas el habia estado punzando. Adicionalmente, ellos estaban de
acuerdo en ensefiarle el idioma de pajaros y animales despues de que el devolvio casa
alegremente gratuitamente.

En lugar de usar la parte del dinero pagada por los animales para costear el valor de las
calabazas el pidio prestado en su parsimonia caracteristica, el ofrecio dar el servicio ligado
por contrato a su prestamista como el recompence para las calabazas dafiadas.
Paradogicamente, como el un dia estaba trabajando en la casa del duefio de las calabazas,
el oyo una gallina que dice a sus pollos para no usar su dedo del pie clava para excavar
una mancha particular para que su amo no pudiera ver los tesoros escondidos alli, porque
el no solo era egoista pero tambien dado a hambrearlos. Desde el tapper de vino de palma
ya entendio el idioma de los pajaros, el marco la mancha rapidamente. El los procurred
salan para atraer la gallina y sus pollos fuera de esa mancha inmediatamente. El excavo
como consecuencia al lugar y descubrio una arqueta ferrica pequefia que contiene dinero
suficiente y cuentas. El tomo la arqueta despues a su casa.

Despues, unos dias el oyo por casualidad la cabra de la madre que pide que sus nifios
dejaran una mancha particular porque su amo" "tonto iba a ser enterrado alli en cinco
tiempo de los dias. Su sefior y amo realmente se murieron en el quinto dia y la palma
agasaja que los tapper heredaron todas sus posesiones, mientras entrando en el futuro asi
en la prosperidad para que el hizo el sacrificio.
Cuando este lfa aparece a Ugbodu, la persona se aconsejara para servir: el nuevo lfa con el
la came de un ciervos, dos gallinas y cuatro palomas; y Ogun con un gallo. A la
adivinacion, los divinee deben aconsejarse para servir; - Esu con un macho cabrio del
bebe para lograr sus ambiciones en la vida, y Ogun con una tortuga para frustrar los planes
nefarios de un socio del truco.

La adivinacion para El Cuando El Viaj6 a Ikimi para la Practica de Ifa

Aki ka ragba koje ki olodo ten. Odifa fun

Orunmila nijo ti on shawo lo si ode Ikimi.

Un pedazo de calabaza no se ahoga en el rio. Ese era el nombre del Awo que la
adivinacion hecho para Orunmila cuando el iba a realizar Ifism en el pueblo de Ikimi. El
Oba de Ikimi habia estado oyendo hablar de la fama de Orunmila y habia decidido
invitarlo a ayudar su pueblo. El Awo le dijo a Orunmila que hiciera el sacrificio con un
macho cabrio, rata y pez antes de dejar para Ikimi. El hizo los sacifices. Tambien le
aconsejaron que hiciera una fiesta con el akara (los bollos del frijol) en la mafiana que
sigue el dia de su llegada a Ikimi.

De acuerdo con, en la mafiana despues de que el dia que el llego a Ikimi, el repartio los
frijoles que el trajo de casa para el uso friendo el akara. El Oba que invito Orunmila les
envio a tres mensajeros que entregaran el akara del poisioned para darlo la bienvenida en
la misma mafiana. Orunmila solo tomo el akara de los tres mensajeros devolverlos a los
mensajeros porque el tambien estaba haciendo una fiesta con el akara. Los mensajeros
comieron el akara porque ellos no eran conscientes que ellos eran los poisioned.

En cuanto los mensajeros devolvieran al palacio, uno de ellos se murio del efecto del
veneno. Ningun largo despues, el segundo mensajero se puso comatoso y tambien se
murio, mientras el tercer mensajero tambien estaba devanando y estaba gimiendo con los
dolores. Viendo la condicion del tercer mensajero, el Oba le pregunto si ellos comieron el
akara en la casa de Orunmila. El apenas manej6 luchar una inclinacion afirmativa antes de
que el se muriera. Cuando las personas empezaron a preguntarse que por que tres
mensajeros del palacio se murieron en las tales circunstancias misteriosas que el Oba hizo
el oro de Ejeki" a una observacion metaf6rica el Ikimi ko maa gbe el Ikimi" significando
"permita la historia se deposite al silencio" etemo.

Cuando este Odu aparece por consiguiente a la adivinacion para alguien que esta
proponiendo viajar en un negocio o el viaje oficial, deben aconsejarle el o ella que haga el
sacrificio a causa de una prueba a que el o ella probablemente seran sujetadas a su o su
destino.

El Sacrificio Especial de este Odu para la Vida Larga

Orunmila dice que si uno vive mucho tiempo que bastante uno disfrutara todas las cosas
buenas de vida. El siguio para descubrir que el sacrificio para la vida larga es hecho con
una oveja (la oveja hembra), un pedazo de: planche, primacia, bronce y plata.

Cuando los materiales fueron producidos, el hizo el sacrificio con la encantacion

siguiente: -
 A ki gbo ikuide.
A ki gbo Iku oje.
A ki gbo Iku ibaba.
A ki gbo iku irin-dudu.
Gbogbo ana ni agutan fl nse ewu gbu gbu ..

Significando:

Nadie oye hablar de bronce del muerto.

Nadie oye hablar de primacia muerta.
Nadie oye hablar de plata del muerto.
Nadie oye hablar de hierro del muerto.
La piel de una oveja esta rayada con los vellos grises.

Cuando este lfa aparece a Ugbodu, la persona se aconsejara para hacer este sacrificio especial
(ono-lfa u Odiha) para la vida larga en la salud buena y prosperidad.

Como Orunmila Knew el Secreto de Vida Larga

Bi omi ba kpe I'enu omi yio da ito. Bi egbo ba si kpe ni ese, yio wu gan gan. Bi Iroko ba gboju ninu
ikpakpa, yio da ashorin

Significando:

el agua de f se retiene para demasiado largo en la boca, se

volvera la saliva.
Si un restos penoso para demasiado largo en la pierna, la pierna quiere se
infla.
Si un arbol del iroko se pone viejo en el bosque, quiere
p6ngase mas fuerte.

Esos fueron los tres Awos que la adivinaci6n hecho para Orunmila cuando el fue a Dios para
buscar el secreto de longevidad - Aiku. Dios revel6 a el que habia alguien a la verja que es el
enemigo astuto de longevidad cuyo nombre es Aworomogoin
 Capitulo 3
OGUNDA-IWORI
OGUNDA-LEEDO OGUNDA-ODO

El Hizo la Adivinacion para Dos Mujeres en el Cielo

Ogunda el agba de Awo, Iwori el adase de Awo. Ellos hicieron el sacrificio para la madre de
nifios infantiles en el cielo. Ellos tambien hicieron el sacrificio para su compafiero Akpo, (la
mortalidad de infante). Las dos mujeres tenian siete nifios cada uno, y ellos eran compafieros
se casados al mismo marido. Despues de que adivinacion que les aconsejaron a hacer cada uno
al sacrificio con un macho cabrio a Esu y a servir la divinidad molida con la tortuga y caracol,
pero ellos no consideraron el consejo. Tambien les dijeron que sirvieran a sus angeles
guardianes con el pez, pero ellos no lo hicieron.

Entretanto, los nifios de infantes fueron al mercado de oja-ajigbomekon, mientras dejandole

siete nifios bajo el cuidado de su compafiero. Akpo, o la mortalidad de infantes, tuvo tal gran
cuidado de los nifios de sus compafieros que su compafiero expreso su gratitud cuando ella
volvio del mercado.

No anhele despues, era la madre del giro de Akpo para ir al mercado, mientras dejandole siete
nifios al cuidado de su compafiero. En cuanto ella dejara para el mercado, su compafiero envio
a uno de los nifios de su compafiero sacar el platano de la granja. En llegar a la granja el
muchacho fue asido y aporreo por un tigre. Despues de esperar en vano por el muchacho
volver, el compafiero de su madre envio a otro de los nifios de Akpo ir y buscar a su hermano.
En su manera a la granja, el segundo muchacho entro en la trampa de una piton y el se trago
por la serpiente gigante. Cuando los dos nifios no se volvieron a, la mujer envio a otro de los
nifios de su compafiero sacar el agua del rio. Como ella sacar el agua con una calabaza estaba
intentando, ella se aprehendio por un Caiman y arrastro en la profundidad del rio y trago por el
reptil. Al mismo tiempo sin enviar cualquiera de sus propios nifios, ella despacho otro de las
hijas de su compafiero para comprar el okro del mercado. En su manera del mercado, el
treaded de la muchacha en la cola de una boa y ella se mordio por la serpiente. Ella solo vino
casa en el dolor morirse en cuanto ella consiguiera casa.

En el entretanto, Akpo empezo a tener las sefiales del presentimiento que algo drastico estaba
pasando en casa. Como si los destinos de los cuatro nifios no significaran nada a ella, la mujer
envio dos otros de los nifios de su compafiero en mandados diferentes de que ellos no
volvieron. Habia unico salido de los siete nifios de Akpo, cuando ella devolvio casa
apresuradamente. Cuando Akpo pidio el paradero de sus nifios, su compafiero contesto
indiferentemente que ella no supo lo que paso a ellos. En la polemica resultante, las dos
mujeres empezaron a luchar.

Akpo le dijo sin embargo a su compafiero que no era una cuestion a ser resuelta por la lucha
fisica, porque ella iba a intercambiar la teta para el tat. Uno despues del otro, Akpo ataco cada
uno de los nifios de su compafiero hasta que ellos fueran todo el muerto. Cuando los
superiores intervinieron, Akpo explico como ella tuvo cuidado
apropiado de los siete nifios de su compafiero antes de que ella volviera del mercado, pero
que cuando ella dej6 a sus propios nifios a su cuidado, ella volvi6 para encontrarse unico
de ellos. Ella fue vindicada. Desde aquel momenta la enfermedad Hamada que Akpo ha
estado atacando a los infantes pequefios sin cualquier remedio. Una vez Akpo ataca a un
infante, debe morirse porque la madre de los infantes fue el primero al agress ella.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para Sango

Ogunda ki I'akpo, Iwori ko I'ofa. Ofa kan ofa kaan, t'onshe oju
akpo yoro yoro. Odifa fun ori na, okonbi omo Olodumare (sango)
nijo t'oma gba ashe lowo Olodumare. Oni ko lo gba
lfa.

Ogun no tiene una inclinaci6n, Iwori no tiene la flecha. Disparado de la flecha no extrafia
su blanco. Esos eran los Awos que la adivinaci6n hecho para Sango, el unico hijo de Dios
(no habiendo ningun otro Sango crearon por Dios). Sango fue aconsejado para tener su
propio lfa y el hizo. Estaba despues de tener su propio lfa que Sango empez6 a ordenar
dignidad y autoridad.

Cuando este lfa aparece por consiguiente a la adivinaci6n para un hombre, le aconsejaran
que tenga su propio lfa. Cuando aparece para una solterona, le aconsejaran que se case a
un hombre que tiene su propio lfa. Si aparece para una mujer casada, deben aconsejarle
que persuada a su marido para tener su propio Ifa para que ellos los dos podrian prosperar.
Cuando este Odu aparece a la adivinaci6n, no hay ningun argumento con el porque
cualquier cosa que el dice debe hacerse realidad.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para la Mayoria

Eji welu ni gba oju ale. Ojo gidi gidi ni gba

owuro. Odifa fun oyigbo t'inshe oko aiye
Las duchas de luz de lluvia rompen los quehaceres de la tarde.
Los chaparrones de lluvia rompen los quehaceres de la mafiana.

Estos son los nombres del Awos que la adivinaci6n hecho para la mayoria de las personas
para volverse el marido del mundo. El mundo mueve a menudo y reacciona de acuerdo
con los antojos y testamento de la mayoria.

Cuando aparece a la adivinaci6n, la persona debe aconsejarse para tener su propio lfa para
ordenar honor universal y respeto. Si el no esta en una posici6n tener su propio lfa, deben
aconsejarle el o ella que haga el sacrificio con el macho cabrio y conejo.
El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para Orunmila Cuando la Muerte estaba Cazando con escopeta
para El

El tanrere de Atanrere. Odifa el Orunmila nijo ti onu orun nishu divertido las metas curten
el ikuje.

Cuando Orunmila hizo su adivinaci6n de la mafiana, lfa revel6 a el que la Muerte estaba
enviandoles a mensajeras que lo invitaran al cielo. Cuando el son6 Ifa en que hacer para
guardar fuera del peligro de muerte, le dijeron hacer el sacrificio con un gallo, la rata, el
pez, una bolsa que contiene sus ropas llevando, el Ikin de su lfa, tres pedazos del fiame,
una nueva olla cocci6n y una calabaza de agua,. Despues de preparar el sacrificio, el era
depositarlo por el lado del camino que lleva a su casa. Tambien le exigieron que diera un
macho cabrio a Esu antes de hacer el sacrificio.

Despues de dar el macho cabrio a Esu, el tom6 el sacrificio a la orilla del camino d6nde el
prepar6 a un tripode con la lefia bajo el mientras encendiendo el fuego en el. El puso los
tres pedazos de fiame dentro de la olla cocci6n. El fiame estaba cocinando cuando el colg6
la bolsa que contiene su ropa llevando y despues del ligamiento el gallo vivo a un palo, el
devolvi6 casa. Habiendo comido su macho cabrio, Esu fue a la mancha d6nde Orunmila
deposit6 su sacrificio y escondi6 detras de un bosquecillo.

Cuando los mensajeros de Muerte consiguieron a la mancha d6nde el sacrificio puso, ellos
cocinaron el fiame, mataron y asaron el gallo y se ayud6 a la comida. Esu permiti6 los tres
de ellos terminar comiendo antes de salir para desafiarlos. Cuando el les pregunt6 que
donde ellos estaban viniendo de, ellos explicaron que les enviaron por la Muerte del cielo
traer Orunmila con ellos. Despues de acusarlos de hurto, el los record6 la regla celestial
que una divinidad no mata a una persona despues de comer su comida, el descubri6 a ellos
que Orunmila ya estaba camino al cielo y que ellos se lo habrian encontrado en la mancha
pero para el hecho que el devolvi6 casa para coleccionar sus instrumentos del divnation.
El les dijo que la comida que ellos simplemente habian robado estaba preparandose por
Orunmila para su jornada al cielo. Esu les dijo que devolvieran al cielo para decir a la
divinidad de muerte que ellos habian comido la comida de Orunmila inadvertidamente y
de, no podria traerlo al cielo. Ellos eran que mucho relev6 para devolver al cielo, mientras
obviando el riesgo de cortejar la multa de muerte por robar asi. Orunmila se sali6 como
consecuencia en paz en la tierra para vivir a una vejez madura.

Cuando aparece a la adivinaci6n, la persona se <lira hacer un sacrificio similar para

anticipar el peligro de muerte. El debe frente-advertirse sin embargo que es probable que
el sea una victima de robo como una expiaci6n por ahorrar su vida.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para las Ratas

(Cuando este Odu aparece a la adivinaci6n, un kolanut debe proporcionarse y debe

rajarse al instante)

Es una palabra buena que saca el kolanut del bolsillo. Es una palabra mala que invita una
palmada a la cara. Ese era el proverbio con que Orunmila hizo la adivinaci6n para las ratas
cuando ellos estaban pillandose por el gato. El gato siempre habia tenido exito deteniendo
el alivio de venir a las ratas disparando a cualquier sacerdote divino que viene a la tierra
de ratas. Cualquiera yendo a a la casa de las ratas tenian que atravesar la fortaleza del
gato.

Orunmila se habia invitado por el rey de ratas (Ukpere en Yoruba y Uyenghen en Bini),
venir y ayudarles resolver su problema de muertes subitas y perdida de nifios como
resultado del menance del gato.

Cuando Ogunda-Iwori era de viaje a la tierra de las ratas, el se abord6 de repente por el
gato que estaba armado con su espada atado a su cintura. Cuando el le pregunt6 a
Ogunda-Iwori donde el iba, el mintio que el rey de las ratas (Ukpere en Yoruba y
Uyenghen en Bini) tenia para largo se endeudado a el y que el iba a exigir el re-pago. El
gato tambien mintio a el que el era designado como el reloj-perro de las ratas detener a los
intrusos de venir a perturbarlos porque ellos estaban celebrando su fiesta anual.

Ogunda-Iwori halago el gato sin embargo con la propuesta acompafiarlo a la tierra de las
ratas para tranquilizarlos que el no era un intruso peligroso. El gato reiterado aclarando
Ogunda-Iwori para proceder en sujomada, porque si el lo acompafiara que las ratas se
asustarian. El gato saco un kolanut de su bolsillo para Ogunda-Iwori henderse para la
libacion en esa nota. Eso era como Orunmila concluyo que es una palabra buena que trae
el kolanut del bolsillo, mientras una palabra mala saca la espada de su caso.

Cuando Orunmila consiguio al pueblo de ratas, ellos estaban contentos recibirlo, por
consumir la barricada del gato con exito. A la adivinacion subsecuente el los constituyo el
les aconsej o que sirvieran sus cabezas jun to con la salsa del melon (lru en Yoruba y
Evbarhie en Bini). El agrego que ellos eran no comer fuera de la salsa del melon con que
ellos sirvieron sus cabezas y que todos ellos eran quedarse en casa durante siete dias
despues del sacrificio sin aventurar fuera. El tambien uso una campanilla para hacer el
sacrificio para ellos despues de que el lo posiciono a la entrada al pueblo. El les dijo que si
ellos pudieran quedarse casa despues del sacrificio durante siete dias sin salir, Esu
cercarian una campanilla para alertarlos siempre que el gato estuviera acercandose.

Despues de dejar para casa, las ratas consiguieron razonar entre ellos juntos, mientras
preguntandose si ellos no se hambrearian a la muerte, si ellos tuvieran que permanecer en
casa durante siete dias. Ellos estaban de acuerdo entre ellos concluyendo ese Orunmila no
sepa su trabajo. Desde que ellos no pudieran resistirse el impulso para comer de la salsa
del melon con que ellos habian servido sus cabezas, ellos habian frustrado la
manifestacion del sacrificio. Ademas, ellos no podrian quedarse en casa durante incluso
un dia Ueno. Tres dias despues de la salida de Orunmila, ellos sostuvieron otra
conferencia a que ellos decidieron no esperar por Esu para cercar la campanilla para
advertirlos del acercamiento del gato, pero para atarlo solo a la cintura del gato. Despues
de guitar la campanilla de la verja donde Orunmila lo habia posicionado, su rey requerido
ofrece atar la campanilla a la cintura del gato.

Eso el origen del refran es "Que manda el gato a la campanilla? " desde que nadie ofrecio
a la campanilla el gato. Por eso el gato ha continuado pillando a voluntad desde entonces
las ratas.

Cuando este lfa aparece al ugbodu, la persona se aconsejara para servir; el nuevo lfa con
una madre-cabra vieja y ukpere o rata del uyenghen; Ogun con un caracol ser quebrado en
su uma; y un macho cabrio del hebe para Esu para comer exclusivamente para superar las
maquinaciones malas de un enemigo poderoso.

A la adivinacion, la persona debe aconsejarse para hacer el sacrificio con un macho cabrio
a Esu frustrar los planes de un enemigo y anticipar el riesgo de decir las cosas malas a una
reunion.

Dispute Entre dos Sacerdotes de Ifa Compitiendo

El Ogunda Awo Ashe, el abase de Iwori. Ellos eran dos hermanos que eran los sacerdotes
de lfa habiles y compitiendo a menudo para la supremacia. Un dia, ellos dieron su dinero
de la madre para comprar una cabra para ellos hacer el sacrificio. Despues de que su
madre dej6 para el mercado, un argumento sucedi6 entre ellos acerca de si su madre
interpretaria equivocadamente sus instrucciones y compraria dos cabras en lugar de uno.
Uno de ellos predijo que su madre iba a comprar una cabra mientras el otro predijo que
ella iba a venir casa con dos cabras.

Entretanto, su madre lleg6 al mercado y compr6 una cabra, pero desconocido a ella, estaba
en su ultima fase de embarazo. Ella habia asumido que que subsecuentemente ningun
criador del vivir-acci6n venderia una cabra embarazada a sabiendas, ella concluy6 que su
fisico robusto era una funci6n de colesterol graso excesivo. Sin embargo, antes de la
ultima curvatura a su casa, la cabra detuvo la mudanza de repente y empez6 a gemir en el
dolor. Cuando la mujer vieja todavia estaba intentando averiguar lo que estaba equivocado
con el, la cabra entreg6 a un nifio. Ella ejecut6 casa rapidamente para llamar a sus nifios
para tomar a la cabra de la madre y su nifio a la casa.

Despues por el dia, cuando ellos estaban evaluando las manifestaciones de sus
predicciones, su madre decidi6 la materia declarando los dos de ellos el derecho, porque
ella compr6 una cabra realmente del mercado pero lleg6 casa con las dos cabras. Ella lo
puso en las palabras siguientes: - el se de Ogunda - el ase de Iwori.
Cuando aparece a la adivinaci6n, la persona se aconsejara servir Esu con el fiame
aplastado, el fiame asado, una cucharada de aceite de la palma y un macho cabrio para
ganar un concurso en el offing.

La adivinacion para Asese-Lagodo, el Servidor De cabeza

Ogunda ko Lapo, lwori ko ni of a.

Omo olofa raj a, Omo olofa rajo.
Adifa fun Ase se lagado

Esos eran los awos que la adivinaci6n hecho para Asese Lagodo que iba a estar sirviendo
las cabezas de reyes. La traducci6n literaria de su nombre era "dondequiera que la cabeza
es el destinated para ir, los pies los wil lo llevan alli." Le aconsejaron que hiciera el
sacrificio con 16 palomas, 16 kolanuts y un macho cabrio grande. El hizo el sacrificio y la
medicina necesaria (Ayajo) se prepar6 para el. El se dio dos del kolanuts para servir a su
cabeza y a otro dos servir sus pies mientras sirviendo su cabeza y pies, el era orar como
sigue: -

"Ibi on ngbe mi re,

Ki ese ma sin mi lo."

Significando:

Dondequiera que mi cabeza me toma a,

mis pies me llegaran alli.

Cuando algunos amigos oyeron sus oraciones como el estaba sirviendo su cabeza, ellos lo
informaron al Oba que pidi6 que el hombre debe acusarse ante el. Cuando el lleg6 al
palacio, el Oba le pidi6 que mencionara el tipo de trabajo el quiso hacer, el contest6 que el se
especializ6 sirviendo su cabeza. El Oba les pidi6 a los ordenanzas del palacio que mantuvieran
un cuarto lo en el palacio.
La mai'iana siguiente, el Oba lo invit6 y le dio kolanuts para servir su ( el Oba) la cabeza. El
or6 para el Oba, el reino y el. Mientras orando para el, el repiti6 sus oraciones usuales "para
sus pies llevarlo dondequiera que que su cabeza fue destinada para ir." Sus oraciones para que
enfureci6 el Oba que el pidi6 que el fuera vendido en la esclavitud. Por esa misma raz6n, el se
encontr6 sirviendo como un esclavo cabezasirviendo en los palacios de los dieciseis Obas del
mundo conocido del tiempo, mientras terminando con el Oba de Benin. Sus oraciones tambien
incomodaron el Oba de Benin que pidi6 que el debe ponerse viva en un ataud y hacia el
sacrificio a Olokun, la divinidad de agua. El se intern6 de acuerdo con en un ataud y ech6 en el
mar. A causa del sacrificio el habia hecho originalmente, Esu se asegur6 que el no sofoc6
dentro del ataud.

Entretanto, rey Asawori de Iwori, una isla en el mar, se habia muerto y despues de las
ceremonias funebres, los rey-fabricantes invitaron el diviners tradicional a hacer la adivinaci6n
para la cita de un nuevo Oba. Los diviners llegaron a una revelaci6n unanime que el pr6ximo
rey iba a venir del agua y no de la tierra. Eso se interpret6 por los superiores para referirse a
los marineros y buzos. Los diviners despidieron la interpretaci6n e insistieron que el pr6ximo
rey no fuera a venir del pueblo de Iwori pero de una tierra distante a traves del mar.

Despues de las predicciones, los superiores posicionaron a algunas personas para tripular una
torre de luz-casa de encima de-cabeza para guardar una veinticuatro vigilia de la hora en el
terraplen del mar. Una mai'iana los vigilantes a la torre vieron un ataud que fluye hacia la
playa del mar. Los buzos fueron invitados a recuperar el ataud del agua inmediatamente.
Como ellos estaba a punto de usar el hacha para romper el ataud, Asese Lagodo llor6 el ataud
desde dentro "Ema-kpa-mi-o", desde que el habl6 en Yoruba, las personas no entendieron lo
que el dijo, pero sus palabras eran bastante para alertarlos que un ser humano estaba dentro del
ataud. Cuando ellos abrieron el ataud finalmente cuidadosamente, ellos encontraron a un
adulto masculino palido-pareciendo, y lo tom6 a los superiores. Cuando los diviners fueron
congregados una vez mas para hacer la adivinaci6n en la importancia del desarrollo extrai'io,
ellos todos confirmaron que el hombre extrai'io era su nuevo rey. El se trat6 durante tres dias
para recuperar de su prueba del mar. Tres dias despues de su llegada, el se coron6 como el
nuevo Asawori de iwori. Su entronizaci6n introdujo en una epoca de paz y prosperidad al
reino de la isla de Iwori. Es el reino del mar de Iwori que los exploradores portugueses
cambiaron despues al pueblo de Warri en el Delta State de Nigeria.

En el tercero anual de su coronaci6n, el decidi6 visitar el Oba de Dificultad. Despues del

intercambio de bromas, el le pregunt6 al Oba de Benin si el lo reconoci6. El Oba contest6 que
el no hizo, aunque el habia estado informado que un nuevo rey se habia coronado en Iwori. El
Oba fue enmudecido que cuando Asawori descubri6 que el era el esclavo que el deposit6 a la
divinidad de agua en un ataud por orar que sus pies deben llevarlo a d6nde su cabeza fue
destinada para ir. El Oba concluy6 eso de hecho, sus pies lo habian llevado a su destino,
mientras agregando que de verdad, "nadie puede matar a cualquiera a menos que la cabeza esta
de acuerdo en matar uno."
Cuando aparece a la adivinaci6n, la persona se aconsejara hacer los sacrificios antedichos y
servir su cabeza para posicionar sus pies en el camino de su destino.
El Divined para la Catapulta

Ogunda ko la kpo, Iwori ko lo fa. lfon kan ni o nse

inu akpo rojo rojo

Esos eran los Awos que la adivinacion hecho para la catapulta que dio el nacimiento a un
nifio ella iba a enviar en una jomada larga. Le aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio para
que el poderio del nifio no se muera durante la jomada. Ella no hizo el sacrificio. No
obstante, ella envio a su nifio en una jomada distante de que el no devolvio casa.

Cuando ella se pidio el paradero de su hijo, ella contesto que el habia seguido una jomada
larga (la oda de side "olo el "jan de i) que es el ruido hecho hasta el momento por la
catapulta.

A la adivinacion, la persona debe aconsejarse para no enviar a sus nifios en cualquier

jomada larga sin hacer el sacrificio para evitar el riesgo de muerte subita durante la gira. El
sacrificio es hecho con un macho cabrio a Esu.
 Capitulo 4
OGUNDA-IDI
OGUNDA-DI-UGBIN

La Adlvinacion para El Antes de Dejar el Cielo

Ogunda du gbin, Agele dadi okoko, obere jaki ra udi yo se

se.
Kiki ki moki ogbe, kaba ti ki ogbe m'eta, Ara osule ni ta.
Odi fa fun oja oluo ojomo.

Cuando este Odu estaba viniendo de] cielo, el fue por la adivinacion en que hacer para mejorar
las vidas de las personas en el mundo. Le dijeron que hiciera el sacrificio para poder llevar a
las personas del mundo con la corona que el estaba trayendo del cielo. Le exigieron que
sirviera Esu con un macho cabrio para evitar al ser mato por los beneficiarios de su
benevolencia, a traves de la ingratitud. El tambien era hacer el sacrificio especial con la tiza
blanca, cauris y las plumas de loro, conejo, paloma, tela blanca, caracol y una calabaza de
aceite de la palma para depender el derecho sexualmente potente de la tarde de su vida. El hizo
que todos los sacrificios y el Awos prepararon un bafio para el en un hormiguero con una cima
abierta. Era una enfermedad del fondo que preocupo el hormiguero que le hizo para abrir su
cima. Detras de hacer los sacrificios, el vino al mundo.

El se confronto con todos los tipos de problemas de las varias fuentes cuando el consiguio al
mundo. Se usaron los encantos contra el y el club de brujeria lo marco fuera para la
destruccion detenerlo de llevar a cabo sus intenciones buenas en el mundo. Lamarca en su
cabeza llamada la muerte una serpiente cuando joven porque el hara las maravillas si permitio
crecer en la madurez". La marca en su cabeza era un signo de identificacion para alertar a las
brujas por todas partes el fue que el se puso en lista para la eliminacion,

Despues de experimentar varios problemas en las fases diferentes de su vida, el los suddendly
descubrieron que el era sexualmente impotente. El fue entonces por la adivinacion a que el fue
dicho dar un macho cabrio a Esu y baiiarse dentro del rio con las hojas de Ifa apropiadas
mezclo con la sangre un macho cabrio castrado, gallo y paloma. El hizo el sacrificio despues
de que el recobro su potencia, y su prosperidad dejo el cielo para encontrarselo en la tierra. El
empezo a hacer el progreso notable en su trabajo. El tambien se cas6 a mas esposas y tenia
varios nifios. Cualquier hombre para quien este Odu aparece a Ugbodu tendra muchos nifios si
el hace este sacrificio especial, mientras siguiendo un chaparron de impotencia del transcient.

Entretanto le dijeron que prohibiera el caracol porque era el caracol de que lo acompafio el
cielo. Le dijeron hacer otro sacrificio especial con su propio esputo, la tela blanca, la hoja
especial del caracol llamo oveja-ugbin que crece una hoja un afio para lograr una posicion de
honor y dignidad. Esta con su salive (el Ase dado a el por Dios) que el caracol sube arboles y
movimientos y para pisar en la tierra.
La adivinacion Constituyo Orunmila en el Cielo Anticipar los Planes de Enemigos
para Acortar Su Vida

Ogunda-di-igbin, Igbin ku, on ni Iku

Olobahun. Iru gan-gan ni ija ejo, Eni ke ni ti
o bate ejo-oka ni iru,
IJa m on wa.
Adifa fun Orunmila ba'de orun. if a sowipe o nyio lo gbe
igba odun I'aiye. Awon ota sowipe ko'saye. Orunmila bere
lowo okeponrin wipe kini ebo? Oso wi pe odidi oka kon,
Odidi ekun kon, odidi ki niun. Orunmila ru ebo.

Orunmila fri6 el caracol y se muri6. La tortuga se muere a traves de su cabeza. La cola es

la parte intocable del cuerpo de la boa. Si uno toca la cola de la boa, uno esta invitando su
indignacion. Cualquiera que molesta dada-akuja, la hija de Sango vera la reaccion de
Sango. Si Ogunda esta vencido, uno vera la reaccion de Idi. Si un sacerdote de Ifa se
molesta, uno comprendera la eficacia de sacrificio. Si yo estoy vencido, el agresor vera la
reaccion de las fuerzas poderosas detras de mi.

Estos eran los Awos que la adivinacion hecho para Ogunda-Idi cuando el le dijo a Dios en
el cielo que el estaba viniendo a pasarse doscientos afios en el mundo para hacerlo mas
habitable. Sus enemigos se burlaron de el que el estaba hablando en broma porque ellos ni
no iban a darle una oportunidad para vivir ese largo, ni para permitirle embarcar en sus
planes reformatorios. Le aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio con una boa entera, un tigre
entero y un leon entero. El hizo el sacrificio despues de que el sacerdote de Ifa prepar6 un
polvo negro especial para el marcar una vez en su cabeza por afio la tierra encendida,
mientras repitiendo la encantacion siguiente:

Es imposible para 200 azadas superar una montafia.

Es imposible para 200 machetes cortar y derrumbar el cielo.
Es imposible para 200 moscas derrotar la vaca.
Es imposible para 200 perros derrotar el tigre.
Es imposible para 200 animales derrotar el le6n, y
Es imposible para 200 arboles derrotar el Asori obligue a refugiarse en un arbol en el
bosque.

Detras de las preparaciones, Orunmila vino al mundo y aunque el fue molestado y

atormento por sus varios enemigos en la tierra, el no solo sobrevivio a todos ellos pero
tambien vivi6 a una vejez madura antes de devolver a voluntad al cielo.
Cuando este Ifa aparece para cualquiera a Ugbodu, este sacrificio especial (Ono-Ifa) se
preparara para el. Ademas de las partes de las plantas antedichas y animales, un animal
llamado Ikoko se agregara, algo se tomara de siete colinas I las montafias, y el ladrido de
arbol de Asori. Ellos legan todos este juntos quemado o molido para la persona marcar
una vez en su cabeza por afio y cuando el tiene oposicion tiesa que es el resultado de la
accion enemiga.

Como Su Prosperidad Vino Del Cielo

Aiyele 'ekpo, Aiye Jo oun, Aiye lu ma ba dongbongbon

Aiye han owo Otun, Aiye ro owo osi. Adaghin da ko, Arna me
 hin mona, adafa fun Asikolokolo. Ogbe no reshi yun bo.

Despues de Hamar el dugbin de Ogunda, diga, el mundo que tiene el aceite de la palma, el
mundo que tiene la sal, el pueblo del ofthe mundial de Umoba, es muy dulce. El mundo
que doto la mano derecha de la prosperidad sin recordar la mano izquierda. Rizo la
adivinacion para Asikkolokolo (el nombre celestial de este Odu). Cuando el consiguio a la
tierra, el era muy pobre, mientras teniendo ninguna esposa, ningun nifio y ninguna casa.
El fue entonces por la adivinacion al Awos antedicho que le aconsejo que hiciera el
sacrificio con un solo caracol a su cabeza y para cocinar el caracol para comer con oveja-
ugbin. Ese eraser el ultimo caracol que el era comer para el resto de su vida. Tambien le
aconsejaron dar el macho cabrio a Esu y enviar los regalos a la divinidad de agua.
Finalmente, le dijeron que el tendria bastante dinero pronto para construir una casa de
dieciseis cuartos. El sirvio su cabeza pero se olvido de servir Esu que le exigieron que
hiciera para disfrutar su riqueza a una vejez madura. No anhele despues, el pudo construir
una casa de dieciseis cuartos. Le habian aconsejado que hiciera el fuego en su casa todos
los dias, para que los humos salieran todo el dia de la chimenea de su casa. El estaba
haciendo para que todos los dias.

Entretanto, Iya-Alaje (la madre de riqueza) se presento el cielo a Orunmila a la

adivinacion en que hacer antes de ir a la tierra y en el orderto se encuentra con el marido
correcto en la tierra. Orunmila le dijo que sirviera Esu con dos machos cabrio, uno grande
y otro pequefio para Esu para comer exclusivamente.

Orunmila le dijo que devolviera a el despues de que tres dias le digan el suefio ella tenia,
(por eso cuando este Odu aparece a la adivinacion, la persona se pedira narrar el he/she de
suefio tenido dentro de los ultimos tres dias ). Ella hizo el sacrificio y tres dias despues,
ella volvio para informar el suefio ella tenia a Orunmila. Ella explico que que ella vio a los
tres hombres mas fuertes en tierra Hamada, se determinaron Ogun, Sango y Sankpana, y
ella para casarse uno de ellos en conseguir a la tierra. Orunmila la advirtio no permitirse
ser desencaminado por las apariencias exteriores sin embargo. Con ese consejo ella dejo
para una visita temporal a la tierra.

En conseguir al mundo, ella se encontro Sango primero. Cuando ella llego a su casa, ella
exigio ver Sango. Cuando el parecia introducirse, una pelota de llamas chorreo fuera de su
boca que asusto su tanto que ella no pudiera mirar sus ojos. Ella mintio como
consecuencia que ella estaba buscando a un hombre de hecho llamado Ogun, y Sango le
mostro la direccion de la casa de Ogun. Whe que ella llego a la choza de Ogun, ella se lo
encontro inquietamente de un lado a otro el pacing. Cuando Ogun era suficientemente a
gusto ver su vistor, el saco un hierro rojo-caliente de su homo de la explosion y la
enfrento. Cuando ella queria que el la tomara a su casa, Ogun confirmo esa era su casa,
ella mintio una vez mas que ella estaba buscando Sankpana de hecho. Ogun tambien la
dirigio a la casa de Sankpana. En llegar a la casa de Sankpana, ella encontro eso que solo
una parte de la casa fue construida. En el lado que no se construyo a ella los cadaveres de
centenares de seres humanos matados por Sankpana con la varicela pequefia vieron
recientemente, ella se lo encontro extendiendo las epidemias tirando el maiz sobre. Ella
fue dejada perplejo asi completamente que ella empezo a preguntarse por que ella vio a
los tales hombres peligrosos en su suefio y por que ellos eran tan populares en el cielo.
Habiendo estado asustado por Sankpana, ella pidio el nombre del duefio de la casa de que
el humo estaba viniendo fuera delante. Sankpana le dijo que la casa pertenecio a
una suerte dura la nulidad llamada Asikolokolo que vivio exclusivamente en una casa
grande sin cualquier familia o dependants. Era muy tarde por la tarde cuando ella llego a
la casa de Asikolokolo, ella se lo encontro en casa, e intercambio los saludos. A causa de
su disposicion mansa ella pidio ver al duefio de la casa. Asikolokolo mintio que el
propietario habia viajado. Una caracteristica particular de los nifios de este odu es que
ellos son generalmente modestos, humildes y ego borrando. Ella pregunto sin embargo si
el seria amable bastante para darle un lugar en la casa solo durante la noche, porque ya era
demasiado tarde para ella devolver casa.

El la tomo entonces a traves de los cuartos en la casa ver que de ellos iba a ser conveniente
para ella quedarse. Ella escogi6 uno de los cuartos, y Asikolokolo abri6 el cuarto para ella
entrar. Cuando ella entro en el cuarto, ell a sac6 el palo pequefio ( el oj e de Okpa en el
yoruba y Uwenriontan en Bini) ella trajo del cielo, pegue el suelo del cuarto con el, y
todos los requisitos necesarios que ella necesito usar, aparecido del cielo. Ellos incluyeron
dinero, genero y ropas de cama. Cuando ella estaba dejando la mafiana siguiente, ella le
dijo a Asikolokolo que ella iba al mercado de akira de mekon de oja-Ajigbo y volveria en
cinco tiempo de los dias. Antes de salir, ella prometi6 comprarle regalos del mercado para
esta obligando asi a ella, y le dijo que le dijera al propietario tomar todo encontrado en el
cuarto en que ella alojo, cuando el volvio de dondequiera que el fue. Despues de la salida,
Asikolokolo abrio el cuarto y el fue asombrado para encontrar el dinero y riqueza la mujer
dejada atras. El pudo tener el dinero para amueblar los cuartos en la casa hacerlos mas
habitable. El empez6 a preguntarse que la mujer era sin embargo.

Cuando ella prometi6, ella volvi6 despues de cinco dias y le dio los regalos que ella
compr6 para el a Asikolokolo. El le agradeci6 inmensamente. Cuando ella le pregunto que
si el duefio de la casa todavia no habia vuelto de su gira, era entonces ese Asikolokolo
contesto que la casa perteneci6 a el, y el expres6 su gratitud profunda por los regalos
detallados que ella sali6 en el cuarto durante ella ultima visita. A ese punto, Iya-Alaje
ofrecio casarselo y el estaba de acuerdo. Ella invit6 a los hombres y mujeres que la
acornpafiaron del cielo entonces, mientras diciendole que escogiera seis fuera de las
mujeres casarselo junto con ella. Por eso los cirumstances siempre haran a los nifios de
este odu casarse a siete esposas. Iya-Alaje trajo riqueza y prosperidad y le compro un
caballo porque ella no queria que su marido caminara de pie sobre. Desde aquel momento,
Iya-Alaje regresaba de viaje al cielo. Ella no tenia un nifio para el, pero las otras esposas
tenian los nifios suficientes.

Un dia, el estaba montando en su caballo cuando el se encontro uno del Awos que la
adivinacion hecho y sacrifica para el antes de que el se pusiera pr6spero. En lugar de bajar
del caballo para saludarlo, el ondeo su volar-batidor (la cola del caballo) para saludarlo. El
hombre fue molestado. Al mismo tiempo, estaba en ese punto que Esu decidio castigarlo
para el macho cabrio que el no lo dio. Esu pestafieo sus ojos a el y el se cayo del caballo y
se puso inconsciente. Esu sin embargo, de nuevo aparecia a el en la guisa de un filantropo
y lo reavivo en la conciencia. El tambien le aconsej6 que regresara a su Awos para la
adivinaci6n en que hacer para que toda su prosperidad pudiera volver del cielo. Cuando el
consigui6 al sacerdote de Ifa, el le dijo que despues de que su esposa dej6 para el mercado,
el debe renovar su casa con las basuras humanas. Desconocido a el, Iya-Alaje prohibi6
para ver las basuras humanas. Cuando ella volvi6 del cielo para ver el cara-alzamiento
abominable que el dio a su casa, la mujer fue molestada y lo dej6 para bueno. Por eso se
dicen a los nifios de Odu que sean pr6speros
bastante para montar en los autom6viles, pero siempre debe salir de su autom6vil para saludar
su partrons de lfa ( el sacerdote de lfa que dio lfa a el). Ellos nunca deben ondear sus manos
para saludar a sus sacerdotes de lfa, o muestra cualquier formulario de falta de respeto a ellos.

Cuando este Ifa aparece a U gbodu, la persona nunca debe advertirse para mostrar ingratitud o
disprespect a su lfa engendre o patrocinador. El debe servir lfa con 16 caracoles, golpeandolos
entre si contra, (uno de ellos para Ogun) en la uma de lfa. El debe conseguir 201 wallnut sale
(el asala de la oveja en el yoruba y Ebe-okhue en Bini) 201 hojas de agban de la oveja (Urua
en Bini) y una boa entera (el oka en el yoruba y Arumwoto en Bini). el Apret6n todas las hojas
en una cubeta de agua y usa el agua para lavar su ikin. Sirva el lfa con la boa y una gallina, y
sirva la cabeza mientras retrocediendo la uma de Ifa con una guinea-ave. El debe pedir
Orunmila para enviar su prosperidad a el sin exigirlo. En otros terminos, el no debe exigir los
sobomos pero no debe rechazar las satisfacciones gratuitas. El debe; nunca crie un perro, y no
coma las frutas de vino de Jerez del african (el agbalumo de Osan en el yoruba y otien en
Bini.) El tambien debe prohibir la came de todas las serpientes y las cames de macho cabrio y
debe castrar el macho cabrio. El debe prohibir plaintains cocinado o debe asar con su piel.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para Shaaki Al Ir a Hacer la Adivinacion para Olokun

Ogunda-di-igbin, akpere ja di araro. Odifa fun Shaaki, oron Ogun

odidi, ni jo to'nshe awo fun Olokun sherin ade. Ani ki ofi ewure ati
eyele merin, ru ebo.

Ogun cort6 la cola del caracol. La cesto tenia paz de mente despues de perder su base o fondo.
Esos eran los Awos que la adivinaci6n hecho para Shaaki con la ayuda de Ogun cuando el iba
hacer la adivinaci6n y sacrificar para Olokun, la divinidad de agua. Le dijeron que hiciera el
sacrificio con una cabra y cuatro palomas. El hizo el sacrificio con una cabra y cuatro palomas.
El hizo el sacrificio despues de que el se puso adinerado. Despues de esto, Olokun lo
compens6 para la eficacia del trabajo que el hizo para el.

Cuando este odu aparece a Ugbodu, la persona debe aconsejarse que su prosperidad vendra de
vivir y trabajar el mar casi.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para Ekiri, el Rey de Antilopes,

Ogunda-di-igbin, agba ojadi oda lowo ana re, Okusu dadi

agere, agere odadi arawon. Adafa fun Ekiri nijo ti ofe lo je
oye Olowo njo.

El hierro cort6 la cola del caracol. La cesto quit6 su fondo para lograr el independece. El tinte
del caso cort6 el fondo de la olla, y su restos fue usado para hacer otro tinte. Esos eran los
Awos que la adivinaci6n hecho para el rey de cabras del arbusto cuando el estaba a punto de
ascender al trono de su padre. Le dijeron que hiciera el sacrificio con la ropa oscura que el
tenia. El se neg6 a partir con el vestido, porque el lo destin6 para sus ceremonias de
coronaci6n.
En el dia de coronaci6n, Esu transfigur6 en un mayor hombre que pregunt6 si Ekiri habia
realizado el ritual de pre-coronaci6n en el bosque. Cuando era inveterado que el no habia
realizado la ceremonia el mayor hombre (Esu) dirigi6 Ekiri para ir al arbol localiz6 en el
derecho de la entrada al pueblo y que en llegar alli el encontraria un bosquecillo al derecho del
arbol, Simplemente despues del bosquecillo, el hombre dirigi6, el encontraria una senda que el
era seguir, hasta que el viniera a un mont6n de arena blanca. El era tocar el mont6n de arena
blanca con su cabeza tres veces antes de devolver casa para las ceremonias de coronaci6n
tomar la corona.

Ekiri tuvo exito localizando el mont6n de arena blanca, pero despues de tocarlo con su cabeza,
tres veces, el levant6 a su cabeza para devolver casa. Despues de esto, el se encontr6 rodeado
por un bosque espeso a que no llev6 en ninguna parte. El vag6 en el bosque sin poder
encontrar su manera atras casa.

Despues de que los rey-fabricantes habian esperado en vano por Ekiri devolver casa, la corona
se dio a alguien mas. Ekiri permanecia en el bosquecillo d6nde el se encuentra a menudo por
cazadores y se mata hasta el momenta.

Cuando este Odu aparece a la adivinaci6n para un hombre, deben aconsejarle que tenga su
propio Ifa sin el retraso evitar hacer las cosas por la mitad medida o fortuna del
unconsummated (Amubo en el yoruba y Osobonomasunu en Bini). El debe hacer el sacrificio
con un macho cabrio y una tela negra o vestido que el tiene en casa para tener exito logrando
sus objetivos. Si aparece para una mujer que ella o debe casarse a un hombre que tiene su
propio Orunmila o debe aconsejarle a su esposo que tenga su propio Ifa para prosperar en la
vida. Ella tambien debe servir Esu con su vestido negro y un macho cabrio.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para Idaho y la Hija de Olokun

Kpata riko abawo mono mono. Adifa fun Idaho t'onlo fe omo
Olokin shemn-ade shaya. Ani ki omo Olokun fi abo adiye bo oh.
Atun ni ki Idaho fi abo adiye bo on.

Las ramas de la palma real con un cuerpo brillante liso eran el nombre del Awo que la
adivinaci6n hecho para Idahor cuando el era pobre y tenia ninguna esposa, nifios, o dinero. Le
aconsejaron que sirviera su cabeza con una gallina, y para hacer el sacrificio con un gallo y
una guinea el ave. Al mismo tiempo, la hija de Olokun fue aconsejada para servir su cabeza
con una gallina para encontrarse con ella destin6 al marido.

Cuando ella fue coma consecuencia al mercado para comprar la gallina para servir su cabeza,
ella solo se encontr6 con una sola gallina en el mercado. Mientras ella estaba preciandolo,
Idahor la apropi6 soltando mas dinero que el precio inicial. La hija de Olokun fue molestada y
una rifia sucedi6 entre ella e Idahor. A pesar del premio pagado por Idahor, ella se aferr6
indomablemente a la gallina. Desde que los dos de ellos fueron exigidos servir sus cabezas con
una gallina en ese dia, ninguno de ellos fue preparado conceder al otro.

Entretanto, Esu surgi6 en ninguna parte de jugar el papel de un mayor arbitro. Desde que los
dos de ellos tenian que diferir al mayor hombre, el tom6 la gallina de ellos mientras
pidiendoles que declararan sus casos. Despues de escucharlos el estableci6 la
disputa aconsejandole a Idahor que pagara por la gallina, mientras la muchacha lo sostuvo,
y siguiendo el anterior a su casa para que los dos de ellos pudieran servir sus cabezas junto
con la sola gallina. Ellos accedieron a de buena gana al consejo.

Cuando ellos llegaron a la casa de Idahor, ellos se sentaban juntos y sirvieron sus cabezas
con la gallina. Despues de esto, la muchacha fue a la cocina cocinar la gallina y preparar el
i'iame golpeado con los tuberculos proporciono por Idahor. La noche hubo sido lejos
cuando ellos completaron comiendo la comida del sacrifical. Por consiguiente, ellos tenian
que pasarse la noche juntos. Como ellos estaba haciendo el amor durante la noche, la
muchacha descubrio que ella habia completado simplemente su menstration.

Por la mai'iana, la muchacha se preparo para devolver casa, pero Idahor la detuvo en la
tierra que le dijeron a la adivinacion que cualquier mujer que lo unio cuando sirviendo su
cabeza deben hacerse quedarse un minimo de siete dias. La hija de Olokun aceptaba su
orden. Al final de los siete dias, ella habia tornado una determinacion para vivir el
perpetualy con el como el hombre y esposa. Idahor se puso adinerado pronto siguiendo a
la prosperidad que la hija de Olokun trajo su tren.

En la plenitud de su prosperidad, Idahor compro un caballo. El nunca se habia advertido a

la adivinacion para ondear un volar-batidor al Awos que la adivinacion hecho para el,
mientras montando un caballo. El observo el orden durante algun tiempo, pero despues de
que su prosperidad se volvio multi-facetted, el se puso delirante con la afluencia. Un dia
que el estaba encima de su caballo cuando el vio su Awos. El no se apeo de su caballo
para saludarlos cuando el hacia. El ondeo su caballo-cola meramente (Oroke) a ellos.
Los Awos se ofendieron por hacer lo que el nunca fue advertido para hacer. Ellos
decidieron invitarlo a hacer otro sacrificio despues de que el se engafio en creer que lo
haria aun mas adinerado. Le dijeron hacer una fiesta con una vaca y pedir su invitees para
pasar el excreta (la perdida humana) delante de su casa. El era hacer la fiesta cuando su
esposa estaba lejos al mercado. La hija de Olokun prohibio vivir en el mismo lugar con el
excreta, pero Idahor no supo eso. Cuando la mujer volvio de la casa para ver el frente de la
casa decorado con la perdida humana, ella salio para bueno con toda la prosperidad que
ella trajo en su vida, mientras devolviendolo asi a la penuria.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Caracol Casarse Uke, la Hija de Dios,

Tedimale, Awo Ugbin, odo

ifa fun Ugbin nijo t'onfe gba uke omo
Olodumare shaya.

El caracol era un sirviente en la casa divina de Dios. El era muy amistoso con el perro.
Dios tenia una hija llamada que Uke que estaba maduro para el matrimonio y muchos
aspirantes habia estado buscando sus manos en el matrimonio. El caracol tambien estaba
interesado en la muchacha, aunque el fue ridiculizado a menudo. Entretanto el caracol
obtenido su libertad como resultado de que el dejo los Dioses aloja para estar solo y el
empezo a practicar como un doctor tradicional. El caracol confio en el perro, su amigo que
el estaba interesado en casarse Uke. El perro traiciono la confianza y confianza del caracol
como consecuencia declarando su candidatura para las manos de Uke en el matrimonio. El
perro incluso fue a la magnitud de denunciar el caracol a la
muchacha. El tambien sugirio a Dios que desde que muchos aspirantes estaban disputando
para el matrimonio de Uke, El debe estipular una condicion que el primero de ellos verlo
que se bafia se daria la primera opcion de la negativa para casarsela. Esa estaba una
invencion para fuera cazar zorras el caracol que ni podria mover rapidamente ni carrera.
Dios acepto la sugerencia del perro sin embargo invitando a todos los aspirantes que
contienden para Uke para encontrarselo la mafiana siguiente que promete que se daria el
primero en hacer asi la muchacha en el matrimonio.

En su camino a casa de la sesi6n de informaci6n, el caracol decidi6 ir a Tedimale el Awo

vena llara por la adivinaci6n. Era Ogunda- Idi que aparecia a la adivinacion. Le
aconsejaron que sirviera Esu a una vez y para frotar su cuerpo con la tiza blanca. Despues
del sacrificio, lfa le aconsej6 no devolver casa pero devolver en seguida al bafio de Dios, y
para ocultarse alli de la vista.

La mafiana siguiente, en cuanto el gallo braveado, Dios entro en el bafio. En cuanto Dios
entrara en el bafio, el caracol lo saludo con el saludo celestial de Salauku-Babao. Dios le
contesto y le dijo ir y esperar por El en la camara intema. Todos los otros contendedores,
incluso el perro encontrarse el caracol en la camara intema vinieron despues. Uke se habia
dado a el en el matrimonio antes del perro llego. Como consecuencia, Dios anuncio a los
otros que el caracol fue el primer contendedor en verlo en el bafio, y El habia dado Uke
por consiguiente a el.

Desde aquel momenta, la envidia contra el caracol empezo, Cuando el consiguio casa con
la muchacha, el no podria hacer el amor a ella. Intentando repetidamente en vano dar
jaque mate a con ella Uke persiguio a Dios para informar que el caracol no pudiera hacer
el amor a ella. Como consecuencia, Dios invito el caracol a empotrar Uke dentro de su
cascara. Le dijeron que buscara los ladridos de arboles llamado el gbaingbain, oshunshun
(Asuen en Bini) y egbeda, y cortarlos en los pedazos y ponerlos dentro de Oten ( el vino
del platano ), para estar bebiendo. El preparo y pudo despues de esto tener la convivencia
sexual normal con su esposa.

Despues de esto, el perro ideo otro problema para el caracol y su esposa. El perro llev6
una comision de mamiferos a Dios promulgar un decreto que prohibe los animales sin las
orejas de procrear a traves del embarazo y limitarlos a la procreacion a traves del poner de
huevos. Dios aceptaba la sugerencia y hecho una proclamacion divina de acuerdo con. A
proposito, Uke, la esposa del caracol era justa en el cutis y ella tiene el mismo color como
los huevos de los caracoles. Eso era como este odu ganaron el apodo de Ogunda-di-ugbin.

Cuando este lfa aparece a U gbodu, la persona debe servir el nuevo lfa con dieciseis
caracoles. El tambien debe servir Ogun con un perro despues de que se enterraria en la
tierra fuera de su casa, mientras agregando las hojas siguientes: siete oveja-efan, siete
oveja-irosun, siete oveja-agbigbara (Osan en Bini) y siete oveja-tete (Ebi-tete en Bini).
Todas las hojas deben usarse a bajo-ponga la tumba antes de enterrar el perro en el. El
sacrificio especial se hace para impedirles a las mujeres malas entrar en su vida. A un
periodo conveniente en su vida, el debe servir lfa con un camera y usa la came para
cocinar consecutivamente para lfa encima de un tres periodo del dia, mientras agregando
el fiame golpeado.
Cuando aparece a la adivinacion, la persona se aconsejara para servir Ifa con un macho
cabrio evitar tener los problemas debido a las mujeres.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para Yeye-Oja Save la Vida de Su Unico Hijo

Ki ki ki moki ogbe. Ki aba ti ki ogbe me eta,

Ara osule ni'ta. Odi fa fun Oja oluo ojomo.

El hizo la adivinacion para Y eye-Oja que dio a su unico hijo a Ojomo principal como un
sirviente. La hora extraordinarias, el servicio del hombre joven lo satisfizo tanto que else
puso en el cargo de la granja de Ojomo con el sobriquet de Ojomo-oko. Una vez en un
tiempo Ojomo principal envio para Orunmila venir y hacer la adivinacion para el.

Cuando Orunmila era de viaje contestar la invitacion de Ojomo principal, el atraveso una
granja donde el tiro algunas hojas de Ifa para su trabajo. En la choza de su granja la came
de una cabra del arbusto que estaba estando seco en el fuego-lugar estaba. En cuanto
Ojomo-oko viera Orunmila, el le pregunto quien le dio la autoridad para tirar las hojas en
la granja. Orunmila contesto que ellos eran libremente las hojas de plantas dotadas por
Dios y no las hojas de cosechas de la granja. Ojomo-oko retorcio dandole una palmada a
Orunmila.

Despues del tratamiento gastado, Orunmila procedio en su jomada a la casa de Ojomo

principal. En llegar a la casa de Ojomo principal, el procedio hacer la adivinacion y era
Ogunda-Idi que aparecia. El le dijo a Ojomo principal que habia tumulto en su casa y que
su prosperidad no fue consolidada. El le aconsejo que hiciera el sacrificio con una cabra,
gallina, el pez, la rata, la came de cabra del arbusto, y Ojomo-oko ato a para el sacrificio
para aliviar sus problemas. Despues de hacer la adivinacion, Orunmila decidio asistir a la
reunion de los sacerdotes divinos que estaban sosteniendose en ese dia.

Entretanto, Ojomo principal emitio instrucciones que Ojomo-oko debe ligarse en las
cadenas y debe traerse de la granja para el sacrificio. A proposito, Yeye-oja, la madre de
Ojomo-oko era una amante a Orunmila. Ella era la casa de Ojomo principal visitante en
ese dia buscar a su hijo. Ella estaba presente que cuando su hijo se trajo de la granja con
las manos, los pies y boca ataron a. Cuando ella pregunto lo que la materia era, Ojomo
Principal, explicado que ese Orunmila prescribio sacrificio ser hecho con el. Cuando ella
pregunto que quien el sacerdote de Ifa era, ella movio con esfuerzo un suspiro de alivio
cuando ella oyo que era Ogunda-Idi. Ella pidio su paradero y se dijo que el estaba
asistiendo a una reunion de sacerdotes divinos.

Ella corrio rapidamente al sitio de una accion de la reunion donde ella exigio al publico
privado con Ogunda-Idi. Whe que el salio para encontrarsela, ella siguio sus rodillas para
pedirle que ahorrar la vida de su unico hijo que habia sido atado a en el palacio de Ojomo
para el sacrificio en su recomendacion. El le dijo ponerse de pie y volver para esperar por
el en el palacio de Ojomo principal. Cuando la conferencia disperso, Orunmila devolvio a
la casa de Ojomo principal donde el encontro Ojomo-oko atada a para el sacrificio. El se
pregunto y exigio una explicacion, y Ojomo principal explico que era el quien recomendo
que el hombre (Ojomo-oko) debe usarse entre otras cosas, porque Dios el forbode el
sacrificio humano para el sacrificio.
Orunmila se ri6, mientras exclamando alegremente que el no recomend6 ningun sacrificio
humano. El sigui6 para explicar que lo que el quiso decir por Ojomo-oko era cualquier
tuberculo del fiame en la granja que era demasiado grande para ser el barned. Era que ese
tipo de fiame que el quiso decir debe atarse a para el sacrificio junta con la came de una
cabra del arbusto de la granja. Los sirvientes de Ojomo principal fueron a sacar el tal
tuberculo del fiame, y toda la came de cabra del arbusto que esta seco en la granja.
Entretanto, Ojomo-oko fue desatado y Orunmila le dijo que esperara por el sacrificio a ser
hecho.

Cuando se trajeron el fiame y la came de la granja, Orunmila prepar6 el sacrificio

cortando pedazos del fiame y la came que los ponen junta con la rata y pesca en el plato
de Esu. El mat6 la cabra para Ifa y les dijo a los dos Ojomos que se arrodillaran. Despues
de esto, el toc6 sus cabezas con el craneo de la cabra y el plato de Esu mientras cantando:

Ki Ki KI mo ki Ogbe. Aha ti ki Ogbe meta,

Lere meta, Ara osule ni ita. Odi fa fun Yeye oja,
Oluo ojomo, Ogbo oru, otu lu Esu etu.
Oja orine du siseo oja,
Isu koni, okojomo oko,
Oja orire du sise o oja,
Ke soja bani ma sojomo oko,
Oja orire du sise o oja.

Significando que el habia perdonado el oko de Ojomo debido a su madre. El sacrificio

manifesto y paz y la prosperidad devolvi6 a Ojomo principal y el compens6 Orunmila
para la ayuda.

Cuando este lfa aparece a la adivinaci6n, la persona se aconsejara para hacer el sacrificio
con un macho cabrio, la came de cabra del arbusto, rata y pez a Esu para detener el riesgo
de ofender una autoridad mas alta que o podria llevar a muerte o encarcelamiento. La
persona tambien debe aconsejarse para tener su propio lfa.

Otro Sacrificio Especial (Ono-lfa u Odifa) de Este Odu Para que la Fortuna Buena Will
Always Viene a El

El hijo de este Odu siempre es favorablemente el principled al punto de ponerse didactico

fanaticamente y perfectionistic. Desde que no es probable que el gane el dinero por
adultere y la conducta poco escrupulosa, el requerira este sacrificio para que las cosas
buenas de vida (Ofe en el yoruba y Ohe en Bini) siempre vendra a encontrarselo en casa.
Los materiales siguientes se requieren para el sacrificio: la cabeza de pajaros llam6 ojo-
igun (el buitre), ojo-akala los awo-ewiri y las cabezas de una boa, un constictor de la boa,
( el ori-oka y ori-antes de que) y okuru-kuru-aso-afon. Despues de quemar y molerlos
juntas, el sacerdote de Ifa agregara el iyerson de este odu y repetira la encantaci6n
siguiente:

Ofe ni igun ma nje ebo.

Ofe ni akala ma nje oku.
T of e tofe ni ewiri ma nf e ina.
Ojukan ibi ti oka ba joko si, ni ire re mba.
 Ojukan ibi ti ere ha joko si, ni ire re mba.
nfi ire re mba.

Significando:

El buitre come los sacrificios libremente.

El pajaro de Akala alimentaba libremente en los cadaveres. El
viento abanica las llamas de fuego libremente.
La comida viene a encontrarse la boa en una posici6n t6rpida. La
comida viene a encontrarse la piton en una posici6n t6rpida. El
patrocinio viene a encontrarse al vendedor de tela en un
la posici6n sedentaria.

Despues de repetir la encantaci6n, el polvo negro debe ponerse en una calabaza pequefia y
debe persistirse en su uma de Ifa y para de vez en cuando frotarlo en su cabeza. Despues de
esto, la prosperidad viajara para encontrarselo en casa gradualmente.

La Adivinacion Constituye Okusu Cuando El Viajo a Ila para la Adivinacion

Ogunda-idi-igbin, igbin ku, agere jadi Okusu, agbon ja idi o

jmgtn.

Esos eran los Awos que la adivinaci6n hecho para Okusu cuando el era de viaje al pueblo de
Illa-Orangun para la practica de Ifa. Le aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio para prevenir su
benevolencia de premiarse con la ingratitud. Le exigieron que hiciera el sacrificio con un
macho cabrio, su cuchillo y un gallo. El hizo el sacrificio pero no agreg6 su cuchillo debido a
su importancia a el. El dej6 entonces para Ilia Orangun.

En conseguir al lugar el hizo mucho trabajo impresionante. El pudo hacer; las mujeres yermas
para volverse embarazos embarazadas, calmados ser entregado, el pobres para ponerse
abundante, y hace la mutilaci6n criminal social y camiceria ser reemplazado por paz y
amistad. Las personas de Ilia generalmente eran los satisified con su actuaci6n. Despues de
completar su estancia, el le dijo al Orangun de Ilia que era tiempo por el devolver casa.

Ese era el punto a que Esu decidi6 castigarlo para el medio hearted sacrifica el hizo. Esu se
hizo un heraldo para extender el rumor falso que Okusu hizo el amor a todas las mujeres
yermas que se pusieron embarazada a traves de su tratamiento. Cuando la chismografia
consigui6 a la vid del palacio, el Orangun de Ilia emplaz6 una conferencia de superiores para
reflexionar en la veracidad o falta de el, del tittle-chismorreo. Al mismo tiempo Esu fue como
un informador benevolo a advertir Okusu que la conferencia emplaz6 por el Oba era al
diliberate adelante c6mo el iba a ser ejecutado para la informaci6n falsa que el el pregnated
todas las mujeres yermas el ayud6 ponerse embarazada. Sin coleccionar el premio y los
regalos destinaron para el para sus milagros, el huy6 del pueblo en la noche vacio-dada,
mientras olvidandose de su cuchillo acariciado detras de.

En cuanto el comprendiera que el habia dejado atras su cuchillo, el decidi6 arrostrar la

consecuencia de volver para coleccionarlo. El momento Esu lo vio en el pueblo, la divinidad
de mal hizo el anuncio siguiente a lo largo del pueblo: - el oti de igi de "eko el
n pada bo wa ja" - por que el instigo el populacho para subir a en la revuelta usar clubes y
matchetes para linchar Okusu porque el estaba devolviendo al pueblo para emprender la
guerra. El tuvo exito recuperando su cuchillo, pero en cuanto la ciudadania notara su
presencia, ellos lo siguieron y el solo ahorro su vida tomando el refugio dentro del rio. De
las profundidades del rio el pudo usar su cuchillo para invocar la maldicion contra sus
atacantes. Esu, el ambivalente y doble-distribuidor del duplicitous, entretanto advirtio esos
Okusu siguiendo para abstenerse de intentar matarlo porque "cualquiera que mata Okusu
se morira con el." Cuando ellos volvieron casa, ellos empezaron a morirse uno despues el
otro. El devolvio en el futuro seguramente casa pero sin comprender cualquier recompensa
para todo el trabajo bueno el hizo para las personas de Ilia Orangun, porno partiendo con
su cuchillo.

Por eso cuando Ogunda-idi aparece para cualquiera al ugbodu, la persona nunca debe
advertirse para viajar al pueblo de Illa-orangun a lo largo de su vida. Deben aconsejarle
que haga los sacrificios totalmente.

El Sacrificio especial (Ono-ifa u Odiha) Contra los Enemigos Mortales

El hizo la adivinacion para el fiame blanco (llamo Egbenehi-khuere en Bini) con un tallo
liso.

Cuando el iba a la granja, le dijeron que hiciera el sacrificio porque el iba hundir o nadar
entre los enemigos de todos los lados, sobre todo los miembros de su familia. Le
aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio con el homo de la explosion uso por herreros ( el
agbede de Ekue) la cabeza de buitre, cabeza de akala, las cabezas de boa y boa de la boa,
junto con las cabezas de cualquier serpiente el podria obtener, los dedos de brujas, tela
usada por las brujas, enarenan del mar (Olokun) 201 hojas de arbol del iroko, tortuga, el
gallo, el camwood (Osun en Yoruba y Ume en Bini) algo tornado del tripode coccion y
vertedero de la basura, la cabeza de leon y partes de la cabeza de tigre, los pedazos rojos,
blancos y negros de tela, arena tomada del palacio, y algo tornado de la canoa. Esto es el
especial ( el madarikan) el sacrificio de este Odu, poder luchar a sus enemigos
eficazmente. El fiame blanco hizo el sacrificio. Cuando el llego a la granja, su mayor
hermano el tuberculo del fiame espinoso (Ogigban en Bini) fue a construir una montafia
de ganchos y espinas redondea su casa, mientras desafiandolo ver como el pudiera mover
de su casa a menos que cogiendose el herido mortalmente por el tejido de peligro tejido la
ronda el.

El fiame del bodied liso blanco empezo a esforzarse para la existencia entre una ola de
cardenales, heridas y lesiones, hasta que el pudiera sobresalir encima de la pared de
ganchos y espinas que lo rodean. En el futuro, cuando era tiempo para segar la mies el
fiame blanco, Esu invito al granjero a destruir la pared de peligros que lo rodean.
Los nifios de este odu deben esperar los problemas por consiguiente de sus relaciones
intimas y de las personas que han disfrutado su magnanimidad. Con los sacrificios y
forebearance, ellos sobresaldran encima de sus enemigos hacia la tarde de sus vidas. Entre
las cosas ellos deben prohibir are:he-cabra, tortuga, conejo, perro y huevos. La persona no
debe mezclar a, debe dormir en la misma cama con, o debe comer comida preparada por
una mujer bajo la menstruacion. El tambien debe refrenar de la amorfabricacion de tiempo
de dia. El no debe llevar la ropa negra y roja. El tambien debe abstenerse de nadar en el
mar o los rios grandes. Ademas de Orunmila, el debe tener sus propios Ogun, Olokun,
Sango y umas de Osun.
 El capitulo 5
OGUNDA-OBARA

El Hizo la Adivinacion para el A vestruz Cuando El Estaba Endeudado

Ogunda shawo, Ohara shawo, Awon mejeji l'on difa fun Ako Lololo nijo ti
onje gbese lowo eniyan meta.

Ogunda-Obara hizo la adivinacion para el A vestruz ( el lololo de Ako en Yoruba y

Eringoin en Bini), cuando el se endeudo a tres prestamistas. El debio las deudas al
granjero, el comerciante y el cazador. Los tres prestamistas se encontraron en su casa una
mafiana para exigir el pago de sus deudas. Elles dijo que el no tenia el dinero para
pagarlos. Cuando los tres prestamistas estaban rasgandolo a los pedazos, Orunmila les
pidi6 que ahorraran su Ufe. Ellos se negaron a permitir va su sostenimiento en el A
vestruz que insiste que si Onmmila simpatizara de verdad con el, el debe costear la deuda
de su propio bolsillo. De acuerdo con, Onmmila pag6 todos los tres de ellos y era entonces
que ellos dejaron el Avestruz exclusivamente.

Cuando aparece a la adivinacion para un hombre, deben aconsejarle que tenga su propio
Ifa, Si el ya tiene Ifa, deben aconsejarle que haga el sacrificio que para que alguien mas
pagara una deuda que el debe. Si aparece para una solterona, le aconsejaran que se case a
un hombre que tiene su propio Ifa. Si aparece para una mujer casada, le aconsejaran al
pursuade su marido para tener su propio Ifa.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Ciervo y el Granjero

Latanbo lo le bo, awo ogbe odifa fun Ogbe, abufun agbonrin.

Ogunda - Ohara hizo la adivinacion para el granjero y el ciervo, cuando el ultimo estaba
comiendo las cosechas en el granjero" la granja de s. El granjero habia probado el
desparately para aprehender el ciervo que estaba asolando su granja siega, pero los ciervos
demostrados ser muy huidizos.

Entretanto, el granjero fue a Orunmila por la adivinacion en que hacer para acabar la
amenaza del ciervo. Le aconsejaron servir su cabeza Con un gallo, extender la fronda de la
palma a la entrada de su granja, ya aburra un agujero a ese punto. Cuando el granjero
estaba aconsejandose por Orunmila, el ciervo tambien la came en para la adivinacion.
Cuando Orunmila vio que el ciervo estaba viniendo a su casa, el le dijo al granjero que
escondiera detras de la estera.

Cuando los ciervos consiguieron dentro, ella quiso saber a traves de la adivinacion, que
hacer para evitar al ser cogi6 por el duefio de la granja de que ella robaba. Le aconsejaron
tambien que sirviera Ogun con un gallo. Despues de hacer el sacrificio, Orunmila
aconsej6 nunca el ciervo para ir a la granja on su hijo Sifonren y para abstenerse de ir
donde la palma encontrada fue extendida.
El dia siguiente, los ciervos fueron de nuevo a la granja pero evitaron la direcci6n de la fronda
de la palma. Antes de que ella el returned, su hijo Sifonren era que grita que el tuvo hambre. El
insisti6 por consiguiente en acompafiar a su madre a la granja para la cena por la tarde.

Desde que la madre era demasiado suave para detenerlo de ir con ella, ellos los dos fueron a la
granja. La madre se olvid6 sin embargo que nunca le dijeron que fuera a la granja con su hijo.
Ella no inform6 a su hijo para no ir la fronda de la palma casi en la rmsma vena.

En cuanto ellos llegaran a la granja, Sifonren encontr6 el okro cerca de la fronda de la palma
ser muy tentando, despues de no haber estado previamente emocionado. El golpe6 la recta
para ellos y termin6 en el agujero excavado por el granjero. La madre escap6 dejando al hijo
en el agujero a la misericordia del granjero la mafiana siguiente como consecuencia.

Cuando este Ifa aparece a U gbodu, la persona se aconsejara para hacer el sacrificio con la
came de un ciervo, y para servir su Ogun con un gallo despues de extender la fronda de la
palma en la uma. El tambien debe servir Esu con un macho cabrio. El debe evitar la f6sforo-
fabricaci6n cualquier mujer a cualquiera para estropear-riage, y el no debe permitirles a las
personas vengar una agresi6n o insulto. A la adivinaci6n, la persona debe servir Esu con un
pollo pequefio y seis balsas de dinero evitar perder algo el forfailing para considerar consejo.

La Adivinacion que El Hizo Antes de Dejar el Cielo

Ogunda el o fo da'kpawo, el Ohara fo da ba awo ku. Ogunda recomend6 la muerte de un

sacerdote divino, Ohara objet6 porque se prohibe para sacerdote divino a ser matado en
cualquier pueblo.

Esos eran los names del Awos que la adivinaci6n hecho para Onmmila cuando el estaba
viniendo al mundo. Le dijeron que hiciera el sacrificio porque el iba a ser muy vindicativo en
la tierra. El era hacer los sacrificios con: una cabra a su angel del guardian, un macho cabrio a
Esu, y tortuga a Ogun. El hizo todos los sacrificios.
En conseguir al mundo, el era tan eficaz y eficaz como un sacerdote de Ifa que se prepararon
las personas a pagar su exhorbitant retribuye y cargos. El se puso muy pr6spero en el proceso.

Cuando aparece a U gbodu, la persona debe preparar su Esu y Ogun sin el retraso para que su
trabajo pudiera traerle la satisfacci6n y avance.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Oludaren de Idanren

El hizo la adivinaci6n para el Oba de Idanren a su invitaci6n. El descubri6 que que sus
predeces-sors nunca se mantenian mucho tiempo en el trono que porque habia que un divinity
secundario llamado la Oro-carrera en el pueblo que el Oludanren fue exigido estar rindiendose
culto a. El aconsej6 el Oludanren reinando a; claro y regenerate la uma, y despues de esto para
servir el Orisa con catorce animais sacrificatorios diferentes y pajaros. El tambien prescribi6
que la fiesta del reanimation era medir por palmos
encima de un catorce periodo del dia y que despues de esto, la ceremonia debe
solemnizarse como una fiesta anual.

El Olodanren considero el consejo de Orunmila y el vivio a una edad del oid muy madura.
Cuando el se puso demasiado senil para funcionar a una misma edad del oid, otro
Oludanren era designado en su lugar. Por eso se dice a menudo que el Oludanren nunca se
muere, porque uno tefiendo se reemplaza por un nuevo antes de su muerte. El uku de
Aigbo" el birin de Oludaren. El Aja se mii ngbinrin."

El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Olobahun

Egitan Ohara, awo Olohahun, odifa fun Olohahun nijo ti ire

meta nho wa ba. Oni ki oru eho. Sughon ko ru eho na.

El hizo la adivinacion para un sacerdote divino habil que llamado Olobahun cuando tres
favores estaban viniendo a el. Le aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio a Esu en el arbusto
con un macho cabrio, un tambor del hacer-cambio preparo con las hojas del cocoyam,
fiame aplastado, maiz frito y chufas para apartar el riesgo de fortuna del unconsumated,
(Amubo en Yoruba y Osobonomasunu en Bini). El confio a menudo en sus ingenios y
habilidad para verlo a traves de cualquier dificultad, y henee que el se nego a hacer el
sacrificio.

Tres dias despues, Alara-isa, el ajigbolu de Omo, el Alara de hara envio para el mostrar su
appre-ciation previamente para la manifestacion exitosa del trabajo hecho para el. La
ceremonia gracias-dando se fijo durante siete dias tiempo. En el mismo dia que el Owa-
bokun de Ijesha y Olowo de Owo tambien envio para el para el similiar razona todos en el
mismo dia.

Olobahun se pregunto entonces si el sacrificio no iba a ser superfluo cuando los tres
favores habian fructificado virtualmente. Solo permanecia para el ir y recibirlos.
Tres dias al dia designado, el se vistio y dejo para la jomada desde que el tenia muchos
lugares para visitar. Como un sacerdote divino, el a menudo el divined por la posesion, y
solo requirio la paliza de tambores y las canciones apropiadas para el ser el hynotized en
un hecho de encantamiento y augurio.

Entretanto, Esu frio maiz y chufas y organizado un conjunto de tambores ac-companied

por los instrumentos musicales pequefios y tomo la posicion detras de un bosquecillo en el
camino por que Olobahun pasaba a viajar. Despues de de viaje para sobre la mitad un dia
el estaba poniendose hambriento y cansado. Entretanto, el el oveheard alguien cantando
con las palabras siguientes:

Kperi umogbon moghon,

Ogunda gbain Ohara gbain.

Cuando el se acerco la mancha, la musica se amplifico en lo que parecia un alegro

encantador., acompafio por los instrumentos musicales pequefios. El tenia que detener
encontrar fuera que los musi-cians estaban. A ese punto, Esu solto el maiz frito y las
chufas a el y despues de comer al volumen de su corazon, el bebio el agua. Despues de
esto, el no podria responder de lo que transpiro, La melodia de la musica paso pronto al
crescendo y lo tento en un delirio, siguio por la posesion total y el empezo a cantar y
bailar.
Al anochecer, el se desmay6 en un rocio de miel pesado de letargo. La mafiana siguiente, Esu
reasumi6 la musica y Olobahun se posey6 de nuevo. No anhele despues, hombres que van a su
as granjas y mujeres en su manera al mercado, le vio cantando y bailar exclusivamente en el
bosque. Primera ellos pensaron que el habia salido de sus sentidos, hasta que el empezara a
divino para ellos. Cuando los espectadores comprendieron que el era un sacerdote divino
poseido, ellos lo llevaron a su pueblo y sacaron tambores, gonges, maracas y trompetas para
proporcionar la musica. El empez6 un chaparr6n de sooth-decir y divining en el pueblo que
dur6 dias del forfive durante que el perpetuamente permanecia poseido, mientras solo
alimentando en la tiza blanca como los sacerdotes divinos poseidos son habituados hacer.

Cinco dias despues de que el consigui6 al pueblo, Esu comprendi6 que el tres Obas que invit6
Olobahun habia dejado la idea de compensarlo, despues de no se habiendo vuelto a, y para
que, decidi6 devolverlo a la realidad de razonamiento mortal. El tres Obas que a prop6sito
quiso desposar a sus hijas a el los dio a los esposos mas merecedores. Ese era el estado de
asuntos cuando Olobahun reasumi6 su jomada. Como si ellos estuvieran actuando de
concierto, el tres Obas lo ignor6 el forfailing educadamente para volverse a cuando ellos
linearon fuera los tratamientos de la alfombra rojos para el. El se despidi6 con los regalos de la
ficha y el tenia que casi devolver casa vacio-dada.

Desde que la desilusi6n era demasiado penosa al informe, el decidi6 no devolver casa. El
decidi6 establecerse a una nueva vida en el pueblo d6nde el se habia pasado cinco dias en
cambio.

Cuando este Odu aparece a la adivinaci6n, la persona debe aconsejarse para hacer el sacrificio
que Olobahun se neg6 a hacer apartar el riesgo de fortuna del unconsummated (Amubo en
Yoruba y Osobonomasunu en Bini).

El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Catcher de la Serpiente y el Granjero

Ogunda-gbon, Obara-gbon. Poporo eka, gbonrongondon ni ori

eda. Oda eda gborongondon ni poroko.

Esos eran los Awos que la adivinaci6n hecho para el serpiente-catcher fij6 por Orisa para
limpiar fuera el serpiente-afin cuando ellos empezaron a usar la autoridad (Ase) dado a ellos
para los gran ganancia seres humanos y animais, El serpiente-catcher fue a Orunmila por la
adivinaci6n y le dijeron que hiciera el sacrificio para tener exito en su misi6n. El no hizo el
sacrificio. El mismo Awos tambien hizo la adivinaci6n para el granjero, mientras
aconsejandole que hiciera el sacrificio para apartar el riesgo de volverse la victima de su
propia generosidad. El tambien no hizo el sacrificio. El era hacer el sacrificio con su granja-
vestido, cave, machete y un macho cabrio.

Entretanto, el serpiente-cazador parti6 en su trabajo de investigar y destruir la serpiente. El vio

la cobra pronto y lo sigui6 hasta que el se encontrara con una granja. La serpiente pidi6 al
granjero al accomodate el, porque el cazador estaba frunciendolo calurosamente. El granjero
dijo a la serpiente esconder en su vertedero de la basura, pero el ultimo apel6 que su atacante
lo rastrearia alli. Incluso cuando el granjero estaba de acuerdo en abrir la puerta a su casa de la
granja para la serpiente tomar el refugio en eso, el todavia insisti6 que el cazador se peinara la
casa para el. Cuando el granjero pregunt6 lo que el queria que el hiciera precisamente a la
serpiente refugio-buscando, el
propuso que el unico asilo seguro para el estaria dentro de su boweis. El le pidi6 al
granjero que abriera su boca para el esconder dentro de su est6mago. El acquised del
granjero a la demanda de la serpiente y lo acomod6 dentro de su stom-ach.

Cuando el cazador arrastr6 el movimiento de la serpiente en el futuro a la granja, el se

volvi6 el one al reves mientras el granjero lo tranquiliz6 que el se habia negado a
acomodar la serpiente como resultado de que el pas6. El cazador, realising que el habia
venido a una casa callej6n, re-vuelta completamente desalentado.

Cuando el cazador estaba fuera de vista, el granjero dio el fin de alarma a la serpiente para
salir de su est6mago, la serpiente se neg6 a salir porque el est6mago del granjero era el
unico bolthole a largo plaza para el. A pesar de las apelaciones de todo el granjero, la
cobra se neg6 a moverse.

El granjero abandon6 su granja y empez6 a correr para la ayuda. Como el estaba

corriendo, el la came por la gallina y le pregunt6 si la benevolencia engendra la ingratitud.
A la sorpresa del granjero, la gallina dio una contestaci6n afirmativa, narrando su propia
experiencia. Ella el expiained que despues de poner y salir del cascar6n los huevos, los
nifios productores y nutriendolos a la madurez, ellos eran todo redondeados a y vendieron
en el mercado. Se usaron los beneficios de la venta para comprar el maiz del mercado.
Cuando el maiz se trajo casa, y ella intent6 tener un sabor de el, ella estaba vencida y
ahuyentada con una escoba. Ella termin6 preguntandole al granjero si su experiencia no
era suficiente a Ilustrate que la generosidad engendra la ingratitud. Comprendiendo que la
gallina estaba reflejando su propia experiencia de hecho a el, el sali6 su solo.

Dondequiera que el granjero fue, el se dio la misma respuesta y acusado de ser ingenuo
para no saber que cosas asi era la realidad dura de existencia. En el futuro, la came del
granjero por un canto Ako que simplemente habia sido para la adivinaci6n a un Awo
llamado el "Bi mena ba kpo ni akpoju, los ni del ibi ganaron el "nsan del nfi -
significando, se premia la "encima de-generosidad con la ingratitud" espesa. Ako habia
sido aconsejado para hacer el sacrificio con un gallo y un club, pero se neg6 a hacerlo.
Cuando el granjero en el futuro la came por Ako, el puso la misma pregunta si era verdad
que la magnanimidad engendr6 la ingratitud. Ako fue negativamente el primero al aswer
la pregunta. El granjero narr6 su experiencia con la serpiente y la serpiente declar6 su
propio caso desde dentro el est6mago del granjero. Ako, mientras actuando ahora como un
juez imparcial, dijo a la serpiente presentarse su cara mientras narrando su caso. En cuanto
la serpiente sacara su cabeza, Ako agarr6 la cabeza anterior y una lucha sucedi6 entre los
dos de ellos. Como Ako y la serpiente estaba luchando, el granjero se meti6 a un club y
golpe Ako con el cuello. Ako grit6 entonces, "Ori re di'bi o" que significa la "caridad ha
engendrado la ingratitud."

Por eso Sacerdotes de Ifa Cantan el Poema

Bi ore ba po ni a poju,
Ibi ni won fi n san.
Odifa fun oun ako ni ojo ti oun
yio lo yo ejo ni ikun ogbe Esu
ai ko ru Egba aikoteru, Ifa wa
se bi ala.
Significando:

Invariablemente se reembolsa la encima de-generosidad con la ingratitud.

Es el fiame del Awo que la adivinacion hecho para Ako,
cuando el fue a rescatar al granjero de la serpiente Dentro
de su estomago. Por negarse a hacer el sacrificio, Esu le
habia ensefiado la leccion de su vida.

El restos acefalo del cuerpo de la serpiente es hasta el momento el presente del gusano en
los intestinos de cada ser humano. Cuando este Odu aparece a la adivinacion, la persona
se aconsejara para hacer el sacrificio para anticipar el peligro de ponerse encima de-
generoso, porque se reembolsara con la ingratitud rustica.

El Sacrificio especial Contra la Muerte por este Odu

Cuando este Odu aparece a la adivinacion y presiente el peligro de muerte (Ayeo ), el por-
hijo se aconsejara para tomar un kolanut, pasele alrededor el Windows de su casa, antes de
pasarlo a traves de la entrada principal de la casa. Despues de esto el se sentara en su
cuarto para usar el mismo kolanut para servir su cabeza. Despues de esto, el servira Esu
con un pollo pequefio, un pedazo de tela y un macho cabrio para expeler la muerte de su
casa.
Si aparece como Uree a la adivinacion, la persona se <lira que el ha estado teniendo un
suefio recientemente. He/she debe hacer el sacrificio para guitar el peligro propuesto por
el suefio.
 El capitulo 6
OGUNDA-OKONRON

Divined para el Caiman Cuando El Sedujo a la Esposa de Sangos

Ogunda rankan ko'ton. Osare igbo koro.

Odifa fun Onne waka waka t'onlo gba aya oni'le oroke.

Ogun instig6 una crisis y sin resolverselo, el escap6 en el bosque de Igbo ' el koro. Ese era
el Awo que la adivinaci6n hecho para el Caiman cuando el sedujo a la esposa de la
divinidad que vive en el cielo (por otra parte conocido como Sango). le aconsejaron que
hiciera el sacrificio con un caracol y un el-goatto Esu. En lugar de hacer el sacrificio el
empez6 a esconder en el agujero, a la ira del hinderthe de Sango.

Sango decidi6 dar un atracadero ancho al Caiman como sin embargo si el fuera indiferente
a la ofensa. Durante mucho tiempo, Sango no reaccion6 que atrajo el Caiman para ponerse
euf6rico. Despues de suceder que el Caiman habia tornado la seguridad para concedi6, el
decidi6 golpear. Sango tom6 la posici6n cerca de la boca del agujero en que el Caiman
estaba tomando el refugio. En cuanto el latterventured fuera del agujero una mafiana
luminosa, los suddeniy de la nube recogieron y targeted de Oya el Caiman con alumbrar
mientras el atthe el mismo tiempo, Sango tir6 su proyectil a su victima y lo golpe6 el
muerto.

Cuando aparece a la adivinaci6n para un hombre, sobre todo si presiente muerte o disputa
(Iku o Ija) bajo Ayeo, deben decirle que si el esta coqueteando con una mujer casada y que
el marido es stealithy que planea reaccionar violentamente. El debe servir Esu con un
macho cabrio y un caracol suavizar el peligro de muerte subita.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Buitre Cuando El se Caso Egherun

Bi Ogunda ba konron, bi Ogunda ko konron. Adifa fun Igun ni

jo t'oma mu Egherun shaya. Abufun Egherun.

Este Odu hizo la adivinaci6n para el Buitre cuando el iba a casarse un giri llamado
Egherun. Varios aspirantes habian estado cortejando a la muchacha sin el exito. Ella era
una mujer muy bonita y hecho un punto de frio-echarse sobre las espaldas a cualquier
hombre que hizo las oberturas amorosas a ella.

Entretanto Igun fue a Orunmila por la adivinaci6n y le aconsejaron que hiciera el

sacrificio con un manojo de frutas de la palma. El hizo el sacrificio. Despues de preparar
el sacrificio, Orunmila le dijo a Igun a epositelo en la carretera de] mercado principal.
Despues de esto, en la conformidad con el consejo de Orunmila, Igun se escondi6 a un
mirador de d6nde el no solo pudo ver quienquiera estaba viniendo e iba, pero tambien para
mirar el sacrificio el habia depositado.
Cuando Egherun estaba volviendo del mercado, el focussed de Esu sus ojos en las frutas
de la palma atractivas. Ella no podria resistirse el yen para ir por ellos. Ella movio el
manojo y empezo a tirar el fruits en su bolsa.
Como ella estaba tirando la palma fructifica, came de Igun fuera de ocultacion acusarla de
hurto, una ofensa que llevo la multa de muerte. Ella el pleaded apasionadamente con Igun
para el perdon, pero el se nego a bruscamente. Despues del imploring el sin efecto, ella
exigio saber que premio precisamente ella tenia que pagar e Igun contesto que la (mica
expiacion aceptable a el era para ella estar de acuerdo en casarselo en seguida. Desde que
ella no tenia ninguna otra opcion, ella estaba de acuerdo en volverse la esposa de Igun, y
como consecuencia lo siguio a su casa.

Cuando las noticias consiguieron los aroung que Egherun se habia casado Igun, aquellos
que previamente buscaron sus manos sin exito, empezo a hacer broma de ella por dignarse
para casarse el buitre antediluviano y feo. Cuando la humillacion se puso insufrible, ella
fue a Orunmila por la adivinacion, y el le aconsejo que hiciera el sacrificio con dos gallos.
Ella no perdio tiempo haciendo el sacrificio. Orunmila preparo el sacrificio hendiendose
uno de los dos gallos, mientras agregando el iyerosun y cobertor-eagled el para ella para
depositarlo a la union del camino. Le aconsejaron que se ocultara de la vista a un punto de
que ella podria observar lo que iba a pasar al sacrificio.

Despues de depositar el sacrificio, ella se camuflo detras de un bosquecillo cercano. No

anhele despues, Igun estaba volviendo de sus quehaceres diarios en busca de la comida,
cuando el vio el cobertor-eagled el gallo. El establecio abajo a alimente en el gallo.
Mientras el todavia estaba disfrutando la comida, la came de Egherun fuera de ocultacion
para acusarlo de hurto. Igun defendio que el estaba ayudandose solo a un sacrificio hecho
por alguien. Cuando Egherun descubrio que ella fue el que guardo el gallo alli, Igun la
recordo la convencion que un esposo no podria acusarse de robar del compafiero politico.
Por otro lado, contened de Egherun que la convencion solo sostuvo bueno para las
transacciones dentro de la casa matrimonial de un matrimonio y que aparte del hecho que
ella guardo el cobertor-eagled el gallo para un proposito especifico, la union del camino
no era parte de su residencia matrimonial.

A ese punto Igun concedio y exigio saber su precio. Egherun exigio ser absuelto del
matrimonio. Asi como el la chantajeo en el matrimonio, ella lo transo con la misma
moneda intimidandolo en el absoiving ella de el. Igun tenia ningun selecto pero para
concederle un divorcio instantaneo despues de que Egherun devolvio a la casa para quitar
sus cosas.

Cuando las personas empezaron a preguntarse por que ella dejo Igun tan rapidamente
como ella se lo caso, ella re-marcado que ella no obtuvo el despacho de aduanas de
cualquiera antes de casarselo y no necesito ningun despacho de aduanas de cualquiera
antes de divorciarselo.

A la adivinacion para un hombre, le diran que una mujer esta viniendo a experimentar un
matrimonio transeunte con el y que lega pronto despues el terminate. Si aparece para una
mujer, le diran que ella no se casa alegremente y que si ella hace el sacrificio con la palma
fructifica y gallea, ella acabara el matrimonio con exito y alegremente.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Loro Casarse Jimi

 Bi Ogunda ba konron, bi ogunda ko konron, adifa fun
ayekoto ni jo t'onfe gba Jimi orno Orisa sh'aya.

El hizo la adivinacion para el Laro cuando ella estaba rivalizando para las manos de Jimi, la
hija de Orisa, en el matrimonio. Jimi, una solterona muy atractiva estaba cazandose por
muchas aspirantes, y cuando Orisa vio a la muchedumbre de admiradores que se reunen
alrededor de ella, el invito todos ellos para un concurso en su granja.

En cuanto el devolviera casa de la sesion de informacion, Aiyekoto foe a Onmmila por la

adivinacion. Onmmila le dijo que sirviera despues de la adivinacion.; Esu con un macho
cabrio, y su cabeza con el kolanut blanco. Ademas, Onmmila lo aconsejo que al ir a la granja
en el dia designado, el era tapar su ano con una fruta de la palma madura y asegurarse que el
fue el primero en llegar a la granja.

En el dia designado, el fue el primero en llegar a la granja y el se dio una porcion de cizafia de
cesped que estaba equi-distante a aquellos de otros oponentes. Antes de partir para trabajar, el
tapo su ano con una fruta de la palma. Como los otros estaba viniendo a la granja, Esu hizo la
palma fructificar en el ano de Aiyekoto, el cynosure de sus ojos, aunque infectandolos con un
hecho de risa interminable. Mientras el resto estaba riendose fuera sus sentidos, Aiyekoto
estaba disipandose su porcion.

Entretanto, Orisa consiguio Jimi vestido ir y entregar la comida a sus aspirantes en la granja.
Ella se encontro a todos riendose tontamente lejos histericamente al loro que era el unico un
funcionamiento. Cuando ella vio la palma fructificar destacandose del ano del loro, Jimi
empezo a reirme entre dientes inconscientemente siguiendo a que ella movio para cubrir el ano
expuesto del loro, impedirle a su padre venir a encontrarselo en esa condicion, tambien. Como
ella estaba a punto de tocar el ano del loro, Esu pestafieo sus ojos a ella y sus dos manos se
encolaron al ano del loro.

Cuando Orisa en el futuro la came para encontrarse los otros frenetico a en una risita
interminable. El les pregunto la materia del whatthe era, y ellos le dijeron lo que el loro hizo.
El retorcio recordandolos que el los invito a trabajar y no reirse. Cuando el le pidio a Jimi,
ellos le dijeron que ella estaba aferrandose al ano del loro. Orisa reacciono proclamando ese
Jimi habia escogido a su marido que se significa por las plumas rojas en el ano del loro asi y
de ese dia, cualquiera que quiso dirigirselo era hacer para que a traves del loro.

En cuanto este odu aparezca a Ugbodu, la persona debe aconsejarse para servir: Esu con un
macho cabrio, Ogun con un gallo, y su cabeza a causa de una prueba que vendria a el antes de
la realizacion de las ceremonias de Ifa. A la adivinacion, la persona se aconsejara para servir
Esu con un macho cabrio debido a alga por que otras personas van a competir con el.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para Orisa-Nla, Oshere-igbo cuando El estaba Viniendo al

Mundo

Ogunda ka kan ko'tan. Odifafun Orisa-Nla Oshere-igbo

nijo ti on kale orun bo wa si ko le aiye
Ogun causo el problema para Orisa-Nla Oshere-igbo (el propio representante de Dios en la
tierra) cuando el estaba dejando el cielo para la tierra. Le aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio
para dominar el artifices malo de Esu en la tierra. El se sentia sin embargo que cuando el
propio apoderado de Dios en la tierra, no habia necesidad por el hacer el sacrificio a
cualquiera. El habria servido Esu con un Macho cabrio.

El dej6 despues para el mundo sin hacer el sacrificio. Esu foe determinado para hacer a Orisa-
Nla comprender la consecuencia de bajo-minarlo igualmente. En el provisional, Esu foe a la
ruta a traves de que Orisa-Nla era de viaje y caus6 una lucha entre dos personas. Cuando
Orisa-Nla se encontro a los dos combatientes, el intento intervenir para detenerlos de luchar.
Al mismo tiempo el blinked de Esu sus ojos a los dos de ellos y ellos transfirieron su furia a
Orisa-Nla y ellos los dos lo tenian pegado a directamente. Despues de la casualidad, el
sirviente de viaje con Orisa-Nla re-minded el del sacrificio el se nego a hacer.

Despues de esto, Orisa-Nla decidio devolver al cielo para hacer el sacrificio. Cuando el volvio
al Awo, le aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio a Esu con un macho cabrio, mientras
agregando akara, eko, rata, pez, paloma, tela blanca y un caracol. El hizo el sacrificio y
devolvio a tierra donde el empezo a ordenar honor etemo y respeto. Dondequiera que el siguio
la tierra. [Esu anunciarian su acercamiento como el substituto del creador de cielo y tierra, y
las personas estaban reconociendo su gloria divina con la exclamacion el la de Obata" o!"

Cuando este Odu aparece a la adivinacion, los divinee se aconsejaran no ignorar una divinidad
que siguio el him/her al mundo, aparte de Onmmila. Si la persona esta proponiendo viajar, le
aconsejaran que haga el sacrificio antes de embarcar en la jomada para apartar el riesgo de
avergonzar-ment. El sacrificio a la divinidad se hara con la tela blanca, paloma y un caracol,
ademas de servir Esu con un macho cabrio, akara y eko.

La Adivinacion lo Constituy6 Cuando El estaba Salando al Mundo

0 ma kpa de - re, amubogunale, omu aluko mu la rin oja. 0

ya gbo di ako ko joru ako.

Esos eran los Awos que la adivinacion hecho para este odu cuando el estaba dejando el cielo
para la tierra. Le aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio para evitar el peligro de muerte a traves
de su esposa o nifios. Le exigieron servir Esu con dos machos cabrio, su angel del guardian
con un pez electrico y un macho cabrio castrado, y Ogun con un perro, tortuga y gallo.
Despues de hacer Ogun al sacrificio acompafiarlo al mundo ecidieron.

En conseguir al mundo, el se hizo un sacerdote de Ogun asi como operando como un hierro-
forjador. El estaba hacienda bien como hierro-tratante y pudo pronto casarse y tener los nifios.
Despues de tener varios nifios, su esposa empez6 a los problemas del create para el. Cuando
sus nifios estaban creciendo, ellos tambien empezaron al create los problemas adicionales para
el. El fue como consecuencia por la adivinaci6n y foe dicho servir Esu, Ifa y Ogun. El no gast6
tiempo hacienda los sacrificios prescritos.

Un dia, el estaba preparando ir al mercado para vender sus mercanciases. Previamente, el a

menudo el trav-elled al mercado con dos otros diviners tradicionales llamaron
Ipadere y Aluko. En esa ocasion del particular, ellos el learnt que el rey del pueblo del
mercado habia unido a sus antepasados y que la busqueda para un nuevo sucesor habia
empezado despues de la realizacion de los derechos funebres. El tradition de el pueblo era
parecer para un rey de fuera porque el nativo nacido fue prohibido para ser hecho el rey.
El kingmakers del pueblo habia invitado el diviners a encontrar fuera de donde el nuevo
rey era vemr.

Despues de la adivinacion, los kingmakers se dijeron que tres diviners non-indigenas

visitaban el mercado regularmente. Les aconsejaron aprehender los tres de ellos y hacer
uso de ellos como sigue: - uno seria usado para hacer el sacrificio al arbol del iroko que
encima de-mira el mercado; el segundo uno seria ofrecido como el sacrificio a la uma de
Ogun del pueblo; mientras el tercero uno seria hecho el nuevo Oba del pueblo.

En la vispera del dia el era dejar para el mercado, Ogunda-Okonron tenia un suefio
petrificante. La mafiana siguiente el sono Ifa en la importancia del suefio y su propio Odu
aparecida. Ifa le aconsej6 tardar su salida para el mercado y hacer el sacrificio antes de ir.
Le exigieron que sirviera; su Ifa con un macho cabrio castrado y un pez electrico, Esu con
el macho cabrio, y Ogun con un perro, gallo y tortuga. El era hacer los sacrificios que
mafiana y para dejar para el mercado por la tarde. El hizo los sacrificios de acuerdo con.
Mientras la comida para el sacrificio era cocinando, sus dos cames de los compafiero-
viajeros para unirlo para sujomada al mercado, pero el les dijo que el habia servido su Ifa
y que la comida todavia era cocinando. Desde que ellos los couid no esperan por el,
Ipadere y Aluko que los dos dejaron para el mercado.

En cuanto ellos aterrizaran en el mercado, ellos eran los dos aprehendidos y usaron
respectivamente para el sacrificio al iroko del mercado obligue a refugiarse en un arbol y
la uma de Ogun tradicional del pueblo. Por la tarde, Orunmila llego al mercado y el se
llev6 el hombro alto y granizo como el nuevo Oba del pueblo. El se llevo en un carro para
llevar una procesion a traves de las calles principales del pueblo, antes de que coronarase
como el nuevo Oba de Oja el akira de Ajigbomekon. Despues de establecerse, el el en-
quired despues de sus dos amigos. Cuando le contaron lo que paso a ellos, el comprendio
que estrechamente que el escapo la muerte tambien. El canto entonces en la alabanza de
Onmmila y Ogun.

Cuando este Odu aparece a la Ifa iniciacion ceremonia, la persona se <lira tener sus Esu y
umas de Ogun preparado sin cualquier retraso para evitar la muerte subita, y para vivir
para ocupar una posicion alta de autoridad destino para el.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para Ako, el Pescador,

El hizo la adivinacion para el pescador que llamado Ako cuando el era muy pobre. El le
dijo a Ako que hiciera el sacrificio con despues de la adivinacion.: el macho cabrio a Esu;
la gallina a Ifa y gallea a Ogun. Mucha como el fue preparado hacer el sacrificio, el
lamento que el tambien era que los poorto lo consolidan. Akpetebi, la esposa de Orunmila
tomo la piedad en el y recurrio a su marido para pedir prestado el costo del sacrificio a
Ako. Onmmila dio el dinero a Akpetebi comprar los materiales del mercado, a condicion
de que el fuera reembolsar el prestamo cuando su situaci6n mejor6.

Siguiendo al sacrificio, Ako empezo a cager mas pesca y el estaba comprendiendo mucho
dinero en el proceso. Aunque el estaba ganando mucho dinero, el ni no recordo;
para agradecer Orunmila, los norto reembolsan el prestamo, Un dia, Orunmila record6
Akpetebi de la ingratitud de Ako y ella decidi6 buscarlo. Despues de esperar en vano por el
presentarse, Orunmila perdi6 su paciencia y le dijo a Esu sabre la ingratitud de Ako. Por
ningun tiempo Ako regresaba en la penuria abyecta. Un dia, Akpetebi lo encontr6 pareciendo
abatido e infeliz, pero se aferr6 a el. El estaba de acuerdo que el era ingrato a Orunmila, pero
habia perdido todo su dinero. El prometi6 reembolsar Orunmila de alguna otra manera sin
embargo. El prometi6 al create un estrago en el palacio de Alara-lsa que le haria invitar
Onmmila para la ayuda.

Despues, unos dias el cogi6 un peces electricos gigantes y lo descarg6 en el bien de que la casa
real sac6 bebiendo el agua. Como consecuencia, todos aquellos que bebieron el agua del
problema del est6mago bien desarrollado. Eso dio lugar a un pandemonium en el palacio del
Oba, y siendo el diviner principal del Oba, una invitaci6n se envi6 inmediatamente a
Orunmila. Cuando Orunmila lleg6 al palacio, el hizo adivinaci6n despues de que el le dijo al
Oba que la causa del problema estaba bien en su private. Siguiendo una busqueda, un pez
electrico se encontr6 en el bien. Orunmila prepar6 las hojas apropiadas, el iyerosun agregado y
lo dio a todos esos afflicted con el est6mago perturbe para beber. Ellos todos se volvieron bien
al instante. El Alara-Isa premi6 Orunmila con regalos que comprenden a un hombre y una
mujer ademas de una cabra, un camera, un gallo y dinero suficiente.

Despues, Ako visit6 Orunmila para verificar la manifestaci6n en su artefacto desviado.

Cuando le contaron su exito rotunda, Ako repiti6 el experimento como consecuencia en el
palacio del Owa-Obokun de Ijesha. Orunmila fue invitado a resolver el problema despues de
que el se dio cuatro hombres, cuatro mujeres, una vaca y seis balsas de dinero de nuevo.

Ako repiti6 el experimento en los palacios del Olowo de Owo y el Orongun de Illa, todos que
tienen las consecuencias saludables para las fortunas de Orunmila. En el futuro, Orunmila se
puso muy adinerado y el dio un macho cabrio a Esu deshacer los problemas que el habia
generado para Ako. No anhele despues, Ako visit6 Orunmila y el se dio dos hombres, dos
mujeres y una cabra. Eso marc6 el principio de su retomo a la opulencia.

Cuando este Odu aparece a la adivinaci6n, la persona se aconsejara para no reembolsar la

benevolencia con la ingratitud. En todo caso, el debe hacer los sacrfice en el orderto derive la
conducta de unscrupu-lous de benefitfrom.

El Hizo la Adivinacien para Ogun Cuando El Iba a Emprender la Guerra en el Pueblo

de Egba-ruku-Esido

Ogunda Kanbu, Okonron Kongbon hizo la adivinaci6n para Ogun-oniju, cuando el emprendi6
la guerra en las personas de Egba-ruku-Esido. Le aconsejaron servir su angel del guardian con
un perro grande, un tuberculo asado de fiame y vino de la palma. El hizo el sacrificio despues
de que el embarc6 adelante, luch6 y gan6 la guerra. El devolvi6 casa con una corona, muchos
cautivo de guerra y tesoros que le hicieron ponerse muy pr6spero. El fue a agradecer Orunmila
con los regalos despues de devolver casa triunfalmente.
Cuando aparece a la adivinacion, la persona se <lira servir Ogun con el perro, fiame asado
y vino de la palma para tener exito logrando un objetivo que involucrara de viaje fuera de
casa.

El Divined para Dos Queridos Priends A void Quarrelling

Ogunda fo si Olokonron fo si Oioye.

A o kilo wi pe ki ole ma wo ishu eba ona mo.
Ao so fun ishu eba ona wipe ki o ma ma ta, ata ajade.
Ao so fun ore meji ki won maja, ki ashiri ara won ma ba tuu.
A o so fun babalawo mej i ki won she imuie po ki won ma ba she
oro ai ko sun won.
Adafa fun Arogundade, omo ' kunrin omukpo, abufun Dosumu,
omo 'kunrin idere mo awise.

Ogunda charlo con el okonron, Okonron charlo con un jefe; Aconsejandole al

Jefe que no pisara en el fiame que crece por el camino-lado Mientras
aconsejando el fiame para verificar su tallo y no echa ramas a
encima de-dispare la carretera. Se aconsejaron a dos ladrones que evitaran el altercado,
al obviate el
el riesgo de exponer sus secretos mutuos.
Se aconsejaron dos sacerdotes de Ifa tomar los juramentos mutuos, evitar,
la adivinacion engafiosa.

Estos eran los sacerdotes de Ifa que la adivinacion hecho para dos queridos amigos,
Arogundade y Dosumu. Les aconsejaron que hicieran el sacrificio para prevenir su
amistad de yendo agrio. Ellos ignoraron el consejo porque ellos no pudieran imaginar lo
que pudo el generate cualquier equivocacion entre ellos. Ellos no detuvieron a negarse a
hacer el sacrificio a Esu, pero tambien lo difamo, y concluyo que los sacerdotes de Ifa
eran la cosa sin sentido habladora.

Ellos afirmaron que nada era capaz de perturbar su amistad. La experiencia era pronto al
demonstrate que ellos habian infravalorado las capacidades disociadoras ilimitadas de
Esu. No era largo antes de que Esu los tentara en desarrollar los impulsos seductores para
nosotros la esposa, mientras produciendo la convivencia sensual. Despues de que el
ejercicio de la esposa-altemancia habia estado siguiendo durante el algun-tiempo, Esu lo
saco al conocimiento de sus dos esposas, instigando una lucha asi entre las dos mujeres.
Sus dos maridos se pusieron sabios al mismo tiempo a su deshonestidad mutua y una
lucha tambien sucedio entre ellos.

La intensidad de la lucha atrajo a vecinas que intervinieron para detener el pandemonium.

La materia se trajo antes de los superiores y despues de narrar sus lados de la historia,
ellos eran todos no solo encontrados culpable de depravacion moral social, pero tambien
de contaminar las tradiciones de y mores de la comunidad. Desde que los amigos eran los
sacerdotes divinos, ellos tambien se encontraron culpable de rebajar y profanar la dignidad
e imagineria de sacerdocio divino. Ellos eran cada uno multo una cabra, un macho cabrio,
un gallo, una gallina, una calabaza de vino de la palma y seis bolsas de dinero al annoint y
consecrate la tierra profanada. Que un precio alto para pagar por negarse a dar un solo
macho cabrio a Esu como el sacrificio.
Cuando este Odu aparece a la adivinaci6n, la persona se aconsejara no engafiar o abusar la
confianza de su amigo, es decir, si es el uree. Si es el ayeo, le diran el o ella que el he/she
es la victima y ofensor en el acto de decepci6n mutua con un amigo. El no debe tardar el
sacrificio.

El orden de Orunmila a sus sacerdotes y niiios

Ki ogunda ma kon-karan, ki okonron ma nkan otile

Ki ogbigbo meji ma je oso igi kon,
Ki omo fl ibi kpalaba ori kan arawon,
Ki agbo meji ma mo mi la akoto,
Ki a ma fi tu lu kan tuutu,
Adifa fun won ni ilode, a bu fun won ni Ijebu i
remo ton or6n la akpa mu eru. La akpa merun oruko
ti anpe oho

Ogunda fue aconsejado para no minar Okonron,

Para que Okonron no pudieran caerse ninguna victima al infortunio.
Se aconsejaron dos tiokams para no comer la misma fruta,
Para evitar el theirheads de golpeteo contra nosotros.
No se aconsejaron dos cameros al drink riegue de la misma calabaza
Para evitar cerrar con llave los cuemos.

Estos eran el sacerdote de Ifa que la adivinaci6n hecho para las personas de Ilode e Ijebu-
Remo. Les aconsejaron que hicieran el sacrificio para apartar el peligro de llevar una
carga mortal capaz de matar al portador. La carga" "mortal es el fiame celestial de los
6rganos genitales hembras.

Cuando aparece a la adivinaci6n para un hombre, deben decirle que el esta coqueteando
con una mujer casada cuyo marido es mas fuerte que el. Deben decirle que inquiera del
Orunmila whetherto continue orto discontinue con el reiationship inmoral porque uno de
los hombres pudiera perder su vida en el proceso. En cualquier caso, el debe pedirle el
sacrificio requerido a Ifa para prevenir el peligro.
 El capitulo 7
OGUNDA-IROSUN

La Adivinacion le Constituy6 Antes de Dejar el Cielo

El Akiko idi ko, el yin gbe re nu. Un gallo no puede bravear sin crecer su pluma de la cola
larga. Ese era el ofthe del fiame que los priestwho de Ifa hicieron a los odu de forthis de
adivinaci6n cuando hewas que viene del cielo. El era el forewarned que un tiempo dificil
lo esper6 en la tierra porque el iba a ser el rayo-hombre de sus personas. jAl forestall el
riesgo de volverse la victima de falsedad, le aconsejaron que sirviera Esu con dos machos
cabrio; Ogun con los catorce instrumentos tradicionales por preparar el Ogun de uno,
incluso un perro, gallo, tortuga, caracol y pez,; y Olokun con un gallo blanco. Despues de
realizar-ing todos los sacrificios, el nunca fue advertido para casarse a una mujer luz-
desollada. Despues de esto, el dej6 para el mundo.

El se puso muy popular en la tierra porque el era rapido asumiendo el papel de paz-
fabricante estableciendo las disputas. Sus calidades de direcci6n fueron reconocidas
rapidamente y el estaba hecho un jefe en una edad muy temprana. El tambien era el
muchacho de ojos azules de todos los sacerdotes divinos y reuniones se sostuvo a menudo
en su casa. No anhele despues, el amarillo-complexioned la hija de Olokun se enamor6 de
el. La luz tambien desoll6 que la hija de Sango se enamor6 de el. La hija oscuro-desollada
de Ogun tambien se enamor6 de el y el termin6 casandose todos los tres de ellos. El se
conoci6 por el apodo de Olugotun.

Un dia, la hija de Ogun lo ofendi6 y el la peg6 y ella se cay6 inconsciente. Cuando el

padre oy6 hablar de el, el amenaz6 matarlo, pero para el hecho que su hija re-gan6 la
conciencia. La casualidad lo asust6 en ir por adivinaci6n d6nde le dijeron que diera un
macho cabrio a Esu, y freir la came y compartirlo con todos alrededor. El tambien era
servir Ogun con un perro y freir la came para aquellos que podrian comer la came de
perro. Tambien le aconsejaron servir su Ifa con una cabra y tratar la came la misma man
era.

El empez6 sirviendo su Ifa con la cabra y el invit6 a los sacerdotes de las 200 divinidades
a festejar en la came despues de freirlo.

Mientras el festejando estaba siguiendo, sus esposas consiguieron sostenimiento de las

maracas y empezaron a cantar y bailar. Ellos cantaron que habia ningun otro sacerdote
divino tan bueno como su marido, el Olugotun. Ogun se enfureci6 por la canci6n y el
entr6 la persecuci6n caliente de Olugotun y todos que el podria aprehender en la casa.
Cuando Ogun sigui6 Olugotun que el pudo escapar. Ogun estaba ayudandose por Esu que
no habia sido dado su macho cabrio.

En esta conexi6n, es importante dar enfasis a que si uno se pide hacer los sacrificios a las
divinidades incluso Esu, es a menudo aconsejable empezar con el sacrificio a Esu. El tom6
el refugio en el futuro en una piedra grande dentro del rio. A prop6sito, Esu lo habia
apropiado posicionando un tibur6n dentro del agujero en la piedra. En cuanto el entrara en
la piedra, el tibur6n lo trag6 a.
Cuando este Ifa aparece a Ugbodu, la persona nunca se aconsejara para casarse cualquiera luz-
complexioned la mujer. El debe preparar su Ogun, Olokun y Esu inmediatamente.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para las Dos Paginas del Oba en Benin

Ogunda roro bi aro, Irosun roro bi eje, won difa fun Onitaagba,
abufun onita-kekere, awon mejeji she wole wode ni'le Oba ado
ajuwaleke.

El hizo la adivinacion para el senior y el junior compagina en el palacio del Oba de Benin. Les
aconsejaron hacer el sacrificio y no embrollarse inutilmente en los argumentos futiles. Cuando
la pagina del senior estaba consiguiendo el oid, el junior uno (Olotu-odibo en Bini) era el toid
a suplente su envejecimiento superior. Eso era cuando ellos los dos fueron a Orunmila por la
adivinacion. El aconsejo cada uno de ellos servir Esu con un macho cabrio y servir sus cabezas
con un gallo. La pagina del senior hizo su sacrificio pero su colega del junior no hizo. Les
aconsejaron que hicieran el sacrificio para impedir el riesgo de volverse la victima de una
falsedad innegable.

Dos dias despues, la pagina del senior estaba tomando a su colega del junior a traves de las
umas principales del palacio. Cuando ellos consiguieron a la uma de Ogun; ellos vieron los
craneos de victimas decapitadas. La pagina del senior observo el emotively mas bien que "esas
eran las cabezas de victimas" culpables e inocentes. La pagina mas joven retorcio
contenciosamente que "el Oba no mata al inocente y ley-abiding los ciudadanos y que los
craneos pertenecieron a los bribones y aquellos que ejecutaron falta de la ley."

El Oba de Benin tenia que un gallo que braveaba por la mai'iana ante el rey se desperto.
Despues de que la pagina mas joven habia defendido en tres ocasiones que el rey y la ley
tambien sea los infal-lible para condenar ley que mora y las personas inocentes, la pagina muy
mas experimentada ideo una estrategia por ensei'iarle una verdadera leccion en las realidades
indubitables de existencia humana.

Una noche, la pagina del senior capturo el gallo favorito del Oba, y lo escondio lejos de la
vecindad del palacio. Al mismo tiempo, el consiguio sostenimiento de otro gallo que tiene un
esquema colorido similar como el gallo del palacio. El los extendio de la pared del palacio a la
casa de la pagina del junior encantarlo despues de guitar las plumas del gallo, (Ikanse en Bini)
y lo magnetiza el into un suei'io hipnotico. En cuanto el estuviera muerto dormido, los senior
compaginan, froto su cabeza con la tiza blanca, mato el gallo y doblo su cabeza con el hood
del gallo, dar la apariencia de haber servido simplemente su cabeza con el gallo. De acuerdo
con la tradicion, el hizo un circulo con la tiza blanca y lo deposito en los pedazos del kolanut,
coco y la cabeza del gallo dentro del circulo antes de cubrirlo a con una cesto. El tambien tomo
los dolores para freir la came del gallo y usar el aceite del estofado del gallo para frotar la boca
de la pagina del junior.

Al alba, el Oba no salio para empezar sus quehaceres diarios porque el gallo no braveo.
Cuando la pagina del senior entro en la camara del rey para averiguar que por que el no tenia
el woken a, el rey pidio que el averiguara por que el gallo no habia braveado. Los senior
compaginan (Olotu-odibo) emplazo una emergencia que se encuentra de todo el
palacio compagina, ordenanzas y los policia y les dijo que averiguaran lo que paso al gallo.
Incidentaily, la pagina del junior estaba visiblemente ausente de la reunion. La busqueda para
el gallo tomo a los buscadores en el futuro a las plumas que linearon la ruta del palacio a la
casa de la pagina del junior.

Cuando los buscadores llegaron a su casa, ellos todavia se lo encontraron ayune dormido, pero
encontro todo el evi-dence que el era el culpable que uso el gallo del palacio para servir su
cabeza. Ese era el punto a que la pagina del senior deshizo el encanto con que el hipnotizo su
col-liga del junior argumentativa en un suefio profundo. El se desperto por los policia del
palacio y limito en las cadenas y amordazo en su boca para el ensayo sumario en el palacio.
Con toda la evidencia producida contra el, el se mudo-fundo no solo pero tambien sin el
beneficio de defensa. El era el condemmned a la ejecucion instantanea, y el ejecutor de la
justicia real fue invitado a realizar su asignacion. Como el hacer trampas-demned la pagina se
tomo a la uma de Ogun para la ejecucion, la pagina del senior busco el permiso para hablar. Su
demanda fue concedida. El empezo preguntando el junior que compagina confirmar o negar en
sus propias palabras si el mato el gallo del palacio. El podria cabecear solo su cabeza al
indicate una respuesta negativa. Los senior compaginan confirmado entonces que el gallo del
palacio estaba vivo y bien. El les envio a ordenanzas del police ir y sacarlo de donde el lo
guardo. En cuanto el gallo fuera soltado, braveado y ellos todos fueron ante el Oba. La pagina
del senior narro los argumentos entre ellos que culmino en su decision para ensefiar a su
colleage del junior apreciar que es posible para una persona inocente a ser ejecutada y decapito
para una ofensa que el o ella no comprometieron. Ese era el punto a que Onita-kekere recordo
el sacrificio que el no hizo. El se dio la tiza blanca de innocence de acuerdo con y se solto.

Cuando aparece a la adivinacion, la persona se aconsejara para abstenerse de ser

argumentativo, presuntuoso y audazmente delantero, al tratar con sus superiores en su lugar de
trabajo. No obstante, el debe dar un macho cabrio a Esu y debe servir su cabeza con un gallo.

Cuando aparece a Ugbodu, la persona debe decirse preparar su Esu con un macho cabrio el dia
siguiente, y para servir su cabeza con un gallo mientras retrocediendo su uma de Ifa,

El Hizo la Adivinacion para Dos Amigos

Ori ari'se Ori ari're ki iyu umagun. adifa fun Irosun fin
she ore Olofin. Irosun lo ngba akun
Oba da ni. On lo toju re. Ore ni Irosun ati egitan.
Egitan omo ibiti, irosun gbe ugba akun Oba si, Egitan o ha
mso irosun titi oba yo ikon ni be. Oyo okan ninu akan na. 0
io ju si o mi.

Irosun era amistoso con rey Olofin. El era el custodio del recipiente de las cuentas del rey. Al
mismo tiempo Egitan era amistoso con Irosun y supo que el pecho de cuentas reales estaba
guardandose por el. Egitan tambien supo donde Irosun guardo el pecho de cuentas. Entretanto,
al create un problema para su amigo, Egitan fue al Oba para informar ese Irosun habia quitado
una de las cuentas bajo su custodia y lo habia vendido para el dinero.
El rey reaccionado llamando en Irosun para producir el pecho de cuentas. En conseguir
casa, Irosun descubrio que ese una de las cuentas estaba extrai'iando. Investigando en vano
para el el persiguio a Orunmila para la adivinacion. Le aconsejaron que hiciera sacrificio
despues de que le dijeron que sirviera su cabeza con un peces vivos frescamente cogidos.
El hizo el sacrificio con un gallo y una gallina que el persiguio en busca de pescadores en
el banco del rio comprar un pez por servir su cabeza. El primer pescador que el vio, tenia
solo un peces e Irosun lo comprado de el.

En conseguir casa, el sirvio su cabeza con el pez, mientras orando el notto se mate por el
Oba para la perdida de la cuenta. Despues de matar el pez, su esposa se lo hendida abre y
encontro la cuenta perdida dentro de su intestines. Era un momento feliz cuando ella tomo
la cuenta al marido y demostrado ser el extrai'iando. Pronto despues, el llevo el pecho
entero de cuentas al Oba que en-spected ellos y los encontro ser correcto. El Oba
amonesto Egitan como consecuencia por llevar la informacion falsa. Eso era como la
cabeza de Irosun lo salvo de la invencion mala de su amigo, Egitan.

Cuando aparece a la adivinacion, la persona debe advertirse para tener cuidado con de un
amigo que esta trazando para entrarlo en el problema. El debe hacer el sacrificio para
neutralizar la parcela.

El Hizo la Adivinacien Para Shede, mientras Aconsejandole que no Fuera A La Granja

En el Dia de Nuevo afio
Kikan edun kpaa. Arikan edun kpaa.
Adifa fun Shede ti ani ko ma lo si oko ni
ojo odun. Shede ko gbo.

Lo que parte de una hacha pega la tierra, hace el mismo sonido. Ese era el i'iame del
sacerdote de Ifa que la adivinacion hecho para Shede que fue dicho no ir a la granja en el
Dia de Nuevo Ai'io. A pesar del consejo, el insistio en ir a la granja en el primer dia del
ai'io.

En su manera a la granja el la came al banco de un rio donde el vio un pajaro encima de

un arbol. El puso un proyectil en su catapulta, tomo el objetivo al pajaro y solto el tiro.
Cuando el proyectil pego el pajaro, recogio el arma y lo tiro atras a Shede. El proyectil
pego Shede y el se cayo a la tierra, el muerto. Despues por el dia, sus amigos y relaciones
notaron que ese Shede no habia vuelto de la granja. Una patrulla de busqueda fue
organizada para buscarlo. Cuando su madre empezo al cali el en el arbusto, el pajaro
estaba contestando como sigue: -

Tani kpe Shede ni be yen Shede.

Won sho'dun ni'le, awa na nshoro loko Shede.
Shede ti aun lo fa kan mi, emi na mo ta Shede na
san, Shede.
Bo ya oku wara mi o ma Shede.
Ariku wara mi o ma Shede.
Ki ani ka e ku majo gboro.

Significando:

l Quien esta llamando en Shede?

 El Nuevo Afio estaba estando famoso en casa, Y
nosotros estabamos celebrandolo en el bosque.
Shede tir6 un proyectil a mi, y yo lo tire arras a el.
Si el los resultantly se murieron, yo no se.
Si el no se muri6, yo no se.
Cualquier cosa se hace en casa es concurrentemente el replicated en
el bosque

El duo entre la madre de Shede y el pajaro continu6 hasta que ella la came por el cadaver de su
hijo. Alli estaba llorando del bosque a la casa.

Cuando este Odu aparece a la adivinaci6n, la persona debe advertirse para considerar consejo
y para no ser temerario e impetuoso.

El Sacrificio especial para la Maternidad

Mio ta saara, Emi na ni o ta suuru.

Eyi ti o ta saara shi ku omo eku.
Oyun lo fi she, orno lo fi bi.

Significando:

Rezum6 en los 6rganos genitales de la rata, Y se puso embarazada, mientras dando el

nacimiento en el futuro
a un nifio.
Rezum6 en la vulva del fish, y se volvi6 embarazada, Dando el
nacimiento en la llenura de tiempo a jel severa! los nifios.
Rezum6 en la vagina de una mujer, y ella
se puesto embarazada. Y en el oftime de llenura, dio el
nacimiento a un nifio.
Tambien rezum6 en el utero de Akpetebi, y ella
se puso embarazada, mientras dando el nacimiento En el futuro a un nifio.
Este calis para el sacrificio para nifio-beafing, comprendiendo de dos gallinas, dos
palomas y un conejo.

Si este Odu aparece a la adivinaci6n para una mujer que esta ansioso tener un nifio, le
aconsejaran que haga el sacrificio y ella tendra un nifio ciertamente.
 El capitulo 8
OGUNDA-OWANRIN
OGUNDA-MI-LERIN OGUNDA-
DERIN

La Adivinacion hecho para el Semilla-fiame

Ada Kasha, Arin kasha, 0 tete de [di iroko de elebo.

Adifa fun omo titun, ishu ti o mo a raye she i ka binu re.
La jactancia vanagloriosa consigui6 al pie del arbol del iroko
antes de que el sacrificio fuera depositado alli.

Ese era el fiame del Awo que la adivinaci6n hecho para el fiame de la semilla cuando los seres
humanos consiguieron un matchete y mataron el tuberculo del fiame en los pedazos y enterr6
los pedazos en la tierra. [El fiame habia sido dicho hacer el sacrificio con una gallina al
forestal! esa eventualidad y para asegurar que lo fue hecho para deshacerla resultaria ser una
bendici6n en el fingimiento. Ella hizo el sacrificio. Despues de que se enterraron los pedazos
de fiame bajo la tierra, ellos germinaron y crecieron. Al final de seis meses, el fiame que entr6
en la tierra en los pedazos surgi6 como un tuberculos del fiame adultos completos y enteros, y
sus enemigos regocijaron en el futuro con ella encima de los nifios que ella trajo adelante.

jA la adivinaci6n, el wili de la persona se diga que el he/she tiene el severa! los enemigos, pero
que con el sacrificio, los he/she derivaran un beneficio de cualquier cosa se hizo hacia el
him/her.

La Adivinacion le Constituy6 Antes de Dejar el Cielo

Okiki ba ba bani que yo ejecuto el okpokpo era el Awo que la adivinaci6n hecho para este Odu
cuando el estaba viniendo al mundo. Le dij eron que el estaba viniendo a comerciar en el
mundo y que el debe hacer el sacrificio con el maiz, fiame, platano, cocoyam, tortuga,
caracoles, gallina y cauris a la divinidad molida. Tambien le dijeron que obtuviera la bendici6n
de Dios con un pedazo de tela blanca, kolanut blancos y cauris. El iba a practicar Ifism como
su profesi6n principal. Le aconsejaron por consiguiente que sirviera Esu con un macho cabrio.
El hizo el sacrificio antes de dejar para el mundo.

El se acompafi6 por Sango y Olokun al mundo. En conseguir al mundo, el tom6 a comerciar,

pero el no hizo mucho progreso. Cuando el fue como consecuencia por la adivinaci6n, le
dijeron que el se habia desviado fuera del camino de su destino. Le dijeron que tomara a la
practica de Ifa como su vocaci6n principal mientras comerciando en el lado-linea. Le dijeron
que sirviera; Esu con un macho cabrio e Ifa con una cabra multi-coloreada.

Despues del sacrificio, el tom6 a Ifa itinerante practique junto con transar que fre-quent
envuelto de viaje. Su mayor hermano era un sacerdote de Ogun, mientras el pr6ximo
uno era un sacerdote de Sango. Su mayor hermana era una sacerdotisa de Sango. Cada oi ellos
de vez en cuando enviaban los regalos a su padre y el valoraba los regalos separadamente de
sus nifios. Orunmila estaba fuera de casa cuando su padre se murio y el sacerdote de Ogun, se
encargo del estate de su padre y lo dividio cuando el vio el ataque.

Cuando Oninmila devolvi6 casa como consecuencia de su gira, el lamento que su padre se
muri6 en su ausencia. Cuando el pidio su porcion del estate de su padre, le dijeron que su
comparta era la tierra ocupada por su padre. El tenia los muchos problemas de sus media
hermanos y hermanas.

Cuando la tortura se puso insufrible, el fue mas una vez por la adivinaci6n. El Awo le dijo dar
otro macho cabrio a Esu y acercarse al sirviente joven de su padre que le diria donde su padre
guardo sus cosas importantes.

En volver casa, el sirvio Esu con un macho cabrio. Tres dias despues, el sirviente favorito de
su padre tarde le pago una visita a Orunmila. El hombre joven le dijo que el se destino por su
padre para heredar el lugar entero. El hombre lo tomo a la uma del angel del guardian de su
padre y lo mostro donde sus cosas fueron guardadas. En el futuro, el solicito la ayuda de Esu
afirmando su propiedad justa. El empezo a cantar en la uma de Esu el "Maa gba ile baba mi,
Ogun del "ni del lo, es decir, yo estoy listo luchar para afirmar mi derecho de propiedad del
estate de mi padre.

Despues de esto, las cosas empezaron a pasar entre la confusion total estimul6 por Esu. El
pidio que sus otros hermanos y hermanas quitaran su propiedad porque la tierra en que ellos
estaban de pie pertenecio a el. Ellos eran todos compelieron para reconocer su derecho de
propiedad y el les hizo dar una tarea para pagar el homenaje anualmente a el. Por eso todas las
otras divinidades pagan el obeissance anual hasta el momenta a Orunmila. El se puso muy
prospero en el proceso.

Cuando este Ifa aparece a Ugbodu, la persona debe aconsejarse para esperar los muchos
problemas de sus media hermanos, pero con la perseverancia y sacrifica el habria el truimph
en el futuro.

El Adivino para la Esposa de Ogun

Ogun da mi le rin. Ori buruku ko bu tu lu tuulu.

Adifa fun Omo-boni ti'nshaya Ogun, ni ojo to fe ko Ogun.
Gbogbo aye so fun Omo-boni ko ma ko Ogun. Sugbon ko gbo. 0
ba ko Ogun si le.

Ogun desperto mi risa. Suerte dura o una cabeza mala no pueden determinarse mirando la
cara. Estes eran los Awos que la adivinacion hecho para Omoboni, la esposa de Ogun, cuando
ella quiso dejar a su marido. A pesar de todos consejo al contrario, ella insistio en llevar a cabo
su deseo, y Ogun finalmente izquierdo.

Despues de que ella sali6, Ogun uso su instrumento de orden (Ase) para maldecirla,
proclamando que ella permaneceria apatica y sin base para el resto de su life. Tres dias
despues, ella fue los beserk, se despoj6 desnudo y corri6 enfadado. Despues de esto, las
personas empezaron a hacer broma de ella con las palabras
El "Ogun lo fi el "derin de Omoboni, es decir, era Ogun que transformo Omoboni para
volverse un objeto de ridiculo. Eso es como este Odu consiguio los sobriquet de "derin de
Ogun."

Cuando el odu aparece a la adivinacion para un hombre y declara el uree ( es decir, no hay
mucho para preocupar sabre) deben aconsejarle que no maldiga a nadie. Si es Ayeo (
cuando presiente el peligro ), deben decirle que uno de sus esposas esta proponiendo
dejarlo y que si el la maldice, manifestara. Si aparece para una mujer, le aconsejaran que
no deje a su marido porque ella no solo lo sentira pero tambien sufrira las consecuencias
inmensamente al punto de tener que escoger las cosas de la tierra o vertedero de la basura
comer.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para Ogun y Su Esposa

Ona kan ti yi wa. Ona kan ti ohun wa. Ikpade ona meji ni o
ma nje eso genge.
Una carnes de] camino de un ]ado y una cames del camino del otro lado. Su interseccion
era la verdad o la manera que fue esperado.

Esos eran los A wos que la adivinacion hecho para Ogun y su esposa. Ogun fue
aconsejado para hacer el sacrificio con su espada y un macho cabrio evitar daiie bajo un
hecho de temple ingobemable. Su esposa tambien fue aconsejada para hacer el sacrificio
con la ropa ella estaba llevando y un gallo para prevenir el peligro de decapitarse por su
marido. Desde que era un sacrificio a Esu, Ogun se nego a hacerlo porque el
habitualmente mira hacia abajo en Esu. La esposa hizo su propio sacrificio sin embargo.

Cuando Ogun estaba bebiendo el vino de la palma un dia, su esposa estaba intentando
rescatar a un nifio que se cayo a la tierra cuando ella tambien se resbalo a la tierra e
inadvertidamente volco la calabaza de que Ogun estaba bebiendo el vino de la palma.
Agobiado por el frenesi, el entro en la rabieta y consiguio su espada para decapitar a la
esposa. Ella extrafio la muerte estrechamente, aunque los heridos en la boca. La lesion no
respondio al tratamiento y llevo a la exposicion de los dientes de la mujer. Las personas
empezaron a mofarsela de sabre todo con sus dientes expuestos pronto siempre que ella
fuera al mercado. Ella retorcio a menudo diciendo que ella no culpo aquellos que estaban
hacienda broma de ella y que si Ogun no hubiera infligido la lesion en ella, ella no se
habria vuelto el objeto de ridiculo. Que de nuevo es como este Odu se volvio conocido
como el "damikrin de Ogun" - significandolo era Ogun que me hizo un objeto de
ridiculo."

Cuando aparece a la adivinacion, la persona se <lira hacer el sacrificio antedicho para

evitar el orto de la lesion accidental prevenga el riesgo de infligir la lesion seria en alguien
como resultado del temple ingobemable. He/she debe hacer el sacrificio sin el retraso.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para todas las Divinidades en la Tierra

Elerin moro aron orongun maja loko. Owa lomo sanda

ajegbin. Adifa fun egberin aworo tionbu ikin le okuro.
 Ifa yio kpa oluwa reje. Egberin aworo t'onbi ikin lo okuro,
Ifa yio kpa gbogbo wonje.

Tres Awos hizo la adivinaci6n para las divinidades en la tierra, cuando ellos estaban
burlandose Orunmila como las nueces de la palma no mas. Ellos fueron advertidos que
quienquiera lo llam6 la nuez de la palma no mas se mataria y comido por Orunmila, aun
cuando era la porci6n entera de ellos. Por eso se dice que cualquiera que desprecia
Orunmila como las nueces de la palma no mas se destruira o se aplastara.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para los Granjeros y las Personas de Pueblo de Kosoko

El arin color canela Ogunda-da-ganado - la adivinaci6n hecho para los granjeros y las
personas enteras del pueblo de Kosoko. Les dijeron que hicieran el sacrificio con todo las
comidas del edibie que agregan azada y cutiass. Las personas hicieron el sacrificio, pero
los granjeros se negaron a unir a las otras personas haciendo el sacrificio. Despues de esto,
las personas dejaron de cultivar en la tierra que ellos lacked el equipo por cultivar. Sin
embargo, ellos empezaron a florecer a traves de comerciar, y otras vocaciones. Las
personas generalmente se hicieron ricas de cualquier cosa que ellos hicieron.

Hasta el momento, en el pueblo cultivando se margina, aunque la pobreza es una rareza en

el lugar. Ese era el resultado del orden dado por Esu en la encantaci6n siguiente:

Ota bota, Ore bo re

Ana mu mi ti oga
0 ni ibi ti eru bani eru mo.
E kogbo do lo si oko mo.
E ma rin igboro kiri.
Ibe nii onje yi o ma de ba yin Awon ti
o lo se ishe ni oko, He ni e o, ma wa ti
won yi o ma ko onje wa.

El enemigo sabe conseguir a los enemigos.

Friends saben conseguir a los amigos.
El turns del camale6n su color a cualquier cosa ve.
Siempre que el esclavo acabe su servidumbre y libertad de ganancias.
El ya nova a la granja.
Cuando usted sale para caminar sobre,
Eso es donde la comida se lo encontrara.
Aquellos que van a trabajar en la granja,
Vendra casa con las cosechas.

Despues de esto, el sacerdote de Ifa le dijo a Orunmila que el no supo el pueblo que el
llam6 Kosoko y el contest6 que era el llorin.

Cuando el odu aparece a la adivinaci6n, la persona se aconsejara que los notto se

comprometen en cualquier profesi6n enervante que requiere el ejercicio fisico, porque el
no puede ponerse adinerado haciendo asi. Si el hace el sacrificio, sus medios de sustento y
opulencia vendran a el sentandose en un lugar. Si aparece a una adivinaci6n de ceremonia
de denominaci6n, los padres se diran que el nifio no debe permitirse
comprometer en cualquier trabajo forzado y que el sacrificio antedicho debe hacerse para el. El
se pondra prospero en la vida sin debilitar fisicamente en la energia y esfuerzo.

Como Este Odu Became conocido como Ogunda-Mi-Lerin

0 ni bu ma ni igba. Oni igba ma ni i bu. Awon mejeji niwon [ojo

she ore.
El duefio del estanque no tenia ningun instrumento por achicar fuera el agua.
El duefio de la fianza no tenia ningun estanque en que para usar su bailen

Ellos eran dos amigos que estaban de acuerdo en establecer una sociedad para emprender una
empresa en el cultivo del pez. Siempre que el estanque del pez estuviera maduro para segar la
mies, ellos compartieron las cosechas igualmente. La sociedad crecio con exito durante
muchos afios hasta que ellos los dos se murieron. Despues de su fallecimiento, sus nifios
continuaron la sociedad. Un afio, para hacer el sacrificio que normalmente se hizo por sus
padres, solo un peces sobrevivian como un resuit de su fracaso. Un arose del argumento acerca
de quien fue titulado para guardar los solos peces. El hijo del duefio del estanque defendio que
que sin el estanque de su padre, habria habido que ninguna manera de alimentar pesca. Por
otro lado, el hijo del duefio de la fianza defendio, que sin el uso del fiador del padre, habria
habido ninguna manera de alcanzar el pez. La disputa se muerto-cerro con llave.

Ellos eran a daga-arrastrado cuando la came de Ogun por para intervenir. Despues de narrar
sus casos a Ogun, el les dijo a los compafieros al ciose sus ojos. Despues de esto, el uso su
matchete para cortar el pez en dos pedazos. Cuando ellos abrieron sus ojos, el colecciono las
dos mitades y soplo en ellos y los dos' las mitades se volvieron dos todo pesca. Ogun dio un
peces como consecuencia a cada uno de ellos y ellos le agradecieron con una sonrisa ancha.
Eso es como este odu consiguieron los fiames de "Ogun-da-milerin" - significandolo "era
Ogun que me hicieron sonrien al punto de una lucha."

Cuando aparece a la adivinacion, la persona se aconsejara para hacer el sacrificio para apartar
el riesgo de una disputa en una sociedad que el tiene con otra persona.

El Elogio de Orunmila en el Efilcacy de una Sonrisa

Orunmila les pidio a sus seguidores que sonrieran, porque;

Uno sonrie al contar el dinero suficiente,
Uno sonrie al jugar los juegos,
Uno sonrie durante el matrimonio,
Uno sonrie al nacimiento de un nuevo nifio, y
Uno sonrie al sentarse encima de la prosperidad.

El prescribio el sacrificio como consecuencia con el kolanut blanco y sala servir la cabeza de
uno y orar a Dios para dar las cosas buenas de vida en el divinee.

Cuando aparece a la adivinacion, la persona se aconsejara para no preocupar porque Dios lo ha

dotado con felicidad y prosperidad.
 El capitulo 9
OGUNDA-OSA
OGUNDA-MAA-SAA

El Hizo la Adivinacion para las Ranas y los Sapos en el Cielo

Ogunda Maa Saa Ijarayin aya re ma ma soju. Adifa fun akere,

abufun Kounko, nijo won fi omi shubere omo
turutu. Ogunda no corren lejos. Ijarayin, su esposa no debe preocuparse.

Esos fueron los dos sacerdotes de Ifa que la adivinacion hecho para las ranas y los sapos
cuando ellos estaban ansiosos tener los nifios. Les aconsejaron que hicieran el sacrificio con
dos gallinas y cuatro huevos. Les dijeron que fueran a Dios para prometer lo que ellos usarian
para mostrar su apreciacion despues de tener los nifios despues de hacer el sacrificio. En el
futuro, ellos fueron al altar divino de Dios, mientras prometiendo producir doscientos elefantes
( el erin del ugba) cuando ellos empezaron teniendo los nifios.

Despues del sacrificio, ellos empezaron a producir a los nifios en los centenares en un
momenta, y no anhela despues, sus nifios y nietos tambien empezaron a tener los nifios en los
multiplos de centenares en un momenta. Ese era el punto a que Dios los recordo la promesa
que ellos habian hecho producir 200 elefantes cuando ellos empezaron teniendo los nifios,
desde que aparecia que ellos renegaron en el. Ellos eran sorprendidos, o tan fingidos, para oir
aproximadamente 200 elefantes porque, les faltaron los medias fisicos de atacar o capturar un
solo elefante, permita 200 de ellos exclusivamente. Ellos corrigieron que lo que ellos habian
prometido dar como la recompensa por tener los nifios era cantar doscientas canciones en la
alabanza de Dios que ellos estan hacienda desde ponerse productivo.

Para Ponerlo En Yoruba Ellos Revocaron Que lo que Ellos Dijeron Era

"Waan ko igba erin fun Olodumare 11 y no

"Waan gba igba erin fun Olodumare"

Desde que el "erin" significa canciones y elefante en Yoruba, Dios no pudo ninguna falta ellos.
El Omnipotente Padre en ese caso, les dijo que cantaran la cancion ellos habian estado
cantando. Todas las ranas en un conjunto del concierto empezaron cantando:

11
Ba a ta la she re ba ri sha, oohen oohen". y el sonido era tan melodioso que Dios expres6 la
satisfaccion profunda. Esas palabras se han vuelto las canciones de las ranas y los sapos a este
dia.

Cuando aparece a la adivinacion, para cualquiera ansioso para tener los nifios, la persona debe
aconsejarse para hacer el sacrificio a una divinidad en su familia, mientras prometiendo pagar
un he/she de la recompensa no seran permitirse el lujo de, y los he/she empezaran teniendo los
nifios definitivamente
El Tambien Hizo la Adivinacion En el Cielo Para Ekunkun

Ogunda ma saa o. Ijaranyin aya re maa soju o.

Akere ah kounko lo'mbe le'ti odo ti'nsunkun,
omo winyin winyin. Adifa fun Ekunkun, nijo
ti ofe gba aya erin.

Los mismos sacerdotes de lfa hicieron la adivinacion para Ekunkun, (Ebo en Bini), la planta
cuya se usan las hojas por coser las bolsas, cuando el iba seducir Irin, la esposa del elefante. El
no supo que el irin era una mujer casada cuando ellos se enamoraron entre si. El solo supo que
el hecho despues de que la mujer ha pasado a su casa para vivir con el, mientras siguiendo un
ultimatum amenazante del elefante que el estaba viniendo a comerlo crudo, por atreverse a
seducir a su esposa.

El estaba tan asustado que el corrio a Orunmila para la adivinacion. Le dijeron que hiciera el
sacrificio con dos gallos y 201 agujas. Los sacerdotes de lfa le aconsejaron que cambiara su
morada para mantenerse en los pantanos del rio despues de hacer el sacrificio. Tambien le
dijeron servir su cabeza con una gallina despues de la residencia cambiante, en los bancos del
rio. El considero el consejo al minutest detalle, y su nueva morada era correcta dentro de los
pantanos del rio.

Entretanto, el Elefante envio un mensaje intimidando final a Ekunkun, mientras advirtiendolo

consumir cualquier cosa que el tenia porque el estaba viniendo a festejar en el en siete dia
tiempo. Despues de disfrutar el sacrificio hecho por Ekunkun, Esu lo tranquilizo no ser unduly
perturbado por la amenaza del Elefante.

Al final del periodo de gracia dado a Ekunkun, el Elefante fue solo a la residencia anterior del
seductor de su esposa ser dicho que el habia movido al terraplen del rio. El Elefante se dirigio
en seguida hacia la nueva residencia de Ekunkun. En llegar alli, el Elefante bramo si eso era
como Ekunkun lejano pudiera correr. Eso era como el alerto el seductor y los sedujimos que el
habia venido a establecer las cuentas con ellos, cuando el prometio hacer.

Despues de esto, el paso un frente-miembro al pantano y hundio a traves de. El intento apoyar
el movimiento con el segundo frente-miembro y tambien hundio. En un esfuerzo al maintian
equilibre, el movio sus miembros posteriores y ellos tambien hundieron. Con sus cuatro pies
empotrados en el pantano, su abdomen descanso en el pantano. Para lanzar un ataque de gran
alcance en la pareja, el estiro la longitud llena de su tronco en un movimiento desesperado. Al
mismo tiempo Esu saco las 201 agujas con que Ekunkun hizo el sacrificio y ellos agujerearon
en el tronco sensible del Elefante y el respiro su ultimo y dio de puntapies el cubo. Esas 201
agujas son las espinas afiladas que linean las hojas de Ekunkun hasta el momento. Despues de
que el fallecimiento del Elefante, Ekunkun e Irin disfrutaron en la vida un matrimonio dichoso
despues.

Cuando aparece a la adivinacion para un matrimonio propuesto o aventura amorosa, el hombre

debe decirse que el marido de la mujer es un hombre fuerte, grande y encima de-productivo y
que a menos que el hace el sacrificio el hombre lo destruira. Por otro lado, si aparece para una
mujer, ella se advertira que su flirteo causara una reyerta fatal
entre su amante y su marido y que sin hacer el sacrificio, ella puede volverse un accidente
tambien.

La Adivinacion le Constitnyo Antes de Dejar el Cielo

Los Uroke mi lawo li gon rin, el Oroke mi la'wo le turuye, eran los Awos que la
adivinacion hecho para este Odu cuando el estaba viniendo del cielo. Le aconsejaron que
hiciera el sacrificio para que no pudieran reembolsarse sus gestos buenos en la tierra con
la ingratitud. Tambien le aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio en el orden mantenerse en la
tierra mucho tiempo y no perder su vida a causa de una mujer. Le exigieron que sirviera:
Ogun con un gallo y tortuga; la divinidad molida con la tortuga; su angel guardian con una
guinea el ave; y Esu con un macho cabrio. El hizo todos los sacrificios y vino al mundo
con su esposa.

Cuando el consiguio al mundo, el encontr6 la vida muy dificil. Else encontro Orisa-Nla
que estaba de acuerdo en alojarlo como consecuencia. El, Sango y su esposa Oya, junto
con Erinle eran todos quedandose con Orisa-Nla. El era rapido estableciendose como un
sacerdote de lfa habil. Sango tambien demostrado ser un divintiy muy poderosos y los dos
de ellos se pusieron muy amistosos. La madre de Sango tenia un linaje del thrallish. Ella
se llamo el ngbodo de Torosi-lya y la hija de Rey Kariba. Durante la guerra ella se llevo
como una guerra cautivo, vendido en la esclavitud, y en el futuro compro por Elenkpe-
Adodo. Los otros miembros de la casa de Orisa-Nla se mofaban de Sango pidiendole que
nombrara el lugar de donde su madre graniz6. A proposito, Sango ni supo su madre ni el
nombre, aunque le dijeron que ella vino de Takpa. Esta casualidad responde de la
conducta agresiva y feroz de Sango.

El Adivino Para Sango Up-root el Arbol de Obiri

Sango vivio y opero para la mayoria de su vida en el pueblo de Oyo-koro. Habia un arbol
llamado Obiri (Afa negro) en el pueblo donde el culto de brujeria celebro sus reuniones
noctumas, y de donde ellos causaban el estrago en el pueblo. Ese arbol o su rama
normalmente se usa por preparar la uma de Sango. En vista del peligro que el arbol
propuso para los ciudadanos de Oyo-koro, el rey hizo una proclamacion, mientras
ofreciendo un premio guapo a cualquiera que tuvo exito reduciendolo. Sango ofrecio
destruir el arbol y pidio el premio a ser especificado. El rey prometio darle un camero, 201
bolsas de dinero, 200 cabras, un granero de names, un bulto de tela roja y 200 aves,. Ese
era el punto a que el se acerco a su amigo, Orunmila para la adivinacion y le aconsejaron
que diera un macho cabrio a Esu y un conejo a la Noche. El no hizo el sacrificio. La
mai'iana siguiente, Sango se vistio en su equipo de la batalla e invito su esposa Oya a
encender el relampago para el localizar el blanco. Sango no puede ver su blanco a menos
que su esposa enciende el relampago. Entretanto, en cuanto el se estimulara para la accion,
la nube recogio y habia oscuridad casi total en el dia-luz ancho. Oya encendio relampago
y Ekun-o-ke entonces el tigre del cielo ( como Sango se llama), rugio como si habia un
terremoto y uso su hacha para rasgar abajo el Obiri obligue a refugiarse en un arbol el
derecho a a su taproot. El finalmente a-arraigado y lo quito a una situaci6n diferente.
Sango se dio un aplauso conmovedor cuando else retiro a su casa para descansar.

Despues por el dia, el fue al palacio para informar mision lograda y para coleccionar su
premio. El fue defraudado para ver que la compensacion no estaba adelante-proxima a
pesar del exito rotunda con que el realiz6 su lado de la ganga. El regres6 a Orunmila para
informarlo que el iba a generar un cataclismo en el pueblo. Orunmila lo aconsej6 que si el
causara la mutilaci6n criminal en el pueblo, nadie podria sobrevivir para darle su premio.
Orunmila le dijo atar un pollo a su cintura y preparar a una vara especial llevar en un
cesto-gorra y sentarse delante de su casa. Despues de esto su premio se entregaria a el.

El hizo como el se aconsej6 por Orunmila. La vista de el en el equipo caus6 una estampida
que reverber6 en el palacio. La advertencia sefiala asustado al rey en pedir el premio de
ese Sango debe congregarse inmediatamente y debe entregarse a el. Despues de esto, era
el giro de Esu Awon-lyami-Oshoronga para luchar atras. Esu fue a instigar a los
Superiores de la Noche que el hijo de un esclavo que no conoci6 a su madre ni siquiera se
atrevi6 a destruir su vestibulo de la conferencia con el affrontery de lat6n alrededor.

Las instigaciones de Esu incitaron a los Superiores de la Noche en decidir al destabilze

Sango. Ellos lanzaron su ataque por el formenting una equivocaci6n entre su esposa y el
encima de quien era tomar la cabeza del camera. Oya insisti6 que la cabeza del camera
perteneci6 a ella, porque Sango no pudiera lograr la tarea sin su apoyo activo nevando la
manera. En su parte, Sango fue determinado para establecer su autoridad como el Sefior y
amo de la casa y todos bajo su orden incluso Oya. Una lucha sucedi6 como consecuencia
entonces entre.

Una mujer vieja llamada Oji-fefe, ella una bruja que era su vecino, abanic6 las ascuas de
la disensi6n entre la pareja cantando una canci6n agravante: "Oya el o ma je ori agbo. El
Bu oje woje eghi gho." Cuando Oya oy6 la canci6n, ella jur6 que en lugar de concede la
cabeza del camera a Sango, ella preferiria dejar su casa para bueno. Cuando Sango
record6 que c6mo el sedujo Oya de Ogun, el estaba de acuerdo en rendirse la cabeza del
camera a ella. Se recordara que Oya era originalmente la esposa de Ogun. U gbo-oro era la
letrina privada de Oya cuando ella se cas6 a Ogun. Sango iba alli furtivamente a hacer el
amor a Oya. Era cuando el secreto gote6 fuera que el concilio divino gobem6 que las
mujeres ya no deben tener el acceso a Ugboro o conclave del secreto.

Estaba a causa de la rendici6n de la cabeza del carnero a Oya que su urna se prepara
tradicionalmente en la cabeza de un camera mientras la urna de Sango se prepara
habitualmente en un mortero preparado del tallo de Obiri o el arbol del afa negro. El polvo
de ese levantamiento habia establecido escasamente cuando los Superiores de la Noche
soltaron su pr6xima salva. Sango se puso enfermo de repente con la locura. Esa era la fase
a que su esposa acord6 pagar la deuda de sacrificio que el debi6 a Esu con el macho cabrio
y la Noche con un conejo y una gallina los dos de que fueron fritas para festejar el club de
brujeria. Cuando el se volvi6 bien de nuevo, el insisti6 en sentarse en un mortero prepar6
del tallo del arbol que el desarraig6.

Cuando este Ifa aparece a Ugbodu, la persona se aconsejara para preparar su propio Sango
inmediatamente; sirva Esu con un macho cabrio grande; y sirve el nuevo Ifa con dos
gallinas, dos guinea-aves, dos palomas y un bulto de cinco tuberculos de fiame atadas
juntas.
A la adivinacion, la persona se aconsejara para servir: - Sango con un gallo; Esu con el macho
cabrio; y una divinidad familiar con un gallo, para guitar los obstaculos del camino de su
destino. El debe tener cuidado con de una mujer vieja que vive con o cerca de el.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Ajero para Su Esposa Favorita Tener un Nino

Con el paso de tiempo su fama y la fortuna extendio a los cuatro vientos del mundo conocido.
El Ajero de Ijero oyo hablar de su habilidad y envio para el. El se volvi6 popularmente
conocido como Awodi-Orisa. El Ajero tenia ningun nifio y todos los Awos del mundo
conocido habido intentado pero no resolvio el problema.

Cuando el recibio la invitacion del Ajero, el foe a dos Awos por la adivinacion. Le aconsejaron
que hiciera el sacrificio a lfa, Esu, Ogun y la divinidad molida y el hicieron todos los
sacrificios antes de dejar para Ijero. El era justo en el cutis y nacio con un ombligo destacado.

En llegar al palacio del Ajero, el hizo la adivinacion y aconsejado el Oba para hacer los
sacrificios siguientes: un macho cabrio grande a Esu; el perro, gallo y tortuga a Ogun; la oveja
hembra a la divinidad molida y una cabra a los superiores de la noche a traves de lfa. Despues
de hacer el sacrificio, el empezo a preparar las medicinas para los Oba y sus esposas estar
usando. El foe aclarado para mover libremente sobre en el palacio. El mes siguiente, la esposa
favorita del Oba se puso embarazada. Eso se siguio rapidamente por los embarazos de varias
otras esposas en el haren real. La esposa favorita del Oba era tres meses embarazada cuando el
dejo para casa. El Oba prometio darle la mitad de su reino cuando sus esposas pusieron para
plantar en un macizo seguramente.

En la llenura de tiempo, la esposa favorita del Oba dio el nacimiento a un nmo masculino,
seguido rapidamente por varios otros nacimientos por las otras esposas en el haren,
Coincidentalmente, todos los nifios se habian destacado los ombligos asi de Orunmila. La
coincidencia, lenguas entretanto enviadas que menean con el tittle chismorrean que Orunmila
podrian haber sido facilmente responsables para los embarazos de las esposas del Oba, desde
que los nifios tenian su tipo de ombligo.

Estaba en ese guion que Orunmila se invito a Ijero a venir y coleccionar su compensacion.
Cuando el recibio la invitacion, el foe a su Awos por la adivinacion. Despues de que
adivinacion que le dijeron que la invitacion tenia un presentimiento arriesgado, y que el tenia
que hacer el sacrificio para volver vivo. El sacrificio involucro dando un macho cabrio a Esu, y
sirviendo Ogun en un baldio con un tijeras grandes, un gallo y una tortuga. Despues de
preparar el sacrificio, el se dio los tijeras para viajar con para su jomada. Inspite del sacrificio,
el foe informado que la jomada permanecia cargada con las expectativas ominosas, pero que el
sobreviviria la prueba inevitable.

En el foturo, el dej6 para Ijero para honrar la invitacion, mientras sosteniendo los tijeras en la
mano. En cuanto las personas de sierra de Ijero el, el se dio un aplauso conmovedor. Despues
del intercambio usual de bromas, le dijeron que habia sospechas foertes que el podria haber
sido responsable para los embarazos de las esposas del Oba. Aunque el no estaba cobrandose
formalmente con la ofensa de estafar, era necesario
para el ir por el ensayo por la prueba para establecer su inocencia. El ensayo era fijo
durante la mai'iana siguiente.

Cuando el entr6 fuera para el ensayo por la mai'iana, el vio un gigante-fuego que quema
delante del palacio. Le dijeron que entrara en el infiemo llameante para quitar un objeto de
lat6n con la advertencia que si el fuera inocente que el lograria la tarea indemne, pero que
si el fuera culpable del cargo, el fuego lo consumiria. Despues de agradecerles que le
hubiera dado la oportunidad de establecer su inocencia, el camin6 en la pelota de llamas
en busca del objeto de lat6n. El hizo tres esfuerzos y estaba en el tercer esfuerzo que el
recogi6 la ajorca de lat6n. El se dio un aplauso conmovedor por todos el presente, pero el
ni no consider6 la situaci6n c6mico, ni garantizando cualquier celebraci6n. El le dijo al
Oba, que el consigui6 un precio digno para su magnanimidad y proclam6 que si su
tratamiento fuera su manera de expresar el gratitiude a sus bienhechores que seguirian
siendo la tradici6n del pueblo de la generaci6n a la generaci6n.

El dej6 inmediatamente para casa sin coleccionar o exigir su premio. Cuando este Odu
aparece a la adivinaci6n, la persona se aconsejara para ser selectiva en su magnanimidad
apartar el riesgo de ingratitud espesa. El debe hacer el sacrificio sin embargo para evitar
perder su vida a causa de su benevolencia.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para Ogun y Su Esposa Antes de Ir a Guerrear

Ogunda maa saa, Ijaranyin aya re maa ma soju

Ese era el Awo que la adivinaci6n hecho para Ogun cuando el iba a emprender la guerra
en el pueblo de odo de Inomu. Le dijeron que su jomada al frente de guerra seria sin
preocupaciones y que el iba a ser victorioso en la guerra, pero que el debe hacer el
sacrificio para devolver casa triunfalmente y sin los problemas. El se neg6 a hacer el
sacrificio porque el no pudiera imaginar cualquier problema que podria confrontarlo. El
era servir a su angel guardian con una guinea-ave, el i'iame asado, una calabaza de vino de
la palma y una calabaza de aceite y para dar un macho cabrio a Esu. Mientras negandose a
servir Esu bruscamente, el prometi6 servir a su angel guardian despues de volver del
campo de batalla.

Por otro lado, su esposa Ijarayin (Elaghalogho en Bini) fue dicho hacer el sacrificio para
que sus gestos buenos no pudieran premiarse con la ingratitud. Ella hizo el sacrificio con
los instrumentos de madera usados por tejer tela, y un gallo. Ogun dej6 coma
consecuencia para el campo de batalla con su esposa y tropas. El luch6 galantemente al
frente de guerra y perdido ningun tiempo derrotando al enemigo. En su jomada del
retomo, el despach6 sus tropas para avanzar coma una fiesta de antemano antes de que el
dejara para casa con su esposa. Ese era el tiempo cuando Esu subi6 a castigar Ogun por no
hacienda el sacrificio.

Cuando ellos llegaron al rio grande en la manera, Esu habia congregado todas las ranas
disponibles para estar cantando una canci6n de guerra. Ogun habia dado todas sus armas
luchadoras a sus tropas llevar casa y el era totalmente indefenso. De repente, el oy6 que la
batalla llora de:

"Ogun ma de o, Ho Ho Ho Ho, Ho Ho, A A'kpa o Ho Ho Ho Ho, Ho Ho."

Significando:

"Ogun ha venido y nosotros vamos a matarlo."

Aprehensivo de quien estos enemigos inesperados eran, Ogun empez6 a correr al reves hasta
que el se cayera llano en su cara, exhausto. Despues de esperar por tres dias para su marido
volver para encontrarsela, Ijarayin decidio aventurar al banco del rio para espiar en el
"enemigo." Ella fue asombrada para ver una constelacion grande de ranas que se meten en el
rio cantar:

Aya Ogun ma de o
Ho Ho Ho Ho.

Despues de esto, ella empez6 a granizar en su marido al return encontrarsela. No habia

ninguna contestacion de el porque el se habia desmayado en un coma. Ella se peino el arbusto
que lo busca sin cualquier sefial de el. Ella viaj6 casa entonces para consultar Orunmila en el
destino de su marido. Le dijeron despues de la adivinacion que su marido todavia estaba vivo,
pero que el le debio un sacrificio que el se habia negado a realizar antes de ir a guerrear a Esu.
Ijarayin decidio hacer el sacrificio en nombre de su marido. Le dijeron que lo depositara en el
banco del rio despues de preparar el sacrificio.

Ella tomo el sacrificio como consecuencia al rio donde ellos se sostuvieron previamente por
los lamentos de ranas. Cuando ella empezo a orar a Esu para hacerlo posible para ella ver
Ogun, su marido, que Ogun oyo por casualidad alguien mencionando su nombre y pregunto
quien era, y ella contesto que era Ijararyin, la esposa de Ogun. Ogun se la encontro pronto y se
quejo que el guerra-lamento del banco del rio continuado y eso era por que el tenia que
esconder lejos. Despues de encontrarselo, la esposa le dijo que ella los subseqently
descubrieron que lo que ellos consideraron un lamento de guerra era meramente el chillido de
un numero grande de ranas. Ogun de repente fieltro humillo y desinflo,

Como ellos estaba dejando para casa, Ogun advirtio a su esposa para no permitir a nadie saber
que el se sostuvo durante tres dias por el lamento de ranas. A proposito, el era pronto descubrir
que las mujeres no son los guardianes mas buenos de secretos. Entretanto, Ogun tuvo
evidentemente mucha hambre y cansado. El se durmio mientras la esposa era los fiames
coccion en el fuego. Ogun se desperto muy hambriento e inquirio enojadamente si la comida
todavia no estaba lista. La esposa contesto que ella estaba golpeando el fiame. Ogun un poco
mas tarde grito el iracibly de nuevo si los fiames eran las piedras por tomar tan largo preparar.
La pregunta enfurecio Ijarayin y ella contesto de una manera igualmente irritable
preguntandose por que el era tan impaciente con ella, mientras agregando, "despues de que
todas las ranas lo guardaron esperando en el bosque por los ultimos tres dias. 11 Sus
comentarios agobiaron Ogun con el enojo ingobemable y el consiguio su espada para atacar a
la esposa que tuvo exito escapando su ira. Cuando Ogun no pudiera ver a su esposa, el empez6
a gritar las palabras siguientes: El "Ijarayin ni emi yio ma kpe sa. 11

Estas son las palabras habladas por las personas de Iworo al servir Ogun, hasta el momento.
Deese dia, Ogun dej6 de comer el fiame golpeado.
Cuando este Odu aparece para una mujer a la adivinaci6n, nunca le aconsejaran que grite
insolentemente en su marido evitar las consecuencias desagradables. Deben aconsejarle sin
embargo que haga el sacrificio. Si aparece para un hombre, deben aconsejarle que sirva Esu
con un macho cabrio y Ogun con un gallo, para obviar el riesgo de humillarse y de
comprometer la felonia en el proceso.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Olowo de Owo Cuando una Rata lo Hizo Perderse en el
Bosque

Erinrin gun sin, Odifa fun Olowo omo a// gbolu, nijo ti odan eku kon
soso ti oma ku ni'bo.

Ese era el Awo que la adivinaci6n hecho para el Olowo de Owo cuando una sola rata lo hizo
perderse en el bosque. El Olowo habia sido aconsejado para hacer el sacrificio con una sola
rata evitar se perdido. El no s6lo se pregunt6 c6mo el, un Oba, debe hacer el sacrificio con una
rata pequefia, pero se preguntado c6mo imaginar la posibilidad de se perdido en el bosque. El
se neg6 a realizar el sacrificio.

Temprano la pr6xima mafiana, el estaba orinando a la parte de arras de su palacio cuando el

observ6 que una rata estaba moviendo bajo sus piemas. La rata estaba moviendo tan
perezosamente que el decidi6 cogerlo. Cuando el intent6 sostenerlo, la rata estaba avanzando.
El empez6 a preguntarse que tipo de rata misteriosa era, cuando el se determin6 coger y
matarlo. La rata continu6 moviendo un poco la distancia fuera de su alcance en un momento,
mientras el continu6 siguiendolo, Cuando la rata entr6 en el arbusto como consecuencia, el lo
sigui6. En cuanto Olowo entrara en el arbusto, Esu vol6 las cenizas en el aire y el Oba perdi6
el contacto con la rata. El se encontr6 pronto en el coraz6n del bosque sin la pista despreciada
adelante c6mo encontrar su camino a casa.

El Oba se pas6 la noche en el bosque. La mafiana siguiente, el oy6 los monos que gritan en la
cima del arbol al pie de que el gast6 el ora de Olowo" noctumo fingir" (aqui es Olowo que
vaga en el bosque). El contest6 que los monos no deben reirse de el y que lo que el requiri6 era
la simpatia y no el ridiculo, porque el era incapaz de encontrar su camino a casa. Los monos le
preguntaron c6mo el los premiaria si ellos enviaran a uno de ellos tornado casa. El Olowo hizo
una pausa para reflejar en la pregunta antes de prometer que si ellos le mostraran su camino a
casa, el promulgaria un decreto que prohibe sus asuntos de matar en la vida o comerlos a la
etemidad. En esa nota, los monos enviaron a uno de ellos pilotarlo a la parte de atras de la
casa.

En cuanto el viera el jardin a la parte de arras de su palacio, el mono lo rog6 adi6s, y devolvi6
al bosque. Sus asuntos fueron relevados para ver el retomo de su Oba, y cuando ellos eran
curiosos saber que donde el habia estado durante las ultimas veinticuatro horas, el contest6
alegremente que el entr6 en una retirada en el bosque sondear lo que era responsable para la
incidencia alta de muertes en el reino de Owo. El le dijo al heraldo real que emplazara una
conferencia de jefes, consellors y superiores durante esa tarde despues de relajar durante algun
tiempo.

Cuando la conferencia fue congregada, el anunci6 la advertencia que el se dio por el rey del
bosque durante su retirada que dura todo el dia en el bosque. El inform6 que sus antepasados
le habian dicho por que el reino estaba experimentando tal una mortalidad
inaudita. El se retir6 al bosque el dia anterior, como el hacer, sin cualquier ayudante, se
dijo. Por la noche, el rey del bosque se lo encontr6 y le dijo que sus personas estaban
tei'iendo en sus miles debido a hacer lo que su antepasado les prohibi6 que hicieran, eso
es, la matanza y comiendo la came de monos. Por eso las personas de Owo prohiben las
monas hasta el momento.

Si este odu aparece como el ayeo a la adivinaci6n, la persona debe decirse hacer el
sacrificio inmediatamente con una sola rata.
 Capitulo 10
OGUNDA-ETURA
OGUNDA-TE-TURA-LA

El Hizo la Adivinacion en el Cielo para la Planta del Parasite

Oro gba gede gba. Odifa fun Afuma.

Ese era el sacerdote de Ifa que la adivinaci6n hecho para las cuatrocientos y ochenta
plantas en el bosque cuando ellos estaban disputando para la direcci6n. Cada uno de ellos
fue dicho hacer el sacrificio con un macho cabrio, la pluma de loro y tela blanca. Ninguno
de ellos hizo el sacrificio exceptuar la planta del parasite (Afuma en Yoruba y Ose en
Bini). Las plantas en el bosque habian estado arrogandose los papeles de direcci6n desde
el principio a ellos, culminando en una disputa que tuvo que ser remitido a Dios para la
resoluci6n. El Creador dijo a todos los 480 de ellos congregar en la camara divina en siete
tiempo de los dias.

Tres dias al dia designado, Esu caus6 Afuma para desarrollar lesion severa y dolores en
sus dos piernas que le impidieron poder caminar. En el dia designado, sus colegas vinieron
a invitarlo para la conferencia, pero el se quej6 que el estaba demasiado enfermo caminar
y que en todo caso, el no se consider6 como resistir una oportunidad en un concurso con
los gigantes muy altos como el iroko, el roble, el asori, el kolanut del akobrishi, el etc del
obeche. Los otros salieron entonces sin el. Cuando Iroko tambien vino a llamar, Afuma
rechaz6 ir a la conferencia. Comprendiendo que Dios pediria que ellos volvieran para
sacar Afuma, el decidi6 llevarlo en su cabeza, con la pluma de un loro en su cabeza.

Cuando todas las plantas fueron congregadas, Dios les pregunt6 si todos estabamos
presentes y ellos contestaron que el unico ausente era el Iroko y el Afuma inconsecuente
que estaban demasiado enfermos venir. Ellos habian terminado dando la contestaci6n
escasamente cuando ellos vieron el Iroko encima de-productivo, en la distancia vestida en
su regalia llena. Cuando Dios vio Iroko que lleva alguien llevando la pluma de un loro
(que Esu simplemente habia puesto en su cabeza), El le pregunt6 quien el estaba llevando,
visti6 en inmaculado blanco, e Iroko contest6 que era Afuma.

Cuando Iroko quiso soltar Afuma, Dios le dijo que esperara durante algun tiempo. El
Creador pidi6 a todas las plantas explicar c6mo ellos vinieron a la conferencia y ellos
contestaron que ellos vinieron en sus pies. Despues de observar que era s6lo Afuma que
vino en alguien mas la cabeza, Dios proclam6 que la fuerza de circunstancia habia
confirmado Afuma como el rey de todos ellos, y que desde aquel momento el siempre se
sentaria y continuaria las cabezas de otras plantas. Por eso la planta del parasito crece
hasta el momento en las cabezas y hombros de otras plantas.

Cuando aparece a la adivinaci6n, la persona se <lira hacer el sacrificio para encontrarse

con alguien que lo alzara a a la grandeza, con tal de que el tambien acuerda tener su propio
Ifa.
El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Bush Fowl

Okiti kpuke, awo eba ono odifa fun Oyele, abufun Adaba.

La colina del camino-sitio era el nombre de Awo que la adivinaci6n hecho para el ave del
arbusto (Oyele u Okorebajo en Yoruba y Ukorobozo en Bini). El tambien el divined para otro
pajaro de la paloma y paloma Adaba afin, llamado en Yoruba y Erekhue en Bini. Oyele y
Adaba eran queridos amigos que viven en la misma casa. Cada uno de ellos tenia un nifio; El
nifio de Oyele a llamandose Ura, mientras el nifio de Adaba se llam6 Urojo

Cuando Adaba estaba siguiendo la gira, ella dej6 a su hijo al cuidado de su amigo Oyele.
Entretanto, cuando Oyele y su hijo se pusieron hambrientos, ellos acordaron vender al hijo de
Adaba en la esclavitud, mientras usando los beneficios para comprar la comida para comer. En
el retomo de Adaba de su gira, ella le pidi6 a su hijo y Oyele contest6 que ella lo habia
vendido en la esclavitud. Adaba reaccion6 a la casualidad con la ecuanimidad estoica, sin
permitirle afectar su amistad.

Largo despues de que ellos habian puesto el incidente detras de ellos, Oyele viaj6 y dej6 a su
hijo al cuidado de Adaba que en el futuro pag6 a su amigo en su propia moneda vendiendo a
su hijo en la esclavitud. Cuando Oyele volvi6 para descubrir que su hijo se habia vendido en la
esclavitud, ella se puso tan furiosa que ella empez6 a gritar: - "wo tu ra wo tu ra" que la sefial
de la llamada del ave del arbusto es significando hasta el momento por que usted ha vendido a
mi hijo en la esclavitud?.

Adaba retorci6 recordandola su placidez cuando ella vendi6 a su propio hijo en la esclavitud
"Ijo wo tu rojo ki me'she" que tambien ha seguido siendo hasta el momento la sefial de la
llamada de Adaba.

Cuando este Odu aparece a la adivinaci6n, la persona nunca se aconsejara para guardar su o su
hijo o hija bajo el cuidado o protecci6n de cualquiera, evitar se perdido.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para la Paloma Cuando Ella Tenia Muchas Amantes

Ogunda te-tura-la la adivinaci6n hecho para la paloma cuando ella estaba coqueteando con las
amantes del umpteen. Ella estaba favoreciendo simultaneamente entierre alios, la tortuga, el
tigre, el le6n y la boa. Cuando ella se puso aprehensiva que su acci6n estaba cargada con el
peligro, ella fue por la adivinaci6n, averiguar que hacer para evitar entrar en el problema con
sus amantes. Le aconsejaron que sirviera su cabeza en la vispera del dia del mercado con el
kolanut blanco y coco despues de la adivinaci6n. Ella fue advertida para servir su cabeza, y
para decir amen a sus oraciones solo, sin la presencia de nadie mas. Le dijeron que visitara
cada uno de sus amantes invitarlos a pasarse la noche con ella antes de servir su cabeza, para
que ellos la acompafien al mercado el dia siguiente. Ella actu6 de acuerdo con.

La tortuga fue la primer amante en llegar a la casa de la paloma. En llegar alli el la oy6 por
casualidad orando a su cabeza mientras al parecer alguien mas estaba interponiendo sus
oraciones con "Amen". La tortuga empez6 a sospechar la paloma tenida otro hombre con ella.
El decidi6 esperar y ver quien el intruso era. No anhele despues, el tigre lleg6, mientras
andando su pie en la tortuga que inmediatamente pregunt6 quien el
infiemo estaba pisando en el. Cuando ellos descubrieron que ellos los dos vinieron a ver al
mismo amante, la tortuga dijo al tigre que habia ya otro hombre con ella en el cuarto. En el
futuro, el le6n y la boa unieron a las otras dos amantes.

Haciendo el sacrificio a su cabeza la paloma persigui6 en su alcoba para dormir. Todos los
amantes guardaron la vigilia hasta que el gallo braveado por la mafiana, y ellos todos se
resolvieron que quienquiera que su amante era, el fue ligado para acompafiarla al mercado.
Todos los cuatro de ellos decidieron ir y esperar por la paloma y su amante desconocido en la
manera al mercado. Despues de tomar la posici6n en la manera al mercado, la tortuga propuso
y otros estaban de acuerdo, que para reducir el margen de fricci6n, cada uno de ellos debe
descubrir lo que ellos prohibieron, en caso de que ellos tenian que luchar con el amante de la
paloma. La tortuga empez6 diciendo que el prohibi6 a ser mirado al sesgo o con desden, El
le6n revel6 que nadie debe sobresaltarlo en la vida dando algo con la tierra. En su parte, la Boa
descubri6 que se prohibi6 para cualquiera para pisar en su cola.

En esa nota, el tigre decidi6 tomar la posici6n en la cima de un arbol esperar la llegada de la
paloma y su amante, como un mirador de que para lanzar un ataque. A prop6sito, el subi6 la
rama muerta del arbol y el repentinamente rompi6 y como el caigase a la tierra, hizo un ruido
perturbando que sobresalt6 el le6n en volverse sus ojos mas de encontrar fuera de d6nde el
sourced legitimo. Al instante, el tigre acus6 el le6n de eyeing el el contumeliously, mientras el
le6n acus6 el tigre de causar un ruido que lo traquete6. En un gesto desactivar la atm6sfera
cobrada disefiaron, la tortuga apel6 para un armisticio. Ellos retorcieron preguntandole
guardar su boca cerraron desde que le faltaron la fuerza y vigor para batallar. Una lucha
sucedi6 como consecuencia entre el tigre y el le6n.

Durante la gresca entre los dos combattants gigantes, uno de ellos pis6 inadvertidamente en la
cola de la boa que la acci6n dio al levantamiento al descargo espontaneo de las flechas
mortales de la boa, mientras impactando en los dos luchadores. Realising que el veneno de la
Boa era mas pronto que despues, yendo a matarlos, el le6n pis6 en la cabeza de la boa y lo
pisote6 a la muerte. Como el le6n y el tigre estaba tefiendo, ellos se cayeron en la tortuga que
tambien fue ahogada a la muerte. Todos los cuatro amantes se murieron sin ver a su novia
comun y su rival supuesto.

Cuando la Paloma consigui6 como consecuencia a la mancha d6nde la batalla tuvo lugar, ella
se encontr6 todos su cuatro muerto de los amantes y ella empez6 a bailar y cantar en el
camino:

"Jem] to tijo jijo. Temi to tege yiye" Mi fortuna es bastante para estar
contento sobre, yo estoy bailando con la alegria

Esa ha seguido siendo la canci6n de la Paloma subsecuentemente al bailar en una mancha. En

el futuro, ella hizo alegremente casada a un canto inocuo Atata en Yoruba y Ogbodu en Bini.
A causa del mismo conocimiento de su belleza, ella se puso demasiado vanagloriosa para
someter a su marido. Ella Atata finalmente salido despues de tener dos nifios para el. Eso
explica por que la Paloma no pone mas de dos huevos en un momento, hasta el momento.
Cuando este lfa aparece a Ugbodu, la persona se aconsejara para servir el his/her encabece
con una paloma, kolanuts blanco y coco; lfa con una cabra; y Esu con un macho cabrio,
los huesos de Boa, el Le6n, el Tigre, la cascara de Tortuga y las plumas o craneo de una
Paloma, evitar perder su vida a causa de una mujer,.

A la adivinaci6n ordinaria, la persona se aconsejara que el esta compitiendo con por lo

menos tres otros hombres para el amor de una mujer. El debe servir, Esu con un macho
cabrio, y su cabeza con una paloma para apartar el peligro de cerrar con llave los cuemos
con sus rivales.

La Adivinacion para este Odu Cuando El estaba Dejando el Cielo

Ono ni mo kojo, Ono ni mo ko oyo, ono ni mo ko oriri-biri toun tege yiye.

Esos eran los Awos que la adivinaci6n hecho para Orunmila cuando el estaba viniendo al
mundo. Le aconsejaron que sirviera su cabeza con un tigre, un le6n y una boa. Ellos
tambien le aconsejaron que sirviera Esu con un macho cabrio, una tortuga y un insecto que
levantan arena de la tierra (llam6 el gancho al proyecto para el nombre de Yoruba en
Yoruba e Izeruru en Bini). El no llevaba puesto ninguna pista c6mo el era conseguir
sostenimiento del le6n, tigre y boa, desde que ellos no estan ordinariamente disponibles
para la venta en el mercado y s6lo pueden obtenerse fortuitamente e infrecuentemente. El
decidi6 servir Esu sin cualquier retraso sin embargo.

Despues de comer su macho cabrio, firmed de Esu a una estrategia por engatusar el le6n,
el tigre, y la boa en un lazo, invitandolos a seguirlo a la mancha d6nde el vio los ojos de la
tierra. En otros terminos, el estaba afilando sus apetitos diciendoles metaf6ricamente que
el estaba invitandolos a ayudarse a un goldmine de fortuna. Ellos estaban de acuerdo en
seguirlo inrnediatamente. En su manera a los supusimos oro-mio, Esu detuvo en sus
huellas para poner una sugerencia a ellos. El propuso eso en el orden minimizar o eliminar
el riesgo de ofender entre si, cada uno de ellos debe descubrir su sorepoint.

El Le6n empez6 diciendo que el lo consideraria como de burla si cualquiera tirara arena a
el. El Tigre seguido descubriendo que era una abominaci6n para cualquiera mirarlo al
sesgo. La boa concluida el ejercicio en el candour y forthrightness desplegando esa muerte
ineludible era el precio de tocar su cola porque el pag6 un premio alto antes de que Dios lo
diera a el.

Despues del franco los descubrimientos, Esu llev6 la manera, despues de surrepticiously
que inserta arena de adivinaci6n blanca y el insecto de subida de arena en la bolsa del
Tigre. Cuando la jomada procedi6 en serio, el insecto de subida de arena en la bolsa del
tigre empez6 a tirar la arena de adivinaci6n mas de y estaba cayendose en el Le6n que
estaba detras del Tigre. El Le6n desafi6 el Tigre como consecuencia con una mirada
despectiva, una lucha sucedi6 presentemente entre el Le6n y el Tigre. Mientras Esu estaba
interviniendo para detener la lucha, el Le6n y el Tigre caminados en la cola de la Boa que
instintivamente reaccion6 soltando sus flechas nocivas para morderlos inadvertidamente.
Como el Tigre y el Le6n empez6 a sentir el efecto t6xico de la mordedura de la Boa, ellos
acabaron la Boa en su throes de muerte haciendolo tiras en los pedazos.
Siguiendo las muertes de las tres victimas de su sacrificio, Esu corrio a la casa de
Orunmila para decirle que su sacrificio habia manifestado, porque las victimas
sacrificatorias para que el habia estado pareciendo, estaba listo para la coleccion.
Orunmila lo siguio coleccionar los cadaveres del Leon, Tigre y Boa, mientras usandolos
servir su cabeza que tarde despues de agradecer Esu con otro macho cabrio. En la
consonancia con las prescripciones durante la adivinacion el fue a Dios para obtener su
bendicion para una estancia exitosa en la tierra.

Su Experiencia en la Tierra y Por que los Ninos Prohiben las Bebidas Alcoholicas

Cuando el consiguio al mundo, el se volvio el beneficiario de fama y fortuna pronto, pero

el era encontrarse con las dificultades con sus tres mayores hermanos que eran los
sacerdotes divinos. El habia sido advertido a la adivinacion para no revelar el secreto de su
prosperidad a cualquiera, y para hacer el sacrificio a la divinidad del obstaculo, pero el se
olvido por todas partes el.

En el curso de su practica de lfa, el se encontro con la hija de la divinidad de prosperidad

(Aje) quien se enamoro al principio de el la vista. Antes de encontrarselo sin embargo, tres
otros hombres habian estado cortejandola. Ellos eran sacerdote de Ogun, sacerdote de
Sango y un sacerdote de Obaluwaye. La hija de Aje no hizo el requite sin embargo sus
adelantos. Cuando Orunmila se encontro a la hija de Aje, el fue por la adivinacion para
averiguar si al requite su amor para el. Le dijeron que el fue destinado para ponerse
prospero a traves de la mujer, con tal de que el pudiera abstenerse de tomar las bebidas
alcoholicas y revelar el secreto de su exito a cualquiera. Le dijeron hacer el sacrificio a
Esu con la came o huesos de Leon, el Tigre, la cabeza de una Boa y Macho cabrio para
ganar el concurso para las manos de la mujer. El hizo el sacrificio.

Despues de esto, la hija de Aje animo que Orunmila la visitara. Un dia la senora le dijo a
Orunmila que la visitara el dia siguiente para encontrarse a su padre. Desconocido a
cualquiera la divinidad de prosperidad estaba viniendo del cielo en ese dia regalar a su hija
en el matrimonio a un esposo conveniente. Despues de disfrutar su sacrificio, Esu
persuadio a los tres aspirantes infructuosos para juntarse en el lugar de la mujer en la
vispera de la visita de su padre del cielo. Entretanto, Orunmila sono lfa para las
direcciones y le dijeron hacer la mafiana siguiente a un sacrificio especial en la manera a la
casa de la mujer y esconder y reloj lo que iba a pasar al sacrificio.

Despues de invitar a los tres aspirantes a encontrarse al lugar de la muchacha en la vispera

de la visita de su padre, Esu les dijo tambien que el corazon de la muchacha se habia
robado por Orunmila y que ellos se lo encontrarian en la manera a la casa de la mujer que
noctumo. Desde que la muchacha era totalmente desprevenida de la proxima visita de sus
tres aspirantes, ella fue a dormir esa noche temprano para despertarse temprano por la
mafiana preparar para la visita de su padre. Cuando los tres amantes se encontraron en su
lugar, Esu instigo una lucha entre ellos que culmino entre si en su matanza. Ella se
desperto la mafiana siguiente para ver que sus admiradores habian matado entre si. Ella
empezo a cantar la cancion siguiente entonces: -

Ekini te kini kpa ra Ere bele kpe kpe kpe erebele.

Tekeji te keju kpa, Ere bele kpe kpe kpe Erebele.
 Teketa Teketa kpa
Ere bele kpe kpe kpe ere bele.
Ekun tori Orunmila ya se abe mewa,
Omu kpa are re ku,
Ere bele kpe kpe kpe ere bele
Ikariko to ri Orunmila ya so omimi,
Omu kpa are re ku.
Erebele kpe kpe kpe ere bele.
Oka tori Orunmila ya so oro meta,
Omu kpa ara re ku, Erebele kpe kpe kpe ere bele

La hija de Aje estaba regocijando que los tres rivales de su Orunmila querido se habian
matado con las armas con que ellos pensaron lucharlo.

Mientras ella estaba esperando a su padre, Orunmila habia preparado su sacrificio

entretanto y lo deposito en el camino del acercamiento a la casa de la sefiora, mientras
ocultandose de la vista ver lo que iba a pasar a el.

No anhele despues, la divinidad de riqueza (Aje) estaba de camino del cielo, hambriento y
cansado. El fue relevado para ver el sacrificio depositado por Orunmila que comprendio el
fiame asado, la sopa de la verdura preparo con las hojas del ewedu, una calabaza de vino
de la palma y red y kolanuts blanco. Despues de parecer ver alrededor que nadie estaba
mirandolo, (porque aparte de prohibir fiame asado y vino de la palma, Aje no come en la
presencia de cualquiera) el se sentaba para ayudarse a la comida y bebida.

En cuanto el terminara comiendo y bebiendo, Orunmila salio para confrontar la divinidad,

mientras acusandolo de comer la comida y beber el vino que el estaba enviando a las
personas que lo ayudan en su granja. Aje le dijo a Orunmila que no revelara lo que habia
pasado a cualquiera, a cambio para que el le dio una calabaza pequefia con que el era
ordenar todas las cosas buenas de vida para entrar a el en su casa a Orunmila. Orunmila
corrio a su casa para probar la eficacia del regalo que el simplemente habia sido dado.

En llegar a su casa, el se encontro todos los articulos de riqueza que espera por el. El se
encontro un pago grande que abraza su propia casa, complete con sirvientes. El estaba tan
desconcertado que el decidio correr para encontrarse su amado atras. Su ciclo de
desconcierto estaba completo cuando el encontro que el hombre que le dio el instrumento
que lo tradujo en la prosperidad instantanea era el padre de la mujer que se habia
enamorado de el. Aje como consecuencia el bethrothed su hija a Orunmila con el consejo
nunca soltar su secreto a cualquiera y no beber cualquiera embriagando el vino de ese dia.
Despues de esto, Aje devolvio al cielo, despues de prometer visitarlos al final del afio.

En el entretanto, Orunmila estaba revolcandose en la afluencia ilimitada. Al mismo tiempo

su mayor hermano llamado que Ogbigbo se puso curioso y fue determinado para averiguar
el secreto del oppulence subito de Orunmila. Ogbigbo fue como consecuencia por la
adivinacion para averiguar el secreto de la riqueza de su hermano menor. Le aconsejaron
servir a su madre con el pez seco rodado una calabaza de vino de la palma
y una calabaza de agua e invitar a su hermano mas menor, Orunmila a la ceremonia que
excluye sus dos otros hermanos, Awawa y Atirala. Antes en, Orunmila nunca se habia
advertido a la adivinacion para unir cualquiera de sus hermanos sirviendo a su madre.
Unfortunatly, el no hizo a Elenini, la divinidad del obstaculo, a causa del sacrificio el ultimo le
hizo olvidarse de la advertencia.

Entretanto, cuando Orunmila se invito por Ogbigbo, el prontamente estado de acuerdo para
honrar la invitaci6n. La ceremonia era tener lugar tres dias despues. Despues de servir a su
madre, era tiempo para verter las bebidas para la libaci6n. Ogbigbo dio la calabaza de vino de
la palma a Orunmila, mientras el guard6 la calabaza de agua. Ellos empezaron a beber pronto
y antes de que Orunmila pudiera comprender lo que estaba pasando, el ya era bebido y
achispado. En su tremens de delirio, el son6 fuera el detalle del sacrificio el hizo a Aje cuyo
hija que el se cas6, mientras agregando que su suegro era debido a la visita ellos en un par de
semanas, el menciono la fecha exacta de la visita esperada de Aje incluso.

Despues de obtener el secreto de su hermano, Ogbigbo preparo la misma comida y bebidas en

la anticipacion del retomo de Aje visitar a su hija y su marido. En el dia que Aje estaba
visitando que Ogbigbo entro en esconder despues de depositar el sacrificio gastado y sucio el
hizo. Este tiempo, Aje se acompafio por varios seguidores. Como el estaba pasando el ignoro
el sacrificio. Cuando Obigo vio que que Aje tomo ningun aviso de su sacrificio, el confronto la
divinidad para preguntar por que el no tomo su sacrificio. Sus seguidores le dijeron que esos
eran materiales prohibidos por Aje. Ogbigbo infringio las reglas el aire sin embargo revocando
ese Aje habia comido previamente y habia bebido material similar preparado por Orunmila.

Despues de esto, Aje maldijo Ogbigbo que paz de mente siempre lo eludiria para siempre y un
dia. Por eso Ogbigbo vive una vida inquieta hasta el momento. En llegar a la casa de
Orunmila, Aje le pidi6 el resultado de lo que el dio a el en su visita anterior, y el contest6 que
lo hizo sumamente adinerado. Aje le pregunto entonces si el habia tornado cualquier bebida
alcoh6lica y habia revelado el secreto de su prosperidad desde entonces a cualquiera. El
confeso que su hermano lo consigui6 bebido cuando el lo uni6 servir a su madre. Aje pidi6 la
calabaza pequeiia el dio a Orunmila y maldito que el devolveria a un estado de penuria por
revelar sus secretos a su hermano y por el embriagar beber el vino, contrariamente a su
consejo. El salio despues de proclamar ese Orunmila que no iba a conseguir mas properous
que el ya era porque el era totalmente inestable.

Cuando este odu aparece a la adivinacion, la persona se aconsejara para hacer el sacrificio
debido a una mujer para que el tendria que competir con tres otros rivales. El debe abstenerse
de beber completamente si el desea disfrutar la prosperidad paciente. Despues de ponerse
prospero el no debe revelar el secreto a cualquiera. Cuando aparece a Ugbodu, la persona debe
hacer el sacrificio a la divinidad del obstaculo, y tiene su propio Ogun, Sango y Olokun.

Sacrifique para la Comprension Mutua y Amistad

Orunmila dijo que las ratas no entienden las ratas, pesca, los pajaros y animales no se
entienden, asi como los seres humanos no entienden entre si. El agreg6 que que el sacrificio se
hace con una rata llam6 Akosi y una gallina ponedora. Cuando aparece a la
adivinacion, la persona se <lira hacer el sacrificio para lograr sus objetivos. Tambien deben
aconsejarle que no sea rudo a sus padres.
 El capitulo 11
OGUNDA-IRETE
OGUNDA-KETE

El Hizo la Adivinacion en el Cielo para Ukubi, el Hijo de Orisa Gbuwuji,

Ogunda Ke te, Odura ni nkponkpo. 0

she agada iku ranje ranje.
Adifa fun Ukubi, okonbi omo Orisa Gbuwuji. Iku ki
kpa ofo, omo Orisa.

Ogunda Kete estaba de pie en un camino recto,

Blandiendo el matchete de muerte en la mano.
Ese era el nombre del Awo que la adivinacion hecho para Ukubi, el
unico hijo de gbuwuji de Orisa. La muerte no mata el Vacio
( el ofo en Yoruba e ihoi en Bini) el hij o de Dios.

Cuando este odu aparece a la adivinaci6n, la persona se aconsejara para hacer el sacrificio con
tres paquetes vacios a una divinidad con que el o ella se conectan. El tambien debe hacer el
sacrificio con el gallo, caracol, rata y pez.

El Divined para Adibo, el Hijo de Orunmila

Ku ku du ku she'we geru geru.

Okpolokpo Ogun sh'omo gale gale.
Bi a ba ni Ogun egbe rin dilogun,
Bi a bani eke si, ko'nije.
Adifa fun Adibo t'inshe omobibi ina agbon iregun nijo
ti iku fi ojojumo de ode re, A ni ki Adibo ru ebo.
Oru ebo. Iku ki kpa Adibo, uku to ba fe kpaa Adibo, oko ni shaa

La batata doto del follaje rico.

Los demasiados encantos diabolicos estimulan una juventud.
Aun cuando el posee dieciseis encantos mortales, A
menos que el tiene una disposicion humana, Ellos
no trabajaran eficazmente.

Estos son los nombres de los sacerdotes de Ifa que la adivinacion hecho para Adibo, la porcion
el hijo modelo de Orunmila cuando el estaba siendo diariamente el targeted por la Muerte. Le
aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio con un macho cabrio y el lo hizo. Despues de esto, Esu
saque6 la Muerte de su sendero.

Cuando predice el peligro de muerte (Ayeo) a la adivinacion, la persona se dira que la Muerte
esta cazando con escopeta para el. El debe hacer el sacrificio por consiguiente para apartar el
peligro.
El Hizo la Adivinacion para Orunmila Cuando El Sedujo a la Esposa de Ogoronigara

Ogunda Kete Oduro ni kponkpo. Adifa fun

Orunmila baba on lo gbe aya Ogoronigara.

El hizo la adivinacion para Orunmila cuando el iba a seducir a la esposa de Ogoronigara.

Cuando el vio a la mujer, el torno la imaginacion a ella, pero ella lo advirtio que su marido
era un hombre muy poderoso. El tranquilizo a la mujer que el era igual a la tarea. Despues
de esto, el la invito a su casa y el amor hecho a ella. La mujer le dijo sin embargo que su
marido tenia el poder esoterico de very saber lo que el habia hecho a ella.

Antes de que la mujer devolviera a su casa matrimonial, los nigara de Ogoro recogieron
todas sus cosas y los persistieron en la verja. En conseguir casa, el le pregunto lo que ella
fue a hacer en la casa de Orunmila. El siguio para agregar que despues de profanarse
sometiendo a hacer el amor con Orunmila, ella tenia que devolver a el. El le envio sin
embargo que le dijera a Orunmila que el debe prepararse pagar el precio de seducir a su
esposa, y que el iba a visitar los dos de ellos para destruirlos en siete tiempo de los dias.
Cuando Orunmila consiguio el mensaje, el infravaloro la amenaza diciendole que ellos
continuarian disfrutandose hasta el dia designado por lo menos.

En el cuarto dia, Orunmila sono Ifa que lo tranquilizo que el hombre no pudiera hacer
nada, porque el solo dependia de los encantos y brujeria. Ifa le dijo que diera un macho
cabrio a Esu y un conejo a los Superiores de la Noche. El hizo el sacrificio rapidamente.
En el septimo dia, Ogoronigara dej6 casa con dos bolsas cargadas con los encantos,
mientras llevandolos en ambos hombros, mientras sosteniendo una arma en la mano. El
tambien entro la compafiia de su perro. Muy temprano esa mafiana, Esu y un Superior de
la Noche habian visitado Orunmila y le habian dicho que pusiera su polvo de adivinacion
en sus palmas. El marco el lyerosun de este odu en la bandeja de Ifa con la encantacion
que:

Ashe siguen aquellos que los barren

La vaca pone su lengua en su nariz despues
estirandolo fuera.
La mucosidad descargada por un arbol deja caer en su propio cuerpo,
Cuando un cerdo excava una tumba, pone su cabeza en el.

Despues de repetir la encantacion, Orunmila dio el iyerosun a sus dos visitantes y ellos
salieron para esperar la llegada de Ogoronigara. En cuanto ellos el sited el en la distancia,
la bruja le dijo a Esu que tirara el ojo izquierdo de Ogoronigara, mientras dejando su ojo
correcto para ella tirar. Cuando el se encontro a sus atacantes, ellos volaron el polvo de
adivinacion en sus dos ojos y el se puso ciego instantaneamente. Como el era incapaz de
encontrar su manera despues de esto, el se desvio en el bosque. En cuanto el caminara en
el arbusto, Esu volo el polvo de adivinacion restante para ordenarle que vivir en el bosque
para bueno. Por eso Babaji o Eziza vive hasta el momento en el bosque, la persiana.
Orunmila vivio alegremente con el la mujer en la vida despues de.
Cuando aparece a la adivinacion para un hombre, deben decirle que el esta coqueteando
con una mujer casada que tiene pecho ancho, nalga gorda, fisico robusto y pareciendo
bueno, pero bastante el calzon. Esa era la estatura de la mujer que Orunmila sedujo. Deben
aconsejarle que sirva Esu y la noche para ir los scot que libra con la mujer si el quiere
casarsela.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para lgun Cuando El Fue por Ifa Practice a Ilode

Ogun Kete, Oku lo ku. Ana orun o shunkun.

Eniya lo bi mo ti en yo she she. Osan lo ru ebora.
Adifa fun Igun ni Igun nijo ti o nshawo lo si Ilode.
La muerte en la tierra no genera el pesar y llorando en el cielo.
El nacimiento genera felicidad en cielo y tierra.
La luz del dia en la tierra es el tiempo noctumo en el cielo.

Esos eran los Awos que la adivinacion hecho para Igun cuando el era de viaje para Awo
practique al pueblo de Ilode. El hizo el sacrificio antes de ir. En conseguir a Ilode, el se
encontro a dos mujeres que estaban llorando porque ellos no tenian ningun niiio. El les
dijo dejar de llorar y encontrarselo en su alojamiento, mientras asegurandolos que ellos
tendrian los niiios.

Ellos se lo encontraron como consecuencia y el hizo la adivinacion para ellos. El conto los
a cada uno hacer el sacrificio con una gallina, un conejo, eko, akara, pez y rata. Uno de
ellos hizo el sacrificio, y el otro no hizo. El mes siguiente, el que hizo el sacrificio se puso
embarazada. Solo era entonces que la segunda mujer decidio hacer su propio sacrificio
despues de que, ella tambien, se puso embarazada. En la llenura de tiempo ellos los dos
dieron el nacimiento a los bebes saludables, y ellos empezaron a regocijar y cantar en la
alabanza del Awo:

Las personas de sierra de Ilode sacerdote de Ifa,

Pero no lo reconoci6.
Igun es un verdadero sacerdote de lfa.

Cuando este odu aparece para una mujer que esta ansioso tener un nifio, le aconsejaran
que haga un sacrificio similar.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para Ogun en un Concurso para la Antigiiedad

Cuando todas las divinidades estaban defendiendo sobre la supremacia, ellos decidieron ir
a Dios para declarar quien era el mas supremo entre ellos. Dios los dirigio ir a la tierra
donde sus esfuerzos determinarian que de ellos fue dotado de las calidades de direccion.
Sango fue el primero en partir, pero el no podria encontrar una ruta a la tierra, para que el
se rindio, Todos otros intentaron e igualmente fallaron. Cuando era el giro de Ogun para ir,
el fue a Orunmila por la adivinacion, y Ogunda Kete aparecia. Le aconsejaron que hiciera
el sacrificio con dieciseis caracoles. El hizo el sacrificio, y partio para el mundo.

El tuvo exito rastreando una ruta a al mimipo de Odo el rio el cielo de separacion y tierra.
En llegar al rio el se encontro la boa de la boa que lo ataco cuando el intento cruzar el rio.
El dio su pie a la piton y el lo trago a a la cintura de Ogun despues de que el saco su daga
para rasgar su boca abierto. Despues de esto, la piton se murio, y el atraveso a la tierra
para establecer una habitacion.

Ogun sufrio una paralisis temporal de sus piemas sin embargo como resultado del aporrear
de sus piemas por la piton. Siete dias despues, Ogun regreso al cielo para informar mision
lograda a Dios. Cuando todas las divinidades aparecian como consecuencia ante Dios para
informar los resultados de sus esfuerzos, se puso claro que ese Ogun, por otra parte una
divinidad menor pero poderosa, era el unico que tuvo exito estableciendo una ruta a la
tierra y construyendo una morada alli. En la consecuencia, Dios proclamo, que nadie
podria en la vida existir y comer sin la ayuda de Ogun, mientras promoviendolo asi al
estado de una divinidad suprema e indispensable que el permanece hasta el momento.

Cuando este odu aparece durante la iniciacion en Ifism, la persona debe aconsejarse para
preparar su propia uma de Ogun sin el retraso apartar el peligro de dolores de la piema o
incluso la paralisis. El tambien debe preparar su propia uma de Esu con un macho cabrio,
y sirve el nuevo lfa con la came de piton, dos palomas, dos gallinas y dieciseis caracoles.
A la adivinacion, la persona se <lira dar un macho cabrio a Esu y servir su cabeza con un
gallo.

La Adivinacion que El Hizo Antes de Dejar el Cielo

El lgbodogi okpe ara re lono meji - era el Awo que la adivinacion hecho para este odu
cuando el estaba viniendo del cielo. Le aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio porque el iba
a pescar en las aguas con problemas en la tierra. Le aconsejaron que sirviera poder
mantenerse en la tierra mucho tiempo,: - Ogun con el gallo, perro, la tortuga, la calabaza
de vino de la palma, fiame asado y aceite de la palma,; Esu con un macho cabrio, los
superiores, de la noche con un conejo,; y buscar y obtener Dios estan bendiciendo con la
tela blanca, tiza blanca y kolanut blanco. El dejo para el mundo despues de hacer todos los
sacrificios.

El se hizo un sacerdote de lfa muy popular en la tierra. El habia estado oyendo hablar del
pueblo de Imure que estaba totalmente habitado por las brujas y magos. Cualquiera puso
al visitante al lugar uso haga a menudo una fiesta. Un dia, el decidio visitar Imure, pero
adivinacion hecho antes de ir. lfa le aconsejo que sirviera; Esu con un macho cabrio, asi
como los pedazos blancos, negros y rojos de tela; Ogun con un perro, gallo y tortuga y
para hacer el sacrificio especial con dos palomas con que el era viajar para volver vivo. El
hizo los sacrificios despues de que el viajo.

El se encontro a las personas de Imure que celebra su fiesta anual y las personas estaban
contentas recibir a un extrafio que era servir como la came para su fiesta. El se alojo en
una parte apartada del pueblo que espera el tiempo que el se usaria como una victima
sacrificatoria. Entretanto, Esu infiltro sus lineas y propuso que antes de atreverse a tocar al
visitante, ellos deben procesarlo primero porque el pudiera demostrar ser un hombre
fuerte. El propuso eso en el dia siguiente en que todos los habitantes de Imure deben
vestir; las ropas blancas por la mafiana, vestidos rojos por la tarde, y vestidos negros por
la tarde. El agrego que si el visitante no pudiera emparejar los cambios vistiendo,
confirmaria que el iba a ser una presa facil.
Despues de esto, Esu aparecia a Orunmila darle la ropa blanca, roja y negra para llevar el
dia siguiente, despues de haber preparado los vestidos con los unos con la tela que el hizo
al sacrificio antes de embarcar en la gira. El dia siguiente, el pudo venir fuera con el color
de los vestidos que todos y varios llev6. De hecho sus vestidos eran mas vistosos que
aquellos del indigenes de Imure. El hecho que el pudo emparejar el esquema colorido de
su preparacion que manej6 la casa del punto a ellos que el no iba a ser una presa facil para
manejar.

El dia siguiente, las personas despacharon a dos personas para ir y darlo la bienvenida con
el kolanuts, con una disculpa que su fiesta no les habia dado una oportunidad para
recibirlo formalmente. El recibio a sus visitantes presentandolos sus propios kolanuts y
bebidas de su bolsa. Cuando los visitantes estaban a punto de henderse el kolanuts, las dos
palomas dentro de su bolsa volaron fuera y el los dio el kolanut sembra para comer. Los
visitantes fueron asustados despues de que ellos salieron sin henderse el kolanut. En
conseguir casa ellos informaron que el hombre se era una bruja y que el tenia dos brujas
capaz de volar en la presencia de visitantes. Cuando los dos mensajeros se negaron a
remontarse invitarlo a encontrarse a los superiores, se enviaron a dos otros hombres que
entregaran la invitacion.

Cuando los nuevos visitantes llegaron a su casa, ellos oyeron las dos palomas que hacen el
ruido dentro de su bolsa (el minijekun del akpo) que los hizo corra lejos. El fue como
consecuencia con su bolsa para visitar a los superiores. Cuando ellos lo vieron, ellos todos
admitieron que ellos eran todas las brujas y magos que pertenecen al lyami de Awon
Oshoronga. El los desafio que si ellos pudieran volar de verdad, ellos deben demostrar
ocho ojos mientras sus palomas estaban haciendo la bolsa desde dentro al ruido. Con eso,
las personas concedieron que el era una bruja mas dura que ellos. El era inmediatamente
hecho su Oloja para quedarse para sostener el pueblo para ellos.

Despues de quedarse algun dia en el pueblo para, el decidio a casa del return. Cuando el
sono lfa para las direcciones, le dijeron que las personas le darian la ultima prueba
intentando arrestar, y le impide salir. Ifa le aconsej6 por consiguiente que dejara el pueblo
en el equipo de Orisa-Nla, por; vistiendo en inmaculado blanco, llevando la pluma de un
loro rojo en su cabeza, frotando su cuerpo entero con la tiza blanca, y conteniendo su
mano derecha, el personal tradicional de divinidad ( oj e del okpa o atari del okpa en
Yoruba y Uwenriontan en Bini). Cuando el estaba dejando el pueblo en el futuro en el
equipo de Orisa-Nla, Esu toco al frente-corredor anunciando su acercamiento como eso
del propio representante de Dios en la tierra. Las personas linearon su ruta y estaban
glorificandolo con salud de la de Bata" o". Incluso las personas que eran los subbomed
para acecharlo, tambien lo saludo como Orisa-Nla. Esa era su tactica para una casa de
lajomada segura. En conseguir casa, el satisfizo su Awo, su lfa y Esu, con gracias-dar los
sacrificios.

Cuando este Odu aparece a la adivinacion, la persona debe decirse poner a su mente en
reposo que porque el esta angustiado sobre una tarea que el esta a punto de embarcar en.
El debe usar su mano para tocar la tierra y su pecho tres veces, pero tambien debe hacer el
sacrificio.

La Adivinacion Constituy6 Orunmila Buy un Cadaver para el Sacrificio

 Ojo bata rig i batarigi, Ojo natarigi, adifa fun Im-lum-oye
abufun Orunmila

Cuando Orunmila ejecut6 calz6n de dinero, el fue al Awos por la adivinaci6n. Ellos le
aconsejaron que comprara un cadaver humano para el sacrificio a su Ifa, mientras agregando
cuatro caracoles y una rata. El fue al mercado para comprar un cadaver humano momificado,
cuatro caracoles y una rata. En su camino a casa, el detuvo en el rio para tener un nade,
mientras dejando los materiales que el sac6 el banco del rio. Cuando el termin6 la nataci6n, el
no encontr6 los materiales que el sali6 en el banco del rio. Desconocido a el, el cadaver
momificado habia resucitado en un hombre soplado Ueno y reunido los materiales Orunmila
habia dejado atras y habia ido con ellos a su casa esperar por el.

En llegar a la casa de Orunmila, else encontr6 Akpetebi y le dijo que preparara el i'iame
golpeado para su marido. Mientras Orunmila era el fidgetting sabre lo que podria haber pasado
a los materiales que el sali6 por el lado del rio, una mujer que vio lo que pas6, le dicho que el
hombre que el sali6 en la tierra habia caminado lejos con las cosas que el guard6 con el. La
mujer no supo que se suponia que el hombre era un cadaver. Agobiado con el curiousity,
Orunmila fue a casa, solo ver al hombre que espera por el. El le pregunt6 lo que pas6 al
hombre, y el explic6 que el vino a vivir con Orunmila como su sirviente, y que su nombre era
Arira Lumoye.

Desde aquel momenta, el hombre empez6 a apropiar Orunmila revelando la causa y cura de los
problemas de clientes que vienen a Orunmila para la adivinaci6n. Su propio estilo de
adivinaci6n se puso tan eficaz que nadie molest6 para consultar Orunmila ya. Orunmila
empez6 a preguntarse por la eficacia del sacrificio le aconsejaron que hiciera, desde que el
habia corrido corto de clientela y estaba volviendose mas pobre que el era antes de que el fuera
por la adivinaci6n. Arira Lumoye se puso mas popular que Orunmila y las palabras alcanzaron
pronto Olofin que los esclavos compraron por Orunmila era mas habil como un diviner y
vidente, que el.

Entretanto, el Oba invit6 los dos de ellos para un concurso. El guard6 14 ovejas en su establo y
pregunt6 a cada uno de ellos declarar lo que el habia contenido el establo y mencionar su
numero. Antes de dejar para el concurso, Orunmila habia dado un macho cabrio a Esu.
Mientras Orunmila todavia estaba preparando para la adivinaci6n, Arira Lumooye mencion6
sin cualquier ceremonia que Olofin guard6 14 ovejas en su establo. No obstante, Orunmila
prosigui6 realizar su adivinaci6n y el odu que aparecian era OseEtura que revel6 c6mo
Orunmila fij6 sus dieciseis Olodus, despues de hacer el sacrificio con una oveja (Aguntan).
Despues de la adivinaci6n, Orunmila confirm6 eso de hecho lo que Olofin contuvo su establo
era los agutan (oveja u oveja) pero que lejos de ser dieciseis en el numero, ellos eran dieciseis.

El Oba ya estaba preguntandose por que Orunmila extrai'i6 el numero y conjeturando que
probablemente cuando el tittle-chismorreo ha parloteado, su esclavo era probablemente mas
habil que el. Entretanto, el guardian estable fue dicho abrir la verja para la oveja salir. Trece
ovejas salieron, mientras el decimocuarto uno era el canoodling los dos corderos j6venes que
habia entregado toda la noche que signific6 de hecho que aunque el Oba guard6 catorce ovejas
en el establo la tarde anterior como afirmado por Arira-Lumoye, uno de ellos habia dado el
nacimiento a dos corderos por
una noche traer el numero a dieciseis, en la consonancia con la declaraci6n de Orunmila.

El Olofin alab6 los dos de ellos entonces por ser correcto y los compens6 de acuerdo con,
mientras dando ligeramente mas regalos a Orunmila por poder revelar eso que nadie mas
que se incluye (Olofin) supo. Despues de esto, Orunmila y su esclavo misterioso dejaron
para casa. Orunmila estaba empezando a preguntarse que hacer sabre Arira Lumoye por
que tenia afligen los intentos y prop6sitos, robados la muestra de el. El decidi6 consultar
su Okeponrin como consecuencia (la adivinaci6n del ikin). Sus propios odu salieron de
dirigirlo servir Esu con otro macho cabrio, mientras agregando tres u-saeta, tres akara, los
craneos de tres animales diferentes y 3 eko. El consigui6 los materiales juntas y hecho el
sacrificio.

En el entretanto, Arira Lumoye decidi6 marcar el primero anual de su venida a la casa de

Orunmila. El se habia puesto inmensamente adinerado en su propio derecho. A la
ceremonia fue asistida bien.

Habia bastante para comer y beber. Despues del festejar, alli estaba bailando a que el pudo
desunir su cabeza del resto de su cuerpo y ambas partes estaba bailando separadamente a
un aplauso del tunderous de la muchedumbre. Eso era que el punto a que Esu descubri6
ese Arira Lumoye no hizo ningun sacrificio. Castigarlo por no hacienda el sacrificio, Esu
asi6 su cabeza en el aire y us6 el u-saeta con que Orunmila habia hecho el sacrificio para
clavarlo al tallo de un arbol de Iroko.

Despues de bailar durante mucho tiempo, el resto de su cuerpo, mientras no encontrando

su cabeza para unirse a con, caigase al muerto molido. Los espectadores alertaron
Orunmila a lo que habia pasado y el les dijo que tiraran el cadaver acefalo en el rio d6nde
el se volvi6 de un cadaver a un ser viviente. El cadaver acefalo se convirti6 en un cangrejo
que explica como consecuencia por que el cangrejo no tiene ninguna cabeza.

Cuando este odu aparece a la adivinaci6n, la persona se <lira que el tiene un secundario en
su lugar de trabajo que esta hacienda los encantos para eclipsarlo. El debe hacer el
sacrificio para cancelar su fanfarronada.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para Osanyin Cuando la Muerte estaba Arrastrandolo

Arikeshe ni o nshe omo He iku. Arigogo ni o nshe omo He

iku. Arigidi ni o nshe omo He
iku.

Estos son los nombres de los mensajeros de Muerte quien el usa para matar a las victimas
humanas.

Ogunsimo Lakete, el o gbe owo agada je je je je era el Awo que la adivinaci6n hecho para
Osanyin cuando la muerte estaba cazando con escopeta para el. Le dij eron que hiciera el
sacrificio con una tortuga y un gallo y guijarros. El era cocinar la came junta con los
guijarros y el potaje del name y poner la olla de arcilla al centro de su sala y encender
dieciseis lamparas de aceite abiertas redondeelo. Despues de esto, los
miembros de su familia y el eran estar comiendo de la olla mientras tirando los guijarros a
traves de la ventana.
Al mismo tiempo, la Muerte envi6 que su primer mensajero llamado Arikeshe para traer
Osanyin al cielo. Cuando Arikeshe lleg6 a la casa de Osanyin, el vio lo y su comiendo
familiar del fuego y tirando parte de la comida (las piedras) lejos a traves de la ventana.
Cuando Arikeshe intent6 saborear el 'la comida' ellos estaban tirando, el lo encontr6
demasiado duro crujir. El oy6 Osanyin que alardea de repente: -

"Bi ma ha ri Arikeshe,
Emiyo kpa Arikeshe"

Osanyin estaba alardeando que si el pusiera sus ojos en Arikeshe que estaba mirandolos
coincidentalmente a traves de la ventana que el lo mataria. Arikeshe, despues de oir las
palabras intimidando de su victima supuesta, corri6 para informar la misi6n imposible a la
Muerte atras. El explic6 eso del tipo de comida el hombre y su familia estaba comiendo, y
las proclamaciones que el estaba hacienda, el lo apretaria con sus dedos.

La muerte pr6ximos Arigogo enviados y el tenian la misma experiencia porque el se

encontr6 Osanyin y su casa todavia comiendo del fuego y alardeando

"Bi ma ha ri Arigogo,
Emiyo kpa Arigogo"

Cuando Arigogo se asust6 fuera del <laing Osanyin, la Muerte le envi6 a Arigidi que lo
sacara. Una vez mas, Arigidi se encontr6 Osanyin que alardea: -

"Bi ma ba ri Arigidi,
Emi yo kpa Arigidi ",

El fracaso de sus mensajeros incomod6 la Muerte tanto que el decidi6 lograr la tarea solo.
Cuando el lleg6 a la casa de Osanyin, el lo vio y su familia que todavia comen del fuego
ardiente y la parte tirando de lo que ellos estaban comiendo lejos. Cuando a la Muerte le
gusto lo que ellos estaban tirando, el concluy6 ese Osanyin debe ser de verdad demasiado
fuerte para cualquiera atreverse, desde que el (la Muerte) no podria comer lo que ellos
estaban comiendo. Osanyin se ponia de pie en el futuro y empez6 a cantar:

"Bi ma ri'ku ma baja. Omi

wowoji, OMi wowoji wowo"

En cuanto la Muerte oyera la canci6n, el corri6 lejos. Eso era c6mo Osanyin us6 el
sacrificio especial para defenderse fuera de la Muerte de su sendero.

Cuando este odu aparece sabre todo a la adivinaci6n que si es Ayeo, la persona se <lira
realizar el mismo sacrificio para guardar fuera de la amenaza de muerte. Orunmila dice
que cuando se declaran Muerte y enfermedad para ser el sendero de uno despues de la
adivinaci6n, la persona debe decirse crujir tres granos de la palma, muelalos y los mezcla
con papilla o gachas, mientras agregando el polvo de adivinaci6n de este odu, y el peligro
se rebajaria.
 El capitulo 12
OGUNDA-EKA

La Adivinacion le Constituy6 Antes de Venir al Mundo

Adiyika Leer, Adiyika. Ese era el nombre del Awo que la adivinacion hecho para este odu
cuando el estaba viniendo al mundo. Le aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio para
neutralizar la amenaza de enemistad en la tierra. El era presentar una cabra, gallina, rata,
pez y una calabaza de vino de la palma a su angel guardian; sirva Ogun con el camera,
perro, gallo, tortuga y una calabaza de vino de la palma; y sirve Esu con dos machos
cabrio. Le aconsejaron que comerciar iba a ser su vocacion principal en la tierra y que el
iba a derivar el beneficio de los problemas creado para el por una mujer.

En conseguir al mundo, el empezo a comerciar en las cuentas, corales y otras joyas. El

estaba comerciando a todos los mercados alrededor incluso Oja-Ajigbomekon. El se
encontro a la muchacha que era volverse su esposa en el mercado. Ella era princesa de la
casa real del Oba de Orita-ljaloko. Ellos se enamoraron entre si y la muchacha estaba de
acuerdo en casarselo. Ella siguio casa de Orunmila en el futuro para vivir con el. Ella
resulto ser un mocoso estropeado que ni no conocio guardar una casa ni como ir a la
granja. La (mica cosa que ella supo hacer era bien embellecerse y sentarse todos los dias
delante de la casa mientras el marido estaba lejos hacer sus quehaceres diarios. A
proposito, ella era el unico nifio de sus padres.

Como si ayudar e incitar las tendencias del cosmetico de su esposa, el la adomara con las
cuentas y las otras joyas que el estaba vendiendo. La ornamentacion de la esposa no solo
le hizo el cynosure de todos passers-par pero tambien atrajo a un organizador de
admiradores masculinos alrededor de ella, una situacion que ella disfruto y animo, desde
que su marido estaba sin embargo fuera de casa para la mayoria del tiempo. Entretanto,
para poder seducirla de Orunmila, algunos de ella los admiradores mas ardientes estaban
trazando contra el como resultado de que, sus fortunas ernpezaron a menguar.

A ese punto, el invito su Awos a hacer la adivinacion para el. Durante la adivinacion sus
propios odu aparecian. Le dijeron que sus problemas se levantaron de su fracaso para
consultar su lfa antes de casarse a su esposa, y que su angel guardian no aprobo a la mujer
como su esposa. Le dijeron que hiciera un sacrificio especial a su lfa con un camera, una
gallina, rata y pez; sirva Esu con un macho cabrio; sirva Ogun con el perro, gallee, la
tortuga y una calabaza de vino de la palma; y para festejar a las personas alrededor de el
con una cabra. El no perdio tiempo hacienda todos los sacrificios.

Detras de comer su macho cabrio, Esu vino a el en la guisa de un bien-wisher para

informarlo de la infidelidad promiscua de su esposa siempre que el viajara al mercado.
Esu le aconsejo que volviera bien del mercado delante de su horario la proxima vez probar
la veracidad de su informacion, el viajo al mercado. Cuando el estaba dejando casa para el
proximo viaje del mercado, el le dijo a su esposa que el iba a estar lejos durante dos
semanas porque el iba al akira de Oja-Ajigbomekon. La esposa solo estaba demasiado
contenta en la perspectiva de quedar solo hacer su cosa para con tal de que dos semanas.
Habia una mayor mujer que era el vecino de al lado de Orunmila y quien observaba la
conducta coqueta de su esposa. Una semana despues de que el viajo fuera de casa, el devolvio
casa sin el aviso y tomo el accomodation temporal con su mayor vecino de la mujer. Despues
de preguntarse por que Orunmila busco el refugio en su casa, ella lo informo en las
convivencias extra-matrimoniales recurrentes de su esposa durante su ausencia. Mientras
Orunmila estaba informandose por la mujer vieja que ella le dijo que el unico hijo del Oba del
pueblo estaba en ese momento en la cama con su esposa. Orunmila entro furtivamente solo en
su casa a traves de la entrada de la parte de atras coger a su esposa en el delicto del flagrante.
Ellos eran que los dos sobresaltaron para ver Orunmila. Su primera reaccion era decide al
principe joven que el precio ineludible por seducir a su esposa era la muerte. Despues de esto,
el invoco Esu y Ogun para ser preparado batallar en su nombre.

Casi inmediatamente despues, Esu sono el lamento de guerra y habia tumulto en el pueblo
como resultado de que las personas estaban teiiendo en numeros grandes que dan lugar para
huir en tropel y pandemonium. El Oba fue dicho pronto que su hijo era responsable para el
cataclismo en el pueblo, para haber insultado el orgullo masculino de Orunmila. El Oba que
supo de la experiencia, las consecuencias de Orunmila ofendedor no perdieron tiempo
invitandolo para una charla en la conmocion en el pueblo.

Como el honrar la invitacion del Oba iba, el uso la encantacion apropiada para pedirellos a Esu
y a Ogun que a-sostener un cese de hostilidades temporal. Cuando el llego al palacio, el le dijo
al Oba que su hijo tenia que morirse por profanar su masculinidad y desafiar su masculinidad.
El besought de Oba el para nombrar la expiacion para la ofensa y el declaro que lo costaria 200
hombres, 200 mujeres, 200 vacas, 200 cabras, 200 cameros, 200 machos cabrio, 200 gallos,
200 gallinas, 200 bolsas de dinero y 200 pedazos de tela blanca, que advierten eso habria
confusion total en el pueblo a menos que estos requisitos fueron producidos. El Oba intento su
sumo para congregar los requisitos pero no podria tener exito, mientras Orunmila insistio en
conseguir todo. El Oba invite Orunmila en el futuro a tomar el trono. El trato era convenido.

Despues de esto el Oba llamo una conferencia de los jefes del pueblo y superiores para
informarlos de su decision rendirse el trono a Orunmila, mientras al mismo tiempo, estando de
acuerdo en servir bajo el. Orunmila se volvio los Oba asi, y al ascender el trono, el hizo una
fiesta para sus diviners y las divinidades a que el canto en la alabanza de ellos.

Cuando este Ifa aparece a Ugbodu, la persona se aconsejara para hacer el sacrificio para evitar
encontrarse con una mujer que generara la infelicidad por el. Si el tiene su propio Ogun sin
embargo y hace el sacrificio especial que este odu hicieron, el subira al pinaculo de su
vocacion.

La Importancia especial de este Odu

Ogbomudu Lere, miogbomudu yi soro.

Orangun Ilia soro, Ogbomudu ba unshe.
Owa ijesha soro, Ogbomudu ba unshe.
 Orunmila soro, Ogbomudu ba unshe
Ijo ti Ogbomudu soro re, oun ni kon I'onshe.

Orunmila dice que Ogbomudu disfruta el mejor de muchos mundos. Cuando el Orangun de
Ilia, Owa de Ijesha y Orunmila realizo sus fiestas anuales, ellos invitaron Ogbomudu. Pero
cuando Ogbomudu hace su propia fiesta, el no invita a nadie. El lo hace solo. Cuando
Orunmila fue preguntado que por que la situacion estaba asi, el explico que era porque
Ogbomudu es el propio Esu, quien disfruta los sacrificios hechos por todos y varios, pero el
hace el sacrificio a nadie, porque el no debe la obediencia a alguien.

Cuando este Ifa aparece por consiguiente a U gbodu, la persona debe preparar dos umas de
Esu; uno por el lado de uma de Ifa dentro de la casa, y la segunda una fuera de la casa de la
manera usual.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para las Personas de Ofa

Ogunda-monu-aka, Ija aka ko le ba akaja.

El hizo la adivinacion para las personas de Ofa apartar el peligro de esclavitud y subyugacion.
Cuando las fuerzas enemigas estaban amenazandolos, ellos invitaron Orunmila para la
adivinacion, Despues de la adivinacion, el les aconsejo hacer el sacrificio con el perro, tortuga,
gallo y caracol a Ogun y servir Esu con un macho cabrio, un tambor y polvo del arma a la
ultima union antes de conseguir al pueblo.

Cuando el ejercito de Imo le (los musulmanes) estaba viniendo a invadir el pueblo, Esu tomo
el tambor con que las personas de Ofa hicieron el sacrificio y bailaron la ronda el campamento
de las fuerzas musulmanas por la noche, mientras amenazando que ninguno de sus soldados
devolveria casa vivo si ellos invadieran Ofa. Como si para demostrar que el no estaba
disuadiendo, el causo una explosion en su campamento que puso todos su propio amunitions
ardiendo, mientras dando lugar a explosiones secundarias que mataron y dafiaron muchos de
sus soldados. Aquellos que sobrevivian la explosion tomaron a sus talones y devolvieron a su
base en Takpa.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Granjero Contra el Riesgo de Robo

Ogunda-mo-ie-Eka hizo la adivinacion para el granjero de la chufa cuando el iba a empezar su

afio de cultivo. Le dijeron que sirviera; Esu con un macho cabrio y Ogun con un gallo. El no
considero el sacrificio necesario.

Cuando sus chufas eran debidas para segar la mies, Esu alerto la liebre, al roedor le gusta, el
cesped-cortador y las ratas a la presencia de comida en la granja. Entretanto, estos animales
invadieron la granja y ellos habian hecho tres correrias con exito ante el granjero descubierto
que sus cosechas eran pillando. El acuso Esu de ser responsable para su condicion. El
consiguio un garrote corto para pegar Esu en la cabeza. Esu le dijo entonces que iba a ser una
lucha para terminar.

Aprehensivo de lo que Esu iba a hacer luego, el corrio atras a Orunmila que le dijo despues de
adivinacion que una guerra total estaba planeandose contra el por un poder superior que el
habia ofendido. A ese punto el admitio que el habia ido a dar Esu con la cabeza por invitar los
animales a pillar su granja. Orunmila le dijo que era bueno
sobomar Esu con el sacrificio que para comprometer el en el combate porque, no Dios
igual, el Creador de cielo y tierra, ha ganado una lucha contra Esu. Orunmila aconsej6 al
granjero que el sacrificio habia doblado entonces. Le exigieron entonces que aplacara Esu
con dos machos cabrio, dos gallos y dos palomas.

Cuando Orunmila consigui6 al lugar de Esu para aplacarlo, el estaba de acuerdo en

aceptar el sacrificio, pero insisti6 que el granjero tuviera que darlo una vez mas con la
cabeza antes de que el comiera el sacrificio. Esa ceremonia se ha significado desde
entonces por el Orofa ( el personal de adivinaci6n) con que sacerdotes de Ifa pegaron el
stone(iyangi destacandose) la uma de Esu antes de que hiciera los sacrificios a el.

Esu le aconsej6 a Ogun que pareciera fuera para los roedores que pillan las chufas del
granjero despues de disfrutar el sacrificio. Ogun invit6 al cazador que mat6 algunos de
estos animales con las armas y trampas despues de que ellos detuvieron la ida a la granja a
su vez. El granjero disfrut6 despues de esto una cosecha buena.

A U gbodu, la persona debe servir; Ogun con un gallo, su cabeza con una paloma, y Esu
con el macho cabrio para impedir el problema de las relaciones intimas. A la adivinaci6n,
la persona se <lira que los problemas estan inminentes en su lugar de trabajo. El debe
servir; Esu con un macho cabrio, Ogun con un gallo, y su cabeza con unapaloma.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para Orisa-Nla

Gbegidi na'boshu kitikpa. Odifa fun Orisa-Nla, oshere-igbo

ni jo ti onto si onojinjin gbongbongbon.

Ese era el Awo que la adivinaci6n hecho para Orisa-Nla, el propio representante de Dios
en la tierra, cuando el viaj6 a un destino distante. Despues de de viaje para una distancia
larga, el se puso muy hambriento, pero no podria encontrar la comida para comprar o
comer.

Al crepusculo, el busc6 el alojamiento en la casa de tiri-Eluju de Okpe que la hospitalidad

detallada sorprendentemente extendida a el. Cuando el estaba tomando licencia de su
organizador, el sac6 a su personal divino y or6 para el, mientras proclamando la
prosperidad siempre vendrian a el a lo largo de su vida, y que todas las partes de su cuerpo
serian el dinero. Por eso cada parte del arbol de la palma proporciona el dinero hasta el
momento.

Cuando este odu aparece a la adivinaci6n, la persona se aconsejara para tener su propio Ifa
para prosperar en la vida.

La Adivinacion lo Constituy6 Cuando El Viaj6 en un Viaje Largo

Ogunda ka Ijaforo ma mu eko. Adifa fun Orunmila baba she awo lo

si onojinjin gbongbongbon bi ojo.

Ese era el Awo que la adivinaci6n hecho para Orunmila cuando el estaba siguiendo un
viaje largo. Le aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio con un gallo, gallina, paloma y conejo
en el orden al realease los regalos suficientes de su viaje de adivinaci6n. El hizo
el sacrificio y parti6 en su jomada. Le dijeron sin embargo que el iba a comprender el
premio de su viaje de su tercer puerto de Hamada.

El detuvo en el primer pueblo, pero no tenia el estimulo. El dejo por consiguiente para un
segundo pueblo, pero todavia no tenia la satisfaccion. El dejo como consecuencia para un
tercer pueblo donde el tenia regalos suficientes que le hicieron devolver un hombre rico a
casa.

A la adivinacion para una persona de viaje, le diran que el lograra solo su objetivo en un
tercer viaje o a una tercera parada. Para una persona que pone en orden para una esposa, el
tendra exito solo en un tercer esfuerzo. Si es para una mujer, le diran que ella va a
establecerse con un tercer marido.
 El capitulo 13
OGUNDA-BA-ETURUKPON

El Hizo la Adivinacion para la Vaca

Gidi gidi guo, babalawo elila, odifa fun elila ni tori onje.

El hizo la adivinacion para la vaca que cuando el no pudo procurar bastante comida a
alimente a el y su familia. Le aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio con cuatro guinea aves
y cuatro gallinas, y advirtio para refrenar de la codicia y la conducta despectiva porque eso
era por que las personas tendieron a odiarlo a la vista. El solo hizo el sacrificio con dos
guinea aves y dos gallinas.

El proximo dia, el dejo para la granja, comio al volumen de su corazon, mientras saliendo
muy pequefio para el duefio de la granja. Cuando el duefio de la granja vio el pillaje como
consecuencia, el hizo un cerco para bloquear la ruta usada por la vaca. Cuando la vaca
siguio una ocasion subsecuente, el no podria entrar en la granja. El fue entonces a
Orunmila para protestar que el sacrificio no manifesto, porque la ruta el tomo para sacar la
comida habia estado cerrado. Orunmila lo recordo la advertencia contra la codicia, porque
el conjeturo que era la codicia de la vaca que hizo al granjero cerrar la ruta.

Orunmila sin embargo la adivinacion hecho para el, aconsejandole que hiciera el sacrificio
con un pollo y una trompeta. Despues de hacer el sacrificio, el se dio la trompeta para usar
en su acercamiento a la granja, mientras asegurandolo que quienquiera oyo el sonido de la
trompeta correria lejos. Cuando el llego a la granja la mafiana siguiente, el granjero estaba
en la granja. En cuanto la vaca volara la trompeta, Esu amplifico el sonido y entusiasmado
la vaca para empezar excavando la tierra con su pie izquierdo mientras su cola que estira
fuera como si cobro por el combate. En ver la vaca en un humor luchador, el granjero
corrio lejos para la seguridad, mientras aclarando la manera asi para la vaca entrar en la
granja para comer.

Cuando este lfa aparece a U gbodu, la persona debe servir el nuevo lfa con cuatro gallinas,
cuatro guinea-aves, cuatro caracoles y cuatro palomas, cinco dias despues de ir a U gbodu.
El debe agregar la came de vaca al sacrificio. Despues de la adivinacion, la persona debe
servir lfa con una gallina y came de la vaca, su cabeza con una guinea el ave, y Esu con el
macho cabrio para tener exito en su trabajo.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para Oluweri Become Prospero

Ayinyan oji, oro asho mu aya. Eriraji, ogbaja ijokun

kanle. Esin kan rin lo lu akpesi babare kpin rimbiti.
Adafa fun Oluweri ni jo ti ono ifaa ono ere se.
La cucaracha se desperto llevando un vestido a a su pecho.
La hormiga se desperto y ato un pedazo de tela a a la tierra.
La hormiga negra se desperto para pegar el tambor del padre para dar un
 el sonido pesado.

Estos fueron los tres sacerdotes de Ifa que la adivinaci6n hecho para Oluweri cuando se
cerraron todos los caminos a la prosperidad a el. Le dijeron que hiciera el sacrificio con
una oveja y el lo hizo. Despues de esto, todas las rutas a la prosperidad abrieron mas una
vez para el y el canto en la alabanza de sus sacerdotes de Ifa.

A la adivinaci6n, la persona se aconsejara nunca para usar los encantos fuertes. El debe
servir la divinidad de agua con cualquier cosa que el puede permitirse el lujo de. Cualquier
nifio nacido despues de esta adivinaci6n, debe nombrarse Awopetu.

El Hizo la Adivinacion Para Ogidi-Olu, Ajayi Por otra parte Llamado,

Egutan omo aboshun, Eturukpon omo abo Orisha.

Aa ki bo Baatala ka ba bo Orisa, ki erumole ma gbeni.

Ogunda sirvi6 la divinidad de agua (Osun en el yoruba y Olokun en Bini) mientras

Eturukpon sirvi6 el divinty de Baatala. Uno no puede servir Orisa y Baatala sin obtener la
protecci6n de las divinidades.

Estos eran los Awos que la adivinaci6n hecho para Ogidi-Olu, Ajayi por otra parte
llamado que deriv6 el beneficio de servir Dios. Le aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio
con el guinea-ave y paloma. El hizo el sacrificio y les dijo a los sacerdotes de Ifa que
cualquiera que va al mar (Okun) y el rio grande cerca de el (Osa) debe servir Ifa para la
salvaci6n en la casa de su padre d6nde el naci6. Cuando este odu aparece para una mujer
embarazada, el nifio cuando nacido, debe nombrarse Ajayi.

El Hizo la Adivinacion Para Oluloko Cuando El Iba a Casarse

Osa ka ni soko, omi ko she isa re ki afi oju kponmi wa le.

Odifa fun Oluloko ti on lo mu omo Make shaya.

Ni no es posible correr dentro del rio, ni para sacar el agua de el con la cara u ojos. Ese era
el nombre del sacerdote de Ifa que la adivinaci6n hecho para Oluloko cuando el iba a
casarse a la hija del Alake de Abeokuta. Le dijeron comprar una cabra y una gallina para
dar a la muchacha criar, antes de casarsela. El hizo como el se dijo y el matrimonio tuvo
mucho exito.

Cuando aparece a la adivinaci6n para un hombre que busca casarse a una mujer, deben
aconsejarle que compre dos animates domesticos para la muchacha criar antes de casarsela
para que el matrimonio floreciera.

El Hizo la Adivinacion Para La Mujer del Mercado

Iran ni Idi ahun. Eji doro ni idi agbo. Adafa fun Yeye
Oloja ti ani ko ru ebo tori omo araye.
Uno apunt6 que el cuchillo es el ano de la tortuga.
Dos testacies largos constituyen el ano del camero.
Esos eran los sacerdotes de lfa que la adivinaci6n hecho para la mujer del mercado. Le dijeron
que hiciera el sacrificio para neutralizar los planes malos de sus enemigos, cuando ellos
estaban planeando matarla o sentarse en su comercio o robar todas sus mercanciases. Le
aconsejaron hacer el sacrificio con 4 gallinas, cuatro conejos, cuatro palomas, cuatro ratas,
cuatro pescan y cuatro balsas de dinero. Ella hizo el sacrificio y el peligro fue apartado.

Cuando aparece a la adivinaci6n, la persona debe aconsejarse para hacer un sacrificio similar
para apartar los riesgos de perdida de vida o trabajo, y la destrucci6n de cualquier cosa que el o
ella hacen.

La Adivinacion que El Hizo Antes de Venir al Mundo

Iginda Eginyo se se re rel igi ba ti da, eye fo lo.

Cuando la rama de un arbol rompe, esta contento.
Cuando la rama del arbol en que un pajaro resiste los descansos, el el
pajaro vuela lejos.

Esos eran los nombres de los sacerdotes de lfa que la adivinaci6n hecho para Orunmila cuando
el estaba dejando el cielo para la tierra. Le aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio para anticipar
el riesgo de fortunas de Unconsumated ( el amubo en Yoruba y Osobonomasunu en Bini). le
dijeron que sirviera Osanyin (Osun) con un perro, tortuga, y fronda de la palma. El era servir a
su angel guardian con un pedazo de tela blanca, tizas blancas y cauris. El tambien era servir
Esu con una colecci6n de comidas podridas y cames ademas de un macho cabrio. Despues de
hacer los sacrificios, el busc6 y obtuvo la bendici6n de Dios para una estancia feliz en la tierra.
Dios le aconsej6 sin embargo que se mantuviera en la tierra de acuerdo con Su testamento
como el se hace en el cielo.

El se acompafi6 al mundo por Osanyin y Esu y ellos no vivieron en el pueblo pero

construyeron su morada en el bosque. Ellos consiguieron al mundo en un momenta cuando
estaba en un estado de tumulto. Despues de probar sus cosas puestas sumas corrija, las
personas buscaron la ayuda de los hombres en el bosque que fue presumido para ser del cielo.
Cuando los mandado-hombres vieron Orunmila en el bosque, ellos le dijeron que les enviaron
por los superiores para solicitar su ayuda resolviendo los problemas que asedian la tierra. El
los aconsej6 a alimente a sus dos socios primero y ellos hicieron para que, de acuerdo con.

Despues de esto, el hizo la adivinaci6n para ellos y descubri6 que la condici6n incierta de la
tierra era una funci6n de la maldad de humanidad. Elles aconsej6 que cambiaran sus maneras
para que las condiciones pudieran mejorar para el bueno. El les dijo sin embargo que sirvieran:
- Osanyin (Osun) con el gallo y tortuga, y Esu con el macho cabrio porque ellos ayudarian que
ellos pusieran las cosas corrija en la tierra. Cuando los delegados informaron los resultados de
Orunmila a sus personas, ellos hicieron los arreglos para realizar los sacrificios sin el retraso.
Despues de esto paz y la concordia devolvi6 a la tierra.

Anhele despues, las personas se habian olvidado de la ayuda dada a ellos por Orunmila, y ellos
empezaron a crear los problemas para el. Despues de concluir los arreglos para matarlo, ellos
persuadieron Orunmila con exito para dejar el bosque para vivir en su
medio en el pueblo. El decidio embarcar en la adivinacion antes de ir e Ifa le aconsej6 que
sirviera Osun, Esu y para buscar la rama de un arbol que se rompio y se cayo a la tierra
cuando un pajaro estaba estando de pie en el y para agregar el appro - el priate sale para
preparar un jab6n con que para bafiar. Lo tom6 un tiempo largo para conseguir la rama del
arbol que se rompio cuando un pajaro estaba estando de pie en el. Esa era la tactica de Ifa
por tardar su movimiento del bosque al pueblo. El movio en el futuro al pueblo.

Un dia, el Oba decidio invitar todos sus asuntos a la uma hereditaria del pueblo de los
superiores para un sacrificio especial. Entretanto, se habian sobomado los asesinos para
linchar Orunmila en su manera a la uma. Cuando los asesinos lo vieron, ellos salieron de
esconder para atacarlo, pero el desaparecio antes de que ellos pudieran tocarlo. Despues de
ese cepillo con la muerte en las manos de los beneficiarios de su benevolencia, el decidio
devolver al cielo. En conseguir al cielo, el informo a Dios que la tierra estaba mas alla de
la redencion porque el mal habia tornado las raices profundas en el. Dios se pregunto sin
embargo si habia cualquier punto animando que otros reformadores virtuosos fueran al
mundo. Era despues que la experiencia de Orunmila que Jewesun (Jesus) vino al mundo y
tambien perdio su vida a sus hechos buenos porque el no hizo ningun sacrificio.

Cuando este odu aparece a U gbodu, la persona se <lira que el es un reformador benevolo,
pero debe aconsejarse para hacer el sacrificio especial para apartar el riesgo de matarse por
hacer bueno. El mundo de mal no tiene ningun lugar para los reformadores benevolos,
para que advirtio Orunmila.
 El capitulo 14
OGUNDA-OSE

El Hizo la Adivinacion Para El Pene

Ogunda-se-se babalawo oko, odifa fun oko.

El hizo la adivinacion para el pene cuando el iba a jugar con la
vulva.

El pene fue aconsejado para hacer el sacrificio para apartar el peligro de padecer el fallo en la
alimentacion de corriente transeunte, Tambien le aconsejaron que no comiera en la casa de su
amigo. Le exigieron que hiciera el sacrificio con el okro y papilla, pero el no lo hizo.

Cuando el visito la vulva como consecuencia, el empez6 a comer en su casa divirtiendose la

con ella. Despues de comer, el empez6 a vomitar la mezcla de okro y papilla con que el no
hizo el sacrificio. En cuanto el terminara vomitando, el perdio su fuerza como resultado de la
deshidratacion y el se puso flojo. Era entonces que que el pene recordo que el sacrificio
prescrito para el por Ogunda-se-se que es el ruido el pene hace despues de divertirse la con la
vulva.

Cuando este odu aparece a la adivinacion, la persona debe aconsejarse para no comer en nadie
la casa.

La Adivinacion que El Hizo Antes de Venir A El Mundo

El Ise kpe igi aworo - era el Awo que la adivinaci6n hecho para este Odu cuando el estaba
viniendo del cielo. Le aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio para tener exito en el negocio
comercial que el iba hacer en la tierra, con cultivar en el lado. Le exigieron que hiciera el
sacrificio con; el perro, gallo, tortuga y caracol a Ogun; mono o su came y pajaro del okin o su
came a su angel guardian; y macho cabrio a Esu. El hizo todo el sacirifices antes de dejar para
el mundo.

En conseguir al mundo, el construyo su casa cerca del mercado de Oja-Ajigbomekon. Osanyin

y Ogun lo acompafiaron al mundo. Ademas de comerciar, el estaba haciendo tambien la
adivinacion para las personas. El estaba haciendo bien inicialmente, pero los problemas de las
relaciones intimas causaron su fortuna pronto para rechazar. Sus esposas lo dejaron como
consecuencia con sus nifios y el quedaba exclusivamente.

En la plenitud de sus problemas, el decidio ir por adivinacion a que le aconsejaron que sirviera
sulfa con el mono y ojo-okin (el pajaro); y Esu con el macho cabrio. Desde que el no pudiera
conseguir sostenimiento del pajaro y el mono que el consiguio una olla grande y lo posicion6
al pie de un arbol grande. Despues de poner varios cosas en la olla, Esu lo llen6 del agua.
Habia sequedad entretanto, en el mundo y habia una escasez de agua por todas partes. Okin, el
amigo del mono, era un pajaro camivoro que alimento en otros pajaros. Entretanto, ellos
fueron en busca del agua que hasta que ellos se
encontraran Esu que los dirigi6 a la olla gigante de agua que el habia depositado al pie del
arbol. Cuando ellos vieron la olla, ellos se bafiaron dentro de el y bebieron de el. Despues
de esto, se volvi6 su fuente regular de suministro de agua y Esu se asegurada que la olla
siempre estaba llena con el agua. Despues de asegurar que la olla de agua se habia vuelto
un segundo habitat para el mono y Okin, Esu alert6 Orunmila que el habia posicionado
una olla de agua grande en el bosque en su nombre y habia ofrecido tomarlo cager
aquellos que estaban usandolo desautorizadamente alli. Cuando Orunmila y Esu
consiguieron al pie del arbol d6nde la olla fue localizada que ellos decidieron esconder
para aprehender a los intrusos.

Ningun mas pronto hizo ellos se esconden que el mono y Okin vinieron a la olla. Despues
de bafiarse y beber, ellos empezaron a orar para quienquiera era eso posicion6 la olla alli y
quien estaba recambiandolo todos los dias. Ellos profesaron que si ellos se hubieran
encontrado a la persona benevola, ellos habrian ofrecido vivir con el servirlo. A ese punto
Orunmila y Esu salieron para acusarlos de hurto que la ofensa llev6 la multa de muerte.
Despues de identificarse como el dueiio de la olla ellos admitieron su culpa a Orunmila
pero hicieron las apelaciones apasionadas para el perd6n porque la sequedad
prevaleciendo los habia dejado sin otra opci6n. Ellos rogaron ser permitidos servirle la
manera mejor a Orunmila que ellos conocieron por reparar para su ofensa. Ellos
aseguraron Orunmila que ellos lo harian rico si el ahorrara sus vidas dandoles una
oportunidad de servirlo. Orunmila estaba de acuerdo en tomarlos casa para vivir con el.
Sin embargo, enfrent6 con el problema de si o para no matarlos servir su Ifa o ahorrarlos
servirlo cuando ellos propusieron, el decidi6 sonar Ifa una vez mas para las direcciones.
Ifa le aconsej6 que ahorrara sus vidas porque ellos ayudarian que el viviera una vez mas
una vida del oppulent. Entretanto, Okin le pregunt6 a Orunmila si le gustaria hacer una
granja, y el aceptaba la sugerencia. Despues de esto, Okin y el mono siguieron Orunmila a
la situaci6n de la olla y cepillaron una granja alli.

Despues de cepillar y disparar la granja, ellos aclararon los tocones y estaba listo para
plantar las cosechas. Okin plant6 cespedes, su otra comida principal aparte de la came de
otros pajaros. Orunmila plant6 los names y sala en la granja. En su parte, el mono sac6 las
frondas de la palma del bosque hacer un circulo redondear la olla de agua en el bosque.
Despues de esto, Esu manch6 la vision de Ogun que le hace pensar que la fronda de la
palma abrazada era su uma del bosque. Ademas, cuando el vio las huellas de animales
redondo la olla de agua, Ogun concluy6 que era una mancha pr6spera por cazar. El se
ocult6 por consiguiente de la vista de animales que vienen de la olla. El tuvo exito
matando varios animales. En cuanto Esu descubriera que ese Ogun estaba usando la olla
como un sefiuelo por cazar pajaros y animales, el decidi6 humillarlo. Ogun a prop6sito,
era uno de las relaciones de Orunmila que habia creado los problemas para el.

Mientras Ogun estaba esperando disparar los pajaros y animales que usan la olla, Esu
habia escondido para cager el Ogun flagrante delcto, mientras robando. Despues de
esperar por Ogun para disparar tres pajaros y un animal, el Salido para acusarlo de hurto.
Ogun explic6 que el pens6 que la olla era su propia uma del bosque. Cuando Esu tom6 el
velo de sus ojos, Ogun comprendi6 el error que el habia hecho y fervorosamente habia
apelado para hacerse sirviente del duefio en lugar de arriesgarse la multa de muerte por
robar. Cuando el supo en el futuro que Orunmila era el duefio, de la olla, que Ogun
ofreci6 ayudarlo en sus quehaceres de cultivo y nunca prometi6 crear mas problemas para
el.
Pronto despues, Esu tarnbien cogio Osanyin (Osun) pelando la parte de arras del arbol
abrazada con la fronda de la palma, mientras acusandolo de hurto y profanando la uma d6nde
Orunmila le sirvi6 a su angel guardian. El tambien rog6 para el perdon, mientras ofreciendo
servir Orunmila sacando las hojas y materiales para su trabajo y dejar de molestarlo desde que
el era una de las relaciones que los problemas del formented para el.

Entretanto, las cosechas en la granja de Orunmila eran debidas para segar la mies. Un pajaro
precioso que fue dotado de la fortuna de excretar cuentas y corales (Akon y lleke en Yoruba y
Ekan e Ivie en Bini) volo en la granja en la compafiia de otros pajaros mientras Okin estaba
mirando la granja. Cuando ellos establecieron abajo a alimente en el maiz, Okin aprehendi6 el
pajaro precioso, mientras los otros volaron lejos. El pajaro rogo Okin para ahorrar su vida,
mientras ofreciendo enriquecer al duefio de la granja como su sirviente. Okin tomo el pajaro a
Orunmila que aceptaba el trato propuso por el. Cuando el pajaro fue dicho excretar corales y
cuentas, realmente hizo para que y Orunmila regocij6, despues de agradecer Esu con otro
macho cabrio. Dentro de una materia de dias, Orunmila se hacen ricos en las joyas. Despues
de hacer un equipo adomado con cuentas para el, el pudo vender vestidos adomados con
cuentas, zapatos y coronas a todo el Obas del mundo conocido que Orunmila hecho para
ponerse sumamente adinerado. Al mismo tiempo, Ogun y Osanyin (Osun) permanecia
permanentemente a su beck y llama en lugar de ser los adversarios.

A ese punto, el invito a sus sacerdotes de lfa para una fiesta del thankgiving a que el les dio el
dinero suficiente y otros regalos. Cuando este lfa sale a Ugbodu, la persona se aconsejara que
su prosperidad vendra de comerciar y cultivar. Deben decirle que el tiene dos hermanos que
estan trazando contra el, pero que con la perseverancia y sacrifica, ellos se compelerian para
transformar su enemistad a su servidumbre.

El Hizo la Adivinacion Para Orsemi-Lere

Iwu ni on arugbo, ka shan own ajewa. Takuta-kpa,

Okete.
Irun ................................................................... gangan ni'di imodo

Esos son los Awos que la adivinacion hecho para Orisemi-Lere antes de que el lograra fama y
fortuna. Ellos le aconsejaron hacer el sacrificio a su cabeza con los frijoles y salar, y el lo hizo.
Despues de esto todas las cosas buenas de vida empezaron a venir a el. El agradecio a sus
sacerdotes de lfa y empezo a regocijar y cantar en la alabanza de lfa.

Cuando aparece a la adivinacion, la persona se <lira servir su cabeza con los frijoles cocinados
y salar para disfrutar las cosas buenas de vida.

El Hizo la Adivinacion Para Ogun Cuando El Iba a Guerrear

Ti a ba to ogun de, ohun ti a ba ri ki a fun baba eni ti bi

ni lo'mo. Won difa fun Ogun nijo ti onto si ogun
ajagbeirebo.
Cuando uno vuelve de la guerra, cualquier trae alli de como los despojos debe
abandonarse al padre de uno. Esos eran los sacerdotes de lfa que la adivinaci6n hecho para
Ogun cuando el iba a guerrear. Le dijeron que sirviera a su angel guardian con un perro,
gallee, y para servir Esu con un macho cabrio. El hizo el sacrificio a su angel guardian
pero se neg6 a servir Esu.

El foe a guerrear y era victorioso, pero el no tenia los despojos de guerra para traer casa.
El solo vino casa con una muchacha bonita que habia completado simplemente su periodo
menstrual. El tom6 la imaginaci6n a la muchacha y el amor hecho a ella. El dia siguiente,
su padre el Olofin de lfe, lo llam6 explicar por que el no habia informado a el con los
despojos que el trajo del frente de guerra. El dijo que que el no trajo ningun botin del
frente de guerra, exceptue a una muchacha quien el quiso guardar a el. El padre le dijo que
la tradici6n no estaba en su lado y para que prevaleci6 en el rendirse a la muchacha. El
padre el amor seguidamente hecho a la muchacha, y la retuvo como una novia en su haren.

La muchacha se puso embarazada al final de su ciclo menstrual y por el tiempo de llenura

dio el nacimiento a un nifio masculino. Ella tambien se puso poco despues embarazada la
entrega y dio el nacimiento a otro nifio masculino. Auna vejez madura, el Olofin uni6 a
sus antepasados y de acuerdo con la tradici6n el primer nifio masculino nacido despues de
Oba adecuado, tenia que tomar el trono. El pas6 para ser el born del nifio con la esperma
de Ogun.

Mientras en el trono, el result6 ser un gobemante muy autocratico, y se puso notorio para
establecer las disputas condenando la fiesta culpable a la muerte por la ejecuci6n. Los
superiores del reino se pusieron tan curiosos sobre su patemidad que ellos regresaron a su
madre averiguar c6mo el foe concebido. La mujer hizo un pecho limpio de la historia
confirmando ese Ogun, el hijo del Olofin foe el primero en hacer el amor a ella despues de
su menstruaci6n, antes de que su padre la tomara. Ella confirm6 asi que el nuevo Olofin
era el hijo de Ogun y no el hijo del Olofin tarde. El pr6ximo problema era sin embargo
c6mo reemplazarlo con su hermano menor en el trono.

Los rey-fabricantes y counsellors tuvieron exito resolviendose el problema engatusandolo

admitir el padre del Oba al titulo honorifico del Elemo de Ife que quiso decir. Su hermano
menor se volvi6 los Olofin que volvieron como consecuencia paz y tranquilidad al reino.

Cuando este odu aparece a la adivinaci6n para un hombre, le diran que una mujer esta
entrando en su vida cuyo primero embarazo sera de patemidad dudosa. La mujer tenia el
sexo con otro hombre que antes de que ella durmiera con el por el mes que ella se puso
embarazada. Si aparece para una mujer, le diran que un hombre extrafio que no busc6 su
consentimiento hara el amor a ella y ella se pondra embarazada y dara el nacimiento a un
nifio masculino. Es probable que ella este bajo el mentruation en el momento de la
adivinaci6n, y es seguidamente probable ser violado por un hombre extrafio.

La adivinacion Para El Mayor Hijo De Ogunda-Alashe

Iwu Ion arugbo. Kasha Kasha lorun aje ewa. Takuta kpa
Okete. Irun gan gan ni idi imodo. Adifa fun lkudamiloju
 arimo Ogunda alashe. Ebo oriku ni ki oru.
Los vellos grises sei'ialan el principio de vejez.
Se prueban los frijoles cocinados en una prisa.
La trampa cogio el conejo. Hay vellos fuertes adelante el
ano del leon.

Ellos eran los sacerdotes de Ifa que la adivinacion hecho para Ikudamiloju, el mayor hijo de
Ogunda-Alashe cuando la muerte estaba cazando con escopeta para el. Le dijeron que hiciera
el sacrificio con un macho cabrio. El hizo el sacrificio y el no se murio,

Cuando la muerte se pronostica bajo el ayeo a la adivinacion, la persona se <lira hacer el

sacrificio a Esu con un macho cabrio.
 El capitulo 15
OGUNDA-OFUN

El Hizo la Adivinacion para la Esperma Masculina

Ogunda fifun ru ru ru, babalawo ato, odifa fun ato.

El hizo la adivinaci6n para la esperma masculina cuando el era relativamente desconocido.

Le dijeron que hiciera el sacrificio con el vino de la palma y papilla. Haciendo el sacrificio
el persigui6 vivir con la divinidad de nii'io-nacimiento (Olugbodo en Yoruba y Akobie en
Bini). Quienquiera quiso los nii'ios fueron a la divinidad de parto por la ayuda. Despues de
ir a vivir con Olugbado, Ato aconsej6 la divinidad para decir a cualquiera que queria que
un nifio hiciera el sacrificio despues de que el (la esperma) los seguiria casa. No obstante,
el permanecia ineficaz.

Como consecuencia, la esperma fue a Ose-Etura por adivinaci6n que le aconsej6 que
hiciera el sacrificio con Okro y un tipo de arcilla comestible llamado Eko en Yoruba y
Eko en Bini. Ose-Etura hizo el sacrificio para Ato quemando a los dos materiales y
moliendolos en el polvo, Despues de darle el Ase, que le dijeron que estuviera tardando el
polvo con la papilla todas las mananas. Despues de esto, el era capaz vuelto eficaz
trayendo una nueva vida adelante en la humanidad y animales fertilizando el huevo
hembra. Eso era c6mo y cuando la esperma se puso famosa e indispensable.

Cuando este lfa aparece a U gbodu, la persona se <lira servir el nuevo lfa con otra cabra.
El pecho de la cabra se usara para preparar un Okro especial (Edure en Yoruba y Ohukpo
en Bini) la sopa para el o ella para comer para que los Superiores del Noctumo no podria
hacer los 6rganos reproductores a los his/her yermo e ineficaz.

A la adivinaci6n ordinaria, la persona si un hombre, debe aconsejarse para servir Esu con
un macho cabrio impedirle a su esposa abandonarlo como resultado del nii'ionacimiento
tardado. Si aparece para una mujer, ella dejara a su marido presente para un segundo uno.

El Constituyo la Adivinacion el Padre de todas las Serpientes

El Pelebi abidi soro - era el Awo que la adivinaci6n hecho para Ojola-gidigba cuando el
estaba a punto de volverse el padre de todas las serpientes en el bosque. Le aconsejaron
que hiciera el sacrificio para impedirles a sus nii'ios ponerse enfermo. Le exigieron que
hiciera el sacrificio con la ropa el estaba llevando, un gallo y aceite de grano de palma ( el
adin en Yoruba y uden en Bini). El hizo el sacrificio despues de que el se dio una
medicina de lfa especial que le dijeron que compartiera entre sus nii'ios, en otro para
hacerles vivir naturalmente. En lugar de ponerse enfermo, ellos vertieron fuera de su
balanza desuella y se rejuvenece, debido a la tela su padre hacia el sacrificio.

Cuando este odu aparece a la adivinaci6n, la persona se <lira hacer el sacrificio para
detener el riesgo de ponerse enfermo.
Orunmila Advises la Limpieza en absoluto Times

Orunmila ni oga se se. Oni ki o mu nkan ebo oga se se wa,

Moni emi ko mo nkan ebo oga se se.
Orunmila aconseja la limpieza absoluta en todos que uno hace.
Antes de hablar a Ifa o servirlo, el adorador debe
los pies del his/her limpios, manos, y uso limpian el vestido blanco, tenga un
el corazon limpio y kolanuts del lavado antes de usarlos hablar con el
o lo sirve. Cualquiera que sirve Orunmila de esa manera quiere ciertamente
reciba el premio.

Cuando este odu aparece a la adivinacion, la persona se aconsejara para llevar la ropa con
los colores de luz a lo largo de los dias de su vida, y debe vestir ni se comporta
desalifiadamente, porque la bondad mora en los ambientes limpios.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Cerdo Tener los Ninos

Ogunda fun fun fun, awo ema olo Ikin fun ema ati esi.

El hizo la adivinacion para ambos domestico, y el arbusto, cerdos para tener los nifios. Les
aconsejaron que hicieran el sacrificio con una gallina y una paloma, seis akara, seis eko, y
seis kolanuts. Ellos hicieron los sacrificios y de se pusieron muy productivo. Por eso los
cerdos producen a muchos nifios en un momento.

A la adivinacion, la persona se aconsejara para hacer el sacrificio para tener los nifios. Si
aparece para una mujer y ella hace el sacrificio, ella empezara teniendo gemelos o trincas.
Si el divinee es un hombre, le diran que el se encontrara con una mujer que no es muy
bonita, pero que si el hace el sacrificio, ella dara el nacimiento a muchos nifios.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para la Madre de Alajunare

El mismo Awo hizo la adivinacion para la madre de Alajunare tener los nifios. Le
exigieron que hiciera el sacrificio con el guinea-ave, gallina, paloma, frijoles y maiz. Ella
hizo el sacrificio despues de que ella se puso embarazada. Su primera entrega era un par
de gemelos. Yeye Olojunare es el nombre familiar para la madre de gemelos.
Le aconsejaran que haga el sacrificio a la adivinacion, para una mujer, y se diga que es
probable que ella tenga las gemelas algun dia en su vida.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para Ogun Durante su Disputa con Semejante

Ogunda fun fun fun, odifa fun Ogun ni jo ti Akin le kpa re.

El hizo la adivinacion para Ogun cuando el estaba siguiendose por Semejante, el agressive
uno. Ogun fue aconsejado para hacer el sacrificio para poder dominar a su atacante. El
hizo el sacrificio con una gallina y tres peines de maiz.

Cuando Ogun en el futuro dirigido Semejante, una lucha sucedio entre ellos. En el
proceso, Esu puso el peine de maiz con que Ogun hizo sacrifique Semejante detras. En
cuanto Semejante camino en el peine, el se resbalo y se cayo a la tierra y Ogun lo
habrian decapitado con su espada pero para el hecho que la superioridad concedida Semejante
a Ogun.

A la adivinacion, la persona debe decirse hacer el sacrificio para superar a un enemigo que
esta amenazando deshacerlas lo o.

La Adivinacion que El Hizo Antes de Dejar el Cielo

Owo ale e ha to'wurojo. Owo ale o rein owuro.

Esos fueron los dos Awos que la adivinacion hecho para Orunmila antes de que el dejara el
cielo para el mundo. Le aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio para anticipar los planes nefarios
de enemigos. Le exigieron que hiciera el sacrificio con una bolsa que contiene todo los
comida-materia comestibles, sesenta y cinco mil dolares, name aplastado, pollo pequefio, y un
kolanut del tres-pedazo. Tambien le dijeron que sirviera a su angel guardian con un camero,
gallo y tortuga. Tambien le dijeron que sirviera Ogun con el gallo, tortuga, name asado, vino
de la palma y fronda de la palma. Inmediatamente antes de dejar para la tierra, le exigieron que
obtuviera las bendiciones de Dios con la paloma blanca, tela blanca, kolanuts blanco, coco y la
pluma de loro rojo. Despues de hacer todos los sacrificios, el dej6 para la tierra.

Durante su jomada a la tierra, el se encontro Esu en la manera que lo pregunto por atreverse a
dejar para la tierra sin obtener el despacho de aduanas de el. El contesto que no le dijeron a la
adivinacion para servirlo. Esu insistio sin embargo que el no fuera a permitirle proceder en su
jomada del tierra-limite sin recibir un macho cabrio de el. Ogunda-Ofun devolvio en el futuro
al cielo a Esu, despues de narrar su experiencia a los dos Awos que la adivinaci6n hecho para
el. Ellos se disculparon a el por no decirle que sirviera Esu en el primer caso. El sirvi6 Esu en
el futuro con un macho cabrio, la tela blanca, el aceite de la palma, caza ratas, pez y una nueva
olla.

Despues de comer su comida, Esu ofrecio escoltarlo a tierra durante que Esu le dijo que el iba
a ser un sacerdote de lfa habil y famoso, pero advirtio que su exito iba a generar la tremenda
animosidad contra el a menos que el unio otro Awos para estar celebrando las reuniones en el
orden entender y emular su metodologia.

En conseguir al mundo, el empezo con el exito inicial, pero su fama y fortuna empezaron a
generar envidia y el Awos pronto el se encontro en la tierra empezo usando el poder de
brujeria para obstruir su trabajo. Un dia, Esu lo recordo que el no habia hecho ningun
sacrificio desde venir a la tierra. El le aconsej6 que hiciera una fiesta para las personas con una
cabra. El hizo la fiesta a que alguno de su invitees expresaron la apreciacion diciendole que
que ellos pensaron su exito soportaria por ignorandolos. Los invitees le dijeron que estuviera
presente a su reunion antes de dispersar, que noctumo. A proposito, sus enemigos jurado no
participaron en la fiesta. Tambien ausente era su propia esposa que, desconocido a el,
perteneci6 al club de brujeria.

Era Esu que de nuevo lo dirigio hacer algo sobre sus enemigos principales que estaban
obstruyendo su trabajo. Esu pidio sin embargo a su propio macho cabrio a ese punto y se dio a
el. Despues de esto, Esu descubrio las identidades de sus enemigos principales como
comprender: la criada de Orisa; la criada de Oshun/Olokun; y la criada de la
divinidad de muerte. Esu le aconsejo que produjera una calabaza grande de vino de la
palma para el usar, que el rapidamente hecho disponible.

Ogunda-Ofun asistio esa noche esta encontrandose del club de withcraft donde el
descubrio a su esposa para ser un miembro prominente. Orisa, Olokun y Muerte que todos
prohiben al vino. En cuanto la reunion fuera recogida totalmente; Esu pretendio haber roto
la calabaza de vino de la palma y el olor inadvertidamente ahuyento las tres divinidades de
la reunion. Despues de esto, Orunmila se cornenzo formalmente como un miembro del
club y le dijeron que la reunion se celebraria en su casa en cada octavo dia. Despues de
esto, su prosperidad empezo a florecer y el vivio a una vejez madura. En la plenitud de su
prosperidad, el hizo una fiesta grande con una vaca, cabra y cameros a que el invito su
Awos y canto en su alabanza. En esa fase, el sirvio su Ifa con un gallo, desde que el ya era
una bruja el. Se mencionara que solo brujas sirven su Ifa con el gallo.

Cuando este Ifa aparece a Ugbodu, deben tomarse los pasos inmediatos para preparar el
Esu brille del Ifa. La persona se <lira que su esposa es una bruja y que es probable que las
circunstancias le hagan volverse uno el. El debe hacer el sacrificio para poder resistir y
superar las maquinaciones malas de sus enemigos que no estan contento sobre su fama y
fortuna.
 El capitulo 1
OSA-OGBE
OSA-LO-GBE-JO

El Vino al Mundo para Vivir en medio de los Enemigos

Ota'ra ta awo emi na'le, odifa fun Orunmila niigba t'o ma

mba awon ota rejeun nkpo. Ebo ishegun ota lo'nru o.

Ese era el Awo que la adivinacion hecho para Orunmila cuando el vino al mundo para vivir en
media de los enemigos. Le dijeron que sirviera Ifa con un camera, y Esu con un macho cabrio,
y los Superiores de la Noche con una gallina y todos los pedazos de comestible comestibles.
Le exigieron que realizara los sacrificios porque el iba vivir y crecer en la tierra en media de
los enemigos.

El vino al mundo y el era muy pobre. El no podria permitirse el lujo de casarse a una esposa y
para que no tenia ningun nifio. El estaba operando entonces como un sacerdote de Ifa
desconocido a Ife. Una noche, su angel guardian aparecia a el, mientras dandole la marcha
pide para viajar a la tierra de llu-eleye, eso es, el pueblo de brujas. El viajo casi
inmediatamente al lugar donde el fue recibido calurosamente.

Siendo el unico sacerdote de Ifa que tenia el valor para vivir en el pueblo, su importancia fue
reconocida pronto. A proposito, cada habitante del pueblo era una bruja o un mago. Como el
unico impar-uno-exterior laico, el se puso en lista inmediatamente para el uso en una fiesta en
el momenta apropiado. Entretanto, las personas del pueblo unieron las manos para construir
una casa para el a traves del esfuerzo mutuo.

Despues de construir la casa para el, el lo ocupo solo desde que el no tenia ningun dependants.
En cuanto el ocupara la casa, el se volvio un ciudadano del pueblo formalmente. Entretanto, el
se dio una invitacion para asistir a la reunion del concilio de brujeria. El no tenia ninguna
opcion pero para aceptar la invitacion. Cuando el consiguio en el futuro a la reunion, el vio dos
cabras atadas a ser matado. Cuando las cabras fueron matadas, el dijo la reunion que el solo
estaba interesado en dos partes de las cabras; los corazones y sus sangres. No obstante, ademas
de la sangre y el corazon de las cabras, el tambien se dio su propia porcion de came.

Cuando el consiguio casa con las partes dadas a el, el fue sin el retraso a la uma de Esu donde
por la encantacion especial, el pidio Esu que el debe consumir la sangre y corazon de las
cabras, si de hecho ellos se crearan como las cabras por Dios. Por otro lado, si ellos se crearan
originalmente como los seres humanos, y solo se volteo a las cabras por el culto de brujeria,
Esu debe reviertalos a sus formularios originales. Dos seres humanos soplados llenos, un
hombre y una mujer, surgidas de la uma de Esu.

El no comio la came de la cabra dada a el como su porcion, El lo seco a en su lugar de fuego.

Ese era lo que el hizo en cada ocasion en que se mataron cabras y otros animales.
Dentro de un tiempo muy corto, su casa estaba retumbando con la presencia y actividades
de varias personas a cargo. El se cas6 que las mujeres y los hombres empezaron a trabajar
para el. Las personas del pueblo estaban preguntandose encima de la fuente de las
personas que ocupan la casa de Orunmila, desde que era el conocimiento comun que el
vino al pueblo y que ellos eran que los productos de su Ifa practican fuera del pueblo.

Entretanto, le dijeron al concilio que se encuentra que era su giro para festejar a todos los
miembros. El les dijo que el estaba listo con tal de que ellos estaban de acuerdo en tener la
fiesta en su casa. Cuando el son6 Ifa en que hacer, le dijeron dar un macho cabrio a Esu y
agregar la came a los unos que el habia estado secando a desde que el se alist6 al club de
brujeria. Ifa tambien le dijo que agregara el sasswood empolve (Obo en Yoruba y lyin en
Bini) a las bebidas con que el iba a entretenerlos.

Despues del comiendo y bebiendo, todos los miembros empezaron dejando caer muerto
uno despues el otro, con la excepci6n del Ojugbona y su esposa que no compartieron en la
fiesta. Cuando Orunmila observ6 la ausencia del Ojugbona y su esposa a la fiesta, el envi6
para ellos. Ellos fueron asombrados para ver la camiceria colosal en que habia tenido
lugar y alrededor de la casa de Orunmila. Cuando el les puso en orden comer y beber su
porci6n de la fiesta, ellos siguieron sus rodillas para rogar para sus vidas a ser ahorradas.
Orunmila reaccion6 haciendoles tomar un juramento etemo en la tierra que ellos nunca
dafiarian o romperian el asunto de su familia y seguidores. Despues de esto, Orunmila
vivi6 una vida pacifica y pr6spera.

Cuando este odu aparece a U gbodu, la persona se <lira que las circunstancias lo
compeleran volverse una bruja esoterica, pero que el tendra que hacer el sacrificio para
superar a sus enemigos innumerables. A la adivinaci6n, la persona se <lira que el se rodea
por enemigos que son principalmente las brujas, sin ser un miembro. El debe abstenerse
de pertenecer a cualquier reunion, pero si el no puede evitarlo, el no debe comer o hebe a
las tales reuniones, porque el no podria cumplir las reglas.

La Adivinacion lo Constituyo Cuando Tres Favores estaban Viniendo

Simultaneamente a El

Osalogbejo showo gede molo mude ni

She own sale degua.
Kpako ko no ko ba ra ta'ye she.
Adifa fun Orunmila nijo ti won ni ure meta bo fun lo no.
Prepare a ambas manos recibir la prosperidad.
Prepare a su cuello apoyar la belleza superlativa.
Prepare propiamente a su vulva recibir al salvador.

Estos eran los A wos que la adivinaci6n hecho para Orunmila, en el dia que tres agentes
de prosperidad estaban viniendo a visitarlo. Ellos le aconsejaron que hiciera sacrifique
inmediatamente con una sola rata. A prop6sito, el no tenia ninguna rata en casa y no
podria conseguir cualquiera para comprar. Entretanto, Esu estaba de acuerdo a preste uno
a el. El agreg6 el polvo de adivinaci6n (el iyerosun) del sacrificio y grit6 en Esu para
recibirlo ( el gbaa de Esu) y Esu lo recibi6 de el y lo co mi 6.
Despues de comer la rata, Esu se volvi6 exigir otra rata para pagar por el uno alrededor
que el pidi6 prestado a Orunmila. Orunmila retorci6 diciendo que si el tuviera una rata
inmediatamente disponible, el no habria tenido la causa para pedir prestado uno de el. Esu
reaccion6 amenazando bloquear las tres fortunas que vienen a el de localizarlo. Orunmila
le pidi6 a Esu que ejerciera paciencia y para llevar con el. Desde que no es la tradici6n de
Esu para sostener el informe para cualquiera, el dej6 actualizar su amenaza, tomando la
posici6n al cielo y union de tierra, en seguida. (El ijaloko de Orita).

Sabiendo que Esu no es conocido para hacer las amenazas vacias, Orunmila dej6 para el
bosque en busca de una rata. El prepar6 una trampa de Ebiti rapidamente por cager una
rata. Con la encantaci6n apropiada, el atrajo una rata a la trampa y fue cogido. Despues de
esto, Orunmila corri6 despues de que Esu reembolse su deuda.

Entretanto, Esu se encontr6 a los tres agentes de prosperidad que trae la riqueza a
Orunmila del cielo. Cuando el les pregunt6 que donde ellos estaban limitados para, ellos le
dijeron que les enviaron por la divinidad de prosperidad para enviar los regalos a
Orunmila. Esu lament6 que ellos habian venido a ayudar Orunmila demasiado tarde,
porque el habia ido enfadado y habia escapado en el bosque.

Los tres agentes retrocedieron devolver al cielo. Ellos habian salido escasamente cuando
Orunmila vino, mientras jadeando con una rata en la mano. Despues de recibir la rata de
el, Esu le dijo que el ya les habia dicho a tres agentes que traen la fortuna a el devolver al
cielo pero que el pudiera bramar en ellos porque ellos todavia estaban dentro de la
distancia granizando, y ellos no habian alcanzado la residencia de Ogun.

Cuando Esu le pregunt6 que si el supo sus nombres, el empez6 a llamar en los nombres de
los tres Awos que la adivinaci6n hecho para el.

Showa gede molo mudeni

Shown jege sale degua Kpako
ko no ko hara taye she.

Orunmila graniz6 entonces en Ogun para detenerlos de ir mas alla de su casa porque el
estaba de camino. El hizo para queen las palabras siguientes:

Ogun mo la du gbere Da u
dan rode mi dug bene
Ogun mo la du gbere.

En cuanto Ogun oyera la voz de Orunmila, el sali6 de su casa y no anhela despues, el se

encontr6 a los tres agentes. Cuando Ogun Jes pidi6 su misi6n, ellos contestaron que les
enviaron por Ala para enviar los regalos a Orunmila, pero que ellos se encontraron a un
hombre corto en la manera que les dijo que devolvieran al cielo porque el habia ido
enfadado y se habia encontrado con el bosque. Ogun les dijo que Orunmila era sano y
cordial, y que el ya estaba corriendo para encontrarselos. En esa nota tranquilizante, ellos
estaban de acuerdo en esperar en la casa de Ogun por Orunmila encontrarselos.

Cuando Orunmila se los encontr6 en el futuro, el devolvi6 casa con ellos y el evento
traducidos el en la inmensa fama y fortuna.
Cuando este odu aparece a la adivinacion, la persona debe decirse que algunos beneficios estan
camino a el, pero que el debe inmediatamente despues de la adivinacion, haga el sacrificio con
una sola rata apartar el infortunio de perderlos. Si es el ayeo, la persona debe decirse que un
socio intimo que es muy el calz6n, ya ha retrocedido los favores que vienen a el. El debe servir
Esu inmediatamente con una rata, y Ogun con la tortuga, fiame asado y vino de la palma para
que ellos pudieran devolver a el.

El Hizo Divnation para el Principe de la Corona de If e

Emune mune mudi reyi. Adifa fun Ajebaye omo olofen

nijo t'oma fe aya Esu.

El hizo la adivinacion para Ajebaye, el principe de la corona de Olofin cuando el hizo el amor
a la esposa de Esu. Le aconsejaron que sirviera Esu con un macho cabrio evitar el peligro de
matarse por su propio hijo, pero el no lo hizo. El estaba en el habito de despertarse todas las
mananas para sentarse en una silla facil delante de su casa ver quien estaba viniendo e iba.

Unos dias despues de la adivinacion, el estaba sentandose en su silla facil por la mafiana,
cuando el vio a una muchacha joven atractiva que va al rio para sacar el agua. Ajegbaye invito
a la muchacha en la casa. La muchacha ella, quien se agobio por el jubilo de invitarse por el
principe de la corona del reino, prontamente acepto la invitacion y entro en la alcoba con el sin
cualquier vacilaci6n. El hizo el amor a la muchacha despues de que, ella continua su jornada al
rio. Desconocido sin embargo, a cualquiera la muchacha era la esposa traviesa de Esu, y ella
simplemente habia pasado por su periodo menstrual. Mientras la muchacha reasumio su
jornada al rio, Ajegbaye dej6 para el bosque para cortar las frutas de la palma.

Cuando la muchacha lleg6 al rio, ella fue sorprendida para tener noticias la voz de un nifio de
su utero que la advierte mover suavemente porque el estaba preparando bajar de su utero. En
conseguir casa ella empez6 a experimentar los dolores obreros y antes de que ella pudiera
pedir la ayuda, un nifio masculino salto fuera de su utero, y estaba de pie firmemente en sus
pies. El entro fuera con su placenta en la mano y lo puso encima de su hombro como una bolsa
y pidio el paradero de su padre.

Mientras la madre todavia estaba intentando encontrar su presion de su desconcierto en la

velocidad a que los eventos estaban desplegando, el nifio dej6 la casa y se dirigio
exclusivamente hacia el bosque en busca de su padre. Antes de dejar la casa, el dijo que el
supo que su padre iba a sacar las frutas de la palma en el bosque, y prometio juntarse alli con
el.

Cuando el consiguio al pie del arbol de la palma en que su padre estaba cortando su manera al
manojo de frutas de la palma, el lo salud6 como su hijo. Mientras el estaba preguntandose
donde y cuando el tenia tal un nifio, el desafio al padre a un tiro y coge el concurso. Aturdido,
Ajegbaye maldijo el duende como un bete-noire" abominable (el wo para que fi o wo'diro en
yoruba o udiyi en Bini). Como si el le dijera al padre que demostrara su gravedad que el era el
producto de la aventura amorosa que el llevaba puesto ese dia antes con una muchacha que
estaba camino al rio. El le dijo entonces al padre que habia dos manojos maduros de frutas de
la palma en el arbol. El le dijo al
padre que cortara uno de ellos y tirarlo a conectaron con tierra para el coger.

El padre lo tir6 abajo con una vista a quebrarlo con el despues de cortar su manera claro al
manojo de frutas de la palma, pero el demonio de un nifio lo estuvo de acuerdo con su
mano izquierda. Despues de esto, el le dijo al padre que bajara. Sin la ayuda del trepador
de arbol de palma, el subi6 su manera como una ardilla a la cima del arbol. Ajegbaye era
ahora el sabiendo tembloroso que esperar. Antes de que el dedujera si para correr o
esperar, el duende tenia el manojo de frutas de la palma en la mano tirar a su padre.
Cuando Ajegbaye vio el duende que sostiene el manojo de frutas de la palma, el tom6 a
sus talones. No obstante, como el estaba corriendo, el demonio lo tir6 a el, mientras
quebrandolo a la muerte.

Despues de esto, el salt6 a la tierra y se dirigi6 hacia el pueblo d6nde el desafi6 a

cualquiera que el encontr6 a un f6sforo de la lucha libre. El mat6 quienquiera luchado con
con el, mientras asiendo sus cosas y guardandolos en su bolsa a que nunca estaba llena. El
destruy6 a cada hombre que el vino por con la excepci6n de aquellos que escaparon en el
bosque. Despues de asolar Ife, el dej6 para el pr6ximo pueblo d6nde el realiz6 el mismo
hecho. Despues de tratar con seis pueblos de una manera similar, el dej6 para el septimo
pueblo llamado Ijelu.

Antes de conseguir a Ijelu, el Oba del pueblo se habia alertado a lo que habia estado
pasando en los otros pueblos y el invit6 su diviners rapidamente a entrar en la acci6n.
Ellos le dijeron que hiciera despues de la adivinaci6n, sacrifique rapidamente a Esu con un
macho cabrio, precio neto, ramitas, peine de maiz y varios objetos resbaladizos. El
sacrificio era hecho sin cualquier retraso. El Oba de Ijelu tenia una hija bonita que estaba
maduro para el matrimonio. Los diviners aconsejaron el Oba que cuando el guerra-tratante
misterioso lleg6, el debe invitarlo para la funci6n y debe pedirle a la muchacha presentar
el kola y agasajar a el en el desnudo, como era la practica por esos dias.

El sacrificio habia sido completado escasamente que cuando se oyeron los gritos
tumultuosos a lo largo del pueblo como el invasor estaba matando a todos en la vista.
Cuando el lleg6 al palacio, el desafi6 el Oba a un f6sforo de la lucha libre, pero el Oba le
dijo tanto como el fue preparado aceptar el desafio, el debe venir para una recepci6n
formal. El movi6 con esfuerzo un suspiro de alivio a la perspectiva de hospitalidad formal.
El entr6 en el palacio d6nde la hija bonita del Oba present6 kolanuts y vino de la palma a
el en el desnudo. El ofreci6 casarse a la muchacha en seguida y ella estaba de acuerdo en
casarselo.

Sin cualquier ceremonia, el entr6 en el apartamento del visitante con la muchacha y el

hizo el amor a ella mientras colgando su bolsa en una percha clavaron a la pared. Despues
del amante hacer, el empez6 a beber hasta que el se volviera el borracho directamente. Eso
era que cuando la muchacha le pregunt6 lo que era responsable para su poder invencible,
mientras halagandolo con la adulaci6n que ella habia estado buscando a un hombre fuerte
mucho tiempo gusta que el se case. En un estado de tremens del delirum, el descubri6 que
el era Eseku el hijo del propio Esu y que su fuerza ponia en el hecho que el no habia visto
y nunca debe ver que la palma verde fructifica, pique, y el nifio de un recien nacido cuyo
pelo no habia sido afeitado. Despues de esto, el se durmi6. Mientras estaban haciendose
los arreglos coleccionar todos sus tabus, un rayo del nifio fuera del utero de la muchacha.
La muchacha fue a su padre y le dijo que ella estaba teniendo los dolores severos en el
area de su pelvis. Antes de cualquier uno podria diagnosticar lo que estaba equivocado
con ella, un muchacho del hebe salt6 fuera de su utero. Era el grito generado por el
asombro de la llegada del hebe misterioso que se despert6 Eseku. Antes de entonces,
ademas del nuevo hebe cuyo pelo no habia sido afeitado, todas las otras cosas que el
prohibi6 estaban fuera visiblemente rayadas para el ver. Esa era la escena contra el fondo
de que el rey de Ijelu recibi6 su invitaci6n mas temprana a un concurso de la lucha libre.

Cuando ellos empezaron a luchar con, el rey tir6 Eseku en la direcci6n de la Uma de Esu,
y Esu consigui6 que el pisara en el maiz-peine que se resbal6 el en los otros objetos
resbaladizos y el termin6 en un precio neto y se sostuvo hermeticamente en el lugar.
Despues de conceder la derrota al Oba de Ijelu, el el aked ser decapitado. El Oba cort6 su
cuello entonces con su espada y su cabeza salt6 a a la uma de Ogun del Oba. Su cuerpo se
enterr6 en la uma de Esu.

Tres meses despues del hada-cuento importante, habia un temblor de tierra en el pueblo de
Ijelu que mat6 a 200 hombres, mujeres y nifios. Despues de tres tales occurences a tres
intervalos mensuales, el rey invit6 Orunmila para la adivinaci6n y le dijeron que la
calamidad estaba causandose por el cadaver insepulto de Eseku. Le dijeron al exume el
cuerpo y enterrarlo propiamente con una vaca, 200 cabras, 200 cestos de Eko, 200
paquetes de ekuru y 200 cauris. Despues del entierro, el Oba fue dicho ofrecer el sacrificio
anualmente a la tumba.

Tres dias despues del entierro formal, Eseku habl6 de la tumba, mientras confirmando que
el habia aceptado el sacrificio hecho a el y habia prometido ayudarles proteger el pueblo
desde aquel momenta, y que el debe notificarse con los rituales tradicionales si habia
cualquier problema a ser resuelto en el pueblo. Ese es el origen de esu-jelu que las
personas de saque de Ijelu hasta el momenta.

Cuando este odu aparece al ugbodu, la persona debe aconsejarse a preparar efigie tallada o
amold6 de Esu-jelu ser guardado en la uma de Ifa y comer fuera de cualquier cosa se da a
Ifa y el Esu-Obadara tradicional. Los dos Esus; Deben prepararse Esu Obadara y Esu-jelu
para el Ifa dentro de siete dias, mientras fallando que, o el patrocinador de Ifa o el padre
de la persona, no vivira mucho tiempo despues de esto. Por otro lado, la madre de la
persona vivira a una vejez madura.
Cuando aparece a la adivinaci6n, la persona se aconsejara tener su propio Ifa y servir Esu
con un macho cabrio para evitar producir a un nifio que es un duende a traves de un golpe-
y-carrera amor hacer, y de quien el nacimiento pronosticara su propio fallecimiento.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Oloba de Obaa Survive el Ataque de Varios Peligros

La fama de Osalogbejo habia hecho eco de a lo largo del mundo conocido del tiempo que
era la escena en que el Oloba de Obaa lo invit6 para la adivinaci6n cuando el estaba
teniendo los problemas. El se acompafi6 a Obaa por uno de sus substituto llamado Sawo-
sigi. Despues de la adivinaci6n, el le dijo al Oba que cazando con escopeta para el eran
seis muertes, seis enfermedades y seis casos. Le aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio con
una vaca impedirles manifestar, seis ratas (Eku-eda) seis gallos, seis
pescan, 6 machos cabrio y seis balsas de dinero. El Oba puso en orden para el sacrificio sin
cualquier retraso.

Despues de preparar el sacrificio, una tumba se excav6 en el suelo de su palacio y las cabezas
de la vaca, los gallos, las ratas pescan, etc. se enterr6 alli. Despues de esto, seis muertes, seis
enfermedades y seis caso lo visitaron en los giros y ellos eran todos ahuyentados por Esu. El
gobem6 el pueblo de Obaa entonces en paz y tranquilidad a una vejez madura.

Cuando este odu aparece como el ayeo a adivinaci6n que la persona se aconsejara para hacer
el sacrificio para guardar fuera del acercamiento de muerte, enfermedad y disputa.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para Dos Amigos Anonimos de Orientaciones Contrastantes

Cuando dos amigo estaba dejando el cielo, ellos hicieron dos votos contradictorios. El avaro
(A win en Yoruba y Ukhienkuen en Bini) nunca prometi6 vender algo a credito cuando el
consigui6 al mundo d6nde el iba a comerciar. Su amigo, el deudor cr6nico (Onigbese en
Yoruba y Akaruosa en Bini) nunca jur6 pagar por cualquier cosa el compr6 en el mundo. Con
el prop6sito de este pasaje, el uno estara llamado el Avaro mientras el otro sera el Deudor. En
conseguir al mundo, ellos fueron sus maneras separadas.

Cuando el Deudor consigui6 al mundo, el desarroll6 el habito de sentarse delante de su casa

todas las mananas para comprar las cosas a credito sin pagar en la vida por ellos. El tenia un
palo de la masticaci6n que el siempre mastic6 en su boca que tenia el efecto de encantar a las
personas en vender el genera a credito a el sin recordar pedir el pago.

Un dia, el A varo estaba pregonando sus mercanciases de aceite de la palma cuando el Deudor
pidi6 comprar de el. El compr6 el equivalente de tres balsas de dinero y le dijo al vendedor
que volviera despues por el dia para coleccionar el dinero. Cuando el Avaro volvi6 para exigir
el pago, el Deudor contest6 que que no era su tradici6n para pagar por algo que el compr6,
porque el se orden6 asi por Dios. En su parte, el A varo se ri6 con desden mientras retorciendo
que el Avaro estaba hablando en broma, porque el se era notorio para no vender nada a credito
porque el se orden6 asi por Dios.

Sus posicrones polarizadas generaron un altercado acalorado que culmina en un intercambio

fisico de soplos. En el futuro, ellos eran los dos acusados ante el Oba, el acusado de perturbar
la paz. El Deudor neg6 la compra bruscamente algo del A varo que jur6 que el vendi6 el aceite
de la palma a el para tres balsas de dinero. El juez que fue fijado para determinar el caso, invit6
cada uno de ellos a llevar la "caja del testigo ( el eri de Akpoti en Yoruba y Ekpetin-ose en
Bini) encima de una distancia de siete colinas al final de que la verdad surgiria. La almohadilla
por llevar la caja era una cadena. Desconocido a cada uno de ellos, la caja contuvo un loro
hablador que podria oir y podria informar cualquier comentario hecho por el portador durante
la jomada.

El A varo fue el primero en llevar la "caja del testigo. cuando el consigui6 a la cuarta colina
que el ya estaba muy cansado pero el jur6 que el insistiria en tener su dinero, y aun cuando el
tenia que morirse en el proceso, el iria todavia y lo exigiria en el cielo. El
sobrevivia la prueba sin embargo completando las siete colinas despues de que el solto la caja.

Era el giro del Deudor para llevar la caja. Cuando el consiguio a la tercera colina, el estaba en
el tal gran dolor de fatiga que el sintio que habria sido mas facil para el admitir la deuda y
rogar reembolsarlo gradualmente en lugar de arriesgarse la muerte encima de un tres bolsas no
mas de dinero. El sobrevivia la prueba sin embargo completando las siete colinas.

Al final de las hazafias, el juez abrio la caja y el loro confirmo que el primer hombre para
llevar la caja habia dicho la verdad. Despues de revocar los comentarios hechos bajo la tension
severa por los dos de ellos, el Deudor se pidio por la corte para pagar su deuda al A varo.

En conseguir casa el Deudor se resolvio que era bueno morirse que para nunca romper sus
votos etemos para pagar por cualquier cosa el compro. El se entro en un ataud cargado con la
comida y bebidas a <lure durante mucho tiempo, y se enterro en una tumba. Cuando el A varo
vino a exigir el pago de su deuda como consecuencia, el Deudor no seria encontrado en
ninguna parte. Tres meses despues, el Avaro volvio para exigir el pago de su dinero. Cuando le
dijeron que el Deudor se habia muerto tres meses mas temprano, el decidio pedir verificar de
la tumba donde el fue enterrado. En conseguir a la tumba, el abrio el ataud y todavia encontro
al Deudor vivo. En el futuro, el Deudor no tenia ninguna opcion pero para pagar el dinero. El
se murio por la noche despues de reembolsar la deuda.

Cuando este lfa aparece a U gbodu, la persona debe decirse que cinco dias despues el debe ir y
debe robar una gallina y comprar el kolanuts a credito, servir el nuevo lfa. Tres meses despues
de salir del conclave confidencial (U gbodu) el debe servir el Ifa con una cabra en el orden
vivir mucho tiempo y prosperar en la tierra, porque el vino del cielo con una cabeza de duro-
suerte. Cuando aparece a la adivinacion, la persona se aconsejara para servir Esu con un
macho cabrio cornpro a credito para prosperar en su trabajo. El debe comprar el macho cabrio
a credito, aun cuando el tiene el dinero para pagar por el.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para la Rata Llamado Eku-Eda

Osa lulu - Odifa fun Eku-Eda to ntori tomo difa nigba ti

oju omo mkpan.

El hizo la adivinacion para la rata llamado Eda cuando ella tuvo miedo, no solo de no tener los
nifios, pero tambien de muerte. Le dijeron que hiciera el sacrificio con una gallina. Ella hizo el
sacrificio despues de que ella empezo a tener los nifios.

Cuando el odu aparece a la adivinacion para una persona que esta ansioso tener un nifio,
deben aconsejarle el o ella que haga el sacrificio con con dos gallinas.

La adivinacion y Sacrifica por Dar jaque mate la Muerte

0 te kpa ko de orun ese. Odifa fun Odumibaku, oma mu

ekuru koikuje.
Uno que se apoy6 con un palo ambulante, pero no pag6 la deuda de muerte prematura. Ese era
el Awo que la adivinaci6n hecho para Odumibaku cuando la muerte estaba en su sendero. Le
aconsejaron que hiciera una fiesta con el budin del frijol (Ekuru o Emieki). Despues de esto, el
sobrevivia el ataque de muerte.
Cuando este odu pronostica el peligro de muerte a la adivinaci6n, la persona se aconsejara
hacer el sacrificio con un pato, rata, pez, eko, akara y ekuru, evitar tefiir durante el afio.

La Adivinacion le Constituy6 Prosperar

Oni ima ima. Amo koko komo a ka. Odifa fun Osa to'nle
oweriola ni osa.

El escultor puede saber c6mo lanzar o amoldar una olla, pero no c6mo amoldar la percha. Ese
era el nombre del Awo que la adivinaci6n hecho para Osalogbejo cuando el iba a lavar con
cuatro las gallinas, cuatro palomas y cuatro bolsas de dinero.
A la adivinaci6n, la persona debe aconsejarse para tener su propio Ifa y que el prosperara
inmensamente si el vive y trabajos en Lagos, la fuente del rio de Osa.

El Consejo de Orunmila a las Esposas de Adhesivos de Ifa

Iki shimi so'de. Winrin winrin mi sedin.

Akpetebi kpale ta bi ko kpale?
Moni akpetebi kpale o,
Bi akpetebi ba ti kpale,
A ni ganaku iwaju.
Bi akpetebi ba ti kpale, A
ni gunrun kan leyin A ni
omo yoyo leyin ose.
A ni sho sho owo.

Esto es cuando Orunmila le aconseja a la esposa de un hombre de Ifa que barra, limpia y friega
la casa en el orden ponerse embarazada, arras su propio nifio, y para tener el dinero en la
mano.

Cuando aparece a la adivinaci6n para una mujer, le diran que ella es la esposa de Orunmila, y
debe casarse a un hombre de Ifa por consiguiente. Un Ifa-Ude (la ajorca) se preparara para ella
para llevar. Si aparece para el hombre, le diran que tenga su propio Ifa si el ya no tiene uno. Si
el ya tiene Ifa, deben decirle que aprenda a hacerse un sacerdote de Ifa.

La adivinacion y Sacrifica por Aliviar los Problemas

Orunmila ni Osa-ogbe, Moni Osa-ogbe.

Oni omo eku ti o ba mora, mosa ni osa ma ngbe.
Oni omo eja ti o ba mora, mosa ni osa ngbe.
Omnmila ni osa ogbe, Moni osagbe, Oni
omo eye ti o ba mora, mosa ni osa ngbe.
 Oni omo eni ti o ba mora, mosa ni osa ngbe.
Orunmila dice que el agua tiene la bendici6n. El sacerdote de lfa estaba de acuerdo.
El dijo que si la rata, el pez, pajaro o ser humano,
es como limpie como el agua, atraera la bendici6n.

Cuando pidi6 el sacrificio apropiado, el los enumer6 como; dos kolanuts envueltos en las
hojas llamados el asa de igi de oveja, dos viven pesca guardado en una olla llenada del
agua, servir Esu-alajogun o lfa con las oraciones siguientes,:

Orunmila gba wa 0-0-0,

Omi ti o ba le la ni o ngba.

Significando

Orunmila excepto nosotros porque,

es el rio grande que contiene un pez grande.

Cuando aparece a la adivinaci6n, la persona se aconsejara para hacer un sacrificio similar

mientras arrodillandose para lfa. Agregando el iyerosun pertinente la persona perseguira y
bafiara con el riegue, y todos sus problemas rebajaran.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para Elemure Principal Cuando Esu Blocked Sus Fortunas

Ki un para que el oko akara lu esu. El hizo la adivinaci6n para Elemure Principal cuando
Esu repres6 el flujo de sus fortunas. Le aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio para que Esu
pudieran guitar el dique y podrian permitir la prosperidad para localizarlo. El hizo el
sacrificio con akara o bollos del frijol. Cuando el present6 el sacrificio por la maiiana, Esu
lo rechaz6. El lo represent6 a mediodia y Esu todavia se neg6 a moverse. Despues en la
tarde que Orunmila intervino con una apelaci6n apasionada a Esu. En cuanto Esu se
levantara recibir el sacrificio, la fortuna de Elemure principal en que el habia sido gallina
ponedora, pasada a su casa. A la adivinaci6n, la persona debe hacer un sacrificio similar.
 El capitulo 2
OSA-OYEKU

El Hizo la Adivinacion para Orisa-Nla Al Venir al Mundo

Osa yeku yeku o kpa erin sinu'gbo.

Osa yeku yeku o kpa efon si eluju odan.
Oni ohun ki i sa yeku yeku te un shere o.
Ada fa fun Orisa-Nla Oshereigbo ni ojo ti oun ti'ko le
own bo wa si'ole aiye. Ebo uyi ni won ni ki Orisa-Nla ru o.
El corrio rapidamente y tiro para matar un elefante en el bosque.
El corrio rapidamente y mato un bufalo en la cesped-tierra.
Pero nadie corre rapidamente para la diversion de el.

Estos eran los sacerdotes de Ifa que la adivinacion hecho para el propio representante de
Dios, cuando el estaba dejando el cielo para la tierra. Le aconsejaron que hiciera el
sacrificio en el orden ordenar el honor universal y etemo y respetar en el mundo. Le
exigieron que hiciera el sacrificio con una oveja, cuatro palomas, ocho caracoles, y la tela
blanca. El hizo el sacrificio que lo gano la soberania etema encima de la tierra.

Cuando aparece a la adivinacion, la persona debe aconsejarse para hacer el sacrificio para
prosperar en la vida. El debe abstenerse sin embargo de beber. El debe cercar su ronda de
la casa para apartar el riesgo de atraer a los ladrones para compartir su botin en su
compuesto. El debe advertir a los miembros de su casa para no aventurar por la noche
fuera obviar el peligro de entrar en el contacto con los merodeadores noctumos.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para un Hombre Que estaba Teniendo la Diarrea

Osa oyeku efunfun lele bale gbale oja toun toun.

Adifa fun Ashumi Agbale ti yi o ri ere ole ye.

El viento que barrio las tierras del mercado limpia, era el nombre del Awo que la
adivinacion hecho para el hombre que estaba teniendo el taburete frecuente por la noche.
Cuando el desarrollo la diarrea, el fue por la adivinacion cuando el se volvio para que
deshidrato que el penso que el iba a morirse. El se tranquilizo despues de la adivinacion
que lejos de tomar su vida, la enfermedad iba a traerle una suerte inesperada, con tal de
que el hizo el sacrificio con una cesto de frijoles. A pesar de que el hizo el sacrifique, la
diarrea no detuvo porque el continua moviendo sus intestinos.
Al anochecer, el iba todavia frecuentemente al retrete. Entretanto, algunos ladrones habian
seguido una expedicion del robo y habian traido su botin a la parte de atras de su casa por
compartir entre ellos. Cuando el salio como consecuencia de su casa para ir a la letrina, su
emergencia sobresalto a las ladronas y ellos escaparon en miedo que abandona todo el
genera que ellos habian robado. El los quito inmediatamente en su casa que lo hizo se
puesta adinerado porque los ladrones eran entretanto, aprehendieron y ejecutaron.
Cuando este odu aparece a la adivinaci6n, si es el ayeo, el que caso presiente el peligro, la
persona debe aconsejarse para no salir por la noche para prevenir el peligro de matarse por los
ladrones armados. Si sale como Ure que predice la noticias del genero que le diran que el va a
tener un est6mago perturbado que se volvera una bendici6n en el fingimiento.

La Adivinacion Constituy6 al Cazador Que Ahorr6 Su Padre De las Brujas

Osa yeku yeku okpa erin si nu'gbo.

Osa yeku yeku okpa efon si eluju odan.
Odifa fun ode nip to ma gba babare lowo awon iyami osoronga.

Esos eran los Awos que la adivinaci6n hecho para el cazador que entreg6 a su padre de la ira
del club de brujeria. Le dijeron que sirviera Esu con un macho cabrio y el lo hizo. La mai'iana
siguiente que el dej6 para el bosque d6nde el dispar6 y mat6 un elefante, un bufalo, y un le6n.
Mientras los animales todavia estaban sangrando, el ejecut6 casa para requerir la ayuda para
matar y llevar la casa de came. El se encontr6 su juguteo del padre que los Ayo juegan y le
dijeron sobre los tres juegos que el dispar6 en el bosque. Entretanto, los Superiores de la
Noche se atroparon a la casa de su padre para eliminarlo. Cuando el vio que las brujas fueron
balanceadas para atacar a su padre, el intervino y tom6 la advertencia del objetivo ellos desistir
de sus intenciones m6rbidas que porque habiendo tenido exito en ese dia matando un le6n,
bufalo y un elefante, las brujas serian los blancos faciles para el si ellos lo provocaron en el
combate.

El lider de la comisi6n de las brujas llamado el pleaded de Ifayemi para un armisticio despues
de ver el humor belicoso del hijo de su vicitim propuesto. Ellos ofrecieron venir a las
condiciones con el, diciendole que aconsejarale a su padre que festejarlos. Cuando el prometi6
festejarlos fuera fuera de la came de los tres animales que el habia matado en el bosque, ellos
estaban de acuerdo en ceder y pidieron a una cabra, huevos y aplast6 i'iame que ellos fueron
dados al instante.

Despues de esto, ellos comenzaron al hijo en su club y el se volvi6 uno de ellos. Eso era c6mo
el ayud6 ahorrar la vida de su padre.

Cuando aparece a Ugbodu, la persona debe aconsejarse para hacer el sacrificio a los
Superiores de la Noche despues de servir Ifa con una cabra, mientras agregando las cames de
elefante, bufalo y le6n, incluyendo i'iame aplastado y huevos. A la adivinaci6n ordinaria, la
persona debe servir Esu con un macho cabrio, la noche con el conejo, y Ogun con el gallo y
tortuga.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Oloja de Dificultad y un Loco

Osa yekutu yekete lo'ndifa fun Oloja ule ado, abufun asi /Were.

El hizo la adivinaci6n para el jefe De cabeza del pueblo de Dificultad que fue hacer el
sacrificio en el orden vivir y ocupar su trono a a una vejez madura. El tambien el divined para
el loco para hacer el sacrificio para mejorarse. El Oloja fue dicho servir; Dios, la Noche, y Esu
con un macho cabrio. Tambien le aconsejaron que cambiara su habito de orar para su reino sin
orar para el. Le dijeron que orara primero para el antes
de orar para el estado. En su parte, el hombre enfadado fue dicho servir Esu con un macho
cabrio. Ni el Oloja ni el loco hicieron los sacrificios prescritos.

La mafiana siguiente, los nutcase oraron a Dios para permitirle ver el excremento descargado
por la piton ( el esumare del lyin en Yoruba e isan Oghi'kpin en Bini). Cuando Dios oyo sus
oraciones, el se pregunto por que el loco oro para algo que fue ligado para ser inutil a el en
lugar de orar para mejorarse. En su parte, el Oloja oro para la paz y prosperidad de sus asuntos
y no para el.

No anhele despues, el Oloja se murio y otro uno era designado en su lugar. Cuando este odu
aparece a la adivinacion, la persona debe decirse que el quiere mas otros que para el. El debe
hacer el sacrificio en el orden vivir y prosperar a una vejez madura. Tambien deben decide que
el tiene un loco en su familia que tambien debe hacer el sacrificio para mej orarse.

El Cuidado de Orunmila para Sus Ninos

Orunmila dijo que el oyo el sonido de una rata que corre de arriba abajo en el arbusto, pero
insistio que antes de buscarlo, el salvara a sus propios nifios primero. El tambien dijo que el
vio la natacion del pez de un lado a otro en el rio, pero decidio dar la salvacion a sus nifios
antes de buscarlo. El tambien oyo la cabra que Hora que la casa estaba llena, pero que antes de
escuchar a la noticias de la cabra, el salvaria a su propio hijo primero. Eso era cuando el hijo
de Orunmila estaba enfermo y agonizante.

Orunmila fue como consecuencia al cielo para recurrir a Dios, Esu, y la divinidad de Muerte
para ahorrar la vida de su hijo. En el futuro el sobriquet de Akpe ojo iku da (uno que puede
alterar la fecha designada de muerte) se dio a Orunmila, debido a la longitud el fue a ahorrar la
vida de su hijo que ya fue puesto en lista para morirse.

Cuando este odu aparece a la adivinacion que la persona debe decirse que la muerte es dura en
su sendero y que el debe hacer sacrifique apresuradamente con el pez, rata y cabra. La persona
tambien debe usar eko, akara, y un pollo para prometer un macho cabrio a Esu si el sobrevive
la ira de muerte.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para Jogbo, el Cazador.

Osa yereku - okpa erin si'nu igbo.

Osa yereku - okpa efon si odan.
Enia sheku yi wo igbo.
Egigun ashekujade
Tani ko mo wi kpe enia asheku ti o yi wo.
lgbo ni o gbe egigun asheku jade.

Ellos hicieron la adivinacion para Jogbo antes de que el dejara por cazar en el bosque. Le
aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio para volver seguramente de la expedici6n. Le exigieron
que hiciera el sacrificio con un macho cabrio grande, y 200 bolsas de dinero ( el igba-oke-owo
). Sin realizar el sacrificio, el dej6 por cazar, mientras prometiendo hacerlo en su retomo del
bosque.
Cuando el consigui6 al bosque, el vio un elefante y tiro el. Aunque la bala peg6 el
elefante, no obstante antes de sentir su efecto t6xico, que el elefante se volvi6 alrededor y
sigui6 Jogbo, y lo pisote6 a la muerte. El elefante seguidamente tambien se cay6 y se
muri6.

Despues de esperar en vano por Jogbo volver del bosque, su familia se preocup6 y estaba
poniendo en orden para una patrulla de busqueda para buscarlo. Entretanto, sus llu del
amigo ofrecieron ir en busca de el. En conseguir al bosque, los llu encontraron el cadaver
de Jogbo y el elefante que el dispar6.

El vino casa para informar ese Jogbo habia matado un elefante en el bosque, pero que a su
vez, el elefante tambien lo mat6. Cuando este odu aparece a la adivinaci6n, la persona
debe aconsejarse para hacer el sacrificio antes de embarcar en una jomada que el esta
contemplando para devolver casa seguramente.

El Sacrificio especial para la Prosperidad

Orunmila ni osa yereku. Moni o rin yereku.

Oni egigun ashe kude. Oni ojo ti o nwo He alara
oni ojo na ni alara di eni nla.
Oni egigun ashe kude. Oni ojo ti o wo ajero ni ajero
di eni nla.
Oni ojo o wo He Orongun ile-ila ni o di eni nla.
Oni ojo o wo He loja-loja, ti o si wo He loba-loba.
Ojo na ni gbogbo won si di eni nla.
Oni ojo ti o wo He akakpo, meji awise ni akakpo di eni nla.

Orunmila esta diciendo que una persona se pone adinerada cuando la prosperidad mueve
en su o su casa, porque; Alara, Ajero, Orongun-llla, otros Obas y jefes de la cabeza y sus
adhesivos, se hicieron ricos en el dia que la prosperidad movi6 a su casa respectiva.

El el presribed que el sacrificio debe hacerse con ocho palomas, budin del frijol blanco o
fifun del ekuru, el platano, oveja-aje, oveja-ego y jab6n negro. El sacrificio ha preparado
moliendo las hojas con la sangre de dos de las palomas y los otros materiales y
mezclandolos con el jab6n negro. Despues de agregar el polvo de adivinaci6n de este odu
(el iyerosun) la persona estara usando el jab6n para todo de vez en cuando bafiarse
mientras criando las palomas restantes en la casa. Las palomas usaran sus alas para volar
la prosperidad en la casa.

Cuando el Ifa aparece a la adivinaci6n, la persona se <lira que la prosperidad se balancea

para pasar a su casa, con tal de que el hace el sacrificio antedicho.
 El capitulo 3
OSA-IWORI
OSA-AWURE OSA-
OLA WURE

El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Rio Al Acufiar a la Tierra

Abudi, babalawo omi, odifa fun omi nijo ti ounti kole

orun bo wa si'kole aiye.

Corte y sane a, era el nombre de sacerdote de lfa que la adivinacion hecho para el rio cuando el
estaba viniendo al mundo. Le aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio para que nadie alguna vez
pudiera descubrir el secreto de su fuente y origen, evitar al ser en la necesidad, y para tener
honor y dignidad. El hizo todos los sacrificios.

Por eso, el secreto del rio no se conoce a nadie. El tiene tantos nifios que nunca estan faltando
en la comida y sustento.

Cuando aparece a la adivinacion, la persona se <lira hacer el sacrificio con el macho cabrio a
Esu incluso todos los comestible comestibles en el orden ganar el honor universal y respetar, y
para que el mito que lo rodea siga siendo un misterio.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Perro y la Oveja (la Oveja)

Ki ato Kete si eti omi, ki ato kisi si be be le re.

Adifa fun aja abufun agutan.

Salte por el lado del rio, y este de pie a la cabeza del rio, era los nombres de los dos Awos que
la adivinaci6n hecho para el perro y la oveja (la oveja) cuando ellos iban al rio por la pesca del
waterbail. Les dijeron que hicieran el sacrificio con un macho cabrio y un gallo. Ellos hicieron
el sacrificio.

En llegar al rio, ellos aislaron una porcion de el y empezaron a achicar fuera el agua para
quitar el pesca. Entretanto, el perro vio un tigre encima de un arbol por el lado del rio y el
[ernpezado a gritar para dibujar la atencion de la oveja gritando el wo! iel wo! [el wo!, es
decir, Mirada! [parezcal parezca!. en cuanto ellos los dos la sierra el tigre, ellos salieron
furtivamente calladamente lejos.
A la adivinacion, la persona debe aconsejarse para hacer el sacrificio para sobrevivir una
confrontacion subita con la muerte.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Perro y el Macho cabrio

El ya de Osa, el ya de Iwori, la adivinaci6n hecho para dos amigos, el perro y el macho cabrio.
El les aconsej6 que hicieran el sacrificio para tener exito en una ventura comun sin perder sus
vidas. Les exigieron que hicieran el sacrificio con la calabaza rota,
pimienta granulada secada y gallo. Era solo el macho cabrio que hizo el sacrificio. El perro
prefirio confiar en su agilidad y alacridad por sobrevivir cualquier calamidad.

Un dia, cuando el perro estaba paseandose en busca de la comida, el se encontro con un rio
donde el vio muchos pesca la mudanza de arriba abajo. Despues del descubrimiento, el perro
ejecuto casa para informar a su amigo, el macho cabrio, que el habia encontrado una fuente
etema de comida. Desconocido a ellos, el rio pertenecio al tigre.

El dia siguiente, ellos fueron con los cuencos de calabaza para empezar la pesca del agua-
fianza. No anhele despues, ellos oyeron el grufiido inequivoco del tigre. Cuando ellos
buscaban, ellos vieron el tigre que se goza en desdefiosamente a ellos. El perro sugirio sin
embargo que ellos deban molestar su negocio mientras ignorando el tigre para importar su
propio, debido al aforismo que es el que molesta su negocio que tiene exito en cualquier
combate. En su parte, el macho cabrio retorcio que no era bastante para concentrarse en su
negocio de la pesca porque es el uso del cerebro de uno que da lugar al exito, Mientras los dos
amigos todavia estaban defendiendo entre ellos, Esu fue bajo el agua para coger los cuencos de
calabaza de la mano del macho cabrio que lo echa mas lejos fuera de el. Cuando el macho
cabrio nado para recuperar el cuenco, Esu lo tiro al otro fin del terraplen. Eso proporciono el
macho cabrio una oportunidad de escapar de la escena.

Cuando la sierra del tigre que el macho cabrio habia escapado a la seguridad, el estarcio en el
perro para devorarlo. Cuando el macho cabrio consiguio casa, el fue a agradecer al sacerdote
de Ifa la manifestacion agradable del sacrificio que el lo constituyo. Sin embargo, el sacerdote
de lfa le dijo que habia otra barrera todavia para descascarar que requirio un segundo sacrificio
mientras involucrando sirviendo su cabeza con un kolanut cada dia consecutivo encima de un
seis periodo del dia.

En conseguir casa, el compro un kolanut y procedio servir su cabeza con el, mientras orando
como sigue:

lwo oh mi, e kun mefa ni won ni ki Emi

fi bo on mi. Sugbon eyo kon so so Ti mo
ti ri niyi.
Jowojeki mi h marun ti o ku.

Significando

Mi cabeza, me dijeron que lo sirviera con seis kolanuts (que el llamo Ekun
equivocadamente, los tigres significando ). Pero yo he visto hasta ahora solo
uno. Por favor permitame encontrar el siguiendo siendo cinco
para servirlo con.

Desconocido al macho cabrio, el tigre habia tornado una posicion de ventaja a la parte de atras
de su casa de que para lanzar un ataque. Cuando el tigre oyo por casualidad las oraciones del
macho cabrio por consiguiente a su cabeza servirlo con un tigre que mientras pareciendo
encontrar el siguiendo siendo cinco, el tigre penso que el macho cabrio estaba refiriendose a el
como la victima del sacrifical por servir su cabeza. Desde que el no supo la estrategia del
macho cabrio, el decidio escapar para impedir al macho cabrio usarlo servir su cabeza.
Despues de esto, Esu us6 su vara de autoridad para nunca ordenar el tigre para cazar para el
macho cabrio, mientras proclamando que el dia que el tigre prepara matar el macho cabrio, el (
el tigre) se morira en ese dia. Por eso hasta el momento, el tigre no se atreve el macho cabrio.

Cuando aparece a la adivinaci6n, la persona se aconsejara hacer el sacrificio con un gallo a

Esu y servir su cabeza con seis kolanuts para sobrevivir la muerte que lo espera en una ventura
a que un amigo lo invitara,

El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Gorila

Osa ge ge ge. Iwori ge ge ge - la adivinaci6n hecho para Elegbede (el gorila) aconsejandole
que hiciera el sacrificio para apartar el peligro de perder una alma a Ogun. Le dijeron que
sirviera Esu con un macho cabrio, y para servir Ogun con un perro y un gallo. El no hizo el
sacrificio.

La mafiana siguiente Alazi, la cabeza de los gorilas sac6 a los miembros de su familia para un
paseo. Despues de recorrer el bosque durante algun tiempo, el se encontr6 con un arbol con un
agujero en el y el se aferr6 a el y empez6 a hacer broma del sacerdote de lfa tamborileando:

Ora ge-ge-ge. Iwori ge-ge-ge

Ere mi ke mi - Ere mi ke mi.

El estaba alardeando eso asi a pesar de las predicciones del sacerdote de lfa, el no podria
imaginar peligro para preocupar sobre. Entretanto, la esposa del cazador habia entregado a
simplemente un hebe y el entr6 en el bosque en busca de la came con que a alimente a su
familia.

En cuanto el entrara en el bosque, Esu dirigi6 al cazador a una porci6n del bosque d6nde el
encima de-oy6 el tamborileando familiar de los gorilas. Cuando el cazador arrastr6 la
direcci6n de que el sonido de los monos estaba viniendo, el vio la manada entera que baila al
drumbeat de su lider, el Alazi. El cazador tom6 el objetivo a uno de ellos y apret6 el gatillo. El
mono gigante se cay6 a la tierra, muerto mientras los otros corrieron lejos. Cuando ellos
consiguieron basar, el Alazi tom6 la acci6n y descubri6 que ese uno de ellos estaba
extrafiando, Eso era cuando el record6 las palabras del diviner. El hizo el sacrificio despues.

Cuando este odu aparece a la adivinaci6n, la persona debe decirse servir Ogun para evitar
perder a un miembro de su familia a un accidente.

La Adivinaci6n le Constituy6 Antes de Dejar el Cielo

Uroke mi lawo li gonrin. Oroke mi la awo le'turuye, awon

lo'ndifa fun Orunmila nijo ti o ounti kole orun bo wa si
kole aiye.

Esos eran los Awos que la adivinaci6n hecho para este Odu, cuando el estaba viniendo al
mundo. Le aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio para anticipar el riesgo de destruirse en la
tierra. El era exigido servir Esu con un macho cabrio, Ogun con un gallo y una
tortuga, su angel guardian con un el guinea-ave, y Osanyin (Osun) con un perro. El dej6 para
la tierra despues de hacer todos los sacrificios. El fue advertido para no involucrarse en
cualquier asociacion o encontrandose mientras en la tierra.

El resulto ser un sacerdote muy habil en la tierra. Cualquier cosa que el predijo vino a pasar. El
hizo tan bien que los otros sacerdotes divinos propusieron a el que el eraser su lider en una
asociaci6n de sacerdotes todo divinos, y el sitio de una accion de las reuniones era ser su casa.
El se adul6 prontamente por la propuesta y el el acquiesed a el. Desconocido a el, el
establecimiento de la asociaci6n era la estrategia de sus enemigos por castrarlo. Sus enemigos
eran los otros sacerdotes divinos que no eran tan eficaces como el y quien era envidioso de su
competencia incomparable.

El tenia dos esposas. Desde que los enemigos comprendieron que la manera mas facil de
destablizing que un hombre poderoso esta deshonrando su matrimonio, ellos empezaron a
seducir a sus esposas. Entretanto, el tenia un suefio en que su angel guardian lo amonesto por
hacer lo que le aconsejaron que no hiciera antes de dejar el cielo, - se involucrado en una
asociacion de sus rivales. La mafiana siguiente, el hizo la adivinacion e lfa le dijeron que
preparara una fiesta de comer y beber para todos los miembros de su asociacion despues de dar
un macho cabrio a Esu. Despues de preparar la comida y bebidas, el usaria el sass-madera
granulado (Obo en Yoruba y lyin en Bini) como el polvo de adivinacion de la fiesta. El
preparo la fiesta de acuerdo con.

Despues de comer al volumen de su corazon, ellos empezaron a beber en serio. Pronto

despues, el polvo de adivinacion empez6 a pasar factura en aquellos que lo habian ofendido
profanando su dignidad masculina. Un sacerdote de Ogun fue el primero en empezar
confesando abiertamente. El descubri6 sarcasticamente ya que ese Orunmila no tenia ninguna
esposa porque sus dos esposas lo visitaban regularmente para la fabricaci6n de amor. El
Osanyin (Osun) sacerdote era el al lado de confirma que el tambien estaba durmiendo
regularmente con sus esposas. El tambien enumer6 los nombres de los miembros de la
asociacion que conspire para desquiciarlo tentando a sus esposas en ponerse infiel a el. Uno
despues del otro todos sus enemigos confesaron su estratagema por desestabilizarlo. Despues
de esto ellos todos se durmieron.

En cuanto ellos todos se despertaran de su delirio, el anuncio su retiro de la asociacion despues

de usar la encantacion apropiada para maldecir todos aquellos que conspiraron para
desestabilizarlo. Eso marco el fin de la asociacion.

Cuando este lfa aparece a Ugbodu, la persona debe aconsejarse para no unir ninguna reunion
para evitar exponer a su esposa al riesgo de infidelidad. El debe hacer los sacrificios necesarios
sin embargo. El debe abstenerse de ponerse pomposo a causa de su riqueza, porque el
prosperara inmensamente. Los sacrificios seran hechos con un macho cabrio a Esu; una guinea
el ave y dieciseis caracoles y came del gorila a lfa; gallee a Sango; la tortuga a Ogun; el perro
a Osanyin (Osun); y el conejo y tres huevos a los Superiores de la Noche.

La Adivinacion que El Hizo Cuando El Era De viaje a un Destino Desconocido

Osa wo, Iwori wo odifa fun Orunmila baba shawo losi ilu
Aima. Ani ki ofi Okete kpelu ewu orunre ru ebo nitori uyi ati
gbogbo ire. Oru ebo na, ofi agrikpa obuko bo esu, ofi
 ewure ho on re.

Cuando el hizo la adivinaci6n antes de viajar a un destino desconocido, le aconsejaron que

hiciera el sacrificio con un conejo a no involucrarse en alguien mas el problema. Tambien le
exigieron que sirviera su cabeza con una cabra. El hizo todos los sacrificios antes de partir
para la j omada.

Cuando el consigui6 al lugar, su primer cliente era una bastante mayor mujer yerma que
todavia estaba esperando tener un nifio. Despues de que la adivinaci6n el le dijo a la mujer que
aunque ella habia alcanzado la menopausia, ella tenia un ligeramente bueno que en la vida la
oportunidad de tener un nifio si ella pudiera hacer el sacrificio con la came de cerdo del
arbusto, el ekunkun de la oveja sale ( el ebo del ebe en Bini) el guinea-ave y las hojas de
sogun-osegen. Ella no perdi6 tiempo produciendo los y Orunmila los us6 preparar la sopa de
lfa para ella comer. Al final del mes siguiente, ella observ6 los cambios en su pecho y cuerpo.

Cuando se puso obvio como consecuencia que ella estaba embarazada, su marido no podria
creerlo porque las adivinaciones todo anteriores la habian declarado ser permanentemente
yermo, y. incapaz de producir a un nifio. El se agobi6 asi con alegria que el empez6 a
preguntarse c6mo mostrar su apreciaci6n al Awo que lo hizo posible. En el futuro, el hizo un
vestido vistoso para Orunmila ademas de un paquete de pez porque el era un pescador. La
mujer dio el nacimiento a un nifio hembra que fue prohibido para comer el pez electrico.

El marido fue a anunciar el milagro al Oba que estaba contento de saber que tal un Awo
existi6 porque las esposas en su propio haren no tenian ningun nifio. Intente cuando el hizo,
las esposas del Oba no se pusieron embarazadas y el devolvi6 casa como consecuencia,

En su camino a casa, el not6 que su canoa estaba goteando. Cuando el lo examin6

cuidadosamente, el descubri6 que el goteo se caus6 por un peces electricos gigantes. El
buceado en el agua y lo mat6. En conseguir casa, el us6 el pez para servir su Osun. Cuando
este lfa aparece a U gbodu, la persona establecera cerca de un mar o rio d6nde el les preparara
a un Osun estar sirviendo, con el pez electrico, El tambien debe servir su cabeza con un gallo y
sirve el lfa con un palo grande evitar vomitar lo que el ha comido porque el sera un sacerdote
de lfa.

A la adivinaci6n, la persona se aconsejara para servir Esu con un macho cabrio para ganar el
avance en su trabajo, y para evitar cualquier problema que involucra a las mujeres.

El Adivino para Dos Babalawos

Ikun awo loju ido, Ifa lawo ewi la'do - Era dos sacerdotes de Ifa que operaron juntos en la
sociedad. Cuando ellos se encontraron Osa-Olawure, el les dijo que hicieran el sacrificio con
un macho cabrio y un club evitar a ser apaleado a la muerte. Ellos no hicieron el sacrificio.

No habia lluvia entretanto, en el pueblo de Ilu-ldo. Ikun fue invitado a procurar la lluvia, y el
lo hizo tan con exito que llovi6 sin parar durante tres dias. lkun se premi6 con dos
cameros, dos machos cabrio y varios regalos preciosos incluso el dinero. No obstante, el
todavia no lo consider6 necesario hacer el sacrificio que le dijeron que hiciera. Cuando era
tiempo por el devolver casa, Esu transfigur6 en un agitador e incit6 a algunos gamberros
locales para fotografiarlo de cara a un criminal, asga sus regalos y apaleelo a la muerte.

Cuando su amigo que Ifalawo oy6 hablar de la muerte de Igun, el record6 la predicci6n para
que les aconsejaron a la adivinaci6n para hacer el sacrificio preventivo. El fue a hacer su
propio sacrificio rapidamente. En oir hablar de la muerte de Igun, el Ewi de Dificultad envi6 a
una seis vigilia del hombre mirar encima de la tumba para impedirles a sus asesinos
exhumarlo. El Oba de Ilu-ldo tambien envi6 a seis representantes para el mismo prop6sito. Las
dos comisiones permanecian en el tres cementerio del caminouni6n hasta que desarrollara en
un pueblo soplado Ueno que se volvi6 conocido como Ifaki ( o llu-lfaki) para marcar donde un
sacerdote de Ifa fue asesinado.

Cuando aparece a la adivinaci6n, la persona se aconsejara para tener cuidado con de se

involucrado en cualquier negocio de la sociedad con cualquier amigo o de hecho, cualquiera.
El tambien debe hacer el sacrificio para anticipar el peligro de volverse la victima de un ataque
del robo armada que podria costarlo su vida.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Hombre Cuya Fortuna no Fue consolidada

Iwori Lere monijijo lojo. Oni ki nlo fi ma'jo?

Moni eku, eja ati eyele meji, ati abo adiye meji, ati agba
merindilogun, ati ekpo, ati obi. Eyi ni aofi ru ebo kii oro
eni ko ni akojo.

El hizo la adivinaci6n para el hombre cuya vida estaba ondulando entre la opulencia y penuria.
El pendulo de su vida estaba oscilando entre dos extremes de satisfacci6n y destituci6n,
porque sus fortunas no fueron consolidadas. Eso era por que el fue por adivinaci6n a que le
dijeron que hiciera el sacrificio con la rata, pesque, dos palomas, dos gallinas y ocho o
dieciseis balsas de dinero. El hizo el sacrificio y su vida se puso mas estable.
 El capitulo 4
OSA-IDI

El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Cesped-deposito de alimentacion

She she murele. Odifa fun Lamu foto, nigbo ti on lo si oko aloro odun. Nadie sigue una
jomada sin devolver casa, era el nombre del Awo que la adivinaci6n hecho para el
dep6sito de alimentaci6n de cesped cuando el iba al principio a la granja del afio de
cultivo, despues de que sus enemigos habian amenazado que el no devolveria casa vivo.
Le aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio con un gallo y una paloma. El hizo el sacrificio
despues de que el dej6 para la granja.

El hizo tan bien en la granja que afio que el grab6 una cosecha abundante y la casa vuelta
vivo con sus ganancias de la granja. Cuando este odu aparece a la adivinaci6n, la persona
debe aconsejarse para hacer el sacrificio en cualquier parte antes de viaje para devolver
casa vivo.

El Adivino para Arawo la Madre del Halcon

Osa di, oru, Oru la agbalagba jo mu lele'di, adifa

fun Arawo ti'nshe yeye Asa. Ani ki Asa gba ifa.

Osa y la Noche deben atarlo, porque la batalla de la cintura se lucha por la noche. Ese era
el nombre del Awo que la adivinaci6n hecho para Arawo, la madre del halc6n cuando las
fortunas del halc6n estaban marcando. El halc6n fue aconsejado para tener su propio Ifa y
el hizo para que. Despues de esto, su vida se puso pr6spera de nuevo. El Awo le dijo que
hiciera otro sacrificio con una paloma despues de tomar su Ifa, y el lo hizo despues de que
el no tenia la dificultad alimentandose.

Cuando aparece a la adivinaci6n, la persona debe decirse que su vida no esta llena. Si el es
prosperar, el debe tener su propio Ifa y debe servir su cabeza con una paloma despues de
completar la ceremonia de la iniciaci6n.

El Constituyo la Adivinacion el Padre de Orofo

Osa di, Orudi, adifa fun baba eye orofo to'nlo fe Tiku
shay a. Won ni ki oru ebo tori omo to'ma bifun Tiku.

El hizo la adivinaci6n para el padre de un canto Orofo cuando el iba a casarse a una
esposa Tiku llamado. Le dijeron que hiciera el sacrificio a causa de un nifio que la mujer
iba a llevar para el. Baba Orofo no hizo el sacrificio. La mujer Tiku dio el nacimiento a
Asa ( el halc6n). Cuando el halc6n creci6, el empez6 a alimente en sus mayores hermanos
y hermanas que nacieron ante el.

Cuando este odu pronostica el peligro a la adivinaci6n, antes del matrimonio el hombre
debe aconsejarse para no casarse a la mujer porque ella es una bruja que daria el
nacimiento a una bruja que estaria destruyendo a los otros nifios nacido ante el o ella.
Cuando aparece para un invalido, deben decirle el o ella que haga el sacrificio porque su o
su enfermedad se causo por un hermano o hermana que son una bruj a.

La Adivinacion que El Hizo Antes de Dejar el Cielo

Osa Kandi, On kandi, oro mi lere bodi ola. Awon ni won

lo'ndifa fun Orunmila nijo ti outi kole own ho wa si kole
aiye. Won niki om ebo niton obrinrin yio ma kpaa kaiye.
Om ebo na.

Cuando el estaba dejando el cielo, le aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio con un macho
cabrio y los materiales consentidos y podridos. El hizo el sacrificio antes de venir al
mundo. El se volvio una historia de exito en la tierra como un sacerdote de Ifa. En la
plenitud de su popularidad, el Olofin lo invito para la adivinacion cuando su casa estaba
en el tumulto.

Despues de hacer la adivinacion el le dijo al Olofin que el problema en su casa estaba

causandose por uno de sus esposas que estaban lejos en ese momento a su pueblo de la
casa, y ese Esu habia manejado a la mujer fuera de su casa porque ella era una bruja
destructiva. En cuanto el Olofin oyera la revelacion, el dio los ordenes para la mujer a ser
atada atrasado de su pueblo de la casa. Cuando ella se trajo en ella que confronto
Orunmila que no solo confirmo que ella era responsable a traves de la brujeria por
perturbar la paz y tranquilidad de la casa de su marido, pero que ella tambien habia
cohabitado con otro hombre en su pueblo de la casa. Ella nego los cargos y juro destruir
Orunmila por atreverse a nivelar las imputaciones falsas contra ella. Entretanto, Orunmila
sirvio Esu con un macho cabrio dar jaque mate las intenciones malas de la mujer,

Siguiendo su rechazo, el Olofin decidio ponerla en el ensayo por la prueba al caso de Esu.
Ella fallo sin embargo al ensayo porque en un estado de delirum como si poseyo, ella
confeso que ella era responsable para todos los problemas en el palacio de Olofin y que
ella dejo para su pueblo de la casa despues del foementing el estrago. Ella tambien
confirmo que sin cualquier pensamiento de devolver a Ife ella habia conseguido a una
amante en su pueblo de la casa. Despues de maldecirla, el Olofin la cornpelio bajo la
tortura deshacer el estrago que ella habia hecho.

Cuando el Olofin se nego a tomar su arras como su esposa, el uso su Ase para nunca
proclamar de nuevo eso habria ella puede tener el sexo con cualquier hombre. Ella se
expelio del reino de Ife y ella desarrollo los montones como consecuencia en sus organos
genitales que cerraron su vagina para bueno. Olofin dio un premio guapo a Orunmila.

Cuando este odu aparece a la adivinacion para un hombre, deben decirle que su esposa es
responsable para sus problemas, y que la esposa en cuestion no solo es una bruja pero
tambien un infiel.

La Adivinacion que El Hizo Antes de Realizar Su Fiesta Anual

Cuando Orunmila estaba proponiendo realizar su fiesta anual, el sono su okeponrin (la
adivinacion de Ikin) y sus propios odu aparecian como el ayeo. Le dijeron servir Esu
con un macho cabrio e ir al mercado para comprar los materiales solo. El hizo el sacrificio
pero no tenia tiempo para ir al mercado solo para comprar los materiales requeridos para
la fiesta.

Entretanto, el envio uno de sus sirvientes al mercado con el dinero comprar los materiales.
Desconocido a Orunmila, Muerte y su esposa, Enfermedad (Aron) habia venido del cielo
en busca de la comida en la tierra, y ellos habian tornado las posiciones diferentes en el
camino principal al mercado. Cuando la muerte vio a la mensajera enviada por Orunmila
al mercado, Orunmila envi6 a segundo sirviente para buscar el primero uno. El tambien se
encontro (Aron) la enfermedad en la manera. Ella lo ataco en su pecho y el sufrio un
ataque cardiaco que lo mato en seguida y salio con su cadaver para el cielo.

Cuando los dos hombres no devolvieron casa, Orunmila sono una vez mas lfa, y le
recordaron su orden mas temprano para ir solo al mercado. Le aconsejaron que sostuviera
un paquete de kolanuts al ir al mercado. Antes del alba, la Muerte y su esposa Aron habian
tornado las posiciones de nuevo en la manera al mercado. Despues por la mafiana,
Orunmila dejo para el mercado.

En cuanto el se encontrara la Muerte, Orunmila lo saludo familiarmente llamandolo: el aro

del eku o - el alugbogbo de omo de uku. La muerte se pregunto que quien era que eso lo
saludo con su nombre celestial. Orunmila contesto que era su amigo, Orunmila. La muerte
devolvio el saludo con el Eku abo eleri ukpin mientras abrazando Orunmila que el no hace
tradicionalmente. Preguntado que donde el iba, Orunmila presento la Muerte con el
kolanuts despues de contestar que el vino a pagar sus respetos cuando le dijeron que el
estaba en el pueblo. Despues del spliting el kolanuts, la Muerte comio pedazo de el
mientras Orunmila continuo su jomada al mercado. Pronto despues, Orunmila se encontro
Aron que se estremece a un punto mismo cerca del mercado.

Una vez mas Orunmila la saludo con un aire familiar diciendo: El aro de Eku o el Aron
onigbo yeghe. Cuando pregunto quien era que eso la conocio por su apodo, el contesto
que era su amigo Orunmila, y que el vino a saludarla. Cuando ella retorcio que no era un
momento prospero por saludar a cualquiera porque ella tuvo hambre. El dio su kolanuts de
nuevo y ella lo aclaro proceder. Orunmila entro en el mercado como consecuencia y
compro todos sus requisitos para la fiesta.

En su camino a casa del mercado, el saludo al marido y esposa y cada uno de ellos
proclamo eso de ese dia, la presentacion de kolanuts salvaria a cualquier hijo o hija de
Orunmila de las manos frias de Muerte y Enfermedad. Era entonces ese Orunmila aprecio
por que lfa le aconsej6 que fuera solo al mercado mientras conjeturando que los dos
sirvientes que el envio el dia anterior se debe de haber caido las victimas a las dos
divinidades. El pudo realizar su fiesta con exito con un camero blanco.

Cuando aparece a Ugbodu, la persona debe hacer el sacrificio con: la came podrida y
kolanuts a la Muerte; y los names podridos y kolanuts a la Enfermedad en el camino del
mercado y sirve el nuevo Ifa con un camero blanco.

A la adivinacion ordinaria, la persona se aconsejara para servir Esu con un macho cabrio
prevenir cualquiera la ruptura a su negocio.
El Hizo la Adivinacion para Lakola, el Amigo de Orisa.

Asa-ka-di, arin-da-di ko she fere fere wo inu odi ilu.

Ese era el Awo que la adivinaci6n hecho para Lakola cuando el estaba favoreciendo Orisa.
Le aconsejaron que sirviera Esu con un macho cabrio aliviar el peligro de avergonzar a un
amigo poderoso que podria dar lugar a una calamidad etema. Desde que el era el mano-en-
guante con Orisa, el no podria imaginar c6mo el pudiera avergonzarlo en la vida.

Cuando Esu se dijo la mafiana siguiente por Ighoroko que Lakola se neg6 a hacer el
sacrificio prescribi6 para el, el decidi6 ensefiarle una lecci6n. Entretanto, Orisa invit6
Lakola a disfrutar la cena con el. Como ellos estaba comiendo, Esu hizo cosquillas el tubo
digestivo de Lakola y el desarroll6 la nausea de repente. Antes de que el pudiera hacer
algo sabre el que el empez6 a vomitar y la substancia el los vomitted entraron en la
comida de Orisa y boca. Orisa fue molestado asi que el proclamara eso de ese dia, nada
comido o tornado por Lakola estableceria en la vida en su est6mago. El siempre vomitaria
cualquier cosa el comi6 y bebi6, y que el habria el respirate a traves de su boca mientras
su ano permaneceria cerrado. El se volvi6 un palo en el futuro.

A la adivinaci6n, la persona se aconsejara para hacer el sacrificio para apartar el riesgo de

un avergonzando abdominal disgustado. Si el ya tiene el problema del est6mago, le diran
que produzca la shea-mantequilla (el ori-oyo) y aceite de la palma a que el sacerdote de
Ifa agregara arena rasp6 de la puerta y el iyerosun de este odu, para el para de vez en
cuando estar goteando y la enfermedad rebajara. La encantaci6n que el sacerdote de Ifa
usara para preparar la medicina es:

Aikiti enu ya igbe,

Aiko gbodo ti ide kpo

El Sacrificio especial para los Ninos Productores

Orunmila ni osa ga a ra. Mani owo idi.

Oni eyi ti o wo idi eku, ni ofl ni oyun.
Oun ni ofl bi omo
Oni eyi ti owo idi eja, ni ofl ni oyun ti o fl bi omo.
Orunmila ni osa gaara. Mani owo idi.
Oni eyi ti owo idi eye, ni o fl ni oyun ti o fl bi omo.
Oni eyi ti owo idi eronko, ni ofl ni oyun ti o fl bi omo.
Oni eyi ti owo idi omo eni, ni omo eni yio fl she oyun ti o fl
bi omo.

Orunmila dijo que los espermatozoos que entraron en los 6rganos productivos de ratas
hembras, peces, pajaros, animales, y una mujer, fertiliz6 sus 6vulos, los hizo embarazada,
y dio el nacimiento a sus j6venes o descendencias.

Cuando el se pidi6 el sacrificio requerido para la productividad, el los enumer6 como los
caracoles, palo, pez y rata. A la adivinaci6n, la persona se <lira que su esposa es debida
vuelto embarazada con tal de que el sacrificio anterior es hecho.
 El capitulo 5
OSA-OBARA

Divined para la Divinidad de Agua para Ponerse Grande

Orunmila oni ka here bene. Emina ni ka here here.

Oni ka here ni owo omo eku, kini ounji she won? Woni kosi.
Oni ka here lowo omo eja, kini ounji she won? Oni kosi.
Orunmila ni ka here lowo omo eronko, kini ounji she won? Oni kosi.
Orunmila ni ka here lowo omo araye, kini ounji she won? Oni kosi o
Orunmila oni omi omo 'Olokun oun lo di ore re lo lo kan osa,
Oni eho lo ma ru o, ni tori kpukpo ni eniyan.

Cuando Orunmila estaba teniendo los problemas, el inquiri6 para saber lo que el hizo para
ofender la rata, pez, animales y humanidad. Ese era el poema con que Orunmila hizo la
adivinaci6n para la divinidad de agua cuando el iba a hacer el mar y la albufera grande. Le
dijeron que hiciera el sacrificio con el macho cabrio a Esu. Despues de hacer el sacrificio,
Esu procedi6 hacer todos los rios mas pequefi.os para ser el homenaje provechoso al mar
(Okun) y la albufera (Osa).

Cuando el odu aparece a la adivinaci6n, la persona se <lira hacer el sacrificio para

prosperar en la vida.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Fuego Cuando su Vida estaba Menguando

Osa embalan bala, el una del babalawo, el odifa el ti de nijo de una divertido si la cerveza
inglesa de si de relo, el ti ko dara mo.
El hizo la adivinaci6n para el Fuego cuando sus fortunas estaban menguando. Le dijeron
que hiciera el sacrificio con las hojas de la palma secas. El hizo el sacrificio y su vida fue
vuelta a encender. A la adivinaci6n, la persona se <lira que la vida del his/her es debil.
He/she debe hacer sacrificio rejuvenecerse.

El Divined para 76 Animates Diferentes

Osa kpaa, Obara kpaa, la adivinaci6n hecho para setenta y seis animales cuando ellos
subieron la colina para jugar. Les aconsejaron que hicieran el sacrificio. Ellos todos se
negaron a, con la excepci6n del caballo que hizo el sacrificio con un macho cabri o y su
ropa llevando.

Cuando los animales estaban subiendo a la cima de la colina, Esu hizo el viaje que enerva
eso asi ninguno de ellos tuvo exito alcanzando la cima de la colina, permita la toma
exclusivamente ser ventajoso para de las golosinas que Dios habia proporcionado en la
cima de la colina. Cuando era el giro del caballo para subir la colina, Esu le ayudaba
obtener la velocidad y vigor para conseguir a su cima d6nde el solo coleccion6 todas las
cosas buenas lineadas fuera alli.
Cuando el caballo estaba regocijando, la vaca (Elila) y el otro regreted de los animales su
fracaso para hacer el sacrificio. Por eso la humanidad esta mas en casa con el caballo que sus
hermanos, el buey y el bufalo,

El Sacrificio especial Para El N acimiento de Gemelos

Aja lafi sisara koja ule. Agaban lofi ogban wiwo she oran.
Adifa fun okomuba bi aji wo le to mi wa.

El dia corri6 con tanta velocidad que ejecut6 mas alla de su casa. Las
ovejas resolvieron sus problemas pasando por alto la casa.

Estos eran los awos que la adivinaci6n hecho para la futura madre que esperaba dar el
nacimiento a un nifio pero entreg6 un par de gemelos. Le dijeron que hiciera el sacrificio con
un gallo castafio a Sankpana, porque Sankpana y Sango son las divinidades patronas de
gemelos. Si aparece para una mujer embarazada, le aconsejaran que haga los sacirifce en la
anticipaci6n de un nacimiento gemelo.

Ellos Tambien Hicieron la Adivinacion para Orunmila Receive Dos Favores

Aja lofi sisa ra koja ule. Agutan lofi ogban wimo she oran.
Adifa fun Orunmila ti yon ifaa mejije ni ogbegbe He re.
Eyele lofi ru ebo

Ellos hicieron la adivinaci6n para Orunmila cuando el iba a obtener dos beneficios casi su
casa. Le dijeron que hiciera el sacrificio con una paloma.
A la adivinaci6n como Ure, la persona debe decirse hacer el sacrificio para recibir dos favores
al mismo tiempo.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para un Hombre Con una Pierna Deformada

Osa ti Onsa ni kponkpo. Ebara ni o sa ture, ni here ono.

Odifa fun omo atira to ni oun yio ba He aduje.
Osa corri6 en el camino recto. Ebara corri6 por el lado del camino.

Ellos hicieron la adivinaci6n para el hombre con una piema deformada que jur6 destruir la
casa de Orunmila. Sin embargo, Orunmila le dijo que, el estaba hablando en broma.

El tambien no consider6 despues de no haciendo el sacrificio, el consejo para no llevar a cabo

su amenaza. El foe deshonrado directamente y desinfl6 despues de intentar y fallar.

Cuando aparece a la adivinaci6n, la persona se <lira hacer al sacrificio impedirle a una persona
con una piema deformada dafiar su casa y apartar el sourcing de los problemas de una
maldici6n en suyo la encamaci6n anterior. El sacrificio es hecho con un gallo y una gallina.

El Sacrificio especial para Paz y Prosperidad

Osa bene, Orunmila ni Osa emi ni ni oba.

 Ikari bi o oba si emi ni oba leri eguogun.
Orunmila ni a ti ba ri're Oba leri uroko.
Karibi ti oba si emi ni oba leri uroko.
Orunmila ni e ti ba rire o. Orunmila lo'ri onsa.
Emi ni o baa. Orunmila ni ki a ri bi oba si.

En la respuesta a mi pregunta, Orunmila declar6 que el estaba de pie en el arbol del roble. Yo
puse la pregunta un segundo tiempo y el contest6 que el estaba de pie en el arbol del iroko.
Pero lfa le dijo que el no era propiamente en pie. Cuando 1 puso la pregunta un tercer tiempo,
el contest6 que el estaba de pie en el arbol de Ejire. Auna cuarta pregunta el contest6 que el
estaba de pie en el agbalumo de Osan ( el otien) el arbol, las hojas, ladrido y frutas de ese arbol
generan la prosperidad. El sigui6 para declarar que se usan las palomas para hacer el sacrificio
para el dinero; el guinea-ave se usa para hacer el sacrificio para la victoria encima de los
enemigos, y el macho cabrio se usa para hacer el sacrificio para resolver los problemas,
mientras una cabra se usa para hacer el sacrificio para la prosperidad.

El Sacrificio que El Hizo Antes de Dejar el Cielo

Osa hara hara ba, agbara okoro, Ogbiye lo'gun

Okara la 'lade Grun Ogbiye ni otito okoro.

Ogun, Osanyin y Orunmila, el cielo izquierdo para la tierra al mismo tiempo. Antes de salir,
les aconsejaron a la adivinaci6n servir sus cabezas con un gallo, su angel guardian con una
gallina,; Orisa con una paloma; y Esu con un macho cabrio para tener exito en la tierra.
Orunmila era el unico que hizo el sacrificio.

En conseguir a la tierra, ellos fueron invitados a ayudar resolviendo un problema que habia
desafiado las capacidades del awos del mundo conocido del tiempo. La esposa de Olofin habia
estado en la labor durante siete dias y ella era misma cerca de la muerte.

Ogun y Osanyin, mientras pareciendo como en la vida como el impressionistic, fue invitado a
ayudar que la mujer entregar. Intente que cuando ellos hicieron, la mujer se puso aun mas
debil. Orunmila no parecia como impresionante porque el nunca actu6 reciprocamente con
cualquiera. El era conocido para ponerse su tela del lomo y sentarse delante de la casa todas
las mananas. Despues de que Ogun y Osanyin habian intentado y habian fallado, los jefes de
lfa enviaron a una comisi6n invitar Orunmila al palacio.

Antes de dejar casa con el errandmen, el consult6 lfa despues de que el los dirigi6 decirle a la
mujer que ella habia cohabitado con tres hombres y que ella solo entregaria despues de
confesar los actos. Cuando ellos llegaron casa al palacio, ellos le dijeron lo que Orunmila dijo
a la mujer, y la mujer hizo un pecho limpio de la materia. Cuando ella mencion6 el nombre del
tercer hombre con quien ella tenia un asunto, ella entreg6 seguramente. Orunmila se dio un
aplauso conmovedor, y una ovaci6n en pie. El recibi6 los regalos de todos y varios.

Habia una entrada de visitas despues de esto, en Orunmila para la adivinaci6n. El comprendi6
mucho dinero en el proceso. Siguiendo a su prosperidad, el se cas6 y empez6 a tener los nifios.
Ogun y Osanyin continuaron vagando de un lugar a otro sin cualquier exito, Las personas
quien simpatiz6 como consecuencia con Ogun y Osanyin fue a inquirir de Orunmila por que
sus dos hermanos no estaban haciendo bien. El
retorci6 declarando ese exito que continuaria eludiendolos hasta que ellos devolvieran
casa para hacer el sacrificio prescrito antes de dejar el cielo.

Ogun y Osanyin devolvieron en el futuro al cielo para hacer los sacrificios. Cuando ellos
devolvieron a la tierra, ellos empezaron a divino por la posesi6n y todo el trabajo que ellos
hicieron que empez6 a tener exito tanto que ellos se pusieron pr6speros.

Su Experiencia en la Tierra - Cuando El Sedujo a la Esposa de Sokoti

Orunmila tom6 como consecuencia a cultivar al caso de su angel guardian ademas de su

practica de Ifa. Una mujer siempre estaba viniendo a comprar las verduras de el.
Desconocido a el, la mujer venia del cielo y ella era la esposa de Sokoti, el herrero
famoso.

Un dia, Orunmila le pidi6 a la mujer que le comprara una azada de dondequiera que ella
vino. Ella trajo una azada como consecuencia de cielo que ella vendi6 a Orunmila al
precio de una balsa de dinero. El la pag6 por el en el tipo, con los fiames. La mujer vendi6
los fiames en conseguir al cielo pero no dio el dinero a su marido. Cuando el le pidi6 el
dinero comprendido de la venta de su azada, ella minti6 que el comprador no la habia
pagado. Despues de exigir el dinero despues de cuatro visitas subsecuentes a la tierra, su
marido se molest6 y decidi6 ir solo para dibujar la deuda. Ella tuvo exito sin embargo
disuadiendolo de seguirla.

En su parte, Orunmila habia desarrollado una imaginaci6n para la mujer. Despues de que
uno visita a su granja, el ofreci6 seguir su casa, pero ella se neg6 a bruscamente en la
tierra que su marido era demasiado fuerte para el desafiar. Cuando ella estaba devolviendo
casa, el decidi6 arrastrarla. El la sigui6 a al banco de Odo-Aro ( el rio negro ). despues de
que la mujer habia cruzado al otro lado, el descubri6 que el no pudiera cruzarlo. El
devolvi6 casa como consecuencia para adivinaci6n a que le dijeron que sirviera su cabeza
con un gallo y Esu con un macho cabrio y a atras el rio porque se prohibia para
acercarselo delanteramente.

Durante la visita subsecuente de la mujer, el la arrastr6 mas una vez y tuvo exito cruzando
el rio de Aro. Cuando la mujer lleg6 a un segundo rio llamado Odo-aumente, o el rio de la
sangre, ella lo cruz6 pero no sabiendo el paso-palabra el tenia que devolver mas una vez a
casa para todavia otra adivinaci6n. Este tiempo alrededor de, le dijeron que diera otro
macho cabrio a Esu, sirva Ogun con un perro, y para tocar sus palmas con el agua del rio
para cruzarlo.

Cuando la mujer pr6ximo visit6 su granja, el pudo arrastrar su con exito a su casa
matrimonial en el cielo. En ver a un extrafio con su esposa, Sokoti le pregunt6 por su
misi6n y ella contest6 que aunque ella no tenia ninguna idea que el hombre estaba
siguiendola, el era no obstante el hombre que compr6 la azada sin pagarla. Sokoti se
volvi6 entonces a Osa-Obara para preguntarle por que el sigui6 a su esposa a su casa. El
contest6 eso ademas de venir a confirmar que que el habia pagado previamente por la
azada en el tipo con los fiames, el agreg6 que el se habia enamorado de la mujer porque
ella nunca le dijo que ella estaba casada.

Sin poner a cualquier resistencia, Sokoti le pregunt6 a su esposa si ella estaba deseosa
dejarlo casarse al hombre. Ella contest6 que aunque ella habia permanecido fiel a
tiempo a su derecho del marido a a ese punto, ella estaba lista ir con el hombre si el (su
marido) no tenia ninguna objeci6n.

Sokoti aclar6 a su propia esposa alli y entonces para devolver a la tierra con el hombre
volverse su esposa.

Cuando este lfa aparece a Ugbodu, la persona se aconsejara para ser cauta en las materias
las mujeres conmovedoras. El debe servir Esu con el macho cabrio, Ogun con el perro, y
su cabeza con un gallo. La persona debe servir su cabeza con un gallo y Esu con un macho
cabrio apartar una lucha encima de una mujer a la adivinaci6n.

La Adivinacion que El Hizo Antes de Ir a Oshogbo

El kpa de Osa, kpa de Ohara, el kani de Ogunfun, Ojibamu, el babara del bamu, era el awo
que la adivinaci6n hecho para Orunmila cuando el estaba viajando para lfa practique al
pueblo de Oshogbo. Le aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio para apartar el riesgo de
ingratitud. El no hizo el sacrificio.

El consigui6 a Oshogbo d6nde el encontr6 que las personas se habian afligido por todos
los tipos de enfermedades. En llegar a la granja, el se tom6 al Oba que le pregunt6 si el
pudiera hacer algo que curar el pueblo de las aflicciones que asedian a las personas. El
prometi6 hacer su el mejor. Dentro de un tiempo muy corto, el pudo hacer bien a todas las
personas, pero a pesar de que el permanecia en Oshogbo durante tres afios, el no recibi6
cualquiera de la compensaci6n prometido a el.

Cuando el estaba a punto de dejar el pueblo que el fue a exigir la compensacion prometida
a el alrededor, pero nadie respondi6 favorablemente. El decidi6 dejar el pueblo en el enojo
por consiguiente. Antes de salir sin embargo, el son6 Ifa que le dijo que su tratamiento
gastado era el premio que el tenia que pagar por no dando un macho cabrio a Esu antes de
dejar casa. Bastante tardiamente, el dio el macho cabrio a Esu. Despues de esto, Esu invit6
Sankpana y Songo a visitar Orunmila. Cuando el les cont6 la ingratitud mostrada a el por
las personas de Oshogbo, los dos se molestaron, y decidi6 intervenir para traer el ingrates
a sus rodillas.

En conseguir a Oshogbo, Sankpana tir6 sabre su maiz indiscriminadamente, y las personas

en sus miles fueron afligidas por la varicela pequefia. Sango hizo a los Oba y a todos los
jefes padecer todos los tipos de enfermedades cardiacas y ataques. A una adivinaci6n
subsecuente, les dijeron que ellos estaban castigandose para la ingratitud con que ellos
reaccionaron a la magnanimidad de Orunmila. Orunmila estaba teniendo un informe
detener-encima de en el pueblo cercano Ikirun mientras Sankpana y Songo estaban
asolando el pueblo de Oshogbo. Entretanto, los Oba, jefes y superiores de Oshogbo
despacharon una comisi6n alto potencia para encontrarse Orunmila para disculparse a el.
En encontrarselo, los miembros de la comisi6n siguieron sus rodillas para disculparse y
persuadir Orunmila para devolver a Oshogbo. El seguidamente estado de acuerdo para
volver con ellos.

En volver a Oshogbo, el pidi6 a un macho cabrio para servir a Esu, una cabra y maiz frito
satisfacer Sankpana y un camera, kola amargo y budin de harina de fiame (Amala) a
Songo aplacado. Despues de hacer los sacrificios, las personas se volvieron bien de nuevo.
Aunque ellos el besought Orunmila para permanecer para bueno con ellos, el se
neg6 a en la tierra que su ingratitud habria sido final pero para la intervencion oportuna de
Esu y sus colegas. El Oshogbo finalmente salido para establecerse a Ikirun. En sus partes,
se persuadieron Sankpana y Songo con exito para permanecer en el pueblo de Oshogbo.

Eso explica por que hasta el momento, las urnas de Songo y Sankpana son un rasgo
comun a Oshogbo, mientras la urna de lfa (Okpe-lkin) es alguno y lejos entre. La
presencia de Ifa en Oshogbo se limita a las urnas tridimensionales (Ikin-loju-meta).
Quienquiera esta deseoso de tener el tradicional cuatro-dimensioned-lfa (Ikin-lojumerin)
tiene que ir al pueblo de Ikirun cercano.

Cuando este odu aparece a la adivinacion, la persona se <lira que el esta a punto de
mostrar la ingratitud a un bienhechor y que a menos que el o ella hacen las reparaciones,
el el o ella ejecuta el riesgo de perder el beneficio dado en el.
 El capitulo 6
OSA-OKONRON OSA-KUNRIN

El Hizo la Adivinacion para Ahorrar el Guinea-ave del Tigre

Osa Kanranranranran Okonron Kanron, Babalawo ago. Odifa fun ago ti o

tori tomo dafa.

El hizo la adivinaci6n para el guinea-ave cuando ella estaba interesada encima de la seguridad
de ella y sus nifios, en el momento cuando el tigre pretendi6 ser su relaci6n. En cuanto el
guinea-ave la saliera del cascar6n j6venes, el tigre fue a ella fingir la relaci6n de una sangre
con ella como un pretexto por conseguir bastante cerca a alimente a sus nifios. Cuando la
guinea que el ave retorci6 que sus padres no le dieron cualquier intimaci6n de la conexi6n de
una sangre con el tigre, el ultimo la desarm6 atrayendo la atenci6n a la semejanza en sus
esquemas coloridos. Despues de apaciguarse eficazmente, el guinea-ave permiti6 el acceso
libre al tigre a su percha. Entretanto, el tigre us6 la oportunidad de capturar uno de los nifios
de la guinea-ave cuando quiera para la comida que ella estaba fuera de casa.

Comprendiendo el dilema en que ella habia sido acorralada, ella fue a Orunmila por
adivinaci6n d6nde le aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio con las hojas caidas y carbon de
lefia. Ella hizo el sacrificio rapidamente, Despues de esto, en la pr6xima ocasi6n en que el
tigre entr6 en su misi6n nefaria, cuando el movi6 para golpear, Esu cubri6 a los nifios de la
guinea el ave con las hojas mientras sobresaltandolos en volar a la cima de un arbol cercano.
De la seguridad del arbol-cima, el guinea-ave grit6 "Moti ella el bo el kanranranranran de Osa,
Okonron Kanran" que ha seguido siendo su llamar-lamento desde entonces.

Cuando este odu aparece a la adivinaci6n, la persona se advertira que una persona fuerte
surgira para profesar la relaci6n de sangre con el o ella. He/She debe hacer el sacrificio para
anticipar el peligro de la persona que usa la influencia para atacar a him/her o los nifios.

Otra Variacion de la Misma Adivinacien

El kooonron de Osa, Okonron-konron era el Awo que la adivinaci6n hecho para la guinea - el
ave cuando ella estaba ansiosa tener los nifios. Le dijeron que ella tendria los nifios
suficientes, pero debe hacer el sacrificio para dar jaque mate los problemas ella iba a tener de
sus relaciones despues de tener los nifios. Le exigieron que hiciera el sacrificio con un macho
cabrio y dos tipos de fiames llam6 Shum o Esuru en Yoruba y Erhuru en Bini y otro uno
llamado Ulo en Yoruba y Emile

Bini. Despues de hacer el sacrificio; le aconsejaron a ponga sus huevos a una mancha
confidencial, y para ocultarlos de un todos, no importa que estrechamente conect6.
A prop6sito, el guinea-ave tenia una hermana llamada que Okparo y un hermano llamados
Okoko. Contrariamente al consejo dado a ella no revelar sus secretos ponedoras a cualquiera,
el guinea-ave fuera de excitaci6n, descubri6 a Okparo que ella
puso treinta huevos que la informacion evoco la envidia de la hermana inmediatamente,
porque ella (Okparo) solo puso tres huevos. En cuanto Okparo la dejara, ella fue a informar el
Okoko huevo-comiendo en seguida (Areken en Bini) que el guinea-ave habia preparado una
fiesta prolifica para el poniendo treinta huevos. Despues de esto, Okoko empezo a escoger los
huevos uno de la guinea-ave despues el otro. Cuando ella descubrio la proporcion a que sus
huevos eran robando, ella fue a Orunmila que la recordo el orden dado a ella a la adivinacion
no revelar los secretos de sus huevos sobre todo a cualquiera a sus relaciones. Orunmila le dijo
que ella era responsable para su propia destruccion porque era sus relaciones que eran
responsable para sus problemas.

En el futuro, el guinea-ave entro en el bosque a ponga sus huevos en la cueva sin decir a
cualquiera sobre ellos despues de que ella empezo a salir del cascaron todos los huevos ella
puso. Ella vino a tener muchos nifios.

Cuando este Ifa aparece a Ugbodu, la persona se aconsejara para servir Esu con el macho
cabrio, y su cabeza con el guinea-ave para apartar el peligro de sus nifios a embrujandose por
sus relaciones. Cuando aparece a la adivinacion, la persona debe servir los his/her encabezan
con el guinea-ave, y Ogun con el gallo para neutralizar cualquier peligro de los parientes
intimos.

Todavia Otra Variacien de la Misma Revelacion

Los mismos awo hicieron la adivinacion para Aworogbo cuando ella tenia tres amigas llamado
Ekun, Amo y Ologbo. Aworogbo la considero tres amigos verdadero y fiel, pero desconocido
a ella, ellos eran responsables para la muerte frecuente de sus nifios. En una ocasion
subsecuente cuando ella se puso expectante, ella fue a Orunmila por la adivinacion y Osa-
konron parecia aconsejarla. Le aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio con los granos de la palma,
lana de algodon y un gallo. Ella hizo el sacrificio y se preparo para ella para guardar al lado de
ella siempre que ella se retirara por la noche para dormir. Tambien le aconsejaron que
mantuviera a sus nifios en su lugar un confidencial donde nadie podria tener el acceso a ellos.
Ella hizo como ella se aconsejo,

A aproximadamente medianoche, Ekun ( el tigre) paso furtivamente a la casa de Aworogbo,

pero antes de que el pudiera hacer cualquier dafio, el sacrificio lo incapacito y el se cayo, el
muerto. No anhele despues, Amo salio furtivamente en la casa de toAworogbo, pero en cuanto
el viera el cadaver de Ekun, el tomo a sus talones y escape. Ologbo tambien corrio lejos en el
miedo en cuanto el viera el cuerpo muerto de Ekun. Al alba, cuando Aworogbo vio el cadaver
de Ekun, era entonces ella comprendio la duplicidad con que sus amigos habian estado
tratando desde el principio con ella. Ella estallo de repente en las lagrimas cuando ella canto:

Itan ekun, itan osho, Itan

amo, itan osho, Itan
Ologbo, itan osho, Itan
rede rede, itan oso.

Ese es hasta el momento el lamento de Aworogbo.

Cuando aparece a la adivinacion, la persona se aconsejara para mantener alejado los secretos
del his/her de los amigos, y no confiar en las apariencias exteriores en las
relaciones del his/her con las personas, sobre todo los amigos. El I ella haria el sacrificio
para impedir a los amigos y a relaciones dafiar sus posesiones.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para Ikon, El Rey de Termitas,

Ikon, el rey de termitas fue a Osa-konron por la adivinaci6n en que hacer para prosperar.
Le dijeron que hiciera el sacrificio con una guinea-ave a su angel guardian, y un macho
cabrio a Esu. Detras de hacer el sacrificio, el vino a tener mas seguidores que cualquier
otro rey. Lejos de permitirse caminar en sus pies, sus asuntos prefirieron llevarlo del lugar
poner. Cuando el rey de seres humanos oy6 hablar del esplendor majestuoso del vida-
estilo de Ikon, el envi6 para el.

En conseguir al rey humano, el acus6 Ikon de immitating el por su conducta regia. Ikon
retorci6 tanto que cuando el neg6 cualquier immitation del rey, nadie podria negarlo el
derecho para disfrutar su prosperidad. Despues de decir que, el desafi6 al rey a dos
ejercicios disputando en la soberania. El le dijo al rey que no construyera un apartamento
con 201 cuartos con el agua pero con el esputo. El invit6 al rey a empezar el ejercicio.

La mafiana siguiente que el rey hizo a un proclaimation real que invita sus asuntos a
escupir en varias calabazas preparatorio a usarlo para construir un palacio de 201
apartamentos. La ciudadania entera del reino no podria llenar una calabaza de su esputo.
Despues de conceder su incapacidad para continuar eso primero el concurso, el rey invit6
Ikon a subir el desafio.

Dentro de un espacio de unos dias, los asuntos de Ikon habian construido un multistoried
construyendo conteniendo 201 apartamentos completamente adornaron, amueblaron y
decoraron. Cuando los verificadores del rey vieron el edificio macizo, ellos eran
sorprendidos.

Despues de eso primero el ejercicio, Ikon anunci6 que el estaba a punto de empezar su
fiesta anual y que iba a durar durante tres meses. Durante el palmo de la fiesta el prometi6
diariamente nunca liberar 200 asuntos para devolver a su dominio. El rey alarde6 para
poder emparejarlo en esa cuenta sin embargo. Una vez mas, Ikon le pidi6 al rey que
empezara el concurso. La mafiana siguiente el rey nunca despach6 200 de asuntos en el
destierro devolver al reino. El dia siguiente, el rey no podria congregar a otro 200
voluntarios o reclutado. El admiti6 su incapacidad por consiguiente para continuar con el
ejercicio. Era el giro de Ikon para realizar el hecho.

La mafiana siguiente, despues de soltar 200 termitas para volar fuera el el cierre de sus
verjas pidi6. El repiti6 el ejercicio diariamente durante dos meses despues de que el rey
invit6 Ikon para otra charla. El rey concedi6 ese Ikon era por lejano mas rico que el a que
Ikon retorci6 eso a pesar de su opulencia, el estaba no obstante bajo el soverigity del rey.
En el futuro, el rey confirm6 Ikon como el rey del subsuelo. Despues de esto, Ikon
empez6 a pagar el homenaje anual a Orunmila que el divined y el sacrificio hecho para el.

Cuando este odu aparece a la adivinaci6n, la persona se aconsejara para servir su cabeza
con una guinea-ave y una termita, y para servir Esu con un macho cabrio para que el
pueda el truimph en un pr6ximo concurso. Cuando aparece a U gbodu, la persona se
aconsejara para hacer el mismo la adici6n del sacrificio Ikon al sacrificio a Esu, porque el se
destina para ponerse muy adinerado. La Adivinacion que El Hizo Antes de Dejar el Cielo

El Okonron kamu kamu era el awo que la adivinaci6n hecho para el antes de dejar el cielo. Le
aconsejaron que sirviera a su angel guardian con una guinea-ave e Ikon el rey de las termitas;
para servir Esu con un macho cabrio; para servir la divinidad molida con una tortuga; y para
servir Orisa con un pedazo de tela blanca; la tiza blanca y la pluma de un loro rojo montadas
en un palo llamadas Opa-atori. El hizo todos los sacrificios y dej6 para la tierra despues de
obtener la bendici6n de Dios.

El empez6 su vida en la tierra con cultivar. Cuando el no lo hizo, el fue por la adivinaci6n y le
aconsejaron que repitiera mucho el mismo sacrificio cuando el hizo en el cielo. Le aconsejaron
que tomara a la practica jomada completa de Ifism despues del sacrificio. No anhele despues,
el se puso muy famoso y pr6spero. El pudo comprar a varios esclavos que continuaron con su
cultivo. El tenia muchas esposas y nifios.

El Sacrificio especial para los Enemigos Luchadores

Ki Osa mu ita junkun, ki ola Okonron mu obi kunkun. Ohun

kunkun ni a fi ishegun eni kunkun He eni, Moni ta nije
eni kunkun He eni? Oni He enikin kun. Orisa He eni leni
Kunkun He eni. Ebo ni ka ru o, ki a ni ishegun He eni kunkun.
Osa tom6 que la pimienta y Okonron tomaron el kolanut.
La pimienta y kolanuts son que las cosas luchaban la guerra en casa.

El kolanut se usa para recurrir a la cabeza de uno para ayudar uno luchar al enemigo en casa.
El kolanut tambien usa pide la divinidad en casa luchar al enemigo en la casa de uno. La
cabeza y la patrocinador-divinidad son las dos fuerzas que pueden conquistar al enemigo en la
casa de uno, ademas de hacer el sacrificio a Esu.

A la adivinaci6n, la persona se <lira que sus vidas enemigas con el en su casa, y que el debe
servir su cabeza, la divinidad en su casa, y Esu, ayudar darle victoria encima del enemigo.

El Divined para Lemikan de Ijesha

El le dijo a Lemikan que hiciera el sacrificio con un macho cabrio y un gallo apartar el riesgo
de perder a su hijo que estaba enfermo. El hizo el sacrificio y el hijo no se muri6. Cuando
aparece a la adivinaci6n para una persona enferma, la persona se aconsejara para hacer un
sacrificio para mejorarse.

Orunmila Advised Sus Adhesivos Contra Abandonar Su lfa

Orunmila nio Asamorikan, Moni Osamohkan.

Oni He aro Bini asamorikan agbo alagbede.
Oni inu oko ni asamohkan agbo.
Oni igbo ni asamorikan ode.
Oni inu oja n asamorikan anishowo.
Oni idi okekponrin ni asamohkan babalawo.
 Oni ki a so fun Akakpo wi kpe ki o mama
Kuro ni idi mi. Oni ibe ni rere yi o to ma ba.
Oni inu oja ni rere yi oti ma ba onishowo.
Oni inu igba ni ode yi o ti ma ri rere wa si He.
Oni He aro ni rere yi o ti ma ba alagbeded.

Significando:

Orunmila pronuncio el negocio. Yo tambien dije el negocio.

El explico eso:
La tienda fundiendo es el negocio del hierro-forjador;
El arbusto es el negocio del granjero;
El bosque es el negocio del cazador
El mercado es el negocio del comerciante asi como El
altar de Orunmila es el negocio del sacerdote de lfa.
El siguio para dar enfasis a que alguien que tiene su propio lfa
no debe abandonarlo en absoluto por cualquier razon, para alli
las mentiras su prosperidad. Asi como:
La prosperidad entra a la comerciante en el lugar del mercado;
La prosperidad viene al granjero a traves de la granja;
La prosperidad viene al cazador a traves del bosque; y
La prosperidad viene a la hierro-tratante para su taller.

Cuando este odu aparece para un hombre de Ifa, nunca deben aconsejarle que deseche
sulfa porque el podria tentarse para hacer para que. Su fortuna esta en el offing. Deben
aconsejarle que haga el sacrificio contra el peligro de perdida frecuente de trabajos para
consolidar su fortuna para una persona del non-lfa, el debe quedarse en su trabajo.
 El capitulo 7
OSA-IROSUN

El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Camwood y la Rata

Osa roro bi ekpo, Irosun roro bi eje

Osala, Otala, Adifa fun Akponjulosun eyi ti onshe iyawo Ebiti.
Abufun eku niojo ti nse ale Akponjulosun obinrin Ebiti.

Ellos hicieron la adivinaci6n para el Camwood, la esposa de la Fruta de la Palma. Ellos

tambien hicieron la adivinaci6n para la Rata cuando el estaba favoreciendo el Camwood
(Akponjurosun), la esposa de la Fruta de la Palma. La Rata fue aconsejada para hacer el
sacrificio para obviar el riesgo de entrar en el problema para su relaci6n adultera con una
mujer casada. El se neg6 a hacer el sacrificio porque ella habia estado durante mucho tiempo
enamorada de el y no podria ver la relevancia a tiempo para el sacrificio a ese punto.

Cuando Esu descubri6 el desprecio con que la Rata trat6 el consejo, el fue a alertar la Fruta de
la Palma a la aventura amorosa ilicita entre la Rata y su esposa. La Fruta de la Palma tenia las
dudas en la veracidad de la alegaci6n porque el confi6 en su esposa. Esu le dijo que quedara
bajo para mirar los desarrollos alrededor de medio-dia. La Fruta de la Palma se ocult6 de
acuerdo con a un mirador en el tejado de su casa de que d6nde el pudiera ver que cualquier
cosa estaba pasando debajo.

Como consecuencia, la Rata entr6 furtivamente en la casa de la Fruta de la Palma y hecho

recto para el cuarto de Camwood. Como el hacer el amor al camwood estaba preparando, su
marido descendi6 de la azotea y borracho la Rata a la muerte.

Cuando este Odu aparece por consiguiente a la adivinaci6n, la persona debe advertirse para no
tener ninguna aventura amorosa con una persona del complexioned ligera. Si el divinee es un
hombre, deben aconsejarle que se resista la tentaci6n para tener cualquier aventura amorosa
con una mujer casada apartar el peligro de muerte subita, Si el ya esta envuelto, el debe hacer
el sacrificio para ahorrar su vida y aconsejado para refrenar de el.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para la Oreja Cuando El Sedujo a la Esposa del Mosquito

Osalesun Osaleji era el awo que la adivinaci6n hecho para la Oreja cuando el sedujo a la
esposa del mosquito. Le aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio para guardar fuera del efecto de
la molestia de seducir a la esposa de una criatura desvalida. Tambien le dijeron que si el
pudiera dejar a la mujer, el debe reintegrar al mosquito el dote que el pag6 en la mujer. La
oreja cepill6 el consejo al lado despues de alardear que el Mosquito no merecia la pena el
problema de hacer el sacrificio.

Cuando Esu descubri6 que la Oreja habia tratado los consejos de Orunmila y advertencias con
el desden, el aconsej6 el mosquito para estar visitando la Oreja cuando quiera que el quiso
dormir por la noche.
Por eso el mosquito va a la Oreja en noche-tiempo exigir el reintegro de su dote en el
guerra-lamento siguiente.

Itama ro, Obinrin un, Erin run.

A la adivinacion, la persona se aconsejara para no seducir a la esposa de un hombre

aparentemente indemne e inconsecuente que porque el es capaz de molestia del
termendous generadora afecte. Si el ya lo hubiera hecho, el debe hacer el sacrificio con el
castafio y gallo rojo, tela roja y un macho cabrio minimizar las consecuencias.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para la Cahra

El Osa roro bi ekpo. Los Irosun roro bi ejes hicieron la adivinacion para la cabra cuando
ella se endeudo a muchos acreedores. Cuando ella era incapaz de reembolsar las deudas,
ella fue a Orunmila para decirle que hacer. Le aconsejaron que sirviera su cabeza con el
kolanut y coco despues de la adivinacion. Es mas, le dijeron que que despues de servir su
cabeza con los dos materiales, ella debe conservarlos y debe estar masticandolos cuando
quiera que los acreedores vinieron a exigir el pago. Ella era decirles que esperar por ella
terminar comiendo aunque ella era continuar masticando, sus dientes a perpetuidad. En la
consonancia con el consejo de Orunmila, ella estaba masticando siempre el kolanut y el
coco en su boca. Cuando quiera los acreedores la visitaron y despues de esperar
etemamente, ellos salieron su solo. Eso era como todas sus deudas transcurrieron.

A proposito, ella no pago por la adivinacion que Orunmila la constituy6 porque ella estaba
embarazada en el momenta y ella prometio pagar despues del nacimiento. Largo despues
de learnt de Orunmila que la cabra habia entregado, el envi6 a alguien exigir el pago de la
consultaci6n retribuye de ella, ella contesto que ella todavia estaba comiendo. Orunmila
concluyo que desde que el era responsable para aconsejarle que usara esa tactica en sus
acreedores, el no tenia ninguna causa para esperar ser tratado diferentemente. El precedio
la deuda.

Cuando este Ifa aparece a Ugbodu, la persona debe servir su cabeza que mientras
retrocediendo la uma de Ifa a causa de la deuda que el debio en una encarnacion anterior.
El debe servir su cabeza con un gallo, coco y kolanut. A la adivinacion, la persona debe
decirse servir Ifa con ella y su I su cabeza con una paloma, coco y kolanut, para evitar
entrar en la deuda.

La Adivinacion que El Hizo Antes de Dejar el Cielo

A a gbo ni ishe eti - Hearing is for the ear. Aa gbo she ni ishe
okon - Hearing and heeding is for the mind.

Esos fueron los dos Awos que la adivinacion hecho para este Odu cuando el estaba
viniendo al mundo. Despues de la adivinacion, el Awos le pregunt6 si el se dio a
considerar consejo. Aunque el contesto la pregunta afirmativamente, ellos insistieron en
probar la veracidad de su asercion por pidiendole que sirviera a su mente con una tortuga
que el era cocinar con el aceite de la palma fino y el fiame golpeado blanco. El era hacer
el sacrificio para que su mente no pudiera desencaminarlo en conseguir a la tierra.
Despues de esto, el era servir Esu con un macho cabrio y un pedazo de tela
blanca; su angel guardian con la gallina blanca, caracol, y el aceite de la palma fino; antes
de partir.

El reacciono preguntando el Awos por prescribir el tal triffling sacrifique para el hacer, y
que a menos que ellos hicieron la adivinacion mas a fondo, por el el no iba a hacer el
sacrificio. No obstante, ellos lo previnieron que a menos que el hizo el sacrificio, el ni no
debe esperar mantenerse en la tierra mucho tiempo, ni para lograr sus objetivos. El pego a
su punto que los sacrificios eran demasiado comunes para el hacer. Despues de esto, el
dejo para la tierra sin hacer cualquier sacrificio.

En conseguir al mundo, el se establecio pronto como un sacerdote de lfa competente y

eficaz. Todas sus predicciones se hicieron realidad. Estaba en el punto alto de su
popularidad que Esu intervino para ensefiarle las consecuencias ineludibles de no
haciendo el sacrificio. El primer ataque de Esu era tomar a su mente. Esu era consciente
del voto que el hizo en el cielo para operar simultaneamente como un Awo buenos y
malos. Despues de tomar a su mente, Esu empezo a manipular sus pensamientos, palabras
y acciones.

Entretanto, el se invito a una conferencia de sacerdotes divinos en el reino de Ife. Durante

las deliberaciones, el dejo caer una bomba inconscientemente que en contraste con su
disposicion benevola antigua, el era sobre fomentar un tumulto que haria al rey y las
personas aprecie sus capacidades. En cuanto la conferencia dispersara, Esu instigo un
chaparron de eventos negativos a lo largo del reino. Habia epidemias de convulsion entre
los infantes, varicela del pollo entre los adultos y abortos y labor fatal entre las mujeres
embarazadas. En la luz de la correlacion entre su arranque a la conferencia y la calamidad
pandemica, el se acuso de ser responsable para las aflicciones. Aunque el nego la
responsabilidad, nadie lo creyo, Demostrar su fe buena, el propuso que el culpable debe
maldecirse en la uma de Ogun del Oba.

Su propuesta fue aceptada y los arreglos eran hecho para el sacerdote de Ogun usar un
huevo y Ase para maldecir quienquiera era responsable para estimular los problemas con
la advertencia especial que la maldicion era manifestar exponiendo al culpable dentro de
24 horas. Pronto despues, el dejo para el arbusto para sacar hojas y otros materiales para
su trabajo. En cuanto el entrara en el bosque que Esu lo atrajo en el camino de un cazador
a quien Esu tambien envio a los signos envolver en niebla su vision. El cazador tomo Osa-
Irosun para un gorila y lo disparo. Aunque el no fue matado, la lesion que el sostuvo era
bastante para hacer a todos para concluir ese Ogun como consecuencia lo habia declarado
de hecho como el culpable.

Despues de esto, el se acuso formalmente de caoses generadores en el reino desde que

Ogun lo habia declarado culpable. Desde que Esu tenia ninguna intencion de acabarlo sin
comprender su error, el transfiguro en un sacerdote divino visitante del cielo simplemente
intervenir antes del veredicto de muerte seria pasado en el. El Esu-volverdivino-sacerdote,
ellos dijo a los Oba y a sus jefes que Osa-Irosun no era el culpable, pero que los poderes
mas altos crearon los problemas en el pueblo dar la apariencia que el era responsable para
ellos por dos razones; su fracaso para hacer el sacrificio prescrito para el antes de dejar
cielo y el abandono de su celestial jura entrelazar entre la fe buena y mala en la tierra,
porque el habia estado haciendo solo trabajos buenos desde venir a la tierra, mientras
olvidandose de su lado malo. El 'el sacerdote divino' declaro que le
exigieron que sirviera; su mente, Esu, Ifa y Ogun, y desde aquel momento para altemar su
disposicion entre bueno y malo.

Despues de esto, el 'el sacerdote divino' a la vista llena de todos, desaparecio de la vista. Era
estado de acuerdo entonces generalmente ese cielo habia venido a declararlo el inocente y los
sacrificios eran rapidamente hecho. El recobro su sanidad como consecuencia y se trato para
su arma disparo las heridas. En cuanto el se volviera bien, el tenia que aprender ser bueno y
malo que reforzo su fama y fortuna.

Cuando este Ifa aparece a Ugbodu, estos sacrificios especiales (Ono-Ifa u Odiha) debe hacerse
antes de la conclusion de la ceremonia de la iniciacion, al oviate el peligro de comprometer el
asesinato. Es una deuda de sacrificio que el debe del cielo y debe hacerse a la apariencia del
Odu al conclave confidencial. Si aparece a la adivinacion y es el ayeo, la persona se <lira hacer
el sacrificio para evitar a ser arrestado y se encarcelara para una ofensa el no comprometio o
de volverse la victima de sus propias palabras.

La Adivinacion que El Hizo Antes de Casarse a una Mujer Amarilla

Osa roro bi ekpo. Irosun roro bi eye. Adifa fun

Orunmila ti yi o gbe iroro-rara ni yawo. Eje edunje
Irororara. Eje ni Ifa nje Iroro ra ra. Eboni omo.

Osa es tan rojo como el aceite de la palma, mientras Irosun es tan rojo como sangre, era los
Awos que la adivinacion hecho para Orunmila cuando el iba a casarse a una mujer del
complexioned ligera Hamada Irororara. Orunmila solo come sangre y no la came. La mujer
comio toda la came. El se la caso y el matrimonio era un exito.

A la adivinacion, para un hombre, le diran que un luz-complexioned mujer que come la came
suficiente esta viniendo a casarselo. El debe servir Ifa con una cabra antes de casarsela. Sera
una historia de exito,

El Hizo la Adivinacinn para Su Esposa Cuando Ella estaba Teniendo la Hemorragia

Genital.

Osa roro bi ekpo, Irosun roro bi eje. Adifa fun

Akpetebi Orunmila ni ojo ti o fi ojojumo she owo eje.
Ugbin ni ebo ati agbebo adiye ati asho kpikpa.

Osa es tan rojo como el aceite de la palma e Irosun es tan rojo como sangre, adivinacion hecho
para la esposa de Orunmila cuando ella estaba padeciendo la hemorragia genital ( el problema
de sangre ). le aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio con el caracol, gallina y tela roja. Ella hizo
el sacrificio y la afliccion rebajo despues de que ella se puso embarazada y dio el nacimiento a
un nifio.

Cuando este odu aparece para una mujer a la adivinacion, le diran que haga el sacrificio para
apartar el peligro de sangrar menstrual excesivo que puede impedirle por otra parte ponerse
embarazada.
 El capitulo 8
OSA-OW ANRIN
OSA-OLUBI

El Hizo la Adivinacion para Aromi, el Hijo del Rio.

Arigbanran san san san Ahgbanan. Odifa fun Aromi nijoti eja
konti He baba Aromi mba shota.

Ese era el Awo que la adivinacion hecho para Aromi (el tebe de Etebe en Bini) el hijo del rio
cuando los arrendatarios en la casa de su padre, estaba trazando para matarlo. Los
arrendatarios en la casa del padre de Aromi eran el pesca. Le dijeron que hiciera el sacrificio
con un kolanut especial llamado Aridan en Yoruba y Ebidan en Bini, Oribaza (u oriboje de la
oveja) las hojas, pimienta y un macho cabrio.

Esu les aconsej6 a los seres humanos que molieran los otros materiales despues de comer el
macho cabrio, (el viz, Oveja-oriboje, Aridan y pimienta) y los puso en el rio. Antes de la
mafiana siguiente, todos el pesca se habia muerto y sus cadaveres eran flotantes en la
superficie del rio. Cuando las personas el agua atractiva vino a ver el muerto pesca la mafiana
siguiente, ellos estaban contentos recogerlos. En su parte cuando Aromi descubrio que todos
sus enemigos estaban muertos, el empez6 a cantar y bailar en la alabanza del Awo que la
adivinacion hecho y sacrifica para el. Por eso Aromi que siempre baila en la superficie del rio
se ve.

El uso de Oribaza por matar pesca en el rio se ha vuelto una tradicion hasta el momento en
muchos lugares. Cuando el Odu aparece a la adivinacion, la persona debe decirse que sus
enemigos estan en la casa del padre y que si le gustara destruirlos, el debe hacer el sacrificio
con un macho cabrio, pimienta, Aridan y Oribaza.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para la Iguana

El rerere de Osa. El rerere de Owanrin, adivinacion hecho para la Iguana (Aghanringhan en

Yoruba y Omianwenze en Bini) cuando el iba a recibir a un visitante. Le dijeron albergar a
cualquier visitante en su casa ni entrar en cualquier negocio de la sociedad, sin servir Esu con
un macho cabrio.

Sin hacer el sacrificio, el procedi6 aceptar pronto despues a un visitante de alojamiento en su

casa no obstante. El propio Afterworming en la confianza de Iguana, el visitante propuso que
ellos deben estar comerciando juntos. Olvidandose o ignorando la advertencia el se dio al
divina - el tion, la Iguana prosigui6 estar de acuerdo con la propuesta de su visitante.

Entretanto, la Iguana viaj6 al mercado solo, pero antes de que el volviera, su visitante hizo
lejos con todas las valiosas cosas de su organizador y puso su casa en el fuego. En su retomo
del mercado, la Iguana no tenia ninguna casa para entrar. El fue como consecuencia a
Orunmila que lo culpo de ninguno considerando el consejo ni haciendo el sacrificio. El paso
en el futuro al bosque que se ha vuelto su habitat tradicional desde
entonces. La casualidad lo enmudeci6 tanto sin embargo que el se puso parcialmente sordo. El
solo oye las palabras suave-habladas pero no bram6 o los sonidos afilados. Debe acentuarse
que se prohibia servir lfa con la Iguana, el beause del desprecio con que el trat6 el consejo de
Orunmila.

Cuando este Ifa aparece a U gbodu, la persona servira el nuevo lfa con un cocodrilo, y su
cabeza con un gallo. A la adivinaci6n, la persona debe aconsejarse para servir; Esu con un
macho cabrio, y su cabeza con un gallo, para frustrar todas las intenciones malas de un
visitante el es pronto tener.

La Adivinacion le Constituy6 Antes de Dejar el Cielo

Angbon hacen el ogojo del ni era el Awo que la adivinaci6n hecho para este odu cuando el
estaba viniendo al mundo. El fue al Awo por la adivinaci6n cuando los problemas que el
estaba teniendo de sus tres hermanos se pusieron intolerables. El quiso escapar del cielo para
buscar el refugio en la tierra. Sus tres hermanos molestos eran sacerdotes de los Ogun,
Osanyin y divinidades de Oshun/Olokun. Le aconsejaron que la (mica manera de evitar un
repita experiencia de sus problemas celestiales en la tierra era servir Esu con un macho cabrio;
Olokun con una cabra multi-coloreada y los regalos tradicionales a la divinidad de agua;
Osanyin con un perro negro; y Ogun con el gallo del castafio y el perro castafio. Despues de
esto, el era servir a su angel guardian con una guinea el ave y una cabra coloreada gris. Era el
costo de hacer los sacrificios que lo asustaron en decidir escapar a la tierra, aunque el Awo lo
previno que sus hermanos habria mas pronto que despues unalo en la tierra. El hizo los
sacrificios a Esu y su angel guardian antes de escapar al mundo.

El naci6 en una familia d6nde habia ya tres hermanos nacido ante el. El creci6 para hacerse un
sacerdote de lfa practicando. Cuando el empez6 a mostrar sefiales de lo haber hecho, sus
mayores hermanos uncieron contra el. Una vez mas, el se encontr6 rodeado por los hermanos
hostiles y celosos. Desde que el tenia ningun donde el resto escape a, el fue por la adivinaci6n
y le dijeron que sirviera Esu con un macho cabrio; Ifa con la cabra gris y guinea el ave; Ogun
con el gallo y tortuga; Olokun con el gallo blanco y otros materiales; y Osun con un perro
negro. Este tiempo, el hizo todos los sacrificios.

Despues de esto Esu fue a instigar Ogun, Osun y Olokun para emprender la guerra contra los
tres hermanos de Orunmila alrededor. El mayor se puso enfermo incurablemente, el pr6ximo
uno se puso enfadado, mientras el tercero uno se desvi6 sin prop6sito fijo en el mundo.
Orunmila disfrut6 como consecuencia una vida dichosa en paz y prosperidad.

Cuando este lfa aparece a Ugbodu, la persona se preguntara si el es uno de un conjunto de

cuatro jugadores. El debe hacer los sacrificios teniendo su propio Ogun, Osun y Olokun
ademas de lfa. Si aparece a la adivinaci6n, la persona debe decirse hacer el sacrificio debido a
los problemas que el esta teniendo de las relaciones intimas.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para Onirefi Cuando El Era Pobre

Angbon odo ni ogojo. Omi ata si eni ni oju, Omi

a ta si eni ni enu. Adifa fun Onirefi tete omo
 afi akoloko eja ni oju omi.

Cuando uno salpica el agua en el rio, el agua entra en la cara y boca. Esos eran los Awos
que la adivinacion hecho para Onirefi el pescador. Le aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio
para disfrutar la fortuna destino para venir a el del rio. Le exigieron que hiciera el
sacrificio con los comestibleses dukes, tela blanca y una planta pequefia. El hizo el
sacrificio despues de preparar el sacrificio, le dijeron tomarlo al banco de un rio y usar una
canoa para remarlo a la primera masa de la tierra el vino por. El era depositar el sacrificio
alli y construir una choza para vivir en como su casa de la morada en la misma mancha.

El colecciono todas sus cosas en una canoa y llevo los sacrificios con el. El remo su barco
hasta que el se encontrara con un landmass. Despues de dejar caer el sacrificio alli, el
construyo una choza donde el empezo a vivir exclusivamente. Entretanto, el continuo su
negocio de la pesca, pero aunque el hizo las capturas considerables, el tenia nadie para
comprarlos en la isla del ermitafio. El empezo a fumar sin embargo el pesca el estaba
cogiendo en la anticipacion de compradores probables.

Cuando Esu recordo que ese Onirefi hizo el sacrificio, el fue a alertar a las personas en los
pueblos inmediatos y aldeas comprar el pez de el alrededor. Como cada vez mas personas
comprar el pez de el vinieron, el lugar desarrollo primero en un mercado y como
consecuencia en un pueblo. El pueblo se volvio conocido como Eko y despues de que
habia crecido en el tamafio y poblacion, las personas consiguieron juntas y Onirefi
designado como su rey. Durante su coronacion, el canto en la alabanza del sacerdote de lfa
que la adivinacion hecho y sacrifica para el.

A la adivinacion, la persona se aconsejara para hacer el sacrificio para ponerse prospero.

Deben decirle que la prosperidad vendra a el si el vive y trabajos en Lagos.

El Sacrificio especial para Luchar a los Enemigos

Olire fun fun tete, Omo akeruru fe eja. Ijobiriki iti ni ore mijo
shu. Oni awon wo lo ko erun le em ne mo gun osheko Moni
awon omo eku ni. Oni ta ni won ko sibe de. Moni iwo
Orunmila ni. Oni won o ni lo'ri ogbo-Oni won ko
ni lo h ato. Oni ijo birikiti, ni ire. Moni ijo shu.
Oni ta lo keru leru si mogun odale. Moni awon omo eja ni.
Oni ta ni won ko si mogun odale. Moni iwo Orunmila ni. Oni won
koni Ion ogbo. Oni won koni Ion ato. Oni ijo birikiti
ni ire. Moni ijo shu. Oni awon lo ko erun le erun si mogun.
Ohehe lerun. Moni awon omo araye ni. Oni tani wonko si be de.
Moni iwo Orunmila ni. Oni won ko Ion ogbo. Oni tani won ko
Ion ato. Oni abi won ko awon'kpe ewe kan jaju italo. Oni ikpanri
awo ojaju erumole lo. Oni showere kpekpe, ekpe akpale le kpe
showere kpekpe.

Las personas reunieron para asaltar a alguien. Orunmila pregunto quien ellos estaban
encorvando los musculos para, y yo conteste que las ratas estaban esperando confrontarlo.
El maldijo que ellos nunca vivirian mucho tiempo. El maldijo semejantemente el pesca asi
como seres humanos que conspiran para asaltarlo. El
descubrio que hay una hoja en el bosque que esta mas picante que la pimienta. La cabeza de
un Awo es mas vengativa que aquellos de las 200 divinidades. Cualquiera que abre su boca
para maldecir un Awo tendra la maldicion que esta en el o ella.

Cuando este Odu aparece a la adivinacion, la persona se <lira que algunos enemigos estan
conspirando para provocar su downfalll. Las hojas, (el lakparada de la oveja) se agrega
sazonar con pimiento las hojas y conectar con tierra con la sangre de una gallina y marcado en
su cabeza despues de que su cabeza esparcira a las conspiradoras.

Un Poema Especial

Orunmila ni inu ibu. Mani inu ola. Oni inu ibu, inu ola labi
Ogun si ki o to di olagbara. Inu ola ni abi. Esu si ode ijelu.
Inu ola ni a bi. Osun si ni ide ikponda. Inu ola ni abi Orisa-
Nla si ni ode Iranje. Inu ola ni abi Orunmila si ni oke jeti.
Inu ola ni a bi Akakpo meji awishe si.
 Capitulo 9
OSA-OGUNDA
OSA-OGUNLEJA
OSAGUN-ERO
El Hizo la Adivinacion para Osa Cuando El Sedujo a la Esposa de Ogun

Kpara gijan, lbole gijan. Ewe to be she oron okun takpa ti

tamore a re. Odifa fun Osa ti o ma gba aya Ogun.

Ese era el Awo que la adivinacion hecho para Osa cuando el iba a seducir a la esposa de Ogun.
Le aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio. Cuando le dijeron que Ogun lo lucharian; el solo
disuadio que ese Ogun tenia un machete corto como su arma que no podria hacer dafio. El
hizo el sacrificio con un macho cabrio a Esu despues de que el retuvo a la esposa de Ogun con
exito sin cualquier consecuencia adversa.

Le aconsejaran que abandone a la mujer a la adivinacion como Ayeo para un hombre, que el
esta seduciendo porque el marido lo luchara a un acabado. Si es Ure, deben decirle que sirva
Esu con un macho cabrio para escaparse con la seduccion.

Divined para Orunmila Cuando Sus Tres Esposas lo Abandonaron

Afun rururu, Ore ele oye sogunru jege. Ore onu Oke ijero
Ara gbagba oro otu ife kin biti. Adifa fun Orunmila nip ti
awon ayare sa lo. Osanyin oje Orunmila lowo oke kon.

Las tres esposas de Orunmila; Afunruru, jege de Sogunru y gbagba de Asa corrieron fuera de
el y fueron respectivamente a Oyo, Ijero e Ife. Entretanto, Osanyin pidio prestado una bolsa de
dinero de Orunmila, mientras prometiendo trabajar para el en lugar del prestamo.

La mafiana siguiente, Orunmila fue con Osanyin a su granja y le dio un machete para trabajar
cepillando su nueva granja. Despues de que Orunmila habia salido, Osanyin se sentaba
mirando fijamente a las hojas sin hacer cualquier aclaramiento. Cuando Orunmila volvio por la
tarde para descubrir ese Osanyin no habia hecho el trabajo, el lo pregunto por no haber
trabajado. En la contestacion, Osanyin contesto que desde que el supo los usos a que las hojas
podrian aplicarse, el no fue inclinado para reducir cualquiera de ellos. El explico que algunas
de las hojas pudieran usarse para los embarazos del procurring, por entregar a los nifios, por
sanar el enfermo y por proteger uno de la incidencia de brujeria. Orunmila retorcio
preguntandole como el iba a reembolsar su prestamo desde que el no pudiera reembolsarlo en
el tipo. El le aconsej6 a Orunmila que llevara con el pero le aconsej6 que buscara las semillas
para plantar en la granja,

Orunmila consiguio sin embargo que otras personas cepillaran la granja, tumbo los arboles y
quema la granja para el. Despues de aclarar los arbustos, Orunmila le dio las semillas a
Osanyin para plantar en la granja. El planto todas las semillas. Cuando las cosechas
germinaron, Osanyin le aconsej6 a Orunmila que fuera al mercado para hacer
un proclaimation que cualquiera con las mercanciases para vender debe venderlos en el
proximo dia del mercado porque nadie iba a entrar en el mercado en el dia del mercado
siguiente porque el iba a monopolizar el mercado para la venta de mercanciases
especiales. El tambien le aconsejo a Orunmila que alistara la ayuda de mujeres del
mercado para ayudarle llevar sus mercanciases al mercado en el dia operativo.

En el dia del mercado designado, Orunmila congrego a todas las mujeres que eran llevar
las cosechas al mercado despues de que Osanyin contundente vaya con ellos a la granja.
Osanyin foe con su encanto especial al mercado ( el afo de Dificultad en Yoruba y
Ukokogho en Bini) Osanyin les dijo que segaran la mies las verduras que multiplicaron
tanto que ellos llenaron sesenta cestos. Luego, el los tomo a la seccion de Okro de la
granja donde la cosecha tambien lleno sesenta cestos. El realizo los hechos similares con
los fiames, platanos, maiz, cocoyam y una variedad de cosechas. El mercado estaba
totalmente Ueno a con las cosechas segadas la mies de la granja de Orunmila. Cuando las
tres esposas extrafiadas de sierra de Orunmila las cosechas a trayendose de su granja, ellos
entraron el mercado juntos para ponderar en el cambio saludable en las fortunas de su
marido.

Antes en, Orunmila habia hecho el sacrificio para procurar el retomo de sus tres esposas.
El sacrificio manifesto cuando las tres mujeres se resolvieron para devolver a el disfrutar
fuera de su prosperidad nuevo-encontro. Cuando el dejo el mercado en el futuro, las tres
esposas recurridas a el para perdonarlos y permitirlos devuelven casa con el. Habia una
reunion feliz. Con el hecho milagroso logrado por Osanyin, el recobro no solo su indulto
de su deuda, pero tambien tenia su porcion justa de la cosecha de Orunmila.

A la adivinacion, la persona debe hacer el sacrificio a Osanyin e lfa para que toda su
fortuna perdida pudiera devolver a el.

El Sacrificio especial para una Vida Fresca y Paz de Mente

Orunmila ni ero. Moni ero. Oni ero ni ki akpa fun Ogun, Ki

Ogun ki olefi owo ero mu eni. Oni ero ni ki akpa fun omo
erumole. Mokan le logun. Oni ki akpa ero gi Orunmila, ki
olefi pwo ero re mu eni.

A la adivinacion la persona se <lira que su vida esta muy caliente. El debe hacer el
sacrificio para refrescarlo abajo.

Divined para Songo Command el Miedo Universal y Respeto

Otun Ian sa Ogun Alara. Osi ni a awo Ogun ajero lbi

ti a ba wun eni, ni a nsa Ogun eni si. Odifa fun Songo.
Songo wa ni afishere omo enia.
Los ofAlara de encantos ocupan el derecho, mientras
Los ofAjero de encantos ocupan la izquierda.
El hombre usa los encantos para cualquier proposito que el agrada.

Estos eran los Awos que la adivinacion hecho para Songo cuando el estaba
ridiculizandose como indemne, y cuando las personas estaban haciendo broma de el. Le
aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio con un camera, tela roja, tela blanca y doscientos y
uno granula. El hizo el sacrificio en secreto sin el conocimiento de cualquiera. El se dio
los guijarros a cada tiempo que el quiso hablar con cualquiera.
Cuando las personas empezaron a abuchear de nuevo a el despues de que el sacrificio que
el hizo, el bramo las palabras siguientes:

"Moru gba, Moru gba wa".

Despues de esto, el tiro uno de las piedras con que el hizo el sacrificio. El ruido trono a lo
largo de la longitud y respiracion de cielo y tierra. Por las personas de accion de reflejo
gritadas:

"Kawo ka bi ye si"

Instintivamente, las personas pagaron el homenaje a el despues de su grito estruendoso.

Por eso else llama la divinidad que las personas asustadas. Cuando este Odu aparece a la
adivinacion, la persona se aconsejara para hacer el sacrificio para ordenar miedo universal,
honor y respeto.

El Sacrificio que El Hizo Antes de Dejar el Cielo

Ajakpa da, o ma ke me kun. Owawu o gele.

Ese era el Awo que la adivinacion hecho para Orunmila antes de venir al mundo. Le
aconsejaron abstenerse de alardear y hacer el sacrificio para prevenir la muerte a traves de
una mujer. Le exigieron hacer los sacrificios a su angel guardian con una tortuga, su
cabeza con la came de elefante y una guinea-ave,; y Esu con un macho cabrio. El hizo
todos los sacrificios antes de dejar para la tierra. Ogun era su enemigo principal en el cielo
y el tenia que escapar a la tierra a menos que observandose por Ogun. Por eso el se llama
por el apodo de Osa la corteza de Ogun.

El vino al mundo y empezo a tener los problemas. Aunque las cosas resultaron bien para
el, cuando el salio para la adivinacion de desesperacion, le dijeron que sirviera; su cabeza
con el guinea-ave y la came de elefante, su angel guardian con una tortuga, Esu con un
macho cabrio, y la divinidad molida con una oveja (la oveja). El hizo los sacrificios.
Pronto despues, el se puso tan popular a causa de su efectividad que el Alara de llara
invito a el y novio una esposa a el mientras haciendole al mismo tiempo el diviner real.

Entretanto, ajakpada de Awo, sus diviner celestiales tambien habian venido al mundo
donde el empezo a alardear que el era la fuerza detras del exito de Osa-Ogunda. Osa-
Ogunda sono lfa a que le dijo; de un macho cabrio, cocoyam y sus iro visten a Esu y para
servir Ogun con el gallo y perro para evitar la muerte a traves de una mujer. El siempre
estaba fanfarroneando y alardeando vano-gloriosamente a las reuniones de los sacerdotes
divinos, hasta que una sacerdotisa decidiera favorecerlo en el orden a averigiie el secreto
de su poder. Despues de saber su secreto, la mujer espero por la proxima oportunidad de
cancelar su fanfarronada.

A una reumon subsecuente de los sacerdotes divinos, en cuanto el empezara la jactancia,

mientras jurando y amenazando, la mujer le dijo al Olori-Awo, presidente del
Awos para pedir ese Ajakpada debe aprehenderse para el para hacer su peor. El OloriAwo
en la consonancia con el consejo de la sacerdotisa dio el orden a los ordenanzas
aprehenderlo. Como el estaba aprehendiendose, el arranc6 su espada. Cuando el demostr6
y amenaz6 que c6mo el iba a usar la espada para cortar la garganta de cualquiera que se
atrevi6 a tocarlo, el dafio su propia garganta fatalmente y se cay6 en la tierra en un coma.
El se muri6 como consecuencia en su casa, mientras matandose asi y desmayandose como
el precio que el tenia que pagar por ignorar consejo y por no hacienda el sacrificio.

Cuando este odu aparece durante la iniciaci6n de Ifa al conclave confidencial, la persona
debe decirse hacer el sacrificio para evitar el riesgo de alardear y comportarse vano
gloriosamente, y para apartar el peligro de tefiir a traves de las maquinaciones de una
mujer. A la adivinaci6n, la persona debe pedirse servirellos a Esu y a Ogun anticipar el
peligro de deshacerse.
 El capitulo 10
OSA-ETURA
OSA-ALA WURE
OSA-ILEFIRI

El Hizo la Adivinacion para Alajuba Cuando la Muerte estaba Cazando para El

Ehon nhon mi. Emi nhdn ehon, hahalawo alajugha, Odifa fun
Alajugha ni ojo ti iku nse ode re.

Usted me engafio y yo lo engafie, era el nomhre del Awos que la adivinacion hecho para
Alajugha cuando la muerte estaha en su sendero. Le aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio
para dar jaque mate los planes de muerte contra el. Le exigieron que hiciera el sacrificio
con la calahaza vacia, ropa usada y un tuberculo de fiame, El hizo el sacrificio despues de
que Esu manej6 la muerte fuera de su sendero

Cuando este Odu aparece como Ayeo a la adivinaci6n, la persona se aconsejara para hacer
el sacrificio para manejar la muerte fuera de acechar alrededor de el.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para Osanyinmola Cuando El Tenia 111 afios

Eje ki a fi omo igi ro si He Olodumare

Eje ki a fi omo enia si'le Olodumare
Awon ni o she Ifa fun Osanyinmola. Won fi akuko adiye ho ori re.
Permita el arbol joven morar en el lugar de sus antepasados.
Permita la humanidad ocupar la casa de Dios.

Esos fueron los dos Awos que la adivinacion hecho para Osanyinmola cuando el estaha
tan enfermo que la enfermedad desafio todos los tipos de medicaciones y sacrificios. Le
aconsejaron que sirviera su caheza con un gallo blanco y Osanyin con un gallo castafio. El
hizo el sacrificio y sohrevivia la enfermedad y vivio a una vejez madura.
A la adivinacion, la persona dehe aconsejarse para no confiar en las medicinas diabolicas
y encantos demasiado pesadamente porque ellos no lo ayudarian. El dehe servir su caheza
con un gallo y la divinidad u Orisa en su familia con un gallo castafio. Ellos lo protegeran.

La Adlvinacion que El Hizo Antes de Dejar el Cielo

Kin ha ni'rejoni, A ha ha ni'rejoni, A mo'ta irejoni.

Es hueno mover con una persona honrada. Ese era el nomhre del Awo que la adivinacion
hecho para Orunmila cuando el estaha viniendo al mundo. Le dijeron que el iba a practicar
Ifism en las circunstancias de prueha en la tierra y fue aconsejado para armarse haciendo
los sacrificios siguientes por consiguiente:

1) para servir a su angel guardian con una cahra, gallina, tortuga y paloma;
 2) para servir Esu con un macho cabrio, sopa de pimienta y eko;

3) para servir la divinidad del Obstaculo (Elenini o Idoboo) con un gallo, calabaza
de agua y el fiame aplastado en el bosque; y

4) servir Olokun/Oshun con la paloma, el gallo blanco, un pedazo de tela blanca y

los cauris

El hizo todos los sacrificios antes de dejar para el mundo donde el se hizo un sacerdote de
lfa. El estaba hacienda tan bien que su fama fue a todos los monarcas gobemantes del
mundo conocido y las divinidades.

Entretanto, Orisa-Nla envio para el junta con todas las otras divinidades, y les dijo que el
queria que ellos lo acompafiaran en una gira en siete tiempo de los dias. En conseguir casa
el sono su okeponrin (la adivinacion del ikin), e lfa le dijo servirlo con una cabra, gallina,
tortuga y paloma y cocinar la sopa por comer el fiame golpeado acompafiando con Efirin
(lhiri en Bini) las hojas; y Esu con un macho cabrio y eko y sopa de pimienta. El hizo los
sacrificios antes de partir para una jomada cuya no se descubrieron destino y proposito.

Cuando Orisa-Nla consiguio a su verja con los otros miembros de la fiesta, ellos
granizaron el y el salio para unirlos. A la salida, Orisa-Nla frente-advirtio a los miembros
de su media ambiente que iba a ser un viaje sin parar sin comer, bebiendo, mientras
descansando y durmiendo hasta que ellos consiguieran a su destino. Despues de caminar
sin parar durante tres dias. Orunmila busco el permiso para aliviarse. Su excusa fue
concedida y en cuanto el entrara en el arbusto, el sono Ifa para las direcciones y le dijeron
que la ayuda estaba camino a el. El ya era muy debil, cansado, hambriento y sediento.

Como el estaba saliendo del arbusto, el se encontro a una mujer que estaba viniendo a
entregar un sacrificio con el eko y akara. El detuvo a la mujer y le dijo que ella estaba
viniendo a hacer un sacrificio porque ella habia estado embarazada durante tres afios sin
poder entregar. La mujer confirmo la revelacion y el le dijo que se rindiera el sacrificio a
el. El tambien colecciono la calabaza de agua que la mujer estaba sosteniendo, y bebio
para apagar su sed.

Mientras el todavia estaba comiendo, un cazador vino y Orunmila le dijo que su esposa
habia estado en la labor durante siete dias y habia estado al punto de muerte. El agrego
que que era que los medicos que estaban intentando ayudar a la mujer para entregar eso le
dijeron que viniera al bosque donde el se encontraria el Awo que era resolver su problema.
El cazador confirmo a sus declaraciones despues de que el decidio seguir a la mujer y el
cazador a sus casas respectivas. Desde que Orisa-Nla no parece tradicionalmente atras que
cuando el viaja, el no noto que ese Orunmila no se reunio con el sequito.

Desde los problemas del cazador la atencion mas urgente merecio que el de la mujer, el
decidio ir primero a la casa anterior donde el encontro a la mujer en la labor ser en
comatoso. En llegar alli el saco los materiales de su balsa (Akpominijekun o Agbavboko)
y los puso en una olla por cocinar. Despues de cocinarlo, el dio parte de el
a la mujer beber mientras ella se dio un bafio a con el resto. Como ella estaba dandose un bafio
a por otras mujeres, ella entreg6 a un hebe saludable. El cazador era tan relevado y feliz que el
present6 los regalos detallados a Orunmila.

Despues de esto, el foe con la mujer embarazada a su casa d6nde el prepar6 a otra olla para
ella beber de y bafiar. El se volvi6 los beknighted en la casa de la mujer y su marido le dio una
hospitalidad conveniente. En cuanto el gallo braveado la mafiana siguiente, la mujer empez6
teniendo los dolores obreros. A la adivinaci6n, el descubri6 que el hebe era debido. El sac6 su
calabaza medicinal y lo puso en la boca de las mujeres. Cuando el gallo estaba braveando un
segundo tiempo, ella dio el nacimiento a un hebe.

Las dos casualidades lo lanzaron en afamar y fortuna, y el Oba del susbsequently del pueblo lo
persuadi6 establecerse con ellos. Cuando el estaba de acuerdo en permanecer en el pueblo, el
Oba les dijo a las personas que le construyeran una casa conveniente por la labor comunal. Su
lugar siempre estaba vertiendo con las visitas y el pudo satisfacer a todos que vinimos a el para
la ayuda. El se puso tan pr6spero en el pueblo que el era hecho el Araba, Olotu-Awo.

Entretanto, Orisa-Nla y el resto de su sequito continuaron en la jomada interminable y sin

objeto. En cuanto Orisa-Nla foera dicho que Orunmila habia salido fortivamente foera del tren,
el proclam6 que era tiempo por ellos devolver casa. Era exactamente tres afios desde que ellos
partieron y cuando ellos consiguieron al pueblo d6nde Orunmila estaba viviendo, ellos foeron
a su casa. Antes de entonces, le habian dicho por Ifa para preparar una fiesta con una vaca que
el hizo en la esperanza que se signific6 por entretener a las personas del pueblo.

Despues de cocinar la comida y poner la mesa, el estaba a punto de mandarles a los heraldos
publicos que invitar a las personas a la fiesta cuando Orisa-Nla lleg6 con su medio ambiente.
Ellos todos pasaron a la casa de Orunmila d6nde ellos comieron y bebieron al volumen de su
coraz6n. Antes de salir, Orisa-Nla sac6 su instrumento de autoridad (ASE) y proclam6 que
desde que era solo Orunmila que pas6 la prueba que el puso para las divinidades, teniendo la
inteligencia a saber cuando devolver casa para establecerse, todas las cosas buenas de vida
vendrian siempre y se lo encontrarian en casa. Por eso el es la unica divinidad que no mueve
alrededor bailar o realizar. Las personas entran a el en su casa.
Cuando este odu aparece a U gbodu, la persona se <lira que su prosperidad queda foera de su
pueblo de la casa. El viajara a otro pueblo o pais para establecerse, pero una vez el llega alli, el
debe dejar de mover alrededor. El debe hacer el sacrificio para una vida fija. A la adivinaci6n,
la persona debe decirse que su trabajo lo tomara a un lugar distante, pero debe hacer el
sacrificio antes de ir para que el pueda el return a una vida mas pr6spera.

El Hizo la Adivinacion Para el Miisico Real

El ronron de Oshunkpa. Odifa Olire divertido. Ese era el Awo que la adivinaci6n hecho para el
musico real cuando la muerte iba a visitarlo. A la adivinaci6n, Osa-Ilefiri aparecia y el musico
foe aconsejado para servir su cabeza con un gallo blanco, paloma blanca, y Esu con un macho
cabrio. El Awo tambien le dijo que trajera una gallina, un caracol y un pedazo blanco de tela
para un sacrificio especial a ser preparado para el
para apartar el peligro de muerte subita dentro de tres meses. El no fue inclinado para hacer los
sacrificios porque el los consider6 como el comun-lugar. Como el musico real, el era
responsable para entretener el rey y la aristocracia en las ocasiones importantes. Entretanto, era
tiempo por la fiesta anual de Ogun y el habia estado ensayando con su compafiia. Ese era
exactamente dos meses despues de que la adivinaci6n que el hizo. Mientras el estaba
preparando para la fiesta, Esu alert6 la fuerza policiaca celestial que era tiempo para secuestrar
Olire para venir y entretener en el cielo. En la vispera del comienzo de la fiesta, seis policia de
la grial celestial llegaron a su casa y lo secuestraron al cielo. Ni siquiera los miembros de su
casa no supieron lo que pas6 a el. Cuando el Oba envi6 para el la mafiana siguiente, su familia
solo podria decir que el viaj6 a un destino desconocido. El se extrafi6 por todos a la fiesta a
causa de la melodia tradicional y valor de la funci6n de su musica.

Cuando este Odu aparece como Ayeo a la adivinaci6n, la persona se aconsejara para hacer el
sacrificio para apartar el peligro de muerte subita,

El Hizo la Adivinacion para Nanakuana, el Cazador,

Oh buruku ko gba oshe. Lale ki mi da ko gba kainkain.

Adifa fun Nanakuana nijo to'nlo she-oko ode.
La cabeza de suerte dura no responde al efecto limpiador de jab6n.
El uso de esponja no embellece una cara fea.

Esos eran los Awos que la adivinaci6n hecho para un cazador llamada Nanakuana cuando el
iba a cazar en el bosque. Le aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio con un macho cabrio antes de
salir, pero el no lo hizo porque el se quej6 que el no tenia el dinero. El dia siguiente que el dej6
para el bosque. El viaj6 lejos y extensamente en el bosque sin poder disparar un solo juego.
Como el casa estaba volviendo, el vio dos gallinas del arbusto ( el okparo en Yoruba o
Ukorobozo en Bini) y tiro uno de ellos mientras el segundo uno vol6 lejos. El puso el pajaro
como consecuencia en su bolsa de la caza.

Cuando Esu descubri6 que ese Nanakuana no hizo el sacrificio, el decidi6 fomentar el
problema para el. Entretanto, Esu rob6 el pavo real favorito del rey y lo escondi6. Mientras el
pueblo estaba peinandose para el paradero del querida ave, Esu fue a informar al rey que el vio
su querido corriendo en el arbusto, pero que el oyo un armatiro que indica tambien como
consecuencia que alguien lo habia disparado. El rey dio los 6rdenes en seguida que deben
montarse los cheque-puntos en absoluto las entradas principales al pueblo.

Despues de dar la informaci6n fabricada al rey, Esu en la guisa de un policia, procedi6 tomar
una posici6n al punto a que Nankuana iba a surgir del bosque. Como el estaba saliendo del
bosque Esu se lo dirigi6 exigiendo ver el pajaro el dispar6 en el bosque. El contest6 que el
pajaro que el dispar6 era una gallina del arbusto, pero Esu le dijo que el estaba quedando
porque el dispar6 el pavo real favorito del rey. Cuando el sac6 el pajaro muerto para establecer
el la veracidad de su aserci6n, el fue aturdido para ver que lo que sali6 de su bolsa era un pavo
real muerto. El Nanakuana tan desconcertado que Esu lo march6 como consecuencia al palacio
d6nde el se arrest6 formalmente para la interrogaci6n.
Bajo el examen cruzado, el le dijo al rey que el era la victima de circunstancias, porque el no
pudiera explicar como la gallina del arbusto que el disparo en el bosque se convertido en un
pavo real. Despues de pedir al rey para escuchar a su historia del hardluck el revoco que los
dos Awos que la adivinacion hecho para el antes de dejar para el bosque fue Hamada "una
cabeza de suerte dura no puede limpiarse con jabon y la Fealdad no sucumbe a una esponja."
El agreg6 que aunque ellos le aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio, el no podria permitirse el
lujo del costo de un macho cabrio. Le convencieron que un poco de fuerza misteriosa lo habia
castigado por no hacer el sacrificio, mientras agregando melodramaticamente que aparte de
atribuir su condici6n al hardluck, el tenia ninguna otra explicacion o defensa. El estaba ahora
en las lagrimas, A ese punto, Esu intervino que el rey debe darle la oportunidad de hacer el
sacrificio al acusado, pero que si su historia no fuera probada despues de esto, el debe
ejecutarse. Le permitieron al return a su casa d6nde el acord6 pedir prestado el dinero para
comprar un macho cabrio para el sacrificio rapidamente. Despues de que Esu tenia consiguio
su macho cabrio finalmente, el solto el pavo real del rey inmediatamente y fue a sentarse por el
lado del trono del rey. El rey era sorprendido por el giro de eventos y el pidio el descargo y
descargo de la persona del acusado como consecuencia.

El Adivino para Edigban Become el Oba de Ede

Eni ti ha fun kpa ko fun kpa, Eni ti ha fun yede kofun yede.
Okun ti oni igba owo ta ni igba ese o nrin rin kpele kpele.
Adifa fun Edigban nijo ti ofe loje olojo lo'ke Ede Oloja owo.

El hombre pr6spero que debe ser imperioso no era vano glorioso. El

hombre poderoso que debe ser autoritario era manso y benigno. El
milipede con cuatrocientos miembros que deben ser rapidamente
los paseos mudanza airosamente.

Estos eran los Awos que la adivinacion hecho para un hombre Hamada Edigban cuando el iba
a volverse el rey de un pueblo llamado Ede. Le dijeron que hiciera el sacrificio con un camera
a Ifa y un macho cabrio a Esu. El hizo los sacrificios y su reino era dichoso y pacifico. El se
dio los apodos del rey de riqueza despues, paz y prosperidad porque su majestad trajo paz y
opulencia a todos y varios.

Cuando este Odu aparece a la adivinacion, la persona se <lira hacer el sacrificio para lograr la
nobleza, posicion y prosperidad destino para el.

La Adivinacion lo Constitnyo Cuando las Brujas Estaban Despues de El

Asuye suye. Awo He Orunmila, Odifa fun Orunmila om be ni

irangun ota awon eleye.

El suye de Asuye era el substituto que la adivinacion hecho para Orunmila cuando el tenia los
problemas con el club de brujeria. Le dijeron que hiciera el sacrificio con ocho palomas. Le
aconsejaron a crie las palomas despues de preparar el sacrificio. En cuanto las palomas se
acostumbraran a su nuevo habitat, ellos empezaron a asustar cuando quiera fuera de las brujas
que ellos intentaron venir a la casa de Orunmila. Cuando las brujas no pudieran hacer nada que
dar jaque mate las palomas de romper sus estrategias, ellos dejaron Orunmila en paz.
Cuando aparece como Ayeo a la adivinacion, la persona debe decirse que el club de
brujeria tiene una hacha para moler con el o ella. El el o ella debe criar cuatro palomas por
lo menos para estar volando sobre en la casa.

La Adivinacion lo Constituy6 Cuando El Era De viaje a Edidi

Ohun eni kii nu eni. Odifa fun Orunmila baba nshawo lo si

ilu edidi.

Uno no pierde la fortuna asi como las palabras de la boca de uno.

Ese era el nombre del sacerdote de Ifa que la adivinaci6n hecho para Orunmila cuando el
era de viaje para lfa practique al pueblo de Edidi. Le aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio
con dos China chapa, dos gallinas y dos palomas. El hizo el sacrificio. Despues de hacer el
sacrificio el dej6 para el pueblo. Orunmila se dio los dos platos para viajar con durante su
jomada.

Habia una solterona en el pueblo que habia desairado todos los adelantos y oberturas
hecho a ella por los esposos probables. Simplemente antes de entrar en el pueblo,
Orunmila se sentia como aliviarse. El guardo los dos platos por el lado del camino y entr6
en el arbusto para contestar la llamada de naturaleza. Al mismo tiempo, la muchacha y su
amigo estaban volviendo a traves de la ruta despues del agua atractiva del rio.

Cuando la muchacha vio los platos bellamente decorados en la tierra, ella recogi6 uno,
pero Esu pestafie6 sus ojos a ella y el plato se cay6 a la ruptura molida en tres pedazos.
Mientras ella era el fidgetting en que hacer sobre el, Orunmila sali6 del arbusto que lleva
la gorra que contiene la medicina que se habia preparado para el con el ijoki de la oveja.
Ya que su plato habia estado roto por la muchacha, el empez6 a cantar el poema del
sacrificio lo constituido. Como el estaba cantando, la medicina dentro de su gorra estaba
rezumando el agua en sus ojos, haciendole asi parecer como si el estuviera de verdad en
las lagrimas.

Instintivamente, la muchacha empez6 a llorar con el y lo persuadi6 seguir su casa para ver
su engendre. En conseguir casa, Orunmila continu6 llorando que la muchacha habia
destruido el secreto de su longevidad. Ya que Orunmila estaba en las lagrimas, el padre de
la muchacha le pidio aceptar el dinero, las posesiones, etc. para reparar para la perdida del
plato. El retorcio que todo el dinero en el pueblo no pudiera reparar para su vida. El padre
de la muchacha se resolvio el dilema desposandola en el matrimonio a Orunmila. Eso era
cuando el detuvo el grito.

A la adivinaci6n, la persona se <lira que el tiene dos solteronas maduro para el

matrimonio en su casa, y que el mayor de las dos muchachas la esposa de Orunmila es.
Significa que ella tendra que casarse a un hombre que tiene lfa.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para Dos Hermanas

Osa-Olawure hizo la adivinaci6n para dos hermanas, Teete y Moore.

Un dia que su madre dej6 a los dos de ellos en casa, cuando ella fue a la granja. Cuando
ella estaba dejando casa, ella dio sus name de las hijas para comer durante su ausencia.
Despues de la salida de su madre, las dos muchachas empezaron a defender si cocinar o
asar el name. Como ellos estaba defendiendo entre ellos, las tropas enemigas invadieron el
pueblo, entraron en su casa y asieron a las dos muchachas en la cautividad. Ellos se
vendieron como consecuencia en la esclavitud.

Cuando las dos hermanas estaban estando separadas, Teete, el mayor le dijo a Moore que
no se olvidara de ella si ella prosperara dondequiera que que ella fue. Arregle a la
predicci6n de su hermana, Moore se puso opulento despues de recobrar su libertad. Ella se
puso tan adinerada que ella empez6 a comprar a sus propios esclavos. Ella estaba
comprometida en el palma aceite molienda negocio y sus esclavos crujian los granos de la
palma para el aceite de grano de palma productor. Un afio particular, el rendimiento del
grano de la palma era tan rico que se puso necesario para comprometer las manos
adicionales para hacer el agrietamiento. Moore les dijo a sus ayudantes que compraran a
mas esclavos del mercado.

Entre los esclavos comprados del mercado su religiosa Teete estaba, aunque ella no
pudiera reconocerla. Como consecuencia Teete se reconcili6 al quehacer de crujir los
granos de la palma. Cuando quiera su mistress/sister estaba fuera de la casa, ella
empezaria a cantar mientras los granos de la palma increibles. Ella canto a menudo para
hablar de cosas pasadas adelante c6mo su hermana y ella Teete y Moore nacieron, c6mo
su madre dej6 un dia para la granja, mientras dejando un tuberculo de name para ellos
comer. Los soldados enemigos invadieron su casa para capturarlos y c6mo ellos se
vendieron en esclavitud que la separ6 de su religiosa Moore.

Una mayor mujer que vivi6 con Moore escuchaba a la canci6n de Teete hasta que ella
empezara a conjeturar que la muchacha del esclavo pudiera estar refiriendose a su senora.
Estaba claro que las dos hermanas no habian podido reconocemos. Entretanto, la senora
vieja alert6 a su senora a la importancia de las canciones de la nueva esclavomuchacha.
Un dia, Moore decidi6 esconderse escuchar a la canci6n de la muchacha del esclavo. Ella
escondi6 en el cuarto de la mujer vieja y escuch6 mientras su mayor hermana estaba
cantando para revocar sus experiencias una vez mas. En cuanto ella la oyera fuera, ella
miraba a la muchacha del esclavo estrechamente y en comprender que era su mayor
hermana, ella estall6 en las lagrimas y prosigui6 abrazarla mientras todavia en las
lagrimas.

En cuanto las dos hermanas nos reconocieran, Moore hizo la cabeza de su casa a Teete y
ellos vivieron vivieron felices. Cuando este Ifa aparece a Ugbodu, la persona debe servir el
nuevo Ifa con una cabra, y Esu con un macho cabrio, agregando pedazos cocinados de
name para evitar volverse la victima de un cataclismo nacional. La persona se <lira que el
va a viajar a, y se prosperara en, una tierra distante, lejos de la casa de su nacimiento.

A la adivinaci6n, la persona debe decirse servir Esu con el macho cabrio y Ogun con un
gallo evitar al ser arrest6 sin la justificaci6n.
 El capitulo 11
OSA-IRETE
OSA-OLOYAN

El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Agua y la Arena del Rio

Ugba yeke yeke, Awo omi. Odifa fun omi, abufun iranyin.

Ese era el Awo que la adivinaci6n hecho para el agua asi como la arena blanca del rio. El agua
y la arena blanca eran los hermanos nacido de los mismos padres. Riegue, el mayor de los dos
fue a Orunmila por la adivinaci6n y le aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio con un macho
cabrio fuerte, paloma, piedra y polvo amarillo para tener una casa de su propio. El no hizo el
sacrificio. No anhele despues, la arena blanca, el menor de los dos hermanos tambien fue a
Orunmila por la adivinaci6n y le aconsejaron tambien que hiciera el sacrificio con un macho
cabrio fuerte, piedra, sal, paloma y tortuga para evitar al ser en la necesidad de comida comer.
El hizo el sacrificio.

Cuando Esu estaba seguidamente informado que el agua no hizo el sacrificio, y que era s6lo su
hermano menor, la arena blanca que hizo el sacrificio, que el engafi6 el agua en sentarse
encima de la cabeza de su hermano menor, mientras aconsejando la arena blanca para llevar el
peso de su mayor hermano. La importancia del consejo es que hizo el rio para constantemente
estar en el movimiento sin tener una vida fija. Mientras en el movimiento el agua puede nunca
llevar la arena blanca debajo. Toda la comida dada al rio va bajo a alimente la arena blanca
debajo.

A la adivinaci6n, la persona se <lira hacer el sacrificio que su perdida no se vuelve la ganancia

de su hermano menor, secundario o socio.

El Mismo Awo Hizo la Adivinacion para la Rana y el Bufalo

Ugba yeke yeke yeke, Odifa fun Okpolo, abufun Efon

El tambien hizo la adivinaci6n para la rana y el bufalo, cuando ellos iban a tener un concurso.
El aconsej6 la rana para hacer el sacrificio a Ogun con un perro, y Esu con un macho cabrio.
La rana hizo el de hecho el sacrificio. El aconsej6 el bufalo para hacer un sacrificio similar
pero el se neg6 a hacerlo, desde que el no pudiera imaginar c6mo la rana podria en la vida
pegarlo en cualquier concurso.

A una reunion subsecuente de la rana y el bufalo, la rana alarde6 para ser capaz de corriendo
mas rapidamente que el bufalo, El bufalo acept6 el desafio y un dia era designado para el
concurso. En el dia designado, la rana se aline6 su muchos nifios en la ruta del concurso con
cada uno de ellos que sostienen la pluma de un loro rojo en su boca.

La rana se puso fija con el bufalo, pero en cuanto la raza empezara, la rana se qued6 detras de
descansar por el lado del camino cerca de la linea acabada. El bufalo corri6 por otro lado como
el nunca hubiera corrido antes, hasta que el fuera totalmente
enervado. Pensando que el ya tenia fuera-paced la rana, el decidi6 detener para descansar
brevemente. En cuanto el detuviera para descansar, la rana delante de el graniz6 en el no
detener porque el ya estaba delante de el y esperando por el continuar la raza.

Para el miedo de estar vencido en la raza, el bufalo continua corriendo. El mismo proceso se
repiti6 varios tiempos por la mezcla de ranas que hicieron el bufalo para continuar corriendo
sin descansar hasta que el se pusiera completamente exhausto despues de que el se cay6 abajo
el muerto a que el punto, la rana anunci6 su llegada a la linea acabada. El se declar6 el
ganador.

Cuando este Ifa aparece a U gbodu, la persona se aconsejara para hacer el sacrificio con la
came de elefante y bufalo y un camera al nuevo Ifa y macho cabrio a Esu. Deben decirle que
parezca fuera en su familia para una mujer que tiene diez nifios y aconsejado para ser amistoso
con ella, y para no alienarla.

A la adivinaci6n, la persona se <lira servir Esu con un macho cabrio, y Ogun con un gallo,
para evitar a ser deshonrado por un colega inconsecuente.

El Hizo la Adivinacien para Orisa-Nla Cuando Sus Tres Sirvientes Corrieron Fuera en
El

Osa rete, Orin rete, Isa riro kojo ri ogun. Osa okpolo ki
ju ojuti. Osa ayinyan kiju akobelo. Awon lo'ndafa fun, Orisa-Nla
Oshereigbo, nijo ti awon em re meteta saa.

El corredor lento que corre como el camale6n que no va mas alla del frente de la casa. La raza
del sapo que no va mas alla del desague de agua. La raza de la cucaracha que no va mas alla
del caso del matchete. Esa era la encantaci6n con que Orunmila hizo la adivinaci6n para Orisa-
Nla, cuando sus tres sirvientes corrieron lejos. Los tres sirvientes eran el sapo, el camale6n y la
cucaracha. Despues de investigar en vano para ellos, el invit6 cien y noventa y nueve de las
divinidades que excluyen Orunmila, ayudarle encontrarlos. Ellos todos investigaron para los
tres sirvientes en vano sin poder encontrarlos. A ese punto, Elenini, la divinidad del obstaculo
le aconsej6 a Orisa-Nla que invitara Orunmila para la adivinaci6n.

Orunmila le aconsej6 a Orisa-Nla que hiciera tres sacrificios separados despues de la

adivinaci6n. Los sacrificios fueron preparados de acuerdo con. Orunmila le dijo a OrisaNla
que los entregara solo. El primero uno seria depositado al pie del arbol delante de su casa.
Como el estaba soltando el sacrificio con la oraci6n para sus sirvientes escapados devolver
casa a el, el camale6n retorcido pidiendolo para el perd6n. El camale6n devolvi6 al instante a
la casa con el.

Le dijeron que entregara el segundo sacrificio al desagiie de agua que lleva fuera de la cocina
de su casa. Cuando el or6 de nuevo para el retomo de sus sirvientes escapados, el sapo tambien
empez6 a ruegue para el perd6n. El sapo devolvi6 a la casa con el.

Finalmente, le dijeron que trajera su matchet embale para ser raspado en el tercer sacrificio.
Como el estaba raspando los matchete embalan, agit6 la cucaracha que estaba
escondiendo dentro del caso y el se cay6 al preguntar molido para el perd6n por su mala
conducta.

No pudiendo comprender la manifestaci6n instantanea del sacrificio, Orisa-Nla reaccion6

acusando Orunmila de ser responsable para instigar a los tres sirvientes para correr lejos.
Orunmila reaccion6 acusando Orisa-Nla de ingratitud gruesa. El argumento atrajo las otras
divinidades que, despues de oir los dos lados, fuera de envidia, convenido con Orisa-Nla
que era de hecho Orunmila que conspir6 con los tres sirvientes escapar.

Fuera de enojo, Orunmila sac6 su instrumento de autoridad para proclamar eso de ese dia,
ningun sacrificio manifestara de nuevo en el mismo dia es hecho.

El Divined para Orisa Make el Sacrificio Con Su Vestido

Osa-rete, Ogban inu eni ni bani asun baniji.

Eda eni ni ba ni nishe ishegun bu a ba kofa titi lale.
Bi a ba kofa le akoju she ni iyoni lenu.
Adifa fun Orunmila nijo ti onto ye okekponrin Orisa wo.
Oni ki Orisa ru ebo.
Los sentidos de uno duermen y se despiertan con uno.
El angel guardian de uno venga para uno.
El demasiado conocimiento de lfa crea los problemas para uno.

Estos eran los Awos que la adivinaci6n hecho para Orunmila cuando el iba a ver al angel
guardian de Dios. El le dijo a Dios que hiciera el sacrificio con su (mica ropa blanca y el
hizo. Usando la tela para hacer el sacrificio Orunmila persigui6 lejos con el. Cuando las
divinidades se atroparon en dar los saludos de la mafiana a Dios que ellos lo encontraron
sin su ropa blanca tradicional. Cuando el explic6 que ese Orunmila se lo llev6 despues de
usarlo para hacer el sacrificio, todas las divinidades estaban enfurecidas encima del
vindictiveness claro de Orunmila y ellos decidieron condenarlo al ostracismo. Como un
castigo a el, Orunmila se mand6 como consecuencia por todas las divinidades para hacer
una fiesta para ellos. El reaccion6 diciendoles que no habia ningun senor entre ellos
porque ellos supieron que le faltaron los medias por festejar todos ellos. No obstante, el
fue determinado para sorprenderlos, si solo como un medias de establecer su sefiorio y
falta de nobleza.

Cuando el son6 lfa para las direcciones, le dijeron que diera un macho cabrio a Esu que el
hizo. Despues de esto Esu coleccion6 todos los materiales que el requiri6 para la fiesta,
mucho el mas alla la expectativa de las divinidades. La fiesta fue preparada tan
detalladamente que las divinidades eran todos defraudados porque ellos nunca esperaron
que Orunmila pudiera festejarlos tan pr6digamente.

A la adivinaci6n, la persona se <lira que el o ella estan preocupando encima de una

asignaci6n aparentemente dificil. El puede tranquilizarse que si el da un macho cabrio a
Esu, el realizara la tarea al asombro de sus detractores.

La Adivinacion que El Hizo Antes de Dejar el Cielo

Uyon mi oyon. Ekpo kii nyin eni lana.

 Uyon mi oyon. Omi kii nyon eni lara.
El aceite no seca al cuerpo. Lo refresca.
El agua tambien refresca el cuerpo.

Esos eran los Awos que la adivinacion hecho para Orunmila cuando el estaba viniendo al
mundo. Le aconsejaron que sirviera a su angel guardian (Okekponrin en Yoruba o Ehi en Bini)
y su cabeza con un camera, el melon sembra con sus cascaras, platano del unpeeled, una cabra
y una gallina, Esu con un macho cabrio,; el enemigo desconocido con tres gallos, tres
calabazas de aceite de la palma y tres calabazas de agua; Ogun con un gallo fuerte, perro
grande, tortuga y calabaza de vino de la palma; y Osanyin con un perro, gallo y tortuga. Le
exigieron que hiciera el sacrificio detallado que porque el necesitaria el apoyo de las
divinidades curando la tormenta de problemas que el iba a encontrar en la tierra. Antes de
dejar el cielo, el sirvio tambien Olokun con una paloma y otros materiales.

El nacio en una familia donde el se volvio el unico hijo, todos los otros nifios que son las
hembras. El tomo a lfa que practica en cuanto el creciera. El tambien tomo a comerciar en el
lado-linea y el tuvo exito inmensamente en las dos vocaciones. El se caso en el futuro a la hija
de Olokun que reforzo su comercio tan con exito que su practica de lfa era totalmente
marginada. El se puso sumamente adinerado a traves de su comercio y el apoyo activo de sus
esposas. El tenia 201 esposas en su haren y dio el nacimiento a un numero innumerable de
nifios. El fue dotado facilmente entonces de mas fortuna y fama el rey de su pueblo.

El exito era pronto engendrar envidia y enemistad. Los enemigos empezaron su salva yendo a
decirle al rey que Orunmila estaba usurpando su autoridad y que el estaba comprometiendo
libremente en el sacrificio humano. Para probar su fabricacion, ellos descubrieron que habia
dos cadaveres frescamente decapitados a la parte de atras de su casa. Entretanto, los enemigos
habian exhumado dos cadaveres recientemente enterrados del cementerio publico, habian
cortado sus cabezas y habian persistido sus cuerpos decapitados en la parte de atras de la casa
de Orunmila. Cuando el rey le envio a la policia real que verificara las alegaciones, los
verificadores descubrieron los dos cadaveres decapitados detras de su casa y el fue arrestado al
instante y acuso de comprometer en el sacrificio humano. El se guardo en la prision para
esperar ensayo y ejecucion.

Mientras el estaba en la detencion, sus esposas fueron a su Awos por la adivinacion. El les dijo
asar una rata y enviarlo a el en la prision servir su cabeza, mientras prometiendo servirlo con
una cabra si el sobreviviera las tribulaciones. Antes de hacer el sacrificio, ellos eran dar un
macho cabrio a Esu. El sacrificio era de acuerdo con hecho. Comiendo su macho cabrio Esu
persiguio al Oba en la guisa de un sacerdote de lfa visitante advertirlo que, un cataclismo era
inminente en su reino por poner Orunmila en la detencion porque se prohibia para encarcelar a
un sacerdote de lfa. El visitante pregunto si el Oba habia investigado los cargos preferidos
contra Orunmila completamente.

En la deferencia al consejo de Esu, el Oba invito a representantes de sus asuntos de cada calle,
aldea, y pueblo asi como las esposas de Orunmila y nifios para buscar su opinion en su
caracter y conducta. El primero puesto de las personas ser cuestionado era miembros de su
familia. El Oba pregunto si Orunmila tenia cualquier divinidad o encantos para que el hizo los
sacrificios humanos. Ellos todos no solo contestaron eso
tenia su padre y el marido nunca comprometi6 en sacrificio humano que el habia dicho a
menudo que Orunmila prohibi6 el sacrificio humano. Ellos insistieron que antes de
matarlo para un la ofensa el no supo nada sabre, el Oba debe matar primero de todos ellos.
Los ciudadanos que tambien fueron congregados confirmaron ese Orunmila era
demasiado inofensivo para tocar una mosca, permita exclusivamente, un ser humano.
Ellos repitieron el aforismo que Orunmila les prohibe a los gran ganancia seres humanos.

Entretanto, despues de examinar los cadaveres decapitados estrechamente, algunos de los

ciudadanos congregados pudieron identificarlos a traves de las cicatrices en sus cuerpos
que ellos eran sus relaciones recientemente enterradas. Ellos demostrados su punto
tomando a la policia del palacio a las tumbas de que los cadaveres se exhumaron por los
fabricantes de la travesura. Con esa informaci6n y corroboraci6n, los acusadores eran
inmediatamente redondeados a, cobr6, probado y sentenci6 a la muerte por la ejecuci6n.
Orunmila no solo fue soltado pero dado el titulo del Shashere del pueblo. Despues de esto
el hizo una fiesta grande para la poblaci6n entera. Cuando este Ifa aparece a U gbodu, la
persona se <lira hacer el sacrificio porque el tendra los problemas que van con el exito. El
se casara mas de una mujer y tendra muchos nifios.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Oloyan

Ti a ba ti k:uro ninu He, ibi ti a nlo, ti o ba ti nkini.

Ibi ti o ti k:uro a jun a. Odifa fun Oloyan omo omi kikan
ti ntu aya ba ni asho.
Cuando nosotros viajamos fuera de casa a una tierra distante,
Nosotros conseguimos a un punto a que nuestro destino esta tan lejos como casa.

Estos eran los Awos que la adivinaci6n hecho para Oloyan. Le aconsejaron que hiciera el
sacrificio con ocho palomas, un gallo, y un macho cabrio para evitar las consecuencias
desagradables de codicia. El hizo el sacrificio pero no agreg6 el macho cabrio para Esu. El
dia siguiente, el sali6 con su hijo llamado Nkan para cazar en el bosque. Cuando el
consigui6 al bosque, ellos vieron los animales suficientes en el otro lado del rio, pero
desde que el rio fue inundado que ellos no podrian cruzar al otro lado. Mientras ellos
estaban preguntandose que hacer, Esu transfigur6 en un remero de la canoa y ofreci6
transportarlos por el rio, si ellos lo premiaran adecuadamente. Oloyan prometi6 dar una
compensaci6n no especificada al botero.

En conseguir al otro lado de] rio, el prometi6 premiar al botero atras en su manera.
Entretanto, Oloyan y su hijo mataron animales suficientes que ellos transportaron mas una
vez por con la ayuda del botero. Despues de tomar la casa de los animales, el botero pidi6
su premio, pero Oloyan continua aplazando. El botero esper6 por su satisfacci6n por tres
meses sin conseguir algo. Despues de esto, Esu caus6 el rio para inundar sus bancos,
mientras generando un diluvio que engolf6 el pueblo entero asi. Oloyan perdi6 su hijo y
propiedad al diluvio por renegar.

Cuando este Odu aparece a la adivinaci6n, la persona se aconsejara para no renegar en su

promesa. Si el ya hubiera roto una promesa, el debe hacer los sacrificios para evitar el
cortejo el riesgo de consecuencias fatales.

El Hizo la Adivinaci6n para las Personas de Oyan y Su Rey el Oloyan

 lgbin gbin yinkintin, awo Oloyan. Odifa fun Oloyan nijo ti.
Oloyan fi omi oju shubere aje. Aniki Oloyan ru ebo.

Ese era el Awo que la adivinacion hecho para Oloyan cuando el era pobre. Le aconsejaron
que hiciera el sacrificio con 16 ratas, 16 pescan y 16 gallinas. El hizo el sacrificio despues
de que el se volvio las muchas esposas adineradas, casadas, tenia muchas esposas, tenia
muchos nifios y tenia el dinero suficiente.

Egungun mogba mogba lo'ndifa fun won lo'de Oyan ni bi ti

ure gbogbo ti yan won loju kaaran kaanran. Ani ki won m
ebo, ki won fi abo adiye ru ebo.

El hizo la adivinacion para las personas de Oyan cuando ellos estaban ansiosos tener las
cosas buenas de vida. El les aconsej6 que hicieran el sacrificio con una gallina. Ellos
hicieron que el sacrificio y los nifios de prosperidad que habia abandonado el pueblo
previamente empezaron a volver.

Cuando aparece a la adivinacion, la persona se aconsejara para hacer el sacrificio para que
la prosperidad pueda devolver a su vida.
 El capitulo 12
OSA-EKA

El Hizo la Adivinacion para Obe-Esilo

Osaka Araka. Odifa fun obe esilo o mba awon eji le ni

Erunwo. esilo lo si oko aloro odun. Won ni ki esilo ru ebo.

Ese era el Awo que la adivinaci6n hecho para el cuchillo de la cocina us6 por pelar los names
y otra comida siega en casa, cuando el era de viaje en la compaiiia de 40 aparatos domesticos a
la granja. Los esilo de Obe fueron por la adivinaci6n y le dijeron que hiciera el sacrificio con
un macho cabrio. Despues de hacer el sacrificio, le aconsejaron no acompaiiar a sus colegas a
la granja pero permanecer en casa.

Cuando los esfuerzos de sus colegas empezaron a rendir las cosechas, los esilo del obe se
volvieron el primero en gustar los. El era el primero en gustar los productos de los esfuerzos
del machete, la azada, la excavadora, el etc del portador de la granja.

A la adivinaci6n, la persona se aconsejara para constituir el sacrificio paz de mente, para que
el beneficio que el esta buscando de una distancia viniera a encontrarselo en casa.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para Salubata

Osaka Araka. Odifa fun Salubata nijo to'nlo siilu awusa.

El hizo la adivinaci6n para las zapatillas anchas cuando el era de viaje a la tierra del Hausas.
Le dijeron que hiciera el sacrificio para ponerse popular. El hizo el sacrificio y se volvi6 el
favorito de todos en el lugar.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para la Calabaza

Osaka, Awo U gba. Odifa fun U gba.

El hizo la adivinaci6n para la calabaza cuando el iba a la granja durante la estaci6n plantando.
Le dijeron que hiciera el sacrificio con un cuchillo (Obeke) y un gallo. El hizo el sacrificio. Al
final del afio de cultivo, el produjo a varios niiios que se volvieron los instrumentos de
ornamentaci6n.

EI Hizo la Adivinacion para el Vertedero del Desecho

Saka saka, soko soko awo etitan. Odifa fun eititan nijo tio lo si
kole orun bo wa si kole aye. Ani ki oru ebo.

El hizo la adivinaci6n para el vertedero de basura cuando el estaba viniendo del cielo. Le
dijeron hacer el sacrificio con el macho cabrio a Esu y gallear a su angel guardian. El hizo el
sacrificio despues de que nunca le aconsejaron minar a cualquiera y no vivir con sirviente o
sirvienta.
En conseguir al mundo el descubri6 que el se dio s6lo los desechos de otras personas. No
el satisified con los disused receptores y los materiales podridos, el decidi6 devolver al
cielo para consultar otro diviner. El fue a un awo llamado Igbodo que le dijo que su
porci6n habia sido disefiada y se habia destinado por su angel guardian y que nada pudiera
hacerse para cambiar su destino. Con eso, el devolvi6 al mundo d6nde el continu6 siendo
el almacen de todo las basuras, basura, basura y heces podrida.

Muy pronto, el se puso tan adinerado que las personas empezaron a envidiarlo. Cuando el
estaba sintiendo el apuro de la envidia, el fue mas una vez por adivinaci6n a que le dijeron
que preparara su propia uma de Ogun con un perro. Despues del sacrificio, Ogun se hizo
su cuerpo-guardia, y Ogun estaba hiriendo y estaba asustando fuera de sus atacantes.
Cualquiera que fue a su casa con las intenciones malas se dafi6 a menudo por roto
embotella hierro del disused, ufias y otros ganchos y espinas. Despues de esto, el quedaba
solo crecer en paz y prosperidad.

Cuando aparece a Ugbodu, la persona se aconsejara para servir; su cabeza con una cabra,
Esu con el macho cabrio y Ogun con el perro. El se asegurara de prosperidad que generara
la envidia, pero no debe permitirle perturbarlo. A la adivinaci6n, la persona debe decirse
servir; su cabeza con una paloma, Ogun con el perro y Esu con el macho cabrio, y se
aconseje para no competir con nadie para algo porque el prosperara en su propio derecho.
 El capitulo 13
OSA-ETURUKPON

El Hizo la Adivinacion para la Trompeta Ponerse Famoso

Osa tuuru, Ipantuuru, babalawo ukpe. Odifa fun Ukpe nijo ti o si

kole orun bo wa si kole aye.

El hizo la adivinaci6n para la trompeta cuando ella estaba viniendo al mundo. Le aconsejaron
que hiciera el sacrificio con: el macho cabrio a Esu; gallee a su cabeza; y gallea a Ogun para
prosperar, tenga muchos nifios y p6ngase famoso en la tierra. Ella hizo el sacrificio. Ella vino
al mismo tiempo al mundo como la calabaza y melon.

En conseguir al mundo, ella se cas6 a Ogbe que la dio al arbol de la palma joven (kete de
Okpe u Okhere) para parecer despues. Los branchs del arbol de la palma produjeron un
enviroment para ella florecer y tener muchos nifios. Cuando sus nifios maduraron por segar la
mies, Esu decidi6 compensarla para el sacrificio que ella hizo.

Las personas habian estado buscando a alguien para anunciar las ocasiones importantes. Esu
les aconsej6 que invitaran las nuevas llegadas al mundo a encontrar fuera que de ellos una voz
melodiosa tenia. Todos los otros intentaron y fallaron. Cuando el giro de Ukpe vino a cantar,
la voz de sus nifios era tan impresionante que ellos eran inmediatamente designados como los
heraldos reales cantar en la alabanza del rey. Dondequiera que el rey fue, el ukpe siempre era
infront ser llevado por un esclavo humano para anunciar su acercamiento. Ellos tambien se
usaron como las cr6nicas de ocasiones importantes en la sociedad. Ukpe prosper6 por
consiguiente a traves de sus nifios.

Cuando aparece a U gbodu, la persona se <lira servir; su cabeza con un gallo, Esu con el
macho cabrio y para prohibir beber el vino de la palma. El debe tener el cuidado relacionando
con sus hermanos y hermanas porque ellos propondran la rivalidad enferma a el.

A la adivinaci6n, la persona debe aconsejarse para servir su o su cabeza con un gallo y Ogun
tambien con un gallo. El debe abstenerse de beber el alcohol.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para una Planta Llamado Kpanrikpan

Osa tuuru Ikpan tuuru. Odifa fun Ikpanhkpan onlo si eti odo,
onto kpowole omo bibi.

El hizo la adivinaci6n para Kpanrikpan cuando ella iba a establecerse cerca del rio. Le
aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio con la gallina, paloma y machete en el orden sobrevivir a
los enemigos humanos y evitar la muerte de masa para ella y sus nifios. Ella no molest6 para
hacer el sacrificio.
En llegar al rio, ella multiplic6 rapidamente teniendo tantos nifios que se reunieron
alrededor de ella. En la plenitud de su prosperidad Esu intervino para aconsejar a los seres
humanos que el acercamiento al rio de d6nde ellos sacaron bebiendo el agua y pescan
tambien se habia infestado con las cizafias. El les aconsej6 que usaran el matchet para
aclarar las cizafias. Como consecuencia, los hombres usaron el machete para destruir a
Kpanrikpan y todos sus nifios.

A la adivinaci6n, la persona se aconsejara para hacer el sacrificio contra el peligro de

destructin de masa para el I ella y nifios.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para la Cabeza y la Mente

Osa kole inu. Eturukpon aya re Ho la idi, Odifa fun On,

Obufun eden. Ebe la mbe on inu ko ma ha to'deje.

Osa no abri6 su est6mago y Eturukpon que su esposa no abri6 su ano. Ellos hicieron la
adivinaci6n para la cabeza y la mente. Es la mente que nosotros tenemos que pedir y
acariciar para no crear los problemas para la cabeza. Ellos eran que los dos aconsejaron
para hacer el sacrificio para que la mente no pudiera desencaminar la cabeza.

La Adivinacion que El Hizo Antes de Dejar el Cielo

El Osa ologun erun. El Eturukpan oloju olofa - fue los dos Awos que la adivinaci6n hecho
para Orunmiila cuando el estaba viniendo al mundo. Le dijeron que sirviera: Esu con el
macho cabrio, su angel guardian con un carnero, pez y rata; Elenini, la divinidad del
obstaculo con una cabra en una fiesta y para obtener las bendiciones de Orisa con la
paloma blanca, tela blanca y tiza blanca. Lo tom6 un tiempo largo antes de completar el
sacrificio detras de que el vino al mundo.

El empez6 operando como un sacerdote de Ifa itinerante a que estaba moviendo de un

lugar el otro. Cuando el no estaba estableciendose propiamente, el tenia un suefio en que
su angel guardian le aconsej6 dejar de vagar sobre y establecerse en un lugar. Le
aconsejaron que sirviera Esu con un macho cabrio en un Iago en que el era dejar su ropa
desgastado, sombrero y zapatos, despues de tomar su bafio en el para que la fortuna buena
pudiera detener el paso el por. Tambien le exigieron servir Esu al pie de un arbol de Iroko
con un segundo macho cabrio y bafiarse alli. Despues de servir Esu a esos dos lugares, el
era servir su Ifa con una cabra.

Desde que el no pudiera imaginar que c6mo el era levantar el dinero para los sacrificios, el
los ignor6 completamente. Por no haciendo el sacrificio, Esu decidi6 atormentarlo con la
riqueza y opulencia. Esu fue a la casa del rey y procurred una epidemia de c6lera.
Orunmila, en su capacidad como el medico real, fue invitado a ayudar. Normalmente, el
pudo a menudo resolver los tales problemas sin cualquier dificultad, pero este tiempo
alrededor de, el intent6 en vano durante un mes rebajar la enfermedad, pero el fall6
tristemente porque la enfermedad tom6 muchas vidas en el pueblo. El se expeli6 como
consecuencia del palacio sin cualquier compensaci6n.

En su camino a casa del palacio, Esu lo confront6 y le dijo que el fall6 porque el no le dio
un macho cabrio. El le pidi6 a Esu que llevara con el, pero el se neg6 a. El intent6 levantar
un prestamo para comprar el macho cabrio, pero nadie estaba de acuerdo en
prestarle el dinero. En el futuro, el rob6 un macho cabrio con que el sirvi6 Esu. En cuanto el lo
ofreciera a Esu, el se aprehendi6 por robar y muy pegado como un ladr6n comun.

Comiendo el macho cabrio Esu persigui6 decirle al Oba que las dificultades en el pueblo no
estaban rebajando atras porque el no trat6 bien Orunmila. Esu le dijo al Oba que Orunmila era
el unico medico que podria detener la epidemia. El Oba envi6 como consecuencia para el y lo
present6 con el regalos comprender; 2 hombres, 2 mujeres, 2 vacas, 2 cabras, 2 machos cabrio,
2 gallinas, y 2 bolsas de dinero; prometiendo darle mas y hacerle unjefe, si el pudiera rebajar la
epidemia.

Orunmila entr6 entonces en el arbusto para coleccionar las hojas apropiadas despues de dar los
dos machos cabrio a Esu en el Iago y al pie del arbol del iroko. Comiendo los 2 machos cabrio
Esu persigui6 a d6nde el anud6 el problema que caus6 la epidemia y lo desat6. Orunmila
prepar6 las medicinas para todas las personas afligidas beber y bafiar con el agua que el
recibi6 del Iago. Antes de la mafiana siguiente, el alivio habia venido a todos y la enfermedad
dej6 de afligir a nadie mas. En una materia de dias, el problema habia terminado y cada jefe en
el pueblo roci6 Orunmila con los regalos. El se puso muy famoso y pr6spero.

A U gbodu, la persona debe decirse hacer el sacrificio especial en el Iago y al pie del arbol de
Iroko.
 El capitulo 14
OSA-OSE
OSA-SESESE

Descubrio para 76 ratas de Bush en cielo

Osa she, inn she. Inn she, Inn kese kese. Ni ese Olude.

Estos eran los Awos que la adivinaci6n hecho para setenta y seis ratas del arbusto. Les
aconsejaron a s6lo oyo del eku que hizo la hechura sacrifique sobrevivir los planes malos
de enemigos, con el okro, el bramante, la hoja, la pura mantequilla (Ori-oyo) era el
sacrificio. El resto se volvi6 las victimas a la humanidad, mientras ningun cuerpo toca el
eku-oyo hasta el momento.

Cuando aparece a la adivinaci6n, la persona se aconsejara para hacer el sacrificio para

sobrevivir los planes malos de enemigos poderosos.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Canto Eluulu y la Serpiente

Osa sese, Odifa fun Eluulu, Obufun Ejo.

El hizo la adivinaci6n para Eluulu cuando ella estaba viniendo al mundo. Le dijeron que
hiciera el sacrificio para prosperar en la tierra. En conseguir al mundo, ella empez6 a tener
los nifios. Despues de tenerla primer nifio, tenia problema del ojo que estaba haciendolo
deslumbra, y que Eluulu hecho vaya a Orunmila por la adivinaci6n. Ella se encontr6 la
serpiente en el lugar de Orunmila que vino con un problema diferente. El se quej6 que el
vino al mundo sin saber dar jaque mate a a su esposa para tener los nifios. Orunmila dijo a
la serpiente que la unica manera que el podria hacer al amor a su esposa estaba
mordiendola ponerla en comatoso. Despues de hacer el amor a ella en su estado de
inconsciencia, Orunmila le ensefio las hojas para apretar en sus ojos para reavivarla. Ese
es lo que la serpiente hace hasta el momento.

En cuanto la serpiente saliera, Eluulu le dijo a Orunmila que su nifio era casi deslumbre y
necesit6 su ayuda adelante c6mo restaurar la vista a el. Orunmila le dijo que usara la
misma hoja que el ensefio a la serpiente a usar para reavivar a su esposa despues de darla
jaque mate a. Las hojas se encuentran dondequiera que que Eluulu sale del cascar6n sus
huevos. Se usa por restaurar la vista a la persiana. De vez en cuando, cuando Eluulu esta
buscando las hojas y los encuentra con la serpiente, ella matara la serpiente, no importa
c6mo grande, para coleccionar las hojas de el.

Cuando este ifa aparece a Ugbodu, la persona se <lira lavar su cabeza con las hojas
apropiadas a ser coleccionadas por el sacerdote de Ifa y un macho cabrio, en la uma de
Esu, agregando la pluma de loro y cauris. Tambien deben aconsejarle que tenga cuidado
con de amigos. A la adivinaci6n, la persona debe decirse abstenerse de apostar con
cualquiera. El debe tener cuidado con de amigos y saque Esu con un el la cabra para
comprender sus ambiciones.
El Hizo la Adivinacion para Dos Granjeros Vecinos

El hizo la adivinacion para Uri y Olobahun cuando ellos estaban compartiendo el mismo
limite en sus granjas. Les dijeron que hicieran el sacrificio con el macho cabrio a Esu para
prosperar a traves de su cultivo. Uri hizo el sacrificio despues de que le aconsejaron que
fuera hospitalario a los visitantes. Le dijeron que diera la comida a cualquiera que lo visito
en su granja o en su casa. Olobahun por otro lado, no hizo el sacrificio, prefering como
siempre para confiar en sus ingenios.

Despues de hacer el sacrificio, Esu decidio ayudar Uri en sus quehaceres de cultivo. La
mafiana siguiente, Esu visito Uri en la granja en la guisa de un cojo desvalido.
Recordando el consejo el se dio a la adivinacion, el dio name asado y aceite de la palma al
cojo. Despues de comer, Uri hizo como else dijo e instantaneamente, varios hombres
parecian ayudar aclarar la granja al final del dia, ellos habian aclarado bastante espacial
para diez granjeros. Cuando Uri estaba a punto de ir a casa, los criplple le que pegara su
cintura con el asa de su azada y todas las manos ayudando desaparecieron y el cojo se
arrastro lejos.

Ese funcionamiento se repetido a lo largo de los quehaceres y el afio de cultivo y las

personas estaba preguntandose c6mo Uri pudo tener tal una granja grande y las cosechas
prolificas. Despues por el afio, era tiempo por el barning los names. Despues del barning
sus names, con la ayuda de sus auxiliadores misteriosos, Uri fue fatigado y decidio tener
un resto el proximo dia, mientras siguiendo un suefio aterrador que el tenia por la noche.
El fue a Orunmila por la adivinacion y le dijeron que el problema era inminente, porque el
iba a ser la victima de una imputacion falsa que podria costarlo su vida. Defenderse fuera
de la eventualidad, le dijeron a servir Esu muy rapidamente con un macho cabrio y a
abstenerse de ir a su granja por siete dias.

Despues de servir Esu, el era servir su cabeza con una guinea-ave, 201 pedazos de cocos,
el kolanuts blanco y rojo, y para servir a su padre con la piema de un antilope y golpe6 el
name. Despues de hacer todos los sacrificios, el era llorar su casa alrededor por la noche.

Siguiendo la salida de Uri, Olobahun tambien vino a Orunmila para la adivinacion para
saber el secreto del exito de su vecino de cultivo. Orunmila le dijo que sirviera Esu con un
macho cabrio y servir a su mente con el name golpeado y una sopa prepararon con la
piema de antilope para parar el riesgo de perder su vida a traves de las palabras de su boca.
El hizo una broma de Orunmila diciendo que si el quisiera la came, el no podria recibirlo
de el.

Entretanto, Uri sirvio su cabeza y decidio no ir a su granja por los proximos siete dias.
Durante el descanso corto de Uri de su granja, el cojo visito su granja y el granizo en Uri,
pero no consiguio ninguna contestaci6n. Como el estaba arrastrandose fuera de la granja
de Uri, el se desvio en la granja de Olobahun. En lugar de entretener al cojo como Uri
hacia, Olobahun lo acus6 de parcialidad. Cuando el cojo le pidio comida, el no tenia
ninguno para dar. No obstante, el cojo le dijo que tocara su cintura con el asa de su azada.
En lugar de tocar su cintura ligeramente, Olobahun repartio un soplo fatal adelante el cojo
que al instante lo mat6.
Olobahun llev6 el cadaver del cojo y lo posicion6 en el granero del fiame de Uri y fue a la
casa de Uri para decirle que un intruso estaba quitando los fiames que el tenia el barned.
Sin recordar el consejo el se habia dado por Orunmila para no ir a su granja por siete dias,
el sali6 en la furia para la granja con su arma, seguida por Olobahun. Cuando ellos
llegaron a la granja de Uri, Olobahun apunt6 al hombre como que el habia posicionado en
su granero si quitando los fiames.

Sin saber que era el cadaver de su bienhechor, el cojo, que Uri dispar6 a el y el cadaver se
cay6 a la tierra. Cuando ellos los dos llegaron al granero, Uri descubri6 que era su cojo
benevolo que el habia disparado, y el estall6 en las lagrimas y empez6 a llorar. Esu influy6
en su pr6xima reacci6n rapidamente aconsejandole ir e informar su acci6n al Oba. El llev6
el cadaver del cojo al palacio e inform6 al Oba c6mo el vino a dispararlo, aunque el no
pudiera imaginar c6mo el cojo pudo subir el granero solo. El Oba record6 Uri que el (el
Oba) era la (mica autoridad que podria privar a cualquiera del derecho para continuar
viviendo y que cualquier otro asesinato de comiting de persona tenia que pagar con su
propia vida.

Casi inmediatamente, Esu influy6 en el Shashere que record6 el Oba del homenaje
suntuoso que Uri hacia a el despues de cada cosecha y cazando la expedici6n, y del Oba
principio promete conferir un titulo del chieftaincy en el. El Oba reaccion6 proclamando
que habiendo pronunciado la pena de muerte en Uri, el no podria retractarlo, pero que
tambien habiendo prometido conferir un titulo del chieftaincy en el, el no renegaria en el.
El confiri6 un titulo del chieftaincy inmediatamente en Uri, y le dijo que celebrara el
conferir despues de que el era rendirse para la ejecuci6n.

Uri agradeci6 el Oba y el llev6 una procesi6n del baile como consecuencia a lo largo del
pueblo. Olobahun no supo lo que transpir6 en el palacio porque el retir6 furtivamente de la
escena del drama que el habia orquestado. Su primera intimaci6n de lo que transpir6 en el
palacio era cuando el vio Uri como consecuencia a la cabeza de una procesi6n triunfal.
Desde que el no pudiera creer lo que el vio, el decidi6 encontrar fuera que era el nuevo
jefe a la cabeza de la procesi6n. Cuando amaneci6 en el fuerte y claro que era Uri, la
victima supuesta de su propia alevosia, que el se agobi6 con la envidia. Pensando que Uri
se habia compensado por matar al cojo, el decidi6 corregir las nociones equivocadas del
Oba. El corri6 rapidamente al palacio y en llegar alli, el busc6 al publico con el rey. El
sigui6 sus rodillas para anunciar que el simplemente habia descubierto que el Oba
compens6 a la persona mala por matar al cojo.

Todos, incluso el Oba se tom6 desprevenidamente cuando Olobahun profes6 que el fue el
que mat6 al cojo y que el tambien posicion6 su cadaver en el granero de la granja de Uri.
Despues de esto, el continua el fue a la casa de Uri para quedar a el que alguien estaba
robando el fiame de su granja, y ese Uri reaccion6 instintivamente recogiendo su arma y
disparando el ya el cadaver muerto del cojo cuando el lleg6 a la granja. lOlobahun le
pregunt6 al Oba, c6mo el resto habria sido posible para el limbless cojee para subir el
granero d6nde el se dispar6 por Uri anhela despues de que el estaba muerto por su propio
(Olobahun) la mano? El insisti6 por consiguiente que el fuera el candidato justo para el
conferir del cheiftaincy compensatorio.

Los Oba y sus jefes fueron confundidos por el anti-climax, pero decidi6 esperar por una
decision despues del retomo de Uri de su procesi6n. Sin embargo, Olobahun no estaba en
un humor esperar. El corri6 hacia la direcci6n de la procesi6n y se encontr6 Uri en su
manera al palacio donde el se escolto por Olobahun que le dijo apearse del caballo y
rendirse el adomo del chieftaincy a el porque el era el duefio justo del titulo, mientras
siendo el que mato al cojo.

Mientras estando de acuerdo con el, Uri le pidio a Olobahun que ejerciera paciencia para
permitirle que pagar el ultimo homenaje al Oba antes del surrenering el titulo a el. Cuando
Uri lleg6 al palacio, el pago el respeto final a los Oba y sus jefes. Despues de esto, el Oba
invito Olobahun a repetir su historia. Una vez mas, el narr6 c6mo el cojo vino a su granja
detras de granizar en vano para Uri que no habia estado viniendo a su granja durante
algunos dias. El sigui6 para agregar eso en su camino a casa, el cojo detuvo la primera vez
en la vida encima de en su propia granja para, y pidi6 la comida. Cuando el no tenia la
comida para darlo, el cojo le dijo que pegara su cintura con el asa de su azada. El peg6 su
cintura con el asa de su azada, tan dificilmente que el se cay6 y se murio despues de que el
deposito su cadaver en el granero de Uri. En el futuro, el fue a la casa de Uri para atraerlo
venir y atacar al "ladron" que estaba robando el fiame de su granja. Uri lo creyo y cargado
su arma y devolvio con el a la granja. En llegar a la granja el apunto al cadaver del cojo el
habia posicionado en el granero y Uri disparo el cadaver. El dio enfasis a que el fue el que
mato al cojo antes de que Uri disparara su cadaver poste-humously, y que el era por
consiguiente el candidato justo para el chieftaincy titule conferido en Uri injustamente.

El Oba llamo en los jefes para su opinion, y ellos todos dijeron en el unisono que la
materia se habia decidido. Ellos explicaron que desde que Olobahun habia admitido el
asesinato del cojo abiertamente, el y no Uri era el culpable a ser ejecutado. Uri fue
descargado y se descargo en seguida.

A la adivinacion, la persona se <lira hacer el sacrificio que Uri hizo y no perseguir a su

lugar de trabajo durante siete dias completando los sacrificios. El debe acordar tener su lfa
encima del siete periodo del dia.

La Adivinacion que El Hizo Antes de Dejar el Cielo

Orunmila mi sere /ere, misere.

Ese era el Awo que la adivinacion hecho para Orunmila cuando el estaba viniendo al
mundo. Le aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio con: un camero, guinea-ave y tortuga a su
angel guardian (el okekponrin); un macho cabrio a Esu; y para festejar las 200 divinidades
con un perro, gallee, calabaza de vino de la palma, la calabaza de aceite de la palma, tela
blanca y tela roja.

Desde que el no tenia el dinero para el sacrificio, el lo pidio prestado de Elenini (I do boo)
la divinidad del obstaculo. Detras de hacer el sacrificio, el vino al mun do en la compafiia
de representante de las divinidades. Le habian aconsejado a adivinacion que el no seria
comprometido en cualquier otra profesi6n en la tierra aparte de la practica de Ifism.

En conseguir al mundo, el abandon6 al representante de las divinidades que vinieron a

ayudarlo en la tierra. El tambien descuido la practica de Ifism. Por consiguiente, una vida
fija lo eludi6 en la tierra, porque el no pudiera permitirse el lujo de tener una esposa, nifios
del oso o construye una casa de su propio. Un dia, else encontro un awo
llamado Aganmurere que tomo un gusto a Osa-Ose y lo comprometio como un ayudante
personal. Entretanto, el Awo le dijo que su vida habia sido apatica porque el no solo no hubo
pisado el camino de su destino, pero tambien abandono unirse a con el representante divino
que lo acompafio al mundo. Aganmurere le dijo que se hiciera su suplente en el arte y practica
de Ifism, pero que le aconsejaron que devolviera a su base de la casa antes de establecerse a
esa vocacion, (Idile en Yoruba e Igiogbe en Bini) para juntarse con el representante divino que
lo acompafi6 a la tierra.

En su parte, despues de esperar en vano unirse a con Osa-Ose, el representante divino habia
decidido tomar una morada permanente en el bosque de donde el vino a menudo al pueblo
para operar. Le aconsejaron que viajara con un perro, gallee, calabaza de vino de la palma y la
tela blanca y roja que el era presentar al representante divino cuando ellos se encontraron. En
conseguir a su pueblo de la casa, le dijeron sobre una deidad extrafia que venia del bosque
para de vez en cuando bailar en el pueblo. Sin esperar por su proxima visita al pueblo, Osa-
Ose decidio peinarse el bosque para el. Detras de una exploracion larga en el bosque, el vino a
una choza abandonada donde el se encontro el esqueleto del cadaver del hombre porque el se
habia muerto mucho tiempo.

Osa-Ose aclaro el arbusto alrededor de la choza y uso el craneo del hombre para preparar una
uma que el sirvio con todos los materiales que el trajo, mientras extendiendo la tela roja y
blanca alrededor de el. Mientras el estaba haciendo el sacrificio, las 200 divinidades oyeron
sus oraciones en el cielo y estaban de acuerdo en enviar arras una vez mas a su representante a
el. Antes de permitirle al representante partir del cielo, Elenini, la divinidad del obstaculo
insistida en tener su prestamo a OsaOse se reembolse primero.

En el futuro, el representante divino se encontr6 Osa-Ose en la uma y lo recordo su deuda a

Elenini mientras dando enfasis a que nada resultaria bien para el hasta que el lo reembolsara.
El devolvio casa rapidamente para coleccionar el dinero por reembolsar la deuda. En su
retomo a la choza, el dio el dinero a la deidad que Osa-Ose aconsejado para tomar a la practica
de lfism, pero para de vez en cuando visitarlo en la choza. Despues de establecer sus cuentas
con el destino, Osa-Ose empez6 a florecer como un sacerdote de Ifa con el apoyo moral activo
de la deidad. El se puso tan eficaz y famoso como un sacerdote de lfa que Aganmurere dej6 de
venir del cielo, mientras dejando la practica a Osa-Ose. El pudo finalmente criar a una familia
grande, construya una casa grande y para tomar un titulo del chieftaincy.

A U gbodu, la persona debe averiguar la divinidad que vino con el a la tierra, reembolse su
deuda escrupulosamente a Elenini y saque lfa.

Hizo la adivinacion para Ogun prosperar

Saka saka, libi libi soko tuuru tuuru. Odifa fun Ogun omo
nijan-ole. 0 lo ba Alade mu He ni'le am. Ebo aje ni ki om o, ki
a tun lo bo ogun. Akuko adiye lo fi bo ogun. A mu eyele bo
Olokun.

Estos eran los Awos que la adivinacion hecho para Ogun cuando el iba a aplicar al rey para un
pedazo de tierra en que para construir su fabrica, Le dijeron que hiciera el
sacrificio con el gallo a Ogun y paloma a Olokun para ponerse adinerado. El hizo el sacrificio
y la vida de Ogun se transform6 a una de opulencia etema.

Cuando aparece a la adivinaci6n, la persona se aconsejara para ejercer paciencia porque la

prosperidad esta camino a el o ella, con tal de que el o ella hacen el sacrificio necesano.
 El capitulo 15
OSA-OFUN

El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Animal Llamo Ikeeghe y el Aguila

El Boba fumi ni te mi. Emi un neumatico del eni divertido. Que en la vida usted hace para mi,
yo hare para usted, era el Awo que la adivinacion hecho para el animal llamo el ikeeghe en
Yoruba o Akhakhua en Bini que es habituado construir varias casas mientras tomar se vuelve
vivir en ellos. El tambien el divined para el Aguila, cuando los dos de ellos estaban ansiosos
tener los nifios. Les dijeron que trajeran cada uno a una gallina por preparar al sacrificio
permitirles que tener los nifios. Ellos los dos hicieron el sacrificio.

Despues del sacrificio, ellos los dos tenian dos nifios cada uno. El aguila construyo su casa
encima del arbol del roble mientras Ikeeghe construyo su casa al pie del mismo arbol, El
halcon era amistoso con el aguila, pero era un enemigo muerto al ikeeghe. Cuando el halcon
oyo que el Aguila habia dado el nacimiento a dos nifios, ella visito a su amiga que le dijo que
sus ikeeghe del vecino tambien habian dado el nacimiento a dos nifios. En esa nota, el halcon
pregunto al Aguila que hora su vecino estaba a menudo en casa. Sin saber que el halcon e
ikeeghe eran los enemigos jurado, el Aguila le dijo que su vecino siempre era todo el dia en
que exceptua a mediodia cuando ella salio para buscar la comida.

La mafiana siguiente, el Halcon tomo una posicion cerca del arbol del roble de donde ella vio
ikeeghe que deja su casa. En cuanto ella saliera, el halcon se instalo para hacer lejos con uno
de los dos nifios de Ikeeghe. Cuando ella devolvio casa para ver ese uno de sus nifios se habia
robado, ella corrio a Orunmila que le dijo que sirviera Esu con un macho cabrio, y aceite de la
palma. Comiendo su macho cabrio Esu persiguio a la casa del Halcon encima del arbol de
Iroko y lo lineo con el aceite de la palma de la tierra a la casa del Halcon donde ella la tenia
dos nifios tambien,

En cuanto el Halcon dejara casa en busca de la comida, las hormigas del soldado siguieron el
palma aceite sendero derecho a a su casa donde ellos se encontraron y la consumieron dos
nifios. Entretanto, el Halcon fue en busca del nifio restante de Ikeeghe. Ante entonces Ikeeghe
varias otras casas habian construido y habian guardado a su nifio permaneciendo en uno de
ellos. Despues de investigar en vano para el nifio de Ikeeghe, el Halcon volo arras solo casa
para descubrir que su casa se habia tornado por las hormigas del soldado. Ella volo para decir
al aguila atras que ella no pudiera encontrarla dos nifios "Mi el ri de O el "oyen de Omo. Eso
era como el Halcon pago por el aggressing Ikeeghe que al oir hablar de la tragedia que ocurrio
a su adversario, empezo a cantar en la alabanza del Awo hizo la adivinacion y sacrifica para
ella.

Cuando este odu aparece a la adivinacion, la persona debe decirse hacer dos sacrificios; uno
por tener los nifios, y el segundo por proteger a los nifios de las intenciones malas de un
enemigo que es una bruja.

Adivine para Ogun y Uja cuando estaban viniendo desde cielo

Cuando Ogun y Uja su esposa estaba viniendo al mundo, les aconsejaron que nos sirvieran
cabeza con un gallo. El se neg6 a hacer cualquier sacrificio. Sin embargo, Uja llam6 uno
de sus nifios llamado Ejida - Totoda y con el, ella sirvi6 su cabeza con un gallo.

En conseguir al mundo, Ogun no se reconocio. El ayud6 todos y varios, pero nadie mostr6
cualquier apreciaci6n. Cuando otras divinidades salieron bailando, ellos tiraron a las
muchedumbres grandes, pero cuando era el giro de Ogun para bailar, las personas estaban
corriendo fuera de el. Entretanto Uja sugiri6 que el deba vestir su hijo EjidaTotoda para
salir bailando. Su hijo se volvi6 un puller de la muchedumbre al instante. En la aversion,
Ogun tom6 a la producci6n de omamentaciones del decoratory que las personas
compraron prontamente. Sus productos le hicieron ponerse muy adinerado y popular.

A U gbodu, la persona debe preparar su propio Ogun con un perro, y sirve su cabeza y que
de su esposa con un gallo. Si el no tiene ninguna esposa, el debe servir su cabeza con eso
de su Arugba, la mujer o muchacha que lo acompafiaron a U gbodu. A la adivinaci6n, la
persona debe aconsejarse para servir Ogun con un perro y su cabeza con un gallo para
lograr sus objetivos.

La Adivinacion que El Hizo Antes de Dejar el Cielo

Osa lo efun, Osa lo osun, Osa lo mariwo ye ye ye.

El Awo que usa la tiza blanca, el Awo que usa el camwood, y el Awo que usa la fronda de
la palma, era las personas que el divnation hecho para Orunmila cuando el estaba viniendo
al mundo. Ellos le aconsejaron que sirviera: Esu con un macho cabrio, su angel guardian
con una cabra, gallina y paloma; Ogun con un gallo, y Olokun con una paloma. El hizo
todos los sacrificios.

En conseguir al mundo, else cas6 a la hija de Olokun, dio el nacimiento a una hija que era
una sacerdotisa de Sango mientras el adquiri6 fama y fortuna como un sacerdote de lfa. El
era tan rotundamente exitoso ese Orisa-Nla lo fij6 Osafun, como uno de los If deres de los
seis puntos cardinal es de la tierra - lo que los Y orubas llaman Igharafamefa y el Binis
llama el ne'han de Edion.

A Ugbodu, la persona debe tener su propio Ogun, Sango y Olokun ademas de lfa. El
prosperara en vida proporcionada que el le sirve bien a lfa. A la adivinaci6n, la persona
debe decirse tener su propio lfa y servir Ogun, Esu, Sango y Olokun para tener su
prosperidad consolid6.

El Hizo la Adivinacinn para el Cazador, El Granjero y el Awo

Osafun roju. Odifa fun Ode, obufun ogbe, otun dafun Awo
okpe. A ki awon meteta ru ebo niton amubo.

El hizo la adivinaci6n para el cazador, el granjero y el sacerdote de Ifa todos de quien se

aconsej6 a haga el sacrificio para apartar el riesgo de fortuna de Unconsumated. Les
exigieron que hicieran los sacrifie con un toEsu del macho cabrio. El cazador y granjero se
negaron a hacer el sacrificio, pero el sacerdote de Ifa hizo su propio sacrificio.
Pronto despues, el cazador fue al bosque d6nde el dispar6 un ciervo. Al mismo tiempo, el
hijo de Orisa estaba enfermo en el cielo y el physicans que cuidan de el habia preguntado
para la sangre de un ciervo para curar la enfermedad. Despues de examinar los bosques de
cielo sin exito para un ciervo, los caballeros de la casa de Orisa tomaron una posici6n al
limite de cielo y tierra, de d6nde ellos el targeted el cazador con su telescopio. No anhele
despues, ellos se juntan con el cazador que estaba de acuerdo en agotar la sangre del
ciervo para ellos para llevarse a cambio de tres cascos de kolanut del unsplit. El cazador
puso el kolanut en su balsa de la caza y dej6 para casa.

El detuvo como consecuencia en la granja del granjero que lo dio as6 los names para
comer. Despues de comer, el bebi6 tambien el vino de la palma. Mostrar su apreciaci6n, el
dio los tres cascos de kolanut al granjero y dej6 para casa. Cuando el granjero estaba
devolviendo casa como consecuencia, el oy6 el sonido de tamborilear de la direcci6n de la
casa del sacerdote de lfa. El estaba realizando su Fiesta de lfa anual y habia bastante para
comer y beber. El granjero detuvo encima de y se entretuvo hospitalariamente. Cuando el
granjero estaba saliendo, el dio los tres cascos de kolanuts que el se dio por el cazador al
sacerdote de lfa en las tierras que el tenia el kolanuts suficiente en su casa y desde que el
supo que el sacerdote de lfa us6 el kolanuts suficiente tradicionalmente en su trabajo. El
sacerdote de lfa agradeci6 al granjero y el sali6.

Tres dias despues de la fiesta, el sacerdote de lfa consigui6 un cuchillo para henderse uno
de los tres cascos del kolanut dado a el por el granjero. Como el el casco estaba
hendiendose, el dinero empez6 a chorrear fuera de el. El segundo casco posicion6 un
edificio magnifico que esta de pie por el lado de la casa del sacerdote de lfa, mientras el
tercero uno produjo todas las descripciones de ropa y ropas. Asi, el sacerdote de lfa que
hizo el sacrificio de repente se volvi6 el hombre mas pr6spero pronto en el pueblo y el
Oba el confered en el el titulo del Shasere del reino que le hizo el segundo-en-orden al
Oba.

Anhele despues, el cazador devolvi6 al bosque d6nde el se encontr6 a los caballeros

celestiales que le habian dado los tres cascos de kolanut como la recompensa por darlos la
sangre del ciervo el dispar6. Ellos fueron sorprendidos para encontrarlo todavia cazando.
Fuera de curiousity ellos le preguntaron lo que el hizo con el kolanuts que ellos le dieron.
Ellos fueron asombrados para oir su contestaci6n que el los present6 al granjero. El lider
de los caballeros celestiales proclam6 instintivamente que nadie podria en la vida
prosperar en la tierra a traves de cazar, como una profesi6n jomada completa. Ellos no
explicaron su reacci6n a su conducta.

Despues de su cita con el caballero celestial que, desconocido a el, vino del cielo, el fue a
inquirir del granjero lo que el hizo con los tres cascos del kolanut el lo dio afios antes en
su granja. Cuando el granjero contest6 que el los dio al sacerdote de lfa, el cazador repiti6
el proclaimation hecho a el, que nadie podria en la vida prosperar de cabana que cultiva
como una profesi6n jomada completa. El explic6 que que era la maldici6n el recibi6 de las
personas que presentaron los cascos del kolanut a el.

En el futuro, el granjero estaba demasiado asustado del estado del sacerdote de Ifa
preguntarle lo que el hizo con el kolanuts, pero cuando el pasaba revista el valor en el
futuro para enfrentarlo, el contest6 que el los us6 hacer el sacrificio prescrito para ellos a
la adivinaci6n. Eso era cuando el granjero el regreted su fracaso para hacer el
sacrificio porque el conjetur6 una relaci6n causal prontamente entre el sacrificio hecho por
el sacerdote de lfa y el cambio en su fortuna.

Cuando este odu aparece a la adivinaci6n, la persona debe aconsejarse para tener su
propio Ifa si el ya no tiene uno, y para dar un macho cabrio a Esu. Si el no se inclina a
tener su propio Ifa, el debe servir lfa con una cabra, y Esu con un macho cabrio para
apartar el riesgo de desviar la fortuna debido a el, a alguien mas. Nunca deben aconsejarle
que parta con cualquier regalo dado a el no importa c6mo inconsecuente puede parecer.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para la Mujer Que se Divorcio a su Marido

Osafun, Safun, emi k o safun. Oko ki fi ibi woroko kole

Odifa fun shudi rodo. Awo shudi rodo ko okore si le. 0
nshe abe kele kele kiri.

Corra de el. Yo no correre de el. La azada no usa su boca para aclarar el cesped en la tierra
sin una asa. Esos eran los Awos que la adivinaci6n hecho para una persona divorciada que
abandon6 a su marido. Le aconsejaron que a menos que ella hizo el sacrificio, ella nunca
podria de nuevo establecerse con cualquier marido. Ella no hizo el sacrificio. Intente que
cuando ella hizo para unirse a para las subsistencias con cualquier otro hombre, ella corri6
a menudo fuera de suerte. Ella finalmente establecido abajo a la prostituci6n jomada
completa, en el curso de que ella avis6 enfermedad venerea que termin6 su vida
prematuramente.

Si este odu aparece para una mujer a la adivinaci6n, le diran que no se comercialice en la
luz de su belleza, para que no ella avisara la enfermedad venerea y se volvera un objeto de
ridicle despues en la vida.

La Adivinacion hecho con la Cerveza inglesa el Hijo de Muerte y Ojiyan, el Hijo de

Orunmila.

Sa ale fun, Sa alosun. sa ani mariwo ye ye ye.

Ale omo iku, Ojiyan omo Orunmila. Iki Ojiyan ko ma Ojiyan
Ijo kon soso le logbon ni osu ule sorun. Adifa fun omo iku.
Abufun omo Orunmila. Awon mejeji wonjon se ore.

Marque con la tiza, marque con el camwood, y decore con la fronda de la palma. La
cerveza inglesa, (con quien nadie defiende) el hijo de Muerte y Ojiyan (el argumentator)
el hijo de Orunmila, era ambos amigos. La cerveza inglesa visit6 Ojiyan, y ellos los dos
fueron por la adivinaci6n a un Awo llam6 no "defienda". les aconsejaron que hicieran el
sacrificio con un macho cabrio y una calabaza de aceite de la palma apartar las
consecuencias de un argumento fatalista.

Antes de que ellos tuvieran la oportunidad de hacer el sacrificio, la Cerveza inglesa sali6
de la casa la noche siguiente y Ojiyan preguntado que dia que la luna iba a aparecer. El
organizador contest6 que la luna aparecia cada treinta y un dias tradicionalmente. Cerveza
inglesa que su visitante retorci6 que la luna aparecia los evey treinta dias. El argumento
era tan intenso que la Cerveza inglesa dej6 para casa la mafiana siguiente para informar a
la Muerte, su padre que su amigo que Ojiyan habia
estado sosteniendo con el en el dia la luna era debida aparecer. En ese momenta Orunmila
estaba lejos en la gira.

Desde que se prohibia para defender con la Cerveza inglesa, su padre fue molestado y
consiguio su club y salio para

La casa de Orunmila para matar Ojiyan. La muerte llego al mismo tiempo que ese Orunmila
devolvio casa de su gira. Cuando el vio la Muerte en un humor combativo, el le pregunto lo
que la materia era y el contesto que el vino a eliminar Ojiyan por atreverse a defender con su
hijo que era una abominacion. Orunmila intervino preguntando la Muerte si el habia verificado
la carga de verdad en la materia, y el contesto que no era necesario encontrar fuera que dijo la
verdad y quien dijo una mentira antes de concluir ese Ojiyan habia defendido con la Cerveza
inglesa. En esa nota, la Muerte defendio con Orunmila que Ojiyan solo podria adjudicarse
debidamente como ser un argumentator si el defendiera ciegamente en el lado de falsedad, y
que la victima solo mereceria morirse si se demostrara que el habia mentido. Entre la Muerte y
Orunmila, con la advertencia que si la luna apareciera en el 30 dia, Ojiyan se moririan, y el
ganaria su libertad si aparecia cuando el predijo en el 31 dia.

Entretanto, Orunmila llamo a su hijo para explicar lo que paso, Despues de darle los detalles a
su padre, Ojiyan revoco lo que el Awo les habia dicho que hicieran a la adivinacion, Orunmila
procedio sin cualquier retraso para hacer el sacrificio. Comiendo su macho cabrio Esu
persiguio a la casa de la Luna en el cielo usar el aceite de la palma para ensuciar su (mica tela
con que el parece mensual. La Luna como consecuencia lavada la tela durante los tantos
tiempos como Esu lo ensucio con el aceite de la palma. La ultima vez, la Luna lavo la tela
simplemente era antes de que el sol pusiera en el 30 dia cuando el era debido aparecer. Desde
que la tela no tenia ninguna solana para secarlo, estaba demasiado mojado para el llevar. Para
hacer la conviccion doblemente, Esu invoco la nube para aparecer en el firmamento, seguido
por una lluvia pesada que se cayo a lo largo de la noche. Aun cuando la luna tenia la tela con
que aparecer, la nube y el aguacero pesado, lo habrian hecho invisible. Nadie molesto para
averiguar si o no la luna aparecia.

Sin embargo, en el 31 dia la lluvia detuvo por la mafiana y el sol brillo brillantemente. La tela
de la Luna seco y el pudo aparecer en todos su majestad por la tarde en el 31 dia. Cuando las
personas estaban granizando la apariencia de la Luna, ellos estaban exclamando al mismo
tiempo que despues de todos, Ojiyan tenia raz6n, mientras ganando su libertad asi de las
manos frias de Muerte.

Cuando este Odu aparece a la adivinacion, la persona se <lira que el es un argumentator. El

debe servir Esu inmediatamente con un macho cabrio y una botella de aceite de la palma
anticipar las consecuencias adversas de defender con una autoridad mas alta.
La Adivinacion lo Constituy6 Cuando El estaba Viajando En ultramar

Sa el mi divertido. El Emiko sa efifun. Ese era el Awo que la adivinacion hecho para Orunmila
antes de que el viajara en ultramar. Le aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio con tres palomas, 3
gallos, y su ropa negra grande. El hizo el sacrificio pero se nego a partir con su ropa negra.
Despues de esto, el embarco en la jomada.
El viaje era bastante sin problemas y el comprendio las ganancias suficientes en el dinero
y materiales, pero no podria devolver casa en el horario. Cuando Esu fue dicho que
Orunmila se habia negado a hacer el sacrificio con su tela negra, el unplugged de Esu la
palmadita de lluvia del cielo y llovio continuamente durante un mes, mientras causando
un inundando severo que hecho el imposible para Orunmila para embarcar en sujomada
del casa-pupilo.

Despues de esperar en vano por Orunmila devolver casa, su amigo llamado que Agbe fue
por adivinacion a que le aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio en nombre de su amigo con
un gallo y su ropa negra. Despues de hacer el sacrificio, el sacerdote de Ifa dio un encanto
a Agbe tomar a Orunmila. Agbe tomo el encante en ultramar a Orunrnila. En cuanto el lo
usara, Agbe le dijo que condensara sus cosas en una balsa grande. Agbe toco la cabeza de
Orunmila y pies, asi como su propio y las balsas. Al instante, ellos todos desaparecieron y
se encontraron a Oke-jetti, la casa de Orunrnila en Ife. Eso era como el milagro de
desaparicion empezo (el Ide eyi ni awon yoruba fi ashe egbe). Cuando aparece a la
adivinacion, por alguien preparar seguir la gira, que se diran los he/she a hacer el
sacrificio para devolver casa seguramente.

Adivino para mono cuando mintio contra Orisa

La diversion de Osa era el Awo que la adivinacion hecho para Alakedun (el Mono)
cuando el fabrico las mentiras contra Orisa. Le aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio para
impedir el peligro de entrar en el problema a traves de sus pronunciaciones. Le exigieron
que hiciera el sacrificio con un gallo, fiame asado, aceite de la palma y vino de la palma.
El hizo el sacrificio.

Pronto despues, el estaba paseando un dia en el bosque cuando el se encontro con Orisa
con un plato de papilla en su mano. Pensando que el plato contuvo el vino de la palma, el
Mono corrio a las divinidades y les dijo, ese contrario a la creencia popular, el se encontro
Orisa que bebe el vino de la palma en el bosque. Para afirmar la autenticidad de su
asercion el les dijo que lo siguieran al bosque. Las divinidades lo siguieron al bosque
donde ellos se encontraron Orisa que todavia sostiene el plato en la mano.

Cuando el los vio, Orisa pregunto lo por todas partes que la diversion era, y ellos le
dijeron que el mono alego que el estaba bebiendo el vino de la palma en el bosque. Orisa
les mostro el plato de papilla que el estaba sosteniendo. Ya que el habia mentido, el mono
siguio sus rodillas para rogar para el perdon. Orisa lo perdono, pero proclamo que por
molestar las divinidades inutilmente, el, el mono nunca tendria de nuevo paz de mente a lo
largo de a la etemidad. Por eso el mono es etemamente inquieto.

A la adivinacion, la persona se aconsejara para mirar sus pronunciaciones para evitar

entrar en el problema. El debe hacer el sacrificio sin embargo para evitar volverse la
victima de una falsedad viciosa.
 El capitulo 1
ETURA-OGBE
ETURA-ELEJI
ETURA-ORILANA
ETURA-ARODEMI
ETURA-JOBI ETURA-
RINA

El Hizo la Adivinacion para Tres Amigos

Etura Arodemi hizo la adivinaci6n para la Muerte, Ogun y Orunmila ante sus nifios fue al
bosque para sacar madera de fuego. Ellos eran hacer el sacrificio con el gallo, y as6 el
maiz para evitar la destrucci6n ellos. La muerte y Ogun se negaron a hacer sus sacrificios
pero Orunmila hizo su propio.

Una mafiana que sus nifios decidieron ir juntas al bosque para sacar el fuego-madera. El
hijo de muerte se llam6 Mogboferefere, mientras el hijo de Ogun se llam6
Agbenmagbantan y el hijo de Orunmila se llam6 Egodudu. Despues de hacer su sacrificio,
Orunmila le dijo a su hijo que cuando cualquiera le pidi6 su nombre, el siempre debe
llamarse la "Ignorancia e Inocencia", y que el era no defender con nadie. Los tres amigos
dejaron para el bosque.

Cuando ellos consiguieron a la union del tres-camino, ellos empezaron a razonar entre
ellos d6nde ellos eran sacar el fuego-madera. El hijo de Muerte propuso que ellos deben ir
a la granja de su padre, mientras sabiendo totalmente bien que se prohibi6 para cualquiera
para entrar en la granja de su padre. Antes de entonces Muerte habia estado ansioso saber
quien estaba robando de su granja. En ese mismo dia, la Muerte habia ido a su granja para
mentir una emboscada contra cualquier intruso a su granja. El hijo de Ogun ni el hijo de
Orunmila tampoco que se prohibia para entrar en la granja de Muerte. En llegar a la
granja, ellos empezaron a cortar el fuego-madera con una hacha. Despues de pegar la
madera con el hacha tres veces, la Muerte oy6 el sonido y sostuvo su garrote corto para
tratar con el intruso. Entretanto, el hijo del otro dos Orunmila enviado para ir y sacar las
sagas con que ellos eran atar el fuego-madera, mientras el hijo de Muerte todavia estaba
cortando la madera.

Cuando la Muerte se encontr6 a los dos muchachos al lado de la madera, ellos estaban
cortando, el us6 su garrote corto para pegar el que estaba hacienda la carte, mientras
dando el un lugar cerca con la piema. A prop6sito, el estaba devolviendo a su choza en la
granja cuando la lluvia empez6 a caerse. Al mismo tiempo, el hijo de Orunmila estaba
volviendo con las sagas que el habia sacado cuando la lluvia lo manej6 tomar el resguardo
en la choza d6nde el se encontr6 la Muerte. Cuando la Muerte le pregunt6 que quien el
era, el contest6 que el era inocente e ignorante. Preguntado lo que el estaba hacienda en la
granja, el contest6 que era su amigo, Mogboferefere que los invit6 a venir y sacar madera
de fuego en la granja de su padre.
Confundido a oir el nombre de su hijo, la Muerte entr6 en la lluvia para ir y verificar la
identidad de las victimas el habia atacado. El fue desconcertado para ver que su hijo
estaba muerto mientras el hijo de Ogun era incapacitado con una piema rota. Realising
que el habia matado a su hijo con su propia mano, el record6 la advertencia que el se habia
dado a la adivinaci6n, hacer el sacrificio para apartar el peligro de deshacerse.

Cuando este Ifa aparece a Ugbodu, la persona se aconsejara para servir Esu con un macho
cabrio evitar destrucci6n el. Deben aconsejarle abstenerme de alardear y tener cuidado con
de tarea cualquier asignaci6n del comandante con dos amigos en un trio, antes de hacer el
sacrificio. Si no llueve en el dia que el fue a Ugbodu, llovera dentro de siete dias despues
de ese dia. Cuando llueve, el debe entrar en la lluvia y debe permitir sus duchas para
mojarlo.

A la adivinaci6n, la persona debe aconsejarse para servir Esu con un macho cabrio debido
a un visitante inminente.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para la Cabeza

Etura Orimi gbemi. On lanade mi Orilana to

On eku ni Lana keku. On eja ni Lana keja.
Oh osan ni Lana kosan. On oro ni Lana koro.
Ibi usin ba do si ni omo araye Lana nkan.
On obi ni Lana ire kobi.

Era la cabeza que paviment6 la manera al mundo.

Era la cabeza que trajo la salvaci6n a la rata, el pez, el vino de Jerez,
las frutas comestibles, kolanuts, pajaros, animales y humanidad.

Por eso este Odu se llama Etura Orilana. Cuando aparece a la adivinaci6n, la persona se
aconsejara para hacer el sacrificio con tres gallos. El servira su cabeza con un gallo, sirva
a su padre tarde ( o la cabeza de padre si vivo) con el segundo gallo y hace el sacrificio
con el tercer gallo para el sacerdote de Ifa llevarse sin matarlo.
La Adivinaci6n que El Hizo Antes de Dejar el Cielo

Alanoko miran de soslayo el alanoko del mi. El Ori obi ni un kobi del lano era el Awo que
la adivinaci6n hecho para Etura-Eleji cuando el estaba viniendo al mundo. Le aconsejaron
que hiciera el sacrificio con el macho cabrio a Esu, y guinea-ave a su cabeza para
prepararse para el gran trabajo el iba a hacer en la tierra.

El sacerdote de Ifa hizo el sacrificio para el coleccionando las hojas de agbalumo de Osan,
los kola obligan a refugiarse en un arbol, y las hojas de otro arbol llamaron yoruba y Ogri
en Bini, y haciendolo servir su cabeza en un cirice marcaron con la tiza blanca y matando
el guinea-ave en ellos dentro del circulo. Las hojas eran seguidamente molidas con la
cabeza y sangre del guinea-ave y preparaba una vara especial que era incluido en su
cabeza.

En conseguir al mundo el empez6 a practicar Ifism y comerciar adelante el linea lateral,

pero el no podria hacer la reunion de los fines. Entretanto, el fue por la adivinaci6n para
averiguar por que el no estaba haciendo mucho progreso. El Awos que la adivinaci6n
hecho para el en esa ocasi6n sea; El lawo de Ofiki Ofiki, Eji cerveza inglesa ano el Ibara
ni morun, Eji owuro oni el Ibara ni mo dide. Los rimi de Oruko aumentan el lu-bebe.
Agbo yo tan mas momo del lu. Los ni de Awon ganaron la Orunmila nijo ti ofe lo gba aya
meta divertida al lo'ndifa; El omo de Bejide Olokun, sugbe del koriko ' el orisa de omo de nini,
el kpelu gbirada omo aje.

El estaba en el momento que comercia en las aves. Le dijeron hacer el sacrificio con un macho
cabrio a Esu y servir Ifa con una gallina. El hizo el sacrificio que el persiguio al mercado de
Oja-ojigbomekon-Akira con 201 aves para la venta. En llegar al mercado el vendio todos
menos tres aves que eran una venta del registro hechas posible con la ayuda de Esu. Entre
aquellos que compraron las aves tres doncellas que vinieron del cielo estaban. Ellos habian
jurado que ellos se casarian a solo el hombre sea el deslumbra o lisiado, quien tuvo exito
sabiendo sus nombres.
Cuando Orunmila estaba intentando devolver casa del mercado, las tres aves cortadas pierden
y se desviaron a la direccion de cielo. Como el estaba siguiendo las aves que el empezo a
cantar el poema siguiente:

Mi O ri Sishe o, Mo O ri iba ti she o, Ori ire a she ni o

Significando

Yo no he visto mis 3 aves,

Yo no se que hacer,
Pero mi cabeza los encontrara para mi.

Cuando las tres muchachas que regresaban en su manera al cielo tuvieron noticias la cancion
extrafia de la distancia, ellos detuvieron para escuchar atentamente. Cuando Orunmila movio
mas cerca a ellos, ellos fueron asombrados para saber que el hombre estaba cantando con sus
nombres en el orden de antigiiedad, Ellos empezaron a preguntarse que era eso supo sus
nombres celestiales. Ellos ayudaron que el aprehendiera las tres aves, pero le dio una sorpresa
agradable cuando ellos le dijeron que ellos iban a casarselo siendo el primer hombre en el cielo
y en tierra que tuvo exito sabiendo sus nombres celestiales. Ellos decidieron acompafiarlo a su
casa volverse sus esposas inmediatamente.

Desconocido sin embargo, a el las muchachas tenian tres abominaciones: La persona mayor de
las tres muchachas volveria para mover con esfuerzo al instante si la lluvia amenazo antes de
que ella consiguiera a su destino; el segundo uno tambien devolveria al cielo si habia un
tornado antes de conseguir a su destino, mientras el tercero uno devolveria al cielo si la lluvia
la toco antes de conseguir a su destino. Entretanto, las nubes empezaron a recoger porque Esu
quiso asustar Orunmila. Desde que se prohibe para la lluvia para pegar Orunrnila mientras de
viaje, el puso su rodilla izquierda inmediatamente en la tierra y marcado la sefial de este odu
en la arena y empezo a cantar la encantacion siguiente: que en el efecto los nombres del Awos
estaban que la adivinacion hecho y sacrifica para el:

Ofiki lawo Omi O.

Ofiki lawo Ofiki.
Eji ale ano ibara ni morun
Eji ale on Ibara ni mo dede obuko
Erimi eke lubebe kpo'mi.
Obuko me'so mo 're lu hebe.
 Agbo rimi eke lu momo okpo mi. Agb
e somore olu mo mo. Adifa fun oun
Orunmila nijo ti emi. fe gba omo
Olokun, omo orisa ati Omo aje shaya.
Afoji foron fo 'mi do, Afoji foron ...

Cuando Esu oyo la encantacion, el sonrio y se pregunto si Orunmila tuvo miedo. Despues de
esto, Esu se sentaba en la lluvia, la nube aclaro y el pudo conseguir casa con las tres
muchachas. El empezo a vivir con ellos como sus esposas como consecuencia.

Las tres mujeres se pusieron embarazadas el mes siguiente antes de que ellos tuvieran la
oportunidad de devolver al cielo para recibir la bendicion de sus padres para su matrimonio.
En su parte, el no molesto para averiguar ni siquiera donde ellos vinieron de, permita
exclusivamente piensa en obtener el despacho de aduanas formal de sus padres. El resultado
era eso aparte de su exito en el ave el negocio comercial, la prosperidad de sus esposas que
fueron queridas decir complementar su propio, se sujeto en el cielo y detuvo de venir a
encontrarselos en la tierra. Las mujeres tenian tres hijos a aproximadamente el mismo tiempo y
el empezo a tener las dificultades alimentando a su familia grande. Sus tres hijos se nombraron
llelereji, Akoshe Y oyoyo e Ijenishe Regede.

Entretanto, un Awo visitante del cielo llamado Ekun-da-ayo lule awo, llamado en Orunmila
para hacer la adivinacion para el. El le aconsejo a Orunmila que sirviera Ifa con una cabra,
pero el no podria permitirselo el lujo de. Desde que el estaba ansioso hacer el sacrificio, el
empefio sus primeros llele del hijo Reji para levantar el prestamo por hacer el sacrificio. Cinco
dias despues de hacer el sacrificio, el sono Ifa adelante si o no el sacrificio manifesto. Ifa le
dijo que el no era todavia ningun satisified porque el necesito una segunda cabra. Una vez mas
el uso su segundo hijo Akoshe yoyoyo para empefiar un segundo prestamo para comprar la
cabra. Al final de otro cinco dias, el le pregunto una vez mas a Ifa si el estaba satisfecho. Una
vez mas, Ifa pidio a todavia una tercera cabra y un macho cabrio para Esu que el hizo
empeiiando su tercer hijo IjeniSheregede para otro prestamo.

Despues de esto, las tres mujeres se volvieron tan frustradas que ellos decidieron devolver al
cielo para preguntarles a sus padres por que ellos estaban sufriendo en la tierra. Antes de salir,
ellos le dijeron a Orunmila que ellos iban al mercado para ver lo que ellos podrian hacer para
recuperar a sus nifios de la esclavitud. Ellos eran todos en las lagrimas cuando ellos dejaron la
casa. Tres dias despues de que ellos dejaron la casa, las mujeres no volvieron y Orunmila se
volvio para que el restive que el sono Ifa una vez mas en lo que se volvio de los sacrificios
detallados que el habia hecho. Ifa le dijo que ejerciera paciencia porque sus sacirifces
manifestarian pronto. El movio con esfuerzo un suspiro de alivio frio en un humor de
abatimiento total.

Entretanto, el angel guardian de Orunmila (Ifa u Okekponrin) foe a Orisa, Olokun y Aje en el
cielo preguntarles si ellos no eran conscientes de los sufrimientos de sus hijas en la casa de
Orunmila en la tierra. Eso coincidio con el tiempo encima de que las tres mujeres llegaron al
cielo en las lagrimas la condicion desesperada que ellos estaban sufriendo en la tierra. Ese era
el punto a que las tres mujeres fueron aclaradas para devolver a la tierra con su prosperidad.
Por otro lado, despues de comer su macho cabrio, Esu subi6 a crear el levantamiento en el
reino de Ife y habia confusion total. Ese era el gui6n en que Esu fue a Olofin para preguntarle
lo que el estaba hacienda para resolverse la ruptura que aflige su dominio. Esu le aconsej6 que
invitara los tres la mayoria del Awos popular en el pueblo a divino en que hacer sabre la
situaci6n. En la deferencia al consejo del Counsellor, Olofin envi6 para Orunmila, Agbe y
Aluko. Al mismo tiempo, Esu a habia sido al cielo preguntarle a Orisa por que el estaba
permitiendole a su yemo sufrir en la tierra. Orisa reaccion6 dandole el media de un tuberculo
de name a Esu para enviar a su yemo en la tierra. En lugar de enviar el media tuberculo de
name directamente a Orunmila, el el prefered de Esu para hacer a Orunmila trabajar para
ganarlo. Esto que el hizo yendo a esconderlo detras de la puerta de la alcoba principal del
Olofin.

Ese era el dia encendido que el tres Awos contest6 la invitaci6n de Olofin. Aluko y Agbe
llegaron al palacio muy temprano por la mafiana. Orunmila sali6 muy despues. En su manera
al palacio, el se encontr6 Esu en la guisa del Awo llamada Ekun-hacer-ayo el awo del lule, y lo
aconsej6 que el iba a tener exito en su misi6n al palacio, pero que para su premio el era pedir
el media pedazo de name a la parte de atras de la puerta a la alcoba de Olofin, junta con un
gallo. Ni siquiera el Olofin no era consciente de la presencia del media pedazo de name en su
cuarto.

En llegar al palacio, Agbe hizo la adivinaci6n y recomend6 el sacrificio con una cabra negra
en el parque zool6gico de Olofin. La cabra se dio a el y el hizo los sacirifce con el y dej6 para
casa. Luego, Aluko entr6 para recomendar el sacrificio con el vestido rojo en el armario de
Olofin. Fue producido de acuerdo cony el sacrificio el persigui6 lejos con el vestido. Cuando
Orunmila hizo su adivinaci6n despues, el pidi6 el sacrificio a Esu con un gallo y el media
pedazo de name a la parte de atras de la puerta a la alcoba de Olofin. Olofin produjo el gallo,
pero Orunmila insisti6 que Olofin deba verificar su aserci6n. Bastante incredulamente y
renuentemente, Olofin fue a su alcoba y fue sorprendido para encontrar el media pedazo de
name a la parte de atras de su puerta de la alcoba. En cuanto Olofin quitara el name, Esu
desat6 el nudo con que el cre6 los problemas en el reino, y la vida empez6 a devolver al
normal inmediatamente.

Orunmila devolvi6 casa para encontrarse a la hija de Orisa atras en la casa. Ella habia vista la
cabra que Agbe trajo del palacio de Olofin y el vestido rojo grande que Aluko trajo del
palacio. Cuando su propio marido estaba volviendo que le molestaron cuando ella le vio
devolver casa con un gallo vivo en su hombro y un media pedazo de name en su balsa. La
mujer fue molestada y grit6 a el si estaba con los tales regalos tenues que el iba a recuperar a
sus tres nifios de la servidumbre. Ella decidi6 condensar sus cosas y dejar su casa para bueno
como consecuencia a menos que el pudo devolver a su hijo de la esclavitud. Sin embargo,
Orunmila le dijo que pusiera el name que el trajo del palacio en la olla cocci6n antes de salir,
para que el pudiera dispararlo solo despues de que ella habia salido.

Ella procedi6 preparar el fuego despues de que ella sac6 un cuchillo para cortar el name antes
de poner los pedazos en la olla cocci6n. Ella se exasper6 mas aun cuando el cuchillo no
penetr6 el name mientras diciendo que ni siquiera el name que el trajo no era comestible. En el
enojo, ella dio el name duro con el suelo y estall6 abierto, mientras soltando su volumen de
dinero, cuentas, ropa y articulos todo imaginables de riqueza.
Ella graniz6 instintivamente en su marido venir y ver el milagro que estaba desplegando.

Como si ella llamara a sus compafieras que cuando ella graniz6 en Orunmila, el siguiendo
siendo dos esposas vinieron con su sequito grande de seguidores que traen su prosperidad
del cielo. En el unisono, Orunmila y sus tres esposas empezaron cantando a sus nifios que
estaban en la esclavitud.

Ilelereji ma ma i suun o o !
Akoshe yoyoyo ma ma i suun oo ! !
Ijeni sheregede mama i suun oo ! ! !
Ekun ma ti doyo ni'le Awo oo.

Significando

Mis nifios, deje de lamentar

Sus sufrimientos han terminado porque
felicidad ha limpiado las lagrimas de
los ojos de sus padres.

Las deudas, debi6 por Orunmila se pag6 inmediatamente y los nifios se reunieron con a
sus padres. Despues de esto, se tradujeron Orunmila y su familia en la riqueza etema e
ilimitada y opulencia.

Cuando este Ifa aparece a U gbodu, la persona se dira que el se casara a tres esposas que
introduciran en la prosperidad a su vida. El siempre debe servir Esu y su cabeza. El Ifa se
dara tres cabras a los intervalos de cinco dias.

A la adivinaci6n, la persona debe decirse tener su propio Ifa y servir Esu con un macho
cabrio. El prosperara a traves de su matrimonio.

La Adivinacion y Sacrifica El Hizo Ganar una Corona

Ara kii kon lo'nshawo lo'de lgbago Ekun

lo'nde Ofe duwa si a kon lode ominikun.
Oromu romu lo'nshawo lo'de sokpo
A won lo'ndifa fun Orunmila nijo ti omu ade
lowo Alaafin, lo'de Oyo.

Esos fueron el tres sacerdote de lfa que la adivinaci6n hecho y sacrifica para Eleji cuando
el iba a ganar la corona de Alaafin de Oyo. En la plenitud de su posperity, su angel
guardian envi6 a tres sacerdotes de lfa a el del cielo. Cuando el tres A wos anunci6 su
llegada en su casa, sus sirvientes los dirigieron a su palacio. Despues de darles una
recepci6n calurosa, ellos decidieron embarcar en la adivinaci6n. El no supo que ellos
vinieron del cielo.

Ellos le aconsejaron que viajara al reino de Oyo despues de hacer el sacrificio a la

adivinaci6n. Le dijeron que el iba ver el apogeo de su fortuna y afamar durante la gira.
Entretanto, le exigieron que hiciera el sacrificio con, cace ratas, el pez y un camera a Ifa,
perro a Ogun, y un macho cabrio a Esu. El hizo los sacrificios. Despues de usar el
perro para servir Ogun, ellos prepararon una medicina especial y lo montaron en la cabeza
del perro. Le aconsejaron que viajara la mafiana siguiente a Oyo con la cabeza del perro
dentro de su balsa. Despues de esto, el compens6 el Awos y el sali6.

Despues de la salida del Awos, el sentia los disinclined para viajar que porque el ya estaba
satisfecho con la prosperidad que el habia logrado. No obstante, coma el estaba durmiendo
por la noche, su angel guardian aparecia a el en un suefio que lo dirige considerar el
consejo del Awos y para viajar a Oyo la mafiana siguiente. Sin descubrir sus intenciones a
cualquiera, el dej6 para Oyo en cuanto el gallo braveado la mafiana siguiente.

En cuanto el dejara casa, Esu fue al palacio del Alaafin de Oyo y rapt6 el perro favorito
del Oba. Cuando Alaafin se lo despert6 no podria encontrar su animal domestico "perro.
Los ordenanzas del palacio informaron que que alguien habia dejado el palacio en las
horas tempranas de la mafiana con una balsa crey6 para haber contenido el perro. El
Alaafin emiti6 las instrucciones al instante para los puntos de control ser montado las
entradas principales en absoluto al pueblo, y que todos aquellos que saliendo y entrando
en el pueblo deben investigarse completamente.

Ese era el estado de asuntos cuando Etura-Eleji lleg6 a la entrada principal que lleva tarde
de Ife a Oyo por la mafiana. Cuando le dijeron que se rindiera su balsa por verificar, el
cumpli6 sin las nauseas. Cuando los policia examinaron su balsa, ellos encontraron la
cabeza recientemente desunida de un perro con medicina montada en el, con el rezumar de
el de sangre fresca. El se acus6 al instante de hurto y matando el perro del Alaafin.
Cuando el intent6 explicar que el compr6 su perro del mercado, los policia lo
palmotearon, ataron a su mano detras de su parte de atras y lo emparejaron al palacio. El
empez6 a preguntarse si el no habia sido la victima de algun thricksters de confianza que
se ostent6 coma Awos.

Cuando el se acus6 en el futuro ante el Alafin, sin escuchar a cualquier explicaci6n de la

persona del acusado, permita exclusivamente establezca su identidad, el rey lo sentenci6
sumariamente a la muerte por la ejecuci6n. Los ejecutores de la justicia reales fueron
invitados a llevar a cabo la ejecuci6n al instante. Cuando Orunmila estaba llevandose a la
camara de la ejecuci6n, Esu solt6 el perro del Rey y corri6 en seguida al lado del Alaafin
que era tan descarriado por su aborto mas temprano de justicia que el envi6 las palabras a
los ejecutores de la justicia no llevar a cabo la frase, porque el quiso entrevistar al
prisionero condenado. Cuando Orunmila se re-acus6 ante el Alaafin, el rey le dijo que el
tenia una cabeza buena que lo habia salvado de la muerte a la mella de tiempo al parecer.
El rey pidi6 que el se desencadene y que ya la mordaza at6 a su boca y el deslumbrar-
pliegue en sus ojos se quite.

Estaba en ese punto que el Alaafin pidi6 la identidad de la persona del acusado. Cuando el
se identific6 coma Etura-Eleji, el sacerdote de Ifa real de Ife, que Alaafin expres6 sus
disculpas y decidi6 compensarlo con una cabra, un hombre, y una mujer inmediatamente,
reparar para el tratamiento gastado midieron fuera a el. Orunmila contest6 en las lagrimas
con la canci6n siguiente.

Ara kii kon lo'nshawo lo'de Igbago, Ekun

lo'de Ofe duwa si akon lo'de ominikun
Oromu romu lo'nshawo lo'de Sokpo.
 Awon meteta lo'ndifa fun un Orunmila nijo ti mo
nshawo lo so'de Oyo.
Alaafin da un lo le mu o oo. Omnmila

Casi inmediatamente, Esu reacciono volviendose sus ojos con el fuego en un lado y sangre
fluido del otro lado, siguio por la oscuridad total en el todo de Oyo. El Alaafin se sobresalto de
su trono por un terremoto que en una materia de minutos destruyo a varias casas y las personas
en el pueblo. El rey empezo a pedirle a Orunmila que ablandar a prometer los valiosos
articulos. Como si para demostrar que la compensacion era inadecuada, el haren del Rey se
engolfo al instante en una pelota de fuego. Alaafin estaba de acuerdo dividir el pueblo en dos y
dar una parte a Orunmila administrar. Una vez mas, el terremoto afectado la camara privada
del rey y todos los miembros de su casa se enterro en las ruinas.

Ese era el punto a que Alaafin se rindio la corona y el trono a Orunmila. En cuanto la corona
se entregara a Orunmila, el Alaafin y su trono excavaron en precipicio sin fondo despues de
que Esu aceptaba un fuego de la cesacion, Era desde aquel momento que una proclamacion era
el prohibiendo hecho la encuadernacion en cadenas o detencion de cualquier sacerdote de lfa.
Asi empezado la maxima que el pueblo que encadena o fuertemente detiene a un sacerdote de
lfa no sabra cualquier paz hasta que el se suelte y se compensa.

El Sacrificio Especial de este Odu para la Prosperidad

Orunmila ni ara, moni n kan eye.

Oni aje ti a ba wa ni He eni, oni n kan e-ye ni.
Oni aya ti o ba wu ni He eni, oni n kan e-ye ni.
Oni omo ti eni ba bi, oni n kan e-ye ni
Oni He kiko, oni o hun e-ye ni.
Orunmila ti o ba ri be, kini a ma fi she?
Orunmila dice que es un axioma. Yo conteste que es una cosa de alegria.
Orunmila agrego que la presencia de prosperidad en una casa.
Es una cosa de alegria. Que si uno tiene una esposa a que da el nacimiento un
nifio, y se da un titulo del chieftaincy de una elevacion, el,
es una cosa de alegria. Cuando Orunmila se pidio el requisito
sacrifique, el declaro que requeriria dos patos.
Cualquier born de] nifio hembra despues de que la adivinacion debe nombrarse
Deben nombrarse lfayemi y un nifio masculino el orlfadare de Awoyemi.

A la adivinacion, la persona debe aconsejarse para hacer el sacrificio con 2 patos, uno para lfa
y el otro para servir su cabeza, para que cualquier cosa que el o ella prueban que los his/her
pasan tuviera exito porque el pato nunca se ahoga en el agua.

Adivino para un Brother y uno Sister cuando estaban buscando las buenas cosas de la
vida

El Etura ra ra el dara de o - era el Awo que la adivinacion hecho para un hermano y una
hermana llamo Omonubi y Omolara respectivamente, cuando ellos estaban ansiosos hacerlo en
la vida. Les dijeron que hicieran el sacrificio con las ratas, pesca, aves y un macho cabrio.
Ellos hicieron el sacrificio y prosperaron en la vida despues.
Cuando aparece a la adivinacion, la persona se aconsejara que hay una catastrofe en el
offing que solo puede apartarse ayunando para lfa.

Orunmila ni Orilana kpere. Moni orilana kpere.

Oni on orogbo ni o ma nla ona fun Orogbo.
Oni on obi ni o ma nla ona fun obi.
Oni on osan ni o ma nla ona fun osan.
Oni oh iwowo ni o ma nla ona fun iwowo rin larin eranko.
Orunmila, iwo nshe n fo bi ade. Iwo nshe n fo bi eyo
Orunmila proclama que el futuro es luminoso. Su phest
lo confirmado. El explico que es la cabeza del
amargo-kola eso determina su curso. El mismo es verdad
del kolanut y el vino de Jerez. De la misma manera, es verdad
del cesped-cortador que pavimenta la manera para otros animales.
Orunmila declaro eso finalmente a la apariencia de esto
el odu a U gbodu y a la adivinacion, la persona debe servir el suyo
dirijase con muchos kolanuts hacia prosperar en la vida.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Gusano

Akere mashogbara. 0 showo meji ni won nki ara won.

"Kuojatita". Otoshi meji kpade. Won ko le da nkan.
egbe wa se. Won difa fun eruku, won bufun Egun iso-so.

La rana bellamente desollada y dos comerciantes amistosos se felicitaron para la venta

exitosa de sus mercanciases. Esos fueron los dos awos que la adivinacion hecho para el
gusano y las hormigas negras, cuando ellos estaban viniendo al mundo. Ellos eran que los
dos aconsejaron para hacer el sacrificio para anticipar el peligro de tener sus nifios
destruido por los habitantes del mundo. Les exigieron que hicieran el sacrificio con las
agujas y polvo. Las hormigas negras hicieron el sacrificio pero el Gusano no hizo.

En conseguir al mundo, ellos empezaron a tener muchos nifios. Como los seres humanos
y animales estaba preguntandose si cualquiera de ellos tenia algun valor alimentario, Esu
los aconsej6 que los nifios del gusano eran muy nutritivos, pero los advirtio no tocar las
hormigas negras debido a su efecto t6xico.

Aquellos que descuidaron el aconseje de Esu y se atrevio las hormigas negras se picaron
por el probosis o aguja con que su madre habia hecho el sacrificio en el cielo. Las victimas
de su mordedura tenian las partes mordidas de sus cuerpos infladas con el dolor severo.
Por eso las hormigas negras no son hasta el momento comestibles, aunque los gusanos de
arbol de palma son las comidas deliciosas a los hombres, animales y pajaros.

A la adivinacion, la persona se aconsejara para hacer el sacrificio para proteger su o sus

nifios de la maquinaci6n mala de enemigos.
 El capitulo 2
ETURA-OYEKU
ETURA-OGOKU EL
ETURA-ARIKU ETURA-
ARIKO ETURA-
AKPONKON

La Adivinacion que El Hizo Antes de Venir al Mundo

La Mi ko li ku ekun mirada de soslayo. El Mi ko li ku ekun, era el Awo que la adivinacion

hecho para este Odu cuando el estaba viniendo del cielo. Le aconsejaron que hiciera el
sacrificio con; un macho cabrio a Esu, y un perro, gallo y tortuga a Ogun para vivir una
vida responsable en la tierra. El hizo el sacrificio y dej6 para el mundo.

El se volvio un bailarin itinerante, mientras vagando sobre de un pueblo al otro. Por no

poder establecerse a una profesion, el se volvio una accion risuefia. Durante su danza
redondea, el nunca probo sus manos a los divining pero sus predicciones se hizo realidad.
Como el estaba bailando en un pueblo en una ocasion, el se encontro con un sacerdote de
Ifa que la adivinacion hecho para el. A la adivinacion, el Awo le dijo que que el se habia
olvidado del orden que el se dio en el cielo para no comportarse irresponsablemente en la
tierra. El Awo le dijo que ni no le aconsejaron en el cielo para comprometer bailando ni
bebiendo las juergas. Era la transgresion de estos ordenes que impidieron a su sacrificio
anterior manifestar. Le exigieron por consiguiente hacer el sacrificio a Esu con un macho
cabrio y usar cualquier cosa que el podria permitirse el lujo de servir lfa y usar la came
para festejar a las personas alrededor de el.

El hizo el sacrificio a lfa con una cabra y una gallina despues de servir Esu con un macho
cabrio en conseguir casa. El invito un numero grande de las personas que fueron
festejadas con la comida y bebidas. Todos sus invitees comentaron que para la primera
vez el algo responsable habia hecho. Eso marco el principio de su progreso en la vida. El
empezo a ver claramente como un sacerdote de lfa y sus predicciones estaban haciendose
realidad mientras sus sacrificios estaban manifestando. El pudo casarse y tener los nifios.

A Ugbodu, la persona debe aconsejarse no estar deambulando sobre pero establecerse a

una rutina apropiada para prosperar. A la adivinacion, la persona debe tener su propio Ifa
para prosperar en la vida.

El Hizo el Sacrificio para Sankpana e lya-Alaje

Etura Ogoku hizo la adivinaci6n para Sankpana e Iya-Alaje cuando ellos eran ambos
ansioso tener los esposos. El le aconsej6 a Sankpana que hiciera el sacrificio con un gallo
a casa y un kolanut del cuatro-pedazo por el lado del camino despues de que el se
encontraria a su compafiero vivo. El tambien le aconsej6 a Iya-Alaje que sirviera a su
angel guardian con una paloma y su cabeza con una gallina para encontrarse a su marido
vivo. Ellos hicieron los sacrificios.
Tres dias despues de hacer su propio sacrificio, Sankpana parti6 en su practica como un
Awo, tocando el oraculo para las personas con los cauris. Cuando el consigui6 al pueblo
de Ejigbo, las personas estaban vertiendo a el para la adivinaci6n, y el estaba dandoles
satisfacci6n. Uno de las personas que vinieron a el para la adivinaci6n era Iya-Alaje.
Despues de tocar el oraculo para ella, el le dijo que ella no tenia ningun marido, pero la
tranquiliz6 que ella era sabre casarse y empezar teniendo los nifios, con tal de que ella
sirvi6 su cabeza con una gallina.

Cuando ella confirm6 que ella habia hecho simplemente el sacrificio, el le dijo que sus
dias de ansiedad encima de un esposo habian terminado. A su vez, ella le pidi6 su esposa
y Sankpana contest6 que el no tenia ninguno.

Con eso, ella propuso casarselo formalmente y el estaba de acuerdo abrazandola. Ella
persigui6 a casa el dia siguiente para condensar sus cosas para unirlo como el hombre y
esposa pasandose la noche con el. Su matrimonio marc6 el principio de su prosperidad.
Cuando este lfa aparece a Ugbodu, la persona se aconsejara preparar su propia uma de
Sankpana y persistirlo en un lugar eminente para las personas ver. Despues de esto, el
debe servir su cabeza con un gallo. A la adivinaci6n, la persona se aconsejara para servir
Esu con un macho cabrio apartar el riesgo de perder una oportunidad fina a otros.

Descubrhi para Mooye, la esposa de Orunmila

Arira O shaya gomugo gun okpe. Odifa fun Mooye

ti'nshe aya Agboniregun. A ni ki o ru ebo tori oro ale
ko a so fun obinrin na kojo wo ale re

El ancho-chested sacerdote de Ifa que se parece un mono era el Awo que la adivinaci6n
hecho para Mooye, la esposa de Orunmila cuando ella estaba teniendo una labor dificil
como ella estaba a punto de entregar a un nifio. Orunmila se habia vuelto tan preocupado
cuando Mooye no pudiera entregar despues de tres dias de labor. Eso era cuando el invit6
el Awo a hacer la adivinaci6n para ella. El Awo le dijo que ella habia sido infiel a su
marido y que a menos que ella confes6 la abominaci6n, ella no podria entregar y se
moriria.

Mientras ella todavia era muy bien bastante para hablar, ella neg6 hacer algo extraviarse.
Despues de esto, ella empez6 a descargar sangre y agua que la de-hidrat6 tanto que ella
transcurri6 en comatoso.

Ese era el punto a que Orunmila empez6 a cantar la canci6n siguiente para persuadirla
hacer un pecho limpio de cualquier cosa que ella hizo porque ella era demasiado estimada
a el ser salido para morirse;

Arira Mooye, bi o ba bi eji-ogbe lo fe bi, Arira

Mooye, bi o ba ku kee wi o, Arira Mooye.

El canto con los nombres de sus dieciseis apostles (Olodus) pidiendola mencionar
quienquiera el era eso tenia un asunto con ella, porque el foe preparado perdonarla. Eso
demostr6 c6mo el forebearing y perdonando Orunmila pueden ser.
En esa fase, la mujer recogi6 bastante fuerza para mencionar el nombre de su amante y ella
pudo entregar seguramente.

Cuando este odu aparece para una mujer a la adivinaci6n, le diran que ella habia sido infiel a
su marido y debe confesar el acto para apartar el riesgo de muerte.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para Okponremi, la Hija de Aremonijan,

Etura yereku, Oye yereku, la adivinaci6n hecho para Okponremi, la hija de Aremonijan que
fue dado en el matrimonio a Orunmila. Ella comi6 una comida que comprende de rata, pez y
came de la cabra. En cuanto ella terminara comiendo, ella empez6 lloviendo los insultos en
Orunmila. Ella Orunmila finalmente salido. Cuando Orunmila son6 Okekponrin, le dijeron que
hiciera el sacrificio con el pato que ni duerme de dia ni de noche.

Despues de esto, la mujer lo encontr6 dificil dormir y ella empez6 a demacrar coma resultado
de su insomnia cr6nico. Cuando su padre observ6 la deterioraci6n en el fisico de su hija, el fue
por la adivinaci6n y se dijo que a menos que ella devolvi6 a Orunmila, ella no se mejoraria y
se moriria en el fin. Despues de esto, ella fue disculparse a Orunmila y rogar para el perd6n.
Ella estaba de acuerdo y fue a pedirlo para el perd6n tomar su atras despues de que ella se
volvi6 bien.

Cuando aparece a la adivinaci6n, la persona se aconsejara para aconsejarle a su hija que no

dejar a su marido porque le obligaran a que vuelva cuando entre el diablo y el mar azul
profundo.

Adivino al trompetista para Awogboro

Etura kon go go go - la adivinaci6n hecho para Awogboro el trompetista, cuando el era tan
belicoso que la carga de muerte subita colg6 encima de su cabeza, coma la espada del
damoclean. Le aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio con un macho cabrio, una gallina, una
espada y su propia ropa desgastado. El erase aconsejaron los trumpetter de las fuerzas armadas
de su pais y todos de ellos para hacer los sacrificios similares. Awogboro era el unico que hizo
el sacrificio.

Cuando ellos consiguieron coma consecuencia al campo de la batalla, Awogboro vol6 la

trompeta en cuanto ellos encontraran la emboscada puesta por las fuerzas del enemigo. El
ataque de la sorpresa llev6 a la muerte de los soldados, y solo un manojo de ellos incluso
Awogboro sobrevivia indemne.

Cuando aparece a la adivinaci6n, la persona se advertira que la muerte esta en el offing. El el o

ella debe hacer el sacrificio para apartar el peligro de muerte intempestiva.
 El capitulo 3
ETURA-IWORI
ETURA-AWOYE
ETURA-OLE

El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Caracol

Etura-Awoye hizo la adivinaci6n para el Caracol, cuando ella estaba perdiendo a sus nifios
despues de dar el nacimiento a ellos. Orunmila le aconsej6 que hiciera el sacrificio con una
gallina y una bolsa y ella lo hicieron. Despues de esto, el le aconsej6 que estuviera
escondiendo sus huevos antes de salirlos del cascar6n en los nifios. Ella se dio la bolsa que ella
llev6 sobre en su cuerpo. Cuando era tiempo para salir del cascar6n los huevos, ella sigui6 el
consejo de Orunmila y escondi6 a los nifios en un agujero.

A prop6sito, ella am6 comercio y dinero mas de sus nifios. Cuando los nifios dejaron sus
cascaras, ellos no podrian encontrar a su madre a alimentelos, Por consiguiente, ellos hicieron
para robar la comida de dondequiera que ellos podria encontrarlo.

Un dia, ellos fueron a la casa del Pawpaw para robar la comida. Ensefiarle una lecci6n a su
madre, los pawpaw encarcelaron a los nifios del caracol bajo su mortem. Cuando el caracol
volvi6 del mercado, ella arrastr6 a sus nifios a la casa del pawpaw d6nde ella los encontr6 bajo
la detenci6n. Cuando ella le pregunt6 al Pawpaw que que ofensa sus nifios comprometieron,
ella explic6 que ellos vinieron a robar en su casa. Ella rog6 con exito para su descargo.
Cuando ella fue de nuevo al mercado, los nifios fueron a robar de Osan-Agbalumo despues de
que la madre del thejr los abandon6.

A Ugbodu, la persona servira el Ifa con 16 caracoles para evitar la turbaci6n de sus nifios. El
debe prestar la atenci6n apropiada al a-traer de sus nifios evitar el peligro de obligarles a que
depravaranse moralmente.

A la adivinaci6n, la persona debe servir Ogun con un gallo evitar una casualidad desagradable.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para la Tierra y el Cielo

Etura gamuga, Iwori gamuga, Okan gamuga laga lleke

Etura subi6 a, Iwori subi6 a y los dos de ellos subieron a una silla adomada con cuentas. Ese
era el Awo que la adivinaci6n hecho para la tierra, los arboles y sogas, y hombre y mujer. Los
juegos de pares eran que todos aconsejaron para hacer el sacrificio para prevenir el peligro de
luchar entre si. Les exigieron que sirvieran sus cabezas. La tierra fue servir su cabeza con una
guinea-ave, mientras el cielo fue dicho servir su cabeza con una paloma. Ellos los dos hicieron
el sacrificio juntos. El arbol fue dicho servir su cabeza con un gallo mientras la soga fue servir
su cabeza con una paloma. Ellos no hicieron el sacrificio. Se dijeron las dos colinas entre un
valle unir las manos para comprar una guinea-ave para servir sus cabezas juntos. Ellos
compraron el guinea-ave y
sirvieron su cabeza juntos. El hombre fue dicho servir su cabeza con un gallo mientras la mujer fue
servir su cabeza con una gallina. Ellos no realizaron el sacrificio.

Por eso los pares que hicieron sus sacrificios no rifien hasta el momento entre ellos, mientras
aquellos que no realizaron sus sacrificios siempre son antag6nicos a nosotros.

Cuando aparece a la adivinaci6n para un hombre y su esposa, les aconsejaran que sirvan sus
cabezas respectivamente con un gallo y una gallina en la cima de una colina. Si aparece como
Ayeo, ellos tambien deben servir Esu con un macho cabrio y deben extinguir el fuego-madera para
evitar el riesgo de estar en nosotros la garganta. Si aparece para un hombre o una mujer, el el o ella
debe preguntarse si el o ella son la parte de un par, o como los gemelos, el hermano y hermana, o
hermanos o hermanas. Para la identificaci6n facil, uno de ellos tendra un diente deformado o un
espacio abierto entre dos dientes.

Descubrhi para el hombre blanco cuando venia desde el cielo

Atanrere tanrere. Odifa fun afin-oyibo ni jo ti o wa mu use Igbameraye.

Ese era el Awo que la adivinaci6n hecho para el hombre blanco cuando el estaba viniendo al
mundo sin el vestido de pobreza. Le aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio con los frijoles, cafia de
azucar, manzanas del pino, y cocos. El hizo el sacrificio.

El aterriz6 en el mundo en la tierra mas alla de los desiertos y los mares, o Igbehin-okun d6nde el
empez6 a prosperar despues de tres afios.

A la adivinaci6n, la persona se <lira que el o ella estan proponiendo viajar a un lugar por el lado de
un mar o rio. El el o ella beneficiara de la jomada proporcionada que el sacrificio se hace a Esu y la
divinidad de agua antes de salir. Nada con sangre o debe usarse el aceite para el sacrificio excepto
los materiales blancos.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para Ogbese y Oshun Cuando Ellos estaban Compitiendo para
la Antigiiedad

Etura ole, Iwori ole. Ole meji. nja ni abe idiye. Idiye ko wo. Be ni, ole
meji ko da ara won, awon ni won loon difa fun Ogbe re
ati Oshun.

Esos fueron los dos Awos que la adivinaci6n hecho para Ogbere y Oshun cuando ellos estaban
disputando para la antigiiedad. Les aconsejaron que hicieran el sacrificio con Akara suficiente.
Corrija del sitio de una acci6n de la adivinaci6n, ellos estaban alardeando y estaban
maldiciendonos hasta que ellos en el futuro estaba de acuerdo en encontrarse para un duelo para
probamos la proeza en cinco tiempo de los dias.
Antes del dia designado, Ogbere volvi6 para la adivinaci6n y le aconsejaron que hiciera el
sacrificio y el sirvi6 Esu con un macho cabrio y akara.

En el dia designado, Ogbere inund6 la casa de Oshun asi la supremacia premiada encima del Oshun
vencido. Eso era c6mo el refran empez6, el "Ogbere fi kekere se egbon Oshun". Es decir, "Ogbere
rio swalloped Oshun para ganar la supremacia encima de el."
Cuando aparece a la adivinaci6n, la persona se aconsejara para hacer el sacrificio para
apartar el riesgo de supremacia perdedora a una persona menor.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para Adeduntan

Etura gan ga, Iwori gan ga, awo Adeduntan, wondafa fun
Adeduntan, omo ewuru dagba ni oke.

Ellos hicieron la adivinaci6n para una mujer llamado Adeduntan. Le aconsejaron que
hiciera el sacrificio para apartar el peligro de aborto de su embarazo. Le exigieron que
hiciera el sacrificio con un tuberculo de fiame de agua que ella tenia en casa, mientras
agregando un conejo, caracol y macho cabrio. Desde que ella era el disinclined para partir
con el fiame de agua, ella se neg6 a hacer el sacrificio.

Como consecuencia, cuando quiera ella contempl6 la cocina el fiame de agua, Esu
mancharian la idea de su memoria. Entretanto, el fiame de agua (el ewura del ishu)
empez6 a germinar a la parte de atras de su casa d6nde fue guardado. Como el tallo del
fiame creci6 en la altura, el embarazo de Adeduntan empez6 a retroceder en el tamafio y
al detoriate. Ella se preocup6 y su ansiedad la envi6 arras al sacerdote de Ifa que la
record6 el sacrificio que ella no hizo. Estaba en ese punto que ella hizo el sacrificio,
mientras agregando el fiame de agua.

Despues de esto, su embarazo reasumi6 el desarrollo y en la llenura de tiempo, ella

entreg6 a un nifio saludable. A la adivinaci6n la persona se <lira hacer el sacrificio para
que el embarazo de su esposa no pudiera abortar. Repita para una mujer embarazada.
 El capitulo 4
ETURA-IDI

Descubrio para la mujer embarazada y para Olobahun

Etura-yedi era el Awo que la adivinacion hecho para Olobahun y una mujer embarazada.
Olobahun fue dicho hacer el sacrificio para apartar el peligro de muerte prematura. Le
exigieron que hiciera el sacrificio para que su cabeza intema (la mente) no podria destruir la
cabeza exterior. Desde que el normalmente prefiere confiar en sus ingenios, el se nego a hacer
el sacrificio.

En su parte, la mujer embarazada fue aconsejada para hacer el sacrificio para anticipar el
riesgo de volverse la victima de una ofensa que ella no supo nada sabre. Ella hizo el sacrificio.

Entretanto, Olobahun tumb6 un arbol para bloquear la unica via publica a las granjas y el
mercado. El arbol tenia un agujero grande en el y todos que pasamos el camino tenido que
estirar fuera su o sus piemas encima del arbol que expone los organos genitales asi. Olobahun
se escondio dentro del sostenimiento del arbol caido y saco su pene a traves del agujero. De
esa manera, el estaba hacienda el amor instantaneo eficazmente a cada mujer que tenia que
estirar sus piemas encima del arbol,

Cuando una mujer embarazada estaba pasando encima del arbol caido en su manera al
mercado, Esu engatuso Olobahun para creer que la ultima mujer habia pasado al mercado, y el
se sentia que todos estaban claros para el salir. Como el estaba saliendo del agujero, la mujer
embarazada lo vio y levanto una alarma que ella lo habia cogido el delecto del flagrante, el
hombre poco escrupuloso que habia estado contaminando el orgullo de las mujeres del pueblo
que pasa asi a las granjas y los mercados. Olobahun se aprehendio al instante por los hombres
que estaban viniendo detras de la mujer embarazada.

El se acuso como consecuencia antes de la carte real donde el era sumariamente probado y
ejecut6 en la uma de Ogun.

Cuando este lfa aparece a Ugbodu, la persona se aconsejara para servir; su cabeza con un
gallo, y Ogun con una tortuga dentro de tres dias, para evitar volverse la victima de una
falsedad viciosa e innegable. Los sacrificios se haran en la uma de lfa. A la adivinacion, la
persona debe aconsejarse para servir su cabeza y Ogun con cualquier cosa el o ella podria
permitirse el lujo de. El el o ella tambien servira Esu con el craneo de un macho cabrio y
prometera agradecer Esu con un macho cabrio vivo al tener exito en una ventura propuesta.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Macho cabrio Cuando el estaba Acordando Casarse

Etura di, kankan di. Odifa fun Itu toni o unlofe aya.
El hizo la adivinacion para el macho cabrio cuando el estaba acordando casarse. Cuando el
propuso a la mujer, ella no respondio tranquilizantemente. El decidio ir a Orunmila por
adivinacion que le dijo que hiciera el sacrificio con el equivalente de 30k. En lugar de ir a
hacer el sacrificio solo, el dio 45k a su madre hacerlo en su nombre. La madre hizo el
sacrificio con 15k, mientras guardando 30k a ella. Desde que ella solo hizo media sacrificio,
no manifesto.

Perdiendo a la mujer a otro hombre el persiguio a Orunmila para preguntar por que su
sacrificio no materializo. Orunmila explico que su madre era responsable para su problema
porque ella solo hizo la mitad del sacrificio con 15k. En conseguir casa, el desafio a su madre
por estafar, mientras haciendole asi perder a su esposo intencional a otro hombre. El desafio a
la madre con las palabras "WO SEA EBO IE" yen el proceso su madre ataco y la violo.
Despues de esto, el le dijo a la madre que desde que ella tambien era una mujer, el continuaria
hacienda el amor a ella de ese dia. Eso era como el macho cabrio establecio la tradicion
incestuosa de hacer a una esposa de su madre. Cuando este odu aparece a la adivinacion, la
persona se <lira hacer el sacrificio si el esta proponiendo casarse a una mujer para obviar el
riesgo de perderla a un aspirante del rival. El el o ella debe el endeavour para no hacer el
sacrificio a traves de un apoderado para tener exito,

Adivino todos otros instrumentos musicales para Baata al Excel

Etura di, kankan di, babalawo Baata, Odifa fun Baata, Abufun
gbogbo ilu to ku.

El hizo la adivinacion para el tambor bajo dos-estado al lado de y todos los otros tambores. El
Oloye habia invitado todos ellos porque el quiso fijar a un lider entre ellos. Antes de honrar la
invitacion, todos ellos fueron a Orunmila por la adivinacion. El aconsejo cada uno de ellos
hacer el sacrificio con la tela de indiana y un gallo. Ellos se burlaron el consejo diciendo que
habia que tiempo nadie fue a Orunmila sin exigir a uno hacer el sacrificio. Con la excepcion de
Baata, todos los otros decidieron no hacer el sacrificio.

Entretanto, todos ellos dejaron para el palacio del Oloye en el dia designado. Despues de
permitirles dejar sus casas pero antes de conseguir al sitio de una accion del concurso, Esu
causo la lluvia para empezar cayendose pero antes de que la lluvia empezara, el dio a Baata el
calico con que el hizo el sacrificio para cubrir a su cabeza. Desde que ellos tenian ningun
donde tomar el resguardo, ellos eran completamente todos mojados por la lluvia. Cuando ellos
llegaron al palacio de Oloye, ellos eran todos estremeciendose del frio y perdida de voz.

En el momenta de su llegada, el Oba se molesto ya por guardarlo esperando para tan largo. El
canto los a cada uno empezar bailando y cantando. Ellos pudieron bailar, pero practicamente
todos ellos habian perdido sus voces tanto que el Oloye se hastio por la cacofonia de sus
sonidos. El estaba a punto de dejarlos en el enojo cuando le dijeron que seguia siendo uno de
ellos quien no habia realizado. Eso era cuando Baata tomo la fase. El quito el calico con que el
habia cubierto su cabeza durante la lluvia y habia empezado a cantar en la alabanza del Awo
que la adivinacion hecho y sacrifica para el:

"etura di, kankan di, Etura di, kankan di"

y el sonido era tan melodioso que su organizador no tenia la dificultad proclamando Baata
como el rey de todos los instrumentos musicales.

Cuando aparece a la adivinacion, la persona se <lira que el o ella estan preparando para
una conferencia o disputan con otros colegas. El el o ella debe hacer el sacrificio antes de
ir y previno que lloveria antes del concurso, pero debe evitar al ser vencido por el.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Elefante y el Hoyo

Etura ye di. Awo erin, odifa fun erin, abufun ofin. 0 ni ki

awon mejeji rubo niton akoba. Sugbon won o ru ebo na.
Obuko ni ebo re.

El hizo la adivinacion para el Elefante (Erin) y el Hoyo (Ofin) aconsejandoles que hicieran
el sacrificio para prevenir el peligro de tener un infortunio mas poderoso que ellos. Desde
que el Elefante no pudiera imaginar que otra fuerza era mayor que el en el bosque, el no
fue inclinado para hacer el sacrificio. En su parte, el Hoyo alardeo que ni muerte ni
enfermedad pudieran superarlo, y desde que el era capaz de tragar a quienquiera se atrevio
a comprometerlo en el combate, el no vio la necesidad por cualquier sacrificio. Cada uno
de ellos fue exigido servir Esu con un macho cabrio, pero ellos se negaron a hacerlo.

En decirse que Erin y Ofin se negaron a considerar el consejo para hacer el sacrificio, Esu
decidio ensefiarles una leccion dura. Una mafiana, mientras el estaba tomando un paseo,
Esu atrajo el Elefante para pasearse por el lado del Hoyo. Cuando el Elefante movio cerca
del Hoyo, Esu pestafieo sus ojos a el que lo hizo para que deslumbro y deslumbro que el
anduvo en el Hoyo. El Hoyo estaba tan contento con su captura grande que el empezo a
hacer una broma de Orunmila que le habia aconsejado que hiciera un sacrificio del
unecessary.

De esa mafiana hasta la tarde, el Elefante lucho con el Hoyo para hacer un conseguirlejos.
Siguiendo al combate, el Elefante rompio los precipicios que apoyan el precipicio
alrededor del hoyo. La percha del precipicio dio manera que estimula un alud que al
instante enterro el elefante y cerrado el Hoyo para bueno. Asi, el Elefante y el Hoyo nos
batallaron a la muerte por no haciendo el sacrificio. Por eso se dice a menudo que un
crater que no solo mata un elefante no puede matar otro animal, pero tambien se muere
con el.

Cuando este odu aparece a la adivinacion, la persona debe decirse servir Esu rapidamente
con un macho cabrio anticipar el peligro de muerte subita a el o una relacion intima. A
Ugbodu el Awo obtendra las hojas apropiadas para preparar para el bafiarse dentro de un
hoyo, mientras montando las hojas pertinentes de este odu en el craneo fresco del macho
cabrio y posicionara en la uma de Esu con un U-saeta. Una de las cosas ser usado por
montar el craneo del macho cabrio sera algo que la persona escogera del hoyo despues de
bafiarse en el.

La adivinacion Constituyo Orunmila Cuando El Viaje con Otras Divinidades

Etura di, kankan di. Odifa fun Orunmila ni'jo ti omba

 awon omo erumole lo si He obinrin gbondu gbondu.

El hizo la adivinaci6n para Orunmila antes de acompafiar las otras divinidades a la tierra
de mujeres d6nde los thre no eran ningun hombre. Las otras divinidades habian sido al
pueblo sin poder dejar cualquier impresi6n en las mujeres. Eso era cuando ellos decidieron
devolver casa para invitar Orunmila, el diviner de sabiduria.

Le aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio con el tambor, gong, maracas y trompeta a la

adivinaci6n. Con la musica y bailando el pudo engatusar a las mujeres para devolver casa
con las divinidades.

Cuando aparece a la adivinaci6n, la persona se <lira que el o ella se encontraran con un

esposo probable que habia desairado los adelantos de otros aspirantes. El el o ella debe
hacer el sacrificio porque el o ella se atraeran para casarselas lo o.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para los Tambores Musicales

Etura-idi, Goinidi, Adada-idi, sea los Awos que la adivinaci6n hecho para los Tambores
Musicales cuando ellos eran de viaje al pueblo de lle-lpe. Les aconsejaron que hicieran el
sacrificio para que ellos pudieran devolver casa con los regalos suficientes. Ellos hicieron
el sacrificio.

Cuando ellos consiguieron al lle-lpe, ellos empezaron a entretener con un essemble que
atrajo a muchas personas. Ellos cantaron y bailaron el derecho a al palacio del Oba
durante que ellos atrajeron a una muchedumbre grande de las personas que estaban
rociando dinero y regalos en ellos. Ellos cantaron asi a la paliza del tambor:

El Mo ti she'bo etura idi, Goin goin di el idi de Alada, el di de goin de goin. Ese es hasta el
momento el sonido de los tambores. A la adivinaci6n, la persona debe hacer el sacrificio
para obtener la fortuna destinada para el al trabajar lejos del pueblo de casa de his/her.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Camaleon

El mismo Awos hizo la adivinaci6n para el Camale6n que fue aconsejado para hacer el
sacrificio para evitar experimentar cualquier sufrimiento en absoluto. Le exigieron que
hiciera el sacrificio con telas de colores surtido y un gallo. El hizo el sacrificio. Eso era
c6mo el camale6n fue dotado del privilegio raro de recibir su comida a traves del aire.
Cuando aparece a la adivinaci6n, la persona se aconsejara para hacer el sacrificio en el
orden recibir la bendici6n especial de Dios y vivir una vida sin problemas.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Grave Tambor

Etura-idi, Goin goin-idi. Adadaidi - era los Awos que la adivinaci6n hecho para el bombo
cuando el iba a guerrear en el pueblo de lle-lkpe. Le dijeron que hiciera el sacrificio para
ganar las ventajas de la jomada al guerra-frente. Le aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio
con una paloma, un macho cabrio y bramantes. El hizo el sacrificio antes de dejar para el
guerra-frente.
En llegar alli, el reuni6 las dos fuerzas contrarias comprometidas en un combate feroz. Como
si olvidado a la realidad de la situaci6n belicosa, el empez6 a bailar y cantar, a la admiraci6n
de los combatientes. Esu amplific6 el eco de su canci6n y baile e instintivamente, los
combatientes dejaron caer sus inclinaciones y flechas y empezaron a bailar a la melodia
seductor de su musica.

Entretanto, ellos detuvieron la lucha y en el unisono, uni6 su procesi6n para devolver casa en
paz a la melodia de su musica - el Mo ti shebo el di de Etura, el Etura di goin goin di. Aladi, di
de goin de goin que acab6 la guerra.

A la adivinaci6n, la persona se aconsejara hacer el sacrificio y llevarse un trabajo de la tierra

de su nacimiento para prosperar.
 El capitulo 5
ETURA-OBARA
ETURA-ARABA ETURA-
BA-BA-BA

Adivino para el Canto ave ako Cuando se Endeudo a Olokun

Ewe ti a se ki 'run. Oro ti a mo tele ki i ni eni lara.

Adifa fun Ako ni jo ti onje gbese lowo Olokun ati Orisa.
Ebo niko ru o.

Una hoja tirada no crece de nuevo. La informacion ya conocida no viene como una
sorpresa. Esos eran los Awos que la adivinacion hecho para Ako (Erigoin en Bini) cuando
el se endeudo a Orisa y Olokun a la melodia de seis bolsas de dinero ( el Oke owo mefa).
El pidio prestado el dinero por comerciar y el negocio se derrumbo. Cuando el se encontro
incapaz de reembolsar la deuda, el empezo a esconder del lugar para poner. Como
consecuencia, el pudo levantar la mitad del prestamo y el decidio ir a Orunmila para
consejo en si reembolsar la mitad del prestamo a cada uno de sus acreedores o reembolsar
uno de ellos por completo hasta que el pudiera levantar el dinero para el equilibrio.

Orunmila le dijo que no reembolsara ninguno de los prestamos despues de la adivinacion,

pero para hacer el sacrificio a Esu con el dinero el tenia, mientras agregando un vestido
hecho con hojas del platano que eran estar quemado en la uma de Esu. El acepto el
consejo y hecho el sacrificio. Despues de esto, Orunmila le dijo ir y decirle a Olokun que
el se endeudo a Orisa y el, pero ese partidario una apelacion solemne, Orisa lo habia
perdonado la deuda, y para preguntar como Olokun pudiera ayudarlo desde que el no tenia
el dinero para el reembolso.

La mafiana siguiente, el se vistio en ropa de terciopelo en que Esu habia convertido el

vestido de hojas del platano con que el hizo el sacrificio, y consiguio los tambores para
acompafiarlo al lugar de Olokun. En llegar alli, Ako empezo a no solo bailar en la
alabanza de Dios para el vestido vistoso el estaba llevando pero tambien su perdon de la
deuda. La melodia de la musica atrajo Olokun para salir para ver quien el cantante y el
bailarin era. En cuanto Olokun saliera, el agrego un estribillo a su cancion en que el hizo
una apelacion solemne a el para el perdon del prestamo porque Dios habia extendido la
misma compasion en el. Olokun contesto que aunque Dios era su padre y creador, si el
pudiera perdonar su prestamo, el podria hacer al ser mas mas "rico que Orisa". no solo
hizo Olokun perdonan el preste, el tambien doto Ako de mas regalos y dinero.

Despues de expresar su gratitud profunda a Olokun, el llevo la compafiia baile al palacio

divino de Dios donde Ako postro para agradecer el Omnipotente Padre para ser tan
paciente con el encima de su deuda. En una cancion solemne y baila, Ako recurrio a Dios
para aceptar la mitad del prestamo que el habia podido levantar y ayudarle agradecer
Olokun que habia perdonado simplemente la deuda el tambien lo debio, ademas de los
regalos el dio a el. En la contestacion, Dios dijo que desde que El poseyo
Olokun y toda su riqueza, El tambien fue preparado perdonar la deuda de Ako. Con estas
bendiciones, Ako se puso muy adinerado y respetable.

Cuando este Ifa aparece a U gbodu, la persona se aconsej ara para servir su cabeza con
cualquier cosa el puede permitirse el lujo del preferrably una guinea-ave, y para servir Esu
con un macho cabrio y un vestido hizo con las hojas de platano para obtener la bendicion
de las personas en la autoridad alta. A la adivinacion, la persona se <lira que el se endeuda
a dos acreedores. Si el no quiere reembolsarlos, el debe servir; su cabeza con el guinea-
ave, y Esu con el macho cabrio y las deudas transcurririan.

El Divined para Ebo y Sigidi Cuando Ellos Disputaron para el Matrimonio de una
Muchacha.

Etura ba ba ba hicieron la adivinacion para Ebo ( el sacrificio) el hijo de Orunmila y Sigidi

(los encantos) el hijo de Osanyin cuando ellos los dos disputaron para las manos de una
solterona en la casa divina de Dios. La muchacha no podria hacer una opcion entre el
ajility de Sigidi y la serenidad de Ebo, y por consiguiente recurrio al Omnipotente Padre
para hacer una opcion para ella. Entretanto, Dios invito a los dos oponentes y designado
una fecha para ellos para venir y demostrar sus credenciales y elegibilidad por las manos
de la muchacha en el matrimonio. Les dijeron que volvieran para el concurso despues de
tres dias.

En conseguir casa, Ebo fue a su padre para consejo y le dijeron que diera un macho cabrio
a Esu antes de ir por el concurso. El hizo la ofrenda sin cualquier retraso. En el tercer dia,
Sigidi se visti6 en su equipo diab6lico y el empez6 el concurso demostrando muy
divirtiendo y entreteniendo las fiestas magicas, El se transfiguro en un pajaro que volo la
ronda el podio al deleite de todos los espectadores. A otro punto, el se suspendi6 en el aire
y bailo en el aire durante mucho tiempo sin referente a la tierra con sus pies. El climax de
su actuaci6n vino cuando Esu entr6 en su mente y lo persuadi6 transfigurar en un raton
gigante que movio para saludar a todos los espectadores. A ese punto, Esu transfiguro en
un gato que agarr6 el rat6n e hizo lejos con el. Desde que las personas pensaron que la
aprehensi6n de la rata por el gato era otra escena en el drama, nadie movi6 para rescatar la
rata.

Despues de esperar durante mucho tiempo en vano por el gato y el raton volver, Dios
declaro el concurso cerrado invitando Ebo a llevarse a la muchacha para vivir con ella
como el hombre y esposa.

A la adivinacion, la persona se <lira que el o ella estan disputando para un favor con
alguien mas. El el o ella debe hacer el sacrificio para ganar el concurso.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para Onibedo, el Partidario del Name,

Ewe ti a se ki 'run. Oro ti a ti mo tele ki 'nini lara. Adifa fun

Onibedo ti a ni ko ru ebo ki won ma ge ese re danu.

Un plucket de la hoja de la planta no crece de nuevo. Una informaci6n ya conocida no

hace las noticias. Esos fueron los dos Awos que la adivinacion hecho para Onibedo (Isaa o
Eghee en Bini) el palo del yound uso por apoyar una planta del name germinando. Le
aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio para apartar el riesgo de tener su
corte de las piemas fuera de. Le aconsejaron que hiciera los sacrificios con alguien mas
matchet que el tenia en su custodia. El no hizo el sacrificio porque el estaba demasiado
enamorado del machete partir con el.

Cuando el fiame se plant6 en la granja, el granjero empez6 a preguntarse c6mo apoyarlo

cuando germin6. Esu intervino para aconsejarle al granjero que cortar las ramitas j6venes
que abundan en la ronda del arbusto su granja para apoyar el fiame. Asi, el machete fue
usado para cortar las piemas de las ramitas para proporcionar el apoyo a los fiames
germinando.

A la adivinaci6n, la persona debe decirse hacer el sacrificio para prevenir el peligro de

muerte subita, o ataque del matchet.

La Adivinacion lo Constituy6 Al Venir al Mundo

El ba de Etura el ba de Abara, era los Awos que la adivinaci6n hecho para este odu
cuando el estaba viniendo del cielo. Le aconsejaron que sirviera a su cabeza y angel
guardian con el guinea-ave y sec6 el pez rodado; Esu con un macho cabrio; y Ogun con un
gallo. El hizo los sacrificios antes de dejar para el mundo.

En conseguir al mundo el se puso tan exitoso como un sacerdote de lfa que el se volvi6 los
diviner reales al Oba de su pueblo. El hizo su debut en el palacio ayudando que la esposa
favorita yerma del Oba empezara teniendo los nifios. El prepar6 la medicina que ayud6
que la mujer tuviera los nifios, en el cementerio. Para mostrar su apreciaci6n, el Oba
construy6 una casa para el vivir en. El era finalmente hecho el Araba-Olotu-Awo, la
cabeza de todos los sacerdotes de lfa.

Cuando este Ifa aparece a U gbodu, la persona se <lira hacer los sacrificios antedichos
para aventajar en su trabajo.

El Divined para el Pene y la Vulva para Ganar Honor Universal y Respeto

El Etura ba ba ba era el awo que la adivinaci6n hecho para la vulva cuando ella no tenia
una morada fija. Ella habia sido a la cabeza, hombro, pecho, abdomen y cintura
acomodarla, pero ellos todos se negaron a porque ellos se habian advertido por Orunmila
para no conceder el alojamiento a los visitantes. Eso era cuando ella decidi6 ir a Orunmila
por la adivinaci6n. Le dijeron que sirviera Esu con un macho cabrio negro y un pedazo
negro de tela despues de que ella era servir su cabeza con una gallina, coco y kolanuts
blanco y rojo.

Ella fue a Orunmila para hacer el sacrificio a Esu y le dijeron que ella tenia que servir su
cabeza solo en un lugar apartado. Desde que ella se habia desairado previamente por otras
partes del cuerpo, Esu le aconsej6 que fuera a la morada apartada de la pelvis exterior de
la cavidad entre las piemas humanas. En llegar a la casa de la pelvis, la vulva no consigui6
una recepci6n facil porque gusta todas las otras partes del cuerpo, le habian dicho tambien
que no acomodara a cualquier huesped para apartar el riesgo de encima de-sombrearse
completamente y se habia marginado por el visitante. La vulva atrajo la pelvis
apasionadamente que ella solo estaba pareciendo para una morada temporal en que para
servir su cabeza.
La pelvis permiti6 la Vulva en el futuro para servir su cabeza en las franjas exteriores de su
propia casa. En cuanto ella se sentara para servir su cabeza, Esu le dio la tela negra con que
ella hizo el sacrificio para protegerse de la vista publica. Despues del sacrificio, la pelvis dijo a
la vulva dejar su casa, pero ella persuadi6 a su organizadora para permitirle quedarse por una
noche debido a la convenci6n que exige a uno quedarse uno dondequiera que sirve a la cabeza
de uno y angel guardian, toda la noche. Antes de la mafiana siguiente, Esu us6 la piel del
macho cabrio negro con que la Vulva hizo el sacrificio para encolarla inseparablemente a las
franjas exteriores de la morada de la pelvis ( el akata en Yoruba y Akhara en Bini) donde ella
ha permanecido desde entonces.

La vulva y el pene habian sido desde el principio los amigos plat6nicos. Cuando el pene no vio
la vulva durante mucho tiempo, le dijeron en el futuro que ella habia tornado la residencia
permanente con la pelvis hembra. Cuando el fue a la casa de la Pelvis para buscar la vulva, la
pelvis cerr6 la verja a su casa.

Eso era cuando el decidi6 ir a Orunmila para tambien consejo y le dijeron que realizara el
mismo sacrificio que su amigo que la vulva hizo. El hizo el sacrificio rapidamente y despues
de esto, Esu persuadi6 la pelvis hembra para dejar entrar el pene de la pelvis masculina.
Despues de una reunion breve, el Pene sali6, mientras dejando alga para la vulva guardar que
se volvi6 un nifio despues de nueve meses.

Despues de esto, Esu fue a bloquear el pasaje entre el cielo y tierra que lo hacen imposible asi
para las personas ir e interponerse entre el cielo y tierra para pedirle los nifios a Dias.

Como consecuencia, Esu proclam6 que cualquiera buscando a los niiios deben ir a los 6rganos
genitales masculinos y hembras. Eso era c6mo ellos los dos consiguieron honor universal y
respetabilidad.

A la adivinaci6n, la persona debe decirse servir Esu con un macho cabrio para ponerse
pr6spero y popular.

El Divined para Orunmila Produce Ninos Que Eran Volverse los Padres

Araba ni baba, Araba ni baba. Eni ti a ha ha li aha ni baba eni.

Esos eran los Awos que la adivinaci6n hecho para Orunmila cuando el iba a producir a nifios
que eran volverse los padres. Le aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio con los entusiastas de
cuero. (Abebe en Yoruba y Ezuzu en Bini), vuele el batidor (o cola del caballo) (Urukere u
Oroke ). El hizo el sacrificio. Por eso se llaman todos los adhesivos de Orunmila que tiene su
propio lfa Babalawo.

Cuando aparece a la adivinaci6n, la persona se aconsejara para aprender dar el honor y

respetar a su o sus superiores para que el o ella alcanzaran la vejez madura tambien para ser el
refered a coma un superior. El se volvera una personalidad prominente en su comunidad.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para Alaraba

 Abi irukerejonwonron, Babalawo Alaraba, Odifa fun Alaraba.

El hizo la adivinaci6n para Alaraba hacer el sacrificio para guardar fuera del peligro de muerte
subita a traves de un insecto inconsecuente o animal. Le exigieron que hiciera el sacrificio con
su ropa llevando y una oveja. Cuando el vio que el diviner estaba llevando la ropa infeliz, el
concluy6 que el hombre quiso la ropa con que para cambiar sus andrajosos. El se neg6 a hacer
el sacrificio por consiguiente.

Unos dias despues, cuando el se fue de su casa por la noche aliviarse, el camin6 en un
escorpi6n que lo pic6. Antes de la mafiana siguiente, el se muri6.

Cuando aparece a la adivinaci6n, la persona se aconsejara para hacer el sacrificio para prevenir
el peligro de muerte subita.
 El capitulo 6
ETURA-OKONRON
ETURA-TIKU

El Hizo la Adivinacion para la Rata, Pez y Pajaro

Etura re re re, Okonron re re re. Odifa fun eku, obufun

eja, otun bufun eye nijo ti awon meteta ti kole orun bo
wa si kole aye.

El hizo la adivinaci6n para la rata, pez y pajaro cuando ellos estaban viniendo al mundo.
Les aconsejaron servir sus cabezas con las frutas de la palma y apartar el riesgo de atraerse
por la comida de otras personas. Ellos no hicieron el sacrificio.

Cuando ellos consiguieron al mundo, Esu aconsej6 la humanidad que las frutas de la
palma eran la comida favorita de todos los tres de ellos. Pescadores empezaron a usar la
palma fructifica por poner los precios netos para cager pesca, mientras los setter de la
trampa usaron que la palma fructifica por cebar ratas y pajaros en las trampas. Por eso es
la comida de otras personas que incita los tres de ellos a sus muertes, hasta el momenta.

A la apariencia de este lfa a la adivinaci6n o durante la iniciaci6n en Ifism, la persona

servira Esu inmediatamente con la rata, pez, pajaro y macho cabrio anticipar el peligro de
comer la comida envenenada fuera.

La adivinacion para los Organos genitales Masculinos y Hembras

Ake ke ti 'nke igi ni nu igbo, Ohun ni so igbo do oloni. Ba

laumo akpa ni so ashe da ototo eniyan. Adifa fun obo, Omo
ariyo oshu. Abufun oko, omo agana ere. Eyi ti o tori omo
data.

El hacha que tumba los arboles en el bosque se los vuelve a alguien la propiedad. La
menstruaci6n es el precursor y partera de humanidad. Estos eran los Awos que la
adivinaci6n hecho para la Vulva para volverse tentando a la vista masculina. Ellos
tambien hicieron la adivinaci6n para el Pene volverse el padre de humanidad. Ellos eran
que los dos aconsejaron para hacer el sacrificio con la came de cerdo, rata y pez. Ellos
hicieron el sacrificio y se volvieron los padres de humanidad.

A la adivinaci6n, la persona se <lira hacer el sacrificio porque el he/she va a tener muchos

nifios.

La Adlvinacion que El Hizo Antes de Dejar el Cielo

lwaju iroko rege. Eyin iroko rege rege. Adifa fun Orunmila ni
jo ti o ti kole orun bowa si kole aye.
Ellos eran los Awos que la adivinaci6n hecho para este odu cuando el estaba viniendo al
mundo. Ellos le dijeron que el iba a ser la victima de una falsedad rencorosa en la tierra y
que le exigieron que hiciera los sacrificios a frustrar las maquinaciones malas de sus
enemigos,; Sango con un gallo, camwood, kola amargo, kolanuts, ekuru, akara y eko; y
Ogun con un gallo, calabaza de vino de la palma y tijeras de los herreros; y Esu con un
macho cabrio. Hacienda los sacrificios el persigui6 buscar y obtener las bendiciones de
Dios para sobrevivir la turbulencia y tribulaciones de vida en la tierra. Simplemente antes
de dejar para la tierra su angel guardian le dicho que hiciera una ofrenda especial al
vertedero de la basura (Etitan u Otiku) con todos los remanentes de comida comidos en la
casa. El dej6 para el mundo en la cornpafiia de Sango y Ogun.

En conseguir al mundo ellos todos fueron sus maneras separadas. Orunmila se hizo un
sacerdote de Ifa, pero el no estaba hacienda muy bien. El era tan pobre que las personas lo
acusaron pronto de ser una bruja y el se acus6 ante el Oba que pidi6 que el reapareciera
para el ensayo despues de ocho dias.

Entretanto, el fue por la adivinaci6n y le dijeron que sirviera Esu, Sango y Ogun. Estaba
en el proceso de hacer el sacrificio que el se encontr6 Sango y Ogun desde que ellos
consiguieron al mundo. En el dia del ensayo, Esu tom6 a la mente del juez al ensayo. El
juez le dijo que se defendiera despues de oir el caso contra el, y el dijo que el era un
sacerdote de lfa indemne que us6 su arte para ayudar a las personas que tienen los
problemas. Varios doy testimonio de era los supoened por Esu dar el testimonio a la
manera el habia usado sus Ifa practican para traer el succour a sus vidas. Sango y Ogun
tambien parecian dar el testimonio a su aplicaci6n constructiva de lfism.

Desde que nadie pudo demostrar que el era una bruja o que el us6 sus poderes
destructivamente, el juez devolvi6 un veredicto del ningun-caso en su favor. Por otro lado,
el Oba dijo que si el pudiera ayudar a las tantas personas con su lfa practique, el debe
poder ayudarlo tambien. Despues del ensayo, el era hecho un diviner real, y el Oba lo
llam6 decirle al lado que que el se habia puesto impotente mucho tiempo y habia querido
que el hiciera cualquier cosa que el pudo para restaurar su potencia. Cuando el hizo la
adivinaci6n para averiguar la causa del problema del Oba, el revel6 que se caus6 por uno
de sus esposas. El le dijo al Oba que sirviera uno de su Osanyin que se quiso decir por dar
jaque mate el peligro llamado, kpota de Egbele (Oghirare en Bini) con el uncrowed gallee,
el kola amargo, kola del tres-pedazo y name aplastado mezclaron con los huesos rotas.

Despues de hacer el sacrificio, Orunmila prepar6 el lyerosun de su odu, y lo puso en un

vaso de agua para el Oba beber. Despues de esto, cuando quiera la esposa mala intent6 a
traves de la brujeria para manipular los 6rganos genitales del Oba, los kpota de Egbele
amenazarian arrestarla y asustarla lejos. Asi, el Oba pudo recobrar su potencia. Para
mostrar su apreciaci6n, el Oba le dio cinco mujeres que se volvieron sus esposas y cinco
hombres que se hicieron sus sirvientes. El tambien se dio 10 cabras, 10 aves y 10 balsas de
dinero ademas de una casa que se construy6 para el al caso del Oba Thereafter, todos sus
acusadores empezaron a pagar los respetos a el cuando el se puso famoso y pr6spero.

Cuando este odu aparece a una ceremonia de la iniciaci6n, la persona se <lira tener sus
propios Sango y umas de Ogun y preparar su Esu sin el retraso con un macho cabrio. El se
prevendra de un arresto y ensayo que serian el preludio a su prosperidad. A la
adivinacion, la persona se <lira servir Esu, Ogun Sango y Orisa para que lo que sus enemigos
planearian minarlo se volviera una bendicion en el fingimiento.

Divined para El para Casarse a la Hija de Olokun

El hizo el sacrificio con 4 palomas, guinea-ave y tela blanca que trajeron a la hija de Olokun
en su vida como su esposa. Despues de esto, su prosperidad multiplico el immensly. Cuando
este odu aparece a la adivinacion, para un hombre, que le diran que haga el sacrificio porque el
se casara a una mujer cuya estrella traera a la prosperidad a el. Repita para una mujer

La Precaucion especial Contra la Calamidad

Orunmila ni eku, Moni A wishe.

Oni awishe eku ni eku yi o ko omo re sapamo si niton iku.
Oni Awishe omo eja ni eja yi o ko omo re sakpamo si ni tori
awon dedo dedo.
Oni awashe omo eran ni eran yi o ko omo re sakpamo si ni tori iku.
Oni awashe omo eni ni omo eni yi o ko omo re kpamo si.
Orunmila, Iwo n she n fo bi ede. Iwo n she n fo bi eye.
Oni ki a so fun eni ti o da oun, ki o ti He kun re mo ori ni
ojo kan. Kio ma si se jade. Tio ba ti le she be ko ni bo si
owo iku. Be ni, ko si ni bo si owo ejo.

Orunmila apunto a la puerta, y le dijeron que la puerta fue significada ser cerrada con llave. El
agreg6 entonces que esta cerrando las puertas que: - la rata protege a sus nifios de la muerte; el
pez protege a sus nifios del pescador; el animal protege a sus nifios de la trampa puesta por los
cazadores; y los seres humanos se protegen de sus enemigos.

Orunmila explico como consecuencia que cuando este lfa pronostica el peligro (o Ayeo) a la
adivinacion, la persona se aconsejara quedarse dentro a lo largo del proximo dia, evitar entrar
en el problema.
 El capitulo 7
EL ETURA-IROSUN ETURA-
MOSUN ETURA-
OLOMU

Divined para la Oreja Cuando El Sedujo a la Esposa del Mosquito

Eti ko le sun. Beni, Own ko kun oju. Adifa fun Eti ti

o nlo gba iwuye aya efan

Si la oreja no duerme, los ojos no pueden dormir. Ese era el Awo que la adivinacion hecho
para la Oreja cuando el iba a seducir a la esposa de] Mosquito Hamada Iwuye. La Oreja
fue hacer el sacrificio con un macho cabrio y una escoba para minimizar el valor de la
molestia del Mosquito. La Oreja penso que el mosquito era demasiado inocuo para
proponer cualquier amenaza a el y para que se nego a hacer el sacrificio.

Por no haciendo el sacrificio, Esu instigo el Mosquito para acercarse la Oreja cuando
quiera que el seductor de su esposa intento dormir. En cuanto el Mosquito pudiera pasar
revista el valor para atreverse la Oreja, el fue a el como el estaba intentando dormir el gba
de Wo" que grita Iwuye, wade Mo Iwuye - significandolo tomaron Iwuye de mi, yo quiero
a mi esposa atras, Aunque el Mosquito no volvi6 a su esposa, el perturb6 el suefio de la
Oreja no obstante.

A la adivinaci6n, la persona se dira hacer el sacrificio para minimizar el inconvience de

una persona desvalida cuyo esposo que el o ella han seducido.

La Adivinacion que El Hizo Antes de Dejar el Cielo

Okee re ti do lale oyi shoko shoko shombe. Odifa fun Orunmila nijo
ti o kale own bo wa si kale aye.

Esos eran los Awos que la adivinacion hecho para este Odu cuando el estaba viniendo a
intentar reformar el mundo. Cuando el oyo de que hasta que punto el mal habia encima de-
ejecutado a las personas de la tierra, el fue determinado para venir a hacerlo un mas el
lugar del liveable. Cuando el busco el despacho de aduanas de su angel guardian, le
dijeron que el tenia ninguna oportunidad de tener exito donde los profetas mucho mas
determinados y reformadores habian fallado. Su angel guardian le dijo sin embargo que
siguiera para la adivinacion eso que para hacer para mantenerse en la tierra mucho tiempo.
El era por otra parte tan util en el cielo que las personas no querian que el embarcara en
una estancia infructuosa a la tierra. Cuando el fue a Dios por el despacho de aduanas, el
Ornnipotente Padre le dijo que todos los profetas que habian ido a la tierra para reformarlo
no eran nombrados para cualquier exito apreciable, pero que si el debe ir a la tierra por la
misma misi6n, el debe ir a Oyeku-meji por la ayuda.

Cuando el fue a Oyeku-meji le aconsejaron que sirviera: - Esu con un macho cabrio, Ogun
con el vino de la palma, caracoles y un perro; y para festejar a la policia celestial.
El hizo todos los sacrificios y dej6 para el mundo. Todos sus esfuerzos a reformar la tierra
eran frustrado por Esu y sus agentes. Ademas todo el Awos en tierra que lo consider6 una
amenaza, ploted para matarlo. Sus enemigos conspiraron con Ogun para eliminarlo.
Cuando el hizo una adivinaci6n de la mafiana, lfa lo advirti6 que el problema estaba en el
offing y que el debe dar rapidamente un el la cabra a Esu, y para quedarse las en-puertas
por la noche. El jefe de la policia celestial estaba visitando la tierra al mismo tiempo.

La casa de Orunmila tenia un arbol de vida ( el akoko del igi en Yoruba e Ikhinmwin en
Bini) delante de el. Esa era la descripci6n dada a Ogun por atacar su casa. Por otro lado, la
casa del Jefe de la fuerza policiaca de Cielo tenia un arbol de la palma real delante de el.
Entretanto, Ogun se puso su vestido de fuego que el lleva al ir a batallar. Antes de que
Ogun hiciera su ataque en la casa con el akoko de Igi delante de el, Esu habia transpuesto
el arbol con el arbol de la palma real delante de la casa del jefe de la policia de Cielo.
Ogun puso la casa en el fuego y como el jefe de la policia de Cielo escapar al cielo
intentaron, el se mat6 por los soldados de Ogun que rodearon la casa.

Despues del funcionamiento, Esu cambi6 las plantas de identificaci6n delante de las dos
casas a lo que ellos estaban antes del ataque de Ogun. Al descanso del dia, los
conspiradores fueron sorprendidos para ver ese Ogun habia atacado la casa mala al
parecer. Cuando ellos preguntaron Ogun para lo que el hizo, el confirm6 que el atac6 la
casa con el arbol de vida delante de el, y que si Orunmila sobreviviera la agresi6n, s6lo era
porque el no pudiera matar Orunmila sin embargo, porque ellos vinieron juntos del cielo y
que el tenia en el cielo disfrutado el sacrificio hecho por el y se prohibia para matar
alguien despues de disfrutar su o su hospitalidad.

Cuando este Odu aparece a Ugbodu, la persona se aconsejara para tener su propia uma de
Ogun para apoyar su Ifa porque Ogun ayudara a Esu frustrar las maquinaciones malas de
sus enemigos. No deben aconsejarle a encima de-dramatise sus tendencias reformistas
porque causara muchos problemas para el.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para un Awo Called ldereluma

Oshe ni she iwaju ekun. A ba ma o niigbehin oran.

0 ton kpo kulu ko re 'bo a ba ma she. Adifa fun
Idereluma ti on lo she awo fun Onikpo.

El sisteo precede llorando. El pesar es la culminaci6n de desgracia. Las criaturas de Dios

no podrian saber el sacrificio a ser hecho contra el pesar (Tenia yo conocido ). Estos eran
los Awos que la adivinaci6n hecho para un Awo afligi6 Idereluma cuando el iba a trabajar
para el Oba de Ikpo. El Oba lo invit6 a privarlo (ldereluma) de la corona y cuentas con
que el estaba adornandose En esos dias, Babalawos exitosos u Oba-Alawo como ellos se
llam6, era conocido por las coronas y cuello, mufieca y el tobillo adoma con cuentas ellos
llevaron que los hizo parezcase Obas u Olojas. El Onikpo fue determinado para acabar la
practica. Le dijeron que hiciera el sacrificio antes de ir, pero el no lo hizo porque el estaba
seguro de sus tecnicas de supervivencia.

Cuando Idereluma lleg6 al palacio de Onikpo, el Oba fij6 uno de sus esposas mas bonitas
para estar sirviendolo con cualquier cosa el quiso, con las instrucciones especiales para
tentarlo seducirla. La mujer se llam6 Dede Oyin y ella fue mandada para
usarse entrar los Awo en el problema para privarlo de su corona y cuentas. La mujer era la
(mica que le sirvi6 la comida, agua de bafio y todos sus requisitos. Ella se aprovech6 de la
oportunidad de hacer las oberturas sensuales a el y el sucumbi6 en el futuro hacienda el
amor a ella.

En la causa de la amor-fabricaci6n, la mujer tom6 su tiempo para cortar su mufieca y el

tobillo adoma con cuentas que ella envi6 a su marido. Ella lo hizo encima del palmo de su
estancia hasta que ella tuviera exito en el futuro quitando su corona. Pensando que los
Awo podrian reaccionar violentamente que si el comprendiera que el se habia privado de
sus joyas, el Oba ide6 una estrategia por hacerle deslumbrar.

Una noche, cuando Dede Oyin iba por el sexo fresco redondea con el, ella fue con una
aguja que ella ocult6. Como ellos estaba hacienda el amor, la mujer esper6 por el alcanzar
el orgasmo antes de usar la aguja para deslumbrarlo en ambos ojos despues de que ella lo
empuj6 dejandolo desvalido al lado. Desde aquel momenta, el empez6 a sufrir. Cuando las
personas le preguntaron lo que pas6 a su vista, corona y cuentas, el contest6 que el perdi6
todos ellos al Onikpo. Era desde aquel momenta ese Awos ces6 ser dirigidose coma Oba
Alawos, y detuvo las coronas desgastado.

Cuando este Odu aparece coma Ayeo a la adivinaci6n, la persona se aconsejara para no
emprender una jomada que el esta proponiendo hacer. Si es Uree, el debe hacer el
sacrificio antes de ir, apartar el peligro de atraerse en una trampa. Deben aconsejarle que
no haga el amor a cualquier mujer en el lugar a lo largo de la gira.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para Iwa Tener los Ninos

Etura ko roko. Irosun ko bere, Adifa fun Iya olomo mewa.

Etura no va a la granja. Irosun no dobla abajo trabajar. Estos eran los Awos que la
adivinaci6n hecho para Iwa cuando ella estaba viniendo al mundo. Le dijeron servir a su
angel guardian con una cabra y servir Esu con un macho cabrio para tener los nifios en
tierra que la serviria a la vejez. Ella hizo el sacrificio a su angel guardian pero no el uno a
Esu.

En conseguir al mundo, ella tenia diez nifios que resultaron ser insubordinado y uncaring a
su madre. Cuando ella se puso demasiado vieja para ayudarse, los nifios no ofrecieron
ninguna ayuda. Su ultimo hijo llamado Adeshomoju fue por la adivinaci6n en nombre de
su madre y le dijeron que sirviera Esu con un macho cabrio. Esu le dijo que le sacara un
palo de la masticaci6n a su madre despues de hacer el sacrificio, kolanut y bebiendo el
agua. Cuando el consigui6 al lado de la cama de su madre con los tres materiales, ella ya
estaba muerta. Estes no solo son las tres personas de los materiales comen hasta que ellos
se mueran pero tambien la primera cosa que la familia pide cuando un troqueles de la
persona.

La persona servira Ifa con una cabra y Esu con un macho cabrio para vivir para tener
nifios que lo cuidaran a la vejez a Ugbodu. A la adivinaci6n, la persona debe servir Esu
con un macho cabrio y su o su cabeza con una paloma. Si aparece para alguien ansioso
tener los nifios, le aconsejaran el o ella que viva cerca del mar o un rio grande despues de
hacer el sacrificio.
Divined para Oyadolu Save Su Ninos Baile de gala Teiiendo

Okpeere ti do lale oyi. Shoko shoko shombe.

Adifa fun Oyadolu omo egbe te 're ni ojude onikpa
Agutan lo fi rubo ti ton omo.

Ellos hicieron la adivinacion para Oyadolu, uno de los seguidores de Sankpana. Le

aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio con una oveja (la oveja) para impedirles a sus nifios tefiir
antes su y para ella para vivir a una vejez madura. Ella hizo el sacrificio. Ese es el mismo
sacrificio que una persona debe aconsejarse para hacer si la muerte se presiente a la
adivinacion.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para la Estrella Al Ir a Casarse la Luna

El Etura ro ro, los Irosun ro ro eran los Awos que la adivinacion hecho para Agura (la Estrella)
cuando el iba a casarse Oshu (la Luna). le aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio para que su
esposa no pueda eclipsarlo. La Estrella se nego a hacer el sacrificio.

Por otro lado, la Luna tambien fue por la adivinacion y le aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio
para ordenar honor universal y dignidad. Le exigieron que hiciera el sacrificio con la sal, miel,
Camwood, sombra, tela blanca, tela roja y palomas. Ella hizo el sacrificio.

Cuando la estrella finalmente casado la luna, las personas de cielo y tierra solo tomaron aviso
de la esposa y no el marido. La popularidad de la Luna palidecio la Estrella en la
insignificancia. Por eso hasta el momenta, la Luna representa las tantas cosas a las plantas y
animales, pero la estrella no se usa para cualquier proposito con la excepcion solitaria de
astrologia del ultimo-dia,

Cuando aparece a la adivinacion para un hombre, le aconsejaran que haga el sacrificio para
apartar el riesgo de tomar la ofensa cuando su esposa se pone muy mas adinerada que el,
porque promovera la prosperidad de la familia. Si aparece para una mujer, le diran que ella
sera mas adinerada que el marido, pero debe resistirse la tentacion para encima de-alcanzarse
con la megalomania.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para Pagida

Etura gan ga, Irosun ganga. Okunrin kanga Kanga. kole digba
mo ekun ninu aga.

Estos eran los Awos que la adivinacion hecho para Pagida cuando la muerte estaba cazando
con escopeta para el. Le aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio para obviar el peligro de muerte
subita. Le exigieron que hiciera el sacrificio con un ovejas y uno de sus vestidos grandes.

El se nego a hacer el sacrificio porque el no quiso partir con su tunica acariciada. No anhele
despues, habia un tornado seguido por trueno que lo golpeo el muerto.

A la adivinacion, la persona se aconsejara para hacer el sacrificio para apartar el peligro de

muerte intempestiva.
 El capitulo 8
ETURA-OWANRIN
ETURA-ALAKETU ETURA-
ALAKA

El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Caiman, Cocodrilo y el Amonestador

El Etura rin rin rin, Owanrin sa sa sa - la adivinacion hecho para tres hermanos, el Caiman
(Onne Wakaka en Yoruba y Agbaaka en Bini), Cocodrilo y el Amonestador cuando ellos
estaban viniendo al mundo. Cada uno de ellos fue aconsejado para servir Esu con un macho
cabrio. El Caiman y el cocodrilo hicieron el sacrificio, pero el Amonestador no hizo.

Cuando ellos consiguieron al mundo, ellos empezaron teniendo los nifios. El Caiman y el
Cocodrilo, ambos anfibios, vividos principalmente dentro del agua, mientras el amonestador
vivio en el arbusto. Dentro del rio donde el cocodrilo y el Caiman vivio, tambien vivio una
piton que hacia un ruido espantoso siempre que el se bafiara por la mafiana salpicando su
cuerpo en el agua. El cocodrilo y el Caiman se volvieron para que asusto que ellos fueron a
Orunmila por la adivinacion en que hacer para manejar el terror de su habitat. Les aconsejaron
que sirvieran Esu con un macho cabrio. En cuanto ellos dejaran el lugar de Orunmila, la Piton
tambien vino para la adivinacion en que hacer para expeler a dos nuevos intrusos a su casa que
siempre estaba mirandolo burlonamente cada tiempo que el se bafiaba. Le aconsejaron
tambien que hiciera el sacrificio con un macho cabrio a Esu. El otro dos no hicieron sus
sacrificios.

La mafiana siguiente, ellos se sobresaltaron una vez mas por el ruido de trueno en que iba
cuando la Piton estaba bafiandose, A ese punto, ellos decidieron que ellos tenian bastante e
izquierdo el area para una nueva morada, para ahorrar sus vidas. Su primera inclinacion era ir
y quedarse con su hermano, el Amonestador. Entretanto el Amonestador habia bloqueado sus
dos orejas para impedirle oir el ruido ensordecedor que a menudo vino de la direccion del rio,
mientras poniendose totalmente sordo asi. Cuando el Caiman y el Cocodrilo estaban corriendo
fuera del rio, ellos se siguieron por la Piton.

Como ellos estaba corriendo para sus vidas, ellos estaban granizando en el Amonestador correr
para su vida porque habia una guerra que sigue. Pero el Amonestador no oyo su bramando
porque el ya era sordo. Despues de esto, el Caiman se encontro con una cueva mientras el
cocodrilo tomo el refugio temporal en un bien. Como consecuencia, la Piton alcanzo al
Amonestador que lo acusa de ser uno de los intrusos en su retiro. El Amonestador dijo a la
Piton que el era incapaz de oido cualquier cosa que el dijo, y con estos comentarios, la Piton
tomo la piedad en el y lo dejo solo. La salida del Caiman y el Cocodrilo trajo paz de mente y
tranquilidad una vez mas al habitat de la Piton.

Cuando este Ifa aparece a U gbodu, la persona se <lira servir; el nuevo lfa con un cocodrilo y
cuatro caracoles, y Esu con un macho cabrio para defenderse fuera de los
problemas de sus parientes consanguineos. A la adivinacion, la persona servira Esu con un
macho cabrio sobrevivir un desastre inminente.

La Adivinacion Ikin Made Al Dejar el Cielo

El ni de Erho un arin de ta de da - era el Awo que la adivinacion hecho para Ikin cuando el
estaba viniendo al mundo. Le dijeron que hiciera el sacrificio para aliviar los problemas
que el iba a tener de los enemigos en la tierra. Le exigieron que sirviera Esu con un macho
cabrio en esa conexion.; su mente con una tortuga; los enemigos con un gallo a una union
del camino, agregando fiame encima de-asado, caracol y kolanut del tres-pedazo; y su
angel guardian con una cabra, paloma y caracoles. Le dijeron que su el mas mortalmente
los enemigos serian las semillas jaspeadas ( el ege del ishe en Yoruba y Akhue en Bini),
los mo de la era se ponen en Yoruba e Ise-Okhuen en Bini y guijarros. El hizo los
sacrificios antes de dejar para la tierra. Pronto despues, else siguio por los tres enemigos
que juraron frustrar los esfuerzos de Ikin en la tierra.

En conseguir a la tierra, ellos eran todos practicando la adivinacion en mucho la misma

manera. Inicialmente, los tres rivales incluso estaban fuera Ikin brillante y dispising el.
Siguiendo a su mofa de Orunmila, el se encontro con las dificultades y perdio a todos sus
clientes. Le exigieron que sirviera Esu con un macho cabrio a una adivinacion
subsecuente. Despues de hacer los sacrificios, Esu creo los problemas para los tres de
ellos. Todos los tres de ellos fueron a Orunmila por la adivinacion y el aconsejo cada uno
de ellos como sigue: -

Las semillas de marmol (Ishe - el ege) -
Los guij arras -
Ero mo odon (Ise Okhuen) -
dejar el arte del awo y tomar a bailar que el
hace a esto dia.
dejar el awo practican y entran en el rio o la
tierra donde el era hacerse un constructor.
venir y vivir con Orunmila para ayudarlo a la
adivinacion que es por que el se usa para la
adivinacion por los sacerdotes de Ifa fuertes
y Oraclists que divino por Ewawa.

Eso era como Ikin sobrevivia como el diviner principal en Ifism despues de desalojar a sus
tres enemigos.

A Ugbodu, la persona debe hacer el sacrificio para dar jaque mate las intenciones malas de
tres enemigos jurado que lo siguieron del cielo.

Divined para Olu-Jettu Cuando Sus Asuntos lo Abandonaron

Etura-Alaketu hizo la adivinacion para el Olu de Jettu cuando sus asuntos se rebelaron
contra el. La divinidad del obstaculo tenia la confusion del formented en el pueblo y habia
tumulto alrededor de siguiendo a que nadie estaba molestando alguien mientras todos
estabamos molestando el propio negocio al his/her. Esa era la escena en que el Oba del
pueblo envio para Orunmila.

Antes de de viaje, Orunmila hizo la adivinacion y le exigieron dar un macho cabrio

pequefio a Esu y henderselo en la uma de Esu, y para agregar la came de antilope. En
conseguir a Jettu, el hizo la adivinacion para el Oba, mientras diciendole que sirviera
Esu con un macho cabrio para que el pudiera descubrir la causa de sus problemas antes de
la mafiana siguiente. El sacrificio era hecho sin cualquier retraso. Cuando el sacrificio
estaba siendo hecho en la uma de Esu, uno de las esposas del Oba estaba el estambre que
hila en el patio del haren.

El sacrificio Esu persiguio a la mujer ocupar a su mente que culmino en su decision para
empezar cantando.

"Oro kon ho lale Laketu"

Despues de cantar la cancion, informando el Oba que una revelacion estaba en el offing,
las personas empezaron a recoger para oir lo que ella iba a revelar. Ella empezo
descubriendo las reuniones que los superiores de la noche celebraron a menudo
noctumamente para causar los problemas en el pueblo, mientras agregando que los dos
jefes proximo en el orden al Alaketu asistio a menudo a esas reuniones. La mujer empezo
a hacer mas revelaciones como pronto si ella fuera poseida. El Oba fue invitado a
escucharla como consecuencia.

Cuando el Oba grito en ella confirmar que si ella comprendio las implicaciones de lo que
ella estaba diciendo, ella se sobresalto atrasado a sus sentidos y ella dijo que ella no dijo
nada. El Oba pidio inmediatamente que los heraldos reales emplazaran una reunion de
todos los jefes y superiores a pesar de su rechazo. En cuanto la conferencia fuera
congregada, la mujer fue invitada a avanzar confirmar lo que ella habia estado diciendo.
Como ella estaba moviendo al rostro, ella transfigure en un antilope y escapo en el
bosque. Por eso se prohiben a las personas de Jettu que coman el antilope hasta el
momento.

A pesar del giro inesperado de eventos, el Oba convoco los nombres de todos los
conspiradores descubiertos por la mujer y les hizo tomar un juramento en la tierra. Ellos
todos tomaron el juramento y dentro de un palmo de tres meses, muchos de ellos hicieron
las confesiones abiertas y varios otros se murieron uno despues el otro. El numero de
accidentes era tan alto tantos de aquellos que sobrevivian establecer en otra parte
emigraron.

Cuando este Odu aparece a la adivinacion, la persona se <lira que el es la victima de

enemigos que lo rodean y que sus problemas estan causandose por el culto de brujeria. El
el o ella debe hacer el sacrificio y habria un chaparron de confesiones abiertas y muertes
entre sus enemigos.

Las Prescripciones de este Odu por Aliviar Problemas Causados por los Enemigos

Orunmila ni ele koro koro. Emi na ni ede gbede gbede ni 're.

Orunmila, kini a fi she. Bi Oba ri be, oni elede ni a ofi
ru ebo re. Ao tun lo fi abo adiye ho ifa.

Orunmila declaro que habia un problema fuerte y diferente. Yo retorci que pudiera hacerse
facil y suave. El pregunto lo que seria usado para ablandar la dificultad. Yo conteste que
yo no tenia ninguna pista, y el prescribio que el sacrificio exigio a un cerdo servir lfa
ademas de una gallina.
Si este odu aparece a la adivinaci6n para un invalido, el hombre debe aconsejarse para
acordar tener su propio Ifa. Si el ya tiene Ifa, el debe aprender los principios
fundamentales de adivinaci6n en Ifism. Si aparece para un invalido hembra, o le
aconsejaran que se case a un hombre que tiene su propio Ifa si una solterona, o para
persuadir a su marido para tener su propio Ifa si casado para su beneficio mutuo.

La adivinacion para una Mujer Embarazada

Omo yi o bi i ko elele. Odifa fun Allele tori omo ninu

aboyun. Ebo ton omo ni aboyun ti a bi omo titun.
Obuko ni ebo tabi elede. Awo a here lowo if a ewo la'ma lo.

Un tiro del nifio fuera como la fronda del arbol de la palma ( el ogoro) en varias unidades,
era el Awo que el diivination hecho para Ailele cuando ella estaba embarazada. Le
aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio con un macho cabrio o un cerdo ( el hallazgo fuera
que para usar de Ifa) en el orden tener una entrega segura o apartar el peligro de todavia-
nacimiento. Ella hizo el sacrificio y entreg6 a un hebe saludable seguramente en la llenura
de tiempo.

Deben aconsejarle que haga al sacrificio tener una entrega normal o evitar la muerte de su
nifio a la adivinaci6n, para una mujer embarazada o una madre lactante. Para un hombre,
el debe hacer el sacrificio para su esposa.

Divined para la Cabeza de familia Generosa

Etura kpa eku, okpin fun ara He re. 0 kpa eja. okpin fun ara He
re. Be ni, Etura wa ge orin, ko ha fun ara He re

Etura mat6 una rata y un pez y los comparti6 con los miembros de su casa. Cuando el trajo
que la masticaci6n pega del arbusto, el no los comparti6 los miembros de su casa. Ellos
tomaron la sombra a su niggardliness que lo hizo se puesto enfermo. A una adivinaci6n
subsecuente le dijeron que su enfermedad era una funci6n de su fracaso para compartir sus
ramitas de la masticaci6n. El hizo el sacrificio y se volvi6 bien despues de que le
aconsejaron que compartiera cualquier cosa el trajo del arbusto, granja o fuera de, con los
miembros de su casa.

A la adivinaci6n, la persona debe decirse no cambiar su disposici6n habitual a la

benevolencia y generosidad y tomar tan a menudo como posible a su esposa en la
confianza, porque el vive en medio de las personas muy mas fuerte que el.

La Adivinacion que El Hizo Ponerse Prospero A traves del Trabajo Sedentario

Ewe lee, olele lee, Alele le ure. Adifa fun Orunmila nijo ti
baba ma nshawo imele ina.
Las hojas yo lo saludo, Budin yo lo saludo y yo saludo el zumbido.

Estos eran los Awos que la adivinaci6n hecho para Orunmila cuando el iba a prosperar a
traves del negocio sedentario apatico. A la adivinaci6n, la persona debe decirse que el o
ella no se destinan para prosperar a traves de enervar o el trabajo laborioso. El el o ella lo
hara a traves de un el holgazaneando aparentemente calculado el negocio.
El Hizo la Adivinacion para Alaketu Cuando El Iba a ser visitado por Esu

Ki onile wo oju alejo. Ki alejo gbe ina wo oju onile.

Babalawo Alaketu, Odifa fun Alaketu.

El organizador debe mirar la cara de su visitante mientras el visitante debe parecer

estrechamente y debe examinar a un visitante noctumo con la luz para identificar la cara de su
invitado.

Ese era el Awo que la adivinaci6n hecho para Alaketu, cuando el iba a recibir Esu como un
visitante. Alaketu fue aconsejado ser hospitalario a sus visitantes y hacer el sacrificio con un
macho cabrio fuerte a Esu para apartar el peligro de avergonzarse y el riesgo de perder sus
cosas valoradas. El ni hizo el sacrificio ni consider6 el consejo.

Una noche habia una lluvia pesada que caus6 un nublado. Esa era la escena en que Esu
transfigur6 en un jefe tomar el resguardo en la casa de Alaketu. Esu estaba llevando que un
collar hizo de pimienta roja redondea su cuello. Sin mirar la cara de su visitante
cuidadosamente, Alaketu le dej6 entrar, pero no hizo nada que entretener al visitante. Su
visitante se acost6 con un est6mago vacio. Cuando Esu se despert6 la maiiana siguiente, el
grit6 fuera que se habian robado las cuentas que el llev6 a la casa de Alaketu. Esu caus6 un
pandemonium que atrajo a los vecinos y passers-por. Esu caus6 mas furore descubriendo que
el entr6 en la casa con un boxload de cuentas que habian desaparecido misteriosamente.

La enormidad de las alegaciones atrajo a los jefes que inmediatamente el remited la materia
para el juicio al Alaafin de Oyo. En el palacio, Alaketu descubri6 que lo que el vio a su
visitante que lleva cuando el lo admiti6 en su casa se parecida las semillas de pimienta. Por
otro lado, Esu pregunt6 si era factible o conveniente para cualquiera llevar las frutas de
pimienta cuando estaba lloviendo pesadamente. Entretanto, el rey le puso en orden a la policia
del palacio ir e investigar la casa de Alaketu para cualquier cuenta. Al mismo tiempo, Esu
habia posicionado un boxload de cuentas y un collar de cuentas en el cuarto privado de
Alaketu. Despues de una busqueda completa, la policia del palacio descubri6 las cuentas en la
camara privada del Alaketu y ellos los trajeron al palacio. Desde que Alaketu no pudiera
explicar que c6mo las cuentas encontraron su manera a su camara privada, el rey concluy6 que
el era culpable de robar a su visitante y pidi6 que todas sus cosas deben comisarse a Esu, el
visitante. Eso era cuando Alaketu comprendi6 que el estaba pagando un precio pesado por
negandose a hacer el sacrificio y no considerando consejo del divinational.

Cuando este odu aparece a la adivinaci6n, la persona debe aconsejarse para servir Esu con un
macho cabrio y un collar hizo de frutas de pimienta rojas que el llevaria en su cuello a ser
quitado por el sacerdote de Ifa durante el sacrificio en la uma de Esu. Tambien deben
aconsejarle ser hospitalario a sus visitantes, apartar el peligro de robarse de sus recursos
valorados.

El Sacrificio Especial de este Odu para la Prosperidad

Orunmila ni shi shi. Moni go go

Orunmila recommends sacrifice with a sheep and the appropriate
 ayajo leaves.
Oni nse ni agutan ma nshi fun oloko nigbati yio
kpa je. Orunmila je ki aje shi gogo wa ba mi.
Ewo dewe a la shi gogo ti aje t'omo
Shigo go wa ba mi ala shi gogo.
Gbogbo ire shigo go wa ba mi.
Ewe alas hi go go ni ewe ewe ifa yi.

El besought del divinee Orunmila para traer las cosas buenas de vida a el o ella,
incluyendo pero no limit6 al dinero, los nifios, paz de mente y afama, pero en todos,
humildad y cortesia.

Cuando este odu aparece por consiguiente a la adivinaci6n, la persona se aconsejara para
ser humilde y atento mientras en la compafiia o medio de superiores para recibir todas las
cosas buenas de vida.
 Capitulo 9
ETURA-OGUNDA
ETURA-ARIRA ETURA-
TAKUTA SOLE ETURA-TA-
GITAN
El Hizo la Adivinacion para la Planta del Parasite y la Estrella

A le mi ni He aje, mo bo si He lleke. Odifa fun Afuma ti yi o je Oba igi oko. Abufun

irawo so so ti yi oje Oba lorun.

Yo me maneje fuera de la casa de dinero y yo termine en la casa de cuentas y joyas. Ese

era el awo que la adivinacion hecho para la planta del parasito (Afuma en Yoruba y Osee
en Bini) para volverse rey de plantas en el bosque. El tambien el divined para la Estrella
para volverse el Rey del cielo. Les dijeron que hicieran el sacrificio.

Afuma fue aconsejado servir Esu con un macho cabrio y hacer el sacrificio con un huevo a
una union del camino. Nunca le aconsejaron que celebrara las reuniones con cualquiera
despues de hacer el sacrificio. Entretanto, todas las plantas del bosque decidieron estar
celebrando las reuniones altemadamente en las casas de los Iroko y los arboles del Roble.
Cuando Afuma fue invitado estar asistiendo a las reuniones, el rechazo la invitacion en la
tierra que el no podria dignarse para estar celebrando las reuniones con los esclavos de su
padre.

Las otras plantas estaban tan enfurecidas por los comentarios de burla de Afuma que ellos
se atroparon a la camara divina de Dios para preguntarle si el los creo ser esclavos de
cualquier planta particular de hecho. Cuando Dios les pregunto la razon de la pregunta,
ellos todos explicaron que el inconsequentail que Afuma se nego a unir su reunion porque
el no pudiera dignarse para relacionar con los esclavos de su padre. Dios les dijo ir y
llamar la planta que hizo tal un comentario rencoroso.

Antes de que ellos llegaran a la casa de Afuma, Esu le habia dado un frio malo y el estaba
visiblemente enfermo. Cuando las plantas enviaron invitarlo llego para entregar la
invitacion de Dios, el el regreted que el estaba demasiado enfermo para honrar la
invitacion. Al decirse que Afuma estaba demasiado enfermo para honrar la invitacion,
Dios pidio que ellos lo sacaran por todos los medios.

Cuando ellos volvieron a la casa de Afuma que el arbol del kolanut decidio llevarlo en su
cabeza al sitio de una accion de la reunion. Cuando ellos llegaron a la camara Divina de
Dios, la planta del kolanut decidio soltar Afuma en la tierra pero el se nego a apearse
bruscamente. A ese punto, Dios pregunto todos los otros como ellos consiguieron al sitio
de una accion y ellos todos contestados que ellos vinieron en sus pies. Cuando el puso una
segunda pregunta acerca de que como Afuma vino a la conferencia, ellos contestaron el
padre de ese Afuma era el rey de todas las plantas y que el debe permanecer en esa
posicion a la etemidad. Por eso el crece hasta el momento en la cima de otros arboles,
sobre todo en el arbol del kolanut que lo llevo en su cabeza que dia.
Por otro lado, el mismo Awo aconsejo la Estrella para hacer el sacrificio con un macho cabrio
y una lampara desnuda. El hizo el sacrificio y se volvio el rey del cielo.

A U gbodu, la persona se <lira hacer el sacrificio y evitar las reuniones de tenencia con alguien
porque el se destino para las posiciones de direccion. A la adivinacion, la persona debe
aconsejarse para hacer el sacrificio para ganar un concurso para una posicion de autoridad del
prestigeous o titulo del chieftaincy.

La Adivinacion le Constituy6 Antes de Dejar el Cielo

Mi O lira le re, mi Orira. E

ro ni ko'ro Orira.

Esos eran los Awos que la adivinacion hecho para Orunmila cuando el estaba viniendo al
mundo. Le dijeron que el iba a ocupar una posicion indispensable en la tierra y debe
fortificarse por consiguiente contra todos los problemas que van con el exito. Le dijeron
especificamente hacer el sacrificio para la vida larga y prosperidad en la tierra y asegurar que
su potencia sexual permanecia saludable a lo largo de su vida. Le exigieron que hiciera los
sacrificios siguientes: para servir a su angel guardian con un camera; para servir Esu con un
macho cabrio que agrega un taburete del hacer-cambio; el akara, eko y ekuru; para hacer a lfa
especiales sacrificar con el macho cabrio castrado para la potencia; y para obtener el despacho
de aduanas de Dios con una paloma blanca. El hizo todos los sacrificios antes de dejar el cielo
para el mundo.

En conseguir a la tierra, el no perdio tiempo estableciendo su fama como un sacerdote de lfa

eficaz y habil. Habia tanta turbulencia entretanto, en la tierra debido a las acciones de hombres
dispuestos malos que Dios invito las doscientas divinidades a encontrarselo a Orita-ljaloko.
Cuando Orunmila consulto su Okeponrin en que hacer, le aconsejaron que no siguiera ningun
horario, pero que si el quisiera ir desesperadamente, el era montar alli en un camera despues de
dar un macho cabrio a Esu.

El hija Aje de Olokun tambien fue por la adivinacion y le dijeron que no fuera pero que si ella
debe ir, ella debe dar un macho cabrio a Esu y debe servir a su angel guardian con una cabra y
un gallo. Ella no hizo el sacrificio. Cuando los otros llegaron al sitio de una accion de la
reunion, Dios insistio que la reunion no pudiera comenzar sin la presencia de Orunmila.
Entretanto, Orunmila le dijo a Akpetebi que preparara la comida para el sostener para la
jomada antes de dejar para la conferencia. Ella se nego a cocinar porque ella tenia que ir al
mercado. Desde que el habia sido advertido para no refiir antes de ir, el salio como
consecuencia en la parte de atras de un camera. Habia siete umas del arbol de vida para pasar
antes de conseguir a Orita-ljaloko. Cuando el camera consiguio a la septima uma, dio su
cabeza con el arbol e inmediatamente paseo casa al reves.

Entretanto, despues de esperar en vano por Orunmila volverse a para la reunion, las otras
divinidades decidieron dispersar, mientras dejando a la hija de Olokun solo con Dios. Atras en
la tierra, Esu fue a pestafiear sus ojos a Akpetebi y como ella estaba volviendo del mercado,
ella era exhausta, sentia sofioliento y se cayo a la conciencia perdedora molida. Pronto
despues, Esu se la encontro casi el muerto, pero consiguio un taburete, se la sentaba en el y
preparo una bandeja delante de ella como si ella estuviera vendiendo akara, ekuru y eko por el
lado del camino. Darle una postura habladora, Esu puso una rana viva en su boca.
Un poco despues, cuando Aje estaba volviendo del sitio de una accion de la reunion que
nunca sostuvo, ella se encontro a la esposa de Orunmila que se sienta al lado de sus
mercanciases y pregunto despues de su marido. La rana en su boca empezo a reirse con
desden de la hija de Olokun, e incluso rifie en ella.

Cuando Aje movio para tocarla, ella se cayo abajo como si ella simplemente se hubiera
muerto. De su escondite, Esu salio para acusar Aje de asesinar a la esposa de Orunmila.
Uno despues del otro, Aje se rindio cada uno de ella siete seguidores hembras para reparar
para la muerte de Akpetebi pero Esu insistio que sus ojos no emparejaran aquellos de la
esposa de Orunmila. Ella decidio establecer la materia directamente con Orunmila como
consecuencia.

En cuanto Aje saliera, Esu aparecia al instante en la casa de Orunmila informarlo y decide
que que el debe echar la culpa para la muerte de Akpetebi a Esu que no podria proteger a
su esposa como el fue dicho para hacer. Antes de entonces, Orunmila habia sido dicho
decorar un apartamento en su casa magnifica con los adomos blancos debido a la mujer el
estaba a punto de casarse. Cuando Aje llego como consecuencia, Orunmila tenia prisa
entretenerla prodigamente, aunque ella se preocupaba mas por el problema de como ella
mato Akpetebi involuntariamente. Cuando ella convoco el valor en el futuro para narrar
que como ella empujo a su esposa a su muerte, Orunmila estallo en las lagrimas, mientras
lamentando eso lejos de culparla, el solo sostuvo Esu responsable para no poder proteger
Akpetebi. El juro entonces que ese Esu nunca entrarian de nuevo en su casa.

A ese punto, Esu lloro fuera de donde el estaba sentandose en cuclillas fuera de la casa,
mientras Orunmila mendicante para el perdon, El lamento de Esu temblo el muy tierra en
que Aje estaba estando de pie y ella empezo a llorar tambien. Despues de dar todos que
ella tenia a Orunmila, Esu estaba llorando todavia. Ella acab6 el guion melodramatico por
el bethrothing ella a Orunmila en el matrimonio, ademas de sus siete doncellas. Con su
bethrothal, Esu detuvo el grito y tranquilidad devueltas a la escena. Aje se llevo como
consecuencia al apartamento decorado donde ella empezo a vivir como la esposa de
Orunmila.

Despues de esto, Esu fue a donde el cuerpo inconsciente de Apetebi ponia y uso las hojas
apropiadas para traer su atras a la vida. Eso es como Orunmila termino teniendo nueve
esposas que son la caracteristica de los nifios de este odu. Para proveer de comida para,
Orunmila empezo a experimentar ratos espasmodicos de fallo en la alimentacion de
corriente sexual con las tantas esposas. El se habia puesto sumamente famoso y adinerado
no obstante, pero tenia que hacer algo sobre su impotencia esporadica.

El invito su Awos que le dijo hacer el sacrificio con un macho cabrio castrado y tomar
algo de la septima uma en que su camero golpeo su cabeza antes de devolver casa al reves
en el dia de la conferencia que nunca era como consecuencia. Tambien le exigieron que
sacara la cabeza de una boa, una piton o boa de la boa y un gallo. El produjo todos los
materiales y despues de obtener las hojas pertinentes de este odu, el Awos mato el macho
cabrio castrado para lfa mientras el gallo se mato para Ogun. Se extrajeron los testiculos
del macho cabrio castrado y el gallo y agregaron a las cabezas de la boa y boa de la boa,
pongase en el mortero y se golpeo el thoroghly. La medicina era la cintura de marcado
Orunmila redondo, y el resto estaba montado en la piel del
macho cabrio castrado con un scimitter de laton cualquier mytre en el (Ada y Eben en Bini con
el igheghan) El Mortero fue lavado finalmente y el agua fue usada para lavar el lfa sembra
(lkin) y despues de esto para el para bafiar con el. El recobro su potencia como consecuencia.

Cuando este Ifa aparece a U gbodu, la persona se <lira que el es probable casarse o tener las
relaciones sexuales con nueve mujeres, el segundo de que vendra del palacio de Olokun para
enriquecerlo. El debe el endeavour para evitar asistiendo a las reuniones o pertenecer a la
recolecci6n social para no padecer fallo en la alimentaci6n de corriente sexual esporadico que
el debe anticipar preparando el sacrificio especial (Ono-Ifa u Odiha) con el macho cabrio
castrado despues de servir el Ifa con un carnero. El sera una fuerza para contar con en la
sociedad.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para Alagemo, El Camaleon.

Ariro o Alagemo eran el sirviente favorito de Dios. El disfrut6 la posici6n favorecida de ser el
confidente mas intimo de Dios. Esa posici6n gener6 envidia considerable y enemistad por el, y
sus detractores trazaron para llevar al testigo falso contra el. Entretanto, como el darse cuenta
del problema estaba empezando que el fue a Orunmila que le dijo que sirviera Esu con un
macho cabrio y Olokun con todos los materiales por enviar los regalos a la divinidad de agua
incluso los cauris, tela blanca, tiza blanca, name aplastado blanco y una imagen.

Entretanto, sus enemigos fueron a informar Dios que el camale6n estaba usurpando Su
posici6n divina y autoridad. En oir la imputaci6n, Dios les envi6 a dos ejecutores de la justicia
ir y tratar con el. Los ejecutores de la justicia consiguieron sostenimiento del camale6n,
limitaron sus manos y pies y echaron su cadaver en el mar, despues de pegarlo
implacablemente a la muerte. A prop6sito, en la apreciaci6n de los regalos que Alagemo envi6
a menudo a la divinidad de agua, mar ni el rio lo mata. En cuanto Olokun le viera flotar en el
agua, el envi6 que su cuerpo guarda para rescatarlo.

El se trajo en el futuro ante Olokun que dio instrucciones instantaneas que Alagemo debe
amoldarse con la prosperidad inagotable. Despues de que amoldandose con la opulencia
eterna, Olokun le aconsej6 que devolviera a la vida desde que no era todavia tiempo por el
morirse. El se echo como consecuencia a la superficie del agua de donde el nado a la
seguridad. Las personas que lo vieron en su manera a su casa fueron a decirle a Dios que
Alagemo todavia estaba muy vivo y bien.

Cuando el pr6ximo dia era la reunion del concilio divino de cielo, Dios envio para Alagemo
para estar presente a la reunion. El tambien envi6 para las personas que fueron para ejecutarlo.
Sus ejecutores de la justicia confirmaron que ellos no solo pegaron la vida fuera de el pero
tambien tiraron su cadaver en el rio y el cadaver realmente habia ido bajo antes de que ellos
dejaran el rio. Su cuenta era inveterada por Alagemo que lament6 que sin; investigando la
alegaci6n hecha contra el por sus acusadores, dandole una oportunidad de defenderse,
tomando cuenta de su actuaci6n pasada, y viendo la imputaci6n contra el parte de atras-gota de
su registro de la huella, Dios, el omniscent, lo conden6 a la muerte. Era la excelencia
superlativa e imparcialidad de providencia a traves del instrumentality de Olokun que lo
restaur6 a la vida en las circunstancias misteriosas bajo el agua. Como si para declarar su caso
aunque el facto del poste, el neg6 diciendo en la vida o hacer algo o incluso el pensamiento por
lo que se refiere a
tener la apariencia de usurpar los poderes del creador y domina, y que el era en la vida para
que el satisifed con el privilegio raro de quedarse por el lado de Dios poniendo los asuntos de
derecho gubemamental universal.

En su reaccion, Dios tranquilizo Alagemo que su experiencia fue significada permitirle que
comprender que no es el culpable solo eso sufre, el inocente sufre la mayoria de las veces para
lo sobre que ellos no saben nada. La experiencia fue disefiada para habilitar al inocente, no
importa como ellos podrian molestarse sobre, siempre permanecerian en sus pies y vivirian a
una vejez madura. El Omnipotente Padre proclamo que las vidas de victimas inocentes de
falsedad siempre serian mas largas y mas prosperas que aquellos de sus acusadores. Con esa
proclamacion, Dios invito Alagemo a reasumir su posicion etema por Su lado.

Cuando este odu aparece a la adivinacion, la persona se aconsejara para hacer el sacrificio
contra el peligro de hacerse sufrir la humillacion para un he/she de imputacion no sabe nada
sobre. He/she debe hacer los sacrificios a Esu y Olokun.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para Agbe Al Ir a la Granja

Igbe gidi ni a ba su kitikpa. Odifa fun Agbe ti o nlo si

oko aloro odun. Obuko ati eni ishu, ati oun ti enu je
gbogbo ni ebo re.

El hizo la adivinacion para Agbe cuando el iba a empezar una granja al principio del nuevo
afio. El hizo los sacrificios con un macho cabrio, un lio de tuberculos del fiame y todos los
comestible comestibles. El tuvo exito teniendo una cosecha rica. A la adivinacion, la persona
se <lira hacer el sacrificio antes de viajar para derivar el beneficio de la jomada.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para el lronsmith

Gbogboro kun. lo ndifa fun Alagbede igba owuro.

El hizo la adivinacion para el ironsmith muy temprano en la mafiana que le aconseja que
hiciera el sacrificio con un macho cabrio frustrar las dificultades que los enemigos iban a
generar para el, el mas sobre todo para apartar el peligro de enfermedad del fondo como la
hiena. El hizo el sacrificio.

Cuando aparece a la adivinacion, la persona se aconsejara para hacer el sacrificio para obviar
el peligro de enfermedad del fondo. Si el divinee es una mujer que le aconsejaran que se
abstenga de coquetear para apartar el peligro de avisar las enfermedades del veneral. Los
sostenimientos de los mismos consejos para un divinee masculino.

La adivinacion para una Mujer Yerma para Tener un Niiio

El ni de Orunmila Iraba, ni de na de emi Iraba. El Iraba ni ishu el n kpa tofi nta. El Iraba ni
ogede el n kpa ti el o fi nso. El Iraba ni agbado nkpa ti el o nfi nkpan omo. Ki un aganbi kpe
yio bi omo tan divertidos

Orunmila ni Jraba, emi na ni Iraba. Iraba ni ishu n kpa tofi nta.

 Iraba ni ogede n kpa ti o Ji nso. Iraba ni agbado nkpa ti o nfi
nkpan omo. Ki a so fun aganbi kpe yio bi omo
ti o ba ru ebo. Ki a toju obinrin na o tori omo wa ni He ara re.

Orunmila dijo los circulos en los circulos. El i'iame, platano y maiz todo el movimiento en los
circulos para llevar frutas Que eran la encantacion con que este odu hicieron la adivinacion
para una mujer yerma tener un nii'io despues de hacer el sacrificio.

Cuando este odu aparece a la adivinacion, para un hombre, que le aconsejaran que tenga
cuidado apropiado de su esposa porque un nii'io esta siguiendola, Si el sacrificio es hecho que
la mujer tendra un nii'io antes del fin del ai'io.

El Sacrificio especial para la Armonia y Entendiendo

Orunmila ni emi mi yun, Moni emi ni yun. Orunmila ni emi mi yun

Moni emi ni yun. Oni Omo eja ko gbo ohun eja. Orunmila ni emi
mi oyun. Moni emi ni oyun. Oni omo eye ko gbo ohun eye,
Oni be ni omo eranko ko gbo ohun eranko. Omo eni ko gbo
ohun omo eni. Oni Ikin ko gbo ohun oduso. Oduso ko gbo ohun omo
ikin. Oni aludun dun ko gbo ohun alayan. Mayan ko gbo ohun alaro.
Orunmila expreso la gratitud a Dios para su vida.
El sacerdote de Ifa hizo la misma expresion, Orunmila
observ6 eso pesca no entienda ellos bastante para vivir
una vida mas feliz.
El hizo los mismos obervation en el respeto de pajaros, animales y la
humanidad. Asi como las semillas de lfa no entienden a su Rey, y el el rey
no entiende a sus seguidores. De la misma manera, el
el tambor no entiende las reacciones de sus oyentes, como
los espectadores no entienden las expresiones del tambor.
El sacerdote de lfa dijo que el no entendio las parabolas de Orunmila.
Orunmila explico que para los seres humanos para vivir en la armonia y
la comprension mutua, requirio el sacrificio con una gallina que pone los huevos, y
una rata llamo el eku-akosi, porque esta especie de rata responde rapidamente cuando
sus jovenes estan llorando. La encantacion para el
el sacrificio es como sigue: Ojo ti akosi ba ti ko, Ha lehin ni o ma
n de inu. Akosi ki gbo kigbe omo re ki o <lake. lfa wa gbo ohun mi.
Eleye He oyoro de ikin osa okpo gbo ohun mi.
Eleye He oyoro ikin osa.

Cuando aparece a la adivinacion, la persona se <lira que Orunmila no ha estado escuchando a

sus suplicas, porque lfa se ha vuelto una oreja sorda a ellos. La persona ha sido previamente
ruda a su o sus padres. El sacrificio antedicho debe hacerse para que su o sus deseos podrian
manif es tar.

Otra Variacion a las Hazafias de Afuma, la Planta del Parasite Como Afumo Became el
Rey de Plantas

El Oro gba gede gba era el awo que la adivinacion hecho para ochenta bosque, aconsejando
cada uno de ellos hacer el sacrificio con un macho cabrio y plumas del loro
a Esu, agregando la tela blanca. Se dirigieron todas las plantas se negadas a hacer el
sacrificio con la excepcion de Afumo como que hizo el sacrificio.

Entretanto, Esu instigo una rifia entre las plantas y ellos empezaron a luchar sabre quien
entre ellos el mas mayor estaba. Cuando la disputa agravo en el pandomonium, ellos todos
se atroparon al Creador del Omnipotente para un pago. Dios dijo a todos ellos volver
despues de siete dias para una decision, en quien era su lider.

En el cuarto dia, Esu causo Afumo para tener dolores de la piema que lo hicieron
imposible para el caminar. En el dia designado, Afumo estaba en los dolores severos y no
podria levantarse el solo paseo permitio al sitio de una accion de la conferencia.
Entretanto todas las otras plantas fueron congregadas y Esu transfigure en un caballero de
la grial celestial. Cuando Dios pregunto las plantas que si ellos eran todo el presente, ellos
todos contestaron que ellos eran todos congregados. Esu sin embargo intervenido para
descubrir ese Afumo no estaba presente. Las otras plantas explicaron que el no pudiera
venir debido a su lesion de la piema y que en todo caso, el era demasiado inconsecuente
para molestar sabre. El Omnipotente Padre sin embargo insistio que a menos que todos
ellos fueron congregados, El no podria pronunciar Su juicio. Los kolanut obligan a
refugiarse en un arbol e Iroko salio para sacar Afumo entonces.

Desde que el no pudiera caminar en sus pies que la planta del kolanut decidio llevar
Afumo en su cabeza. En cuanto Afumo se sentara en Kolanuts encabece, Esu lo cubrio a
con la tela blanca con que el habia hecho el sacrificio, mientras poniendo la pluma de un
loro en su cabeza. Cuando ellos llegaron al sitio de una accion, Dios pregunto las otras
plantas que era que, era vestido en la tela blanca y llevando la pluma de un loro. Todas las
plantas contestaron que era Afumo. Cuando el kola-arbol quiso poner Afumo en la tierra,
Dios proclamo eso desde aquel momenta, Afumo ya no debe tocar la tierra con sus pies
exceptua en las cabezas de otros arboles porque el era el rey de todas las plantas. Por eso
Afumo solo crece encima de otros arboles,

A la adivinacion, la persona se aconsejara para hacer el sacrificio para lograr la posicion

de direccion que las espera lo o en el offing. El el o ella es dotado de las calidades de
direccion y lo lograra si el o ella hacen el sacrificio anterior.
 El capitulo 10
ETURA-OSA

El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Halcon y la Gallina

Iroko ni babalawo Asha. Odifa fun asha, Obufun abo adiye

ni Jo ti awon mejeji fl omi oju shubere omo tuuru tu.

El hizo la adivinacion para el Halcon y la Gallina cuando ellos eran ambos ansioso tener
los nii'ios. Ellos eran que los dos aconsejaron para hacer el sacrificio con diez materiales
diferentes. Como el mas fuerte de las dos hermanas, el Halcon pudo sacarle 10 materiales
sin cualquier dificultad. Como el mas debil de los dos, doto del rango volante limitado, la
Gallina podria levantar solo dos materiales.

Despues de coleccionarla 10 materiales, el Halcon pregunto a la Gallina si ella estaba lista

para el sacrificio y ella dijo que ella no estaba bastante lista. Sin embargo, el Halcon
recurrio a la Gallina para tomarla 10 materiales a Orunmila hacer el sacrificio en su
nombre, porque ella estaba demasiado ocupada para tener tiempo para ir solo. La Gallina
prontamente estado de acuerdo obligar.

En conseguir al lugar de Orunmila, la gallina transpuso los 10 materiales del Halcon para
hacer su propio sacrificio, mientras usandola dos materiales para hacer el sacrificio del
Halcon en su nombre. Despues de hacer el sacrificio, Orunmila le dio el lyerosun de uno
que hizo el sacrificio completo con 10 materiales, mientras tambien dando el lyerosun de
dos materiales a ella dar al Halcon.

Despues, unos dia ellos empezaron a ponga los huevos. La Gallina puso diez huevos
mientras el Halcon puso dos huevos. En la llenura de tiempo, la Gallina la salio del
cascaron diez huevos y trajo diez pollos adelante. En su parte el Halcon la salio del
cascaron dos huevos y trajo a dos nii'ios adelante. Confundido al giro extrai'io de eventos,
el Halcon entro la furia a Orunmila averiguar por que ella tenia solo dos nii'ios despues de
hacer el sacrificio lleno con diez materiales diferentes. Estaba en ese punto que ella se
culpo de hacer su sacrifique a traves de un apoderado, y que la Gallina presento dos
materiales para el sacrificio en su nombre mientras presentando todos los diez materiales
para ella.

Desde que era demasiado tarde cambalachear o el theirfates inverso, el Halcon jurado de
ese dia a le alimentaba dos nii'ios con los diez nii'ios de la Gallina. En cuanto la Gallina
trajera fuera sus diez nii'ios al abierto, el Halcon buceado abajo y escogio despierta de los
nii'ios y la Gallina llorada, "Bi mo mo ma ba ella el bo ikoko koro yio" - significando "Si
yo hubiera sabido, yo habria hecho el sacrificio con los diez materiales prescritos por
Ikoko. Eso era como la guerra etema entre las dos hermanas, el Halcon y la Gallina
ongmaron. Tambien explica por que el Halcon no pone mas de dos huevos en un
momento.

A la adivinacion, la persona se aconsejara al endeavour para hacer el principio de las cosas

a su o su vida por el o ella. El el o ella siempre debe hacer el sacrificio por el o
ella y no a traves de cualquiera, no importa c6mo intimo. A lo largo del todo de ese afio el o
ella no deben realizar ningun quehacer a traves de apoderados aliviar el riesgo de estafarse. Si
es Ayeo, la persona debe decirse ser satisfecha con el he/she cualquier tiene y para no tener un
ojo en robar de cualquiera, para evitar las consecuencias desastrosas para su o sus nifios. La
persona debe decirse tener cuidado con de una relaci6n que tiene dos nifios porque el o ella
son una bruja que puede destruir su o sus propios nifios. En todos los casos, la persona debe
hacer el sacrificio.

La Adivinacion que El Hizo Antes de Dejar el Cielo

Ogbe regede maajebi keruku. Ugun orin rin rin okpa ori.
Akalamaigbo orin rin rin, Ogbijolo so'run. Awon meteta lo'n
difa fun Orunmila ni jo ti oti si Kole orun bowa si kole aye.

Ogberede no era culpable cuando el foe a llevar la carga de muerte. El buitre trabaj6 tan
dificilmente que el se puso calvo. Akalamaigbo trabaj6 tan dificilmente que el se puso calvo y
barbado tambien. Estes fueron los tres Awos que la adivinaci6n hecho para Orunmila cuando
el estaba viniendo al mundo.

Le dijeron que hiciera el sacrificio a Esu con un macho cabrio; su angel guardian con un
macho cabrio castrado; Uja con una gallina; y para pagar el homenaje a la divinidad de Muerte
con un bulto de tuberculos del fiame, y madera de fuego. Le exigieron que hiciera estos
sacrificios detallados para evitar la muerte prematura a traves de la ingratitud, y para
mantenerse en la tierra mucho tiempo. El hizo todos los sacrificios antes de venir al mundo.

El naci6 con el nombre de Awodi, como el mayor hijo de Oshereigbo. El creci6 para hacerse
un sacerdote de Ifa itinerante que viaj6 fuera de casa la mayoria del tiempo. No obstante, el
trajo a menudo cuando quiera los regalos detallados a su padre que el vino casa. El tenia dos
otros hermanos llamado U gun y Akala.

Durante mucho tiempo, una vida fija lo eludi6, y el ni se cas6 ni tenia los nifios. El estaba lejos
de casa en una ocasi6n cuando su angel guardian lo amonest6 en un suefio por llevar una vida
apatica en la tierra. Pidieron que el devolviera casa porque su padre estaba a punto de devolver
al cielo. Su angel guardian le dijo que devolviera casa en una prisa barrer, matorral y limpia la
casa para su padre y para sacar madera de fuego por calentar su cuarto.

La mafiana siguiente, el coleccion6 sus cosas y dej6 para casa. En conseguir casa, sus
hermanos menores no lo reconocieron porque ellos no lo habian visto durante mucho tiempo.
El se encontr6 a su padre en un cuarto desalifiado inundado con los humos y cenizas. Como
dirigido por su angel guardian, el barrio el apartamento entero, freg6 el lugar de fuego, y
desempolv6 y limpi6 el lugar entero. Despues de esto, el foe al bosque para sacar la lefia para
preparar el fuego calorifico en el cuarto.

lComo el padre que ya era ciego de la vejez, estaba disfrutando el calor del lugar de fuego, el
pregunt6 "Antes de ni" que es quien es? y el contest6 para identificarse como su hijo Awodi.
El padre retorci6 para decir que el estaba contento de saber que el estaba en casa verle antes de
devolver casa al cielo.
En cuanto el estuviera seguro que ellos estaban solos, Oshereigbo le dijo el secreto a su
mayor hijo de como sobrevivir la prueba del conclave confidencial no tomando ningun
material prepare con el aceite de la palma en el lugar. El tambien descubrio que antes del
comienzo de las ceremonias de coronacion, la uma debe renovarse con el material del tinte
negro. Despues del descubrimiento, el padre dejo el fantasma.

Siguiendo la muerte de su padre, Awodi fue a decides a sus hermanos menores que el
estaba devolviendo a su base y ellos lo rogaron el adios, Cuando ellos llegaron al
apartamento de su padre, ellos vieron la limpieza hecha por Awodi, pero descubrio que su
padre habia fallecido. Casi inmediatamente, los dos nifios alertaron las divinidades
supervivientes que Oshereigbo habia ido a encontrarse a su padre en el cielo. Desde que
ellos todos se aseguraron que Awodi, el mayor hijo nunca era casa, ellos llamaron en U
gun el proximo uno para hacer los arreglos para el comienzo de los ritos funebres.

Para las ceremonias funebres, U gun mato se cocinaron vacas, cabras, cameras y aves y
ellos de la manera normal con el aceite de la palma. El era entretanto, dijo retirarse en el
aislamiento al conclave confidencial de la uma de coronacion donde el era quedarse
exclusivamente durante catorce dias. Los unicos compai'ieros el era tener era ser los
organizadores celestiales que eran ensei'iarle los secretos de cielo y tierra, y como realizar
su papel como el lider de las Divinidades en la tierra. Sin saber el haga y el no haga del
conclave, el se sirvio de la comida preparada con el aceite de la palma.

Por la noche, mientras el estaba dormido, los superiores de la noche se atroparon en el

conclave confidencial en el formulario de hormigas del soldado. Cuando ellos encontraron
que los remanentes del aceite de la palma prepararon la comida, ellos comieron todo en la
vista incluso el propio U gun. Cuando el conclave se abrio en el decimocuarto dia para
recibirlo, las personas solo encontraron sus huesos que eran una indicacion clara que el no
estaba versado en el secreto de supervivencia en el conclave. Era el giro de Akala para
entrar en la uma. El termino la misma manera tambien porque el no era consciente de los
secretos de como sobrevivir la prueba del conclave.

Las divinidades empezaron a ponderar adelante como traer el permaneciendo a casa y

mayor hijo de Oshereigbo que nunca era casa. Mientras el sacrificio estaba estando hecho
en casa, un loro volo a su frente y dejo caer una pluma blanca que el interpreto para
significar una invitacion para el devolver casa. Sin gastar un momenta mas alla, el corrio
casa para encontrarse las divinidades que inmediatamente lo hicieron sefias entrar en el
conclave confidencial en seguida. Cuando el les pidio a sus hermanos menores que le
dijeron que ellos no pudieran sobrevivir los rituales del conclave.

Lejos de mover al conclave confidencial como el hacer se dirigio, el insistio en enterrar a

su padre primero, y el hizo para que matando una vaca y trece animales diferentes y
pajaros.

Antes de cocinar la comida, el proclamo que ningun aceite de la palma y pimienta serian
usadas por preparar la comida para las ceremonias del entierro de su padre. El unico alii'io
seria hecho con las semillas de jengibre (Ighere en Yoruba y Oziza en Bini). Aunque las
personas se preguntaron que como la comida pudiera prepararse sin el aceite de la palma y
podria sazonarse con pimiento, su decision fue respetada no obstante.
Despues de la realizacion de las ceremonias funebres, el sirvio su lfa y encabeza como el fue
dicho hacer en su casa familiar (Idile o Ajule en Yoruba e Igiogbe en Bini) con un macho
cabrio castrado, paloma blanca, gallo blanco y gallina blanca. Despues del sacrificio que
tambien se preparo sin el aceite y sazone con pimiento, el entro en el conclave confidencial. Su
padre tenia un espejo en su alcoba. Sabiendo que las personas pudieran usarlo para espiar en el
mientras en el conclave, el lo torno con el. Antes de entrar sin embargo realmente en el
conclave, el pidio que el palacio entero tuvo que ser renovado con el derecho del tinte negro a
al conclave. De nuevo, aunque las personas ponderaron encima de la sabiduria de pintar una
casa con el tinte negro en lugar de blanco durante un entierro, su deseo se llevo a cabo.

Finalmente, el dio los ordenes que el througout los catorce dias, ningun aceite ni pimienta
serian usadas por preparar cualquier comida. El name aplastado (Elo u Obobo) que seria
rociado diario redondo la casa era ser blanca. Las personas estaban sorprendidas en las
innovaciones extrafias que el estaba presentando a no sabiendo que el estaba actuando adelante
el consejo de su padre. Esa noche el se cerro con llave lejos en el conclave confidencial
durante los proximos catorce dias. Al final de catorce dias, las personas regocijaron para ver
que el habia sobrevivido la prueba.

El se saco para encabezar una procesion de bailar, mientras cantando y tamborileando al sitio
de coronacion y el canto:

U gun o rin rin rin, o kpa ori.

Akalamaigbo o rin rin rin, Ogbijolo so own.
Emi Awodi Orisa ni kon lu akon ni erin.
Emi lojo'ye aha mini gbegbe re.
Ki'nla Awodi mujoye.
Tubi Tune ni Awodi mujoye.

Con esa cancion de victoria el llevo la procesion al vestibulo de coronacion donde el se corono
formalmente como el sucesor a su padre. Orisa-Nla-Oshereigbo, y la Cabeza y Lider de todas
las divinidades en la tierra.

La Adivinacion lo Constituy6 Cuando El Iba a Trabajar para Rey Onikaro de Dificultad

Ogberegede majebi Keruku. Ireko te ilasa. Adifa fun

Awodi Okpe nijo ti o fe lo shawo fun Onikaro.

Estos fueron los dos Awos que la adivinacion hecho para Awodi cuando el iba a ayudar que
las esposas del Onikaro tener los nifios masculinos. Le aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio
con un macho cabrio, calabaza de agua, una hacha, un tijeras y la pluma de un loro para
sobrevivir la prueba el iba a ir a traves de a causa de una falsedad mala y una ingratitud a su
benevolencia. Tambien le aconsejaron que sirviera su cabeza con una paloma blanca.

El hizo todos los sacrificios y dejo para la Dificultad para encontrarse Onikaro, Dificultad de
Oba Ajuwaleke. Awodi tenia un ombligo destacado y cuando el empezo a tener los nifios
despues de la muerte de su padre que el se habia hecho un especialista
preparando las medicinas para las mujeres tener los nifios. Esa era la conexion en que el
Oba de Dificultad oyo hablar de el y envio para el. En conseguir a la Dificultad, el preparo
la medicina para la esposa favorita del Oba y ella se puso embarazada. Tres meses
despues, el dejo para casa.

En la llenura de tiempo la mujer dio el nacimiento a un nifio masculino. Pero las lenguas
empezaron a menear debido al parecido intimo entre los ombligos de Awodi y el nifio.
Tres afios despues del el nifio nacio, el Oba envio para Awodi a Ife venir y recibir su
premio. Sus jefes salieron entonces abiertamente para protestar ese Awodi no merezca
ninguna compensacion por contaminar a la esposa del Oba y ponerla de la manera
familiar.

Cuando Awodi recibio la invitacion del Oba, el invito su Awos para la adivinacion y el
fue frente-advertido que este tiempo, el iba a contestar la Hamada de muerte a menos que
el hizo el sacrificio. Le dijeron que hiciera el sacrificio con; un macho cabrio a Esu, una
paloma a Ifa y un gallo, perro, tortuga y 2 tijeras gigantes a Ogun. Despues de que el
sacrificio que el Awos preparo a los tijeras para el estar usando por escoger algo en lugar
de usar sus manos.

En conseguir a la Dificultad, las personas habian preparado un quemadura-fuego gigante

para el entrar para un ensayo por la prueba. Le dijeron que era fuertemente sospechoso
que el tenia una aventura amorosa ilicita con la esposa del Oba antes de que ella se pusiera
embarazada en la luz del parecido fuerte entre el y el nifio con la referencia especial a sus
ombligos. Le exigieron por consiguiente que sacara la ajorca de laton dentro del fuego
ardiente. Si el fuera inocente, el sobreviviria la prueba pero si el fuera culpable, el podria
perder su vida en la prueba. Eso estaba a pesar del rechazo de la mujer de tener cualquier
relacion sexual con Awodi que solo la ayudo.

En absoluto, sin cualquier vacilacion el llamo en su padre y su angel guardian guiarlo a

traves de la prueba. En la consonancia con el consejo a la adivinacion el sostuvo sus
tijeras en la mano, y se atrevio el fuego pero estaba demasiado caliente el. Despues de
hacer dos esfuerzos abortivos, el llamo en Esu para ayudarlo que porque el se dio cuenta
de que ese fuerzas fuertes estaban trabajando contra el. Esu respondio y sin verse por otras
personas, Esu apago el fuego al punto donde el metal de laton puso bajo el fuego, mientras
aclarando la manera asi para el recogerlo con sus tijeras. A la produccion del metal de
laton, su inocencia se granizo con un aplauso estruendoso. El sobrevivia la prueba sin un
arafiazo o una ampolla, solo que el surgio del fuego con la pigmentacion de su cutis que se
vuelve de la feria al negro.

Cuando sus regalos eran congregando, el se nego a tocar cualquiera de el pero proclamo
eso desde aquel momento todo el Obas en Benin siempre tendria ombligos que explican
por que el la regalia de un Rey de Benin siempre tiene una protrusion cerca del ombligo.
A la adivinacion, la persona debe aconsejarse para hacer el sacrificio para sobrevivir una
imputacion falsa que el o ella no pueden poder negar.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para Ogun Al Ir a Guerrear

Okpa teere kon, Amudi wondon, Adifa fun Ogun nijoti on

gbo'gunronron muron odo. Ogun fe gbe Arire Omo le shaya.
Ese era el Awo que la adivinacion hecho para Ogun cuando el lavo en el rio de la
primavera donde el se encontro para casarse a la hija de Olokun. Le dijeron que sirviera a
su angel guardian con un perro, el gallo y tortuga, y Esu con un macho cabrio. El hizo los
sacrificios y dejo para el rio de la primavera donde vive la Aire Omo Ira, la hija de
Olokun.

Todos los hombres alrededor de se la habia acercado para el matrimonio pero ella desairo
todas sus oberturas. En cuanto Ogun hiciera estallar la pregunta, ella prontamente estado
de acuerdo para casarselo. Despues de conquistar el rio el pueblo, Ogun devolvio casa con
la Aire Omo Ira. Ogun descubrio pronto que ella era una mocosa estropeada que conocio
hacer nada mas aparte de hacer su bafiese muy temprano por la mafiana y frotando su piel
con el camwood. No obstante, se molestaron todos los hombres de Ira porque la muchacha
estaba de acuerdo en casarse Ogun despues de rechazar todos ellos.

Entretanto, era tiempo por Ogun realizar su fiesta anual en relacion con que el saco 201
ratas, 201 pescan, para ser secado o fumo, Cuando Ogun iba al bosque para cazar para los
pajaros restantes y animales, el dijo a la esposa Aire Omo Ira estar poniendo el fuego al
secador fumar las ratas y pesca. En cuanto Ogun la dejara en casa, el afligido o se burlo
los hombres de Ira decidieron aprovechar la oportunidad de deshacerla, robando la casa de
Ogun para robar todas las ratas y pesca bajo su cuidado, mientras dejando solo dos
pedazos aplastados y unto con el camwood, su pomade favorito.

Cuando ella verifico el secador la mafiana siguiente para descubrir que todas las ratas y
pesca se habia robado, ella levanto una alarma. Pero cuando los vecinos vieron que los dos
pares restantes de ratas y pesca se embadumo con el camwood, ellos la acusaron de ser
responsable para el robo y la advirtio reemplazarlos para que no costaria su vida cuando
Ogun devolvio casa. Ella tomo la advertencia en serio y decidio hacer algo para
reemplazarlos ante su marido devolvio casa.

Primera, ella fue al arbusto para poner varias trampas para cager las ratas. Despues de
cager 201 ratas, ella empezo a fumarlos en el secador. Lue go, ella fue al rio para usar el
precio neto para cager que pesca donde ella tuvo exito tejiendo una malla en 200 pesca y
los tomo casa al secador. En cuanto ella devolviera al rio para cager los ultimas peces, su
padre (Olokun) policia la aprehendieron por haber corrido fuera de casa sin su autoridad.
No obstante, ella estaba esperando por su marido Ogun para venir y recuperarla.

Siete dias despues, ella vio Ogun que devuelve casa con los animales del bosque y
empezo a cantar a el:

Ogun oko mi, Eka ho okomi, Aire omo Ire.

Omo irejejeo, Aire omo ire.
Oun tebiti oku gba eku, Ire omo ire.
Omo irejejeo, Aire omo ire.
Oun gba wawo okugba eja. Aire omo ire.
Omo irejejeo. Aire omo ire.
Cuando Ogun parecia arras a la identidad la voz que canta a el, el fue sorprendido para ver
que era su esposa. Cuando el devolvi6 sus saludos, ella no podria contestar porque ella ya
estaba bajo el hechizo de su padre.

Entretanto, el devolvi6 casa para pedirle a su esposa y los vecinos le dijeron que ella habia
escapado de la casa despues de robar el pesca y las ratas salieron bajo su cuidado. Ogun
retorci6 que ella no pudiera robar el pesca y las ratas porque ellos eran todos en el secador.
El invit6 a los vecinos a ver para ellos y ellos eran todo sorprendido. El fue a realizar las
ceremonias de su fiesta que dur6 siete dias.

El fin de la fiesta el persigui6 a Orunrnila para aconsejarlo adelante c6mo volver a su

esposa. Le aconsejaron que sirviera Esu con un macho cabrio, un tambor hizo con las
hojas del cocoyam, tres pajaros y una cesto de granos de la palma. El no perdi6 tiempo
haciendo los sacrificios. Comiendo su macho cabrio Esu persigui6 alistar el apoyo del
Aguila, y la cooperaci6n del Conejo con la cesto de granos de la palma.

Despues de aceptar su ofrenda, el Conejo aburrido un agujero de la casa de Ogun a

Olokun esta sentandose el cuarto. El tom6 una posici6n como consecuencia de que para
escuchar a los desarrollos. En su parte, Esu tom6 la silla y se sentaba a un punto cerca del
palacio de Olokun. Al mismo tiempo, el Aguila estaba de pie en la cima de un arbol en el
patio del palacio de Olokun. En cuanto el asegurara que todos los jugadores en el drama
habian tornado sus posiciones asignadas, Esu empez6 a pegar su tambor a una canci6n que
evoc6 la danza:

Sekure sekure, bere le o.

Te ufu ri ere si nu ode o.
Te u tu te re.

Con esa canci6n acompafiada su tamborileando, el empez6 a bailar a lo largo de y el se

uni6 pronto por una muchedumbre grande de cantantes y bailarines. La procesi6n del baile
se uni6 pronto por varios miembros de la casa de Olokun. La musica muchedumbre-
tirando se uni6 como consecuencia por la Aire Omo Ira y ella empez6 a bailar a la
melodia cautivadora de la musica tambien. En cuanto la procesi6n pasara del cuadrangulo
del palacio de Olokun, el aguila atac6 abajo del arbol y asi6 la Aire Omo Ira y vol6 lejos
con ella a la casa de Ogun.

Cuando Olokun vio el giro dramatico de eventos, el se ri6 contumeliously que alardea que
ella iba a ser inutil a quienquiera la asido sin asirla de el con los catorce materiales que el
trajo del cielo. Desconocido sin embargo, a Olokun el Conejo estaba escuchando detras de
las puertas en el y escuch6 a cada palabra que el profiri6.

Ella ni habl6 en volver a la casa de Ogun, ni comi6 permitido exclusivamente esta de

acuerdo en hacer el amor a el. Ella se volvi6 una obligaci6n mas o menos. Tres dias
despues, el Conejo vino a informar Ogun en lo que Olokun dijo, que el tendria que
comprar la Aire omo Ira con los catorce materiales que el trajo del viz del cielo, tiza
blanca, la pluma del aguila, la pluma de loro, la escalera de mano de lat6n, la campanilla,
un manojo de Haves, canoa y remo, cauris, tela blanca, macho cabrio blanco, gallo blanco,
maracas, cimitarra de metal y mitra, un gong de metal especial que hace los sonidos
musicales cuando los bailarines divinos los atan a sus pies, el sheke del sheke llamado en
Yoruba y Eroro o Igheghan en Bini, y una cadena de metal.
Mucha como Ogun fue preparado enviar los materiales a Olokun, el no tenia ninguna pista
en las logisticas de hacerlos a el. Una vez mas, Ogun fue a Orunmila por consejo.
Orunmila ofreci6 tomar los materiales y llevar la Aire Omo Ira a y del palacio de Olokun
proporcionado el podria congregar a cantantes, tambores y bailarines para acompafiarlo.
Esto explica por que ningun sacerdote divino o sacerdotisa puede completar su o su
ceremonia de la iniciaci6n sin el apoyo activo y cooperaci6n de Orunmila.

El dia siguiente, Orunmila sac6 todas las hojas pertinentes para la ceremonia, p6ngalos en
una olla pequefia que el hizo a la Aire Omo Ira para continuar su cabeza al rio, acompafi6
por un conjunto musical mientras Orunmila estaba llevando la bandeja que contiene los
catorce materiales. En conseguir a el rio, ellos se encontraron Olokun que se sienta en su
trono d6nde Orunmila recurri6 a el para aceptar los materiales con que ellos vinieron a
comprar la Aire Omo Ira de el. El regocij6 que ellos supieron que hacer por fin.

Despues de que Olokun estaba de acuerdo en recibirlos, Orunmila tiro todos ellos en el rio
y le pregunt6 a Aire Omo el para llenar la olla en su cabeza del agua del rio. Como ella
casa estaba devolviendo a Ogun con la procesi6n, Olokun llam6 su nombre, Aire Omo Ira
y ella contestaron el yooh de Ee tres veces que fueron las primeras palabras que ella habl6
desde que ella se rapt6 por el Aguila.

Cuando ellos consiguieron casa, la Aire Omo Ira ahora poseida se neg6 a rendirse la olla,
pero despues de que Orunmila us6 su Uranke para tocarla, ella hacia cocer a fuego lento
abajo y recobr6 sus sentidos normales. Era desde aquel momenta que ella empez6 a vivir
una vida normal con Ogun como el hombre y esposa. Por eso durante la iniciaci6n en el
culto de Olokun es necesario tomar a la hija de Olokun al rio completar su desembrague
de la carte de su padre.

Cuando este odu aparece a la adivinaci6n para un hombre que propane casarse a una
mujer, y si el es casarsela con exito, el debe comprarla de la divinidad de agua. Si aparece
para una mujer, le diran que ella no tiene una vida fija. Si ella es establecerse en la vida,
ella debe tener su uma de Olokun preparada para ella.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Perro Al Venir Del Cielo

Etura maa saa, babalawo aja. Odifa fun Aja nijo ti on ti

kole orun bowa si kole aye.

El hizo la adivinaci6n para el perro cuando ella estaba viniendo al mundo. Le aconsejaron
que hiciera el sacrificio con los granos de la palma, la palma fructifica y la pluma de loro.
Ella hizo el sacrificio sin agregar la pluma de loro. Le exigieron que hiciera el sacrificio
con la pluma del loro impedirle tener los problemas con los nifios productivos.

En conseguir al mundo, ella favoreci6 Esu que ella visito el peri6dico para la comida, pero
siempre que Esu visitara el perro, ella no tenia la comida para ofrecer. Gradualmente, Esu
empez6 a persistirla en la longitud de los brazos.
Entretanto, ella se puso embarazada. Cuando era tiempo por ella entregar, ella tenia una labor
del torturous, mientras corriendo del pilar para anunciar hasta que ella fuera a Esu que le
pregunt6 lo que Orunmila le aconsej6 que hiciera al ir a entregar a un nifio. Ella contest6 ese
Orunmila le aconsej6 soltar la pluma de un loro rojo y entregar en el, pero que ella no pudiera
conseguir la pluma de un loro. Esu estaba de acuerdo en prestar uno a ella que le permitiria
que hiciera una entrega facil. Despues de esto, Esu coleccion6 la pluma de su loro de ella. Eso
explica por que el perro no pone al nacimiento en la presencia de alguien.

Cuando este Ifa aparece a U gbodu, la persona servira Ogun con un perro y <lira tener cuidado
con de amigos muy mas fuerte que el. El debe servir Esu con un macho cabrio, los granos de
la palma, la palma fructifica y la pluma de loro.

A la adivinaci6n, la persona servira que los his/her encabezan con una ave y saque Ogun con
un gallo.

El Sacrificio Especial de este Odu para Superar Enemigos y Dificultades

Orunmila ni ti shan; Moni mo bo'la.

Oni laba-laba bo ni owo awon ti nkpa eyeje.
Oni okun bo ni owo awon aje kokoro.
Orunmila ni ti shan; Mo ni mo bo la. Oni omo bi bo. 0
bo ni owo awon tin run orin. Oni ekolo bo ni owo.
awon ti nje eran. Mo bo Iku, mo bo ni owo aisan.
Omo bi bo boro no owo re omo bi bo.
Orunmila estomud6 y el sacerdote de Ifa lo dese6 que Dios esta bendiciendo.
El descubri6 que era los sacrificios hechos por:
Mariposa que lo salvo de las mandibulas de consumidores de came; El
millipede para frustrar los planes malos de las hormigas del soldado; La
lana de algod6n que lo entreg6 de las manos de masticar
las ramitas;
El gusano de tierra para escapar la atenci6n de comedores de came; y
Hecho sus nifios y adhesivos para sobrevivir las manos frias de
la muerte y enfermedad.

Cuando este Ifa aparece por consiguiente a la adivinaci6n, la persona se <lira que el o ella
estan operando en media de las enemigas. Deben aconsejarle que tenga su propio Ifa
sobrevivir sus maquinaciones malas. Si una mujer, ella conseguira cerca de Orunmila para
sobrevivir las dificultades que la asedian.

La Adivinacion Constituyo a una Madre Salvar a Su Hija De la Muerte en Su Casa

Matrimonial

Ashosho miran, Ashoro miran y Ogunrun miran el le de o ella el re ella sea los tres Awos que
la adivinaci6n hecho para la madre de una mujer Hamada Arola. Le aconsejaron que hiciera el
sacrificio para ahorrar su fom de la hija que tifie en la casa del marido. Le aconsejaron que
sirviera Esu con un macho cabrio y Ewusa (las Nueces (Okhue en Bini)). Ella ignor6 el
consejo y se neg6 a hacer el sacrificio. Entretanto, una cesto de Ewusa se persisti6 en la
contadora arriba en la sala de la casa. Mientras su mayor compafiero estaba lejos al mercado,
Esu transfigur6 en un intruso que sali6
furtivamente en la sala y robo todas las nueces en la cesto, mientras dejando la cesto
vacia. Eso paso mientras Arola estaba durmiendo.

Cuando su mayor compafiero volvi6 del mercado, ella descubri6 que los volumenes de la
cesto habian estado alejados. Cuando ella le pregunto lo que pas6 a las nueces a Arola,
ella neg6 algun conocimiento porque ella habia estado durmiendo cuando el lyaale estaba
lejos al mercado. El mayor compafiero en un humor que era sospechoso de la inocencia de
su compafiero menor observado que nada se habia robado en la vida previamente de la
casa. Agobiado con los comentarios despreciativos de su mayor compafiero, Arola
empez6 a cantar:

Arola, Arola Sogun run she she she.

Como ella estaba cantando, ella empezo a hundir en un coma, porque desconocido a su
mayor compafiero, ella habia tragado una substancia toxica. Cuando ella transcurrio en el
delirio, un mensaje se envio a la madre, pero Arola se murio antes de la llegada de su
madre. Estaba en ese punto para que la mujer lloro perdiendo a su hija a su negativa para
la hechura el sacrificio prescribieron a la adivinacion.

Cuando este Odu pronostica el peligro de muerte por consiguiente (0 Ayeo) a la

adivinacion, la persona debe aconsejarse para hacer el sacrificio para evitar la perdida de
un hijo o hija. Si aparece para una madre, le diran que haga el sacrificio para ahorrar la
vida de su hija en su casa matrimonial. Si aparece para un marido, le diran que haga el
sacrificio para guardar fuera del peligro de muerte subita a su esposa.
 El capitulo 11
ETURA - IRETE
ETURA-AGO ITONLO-
ETURA-ITONLO ETURA
OLUGBA-ETE

Antes de mencionar el nombre de este Odu, escupa fuera orar a Orunmila para no permitir
las palabras de la boca de uno matar uno.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Gallo

Etura Itonlo era el Awo que la adivinaci6n hecho para el Gallo cuando el estaba viniendo
al mundo. Le aconsejaron sacrificio de la hechura con un pedazo de tela roja, la palma
fructifica y un macho cabrio para apartar el peligro de matarse por las palabras de su boca.
El hizo un sacrificio sin entusiasmo sin agregar un macho cabrio.

En conseguir al mundo, el era no solo muy guapo pero la corona roja en sus pajaros hecho
de cabeza y animales al miedo el. El se puso amistoso con el Zorro (Ufa en Yoruba y
Umuokhokho en Bini). El zorro pudo matar y alimentar en otros pajaros pero se atrevi6 a
no ir el gallo casi.

Un dia, despues de descubrir que el Zorro estaba distanciandose de el, el Gallo le pregunt6
lo que la materia era y el Zorro explic6 que el tuvo miedo de ser dafiado por la corona de
fuego que el siempre era desgastado. El Gallo se ri6 alegremente del Zorro. Preguntado lo
que era tan c6mico, el Gallo explic6 eso lejos de estar caliente y dafioso, la corona en su
cabeza estaba tan fresca coma la olla de agua bebiendo y tan indemne coma la arena de la
tierra. Como si regalando su secreto no fuera contraproducente bastante, el Gallo pidi6
alocadamente al Zorro tocar su corona que el ultimo descubri6 para ser muy refresque de
hecho.

El dia siguiente, el Zorro atac6 el Gallo a traves de su corona, lo sostuvo, lo rasg6 a los
pedazos y lo mat6 para su desayuno. Como el estaba tefiendo el Gallo record6 lo que el
Awo le dijo a la adivinaci6n y el llor6 el "Itonlo ni re re rete U u Hoo". por eso uno ora
para no cortejar la muerte a traves de las palabras de la boca de uno. Cuando este Odu
aparece a la adivinaci6n, la persona debe hacer sacrifique para no compartir la experiencia
fatal del Gallo.

Cuando aparece a U gbodu, la persona debe servir Ifa rapidamente con un gallo que sera
asado y no se cocinara ante el ser comido para obviar el peligro de regalar su acarici6 y
secretos estrechamente defendidos a sus enemigos. El tambien debe servir Esu con un
macho cabrio.

A la adivinaci6n, la persona servira; Esu con un macho cabrio y Ogun con un gallo y
aconsejado para tener cuidado con de enemigos que estan cerca de el en la guisa de
amistad.
El Hizo la Adivinacion para Tres Hermana-pajaros

Obale sa gaara lo, ndifa fun Oge. Otirikpo lo'ndifa fun Olo
koshe. Ojuda ojura lo 'ndifa fun Oken ti o maje oye babare
(Oloja Eye). Ebo oye ni ki a ru o.

Esos eran los Awos que la adivinaci6n hecho para los pajaros llam6; Oge en Yoruba y
Ahianmwosa en Bini, Oiokoshe en Yoruba y Alevbe en Bini; y Oken en Yoruba y Ogen en
Bini, cuando ellos estaban a punto de tomar el trono de su padre como el Jefe De cabeza de
Pajaros,

Les dijeron que hicieran el sacrificio con cuatro palomas en el banco del rio. Los mas mayores
de los tres Oiokoshe no lo consideraron necesario para el hacer que sacrifica desde que el era
el heredero claro al trono de su padre. El pr6ximo mas mayor, Oge se neg6 a hacer el sacrificio
porque la corona no pudiera venir a el cuando el heredero claro estaba vivo y bien. Por otro
lado, era el mas menor, Oken que hizo el sacrificio.

Despues de que el lfa que sacerdote Ojuda-Ojura hizo al sacrificio para el, le exigieron que
tomara las cuatro palomas vivas al banco del rio. Cuando Oken estaba orando con las palomas
en la arena playera, el se aprehendi6 por los guardias del palacio de Olokun que habia sido
mandado para sacar cuatro palomas para el sacrificio para el hijo de Olokun que estaba
extremamente enfermo. Cuando el se neg6 a rendirselos bruscamente, el fue arrestado al
instante y acus6 antes de la divinidad de agua, el acusado de entrada ilegal.

En verlo, reprimanded de Olokun sus guardias por tratar Oken andrajosamente. Despues de
esto, el lo aplac6 y le pregunt6 el prop6sito para que el estaba hacienda su sacrificio. El
explic6 que ese Orunmila le habia aconsejado que hiciera el sacrificio para ascender al trono
de su padre. Olokun retorci6 asegurandolo que su sacrificio habia materializado. Estaba en ese
punto que el se rindi6 las palomas a los guardias del cuerpo de Olokun.

Entretanto, Olokun pidi6 que sus seguidores amoldaran Oken con todos los articulos de
prosperidad. En cuanto ellos empezaran a amoldarlo, las plumas largas se destacaron de su
ano. Cuando el surgi6 en el futuro en casa, el se aclam6 espontaneamente como el pr6ximo rey
(u Oloja-ojo) de todos los pajaros. Es las plumas largas de Oken que los Reyes y Jefes de la
Cabeza en la mayoria de las partes de uso de Yorubaland en sus coronas.

Cuando el odu aparece a la adivinaci6n, la persona se <lira hacer el sacrificio para ganar un
pr6ximo concurso para una posici6n mas alta. El debe servir Esu con un macho cabrio y debe
enviar cuatro palomas al mar.

El Tambien Divined para Agbonrin, Agbe y Aluko

Etura Irete lo 'ndifa fun Agbe, obufun Aluko, Otun bu

fun Agbonrin.

El hizo la adivinaci6n para dos otros pajaros llam6 Agbe y Aluko. El tambien el divined para
el Ciervo. Ellos eran que todos aconsejaron para hacer el sacrificio a palabra-fuera
del peligro de muerte ser causado por los enemigos humanos. Ellos hicieron el sacrificio y
escaparon la muerte.

A la adivinaci6n, la persona se aconsejara para hacer el sacrificio para sobrevivir una

epidemia a-proxima durante ese afio.

El Tambien Hizo la Adivinacion para Ayinyan

Etura re re re. Irete re re re. Babalawo Ayiyan, Odifa

funAyiyan.

El hizo la adivinacion para la Cucaracha que le aconseja que hiciera el sacrificio para
apartar el peligro de muerte subita. El no hizo el sacrificio.

Entretanto, Esu aconsej6 el Ave que la Cucaracha era buena para la comida. Cuando la
cucaracha salio de la mafiana siguiente, el Ave picudo el y el se cayo en su parte de atras y
empezo a llorar el "Etura re re re". Con que el ave lo cornio para un desayuno temprano.

Cuando aparece a la adivinacion, la persona se aconsejara para hacer el sacrificio para

evitar la muerte subita. Si el divinee esta proponiendo viajar, el el o ella debe hacer el
sacrificio antes de dejar casa para obviar el peligro de muerte accidental durante la
jomada.

La Adivinaci6n que El Hizo Antes de Dejar el Cielo

Edobi Ishu. Aboju regun regun. Odifa fun Orunmila nijo ti

ofe ti kole orun bowa si kole aye.

La cara de un medio fiame es mas lisa y mas symetrical que la cara de un fiame entero.
Ese era el nombre del Awo que la adivinaci6n hecho para Orunmila cuando el estaba
viniendo al mundo. Le aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio para prosperar en la tierra. Le
exigieron que hiciera el sacrificio con el perro, gallee, la tortuga y una calabaza de vino de
la palma a Ogun; el camero, gallo, y caracoles a Sango; un lio de names apilo en una cesto
a la union del camino para Elenini, la divinidad del Obstaculo.; dieciseis palomas,
dieciseis gallos a Olokun,; y dos machos cabrio y una tortuga a Esu.

El intento levantar un prestamo para financiar el sacrificio, pero el no podria hacerlo.

Desde que el fue determinado para ir al mundo, el decidio hacer el tanto sacrificio cuando
el pudiera permitirse el lujo de. El sirvio a su angel guardian con una gallina, rata y pez,
dio el craneo de un macho cabrio a Esu, tiza blanca enviada, una paloma, y un pedazo de
tela blanca a Olokun, mientras dando el fiame asado y una calabaza de vino de la palma a
Ogun. Por no hacer los sacrificios llenos, Ogun decidio atar una cadena a su cintura
impedirle ir al mundo. Vagando sobre en el cielo el persiguio a Dios para informar ese
Ogun lo habia detenido de ir a la tierra por el ligamiento una cadena a su cintura. Desde
que Dios no detiene cualquiera de llevar a cabo su deseo, el aclaro y Etura-Irete bendito
para ir al mundo para hacer el pedazo el pudo.

En el futuro, sin informar a cualquiera, el corri6 fuera del cielo al mundo donde el tom6 a
comerciar ademas de la practica de Ifism. Despues de gastar algun tiempo en la tierra
sin cualquier sefial visible de hacerlo, el decidi6 devolver al cielo. Asi como el estaba
acordando venir al cielo, su angel guardian tambien se volvi6 a encontrarselo en la tierra
recordarlo lo que se suponia que el hacia. Entretanto, Elenini se volvi6 su atenci6n a una
direcci6n diferente asegurar que su angel guardian y el cruzaron las maneras sin
encontrarse.

En cuanto el consiguiera al cielo, Ogun lo aprehendi6 una vez mas, mientras haciendole
un sirviente en su casa. Cuando su angel guardian devolvi6 al cielo despues de no
viendolo en la tierra, el parti6 para entregarlo de la servidumbre bajo Ogun. Su angel
guardian levant6 un prestamo en su nombre de Elenini para el hacer los sacrificios
prescritos para el. Despues de hacer todos los sacrificios, el recibi6 el despacho de
aduanas fresco de Dios devolver a la tierra.

En volver al mundo, el reasumi6 sus Awo practican y el empez6 a prosperar

modestamente, pero el nunca podria identificar que cosa tangible que el hizo con el dinero
que el estaba ganando. El ni no tenia una esposa ni un nifio. Preguntandose por que el
todavia no estaba haciendolo, el decidi6 ir por adivinaci6n a que le recordaron que el no
habia reembolsado el prestamo a su angel guardian ademas de una rata llamado Eku
Olirin. Le dijeron reembolsar la deuda y dar dos machos cabrio a Esu. Despues de servir el
esu, el consigui6 la rata, lo us6 para servir su Ifa privadamente y el procedi6 cocinarlo
solo, desde que el ni tenia no una esposa un sirviente para ayudarlo. Despues de cocinar la
rata en una sopa, el agreg6 el eko a el y grit6 la Oda Awo Eesu - la sefializaci6n al Awos
que la comida estaba lista.

Cuando el Awos entr6 en la contestaci6n a su Hamada, ellos eran sorprendido que que era
una rata que el los invit6 a venir y comer con el. Ellos fueron defraudados pero no podrian
negarse a comer la rata.

Despues de comer la came, ellos oraron para el tener una esposa y un nifio antes del
pr6ximo anual. Haciendo el sacrificio el persigui6 al mercado d6nde el se encontr6 a una
mujer joven que se sienta al pie de un arbol del iroko. Despues de intercambiar los saludos
con ella, el le dijo que ella era desalentado porque ella habia estado intentando en vano
tener un nifio y que un nifio estaba cerca de ella. Los mujer sintiendose tranquilizaron,
confirm6 que su problema principal en la vida era c6mo llevar a un nifio. Alli y entonces,
ella prometi6 ayudarlo. Ella lo sigui6 que casa y ellos empezaron a vivir como el hombre
y esposa.

En conseguir casa, el hizo la adivinaci6n y le dijeron que obtuviera Eku Olirin para la
esposa servir Ifa, mientras prometiendo agradecer Ifa con una cabra y una gallina si ella se
pusiera embarazada. El el procurred la rata y despues de cocinar con el, el llam6 la Oda de
nuevo Awo Eeesu, y ellos vinieron, comi6 la rata y tenia algunas bebidas, mientras orando
para la mujer tener un nifio antes del fin del afio.

Desconocido a el, la esposa entr6 del palacio de Olokun en el cielo y su nombre era Oja.
En todos los dias del mercado, ella siempre la izquierda vacio-dio para el mercado, pero
invariablemente devolvi6 casa con el dinero suficiente. Un mes despues de que ellos se
encontraron, la mujer se puso embarazada y en la llenura de tiempo, ella dio el nacimiento
a un nifio masculino. El era ahora un hombre rico y su practica de Ifa lo habia hecho
igualmente adinerado y popular.
Marcar al nifio esta nombrando la ceremonia, el sirvio lfa con una cabra, un cerdo, una
gallina, un pez, caracol y una rata. Cuando el Awos entro este tiempo en la contestacion a
su Hamada de Oda el eesu de Awo, ellos vinieron a disfrutar una fiesta apropiada.

Durante el proximo anual, el era ya prospero bastante para servir Ifa con una vaca, un
cerdo, un carnero y una cabra. Cada invitee tenian bastante para comer y beber.
Entretanto, el tenia muchos mas nifios y construyo las casas mas grandes para acomodar a
su familia. Eso era que como este odu ganaron el sobriquet de Olomo yo yo el hombre
doto de muchos nifios, El se volvio el hombre mas adinerado como consecuencia en el
pueblo y el era hecho el Shashere del pueblo.

Cuando este lfa aparece a Ugbodu, la persona se <lira pagar una deuda que el debe a su
angel guardian y Elenini. El debe servir el lfa inmediatamente con Eku Olirin y debe pedir
Orunmila para hacerlo prospero bastante para servirlo con una vaca. La proxima mujer
que else encuentra despues de que Ugbodu es su esposa destinada del palacio de Olokun.
Si el ya no tiene sus propios Ogun y urnas de Olokun, el debe acordar tenerlos la lfa
iniciacion ceremonia poco despues. La nueva esposa con que el se encontrara sera una
comerciante exitosa.

Divined para el Barril, olla De arcilla y la Calabaza Cuando Ellos Asaltaron el Rio

Ako elila ni a ti kekere ran imu.

ltiju wo eni ni own ju eru.

Esos eran los Awos que la adivinacion hecho para el barril, la olla de arcilla y la calabaza
(Ikoko, lgba y keregbe) cuando ellos iban a emprender la guerra en el rio. Ellos eran que
todos aconsejaron para hacer el sacrificio con la paloma a Esu para la victoria y casa de
retorno de caja fuerte. El barril se nego a hacer cualquier sacrificio porque el no pudiera
imaginar como el rio pudiera mellar su vestido ferrico en la vida. La olla de arcilla hizo el
sacrificio con las plumas de una paloma, mientras prometiendo dar una paloma viva en un
retorno seguro. Era solo la calabaza que hizo el sacrificio prescrito.

En conseguir al frente de guerra, ellos el aggressed el rio. Al mismo tiempo, Esu posiciono
el tronco de arboles y piedras para luchar para el rio. Cuando los soldados del rio
comprometieron la calabaza, el empezo a cantar:

Mo gbon mo sa que recordo Esu que el habia hecho el sacrificio y el se quedo mantenerse
a flote. Por otro lado, la olla de arcilla (lkoko) lloro: - el ti de Emi ella el ho, lgba kan
gbudu gbudu y despues de quedarse mantenerse a flote durante algun tiempo el estaba
comprometido por la piedra que lo irrumpio en los pedazos en los bancos del rio. En su
parte, el barril despues de que haciendose beber el agua suficiente, nunca hundio el
derecho abajo a la cama del rio aparecer de nuevo. Asi, era solo la calabaza que sobrevivia
el combate y el devolvio casa seguramente.
A la adivinacion, la persona se aconsejara para no emprender una aventura propuesta sin
hacer el sacrificio.

El Sacrificio especial para el Exito en el Endeavour de Uno

Orunmila ni ki Olugba ere. Mani olugba ere.

Orunmila le dijo a su sacerdote que granizara fuera, y el sacerdote de lfa bramo. Pedido
explicar la exclamacion, Orunmila declaro eso caza ratas, pesca, animales e infantes todo el
granizo en sus padres.

El prescribio el sacrificio con una paloma, porque es el unico pajaro que vuela la fortuna a la
casa con sus alas, mientras cantando la encantacion siguiente:

Olugba ere wa sin mi

Olugba ere eku kuku gba
Ere wa je oka Olugba
ere.
Cuando este odu aparece a la adivinaci6n, la persona se aconsejara para hacer el sacrificio con
dos palomas para tener exito en su trabajo.
 El capitulo 12
ETURA-EKA

El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Arbol de frijol de Aceite

Etura kpaa O sarejo. Eka kpaa o sarejo.

Esos eran los Awos que la adivinaci6n hecho para el Arbol de Frijol de Aceite (Akpagha en
Yoruba y Okpagha en Bini) cuando ella estaba viniendo al mundo. Le aconsejaron que hiciera
el sacrificio para impedir a sus relaciones intimas matar a sus nifios. Le exigieron que hiciera
el sacrificio con un macho cabrio a Esu y un gallo a su cabeza. Ella hizo el sacrificio y vino al
mundo.

En conseguir al mundo, ella dio el nacimiento a varios nifios. Cuando era tiempo para salir del
cascar6n a sus nifios, ella gritaria el kpaa de Etura, o kpaa de Eka - y las semillas bajarian a
una distancia larga de su casa. Por eso las semillas de la aceite frijol arbol caida por lo menos
cien metros fuera de su pie.

Entretanto, cuando sus relaciones oyeron que ella habia producido a varios nifios, ellos fueron
a visitarla. Estos eran el conejo, la liebre, el cesped-cortador y el puerco espin. Cuando ellos
pidieron ver a sus nifios, ostensiblemente con el prop6sito de alimentar en ellos, que ella
contest6 que ellos nunca vivieron con ella. Cuando, los enemigos que quisieron comerlos en el
futuro los vieron, ellos ya eran las plantas sopladas llenas. Eso era c6mo el arbol de frijol de
aceite protegi6 a sus nifios de las maquinaciones malas de sus relaciones. Incluso los roedores
que excavaron sus agujeros se acercan a su pie, nunca podria ver a sus nifios.

Cuando este Ifa aparece a Ugbodu, la persona se <lira servir Ogun con un gallo, Esu con un
macho ca brio que agrega los ganchos o espinas del puerco espin (la Ira en Yoruba y Okhaen
en Bini), y un conejo a los superiores de la noche. A la adivinaci6n, la persona se aconsejara
para servir; Esu con un macho cabrio y Ogun con un gallo para defenderse fuera de los
problemas de las relaciones intimas.

La Adivinacion que El Hizo Antes de Venir al Mundo

Oka 'le O A Ono era el Awo que el forthis de adivinaci6n hecho Odu antes de que el viniera
del cielo. Le aconsejaron hacer el sacrificio a su angel guardian con una cabra, el pez secado,
el pez fresco, la gallina, la rata fresca,; Esu con un macho cabrio, aceite de la palma, cave, el
palo afilado-puntiagudo; Elenini (Idoboo) con el machete del disused, una cesto; y una tiza
blanca para obtener la bendici6n de Olodumare. Le exigieron que hiciera esos sacrificios para
aliviar los problemas el iba a venir por en la tierra y en pida para vivir a una vejez madura.

El reaccion6 negativamente diciendo que si el mundo fuera tal un lugar dificil, todos sus
colegas que salieron previamente sin hacer los tales sacrificios detallados habrian devuelto
hace tiempo al cielo. Cuando su angel guardian insisti6 que el no iba a permitirle dejar para la
tierra sin hacer los sacrificios, el procedi6 levantar un prestamo
de Elenini (ldoboo) la divinidad del Obstaculo para consolidar los sacrificios. El dej6 para
el mundo despues de hacer los sacrificios.

En conseguir al mundo, el tom6 a comerciar ademas de la practica de Ifism. El estaba

ganando algun dinero pero el no podria responder de cualquier cosa que el estaba
haciendo con el, porque Elenini siempre estaba asiendolo de el. Cuando el fue como
consecuencia por la adivinaci6n, le dijeron que reembolsara la deuda que el debi6 a la
Divinidad del Obstaculo en el cielo. El lo reembols6 haciendo el sacrificio con una cesto
que contiene un gallo, y dieciseis bolsas de dinero que se deposit6 a Orita-ljaloko. El vivi6
a una vejez madura pero no en la afluencia.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para las Personas de lroko y Eka

Okiti kpuke, Awo Eba ono. Odifa fun won lo'de Iroko.
Obufun won ni ode Eka to ri ogun omo araye.

El hizo la adivinaci6n para las personas de Iroko y las personas de Eka anticipar las
guerras que ellos iban a tener de las personas del mundo. Les exigieron que hicieran el
sacrificio con un macho cabrio, y un gallo. Las personas de Iroko no hicieron el sacrificio,
pero las personas de Eka hicieron su propio sacrificio.

A la erupci6n de guerra, las personas de Iroko decamparon para emigrar para vivir con las
personas de Eka. Cuando aparece a la adivinaci6n, la persona se aconsejara para hacer el
sacrificio para el progreso.

El Sacrificio Especial de este Odu por Consolidar la Fortuna

Otura ka mi o serejo. Amini kiniyi o fi serejo?

Orunmila ni ka fi ugbin bo oh ati ifa. Ni gba na ni eyi ti o
fo ka. Ni gba na ni yi o wa serejo. Ebo ki atun ru o.

Orunmila descubri6 que lo que seria usado para reunir las fortunas de uno era caracoles
ser usado por servir la cabeza e Ifa despues de servir Esu tambien.

Cuando aparece a la adivinaci6n, la persona debe decirse servir Ifa, y su cabeza para que
su prosperidad pudiera ser consolidada. Si el ya no tiene Ifa, el debe acordar tener uno.
Para una mujer, le diran que ella solo puede prosperar si su marido tiene su propio Ifa.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Erizo

Oruraka era el Awo que la adivinaci6n hecho para el erizo (Akika en Yoruba y Ekhui en
Bini) cuando el iba a beber el agua en el rio. Le dijeron que hiciera el sacrificio para evitar
la toma la ruta mala y ejecutando el riesgo de entrar en una trampa. El se neg6 a hacer el
sacrificio.

Sin hacer el sacrificio, el fue al rio y en la manera, el se cogi6 en una trampa. Por no
considerando el consejo del diviner, else puso avergonzado de el y se enroll6 a su ronda
del cuerpo la trampa. Por eso el hedghog enrolla su cuerpo en cuanto sospeche el
acercamiento de peligro.
A la adivinaci6n, la persona se aconsejara para tener cuidado con de caida en una trampa
de su o sus enemigos. Neutralizar las invenciones malas de los enemigos, el el o ella debe
servir Esu con un macho cabrio que agrega un bramante.

El Sacrificio especial Contra las Fortunas de Unconsumated (Amubo)

Orunmila ni Otura ka, Moni o da nu wara.

Oni oun a fi eku ase she jo, Moni maa fi eku ase she jo.
Oni ki a wo aje He olufe o daiye ti o nturake, ti o si
n danu wara.
Oni eku ase ni oun yi o fi she jo.
Orunmila le aconsej6 al sacerdote de lfa que estirara fuera su cuerpo.
El sacerdote de lfa dice que era un ejercicio infructuoso.

Orunmila retorci6 que la incidencia de venturas abortivas pudiera ser corregida haciendo
el sacrificio con una ardilla. El agreg6 que el sacerdote debe mirar la fama y fortuna de Ife
que ha extendido a los cuatro vientos, pero que ellos no han puesto para ser ventajoso
para. El repiti6 que la direcci6n de la marea pudiera cambiarse haciendo el sacrificio con
una ardilla.

A la adivinaci6n, la persona se <lira que cualquier cosa el o ella los toques, los fallos de
tiro y faltas, pero que la situaci6n pudiera corregirse con el sacrificio apropiado.
 El capitulo 13
ETURA-ETURUKPON
ETURA-TIKU ETURA-OLOMU

El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Canto Dogi-Dokpe

Etura ba ti ye tiye. Odifa fun dogi dokpe tori oko riro.

El hizo la adivinaci6n para el dogi-dokpe del canto que baila con su tail/anus al estar de pie en
un arbol, Le aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio para apartar el riesgo de impotencia
esporadica. Le exigieron que hiciera el sacrificio con un gallo y una gallina para permanecer
potente a lo largo de su vida. El no realiz6 el sacrificio, y por eso padece la impotencia para la
mayoria de su vida y cuando esta de pie encima de un arbol, pretende estar teniendo el sexo
con el arbol agitando su cintura.

Cuando aparece a la adivinaci6n, la persona se aconsejara para hacer el sacrificio para

permanecer sexualmente potente a lo largo de la vida.

La Adivinacion que El Hizo Antes de Dejar el Cielo

Mi a tiku mo /ere, Mi a tiku mo. Mi a tiku mo

Oun ko ki, oun lo 'ntiku mo.
Lo que se considera que esta perturbando.
Es que ese uno cierra con llave la puerta contra, y basura de los montones en el
mantenerse lejos, excepto la muerte, cosas podridas o materiales inutiles,

Esos eran los Awos que la adivinaci6n hecho para este odu cuando el estaba preparando venir
al mundo. Le aconsejaron que sirviera Esu con un macho cabrio y su angel guardian con una
cabra evitar el desembarco en la tierra en un pueblo dificil d6nde las personas no hacen a
sacrificio que lo haria apatico y no reconocido. Tambien le exigieron que sirviera Ogun con un
perro, gallee, la tortuga y una bolsa de dinero. Le exigieron que hiciera de todos los sacrificios,
el solo sirvi6 Esu con un macho cabrio despues de pedirle a su angel guardian que llevara con
el. El no molest6 en absoluto sobre Ogun.

El entr6 fuera del mundo en un pueblo d6nde las personas no reconocieron las divinidades, y
donde ningun sacrificio era tradicionalmente hecho. Aunque le exigieron que sirviera Esu en
conseguir a la tierra, el perfil ecol6gico de] ambiente en que el naci6 no condujo a la
fabricaci6n de adivinaci6n y sacrificio. El era una oveja perdida a que creci6 d6nde la practica
de Ifa no era conocida, permita apreciado exclusivamente que le hizo vivir una vida infeliz a lo
largo de su palmo corto en la tierra.

Una noche su angel guardian aparecia y revel6 a el que sus problemas se levantaron de su
fracaso para darle los medios por comprarle una vida mas determinada en la tierra. Desde que
el tenia ningun medios de apreciar la importancia del suefio, su angel
guardian soborno Esu para engafiarlo acompafiarlo en una jomada interminable. Esu lo atrajo
en una jomada a su angel guardian. Cuando el aparecia en el cielo ante su angel guardian, el
nunca fue detenido para devolver a la tierra. El se murio en su suefio.

Cuando este odu aparece a Ugbodu, o en una adivinacion de ceremonia de denorninacion, la

persona esta indudablemente una hada. El no vivira a una vejez a menos que Ifa han preparado
para el si un hombre, o ella se hace casarse a un hombre con Ifa, si una mujer.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para Ogun en el Cielo

Etura-ba-turukpon era el Awo que la adivinacion hecho para los siete nifios de Ogun cuando
ellos estaban viniendo al mundo. Los siete nifios eran: - alade de Ogun que come el gallo;
Ogun Alakama.who come el camero; Ogun Ajero que come el macho cabrio; Ogun Gbeno
Gbeno que hebe el agua que fluye abajo el tallo de arboles; Ogun Alara que come el perro;
Ogun Gbejo Gbejo que come caracoles y Ogun Lakota Otata Ginene que alimenta en sangre
humana. Orunmila aconsejo cada uno de ellos servir sus cabezas con kolanuts despues de que
ellos eran seguir siendo las en-puertas durante tres dias. Ellos sirvieron sus cabezas bien pero
ponderaron adelante el consejo para permanecer dentro durante tres dias.

El septimo hijo de Ogun - (Ogun Lakota) se pregunto como el iba a alimentado y bafia en tres
dias si el no aventuro fuera desde que el bafia tradicionalmente en y bebidas sangre humana y
alimentos en la came humana.

El dia siguiente, el salio para buscar la comida antes de venir a permanecer en la casa. Las
otras seis en-puertas permanecidas en el consonace con el consejo de Orunmila. Estaba
durante estos tres dias que Dios les dio el secreto de corno a alimente ellos sin romper su orden
etemo para no matar a los seres humanos mientras en la tierra.

El fin de los tres dias ellos todos persiguieron atras a Orunmila que les pregunto el resultado de
su solitario. Los nifios de Ogun que los preservered durante los tres dias son aquellos que usan
sus poderes constructivamente y tienen sus umas, sacerdotes y seguidores. Ogun Lakota, el
canibal, es el dreaded, desprovisto de cualquier uma, sacerdotes o adhesivos. El solo es
conocido por el estrago que el descarga en sus victimas inocentes. Orunmila lo advirtio sin
embargo nunca manosear con sus nifios y seguidores.

Ellos vmieron al mundo para aprovecharse la de los sacrificios ellos hicieron y el consejo ellos
fueron dados. Cuando aparece a Ugbodu, la persona debe preparar a su uma de Ogun parar el
riesgo de ponerse muy temperamental. A la adivinacion, la persona debe servir Ogun con un
gallo y los his/her tambien encabezan con un gallo.

A proposito, en una revelacion especial, Orunmila descubrio despues a mi que el hombre

blanco era el producto de la copula de Lakola-otata-ginene, el 7 hijo hombrecomiendo de
Ogun y la hija justo-desollada de la divinidad del Obstaculo (Elenini o Idoboo) llamo Afin-
laarilo. El acentuo que la mayoria de las divinidades creo por Dios era oscuro, gris o el castafio
desollo, excepto Elenini el obstaculo, El siguio para agregar que era el Afinyibo curiosidad-
buscando que fue a Dios para ensefiarle como crear, sin
hacer sacrificio que lo gano la maldicion etema de Esu que cualquier cosa el aprendio de
Dios se volveria su destruccion en la tierra.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para Hacerse un Jefe De cabeza

Oro ori ita, ko kpa w ewe. Atoshi aworo ko kpa ishe.

A won ni won lo'ndifa fun Olomu. Aga omo ageshin won losi oko.
lbayere ye re teke leye - Odifa fun Ojiya jini jini ti o nbe
ni ode omu.

La planta que crece en una piedra no tiene las ramas fuertes. Los pobres nunca pueden
realizar bien que el rico. Esos fueron los dos Awos que la adivinacion hecho para Olomu
que se volvio un rey en el Estado de Kwara de Nigeria. Ellos tambien hicieron la
adivinacion para el pobre que vivio en el pueblo de Omu.

Ojuya gue el pobre fue aconsejado para hacer el sacrificio para lograr fortuna, fama y
reconocimiento. Le exigieron que hiciera el sacrificio con la rata del arbusto y el grano de
la palma y el lo hicieron.

El Olomu de Omu tambien fue aconsejado para hacer un sacrificio similar para obviar el
peligro de destronarse y reemplazo por un caracter inconsecuente. Le exigieron que
hiciera el sacrificio con la rata del arbusto, su propia gorra, y un macho cabrio fuerte. El se
nego a hacer el sacrificio.

Entretanto, Ojiya que el pobre puso a una trampa por el lado del camino que como
consecuencia cogio una rata. Cuando el fue a mirar la trampa, el descubrio que habia
cogido una rata. Pero cuando el movio para guitar la rata, Esu lo intercepto en la guisa de
un diviner y le dijo que dejara la rata en la trampa. Esu le dijo sin embargo esconder y
mirar los eventos que iban a transpirar en el futuro.

Al mismo tiempo, Esu engatuso el Olomu para visitar su granja que el inmediatamente
puesto fuera para hacer. En su manera a la granja, el Olomu se encontro con una trampa
que habia cogido una rata del arbusto. Recordando al caso de Esu que le habian
aconsejado previamente que hiciera el sacrificio con una rata, el Olomu procedio guitar la
rata de la trampa.

Cuando el hizo para que, Ojiya salio al caso de Esu para acusar el Olomu de robo en las
palabras siguientes:

Olomu olel lbayere yere te keje. Esi ade ori re.

Ode mi kpa ewusa. Olomu ni o fun ibayere yere tekeleye.
Olomu Ole! lbayere yere te keleye.

En el calor de la conmocion, un caballero de cielo surgido al caso de Esu para averiguar la

causa de la perturbaci6n. Ojiya explico que el Olomu habia robado su rata, un cargo que el
rey neg6, porque el habia escondido la rata entretanto bajo la gorra en su cabeza. En el
futuro, cuando Ojiya insisti6 que si el rey abriera su gorra y habia ninguna rata escondida
bajo el, el debe ejecutarse sumariamente y el rey debe pisar en su sangre. Por otro lado, si
la rata se encontrara bajo la gorra, el rey se rendiria todas sus cosas incluso el trono en
lugar de la pena de muerte desde que el robo llevo la multa de muerte.
Cuando el Olomu seguidamente quitado su gorra y la rata se encontr6 bajo el, el comis6 su
corona y su caballo a Ojiya que mont6 al pueblo para volverse los nuevos Olomu de Omu. La
turbaci6n era tanta para el Olomu que el comprometi6 el suicidio en el bosque. A la
adivinaci6n, la persona se aconsejara para hacer el sacrificio para evitar perder su posici6n alta
a una nulidad y una turbaci6n que podrian hacer los him/her para comprometer el suicidio.
 El capitulo 14
ETURA-OSE
ETURA-ALASHE
ETURA-ORI-WESE

El Divined para el Conejo Cuando El estaba Viniendo al Mundo

Ashe una lo'mu Jogbo. Ashe lo mu

gba le. Ashe ni iyo lo'dun ni nu obe.
El fuego usa su autoridad para aclarar el arbusto, y para calentar
la tierra. Los usos de sal su autoridad para endulzar la sopa.

Esos eran los Awos que la adivinacion hecho para el Conejo cuando ella estaba viniendo
al mundo. Le dijeron servir Esu con un macho cabrio y su mente con el kolanut y salar
para prevenir el peligro de encontrarse con las dificultades a traves de las palabras de su
boca. Ella hizo los sacrificios y vino al mundo.

Mientras en el mundo, ella compartio el mismo alojamiento con el cesped-cortador (Oya

en Yoruba y Evuato en Bini) quien era una hermana menor al Tigre. Cuando el cesped-
cortador entreg6 a sus bebes, ella envi6 al Conejo ire informar a su hermano, el Tigre que
ella habia puesto al nacimiento y si el pudiera proporcionarse sus nifios y el alojamiento
en su casa. El Cesped-cortador dijo al Conejo tomar nota especial de las primero y ultimas
palabras de su hermano vicioso, el Tigre.

Cuando el Conejo narr6 el mensaje al Tigre, el contesto, mientras lamiendo sus labios que
"el cesped-cortador, su hermana, con las grasas como el aceite, era bienvenida a su casa."
En oir la reacci6n de su hermano, ella se sali6 en ninguna duda que el Tigre esperaba
festejar en ella y sus nifios.

Despues de esperar en vano por el cesped-cortador presentarse en su casa, el Tigre

conjetur6 que era el Conejo que la asusto lejos informando sus comentarios literalmente.
El fue como consecuencia en busca del Conejo. Cuando el alcanzo el Conejo en el futuro,
Esu la dirigio encontrarse con un agujero, pero el Tigre tuvo exito pelando su cola, pero
ella escapo con su vida. Por eso el cola-fin del conejo es hasta el momento blanco.

Cuando este odu aparece a Ugbodu, la persona debe servir la Noche con un conejo y Esu
con un macho cabrio y la piel o hueso de un tigre para sobrevivir la brujeria de sus
relaciones. A la adivinacion, la persona debe servir Esu con una paloma y Ogun con un
gallo.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Mono

Akan rin she she, A wo Alakedun. Odifa fun

Alakedun to ton tomo data. Ebo omo ni ki omo.
El cangrejo mueve del lado para estar al lado de, era el nombre del Awo que la adivinacion
hecho para el Mono para la seguridad y supervivencia de sus nifios. Le dijeron que hiciera el
sacrificio con una rata llamo eku-emo, gallina y caracol. Ella hizo el sacrificio que es por que
los nifios del mono no se caen de sus manos al subir un arbol,

A la adivinacion, la persona se aconsejara para hacer el sacrificio para evitar perdida de nifios.

La Adivinacion lo Constituy6 Cuando El estaba Viniendo Del Cielo

Ase uno lo fi Jogbo. Ase Orunrun lo mu segun wo mu gbale.

Awon n won lo'ndifa fun Orunmila nijoti onti kole orun
bowa si kole aye.

Es la autoridad de Fuego que usa para vagabundear el arbusto.

Es la autoridad de calor que usa para secar a mojado y los
lugares frios.

Esos fueron los dos Awos que la adivinacion hecho para Orunmila cuando el estaba viniendo
al mundo. Estos Awos primero la adivinacion hecho para Asori el padre de Etura-Alashe, se
apodo el solo arbol que hizo un bosque. Le dijeron que hiciera el sacrificio porque el iba a dar
el nacimiento a un hijo que iba a ser mayor que el. El no hizo el sacrificio.

Su hijo Etura-Alashe tambien fue al mismo Awos cuando el estaba viniendo al mundo. Le
aconsejaron que sirviera a su cabeza y angel guardian junta con el tigre, coco, cocodrilo y una
cabra, Esu con las twohe-cabras y Osanyin con el gallo y perro. El hizo el sacrificio pero dio
un macho cabrio a Esu, mientras prometiendo darle el segundo uno en conseguir a la tierra.

El nacio como el mayor hijo de Araba o Asori que ya eran muy famoso en la tierra. El era
conocido por todo el Obas del mundo conocido, pero el tenia el problema de no darse a hacer
los sacrificios. Le habian aconsejado que sirviera a su angel guardian, su padre y Esu, pero el
se negados a hacer cualquiera de ellos.

Eso era cuando Esu partio para frustrar sus esfuerzos. Entretanto, el se invito por el Olofin a
venir y lanzar la porcion para him(ibo o Iboo) en el palacio. En cuanto el llegara al palacio, el
revelo el enigma con exito que el fue invitado venir y desenredar. Le pidieron en el futuro que
revelara lo que iba a pasar momentaneamente. El predijo eso como el estaba estando de pie;
alguien iba a entrar con un cocodrilo vivo; otra persona iba a traer un tigre vivo, y despues de
esto una lluvia pesada iba a caerse. El ofrecio ser ejecutado si sus tres predicciones no se hizo
realidad.

Entretanto, Esu habia tornado a una posicion en el alto-manera principal de donde el conjure la
lluvia para amenazar. Cuando la lluvia ernpezo a caerse, el cazador que trae un cocodrilo al
palacio decidido tomar alberga en alguna parte en la manera. El cazador que tambien trae el
tigre tenia una experiencia similar. Habia un aguacero pesado de lluvia despues de esto. Por
eso cuando este odu aparece a la adivinacion, los diviner
pueden predecir el acercamiento de una lluvia pesada que destruiria muchas cosas
seguramente.

A a la caida de la noche, las primeras dos predicciones de Asori no materializaron. Asori

se empuj6 por consiguiente en el calabozo desde que se prohibia para ejecutar un Awo,
pero en cuanto el entrara en el calabozo, el se trago a por el cocodrilo dentro del lugar.

La mafiana siguiente, los dos cazadores entraron con el cocodrilo y el tigre. Aunque los
eventos vindicaron las predicciones de Asori, no obstante, que ellos entraron para ahorrar
su vida demasiado tarde. Al mismo tiempo, su hijo se habia puesto muy famoso como un
sacerdote de lfa. Un dia, el Olofin envio para Etura-Alashe por el porcion lanzar. Antes de
contestar la Hamada el hizo la adivinacion y le exigieron servir su cabeza con un tigre, su
lfa con un cocodrilo, Esu con un macho cabrio, y su padre con un perro y gallo. El sirvio a
Esu y su padre, pero no podria conseguir sostenimiento de un tigre y un cocodrilo
inmediatamente para servir su cabeza e lfa. El improviso por consiguiente sirviendolos
con el kolanuts y agasaja, mientras prometiendo servirlos con los materiales prescritos si
el devolvio casa triunfalmente del palacio.

En llegar al palacio, el se encontro una recoleccion grande de las personas. Antes de que
dijerase lo para que el fue invitado, el revelo el misterio que le exigieron que descubriera.
Nose impresionaron las personas porque ese era lo que su padre hizo antes de su fracaso
colosal. Una vez mas, le exigieron que revelara lo que iba a pasar para el resto de ese dia.
El predijo eso como el estaba estando de pie, un cazador traeria dos cocodrilos al palacio,
y que los mas grandes de los dos serian para el y el otro para el Oba. El agrego que se
traerian un tigre y una tigresa al palacio y el tigre seria para el mientras el Oba guardo la
tigresa. El tambien predijo que alli iba a ser una lluvia pesada antes del fin de ese dia. El
ofrecio ser ejecutado si sus predicciones no se hicieran realidad.

En cuanto el tomara que su asiento, un visitante que fue anunciado al instante, trajo dos
cocodrilos macizos. Etura-Alashe se dio el mas grande de los dos de acuerdo con. Cuando
el cazador estaba recibiendo su premio, la llegada de un segundo cazador fue anunciada
quien entro con un tigre y una tigresa. Las personas estaban empezando a echar una
mirada seria a Etura-Alashe. Como el el tigre masculino estaba dandose, el cielo abrio
para introducir en una abajo-lluvia pesada de lluvia. Con las manifestaciones de todas sus
predicciones, el Oba lo hizo el primero ministro (Shashere) del pueblo y el devolvio casa a
la cabeza de una procesion triunfante grande.

En conseguir casa, el invito su Awos a ayudarle servir su cabeza e lfa con el tigre y el
cocodrilo en el fulfilment de la promesa que el hizo antes de dejar para el palacio. Cuando
el cocodrilo estaba matandose para lfa, una voz se tuvo noticias de sus intestinos el "suuru
del emeu" - es decir, maneje suavemente. Cuando el intestino fue abierto cuidadosamente,
su padre Asori salto fuera y el abrazo a su hijo que de hecho el tenia el exceled el debido
al sacrificio que el se nego a hacer. El unio a su hijo entonces sirviendo su cabeza con el
tigre. Asori vivio durante otro cuatro afios antes de que el se muriera finalmente.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para una Mujer Llamado Otuu

 Akeke lo shudi dee re gbo kun. Odifa fun Otuu nijo ti o fi
ojojumo washe da nu. Oso fun kofi eku emo meta ru ebo. Ki odi
okpo Ifa mu, ki o lo ri omo bi.

El Huso que hila (Akpe) at6 una soga a su cintura. Ese era el awo que la adivinaci6n hecho
para Otuu cuando ella nunca estaba perdida su menstruaci6n. Le aconsejaron que hiciera el
sacrificio con tres eku-emo caza ratas para tener un nifio. Tambien le aconsejaron que viniera
cerca de Orunmila. Ella hizo el sacrificio y se puso embarazada el mes siguiente.

Cuando aparece a la adivinaci6n para una mujer, le aconsejaran que se case a un hombre que
tiene su propio Ifa, o para persuadir a su marido para tener su propio Ifa para que ella pueda
llevarlo un nifio.

La Adivinacion especial para el Honor y Dignidad

On re re a si she'yan la'forun bo wa'ye. A kii fi gberu si ni o.

Eyi ti Mara to yan waye, ko fi gbe ru sini o. Eyi ti Ajero to yan
waye, ko fi gbe ru si ni o. Eyi ti Orangun ni'le He to yan waye.
Ko fi gberu si ni o. Eyi ti Orunmila to yan waye,
ko fi gberu si nio. Ebo ni o, ko tun fi eyele bo ori.

La cabeza buena escogida del palacio de Dios no se usa por llevar cualquier carga en el
servicio de cualquiera. Las cabezas escogidas por los reyes Alara, Ajero y Orangun Ilia y por
Orunmila llevar la carga para cualquiera se prohiben, asi como no se espera que la cabeza de
un sacerdote del ifa lleve cualquier carga en el servicio de cualquiera. Los divinee deben servir
su o su cabeza con una paloma. A la adivinaci6n, la persona debe decirse no llevar carga para
cualquiera. El debe el perservere porque el prosperara en el fin.

El Sacrificio especial para una Mujer Ansioso para Tener un Nino

Orunmila ni a wase, Moni A wase eku ni o fi ni oyun ti yi o fi bi

mo. I Awase eja, eye, eran ni won fi ni oyun ti won yio fi bi mo.
Awase omo eni ni yio fi ni oyun ti yio fi bi mo.

Orunmila aqui descubre que estaba despues de menstruaci6n que caza ratas, pesca, los pajaros,
los animales y mujeres, proceden dar el nacimiento a sus j6venes.

Orunmila prescribi6 el sacrificio con un huevo, omo de la oveja y hojas de emeu de oveja. La
encantaci6n que va con el es:

Bi emo ba mu ire re ki bo. Bi adiye ba ti gun, ni she ni

o ma fi a she oyun omo.

A la adivinaci6n, la persona se <lira que hay una mujer que menstrua actualmente. Si ella hace
el sacrificio anterior, ella se pondra embarazada ciertamente.

El Sacrificio especial para la Prosperidad

 Orunmila ni etura shege, Moni oro ayo ni.
Oni kini a ri ti an yo, ti a nkpa ariwo enu?
Moni aje tuntun ni o wo He de.
Oni oro ayo ni ki a ma jo, ki a si ma yo.
Orunmila ni etura shege. Moni oro ayo ni.
Oni kini a ri ti an yo, ti a nkpa ariwo enu?
Moni omo tuntun ni a bi. Oni oro ayo ni.
Orunmila ni etura shege, Moni oro ayo ni Oni
kini a ri ti a n yo, ti a si nkpa riwo enu?
Moni gbogbo ire tuntun ni o wole de. Oni oro ijo ati ayo ni.
Oni ti o ba to be, ki a ma kpariwo enu. Moni Orunmila ti o ba ribe
Kini awa yio fi she? Morontotu, Mokun otan leh.
Orunmila proclamo que hay alegria alrededor de, y el pregunto
l,Cual fue tan agradable acerca de genere el tanto ballyhooo?
El sacerdote de lfa contesto que esa prosperidad habia venido a la casa.
En la respuesta a las preguntas similares el sacerdote contesto tambien que un la
novia habia entrado en la casa que se siguio como consecuencia
por el nacimiento de un nuevo nifio, siguio por la entrada de riqueza
a la casa. Orunmila estaba de acuerdo que esas ocurrencias eran
suficiente para justificar felicidad etema. El sacerdote entonces
le pedido el sacrificio requerido y Orunmila prescribio
sacrifique con una paloma, y un camera blanco que se produjo,

Cuando el sacrificio estaba siendo hecho, Orunmila canto la encantacion siguiente:

Ereku reku ni eye le ma'nke Mo

ba ori rere yi wo ilu Ori rere ni
agba fi a nje ode ilu Ma se ori
rere ni He yi
Ogede oyinbo de! Eni ato run gba iwa bo

Significando:

La paloma anuncia el acercamiento de prosperidad a la casa La

persona vendra al mundo con una cabeza buena.
Asi como el camera mueve alrededor en el pueblo con una cabeza buena.
La persona prosperara en el, mundo porque el Platano vino al
mundo con un agiiero bueno.

Cuando este odu aparece a la adivinacion, la persona se aconsejara para hacer el sacrificio con
una paloma blanca, un camera blanco y Platano para que la prosperidad que esta acechando
alrededor de el pudiera materializar y podria venir dentro de su asimiento.
 El capitulo 15
ETURA-OFUN

El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Albino (Afin o Eyaen) en el Cielo

Etura Ofene. Ofene da gha arine afin ejiyo.

Ese era el Awo que la adivinacion hecho para el Albino cuando el estaba viniendo al
mundo. Le aconsejaron servir Esu con un macho cabrio y abstenerse de comer sal, Okro y
la sopa de ayer. El hizo el sacrificio antes de venir al mundo donde el evito sus tabus.

El se caso, se tenia los nifios y se prosper6. Cuando el iba a realizar la nueva fiesta del
fiame, su mayor esposa preparo una sopa de Okro para el, pero habiendo sofiado de
antemano con el, el no lo comi6. Al mismo tiempo, el dej6 a la esposa con la impresion
err6nea de lo haber comido cubriendo a la sopa algunos d6nde.

Despues de observar que nada paso a el, ella se puso curiosa. En el futuro, el fue a
Orunmila para averiguar c6mo reaccionar a la situaci6n. Le aconsejaron que sirviera su
cabeza con un gallo. Despues de hacer el sacrificio, la mayor esposa lo dej6 y el empez6 a
prosperar mas que nunca antes.

Cuando este lfa aparece a Ugbodu, la persona debe servir Esu con el macho cabrio y okro.
Despues de esto, el debe abstenerse de comer sopa de Okro y la sopa de ayer. El se frente-
advertira que su mayor esposa no se lo casara al fin de su vida. Siempre que ella decidiera
dejarlo, el no debe hacer nada que descorazonarla. Cuando aparece a la adivinacion, la
persona servira Esu con un macho cabrio y los his/her encabezan con un gallo.

El Divined para Meeriye Obtain la Bendicion de Dios

Dogi, awo eba ono. Odifa fun Meeriye nijo ti o ba won oluku re lo
si oko obaro.

Dogi, el camino-lado sacerdote de lfa fue el que hizo la adivinacion para Meeriye cuando
ella siguio a sus amigas al bosque sacar las frutas de una planta llamadas Obaro en Yoruba
y Oriema en Bini. Ella habia sido advertida para no acompafiar a nadie al bosque
previamente. Cuando sus amigos continuaron persuadiendola ir con ellos, ella fue a
Orunmila que le aconsej6 que hiciera el sacrificio antes de ir con ellos. Ella hizo el
sacrificio.

Cuando ellos consiguieron al arbusto, sus amigos pudieron sacar las cestos que abatana de
las frutas mientras ella solo tuvo exito sacando una sola fruta. En su camino a casa ellos
decidieron detener por el lado del rio para bafiarse. Como ella estaba entrando en el rio
para nadar, ella puso su sola fruta en su almohadilla. Mientras nadando que ella observo
que algunos nifios vinieron al banco del rio que busca algo al parecer. Su curiousity fue
agravado cuando los nifios dejaron todo las otras frutas y le escogieron
unico. Ella sali6 para detenerlos de tornado apresuradamente, pero ellos insistieron en tornado
despues de que ellos corrieron lejos.

No sabiendo quien ellos eran, ella los sigui6 implacablemente hasta que ellos llegaran al
palacio de Dios, de d6nde ellos vinieron. Entretanto, ella se trajo ante Dios cuando ella
continua insistiendo en recuperar su (mica fruta, y el Omnipotente Padre le dijo no volver pero
permanecer en Su palacio divino durante siete dias. Durante los siete dias, ella limpi6, barrio y
freg6 las camaras intemas del palacio, la ropa lavada y cocin6 la comida.

En el septimo dia, como ella estaba cocinando en la cocina, la rata vino a pedirle budin del
melon (Iru en Yoruba y Evbaire en Bini). Ella lo dio a la rata que en la apreciaci6n, la previno
que Dios le pediria que escogiera entre dos calabazas pequefias en Su tesoreria. La rata le
aconsej6 que escogiera el mas sucio de las dos calabazas y en volver casa, ella era cerrar la
puerta a su cuarto para el retiro absoluto antes de dado con el suelo.

Cuando Dios le pidi6 como consecuencia que escogiera una de las dos calabazas dentro de la
tesoreria divina, se cubri6 uno de ellos con las joyas, mientras el segundo uno se cubri6 con el
humo. En la consonancia con el consej o de la rata, ella escogi6 el sucio. En conseguir casa,
ella lo tom6 en su cuarto y cerr6 con llave la puerta.

Cuando ella lo golpe6 en el suelo, todas las descripciones de riqueza empezaron a rezumar
fuera de el, mientras comprendiendo de dinero suficiente, j oyas, la ropa, los animales, marfil,
el etc. Cuando ella lo dio con el suelo un segundo tiempo, una fila de casa se posicion6 delante
de ella. Ella se habia puesto muy adinerada de repente. Eso era c6mo Dios la compens6 para
su fruta y Meeriye se volvi6 una fuerza para contar con.

A la adivinaci6n, la persona se aconsejara que los he/she perderan un valioso articulo, pero no
debe preocuparse el unduly por el porque se ha tornado por los sirvientes de Dios. Dios
cornpensara el him/her en el futuro en los multiplos.

La Adivinacion que El Hizo Antes de Venir al Mundo

Enu Oge lo'nkpa Oge, era el Awo que la adivinaci6n hecho para Orunmila cuando el estaba
dejando el cielo. Le aconsejaron que hiciera los sacrificios para apartar el riesgo de entrar en el
problema como resultado de sus pronunciaciones en su practica de Ifa. Le exigieron que
festejara las doscientas divinidades con una cabra, gallina, ademas diez pedazos de tela blanca
y negra, y para servir Esu con un macho cabrio. Tambien le aconsejaron que sirviera la Luz
del dia con blanco dando tiza blanca, tela blanca y cauris. Tambien le aconsejaron que
estuviera dando la tiza blanca al dia todas las mananas antes de empezar sus quehaceres
diarios.

El dej6 finalmente para la tierra despues de hacer todos los sacrificios. En conseguir a la tierra,
el se estableci6 rapidamente como un sacerdote de Ifa eficaz y famoso, mientras fuera-
lustrando todo el Awos que el se encontr6 en la tierra. Sus predicciones siempre estaban
pr6ximas verdadero, pero su fama y fortuna empezaron a generar la enemistad por el pronto.
Habia un levantamiento popular al mismo tiempo en el pueblo cuando los ciudadanos se
rebelaron contra su rey. El Oba invit6 Orunmila para la adivinaci6n
adelante como contener la situacion explosiva. A la adivinacion, su propio Odu aparecia, y el
le aconsej6 al Oba que hiciera el sacrificio para sofocar la rebelion. El Oba fue exigido hacer
el sacrificio con una cabra, un tambor, un macho cabrio, tela blanca, tela roja, cauris
suficientes y tela negra. El sacrificio era inmediatamente hecho. El le aconsej6 al Oba que
hiciera una regalia especial con la tela roja despues del sacrificio, - una tradicion que es
exclusivo a la realeza.

En cuanto Esu comiera su macho cabrio, el salio la noche siguiente que canta a la musica de su
tambor que una epidemia destructiva afligiria el pueblo a menos que todos fuimos al palacio la
mafiana siguiente para disculparse al Oba. Habia un temblor de tierra que agito cada casa en el
pueblo a sus fundaciones en altas horas de la mafiana, pero no habia ningun accidente salvo el
Olisa, el lider de la insurreccion que fue enterrada en el cascote. Eso era bastante para darles
una vista preliminar a los ciudadanos o probar de antemano de lo que estaba en la accion para
ellos. La mafiana siguiente, el Oba llevo su equipo rojo recientemente hecho y el patio de su
palacio estaba lleno con los hombres, mujeres y nifios del reino. En cuanto el Oba pareciera
recibirlos, todas las personas gritaron 'KABIYESMOBABA! La eficacia del sacrificio reforzo
la popularidad de Orunmila pero tambien lo gano mas enemigos.

Entretanto, el invito su Awos para augurio que descubrio que else habia olvidado de su orden
para dar la tiza a cada nuevo dia por la mafiana. Le aconsejaron hacer el sacrificio con la
gallina, el gallo, la paloma, el pedazo de tela blanca, negra y roja, tiza suficiente y un macho
cabrio a Esu. El hizo el sacrificio. En el futuro, sus enemigos vinieron a el para un pago. El
Oba le hizo en el futuro el Oluwo de todo el diviners.

Cuando este lfa aparece a U gbodu, la persona se aconsejara para hacer el sacrificio especial
para neutralizar la enemistad que su fortuna y la fama generara para el.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Pobre Prosperar

Bio ba funmi ni temi, Emi a fun e ni tere.

Ese era el poema con que Orunmila hizo la adivinacion para el pobre prosperar. El pobre era el
unico nifio de sus padres, y el era amistoso con el sirviente favorito del Oba. Habia
extraordinariamente entretanto, intenso calor del sol que estaba hacienda la vida intolerable en
el pueblo. El Oba invito a todos sus diviners y videntes a hacer algo que aplacar el sol.
Mientras el Awos sea los divining en que hacer sabre la situacion, el pobre hizo para alardear
que el era el unico uno capaz de resolver el problema. El Oba habia prometido dar un
chieftaincy alto titule ademas de cien hombres, cien mujeres, cien vacas, cien cabras, cien aves
y cien balsas de dinero a quienquiera pudo obligar al sol mover mas de en el cielo refrescar la
capa de ozono de la tierra.

Entretanto, el Oba puso una fecha para la tarea a ser realizada. Era entonces el oyo hablar de la
ventolera del Pobre, y el fue invitado a aparecer ante el Oba. Cuando el se acuso como
consecuencia ante el Oba, el estaba a punto de repudiar la alegaci6n cuando su amigo lo miro
poseer a. El Oba retorcio diciendole que si el pudiera hacerlo, el dividiria inmediatamente el
reino y le da uno media administrar, pero que el se ejecutaria si el fallara. Del palacio, el lloro
casa para encontrarse a su madre que no fue divertida a la perspectiva de perder a su unico
nifio.
Ella fue inmediatamente a Orunmila que despues de que la adivinaci6n le dijo que hiciera
el sacrificio con una inclinaci6n y tres machos cabrio del castafio, maracas y tres cauris a
Esu y una gallina para lfa.

La madre fue a casa para producir los materiales. Despues de hacer los sacrificios,
Orunmila prepar6 la inclinaci6n ( que era hecho de un carte del palo de Irosun plante) y
las flechas para pasarse tres noches en la uma de Esu, junta con las maracas. El le dijo que
viniera con su hijo a coleccionar los materiales en la vispera del dia designado. En la
vispera del dia designado, Orunmila dio las Maracas a la madre y la inclinaci6n y flecha a
su hijo.

En el D - dia, se recogieron las personas. El mayor Awos que habia ofrecido hacer el
trabajo, todos intentaron pero fallaron. El Pobre fue invitado a tener finalmente un va al
sol. Cuando el sac6 su inclinaci6n y flecha, su madre empez6 a jugar con las maracas
entre sus palmas y cantar:

Eela o. Ela mosin ki awari baba lawo.

Bo ba ti fun mini temi, ma a fu eni tire.
Odafun omo mi atosi ti o ma to'jo.
Mo gbo, mow, mogbo tu lu esu.
Ebo fin, ebo mo fin okpo. Elumorere ebo lu arin
Ajagun tiinrin

Esa era la encantaci6n que Orunmila le ensefio a repetir antes de que su hijo disparara su
flecha. Cuando el hijo tir6 la casa de la inclinaci6n para soltar la flecha, ella dijo el "Ofefe
gbe mi dele". La primera flecha consigui6 cerca del sol antes de que volviera. La segunda
flecha peg6 el sol y volvi6. La tercera flecha peg6 el centro del blanco del sol y habia
oscuridad total. Cuando el sol re-surgi6 despues de su eclipse, se habia empujado a la
distancia que ocupa hasta el momenta de la tierra.

Realizando el hecho el Olofin persigui6 atras en sus palabras y solo decidi6 dar un
hombre, una mujer y otros regalos al pobre. Esu intervino inmediatamente gritando y se
hizo eco de por Sango a traves del trueno y alumbrando y donde el trueno impact6 en las
tierras del palacio, caus6 un crater que consumi6 a doscientos espectadores. La casualidad
asust6 el Olofin a la sumisi6n y el llev6 a cabo su promesa rapidamente. Ademas de hacer
el Shashere de Ife al Pobre, el dividi6 su reino, palacio y haren en dos y se rindi6 uno
media a el. El nuevo Shashere llev6 una procesi6n grande entonces a su casa.

Cuando este Odu aparece a la adivinaci6n, la persona se advertira contra el riesgo de

locquaciousness para evitar entrar en problema que podria costarlo su vida. En todo caso,
si el es beneficiar de su disposici6n habladora, el debe tener su propio lfa y debe dar un
macho cabrio, inclinaci6n y flecha y maracas a Esu. El prosperara despues de esto.

El Sacrificio especial por Tener los Ninos

Etura fun yen yen. Oko firi fi asho gba. Odifa fun Ajiri eyi
she iya oloye. Ora gan, 0 ra 'kpata. On omo lehin adiye, o
bu si ekun. 0 ni be, Edumare lo
 she yi fun awon adiye. Won
she ni ki o ni ebo. Won ni ti o ba ti le ru ebo, A won omo marun ni
yi o ma bi. Awon omomarun ni yi ojoba ni oju re.

El hizo la adivinacion para Ajiri, la madre de Oloye que ya era muy viejo y adinerado bastante
para construir y poseer una calle entera. Ella estaba sin embargo todavia muy ansiosa tener los
nifios, porque ella era yerma y consiguiendo cerca de la menopausia. Mientras tardando un
paseo en la una tarde callejera, ella vio una gallina que abraza a su pollo y ella detuvo y
empezo a llorar. l,Ella pregunto en su melancolia, por que Dios habia hecho tan to para hacer
la gallina para ten er una vida llena y f eliz, e incluso no le dado un solo nifio para hacer su
feliz? Estaba en ese estado de depresion que Etura-Ofun la vio y la invito a su casa para la
adivinacion.

Despues de hacer la adivinacion, el la tranquilizo que si ella pudiera hacer el sacrificio, ella
tendria cinco nifios masculinos que habria a todos los reyes vueltos por su tiempo de vida. Le
exigieron que hiciera el sacrificio con un macho cabrio, bombardee con mortems, el fiame
blanco (lshu-lolo) el mano-telar ( el gboro de Agbo) por tejer tela, y cinco calabazas pequefias
( el irere ). Ella hizo el sacrificio despues de que ella se puso embarazada. En la llenura de
tiempo, ella dio el nacimiento a un nifio masculino que fue nombrado Oloye. Ella tenia cuatro
nifios masculinos adicionales en sucesion rapida que fue nombrada respectivamente; El odo de
Oloja, Osolo, Irere, Oloja-igbehin.

Con el tiempo pero mientras ella todavia estaba viva, todos sus cinco nifios se volvieron reyes
de lugares diferentes.

Cuando ella fue a agradecer Orunmila en el futuro, ella canto en la alabanza de lfa como sigue:

Etura fun yinrin yinrin. Oko fiirifi a shogba. Odifa fun mi

Ajiri tin she iya oloye. Mo gbo riru ebo
Mo run, mo gbo eruatu kesu, mo tu.
Ko i kpe. Ko ijina. Wa ba mi lokpo lokpo ire omo.

Cuando este lfa aparece a la adivinacion, la persona se <lira que el o ella tienen un problema
regafion, pero que con el sacrificio, el el o ella vera los dias mas felices.

El Divined para Ojola Gidigba, el Rey de Serpientes

Kpelebe un soro del bidi, era el Awo que la adivinacion hecho para Ojola
el gidigba ( el bigbon) el rey de serpientes. Le dijeron que hiciera el sacrificio para apartar el
riesgo de enfermedad severa para sus nifios. Le exigieron hacer el sacrificio con su ropa
llevando, una ave, los material es cargados suficientes ( el kofo del konu en Yoruba).

El hizo el sacrificio. Las medicinas apropiadas ( el ayaj o) se preparo para los nifios para usar
frotando sus cuerpos. Por eso las serpientes no se caen enfermas. Mas bien, ellos el exude sus
balanzas para renovar sus vidas.

A la adivinaci6n, la persona se <lira hacer el sacrificio para apartar el peligro de enfermedad o

muerte.
 IF ISM
LOS TRABAJOS COMPLETOS DE
ORUNMILA

VOLUMEN TRECE
EL ODUS DE IRETE
 El capitulo 1
IRETE-OGBE IRETE-TE-NU-
OLU

Divined para Orisa Cuando El estaba Teniendo el Dolor del Estomago

Eji ni mo oju eji. Ole ni mo ese ole. Agbagidigidi

ni mo ese arawon Ion akpata. Awoni won lo'ndifa fun Orisa ti inu
re maa mn ni ugba kugba ti o ma mu emu okpe. Won difa fun
Nana kpakpakurudu ti'nshe wole wode Orisa.

El embaucador reconocio el estilo del fraudster. El ladron discieme el pie el ptint de los
superiores en la superficie de una piedra. Estes eran los Awos que Orisa aconsejado
cuando el era a menudo est6mago en vias de desarrollo perturbado despues de beber el
vino de la palma privadamente. Orisa no hebe en la presencia de cualquiera excepto en el
retiro estricto. El Nana Kpakpa Kuurudu era el sirviente personal de Orisa que taladraba el
vino de la palma del arbusto y lo guardaba en la camara intema. Sin embargo, se puso
pronto a menudo claro que ese Orisa desarrollo el problema del estomago despues de
beber el vino de la palma. El invito su Counsellors que le aconsej6 que instruyera el Nana
kpakpa kuurudu para abrazar la calabaza de vino de la palma con una capa de sal como
consecuencia. Desconocido a cualquiera, era un caracol que Orisa prohibe, quien estaba
instalandose a menudo para probar el vino de la palma que era responsable para el
est6mago incesante de Orisa perturbado.

La mafiana siguiente, el ayudante personal de Orisa se dio una balsa de sal para usar
abrazando el recipiente de la calabaza despues de taladrar el vino de la palma. Al mismo
tiempo, el hormiguero (Okiti-ogan o ite) fue a su diviner llamado el Ero kongon gon gon
para la adivinacion y le dijeron hacer el sacrificio a Esu con un macho cabrio, una azada y
un palo puntiagudo afilado, anticipar el peligro de disputa ser traido por un huesped con la
maldicion de Dios en su cabeza. El no molesto para hacer el sacrificio. Una planta llamada
el lyanrin gia gia gia en Yoruba fue aconsejada para hacer el sacrificio a Esu con un
macho cabrio, machete y aplasto el fiame para impedir a un caso de suerte duro poner en
peligro su vida con sus propios problemas. El tambien se neg6 a hacer el sacrificio. El
arbol deformado ( el igiabuwo en Yoruba y Erhan ningun kpo del gbu en Bini) tambien se
aconsej6 por el kon de Ero Fuuu para hacer el sacrificio a Esu con el macho cabrio, la
palma seca sale y aplasto el fiame para impedir cualquier peligro que sus arrendatarios
crearian para el para su fracaso hacer el sacrificio. Al mismo tiempo, los palos grandes y
pequefios (el adiden y wonron de Oloja en Yoruba y Eguen y owo en Bini) tambien se
dijo a la adivinacion para servir Esu con el macho cabrio y 201 agujas. Los palos grandes
no hicieron el sacrificio, pero los palos pequefios hicieron el suyos.

Entretanto, el caracol dej6 su casa en altas horas de la mafiana ir a a la casa del arbol de la
palma. Cuando el intento mover para probar el vino dentro de la calabaza, el abrazando de
sal la calabaza y venenoso a el sus labios envenenaron. Cuando el efecto toxico atraveso
su metabolismo alimentario, el empez6 a descargar liquido del slimmy que arrastro su
movimiento despues del evento a dondequiera que el movido a en busca
del detoxication. En sus ultimos throes de muerte, el busc6 el solaz en la casa de Okikiogan, el
hormiguero que se neg6 a acomodarlo en la deferencia a la advertencia que el se dio a la
adivinaci6n. Sin embargo, la secreci6n de saliva que arrastra su movimiento ya habia hecho
una huella indeleble en y fuera de su casa. El pr6ximo se arrastr6 a la casa de planta del
lyanriyan que tambien se neg6 a al ollige pero no antes de la salivaci6n del caracol habia
indicado su sendero en y fuera de su casa.

La sal en sus labios estaba poniendose clara antes del caracol lleg6 para el refugio a la casa del
arbol deformado. El entr6 en el sostenimiento en su casa descansar alli. Cuando Nana-
kpakpakuurudu consigui6 al arbol de la palma el dia siguiente para coleccionar el vino, el
observ6 el boca-sendero del caracol que confirm6 que el era el culpable que habia estado
robando el vino todo el tiempo. Los tapper de vino de palma fueron a informar sus resultados a
Orisa que inmediatamente les pidi6 a voluntarios que podrian investigar y podrian aprehender
el caracol dondequiera que que el estaba escondiendo. Ogun fue el primero en ofrecer
emprender la tarea.

El congreg6 a sus soldados para acompafiarlo arrastrando el movimiento del caracol a traves
de su saliva marca en la tierra. Cuando el arrastr6 el movimiento a la casa de Okiti-Ogan, ellos
usaron azadas y palas para estropearse su casa antes de que ellos descubrieran que el caracol se
habia ido como consecuencia a traves de la puerta trasera de la casa del Hormiguero. Que sin
embargo estaba despues de completamente nivelaci6n su casa. Luego, ellos arrastraron el
movimiento de caracol a la casa de lyanrinyan y us6 el machete para cortar abajo su casa antes
de que ellos descubrieran que el culpable movi6 mas alla de su casa. Ellos arrastraron el
movimiento del caracol en el futuro a la casa del arbol deformado, y ellos usaron que la palma
seca sale para ponerlo en el fuego.

En cuanto todos los 201 palos pequefios (adiden o Eguen) se advirti6 por Esu del pr6ximo
peligro, todos ellos abandonaron a su propietario y volaron a la seguridad. Por otro lado, todos
los 201 palos grandes (wonron de Oloja u Owo) se habido hipnotizado por Esu en un rocio
pesado de letargo era todos asados vivo. Como consecuencia, despues de estar quemado a su
fundaci6n, el arbol deformado se muri6 y se cay6 a la tierra. Los soldados de Ogun pudieron
coleccionar los accidentes de la conflagraci6n, mientras comprendiendo los 20 I palos grandes
y el caracol. El era cuidadosamente todos apilados en una bolsa a ser llevada a Orisa.

En su jomada del retomo, ellos tuvieron ya mucha hambre y cansado y Ogun decidi6 llamar a
su madre, Idaagba para que ellos pudieran encontrar algo que comer. Ella les dio la comida
pequefia que ella tenia en casa, mientras ella les pregunt6 lo que ellos tenian en su bolsa.
Cuando ellos le dijeron que ellos habian asado los palos en el, ella pidi6 uno de ellos, pero su
hijo se neg6 a darla, porque Orisa ya era consciente del numero de palos en la bolsa.

Mientras Ogun y sus soldados estaban comiendo, su madre rob6 uno de los palos y lo pleg6 en
la tela del lomo que ella at6 la ronda su cintura. Cuando Ogun y sus tropas terminaron
comiendo, ellos subieron la bolsa e hicieron recto para el palacio de Orisa. En llegar alli, ellos
informaron misi6n lograda. Orisa agradeci6 Ogun que hubiera resuelto el problema, no solo
por traer el cadaver del culpable, pero tambien aquellos de 201 palos. Sin embargo, cuando los
palos eran contados, uno de ellos era extrafiando.
Ogun confirmo la afirmacion de Orisa que ellos contaban 201 palos y se preguntaron lo
que paso a uno de ellos.

lLa turbacion era demasiada para Ogun tomar acostandose cuando Orisa le pregunto si
ellos detuvieron en cualquier parte? Ogun confirmo que ellos detuvieron para tener una
mordedura en la casa de su madre. En un humor delirante, Ogun saco su flecha de la lucha
(Oso-Uhi en Yoruba y Ekpede en Bini) y juro rastrear el whereabout del palo perdido. El
estiro entonces fuera el arma y le ordeno que fuera y atacar el whereever el palo era. El
arma volo el cielo de arriba abajo en busca del palo perdido. Al mismo tiempo, asi como
el arma de su hijo estaba volando encima del tejado de su casa, la madre de Ogun salio a
la parte de arras de su casa para henderse madera de fuego. El targetted de Oso-Uhi el palo
perdido en su lomo y la dio con la cabeza y ella se murio al instante. En cuanto ella se
muriera, el palo se traspaso en su pecho.

Cuando Orisa se dijo como consecuencia sobre lo que paso a la madre de Ogun, el pidio
que ella deba reavivarse por Ogun. Sin embargo, Ogun rogo rechazar porque ella lo habia
deshonrado. Ogun proclamo como consecuencia que si cualquiera estuviera invocandolo
para la accion rapida, deben decirle que mate al culpable como el matara a su propia
madre.

A la apariencia de este lfa a Ugbodu, una uma de Ogun debe prepararse inmediatamente
para el nuevo lfa y Esu debe servirse con macho cabrio que agrega un palo grande. La
persona debe servir Esu con un palo y Ogun con un gallo apartar el riesgo de cualquier
turbacion a la adivinaci6n. La persona se <lira tener cuidado con del ladron en su casa. El
sacerdote de lfa puede decir que una olla de arcilla se ha usado para cubrir a los caracoles
a la parte de atras de la casa del divinee. Si es Ayeo, la persona debe decirse que una
gallina ha dormido sus huevos en la casa. El el o ella no debe permitir la gallina para salir
del cascaron sus huevos para que no estimularia una erupcion de enfermedad epidemica de
proporciones desastrosas.

El hizo la adivinacion para Olokun Cuando Sus Fortunas Menguaron

Isekpe igi ma lu gho ghagha. Uti igi mu luge idi.

Ikoko didu Awo orita. Awon meteta lo'nshe lfa fun Olokun
nijo ti won so fun wi kpe ko le Ha mo.

Se traen las ramas de madera de fuego usada de la granja en las unidades esparcidas. El
tallo de la madera de fuego y las ollas de arcilla negras salido a una union del camino sea
los Awos que hicieron la adivinacion para Olokun cuando sus fortunas estaban marcando
y el era corto de agua. Despues de la adivinacion, ellos le dijeron que "su prosperidad se
hubo ido para bueno. Como el cooperar con estaba intentando el inevitable, el se encontro
con otro Awo llamado el Ota kpelebe inu omi ko mo kpe el Orunrun kpaa to'ode -
significando La piedra surgida en el rio no sabe que el calor del sol esta calentando la
piedra expuesta en la superficie. El Awo lo tranquilize despues de la adivinaci6n que el
iba a ser de nuevo muy prospero y Ueno, con tal de que el pudo hacer el sacrificio. Le
exigieron que hiciera el sacrificio con el macho cabrio a Esu y con dieciseis palomas
blancas, un pedazo de tela blanca y ocho kolanuts blancos.

El produjo los materiales y hecho el sacrificio. Despues de hacer el sacrificio, el Awo dio
dos de las palomas a Olokun servir su cabeza con ellos en conseguir casa. Como el
estaba orando con las dos palomas en su casa, ellos los dos volaron fuera de sus manos
que le hicieron ponerse desalentado mas aun. Tres mes despues las dos palomas volaron
atras y estaban de pie delante de la casa de Olokun. Como el estaba a punto de cogerlos
ellos salieron volando una vez mas. A ese punto, el vomit6 sus manos en el dispair que
cuando el lament6 la cantidad que el gast6 para el sacrificio.

Entretanto, Esu invit6 todos los rios y los acus6 de abandonar su mayor hermano Olokun
en su momenta de despondence porque el era pobre. Todos los rios reaccionados
emplazando una conferencia a que ellos todos decidieron visitar Olokun. En cuanto ellos
todos se volvieran hacia la direcci6n de Olokun, Esu sopl6 a ellos proclamando eso de ese
momenta todos los rios siempre se volveria nunca de nuevo hacia la direcci6n de la casa
de Olokun para devolver a sus propias casas. Eso era cuando todos los rios de este mundo
empezaron a volverse hacia la direcci6n del mar.

Como ellos estaba moviendo a la casa de Olokun, ellos se encontraron los tres Awos que
hicieron la primera adivinaci6n negativa y desalentadora para Olokun y se los llevaron sus
pies. Ellos empezaron a llorar a Olokun para la ayuda, pero sus voces se fueron achicadas
y dieron inaudible por el sonido del movimiento de los rios y ellos se ahogaron en las
profundidades del Oceana. Como consecuencia, los rios tambien se encontraron los
ultimas Awo que hicieron la adivinaci6n alentadora y sacrifican para Olokun, pero cuando
ellos intentaron llevarlo, Olokun les dijo que lo dejaran solo porque ese era su bienhechor.
En la plenitud de su properity, Olokun proclam6 que no importa c6mo grande un arbol o
madera puede ser, ellos siempre se hundirian en las profundidades del rio o mar, pero que
no importa c6mo pequefio una piedra puede ser, ningun mar o rio podrian en la vida
llevarlo. En cuanto su vida se volviera los properous de nuevo, Olokun invit6 sus ultimas
Awo (el Ota kpelebe inu omi ko mo kpe orunrun kpaa to'de) para vivir con el como su
diviner. Eso es c6mo granula y las piedras vinieron a morar en el agua.

Cuando este odu aparece a la adivinaci6n, la persona se <lira comprar una mayor cabra
para servir sulfa para vivir a una vejez madura. El tambien debe hacer el sacrificio con
cuatro palomas fuera de que los Awo le darian dos servir su cabeza despues de que el los
criara y no los matara. Si la persona no tiene su propio lfa, el debe acordar tener uno.

Otra Variacion de Como Ategbe Divined para Olokun Regain la Opulencia Cuando Todos
menos Uno de Sus Esposas lo Abandons

Ategbe awo Olokun, Odifafun Olokun ni jo ti ayare merin fi si 'le. Eboni omo.

Ategbe era el Awo que la adivinaci6n hecho para Olokun cuando los properity le hicieron
ponerse pomposo y vano-glorioso. El Awo le aconsej6 ofrecer un macho cabrio a Esu y
hacer el sacrificio con 16 palomas, un 10 pedazo del metro de la tela blanca, 16 dinero de
las balsas y una calabaza de vino de la palma. Le aconsejaron que detuviera el alcholic de
la toma hebe despues de hacer el sacrificio. Olokun no solo se neg6 a hacer el sacrificio,
pero continuado con sus bebidas embriagando.

Entretanto, Esu decidi6 ensefiarle a menudo la lecci6n el learnt la manera dura por todos
aquellos que miran hacia abajo en el. El fue a represar el flujo de riqueza a el. Cuando
ninguna nueva riqueza se instal6 para llenar sus recursos, el vaci6 sus economias pronto y
hundi6 en las profundidades de penuria abyecta. En otros terminos, dyked de Esu el
flujo de agua de los rios mientras tapando el lluvia-cafieria del cielo al mismo tiempo. Como
resultado de que habia trago continua durante tres afios.

Ese era el estado de asuntos en que cuatro de sus esposas lo dejaron. Las esposas que lo
dejaron eran, Oburo (Oriema en Bini). Teteregun (Ukhuroho en Bini), Aabo (Ebo en Bini) y
(Iranmwinran en Bini). La unica esposa que lo pego fuera con el era Aromi (Etebetebe en
Bini). Ella se neg6 a salir porque ella recordo c6mo prosporous que el era cuando ella se lo
cas6. Los problemas de Olokun se levantaron de su narissism del egotistic y egolatria que le
hicieron mirar hacia abajo en todas las otras divinidades debido a su riqueza.

Cuando ella se encontr6 solo con su marido, Aromi decidio ir a Ategbe por la adivinacion, Le
dijeron que hiciera el mismo sacrificio que su marido se neg6 a hacer. Ella salio para pedir
prestado el dinero para comprar los materiales para el sacrificio. Esto estaba a un punto cuando
Olokun estaba casi seco a de la deshidratacion y trago. Ategbe dio el macho cabrio a Esu y
preparo el sacrificio poniendo las hojas apropiadas en dos ollas de arcilla que el oculto detras
de un cerco preparo con cuatro ramitas pegadas a la tierra y cubrio con la tela blanca. Cuando
las personas que habian escrito fuera de Olokun como un hombre acabado vieron la tienda
rectangular de tela blanca, ellos corrieron atras, mientras pensando que el ya estaba muerto y
que su cadaver estaba oculto detras de la mascara blanca.

Despues de comer su macho cabrio, Esu quito los materiales con que el el dyked el flujo de
homenaje de los rios mientras al mismo tiempo, unplugging el lluvia-palmadita del cielo.
Cuando el agua estaba pasando a Olokun*s aloje de los rios, tambien estaba lloviendo sin
parar durante catorce dias. Al final de catorce dias, Olokun se puso tan Ueno de nuevo que el
empez6 a inundar sus bancos. Su prosperidad habia vuelto. Cuando las cuatro esposas que lo
abandonaron vieron y oyeron las vibraciones de su resurgimiento, ellos intentaron para un
comeback, pero el nunca conto de nuevo los a cada uno venir su casa casi. Una de las esposas
llamado Iranwinran en Bini se neg6 a dejar su casa, pero Olokun proclam6 que ella solo
pudiera quedarse en las franjas exteriores (la superficie) de la casa, pero nunca tendria ya
cualquier raiz en su casa. Por eso es la planta que crece encima de los rios y mares sin tener
cualquier raiz en la cama del agua. Por la misma proclamacion, Olokun declaro Aromi
(Tebetebe) su esposa favorita a la etemidad, dandole la libertad para entrar en cualquier parte
de su dominio.

Al final del afio, Olokun hizo festeja en el honor de Ategbe al final de que el le dio las
cuentas, dinero suficiente, cabras, ropa y varias joyas a una accion de gracias.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para la Planta de la Nuez

Moshe tere tere Mo gbuji. Awo Etura ti ankpe Asala, nijo ti on

fi omi oju shubere omo tuurutu. Ebo lo'n ru o.

El hizo la adivinacion para la Nuez cuando ella estaba ansiosa tener los nifios. Le aconsejaron
que hiciera el sacrificio con un macho cabrio, un gallo tres afio viejo, fiame aplastado y su
propio machet. El macho cabrio se dio a Esu y el gallo fue usado para preparar una medicina
especial para ella. Ella se puso embarazada como consecuencia y dio el nacimiento al mismo
tiempo a los centenares de nifios, desgraciadamente las personas y animales del mundo no
supieron el valor de utilidad de los nifios de la Nuez.
Entretanto, Esu invito a las personas a asar o cocinar las frutas de la nuez para comer. Cuando
ellos vieron que como sabroso las frutas eran, las personas aclararon el arbusto, mientras
abrazando la nuez para conservarla llevar las frutas anualmente. Eso era como la nuez se puso
famosa a traves de sus nifios.

Cuando este Ifa aparece a Ugbodu, la persona se dira hacer el sacrificio para lograr la fama y
fortuna en la vida. El debe prohibir comer las nueces.

La Adivinacion que El Hizo Al Venir al Mundo

Ajilolo nire, mi elajilo je. Lo ti tan ni ijilo udi. Lojo loro nire mi
alajilo. Lo'ko nijolo Oho. lgbaweojilo. Awonlo'n difa fun Orunmila
ni Ojo ti onti kole orun bowa si kole aye. Ebo lo'nru o.

La prosperidad del mundo es existente, pero el solo visita que aquellos destinaron para
prosperar. Por eso el tablon corvo o estancia de madera mas mucho tiempo en el tejado de un
edificio. El asiento disfruta la prosperidad de las nalgas asi como el pene disfruta el placer de
la vulva. Esos eran los Awos que la adivinacion hecho para Orunmila cuando el estaba
dejando el cielo. Le aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio para poder llevar la corona que el
estaba llevando a la tierra. Le exigieron hacer el sacrificio con el macho cabrio, un lio de
fiames, un tuberculo de cocoyam, un gallo, un caracol, camwood, y sal. El hizo el sacrificio.

Despues de esto, el vino al mundo donde el se encontro varios Awo mas fuerte que el. El
empezo a tener los problemas creado para el por el Awos mas fuerte en cuanto ellos
reconocieran sus calidades de direccion y la proeza esoterica. Cuando el el divined a traves de
la adivinacion de Ikin, lfa le dijo ofrecer un conejo a los superiores de la noche y moler el
ladrido de sasswood (Oho en Yoruba y lyin en Bini) para preparar el lyerson o polvo de
adivinacion en la olla del sacrifical. Despues de esto, el era depositarlo a una union del camino
por la noche. Despues de multiplicar el sacrificio diez veces, Esu atrajo todos los enemigos de
la noche de Orunmila para festejar en el.

Despues de comer el sacrificio, ellos todos tenian ratos de diarrea que los purgo de todas sus
intenciones malas hacia Orunmila. Despues de esto, su fama empezo a florecer y el se puso tan
prospero y popular que el se dio la corona de Oke-Mesi en el futuro.

Cuando aparece a la adivinacion, la persona se dira hacer el sacrificio para llevar la corona el o
ella trajo del cielo. Si el hombre ya no tiene lfa, el debe acordar tenerlo para prosperar. El
tambien debe servir una divinidad cerca de el pero que el tiene para largo ignoro. Se sirve con
los materiales blancos y las personas lleve vestido blanco que lo sirve entre bailar y
tamborilear despues del funcionamiento. La lluvia pegara esos viniendo de la uma.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para los Reyes de Owo y Benin

Agbaro el lo'lo de 0. Agbaro el lo'da de o, en el fi enu gbe'le bi osa-sara, era los Awos que la
adivinacion hecho para el Olowo de Owo el Akpakudu fi enu jo oko, sugban ko ni iru bi al oko
del ti - fue los dos Awos que la adivinacion hecho para el Oba de Benin.
Ellos eran que los dos aconsejaron para hacer el sacrificio con el moin-moin blanco, una
paloma y un macho cabrio fuerte. El Olowo de Owo hizo que el sacrificio pero el Oba de
Benin no hicieron.

Despues de preparar el sacrificio, el Awos le dijo al Olowo llevarlo solo y depositarlo en

la granja de su padre. Como el estaba soltando el sacrificio en la granja, el vio un pajaro
en la tierra y lo cogio con una vista enviarlo a sus nifios jugar con. Como el la casa del
pajaro estaba llevando, le hablo en las palabras siguientes: - el je de je de semi o. el Iwo
ma mu mi lo si le. Significando, Manejeme suavemente y me toma a su casa. Como el
casa estaba consiguiendo, el pajaro hablo mas una vez - el wa ikoko nla kan, el fi mi
kpamo si ninu, el si el ekuru de ni de mi divertido la diversion divertida. El Gbe mi kpamo
si inu iyara kan. Ti el o ba di aro, el iwo wa wo mi. El pajaro le dijo al Oba guardarlo en
una olla de arcilla grande y alimentarlo con el moyin del moyin blanco en su cuarto
privado.

El le dijo que guardara la olla que lo contiene en un cuarto separado donde el Oba solo era
mirarlo a todas las mananas. El Oba que era ahora muy curioso siguio el consejo del
pajaro escrupulosamente. Cuando el Olowo fue a ver el pajaro la mafiana siguiente, el fue
asombrado para ver que el pajaro estaba estando de pie en una olla Ueno de dinero. El
Oba estaba tomando ahora y estaba guardando el dinero coleccionado de la olla todas las
mananas. El se puso sumamente adinerado pronto que cambio su estilo de vida
completamente tanto que el Oba de Benin noto el cambio saludable en las fortunas de su
amigo.

Entretanto, el Oba de Benin envio a espias a Owo confirmar los signos positivos que el
estaba consiguiendo sabre la opulencia dramatica del Olowo de Owo. Los espias
regresaron informar que habia sefiales de prosperidad en Owo que hizo a los Oba de
Benin para decidir visitar a su amigo a Owo. El Olowo se habia aconsejado a la
adivinacion para no revelar el secreto del pajaro a cualquiera: Cuando el Oba de sierra de
Benin la prosperidad del Olowo el el besought el para alojarlo en el secreto de su nuevo-
encontrar-riqueza. El Olowo se nego a bruscamente en la consonancia con su consejo del
divinational. El Oba de Benin recordo el Olowo que su relacion transcendio eso de
"cualquiera". Withthat, el Olowo decidio tomar a su amigo a horde de. La mafiana
siguiente, el Olowo invito el Oba de Benin a acompafiarlo al cuarto donde el dinero que el
pajaro que hila fue alojado. Estaba en su presencia que el Olowo sego la mies el dinero de
la olla que mafiana. Alli y entonces, el Oba de Benin persuadio a su organizador con exito
para prestarle el pajaro durante solo cinco meses despues de que el lo devolveria.

El Oba de Benin fue a casa con el pajaro y la olla pero despues de guardarlo durante cinco
meses, el se nego a devolverlo al Olowo. Cuando el duefio del pajaro insistio en tener el
pajaro, habia una rifia que culmino en la decision del Oba de Benin para emprender una
guerra en Owo. Como la amenaza de invasion militar tejida encima de su reino, el Olowo
devolvio a su Awos que lo recordo la maxima que encima de la generosidad engendra la
ingratitud. Le aconsejaron hacer el sacrificio con 40 ovejas, el cuemo de un ciervo, tela
blanca y dinero suficiente. El hizo el sacrificio muy rapidamente, y le aconsejaron que lo
llevara a su limite con Benin. Ase se preparo en el cuemo del ciervo y le dijeron que lo
usara todas las mananas para hacer la proclamacion siguiente: Ti el o baje wi pe emi ni mo
ella el Oba dificultad yi, ki el Oba Dificultad yi shegun mi. Ti un ba si je wi pe el Oba
Dificultad yi mi o ella el mi. El Emi ni ki el o
shegun re ni oni. Significando - Si yo fuera el que hizo mal el Oba de Benin, permitale
derrotarme en el encuentro militar a-pr6ximo. Si no permiti6 ninguna providencia decidir
en mi favor.

En la confrontaci6n militar asegurando, las fuerzas de Owo pudieron penetrar en la ciudad

de Benin y en la lucha, el pajaro se mat6. Cuando el odu aparece a la adivinaci6n, la
persona se <lira que el se hara rico en el dinero, pero no debe revelar su secreto a
cualquiera. El tambien debe abstenerse de prestar el dinero a alguien, porque generaria la
enemistad innecesaria. El debe hacer el sacrificio sin embargo con una oveja, paloma
blanca, el cuemo de ciervo y tela blanca.

El Sacrificio Ategbe Made para Olokun Regain la Prosperidad

Ishekpe wonron awo Olokun. ltikirimi, awo Olokun. Otakpete

Bebeyi bebeyi, ekikwu ti n se owogbo gbogbo, awo Olokun.

Estos eran los Awos que la adivinaci6n hecho para la divinidad de agua cuando su vida
era embotada y pobre. Le aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio con todos los comestible
comestibles, una azada, un machete y un macho cabrio fuerte. El hizo el sacrificio y
despues de esto, Esu desenchuf6 la palmadita de lluvia de cielo y llovi6 consecutivamente
durante 40 dias y 40 noches. Asi, la vida de Olokun se puso una vez mas llena.

A la adivinaci6n, la persona debe decirse no ser perturbada por los retrocesos temporales.
El debe hacer el sacrificio y todos serian bien de nuevo.
 El capitulo 2
IRETE-OYEKU

El Hizo la Adivinacion durante Maiiana y Tarde

Los brikpe de bidi de cerveza inglesa, el Owuro yereku yereku, eran los Awos que la
adivinacion hecho durante Mariana y Tarde. Cada uno de ellos fue aconsejado para hacer
el sacrificio a Esu con un macho cabrio, lana de algodon e inorder del palo ambulante
vivir a una vejez madura. Solo Tarde hizo el sacrificio. Mariana se considero demasiado
guapo y popular para molestar sobre cualquier sacrificio.

Mariana fue el primero en nacer, y era tan guapo y popular que todos el. El fue
abandonado sin embargo pronto porque las personas tenian que ir a sus quehaceres diarios
para establecerse con el. Asi, Tarde vino a tener muchos entonces mas admiradores y
seguidores Mariana desde que las personas oran durante su Tarde para estar premiando
mas y prospero que la Mariana de sus vidas.

Cuando este odu aparece a la adivinacion, la persona se aconsejara para hacer el sacrificio
durante una tarde prospera y duradera. Un nifio nacido en este momento debe llamarse
Alejuaro en Yoruba u Otasowie en Bini.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Pariente del Pajaro Cuando Ellos estaban Dejando el
Cielo

"Irete ella el biri del biri. Oyeku ella el yereku, adivinacion hecho para cien y sesenta
pajaros de la familia del pajaro cuando ellos estaban viniendo al mundo. Les dijeron hacer
el sacrificio con el macho cabrio a Esu y servir su cabeza con el kolanuts. Ellos hicieron el
sacrificio. El palo fue el ultimo pajaro en venir a la tierra donde el dijo a todos los pajaros
que Dios habia decretado que todos los pajaros que no tienen ninguna oreja deben dejar de
tener los nifios. El tambien fue a los animales para anunciar que cualquier animal con las
orejas y dientes debe empezar solo procreando poniendo los huevos. El era la unica
criatura dotada de los rasgos de mamiferos y pajaros. Para los proximos tres pajaros de los
afios los nifios no podrian tener mientras los animales con los dientes continuaron
llevando a los nifios.

Entretanto, los pajaros se atroparon al cielo para protestar a Dios por promulgar tal un
decreto discemidor contra ellos. En la contestacion, Dios les dijo que El ni hizo el tal
decreto ni envio cualquier mensaje al palo a ese efecto. Dios revelo que que el palo robo
los dientes que El habia destinado para la cabra. Entretanto, Dios proclamo eso desde
aquel momento, todos los pajaros sin las orejas deben continuar procreando poniendo y
saliendo del cascaron los huevos. Los animales con los dientes deben continuar
procreando a traves de la concepcion y entrega a traves del utero, mientras el condeming
el palo para vomitar a traves de la boca cualquier cosa que el comio con los dientes que el
robo del cielo.

Cuando este lfa aparece a Ugbodu, la persona debe servir Esu con un macho cabrio
pequefio que se rajaria en la uma, apartar el peligro de una falsedad malevola. A la
adivinacion, la persona servira Esu con un macho cabrio prevenir el peligro de
envenenarse a traves de la comida.

La Adivinacion que El Hizo Antes de Dejar el Cielo

Iya omo ko fi 'nu han omo. Inujinju afi lo.

Una madre no abre a su mente al nifio, La mente es mas profundo que el bien. Esos fueron
los dos Awos que la adivinacion hecho para Orunmila cuando el estaba viniendo al
mundo. Le dijeron que hiciera el sacrificio a Ifa con una cabra, Esu con un macho cabrio y
su angel guardian con una guinea-ave y huevos para protegerlo de los problemas de
brujeria dentro y fuera de. Tambien le exigieron que hiciera un sacrificio especial con la
piema de antilope, un trueno-piedra, el vino suficiente, y para preparar un amuleto para el
tomar a la tierra. Cuando el amuleto estaba siendo hecho, el Awo marco todos los
doscientos y cincuenta seis Odus de Orunmila en la bandeja de Ifa y ellos nunca vieron la
luz del dia hasta que ellos terminaran preparandolo. No le permitieron ir fuera de la casa
cuando era estado preparando. Despues de esto, el vino al mundo.

En conseguir al mundo el estaba hacienda muy bien como un sacerdote de Ifa. El se caso y
tenia los nifios, pero su madre, siendo una bruja siempre estaba procurando la enfermedad
por sus nifios. El hizo adivinacion a que le exigieron que sirviera la noche con un conejo y
todos los comestibleses. Despues de hacer el sacrificio, el tenia que depositarlo en la
manera a la granja de su madre. Despues de esto el problema de witchraft rebajado.

Cuando este Odu aparece a U gbodu que la persona tendra que servir Ifa con una cabra y
agregar el corazon, las partes del higado e intestino, los ojos y orejas de la cabra a un
conejo durante la noche para prevenir los problemas del culto de brujeria. Cuando aparece
como Ayeo a la adivinacion, la persona se <lira que la madre del his/her esta
preocupandolas lo o a traves de la brujeria. Si el divinee es una mujer, le diran que su
madre es el uno impidiendole tener los nifios. Ella debe hacer el sacrificio noctumo y debe
guardarlo cerca de la casa de la madre o granja.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para una Mujer Llamado Osun-Onibuola

Ote yeneku, Obi mi birikpe. Ukoko Ekuru, abuodi yereku

yereku. Adifa fun Osun Onibuola, nijo ti olo gbe ugba oje
re ni odo Orunmila.
El movio con una cintura torcida, y el fue empujado para enderezar a.

La olla de budin tenia un fondo torpe. Esos eran los Awos que la adivinacion hecho para
una mujer Hamada Osun-Oni-buola, la esposa de Orunmila que era un comerciante muy
adinerado cuando ella estaba tratando a su marido con el desprecio. Desde que el
comprendio que era su riqueza que le hizo tratarlo con la mofa, Orunmila hizo su
comercio lentamente a abajo. Ella fue a todo las longitudes para corregir el desequilibrio
en sus fortunas comerciales, pero todo sin efecto. Le aconsejaron como consecuencia que
se disculpara a Orunmila que le dijo que hiciera el sacrificio con una cabra y una
olla de budin (Ekuru o Emieki), despues de nunca advertirla de nuevo permitir su exito
comercial para hacer su pomposo. Su negocio empezo a progresar despues de esto.

Si aparece a la adivinacion para una mujer, le diran que ella es irrespetuosa a su marido. Ella
debe hacer el sacrificio a Ifa y debe disculparse a su marido. Si aparece para un hombre, le
diran que el esta ignorando Orunmila. El debe servir lfa con una cabra abrir sus fortunas
bloqueadas. Si el ya no tiene lfa, el debe acordar tener uno para prosperar en la vida.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para Olofin Prosper

Mote o she yereku. Erin yi olo gbiri gbirijako.

Odifa fun Olofin nijo ti ofi omi oju shubare aje.
Yo el treaded en la tierra y excavo en.
El elefante movio sus mortero-piemas a traves de la granja.

Esos eran los Awos que la adivinacion hecho para Olofin cuando el estaba buscando la
prosperidad. Le aconsejaron que sirviera Esu con un macho cabrio. El hizo el sacrificio y el se
puso prospero.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para La Nave

Los yereku de Otemi, el Oyimi biri kpe, fueron los dos Awos que la adivinacion hecho para la
nave como un portador de masa para prevenir el peligro de volcar. Le dijeron que hiciera el
sacrificio con un gallo, cuchara de madera y un palo largo. El hizo el sacrificio.

Como consecuencia, cuando el puso la vela que el empezo a cantar en la alabanza de los dos
Awos que la adivinacion hecho y sacrifica asi para el: -

Otemi yereku, Oyimi biri kpe.

A la adivinacion, la persona se aconsejara el peligro de un accidente a hacer el sacrificio antes
de viaje por cualquier medias de transporte al abviate.

El Mismo Awo Made la Adivinacion para la Boa Y La Piton

El yereku de Otemi, el birikpe de Oyimi, tambien la adivinacion hecho para la Boa (Oka, omo
Oluwo) y la Piton (Antes de que, ojugbona de Omo). El mismo Awos tambien hizo la
adivinacion para el caracol (la lgbin amure nana) cuando los primeros dos divinees tenian
celos de su vestido ferrico y buscaron como tomarlo de el porque llueve ni el sol lo afecto.
Ellos eran que todos aconsejaron para hacer el sacrificio con el gallo a Sango que agrega kola
amargo y camwood. Pero el primero en dos, pensando que el caracol era una presa facil, se
negada a hacer el sacrificio. El caracol hizo el sacrificio sin embargo.

Cuando la Boa y la Piton lanzaron un ataque en el futuro en el Caracol, el clamo:

Otemi yereku o, Oyimi birikpe o.

Awon lo ndifa fun Oka, omo Oluwo, won bufun
 Ere omo ojugbono, won tu bufun oun Amure.
Sango gba mi o, gbami mokin ari, abami ni
owo ara eni ti n she ibi.

El estaba haciendo un dolor Hamar a Sango para venir a su rescate. Cuando Sango oy6 el
lamento, el se puso delirante. Despues de que alumbrando habian identificado a los dos
atacantes del Caracol, Sango solt6 dos proyectiles ( el trueno) que golpe6 la Boa y la Piton a la
muerte. Eso explica por que hasta el momento Sango no golpea al caracol.

Cuando aparece a la adivinaci6n, la persona se aconsejara para abstenerse de estafar y

talebearing. El debe considerar el consejo else dara a la adivinaci6n.
 El capitulo 3
IRETE-IWORI
IRETE-AJERO IRETE-
NTE-A WOYE

El Hizo la Adivinacion Para La Paloma Cuando Ella estaba Viniendo al Mundo

Odi, Ofun Laba. Odi, lase de Aha el Otete di edi. Esos eran los Awos que la adivinaci6n hecho
para la Paloma cuando ella estaba viniendo al mundo. Le aconsejaron que sirviera su cabeza
con el kolanut blanco para tener exito en la tierra. Ella hizo el sacrificio antes de dejar para el
mundo. Su hermano permanecia en el cielo mientras ella vino al mundo. En conseguir a la
tierra, ella no podria encontrar a un marido conveniente para casarse. Fuera de frustracion, ella
devolvio al cielo para preguntarle a Dios por que ella no pudiera encontrar a un marido en la
tierra. Dios le dijo que el los creo en los pares pero que ella dej6 su numero opuesto detras
cuando ella dej6 para la tierra. La paloma devolvio como consecuencia con su hermano a tierra
despues de que ella empezo a tener los nifios. Por eso la paloma nunca da jaque mate a con
cualquier otro varon excepto con los unos compartiendo a los mismos padres con ella. Era la
paloma que presento el gemelo-nacimiento al mundo.

Cuando este lfa aparece a U gbodu, la persona debe aconsej arse para criar las palomas
despues de servir su o su cabeza con ellos. El siempre debe escuchar a consejo y para no
confiar en su inteligencia solamente. Si el no es ninguno de un nacimiento gemelo, el tendra
los nifios gemelos ciertamente. A la adivinacion, la persona debe aconsejarse para servir el
his/her encabece con el kolanuts blanco, antes de embarcar en una jomada propuesta.

La Adivinacion que El Hizo Antes de Dejar el Cielo

El Baba Orunmila Olotunraye ella el orunshe de Otu Obu lfa la meta del eyon divertida - era el
Awo que la adivinacion hecho para el cuando el estaba viniendo al mundo. Le aconsejaron que
hiciera el sacrificio contra la incidencia de gratitud de sus beneficiarios. Le exigieron hacer el
sacrificio con una cabra, gallina, rata y pez a su angel guardian y servir Esu con un macho
cabrio. El hizo el sacrificio.

En conseguir a la tierra, el tenia tres alumnos que aprenden Ifism de el llamado Ukpen, Ayire
y Okpeluju (Amenmen, Uwowe y Udin en Bini). El tenia solo un hijo. El era a menudo el
shuttling entre el cielo y tierra para su practica de lfa.

En una ocasion el viaj6 al cielo. Despues de completar la tarea para que el se invito al cielo,
las divinidades se negaron a permitirle devolver a la tierra porque ellos lo consideraron mas
util al cielo que a la tierra. Entretanto, su hijo empezo a preocupar sobre el
extraordinariamente la estancia larga de su padre en el cielo. Ansioso para aprender Ifism, su
hijo se aconsej6 por la madre para acercarse uno de los substituto de su padre, Ukpen ( o
Ameme) para el matricula.

Cuando else acerco Ukpen, el le dijo al hijo de Orunmila que el curso lo costaria 201 hombres,
201 mujeres, 201 vacas, 201 cabras y 201 cada uno de aves, las palomas, las
ratas, pescan, cauris, las plumas de loro y tuberculos del fiame. Cuando el inform6 a su
madre, ella le dijo que Ukpen estaba estando avido porque su padre no exigi6 los tales
requisitos de el antes de ensefiar el arte y practica de Ifism. Ella le aconsej6 como
consecuencia al hijo que se acercara Ayire que enumer6 los mismos requisitos como
Ukpen. El fue en el futuro a Okpeluju que exigi6 2 cada uno de vacas, cabras, aves,
tortugas, palomas, rata, peces, esteras, machetes y bolsas de dinero. Cuando el inform6 a
su madre, ella confirm6 que ese Okpeluju tenia raz6n.

La mafiana siguiente, su madre coleccion6 los materiales e invit6 Okpeluju a entrar para la
ceremonia. El realiz6 la ceremonia usando uno cada uno de los materiales para el
sacrificio mientras llevandose el segundo muchos. En el quinto dia de la ceremonia de la
iniciaci6n, Orunmila volvi6 del cielo, se relevaron su esposa e hijo para verlo atras.
Cuando ellos le contaron su experiencia con sus substituto, el fue sorprendido para
observar que era Okpeluju, su substituto mas menor que tenia honestidad e integridad para
hacer la cosa correcta en su ausencia. El le dijo inmediatamente a su hijo que invitara los
tres de ellos a verlo sin el retraso.

Cuando Okpeluju estaba viniendo a honrar la invitaci6n que el vino con todas las solas
unidades de los materiales que permanecian, mientras preguntandose si el habia cometido
un error. En cuanto ellos fueran todos congregados, ellos pagaron los respetos de
costumbre a Orunmila, mientras Okpeluju se rindi6 los materiales que el trajo con el a
Ommila. Orunmila ellos pregunt6 como consecuencia a Ukpen y a Ayire si el los
comenz6 hacia Ifism con las unidades de 201 materiales. En la furia, el maldijo Ukpen
con su vara de lat6n de autoridad que los lfa que el prepar6 para el fundirian en sus manos
y que nunca se usarian Ayiree para algo util y constructivo a toda la etemidad en su parte.
Simultaneamente, Ommila declar6 que los Ifa que el prepar6 para Okpeluju lo harian
pr6spero para siempre de su cabeza a sus pies y de la generaci6n a la posteridad. El
enfrent6 a su hijo entonces que por buscar mantener su tradici6n el saborearia siempre en
la opulencia. Con eso el decidi6 retirarse para bueno al cielo, mientras dejando a su hijo
para continuar su trabajo bueno en la tierra, despues de que el authorising Okpeluju para
retener los materiales el trajo a el.

Ese era el origen de la tradici6n de usar pares de materiales para la iniciaci6n en Ifism, con
uno para ser mitad se llevada por el patrocinador de lfa. Nunca se usan Ukpen y Ayiree
para cualquier prop6sito tangible.

Cuando este odu aparece a la adivinaci6n, la persona debe decirse tener su propio lfa
inmediatamente y refrenar de la codicia para prosperar en la vida.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Hijo de Sango

Odiye ofimu felejeun. Odifa fun Sarolu, omo arira lufe ni ti oju lire
gbogbo nkpan.

El ave se suena su nariz en la tierra en busca de la comida.

Ese era el Awo que la adivinaci6n hecho para Sarolu, el hijo de Sango a Ife cuando else
habia esforzado en vano prosperar. El estaba mal y fuera. Le aconsejaron que hiciera el
sacrificio con la gallina, gallo, paloma, kolanut y aceite de la palma despues de la
adivinaci6n. El hizo el sacrificio y el se puso abundante y bien-fuera de.
El Hizo la Adivinacion para Shomolu Tener los Ninos

Odi ofun laba. Odi, aba lase. 0 tete di edi. Iroko de lebo.
Oba ana orun sa Ha. Odifa fun Shomolu ti 'nti omi oju
shubere omo. Ebo ni omo ni ki oru.
El se ato a, y el consiguio una parte.
El se ato a, y le dio autoridad. El consigui6 al pie
del arbol de Iroko antes de aquellos que iban a hacer el sacrificio.
El tenia una linea de la demarcacion con el cielo.

Esos eran los Awos que la adivinacion hecho para Shomolu cuando ella estaba desesperada
tener los nifios. Le aconsejaron hacer el sacrificio para el nacimiento del nifio con una gallina,
4 caracoles, 4 ratas y 4 pescan. Ella hizo el sacrificio y empezo a tener los nifios.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para Anibire

Ki Irete wo rin rin. Emi ni ki Irete wo rin rin.

Ariwo rin rin ni Ikin fi kpa omo eja.
Bi omo eniyan baji, bi o ba wo rin rin ti o ma rin.
Iku yio kpa. Oluwo re re ko ru ebo tori Iku.
Adifa fun Anibire, omo iron ni a tiba owuro Irete
fue aconsejado para mirar sus movimientos. Yo
tambien le dije que mirara sus movimientos.

Era la rata y el pez que no miraron sus movimientos por la mafiana que se mato antes del fin
del dia. Cuando una persona parece cuidadosamente antes de brincar, la muerte prematura se
guardara a raya. Esos eran los Awos que la adivinaci6n hecho para Anibire, el hijo de todos
aquellos que partieron para sus quehaceres diarios por la mafiana. Le dijeron que hiciera el
sacrificio para obviar el peligro de muerte subita.

Cuando aparece a la adivinaci6n como Ayeo, mientras pronosticando el peligro, la persona se

<lira hacer el sacrificio para cheque-dar jaque mate a la muerte.

La Adivinacion especial para el Niiio-nacimiento

Orunmila ni ole keregun. Moni Oshukpa Irete ntewori ni o nron. Oni

o nron fun won ni ilu omo eku, G bog bo aiye omo eku dara.
Oni o nron fun won ni ilu eja, Aiye omo eja dara. Oni
o nron fun won ni ilu eye, Aiye omo eye dara.
Oni o nron fun won ni ilu omo eranko, Aiye omo eranko dara.
Oni o nron fun won ni ilu omo eni, Aiye omo eni dara. Oni
o nron si He akakpo, ti oun, Oni oun ni akakpo yi o fi tu la,
ti ofi tu yebe yebe.
Orunmila ni akakpo, Moni Oluwesin, Oni okpe segi,
Moni Ikin owo mi a dayo.
Orunmila dice que el nacimiento de los nifios de ratas, pesca, los pajaros, animales y seres
humanos trajeron multiplicacion y prosperidad a ellos. El agrega que cuando sus propios
padres dieron el nacimiento a el, asi que quiera los divinee esperan que un nifio nazca a el
o ella.

Cuando aparece para una mujer embarazada, le aconsejaran que haga el sacrificio con el
conejo, una gallina que pone huevos, miel, aceite de la palma y tela blanca para que ella
pueda tener una caja fuerte y la entrega sin dolor.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para Shugunrinmi, La Esposa de Orunmila,

El Omo kpe ni el o liendre kekere di ogun mo ara, el Mariwo okpe ti,

el re de ita de nu ella el titun de omo de bi era el aiye del si'le. Esos eran los Awos que la
adivinacion hecho para Shogunrinmi, la esposa de Orunmila. Orunmila habia sido dicho
hacer el sacrificio para impedirle a su esposa dejarlo, pero el se nego a hacer el sacrificio.

Como consecuencia, Orunmila viaj6 fuera para Ifa que practica la narracion su esposa que
el iba a estar lejos durante cuatro dias. En cuanto el saliera, Esu instigo a la esposa para
condensar todo incluyendo su Ifa y ella escape de su casa. En cuanto el consiguiera una
premonicion en lo que estaba pasando en casa, el son6 Ifa que lo recordo el sacrificio que
el no hizo antes de dejar casa. Estaba en ese punto que el hizo el sacrificio a Esu con un
macho cabrio, un gallo, y bramantes.

Cuando la esposa era de viaje con ella la carga muy pesada en su cabeza, Esu uso el
bramante con que Orunmila hizo el sacrificio para atar sus pies y ella se cay6 a la tierra y
se puso inconsciente. Las personas que la vieron en la manera, la tom6 en su casa y fue en
busca de Orunmila para venir a la ayuda de su esposa.

Ella todavia era inconsciente cuando Orunmila lleg6 a la escena. En conseguir al lugar, el
la toc6 con su batidor de la mosca (la cola del caballo) y llam6 su nombre tres veces
despues de que ella contesto. Cuando ella vino a, Orunmila consiguio que ella devolviera
bolsa y equipaje con el a la casa.

Cuando este Odu aparece para un hombre a la adivinacion, le diran que haga el sacrificio
para detener a su esposa de abandonarlo. Si el divinee es una mujer, le diran que no deje a
su marido porque las circunstancias la compeleran devolver a su casa.
 El capitulo 4
IRE TE-ID I

El Hizo la Adivinacion para Seis Hermanas, las Llamas, Miel-utero, gusano, calor y el
Vertedero de Basora

Tendi, Tendi, awo abo adiye, Odifa fun adiye, obufun

Otitan, atun bufun ekpara ati owo.

El hizo la adivinaci6n para la gallina y el desecho-vertedero, asi como para las llamas de
fuego de ramas de la palma secas, peine de miel y abeja, gusano y calor, todas las
hermanas. El tambien hizo la adivinacion para el arbol de la palma y los trepadores de la
palma, ambas hermanas. Cada uno de ellos fue aconsejado para servir Esu con un macho
cabrio e lfa con una guinea-ave. Ellos todos se negaron a hacer el sacrificio con la
excepcion del vertedero de basura que hizo su propio sacrificio.

Entretanto, Etitan y Adiye hicieron una ganga para la gallina ir a estropear la comida en la
casa para que la comida dafiada pudiera enviarse al vertedero del desecho para ellos para
compartir como consecuencia. En la consonancia con el acuerdo, la gallina empezo a
pudrir los articulos de comida en la casa despues de que les enviaron al vertedero de
basura. Contrariamente al termino del acuerdo, el vertedero del desecho estaba
consumiendo toda la comida enviada a ella siguiendo al ser de dafio hecho por la gallina
singularmente.

Cuando la gallina pidi6 como consecuencia al vertedero del desecho producir la comida
que ella habia estado enviando a ella, el ultimo no podria explicar. La Gallina finalmente
resuelto para estar esparciendo la casa del vertedero del desecho en busca de sus nifios
(los gusanos) a alimente adelante. Esa es la guerra interminable que la gallina emprende
en la basura descargue hasta el momento.

De la misma manera, el trepador de arbol de palma era tan celoso del exito de su hermana,
el arbol de la palma que ella ayudo e incito a los seres humanos para destruir a los nifios
de su hermana (la palma fructifica); el agua caliente destruyo los nifios del gusano, su
hermana, y la llama de fuego emprendieron la guerra en su hermana quemando a sus
nifios, y la llama de fuego emprendio la guerra en su hermana quemando a sus nifios (la
miel). Todos los accidentes de las guerras del fraticidal terminaron en la casa del vertedero
de la basura a que los uso alimente a sus nifios, pero la accion de la gallina solo rasco la
superficie de la prosperidad del vertedero del Desecho, mientras siendo el unico que hizo
el sacrificio.

Cuando este lfa aparece a U gbodu, la persona se advertira para tener cuidado con de sus
hermanos y hermanas. El debe servir Esu con un macho cabrio, el trepador de arbol de
palma, el peine de miel, que la llama de fuego prepar6 de las ramas de la palma secas y la
came podrida con los gusanos. El tambien debe servir el nuevo Ifa con un macho cabrio
castrado anticipar la disputa del irresolvable que se liga para hacer erupci6n entre sus
hermanos y o hermanas y el. El sacrificio especial de este Odu es hecho preparando las
hojas apropiadas para el hijo del Odu bafiarse en el vertedero del desecho con una
gallina, tela blanca, cauris y su imagen de barro para sobrevivir las maquinaciones malas de
sus enemigos. A la adivinaci6n, la persona debe servir Esu con un macho cabrio y los
materiales del ancilliary apartar el problema de las relaciones.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para la Cabeza Al Seguir la Gira

Oni mi ge on, Ola mi ha oh, Otunla mi fo on gbo erun shuku shuku,

Adifa fun On, o nshawo lo si ilu Onigaga-nigogo.

Yo cortare un palo de la masticaci6n hoy, raspare el ladrido fuera de mafiana y lo masticare

para limpiar mis dientes pasado mafiana. Esos eran los Awos que la adivinaci6n hecho para la
Cabeza cuando el era de viaje para Awo practique a la cabeza de Onigaga-nigogo. Le
aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio con un macho cabrio a Esu y el hizo. Eso le hizo la (mica
divinidad que es capaz de proporcionar la salvaci6n paciente a lo largo de la estancia de sus
nifios en la tierra.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para Olakpade

Ki iwo tedi, ki emi tedi, Oka ko kpomn lo run. Adifa fun

Olakpade, omo Akpanroro lo 'de ti o nfi omi oju ahu here
oje.

Usted el treaded en el. Permitame pisar en el. La Boa no dobla su cuerpo encima de su cuello.
Esos eran los Awos que la adivinaci6n hecho para Olokpade cuyo cutis era tan justo como el
aceite de la palma, cuando el estaba buscando el dinero desesperadamente. Le dijeron que
hiciera el sacrificio y el hizo. Despues de esto, el se puso adinerado.

La Adlvinacion que El Hizo Antes de Dejar el Cielo

Nyain Nyainawo iyanrin. Ajija gororo awodi oro. Aha

elegigi, Oruko ale. Awon metata lo'ndifa fun Orunmila
nijko ti onti kole orun ho wa si ko le aye.

El Awos se apod6 Viento, agua y tierra, fue los tres Awos que la adivinaci6n hecho para
Orunmila cuando el estaba viniendo al mundo. Ellos le aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio
con la cascara de caracol, las balanzas de serpiente y un macho cabrio a Esu. El hizo el
sacrificio antes de venir al mundo.

En conseguir al mundo, el tom6 a comerciar ademas de la practica de Ifism. El tuvo el exito en

ambas vocaciones. En una ocasi6n cuando el viaj6 para su negocio, el Awos en el lugar
decidi6 romper su jomada con la lluvia a causa del tamafio de los regalos el estaba tomando
casa de su practica de Ifa. Cuando la lluvia amenaz6 caerse, el empez6 a repetir a lo siguiente
la encantaci6n: - el Aigugbin j e ekagha re. El estaba preguntando la lluvia si el es capaz de
comer el caracol y su cascara. La lluvia reaccionada retrocediendo al cielo. Luego, ellos
provocaron el viento para lucharlo con un tornado. Una vez mas, el el humoured el viento
desafiando si el come la serpiente y sus balanzas el "Aije ejo je uke luku re." Finalmente, ellos
incitaron la tierra para abrir al conume el. Una vez mas, el el humoured la tierra para cerrar su
boca preguntandole si el come la tortuga y su cascara - el "Aije ahun ju gba re". La tierra
respondida orando para el
sobrevivir a a sus enemigos, y que de ese dia, el debe tocarlo con cualquier cosa que el
hizo para que pudiera materializar. Por eso un Awo se exige tocar cualquier sacrificio en
la tierra antes de ir a entregarlo. Despues de esto, el pudo conseguir casa seguramente.

El Hizo Divnation para la Rata no Casarse a una Mujer mas Fuerte Que El

Este odu hicieron la adivinaci6n para la Rata, mientras aconsejandole que hiciera el
sacrificio para apartar el peligro de casarse a una esposa mas fuerte que el. Le exigieron
que sirviera Esu con un macho cabrio que agrega elubo y fiame llamado el akpamisesan.
El se neg6 a hacer el sacrificio. Cuando la Rata fue como consecuencia al mercado, el se
encontr6 Ologbo (el gato) una mujer muy bonita y ofreci6 casarsela. El gato respondi6
favorablemente y ellos se casaron.

Un dia, la Rata habl6 enojadamente a su esposa, pero cuando el gato sac6 sus globos del
ojo feroces, la rata se ruboriz6. En una ocasi6n subsecuente, cuando la Rata intent6
establecer su superioridad masculina, el gato sac6 sus ojos viciosos de nuevo y cuando la
Rata intent6 escapar, ella lo agarr6 hasta aqui con ella las garras de mano de izquierda
ocultas y mat6 a su marido.

Cuando este lfa aparece a U gbodu, el hombre debe decirse hacer o sacrifique para
anticipar el riesgo de casarse a una mujer que es capaz de matanza el, o para sobrevivir su
ferocidad si el ya se ha casado a tal una mujer para una esposa, porque el se destina para
casarse a una mujer de esa raza, y el matrimonio sera sin hijos.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para la Madre de Osho

Tedi simi, ki emi na tedi si o. Eni ti eshin te omo re kpa,

Oun ni won fije ashikpa. Adifa fun Iya osho.

Trate conmigo y permitame tratar con usted. La persona cuyo nifio fue pisoteado.

Esos eran los Awos que la adivinaci6n hecho para la madre de Osho para tener un nifio
cuyo nombre iba a soportar etemamente. Le exigieron que hiciera el sacrificio con tres
gallos y tres inclinaciones y flechas. Ella hizo el sacrificio y como consecuencia dio el
nacimiento a Osho. Cuando el creci6, el se hizo un cazador.

Como el estaba lejos en una expedici6n de la caza en una ocasi6n, el vino a un pueblo
llamado llu-lka que tenia un problema endemico. Un pajaro misterioso venia
peri6dicamente al pueblo para hacer lamentos calamitosos que a menudo llevaron a la
muerte de cien personas. En cuanto las personas vieran Osho con una arma, ellos le
preguntaron si el pudiera ayudarles matar un pajaro que lloraba el estrago en el pueblo.
Cuando el prometi6 intentar su el mejor, ellos lo tomaron al palacio del Oba. El estaba en
el palacio que le dijeron que todos los cazadores conocidos habian intentado en vano
matarlo. Cuando el confirm6 al Oba que el nunca tenia a a ese tiempo extrafi6 su blanco,
el se prometi6 un premio de la mitad del pueblo si el tuviera exito. Entretanto, el se dio un
alojamiento en el palacio, mientras esperando la pr6xima visita del pajaro.

Tres dias despues, el pajaro se present6 encima del arbol del roble a la entrada al pueblo.
Osho sac6 su inclinaci6n y flechas y despues de que una encantaci6n corta solt6
la flecha sin mirar el pajaro. La multitud de las personas que recogieron para mirar los
anteojoses le dio un aplauso conmovedor a Osho cuando ellos vieron el pajaro que bucea
abajo con la flecha que agujerea su corazon como el tumbar al muerto molido.

Las noticias de la muerte del pajaro causadas una conmocion en el pueblo como las
personas surgieron adelante no solo para ver el pajaro muerto pero tambien el cazador que
tuvo exito matandolo. Entretanto, Osho era hecho el primero ministro del pueblo y su
logro su nombre ha guardado vivo desde entonces. El nombre de restos de Osho una
leyenda en el pueblo de llu-Eka hasta el momenta.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Cazador Avido Que no Hizo el Sacrificio

Comido el nla ma ya gbangba, era el Awo que la adivinacion hecho para el cazador que
nunca cornpartio la came de su juego con sus vecinos. Le aconsejaron que hiciera el
sacrificio y el se nego a. Cuando el fue como consecuencia al bosque, el mato un antilope
y en conseguir casa, el lo tiro a su esposa antes de entrar en la casa.

Cuando Esu fue dicho que Arayagba se nego a hacer el sacrificio, el fue a esperar por el a
la parte de atras de su casa. En cuanto el tirara el antilope a su esposa, Esu lo convirtio en
una piedra que aplasto a la mujer a la muerte. El no supo lo que paso. Despues, el llamo en
su esposa traer la comida a el y no habia ninguna contestacion. El fue aturdido cuando el
encontro la muerto de la esposa al lado de una piedra grande.

Su alarma atrajo a vecinas que lo acusaron de killng su esposa y lo marcharon al palacio

del Oba. Preguntado por que el mato a su esposa con una piedra, el explico eso en la
consonancia con su tradicion, era el antilope el trajo del bosque que el tiro a su esposa y
no una piedra. Cuando el Oba le pregunto que si el debio cualquier deuda de sacrificio, el
confirmo que el no moro por el consejo de Orunmila y eso el precio que el tenia que pagar
era. El canto - Comio el nli maya gbangba ni odifa el oun divertido Arayagba. El Mogbo
riru ebo, emi el ru de o. El eru de Mogbo un kesu del tu, el kotu del emi, el ko el kpe de i,
ko el jino de i. El wa de Ifa ella el ala del bi. El dijo que el no hizo el sacrificio prescrito a
la adivinacion. Desde que la ley tenia que tomar su curso, el fue ejecutado.

A la adivinacion, la persona se aconsejara para no contestar llamadas hechas de fuera

cuando el esta dentro de su casa. El debe mirar furtivamente fuera a traves de la ventana
ver quien esta llamandolo. El debe hacer el sacrificio sin embargo con una oveja apartar el
peligro de lesion de cabeza que podria causar su muerte. La sangre de la oveja se contara
en una piedra grande y se dara a el tirar en el rio, aliviar la eventualidad.
 El capitulo 5
IRETE-OBARA
IRETE-ALAO IRETE-
OLOBA

El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Canto Ogbigbo o Thiokam

Te 'bara ki ekuro ni be. Odifa fun Ogbigbo niwanran ti 'nlo si

oko aloro odun. A ni ko ru ebo.

Quedese brevemente y siga, era el nombre del Awo que el divnation hecho para un canto
Ogbigbo (Owonwon en Bini) o el Tiokam cuando el iba a empezar una nueva granja al
principio del afio. Le aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio para devolver casa apaciblemente.
El hizo el sacrificio y devolvio casa en un pedazo despues de sus quehaceres de cultivo.

Cuando aparece a la adivinacion para una persona que esta proponiendo viajar, le aconsejaran
el o ella que haga el sacrificio antes de dejar casa. Si aparece para una mujer que esta
contemplando para dejar a su marido, deben aconsejarle que no haga para que sin hacer el
sacrificio.

El Divined para la Luz y Su Hermano, la Termita

El Irete ba ba ba, el Ohara ro ro ro, la adivinacion hecho para la luz y termita que eran los
hermanos. La termita fue aconsejada para hacer el sacrificio para devolver casa vivo de un
viaje que el estaba proponiendo bajo-tomar. Le exigieron que sirviera su cabeza con una
paloma, pero el viaj6 sin hacer el sacrificio. La Luz tambien fue hacer el sacrificio para verse
en lugar de mantener la iluminacion otros para verse. El no hizo el sacrificio tambien.

Cuando la Termita era de viaje, el solo salio con el vestido que el estaba llevando. Durante la
jomada, la lluvia se cayo pesadamente y su solo vestido fue mojado. Cuando el quito el vestido
para secar a, se tiro por Esu y el no podria encontrar su camino a casa de pie. Por eso las
termitas son incapaces de encontrar su camino a casa despues de volar fuera.

Encienda, su hermano, fue dicho ir y buscar la Termita. El pudo encontrarlo y mostrarle su

manera a una nueva casa, pero en la Luz del proceso el se olvido y nadie fue a buscarlo.

A Ugbodu, la persona debe servir su cabeza con un gallo y una termita, y no debe viajar sin
hacer el sacrificio. Haga una lampara de aceite de noche para Esu despues de servirlo con un
macho cabrio. A la adivinaci6n, sirva Esu con un macho cabrio antes de embarcar en una
jomada propuesta.

La Adivinacion que El Hizo Antes de Dejar el Cielo

Te 'bara ki ekuro nibe era el Awo que la adivinaci6n hecho para Irete Ohara cuando el
estaba viniendo al mundo. Le aconsejaron que sirviera Esu con un macho cabrio, Ogun
con un gallo y su angel guardian con una cabra. El hizo el sacrificio y vino al mundo,
despues de buscar y recibir la bendici6n de Dios.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para Oloba-Ahun

Agba ninu sise. Oran ko ton ni 'le yi boro boro.

Como el diviner real, el hizo la adivinaci6n para Ahun que era la Pagina Principal del
Oba, mientras aconsejandole que sirviera Esu con un macho cabrio parar el peligro de
muerte subita. Oloba era caracteristicamente muy inteligente que lo hizo amar a todos y
varios, pero por otro lado el no se dio a hacer el sacrificio. El no hizo el sacrificio antes de
que el dejara en un mandado al pueblo de Oba en nombre de Oba. Eso era cuando Esu
decidi6 idearlo a. En su manera al pueblo de Oba, el decidi6 personificar el Oba
adornandose con un equipo aparentemente adomado con cuentas con frutas rojas que se
parecen las cuentas. El se dio el honor de acuerdo con y recepci6n que conviene a un rey.
En lugar de quedarse durante unos dias y salir, la hospitalidad pr6diga que el fue dado, lo
atrajo en quedarse el mas tiempo.

Despues de cinco dias, las frutas con que el adom6 su regalia empezaron a encogerse y
secar a. En cuanto el notara la deterioraci6n en la textura de las frutas, el decidi6 poner la
casa del invitado en el fuego que quemado a su equipo. El dia siguiente, el le dijo al Oloja
de Oba que ellos tenian que reemplazar el vestido adomado con cuentas que el trajo. Pero
cuando el Oloja les envi6 a mensajeros que recuperaran las cuentas del infiemo, habia
ningun rastro de cuentas. Entretanto, el Oloja envi6 a los hombres del mandado a Ife
averiguar del Olofin si el conoci6 el Oba que estaba visitandolos en su nombre. "Claro", el
dijo. El solo envi6 su Pagina Principal cuyo retomo era mucho tiempo retrasado. El Olofin
les envi6 a sus alguaciles reales que verificaran la situaci6n a Oba.

Cuando los policia consiguieron a Oba, ellos descubrieron que era Ahun la Pagina
Principal del Olofin que estaba personificando el oba. El era que los tantalizingly se
apodaron el Oloba de Oba durante su ensayo. Mientras el ensayo era en marcha, su esposa
corri6 a Orunmila para hacer el sacrificio que su marido se habia negado a hacer antes.
Comiendo su macho cabrio Esu persigui6 a Olofin en la guisa de un diviner visitante y lo
pregunt6 por haber intentado ejecutar Ahun que lo habia servido previamente tan
respetuosamente y fielmente. Los diviner profetizaron a Olofin que si el hombre fuera
ejecutado, habria una calamidad de proporciones inimaginables a lo largo del reino de Ife.

Aunque, Oloba se sentenci6 previamente a la muerte por la ejecuci6n, el Olofin le

concedi6 un indulto inmediato, mientras advirtiendolo no repetir en la vida de nuevo ese
error.

Cuando aparece a la adivinaci6n, la persona debe aconsejarse para hacer el sacrificio para
apartar el riesgo de muerte subita.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para la Mujer Yerma Tener un Nino

En un dialogo poetico con sus seguidores, Orunmila dijo que el original corono a los reyes
de Ijero, el llara y lla-Orangun eran todos los nifios de Orunmila, nacido de la misma
madre. Era la misma medicaci6n preparada para la misma mujer que Irete-Oloba us6 para
una mujer yerma que vino a el para la adivinaci6n. Eso era despues de que le habian dicho
ir y servir la uma de Esu de una persona desconocida con un conejo y una rata porque
nadie alguna vez oy6 hablar de un conejo yermo o rata.

El mes siguiente, la mujer se puso embarazada y en la llenura de tiempo, ella dio el

nacimiento a un nifio masculino que fue nombrado lfatoba.

A la adivinaci6n para una mujer ansioso tener un nifio, el sacerdote de lfa debe realizar el
mismo sacrificio para ella y su primer nifio sera un var6n que sera nombrado Ifatoba.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para Alao

Ogon yi O lo lo di na. Agba ninu ohun sise.

Oran ko ton ni le yi boro boro. Adifa fun Alao
to fi okun sown to fi ana re bo ifa to ke be bi ewure.

Esos eran los substituto de Irete-Oloba que la adivinacion hecho para Alao que se ofrecio
para el sacrificio a lfa en la semejanza de una cabra. Le habian dicho a la adivinacion para
servir lfa con una cabra, y para ofrecer otra cabra a lfa despues de cinco dias. El sirvio lfa
con la primera cabra y alejado la piel.

En el quinto dia, el le dijo a su esposa barrer y fregar la casa. Despues de esto, el envolvi6
su cuerpo con la piel seca de la primera cabra y con un kolanut en la mano, llam6 en lfa
para aceptar la segunda cabra. El realmente llor6 que a Mee les gusta una cabra, cuando el
estaba orando.

El le dijo a su esposa que preparara el fiame golpeado con la piel de la cabra despues de
henderse el kolanut para lfa. Ellos comieron la comida y fueron a dormir. La mafiana
siguiente a que Alao no se despert6, despues de se haber muerto durante noche en su
suefio. Cuando las personas estaban preguntandose por lo que podria haber causado la
muerte de Alao, su esposa narro como el le sirvio la tarde anterior a lfa. Las personas lo
culparon de traer la muerte en el porque el prefirio estafar en lugar de hacer el sacrificio
prescrito.

A la adivinacion, la persona debe aconsejarse servir lfa con una cabra y abstenerse de
intentar ser diestro-diestro. Si el divinee es un invalido, y pronostica la muerte (Ayeo ), la
persona debe hacer su ultimo testamento porque su destino esta mas alla de la redenci6n.
 El capitulo 6
IRETE-OKONRON
IRE TE-EGE

El Hizo la Adivinacion para la Soga y El Broche De madera

El lo de Irete 16 lo, Okonron ke ke ke - era el Awo que la adivinacion hecho para la Soga
y el Broche en Yoruba y Ukeke en Bini. Les aconsejaron que sirvieran Esu con un macho
cabrio. El Broche hizo su sacrificio pero la Soga no hizo. Por consiguiente, despues de
que la Soga fue usada para atar cualquier objeto, el Broche se haria sentarse encima de el
como un nudo. No satisfecho con su papel subordinado, la Soga decidio abandonar el
Broche para devolver a su pueblo de la casa, el Bush en - el orden para vivir con las
plantas, sus hermanos. Despues de esto cualquiera que quiso usar la Soga tenia que ir al
Bush sacarlo.

Entretanto, las plantas descubrieron que la presencia de la Soga en su medio estaba

creando los problemas para ellos. Cuando quiera la Soga estaba estando alejada del Bush
que el tiro varias plantas con el. Le dijeron por las plantas para dejar el arbusto y el fue a
la granja donde el tambien se compelio por las razones similares, salir.

Exclusivamente y abandon6 por todas sus relaciones, la Soga devolvi6 a Orunmila que lo
recordo el sacrificio que el no hizo. El hizo el sacrificio despues de que el tenia una
existencia fija como consecuencia. El se invito a menudo a ocasiones todo importantes
marcadas por los seres humanos en los pueblos y pueblos.

A U gbodu, la persona no debe aconsejarse ni servir a cualquiera ni repartir a sus nifios en

la servidumbre. El debe servir Ogun con el gallo y Esu con el macho cabrio. La persona
debe servir Esu con un macho cabrio y su cabeza con un gallo apartar el peligro de
condenarse al ostracismo por a la adivinacion, su o sus socios y relaciones.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Pene y la Vulva

El moko de Oyeye. El dee de Erubo, era los Awos que la adivinacion hecho para los
organos genitales masculinos y hembras para ser librado de su impedimento fisico. El
Pene tenia ningun de cabeza y la Vulva tenia ningun ojo u orificio. El Pene fue dicho
hacer el sacrificio al ogun con el gallo y aso el fiame mientras el

La vulva fue servir Ifa con una gallina y un caracol, miel, cafia de azucar y aceite de la
palma. Ellos los dos hicieron los sacrificios.

Cuando el Pene estaba dejando la casa de Ogun despues de hacer su sacrificio, Ogun uso
su cuchillo para guitar el techado del velo la cabeza del pene. El Pene tenia mucho dolor
del ataque, pero en cuanto el dolor rebajara, el se puso mas activo. Cuando el se encontr6
la Vulva ciega que el chocaba con ella como consecuencia, mientras causandola a
inmediatamente abra sus ojos. La corte del techado del velo la cabeza del Pene se volvi6
el proceso de circuncision, mientras la colisi6n entre los dos 6rganos genitales se ha vuelto
el disvirginity de la vulva subsecuentemente.
La Adivinacion que El Hizo Antes de Dejar el Cielo

El Oyeye mo ko. El dee de Erubo, era los Awos que la adivinaci6n hecho para este Odu
cuando el estaba viniendo al mundo. Le aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio en el orden
prevenir el peligro de matarse por una mujer y permanecer activamente potente a lo largo
de su vida. Le exigieron que sirviera: Esu con un macho cabrio; su angel guardian con el
macho cabrio castrado, pez electrico, y un gallo. El dej6 para el mundo sin hacer el
sacrificio.

El se hizo un sacerdote de lfa practicando en la tierra y el tenia el exito inicial. En la

plenitud de su exito, Esu empuj6 a una mujer para casarselo. La mujer era muy mas fuerte
que el. Despues de vivir con la mujer durante algun tiempo, el se puso sexualmente
impotente. El se acerco varios physicans sin efecto para la ayuda. El fue finalmente por la
adivinacion y le dijeron que sirviera; Esu con un macho cabrio, e lfa con el macho cabrio
castrado, pez electrico, gallo y paloma. El hizo el sacrificio despues de que el Awos
preparo un cinturon especial para el ser la ronda del ligamiento su cintura. Se preparo con
los 6rganos genitales de los pajaros y animales con que el hizo el sacrificio, ademas de las
hojas apropiadas. La parte de la medicina se dio a el comer en una sopa y agregar para
enjabonar por bafiarse, mientras el resto estaba montado en el craneo del macho cabrio
castrado ser persistido en su uma de lfa.

Poco despues el sacrificio era hecho, su esposa lo dej6 descortesmente. Que

paradogicamente era despues de que el recobro su potencia. El las otras mujeres
seguidamente casadas y los varios nifios tenidos.

Cuando este lfa aparece a adivinaci6n o U gbodu para un hombre, le diran que haga el
sacrificio para apartar el peligro de comprometer el suicidio cuando el se pone impotente.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para la Madre de Adeyosola

Ki Irete ko lu arankan si 'risi. Odifafun Yeye Adeyosola Ebo tor i

iku omo re yi oru o.

Permita a Irete jugar un instrumento musical llamado Arankan en Yoruba y Akpata en

Bini al fin, era el nombre del Awo que la adivinacion hecho para la madre de Adeyosola.
Le dijeron que hiciera el sacrificio para ahorrar la vida de su hija y sus otros nifios. Ella
hizo el sacrificio con un macho cabrio, rata, pez, conejo, kolanut y aceite de la palma
despues de que ella perdio a ningun nifio.

Cuando aparece a la adivinacion, la persona se aconsejara para hacer el sacrificio para

evitar perder cualquiera de su o sus nifios. Deben decirle el o ella que les aconseje a los
nifios que ser humildes.

Si aparece como Ayeo, la persona se dira preguntar su o su hijo para tener Ifa, y para su o
su hija soltera para casarse a un hombre que tiene su propio lfa.

Divined para Elekolo Give su Hija en el Matrimonio Fuera de Su Pueblo

 Aferege eyige, Odifa fun Elekolo

Ese era el Awo que la adivinacion hecho para Elekolo, aconsejandole que hiciera el sacrificio
con una oveja y un pedazo de tela blanca apartar el peligro de perder a su hija. Tambien le
aconsejaron que no diera a su hija en el matrimonio a cualquier marido fuera de su pueblo. El
tenia la intencion de hacer el sacrificio pero aplaz6 en el para tan largo que el se olvid6 en el
futuro de el.

Entretanto, un hombre joven llamado Ege del pueblo de Taji ofrecio casarse a la hija de
Elekolo. Al mismo tiempo, Esu manch6 fuera la memoria del consejo dado a el no dar a su
hija en el matrimonio a cualquier hombre fuera de su pueblo. El estaba de acuerdo en dar a su
hija en el matrimonio a Ege.

En cuanto ella consiguiera al pueblo de Taji, ella se puso enferma dentro de la primera semana
de su llegada. Cuando su condicion empezo a deteriorar, ella se devolvio a su padre. Ningun
mas pronto hizo ellos llegan a la casa de su padre, ella dej6 el fantasma. Estaba en ese punto
que Elekolo recordo el sacrificio que el no hizo y el consejo el no considero.

Ella se enterro delante de la casa del padre con una advertencia inscrita en su tumba que
cualquiera que se sienta en el se multara un camera y que cualquiera que puso cualquier
calabaza en la tumba se multara una gallina. Por eso Elekolo se saluda con las palabras "elege
de Omo" que prohibe el uso de Calabaza.

Cuando este Odu aparece a la adivinacion, para una mujer, que le aconsejaran que no viaje
fuera de su pueblo de la casa a lo largo del resto de ese afio. Si ella es una solterona, ella nunca
debe advertirse para casarse fuera de su pueblo de la casa. Si aparece para un padre, le
aconsejaran hacer el sacrificio anterior y no dar a su hija en el matrimonio fuera de su pueblo
de la casa.
 El capitulo 7
IRE TE-IR OS UN
ATENUROSUN IRETE-
ERIJIYAN

El Hizo la Adivinacion para Oloba-Aghun, el Mujeriego.

Ada ko-bo. Odifa fun Oloba-aghun nijo to 'nshawo losi ilu

Obinrin gbadu gbandu. Won i ko m ebo ko to lo. Ko ru ebo na.
Won tun so fun kpe okpe kan ombe ni ojude ilu obinrin yen.

El eunuco era el Awo que la adivinaci6n hecho para Oloba-aghun cuando el era de viaje a
la tierra de mujeres d6nde no habian ningun hombre. Le aconsejaron que hiciera el
sacrificio antes de ir. Le exigieron que sirviera Esu con un macho cabrio y frutas de la
palma. Tambien le dijeron que el veria una palma obligar a refugiarse en un arbol en el
pueblo con las frutas maduras. Si el quisiera comer la palma fructifica, el era escoger de
los caidos y no subir el arbol de la palma. El sin embargo no hizo el sacrificio antes de
dejar para el pueblo.

En conseguir al pueblo el encontr6 el arbol de la palma con varias frutas que se habian
caido a la tierra alrededor de el. El se dio una bienvenida conmovedora por todas las
mujeres del pueblo. Mientras en el pueblo, el empez6 a dormir y copularse con las
mujeres uno despues el otro hasta que Esu decidiera castigarlo por no haciendo el
sacrificio. Una mafiana, Esu esper6 por Oloba-aghun al pie del arbol de la palma. Cuando
el consigui6 al pie del arbol de la palma para recoger algunas de las frutas caidas, Esu lo
desafi6 por escoger las frutas caidas sucias cuando habia mas limpios y mas deliciosos
encima del arbol de la palma. Esu lo exalt6 comentando que estaba denigrando para el
marido de todas las mujeres en el pueblo comer frutas sucias escogidas de la tierra en
lugar de tirar aquellos encima del arbol.

Actuando adelante el consejo de Esu, Oloba-Aghun subi6 el arbol de la palma y las varias
frutas tiradas en su bolsa despues de comer tanto cuando el pudo. Como el estaba bajando
el arbol, el descubri6 que su pene era ningun mas largo en una posici6n para hacer el amor
a cualquier mujer.

Despues esa noche, la mujer cuya se lo vuelve era dormir con el vino a encontrarselo.
Cuando el la mujer descubri6 que que el no pudo hacer el amor a ella, ella lo convirti6 en
una tortuga y lo tir6 en el arbusto.

Cuando este Odu aparece a la adivinaci6n para una mujer, le aconsejaran que haga el
sacrificio y se dira no permitir una luz desollada al hombre para hacer el amor a ella. Si
aparece para un hombre, le diran que sirva Esu antes de embarcar en una gira propuesta.
Mientras en el pueblo, el no debe hacer el amor a una mujer del complexioned ligera, y
debe refrenar de; las frutas de la palma comiendo, el potaje y platano, y de la ropa roja
desgastado durante la gira.
La Adivinacion le Constitnyo Antes de Dejar el Cielo

El Baba bolo bolo bolo era el Awo que el divnation hecho para Orunmila antes de venir al
mundo. Le aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio para sobrevivir los problemas que el iba a
tener de mujeres que serian muy mas fuertes que el. Le exigieron que sirviera: su angel
guardian con una cabra, gallina, rata y pez; Esu con un macho cabrio, la aguja gigante,
peine, la almohadilla, las rafias empaquetan y una bandeja de madera () en Yoruba y Atete
en Bini). El hizo el sacrificio detras de que el vino al mundo.

En conseguir al mundo, el no hizo tan bien como un sacerdote de Ifa. El fue por
consiguiente por la adivinacion y le dijeron que sirviera: Esu con un macho cabrio, hilo
negro, peine y aguja; Ogun con un gallo; e Ifa con una gallina. El no pudo ningun affort
para financiar el sacrificio. El solo dio hilo negro y aguja a Esu, mientras prometiendo
traer un macho cabrio en cuanto el pudiera permitirse el lujo de uno.

La mai'iana siguiente, el dej6 para el mercado. Al mismo tiempo, las esposas de muerte,
Brujeria y Enfermedad vinieron respectivamente al mercado para vender macho cabrio,
gallo y gallina para una balsa de dinero cada uno. Las tres divinidades temerosas todos
encorcharon las bocas de sus esposas con las hojas, mientras nunca advirtiendolos hablar a
cualquiera antes de devolver del mercado al cielo.

Atenurosun se encontro cada uno de las tres mujeres en su manera al mercado en su

manera al mercado. El les dijo que tomaran lo que ellos estaban vendiendo (el macho
cabrio, gallo y gallina) a su casa y que el vendria y los pagaria en su retomo del palacio
del rey.

Despues de esperar en su casa por el devolver casa, las mujeres se pusieron hambrientas.
Ellos investigaron a traves de la casa y encontraron algunos tuberculos del i'iame que ellos
cocinaron, comio y guardo una parte para el. Comiendo ellos persiguieron a la parte de
atras de la casa donde ellos encontraron aguja, hilo y peine en uma de Esu que ellos
coleccionaron para tejer sus vellos mutuamente.

Al crepusculo, el devolvio al apologising de la casa a las mujeres por guardarlos

esperando que era el resultado de tardarse en el palacio. El procedio servir en seguida; Esu
con un macho cabrio, Ogun con el gallo, e Ifa con la gallina. Despues de esto, el comio la
comida preparada para el por las mujeres. Ellos le pidieron que pagara por los materiales
despues de comer y el los persuadio esperar hasta la mai'iana, desde que era en cualquier
caso demasiado tarde para ellos devolver casa. Cuando era tiempo para dormir, el
extendio fuera una estera en el cuarto gallina ponedora en que ellos todos durmieron. Por
la noche, el hizo el amor a cada uno de las tres mujeres siguiendo a que ellos ya no
podrian devolver a sus maridos.

La mai'iana siguiente, muerte, mago y enfermedades preguntaron despues de que les

dijeron sus esposas y que ellos fueron vistas para haber ido a la casa de un hombre el dia
anterior. Ellos todos decidieron a averigiie a que hombre era la negrita bastante para
guardar sus encima de-noche de las esposas. Entretanto, las mujeres le dijeron a
Atenurosun que sus maridos eran y el se volvi6 tan asustado que el fue inmediatamente a
su Awo por la adivinaci6n. Le dijeron que obtuviera tres almohadillas, tres empaquetan
cada uno conteniendo una balsa de dinero, tres bandejas de madera y un
pollo y los ponen a la union del camino cerca del mercado, despues de dar otro macho cabrio a
Esu.

El fue inmediatamente a la calle para capturar el primer macho cabrio que el vino por y lo uso
para servir Esu. Despues de esto, el tomo los otros materiales a la union del camino. Despues
de comer su macho cabrio, Esu escondio cerca de la union del camino a que Atenurosun
deposito su sacrificio. Al mismo tiempo, la Muerte consiguio su club y partio para luchar con
quienquiera estaba guardando a su esposa. Esu habia usado el craneo del macho cabrio
entretanto para preparar un montante cerca de la union del camino. Cuando la Muerte estaba
consiguiendo a la union del camino, el golpeo sus pies en el montante que lo dio tirones ver la
bolsa y bandeja que se parecen aquellos de su esposa. Cuando el recogio la bolsa, el descubrio
que que contuvo una bolsa de dinero que el conjeturo, su esposa recibio para la venta del
macho cabrio que ella tomo al mercado. El se pregunto entonces si su esposa se debe de haber
asesinado. El colecciono los materiales como consecuencia y devolvio casa al cielo.

Despues de con exito Muerte engafiosa, Esu acordo a las tacticas similares aplazar el Mago y
Enfermedades. Todos ellos perdieron el interes en sus esposas para el muerto y devolvieron
casa con el dinero y materiales que ellos encontraron a la union del camino. Como
consecuencia, Esu fue a la casa de Orunmila para anunciar que los maridos de las tres mujeres
se los habian rendido a la desgracia.
Las mujeres fueron llamadas:

La esposa de muerte - Adesina (Akpako)

La esposa de mago - Aderunla (Uroke)
La esposa de enfermedad - Tamukokoro (Oroke)

Eso era como Orunmila se caso a tres esposas al mismo tiempo que marcado el principio de su
prosperidad. Cuando este Ifa aparece a U gbodu, la persona debe preparar este sacrificio
especial, porque el se casaria a tres mujeres en su vida en las circunstancias muy dificiles.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para Olofin Save las Vidas de Sus Ninos

Ateninurosun a bum bum bum bum ti o ka ba ki she Ojoni.

Bum bum ti ere ba ki Ishe ojo ni o. Odifa fun Olofin La'gba yi
gba Ufe Kiri biti, to ri iku omore ka m ebo Esu.
La boa que duerme calladamente en una mancha tranquila no esta haciendo para que
fuera de miedo.
La piton que duerme calladamente en una mancha tranquila no esta arreglandolo de
miedo.

Esos eran los Awos que la adivinacion hecho para Olofin en Ife. Le dijeron que hiciera el
sacrificio con un cerdo ahorrar las vidas de sus nifios. El sacrificio era hecho excavando un
agujero a la entrada a su palacio y su ikin (Okekporin) pongase dentro del sostenimiento. El
cerdo se mato encima de el dentro del agujero. Despues del sacrificio, el Okeponrin se salio en
el agujero hasta el moring siguiente. El Okekponrin estaba alejado y el agujero se cubrio a,
mientras conteniendo la cabeza del cerdo.
A la adivinaci6n, para un hombre, le diran que su vida y su casa no son fijas. Si el tiene
lfa, el debe hacer el sacrificio anterior para prolongar su vida y aquellos de sus niiios. Si el
no tiene lfa, el debe tener uno y debe hacer el sacrificio anterior en el ultimo dia de la
ceremonia del intitiation.

El Hizo la Adivinacion Para El Pescador Avido

Ko kpo to, lo 'nkpa Olowo.

Ko si ra ra, lo 'nkpa talika.
Awon ni won lo 'ndifa fun A kpeja ti ogbo
Ohun Ayare ti o si di Atosi.
La avaricia destruye el rico, mientras la suspension mata la pobre.

Esos fueron los dos Awos que la adivinaci6n hecho para el Pescador cuando el era pobre
pero quien tom6 a su esposa en la confianza en todo lo que el hizo. Le aconsejaron enviar
los regalos a Olokun con catorce materiales diferentes, incluso un gallo blanco, y para
servir Esu con un macho cabrio. Le aconsejaron particularmente que tuviera cuidado con
del peligro de avaricia.

En conseguir casa, el le dijo lo que le dijeron que hiciera a su esposa. Su esposa sancion6
el consejo y el sacrificio era hecho. Despues de completar el sacrificio, el empez6 a viajar
bien en su negocio de la pesca y el empez6 a respirar el aire fresco de opulencia.

Como consecuencia, su esposa le dijo ir una vez por la consultaci6n mas con Orunmila, en
que hacer para volverse los Oba del pueblo. Orunmila le aconsej6 que sirviera el rio en
que el estaba pescando con un camera despues de la adivinaci6n, para que las personas
pudieran estar sirviendolo. El hizo el sacrificio despues de aclararlo con su esposa.

Tres dias despues, su precio neto cogi6 un pez hablador. Como el estaba a punto de matar
el pez, los peces le dijeron que lo pusiera libre, pero para hacer cualquier deseo el dese6.
El dijo al pez que el quiso volverse un Oba. Los peces estaban de acuerdo en ayudarlo
despues de que el lo solt6 para devolver al agua. Antes de devolver casa del rio, su casa
estaba llena con las personas que vinieron a regocijar con el porque la porci6n se habia
caido en el ser hecho los pr6ximos Oba, el anterior que ha unido a sus antepasados
recientemente. El se coron6 como consecuencia como el Oba y el detuvo la pesca.

Tres meses despues de su coronaci6n, su esposa lo dirigi6 encontrarse Orunmila una vez
mas para decirle que hacer para volverse el pr6ximo hombre a Dios. A la adivinaci6n,
Orunmila le dijo que no habia ningun sacrificio para hacer exceptuar para devolver casa
para saquear a su esposa si el fuera soportar en su posici6n regia y prosperidad.

En conseguir casa, el le dijo lo que Orunmila lo dirigi6 hacer a su esposa, y la esposa

retorci6 que ese Orunmila habia perdido sus sentidos al parecer. La esposa nunca lo
advirti6 regresar a Orunmila, pero para devolver al pez hablador para consejo.
[La mafiana siguiente, el devolvio al rio y granizo en el pez con su nombre del codigo de
Amiegho! Cuando aparecia, el dijo al pez que el quiso volverse el segundo-en-orden ( el
sic) a Dios. Los peces le dijeron que devolviera casa a la posicion de Dios segundoen - el
orden. En conseguir casa, el encontro su vida atras a la penuria en que el era antes de que
el entrara a Orunmila el primero el caso. El se encontr6 a su esposa en la cocina de su casa
del ramshackled. Esa era la fase a que el quiso extrafiar a su esposa. Cuando el empez6 a
pegarla, ella le dijo que no la culpara de subyugar su autoridad masculina a su femenino
inconstante-mindedness. Cuando el regres6 como consecuencia a Orunmila, le recordaron
de su ultimo consejo que no habia ningun mas sacrificio para el hacer aparte de
divorciarse a su esposa. Eso era c6mo el devolvio a la penuna.

A U gbodu, la persona debe servir; el nuevo lfa con un camera y Esu con un macho
cabrio, para apartar el peligro de desencaminarse por su esposa. A la adivinacion, la
persona debe servir Esu con un macho cabrio y Olokun con 14 materiales que incluyen el
gallo blanco y se diga que su prosperidad queda viviendo cerca del mar o rio.

El Sacrificio Especial de Orunmila Para Su Odu

Orunmila ni am. Mo ni a ni ra ra.

Oni ki a mu iru iyo, ata rodo, ekpo, ati iru wa,
ki a fi she 'ho, ni tori gbo ure kpelu ishegun ota.

Orunmila dice que cuando este Odu aparece a Ugbodu, la persona debe aconsejarse para
hacer el sacrificio especial con la salsa del melon ( el iru en Yoruba y evba-rhie Bini),
sale, sazone con pimiento, aceite de la palma, y estera en el orden a:

1) frustre las maquinaciones malas de sus enemigos;

2)el jaque mate cualquier peligro que habria perturbado su vida; y 3)to
guardan fuera de cualquier dafio con que else habria encontrado.

Al hacer el sacrificio, el sacerdote de lfa debe cantar la encantacion siguiente: La oveja de

di de oveja. El Shegun shete temi. El lgbati mo ha ti de, Emi ni yi o ella gan6 el ote del ni
- significando "Suman las hojas, muelalos, agregue el lyerosun de este odu yen el fin,
usted superara a sus enemigos.

El Divined para Sango Cuando El estaba Sufriendo

Ate ni nu irosun. Ba bu bu, Oba ni abe efolo. Efifi ni

uyi ino. Ije ni uyi own. Ki a ri Ogun, ki a ma saa.
Oun ni uyi okuntin.

Esos eran los Awos que la adivinacion hecho para Orunmila cuando el iba a usar cuarenta
cauris para preparar lfa para Sango cuando el estaba sufriendo. Orunmila cosio los 40
cauris a un pedazo de tela roja y lo dio a Sango llevar para prosperar.

En el proceso de bailar sabre, Sango se poseyo y empezo dondequiera que a divino para
las personas que el fue y comprendio mucho dinero que le hizo ponerse opulento. Antes
de dejar para su juerga baile, el sali6 que sus dos hijos llamaron Kawo y Kabiyesi bajo el
cuidado de Orunmila.
Cuando Sango estaba devolviendo casa, el fue a desafiar Orunmila que el se habia vuelto
as rico que el. Orunmila lo record6 que se prohibi6 para cualquiera para morder el dedo
que lo aliment6. Cuando Sango vio que bien a sus dos hijos parecidos como una marca del
cuidado bueno que Orunmila tuvo de ellos, el sigui6 sus rodillas para disculparse a su
bienhechor para su muestra de ingratitud.
A la adivinaci6n, la persona debe aconsejarse nunca para ser ingrato al bienhechor del
his/her.
 El capitulo 8
IRE TE-OW ANRIN
IRE TE-ARIN IRETE-OGEGE
IRETE-OLOTA

El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Amonestador

El Irete ge ge ge, Owanrin van va ir - fue los dos Awos que la adivinaci6n hecho para el
Amonestador (Aghanrighan en Yoruba y Aleekpa u Omiamwenze en Bini) cuando el estaba
viniendo al mundo. Le aconsejaron que sirviera su cabeza en el banco del rio con dos palomas,
2 guinea aves y kolanuts. El hizo el sacrificio. Le aconsejaron sin embargo fuertemente nunca
que viviera con cualquiera de sus relaciones mientras en la tierra.

En conseguir al mundo, el cri6 a una familia y estaba haciendo bastante bien. Entretanto, el
cocodrilo, su relaci6n se acerc6 al Amonestador para concederle alojamiento temporal porque
su casa se habia destruido por un huracan. Olvidandose que el se habia advertido contra ese
tipo de hospitalidad, el estaba de acuerdo en acomodar a su hermano. Pronto despues, el
cocodrilo le dijo al Amonestador que el habia descubierto una fuente etema de suministro de
comida. Despues de esto, los dos de ellos empezaron a alimente de esa fuente.

Un dia, el cocodrilo fue a Orunmila por la adivinaci6n en que hacer para manejar al
Amonestador fuera de su casa, para que el pudiera ocuparlo solo. Le dijeron servir Esu con un
macho cabrio y prohibir comer la comida podrida. Mientras el estaba aplazando adelante
cuando hacer el sacrificio, el Amonestador tenia un suefio en que el estaba siguiendose por un
atacante. En cuanto el se despertara, el corri6 a la casa de Orunmila para adivinaci6n d6nde le
dijeron que la guerra era inminente, y que el ejecut6 el riesgo de manejarse fuera de su casa a
menos que el hizo el sacrificio. Le exigieron que sirviera Esu con un macho cabrio, y la rata
podrida para que su enemigo podria darse jaque mate y podria exponerse. El hizo el sacrificio
casi inmediatamente.

En cuanto el Amonestador hiciera su sacrificio, el fue a casa mientras el Cocodrilo tambien era
adelante su manera al lugar de Orunmil de hacer su propio sacrificio. Entretanto, en vista de la
maxima que primero en el sacrificio esta primero en la manifestaci6n, Esu us6 un gancho de
metal para poner una trampa en la manera con una rata podrida. Despues de hacer el sacrificio,
el Cocodrilo estaba devolviendo casa cuando el vio una rata podrida en la manera.
Olvidandose el consejo para abstenerse de comer la comida podrida, el no podria resistirse la
tentaci6n para comer la rata podrida. El gancho de metal se peg6 en su garganta y el se esforz6
a la muerte.

Esperando en vano por el Cocodrilo devolver casa el Amonestador persigui6 fuera buscarlo. El
fue asombrado para encontrar el cadaver de su hermano por el lado del camino. Cuando el vio
la rata con que el hizo el sacrificio en la boca del Cocodrilo, el comprendi6 que su hermano a
quien el extendi6 la hospitalidad contra consejo, era su enemigo desconocido. Asi, el sacrificio
habia manifestado para el primero en realizarlo.
Cuando este lfa aparece a U gbodu, la persona debe servir el lfa con un cocodrilo, Esu con el
macho cabrio, gancho de metal, y la rata podrida,; y Ogun con un gallo. A la adivinacion, la
persona debe servir Esu con un macho cabrio y la came podrida.

La Adivinacion que El Hizo Antes de Dejar el Cielo

Ti Akiko ba ki, ojo a ma.

Cuando el gallo bravea, un nuevo dia amanecera. Ese era el nombre del Awo que la
adivinacion hecho para Orunmila cuando el estaba viniendo al mundo. Le aconsejaron que
hiciera el sacrificio para evitar el peligro de muerte intempestiva a traves de su propio nifio. Le
exigieron que sirviera: Esu con un macho cabrio, 7 ramitas espinosas, tela blanca, caracol, rata
y pez; su angel guardian con el camero, gallina, tortuga y caracoles. El hizo el sacrificio y dejo
para el mundo donde el se hizo un sacerdote de lfa practicando.

En conseguir al mundo, el se hizo un sacerdote de lfa popular. Un dia, Olota lo invito a

averiguar la causa de la turbulencia socio-politica en su reino. Antes de ir al palacio, el sono
lfa que le dijo que sirviera Esu con una sola rata. El hizo el sacrificio y fue al palacio. A la
adivinacion del palacio, el descubrio que que habia un visitante de cielo que era agente de la
divinidad del Obstaculo envio causar la confusion en la tierra. El le aconsejo al Olota que
sirviera Esu con un macho cabrio y Elenini con un gallo, una tortuga y comestible comestibles
todo disponibles a la union principal en el pueblo. Orunmila fue aconsejado para devolver al
palacio en tres dia tiempo por el sacrificio. Despues de esto, el devolvio a su casa.

En cuanto Orunmila consiguiera casa, un hombre ( qui en, desconocido a el el agente de

Elenini era) vino a hacer a Orunmila preparar Ifa para el. El hizo los arreglos para la
ceremonia de la iniciacion sin cualquier retraso. Tres dias despues, Orunmila fue al palacio
para realizar el sacrificio para Olota. El sacrificio a Elenini se deposito a la union principal del
pueblo. El efecto del sacrificio era que en cuanto el agente de Elenini lo viera, el se moriria y
devolveria al cielo. En su parte, habiendo descubierto a traves de su vision del esotoric que
Orunmila era responsable para exponerlo, el tambien el firmed a los planes para devolver al
cielo con el.

En el septimo dia, la ceremonia de la iniciacion habia terminado y el tenia que seguir la casa
iniciada con su lfa. Sin embargo, a la adivinacion de esa mafiana Orunmila fue exigido servir
Esu con un macho cabrio antes de dejar casa. El hizo el sacrificio despues de que el salio con
el iniciado o su nifio de lfa (La persona que toma lfa se considera como el hijo de lfa del
hombre que lo preparo para el). era adelante que la ocasion que el el occured a Orunmila para
preguntarle al hombre donde el vivio. El hombre contesto que el vivio al boundry entre el cielo
y tierra.

En esa fase, ellos habian dejado ya la casa de Orunmila y Orunmila comprendio demasiado
tarde que el no se preparo para tal una j omada larga. No sabiendo eso que al lado de haga,
Orunmila se resigno al destino que lo espero. Era tiempo por Esu venir a su rescate. Orunmila
decidio comprar unas cosas del mercado. Antes de llegar al mercado, ellos tenian que atravesar
la union del camino principal en que el sacrificio de Elenini fue depositado. Cuando ellos
consiguieron a la union, la atencion del hombre se dirigio por Esu al sacrificio. En cuanto el lo
viera, el se cayo a la tierra y se murio en la
mancha. Era entonces ese Orunmila comprendio quien su hijo de lfa era - el agente de Elenini
y como intimo el vino a la muerte porque el hombre estaba tomandolo al cielo pero para la
intervencion oportuna de Esu. Despues de esto, paz y la tranquilidad devolvio al pueblo de
Ota.

Cuando este Odu aparece a U gbodu, el padre de lfa debe suspender la ceremonia y debe hacer
su propio sacrificio a Esu y Elenini antes de completar la iniciacion para evitar el riesgo de
muerte intempestiva. En esa situacion, el patrocinador de Ifa servira Esu con un gallo y no un
macho cabrio. La persona tomara dos bafios en el mercado y a una union del camino.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Rey de Ife (Olofin)

Ogege, Ogogo, Oye a gbe nu odu soro. Adifa fun Olofin nijo to'nlo si
oko atom odun.

El pajaro que hablo de la olla de arcilla era el Awo que la adivinacion hecho para el rey de Ife
cuando el iba a empezar una nueva granja al principio de] afio. El iba con sus nifios a la granja.

De repente, los nifios que estaban caminando delante de el corrieron atras porque ellos vieron
un extraordinariamente el pajaro grande. Cuando el Olofin vio a sus nifios que corren atras, el
fue a averiguar lo que estaba asustando sabre el pajaro adelante. Cuando el intento mover
atras, el pajaro le hablo, mientras diciendole que llevaralo a su casa. De acuerdo con, el Olofin
tomo que la casa del pajaro donde el lo guardo en una olla grande llamada que Odu a donde el
pajaro empezo puso incita diariamente. Era una sorpresa agradable que cuando el Olofin
descubrio que los huevos pusieron por el pajaro era cuentas que el empezo a usar para preparar
regalia, coronas y zapatos para la venta al otro Obas del mundo conocido.

Un dia, el Alaafin de Oyo visito Olofin en Ife averiguar el secreto de la ultima nueva
prosperidad encontro. En lugar de ocultar su secreto, el Rey de Ife tomo a su visitante para ver
el pajaro cuenta-poniendo. Despues de esto, el Rey de Oyo tuvo exito persuadiendo a su
colega de Ife para prestar el pajaro a el durante algun tiempo. El rey de Ife estaba de acuerdo
en obligar.

En conseguir casa para ver el inmenso valor del pajaro, el rey de Oyo decidio no devolverlo al
rey de Ife. Cuando el Rey de Ife exigio el retomo del pajaro persistentemente, el Rey de Oyo
decidio emprender la guerra en Ife. Cuando el Olofin oyo hablar de la posicion belicosa de su
colega de Oyo, el invito Orunmila para la adivinacion, Le aconsejaron que hiciera sacrificio
que el hizo. En el encuentro militar resultante, las fuerzas armadas de Ife derrotaron el
agressors de Oyo, pero el rey de Ife no volvio el pajaro.

Cuando este Odu aparece a la adivinacion, la persona debe decirse no revelar el secreto de su
exito a cualquiera, obviar el riesgo de privarse de o su gallina que pone los huevos dorados, o
de su vida.

La Adivinacion que El Hizo Antes de Ir a Ota

 Ante ni'le, Owanrisi ni. Adifa fun Orunmila nijoti on
shawo lo si ilu Ota.

Estaba disefiandose en la tierra y el doblo su cabeza para reflejar en el. Esos fueron los dos
Awos que la adivinacion hecho para Orunmila cuando el iba a practicar lfism en el pueblo de
Ota. Le aconsejaron que sirviera Esu con un macho cabrio antes de salir y el hizo el sacrificio.

En su manera a Ota el se encontro con una interseccion de cuatro caminos, y no habiendo sido
al pueblo antes de ese dia, el no supo que manera de tomar y el no encontro a nadie para pedir
las direcciones. Entretanto, el se sentaba por el lado del camino hasta que el encontrara a las
personas que vuelven de Oa que le mostro la manera al pueblo. Antes de conseguir al pueblo,
era el anochecer y el se encontro con un arbol del roble y se sentaba para descansar.

En cuanto el se sentara, el tuvo noticias las voces de la cima del arbol. Habia una reunion de
los superiores de la noche en marcha a la cima del arbol. Ningun mas pronto hizo el se sienta
para descansar, que el oyo alguien comentando a la cima del arbol que un espia estaba
escuchando detras de las puertas en sus discusiones a la base del arbol, Casi inmediatamente,
alguien le hablo con una encantacion y la conversacion siguiente sucedio:

Ellos dijeron - Omu para que - significando -1 han tirado un proyectil, El

contesto - Omu HAN - significando -1 lo han cogido.
Cuando el anterior le pregunto lo que el cogia el proyectil, el,
contesto que el uso una aguja.

Una vez mas, ellos dijeron - Omu Soo - significando -1 lo han disparado. y el contesto - Omu
HEE - Significando -1 lo recogidos.

Cuando ellos le preguntaron lo a que el escogio, el contesto que era un huevo.

Ellos llevan mas alla le preguntado lo que el recogia el huevo y el contesto que era una lana de
algodon.

A ese punto, ellos bajaron de la cima del arbol para intercambiar las bromas con el. De alli
ellos lo llevaron al pueblo y le dieron un alojamiento conveniente y hospitalidad. El gano el
dinero suficiente en el pueblo porque el era el reptuted para ser los primeros Awo para venir y
operar con exito en el pueblo de Ota que era famoso para ser el asilo de brujeria.

Antes de que el devolviera casa, el les aconsejo construir una casa especial para su reunion
noctuma y detener la reunion encima de los arboles. El Vestibulo fue construido de acuerdo
cony se llamo ULEDI.

Cuando este odu aparece a la adivinacion para una jomada inminente, la persona debe hacer el
sacrificio antes de ir por sobrevivir las pruebas que el se liga para tener alli.

El Divined para ABI Cuando Ella no Tenia Ningun Nifio

 Atari ko ni igi egun. 0 beru beru ko ro oko ni idi agbon. Abere to so fin, 0 tan yanron, o
tan yanran. A won ni won lo'ndi
fa fun Abi, nijo ti o nke wi kpe ko ri omo bi. Una persona calva no lleva una madera
espinosa en su cabeza.
Un cobarde no puede hacer su granja bajo un cocotero. La aguja no busca ningun
permiso antes de agujerear a traves de un pedazo
de tela.

Esos eran los Awos que la adivinacion hecho para Abi cuando ella estaba desesperada
tener un nifio. Le aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio con 3 kolanuts amargos, 3 caiman
sazona con pimiento, una cabra y un craneo de dos otras cabras, tres balsas de dinero y un
cauri. Ella hizo el sacrificio despues de que ella estaba segura que que ella tendria tres
nifios cuyos afaman se reconoceria por el mundo.

Despues de esto, su primer hijo se llamo Ogbo, el segundo se llamo Oni y el tercio, una
muchacha se llamo Erelu. Ellos se volvieron los fundadores de la primera sefial de tres
con que ellos y su descendencia nos reconocerian como pertenecer al mismo arbol
familiar. Les exigieron que nos saludaran con la sefial de la Hamada de "Eta ijosi da? "
Significando "donde es el trio". por eso se dice que toma dos culto (Ogboni) los miembros
para reconocer el tercero uno.

Cuando este Odu aparece a Ugbodu o adivinacion, la persona se aconsejara para vol verse
un miembro de la fratemidad de Ogboni para prosperar en la vida.

Divined para Orunmila Cuando El Fue a Trabajar a Ota

lwo leye, ki emi leye. Eje ki o so fun eye meji ki won se

inule kpakpo tori ki won ma ba dale ara won.

Esos eran los Awos que la adivinacion hecho para Orunmila cuando el fue por la
adivinacion a Ota. Le aconsejaron que practicara Ifism a Ota sin arriesgarse su vida. Le
dijeron sin embargo que si el insistiera en ir, el debe hacer el sacrificio con dos conejos y
2 palomas. Se cocino uno de los conejos para el para comer mientras el segundo se
preparo para el para viajar con a Ota.

En conseguir a Ota, el se dio un alojamiento en el palacio del rey donde los susbsequently
de los superiores les enviaron a las personas que lo dieran la bienvenida formalmente.
Como el estaba entreteniendo a sus visitantes, ellos tuvieron noticias un sonido extrafio de
la direccion de su balsa (Akpominijekun) "Siun" que grita. El sonido tranquilizo a sus
visitantes que el pertenecio al culto de brujeria.

Como consecuencia, ellos pidieron la comida y el les dio el conejo dentro de su balsa, en
el proceso de que otro sonido hizo eco de de su estomago. En una demostracion
espontanea de unidad, los visitantes lo saludaron con la exclamacion de "Baba O". El fue
dado en el futuro los chieftaincy titulan del "Ajana de Ota". por eso sacerdotes de Ifa
aplauden Ifa con las palabras, el kpele de Ifa", o Ajana Ota."

A la adivinacion, la persona se aconsejara para hacer el sacrificio con un conejo y el aceite

de la palma suficiente para apartar alguna perturbacion de los superiores de la noche.
 Capitulo 7
IRETE-OGUNDA
IRETE-OGUNRERE
IRETE-OYAO IRETE-
EGUNRE

El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Puerco espin y Su Esposa

Ohun lire lo'n yo obi la akpo Ofo buruku lo'n yo lfa oreja'de la'kpa. Adifa fun Ighogho
(Osorhue in Bini) kpelu iya re.
Es una palabra buena que saca el kolanut del bolsillo.
Es una palabra mala que saca una arma luchadora de la bolsa.

Esos eran los Awos que la adivinacion hecho para el Puerco espin y su esposa. La esposa
estaba embarazada en un momento cuando habia hambre en el cielo y en la tierra. El Puerco
espin decidido ir a Orunmila por la adivinacion en que hacer a alimentaba a su familia. Le
dijeron que sirviera Ogun con una tortuga y Esu con un macho cabrio, tres flechas y pedazos
de i'iame, platano y maiz. El no tenia el dinero para el sacrificio, pero el sirvio Esu con el
i'iame, platano, maiz y tres flechas, mientras prometiendo darle el macho cabrio a Esu en
cuanto el pudiera permitirselo el lujo de. El tambien sirvio Ogun con el vino y kolanut.

No anhele despues, su esposa puso al nacimiento. La mai'iana siguiente que el afilo su matchet
y su caza instrumentan y hecho para el bosque en busca de la comida. Antes de salir, el le dijo
a su esposa que si el tuviera exito que el devolveria casa, si no, el rogara su adios. Durante el
dia entero el estaba cortando un camino a traves del bosque. Cuando era noche-caiga, el
detuvo descansar y dormir. La mai'iana siguiente, el continua con su camino-corte hasta
mediodia, cuando else encontro con una granja que tiene names, platano y maiz en el
abudance. El se arrodillaba para orar para el duei'io de la granja despues de que el comio algun
maiz porque el ya tuvo mucha hambre. Despues de comer, el tiro algun maiz y platano en su
bolsa, mientras agregando tuberculos de i'iame. El llego a su casa por la tarde y su esposa era
relevado y feliz verlo atras. Ellos continuaron a alimente en la accion de comida que el trajo.

Cuando la accion era sobre ser agotado, el tomo su bolsa y regreso a la granja. En llegar alli, el
se arrodillaba una vez mas para orar para el duei'io de la granja antes de guitar el tanto
comestible cuando el pudiera llevar. Despues de repetir la jomada varios tiempos a la granja, el
granjero estaba empezando a notar que alguien estaba robando el foodcrops de su granja.
Cuando el granjero descubrio la ruta que el intruso tomo a su granja, el penso en poner una
trampa en el pero Esu cambio a su mente y el decidio esconder y ver quien el ladron era.

El dia siguiente, el Puerco espin devolvio a la granja con su bolsa. Cuando el granjero apunto
para dispararlo, el fue tornado desprevenidamente cuando el vio al intruso que sigue sus
rodillas para orar para el duei'io de la granja, prior a tomar simplemente 2 tuberculos de i'iame,
algun maiz, y platano, El granjero se desarmo asi por los deseos
buenos lo constituidos por el puerco espin que el no podria disparar. El granjero miro varias
repeticiones del ejercicio que hasta que el tomara la situacion para concedio.

Un dia, la esposa del Puerco espin lo desafiada para la proxima casa con solo unos comida
siega en un momenta. El retorcio diciendo que el estaba tomando los comestible de alguien
mas la granja porque el no poseyo una granja el y que en las circunstancias el tenia que actuar
con su discrecion para evitar provocar al duefio de la granja. No satisfecho con su explicacion,
la esposa puso un paquete de cenizas en su balsa arrastrar la ruta el tomo a dondequiera que el
estaba consiguiendo el comestibles. En cuanto el dejara para el arbusto, la esposa decidio
perseguirlo siguiendo el sendero de cenizas despues.

Cuando el llego a la granja, coma el estaba a punto de arrodillarse para orar, el oyo los pasos y
fue sorprendido para ver a su esposa. Cuando el le pregunto lo para que ella salio, ella contesto
que ella vino a ayudarlo. Despues de esto, el se arrodillaba en su tradicion usual para orar para
el duefio de la granja. Su accion incomodo a su esposa y sin saber que el duefio de la granja
estaba mirandolos, ella procedio destruir las cosechas indiscriminadamente, mientras
insultando y maldiciendo al granjero en el proceso. El granjero se exaspero por la destruccion
y la accion provocativa de la esposa del Puerco espin que comenta que si el ahorrara su vida,
ella terminaria su granja por ningun tiempo. Al oir esto, el granjero apreto el gatillo y la
disparo. El puerco espin masculino corrio, mientras dejando atras a su esposa muerta lejos.

Cuando este Ifa aparece a Ugbodu, el sacrificio especial se hara en la granja, para que la
persona pueda vivir mucho tiempo.

La Adivinacion que El Hizo Antes de Dejar el Cielo

Oki ti baba ni kpe kun okpokpo. Odifa fun Orunmila nijo ti anti kale orun bowa si kale
aye.El hormiguero grandees la marca de! banco par ver la distancia.

Ese era el Awo que la adivinacion hecho para Orunmila cuando el estaba viniendo al mundo.
Le aconsejaron que hiciera al sacrificio impedir el peligro de matarse por Ogun en la tierra y
prevenir la muerte a traves de una mujer. Le exigieron que hiciera el sacrificio a Esu con un
macho cabrio y un paquete de cenizas; Ogun con el gallo y tortuga; y el enemigo desconocido
no seria comido pero para ser salido donde el era bafiar en el bosque. El hizo todos los
sacrificios despues de que el se advirtio contra el riesgo de mostrar la ingratitud a sus
bienhechores. El dejo coma consecuencia para el mundo.

En conseguir al mundo, el tomo a cazar. El prepare a un contador de la encima decabeza que

los iroko redondos obligan a refugiarse en un arbol en el corazon del bosque que el uso coma
el paste organizando para su caza. El empezo a notar los pie-impresion de animales al pie del
arbol del iroko sin embargo. Desconocido a el, esa era la mancha a que los animales del
bosque celebraron sus reuniones cada cinco dias. A proposito, intente cuando el hizo
encontrarse o verlos, el nunca hizo. Debido a alguna razon misteriosa el era siempre cayente
dormido encima del contador solo antes de los animales sus reuniones empezaron. El
despertaria en cuanto ellos dispersaran. La perplejidad le insto que fuera a Orunmila por la
adivinacion y le dijeron que hiciera los sacrificios a Ogun con un gallo y Esu con una gallina
negra. El hizo el sacrificio.
Cinco dias despues, el devolvio a su base de la caza para mirar para el juego. Cuando los
animales estaban a punto de empezar su reunion, el estaba durmiendose, pero Esu lo
sobresalto con su inclinacion. El fue asombrado para ver una reunion grande de todos los
animales en el bosque. En cuanto ellos comprendieran que el estaba viendolos, ellos
enviaron a una avispa morderlo, pero el no reacciono. Un enjambre de abejas fue enviado
atacarlo y el lo aburrio. En el futuro, ellos enviaron a la tos irritar su garganta. Este
tiempo, el no podria resistirse el impulso para toser, que en el futuro lo regalo.

Con eso el fue invitado a unirlos despues de que ellos preguntaron por que el estaba
espiando en ellos. El explico eso lejos de espiar en ellos, el era un cazador y donde ellos lo
encontraron era su posicion de la caza. El los informo que el habia visto las huellas
animales alrededor del arbol sin saber que esta pasando alli. Despues de esto ellos lo
comenzaron como un miembro de su club y el se dio el despacho de aduanas para asistir a
sus reuniones cada cinco dias. El estaba presente que cuando ellos intentaron se
sentenciaron todos los animales que habian transgredido sus reglas y dos antilopes a la
muerte. Los antilopes condenados se mataron como consecuencia en su uma mientras
ellos dieron sus cadaveres al cazador sin sus cabezas. En conseguir casa el explico a su
esposa que el tiro desunio las cabezas de los antilopes.

Cinco dias despues, el tambien se dio los cadaveres de un ciervos y una cabra del arbusto
que se ejecutaron. Una vez mas que el tenia que llevarselos sin sus cabezas. Cuando el
consiguio casa con dos juego mas acefalo, el curiousity de la esposa fue encendido y ella
fue determinada para averiguar lo que estaba pasando a las cabezas de los animales su
marido estaba trayendo casa. Cuando el dejo para el bosque despues de los proximos
cinco dias, ella lo arrastro hasta que ella llegara a su poste organizando en los pasos del
arbol de Iroko. Cuando el le pregunto lo que ella estaba haciendo en el bosque, ella
explico que que ella vino a ayudarle buscar las cabezas de los animales que el habia traido
casa. En lugar de pedirle que devolviera casa inmediatamente, el le permitio tener su
manera cuando ella insistio en quedarse para mirar los desarrollos.

No anhele despues, los animales se congregaron para su reumon, y el cazador fue invitado
una vez mas a unirlos. El fue a la reunion sin su esposa, pero ningun mas pronto hizo la
reunion comienza uno de los animales gritado que otro ser humano era alrededor. Ellos
enviaron a la avispa buscar la presencia de un intruso, pero en cuanto la mordiera, ella
grito y ellos la invitaron por cuestionar. Cuando ella explico que ella era la esposa del
cazador, ellos lo encendieron explicar inmediatamente por que el trajo a su esposa para
espiar en ellos. Era el giro de la esposa para explicar eso lejos de invitarla a venir con el,
su marido no supo que ella estaba arrastrandolo al bosque. Ella siguio para explicar que lo
que hizo su curioso era los animales acefalos que su marido estaba trayendo a casa. Desde
que ella no era ningun satisified con sus explicaciones que era sus balas que estaban
desuniendo sus cabezas de sus cuerpos, ella vino a ver para ella.

Entretanto, le dijeron que ella tenia que pagar un precio correspondiente por su curiousity
fisgon, Ellos le hicieron beber la sangre en su olla, pero como ella estaba a punto de
desmayarse, su marido pidio a los animales ahorrar su vida. En la deferencia a su
apelacion, ellos proclamaron que ella nunca podria recordar o revocar lo que ella vio a la
conferencia, pero que de entonces a la etemidad ella siempre devolveria a ellos la parte de
la sangre ella bebio - que aproxima a la menstruacion femenina todos los meses.
Cuando este Ifa aparece a Ugbodu, la persona se <lira que el tendra la causa para
pertenecer a una sociedad confidencial o culto pero que el nunca debe decir el secreto a su
esposa. El debe hacer el sacrificio para prosperar a traves de su numero de miembros del
culto. El debe darse un bafio en el bosque por el sacerdote de Ifa.

La persona debe servir Esu con un macho cabrio y Ogun con un gallo para evitar el
peligro de muerte subita a la adivinaci6n.

La Adivinacion que El Hizo Cuando Eziza Came lo Desafie

lrete-Ogunrere hizo la adivinaci6n para el cuando el iba a ser desafiado por Eziza. La
noche antes de que Eziza viniera a el, el tenia un suefio en que el vio dos kolanuts, uno
blanco y un castafio envolvi6 en los paquetes separados. Cuando el son6 lfa la mafiana
siguiente, le aconsejaron que sirviera su cabeza con el vino, pimienta del caiman y kolanut
para triunfar en un n el desafio inminente. El habia hecho el sacrificio escasamente cuando
alguien golpe6 a su puerta.

El se encontr6 al hombre a la puerta y despues de intercambiar los saludos el visitante el

introdujo como Eziza, el sacerdote de la divinidad del Viento. El minti6 a Orunmila que el
habia preparado a simplemente una medicina que el contuvo los paquetes diferentes y que
el quiso hacer la adivinaci6n para averiguar si ellos serian eficaces. Orunmila empez6 por
el enquiring de lfa si los dos paquetes eran lo que el habia sofiado con la noche anterior. A
ese punto el le dio un pedazo del kolanut y algunas semillas de pimienta del caiman con
que el habia servido simplemente su cabeza a Eziza.

Despues de permitirle al visitante comer el kolanut, el lo enfrent6 en angulo recto, y le

dijo que lo que el simplemente habia comido fue significado descubrir a el el verdadero
volumen de sus paquetes, y que el pens6 que el pudo la falta el quedando que ellos
contuvieron la medicina. El por consiguiente categ6ricamente confirmado que lo que el
tenia en los dos paquetes era kolanuts blanco y pimienta del caiman. Orunmila le dijo que
el se pregunt6 por que a cualquiera le gustaria procesarlo cuando el ni habia alardeado ni
habia competido con alguien.

Eziza reaccion6 convirtiendose en un perro, y Orunmila us6 su bandeja de adivinaci6n

para marcar el odu con que Dios cre6 el perro y le orden6 a Ogun que comiera el perro si
el no se volviera a su ego humano. Casi inmediatamente, el perro retrocedi6 a Eziza. No
satisfecho con el trauncing que el tenia, Eziza transfigur6 en un huracan de que sopl6
fuera del tejado

La casa de Orunmila. Con su bandeja de adivinaci6n (Akpako) todavia en la mano,

Orunmila empez6 su encantaci6n. "Ole, el gbudugbudu. Elu el Ojiji firi naa jo fidan. El
Aa duro ho el el gbe ruko ma yi. El Ona kpe ese merindilogun lo mu wa si si al fi ku eyo
kon medianamente. Agogo el puro agbara". Significando - "Usted ladr6n, el tambor que
no tiene ningun agujero bajo el, la sombra que mata en la vista llena de todos, el hombre
que esta de pie por el iroko obliga a refugiarse en un arbol sin caerse. l,Usted se ha
olvidado que usted vino al mundo con dieciseis piemas, fuera de que usted solo tiene uno
salido? El gong que exhibe su fuerza."
Con eso, Eziza devolvi6 el tejado a la casa de Orunmila y supuesto su figura humana. El
era completamente el humoured y desinfl6 porque el efecto de la encantaci6n desenvolvi6
la llave de sus poderes. El sigui6 sus rodillas para disculparse a Orunmila, mientras
prometiendo servirlo desde aquel momento a su beck y Hamada.

Cuando este Ifa aparece a U gbodu, la persona debe preparar la uma de Eziza para su Ifa y
nunca debe aconsejar para of ender su Ifa engendre ( el hombre que prepar6 el Ifa para el).
El debe servir; Ogun con un perro, Esu con un macho cabrio, y su cabeza con dos guinea
aves. El o debe abstenerse completamente de comer el kolanuts o debe prohibir comer
cualquier kolanut dado a el por cualquier otra persona aparte de los unos que el compra
para el.

El Divined para Tres Setter de la Trampa

ete regun abeso juwenu. Adifafun Olomo Ashi'ni, abufun

Egbire owo, atun bufun omo titun Arimewe/Arimooran.

Ese era el Awo que la adivinaci6n hecho para tres setter de la trampa que nunca estaban
cogiendo cualquier animal con sus trampas. Ellos fueron como consecuencia a Orunmila
por la adivinaci6n. El prepar6 los dispositivos requeridos para ellos y ellos prometieron
enviarle la piema del primer animal que ellos cogieron con sus trampas.

Cinco dias despues, su trampa cogi6 un ciervo y ellos pensaron que era demasiado para
ellos enviar la piema a Orunmila. Ellos idearon una estrategia como consecuencia por
ocultar su captura de Orunmila desde que ellos tenian que atravesar su casa. Ellos
decidieron vestir el ciervo como un cadaver humano desde que ellos eran conscientes que
Orunmila prohibi6 para ver un cadaver humano.

Entretanto, Esu y la cabeza del culto de brujeria eran Orunmila visitante por la mafiana.
Como el estaba escoltando a los visitantes fuera de su casa, el vio a sus tres beneficiarios
que vienen con lo que se parecia un cadaver humano, y el mbo de Oku gritando" o, kuro
de Ogbe solo", significando" Nosotros estamos llevando un cadaver humano, los hombres
comunes, sale de la manera." Cuando Orunmila y sus dos visitantes oyeron la advertencia
que ellos entraron en el arbusto y escondieron sus caras. No obstante, el rey de brujeria
abri6 las dos orejas a la parte de arras de su cabeza ver lo que ellos estaban llevando. Con
su vista posterior esoterica, el pudo ver eso lejos de llevar un cadaver humano, ellos estan
llevando un ciervo muerto de hecho, un hecho que el descubri6 como consecuencia a Esu
y Orunmila en cuanto los portadores pasaran. Desde que Orunmila reconoci6 a los tres
hombres j6venes como setter de la trampa que prometieron enviarle la piema del primer
animal que ellos cogieron con su trampa, el conjetur6 que ellos fingieron el transporte un
cadaver humano, como una tactica por absolverse de la promesa. Para reflexionar en la
acci6n de los tres hombres j6venes, Orunmila y sus dos visitantes devolvieron a su casa.
Cuando la bruja oyo el informe de Orunmila que le molestaron y propuso que ellos deben
ensefiarse el duro la lecci6n de aquellos que en la fe mala, reniegue en promesas hechas en
la fe buena. El propuso que el tomaria el mayor de los tres; Esu debe tomar el segundo
uno; mientras Orunmila era tomar el mas menor. Al mismo tiempo, ellos amonestaron su
cobarde y en la vidaperdonando al organizador para no decepcionarlos. Akpetebi, la
esposa de Orunmila estaba presente cuando su estrategia por castigar a los tres
sinvergiienzas estaba siendo el firmed a.
En cuanto el dejara la casa de Orunmila, la bruja fue a la casa de los tres hombres jovenes, El
estaba mirandolos cuando ellos estaban matando el ciervo. El tambien les vio extraer las partes
pequefias con que para cocinar una sopa para comer el fiame golpeado. En cuanto el mayor de
los tres un pedazo de la came tomo en su boca, los cryptical de la bruja lo picaron en la
garganta y el empezo al choak. En una materia de minutos el perdio su respiracion y ahogo a la
muerte. Su muerte creo un pandomonium en la situacion.

El dia siguiente, Esu fue a su casa y miro los simpatizadores viniendo en y dejando la casa.
Entretanto, las personas partieron para comer. El enfoco su mirada en su victima y cuando el
tomo un ayudando de comida en su boca. Los unscrutably de Esu lo dieron con el estomago y
el empezo a quejarse de estomago perturbe. En una materia de minutos, el empezo a vomitar
sangre y antes de cualquiera algo podria hacer para ayudarlo, el se murio. Siguiendo la muerte
de sus dos mayores hermanos, Omotitun que el menor empezo a correr del pilar para anunciar,
mientras sabiendo que era razonable imaginar que era su giro para morirse, despues de haber
dibujado una correlacion positiva entre la casualidad del ciervo y sus muertes.

La mafiana siguiente, el estaba preguntandose si o no ir y hacer un pecho limpio en la materia

a Orunmila cuando el se encontro a la esposa de Orunmila en su manera al rio. lEl era ahora
desvalidamente lloron y los akpetebi detuvieron para preguntarle lo que la materia era? El
explico que el estaba a punto de morirse porque sus dos mayores hermanos se habian muerto
en la sucesion rapida. Akpetebi solo le dio un consuelo frio confirmando sus miedos que ella
atribuyo a su fe mala y codicia. Ella lo recordo su promesa para enviar la piema del primer
animal que ellos cogieron a su marido. Omotitun siguio sus rodillas instintivamente para
pedirle a Akpetebi que aconsejarlo en que hacer para reparar para su alevosia. Ella simpatizo
con el y propuso que el debe remitir los remanentes de la came del ciervo y un bulto de
tuberculos del fiame inmediatamente a Orunmila, y para rogar para el perdon.

El corrio casa rapidamente para parcelar lo que permanecia del ciervo ademas de un bulto de
fiames a Orunmila. Cuando el llego a la casa de Orunmila, el postro en su estomago que mega
para el perdon. Orunmila insistio sin embargo en saber como el averiguo la causa de su
condicion y Omotitun explicada que fuera Akpetebi que le dijo sabre el y lo aconsejo adelante
como reparar para su fe mala. Con ese descubrimiento, Orunmila le dijo que el fue perdonado
y podria ir a casa porque Akpetebi tenia, a traves de su traicion de confianza, lo absolvio de su
atadura y tendria que llevar la carga de muerte. En cuanto Omotitun saliera, Orunmila se
sentaba en la furia para esperar por su esposa volver del rio.

Cuando su esposa estaba volviendo del rio con la olla de agua en su cabeza, Orunmila le
ordeno que esperara fuera. El la reprocho por traicionar su confianza revelando a Omotitun la
discusion el tenia con sus amigos, cuando ella supo que ellos ya lo habian acusado de pollo-
heartedness. El uso su vara de autoridad como consecuencia (ASE) conjurarla para
permanecer traspasaron y para secar a en la mancha con la olla en su cabeza a la etemidad.
Asi, ella transfigurado en lo que los Yorubas llaman Teteregun ahora, es decir, el tipo de arbol
de la palma que lleva una carga en su cabeza.
Cuando este odu aparecen a la adivinaci6n, la persona se aconsejara para usar un guijarro para
tocar su o su boca y para tirarlo, orando para no ser destruido por las palabras que vienen fuera
de su o su boca. Si aparece como Ayeo para una mujer que le diran que ella ha traicionado a su
marido y si el tiene Orunmila, ella debe aplacarlo con una sopa y debe golpear fiame
preparado con el pie de un ciervo. Al mismo tiempo, ella dara un macho cabrio a Esu y un
conejo a la noche. Si es Uree, ella nunca se advertira para descubrir lo que ella sabe de su
marido.

El Sacrificio Especial de este Odu por Ahorrar la Vida de Uno

Orunmila ni iyawo fere. Moni iyawo fere.

Oni, lyawo asin ni o fi nkpa eku. Iyawo osa ni o
fi nkpa eye. Iyawo ekun ni o fi nkpa eran. lyawo
aje ni o fi nkpa eni.
Orunmila elogi6 la alacridad, y yo tambien alabe la agilidad.
Orunmila explic6 entonces que esta con la agilidad y alacridad que
la rata canibal puntiagudo-olida mata otras ratas;
el halc6n tiene exito matando otros pajaros;
el tigre puede matar otros animales; y
la bruja tiene exito en los gran ganancia seres humanos.
Orunmila recomienda por consiguiente que para poder ahorrar uno mismo de las fuerzas
malas, uno debe
haga el sacrificio con los granos de la palma, sale, y un macho cabrio a Esu con la
encantaci6n.
Cuando la comida esta cocinandose, el cocinero es el primero en probar el sabor.
Aunque los ojos son el primero en ver el rio,
Es los pies que los toques el primero.

El Divined para la Familia del Mono para no estar Avido

Ohun rere ni o ma nyo ni akpo.

Ohun buburu ni o ma nyo ifonjade ninu akpo. Awon lo'ndifa fun
Ologbonjinire.
Es palabras buenas que traen el kolanuts de la bolsa. Es
palabras malas de que traen las flechas su' el caso.

Esos fueron los dos awos que la adivinaci6n hecho para el var6n rojo y los monos hembras.
Les aconsejaron que hicieran el sacrificio con los huevos del jardin ( el agbede en Yoruba) el
gallo, cenizas y una bolsa porosa. El mono masculino hizo el sacrificio pero el hembra se neg6
a hacerlo.

Entretanto, el mono masculino entr6 fuera en el arbusto en busca de la comida con que a
alimente a su familia. En llegar a una granja de maiz, el sigui6 sus rodillas para orar para el
duefio de la granja. El le pidi6 a Dios que protegiera al granjero de las manos frias de muerte y
stife, para que el viviera a traves del afio para hacer el afio siguiente a otra granja. Despues de
esto, el tir6 unos del maiz maduro y los tom6 casa para su familia comer. Los susbsequently
del mono masculinos le hicieron un habito regular para tirar el maiz de la granja despues de
orar para su duefio.
Entretanto, el granjero observ6 que un intruso desautorizado estaba tirando regularmente
el maiz de su granja El alist6 los servicios de un cazador entonces para investigar y matar
al intruso. Sin embargo, cuando el cazador lleg6 a la granja, el tom6 una posici6n de
ventaja de que para mirar el approch de cualquier intruso. El se desarm6 por la vista de un
mono que se arrodillaba para orar para el duefio de la granja antes de tirar unos maiz que
el llev6 casa. El cazador era demasiado compasivo al retofio.

Cuando el granjero not6 la incompetencia del cazador para tratar con el intruso, el
amonest6 y amenaz6 terminar sus servicios si el no rebajara la molestia. Despues de esto,
el cazador decidi6 tratar mas positivamente con la situaci6n. Al mismo tiempo, la esposa
del mono estaba acusandolo de no pr6xima casa con bastante maiz a alimente a la familia.
Ella decidi6 arrastrarlo a la granja poniendo las cenizas dentro de la balsa del pourous de
su marido por consiguiente. Las cenizas arrastraron detras de el cuando el pr6ximo fue a la
granja y la esposa sigui6 el ceniza-sendero a la granja.

Cuando el mono masculino lleg6 a la granja, el pas6 por su ritual habitual de orar primero
para el granjero. Cuando el cazador tom6 su arma para disparar, el mono hembra sali6
culpando a su marido de su mansedumbre y cobardia. Ella procedi6 tirar el maiz
indiscriminadamente. El cazador no tenia la vacilaci6n apretando el gatillo en el mono
hembra. Despues de dispararla, ella dej6 caer que el muerto y el mono masculino
ejecutaron casa.

Cuando el cazador movi6 para tomar la casa del mono muerta en su balsa, el tuvo noticias
una voz de su est6mago que lo advirti6 no tomar su casa. El la mat6 por consiguiente y
encontr6 una calabaza habladora en su est6mago. La calabaza advirti6 al cazador para no
tomarlo casa hasta que el hubiera sacado un pedazo de tela blanca, un tambor y un gong.

El cazador fue a casa para sacar los materiales y el se acompafi6 por otras personas a la
granja. En cuanto la calabaza se pusiera en la tela blanca, empez6 a cantar la musica del
pueblo. En cuanto ellos consiguieran al pueblo, la calabaza les dijo que construyeran una
uma para el que seria llamado Orisa Oko que se sirve hasta el momenta.

A la adivinaci6n, la persona se <lira a servir Orisa Oko y a mirar sus pronunciaciones

evitar a ser matado por las palabras de boca del his/her. Si el divinee es un hombre, le
aconsejaran que haga el sacrificio anterior para apartar el peligro de muerte a traves de la
acci6n de su esposa.
 Capitulo 10
IRETE-OSA
AROTESA

La Adivinacion que El Hizo Antes de Dejar el Cielo

gba yeke yeke, Awo Iranyin, odifa fun Orunmila nijo

ti onti kole Orun bowa si kole aye.

Ese era el Awo que la adivinacion hecho para el Odu cuando el estaba viniendo al mundo.
Le dijeron que hiciera los sacrificios siguientes: - a Esu con el macho cabrio, tortuga y tela
blanca, paloma y cauris; a su angel guardian con un camera, paloma, gallo - que era los
unkilled izquierdos a la union de cielo y tierra, y Olokun con el gallo blanco, tiza blanca,
tela blanca y cauris. El hizo todos los sacrificios antes de venir al mundo. Al mismo
tiempo la hija de Olokun dejo para el mundo.

El consiguio al mundo y se hizo un sacerdote de lfa. No era largo antes de que el se

encontrara a la hija de Olokun que era un comerciante y ellos se casaron. Ellos eran
bastante prosperos pero no tenian ningun nifio. Cuando el fue en el futuro por la
adivinacion, le dijeron que el se olvido de servir Osanyin/Osun en el cielo. Le aconsejaron
que sirviera Osun con un perro, tortuga, y un gallo. El hizo el sacrificio. El mes siguiente
su esposa se puso embarazada y en la llenura de tiempo ella dio el nacimiento a un nifio
hembra que fue nombrado Ayo. Ellos tenian muchos otros nifios y ellos prosperaron.

El Concurso para la Direccion Entre Esu y las Divinidades

Este odu revela la historia de lo que paso cuando las divinidades decidieron usar el
proceso de festejar para determinar la antigiiedad. A una reunion de las divinidades,
Orisa-Nla proclamo que que cada uno de ellos debe tomar se vuelve festejando los otros
en su casa a cada reunion. Orisa-Nla anuncio que el iba a organizar la primera reunion y
fiesta.

Mientras ellos estaban reflexionando en la materia, Esu parecia advertirlos que si ellos no
quisieran provocar su ira, ellos deben permitirle organizar el primero festeje y
encontrandose. Mientras ellos eran todos acallandolo abajo, el no proclamo eso que Dios
igual, su creador y padre tenian cualquier demanda a la antigiiedad encima de el. El los
recordo que ellos todos se lo encontraron en los pantanos mientras ellos estaban
descendiendo de la cima del arbol de la palma cuando ellos todos vinieron del cielo.
Desde que nadie fue preparado tomar su amenaza en serio, Esu retiro de la reunion.
Despues de esto, Orisa-Nla dijo preparar las otras divinidades para su fiesta a la proxima
reunion.

En el dia designado, Orisa-Nla habia preparado que una fiesta detallada de comida del
inexhaustable y bebidas y la mesa era fija. En cuanto ellos fueran todos congregados,
Orisa-Nla saco el kolanuts para orar. Como el el kolanuts estaba rompiendo, alli estaba
gritando, gritando e histeria del haren de Orisa-Nla. Dos de sus nifios jovenes habian
sido atacados por la convulsion y antes de que la ayuda pudiera localizarlos, ellos se
murieron. La fiesta era seguidamente abandonada, mientras dando manera de oscurecer y
rmsena.

En la proxima reunion, estaba el giro de Ogun y la misma casualidad se repitio como el

organizador perdio a dos nifios a convulsion que como consecuencia rompio la fiesta del
materialising. La casualidad se repitio en las casas de Olokun, Sango y Osanyin hasta que
viniera el giro de Orunmila. Antes de embarcar en su fiesta, Orunmila hizo la adivinacion,
y foe dicho hacer el sacrificio con un macho cabrio y las imageries de bronce de un
hombre, la primacia que lanza de una mujer, y las imagenes de barro de varon y los
conejos hembras. Le aconsejaron depositar las imageries en la uma de Esu y verter la
sangre del macho cabrio en ellos. Despues de hacer el sacrificio, el procedio preparar para
su fiesta.

Una vez mas en cuanto las divinidades fueran congregadas, Orisa-Nla estaba hendiendose
el kolanuts cuando un alboroto se tuvo noticias del traspatio de la casa de Orunmila. Dos
de sus nifios, un muchacho y una muchacha habian desarrollado la convulsion, pero en
cuanto las divinidades salieran para verlos, los nifios estomudaron y se volvieron bien.
Esu los habia relevado entretanto de la convulsion en la deferencia al sacrificio que el
hizo. Al mismo tiempo, ellos vieron la imagen de bronce del hombre que baila con la
imagen de primacia de la mujer mientras las imagenes de barro de varon y los conejos
hembras tambien estaban bailando en el vertedero de la basura (Etitan u Otiku) a la parte
de atras de la casa de Orunmila. Mientras ellos estaban mirando las imagenes misteriosas,
Esu invito aves y cabras a destruir la comida preparada para la fiesta que asi se volvio un
non-evento.

A ese punto, Esu reaparecio para renovar su jactancia que a menos que ellos todos
concedieron la antigiiedad a el invitandolo a empezar el festejando, ninguno de ellos
tendrian exito organizando uno eficazmente. Habiendo ninguna otra opcion salida, Esu foe
invitado a organizar la proxima fiesta.

En su dia de la fiesta, Esu preparo que la comida inagotable y bebidas y todas las
divinidades comieron y bebieron a su satisfaccion. Despues de la fiesta, Esu saco el
bronce y lleva con que Orunmila hizo el sacrificio y dijo a las divinidades fundirlos abajo
para el uso como el dinero. Asi, era Esu que produjo el bronce, cobre y primacia de que el
dinero era manufacturado como un media de intercambio, mientras reemplazando los
cauris creados por Dios. Por eso Orunmila ha revelado ese Esu foe el que creo el dinero, y
por que es que ese dinero sirve, hechuras, destruye y mata a la humanidad, mientras
dependiendo del papel uno le permite jugar en la vida de uno.

Cuando este odu aparece a Ugbodu ya la adivinacion, la persona debe aconsejarse para
refrenar de cualquier concurso para la superioridad con cualquiera porque es las cabezas
que usted pierde y va detras de usted pierde. El debe servir Esu con un macho cabrio y las
imagenes de un varon y una hembra prevenir perdida de nifios.

El Divined para la Divinidad de la Noche Cuando El estaba Dejando el Cielo

Bi ore le tu ka ki o tu ka. Bi ore ba le ba je, ki o baje

Adi fa fun A won iyami Oshoronga
bowa si kole aye.
 El amigo de Ifa prefiere venerar en la maldad, permitale permanecer abominable.
Si el prefiere estar sucio, permitale permanecer repulsivo.

Esos fueron los dos awos que la adivinaci6n hecho para la divinidad de Brujeria, cuando
el estaba viniendo al mundo. Le aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio con una cabra, fiame
y una calabaza de aceite de la palma. El hizo el sacrificio.

En conseguir al mundo, el descubri6 esa maldad tenia el premio mas rapido que la
benevolencia. El decidi6 practicar iniquidad y atrocidad por consiguiente, asi como el era
notorio para, en el cielo. Ellos empezaron matando al hijo de Ogun llamado Oriseku,
seguido por Orile-imere el hijo de Osanyin. Cuando ellos quisieron tomar Afuwakpe, el
hijo de Orunmila, que el les pidi6 que le dieran tiempo para decirle a su padre que el
estaba devolviendo al cielo a su caso y su deseo fue concedido.

Cuando el mencion6 su condici6n a su padre, el prepar6 un olla conteniendo; un tuberculo

llamado Abirishoko en Yoruba y Olikhoro en Bini, tres huevos, tres guijarros y tres cauris.
Despues de prepararlo con el iyerosun de este odu, el dio la olla a su hijo pedirles a los
Superiores de la Noche que comer los volumenes antes de comerlo. Cuando ellos ( ocho
de ellos) estaba comiendo los volumenes de la olla, un argumento en la antigiiedad
sucedi6 entre ellos. Mientras ellos estaban luchando entre si, Afuwakpe corri6 lejos.

A Ugbodu, la persona se aconsejara para no pertenecer a cualquier reunion, y para no

criticar el club de brujeria. El debe servir la noche con un conejo y el tuberculo de
Abirishoko/Olikhoro.

La Adivinacion lo Constituy6 Antes de que El Prosperara

Arijanjanijan awo He Orunmila. Odifa fun Orunmila nijo

ti onfi ogbon ara re ni kon she ofo arare. Ti ko
she ishe fun. Onfi ko'dun o faa ko to arawon. 0 ba
nkpe Arijanjankijan kpe kini o ti h yi.

Arijanjankijan era un substituto de Orunmila que el divined de el cuando el prefiri6

confiar su inteligencia por resolver sus problemas. El empuj6 y tir6 en varias direcciones,
pero el no podria hacerlo. Al fin de su ingenio, el invit6 a su substituto para consejo.
Arijanjankijan le dijo que diera un macho cabrio a Esu y una gallina a la noche. El hizo el
sacrificio y las cosas empezaron a funcionar para el. Como consecuencia, el se encontr6 a
su primera esposa que trajo la prosperidad en su vida.

A la adivinaci6n la persona debe decirse tener su propio Ifa para prosperar.

El Divined para el Multi-propesito Diviner

A rote sa Kobo. Bi olu odide. Bi akoba

de yeu. Adifa fun Shawa sheshigun ounti kole
orun bo wa si kole aye.
El que simpatiza profusamente con la victima de su maldad.
El rey de Loras. Nadie sabe lo que esta en un cuarto intemo sin entrar en el.
Esos eran los Awos que la adivinacion hecho para el multi-facetted sacerdote divino que no
solo era un hechicero, pero tambien un vidente, diviner y un Sacerdote de Ifa. Le aconsejaron
hacer el sacrificio y tener cuidado con de sus hermanos menores. Le aconsejaron que no
viviera con cualquiera de su borthers menor, porque su cabeza era mas fuerte que su propio. Si
ellos vivieran juntas, la cabeza de su hermano lo mataria prematuramente. Le dijeron que
tuviera su propio Ifa para vivir a una vejez madura. El hizo los sacrificios y considero el
consejo y vivio a una vejez madura.

Cuando este Odu aparece a la adivinacion, la persona se <lira tener su propio Ifa en el orden
vivir mucho tiempo y abstenerse de permitirellas a su hermano menor o a hermana vivir con el
en una base permanente, para evitar a ser matado por la cabeza de su menor. Si el divinee es
una mujer, ella se dara el mismo consejo y dijo estar cerca de Orunmila.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Olayoriju Omo Akpogbonshorun

Arotesa, Arotejo, Arotekpa kube, Ono se taara goke.

Esos eran los Awos que la adivinacion hecho para Olayoriju, el hijo de Akpogbonshorun que
fue aconsejado para hacer el sacrificio con seis cocos. El hizo el sacrificio. El tambien sirvio
Esu con un macho cabrio. Le dijeron que sirviera su cabeza con tres de los cocos. Despues de
los sacrificios, el empezo a prosperar y canto en la alabanza de Orunmila y los sacerdotes de
Ifa.

A la adivinacion, la persona debe aconsejarse para hacer el sacrificio para que su o su

prosperidad podria florecer.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para Akerenikeyo Take Su Corona Padre

Arotesa, Arotejo, Arotekpakube Kube. Oro kan ni be'le ti

oju ogun lo.

Esos eran los Awos que la adivinacion hecho para Akerenikeyo cuando el iba a ascender el
trono de su padre. Le aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio con su ropa llevando, kolokolo
llamado y un macho cabrio grande. El no solo se nego a hacer el sacrificio pero tambien
empezo a alardear que nadie pudiera privarlo del trono de su padre, mientras siendo el
heredero claro.

Cuando Esu fue dicho que Akerenikeyo se nego a hacer el sacrificio, Esu lo engatuso empezar
bailando a la melodia de su tamborilear, dos dias antes de las ceremonias de coronacion eran
empezar. Como el estaba bailando a la melodia de Esu esta tamborileando, Akere empezo a
cantar.

Leni Leni ni emi yio jo. Onishinko. Leni leni. Lola Lola ni
emi yio jo. Onishinko, lo'la tola

Como el estaba bailando el tambien empezo al summersault. Como el estaba bailando y

summersaulting, Esu pestafieo sus ojos a Akerenikeyo que al instante se cayo a la tierra,
mientras fracturando su hueso del muslo. Siguiendo su impedimenta fisico, los fabricantes del
rey anunciaron como consecuencia que un hombre parcialmente lisiado
no pudiera hacerse el rey. Se coronaron su hermano menor y un segundo hijo de su padre
entonces el rey.

A la adivinaci6n, la persona debe aconsejarse hacer el sacrificio y no permitir la encima de-

confianza para privarlo del beneficio de una pr6xima promoci6n o upliftment
 El capitulo 11
IRETE-ETURA
IRETE - ETURA
ESEKON-LA
El Hizo la Adivinacion para la Boca y el Abdomen

Esekon tee lomi. Esekan Kpasa le Okiti. Odifa fun Enu,

Abufun inu nijo ti won ti kole own bowa si kole aye, Ebo
aamubo ni Kiwon ni o.

Una pierna estaba dentro del rio, y el otro estaba en la tierra. Ese era el Awo que la
adivinacion hecho para la Boca y el Abdomen cuando ellos estaban viniendo al mundo. El
estomago fue aconsejado para hacer el sacrificio con las cosas estropeadas, podrido y
materiales del disused y para dar un macho cabrio a Esu. Antes de que el alcanzara el lugar de
Orunmila para el sacrificio el ultimo ya habia preparado una bolsa para el. La bolsa se dio a
Esu sin el macho cabrio. Despues de esto, el dej6 para el mundo.

En conseguir al mundo, nadie tomo aviso de el. Por otro lado, la Boca tambien hizo la
adivinacion con Orunmila. Le dijeron que sirviera lfa con un carnero, y su cabeza con el gallo
blanco y la gallina blanca porque el iba a ser el portavoz del bdy entero. El hizo el sacrificio y
dej6 para el mundo. Le dijeron que dirigiera claro de sus relaciones en la tierra. El se encontro
el estornago que se quej6 como consecuencia que el habia estado encontrando la vida dificil
desde venir al mundo. Fuera de simpatia, la Boca invito el estomago a vivir con el y el
sacrificio hizo por el anterior como consecuencia beneficio los dos de ellos. Ellos cooperaron
tan eficazmente que ellos se pusieron muy amistosos, aunque la Boca nunca supo el volumen
de la bolsa que Orunmila dio al Est6mago.

Por eso nadie sabe la naturaleza totalmente de su o su hombre compafiero y mujer hasta el
momento, porque nadie sabe el volumen de la bolsa del est6mago. En el contraste, la Boca es
en la vida tan Ilana y amistosa con todos.

Cuando aparece a Ugbodu, la persona debe aconsejarse para tener cuidado con de relaciones
pero debe servir Esu y la Noche. A la adivinacion, la persona debe servir la cabeza con un
gallo y Esu con un macho cabrio.

La Adivinacion que El Constituyo a la Madre de Okpere

Kpeje fuuru kpeje. Adifa fun Okpere to'nshe wole wode Orisa to
ni oun ko mo ewu. Bi oju ba mo Okpere yi ojade si ajude iya're. A
a ni ko se'wu. Kewu, do se'wu ke wu.

Ese era el Awo que la adivinacion hecho para la madre del canto Okpere (Ukpomobie en
Bini). en cuanto el pajaro se despertara por la mafiana que el empezaria gritando - hay ningun
problema, ningun problema, ningun problema. Su madre intento en vano detenerlo de hacer
ese tipo de anuncio.
Entretanto, los pajaros mas grandes y camivoros empezaron a buscar la morada del pajaro que
siempre no estaba hacienda "ningun problema" a aquellos los anuncios para averiguar la fuente
de su fuerza. El Halcon decidido hacer una gira del reconocimiento para localizar el pajaro es
donde sabre.

Al mismo tiempo la madre del realising del pajaro que la jactancia de su hijo fue ligada para
entrarlo mas pronto en el problema que despues decidio ir a Orunmila por la adivinacion, A la
adivinacion, le dijeron que el problema ya estaba en el offing y que ella pudiera hacer a solo
sacrificio minimizar el efecto y no evitar. Le dijeron que hiciera el sacrificio con un huevo y
lana de algodon. Ella hizo el sacrificio inmediatamente.

La mafiana siguiente, Okpere salio de nuevo y empezo su dia como de costumbre gritando el
"Ko se'wu kewu". Desconocido a el el Halcon estaba mirandolo. Antes de que el gritara un
tercer tiempo, el Halcon lo agarro por sus dos pies mientras su cabeza estaba enfrentando hacia
abajo y volo lejos con el. Esu intervino inmediatamente aconsejando el Halcon que asiendolo,
Okpere comprenderian que pudiera haber problema, y que el tendria el learnt su leccion. El
debe dejarlo caer chocar en la tierra por consiguiente.

El Halcon considero el consejo de Esu y dejo caer Okpere. Como el estaba cayendose a la
tierra, Esu uso la lana de algodon con que su madre hizo el sacrificio para poner cojines en su
impacto en la tierra y Okpere se cayo en la lana de algodon sin sostener cualquier lesion. En
cuanto el se cayera a la tierra, el se encontro con la seguridad de la casa de su madre. Desde
aquel momenta, el cambio su melodia a "Shaorao, mbe del ewu, el ewumbe" de mbe de ewu,
mientras significando, tenga cuidado, hay problema, hay problema, el problema, el problema,
problema" que ha seguido siendo la sefial de la llamada de Okpere hasta el momenta.

A la adivinacion, la persona se <lira guardar un reloj intimo en el his/her nifio terco y

fachendoso joven que hablara su manera en el problema. Si es Uree, la persona debe hacer el
sacrificio con un huevo y lana de algodon, Si es Ayeo, significa que que las brujas ya lo han
puesto en lista para la eliminacion y el sacrificio que debe hacerse en ese dia para que el o ella
pudieran sobrevivir una enfermedad inevitable.

La Adivinacion que El Hizo Antes de Dejar el Cielo

Ose kan te lomi, Esekan kpasa le okiti. Una piema dentro del rio y una piema en la tierra era el
nombre del Awo que hizo

la adivinacion para Irete-Etura cuando el estaba viniendo al mundo. Le aconsejaron que hiciera
el sacrificio con: una gallina, cuatro caracoles, una cabra, tortuga, rata y pez a su angel
guardian (Okekponrin); el gallo, tortuga y tela negra a Osanyin/Osun. le exigieron que hiciera
el sacrificio para aliviar los problemas el iba a tener en los nifios productivos, y para prosperar
en la tierra. El hizo los sacrificios y dejo para la tierra. Antes de salir, le aconsejaron que
ademas de sus practicas de Ifa, el debe tener tarnbien sus propios Ogun y umas de Osun en la
tierra.

En conseguir a la tierra, el tomo a la practica de Ifism, pero el no estaba hacienda muy bien. El
no podria permitirse el lujo de casarse ni siquiera. Los dos sacerdotes divinos
que vinieron al mismo tiempo al mundo con el que Ogun y Osanyin tambien estaban
holgazaneando sobre sin la vida fija.

Una noche, su angel guardian aparecia a el recordarlo que el se habia olvidado de las dos
divinidades que lo acompafiaron al mundo y que sin su cooperacion, el no lo haria en la
tierra. Cuando el se desperto por la mafiana, el decidio sonar su okekponrin y su propio Ifa
aparecia en la bandeja. Le dijeron que sirviera su lfa con una cabra, y para usar la came
para preparar una fiesta para las personas alrededor de el. El hizo el sacrificio e invito a las
personas suficientes a la fiesta. Alguno de su invitees estaban haciendo broma de el
preguntando por que el tenia que hacer tal una fiesta detallada cuando el tenia ningun
familiar de su propio.

Entre el invitees dos figuras del stange que vivieron en el pueblo estaban, pero quien
nunca se lo habia encontrado. Resulto mas tarde que ellos eran Ogun y sacerdotes de
Osanyin y que sus angeles guardianes tambien habian aparecido a ellos en los suefios,
mientras dirigiendolos asistir a la fiesta que Orunmila iba a tirar. Despues de comer y
beber en la casa de Orunmila, los dos sacerdotes divinos eran bebido y en su delirum, ellos
empezaron a decir el sooths como si poseyo. Ellos el divined para Orunmila que le dice
que sirviera Ogun y Osun respectivamente con un perro, gallo, tortuga y vino de la palma.
Ellos tambien el divined para ellos para servir a sus angeles guardianes.

Despues de la fiesta, Orunmila acordo saber sus casas y ellos le ayudaban como
consecuencia preparar sus Ogun y umas de Osun. A proposito, aunque Orunmila les dijo
despues la adivinacion que ellos se constituyeron durante las catalepsias. Ellos sin
embargo no hicieron los sacrificios a sus angeles guardianes.

Por otro lado, tres meses despues de hacer su sacrificio y festeja, el bethrothed de Olofin
su hija a Orunmila para compensarlo para la adivinacion eficaz y sacrificar el lo
constituyo. Cuando su amistad solidifico, Orunmila pudo persuadir a sus dos amigos para
hacer sus sacrificios despues de que, ellos tambien se casaron. A proposito, durante un
afio entero despues de su matrimonio, ninguno de ellos habia podido poner a su esposa de
la manera familiar.

Como Orunmila tenia su Primer Nino

Atras en el cielo, su angel guardian estaba ansioso enviar a un nifio a el en la tierra. Una
mafiana, tres nifios estaban ostentando el cuarto ocupado por los angeles guardianes
cuando el angel guardian de Orunmila los invito y los persuade ir a su hijo y sus amigos
en la tierra. Ellos estaban de acuerdo pero le dijeron al angel guardian que ellos eran las
hadas e iban por una estancia corta en la tierra. No obstante, el les convencio que fueran y
que si su hijo supiera que hacer, el debe poder detener al nifio para sobrevivirlo a en la
tierra.

Despues de que los tres nifios dejaron al angel guardian de Orunmila, ellos se encontraron
a los angeles guardianes de Ogun y Osun que hicieron las apelaciones similares a ellos
como consecuencia.

Antes de que ellos dejaran el cielo, ellos fueron a sus propios angeles guardianes por el
despacho de aduanas. El mayor de los tres Ajifono que prometio ir a Ogun en la tierra se
llamo y que el devolveria al cielo en el dia su padre realizaria su ceremonia de la
denominacion, El segundo uno se llamo Okpadeere que prometio ir a Osanyin y que el
tambien devolveria al cielo en el dia que su padre realizo su ceremonia de la denominacion, El
tercero uno se llamo Ajidibo que prometio ir a Orunmila, y juro devolver al cielo en el dia su
padre realizo su adivinacion de ceremonia de denominacion, Los tres nifios eran las hadas y
estaban dejando para la tierra de la tierra de hadas. (Ile-imere en Yoruba o Evbo - Igbakhuan
en Bini).

Atras en la tierra, la esposa de Ogun fue el primero vuelto embarazada, siguio por la esposa de
Osun y finalmente siguio por la esposa de Orunmila. El problema con Ogun y Osun es que
ellos se comportan como el espejo que puede ver los problemas de otros pero no su propio. En
su parte, en cuanto su esposa se pusiera embarazada, Orunmila hizo la adivinacion para
averiguar el tipo de nifio que estaba viniendo a el. Su propio Odu aparecia de nuevo que
significo que el nifio era una hada. A estas alturas, debe darse enfasis a que si este Odu
aparece a U gbodu, el hombre es una hada y los sacrificios requerido deben hacerse darle un
palmo largo de vida en la tierra. El tambien se casara a una hada y sus nifios o muchos de ellos
tambien serian las hadas.

A la adivinacion, su Okekponrin (adivinacion de Ikin que solo puede revelarse a aquellos que
han sido al conclave de la iniciacion confidencial de Ugbodu), le dijo que sirviera Esu en
seguida con un taburete, cuatro U-saeta, tres garrotes cortos y un macho cabrio, para que Esu
pudieran arrestar al nifio para permanecer en la tierra porque el era una hada. Sus ifa tambien
le dijeron nunca realizar cualquier fiesta de ceremonia de denominacion o adivinacion y
marcar el nacimiento del nifio, y mas pretenciosamente, el debe preparar Ifa para el nifio antes
de que el naciera. El tambien estaba informado que para con tal de que el viviera, el no debe
pedirle al nifio que haga la adivinacion del ibo (Dibo en Yoruba y Yan-Uta en Bini).

En la llenura de tiempo, la esposa de Ogun entrego a un nifio masculino y el estaba muy

contento. Una semana despues, la esposa de Osun tambien entrego a un nifio masculino, y el
tambien estaba muy contento. Ellos decidieron que ellos tampoco realizarian las fiestas de
ceremonia de denominacion hasta la esposa de Orunmila entregada. Tres meses despues del
nacimiento del nifio de Osun, la esposa de Orunmila dio finalmente tambien el nacimiento a
un nifio masculino.

Una semana despues del nacimiento del nifio de Orunmila, Ogun decidio realizar la fiesta que
marca la ceremonia de la denominacion de su mucho deseo al nifio. El fue al bosque para
cazar para todos los tipos de animales del cesped-cortador a un antilope, cerdo del arbusto,
ciervo y bufalo. El tambien taladro el vino de la palma en la abundancia por la ocasion. En el
dia de la fiesta, la comida se habia cocinado y la mesa era fija mientras los vinos estaban listos.
El invito el Shashere de Ife a ser el presidente de la ocasion. Cuando el Shashere estaba orando
con el kolanuts, la madre del nifio estaba sosteniendolo en su regazo. Cuando el primer
kolanut estaba estando roto, el nifio empezo a estremecerse en el regazo de su madre y cuando
ella noto que sus ojos habian ido blancos, ella clamo, El nifio habia desarrollado la convulsion
y el se murio casi inmediatamente.

La ceremonia se volvio un non-evento. La experiencia de Ogun no le ensefio ninguna leccion

a Osun porque el prosiguio arreglar la ceremonia de la denominacion de su propio hijo durante
la proxima quincena. El tambien fue a las grandes longitudes para preparar a una fiesta marcar
la ocasion. Como si la historia estuviera repitiendo el, Osun
tenia la misma experiencia como Ogun. Entretanto, Ajifono el hijo de Ogun despues de
tei'iir, fue al limite de cielo y tierra para esperar por sus dos otros amigos. Como la
ceremonia de la denominaci6n de Okpadeere, el hijo de Osun estaba a punto de comenzar,
Ajifono empez6 a cantar como sigue:

"Emi Ajifono omo Ogun ti duro al Orita-ljaloko. Emina

kpe e o, iwo Okpadeere ke so omo Osanyin.
Omo rue 'gege wa bo ba mi o o". Como el la canci6n estaba cantando
repetidamente, el hijo de Osun consigui6 el mensaje.

Cuando la comida estaba repartiendose fuera al invitees que el nii'io se volvi6 sus ojos y
antes de que la madre comprendiera lo que estaba pasando, el se muri6, mientras trayendo
la ceremonia a un fin abrupto. Todos los ojos estaban ahora en el hijo de Orunmila.
Contrariamente a todas las expectativas, Orunmila se neg6 a que los tp hacen cualquier
ceremonia de la denominaci6n. A pesar de la ausencia de cualquier ceremonia, los dos
colegas de su hijo estaban de pie al limite de cielo y tierra (Oritaljaloko) para estar
granizando en el unirlos.

En cuanto Ajidibo, el hijo de Orunmila oy6 la canci6n, el desarroll6 un frio. Estaba en ese
punto que Esu consigui6 su club y fue a ahuyentar a los hijos de Ogun y Osun hacia el
cielo. En cuanto sus dos amigos salieran, el hijo de Orunmila se volvi6 bien, porque Esu
lo habia clavado abajo en el taburete sentarse y vivir con sus padres.

El sacrificio hecho por Orunmila ante el nifio naci6 es los specical de este Odu sacrifican
por detener una hada para vivir con sus padres en la tierra. El tenia varios otros nii'ios
como consecuencia.

Cuando este Odu aparece a U gbodu o en una adivinaci6n de ceremonia de denominaci6n,

la persona debe estar conocido como una hada. Deben hacerse los arreglos sin el retraso
para hacer el sacrificio para hacer a la persona quedarse en la tierra.

La Adivinacion que El Constituy6 Sango

Esekonla hizo la adivinaci6n para Sango cuando el estaba teniendo los problemas en la
tierra. El se habia olvidado de sus votos celestiales tambien. El hecho que Orunmila era
que el unico que guard6 a su propio nifio despues de las muertes de los nifios de Ogun y
Osun lo hizo mas popular que en la vida antes de. Sango tenia ninguna esposa y ningun
nifio. El decidi6 ir a Orunmila por la adivinaci6n. Le dijeron que no se casara un luz-
complexioned la mujer, pero que el debe servir a su angel guardian con un gallo rojo, la
calabaza del uncut con el cuello largo ( el ishere) la bandeja de madera, un taburete de
madera sin el agujero en el, camwood, pimienta del caiman, kola amargo y kolanuts para
permitir a su vida sentarse propiamente. El fue a casa para hacer el sacrificio.

No largo despues de que el hizo el sacrificio, el se encontr6 a una mujer del complexioned
bastante ligera que, desconocido a el, era la hija de la divinidad de muerte. El se barrio
fuera de sus sentidos por la belleza entrampando de la mujer y cuando el propuso a ella,
ella estaba de acuerdo en seguida y el tom6 su casa para vivir con ella. Esa noche, el hizo
el amor a ella y la mai'iana siguiente, ella ya estaba embarazada y teniendo sefiales de
labor.
Una vez mas, Sango corri6 atras a Orunmila para la adivinaci6n y el le aconsej6 que sirviera
Esu en seguida con siete machos cabrio. Orunmila predijo que la mujer iba a dar el nacimiento
a un el nifio masculino, pero que el debe hacer el sacrificio antes de que ella entregara. Sango
tenia ninguna intenci6n de hacer el sacrificio porque el hizo una broma de Orunmila que
pidiendole que hiciera el sacrificio con siete machos cabrio, el estaba mirando para la came
con que a alimente a su familia y el no iba a recibirlo de el.

Cuando el sol estaba poniendo en ese dia, la mujer entr6 en la labor y dio el nacimiento a un
nifio masculino. Sango regocij6 eso a pesar de no servir Esu con siete machos cabrio, su
esposa habia entregado seguramente. Cuando el nifio clam6, provoc6 temblores y
Shockwaves. En la tarde de ese dia, habia un lamento de la casa de Sango porque la madre y
nifio se habian muerto tan de repente coma ellos entraron en la vida de Sango.

A la adivinaci6n para el matrimonio, la persona se <lira que la mujer que el tiene en la mente
es una hada y si ella es justa en el cutis, el no debe casarsela. Si aparece para una mujer
embarazada, el marido se <lira servir Esu con un macho cabrio vivo y seis craneos de machos
cabrio, para que la madre y el nifio ( qui en sera masculino) podria vivir.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Olofin

Esekonla, awo Olofin, Odifa fun Ule gingihn, lyale

Olofin. Abufun Oro'jo, tiin she lyawo Olofin.
Aniki Olofin m ebo.

Este odu hicieron la adivinaci6n para dos de las esposas de Olofin, la mayor esposa que era
arrebatada y para la esposa fresco-encabezada menor que estaba embarazada. Cuando la
esposa embarazada estaba a punto de entregar, su mayor compafiero vino a apoyarla. Ella hizo
la menor para creer que ella tuvo que ser vendada coma la parte del proceso de la entrega. En
cuanto ella entregara al nifio, el mayor compafiero cubri6 la boca del nifio para detenerlo de
llorar. Despues de esto, ella estrangul6 al hebe inocente a la muerte y fue lanzado coma
consecuencia lejos. Ule-giriri repiti6 el mismo proceso en dos entregas subsecuentes por
Oroojo.

La perdida del tercer nifio la madre de Oroojo persigui6 a Orunmila para adivinaci6n a que le
dijeron que diera un macho cabrio a Esu y ella hizo. Cuando Oroojo estaba entregandola tercer
embarazo, su mayor compafiero tenia una calabaza listo. Este tiempo Esu cambi6 a su mente y
ella no mat6 al nifio en seguida. En cambio, ella insert6 una piedra cubierta en sangre entre el
regazo de Oroojo para dar la apariencia que ella dio el nacimiento a una piedra, mientras
cubriendo al nifio real a en una calabaza.

Cuando los lamentos habian terminado, ella llev6 la calabaza que contiene al nifio a un
hormiguero y lo dej6 caer dentro. Desconocido sin embargo, a ella un tapper de vino de palma
le vieron dejar caer la calabaza en el hormiguero abierto. En cuanto ella saliera, los tapper de
vino de palma bajaron para ver lo que la calabaza contuvo. El fue asombrado para ver que
contuvo al hebe de un recien nacido que todavia estaba vivo. El tom6 la casa del hebe y pidi6 a
uno de sus esposas plantearlo con su pecho-leche porque ella tambien habia entregado
simplemente. Era un muchacho del hebe.
El tapper de vino de palma y su esposa tuvieron el cuidado bueno del nifio que creci6 para
llevar un parecido perspicaz a su padre, el Olofin. En cuanto el nifio creciera para ser un
adulto, los tapper de vino de palma le dijeron al hombre joven que fue dicho hasta aqui
nunca sabre su patemidad para asistir a una ceremonia en el palacio de Olofin. El parecia
tanto coma el Olofin que todos exclamamos "Cuando Kabiyesi tenian este nifio? ". Como
si los tapper de vino de palma ellos pidieran a Rey ya Jefes que confirmaran sus
indicaciones cuyo el parecido el nifio aburri6 y ellos todos confirmaron unanimemente
que el la copia del carbono de Olofin era.

Los tapper de vino de palma procedieron narrar c6mo dieciocho afios antes de, el vio el
girigiri de Ule el lyale de dep6sito de Olofin una calabaza dentro de un hormiguero.
Cuando el baj6 para verificar el volumen de la calabaza, el vio al muchacho del hebe de
un recien nacido. Desde entonces el habia estado cuidando del nifio. Cuando el lyale fue
invitado a explicar, ella confirm6 la historia del tapper de vino de palma, mientras
agregando que ella tambien era responsable para matar a los primeros dos nifios de Oroojo
porque ella no queria que ella tuviera un nifio en la casa real. Ella era sumariamente
probada y ejecutada y Oroojo fue hecho tener lugar.

El tapper de vino de palma se premi6 oportunamente con los regalos y un titulo del
chieftaincy. A la muerte del Olofin el nifio fue coronado para tener exito a su padre.

Cuando este odu aparece a la adivinaci6n para una mujer, deben decirle que ella tenia el
nifio los problemas productivos y debe pedirle a su madre ir y hacer la adivinaci6n para
ella, en el additon a dar un macho cabrio a Esu. El craneo del macho cabrio se montara
con la medicina de Ifa con las hojas apropiadas que incluyen oveja-lakparada, y contuvo
un hormiguero en la manera al pueblo de la casa de su marido o pueblo porque eso es
donde su mayor compafiero prepar6 la medicina que le impidi6 tener un nifio viviente.

El Sacrificio Especial de este Odu para la Prosperidad

Orunmila ni ese kan tan ni mo'na. Oni ese kan tan ti Aworogun
na ni yi ofiri ire ni idi Ogun re. Oni ese kan tan ti akakpo
ti oun na. Oni rere ni yi omafi ri.

Orunmila proclam6 que cuando el estira fuera sus piemas que pronostica el advenimiento
de fortuna buena porque las piemas estiraron fuera por Aworogun que significa el
coronamiento de sus esfuerzos con la prosperidad, asi coma el estirando fuera de sus
piemas por su sacerdote de Ifa marca el principio de su exito. El agreg6 sin embargo que
el sacrificio debe hacerse con las palomas suficientes, porque las palomas usan sus alas
para volar la prosperidad en la casa de su duefio.

A la adivinaci6n, la persona se aconsejara para hacer el sacrificio para tener exito en sus
venturas.

Divined para Orunmila Antes de De viaje a Ekiti

Ese kan gbu lomi. Ese kan gbu le'kiti.

Esos eran los awos que la adivinaci6n hecho para Orunmila antes de que el viajara a Ekiti para
rebajar una epidemia del infanticidal. Le dijeron que hiciera el sacrificio con seis cadenas, un
pollo y cualquier planta espinosa. El hizo el sacrificio.

En conseguir a Ekiti, el hizo el sacrificio con el macho cabrio a Esu y la epidemia rebajadas.
Los nifios dejaron de tefiir inmediatamente.

A la adivinaci6n, la persona debe aconsejarse para hacer el sacrificio para prevenir el peligro
de la muerte de nifios multiples.
 El capitulo 12
IRETE-EKA
ATEKA

El Hizo la Adivinacion para la Lengua Cuando en medio de los Enemigos

Irete adoko babalawo Uwan. Odifa fn Uwan nijo to mbe

laarinrin ota. Wo ni ebo nikiwonru. Ugbu ni ebo re eku, eja
eko akara ati ebo adiye.

El hizo la adivinaci6n para la Lengua que vivi6 en medio de enemigos que eran los posised
para destruirlo. Le dijeron que hiciera el sacrificio con cuatro caracoles, rata, pez, gallina, eko
y akara. La Lengua hizo el sacrificio despues de que todos sus enemigos que estaban
esperando eliminarlo se fijaron abajo por Esu permanecer inm6vil en sus posiciones. Asi, la
Lengua empez6 a mover libremente sin cualquier dafio de sus enemigos. Sus enemigos eran
los dientes que lo rodean.

A la adivinaci6n la persona se <lira que el o ella se rodean por las enemigas estrechamente
relacionadas. Si el he/she puede hacer el sacrificio, el el o ella sobrevivira o incluso
sobrevivira a a los enemigos. Por eso los dientes tiraron fuera de de la mandibula que deja la
Lengua para vivir con la cabeza al fin de vida.

El Hizo la Adivinacion Para El Okro Cuando Ella Iba a la Granja

Ateka teka, babalawo Ilia, Odifa fun ilia nijo ti o nlo si oko al
ore odun. Won ni ki ilia ru ebo. Ilia ko ru ebo na

El hizo la adivinaci6n para el Okro cuando ella iba a la granja para apartar el peligro de muerte
subita despues de tener los nifios, Ella no hizo el sacrificio. En la granja, ella creci6 ser muy
bonito y tan alto, que el granjero tenia que doblarla abajo cortar sus frutas despues de que ella
fue desechada para marchitar lejos.

A la adivinaci6n, la persona se <lira hacer el sacrificio y se aconsejara para no ser

insubordinado a su o su superior, jefes, propietario, esposo y personas mayor, para que no se
usara la fuerza al supress el I ella a la sumisi6n.

La Adivinacion que El Hizo Antes de Dejar el Cielo

Kakara mukokoro, awo oyi oba Orunmila. Je ki mi ri to ma

gbamila. Awon ni won lo'ndifa fun Orunmila nijo to'nti kole
orun bowa si kola aye.

Aqui viene Irete Eka, Oh vos el awo de la divinidad del viento, permitame encontrar el Awo
que ahorrara mi vida. Esos eran los Awos que la adivinaci6n hecho para Irete-Eka cuando el
estaba viniendo al mundo. El habia sido a varios diviners que no podria satisfacerlo. El se
encontr6 como consecuencia con el diviner del viento que fue
suspendido en el aire. Los diviner le aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio para obviar el
peligro de volver de la tierra en una prisa. Le aconsejaron que sirviera: su angel guardian
con un camera y cuatro caracoles; Ogun con un gallo, perro y tortuga; Esu con un macho
cabrio; la divinidad de Muerte con un millipede y para traerlo ( el awo del viento) dos
palomas porque el iba a uno de aquellos para ayudarlo en la tierra.

El hizo todos los sacrificios solo que el no pudiera encontrar un millipede. Despues de
comer su macho cabrio sin embargo, Esu puso el fuego al lugar donde los millipedes eran,
y siete de ellos corrieron fuera ajetreado. Ateka tomo uno de ellos a la divinidad de muerte
que estaba muy contento tenerlo que porque el tenia para largo esta buscando uno. La
muerte oro para el permanecer fresco y joven mientras en la tierra, mientras nunca
prometiendo venir a su direccion, a menos que cuando el se alimento a con la vida en la
tierra. Los diviner del viento tambien le aconsejaron siempre hablarle volando la tiza y
salar a el a traves del aire.

Su estilo de practica del awo lo trajo pronto a las desigualdades con el mas mayor awos el
se encontro en la tierra y ellos empezaron a cazar con escopeta para el. El era un Awo
considerado que exigio las cuotas modestas para sus servicios, en contraste con las cuotas
opresivas tradicionalmente exigidas por otro Awos. El siempre era cayente enfermo. El
invoco su awo celestial entonces a traves del viento con la tiza y sala en su palma. Los
awo como consecuencia visitados su casa en la compafiia de otro Awo llamados
Aganmurere. Ellos los dos prepararon las hojas para el bafiar despues de que ellos lo
aseguraron que ningun enemigo podria en la vida dafiarlo mas.

Despues de esto, los awo devolvieron a cielo que deja a su compafiero, Aganmurere para
quedarse con el al fin de su vida. Es esta hoja que pasa por el nombre de Aganmurere que
este odu usa para realizar los milagros. Este evento marco el principio de salud buena y
prosperidad para el. Despues de intentar en vano molestarlo despues de esto, los otros
awos empezaron a favorecerlo. Ellos empezaron a aprender de el realmente porque el
sobrevivio a todos ellos a una vejez madura. El solo se murio cuando el estaba cansado de
vivir en la vejez.

Cuando este ifa sale a U gbodu, la persona debe hacer los sacrifces anteriores para vivir a
una vejez madura. El se batira y se machucara por los enemigos en medio de quienes el
vivira, pero para devolver la teta para el tat, el sobrevivira a todos ellos con los sacrificios,
edurance y una negativa.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Granjero

Ateka, awo Ogbe, odifa fun Ogbe. Ani ki o fi akuko bo ori re ati ogun.
Oru ebo no.

El hizo la adivinacion para el granjero, mientras aconsejandole que sirviera, su cabeza con
un gallo, y Ogun con otro gallo. El hizo los sacrificios. Despues de esto, su cultivo se puso
muy prospero porque ademas del cosecha cultivar, el estaba tambien comprometido en
ganado que cultiva en las aves y cabras. El tenia tres hijos, uno que tomo a abanicar como
su padre, que el segundo tomo a comerciar, mientras el tercero uno se hizo un musico. Los
tres nifios fueron aconsejados para servir sus cabezas junto con una cabra como
consecuencia. Aunque el mayor compro la cabra solo-dada, el otro dos se negaron a
volverse a para el sacrificio. El tenia que servir su cabeza
exclusivamente aunque el agreg6 las oraciones para sus hermanos menores. El se volvi6 el
almacen de los beneficios de los esfuerzos de los otros en el futuro y el se volvi6 el arbol
en que todos los pajaros vinieron a alimentado.

A U gbodu, la persona debe servir su cabeza con una cabra mientras llamando a sus
hermanos para unirlo para el sacrificio. El tambien debe servir la Noche con una gallina.
A la adivinaci6n, la persona debe servir Esu con un macho cabrio para prosperar en su
trabajo.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para Olawunmi del Pueblo de Ikpakpo

Kpete ebole, Ebole ikpete, Olukiri, bifi kashu olele

Ka fi idi sha eku. Kashu olele. Ka fi idi sha eja.
Kasha olele Ka fi idi sha eja. Adifa fun Olawinrni lode ikpakpo. Omo
egunyan Kpakpo, fun osho ilemu. Emi ko o gunyan
oba loshe. Emi ko bo Orisa odi funooni.
Ega she she. Kini woni moshe ni He yi mo re.
La tierra con los monticulos. La cosa que rueda. Prepare
el budin a alimente a los enemigos que se comportan el repectively les gusta;
la serpiente, rata y pez.

Estos eran los awos que la adivinaci6n hecho para Olawunmi que vivi6 en el pueblo de
Ikpakpo. La persona a que prepara el name golpeado alimentaba a la enemiga en casa. Yo
no prepare que los seedless golpearon el name para el Oba. Yo no servi su divinidad para
el Ooni de Ife de la manera mala. l Que mal lo hace que las personas me acusan de hacer
en la vida? Le dijeron sin embargo que hiciera el sacrificio con el budin del frijol blanco,
amarillo y negro (Ekuru u Olele en Yoruba y Emieki-antes de que en Bini). El sacrificio
era hecho poniendo cada budin colorido en los recipientes diferentes, mientras agregando
una rata, pez y serpiente respectivamente a cada recipiente.

A la adivinaci6n, la persona se <lira que el tiene tres enemigos; un smallish coma la rata,
el pr6ximo uno con el cuerpo tan liso coma un pez, y el tercero uno tan delgado y alto
coma una serpiente. El debe hacer el sacrificio anterior. Si aparece para una mujer, los
awo deben hacer el sacrificio adicional con una guinea-ave para que ella pueda
establecerse en el matrimonio.

Sacrifique para ser Hecho Antes De viaje

Orunmila ni kale kiribiti. Mani ikale keregun

Olota ka le, o ni a ma wa si odo.
Oni rin rin kale. 0 ni ki a ma wa si ilu owo.
Oni oshe kale. Oni ki a ma si ode Ha.
Oluwuku kale. Oni ki a ma wa si ode ona oke. Ijere.
Alamoye kale. Oi ki a ma wa si ilu Ara.
Bebe kale. Oni ki a ma wa si ilu oyo.
Oni Sango kale. Oni ki a ma wa si ilu koso.
Omnmila ikale kiribiti. Mani ikale keregun.
Oni oun ti ka Omnrnila, oni oun kale.
Oni so wi kpe ki won ma si okejeti.
Omnmila proclam6 que no estaba seguro viajar.
 El sacerdote repitio la misma advertencia.
Se aconsejaron varios Reyes que no estaba seguro a
embarque en cualquier jomada. El consejo se dio a: -
el Olota para no viajar, a la Dificultad, Owo, Ilia,
Ijero, Ara, Oyo, y pueblo de Koso.

Orunmila aconsej6 sin embargo que siempre que se pusiera inevitable para viajar a los
lugares mencion6, el sacrificio debe hacerse con la rata, pez y came a Ifa para una jomada
segura.

A la adivinaci6n, la persona debe aconsejarse para hacer el sacrificio antes de partir para
una j omada propuesta.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para la Corona Principe Ikukpolarun Aremu

Atekun 'le nkanle. Orekan I'an kan ikan. Ate

I'an ka igi agaba a bi ehin Kokoko.

Esos eran los Awos que la adivinacion hecho para el Ikukpolarun Aremu Eleka, el
principe de la corona. Le aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio con un camero blanco, seto
vivo*-cerdo (Akika en Yoruba) y ropa blanca surtido suficiente para heredar la riqueza de
su padre. El hizo el sacrificio despues de que el se volvi6 un rey adinerado que sigue el
fallecimiento de su padre.

A su coronaci6n, el canto un en la alabanza de sacerdotes de Ifa como sigue:

Atekale I'anka Ha
Ate kala ni a nka ikon
Ate kala ni a nka igi ogba
Abehin ki koko ni won she ifa fun mi.
Mo ngbo rim ebo mo m.
Mo nbgo em ata ke'su mo ntu.
Koi kpe, koijina. Ifa wa she bi ala.

A la adivinacion, la persona se aconsejara para hacer el sacrificio para recobrar la gloria

perdida de su familia.
 El capitulo 13
IRETE-ETURUKPON

El Hizo la Adivinacion para la Paloma Cuando Ella Of endio la Muerte

Irete tutu begidi. Odifafun erukuku ta bi eyele nijo to'nlo bu

uku la bag be. lwo lku a beri sirigidi.

Ese era el Awo que la adivinacion hecho para la Paloma cuando ella iba a insultar la
divinidad de Muerte. Ella desprecio la Muerte llamandolo un monstruo grandeencabezado.
En vista del hecho que ella habia hecho el sacrificio previamente, la Muerte no pudo hacer
algo que castigarla. Ella habia hecho el sacrificio preventivo antes con una guinea el ave.

Cuando este odu aparece por consiguiente a la adivinacion, la persona debe decirse hacer
el sacrificio con una gallina o una guinea-ave anticipar cualquier problema que habria
culminado siguiendo a un insulto a una autoridad mas alta y mas fuerte. El sacrificio se
hace a Ifa.

El Divined para el Puerco espin (Ira u Okhaen)

Akparafa, ekparefa teere le 'ti omi. Odifa fun Ire (Okkaen) to'n
te gbigbona, to'nte gbigbe, to'n tunbo tawa ti etiti Oni ki alado te
titu <lain, Ire nte titu <lain <lain

El tabl6n del thiny muralla-ponteaba un rio, era el nombre del Awo que la adivinacion
hecho para el Puerco espin (la Ira en Yoruba y Okhaein en Bini) cuando el estaba
comportandose en-transigently y cruelmente. Le aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio en el
orden refrescar fuera de y vivir mucho tiempo. El vivio una vida tranquila e inofensiva
que le dio un problema como consecuencia - la vida libre en el futuro, porque la vida larga
solo va con fresco-headedness e inoffensiveness.

A la adivinacion, la persona debe decirse hacer el sacrificio y dejar de pescar en las aguas
con problemas para que la prosperidad y paz entraria al him/her por la tarde de su o su
vida.

La Adivinacion que El Hizo Antes de Dejar el Cielo

Aro konron okpa ugba, odifa fun Orunmila nijo to'nti kole own
bowa si kole aye.

Un proyectil que mato a doscientas victimas era el nombre del Awo que la adivinacion
hecho para este odu cuando el estaba viniendo al mundo. Le aconsejaron que sirviera: su
angel guardian con cuatro palomas, cuatro caracoles, cace ratas, el pez y una bolsa de
cauris; Esu con un macho cabrio; Sango con el gallo; Olokun con los catorce materiales
tradicionales incluso la paloma; y Elenini con todos los comestible comestibles. El
termino obteniendo bendicion y despacho de aduanas de Dios que le aconsej6 que no
hiciera nada deshonroso en la tierra porque el los wasa tripulan de honour. El hizo el
sacrificio antes de dejar para el mundo.

El era una historia de exito de intial de la salida. El a proposito, no agrego un gallo y el

material podrido al sacrificio a Elenini (Idoboo) en cielo para que la divinidad del
obstaculo celebro su fortuna al ransome en el cielo. El se encontro pronto con las
dificultades cuando Elenini tapo la palmadita de que su opulencia estaba fluyendo.
Cuando el la adivinacion seguidamente hecha, le exigieron servir Elenini con un pollo,
una rata, estropeo y materiales podridos para ser puesto en una calabaza y deposito solo a
una union del camino donde el se encontro a un hombre que le pidio el gallo restante. El
devolvio casa para sacar el gallo y el hombre recibio todos los materiales sacrificatorios de
el y le pidio que devolviera casa sin parecer atras.

Cuando el devolvio casa, el Awos uso bebiendo agua rociada en su cuerpo de sus bocas
revocar la maldicion celestial en el. El estaba sorprendido en la proporcion a que todas las
cosas buenas de vida vertieron a el despues de ese dia. El tenia esposas suficientes y nifios
y construyo muchas casas y estaba montando sabre en los caballos.

A Ugbodu, el hombre debe hacer el sacrificio que para que su fortuna se retrasara por la
divinidad del obstaculo en el cielo podria soltarse para venir a el. Al divinition, la persona
se <lira servir; Esu con un macho cabrio, y Elinini con un gallo, rata, peces y materiales
podridos a una union del camino para que la prosperidad pudiera encontrar su manera a el
o ella.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Principe de lwo Tener un Nino

El Adagba gege kworun. Ese era el Awo que la adivinacion hecho para Omo Oliwo, (el
principe de Iwo) para tener exito tomando el trono de su padre. Despues de que el se
volvio Oba, el no tenia ningun nifio durante un tiempo muy largo. El les envio como
consecuencia a los hombres del mandado que se peinaran el mundo conocido para
Orunmila. A la adivinacion subsecuente, Orunmila le dijo que el tenia que entrar solo en
el solitario en el bosque para poder tener un nii'io. El pondero durante mucho tiempo si era
prospero para un Oba entrar en el bosque en busca de los nifios. Su padre aparecido a el
en un suefio que le aconseja que hiciera Orunmila cualquier le dijo que hiciera esa noche.

Al caso de Orunmila, el sirvio Esu con un macho cabrio. Despues de esto Orunmila le dijo
entrar en el bosque solo y continuar explorando el bosque hasta que el se encontrara con
una fuente del bosque (Omi-ugbogi en Yoruba y Ohiame en Bini), donde el era bafiarse
antes de devolver casa. Entretanto, como el Oliwo de Iwo dejo para el bosque, Orunmila
devolvio casa. En su camino a casa, el se encontro a la Princesa de Offa que lo atrajo para
la adivinacion en que hacer para tener un el nifio. Orunmila tambien le aconsejo que
entrara en el bosque de que ella era no volver despues de la adivinacion, hasta que ella
viera una fuente en que para bai'iarse. Le exigieron sin embargo tambien que sirviera Esu
con el macho cabrio antes de constituir el bosque.

En cuanto el Oba de Iwo y la Princesa de Offa entrara en el bosque de las direcciones

diferentes, Esu ordeno toda la fuente en el bosque ocultarse bajo la tierra. Los dos de ellos
se peinaron el bosque para las fuentes durante tres ai'ios sin encontrarse con uno. Sus
personas los habian dejado para el muerto y y un regente fue fijado para administrar
los asuntos de Iwo. Ellos no fijaron un nuevo Oba porque en la adivinacion, ellos estaban
a menudo seguros que su Oba estaba vivo y bien y se volveria a un dia despues de una
estancia larga al bosque. Entretanto, la ropa del Oba se habia convertido en el shreads y su
cuerpo se habia vuelto tan cabelludo como eso de un gorila. La misma cosa estaba
pasando a la princesa de Offa que iba desnudo ahora como un gorila hembra.

Un dia, Esu pidi6 a una fuente abrir delante de la princesa de Iwo. Ella fue soltada para
encontrarse con el. Como ella estaba haciendole bafiarse en el, ella vio un gorila que se
parece a un hombre que viene hacia la misma fuente. Ellos eran ambos desnudo. Como
ellos se atrajo a nosotros, sus 6rganos genitales estaban de pie derecho. Sin cualquier
ceremonia y sin hacer cualquier pregunta, ellos hicieron el amor. Despues de esto, ellos
empezaron a mover juntos, no en busca de casa, pero en busca de donde ellos pudieran
vivir juntos porque ellos habian dejado todos los pensamientos de devolver a sus casas
respectivas.

Era muy mas tarde que ellos se introdujeron formalmente. Eso era cuando ellos
consiguieron a Orita-ljaloko d6nde ellos se encontraron Orunmila que el divined
separadamente para los dos de ellos. Ellos lo reconocieron pero el no podria reconocerlos
porque el asumi6 que ellos los gorilas. Cuando ellos lo saludaron, el detuvo al recieve los
saludos y les pregunt6 a la identidad ellos. El no podria creer sus orejas cuando ellos le
dijeron quien ellos eran. La mujer estaba ahora en una fase avanzada de pregancy. El la
adivinaci6n apresuradamente hecha para ellos y les dijo que hicieran el sacrificio con dos
machos cabrio.

Desde que ellos no tenian el d6nde-con-todos por comprar dos machos cabrio, el les dijo
que esperaran hasta que el crepusculo robe los machos cabrio. El sacrificio era hecho por
la noche con machos cabrio pequefios que Esu tenia que comer exclusivamente. Por las
horns pequefias de la mafiana, Esu habia aclarado todo los vellos en sus cuerpos y los
habia proporcionado la ropa decente para llevar. Antes del alba, el Oba de Iwo se encontr6
sentandose en la uma de Osanyin popular del pueblo de lwo, mientras la princesa de Iwo
se encontro en la uma de su antepasado en Offa.

En el futuro, entre la pompa y pompa, la princesa de Otta se llev6 por una procesi6n
grande a Iwo. El Oba de Iwo fue descubierto entretanto y graniz6 por sus personas. Como
el estaba llevandose a su palacio, la princesa embarazada de Offa estaba entrando en el
pueblo de Iwo. Ellos se encontraron para hacerse rey y reina en el futuro. En la llenura de
tiempo, ella dio el nacimiento al nifio masculino y ellos invitaron Orunmila a realizar la
adivinaci6n de ceremonia de denominaci6n y presidir encima de la fiesta pueblo-ancha
consiguiente. El nifio era sin embargo muy cabelludo y Orunmila prepar6 a las hojas y a
camwood estar frotando su cuerpo despues de que los vellos marchitaron lejos.

Despues de premiar Orunmila apropiadamente, el rey de Iwo proclamo que la fuente en

que la reina y el se encontr6, debe volverse la uma de Osanyin para las personas de Iwo.
Ellos tenian siete nifios en general y ellos vivieron y gobemaron hasta todo los vellos de
sus cuerpos se puestos gris.

Cuando este odu aparece a Ugbodu, la persona debe hacerse bafiarse en una fuente del
bosque y debe tener sus propios Osanyin/Osun y umas de Sango. El tendra el initally de
dificultad teniendo el chidren pero el disfrutara una tarde dichosa. Al divintion, la
persona se aconsejara para tener su propio Ifa que se lavara con el agua tornado de una fuente
del bosque. Despues de lavar el Ikin con el agua, el bafiara con el durante siete dias.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para las Mascaradas

El Irete rin rin rin, Etutu le le le - era los Awos que la adivinacion hecho para la Mascarada
que bailaba sobre durante su fiesta anual. Le aconsejaron que sirviera Esu con un macho
cabrio apartar el peligro de caerse al bailar. Tradicionalmente, una mascarada que se cae
durante la actuacion no vivira al fin de ese afio. Tambien le aconsejaron que sirviera su cabeza
con un gallo. El sirvio Esu, pero no su cabeza.
A la fiesta subsecuente, el se cayo durante la actuacion y el ya no podria subir a. Esa se volvio
la primera urna de la mascarada en la tierra. Las personas que estaban deseoso de nifios y
dinero fueron a servirlo con la cancion: -

Gbayigha gbanyigha. Gbangho gbamo ..

significando - Denos el dinero y nifios.

Cuando aparece a U gbodu, la persona debe servir su cabeza con un gallo mientras
retrocediendo el lfa y rapidamente debe preparar su Esu con un macho cabrio. A la
adivinacion, la persona debe servir; los his/her encabezan con un cock/hen y Esu con con un
macho cabrio apartar el peligro de muerte subita,

Specical Sacrifice Contra la Enfermedad Infecciosa

Omnmila Oni atetu, Mo ni atetu. Oni atetu omo eku

Kiikpa omo eku. Atetu omo eja ko ni kpa omo eja
Atetu omo enan ko ni kpa era/7.
Atetu omo eni ko ni kpa omo eni.
Ato igbin kii kpa igbin.

Orunmila proclamo que habia una incidencia de gonorrea alrededor y su sacerdote de lfa lo
confirmo. El aconsej6 el sacrificio sin embargo porque la gonorrea no mata las ratas, pesca,
animales, caracoles y seres humanos. El prescribio el sacrificio con el vino de la palma
suficiente, los shea untan con mantequilla (Ori-eyo) y caracoles.

A la adivinacion, la persona debe preguntarse si el o ella son el formulario sufrido cualquier

enfermedad del veneral. Si no, el el o ella debe hacer el sacrificio preventivo.
 Capitulo 14
IRETE-OSE
IRETE-ALAJE
IRETE-SEKPERE
URU-EKUN

El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Tigre

Ojo el Kata Kata Kata. El ole de Ofaa del ekun, era los Awos que la adivinacion hecho
para el Tigre que le aconseja que tuviera su propio Ifa. El tigre fue preparado tener su ifa,
pero insistio que la ceremonia de la iniciacion tuviera que tener lugar en su propia casa.
Desde que la gama de Orunmila no cree en las imposibilidades, el hizo la adivinacion para
el en que hacer para apartar algun dafio en la casa del Tigre. Ifa le aconsej6 dar un macho
cabrio a Esu y agregar su propia sangre al sacrificio. Tambien le exigieron que se bai'iara
con dieciseis caracoles y una cesto por el lado del camino para devolver casa seguramente.
El hizo el sacrificio antes de dejar casa.

En llegar a la casa del Tigre, el enumero los materiales por preparar Ifa para el
comprender: dos cabras, dos gallinas, dos tortugas, dos caracoles, dos pedazos de tela
blanca, dos machetes, dos azadas, dos esteras, dos piemas de arbusto-cabra, dos rafia
estera ( el aghen) dos piemas de ciervo, dos piemas de mono, seis plumas del loro rojas,
catorce tuberculos de name, cauris suficientes, kolanuts suficiente, un plato o calabaza con
una tapa, dos ratas, dos pescan y dos palomas. Ellos son los materiales tradicionales
usados para la iniciaci6n en Ifism. El Tigre pudo producir todos los materiales.

Durante la adivinacion a U gbodu, Irete-Ose salio de Tigre del forthe que era una
advertencia a Orunmila que el Tigre (su hijo de Ifa) intentaria al him,at del kil el fin de la
ceremonia. Despues de esto, Orunmila pidi6 al Tigre producir su vestido multicoloreado
con que el hacia el estrago. El lo sac6 y Orunmila lo guardo - como una tactica por domar
la ferocidad del Tigre. Al final de la siete ceremonia del dia, Orunmila tenia que devolver
casa con uno cada uno de los materiales de la iniciacion y el Tigre (su hijo de Ifa) tenia
que seguirlo casa para servir su propio Ifa con la cabra. Antes de dejar su casa, el Tigre
habia dejado ya Orunmila en ninguna duda que el no iba a tomar amablemente a la idea de
privarse de todas sus cosas en el nombre de iniciacion en Ifism.

En su manera a la casa de Orunmila, en cuanto ellos entraran en el bosque, el Tigre busco

una excusa para aliviarse y entrar en el arbusto de que el volvio pronto en la furia para
atacar Orunmila. Con el uso de la encantacion apropiada, Esu produjo un tigre aun mas
feroz que comprometio el que asalto Orunmila. El tigre Esu-producido pudo dominar y
matar el Tigre que intento atacar Orunmila. Orunmila pudo despues de esto llegar a casa
con los materiales y uso otro macho cabrio para agradecer Esu por ahorrar su vida. Como
el la cabra matada estaba poniendo dentro del plato de Ifa, el canto, "Ekun kpe'kunje, el
ekun de le de eron. El Ereron le'kunje. El Ekun kpe'kunje, elje de lekun de ereron. Esa es
la cancion por poner la came en Ifa chapan hasta el momento.
Por eso, en cuanto este Ifa aparezca a U gbodu, el padre de Ifa debe servir su propio Ifa
inmediatamente con 16 caracoles y debe agregar las hojas de su Ifa al liquido de los caracoles
bafiarse. Despues de que el debe dar un macho cabrio y su propia sangre a Esu. El puede
volver para completar la ceremonia despues de hacer su propio sacrificio. El hecho permanece
sin embargo que mas pronto que despues, la persona para que este Ifa aparece a U gbodu
intentara pegar o matar a su padre de Ifa.

La Adivinacion que El Hizo Antes de Dejar el Cielo

Ojo el Kata Kata Kate, la cerveza inglesa de Ofaa del ekun, era los Awos que la adivinacion
hecho para Orunmila cuando el estaba viniendo al mundo. Le aconsejaron que hiciera el
sacrificio a: su angel guardian con una cabra, gallina, tortuga y una paloma; Esu con dos
machos cabrio; para comprar su vida de Ogun con un perro, gallo y tortuga; y para festejar las
divinidades con una calabaza de aceite de la palma. Le exigieron que hiciera el tal sacrificio
detallado porque su practica de Ifa iba a crear los muchos problemas para el en la tierra y para
vivir a una vejez madura en la tierra. El pidio prestado el dinero para hacer todos los
sacrificios antes de venir al mundo porque el iba a tener esposas y nifios muy mas fuerte que
el.

En conseguir al mundo, el tomo a su practica de Ifa y se caso a la hija de Olokun que tomo al
comercio pequefio. El tenia muchos nifios que resultaron ser muy insubordinado cuando ellos
crecieron. Su esposa y nifios tomaron una posicion del confrontational como consecuencia
contra el. El se era muy aspero que hizo a las muchas personas distanciarse fuera de el. En el
futuro, else encontro un Awo que le dijo que que lejos de ser el paz-fabricante el juro estar en
la tierra, el estaba volviendose el mismo pugacious. Le dijeron que hiciera el sacrificio con una
cabra, cuchillo, caracoles, 201 kolanuts, y la tela blanca.

Despues de que el sacrificio fue preparado, el Awo consiguio las hojas pertinentes, los molio
con la sangre de la cabra y lo monto en la cabeza de la cabra y lo cubrio con la tela blanca para
el guardar en su uma de Ifa. Despues de esto, el hacia cocer a fuego lento abajo y todos sus
enemigos empezaron a encontrarse con las dificultades. El empezo a ordenar el respeto de las
personas alrededor de el y su familia se puso mas sumisa. El no era excepcionalmente rico y
no tenia muchos nifios.

A U gbodu, la persona debe decirse hacer el sacrificio para apartar el peligro de ponerse
demasiado agresivo para el consuelo de aquellos alrededor de el.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para una Muchacha que Vino Del Cielo

Los sekpere de Irete hicieron la adivinacion para muchacha joven que vino del cielo para
causar el estrago en la tierra. Ella era una bruja cruel que busco destruir a todos y todo
alrededor de ella. A la adivinacion, Orunmila le dijo que ella iba a establecerse con un tercer
marido y que ella tenia que refrenar sus tendencias destructivas. Le exigieron que sirviera, su
cabeza con una gallina y Esu con un macho cabrio. Ella sirvio su cabeza pero no Esu.

Como consecuencia, ella se encontro Osanyin u Osun que se la casaron sin conocerla porque
ella era muy bonita. Siguiendo el matrimonio las fortunas de Osanyin empezaron al deterioate.
Ella mato todos sus nifios y manada lejos sus otras esposas con
sus poderes de la brujeria. Despues de reducir Osanyin a la penuria abyecta, ella le dej6 ir
y casarse Sango.

Ella hizo el mismo estrago a Sango que la ahuyento antes de que ella hacer dafie mas. Ella
se encontr6 Ogun como consecuencia y se lo cas6. Ogun siempre iba a guerrear y estaba
dejandola en casa. Cuando Ogun volvio de la guerra en una ocasi6n que el previo que la
mujer habia concluido los arreglos para matar a su mayor hijo. Ogun no perdio tiempo sin
embargo advirtiendola que antes de que ella tocara cualquiera de sus nifios, ella tendria
que morirse primero. Despues de esto, Ogun la llamo tarde por la noche y la tenia
encadenado a de tal una manera que ella ya no pudiera asistir a las reuniones del club de
withcraft.

Despues de esto, ella era eficazmente el humoured y ella se volvi6 Uja, la esposa de Ogun
y empezo a ayudarlo en los compromisos todo constructivos.

En U gbodu, la persona estara muy terca y temeraria. El debe servir su cabeza con una
guinea-ave y el nuevo lfa con una cabra blanca y debe preparar la uma de Ogun para su lfa
con un perro y gallo.

A la adivinacion, la persona debe servir; Ogun con un perro para impedirles a las brujas
celebrar las reuniones en su casa y su cabeza con un gallo.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para Ajibola Cuando El estaba Moviendo Con las Brujas

Ohun kon soso laja fo. Adifa fun Ajibola ti'nshe ore awon eleye.
Ebo aje niki omo.

El gong solo habla una palabra. Ese era el nombre del Awo que el divnation hecho para
Ajibola cuando el estaba moviendo con los miembros del club de brujeria. Le dijeron que
sirviera; Esu con una gallina negra y los superiores de la noche con un conejo para evitar a
ser matado a traves de la brujeria. El hizo los sacrificios y dej6 de mover con ellos.

Cuando aparece a la adivinacion, la persona se dira que el esta moviendo con un amigo
que es una bruja y que para evitar a ser matado a traves de la brujeria, el debe hacer el
sacrificio. Si la adivinacion sale para una persona enferma, le diran que su enfermedad se
cause por las brujas y debe hacer el sacrificio para mejorarse.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para Omo-Lahere El Workaholic

Ikan-yere lofo ri she aje lo'na oke ekpelisa

Odifa fun Omo Lahere eyi ti ushe uya nigba eru ti a ni ki
Oru ebo to ba di igba ojo - Ara a'ro. Ebo Niki oru o.

Las semillas usaron por hacer las maracas de la calabaza, usan su cabeza para producir el
dinero en su pais, pero despues encontraron el dinero despues de coserse a. Ese era el
nombre del Awo que la adivinaci6n hecho para omo-Lahere que estaba trabajando tan
dificilmente que el no estaba descansando. Le dijeron hacer el sacrificio y descansar tan a
menudo como posible y para tener paz de mente y prosperidad durante la estaci6n
lluviosa. El hizo el sacrificio y prosper6 en paz y tranquilidad.
Cuando aparece a la adivinacion, la persona se aconsejara para ejercer paciencia porque el
prosperara en el futuro.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para el Onigbolo Si Gbolo

Alilere on. Odifa fun Onigbolo si gbolo. Eyi ti a ni ko

she ebo tori idalo to'nlo tori ki oba bo wale re.

Alilere era el Awo que la adivinacion hecho para Onigbolo si gbolo que fue aconsejado
para hacer el sacrificio para volver seguramente de un viaje el estaba emprendiendo. El
hizo el sacrificio y viaj6 fuera. El tuvo el tanto exito en el viaje que el vino casa con los
regalos suficientes y dinero.

La Adivinacion que El Hizo Antes de Prosperar

Ogidiri gbo. Odifa fun Orunmila baba fi omi oju shubere aje,
ati omo, ati gbogbo ure.

Los gbo de Ogidiri hicieron la adivinacion para este Odu cuando el estaba ansioso para el
dinero, nifios y prosperidad. Le aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio y el hizo despues de
que sus deseos vinieron verdaderos.

A la adivinaci6n, la persona debe decirse que el esta ansioso tener algo. El debe hacer el
sacrificio para lograr el objetivo.

El Sacrificio especial Contra el Peligro Inminente

Orunmila ni hu. Moni eru ba mi. Oni Ifa wo ni mo da ti eru ba

mi. Mo ni Irete oke ni. Oni she ni ki emi mi riru ebo. Oni she ni
ki emi mo eru atu ke'su.

Orunmila exclam6 "HU". El sacerdote de Ifa retorcio que el fue asustado. Orunmila le
pidio al Ifa que aparecia eso le hizo tener miedo, y el sacerdote contesto que Era IreteOke.
Orunmila le dijo que en lugar de asustarse, el debe hacer el sacrificio con el cerdo, las
hojas apropiadas, los caracoles, los shea untan con mantequilla (Ori-Oyo) las hojas
espinosas y hojas de agua.

El sacrificio se preparo con la encantacion siguiente:

Ero ni ti te te. Era ni ti odon Jon. Igin Ki je aye igbona Aja bale ro roife. Ibi ti awo ba ti de ki
gbogbo ibe di era Iroko ma so ele. Ero ni ki iroko so Ero.

Cuando aparece a la adivinacion, la persona si un hombre se aconsejara para tener su

propio Ifa que resolvera todos sus problemas. Si sale para una mujer, le aconsejaran si una
solterona se case un hombre de Ifa, y si casado para persuadir a su marido para tener su
propio ifa.

El Sacrificio especial de este Odu para la Prosperidad

Orunmila ni Agokela. Moni Agokela. Oni ki a mu nkan eborewa. A mu eku, oni ki nshe
eku. Amueja. Oni mo je wo obun, ki iwo da aso ro mi. Oni a fi eni ti o bani okpolokpo
eyele ati ekuru funfun. Moni Orunmila a ri a ko de. 0 ni eh ti o gun okela, ki a ma kpe
ni, Irete-oke. Idi eyi ni a fi nkpe ni lrete-oke. Orunmila proclam6 el exito, y su sacerdote
lo confirm6.

El aksed de Orunmila el sacerdote para nombrar el sacrificio requerido para el exito. El

sacerdote enumer6; la rata, pez, y came todos de los cuales Orunmila rechaz6. El
prescribi6 el sacrificio como consecuencia con las palomas suficientes y el budin del frijol
blanco ( el funfun del ekuru). Ellos fueron producidos y despues del sacrificio, Orunmila
proclam6 que "Cualquiera que tiene exito subiendo la escalera de mano de prosperidad
debe llamarse lrete-Oke."

Cuando aparece a la adivinaci6n, la persona se aconsejara para construir su casa encima

de una colina para prosperar
 El capitulo 15
IRETE-OFUN
IRETE-AFUN

El Hizo la Adivinacion Para el Arbol de la Palma

Atemu mi ateyo, ojojumo ni omo araye kpere te ati te'ni mu On

eni ni ko'ni yo.
Profundamente el en la profundidad y en el sacrificio.
Ningun dia pasa sin humanidad que piensa en hundimiento uno en
el precipicio. Es la cabeza de uno de que salva uno de todos los planes malos la
humanidad.

Esos eran los Awos que la adivinaci6n hecho para el arbol de la palma cuando ella estaba
viniendo del cielo. Le aconsejaron que hiciera el sacrificio para minimizar los problemas de
mantenerse en la tierra. Le aconsejaron hacer el sacrificio con la tela blanca, gallina, rata, pez,
sal, eko y akara y servir su cabeza con una paloma. Ella se neg6 a hacer el sacrificio porque
ella estaba segura que su indispensability y belleza verian a traves de todos los obstaculos, Ella
naci6 al mismo tiempo con doscientas divinidades, porque ella los proporcion6 el pasaje a
traves del agua al mundo.

En conseguir al mundo, ella tenia una cara bonita y pecho. Todos los hombres la cortejaron,
pero ella desair6 todos ellos. El Bosquecillo (Eti) decidi6 atacar y sitiarla. Eso era cuando ella
invit6 a sus hermanos y hermanas a sentarse para servir su cabeza con ella. Despues del
sacrificio, ellos empezaron a bailar. Cuando era el giro de Fuego para bailar, el advirti6 todos
esos atacante su hermana (el arbol de la palma) retirar o enfrentar su ira. Cuando el empez6 la
danza, el Fuego comprometi6 el Bosquecillo (Eti) y quemado el a. Cuando el Fuego estaba
bailando, el canto: -

"Wele wele ni ino njo - to ba toke bu yaya".

Despues de esto, el arbol de la palma tenia un arriendo bueno en la vida.

A U gbodu, la persona debe servir su cabeza con una paloma y Esu con un macho cabrio, A la
adivinaci6n, la persona servira Ogun con un gallo y los his/her encabezan con otro gallo.

El Hizo la Adivinacion para Orunmila

Okiti kpuke ao eba ono. Odifa fun Orunmila nip to'nlo bo Oshun ati
Orisa.

El hizo la adivinaci6n para Orunmila cuando el iba a ofrecer el sacrificio a Osun y Orisa. Las
personas empezaron a hacer broma de el por servir Ifa, Orisa y Osun todo al mismo tiempo. El
les dijo a los bromistas que molestaran su propio negocio mientras estaba importandole su
propio. El prosper6 en el futuro al asombro de aquellos que se rieron de el. A la adivinaci6n, la
persona debe aconsejarse para no escuchar a esos dispising el porque su exito los guardara
callado, con tal de que el hace el sacrificio.
El Poema especial Contra el Miedo

Atefun shun. Mi atefun shun. Oni omo eku ku ke fun fun

Ki a tori ti be tori re bo erun. Atefun shun. Mi atefun
shun. Omo eja ku ke fun fun ka to
ri re bo run. Beni omo eye. Ku ke
fun fun ka to ri re bo 'run Boni Omo eniyan ku ke fun
fun ko to ri re bo'run

la ri re bo carrera. El Beni omo ojo. El Kii ke fiin fiin ka al bo de re de ri 'ejecute Boni el

Omo eniyan kii ke fiin fiin ko al bo'run de re de ri

El pantano da la manera cuando el treaded en. Los nifios de la rata, el pez, pajaro y
humanidad no pueden comerse a menos que capturandose y as6, meramente porque ellos
lloran aparentemente desvalidamente.

Cuando este odu aparece a la adivinaci6n, la persona se <lira que el se perturba

emocionalmente sobre algo y que el no es sensible libremente a gusto. He/she debe
aconsejarse para hacer sacrificio despues de que el o ella deben comportarse y deben
hablar el beacause audazmente nada pasara a el o ella.

La Adivinacion que El hizo Al Dejar el Cielo

Aro fifun da didun. Aro didun da fifun.

Esos fueron los dos Awos que la adivinaci6n hecho para este odu cuando el estaba
viniendo al mundo. Le aconsejaron que hiciera las preparaciones adecuadas que porque el
iba a tener un tiempo dificil sobre todo en la tierra como el fue destinado para hacer su
problema al problema de otras personas. Le aconsejaron que hiciera los sacrificios
siguientes: para servir Esu con un macho cabrio; su angel guardian con un camero, gallina
y caracol; para servir la voz de las personas a la union del camino con 16 palomas y un
pedazo de tela blanca; y para obtener la bendici6n de Dios. El hizo todos los sacrificios
antes de venir al mundo.

En conseguir al mundo, el se hizo un sacerdote de Ifa y todas sus predicciones se hicieron

a menudo realidad. A pesar de su efectividad, su vida era apatica y descolorida. El ni
podria permitirse el lujo de a una familia ni para construir una casa. Su madre era una
mujer Hamada Iwa, (Uyinmwen en Bini) quien era muy pobre, y Atefun era su unico
nifio. Atefun era muy amistoso con el hijo de Olofin y ellos siempre eran juntos. Olofin
tenia una tela del lomo negra que el llev6 a menudo cuando en un estado de melancolia. El
tambien tenia varios ganados comprendiendo; doscientos y uno vacas, doscientos y uno,
las cabras, doscientos y uno ovejas y doscientos y uno aves que se rozaron por cuatro
pastores.

Un dia, cuando Atefun estaba hablando en broma con su amigo el hijo de Olofin, el
expres6 un deseo que si Olofin pudiera darle cuatro cada uno de sus varios ganados, el
habria podido limpiar su tela de infortunio negra para ponerse blanco. El principe le
pregunt6 significativamente si el era capaz de representaci6n el hecho y Atefun confirm6
categ6ricamente que el pudiera hacerlo. El principe ejecut6 casa rapidamente
para alertar a su padre, el Oba que inmediatamente envio para Atefun. Cuando su madre
oyo que su hijo estaba invitandose por cuestionar, ella se asust6.

Cuando Atefun lleg6 al palacio, una muchedumbre grande ya fue recogida para oir su
maravilla-historia. Cuando pregunt6 por el Oba para confirmar que el era capaz de lavado
su tela de infortunio negra para ponerse blanco, el explico que aunque el lo dijo, no
obstante, jocosamente que si fuera considerado un problema importante que el haria
proporciono el se compensaria correspondientemente. Le dijeron que preparara para el
funcionamiento en siete tiempo de los dias. El Olofin le dijo que si el tuviera exito
realizando el hecho, el le daria la mitad del reino administrar a Atefun, pero que si el
fallara, el se ejecutaria. El se puso tan inclinado hacia abajo que el ejecuto casa para
decirle a su madre como el se habia hablado en el problema. La madre estallo en las
lagrimas a la perspectiva de perder a su unico nifio. Ella corrio rapidamente a Orunmila
para la adivinacion.

A la adivinacion, el Odu de Atefun vino fuera que indico que el hombre joven tenia para
largo ignoro su Okekponrin - y que el no estaba practicando lfa de la manera apropiada.
Orunmila tranquilizo a la mujer que su hijo podria realizar el hecho proporcionada que
ella fue preparada hacer el sacrificio con; un camera a lfa que agrega un diez pedazo del
metro de tela blanca, y un macho cabrio a Esu. Le dijeron que en el dia del
funcionamiento, ella era poner el diez pedazo del metro de tela blanca en una olla que
agrega cuatro ratas y depositar en el pantano del rio. Aunque las personas ya estaban
ridiculizando Atefun por permitir su locquaciousness para ejecutar el alboroto, la madre
procedi6 todos el mismo para hacer los sacrificios.

En el septimo dia, Atefun fue al palacio y el Olofin donde el se dio a la tela negra y al
jabon suficiente para el funcionamiento, mientras enviando para los verificadores para ir
con el al rio mirar el funcionamiento. Los verificadores estaban riendose el desdefiar toda
la manera al rio. Cuando ellos llegaron al rio, el empezo a lavar la tela negra, mientras los
cuatro verificadores estaban de pie en el reloj intimo. Era tiempo por Esu trabajar para el
sacrificio que el habia disfrutado. El empezo soltando las cuatro ratas con que Atefun hizo
el sacrificio, en media de los cuatro verificadores que ellos identificaron inmediatamente
como las cuatro especies de ratas que Olofin habia estado encontrando para el sacrificio.
Ellos dejaron su golpe y siguieron las ratas que porque el Oba habia prometido compensar
quienquiera adecuadamente pudo sacar las ratas.

Mientras los cuatro verificadores eran los siguiendo ocupados las ratas, la madre de
Atefun entro en de su escondite en los pantanos, dio el diez pedazo del metro de tela
blanca a su hijo y tomo el diez pedazo del metro de tela negra de el. Despues de esto, ella
dejo inmediatamente para casa mientras su hijo continua lavando la tela blanca.
Entretanto, los verificadores volvieron despues de felicitarse por poder aprehender las
cuatro ratas. Ellos fueron asombrados para ver ese Atefun estaba lavando una tela blanca
ahora, y que la tela negra ya se habia vuelto a blanco. Ellos le dijeron que no continuara el
lavado porque el habia tenido exito volviendose la tela del negro a blanco.

Cuando el devolvio al palacio, habia asombro general para verle volver con una tela
blanca que Esu habia arreglado entretanto en la forma y tamafio de la tela negra. Los Jefes
sacaron una cinta y moderado la tela blanca y el el coinded con la dimension de la tela
negra. Olofin dijo sin embargo que el permitiria algun periodo de gracia para pasar para
ver si ningun otro infortunio lo ocurriria, antes de pagar la compensaci6n a Atefun.
Casi inmediatamente, Esu se volvio sus dos ojos que provocaron temblores y Shockwaves a lo
largo de las tierras del palacio. Con ese Olofin se traquete6 atrasado en sus sentidos y el
promulgo una fabricacion del decreto inmediatamente Atefun el Ojugbona del reino de Ife.
Atefun se cobro con la responsabilidad de administrar la mitad del reino y se tradujo en la
prosperidad etema.

Cuando este lfa aparece a U gbodu, la persona debe decirse hacer el sacrificio para que su
disposicion del locquacious pudiera volverse una bendici6n. El debe servir Ifa
escrupulosamente porque le traera prosperidad. A la adivinacion, el hombre se aconsejara para
tener su propio lfa y para la mujer, para conseguir cerca de lfa para apartar el riesgo de entrar
en el problema a traves de las pronunciaciones del his/her.

El Divined para Orunmila Cuando El Fue a la Tierra de Albino

Bi oju ba ti kpon eni ni akponju. Awo iro ni o mu ni nshe.

0 difa fun Orunmila ni ojo to'nlo she awo fun awon ni ilu
afin. Won ni ki Omnmila ru ebo na.

Cualquiera que tiene prisa en la vida termina con el infortunio. Ese era el Awo que la
adivinacion hecho para Orunmila cuando el viaj6 para lfa practique en la tierra de los Albino.
Le exigieron que hiciera el sacrificio con la paloma y las aves suficientes. El hizo el sacrificio
antes de dejar para la jomada.

El les dijo que hicieran el sacrificio con las frutas suficientes, gallina negra, cabra, oveja y una
vaca despues de la adivinaci6n. Ellos produjeron que los materiales y Orunmila prepararon el
sacrificio con las hojas apropiadas para ellos bafiar con. Ellos todos se bafiaron con el agua y
en la mafiana siguiente, todas sus pieles se pusieron oscuras asi de Orunmila. El les dijo sin
embargo que no bafiaran de nuevo hasta despues de siete dias. Despues de esto, el devolvi6 a
Oke-jetti. Aquellos que se bafiaban despues de cinco dias, consigui6 su esquema colorido que
cambia del negro a su pigmentacion albina original. Ellos se atroparon atras a Orunmila y el
repiti6 el sacrificio para aquellos afectados.

A la adivinacion, la persona debe aconsejarse para ser el satisified con lo que Dios ha dado a el
o ella, y no debe intentar cambiar los planes del Creador del Omnipotente.
 IFISM
LOS TRABAJOS COMPLETOS DE ORUNMILA VOLUMENES DIEZ-ONCE-
DOCE-TRECE

DR. C. OSAMARO IBIE, J.P.

B.Sc. ECONS. (HONS.). LONDRES B. A. ECONS (HONS.) STRATHCLYDE FIAMN
(HONS.) I el f 1 -

Segun Orunmila, hay tres factores principales conducente

a una estancia dichosa en la tierra. Uno de algunas preguntas que 1 se ha
preguntado en varios ocasiones. Sera necesario
a la salida para definir lo que una vida dichosa o exitosa es. Todos

hay demasiado a menudo una tendencia para las personas definir verdadera felicidad y
hedonistically de satisfacci6n que esta por lo que se refiere al material
la satisfacci6n y el placer sintetico,
Contra el fondo anterior. Yo procedere ilustrar Orunmila ahora es tres
las prescripciones para felicidad duradera en nuestro planeta. Estos tres factores son:
Para pasar
uno destin6 a los padres al mundo; para tener la fortuna de encontrarse uno se destinado
matrimonial
el compafiero en la tierra; y para nacer en el ambiente correcto. - Dr.
Cromwell Osamaro lbie, J.P.
En este volumen, IFISM-los Trabajos Completos de Orunmila, Volumenes Diez-oncedoce-trece, el
Odus de Ogunda, Osa, Etura e Irete, Sr. Cromwell Osamaro lbie continua sus revelaciones del Odu
( el sagrado texto de lfa). ademas de revelar los trabajos terrenales realizados por cada Odu ( el
discipulo de Orunmila ), Sr. lbie tambien da tambien la cuenta como en sus volumenes anteriores
de los trabajos celestiales del Odus.
El lector, si novicio o iniciado se asombraran a la informaci6n nunca contenida en esto antes del
trabajo publicado. A traves del sagrado texto de cada Odu, el lector se trae en el mundo de la
Divinidad Orunmila, (la divinidad del oracular de Sabiduria), el propio testigo de Dios a la creaci6n
como El se llama Eleri Ukpin.
Esta serie de libros IFISM-los Trabajos Completos De Orunmila empezando con Volumen Uno y
progresando a traves del Volumen Diez-Eleven-doce-trece presente ya son considerados como la
Biblia de lfa.

PUBLICADO POR

9781890157302

PUBLICANDO EN EL NOMBRE DE ORUNMILA 1194 AVENIDA de

NOSTRAND, BROOKLYN. NUEVA YORK 11225 (718)493-4500 o FAX
(718)467-0099 el correo electr6nico: atheliahenriettapress@yahoo.com

$75.00
 Contents

Pa:ges
,1,,- '8
Chapter 1 Agbigba ,or Oguega
9 :: .. 13
Ch~pter 2 Oyek~. - yi - Logbe
14 -· 11"
'Chapter 3 Oyeku - bi - Iwori
>·18 - 23
Chapter 4 Oyeku. • si - ldi
25 - 28
Chapter 5 ' Oyeku - Ohara
29 -· 34 35.-
Chapter 6 Oyeku-,: Okonron "Qyeku
39 · ', 40·-
Chapter _7 - bi - Irosua , , Oyeku -
. -._ ~ . . --· '44: ,,:·· .·'
·Chapter 8 ° be>. - Owanrin .. .-,_

45 - 51
·Chapter 9 ' Oyeku - Ogunda
52 ,.:57
Chapter 10 Oyeku Osa Oyeku
v ii

Chapterll - Etura Oyeku - bi . ... _.f

58 .- 69 .
70 .. 75
. -,-.-.,

Chapter12
'Chapter 13
- lrete . . 76 - 80
•Oyeku - be - Eka
' ~ ' .~ ; 81 - 87
·· Chapter 14 Oyeku -Ie - Eturukpon
88 - 96
Chapter15 Oye~1,1 '" (}se Oyeku-
97·.100
Chapter 16
Ofun

·Scanned for the first time

July 2012 Lowo Awo Ogbe Ate
"R.G~" - de Puerto Rico

iii
 Prologue To Volume Ill

O~nmila has, revealed that when God created the divinities and man, He intended that
sueeess w~s tp ~ measured in terms ofone's contributions to the objective good. The
barometer for measuring such contributions was expected to be the degree of harmony, co-
operation and . }()fie fostered among hj~. creatures, On the other hand Esu was determined
to substitute these goals with discord, confrontation and hatred, as the values
of a self-centred world. · · 1 •·
Moreover, ()run,mila willrevealthat "money" and "power" became the tantalizers held
out by Esu for manipulating and teleguiding the human psyche and soul. The quest for
.
these subjective values
.
providedEsu the1)arameters with which he const'rtlcted an .
anthropocentricuniv~rse, a f&ftor which becamelargely responsible for the caprrcious-
.ness of earthly: \Talues '9:nd standards, as human ljistory reveals. ··
In this and subseq:eent books, theauthor ~ill endeavour. to present a bird'. s-eye-view
of how money has affeded human socio-poiitic;l and religious institutions in the last two
thousand years, since fuan engaged himselfin the sear~hfo~the meaning of life on earth.
. Since the attentjp,n of thinkers moved from the study of man in a state of nature to the
study of ~an in' ~~ciety, one fact' has been irrefutable, which is, that mi~ has not
succeeded in his-vair,.attempt to build a paradise on earth: History has, reflected man's
attempts to solve the problem of survival through brute force, cheating, robbery, customs
and command behind'a facade of central governance.
· Starting with the feudal system in which man was enslaved by traditional usage and
command by head chiefs, Lords, the aristocracy of birth and wealth and kings.man tried to
manumit himself by changing to a society in which sutvival came to depeh'c:i on leaving
the individual to be free to organise his life as he pleased in what came to be known as the
Laissez-Faire approach to societal management, It subsequently turned out to be the
institutionalization ofthe contrivance of Esu ~ cut men aqrift in order todivide and rule
them instead ofallowingthem to cooperate with one another to optimise the general good of
all. It also set the stage which allowed the few'hundteds or thousands to become out-
rageously rich at the: expense of the impoverished mi11io11S of people. The in.eq\litable
attributes of that system culminated in the creation of a class structure in society made up
of the "haves" and the "have-nots".
The Laissez-Faire concept created such a furore of discontent in human governance that
its protagonists renovated it with the more phlegmatic gloss of"the Markel System". Under
the market system, the propensity to maximize personal gains at the expense of the less
privileged majority became the axis around which individual and societal efforts revolved.
The proponents of the acquisitive pull argued that by allowing individuals to be free to
maximise their greed, the interest of society writ-large will be safe-guarded. The prom
nexus became the hub-house of human eco-po1itica1 stimulus.

lV
 Right from its outset, the exotic market system was held by the defenceless majority
with suspicion and distrust, because the antediluvian biblically-inspired "Usury Laws"
under which millions of people were decimated for "the'heinous crime of making profit
especially from money lending'.' still held $way. On its part, the church subsequently
subsequently sanctified the Usury Laws in 1830 after condemning it for·I,00'0 years and
that was when itself.
The philosophy of wealth at all cost br~n,1ght with it a new. social problem. According
to Heilbtoner in his book on "The worldly philosophers", the problem became "how to
keep the, ~or to (remain) poor.". The apolitical arithmeticians of th& eighteenth century
generaily adv~ated. that0unlesJthe poor were kept poor, they could not be counted upon
todo an honest day's toil without asking.for exorbitantwages.'' A leadiilgmoralistwiote in
1723 that "To make society happy, it ·is· necessary that great numbers should'be wretched
aa well as poor.' Another schooladV'ocatedthat "the poor were meant by God to be poor
and even if they were not, their poverty was essential to the wealth of the
•nation." That was a reverberation ~f Aristotle's dictum ofSOO BC that "From the hour of .
their birth some are marked out for !Jubjection and scme'for command,"
B~ginrung'with the wonderful world pictured by Adam Smith in his book on "the Wealth
of Nations'.' in 1776.through the gloomy world of Parson Malthus and David Ricardo, the
beautiful world of the Utopian soeialists, right up to the inexorable world of:Ktrrl Marx, the
me lee of eeo-philosophieal argument was how to salvage the J)OC)r working class from
the ugly excesses ofthe capitalists. History is today· repeating itself which is why this
matter has found expression in an abstract book on Ifism. How roan used the quest fort!
profit to subjugate, de-humanise, rob, aggress, and destabilise his fellow men nationally and
internationally will bethe prologue to the next and subsequent l>ooks, in order to
demonstn,te the dictum that MONEYis the root of all evils.

Writteri by:
MR. C. OSAMARO IBIE RETIRED FEDERAL PERMANENTSECRETARYB;Sc. &ou. (Horu.J LondonB.A. &ona
(Hona.J Strathclyde FIAMN (Hon.) CDA (Hon.)

V
God brought out·a large container ofwild melons and gave..one to_,eaehofthe @nteat.ants,
w~iJ,e:giv,ing two to Ominigun~.:Gocl told-allo£theJD to reassemble in His Outer Chamber
on the-fifth dar•ndto &Pl>"lr in ~eir.,,ce~monial regalias ~He·w8$ going to make
animportantpr®lamation. He wanted to_use that ~sion to proelaim the appointment
ofOminigun ~,. divinity. G(>d als~tsent one melon to Orunmila through his colleagues and
told them :t& cmect him. nob to fail to attend the next. conference, having.· sent a . me$8$ge -en
thi&t Measion .that he was serving his lfa. It is commonly known that
Orunmila does not;•v~out of-his house on the.day besewes his Ifa.
, ,. All th&divinitie.,,inoluding Omimgun.t-rouped to.Orunmila'a house to give him God's
messa,e~tui to-verify w)lethe:r in truth, he was serving his lfa. They arrived athia,house to
dipver ~ h4:-~pr,epared the t.able,f9r a sumpW.0\18 feast. Without waiting to be ~nvit;ed,
the,.Jll~Aown to eat and . .drink to theirh•rt'uontent. ltwas not until they ,~~enjoy'"1
hi11',gpu-illityI that:they •li11~red God's~essaget.QOrunmila. He was very happy to receive
th~ melon-because he ~edit,to aerv,fhis lfa;
When the others saw how happy he was to receive the melon, they all surrendered their's to
him because they ~d. that they did n•t 'know how to eat melon, He expressed
hi~pl"o(oundgratitQde w,them after which they dispersed. •'
. The,~llctwing morning, Akpetebi (Orun~ila's wi(e)asked him where the food for the day
~.,Jo.lac~ COl:Df', froin, sitice he had used all die foodstuff and ,money in the house for the
t,evlc>Us:day's feast, He replied that she eeuld be cooking out.of the melon!tuntil clients
came,in·, When she took out one.of the melons to cut up-for cooking, she noticed aplet,.}li,
sound ftoUl ~thin it. She. was surpri-,ed to see that the melon was laden with 'beau-and
12oney,:She ~ck.ly called~mnila·tc,:.·see what·she bad.discovered. The entir«('.Onsignmentof
melons, yielded, beads and.money whieh filled a,whole room in the
house.;.Omnmila•laad:bee~ tl'&nslated into unforesee11 wealth andprosperity. That is why
when Ofun-Ogbe comes out for a person during lfa initiation ceremony at Ugbodu, he is
oft.eo advi~d. not to.part with any gift given tobim by a higher authority no matter hO'Y
11p.appealing i~,nay seem. The person is bound to be prosperous by a stroke of for.tune.
a
M~apwhile,, · Orunmjla bought horse, prepared a beaded dress for •himself and the
hor~e comple~ with. cap and shoes to match, against the ~xt-invitation,of God .
. On t~e appointed day. God had prep1;1red a second throne I\Dd positioned it close to his
Divine Throne and earmarked it to be occupied by the best-dressed invitee to the
conference.·ln fact:sinceGod gave two.melens to Ominigun, He intended him to have the
means of funding the .best attire and for him to occupy the second throne before upgrading
him .to tile status of a divinity.
One after the other the divinities appeared at theconference chamber and took their seats,
Omini~n also came in his usual raes and sat on the floor. God was surprised to see him, At
tl,lat me>.rning's divination, Orunmila had been teld to make sure that he was the lll5t to
apive at the 09nference. As soon as he made sure that all the other invitees were already
seated, he got dressed in his new beaded regalia and rode on his horse with a ~ded flywhisk in
hand to the conference chamber. As soon as he alighted from the

2
 hom, .he waa pven a spo1W1Deoua ovat,ion and after·pnu.tlecting;tocr. ~be~ motioned
to take the isec,,nd seat by.the.side c(Qod..Almostklatanta~r the,othff divinities acclaimed
Ortmmil..,.aaOriea•Keji,that ii.~ nen divm,ity to God. •hich he
does not often like to-be, called. . .
~8000 as aU wer~;~Mml>Jacl; God obletved tbat llO ~er divinity WU adQl.'ned with .
beads exceptOrunmila. He than uked.the othen;what.they did witht>M •• el~1he1pve them
at the previous meeting, They all announced in uniaon. diat ldnce lie gave them no
entertainment daring=the day~i.ng;JDeet.inc,, thex feasted in:Qrunmila'a~ after
, the, meeting, and,~nce \l• oe~]t. to aerve:hi1 If-,. they,•unendered thelr own t.;o.hiJD
e•m-,se.- .Mer a il•p reftectien,·~ pn,claim•· that for ~Ill 1¥;ith tbe· 4T.- he gave
them. thtty should, from the~ en forbid the -,4ngof. Ill.ton,'. with tbe ei.ception.t'
the divinity of wisdom, OnmmilL . . , , . ; . . . ·. ii
, .... Oo6 then bmucht~i~I CU.vine in,trumentd'·a~thori•·•~d~~any diw.rltiy who
ateimelo!l :woultlf,fom that; clay:)onbiePQWet&od •uthority(ASl). lf~nm tum,84
to.Ominigun a~d told him ~forever.-..4 from. then on, h$ would alwap In rap unless he go
sougbt solace ~ttbtt cover ~Orumnila, apd th.at he would,,ilw~s,~t on the floor to
beabletoforetellanddivine. Tbatie whrto~da),. an~~~) diviner ean only ptc;,sper.ifhe.tiu
.hi• on If,. On that note,·-.~ co~ _4iape"8(i.
It is for tbis r94Son th~ some adhi!rel}ts Qf lfa r;efer to ~~lU'i~~Jteii (the nut to God).
But Oi,irtinila bas wa:01ed the writer_n_.v,r .to . .,..,,:ct•him. '9
Ori-.-Keji . because God
did rioi proclaim it Qn that day •. God only 'rJem,d,to ~ a& the,qlvinity .ofwisdo.m,
apparentl7, for BU.cceu(ully ;usin, the lawc,f anlntended.~~-,to ~btain fron1.
theot~t\cliviniti.8.tl ,-1i•,effta He gav,e,t~;~ •. ~ . ...-v.. ~
tio.the ,otller divinitie, ancf
Ominipn_:ihe.al~nce.~,tbe :pivine' siftA.t.JMly.~. wttlL. .
. '. ''i'bat was how Ominigun lost the only opportunity cif'beinpi>-gradecl;io ~ ••••• ~
.ff··~nity, and why it.is said that spy.divinity .tb4t.i9at.1 wild,.'P19lon1""~~ot~ber
authority. . .. ... ., ., .:, 9,>, ,'
. ; '.-'h ', N

.. . . : .. ·. ·. .·,.:. .. .. , . , . ,; · . , ·. , :,!t U·:

ORUNMILABUYS'OMINIGUNASASLAV,:

.to Gr11J;s, Try as he did to make ends meet, he co~ nQt. 08-9 ni&ht. bit,~

salvation lay in going toJ.he market to offer himsellf•t.aale

.·.
' The curse onOminigu~ was later to manifest when he ,ubnquentq (ellfrqm .0n,.ee

'8
appeared to,hirpin a dreaJD and to1'1 him tAAtsincethe~r.;ofGocl wq onhi~ his only
.

a.cllave. .. ..,s:,
.. ,.-,>:.·

.
-.1
He. hesitated for sopietime, since he was not givea,w .pi'I ,for .divlrta~ When things
bec~really difficult for him,he eventually~tp~:•uu~~naQm guardian angel. He had been
warned by his guardian.anpl that hie fo~ "911ld always undulate by rising and falling,
unleu he 11,ld bi1-ownJr,~ llmna 4emoQtttated ~t he)l'U a more proficient seer, he had
alJ(ar!I ~ d~ .on ~~.,and
wondered bow he could eendeeeend to request him .to_ prepfP,'8 lfa for luJD. , .
b..,..at.
. ._ .. ;

us~~_._
At oneof1rls morningclivinations, Orunmila was:told t.o offer a
a..ito~ the danger of buying a sla~.that could outshine and' aubvert w..·Hem ••.•
.-lftce without delay. On the nen market day, he went to the m~et as
'. ' . . . . '. ,,. ', ' ,, ... ". -:c··
3
, tio';hi1f stall; :fie began hjs·9Hork>As he. was divining for solriEfone, in camea slave who
'afteted himself f01' sale·t.o a willi'ng•buyer:The slave looked very active and 'well·built.
Orunmili1l\lickly otfe1ed to btiy hinL Anet paying him the asking price, OturimHa told him
to sitdewn and wait to accompany him home at the'close:ofthe market>
·, Meanwhile~ Orunniifa.w~tintotnem'atket to.buy:sonie materials he was to take
·ho1Jle<'for·.tn.· work, but before retutnirlg from--'.his shopPing spree, the slave had
'diaiippeared.'. When ()runmHa returned to his stall, he asked after the slave.he had just
'boughtatidhis nei~ur& toldhim that they thought the manhadaccompanied him in fflli
$1,,opping. Ill \tllirl~ he went in search of the slave. Hetl.len sou.nd·ed his lfa who teld
him~at, that wastlht9've ~119.twhoni,he was advis_ed tain~kethe sacrifice ~e' made
beforecomintto the market.· He wu!wld riot to wor'l'y because he would meet the slave
waiting for him at home. , ,: · _· -. ··· ·· · . . :,,,
·'"'Ttii,to theniibiife~n;ofmsmarket divfoaUon, he actually metthe slave waiting :fornim at
home. As~ed hoivlie'lnew the'viay ,t<t'Orunmila's liouse; tne slave declared that he. saw the
way t.o ()Wirimi1a's·b'ome frorii ~~' sittirig position in the market and thougltitwas best to
come·-ridwa,itforhim at home'to t>r,epar~-fothis· return:'Withthat, ~\al\'asleftin no
doubtregardingthepotet1tiaHtie$of'tbis strange ·slavit ":
··:,Asso.bYiashesettleddown~OtU,rtmilaaskedforhishame-an~hegaveitasOminigun
(C)~80N)ti Binj)::Meanwhile; he e:ic:plained to Orunmila how :he lost all his ·we1tv•ta1~
belofigljrtgs and. Mgan to· go in rags and to beg for food to eat. When he subsequ~ntly\we,ht
for 'divirtation,' he' was told. that his only salvation 'fay':in getting
a
hifflselFto He bought· ai 'sta~e. That was howhe came to th'e market tobe bougHi Up as ah
lave .. dfunli)~lajminedit'~lY:lilvitedAkpetebi', his\vife to treat Omi nigu'ri 'with 'the
reyel'entt,fie dl!served and n~titl, 'treat him '.,ls 'a slave· because he was a petspri· of
suliatan&i. · ·" · , ,. ' · , .. ,
Tile fol16wing morruhg, ilome:'P"oi,te'were ~oming to brurimtla's house for di~riiti<fo
and without seeing them, Ominigun declared from the interior of the, house that there were
three persqniu:oming to Orunmila fQrdivinat.ie>n, and he jnenticned the problems
as
each,ofthem wanted to resolve through divination well a·s tellirlgthem what.sacrifices
tli'~fweie to ma1t~> . , · r ,- . ·. .. ·. . • .. · ·
'flie practice 6f pr~-e11\pting Orunn\ila to divine f9rhis visiMTs became so regu:larthat
very soon no one bothered f.o listen to 0ro1'rnila'slong proc~ss' of divination anymore. Callers
began to prefer the in$taht~iviriation ofOminigun: &esides, he wasin .the habit
ofJtagihgdaricedeinopst~ti9ns _every eight days at whichhiexhibitedhis diabolical prowesa;
He "'.':&8,C~pable-of standing Oil his ~Br$ ~nd cfanci ngtotht?tdelight c,f spectators whHst at
th~ satne tim~ divirt:irigfor them 'witHoht using' any i~sttu.merits.' He was also .capa:b\e'of
severirig·hi, heacJ'froin his·bQdy while both 'j)irts·danced·separately M be joinecl'thgetherin
the 'ait.·M«tha'd:clearly outshone his mastef; wlio was beginning to 'suffer from f~ck of
patronage since all'his previous'clierits swung to his supposed slave.
Unfortunalely;'Ominiguh's ephetneral success beclouded his vision and lie 'never bot~~ted
\((ask Oru~m'ilato prepare Ifa for him. That is why ,to this day, .it is weH nigh :impossible
for an Agbigba 'diviner to endure 'in prosperity unless he is discreet enough

4
to have his own Ifa. . - .
· Ominigun·had come t.o•make so much.money fro~ his perf~~aneu and dmnation
thaf'he was able to put:up'S8Veral ipaposingbuildinga and'ru,il)a aroubd bia'.maater't
residenee~·People were ~mung to wonder whethe~Onmmila w• indeed the malt.er
ofOminigun, wno had tacitly but cl8-l'ly, stolen the show from hinnaster.
While Orunmila took the situation with equanimity, Es1n¥&1 poiied to inten,ene on the
side ofOrurimila.·Atthe nut dancing session, Ominipn wuagain.demonatrating to,the
delight ofhis spectators. Once again, he severed his heac) from the rest ofbia body
and:while.hisbody was daqcin:g·~n.~e grc,vpd, hit.·head·was·ct.ncing h1the ~r.
M~n:while, Esu seized his;h~.and.tookit into tlie air neve.r to returq to 1µ.s body. ~r the
body had danced for sometime without the head to ketpit together, the body fell tb the
ground, dead. That was the end ofOminigun inlieaven. He sub~ueptltleftfor ~~ world
without his head, which explains why he has no ihrine · and ninliatinet mode of wor5hlp
.. Orunmila ,theninheiit.ed -11 of Ominigun's belqngings,being IQ· ••·
OMINIGBONEMEltGES··ON·EARTB
The.divinities had meanwhile abandoned the earth t;o,mankind. There was a pl. ·called
Ibere-aiye or Eziagbon;. which was later t'.o. be called (Jgodomigodo and Sllbiequently
Ile-Ibinu or, ~-~n-.Oro~mila_has r~v~eA~.i~~~at lber9,-ai1e(~~~) he first landed and
settled briefly, but late,r moved tp settle at .Ube whicl:i was subsequently called lte-Ife. • .
. .··. ·. ,· . . ' . . . ... . ., .· ...
The firgt ~uman' inhabitants of lbere-aiy~· (Eziagbcm) were Etebite, •nd
J)is wjf.e
.Et.e~l\ori: They had established a hab.itatio!l atEzi~pmancliJ e~pat1dedtr.e111f),d~.
Followirig hi~ demise in heaven, Ominigbim appear,4 01,1 e~ as a ~alt, child in tile ·
household of Et.ebit.e. As he grew up, his parents noticed that he was able to for.eijll',IJ>."
eoming events with . preclsi9n. He was able to w•m prospe4ive victiJDS .,ut' the
imminent approach of dange~ 'and how to avert it. Wbeney~r dlath targett"At_(\ a.victi~
on earth'; Otninigbim wo.ulcl warri the pel"son and advi~ llini'On \he precau.~~JW"Y.~P-
ve, to inake. His proficiency as a seer, soon'brought ~Im
in <;ontact wit~ ~e ro,.ity.
He:~· ofteh invited to d.ivihe for the royal household and he.invariably did 8() 9qit.e
lll.Pllffctorily .Nonetheless; the unparalleled efficacy ofhis diviµing was to Pl_l.t,hiin &t
odds with
niore etp'menced 'and elderly diviners. ' ,, ' ' , ' .' ·. ····.· ' ' '. ''.
At 1he same time! hli' pre-emptive moves w~re begfn*ing to annoy tpe,cliyinitles,
especially Death.'H~'also·iricurred the displeasure'ofEsU:~c~'1!38Ais pee\Ui~r.lllod, pf
cfiv~natiori. negated the offer of sacrifice to the divinity of eyif. Me3nV1hile. 0.ath
:~d se11't'meisengers from heaven tt, come and'f~tch the Kingcifgziagboi:ifron(the e~,.
·'1.As-soon as Death's in~ssengers took off from heaven,he·~·ent.to tbe.pala~.towarn
-: . •. • . . .' ;.., . .- .j~.. _·-. : ';• _..., . '>a,. e. ~ ~ '.' :: •. ~ ' •. _ -' •. "': : •.•

the Kingthat Death was on his 'trail. He· advised. tlie King to prepare a1,1 els.bot:~ feast
for visitoi"s who were due in the palace the following day. .
The }"jng adhered to.the advice of Ominigbon and prepared fqodand<~fo, a palace
feast the followiQg day. Among those invited ~,the feast was Oaj1,1i~n.himself. At
about noon, seven' men aftived at the palace but before they could deliver their
5
mesaap, they were invited to participate in the feasting. . ..
At ~t.au~t, the leader of the.seven visitors introduced himself and revealed th~
~o£theirmia•n. He dis~Gled that he waatold to itivite~e Kingt.oheaven. Since thAtre is
no qpeal apiut tbe ifiunctions of Death, the King agreed to.embark on- the journey th~
ever,inc- It w~ the .turn of Ominigbon to intervene/He-confronted the heav..,ty_:vi,itoQ
and atWtb_. why d.iey. dared to enjoy the 'hospitality of the'King if tbey Mil~&going
~~naiinat;e hi• life on earth. He reminded them of the heavenly law w~,P~~l~1 ~th frop,,
killing any;one, after eating-his or her food. On that _note the visit.a.~ le(\ ~~paJa"
andre~l'l)CMI ~aven :without t~ King. Before leaving, they i\-.:O~l~ ~--\ ,y,~ver
f~rewarntd the )ting and advised.·· him' ,to feed theo:i pre~ emptively wou.1,4·~ the,~e
of' the King', death.. . . . . .. ' .. •·•'. - . .. . · .. · · ... , . . .. . Thatnip.t.J.h.ti:t~pn~ll8jQicincin
the-royalhouohold afterw~h all th~ local invi •• .-ur-.~~µ:_rqpective q~nnea.
On,ettingho1111tOmi~. othttrwise called Ogu9Jp_~·••,cm. iQ.\it4Kl the JD,eJDbtt'C'S, his of
family and t.old then,tbat he was about to leave them for good: He told his eldest son
Ogbeide that he would impart his art of divination to him after his return to heavea.
Ominigbon ~- to bed but did 'riot 'wake· ~ the (oJlowing nu~rning ... Ifie de•h was reported
to the· King who ordered: that he should be given a r~yal fuqer.l. He was buried, in
his.courtyard. ·
THE ORIGIN OlOGUEGA OitAGBIGBA AS A MODE OF DIVINATION
A few \\'eeks after the de~th of Om1mgbon, hi~ son Ogbeide observed that a plant had
genninated on the grave ofhis father. The plant soon began to flower, and to bear fruits.
wtien the fnµ~ became ripe, they fell to the gro"'nd •. .On seeing the dried. shells of the
fallen &wts;·the son, Ogbe~e w~ able t.o se.e beyond what the ordinary eyes eeuld'see • .
By pzinginio-~e :shell~he w~'innnecUai.ly endQ~ed with the power to foretell up-
comint 'evlnts. ... . . .' .;
Ogbeid& kept the seetet to himll8lf because 'he realised tbat it was the .manifes~tion
ofhisfathel"ala•t proclaJnation of transferring his art of divi~qol) to him. Ogbeide BQOn
becam.e ~,ry·~pul_ar _as a seer and divir:ier and hi"f!lme reached ~e King who was tol~
thQt; Ogbeide had developed all the mysterioui attributes of his father. The king decided
t.o invite him along with .other diviners.and .seers for~ proticie,ncy test. .
- At the same time an lfa priest was operating in Eziagbon.Jlis name was Ogbt-Ate..
He was earlier invited by the kinf to Eziagbon to save the life ~his eldest -; son from the
cult of witchcraft; Oghe-Ate ltad'-done·whatotberdivine pries~in Eziagbon could not db1
~y saving the life of the crown prince ofEziagbon. The king asked Ogbe-Ate whether. he
,would agree t;o a _,roficie~cy: contest ~da other divine priesi., and seers in his ki~om.
His initial reaction' was to decline the invitation, but when he consulted lfa
subsequ~~tly;h~ was told to agree to- participate in the contest, pro~dad he gave a hegoat
to Esu. Subsequently, he went to the palace to infol'Jll the king that he was ready.
for the contest. , · ·
All the divine priests and witch-doctors of Eziagbon, together with Ogbeide were
invited for the contest. 'lbe lfa priest, Ogbe-Ate was lllso mvited for the contest. Ogbe-

6
Ate lost no time in making the sacrifice to Esu.
Meanwhile, tfieking ol'Eziagboit ordered 100 men and 100 women to be incarcerated.
i~ separate apartments for keeping'pri•oners of war, without disclosing the purpose of the
exercise to anyone.
~r eating the he-goat offeredby()gbe-Ate, Esu went late in the nighttd-the location, of
the female internees and inducecl- into labour one of the women who was at an·
advanced stage of pregnancy. The woman delivered a male child before dawn.
Later that morning, all the invited guests and contestants were assembled. The king
was the last to take his seat.' As sborl. as he was seated, he revealed that h, was anxious•
to proclaim the most proficient seer in his kingdom. In that connection he had kept cert.-
in ll)aterials in separate l~t.ions:· He added that the tint seer, priest or diviner to· declare
the aggregate contents of the tw9 places would be given the title of the High
priest of the Kingdom ofEziagbon'(or lbere-Aiye). ·
While others were still fidgeting 9(.ith and rattling their·divinatioft instl'Umentli,
Ogbeide, the son ofOminigbon stepped forward and revealed that the Kinghad kept 100
men and 100 women in con611ement since the previous evening: Oiheia declared an:
sorts of things which were wide off the mark. It was the turn of Ogbe-Ate 'to speak. At
divination, his own onu came out and he chanted the relevant incantation, "that God
(Olodumare) created the 200 divinities (Ugba E1'11male), but that Esu infiltrated them.
Since the King wanted to know the aggregate number of materials he kept in the two
locations, he had the authority of Orunmila, the divinity of Wisdom to proclaim that there
were 201 human beings under confinement.
The King· who nodded his head approvingly when Ogbeide made his declaration:
began to show signs of uneasiness. After all the contestants had taken their tpms, it was
time for the king to declare the winner. Before doing so however, he decidea to send two
verifiers to each of the two chambers and to report their1indings.
The two men who went to verify the male chamber declared that they counted 100
men. On the other hand, those who went to verify the female chamber disclosed that they
counted 100 women and one newly bom child. Although all eyes had turned on Ogbeide
as the winner, it was eventually the visiting lfa priest Ogbe-Ate, that became the.eynosure
of all eyes.
Ogbeide felt 80 disappointed that he conceded supremacy to Ogbe-Ate. Since OgbeAte
wu only a visiting lfa priest and not a citizen oflbere-Aiye, he declined to accept
appointment as the Chief Priest of the Kingdom. He offered it to Ogbeide who was
equally correct in his disclosure. At that point the king intervened· that without the
participation of Ogbe-Ate, he would have declared Ogbeide the winner of the contest
because he actually ordered 100 men and 100 women to be kept in confinement over-
night. The king gave adequate compensation to Ogbe-Ate who was due to return to Ube
(now Ife) soon afterwards.
Baffled at the exactitude with which Ogbe-Ate made his declaration, Ogbeide offered
to learn from the former, his art oflfa divination. That was how the similarity between the
256 onus of Ifa and Oguega (Agbigba) came about as may be verified from the sixteen
principal onus.
7
11.

SINO., NAMES OF IFA'S ODUS NAMES OF OGUEGA:S onus

L OGBE OGB~
2. OYEKU AKO
a~ 'IWORI OGHORI
4 •. EDI 01,llN OBA
5. OBARA OKAN,
6; OKONRON ORU'H:
7. IROSUN U
8: -OWANRlN OGHAE
9-. EGITAN -IGHITA?i
10 .. OSA ,, OHA
11. ETURA E1."lJRE : ..
12.
13.
IRETE
El(:A. ,.-
-·~
,Jl{A. .
14.: ETURUKPON UOKIWA
15. OSE OSE ·
16. OFUN OHUN

8
 Chapter2
THE onus OF OYEKU
._ ~: ,; ~~ '

OYEKU-YI~LOGBif
I II
I II .
1· II
t II
When this Odu comes out at Ugbodu, the person should be +old that his fortune resides
near the Jea or a big river. ff he is not already living' near the water, the quest for the means of
livelihood will 'take him there and he should settle' cherefor the rest of his life. As soo,n as
possible, heshould pr_eJ?~re an image of the Water divinity (Oshun in Yoruba and Olokun in
Bini) for his lfa shrine because he will derive a lot of benefits from that
divinity. . . · .. ·. . . .· . <'
Heavenly works 'of()yeku-yi-logbe: He made divination for the three brothers of the
Serpent Kindred: . ' · ·
Th~Python, Boa andAdderwereborn of the same paren~:;. They went to Orunmila for
divination when they were corning tothe Wor1d:Oyeku-yflogbe came .out for them at
divination .. The Boa was the. se~ior·and the eldest of the three. sons. Tl1e Boa is called Oka
in Y~~uba or An,ini:nwot~ in Bini./the second one in or9~r' of seniority was the Python or
.:0?,a constrictor. It is called ~rein Yoruba and lkJ>in 'in Bini .. The mostju/iior was the
Adder <»"Viper who.is called "Kparamole' .. in Yoruba or "Ivbiekpo" in .aT1i. ·
.
()runmilaadvised each of them to serve. his Head withagoat, andEsuwith'ahelf<>at, and
together they were to ~on tribute 'moriey to buy .a'goa.t to Strve their°Iil~ father:
Whoeverthis Odu comes out for atUghodii.is theson of'Oshun orOlokuh a.nd he shodld be
asked wh~ther he.has ~WO other brothers in his family: He is likely to be the second son.of a
family of three sons.,
If he rria~es the above 'sa~rific~;·'he will surely 'prosper
tremendously. ,· . . _' ' .· "' ,. . , ,, ' '' ' . ' ..
The Python persuaded the others to let them perform the sacrificesbut the other two refused.
Orunmila had advised them that if they made sacrifice, the Boa would become the King of the
thicket, while the Python would become the king of the sea and theViper would become the
king of the open foresLThe Boa however ser~ed hishead with~ hen, served Esu with a small
chicken and hi~ father ~it& kolanut andwine. The Python on the 9ther hand, served; his heacl
~-ith a goat, Esu with. he-goat, and us.ed a cock to ' promise.a go~t to his father since the
others refused'tojoin'harids with him fobuy a goat.
The Add.er ~ade ng sacrifice at all. · . ·. . < . · : . · .· . , ,·
The three children have their individual instruments' of authority (ASe). At the time they
went to OrunmUa·f~r divination, he ·was making.a sacrifice to his Ifa'with a goat, h4r.n., a
rat and wine all of which h~ bought on credit, At that p.ofnt, the cr~,dito'rs were
;· ) ;· , .. ,' • • ' i' .~ .: ' ~ i; ' \ .•.

9
with Orunmila to demand the payment of the. debts he owed them. The sight of the creditors
and their indomitable disposition to the instant payment of their debts, provoked the three
visitors/divinees and they instantlywent into action. The Python attacked the g!'lat seller while
the Boa attacked the hen seller and the Viper attacked the seller ofrat and wine and they all
died instantaneously leaving their debts unpaid. That is why when this Odu comes out at
divination.fhe person is told not to draw the debts or credit owed to him to avoid the danger
of losing his life in the process.
Thereafter, the Viper left to settle on the grass land ('Ato' in Bini andKpakpa' ... ir,
Yoruba). The Boa went to settle in the thicket of the forest while the Python went to settle in
the swamps of the sea .
.. The Viper could not have enough to feed on in the grass land except 011 insects and did not
grow beyond ~. length of 12 inches. On his part, the Boa could only live on rats which is the
equivalent of the chicken with which he make sacrifice to Esu. He does not
grow beyond a size of2 lift~ '3 feet. · · '''· · ··
r rhe Boa constrictor who made full sacrifice, had e,Tiough'to eat, on the swamps and grew
to the size at which it could swallow animals as big as a goat, big fishes and other reptiles on
the swamps. That is why it is able to grow up to a length size of 100 to 300 feet. After he had
grown to full size in the swamps, the decided to come out to the white sand on the shore of
the seato sun-bath. As the rays of the sun beamed on hissilvery colour formation, it was
glittering under the. noon <lay sun. Meanwhile, one of Olokun's servants came out for a.n
errand from under the· deptlj ~fthe sea and.saw. this huge and long shinning object not.before
seen in the entire pr~s~,intof the water. The servant ran b~ck into the sea to tell the <li~inity
of the sea (Oshun or Olokun) that he had seen a tall handsome man witJ,,a shinning body on
her sand bed.Dlokun decided to go and see for herself. Wh~n shesaw the ~ttra~~ive
an4lland~ome body 9ftheB0a constrictor, she was astibnishe<l}VJ;1en she called ori.hhn,.he
wanted ts> escape, but Olokun p~rsµadeQ him not to run but to follow her, She took him home
to become her husband which made him to become the verypersonification of prosperity.
Th~t was how the Boa constrictor got to
its present disposition a~ i reward for the full sacrifice he made. · ''
It will be observed that the three brothers of the Serpent family have the same colour
scheme, and it was th~ .sacrifice which they made or did n.<?;\ make, that is responsible for
their-differing sizes. ' . '. ·· ·, ·. · · · . .

How ()yeku-yUogh4:, came to the wor.d:

Before coming to the world, he 'Y'as.~now.n in heaven as Omo oni ghorogbo'Orun, that is
the celestial reformer because of his magnanimous'and liberal disposition. To be able to
continue with his benevolent practices on earth, he went to an awo called Oshinu akpo yorun-
aroni maja. ·He was determined to make the worlda better place. He was told;'to make
sacrifice with a guinea fowl, a pigeon, to.make a feast of akara to the small children of
heaven, and to give he-goat to E$u.' He did all the sacrifices and came to the world to
continue w,ork as' an lfa priest in earnest, ' .' '.'
One day: there was a cholera epidemic on e·arth which was taki n~ the lives of so many
10
infants. Without beinginvited, heieollected all the leaves for healing cholera attack;'and
began to go from housetohoureto administ.erit'to all the vi'ctims of t}ie epidemic. Within
a matter of days, the epidemic.abated and allitsvictims became weH. Not long afterward,
there was a spate of high fever and convulsion amongchildren which he also cured. By
this time he had firmly establiahed bim8'tf as a ph_ysician and paediatrician.
Soon afterward, he returned to •tie:a.ven to rePort on his experience on earth to the
council of the divinities. After rePorting oli how he was able to heal the sick, make the
barren to bear children and the, blind to see, Ge>d renamed him, Oma1,nigh~10gbo aye
after which He blessed and -clearedhimto return to the'world to continue his good work.
He succeeded on earth immensely·with the BUpPortofEsu and theelders of the night.
He came to have several suffOgates who supported him hf his works. ·

The w~rks of his Surrogates: .

They advised Oye lugbada· and Oye· lugbudu' to make sacrifices for. successful
marriage and prosperity; · ·· .. , . ·' .·
Ogun kori, Ote koja was his ·su1'1'CJgate who· made divination for Alaran Oyiyi
Omo abeigun f ara yira when death was hovering reund him. He was told to off'er he-
goat to the king of Death who, then left him alone to flourish in the world. When this
Odu portends the danger of d~ath (Ayeo), the person is adviseci'to offer ahe~goat·to the
king
of Death at a road juneti\n. · ···· ··
Akeke ni gegi jaale was".nother of his St11'1'0gates who made divinatfon 'and
sacrifice for Shaake in order to have his instrument of authority (~be); The lfa priests
have a special way of preparing the Ashe of this Odu. Whate-.kr the user of the As lie
commapds with it, will mani(est within a span of24 bouts. That is in c:ommemo'ration
ofthe special Ashe which God gave him before his second ·mp·toc,the wbrld. ,1he
instruments for preparing the Ashe cannot find space in thBJ:l)ook: If is the exclusive
presenre of the Ifa
priest. :
Ashe beere was his favourite colleague who in heaven made divination and sacrifi,ce
for Agbe or Awe, a red featheted'bird,&efbrehe sticceed.id'in man'yirtga·w()man cal1ed
Ulukori.
He made divination for two brothers:
1
There lfved two brothers at lfe called Kiwuru and Kuwuwu: 'l'h.ey both'had only .ope
loin cloth which they wore irrtums: Their p,'Ofession Was fetching of firewood fol"sa.Je
from the for~,st. They used ta go out to:the fotest t.ogether t.o fef.ehit'°ewood. But only ene
of them eould go out in their cloth to-sell the.wood in them81'ltit, while the otlier·~ye~
nude in-doors. One day, one of themwas ill'arid he stafed indoors, wbile the other went
alone to 'fetch firewood in the .foret't.: The sick one used their 'cfoth to· covet 'his body.'
Before the one who went ·to the forest retumecf;'the sfck one died. Netghbi,1it'i thc,qgbt ..
it would be WTOng t.o leave his interment to his br~her. They therefore arranged tdl>ury
the dead one with the only cloth they both had. " . , . . . . . . ·. ,. : ' . . . .
When the other brothel' retutned·ftom :the forest he was told of the death and butial
\
1 .\

1
. ofh~ bf otl1er. lfhe ~eighbours did not know thatthey·buried the deceased with tl cloth
they both bad. Aft.er dusk, the }lving brother· went to the-grave where hi brother was
buried 4nd e*umed his co_rpse to remove their only loin cloth: As· removing the cloth
frolll the gra~. he observed a shining objects. As he dugfurth the grave, he found wore
of the shining objectJ . .\$he dug deep into the ground, he a,chest ~ontaininggold and
diamond whieh at ~at,;titne were. unknown to manki took the che,t home to become
t™3 first goldsmith that the world ever knew.:Frc discovery, his fortune was
transformed.from penury to affluence. He. began to p1 gold a~d diafuoncl
ornamentatio~ for the royalty and the aristocracy.Kuwuwuw first goldsmtb to cast
crown, in gold and diamond in the known world of the ti
When this Odu comes ouf.:'1t divipation for a ,destituote or-pauper, he should be
make a special sacrifice with a goat which would be buried in the ground after wl: is
bound to become affluent. He should be advised not.to tue.anyoath for any pt
whats<>ever. The.sacrifice is.,(ll'~pared,by-putti~ the headofthe goat, 2 pigeons, 2 ~
the head of a pig, sheer-butter (Ori-oyo) into a new pot with the appropriate-leave
by.ried o.n the floor of the house w~re he lives, with the.following incantations:
' ·· Ifa.Oyeku-lo-gbe, , . , . .. ; .. , . ··
"Ise ori.ran mi,ni mo nje, Ona orisa-
nla.nime nto,
Mo torto titi mo de ilu okoro jako, M~gbo
guduJ:udu,.agba ni ile enifo,. Agba ni
onifo ndipti-~~ ~mo ni Jle re, Mo.gbo
kekweipesi ni,m,qya'lowo. i·i
.• .Ipesi ,if a nfi ki o)o~Arere gun-jin, .
, ' Omo aro .. korodoi:9 agbe .ohi Aie wa si ile, ..
~o
.Mo gbo jinrin·jipgj,npf ya.l!.ede, .. Ire ,
mcgun-omo-alagbede akoko .

. _HE·MADE DIV1NATION.FORTHE.CSAMELEON
' ' Sheku Shekti agba, ' '
Oto ero, Adifa fun Alagemo, Nijo
ti ofe loja fun Olodumare, ·· Ebo
ishegun lo'nru o.
W:henian J.lllierlyperso, js'gQirtgto embark on a p't'Qjectbigger than himself and pet · are
doubting his al>ility,to accomplish the task, he.ean only .sueeeed through sacrit, The~
,v.ere the names ~f tbeAwos wtio ~~e cUvination for the chameleon <AiagE iq
"Y.,rrubaM:Omaen-n'erokhi in~ini) when he was going to challenge Olokun on be}
of;Qod. The. chameleon Wl:IS the Qldest servant in t~ divine house-hold of God.
He "!as present on the -, day wh~n Oiokun,J.he (ijvinity ef Water and wealth, ov
reached hj.mselfby boas.ting ~~the Y(as liche:r~an God. God reminded Olokun ti He, was
his creator and that whatever he. g,ad, ~lo.JIP<lto Him. Olokun replied the'
re~qg{lisedtllat generic fact, but aigu,ed.that·if a creature or asen becomes richer

12
his creator of Father, the latter must admit as a matter of fact, that the former bu
prospered more than himself. Olokun added that it was a mark of progress when a son
became more prosperous than the fatheT and that the f atber should have the courtesy to
admit the fact. Since Olokun heldon to his point, God agreed that he should come and
demonstrate his wealth inseven days tiine. · · ·
As soon as Olokun left, God gave special authority to the chameleon to challenge
Olokun. God had earlier conferred on the ehameleon the power to replicate any scenario.
Nonetheless, the chameleon decided to go for divination to Orunmila who advised him to
make sacrifice and he did.
On the appointed day, the chameleon sat on the throne next to God and told Olokun
that God had authorised him to take on his challenge because, He, considered it infra dig
for Him to compete or contest with his creature.
Olokun came in, dressed in gorgeously designed white app.1Arel and wearing a
beaded erewn .. As soon as he sat. down, everything ·he . wore. appe~red on the body of
the ch_amel~on. Olokun W8.S puzzled. He dressed up 14times but allappeared on the bod"
of tbechanieleon. Olokunhed exhausted all his drt,_sserutn~ the chameleon had not eve
staned.,Pejected and deflated, OJokun conceeded to God and accepted that he acted i
contempt of the Mmighty Father, for which be profoµndly apologised. , , ··
.. Atdivination,ifUre,thepersonshouldbetoldtomakesacrificejnorder:toaccom1
a seemingly impossible task. If itia Ayewo1 he should be warned not to aet.in conte
of, or to)hallenge an authority greater than himself, .. ~use be will be disgracec· -
DIVIN~TION FOR ORQNMILAAQ~S'l' ENMl'n7:
f
Akere .olodo olu, .
Orun, kii'waye, warojo,
...
Meaning: The frog inside the river qr heaven,
Does not return to the world, -
T.o. quarre] or fight. ··

That was the A'No ~11o m~e ~vinationfor ~1'i1- when six enemies from dift'erent
soµr~es.rosd<>,fight him. He was told to make sa~" to Esu with a be-goat, rat, fish,
eko and akara and to-serve If a.with a ram. lhrmade the sacrifices.. ;,
. Thereafter. when the enemies came to,wageWar ol) him, Esu macte tum to dance in
praise of Orunmila. . , ·.. . . _ .. _ .
.At ,4ivination for a man, he sh~ul~ be Jo.}d to ·ak~~becauae,-he i,·tum,unded·' 1 by six
enemies, one of who is planning to sedµ~ hi, wife,. For: a woman, abe,sbould be·· told that
six men who unsuccessfully woed her ,re,planniqg to undo her.rS.h,. ·,:: ~uld
make sacrifice to neutralize their machinations. · ii
··., \ : ', I

1
3
 Chapter3
OYEKU-BI-IWOJY
·/ ,, '

Hi, OYEKU-BIRI·
1! II · 11
I II
· • I Il
II ll
Oyeku-bi .• wori was famo\J;&,in heaven for nuum..,; 1.1Jvinat1011 rot au divinities,
mortals, animals and birds; alik&:'He uiecf · t.o hold meetings with all of them on diff'erefit
occasions. .He started by;·holdtng:meetings with the birds (night witches}.· The meeting was
always held in ttH·houlie'. 'flle.convener/riianager of the me4:9tings was a hi;rc(called saaro
dn Yoruba and _;Esiiasio :in· Bini; ·To this day, that bird otherwise cilllecf ~e - convener",
continues to play the tole of convening meetings of the birds of fh~ air. Oyekubi-wori
subsequently also artanged t.o hold meetings with the animals of the "forest. 'Ille bush pig
(Tukpu in Yorubaund Esi-ohil in Bini)was appointed convener of the meetings of mammau.
At each me.ting with the birds and animals; he used t.o make divination
. for the two groups on how to avoid the evil machinations of their enemies. . __
·-· ...
Meanwhile, Ogun.decideclto befriend Oyeliu-biri! a~'a strat&gy for getting af the bfrds and
animals. As a hunter, Ogun was no longer recording muehsueeess in his hunting e~edition on
actount o~the regular sacrifices tba~his P<>,ten~ial_:v:ietims were making
with the help of Orummla. ~·· -, ·· . _ ,
One day, Ogun made a clean breaatofhis inten · ons 'and told Orunmil~ that be·was ·
preparing for his annual festival and sought his dvice on the animals he y.,as going to kill for
the celebration. Oyeku-biri asked Ogun for what he had in mind and he disclosed that he
required SaaTO and Tukpu for his sacr,ificial vicpms. They happened to be the two co1u,eneTB
of the meetingsof>thlJbirds and animals: Ogiihhowever complained that he had the
~emofknowinghow.lA> meet themfotheir ~omes.Oye'k.u~biri told Ogun ' that it was no
problem. He,advised him th.it at the next m&eting of the birds, if'he hem:d · silu silu eye
oribo\ iwe ti'Dieli,-he should come to the venue of the meeting. That was the call sign of
Saaro which would be an indication that he was at home. On tli~ other hand•' if.he. heard
Od~,O..okpaa tulq:JttM1DOM eron igb>fo, being ~ call sign ofTukpu,' it
woulcl ibe an·indicatio'ft· that. he·wasat hotne/ ' ''. ' _,
When ()gun •asked"-for· the dat;e: of.the next-meeting,
Oyeku.-biri, indicated that it. would ·be itt · sevente,n days' time (ltadogun). But Ontpmila
had no intention of. betraying his clients. He subsequently advised the two groups to offer he-
goat to Esu and t.o dig a bunker undemea~ the'room where they held their meetings. 'llley did
as they were advised.
14
 On the day .of the meeti~, S8'ro and '!\ikPU co.nreJJ:~. th, IQ.~ti~ after th.ey h•d
f e;:;:q!;e:~:tttr:¥:i:~k,~~;;!·~:;!(;~t~!i~tet1:i~;i::1t~1::
that forth-e first time, S«aro had convened a meeting whl,ch did not hold, much agamst
tlie'iiictu.m that Saaro. ot E.~a~io d~e.s not co~vene a,'irj~ting that does· nethold.
0>:ekubiri however _asked Qg\lll to ~it do~. Unk,nowrt to him, the.birds and ani~llls
_had dug a concealed trench be_neath the chair on which Ogun ';Vas sittjng.As soon as
he sat down, 'he fell into the hole and the fire started bili'ning. 41 tliat point, all tlie.birds
and.ariimals
ran out for safety.' Later, a rat called Uyenghcn 111 Bini and:'.···· in Yorµba begin to
rejQice _for surviving the ordeal;by singing; eesemi bona meeku. When Ogun saw them
runia\ng out, he decided to pursue them _to wherever th,y we,nt. He did not however
succeed on that dai'.y. Since then, he began tohurit for theJQ. and te> kill which e~er of
them he coultlay hands on. %at is when huntersbegan to.set traps and_ to use g\lns,
spears,
bows a,nd arrows fot U\lin, birds and animals. \ · _ .~,.. . '. . .
' Whe1fthis Ocluconies out'at Ugbodu therefore,thfperson w.ilfbe adyised to prepare his,
own ()gun withoµt ~n:y delay and to refrain froth.holding me~tings with people. He
should endeavour not to'belortg'to any club ormeetin,g. ,,\
-.
a_,; ~declivinations'for the 200 divinities: ..
Mef,re fefe, Ofe
di~. _ofe eno,
Oun Jo nda ifa fun Orunmila,
AButun,-ejugo'Qtun, . '
r p'elu'~ugo ·osi, . .

Nijo tivion tikole onin,

'Bow-a sfkole ay~.

He made divination for Orunmila and all tHe 2()0 ~viriiUe~ whe,n tqey w~i~
·comiJ'.lg to the world. He· advised them. to make aacrlfice ill oroer to avoid the risk
ofspellding antheir'time in the forest. They were totdtc,111a1t'e sacntice·wiai' a he~goat
io·Esu and that whenever ·it .• was _'threateriinJ to _rain,. ~~r sh~Wa ~~ntinue non-
.~P· cm their journey without seeking shelter onthe way. Orurimila was the only divinity
who mad.e the sacrifice. They subsequently set out for the earth, at the instance of God.: •
· · · ··

the boundary betjeen heaven and earth .. As 50911· a,

On account of the sacrifice which they did not roak~, &u. pro~e~ed toyai~for them at
E~iJ sighted them in,.the,
disuances,.the unpl~ed the rain taps.of heave~ ~n~d)tstarte~ raintQg'. Th~ rairi\va~ so
heavy that each ·of the divinities began to take'shelter a\ various points on t,:i.ir route in
the hope ofwaitingfor the rain to stop. Orumn.i.la stopped for a brj,fre~t}n th~ l:iom~:
of Eegun (Egun¢un) who· gavehim considerable hospitality. E~p~ per~ed .hltp. to.stay
for the nun to sto~. but Orunmila.insisted on proc~~ing on hisjourne.Y, ~p~p however
gav~ him •
a. cap to eover. his
..
head from' the rain ~nd with
~
'th~t
.. · •
he'~ntinu.ed
.. . ~
on. l ' ,. ( t
15
 hiijo~ey wlµle ~.e othets.·pfeferred ~:.1'~main under ~helter untihhe ~in abated.
Orimmila ~eivea a tumµ.lµioti~. welwme from his children and adherents whQ had hffn ..
~xpeetinghis arriv._al.Jlb~ childten·gavehJw .. new.c~o.thes ~.w~ar since he was t.otally
drenched. While he was settling dowµ on ea~. the'others were still ~~r~t.,ing . at various
points on the route be~use. tlie. rain eentinued non-stop for three yeS:rs:
When t>ie rain ·eventually: stopped, Og!.!n de~ided 'that there was · no point ~n cont.
inw.· ·nt.'on his joµm·e. Y. be.ca'US. e J1e w. a. s q. u.i.te Jia.:. ppy i n his ramshackled ..
abod .. e by the
. ., .. _: :, ·_. ,-~ - - ,__ , :· _: · , : _ •. ··. · .. · , f_ ' : ··-_. 1' ·: ' ·_ .• ·,: ' ·- -

way· side. The Qthers al'°· took similar 'decisions .. When Orunmila was asked for the
whereabouts of his colleagues; he replied that they hacltaken shelter from the rain at
various points on the w,ay to the earth. '11iat is why to this day, food is gj'ven to an the
other divinities outside th~ house, at bush paths and by-ways,, away from the house.
'11iat is also why Orurimila is' the. only divinity ihat ts normally served.,at home.
When this Odu edinei out
afUgbodu,. the person· is advised. thJt .,when it rains .
any,where away frotn,his home or dµring a joum~y. he shouitQe~er'.take':shel~er but
make ~traight. for his1home ip. ordf:tr t:o enjo.rla$ti.rig p~ace ap'(l proM)erit.Y:
. Oyeku-bi-wori's preparatioji(or his trip to the•rti:.:ae piade di'1);lation_fo,r
.Otiton or Otiku (Refuse-dump) · · · ·· · ' · ·· ·· · · ·· · · ·
. The last preparation he made before le~ying heaven .was te off9sr he>m.~~ toOlokun
with a cock, pigeon, white kolanut, chalk and parrots' feather. He' also paid.tribute to God
to obtain divine blessing. He finally offered rabbit, seven eggs, a hen, white, red and
black cloth to the elders of the night in addition to a he-goat, for:Esu.
Olokun assured Otiton that he would be served by 11.ll d1vinitie:s and humanity alike . .
He would never be in want but that he should not fe>rget him, Qlokµn. He promised
Olokun eternaltt'ratitude. When Otiton got to the world, his life w~ virtually empty, but on
account of the elaborate sacrifices he made in heaven, all. the divinities and the ~
inhabitants of the earth began to send food, clothes and all iteni~ to him. That is why there
is no household on earth which does not send food everyday to the refuse-dump.
The most important Ono-If a or Odiha which should be made when this Odu comes
out at Ugbodu:. iscn,peat U,ie elaborate sacrifices which Otiton madeinheaven so that the
person would consf.Q.ntly.rec:eive help, from all and sundry .lfi~ comes out at ordillary
divination; the person will• tqld to make ~crifice sotha.t.he will always receive help from
others. He should be tqld that food and the means of buying it will always meet.him
~~~·. . . . ,• ....
lie made divination tor o~~ye: '
Olaleye was a well-~:-do IDan_but u11fortµnately he hadno children. He had several
wives but none of the~ oo;uldbringforth acliild. One
day, his wives tltreatened that.they
we~. going to Ieave his house, to find salvation· else-where, '11ie prospect of living
without his wives scared him. so much that he decided to leave for thefcrest to commit
suicide. As he enteredthe bush,he began,to.cry ~the left. heaven wishing to.have all the
good things of life, but apparently his ~-re
for chU~rE!n did not manifest. He was
tlien.ltyingt.o his guardian angelthat he was returning to heaven to make fresh wishes
i 16
12.

to have children. He cried the song right up to the bank of the, river i~to which he
proposed to dive and drown to end'his life. '·
When he got to the river, as he made his last wish still crying, he heard a voice which
advised him that he was not dest;ined to be childless.Th.a' voice ordered him to return
home to look for a visiting awo can,d Oyeku-bi-wori. After hesitating for a little while, he
sat down not knowing what to do next. Before he left the river he heard a thunderous
voice telling him that he would have 18 children and that each of his wives would have
children provided he followed the advice of Oyeku-bi-wori, babalawo Olaleye tounle
shawo lodeIgboti, Olaleye lived in the town oflgboti.
On getting home, he narrated his experience to the Oba of the town, who at that time
had a visitor to his court. After.hearing Olaleye out, the Oba asked himwhere he was
supposed to. ~me across his awo and Olaleye replied that he did no't have the slightest
clue. At that point the visitor asked him to repeat the name of the awo he was supposed
to look for. He replied, that the n~me sound~ likeOyeku-bi-wori. TheAwo then brought
out his Okpelle to make divination on the veracity of Olaleye's story. It was Oyeku-bi-
wori that appeared at divination. At that point, the visiting.awo'identified himself as
Oyeku-bi-wori · and that since his own Odu was the one which also appeared at
divination,he confirmed that Olaleye's story was not only comet, but also that his cry for
children would turn to glory and that the name of his fil"llt child should be Ekundayo
(meaning, "weeping has given rise to happiness).
The awo then asked him whether he had six wives and be answered affirmatively.
The awo then told him to make sacrifice with plenty of.ekuru, plenty of eko, 18 rabbits,
18 snails, 18 bats, 18 cowries, eighteen bags of money and ,plenty' of esho eni, the
materials used for weaving mats. He was to scatter theseeds ofthe~esho eni", into the
bush. He went home to prepare for the sacrifice. After making the sacrifice, all his six
wives became pregnant the following month and they.put to bed subsequently after
Oyeku-bi-wori had left for lfe, from where he camei Before hiswi?esd~livered, the seeds
he scattered in the forest had become a huge plantation ,which 'i& why the first mat
prepared in Yoruba land ca:me, from the town of lgbott ·Ft-om· using the Esho eni to
prei>are mats for sale.. ~e,, ,family of ,Olaleye. became. exceedingly wealthy.· He· 'had
eighteen children on thewhole anddid not lack themeanstjffeedingthem. !

When this Odu comes out at diviilation. for a person who· ,·

"has long been anxious to have children, he should be told thath1s probletps\wouldsoon
be over, provided he makes ,acrifice. He should be told to name his first child, Ekundayo
or his language equivalent of"Weeping h*'8 turned tojoy'. He should-make _afenst with

f :·,.-·
! -~ .-1

17
plenty of Eko and Ek.\1.ru. _•,,_,'
Chapter\&,
,

.. ; 'OVEKU-SI-IDI
· I . rt
11· II
.. ,,n l I
- I I l

Oyeku Kepdi was a very popular Ifa priest in heaven. He performed many remarkable
in
feats, which have ,remained universal landmark,, both heaven and on earth.
He made divlnation for tbe IDOJ'Dini and for the Evening when they were
co11Jin1 ~ the .-lei: · . ' ' . . .. · . . · ·
He made divination for Momin, (Aard)and the Evening (Oju'JJe) with the following
poem:- .
Ifaor• llidi, Idin
mon ojo,
Koni4bebe,
lyeri ye la bibe
Sugbon komo,
Eee ijo gbighe.
Mea.ning:- The worm know,,
How to dance,
But has & limba,
Its ankle veins cantune,
I.ts inner legs. to darice;
Though lacking t.W1trength,
. To lift the legs. • .
Oju ale (Evening) waa told .t;o make 1atrifice with ,nails, sheer-butter (Ori-oyo),
pigeon~ white chalk, caniwqod (O.un) in Yoruba, honey and salt, and he made it. Aaro
(Morning) Oil the other:hand Wa&•told.to make ,sacrifice with honey and snails. He
declined to do the sacrifice·becauaeit waa not elaborate enough. On the other hand, he
told the Awo to prescri~ the requisite sacrifice for him to make in order to get to the.
world before Evening. Ha was not concerned with lasting pi'osperity in the world for
which he was to make the simple sacrificewi~ snails and horiey, hut which he refused to
do. Since he was in a lJurry to reach the. world before Evening, he was told to make
sacrifice with a mat.che~ red cloth, palm kernel, and 'a ram. He made the sacrifice and
the Awo also prepared Ifa for him. Thereafter lie raced to the world, beating Evening
who was still looking for moftey to ftincl his sacnfice.
Immedia~ly Morning got to the world, all the. good thingsand people of the world
embraced him. When Esu was told that Morning did not make sacrifice for enduring

18
prosperity, he raced to lieCl'i'ett to invite the sun to appearbeeause Morning was stealing
the show on earth. 'nie sun instantly appeared on the horizon and its rays began to heat up
the atmosphere. Before noon therefore, the fortunes of the Monung had begun to flag.
Tbe cool air of the Mortrlng had.given way to the intense heat of the Sun and·people
began ,to take shelter. · Moming,. had ·paled. into. insignificance, The . intensity· of the
Afternoon had driven .the cool air of the Monii.ng into oblivion. ·
%at was when Evening arrived on earth, the fortune whichthe Afternoon seized from
the Morning were all transfe1Ted to t.Ae Evening, Gradualfy, the Sun-began to set and
Evening began.to flourish. Evening became VfJr.Y cool, prespereus'and wealthy.
That is why to this day, the fortunes of the Morning are shortlived. It only lasts from 6
a.m. to 9 a.m·. before the Sun appears. He beginlJ to run into difficulties from about 9
a.m. until his fortunes extinguish completely at mid-day. In other words, his. prosperity
lasts for Qnly three out of a whole day of twenty-four -hours: The Evening on the other
hand lasts from about 4 p.m., when,he go~t.o the prescinct of the earth· arid began· te
flourish gradually from about 6-p.m. to tbefollowing-day~
Th-.t explains why those who come.into greatwealtb and prosperity very early in life,
eithe'tlose everything or die before middle -e, That is also why people who are destined
to· enjoy enduring prosl)t!rity .have.rough times >in the morni,;ig, work1hatd in the
afternoon and enjoy prosperous and>wealthy evenings, It is those who are ·destined to
become wealthy and famous later in life, that suffer hardships early in life. It also
explains why generally, those who make it between morning and afternoon often pray to
the Almighty God for their prosperity to last through the evening of their lives. In some
cultures, children born in the evening are regarded as being senior to those born in the
morning of the same day. People not only pray to live long enough to see~tbeir chj1:dr~n
thrive and flourish but·al~ t'ortheir;children to bury them:itfthe T'erting of
their hves. ,, · , · . . · ·· . · - ·· ·
That is why Ifa priests have coined the poem as follows:. ,.

Aro
• ,r
mi ire - o,
Oju ale la ntoro,
Bi ale mi baa dara,
Emi yio.dupe l'owolfa,
Meaning:- If my morning is good,
I pray for the prosperity,
Of my evening to endure,
To enable me thank Orunmila.
When this ODU comes out at Ugbodu the persob should be . ..
to
. . told to make sacrifice for a'prosperous evening and'·never- to l:ie'-ifl a'llUtry acquire
the good things oflife. . . .. . , i . '· ' · '
At divination, the person should be told-·if.already·wealthy.anll,~~;~_.tn11~e ~crifice
so that his prosperitymighfnot be shortliv~; :ff~ should;take'lif'eat aJi ea~ier
• , ,' . ·1 · · :·. l :: l ·
..
paee,

19
 , He. alao made divination for ·Agbaa or Ighede (Big Drum) before. Jeaving
heaven: ,.
When ~was coming to the world he wenttoOyeku-si-diformedicine and charms in order to
collimand honour and dignity on earth...Orqnmila told him that :he knew no medicines and
charms. for his purpose, but that if he .was Interested, he. would make divination tot.ell him
the.relevant eacrifice to make before leavingfor earth. He agreed to do divination•twhicb he
was told to make sacrifice; with 201 arrows, a long cane, and 2 cudgels, He.was told that
hewas one of three brothershom of the same mothervbut that he wa1.not tot.ell aJty of his
brothers about the sacrifice·he was going to make lest it would not manifest. The'names of his
other two brothers in order ofseniority were, the Gong (Gongon in.YoNJ.ba and Egogo in
Bini) and Maracas (Akese in Yoruba and Ukuse in Bini).
After procbicing tbunat.eria.ls for the sacrifice,·Orunmila'used a cane to tie each of the 201
arrows 'l'Qund his ·head, fastening,\ltem in place. While he was waiting in Orunmila's house
for the operation to be.completed, his two brothers were searching for hi111 to eliminate him.
Whensthey were told that he was in Orunmila's house, they went tC). meet, him ~re. W.n
they saw him with his head tied-up, they asked him why his head.w• fattened and he replied
that he was doing so at the instance. (jf Orunmila, The png took two of the cudgels and began
to kriock Agbaa on his head. He then began to

cry:-·;
Mogbo moru,
Mpti she ho,
Oyeku-si-di.
Meaning:- I lu\ve made. the sacrifice prescribed by Oyeku-si-di. His cry sounded ~elocfioua
and 4-t is the sound of the big drum to this day. On the other hand the Gong , began to jibe at
Agbaa that he was reacting painfully to his beating;
r Araa kin Agbaa,
Gogogogo, Araa
kan Agbaa, Araa
kan Agbaa,
Gogogogo.
which is also the sound made by the gong when being beaten with a cudgel. On his part, the
Maracas said while clapping his hands that the beating of Agbaa only made him to
sit 'down properly by saying:- ·
· Okpaa keshe keshe,
.: ' Agbaa keshe keshe .
. which also corresponds to :the sound made by the Maracas to this day.. ·
•· · .~e!nwhile, howe\tel'r (h:unmila appealed'for a cease fire and when they stopped fighting,
he told them that the sound corning from their combat was so melodious that
• ·it was better fqr the. three brothers to co-operat.e conciliatorily instead of combating cbnft-
bntationaHy. Orunmila then proclaimed with his instrument of Authority (Ase) that'frbm
that'day, the three brothers would become indispensable to mankind and that
.! ' '

20
 whenever the three of them co-operated to act simultaneously, it,would be a 'sign that
something pleasant or festive was happening. In their new spirit.of reconciliation,
Orunmila told them to serve their heads together with a cock. They did the sacrifice and
then left for the world, where theyi operate successfµlly as a musicaltrio. That is why to
this day, the sound of the Drum, the Gong and the Maracas (notwithstanding the
improvement created by modern technology) aeting.in concert, produce such melodious
music that brings joy and happiness to everyone.
When this Odu appears at Ugbodu, the person should be told that his mother has three
children and that each of them would be famous, butthattheir fame would be even more
resounding if they agreed to co-operate. He should be advised to make sacrifice ' with a
ram, 16 snails and 2 pigeons to lfa before he completes his If a initiation ceremony.
At ordinary.divination the person should be told to serve Esu with a he~goat toa'Void :
the,.risk of giving aw~y his honour and popu)llrity to someone else.

•He ~de divinati~n for theSnake:,

. The .sna~e was otj.ginally an ordinary rqpe. when he was inlieaven, He could neither
bite.nor.harm. He was only used as an instrume-otfor tyjngloads. When he decided to
come tQ the world, he w,ent to Orunmila for divination. Orunmila asked one of his
followers called:
. (Agbaa
nimoJ1,1, Oren
tekpe,
Oun ni .011difa fun ejo)
to make divination for him. The snake was at that,time called Alele, which meant the
king of ropes. On account of the fact that he was commonly used for tyingfirewood, both
himself and his children had no peace whatsoever. He· wanted to be more res •• ctably
treated on earth and to have peace and honour. , . :. :
At divination, he was told to serve his head with white ana red kolanuts inside his
house, after which he was also to serve his head.with another set of white and red
kolanuts by the side of tqe road outside his house in order to command heaeur, fear and
dignity from the people of the world. , ·
~r .serving his head inthe house at night, he left the followingmoming for the·road
leading- to the venue 9f tlie divine eouncflofheaven, He sat down by the roadside .to pray
to his head, At the same time, God was on his way to tlie meeting of the divine council.
God metAleie praying. When God heard what he was wishing for, He askeci,.Alele to
give Him the two kolanuts with which he had been praying. AleleTefused to surrender
to
the kolanuts on the ground that he. was advised by Orunmila to use the~ serve .. his
head. God asked him the desires for which he was serving his.head, and .A.lele replied
that he was created as a nonentity and as a universal servantand that be diA notwani
t.f>,suft"er the satlle fate on earth, for which he was leaving presently. , , . . .. · ,, · · . .
.Once again, the Almighty father asked him to. suerender the kohin,iitiS: ~nq \i~\
willirigly did so. Thereafter, God ordered him to open hjs m~µth -, As so,an as,
he,obeyed, the command, God spoke and spat into his mouth, and without saying
anyother word, 21
proceeded on His divine journey, while Alele left for his own house. The wor~s which God
ll)Oke int6 his~ were:'- · · ' ' "' · ·-· ·
·· .. I
,, •· twoOkun, · · ·· · ·
: · Bmi fun o niase wipe;
Oun-ki-oun ti o baao ni aiye,
• Ni won yi o gl>o-ni,
.
Meaninc:- Ob Orun ni ojo na. - You I
rope, I endow yo~
'· With such,authonty, That.whenever you Speak on .
)

earth,· · Your word'& will be heard,

,In heaven ·on the same day.
That commahd. of God0wes,a metaphor which means that whenever the snake bites, the
victim· will feel it instaht}y·and if not treated, will get to heaven on the same 'day.
Alele left for earth the following day. He got to the earth and continued to be used as a
rope. Meanwhile, Olofin made divination inhis palace and he was advised to m_ake
aacrifice.to avoid the'4allgeroflosing a human lioulheforethe end of that year. 1He was asled
to five a ~goat,to lilew'in order to have the necessary peace· and b'anquility ~ perf'orm his-an-
nuaUestw4il without losing a ·soul. He regarded the prediction as far-
fetched and so ignored the advice and the sacrifice. '· ·
Meanwhile the members of Olofin's household began to make preparations for the annual
festival. 11le Oba's favourite wife led a team to the forest to fetch fiTewood for use during the
festival. After fetching the firewood, they proceeded to proeure the ropes for-
tyingthemup.:The,favourit&wiferdftheOba-.tben saw Alele wit.hits itn®tlibody. Mer
upr09tingit.fromthe.ground; the rope-warned bet not to treat·him·''shabbily. She ignorecl-~
waffling and continued to fold-up the rope. As she folde'.d-:the rope up to her
hands, be attacked her with the help of his newly 'red authority fiofu God: She
quickly.th-raw away the rope and shouted for hel l het mates came to meet her. She
began to bleed from the point ofimpact'.an vomit. The others· quicklynishecf her
home. But befOl'e they got home, she di . '.\ '
That incident put a stop or e preparations for the festival. The Oba ordered
the ·ro)'&hherald .to announce ,the cancellation of that year's' festival. The Oba also deereed
that Ejo,.<u-he came-to' be called thenceforth) orAlele had aequtred' .. the instrwnent.of-
autho'ri,ty {ASB)-for respect'andhomitlro'.The ptodamation •as made in
the following werds:' · · · •·
Keni keni maamu,
,Kpakun.Ejodigi loko, ,,-- ·
Ori Ejo-Maakpaa irele ejo.
When this Odu appean at divination, the-,l)erson should be told to make sacrifice to his
head with kolanuts at home and outside his 'house,' because he Jacka h~nour arid respect;
After the sacrifice, he will command respect, fear and tecognition among his
? :- , ( .

22
 Uowmen.

He made divination for the Flesh when he was coming to the world:
When the Flesh was leaving heaven for the earth, he was told to make sacrifice to Esu,
Ogun and the elders of the night, and to use a cock and kola nut to revoke the curse of
God on him, that since he was made from the sand of the earth, he would end up
returning to the sand of the earth. He refused to do any of the sacrifices.
On his way to the earth, he was accosted byEsu who reminded him of the sacrifice he
was advised to make to him, but he brushed Esu aside and continued on his journey.
Next, he met the divinity of the night who he also ignored. Finally, he met the worm who
asked him where he was bound for. He also ignored the worm. The worm then cursed
him that for ignoring him, he would forever constitute the food for feeding him and his
children. That is why when any person or animal dies, itis the worms that inherit the flesh
of their body. That is also how the curse of God on the human flesh has remained
unrevoked to this day; "that from the sand you came and to the sand you shall return".
When this Odu comes out at Ugbodu, the person should make.a special sacrifice with
antelope, bush goat (Edu in Yoruba and Oguonziran in Bini) plantain, 9 snails and a hen
in order to live long in the world. He should forbid all the materials mentioned above in
addition to refraining from marrying or having any sensual relationship with a widow.
At divination, the person should be told to serve Ogun with a cock and to give a hegoat
to Esu to avoid the unpleasant consequences of offending people who are stronger and
more powerful than himself. He should have his own lfa, but if it is for a woman, she
should be advised to marry a man who has Ifa.

..

}iI

Note: page 24 is blank, continues

with 45 23
I
 Chapter5
UYEKU-OBARA
OYEKU-KPALABA
I II
I I ll
I I U
I I tI

This Odu did not practise much oflfaart on earth, What is known about him only relates to
his Ifa practice in heaven where hernada divination mainly for the animal
kindred. ·

His first work in heaven: __

Ifa Oyeku kpaalaba, _ Qyeku kpa
bala lkpahu, Babalawo ejo,
Adifa fun ejo,
Ahufun _ eye, ,
Atunbufuneku, . ; ; .
Kpelu ihorobi.
~-

. •• . .• •1.,. •- '
He made divination for the snake, birds, rats, cows and ijanikpere when they were all
barren. Each ofthem was advised to·in~ke sacrifice in ordej to have children. Only Ihorobi
could afford the cost ofm~king th'e '§a~'rifice. First, she ·gave money to the ratto buy her the
materials for the sacrifice. The xat bought the materials but used them to make her own
sacrifice. She next se~t the bird who also diverted the materialsfor her - own sacrifice. Next,
she sent the co~ and the snake and they treated her the same,~ay by using the materials, they
bo11ghtfor hertopenonn their own sacrifices.
The four of them soon began to have ~.hi_Jdreri, they started makingjest oflho~obi, that she
was.so stupid to have provided uioney f~r the.re~t of'thern J9make sacrifice for themselves,
without lifting up herself to solve her own problems.'Jhor9bi then cried to · 0runmi1a .awi
reported how she.was cheated. orunmna _advised her to produce a feather, yeUo-..v yam,
white yam and a double bladed knife with the appropri~te leav~s. Orunrnila coolte() tpe yams
and gave herthe knife with ."'..hichto eat it. Sh~-wais told ~at . her children would be born
with swords in their ritoqths and that her ehildreri woulc!be - more powerful than those.
o(the.dour sisters who che~ted ."t1er. She was however wamecl not to reveal the secret to her
children. She later gave birth to 1,000 children. Wh~n they grew up, they asked their mother
how they came to have sw9rc{s intheir mouths. Their mother refused to disclose the secret to
them. As they gl_"~W older and ttT9nger, they;
. . .•... · . ' ;. .. ,'
· ..

25
continued to insist on knowing the rea!IC)n,why.~ey were differently created. Finally,
their mother told them that it was because of the dishonesty of her four sisters, the rat,
the bird, the snake and the cow .. · .. ,. . ..,
Froro then on, the children of Ihorobi began to 'kill and feed on the children of their
aunts. That is why Ijanikpere kills and feeds on all infant animals to this day.
When this Odu appears at Ugbodu, the person should be advised never to send others
to do on his or her behalf any task whic"1 is fundamental to his or her life. He or she
should endeavour to do them by him \per-self to avoid being cheated. His problems,
especially of childlessness were caused by members of his family.-1Ie should not seek
vengeance because his difficulties would. abate and he would overcome his enemies.
At divination, the person. should. be told that he has several enemies .creating
problem's for him in his family. lJe should Have his own Ifa ~ho will end his problems
and make him triumph over his enemies ..

He made divination for the Horse when coming to the world:

The Horse had made sacrifice in heaven to have children on earth but failed to make
. . .
sacrifice against the danger of backing other people's ehildrenother than her own.
When the Horse grew up. she decided to travel to 0yd. Oyeku Kpalaba told her at
divination to make sacrifice with a rat, fish, he-goat, snail and cudgel. She refused to do
the sacrifice. When she got to Oyo, people began to ride on her back but she refused to
move. Esu thenintervened and told them to use a cudgel to beat her for failing to make
sacrifice. When they used the ~udgel to whip her, she began to move. That was the
beginning of how the horse came to be used as a beast of human burden and why it is
1
the only animatl so used. , ,' . . . ·. .. .
At divination therefo~c, the person should be 'adv.ised to.tnake saerifice to avoid ~ing
used as a beast of burden by others and to avoid 'carrying other people'~ Rroblenis.
. ., .
. .·;, J

He made di'.viution for the Tortoise: . . .

Traditionally, the tortoise only made'di\iin,ation in order to know the direction to
which the wind is blowing and not with a view to making the prescribed sacrifice. Ile
prefers to rely on his ·wits anc;i' cunrungdispo~itjon: He was hJm~~1r a trii,di.~io.na1
diviner. On one occasion, a.s he was preparing to travel oµt for his practice, he w~~t to
Oyeku Kpalaba for divination. lie was told to make sacrifice to Esu, his head and Ogun
to avoid being caught in hifo'wn tricks, He.did not do any ofthe.pre~ri.bed sacrifices. He
then proceeded on'hisjourney. None of the works.lie did mJmifested. To avoid'retiirning
home empty-handed, he decided to pose ijS a royai'hies,engerfrom the Oba o(bis'"town.
He was elabo.rat:ely ente~h~d an,d" got plenty of gifts as roy~l 'messenger~ iii~' \\'tll'lt
to have.
·However, on the eve of hi_s departure, the bona-fide royal ,messengersJrotri the king
landed in the town, When. t!iey were told that .one cj( their colleagues had been in t'1.e '
town for over 11 week, they were eager to establish his identity. When t.hey discovered
~at, .he was an. impei:sonator, the. head .o(the royal delegation .tried the Torteise
summarily and sentenced him to death. He was instantly executed. ·
26
 When it comes out at divination thereto-re, the person' &hould be advised 'no{ to
impersonate without making sacrifice. · ··

Qyeku-Obara,'s works oo. "11h: . · .·· ...

He was a very pugµaciousJ(a priest who was often fighting anyone th'at crossed his
path. One day, he decided to go and fight in the land of Ogun. When he consulted Ifa
before going, he was advised not to proceed on the journey without serving his head and
Esu. He did not consider it necessary to make any sacrifice since no combat had
previously defied his fighting ability.
He arrived in the town at a time of total pandemonium. When he enquired about the
cause of the commotion, he was told that someone had just been murdered in the town.
He immediately went to hide by the side of a palm tree. He removed his Ikin from his
waist and enquired what he was to do in the circumstance. His own Odu, lfa Oyeku
Kpalaba, appeared. He was told to go and hide inside a hole because the side of a palm
tree could not provide adequate security. ·
He accordingly entered a concealed hole where unknown to him, there was a Boa. He
sat down on the head of the Boa who instantly complained that it was the battle that
drove him into the hole and wondered who it was that dared to sit on his head. He replied
that he came to take refuge inside the hole, because the people of the town were looking
for a stranger who had just entered their domain. The Boa told him that the people were
so vigilant that he was sure that they would soon be looking for the two of them inside
the hole. Not long afterwards, they saw smoke oozing into the hole. The smoke soon
drove out Oyeku-kpalaba from the hole, but the boa said he would not leave the hole
because a snake never dies in the hole. He then dug up a hole inside the hole and ~d
his head inside it for protection against the smoke. '
As Oyeku-kpalaba was stepping out of the hole, he was apprelrended. He howtver
warned them not to arrest, molest or kill him because he was an Ifa Priest. It is commonly
known that it is forbidden to arrest, manhandle or jail an Ifa priest. l{is . captors however
insisted on taking him to the Oba's palace. When the Oba asked bun to identify himself, he
again disclosed that he was an Ifa priest and that his name was Oyeku-kpo-bara. The Oba
then ordered that a house should be prepared for him and that he should be persuaded to
disclose what he came to do in the town. He suh8'quently revealed that he came to fight
with Ogun. He was however told that that was not Ogun's town but the town of Uja, the
wife of Ogun, who is the fotce and power behind him .. The people then prevailed on him
to remain in the town to practice lfa art there.
He prospered in the'town, but still did not make the sacrifice to his head and Esu.
Meanwhile, he was arranging for a wife to be sent to him fronihis town, but he was told
that it was forbidden to bring a bride into the town unless he went to another town to
marry her. When he consulted Ifa, he was reminded of the sacrifices he was earlier told
to make. At that point, he served his head with a cock and .E$U with a be-goat. He
eventually prospered immensely ever after. ·
When this Odu comes (>ut at Ugbodu, the person should serve his lfa with another

27
go~t because ofan impending eatastropbe. He should also be told thatthere is a sick per~on iii
the house where the Ifa initiation ceremony is taking placellrtd-that he or she is bound to die.
The initiate should be told never to arrange for a wife for anybody because his Ifa forbids it.
At ordinary divination, the.person should be told'to serve Esu
with a he_-goat without any delay to,avoid the danger of attack by robbers. ·

••

. !

,.,. f

:•"S..,'

. I:
IC •••

~;1i, J "I

28
 Chapter 6 ·
OYEIW ~ OKONRON :, ' OYEKU ~ KPELESEKON
.J. . II It. ' ..
,·
11· ·11'
11· 11
~ IL
lie ..-.;e divinati.,n, for lrob and a.i• t~., e,isf.en: . ·. . .
It ,was Oyeku-kpelekon roko who made 'divin,tion for Iroko ·
•and his two sisters when they were comifMr., -th~· world. Iroko gave a goat tc> hi•
gµardian angel l:p\d • he-goat to Es\). _Oyeku-~lekon also made a divinAtiOn: for:the
niotheJ.of~ty aruttheJnQt,hetof the.witches, who.had.Irc;,\o as theireldesi brother. Iroito
w~~-a vel'){tallaf¥1 be.nd,ome me.ii.After makiJigthe.sacrifice, he left fotcthe world.-
where he preferred to settle c!own in seclusiop .aw•y from the town. The mother of the
lajty wa&the ne.xt~ come to.tlle world. $he preferted to]ive amonghumanhal:g,tation in
the toWTI. she.had a total of ten children:l~efore lier juniQr ~ter, the mother of witches
~~.to the world where she.deeided to fµIY with t,b~-PJotber ofthe Iaiiy. She had only
one child. .. . . - ·' ..
One d•y, the mother of the Jai,ty;(Qp,il'd~ed to tra:yelto o.;.-atjigl>omeµ.n~, the
on\, market ,,.,~ere the inhabi~y ~heaven a.nc:l eJlrth.~m~only tr~~- .. It ued. r.,.ke w
three,dayato returnfrc,ni ~e ~~rltet... As she wa• l~vingfor the matket,..sbe ~ her~n
children to the care other ei~r ~. tll~ mother.of ~}Jes (A.je). 'fflela~took gre~ CllJ'e ofher
sistets ten children w~:re she re~~ from the,-~rk,t.: the mothe.,:oflaity was very grateful to
her sister for the good care she took of her ,l:rlld,.en .....
Not long afterwe.rds, the. m0,t'4er of witc:hes .(AJe) decided to .f;rayel to the mark.et
leaving her only child under the care ofher sister. Soon after her departure, the children of
the mother of the laity (Ogboi) told their mother that they wanted t.o eat a bird. 'Illeir
Ql()~r. offered ,to sl~bter !1 fowl for theQl to eat,
but. ~1-~siste,d on ~'?,Dg
a l>ird.
They had thei-reyes ... on.tbe only.child of~ witch :nt0t,ber We or Azen). Opc,U.owever
decided ~ go ic, the fore~t to look for birds for her c;hildren.' . . . ; ; ' . '
~ 800°' as' she left for the~b. her child~ll a:~ke~&~IJ10nly cl,rildB11d ~him up for
food., ~le s~ll on her way to the ~~rket,.~e ,~t.a f~i,bodi~·\'lhi~ .maae her to wonder what
was happening at home.As herbe)dy ~J>ecame-p,rsistent, shedecicled to abandon her trip
to the market. ancl to returp. hC)Dle. Ori gelti'1Jfuwie, she ,di1JCC>vered that her oply
ehild was missing. Soon afterwards., Ogboi also r~turiied froin the bush with some birds,
for her hungry children. After &e$.l'Ching in vain for her dead child, Ogboi IUlrrated
how she. ~ent to the. forest to l~,.,o~l>ircls in n~nae,fo
her c;hlid~n·· desire to ·eat a
l>ird.
' ,·,.
soon
It '
~ame apparent
·' .'
that Ogtioi's
... .
'
ten
.
children
., '
had ..
eaten up the .
· ~. . . ' .

29
only child of Aje. ·, ,
.Aje lamented that although she took good care of her sister's ten children when she
went to the market, shecoulcl...,tt'll~beqoodgesture by providing adequate custody for her
only child when she left,for th~ matket. She decided to pack her belongings from Ogboi's
house and left for ~ crying her eyes out towards the direction of their brother's (lroko's)
residence. Iroko ~eel her by reminding her of the heavenly law which forbade
cannibalism, and since Ogboi was the first to strike, she would receive a harder blow in
return. Iroko from then on provided accommodation to Aje, proclaiming that all the
human and material possessions ··of Ogboi would live at the mercy of the witch-mother.
Aje and Iroko then began to feed on the children of the mother of the laity. Before the
break of the next day, the witch mother with the active cooperation of Iroko started
plucking the children of(jgbc,i one after the Qther. It-is that first blow'dealt.,cm the witch
mother by the lriity tha(we
repay to the cult of witchcra(t to tl)is day: .
au
non-witches are chiJdren' of the laity-,Ogboi,
... ''. '
· i\fter lc,sing about five of 1i.er. dnldren ·io henivowed enemies,' Ogboi appealed fo
Orunmila to save her from the wrath of her sister:and brother. Onuunila- nffirlnded her
oftlie sacrifice sh,, failed to mue.J)etote leaving heaven. Sbe1tnaUy matle thesatrifices,
one witli'~ lie-g1>a~ to Esu anifthe oth~r'whic(l wu taken'to Iroko'shouse to atone for
her negligenc;e. When she got to Iioko's tiouse, she surrendered the go~t/When her sister,
the witch 'inother wanted to atqtck her, their brothet lroko ili~rvened. That is the debt we
re-pay to Witches to sa~e our lives and those of out child1'8nthrough sacrifice
to fh.e nig\lt, to this ~Y.· . . . . .. . . . · .... ·. ·.. . . ·. . .. ·. . . . ·
When;tms· Odu'c~es ieut at divination, t;l)e·1f81'son 111>011ld be told that he or she is
J)aving problems from close relatroris arising from a bad tum he or shtHnitiated. He/she
should nld.e sam{i~ij ~atonf for it. If itis Ayeo, he sliould.,erve Esuwith'a·he-gollt and
the ~ight thl'Ougb,lfa with a hen or a rabbit. lfit is Oree he sh'>uld be told to serve Esu
a
with t:bicken and. the Night with a rablrit to avoid the;risk of offending someone m~h
st~nger than hitnaelf. ' : ·,· , .· · '' . . . ·. · ·, . · . .. · . . .. . ·
He JJ;tad~ di~natioti for ()rqnmila.during a contest evera dead Elephant .
,_ . .,; ' ,- .· . . ?. ' ' :· . -· ~ ' . . ".'

", ,' .- -,.;, 'l . -~ • i :· ,-. I . .- - -.. .· - .. " , -' - - :, ~ _,.;:._ "' · ' .

. • .
. . Erin kii' mnu ol.o· A.u:a _,..a;.:.,. --'l: . . ,: '' '- ' . . .: . . . '
' ,. .• . . • · .· ~. 'VUlii. · . · - ~ . . '
· .. An elephl\ftt w,sshotin~e forest and it came .t.o die '1t the entrait~ to the to~. When
it tell to thigrouiid, its f'eet poin~at the direc:tion of ~ar(l's-hcfoseand the heaa pointed to
the.~rection of(rol~ila's hoijse. Orurtmila andAlal"ll both claimed ow,iershlp:'11ieir
conJ]ictlrig clijins gave nie tc,;ai'dispute which was remitted for settlement to Olofin.
Oninmila made divination •rid he was advised to m'ake sacrifice With a buneh ofpalm
fruits_. Meanwhile; Olofin toldth,m toTetum home and to report back to the palate later.
That gave 01111p~ila the' ~ance to Q1Ue the sacrifice. ' . " ' ,· ' ' ..''
-;~,x~ ~. tpe>f ~t~~d ~-()l~n's'J)al~ce. Ol9fin asked eac~ ~f them to st.ate what they
11,j.ed ~ ~k th, po1s,,n.that ~I1led th, elephant. Alara replied that he used the red te~ of
ts,,~~d·J~o,: a:nfa)iptot' pepper to prepare 'the 'poiso~. On his part, Orunmila reported
that he used a bunchofpalmf'tuits to prepare the poison. Olofin then
ordered that the elephant should be butchered to determine the ingredients for the poison
that killed it.
When the efephant"WtS butchered they saW pal'ticlea of paltn·fruits all over its body.
Olofin then decided that .the elephant belonged to Orunmila.
. When it comes out ,at·divination in respect of a"eontest, the person should be-told to
make sacrifice to Esu with palm fruits in order to vnn the contest.
Be made divination~for BabaOke Odo tohecome rich: ·
Baba Oke Odo was a very poor farmer who had been working hard on bis farm but
was. receiving inadequate reward for his efforts. He then went to Oruninila for divination.
He was t:o:ld to make sacrifice with 4 hens and 4 pigeons because he was going
to become rich within three months; .' '
Meanwhile, he set about his farm chores. Afte.r felling the ttees, tiring the farm and
clearing the stumps, it was time to cultivate the yams. As he was digging the ridges for
planting the yams, -his ·hoe struck an object whiclfturned out to ~- a po_t of treasure
hitherto concealed beneath the earth. The eonteni. 9tthe pot when e~humed turned out to.
be priceless treasures'. which transformed hlm in~ a wealthy mail. He subsequently
went toi:thank ONrtmila. · ·· '
When this Odu comes out at divination for a person who is cryingfor wealth, he should
be told·that his J)TOSperity is close at hand, providett'he:makes·i!,amftce. .

.He made divination for Elekail:

· Elekan had been,sufferingfrom the·evil macnina.tfons of'mankirid .. He event'UJ{lly
went for divination to find out what to do in order to triumph aver' hia ·"8n&'lliies. '
• i ,· ,• T !_ );i,{!f>d,., i_ . ! ,

Oyeku kpelekon,
Osho awo ilu igbo'• ;; •
' !.,

._ . · Ajeawo~oyeiyara. . _ _. _ · ·n_ _ .• __ .• __ .· _
.rHe was ~Id to make sacrifice with a he-goat to Esu_ artd he did it'.; Wr the sacrifice,
three ofhi&-wol'St enemies committed a: capital off'ettce;tiyusfrig'a be'wly bori aiitcl t9
make medicine to kill him. When they were subsequently arrested they confessed to~
charge and named four ,other· enemies of Elekari. ·'Ille_ three .. t11pititl' oft'en'd~~s ·.,ere
executed and the four others were· banished'ftom 'tJm.'tow\'i iiltb :.;xile; Thit -whirh~w
Elekan triumphed over'<his enemies. He led0a'peacefdl1ife th~~, ' : 1 '' ; : l - · 0
_ At divination, the person should be told that ne tis.ii 88\l'ert 0~tte+-'ei.iem'i~$, t~;M'
w?om are,preparii:agmedicin_e to,kill hi_m whil~ thtt~rfour·mw_o~~,lii~ti\io~'
1
witeherafb; If he makes sacnfice he will out-b\te thent. 1 1 , · • •• • • •1'
' , t,~ -'! .I it~ :t.i· 1• ;_; • •'.\, "i .{· ~-f

11
Orumnila's special punishment for any wife who cli-4'orcM·li•: ' ,r n,
. _He madedivin,ition foi'Ojiji when'she was,gotntto'matriy lgutt-ltig\n\. awe:tetlsed to
make sacrifice becau ••. sherejectedlgun-nigun airahual,ail«Hhi
1
ttii~dntfciffibll,alc\
headedness. While sti}l;~efusing to make sa~ -she-W*8 1igtirl blet1'1,theicl tb Ak~'Ut~
. I !. ' l 1 : • ,· ; f [ j, ~

-- ..
31
 maigbo, who she also turned d.Q,W~ on:tlie_gro1.md of his broad chest.
She was eventually given in marriage to Orunmila, who she again reject.eel because of his
dark complexion which . .sheJikened to black soap. As she was leavingOrurimila's house, he
stretched out }µs divi~atior,i ~ndand cursed that never again would she kitow f.lPY sleep,
becausethe ]pale duc,;~r.dralte does not ,lffp. That is why the shadow does not sleep.
Orunmila prepared. aa~c;iali~crifice with parts of a broom.tied up with black and white
thread, and kept it dangling on his Ifa shrine. He kept it on his shrine very early in the
morning_Yzjth tht inG1Antlltion that1the wo?Qan .will neither sleep in the
. afternoon nor iQ, the. night. This ls the mf!di~nal preparation -which Orunmila uses to
'.punis}) any wo.man wholeaveshim,-iµu~tifiably. If eventually ~he woman comes to uk . for
forgiy~!'},e,s~ ~Q~ prepartti9n i.~- re~t~ed from the IC. shrine and-placed in a cutt,er on
which water flows, adding sheer-butter (ori-oyo) and paha oil. Thereafter the woman will
stop, su,ffe,prii fr,9m insomnia.

Be made divination fqr three bmtJiers -.all fisherme~

-Th~re were t~ree brotl).ers ,wh.o. in .~r~er ,of seniotity were re,pectively called;
OV\tatirege, Oligho_njamU:ko_ an~-tle$etirege._ They werejn_the businessofilolating a
portion of the river, bailing out.the water and collecting the fisb,·tbat is, .. pond fishing,
(Obu in Yoruba). ·- .. - ,· ·
· One day, as the senior 'proih~rOlikatirege .was bailing Wilter i)Ut of their,portion, he
fracturedhis hand. When the second brother Oligbonjamuko was shouting, he broke his jaw.
When Elesetiregethe most junior discovered the plight ofhistwo elder,brothers, he decided, tQ
run home for help. ~-h~ was runping home, a rope twisted his· foot and
he fell <J<>W',~~-!>rellking his.leg~ ' .
When Okere (Squirrel) saw him falling to the ground, he began to laugh hilariously.
The qga (Oka ;r Arunmwoto) who by tradition runs for dear life as soon as the squirrel starts
laughing, started running helter-skelter. He ended up running into the hole of a rabbit. When
the rabbit saw the boa, she realised that the same hole could not contain the two of themwitl?-
o.ut fa~lcol'l~',J:epces.to herself. The rabbit then,ran out of her h,o,e. When the mpn:.key saw
the rabbit rupri.u.lg in fright, he remembered that the sight oftn_e ra!>blt in broad day~ligiit
in,v.arial>ly meant calamity. He then climbed far up bn the oak, tree .. Whei;a ,th~ monkey
qnal~, settled down on one o0f the branehee of the oak tr~e. tge tr~e warned him tluit
tp~,btatt~h on which he was standing had been paining him for the last th,r.~ years. The
mo11keyi~ored th, warning. On the contra-ry, he began topacl:! up
arul~o~npl'lthe,jny$lidbranch oft.heqak tree. Soonafterwards, the btanch ~ro~i and ~tfell
PP:,~e .stac)c of2Qi,ea~whi~h the,guinea .• fowl-had laid aube foot"of the oak tree. When
the guinea-fowl. retl.Q'ned to- her roost.. she discovered the tragedy that had befallen her. .She
began to yell and scream with the words: ·
Ara kan mi gir·g9rgo,gq.. ,· : ,. ;.· _,. ··, < ,
,~legb~de;(Qori,ll!il) who wasJp tl)~J,'i~y.ove.rheard the'cry of the guineafowl which was
a siITTiaJ that w~r1 w:a&.1:&t h4q4.lq;pTeparati~noforthe expected combat,,he began to
l>El.at ~he prnm en hi$:QQc~st; ·gi~gidi~gidi1:idi. The beating of the Gorilla's drum
startled

32
the elephant who thought that war had broken out. The elephant started .running aimlessly,
until he ran irltothe town. When the cow and other domesticquadrupeds saw the unusual
sight of an elephant in thetewn, they too-began to run for their lives. The Oba ofthe town had
one eye and one child. As the cow was running he·treaded on the only child of the Oba and he
died instantly.
The wife ofthe Oba (Olori) quieklyranint» the roomto alert the Oba about the strange
events. She pointed out her fore-finger to ask the Oba'whether he-did not hear what was
happening. AS·the Oba got up to rise to the occasion, the sharpnail of the woman's pointed
fore-finger pierced deep into his remaining-eye and he became totally blind.
In the wake ·of the total pandemonium, the heavenly messenger appeared from nowhere to
order and procure a cease •. fire. He assembled all the-dramatis personae of the, morbid drama
to narrate the cause of their diverse problems; The three-brothers explained that before
leaving for their fish pond, they had been to .Omnmila f0,r divination and he had advised
them to give a he-goat to Esu, which sacrifice they
intended to make upon theirreturn: :c; '
The sacrifice was to be made to avoid an imminent catastrophe. The squirrel ·on the other
hand explained that he wa&just returning from Oru.nmila who had advised him to give palm
fruits to ·Esu to avoid causing a furore; the enormity of which would have proportions 'bigger
than himself. He wa"S just eating one of the palm fruits he'.pri>cil'red from tlie palm tree when
he saw a huge man reelingonthe greandand he could not help laughing. The boa on his part,
explained that since thehilarieuslaughter of the squirrel killed his parents and grand-parents,
he had developed·the habit of-running for cover
eaeb-finie he heard .the squirrel laughing,': .
The rabbit averred that since the boa was the bane of his kindred having swallowed
hisparents and grand parents in years gone by, he had gotten used to the:reflex altion of
running away any time the snake entered his house for any reason whatsoeve1V'
The monkey on his part, explained-thatsinee it was ~matfcthat the siglitofthe rabbit running
in broad day light spelt omirious4an~r, he had to ruri up the oak tree. The oak tree recalled the
warning he gave to the monkey that he was menacing his invalid hand and failed to heed his
warning before the hand broke. The guinea-fowl complained that the eggs she produced over a
span of 201 days perished· before 'she returned home. That was why the sight of the calamity
gave her a feat of paranoia. The Gorilla explained that his parents had forewarned him that any
time the guinea-fowl rang her bell, he should start drumming on his chest. The elephant also
said that · experience had taught him that any tjme the Gorilla beat his drum, it was the sign of
a calamitous foreboding which was why he began to run for his life because he knew ·
that the physical manifestation of the danger could affect 'him. ' ' --· ··
The Cow explained that si nee the open township was not the traditional habitat of the
elephant, he instantaneously began to run at the sight ofthe elephant in the course of which he
inadvertently trampled on the only son of the Oba. Olori explained that it 'was the excitement
of the death of the only child of the Oba that sent her into 'delirium ' tremens' in the course of
which she unwittingly pierced her finger into the Oba's only

33.
 eye to make him totally blind.
. The acijudicating messenger of God from heaven declared allthe,others innocent,
withtheexception of the three Pond-fishing brethers and the squirrel;who delayed their
sacrifices. Hethen,proclaimed the.restoration of the status-quo-ante of all the-affected
victims of the catastrophe. That proclamation re&toredallthebroken hand, jaw and leg of
the thtee brothen, .re-established, God's earlier decree at the beginning of time that the
boa will die the very day he kills the rabbit or any ofher children, decreed that,~ever
again&hould the.boaen~r any hole, restored the 20leggs of the guineafowl, the hand
of.the oak tree, restcltedithe life of.the Oba's dead son and his sight, and retumed,the
elephant to the foresdorevet. The second proclamation ofthe heavenly messenger was that
the squinel should no longer laugh at· anyone he sees from then on, with ·the exception of
the boa who .. he was traditionally appointed by God to warn others of his presenee.at any
location,because •his venomous weapon (Ase) which he was warned not to use
arbitrarily.
When this Odu comes out at Ugbodu, the person should be told to make sacrifice
because he was destined tobe,agreatman and to do great things, provided he made the
requisite sacrifice, failing :which he could cause a crisis of abominable proportions inbis
,town or in his family, He should serve Esu with a he-goat, squirrel, boa, the head of a
rahbit, ~efeather of a guinea fowl, the brancbof an•oak tree, the meat of elephant and
bones. of ciemestic animals. This is the special sacrifice he must make before the
conclusion of his lfa initiation ceremony.
· At ·ordinary divination, the person should be told to have his .own Ifa without delay. If
she is a woman she should be advised to m~rry an Ifa man. He or she should however
•make sacrifice wiith a'he-goat and a drum prepared with cocoyam leaves and give. a cock
to Ogun 'to-avert the danger of becoming the victim of an undeniable falsehood •. For a ,Ii
pel'80n born of thjs Odu, he-should make special saerifice w.ith a goat and a hen ,in order
tblive-h,ng anctto avoid doing any harm to others. He shouldfcrbid alcohol, roasted yam
and the meat of~.he-goat. He should also prepare his own.Ogun shrine.

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"'

34
 Chapter7
. OYEKU - BI· IROSUN
OYEKU - GBOSUN
.I Il
I n
n n
n n
He lbade'.divination for Eyele an:d Aclaaba:
In heaven, after Eyele (Pigeon}ancf:Adaaba (Dove) decided to come to the world, they
went to Oye-ngbosun for divination on what to do to have children on earth.
Ifa oye ngbosun · · '· ·
Oju mi to ni nse awe ile;
Irin ese mijina ni nse awo iba odan
Bi oti WU ki 'irin-ajo jinato,
Ti O ha pe 'orun le isan meta
A-o-tin-rin-riride 'be.
These were the Awos ..-ho madedivination for the Pigeonaridthe Dove in order to·
have children on earth. They advised the Pigeon to tttak'e sacrifice·-With'Elo· Osun (-
Camwo9d), corn, a bunch · o( firewood- and unused Clay pot. After petfonning the
sacrifice1 _the lfa priest told her that the materials usedforriialtingthe sacrifice would
appeat as.birth-marks on the body ofhtfr children. Wh,n the Pigeon subsequently had
children on earth they began to use sticks for prep1lnllg their beds on the inner bott&m of
a cliiy pot OT itS eq\livaietit arid'the C8tnWOQd ·appeaf'~·as red maB's'OYI the•feet of her
children . ' . . ,, .•. ••sj . •

On h~r: part, the Dove was told to make sacrit\~e' with chmk, a bunch of firewood; .
guinea corn and all kinds of fruits. After making th'e sacrifice/the lfa priest told herthat
the materials used for the s.acrifice would feature on the bodies and behaviobral pattern
ofher children. When she began to have children on earth~ they displayed a white clialk
round their neck aiia U:sed pieces of stitks to line their rtest. · ..
When the two sisters'sta:rted havirlg children, they began to sing in praise bf()ye'ku-
bi Irosun, thus; Oye-ngbosun to-to-fun. ' ·
When this Odu appears at divination, the person should'be told'to make sacrifice with
white chalk, and eamwoed a11 well as Pigeon and ~: He or she will have a fair
complexioned child who will do well enough in life to be able to build his or he!' own
house.
Oyekii-bt-lrosurtle~ves for the world:·
Eririku, omu eyinre gbeke,'.: ·
Efon atiku ~no'wo rede tan~t:an-tan,

35
 were the awos who made divination for this Odu when he was coming to the world.
They told him to make sacrifice with; a rabbit to th~ Night, and a he-goat to Esu in order
to obviate the danger of dying by the hands of a woman, Hew as advised neither to make
any wife his favourite, nor to rely too heavily on any w.pman. He was also warned to
avoid swearing not to eat any food. He made all the sacrifices.
When he got to the wor.ld, he became a practising Ifa priest and he had many wives.
One of his wives was very harsh andtemperamental. One day, the cantankerous wife
prepared food for him but he did not like the food. He was so disgusted with the
behaviour of the woman that he swore never to eat the food, in contravention of the
injunction given to him in heaven. Following repeated passionate entreaties made by the
woman to him in the night, he agreed.\o forgive her but told her to prepare another food
the ,,following morning. The w.~man prepared anot~er soup as he -. directed but washed
the meat in,. the so.up which .he swor~ not to eat the previous evening and use4 them to
prepare the new soup. He ate the new soup. · ·
There was one family divinity which Oyeku-bi-Irosun inherited from his father, which
he used to serve from time to time. When he got to thoshrine of the divinity to serve it on
the next occasion, the usual signs of acceptance of worship failed to manifest because he
had contravened the oath he swore, not to eat the food prepared by his recalcitrant wife,
albeit unknowingly. That is why the divinity also refused the sacrifice he made tQ it.
Meanwhilet thingsbeP-,n ~ get sour for him as a result of which he invited Awosto m~e
dj'4nation,forbim. 'fheytold him that he had contravened Bil injunction by eating
a1.forbiddeJ1 food. He ruminated at lengtq without being able. to place the.
cireumstances in which he ate anyJorbidden food: To revoke the o~th, the Awos told him
to produce. arabbit, a hea an(h~s own mud im~e. However wll,en he got tp .the ~brine
of the divinity to .serve it, he coU¥sed and died, ... .. .
Whe, thi§ Odu comes out at Ugbodu f4e person should be ·~ven the same ,WBl"!}ing,
that Oyeku-bi-lmsun was given in heaven. He should be told that ifhe has cause
tc;>.reject the f~9dprepar~d by anypfhis wivesJbe.cause h~ will have more than one wife)
he should not allow the offending wife to prepare anotherfoodfor him for a period of at
leastseven days, He should invite any of his other wives to prepare foodfer him. Beforejhe
completien of the Ifa initiaµon ceremony, he should serve-the night with a rebbitand Esu
with a he-goat. He is likely to have one ,livinity o~ber than.<)ruiupila ·\\'.hjqh he
inheritedfrom his father, he should s~rveJt,yiith,ij cock and beseach it not to allow him
to become the victim of his own oath. · ,· · ··
At ordinary divination, the.person should be told to .
serve the night with a rabbit,aruhEsu with a biackhen to avc;,id,the danger of dying
by the handsof a woman,· · ·, · · ·,·. · • · ··' · '.
Reason for a short life-span: · r

Anybody for whom this Odu appeare at Ugbodu is bound to be a fae, and unless by the
special grace of God andOrunmila through appropriate sacrifiee, is not likely to live long
on earth. As soon as the Odu appears at Ugbodu, a special sacrifice should be made with
a he-goat, and a'Usbelt with which theskul! of the he-goat is to be nailed to the shrine
ti~

36
ofEsu. __ _ _
The new Ifa should be given another goat to fea~t his, ._,.
fellow~faes to get them <>ff'hi~ back and a special cudgel should be_prepared and be
given to E~u with which to drive his cohorts to heaven to leave him to endure on.earth, '11lis
sacrifice should be made after his next marriagefollowing the completion of thelfa initiation
ceremony. The sacrifice .should actually be made at the naming ceremony of
the first delivery of the new ~ife' which child will be a boy. . '

Oye ngbosun oto ·1ojumi, Oto lo jure, -

Oun lo 'obirin fi gbe eru oja, _.
Awon lo 'ndifafun oye ngbosun, ' ·
1.'-t
Nijo 'toun gbe ojuminto shay&'.,
Lo 'nbi .. omo okunrin ti ankpe_Adagba.
.- -, . .

They mad~ ~vinatibn for-Oyek'u-bi-Iros~n when he married a wife canedOjumi~ who

to
gave birth a male child ca~l~d AdagJ>~. Th~y told him ~make sacrifice. ~the, goat and a
hen to. Ifa and a he~goat to 'Esu. 'ffiey told him that unless he, made the sacrifice the child
woli1d live anc1· he
would aie': ,1:'he· wire h~wever persuaded .him to. ®i~i- t1i,e sacrifice
untilafter hJt post-natal bleeding. He die~,b.efore the sacri,fice could be mad,e. ' When this
Odu appears at divination however th:e. above sacrifice should be made
without any delay with the foilowing1ncantatiop: " · ·-

Adagba mflrosun;
lyonio deje lomo,
Ruja, iyomo.
- .. ,•

This is the song, with which the goat is usu~ll~ ilaugh~red (~r Ifa: 1.lie. sacrifice.is -made
witli both the feet ofthe goat and'a hen. '11l~t:ls the <>nly way' to ,save to
a (ae live '
long on e1bth. - -. · · · · · · . . · .. · ··· ··
The marital experience ot Oyek11~bi-Irosun: . . . , .. , ,
Orie of the characteristics of this Odu is that his son, wUl a.hv~s.have. prpplems with
marriage -. Therefore, as soon as he d1scovers.that'th~~e fs al)~ther.man ~ek,ing,the
bands'ofhis'fover he should surrender the woman to the other m.an. He is f<>rbi.d<l~m to •
contest fot a woman's handsin marriage. . . : . . · , · · . . - . . , .
His first matriage was. riddled with unhappiness. He m~t tlle wqtn*1Q a'Jl~ immediately fell
head-over-heels iri love with her and offered to marry her. Howeyer; it wa11 ~ .. long before he
discovered that another man, who Wl\S a tracJ~r by pro(eS!JlOD, "'Ill ·alto interested in·the
same viomanI o.ne day, she tol~ the):wo_lov;eis, ~parat..lY that}he wa, ,ping to perform a
special ceremony in three days time art<l'fn'vite~ 1>9tl,i Qf ~herq .b~. : - :w
present. , . , ·, . _ , c · ,-. , , l.: 1 1.: ,
On the appointed day, the lfa priest and the trader met at her Ii~. Sb'.iptrpduced the two of
them, disclosing that they had both been her lover, but that the time was ripe

37
 to choose which of them was fit to be her husband. She asked them to declare their1
credentials. The trader declared th.at he had plenty of money and thait since there was1
nothing that money could not b\\Y, he was capable' of providi~ opthnµlll sati~ac~ion for
her. 'Dlelfa prlest on Uie ~tlier hand declared thi.t he was a diviner '~pabl~ .. of seeing•
and disclosing all.hidden secrets. , · . . :, · · ..,
As if to test th~ir aptittldes~ she asked the trader to put down any ~mount he.~ould
of
aff'or~ and he put dt>wn one thqusand. ba~ money we;;oo>. Knowing that her father!
was late, she told the lfa priest/diviner that her father promised to see her that day. She'
wanted him to confirm whether she would actt1ally see.her father that day. ,After
divination, he told her that before she went to sleep on that day, she would actually see her
father. She retorted by challenging him that he was incapable ofseeing anything because
her father had long been dead. Consequently, she distnis~d hb~. for incompetence and
declared him ineligible for her hands in, :marriage. . .. ·
When he got home, he consulted his Ikin to find out why he suffered the disgrace in the
hands of his lover. He was advised at one~ to.giye a he-goat to Esµ, which he did:
immediately. . ·. . · ·• , · : "·· .... · ·. .· .· · · . , , r
.Me_anwhi,e, Esll had tt:~n1fi~red into.a you~ and~ndso~~l~~t-c~mpleltioh man c afid.
we~t, to the woman's house where he_.me~1her pl~Y,IQg Ayo gam~ ~th her tra~er~ < lover.
When she saw tbe irtesistiblyhandsome young man, she instinctiv~lr invited him ,
I
to play Ayo witb her. The young_ fi\aij'h~wey~t replied .that he was in a,hurry to get to I
the nexttown. She·persuadea· him not, to 1eave, by as~jJ}g the trader to leave her plaee I
because she had finally seen the man she wanted to marry. The young man however told '
her not to sack her fiancee because he was not ready to marry. Besides, he tickled her
femininity by adding that he was convinced that she was not in a position to have the
credentials of ·d' woman fit to be his prospective wife. Asked what ~e qualjfying
credentials were, he declared that the woman should be fatherless and be capable of
, removing the l~t remai11ingf'ruits op~ of an apple tre,eJorhl,m.,The ~"maq.}nstantly
disCJOS,,d ~at she ha~_no fathe_r. ~in~.e.ffie Y.9Ung wa~.hJd: Sighted !lfl; !lJ)Jlle tr,,e
at.~e eritl'ance to the town the woman pointed at it and agreed to go and pluck
its.retnaining fruit. She immediately climbed the tree, butJs she stretched her qanq .~
plu~k t~ ~e Esu, blinked his eye to her and she fell down from the to.p ofthetree and
died insum.tly.
As everybody ~gari tC> remi_ni~~ that th~ lfa priest di~ pr.em.~ that.she woµld s.ee
her father presently, the tl"~d!3r-lov~r went ij.;,.ray. Esu W!)nt baek to alert
Oy~kud»~I.r.osun that the·woman had died. Oyeku-bi-Irosuri told Es,u \hatJus honour
end.~dignity would not fully manifest u11~~1tlle. woman wa,s made to resurr~~ f:Toll)
her d4tath, ,so she co\lld narrate how she ~~-.y. her.fa~her and. then marry bim, E:su.
advised him to go by himself
torevive heisiilce·he·knew what to do. . . .· ' . ·. ''
Oyeku-bi-lrosun went with his Oro~e and met. the people m~ng arrangements for
her·burial.Jle quicklr· stopped all t~ l:>'1-rial a011nge~ent and told them to gi~e him an
cpportunityto bringher back to life. He told the people to sit her up while he point~. his
Oroke at her- sayingt-
.•. :_>.,~; !.i- - '. . ; . '

38
13.

Ahunji, ahunji, ahunji,

Baaba sun sejirin,
Ahunji, ahunji, ahunji
meaning: Arise, arise, arise,
Wake up from sleep,
'Cause one wakes up after sleeping,
Wake up, wake up, wake up.

Almost instantaneously, she woke up and there was general rejoicing. Oyeku-biIrosun
asked her whether she saw her father and she replied that she did. She then got up and
embraced him, thus declaring him her husband. She became the first wife of Oyeku-bi-Irosun
giving birth to three children named: lfatuga, lfayemi and If a wale.
At Ugbodu therefore, the neophyte should be advised not'to contest with any mah for the
hands of a woman. When he starts wooing any woman for marriage he should immediately
offer a he-goat to Esu to avoid any embarrassing rivalry. ·At ordinary divination, the person
should be advised to offer a he-goat to Esu'to avoid any unwelcome contest over his own
rightful asset. He should not abandon anything to anyone in anger or out of surrender because
it rightly belongs to him.

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39
 Chapters
OYEKU - BO - OWANRIN
II II
II II
I II
I -11
Oyeku-bo-Owanrin made divination in heaven for Afi dudu kpa Oju who was the
mother of the Rain.

Ifa Oye Wo-rin-.mi, Oye won-rin-mi, Oye-

won-rin-je, Oye-bi-o-bale :won rin mi, Ki o
won irin mi.
Bi o ha le won, Irin si 'nu,
Kio won irinsi-inu. ;,
A kole tori wi pe o won irin, 'mi,
'
A kole so wi pe o won-irin si mu, ,
Ki a-ma pe o nieji-oye.

The mother of the Rain was at that time, desperate to have a child. She was advised to
make sacrifice with a black sheep, a black garment, plenty of soap, and plenty of cudgels
and to give' a black he-goat to Esu. After making the sacrifice, she became pregnant. That
is why when this Odu appears at Ugbodu, the person should be told to make a similar
sacrifice in order to avoid the risk of childlessness.
When she gave birth to a'. child called Ojo or Rain, her contemporaries ridiculed her for
liaving a charcoal-black child who was thought to be incapable of doing anything tangible.
Esu however soon dressed him up with black ,ttire, rubbed his face .with the foam of soap,
and gave him several cudgels with which to beat anyone who. dared to challenge him. By
the time the Rain began to demonstrate his prowess, there wastotal darkn~ss in' heavenand
peoplebegan to wonder what he was up to. The cloud had gathered and the soap foam oh
his face began to show, as he was using his cudgels to beat all and sundry, friends and
foes; old and young, high and low. day and night, trees 'and animals. The 'darkness before
the rain represents the black dress with which Esu clad hi in. 1The whole cloud which cl
ears before the Rain represents the soap foam on his face' while the sho,~ers otRain
representsthe cudgels in his hand with which he beats
'all~nd;suh,dty. ! ; '' '.'' '

' ' it was at that'stage that his mother rejoiced that she had afterall given birth to a great ;
1

chiltl. ~t'. f~ on ~ccquht 'of the 'way people laugh at him that explains.why it is said that i
th¢1tdi~ has no friends and whyhe beats everybody indiscriminately to this day.
•1 ' 'At divinatioil for a 'woman looking for a child, she should be told to make sacrifice
be.cause she would give birth to a child whose fame would be felt throughout the face of
the earth and wh,o'.se gre~'tn'e·s's would shake the community in which he lives and
! i :: : : ~ ~ · r ~ ·
!- f ·- : . : · I . . 1•, · 1

40
beyond~
He·made divination for Ogun~a &even children:
When Ogun was despat.chinghis seven children to the world, he went to Oyeku-boOwanrin
for divination .. · He · was advised to make sacrifice with . 7 cocks and seven kolanuts and to
give ahe:-goat to Eau so that they might never be sick. He made the sacrifice. That is why
Ogun is neversick.
At-divination for a sick· person, he should be told to serve Ogun with a cock and kolanut
and to give he-goat to· Esu to become well.

He··aJso made divination fortbe swamp: ,

The swamp was malignately ill. He was told to make sacrifice with his own black apparel;
a pigeon, a sriail arid a three-piece kolanut. He did not have any faith in the sacrifice because
he had been sick for a longtime. Thatis why the swamp(IRA. in Yoruba and Ekhuorho in
Bim.}hasremained pemtanentlyill ever since. Aftersuff'eringfeats of epilepsy for a long time,
which made him to be falling down on side-ways and by-ways,; he sought permanent
accommodation with the river on whose periphery he resides to this day.·.
When this Odu appears atdivination,·the person should be advised never to live in a house
near the bank of a river. Wherever he is living, he should serve Ogun with a cock and E.su
with a he-goat at leaat once a year. He should not eat rabbit,.pigeon and melon. He can only
succeed in any· profession that has to do with engineering.,Any other vocation will end up in
colossal failure.
The birth of Oyeku-bo-Owanrin: .
Oyeku-bo-Owanrin was born to a family at Ilere-Otun whieh·was at war at thetime of his
birth. The war subsequently sent his mother back to heaven. When he grew up, he began to
trade in medicinal articles(Iwoshi woshiin Yoruba and ~mwinKemwin.in Bini). He succeeded
immensely in the business because he was doing it with the aetive support of his mother in
heaven. He was also a practicing lfa priest on the side-line.
All the animals of the forest used to hold meetings every,fivedays;At eveey JDeeting, each
animal was required to feast the others with his mother. When it·came to the tum of the
antelope to kill his mother to make his feast, :he went to ;Oyeku-bo-Owanii.n to purchase the
required articles. He wanted to buy th& meat of all the parts of the body of an antelope
including its head. He was able to buy all the other parts but not.the head. He proceeded to use
the meat to prepare food for the feast. When the teast was ready, while the meat was
being:shared, someone obsel'Ved that the head ofantelope!s ~1>ther was not in the soup. The
anteloperetol'ted by challeneingcwem,ody to eo~rin,-hetper there was anyone who had
killed.his mother previously.anchbar4Kl,the JDOther's h,wl to him. No one accepted the
challenge. He said he kept away his ~o~r's bead~ he had previously not received anybody's
mother'w.ull•• shan ltw• obviousthat
e.

he did not wish to·killhis mother. , • 1. .· · .• 1 '., ·,, ,, ·· ·.,,

'.', • .,1
Meanwhile, baek'in his house; the ant.elope had tw~ serva!¢S ;wtio,1l~ ~s ~tr~~~ well.
Among the animals were some who doubted the credibility of the antelope's story

41
about his mother. The fox (Ela in Yoruba and Abon in Bini) decided to go and spy on the
antelope in his house. The antelope was not in, but theJox.met.~s servants. When he asked
for the whereabouts of the antelope, they told him that he was away to visit his mother'.
The fox was astonished and he exclaimed ironically whether the antelope.was goi ngto
visit his mother in heaven. He further asked whether the antelope's mother was still alive
and the servants answered that she was very much alive.and well. The fox subsequently
reported.his findings •Uhct neJtt,general meeting. The ,Chairman e>f the meeting then
asked for a volunteer to go and bring the mother of the antelope .. The leopard agreed to
go. The leopard of course knew where to get her under a particular tree called Omodon in
Yoruba or Okhuen,in Bini. 'the leopard met her eating thefallen fruits of the tree. When
the leopard gripPed her, she appealed to him not to give her away. He hearkened to
her'appeal but advised her never tQ come to ~at tree any longer. which advice was to fall
.on deaf ears because no antelopeiC:8,n ever resist the temptation to eat out of the fruits of
that tree. One day, she strode stealthily but irresistably t.o the foot of the tree and as she
was,picking the fruits, the hunter took aim and shot her dead •. The death of the
mother~ntelo.pe broke-up the meeting of the animals. · . ·
When this Odu appears at Ugbodu, the person being initiated should be advised to
forbid the meat of ll'Jltelope and torefrainJrom joining any meeting as well as engaging in
any thrift contribution;(Esusu) with other. people so·that. the elders of the night might not
have the opportunity of undoing him. At ordinary.diyiQ!ltion, the person should be.
advised to havehisow:n Ogun.shrine. 'r.here-isa chi~f\aincy title in his family which will
fall to his tum. He should make sacrifice before tU,.ing the title.
He made divination for tlte town of Ilere-Ude and llere-0:kun:
1:be two. towns wen at war. hy invited Oyeku-bo-Owanrin and two other awes to
com& and -hlake divination for them.· . . .· .

Oyeku-bo-Owanrin, l'ondifa,
Gbeni arin Iworiwo gbago, ·
Eyi timo,ma'.ahe onbeIede Ikumi,
, Adafafun Onilere-Ude, . ·
Otu·bu owo kan ibo -fun won,
Nilere Okun.

These were the names ofthe,three awos who wereinvitedjointly bythe two towns.
As they were travelling to Ilere-Ude, they stopped to reason among themselves. One 8illid
that on gettirigto the place, he would proclaim that they could only aveid war by making
sacrifice with theit sleeping-mats. The second one s~eeted that he would advise them to
make sacrifice with theiT annual masquerade (Egungun) regalias in order to avoid the risk
of war. Oyeku-be-Owanrin however, said that his preelamation could only be determined
by the outcome of divination. Unknownte them, as they were reasoning among
themselves, a palmwine tapper on top of a palm tree saw them and overheard what eaeb
of them said. As soon as:thethree awos left the spot, the palmwine tapper

42
climbed down, took a short cut and made straight for the Oba's palaee. He alerted the Oba
that he should ignore the prescriptions 'of the first two awos because they were greedy;
He advised that the-Oba should orilylisten to the third 6ne who preferredtobue his advice
on the out.come of divination. When the three awos eventually landed in the town, they
were given a befitting reception and accommodation.
Next morning; they made prepantions-for divination; When they sounded lfa with Ikin,
Oyeku-bo-Owanrin clime ou:t. 'nle first two Awos recommended !l&crifice respectively
with the sleepfngriuits and ~asquerades' regalia, of the entire community. 'file third one,
that is the disciple of Orunmila assured them that there would be no more wars provided
they could mab saciifice jointly with a goat and to surrender one darkcomplexioned
spinster in the Ob~'s household fo · Oninmila for marriage. That is why when this Odu
comes out at divination., the person, y,ill be told that he or she was one dark
complexioned girl in the house who is destined to be the wife of Orunmila, She will
haveprobletns in life unles~ she is given il\ marriage to a man- having ~is own Ifa, IOhe
is already betrothed to a prosp'ective husband, thtffiance should be advised to have'his
ownlfa, otherwise, the: marriage·wiU not last'. By the same token, if this Odu comes Qut
for a~an,he should be told to have his own Ifa because ht,:belorigs to Orunmila's lineage.
He should do so in order to prosper in life. ·' ..
Meanwhile however, the people niade the sacrifice with'~ goat as prescribed by
Orunmila and surrendered the 'dark complexioned 'girl. 'Ibereafter the thteat of'war
abated in the two towns. ·
When this Od'll' comes dut at divination. ·
The person should be advised not to reveal his plansfo anYQne and to keep bi's plans
and secrets to himself. '· · · · . ·,r ··
Additionally, the person should be told to make sacrifice with ·a.cock, a hen and all
other edible items in order to get all his wishes and desires to ihaterialise.
He made divination for the farmer and his wife:
Okoma ke,
Ale ma sun'kun,
Olomo ko ni pa omo re je,
meaning:- Husband, do not cry,
•Wife do, not lament,
'Cause a mother does not,
• Feedon its own child.
These were the awos who made divination for Eko, the farmer, and his wife Emelu
when the wife was having a seaet extra.:maritai atrair! Whtt.n~ei-'the farmer went to the
farm to harvest and ban, hfs yams, his wife· was in the habit of ~&king love· oh her
husband's bed with her lover, - - . ..
On one such occasion, as they .were enjoying themse1ves on the husband's becl, · a pot
of melo'n'stored away on.the overhe"ad counter in the fire pl-.ee dropped to the ,round··
and Cl'UShed her child who was lying down, to death. When the lover pariicked, th·e
unfaithful mother told him not to be unduly disturbed because she could take adequate '

43
care of the situation. , ..
$he sµhsequen~y go~ up to prepare poundedyam for the husband to eat. When the food ,vas
ready, sh~~m~dJt in a bai,ket onher,,head to the farm, backingthe.<lead.chil<i on her beck,
Ongetti~gto the farm, shehai}ecj.on the busband that.ahehad brought food for him to eat. He
was busy on the yam barn. The husl>4tn.d.iovited her to me.et him at the, );>al'Jl ... She.
dr9pped the food inside the hut of the farm anc;l proceeded to meet the husband, at the barn.
On getting there, the l>.usl)and. told ~er, tQ lift a tuber of yam for him to barn. She.liftaj t'1Vo
yamaµp to him. When.the husbal'ld took one of the two tubers, she .immediately let· go the .
second tuber to fall ~n her back and it hit the. head. of the already dead child, She then shouted
that the yam •d killed her child. The ma:l)jumped dowp in disgust; took the ~hild from her
back and observed that its body was alreadyvery cold. He wondered '¥hY a single yam could
have killed the child so instantaneously fo, · the body tp have gone $0 iey-eeld. Meanwhile, ~.
mother abandoned the child to h~ father and cried:.ho,m~: J)efore she ,got home,. ~e lover
had committed suicide by hangipg himself. Event\Ullly, th~ husband came home with the dead
child and made straight fo"t the p.ome ~f the above-n.iention,ed Ifa, priests ,with ~e wife'
accompanying, him. After ' divfnaijcm they told the wife that she lost.the child on account
c:ifher unf1dthful9ess and that she had a wicked mind. She was told that the child did not die
in the farm but throµg)l.th_e impact of (I. pot of melon. She was.asked to confess to what .she
was doing whep ,the child died. ,sh, l)rok,e d~wn ~ confess when she was told th~tthe other
party to whatever she was.doing when the child died had already taken his own life and that
she would also die ignominiously if she failed to make a clean. breast of wJ:iat happened. At
that point slte copfe~~d to what act\ffl]ly happened. Th.e husband then began to cry
and the awos sang with the signature tune of this Odu. .. · .
. Okomaake,
Ale.maaijunk.un,,,.
Olomo kiikpe, · ·
Omo reje,
Aini gbagbo, ··
Lo'nti kpa omere,
Ifa ti so dodo ege,
Oti so dodo ege.
#leaning:- It is no use crying because parents do.not kill,their children to eat, but Orunmila
has revealed that this particular child was lost to the unfaithfulness of its
mother. . .. . .. , ,, ... .. ,. .·
When._, thi_s ()du co'ol~.~ut. at divination for a ipisfortu,ne . ..
between a couple, t}w ~fe should be t;old that she is being unfaithful ,to the husband.,
lfthe.inisfortune ha:s already occurred, she should be told that she.is responsibleforit beeause
r

of her cohabitation with another man. that is, if it is ayeo. If on the other hand iti,, t:ree~~he
should be told to confes~.her act ofi~<J,elity to avoid the loss of a-child and her love( The man
should be advised to serve Qgun to obviatethe danger oflosing his '
own life .. ~prough the infidelity of his wife. · ·

44
 . Chapt.er 9.
OYEIW-OG'UNDA ·.
OYEKU-IJOMODA·YE
oYEKlJ •. JYOJA
1· · ll
I , II
. I II
. · rt II
. This .is:, pow.erful disciple of9nim1ril~. He performed
several mysterious feats on eartha11d was so much the quintessence of 11. proficient lfa
Priest that his fame echoed both in heaven and on earth. He is noted for knowing the secrets
of how to save mankind from the cold hlll\ds,.of d~atb. '!
He made divination for. the Tortoise ;n heaven: · .· · · .. .
~~il the ~noise was' inaki'W;8J'.l'llllJ~plent to come to the world, he went to Oyeku,,
dooja(for divination. .
• Be'rii oni iri,
Ola eribe,
•C>ron la e mashe tele ri .
. meaning» Today cannot ~ •
. Like tomorrow, because,
... We know not today, · .,: l
' ·What we ate going,
. To do tomorrow: .. ··.. . . ..., ·. ··. , . .
. These 'were the' names of the awos who divined for the tortoi• before he left heaven for
the world. At divinaticm; Qyeku d,o'oja ca~.e out, He was told to m~e sacrifice ~th a he-goat
to Esu to avoid being used as a sacrificial victim forsoivingdifficult probletn,~ on account
of'the way he walks. Since he is not given to making s.acrific~s, the toi:toise preferred to re Jr
on his ,SU~terfuge rather than, make t\le S8,C.rifice. . . "' ,;
On gettingto the. world, he began to live on his wits, He entered the,,w,9rl~ with an iron
.dress which was his. ho1:J,s.e in heaven. Wlu~n Esu' realis~d that the tortoji;e ref\liMK.\ to
~ve )iilll .fQi)d, he .. decided to betray the mytp surrouncling'bis iron dre,s to ~ankip~. ' Before
then, the· tortoise was dreaded by animals and human beings alike. Esu werit to . Ogun to ask
him whether he realised th11.t the flesh of tqe irpn cled tortoise. 'V~.ver~ sweet and deijciotJ;s.
Ogun told Esu to shut-up because al] the divinities knew that the tortoise was thi'.f,avourite
pQli.ce:man of the heave.nly,hou~hold ~nd thatit wa~ i,uicidlll · 1 • for.anyone to dare him. Esu
alsQ went to·Osonyin.(Qsun) theJnedicinedivinity as well.'. as ne ( Oto) the ground divinity
,,.ndtold them tlie same thing ~bout the tQrtoise. All thr:~ . of them t.ook note of the
infonriatiQn given by Esu and · wereloQ.1ti11g fot: a11 opp9rtunity , to_ apprehen~ the. ~rtoise.
·. . ·. . . . . . . . . . 'i ...

45
 Meanwhile, the tortoise had ·pl"dduced several grown-up children who were moving
around fearlessly because of the myth of invincibility surrounding them. One day, as
Ogun was moving around in thifore~j;,.b9'found the tortoise also hunting for food. He
moved to. the back of th, tortQi1$·e.nd·.µ~ a sharp cutlass to cut him into two and
discovered that ill consonance witht.h~ advi'8 of Esu, his meat was actually very tasty.
When the other two divinities heard that Ogun had successfully dared the tortoise, the!
too went after his children and also foundtheir meat to be very delicious.
At divination the person should be advised to have his own Ifa and to make sacrifice to
Esu from time to time so that the secret.cf'his endurance might not be betrayed. He
should avoid the temptation ofrelyingtoo exclusively on his wits and stratagem because
he would have three deadly enemies capable of ending his life unless he seeks solace
with Orunmila. He should refrain from eating tortois~ but ijhotild nonetheless, use it to
serve
Ogun, the ground, ahd Osun after having his own lfa: ., . '· .
He established the firiit'-lnarket·on t,arth:
' ' • ' ::r '
i : ~-' ' - . ·\
.
.He had been told at, divination to make· elaborate sticrifice hrhet:tvetf because he was
going to establish a market on earth. For thafprirptise/he was required to make. sacrifice
to Esu with 201 he-goats, 20 l roasted yams, 201 plantains, 201 corns, 201' akara ahd 201
eko because Esu was going to be the architect of his success. Esu was so satisfied with
the sacrifice that he went to greater lengths than ever before to contrive how to
compensate him when he got to earth. · · · ··
On getting to the world, he began to practise Ifism. MeariWh1le, Esu went to him and
advised him to 11&ther many people together to pray forthem and to make divination for
them at nominal fees and that he should develop the practice of doingthatevery five
} days. As the people began to get together, they also started buying and selling goods and
services from one another. That was how the first market place originated on earth. Before
then,' the only 1foown' market whicli° was commonly traded by. divinities ·ind mortals,
heil9t!ti ,rd earthalike, was Oja~~ji@lomeko~ Akira, wftich was, established b,l.God
Himself. · ' · · · · · · · '· •·· · · · ,,
When thisOdu' Bl>P!&rs at Ugbodu, t¥ie 'person should be told t? inake a. special
sacrifice t,o,Esu by procurl~g one he~goMand one skuU of a h~-goat bre~king it into 200
pieces, cuttjng'a tuber of yam, One'plantain, a tuber of'coceyam, etc eachinto 201 pieees
tpgether witn 20 l seeds of corn, to be buried on the gro'*hd' of the market pl~~e. After
a
doirigthe sacrifice, he will prosper immensely as group gath~'ren .. :That is why' this
Odu
is called Oyekuedoeja, · ·· ' · · , ·· '.- ·, ·
. - Be mQde divinQtion for, Aji.J"a (Ezb;a), Sango. and Oro: . '· ..
. ' ,The divinities ofthe wind, thunder and secrecy were friends. One day, tlley dJ'cide.d
to·test their individti~l prowess. Sango'procl(limed that he only knew how to da'nce.·
Eziza said he knew how to change things, whilstOrcrsaid he only knew how to fight. ,
'!. ; .' .· . ' ! ,-· .
. _'' .· .. ' '· . '
..• : __' ',. ' . · . ,r '. ··.::·.-., ... ," ·.' · .. ·-'
·Meanwhile, the three of them went tQ themarketwhere they m~t Eziza's mother
.~lling medicinal articles (Woshi-woshi in Yoruba arid Emwinkemwin .in Bini). :They
also metSango's mother selli na palm oil, while Oro's mother was selling' Yiater. Not
long 46
afterwards, they became hungry and it was time for each of theni to put th~ir avowed
capabilities to test. Tiley suggested that Eziza' sho\lld arrange to steal something°for them
to eat. He quickly transfigured into a gale-force wind which stole water from Oro's
mother, oil from Sango's mother and meat froDlJlis own J!lOtber I albei\ without knowing
the vic~ms of his t4~ft. When they l~~r ptllered to eal what Ezlia'ljad stolen, tbere
w~s;·a: comniotioh iii the ~arket and all the~ ~ree 'mothers "'re complaining Jpat
unknown tltiev~s had re>bbed them o(theil'wares'. They decided to go home to alert ~eir
children tpwhathad_h._apt,~ned to them. Theirtliree ~bildren}lad ~ten an~ 'V4're'resilng
a~ tlie ~1,ir~ roadj~m:tion. The hunter was the fi~(to appear before t~m. When.he
howevet' sensed what the three men were Jikely f.o de>, ht; repellted the following
incantation:- _ .. ' ' · · · --· ·
'Orita m~t4i.·' arilicti k , ,' ·
,. .. ' ' ... ' ' , ' '" ,. 11'-'1 .
·-- Bebe aria' amidi pre gere,
Mi~f"alildute; ' ,. · __ _ __ _ _ _.
Bythetime·ihe huntergot'totlie roadjunctio11, his conjurement had compeUecj,-lie
thr~e men ill~.~_ deep s_, 1_ ~-e-,p. · __ Afte-, -·_;_-_r_th- __ ·_ e_ h u_, •
n~_-_· r_ ha_ d_· ,.pa_ '_sse____ d, t' h' ey_~e- _________________ re_ar~---~, sec1_ . -
_,-· __ .: _fr_ om_ . tlieir
sleep by the cnes af the1r mothers. 'th&y did not'kilow one another's mother. Each of
them took position at each point of the three road•.cb'.nverging at the jµncti9n. As the
. wailing women appt:t,ached, Satigij-~pprehemted Oro's mo~~r,Oro captured Eziza's
''inutner' 'whilst Ezi'ia 'seized Sango's mbther. As they wondered ~hether th,jr 'taptiv.e.s
were not their. ~wn niothers,whil,e their m~thers were wondering whether 'ilteii: ~ptors
•'were nc>t their riwn'childten, ~an(:91~ mother hailed on his"son by his true ~~.Aremu
Olufira:n. With that call, the nieii released their re•pe,cµve ~aptive~.. worn~.n ~e.,
narrated ho~ ,al~ three _of.tli!B,) r~.r.~ robbed ill P1~,111~r~et9fil?~ir wares
ofw'!~~~1 <>9,a.nd DJeat. The three sons on reall$ing what had ~ansp1r~,liad looked at
011e an~t~rwith amazement :aiid turned to Eliiza to query wH~tJier his prowess·
~Id.only JJ;1$1Ufest'b_y going to steal from .their.own motheN. He replie,d th.at
therlwa,f~ hanp dorie:~use
jt·wasth'eir'mothefsfood'tbeyate. . .; . -- __ · ·. : <· "· ,; ·_ . __ ·' : . ' •' < .
Al that point, the hunter who had since ~en )Vatclµng fron;t ii. hide-qut~ ;m~rgeq ~
ad.fµdi~te oVerthea~~on's of the three m~n.~-~,a~id~d that ~m
t~tday ~-·~za .~Quid
- only be able·to. steal'from anyone i~ the foreat, wbilat Sango shoyJd conti~u~ with his
dancing spt~e andt):toJ.o disapp~ar irtto the wCKXis: Saniq's mother waJ annoyed and
decided to teturn'to her'f'ather's hqme town ofTakpa. Ala1'n atiba'who became th~~ing of
()yo was given· to ·Sango's 1notherin ex.clump' tAi: Kte·ra1tpe Mo~~Jlie _king of 'taltj,a,.
Oto \yas eureed never 'to hav_e a shrine. 1'he hun~r was °"1,11
hin.1selt'. - . - _ .·. . •. , .
. ·'_--_When this Od\l'comes out at Ugbodu, the person sho~doe tj>ld th~t .eithtr lus
~9.ther has three IH)DS or that she has three sbns in
a row., 'ffie peno~ hij~lf wjJl
mhry_tb'ree 'wives and whether or not the sacrifice is triade,,he, will be the vi¢tim .of
a.robbery but it will not be serioq.s .if the sac6fice, i_s made with 2· dogs,:a cock tam., a
a
and to,rtoise: He should have three additional c,tiviniues:~ ~·ne dog to prepare ()tun.
one dog tor Eziza, .a ·to prepare 47
ram hi,{own Sango,_ arid the totynse a~ cock
for'sacritice in ~ th1'e
t0ad jtinctiori close' to his house'. At otdinary divinatit>~ the
•
penoll shtSula be advised to
. . · . .I ,•
ien,e
. . ' )'····· • · .. · ·-·: ··.· · ....•. ,/ ''.'· _,
 Ogun with a ·cock and If a with a ram and a h~-goaffQt Esu to avoid the ~anger 9fan
' fuiminerit rob~~cy. , ?•· · · · · ' . ., ' . · · · · ·: .
Oyeku-do'ja 1- lbv.i~ to h~veJi: ..... · , . . , ..
·. O),eku d~'Ja had ~~o~e yery prospei:o~s a~d (~pious ~n earth, ~e
~4.~stablis!,l.~<J,the ~r-st m9:rket on e~: w~f P was th~y:altg i~iµen~ly. The n,~, oflli_s
.s"cce~: .. an~ populanty on earth had reach:edheaven. At a
sub~quent111ee~Ntofthe.41ytne coµ11cil
•of God. in hea~en,, it),,s_decided that'~e t1llle wa,,ijpefor him-~ 'returp' to,:~eav,n and
the divinity of death !f&S instructed to implement the .. clecision, ~ath desp,aic;hecl two
; messengers to fetch him from the earth. . . .'...'.. .'
Meanwhile on earth, Oyeku-do'ja made his morniqg divi.rt~a~fo!J. Jl~d his own Odu
appeared. He was astonished because it revealed that tlie messengers e>(Death were on
their way from heaven to take him a way from the e'arth: lfa however advised him that
if.he wanted to prolong llis stay on eartll,hF sbeuld i~ediatelymake thefol~owing
sacrifices:~ . . '· ' ' '..'. ' ·. . ·, .
(1) Tb ·slaugh~r two cocks on Pie· shrjn«{ofEsu an~ ...
cook tbemwith a c),iy pot
and
'Nithout eati~g out of it/ carry it fo,the road )ide wlieie he. was t.c>; . . . . .r- , .... • •• ·

. ' (2) ~pare fire foi:_ce>Qking 'a tuber of yam w,Nch he w~ ~ leave on t~e sp(>.~·;~r
Mok;;;f !!t~he roacl ,side .together with a go~r,~ ~f di:i,n~!~ wa~r and ~ther_~µrd
p.. ... ... . .. . .",' .... ' ... , .
. 't3) ile was to Jt,ick in ab~; the Ikin ofli,is'. lfa, sq~e 9f J>isj)Xearing app~~ls
j~cl~d,irtg
'a pair of~d shoes, hat_, ~~d some of his discarded-divination 111a~rials, and h11ng it on
~'fork stick ~t . .lhe S&J!le sppt on the ~ad S\(ie. · .... · · .. , .. , . .· . , ,· .. ,, . . . ,
· · · Ke ma4e. the sacrific(s and, carried the'f!l:to th~ fO~(l)~din, to the.~.wn. ~ soon ~s ~
·' he returned horn~, Esu \Vent: to hide ip the bµsli ne-1fthe,13pot co.n~ining the sacrifi~e
whichQy,ku7do'ja~a4 made.' •.. ·. · · · · ... ' .· ·-, · . · .·· . · .. · ,
.· When the two.messengers of Death arrived attlle&Jcijficial Sp(>t.,they,satde>wn,to
rest, They were S!)On ~t~rac~d J:,y the allun.ng arom~ ~f ~e'foo~. Siric.e they were
already 'veryhungey; they sai d~wn ~ help thepiselves. -~- the food. After ~tiqgJ;o.tlleir
hearts' content, they draM w11ter' ~~d 'Nine .. Th11t was the potnt at which .J!s'1i
.Em1erged fully dreHed ·as a .civil p()li~m11n <:·"k~dain Yol'.'ll>a a'.nf Plakp' in Bini).
The ?.eavenly
. messengers ~ere ,startled .b~ .the sight ,of the. str~u1ge f,lg\l,l'e of an e.arthly polifen,an
•
. Esu challenged the~ to iden~fy t°'1etnselxes anc;l they replied that they were
heavenly policemen sent b.y_the divinity of ~!th,t~ come an,d briqg 1111 If~ pnest called
Qye~ude>'ja to heaven, Esu la~gh~d hilariously 11nd excJaimed; "What a co~in~idence".
He told the_jri that the lfa priest wa~ himself already 8 ware that tlley y.rere C(>JDing
f'or him and had packed himself re11dy for the trip. He added tlla~ he was inf act already
on his way to heaven, a facfwhich Es':1 sµbstantiated by 1;1howinJthem.the bag
h11nging on tile forlt. s~ick conta,ining 48 his l)e~sonal efl,'ects in~1~4\~g ·the Ikin,
Okpele, qrofa and lJrukere ,9f his Ifa which were. aD packed f'o,r the tl'lp. Es.u went on
to 11sk them. who consumed the food alld dtinlts Orunmila kept on th11~~1fot. rtiey
answered that they A~ them be~use they thought they were used for sacrifice. Esu then
told them that they were sacrifice
inct.l becaue by eating the food, they had ~lved Orunmila from. the object of their
miaion. 'Ibey. retorted that it was Onmmila they came to collect and not his food or
sacnfiee. · ,
At that point, Eau told th,m that Orunmila was on his way already and that he only
went to.fetch a few more materialshe:ll8tlded for the trip to heaven, but that since they
bad meanwhile 1tolen the food aiMI drinb, he wanted·to use for.:·his.trip,,,he would -
.mpany them to give ev.idenc:e apinst tbemsin their consequentialarra.ignment for
theft·at the court of the divinitiee in heaven. He reminded:them of the heayenly law ~t
stealing was a capital -punishment.which attract.ed-'the. death penalty. The heavenly
meeienger, were now completely dumbfounded and began to beg Esu for what they were
to do to atone for their oft'ence.
In the negotiation·thatfollowed; they agnedto leave Oruntnila on earth rather than
court the risk of being accused of stealing in heaven,· under pain or death. when Esu
uked them bow they proposed to explain their unaccomplished mission to the. divine
council in heaven, they disclosed that they had contrived the strat.egyof going to heaven
with the remnants of the food prepared by Orunmila to~er with his personal effects aa
evidence of the sacrifice he had made to prolong his stay on earth. They revealed that in
heaven, the tradition wa&:that u soon uthe person slated for death made,aacrifice to save
hia life,,he would be spared. With that, they t.ook their leave to return to heaven.
Oru:nmila lived for several decadea,after:that incident;
: ,·. When this Odu comes out at divination, the: peraon· should be warned that death is on
~a trail and that on that very dayof divination, he lihoaldmake the a.hove-mentioned
saerifice · withou,t any delay.. Ifhe makes the aacrifice · speedily his life will be safe, but
he will nonetheless be the victim of a robbery, aa the price he haa to pay, for hia life.;
It ie important to note that as earlier indicated in the first volume of this work, the
author saw the practical manifestation oftbiaOduowtpe lat·of June 1980.
At a diyination exercise, on the 31st ofMay1980,thia Qdu appearedfor him and his Ifa
priest told him to make the sacrifice.immedi~tely. The sacrifice was done onthe same
night. The following night, on the first;of Junel.980, his house at.the Airport road.in lkeja
was attacked by 40 armed robbers and his life. was, saved in mysteriaus eireum-
stances by God through Orunmila. ·

BE MADEDIVINA110N FOR THE:DOUBTBB:

Oju ugu ye fon,
Oti ku leyin
Adifa fun ita r:.· . ..·,
Abufun awi Igbo, ; ·: .
Ebo ija ki ama'ja - , , e .;
Ki ayewa le toro. ,,H;· ,
Meaning: The face of the vulture bulges forward; And his. stomach ,protru4~s
backwards. That was the Awo who made divination f'or Ita, the doubting Thomas er

49
 argumentator. ..
He·auo.made divination for the man wllo 6f.-·1tten·to advice. 'Ibey were.both told
tomake l8Crifice to avoid quarrel IO thatt.beir:lives ..i,t .-Ie·and be peaeefhl. They
made sacrifice with a fowl, a pigeon, rat and snails. 'fhetllllllar, dlay wen able to
·· live a aucoeaful. life. · ·
· When .. thi1 Od1l .come1 ·out at divi~·the· man. lhould. be, .t.olai that ·he·is very
arpm•ntative aipl,tha.i.1 a1ao bu a eloae relation, friend, wif'e, ,on or:daQlhter who
•ii equal)y indomitllble· .---..the'penon doea.notheecl adviee.,Ifbe can identify the
penon,tbeylhoulclbotbmliielllCrifice:inordertoptalonc.Otherwiae,thereilnt>,Way ,,that•
person Yfhouarpment:atineanlivenoeud11U1with ..-aaociate who does not ··lieten to
advi•.'
BB MADB Dl'YDIATION FORA COUPLE: .
Okunnm··maa muohun miloaown
Adifa fun lk.qbola~ oko.~~mu OIL .. ,In\ralid,
donot take mj,medicationa.to heaven.

Meaning: s:
. , ' . -'lllat WU the· name .of the lfa-~.wbc,·made divination for· lkugbola (Uwuicbef'e in
r

Bini), the husband of Atawvomu Ola when be wuindisposecl. Hewast.oldthat~th was

daneing around him and thatihe should make sacrifice with· a sheep, and'a.pack of fire--
wood. The aaerifice was made ancUhe bead.ofthe sheep wu buried in front ofbis house. !nie
sacrifice.di'OVe ,death away and he .lived iq.prosperity to a ripe old- age.·
.,, A divination; the· peq1811 sheuldJ:ie told to mate &;similar .sacrifice in order to live a
lont ~-Pro8""0ua life,
:., ' f'
Orunmila ni Ojo eni dani.eni nla:aje.
.. Orunmila ni ojo eni 11a; Memojo eQi da.
Oni ojo ti eni da,-Cpe eni mif gbe iyawo. ·
Oninmila ·ni ojo eni da, 'pe eni ma,bi omo·
Oni ojo eni da. mo ni ojo enidL ·
Oni ojo, ti eni da, pe oun ma ni gbogbe ire,
ni aiye-Jri o ma ni
Oni ojo..eni da; mo ni ojo eni dL
Oyeku clo'ja'li apecial.88Cl'llioe apin•hmtimely .death:

0 ni ojo ti eni da, 'pe oun yi o ku. 0

ni ojo na ni enia ma ku.
A ni Orunmila, ani ohun ahurin ni yen.
Meaning:
Orunmila says, the birth of a person
Marks the beginning:of ms lH•sperltyi

so
14.

He will eventu~lly grow up to. ~arcy;,

And to have 'children, ·
And to be endowed with all.material wealth.
He will eventually die op th~4ay,
He was destined to die. ' ·· ·
This is the philosopy of life. .
Orunmila however emphasi~~d thatthe manifestation of these desires depends on the
amount of sacrifice, which should consist of a ram, the tuber of Abirishoko (Olikhoro in
Bini), because death does not Jmt Abirishoko).
Death eats not the tuhe~'·orAbirishoko,
The big ram with large horns,
Uses them· to ward'bff: .
The onset of Deatli., .. -
Orunmila, protect me from the wrath 'otaeatll an~fdil'ect the feet of prosperity to
me.If this ODUappears atUgbodu;theperson should b~_advised to ma~e sacrifice ,with a
ram to obviate the danger of death td'his close relation. He
should also be teld that a
relation ofhis·is'siek and·sacrifice' sli6uld be made to prevent'himlh.er frolii'dy:ing.
' . ' , , -~ .;•,·;.-: . ' . -' '

. .:. .
~·
.

...

' .i''·
·,
.

·,-
~. .'
::i'<;i
·

5
1
 Cbapter10
oYEKU-OSA
OY.EKU • ltPo'TA
II D
I ll
I , D,
I .. II ..
Divination for•• ln.heayeo: :
This Odu gives an account of one of the rare instances in ~hi~ Eau made divination with
Orunmila. When Esu concluded his plans for following the divinities to the earth. He
we1).t to (mi~mila (Ol{p,a re eyi, Ok.pa roun) wllo advi,sed him to m~e sacrifice to his
own sout~·avoid the danger of'e~pe~e11~ng problems bigger than.himself. He_l/ias to
serve hi1J "ul wit.h ~lle:-n1.t. Esu won4e:red whether there was any for~e in beaven and .
on earth bi=er t~an h~~self. .lie made ajest o(Onu...,ila and refused to do the sacrifice.
The-reafter, he left. for the earth with the determination to destroy any divinity or mortal
that dared to cross his path. On getting to eart.h, he ettablished a farm which soon began to
yield fruits before anyone else's. On account of the fact that his fann was the first to yield
fruits, others began to stealfrom it. Esu however wondered who it wai, that had the
courage to steal from his own farm. Unknown to him, it was his own primordial
counterpart. (Onne in Yora.ba or Esuamen in Bini) who was stealing from his farm. Onne
had several children and he had earlier also been adyised to serve Esu with a he-goat. He
too refused\o make the sacrifice. He was also advised to make the sacrifice to avoid
meeting a force mightier than himself. Onne had also- boasted that since he was the
guarding force behind Esu, he saw no justification for making the sacrifice. Onne was also
advised to prepare a feast for little children which he did, while refusing to give a
he-goat to Esu. · ·
When Esu discovered the route which the intruder took to steal from his farm, he
arranged to set a trap. on it. During Onne's next visit to the farm, the trap caught him.
When he realised that it was a very strong trap, he decided not to put up any resistance.
He remained quietly with the trap. .
The following morning, Esu set out to go and watch his trap. When he saw Onne in the
trap, he abused him for being the thief that usually stole from his farm. Onne kept quiet
because flies were already flying roUlld him. Esu picked up a missile and threw at Onne
but the latter pretended to be already dead. When there was no movement, Esu presumed
him to be dead. When Esu however moved to bend the bow of the trap in order to remove
the victim from it, Onne held on tightly to Eau. Onne got hold ofEsu's matchet and threw
it away and they got inter-locked with each other. During the ensuing struggle, they
uprooted the trap. Onne tried to pull Esu into the water, while Esu tried to push Onne
back onthe land. After a long struggle. the children to whom Onne had

52
made a feast overheard the groaning&, of the Giants and were ciirious to find'out what
was happening. Whe!). the children eventually saw who was fighting their benefactor,
they flew into his (Esu)ey~s; ~ f•u used his hands to·push the children away·ft'om his
·eyes, Onne got the op-portuhity 'of pulling clear into the depth of the ri•er:'He thus
escaped the wrath of Esu, who after retrieving his matchet, returned home, d&jected.
On getting home, Esu asked his son, Falsehood, to fetch "
him water to drink. When the son did'not show up with the water in time~ Esu hit him
on the head and the son died instantly. That was the point at which Esu remembered the
sacrifice Orunmila advised him to make. Rather belatedly, he finally made·the sacrifice.
When this Odu comes out at divination therefore, the petsori should be advised to -
make· sacrifice with a he-goat to Esu and feat young children with akara· or biscuits in
order to avoid a head-on- collision with a higher authority;
ms expeillence·-witti'bi• aviary:
Ojekutkpota was a very proud man. He was a fanner and also ke~t an Aviary wliere he
rea·red black and white birds. At one stage, he'beganto observe that each time he went to
the fatm, leavinj the bitds in ·the aviary '.11efftlirned to discover that tM black bijds had
killed orie:of the white birds. When it betame a regularfeatute, he decided to CO!tsu.lt his
motlier Ori the significance of the· strange eeeurrenee. In reply; the mother queried why
he decided to choose the hobby of birds-rearing when he did not belong .to' any nocturnal
club. The mother added that a person endowed with his proud disp.oaition could not
dabble into such a hobby without adverse consequencies. He stubb()mly refused ·to
change his attitude of not joining any subterranean society b~t decided to embark on the
improvisation of administering oaths to the birdfin ordt1' to ·stop the black onesfrom
destroying the white birds. In view of the fact that white bitds 1Ver,his lucky signs, the
mother advised him that ifhe was going to admimsteT qaths to'th'e bmis, he should look
for the:tiokam (Ogbigbo .in· yoruba andOwonwon in Billl) and! ben with which to
aclntiflistet'the oath to them'Oll .the baTe gTOUnd, adding palm"fron~, iwelgbe~e
(E~.:Osan: iilBini). and Ew~te '(Ebitete'in'B~m>; ~r 'gettihg the ma~tj,ls together, he
shou.ld put all 'the leaves ori top ohhe pabn frqnd: Fie finally:buierted tile meat of the fowl
and thetiokam on top' oft.he leaves ~rid tidied en each. of:the two bi1'ds to tak~' an oath
never spin to hafl!l each· otlle1' not toihann :o~ destroy anyone arid anyt}ij~g belonging
to him (Oi-unmila)'. As. they: weTe'.Wing the 'oath, lie
ih¢antation: Ajobu· jobu afoyele bhle~ Eni ha da
w~s re'p~ating the follo'wing
le k:oye:.Jeye, Ajo_bu;'jobu
afogbigl>o bule, Eni ha dale ko gbigbo ·g1,o, A.je'lo ri ewe:~sun' lori, lmcf afi ,sho la
g~eren
ghei:en b_ura. ' \ .· . .;.' ·. ·. .. . ' ·. '.' •, . . .• ;
After coi_npleting the o~th taking ceretpo',ly, he·dllJ th~ leav~~-l"t6't!ie t.ou11d',

,ff>P the b)f1ck. birds wh~-~~ ~ere esotencallr-~to~e1'. ~8.!l -,!

~~~,seal · the oath ~~~ ~e ~~t~onty of motJ:teT .e,rtli. ~e practJ~ e~e~ or~e ~tlt~ .~~s ~-
.rr~
w~i, ~i.~s
P,l~re numerous from destrqymgthe latter. His own mother was intact a !t'.}~h, wfhch
w~r!

e~lm,ns why the mother of anybody initiatedinto this 04u at Ug~u must also be a _w:itdt.
When the Odu therefore appears at Ugbodu, the pe1'8011 should°be advised 'to offer a

S3
 <, ,gc>4t.t.o Ui. •l~,of ~.nigh~w Bt9P witches frolll co~n~~ t.o spoil his materiale~md ..

busJNJS•, Q tpey mua,t ~ly have be9' ,d,Qing before then. H.•'.ahoulcJ be told:~ atop ~~in, aJI
ineetings to ~J:y.ch1:,e ~loop~ ffe s,~o l>e.ad~ed tp 4eal diBCre,,tly ... ~t~ a 18D)f'Qr
erippJ.,d JD,.,m)?er ofhia family.~ sactifice to be 111ada on a~µ.nt of that ,p.ttrson,shou14 be
dqpe wit;J:l, _4 snails, 4 iards of white cloth and 40k. while- adding the
lyerosun (divination powder)-oftlµs Qdu. . ,: . · .... , .
.. :~ ~inary divil)at.ion, th• ~rS()ll .~quld be ~dvi~ed to aerve the Di# wi~ a rabbit . ~
~refrain from a~ndipg ~ny -~~ting so ~t people migb,t not. bear false·wjtness
against~m. . , ,. ··

-~'.poe8'-;:,0D p~4': . . . .. , '

AponB;,Akp,Ago)3iAko,Ak4!P,~np~Akooopele,Akogo-go-~.~~opewbe, Moni tani ijako,
Orunmil~ Jli ~ ~ ~a, fi'ile ru;a re. aqle, T'oun ,'8le oun otl>4t L'tyin,
•Oun ni nje ako, Moni iwo oshowo Okpe, Mo le mi Qebowo,Qk1>4t;A akii Nl01!ff.(}kpe, ki .
,en~_ma'laya. Aje. ni ha ni kpe ~ 1»:8P. A.kii &Jiowo 0• lt: eni oma bi ~o Eiu.,'1i \>!
kpe - N ni.E~ll~n, M:onj.QmmajJ~ m,o.~! ~o gbemi, Oru,mlila O~-O\Ul gbemi, Qni m$gun
~~~ Ji oaan Q~ ~~ i.~Y•'l l~oN,,}.to,ni offl so 1lli d'.~e .. ~-,,, Oni i~. ~Jtii she itje,
.,9aj.ti !»9.bJa.JU.Deshµtlo,,'il,-Olc>fep_liP.~..__.,:'j.molo ae.awo~n,~.m.otun;bow~l)e~,'fi
~],?mafi obhuin misun_ti'ta,.TimP.,IIlU ek~,ti mofi l~ eturukpon,AyeQluf«t8'1n <;)ri~a
Qshe ekewa, ti w~n;fi bi ~ omo; Dni nje: mi oti l(eshin}'0"1n; ?,di de ti, IUJl ~yan Ii 0~
iw:..,;._g: .
·:'. . '!), pe~n v.:~o,.can,
· .: For~ bw,hon,i,._,, •. ; , 1 ~, 1

, ~mes ~•o•~~
,1To ser:veQtµn•l4.- , .. .,. ·r
. ; :,
·

N~ oite trade• on.~.palin'.tJ-Ae,\~¥thou{~a~ D,l~~y. Money .financ~ •.••• ~e.

Afldc:l)ildieJ1care ~~ta Clf lJlil~. '1'te •. ~ergence of a ~Id, Ne~ssi~s ~. gse
•,9f a ~r,v,~t. t\nd the ef:f9,rt, ;Of a, s~~t.Jlelp t.Q · fllnd, the cost of a l)ol'se (or ai ~r). I
;be~ach. you .Orun~a, .T~.)eedm~ · throµgh~o11t JJIYJife. In }µ~. re:spo11se:-
OruhmiJa

·~-
·~~~~~~a;$r:;;1:
1~~~$i~~
..' (u~?)To which Orunmila answe"ttchieit,~v~dy~di~that.~s JPlfmthful r~n~,~J\Jou wiU
prosper to the point at. which, You will beco~~ royal diviner,· W}io 'will ~ake
54
.'. :;:!~::11;~~~~=::{J;~·;~,r-~J:r;~°.;:;:.:e;~;:: ::
Bnngfortha chilij,,After mne mo 11th~. That wi1J,be the manifestation of pro,penty, flta,t is
the translation ofth~}iletapliot, 'rnatjyou ..yilltjde on a horse.by day, And'ridij or{a
p~i,-spn by night. Thatish,ow:~;ynll help 111:yfollQwers in t~ir (lives). ·... . '
. . T)ii1.t is !'hY _whe-o. this qdu·comes ou~.at divinati_dn for ailyontfwho is struggling for
11mt9nee, he 1houlcf be
already 'have one. If .
~~..i to have his qwn lfa uh~ does not

already huhiaowrilf~:he ahc,uJd be.adviaed t.o prepare thia apecial.~ce~(OnoJfa in

yoruba and Odih~ ID Bini) bec:.UM. ~l\mila.wiD pilot him to'the patll of proaperity. He
will pro1per to theJ,oi~t of~nr hapj,i)y'married, havbit'~hiimen
and owrtin, a car. · · -· · · .
,, Divinatlon(QtaContej\;: _ : ·.·,.. .· .. ·.· .. · :, . ·.,i · ,,' •• _
Erin oku, omu ori i,oko. ,L,itede ofi ~ ~°"k.l),~mu t.oyo. Olutede oni lton tede.t.o.
Ol~ii-
toyo oni ~eya yodabo. Erin toba w~ ni aebe;.btoja meji. Erin ogun mi o. · ·
lleanlnr.
An elephant died ii\ th-, forest, and lta
head laced Olutede'1 farm, while · Its
tail point,ed to Ol9mu-toyo's fann.
They~
The oneto contest
who-.dtowner1hip
,acrif\ceofwon
the dead eleph~t, and
the contest.~ Both
di'fination, Oliuede was told to
went for divination
make sacrifice.wltJi
~~ and sacrifice
cock.~.
. . . ..
was
tortoi1e an4 snails.
. Ori bi1part, Olomu-to,o wu uked
'recommended. . "

tomde sacrifice with ~. hen, .pipon and· tortoiee. Ol~e· ~ .IO make ,the ~ becawie et
,

the maim that he who owna the bead of an aru-mal~wn· the rest of tile 1'ocly.
OlOJDa-yo howeve'rmade the l&Criftce "and when ·the matter WU referrecl t.o1tbe
king,
it wudecided. in hit favum. . . '. ··- .··
w.n tWabdu comea out at dwtnation, the ;eraon llioulcl be tolcl that he i1ecriit:utin,
for •••••• hilt that if. he mak~s ~cri&i. . h~ :wtJl auceaed over bia,' :~nent.
lnCMtatloa: - · · ,r· r•

·- Onunmn,uli ki Oyeku ye-sa-pra,.Monf_.._ rere ni yiJmajt~.Oni onia ~rem 'o Je

lmalata. niojo ti yi o pn ori te baba re, Onn-.iila ni la Oyeku-ye-aa ~ Meni oni• 1*-re.
yi ..- J, oni~, rer~ ni o je fun ·Mm»• ojo $i, yi o 111n. orite baba re. .. . .. •··.
~larukiOyekuye ••• ~. Mcmi ~nieerei-e·myi~maje. Oun niojefmt Oreinpn U..ila ni,
.Qh) ti o aun orite baba re, Oninmila ni ld Oytb-ye-aa pre, M~nfOlilN ni yi o ren- ..
ml\ie, Ou1;1 ni ~ je f\J.n loja-loja, owi rii oJe ~a o, ni ala bn esiWIH'llio niin ma tllla'
aunori, epnre 1e1 igJ)a lfojo ti~ lo aun ori ittt babare~ Orunuuia ni AkQG; Mcnil'a ftlat;
Orunmilaiµ opt ni Mei~ Monfi'kin owo mi~ dayo. Met1nin,: ·· , .. ···
Orimmila'.;anted ~ ·~r to know that II M'euiah~
':' '' · .. ' . • ' ,; . . . ~·1- . ·. '- ·- _, .· ' . ·' '.. ,

Shall come and will be told to make aaerifice wi"1 ~ and,wmw fowl. -
Orunmila advised Oyeku to make hatte, , .• ... ··. . ' : ,, ·'. . ., · ., .- , ' . . .
'f.he lfa prjelt say~ Oye~ii is the hatd WOrkillJ
He aai'd h~. worked very hard for Alara, · '· ·' · . ·
tm, .
> t ' •• . ' . ., A ! t; • •; :-' .~'

Whe'1 he (~):~as •sc~ndinihi, fat;lie,Tl~~~;H~ ~~ 4hard.~r~~for AJero, when he

ucended his his father'• throne. He alio worked very hard for "ead

5 /

5
Chiefs aljke.Alsofor Esiwu, when they went for their father's. throne .. Orunmilacalled the
w~si;enger., the if~prie~t replied that it's not yet done. Orun~ila gave thanks, Ifa the
pri~sl~aid'the divination trliy with him s'hallbecotne athfngofjoy. Orunmila said we sb~ld '. advise
hi; creator thatthere willcoTnE! a good Samaritan that )'.ie should he
advised to'hlake sacrifice with pige6ri and white fowl. · '
He made divination for the refuse dump and the ground:
Qyeku-9~!i made diviryatjon for the R_ubbish dump (Akitori-in Yoruba and Otiku 111 Bini)
and the Ground whe!) they were co~itig to the world: Each of them wasadvfsed to make sacrifice
with a hen, fish and snail and their personal apparel and to give hegoat to Esu and a rabbit to the
elders of the night so that they might become kihgs on earth. The ground failed to do the sacrifice.
Meanwhile, the ground and therubbish dump became bosom friends. When it was time to appoint
a king, Esu influenced the king of the night who then asked the divinities; "who will give
salv~tion, .. the"·one who made sacrifice or the one who did not''? Everybody confirmed that it is
he who makes sacrifice that receives salvation, was from then on that God ordained that for It
foiling to make sacrifice, the ground would forev.er carryAkiton c>'n hi·s·head;thu:i Jllakiri.1;(the
latter. kin~. . .· . ·.. . .. , ... . .. . .
~ Qn;i(;c:o~ntpftheinter~·eritiori which the king of the night made'ihfav<juf cif Akiton,
the-·latt~/pTqmised the eld~rs of the night _to keep food for them. al'ways. Tl'\at is why
sacrifices to the elders of th~;
nigJ,t are deJ)q~i'ted on' the rub bi sh 'ctu·m to i,}li} q~y:' p
He made cliviqatio:11Jor' Ajayi to ):lav~. victory: · ·· · ··
Oyeku oni idi arisa si. .
lfa 'ni .,,Jori ate esu .'ni Alashuwa·.·Alashu
,' . . ,, •.
wada mu 'eshi
Iwoj,fa inµ eshi wa 0,,do' Q,\}'O ril,gu'p ori owo. . ' '
. wo odo.
' ' ' ,, '' '

,4.dffa fun Ajayi, olola ni'jo ogbe ogun Josi okpe Kpe odo. tbo.
ki aleshe yo ri. Qi 1;it1 oguttJi afeshe
. Akiko adiye ati eyele ni-ebo re ... , . . ..·~
,,. .. •, ~ •. . . ~···. .. ' '' ,' . . :, .' t-. . ...

II . ' . -·. ' .. ·; .• - '. ·. ; ,. .~.'. .- ' •. :·,: .· ' I • '. · : ' ', i-:·.·

. ·~-
0 ve,~ u owns the home w~e:r~,P~opleJ¢.ek.refuge, Qru1,1m.ila is the head offhe small
ar~}ple,& selling market. Esl?-·is th~,au(hority cnpJlble of mutilating arid changing.things, 11w
one :who chan~es things'rode on &.hotse fo the. river. Orunmila also rode.011 ahorse to/th~ ,river
.. ·M<>ney, climbs on money, that is, good tnon.e.x yieJ4s.more'tn9n~~· These were the Awos
who made dhj11aJj~11 for Ajari, tJt€! rich.m~,n,,\¥he,n he "'aged,w4r ~to~n: on the embankment
of the river:He was told to make sacrifice witha cock'ana ap'igEfon in their order to be victorious
in. th!:!,,e11c9urt.er. He made sacrifice and victory became
his. .. . ·· •.. · ··· · ·· ·
Made divination for mankind:
Oyeku gara gara, Adafa fun eniyan to'on]o ba ile she adehiin. .
He made divination for mankind when he was going to conclude arrang~~ent~th the home. The
home asked mankind what he had done to offend humanity. r~i>lied that he. was not '.H~
offended but liked the home. The home .asked mankind what he would do to hi;m atter building a
J:iouse? He replied that he would stay with Hortte and be~n

.56
15.

to eat, work, live, feed and preereate, in the ho~. Heme advised man to go to Orunmila,
who brought him (Home) to the world, and pv~ him authority (Ase) to become the
custodian of all mankind. ···· , - ···· ·
Orunmila advised man to make saerifice in order to be able to build and live in the
House. He made the sacrifice with a sheep and a pig. Thereafter man built the hoUN, and
Home asked mah what would happen ifhe let\ him to travel out and died during the. tour.
Man replied ,that his corpse would be broupt. home for burial. That is why the human
corpse is often broupthome for burialafter death. When men livee far too long away from
home, he is often invited to· retum home.

· 'P.,

51
 _ ,'Chipter-'11.
··~.
oYEKlJ;mJRA· I
ll, ..
U·
"
··u.
I ll
·,,I_ .n ..
. It was this Otlu that revealed h~·Orunmila taughtbun:aa,nity how to serve him and how
to offer food to him to provide salvation to peop)e. l,et us now examine how to greet
Orunmila in the morning which we shall call the morning prayen-m Ifism. ··
Mol"IUDI Prayers to Orunmila:
Orunmila ajiborisa kpero,
I offer you morning greetings;
In the name of my Odu (name your Odu);
Just as you wake up ~very morning;
To offer greetings to Olodumare;
The Creator and Father of all existence. I
thank you for bringing me;
To the beginning of another day; For
guarding me through my sleep;
•To see this morning and to look forward; T.o
the chores of another day;
I thanl you most especially;
For not allowing me to offend my fellow men:
Throughout yesterday, because you have ordained; That
to serve God, according to the divine laws; Your
children should be able to tell yo\1;
Every morning that they have succeeded;
In resis"ting the temptations;
To do any wrong against Olodumare;
The two hundred (200) divinities;
All the children of God;
And the society in which they live Furthermore,in
aeeordanee with your injunction; I have refrained from
avenging all wrongs;
Done to me by my relations, friends and foes, and done
good turns to all my friends and enemies alike; Help me
also to neutralise allevil plans against me; Just as you will
neutralise
Any Qvil, that I might be tempted; To
plan against my fellow men; Because
as you have proclaimed;
S8
 That is the universal secret; . _ , · ;, .
Of long. life and en~uring pros~rity ....
Protect me tod~1 as al~q.)'s t:rom _ all daµgers; -
, And evils in my abode, plaee of work, a~ in my interactions
with others. --
. ; ,(Add any other special desire for the day); ,
,And touch the.ground with your head in obeisance.to Orunmila, That is what he does to
QocJ every morning which earned him the title <>fAjiborisa kpero. That is, the divinity
wro wakes up every morning to give thank~ and.prayers to the Almighty God, on behalf
of himself, all _his children and followers. That is .why he has enjoined his adherents to
do thesameto him every morning.As long as they are able to.offer such prayers in good
faith and conviction, he promised to protect them throughout their lives.
When this Odu appears at' c;ljvinati!)n, for-a man who already has his own Ifa, he
should be told that he has merely!taken his.Ifaand abandoned it in obscurity. lfa is
annoyed with him because he will only have the strength-to protect the person from his
enemies and from the ferocious divinities, .if~ serves-him in good faith. On the other
hand, if the Odu comes out for a man, who does not already have his own Ifa, he will be
advised to have one witho,1.1t any further delay, because death and misfortune are
, .al'reAdY on his trail and orµy Orunmilacan save him.frem the imminent catastrophe.
. The pri~e of ingratitµ.te: '
WhenOyeku-Etura got to the world, he was a successfullfapriest,·although be. was not
wealthy enough to buy :Iii horse, He h,p.d six surrogates who were indentu.red to him to
learn the art and practice of'Ifism, After gaining proficiency, they were subsequently
ordained as Ifa priests. They soon became very successful and wealthy but only by
manipulating Ifa's mode of practice to their personal advantages. It is easy to-become ., rich
in the practice of Ifa if the priest uses his authority toeharge exormtant fees. Orunmila is
never happy with such Ifa priests. That WJlS the-settingtin whicb'·Olofin invited Oyeku-
Etura and his six former surrogates to make divination for him on what to do to return
prosperity to his kingdom. The six junior awos dressed gorgeously and rode on horses to
the palace. But.their benefactor and master came in a modest dress and on foot.
At divination, some of the sixjupiqr awos recommended saerifiee. with cow,rplenty of
goats, rams, pigs, several .bundles of white cloth and 100 bags-ofriaorieyfor prosperity to
return to the ~ing ~ml country,
:While the junior awos. were demonstrating their mode of. divination, the more
knowledgeableand experienced Oyeku-Etura was required, to ~undup'the divination. He
declared that prosperity had eluded the town becausesome traditional divinities had not
been served for a long time and so they became j neapable of stoppinginisf ortune from
preventing the children ofprosperity from visiting the town. He proclaimed tnat six awos
should be tied up at once for sacrifice tothose divinities while he 1eftf.or the bush
to fetch the relevant leaves. ' ;;'
As soon as Oyeku-Etura left for the bush, Olofin gave the command for the six junior

59
 awos to be bound in chains awaiting sacrifice. When he returned from the bush, Olofin
confirmed to him that the six awos had been tieaup for the sacrifice. When he asked for his
six colleagues, who were present before he 1eftfor ~ebush, 01ofin replied.'that they were the
ones chained up for the sacrifice. Oyeku-Etura was astonished as he declared that what he
prescribed for the sacrifice were 6 guinea fowls which happened to translate to "awo" in lfa
parlance although italso means lfa priest. He quickly ordered their re ]ease and that since it
was forbidden to bind an Ifa priest in chains Olofin should
- give each of them a goat to atone to their lfa for their shabby treatment. :He however, added',
the reasons why the six Ifa priests underwent the unfortunate 'fortuitous · treatment was
because Orunmila wanted to punish them for prostituting and bastardizi ng his ethoes and
usage. They had been using Ifism for their own selfish benefits in contravention of the'
altruistic and magnanimous dogmas stipulated by Orunmila. He advised them to refrain from
their materialistic and extortionate approach to Ifism, if they were to live long and to avoid the
risk of'falling from affluence to penury. The six awos were instantly unchained and they
thanked Oyeku-Etura, promising to respect Orunmila's dicta and to offe"t their morning
prayers to Orunmila ardently and religiously.
When this Odu comes out at divination for an apparently affluent person, he should be told
that he became rich by hook or by crook, and thathe has ignored his benefactor and despised
his senior colleagues. He should make sacrifice with a goat, 3 aligator
pepper and 3 ginger seeds. ,:
He made divination. for household utensils!" f,

Oyeku be, etula. •...

, : Omi nu oko mi kun kun kun.: _-
., ,It.ya jimi girr giri, -. : ' ·
i, Adifa fun Orun ligho isilo, -
Wongbe ,Og1t1n lo si ilu omi,
Woni ki won ru ebo; · ,
Sugban koru ebo .. , '
:.; .Igba-nikon.loru ebo.

Oye~u be-tula made divination for all household utensils when they declared war on .
the.river, They,included mortar.ipiston, plates, bowls, cups.itray, spoon, knife, needle and
gourd. They wereadvised to make sacrifice if they wete tocome within hailing distance of
success in their expedition. All of them, with the exception of the gourd (Igb,R
in Yoruba and Uko in Bini) refused to make the recommended sacrifice. ,
When they got to the river, they waged a fierce battle on the water. Their onset created
whirlpools and vortexes which drowned an the attackers with the exception of'the gourd, who
stayed afloat on top of the river. 'When the gourd discovered that all his comrades-in-arms
ha? been swallowed up by the river, he began to rejoice with the song:
Tente maashe yu ·
Tente maashe boo,

60
 M()dupe · fun Oyeku .l>etula.

thus he wa$ rejoicing for su.rviving the war ~ainstthe river and giving thanks to his diviner,
Wh~nfat comes oui at divination for. someone going to
war or a mission, fraught with
tre111endous risk to life, he. should be advised to make .sacrifice with all available eatable
foodstuff a. and ho.usehold utensils. which would l:,e. packed into a gourd· and jettisoned jnto
the river, fo orde.r. to return safely from· the .expedition. That is, if it is Uree. If it however
comes out as Ayeo, he should be advised to refrain from embarking on the .. piission.
He· made divination for a pregnant woman:
Agba gba ridi ridi, ~~fiJrtu.
han ara 'won, Odifa fun
oye,
•Nijo tio nloyun ·

He made divination for a wo111an called Oye when she was pregnant. When $htthttd a
threatenedabortion, she went to Orunmila fordivination.'Unk~own to her, another lady called
Etura who lived where Oye used to buy kolanU:ts regularly, had been watching the
development ofher pregnancy. After knowing thatOye was pregnant even though the
pregnancy was neither visible nor obvious to any m'ort.al, EtUTa WOJ'ked out a strategy for
destroying the pregnancy.
After divination, Orunmila asked Oye who she used to buy kolanuts fro1n TegUlarly.
She replied that it was from a friend of hers called Etura. She was subsequently advised to
refrajn frolll buying kola nuts, a~d seeing_the woman fro111 then on, because she weas a
wi.tch wbp w~s gunning for her pregnancy. She was however advised to make sacrifice with
a duck liecause a child does not know when the duck sleeps. That was to neutm!ise the
damage .already done l>y the witch and to arrest the threatened a&rtion .. She made the
.sactjfice very quick1y, and the ... pregnancy solidified; She s\ib&eq\lently··had a
successful pregnancy and delivered safely. • ·.. .. .. .• . -
. When ~his Odu comes out at divin~tion, the divinee is ad\llsed to tef'nun ftom buying
kolanutEI frolll his or her regular. seller.or from familiar sources because danger awaits hilll
or her the.re. If the di vi nee is a woman, she would be told that she is in her early
•lllO'.lltbs of p.regnancy and that to avoid·a~y threat tO it, .she Shouldtea~ buyitig Jtolal\Uts
fro'Ql aJ>articultir seller or ·place so that the seller 'might not sp01Thet pregnatiey. She
should make sQ.Crifice witha.duck. .. . . ·
Divi1i"tion' for PUl'Jl08eS of marriage:
•Ma'yile\j erp baba mi lonshe,
Odifa fun Orunmila, ·
Nijoti.b'8ba agbon miregun,
Lo. gba omo Olokun,
She 'riri ade shaya, , ,. 1
Ebo niki oru. e; .,,. 1 , 1 '- ,

61
 Th1,1s he was rejoicing for sµrvivirig ~hewar againstthe river and giving thanks to his
diviner. Wherdtcom~s out at divination for someone goingtd war or a mission; fraught with
tremendous risk to. life, he should be advised to make sacrifice with' all available eatable
fo.odstuffs .. and household utensils which would He packed into a gomd.iand· jettisoned ~nto
the river, fo orde,r. to return safely from' the ,exp~dition. That is, if iH$ Uree. If it however
conies out as Ayeo, he should be advised to refrain from embarking
on the: ~s.si<>n. . . . .
Be made divination for a pregnlint'woman:
Agba gba ridi ridi,
~o'fiinu ban ara 'won,
Odifafun oye, •',
J~.

•· Nijo tio nloyun

He made divination foi ·a wotp~n called Oye 'Nhen she was pregrtant. When shwbad a
threa~n.ed.abortion, she went.to Orunttli1a tordivination.'Unknown to her, another lady
call'ed Etura who lived where Oye used to buy kolanuts regularly, had been watching the
development ofher pregnancy. After knowipg that Oye was pregnant even though the
pregnancy was neither visible nor obvious to any·m'ortal, Etura wol'ked out
a strategy for destroying the pregnancy. ·
After divination, Orunmila asked Oye who she used to buy kolanuts fi,,atti TegUlarly.
She replied that it was from a friend of hers called Etura. She was subsequently advised to
refrain from buying kola nuts, and seeing the woman from then on, because slle weas a
witchW~p w~sgunning for her pregnaf,icy: She was howeveT advisedto make satnlice with a
a
duck. 6ecause chiid does not k'now when the duck sieeps. That was1ic> neutiwlise the
da~age already ~one PY the witch and to arrest the tlrreatef\ed abotti:on. She made the
sactjfice, very qllickiy, and Pie .. pregnancy ·soJidifted: She s\ibse~ently'had a
successful pregnancy and delivered safely. . .. · ·., ·. . ' ·. . .· . - . . . '
, . When. ihi~ Odu comes o.ut at divination, the di vi nee is advj.sed to refrain ftom buying
kolanu~ frpm his or her regular seller or from familiar sources because danger awaits him or
her there: tr the divinee is a woman, she would be told that she 'is in hel' early 'motiths of
p,regn~ncy and that.to avoicfanythrea,tto it, she shouldlcea~buyinciolanuts fr~m ~,pa~icular
seller or:etace so thai the sellerrmght, not spoil·hel' pregiianey.,She
should make sacrifice with' a duck. . . ' ;';' . ' ' ·. ; . ' . '. . :.''.:
ti1i1~tlon'for putj,oses of marriage:._ · ',· , ·· n
. 'Ma'yilekj .eni babam] Ionshe, .- ··· · : · · ·
oaira fun Orunmila, ··
Nijoti. baaba agbon miregun,
L9, gba omo Olokun, .
Sh~ 'rirl ade · shaya, . , !, : , , \
Ebo niki oru. .. ' , '·' ·,, , 1 , , .. , , ,

61
 When Orunmila was proposing to seek the hands of Olokun's daughter in marriage, he
requested one of his surrogates called Ma'yileki to make .divination for him. Hltold
Oru~mila~ p,aktt:sacritice with a goat, rat,.fisJ,,. eko and akara, He made the sacrifice.
, !f.h~ girl 11ras ~baeq~entlygiven in triarri~e · to Orunmila. After living tog~thet for
so111~ t,\me; tli~ bri®, propo_$8q that jt was .tiJne;fpr him t~.visit her father; ~t~_her.
He n,a,Jilya,reed 1;o the s,p..ge~~C)~. As th,ey w.~rf! travelli~.b,y water iri a
canoe~·o~nmila sp(gt;ed a gi._nt J\n) fifh, ,The. fish had a ~iJ h,ad andcanjed a .red
~ari'qt's fea"th~r in itif DlOUth.-~"Qklng ~~ t;~u, fish '!{a,s hisJa~her-irila~, 91."J-i'lmila
bent his krie'eS to gre~t, the fish, but his wife told him not to condescend so low because
the fish· 9.ias qnly her father's slave. EventuaUy. Orunmila m~t. QJokµ,11 in his divine
majesty a~d prostrated 1
to greet his father-in-law. ···· · .. · · . · I :., ;
He was accorded befitting hospitality. When it was time for them to returnhome,
Olokun ordered his exchequer to bestow the bride and the bride-groom·with allitems of
wealth and prosperity. Thereafter they lived happily in prosperityand affltience.
When this Odu comes out for a man proposing to marry he should· be told that the
~,.ie, from Qle ~ng~q~ c,fqlolf.up an4 that he shoul~ make the above-mentioned ,;a~~
be~_w;e th~ w,onien)s going to, btjllg prospetjJy' to him. He ·shoij.ld therefore pro.ceeq
to firm;up ~n:ar,ge111ents to marry the gir] after making the sacr)fic~,. ·
·:~- ., ~ . . . .-- ·- . ·' ,._ ·. - . ~·-. ·. ';"- : :- • ")"; =.i_ /~- .• ,

Dbdnati~~~ ~~1~-bihhi
Aiye ti mo rije, io 'ni, · · ·
Oju.ti ,ba Ip, ;
Oc:lifacf\1110lokp,he ato&i,
J..Qlde.,Qtµ_,,i{e. . .... · .. · _. .· . ··. ·.. . ..
'J,'IMlt WM ~e na~ of the Awo who jnade diyin~tion for Olokoshe the pauper of Ife
,W"ll;hi,._wift ,W~.1)1'.e~an~ ll~ was 89 ppor th11t as his wife approached til!livery, he
~llll to ~cmdei;.how he. w~a g<>ing to procure the means of feeding h~r and the child.
Jventu_,.Uy. he. toik 'his;Iast 111oney; the' ~q_\ij~alent ,of ,one kobo and left for.
Orunrnila·~ place to perform divin'ation for.him: When brunmila heard of.his·pli~iit, he
decided tb;
,{).erfOffl\.ili.yl~~onfpr_pi~e;it-grfij_Q.., .. , ··.·. . ·· ... · .. ·,;. ·, ·,·
•i, ... At divi~µ~n Qrµnmila advised 1:ii~ to use the money with which he was to pity for
diyi~atj<,l,l,,to l>~ia.sing!, rat and ai;j,n~,~ fish for sa~rifice: He.quickly l~'ftfot the
mark.et t.Q. buy t.Ji«t,m~~tj~ls Bild Qrunmila ma,~e the ~FJiJice for him free of cha~e.
,O.unmila ,U)ld hl~,tli4l~ ~l~P.~~li ,h~ W~~t .t~~t tim~ ,too ~oor to _pay for
divjnafie>n an~ sacri~ce,~ he would nonetheless be m a position to conveniently
:retur,n to pay for .them ·.lifter the b~rth of his in-coming child. That was Orµ_nm!Ja's
y.raf of telling him that.the uijtiorn child held the key to his prosperity.Finally, Orunmila
advised'him to g,linto ihe'forest ~fl. follo~ng morning in se,arch of whatever he could lay
his hands on fot ~kle'.t~ raise
money. , . I. .' • . ,
1
·... . " ·• •

. ; ~~ fol.lowinginorni.rig, he left for the forest in search of'shails to sell, Unknown to him,
, Esu. ~d commanded all snails· and tortoises in heaven and earth 'to buiy"the~selves
62
,~neath. t.he gtoQ.nd: M\;er combing the forest for a long time, he became :hungry and
- .· f 'i ' ~ . .
tired. He decici~d to sitf>y th~ foot of an oak tree to real Shortly aftenvards he ft;U
asleep. As. )1e w~ s.leeping,_, drip of'1oiiey clropJ>e~ fro~ ~~ top of the ~~e tj~t.~r:i~
'.hlslllouth arul he licked 1~ up and he wok_e up from his ~leep. When he opened his
eyes~ he saw a me4ley of s11ails beeped' to hi~ .front and 'a file' of tortoi~~UJ to his
back: 'lie Went on his knee,~ and than.lijd.God fof ~nswerirtg his prayers and·for
allowing his sacrifite'to manifest so quickly.1:0verwfieime·d with gratificiltfori, he;beg'tt
to Sjrig in praise ofthe
Awo who made divination and sacrifice for him. :
: ,. l{e 's~pg'that God heard hi~ 'kraxers· and krio~tng that he was hungry releised
drops of hom~y ~nto his mouth and,delivered ,an ~semb]~ of snails and tort:oisi;s to give
manifestation to his dream.~ he moved to collect.the·S:nails"and the tortoises, he was
sp.l}~g in praise,oQiisAwo by tµenpR~~lji~_nawe.~ . . : ': . ·. . ·
'.. Aiy.e ti~orije, timoriniu,
. ,: J.o ni oju tobalo~ ... ·.. . . . .· . . . . . . . . . ·, . . . . . . .. ·.. . . . ..
. , At tnat point his friend v,:a~ running from home in s-earch ofbii,1 to r~ppftithe wife's
sate. 4eliyi,ry ~(twin baoies.' ite told his frietid 'to return home ·becattselie~wa-a going'to
collect the snails and th~ tottoises he fou'.nd in the forest. Intident.lly:the friend had I dearly
oxer~qeard his. song qf praise which climaxed with. th~.stariza that the favour/
· 40~fal!~d-~At!::::~!t:!tr:~tr6:~t~~:i~:c,t~:~iira:·rt~::u:~e
P<><>r ;man pf I~~- hid ~la~p)iemed ~y .~ay~n~ ~~at the :favour h~ re~eive.d. from
Go~ was more ~han. wJi~t ~d eould ever give the Kini. The king a~#Jily gave ordets for
hi m to
be arr:esi~d and arraigned before tlie royal co*.rt~ ·. . ·.· .. . . · . ··.· • · .
. : 1.ieanwh}le,htt returnedhofue withnis snailsan'd'tcirtoi~~-thej\).tiffatfon ofhis new

e1~~t1St:1~:~1vi;i
~i~~ir,~t~i~
_how he left liome that mor111~ m search of snads tcfsell for money ht'feed·his l>fS~nt .
wjfe. and hqw -~~ .got sn,tis' '~nd ti9~ise,s, _wit~ ~J>~Y. drop~~ri;in~ bis. mautli. After
·!!tr!n!!;F~:1~!!1rJ~~~;·!~:.t!:!~:~1~1JTct~l!~!e1f!;~t::P;:

·e~~;t!~:;;1~!~~:-
:t;:it;;~:u~~i.t.(;tltr!~t;.;:r;:::.~~~;:
. acquJtted and d1scliarged and told to return ]lome ~ reJOI~e over llis blesS\ligSfroi:n
Go4. ' .'thatfocident'gaye him the opportunity oheialisi •.•• the type offnend be.had:'When
he returned home however, h~ i~riiediaiely'took ,i,;e·snm1~_ai;if~e;~t.ti>l~ft.o the
marketforsale. · ·· · · · ·· · ·. ·. · · ·.1 • '.'·_ .. , ·', .• ·•
,.-·.
, That mo~eQt,coi;n.cided ~ the time wl;ieJ) .tf,, daugl:iter, of OJ<>~~JJ.-:~" h~vihg a
difficult labour in heaven. Olokun's diviner~ liaa hume'dly been inyH.-;ct µt heaven to
find-.oqt w~y his dau~hter was ha~ng a difficult 1-~~X ana..~,~ ;lj,ad_r~_co~1De~4ed
sacnfice with a tot1:01se and a snail. Olo~un's 11:1esse~r! .~~}w~-~~l N~st
of
. heaven and earth m search of the snB1ls and tortof~s "Mthout success, 'tleca:use
 unknown,.,to anyQ11e, Esu bad conjured allJhe ~nails and tortoise.sin heaven.and earth
to.concealtheinseive~ beneatli the groµnd. . • . •.•. . ·.. . .':' . .. ..
~r ~o)'Q~~g)he lepgtl) 8Qd },)_reagth of h.eltven for the St1Cnfic~al mateJi~ls,t~ey
nw.ved.to the;boundary of heaven and earth, 'aqd, used their'esoterie binoculars to target tJte
it;'!<'.$hility ~f snmls and to.rtoises any. wh~re o.n eartH. They could not'locate atty,
.Fortunittely ho\Vever, they targettedOli:ik<;>she carrying some snailk arid~rt.oises ill a
basket to the ma~ket. ·· · · ' ·· ··· ·· ... , ··· · ··
The heaylmly messenger$ .quickly telescoped the' distance and made fqtiick ~end,ezvous
wi~ Olok,~she just~fore he gQtto the mark~t. \Vhen theymet him, they asked him tlle price
at which he. \Y8S prepared to sellhis wares. At that juncture, Esu transfigured into chief a
and assumed overlordship'over Olok<>sne' who h«fo;rdered to keep qlii~t. '11ie chief told
the messengers fiom'h"eaveit that the carrier of the snails and torto'ises\vas his servant and
that only he the Chief could negotiate the price of the materials. He then enumerated the price
of each snail as 16 men, 16 women, cows, 16 goats, '16 fowls and
a
.. l~~gsqf-m<;>n,e.y. On the other ~.and he gave the price of each tortoise as hundred, sacks
of beads, a,bundre.d. pieces pf.white cloth, and a hundred b11gs of money. Tb'e"divine :
~essengers ~ked the:.chief aridhis,$ervant to wait for them ii.rid that they\v6tila retU:rn
~th,theprizeS pTeSeptly, : . :'• ·. .· ·.· , . ,, . C .• ••. : .: . ·.·

In a matter of minul.e$, th~y returnedwith the asking prizes, collected 2·:.,nailsand .. 2

t,o.rtoises, and retul'hed to heaven, Ololt~she ~fi~'totally confounded. It 'YllS: #tE:rJhe . prj~~
~aci ~en, p~i4, that the. cllief revealed his identity andtold him to take all of them , home
asthe.l'.~·w,rd for lli!i sacrifice, \VhEm hetold Esuto'take any part he Iiked from . the prizes,he
only took one he~goat anddisappeared from ~ight. Before hlfgot home however, Olokoshe
s.•mt two of~ach.<:>f't1witems toorunmi~ to atonefor th_Eidiyih~~ion and sacrifice he did for
him.ei-gratia .. True tothe prediction at divination, th~ n~wly ; boi;htwins ~d
brough~pi;osp,~Jtx to ~eir' pare,t\ts(romheaven, and Olokoslle ~,.~~J,!,r made the second7in-
cp'Qlmai;1d to the. king -·. the 'Shashere of lfe. Atlhe s:ame tith'e
Cnv,nmila·go~ mµltip1¢.,recompense fqrbis'ear}iermagnariimity to Oloko~h.e>· : .. · ...
. . . When.it ~mes ou( at divination for'.:a pr~gnartt \Vornai1 or for a man ·havirig an expectant
wife, the p,erson 1ihould he t<>ld,that the .. end of his or her days of penury i's'in
'sightpr~ded:J1e J!la4~ -~~,JJ~isit;e s,crifice. Th~ expectant woman is likely to d'e\jv'er
twinswho are nav.igatiniJheir par~nts' J?rosperity fro'!l heaven. H~. should 'make
: sacrifice \Yith snails and tor\ojse ~~I'. ,ricli he would have a dream which·w~uld ,sh~w
himwhat todo in order to h~Y;e his wishes to manifest. If the man does not alteadyhave his
ow:n Ifa, Qe .shou.ld:arrapge .tQ have
one withotit a11y delay, .at least to perfotttf die initial
c~reqio~y qfputti~g the ~fa .seeds .into a put ~tpaim .oit That initial cer~2rnony
should be performed if possible before the wife puts to birth. ·. . .. · '
r: D~ATION FOR 'I'5E WOODEN SPOON AN'I> THE SLEDGE HAMMER:
' , . , ; , I , . '; •,. . · ,. . ' , . . ... ,

AkpaagJ)e'·oun lon)tpi,n'rin,
A.higbe .~un bike ie Iu obe,
.
64
16.
17.

Adifa fun 09wu abufun Igi Sibi. . ft° ; '.i,i:-·''; ;--

These were the awo~w.ho made divination,(or Ogun's.i.ledge. hammer (C>owuin yoruba
andUmomo in Bini), as well as for the wooden spoon for stiringsoup (Igi.sibi in·yoruba or
Uruenhen in Bini) when they were ~oming from heaven. Ogun's sledgehammer was advised
to make.sacrifice with roasted yam, yellow melon (elegede in yoruba and eyen in Bini) and
palm oil to serve her.guardian.ange] in order-to avoidhaving a pregnancy she will never be
able to deliver. She failed to make the sacrifice..
On her part, the wooden spoon .was advised to make sacrifice with palm oil, .the chaff of
palm fruits used for igniting fire and the flames of fire in order to win the battle she
wasbound.to have with heat on earth. when the; 1:1l~e hamm,rgoUothe world she got
married to Ogun who asked.her to assisthim in manuf~tumng,mS:\Yates. Her figure was;at
the time very slim and straight. Not long after, she became p,regnant, but-could not deliver
the foetus, .That is why she has rero:ained ptt!gn~nt to this day because tlhe failed to make
the prescribed saerifice. Ont.be pf.her hand, the wooden spoongotlmarried to the cooking pot
and the.world found her very usef;ul fo;rstiring soup on the.tire . .Jnspite of the heat that the
cooking pot geneTated,,she sµrviv~d:it witho\ltbeing burnt, due,to
the sacrificeshe made in heaven. ' ... ,
When this Odu comes out at divination for a man, he ,should;be told to make sacrifice so
that his wife might not have a difficult pregnancy whicbcould be generatied by.heat in the
womb. Ditto for a woman.

' '
HE MAI)E DIVINATION FO;RARIGBONQON: '
r«: ·:·,,,
Oyeku-ba-Etura made divination for Arigbonron, who became crippled when he was going
to inherit his father's legacy. lie w.as told to make t!llcrifi'ce wi~a he •. goaua Esu, cock to
Ogun, and cock to Sango, in order to enjoy his inheritance in good health and long life. His
parents were already dead and he was their only surviving sen.He didneunake the sacrifices.
However, he inherited his father's house and the parents' heirlooms,
Not long afterwards, Esu stood one morning at the boun!lary;ofheaven and earth and
as~ : : 1;.
Agbo lere afalmn;
and his friend ~oroko answered
Oke lere ewe,
Ogbo lere ajigede,
Arigbonron ni won ni
Kio ru ebo,
Sugbon koru ebo na.

This Odu provides the opportunity of demonst1'"'iing the danger,offailing or;refusing, to

make any sacrifice prescribed at divination. Thropgh his friend Ighoroko ;iEsuis able

65
to target all those who have refused to make sacrifices-after divination. Ighorolto, the_ bosom
friend ofEsu is his path-finder and seer. It is lghor~ko alone who has the_ means of iden-tifyint
all the,.citizens· of hea'leri 'and earth who had been told at divination-to
make sacrifice. ' ' ·,.,.,,_, ·' ·
··As 8001\ a~e cock crews eWTy1notn~ngtEsu~Obadara takes position at Orita-Ijaloko, that
is; tb.t boundaty, of heaven attct~arth to ask 'his frie,nd who.had 'beeri told to make sacrifice
but refused to do-it. lghoroko will immediately identify tlie names and locations of all those
1
who have-refuHd to -lnitke sabifices in-heaven- and on earth. Esu will react by creati,ng
PTOQ"lems for them ·until Teilson or force of circumstances compels them to
make the reeommeded sacrifices. · '
, lt was againltthefotegoing baoidrop that Esu was told that Arigbonron had bluntly refused
to make the iafl'ifice}!tresctibed forhifn,: Esu reacted by going to persuade Ogun and &nge>
to ihtllpacitat.!t oiun,f his legs afta one ef his hands. Before then, he was an
11ble-bodied penon, stoutlybtdlt, andswithout any physical deformity. · .1,
The'l'tfflet, Ogun began to watch 1\:rigbollron. As soonas Ogun caughtup with him,
he,broke cile of his]egs. Soon d.ertiards; S11~go also met him and deformed one of his
hand,. Oguri broke lus Tight- let"white Sango· deformed his !P,ft' hand. Th'ereafter; the
now-deformed Arigbonron began to sing: .. . . .
. ~e baba mi ree Arigljonton,
·Ron·,on ron Arigbonroit:'
That is the noise that any person deformed on one legs;
makes to thi~s he or she treads on the ground.
When this _9.dtrtome1 out at ~ivinati_o~ .r?r, a perso•~.~hoi~ about to,inherit any
legacy, he should be advised to serve Esu;-Ogtin and'.Sango to avoid 'the danger of physical
•eformity.
.)): .

i;'IHE;,PRIZE OF CONCEIT AND CONTEMPT:

r '

. ·Ifa Oyeku-ba-tu-la,
-.·kofe kofe Awo·Odeegba,,
•. Kofe kofe Aw<f ode ljesha,
Ofo koto, ofo ko rowo
Ofo gbagede afo mo,
Oju moki babalawo, iku iwere
Baba ilaji ni o nshe, I
Eru Oni lfe
Abure baba ilaji siko
Woni' dida owo,
Osi kowon ni tite ile,
Osi kowon ni ebo sise.

I'

66
, , Theae were the names of ,the . tii lfa, priest., edµcat.ed .. l>Y Baba., llivi,. wh~ .· •cle
divination for the King oflfe. Baballaji be~me an Ifa pnestaf\er he wp relea&4MI from
slavery:. After becoming an lldept in Ifa art and P!'llctice,- he alto taught many swdents in
IFISM. One day, he was invit.ed by the 0196.n -of ;l.fe to ~ake divination for }ilJ:n. He also
met six Ifa priests who he had taught JDucb eatller. Wbt,n he greeted the~ with the. call sign,
of ABORU.:ABOYE, they failtd to &JlfWQr with the traditional ~ply ·of ·ABOYE
ABOSISE. Although he. was their t;eacher, nonetheless they looked down on him because he
was once their father's slave. Without showing his anger he proceeded to do divination for
Olofin. After divination he told Olofin that the reason for bis problems was that they had not
made sacrifice for a long time. He declared that s~ce had to be made almost immediately,
with 6 awos. Meanwhile, .after making the declaration, Baba Ilaji sneaked out of the room, as
ifhe wanted to go and ease,,himself.
He did not return. ,
Olofin immediately gave,instruetionfor the·six y9Wlg.AwosJn the room to be bound in
chains awaiting sacrifice. Mer waiting in 'V8in:for B~a llaji to .return, Olofi,Q sent
messengers to fetch him. When he returned to find the six Awos in chains, he queried Olofin
for daring to hind lfa priests in chains and asked whether he qid not,re~ that anyone or
anyplacetha:t bindsanAwo in chains will know no peace andtrallQuilityuntil they are released
and compensated. He demanded to know w~~o~en~.th.,e •• , a~os had
committed. . : , ·,
Olofin however explained that he (Baba Ilaji) was the one .whp-, PJ1~ .that the sacrifice had
to be made with six awos and since the sis: yo111>g ~wo~, had made themselves available he
thought.it was a welcomed eoineidenee, Ba)m,ijaji,ces:plained that he meant thatfsacrifice
had txtbe mad~\with.aqguinea fo'Wls,Jle theref;Ore ord~red the release of the Ifa priests and
a strong apology was made by t~_,OlQfin w \ti~. They were however happy that their lives
were spared, thanks to their teatMr and mentor.
When this:seidu .appears at divination, ,the peJ'SQ~ sh~, IMHldvise_d not ~; .show
disrespect t" a higher authority. He 1hc>uld be told QOt to «Wride. 8Jl. ~ld~rly.per~n no
matter how lowly placed. He.should however·tnake aacrifice with a i',lineaJowL-
~} 0 i/f J.,I ;;• i

•OYEKU~BE-ETULA CAME TO TIIE.WORU> AS 'I'BE SO:N,QJi' J.A.QVNk,,,,i His

father was an itinerant and ubiquitou.smasqu.era.de(egun•pcer).\Vhil~ .-t Po1'e on one
occasion, the ,father co-hebited ~, his moth~···~ 'lter ~enst~ation. Thereafter he went away
dancing in several towns and villages. He was ab1Ht~t whtn tbe wife became pregnant and
when the child wa.a-bc)l'n. He wa.s nei~ h9JD~ when the
.ehild grew up nor when he became an adultJl11e father.~asJllsofond of drinlung and
hadthe weakness ofswappinghis belonginpf(>J'drinlls. -~ : , ~1 . .' ,, ~ , ;

His-sen grew -up to become a maacpaerade1 daoeerJike ·hi, father. ~ ~ ~\ .. to itinerant

dancing. Once upon a time, he came to a town where hisfa~i; ha.4.ilJ..i J•fl after his
masquerade rounds. He over-~ard• comment:i'1 th, ~\Vil thAAbtHifJf t;bet~ dancer than the
masquerade who visited the town.~ pievi~t day.Jfe conijml8Ci his journey until he met his
father~ another townwitho.ut ~ising him,,As theyo~g

67
 muquracle wu dancing, his father over-heard complimentary remarks about the
au.petior dancinaJ capabilities of the younger dancer. The comments invoked the envy
IIIICl)ttllouay of the more elderly masquerade. who swore to eliminate the young dancer
at the ea'l'lieat oppartunity, not knowing it w,urhis own son.
IV:entually, the two masquerades met and began to. dance. The younger masquerade
lanced so impreaively that the elder maquerade could not continue his dancing. As he aat
down t.o watch the young masquerade, he. began to,cohjure the rain with the followm,
incantation:

Erin folami,
Ontko tan,npe Olorun oji,
Amenu Rtfe .ogu ere,
Akola ma labee oruko yekpe fufu.
Aa soon aa he ftnished the incantation the clouds gathered and the rain began to
threaten. The• younger masquerade sensing' what had·happened, countermanded by
saying:
lkan. won ma diyimi ka,
Ojifefe·wonbo lono,.
Mokpe ttegbe egbe oje,
Mokpo rada ora da kon ofisi,
Iya a'iai baba mi nle,
Omo ltjimudadogo rrile,
Olotin,en, gbemi.
· The father then saw the Son·suapended in the air and'refrained aa follows:
, A.jaguna gbidede, .
Tewe tima koro.
and the young maaqueTade came down. The elder masquerade then invited the younger
one t. a .arner fOT a te-te-a--te-te. There was no rain but there was severe gale force wind
and, people had started running helter~skelter.
The two masquerades went aside and removed their head masks. Jagun asked the
younger man where• came from and he·Teplied that he came from Igbo-Ona the land of
Jagun where he pregna.ted-his mother, who had not seen him since he was born. Asked
for the name of his father, he replied that it waa Jagun whereunto he identified himself
asJaeu,n.
Thereafter', they moved to a private corner to remove their masks. The son asked him
whether he-was Jagun Agbagbu Olomosho. Thecfathet began to cry. He said that he did
not know that his wife Emerogho had brought forth a son old enough to challenge him.
He said there and then that his dancing days were over, and decided to return home
immediately.
'When this Odu appea.rsat Ugbodu the person is likely to be a musician, and his father
is not likely to have been available to bring him up. Unless sacrifice is made his father
will notlive for more than three years after the Ifa initiation ceremony; He should serve

68
18.

the lfa with a ram. He should. make a feast or sacrifice to the secret cult t.o which he
belonga.
At ordinary divination, the person IJhould Wlke sacrifice to the night and give h•goat to
Esu to av~id losing a child, not tcrtleath bufnot to be missing.

-'

,
r
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•
.
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~
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'

(I
)
 Chapterl2
OYEKU·• Bl .. IR.ETE
OYEKE ·BI· IRETE • SILE • AJE
I Il
I Il
n n
I Il
I

1
Oyeku-Bi-Itete is traditionaHy a provider of wealth and prosperity. When it comes out
at Ugbodu during initiation., the person is sure to prosper in life if the appropriate
sacrift~es
•
are made on time.. I
1

I
BE MADE DIVINATION ,PQR THE DAUGHTER OF OLOKUN WHEN SHE
WAS COMING FROM HEAVEN~
When the daughter af Olokun wa~eaving for earth, she went to Teetee for divination on
what. to do to prosper on earth. He advised her to offer sacrifice with a Pigeon to her
head, and to off'er a guinea-fowl to her guardian angel (Eleda or Ehi). She was to make
the sacrifice not only to ena:ble her wealth to accompany her to the world, but also to
enable her meet her rightful husband on earth. If she, married the rightful husband on
earth, she would give birth to a son who would be more prosperous, more popular, and
more famous tha.11. the parents. She made, the sacrifice.
Back en earth, Orunmila was also advised at divination to offer a he-goat to Esu, a
pigeon to. his head, and a guinea-fowl to his Ifa in order to come across his rightful wife
who would bring greatness and prosperity to him. Meanwhile, Olokun's daughter set out
on her journa, to earth where she landed at Oja-Ajigboinekun Akirai.e. the market at
boundaey betw&eh heaven and earth.
· Orurimila had offered a he-goat to Esu but set out for the market to buy a pigeon and a
guinea fowl for the other sac.:rifice. When he gotto the market, he bought the 2 birds .
ana. WU a.bout to' return home with them when he saw &;.pretty woman, dressed in
ilp~aculate white. He stopped to admire the woman who a.lso focused her gaze o~ him.
Their e.yes met and they both smiled at each other. The woman asked him what he was
going todo with the birds he had in hand. Orunmila explained that he was going to use
th13m,(or sacrifice to ms head and his Ifa. The woman told him that it was a happy ee-
. in~dence qtat she tooha.dused the same birds for makittg sacrifice before leaving;heme.
The wpman was already head-ever-heels in love with Orunmila who also requited the .
•~:m.~·s ·aftection. 'Meanwhile, the girl offered to go and know hi~ house. By the
time th. ey got to Oru.nmila's house it was getting dark and he lost no time in making the.
sacrifices. 'nlereafter, the woman cooked the food for the sacrifice and they invited
fr;i,rc18~Noyi~ with theril. 1bey spent the night together. Two weeks later, the woman
decided to return home but Orunmila persuaded her to stay a little longer. She however

70
jnsis~d that .she was not a loner, that. she had, many foUow~rs who traditionallr
accompanied her td the mar.let. Sh~ ptomised to return as S0()n· ft' she cbm~tea ~
aom~stic ~bores itbome. orunmila escorted her liatr-way~na nturned:;' , . .. .. .. . , ·
Not fong aftetward, Oninniilahad adream in whi~·bi si\wthe cltjldren ofprbsperity
(Ala or u wa) trooping into his house'. WhE!n he woke U:piri the'moming, he 80\lllded
lfa who disclosed to him to paint the inner Chamber of his house with white chalk in
order to provide a befitting abode to the visitor he was to have. He did so accordingly.
Twentyone days later, the woman returned in the company of several men arid
woll!·en carrying luggages on their heads. The woman was happy to see the house
properly ~novated to her taste. It was at that point that the Lady disclosed her identity
as the"'daughter of Olokun - the divinitj1>fwater, and that she had come to marry him
for keeps, beeause her diviner had told her that he was her rightful husband. He tod
readily agreed to ina~ her because, Ifa had, revealed to him that she was his rightful
wi'fe:'Later that evening, OJokun's da-q.ghter di,clo~d to 01unmila that shcfmissedher
menstruation at
the ertd.16t'her''mo11thlfcyele: · '· ·
Every five days thereafter, the foifowers of'the woman ofteri left for th(fmarbt to
return. with ... all. descriptions of treasures; hilcuc{irig 'beads, clothes;- Br~ss, and'
'lead, wltich 11Utdeth11 family'to .become ex'eHa~gly'rieh. . :. : ' ·.· . . i' . ' -:·
'ffi,nij inonths 'later /~he gave birlh'to a male child wlio wa~alled
Money(Otivo'orJgbot Moli~y\be#me everybody's favourite child'and:·co1npariion
arid true'& affinlition predietio~;h,e became. more fanfoiis than hi~'-parents
thr.ou~ the earthP· ·, .. , , ..
Wh'ehthis Odu comes out aiU~odu, the'penc,n·witP&e' .. : "'. ., · ,,. ,
toUfihlit he isyet to niarry awif~whawill bri~prosi>erityto his.lire, and_th~tJie wife
w.m. ~ve birth 1? a ':~~ld w"t19 ~Il '.~· U,.lli~,#a!!Y fa.1J1o~a·a11~ .~i>ula(
J!e.~~??l~ '&. advuied to prepare an 1mag~fof Olotdn to tie pla~·on·hi1.lfa sfuine.
~t divntftion ~' man:should be advised to have' his 6Wnlf'a ahtl foitwom\n to ma'tty
a ltlari witl+his~~
lfa. .•. .... ,
BE· ALSOMAJ>'l).~~ONF':):8;~~; ... ,;, .. ,· · ,., "f• •. :,,.
Sango had 3 children·caijled Ojo~Alqt1kon, ·.· :·· ·· · • · ··· . · ·. · · ; · -:
·, tge7~~bi, and' n~a-A~ru. ,lh~J~· .~t,i ~a t,1~ti9~~'.!ho !e~i,.~~
~1.1.
Wilen ~«#go ~came ill, he went f.O Oyeku;.tii-lrete.for divination. He W&ft\ONI t.q''mllb
ar~tJtl~~v;:.:~~!:~~:i:::x!~:nriar:te~!~~=~::;~===u:
with his leg and th,e doctor who cured him askedfo.r ~e tquivalent ot Gk as ti\, ~tof'
treitment'. Sa. o did n~tbave the money; Ht'cNei*'! to•nthil~i te his~ra
who~baj)pened ~''be the tall tre~s in the, forrit •~~ .. tJ\QKO.:OAlt ()~. AqBA; elf. ~one
of them agreed to' COi\tl'i),ute ufhis'a.-1$tane,: ()a\' oFfruifratl~ he seiit'another
message to his children ana~e elch9st oftKem f>lda, fAl.arQ In 1cfntf)a 1>r
Ok1ieTeinBi~1 corttributed the'monejwiththeas~iiti otfdijiinidtbtdthiiQf():tiid
IGE, and the',· sent the nie>itey to their fatliei; .,. \ i I·• : ,_.,; ,.·• ·,cf '
1

As ~ngo was returning ltomtp1qw hail and h'31t.rty, there ... , .. · . ·.. ,1.w ut' :-, i;
was a.tb!ft-do t'ollowed_br liptnirig and th~detr~~~~~·pr~~~t~~~e
71
tot:him toiden~ and destroy allhis,brother;·who fail£!: ' ' respond to.hi~ distress~all for
help. He up,,roo~ all the big trees and set them on fire. ._ 'nee he was already charg~d
for combat; whell .he re~etl the home of the-young p t.ree (Dada or _Agbi~ago~).
SangpJolded hisbands aq,cl branc}lei, and Dada.asked: . -
- . -- 'to .ba r.on tC ' . . · . '"'.. . c

_9joke te.
Ko ron ti
QJo ke te,
,,Ko ronti Ojo,,ti ko ko .
Meri~ di logun a1he_ mu
Nik, Alaroye, Olno •raye lomu-oo.
_ With thJt cry, S.QIO recognised hii, son and le~ hitµ alone untouched. In the S(lme
vein, he also left IGE Ogbaghon) and OJO ,(Igiawegboto) untouched. That is why
ThW)der never ,destroys the• pJaxi~ in the forest io this day. ' ''
At Ugbod11; tile person ,;Will ,.be told to take good .care _ ..
ofhisfint three children.beeause theyWM(come to.his.rescue at.a cri,tJ~h:noment,in
hi.,l~fe. If )le d~s npt already.have ll child who i. l>ada_ or Agbihi~a -i.e a perso_n_ with
.'iO!~~J', )le eau l~k for Ofl' in.bis f4Ullily and stay close to. him or
her. He mµst l)C>t
rely f01' any'l~upport on_h;.. ~at 8"ld w_ealtby brothel',8-because they wjll ,a~ndq~ htrn
in his hour of.need. lfhe:.toes.~talready have -4l thunder-sto~e in his lfa sh~ne, he ,1iould
Pl'.'C>vide on, wjthout d~l4i ~cause, Sangc, will help him to fight his enemies, in
futuw:e_ .. }Je.ahould also provide one cutlass for hill lfa shrine. ' •. _,' '
,A..ordinary diyjnation, .the,person,.~ould be tol4 to oft'el'.,he~go~tlt;Q,,E,su ~ prevent
i.ll~~s, ~d that he m'1$tav~d ~oD)i,ngjntc, clo~ ~~tact Vt?th al~n!ltic, because h~
Jllight
iDJure him. ·
' '

WHY TBI8 OD?J IS CALLED 0Y.EKU-B1-IRBTE-SILE-.AJJ!:: ,, '

•When ~-- °'1U c:c,~ea, ~ ,at divi9ation. · tlie.p,,.-n. should be: told tha\ bis eJ~est
brQt;ber ~;plan1µng to do hi:uiin. Nonetheless,.1- •hould ~ advised not to li~p him et
~Je~ because wha~er evil the brotb,r_plota agail)~·him might ha~h.into' a blessil'lg
en
in'diagui~ •. 'l'b~is,,,hy it is ~it said.that there is a soul goodne,-, in thi~gs
.9:vil.\; -: • , ' ' ·. '' f; ,:
I ' ', ' •• . .· ·, • < i i . . .. ,.,
. ~-~ mad,rcli'1nat.ionforOyek¥-a~ Irete. '.Qley w!re bo~~ two brot}J,er~J!fil'lg on
eamth.Oyek\i was the teniot . .,t'.die,~we>. ,()n one_oec1111ioQ, Oyeku decided
to:~Jld:ITete a~ W tbe,ui:~~of()Jar~~ipek~n; I~ut'p.9wever ~eided to mllke a divigation
on ac~t ofa dream hf had the' previous nighff n "lii,ch' he found himself falling iiitq a
~~.· ~ ~dtilr~ ••e,di\'inak.ion a11clPY!lw-bi::~rete came-out. He w4l&req~ted to ,aake
1actifiee rvrith •,he-goat to Es\1 ~nJ ta ,..tv.e ms bead with a. Pigeon. :J{e' made the
sacrifice. · ·-· · · ·· · · ·
,.Aahe aet outfor the tpa•t the following day, uy9:ku a<\vised him not to ~8 the usual
route to the market, but to take a s~ort circuit, where unknown to Irate, but well known

72
19.

to Oyeku, a crater had been dug and covered with leaves. No,one could pua that route
without faHing into the bottomle11 crater. UnsQapectingly, Iret,e foJlowed the advice of
his elder brother and took the danger .. laden•lhort-cut. . ·.
Meahwhile however; after eating his he-goat, Eau proeeed.ed ~ lip.e the bottom oft.he
crater with bags of money covered with a layer of feathers. Atlrete was walking along the
route, he fell into'the pre1ipice; As hi9heartwu aboltt to fail him, he discovered that he
landed on a soft layer of feathers. When he tried to,,atrugle o~t ot;t,be hc,le, his feet
treaded on some hard substance and upon cloeer ezaniination, he itiscoverecl that it waa
money. He ti nally succeeded in coming out of the crater and began to remove the money
to his house. After getting all the money to his house, he however gav~ part of it to
OYEKU whose evil contrivance brought him to his new found wealth.
He then made a thanksgiving feast to which all and sundry were invited. At the hei.eht
of the merriment, he began to sing:.,,
Ibi re re le ni, Eni bi ni si,
Gbemi leke, gbemileke, ibi rere, "
Lo kpe, gbemi ire, lbi rere.
He was rejoicing because the death planned for,him bad: landed hi~ in everlasting
prosperity.
WhenthisOdu comes out atdivination, the pereoll:will ~ tolclthat.anelderly friend or
relatioifufhi.s will give'him .an evil-intentionM advice., Before aQting on it however, he
must make· sserifiee to Esu,and his head, because he willpros,e, by following the advice.

. -'"-; ~ . ~-:..- .... ~ '

HE MADE DMNATION FOR~ KUMAN GENITALS TO

PRODUCE CBXLDRBN:
·'Okpokun Ol'okun
Adifa fun Oko
.:A'bufunObo, :
Nijo ti awon mejeji
Fi omi oju shu,
BereOmo tuurlittl.
<1. ~ t. l i1,,-_ I \ ·: ~ ··- "'·
~- ·
He made:divinatioinfor the Penis .and the Vulva when they WeJ'e,.both crying for. •,
child. They .. were both advised to make sacriftce. 'Itle Vulva (Ob.:. O't ~) wiut to}dJto make
sacrifice with. a hen,'1".abbit:and guinea •. fowl. On:the oU..r~na.:the .~.ma:coko: 1
or
F'kia) was told to make sacrifice with a coo\, clog, and 4.~ r.l'bey;bo~ made P\e• sacrifices.
. . · , . : .. : . 1 : 1 , · i ' i ·. · l · , · : : 1
Whenthey got home, the Vulva opened her ~outh:.nd the:peiu•.•aut111d•nd th. l,f)th1 ·
begantosinginpnriseofthe.Awowhomadedi~nption~~r~~'l1i•'l'llo1\g1:
chanted as follewst- _ . · ,, ; ·:,, 1 · 1
. J r t~ - -!
1
.- ~. . ,'I i' ; i .• : 1

. ~: ~

Okpoku Oroku ., · . : , .l : : • i \ :. ; : · r .1 i 1

73
. :· Okpolai Qroku:
· 'ftiat is the' rtoiW made.· by the sexual organ• t.o, thi1 :day. durin,· 1cohflbit.ation.
Tbereafter,theybegant.ohavechild;,en,AtdivinuiQRf'oraomeoneindare.needofachild the
•an ahowdmake-the sacrifice made by the penis and the woman·abould,make the
sacrifiee the VulYa made./, ~
. •· DI\IINATION FOB LONG LIFE: . .
·• When Ol'tu'imila~ t.o the world, the peapltfbe met asked him ta divine on what to do
in order ~tnjey the good things of lifw in ~ce, long life and prosperity.
flie·f'o1lo'tringdialogu ensuedr- ·.
Orumnihi ·ni goto; Moni oye o n'bi,
Oni igbati eye, llbi, 0 t.d ki ire aje wo· Ile wa..
·,.''Orunmila ni goro; moni oye n'bi.,
Oni igbati oye n'bi; o to ki ire aya, Wo ile•,wa.
Onlnmila ni goro; Moni oye n'bi,
Oni igbati oye n'bi, o t.d ki ire omo wo ile wa. · ·
Orunmila ni goro, Moni Oye n'bi .
' OnilgbatH,ye n'bi; • toW gbogbo ire, WO '.i}e wa. .

OrunmilaadYised theau» u•Pigeon and white pudding(Ekuru-furmln.inyond,a or

•~eki-uo-fbain Bmi)t.o111ak&'MCnftce f'or presperity, a big cock for ;wiadom.· a. rabbit
for 'ehild l»rtb; affll.~a"liheeP (Agunton hi yoruba or Iyo,-Ohuan<i&:Bini)JoF long,life.
Agunton i• used with the appropriate leaves to bury the danger of untimely deat:li. This is
a~ INp'iftee~(On?""Ifa in y~ or Ode-Iha.in-Bini), which must be made 88 soon as this
Oclu appean· b any'One'fiiing. initiation into IfiaJn at U;bodu.: t,
If this sacrifice is made ancttliirfmqe•of Olokunii prepared for the Ifa shrine, aa well as
inserting a thunder-stone in the If& plate, the person willtriumph indletnany battles he will
fight in life. He will be very prosperous, have many children, and ,live to a ripe .old age.
He should however refrain from eating the meat.of Rabbit, and any food prepared with
bitter-leaf.
. HE MADE DJ.VINATION FOR OLOF.IN: ,
Tb.ere nigned an Olotin in Ife who was verydict.atorial and did not know how to blend
fear and lov, as instruments ofgov,ernance. He only relied on the use of fear for ruling his.
people. A good htler should knpw when to inter .. lace · fear and. love in ·political
manag&metit. He dittilneed hiineelf ao much from his people that he beoam•111rrounded
bysychoprulttteandprai1e iingira wlo'·onlytold him whathewaapleased mheuratber
.· than the. truth. Tbosiwho were ea,able of telling him the bitter truth had,.aU been
m11rginalised into keeping him at arms-length. He therefore had no one to forewardhim
whe._ his·people w,erej>lanmng a: po~arinitlrreetion~ l3efore he knew what was going
on; his' entire kingdom had "revolt.ea apinst him and the people were calling for his
banishment from the throne. It wu at that stage that he invited Oyeku-Bi •. Irete for
. diYinQ.tion. . · ·
Oyek.u lo bi-Irete si le AJ~

74
 Ofi erun eshi k~won le run, , H., ... •
Ada fa fun Olotih,
Ooma she ofun ton.
He advised Olo6n after divination to1J1ake sacrifice with a ram and a goat, and to give a
he-goat to Esu. The sacrifice was made on the eve of a violent demonstration which
thepeoplehadplannedtomakethefoilowing~y.Onthenightofthesacrifice,Esucame out with his
followers, and they began to sjng war son1;&, warning everybody that any one .who dared to
demonstr&;te.~µst the }ppg,wowd not only .lo.se his ljfe, ,but also his 6rs,t.bc>rn child.Inthe
refr.ft.in to.the w,r Song, ·E~q llef,vised the.citizenTY to send a delegation. to the King to
ve~t:fM~J: gtj~vances. At the same time, Esu went to Olofin to advise him to make a feast
with a cow, a ram, and.a goa~ for his entire people and to request them to take the opportunity
for the feast to mirrol".his own.w~9ng-doj_ngs to him.
No one dared to come out ofhis house the (q]Jgwing day and the proposed demonstra-
ti.on_becftDl.e a-non-starter.-At.pQOn on that day, the king sent out his royal heralde co make
a rqyal _pro~~an,iati9n that- tlie)pmr _wa. re_fldyfor.a re-app~qach111ent with. the P®Ple of
the ~ingd~m to be p1:eceeded ~t evening witl,i fl feast;tQ.which all~Qd sundry ~C!r.~
Jnvi~,f ·Follql\'ing ~e fe~t. ,nc;1 s.ettleP)-.nt, th~re_ was· general reconeiliatien
thrp'!l\touUhe )ting({~~~!':~~ Jung.8Jld:tub~:l-v;e,.~ly,,peaee;and prosperity returned to
the kingdom, and the Olofin reigned in conc9rtl and harmony to a ripe old
age. -. -- . - , ,, _ _ · .: '· .. ,. . . ·
a
When this dciu comes out at divination ro; person in authority, he should be advised. that
his subordinates are dis-satisfied with hia, styJe. of lllanageme11t. He should make a feast
with a ram and a goat and give a he-goat to Esu, in order to aver~Jtie risk of rebellion against
him.

::aE~E DJ.YWATION 'f?R~--·~

~ba ni d,i ag~~o ~il!,-,~ .ni;Y(q!) ~J~ r~.wpnJoju: Adifa ~ (>ri.t'i on(i onµ~9~

'{'he.eJd~rs thre~_ ~ro ~Pwi~;,, it.~ey .,~r!.

shu~~re,µretb(;lgbo.il)Qki,._fi~i,~iyeatiey~lebo~rj~ ·: - , ,, , _. __ ,· _-
·on:tiie
in~,p,~Cswith;~~lll.°~Y: are the na;r;n~s pf the Awqs w~~-macJ~:1livi~n
_·

fw;,~,~H~.y,h~nhe_,w.~ poor ~cl, Cl)i,~gfor prosperity. He w~,4f:i• ~

qi~4tsa~me,'ft1~.~ck an~pigepn.'He dic;l t\le ~~fice and all the othe,i: paQJori~.b<J~y ~~
~k ~tiAA a9a1,acl.e!AAil>'frp~
~~~ __ -- . ; ·<, .. : ,-,· . .- . •. :h S'>i<J' :'• ;,t :' .. - ·,, ,·', - _r - --- : 6•'
· At divination, the person should be told that he is a group leader. Although he may., ~ -~".
.nq,r. if he makes sa~e witli•:P8·1W'\:~·:.~ afl4 serve~ ,his hlPlcL.with· a pip~p. hi~
clestiny willrnapi(tt•t:J1. ,,., \:w · ,,ir

15
 Chapter II
OYBKU-BB,.BKA
nn
I .<'JI
n ·n , ..
n n
OYEKUandEKAweretwobrothen(Twina)wholefthea\ienfortheworldattliesame time.
Before leaving heaven, ·t1iey wen told to make sacrifice to avoid the problem of untimely
death: The·naine's of the Awo1 wllomade divination'foi' them were: · 1 · Ayejin, Ayejin
Aye gbe Agere, .:
' Ude ni non'Okpa•Tere ko,
1
.
· 'Oji gada godb ninu, Agogo Odee.
They were·adviaed tb feast thetlivinitieswith a goatari(J to give he-goat to En before
leaving heaven. '11ley did the sacrifices. Oyeku·was tlie first toarriveand~;-bec'ame the'
senior of th,ftwo. ~ey ·were advised in heaven to mind their busine.11 oil earth. They
grew up in the pTactice oflfa art. TheybuilUheirhouse ontheb~oftheriveT where they
lived. THE TWO BROTHERS' ARRANGED TO TRAVEL oer FOR lFA'PRAC;,
TICE TOESI~ILAWO: ;,- ' . . ·.·· :, . . . . .. _.·
The name of the Awo who made divination for them before leaving for ESI-ILA\VO·
- • i. ~- :. -~ '. - -.
wast
Ifa-Oyeku-Be-Eka je Eyi k'eke". Iya. · ·
Ki· 'o irta ba je tyi nla .
Tete je wo mu womu.
' .
nor'to''-
'

,.Th~y were advised'neit~er to·~-gr~dy moltioh&te if they were to maximise

tJie gains: from their mission, . ·
·Whel'.l they got to the town,· they were lodg«kt'fn · ktparate accommodations. Before
le.avi'11 home, they were advised to-serve Esuwith a h•goat, and to make sacrifice with' 2
pipons, 'lamp, so~~ be.ach/san~: and Riverealld/andtheleavei, of Egbawo (Oghohen
leaves i~(Bini).'Oy~u'.1't'usedto: m,ake ~ ~~ butEkii did it on hi'B·'own.. . ·
The,- wer, re~E!iying clients 11\' tlieir Np&tate ·lodgirijs. On his part, pyeku was
demanding~ry·h,ipiftufot b'il eorlsulta\ione. Hisconault.ation fee was never less than on,
l>~ ot mo~~y: or GOk.' His ~~orbita~ ~arae• soon reduced his flow of clients td·a
trickle . ' .. - . . ' .. '•, ' . ' . 1' j •.••• . . ', ' . : ·. . - ' ;s,,r;
'.o.t'l;rls part, Ei~·\ir_. -,alfiecl:~ an~·between the equivalent of one and five kobo,
~ a i'f~ult of 'M.)ie,h h,i• place ~uatreammctorrentially with an insurg'e of clients .. 'l1le
~~w ~£ clien~ ~me so: Dl\lC~-~~ be -~ely had time to eat, rest, or sleep. :~r .ae~en~il ·
~a~f i°l~Y • d~4,ci .~ ~m home. '11le ~ompensation and ~ received ~)'_Eka w~ ~om~
thattberfiJlecl a whole boat. On his part, all the collections of OYEKU· did not fill a muill
pune; He became very jealous of his junior brother.

76
Meanwhile, they set out on their home-w~rdjourney in a eanee, When ~hey got.~the y depth
of the rivet, Oyeku became .. over-a:wed with ·morbid intentions,. ~~·.aa'ke~ ~a to
fetch water forhiin.tc;"drink'from the·river:·As.EKA bent over.the C$Uoe to fetch.the nter;
OYEKUpushe,d h~rn and he feUand imn,.ecµatelydrowiiec:t'into the bott.o111ofthe .
River. That IS how this Odu got its name ofOYEiai-BE~EKA-W-OMI Oyei~ pushed
, Eka'intci·the River. . ,.. ' ,
or ·.· . • ·· .
Satisfied that Eka was drowned and dead; Oyeku paddledfhe canJe he>fue lllone.
When he got home, everybody applauded 1tim for the elaborate:.~n~~load of gif\a he
'brought, which lie described as the product ofhisproftciency~ When they how..ever a1\ed
fo~the'whereabouts of Eka; Oyeku repliedfalaely'that tliey went in different cliremons
because, he lacked the cornp~tence' to divineJike:himself in the first town they went
together; That was why, he continued, Eka decided to·go-:elsewhere for Ifa practice in
his•own way. .. . ' v'; .. ' . .. . • ..' . '

Their father however, did, not beUeve OYEKl1s1~1'Y paJ't.ly becau~ ~~ .khey/ that EKA.
WllS a: better lfa Priest than OYEKU'arid mairdJ 'due to the fact. tha,t ht (their f·a:ther)
taught ·Eka by himself. Oyek11 how~ve.r. dtr~i«iadett1the, contents,of Ek-:s .. eanoe '
ittto his house,.· atb,r·~~tnbuting·sotrie. of tiiem '.as·gitis·;~ members :otth, finiil.>:.,.
•,,,\J3aeklh 'tne RmtfE~a strtjggled. t.o-'t'esuif«ce oli'th~:watM.r 'Iii ~gati,~ Jep,~a,t
~e
follo\vint incantation -while stilM"Javing }:iis ·It! steds (IKIN"or' ~N) tied r9und his
waist; ·,,) · · .· · '' · · · ·· '• ,_ ' ·
Akpa. wo mi Amidi galilta ·.
Oke domi amuru' golo to
Maa jeri wo shengbe
•Egba so wo · gs.lat.a gbatni . .' e;
,
,
. ;A monkey on top of a tree ~e~rd E:~J's ~~rds ~~~ ~ic}dy :Jum"~d .. ol\t.o !~~'!!or
Oghohen tree) bendmg over the river. rti'e monlteyand a 1:fr~nch.of.th~.~ree )e~1s~oed
into the river. The impact of the tree-branch tirla the ·monkey eo1rlei4~d witli the thtrd
time··the ri~er·had th~own Eka to}~"';~u~ac# ~Wd~~~§~~lt~r.:held·o~· ~··-~'tail ot-
'oie monkey; With the support of the ttee~branc}\,tlie mon!)J ~wam toJhe ~af'e~yof th,e
nv~r bank:' Eka, now-ci;mpletely e~Qus~/f'eU'to· the IJ'blttitf'andf'1~,' ·' . · ..... ·. ..... ··: ·
;
. ·~ ifto workfor't~e he~~at;gi\r~-t~f~~t(r-~h'~atl~rtiy,~~ Eau c,o.njdr,~ a·illf,
f'otce-wind
foMoweci <by• a. clri?~le, of r,n Y1'1i~~'-~ve'n~,p)":rf!viy~ ,~a .tQ. re~p consciousness.
Notknowingwh'ere ~~; hef'1t his;walst'ap.d~~ lkitaorlk,n'N~ still tliete:·He consulted
it and his own 04u cain,e ~~~:,ti· ~ili)iitn,µi!lt1he would ~noy, Jji~, wayhollte
provided he '!8800tfo ~. hul'l'Y: .If'A iuf~sedJ,Jm tA.>•~t .wher.~ '1~,1'~· ~-~ help~ld
come instantly; Soon.a~rwards; ~li~r.«f or:p'iJ~;cf~ tp.\b~,riv,,r.to, ~~
watet.~Aftei drinki.~~ ,w-~ter, he pu!s~~: the!'t p/o~~~hf}!i,~ir'.P:t~,
"'lii~"~k ~Jl'I
:::;:;t:;::::;:g;rJ.,r.t°r~cµtJ!~
~~ •. :t; .. 11,·
the fann. Later m·the evemng th~1r f,th~,r, ~11~~r.°"~~,vli1.le ~~l'.li ~. tolJi.4•~
the··,oomt . / ~- • .. ,/. . . . ''. ''·' . L, . ' .. '· · , ., '· '· .. · . ' ·' · · '
 .. '~~Ji ~eku'fi~~)' .rer,u,ri~ ~~. lio~. their rS:~er' ask~ him how the)t:were pin,'~"-
~~· bri!IJ.~ ~J~o111e. O):~, r.~plied.~._t,P,.;waa t.oo daft;t.o . untt.~ncl~r~ al~~'
~ca,. ~,ffl'.\.~(~~WJ·~t?P.,.ll~ ~at ~?~Y ahould.wo~ abQut him.
--
lnanapi>,arent~of~~ly,tll~rf"th-r ~edhi•~~ betweenhi~bands and cried out the name othi,
.belovecl IOri EKA wlict then came out tA> the .astonishm.ent
,of <;>YEJ<P.· It :"{Ill O_xeku'a t~ !P .l'J. ~• he~~ in shame, . , · ,,: ;.:, ·
·.· ·. ~"ip~~~.~p .~ti.~-~,~ ,Qf,pto§n J'flio ,orde~d the ~edW,.e .. ~~~ of <>,~~~.
Jot . ~l. W,~re 1th, •.. ~, .. of ,tder,a. J;l.t,, wu, 1111~tly.foun.~,,1UJlty .•u~d . co~,~»~ .t-
4-~,~~-'J~ ~W,~~r •.•..• ~~.o!l hi1:1 ~~to b9s,fi)r lus~rotrutrs,life to)Mi
:IP~..,;d. tn, ~P,"~tY, !•:~,and ()y--u·~,life was apared, b~t he 1u~equentlyJ'1t .. WP •~~
to. cgp~ to f•~ the world. He then rep.ated an mcant.a~on whicli tumecl him into a Boa
uid'be crawled into the forest where he lived ever-after.
On the ,9ther ~. ~ ~m., :Y8'Y:tkh ancJ p701pero~. ..< · . ..
.. ~~.~n.~thi~;~9a~~~-µ~~,~,r~n~oul~U,e~lfl_~~~atelywaa,h hisn~-~tll. a n,-~t Oll
~~\l:,~. ij~.lh;c,µ14 ~tfer a~t~~~~toh,i~ If~, and .serv.e
. his h'~~~~in.~f qf~ijf~~,Y(l.>ile~~king~s l~•~tjpe. Hat~ld~oJhact
•.. ~-~ \~a~e.~:bf,~.' _, , ... W~:~1'.Qcb..... ~1',~.wmeb~~o,y.ld .. , ~~' wi_ .·· th. ·.'~e.;bloQQ .. • .. _
.,of-th_ e .. be_ .,at
•1o:a}iin.··
, .,"f - .•... ·"·· 1us. head_•.··
·,·• .• .th. e ~1.~_ -·.-·- 'i>f,_E. ·_·.,. ..rd.r.+
,,..~,_,nr,,,.,.s,41A\f) fll!Y,,..,,••. -·
,ward·o«o.rm·.
.. ~ ..... JIP • '99 the ct.· .rtobis
.. life w'hicb is 'bound .tl, be contriv~ against him by bis elder relation.
He should be advised never to travelanywhere i11 t~~ COlllP4lflY:o,fanyone to obviate
the risk of death during the trip. lfhe must go, he sbould,make,sacrifice.l>efon,Jeaving
home. .· ·· · - · ··· · '· _.,,,-
At ordinary divination, t1ie per10n 1hould be advi,ed to. 96'er b,~goai $0 :Js1,1 •to avoid
unnecess,ry contest with.10me one else on what riahtly belongs to him.

'"ft.A PAJS. Tli'.E.:~'°'CB·p:r •.• ~ .. ~ ~P~:, i, ,.,,A;\,~

, :~eJr,odt. ~w~ i;~.cti4 i,n tJJ.,.;~,rtn, of~'!~"O !)lade~ (~mOUSJlll over ,the
~~~~~~~1::°~$~
tlt~~=;rt~At~~~~~~~£~~~~1
~~;0

f!~~~~-:~::iv:~·!~:
~f~p~l~f~!'-~ ~ .. l>!P~1,~.
·
gp.~Jy~ J>r-. to
~f~.~ll~~ .~·qqly qff@~ng as sa~ce
the w;at.el'. ~\?~. •,n,~P!)St.o,:1~YIQ, c,jp.lled .Ek+ :rhe-,~n,g .1~19~,ately ord.e,~<! Ek~
f.o~ iu-rest,e4. M~~~ ·~•tAtd~~ ~.a!Was hro~t.j~ ropes~tl)t,pa,1~., 11ie:other.Awo~
Pf~par~ £¥.,.~~ .and wifhl1~uuti •lld. feet ~'1tui in roPes, ~ka ~as thrown with, tpe
sacr)fic_~,iD:to. tb,e ~•r- ~e the ijrlcmice w~ bein, made, a lienJ o( b~~ pigs
~,~·wa~~~ c~~"~Y/''i"• ~· cro.ss th,e;~ver.·As ~.'):_._ the~ en~red th.e
llj.v•-. ; th_ .. liy s. ~w ... Eka·,. flo·a··· .. ti"'h.· .. '.•. !lp··.le •• Jr.··.·~ ... n .. ~ ..• ,•urti._. ·!· .e
ofth·e· w~.- .. · r .. __ They 1m. m.edi· . ·ately ~~e.~ 1¥11i ~ the n.ian ~ .RµJl~~em 10.-it?
ears ~,f9rt without ~nni~ any
oft~jtftc,ck. ffiey. realized that hehad neither 7 bun :, for them rior aetany trap ~,,at.qi·
any of them. They recognised him u a man 8who alwajs had a soft heart for animals. The
.,
ii
!
,~~n~sjoined fot~B plll\ed hiui out of the water alld used.their toethto 1'8mo~e.the ~Pfts
b,in~llg lµm. : ' ' '' ' . '~ l, < . '' ., ' ' ·. . . .·,·. -· .. · '. ,, ' ·.. ' i '. .
I~ the. li~t9f the ~cµlties w'luch h'- bacl, e_ncountei:ed \n. !~e hands ol ~ fell!)w
A.wos, ]le aeaa~ to bw1a .a. hut 1,1ear,the' river, &fld)ive the r~st .of his life 'in
rec1u1e 'or 'toialseclusfon ttoni niarikinci. since 'itis however'tcir't:icld~n'to bind
al).Awo. in. cbai~s •

.
,;:~;~!~:A;:;::::(~~~~
T:t~;:~~::~;:1:r~
d~1rer, whil-,.o~el? suft'e~d,pu~amages.1'1>4'reltM been oo rJ.i~ in.the ~n&dom, for
years as a result of whic~ al)t~,barves4f~ whlchJaV,e ri,eto dra~ta~dfuiine.
On_e. day, ash' wen~ outinto ~e-f.'o.~stip. ••. icl\~ff~li~ .saw aom, Y(cpne)l w}lQ
came toJe~ water-from 'tlie riyer liec,ause ,n.,t;lie f'•)la' ~lte ~d.drie4'.~~ ror''
no.t.h;aving .~~-~red to anyon,Jor a Io~g~111e,i~~'.'f!:~,~;~ . ..e·i,1Ji~~ He told ·the
wome~ to warn the Olofil'lthat anJta P~•lt
1>'1~h pig'. He told~JD tow~~ t>l~.Olofin not to~·-~ aa r ·-~
y,c,w,
adY1,e,N • -~ ~~· .-erifi~
~•~•1~
ifhed.icl,.the
m~ a

,J'.81ult VfOuld be disastrous .. IfbeJµUed th:, b~h:P~, ~,lie.¥:•' o~dgo 11\), 1p flames.
~n~
}ijs eldest.da~hte.r,-}W~u,~ ~ ••• ,~thin a span·~-,;:,.;aay~. ,; . _,.i : ·, .·, +',i' ' _ <(!'Ii_ :
:· .. _J\Aer g,~ing :t1i, :1nesM, the· .. women made, ttraigh,t for t_.i-, .P~actt y,he(e. they
imniedrately deliveied the 'messagefroin "a mad~mari in. the (ore'si.. Tlie 'king retot1~
that he had no time to listen to the forebodings of a madman. ··
The following morning, a visiting Ifa Priest made divination for the Olofin and advised
him tooft'er sacrifice with a bush pig to lfa in order to solve the problems of the
kingdoJD. Since the Priest's prescription coincided with the message from "the mad-man
in the ferest", Olofin refused to make the sacrifice. The following day, a pig ran from the
forest into the palace ofOlofin and it was pursued vigorously by the pages of the palace.
As they tried to kill it, the feet of the pig touched oft' a burning fire-wood which
imm~iately fell on the pack of clothes heaped for washing, igniting a ball of flames and
setting the harem
of the palace ablaze. .• ·'
'Ille eldest daughter of the king ran into the inner c~mber of the palace in fright to tell
her father what was bapenning. In the process, she knocked her foot against the door
and fell down, dead. -
That was the point at which thekingrem.m.bend the message ofthe"'mad-man iJl ~e
forest.• He sent for him at once. When the meuenprs got to Eka's h1,1t, they delive~ed
When one falls asleep,
the king's message and told him bow his predictions bad already manifested. He ran
One wakes up after sleeping
quickly to the palace, where he repeated an incantation that put.out the burning fire. With
And called the Princess's name seven ti,nu,a an4 stretch~ his dfvi~~on staff (Uranke) at
the leaves he plucked from the forest, he lqlliqed them between hia palms, and with
her, andincantation,
she opened be
herdropped
eyes, after
another the regairiihg
wawrfromconsciouaneu~
it into the eyeiJ'lbe~r
of'thehedead'princess,
with words which approximated to: · · ·
19
' ~·'
•reeommendecl that Oloftn'e Ifa should be served witlfa ram arul 200 snail, by th- side
oft.be River at\er_Ji~ a lie-goat to Esu._ lie predicted that if a heavy rain. did'no\.'f*11
before the kingte~~e.dfooib~~yer, he(Eke.) shoul~ IMt i~~tly exec\l.ted. He added th•t
the.rein_ would mat'k the.~nmne otthe·retutn ot.,.ace and prosp1rity to _the
entire.kini!om. '' ' ,, ti ·. . ..• . ··. ·.·. · ... ·.. ' . •.· ' . . . . ,,
. Aminaementl.were'niadefort.he ~ceto be made.withoutanydelay. As soori ~ the
kina'••was aetvecl adbi ._... ci't1"t river, the rain bepn to thr.ten. By the ti~~
the>:left'~·ho1J1•; -~~_tain~atotnr~ ~and:~~~ngili;t~;allmember~·~r~
sacriftdal party wen neavn, dteneb~ before they pt, home. .• .·. . .. . .· . . ·.. r '

to blossom." '\Vi~ ~1 ~~-~~n•

. , So01i"aft.i11,,,ard1,)llltlie do~~ .»re~ci,s~n tbr~evelop.Thef,omage'offa~ '~esbepn
mo11th~•ove.~ 2~ wo,en _delivered
safelyJ.n the t.dwn onf~ a16neand,269fluskirif&~~sdeliv~red sa{ely .Ptj>~~rity had
i-etutjted
~~·tow~ and.E¥11 Wf' ,aa.:1n.~·~e!Divin,er ofthe ki~gdo~. • .. ·. . '. ·. •-. · · ..
···
When this Odu'appeara at Upodu or divination~.the ,Person. wtU
be _told to
persevere ·be~ause"the path to ms pfOal>eri.ty·will be vety l>umpy and rugJed. If he
makes th,e appropriat.e sac,rifice,he will trfumpb over bis eneinies:'lle should refrain
from eating the meatot'mo •• ey,utd pij,'.ud ·altoulcl never take to anyfortn of'l:iuhting
or~p .settjng 3
fotgam•!'"
·:,_,._,"''· ,·.
,-..;;_,
1,.,_,..·.·,,,,·,,
.·;\_ .. ,· •·
· ·· ... · ..

·J'·

·,1--,•

'····,

; i

80
OYBKU•Li:~JITtJRlJl(p()N, ·D · D'
,o D, .
... J ,u,
: ,D .. n
" · HOW ORlJNMILA·BBCAMBTBB CUtrroDIAN OP ALL EXISTENCE:
· It was Oyeku.a-Ba-Eturukpon who revealed how God madeOrunmila the eu.stodian of
·. all things in the world. It will be ncallecl that at the beginning of time; Oru~ila was · the
only divinity whb spie·d on God atcreation. When God caught him spyin_g,he quickly
cloaed his eyesswith hi•ftnrers like the other'di'Y'iniiiu wmrtold to'Cio.'God however,
t.old, him · to open his eyes an,ftbere-upc,n ptoclaimed Orunmila · as· his· witnellis at
·creation; That was bow;he earned' the 'aobriquet· of (Elm· ipin iii Yoruba or Ose
N'Osanobua ya M'Ona in Bitn). Goel told him thatafter knowing the seeret of eteation, he
was from then on en:dowed·'flith the,authority to repair any ereaturtfthat
Orumnila then sang in praise of the Almipty God in the following poem:

Oluwa Oniugbogbb ure, omure jimi;

Oyekuba'turukpon,
Oleere Ornu jimi
Oyekuiba tu.rukpon,
Oloye, Oma Oye jimi
Oyeku ha turukpon.
Oluwa Omu Alajimi
Oyeku ba turukpori '
·, ,.r ;Alaje Omu Aje jimi ·
>Oyeku ba turukpcm,
-: Onigbogbo·Ure·Omu re
jimi. ·· :oyeku ba Turukpon ..

. OYEKU-LE-TURUKPON • ·When ttm odu eomea out at divination arid it fcM,odes

danger (Ayewo in Yoruba or EbeiaBini)jit mama a strong Awo is about tA>die;-Ifhe can
be id,ntified th'rough further probinc;he-1iould-be advised to·Diake sa'criftce quiekJy to
the divinity ofthe'Groundwithagoat, anea atid21nails. lt'ineans'thihlie eltlen'of the night
are plotting to ldU a bene\tolei\t·Awo.'Aa soon a• it appears •t divination, .you
snap th& thumb and the third finget --(Acbi saakpa fua) to ward oft'danger. ·
ft .
,,~, HOW OYEIW•LE•'l'VRtJKPON CAME TOTBE•WORLD:
At the,divination he made before leavirqf hea'Yft, hewo told to make:uerifice t.othe
ground with a goat, an egg and 2 anail1 'to avoWJft'enlature death throu.clithehands of
stronger Awoa onearth. Hemadethe uc,ifke. Jle~m.ecl ouU.e be a very proficientlfa
Priest on earth. His SU.~81 howevertlOOne&rnedhim the•nvy and enmityofthe more

81
elderly Awoa who bepn t.o.1ll.ot.fc,r.bi,je ••...
When his ·guardian angel refused to su,rrender him for destruction, the enemies turned
onhia children. At that stage his ~an angel appeared to him in a dream and adviaed him .
to feast the elderly Awoa (his eJ1emies) with a goat after offering it as sacrifiatto the
GTound. He made a eumptuous feast. After the eating and drinking, the head of the
Awoa moved that they ahould all pray for him to survive the evil macbinatioa ofhia
en"1iu t1n.4 endtd up ~th •CW'88 that anyone w:ho dated to plan evil agaillatbim-1\erth,-...,
-1tould-pAytibAprizewithbiaowntife..They~dvised him tocont.it\u.eJtr>.-ehi&Jfe. p~ for the
benefttof:rnankind,.llu tnainartofbenevolence was to _..1ease·thct
ebi~<»ftothJl!,,peoplt:.tieclup·by·llhe.elders oftlle··.night for eJimilMltion.
.lf•c,n~qtl.~ d,e jq.,3that,1,nd, lle.tao~nqed to have problea1. ·
Munwhile, he cet'1&¥ltecllr..1ftAP a4vised Wm to qi&.1La her.1oat to Esu. After e .

eating ~• he-aov. .._. erqtecJ~A·Q.lPOJIC'biiJ;en,niijls, 'Q.d they began tb a.oo.use.

one ~tihtl' in OPMlconfepion. ~ 1'9',how. the ope.n conf,saion by ~hes began. After the
spate of q,rlftasipn,, his prplllo~abe.t.edand he livedin pea~e and tranquility ever after.

HOW HE SOLVED THE PROIIJ:..EM or WITCB-CBAF'I':

When this Odu appears during an lfa initiation ceremony at Ughodu, the person should
be warned that the elders of the night are going tdbe after him throughout his life. To be
able to ride out the storm, he should immediately mu~ a special sacrifice (Ono-lfa in
Yoruba or Ode-Iha in Bini) by digging the floor ofhis sitting room or bedroom and
slaughtering a goat inside the hole with the appropriate. Ieaves, The head of the goat
together with an egg and 2 snails should be buried inside the holes-
That was the sacrtffoe which an lfa Priest called OGBOMU GBOMIJ •. JAµAJA-
GBOMU advised Oyeku-le-Eturuk.pon to make when the elders of the night were.after
hinl Thereafter, 2,.birds or owls, which used t.o cry on the roofof'his house ne-ry night
stopped coming. One of the birds died and the other OM flew away never~ ..,turn. He
was the Odu who scattered the cult of witch~craft when they plotted to destroy~oodness
and salvation in the world.
w.en ~. Odu Q.ppean,,at,;Ugbpd~ the,pers~'will .~ told that owls or other mysteriowt
bircls used to cry. n94rlps ~P®J\~¥1',tJ,e,night: He should make saclifice with. the htt•d
of a goat, :"11 eg.and ~ ~l&,;in,the QUUlntn·desclJibed above to solve the problem. If the
person cJoes not,ba.vtt • bo~c»fhia:0J1V11, he should fill a Box e>ra bucke.t with mild
a~ bu,y insideit ihthe~d ofth4'~,.ihtegg and 2 sn.ails and keep it safely in his roo111
UllC.il it ean be, due in~ 1.11'. ground. ()( his :0wn. house. If this special preparation is not
made at Ugbc,du, the person will surely die a premature death.
If the Odu Q.Ppears atonlinary clivinat.iotJ; the Pttson &1\0wd be advised to serve the
Gro1.1nd with an egg .a-qcl. 2 ""1~ and to eei anilfa ~st ,to prepare the appropriate leaves
to was.Ii bis hea4 on• ~r-dr-.iii (,t\gba jqJl.l,i in·Yoruba. Qr Uroramen in Bini).
BB )IADB .Dl\llNATl(»I J'OB CHllJ).-BIRTH:
There lived &Jl over-aged,I.Pi,nMer call,dOmQjuola (OIDQsef'ejn Bini) who was
barren,
82
Once upon a ti.me, she travelled to the 1and of the ltiusliins mu I mole)~ She. ~as herself a
witch-doctor. When she got to the place; theytold her that she was invited to the town because
they werewld atdi,viriation thatshewas the only one capable-ofhelpirigthem to restore peace
,and prosperity to the town. On th'e other hand; she replied that she agreed to come to the
town because it was revealed to her that that was the only place
she would live in, to·haveitehild. '
True to prediction; her;arrival in the t.own mar kW the beginning ofth"e return: of peace
and prosperity to the town of (Ilu-Imole). Soon mterwards, she missed her period and did not
know that she was pregiuitlt until three m·onths later later when her breasts began to bµlge.
She had been cohabiting:with a visiting Ifa Priest called Oyeku-Baturukpon.Shehad beento
the Priest to make di\iinati6h for'herandOyeku .. ba-turukpon replied her initially.with the
following imiantation after theyleUinlo,•e with each other:
Mo, de ile ki nkic yin, ·, ··, · ·
Mo ha yin ni 'le; ·t)
Mo here ona titi.
Mi kori bn:a.
Esu Odare ni ,ofi
Ile re ban mi
Alaw0:tii -.fa gi re.
Meaning;:::
I came home togreetyou;and I
met you at heme,
I asked forJhe direction to your house
I could notJocateit,: ··
It was. tl:ie gootl Esu, who showed me your plaei,·
Ifa became good to the awo.
$h~ was advised tp make sacrifice with2 rabbits, 2 bugs.-nd 50k. The Priest fold her that
she would give birth tQ;A child who should be named· (tFAJIRE'in,Yoroba or
llfASOGHOGHOinBini).Healso.advisedhef'toprepareadttimfortheinccrmingchild .. She~h!-
ter gave birth to.,a in ale child who beealM a 11\usiclan end·she went tb thank lfa
with the following $Ong: ' ·•
• lfa she mi loore - o :,
Oyeku-le-Eturekpen .,,,.,
Eni Tawo kekere - o
Oye}m-ba-Eturukpon
lfaJt- re L'oni - OJ
Oyekule eturukpon
.Ifa ~he ,ni loore - o
Oyekurle,.eturukpon.
The songrsew up to become a musician through which he. enriched th'e parents;
At Ugbodu, the person will .be .told that he .will il)itially have problems in having
children. He should offer ablack goatM Ifa, ablack he-goat to Elftl1t1jd a Pigeon to his

83
 head and he will start lla.vin, childreQ ..
· .On~ other hand, aa ao.oii ,., ~t apll9ars •t U1bodu.. the ~rson will be told, that there .Is, a
pregnant wom~p ar4unc:J him whose pregnancy .. ;hu ,not ye,t developed. For the pregn•ncy
to develop. a.,drumshould- be prepared for .t\1e incoming child because he is
gQ~~ to °bEI a muaieian; , . . ' ' .· .
· At ordinary divination, the penon should be told to serve Eau with a he-goat because
he isen ingrate.- He will l,e ungrat.et\ll to any Awo that help& him.. ·

HOW OJE)g]·BA".'l'URUKPON BECAME PROSPEROUS:

Although,hewas a very.proficient lfa Priest, nonetheless,.hejust·managed to make ends
meet, One momi'l1/h,e-1ound•d lfa and he was told that on accounhfthe-inability of the
elder.s of.the night,*4 kill him oranyofhis children; theyhadtied,up his fortune. He was told to
make sacrifice with a duck to lfa and that he should not eat any other part of the meat except
the gizzard. He was also to offer a live rabbit and a melon (Elegede in Yoruba and Eyen in
Bini) to the elders of the night. He made the sacrifice to Ifa, but sea '"ched in vain for a melon
and a live rabbit. When he asked lfa what to do, he was told to use a chicken to promise to
giv~ a he~goat to Esu, ifhe could help him to procure a rabbit and a melon. He gave the
chicken to Esu.
Thereafter, he went to the bush one morning to fetch leaves for his work, ll'l'the forest, he
came across a melon fruit and he took it. Soon afterwards, he came aerosaa wounded rabbit
and caught it. He subsequently came across two men who; unknown to him, were messengers
from heaven. When they saw the rabbit and the melon in his hand, they begged him to
surrender them. He refused on the,ground that he came to the forest in search of a live rabbit
and a melon for a speeialsaerifiee in order to become prosperous. The two men besought him
to narne the _price for the two materials because, they too
welje sent from heaven in search for the same materials. . · ·.
Back in.heaven, the da~t of ORISA-NLA was· having a difficult labour arid at divination"
he WA$ told that \he elders of the night had held Up the delivery unless sacrifice: w~s made
with a liYe Rabbit and a melon. Anxious to eat the he-goat proinisea hy Oyek;u.~Ba-
Turukponon-ttarth, Esu. had ordered all the rabbits and melons of heaven to bur)'ltfiemsfilv~s
beneath the earth. The .followers of Orisa-Nla had combed the markets and forests of heaven
in vain in search of the two materials and thatis why they were sent to the earth w.here.
through telescopic telepathy they met Oyeku-Ba-
Turukpon in the forest. .· · · · -' ~- ·. · · · · .'
As he was about to name a price for the two materials, he was instantly possessed by Esu
who influenced him to name the following as his price: 100 men, 100 wom~n. 100 cows,
100 goats, 100 pieces of clothes, 100 bags of beads, and 100 bags of money.
Since the heavenly messengers did not have those things on .them, they told him to give
them the two materials and that before getting home, the price henamed would be positioned
in his house. He gave them the r,abbitandthe melon on trust and turned tack
·to return home. . .· . '
Instantly, the two messengers wer~ back in heaven and the sacrifice was made and

84
the daupter ofOriaa-Nla made a .ate delivery.·. . ,. .
When the meuenpn iulrrated the pri~tbey i,romlaed to pay fcrHhtt~ materjla111,
Qma •. nJa entered, the' price qf·itbe matetlall to appeai' · in the· home of OyeltW:Ba-
tunJkpoii onearth:immediately.,
The.appearance·otth&,mat.erial1in hls home-cohlcicted witb'the-time;he,got home
wbicJ.i immediately .tzanalated-liim to pnaperity. H•immediately gaw two he-goat.a to
Eau imtead of the single one be promited~ He alao made a big feast for the·people-oftb.e
town -where he aang the •IODg earlier.sung by Omoju.ota~
Ifa '1he mi loore - o ·
Oyekuil le-'turukpn
Eni Tawo kekere - o ·
Oyeku Ba-turukpon
Ifa ti 're f oni - o
•oyeku le 'turukpon
lfa she Mo•en - o
Oyeku le Eturukpon.
OYEKU·BA~TURVKPON
BE MADE DIVINATION F'OROLOFIN ''
Gbo gbo re, gbo gbo re,
lfa ni yio bami she
Adifa fun Olofin
Omu koro mefa lowo ahe ni Oclun.
Ebo niki Agbekele lfa. . . . .. ·,
That was the Awo who made divination for Olofiil·1'fhen'six divine festival• fell due
for him to celebrate simultaneously .• He t.raarequired to perfonn,a\each of tbe six cult.a
at the ~e time. When his Chief, asked him how b:ewu·joing to cope, he replied that
Orunmila would help him to cope with;the aituatib't{H~ *,._ tolcf to· tnake sacrifice to
obtain the_supw,rt ofOrunmila. 'lbere'after, he-petformed tbw· ceremottie, without any
hitch. . '' > . ~ ;; . ;
At divination, the person should be, told to·••rw~~ila ~nordet to~ able to cope
withthesixproblemshebuirihand.i .''\•''£;::· · · · ,,
.,:,
BE MADE DIVINATION'~trASBEMOYJN: ,~'
Musom~nishuw~ijo · "': · ··
Gbeje gbeje ni gbehin ayo
Adifa fun lfashemoyin,
Ti abi l'ode, to tun torii ode.
Ofun le oko ni ode, -
Ebo lomaru.
f • ·~-
Meaning: When entering a dance, thtt dancer/··'.·'·.
Brinp bis hands forward in anticipation. . _ After ,./
dancing 1uCNtltullj; the dlitie!el', : ; ' ' l.'
20.

Brings his hands down a.s &,:"1arkic ·;

,, .,. ,. Of~ev.~11:~~k111if#~1,Jovm., ,,<,;: ;k -:,:. .. . ·k
.!.hie~~~ tht.4'V~,,+JP'4~-di\li~-for lfuhemoyin,.bef'ore trbe, Nttlecblcnm to
live in U. town or.ode. Although her parents did notbaiLfrom tlieland,of Ode, she fl ••
_bo!D,,~.t~ ~84, a,nd'b,am,iJy, married then~ hhvas hecau1e11he.Jiad~ade
. .f:!lgijle49 -~ :~t,:.f~; ijt., ~4 pt'.QIJper i~ tlitJ•ail of ,Odei · , .. ·., · .. ,·"
., :.Aic:U:!iPt.~llt ~· Pt~cm-,li~d;l>~ tpld thPhe.:if not a nativ,,bfthe town when he or
she lives. 'Ih,pe~on 11houlclh~l(~r,,m-.•,acrifiee because; hisptoaper_ityliesill
th~ town. . ::- ,

I THE POEM FOR PROSPERITY:

. Oju ehemi. khm wi
Adifa fun moburin burin,
., Moye ikin tni wo, ·,.: ·,· · .\
Omo kekere Awo nifi okpon ide di ifa.
.Aha ha bi ri hi ri
Oshl sbi sbitj-~
Adifa fun ~Ua.:, .· .,
O'nfa oto'it,e - ure le rele
Ako\por• lowo' ati aye ero,
Ebo ki asin ~n bo ifa,
Ifa mowa lowore
Okpt maje kimi juya .
. Jl~: I ha4 an.in~nati9n,
, .To 10 fbr-AlYin.tion. ., ~·'\:-.:,,,;- ,\ · · '
..i~.... ' '
. . · '· · · i,,. 1a· ··ri' -1· 1:1r:.. .· .
,;,,,.J ,~l',.-, t.~~'1n~, .. ·., ;.- '
····"?
... ,.,,·,·
'
·
.,·;,,~jji.!};q,4~-y;w~jft, an(l} i' ,ii' '

.. ,_V~91-:ih~,~- divi{\ftiq~. 'T .I •

·· I la~r met a young Ifa pnest,

.: -~,~~~ll}~~~ltf~r._·diy:j~on. ,; Pull ot youthful
exuberance ana fervour I fjnally asked
him for divination .
. Befo~~t.o,~e~nd~prosPJ(rity, an;d · cejole
him to the homes ofmy practising lfa
Priest. · :-· ·
' The sacrifice is done by serving,
Oiunmila and telling him,
Okpe, I am in your hands,
For deliverance and salvation,
Do not aU-ow me to suffer. , ,
That wu how Orwunila gave bis fo\lo,Vel'J the iJ\dication .that any lfa Briest who
follows bis ways ofkindneBB and purity,Y!riRbe 11p~y,compensateclby him.An Ifa
priest
86
21.
22.

who hides behind Orunmila,·to utorf~ey from aufl'eriq humanity, ca,.t.nner become
prosperous. On the otlifirl hand!. an
liaprieat who follow, the path of Onunnila making by
modest deniaiiaa, and even
spendinghil'own money to fund the saerifiee• required to,be
made by destitute clients, will be compensated ten-fold. Orunmila will gradually drag
prosperity to bi1 ndple. ·
When this Odu appeara at divination fC>T a young man who is amious to know what
profession he is destined to follow, he should be told to learn the art and practice oflfi1m. He
should be told categorically that he. is an lfa Priest and that he wj}l only prosper
thl'ough tm, hottest and fedicated followenhip of (.)rijnmi}L, ··

HE MA.DB DIVINA'DON TO WARO-OFPDMTB.

0111 ga, nga, · · ·
Ode 'ka ka 't.aa,
Adafaftm•oyelut.dri'ib, "
Ebo'uif'sa ati1tttra liun igbm·
. • • . • • ,. l...... , . X ·. ./
, . .;Jku;'jfkilmJO nante, ·_,. ····
Qyek\l ba 'turukpon,
Iku.je 'njo hanre
'L: t2 ... 'u._"'':·•.:.....i.:1·• '' ·.•_·· " ' .I\.'
Oyen ua ftl~pe'ft: :i ' . . ' ' . I .... • . ' ' .:
Thes6·were the tw~ aw.,.· whdmade'Cl1vinatjonfor·Oyft'tlwben deat1tirM hove~
overbink'Hewastoldtomakesa,crifteewith,~;·:~hhe,wasto·~-·bjsbody;:At· thesam_
effinethewisto~w'up• "ilnails1·Sh __ eltittStiml_·· ._~ ···_ JiiiW_. ·• ·.· v_'"' a_· __ na_· 'tfuit_· .. wtia_ ··n_· deitbcame __
. -· . , . . ... . . '. .. ._.-. . . '·y - •:;_jl<· _- . ' ,- . . . J ,_ .· .· . > ' . ' ,- . . . -_- _--_ . . .
fO'I' him,~ shoul~seek his penbiQic,n to~ f~r hHU~ffite killinchi1', '.
Whetfdeath eventually came, (!)y"'t1 .•• '1)randllffained ~Nifinio.da¥1M' bis
entertab\me1tt;.iHe· w<ke -die'rae· ~ 1.nai!1•.·s1ieil1 anl ~ •-t..»·dJlrtce f.d,'the'
acc0Jbl»ani1firit of clapping ltandiJ; 1thililii·sang:- "''"• . '1/ ·· '· C '· ·' · :, ... , ' ·.
! Ukuj!~b,~~;,,, .. . ,. -.: . ,,
Oyeku'b«'AtU:riil,on.· ',, >H. ' .. ; ., r.;C,
{ _ -_ _ :Refrain\ _____ - _ , ~-r\~t$tL_} __ -_- ___ ;)i.~!: ,-: _ _ _ ___________ "' --., ; ___ ;_-/
:Whendeadt'Baw him da:Hting~.ke tm:n\1ihtd t,(~t;W aiidlef\ biJW"tl6rie'.:bJ'·•tfqutt'
te live on earth. '. .· ... ,·,k r_r;,-,,•ft · ... ';l k ;: ,re . . ;;:,, ,,, . ' ):J>,''.~v.
lfthis·oou~omeioutss Ay.,.ii~ 1:1\a~·ii;wit'~ ~at~. ltem1da:. be,te1&th1at deat111s
on•ru.rirali.rfittdt~t~'~m:lfe 1'iUt11e ~,-1\e.11t•• · sam&e with a sheep,
snai1s atff-~r ",, \, .. :\· ::, ·, . •. ; ' ;;·: . : "-~-- ''
Me'wtllm,ake asimilarga~lltinT~·atljiJi ahefls'~ant!!U•\t..~:m•~ . ofhis •e"'hold
clappinganckJhgi~ tli¥Jfa~•uit~J~~-; '1fMN, tM gal'llM_fl'fltllbe temoved. I,.
4ivinitfoit~•fe"*l'or¥t.ellt ct~i,e, 116_ ~(Un)~ 1 the person 11hould nonethelesi·md6
aacrtfteeit,lfa h'~( to - - '. · ··.- '',· ·- .··· •.•·''
--- ''":. - r<-,ti; ~t· -~-: · >~,;,,\-· .. ~? "°;,. }i t)z.}··~-,):,

87
 ···'.) .. CJJap.- ll
i,.,:,,. OYJQ(JJ •. o~,,·.
OpmJ • KP4• EJq1 •
·:_;._>;-
QQ· ..
I II .
n ;;o I
. II n
·•: ..•. ,,.. . .. ;,. ••. ·. j,,·.
•.. 11 • •

ltwaa thil Odu that rev~~,ltren,tb of~@divj.~ty.t,(F-81', w~.isl'8plltedto be the

moetdreaded divinity created by God. Altboup-, he has no shrine orfollowersbip, he is
nonet.h,le11-~lty 11:\lof;berdivine, mortal ai.nct,other:Jl~JDateereatures of God. It i1 the
divinity of Pear that prepare• the mindl of other ctea~res of Qod before any other divinity
1trike1. Any one whofeel1 threatened by any wiwan~ inJ:i~ent such as failure, death,
licknea, imprieonment, the unkno~jµdpm,en,u.tc. bec,mes the victim of the divinity of
!Pear befor, the event or non-event, .wbjeh -inak.t .,e@ the most powerful fOTCe created
by God. 'lbe atrength of Fear j1,,,.ptly clJm911strated by the
followin, revelation made by Oyeku-Ole ·

88. ·.
only etrike at one peteon at a time with bit club. On the other hand~ bi, wife, Sick.tl.eu
i8·capable of cripphngand'killintmaayperaone·at the aame time. Onhia part, Ogunia
capable of multiple'iilling,'.mmwtaneouily. ,' ' ,
.Aftlr-eatinghiahe-,oat, Eau went t.o the d.ivinity of Pear and told him to work in favour
ofOtul\milafor,;the 111'1111~him. The divinity ofFear•wed'up the shells of the 201 snails
which Onmmilagave-him on a fork-ltiek and took,position at the boundary
between heaven.and.earth. · ·-
Meanwhile, Ogun and Death had left for eatth· t.o fet.eh their vidima which they lost· no
time in procuring. Before then, no one knew, the Modus Operandi of the divinity of Fear nor
howtoanticipateitamanifeltatioiL·~IOOn uPearbewtbatDeatl- and ()gun were approaching the
bounclaty of heaven ~d earth, he took the fork-stick_ c-:ntaining the 201 snails' shells and
began t;o sine the following toDC:'" · , -
Bi maruku mabitja, .
lworiwo ji, Iworiwo ji wowo
Bi maroguti ma gbe de,
Iworiwo ji, Iworiwo ji wowo
Bi mori arun mabltja
Iworiwojij'Iworiwo ji'wowo . .s
·With tltat·war roug,;Fearwaaboalttng;with btoen:lmtvadot.bat wheneverh., !!alDe actou
Death{Ogutr. and· Sicltneurbe .would ·ftcht them to filliidii Orunmila who ·had meanwhile,
taken-polition·atErebu, the dark zonebttwva heaven and earth through whic:h, everyone
paaaee -on ~ir way tcrHad11,, ewer-heard 'the ·manp - sonr of the·
unknown combatant without ltnbwinc who he was. ' _
As Qgun,.Death and·. Sickne. : .•• •PPTO&ched···· ''the bCNndiry. ' \~heaven a.na ·¥?th .....
·.~' heard the strange.-war.ety. and t.h•y Mean to wonder·who ihraa·that was tlretit.ening
them with such ferocity and_impuni~y. Opn, who wu in' fNnt, J>:Ondered that a,ny force· ·
who dared to ·boast tcrtie him up'tin 'chai1*, wai~auftfy •b11tof dillC*'aci'* htatt··He
immediately dropped hiahlaaae dt20&hma11llffllll ~ctruedb8Ck in,~t.onhta · the-
'9Uth.ibelth and bis 'Wif'e,r~"1 llb .IDaft'IRttlatif ,1-rinc ~;~· 8ohg. 1
Back·in his hide-ou.t, Orunmilawu'approuhed·bfEm;dio told'h*" to coll~ the'
Iuaaiesdropped by Ogun;and l)fttti ancl-.U 1ffththam "1'aipt to the 11*ce cWGcKL · . To
.dm day,nonaoftbemAW'the'face-~·11.- dtfbdly),tP •• 1', a,uiOQlti, ·~nm,ila *u '·; satnfted
that hil'~·'tlid minifentWhln <mmd1 aotto th•pal• .r·Gocl. he' reported that he decided t.o
come with twiee:u·111any1'111nan wbtl1·a1 JU:ttema~: \ because of the special 1igmftcanee
ofth.epto,a,ect of'manyin, In; theY"'l)iht,r'of.God. · '
Godimtnediatelytietrithecllht.oC>nmmill:ft~uatiltKefollbwi~daytbatOaun: _ came back with
hfaown-200 4ulk;buUJo4tolclhliif-~rMlahad already beaten' ·. him to it. The nen day,.Death
1
reported with bit'ow.lt1.«-hain •••. uu)l1 arid he ~t the same reply. That was how
Orun'lnila•pl'Ollltecl thiit tuppdrtj otih,,fa•Utu 'cUviniti of Fear to win the contest with Death

•-nee
and Ogun'fo!1Mundtof'in••11•~ of Goel:· :
It ia important to note that Orunmila moptN the w-*''son,ehaftted by Fear
on.that day when,heis tryb1S·to aeare,oft'affloeiou,enemy. , \.
 Whe!!Jhi• Od1tappearf..,~~,,u •••• ~PtJ'.SOD will :be;t.c,ld -.that he is proPOJing.to
inaff¥Awif'.._.-.dtb,¢ \1~ tl(Ari~alt..atl'.On,ef ~:hupllf)ftb.~~d with. He.abould therefore
serve lfa with 16' snails and sew 1,lp"":.i..Mt . .edJeaaails~a fork.;a_tickand ~t th,e
ground,with it. fi'M-tbe•,J(a .Jbri~.~:U)e abri~ 4f ~.PICi111·tb.,1above inentioned
sol!C. If~.doe,~ ~ctjfice, be will win· ~-bamlepf the 1-cly. Oa.the other ~n~, ifi~. couaes
o~.;tt,_cijv.inat~tNt. ~nwill be~ ~.heiatlbcnitt.oembarJton a difficult mission capable of
ending his life. He should 1e1Ve~ Beu. with a he-pat, and ~r:ve If~ witllJ~ sn~l.,, ifh,
iJt,>,euim:v:e ~;mission; , ,; :.
, _ • ,. _;. ·,, -c,_ - ·_ '~j . · t\ . • ,\ • ' • • ~ :.:f · c.._

~ AJ.,S(f¥,WJ,P~'tlQNjFQl\,l'IIB.nAI( 1.UE:
~gqngp,n o~eere, · ,.;/ ·
Odun wiwo bi aba..deicli
•... -~re,' . .;, . •, · :, '

Sisun ni lsun ni, ·

Odifa fun Egungun Ono Oja.
'Ibe oak tree is beautiful,
When viewed from the distance, But big as one
gets near t.o it.
That was the name of the lfa priest wh~ .Jllade divinationfot,-.he. Oek •. ~,on the road
tqtl)e market; when.he 1111M)~1ntiflgithat b~-had.no followershij).1he Oak. tree! was
ad.vilu~d. .to ma1'e ~acrifi~, v.ith:• heli,, 1naila_. ,Piceoo. and· calico clotli."\He made the
saqifict., Me.,-nwhile,. ~@,•\Ul .wa,shining int.,en-,Jy when people.were nturning from ..
·t!l.e .mar,\wt., ~eybegao.•tt tau n,lt and shelt.er under the Oak.tree •. ln,tqat way, he,
began t.o receive manytisit.ors. ., . ., ... H··"'.
iWJ;le].\this~~es -.,u\ • £Ulirtaticm, the.PtfllOn:should.,1- told:•ibit he;haa .no fo~w~; H~
showd ~•·ejmilar:satrifiee aacthi• tide wouhl -: tuo.iler,t.he Wtt.ei:.
:.·"!, .................· ,· ~:-:1) .. -":-·.J 1r-·s1 ,·:.·vtf<) ·:~,:/\ \ ;·•·":'·
' •< '

~~~E,:P~TlONFORQR.184,:,~,0SBBRE"IGBO ..
;,~~~ .•
Nla~chil~ ~'1(MY~eam.e;He,~e~fordivination~wutoW -
t.o!'J#h.J~eh,ad,Qf thatsqft Mtb•'l!Oed to tN ma,keti in Ql'der t.o do wellin·Jife!'·&did:
thesa~~~,spnbegp·-t.a·l)~ISinJjfe..,,~ ,, ··.·,
~.f!vin~.tbe pe~cm.shAuld-.be:·toldthat:bechaa;0ne IMH\:w~ is jiving'him al~;of'
~tyi H,ts,abouldgiy'e apifft'C)fw.-elothto·one:clitinityheihasinhiahouse.orfamily:·
l(e.s~ould a~k for llfl l~~t.toprep,areletMst.o wuh'.ihe.ltead ofthe1sob: either
Oil~ sh~- ~r.on tht wayr.Jo th~:Dlarke\.-i'. ' ··~ · ·· · · :: -
! a.';_, -~ .-·"' ;..)'.· :·· .. ··' :~/ ), . ·: ',\-' .... ~?:.:,~_,·· ··:. '~'."'-; s.:.· ~--,';i' ,;·-._.' :_ - .· . '.,

,· HE.~ ¥.f\l)E'DIVJN4TlQNJ:OR!fll&BBO'WNRAT'(EKU .• QLOS&··1--·

. ..-.-U-OMOJN¥-0RlJIIA:,OR BKUOMO IN-mNI):
OJno lakqko gun D\ori,P ade. v,,;''.
()dig.fun :Eku.-Olo-.e tabi em emo , " , ,
- Ni jo t.o'nfi omi oju, ebubtre i . , . ,,,.

1;Qqio-~uurutu:. i' . · : :,-: ,

The rat was anxious t.o have.;children ·alid -went for di•tiol'. He was t.old t.o make

90
 sacrifice andhedid'and began to-hav&childnm. Thereafter, he began to rejoice with the
fc)llowingtong: · · ·
': Eku Loshe Are mo te
· Te te .,o, Aremo - which is its cry tAHhis ·aay after having children.

'. OYEKU.OSE LIJAWS FOREARTH: .

Befonle·aVl. 'rig·. hea. ven, hew. en. tfor~.·Vl.·.··n. u .. ~ .. a. ndhis. own Odu· .. ap·p ..
eared. He was told to make sacrifice with a he-goat to Es · · .. n·grd~r to avoid coming in
contact with, or 0
marrying a womanstronger than hi · '· · f~w,th:. He did not bother· to do the sacrifice.
1
He then left for earth. While 911· earth\ he;~lt toJfa art and practice. One day, he travelled
to the town of Dode. for lfa practice. He. was otherwise a very proficient Ifa priest.
Hereeeived many elierits at llode and he sueeeeded in solving all their probems.
•Two day& beforehe·returnedhome, he met a young lady who came to him to find out
what to do in order to have the right husband. It was the. news of his success in helping
others "to solve theil.:ffet>blem&,, that induced the lady to cotne to him. Unknown to
him,_the girl , wu;thetdaughteT of Ololron who came to the'market from heaven.
> ·\A.tdi9iNition, he t.oldherto·sel'Ve Et,u with tfhe.:goat. TheOdu which came out for the
gitfwas"his own Ifa.~that is, Oyeku-Ose.·The lf'aalso lbdirectly remindedhimof the
,sacrifice to Eih W~chrhe failed tomake before leaving heaven, buthe ignored it.
· On her part, the ·girl promised to make the sacrifice on the nextmarket d~y. ru, evening
was already app'toiichi,ng;' the woman appealed to hhn 'to· give her a place i'trhis1odging
·to· spend the night. He agreed to' accotntnodate herf or the night. The la(iy asked him
~re~!!~~ ~eet'hiinf~r the;sa..crifice on the next mark~t ~ay: H~ had tea~"':hl,le,
afwt·dWlniltiO&,:"tmd··the.gidthat,she would only prosperm life=if'she marned a
practicing lfa Pri~st. Slie 'i'&t~med' heme tne next mo,ning aftet giving her the
,~ptionofhis·1touselltO~fMesi in lfe. . . · .. ,. . ..•. · · . . ..
'ntefollowing day, he Tetumedhome 'with all ~e gifts and remunerations he recei,ved
et,flu.;Ode. Four days later;the wotn'an.followed·his description and came to
at Oke·Me8'r After performing the sacrifice for her she professed love to him· and he
hi_s house

agreed to marry her. The woman began, imm~~a~ly to live with him in his house without
botherihg to·find out.wh'eritshe camcf.fl1>m:'ilowever, he soori discovered that
·she,neither knew how tc>cook nor how to take cari'ofthehouse because she was used
' to having those chores perfcrmedfor her by thedottiestie servants in her parent's house.
He· soon became dis-illusioned and did not know \vhat>tri do with her: She also proved
to be totally insubordinate when she discovered that she could not subdue the husband.
One night, his guardian angel appeared to him and sang the following song to him:. Ka ibi
emi maa gbe yi ri
Amebo Olokun yei yei
Ekpe - o ariro.
That was how his guardian angel came to reveal to him that he was toying with the
daughter of Olokun. ··
The following morning, Esu visited him under the guise of an Ifa Priest to make
91
.divination for him. Esu reminded him of the h&-goat he bad been t;old ever .so ofte~ .to
give to Esu. The visitor insisted that he must perform the sacrifice immetijately. He
produced a he-goat and the Ifa Priest used the blood andt)le hellclof the he-goat to wash
his head on the shrine of Esu. After performing the sacrifice, the lfa Priest went away
with the he-goat. That was how the tradition began in which a person who uses a hegoat
to wash his head on the shrine of Esu.is not alloVtCe,d. to eat out of its meat because, the
lfa Priest who perofrmed the 9'crificetraditionally.-oeshome with the he-goat,just as Esu
went away with Oyeku's-Ose's he-goat.
After eating his he-gqat, Esu w.enflaack to. heaven ~ pel'Suade the other divinities to
admonish Olo~un for allowing the daughter to,perfo:r:m so reprehensibly in the home of
Orunmila on earth .. Olokun apologised to them and prOIQised to send a message to his
daughter to refrain from misbehaving to Orunmila. All the divinitie'- agreed to intercede
in favour of Orunmila because of the ~vation he was offering to the chil.dren of the
world.
Olokun subsequently invited his daugh,t;er back to heaven and kept her in soliwy
confinement for seven-days for her nrl$behaviour not only ,to. her husband, bui alsofor
esc'-pingfro .. m ... ~i$palace in heaven .. to marry onea .... rth WI .. · • thou. md l blessing.
After servin.g the seven day nnprisonment, she apologised to her father and begged to
be,allowed to
rejoin her husb,t.nd because, s'be had deeply fallen in love with him. 'niereaft,r. the father
prepar~d her fully for propersettlement in her husband's home and ~nt h.erl5ack with.
servants and mllids together wit}l all items of prosperity required for living a prosperous
life on ellrth.-By the time ~e got back to her husband, she had ch&Jlged
trem .. e·n ... ,(\ous. ]y fo.· r the bette. r, a. nd the.in. struments·. • o. f tr. ea.su. re.she
return .. ed.. wt. "tli, ma .•. de t4e cgµ.~e exceedingly wealthy ever IU\er. She
sy.bsequently had seven children for her
husband all of who turned out to be responsiblemenand women.
When this'Odu appears at Ugbodu or divinat;ion, the Dl.an will ht, told~ he. owes a
debt of eaerifiee respectively to Esu and Olokun. lie will be told that his wife iJ from the
palace of Olokun. If'he doeie .not give a,~.,goat to Esu and make sacrifice to Olpkun, the
wife will die. But ifhe makes these sacrifices, she will m_ake him 'prosper.
BE MADE DIVIN.A.nQ:ti FORA BARREN WOMAN:
One day, after Oyeku-Ose started having children, a barren woman visited him for
divination. The woman was otherwise very wealthy. At divination Oyeku-OS&.,$8.ng
the following poem before speaking. to the woman:-
Ifa Oyeku Ose,
Ise ni la nse,
Ki a to le ko Ifa.
Jya ni la nje
Ki ato

le mo ibogbi-gba
Ti a ha se ise tan

92
 Ti a'.fia fi ko lfa
A - o •. wa; dieni n:la
Ti a ba mo Ibo - gbi gba' tan .
Won a wa ki en:i ni kpele omo Awo.
11""""'6: 'nlanks to lfa Oyeku-Ose
We have to put in more effort at work
To enable us study lfa art.
We encountered some difficulties, Before
understanding the art of making
sacrifice.
After the days work, and having utilized it,
for the study of lfa art,
Then shall we become great and prosperous.
At .the end of having understood the art of
making sacrifice: .
There will be praises and calling of names
as OmOJAwo.
·Orunmila diseloied'to the·wortian that she was anxiotis to have achild and :assured
hff"that she, would have a child if she could promise appropriate compensation to
~nmila. 'Ibe woman in reply said that she was so rich that she had everything that
moiieft&uld 'buy; e:teept a cbild. She then PTOmised. that If Orunmila succeeded in
h~ng her to'ha~e a thild, she w0t1ld share all her belongings into t•o and !fUl'tender one
part tolnth. Orunmilatold her to produce a pregnant sheep (Ewe) for sacrifice. 'Ibe sa~ee
was made and the: follow:i°' month, the woman became pregnant; In the fiillneu of time,
she gave birth to a male child. The woman subsequently had, two other children i6. quick
iue•sion before getting to 'Menopause. i '
If this Odil al)lieats at divimtion for a · woman, she will be told that she·is1it.ehing to
llavi··a child. If it comes ou't'loifaman;·he sholiM be 'told that he has an inl\ibontinate
wife who is anxious to have a child. In either case, the person should be advised to niake
sacriftce with a pregnant·sheep a.nd the woman· wm start having children;

.. 11E MADE DIVINAflONFOR'TBE FARMd:.OYEKU-KPEICU OSE

'nlere lived a farmer who held meetings with Die elders of the night. He used to plant
melon or Ogiri in his farm. When his melon were ripe for harvesting, a swarm of mice
deecended on the farm and began to eat up the crops. He immediately reported the
incident to the elders of the night, who ~dvised him t&ptepate a speeial pot with the
le,ve1 of the sand-paperplant{ewe-ukpin in yoruba and Ebe-ame-men in Bi'Ri). He was
ailfiMdto put one cowry inside th&pot ana tb position it in his farm. Unknown to them,
theifivadingrats belonged to Oninmila; '111~ next time the rats went to ravagethefann;
~ey we_reeh1naredto drink out of the·waterin the pot. As soon,uthey did so, they began
to die. When·Orunmila diacoveredth~ mostbfhiatats were dead; he wentto,the famier to
ask him what he gave to'hi's rats. 'Ibe firmer &xpltiriedthat when he discovered that

93
the rats were eating up his crops, he appealed t.o the elders of~e night who helped him to
prepare the pot which killed them. Orunmila became imunai.cL ,'!be following night, he went
outside his house and with his left knee ~1:1 t~ ground,, reP,e&ted ~ followinc
incantation:~ · ·
Ebubu Ewara /
Aboju boge
Akpa maa nkpekun
Otoro.mo ti Iyo Oruko .s .
ton kpeye Oba lu-
gbagba lo-otun
Oba lu-gbagba lo-osi Koye ko
kpeku
Koye k.o kpe eja :,
lte la ani koo ko. . ,() :, .· .. . ,
At that point in time, the witches were already assembled for. ~r JU,Cbtly meeting.
As soon as Orunmila finished repeating the inuntatioll, .there w~s pandemonium at the
meeting of the witches, as they began to fight among themselves. MeanwhAe, a male and
femaleo,delegation of tJie witc~u·aced to Or,unmila's house to apo)ogi~ to biJD anc;l to
beg'.t'<>l'.Jorgi:veness. Ile agreed to forgiv~ .them but warned them, n!Yer agaiqjp 4estroy
an¥thing belonging to,him. ,.. . . .. . , ., .. . ....
At lJg\>od.u, th,·perspn should be a<k;sed to off'e1'. • black hen •ncJ.~ne egge ~~ql'i6~
to. the night so that they might stop spoiijng his beloNPngs. lie should
prep...-e night Ogun,for his lfa.~ wai-<loff'any danget fi:oJD· the nigh~
Ail ()tµwo · to
the p~on
-,kAt.~n.
,s'tlould make qajck. .~~ to the night-. .that the favour. co~t;o ~ nrigJ.lt 11¢PMB Jµm h¥ to
90meo~ else.~He;wj}i be told that the1'$ are ~ ~ij'1,g~ ·
things···· ·.in.· his .ho.· use. He sh~.W.4.P!epai;~.·. •. n4 ... -pa. e. r lea ... ve·" .. (Ebame.
n .... ~ ... _!l_J __ ":f''~.po .... t, adding •. eowry 8.l)d.tbt divmati~ ~wd,r (lyerosun) of
p.

Oyeku-Qu,:a.ncJJ. : .. ~.
And th• rat& will surely -(tie. lfe~~~.SCHl\ the meat of ra~ amJ fish .with the ~i;i.from
th~ pot,. before -using them to ~t tJ::e rats. . . . .. . . . . . . · ·
That is how 'this, Odu earned his name..
ofOYEKU-KPA-EKd-OSE '-''
.
---- . ' . · ,· ' · .. · .. · ·, .. ··. . . ,, ' '

~
OYBKU"lWA·KIN•OSE --~ BO'\\!;OB~GOT MARRIED TO
THE WORLD:
Oye lotun oye Josi,
Allafafun.Orunm:ila .'-...,_ ..
Ni jo ti ofe gbe J\iye ~ya
N .. be :....i.·ft
0
. 1 ,l re...... 1-
,'itt·:
This Odu. reveals how Orunmila ,succeeded in marrying the world, (Aiye) the ol)ly,
daughter of God at the beginning of time. When God crea~ the divinities, he did not, disclose
t.o them how-·t.o make Q&e of their .geni~. They did not tberef~re know ~ - significance of
the penis all4, the vulva. lt was Esu. who later J'eVealed t.o the penia ancl the vulva the
motive for which:,they ,reTe created by God; oth$r than for respira~ry
24.
23.

purpcses, As soon as the divinities knew the pleasures of the genitals, it was only then.
•thatthey appreciatecrthe eonjugahignificance of the dift'eringfeatures of Aiye;ihe ci~ woman
creat.ed by God. One.t\er'.tbe'Other, beginningwithOgun-tne diviniti~'Went to God to beseech
Him for ~~~s of Aiye as a life partner; Godit,old .them one after the c>'ther to
apptoachJ1e•'!~~t~t'if she coneented, he-would have .no objection;
Whenevei-they appriaclj~'.~y~Jtowevet, she vowed that she would only marry the diviajty
who succeeded inknfiiingher secretotin·seeing her genitals in the nude. ·That .,...
,n,impossible taskbeca~se, she neither bathedn~r dressed in presence of anr one .
. -Alter 'all the· other-~vinitnjslutd tried and fm1ed, titey ehall~nged·Oruninilrtto make an
eft'ort whichhewas refuctahfto do because, he di8'not imigineh6whe could succeed where
others had failed.: He however.invited all the A~os to 'his left, and ~o-his right/for
divination. , · .. ·
. Mer di~nation; he wasJo!dto make sacrifice·which he was to carry by himself after
'midmarht; tot.he rivetinthe heart of the foristofheavenJrhe following day, He oellected the
materials for the sacrifice and it was pi'epllTff•by all the 'Awos'. As lioo11:-'88' he made sure that
all' living creatures had slept, that is, .aft.er midnight, he carried'the sactifte'e
-and left fer the river In the ·middle of the fonst ii\ totalda.rkness:, " ·. .; .~ ''.. • .
'·, ,:Whenh&'ewm~11dlygot ~ th, river; ·he knelt dowtr by the bank and held the Jiterifice ·.
onlbbt'tttiands arid began to.pray. He ·prayed thatlie had come to make the si~nM:in 'wdet
to,J:,e able' to see th~ genitals of Aiye, thtfdtiughtet ·of God in the nude be~au~;he
wanted to marry her. Unknown to him however, that was the very point and tillftl ~t
•whi~h Aiye wa's having her:noaumat bath, although, he did not se~ her; · · ·
As he waif praying, Aiye exclaimed!~- ' ·
Oitinmila, otfnili()hd'mi'ni gb&hin,,
- , Iwcrniluin ·lcfrl· idi Aiyei -·- · · · ·C

;;;•1wo .mkan lortt'l'f glieAiye shay&;

'-, ...••• Ing:.·· _, ;,. ..,
· ··:. ·'ontn,pilJL yeu have at last; ·· · ., e fi -!

se&n my genitals in the nude.

·c", Ttius; you are the only divinity,

That ha'B known the sehet of the world,

_'··And theref~. the· only one' : .. : w
: ·-:: Who can have her as a wifel · ·~ · ,-;,.. e ., ,:-

go
She embraced Orunmila and dmeed;up at once to with him to the palace of God, where
she proclaimed him as her eternal husband. That event explains the reason why
Orunmila remains the only divinity ti.t knows the secrets of the world. ·
At divination, theperson should be tokl to.have his own lfa without any delay. It'the
divi...iion is made in connection with a proposed marriage, the man should be told to have his
own lfa before approaching the woman, if he is to succeed in marrying her. If the man is
already married however, he should nonetheless, be told to have his own lfa becauae, the new
marriage will transform him·futo fame and fortune. If it is a woman making the enquiry for
marriage, she should beJiold that she is the wife of Orunmila and

9S
 ;:. ..·_'i.· c : ' ,·.,· •

~11 onlyauc,;eecJ in life if 1he marries •man ~vinghia ownlf~ unleu she can pei,uade
the 1'1,itor 'to havJJria ~wn Ifa before ~arrying her. ,~., , .
. Atitbor'• s~ note . . . .. ,. . 'i . .. , ••• , ; . \,

Ii ie neceaaal')' to r.eeolve tJu~ ei1;9ilari.ty l>etwe~n t.he fore".'JOlPC passage on A,iye and
tbdint pa888ge of thie Chapter on.Ire, 'ffiey a~ simply tw~4ifl'erent sides of~ same coin,
having ~e9 revealed by aepar,ate ~~«>:rif.ies,on .the ~~
''
MADE·:Q~TION 'J:O RE,i·f(~fCONFIDEN'Q!! OF QKE.AF'}1m .. .
A)THE$.f\WO$TOJ..D~.,-~ WOULD.NEVQQOSP$R:
Igunko ld>o. ohup o?'~· Awodiko g¥~ 91'i e~~- Th! ywture faileclto listen to:,\Jle:voice
of heaven and Awodi tried to catch fisli ~thout bailing wat.er. . ·· .,
These were the two diviners who 'ltl~de 'di\'lnaµo,n for Oke when he was. ~dv.ised to
discard hi, 1ft: beeaase he 'Ya& never going to prosper. He.left tAeir pla~in tears and
• cri~ hl.s .way home, witil )>.e. met otlier., .• wo11. called: A bogun4e, J.he,lfa ptjest from
~h,llanfl;Asagede, the lfapriest ofljesha.,MpaK.c;,:k.o in Koko t'nko ogban,ikin lowo da aj.
oju okpan, the A~o wl)o made Jpn divination wjt~ ~Y Instead of;5~n ~ds .
. 'Ph.e threeAwos askecUmn. why\e was "yipg,tt,nd he ~lain.ed tha\19meAiY.iilers\lad
adrised him to .throw away hiit lfa (lk.in) ~use be W&S never JOiDg ~ J1T,OSl),er in life . ••
lted.for. the ()du that appeared for him clwiJlg the c:liwnatu>n, be repliecU.hat it was
Oyekq.~Kpeku~Ose.. .., ,
,They however re~&§Sured him that,h~wow,.d p,;ospe:r provided. bes w411.able,tc>,,JM.ke
sa~ce with a ram, eku-emo and the clothes he was wearing.He :went to ~rrowmoney to make
the sacrifice. Three months Iater, he ~ese>prospero ••• ~t he~~ed two wives at same time,
began to have cl1lldren and repaid the loan, bujl~bja OYfA ~~ and bought a horse for his
trading business. Three years after the sa.crifi~ ~.wesaiven a chieftajncy title. H'e made a
feast to which he invit.ed the two sets.of A~.wb4~de contradictory divinations for him. He
sang in praise of his lfa and tbal•)h.™' Awos
who made the sacrifice that brought him eternal prosperity. ·
· · }Vhen this lfa appears at Ugbodu, the person will be forewarned that.he i1:tlibly to meet
some seers, most probably, Christian :visio8-ries, who wiU advise.,hin1 to discard his1fa. He
should seek a second opinion before abiding by t;heir adviee. If it appears at diyination, the
person will be told that he should arrange to have his own lfa ifhe is to prosper. He ~hould
not listen to any doom anq.gloomdiviners, visionaries,or ~~.

/
 Chap~16 OYEKlJ .. OFUN
OYEKU - WO .-LE - OFUN
OYEKU ~YA rJUN - OKU,
' '. >1; ·:: \
.". Not much is known aboutthe heavenly w9~~s of Oyeku-Ofun, Onmn}i~'.how,vcr~.
promised t().ffUJ.ke subsequent revelations which would later appear~n ~ revised
edition of' this book if the writer lives long enough to do so. · ,,, ". ..
Before leaving heaven however, Oyeku-Ofun went to two A wos for divqiation of
whatto dofora successful sojourn on earth; The names of the Ifa Priests ~= ..
ungbo ti OI'Q; and 'Ojo ungbo ti Oro.' He· was ·.advi~ to make sacrifice 8:Cc~se
Ojo

every~C>dy h~ ca~, across was going to cheat him on earth. He was told ~n:wcc
sacrificewith a tortoise, but refused to do it He subsequentlycame to the world: ~he~
he to<»e,to farming with the name of Ero. He}'.nainly planted yams in his farmtyhich
yielded prolific harvests. The good harvest from his farm coincided with generally ,
ba4 harvests for other farmers in that plll'ticuJar year. He was the only one who had
yarns available for sale in his ~- ., .. . . '
Meanwhile, a man called DAPA hatched a pl~ for stealing yams from his farm.
He prepared a rectangular basket with a wooden base (akpere in Yoruba and agban in
Bini) with which ljapa used to steal yams from Ero's farm. affer loading.the ~ontainer
with yarris, he would cover it wi~ a white c.loth to make it look like aeoffin and
would start singing: Joungbo ti oro, Joungbo ti oro. Eniyan mefa, Loun ku}9,ko Ero.
Oun logbe lo ori eyi Ko ya fun Oku. Meaning: Six persons have died today in Ero' s
farm. Those who forbid to see corps, should hide their faces away. Meanwhile.
' ' ' ' . '

the people farming for Ero began to wonder who was s~~ing yam~ from their farm.
They appealed to Ogun and Orunmila who refused to ·go because, they. forbid to see
human corpse. Ero then went to Orunmila for divination on what to do apprehend the
thief. He was advised to serve Esu with he-goat and to make sacrifice with a tortoise.
The tortoise was used to _serye Osanyin or Osun-nake, . He m~e the
sacrifices. . .. .· .
··· A.tiereating his tortoise, Osanyin parceled himself with leaves and concealed
. .~
himself behind the farm barn of Ero' s farm. The next day, Ijapa again came to the
farm, load~)is container with. yarns and qnqe more, covered it with white cloth.

·Ashe t~rned't~ retum home, he saw a ~n,ril.pi.µcel ~hind the. barn and picked it
up. As he opened it, he found a small in,age,pf Osanyin or sigidi inside the parcel,
97
 Osanyin instantlyfaccused him of,,s~alin, and pierced his magic wand (Uranke)
inJo;the anus of ljap · .. Tha~ wand is ~hh.· wr·~r. ~ an·.·u .. s·o· .. ·J., the tortoise to
this ~~y. ?n getting home, under . sanyin" s escort.he was tried '?efo~ court of elders,
found guilty
of robbery and exec ted. . · · · · · ·. · · ·
When · this t)du comes out. at divination,. if the person does not already have
chiTdteti, tte. ~uld be told to make sacrifice to· avoid'problenjs' in ;~~vin{~hildren.
lfhealreat\Y'has children', he should also make sabjfice'to·av<>id 16si~g' tb~m one
after
the other~· • ·· ·· ··
··· HE-MADE DIVIHATION FOR EWE-EBlBA or (EBIEBA· IN BINn >'Before
t

leaving heaven, Ewe-Ebib~ was advised to. make sacrifice, and to refrain f~ -~ng
friends on earth;'iri order to obviate the risk of bcingus¢ ~~t' la~r
disca:rdetl by ingratesY She did- not make the sacrifice. · · . ·· · ..
01fgetting to the 'W!)rld, she, was befriJnding allkinds of. Wonten';eS'pecially fak_
complbcioned ones. · ·' < · · ·; . > · · "' •, ·,
They howeverbegan·to use her for wrapping Eko_ (Akasan), ~ (ttnieki)' and
moyin-moyin (Emieki-ere ). After using her for theihr*1ing purpose.s:'s"He -~as
ofteri dise&tded andcast away.' 'That"is the fate of Ewe-Ebib~ to this day, hii account
of the
saC'imce- she'failed to make in heaven, i . I. . . . .
; ;

W'hen·she is being used to wrapariypudding, and beingunfolded bet'6re'bdng

discarded; she 'sings in remembrance of theAwos who made clivio~tiori1fbf;1l~r in
i. __ ,_: ' ·: .. · . . . . ' ., .. ..,,... ;'
hetrven'who were as follows» ..
_. , , ~gbon'Omi ni jujo Ori igi, ; ·
Ade biiti ni jujo Eba Ona, -· Won
difa fun ghongbon gi lya,
- · To 'ko ori igi si ile, Tolob eko ati ekuru sho 're.
When·it comes out at divination for a woman, she should be advised not to leave·
her husband to avoid becoming useless Iike the Ewe-Ebiba used for wrapping1Ekc{
andEkuru. · ·

HE MADE DIVINATION FOR A YOUNG HORSE RlDER:

A young man who was still learning how to ride on a horse soon began to boast
that he was capable of defeating the popular Jockey in the town. When the J ockey
was told aboutthe' challenge from the young man,
he sent words to him to learn more
horse
98
riding before challenging him to a contest, because, a toddler cannot win a race with an
adult. The young man went for divination to:
Yaa a fun Oku, Yaa fun Eniyan, Gbirigidi lu koto ..
He was told not to risk the contesn.but that if hewas determined to go'ahead, he should
offer a he-goat to.Esu to avoid sudden deathin the process: Since he had no laarels to win
from the race.even if he won it, he saw no justifiable reason for having to go into the
heavy expense of buying a he-goat for sacrifice; Without heeding the advice of the Awos,
he went ahead to formally challenge the Jockey'to a race/When the contest began, Esu to
whom he refusedto make any sacrifice, quickly went to his trail, pushed· him and he fell
down, dead.
· When it comes out at divination for a.man, he should be warned not t0 embark on a
venture he is determined to risk, especially if it resolves into a boastful. challenge of a
more elderly person. He will not win the contest, but if he must go through with it, he
must offer a he-goat to Esu before doing so in order to avoid the risk of sudden death.

OYEKU-Y A-FUN-OKU:
Oyeku and Ofun were close friends: lfa
Oyeku wo He ofun,
Igba nala ni,
0 nlu kiji ka inu oko, t
Oyeku was told to make sacrifice with a big hs-goat to be buried on the ground to
avoid death to a close friend. He did not do the sacrifice; Meanwhile, Oyelm went on a
visitto Ofun' s house. Ashe satdown in the house, he sa wpeople<:arrying 'the corpse of
Ofun into the house having di~ in·the farm. Oyeku quickly turned ·his face to another
direction having been warned never to see a human corpse; That was how this Odu got
the sobriquet of

,0¥EKU•YA•FUN-OKU .:
,If it comes out at divination Qr,at Ugbodu, the person will be told that someoneclose
to him will die suddenly but that he should endeavor to avoid seeing the corpse: He
should make sacrifice so that the dead of aeloserelation is not brought to his house.

HE MADE DIVINATION FOR ATRADEB: ·. '

A cloth trader went to Onmmila to find riot what to do-to flourish in his business.
He was advised to offer he-goat to Esu. Hewas also told to make asmall drum with
''9
 the-skin of the he-goat andto always putthe drum within his cloth-wares when going
to the market. He made the sacrifice.
As soon ~s the skin of the he-goat dried up, he used itto prepare a smalldrum
which he kept withirr.the load of clothes he was going to sell inthe market. The
following
.dayras hewas.going to.the market, he was accosted by three armed bandits; Asked
where he was going, he replied that he was on his· way to the market to · sell his
·ff\Crchandise ofcloths. They requested him to give them one'piece of cloth each but
he refused. They ,retorted by seizing the entire merchandise from himand left for-the
ware-house where they kept the loot of their. robberies in the heart of the forest. When
.· they got to Ute ware-house, they putdown the parcel of cloths but to their
amazement,
asaotiege
~omething tiege toritoboo
began asho
sing the following song from within the luggage:-
tiegetiege tori boo Osho
geregere tori boo.

Which happened to be the names of the three bandits. Out of fright and curiosity,
they opened the parcel of cloth and found the talking drum that had been singing with
their names. As soon as they sat the drum, a boa (Oka or Arumwoto) came out of the
drum and biteach of them. As they pursued the boa to kill it, each of them dropped
dead.
, Meanwhile, the trader went to Orunmila to find out what to. do about the three
bandits who hadrobbed him. Infact, he accused Orunmila ofcheating him by advising
him to make asacrifiee which only manifested in mis-adventure. Orunmilakepthis
cool and after.divination, advised him to return home at once because he would soon
: recover his stolen wares at a premium. He never knew what Orunmila meant.
The trader returned home with mixed feelings. Not long afterwards, he heard a
voice calling on his name at the back of his house. ·When he went out to verify who
was. bailing on his name, he found the small drum which he kept within· 'his
merchandise, dancing in circles and commanding him to follow him back into the
forest. He accordinglyfollowed the direction of the drum which led him first to the
corpses of the three dead bandits and later to their forest ware-house.
Not only did he retrieve his cleths, he also inherited the entire loots of the robbers
in the ware-house. He packed everything to· his house which consisted of all
imaginable goods of value and money. The unexpected find made him so rich that he
was later ~!v:n a high chieftaincy title in the town.
100
 When this Odu comes out at U gbodu, the person should be told to give a big hegoat to
Esu, and to use the skin to prepare a drum which he will put on the shrine of his Ifa if he
has one. If he does, not already have Ifa, he should arrange to be initiated · into lfism
because, Orunmila would bring prosperity to him. At ordinary divination, the person
should be told to make the same sacrifice and warned that he would become" tl\e Victim
of an imminent robbery. If he makes the sacrifice, the robbery will surely become a
blessing in disguise.

/ •

101
 n
IFI~SM',
I Vol4
I
The complete works ofI
ORUNMILAI
THE ODUS OF IWORI

C.Osamaro Thie
B.Sc Econs (Hons) London. B.A. Econs (Hons)
Strathclyde FIAMN '(Hons) GOA {Hons)
 IFISM: The complete works of Orunmila, Vol. IV i:t a conunuaucn of the series on
Ifism. In this volume, the author has made a brief review ofho\V the kolanut came to be such
an important snack in both heaven and earth: Orunmila came to know so much about 1 secrets
of the universe; and the inhabitants of the universe strive to have a blissful end \O their lives.
Thereafter he goes on to reveal the experience oft he fifteen ODUS of'lwori-mcj: in heaven
and on earth. This book is an invaluable complement to the library of all seekers of true
religious knowledge. and the adherents of Orunmila and Ifa Divination.

About the author:

Mr. Cromwell Osarnaro lbie was born on 29th September,
1934. He received his elementary and secondary education ~t
Benin City in Edo State, Nigeria between 1941 and 1953. He
joined the-Colonial Civil Service on 1st February, 1954 where
he rose to the rank of Executive Officer before proceeding to.
the United Kingdom for further studies.
During his stay in the United Kingdom he studied at the
Universities of London and Strathclyde where heobtained the
'B'Sc (Hons) in Economics from the University of London and
B.A: (Hons) in Economics from the University of Strathclyde.
He returned to the Nigerian Federal Public Service in
September 1963 where he rose to the rank of Permanent Secretary. a position from ~ mch
he.voluntary retired on 1st April, 1980. .
·Mr. Ibic was recently made an Honorary Fellow of the Institute of the Administra\1ve
Management of Nigeria(F J.A.M.N.) and made a Cer(ificdand Distinguished Administruter
~DAJ '
Mr. lbie is currently engaged in private business in.Lagos and Benin. In addition tolic1
a Director of Several industrial and commercial compauies, he is the chairman and C
Executive of:

Efehi !,td.
A.E.G. {Nigeria) Limited,
()(fin Biscuits Manufacturing Co. Ltd.
Nigerian Fishing Nets Ltd.

He is also a member of the Governing Council ()f the University of Bc1

25.

Scanned For The First Time, July

2012 - Lowo Awo Ogbe Ate, "R.G."
Puerto Rico Contents

. J>r<>l<>~e----·--·--------··------------------------------------------i
1. The Creation of the K<>lanut---------------------------------1
1. I wori-Bo' gbe------ .• ----------------------------------------------12
1. lw<>ri-Oyeku------:-----------------------------------------------23
1. lwori-ldi---------------------------·---· ---------------------------29
1. lwori-Obara------------------------------------------------------35
lwori-Oberu
lwori-Obebe
6. I wo ri-0 ko n ro n---------------------------------------------------4
5
lwori-Elekan-OrunKan
Iwori-Elesekan
7. Iwori-I rosu n---------------------------------------~-~~:,---·-------
lwori-Kosun
8. 55
Iwori-Owan ri n------------------~------------------------~~"i.,--~-
9. 63 I wo r i-O gun da---------------------~-------------------------
----.~77 lwori-Aweda
l 0. I wo ri-Osa------------- ---------------------------------------.;-----
85
11 I wo ri- E tu ra-------------------------------------------------------- It ii· Jl<nr:-1>u6dlntly dear :that maohastotally marginalized
. 99 even the God be. created and given pre-eminence to bis quest
,for money. '.fo many. avowed 'NOtshippers of God, He is· only
lwori-Tukpeere Kpe roievunt in so far as He .optimises. their· pursuit of money. God is
Iwori-AJumo not against the pursuit of money for our needs, WS"at is
12 abominable is the pursuit .. of money to satisfy our 8fOCt.' ·1nd the
. I wo ri-Ire te----------------------------------:·-------'::------------- power it wields. It is ,not,surpr.ising th.at in ~'- cbof\Uses from the
lwori-Were
120 tock, T;S. Eliot cried out that "Man has left God not for other
• gods butfor no god and for the pursuit of. money", and why .the
lwori-Ajimuke German philcsopher Friedrkh Wilhelm . Nietzsche in his " Also
• lwori-Ajirute Sprach Zarathustra", ,amented thatthrough man's lovefer material
13 power. "We have killed God." W.T. Jones even went on to query
.
I wori-Eka---------------------------------------- · ----------------- ~why did a merciful loving God endow man with the freedom to
132 sin, and did not· instead, make him a necessarily good creature?
14 "He went on to conclude that "God both blames us and punishes us
.
lwori-Ayoka for the sinful acts of which, it now appears, He is the soul author",
I wori-E tu ru kpon------------------------------------------------- '.'If the existence of-an Omni-potent, and Omni-scient God is a
reality", others have asked, "it lie knew irr advance that mart was
140 lwori-Tomokpon going to be over-whelrnec by evil, why did He not endow him
15. I wori-Ose------------------ ----------------------------------------- differently"? ·
Iwori-Petu
149
lwori-Wese
lwori-Ijesha
lwori-Wowo Volume H. of this series has already answered those questions. It
lwori-Sekpere is the tribal god created by man that has become the victim of the
law of unintended consequences, not Goo the creator of all
16 I wo ri-Of u n-------------------------------- •. -----------------------
. existence, who perforce had t<:>.
-164
lwori-Afin

ia
live with the reality ofE, •• ,.iuarm1, CPMO~::tnih the law of
opposites. Esu found in money and power a rough and ready bean-
winner nd ills:~·imiecktllem,as~ , . tools for wrapping up
the, souls.:of .men.::)fhat::is.iwhy -tcidaJ· . ·, as always, since.• the
birth of capitalisin, - marxet economics is ) ·. ,, , being
paradedasthe.panaceato all huinan probl~. ,_,·., ··
,?.( \
1'.
In his book orl"Worldly Philosophers~R<JbeitL. Heill>ronet\·
disclosesrhowthe birth of.,m~rket. e~ :in, Franc,e: causeo-
fn'.1623 the execution of 16~000 peopfe':for importing printed
ealicoes". In England he repott~tthat,afterta fuut·df her kingdom,
Queen Elizabeth. I made'. a "starsltng: plaint when she lamented
that the market system: had created paupers everywhere by
displacing the independent Yeoman. who was the pride of;
England". He went on, to: add that "after being displaced by the
market system;. thi• yeoman· became a robber, 'beggar,
vagabond; pauperJ, aimiserable .. · labourer · and' a · tenant". ·
He · concluded ·tHat 'the., 111arket · system brought agony in its
wake "an agony1thatbeganin the -13th century and did not ton its
course until ~lt)into the 19th century", · The market . system 'can
only ,thrive 'as .. long as there is· a -Peter to rob in order to pay
Paul; and; there. are national arid international veritable
parallelsvin this day and age. ' ';\;. l :· · , · :
The emphasis it places on personal gains stimulated the age of
treasure hunting, piracy, i plundering, wars, .sa:ys Heilbroner:
He went on· to add: that "After Ithe"Polo brothers had reported
on the fabulous wealth '0f'the great Khan of the far East,
Christopher Columbus went in search of foreign treasure under
the auspices of Queen Isabella,
ji
-
"}, Columbus , a..ad other sailor.cai>italists (a 'euphemism for, · ..
piracy~Jrom England; Spaib'affll Portugal.brought a flood of
ttreasut'ft :to'..Btitope• )'Gold" :Christopher Columbus. had said,
f'.ris: a ~r.derfuV.tbingl WhQf:'ft>r ·pOS5eS$CS it:~ ;master of
11··.··everytliJng·lle•ddsires". Columbus added in the mood of the
en ·time· . "with gold ,,one, . can -: even get souls into: he:aven"
Heilbr<>*r--adds·a rejoinder·"the treasures ofthe East-were (at
that·'time)· truly fabulous" (and that) "with the share
.:,,e:~msdt'5.alt0Ckholder in Sit Francis·Drake's (piratic) ci voyage
of)be Golden:Hynd. Queen :Elimbeth,i, PJ1id ~ all 6;:
\Qf·!England~1 :foteip debts,.·balaace~ 'its budge~ and invested ft,
.tbtoadnlt ·-~ large .enoµgh~ .. at.. oompound,dnte~tr to
.;:,:·,t~tftl·,r, Britain'-s',entire .overseas wtalth ht .. 193V.··, .;·:
',, '· \ ., I
. .1J.;'.;l'his cl~..-ly, ~emofM!trates uiat the explorations made, by
·I··~PP'~Jl'. ,co.RP~~ l,et\VeeJJ the .. sixteenth .and "·the
• ni-.u;~mtb., c·:.nturies wer~ :.: n<>t in$pjl'ed · .. by phiJ,nthrQpic
considerations, but by crass self interest, and greed for tn:
mggey.0~Q ~r thatit\1.9SC :who revi~d.W~,gospel ln the
n;,;~\~lei~&.,·.ro'8,~ ~giijed ,the• pillage .• of~taking fl'Qm. he
t,;11~t~.Pt'f:;:{~,~),Jb~Ji~e •hat he basand given to r
~:.~HJ\:::t'h•t ~- (~ .l'i~t ~J- · ill the greater glory of,~God".
The .. ~e-faced robberies that .•went· . under t~ glorified
~' ~~~~J~~i,Qri:· .Jiiµs .. stultiq~~,\ .. · the n;~~ural
'evolutiQnafY: developlt"ents of the colonised countries. The
scramble for.
Afri~,;t~~ ,,r~tiQn, of tJie :Jtc;d Indians and ~borigines of
Northi~ $pu.~Alp~ri~AU$Ulllia..N~ Zealand and the
neu.:,11~:
between
~r· s.s~:; ~ugh, _.. · ttwibo1y- 'allia.a# ·
church t.n:f state; were. all • pale euphe'N'm for the
imdtutionaU.ced banditry of stealing from the poor to enrich
iii
, , the rich, The fact that it was all done so neatly by<using the
opium of religion to anaesthetize the colonised, :peoples while
at the same time carting away their God-givenwealth, has
tended to give· the scriptures a black· eye •. The tragedy
, of the situation is that even today, little has··chqed:except .that
the much discredited imperialism has moved to the
•market place in the guise of "market economies".
> ' ' '
Since money had made life on earth more important, it:also gave
, .prominence , to material ,standards·· ·and ·:ordinary .' comfort
' Jt .was only, a matter of time beforti.ishe': '~horch
··,· move~·away from •eulogising a ,life;;of. piety and-1Spi,iJual
contemplation.- According to Heilbronet;t,Acquisit._ness
became a recognised virtue for the greater glory of God 'and
riches became identified with spiritual :excellence'\ .Atfthis
point, it is relevant to reflect on how the btisine~ ~Dey-
.making affected-tehgien directly rather than obli~i_i,
, , .. ·· t,',:'~(::· 1::;.:)~· --· ~· ---,.".~
Like Rome 'itself, the wealth of the churcb'Wa!S: ndf·tiullt {n '
a day. FollowinS 'the christianisation of the PagatiJt{j~an
•Empire, Emperor' ··Constantine, transfettt(l :·,~~mei:ital
wealth to the Roman Catholic church, betweefi 312ud'321
He is said to have created the 'firs(ridf'~ in Sylvester I, which
provoked the famous lamenta,dns of
Danter- ' · ·. , · ·· ',<rJl'\/·:.\
"Alas! C~nstantine, how much ~~fortunfY#'; :~
.. ·. : caused, not by becom~ng c&Jistian,
bu!,.bt.~~~,,,,'' · dowry, which the fir$t rich Father
accepted
from you". , .. · . ·· ' ' · r .· ,; \ . ,)'"'
iv
'fbo1 -. p.rdpensity for wealth led· to the secularisation .. of the
church and the length. the church Yent with d:re doctrine of
iridulge pee ·to enrich itself is nowna. household .cliche.: The,
A ' ' •
ditcle was rounded' up Hy the benevole111<:e of Dictator Benito
I
. .Mussolini in, J929. In the modern era, the one man who
·' brought the Catholic church to the money market was a .layman
called Bernardino Nogara.
'J,', ' ~
••••
.According to David Yallop in his book, "In God's Name",
"Pope Pius XII appointed Nogara to deal in the money ,Jnarket
on behalf of the Catholic church" and the man built
•a gargantuan financial empire for the Holy See before he ,.4ied
in 1~158. This is what David Yallop says about him:{"This one
man who demonstrated that, wherever Christ's ., Kingdorr might
be, that of the Catholic church was most .assuredly cf this world,
was given (this) memorable epitaph :.:by Cardinal Spellman of
O! New York". "Next to Jesus Christ, "the greatest thing that has
happened to the Catholic church
,is Bernadino Nogara."
, The church has not been alone in the money market. The, :
strangle-hold which the Middle E~t have on the world .money
A'·D. market in the name of Islam and Judaism is a ; household
knowledge .. : ;,Itj~;: Jh~re .that we. have the richest
J11""1ifli,Jh<;,,1~orld, whi~h, .makes it an .opulent oasis in a
.desert of penury. In the sanJe:v.cin, it is. important to
,femember th~t tq~ w.o9c;y;~111a,-~ing spre~.,originated in the
far
East, the homc;ip(BtiuqJs111. , ·, , _ . .,.
Nonethele~~. it is not unreasonable to imagine that it was not
religion that stimulated the acquisitive stimulus in man.
V"
27.
26.

What.of man's present scramble for the conq~est.ol spaee'i

Having exploited the resources of an anthropocentric and .a
geocentric. world, man is now so cager ro break new gr<>Unds, in
CHAPTER'ONE
other· planets. Woo will, say thaf<Esu. has not succeeded in
(;-(
taking over and manipulating the mindof man.. '

~'- ~~ouon. o~ ~e ~~~~~u~;

.. 9e·: kelanut · is· the' symbef of prayer in' ieaven. It_ is _also a F
sna~k, but whenever' it is presented, its consumption 'is
. .~ ·)>re:~eded :by-' praye'r's: . Orunrnila h'as revealed -how: the
t/fijah\'it \vns· created. · · ··, - · _; '., ·.: ,
'f;1 . J..
-.., ,..., ... '
.f,j,,j
'. ', .,
_.,, / ' 1
.~ ·.·'
' ',, .

)'pen God discovered that the divinities were fighfing against one
I
another, but before it became dear that Esu was 1'~0:~sible for :it,
He decided to invite-the fourmost even~ \ft,npeted 'of 'the'
divinities.These were, Peace,' Prospetity.· ~#cord ·and .Aiye, the
only female divh1ity created by Go<f.;,, ··
l'b;r-:) 1c ,, A ; , ',. :. .!.' '· •
!; •..
·;
~: •yi'delibetated··at length on why juniors were no ·tc>rigef• respecting
: sefiiors -as <frdai'ried by the· Divine·council. They0all • b~gan to pray
1
'Written By: for the return of unanimity and rapport ... As they ~f~:prayi ng for
1
the restoration of harmo11y·, God stretched out Hfii:~ig1t·rha'n'd and
,, MR; C. :osAMARO IBIE' . ,, . :! ,;' ,.
;
taught the open air. -' He also stretched His
•RETIRED •FEDERAL PERMANENT Ijffihand.;6~f·~nd···agaih caughtthe open air. Thereaftet,·H~ ~fit
SECRETARY out~ide witlf His 'clenehed fists· and planted the content of
B.Ss. Ecdns. (Hons.)· tondott ~ftthand!;:'·ofi:th~ ground. ·He had'colleoted the prayers for
, B.A Econs (Hons.) Strathclyde 1Mtmm1y,'ahid(,planted'it. .
FIAMN (Hon.)
CDA (Hon.). The next day, a plant grew on the spot where God planted the

vi i
prayers He caught in the air. It soon blossomed into a full blown
plant and it began to flower, and to bear .fruits. When the fruits
were ripe for barvesting, they .began to drop to the ground.

Aiye collected some of the fruits and brought them to God and
H.e1 told her, to go and do whatever she pleased with.
them.First, she, .roasted the fruits, but they changed text~; which
made
tq~~llJ.IW~table.. Next day, she collected .more frui~ and
cooked them, but they also changed colour and so <:ould ftot be
eaten. Others were making similar abortive trials
simultaneously. ) .
AlL, those who. tried ... unsuccessfully to roast. ~d .to.CQOk
t1Je kolanut fruits. eyentually trooped to. God, to-report ~ion
iniP.9&$ible. When no one knew what to do with the kol&AUt$.
Elenini (ldoboo ), the obstacle Divinity and keeper of God's
chamber, volunteered to take custody of the. fruits. ~I tbe.
plucked: fruits were subsequently surrendered to him.

Elenin! thensplitthe casings, cleaned and washed the ~\lt$ after

which he kept them with leaves to stay fre:sh for fou"e~ ~~
Tbereafter, he began to eat them raw. He waited f91" ...n·otb4r
fourteen days, after .. which he . remained hale . ...nd
hearty.Subsequently, he brought the frults to the Oivine.Q;>undl
and told everyone that the product. of prayer (Obi),:CO.Uld be

2
eaten raw without any harmful side-effects,

It was then that Goddecreedthat since it was Elenini,the· eldest

divinity in His household who succeeded 'in decoding the puzzle of
the product of prayer, the kolanut should from then on not only
become a staple snackin }l.eaven but ~l~otjlp.~ whenev~r, ,it was
presented, it should be given to the eldesfperson sittirig'in the. midst
of any.gathering, and .. !ts consumption should. al'.Yays be.
preceded by prayers. God however proclaimed that ~\ a
srmbolofprayer, it could only grow in places where peoplcsgive
respect to their elders.' ·· · · ···

.At. that meeting of the Divin~'c:o~·~cil., ·the (i~~t kolanut W:~s

split l)y: Gop Himsel( and it. hall t.WP pieces, . Hr J<>~k one
P.~c~ and. gave the other .pie~ to. Elenini .• t11e· 1·mostsenior
,di~iniiy around.. The. next ·o,ne· was ID~dc up of. three
p1ec¢s·'w}li~h ripresented '. the 'three ~al~ . divinhJes wljo sald
)h.e. praxer~, t~~t gav~ l>!rth .to tpe ·~9l~nui. The ~e~t'one)~d
.t~~r. pfc,~~s\~wc~ included the only', W0'11~n w,h.Q . waf
present,ijt 'the, ce,re,-np9y (Aiye).The next one had five pieces
which' included· Orlsa-Nla
.(Qghene in Bini) -. , TAC _ .tl~~t J>.ne .~a~i.,.s.ix. pief~S. ,whicp
r~preserite4 H~mot:iy 'YhiclJ was
the. wish_q:r thif: ~1yin·e
..
pr,~~t~.
'the· Six,-piece ,kQ)S.-:{lUt W2~. tnen., CQt lJltO .
p}ec,e~)cfgo}otjo~
Subsequently, Aiye b~ought ~ola11ut to .eart~·~h:e'ri}\s_pf~s~#
everybody else. at the, cot1pcil: . . .· - ' ... ' : .-
•. _j ' • • ~ ••

3
28.

cort)j.ng contest, .. Orn,~~ quickly. map, diyination in.~l;liCth tie

was marked by prayers, and w.hete· it Only germititl'teff· un11 was told to .Q.lake. offeripg~ tQ ES1,&,comprising;a.h~ .•
flourished in commu~ities of. huma~ beings wh~re ,tqere w~s g~t,cc.Pc.-i, groundnuts, gourd of water.yarns and plantains. He
respect for elders, and ancestors· and where tradition wds made the offeffllSS·. OnJh~ ~pp~iqJed day.Charm.and Sacrifi~e
glorified. , · ''" appeared at ~e. p~ace of Qoq for t.he .conte§t. qq~. decided ~o
keep eac:h o.f them. in, sec,h1si~n for se.y.~n days ,~itllq:ut food,
Wby £venioa Is $en1or· Io M9Dliu·•; water
•and visitors. They· were both )QFk~d up 1ill, ;5epa.rat~ .. rooms,
,...... , .. , .... · · ·· .': .. '· .· .· ·,.' ,. ··;i 1
;
.. . . . . . . ; .. · .....:".. • . ·., ' ' . ; ' : [' ' d t
The first child del.ivered by Aiye for Orunmila~~'.FaJI~~ Ebp Sacrifice is traditionally very senile and feeble and everyone
(Ese In Bini) or saptifjce. He helped his father. t<) 1a'.~c~~~Ush 1 •tJ:l~µg}Jt he. wo~,1(\ JlQ~ be ,ijble) iq.endtJre J<;>r :three.
all difficult tasks. · After Aiye had married. Orunrt\ila;the' (jtb er daya,1Charm on the other hand, was. robust, ajile and: ·M~~i~c;,
divinities appealed to God to create wivesfor 'therti'to'matcy aM n9 ()Ile doubted his ability to endure the ordeal. · ···· · ·· ·· ·· ·
becaus~ of .. t~e ,gr9~in~ en~ agains! OrunmHa,: .. ~~~ ~O,t, llJa
(Efae m B~1) for a. Wlf e. . San go got Oya orl,sij~ei\ini fqt 8 li~e(Y m9rpiiig ~p, ;veajp&,, ijµ ·. ~~µ~~, •J?p¢~~ lo:
w!f~; • .Death get ;Aru~ ,.(EII1i~'.n~we~ .. f~·BinQ,," ~r )iF,~~~ .l~,, Jpom ,o~~p~e4 bt Sa,,c~ifice ;ui~: ~v~\.hWJ c9~~,
f,o(~ ~fe and qs,un._'got Osa,nyin, (~e .in Bmi) for, a .Wiife: gr9u,nd9~AA, .in(;at or ya.~ a.n4,w.ater.~, JI~:~M1qµiet
';~<t~ sa,c:rifice, .: w~ .. • born ' in. th~:-'.¢y~ning 'Yhilsf. ;JJr~'1jQ<>,yt,;0;Q~ .t~ t,lurd day. Charm .. ~~ .\:>egiJWing tq gr~
~!g~di; or. ~#e , (esgteric: char~)' was, born 't~e. i~ ~RP ~q, coµipl~{n that .~~ fPUlO IJ<>tl~t tAA· ~ev~;<la,.ys.,;0».,th~
111orning~ .· $i$i~i or ~~_atrl,i _was fqurt~ 4'iY, (;q~rm_ (ab1t~d and w~~:he.~p ,rqµn~:~Clcq9.fk~q.,at
a tneta-phy$ician who was capable of petforriting ·an'. kih(U'ef ~.h~ d~r, tq. be)et out ~~a~ he w~ prepai;e,~ to ~m:;~de.
.,.i,: i, ,, ·- , i_'
,I _;,:, ··.· ;
, , , ·,

m,a~1~1 re.~~~Jvhne sacrmce·perf~r~~~<st9~ty, ~?t

_-_

Ji
L· .. \:· , . ,. .... i. ·.,, .: .. i .': !.
~Mr~•t,;.
' .. ··-! f ;·.r·i\'··.·.t·'·'.'''1
~~pi<>rit)' 1'~.~. preeminence to ·:~flee. , He) W8$, i~t~l),tly
r~leas~~' enfe,eble9. humiliated
1
~}&~t Jf p1jlthe (uue pf the fr birth,, th~;_e w~_;al\Y,ays ~t~~~t ·~9m!~~~: :,,.j
. c<idct?etition'1 ~e~ee11 aiafih iricJ Sadtitic~~ . Tht1 torxttWt.(alWi\ls
i~lilimeift6
1 be Senibt · to ahcr mt1rd .. pfbfitleni tHd11.tftt in
On his part, Sacrificeinsistedthat he would stay seclusionfor tll9 -
'fatr~r: As $CNc;ll .<lays ~ ,~: to F$~~µsh th~ ~om th~t although, he w• .. born in
they were fighting one day, God itit~Nened an~fdeci~-tb e&ti the ~v~ng,, ~hilst •. his riv~l was .. born in .the mohling. E\·ening
;he,jr .~isput~ ;by. as~~ t~e~. tp, ~~~i;f or, ~}~5,~ ~fte,r~~~ wa,s 119netheless more e,nduring than
.~,~Wlten Sacrifice got home, lie tofd 1Ws parents about die 'Up-

5
30.
29.

Morning. -He survived ·the·s~ 'days• and ·\\'hen ·~··was;tifuilly
releasedhe Was as rotund ,afld as hea}fhy''ftr~. i,', ! ,N
'.>: ;; .,'/'·L~'., ·-,-_- \~·.r,.
•That is why Ortinmila' advi~es· his' fo~low~rg' ii6t ;tp'"reiy:1H>b
heavily on medicines. Or cbamis, beeaase its·· 1str~ngth 'is
ephemeral. Sacrifice will endure' rlufott 'longer than ·Chahit'~nd
will surely triiitnph in the end ... )•' <· ";
. :"_:,: i) .';I ~);··_,;·, .~· .. , •1.
1 1 1
·How M«n1111 <bwv~·,orQwtei Ann· £veuiiu CA¥ 0, .000
~arne :t#The W6tid; .. : ',i, ~· '; /it/! HI, J,c;'",' .·~:. li,' •:;:·lr m:,
· .ii: r1 r,-: .. ·{,.? i -i; r ;: ·.":.:-·rd: 1,.:-{)~J
.. ) ~.. . .. ,1:: ~ .. -. ·i
After God had sent the divinities to found the world, he erijhiried
Momiflgi·ar1d1Everii~ t6;g'° trtdlrtteetiUieirf Jref6~ leaving,
they w~re· advis~·a ifif~lieit" father~ '.the divimttofILijHt to go
·. to Orunmlla i f or: adviee. ' · driininila> told ;them·· ~b ~
·sacrifice fo'. .. o'id~('fb HV.e 'olf ~atUf.to .a ripe:'Old:':age;'rJi1b~
sacii'f1ce was: t<f ~e :riiade }*Hli· :He~1g6afttt&u,'idcffng/Sbtilih
•wool and w~l JHrig'sticlc. '. '·Motfiifift ~rd· br Owie} i:efuseli to .
make the. ~fafilfic# :Becahs~'.">~er~}\,ery 'hana~tnne: r:.~:;_itifil
'looking .Evening' · (Ale<: ::·t,t1 .,r~ta) '· mat1~ d tpcf); 1 ~~f'Re
mcavesed ·,that Owuro did ·notrmakc 'sacrif.ico, he ;w.ent zo their
ltlest brothe1v the Sun, to perswide'. :him, to go to the ~arth by "·.-
(t·:)__,:- ~- ,·:· ,H.il:·.,;):''?'., ;: ..
If beeause ,bis junior broihei;,~o ·( morning) wa, abollt ,illsgrp
1
•bis authorjty. · The Sun appeared instantly and ,within
inaittrof a .few hours; .he -generated so much beat0that Owuro s
!arced; to retreat into heav~~· After· his ::el~st:brqther .had iven
t " •• • .•• '· \.:.. him: out ofthe earth, all. those who. had"earlier,weltomod jJ)wuro
':-~··:, / ';" ~,-:"~i/.;'
(morning) began tO;ttlOki,for.shelterJromtbe heat-ofahe
'1. ·• r ._, _ ; '.·~1 .,; 1·
, soon, a's the Sun · was; satisfied, that ·he· rhatl .eailed ·, off. the
ffmf; Owuto (morning), ;he returned to Jmaven/ It.was then
, ~'.Evening (_Ale~ 'set out f for the: world; Iate, . but, :timdy. ,~
~<>pJe··were. so. happy wi thxhe :n-f'ival of Ale that all it hose who
f~a~oned Owuro.because of the. intervention ohl~ Sun began ~~:;u re-
emerge from ·;their .. ; shelters. -All those who: ,had ;/'pindu'n·ed
,,moming:rto, go about their ... daily -chores: returned Hil,e>tmt tr>
1
welcome, and enjey with Evening. That' is why Evening \~s .• mofe
.follewers than: Morning to this. day and for all: time,
::1n. t · ('" .· ,.
,:f_'(.,j "t ,.; , :;
I ,
t, '; ; ,, I

conscientiously. After the sacrifice, Ale was told1'tcf'lea'Ve fJi'te \:Mibl)k Eyenin1; More Successrur Tham·Mornin& tEyhiola<Qr "8''
for the world, .:·;j:dl~
0 ) mere ;.. , , · " ... ·. · . , · · · · ~ , · ·.,
:,d }trl.t
'·: ,.·· ·i::d:t·~ ... ~s~J. lJ'll/ /~f~~,
.:1.·,\_; ••

r:: .. ~J 'n1,;:t ., : ·; . . ·
·;&fmliowmg the experiences of Owuro .and Ale on- earth,
Owuro; who
re"fused to
miik~J~~r'ifice~ l~ft {*:fy'.~arly'. ,\i,:>runmila asked his followers which they preferred, Morning or
:ui~ earth arid was the first t013'J:rive;lt\'er~: fre wasiwa~mly );~fivening? Some answered that they preferred Morning because
receive'd on earth ana
everyone r6jdiceti=bver hi~· apptiira:n·L-c. ·'f_:1::·"'· '

Wfi~1f Est1

7
32.
31.

if one: does, not sow in the Morning, .one. cannot ,reap: in ,the
Evening. Others .·answered, that it was better to:·suffer in·.the
Morning in order to,enjoy the.Evening ofone'&1ife. :Others
answered· tt,at ·· they· preferred both Morning. and :Evening. But
OrunmHa 'insisted that no one: could eat up,all his food:ia,the
Morning andexpect·to have any.•food to eatm the(Evening, just
as· ,no·farmer can consume all the: crops of his farm.in one year
and rexpect to have seeds 1to ·· sow for the next year.,, •. ·, ··

He then illustrated the puzzle with the experience of Eyinola (Ota-

Omete · inrBini) when: he .. came· to the worldJ:. Eyinola.was
told1 to make.,sacrifke,in heaven se .tgat1·after:sufferingJit',the
morning and afternoon. on ,earth,) he,would enjoy the evening.of
his. life. ':Eyinola made the -sacr.ifice andr,came, to the··~rld where
he -grew up , in · relative' .destitution •. , L:Eventually,; .he
borrowed money from three lenders when )he ~An '.financial
difficulties .. .He borrowed three, bags of mc;,ney:from ·Morning. ' .... 1~f. : ' . ~ .. , !
~ternoon, andr Evening. . Wheri th~y :subsequently :demanded the ' '. '. ,•'
{~t Sunset, he went with his. six servants to offer the day's
-. pajment. of. thtir•debts,·:hc ·.·could,·,not ,·repay.·:the leans, l~~ito,£\tttmti'g{'·WIJeft,1Bverung·:$lw·,that·h~:was1abowt·to
Alternatively, he offered to indenture himself concurrently to '- •~)~n ,:hi1no1tor~ ,:wJth ther·assi$tanccr of sbl i;aclditional
~~;9f,:lbcti11:;iasra,set.Y~11tl;' Meanwhile,.fivehmg~ •• d Jpi~(Be';tffN>,tiiMlthatibeilMd.•no'obligation:tobtiing~ers-
become the eldest man in town and it was his turn to be: ~1supj,art rfiittt 1611Uf ~ischatge "df\bfs1·¢antractuU! ·obligations
roa~)kiai: tJ,.na,?ffiat :';tie1:::11a11cb1 •hf,ase,; RWtc tha111,>!1t0Md·· for.,,,his
The tradition institutiqnalised at the beginning of human existence dfiMeMeclriMs a1t~adt. :ffc, was insb01t1y:s1tt, fr~i r. J · . ·: , • ., ·,·
on.earth was ·lli~hip .on- the basisof seniority: ,Tlie eldest: man in r,.;,.. ,., ')''· '· \1 '/ " ; .. , ..• . · ; i '•
~i.u L ·~,,.,.,. ·~·r.J ·~ ·. '·' t · , ··' .1.

the, community. became king. ~ilf ~e~lcbinpensated' him:\Vftttia'palaee, seven :men,

.. ;:',· '

8
33.

seven •omen, one b\lnd,ed bags <>fsnPD.~Y;:~.sev,e~.eJl.(:ltof ~

•kinds of ,animals and. birds ·,and t0, aove~ tb, tQ\m will:tJwn ~
way . to inherit the abundance and satisfaction of . the
second-in-command on account ;O(·Jnsloyalty 1md 4ed~tipl) tp
evening.That is why Evening has more followers than Morning
.. and Afternoon because of ~c;,ac{ifi~~--be had the patience to
dty.u make before leaving heavep:f?,r the earth,
'.'-.c,, a..>·J
• •, ~ •.. , .Ji- .; ; ,

'lb~.· the: sacrifi~; hec'iln•de .. ~f'Ye I~a.ving, hea.v~JJ, he,4 ;a,t_

~t manifested. All. tho, sufferinp , b, · eµ~o~t"re«;l;,?f,
inyes.tec;tjn the morning and inthe afternoonhed been
a~~:rr,war4~4Jn
. the evening of.,.his life. . : ; · ·.··.,r.,., ,..... ' :'-- '. t{}
That is why everybody,prays toenjoy tbe.~ven,.ing.4)f.tll~if[HV~,
•because it was.Evening t~J, rewarded .ijyin.ol~~rt1~Q~Jy . than '. ~ \ '! , JI <~ t.
Morning .and Afternoon.- In,: yoruba, ~e.s.~yi ~~- 014i (Qlf)
and.IaBiniwe say Ota-Omere .(Ere).,,:,1'1:o .~Jtc;t.1bPW;.rPQ~ a :
person suffees in the morning .and ,n~~Oll· p( ijjs lif~,1 h~/~e
nonetheless prays to have a better evening ;.t<t ~GCQ~ll§h his/her
desires and aspirations.
. . . .., r , .. ' .. ·.: J;:.
, Thus, · Orunmila. proclaimed, if. one insists on Jchieying. :eU .9
one~s,.desi,e.s in the .moming of one's · life, .. one.is c!Ucely,l<>
1ae ;, intO't1'9'1ble or meturitt tor beat.en hi.the after,n()<Hl,
as.;Oww9,c;U~. ,1£10.n,,iJt&S\S ,OJl compltting on.~~- as&igllJJl~ijt
r

m tbt; :M~q@QO! 0
,; Gte ,·is Ii,o,e; ,likely tp pad[; it. .uJl·.·atJbe •PN~tcb.1.9f ;.$~j,-(
;J
requires for~ar~v-J#Rd;r~~~ tQ ; ·~,, SllP~~,.,wi whatever it
pleases providence to give one without greed an .. avari<:1 in the
morl).iag.andiaftuinoon. of lif~ .: ·thati~:,~ on.I:
34.

' ,. , At that ·stage, Ino, went baclc.ito Orunmila to, complain· that ·his
~ .
.• illness.tdid not,impr:ove in spite· of the fact ·that be had :twice
·;c~amc, ...
·,

IJ , .. ,.,; .
1
•;,,t,T:.,,C;{. ,··n, .: ,P·;'''" :). served liis , head.. . OAlDillila then .asked him 'who was present,
IWORJ .·tibtiBE'·,,'Hi ;:: "J1,.'L·r/ 1;i. when he was serving his head. He retorted that, Ogun~Agbcde.
J II I I was present on the first occasion while Sango-Ogigi was with
I I him on. the sec;ontf'9'~0ll-. x'Wbep;.'1aslu;<l··.wb~th,r. apy.
I II QfIJhp two relations he mentioned was the last born of his
Heavenly Works • He made divination ror Fire; mother, he rem~riibered that he. was supposed· to have invited
Okpe (palm
tree¥:,'
';\\' ::1 •:: '\,; '
r.' .J·:_; ,,; ' · · ' ,,~, '.S ;"\
"J l ,
····:, .,:'/~.·~-~-»-·;-~.·i -'\'
' '/, I

Withotit any further ado, he went home, and persuaded Q,kpe.Jo

The most important work which lwori-bo'Ogbe did in heaven
help him· 110 serve .his: head, ,when Okpe,.,wastgoing;1Q, loots
was the divination he made for INO (FIRE) when he was ill. It
house. for··thei:head~erving ceremony, he ·went illl.1his tatte(~
will be recalled that Fire had been driven by the rain to take
dress (driedpalm leaves} because he,was.just returning .froni
refuge inside the stone from which it had to be ignited before
the farnL· ' i ;,~ ' ::,: c.:•::,:; (' '•.~} ·•'; ::_.i,,.'
.l ,,; ':,. :. >" ,\.;,

coming to life.
.(}-.j .•.••. ,. , .... , '., ~ ,·.; ;.,, \; •·.1·{.l.r·1 . ; ( ,.;,\ :,: ;·;

Ino had scarcely completed hi11 prayers,iwhen,he was

Meanwhile, lno went to the wisdom diviner, Orunmila to find
out what to do in order to recover his strength and vigour. He
was advised to serve his head in the company of the last born of
their mother who happened to be the palm tree (Okpe).
Contrary to the advice of Orunmila, Ino went to his more
vociferous elder brother Ogun-Agbede who only .spits out fire
from his furnace, but could not help lno by himself. Next, Ino
went to Sango-Ogigi to help him in serving his head. Sango-
Ogigi was only able to flash the appearance and shadow
(Lightening) of lno but could not revive him (Fire).
ignited,and· set the dress of palm tree ablaze. That was how fire
came .. baek to life, and people applauded, and rejoiced with him.
,_ ,• ,; ,
1
}Jt1.ht '.'
When,:,this· :Odu therefore .eomes.: out during ifa,;,mftiatloJJ
cerelJlony, the person should be told that Orunmila·iAdJeonly
solutio. n to his p~oblems, bu. t that h. e shoul.d prepar. e Sango
and Ogwr':UJ';supplement, the· efforts. of . Ila. ·< He. :should· ~ ,be
advisedtto serve. his head; wita;a pigeop. while. backin,:::bitxlf4
snrin,Jf' lwori+bo~Ogbe"appears ,during1divination.. ta.i
PQl'M)D

12
.should betold•to,have··his.own Ifa-withoatany de~y,:ta~id\ illness
or a deterioration: in fortune. In either case/:tlici:divinec: should be
advised to make sacrifice, to ebviate. theirisk 6f;.fire
disaster and chaos; r;"' . . c '),
He madeUlylnation:forrthe Dove aacl\dle·;Pklon,: .. ~t (1··
Whil¢ in heavea,. the Dove (Adaba bukori), andAhenPigeon
(Eyele) were sisters born of the same parents. They had grown to
become very pretty but had no children. One day, Eyele who was
the senine ~f:tlte' two, proposed that tlaey shouhtbotb go to
OrumnilaJor:.divination . on what to ,do; to :have ·.child~. The
pigeon's name in heaven ·was EleIIJ,ele,Ultkwhile'rthe·.dove's
name was, Elemele,.;;Oko; 'fhe,: Qove., acqui~st,ed : ,µi the
suggestion of the Pigeon and they agreed to visit Orummla the
following morning. On getting to Orunmila's house, he directed
theni,to .ene ·:of .his ~odus .,(f{>Howtrs) itomak~. :diffDation
for
~m:•. - ·. ,.: f . i·,::)·,t.
The name of the Odu they subsequently went to was Erukpe
}j?Oni;bJu~L~'diuNi~bti, which W8S"the heav.enlyraame''Of
twori>ti'Ogbe/.r:: 1.L J , 1'1 > '>iiJ ,\Ut1.1r:,~:1:,
1
.•• ~ .·- 'J"?.q · · \, _.~,. · ; ... ,.-! -: :~ ;rL.tt()i.:Ltd~.;'
.AJ they were approachilig1 the house :of· the..,divin~r. ·.tllmy~~-
beard,atraltercatiob,betwten him an<l· bis wife; Jft1eaip,Mnt
was so noisy that the· two sisters decicJed;to hicie'liebirxUtbelWa11
14
for the quarrel to subside. It soorr.dawned on them that . the couple
were quarrelling because there were no materiais and
condiments.for cooking on that. day.· They also. heard when in a
bid to.,pacify -her, the diviner told his wife not to worry because.-
0ivi11ees would sooner or later come in for divination. On-that
note, the wife pipeddown · and withdrew to the back of the.house;
1;
Sooncafterwards, .the Dove· and the Pigeon knocked at the door
and,titey;.were let into the house. At the.subsequent divination, the
diviner assured ct.he two of them that they would surely bear
children provided they were prepared to make sacrifice. He
adviscdi,eadJ, of them. to. make sacrifice with a he-goat, a hen, a
clay pot, a bundle of fire wood, pepper, a gourd of palm oil, 5
tubers of yam and other cooking condiments. They were also to
serve their heads with a cock by themselves. On their way
..(
home, the Dove.asked: the Pigeon .whether the sacrifice was
necessaey since/it. was , clear that the diviner only wanted to
explbit.theibptoblem to provide for what he could notafford to
finance ·i1t· bis· house •. , Eyele ·however told the. Adaba not to be
so: 4'Aiml., in, .her approach to the hard realities of life. She tried .~
vm· to reason with her sister that divining was· the. man's means
.of.livelihood and there was therefore nothing wrong with what he
prescribed for the sacrifice. Adaba retorted adantabdy that she was
'not too stupid to recognise an hungry diviner .when she saw one.
On her part, Eyele promised to
.... ~.
15
35.
arrange for the ;sacrifice right away.
'·.,,f .,ti'. ',.
She went to· procure. alrthe matetiall, for the sacrifice' and
returned · later in the aftemoen-' to ; the diviner's ho1Jse: The
sacrifice was duly made, after which -he served -. Eyele's ,head
with ibcock,· telling her to takeit home.for a small feast. to the
members of her household. On her part Adaba got a cock-and
served her head with it in her house. The following day, in
consonance with the suggestion of .the diviner, she, :took a bundle
.of fire wood to the ~op of an.oak tree for thep-qrpose of
,J.aying her eggs, when ever she ,had the urge to deso»,
'f:-,l:,> .· :· ('\ ,. ,,
On .. the . other hand,after -completing her, sacrifice, the·
diviner, · gave.the clay pot to Eyele to lay her eggs in whenever
,she had the urge to do· so, ·
Fourteen days later, the two sisters had become pregnant a,nd, ·
had the, urge lP Jay eggs. After1Jaying two eggs, Adaba went to
Eyc\e rtcf'ask' how many 'eggs she: laid. Eyele replied, that she,
laid! twoi . .Ad.aha, taunted: her :sister ·by· teasing .that .she ..
who.. · . mads sacrii.fice .laid . the same , number of· eggs as ·
herst,lf, wpo , refused.to makeany. lt should be emphasised that the
laying ofr1two. eggs was a· manifestation of the head she served.'.
In consonance with the advice of the-diviner, Eyele ltid1:.her
eggs athome inside the.pot with which she made sacrim:e:"
WbenAdaba subsequentlybatched her two.eggs she brought forth
rlvo livel}' children.:·· Once .more- she went to enquire· from her
sistet:whdtl:ier she-·had·hatched her owneggsrEyelereplied hat
she 'had' given birt'h··to two 'babies. The dove, again sneered · that
without making sacrifice she had produced two children ·
just .like shewho rriade' sacrifice. .'· · · ·
Meanwhile, Esu asked his friend Ighoroko for the names of
people who were advised to make sacrifice but refused. He was
told that the Dove refused to make sacrifice. Esu allowed the
chtldten ·to powr,::sust: 6¢fore···the.)titttt'·doves·were strong
eriough to1 :fly~·. Bsu' • decided t<)! makti :their moth~r: to reap
the
consequences of refusing''t<> make sacrifice.·, ' · , .
Esu :corijured<a tornado to· ac~r,1artd.i it· was 'SO strong i that it
uprooted several trees including the oak tree on top of which the
Dove roosted her young · ones. As the oak' ttee was falling · to
the ground, the Dove ran for her 'life, 'abdndoning her
childrefi~1As ·soon 'as the, tree' f eil. to the ground, Esu· soaked .
the groli\tld with ,pttltn -'oi.} right up to'.the n~si 1ror1tainihg the·
Dove's young ones. The palm oil quickly attracted soldier ants
which loSf no titM' incfeuting, on tho: helpless: children. of the
Dover ,.
1 1
\;~{ ··~(, ~ 1 · .} ,·:~~\,' ·:.i·:'i.·1.j\,:;.,· ., ,'.' J}/, .l '. :_;;• '.J/ ,·, ::~.·,: _;)1.~t,i,
At- ,thti dawrt''.'of'tht•nexf. ·tnotning,·'the. Dove: scanned· the
grounds' ·of the· fallen ·tree only to discover that soldier, tints
had devoured her· twb children, · · · After' wondering whether
the
17
 serve hj~ head.with J <;P~k Jn addinon to preparing the Esu 'of
tornado which ravaged tile; forest also .affected the l}9~st~~d, where bisJ{a In, the us~1~J wa.y,. ;lf,it is. Ay~o,, the .sijc-rifi~~ should .be
·her sister _ liy~9. sae decided to visit me Pige~n. \\{hen she asked. . done,.imm,Qi.a\ely .. to avQid: losing two s:hildrtn to an accident. .
tb~ ;Pjg~on. whether the. ,gf;llf ~.tQr~ pf tb" iP(~yiqus night H~ SRpuJc;i ;~lsp make. sacnfice to , the nigbJ~ . He: should ,be
affectep them .in the house,.,~he.,glee(11Uy re:Pli~d :l~&.!rl"ler adyised:-.Qolto, hee,.dth~i-aµvi~c Qf a close-female relation
children and. herself were. safely CO;Q,1:~~!~~ inside .. the ;~IJly," pot because S.h~ .is not Interested, in :ll.is pregress,
with which lwori-b'Ogbe made sacri~~~ f9,r her. i She.1µcJ,,mlly said • ; ' • • ,: • A :•
. . '
.r: ! '; ,; :'.'. • ·.·: .~~ ' / I' O' , ,. 'I.-. '

it in the following words: · If. on the .. other. hand · it, appears at ordinary dlvlnuuon, · the person
Mo fi ori kan kuku meeku .. .should :b~ ag~jseQ ,to wash ,th¢, incide.oce: of ingratitude .. from ltis
Terni mejeji kobe kuu.ru,-kµ.vru,: ., ·'-.t-..'
Qf! he,r, head with :a- he-goat onBsu.shrlne, ·
, ,, . !" :·r i .. " ,·1".- .. "( ,·• i
In .otber words. ~he.r>V~ . .reculling,~hili s11c.ri.fice. had produce.d . He made divinatiQn for the,Wind .Divinity te commnnd honour
and protected ll~t two .childJ;en, fq,r rQ~r,: .T~ . at: is; ,.i,e, s.o"-nd .:an.d·Raect;, ,, ,,, 1 ·1 ·. :,,,, ·
· ••
which · the pigeon mJk~s when jt ;ha§ r ~Jl~ to · d.an~~;:Jor
'i
pleasure. - ·. • \ t, ;

When Olodumare created.the Wind.,,hi~, main functiQn-~as to

On theojher hand;,tl,ie; QoV,e.1~gan,;to.·~ry .in the JQ~lmving: provide air for pl~nt~ :andc,~n~mal~ JP breath, · He- was not
words; , ,J;
I, T ;, IL(" ••
created for destructive purposes. · When he saw that the other
T(} fl-on; -~eJI pnHr)l :, ·J ",.• ' • divinities had veered away.feom, ti)~, .p~tJ1_.,;of...piety and
Iwori qo.gbe;;(fa Burukuu. ·. :,,:i · ,, ,/ f :.'i. .,
harmlessness ,otdain~d. by;, (Jog. .and .had become.ferocious,
Thus.}, she, . hlu.rned , the: t~ .. 1<t ': 1ttr t'l,.lQ children. on the fearsome and dreadful, he became j¢p.l<>,u,~., He .subsequently went
diviper.That i~ the·.~·l)Q Q{~he;dpy~J<>:this day.when in agQ1;1y,,, f~. divination t9- thriee, ,lfa! Pxie~Lli working with lworib'Ogbe, .
·i ·; : ~ .~; >/ . · ?.I ,- ~ ~ , • .-: ~-· ., -,_·.~~ "l ;,.,/: ~ ~. : , i. t: ; Their names: i were. {H : Kc!(i, ;gba boo , (2) Kaafi Osuunriniboo
;C ·t
and (3) Kaafi okon soso lgi Adaa.
Whc;n,r1his, Odu i·,opp~~,1 fll; an,· initiation., c~re_rnony, tn· .· The three of them ~~;qiyjl_!Mic)n{9f,r,lJJf, Omo Ayple .. ojo. Uji
Ugbodu.the person should be told to prepare the Esu of his lfa adqing l(eke. Uji kpokun, Uji Ofi Ya Atori, lgi Owo. The wind divinity .. was
~II the. 01aJcdaJs;wiJh,~b~b ttlt,pigepn made sucriftce.; to ~vpi~ indebted, tO,;:•ihe obstacle ,dh,tinity (Elenini or
·t,he. Joss.qf:two children. ,,J{ itii; :Of.~~ in_,~h,~h·J~-use there is
no._,immecJ:iuu~ dunger,foreh~ll;he ~ti<>uld he tohl to

''19
18
 Idoboo) 'and could not repay the debt.· He ifppr<V.ithed 'nil the bigi
trees of)tht forest to loan him ·money· to·repaylth~ ~brii>tit .
they>r~fused. As' lo rig as'he. was1 unabte to iepey the s16a¥t, 1he -
obstacle divinitt'.Stood ih 'his :way·ef establisfiihg ~1scprbwe~s.
It was only a' plani1c~lled Atori·tltttt; eVenti.iaUy gave another loan
to him to rep~y:.~t :oostaele<tfivittity: He was als<fliblt'.(to raise
trioney to make the sacrifice prescribed by the three diviner's
inwhich•he gavesa he~goat to ESll. Thereafter Etentni stopped
obstructing· the. Wind/· ;AJfter eating 'his he-goat, Esu blew a
trumpetwarning every •free fh thlffbre~W'that the Wiild was out to do
battle with them. ·. They began to. run helter·skeiter •. 1,,Jn1t.he,•
&1surng 'stt:1mpeH041Jsortie ·of'them'htbkeltl1~ir limbs with the
exception of Atori who was left urtseatihedJ The mere threat of t,he
approach of the Wind gave rise to so many casu,ahies which 'was the
first torntrdoc, experienced in' heav~n. From'1that' day' eve1rym1e
bt,gan:itoi<!t,ead'the wind.
I ' (
Bata Ileke si Ose or the one who wears a beaded shoe was his ni~k~e
on. earth, He made divination for Olorno Ajiwese (lfa Priest)
and.forOlomo Ajigbanini (farmer) advisipgthem to make sacrifice so
as , to avoid the danget of toiling too hard before winning their daily
bread 011 earth. The farmer made sacrifice to his head but failed to
give a he-goat to Esu. The diviner made all the prescribed sacrifices.
' ' .
That is why the divinerwho sits at home enjoys the fruits <?( the
laborious efforts.of the farmer .. At Ugbodu, the person should be told
that his destiny does not allow for farming or any work that involves
strenuous physiqal ~xe1;tipn., He should. tAA,~ .1,q a sedentary
profession.
,'Jf ·'

Bc,;~qlf~\ 1~. forJ>idden {Qr u u, Pri~sl to Pouq4 Yi!m;

(iji ay~ tirl .ni, Ki'nshe arimona fifu) ·.
,•:

Whe',Iir>thiss<Ddtf rtl'teref-0re1co•rheStet.tt ardivination, the person

,•:S1h~uld/beJtoltl ':that11hls 'honoOt· andttes·pettia:re concealed' arnd Ii:wiJl be recalled that Orunmila was the divinity wbo jnqe,rited the
that• .if·htuis UY ass~tfithem;: t:}d,l~hoat<l1 '1*ake sacrlfiee with all divine necklace of authority (Ude) when God was going to evaporate
eatabtt, helllS :1b:Btert111il :afllo give a1 he-goat· tt>·,Es1:E , Thereafter, 1 into thin air.
he-will become,,a; forde to irbcktnf. wi th,ifi: ,the: c<>mmunity/ Y 1 1

On~ day, ()runmil~ .felt so. disillusioned that he decided to pound

' I ' 1
{ t/~ }) l p'y '"';

r Divined/for th~ Fahner anf"llt'.RJ9Wt · yam by himself. \Vhen the other divinities saw him,they asked what
1
,•,;;-::··> .\ 1 .;·>crJ·" -, ·:r{") ii,_( .l ~:1 >·r )·, ; the matter was, and he replied that he was so disgusted with the
dishonesty of human beings that he did not

21
37.
36.

know who to· trust to pound' His yam rightly., :When :'they reminded
him that it was forbidden to weaf·'the' nidda'c~;lof authority and do
I

manual Jabour, fie replied 'thaftryeffh6tild not

'worry because the condition of the'wdrld'woii'ld'irrtpiove fqr\he
. better in Spite Of the evil incJinatfonS' of IT13il.'" ;r,; :. fiC'.·-;O
,·,·
'' !

When this Odu comes out at divination for 'a p~tson wiio' h'as faJJen
from grace to grass, he should be told to have his owry Ifa .and not to )
worry.unduly' about his preseni prdblems· becaus~ his cohditibn ,~_.
would improve later for the 'better; r:o_ ; ' '>0: ;,;.,t,;; ;

•:{!: .'. .. : ,, ; ~.';: ·-; _'· ;"\} -~)(}

. He divined for the'.people of 1na~o~an2un{Y'u ,,,: .,, ii;,i.

Iwori Bomo Ogbe towo, Iwori Bomo Ogbe Tese. Iwori homo Ogbe Ko
omo ogbe .· Bo~aku . Lai laL Adif~. ,fun wo;n . ni pa Orangun tori
tooron ago.' These wete'th~>e~t~j{S'Ut-tdfa(t?{'.of Iwori bo'Ogbe
who went to make ·divinatiorr'fof the; people bf llla-Orangun when
they were having an epidemic of waist pain, They3dvised 'thehr to
~ake sacrifice ~ith'f tieSgoat ~.b·J~su. They did the sa'crifice
andthe'prohfe·m·afuirecfr'i(: -~ .... 'fl) ,)i.,;
· .: (J C;;E; i >~.- \:;:t. -·-,,./!-~\>.~_'.~

If at divination, this CD~u comes out for a sick person.he should .. ·

be· advised to give a he-goat' to' Esu ~nd he·w~,ti'fp b~ &.efrY 1
.,. ' ,. . . . ' . ' . . . . .. /, . , /, : ,., ·'. ' ' <1

\.i .,) '" /l · '(

I;,.
)
 began to divine for lwori-Oyeku because no diviner can have a clear imagine why Death-should kill them since they were all friends.
vision of his personal problems. They·failed to-perfonn the··sacrifice.
'.~· .· .,.' '). ,,•' A.:'.)~ 0 0 ).
. ''
,
•.. · -.. ;.! . .: .; __ · : .f ':- /.

With the help of the assisting awo; he began to see the limelight of Meanwhile, Death.struck-Oku.and.he died: Agutan was away from
prosperity. Al the height his prosperity he made an elaborate feast of home at the time. When he returned home and he was
at which he, sang in praise of his heavenly and earthly awos, toldabout.the.death c,,f·his fr:iend;'hecould notbelieve it He
including the. assist4~t who taught him how to operate lucratively as :insisted on seeing the corpse: After 'Seeing the corpse, Agt1tan
an lfa Priest. : ·· began. to.cry, In his delirium. Esu pushed him into the 'grave where;
I '
he died and was .burierl with his .friead, .since it is an abomination
Wh~n this Odu appe;;ir,s at t?~bodH, t,h~\-Rers.Qn ,~9R,YJ~tiP.e for.:Agutan to enter a human grave.,
: l '. .H; _: ; . ;i .': .... )
advised not to be over-generous· and quick-tempered," tf·'He·1s .'.f .

When this Odu appears at Ugbodu, the person should he told . that it
' ~~tt d?iDJ, very_ weH ,inh~~ place, of W?rk, .. h~ ~~PU.I~ ,,¥1'.Y~!
~u \\'.iih a be:-goat and .ask 'his lfa through lk111 .d1vm~t.1cw v;hµt is forbidden .:f<>cJiimJ<>'.seeua h.:.;1·inamchrp:ke :·anU; rhahhe
he should avoid featuring too prominently at funeral ceremonies . In
. { ;ii to d'.9·. t,<:! prosper. Wren it appears 1at divinatior'1J~e,'pex~on any.event he should never participate 'in iligging ariy :grave.
shooJdJje advfse.d to lea.rn to acceptgoo<I. advice' arid' to.·.make ,
sacrili~e tb Esti with a he-goat and all eatable items. in, 01'.~~(to
•; 1'' '.i ' ; ' ;> ;i -;."~: ·1 ,. . '· ', ' ./ .\ .' . :.,· ',i / t· . ·: : . . • t •: ., .:
W,hen it appears .ar divination as Ayeo, the person ,should be told
'. :.;)
that death is lurking around him. He .should serve ,Hsu with he-goat
·· prosper.' ·. ·. . , .
. .Uau1114c 4i,ripptiop. Cor Qku and A1vtan i,n beaven; . '. . ,.·.t l
to keep death.off .his track. He shouldbe told.th'at the death of a close
• Wir~or(ld wo ku · · · · · · · · . · · · · .. · ·
,: .· '.f' i t'"' '1··.··1 - •.,. ·-- . \' ., ,' , :
·· ·. .
- ··•.
friend orrelativeis i'mmin-en.t, hut ·that'he should avoid seeing the
Omo 'awo ·Jci l gbe i1e. . corpse before it is buried.
;~dit~ t·~~,.o~~;- l!b•~ fun agutan, Ore .11.i\r<m ... •:. ~ L ,; · , ;: ·! ;-·:._ i;
!, ·
. ; .:) !} ~ ~ ~ ; ; ~·.:: ': - .. ~ :: :.'.r ! ; · :; ,: . · ;
t "{'",~ ~:: . ~ 1 . ·.: , .. ., ; ~; oi :: • , ! ,; ,. ..: '~ ,',.,, : · •

9k~:1a~<f-'A~,utan
•1 1 were bosom ftit;nd'~· .. '. drie.·qhy lki made di·Mination for tbeLChlef ;P,rlest .:Of Mnsg®ra®s:
T~ii: ~~>th cl~cided to · go .to Otunmila fot divinatic,6., U,ey 1 0rha£iiFU koogba Egwngun jijo',
~ollQ.yara koegba. om. titayl re.n~.. ,·
were a~Nised to m*ke urge·nt sacrifice to avoid death. They. could Adi:fa fun Alagbara .tin she'baha egun. :!
not
1. I
' ., 1 .. · ,- . I~ \ ' . ' ., ,': . :· ' .. ' . \ ' . . .
"
!
. ' ,-

24 ,}'25
38.
,., i'fh.e ,two awos made divination for the Head: of the Masquerade
cult. He was advised to make sacrifice in order to have honour and
respect. He made the sacrifice which explains thehonour · : :Mld
.respect commanded. by masquerade dancers.
·;~};')\,· ~-) (: ,.,
; 1Whcm; this. Odu appears at divination the .person should be
;:·adyiised- to make sacrifice to Egungun-or.masquerade, {He ·.)
sbQUld>also make sacrifice to his late father, The, sacrijce
r.·should,be made.with a cloth he has at.home,which has three
distinct colours. - in; order.to command'. hohO\lii and respectin
his place of work and in the community.
')rDivination for him when be was &0in1·on tour; · ·
.. ~:,1 ;_;•'':
,:Ait~r Iwori-Oyeku had.settled.down to.a successful Itaart and
practice, he began to engage in itinerant tours to nobles and the
'.)1:artistocracy,; Before leaving for one tour, his assistants ma6e
u.4tviMt.i<:,n~· Jar .hiint They were called;
1.Jigungun eegbedo. no Babalawo, and
'.:1B~balawo keo .gbedo » no Egungun.
~ . ·: . ,,
Their names meant that it is forbidden for a masquerade to hit
an_:lf~1pr~idust ·~s ·it ~'Jorbidd.~·.' fot an' lfa !pr.iest:to bit; a
masquerade. Orunmila was trav~Hing·with one of his servants who
was indebted to some one. As.soon-astbe lender saw the .servant in
the company, of Orunmila, he (the lender)
26
apprehended the servant and insisted that he would: not •be·
allowed to proceed on his journey unless he repaid his debt on
ti.·sp.ot. ·., Orunrriila ·appealed orl::behalf· of .his servant for·
understanding, btit.the lender refused. Orunmila had'beert told
at::divination that he was.:going to have an embarrassment on' tht
way. and should hoid plenty or money for 'his·jour·neyi .,
When the lender refused 10 listen to all entreaties, Orurlmila
repaid the debt on behalf of his servant. When the lender got home,
he died. When this Odu appears at divination~ the person should be
asked whether he has loaned money to anyone. If the question is
answered affirmatively, he should be warned never to draw the debt
relentlessly, lest he would lose
his life in the process .
J)ivincd for a happy-1:0-lucky Musician;
During his tour, Orunmila came across a masquerade who was
hitting people indiscriminately. First, the masquerade used his
cudgel on Orunmila's servant. As he made to hit Orunmila, he
pronounced the following incantation:
Egun k'egun eghodo lu hahalawo
Babalawo koghodo ha egu n shere mo.
The masquerade recognised Orunmila and apologised for his
mistake. He then cleared the •Nay for Orunmila to· proceed on
27
40.
39.
:'!

{ .. / ;_, :·~ i : ( ' '/, :· . ~

f Lf

At Ugbodu, the person should be told to'forbid drinking alc()hol and .

·: · · ·cflAPTER
shauld ... refrain ·from competing. ;wftbn any. man for, . tncf ·, roua: .IWORI -
marriage. of a.woman; .He ,should,\be,.told that there" is:a deceased, IOI
woman in· his Jamily who has1no;t been given :a secend. burial. At I II
ordinary divination, the person should be told to serve Esu to forestall I I I
an imminent catastrophe. II I
I I I l . '.: ,·,· ..

; ·.~'. ' , . Before pronouncing the name of Iwori-Idi, the ~Hvinee should
be told to produce drink for libation. ·. · ·· · · ··
Meegbo kporo kporo .odo iyan. . . .
Meegbo kosho kosho - awo obe rinrln,
Mee,gbq.~r,ekere bi .. ~ni.ti.'njeron,..
; I ' '~il " ! t ·.
W~nJiJ;ortwQflLi. .· .. :r. . .; .
Oni ldni Iwori Yiofi wodi lebi, .
Meaning;
I Qi,~.pm hear theyarnbeingpounded.
Nor' the smellof cooking ·soup, , . .. .. . ...
No\,~vcn the soun~i-or anyone eating or ·c;hewing meat,
'.X i1; ,1,
H<;iw..c;t{iJ f9ok.~ft~r a,ny~e>qy~ '}'~en .lam hungry?
r / ~.
..'.i·., · J fi:·1

'.!·1/,1.,
Can anyori~.JeU ~tie. fruili,)v1th aft ernpty· stomach?
J,.,,,1, · ., · •. ,• ; . ',/' >'. ., .. " '.

This,; is. the poem with whi.~h . Ifa asks for food, Wben Jwori-
J ',A
I ,• ir wo~i;. app~~r~ _at divin~tion, the ,r,~rs91{should be told thft
~e}$ starving Ita. If he already has his own lfa, he should be advised
to prepare pounded yam with good scenting soup and dried meat for
Orunmila. If he does not already have lfa, he should

2 29•
8
41.

be advised to arrange to do so without any delay, in order to prosper received no food from him. He was now only too willing to make the
in life. sacrifice with rat, fish, basket of eko a tray fuH of akara, a calabash,
He made divination for Ee%nt:,u.~ (l\1alQYn~de}; and 2:cocks;: After the sacrifice, he was given the basket of eko and. a
t _ .) , . ..: 'calabash full of akara .to ·take with him for his journey to earth. He
Baba Jekuru Jekuru J' ' /; f was advised to change his dress before entering the world; ..
Baba Jakara Jakara
I· y ,:

Koseru mole ti yio je unkan eni. 1 ·' '

Ti koni da run eni n'irere.
Meaning;
The old man ate pudding,
', .. · ·, · · .,· , .. ··; ;:
The old man ate bean bun,
No divinity eats one's food, · !, ' ·
When he got to the world, he kept the akara and eko in the bush, but
Esu in the figure of an elderly man assembled little children to follow
him because he had food to give. When he got to where he kept the
. ,.::1" _ · , ' .. · ·· :·, i eko and akara, he gave· them to the little children to eat. As they were
···· eating, he returned behind a tree to dress as a masquerade.
,

Without rewarding the giver withsafvatiorr,": ';. '

i·; f i'
Those were the diviners who' rriade . divir1ii ti61f·io·r."~'Eg~trguij/
when he left heaven for the world. They advised: hinftb thake''
sacrifice, but he refused. · :,,ti : · ' ,'·.u · : • ./'
On getting to the world lie·':rdared and 1b'elfowed to ~ntiOµnc~ .. '.
1
his arrival. Contrary, to his. expectatloa, 'pe'pple begah ibj rNi{. inside
to Afde)nt'fh~r{hous~: 'No n'etir him; 1Jet''Jfodc:; o:ne'fatt1~
to admire his;.~:etfdfrp~~~et:1~a,<:~~(!1~.~;si~~ij1°t~.,tef.t~{rtJf.'.
heaven to make·the· sacrtffce p~scHBe·d· by e>tun'rtul~~-· ' . ."' ·
' ·;<t ..
1 The children were -trying to run away when they saw the masquerade,
but the Esu-turned-old-man reassured them that they were safe and
that it was the same man who had just fed them that wore the regalia
of a masquerade. Esu told the children to sing and dance along with
the masquerade. When the masquerade got to the town with the
children, the adults turned out in large numbers and began to sing and
dance with thern.. He was very surprised at the turn of events brought
about by the sacrifice he had made.
,j

1
w ... he.· ... n. ""·.11. e rt.' a .. rrat -. ~.'d .. isf .: e ... .-i.{.•H.1 ! .. x .. rri.e.''rll. · .. e.rt.'.' .. & '.· ft : .. He Jhen led a song in the following poern.Baila
she ilu ti'lu fidun,
~a.s. i :<= .. r .. e.· n.· .. ·.1. ·t .. a.·.·.·.t.:t! .. s.J.r tia.qc1.·.·.t
1
tt.·

,-· ,,,-_,
-, _-_- " __ ·· :-t.. -_ ' _---- ·. -_--- if .. _-- -
t#,~ ·~r~~~ .~,~~;at tq',r~e::#~,~~I b
· · ··.. 'I
1 .

giv~~ .• .ne
v_isHe,~ :~,~fliU-~f; ~.~~·;~~~ii
30::
42.

Baila she ilu lwori wodi etc etc. wanted to operate both as a bird and as an animal. She used to deal
Meaning:- freely with both species of creatures. When she . was coming to the
ls this how to live with the world to make it pleasant? He also sang in world. she was told to make sacrifice to avoid having problems in ea
praise of the diviners who made the divination. for him. ting because. of the binary life she had chosen to live. She did not
make the sacrifice. Not long afterwards, the bird speciesaccused her
He made divination ror-Orunmlla when·he was ao•o1 to many a of being a spy arguing, that in spite of the fact that she could tly, why
fair Compfoxloncd woman; was she not a hie to lay eggs? On the other hand, the species of
mammals accused her of .being a witch because she was the only one
Kafigi Kafilu igi of their kind that could fly. When she argued that she was a mammal
Kan okpe kafilu okpe because she only produced through the womb like all of them and not
Kaf nkon soso lwori by laying eggs, the mammal kindred made her to take an oath never to
Kuti lu Edi. Adifa fun Orunmila nijoto t- operate any more as a bird
.1.tghc kpikpu roro ni iyawo.
Knock a stick against a tree,
Use the palm branch to knock a palm tree, and Knock lkiu (Ifu The transgression of the oath was to close her anus. She took the oath
seeds) against one another so as to know what· but could not stop operating as a bird.
Jfa Iurs to say.
In consequence, she soon discovered that she was unable to pass
These were the awos who divined for Orunmila when he was goi-ng wastes through the anus, except by vomiting through the mouth.
to marry a yellow woman; I-le was told to make sacrifice with a goat When she became pregnant, she also had to deliver her young ones
in .order to marry her successfully. He did the .saerifice. It is a through the mouth. That was the prize she had to pay for failing to
similar sacrifice ttustl should he made if it comes out at divination for make sacrifice and the handicap has remained with the bat kindred
a mun proposing tomarry a woman. ever since.

Made Dhfontion for the· Hat; When this Odu appears at Ugbodu, the person should be advited to
The bat was created to have the best of two worlds. She avoid marrying a light complexioned woman as well

· 32 33
as a widow.

When it appears at divination. the person should be advised to refrain

from eating plantain, and from joining social clubs to avoid being CHAPTER FIVE
poisoned. He should serve Esu with a he-goat and Ogun with a cock. IWORI-OBARA
IWORI-OBERU
IWORI-OBEBE
I I
I I I
I I I
I I I
I I
Ile Obara Kete-oro'ro. The house of Obara is full of secrets, was the
name of the Awo who made divination for Oloba, the chief page to the
Obara of Oba. He was told to make sacrifice to avoid sudden death.
He was also advised to avoid impersonation: He was famous for being
very intelligent and he was always. sure that his wits would serve him
more effectively than sacrifice. He went for divination because he was
embarking on a.journey which the Oba never sent him. and he was
told to serve Esu with a he-goat, and to serve Ogun with a dog. He·
refused to do any of the sacrifices.

Meanwhile, he plucked red fruits from the forest (ljegunwere in

Y(\l'Uha and Itehie in Bini) which looked like beads and made a regal
dress, cap and shoe with them. With that, he left for llobi one of the
towns under the domain of the Oba. On getting to the town, he told
them that he was sent by the king to collect the tax revenue which was
over-due from them. I le

34
3S
43.
was lodged in a special guest house and was served with food and
drinks daily, while the people were collecting the money to be sent
to the Oba.
On the fifth day of his arrival, he noticed that the fruits with which he
made his dress were beginning to deteriorate. Fearing that his
stratagem would soon backfire, he decided to set the guest house on
fire. The house was raised to the ground by the fire. The next day he
assembled the people of Ilobi and told them that their carelessness
had nearly ended his life apart , from burning his beaded outfit. He
mandated them to sew another beaded outfit to replace the one he
lost. to.the. fire.··,,
It was time for Esu to punish him for failing to: make sacrifice. Esu
went to the head chief of llobi to ask whether they. had checked the
credentials of their special guest: The head .chief replied that Oloba
was known to be the chief and favourite, page of king Ohara of
Oba. Esu insisted that he was sure that the king did not send him to
come on that particular occasion. Esu suggested that they should
send. special errands to the king to verify whether he authorised the
visit of Oloba to llobi. ,.In any event, Esu told the head chief that it
was mysterious for the fire which burnt the guest house to have
also consumed his beaded outfit He argued thatal\hough the thread
binding the beads might burn, the beads themselves could not have
been
burnt. ,•
The head chief of Ilobl quickly assembled his advisers and they sent
a four-man mission to Oba to confirm whether the king was the
one who sent the chief in beaded regalia (onlyworn by
kings) to Ilobi. ·
Meanwhile, the people paid a sympathy visit to Qloba to reassure
him that they were going_to rnakea new beaded outfit and the
over-due tax revenue, available to him the .· next morning. In the
interim, he was sent to a newly improvised guest-house on the
outskirts of the town.
Later in the night, Esu also paid .Oloba a ,visit to apprise him that
his game was up and that the pesple had known that he was an
impostor because beads do not burn. The following morning a new
beaded outfit was delivered to him and with it, he set out for the
return journey home without waiting to
collect the tax revenue.
At Oba, the Obara of
Oba had sent . policemen· to have him
arrested and brought to the palace. He met the policemen on the
way. .When they told him that he was under arrest, he appealed to
them to allow him to return first to his house. The
request was rejected.
When he got . to the palace in his beaded outfit, .. the . king .
accused him of betraying his trust and sentenced him to ••
37
 summary execution. He was instantly beheaded.
The next day he went round to invite the people to come in.lieu of
the. previous day, but they all refused on the ground that he had l~t
If this Odu comes out at Ugbodu, the person should be warned
his chance of being assisted to the rain. He became dejected not
never to impersonate his superiors, and not to embark on any
knowing what to do to clear his farm. He then went to borrow
journey without clearing with Ha. He should however serve Esu
money to employ labourers to assist him in clearing his farm. When
with a he-goat, At ?ivinatfoh, the 'person should serve Esu with a
it came. to the time to repay the loan he was 'too destitute· to afford
a
he-goat before embarking ·o~ journey he is contemplating.
it. His creditor called Atirala harassed him so much that he began
He made divination for the farmer: to spend more time in his farm than at home.

Oka ni awo ilu ketekpe

Ere ni awo ilu 'gun g~orofo. It was time for planting yams during which ridges had to be made.
He.was virtually sleeping in his.farm since he could not afford
Adifa fun agbe tonlo si oko. aloro Odun.
Boa. is the short Awo, while money to hire labour; and no one would agree to lend him,any way,
since he was now being ridiculed in the village as a chronic debtor,
Python is the tall Awo.
One night, he had a dream while sleeping. in his farm and his
guardian angel told him that a strange visitor was coming to pay
Those were the awos who made divination for a farmer called Agbe
him a visit in his farm. The guardian angel advised him to entertain
when he was going to start a new farm at the beginning of th.e year.
the visitor very well.
.. He was. advised to make sacrifice with a he-goat in order tohave,
a su~cessful farming year. He did the sacrifice. It;~as ~lfoJr~dition
Meanwhile; lwori Obara was visiting the village at the invitation
in the vjlhtge for farmers to perform the chores in their· farms by
of, the he.ad chief. He went out one morning in search of leaves to
mutual· effort (Abo in yoruba and Use in Bini). He had gone with
do his work and ended up.on the periphery of Agbe's farm. When
everyone else to clear their farrris and it was Ns turn •. far .~thers to
Agbe heard the sound of someone plucking leaves in his farm, he
help in clearing his farm. On try'at clay it rained heavily and it >w:as
invited the stranger to his hut where he entertained him vfith food
not"possible for any work
to be' done in his farm. ' ' and drinks. In accordance with tradition, lworiObara brought out
the divination Ikin (lfa seeds)tied round his

Js· 39
 waist· to .divine 'for Agbe.
After divination, the awo told. him that he was · not prosperous
because he had strayed away from the path of his destiny. He told
Agbe that farming was not his profession, and that he should take lo
trading. He wondered how he was going to trade when' he had no
money. The visitor told him to serve; his head with a pigeon, and his
guardian angel with a guinea-fowl in the farm and. thereafter, that
should be the last farm .he was ever to make.
After the visitor left his farm, he continued with .the taskof preparing
the: ridges for planting his yarns. . As he was digging away, he began
to: wonder how he was going . to obtain the moiey for the sacrifice:
The next morning, the traps he made round his· farm .caught a boa;
an antelope and a grass cutter. He,quickly butchered them and dried
them up in the fire place for his wife to sell 'them in the market.
With the money realised from the sale of the meat, he was able to buy
the. pigeon and the. guinea-fowl. for .his sacrifices; After the
sacrifices, he again spent the night in his farm. . While asleep,
his:guardran angel •told; him to dig a special: ridge 'around the tree
of life (Igi-akoke in yoruba and lk}:lin-mwin in Bini) in
He
. his farm. subsequently did. as hewas advised. Thereafter things
began to happen in his favour.
40
first, he came to the farm three days later to discover a dead python
and a dead elephant in his· farm. There were signs all· over the farm
that the python and the elephant both fought to death. His trading
profession had .begnn, because not only did he sell the meat of the
elephant' and python, the oil from the latter fetched him a lot of
money. The king of the area heard that an elephant died .in his farm
and directed that the tusk should be brought to him. · He obeyed the
king's directives, but he was compensated with two slaves for. each of
the two tusks;which gavehim two male and two female slaves. With
the help<of· the 'slaves he was able to give up farming by himself ..
He.became ·very prosperous because ·the two female' slaves· turried
out to· be· professional traders.
';,,!> / r"
If this Odu appears at Ugbodu, the person should be advised to take
to :business,because his lfa would enrich him. He should forbid
working with anyone through mutual aid (Abo or Use). lnfact, he
should not work for anybody. He should serve the lfa with 16.·snails.
At divinaiion; the .person should serve Esu with
a, te.:.goat, avoid indebtedness. to . ..
' '· ,·_;. ~ ~· ") ./ . 1 . , __ ,
1
He ,n,ade divlnation :for 0s,anyin:
',t", 1 ,,
lsha~a ni oko ogun;
Erin mije ni oko Orisa; Oke
jettLni Jle Orunmila;

Egure ni oko Osanyin-
Oko ti aba so si agban, ni agban so si eni.
•Adafa Jun Osanyin ibawe to ni ohun yio ba ile eduje.
Ishapka is the farm of Ogun; . Erin
mije is the farm of Orisa, Oke jetti is
the home of Orunrnlla.
The village is the farm of Osun. The missile which one throws at
the coconut is what it throws back at one.
These are . the names of the diviners who advised . Osun (Osanyin)
when he vowed to destroy the home of Orunrnila. Osanyin had
boasted that he was going to use his diabolical: powers to destroy
the home of Orunmila. Orunmila replied,
1 that Osanyin was deceiving himself. Truly, Osanyin is vast in
charms and magical powers but scarcely makes sacrifice. The
five.awosrnentioned above advised Osanyin not to dare to carry out
his.plans because he would fail.
On .. his part, Orunmila sounded lfa who advised him to make
sacrifice with cutlass, cudgel and. he-goat to Esu, He did tbe
sacrifice. Osanyin made four abortive attempts to fight Orunmila
during which he lost the use of'his limbs. In hisJifth'. attempt, when
he transfigured into an amorphous figure (Sigidi) Esu cudgelled
him to pieces and he died ..
When this Odu appears at divination the, person should be told:
42
that he is mouthy and boastful, but should serve Esu with a hegoat
so. that his loquacious disposition might not put him at loggerheads
with his superiors, who can destroy him.
He made divination f9r 400 Muslims when God was annoyed
mth·them:
Abe-be-go. Abe-be-go, Aberi - bego.
Eni ti o ma ba ni be-be.
Oro ni o ma nkun'le go-go-go.
He who is audacious,
Will always beg for forgiveness.
Those were the diviners who made divination for 400 Muslims
(Alufas) when they incurred the wrath of God. God had
admonished their leader for spreading their faith by shedding
blood. One of their leaders had been · missing and was no where to
be found. Many of their leaders lost their lives in battles and others
were being assassinated. That period coincided with the visit of
lwori-Obara to their country.
After divination, he told them that since they were not given to
serving Esu and other divinities, each of them should offer a ram
for sacrifice to God, begging God to remove his scourge froijl
them. They were to kill the ram outside the house to spill the blood
on the ground. He told them that instead of
43
shedding human blood as they were wont to do, they should shed the
blood of rams. That was how the Muslims began the
custom of killing rams on festive occasions. · ··
CHAPTER SIX.
If this Odu appears at Ugbodu, the person should be told that he has IWORI -OKONRON '
offended an elderly or superior person.' if he; ,c~'n identify the person IWORI -ELEKAN-ORUNKAN
offended, he should be advised to apologise for forgiveness. If he IWORI - ELESEKAN
cannot identify the offended party.. he should make a feast with a ram · - Ii' ti
in the name of God. Thereafter aJI the difficulties confronting him 'rt · 'I·
would .. abate. That was how the Odu earned the name of lwori- I I I
Obebe. I II

Mad~ divination ·fQr tb~ee

' , . ·,
ftiends; i
·.:·. ; '

Mioni konron Miola konron l'ondifa fun .:. Ori, Abufun ·01dba 'hun
Ajakpa, Atun bu fun Ejo - Ore awon meteta she.
. 1.,

He made divination for the guinea-fowl, the tortoise and the snake,
when they laid eggs without knowing how to hatch make them to·
become children. He told them to make sacrifice so that they might
find solutions within seven days. He told them to serve Esu, Sango
arid Orunmila with whatever they could afford. The guinea fowl made
a full sacrifice, but the other two made half-hearted sacrifices. After
the sacrifice, he told them that on. the. seventh day,. they· should
move away from their heuses but not far away from the roosts where
they laid their eggs, towatch developments.'

On the seventh day, the guinea fowl moved slightly away from

44
45
her eggs and took position at· a point where she could watch them.
Out of annoyance, the tortoise and the snake moved far away from
where their eggs were roosted, because they could not understand
the logic of lea~ng.hOme after making sacrifice.
Meanwhile, Sango told his wife Oya to. put on the search-light and
there was tightening followed by thunder which shook the eggs and
they fell against one another and the young children moved out
from the broken shells.
cock. He should make sacrifice because ofwhat would happen
within seven days that could take him away. from his house. If it is
Uree, it will be something to be happy about, but if it is Ayeo, it
will be something to worry about. If it comes out at divination for
marriage, the person will betold.that the woman will go. away after
having only one child, and. there is a strong possibility .. of giving
the child. to . another man, The person should be advised to have
his own lfa.

As soon as she saw her children moving out of the shells, the Poem for Prosperity; Orunmila
guinea fowl ran home to cover them under her wings, Since the ni lwori ni kan rin; Moni lwori
tortoise and the snake were not around to receive their children, the ko nikan rin;
little ones wandered into the heart of the forest. 0 ni Alara K i-i nikan gun ori'te:
lgba eni o ma ba de ibe;
That is why the tortoise never knows her children and they ne~er Oni Iwori nikan rin;
meet except when brought to the market for sale, Emi ni lwori Ki-i nikan rin;
Oni Ajero Ki-i nikan gun ori ite;
For the same reason, the snake never knew the children and that is lgba eni. ni o ma rnba de ibe;
why the snake is never seen with her children. Alf three of them do 0 ni Iwori nikan rin;
not hatch their'eggs except through thf.~id of Moni lwori Ki-i nikan: rin; ., ,
thunder. · ··· Oni Orongan ile-ila ki-i nikan ria gun orite,
Igba eni ni o ma mba de ibe;
When this Odu appears at Ugbodu, the person should be told to Orunrnila ni ore moba, ono ade pere fun iye-ide, Oni
keep a thunderstone in the shrine of his Ifa, that is 'to keep it inside ki nikan rin gun ori - ite.: · ·
the Ha plate with the Ikin after serving Sango with a 0 ni igba eni ni o ma mba de ibe
0 ni Iwori nikan rin, Moni Iwori ko nikan rin,

46
47
44.
0' hPOba'·Aoo ,kirnikarr rin: gun· oH;ite,
'lgba : eni' rti''o ! irtai mba deLibe r ' : ; ' . ' . ',.,
' (Loba Loba) do not enter the tomb alone;
Oni 11\-Jori nlldi-tfri~:Etni: ni' Iwori· ki-.i nikari rin;
1
0 'riPObWOyd R:i-i ·I'likan gun ori ,ite;
•Igha'erii rii o' ilia· mba · de ibe; · , : ·.
-O ni · -I wori 'rlikan1 rin; · Effii, ni Iworl ki-i nikan tin
Oni:Ioja:~idja ati-toba-loba, o ni \vcf·ki .• i nikan rin gunorite:
O ni igba eni ni o ma mba won de ibe.
Meaning;-
Orunmila says Iwori walked alone; . :~ ·· , ,· ·· .· r
I replied that Iwori did not walk alone; , · .. ·
He said Alara does not enter the torrtb aknie,- ; '· ..
He enters the tomb with 200 persons>
He said lwori walked alone,
I replied that lwori did not walk alone; ,, ; He said that
Ajero does not enter the tomb alene.He enters the tomb
with 200 persons. : :
He said that the Orongun of Ila does riot.alone 'enter the tomb; He
goes into the tomb with 200 persons .. ·:, ; . . i · Orunrnila wishes
very good tidings for the child of. goodness.' The wing of the dove'
does; not enter the- tomb alOQe,, .' , ·,
It goes there with the 200 divinities .. ) ,.
He said thatthe ldngofBenint.ts not entombed alene. He
goes into the vault with 200 human beings, · i. . ; · , He said
that Iwori walks alone aadI-objected.
He said that the1king,of Oyo does not-enter the tomb alone.
48
He goes there with 200 persons.
He said. that Head Chiefs (Loja Loja) and kings
They go in with. 200 persons.
Orunmila again said that Odobiri was drowned. The
Ifa priest .replied tha; he surfaced again.
The.Ifa priestwas directed to inform the divinee that he would have
plenty of followers, but that nobody seems to-be in favour of
whatever he is contemplating to do.
Orunmila said. that if .he. must .go ahead. to do it, he should make
sacrifice with; plenty of bush rats, plenty of fishes and plenty of
white ants. He made the sacrifice. It is in multitude that while ants
build and stay in their house and that black ants and soldier ants
move in multitudes. The divinee begged Orunmila to lethim
multiply and have a large followership.
At divination, the person should be told to make sacrifice with
plenty of bush rats, plenty of fishes, plenty of white and black ants
because he is destined to become very prominent.
i_,.:· >.·. ij.;_ ,:
. Divination hCocc kaxiU&· ,beayeg;
, .. -.
Before leaving heaven, this Odu went for divination and he was
ad~sed to serve his .he~d:.~ith a cock and also to serve Ogun
•with another cock. He was, told that he would be a prominent

lfa priest on earth and would divine for . kings and the aristocracies
of birth and wealth.
On getting to the world, he understudied lfa art from experienced
lfa priests for a .very long time. Before he started on his own, he
went for divination and was told that he came to the world with a
very good head. He was advised to serve his head with a guinea
fowl and'to serve Ogun with a dog, fish and snail. As he was
returning home, he remembered' a point he forgot to probe during
divination. He decided to meet the Awo on the other side of the
river. Before getting to the river, he brought out the kolanut in his
pocket and served his · head with it. He met a canoe that was
almost fully loaded but when he appealed to the paddler to take
him on board, he refused bluntly. He argued that there was still
space for him, but the sailor bluntly refused to take himon 'board.
The canoe pulled off without him. When the canoe got to mid-
stream, it overturned and all the passengers were drowned with the
exception of the paddler who swam to safety.
It was then that Iwori-Okonron appreciated that indeed, he had a
good head. He went home and began to practice. as an If.a priest.
He also worshipped Ogun and Osanyinon the sideline.
When this Odu comes out at Ugbodu, the person should be advised
to avoid travelling by canoe and to serve; his head with
50
guinea-fowl, and Ogun with dog, fish and snail, He should be told
that he has a successful life ahead of him.
He made divination for Eziza and the Oka:
Eziza used to farm in alligator pepper. Parndoxically, he was
friendly with ·oka, who .forbade ·to see the seeds of aHigatot
pepper. Eziza and Oka used to visit each other. One day, they went
to Orunmila for divination and they were. advised never to go out
at night.
They were both out one day when they became benighted.Oka
reminded Eziza that they were advised not to move out at night,
but Eziza insisted that a single night's accidental outing was not
going to make any difference. As they were returning home, they
met the elders of the night (Awon lyami Osoronga) holding a
meeting. Not knowing what to do, they both ran into the bush
where they remain to this day.
When the Odu appears at Ugbodu, the person should be told to
serve his lfa with a boa and to serve Eziza. He should be advised lo
refrain from night outing. At ordinary divinati~n, the person
should be advised to avoid travelling with a friend at night.
51
 Orunmila went. to pluck money uu t of tbe, tree, but before he got
tliere, the people had finished plucking J( . , ~ef~1. wa~ another tree
which produced money at.the ba.skyard of.A.j~ro's palace. By the
Divination for Prosperity: time Orunmila got there to pluck money, the people had finished
plucking all the money on, th~ tr~~; .. He
Orunmila ni oshe, oshe; Emi na mo ni oshe oshe; then returned home. '· · ···
A.sl:Je ashe kpikpo lo. kpo. Oni Igi kan oun sho aje leyin enkule ,
Alara, Orunmila ni ofe lo ka aje na. Ki Orunmila to de be. won ti-ika. • . • . l . : .••. ' . ' ,· . ' •. ·• \ • - i

Orunmila otun kpada wa ile. There wasyet another mqnry-prodµcin&tr.ee.at th~ h~c~ar~p,f
Orunmila ni oshe oshe mi pipo lo po. Oni igi kan oun so aje leyin Ora,'ngun-llla's palace.;' pn.m;milaagain ~eJ~t t~~i;e ,W pl~c;~ o.t;Jt of
enkule Ajero, . Ko nto de se, oni won ti'ka, it. , qry
getting the~~ he climbed ihe. ,r~e:. l}s pe ~as: pl,1,1~ij~i
Otun pada wa .ile.' • · , Orunmila ni oshe oshe, mi pipo lo po, Igi kan monex from. the tree, pe was surrounded PY Jhe. p~ople qf .t,be. town
onu so aje leyin enkule Ajero, Ko nto de so, oni won.ti.ka, of Illa.
,,.,./.
He was
told to come down from, the'
<·,>:·••.!.' .. ·.'•.i .. ,,-.'-
When\
.;>, -_,., __ - --.,.1:'····
tree, :
· .. .i': ,:_,.· .. :r .. : ,:'.f'1.··-:i·,·,: 1r·.);·),·,·} ·· :,';:

Otun pada wa ile. · he gqt d<>~n, he, was apm,ehyqd~d aq~ ,br~ghtJnsiq~, palace: t,9.~,
Orunrnila ni oshe oshe, mi pipo lo po, Igi kan nso aje l'eyi enkule They made him to sit down. After sitting downsthe people fetched two
orongun ni le ila. Orunrnila mura, oba tun lo si 'be. rats, two fishes, two hens, two pigeons' and one. g<>~t., Iller
Orunmila hebe, oba gun ori igi na. · b~~u~bt the F<>w11 and.,plHced .it on hi~ h.ead. All tpe p~m*~
Oba bere si aje kika. Gbogbo ara ulu ba mu ro ma uka. kqelt down before hllll. and .... begged h1rn \g become thcur king. fie
Oba ni to so kale; Won ba mu .Orunmila bo wale, won mu.joko; ni was crowned as. th~ ()ba ofJla,-:pr.an~9iQ,
gbogbo ~on ba na, won ba we, won ba m1.1 eku meji oni were, ~Qn and everyone came to pay <>peisance t9.J:1i111, . .. . '
ba eja rneji apo sese lo odo, Won mu abo adiye meji,eyele meji, ' .
ewure abo nu rede rede. Won ba mu ade gbe de Orunmila lori. Won w1,eq.,~ii(?du comes o~fat,divination, p;r~~H}h.oyld.be. told ~~e.
ba kunle, won ba ni ko joko mu ori oto lu, kojo mosi akamba, won ba that whatever prop9s~l he bad that m.~.e: h1Ill,cQJne.Jpr divination,
mu Orunmila j'oba. is good. He·shc{otd'be advisedto'be patient a~~f not
Meaning:- lqs~, ,~<>pe because he ~jll, on,,ly :§pf:~.eed after the. th.ird
a.~,e,mpt7 If ~hS d1"iAee is awernan, §h~ ~\U be told .that she is
p11ltg~?ing. to settle down with a third husband, after two abo. rt. ive '· " ' ·:., .,./';.i

One tree produced money at the backyard of Alara's palace.

52
marriages, and that she. will have to marry an lfa man. If the divinee is
a male, he will be told to arrange to have his own Ifa in order to
prosper in life.
. . · ... : 1

CHAPTER SEVEN
Divination ror Ere and Adaa;
IWORl - IROSUN
lwori ko nu ~a,nrin,awo loore agban, Adafa fun Ere, abufun Adaa; . IWORI-KO- 'SUN
Iwori of Lo're J\gban who does not move alone, made divination for I II
:Ere (p'rnfit) and Adaa (Cutlass) ~heri they were both goingto I I I
themarket. He advised· them to make sacrifice before going· tothe I I I
market; hut they refused to heed his advice. They were to make I I I
sacrifice with two pigeons. one guinea fowl, and· one· hen. They 'left He made diviri'alion for Apada:
for' the market without making the ,' . '.. ·· ; ;

sacrifice. '·· · · · ··
On gettihgld the market they could neither sell their wares nor find
mon~Y to 'buy attything. Soon afterwards a quarrel began
betweeritheht~·teadihg to a fight. .. Ere hit Adaa arid the Iauer ' died.
Ere had to i~h.frn home alone: When he was asked of the
whereabouts of Adaa, Ere admitted that he had killed him. That was'
how' a yofoba metaphor began "Opa Adaa · ·Nu" for
someone who trades withoutmaking any profit. ' ):>in~h of; t\pada'~ rebellion, he went. to IworiIrosun for .divinatiop.
.: ,I . ,. · --- ' - f
Ua Ila.ti on r'oke; Ile. Ile l'ombo, Adafa fun Apada to ni oun koni ba
ile she mo.
The leaf on top of a tree will surely come to the ground was the poem
with which he made divination for Apada, the fresh green leaf ~h.eJ1
he wa~ quarrelling with the ground. The green leaf r~$,oi'v,e~::ne,ver
to come down to the ground any more. The f~leJl foliage
provid~sfpod for the ground. When the ground ~~s ,f~~}_iJ1~ the

At divinatiort~ the. person· shoil.ld be advised to make S~crific~' to

lle was advised to make sacrifice with he-goa\J~ Esu. Th~ grqµncl
made the sacrifice. Thereafter Esu went, 'nd . invited. the.. cold, .'dry
avoid therisk of committingmurder or ofbeing murdered iri the cause weather or harmattan to intervene. The 'cold weather dried up all the
M his or her work. leaves on top of the trees and they all fell to the ground.

54 55
When this 0<.1u comes out at divination, the person should be advised bnoedin in Bini) and red c:loth. He was told that be did1not pay for
to ser ve Esu with a he-goat so that all his friends and relations· who good wive$ before leaving heaven and that his lwem, was headed
have rebelled against him might be forced to come buck to him. by a .wiich. His senior wife was in -particular• a heartless witch who
was contriving a new strategy for. turning his house. upside down and
to scatter it. The sacrifices were made
He made dh·ination for Odan, the Um~rella tree; Bi to Sango, Ogunand Esu. :. · ,: '· · ·
ale ba ti I.:., panripan asuko After contriving her strategy, but as she was about to hatch it, Esu
Agban ri gban ko te egbo alerted Ogun and .Sango to be prepared to abort herplans; and to put
Obo ejo lo wole · dere dere dere. out the bad fire she was proposingto ignite.
Adafa fun Odan lo nlo gba rere lowo ede.
Meanwhile; Ogun took position in front of Elekole's house, Sango'
When evening comes, the leaves. by the river called panripan will took -position at .the 'back ofthe house; and Esu took position on .the
cool down. The genitals of the snake, kiss the ground whenever she right side of the house. As soon as the senior wife lit the. fire, counter-
moves, These were the two lfa priests who made divination for Odan offensive action' was taken to use the woman anc! 'all her .children to
(Obadan in. Bini) ·or the' umbrella put it Out ·
1
tree when it was going to obtain prosperity.
After extinguishing the fire, the household of Elekole had a new air of
Divined
. .
.
for f.fekole
.
of lkole, Oba
; . .
Ereke: . peace and tranquillity. Thereafter, Esu brought out the honey with
which Elekole made sacrifice and invited people to leak it while
Ikosun lowo, ki-kosun Iese - The man who dubs camwood ori the singing;
hand butnot ori the leg, was the name of thl.awo w_ft6 made divination Mo de ile Elekole o ; Oyin ajo,
'for the ,Elekofe of Ikole,' Oba Ereke, when th1e peace· cW. his Oyin moyin moyin, Oyin ajo.
household was disturbed. He was told'. tt)> fuak~ sacrifice with a" cock,
tortois~;'tlog, COfll bu'n(Aadu:n or Ekate in y~ruba and Uloka in. When this Odu comes out at divination for a responsible polygamist,
Bini) akara, . eko; honey and he~goat He wasto add the chaff of palm he should be told that his senior wife is contemplating a .ploy to
fruits (Ogur1sho i.q yo~ba'and destabilize him. He should· make
. ' ' ,.•.,

56 57
45.
sacrifice with cock to Sango, tortoise and. dog. to Ogun, hegoat.akara,
Eko, Aadun (Uloka), red doth, honey and the. chaff of palm fruits to
Esu, so that the schemer might be identified and .exposed.
Made Divination for two half brothers; Iwori.
Kosun - Aawo Oka; Maawo Oshuupa, · Aawo
Oshupa' Maawo Oka.
The man who was. looking at the Boa on the ground without looking
up at the: moon, .and the man who looked up atthe moon without
seeing the boa on the ground, were the two awos who made divinution
for two half brothers. He advised them to go to their ancestral home to
make sacrifice with cock and tortoise for the divinity in the place.
Before going, they were l<,> serve EsH with a 11¢..:goat. They were to
make the sacrifice fvr long life and prosperity. They were both asked
to buy the nwteriqls for the sacrifice jointly. The senior of the two
brothers refused to contribute towards the purchase of the materials,
and so, the junior one bought them.
In spite of the fact that he did not contribute towards the purchase of
the materials, .he was the first to leave for their ancestral home ..
U~known. to him, the divinity they were going to. serve had turned
into a boa and taken position on the way
5
8 59
to .their ancestral home. As. the senior of the two brothers was
travelling. alone; he trod on the tail of the boa and it, stung him. He
died before getting to the ancestral home.
Not long afterwards, the junior of the two brothers left with the cock
and. tortoise for their. home town. He travelled in the night when the
moon was shinirig brightly. He was however looking at the ground
and moving carefully. Suddenly, he saw a boa lying on the. pathway.
He then moved backwards and cut a stick with which he kilJed the
boa, carrying it along with him.
On getting to the. town, he was hailed for his feat When he . asked
whether his elder brother had arrived he was told that the brother, .was
apparently bitten by the same boa that he kiJJed and that the bite led to
his death.
The following day members of the family went to the communal shrine
to serve the divinity. When this Odu . comes out at divination, the
person should be told to serve Esu with he-goat and. the bones or head
of a boa. He should also serve a divinity ! (Osun or Osanyin) which
does not eat oil. in his ancestral home.
M81'e Divination for a· Palm on Miller;,
The palm oil miJJer was doing .well in his business and yet.he
46.

Thereafter,· the metaphysician went to work on the: corpse of the.

was having an irresistible urge ,to. commit murder. He decided :i to dead ·.woman, and brought her back to life. . · They all
go to Iwori-Ko'sun for diviriation. He was advised to serve· Esu
returned home 'rejoicing.
without any delay with a lte-goat. He· did not make the
sacrifice. ,, When this Odu appears at Ugbodu, the person should be advised to
use one he-goat to prepare his Esuwithout delay and to use a second
One morning; he wentto the bush with his wife to cut palm fruits.
one to serve Esu, three days after preparing it. He should be advised
While in the forest, , he, Suddenly accused his wife of planning to
to be very careful about women. When it.appears as
leave him. In spite ofthe fact that his wife denied ':' having such
ayeoatdivination the person should be advised to serve Ogun with
intentions, he cut off one of the wife's ears. While · the wife was
a.cock and Esu with a he-goat to avoid either
stilldenying the accusation he murdered her.
committing murder or being murdered.
'A hunter who was watching for. game from the top of a tree, saw
'how the man murdered his' wife.: The hunter came down fromhis .Special sacrifice of Iwori-Gosun; ·
watch-beat and went home to tell the woman's mother· .... ,,

that her son-in-law had murdered her daughter. They all ~ On.in'.mila ni ki Iwori' go sun:
moved to the forest where they found the murderer weeping )
I
Moni ki Iwori go sun.'
over the corpse of his wife. He begged· for understanding that !c , he' Nigbafrlwori ba ti ngun osun,
did not ·know when he did it. He however suggested that :, therewas Onl opotopo aje ni ma nwo ile de.
a metaphysician inthe village who had the power to !! :tevive a dead 0 ni ki Iwori gosun; Moni ki Iwori gosun.
person. They trooped· to the man's place. On , 0 ni ti Iwori ba ti ngosun, Oni aya re re ni o nwo ile
• seeine:.theth, •thtfmart~ who was also a seer, accussed him oft de:
failing to do the sacrifice he was advised to make to Esu. The { man Oni lwori go sun, Monl lwori go sun;
told him that the sacrifice had doubled and that at that '! point Esu Onl bi lwori' ba ti ngosun; omo tun-tun ni oma WO inu
was demandingtwo he-goats, t· ii ile. · ·
Oni ki 'Iwori gosun, Moni ki Iwori gosun, Oni ti Iwori ba ti
,:fi~-''qtikk!y went-to produce two· he;.gqats for the sacrifice. . ngosun, Oni gbogbo ire ni ma wo ile,
I

61
60
47.

Orunmila prescribed sacrifice with:- pigeon in order to be prosperous:

a three-year old cock in order to have a wife; a rabbit and a producing
hen in order to have children; a goat so that the :,,~'l!,e may he full; a CHAPTER EIGHT
ram for a chieftaincy title; a calf in order 10 live to a ripe, old age, and IWORI - OW ANRIN
a he-goat in order to overcome o.ie's enemies. Ll . TI
I I I
I I
The lfa pries; later informed Orunmila that all the sacrificial materia's I I I
had been produced. Orunmila confirmed that the sacrifices should he
made because; thepigeon uses its right and left wings to usher in good He made diylnation for 02bi2~ and Alaltemo: .
tidings to the house, whilst the cock pays no dowry before having a
wife, just as the hush rat never goes through life without producing Th~ Theokarn (Ogbigbo in yoruba ·and Owonwon inBini) a'nd the
children. Chameleon (Alagemo in yoruba and Erokhi Bini) were two friends in
who came to the earth at about the same time, dt; ring the beginning
When this Odu appears at Ugbodu, the person will be told that the lfa pf time, : They went for divination oriwhat
is coming with several people behind him. He should be told that there todo to ~·1,:u~edon 'earth .. 'They were told to make sacrifice t?
is a woman close to him who is crying to have a child, and that the avoid losing their' rightful places to· others. The Theokarrt made
woman should be advised to make sacrifice with a mother-goat, rabbit sacrifice but the Chameleon did' not. '
and fowl.
They remained friends on earth but had one. problem. They were
If it comes out at divination for a title/position, the person should he always zrguing between themselives"ol1 who' wai(the· f1r~t to
a.lvised to make sacrifice witha ram, and if .it is for a sick person, he arrive at the earth, The. Theokam argued that when he came
should he advised to .rnake sacrifice with .a sheep (ewe). i.u eartl), there was ncr·ground except water and tha't when his
; • ·,. 1.' '." I )' ' ,' ' ' . . . ·~ '-. .. ,•. • • ' ~ ' •, > •. . ' -- '. ; ••' . ~"-

parents died, he had to bu~ lhert1' on top of hisbeak; 'which is ttte

load he, carries on top of his beak to this day.
I • !, ,I " '.' : ~ I

On the other hand,the Chameleon argued that when he came to the

earth, the ground was so fragile that he had to move

62
stealthily with the aid cf a walking stick, which accounts for the slow
movement of the Chameleon to this day.
The dispute became so rite that they decided to go to God for a
decision. The Alrf1i~~ty Father declared that when He created the
earth, there was no ground and it was all water until He sent down the
divinities when Orunmila brought the soil that necarne the grounds of
earth in a snail's shell.
It was clear therefore that the Theokam musr have flown -to earth
before the ground was funned. But the earth did not become habitable
until the grotmd was formed. The Chameleon c .ime with Orunmila to
earth and was the first creature to thread on the ground.
When this Odu comes out at divination, the person should be told to
serve ·.his head with a cock while backing lfa shrine so that. he might
not lose his legitimate entitlement to someone else, If it comes out at
Ugbodu, the person should also use a he-goat to serve Esu.
Qh:fo1&10!, ·eve Ocumgila;
':: ' ' fc ' ' ' ·•. - ' • '
Agba osnubu lu Agba; Arigede shubu Arigede, Adifa fun
Orunrnilababa-shawo lo si ilu Aramari,
These were the two diviners who made divination for Orunmila
64
when he was going to practice: Awo art in a town be bad never known
before. The diviners told him to go· and· perform lfa practice in an
unknown land and that on getting there, he should advise the people to
make sacrifice with a sheep (ewe) so that prosperity might return to
them.
After making therecommended sacrifice to Esu, he left for the place:
The town had one divinity that was responsible for bringing them
fortune. They used to serve it with a sheep every year. When the
ruling Oba died, the new one was too young to know the tradition and
the elders did not draw his attention to it ..•
When. Orunmila got to the place, he told the people that prosperity
had long eloped from the town and that they were required to make
sacrifice with a sheep to an Orisa they used to serve annually but
which they had abandoned for a long tlme. At night Esu rose to wake
up all the elders who knew about the abandoned divinity and on the
next morning they confirmed the divinational declaration of
Orunmila.
The people of the town immediately cleared the site of the divlnity-·
'and made the sacrifice with-: a ·· sheep. Soon afterwards,women .who
had not been pregnant for years, became pregnant .and the harvest
for, that year was .prolific, Prosperity had returned to the town.
65
48.
49.
At·.divm.atif>n,:··thc: person.should be told .that.good timeshave
lcftchim or: herand that·:ht/sh.c should serve· the head .with a cock
for ftjrtune·;to. return. ..
He made. divination · ror,,.the, uarenu ·tod bddearoom · or the
Queen or Fays <Imere or IiJ>akhuan};
Alfro gongo lori.ila rilo emirna beje IeyinOoruun, Adifa fun
~urt;~Nana, Omo. ta'ro diri' gongo te 'le oko:~·-..., - .
;-,? .....
;
The queen. of.fays. was. bor~. as the d.a~shter of ··a: .noble family,
She grew up to be ensnanngly beautiful, but the parents had been
warned at her naming ceremony divination that she was likely to
di~ an the' day of her wedding unless she was given in
-marriagc1to.Oninmila;.. . .1 -. · came from her husband-to-he, she· CC>Uld not refu~,t~. :abide.,,
./\s:· a y~ung girl, she had a peculiar way .. of weaving her hair with
a centref.elevauon.on top of her head. Unknown to everybody else,
thatwas thehair-style'woven by female fays ,in heaven as
a means of identifying themselves. ,· ·
When tho day .was. appointed for giving her in marriage :w Orunmila,
hedeeided to make a.special divination~ · b{'\lmnila told, the parents
:that a$ they were ·preparing to give, her away in ,,, marriage, she was
finalising arrangements for returning to heaven, because her husband in
heaven was preparing rto
receive her ~: bis, briq~, • 01µnlllil~;pr,edi~~d that,.s~ct~Q~1~
on.her wayto his house, , ";· .'\: ', , : :~2: ,td' ·/{' 1 "':;
\ ?.i'.r,·.·'ic/ ; ~ ·n. ·u .. ::i r , •
1
To, save her, from tlt~ .shackl~~ , 9( per ~Y~WY ,hu~~qd,
Orunmila recommended mai sacrifi(;e:&h.ou,Jd; ~ made wi!ll~ goat
and a cutlass. On the other hand, Orunmila warned that she could not
he broµg_ht;tg\hi~ hou.~~!wi,thJ1~r.tiri;i<,IJ\io,Wt,l)1;1ff~
do.He.insisted that s,tj~1 shguJd,pe,~ade,:\OJP.~~ ,~~ hair .~s ,the
only way of forcipg her to remain ,on, earth. ,; ''. l ' · ' ; i : '
C • ,
1 " '
.) :._; '- '!_., ,. ', 1 ·, .. ·; ,._ ,. _, . , ,. . -', ,' , ;·_ , J ., r : .. , : ;~ ·: :'.~ r ' ', .: , .'.'I •. , .'. ( ..--, :_ • ·· · . ·'
The sacrifice w~~ duly made, Q.1;1 rhe appoint;e<,i ~Yi fo~ leading,
her to his nouse, Orunmila appeared at the parents-in-law's house and
told the bride quite unequivocallv that she was to lose
he.r:,hajr,.cJo;h~fqre; ".QITiing1t{>:;~.is)1q"s~. i $(n~ ,tbo,:J>{d~,1I
After. cutting her ha;Lr, she was dressed similarly. with three other
.rnuidens who were 10 escort her to the husband's house; This-
~trati}gy was contrived at the instance. of Orunmila to make it ~Hfic~t
for her; to be identified: by her impish .colleagues, · ,
~eµQwhile, her l.leay,~nly, hµsha,r,id sent errands . to come .and
fetch her from earth. On getting toearth, they took position on the
route to Orunmila's house. When the nuptial escorts were l~ding her to
Orunmila'shouse, the.heavenly messengers could not .recognise her,
.. so; they concluded thatshe had npt,le,fj\ .the
parent·~ hou.e. They went to the father's house only to discover that
she had gone and when they wanted to make for Orunmila's .house,
Esu· drove them back to heaven. They returne<? · io heaven to
report that they could not find her. She fived 'happi!y with
Orunmila ~· a ripe old' age.
;JC' I ' , -;..'.· ..
When this Odu appears at divination, the person should be told that
he has one daughter ripe for- marriage who is in the habit of
platting her hair in a special way; The parents should be advised
noi to give her away in-marriage, but wait for her to get pregnant
so that the child would move her to the husband's place.:
He made divination for Aebaa when he was eoine to seduce the
wife1 ·o(OlfalHon:
Ode fuini kurun kunshan, udifa fun Agba to nlo gba aya Obalifun.
Obalifon ls· known to he one 'of the more powerful divinities.
Unknown to ·. him, Agbaa an inconsequential drummer .,ecame
interested in a young woman who turned out to he the 1;.,_•trothed
fiancee of Obalifon. The young girl however pref•.!rrey to
marrythe much younger and versatile
Aghaa. · gbara rula, .Ode gbaun · gbara rula, which is the sound of the
' .~, \
As Agha'l was making arrangements to marry the girl, his attention
was invited to the fact that she was the betrothed
68
spouse of. the great Obiµifon. He then J>e1• to. Jli4e .. from pillar
to post. M~whil•, he went to Oru~l• for divination and he was
advised to serve Esu with a he-goat. He did the sacrifice.
After feasting on his.he-goat, Esuwent to Obalifon to fin<i out what
he proposed to do about the. young. man who had seduced his
betrothed. Obalifen boasted that of course he. was going to kiU:him
because noyoung animal singes the whiskers of a tiger and get
away with it. Esu accused Ohalif~n.. ·of being stupid enough to
think of soiling his hands with .the blood of a nonentity who did
not even know about the girls betrothal to him. Esu advised
Obalifon, to give up .the young woman but make the innocent
seducer to pay .a .fia.e. of an, ewe (female sheep) the staple food of
Obalifon. Upon reflection, Obalifon agreed to the proposal of Esu,
who. quickly went to advise Agbaa to produce a sheep which
he.was too scared to send by himself to Obalifon. Esu agreed to·
send the sheep to Obalifon who happily accepted it.
The .way was then cleared for Agbaa to get peacefully married to
tbe girl. During the marriage ceremony, Agbaa sang; .Ode gbaun
Agbaa drum to this day.
•
At divination, a man should be told that he is flirting with the
69
50.
girlfriend or wife of a man more powerrul'thlin 'himself, but that
he co~ld get' away with ·it ifhe gave a· he-goat to Esu. ··
He marle divination roe the people or moren: ·1 • •
.·
Otuntni! a ml eta .• tin m6'tl'ere: 'nii eJa:rih ·mo, •. was the .awo who
made dNinatidtr·f of thellpeopte iof.Ulbten• in the Obdo. State- (Jf
Nlgeri;twhen th¢r~iwas ·aw outbreak· of thniat :fombur·epid~rrtic
iri' the· town:····· tfhey· were advised-·to·niake'-'sacrifice. ··0t~r
divinities arid ·seers1 Hacf.been to the to\vn to· find a cure to the
disease without'suc~eSS; ,,. <• • li .::, . ;
Before"going; Orcinfflila.iwa.s told' to 'make sacrifiee with a he.i
g6a( ah,d .. "ij"sHeiep1(e~~). ~ufihe1failed[t0· d<'.> it>··He-.howeve1
wehtd~ ·tnt pface···arid·'after :ttivirtatibn, he told the people •to
rrfake sacriffoe with a; he .• goat to: Esu and· sheep to 'the ground
cfivjnitt · H~ prepare/cf Hte -special tnedic!nal · ;JeaiveS'and .. made
everfmari;\0.m'l'an,·aha chiJd:'in-the.town to drink out ofit.
By the following morning, the incidence of throat tumour had atiated,
·1hrdtlghb1.H the -town.. ,After aflithe ,ceremonies were over,.
Oru·nm1falasked' them tcV·ptoduce the traditional fihal tibatidff
(Bbr~tayin, -Ogoro' tayi:n; Otin .tayin). The people objected and
argued that they . saw no justification for Orunmila's new demand for
kolanuts and drinks.
1 ) , Ci . .J:.Li -. :_. . i .. ·, ~)
70'
In anger, Orunmila left tor home. On getting: home, Esu demanded the
final libation of the. sacrifices he. made and:he replied that the
people refused to produce any. t&u~·then1 proclaimed that the
sacrifices he made did not manifest. When Orunmila however . itold•
:Esu. · that: the'., thrt>at; \'turndut,r 11adL healed,Esu pointed his
thumb in the direction of Uloren and before' the following :mortlittg;
.trate$';t'<>fi throat' tum-mun .bad
Started ·fC-:appeatitig in tbe tO\i/fi,'' ;,
!, '.;•'. Ti•' ' };
' }\','' •
'-~,
Consequently, the people-otUtoren sent a,strorigdel'egation'to·
Orunrnila to persuade him to' return to·theiil rescue .once ·more·.,
He refu.sed to follow themen- the. ground\that'1he1was"-nor:
respdnsible>for · the .ressrgenee- of •ther:'tutrio11ttI:epidetdic:)b11w
disclosed that it was Esu who'.•demind~1 a, he..goat:Tfot'
appeasement. Thepeople lost no time in producing a he-goat with
which ht served'Bsu, After eating his l'le--goatr &u :war.ned
Orunmila' that' if he·was· to,return to Uloren, he, shooldldtma.11dt
of
onebag money. forevery Step-he moved.between his home· and the
town. Orunmila relayed the message to the people and they agreed to
pay accordingly.
When hegor-to the to~n, he demanded a goat for asecond sacrifice;
which was produced. 'File ,sacfi:fice was··made ,an:d by the following
morning the throat tu-mour had ~sappeattd: fot1 good. Orunmila
realised a lot of money from that trip. When it was' all
over, he: agaiti :'aisfced for Obi tayin, ogotc>' ta.yin and'
11
 Otin taybl. This time, they were ~tantly produced, and at the enough to feed the hungry ground. That was how he saved his
6nal1. divination, &u confirmed that the sacrifice had children from death. When this Odu comes· out ar.divination, the
IIMUlifeated. person should be told to make sacrifice in order to live
long. · : ;

.Qrunmlla·made sac dGce to save bis childnn; He made divination for two wives of Oloftn:
When dea.th was, gunning for Orunmila's children, he was told at
divination that someone was whetting his appetite ( elarin mo lere - Orunmila ni Ogbu-gbe-gbe ni o she. Ori tete siimaro. Odifa fun
Mi elarin mo lere) in anticipation of a major catch. He wondered Ode-de omo arogun gbe yo bi ega. Awon ni she ifa fun Anoshin
whether two fishes or two rats were enough for which to Olofin. Eyi ti nse ale odede.
leakthe.leaps, 1 Wben he asked the. diviner what it was that made
Anoshin and· her mate, two wives of Olofin; were advised to make
anyene.to leak the leaps, they replied that when Death whets bis
sacrifice with a cock, new plates, and a he-goat. Anoshin made the
appeti~ to consume a human being, the ground leaks iis moutb to
sacrifice, but the mate did not. Meanwhile, one of the ::plates· used
receive the. victim.
by Anoshin for giving food to Olofin was broken.» As::she was
~ .,

Orunmila.i,torted that if they were referring to his children, it WAIS. about to cast the broken plates away; Esu rurnedojnto a
a.colassal:joke because it was forbidden for his children to die·. seer/counsellor and advised her to keep the broleettJj,la~s. Not
before :their· appointed time and while he was still alive. long afterwards, another wife of Olofin and a close· associate of
Anoshin called Odede suddenly died and Anoshin began to weep in
Orunmila then decided to lubricate the whetted appetite .of death the following words;
with a sheep and to close the open mouth of the ground
with·.the:mud image of his children. The severed head of the she~p Ale -Ohffl::ku-c>O
,a11d · the mud· .images were .wr-apped in a white piece) of eleth Terei:madcd:.ni ·,
ind bufied in the gr~nd,. : 1 . · ·. shon
. \ ·,!"::~ j:I, () 1 J; \::: ',' • ·'
,, ( :··; ,' ~ t ',· f i.
He made· the sacrifice with t1)e )IMilLV~ that the sheep was Another)~ tOlofin overheard her crying over their· dead
rt1ate}iliCl1quitklt•tntltoreport to the Oba that Anoshtn was

1? 7.3
51.
cryiog over, the death of their mate, Odede. The Oba reacted, by.
sendiog1 .messengers 1.1.0; go and verify , the situation.
•MeanwhUe.Esu, again transfigured, into the seer/counsellor: and
advised Anoshin to change her weeping words to a cry over.the
breakage of her much: cherished , plates. She immediately
changed her crying,<:tlaJ1tsJo:... •1 ,:: ;
A.wo mi fQ-QrQ :
Tere ma ko ai son
.......•,,.,,
:
After hearing Anoshin crying over her broken plates, the
messengers reported.re · the Obac"that she was not crying over
ctny,dea'd mare but.over herbroken plates .. · ... . ,, ·.
,,
AsISQOrl as
the messengers ofOlefin left, Anoshin. resumed,
<icyJng.,over.,thed~ath'of:herimate, Odede. The· third mate went:' ·
b,a¢k,io tile, Oba.'ancJ:ililsisted that far-from crying on account of,
h~ttt broken 'plates, Anoshin was stil] crying over the death of.
O.· r1 .. ede, :. " ti ole ribayi?
"'""'. #' ,.,
.; .,:..
:'.~
The Olefin reacted by sending messengers to hide and ·
eavesdrop on Anoshin's crying words. Before the ,messengetS:.
took position to listen in on Anoshin, the Esu--turned.;counsellot
once again told her to change her weeping chant to a cry over
her:,broken plat.es,:· :she immediately resumed ·crying.lover her.
broken • plates,, ±Which. was .the Impresslon ·that, Olefin's, ·Se«et;
7
4
messengers-went.back .to -report,
Anoshin once again changed her cry as soon as the Esu- turned-
counsellor gaveher the all-clear. When .the third mate heard her
crying.again. over the death of.Ode de; she went. back to tell
their.husband togoand.listen to the song by himself.That was
precisely, what.the.Oba decided to do, He took position near
Anoshin's room 'but before. then, Esu had told her again to
change her cry .. She, then began to cryi- •
.,;
Awo: mi, fo-o-o.. Tete ma ko ... nr son:
Odi ojo timi ba ra eru
Odi ojo ti mi ba gba ofa.
Kimi to le gba ero awo ·• gbe-o
teremarke.ni sonv ,1 •
Awb:¥i·No.,di'igba::ti:rrti· fi epo ati.iyo si :
Ki-obe-Olofln.te chrn~,
Ibomi.matun.le ri awomi-i
;· ,,r
'
Olofin was now perfectly satisfied that Anoshin was eulogising
and lamenting the broken plate with which she used to serve him
food. Esu was determined to deceive the third woman into trouble.
She same back to meet Anoshin still singing· in praise of ier dead
mate. She· finally put her neck on the noose by insisting that
Olofin should send people with her to listen to
52.

Anoshin and that if her account was not confirmed, she could be
killed.

CHAPTER NINE
Before the mate and the verifiers got stealthily to the side of
Anoshin's room, Esu had -advised her once again to be crying over IWORI - OGUNDA
her broken plate and this time she foJJowed Esu's advice by actually , IWORI AWEDA
holding the broken plate in hand. The woman was · now beginning I I I
to doubt her own sanity and willingly offered herself to be executed. I I
Before .. executing her, Olofin sent for Anoshin. The severed head of . I
the officious mate was given to Anoshin to be spitting on whenever I I I
she woke up . in the morning. I.I
He 'inacte divination tor Opn before leavina heaven;
At divination the person should be. told not to be too officious I and Iwori Ogun rege le ti okpon: When Ogun was leavingheaven, he
to learn to reflect on whatever he/she sees or hears before giving went to 'Iwori Ogunda for divination'. He was advised to serve; Esu
publicity to it, to avoid the risk of getting into trouble as ' a result of a
with a. he-goat, his guardian angel with cock; dog, and a tortoise,
his/her own words. If it is Ayeo, the person should make sacrifice and toobtainclearance from God. He refused to do the sacrifice,
quickly to Esu as indicated above. Statements t .made in one's even though· he was warned that failure to do it would result in
presence are meant to be kept in the mind and not spit out of the untold hardship for him on earth.
mouth.
He also made divination for the divine priest who was advised _to
make sacrifice for clear visionary powers on earth. He made
!
sacrifice with cock, pigeon, goat, piece of white cloth,red
, parrot's feather and chalk, .
' i .

Ogun and the divine priest both came to' the world. Oguri led a ttf e
in which he was useful to everyone, both divinity and mortals alike,
but received no appreciation or recompense for his utility services.
He was often abandoned after being used, until he was required for
services again.

76 77
53.

On his part, the divine priest became a crowd puller. became

a famous diviner and prospered immensely in profession. One day, after polishing them, Arere left the king's eyes for the
' • .< ./ '
night's dew to coolup. Meanwhile, neglect had over- whelmed
He made divination for the Qlo~a of Qbu; Agbonrengenjen with monomania, having been instigated by one
other woman of the harem. In the small hours of the morning she
proceeded to where her mate kept the king's eyes on the palace
H~ made divination for the king of Oba, advising him to make courtyard and poured oil on them.
sacrifice .o •i~e long. He forgot to make the sacrifice which was to
be done with a he-goat. He. was also advised not to be, favouritic in In the morning, Arere found the eyes oil-soaked and could not
dealing with his wives. Incidentally, he was too :, explain the strange development to the king, who was unable to
much in io~e, wii~, ~!le of his\~ivest9 take ~h~ ,adrise s,~ri9u~b·· se.e with them -. Arere was executed and the king became blind.
', ·• ... , ~:.~~:.·/, .. ·,, •. ,:·· ,'.·J · \,.'._'. r:~;.f;'!_.· <'_:_\.· i

: .... : : .. :: __ ,-i; ,: , \, :·- . . .. , ; - !, - ·_-r- .. .. .. ,. ·' -~ ./ : , , -- . ··-. - - :, , ,

·, · ;,)_.· I!· ',

·: . - ·· .. ;· . . .
· ·

-t
Not long afterwards, the king died leaving Agbonrengenjen to
Afete\vas hi£ favourite' wife who sarwitb him au 'the time to continue to live. · '
'!ri~erpic\ hr( ,vis,H~s qy r~a,~i_ng· his ~ountenance. ' He ih was
the ... ~~~t::o(J~in9vfog hi~, ~ye~palls in · the _pighf and •When this Odu appears at Ugbodu, the person should be advised to
givirig · them
1
to J beware _of a light-skinned woman. He should give he-goat to Esu
.tii#~e, '1q r,ol\!i~ for ~se. lhe' ne,ct daf' . ·. ,·' l and make sacrifice with a pigeon to avoid sight problem.
.'. '
1,_" 4.J, .. ;!;,;.., · ,]i ..• ; .r. ,r,.,:,·,, .. ·, .. •' ;-.·, .... •' .''. t·· ! ,
1
' ~ • l a ·, . . ·r
At ordinary divination, the person should he advised not to join any
The kinihiia "a'nc>ther\viftcalled ,AgbonreilgenJen who was the.
meeting and to desist from attending those he already belo?g~ to, so
,9~»1~cte,do1_1~, and .w~9w~s often. blamed whatever went f~r that people may not hatch a plan to_ kill him.
\vtortg;mos't 'of the time, without justification: '' ' ,.
j,'' ;· "'>":', ,; I''. ; ,, ~.I ·.: ~_' '_.-.,_ ~-~ ·, ·:J.,.·~1/< \' ' .. -' - - - -, '' , ,· ,t,
!.";:__:_' ,i_~\ ~- ;,('.·,
:Atere· 'on th~; oth~r 'h'4nd often over-dramatised ,,her favourett ~
,- .. :_,,,..c_ •. _ .. !,,·::,,' . '.'r" .. .·, . ~,,._,' ... _ ' ·. r·;.;., )'
Made divination for AjantereKe before eoinK to wash Ofun's
head; · · · · ··· · · · .·. · · ··· · · · .,
disposition by singing in praise of the 'kittg.:s eyes \vhil~ '·rilbbirtl:l
,!~.epi be~·\'C~·\~er,,R,~l~, so mu~~ t~~t,i~ made ••

A$b,,<>~~.~gen)~nJ1 l?~ranoid,~it_l(~~vy. · . ,, · ·· · · · · · ,,, .1 j lwori we egutan, Ejiwelu welu, Niweri Eda toto Jiwiwini m
•-,..... '..... •l.,. -: ,_ . .,.

78
79
55.
54.

Iweri Akparo. Adafa fun Ajanterege toma tu ori ofun we. ori awo medicih~. the owner cannot be killed. The: ·· head only surrenders' to
kan ko ba suan, Awo atori awo she. sacrificial offerings, not •. to' charms 'or diabolical medicines,' These
are the names of the awos 'who made divination:for Oniwori-
.'' ,; . ' ' ' '
Byowhen he was going t6wash- hard luck 'away from his· head, He
·;::~!
The water dropping from the dew washes the head of the rat l was told to make sacrifice with a hen and a pigeon.
'J" .. ' ; ''
called Eda ( ofenfua in Bini'). The water dropping from IeaveiJ in the
morning washes the head of the bird called Akparo ·'1 (Ukhiokhio in Made dlvi'lation for the people of Obaa-Bedu;
/ ;, '

Bini). These were the names of the Ha priests: who made' divination for
an Awo called Ajariterege when he:j, was g?in¥ to. wash the head of
another Awp called Ofun. He,;I advised tomake sacrifice with fish, was AgogoShiriwo,odifaifun won ni Oba abedu nijo tigbogbo ure wort
shi 'lo. ' . . .
rat, akara, eko, pigeon, . hen and #3.00 worth of soap, before going to·
wash Ofun's' head. He made the sacrifice and performed the operation
SU~ce·ssfu'Hy. He was able towash away ha'rd luck from Ofun's ht#d Agodo Shiriwo was the awo who made divination for the people of
'~ecause the latter became prosperous and happy SOOrl:; : Otfaa.:BecJu· when prosperity left 'their town. They wete advised
' ·(':,._ ti _,,_'
afterwards.
< ' ' ' 'tornake · sacrifice with a goat, a 'ram and four pigeons so
thatprosperity ·might return to the town. They were also told to serve
one divinity called Orisa-Oba which teleguided the fortunes of the
town, but which they had neglected for many years. They were to
M~de divination for Oniwori-eyo !)ef9re washinK hard
L· •.,.-. ~ .,· _·, ·, serve the Orisa with snail, tortoise, kolanut and white cloth. They did
awayJrom hiJ h<:aa: .
1,

/ I;'
· · ·' .: ·

• I .-: , .
'· ·' .::_

~·
,..1.., : ·. . ·. ;

all the sacrifices and individualand collective contentment returned to

the town.
Iwori Awecla:, Ed~ Ogbt>gun, Ebo Jori 'je. Adifa fun Orti;otf'
Ey:~u\9;.111':1,!erj e?~:. Or.1?r? w~ a~~~b?~.Qi:P'. O.ri .~~o ~ff::-
,. This rs the song usedfor washing the head on Esu shrine, :; .1
Iwori Aweda, edo ogbogun.
1
•
Apoti nla idi-gbiri-rni made divination for Agbon before going
If ones he ad 'does not surrender to -the force of diabolical for .awo practice in· the town· of Ire in the Ondo State of

8 81
0
56.
Jil.~ri~ Ag~n was advised to make sacrifice to ward off -,.
ri~~ ()f being under-mined during his trip. He was _told to m~
•. ~~ifice witJ:i pigeons ·. and a . big ram. He made -. ~'"
$acrificts,after which he left for Ire. Fortune had been eludi
the' tQWD of l,.re and there was famine and general depfiV~tiQ
'.i
. After divination at Ire, Agbon directed that every household i
,. the town should .make sacrifice with a big ram, mortar, ""'"
. snails. He collected the relevant leaves from the forest an
began to pound them with the 'blood of the ram. As soon .. the
pounding operation was under way, prosperity began t,
return to the town· of Ire.
'fh, instantaneous efficacy of his sacrifice endeared him to .t
people of Ire and they persuaded him to stay in the: tow,n f1
good as their wisdom diviner. He was subsequently rename
Agbonmiregun, a title which was later extended to Orunmil
Ba,b~ Agbonmiregun.
H~ made divination for the hunter:
- ;):
,.
·Agba awo le la bidi gan gan, was the awo who made.divinati
for Atan and his wife Eeru. The hunter, who used tohunt · the
thick forest surrounding a lake, was told to make sacrific hut
refused to do so. It transpired that each time he shot a animal, it
ran and fell into the lake, and the hunter went ho
82
empty-handed because it was generally believed that the lake
was very deep. After experiencing the abortive luck on several
occasions, he. decided to go to the Ifa priest for divination.He
was reminded of a previous occasion in which he declined todo
the sacrifice he was advised to make. To ameliorate his
a
hopelessness, he was told to make sacrifice to Esu with hegoat,
a cutlass and his wearing apparel. This time, he made the
sacrifice without any delay. The sacrifice was prepared for him
to· send to the lake. · ·
Tn~reJfter, he went the next day to resume hunting, He shot an
antelope and it again fell into the Lake; He was completely
dumbfounded but managed to exclaim ;Ha!~ so thiSlake··has
ajain·coasumed the antelope'. As if to reassure him however,
Esu turriedinto a woman and asked him why he was afraid of
•a ·.~atlow lake. The woman stepped into 'the lake and moved .
,up· arid down and the water· did not go beyond her knees ..
It was then the hunter plucked up the courage to enter the lake
where he clearly saw all the animals he had been shooting.He
was able to retrieve those of the animals. that were still fresh. As
he left to· go home, the woman drew his· attention to. his. barren
wife advising hint to pluck the leaves of the plants growing on
the embankment of the lake. She .alse told him to peel the bark of
the trees on _the right and on the left of the approach lane to the
lake, and to. prepare a soup with them,
57.

adding the skin of one of the animals recovered from the lake
for the wife to eat. · ·

Before he could thank .the woman, for her b~q~volenci·; .she Cf{APTER TEN
disappeared from sight. He was now sure that the apparition ' reflected IWORI - OSA
the m.inifestation of .his much-deiayed sacrifice., The II II
' .. following month, his wife became pregnant. I I
I L
When this Oduuppcars at divination,' the person ~ho,uld p:~ tc,>ld I II
that inspite of his hard efforts, he has neither been able to have any
savings nor .derived satisfaction from his work.His wife should be. He made divination· for three related· plants;
advised . not to disclose 'her marital
outsiders. ·
st;c.rets':
··
··10
·., · · ., .... ;:,.,., ,,. Iwori wosa, Aba Rere odifa fun Asala, Obufun Abuje ti ankpe ni Oro,
•- .-~1 .
otun .q~(un Osan Agbal umo. While in heaven this Odu made
divination for three sister's before they left for earth. Asala (Okhue in
}._'-
Bini) and Abuje Or0. (Ogui in Bini) were both toldto make sacrifice
with black cloth; while Osan Agbalumo (Otien in Bini) was told to
make sacrifice with red cloth. The first two sisters made the sacrifice
.,·
.,r .. '
hut the junior and third one did not .. They all left for earth,
.? ,:

,·

~· SOQQAlS they began.to.bear fruits, Esu directed the: attention of

··1(!
~kind. to thew for· their .nutrient value, but insisted that
they,;;~Quld not bother Asala.and Abuje Oro until they sh~d
thei:r,;1·;ip~·fruits: voluntarily. Esu. however used the red cloth to
co~enthe,fruhs of Osan-Agbal umo and persuaded the children
ofrnankind to stone .her to shed her fruits, .·

To this day, the first two plants, Asala and Abuje-Oro are not

84
85
bothered by anyone until their fruits are ripe for harvesting. On the
other hand, as soon as the fruits of Osan-Agbaalurno bring out the
red/yellow colour it is an. invitation for the children of mankind to
start throwing missiles on top of the tree to forcibly
shed its ripe and unripe fruits. ··
At divination, the person should be asked whether he or she is one
of three brothers and/or sisters. He/She should be told to serve Esu
with a chicken, red and black cloth so that evil persons may nor
molest him/her as soon as he/she begins to have children.
''.ffa · priest.' His e'ff1dency as an Ifa priest made him a very
The divin~ntm made for this Qdu before leaviri2 he'aven:
Enu otitoI'af je'obi.' Enu .agba l'afi je orogbo, Enu bala bala l'afi je
Erura. Awon meteta l'on difa fun Iwori-Osa nijo to'n jade orun
bowa si kole aiye, ·
It is with a matter-of-fact intention that people eat kolanuts. It is
the mouth of the adult that eats bitter kola.It is in a care-free
disposition that people eat walnut, These we·re the names of the
•three awos who made divination for Orunmlla when he' was
corning to the world, He was -advised to· make sacrifice on
account of the problems he was golrtg to have 'frorn bis close
relations. He made the sacrifice· with; the meats- of deer,
(Agbonrin in yoruba and Erhue in, Bini) Bush goat {Edu in
86
•yoruba and Oguonziran in Bini) and monkey to his Ifa, and pigeon
to his head. He also gave a he-goat to Esu. .
On getting to the world, . he was born irito a regal family in which
he became one of three brothers, the other two being servants of
Osanyin and Ogun. His two brothers were able to foresee· that he
was meant for greatness and began· at a very early, age to attack
him. In fact; they foresaw a crown on bis
head signifying that he was going to· become a king. ·
,Try as they did to frustrate his efforts, he became a. proficient
!popular diviner not only in the royal court but throughout 'the
community. His two other brothers turned out to become Ogun
priest and Osanyin priest respectively. Since his . fame made hiffi
head and shoulder 'higher than· his brothers, they began. to plan to
eliminate · him. The evil machinations df his brothers sta~~red him
from pillar to post, but he remained firmly on his
feet:,, · ·- ' · ,
Meanwhile, his guardian angel appeared to him in a dream and
t_old hin;t to make sacrifice to Esu with a he-goat, and that he
·sfm'1tld''prepare a feast fot the whole family, including his two
b%t~~rs; He served Esu with a he-goat and .killed a cow. to
·,~fth~;family, while 'providing plenty of drinks'for·everybo<b'.
',); '
S1
 The drinks were so plentiful that almost everybody became drunk. C~f~mqnies,he should prepare a feast for his family. He should
In their state of. drunkenness, people resorted to drumming and J~rq,id, the, eating of, kolanut, bitter kola .~P9 walnut., . At
dancing. The ceremony reached its climax when his two drunken. q~diru;1cy:-givim1tion, the p~rson should be .asked ff he is. one of
brothers became possessed and began to say sooths for 'everybody. ,tlm~e ,b.rot,her,s and/or .. sisters. He should be .. reassured that
The Ogun priest divined for his brother by telling him that he had ah~ou,gp, h~- would: be having problems from his relations,
two deadly enemies but that if he could make sacrifice with what p.011~.!~J~~s,if he .took his own lfa, he would triumph over all
they forbade, they would leave him alone.He disclosed to him that difficulties.
,,-,...
,.,: · ,;;-
' . .. '
.•', .. .,

one of them forbade bitter kola while the other forbade walnut.
He made divination for Oia;
After the feast, he realised that his two brothers had no recollection ;JWPf:.i:·wo-Osa, awo oni.koso la ju. Etelm pakoIeri kof gbe rusi
of what they said when they were possessed. He proceeded to make ~nj •. , Adifafun Oja tiin .she pwo yeye:: aro.. · .
the sacrifice, and i:ts outcome markedthe beginning of peace and t~ /~ J ! (, --, ; _; ' : ' ' ~ ,•,,-! ' • ,f ', ';

tranquillity for him.
N'Qt long.afterwards, the king of the town died and there was. a
proclamation by the king-makers that it was the turn of lwori-
. Osa's family to nominate the next Oba. There was a meeting of the
entire family at which it was unanimously decided that Iwori-Wo-
Osa should take the throne. He ruled his town to a ripe old age in
relative quietude.
,t;tfpes~. w~re the. awos who; made .di\'inijtion Jor Oja the daughter
•:.9fpY.Y· y~ Aro. She had a pr9t~er caHe~:l;:rq,.who.was a page 1J:%r
\AA, i:oy.al household .of. J)lofin., Oja was jotd .to. make ,~~fi.{i~~;
to, avoid losing her brother, who wa:~. on indentured ,~!m.~Jo
higher authority .. She was to.give; he-goat to Esu
ijti~1i~gJaqut, pounded .. yarn and a soup of bush meat
to :.,Q-~:She gave a he-goat to Esu.alright, but did n9t know
hQf jo feed Orunmila. . .1 .1 ·

Wh~n f11'is Odu appears at.Ugbodu, the person shouldbe told that a ··Th.~tJWl9\lfing morning, Orunrnila travelled to answer the
:posJtion of h1gh authority awaits him.in. Iife, but that ::JJWiJflip~.of the Olefin. During the journey he becam*::V~ry -
be.fore.then, he was going to. experience trerrte.ndousdifficu.hies ·.1~~ffBW~ ?..~ h~ -was passing, through a groundnut farm, he used .
from his brothers. . · After . the completion of the lfa ,~ifrt~!.-. to upi:o~t some groundnuts and . began to eat · them.

88 89
58.
Unknown to him, he was being watched by Ero who then came
out to accuse Orunmila of stealing. Orunmila apologised saying
that he had been very hungry and that he did riot know there
was anyonefn the farm, lest he would have obtained prior
permission. Ero nonetheless insisted that · he was going: to
reporthimtohis master, theOlofin. Orunmila finally-pacified Ero
by disclosing that he was going to report himself 10 the Olofin.
Ero promised to meet him there to substantiate Orunmila's
admission.
Before getting to Olefin's palace, Orunmila decided to call on an
old friend Y eye aro, · who happened to be the · mother of
Ero.The old woman was not in when Orunmila called, but Oja
her daughter wasquick to recogniseOrunmlla asa friend of the
family. Shepersuaded Orunmila to stay for-a while to receive
kolanuts, · She brought outthe kolanuts with which she was told
to make sacrifice. ·k;· Orunrnila split the kolanut, she served the
pounded yam and soup prepared with the meat of bush· goat
(Ed\f in yoruba and Oguonzirarr in 'Bini) on the -table -for
Oninmila to eat.He ate the food and keptsome ofthe kolanuts
in his pocket after praying for Oja.
On :getting to Olofin's palace, lie made' the usuid welcome j
'. . . . .·. .. . . . ,, ·..
I
divination 'and told the Oba to make sacrifice': so ·• thai' 'the, .'.
uneasiness In his kingdom might abate. The Oba was tcfma~e 1
sacrifice with a rat, fish, goat, while the most' senior servant bf
90
the royal household was to be tied up. · . Almost
immediately,Olofin gave orders for the most senior servant. who
happened to be Ero, to be brought from wherever he was, in
chains, f 9f the sacrifice.
As soon ~·:tjie royal constables left for the (arm to bring Ero,
Esu persuaded his . friends in the palace to go to his f&Jllily
home to alert his people. They met Oja at home who quickly left
. for. the. . palace. She succeeded in making a secret rendezvous-
with Orunmila to reveal to him that Olofin's most senior servant
who he recommended for sacrifice, was her only brother
andsolicited his assistance to save Ero's life. Orunmila told her
to return home with the reassurance that he would spare the
young man's life. In tears, she refused to go home until she ·saw
. her
.,;
brother actually saved from the shackles of death •
'•
:, ' .
Meanwhile, the,111esse11gers got to the farm and tied up Ero's
hands and feet and brought him to the palace. As soon as Ero
wa{bro~ght to th~ .palace, Oja .sat down with her back to the
l wall ~cb1g Orunmila, .- . . · .. .
'iiie1 ~cial ma~ria1s wer~ brought forward and it was t11rie V>r
. ..
Orunmila to ~e th~ sacrifice. He took the rat, severed its head
and. touched the head of Ero with it while he sang:-
91
59.
Bi a ba ti she· ori aro ma re-o, Oja
Orire dun sise-o Oja. .
He severed the head of the fish and also touched the head of Ero with
it, while singing the same. song .. FinalJy, he severed the head of the
goat andtouched the head of Ero with it while ~.~-ngin_g:~ · · ' '· -
Bi a ba tishe Ori aro ma· re o, '
Oja orire dun siseo Oja.
The meaning bf the' song is "but for Q.ja's hospitality, it is the 'way he
severedthe'heads_oft~e rat, fish and'goatthat hewould
have severed the head of Ero". , -- -
After completing the sacrifice, Orunmila ordered the unbinding of
Ero and his release. Surprised at the turn of events Olofin ~sked
Orunmila whether he was3Jot goingto slaughter Ero and
. qe· replied th~t he never intel1d'ed ;him to be killed because Orunmifa
does not engage in human' sacrifice. He went- on to explain that his
initial suggestion was that the senior servant of
, the1 ~~yal, house-hol9 s~ou!d !>e b?~~-d up ~hit~ the sa~r!fice ~~s
lf
l>eiry~-th~de, ~n~ tha.t he was td·be/krned,-it W?uld no\ ha~e been
necessary to kill the .goat .. - With · that reprieve, Ero was released
albeit · wiifrout being - able "to draw any correlation between the
groundnut incident at the farm and his brush with ._
·J
:
92
death. In spite of his explanations, Olofin proceeded to ask Orunmila
whether the sacrifice would manifest without killing Ero, and his
guest confirmed that it would indeed. _ In fact,before Orunmila left
the town, normalcy, peace and tranquillity were already sending
positive signals for returning:
' . .
Oja and her mother subsequently thanked Orunmila and a.s soon as
Ero realised that Orunrnila was the man he accused of stealing
groundnut at the farm, he went on his knees to apolo~ise to him,and
he was forgiven.
When this' Odu appears at U gbodu, the person shouldbe told to make
sacriflce immediately by preparing pounded yam and soup cooked
with bush meat to all the Awos present at the ceremony, to beg
a
Orunmila for forgiveness on account of preinitiation embarrass.ment
to Ifa. He should be wid that he· must never be in
a hurry to accuse
anyone, to avert the risk of offending 'a divine priest,which could · cost
him his life. At ordinary-divination, the person should be told to offer a
he-goat to Esp adding Akara and Eko to avoid embarrassing someone
inaut~pi1ty. He sh_ould be tQfd to serve the head of his junior sister.
because her star could .save him from the risk of
irtipris8htnent oflfoath.1 .'/. ... -
':': '•!• ' )l: ..
•
93
He made divination for three friends;
He made divination for Egun, Oro and Elegbede who were. all . friends.
He told them to make sacrifice to avoid being sent away from home
into exile. They were warned 'particularly not to seduce one another's
wives. Egun and Oro made the sacrifice which was done with a black
hen to Esu, but Elegbede refused because he considered himself too
physically powerful to be dared by anyone.
Meanwhile, the wives of Egun and Oro visited Elegbede on different
occasions and he seduced th~ two women. .The women got home and
reported the incidents to their husbands.
Egun subsequently teamed up with Oro and the latter declared a forfe~
one night during which no one was expected to come out to; the street.
Elegbede, relying on. his physical strength, came out and swaggered
from street to street As he moved near the market place, Esu. directed
him to the road junction before the market wh.ere . he met the elders of
the night at a me~tin,g .. 'fheY. a~ke'"1. him whether he was ,nQ~
aware of. the, curfew, H~rep],ied thathe was fµHy aware of it but
that.bes~":. no reason why he should obeythe curfew .. , ~{lther
insolently, .he · asked them why they were outside their houses in spite
of the curfew.
94
The elders of the night . (Awon .iyami Osoronga) reacted instantly by
striking and stupefying him, and he could not trace the.wayback to his
house; He eventually strayed into the bush where he became a gorilla
and has remained a forest animal ever since.
When the Odu comes out at Ugbodu or divination, the person will be
advised never to seduce anybody's wife because the elders of the
night will fight back on behalf of the aggrieved person.He should also
beware of friends.
When the Odu appears at a naming ceremony divination, the parents
of the child will be told that he or she forbids marrying a widow or
widower. He should forbid walnut when he grows up.
orunmlla's advice to the children or lwori-wo-Osa;
Orunmila ni ki o ni lwori wo sa,
Moni ki oni Iworl wosa.
Oni kl omo eku wo isa .. are:fin nitori. pe boya ejo ti.go,
Onl ki o ni • lwori•wosa., Moni ki o ni lwori-wosa.
Oni ki .a so fun omo eja peJd o wo Isa-re fin, boya akon ti de ibe fun.
Ont ki-Iworl .. wosa, moni ko ni. Jwori-wosa.
Oni ki a so fun omo eye kl o wo isa-re fin.
95
 Ni boya awon omo ta-fa-ta-fa, boya won ti de'be. Oni
ki oni Iwori-wosa, moni ki oni Iwori .. wosa.
Oni ki a so fun omo eran ni oko,,ki owo isa re fin, boya iku ti de'be.
Oni ki lwori-wosa, moni ki o ni lwori wosa.
Oni ki a so fun omo eni ki o wo iyara re fin boya aje ti de'be. Moni
Orunmila moni' omo eku san fun eku,
Moni omo eja san fun eja.
Moni omo eyesun fun eye.
Moni omo eran ko san fun eranko.
In a dialogue with the neophyte, that is, someone for whom Iwori-wesa
appears at Ugbodu, Orunmila advised the person to take proper. care
of his lfa.
He advises the person always to have his wits around him in
- -this poem; _ okete baya gban-gba ni o ma npa won aje ni erin.
The rat should examine tits hole to ensure,
That the snake has not hatched its eggs therein. The fish
should examine its hole to ensure, That the crab has not
crawled into it.
The bird .. should examine outside its nestto ensure, That the
catapult shooters are not arounds'
The animals should reconneitre the bush to ensure, That
traps and hunters do not abound.
The son of mankind should inspect his abode to ensure, That
witches are not in it.
96
The neophyte enjoins Orunmila jlO protecj him,pe¢ause, f I Fishes
beget fishes, I ·, , . Birds beget birds and
Animals beget animals.
i/ I
He asked Orunmila for the requisite sacrifice, and O;r;unmila replied that
sacrifice had to he made with plenty of; eggs, rats,fishes and palm wine.
The' mp.tedals were pr9duced and Orunmila made the sacrifice with 'the
following incantation:-
Incantation for preparing Ono-Ifa sacrifice for Iwori-wosa. Aran
orun, shako oromimo, omo aral?a eran seglm.
Oni ti o bu se be, oni ornunukun eyin adiye ni o.
Mba aje enujo.
Aje pada ni ehin mi, Eran okere ni aje nje, ti aje a pa eninda, Orunmila ni
I
lya pclc o-Io-sorunga, Egha okete, ki erna gba/cnia.
Orunmila has prepared the sacrifice for the night with fowl eggs and
rabbit and commands the cult of witch-craft:
To disappear from the offeror's back,
Because the rabbit is the staple food of witches. In order
to give peace a chance to thrive,
It is the rabbit that amuses witches.
I-l'e then invited them to accept rabbit instead of human beings.As soon
as this Odu appears at Ugbodu therefore, this
 _,,··

special · sacrifice · should be fylade to prevent witches from j .'

disrupting the fortunes of the .new initiate.

. \ J. . CHAPTER· ELEVEN.· · .
This Odu also has specill poJ~ers in putting out fire. The son of
Iwod- ~;~osa can conjure /a : fire accident to extinguish by ·IWORl-ETURA · ,, lWORI
repeati~, ti1is· :~hort' Incantaricn.three times. -:TUKPEERE KPE. IWORI .;
. ·:: \'1 . ~..... . '':. ;. ' ·;·\ . ALUMO
Amaso · titb' ~ \~o ·•oti to ogbeliliju Or Isa, I 1I
.J : ' i J ~ .l_ ,··;' _' \·"·
II I I I I .
1I
. "1· ·
(.'· -·

.
~i· .'·
'.·f .•
1. j ... 't·· '.·
I
.,,/l,,
'
1
·
' It was the divination he made forthe bush dog that earned this Odo
the nickname of Iwori-Tukpeerekpe, lwori-Tukpeererere Odifa fun
Ofafa (Akuaghagha in Bini). He made divination for
•the bush dog when aJJ the other· animals of the bush turned again&f
him.He was advised to make sacrifice with a he-goat , ahd"the·
. / l_f' heads of dog, rat, fish, together with Eko and akara .
•tt~;TUffl the sacrifice. He was' being: challenged derisively, on
it~nrof his quietude and,seell'lingly slothful .dispositiQn ...
' ..
Ht•as traditionally so reticent that he could neither muster tbe
·ootl'age to talk to any other animal, norlookatany- one :on the
(ac~t After making the sacrifice, Iwori-Tukpeerere-advised him to
yell to all the animals in the night. During that night he shouted:
i

99
 lwori Tupkeereeree. Iwori Tukpeereeree. Mo ti rubo
lwori Tukpeereeree. He then added a refrain, Iwori Tukpe-kpe-kpe-
kpe-kpe .• kpe-lcpe-kpe,kp~; When the other animals heard him
bellowing, they became apprehensive of the hidden powers of the
bush dog~ Frorrcthen.on.no animal dared to confront him, andithe
yell oii/lwpri-'I'.Ukpe·~reereekpe etc has become the nocturnal call
sign .of.the i bush dog ever since.
When this Odu comes out at Ugbodu, the person will be told that his
shyness is being misconstrued as a sign of laziness and
inoffensiveness. He should be told to learn to shout when he is
annoyed, in other to earn the respect and fear of his colleagues. At
divination; jthe person shoukl,,be,J,Qld. \Q ,m"-~ sacrifice with the
head of a hush-dog and a he-goat to earn
r ad1Hversal respect.
another sacrifice. so that after becoming wealthy; the world might not
deprive him of>hi& acquisitions, thereby, retumirtg:him to penury.
He did not, bothen to make the seeond sacrifice~ When Iwori-Etura :
saw(l tha111 ®i , failed · to make the second sacrifice, he told him
that.he could,1imp~ovise with a resolution never to attend any burial,
,cetemonies, especially of his relations.
1 ·• i't~*1111m.ijtit.:,1it .ni.
Meanwhile, thread was roled round his body. As the thread
was being spun round his bo4y; ,he b¢Sllpi&o ,rbjoice and to sing
lwori-Tukpeereeree and he became,~u{rand:ridhJ,,.
Not long afterwards, Esu asked: Igboroko fon t~i, second sacrifice
which Akpe was told: to make and he 1replied1that he failed to make
the sacrifice for preventiag the woHd: from depriving him of his
1

1 ' . • •J
.newly acquired.affluence. 1 At tlie same time a; relation of Akpe died
i<l)ftfllade d1i~tipn (ori t~"1sojn,J~A&:l§PJnf)i~--Ki11u 1 4,i1,1C~ and. the family was wondering' what to do with the corpse. Esu
t1-:,rru ~ · H . 1 ;:1 !, . ., . 1q., W!d\,1 i,,., 1tapd :;,rjJ ciuickly,suggestdd that Akpe should '-be invited.' Akpe had forgotten
1-.,;~Tupkeereekpe, . Ba~aiuwq ~k,pe,, Odwa:J f .-in .~Jw.A 11Uf/P that her was not supposed to attend a burial ceremony." When he
gotrto where the· deceased lay in state, the people
1
.l!t(Nkfi. orni oj~l.·s·~ .. b .. e·n~r·.a ... s.qo tuu. rutu .... H. e. ,IJ11 .. instinctively)begapito use the thread on Akpe's body to rap the corpse.
~pe•1 .. ~. i.v.· ~o.· c\.fj .. p1j111f~ .. ·r n~·(the
sµinnm~\sp.1nd.te),;wh~n,he,was ~Q1PPQr, that ~et~~, All the thtead on, Akpe'sbody was removed, thus returning to penury.
notNdford any i dotihes to 1wear: He was ,t91~, f P. ma~~ i~~~miJ q;
e · with a guinea-fowl, rat, fish and three bags of money. Iwori- 518turli
took pitY"Ofl, him and ,mJ~ inc ~&~rififGn~hh 1Jll, ;f~tlJFfS
Whm this Odu appears at divination, the person should be advised not
~~rgVIinea-fowlianc:hthe bones o·f.a1·d·q· g, r~~ and 1f.i~.h an. dt .. nr,e.e to attend any burial ceremony, especially of his
nttdwries. Heiwas iowever told :\IJatih~q~p9lf),1have to Ql~~e
,,1 J ''I I
_, •• '.
•
> fi I
I 1.
~ ~·
.'
1 • I 'i,i ( ';
~ ' ','
I·, I
'
. . 'I
I ' ' ' ' I ' Ii
,

1-00 101
relations, to .avert the risk of fosing his wealth and returning to
poveny, If it is Uree, be should not see any corpse or go near where
a dead person lies in state .. Ifit is Ayeo, he should make sacrifice
with a guinea-fowl, rat, fish.eko, akara, #3.00 and. his personal
apparel to a~oi(l sickness that could necessitate selling his
property to raise money to look after himself.
He made divinatiQn for Alume before she eot married;
Asho afofo koo gba akpaja. Oro kotiton oro shiku ki olite eni
Maayoni. Adafa fun Alume, !.
'Eittle-tatrle does not. earn a gossip-monger the hand of the dog
when butchered and shared. Life's experiences are· not yet at an
end, therefore, itis premature to laugh atanyone, In other words,
do not laugh at a pauper or unfortunate person over one mishap,
because he .has not. come to the terminus of his life .. These were
the names .o.f the awos who made divination for Alu me when she
was going 'to the husband's house. She was told to make ~acrifice
with he-goat.to .Esu im order to avoid incurring the{'-lispleasure
and wrath of her senior mate. She did not ma.ke the sacrifiee, .She
YfUS also advised· to respect and submit to her senior .rnate. Sin~~
she made no sacriflce, she later had problems with her senior mate.
102
He also made divination for Iyaale.;
Osan gbalume: gba orun, .adifa fun Iyaale. This was the awo
thatmade divination for .Iyaale when she was. going to arrange for
Alume to marry her husband.· She was told to make sacrifice
before going to get the girl and she did.
Th, Iyaale had an African apple tree called Osan which ~-inher;ited
.from her father. , After the death of her father; lyaale's ! husband
moved to live with heir in her father's house, where they began to
live on the proceeds of the sale of the · apple fruits. As prosperity
began to shine on them, Iyaale suggc,s~ed to her husband that it was
time she bad a.mate. That was.4be:.';pra.c.tice in those days. The
husband objected to the prepasal.on the ground that he was perfectly
satisfied with. her be.hij~ieuir and that the introduction of a new
wife could .co"'omise their conjugal felicity .. She. however
prevailed on tl:m :,iltusband to acquiesce in the proposal because she
was alt~yibeing criticised for monopolising his Jove and stopping
hil.~;from taking another wife.
From the proceeds of the apple sales they raised the money to pay •
the dowry for another wife. It was Iyaale who convinced the:.firl ·ta
marry her husband. The Iyaale was however warned at divination
that the girl was going to abuse her big-hearted
magnanimity. ·
103
As soon as Alume got to the house, the husband advised her that tol.d Alumt that s~!~ad qcen able to acc~~o4ate her,~«.onts and·
she was coming in to enjoy the happiness created by her senior brazen eff(ontents,thus far because she w~ respC¥1S1blo for
mate and that she should always respect and submit to her.Alume brin:ging··11er intG the lh,i>usc~1 'Uhe•lyaale.,weffliOJJI to wara:
1
lost no time in demonstrating that she had no intention· of abiding her 1that if sne,;did1001 come ,g~~n ifrioqi.· the· ~rJ'~
by the advice of her. husband because in hen.own words, she only 1i~Jll~dip.f#lM,, sh~ wou1kl make
come to marry a man and not another woman. bernfo:~nownv;bJ.o:actuatly:p.wmd b~, .. iWhe•.,MuJtui
*tnon$tr&ted n6 · ihQHmvti:ou, to.Jisten to 1heF1i.v.arning,:
11,~ale lWthtt to, the front. of ~he.t house I and: knelt ,dowJN on
Thereafter Alume began to challenge and provoke her senior mate ,her f~therls grave tel invoke: hi~'.~Pirfr· to show who· owned the
at every opportunity. When the apple borefruits and was due for tree that, her insubordinate mate was profaning. She added that if
harvesting, she plucked all the ripe fruits, sold them and used the she had rigJ,ifuUy inherited the tree. from him, he should allow
money to satisfy her own desires. Her lyaale however exercised whatever she told the tree to manifest. She subsequently went to the
considerable patience· and forbearance. foot ,I : /\
of the ta
Okpe apple treetije,
Alume andOkpe
begantatoAlume
sing: timu > t: · i
Nonetheless, Alume continued to show disrespect to her Iyaale and ,~orti~ha 'Alume aree, ; ... : \ ·1
when the apple tree once more bore fruits on the second .'.AltJFKeHeje ·o gba alurne. · ;• l·
HJ, ·1 11 .
anniversary of her joining the family, she again climbed the tree
and began to pluck and. sell. the fruits. At that point the husband iAs;•::s'.~jn~m~rfh4: t~qif.~gan.to le~~h1 e$ll~ to stretch
drew her attention to the fact that the tree belonged to her Iyaale, itselfto infinity t0'4{ro$ ~~¢!,.,Jct.if(! ) ',' , l ri.j; ·.. . .
She accused the husband of lying because she did not.expect: /1
himto be so base as to live on the property of his wife. As if to defy ·Mlh~~ume11•Mmtbcb gudqell,:1iµrn·10L¢r~'1f#tl4~e,~gap· ,ff!)
the warning of the husband she climbed the tree once more and ·1c,y,~--irleetoohtinubd to'lqxtem.l~~ardsrµ.ptil,'10 oneiroQld ·
began to pluck down both ripe and unripe '*•~r~•her;cry,h ' F)'J/ • ( ,,•) fl dd !,,iilrii, "'}
1
,i ; I. ; •

~its., ,\; '., ' .I ,a,i~~

. 'ii itllij n~m h 11 ;nrH•' :' ·11-1 h .:i'l1I '· , 1!, l,•Hiltih,,., : '. 1·.·11J
lll!'if-,,,....,.i,w•
•~l'l!Wli 6",111~~ flam,, neither 1 •• /. ·.-
That-wasthe point at which the Iyaale; ran out of patience.She 1tb~,~o~\11br.:Mume,iwas'.'~ibt4~~,eJ<i~~ went

104. 105
61.
60.

on hi~ knees t1 beg- his ~ya~le to Jorgiv~ the insolent girl. She
not.rwith visible justification, drive the former. away from his
re~amed .ada~.ant. :He_m~1te. _d other. ne1g. h.bours. •· to
,ent.rea·t· · her tc' temper · divlne Justice · with mortal mercy, The houser ,
Jyaale remained indomitable. At· that. stage, the husband .:
.rerninded her that be- d~d not.:desite, ,a .second ,wife because .he Sec~ncl variation • He made divination ror two Jn:others:
I
, never wanted the peece and love between them to be disturbed,
b\1t that it wasshe who .insisred-by.bringing in a second-wife. That Ana ni nje apa aja.
timely reminder thawed the ice .and she began to pipe down; Osoro ni onje ebibu obi. .
(.:··1:1.-
Tliese were the awos who made divination-for Alumo and his juniar
In a gesture of.(Qrgive.ness··shetbegan.to singa second song» brother, after the death of their parents. Alumo took over-
t.·.~r '. .)·-:t-r." :>·'.~···i}'-_.;~.. '
·,~,i.~1·',
theirparents legacy and not only deniedthe junior brother anynshare
Oson gbe Alurne1 ' .aboo ., 1 1:. ".,:•- of it, but also began to maltreat and, to starve him.
'\:

Alume.jejeoo, q ,
'· '" .:·. 1.sh.
' ··. ~--' .~:- ,:·;- ...

I ,.- ; One day, the junior brother picked up some money on the.road and
quickly went to the family's lfa priests for divination; They told h.im
Almost immediately the tree began to descend.from the,icSky until
it returnqd with Alu me to its normal •size. Jt was. a deflated and that he was soon · to become. more .prosperous arid
humoured AJume that climbed. down from the tree and went on
populo:.!banhis eldest brcther-ifhe could make sacrifice. He
htr.knees to apologise· to her senior mate, -who embraced hef ~nd wttiqreqdked ito. make ~acrifi.ce with, a cock and a he,.,goat · to
got her back on her feet Esu~:1,Jlcl maMsed to raise money to buy a cock and tJle awos
;' \.1 "
brottjt,,Jouv.the skull of a he-goat· to complete.· the sacrifice ·Jor
him~· ::'th~ Jhbw.wer'toltthim that arSflOn,as We' coulU afford ·it~
:Whetl',.;this Od~hherefore appears at divination for a woman, she he ~tha:nlc·Esu with· .a,live .he-goat.•.,He tl~n·ked lherri and
should.be.~;· dvised· to be, respectful, and··submissive .. 10 her •.'M:,~ .. · :..'.,1,·n .,, , .. ,., ,. , .....• . i; .....
W
senior · mate, f iling which she would either. be. compelle.d to lose ..,1••v~· . .r1 .•. ,!. . · . - ,. ·t· , ,..~ .. ·,
her hush nd or her life. If the divinee is a man and it comes out.as ,,;:·;),F.·t:~t··,~(·r·;:: ;-:_,;. :, ;<\.. .

ajeo, he should.be advised to prevail on,his junior wife to show: On,.~i,~·"~ome, he went. to the graves of his parents and
f()4'rtlt,.,&pple1s,ed. He: pi~edlt urancl:,wanlrto pl·ant it.After.
r~$pectito:_his senior wife so .that.the ·1atter·rpight
l' ' pltlt •••
-''\_) ift ;) ,.
_,i! aetct..d'ie :_
<beged) God: td.i, aUoW', -the.. 1c;ed to
i

106 107
62.

germinate jtJ.Bnee~ and it grew up itnmediately. !Heweht on to the junior brother's· movement until 'One fateful morning when
beseach God to allow the tree to grow up to his knee, and Alumo followed him to his hide out at the foot of the apple tree.
subsequently ' to' fruit ' bearing size. His .. wis.hes manifested Alumo was hiding behind a thicket when he saw his junior brother
instantly»: ;Ii~ proc~edtd. th besei<;:h: God :ti lei 1~ tree flower picking up the apple fruits and sucking some of them. He also saw
and to produce fruits since he was already very hungry. God blessed some women who were standing-by to buy the fruits. As soon as the
all his wishes and he was able to pluqk fn,.its ftom the. tre.e. to e.at women paid' for and collected the fruits, they left the young man
on. the . satne day that. he planted it~' T:he, operation' alone to suck his fruits. That was the point at which Alumo came out
that1,changed1his'1life,spamned.from morning tHl evening,,and.by to challenge the brother. for hiding his secrets from him. He
the.1 timer he returned, home -late' in', the evening, his brother: surrrilscd that that was the secret of his better-looking disposition in
1
phy~idally bealt lliirl fur tieirtg away tfrom · the house all day. Try: as recent times.
11ie: didltdJ!ccripcH him :to e•lain· his dayrlong ,,disappeataQCc: and
protruding stomach, the young man refused to disclose his When they got home on that day, Alu mo tried unsuccessfully to
..1.i..: '·d···· ... ·· ··
escapa tt··i ·pi i· r 1,, T· '1· 1·· . '., r 1: , .. ·.1r1 1' 1 1; 'I • , vt1l, , coerce his junior brother to surrender ~l the money 1he' had been
,r, L i!qi!,11.' \ i 11 i /)1 nl 1 1 · in·,,, •Ll·du1, ,
1
realising from the sale of the apple fruits, on the pretext that the tree
grew on his father's estate, to which he-was 1h'd traditi'.Ona:l heir.
.'. . J·.hUt.·.·lP· .... ~re. n' tsap. p. e. ruiedl·t· •.· ,h. im '~'"'. ··~. ·.am· · !· .
~.: ~. i·.·. bhb!.iffiffi.gl;it
1'h. : .. ·.~ .. t
thail~~ wi.cejaware,of ImwrAiumo:had·.been,mMtteiat1111:
1
He then threatened to let the younger brotber know.that he owned
bitiJll!tly, acivis~d Mimtto. gct eveq11~ to,tbe Jfoot :of ,thp spple1 the tree as part of his heirloom; i'
tttie • ltfJr~ibll ,u~.· the ,I f~leni :fnJits tattd, tb; s~l :So,,ne .i oE thdm
to As soon as he woke up the following morning Alumo went to the foot
riaile~dtDJll~. :t.dy.c~ ,1 i~fy .... :his deme~., i1b.e. yJthv,t~ ... of the tree and gathered together all the· fruits that dropped to the
·Vflt;\Wlr .. ·. •ffl;kJ.t,i.h.im! p~iet> tbl dlJffibi tW ue•d•t'tot stll)',
t.

ground over-night. Not satisfied with that, he proceeded to climb the

~ilt1iietl iw1tfy1the ·,fft11ts that!
tree to pluck the fruits on top of it.That was the point at which the
fell.1 for, ,tiibbto i pik:IGI laity, ·1 Erbm lthe: /firstumbliey · hd., kteaised.
junior brother came to the scene. Hethen began to sing:
l the sale, he bought a he-goat and went to the lfa,priest1 fer ·
from
Os!n ,gba 'lumo ma reo,
thanksgivin,. saeriflce with other.· gifts. . . .
i,'.;·.·.;,+1.•./11.·1.· ~,, .. f 1 t.·d ,,.,·,:,, •1 I· .1,•r ... '·'' ·"'.· ."'rl '.1.Ji'I \ .. 1 '1r. Hi Alumo je je o. Alumo.
1
.r · f Jr , , P# !" 'l ' , t'· -.1 ,.,- · ' ·,./! i " , •, ; I I ' <J , 'l. j, ; r - .~-, : , f . - - - -~ - - i . ;: f,t

>Jtirild1 f~ uhbtad,111~u ~
1~ I his:rj11niqtj1, motherts
disposition and itdUfed\to!fi~a dutitpsecret,!iHe bep.ili,td trut

109
As the junior brother began to sing, the tree was growing taller until
.its height became invisible. Subsequently, the roasted body of Alumo
dropped in pieces to the ground.
The junior brother subsequently inherited all their· parents' estate
andthereby became very wealthy.
At divination,the person should be advised not to quarrel with anyone
over the sharing of the parent's legacy but should ensure that it is
shared. fairly, lest.prevldence would intervene on the side of the
aggrieved party. The person should also be advised thatjf anyone
punished him unfairly he should accept it· with..; equanimity and
proceed. to make sacrifice.·
' should-say that she had. changed her name ~i,W~ ;t.~ey should get
It is ontaCCOurtt of the experience of the two brothers that the
tree,,earned the name of "Osan Gbalumo" or Agbalumo",
meaning.the tree that consumed Alumo. That is what this African
apple or sherry fruit is called. to this day.
Madc~dJylnatlon tor btP .brothers 104 a .. 1111,n·
Alukuluyewu,the.junlor aister,of two brothers; Ure or'Oelete,
(Okhaen in Bini). ind.: lahogbo,(Osorhue:fn Bini). Sho WI$ the
last to be born but became much more product~ve. She produced
several chlldr~n at a time but II soon .as the· children surfaced,
the two brothers fed on her Y,Ouna ones.
110
As t}le menace of her children' s destruction became u nbearable,
;\hd~~Jµjc quietly left the town in exile to another .town called
11~.Ara. where she approached Orunmila for divination.She was
ad\.'.l~ed to make sacrifice. with sixteen snails, a single-horned goat
and the leaves of eocoyarn, and to give a he-goat to Esu. After
making the sacrifice, Alukuluye was advised byOrunmila tC>\¢llange
her name and her ways. She accordingly changed her name to Ehuru
(Erhuru in Bini), and changed from using her right, to her left hand.
;t.,'l\'.'.:_,,,. :,.,
From then on she began to produce more children, although ~ft{ 1\\1'.9:F
brothers continued unsuccessfully · to. : look for q~r-~Oruamila had
advised .. her - that as soon as she· saw any of her !W.9 brothers, she
off her back. It was not long before t~~rArfM.1.>ers traced her. to her
new. abode. When they called h~r11m4i ~r old name of.Alukuluye,
she queried whoever was ~W-iP!T:·.bY a name thatshe no longer
hore. She insisted that snt'>gp.1logger answered ,tqat name, Not
knowing her new
• ~k(~u,,told them 19)~'1ve her. alone lest he would deal rµ~~1,W'ith
them.: Sh~·wa~subsequently leftin ·peace with
,heii..rhUllr~. _
. . .,. ..., tl""..,.,'fJ~··· : ,:·. _._
,, .. ,-, , ., ,· -,
' •' . ' ,• ' . " " .
' ' .. '
' -~:,J.rJ}.}! ~ ;,~- ~ ;, r; ! •; ) r
Wli.49tU>is Odu appears-at UgbQcll!, the person will be, told that his
Ir her two elder brothers are the enemies creating his/ her problems.
They had tried in vain to ~ill him or her, failing
111
 which they began to gun for his/her children. The . person should
change residence, to live neat the sea of a river, in order -top:rosper;
He or she bssa leftlhanded relation wtiois·a wellwisher, He· should-
make· sacrifice'with he-goat-to Esu · adding the'. thorns of
,Ute/Okhaen ,· and- J;ghogho,YOsothuer-
\ I. .; !, ''}. ',' f . .
•At ordin:aty divination the'_perSdrt•should sel'\•e Esu-with·he~goat
to abate trouble from brothers -arldisisters. · · ·
twt~years later, hemoved'to the world. In the world, he only
charged one cowrie for divination being so sympathetic and soft-
hearted. Since mankind is not noted for valuing favours
efteaply1obtained, people began to undermine hint The elderly.
',tt,vos wfld charged e'xorbilantfees for their services were quick
~ (, . f. ' '·to1~pot"the ··threat····,posed by·· his superior competence 'and
1
benevolent disposition. They began to create problems for him.
j ,: ', ; ·•· ·

Meanwhile, at..Ajagboluku where he lived, the Oba of the town

The divination made by Iwori-Etura before leayin1 heaven; had the problem of childlessness in his harem. All the famous
:'. ..... ,,~----' ;·, ,·: .. >·.;:·- :~/>;'·:.- <·;_,··,' < · .. :'..·r;· ~---- · .. :~ -_ ;;._ .:·· .. : ·_ · ·;·::<,, + .. ~¥_i·,·' · .::_,-<, :a\Vhs:were invited to deal with the situation but theproblem '.-
Arikpesekpe, Mikposekpo/ · Omode' moron seni ·· sikd( · Agba ~dtheir competence because Esu was determined to punish
moron senVje owo.: 'A child knows but keeps qttiet, 'and an adult !'diilti·for their derision ofIwori-Btura. ·After they had all tried '-
'makes 'rnbney frem ,what-tie knowf 'These were th~ ·nairtes]if $\(IL'failed; Esu influenced th~ chief counsellor to the Oba by
the:·awos,,who made·divibation•.for Orumiiifa ·tiefore 4ell.vi.ng aditising, :lim to invite the benevolent Ifa ·priest, as lwori-Etura
,heaveri(1°The'.y- 'advis~d hint td exe'i'tise iriexhau~tible patience ·'came• tet1 'be known. After divination, he made the requisite
because many,, people were'
goirtg; :to - cheaf him ~attht· 'lf'he :on sabrlf~ and prepared the appropriate medicines for the Oba's wives
'h&we·vc:tmade sacriftc~,he would become a .. leader to be taking. Before the end of three months several of
. OV'er thoscnvho'had'theatedihim>·;He was told to feast; Esu With· - . the~Qba's wives had become pregnant. The efficacy of bis work
he;.gc~cu,\,torn; pf*tlt'aifi; ''baf of"m~n~_y,' a 'Jfack of yam!I~ ·ip~·,1tlie1 Oba to ask1.him why 'he :had· been biding in
·.:ten1 ·metre.-. pi~ce· :of whifet doth;: 'gourd· · of' pahn 0H1 arid' a:
kicw pdt. He made the feast for· Esu who consequently
.,.iy: and· he·:.replied thaf·a·young man should move
:......,,to.avoid indl:itririg the displeasure (Jf theelders,
decided:to'bt'·it his service in the world. On his way to the world he ~1L:JrJJHd ·:'.\ . '::- .,,_; :f~ \ , ~-; '._ ·' . . '· · ' ·! ' .! ; ·, ,·

made. a stop.ovet at the 1bounaary ·~tweenJhea*~n,and eatth, ·~1~ subsequently invited the ·elderly awbs and proclaimed
:~hete ht, t!e•'siu}>etiority of. iwori-~umo. -Thereafter,· he appointed .•
was· practisittg bis 'Jfa ·atr. -: l · :: -: · : ,, · , i , , ': ,.,,., · ; him
,. ,
,as,lb~-teuder ofiallthe-'Awos 'in the ~gdom. To mark. his
i,'.I ",rrr~ ·!t,; :·· 1 r .. "l !-· if.-;_· ... ·;/ ·1,~0t ·· ·\Lf y-; ·,

112 113
 appointment, he made a feast .to Esu and feted all the awos in
the kingdom, · dettfrrnined::to fo'lk>"(:the advice. of{lwori-Alumo:and be1lef1
When thi~ Odu appears .. at Ughodu, the person should be told JP
approach his problems. witb inexh~_ustible patience. He . should be .-
~s benevolent as possible and serve Esu .always
because he would become a leader.
u, made divination C9r Adahahikea 104 Elukmmo; Adababiken
~as a ~trong and proficientIfa priest.but c;oul,tngt make ends meet,
Elukpono was a wealthy aristocrat who had 201 wives ar.d 20L
slaves but had' no child .of his own, When the.fame.of Iwori-Alumo,
the piotu-awo of Ajagbol~ku ec~ood
, throµgh: the known world, Elukpono invited hint to lfe to help - in
~>.lying his problern of childlessness, In fact, it was 'A~µpaqiken
whobrought news of the fame of Iwori-Alume.to
.IJe,.· .. .'V ·:, · : . .
•· ···<J 'i- ·_ '-'"
~ft~r ,mffkiri divination; fQr l\dab~pi~en he advised him that)iis
p.fow~ri~i-woul~. onJy- blossom)f,hf S<>ld himself into slav:~cy.
On t~~-:9t~e! ,ha~d"'-h~J1J~. made dJviqJtion for ELµkpoAQ'.-'~
advised him to buy a new slave from the market by himself
h~giµ.<ie })~ ,v,.104ly,,,rf<;eive ·salvat\<>.n from the slave, .. When the
members o( his hou~hotd heard of the .ironical advice, of. lwori-
AiuJllQ, ,th~y won'de.re:9why their_mastei:reqµired another sl~ve
, _ _.. .· t,,.· ,, . . . . . . -.. . ..
114
w~n- he' already - had 201 serving him/\ Elukpono was how~.ever:
hoi:ne to buy a slave from the market.
At -the .same time Adababiken lost no time - in. heeding,.ihe adVite
of,Iwori•Alumo. He 'tied-his Okekponri to his waistand wel'lt to the
market to be bought;into slavery.:
J
On getting to the market,;Adababiken ,saudown waiting_ to be
btihght. In~identally, when Elukpono got to the: :slt.ves stall, tti~re
were nd slaves•l!vailable; »He ,however saw a . .well•built, aiii
good- looking· middle-aged man· sitting alone, ·W,hen
E.iukpotk>·asked,mm:whedler>he had-any slaves for. sale.:1he
_.rtd affirmatively. 'When .asked ·how, much, he was .selling bis
slave,,;he said it was·for one.bag'of:money:-,When. Elukpono brought
out the money to give him, he asked to see the slave and he got up and
introduced himselfas the slave. Asked for hi&irilttter and seller he-
said;he.had,·11one .. After hesitating fot a:wlii~t(Blukponcfga\'e him
the; money and took him home:
,1 !\''
,.;: .. ;.1, i ., r, ·; .
Ori i&'ftirtg home, J1e was introduced 'to the oth er slaves and he waw:
dihfcted to an apar.tment. The. following. morning, , the Othet'llaves
j
took him 'with· .rhern-to then farm ... Incidentally, AdJbabiken had
never used his hands on farming chores in his lif~since he had always
been an Ifa priest. When the other slaves· dis~ove-red that he· had
something tied to his waist. they
us
63.
asked him what itwas.aad he. replied thatit:w8$;his Qkekpomi.· As
they were unable to appreciate tits significance.,tbeyJeJJlo~ it from his
waist and tbrew itinto.-a waysid.e·:pond.1"· w ·, ,;uri.
When they got lo the farm, Adababiken.was gi\len:a,porti~n o( weeds
to clear.. JH¥ co1.dd . not, handle · the . cutlass; , ::Mu:r; wandering
about for some time:,, be saw -a tnee,,w~e.,,se.~ could be improvised
for divination (Modon in yoruba and Okhuen in Bini). ,He went to
the-foonof the tree anct~ou~.C~M slxteen-rsaells. of -its ... seeds; .-
,Whe»·i he .: ,sound~<'i:\them.: :for; divination, his
own.()duappeared.:J:Amazed.ij._t:wh~t b~saw.:h~ inviteU the
other. slaves :Jo: witness:dYhat he. had! steO!> ~: appealed to them
torassist ia; ca1cnmg.,,a birc.JA~.ruhim,·tA,.d:g something, When.a:
hinl·was.:produced,. he sp.ilied;its blood-oo the.(livinatiori
·sheLJs;,and1th~,·dther, slaves1xo.asteo ,,th~'.,bitdiQ
eat.': ::i ·r:J: r . .1 ,, ·::''lf:;,1 J·:-H ..
1, .. i •
.,:-;,_;_~·-
,: .~ r;.,i?;;:: .. l)::·.,"-~_;Lr:""t_~- •. (.: ;:_·;;·:)::
Disclosi,ng·what'the shells' had.nevealed toi:bi:m.,,he tQA<i\-\tb~
others.that ,it appeared their mast en ,had ,,no;fhildr,~n~ I .Th,ofPtijeJ:
slaves immediately accused him of profane language which they
conside reddlnsuJ ting -to: the Ji ntetr:ityrand .,imag~,~f
:tti~ifi~~h~g mast~r,;\ He wa~immfatiat-ely tiedrep oon~s
und1:fee1w..iUh$lr®1 rdpes:a!ndrtuken;tidrrm'to,be,a11tuigned
l"Crol'#1:tbeir.,W<land
mtts·tet'~~:·_i·::·f~., /;;;·~·~!-::;"t rr.(: ,. .. 1_·:ni;·~ ,.:1.:~ b--,,,.;_; -,-._~f.1:·-~-;
\.
:' /, ·. 1 '1~ :· I ' J. : oi
When.·tbey,repotled.w.hat'.he,said ,tm6lukpono.,,;h¢:a@f~¢dwhh
them: t\')at the ,stav~,:W.•~s.t :gujlf)!,JJf. ,4hoQ1~Jl~bl~ -
..
defa1~1a~i.9n., for, whi~h J~t penalty wµs; .tj~~;t:i 9.Y. e,w.cmJpn. ::
i-,~i tn!<J th~JJ1 t~~ con,s~n)1i~ .jJ1:to: the ~I\';t;~r c"~Jl,0:f the •.
<;purt~~ru ...t,<)j~cent :tp l1i\ ap~r\ro~nt because, he,
,.~~s.,gping,tp,pff~r him fqf,~µc;ifice. {q_, Qg~n!·: .. ;1111
pr.~pa1;<:Hi9n,Jor. the ,,<..~r~{(.OIJ)' ~~: qry~n;p .. th;tLthe.
Qgwn,:~hr.i9f! _r.hoµJd, be ~dor~ed.witq.13;ilm fror,d -. ,,1ln:efeafrer
h~, in.§~fu.~1,d, t~e other slav:e~.t(l.,fe~9q1•t9 tr~J~rn~.h~c,a9~ei
h~,
proposed to perform the SU;cri(i1ce. \qat :~v,e,9,~g., .· . ; ! ; .1
~;:;~Hf, Elukpp~q w;,ii;, ~ati1,fi~.d. ,~h_a!:all ,~fl~ ,clF,9f,:R~i:1·~W"·
t9~1 ~\~v,,.=;_ ,\9, h!fy, P~h:;it~,,tqorry, ,Hllti~u· QillJ,,S:,it, ,. ry.i;!11,
g~\~~.1an(j a~~S# rbifTl }1qw, qei v.:.,~l'i µ~J~_,lt?,)•¢e ,}~.aJ -
~,~1,h•}<.l.,P9. ·fhil,d.,, !~, r~P!Y;.1t~-~ m1rr~t.f~ IM~·
i
th~,.S,!;l},iot ~l,i\V~S.,thr~w)1js ,!rt1~Etim1H}
diy,i,f1~1AvnJns~rLJn.1c;,m~ (;n~-9;;tlJ~ J,>P[l~r~m tli~ir w~~. to .the
.. "'·'· ····
.::,.o LJ:-1g t;.irp1 an,(;IJJ,_ow_,i;le_,nad; to.im:p1mvi~.~;wtth ()~he.r ..
s.lJ.Cllt~tt:r!1~,f4rm.: >Pt c9nfip;µ,~~' that us,~9W1:,Hs :~e;,~qupdf~
,~~tr ~~CH\ it, :~i1rn,e.J>UJ, lm.uJ(jffid-fa.f~ar. that hi,s; ~11-~~ter:h:t-:'J
Wl ,c9~IPFC:'?r A~kj,i~ .~hether ~~, £W!Jq,<l,o ctnythimt~h~>~U!1f,
prgj)).1..'m,. he; ~~>,11firmcJ.rJhat ,h,<r. knew what _to -~O J\Pf)~U j,t.,
,,t\.<t .,;1s~fflJ.or a BPt)!!1Ujl, ihs.n, tp.,h,e produced. Thereafter, he
sneaked out of the house to collect
l~i1.~~1sy;ini:~.t;.;L\'.e~,,{r~)1,1lrlh~,nc,~.~rb~l~i.i,\lb •i:;,r :: ! ,;·,,,: i·:
1
:i ?t.>:)~·;r;:_;.-, · ~t , .. _;~ .. 1·r-,.;-:;. ,i::. r·: d V/ '.Jj:It:
~t~·.,It/rt>;}rt.~.l 1
');·.:'.. ,··'. :.: ;i·t::.;·,.
W..!lij~;JJ}e slave, ~;IS a~.ay.J::Julq~o1:1v. !WL~·~(>sb
;ii ... ; ; i ;1~~.~law~hte~f<l: il(:mb:.,h~,·,.Qj~n, shri.11.e ... t,q :giy;.,,lJ,1e
,;1pp~ar.4.q~e., of'. µ;.wing sa~5ifi~,Jh~ .erring .slave.. ~he.9
;~d.ah,ahik~n .,r:etm9ed (rqfl), t,i)e,b\UiP1,h(:W~~.giye,n.~:hife,J9p,~~.
~~,fitti,ng·th_~.im~~rnf:,<:1.n.Jf;.t,
l l7
priest to wear. Meanwhile, he told Elukpono that the materials he
used to do the divination were ceased from him at the farm and that
he needed it for the operation .. Elukpone sent his domestic servants
to go to the. farm to collect them from the other slaves because he
was about to be executed. When the Modon shells were produced, he
put them' with the leaves into the pot and slaughtered the blood of
the hen in it.The pot was filled with water and kept at one side.
When the. slaves returned from the farm, Elukpono introduced
Adababiken · as a visiting lfa priest They saw the blood on the Ogun
shrine. to confirm the • impression that the slave had been· sacrificed
to Ogun. Adababiken was later directed to lodg~ in: the visitors
apartment. The following morning, he used a cup to take out of the
water in the pot and he drank· it. After! making Elukpono to drink out
of'it, he invited the wives one after the other to drink out of it. At · the
end of the month; thirty-six of Elukpono's wives became pregnant. At
the end of three months about 156 of the wives were pregnant.
Elukpono was now going places with Adababiken, including· · visiting
the other slaves with him at the farm. In the fullness o~ time, nine
wives delivered· on the same day and: over a period' of three months
all the wives had safely delivered· healthy babies. The home of
.Elukpono was agog with happiness, feasting and jubilation. · To
demonstrate his appreciation- and
118
gratitude.Elukpono caused a· separate 'tibuse · to be built for
Adababiken and he ordered· four male and four female slaves for him
including 4 cows, 4 hens, 4 cock§O and several other materials in
units of four. The four slave girls were meant to become his wives
while the male slaVf~s ·· weie to serve him. Eventually, the two of
them c6fupated rttite*'
and discovered that they were advised by the
same lfa priest, lwori-Alumo. They both sent several gifts to him at
Aja9boluku.
Elukpono later told Adababiken to prepare his kind of Okekponri for
him.· .. He enumer;ited. the required mate-ri~ls in: , units- of two and I
1
fa was· prepa,ed ·'siven.t
'for, Elukp()i:lo ovet a' t.
day, .. period ". Adababiken became the first lfa father qr pa.trnn
to;BM1tiono1and both ofth'e.rrt prospered ever after/ ·, · ·.'
When this Odu appears for a man he should be toldtc> have his,
owttL1fe)\Qithoun:letay so that his prosperity tn~ght consolidate'.
Ifil1~peirrs for a woman she should be told that she· can ortJy
su.~i1¥Ufe by-getting married to a man having his own Ifa. In
1
bottti'Wses they wiff prosper at the middle age of their lives.
dfrw ,~:,;li\ ,,.,,
65.
64.

.,.· ... C~ER TWELVE diviq~tiGp ~fls.J S1\~r~~~ f9_rhi:IJ1.fl.S J9ilp~$i; ~9)~i;)'~~
).'~~;t!t Mola,yeg~r)'fJP,~,,,V{J).iqh, ~~.~m,P,r!.he;~m~i'r~l
,, ,···· '1WORI -~ \~He: 9( $~k~J~
( 1
IRETE IWQ~(- Ukuse) ever-since-: ·· .. , ,,., .';-,,-. ',·; . ,; :,·;. ·n· ·,.,,.
W~;R,E:. '. IWO~ll , . .-:1.,,,.J,,..,J ,,.),. · ,f~ ... ~· ~•.!\ ,., · · ,.,· I.,) ,. •i ... j,, < l, j.~· ,,

J_· .• ·~ ".; 1! ,j
- AJIM.UKE .IWORI ·-
. ,r-;i·- .. ,·. : AJEMUTE 1
At ,.cfu,~t,j~ .~iiil~~99~sru»>l9!1.h,~c.ililvj~f:l-i.~Q
.• -- , I ~ .i ..

.: ·,. ,,I v.:'. IJ,,.. . .: \

'I • · ' ' ,'

.ma~.~.~~gi{i.~ . with' pigeon: heii'-aiid"'giifoea~fowi in order-"to

:,, .. '. J. I prosperhi his
II I · ;-
work. ..t,rl~:)b i :'.·i, r. - .•. 1( iJ. i r UT-:) :'.>' (: /\ f' • ; ~j ~'.I -J.t«: ··;,_·.,v·~rl ·~,,.). <~l -~-;1 1it~ J:··· ·i/hJ.)._ ;:,L{ ;;-.n·::
: , .. , · : : , ,l : ., . ·, . i··
1f1 _ :crir:-·-h'L) i;·,·:. i17;_·;,. · • : ~· J: :·:<:-.".f:i{i.i\
.:--r;,';(fi ·_ )~~~;_ ;; .. <~ :: .. ·: •. · :.1_

H~ JJ2'dtf! diyJnat;smJq.11
t,.i. ; ''.'.; )7 :·;:-(i> ,i\<
lh~.1~f.r:i&~q.Mai:1ca~:. :. ,; ,
1

, Ma~1-difiJ!al·i9P-f0;r.A,rir<Ql9, .wbg··wn,·tkJwshand;,,:.: ~)!; p_.!,,·:

I l ,
,J·.:, ~')t1'1 · f; .. ,\L'.1_. ~; ·: .·;, • ;t(
·}•~ti·{ i · ::; ..:/:_.:

~~~~,r~.,
+.«: -'Ii;.~._ '-'1' 1 1r{z_,;~ \ ,) l .. ~ • •, ;~( '\ 1
, • <.I' ' >~ -;;,._/" ). '''\,.;q
Mola, Yagbaj )'ag~" · .. ~Pia. ;·y egbe 'Y~gbe, Adif~' i~R Eni ti aha ko gbo, Eni ti aha fo ko gba, Abawi 'igbe,
AQ~ )~9 j~,1~WQI!(Il\e!;~iJ1; lp''.AAi.fa;J1m, ~i}RJO,,\O. %~'"
t)
(Ukuse in Bini) tiin
-'.1( t_-,.; she awo Elekole ati ijo.
.· ·; • ' · ,~p~:n.q, tp.,Ql,\·d~\e.,JP,P.S1;1Jl;,,,-1· ,r .·--·\' 1,, ·1, 1 ,,ri. , .•... ,, r, ·/ ...
·' ),, ; i·,.i :,.' I-'.; .. '.;.

M~:P~9~P~~it¥ j~~\>µn.q~nt. ~nq enduring; w~ l:9~ name oi 1th~ ..

,n f"· .
.'., 1-..i> .~ •..• ' ,.: .l.~.J:
, ••••• '. ·- l.~c/ l '~- .11 .. '-..• ,-,) .).t: \,~; ti.Jl_,{J,-.:....,'Jl.( .,:. .. _1 . .,1/v

°:~ A~f?df~R.~e;~~viµ~,niop fqr)pe ~araqls. (shekere) ,the.Awo 'l{ Th~:P~r~n \\;P~,Is,:~1>.R~F:fht~,,~mtJi~l~~,T . 1

T}lP.,
,ci
ner~llrl \1iho ,1\:. "'rtvu..A'\ .•• -t ~cs:<'tnt~ ··h·, .. ,, ... . · . , .. ,.1 .' .. , ,
,:

of !fl~S?l~,:·:.M'~J,r;i,,h~ ;~~s .gp~ng, t~~ start a ,i~ew farm ' ~ffl..,r~r ·r"-~ ~1 'rl~-,:;,,. __ ,,~,~~.t,.,, .. _,.JY.'~:, .. ~;1 ~i. ~t/.-.l r: ;)~ .• ·l '(i.i1-t.'. •,.11:.~ .•

at_.tlle.u.:.i begip~qg;<tf 1\~e.:>'~;i,r. ;}1.e .was udyis.ed, to JTU;l~,: The person who was spoken to, but did not listen, aqg1.,\,1 .,.1;1
~crifio,. in.rd order to put his poverty behind him. He made sacrifice The person who was advised but did not accept, were the four
with AWP~r~·1m~e1,.~,iyi1;1A-~iPl!:.fq~
pigeon. guinea-fowl and hen. Aril<>.J~:',ltt;{9r;r1~h~r.f».il~.ci,t#P m~ffia&t ~nd ,h;d,i\9;{y,c1,v~peF
Thereafter he set about his farm which gave him a prolific harvest sOH~b~9P JR r~WfJ) to ,fl~IJc\!~~r~J ho .. ".J~·.tr~. !,:l'w ....
and made him to become very wealthy. At the height of bis ~:~ .. ,;Qre9 .. siis.¢, .. '.ct ... 9 ~uJ~init. _o, .. ,t,he".~Ycth.9r~ty,qf. )ti9·.·r. 1t· •.

prosperity, he sang in praise of the Awo who made . h}J~D~~1t<l;J~~r~xY.e.r;Jn, m~rriijg~~ ·™1~ :s.Jlej.p~ith.~r
11,st~n,<J
nqi:-t-,~, ~~~~csr11 ;~M.~~bs~g1,1~_ntJ)£,p~k~Q; QiJt,,gf., tlJ.~
husbands house to live . ffi: ~~ ,f~\h~r;§:.~9»~1,p,:~'t~nJuajly, S,,Wr
regretted her actions, but it was too late.
:1 ;i_ni1sr! f;O?l:~n s :,.: :/1:.L;;7u:· 1>: · d'i 1.\
lf, ~ij*~ ~ff u, ~PP~~~~: ~t _.di!5'~na1jPJ1 Jo,r,; ~( 111~u.i~d
120 \VOD}~p; :~D~
66.
should be advised to make sacrifice and to submit to the authority
of her husband.' Otherwise, Esu would drive her out of her
husband's house and would regret leaving;
QfYioed tor Qrunmfla when M was surrounded bJ' enemies:
(
lwori-were nle, Ara kpa otun ule eni ko fe'ni denu.
Amaran ika ni itosi ile eni ngba, Bi eni kia kuro ni ilu ni to kan kan
Ile eni iwi. . Awon ni won .,' dafa fu11 Omninila ni'jo ti Okekponri
re gba ewure mefa.
Tfle>neighb()Ur to 'the right of orre's house does not look at 'one
well. The neighbour to the left of one's house is orily interested in
one's downfall. The n~ighbour' opposite or· to· the front' of one's
house is only interested in trow one ciln leave thtftown· dr
the world: · · heaven.People do not eat red pepper in heaven because she is much
U·~
Th&~fwere'the natfietofthe three awos who made divination for
r~nmila ·Ntten . his : I fa asked. for · sacrifice with .. six goats.
Mtet·.cdnsummg''the·six•goats thelfademanded a seventh·goat from
· him. H~:made the· ,sacrifice and the enemies who .surrounded
1
ffim begad • tc,· die Orte a~er the Other~ after which the.
road·'to·prospetky opened fap him.
When this Odu appears at divination for a person having his own·
lfa, he should; be told that he i~ surround~d by seYeral
12
2
enemies.. H~ should make sacrifice with six go~t~ in. t~e first
instance and· seven days after, he should serve Ifa with a seventh:
goat. . The Ifa priest is expected to. be. considerate to use one live
goat and the heads and feet of five slaughtered goats in the first
instance, instead of six live goats. Afte,r the sacrifice; he will
certainly triumph over his enemies.
He nyule db:inatbm tor the rfd. pepper;
IworLwere nle, babalawo atta, odifa fun atta.
When_ ttje red pepper was coming to the world, she weAt;to Iwori
.. lre'te for divination and she was advised to make sacrifice
to:~aid.'o,ff the problems .. she was bound to have frommap~ind
on e~Jli, /the pepper however relied on her spicy tongue and hot
temper which traditionally made people to dread her in
:~Q~.,teJnperamental fpr the comfort of anyone. She came to th~
·""utld without making sacrifice .. She was supposed to make
$a<:iifke with he-goat and red cloth.
' J .)'.) ' .. , . ., .'
Wh~ii ~~, S~H t.o the.world, Esu used the red cloth to clad her
chil~r~11
found. ·~rJmctxery
invited mankind to add them to their soup. They
exciting and that is how mankind tOt'.>k to. the
consu1i,p1>,;fop, Qf red pepper. A,t divination the person sboutd be
told ~ make sacrifice so that enemies might not destroy his or her
children,
123
67.

The dNtnation madg for hi'm when he was corn in& to the wiorld::/ Ori one eccasion; Orlinmilai went 1to:Jre·'to'visit' hi:s··1wo1 awos who
/; rif »s .1.~~ .• . .-·J .. < r ·:_.: ~·- ... ·::···:t · > ..... ::: .. : . .r'i,, ,</t : ... ·:,.:rJJ used to visit hirtfmdrithfy.'· Ori tfie,othet-hartd,)A:jat~i aW<f who·
'A~amf oj~mi Aij~o jimomo kolode ire; ~ t~i a"'.o' YI~~ t•se':1 to live aridd'ivihe · irh-he · 'J>aia(:e ·of'01ekl\rttt4~ltltil
'm~~~j divihati'9n ., for: Olokun, the water ·divinity. r, f:Ie .. also' the'.°rive-r: ·. ulbkun hadno ·child:~ar'ld Aj~Fhad-
'tnade1 'divination for' Iwoii-wete, wheri ·'lie ·wasi c'cfo1tn,g; :Croth: tri1td'irt:vattftcP help her' te- have· a child!' '~fter :getting 'ro -the-' end
tle"a:v~d.j He advised·:·lwori~wefo to berextfoiiiely' ca;re'fi1l I oT}h~ tethers,A.ra :pr<>~osed tbM they should invite artbthdf:-
because he \vasJ Awo:'t'o; Hclp,.,c>ut.lri "this connection, Aja!made
goin~ to ha~e a very difficulttir,ne, or1, e~~\~,· ... ~~ ~~~ aq~~~~dJ! ! diviifation:and'acNised'! Olukun to :-t)ffer a he-goat to Esu to ·he·lp ih
ob tam spec1~1. c~earance. from; -oa.d,' the( ~iv,r~fty ~f 'l>,~~t~\ procurittg,·:al
an· r Esu. The divinity of Death promised to 'make him H1S' divine J ptbfkien1f'lfa priest. The· sacrifice was made; , ·v
on earth. Esu promised to see him through the strong tests h9~ , /. ; ,, . , : 1'."'' ',; ,,' r' • ;·J, ( ,-;
1 1
j'} J.j,\

z;~tt:i ~~1f rh"~ :r~~i~il True to his heavenly promise, Death used to cross the river to

ti~~J,1.?!;t~;
hfrn nof be gr'~edy
1
;ii~:~
to betore' \eapfng: · Fl6J
tb' 'and ldo'lc carefully'
mcct,e>rti!1miia for uivi'natron~ whtle· Orunrnila -used.,tcic,tbss tftel
rivet ·tt'.)•;nf:.tkl! the required sacrifice for Death. t Ortfnn\itd'.:Whf i1f
·the··:'habit · of requesting sacrificial' mare rials- ht· ;paJrs_>/1H~l
wdum ·make ~acrifice with one 'lot while faking; the,lothe:rfa\Viey}J only
maue· sacri(lces"t6S'~ll those hightf r' powers,' tiefote1 lea.Vi'ng fdt:i n)tteave them including any gifts or 'cbmpensatidri;1ok·'f~ hank bf n.:e
ea~m:: .:.};;,;'_;r'..,·:" ·::, ·, , . ti· '_· ·:, ,; ''.;, .: 1:.·;.\
i,,', i\.' i. ,~~~ river for Death to retrieve. No one 'enj<>YsrDe1ttlilf' gift •witht,lit ravi11g
for it with his life. As soon asOtoft'm·fJif!l~ftt Dea!fh's,1r.hc.:~·-e 'with
the sacriticial·materials and gifts;:the:f~tWifi would hl I,! uis club in hot
pursuit of thetformer;' 1 Hdw<wif\! when he saw the gifts deposited on
the bank of the river, Death wdtllU;,teni~,·=~ thent and 'return
n~1hisJh<>use, .. · :' : .: ·nt~ ·::iri1 u-.
~· f'i;j-....- ·:r~ :··ii ... ::t 1t)':'•! ,,._:>, ) ;_:: :,;, bfLJ\)"11

Ohdiumi, (:)tW1n1Has-et outto ;aris-wcr the fovitatidn'.:tj, Death M¥i

stttrifict. l\,foan\'-·hller f:·sti hali"beeri looking for; CJruiirf#Nfalt~1 cajole
hi:m·to visit·Olokut1}.i'As ·()runmifa. wa~ travelWrtgtjti tft@1

124
 riyei: to -. Death's house, .Esu capsized the canoe and he. got
drowaed · because he .. did .not know -how, to swim. As he w .. a. s
• ' .1- .. · ,., ..... , . ... • ,' ' ·' ~ .. ' ' ' ..•
gQjllgµn,4~r,r()rumnjI.,.. calledon the fishes to rescue him from
cJmwning,1wi~h the tords - "Oke Jeri eja omi, ko wa gba mila,"
WPen Ow, .fishes went to find out that· it was Orunmila, they
recognlsed.hirn as thedark .• complexioned Awo who lived on top of
the: hill and who was in . the habit of using their (fishes') heads to.
save .those of other victims in trouble. Not only did they bluntly
refuseto .help him, they also challenged him to save himself since he
claimed to be capable of saving others.
lie called nr1,i;t J>:n the , water Python to save him by saying
"Okele: r,i:,~re orni, ko wa gba rnila." The, python also told him to,
use.his powers to save ,hir11self because he had previously used
his.ancestors i,lncJ, children for. sacrifice. Orunrnila finally
cajl~p.onJh~·crocodile ro help him bysaying "Okele ri one orni,
wargl>~ pµJa/' It.was the crocodile who-eventually took him to the
:.Pal~,~ pf Olokua, Olokun rejoiced for seeing, the man they ha4,
been. expecting fer so long, She· made a big feast to mark th~
.cITTiiva1 o( Orunmila,
Atthe ensuing divination, QrunmUa,.reas~red Olokun that' $he would
have a child. .He .advised hcr:to.dress:in white apparel and &Q ·to!
the ,shrine· of· her '3\Ulrdia,n .angel, ·to make sacrifi4e with ~bite he-
goat and, white.cock while'making:her,wisbes. In the. presence of
Orunmila she ma~e the ·· sacrifice , anp her.
wishes.. Orunmila had revealed to her that the reason.she did not·
' ' . ' ' . " ' . . '' ' . ;
have a child wu,s because her guurdsanange! .thoughtthut
wealth,wcmld· make her to forget herself. As. shewas retHT:Otf.18 from
the shrine of her guardian ·• angel. she started ,her, ,mo9thly
menstruation, · At · the .end of th •. ~t month, . she, J?.ec~une
pregnant.which made her to become exceedingly happy, r.:·;
To show; her appreciation, she invited her treasury keepers to mould
Orunrnila with wealth· and prosperity. After: .the operation; the
crocodile again ferried Orunrnila close .to his house .. Before
returning home, Death had visited to invite him for the monthly
divination and sacrifice. When Death did not meet Orunmila, he asked
his three apprentices whethersthey coul~ not- deputise for their
master. They agreed. to follow Death home. After making divination
and sacrifice for. Death, they retutned home with the sacrificial
materials and fees, paip to tnem,ibecause they did not know what
Orunmila used to Uf>
with,tliem. ,
Orunrnila returned to he told that his three apprentices were away to
,. Death's place for divination and sacrifice. I le became apprehensive
that the young men did not know hisitradi,tion~I methodology for
dealing with Death. I le quickly raced to· Deu,th;:4/·.house meeting his
three apprentices on the way. lie itntllediaiely retrieved the materials
they had from them and .fer:rield them to ,tbe. .other side of the river
where he met Pea th
·~
126 127 ···.i···
~
with his cluu in hand waiting to board a canoe. Orunmila went on
his knees to beg Death to forgive the ignorance of the three young
men. Reluctantly, Death forgave the young men with a song "lfa
mo mori ogbo jion loni, olumbe nijo lo'de iralu kperegun olumole.
Esuwo kperegun Olumole Eso wo," which meant that but for
Orunrnila, he would have killed his three boys that day. That was
how he spared their lives to Orunmila. That was also how Death
gave the nickname of "Kperegun Olumole" to Orunmila. Orunmila
however subsequently became very wealthy as a result of the
reward he got from assisting Olokun.
When lwori-were appears at Ugbodu, the person should be
udvisedto make sacrifice to Death and Esu, to avoid death through·
-gneruntly offending a higher authority.' He should prepare Olokun
shrine for his lfa, because it would bring him prosperity. At
'divination, the person should make sacriflce to the sea and serve
Esu with he-goat. In all cases, the person should he advised to avoid
the temptation to become greedy and avaricious.
He made d-h'ination for Al,ara of Hara:
Orunrnrla ni ujernute lere, mi ajernuke, was the Awo whomade
divination of Aluru-Isu, Omo ;Ajigholu .. He was advised to make
sacrifice in order to obtain the blessing of God .. He was
1.28
also advised not to be neither argumentative nor authoriwian, to
avoid any. insurrection against him, by his subjects. He wu to
make sacrifice with pigeon, . squirrel's stick (Atori in yoruba and
Uweoriontan in Bini) coconut and whit~ cloth to .serve Orisa or
Osagbaye. He was to add· a-two-piece plantain (Ogede-l)eji·in
Yoruba and Oghede-nagbeva in Bini). He.was also .U>c·. ~e Esu with
a he-goat. He made the. sacrifice.
,Jc~,:~Jldii:ig the throne of h~ father, people. had. been
C8$i.ina~persions on his paternity. because he did not look like his
father. It was Esu who later came to .bis rescue to demonstrate that
.no one other than his, parents could doubt an Oba's par~n~e.
Qrunmna:, advice to the childnm or lwor(:Iwere; ·
Orunmila ni, kt 'wori te se bo ere-
Miniil§l;yi. w<fle su-su,
Oni Ire kini? t4oni ire aje, .. Oni
~~Jun ni eyele.
Oni ki a fun ni opolopo ogede omini.
,,~,nj;ij.a fun ni.opolopo ekuru, Orunmila
ni ki lwori tese bo ere.
Moni irYitW9~le su-su . Oni ire kini? , ..
Moni ire aya Ii · o wo'le. Oni ki a fi akuko adiye,
;.~Mffljllifn~;,eb:9 aya ...
,A>ff,Qlrilt., JQ,,ki JwO{i tese bo ere,
69.
68.

prosperity into the house w~U~ it µ~e.s.. i_~s beautifu) legs to

Moni ire· yi wole su-su. Oni ire kini? : tread
Mt>rifire· omo. ·,oni k( afi' agbebo adiye se ebo·onto. - ; . ., ,,,,: on the ground. ·· ·, · · · ' 1 · ; ' ' · ' ' r ··
Orit'nmifa rif ki ·iwoti tese be ere, · · ·.· · . ,,,.' ,
s:,,

Morfrire yr wole-'su-su,' Oni ki · afi agbo se ebo oye. • ·

Orunrnila told 1wori tc:f~tep on-the sund. :'. >:' ·, ·. •
When . this Odu appears J~f'. d'ivinatii:5n, the person should be
advised not to be in a 'hurry to ac'qriire 'wealth. It will come to him
I fepli'ed that good fdrtune' has :fTioved into the house. H.e slowly but steadily, provided he performs the abovementioned
asked,·what Omen?. I 0iepli~d rhat it was prosperity. sacrifice in their varying order and sequence.
, I
He . said that prosperity shou'ld be fed with ,pigeon, plenty of
'Plantains and plenty of pudding (Ekuru) and baked beans.
Orurimifa ag'airftold·Iwori to step on the sand;· ·
r replied::·that a ·wife· had moved Into the house.
' '
He recommended sacrifice for her with a big cock:·· ;

Orunmila told Iwori to step on the sand. ,(': ,' ,.

I replied that 1gotici''c>'.m!rlihad •rno~edlrito' the ,,house}1
·. He asked. what good omen?
I replied that a child had been born in the house.
He said that a fowl laying eggs should be used for sac:rilice: ·
Orunmila again told lwori to step on the sand. · : · • :·
I replied that a good omen had appeared· in the house. · · · He
asked, what omen? · · · · ··: ,. , · ;' · ·.
I replied that a thieftainfy fide'-··had.:beeri ~oriferred or.:·ttte
owner of the house. ·••· · 'I • ::' ': ... · . · · • .,. i · · ' · · · · · · · ,
1 : :: ··

He said that a ram should be used· to mate sacrifice)·, ' ·

These materials were all produced. Orunmila explaintd that't·he
pigeon which cries Ireku-reku usefits ~ght -arid left wings tcftly

131
130
70.

CHAPTER,THIRTEEN offer. .c\ he-goat to Esu and he did <. He was alspi a~vised Jo
..' ,.; , '
,,· , ' .
.,,. .. :.\.,

servei.Olokua.wirh 16 pigeons; and.his head tqgetbt!! wi~~ ~~s

lWORL·EKA gua·r.·dhm ..... an ..•. gel. wit.h guinea-fowl, .... There. a. fte .. ·r
.IWC>'R!-6YQ~ h~,:."".,.jcit;AAP
obtained; the . blessing of God _for a. successful !ff e
· ·,,,,-:
.,~ ··,:a~)~.
l;I, JI Olokun pronused to stand by him and to trade ,w1Jb::~lfll~, ,i,!
I .• I
I I I On(g~ii~og to the world, he did not practice If.a.art b,11~ t,(M,>k;to
I I I I trading. After trading for some time; he was· al:)I~ to l;>~iTf~ls
The Divination he made before leavine heaven: ~wn. house, He subsequently married th~ee wiv~~·._iit;'1 ·q~Wc
succession. He later bought u horse with whlffl,, he,.,-,ivr,s travelling to
Oloyo yoyo Jere, Oloyo yoyo. the market. His business flourished trep,c;p<{pµmv and he had many
Aha ti bi omo tuntun ayo ni. children. He also bought many slaves: · He
w~~ l~.quintesse~ce. of
Oloyo yoyo Jere, Oloyo yoyo. abusiness success st<>ry. L. ,.,,u :I.
Aba ti ko ile tuntun ayo ni. . .· ': .
. . :
' ' ' . .,, ·, ,' ' ,• ';'

Oloyo yoyo Jere, Oloyo yoyo.
Owo tuntun ba to eni lowo ayo ni.
Awon meteta lo'ndifa fun Orunmila nigba t'onbo latorun bowa si kole
aiye.
The birth of a new child gives rise to happiness,
The construction of a new house stimulates joy. And the acquisition
of new money generates happiness.
These were the three Awos who made divination for lwori-Eka when
His prosperity however soon generated envy and enmity and
p~~Pl.t!.p~g~ll. to. plQ+ ~in.lit l\i~ .. ;\\".~~9 ;h~J1pti,c. ··:,.~~
:t,h .. ~. c.:'~ .. )"''· •. 1e in people's attitude towards him, he invited s.om<:,
:~~q~;-~r
divination. He was told to make a feast for Ogun with do),
cock.tortoise, snails, and fish. He made the sacrifice .and Ogµn sub-
sequently announced at the weekly meeting of the' divfo,Hi~s that
anyone who threatened to upset Iwori-Ayoka would ii191r · his
(Ogun's) wrath and it would be war between the aggr~~ijor and
himself. Consequently. those '¥ho had. taken bellicose
stances against Iwori-Alayoka began to relent.
••
··· !

he was leaving heaven for the world. He was advised to His wealth increased immensely and .his fame began to reach

133
73.
72.
71.

the Oba who invited him and appealed to him. to assist in holding These were. the- awos: who made divination for Madam .Ariyun beshe
the tOwo together.: .He ·was.subsequently made the frjrne Mini'ster who.valued .money more than children, The.woman was not actually
(Shashete in yotuba and Iyashere in· Bini):ofthe town. fie later feasted interested·in naving.children and she die.notJ!>Othai to'
the whole town· and he sang in prai~·of listen,·to·.,the.,requir~.cl,sacrificc because' it. did.nor mention what
his celestial' iind terrestriaf Awos.' ,. · · sberwas.,to,:do;-fo·have·moreirhoney •. , :;, ..': ,,' ':,,'. ·:, ,•,,;

rw~,~~, tWi~. qqu(,appeJirs at Ugbodu the, person .s1houtd ·6e

, ad¢iseo to· prepare 'his own Olokun a~d Ogun in addition to Ua.
1
Whentit·appear.sfat'dwiriation f6r·a woman, she .sboold,bevtold
tha't'~helis·ckcei$gitlerseyf:hy·pretendingcto:.be,anxio,ustohaM~
-~<fshould be t<>Ui that' business .is his calling.' He will succeed chi1dren;t~atusei isHe . ts truly interested. in making . .money~,1l'h~
inim~nse1y 1if life'.''build'houses; ,tna~ry more than onewlfe-and same:(ts~·true of:a·male dhrinee. :e:; <•;: " · .. · , n .. :: 1·;\•1cn
·Q?ve 'his .own cars: ·,. i '
_it.·,}: 1 ~ ~ .. · '.'. "j ; rf f .\ ")!I • I ~ -. ''.){./ '!_\-"f;it.
:,· •~< t'

Bi a ha ti da Iwori Alayoka erin larin kale. But when the awo is:
At divination tfie' person' should 'l:>e' advised to 'make sacrifice in satis:fiec.bthat·.the·:dti~ine~ istruly .anxieus.tohave .chjkit.en.d{e
order t~ succeed in hls professional pursuits. ott:sheishou4<l be, advised· to make. sacrifice .. ·.with ru
'-,-.J- ·.i , .'.I' ; j. ~· .1 );. ....-~ '} , .« , · .) .: 't •• _: ;·'.i
go.at::aflf,iru hen!·! l1hulli!-1whatthis · lfu told-tbe household of, the,
,,~Ad~ divillationt<ir 'the Obatiwtlca his . WJ8el(tDw'ere. ·tr_ul)l anxioi.Js::ltrn have .. child pen.,·
··w1lift1 ~-tiildten: AE~qJitbc sa<tif~;.;'ffie women ofither:oyal harem began to
•'1:~.:" )L> ,.,-: ~r :: · · J i. i ., ·

have;childt¢if •
1r1{ ka<N'<>kperct le. e~un omo aJ,o. Bowtb:11-0du :earned the sobriguet of,Alayoka; , :.>ti/.
EriN1.dkd·~·i eron awHn·agha: , ·. · · .,.,4 '. ,;_;
1
Agtni ia'ntd sank<> fo· 'ku. · •• f'
He made divination for a vain-glorious: man called: Kayode,: He was
'Adti'ru 'fun y~ye 'ariyun hes he. . ·,.•
I ~ ;.
very wealthy but paraded his wealth by swaggering ahout wheti1 h·1h,-
Yiy'e Ariyfrhh(!sh~ ije' ki h)wc> wtr<>)'u'.<>rhd le>'. ~lced~, After,makirrg divination for Kay ode. the Iatter teldi
ihedawo that the.was: in a. bettereposition to: answer, the
This is . the Odu. that is difficult for a young Ifa priest. to interpret -It ntdkbamerof Alayota, that is to-be.called I~ori-Alaayoka_,,while
iS cfoly the d'derly awos who can freely interpret it. ·he(wotJWl:·IJe,co~ known as,Ka}!ode,,Olowo.· :There was another

134 13.S
75.
74.
Kayode in · the town who wanted to borrow money .from Kayode-
Olowo. He was prepared to lend. money to , him provided .he agreed to
suffix his namewith Atosi . that his, to become. known as Kayoe-Atosi
or Kayode. the .pauper, The ..
poor fellow had no opoonbut to accept the conditions.
However;' Kayode-Olowo. had· been.advised. after .~vination to give·
a· he~goat to Esa to avoid paying a. high prize· for· his vain-
gtt>riousness. He refused to make sacrifice. WhenKayode-Atosi could
not repay the loan he took, he offered Jo work in ··
Kayode-Olowo's farm in lieu of his indebtedness.
One day,: Kayode-Olowo rode to the farm1,on his horse to inspect th~
workers, As he was riding .to the fanm, he· •. met Kayode-Atos.
the way, returning from .going to fetch sticks . to ,supp,,rt the-
yam;stems. at the farm, Kayode •. AtosiJgreeted hi'nfiriCtbe, usual·
way with ''good afternoon Sir/ He·.queried Kayode-Atosi for not
prostrating to greet him in spite of the load of sticks ·he. c.arricct on .
hu;: head. As he , moved toe hit Kayode-Atosi with his cudgel, Esu
pushed him from the horse
and .fle fell: to·the ground. ., . ,
' '
At: ,hc,sa'1ie ,nme~·an elderly,:chictwho was comin,·from,,the
,ear:witnessed what •happened. The chief ran to·theiaid,of
Ka~Olowd, only . to d~er that he baf:I. a fractued ifcg. 111e
.chief.and Kayodc-Atosi, helped .to carry Kayc>de-Olowc,
136
home tothe !Jcal orthbpuedic'spedalist; · Meanwhile, the,thief asked
K..:.yc<1e-Atosi why he was so shabbily treated by his master, t.n
iking that the help·less·'fell0w•was,aLslrivt: Kayodtii Atosi expleined
the circumstances which brought him into
servitude, ii loan of30 kobn» ,., ··,.· ': ··
The chief immediately<gave:'him''}O kob,>: ro buy hack ,his
freedo'rrf f'rb.n then· orl he·:oedime 'known'·agairt: sirnpiy, ,as
Kayode. On the other·<'ha1td,0 Esu ·.· had!·,infhiericed the
ortHop,a~dfo, speHalist1 tb'aSk ;Kuyod~Ofowo whether, htF<>Weil
arryi ifebe '6'f sacflfke that he' 'failed• to· ,make .anU•h'e admitted
that he refused to give he-goat to Esu. '·" , , . , -1 >,:) 1• •.. ·
11 :-d;:51.... r, r; .
·i :), ·:
i _: .. ; '-. J_
on The orthopaedic specialist inslsitetl · that ,.he1 would only hea:l'
Kayode-Olowo on two conditicns; thathe- .»outd'idouble the
prescribed sacri fice to Esu, and tel· -agree' to -be ,'.caHe<Hdmp(y
Kayode anc~ not Kayode-Olowo. He had no option bur te agree
to the eondlnons.
When this Odu appears at Ugh6du,: the person 'should be advised
to>ttfrairi frorit ·behaving vain-gloriously. ;, ~ should serve Esu with
. ; '.
a tie~oat. Fiv~·days·aftet going lo lJgbodu, ht should ;~iv~'t tam to
-· !/ the new· Ifa"to>avoid the:'evil consequences
of his.-conceiiiJd:-"dispositioh:'
:"t:~··j·.,_t f_·~_L>lt .- .:_:'_~ .. ,:,·.-_.:. _!·' .. ,. • --··:;,.:i .. ,. ,;;·:r -· ...
At· oiWr.dtiori, ·the person shoul<:f :he! tbld · to serve; Esu with· -:a
137
76.
77.

he-goa], and: Qgul)-.wilh a <fog Jo obviate the risk ot an accident,

~ I 1· ,,. i \ l ' ' ' ·1 ,·' the river. / 1· .r , ' ·,
Jk,made divination for OniM·gri-fu'.e: .· '
He said that was not enough to make him happy. We
have the goat with a robust head, : · . ,,-, ,
' . .
:·, f'( ' .i: t: ·-. . ; ( ;- ·,
Orunmila ni ki Oniwori mayo kini,.~ini! We have the ram with beads round its neck, ·
Moni ki Oniwori ma yo kini-kini, We have horse with ring round its. neck.i
Oni kini On.i,wo,rj riti o fi.nyo kinj"'~iJli? ",. ,. ~., i MonL ~ku" meji, We have a giant pig with a nose looking like a box.
eleru~w~. . , Qni. eleyt kc t9 ,eyi ti Qpiworj~yo,
mo.. Oni,~LG>niwori.1 mq1yq kiIJ;i.~k(ni?., . > ,. • , . ·• · .. · Orunmila insisted that all these animals were not meant for happiness
Erni niJ~i :Oniwori Q:)a,y<~ ki_qi,-kiqL;, Qnj.ki.n( ;Qnhyori .n>;~. unless the person was having two girls with big breasts. He said that
kin~ki.ni. mo? M?ni :ejiim~ji 9h.1gqad~ gbada nl od-91 . Qni this is the only thing that should make Oniwori J)µppy •. Orun.Qr1,iJµ.
~l~yi)~~ 1 :Wr:t.s asl,se<J .why :Jhis. $houtq, be the only thing to make Oniwori
to tl Omwon nyo mo. t ; , ·,:•,:; ., 1 : i. _.... .,.,,. ., . 1
happy. He replied that it is these women who could: gi\t'.e b_inl't to
Ani ewure abori kege, ani agbo abiro roni orun. .childnen like Arnusan, Amore, Do~nrnµ~ J.fatunr:nise, Ifalegan,
Anhe~hin ~.:Q~Q.· tLttg'1~rni orun., Ifaponle, l{ayemi,Jfagbamigbe, If ah;.\t,mi.~u. . _
t\ni c,.gba,,1~le.<J~h"t>a pot:i..ni m4~ ·· ,: : ··:.- .. rr ·.c

-'M.
Otunmilambki,,!;e,.~l>Q.yo ';· ol .. , , .,i,·.·
' -:}]°\;;. ~ .. ·~ .r . }1, -,

¢~t:n,g,,, J'" .. !
• •· ,••1 •··, ~f '' • • -rr Tpe lf~·:P.fiest asked what .was to be· done jf,~ny of the girlsfell in
love with Oniwori? He replied tha,t t_hey should make sacrifice with
two pigeons, 2 cocks, palm tree climber, (lyope in Yvrnll~jq{ld
Uhiundin inBini) and salt. When she gave. birth to.~_~ij~~Ut .~hm1l~I
benamed Ayoku,
1 __ :, ~--' ~--i '..}i).1> j I . .,, :·

Any pregnant woman living in the house during the time of divination
should be told that she is going to deliver a female
c!1ii.l',, ·.:•:
r

138
· ; 139
78.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN w,o,r<is,, h~ was ~itl;ler tq, recommend a ip.1rJ:4-'~:-Ft~~r 19,

IWORI ;;.ETIJRUKPON
any
m"8 nor woma,n. ,.: . .,.. , .. . ,.,.
IWORJ--TOMOKPON He,.~~, ~ls_o tQl~ to .seJve I::~u wit~ a_ ,he-goat,,., H~ ,d¥f::~l~JJM
IWORl- PETU sa.crit}(!es~. i.MQr~,sp~<::ifi~~uy;,it._was predicted that 'he,
11 11 I wpuJd.~ .temp~() on e3r.th JO ,9elp ,a man to procure .. a wife; a~!
I II I .t~ outcome wm,tld ,qei regh;ttable,,and calamitious. '
JI I I
He' eventuahy :came tc/the world where he was practising If~
art.
~s} diviner, men looki°ng for suitable wives and WOfl1~f1 loo~11g
The Oi\iinatiun be ma~ 'before eomi111 to the world; fvr:suitapte husbands, often came to him for div.i11.atiop:
' ! ; ~ •.. '. . ~.:

Etttfri ki'kp.: awodi.: Ewu ino ki ·'kpa awodi. ' · It happened occasionally' that prospective couples met for the first.tJ1:nc.
Neithe·r:-c~lll! 'rmr -heat can kill the· bird called Awodi, These. were the in his house .and they often popped the question i11 h.i' place. , ,
.iarnes of the two Awos who made diviriation' for] lwori-Etun:~pon when .' . '; i)
he was leaving heaven for earth. He.! Meanwhile, Ogun was looking for a wife. He went tolwof~:
; was' itdviset! 'l'. l-'h1ake:~acrifice so that a Woman migtn·not repay! Etury~pfm for divination on what to do not only to obtaJn:t~~ right ~ift.
his'good turn wi'th iFigrat'itude·:' · but also lo make his life exciting again. Qgun'~)Jf~ had been slumbering
. ·. .. . .• . . . .. .. . . . . .. , ,, . . '! because he had a cold. At div.irt~tJg~, C>gl-\(1 was _told t~) serve his
He was''.itdvisd.l to make sacrifice with tortoise to'Ogun:and ·to; guardian angel with a tortoise, ~mt to prepare burn-fire on his shrine
prepare burn-fire on the Ogun,shrine .. He however appeeled to the Awns every day for s~~~µ consecutive days. He was to return for fresh
to explain the divination to him because it sounded' divination after ~h~, ~~,Y~P~.day fire-burning period. /
om>inous; ·· · 1 ·:'

He was advised neither to m~1tch-make any couple for marriage nor to ~fprc tlJe end of seven days, lwori-Eturukpon arranged. Jqr, young
recommend anyone to a prospective spouse. In other woman to be recommended to Ogun for marriage. J-!~

140 141
79.

could' not· remember' the injunction he was given in heaven never t,o
arrange for a wife or husband for 'anyone. After rruiking:the
prescribcd"sacrificc 0gun returned to Orunmila'io tell·hirh whafto''do
next. Orunmila' told, him:that he had prbcured . a wife for him.' . 'The .
girl· proposed: to · Ogun' by Orunmila was ·a· princess 'of the' royal
household of 'Ife. In addition to the sacrifice he had previously made,
Orunrnila told Ogun to give a he-goat to Esu: which he bluntly refused to
db. To minimise 'the disruptive influence . of Esu, · Orunmila appealed tc•
other divine priests to make the-sacrifice for Ogun. The sacrifice was
eventually made to Esu on behalf of Ogun.
'!'' · .' .: j • '
When the princess was subsequently introduced to Ogun he loved her at
first sight and agreed to marry her without any delay. The girl soon
advised to give a he~t to Esu tq ,void. tti~ ~~ypl~~,ftt consequences
of a favour he did to someone. He. perfqr~ the sacrifice
immediately. ·
Eventually, Ogun got preparedto do battle. The first plate: h,~ carried a
fight to, was Orunmila's house, for giving.hirn .a ~4 wife .. Orunmila
reacted by begging Ogu1;1 to spare his ·li(" because not heing the father of
no
the girl, he had means ht knowing that her beauty was a facade veiling
her mann~ri~~; Ogun agreed to forgive Orunmila, but moved s.wiftl): ,tq
J.~~ .. royal. palace of Ife where his intentions were misco.JlSitr~~ ·· ·
When they saw their son-in-law in a. bellicose mood, theyj~ him for
.being drunk and began to speak to him defisiv~l~. ~' . had killed the Oba
and his mother-in-law before he .WU$
apprehended by the palace guards. · e, · 1

moved to Ogun's house to live with him as rrnin and wife. Unfortunately
'however, the princess had n6 rhttnne·rs: She· neither knew how· to cook When this Odu therefore appears ·at Ugbodu, the pe;on·shtiJl~. he tolµ
properly nor how to mukea husband happy. The worst aspect of her never to procure marriage partners for aaycne. »~ forbids it. .At
behaviour was that she sbon resorted to flirting hecause she considered divination the person should be toLd.to.sef'c'e.~ with A he-gout so as nut
Ogun ah intructalile husband, totally incapable ofmaking anywomari w be repaid with ingratituue,fot,
happy. ··,: · ·. · · · · .o,·;: · ·. ; favour he did to someone in g0<>d faith.
.• '' ' '
,,,•

· · ,,
,, 1 /,~

;· .11,.i

.! i f ~ i '.•

' .t ... ' .

Meanwhile, Ogun began to complain that Orunmila deliberately Dh'inntjon made for him before urosperin.: on ei1rth;
contrived to give him a mannerless flirt for a wife in order to destabilize
him. Apprehensive of what Ogun was going to do
J~ next, Orunrnila went
Ogoonr lo'ndifu fun Orunmila nijo li Aje ho wu ha Orun~il~
to his awos for divination and he wa~}I joko. ·

14 143
2
80.
Ogoorp 'W:lS ~~~ awo who made divination for Iwori-Eturukpon ~ft)re
.. prosperity 'came to settle down with him. He was advised to make
sacrifice with 2 white pige~ns, 2 snails, a piece of white cloth and
plenty of whi.te crushed yam (elo or ewo in yorufia'ilnc! obobo in
'Bini)'. ·The white crushed yam and the feathers bf the : white
pigeons were to he sprinkled round his
" house because 'they ate the staple food that· attracts money.
The appropriate leaves were obtained and one of the pigeons was
cooked with them adding the divine power (iyerosun) of the Odu:
fo(him to eat: ':.fr was thereafter 'that money began to thc>ve<fnto
His·hou$e·fMm various directions: At divination and
.,. t . . .
Ughodµ,' tMs· ·special ;• sacrifice should be made·· to herald
pr6sperity 'int() thf'pe'tson;s life.
,qrn~ation for Qniwori to have children:
t .•• ~ I j; f :1 i; r'" ; ': '·/}
1
_;t · ,'; ,.
·~~parafa·'teere Awo abata, adifa fun Oniwori, Akparata Teere was
tt'ie}lfa j'ries; who divined for Oniwori before he was able ' to;:pl'"egn
:rte a woman to bring forth a child. He resorted to divination when he
had problems in having children. He did the sacrifice prescribed for him
and he started having children.
' ': · ' !_
Made djvination for Akpetebi:.
Orunrnila's wife had no chi:Jd but had a maid given to her by ~i
.1~,d,y fr~e11d, called , Ebire, . the mother., of . the, girl. .On 9ne
occasion, the girl was ~rioµ_sly iU and divination rc;vealed.,that it
was her mother who wanted to kill her. When the mother was told
about her daught~r's, •. Olne§s, .she prepared a pet ,,of
portage to be sent to her. In fact, if the girl had eaten the portage, it
would have hastened her death.
Wh~oOrunmila made divination, he was advised not to eat any fem~
sent from outside and not to allow any member of his ~9usepold to eat
out of it.. At the same time, an Olokun priest vA~it~µ Akpetebi who
knew. esoterically that the portage was Pf~P<;lfed to procure the girl's
dea th. She told Akpetebi not. to m.l<m1<J9e girl to eat out pf the .
food, Eventually, Orunmila mmr~dJhe food on Esu shrine, Meanwhile,
Orunmila invited t:1;1~, 'gjrl's mother to back ~¢r:, ,eJ,aughter, which. is
how this lfa's nickname of Iwori-Tornokpon .(or,,,woma11~ back
your: child) came about. He compelled the mother to hack her, after
· · -- · _: · , · which ~lWr.9C:Cam~ well and sh~ was subscque~tly made to take
.her <,1~1H&hit¢r .• 1way ..
\~~BrHhj~ OJu appc;i.rs at ,Ugbodu, the person should forbid sending
his children to anyone as servants. He too should not serve anyone. He
should offer sacrifice to the night and give ,1.;hit~,. pig~\)n v , co\nic\
and 14 eggs to Olokun.
, •.. ;",(· •. i .. :/:
At divinatiun, tlli. person should be told that he is about to
r
144 145
uaveho a place· wh~re ·he \vit1 meet a woman 'Wlao :r,.>ms life's
thhs1n1w:if•. Heishoutd,handle he:r carefully.· ·
I,tori,.J;&vrvkDA•'• ·· ,,m1a1 sa,dDce taoo-u, or·. ,fflltg) · ror
nOmn1 • oroblems;
Orurimila ni ki oni Iwori .. PetU;
Morti ki oni lwori Petu,
lie made divination forLa w6mam iwhb was always losing: h¥t Oni bi oni lwori rnba petu, Oni
children after birth. He advised her to make sacrifice to Esu w:i:ch,a aje rere ni ma nwo ile.
hc.g,,a:r. ·Sh4' was .a.ls<> tb ·spread one· of' het·wearhig uppurels on Oni ki oni lwori petu, Moni ki oni lwori petu. G>ni
the ishrine ()f0runmila~ because this .particular cloth was bi Oniwori ba 'peeu,
,,espn:nsihle for her.: chlldles~hest. To: identify tht 0ni, aya rere ni ma nwo ile ...
~k>th/$hewas1toltlthatlsh~ di'd'tiot'buy itwith her own monty but- Oni ki Oniwori petu.. Moni ki Oniwori petu, Oni
that1 itgiveh :t:o ,111er 'Hy a fayLus u gift:' Th• womah was also tfJld ' bi Oniwori ha petu:
,thlW she;: :had rece nUy ·be:e ti . havh1g abortive· pregnancl,s Oni omo tuntun ni ma nwole.
~ca:us;e;of her1misht1Haviour~ She \vas tol<i to add·.crusbed yam and Oni kl Oniwori pets:
a fruh ,tatled; rghaghe, OkikaTt t>rifyeye in Yoruba' and Ogheghtr M6n.i ki Oniwori petu. Oni
tn Bini. w 'th'e sa~tiflce 'to EsU) ·· bi Oniwori ha npetu,
Oni gbogho ire ni ma nwo ile.
She ·ma<.le , the sact:Wke. The follovAng month she be'r.ame
pregnant and the child lived. Thereafter she had more children. Asked what was to he used to make sacrifice so that the son of Iwori-
Eturakpon would become so prosperous that he would have money, get
She 'Was 'to fforhid the Iyeye/Ogheghe fruit after having the first married, have children, and what i.t took to live a hap,py life, he
childv , 1 enumerated; plenty of pigeons, plenty of snails, pJenly of sheer butter
(Ori-oyo) and plenty of palm oil. These materials were produced.
At divination for a woman, she should be told that she is responsible Orunmila went to collect the foMowing leaves from the bush: ewe-tete,
for her childlessness. She should treat her husband humanely. Ewe orowo, and other relevant grasses.

146
147'
 r•._ •-~,R F·IC"T'C'EJV·
"°'IIJlr"·,I JS:
,,,,
-- - -r·- • CJ n · .,~le'. -~ ~.
·, ·· '
~ '{_,.
··,·,;,[..;

Jf,.pn .• ~~· (gther hund the divinee is Ut.·<lr. in J.iiffJ,~ulti~s • .thecJf~ •IWORl-- OSE · ;,;
priest will; collect all the above mentioned,.;materiqls, ·ad4'. a ram, 1w©Rl'- wsse
dig a hole at the back of the person's house, put all the materials in the IWORI - IJESHA
hole, slaughter the.ram so that the blood will· enter the hole, and put ,, i ! :,;:· _,; IWORI:.-' WOWQ.
the head of the ram on top of the other materials jnsic!e it and cover it :~,;

IWORI - SEKPERE·
with sand. I I I
1' I I .. {·
.-· ,.,•'.
,);_,

Th! incantation for perJonning the sacrifice goes like this: ,,. -l I,·· .. ·~.f ,', '!t
;:
"The house occupied hy lfa never gets hot. When oil: gets near, the fire, .... 1,1 . Li ' :r· . ·::,.· t. :, ... :_:;, :.l't•'.•

it certainly melts. When bonergets near the'. fjredl·.,. .•.• : .; .' / ... ' : .• · :\' .J .t..~ ;~, ,. ,. ;1 ': :, •!,.
also melts". .. He mrdt divination foriQrunmila wlfeiihe wataQinewith·'t·h~
othfr fi~inities to choose their treasures from Gode · -, :·
•I ":."~f ,•' •,', ':; :··, d"'f_( f•

lwori::.wWNo, Iwori-Wokun kie 'mawose loju, '· That was: th~ name i
'I J,•

ofrlthe ·lfa priest who: -· made divination for Oi'unmila before he

travelled with the other dinlties to receive divine ·gifts to use on earth
from the palace of God. He was told to off er a he--go'1t·,to.,Esu
before.going,. He did the sacrifiae .. ,.:·, ··

Aftat elli1ing his he-goat, Esu told .Orunrniia- t~at he shbu'ld

ignorerilUJtbe;a:ttractive valuables.and to let other~ choose firsf
·;
aftel'\which.he:-Wa:s to take the··eld woman ·ignored by·e'-
Vety<'.>fie else. l'he .narne of .that woman was Miko, and' she was
.the least, attractive, but also most precious, of all the treasures
provided by God.

149
81.
1be more senior dmaides, wert Qllled. and they chose such "
attrac:dve Jil\s as ~ .• beaudl\d women, children, houses, wealth etc.
No one kJo'-d in the dm,ction of the old woman.
When Orunmila was ewn1UAlly invited to make his choice, he chose
Aiiku, the okt ·WG~l'l.
Thereafter, they all l«t for the world, where they were using the gifts
they .chose from the palace of God. The divinity who chose money
did not live Ion& on earth. He died suddenly and returned to heaven,
luvin& the money behind. As money was ~l:.*P'.~Qtij"' ·IO ··-·~n..
he rGleftlbe:l!Od that .his. place was always wit~ hjJ .W.t sistu,.,
Ariku. ~ wont t0 ask for Mku in Orunmila's house. Ariku
introduced him to Orunmila, l,)epg hi,,:n to gi~ her ,br~her a room
'.to st•Y ia ms ,house. ~. Otrum111ila h~ si,cteen rooms in · ,bis
hous¢. be readily --~~ ··to, :Ar:i\Q.~S r,equest.
Not long a,fte~rQs, the divinity who chose a beautiful woman for a
wife also died and returned to heaven. Not knowing what ,\0 • ne,•,
die woman decided ·t0 go to her eldest :.sister Arin for adv.ice ..
W•n Arilw iprqp0S® ,t0 h•r to retum :to .heaven, t,)le wemafl •
~~jccte4 oa tbe j?IGUN dlat as ;long as she ,A.riku w~s still (l)Jll ~r.th
the~ wasn0 ;place for her i,n heaven,
,.an lfa priest that callers were always streaming to his place for
divi~on.
~he e~ •• up suing µp. accc>mmodauon in Orunmila~s --. The
divi~ that dlole 0111() (child) also di,4 •• retunllfl ,to h••~~ .:
·o.c, went to~ advice from Ari~ .who.i.c, .._ bja:· «> .. return ,to
heaven. . Omo quJrjed what he hltd to• ia llta~ when the rest of
them were sta¥ing. ~hind on. ardl. Otmo was also given a room in
Orunmila's house.
r .. ,
The .~nity that chose · Isegua-ota (v,ictory over enea,.ie$• .ito di,d .
.and retur~d to heaven. He too, went to live. with Ariku in
:;Onuunila's .hou~e. Ultimately, Orunmil~'s house. .was
~pi'4.,by.allthe children of J>FQs,e.rity. :.)
· .. ; /.
~.
Thus, to this day, all the treasures of ltfe endure •with wboelw
perseveres to live long on earth. "Ariku" means "longevity" and ber~
... is invariably home to all the good thinp oflifo •. i :d
l ;·;:,ri.:.;,,
' :.·f"f)g
T~. IWO who made divination for Iwori-Iwowo before QC 1lofa
b~v~4, ·"'.u Oldki bababa nimerun okpokpe. He was told,to
make,~rificc Jo Esu whh ahe-goat in order to be v:ictoriml in ·~.·
.··~ rhe w.as going to have on earth, and to enable .qia o~. ·the
three gifts carma,rked for him. He left for eardl w~ ma•kin,g the
sacrifice, He was· however so proficient•
!
i;i
151
Meanwhile the wife of the Oba visited him for divination. The
woman was exceedingly beautiful and she.took-fancy on lwori-
lwowo. "They soonbecamelovers. He consulted'Itaabout-his sexual
jelationship with the woman and he was told to give hegoat to Esu.
He did not do it.
For failing to make the sacrifice, Esu decided to teach him a
lesson. Esu went to the Oba to ask whether it was ethical for an lfa
priest to make love to· a woman who came to him· for divination.
The Oba replied thatto do so amounted to aerime against society.
Esu startled ·the Oba by revealing that lworihyowo had committed
such a crime against one of his (Oba's) wives. The Oba
immediately sent for Iwori-Iwowo.
Before going to see the Oba, he decided to make divination as
•a result of which he finally gave a he-goat to Esu. After the
sacrifice, he went tothe Oba who asked why he took undue
advantage of a woman who came to him for divination. More
specifically the Oba asked him why he made love to his wife
because she came to him for divination. He admitted the offence
and begged for forgiveness; The Oba forgave him and warned him
to desist from such unethical practice. He was told to appease to
the ancestors in the traditional way: He bought a goat, a he-goat
and a cock which were used for atonement.
At divination, the person should be told to serve Esu with a he-
152
goat because of his illegah·sewaLrelatitfflship .with a:ma,ried
woman.
..
•.1
There was an Awo who was boasting at Ife that there was- no one
greater than himself in town. He also threatened to disrupt
ther,peaCIC! .and tninquiUity>of the kingdom. He was called
Ekitibeid T'<r de1"fdns'trate that his was not an empty boast, he
prepared att:kincJs: of'deadly, ch~tms to stimulate difficulties in·
theitown.11-SpateS,~of epfotemk diseases like small pox, chiektn,
pox,', chHle~·-;comrulsion~ miscarriages, etc. became rampant. ·;
.'.)i':;u, .-
The Olefin meanwhile invited Orunmila to do something about the
sitqatiQn:. ·: He consulted Ifa and he was told to givb thr~
he~gdaisi tw Esu. He· did it anid' Esu reacted byfirst, , taking:
Eki~'s'cWestsoill, who died in his sleep: Next, Esu made hitW
impotent and all his wives left him. Finally, Esu removed hii two
eyes and he became blind. He subsequently died because
thererw.di)no eae .left to look .after him.
At divimtum;, die person should be warned against the dange't1 of
imasif!itltiess,, conceitedness and wickedness, because they w1n·
rebu'Lltict. heavily· against him. ·.,. -'·
J<
153
82.
83.
He JNcle diyjnati91 for··rour lprptian,: 1; ;,fq ,,., •
- •. _
lwori-Jjesha made divination for four brothers. They were;
Palm tree, Thi~~e~ :)Joa a,nd,:kPitt~- JI. ilf.Ofc ,~~:· m~ prosperous,
the other three brothers began to plot against the
palm tree. , .. ,,-· ,: , .. _ ... ·
; fY1 ···•,
When the molestation became. unbeatablo11be; palm trae .. ~ent to
OruJl,mila for. 'divination. He was··advised,to'.scn,e· hisd~ead? with
_.,guinea-fowl, not in·:hfSit\()use~\butHn,tht.dl<ime of:an11fa, Pf·4eSt. -
He was also to. ~nte i01i ·guardian .angebwuh."ranother·
guinea:,Jowl -_on getting home. after,serving his -hea.,:Li-He.,also gave
he-goat to Esu, and served Ogun with a tortoise.
j; [ .: .. ::, .1.:-
Mean~h,iJe, the Thicket hadibesieged·the palaitree~,:depriving, him
of hreathl,ng space. The Palm tree however sewed lri:s-hAJSd, and:
guardian: angel with a gUinea-fewJ, .at. Orunnula's place/
after serving Esu:wjth a he-goat.
!-,1_ .,( ~~~;·;::~.;·, .•. ·:Jt.:
The Thicket (Eti in Bin.i as in. Yoruba)ralso,wemt to.Orunmila
. for divination and he was advised to serve; his head in the horne pf an
, Ifu :pr,iest with a; guine:a-foumrbis,•guar:dia:n angel with a hen
on,geHing home, Esu with a hei-:goat; andO.gun·wiith a cock. He did
not do any of the sacrifiocsi.}The,Boa1 (Oka-.in yoruha and
Arumwotr) in Bini) was also told to perform similar sacrifices. The
Squirrel (Okere in yoruba and Otan in Bini)
,,
;154
·>·::,. and Otan irt-Bini).iwas,a*ise_dito-.make the same sactif1ees. u, -
lalJihecrit 0ft' and-:dkJ nothiq; ·; .:- : - - -
' . .,
; -~-.; :,~ .r • ) ./ .(,: _:. (
As · the Boa, W8$. returning home from the venue . of ; the divination, he
bought a guinea-fowl, but instead of using it to ,.- serve· his
,,-:-';',1 ,t., '\ .,_,, ,··1. h~ad,in:1t.ke ·:~rM·-<>f·an lfa priest, he besought the 'Fhicket to·
aUow·- him-.·· to. serve 'his head in .. his house. The
rr Thicket refused « , The boa:hdwever insisted on serving bis,head at the
entrance ,t() the/lbicket's house. He had been warned at divination·
inbt.t~i'.~,~aiwµz,e; pronounce "amen" to,:bis prayers when to
~or~ng .qis head,
.:
1
:·
11
'.11.':! i)\J.U.·i ,);f \· \
,, As soon as-.·t~ ~a,~gah to 'serve his head, the Squirrefs~w him and
wasipurlci\aating his-,prayerswith "Amen, or Ase, Ase".
·1:1e,appealed in~.dn:it~rt,i~ ~9uirrel to stop saying "Amen" to his
:, prayers. The voi¢e(bf ~he<squlrrel attracted a 'hunter who was
passing by and '.~0-' kne~- the axiom; that the 'pronourn;ements Of
L r !', the squirrel 'wasla :sigh~! that abigger game lurked around. The
~/ :.!', ,_' hunter aimed at the squirrel and shot him. When, the Boa suw that
the squfrreti~:at.Ub,een killed+ he. moved fullyinto the Thicket's
house.
Nonetheless.. the, hunter, .sighring the, Boa in Thicket's house,
brought out his :cutlass;.,cleared. the .Thicket, thus: removing all the
difficdtiesbegirdin:g the Pulrn.Tree. The hunter cut a stick, sharpened
its end.andpierced it.on the Boa's head into the
1SS
84.
ground before cutting of its ,h~Pt'. ;JJla.t,was. hownhe palm tree
succeeded in dealing with the prgbJern& o{:h~,e,nellly~brnthers. i; He
was eventually given a new lease of life and lived happily
ever after, r: ,:::,,
, .;.·.1v(!·;-~_:'.;::-·, ::~~ L. ·· i!,_.''!
When·this Odu appears at uivi.nation~ the.person should.bercld that
he -is having problems-frem-theee close .relations, H~ should make
sacrifice :to -outlive them. ·'
.: ,re 1. • .1 } :J ,;,,:-. A 1.
How this Odu earned,thl; nic~nan;gwLlwori-Uesha: ···
Ojo shore gbekpe.Odifa fun Oba Ijesha, atun bufun Oba Ijebuljesha.
One whowas caasused.foa do~ng;a,,gQ<>9:,Wm was, the Awo. who
made divination ,foc:tl;le:.~:.itLof ljes)la, anJi,Jjebu~ Ijesha' when a
bride W;as,heing·1S.<CObtorihe former. :AsJh~ bride was being.
escorted to, the: Oba of: li~shu, i.t bugan to 'rain heavily on Jme way
and the escort .. p>ar..ty decided to seek ;~helt,en;at: the palace of the
Oba of ijehu-Ijesha; When .the latter, heard ·that the, bride ·W:J.s
being taken to .his.jsovereigrs, he .hosted: them elaborately when
they.had.to spendthe. night in hispalace, The following morning they
left for Ijesha,
When the escort-party: got tp ljd~ha they, told: th~LOba.,h.ow
generously they. we-re hosted 'a.mLenter-.taine<.I by ;the '.Qba:·of
Ijebu-Ijesha when the rain compelled them· to.spend.the nigbt there.
The Oba ofvljesha be.came·;eu:niousamhhe:askcdthem
1$6
wbeiher the Oba of ljebu .• Ijesba' did. not sJmp with ~ new bride.
They all confirmed that no such thing happened, but be did
nlot,believe them. :;He became so paranoid. about·tb6· situation
that he decided to. order his, army to match on· ljebu,,· lj$la. '.
.,
Meanwhile, he sent a . contemptuous message to the Oba :of Ijebu-
Ijesha that he was waging war on him for daring to defile his bride. In
spite of the denial by the Oba Qffje.bu.-ljes~ the Oba of ljesha
proceeded with his plans for war,thinking that it wbq,ld be· a walk-
over on ,JjebtiJijesha;AJready, Iwori-wese had ma~ idi(nnation for
.theOba of ljesha advising him to avoid a war: <>f humiliation.' When
his advice fell on deaf ears, be decided toreturn to lfe;;,:()n his way
home he: stopped at the ptilacei(lflhe Oba -of Ijebu-Ijesha.: At
divination, he advised .. the Oba,ef)ljebu.-ljesha to serve· Esu with a
he-goat and 'Ifa with a ram; tHe ·quickly made the sacrifices.' There-
after, Iwori-wese returned to lf e.
SooaJafter.wards, the troops of Ijesha matched on Ijebu-Ijesha,
whi•~~B$, then a dependent territory of Ijesha.Since "l#totisne'ss
was on the side of Ijebu-ljesha, they were able to ~t-tke attack,
forced the invading· troops to retreat and they rrlatchedf-:on·.Jjesha. ·
In the ensuring counter-offensive, the troops of Ijebu-Ijesha routed the
great Ijesha- Armed Forces and the Oba of Ijesha was beheaded. That
was how Ijebu-
157
ljesha· got her independence from Ijesha.
When ·this Odu appears at divination, the person should be
advised notto be arrogant and. to make. sacrifice to avoid being
humiliated on account of a woman. It was on account of. the the
simultaneous divination he made for the Ijesha and IjebuIjesha
:th~:at this Odu earned thesobriquet of lwori-Ijesha.
/
I After tearing down the-tree, they found inside it, the mat on
Not long-after retumingfrom Ijesha, Iwori-.wese became-very ill
and had to be taken.away.from homefor treatment. While he was .
away, . -his wife was seduced. by Ajija; His illness subsequently
became serious, and when divination was madefor him.ihe .was
told that he would not becomewell unlesshis wife coefesseu'her
adulterous misbehaviour. The divination however revealedtha!
the wife would never admit her infidelity and that
only Sango could unravel the mystery. · Sango and his wife, Oya, as to who was· entitled to take the\ head
Orunmila subsequently-sent for Sangoand he went with his wife
Oya to, answer the invitation. On getting there, Sango used his
esoterie Rt:~·crs.to confirm that ~pet'°i (Orunnula'swife) had in
.fact;,cchahited witb·,another;hm, but added that unless the
black afa"".I'. tree'( Obiri) in front of Orumnila's, house was felled,
the secret .cf the :wife's action would never be known. ·
1S8
AskedtwJletber he coutd perfonned the task, ·Sango amfirmed
that:be• could but ·asked what' his eeward ;wouhi' be .: Onmmila
promised to give him a ram.
'. t; ~'~
Sango :,then retumed. home, got dressed and the clouds gathaed:
His wife Oya,: (lightening) lit up the cloudy sky for him and he
used his axe to tear the, tree from top to bottom.
which :Ajij" and Orunmila's wife: used· to, make love; ,When
Sango took the mat to tke;place where Orunmila was receiving
treatment, it was revealed that to become well, he would have to
sle•~on-thc;mat ove~'.".night.- ·Meanwhile, Sango's ram was1
given to him and Orunmila slept on the mat. Subsequently..he
began to get well.
On getting home, Sango slaughtered the ram to .his guardian 1
angel. :.Alter it was butchered, an argument ensued between'
of the ram. Oya argued that she owned the fire which
flameaibut:ofS'ango's mouth and- that without putting on tht:-
liglt~'.&aago could 1 never identify his target or victim, · Sango
an , the;JDJber.i-ihandi, argued that Oya's power was merety··
comp1$nentacy .and that it - WclS' Iike the smoke that does no
harmb:-uln any.rav.ent, Sango : established· his supremacy ·by
reminding Oya that being her husband, he was the lord and master
of :.II that she had, including her powers. Thereafter
'159
Oya conceded tha.t h·er powers· were designed to complement
those. of her husl>and,in :the true: spit.it of marital partnership.
When this Odu appears at Ugbodu, the person should immediately
provide\ a :thunder-stone for. his: ·lfa shrine. .He: should be told
that the pelfspn whogave-:Jtis mother ante .. natal treatment before
he was borriwas a Sango priest
Atdivination, the -person shouldbe told to· make .sacrifice. to avoid
il.ness that' would take him away from home. during which time
his wife could be ttmpte9 to misbehave.
He made d;v;natlon fqr a .family' tbat Dtdshed en~masscr
lwori wowo wowo wowo
Iwori wokun woken .wokun
Iwori<1.wode wodc wade
Iwori Penrongondon bi opon.
That wa: th: name of. the: awo who made divination for. the:l
husba~ and the tw.o wives of.a family, as .. well as for the aged
mQ:tbe.r of-their husband. He adviised them to make sacrifice with
a rope, a big he-gout, dried meat and red camwood (Osun in yoruba
and Umen in Bini~; Th,y all refused to make the
sacrifice. ·
160
-:13111.&Qt m,Jn -t)le. &»prningto ask f<>r t~O§e wllp. r~ · W-,,~ ••
~~' Ji~ frie11d lg~9r<>ko targeted t~ J)oU54fio\~~
,:·1
i~~bile, the heai of *~
household left for. the farm. . Th~ ~Qr
wifeJeft for the market, the mother of the head of the bquse . went
to see her other children, while the junior wife stayed at home to·
grind camwood (Osun or Umen).
All along, there was some meat being dried on the open fire in the
kitchen of the house. After targeting the family,. Esu tr~gured into
a dog and went to take the meat (FQIJl the d.mm,,:,1lie junior wife
pursued the dog and .the meat fell down f{Qffl.i.~ mouth. She
picked it up with her camwood-coloured ~~::amt kept the meat in
the kitchen.cupboard.
/ .·· ·· ,· .•
f)i '
Wl.)JtnWJ.~ senior wife returned from the. market, she asked for
w,hP.,,rcirnoved the. meat from the drier and the junior wife
r~(¥>fm~·,t.llat it was the dog that took it, but that she retrieved
a~~(it in the cupboard. The senior wife opened the c'i1pt,oard to
examine the meat only to discover· that it was stained all over with
the red colour of the camwood. She t;wn,U:g1, h~r junior mate by
saying rather, sarcastically that i,n.d~~ it. myst be a curious dog
that soiled the meat with the red ·RP\YQer of the carnwood,
F~el~Rg thoroughly reviled, the junior wife ·etorted that if her
1(>1
86.
85.

senior mate was inferring that she ate the meat, she ironically
admitted doirg so. A serious quarrel ensued between thetwo
women, with the junior .wife complaining that she was being
wrongl} accused of stealing, when .her senior mate ··knew·:that.
she had never stolen ·· anything since · coming to: marry in the
house;
Thereafter, the junior wife went into her room and committed
suicide. ·
When the senlor matedidnot hearany sound from her junior's room
for 3 · Ieng time, she decided to verify what was happening. When
she rorcibly opened the door to her room, she discovered that she
had committed suicide. She too began to cry by asking herself how
she was going to explain the situation to her husband. Eventually,
she too hung herself on a rope and died. When · 1:he two servants
of the house subsequently saw what happened, they also decided
that they could not explain the situation to their master. They too
committed suicide ·by
hungiru; themselves. ' .~q!9Jff, ~lie sho .. uld be asked whether she has a mate 9!,,P.., .
death wbicb would kiJl -, ~, ·of her dpJclren should kill her
instead She too· decided to :commit swdde, but U she WII abc>Ut to
!lan& herself, a woman who came to visit the boUle intervened and
stopped her. from taking her life, by raisin& aa alarm which invited
other people.
The matter was eventually reported to the Oba of ljesha who
invited the old woman for iriterrogation, When the Oba asked the
old woman whether there was a pending sacrifice that the family
failed t6 make, . she confirmed that th~y wei;~, .~ld.;fO serve Esu
but her son refused to do it. The Oba concluded1ffiat 1J~eir !f~~
refusal to serve E~u thatled to their .'1~dqi~1 ,d.
. .: ;,,; , , . . . . ' . I' p ' j In ~§~p}~is ,Odu a.ppears at
divination, the person sho~i~)ij~ ..
to·.·.·. 1 ~~! ~iu w . .ith. a h.e~.goat in o. rd .. er. to a. vq·i.~.· .... '.t ..
,~ ..... ~~.·.: .. ffl. .. ,;
, p~~bW for the death .of. someone .else. If the. ~!v~"~!
man, he should be advised .to make .the sacrific~1,,9;;~ f acrimony
between his two wives. If the divination is for a ·,'
f

W~jij~ ~. . . rried to two ~ves. In any case. she ~houl~ ,~ 1 • ·+

When the head of the house eventually returned from the farm, he ~~Jo make the sacrifice to Esu1•• • ... , , ; (ill:,,
i, . f . ~ ~'

found dead bodies littering· his house. He had' no wi~h to remain a -, r·.:.i1utc:.,
he..d without a body. He too committed suicide by hanging. That • · 1·:1r
\ , ..
. " I '

was the point at which his mother returned from her other ;'.\ i ;, ,dt.
,·i 1,11· 1. '~,:
children's place. She had always prayed that the ,· :i.1
• ,' I ~ I . (
•.•·> ,I. LJ --'-

16
162 3
87.

sW'.ifices,. afte:t ,wbiqb, all1 .qppe>sitjon.sJ.Jt>~i~,. · Al pi, ~igbt of

hi,&: su.cccss; b~ made,.a wge;feast .fer.,he elde,r:\y awos to which
he;J11vited .his own aw0$ .. if' < ,.,. •;' .... , . ,:: ,... ,
'\'j;' ·: ,, , ,. ' ;.) 'ti':il 10
When this Odu appears at divination the, person .. willJ~e J~ld,1 that
he will succeed in whatever profession he takes to, but should make
sacrifice with a ram to Ifa af)~'..p~7S9altq·~i~~l subdue the enmity
that success will generate for him. At ordinary divination the person
shouldbe told .to mak~,~~). on account of the enemies he has in .. hi& .
.father',s ~OU~·~J,o ..
his place of work. :,:i. ;:, ·; , . ,;; : bA

Owan's enemies tried to poison him with Fish;

./tJ; ;,· ';' ~j(':j{i l!h
lwt>d1:t€;1t.;.agba agi .jan, :Aso ubldureAsblka binu owan, ·i\¥~:J
gl)f,i.,olf.un.1he be. Okun .: kparada .. edi eja.gboro .gbpr.o,·,~)l ,
k,~,~~.r~ri Afi. kponri ijllicJa, Akilqi kerele, Ije ala~~;,!G~ ·rj
ubi:da,:'.il\kika kerele, · KLlw.ori afir1, kpor! ubida, Akika ·k~J!;f.11\(~ "l
·.'Of>'!., )i '· ! , , · '··/ 'J,.; :
', .'·.•U,,t '·' '.•, . : ;.J.,)1·lur." ,
The: enemies of Owan were plotting to poison him. J',',;fb..) ·~,,
subsequently prepared soup with millipede for him to eat and ·
d~1bk.Qt1ut1e -millipede has dangerous venom all.over i~,~I.
Bi1t1M~Pfr'<l given::he:-goahtu,,Eslta· who ;go.t, up to. wor.t:!f,t'.l!tw ••
sacrifice by changing the millipede to fish in the soup. He ate
Jhc fish but did not come to any harm. ,·)·W~!i
~.\·
90.
88.
89.

When this Odu appem>asr.ayed, tJtt·penon,,should be advfrelll•. to Mdc tllJin11jo1;ror ••e•head·chiers oC-£1dti
watch the kind of food 'he· eats, .and nt()re speciicali,f: •ti
beware
of soup prepared with fish. He should not eat any ftsM:.: or fish food Oku omo kekere koshc gbe-jo. Orun
sent to him from any where. He should however ; 1 make sacrifice to akcrtgbe kosbe Hu kiri· ode. Urukete
Esu. · , · · · · W
· koshe· ·igbale de,
cf J I
Akpa kB koshc ima ile. ..':
Divination for. OloOn:- · Awon ni ~ lo'ndifa fun oleja merindi' logun ~kiti.'.· : ,_,n;: .:
. ,dl'
No one danees with the corpse of an infant. , , "".;
Omi de ori ota sa-ya-ya-ya, · The neck of the ·calabash cannot be used to make a drum for
Ota de ori omi sa-ya-ya-ya, .,
dancing round the town, No one can buildthe walls: ofta.:Hobse
Adifa fun Olofin ni agba yigbo ufe kiri biti-tori iku .. t'i from the top. No· one sweeps tile house with a flfwft~k(:r: iq
onkpa loja loja, l'ob~ l'oba. ·,
1
• .'. '..JG-. di!
,;1 These were 'the, three awes · ·whb rnade:•divina'.tion &if i'lt11e-J 16
These were the two Awos who made divination for Olofin to escape head chiefs of Ekiti. They were advised to make sacrifice with a
the death' that was -ravaging head chiefs and Obas in the: known· :goat to escape, death or sickness. · They made the sacl'ifi~ ind
worldof the time. : He was-told to make sacrifice with,· he-goat, Deathrspared theirIives, · · j u.1 ;)ll?. .
1
cock hedge-hog (Akika.if\io/()ruba and Ekhui in Bini). He did the· :ifi~.::· .: .:_ · ·. /:. • • 1~-· i_1_·LUY.,;.;rJ
sacrifice. Thereafter Death did not venture the direction of Olofin. Whe~:it ·appears • Ayeo at divination, the person should dice ; l
He lived to a ripe old age before joining sacrifice with agoat to ward off the danger of deatfr/,'ff{ft is )1 <U:t~~:
his, ancestors. J; ,; .. ; ,
arid the divinee is a woman, sacrifice shou}d,,alsd2he Ji'
..•. _;.i, made With a goat, . •I Oi .
At divin~tion the person will >he told that Death is lurlding: ...
aroundhim, but that if 'he•makesisatrffice, -he·wiflescape it. 'i
1 'i
11 J
· 'MIR divination lot the raaner and the maize;
-
,. Iwori towo fun Iwori tose fun, lwori ti gbogbo ara fun.
sheru. Adifa fun Agbe ti o lo si oko aloro odun.
s-. ., ·:,dJ)
l·:.ttjl.4

· I',/' ..

166 167
91.
These were the ·JW<JS ~hp ma,,d~ ~i~11atiogJor ~e far:m~rwhen
a
he was going to s'tart ~ew faim at the beginning of ~: •• ·e year.
They also made divination forth;,IJ}aize,when she W8$going to the
farm. The farmer was told to make sacrifice \Yi tJ:1 a hen, a pigeon
and a snail. On the other hand,:th~ corn was advised to make
sacrifice with pigeon, needle, fly whisk . .(Qroke}.piec~-s of aso-
oke, · w~ite· and, bJackJbre~d,s and cloths. . They both. made
the sacrifices. .· - .,,./' ..
.. The f•rm~r DJa~~ a big far!Jhand I planted maize, as the
prinq~J,cr,pp~ l;le,pl_a,ted fp,ur..-s~,°'ds of com in each hole right
through the farm. The maize germinated five days later by first • .'
brjn,g~g 0'1,t tlie .,J.N;eqles ,wiJ,h.whicli. she made \sacrifice .•
,.t\s.sh~r J)eg;n;tp:benr.,frt,iits,,sl:\,, used the
clotb,witl).which she made sacrifice to cover the children, , ; As
they, were matunng. she coveredmem with the black cloth and
finally with
.J\so,,~~1'; Wheq<Jh~y werc;ri:ipe\for delivezy Esu gave themthe
fly~wh,i,sk.fhoise t~il}.withwhich.their mother made sacrifice.
She ,h~91.P1nitipUed {!om, (o.ur seeds te thousands. Ki l'agbado
ko ma ko bo Omoyoyo. Agbado akobo omoypyo, ·
The farmer !l}&R rec!H~e:d .. -.~ v~w . .go9~J, harvesr, and,
tJ.l§!~,;~oth rejoiced ha pp fly. · · · · · · - · -.· · · · · · · -
'., '· j I·
16
8 169
He made divination for the· ubigu'itous 2ossip-moneer:
- .• ~9yoin'6ere was aclosefriend-of Iwori-aftn; burthe.former's
;(tffi~cy to engage in endless tittle-tattle made ' hirnua
· 1coi1'.trmttc.ial figure in society. In his quest for free,foodd>eing
::·1db iizyto fend for himself, he was engaged in tale bearing-all
~tli~~tirne: · 'He also 'held meetings with the club,
of'witch¢raft. ··
•f"!/t{j.:J"'i.:',(f,i
I ,.,,-;)
Ori ode occasion, he told the divinity of Death that a man who
claimed' to be stronger than himself- was proposing to kill .his
(Death's) children. He advised Death to prepare plenty of food
':-ffir 1r'1feast ·to ward off the intruder. Death felt .insulted and '-
white \~fus~ re prepare any food. 'He decided to await the man: who
1
"W1t5':;~~e·;·ful enough to thlrik of killing his son. Death
'.•pkf~rred ro remain intransigent because he hada mirror fer :
tt~U~~~ng into heaven and eartb· to know whose turn it ,was, lo
dfeHfl~ examined his children on the mirror and: saw ,that<there
was no.hing 11 suggest that it was their turn to die.
, 1_)flt '!(~· i..1 ; . · • . · ,,: ,· ,,_ :
' ;,WheifOloyotnbere dis'covered that Death was in nomoedto
,;ealpiH.m~~e to his stratagem, 1he contrived a new ploy He went
e''
i]o fMf'cfua of-witchtr"ft (AwonJ.fyami-osoronga), and told them ··-
te bb. preparedferwar'becauseDeath was planning to JdU,their
·children. 111ty;began: ,io runhelter-skelter. He also went to
· Mone,· the keeper of Diseases and warned him of an impending
,•eombat ·Aronij ·however- looked at ,his ctysfal baU and saw
92.
there was no need to be unduly disturbed.
Meanwhile.Oloyornbere looked at heaven and earth and saw
.· universal quietude. He began to wonder whether the , false ,, alarm he
had raised was having any positive effect. Finally, he '.' went. to Sango
to tell him that the elders of the Night had stacked· fire-wood at the.
back of their house for roasting his ·1 (Sango"s) children. Olofofo (the
epithet by which Oloyombere was known) subsequently went with
Sango t~ remove the firewood as a testimony to the veracity of his
fabrications ..
When the queen of witchcraft saw the following morning that theia.fire-
wood had been removed, she concluded'. that the ,:
•battle line had· been· drawn. The following night, she .qec;id~d
·. to stage a pre .. emptive.strike on.Death's children before.h~>h~d ,
•a chance to. move against, theirs. The club of witchcraft
.despatcbed their' combat crack force to attack. Death's house.
When Death saw the witches mounting a root and branch atteck.on his
children, he asked them what the matter was and
•.they.eold him that before he carried out his plan to kill their children,
they would first feast on-his own children. Death .got ,
•,up·very quickly and went to Orunmila for.consultations. Jn the
ensuing divination, Death was toJ4 to make. sacrifice with corn,
bones of snake and all eatables.ito avoid the evil consequences of a:
blatant Ialsehood. While Death was still with Orunmila,
170
lyami Osoronga, the queen of witchcraft also came to Orunmila for
divination. As soon as Orunmila sighted her, he directed Death to hide
behind the mat. Asked what she came for, she explained thatthey had
received a message from Death,thatlli' was -coming .to kill their
children. Orunmila asked her 10' disclose ·. how she got ,· the
message from Death and· she confiemcd that it was Olofofo who
conveyed the message to'
thenu r, •
Behind , the mat; Death remembered that it was the same· Olofofo
who bore the message to him that Iyamu Osoronga was gunning for his
children and to prepare for war from the club
of witchcraft.
Orunmila made divination for lyami Osoronga advising her to make
sacrifice by burning water yam and grinding it into powder. The
powder was to be mixed-with palm oil and used to make fourteen oil
lanterns round her house. He assured her that the light would stop
Death from attacking. After the woman left, Death told Oninmila that
it was the same informant Oloyombere who told him that the witches
were proposing to feast on his children. He too left to make
sacrifice. ·
@n thei_seventh day, Oloyombere turned into a salamander
(Alumiongbon in Bini) and ·ran into the bush where he
01
,a
'j
•
1
93.

continues to look fonfbod to- thisday, ,which he expected in vainl:;

tohave from Death; Illness, and witcbes1, .· , ;if
· ), . '. . i. ' . ' ; · : '. • : :' ' ' ;, ' . ' • '" . ' ' :· ,Jli
When this Odo appears at'divination, .the person should be told'.J:~ to
refrain from being a hanger •. on, by resolving to work .fnr hi~,i own
sustenance. He. should make sacrifice with; tortoise td,.,~ Ogun.and
guinea fowl to his head. ·.When it appears at lJgbodul:1, this special
sacrifice (Ono-Ifa) should be prepared so that thcir!i person might live to
a ripe old age. He should refrain from any form ofduplicity .. He
should.give a-ram and two pigeons to.thef<'
new If ll arid tortoise, to· Ogun; · .: ·
, , ,. . .., .r~
, · ..

.
:•i'f

'
.'
j

. ·· ~

'

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

17
2
94.
I

IFISM·:: Vols

I
The complete works of
ORUNMILi~
THE ODUS OF IDI C:
Osamaro Ibie
B.Sc Econs (Hons) London. B.A.mEcons (Hons)
S1rathclyde FIAMN (Hons) GOA (Hons)
95.

or
IFISM: The complete wurks OrunmilA.!Vol. Vis II continuation of the series on lfism.
In this volume. the author has disclosed ttit origin of Arun or Sickness, the wife of
• ~lh and how between thelT\ they snvJ birth to all the diseases that ravage the earth. He also
disc.'ioses how the enrth. like heaven would hove enjoyed eternal immunity fmm sickness
and diseases, were i:t not for mnn's1insotiahle greed for material and political power. The boc,k
also reveals the tempotarlness of th~ benefits derived from e'hcatin~ and stealing. Thereafter.
it goes in detail into ine heavenly and earthly experiences of the fifteen Odus of Idi-mcji. This
hook is an in~aluable complen:~tto the library of nll seekers or true religious knowledge. and
the adherents ofOrunmila and lfa divination

About the nutbor:

Mr.Cromwell Qsamaro lbiejwas born on 29th September,
1934. He received his elementary and secondary education ~•
BeniliCity 01 Edo Stnte, Nigeria between 1941 and 1953. He
joined lh~olonfal Civil Service on 1st February, 1954 where he
rose to the rank of Executive Officer befQre proceeding to
the United Kingdom for further studies. ,...
Owing his stay in the Unitea Kingdom he studied at the
Universities of London and Strathclyde where he-obtained the
'RSc (Hons) in Economics from the University of London and
B.A: (Hons) in Economics from the University of Strathclyde.
He returned to th'e Nigerian Feu~ral Public Service in
September 1963 where he rose to the rank of Permanent Secretary. a position from which
tie·voluntary retired on Ist Apnl,.1980. _ .
·Mr. lbie was recently made an Honorary Fellow of the Institute of the Administrative
ManagementofNigeria(F.I.A.M.N.)anumadeaCertificdandDistinguishedAdministrator (C.D.A.)
Mr. Ibie is currently engaged in private business inLagos and Bcrun. In addition lo being
Director of Several industrial and commercial companies. he is the chairman and Chief
Executive of:

Efohi J.,td.
A.E.G. (Nigeria) Limited,
Odin Biscuits Manutacturing Co. Ltd,
Nigerian Fishing Nets Ltd.

He is also a member of the Governing Council of the University of Bentn.:

 Contents

Prologue------. --------- ---------. -----------. ----------------------- -· 1

. How Orunmilla Insured His
Chi Id renAga, nst Devastati ngDisease---------------------------"- \

2. Id i-Ogbc----- ---------------- ----------------------------. ---. ------------- (>

3. Id i-Oye k u- ------------------------------------------------------------ ----2.2

Idi-Ariku
ldi- Yekutu Yekete

Id i-1 wo r i- ---· - -- ------------ -------- -- ---- -------- ----- - ---- - - - -

- - . - - - - -2 9
ldi-Obafa--------------------------- ------------------------- - -- · --------><,
Idi-Araba

Id i-0 kon ron- - --------------------------------------------------------------l 7

ldi-1 rosu n------------------------------------- ---------------- ------ -----.'.'

7
Id i-Owa n rin---------------------------------------------------------------66

Id i-Ogu nd ::i--------------------------------------- ---- --------------------- 74 •

Idi-Ogunre
Scanned for the first time.
July 2012, lowo Awo Ogbe Ate
"R.G." - de Puerto Rico
 PROLOGUE TO VOLUMp V
10 Id i-Osa-- -----· · -------------------------------------------------------
. ------82 It is all very interesting to mirror the capriciousness of man's
11 Id i- E tu ra--------------------------------------------------------------- attempt over the years to put a time-honoured system of
. ----92 governance in place. The splendid array of trials and errors has
ldi-Atago gone through many water-sheds and cross-roads in their search
ldi-Okparo for an ideal approach to human management. We have already
12 seen how capitalists have been trying in vain to give capitalism
. Id i-1 re te------- ---------------------------- --------------------------------103 the appearance of a perfect eco-political ideology. It was the
ldi-Lere wastes and inequities of capitalism that gave birth to
ldi-Leke communism. The melee of eco-philosophical arguments was
13 Id i-1 : k a-- -- - --··------------------------------------------ ·-----------------1 always how to defend the poor working class from the· excesses
. 14 of the capitalist class. The socialist Utopians of the nineteenth
14 Id i- Et u ru k pon-----------------------------------------------------------124 · and the first half of the twentieth centuries succeeded fora while
. in dramatising the strength of working class movements. A
15 Id i-( >s~ --------------------------------------------------------------. ----- 13( l communist Utopia was put in place in Eastern Europe arid the
. far East,. arid for seven decades it looked as if communism and
In Id i-Ofu n------- ---------------- ------ ------- ------------- ----- - -- --- - - - - - socialism had at last succeeded in clippin¥ the wings of
. 13 7
capitalism.

Incidentaliy, capitalism was not going to take the onset of

socialism and communism hands down. Through the process of
cautious flexibility it was able to assimilate some of the less
nauseating tenets· of socialism by tolerating the more
-palatable features of the welfare state master-minded by the
utopian socialists, We have seen in .the Britain of the eighties,
how the benefits enjoyed by the poor in a welfare state have
been corroded into a pale and anaemic reflection of their
original complexions designed by the socialists to

alleviate the sufferings of the poor. In the United States the
"Liberal Tag" is enough to make a politician lose an election.
The literary dictionary definition of "a Liberal" is "a generous,
noble and broad-minded person. On who advocates greater
freedom arid equity in socio-economic and political
interactions and institutions". That is the concept that is an
anathema in "God's own country". The ideal politician in
America has to be a conservative zealot, who helieves in
rationing out national benefits in tea-spoons to the deprived
classes of society. ''<:: ·
The demise of communism by a modicum of glasnost and
perestroica in Eastern Europe and the consequential collapse of
the Soviet Union may have bereft the poorer and weaker
nations of our planet, of viable ideo-political options, but it is
t90 early for its opponents to dance on its grave. Man. by
definition, is an insatiable social animal, who after establishing
his own hive is nor content to let sleeping dogs lie, because he
must have the best on his own terms. Therefore, the never-
ending struggle between classes for a fair share of common
wealth remains, and the ageless pageantry of defending the
eco-politically · oppressed, deprived and· subjugated 'majority
in the universe, will remain an eternal struggle. ·
True enough, capitalism may have been a success story in the
United States because that is one young country which was
relatively insulated from the tremors and shockwaves of a
heritage of feudal and aristocratic lineage and a class
•struggle. In the words of Heilbroner. America has "faced up
i
i
to the economic prohlems of capitalism with social attitudes'
that sprang from a less hardened heritage. attitudes of
experiment and adaptation, a healthy disrespect for too much
power.vpublic or private, anti a social tlexihility that has
prevented the development of brittle and die-hard class
structures": ·
Against the- back-drop of the ecological peculiarities of
capitalism in the United States, it is very doubtful whether the
market. system, which that country and its satellite socalled
International Financial institutions are now parading as the
indubitable . quintessence of ideo-political and economic
management, will endure.in countries where it has not been the
product of an indigenous incubation.The late Chinese leader,
Chou En Lai once said in 1978 that "Distant waters cannot
quench local fires". That explains why the market-oriented
structural adjustment programmes being forced oh indebted
third world countries and the "newly emerging democracies" of
Eastern Europe, in a do-what-we-
. say-or-else syndrome, is proving to be a one-way ticket to
•socio-economic disaster. No country in the world has yet
succeeded in demonstratingthat a perfect market system is
conducive to full employment. Several market-oriented
economies are staggering with double-digit levels of
»nemployment because it can only thrive by basing; the
freedom of the few on the unfreedom of the many, and the
affluence of the few on the abject penury of the majority. It is
already proving to be a prescription for mass unemployment
fueled by economic stagnation, resession and stagflation.
iii
 That is why Lord Maynard Keynes, the famous British
economist postulated that an unregulated economy (that is, a
perfe,t market syste .. ,J cannot come within hailing distance of
full employment because "the constituents of aggregate demand
- consumption, investment and foreign trade surplus - are
determined by millions of largely independent decisions taken
by individuals and firms in an un co-ordinated fashion."
This may well be described as America's century, but history is
replete with empires that became inescapable victims of the law
of-diminishing marginal supremacy from the high ground. of
their .apogee, because power corrupts and
. absolute power corrupts absolutely.
...
Lenin 011ce said "give the capitalist a long rope and he will
ll~rig .. himself with it". The fact that the tide of human empires
flows and ebbs is a practical manifestation of the relarively of
human. governance. In contract, God's own - designs are
immutably absolute. The sun rises ih the
•morning and sets in the evening. Man is born to live and die,
The relay between day and night never falters. The sky
• and the .ground have not yet collapsed on each other since
• creation. ,
c. iv
~' ' 17"'
.,fd?
' <
Chapter One
How Orunmila Ipsured His Children A&ainst Devastatin1
Disease, ·
Ogunda-rneji has revealed that after God created wives for the
Divinities, the next task was how to make them have children.
When the other divinities discovered that Orunmila had given
birth to sacrifice from Aiye, they began to appeal to him for
help. For instance, he divined for Ogun to have seven children,
one of whom turned out to be a killer. He also divined for
Osanyin to have medicine and Charm as his. children. Death
was reluctant to go to Orunrnila for help · because he · was
always at logger-heads with him for obstructing his (Death's)
goals · and objectives: Deaththerefore remained for a long time
without having a child from his wife Aron (sickness).
Eventualiy, tile wife of Death decided herself to go to
Orunrnila. He. made divination and sacrifice for her and she
became pregnant the following month. She first gave birth to
Coavulsion.t.Atapo or Abe). She had four additional children
namely Contagion, Infection, Lunacy and Deformity. Between
them, the five children gave birth to 603 ,rand-children and
great-grand-chtldren; who 'today constitute the various diseases
and illnesses from which We suffer on earth.
While in heaven, the children and grand-children of Deatt were
re1ali-.E-.ly harmless. It was man's quest for greed that
]
96.
brought him in contact with - various diseases. A king once
reigned on earth, who became so powerful that he promoted
himself to the rank of a divinity and called 'himself
Obaluwaye (Obanosa in Bini) that is, the king who is also the
god of the world. This happened after God bad abandoned
the world to Esu.
, Before deifying himself, the man was a simple hunter called
Atakpa who lived on the proceeds of his hunting. When he
discovered that he was no longer able to' make ends meet
from hunting, be dabbled into farming and later, trading, all of
which turned out to be colossal · flops. All the other divinities
had left for heaven with the exception of Orunmila. Atakpa
later went to Orunmila for divination. He was· told that his
prosperity lay in hunting and that his only salvation was to
return· to bunting. At that time, the Gun bad just come to the
earth. He was previously using the spear for hunting. He was
however warned never to be greedy in order to avoid causing
general catastroph_e. ··
)._. ,
When the gun came to the world, as already revealed, it took
time. for , man to discover his true might and potentialities.
Atakpa was the first human being to use the gun for hunting.
He was so successful in the use of the ,gun for hunting that it
earned him the name of Atakpa-Oloriode, that is, Atakpa, the
generalissimo of all hunters. He was already becoming
prosperous, but his modest fortune was
not to satisfy him.
,.
2 3
That coincided with the time when all the children of death
and sickness · (diseases) were being transported from heaven
into the wotld by Esu. They were all engulfed in the - bowels
of an amorphous animal that was bigger than an
elephant.One day,Atakpa-Olori-ode went to the forest with
his gun and saw this shapeless colossus of an animal. As he
took aim, the animal told him not to shoot. The animal asked
him what he wanted and he replied that he wanted to have
countless amount of money. The creature told him to return
home where he would find plenty of money waiting for him.
He truly returned home to find plenty of money waiting for
him. A few days later, he returned to the same spot with his
gun and met the animal still waiting there. He again took aim
and the animal asked him what else he wanted, and he
replied that he wanted to· have - plenty of wives and
servants. At the instance of the animal, he
,, · returned home to meet them waiting for him. Not satisfied M
· with what he had got thus far, he returned to the forest once ·-
· more and this time, he told · the animal that he· wanted to /.
become a king. Once again he was advised to return hom,e
t and that he would meet the people of his town assembled m
\~ his house with a crown to make him king. He was the first
' king to be· crowned by man. He then went to _ thank
/ Orunmila, for the efficacious divination and sacrifice he r-
l.'ffiade for him. Nevertheless, Orunmila warned himnever to
•return to the forest to ask for more favours from the animal
and never to shoot it because its stomach contained so many
misfortunes, which would explode if it was shot.
He only heeded Orunmila's advice for 21 days. Thereafter,
even as a king, he returned to the forest with bis gun only to see
that the · animal was still there waiting to unleash its venom on
the earth. When he got to the animal, once more he took aim
with his gun and the animal asked him what else he wanted, and
he replied that he wanted to become the god of the earth. The
animal replied that it was not capable of conferring that favour
on him, because there was only one God, who was in heaven.
Atakpa-olori-ode then threatened to shoot if it could not do that
favour to him. .The animal told him to shoot and he pulled the
trigger and shot it· and it fell to the ground, dead.
Atakpa-Olori-ode then returned home to invite his people to go
and butcher the animal in the forest. For his unique
achievement in. killing the animal, he. proclaimed himself god
of the universe- Obaluwaye. Unknown to him however, he was
to enjoy that title post-humously; By the time they returned to
the spot where the animal fell, . they only saw a heap of worms.
The king was immediately taken in and soon became delirious.
In addition to making incoherent speeches which marked the
beginning of lunacy on earth, both himself and the people who
accompanied him to butcher the animal in the forest, were
attacked by the worms and they were all instantaneously
afflicted with all kinds of hither-to unknown diseases.
Obaluwaye · died from his affliction that- same evening. Many
were afflicted by what is now known as smallpox, chicken pox,
plague, diarrhoea, cough, etc. Not only did all . those who
accompanied Obaluwaye become the first casualties, the
diseases soon spread to the four winds of the
known world. ·
4
Orunmila's household was also infected by chicken pox. He
however used incantation to remind the dispenser of the disease
that he was the one who made divination and sacrifice .n
heaven to enable their grand-mother to have the five parents of
known diseases. They quickly left Orunrrrila's household in
peace, promising never ts-attack his children in future.
When the other afflicted persons saw how miraculously
Orunmila's household was cured, whilst thousands were dying
daily, they trooped to him for divination and salvation. He
declared that it was Atakpa who caused the problem that had
spread to everyone, out of his insatiable greediness. He however
advised them to return to the spot where Obaluwaye and his
party were attached by the worms to serve Esu there with a he-
goat, corn and all edible foodstuffs. He also advised them to
come home with whatever they found on the spot.
They quicklv did as they were told. After performing the
sacrifice, they heard a voice speaking from within a covered
calabash. The voice told them to carry the calabash home
without opening it, and to prepare a special altar for it and
se1'1e it with a ram on getting home. The voice added that they
would all get well after the sacrifice. The voice proclaimed the
name of the speaker a Sankpana, which is why today some
people interchange the name of Obaluwaye with that.of
Sankpana. It was afterwards that Orunmila left . for the great
beyond to return to God in heaven.
5
 Chapter Two
IDI - OGBE
I I
I I
I I
I I
I I
He reveals how Orunmila spied on God:
Orunmila had always wondered why it was that the Divinities
of witchcraft, Death, Night and Day had so much authority
(ASE). He was obviously jealous of them and was anxious to
acquire similar powers. He went to his heavenly Awos to find
out what to do. They were called.-
Mera Toriute kerni ya gun ori ute. Mera
Tori urere ke mi ya gun ori urere.
They disclosed to Orunmila that the four divinities he was
jealous of, were the only ones authorised to keep watch when
the Almighty God takes His bath. Night, Day, Death and
Witchcraft; keep vigil when God takeshisbath, The first crow
of the cock early in the morning marks the time when God
begins to have his bath. The second crow of the cock marks the
time when God finishes bathing.
The two Awos told Orunmila that if he could take the risk to:
spy on God and see him bathing, ·h~ would be
6;
automatically endowed with the same ASE that the other four
divinities have. He was however told to give a he-goat to ESU,
who would assist him. He was also to offer sacrifice to the
Night and to Death. He did the sacrifices. He was. to give a
rabbit to the Night and a goat to Death. He subsequently
obtained supportive clearance from. his own guardian angel.
Thereafter he wore his garment which makes him invisible and
took a position oh a ladder over-looking God's bathroom. When
God got ready to bath, He took his calabash bowl to take water,
but it fell from His hand. He tried a second time and it also fell
from His hand. He immediately concluded that there was a spy
'around, The Divinities of witchcraft and Death, having been
pre-emptively bribed with sacrifices by -Orunrnila, refused to
give him away even though they saw him spying. They
reassured the Almighty Father that there was no spy around.
Orunmila had meanwhil ! already· seen 'God's nude ,,and he
had acquired the power and authority he wanted.
Convinced that there was a spy around, God discontinued H His
bath and went into His inner chamber to look at the mirror with
which he scans heaven and earth. If was therfHe saw that it was
Orunmila who tried to spy.on Him .. God ftnmediately ordered
Death to pursue . and apprehend Orunmila. When he discovered
that Death was on his trail in hot pursuit, he used his newly
acquire'd/p'6we'.r~ to conjure · the shrubs to conceal him.
Thereafter !l}eatWpa$sed without · seeing him. When he came
out to r~,t~rrl hbn\e,; death saw
. - ·. . A l .t·_:(_~-1L-~·-
,-;..,. :···,.,,
7

him and continued to pursue him. When he ran up to the river,
he asked the Fishes to conceal him and they did When Death
came to the river, he realised that he had come to the end of his
pursuit He· went back to report mission unaccomplished to
God. From that day Orunmila acquired the power to do and
undo things.
When this Odu appears at Ugbodu, the person should be told
that he would travel to important places including overseas and
that spying would do him· a good turn.
Edi&be made divination for Baata and Sancen
Edigba edigbe, Awo Baata, Odifa fun Baata. Abufun Sango.
He made divination for Baata when she was anxious to have a
husband and also for Sango when he was anxious to have a
wife. He separately advised both 'of them to make sacrifice and
they did. After preparing the sacrifice for Baata, she was told to
carry it to the river near the market, while Sango was told to
carry his sacrifice to the bank of the river.
As the two of them were praying with their sacrificial offerings
in band,' they saw and over-heard each other. After depositing
their sacrifices, Sango called on Baata to join him andshe did.
Theyaskedeach other what they were making sacrifice for and
both con.firmed· that they were looking. for matriage partners.
Sango · had made sacrifice with, a, goat while Baata.made
sacrifice with a he•goat·After diacuuing their mutual desires,
they fell in love with, and embraced
·each.other.There and then they agreed to get ~ed • and
8
'. .' ·t ., - • --' •.
lived happily ever after. That is why Sango and Baata live as
man and wife to this day. \
When this Odu appears at divination for anyone trying, to find
out whethen a· particular. spouse is his. or her .rightfu!
marriage partner, he/she should be told that they are a perfect
match provided he/she made sacrifice.
Made Divim,tion for -Ekutele to have a child; '
Kpala Kpala.Abeni, Uba giri g~ngbe., Oju Muna and Otili !
Awo oke aja-were the four Awos)who'made Divination for
Ekutele when she was anxious to have children. She was told to
make sacrifice with a hen and eight eggs. She made the sacrifice
and it manifested .The following month.shebecame pregnant and
.. had twins. The next-occasion ·she. beGt)Jle pregnant, she .had
quadruplets.· The. first two ·awos· had' told her that sh'e was:
past·'child-beari~g age, .but the last two reassured her that she
would have. children .if she made
sacrifice. .: ·: · ;
·,,.,
She then decid~\o teach. the first . two. awos a-lesson .. Ekutele
was· th~ house, rat and her first two awos Uba-Ogiri (Evbarie
in Bini) and kpala awo, the animal skin used for sewing fly
whisk. From then on, she began to eat them up which is what
th~ house rat (Ekutele) does to this day. She
began to singio.praise:of the other two.
1
At divination· for a woman, she should be assured .of having
children provided' she makes sacrifice.
9
He made divination for the Oshemawe
t
or Ondo;
,
· rattle it When the noise was beginning to disturb the \dsitors of
Edigbemi Agbere Mogun to'onigbo.ilu · .. them called.on ogun ·to listen to itlle noise· rooming from his bag.
Amogun ni Ogundo lie Amo uja ndo 1bereafter;; tbe;:'.rat left ,Ogun's, bagc):and entered Uja's
Arim,aj~· tite a~, ori, igbed ,okun, , ;: · , 1'iyin"fiym.iA'da:fa OWIL•·Oguntlien'.~alled,on·Uja,todisten-::tathe noise' coming"
fun Osh-ema~e:,rtijo:ti·ajoji meta rrra'de from· her -bag, From:'thete tbe:r1;1.t:mou·nted .. on. Olokun's tray
Oshemawe. V,,,; .,, :: ·;- ang,bc;gan:to; tear, it up. l]ja, called'OloJrun, to · drive away the
rat disturbing her:tray. That-was'.how,the,rah knew the names of
These were the three awos who made divination for the Oshemawe the three visitors. On getting to the Oba, the 'rat .:disc!(>6e9,,.that
of :oftdo. whenJhe was,going,to;;rec~ive1 three· visitors. He was :tbe:;talltstpf .a.ie '~c;tfisitors :~.~ called Ogun, and the s~d·
told to make sacrifice and he did. Ogun, Ujafartd,OlokuJ\ w~ (~lied ilJja.; .Ais~at. winr::
w~.re.e~n1mg to visit him.- .They vowed 'to 1 stay with.any' Ekutele asked for his remaining packet of melon cake.
Oba who'·-coold know and-pronounce - their
Oshernawe told him to get lost. , '\",; ; ' , •< ! · · .
names» ,s ·,,,.::
~ l ' • ~ ~

·: ( '(. .1 ,:~i: ~-
The OskemawerenteJitaineortherhvery- hospit~blfa:nd before:
they,r.etir~It;'.Ysleep;ahey,.·toldrltfie :Oba to be prepared .to
re'.\iealiuieirllames-the: followingmorning, After, the visitors
had1retilfed .to ;ffleir· lodgings; the Oshemawe invited his
counselless to .i deliberate on how to,' know their: names. Ekutele,
meanwhile, volunteered to find out their mimes· if he could be
given 201 packets of melon cake (lru in yoruba and
EvbariedniBmi)i Oshemawe gave Ektltele,200•pabket~r_·
prolJiiMnli.ia;.giv,¢ 11'limJ~ last ione 'af!te'I' discm5!ng·'the · .: > ··
visuots'.-:.a:ames. ,:-... : , . .. ·'• ,, . · · .. ' ::u_ -:
After recei\rmg his ,mel>d eakt$i Bkutele bored a hole into· the
room occupied by[the, \'isitms' and cop.teaJed'. himself near the
rack where they bung their clothes. ~ soon as the
cock1crt>wed',:;:E1Ntelt -.tmetted, O$Un.._,,t,~7-~4;,~an 'to
The following morning the visitors came te-ask ~he Oba te.
disclose their names. He mentioned the names: of Ogun and:
Uja but could not mention the third visitor's name. Olokun was
annoyed . that- .their - host· did not know his.. and .ihe decided·
toleave while,the,.other two stayed with-aim,' Beg as he would-~.
:refused te stay •. When Ogun. suggeste<hhat Olokun shoujd ·be
given<a pigeon; he only ccnceded that be , would <pay annual'
visits to ,fiiem. -
~-:, ,1 : -:Y~::. ·--·:-
Olokun moved next to Igbaye but subsequently settled down at
Igberi-Obin .which ·is thc..n~t- part of Ondo: state ,to •. the sea ff
Osbemawe had known the.names-of all three. of them, OndQ and
not · Lagos would have been <the main
Nigerian port on ·th~ .Atlantic· Ocean. , · _, :--
'1'· ,·_ ,_

.:- J •. . · ; !: ·:;-:~: ~--1 ? .. ~-r; !HJ;~ f;~jLJ1 V\ :,1<f When this Odu appears ,at,divination, ·the person ·sho11Id be.
told that there is, a ratmoving :about in his .house, lfit is,

10. 11
UREE, he should be told not to kill the rat, but if it is , A YEO.
he should kill.iit, If the divinee is a man, he will me.et a
divcrcedwomaqm her father's house.He willmate her to give.
bit:th·'.to a,:female· child, She is .the. wife .of Orunmila, The:
person should,,be, toldrto be hospitable .to visitors, and.to be
prepared, able and wi.llihg to entertain his visitorsasmuch as -he
could, al~ays~ . ; . ·
·' :: ;' . -~ • ,1 ~ '. .,!
Orunmila dedlm the ·"Head' as the .. only divinity that
brinp etemat · saJyation to its owner;
Miike, Edi gbe re jagbe,
Mi o 'lomo Atunishe de.
Orunmila,-iji ta lo 'ntunishe,
Mio· 'gwJ.lo'ntunishe.
Ii . ' 'J ..
Orunmila disclosed that the divinity who could make life ea,sj:.
for. people h~d- come. He asked his· Awos, who the
divinity:was.:i8.lld·{4ey answered that it was Ogun, Orunmila
replied that ·Opn could not be the .m~e, because he was given
to cutting people's head. He added, that a person· beheaded has
not improved his life.
'}, ... \ ,-.~Z -~-,
Wbee Orumnila. put.,.ue questionia second· time,' the Awos
replied , that the :divinity: that, imptoved. .peeple's lives~ was
God. Once agam..,Qrunmila1said'.that i:t;COUld not be Goo, who
would leave peoplc:10: their own .deviees .and. at, tl:,.e·· mercy
of Esu, divinities and mankind, after creating them. He
explained ~t Oodcdees·1iiotL;bothq;flbouO what the world
does to\& person..after ~i=featmg him or -her~
Nonetheless; .Orunmila ins~ted that the-one who could
improve ·~d repair: peoplesJiv.es.had·come.-iartC!l he again
asked .the Awes to reseal who';itwas. Theyreplied bysaying that
it was Orwunila himself, He-laughed a:hd said that he could not
be the one, because when people come to ask him questions, he
usually told them parables or half truths. He illustrated the,
point.by saying· that ·when there .is a snake hiding in the bush
i /. • .<
at:~' back of a.person's house, he would only advise tlie person·
not .to go ·to the back yard in the night, -be~ause .. there
isdanger, It.in.defiance.of his-advice, the person sees the.snake
whens he goes .to the back of-his house at night and runs.back,
it: is only then he will exclaim that 'Orunrnila warned him not
to do so'.
When he finally put.the question, the Awos· said they did not
·' ~. ,.r ~-,, {. •• know because-they llad come so the end :of their wits: 'It was at
thatpoint tbatOrunmila.declared that: aperson'sHead is the
only divinity that leads .him 'from heaven.xhrough this world
and improves his life ,by determining· what the person will
become,in his-life, If a personwants to beaking, a wealthy
man. a famous :D.'Uµl;ra,father etc. it is his' head that does
Itfor him, It Is onlysa··pers~s head.; arid no other divinity that,
·~);j . \: · - ;; ~ '.;t· . ~[ ·; ,:-\.,. f,:- follows .him back te heaven; iAt1oivination, the person
.should-be advised Jo.·serve1lis headwith:·a··pigeon,
.~oconut an_d kolanut. ' . / . . ·-' ·. ' "
. '·
This Odu came to the .world and ,got:·married,to a woman who
gave birth to Ogun. The woman left him after giving
12·
97.

:> · -:~:...._· :: ~ :~,. .:;,, ·.-; - _; ···. ·-'•. r-: ' ( ,;,.·.'.- ·· .-·"j • 1 -~- , · • -_- ,·:.r'J-_ .,. :· .- ) !
. l>irt}l JQ , Op;n. After,_;Jeaviflg" . hee i nusband,-' 'the· ,woman When Ogl.in gotto lghehi'with· th~ 'lie~ he le't it loose and
''

-b~cam~ ~~!l~a.ra (bean) bun)1sdle,~,:Stie:used to prepare tbe

.akara.,inthet -town, .and.1traveb1by water to seU.:them iin 'the
,.towµ of:,h:~~,Betw.ee.iuhetHown:~and ITe·was-:a river' called
llumikpefun,, :whid?, isi)Yhete Ogun wasrborri. :: ,
'•
begg~d p~~~l~ tQ, ~elg,.h.ipi sa~c~.jt., WJl~A i,t .~~P·, into
Aie river, tlie p~gpl,e J<?l!pt~a'~ i!. 9~l Jo~J)~~il~
q~n.}ql!~~d closeb 'behlncf the' · •<. until' ffie · ·' 6f t<f' the
ircf side
Y, .,,,bf·,.,lbe
,,,.,..,. W,, ": ..... Y .. ~, .... ,, .· ... ·,,,·, .,, ·r,,,:-..-: .:, ,

Not Jong;afte,r4war.d~. the woman. began · to.pass the night at river. At; !Paf J6~nf Ii~, t91~ t.he; p~~opJ~· Jp)e~ye ).n~ ·•
Ire after selling he.,,aica~a; Upon.inquiry; Ogun .wastottfthat ~ep)o
••·-' :; ,--." ~-.,<' •, ' " .. · C •••' ' ·. C.. •,_, , J ._·' . . ' : ); ·• '-· .• •( '•,~ • . ..,

his .motber .:was haviugc~· lover·iatdr.e.·· The ,irrfdrmation go. ~i/ r

'

:?,:L/(; -·~-' :., f• -t:-./ -~--:_·;, -·~/ · ;·; ·,~~-~ -~\:<,.:--?-" f:(;:
infuriated · Qgun so,.inuch::that .he decided towage \var .on
Ire, He:made several attempts to match.on lr:etbut he 'could By th.e f1IT1~:hl~rtt.~red°tqc?ftiwn'.oflre,
llQk,Ct:0S$ -tbe .river, although,. the .mother •oft~rr had ho he,was'~llt¢ady3 ~~ry hungry, .flo:~ev~rrli~,sa~{to a
difficulty in crossing itt.- "· · ., ; · ·r • · , -, , ,btik~t~r~ \yhete p~~l)fowere drinking patm: \~irle but ·he'
'discovere4 tbat · all ,f'.tie gtjut~s were empty. When he touched
Aft~t;Se'!,eraLaoorti¥e attemprs-Ogunweru tbOnmmila for the goutds:with his foot they were, ernRty.p.p.d he
divipptif>,n. »~,1~ke'dk>T1,Jhmila.to.tellin~wh3t tndo to'ge't f~:i$n~4_.&nger because .h.e was looking fer a ptetex\
to Jrc,. 1. lt ;was 16djgbe that appeared at divina.t.imt He was f9fcl~~ri.cJ;>.j~g'#"atfack .. ·.',\..-,; ,;,_._ ,, · '. .• · ... ·.
n, ~- '.,<·,:,,,,.· ·.·:,i,, .fi '1 ._.;;;1.,· r ,< ;:f:
1
'',r)f _i •: ·J ':!' ·,'

.tQ)jd ,tp Mlke. sacrifice with a hen, by' tying a criss-cross rope
on:·i;~ feet <in: such- a wayI ,that· ·-the 'hen .could· walk, but .
not ,~!1; Wet.was to take the, hen to the town iotLighehi on· the
~,.ofrtiw:t ,Okumfromwhere; peopJe,boamed;canoes for
lr~,{~n he goe-io lghclJi;,,,e:,~toJet ,the hen· loose: and
iftvit4,~lei tojbclp·. him' appiehend lit ;The• fowl.would :rutt int?
~ rri?Jtt· and ·he .woukHherel!Jy. DOW t~i~t tbfc)Ugh
people crossed to Ire
Whi ·t···-,, ··· .. ,,,, ... ., <t ,.._
ch
. -· ~ -· • . • '~~ :;_dfi:.J.d ~.,.1-,:.-. _-_ ·_;! .. - ..

~t w~.~s~~;~ w,mQUSttatitig,to.'Ogmt.that·the river was

normally crossed by foot because it was not deep, ,a
Jlit!tkW:Jlieb wasi unknm,vb: to Ogun. ·<1: <, " -;, .' :,
,
,

(Jl4 .,\
 Nyanka b~ ogbe. (a ~urprise Ulce ~ sore or ulcer), unyielding, she contrived a strategy for luring him t,<> .his death.
She sent him to buy fish from the wife of the head chief of, igbo
o~~ turned bac~Jo see wJio, kp~~ h~rri by, his tli¢kname. land, thinking .she wouild kill hirn, Instead of killinghim
When hesaw it'w~.hi~ PIO:tber~,~~ t4~e,f<l9\Yll his sword. The h,)',V;Yer."tre,w~roan liked him. so much t~a(~he advised
poJnt at which he. turned down ))is sword is a, shrine at Ire him.todo whatever his unclle's wife wanted.him to do SC> ~ might:
where Ogun is served annually this day. After checkmating all to live to PGQSper. He preferred to ~re
pqpira ther, toar ~ disloya!
resistance· in the town, he made himself the king of the place. Jo ,~.is uncle .. He however bough] .a
That was how Ogun earned thetitle of ''.OgunOnire-Agbadamu, fish andreturned ~opie s~f~IY~, :_;; ,.'
AJ<pire 6ire do".-,Tl1at ,is, 081¥1, jhe one who use4 one,
d9utJ1e-e~ged swqrd 'to def~at'Ire and ~ade The fish had.a p~~~rudin,g stomach. When it 'fa~_sla~g~tered, it
himself king: over it"_. ' '. . / ". . . was discovered to have a small crown in its stomach.' Once
.·;-,
more, the uncle's wife tempted hinn with the crown if he agreed
•When this Odu app·e~rs atdiviriati9ri, the p~tso~ spould be to .have ,~el wit,h her, He still refused .. to ins4lt,~is uncle's
warned not to flirt iridiscrimiriately. He should look deeply before masculine pdde~ Nomasheyu lhad one talisman which Was tied
leaping in erotic pursuits, _to avoid losing his life .. _. to QiS llC.~k frQQlrlDfancy by his father. Lobi,r,e now
··;-·' ,_! ~~t- :---:· -, i'.'"J, .- ,~-~ -·:i
threatened tbath~, woµiit die if. h~ refused to give hi 'to her
u~' Ai~ile c11,1oau@ )roe' NomJsbeyu whed 1te · v111td 100 request. He replied that he would prefer to die ..
w·-····._.-,, · __ ·'', .. ·-- .. \ Meanwhile, Lobir~ prepared.soup with the fish 'aric( gave. to the
~a,spe ·_hadi,a ~son;ca;11~d Ncn11as1tem. '.',ft~{ ili~ .. husband. After eating the food the husband bec~me. ill. His awos
delipi ofIµs parents, Non,~~eyu "~ sen~ ~9 '1is J)Jlte~ tµ1de ~- were called in ~d dtey confirmed tqat it w~the fish he ate that
award in Igbo, the' land of cannibals. No one went· to Igbo 'land made ,bimi ill, Wbe1_1 the wife, was ij\yited: to explain, she
arid quickly reported . h
ihaJ . was ~ollUlSq~yµ wij.9 bought the
' r~.tV:TP,~ 'alj~~. ,Y-lsi~prs. w,~o dared t~. go: ~~re ~~rr;e to
fish. Nomasheyu was invited explain and he repiied w,il~ a·
'Jtj'Je,d _ ~~i ~at~~· --~.·tu•4y s~er who w~ilt' ~~~e ~~-- sonf, ·
.t~fti";J~d v-.,L
ho~~,~hve w~ N.Q111~heyu.. .. . ,. :. . ... Aighere Ol,~p6,·Igpot~, · ·, .... _ . Eyigbo
. -·. ii ', i ( - . .' ,.,· < ,.i '.i ; ' •'
bo gqo f.\igb~re/Qligbo, igbote,
Nomasheyu Io igbo te, · ' ·. ·
Nomasheyu lo igbo ibo gbo,
- ..•..

:l6 17
Aighere Oligbo, igbote. If thisedu appears arlJgbodu, lhe•personwill tilways bethe
I victim of; false accusau<:1tis, .· \nil¢ss· he makes' theappfopHate
When the Awos aske4 hlm. tbexplairtlh~ song, he rt~r~ate9 sacrifice;' As'.)the Ua'fjs, 'beii1g prepareo, -· 'an· :o~n sllfi.ne
1
how· the ~offia'n ,se'rit hfm to; ··tiuy. thfnsfr·'i~f tfie expect?tion should 'be pr~parea,-rot:the persoil without .delay; and:jhe
th~t th,e lgl5<> ·; }#~~le :·w,ou't~ 1.·~H ' ~i-1?:1( '\\?S; Th'ar' 1
should v,·ash his heati:'011 l!su•ishri~e befote':seven"cluys(To
?ftet unsuccessfully. temppng _· him ·1ttfo· ·cdhaB1tation.-· avoid: bec&rnii'lg;;the: 1victirit of. false -aceusaiton, ht"sh'6uld
1'h~ - people who decided the case
were: Orieti bori,.-ote-kj,H prepare !his' ogtih shrine'\vith ,2 co'cks/'a 'ctidass ·and·a;gun, I

telehun arid He should be told that he got his problems from servitude before
• ·.· ··, '•, ;
Areko gangan dare si, After considering the statements, they
, •• t;• ., .' ._·. '°·=·· ., ·j ,-,. ,·_, \
preparing his lfa.Ther~ is anuncut small calabash in his house (
found_. Nomasheyu not, guilty, and. he was set free. The Aclo -ofd •inYorubibtrid Uk<rkogho in Bini) vm'ich should-be
\Vot,na~ \yas·Jourid' 1gililfy and' :sehtenteo th' 'death ; by surrendeted·to·tfie Ifci priests;'.. · : "" - ,
exe'ciitidrt. - - · · <,: ;. '.
·- -,:1 ,; ~- _;
, ., - .i .,_, • •.. ' • i • 'j•. : f.: ';) ~· J~

TberJaiter'orle'dfthe· ·AwJ,~ told_ N~rnastteyu·:fo surrender At divi'natidn: for a woman, she should be t'cild that sne' has
~h~'.t~i,is#t4tt';t>1{his'. ~ec~· arid' h~_ '~efused ~~ur#iy committed ac:tultbry,· and: thaf there ;is .a' live witness 'to1 the
~ecause 1i t was given to hittr by bis father. -wHen· tlrey tried 'to fact. Serve Emhvith a··day,okfh~bat'fo avoid becoming the
- force
1
.·.-;
rt
.1,: ;·' . .t~_;:: · r, ·,
_'i'~-1,,;,.-_ '·: , . .,.,1 .. 1 -:· , __ .·. · · __ ,_. __ ,._, ,,
victim of falsehood 0\1C( a woman. :~ ' ' . ' ; ',; Y: l

out of him; he be'gAi;l 'to repeat ·the'foll~win8·irk_antation:: '·

' ,,·. ,.•_;_·:: ... ;·,.:_,;, ,,.·i ~-:-td} f}:~1})'.:•·y-,. f•, ·:· :;
Made dinnafion ror Ante 'den· be sedu&t' sano's !dfes:
~i1 " ., r: ~ ,:; . '::f : / ··· •· - .: · >.t · :. J .. -- · "'·. _ ; · 1 ·. · )\

Edigbe, :,Ecegba/ ldigbe/ 'djg~-~gbere"$be ·tugbe .;, made

Thereafter, the man who tried to remove ffie iaH~r¥1~- -ftofu
his neck, turned into an Ifa mat, the second man turned into
·'.'t " _,.., , '. t
divinatiodfo~ Arabi whenne sed'utea;twowiVesffum S:bigo.
The two wives were called Arugba and Omolegbe, Sango
reacted by preparing to wage war on·Jtfittaj'Appte~drisf~cf of
what Sarigo was going to do him{:J\Yata 1 <fecided' to' ·gt>' to
1
Idigbe for divination. He was advised to ·make' ·~ctjficcfwith
dried meat, Amala (yam flour Pudding)' 'Sitter cola, 'paim wine
--_-.{l:.i .•... ~ l :- r
andalcoh9lic _ spirits. Arata ~ade the sacrifice and he was
1 :·

a parrot's feather, ~~, ~~-- thit;~Jpati -~tt:~o .~,~l~ppi,ng

mat. These are the thr'ee" mat~rlals ~~~cf [ori\nit~tton i~o tol8ito takc{it to the sid~ of th~·toaci to his·hoilst.''He
Ifism. - _ ":;·: ,>- '.J:it/:; ~;·::,;··::~ washoweve'r fold to hrde beside 'the -~atjifice~to s-ee wh6
~as
goingt''to~eafit~,-·:t· i,: , .. < ,_- ,/ ',.,, ,, _,,· .;'. : ;ul'
 Jn~ide.nt~Jly, that was.the, day .Sango was going to eliminate he should be alerted that he is manying from a tough family. If
Ar~~ a11p retrieve, his: w~~s~. To,
previous. night Esu had he however makes the above sacrifice, he will
marry the woman successfully. ;·
caused .Sango to AAV.e ~ ~ij91~jarrh~a which made him to
;b~tome v.ery,h~n~, ,tlle;{ollow-ing rnqtµing.,On hls way,to
;J\r;al~;s hpu.~e S,~go saw.-a;ll hiJ favqµrjte food lined put .by ·
the side <>tthy;J9~d. ,H~tsai CW~J1.1tQ,~njpy the food after
. wli1~h.)1~ ~.frai;i,k.,the_paln:\ wine, •. .Healso pocketed
th,~qitter · cola. •.
·t: ~J :_ . ; .. ~ ... ·.;11· ., r 't•"':·· '--:_· ~ · rf.r~:.' ;·,.

, N,,he1;W.~S drinking the ~l~~q!i~ spJriit,+AraJ;i came out .to ··

accuse him of stealing, ~ ~h,9utf!<! )t~J: Sangohad stolen from
him, an offence attracting the death penalty. Whenhe ccotµ4
poJopger ,5ta.q~J~e ~tn~aff~ssm~nt of being.called a
thjef,:.$ang9 besought .Arata. to dQ a dfaj· 'Vi\~ him.;-~- was
P.r~~~,&to, ~r,i;~n.9er, h,i£..~Y{9 wiyesiprqvid~d: Arata would
agree to drop the theft fha~g~ against .him, ,, ,
.;~

20 21
, •. , ~~~er~ .... , Ill[- to. hay~ peace.of 1T1ind ....
O)'EKJJ IDI-
ARIKU
IOI - YEKUTU YEKETE I I I
IIII E4i Y~,re. )'.e, Qdifc1 tuii1;~ba.: ~i tori Amµbo (Osollo nprn~
IIII sunu) .. 'i-Ie 'also made divination for the ·el(;l~flY P~f!iOO 'YAP
III had . the misfortune of not accomplishing tasks 'tie undertook
becausr; tie was the y,i~iJ:p of 1.lOCO (lSun1mated, fort.une
(Amubo in yqrµha
'ahd ·ot<>~·9 .. JS.oma sunu in'J}ini)~. . . .
He made divination for O&Q&Q <Oaa-erinmin}; .
' ' ~ ~ ·. . :. .,
He was
- told to make sacrifice
·' ·. . .

with he-goat on account ~f his

; ' . ,' .. - '. ·, . '.}: ·., . - . ., . ..

Edi kulu, oye kuluu, adafa fun ogogo. (Oga-erinmin in Bini). wife; cllHQ or, ~e~h~. :~Q. th~t <mr pf them, rnight,nQt; ,~ijV~.
him. J-t~ Ill·a,4{t~~\acrifi~e~ '" . . · '· · ,, · ·
Abufun kulukulu (Ayuhegbe in Bini), tori omo ko ma ma she _,.. :, :· · . -~ i /.. · .. J ... : ,.;, :. i ., . 'i . . ;, .,.,·· .~ ;. . .

abiku, Idi-Oyeku made divination for the ephemeral plant that

grows in the morning and withers before noon. He also made When it appears at divination person should1be t~ltl to th~
divination for th~ insect that bores little holes on the grou .• rd make sacrifice in order t(} ,ID'Ri4 jt~Cr JRisfortµ-11.~\ qf,
with its anus. He advised them to make sacrifice to avoid ~n,g.isiri1
having a child that would die immediately after birth (Abiku). in fruitless pursuits. · ·· · .• ,.
They both made the sacrifice.
; ::.... •. .. n.l -'.:· ·· ;- •. .. .· : :·i, i,

When it comes out at divination, the person will be told to
make sacrifice to avoid losing a child. The sacrifice is made
with a he-goat and a cock.
He made divination for wood carvers or carpenters:
When #JC? .citizen~ ofan over-aged town sa\\',that they,~ere
losing.,1J)hal1it~nts at1d,fW\une .. .to a µeweLs~ttlemept,
tP,rY weoiJo ,Oru.nmila'~of cijyinatiop, WJd.tte idyised
the~)<>, make ~Afific~, sp, thii ;the! to~9 · m,igllt Jiouri~q.
once. mor.~;

Edi ye kutu yeke.te, Adifa fun won ni Ibara omo abogirure.
That was the awo who made divination for the wood carvers or
carpenters of Ibara. He told them to make sacrifice by serving
Egungun with a cock because of their children and
Y eku Y eku na ye ode titon. He told them to m~ke saddfice
with .a h,~:-g(}a.t to Esu and to, serveJ~.e ground div!nHY,
with
a tortoise, cup of water anc,l. a woo-~en spoon of. palm. oil. '
They failed to make the sacrifice. · · · · · e· '

23
Meanwhile the government authorities decided to construct a
new road which diverted the movement of trade and callers
away from the old towrrtothe newone. Moreover, some
visitors who. had been planning to site an industrial business
'near the old town decided to move away to the new town·
on· th¢ 'high:.way.
In the ·end;~-cltizens of the old town packed away to live in-
the new town on the high-way. That · spelt the total demise
of the old town.
At divination the'person should be told to make sacrifice to
avoid the risk of being compelled · by circumstances to
change his work or residence,
Whathe .. did betbre·Jeavin~ heaven:
While in heaven, he ;was a verysuccessfµl lfa priest because
he was endowed' with a strong instrument of "authority
(ASE). When he decided . to. come to earth, he went . for.
divinati()n . He · ~as told to serve Esu with . a he-goat arid
Sing6 wjth' · a cock so· that the (ASE)might follow· him 'to
eatth: · · 1rifact Mi. bi~ predictiohs .. often came through
which made him to have a wide clientele. He did the
sacrifices and came to the world.
He" becain.e a hijhly proficient lfa priest on earth because
whatever he predicted came to pass. · ·
When it comes out at Ugbodu or divination, the person
24
should be told to go back to his roots or home-base (ldile .or
Ajul~ in Yoruba and lgiogbe in Bini), to make sacrifice with
a cock and. a tortoise and to ask the people there to revoke a
curse. on him in a previous incarnation. The tortoise was to
be used to serve the ground and the cock to be used to serve
Ogun. He did the. sacrifice, when it. .appears at divination
the person will . be. told that there is a. public rubbish-dump.
(Akitan in yoruba and Otiku in Bini) in his home town or
village where his family house situates. He should go there
and make sacrifice.
Made divination for two friends. Pro and Qii11>o:
Ojigbo and Oro were two bosom friends One day Ojigbo.
paid· a visit to. Oro, who. entertained him with food and the
leg of some bush meat. After eating, Oro asked Ojigbo
whether he knew the meat whose 1 eg he had just eaten.
Ojigbo replied that he did not know. Oro startled hisfriend by
of
revealing that he had just eaten the leg. a snail.
Far from betraying any consternation in words, Ojigbo
replied :by inviting. Oro to visit him the next day, and, the
latter accepted the invitation. When Oro got to Ojigbo's
house, he was invited to a meal prepared with the hand of a,
bush meat. After· eating, Ojigbo asked Oro· whether· he
knew the meat whose hand he had just eaten. Oro replied that
he did not know. Ojigbo then disclosed to him that he had
just eaten the hand ofa snake.
Wi~out re~iising that his 'friend had traded him with his
25
own.coin, Oro became paranoid and he asked whether his friend- If it comes out at ordinary divination the person should be· told to
had gone raven mad: Before getting any.answer to his question, serve Esu without delay to avoid an imminent problem from a
he told Ojigbo-to prove how a snake could ever have a hand; In a friend which could include the risk ofbeing poisoned through
mood designed to calm Oro down, Ojigbo explained that the food.
world had changed so dramatically that it was beginning to
produce snails and snakes with hands and legs. Oro still did not He made divination. for Mornin1 and Evenin1;
appreciate the paradox; because· he remained· very· much
annoyed, demanding to know whether Ojigbo- invited him merely Idin mo'jo. Idin ori abebe.
to make jest of him. Ojigbo had to remind him that as 1 ecently .as Iyeriye ni abe be, sugbon ko mo ese. ljo
the previous day, he had given him the leg of a snail, why should gbi-gbe,
he be astonished to have the hanftof arsnake from.him. That
remt:nder was~ot enough for Oro, because he became so angry
These were the Ifa priests who made divination-for Morning (Aro)
that a fight ensued. When other people came to intervene 'to
and Evening (Ale). They were both advised'tO make sacrifice in
stop.them from fighting, Oro's insistence culminated in the two
order to have peace and-prosperity, They were required to make
friends
sacrifice with palm oil;srl'.ailsand a threeyear old ram. They were
being arraigned before the king of the town. ' ,. ·. > ·
to add 200 red kol@uJs, 200white kolanuts, 200 bitter-kolas and 5
; , .s J JI
bags of money. ' ·.
The.king.decided thematterby ruling that the two friends should
never meet ·again .. Oro was restricted to night-time activities Evening was the only one who made sacrifice. Morning refused to
while Ojigbo was limited to day time activities. OrQJl!'hila who inake sacrifice. That: is why when-people work from Morning
was .presenrat the palace added his.iows: proclamation that from through Afternoon, they go home to rest in the evening. When one
ahen: on, Oro sbould · not ea1 snake does not have a peaceful life in the · Morning of one's · life, one
and<Opgbo ·r hould not reat .snail anymore; · · ,.., : prays to have a prosperous Evening: When people have money in
. . ('
the morning they are careful to spend wisely in order to have
Wflen this Oda appears at :;Ugbodu the person · 0should. be
abundance in the evening.
advised to forbid .snail and snake, and should beware of
friends.His undoing would always come from friends and so he
should avoid them. He should 'serve Esu with ,all edible , materials
The sacrifice is made by adding the liquid from the snail and palm
and a he-goat packed in a basket-woven container (Ago in-yoruba
oil for the person to have a bath in the night before going to bed.
or agban.in ,Bini).
Thereafter, all the problems previously

27
98.

encountered by the person will ,,~~t! •. If. the necessary sacrifice Chapter4
is made, the . person. .. will:: ~µrely have , ~. relaxed , eveningin
his life because bis early ,mqrning sufferings will bring him IOI - IWORI I· I I
prosperity and peace in the evening. I I I
I I I
The Ifa priest.ni,a}<ing µi~ sacrifice will $illg the, follo~pg};, IL l
poem:-
Aro mi ma re-e He m?de divination (Qr the human Kenitals:
Ojo ale ni mo ntoro Bi
ale mi ba sunwon, Ifa Edi gbagba, Iwori le le, adafa fun onisinkin ti ongb'ogun lo si
ma dupe. orima.sun gbun, He, made divination for the penis when he
;.· .o '!"'.1
was_,going to wage war on the Vul:va.,,The Penis .was advised
Th~ is the· 111orning o! 111y li!e, r , to make sacrifice in order to succeed 'in his expedition. The
J. pray.for a prosperous evening, , ... Penis was told tomake.sacrifice with a cock and the .hom of a
~. my ,eyyajng;is more. prQJpt,TQ~,n. , deer (Agbonnn in .yoruba or Erhue in Bini), 'He made the
h . ' ~' I'

·.T'anmy mprrung,' '' ,,u :/.,
I shall give thanks to J.{a; ·
Wpqn th,i.s Odu.appearsat di~nation, the.person.will be told :
nqt.to. be in a.hurry to acquire wealth in the morning o(hJ$ life,
lf be - makes sacrifice , and exercises patience, his pr9sp~rity
will SUfely·:C9JllC in ithe-.~v~ajng, <>(his ,.life .. ~. should
lll~e .sacriflce, to, liv,. long enough to enjoy tll~ ,,.
prosperity .of the .eveaing,
;;_,
· . 1·
sacrifice. As the penis was t,00 flabby, to move. erect, Esu gav~
him ~- garment to wear which was prepared with the deer's.horn
with.which hemadesacrifice. After wearing the garment, he was
able to stand erect. before attacking the Vulva: The erection
gave him an easy passage. It was from then on that the Penis
was able to succeed in his war againstthe Vqlva. Needless to
add that the Penis cannot pene.trate the Vulva unless 1( isable
gain erection.
. ''. ·. ,.
At divination, the person should be told to make sacrifice in
'

order ta aCRompHsJt a task onwhich he is about. to embark,

;J,) !\

.:.''
!: .. .•

....d;
~·
- 29
99.
100.
fk. made divination for the lion:
Edi me ki o, Iwori me ki o. Adafa fun Amo, aghe kuo kuo. They
made divination for the lion, advising him to make sacrifice with
he-goat to avoid being poisoned by his friends. He was also
advised to beware of friends and to refrain from eating in public
places. Since he was customarily dreaded by all other animals, he
could not imagine how any threat could source from them. He
therefore refused to make the sacrifice.
At the subsequent meeting of all the animals at which the lion
was not present, all those who dreaded the might of the
•Hon. hatched .. a. plan for poisoning him through-his food.
•They· decided to make a feast at which a specially poisoned food
was· prepared for the lion. When he arrived, he was treated with
the traditional reverence and his food was served to him with
pump and circumstance. As soon as he finished eating the food,
he developed stomach ache which
•'made· him to leave soon afterwards. He went straight to the Ifa
priests.
'·
- They reminded him that the sacrifice he failed to· make was
designed-to pre-empt' that eventuality; He was told to bring a he-
goat, a pigeon and some pebbles for the sacrifice. This
• time,' he quickly produced the materials · for the sacriflce.
The priests collected the appropriate leaves, and with them
prepared a soup with the pigeon and the pebbles for him to eat. He
was made to swallow the pebbles after leaking the soup and eating
the meat of the pigeon. He became well
30
immediately. The pebbles are the stones often discovered in
the bowels cfa butchered lion. ·
When the sacrifice is being made 'for a human being, the soup
wilt-also be prepared with the leaves, pebbles and pigeon, but
instead of
swallowing the pebbles· he/she will send them to Esu
after eating the food.
When this Odu appears' at ugbodu, the person will' be told to
expect difficulties with having childrenbecause it isrioi easy to
obtainthe'stonefrornthe lion's stomach withwhich
the requisite medicine· 'has 'to be 'prepared. · ·
-. ' t;
Before leaving heaven, he was told to serve Esu with a hegoat on
account of the problemshe was going to have from his relations.
He was born as the 'senior son of his parents. He grew up
playing with palm kernelseeds. and leaves. He was also food of
singing. He was habitually found in the company of !fa priests.
..:a,,:' · ·· · ' · t· '
Subsequently: 'he 'took· his own: Ifa, · which annoyed Hi~
relations because-it was forbidden 'for any member- of his family
to be . initialed 'into · Ifism. He soon began tb experience
problems from his relations, who baa virtually ostracized him.
That was the' point at which 'he Went for
divination. ·' ,, · s • 11
At divination, he was advised to make sacrifice at his family
-~
31
home where he was born. When he asked his mother to let him
know where he was born, she revealed that he was born in her
family home. She added however that the place had become
desolate, although the tree of - life (lgi akoko in yoruba, and
lkhj~~ in Bini) which was planted on the spot where he ·was
born, had survived,
He went to the site of the tree and made the sacrifice with a
cock, pigeon, cowries, chalk, crushed_yarn, and white cloth,
Incidentally, his __ mother.was the only.surviving child.of.the
parents; Her father was the Oloja of the town. Since.he did not
have a male.child and .tradition forbade his .daughter from
succeeding him, there was no child to ascend the throne. .~ince
the daughter subsequt;J1tly had a, son, the IQt
eventually fell on him to take the title. · · Made divination tor·•his ban:en wife,;
. z
.
At _ divination the person should • be - told to trace the family
home where he was .born so that a curse on him could be
revoked, after - making - sacrifice there.
Made divination for other Awos;
Mi ke Edi - <Ji, Miki iwori g~ bo lowo eni bo ba, di eru-:sile.
El1!- amu,:os.'huka. Adifa fun- okpele wo. jo Iokun, After
divinatioa, he told . his fellow awos mat their divination
instrume~~ were huogry and neededfood. That is why w~en
this Od1> appears for a: practising lfa priest, he should be told
to serve his Okpele with rat, fish, white elo or. ewo in yoruba
and obobo in Bini, and a snail.
32
He made divination for Qdun Ela;
Ola she· ni nr, awookoro, ure gba yeriwo sa, awo ode.ekiti efon,
Agutan osben--guatOll,' osb'ori borogi, ·Adafa fun· odun -
ela.oma'gbeobinti..n•oyigi. Those were the awos who made
divination for Odun •. Ela when he was going' to seduce the
wife ofeyigi, · , · · ·· ·· ·
Odun-ela be'mi, Emi na be o bara kpetu. Afefe kii ko wun
Olorun, konko -ki ko un odo. I begged Orunmila and he
begged. rne. 'I begged him to accept my entreaties, because the
wind does not defy the command of-God, just as thefrog
does not refuse .the pleading 'of the river. ·
.I
His wife was married to him 'for a long time without being able
to have a child. The woman· became so fnistrated that she
began to lose interest in all his activities. Her indifference
became so obsessive that when the time came for his annual
festival, she chose to go and sell her wares in the market:; rather-
than stay, at 'home to cook the 'food for the feast. :Orumnila
appealed to her not to let him down, but she insisted' on going
to: the market to sell her wares.
••
Meanwhile, invitees began-to' arrive' at the house f6r the
festival. When they asked for Akpetebi, Orunmila replied that
she refused 'to cook arid had gone tothe market to sell her
wares; Sango, a·cc'drripanied·h}"Ojiji voinnteered to go and
briftg her-from
~-
the markef'When' Ojiji (wind) got to the
-33
market, he packed an· her wares together before asking her
why she was not at home to prepare the festival feast. She
replied that she came to the.market.because she hadderived no
benefit from marrying Orunmila, and that since she did not
have a child of her own, she .had no pleasure in cooking for
anyone. Sango and Ojiji assured her that if her problem was
childlessness, she would have one provided she submitted to
the will of her husband. With that reassurance, she agreed to go
home .. to prepare the food. After the festival, they advised her
to make sacrifice with 16.snails and a basket of fowls. She did
the sacrifice and the following month, she became pregnant. In
the fullness of time .she gave birth to a female child who was
named lfamuyiwa.
When this Odu appears at Ugbodu, the person should be
advised to make sacrifice so that his wife might have a child. If
it is someone without his own lfa, he will be told that he will
marry a childless woman. He should make sacrifice with 16
snails and 2 hens to lfa and the woman will have a female
child.
At divination, tp.e person shoµl~ be told to serve Esu before
embarking on a tour he is. cQntemplatinJ. If .he makes the
sacrifice he will return from the tour with good tidings.
He IQf~e divination ror tm, watec divinity;
When W~ter was created by G<>4,.,h~Jilled all the available.
space of heavc;Q..,aiw e1aµli. ;esu llowever used rocks and
·stones to dike its mov~in~nt and it could .not spread to
34
satisfy the requirements of the plants and animals created by
God. The Water divinity then went for divination to:-
Edi ha-ha-ha
Edi ho-ho-ho
Edi ori-ori-babalawo.
who advised him to make sacrifice with a hoe, a cutlass, a he-
goat, a pigeon, ekuru, akara and eko. He made the sacrifice.
Thereafter, Esu removed the plug with which he had stopped
rain from falling and also removed the rocks and stones with
which he had obstructed the movement of water. The crops in
the farms which were failing for lack of water began to
flourish.
It rained heavily for sixteen days. As the rain fell and the river
flowed, the Water began to sing the following song:Edi ha-ha .•
ha.
Edi ho-ho-ho
Edi hori-hori - which has become the sound of rain and
moving water ever since.
When this Odu appears at divination the person will be told that
he is beset by all kinds of problems, but that if he makes
sacrifice, he will eventually come to happier days, and live a
prosperous and peaceful life.
35
 Chapter 5
IOI- OBARA
IDI-ARABA I
I moved to attack however, they flew up beyond his reach. That
IIIIII
II
I I J ,. -. . ;
He made divination for the bird_~ of the foa;st:
Edi bara wa ka ja, Akpalokun eye. Eniyan lo kun olote, adifa
fun ey,e ok~ nijoti .. ekun to.muwon shibo mole. These were
the, awos who made divination for the . birds Q( the forest
when the tiger was killing.and.feeding on them with impunity.
At thattime in heaven, the .birds could not fly because like
animals, they were created without wings.
Tiley were equipped to climb but not to fly. At divination, they
were told .to make sacrifice with rat, fish, eko, hen, akara, and
dried leaves collected from the ground. They made the
sacrifice.
,. ' ' .,!··
After the sacrifice Orunmih gave them t~ ly~q~m ( divin~
powder) of the sacrifice and told them to rub it on their body,
and .not ta.leave home to go anywhere.for.nine days after the
sacrifice, After .rubbing with the Iyerosun, tiny feathers began
to shwt outfrom.their skin, and -befo.re the end of the nine
days, fullgrewn feathess had .developed on their bodies. Before
the fourteenth day they were able to fly. They, ontheir own,
decided to stay home for fourteen days.
36
During their retreat, the tiger. was neginning to wonder where
all the birds had eloped to, because for fourteen days he did not
see. any · of them in the forest. When -they eventually came. out
on the fourteenth day, the tiger was · waiting for them. Ashe
was how they were saved from .. the onslaught of the tiger.
When this 'Odu appears at divination the .person should be told
that he has one enemy who is as strong as the.tiger, watching to
destroy him. He should be .advised to make the sacrifice-
which the birds made in· order to escape: theevil
plans of-the enemy·.· . ,.
He madt divination for the "forbidden";
Edi biEdi, ebara bi ebara. Adafa fun Eriwo .t'onsheomo okunrin
erun, He made divination-for the "forbidden" (Eriwo · in
yoruba and Awua in Bini). He was told to make sacrifice in
order to be feared and .respeeted by mankind and divinities
alike. He made the' sacrificeand gained the respect of all and
sundry. Everyone forbids one thing or the other.
When it comes out at divination, the person should be told to
avoid doing any forbidden thing. If the person is illor has fallen
vi~tim to any misfortune, he or she should be persuaded to
confess the forbidden thing he or she has done.
'
37
The divination he made before leavin& heaven:
Before coming to the ·· world, he was advised to make
sacrifice to ogun with cock, dog, tortoise, gourd of palm wine,
ro..rted yam, rat, fish and snail. He did the sacrifice after which
ogun agreed to accompany him to the world.
He came om of the town of Oduru where he began to operate
as a black-smith and as an Ogun priest. When it was time for
him to marry, he travelled to Ibadan to take the daughtc · of a
divine priest for a wife. The woman did not bear him a child
for a long time. When patience gave way to anxiety they
decided to go for divination on what to do
to .have a ~!l;~d. · andhcrchildeen to her father-in-law when he was going to war.
The diviner told them that between the home town of the
woman and Odum lay a river. They were to make sacrifice to-
the river and promise what to give to it if the woman was able
to have 1. child. In fact, the diviner told them to serve the river
with crushed yam and cowries and to promise to serve it -vith
whatever they could afford, when their desire materialised,
As they were returning from Ibadan, they stopped by the side
of the river. The man prayed with the crushed yam and cowries
and promised to bring a goat to the river if his wife could t rve
a child. On the other hand, the wife was so excited at the
prospect of having a child that she unwittingly promised to
offer herself as thanksgiving to the river if she had a child. The
husband was annoyed when he heard what
38
she promised, reminding her that the diviner had warned them
not to pledge what they would not conveniently be able to pay.
When they, eventually got home, the Woman became pregnant
at the end of that month. When the pregnancy was six months
old, she travelled to her parents home at Ibadan to prepare for
delivery. She gave . birth to a male child eventually, followed
in quick succession· by four ·other children. They had five
children altogether.
The husband became. a. famous soldier and warrior, having
many wives and.slaves. Meanwhile; the man sent his senior wife
l)m his return from- the battle-field, he travelled through Ibadan
to collect his wife and children. When they got to the bank of the
river, they discovered that the river which was previously ·very
shallow, had became very deep. That was when they.
remembered the promises they made to · the river. They used to
cross it on foot, but then discovered-. that it, :was getting.deeper
by every stepthey moved. The husband immediately asked his
followers to procure a goat which he gave to the river.
Thereafter, the river became-even deeperand wider.· , .
ti ·, .
To appease the river, he .. got one female war captive,
touched his, wife's head with her head and threw her into the
water, It soon became clear to them that the river did not accept
,,the surrogate, because she did not drown .. The wife then CU!:
her nails and. hair and parcelled them for her eldest
39
son to hold. As she tried -to dive into the water, the husband
stopped her, preferring.to return to Ibadan instead of losing her
to the river.
As.if she was.agreeing to .the. husband's suggestion, she cut
loose · and dived into the water, · which consumed her
immediately, after which the river assumed its normal size and
depth, The.husband and her children burst Into tears and
theyhac to return-home in melancholy.
The father of the woman was eventually given the wrong
impression that· his-son-in-law had offered his daughter as
sacrifice to the river. In an, attempt to test ,the veracity of the·
rumour, he sent two messengers from Ibadan to Oduru to find,
out whether the couple and their children arrived home safely.
··When the. two messengers, arrived at his house, he told them
that his seaior wife was cooking in the kitchen, but thatthey
could not see her. When they insisted that they could. .not return
without seeing. her, he decided .' to· incapacitate them. He
removed the eyes ofone them, while· making. the· second , one
deaf, after .. which they· returned
home.v,...
.. • '..,·.,(,
... , ,
When his father-in-law saw the plight of his errand-men, ,he
immediately dispatched a message to his son-in-law to be
prepared for war, War ·broke. out soon afterwards as the
opposing. troops massed, 'on. either side of' the river. : The
combat. was· fierce and stiff. 'The war. took a large totl ·. of
human lives without.ending. ,~e :kings ofOduru and Ibadan
eventually got togdher w··set~·the·rift·between the -two
40
families, The war subsequently ended but the people of Oduru
vowed that wherever the inhabitants of Ibadan and Oduru met,
it, would always be. a fight to the death. It has been said since
then that anytime the citizens of the two places travel in the
_same motor vehicle, canoe etc. there has always been a faJal
crash.
When this Odu therefore appears at Ugbodu.the person should
prepare Ogun shrine for. himself in the . traditional way
because he will be an Ogun priestHe should also give a he-
goat to J~su.< He , should be prepared for an acute
misunderstanding with.his parents-in-law.
He made dhination·for the .fanner.andthe deer (A&bonrin in
yoruba ·and Erhue · in ,Bini}.,. · .
The1deer~e;·eloped the habtt.ofgoing to feed in a farm that had
rich crops, of yam, corn and cassava. When the farmer
discovered that his- farm, , risked .a bad harvest from the
attacks of the deer, he decidedto watch out for the intruder. On
his part- the. deer always knew bow to avoid , the farm
,r whenever the · farmer, was around. Apprehensive that she
might one day run out of luck, the deer decided to go to
Orunmila for divination. She was advised to serve Esu with a.
he-goat and warned never to go to the farm with her young
ones.
As the deer was about to leave for home, she sighted the farmer
. .and moved back into Orunmila's house. When she explained
that themancoming to his house.was the farmer
41
she was speaking about, Orunmila made her to hide in the bed
room. When the farmer got inside, he told Orunmila that he
came to find -out what to do to apprehend the deer that was
ravaging the crops· in his farm. He advised the farmer to serve
Esu with a he-goat and Ogun with a tortoise. Orunmila also told
him what to say to the deer:
Latanbo, Lole bo.
•adafa fun Agbonrin
T" fl oko ode sapo.
Orunrnila told him that after making the sacrifice· he should set
a trap on the route normally taken to his farm by the d-er. The
farmer made the sacrifice very quickly, but on her part, ,the
deer considered it unnecessary to make, sacrifice since she had
already known the strategy of the farmer: She thought to herself
that she had only to change routes to avoid' the trap set for her.
When Esu however· discovered that the deer refused to make
sacrifice he decided to lure her to the' route of the trap. The·
deer had told her young one to stay in front, contrary to the
advice given her at 'diVination, not to go the farm with her
young ones. Toe trap caught the young deer and· the mother
escaped;
,.
To show appreciation for the advice, divination and sacrifice
made' for him, the farmer 'presented the hand of the young deer
to Orunmila. That is how the tradition of using the hand of the
deer during Ifa initiation ceremony, began.
When this Odu appears at Ugbodu, the person should be
advised to forbid the · meat of deer, and to refrain from
42
stealing anybody's property. Before completing the lfa
initiation ceremony; he should prepare his own Ogun shrine.
He should serve· his head with a guinea-fowl while backing
Ifa, to avoid being· killed on account of his own possession.
At divination, the person should be advised to serve Esu with a
he-goat because someone is about' to fight him on account of
his own property.
Divination for Olofa when· he was expectin1 two visitors· ·
Edi Bere, bere ki o ma fl ori Ade gbogi. Ai ki'mere bibe. Odifa
fun Olofa ni jo ti ajoji meji maade. Eni to mofa, ko mo ono ofa.
Eni to mo ono ofa, ko mo Ifa. Adifa fun Orunrnila baba o
shawo lo si ode ofa. Ifa ta lo'de ofa.
Do not · hit the tree with the
crowa.tcause without hitting the tree
with the crown, its weaver will not know
how to bend down for the tree:
That was the name of the awo who made divination for the
Olofa of Ofawhen he was expecting two visitors.
He thatknew the way to Ofa,without knowing Ifa,
and He that knew lfa, but Did not know the way
to Ofa and SoldIfa oraclein the town . of Ofa
Those were· the names of the Awos who made
divination for Orunmila when he , was going to
visit the Olofa of Ofa, in the
43
 comp~y of Osanyin. Orunmila did not know the
way to Qfa, but Qsanyin who knew the way : to
Ofa .did not know the Jfa oracle.
Osanyin agreed to .accompany Orunmila to
Ofa..
Just before -they . reached. the: town of Ofa, Osanyin told
Orunmila to wait for him to herald . his approach to the palace.
Osanyin went into the palace and greeted the Olofa telling him
that it was not Orunmila's tradition to enter any town without
Introductory libation. He demanded and obtained two rats, two
fishes two hens and two cocks for that purpose Osanyin did net-
however tell -Orunmila what be did because he kept the
materials at one side for himself ·
Instead. he told.Orunmija-that the Oba was not-quite ready to
receive him yet because he had visitors with him. Not long
afterwards, Osanyin :left once more for the. palace where he
told the Olofa that Orunmila had demanded a goat, a piece of
white -cloth; four snails..and =N=8. The Olofa gave them to
him and he again kept.them at one side for himself without
telling Orunmila what he was up to. The Olofa hQweyer.·
tohLOsanyin to request Orunmila to move without any delay
into the town because th~ had long.been hearing about his
reputation. ·
When he got to. Orunmila, he told him that the Olofa besought·
him to iexerciae patience because the ceremony would soon- be
over. After a long, time, Osanyin ·returned to ' the palace to tell
the·Ok>fa that Onmmila was once more demandiag an ewe
(female sheep ),,aligator pepper, tortoiise ,
,,
and parrot's feather to chronicle his entry into the town. Olofa
once more gave them all the materials to Osanyin, who hid
thetn atone side, only to tell Orunrnila, that he only
had a little more time to wait.
". . . ·.·:
·· ·: ,
·· •S.·: '.·
Meanwhile, Olofa's patience ran out on a diviner, who, no
matter how proficient, was demanding so much before
embarking on any divinatfon ... He wondered what lie would
ask for after divination. Why shoufd a stranger who he did not
even invite,' be so extortionate, he' queried, H~ decided to go
and meet Orunmlla wherever he· Was walling.
On his part, OJ1Inmila feH slighted for being kept waitin:g for
what seemed an indefinite period, since there was ho secret Oro
(or curfew): 'wfiTch could keep him waiting. He' toe> decided in
anger to ask his w~y to meet the Olofa.
The Olofa and Orunmila eventually met at the town hall and
began to challenge each other. Ass they were exchanging the
narration of grievances, an elderly person advised them to stop
talking stimultaneously and to hear each other out. .· It was
only then they discovered that they had both been the vidirih:>f
a confidence trickster. As soon as Osanyin realised that his
game was up, he· escaped. Olofa then took Orunmila home to
work with hint
When the Odu appears at divination, the person should be
advised . to beware of conducting business through
intermediaries because the middle man who is suppossedly
assisting him would in fact cheat in the process.
45
101.

·ue made diyination for the palm tree: Chapter 6

IDI - OKONRON I l I
Edi-hara di; Edi bara-bara-tafa si oke, was the awo who made ·
divination for- Igi-oguro of the palm tree kindred, to save her from I I I I
the onslaught of mankind when they were destroying her children. I I I r
· I I ··
She was acMsed to' make sacrifice with camwood powder ( elo-
osun in yoruba and tlme in Bini), sheer better ( ori-oyo) and okro .. He made divination for Gon2on:
The' sacrifice was prepared for her to use as pomade ~o enable
her have more children. Edi konron, Edi kanrin kanrin; -Adafa fun Gongon m JO
-. - ..
,; ;'
ti'onshawo lo si ona jinrin. He made divination for the big Drum
As she began to have more childen those who tried to climb her to when he was going to perform in a distant place. He was advised
pluck the children were falling off because her body had· become to make sacrifice with a threaded rope in order to avoid the risk of
slippery from. using the pomade.· being tied up during his journey. He failed to make the sacrifice.

When people prepared a special rope to climb her, she replied by

saying: When he . got to his destination, he 'performed so impressively
that people were dancing to his melodies. After dancing for a long
time, he became very tired.· That was the point at which Esu was
Mo ti ,se ebo bo ro ale told that Gongon did notmade sacrifice.
Mo ti se ebo bo ro aro

Meruting that . she .had already made botp evening and morning
sacrifices. That was. how Oguro protected herself from the
menace of mankind,
When it appears at divination the personwill be advised to . make
sacrifice to prevent 'b.is or her children from being ravaged by
enemie_s.
When Esu saw that he was-tired, he suggested to the people being
entertained by Gongon that they should use a tl\readed twine to
fastenup his head stronglybecause that was the only way. to make
him -to produce more melodious music. His head. was accordingly
tied up and the music .he produced became even more
harmonious. As his music
oved from crescendo to allegretto, he became delirious, d as if
he was possessed. his music moved into allegro and

4 47
6
102.
his head exploded and got burst.
His pieces were cast assunder; and abandoned. When this Odu
appears at divination for a person who is embarking on a tour,
he should be told to make sacrifice beforegoing, if it is Ure. If
it is however Ayeo, he should be told not to undertake the trip,
because disgrace and embarrassment await him there.
He made divination· for Prineess.,Qiulewa
. Ada gorngo., oshori gomgo, odogba ofi eyin .. orun kosun ra
,ra, ra wolu. Adafa fun Ojulewa omo Olofin, ti won ni rnaa losi
ode ale.
These were the awos who made divination for princess
Ojulewa.-the daughter of the King oflfe,warning her never: to
go out in the night. She was however advised to make sacrifice.
She neither made the sacrifice nor heeded the advice not . to, go
out at night.
When she went out one night, she was apprehended by Egun
masquerades •. and; taken to their ,staging post in: the forest, As
they were about to slaughter her for ritual sacmfice, oae · of
them identified her· as the. daughter .of· the king, , They , ,
decided to.verify from the Olofin whether she was.infact his
daughter. The . father was invited .to the forest and he·
confirmed that she was his insubordinate daughter. _
To buy back her freedom the· king was made to produce a
48
goat, a cock and plenty of money.
Whenitappears at divinatio, the person will.be toldthat he is
very obstinate and does not listen to. advice •. H~ should make
sacrifice .. w;ith .he-goat to Esu to . avoid being apprehended
by the eldet$ of tbe1night.
The Diyjnatioo he made before Jeayina heaven:
I
When he was. comipgto . the world, he. was advised at
divination. to make sacrifice because he was .flrst, goi11_g ... to
encounter physically weak people on earthand that.he. ""'as
going to make. divination and sapiijce for ,them to become
strong. He ~as told t9 ofter a lie-goat .to Esu and to make
another sacrifice .at a three-road-junction with 3 snails,,a.
piece kolanut and chalk .. He inade the sacrifice. .
On getting to the earth the first creatures he met were; the
excreta-carrying beetle (Ayinwinlo in yoruba .and Akhua-
Khuisan in Bini), the grass-hopper and the cricket. He, advised
them to. make sacrifice in order to avoid having trouble from
other creatures and to command honour and respect. . The beetle
made t4e. sacrifice if! full, The' grasshopper served Ogun ·but
failed . to. serve Esu. . The· Q{icket made sacrifice to E.5u but
failed to. serve the ground.
The kind of Akara balls that.the. beetle makes from human and
animal. wastes . makes people to neglet him, but his disregard ..
gives him a. long lease to live to a ripe old age [Without any
molestation,
49.
On his part, Esu invited the soldier ants to attack the grass-
hopper, but on account of his iron skin, they could not kill him
although they madehim to see hell. Esu also invited· young
children to be playihg with the cricket but on account' of the
sacrifice be failed to make for the ground, he often·
ends up getting killed or 'lost inside the ground. ' ..
It was after his encounter with the three· insects that Idi.:·
Okonron began to meet responsible divinities and human
beings; Sango baa failed to make · saaerifice in heaven,
preferring instead, to make sacrifice 'on getting to the world:
He met Idi-Okonron on earth; wbo advised him to malce
sacrifice so -rhat his words might carry the weight of authority.
He advised Sango to serve Esu with a ram arid his, head with a
cock'. Sango made the sacrifices:
That· coincided with the time when God sent Orisa-Nla to the
world ro act as His personal representative. A$ soon as. Orisa-
Nla arrived, he requested Sango to convene a meeting 1 of the
divinities. · · · , · · · , .I
The following morning, Sango got dressed and· after being
kindled by lightnmg,1he·~poke through thanden- As he was
roaring; all men and animals kept absolute silence. No one had
:the courage to make arty noise let alone to reply. .His words
conjured the cloud and the rain to appear from heaven. The rain
began. to fan when the divinities were assembled for ' the
i When ·this Odu appears at Ugbodu, the person should be told
conference. ' The meeting was so successful 'that Sango~s·
appointment was subsequently confirmed by acclamation as the
convenerof all meetings of
50
the earthly divine council.
Meanwhile, Olofin had problems in his royal household and
sent for Idi-Okonron to come and make divination for him.'
After divination, he told the Olofin that what was creating :
difficulties for him was within his household, and that the ,
problem would not abate unless the person causing it was either
eliminated or removed. He explained that the culprit . was a
relation living with him, He advised Olofin to serve Esu with a
he-goat and to offer a cock to Sango.
.,
After eating his cock, Sango got dressed for battle. When Esu
saw that the clouds had gathered, which signalled Sango's
readiness to do battle, he pushed the offending relation of
Olefin outside the house to fetch rain water. At the same time
Sango's wife targetted him and Sango struck
him, dead, with his.axe. ·
When Sango is convening a meeting of the divinities, and the
rains begin to fall, no onaespecially persons of dubious
disposition, are expected to go outside. They do so, at the risk
of their own lives. 10 . express his gratitude for the successful
.diyination and sacrifice made for him, the.Olofin made Idi-
Okonron a high chief to. assist him in administering lQe
kingdom.
that he is a· trickster, and that if he is · to prosper, ·he, must
learn to be upright. He should be told to keep a thunder-stone at
his Ifa shrine because his lfa works in dose
51'
103.
cooperation with Sango. He should also prepare his Esu without
any delay because Esu is the chief architect of all the chores
that the Odu performs. - . :· '. r ··
(, ..... ,
He will command great honour and respect' provided he does
.not discriminate between white and black; high -and low,
young and old et al. ·· ·-
He divined for the Farmer and the Hunter!
He had two friends, one of who was a farmer while the other
was a hunter. On one occasion, he madedivination for the two
of them. - He advised the farmer to.: make
'-
sacrifice with a 'he-goat to Esuso that a gift-coming to-hirn
through the carelessness of someone else; might materialise, He
also advised the hunter to serve Esu with it hawk{Asa in
yoruba and Ahua in Bini), against' the risk of unconsumated
fortune (Amubo in yoruba or Osobo no ma sunu in Bini). None
of them made thesacriflce because the predictions of a diviner
are - often derided by· his frieridi and relations; · ·, ·
Mearlwhile, the hunter went into the forest· and shol an·
elephant. The elephant strayecJ:away !O die in the farmefS ·
farm.: When the farmer saw t}le--elepbant in his farm be was
very happy. He raced homeio invite people to assist him in
butchering it Theyfoed at the famfonly to me~fthe· · l hunter
who.h~1ed the foot-marks and·blood stains'of'
the dying elephant up to the farm.
52·
While the hunter was· claiming that be shot the elephant, the --
farmer argued that it was -his own gift to claim because he owned
the farm on which it fell to the ground; When the two friends were
about to fight over the elephant.the neutral people decided' that the
dispute should be remitted to the king.
When they got to the king's palace he insisted . that IdiOkonron
should be invited to assist him in deciding the matter. When
Idi-Okonron got to the palace he explained to the king that the
.eombattants were his bosom friends and that he had earlier·
made divination for them against the instant eventually, but
that. they both refused to make the
sacrifices he recommended, · ·
He explained that he·told the farmer to serve Esu with a he-.
goat so thatthe gift coming to him might materialise. He'. also
told the hunter to serve Esu with a .hawk against the risk of
unconsumatedfortune. They both failed to make the sacrifices.
He · confirmed that it was their failure to. make the sacrifices
that created the: problems for them. He proclaimed that if the
matter was to be settled right, the two of them should first go
and make their respective sacrifices.
A,t that stage, the farmer thanked Idi-okenron and proceeded to
make his sacrifice.
On his part, the hunter held on to his guns and insisted that he.
saw no reason why he should make sacrifice - for what I
53
104.
rightly belonged to him. He argued that if the elephant was
butchered the venomous bullet which killed it would be
traced to him.
At that stage Esu · influenced the Chief Counsellor of the
king to refer to a long-standing convention which established
the maxim that a dying game belongs to the person who
owns the compound, farms, or piece of land, on which it
falls.
Eventually, it was decided that the elephant belonged to· the
farmer. That is why when this odu appears at Ugbodu the
person shouid at once serve; his head with an elephant's
meat, Ogun with snails, and Ifa with a hen, to obviate the
risk of unconsumated fortune. He should also serve Esu with
a he-goat, adding the skull or feathers of a hawk.
•At divination the person should serve Esu with a strong he-
goat (Agripa okuko in yoruba or Ovbukho-no-begbo in Bini),
adding the skull or feathers of a hawk, to obviate the risk of
unconsumated fortune, and so that his legitimate entitlement
might not go to someone else in his place of work.
Made dirin&tion for the Animals
ldi gba ka ni orun ako ko.
Akoko gba ka ni orun ati kori.
These were the awos who made divination for 240 animals
54
including the cow, advising them to make sacrifice. . They
did not make the sacrifice. Orisa-Nla had kept a barn of yams
at the. back of his house. One . night, the yams were stolen
by unknown intruders. When Orisa-Nla asked who had stolen
his yams, the rabbit lied that it was the cow that ate up all of
them. When the cow was . invited for explanation, he denied
knowing anything about the missing yams.
Following the denial of the cow, Orisa-Nla invited all the 240
animals to explain, .Meanwhile, Orisa-Nla ordered a
barricade . to .. be constructed at the entrance to his
compound. Any animal who.succeeded in passing through it
would pass as one of the robbers that stole the yams, because
the barricade was a replica of a similar one that
sorrounded theyam ham. ·
Following the false accusation leveled against him by the
rabbit, the cow quickly raced to Orunmila for ·divination. He
was advised to make sacrifice with a cock and plantain. He
lost no time in making the sacrifice. He was then advised to
be late in answering the invitation of Orisa-Nla.
On the appointed day, one after the other, all the other
fIIimals were able to pass through the barricade, which
confirmed that they all conspired to steal the yams. The cow
was the 'last to come to Orisa-Nla's house. Mysteriously,
after all the animals had passed, Esu used the plantain stem
to block the barricade's enterance. Try as he did to go
through the gate, the cow could not pass through,
55
105.
which instantly confirmed his innocence.
When Orisa-Nla asked the rabbit to substantiate his earlier
allegation in the light of subsequent developments, he ran into a
hole. Orisa-Nfa ordered the staff of his household to dig the
rabbit out of the hole.
Meanwhile, as punishment to the other animals for eating up
his yams he gave free hand to mankind to be hunting for them
atwill. When the rabbit was eventually brought out of the hole,
Orisa-Nla asked for his punishment for lying and the divinity of
witchcraft replied that he would do for them as food .. That is
why the rabbit is used' for making sacrific to the night, to this
day.
When this Odu appears at divination, the person will be
advised to make the sacrifice which the cow made to obviate
the risk' of becoming the victim of a vicious falsehood. If a lie
has already been told against him, he should make the sacrifice
all the same and his innocence would be established.
.• responded by sayingJhatone might' have no himd~ and feet but
5 57
6
Chapter 7 Ipl -
IROSUN I I
I I l
II Fl
ll I
Divined rot Sn1ns ana. Birds. when the ti~r was 1unnin1
for them: · ·
The animals and birds W~re holding meetings together to
discuss th~ir C0{1l{110n welfare. ,:At these meetings, indirect
allusions wt:;re often. .nrnde by the tiger to seuljng disputes on
the heads pt the harmless. one. wit.bout. hands and feet. For a
long time, th~'snail didnotc;o111prehend that.the metaphor was
referring indirectly to .. hir1. ·. Me,anwhifo,. many other
animals, scared of the dubious intentions of the tiger; began to
desert the meeting. Tha.t was the stage .at which. the snail went
to Orunmila for divination. . He was told to make sacrifice to
Esu and to stop attending the meeting· because
a strong colleague was gunning for him, ··
At the· I~st ryiee'tini he a.Herid~d, when ~ef~r,ence was
flga,jn made to setdfqg perdjng ~isputes otjthe flqpr
09/"tbe,he~d of the. innoc.ent . one .. without hands an,d, f
eet," . ~he,,. snail
tha.t did· not mean that~me also had no·
intellig~nce. The rest
looked . at one another, but there~ter, the snail stopped
attending the meeting because he h~ppened to be the only
animate object having no· limbs.
106.

When the tiges, discovered that the snail had stopped attending the
meeting, he changed the tune. The tiger subsequently invited the that comes his way. ;

birds to fetch wood for preparing fire to roast water. At that time
there were only four members still attending the meeting, When this Odu appears at Ugbodu, the person should be advised
comprising the tiger, the birds, the tortoise and water. The birds to stop-attending social meetings :of any kind.· :In any event, he
did not understand the irony initially, but when they got home, should make sacrifice with three snails, the meat of tiger and any
they wanted to verify. whether water could in fact be roasted. flying·'bitd. He17should serve 'bis head with the tiger's meat and
They went to Orunmila who told them to sprinkle water on the serve Esu with· the snatr and the
fire. It instantly put out the fir~ which clearly indicated that water' bird. ' ', .
could not . be . roasted. . On the other hand, Orunmila told
them. to' pluck pne of .theit feathers and put it on the fire: .. It When it appears ·atdiyination, the person should be a·dvised to
burnt up as soon as it got to the fire. ·That was hqw they realis~d serve his head and Estl to survive a secret plot to' ki11 · him.
that the .. reference to roasting, was meant 'a foreboding for them. He should stop attending meetings: ·· ·
Once again, the birds stopped attending' the tn~etin~ with the· < ' f, •' ~·;. .

poem: Another Variation;

He made 'divination fot a four;.some· in partner~hip: ·
- . j -,- . . '

. ' ' ' ' :~ ' . . ' . . ': ~. ' ' -, '

Awonu lekun we ye ori igi awonu Om! dana da SU n' eye je

Eni_ba ni. ki nku onikogba ikumi, ku
. awonu, le kun weye ori igi.
As soon as the birds stopped attending the . meeting, the tiger
was left with ; the .. tortoise and water. . The tortoise, who
tra:ditiotialfy relies' Oil }#S wits,'.su~ested that. the venue of the·
Me.ettll$ shdu~d be moved to the thicket which. vr~vided him a
rough and ready chanc~ to escape, Since there was
nothiilgthe,tiger could d~ to the water; he be~am.e annoyed
an(l'h.uhkry.· He was forced t<> ~~ome a lo~~r. From that day,
the tiger 'resolved , t<),&tta<:lc any animal OFc bird that crossed
his path. That 'is why he does not spare any animal
Eye dana da sun omi je,
Oju eye ni eye mu. mi fo ara.
Adafa fun Elfun~·abu fun a.ja:, ati obuko, ati eye 'oko;
Won fe lo gban:omi eja. ,·.. . '
,
These were the awos who made divination for the tiger, the . dog,
the he-goat and the birds whep they were going to bale water fti the
. river to. catch 'fishes". The he-goat and' the bird made sacrifice·
but nofthe dog and tiger.On getting to the river, they baled· water
fot a· 'fortg time· without · catching any fish. The frustration made
them tired and hungry. The other three subsequently sent the bird
home to fetch fire with whichjo roast the-river for food. Without
reflecting on

58
59
the irony underlying the message, the bird actually went home to
Other inter:pretations or Edi-rosun:
bring fire. As he was however returning, he stopped to test how
water could be roasted on the fire. He dropped somewater on.the
flame and it.was going out. Edi ko le sun ati Edi kole wo, l'ondifa fun Olomo Agbikeke· Io
._,- .. !., .-_ · - -
nganjo ti ko 'le kiwon sun. These were the two awos who made
divination for an invalid mother who was often groaning with
But when he plucked Qn~, of hi~Je~thers to roast oµ.the fire, it
pains in the night and disturbing other people from sleeping. t; She
burnt altJJ.Pst_ iDlmedfa~te,Iy. Witlf tliat experiment, the bird
was fold -- to make sacrifice with a hegoat, ·heri and rabbit in
became convinced that the fire was meant for roasting him. He
order to get well.
threw the fire away and flew off without returning to the river, •
while ~e. _ others waited in, vain for. him. \Vhen the - bird .:
did. nor.return, the· he-goat de}iberateir threw the calabash with Thar is why when this Odu appears at divination, the person will
which he was, baling water into, the river and pretended to be be told' tpat there· is a sick person in his house who groans in the-
-tiight.·-·1n~ invalid should be advised to make sacrifice 'in
swimming :after it. After swimming for; a while, he escaped. It order'to .ger well.
was the turn of the, dpg :to run ~way. and he ran.untjl.J:1e,~_tQ ," ' .. '

aroadJuq~on,;where.heJoµnd, some food to·'·~at~ When the

tiger"discovered that all of those he could have used for food.had Oyo tan okp~m oka. Ona gbaja okpa Ere·'.f ernbele sun omu
escaped, he .decided oriro. Oni ohun lbama Ibi oje di si; dri ohun Iba komo kiya Io
to pursue them. · joro. Adafa fun yeye alashe ti'onshe Ase. Ao so
fun OJuwa re
kpe won so ewure kon ma'le.
He SOQn caught up with the do,g'whe~e be W'15 stiU eating. The
tiger apprehended the dog, kill~cl and ate him, He subsequently At divination, the person should also be fold that 'a goat has been
searched in vain for the bird· and the he-goat. tied tip awaiting slaughter in his house. He should be told not to
eat out of the meat of the goat when killed because, before dawn,
When itap~~s at divinati~n th~p¢rsonsbo,uld be toldthat he is the ,e.Jders of the 'night Would change its blood wiin human
propqsing to em~aik on.; a P{Oject 'with, tm¢e: other partners .•. qlood.' Those who eat ~ut of it will
become m. ' . ' : ,; .-
He $ho\lld make. sacri,fic~ to avoid beipg done in by the other
three parthe~. ~ _should keep hj~ wits around
him, , . . The ditinaUQn he made before Jeavine heaven:

Uroke .niilawo Hgonrin, Oroke mi Iawo le turuye - were the two

'a'Whs\vhd made divination for him)vhen he was' leaving

61
 heaven for the world. ~rW~ advised to serve Esu with a he-goat
to ward off the riskof a severe sickness on earth. He wasalso
toldto serye Og\1,n ~tb ~· cock. He did the sacrifices and
came, to the W;Qrld where he took to trading, completely
Ignoring tile pra~ti~e of Ifism.
• • ' •• • •< ' -·
N~t long aft~rward~, lie d~v~lgp~~cl,,,a bad cough, which for
a long time, did not.submit to treatment. He.went to several
places to try to cure the cough but it refused to abate. In
desperation, he. decided to go for divination, where he was told
to serve . Esu with ~ he-goat. He was also told that he
had.foolishly abandoned the path of his destiny because he was
supposed to be a practicing, lfa priest. He made the sacrifice
after which he became well. At divination he was reminded of
the warning .he wa~. given in heaven to forbid ·two birds,
b:US~~h~n ,(Oyete }n, yoruha and Ukorobozo in Bini) and
cuckoo (Akololo in.Yoruba and Erigoin in Bini.)
Meanwhile, he began to practice Ifa art in addition to his
trading, .He prospered i~e~~l~ .~g,enjoyed the rest of
his life in ~qo(l,,.Qe~l~h .•. .: · stupify any divine priest who passed through the main
t.I
I : - ' ; '_: ; : ;_ .' ~'\ ,
Wheµ this. Qdi,1app:e;µ-~ cijvinatipn the person· should be at .~"\~ .--!
told ,t9'.,/ma)fe, ~ciiWce):t~h av~t4)eath tohimselfand his
children. He should serve Ifa with-hen and Esu with. hegoat.
~ Olefin · sent .for Orunmila,
' ' ; . '' ' : : ' ',.! ,, ' ::. ';:
Qhint:d . f9r QIJQIJ»iJa to, QVf:fCQfle the trouble in <>tofig's
62
,J)ivined for Qrunmila to overcome the trouble in Ololin's
..domain ·
Agutan .Ipapo mejo ihin oko, was the awo who made divination
.· ••
for Orunmila when he was invited to solve the problems. in the
kingdom of Ife, Things had been going wrong in the kingdom
for a long time, and no one was able
to establish the cause. ·
Olefin had invited. divine priests from several places to look
into why; sacrifices· were not manifesting, · pregnancies were
being .aborted, women were not becoming pregnant, farm
harvests were becoming very poor and why he (Olofin) was
sporadically suffering from sexual impotence.
Unknown to him, or anyone else, an elderly female relation in
his house was causing all the problems because he had
previously been advised not to allow any relation to live with
him permanently. .Thiswoman had the diabolical power to
entrance of.the, palace. ··
' i. ' . '.
I •.
, ..
1,•
,.,.
A.fterall.the.kru>wn·qivine pnesis had tried unsuccessfully to
solve the problems, Olofin asked whether there remained,
any'other diviner or seer to be invited. He was told about
Orunmila, the Ifa priest of Oke-jetti (Baba dudu oke-jetti).
' .' . ' ' ':' '
Before going, Orunmila consulted his diviners and he was told
-to make sacrifice with an egg. After making · a ritual
63
with. the egg -it was-given to hint to take to the palace. He · was
told that after completing whatever he was going to do at Olofin's that a fair-<,;omplexioned old woman is blocking his progress in
life. He should be advised to make sacrifice with a single egg. The
palace, he would see a giant ball of flames near the-gate on his
Ifa priest should pray with, the egg and give it to the divir.ee to
way out. He was to throw the, egg into the break at a road junction. Thereafter, he would see the end of his
•fire. thereafter he would see the\voman responsible for the problems, and overcome the enemy.
problems in Olefin's domain, beeausetshe forbade. seeing an
egg. . .

When Orunmila got to the palace, he was told to perform

divination-to find out what was 'creating problems for Olefin.
He performed' the- divination· and' told Olofin that a ·· fair-
complexioned old woman- was-responsible for·the problem.
He · however said that the confu:matioo would become
obvious when he was returning rtmme:; Everyone became
curious. After prescribing the requisite sacrifice, he told Olofm
that he wast returning home· to obtaiii1 the leaves for
the sacrifice;' ' ' '

As' he was leaving the walls of, the palace, he saw a huge burn-
fire atJd· threw the egg' into it. The · fite immediately
extinquished and the burnt corpse of a lni!Mh 'being could be
seen-under the fire. Upon closer examination, the corpse was
seen-'to ·be tlklt of.: the 4ight · complexioned -old woritan
'living ~th th!'O!ofin. :: ,:. ,_- .' ·. r ,

Orunmita- confirmed that Olofin'S problems w'ere ·owr.1and he

was adequately rewarded. Thereafter-all the misfortunes that
had be-fallen. king and country began to abate.
·; , r: . ..,... . . •' . , , l. ;_!__ } ~-.- ,

When: this· Odu appears atdivi1uition;the personwillbe told

64 65
107.
Chanter 8 ANRiN
.ir, IDI-OW
ll I
.II.II
I ll I
I sending her to.Orunrnila's house to live with him as bis wife.
Only orunmiJ1.,an tie a ray down on earth.
Agbalagba bani ma gbagbe Iyan yan. Adifa fun 4wo isheju omo
lo'riya iyon boba ku laye orun Ha l'onlo. An adult does not
forget the experience of packing soft excreta from the floor.
That was the name of the 1fa priest who made divination for
awo Isheju who had a fay who was· a. very
beautiful· girl. · bride-to-be, from .the earth. Orunmila quickly made a
When she was coming to the world she intended to stay for a
very short time. When the parents did her naming ceremony
divination, they were told that the child ·was a fay and· that she
would die at the time of her marriage, unless she was given in
marriage to Orunmila, who alone could make her live long on
earth. There and then, she was
betrothed to oquunila.
She· grew up to be a very pretty girl and she had many admirers
around her. As soon as she began to appreciate amorous
affection, the parents sat her down and warned her not to
encourage any admirer because she was already betrothed at
childhood to Orunmila. On her part, she would have nothing to
do ,with. the dark-complexioned old
66
marry one of her more promismg admirers. WhFn the parents
refused to consent to her preference, she- told them that she
would rather die than to marry Orunmila. They did not take her
seriously .
As if to checkmate her intentions, the parents named a date for
Three days before. the appointed day, she took her bath 'early
that evening combed her hair, dressed up and went to bed. In
the morning she was found dead.
That coincided with the time when God invited Orunmila to
heaven to perform an important assignment. As soon as
Orunmila reached heaven he went straight to the divine palace
of God. Just before teaching there, he saw Death dragging his
representation to God querying how he could be expectedto
perform the task for which he was invited to heaven
when.Death had meanwhile taken his spouse from earth. · As
Death was about lo give the girl water to drink (po victim can
be.revived after drin}ci.ng water from Death). God ordered.
him,' tg~;,stop . and to release the victim to Orunmila, Shy
suqs~qqe,ntly · sat by the side q( Orunmila when 'he
wasperforming the assignment for Which God invited him to
heaven.
•
After dompletjng the task, he returned with her to earth, and
made ~tr~ght for)he parent's house where he surrendered her
to, them, , ~.t that stage the parents asked her whether she or:
they were proved right in the end. She conceded and
67
she or they were proved right in the end. She conceded and make the sacrifice,
agreed to become Orunmila's wife. She was led to ·Orunmila's
house the next day to fulfil the appointment made ea-lier.
Unknown to him; his wife had a - secret affair with a lover
who was a witch. The Iover used to transfigure into a .hare in
When this Odu appears at a naming ceremony divination, the
the night ' to ravage the groundnuts in his farm. Subs~qu~r,t!y,.
parents should be told that if the child is a boy, he is an Ifa
his wife c~aUenged him to do sometliipg· to end. lhetn~nace
priest.·· H the child is a girl; she is the wife of Orunmila. In
ofJ~¢ thief whowas,ravagi'!)g his farm, .He toqk ·up Jh~-
either case the child is a fay and canonly live if given to
challenge· by deciding to 1~ in ambush to
Orunmila as a servant· or as a wife. At U gbodu and ordinary apptehen·a the, thief. ' . .
divination, the person should be told that any child born
.afterthe initiation ceremony belongs to Orunrnila who alone
can make him or her live long on earth because he or she will After waiting for a short while, he saw a hare ·entering his
be :1 fay. farm. ·. He waited (o,rJh~ hare, to collect groundnup, before
takingthe aim. He.aJm~d his gun at the hare, but missed. fl~
threw his,~atchet ~i it and a~~o missed. Unknowit to him,' the
~atdj~t impacted oh 'the ground with its blade pointing
Divination t,ero're teavina=
.~
heaven; upwards. He'laterjµmped to appreherid the hare, but in the
process, he fell on 'the blade of his matchet and' died ..
Aro wonron kpu wonron -was the awo who made divination for
Idi-Owanrin before he ieftheaven for the world, He was adviseij
to make sacrifice with a fly on account of the problems he was
likely to encounter in his Ha practice. He was also told to feast When 'tfiiS' Odu appears at Ugbodu, the person should be·
Ogurr to. accompany him to tlte world in ·or(ler_ to· obviate the tgl~)p s.eh.e Es11 · at mice. with a he-goat to. avoid being'
risk of beirig ,killed bya woman. He killed_ by a woman, He.should al~o serve Ogun by.-having his
own Oguo shrine with a dog, cock: tortoise, snail •. gourd of

.
made 'the sacrifices, . '. . . .. ·. ,:
palm wine: arid'gourd
, .. '.._,. ·. ~ - .
of
r
oil: . · ' · -
The first per~n he divined .. for was. • _ far.m~r. who was : . ,' . ,- ' .· . . . . .. ..

When it comes out at divination, the person sliou~d be told

. ... .·

planting groundnuts in· his farm. He tol(f tbeJarfuer to serve

Esu with a he-goat to survive the'nsl <ff beibg killed by his
wife·? Since 'ie ~ufd not imilgiii·,~-(bu wife, who loved him
ever 51) much, coufd dr~of :kitlitig 1wn,· he refused to
to serve Ogun andEsu to survive the evil machi11ations ofa
woman, .If the divinee is a woman, it means ·-that she is
flirting\vith a loyerwith:whom she. is planning kill her to
husband. If the divinee. is a man, 'he- should be. told not to
. . .. . ... -._.
.

69
 listen to the advice of his wife in matters affecting life and
death. He should make sacrifice all the same,
What he did when be ~ame a •auellloa stocJ+;
.He was a soft-hearted man. After practicing Ifa art for some.
time, he discovered that people were making a jest of him
'because his predictions and sacrifices were no longer
manifesting. That is how he got the nickname of Idi-la'rin
(the laughing stock).
One morning, he decided to perform Ikin divination to find.
out why his fortune 'Yas ebbing, and·why he had become a
laughing stock, His own Odu appeared, advising him to
serve; 'Ifa with a goat, Esu with a he-goat, and Ogun with a
cock. He made all the sacrifices. · ·
WRen he subsequently travelled to Oja-Ajigbomekon, he
saw a full .neck bead on the way and picked it. ~P· He. ~so
saw a brass bangle and picked it up. When he returned home,
he was told that the Oba was' looking for a neck bead with
which to dress to a special conference of O~aS: "Esu In the
guise of -an elderly counsellor told the Oba that' . the. 'QIUy
man he knew that had such a bead was Idi-la'rin. The Oba
sent for· bim. . When he got to the palace, the Oba told him
that if he' could surrender the bead he 'had, he would give
him a chieftaincy title. He could not believe w~at be heard
because 'he . thought it was another P!OY for · rooling .. an~
laughing at him..· He however replied that he had;the bead
but was· not interested il'l a chieftaincy title. · · · , ··
70
He surrendered the bead to the Oba who told him in return to
name where he wanted a dwelling house to be built for him. -
He replied that lie wanted it built at the boundry between
heaven and earth. The house was built and he became the
consultant for anyone going to or returning from heaven. His
predictions and sacrifices began to manifest so effectively.
that penury and laughter soon gave way to prosperity 'and
eulogy. He became a popular and indispensable Ha priest.
When this Odu appears at Ugbodu the person will be told that
he will build a house at a road junction. He should serve Esu
with a he-goat, bones of Lion and tiger and a small basket. He
should also serve Ogun with a cock and a
tortoise. · ··
At divination the person should give he-goat to Esu and cock
and tortoise to Ogun in order to prosper in life because
people, are laughing. at him. ·
The sacrifice he mad~·
. '
Edi laarin aro ni'kpin nifuni ni igba kpa aadiye. Adafa fun edi
t'onibo wa da · olobe Aronikpin yawa ki ewa gbogbe
arol}ikpin. These were the awos who made d~vination for
Idi-La'rin when people wrote bim off as. a laughing stock.
and a finished man .and when he was given the rejects of a
fowl's wing which is traditionally given to a person adjudged
to be finished. That was when he. was very poor. He went for
divination and made sacrifice and subsequently became
71
108.

well to do enough to afford to buy: a goat to make a feast. He At divination the person should be tbld that a chieftaincy ~ - title or a
invited the people wh() gave him the rejected wing of a fowl, to ~igh positio~ ~ in theofffn~ for him. He should
the feast, giving them plenty to eat and to drink. While the feast make sacrifice to see it come through;
was going on, he swig the following .song>
Ira says people are makina jest 9t yog:
Aronikpin, ya walge wa gbobe . 0 Aroaj\c£\n•
Edi la'arin. Oni kini won ri ki won to rin edi. People are I
When this Odu appears ~ divjnation,. the person should be laughing at you but Orunmila asked, what is making them to
advised to be patient because his condition in life would surely laugh?· When the farmer leaves for the fartn
in t.he morning,
improve for the better. He should not repay
wickedness with wickedn~s.
of
nobody takes notice him. But when he reiurns home'with
' . ' .j ··'"' ; .•• -~,
yams in the evening, he is greeted with reverence. People make a
jest of the hunter when he le~ves with. his empty bag for th~
1bt'd\vin11tio9 he made tQ ffl a C[OWlli of
forest, but wbeti he rettirns witb'a bag frill games, he- is
greeted. with de,ight. Whe11 the :1fa priest leaves with his
Edi Ia'rin, ori mi· k~ ise iya. ·. Adifa fun Orunmila baba onlo eirlpty bag for]fa practice, people. Iila1ce jest of. ~illl as a
gbe ade lo' do Olofin. · Bebe be omi ko she igun. Adifa fun parasite and extortioner, but w~e.n h~· returns home, he is
Oruun, onlo gba ile •. ke ni'l.e Olefin. Ati gun-oke ohun, ati gun gteetetf with r~spect: Wilen ·he take~ care of them and their
oke .. ihin. Ad.ifa fun udi onlo gba asho IJ.i le .Okifin. children when' sick, they respect hi.tn. ' .
He made divination for the Head when he was going to take a Ohfilmfla tuggested thaf the s.a.~rifice to be tnade to iµrp
crown from the king's palace. He also mwte.d.~V\nation for the laughter 'to praise'is with two·;kolanuts, ohe' to' serve tlie head
Neck when he was going to take beads Irom the 'king's and the other to serve lfa for good luck.
pal~~~,1-Ie also Ola.de.divjnation for the Vlaist\Vhen he was "': f ' • .''j

gqjng.io~Jcc; ·G~i~ajl!nC)\ ~arme~ the\}cipg~·· 'I'll~y frp~ H1his"edfi appears at divination the per~on\v11fJ?e1told that
\Vere: all adv.ised.to ~~e .s~crifice. The Head was teld to make· pepple make' u jest of everything he does. He shoiild tnake
sacrific.e wit.·~ .a
.
·cap.
a white cock and a'white pigeon. The
· '· ,-. . · - . . ~,i, . · · ' ' ., · " .•. i-. ':.'. •. . • . . --.. _ .... • --' -· .. . ~ •
sacrifice so. that whatever he does. will turn out well.
· • ...,,
. r •·';J
Neck ~ told to ~k,e ~criµce with .. hi~ buba or ~h1rt, a hell
an~ •. a pigeon. The ~ail>! w'1S .tqld, to. make sa.crifice with;
sokoto (trouser) ·gwuect. fow.l, an,q p1gt!on.. They all made the'.
s~cr.ifi ces, and ea~~ of ;them .11.!'<:>n .. a cl;ii~ftain<;y.

72 73
 (;hapter 9 IQI-
OGUNDA, ,.· IDI-
OGUNRERE J' ·. I
. .
i. l
trI
I I. I
Aye olorun, · Aye Elekpo, Aye Onimeshe .meshe ndu
ghongb~n,' aya san owo otun, emo OWQ osi, Adafa fun
Asikolokolo nigbati won ni 111a' fi ibi shu .oloore. · ·
Th~se were- the awo{who mad~ divination for ~jkolokolo
(Osan-agbalumo ~r Oiien). He was .tol~ tomake sacrifice for
prosperity but,'i~rn~dth~t after r1c1king .it, he. should not
lookdown with ingratit1,1de.on his,bene{~ctqrs. He was told to
1pa~e sacrifice with,_.pig~on ~aving thre'e colours, (~hite,
brown and blade or grey), a bag of salt andSuk, I# made the
sacrifice, and prospered tremendously. At the height of h,is
fprtune,, h~ told pe9p~e. to, be leaking his, anus, which is w~,t
~<>pie· do ,tP, Osan agbalurno or Otien, W this (!ay.
,, .~· !J
At divination, the person should be told to make sacrifice
becau~ he f011l~.pr9sper" but.should beware .of be,eom,ing
va~n,glorius and arrogant at the height of his. prosperity;
·, . ; • ,> .. .._, ··' . . - __ •
He made divination for Akoko (the tree of life}:
Bi aba de ibi ti ale ti gba obun ki afi erun ara eni wu re dara
dara. Adaf a fun akoko kpataki t' onti kole orun bo si
kole aiye. Tivi owa dani akpesin, leyinokpolokpo uya.
' . . •"' '
When one gets a spacious 'ground; 'one will pray wishfully and
fervently fot oneself~, , That was the name of the Ifa priest who
made divination for the tree of life (lgi Akoko in yoruba and
Ikhinmwin in Bini)-when· he was coming to the world. He was
told to be prepared to exercise in-' exhaustible patience because
his prosperity would be preceded by enormous suffering.' If
hewas patient, hewas ~fog · to enjoy a blissful evening in life
'Yhjle commanding the reverence- and respect of all and sundry.
-.
He made the sacrifice 'and came to the world,' coming down at.
the rubbish 'dump, (Etitan in yoruba and Otiku iri Bini). People
were throwing an kinds of rubbish on him including human
wastes. Some peopleeven used his stem for cleaning their anus
after discharging human waste.
Eventually, Esu remembered that Akoko made sacrifice. When
someone wanted to build a house, Esu advised him, , t!Jat- to
live lorig on earth, 'he should build the house 'near, the Akoko
: .•. .~ J :,1-··· _i·} ; >,•
tree. The man started by clearing the rubbish' dump which had
been besetting the Akoko tree, before building his house near it.,
· After completing the building, p~ople-·began to serve Orisa at
• : , ' . the foot of the Akoko tree and white Chalk, white cloth, cock's
and parrot's f eathers became a common feature at the foot of the
tree. He later became the traditional symbol for serving God. He
truly
enjoyed the' evening of bis life in saerosanctity. ·
.•. _
74 75
Whe,,;i this Odu appe~(s Jt sl_iyipaiioµi <>!, l,Jgbodu, the person raped 'her. Orunmila however, . surmised ,. that' Adin
should be advised to endeavour to forebear all the initial cooperated to make it possible for Okun to rape her. ·
suff~fill~ in the mor~ing:.~ll9;~fteJOOQJl;~f .h.i$-life, because '; ~ .r- . ·" 1•

wi\h sacrifice, h,~ would ,enjoy- a;bliS$.f~l ~yelling.\ .He When; she returned to bed; Orunmila told her not to come
.would,' also . outlive all those who c1Jspi~4: :~~4 nears him any more. She explained1that, she;gave info Ogriri in
11.1altrea.ted himbe,ca~str. the A,koko:Jree oµiliv~s. ~y~n_ the 'thought that it was· he, her husband,': The following
t.h.e person who morning Ogun's alibii was also that he thought . he was making
plant~d.h. love tohis own wife. Oru:iunifa eventuany··settled the rift by
The
'
sacrifice~ he made befor!: leavin2
. . .. ' . . . .
. .
beaveru·, ·. ' . ,, ... . . suggesting that since the two of them thought they were
:' ' ' ' ., ' ' .,_.'·,J ,;. ·- • making love- to '.their sphnses, 'theft 'should" ipso facto
Before leaving heaven, he ~as. ady~~,d ; U}1\ ~ncl gifts to be'aJswapping of partners- ~ccordirigly.' Orunrnila 'tdokEkpb;
Olokun and to beseach him to accompany him to the world. H~ the light complexioned wife of Ogun whilst :Ogun 'became
W:~,also ,tokl:J9~jeJY~, 0l?~lif911, {~.~'~::,UJni} with. hen.. stuck with Adin, the erstwhile dark-complexioned wife of
Akar~ and.Ek~. ,cµi4.\9,giye h~.,~t!~ ,ijw~,,J}edid-all the. Oruamila; · ·
sacrJfices. H~. also made div:i~l.~#6" foi;,.Qgun,who also;
au~ed .to i~Uow him to the V'Wld-. . . .. - · / ,,. · The '.wife''A'wapping· exercise was completed and 'Ofurttnila'
.~ -~ .. ·--'; ?. 'j
went home with Ekpo and from then o~ began to f<,>rbid the
When he got ot the world, Ogun came to team up with him for use of palm trernef·on:(Adin' or' Asikhto) orfaccouhfof fle'r-
awo practice. .· lie was 'howeveI. soon to fall out with: infidelity and disloyalty. Ogun also subsequently rejected her,
Ogua,,:who;fail~d to.serve. Esu :before J~qving heaven. On· on t~ ground that'· if lie took her· to wife; 'she \vcfot4 most
op.e,QC~j9p., be trnv.ell~d with Og~n .t9_Qgbehe for awo an. probably be unfaithful to him as' she had' been; to' Orunmila,
· "(hey both iravell~9:)Vitb tb,ejr, ~VC,~ Qrunmi}~'S. wi(e. W~' Adin or palm kernel oil' is also ~riathettia ·to ail the other
~\l~ µlltta119 ~~ ~p~exioned, '¥Pile ()guns>.s wi.fe \\las . divinities e~cept Osanyin the qivinity of medicine, whq only
Ekpq :~4 !igttt~o~plexion~9. ~y.were_ .. aU.Jodged .. in.a{l, keeps her as· acbncubin~· (ale in, yoruba and egba:khiari in
op.ell Jjvjµg .room wh~e they -spread lJl~~ on .the floor to Bini)but not as a wife.' That is-'why Osaifyin uses it 'for
sleep in · the: iµgbt. ;, · ~i'epating some 'medicines, bin: never fof 'any other purpose.' -
'
.. t~ i .1:; ·i ·'
,~
:;; )i··
· Some 1j>eople do use it as! a pomade for rubbing' the 'Skin
Latf,f in:the, .¢&htr Adin leftt~~ -roo~n to.ease herself at.the bufaUadherents of Orunµiifa~ especially' Ifa priests and those·
back of the hoµse .. -, ~t ~ •. same .time, Ogua §tealthHy
woke up and followed Adin to the back of the house where he
having their ·own. Ifa; : are. forbidden to ·.
use it for that or any other purpose. · ·' · ·

76 77
He, also divined for .. OgbesseIn Edo and Ondo States to
become a big river .. That is ~I,y when this Odu appears at
Ugbodu, the person will be advised by the Ifa priest to obtain a
small goat, chicken; tortoise and the appropriate IeavesIor him
to have a. bath on river Ogbesse, or any other
flowing. river .close to it, .1
When this Odu appears at Ugbodu .the person. is told. to
watchouton his wife be.cause she ls contemplating infidelity.
She must be warned H> desist Jropl it because. at worst, it cquld
· te,rmhu~i~ her )if e~ , and at · best; she would he come· a
common reject ..
,_ . . '·' ' ~ -· ; which he took her home to live with' him.
After discarding Adin and taking over Ekpo, Orunrnila got
married to a second wife called Mooye. Incidentally, the
children.ofthis 9gu areprone to.marrying unfaithful wives.
Qfri~d rfor M~oye, the unfaithful wife of orunmil.a:
KollaJJi,G)ba·ma ·ko'.Ja, gbe ni hi oba ma gbeni, Omode ki fi
OWl!tP· -~~rl.J mu, oju WO oku orun, .. Adifa fun, moye, aya
Orunmila ni:ojo tojo ni ale ..
TaJce, okro if you 1i1ce: take more if:yo:u want. because an inf
ant does .not ~tart the day by starring at the face ·of a corpse.
That was the nameof the. Awo who made divination for Moye,
tbe wife of Orunmila when she had a IO\rer on the way tothe ~r;
· She had told the toyer that. the only way she couldleave
her~~u~band to marry him was by pretending
to be ill and dead. i·
as
She had no feeling whatsoever for the children she was
abandoning' to join her lover. She explained· that after feigning
death, her "corpse? would be parcelled intact and taken' to the
foot of the Iroko tree, as was the tradition in the place. After
being taken to the Iroko tree, her lover was to come· there to
untie; her t6 take her home to live with 'him as- man and wife;
The plan was firmed up.
When she got home, she pretended to be ill. Two· days later,
she pretended to be dead. She was parcelled up as a corpse ·
and taken to the foot of the Iroko tree as the final resting place
for the dead. Subsequently, her lover wentto untie her after
One· day, some of the children she bore for Orunmila went to
the market to buy okra. They· became curious when they
discovered that the okro seller looked very much like their
mother. They bought the: okro' but stood aghast at a distance to
examine the okro seller. The more they looked at' her, the more,
corivinced they were, that the woman was ·, their mother. The
gaze of. her children soon began to unsettle her and she told
them 'that if they wanted more okra they could take and leave
because a child did not wake u~_i_n 'the morning to look at the
face of a corpse.
Thereafter, the children left for home to tell their father that the
woman they boug'ht-okto,from in the market, was their mother.
On the next market day Orunmila sent some peoeple to go and
verify the' identity of the woman his children described as their
mother. When the people got to
79
110.
109.

themarket the,y,;agajHsa~.thc; worna~ ~elling okro, and they. were When it.comes out at divinationtthe person will be told that an
in 1\0 doubt t~at, the WOIIJcW ~as Mqy~. When sbe, saw i the Oba will give him a chieftaincy' title, provided he makes
people sta.rtii8: at .iie.r,,;$bF,.:re:p,,et1t~d what ~~e. totp, !!~d sacrifice. ·
children. ~n, t~~ previous ·~cµ-k~t, d.ax. a child: does ·. in,~ ..
not 1 wake up]n
toe· morning, tc;>.gaze, at a corpse,
NQnethe.less, .
. -· • '· 'c _ _'· <"/ > .' .. ·; \,:-~-- ·< •.,,-~_-,~-f-'., ,::;.;~,;-·.1" · _•';· .• ... _, .• .- -_. •

the . e,rra11(d. :qie~ ~~.re·.• in no position to .• be fooJ~: because

' ~ ; ;

after telling her that 5:pe was p~itll.er ghost norcerpse.jhey; seized ; -
her and returned . her to Orunmila and to her .
children.
w~~n··.
·,
·c: \\-ti~ bd~
~ppear~• af. 9iyf rw\~onJor .a ~.a.man, .. she J; .-,' 1.J·
.\Viii ,: bf foJ,c;f that .. ~~e is being unfaithfu! to, .her.
Ji~sQ~nft,Jwt,_-t~t : she niulit opt contemplate leaving him because .
.he will come ,: back for her. If it comes out for a man at divination ,
he will · be told that his wife is being unfaithful, but that he can
ni~~i' ~i~rifte~. sq_ she,,J;iia}1 n9t,.d1e. . . . , .. · , , ·. . .
. Made divination rJr D~n~duo. ~. divine pri~~t; :
. . . ~ ; ::. -.r ~-- ., - -. . . ..: ·. .. ,· . . .. . . . .. _ _ ··; . , -" _ ,

Dip-~l~ ~~W~ m~ci~.1~i~~<i11,for ;h~n he 'p,;~-d~n,,

:was go int y, r~ce,w~ hq~o~ •r,t IAAPY. sountne~. ' He w~'
?tqytsed ,.
to;.m.:ii)c·e· J~frjflf;,wi!h.,p~je.J>Q, bl .• ac,k ~ap,,,clo~. s, aµd ;· ,· :;,.

al)IIIJ~l l~atfier .. ij~ µi~d~ th~

>, :•; _',5,iCO,fi£:~~
.: ~~ <' "} , ,
' .:, · '• ,., ;, ', '· \",._. '.; ··.,.! , •.., ,.. , .. ·'.•-- • ; ; . ;, .C{ l ;,' •• , ; . . ' . .,. --- -.· - . .• . .! <
;.
- I

. When he got, to Olefin's palace, he began to dance and the •••

\:melody a11d I'f!bin ~f bis ~us~ ,t~~q~~ eyery, qic:1nber. of .
;th~ roraI ~ouseJ10ld qicl~uijppe JciRg~, ije ~~ spray¢ W)th
. iple~ty of' ~j(ts.Jtie .r~~at~d t~~:.P~F.:f or¢a,nc~Hlt. the palaces
.. of Sl}(tee1t: ,ijn~. and he; retµrne.fl hoWF1J v,:ry n~h man. '
..
,.,,._..
' ;/

80 8
1
 Chapter 10
IDI -. OSA
II· I
I II
I II
I I
He made divination for the Antelope and his brother;
When the antelope was 'coming to the world with his brother he
was told to make sacrifice so that his brother who was to
provide him a resting place would not leave him on earth to
return to heaven. The antelope's brother was the abode where
he slept and rested (Egbinrin in yoruba and Amegbobue in
Bini). · He did not make the sacrifice. He was told to offer
sacrifice to Esu and his mother and to have a bath by the stump
of a tree.
On getting to the world, he was initially doing well and resting
in his brother's abode. Esu, meanwhile asked for who was told
to make sacrifice but failed to do so, and he was told that it was
the antelope. Esu then persuade the famier to make a farm on
the place where the antelope used as his abode. )(s soon as the
farmer · felled the tree, the brother of the antelope died and
returned to heaven. That was how the antelope ceased to have
any permanent abode and why he began to roam about for want
of a place to rest.
When this Odu appears at divination the person will be told
82
that he will be intimately involved in the problems of his
brother. He should make sacrifice so they might live Iong
together · on earth, least . the death of his brother wouk
seriously unsettle him.
He made divination for the shavina,fmife;
- Ajadi run ashiso. Odafa fun Abe ti'koni she oro ori la'she . ti.
He also made divination for the shaving razor advising him
tomake sacrifice with a snail. He did the sacrifice. That i:; how
the shaving razor was able to shave the hair and .beard of the
human body. · When he succeeded. in shaving
the hair he began to sing: Idisa, Idiso which is the noise the
'shaving knife makes when being used to shave the hair of
the human body. s
•
At divination the person should make sacrifice to be able to · do.
his work satisfactorily.
He made divination for the rubbish dump:
Edisa, Ediso, Odifa fun Etitan ti yio maje ofe ni ojojumo. He
made divination for the rubbish dump (Etitan in yoruba and
Otiku in Bini) to make it possible for him to be getting f1ee
food daily. He was told to make sacrifice with a hen and a
pigeon and a U-bolt (Esheri in yoruba and Aban in Bini). He
made sacrifice which is why he obtains free gifts every day
from every household.
83

He . made · divination . rot . Q&dem- ·to:· ·sUYiw the evil
mechinaJipns of,.bjs, metlle,. · .,Q&dllMhWas, :a mlllt&IJ'
commander in .the Nmed Forces of ·the·Benin Empire, .
Ogelebo was a famous warrior who had several medicinal
preparations (0sun) • _that . · were" ;protecting him.
Unfortunately, his mother was a witch who did everything to
subvert: bis plans and achievements, and . he knew her for
:what• she was. .On one. occasion king Ogiso · appointed him
to,suppfess:theiinsurrection in Uhe (now:lfe) .. Before·goiiig
to,.hattle,<he went· for· divination. and he was told that his
Bl.Other had .a plan to kill his-wives and:.chiidr~n before he
te:tumed -from the war. He was told to make sacrifice 'so .. that
his protective devices might be able to foll the evil plans of his
mother. He made the sacrifice-befere leaving for the war front.
Before going to the war front however; he built a special house
on top of a big oak tree and kept the members of his family.
there; gi'@g them · a. charm with· which . they .. could conjure
the tree to step down for them to go into and out of
•the house. He however concealed the ptoy,from ·his-mother.
Afte11 his· depatture,the mother scanned die whole town for the
wheteaboilts ·, of , her sonts wives and children, She however
thought.tbatwherev,er theywere hiding,·they could
not avoid.coming·to the market.·. · and started cutting with· the following incantation:
. ;-,.
Several market days after the . son's departure for the war
front, the woman went to hide in the market at a vantage point
from which to see whoever was coming and leaving.
84
Meanwhile, she saw her daughtersin-law.comingtooccupy their
stalls in the market to sell their .wates. She also watched them
leaving the market, but after trailing them for a -, while, -· ~e
lost. sight, .of· them, , She however returned: totheir-stall where
she-fQllnd a pad which her.daughters-In-law inadvertently left
behind . She took, the· pad and' commandedit.to .lead. hen.to
,WhC~ver its owner Was living.
The pad instantly led the way from the market to the foot of the
oak. tree. Almost immediately, she. heard the eoek crowing
from .the top.ef the tree; .Sinee she wasfamiliar with the:
crowing of their: eock-sbe coacluded that they must be, the
ones living .on the top:1of the- tree. · As she did not kJlow. the
pass-word for- :climbing: the tree, she. stood" helplessly at its
foot ..
' ,., {-~ ~; -~ A~"!
Since she was a witch of unlimited diabolical capabilities, she
hitiher-buttocks .. and-an axe suddenly emerged, With the axe ·
she .began, to mow down the ·tree~ AJ~eble touch-with the ~e
incised a large· dent on the tree, .Jt was time for the 1
protective devices of .her son.,to:,go to work. One.ef the son!s
Os1,1n_ t.rransfigured into a,.~mpassing by, Wh~,the: man, asked
bel' what 1she was, doing, she replied that; there. ~:
somethin.g,pn, top of the .tree that she wanted to have. The-
.1pan told her that.shew~ too old for the 'task of felling a big
oak tree and effered teassist ber., The-maa took-the axe from her
85
 Ti Iran, egungan ranju Ti
iran .igboroko.
As he was cutting, the tree began to heal up and to enlarge in.
size. Realising that the· man -was tricking her; she took
theaxefrom.hlm, turned him into a whltefrog, killed it and
swallowed it. Almost immediately, the frog came out from her
anus and escaped.
When· the woman resumed cutting, she had made a significant
dent' on the stem of the tree. when a man returning from his
farm saw her and offered to help. The man had
transfiguredfrom an~her of the son's Osun. The same process
repeated itself, ending with the woman turning the farmer into a
black frog and swallowing it up and the frog. escaping through
her anus.
. '
At that stage, the wives on top of the tree had been alerted to
what was happening below. Meanwhile, the black frog took
position at a distance away from the tree and began to
command the tree· to c enlarge in size as, the woman was
cutting. Seeing· that · her plans · were being thwarted, she
decided to .. chartge strategy. She commanded the dry· leaves
of the forest I to: gather from the foot to the '.top of the tree and.
was fidgetting on what to do to· set them ablaze when the wives
began to weep with the following· songs-
. Lele re agua, Agua lelere,
Eroye rule ife,
ako gele oyibo
ogeme bule re ja-o-o J,
meaning:
'whoever is going to If e
should please tell our husband,
Ogelebo tha,t there is war at home.
Another of the son's Osun turned into a parrot and left for Ife.
When the parrot flew up to the battle field where . Ogelebo was
fighting. it flew round its master and dropped a red feather in
front of him and the feather began.to dance in circ,les: Ogelebo
>" • .• ,·
realised that there was danger at home.
, ., ~
' ,} ~ I~~ '
He quickly ordered his lieutenants to continue the military
operatlon while he dashed home to find O,Ut what was
happening. In fact, what he did was that he wore his magic
garment in which he d~sa1meare<J from the battle field to re-
appear almost )mmediately at the.foot of the oak tree where he
kept, his family. He met his. mother as she was about to ignite
the dried leaves that she had lined up to the top of the tre~'.
Hecalled his mother by.her name demanding an explanation for
her _hard .. heartedness. She explained that since . he could
conceal . her food from her she was determined .. to reachitby
force.
In desperatlon, 'he brought out his principal· ASE and·
commanded that "if God created women to bear children and kill
them to eat, the fire should consume him at once'. On the other
hand, he continued, "if God intended that a mother's first
obligation was to. safeguard the lives of her ·
87
children, the fire should consume his mother;. The fire from
the leaves instead of burning up the tree immediately
encircled his mother and roasted her to ashes. Aftet' the body
of the mother had burnt to >3:Sn~s, ]:te collected the ashes
and sprinkled it on' his·j:,rt1tectfve Osun. Before the
following morning the'ashes'tunied into a salamander and
escaped into the forest.
~. . .: ~ ,i ;'.
When this Ifa appears at Ugbodu, the 'mail should be told to,
be prepared 'for' the battle for subsistence: If his mother is riot
,a\witch, he' has 'a wit~ ~h,? plliys the role of a mother to'
him. He' should offer, it be-goat' to· Esu before, completing
the lfa initiation ceremony. He should also serve his Osun (or
Osanyin)·wrth a cockand offer)ien eggs to the
elders of thenight. ,,,,_
Whoevet has this. odu ·at Uglfoou· will'»ot· prosper ,if he'
settles down ·fo live iri the pll.ce of his birth;' He must go to:
•a different town or country tosettle down.' "' , . ,
', __ : ;±. ' . ,; . , -~ '
When' it' ·appears·a~ divlnJtfo~ the jpetson 1~ll ;l>e told' to
use a·he~goat (o·~~ti his head On };:SU )tjn1le'.'b~cauie of'.:a
1
cdnflict r which:. will : involve hinY. If h~ · 'J(as ' tfa: he
should serve it with a duck to avoid carrying
e'tse~lburd~ri. ,, If he does not have Ifa, he should serve that
of the diviner,
)
or
but sooner l~ter, he must have;:,bis own! .
;'"\
, ,,,
How the divinJttes 'tecun,ed 'to heqvett: s-
... ~ . ' ; ii)\ ·_.,,.\ :- \. i :
Igida, tote da.: Toto igt,o ori oke yi bltpa ni ju e}f I<{ Adaf~ ·
; fun Orunmila. Abufun awuu omo erumale. Gbogbo won losi
orun .. are, maabo,
~
'·
Let the rain fall, The dew in the bush beats one more than
rain water: These were the awos who made divination {or
Orunmi!~, a~d ill· t~, other divinities, .when they \Vere
returning for good and ilkto heaven, God had .ordered all
'
the· divinities to make arrangements to return to heaven
because the world had .completely been taken over by Esu.
The angelssent by OO<i to deliver tile message told the
divinities that they were required in heaven tp participate in
celebrating the anniversary of creation in heaven. At that
time the divinities di<\ .. npi. know that .. anyone who
arid participated in the festival' could not return to earth.
Orunmila's guardian angel had appeared to him in a. dream
to advise him to serve his head and to tell whoever came to
invite hirn to heaven, that he would coP,te after serving his
, head. As the other divinities were going, they came to invite
.;~;;: '' ·, ! . i .: _. ~,' !.
him to join the party and he told them that he would come to
heaven.after serving hishead, By the time they all crossed the
g~$otheave11 tq ~e gr~at beyond.Orunmilahad still not
,!
.i9i11~~t the~. Wpoµ, ,they all assembled in .heaven, God
sohieorle asked for ~ whereabouts of Orunmila, and they reported that
he was going to .serse his head before coming to heaven.
God thea ordered Olubode, the gate keeper, to close the gates
. . . / ~ of heaven.
. .. ) '' '· : '' · .. ,· '.:· ,'
As soon as Olubode, reported that he had closed the gates,
God told his, divini~e$ that they were in heaven never to
88
111.
112.

:_' j a:.;> >; ·, ."' y. ~; i j~:

return to earth because He was abandoning it 'to Esu; He added

that if Orunmila was able to hold. his own against Esu, he was Lo ni ni olori yio je ori re Jagi. ': ·
:afliberty to tetriain1h'ere:· That is Why Orunmila tem.atrts the. Omo ogele, owu de omo og~l~. ·
only diviriity th~t ;is nof invoked for 'divination
anditalsoexplainswhy'he is the'orily cfririnity thatwas able-: The women who fed satistactorily on his meat were those
to device c\ Stratc!gy for dealing· With! Esu. '; · . ,. · · . · •· •that became mad in their husband ls houses, The men who fed
'"' ;··-: well on his flesh were those who attacked with matchets those
Whe,11 this Odu appears at an annual festival divination, the who seduced their wives.
person' should. be' ~'dvised :,to make speeial sacriflee to lfa to
avoid)at!~tll !D that parti¢ufar )1.eat. . . If:_thisJ:~o4u;'apP.~r~' .~- ~ivjn~tion the person should; be
·. !. ]F, .· :" .. ~(. f:t :JJ)i! ·, J.L, :-.~h·, ''".JJr ·,:· advised not to go to where people are fighting .to 1 avoid being
beaten with sticks. If the divinee is a man, he will be aqviseq
;0J1e~~~ of _§e9\l.fing. anybpdy's, wi(-e .. If she .is_,a ·
Eni oju abe, wom~ she shoulp.,be. a.~yis~.d tg ,~Cfr;p_, an even temper, and , .
Ola ij~d~dun, .• "':"!l"'.- to'._r~fraiJ.1,1fromthQ~. ~e~p~nl.nient{o ~ypid sud~7n death, In-
~ • ii i . , '
wefcf the awes w'ho miide divinatton fol' oWu, 'agele omo asi, · , alLppe~,}iie ~r~~m ~JI.be tpJd ,to,ina,k.~1safnface1 t!
ehit(si•ofuo'si; 0Wtr°1nla ottib'.·:oge'Ie.· ., .;: ' l \ ; . :
i1'"7, '[t'; __ ; L',·, "-~·. ··r··! .,. (•: , t:')' .• ;. '·:; 1 , .• · ~: ! .• : ~ ••

0~16mc>
1
sr was' a\fvised to inakc(isad.ifice with a "lf~goat, 1 ..
three~dubisfaticlf5k'16 a\'Oidth~lftihger of: ~!irig'<:fu~ to';i:
1
death/ He''fficf1n'Ot :maid ~ifice:'Whttt•tE'!fo •was tafd tlmt' ·. ;" • !--·: ,)

Owu did'."not ma~e. slcrifiee;'. _h!P suborned ~eot,le td fise · ,·.

, :J I.

batt>nson him:'afid·owtf'YJas ~ateii·lo death; => •,.' ;,, ', i.,·." "Jl~ >. 'J.'

After kiffirfgo~ Bsu aa.ised llis killei's't~ divide him'fiJ),'/;i ·; ;.,.-tr, r -.:!L·
.:·1 .; ~.: ) ' '-'-.- ·: '
in the following poem:
1
Le· ni' rii ala pa yio j~'·re~tan- ()~:~: :· '-.·. , ;
Own ae'mno~gele. 'Leni'ni ohitani.,._.., o:~; , r i·
itan re tan, Owu de omo-ogele,

90;
91
.
 Chapter U give her directions, white chalk and aligator io hold for any
IDI-ETURA _emergCIJcy and ~9l.an1,1ts ~µppose~y tQ eat on the way.
IDI-ATAGO God d!d not_aisclo~ Ii.Ow He. ~cted bet to use the four gifts
IOI-OK.PARO' I I ·gi~en tc>'hef. e ,• • · ·· •• ,. · • •

i III
· · · I· ll The dispatch ord~r\Jas giveh ·in Anne in the presence of
I I Bzi7JI" .~e wind divinity. After .reasoniag that God was likely
a
to jye-'~er; fou~tain· of aut~ority if she succeeded,, Eziza
set out to thwart the. efforts of Arirte~
'·"· , . .

Orisa Owo Ifon, Oro Odun Woromi Woromi, Orisa Wofan

orantaodun woromi woromi, Ada.fa fun Nene, abuftih 1Arine, , ;~~!S£ ~e 1ra~fiJl:lt~d, ,(Pie'11a~! \YcO~ and ~t9~
. acco~~ed ' . ¥~~:·!o:~s~afh,·~~rtp spar~,ru~r.w~·~~ .chalk. to
omo Orisa, ,, u~tC?_rher pregjtajl,Cf. · -~,JJ~ · ~btrged 't~e preg.11ant
Those were the two awos who made· divination for the two ·. worn~'- .. · wllhngly. ' ijext~·· Eziza ttarisfigµt~d i~tp' 'a'
daughters in the household' of God, Nerte· and Arine. · rnotber . backing 'her infant ·' ~hild ,on· h~(~~tk_'. The_
Nene,the . senior one, was very wealthy.' She had s~p~!ed 'nursi~g mother be.gged ~ine for
everything,that prosperity could bririg, white: Arine, the . k6l~ut~eF'~;'_s~'',was. very hungry. Once more
junior one, lived a relatively modest life. That was·the time in - Ariite readily obtig.~<t t ',, . . ' '' . . . . ,

heaven when conditions were in a state of topsy turvy. God .On a, third. occasio~, F~·
turned .Ult61l mart· and
invited Orunmila to find out what had to be done and appealed
he recommended sacrifice with snails. · ·
•(o. )\rine .. to spare ~9r ~ 95e o,f the .P~o_t's feathershe
.Ji,ad ori h~r bead ~. pfepare . me~i~e . f9r hi~ preps.pi
God called on Nene to go to the forest to fetch snails and she .Wife.· ~t_-~):_h~sita~gp·A,nne smrendete~;the red p#.rot's
bluntly refused to go, arguing that she had past the stage for , ~~ather to ~- strange 'man, · ·
such abject errands. God then called on Arine to go, and
without waiting for a second utterance, she immediately set ,
1
F,itµllly, Ema t11rne4 into a hunter and begged· Arine to give
out for the forest. As she was going, God again called on her him ~g-tor pepper and once more she readily obliged ..
to confirm whether she was prepared to go and she replied
' Aft~r moving af~ ste_ps aw,y,the'hunter~tu.rned back to ask
that she was already on her way. God however gave her a
'Arlhe whaf she was doing alone in the heart of th~ forest.
red parrot's feather to wear. on her head, which was to
She replied that her father told her to fetch snails from the
fores]. The 'hunter' squeezed the aligator pepper between
'· ,.)..... ,. .

92 93
113.
-~ . _t.:. ~ ' ~> _; ~~}. :-, ~" Y '· ''\.,; •• ," • ..,. ' • .;..., ' ',:, ., ! ('· 7

- .- ,his_ palms . and . tliriw !t#( s?~t i°N\t/iHb' ~H~~; ,'Eii#; would ask him for four things. h~/sh~ 'only; has . in . single
units. He or she should no.t hesitate . to part with th.~m because a
~hen more rewaroirlg tecaittpencei,WoMd,-:follow'Jin
asked her what her father gaJther'for'the 'wil~'.ioos~_~b.;;1.Se on return. When it appears at U gbodu, is an indication that it.
which he sent her and she replied that she 'had given 'all the persqn is a w1tch &i wiiatci'. · ·t .. ,- 1- _ ,, ' ,;tl
j. . . t .,:-.,·:.. . :·~::-'--: f tn/·
':

. Eziza
. ·,

the _111,aJeriats,
- advised her'~w~y
• _..

.t<L w"'.h~-W
--•

witn pepP.J¢'..
continue_:,~t.~r
.

_ .. ,1. ~:-,.
, '. ,, ,
.her _'l>t;.ii~:volent
. • _1 ,·" < . _- - . :: -~ ·.:· ~ :: ;l j : ., ' .' ' -_ ' . _: -_ ,; \· 1 ' .... • · '. . ;.? . .1~.. . . ·_

turh He mad~ divination for Etu and Edu and the entlre·a·rtntr:i•·
, .. <, • ' ; I.-• •. , · . , ., ~-~ .; ,:; '· , · • , "' _.,J: ~, ' ·:· . .,;l ,• ,• ;;. ,.,

- dispostition oecau~~-.9t1e_- go~~-1 ,~~s~¢~f a4ci\~t~r~-

'He '?~cl,;; :, , ,-., ,_,_:'- ,. . -., - _. :· ; , -,_____ - -: ... r
eventually told her ·took for snails· Iri the· 4iredion to fo
-~_J;iJc~ he ~adi't~w~~;Jff~~1f.,df ?fi~P,~~P.(P~Pp~r. ~~\Hhe . .
-J ~~n the ~fd~\l~-~-si~ed fo~~~f~pte~a~~~ -~~.r~ c?~ij)o
tµ.rnec;l _ to'w,'afd~. th_~: ~h,:e.¢.tiph. pf t,b~ J~\1~tp~. R~P,p.e.t the «rotld,tHey mtly expected a threatto tbe1t'hves to eeme
se_;ds, -. ·, she saw',~ ey sn~il,s' ~_rip pac~~Q medf of
'111ajiy ·a~ fromthe bigger animals. They sent a delgation of two, made ·ap-
~(&h~: c1'vld '.: ~try_. _rtj~. :hµn_ter')1~q, ~~Jieq · pe,r · t.o. Hfth~ ·~t-¢lqp·t,'arid Bush-goat-(Efu _of IgaHl"'aiuPEdu, .
~~_aye _·a_ '_~a~~,'."_s~ift E!u,!pr rtJ1a
and ~du ii, Yoruoa)l(Uzo and_Ogiiorizirirati.'·in -
: , : q~s~t, wt~'- ·'p~hr( leay<?s. ,Jq{ ~~1(\;,th(, sn~ib~ :lhe ,_, · Bfhf~' to Otuiunifa' to' tell 'them :what ·to 'do -for survival· on .
C'q" ,,.-:"', c 'lled"A
,-.'ntaihei"'is' il'b 1H·e · ". baJ rhi'ch is
,,·,r~ ,, ,c,.,,_,.8,.,·•·,,J., ~·, ,Y-91'.\t,. ~:.VV•. -1,,
this.
•. , •. ,,--n how e'artb.' They \v¢re · told td 'make · sacrifice withhe-goat t6 'Esu
- ·odu got its nickname ·on01~ata'go:·Sht,~\i~~k1¥ci. f~,~ sir~~er ahci ··cock iciOgnrt, because 1of'the threat to their'Uves1tltat
and went home happily with the snam.·· . ,· ., - - mankind was going to pose to them. Since' they, never coqntep .
1 on . mankind .. as a threat of ' breadth-taking
. ' - ·u1f.'ek1 Af ne1 r.: t hgirib :·drtinmiia' -llSid the· sa~i1 · to . riiJ ·~top_ort1onsf1ney ignoretf the advkef'They an came -re/the wo'tla
where they were f~ous for
~their ,alacrity 'and zjffity.
;-'~ 1 .> .(,-1. ·
ke .nr <,)~)'!~-rr:-~.n-) ;>',.._·•.¥
.f, ,.,~ i: .~ ·-,~ ' ! .. "! I ::.{;

'l l,. _.gQ..,,.·,v- ',,~- .·

Yffl!,,-,' l .. • -• ,, .. .,.,,. '" . . ,S. c· --~
,J .. 'the'ie · Mred'sactific~ arid'i&e'''cofulliiort ofheaven returned Meanwhile, when Esu was told that the kindred'of metliutnsized
- :' i~ihidsf lttitri~diitel i' to, ribriri.~L 'Evgiitlian' i .. Grid JJf four-footed animals failed to make sacrifice, he invited Ognn and
ec1ion taught him how to catch ahinralifor·food~ thfbitgh huntingwith
i. ; NJiiJ ii rid Afirt~; tt'shitid'beroitttlN: ·~pf
\~~in(\~ q~ey the _poisoned arrow, boomerang, and the trap:
His instruction, God proclaimed 'tha'.f- all the wealth 'tbat ;;;Tn;at -~ now_
rhankii-icl began' the. hse·:of hunting' weapons
.tiene,,_4ad, which made herpompous ~oµld t)1e1l~fm~h1be ·;
1
'ah"cflh~· setfirrg
't>( traps· for'ta.tch11i ~mats for food. '
__ ·v~~t~l in l}\,rine ··:~hile' _ sh~, was _ ·.Jo-th~ lo rewr.11 J,·:·,., .,·.·:· .:)"f ·fn: "' ··f_:··;: ·.:Y· . • •.

ers!Wh.ile · hhtp~le .~f~p~si~i~11 6f Arine ... Toaf Is ~h_y ~- i_~ When. this Odu appears at divination the person should be~j
sa_id _ Jh.~l Oso 1 :da ·',~~he ~!~.e_,
,oso,',Arin_e -~~rt~, .CW - \

·- 94
.thaf .Qi~ ~o ~4~~~ _95
,
~
;
- sisters·swa· ped foftunes. · ·-·-- "' ·_·· , . · · · · ··- -
· ;: >·:-r:. / :~ Lf. -;"~ ,,.:.i::·--_ } .,, _,.- .: :.fit ~,~\-.~-~'-·; · ··_:;~ ~r ;: c _:'

- · wttiri this bHu appears\it di~riation,. ti\{ p~rs6n. should be

told that he would undergo a difficult test in which people
told to make sacrifices to Esu and Ogun to avoid death from One night, he had a dream in which he not only saw that the
armed robbers or hired ~.~ns., - .. - villag~ had been repopulated .and. developed into a thriving
town, buf alsothat he .. ~as.made 'the ·1q!l(of-the place, ~-
- .. . __...--~-- ~--~-7
He mode- divi·natign
~ -. .
rorAJa&eIDQi,·· , ..
, ·- ' . . . ,_. . . ·. ·.. . ·;_ .. _;· '
. ~- the, Jll,<>PJ,i,n&)lo~~. _dj~na#on 011Jhe significance of the
0
Igbinko kpile Aro, Afi'd boju kp~e ~fa. ~~~ Ifa)old hini; tp .serve his ~e~~ ~~ a', goat -~ ~ve·., ~e~go~t. to:
Eniyan ko gboju fi fo le adiye agada, Ada fa fun Alagemo to Bsu so'.tli.~t an .i~-:conting gift.might //·,,..reaclthim, He di9. the
saCJifi¢e$. H~ was also told t6 tie a
ma lol~. yiyan. . .. · ... · , .
The snail Y'a5 not interested in dyestuff. .· , .. / hFll 'at .· ~ lfa . shrine or allar and . to ring it f~om .ti~e· to
The bush hen (Oyele in youuba and Ukorobozo in Bini) time. He also
,; .· ;1. · --· ...
did it. ·
,h!sl :no int~ntio!l of cryi11g aloud, ; ; .. , -.. , "' .··_·, _ ,
~d did r:ot ~pc:c;t the fowl' tied on botb legs tc ~fly. ]lire;~ 44fi
r~t~r~ ~~_he~ame ~µh~.,Aft§r ~<>me ti~~,
~ .. -· .. ..
. . .. -- . .· - ' . .·
th~.bell was 'also stolen' from· bis altar, ~ smce 'ijad lost, ~e
These were .the three awos who made divihatign for the his sight,he could not search for it: M~·anwhile, there w~· a
cbam~ie9Dj:O live. a swagg~ring and gentle lif~~Jt,e. was. told proclamation that au
the fol'D)er inh~~itall.~ ofJhe vylage1
to make sacrifice for long life, He. did the sacrifice wh'icb is should tenim to re,~abjlit~te ,thfir house.s because· tlle place I
why he live$1.onger than most animals and is able to survive was· i~ peC()t11e, the, seat the king t9 be crown~d' (Qr the of
for a lorig time without food, He mad,.ia~rfice with rat, fish e~erging tq~ The people got Jqfeth~r a,.pd -we#t for
. 4ivi~~on,~d it·w~_r~ve~ed_~~at th~_~ngship;~~ to,g~to th~Jll~n
,e~~ and ,a~~~-- , _ /. , _. who _ was able to .r~~!~ve the blind m,n~~ W!SS,U,8·
)Vlie9 .. th~ Qdu,ap~ars:.~t Ogbociu lite ~sqn-,sho~Jd;.be ~qld -~~-- ,j ' •' · ... " • ·, ' ' •• . '.'' .- ••••• ··-

'U) "~ ·, tge. special ,,<r!fice, for long Jue,. wwch: is prepared · ~. ' 'j!, ~ ' ,~· • . • · . -: : ' } 'J ·, _. . ;:...

with the appropriate leaves, and chameleon in a On t~e day the people begun clearing the place for
soap :f~·bim to use.Joe bathing. . rehabilitation, there was a heavy rain that night. the When
. - - . . I .
I blind, I~".atago came outof thehouse the foHo'Ning morning,
/
unkpowp to.~ the ... rain .. of tl)e previous ni~t'bad· made the'
'
1
Wb1t be did 91 urlb:
grpµn~ . to ~ecome ·Slippecy. As he was wallgiig,,. 'he slipped
H~ ~~ a prominentdiviner one~ butlived Jfone:in-an· and fell into a pond, As he was struggling ·to come out of the
abandoned village. (b~ .in yoru~a JU1dEvbo na na sl jpaa in pond, his hand held on to a strong metal pj,j~
Bini), where people used. to come to hirn lqr divination. •which t,µmed out to be his missing bell. Since he bad heard
'. '

96 97
114.

'> ··! t_;,.

. / . 'Before ,~ .. ·tett heaven;: he was'told .to 'make sacr:ifi~e, to:·

··d , ' :- . ~· , · .. : ·_: ,"'f ··'. .. ,I
Jit ~liM todf~d li.Js~ 8P-.,'11~ftl!J#~.}Jle'.:~~P.te'Jim
• ,,~···,."·: · , ; · ·· ·:. · .· •.' .: ,C ;, 0 . :. ".i· v · · .•. : ;,, .. , .• ,.,. ' ··. ;

Sango Atorije, who i~tlthrough the liead; Ohirimih(Ajetin

,to~im ... 10. ~fun_P! . .Qn..e. who 1 ~~ts µir91,1gh the throat; .and
• and· told him ·1.t 1iold 'on to his bellbecause no blind man Ogun "._Ajeu# t~·~ya,' eat;!through 'the 'chest. He' who
'· ~\llP, b~ '.rii~d~'. kfot iNii*fipe sct1ff,1~)9iiihqne J1it ~a(tolo to
~i.m on i~~·::rac~· .MQ.·' ··~yes .. _'iµs~.aiitly_ ,op~ileq. ws .. ;_si,Y<r: t9~k-~o:~ang_o, ~otk fop~~ and hep to
'Wim. the' t\yO miracles that transpired lot 'Hitn on 'th~ same Ori;ipiriilft;'.~o - :Wa:f t~ey1 irliglifcp~e t,6 helphirii 011 (?artl}
day! all t~e people concluded that God and the ancestors
wiin'fe(l him' to
_'.He ma~e all ~~e fle,-w~ ,.;:~~fr}fife/_'
!~Id J~,giY~. a ~l,so
-~~c~· t9 9s~,ilyi~;1;!?pt
~-<r ~~g}~e Y!rasi,,,m~d,~ Iq~g·~.!hot1.~.q~!~Y,'.1Il.~r , hf refµ~~~. to dp_ tha!. sacriflce be] pre. he came tp (~e, ':V9f1d.
gi~.e~,.,a \Vife. The wife nildia male child latet·who I' '~
• . _-· .
.•• ; ; : '( \
.. ,' i . t
:;
,' _ ~ - .
l I •·

.., ..
'

____,
•

. '. .
; -·

1
, \ _. ~' ' • '

was'.named·lfa(ji e'(Ifa
..l"\'',f";!" ' ,-,,''//.'' , f'': ' , .·"'. p bn 'getting to ttie w6tld,' lie got.· married but· ni~ w1ife. c9µtd
.gave advi~.ef(otWude~1h Bit#).:. .' · 1 :. · ~-
~- '\' ·.,. ,: , :, :" :.'""! "!,,"·· < i, ·>,'', < ·-_ < I f :,;

'•:,;;. not have children. He took· a second wife who also 'had no
~•' . I ;: _> · l.:. (-_:> '·.,!. J ',. _.-._; !'.·. ·,,/ ·' ' . ·i ,': ' :' ::, ! ! : { •'

children. Meanwhile, the three.divinities to whom he made

.: wtie'n '.'tlii{ Odu ~~ L, ~ars' af . tr ' b~dt{ the ... ·• erson'
shouldbe
:. ia~dffce. fo1 h~aveh1: kls6 ',tafue to the;world., •. He
-_P.r1:} , " ., :-~,--·, ___ -:··. ~:r..,.~- P. /::" ., .. -. ,, _ , , .met.the:m ' .• at .9titd-iJaloko J<>r divin_ation: ,' ; Althoµglj
}··: ,1:·-"' ":_- __ $-: _.-) .•. ··-t'

... Adyj~e# tQ. serv~.~is·n~td:,witq· ~ g9~t befqr~

:- ..
h~
did · not ·'resog~!~e. them, _h~.·p,ersu'aded the three
£9~pleting· the of'them.)~, follow ~fn} -~C?:JP~: ,.:n,1¢Y agt~·~d). bu,t:~hey told
'ipi1~gtfon,c~r~roo~i~s.,·H,es~ou1d ~so .serve 'Esu with fie- a him that ,they Jqr~~c;Je
:g~~t'~o. itt;~t.~n,~~~tj~tji !pli(ttne~t rhig~r_cb#ie ~9 ~frn. · 'to eatIn lhe,,pr~_(e:9·ce of anf !110r~3:l. ,, ,., ; · .,, ... ·
,:'. '. , _/".__; , i' ''., i,' :: ; ,,

lle
. At
sliou1d mak~ sacrifice
divination} :tlie' i,1ers8i(sB~uid 'H~ ad\Tisecl'
·to obviate the,risk'of eye.troublet<f ~~~-.- with'~u . A\ t~~jf }~~~~c~,;!h~,;,bl.~f~~ t.h~, .. d?or )e~din~ t~ the
;,)Vithioi\tilrhiit 1~~vJ1 tetve~~ 'a8:'hen;·b~c~ust·e>,f
· If~::o(~is'~¢ad
a.1ie.:jq~t, 'aiid '.Wl'.isa in '.yotu6~a t-
. .0!1~: d~y~
,ap;~i;tm~N wJHie'.
.~1'\~fe he was
.. ,~~)' awkylod~e~,
~er~_ to 'tlie farm,_
.w1tn. o~~ <>f ~is
mstruct10~
.~olit~~t. i~. w~ioh ·'he. is. gomg ·· to
'or''effo·;blduie' in Bini) in addition to leaves· be' ·'iriv9.Ived:
that fell into mJiia ·wiyes wij: curio~, to' see)i'pw· th_e Sttangers were
that ting. - ~a
other
pond. He shotild use them to wash Ws eyes for seven days to
~~6p~~/1;_''
. avoid eye :.: ' .. ,. '· :; '~~:,,'.; ,v;.:/: .i:',.'.'.f),;,',,.·,,:J,
f s~· used ···:~
<?§st~~ t~d~~~ to~9them
to 1$eJ~]Y.e,~ ~~~md' the''f~n
cFtnb-,i1p·t~~ wall, ·to_spy ·oµ· J

1
,

t9~m. ·As .sopn --~ .: she &w· ~errl and they' saw her, she fell
, • · -- •• •. · ,_, J.4, ·c ~ .. - ! •' • ~ •I ~ < • •- .<

,,,·,,,,, •. ·
tr~ubl~. :-'!'. )·\;/:';./ __ 1 l; /'.~··:?r /~> '; ~\.: ,yJuf{,.a,.''> !:) off the ladder arid 'broke· hef liin'bs'. They were annoyed at the'c

fool-hardlness
of the woman. In anger the. three of them left
98 99
unceremoniously to return to heaven. Meanwhile, he had
signs in the farm indicating that ajl \V~.· 1-19t \Yell a,t home.
He quickly raced home and was astonished not only to see
the .. wife \Yith. b~ok~J;t limbs, but also that his august
visitors ha,d left with9ut sa~,;ig goQCl-1.ly~ .t<> him. .
H'.o~ever, hr pursued and met them atthe boulidcy between
heaven and' 'eart~ and. besought thern to .return home . with
him. They agreed but as.kedfor a cock apd heJ~rodµc~d one.
When they got back to. his house they produc,ed tfie le~~es
they had prepar~f for hjffiJ got. his ikin, sl~ughtered the cock
and sprinkled the blood on the leaves and the ikin. Thereafter
they scattered his ikin on the flo,or and finally Jeft without
telling him, for· heaven.
Later,. wheii he discovered that the~ bad left, he went i11to
the room and s.aw the · leaves and · the 'ikin .. · He used the
leav,7s tobe. bathing his injured wife; as they had told hi,m to
do .. · .. ~ubs~quently .the woman became well and.
pregnant Soon afterwards, the second wife also became
pregnan; and he began to have children in quick succession.
When tHf~ Cd~ apHC~,.at .. u,~odu, .. the ~~on spould. be
advised to do the s~cjal Ono-Ifa." or <><fib.a, referred to
aboye. It is done by inviting three awos to prepare. leaves for
him, giying them . J cock to ~l on. bis ilcin and. the leaves..
He s~tjµld use .. tlie .cqck to prepar<; food for them,
.'Jbershqµ}d eat the fao<J. wjthout ~!Jne. seeing .th~w.
The)', will be bidden in a l~ed room to. e~ th~ Jt>od." .• They
will leave after eating the food without aJlY. P9 ... ~ see:~
them. After
. ... ,·· ·~ .' ·, ·.
100
they have left, the person should collect all the bones of the
cock consumed by. the Awos, adding the leaves, grinding
them together and. mixing the substance with .black so,p for
bathing trom time to time. The three awos should pray with
their individual ASE on the leaves before leaving the· house.
He made divination torfbe Ewi ot Ado:
Ogudu agbede, abese mejeji, eyi dia dia, were the awos .who
madt .divination ·for the. Ewi of Ado advising hini to make
sacrifice with .a big he-goat, his under-pants and a matcbet.
He got· the ma1¢1"ials ready for the sacrifice andtied up'the
he-goat to a tree at the rear courtyard of his palace. He wa~:
told to make the sacrifice on account of an up-coming war he
.. would not. be a.hie to fight. . \Vhen he asked what type of ..
war it was going· to be, he was told that it would be a bottom
war.
Before inviting the awos to perform the sacrifice, three of his
war-Iords came tp visit him. When they asked what he was
going to do with the he-goat, he told them that he was
•told to make sacrifice with it to avoid war. They wondered
what war it was and assured him not to do anything to
prevent the war because they had been itching for one for a.
long time. They got his permission to kill and eat the hegoat
and to be pepared to fight the war when it came, be it from
heaven, left or right.
· One .day, the king was beaten by the rain on his wiy from ·
the farm and be caught a cold. A big fire was prepared to
·. . ,· .
101,
115.
116.
L'-'.- < - , - , ,,_ ,
warm ~imself. ; As be was,,el).jo)'ing the fir~, .ahnC>st. in the
nude; h!s g~niµµs. got. excited ~nd it,stoof.f!r~~ · Esu had
·turned)nio a c3;. \Vbl~h .th,i~ng.)tl\at the. danglipg object was a
rat, gripped it irito its mouth between its teeth. Groan as he would,
the cat h~l~. 911 t.o, p~~1!-Sew,tal~.
\,

The.warri<>ts
.. . ,.were alerted,. but. could not.do
'. ' . •. . '. '
much
.
guns, bows arid arrows. The Ifa ppests were invited who
with.
., '
thelr
.. '

qujckly,J)f.o~eRRed to _m~e the saqjfi.~1e,,.Aft.er receivixig his

sa~rffi~~ ~e Esu-turned-ca] .let-go otfit.s sr,4>;. <>p, the king's ..
prpdµctiye . prgans and escaped through the roof .of . the A14iko ba ti,ke; ojb am.a.··.:. Wli¢n'tthe-·eock'crows·,;a new day'
1 1
house. . . ... . . witl dawn, was the narhe--of the a:wo'who ITiadtHlivinati6n·for
Idi:-'lt.etefat the beginning· of time and before he eamete the
worla:r• He 1was told to tnakejacrifice· to avoid the risk ~f
Whel,1\1:'j~ ,Q<.th ,app~s at divipation, the _per~on should be
engaging inabottive-and fn~ifless·ventures. He was told to; serve
advised to make sacrifice to avoid having severe pains in. the 1
1 area of his or her genitals.
Ogun' with •Ct>~k; and tortoise; and make sacrifice With a cock at
the rubbish dump to the unknown enemy (ota in yoruba and Erhee
· in Bini). He did the sacrifice and came to
the W{!)tld.

His fitstcootact was with ;a ha'rd' luck case, who- came to him
., ' for divi1iatihn oti'\vhatlto do to have better fortune.·,.· He told
the lnia.rt to-4nake· :sacrifke·witha hen to Ifa; he~_goa(tu Esu, and
~p~eE>n .and bttsh'.Jien (Oyele ·in yoruba and' Uk9robozo in
'Bini) to>his.jtead. · He was told to make the sacrifice to avoid
the m!sfortun~g arrested and even killed for arr offence he did nor
commit. He did not d_o the sacriflce.

Meanwhile, he set a trap· to catch a bush hen. At me same time

the cock that used to crow at the king's palace for the

102 103
 After eating, h~t he-goat; .E~u. released . the palace. cock, he
day to break was missing, and road-blocks were mounted to
had kept· and it ran at once into the palace. People· were
catch the thief who stole the cgck ~cause the palace guard
surprised . tp s~e it .and remarked that an, Innocent man,
reported that a strange mamleft the palace the previous evening •,.· ,, , .. · .. ,, .~: . -~ '.· ,.-,.·, •.i,, ,.· , .. ,:;, ~-,~- : .. ··.-· -,,-~- ,.,.,_,.. :-: .· ' ·,~

with a bag believed to be containing the cock. Esu had taken wpµlcJ hav~1 ~eennkiHn.4J~r ~ P;{{~.~ce \l,e ;<lid not co~h,
the cock to hide it. W.h~n ~e. ~~puitf~~d:bac~ to the.palace, he wasdischarged
andacquitted ~md.~u.~eque11tly glven.a ~hief,taincy title for
When the divinee went to look up. his trap the following his rate·
1·1~~· .He ~etyrµAq :Jiome; r~qic.ing to .his s~:iv,e
morning, he discovered that it had caught a bush hen, but he head
only found the severed head on the trap, The body of the bird and Ifa .. , ··· ·
wa.FJl():,Where tobe found;" He .however kept the severed .
head .in his bag and left. dtjectedly for .. home. When this bd~ appears, at divination the person should be
MJ~wbJ.le, to .punish b~ for ,refusing io make 53~fic:e, Esu told to have his own Ifa, and.to.serve Esu in order tQ avoid,
-·<"::;-~ '.i:t '-~ ,., .. f. ,, ' -".~ .. ~;,;, '·;,~. -~· -•IJ •. · ~- "':t' ~t

~hanged. the head of the bush hen i11Side his bag tothat of a being arrested for an offence he· did· not 'commit. . At ·
full-grown cook. When he got to the check-point his bag .. was Ugbodu, the .person shouldprepare. bis. Esu shrine before the
searched and the police discovered the freshly severed. head of completion ,O(tbe .~nit1ation. ce.r.eq1qnies, to obviate, the. i :
• : .• ·, ·; , .,t ~-; ' ,· '. _j< ~ , ., ' •1 ; t . ;. ' • ' 1- ' ,• :, ~ _. ) ,V ' ~ ', )

a. cock; They iirunediately concluded that he· W8$ the .one who
; l j "

r~~ of b,c:7:1~ ,arr~s,t~_P .. for ~9111~~~~pg he ~j1d,_npt ..

stole the lllissing cock. He was arrested and arraigned· for. trial. <to. . ., ..
· :.
~; · .. < ').1· ,- '_,_){ '/1" '. '.r.:}.;,::· :-·~v'Ji: .' ~- '.(:.f.

He had no defence although he explained that what he kept. in He mad,~ pJ~i,~iqnJor t~~.,cat; . A.,

his bag was the head of a bush hen and not the head of a cpck. . .
. ·-·

He denied knowing anything about the palace cock. Sin~-.b~.

He made divination for the caf to hav/childr~ri, b·ut ~~e
~ul<;l. notexplain,h_QW the head pf the cock g9t into his bag
r~.H~d J<>, ·.~~re, t~.e, ,p~~~~rjb~~ s~cri:~c~ .. Jh~ sat: w~!i
he ·~as. found guilty <>f .. stellling .and sentenced tQ de;l~ by ~t, the, tlll\~\m.~rm;d tq, the rat .... Jry ~~, sb~\d1d -tg. have a
execution. &ked whether he Jl~. any final request tomakebefore child (or,
~ , .• .- ... ·.)'· ' ',•' ----~ ~ -~}, ' .. ·' . -·.;._ •••. J ,• ., -·~_.,'·' .. :.. ". ·-·:_ , .··•.

.. beingexecuted, he begged for.time to go to his .bouse JQ the rat. me cat ,rem.ained barren since s.he . did not .Illale
m
se(tbings order.: His request was granted and he went home to s~,~f~fiRf ;· ·y.~.cy M}:a~'¥Hf1.e,}~:~ J~e~#i~
make ·the sacrifice to. Esu promising to do the other two if he ir!,ifapi~.,:~d 6jgari·. t?;t~~~ta? .\9e b~~12i9d ~-~~
could return home alive. ~~~,5~,a~L.llJ,,,twas,hQW t~e. rat realised tna\ he'~&
--· ... ~ .
.n;iar11er,d to ,a:,worna.n much. stwnser thari himself . .., ·111t
rat' had earlier' fold · been . to make
SaGrific,::-. ,.,wi,th ... faceless .. 9:e~qs,, .to .. ~VW~ ..
marrying · ... a .. wife stfQnger thai,· w,~~l(. ;i'~q qeJp<>
·104 did nofdo t.~e s~~ri;tice. ~ the105 threat fr.oin the catbecame
unbearable the rat ran a~aY}r9m,:,~eirs m~t1a(~:gllle
imd)Be cat ha.~_,fdntiriued
'··· '·. -1 •• • ,· ~-- ., .•. ., .;,
fq · ' '. ' , .- ~ · ·• ~. i .
pursue'lo kill him ever since, for walking: out On her .

,f
. ~, ·- : .,; :: :.. . t' :·; )_. ' '· ;,(

When 'tlti~:~u·.·comes out· diviniri,m;i f&r .a proposed

marriage, dfo person slfou}d be advfs#d)o make sacrifice· wit\{~
facdess·. ~ad, he-goai 'and 'ctu~h~ yam to Esu to· avdid,'the
drin~ef <>f.bdng killed; ')f'tlre''divlnadori appears as Ayeo;·tfi~
person should be told 'not tffget involved in the marriage. · If
the divinee is a woman she should make sacrifice in order to
have children by the marriage.
~); , . ~ -, . . ··:. ·,'
. ' .

He made dh'.in8tl9,n._tbr. ai 1>1rcep •woman:

,, . ·, : ., .· . . . .\. ,,
Knowing thatlie" bad nijt · mad(l9~t' 'to_.hei,' :thejdng calle,d
Bai Lekey1 biri; . Odifa fun Olomo t'i agan inf shoro: He
i· :-·:, :··.~,~-. :·:.'.~,:.:. · -,-. ,·····;"":/·:·: , 1 _'. • .... : • ; . ' :,
th.t \v,p~an 'i9}l~,~}ie(.f ~f fli~r }b;e(~~ '.trlJl.Y
made'divfoad<>n forthe barren woman who was desperately pr~~ija~t. . Spe
a
anxious to have. child, and be°fore she' ga~e 'birth to a chlld confii'.Jlled _UI1ab,~he~ly· tbat . Sp~," was ~mpe~d. pregnant,
called Ukushembe, She was advised to make sacrifice with all :Asked who was responsJbte roftb~pr~gnancr, ~'-1~.~ai~ that
edible foodstuffs, snails, heLg&tt, heri/und h'er weatirig" it was a young man.with wholll she. had. fallen'' head over
heels .• in love. ,When sheretus~d JP di~clos~ .the id~ntity of

,~~f
~~, t~~
~)>~reL S~~ did the sacrifice.
. ;-/.· , ·.,: •; -·;, • c} ) .,.- .. '' . ·-,. ~an,, t~~ .iq~~ qr,~e~~R t? be .~~r
Slj~ ,9bstgu!eritWll~c~~,pr~gnant and when the c~ild \Va5 ?9.~ll~i~ ch~ns for t~e,, p,oh~~:}o:; ~~aff. ~e'fl\~:.ff?ll.l
~rp;··;h~.iw~\:~ m>Yt !.,~-~~ .. W,~. ,toid· to )p~ke. yet .U~~Cl'. ;tP,ftU~e . As stte; 'W~ b~!Dg
anothe~ ~~ti'~fe.}O, 8;~%~. cl~atfi, · to: h~m: -~h:en. tor,tM~ed she µnvvittmgly sro.d .that ,~he ~~d nh': '; a1rrift 'die
tv~r,._··~~ .~as· abd,ut .t~ oecause of Ukush mbe, . ' . ·,. .· .. . '
,.>' <Jl:I:~-: .. , 5? ' <''. · c':J: · ; ;-,,: 1,: ~- J . }, .iU

·i;::.·. ~:·~'~t.aJ~l~t m~e.,,\;~50~-,~~titic~.' .: ~e.,~Y. .-."_!t,, ··~· s::-. •. -:: i _ .-- .·"·' -~ , _:··> : _ ':.tH,. ,, .... : _ --!;_ :·• <{; _.. _- _ ~ ' ··;, '_·.:

~.~ .. ·· ~·-', ~~~f?~' x~u~& •. ~a11;; . ,'_V~~~n. (~ce , P~be1:?Pt -~~i ~i>ri1;p-I:t Iffi1~)~1 "the ;µiost
~~re floc,kmg aroµµa ~!Dl, :~µt .
women,
Wcl:S: I1Qt given to. b6~ '1~. ~d'~9Ine • young J1¥J;n 1n. ~e tp~. the Jci~ gave orders for
1µf~~c1i,H¢ ,ajr.e~i~ ,_)J1e. (qya1. heralds 4,llliloiulc~ .. thp
., .. ·•.-i.~ t·i · .. >~ :.~·.1 ~-, ~ ··~ .:~ -~ '-. '' . ')::::.. .,
ey~nt ~.th a:: soqg:·.:· rc1oi'yio pa, Ukushepioe? . Ija obo ~q ~a
The·~~~~ 9ftlte·.~p~ ha4 a y~uh4 :~fe who ~:·~~,#ii VJws4e~pe~ .. Ija ,obo yio· P~. p}rush.enjbe· •. ?deariirig:. tli~~
~~ had, Il~f}cllp\YA' ~mally.,, 1be Jo,~·. ·~·::,dQ~ng._ her "~t w~.-. tqe 'b.attlf ,'of. 'the ;'lllva th,i . was., gow~ . ~9 iill
J~r. decorative · ·· u ·. ·· '·s. o e da · · the· · H 's wife was oin ~'1)emb~"~ .Wb~µ ws
.mother heard tpe song, she ·.ran
to ,: ,,... . ... R I',PQ~ .. " .fl ,. lY,. , .•.. ""· .~, ... , ~,· .. g . g qllicklt' to OJUIUillla . ~ho reiniqdecL her. 'of~{
the . rivet. w1ien she 'saw .. 1die''' 'tut· "handsomeness . of sec<>na
·sa9Jffice· be told her to .make when the boy was a _child.
f07
Orunmila told her that the sacriQc~ l\ap. ipultipli,ed. and that were attracted to each . other' by circumstance beyond their
she sfi~µld bri11g 7 rat.s,Jfishes,,Z s~us:.~,lte-goats,2 hens, control.: tbty )ihbuld''be :set free to 'marry. ,· ·The._ elcler
2 cock,s/ one ·g<>ai'an<J. a Knife. ' · >.'. , · · · · statelllan, predicte~· that there wot'.dd. be a gloom and doom '
1 scenario ifrW~town if they ~ere executed, . Meanwhile,. th~,
'.~~ p~od,~~'~d,\helli wi,,h,out
was . made. - .Me.anwhi~ Uku$~em~_,was arrested and
th~ sacrifice ~Y:-:~ilay ~d. king was· impressed by the innocence of the young' man and
. the words of the elder stateman and agreed' to 'release th't~ two
arraigned
'b~{gr,e '.~Ii~.
king .ft'.>r qµ~~tioni,pi.'.': ;Askeq:.~¥ther the
woman told him "that she was maq-ie<l before he.'. made . love
of them to marry on the condition that they were to go , into
exile never to j·etutn 'to tlte' town during hii life time.
' \ ~-::' · . ' ' j

to her, h'e explained that marriage c'ouf 4 riot ll~vi been: an When this Odu appears at Ugbodu, the person should be
issue in their discussion because she a virg'in and only· was, told to make sacrifice fQI', long life,
< ·., . :• .-, ::
.
')'i.
told him t~at sh~ tad .never. had /sexµ~L exJlericmce . with .•... t. ;_/.\~·--·~ ' 'I:

any .. man before ''ili,a'.t ·day. , Jpey. aqipire4 '.e~~h Qtber. at He divined for t~ man witb two, afflictipns;
,., ... : _ _., -' . '. ;•'. . ·- . -· --

first sight ~d
there
. ; • -

was no time for

·~-·I :., · _.
• · i ' 1..:

asking
_· ,
questions.
,
·. He
'_ • _ • t ., , : - :· __ ,-·

too had had 110

! , -,- .. , ~: ; - __ ,. __ , , ; .• , . .,..,
Otun owo mi gbenden gbenderi,
~ '. . .. ~ ' , ': . ..- .. . Osi owo mi gbandu gbandu, .- ·
~exµal. expe'tienc~.: g~fqr~. 'iha~. day eve,µ jqou~h ,.µiany
. _- .' .' . . , . ,.. . . . . . . . ~- ._' . _ _. ;

Meanwhile, after eating liifiie7goat, E,su transfigured into m.i

girls Adifa fun Baba Aboro·intj.i loruri.
ha~
eid~r. u~ucc,essf,ully
sfat~mait wh6been wooing'.~hp,
·. eiti~rg~d at· ..tpe ··: · palace. ·.· ..'
to intervene Ofoju, Ogbukpaa; '
~ -.{'r ,." : } .! '1 -- "' - -_, '; ' . ·: , '. •" •

~~5cir~:'tti~ ~8, ~t8p9u_ricet1 'the de~~~~

$e~je~c~,ont~.e_young pair .: H~ heardwhen the young He divined.· for an'
elderly.· nfan' who had two . afnictions
won1an.,cned out. WaJ sq~ was only the king's wife in name hanging on his neck He
was blind arid also had hernia. He was
ana not iri fact, because told to·ritc1~e'sa:crifice with a: he-goat, "ra't,fish, akara and eko.
n~.i!!Jer ~e gba. .~~[ ~y -~tller ~~ ~a4 )qi~~p~r se~ijal1Y, , He ~as alsd told that' after performing the sacrifice, he
be_fdre,she trtet Uskushembe:. s~~bo~ted defia~tty th,at .. ~~ should return to his own house to serve· his head with a
would 'not tnind'· fosing. her life ·tQr th((. sittgle' experience. cock,coconut and Kolanut and his father with a ram. He did
./' '~ ), ·, ' .,.... ~ -, --, 0:' · ,• _ '•_ <. . l 1. •_'
_- · ' I ' '. . .,• .
.. _ · _ - ' ~ ·, . _ _ · • ,_, .:
the.first sacrifice to Esu and subsequently bought a cock and a
11.ie. 'el~ets~tepi~ su~c:eedFd ~11 'pe~~cft.1!.Jhe kipg not ram to serve his head and father respectively.
t,Q
s~~d,, agai~ matµft:staµon,of ~1,l :ot (Jod. , . ,He µte · .*f
~re~ t~itt:if 'WOl?l~ '¥d. i1_1Jact,::'h~~fl
_destin~d_)<> tie~o.¢~ ~f .':"if~;: he , ~9u,<f ~~ye.: f!ta,~;::
t~e As he was serving his head, he held the cock with his right
h~nd and the plate of coconut and kolanut on his left hand.
"y

,~<]Ve·. t:<> l,n:r Jo!lg ~efor~ t~at. dar and she; woul9 li~ye
~;~Qlfle aware Of .tier ~~~ital obliJations. Qf loyal~; tnf
~?e,l,i~. .Since the' pair 109
Tue .cock soon" began to st~ggle -~t~ him 4"1d pierc~d i~-
mdJs Into his eyes and he 'V~_,jn piji~!f but 'jqstantly
Dbtae4.·" ,',. . ·.
'°' &lat •••••••• -.,=
., .1- .. ,, .-_''~-~~, :i(iT i ::,'~,,,
< ; .,, ... '

·.-·. - .:· ___ .-- ··:.t? ,.1 -: ~:: . ; •· ; _ ;_;.~;

.. ,,,,:·,~"<······ ,'' 1.~,· · . -,. ,,,

regained hi{~itht. ,,'~e,~as-:oo.~ 'v,~cy)app~,ip c

serv(~.Ja_ther witp t~~, ram, ,wfoc~ also .k}c~~c\.h1~ ·H~.~ ~U,e>p_~qr. l}le m~;~fio.ij~,twp ~ves. :H~ W8$-
testicles. 1n~i~nt~neo1,1sly, his heriii~ e~pJpije{,l.a~<;t k>J.d.,tq,~ 8'luvidJ t.he~sQat.to avoid losing a c;hild ,-
~gci# tq}n:ing1q~\ p\is~' Toe sacrifices thr~u&Ji,;,qi.)jeajousy of'bis wiv~~ He, ~id.ngt' bo~erilt(),'
inaktt~~crifice. >, • 1 '', , U ;, !!
had''r~Iieved
. ,, ,-.-. t:ifo1.Q:(
·- tiis.'two ,affl'ictfrfos:·.
.. ;. ,_,-, ,·,-! .. : ·_·: I', .... r·_
. . ,- - _.; •
-- s i ' ,' •• , •• •!

Wij¢n
,-
this
~} -- ·-,
OQU'
;a .
comes
- ~' . .'
oµJ
;_~'I".,;.:
Joi:,
· .-: •
a. s1ck
person,
. -- - ;,> ;"J.H'_¥
- he. should
••
be .!1 • ',
,::: i __ ~ f'< .•·.} ... ' ,i -r-·'. _;'_(7:~-~ -,r_·!'-; -iy: .; .. , '.:. ~-:;. -·_:·. ", 1-::_

told 'to make similar sacrifices" and ·f..e "'would certainly · 1

_ _ '

b~~D:'Pf ~el)1 .,("'' One ~y,, thersetjiqt, wife, 'l'(~~t., to .,we ~L: pri: ,~r ~f)'
. ., ' hom~ from the farm she found a dead deer, butchered it, and.
- d ·:...:• ~~·} .... _',-:;._:ii~:;;, .. ,.' . brpµgJ!t. th~ meat,liome to SillOke .for sale; on, the nµqket
He made divination for the wife or Onikosi-Okpe~
~-- .;~'"'·;r;.-'"x:_-- ·_._-·: .r'l<_:_~ . -::,,,. .. , . -: .• ~ _.- ---· •
day! ;Tw~
. ,. •.. ., . ' ' ',•' ·.

~rs
.- '

,!&!~r-~he ~Id the_.-llleat:and .V(i~ thc.

... • '· • .1 ,: . -.·> ~ • ,, f .. · , ., ' ' ,, .•• , . ' . ' • _. '' • ~ '· : ',' ', .,, . . · ., •

~oner, -
Ehuru gojaawo He drt'ipl?tdsL'Adifa funUkii~damOcfr{aya
she. re•d, ,bQua}ltJwo 'faist ~ad$; _. S~e gave one ,Qf, the
Onikosi-okpe. Oshi okpa, oshi, oJd _ eefun. yogbo sawomo, -
/ --." . ' - '•
Ehuru goja was the awo who made' diyination for a wgt11an .
.- ,, ··' '

:ft
called Uku-damodu, the wife of, 01,1l}?9si~Okpe~ when she -
had problems in having children. She was tolq to make ~:e:·:~~;!~~::!:i
sacrifice with hen and eggs. The lfa priest· obtained' the
apl)rqpr,i~~~ ~~ave~, and bark, 9f trees? and the gizz_,rd, of
the hen including the r~~s \\'er~,ti~,ed to prepare soup for .her
~!J.~~~·
!~~h:at.3$s~!
toci: # · f9ll~~n,a, ,4ay; to )g9., ,arid 1~~
to eat, ThfpreparadoMYas made Jpr her .after, 'her mon~h1y,, a
for dead animal 'to butcher and sell, to buy beads for her
meristrualfon._ .. She ,\>,~F~~ pre~µf. the folf~wi_gg 'mpntb'' daughter .. In anticipation of the bead, her daughter bluffed
arid gave birth_toa¢lµ{d,' ;·,_ . ---· ' ,. ,_: that if her - mother bought the. bead for h~r,..sbe would twist
her waist th~. 'Vay and that WBIJ,, - inoth¢r. wondered He,r'
Wheri this OJu ~pp~ars rot a ~omaii anxious .to , ha~e' .a .wb~th~r
<·.\ by ~tipg
. .-:.. ·_;.{ ';,;: her :~aist-~he
.:,_ ~ wqul,;t, n,ot,bieak .the ~~.
a
j
:i';'' : '.· · :· . '.,_ . j . ' .'

child, she· win be aqvised 'i<> make simila,r sacrifice and which .she,
Wlien. tbe (ath~r's aJtenµQl)._was invited;,augqJer
had not even, proeurred, . 1,be, rep,fied
to .. the incident,
she he u1de~s she was being defeatist, she should be able io
'ih~t.
will surely hecome·'amotner.' '.,,,.> .. ,,,. - - quickly
get· 'i.Vey;tto
a deer mate ,~; apd,~ijlr\lel;~~f}~'
like her~~o·r~Jajnded ~ ottlle sa¢fjce he Jp' ~gel\ ,l)c;r
mother _ hit her
~4:JlOt,JD~. ~r~:~:
on the head"aiid.He
l~tdi~!f~~ qpi#c}y ap;q~:tO,.on
shtfefl"down,dead;· ~e,~e ~-
.
account
wi~ a of
~e,.go~,• basket .sifter_,
;. . . ,· . . .
a ~r she hadJlOtfoµnd _.arul beads.she .had not bought, ·,
.. . . ,. .

'., • ••• • •.• • .,- •• •• • --~- - . ,j • ': -.r •• - ;. ' . .~

110 m
117.

and beads. After eating;4lit~~~;,~j-c~,itittb~.:the~/ bo~1,1d~
,~fh~~v~~, ,~~- ~~ ,~h~~<r h~, ~~t_ tll~_ ~rlp!l}.h~ wf!.y '.~o
heave~·"and 'drovtf Ile¥· io,retum tq ·eautb; "~·the
par~nts'. were woh&eriµg.- 1»tiat 'to' -~ti ·~dt-~~\iorpse~ she
' reghliiid 'to~tiousitess: Ttitreaftet,_ tthe:·1fostiahd''ga~e' the .
nickname of the 'favoured one' to the scniorwife1fAyanfe in
Yoni,b~ and Amwebo ii:t '3inD ,~~ 'ti.1~,11ej1e!~~ o/fllC~ t_C?,
the junior wife (Ainife'Jtt Y~H~'mid Afukho br13fui). ,. --· · ·
· ·· .. (;-:.:;r·)tJ -~-: r~n.Jtr~· t (;:::
At Ugbodii,,
;'d ~,,,, ·-·
'the persori" shtmld: r,J t&l<hlttt if ~-e· already Jr~
cnifdr.en ttie eldest' child i~ a -ctauglrter: · ·tfije do,s haye any,
_ /,':' - r ;, <''
she would start having- children ,if·'she - could make the
requisite sacrifice. She was told_ to maice sacrifice with a he-
goat, a rabbit, a bat, 8 snails, and ,8 bags of money. _ She did
the sacrifice without any delay. ,
The lfa priest collected the appropriate leaves, used part of the
meat of the he-goat, and the bat to prepare lfa soup for her to eat ..
Thaftreijtmeq,t pu~ged out all'thefdisease"iil her> stomach.
;··_;'"_'._'._?t
1
:Soon a'.ffetwards, shi1became pregnantand safely:de·tivered'' .r-
chiltf ''Sbe'.·had' several children thereafter. Thost \VhO used
tb'tnttkejestJifh~r had to rejoic~Witb her; event~,~nf: ),,/t ::)
i - . . ' • .. - - -. ,, ' ' '

c~H~r~tl/~h~,fi~ ~?,f9 ~~fb(i(g11t.' :!:t~er~fii!d 1S'??f

the,_ If this ·Odti ~ppears :at diijrtation, for a woman,' she willbe
womt>, 'the expectanr·woman's· stottuit}t-shb\ild be washed·- told;:th~t' she 'is'ndj s~ttled -dpWntwith one man and yet Ht
•.i.· '"''.:
; ' .· 1 ··. . r' ··~. •, ' _ ,
· _ · · ~ .,, :-' '
with. a he-goat on the shrine· of Esu.' '.Afrer, t1nh, the mother
•--: -· t .•' · - . .•

anxicius to lfavc·a'child. She should be advised tomake the'

sh6ulg nevet i~cept'necft'or;,"ai,st,v~a~:ro, the chil'd'from above-mentioned sacrifice to have children. 1
any~n~.;' . , ', :: ::.'( : ; . ;<j 'i·.'.t'\:, ~ //'' ~ii ... ,:/;: ; n\l'
At divinatj6n 'for:·a prtgnarit wo.r~an''~f'~i man 'with a preknant
wi'fe sh* :bl-~e;
:shbtitd 'serve E~u 'Mih he~goa:f ·-' a .... ,;

~ •;,

Hi.'slibuid''~isri setvi1hts ;11~:id'«-irtl ~inea.:~wl, and refrain.,

frd'ntlceeidttg'anyftiing'ffitafu,bbay .. ::c;,;,,,,,; ., - ', ,·;/ ;J:. -
:; . '~ '\~'}cif) i: .'r."~·r:-_ ~.-,.d. ,)j(;,h: ::.,·~· f1i,-.H r;' ;:j4: .l.i>".,,:.:\;':~::i) f'ri .;;~'-

H~ Jb~ ;~.YJ,~6~JlirJ:~ffib~~~·icfti¥~.\~~ -.
1
~~ ~( '>· ..• -.~,. "'~~- ••.. n.:~.,-_• .'tifl.:· .... } l., .;,• :.-;.•, .)-'.Ll'i ~ . .-1· ,.-' ,;'•.11. ,,/'ii._~ .~·

no
Idi leke tfyi'bhf•j>e,cbm/'~/\vis't~\.\~'·wbo· made - divination
for Omojolagbe, the pro~ti~te and beads . seller who .*as
1
adjudged th tie' frica~f>ot ~mrig if child11 becatlse<>f tlie
dise~e- she;
hatt-iitWWmnb-: : ;Sheweiit to Ohtnfrula :for
1
divma:tl8fr·at(dl ~dijmfued htri·tfiat''het ·prostitu(ldn was rtot
re§J*>dsfble ~lfi,/~rtess;liot 112;
that-·:· 113
118.

Chap..-13, ge.ner~ly h.~dle.q with care,}lS if VefJ fragile, The cutlass

m1,. .EKA .
. .. , - ..., .. -··'~
and. clidg~t ivit1,tw1tich ~H>&iri refused. to ina1c~
'sacrifJce ·w~rt~dfo/'1*aµng,~d ;qi(ting her,µp;to.ptec¢~ for
-

ll; :L., ..
I II tl;i~ se°eds 'to be-temoVed~ JJJ(ciit)~'~as alsg 1JSCd for
i I 11 cu,·tting the head of the gourdand 'sbe was usedonly for
·f- -~,· l'" :

,. ·-. ---~ . 11 , I , .. storing

·-' ,· ~~ter ~~·· palm oil. , , , . ·
~ ,' ,: \ ' ·'' \ .,f .... ' f· ·.')' (".
'-'· ·. , .. ,· ' l;'t <',

Ds,Jd•lh.Didn1&kmt9r V•&he ~l•h1h; Wherfth~ Oduapp~s#/it djyi11atlon, the pe~<>µ:~11' be.told

B~a,.: ,Ba~JW<> Ugh.a,, Odifa ,f;yq. ,,,Ugqa. ~e : piad~. not, to, unmit11te oth~r. peqp,e ~µt to min~ ,llis or her own
di~tio~ Jor lJg}?~ (01'p~. in, Bµu) .~e caja?a,sh wh~~ sh~ busine~s. The 'person'. will "be told . tJ;iat. there is a hole or
was. &f;>,W:& t~,qi~ fa.tw at th~ il>,e&i~aj9g'.pf t>ieJ~ iear. leakage on
the roof' of his or he'r house or, bedroom, ' :tte
She was advised to make sacrifice in order to pros~~Jiphe should cover th~, hole up because the elders of the night spy
faim. She was told ~o make sacrifice with a cudge{, on him or her through it. . 't.
;\·:~-~-· ;, _1... ~.,; :~. ''. __ ~ __ ,:._
, .. :. '

(~ug~9~ iµ,yorµb~, ~~ l}kpokpo .in Bini), ~~~r's ~ .. .

J(i)~ k~;m
y~nit>.a. o; A\l~ · ~l~ BJni) ~~~i.it~n,, ui. Diniui(JQII ]>efqre ,Jeavlna.
1
~--~ J · . ._::. , c • -. ·, ·-: !, ·. :• , ' ) I•
be.-un;
"' ' ' •

snajl,.gou.i:d ~ ~µp ~~-)' Sh~Jna~e the_sacpfice befol'e

leaving
.
forthe f~.. · ,,,·, .. . .. _.,,.··'

The same awo made divination for the gourd (Akeregbe or

lgba in yoruba and Uko in Bini) and melon '(Ogiri-Egusi in
yoruba and Ogi in Bini), who were advised to make similar
sacrifices before going to the farm. The melon was advised
additionally to add matchet to her sacrifice. They refused to
•make· the sacrifice except Ugba or Okpan who made her
sacrifice fully. They all went to the farm .and flourished until
they were due for harvesting.
'
The knife with which Ugba made sacrifice was used carefully
to split her open. She was subsequently used for; carrying
food for eating, and as · a decorative instrument. She is

114 us
atsa decided to wage war on him. The I>-Qaf fixed and was their differences, an irony of fate sequel to the sacrifice he
the' battle call was to be heralded by tw9 !Qimpets; one, to be made, . He 'became even mote ; µunous, and prosperous
sounded 1~·-heave.n ~~d-(!ie otheron e~r,K,_vi,th which the. thereafter. - _' .· · · ·· · ·· · · ·
battle 'agairtst -~ir'n' was to be declared, . . . '.; j 3 _' ··.. : •.. ' ·. . .. -, . - :;~ ' f • .,
·,.; . . u:· . >::.' ' .. ;.,~ .
Wh.C?}.this 9d.u appears at Ugbodu, the.person is bound tp be
Meanwhile, at his morning divination, lfa disclosed to him that .. re~nted and ostracized .by the .entire, populace, He should
war was ill1Illine_nt. He breught out his,Pke~poµrin for special not worry unduly provided he makes sacrifice. ,'
'diviJUifion and '. he .' was cldvi'sed to". prepare . two trumpets
and to make sacrifice with;: a strong tie-goat to Bsa the at Made diviuation for the m9ther of Iknmakggyi;
. j • . . . ,; '' '' ''• .· -· -.·, .. . ...
i

boundrf of heaven' and earth, and, a Ra01 to .Ifa. He 11{

made the sacrifices~ . ., . - Idi-Ekawas a popularAyo player, in his prime. ~ews.of his
expertise in the game reached . heaven aiid DeaJh. senthim . a-
After eating his he-goat, Esu sat at the· boundry of heaven and message tha,(he . (D~aih) was coming to play, .game witb Ayo
earth on D-Day. The heavens had blo.~J.~eir trum,eet; and -•
him ... The. tradition w~ -, that whoever was defeated in
' ~ ' ·- ,· . ,. ~~ , __ _. } ·' . . ., . ' , ., • -_ . .. ...... ' '

were advancing in battle· formation on the 'earth: The- .t, --

the g~e by Death had to g~ to heaven, ·. Idi .• ~~ exp~cted

~orld. :als? _ sC>~nded their tru~pet and were advancing .in De~tll,for tlp-er~,yeJrs wiµtou\ the latter showing pp.,,,.Alt~,:
battle form,at,ion on the' boundry of heaven and earth. . three years, Death left for his place, but ldi-Eka 'Vas alr;eady
!, ·, ,;,, ,. ,,, .

too old to play the game. He could not even see the seeds.
Esu 'ineanwhile, moved. to "meet the troops from heaven and' ' \.' t. t . ,~ ..... ~. ,'
asked 't<;f'see ~~fr tl'llrnpet because he
admired it: T}la~ gav~
·~- ;; :. ·,., : .:· ·; ! ·. !.

hinf *e oppottunity'.t>fswappi~git_with oneqftbe tium~~

wi.~~ '~~~~~ Oninmila .-ha~,.,¢~~~ sa<:tifipe. . A,~'
~9~~q~etjt,ly also·~clpped;th~ 'ttqmpcW\\ith Whf<;h
tli~'troor,s·of th~ ..yor1d . sounded: thefr Hatde When· the
two sides sounde<J; !heir. truinpets, f~e' inptuat sound
_dec,rared war on each otl}er: By. · the time 'they got to
Orumnila's house they were, llr~ad}' fighting each 0th.er and it
' '
When Death arrived, Idi-Eka- invited one of liis children
called -~~a~ ~ play ~th;1him. }),eath defeated 1~~ young
man, but hjs_~other,.who·was an,.espteric seer ,~ad alr~ady
cry:. ~pg~4:t~~t: her spn was going ·to be, ~efe~te<J by Death,
_. She _ therefore, went to Orunmila for pre-emtive tiivination
- and ·~.1'~ w~
advised .to . give . a he-goat ,to €su.
She did the sacrifice. - . I'.,

was he and Esti _ wlw ev~iitually playe<fthe role. of' mediators After defeating 'Ikumak~yi, Death was preparing to go wit~
'to stop them 'fr()l.n. figllfing. In him to n~aven when . Esu intervened to make. jest: of; him, H~
:th~)~jt~, _wh~H!,It knpwing'wti~t-:t,a~~~,J~~.- fiijt -~tw_een ~ld him that he came .to the world to play .,~o game
- . . '

tbeiii' they hmi' 'to · thank On:mmila for being able to settle·

1'16
117
with. an elderly: ofd man, but ended up ·pl~yi~g · With an
~~~ ... ·~~~~ntly,)1~ ,loo· refused, t_o.'make ~acrif'!ce,
adolescent. . Esu ··taunt~d ~him by asking wha't piid~ would ~f~terhlf. .~~,¥ ·,p t¢1Y on his pfi}'Sical, sye~tt~- ·,- · ·.. -a

Death have for defeating and going away with a boy instead of ·,
.a _ m8'1? Death _ appreciated the irony amt t11,1e to the name
of the young ma1fwhi~lf gave him: imm:unriiity from Death, M~~~iie, _1(~ ··p1aii~s, se~<>n :uip~ t9i',w~
he tell H'iiri · atone an<I · returned to heaved 'empty: handed.': - &n:d\tlj~ "rq,t9~:'f,~f"ith' tli.F' s~~j>f'.}alal,ash to
.. ' · '!, • pl_abt ifr.jfil$ f~ 'As~n,as he planteathe'se~ds;,.~u,movt:d,to·
this farm teconjure the seeds to germinate, grow and produce
At Ugbodu,ithe-persort should itrimediately serve Esu with a wt~~\lt, ~lay. -.~'?,
lm1g ~~rwar.ds .tli~ frµits, had grown in
three year-old he-goat. _ If his mot.her is still alive, he shoutd . size and'were tipe fp(~~sting. · · .; . . . · · .· ..
'buy: her f g<iat' to serve her· 'head. \; If she is fate, he shoiuld V1~ JQ/lR~ ,day, .~ . T~~ise, caP}f. with his matep~tt_o
' , • ., •' ~ } i .. C , •' ' •

serve her :~ith' a -goat before( completi'ng· the Ifa initiation' llafYe5.\. IJte ~al?~b~ i Wbe~, he . CUt tlle calabash mtll b_IS
ceremonies, :·:·He_ shd~ld :pio~de' '.a'fu,11 Ayo·ga~e matmet, · the calabash''alsQ. seized the matejiet from· him' 'fo
¢qmprrient\Okpan Ayo in Yoruba ·and ogiurise1 in 13ini)'fo.r ~qff Jii~ ~ea(I~ h4t~'~VJl(JJ~)t: . tortoise in tupi The
hif 'Ifa shrine: . At diviruition; iJie ·should, ~erve· Esii on took ti · 'a 'batton: to beatlhe calabash. The calabash a1s ·
account·ofat'#e~ng·ofgro4p endrt; inwljich Jfe is goirig to ··seized,._._,.:_ -.,. ; ..... ··.,
. ,P. . ,.·_ .,· ., -• .-,
l,;.;.,.·:;..;.~,-1•,l_..'"'1 ·:••, .. f .. · .. ··. ·._. ,'? ... ·.·,
the 1>.a#Q~ · {1'.61Jl him ·to.· hit _· hi¢ an,<t. the Tortoise began
.. . . C · . "j .. .•, · ·, •
u.;' unO YC'U, .. . .' . =.

·ruµniIJg forlps ~.' J\s he \Vas 'runnidg~ the Tortoise b~gan

Mad, divination ror the Tortoi§' ond the Ram; to sing" · / -·· · - · ··- · ·- ·- .-,"
-·:t.-J. ~·
~-··:··~! ~(;,/:. ., , ... :.,). \ -~'.~-'-,t !; __ :-:.:.~ -;_L;.; .tJ-:> .~~·~_,-. ;· __ ._-:.· . .t ,!\
Jgba n le. olobahun '· · · ·
~ffi lRa'\~a tin Rra, madel'rtewr Ye:ir' divin~tion fof·the ,, . Jqr:~,:gqn maja, giin, rn.aj~ tere.
1'dtt6ise an<l · tlie· Rahf ·.·fie· advised dierfr 'to· niakei
sacrifice t6 avoid' becoqiing:the 1vi¢fuhs 'of " lj~Ko Ji .owp~ Iatif o. Ii "s~, .
tlndesii,able· 0srn1· oiob~-- ·· :-" · ·
·atWmstance$:
Tii~Torfolschivasifo;niake ~crlffce witha'knife;;cfub, aitd a
.t,fe, -~ ;~j~;'J#n ,~l~ ~re.;,,,'
r·,,· ''. ·:·····. ·.·· .. , ... _.,· ..
c&i:. As usual, he refused to db the 'iacrlfice, preferring tg
.'<· •:· ...• I:._..,'.'_{~.·(' .. ._'· t.: ..... ··.· :- ,. n

Ji'e. ·w~ as}dn~Jo.r d~~veran~~ from the OOl~~~~ c~ab~h

rely on his wits. ., ,. · · , .i , who·wasi>ws~fng hUrt · ... , · .. •· · -· , .. *, .. · .
1
On his part, .the' Ram was ieldto 'lldt sacrifice= in: order to
,•J;; (

.avoid ·beco~ng· the' victim ,of his be~o]en~. · Jtis ·friend, the gv~'.n,~ij/ihe· T9rtoistf 1net. ~. friend the Rani \yho took ~tion
:Tdtft>ise;: advised him tbaf·the!re 'was. no need for to -~ve ltjm fro~. tli~ "~th of the calab~ll~ A,s tile ~abash ..
approacbect the Ram homed him to pieces .. The

119
118
 Toi:tQise pr0$trated t~ .thank ~ R.~ but ll~ u~ Jhe
oppo~tyJo ~p.the .~esticl.es.'qf;Jh~ ~ .J~,~ui~,d, the
testides bn!til they exploded and · tbe Ram died, after
which m.e,Tortoi, .· ~ngr.atulat~d.hi~~lf ~y s~~g ~~,~~
•te Olonburukl.t }' m .. Ekpon re y1 Od\lD A .enunu"; me ....
"I 'ha~e-finally .. ught the· swine. to'1iy. Your' testid~~~°ft
taste nice-in my mouth," · '·' .· _.,, ··. '' · · ... n, ·; ··
., . '. I · ,, ; •. :··;,;
That was· how th~ benevolence ofth~. Ram · ended · hi~Hre
because of the sacrifice he· refused·to'·maice: ·: ; . -· . . ·::, f
""'>·
.. ' .
--"'. .. - . :.· . . : . ::: .. ,._ . ·.· .. , ... -~"·· ( ·_ ... - · .... ~ ·"::--. --<.L<).
Meanwhile, the . Tortoise· cartied tbe r~ )o "tiie r~r~··
pl~¢~,
ro~ted . him, up. and.' 'p4i ,the ineaf 'qµ .. the --~ti~ft~tler
butchering it._ As· he w~ ~~~Ni,g oy~r the 111<:~~. th~
:Tiger paid hiw an . unexpected. _visit~/: the Jiget ,t9ld;''fhe
Jor~oi~e lfNay. his last prayers because .he ~ad rµn 911t
~>f"1U:¢k •. Toe Tiger knew. what the Tortoise did to the
R.an{arid the former was determined' to deal a\leath blow. to
ave.~~ tpe
fate of the latter. · .:· · · ·
, While · the Tiger was conte,mpl~tj~g. how to -~eai .\vith the
Tortoise, a bird called Eye·Ariran'.(Awawaa !ti'Bini); passed
by crying. Han-Han, Han-Han an4)b~, tort<>f~{r~pJied that
the time was not auspicious for exptessirig ·gtatitude. The
. 1Jger askegt~e Tortoise wh.~t,good tw11 he ~~1t9 tJle
,bµ:d, ~d he replied that he plaited the bzw-d<f~at :U!e
~ircUV,as wearing, The Tiger had been out-witted -1:>y ·inc
Tortoise because lie forgot his morbid i~,en.tiq~,aµq
J?~f§lladeptllf Tortoise. , to we.ave_. a. siinil~ .hair-do for·
him," Tlte Tortoise
. ~~ily a~¥4.
to oblige s . HeJ~tcllecl. sev~p s~~l,(~9. 9:'
io~~ .,, -1 · ,.
rope and made tne Tiger to sit on the stools, while he
climbed on top of a tree. From. that position, the :tortoise
was. able to ,tie the Tiger up. firmly to the tree,
When the Tortoise was satisfied that the Tiger was firmly
held in placer he delibratcly dropped the lnstrument with
,, 1_" '. \ } , •• · ._. ; , ' .,; • :: :. ;
which he 'Jl(We the· Tiger's hairs and sought and obtained
permission to climb down, to pkk it:tip. As soon. as he
'climbed down from the tree, tbeTortoise pushed aside the
, seven stools which supported ~: Tiger, who -was .now
effectively .. hvng to 1he tree., ,:While the ffiger was
:;·:r;' {
groaning in pains, :the. Tortoise proceeded to feed on the.
Ram's-raeat, while throwing the bones at the tiger. · After
satisfying himselfhe collected theremainiang meat
andrleftfot,home.
On getting home, he gave the meat to his wife but ~v-amed
her not to go to the farm for some time. The warning only
succeeded in arousing the curiousity of the .wife, .because as
soon as he left the house again, she .took the opportunity to
find out what was happening in the farm .. On getting there,
she found the Tiger still moaning in pain. The Tiger
appealed to her to -release him, but she replied that she could
not trust him not to .harm her after helping him. ' He
promised' fervently not to do anything of the. sort, swearing
that heaven and earth should intervene to consume him, if he
tried to harm her.
With that proclamation, the wife of the. Tortoise released
him, but in tum, he held on tightly to her-as soon as.he
regained bis freedom, As. he moved to kill her, almost
• ,. · •. ·,.l <' .• ., ,to~ , - · ' .; • '. •. _,~ • :.-:., ,, -:. , ~- • .- .,.
120
l,21
119.

i:nstantaneously, the sky and the ground :began closing ranks.
The Tiger was astoaished and-An .fright,< released the
Tortoise's wife to return· ,hoipe. but warned her not to dis~lose
the event: to her husband, under pain of death.
·~ '. (': '·, , ; .. ..::
She.did not mention tbe incident to 'her .husband when she got
home .. As; soon-as dusk was approacbing; the Tiger
concealed himselfim ambush along the· reed leading:.to t~e
- Tortoise's bouse. When the Tortoise woke up the following
morning, ·the Tiger apprehended. him and -knocked-him ,:
several times QP tbe.grmirid'until allhissh~Hss~tter,edinto
pieces, · Thereafter~ :the Tiger 1tbaooonedihitnfor .dead, i.
sacrifice with her dress, four iron nails and a he-goat, in order
to avoid becoming' unstible by· rblling up and down. She made
the sacrifice.
After the sacrifice, Esu used the four nails to solidify her
foundations by using each of them to hold the four cardinal
points of the earth in place. Since then the world bas stayed
properly in place" and.stopped moving up and down~ \Jt is •
only the inhabitants of the earth that move, but she· herself stays
steadfastly'·in place. The .. four-nails are the 'four cardinal-
points of the·-earth.~Esherih. merin in yoruba .and_··.·
Ikadele ehe · nosa ·ya da'gboh yi in Bini). .:- ! t-,'
·

He·did notbowevervdie, .Over time.hewas.ableto-recover from Whert this ,Odu appears at divination the person should ·be ·
his injuries. When asked how he sustained the injuries, ··.·he told.that: his !ife is - not settled. · He should· make sacrifice ·in;,
'reptied. ... order tohsve' 3; stable existence,'
..:.~-
~,/ '
•-', .

"Esu ai koru.
Egba· a ci-ta: eru
. r: ..
desu, Ua:wa 'se, bi
. ,i ala. ·
~-'lo~ '

He· -.explain~d· ~ the .injmie&,were ... his·.-punis1uitent . for

refusing to offer sacrifice to:Esu; and Joo not believing- in the
• efficacy of sadffice,.;which.··made -If~·tqtbeconiet)as. real. as ••
' . ,.
existence. · ,.
t; . , ·-;, :.;' , • >,

He made divination for Aiye;

•Edi-E.ka babalawo Aiy~. odifs>:-ifun1 Aiye. / , He made
:di\imatiOJl fot the. ID0tb~ '. .earth advising her , to · make ·

,122. 123
\
 Chapt,r 14
IOI • Elll:R,U.KPON
II I husband, the farmer, aecordingly kept her under the care of the
IIl I
I fl
II I
He made divination for the humu pnitaJs;
Edi tuuru, Ikpon tuuru.. Odifa fun oko, obufun oho. He ma.<J,~
divination for Ute penis and the vulva when they were both
crying to have ct child. They were advised to make sacrifice
with hen and snails. They made the sacrifice after which
tlleywere advised to spend the night on the same bed. When
. innovation for making itmore entertaining. He brought out one
they got home they slept together and in the fullness of time a
child was born as a testimony to the union of the two of them.
Since. then no one is able to have a child without the
cooperation of the penis and the vulva. When this od,u appears
at divination for anybody anxious to have a child, he or she
should be advised to make sacrifice with hen and snail.
He made divination for the Trumpet;
Edi tuuru Ikpon tuuru, odifa fun ukpe nijo t'i onlo oko aloro
odun. He made divination for the Trumpet (Ukpe in yoruba
and· Ekpere in Bini) when she was going to the farm at the
beginning of the year. She was told to make sacrifice in order to
have plenty of children, and to become popular through her
children. She gave a he-goat to Esu, After
124
making the sacrifice; she was advised .. to stay with the young
palm tree (Okpe kete in yoruba and Okhere in Bini). The
youngpalmtree,where sneflourished and had a chance to
blossom; oecause. she was able to. climb on its many branches.
To compensate her for the sacrifice she made, Esu contrived a
strategy fo•· rewarding her. When the children were ripe for
harvesting, it coincided. -with the. time .when the Oshemawe-
of Ondo w.:asgoing,to celebrate the annualOgun f estival, Esu
proposed to the Oba that as a 1variationdn. the amplitude" of
the festival he was .going to introduce an
of• the · children of, Utpe, cut its tep •· and· bottom and
washed it clean. Esu blew the trumpet and it alerted an and
sundry. He then went tothefarm .and also, sounded the trumpet
and all at home heard-the sound. Esu ended up by advising
the Oba to sound the trumpet only during Ogun festivals. After
the Oshemawe bad-introduced the trumpet, all other roya,ties
followed suit at their subsequent festivals.
When the Odu 'appears at Ugbodu the person should be advi~
to serve Esu with a he-goat and Ukpe to become, famous and
popular. At divination, the person should .be advised to have
his own lfa in order to become prosperous. and f~mous.
125
 He 4MomJ 8>t Pa• to MY1 loJJcmenbig: ·
v·..;
. Edi tuuru,:lkpon tuura, :Odifa nm Ogun Omo. nija ole, He '
made>divination ,for Ogun,whel'i, he. was. -lamenling that he had
no followers~, Ogun was told to make sacrifice and. he did, with
a goat and a he-goat.
After- ·making the. sacrifice, he was advised to be. sitting ate the
enteranee, ,tll,his house, ,after 'being. told. to build.a long! house.;
&-he;sat to.eat at lhe·. entrance to his house, little.. cbil~en ·.
came to meet him·:to.be playing .with: him. Esu · :,
eventually.j>t,rsuaded people to occupythe ,,rpo~-in his long;
house until· it was nuly occupied. . Thereafter, Esu .advised
c 1love to the gir:l. H~ ,was very happy to regain, his
Ogun 1~ fock·A1j> th&: doors leading tq the house. After
loekingthe doors,. 0pn began .to: move. the house gradually
• with,.,a,song:~. ·Abimi odo!loni,Makasha doloni,. and the
·house;bepnt,unove awayfrom·the town.. After leaving the to.,m
· bet began to 'sing: in fast ·,tempo· allegnx- '.Modoloni, ,
doJcmii -doloui ofe; ete». Ti:aat is' ·how 1he railw,ay locomotive
. came into being•asa.mass,tnmsiticamer.
. .r j ,' ~ .s
When it appears at divination the person should be told to mate·
sadmce. for wide·· f<>lk,Nership,, ·~use he would never lack
t11e· ' where.wit.Jw for· -supporting a ' large followership or
dependants~-'
··.,: ··· ... ..,r-;·~ \ .,, "·1J·
Made divlna11on · •ainst &be problem or sexual impotepce; · -
When · he was leaving heaven, be was advised to make
sacrifice Jn order to be able to remain sexually potent to the
126
end of his· life:., He was told to make sacrifice with honey,
d•;. ','' sugar-cane; eoceyam, yam, 'palm oll, and' a cock. , He made
the•·sacnfice before coining to .the world~;
.,
He took to trading when he got to the world. Meanwhile, he
>1net,a W-Otnan through his trading ,and married her, He ho~r soon
began to havcrspotadic power-fallere in his .
•.love-making to the· woman.' He went for:·divination and was
·advised>to make sacrifice with 'honey, sugar~e; cocoyam, yam;
patm oil,an(l,,a.1cock. He di<ljtb'e·sacrifice, after which Esu
directed, a young~girL,.to·himJ Ass:soon as he· sawthe : gi~I{
in
his genitalszegaiaed · erection arid he- succeeded making
rnasculiiie ,eonfidence. " Thereafter, ' the young " girl '.·.
disappeared;' but ·he was able· to resume, normal sensual
relationship with;hi, wife~ He.also began: tehave children.
At U gbodu, the person should make sacrifice against the ,
probability of sexuaf impotence later in ·Ufe~ At divination,
, · advise the same sacrifice for the same purpose;
'
Divined ror-nm affltctedftlend;,: a blfnd: mapand·acdgple:
-- Me made divination fot tivoJriends, .one ·of who was a, blind
... mah while the ·dther, <was a cripple •.. ,,They- had, their
abode · ',near the maize farm belonging ,toith~king. ·. When ;the
maiee
•btcamo<iripd __ fer',h~stmg, the tw(j friends deeiced a
strategy, mt.feeding on them. , The cripple 'would · ask the -
blindQ!anto;~:hini~on his sbottlders·andtakehim t(j the · farm
topluck · enough corn for them to eat. They did so on
,, )21
120.
a regular basis. Areport subsequently reached the Oba that his
maize· farm. was. being harvested · by unknown persons, and the
farm hands suspected the two afflicted; friends. They were
subsequently arrested for questioning.
In their defence, uiey ,pied out that .the Oba was ridicling them
because of theit afflictions; They asked, how could a blind
man.iee,bisway·to any farm and.how,c~uld a cripple be. expected
ef
to walk to the farm?. Inthe light thestrength of their denial, the
Oba decided that. they should be sent for trial by .erdeal (Itan),
The blind tn.a.o was the first to go for trial; He swore that if he had
ever seen the com with his own ~yes ·let alone pluck any .of them,
he should ·be caught. 'fhe. ordeal did nothing · to him. On -his,
part, the cripple swore that although he could see the corn; if be
ever walked on; his·legs into the maize farm the ordeal should
catch him. He too was not caught by the ordeal.
So.me. guards were appointed. to watch the farm but the two
friends never ventured .into the farm thereafter. Eventually the
pair began to starve and they made sacrifices to Esu who
. P~rsuad~qith.e gu •• to. sympathise. with theni.
, At Ugbodu;serve &u to ward off the ruk of robbery and to
avoid und.emabale ac~ation. He should serve· the new Ifa with a
ram because .of an up-coming, trouble, and give cock to Ogun to
:avoid leg ilbless. +At divinatwn, the person .will be told that he.
js.·foUoWing a woman ~bowillnot agree to ,marry .him because
·.the,.a,e both:,deceiving .. each other.
·128
. He made divination for the people of Jeana when they were
threatened by war;
Idi tu,lpontu was the awo who made divination for the people of
Igana town when they were surrounded by enemy troops, He
advised them to niake sacrifice with a .ram, a cock, materials from
hand-loom for making cloth and 500 cowries.
He collected the appropriate leaves and made the sacrifice for
them. While making the sacrifice, the Awo repeated the .
incantation to the effect that "it was the .ifo leaves that invited the
war, while the handloom <commanded the invaders to run in fright.
because the equipment for weaving cloth is never used to fight a
war. Hecommanded200 rains to attack the invaders because no
man is brave enough· to
have a horn." ,
With the fore going incantation, the invaders took to their heels
and escaped without a fight.
When the odu appears at divination, the person will be told that
he is being hunted by his enemies. He will be advised to make
sacrifice to overcome the enemies.
..•
l29
Chapter 15 IDI • OSE I I He made diylgation Ru: QloOn:
II· II
I II I Edise, · aro omowo kpishan,
I 'I Urara maya gbeke,
Abuke abeyin gomuo,
Adafa fun Orunmila on lo shawo fun Otofin.

· ·now Orunmila prepared his followers for life; Those were the two awos who made divination for Orunrnila
•when he was going to work for Olofin. He advised the . Olefin to
Orunmila nl asheshe pile she. make sacrifice with -a hen and a cock to aveid becomir.g tlte
• Emina ni asheshe pile she. victim of vicious falsehood. . He made the sarifiee: ;
Orunmila ni' o.un sheshepile she, ..
Oro fun ak~o mi, emi enbinu, .·
Orunrnila said that he had just begun what he wanted to do When it appears at divination the person should be told to make
for his children. •, '. . ... sacrifice before embarking on· a proposed tour so that he might
I repli.~<.f thal he had Just begun what he would do for me. return with favours and to avoid falsehood against himself.

He retorted that he had just started what he was going 10 do

for· his children, ·· The divination ht made in heaven;·
And the world became envious.
Awo la fi showo-'Awo lafi'sliese,
That wr·s how Orunmila prepared his Ifa · priests for a Ikpon m~j~•oJ<:Mio. oron mo
nioderately well-to-do life. H~ advised di~m to make sacrifice .soro, .ur
with four pigeons. They made the sacrifice which is why Ifa These were the awos who made divination for Edise when heswas
priests are not generally poor except for the greedy ones and those · corning' 'fo: the world. · He was told to make · sarifice to avoid
who did not buy prosperity from their guardian angels bef ore insurmountable· problems on earth .. He was told to give, he-goat
leaving heaven. to Esu, but he failed to do it.

Oh· getting to the world, 'he got -·himself initiated into the
on
ci.dU·of several divinities. He was wearing beads bis legs.

130 131
 Meanwhile, Orisa-Nla invited the 200 divi_pitieS, to build a house
for him during the dry season. To build the walls of the house, he
told them to use their feet to match the hart! red mud without
adding water to it.
After 199 of the· divinities had been assembled, they reported that
Orunmila was not present. Meanwhile. Qrµ~mila.J~(t his house
with.his leg beads for the hush to
Jetc)} Jeavesfer his work. _ But.Esu detained hi111 in the forest
frr:ith~ he-goat.he refused to give him, Somehow. he was able J()\
pro~r~t . .a he-goat for Esu, While he w.is arguing with Esu, the
other divinities refused to start the 'Nork in the absence of
Orunmila. Eventually, they all gis~rs~d wit,Wi)ut, doing the work.
.Esu however, · advised
-Orunmila to gQ,JO the construction -site and he did so,
a&Sl,lfing Qlin,QtimS sappon.; '.,
When he got there, Orisa-Nla told him to mash the mud single-
handedly because- it was his.ebsenee that made the others to
disperse without performing the task. Esu had meanwhile
unplugged therain tap on the. sky and the min began to fall, which
softened up ,ne:JJJUd'.. aetween him .and Esu, they prepared the
mud ready for setting the walls.
~~:, ·~1_ u::'• t1: t· ~ ,.-. ,· 1
i. :
-Ther~{te~,.Orisa-tNia told omJUnn~ that the foundation of
ther,bQuse ·,Jtad_,tp _b.e,Jaid- fr~J:top, to bottom, .He was puzzled
because: ,Jl.e could not imagine. how, .such -a foundation could be
laid. However, Esu told Orunmila to inyitc;,()ris.a:-Nl& to.~y .O\e
.fi~t.:fllud:in place, because of the tr:~iti9~-,h~,j.t;i~-Pte .4;l~ief
of aJlQU&e who l,ay_~ the first
132
m I ul or block :before inviting. the ·buildersao *=.bnrinuc·.:from
there, '· i
.')!',
Accordingly, Orunrnila invited Orisa-Nla to lay the first mud.
When Orisa-Nla threw the;,~ttd:·"'Pl Ji· r~}{~~.:\9.<:f~y:Jo
place. H~ threw the mud up three times ;and: on each oceasien-u
fell. to .the. grQtlrul; .. Finally,L'.Orisa .• NJa·laicl: lle first. rnud -
on ._the:groundi and cleared the, o~rs· tar:bcgin construction
Jrorn ·.there~ They prepared ,the foundation round the, house
and Orunmila. declared that he, bad completed his.assignment.
Tae.other divinities subsequendy cam~:t<>: complete the
construction of the-bmiding. ,. ;,·.· ·
.)'t
Whenccthis Odu appears, at Ugbodu, the person: should :he told'
that he is· the foundation-on. which the edifice ofc;-bis family is
built. He should be told to prepare his Esu shrine without.delay,
At -divinatlon, the person should he-told to serve Esu with a he •.
goat to avoid being given a: task clearly
beyond his capability. ·· ·' , ·
··!';
He'. divined for the, divine. priestess:
Toe -daughter of Olokun -ran away from heaven · witlU>Qt
making any sacrifice.,·:·WlJen she subsequently rani-zinte
diftbdties on earth; she' weat.to Orunmila who asked)herto prepare a
chain of treads for-her.two. legs; She brought·tne . chains and he
washed them with leaves and Iyerosun and with it chained her to
live long on earth, ilt was'-this,ddu that introduced thc:,wearing of
leg ehains,» When- ft there tote appears-foroa woman~ 'SIUfWiU
be-told that she isafay, rutd
a priestess of Olokun, The ceremonies for initiatiort into the
Olokun cult should be prepared for her without delay so she
might live long. '
.
,
ldi-Ose was an ubiquitous trave'ller,. who was never staying
at.home. On· one oeeaston; asne ·was away on tour, his
servant·.· made· love to his wife. By the time he returned home,
the. ·wife bad been taken ill. .When ·he 'made divination to find
orit the uuse of her illness,:. lfa revealed that she had
misbehaved, and that she· would die unless •she confessed her
transgression. At the point of death, she told the. husband that
his sersant made love . to bet during his absence from home.
The: servant· also admitted the action.
Orunmila then told her .that without his financial support, she.
should buy a goat and a hen to. appease Ifa 3J!d a hegoat to
appease Bsu. When the servant· heard of the consequences of
his action, he ran away from Orunmila's house. After eating his
he-goat, psu .cursQ<.f \the· ~ivanti tllat he would always be
caught stealing wherever lie went. The woman however _went
to her parenu to raise money for the sacrifice. That .ls. bow the
tradition wa$ ·· . .aablished that when Onmmila's wife
misbehaves, she lilUSt make the above appeasements, otherwise
she would: •~-
U this odu appears at Ugbodu, the pel'S0$1 should be told that
hi5 ·.wife bas misbe.havecl :~, MOuld. do· the. .. neee~
appeasement at oaee. ANli~-the persQn.Jbould serve
134
Esu with a he-goat because. of an unpendicg trouble over a
woman.
The Head solves most human problems:
Orunmila says it will be done and I said it will be done. He
replied that; it is the head of a young rat that willbe ~rv~d for
the rats, it is the head of a young fish that will beserved for
fishes, it is the head of a young animal that is served for the
animals, it is the head of the young bird that is served for the
birds, and· it is the .head of the young that is, sewed to bring,
salvation to mankind. By so doing, salvation will come to the
rats, fishes, birds, animals and human beings. The sacrifice is
made with good kolanuts, and akara, Wh~Jl this is done the
person will. overcome his problems;
When this odu appears at divination, the person will be told to
serve his head because his problems are soon to become a thing
of the past and he will enjoy a life of contentment and joy
thereafter.
He made divination for the people of Imesi-Pola:
.• Edi se, ere se made divination for the people of Imesi-Pola
when prosperity left their town. He told them to make sacrifice
with a mother-goat, rat, fish, and a clay-pot.
They collected the materials and made the sacrifice. Thereafter
all the good things that had been eluding them began to return
to the town. Harvests turned out well,
135
• women began to get pregnant again and new .childr.en were
born, and money flowed into the town.
Subsequently, the king'.::ojcthe· iown made a. l?.ig;Je~l of
thanksgiving at which he sang:
Ire ile wa ko le sl'ro ma .lai-lai,
Ora ra ni're yi o ma pa, ti o pehinda,
Meanings-
Prosperity will never again escape from our homes.
Allthe good fortunes that' onceescaped have now returned.
,,
If this Odu appears at divination, the person will be told that all
his lost fortunes and glories will surely come back to him,
provided he makes sacrifice.
'(
{ ' I
136
Ohapter.16
IDI -OFUN
II I
.r, I I'I 'r
I I I I
' I
He made divination for: the Sun:
Beforethe Sun made hisfirst appearance on earth, he went for
divination and he.was advised to make sacrifice with rat, fish,
akara; eko, white cloth, broom and a white pigeon. lie did the
'sacrifice; The white cloth was prepared for him to clad himself
with, when leaving for earth. He was also given the broom to
hold in band .. He did the sazifice jn order to command the
honour, respect' and fear of al~ and, sundry on earth;
As he was: leaving for the world; he covered his body with the
white-cloth and held the broom in his hand. When ht
subsequently appeared on earth,' he. was generally admired,
butwhen anyone tried-to.stare.at-hisface, he stretched-out the
broom in his hand and they quickly turned their faces aVl'.fY·
The white cloth, is the bright face of the sun, but its rays are the
broom-sticks which he stretches out to make it impossible for
anyone to look at his face.
When it appears at divination, the person should be advised to
make sacrifice in order to command universal respect and fear.
;137.i
 the ea1Jy hours of the morning, When Ogq11 ~l~~ l>t~J~ ;
H~fllplF,.r to explain hi~~lJ, he apologised for li111~A~,:;
because.be was over-whelmed bytemptation. .. _. '','.· e,; . 1
N~tiJ; kutu n,irhe,i .. hei, odifaiun Ewiri tin.she aya Ogun. .) . .;,, . . .. . . ,,: ;,·•.},1i
llc.inade divination:.for.tbe \llaeksmith's.,furnace (Ekue in Bini) 0.gun asked the Hammer to bring a dog for atonement, aft:er,,
_ . , _ _ _,. .,. , , , _-, .-·. I •. .,, ·"' ~V-t

who was the wife of Ogun, when she was.going to embark on an which :9e proclaimed that from that day,,the llamqi~r.iW8ql4.)
illegal love affair with the Sledge Hammer, (Owu in yoruba and not be able to talk any more. _ , , _,_1 ·J ,
Umomn i~1. Bini) .. a servant of the husband .. She was advised
not to do it because she would suffer the consequences When this Odu. appears at divination for a wom@,.sh,,
.•. ;,. • . -· :_ ., : . . .. -- • . ., -.... ; ' • ! ' ' .. ) .. :

immensely. : She· defied · the .advice and proceeded.te carry should.be .told that her husband .~ having a. rela~H:>fl .or .a
out her intentions. She took, the oppotu~· of· her .. husband's S~,IJ':~Ult who 'is ·w~tc;hing. foran opp'ortuni_ty to ·rape.he(
absence- to. arrange; with. the Hanuner·to.meet her.po:an
appointed day and time .. Before going to.bed thatrnight; she
'.$~i' shopW.be ~dvJsed ~o be 1p~k_ins the <loo! to ~er.
b~di~a.i;
delibetately left.her-door.open. As.she was sleepingthe lover ~~Q,I'Cjl~~ping. . , .. , ;
moved-through the open door and swooped to u,ake love to bet.
~, . l; _ ~ -- · . -~,- __ .. _- , ... ., ~ - . J , . · ... Ci{~ -- ;-':·
It happened in the small hoµ,$ ofa dl.e ·· .. motning,y After the..
If it comes out for a man, heshould be told that \tisjurtiqr.
operation, she however warned,thc .. Hammer ;that; her, husband
brother or domestic servant living with him,'will force'sex''dn'' one
would· know about it.
of his wives unless he makes sacrifice. with a ;he.,go_,i,tq., Esu ..
I,f the, woman Iends ~ers{lf to it, she will ;~e;cqmp~l!f.9r'
The following day Ogun returned from his tour and met his wife
by,illn~s to.confess the act. . ,, -4,n,
,ill. WbtnnheAlsked her; what was."happening;i she rceplied that , .~. ; ,._. I. · •

she had done nothing wrong, AS, the sickness bec;~e setio:a~ •.... _·· .• ' ' -· ,, ' '·- .. ;

.Ogun told her, that~tt was not going .tocget well unless she He made divination for Oliki of Akure:
tc•'i;·'.: '. f\\: -~·,, '.-· .,' :'H "/ .'.~. ..»; . ~-t _,· ~:.-::_., .,~,; '. ,,·,~·i ;,>'¥~;:
made a .c~a1t.·ei>nfessionrof·wbat She had done .. Although the
Se se re Se 'ire fin akakofi jugbo. · Dudu ku nldu oron·m~qtC
·'.< ('

Hammer was 'one of Ogun's servants, nonetheless;' without his, lowo lo ru. Obinrin bu ku, owo gbogbo adire we le"'_Tn~se"·
wife. the .FurN£e,,. he -could .: not .
.. ~ <I were the awos who made df vination .. for Oliki wn~111.hp
operate his factory. He therefore, did not; wantch~. to die. He emerged at Akure in Ondo State ,of Nigeria. , fl~- ,,w~-, advised
however persuaded . .,herrto tell him ,what she did. She in heaven to make sacrifice with a ~trated p~goat. termites and
subsequently burst into tears sing:- their queen, to avof4. pr<>W~ms fro~: bis household when
"Nikutu kutu ni hei hei, Nikutu kutu ni hei hei", which Ogun
understood to mean. that the Hammer forced sex on her in
he.gotto earth .. ·ae
made the sacrifice anq .
. ' came out at Akure. l ,: · , ... , ·· '·

~141
121.

He was ~ · lfa priest who· made himself diabolically strong.
Wfieri He got 'fO the world, he soon began to have' p:roblems
iil_his house b-.,t not from. outsi~ers. He w~nt for divination,
and. he was .told to serve his head with. the queen of ~nhites~
terl.tiiies and castrated he-goafin 'order to 'see the en:d of his
erieinies. 'He was also told to give he-goat to Esu. , He did the
sacrifices.
MeanwhHe, Esu instigated an upheaval in ~re. for which his
enemies *re held responsible. ()ne after the_ oiher th~y came to
him for divination. · He demanded a strong he-goat - for Esu'
together ~th axe, matchet, white cloth·and tnonty~ He made the
sacrifice for them after which . peace 'and
- tranquility returned to Akure, and people stopped bothering
I "" . , .· " . .
him. · He tao became very.• prosperous. ·
\ ., '. . . .
·
. • . ·· .
' . ,._ ''
\Yhe.fr this Odu appears at Ugbodu, the_ person shouici give',
he-goaf to Esu ancf serve his head, backing his lfa shrine, with a
castrated he-goat, queen of termites and termites, in order to
Won dibo sinu eye. Omo eye ko le tuu.
Orunmila ni adiri fun, Moni · adiri fun. Oni
won dibo si'nu omo eni.
Oni omo eni ko le tuu;
Orunmila says cling together and I said cling together; ·:
He reiterated that rats, fishes, lambs and birds cling to, and
resist being separated from, their mothers just, as huma'n
babies hold on totiheir mothers without separation.'
This was the incantation· with which Orunmila divined 'arid·
made sacrifice for a pregnant woman whose pregnancy: had not
developed for along time; life called for sacrifice with:\. one
snail and a -piece of white., cloth. He added other: materials and
' ' .
tied them with the white cloth, which ,fie1 finally buried at the
.
foot of a tree called lgi-Ofun for seven days.
He.brought out the parcel after seven days, peeled the barkof the

==~
tree and burnt all of them together in a clay pot and"'
survive the problems lyirlg ahead.
ground.them into powder. He advised the woman to· be eating
out of the powder every morning ind to 'be rubbmgl. her
-~P'1•1'9,a .. ror .. " "°m':n,whc>" stomach with it. · ·. ;L ,

·Slq;P,~.,O 4~~-'ot,.l Not long afterwards, her pregnancy resumed development and
,• . • :' ~ , ' •· .. , ,•, .· , , '<f. ·.'." · .. · .-~ ";•, , , . ',•'' ; , in the fullness of time, she gave birth to a healthy ~hfld{ The
:!\ . '· · ' ,,;· · I ' -·.·. •i; preparation is also used to treat 'a person. who has been
suffering from a long lasting illness. The sickness will disappear
Orunnilla ni .. adiri· fpl); ·. Mom Adiri and he will get welt. ,
fun. · Oni won dibo si'nu omo elcu,
Om omo eku ko le tu-u,
t'• '' ' ,J . -~ . ·: • . . ' • .,. ; '' -~,.

· --·
Oni adiri fun, Moni adirf run. __ ... . . • .... · ··
..... · ... ·. 1Om won dibo si'nu Omo ~ja eja;
k.o le-'tuU. 143
Osi dibo si'nu eran, Omo eran ko142
le mu. ·
He made divination for Qrisa-Turuabeye;
Edi fun, fun ko ni iran. Ero ni.moko mo here oro. Oro ti mo
here yi ise mi o mu mi mo ibi ti emi nlo. _ Edi fun fun had no
followers. It is the crowd which I came across and from
which · I made enquiries, that made me to know the
direction I. was heading.

These were the two awos who rnade divination for Orisa-
Turugbeye. the husband of Yeyemnwo. He was advised to
make sacrifice to triumph over his enemies, who were
relentlessly causing trouble , for him. He was told to make
sacrifice with white cock, plenty of - ashes, plenty· of sand-
paper. leaves { ewe erinpe .in yoruba and Ebe· amenmen in
Bini), squirrel stick (opa-atori ,inyoruba and Uwenriontan in
Bini}. He made the sacrifice. . --

When his enemies again gathered to scheme new problems

for him, Bsu turned into a masquerade and used the squirrel
cudgel to peat up and scatter them. As he was beating them
witq the cudgel, Esu used the sand-paper leaves .to shrub
their bodies while rubbing them with ashes. That was how
Esu used the harmattan to beat all the enemies of Orisa-
Turugbeye. That is why people's skins become white during
the harmattan unless they rub pomade.

When this Odu appears at divination the person will be told

to make sacrifice to overcome all his .enemies,

Al..L RIGHTS RE~ERVEO·

144
122.

0
123.
f 1111. ~.

'I'I-IE Cl)MPLJtrE W<lH.l(H <)F <'>1~(JNMll4A

VOl-'I.J ME SIX
'fhc Odus of Obar:

I
I
I
I
I
VOLUME SEVEN
The Odus of Ol{onron

I I
I
I I
I
I
124.
125.

IFISM
The Complete Works of OninmUa
Volume Six
The Odus of Ohara
About the Author
Prologue 1
Onmrnlla's Revelation On How To Serve the One and Only Universal God 0
Ofun-lwori Reveals How Orunmlla and Sang6 Helped Each Other 11
The Cooperation Between the Wind Divinity and Orunmlla 11
Thou Shall Not Kill 12
The Beginning of Homicide on Earth 14

The First Strife Among the Divinities 15

The Last lfa Sage 16

How Chief Obalola Came to Benin 16

18
Chapter One Obara-Ogbe Ebara-Bo-
20
Obara-Ogbe Ogbe
22
Ebara-Bo-Ogbe
22
Made Divination for the Com to Have Children The
22
Divination He Made Before Leaving Heaven He
22
Divined for the People of Illa Orangun
23
He Made Divination for the Hunter
23
The Divination Made for Him Before Travel!in3 ftK ffa Practice to the Town of Udo 23
Divined for Orunmlla When His Friend Was aev.0:".ch:.ng Him 25
He Made Divination for the Alaafin of Oy6 25
He Made Divination for the King of Benin
27
He Made Divination for the Children of the Ewi of Ado-8'jtj 28
Chapter Two Obara-Oyeku Obara-Bepin
Obara-Oyeku
30
Obara-Bepin
3
He Made Divination for Sang6 0
Made Divination for the Son of Oloje to Ascend the Throne of His Father He 30
Made Divination for Statesmanship
31
Divination Made for Him to Liberate Women From a Giant
32
Obara-lwori Obara-Kosi 32

;;~Kosi
34 34

t.~ Divination for Four Sisters in Heaven Saved 34

His Son for the Cull of Witchcraft 3

5
 He Made Divination for Fays at Hades 36
Whal Orunmllo Does to Tie Down Fays or lmeres 3
He Made Divination for Oro (The Secret Cult) 6
He Made Divination for the Oba of Benin 3
This Odu's Special Preparation for Remembrance 6
Chapter Four Obara-ldi Obara-Bo-ldi 3
Obara-ldi 3
6
Obara-Bo-ldl 8
3
3
He Made Divination for the Two Hundred Divinities
78
He Made Divination for the Genitals (Penis and the Vulva) He
38
Made Divination for Ogun
38
He Also Made Divination for f=su-Obadara
39
He Made Divination for 016kun and Orlsa
39
He Made Divination for the Small Pepper They
40
Also Made Divination for Awele, the Flirt
40
Chapter Five Obara-Okonron
Obara-Okonron 41
42
He Made Divination for the Pounded Yam 42
He Made Divination for the Masquerade (Egung-un) 42
The Divination He Made Before Leaving Heave 43
He Made Divination for the Rubbish Dump (c'-2,, in Yoruba and Otlku in Bini) 43
His Problems on Earth
43
He Made Divination for Prince Owolabi of lj~~
43
Chapter Six Obara-lrosun
Obara-lrosun
4
Made Divination for the Children of Prosperity Befort; Th,:y Left Heaven
6
Orunmila Declares the Sacrifice for Opening the Ga~es to Prooperity
4
He Made Divination for the Woman Who Had Six Children
6
He Made Divination for a Mother Having Two Daughters
4
The Divination Made for Him Before He left Heaven
6
The Dishonesty of His Servants
46
Orunmila laments the Unreliability of Human Nature
4
Chapter Seven Obara-Owanrin Ohara-Lila
Obara-Owanrin 7
Obara-Lila 450
The Divination Made for Him Before leaving Heaven He 7
50
Becomes A High Chief of His Town 4
Orr.nz1..on for 6runmlla on Caution 851

,!ade Drvinaticn for the Man W'no Caught a Treasured Bird He 451
fl.a~~ Drvinal,on for tho Hunter 851
e Drvlnajion for Olobara
51
52
126.

Chaptor Eight Obara-Ogunda

53
Livestock Farmor 53
vlnntlon tor Agbo and Onne 53
I Dlvlnollon for Gboresl Before She Got Married
I 54
Ho Modo Dlvlnntlon for Sixteen Witches
54
Ho Modo Divination for tho Oba and the People of ldanren
5
Chaptor Nine Obara-Osa
5
Obaru-Osn
5
Tho Socrtfico Ho Mode Before Running Away From Heaven His
6
Encounter With the Cult of Witchcraft
56
Modo Divination for tho Father of Ojulewa
56
Ho Made Divination for Orunmlla to Become Victorious at War
57
Divination for Long Life and Prosperity
57
Chapter Ten Obara-Etura
Obara-Etura
58
5
Ho Made Divination for the Head
9
Ho Also Made Divination for the Trumpet (Ukpe) Ho
5
Made Divination for Three Brothers
9
Divined for Orunmlla When His Farm Was Be:ng Plundered He
5
Made Divination for the People of Aiye!:i:D
9
Chapter Eleven Oba:ra-lrete
5
Obora-lrete
6
9
He Made Divination for Plants to Become T~~ The
2
6
Divination He Made Before Leaving He
6
0
He Made Divination for Onitllde
2
61
The Contest for Supremacy Between Esu and the Two Hundred Divinities
6
Divination for Sang6 When He Was Indisposed
2
Chapter Twelve Obara-Eka
6
Obara-Eka
65
2
His Harrowing Childhood
65
6
Ho Made Divination for Olefin to Avoid War He
6
3
Made Divination for the Setting Sun Made
6
64
Divination for Olefin
6
Sacrifice Against Enmity
6
OiVin.ation Before He Left Heaven
66
He M~rlc Divination for Alara-lsa. Omo Ajigbolu
66
•. Drvinatlcn for the Owa of ljesha
67
D·.rn:i!JOru for tho Olowo of Owo, Ewi of Ado and the Ajero of ljero
67
Chapter Thirteen Obara-Eturukpon
67
68
6
-/Ullo, Earthworm and the Fly
9
69
 69
Ho Mado divination for tho Elophont
70
Ho Modo Dlvlnotlon for tho Foy or Elf 71
Made DivinntJon for Sc'1ng6 71
He Made Divination for Olobon
72
Ho Mode Divination for tho Pumpkin and His Three Brothers
72
Ho Was Also Having Problems With Marriage Obara-Seke Obara-Opere
Chapter Fourteen Obara-Ose 74
Obara-Ose 74
Obaro-Seke 74
Obara-Opere
74
The Divination He Made Before Leaving Heaven
75
He Made Divination for the Two Men 'Mio Learned How to Make Tribal Marks
75
He Made Divination for Okpere, the Slave of Onidoko He
76
Made Divination for Onidoko
76
Divination for Him When He Was Going on Tour He 77
Made Divination for the Mother of Ogun
Obara-Mo-Ofun
Chapter Fifteen Obara-Ofun
Obara-Ofun
7
Obara-Mo-Ofun
9
Made Divination for the Parrot When He Tried
7
Divination for Him Before Leaving Heaven
He Made Divination for Ataparapa, the Armed Ba"'l::Made
9
Divination for Orlsa-Nla When Coming to t---1~ •::-:,..,.c Ho 7
Divined for his Wife to Have a Child 9
Made Divination for MaJawote, the Mother of the S'.J Mode 8
Divination for lgbayinnn When She Divorced Her Ho Mado .and 0
Divination for the Oba of Benin 81
81
81
81
SM
82
The Complete Wor~ of Orunmlla
Volume Seven
The Odus of Okonron

Chapter One Okonron-Ogbe Okonron-MI-Sode

Okonron-Ohun-Olode
8
5
8
VlhM lt,~ Tried to Brtng Pt 5
as
85
68
127.

How He Solved the Problem of Having Chlldron

Made Divmatron for Elekolc When Hie Dog Was "11osfng 87
87
Made Divination for Eda Lausa When He Was Very Poor
87
Made Divinatrcn for Ololo, the King of Faye or Elfs Orunmlla
08
Declares Udo Ao An All-Purpoaa Protector

Chapter Two Okonron-Oyeku 89

Okonron-Aronmo
Okonron-Oycku
90
Okonron-Aronmo

Divination Before Leaving Heaven 90

He Made Divination for Odogbonikero The 90

Special Features of Okonron-Oyeku 90

Made Divination for the Statesman to Have Authority He

91
91
Reveals How Orunmtla Left the World for Heaven Ono-lfa
92
for a Peaceful and Prosperous Life
92
Divined for the People of lgbehin and llori

Chapter Three Okonron-lwori 93

Okonron-Kosi
Okonron-lwori
94
Okonron-Kosi
94
The Divination He FAade Before Lea-,i:-i; H:Z-=He
94
l,'1ade Divination for the Rain in H~av,_
94
He Made Divination for Fire
95
He l,1ade Divination for the Leper of l;ay _
95
Special Divination for Okonron-lwo
96
Chapter Four 0
Okonron-Idr 97
Divination Before Le,avina Heave,
97
How Thls Odu so.-,ed the Problem of Ur.:.:ne!/ C<::z-.· 08
He Made Drvinatrcn for the Oro 1/.a:;:;ur:::"a:!<: 08
The Divination Made for H:.m When He Wa<;, ~ n3 t? E·;1;: ~ia·m He
98
Made Divination for Ogfrn ano San;;
9
Chapter Five Okonron-Obara
Okcruon-Obara 100
.'ade Drv.naucn for 100
t-'c r.ta~c D ·, 10
0
100
10
1
10
,'2

un
,.,.,._ ".r
128.

His Experience on Earth 104

He Made Divination for Osanyln, the Medicine Divinity 105
Divination for Wealth and Prosperity 105
Chapter Seven Okonron-Owanrln
Okonron-Owanrin 106
Divination Made for Him Before Leaving Heaven He 106
Loter Founded His Own Town 107
He Made Divination for the Dog 107
Made Divination for Sang6 108
He Made Divination for Alaplnl lyan-lyan, and lkola 108
Chapter Eight Okonron-Ogunda
Okonron-Ogunda 109
He Made Divination for Animal-Klnd and Divinities 109
The Divination He Made Before Leaving Heaven He 109
Made Divination for Ogun and the Oraciist 110
He Made Divination for Three lfa Priests With Challenging Nick-Names The 110
Three Awos, and a Fourth One Also Made Divination for the lfa Man He Made 111
Divination for Eshi 111
He Made Divination for Ajija (Eziza). the Wind 0:-.".nity He 111
Made Divination for the Two Babara 112
chapter Nine Okonron-Osa
Okonron-Osa
Made Divination for the Guinea-Fowl 113
He Made Divination for Oya, Obalifon. Ata 113
Divination for Prceperity 113
He Made Divination for the Snake in Hea 113
The Divination Made for Him Before Leavi'lg Heaven He 113
Made Divination for Sang6 and His House Help He 114
Made Divination for Agbirari, the Friend of E!:u 114
Chapter Ten Okonron-Etura 114
Okonron-Etura
He Made Divination for the Mou•
116
He Mado Divination for the Hant!, Throat. Stomach, Anus, RuLbioh Dump, and tho :son
110
H
11
H
11
117
117
01 Thcu Furner , 1l
11
Okonron-lrot ,1

(;"/>r•-.·•
 129.
He Made Divination for the Boa Snake He
120
Made Divination for Water
121
Divined for Orunmila When Osanyln Challenged Him The
121
Divination He Made Before Leaving Heaven
122
He had Difficulty in Having Children
122
He Made Divination for the Man Who Married Olefin's Daughter 123

Chapter Twelve Okonron-Eka Okonron-Ala-Ayoka

Okonron-Eka
Okonron-Ala-Ayoka 12
He Made Divination for the Ground He 5
12
Made Divination for the Mushroom
5

He Made Divination for the Sun He 125

Made Divination for the Gourd 125

He Made Divination for the Bird Called Agbe The

125

Divination he Made Before Leaving Heaven His

126
126
Work As An lfa Priest in His Second Life
127
He Restored the Eyes of the Blind
128
Chapter Thirteen Okonron-Eturukpon
Okonron-Eturukpon 128
He Made Divination for the Horse 130
He Made Divination for Onidiro in Heaven 130
The Divination He Made Before Leaving Heaven 130
He Made Divination for a Seductive Basket 'I/saver 132
Divination Made for Him Before Becoming Procperous 132
Chapter Fourteen Okonron-Seke Okonron-Ose Okonron-Da-Ase
Okonron-Seke 134
Okonron-Ose 134
Okonron-Da-Ase 134
Divined for Poverty, Suffering and Deprivation 134
Made Divination for the Snake When He Was Befriending the Squirrel He 134

Made Similar Divination for Akinla 135

The Divination made for Odogbomukere and Okonron-Da-Aae 135

What He Did to Become an lfa Priest 136

He Made Divination for the Furniture Seifer Destined to Become Rich Within Three Years He 136

Became a Member of the Ogboni Cult 137

Chapter Fifteen Okonron-Ofun

Okonron-Ofun 138

~e r.~ade Divination for Wealth (Aje) 13

" r.l!a1!? Divination for White Rabbits. Hares and Pigs , ace 8

Drvmalion for Orlsa-Nla, Oshereigbo 138

1
-· Procperitv 138
139
7
Ho Matle Olvinotlon for tho Monkoy
The Divination He Made serore Leaving Hoavon 13'

Ho Mode Divination for tho Corp 14

He Mnde Divination for Oro, tho Divinity of Secrecy 0
14
1
 About the Author

M r. C. Osnmnro IIJic was born in the defunct Benin Empires capital City of Benin in Midcstern
Nigeria on the 29th of September, 1934 to Chief and Mrs. Thompson Ibie Odin.
I le hailed from a Christian family. When his naming ceremon~ was, ho~cver b:ing performed eight days after his birth,
experts in the esoteric analysis of newly born infants, with special referc,ncc to the lute ChiefObalola Adedayo, who
confirmed to journalists when Iflsm: Tl,~ Complete Works of (!r~iumil,i, Book One, was being launched in 1987,
predicted that God creat~d the infant as a servant to Orurunila, God's own servant and divinity of wisdom, and that the
world was going to know about OrunmlJa and the distorted, falsified and fabricated truth about the true nature of the
one and only good God through the i~fant whose future problems and prospects were being analyzed. In fact, Chfef
Obalola confessed that he himself wondered why Orunrnila left the whole of Yorubaland, which was his base, to come
to Benin, which he first visited but could not reside in. to pick his viva voce .

. According to the author's father the augury was totally ignored as farfetched because the man was talking to a
Christian family who could not imagine any connection with Orunmlla.

The author went through his primary and secondary education in Benin City, during which he gener. al~y operated
as a man-server in the Catholic Church. In 1947, he joined some of his friends to enlist in the pnesthood of the Catholic
Church. but his father intervened with the Bishop to insist, that his son was not cut out for the Christian priesthood, and
the Bishop deferred to the wish of his father by releasing him.

Upon the completion of his primary zed secondary education, the author was employed in the Nigerian Federal
Public Service where he rose from the post of a Clerical Officer to the lofty position of an Executive Officer in 1959. At
the same ~- he won a Federal Government Scholarship to read Economics in London. He went to London in J 9~J
z::d obtained a Second Class Honors Degree in both Strathclyde, Glasgow and the University of London.

He returned to the Nigerian Federal P::t::, S<:rvicc where he was appointed as an Assistant Secretary,
becoming Deputy Permanent Secretary in l 713 ind Permanent Secretary in 1975.

He was appointed as a member of the Nigerian Economic and Finance Committee on the same year, which
was charged with the managemem of the Nigerian Economy. Al the same lime, he was appointed as a member of
the Nigerian Govemmem delegation t0 the in1ergovcrnmen1nl consuhntivc conference between the American and
Nigerian governments. on which he served between 1976 and 1980.

Between 1980 when he retired YQI umaril_y from the Nigerian . Federal Pub I ic Service, and 1989, he
operated exgrauauon as an economic analyst, vmtmg many newspaper articles on the catcg . 1 d
hYPothetical imperatives of economic policy and management. He also addressed several pubJfncad an_ are sect
or institutions on the directions of economic policy, including; the Nigerian I nsti 1 u 1 e O /Ban k pn · the
:,fonufacturers Association of Nigeria, Nigerian Institute of Strategic Studies, Several Tertiary~ crs, tional
Institutions ere. uca-

F mm 1985_ ti II date. heh""'. b':"n serving as a ~em1:-ro1: the governing Cou~~il of l~e r edera I Go ,
m~r.t owned University of Benin, m Edo State. Smee bis retirement from the C1v,J Service in , 980 \ em-
". el j' en gaged in_ business in the pri vale sector. ~ e was in 1992 a warded an 11 o norary Fell O Wsl, i ~ 1~~
has ln.<11tu:c of Adm1mstrJt1,·e Management of Nigeria (FJAMN • Hon.) and recognized :« :i Certified the
Di.:.1mgutSh~d /1.dmin:strn:or (CD/1). and
 Prologue
Orunmllti's Revelation On llow To Serve the One and Only Universal God:

n'mmllr\ has often emphasized that the greatest service anyone can render to God is to know him for
what he is the exemplar and aggregation for perfect goodness, with no stomach and taste for any evil.
Those who associate him with evil arc often mislead by the scriptural
presentation of a duplicatious and ambivalent Jehovah, who is the embodiment of both good and evil. That deity is a
man's conception of an anthropomorphic military commander who must be obeyed under the pain of death. An infallible
genius who operates double standards embracing one set of rules for himself and a different set of draconian rules for his
creatures. An almighty Father who is quite happy to cast his erring children lo a blazing inferno. without admitting that
the failure of his creatures to live by his precepts is a betrayal of his so called infallibility and a negation of his
omniscience. Incidentally, that is the disposition of the God that it pleased man to create to satisfy his material and
political greed and selfishness.

Incidentally, Oninmila has revealed that the one and only Universal God was neither the creator of Esu. the Divinity of
l...

evil who existed in the primeval of Ori ma simultaneously with God. Once we are able to move away from the
apocrypha] scriptural artifice of a God who created a servant who turned round to subvert his good designs. and of the
Orunrnila revealed truth that God existed for good as Esu existed for evil, we will be in a much better position to
appreciate what the God of all goodness expects of us.

Since the only Uni versa] Go:3 creaied the divinities and man to live with the evil machinations of Esu, it really did
not matter to him ,,·b.e-.:::::- ais creatures prefer to go the way of evil or the way of goodness.

Orunmila has revealed that G::.,:: could not have created Esu since it is impossible for good to beget evil, just as it is
impossible for:-"'~~-:·: to give birth to a snake; neither can a hen give birth to a scorpion nor can a cobra give birth to a rut.
( ;-.,.,~ begets goodness as Evil begets evil. Orunmila has therefore enjoined me to inform the: world on ~~-= :-x•m.: of the
only universal God of all goodness, who had nothing to do with the simultaneous existence u! 6,.,,,,,j and evil. God's one
and only son is Truth while the only son of Esu is Falsehood. Their only point of intersection is in the never ending
struggle for the control of the human mind. psyche and soul. It is oPJ:, God that has the capacity to create, since light, water
and air are the only habitats conducive to life. It will be recalled that page five of IF/SM: The Complete works of
Orunmila, Book Two, gave a pictorial reflection of what existed before God or Olodurnare began His creative works.
The entire darkness of the primeval was the abode of Esu, which did not conduce to life and growth. In the fullness of
time, from his minute translucent enclave, God told light to blossom and illuminate the engulfing darkness. That action of
God began the eternal combat between; light and darkness, as well as good and evil.
When asked why God was trespassing on his kingdom of darkness, the creator reassured Esu that far from trying to annex
his territory. He only wanted to create life to thrive in the vastness of space. That was the point at which Esu vowed to
mutilate whatever God created; by turning all human beings to his crvants and to feed freely on any vegetation thus
created. God did not raise any objection since His preoccupation was the creation of living organisms.

c have also seen at page two of IFJSJ,,1: Tire Complete Works of Orimmilii, Book Two, how, upon
discovering the pervasive and freewheeling influence of Esu, God created the virtue of intelligence as a compass and
rudder for uiving directions to us with a wave of the hand, that one has to bribe him off
ntality for sacrifice. No one is happy to gin! out a bribe to obtain a legitimate right or

Jl
 'or. but when one realizes that it is better to err on the side of conciliation than confrontation, that is when one
appreciates the need to give bribes. God himself led the way by making sacrifice to Esu with snails.
Iunnagbc wi II reveal later how Orisa had to make another sacrifice to Esu at Orita-ljaloko when the evil divinitv
was subverting the good designs of God.
130.
In addition. therefore to the concept and practice of ethical objectivity, God expects us to give to him what is his.
which is to be good, and to Esu what belongs to him, which is sacrifice. This part of the book is mainly concerned with
how to serve God. Do we serve God by; praying round the clock for some selfish desires, spending the better part of
the day. week, month or year, in a religious house. bellowing praises and Ilartery on Him in hundreds of names from
rooftops, and operating as His death squad on earth in spite
f his injunction "Thou shall not kill?" God docs not need any of these services from mankind because they make no
difference to him. You can only make Him happy by embracing the obje~tive good, living in perfect harmony and
concord with your fellow men, and avoiding evil. According to Orunmila, he likens God to the head of a household.
who is happy when there is peace, love and harmony in his house, and uneasy when there are quarrels and conflicts in
the house.

The only acceptable service that any man or woman can therefore render to God is to avoid engaging in acts that
can make him unhappy. When one resists the temptations to: offend one's neighbor, retaliate when offended: create
unnecessary problems for others; engage in whatever one's conscience adjudges to be evil: turn down a request from 3
neighbor that is within one's ability to oblige; refuse to help a fellow human being who is in difficult: co 10 others
what will make one unhappy when done to one; cheat society or one's neighbor: engage in c.:JY 2.C: likdy to endanger
the lives and happiness of others; and to kill any human being for any reason whatsoever. one is truly operating in the
true service of God.

It was against the backdrop of these -=-~=~tions that Orunrnila taught that anybody who can wake up in the
morning to say the following ;:i~_ye; :o God consciently and diligently will always be at peace with the Almighty
Creator.

As soon as you wake up in th g and before exchanging greetings with anyone, wash your
mouth. hands and face and towel u •...

Thereafter go on your knees to pray to God in the Followlnu words:

The Father and Creator of all goodness. I thank you for: bringing me safely to the beginning of another day:
putting me safely in a position to report that r did not contemplate or do any evil up to this morning. Do not let me:
think of or do any evil from now till tomorrow morning. disobey any of your commandments: and even if l plan or do
anything to harm any man or woman, father, do not allow it to rnani fest or have any effect. In the same way. if any
man or woman plans or docs anything to harm me, do not allow it to have any effect on me. I beseech you Father to
take my mind over completely and manipubtc it such that 1 will only think of and do the good that you ordained and
enjoin us to do, to make me worthy of being called your loyal son or daughter, for ever and ever to the end of my life.
Amen!

At thispoint it is necessary. 10 examine how the divinities endeavored Lo operate in the light of God's ns i1I1d
precepts.

Ofun.J" on Revealv How Orunrnila and Sango Helped Each Other:

p
have his 0\\11 lfa in order that the son might become well because the boy was destined to be an Ifa priest on earth.

Although Sang« was initially reluctant to condescend to approach a fellow divinity for such an obligation. he subsequently
swallowed his pride when his son swooned into comatose. As soon as Sango narrated his problem to Orunrnila, the latter
agreed to prepare Ifa for him. Since Sango did not have the uisite materials with him, Orunrnila brought out the ones he
had at home. Meanwhile, the ritual was ompleted and Sango's son became well. That supportive tradition explains why Ifa
shrines are today not complete without adornment with thunder stones.

oon afterwards, Oninmila had to travel to the town of Ilode for Ifa practice. The king of II ode had problems in the
t0\\11 which had defied the expertise and competence of all the priests in his kingd,om. The king then sent errands to
invite Orunmila from lfc to come to his rescue. Before leaving for Jlode, Oninrnila made divination for the trip and lfa
advised him to travel to the town with a white ram after giving a he-goat to Esu. He heeded the advice of lfa and travelled
to llode with a ram carried by one of his servants.

,1canwhile, at Ilode, the traditional witch doctors who had failed to solve the problems of the town, hatched a plan
for embarrassing Oninmila. On the outskirts of Ilode was an oak tree. As soon as Oninmila got to the foot of the oak tree,
he decide-cl to take shelter and to rest.

Unknown to him there was a rneering of daylight sorcerers being held on the top of the tree. To actualize the
embarrassment contrived :"o::- him, they broke a branch of the tree and targeted it to impact on the head of Oninmila,
bringing om blood from the injury.

As he was cleaning the blood f:ol.:.! ··-~ injury, he made a proclamation to the tree that "If the injury it inflicted on
his head was accidental. the tree would suffer no retribution, but that if it was a ploy calculated to embarrass him. the
tree should wither ·o its roots within seven days.

The point al which he made the pronouncement coincided with the arrival of the reception party that the Oba had
enjoined to receive him overheard his proclamation. He was subsequently led to the town in a grand procession.

As soon as he settled down at the lodging prepared for him, he felt for his instrument of authority from God
(ASE) only to discover that he did not have it on him which meant that his proclamation was not likely to be cff ectual. In
other words, the seven days grace he gave the tree would come and go without anything happening to it.

In the meantime. Sango had been to 6runmila's house at lfe to express his gratitude for the effective acrifice he made to
make his sick son well onlv to be told that he had traveled to Ilodc. Out of impatience 001 to delay the expression of his
gratitude: Sa~g6 decided to travel to meet Orunmlla at Ilodc.

1amwhile. Orunmila made a directional divination and )fa advised him to position his white ram at t!1-c entrance
to ~is lodging. He quickly arranged to tic up the ram accordingly. Incidentally, just. as t!1c T(}'.1,1 C<!J)t10I resist
thc.al_lur~men.t of com, that is how Sang6 can never resist the sight of a ram. <?nmmt!i\
t~ bee-n assured ~t divination
tnat the ram was to be used to serve Sango who would help to arumnte his
• ..:: 01) the ook 11cc. The ram .wh~ was being tied to the pillar supporting the main .cntrnnc~ to 6~nmih~:s
lod~ng w~1en t~1c arnval of Sengo ~·,as wmo_unced. Upon seeing the whit~ ns!n tied outside: Oninrulla's
l{)_d~m,ts. Sarn-o began to wonder wnat the wisdom ,>r divinity was doinu with 11.

I to·,>,(.'.\ ct, ~ir. sr,un as h~ met (.)r{uunila.. Sam~6 told him that he could not wait for him to return home
131.
before expressing his profound gratitude for the good turn he had done to him by saving the life of his son from the
shackles of death.

After telling him that he was only too happy to be of some assistance to the powerful Sango, Orunmila told him
about his own predicament. He reported that he had conditionally cursed an oak tree that embarrassed him during the
journey to town, only to discover later that he did so without the covering authority (ASE) given to him by God. He was
~1erefore hurrying back to I fe to collect his ASE in order to give efficacy to his curse. Sango reassured Orunrnila by
saying that the situation provided an excellent opportunity for him to express his gratitude in practical terms, provided he
would surrender the ram outside to him. Orunmila lost no time in agreeing to surrender the ram as sacrifice to Sango,
who instantly took and returned home to Ife with it, after being fully briefed on the appointed day.

On the morning of the seventh day following Orunmila's proclamation at II ode, Sango dressed up, after having
breakfast, in battle outfit and invited his wife Oya to light up the sky for him. Instantly, there was lightning across the
sky which enabled Sanzo to target the oak tree at Olode. Back at Ilode, the people had gathered at the main quadrangle
of the to~,11 to watch how Orunrnila's proclamation was going to manifest.

Meanwhile, the clouds gathered, followed by light drizzles, which was subsequently accompanied by a heavy
overcast and sharp lightening. and me bellowing of a thunderstorm. The people of Ilode were flabbergasted to see the
oak tree uprooted c:::3 carried away to a distance of over five kilometers outside the town.

It was followed by a spontaneous procession to Orunmila's lodging, to congratulate him. No one knew that what
happened to the oak tree was iae manifestation of the mutual support and assistance which God enjoined the divinities
to give to themselves.

The Cooperation Between the Wind Divinity and Orunmlla:

Oninmlla has revealed why his followers are forbidden to dive into the river and swim in it for a long stretch.

One day after completing the morning rituals, Orunrnila decided to go to river Ogbcrc to swim. His followers,
Uroke, Uranke and Akpako, told him that it was forbidden for a divinity to swim in the river or sea. He insisted that
he merely wanted to cool off.

As soon as Orunmila made his impact on the Ogbere river, 016kun, the Water Divinity decided to mish him
(Onmrnila) for daring him without prior clearance. 016kun immediately commanded Ogbere to convev Onmmila
right up to the sea.
- -
Meanwhile, Orunrnila discovered that be was at the mercy of the current which was maneuvering him
rerncndous speed towards the sea. By the time he got to Osa river he knew he was close to the sea,
uld mean the end of his life.
The point at which he made the pronouncement coincided with the arrival of the reception party that. the Oba had
enjoined to receive him overheard his proclamation. He was subsequently led to the town m a grand procession.

As soon as he settled down at the lodging prepared for him, he felt for his instrument of authority.
That was the occasion in which Orunrnila forbade his children never to dive into and swim for a long distance inside
any river or sea. The first commandment handed by God therefore was for the divinities to be supportive of one
another at all times. He told them thut He was likened to the head of a household who is at his happiest when there
is harmony and concord in the house.

Incidentally, God also told them that they were to do all in their power to prevent Esu from planting the seeds
of discord among them, but that to be able to achieve their objectives, they should learn to keep Esu at bay by
bribing him into submission through sacrifice.

Thou Shall Not Kill:

The second most spectacular commandment given to the divinities by God was not to kill the mortal servants
he created at their request to serve them. Death was the only divinity who was authorized to return them to heaven
at the expiration of their sojourn.'

No sooner did God make that proclamation than Esu set out to thwart His intentions. Owanrin-SoGbe has
revealed that although it was the expressed intention of God that divinities, man, animals and plants were forbidden
to destroy or f f7>....J camivorously on themselves, Esu did his best to ensure that they did the opposite. According to
Onrnrnil? this is the strongest authority which exists to demonstrate that anyone who kills his feJlow species is
def~~ so in pursuit of the designs of Esu and not in accordance with God's own injunction.

God explained to the divinities tl121 if He expected men to be killed or to kill themselves, He would not have
agreed to create them in the first instance. Therefore, He proclaimed that neither He nor any of His creatures had the
privilege to destroy their fellow species. Nonetheless, Esu had worked out his own strategy for mutilating the
designs of God. Esu went to work on Death to convince him not to mind God because instead of waiting for man to
complete his mission on earth before returning him to heaven, he could in fact use him for food because God did not
want him lo discover that the human meat was the sweetest of all the nutrients He created.

Acting under the influence of .Esu, Death began to attack man only to discover that indeed the taste of the
human blood and flesh was nu/Ii secundus. That was how man became the staple food for Death. Subsequently, it
was Oninmila who taught man the antidote for warding off the menace of Death, by disclosing what Death forbids.
Whenever Death approached to attack men, they would taunt him with his poison, which had the effect of scaring
him into instantly to run away.

It was again Esu who advised Death to approach the four ferocious divinities lo be fetching human
ings for him. These divinities are Ogun, Sango, Shankpana, and Sickness, Death's own wife. First in heaven.
and later on earth, Death was effectively checkmated from kiJling by himself except by proxy through the four
ferocious divinities who themselves do not feed on human beings. TI1cy only kill for D~~th ~nd not for
themselves, which is why Ogun. Sango, Shankpana, and Sickness arc derisively referred
~1llcrs that do not feed on their victims.
132.

he Bcgiuning of Homicide on Earth:

It will be recalled that the ninth of the sixteen Olodus of Orunmlla, Ogunda-meji, revealed in JFJSM.· The
Complete Works of Or{mmiliJ, Book One, that Ogun was the fir.st di~inity appointed by God to found n habitation
on earth. For failing to make any sacrifice before leaving, Esu frustrated his efforts and his mission was a colossal
failure. For his mission to the world, God gave him Two Hundred men and women Unable to provide adequate food
for them since Ogun was unprepared for the expedition, his follower~ became too enfeebled to engage in productive
work requiring physical energy.

That provided Esu an excellent opportunity to work on Ogun's mind for foiling to make any sacrifice to him
before leaving heaven. Incidentally, Ogun took the physical enervation of his mortal servants to mean a deliberate
refusal to obey his lawful instructions and he began to murder all those who could not work. Eventually, he had to
return to heaven to report mission impossible.

The water divinity was the next divinity to be assigned to establish a habitation on earth. He had much the same
experience of monumental failure. TI1at explains why the metallurgical and water divinities arc among the divinities
that engage in mass homicide.

Onirunila was the third divinity who succeeded in founding a habitation on earth because he was able to
combine the intelligence of Oba Jagboloro, the Food Divinity with the cooperation of Esu not only to feed his
followers. but also to encourage them to stay happily on earth.

When Ogun eventually discovered l'Pi Oninmila had succeeded where he had failed, he declared an open war
on Orunmila, which he Jost woefully. until he sued for armistice. Between Ogun, Olokun and Orunmila, and with
the support of Obajigijigi, Obajomijomi and Oba Jagboloro, the junior Divinities of Plants, Drinking Water and
Food, they were able to sustain life on earth.

Meanwhile, all the divinities had come to earth from heaven, but were baffled by the paradox that whereas God
had intended to establish an earth insulated from the evil machinations and challenge ofEsu, they nonetheless met
Esu waiting f?r them on the swamps of the earth, on top of a rock. That explains, why among other things. the shrine
of Esu is traditionally prepared on a stone picked from under the running waterbed of the river. It is called Iyangi in
lfisrn.

As soon as Esu dismounted from the riverbed rock on which he had been waiting for God's divinities, he
contrived a strategy for inciting God's divinities against one another. Initially, l~st) influenced the divinity of Fear to
be gripping prospective victims of Death - which explains why people ore usually afraid of Death. That was when
Death by himself used to kill his victims with his traditional club (Alugbongbo in
oruba and Ukpokpo in Bini).

Following the decision of Death nev~r ~gain to come personally to kill anyone by himself, Esu began vork on the
other divinities. His first vicurn v,:as the Divinity of Fear which was using convulsion to kill infants. Since fear by
itself only kills children, Esu decided to work on Ogun, the metagalactical divinity •• 11-0 was already producing
machetes, spears. bows and arrows for killing animals and birds, and finally convinced Ogun that the same
weapons could be used for killing human beings.
The First Strife Among the Divinities

nc of contention which sowed the seeds of discord among the divinities was the question of was the most senior.
Ogun. being physically stronger and more inventive than others had ulways ,.~_rm~d tl1!: leadership role. Besides, the
fact that he was rhc first divinity sent hy God 10 frmnd n Jwbfrn.

1 /,
tion on earth, made him to presume the role of prim us inter pares. But Sango, Sankpana, Water and Night laid equal
claims to seniority.

At a subsequent meeting of the five daily divine council, the argument became so stiff that Ogun proclaimed that
the matter was going be resolved by war such that whoever emerged as the overall victor would claim the right of
seniority.

ext day, Ogun told Sango to be prepared to do battle with him. Sango lined out his followers armed with peak
axes, which can only be useful in hand to hand combat. On the other hand, Ogun armed his followers with boomerangs,
bows, arrows, machetes and spears which could be used for distant combat.

Before the commencement of the aggression, Orunmila reminded Ogun of God's injunction to them not to kill.
Since Ogun was already under the influence of Esu, he retorted by challenging Orunrnlla to swallow his sputum lest he
(Orunmila) would become his (Ogun's) first victim.

As soon as Ogun lifted up his machete to use on Orunrnlla, the latter used an incantation to the effect that unless
Ogun was capable of eating; a snail and it's shells, a tortoise/turtle and it's shell, and a snake and it's scales, Ogun's
right hand which held the machete should stay up transfixed without coming down, since the praying mantis never
brings down it's hand after raising it to fight. Orunmila continued, by the same token, the snail climbs the tree and any
object but Jacks the teeth with which to bite or harm them, while the mini-anthill (Odidimode in Yoruba and Llelefe in
Bini) wears a cap but lacks the hands with which to position it in place. With that, Ogun v.2.5 effectively humored.
Ogun's right hand was instantly transfixed in the air. He however apologized to On:n:nila by promising never again to
attack him or his followers. That confirms why an Ifa adherent can :i~.er be a war casualty unless he does not arm
himself with this particular protective device (Ayajo).

After being released from his ordeal. <Jgun went into battle with Sango, whose forces he defeated.
That marked the beginning of strife on earth. After defeating all the other contenders through warfare and bloodshed,
Ogun imposed himself argumeruum haullnum as the head of all the divinities on earth. When God discovered how
Esu was using Ogun to subvert I fis intentions, He dispatched Orisi1.-Nla to go to the world as his personal
representative, surrogate, and spokesman, endowing him with the requisite immunity against the evil contrivances of
Esu. provided Orisa-Nla himscl f succccdccl in abhorring evil.

1
133.
136.
135.
134.

The Last Ifa Sage

n Jfa guru is one who can even divine without sounding I kin or throwin~ Okpel)c. f did meet him, rr
A I would not have believed that God created such human beings. Chief Adeday{J Obalola was the expert
on Jfa divination inter alios, that my f~thcr i~vited to perform my

naming ceremony divination when I was eight days old. In the old days, that rs, until the onslaught of th~ whiteman's
mcddlesorncncss and its twin off springs of colonization and Christianity, the naming ceremony of a newly born child
was an occasion for the parents to have a glimpse into the future of the child, to sec it's prospects and problems, in
order to take prompt remedial actions early enough. With the advent of Christianity and it's imperialist parent,
Africans were goaded into discarding their traditional mores, as fetish superstitions. The result is that the blackman
was caught adrift in the uncharted ocean of the whiteman who has neither culture nor tradition, except the vindictive
and divisive gentility of a culture based on the euphoric and myopic superiority complex. The black man aped this
ecstatic propensity of the whiteman by becoming contemptuous of any article of faith and dogma that did not source
from the whiteman, thus rejecting and abandoning his own cultural foundation ...

That is why, a naming ceremony in my part of Africa has assumed the charneleorric complexion of a
Christian ritual. thus completely abandoning it's more important connotation of aJJ opportunity for preparing the
child for a life in which the margin of error and fortuity is reduced to livable dimensions. Orunmila has already
declared that God did not create man to live through life as ff blindfolded, which is why he endowed wisdom
diviners with the knowledge to guide their fellowmen in their sojourn through life.

I would have dealt in detail with Chief Adedayo Obalola much earlier t:"'.Ci no:» oU1 for the fact that I could
not procure his photograph. The photograph at page 33. ~.,,"2.5 o~.z.::.ed fro:n his children as recently as July.
1995. It was this man who told my parents during my naming ceremony divination when J was eight days old that
he couJd n01 understand why Orunmila left his tradniozai 5":.z:.,:;7ing ground in Y orubaland to pick this child as the
emissary through who the world would know abou: i:im. He told me this ~Jr.j' in 1972 when I met him on the
street ar-d came down from my C2:" to knee c:o· .• ,:1 to greet him, \•rn~ ~ asked me whether I already
understood the Yoruba language. I told :;im tf:::,· r.;:.· as I did. I could n!Jt pid: rt up even though I had a Yoruba
wife. He stunned me with his response ?,L"":1 he sz:d z::-.-: I quote '"O:un-.-:ti!z is wondering in heaven, bow you are
going to do his work effectively on ez-..b ·.-.t..~ :~·0:1 co nc: !.!.~_.ta:-:...;
his language." Since the old man's remarks made no sense to me 6~ I gzve hl-"2 ,;. •...
pounds sterling at the time and went my way.

Before I left him. be recalled 1h21 when ne ~""sz:::"'~-:..s. ;::, ,:,~-~ -·· -=-
L-46- ~-l: nz:::1 ..
---- - kl-\.,;~~
/!.

ceremony divination in October. 1934. he too di~ it v.~:b a wave of~ r_;r-:= ~---· ~cs:;:;: .• · fz:1-zr 7,~
J •.

~
a rervent Chri attn
suan . ... ume.
. "' .nci •.. ,,·1
.•. identallv .. r..,.,._,_
:n_. s_.,~_.
j~-~-
...-• 0:1
.o .. ,~,, r - •-:-
er::...~---'· · -~·-.:
r:-.• ~Ji:-,!:
---...-•,-. - --r, .
:!'°~-:::2!-
s:
ter. The first occasion was in ] 9~ when I . .,,"2.5 in i;riT2-:.- fo:rr z:::: ~-:.:.:::~~:• ~-~ c.;;:.:::,b:5 c= ~rJ""r b~ as a result
of which I had to slop going to sd::.'XlL T.."'2~ s--or:-· was ;::e·.-:!:"'~y:<: :,:o Ifitm: The CJm:piae Works of
Orr.inmlliz. Book One.

lt was on thai occasion that he advise

from \V 2:..--:-i •
,-:-..h.
 trating that after remaining in palm oil for eleven years, his vision had gotten blurred and that his removal from oil
was not to be delayed for one more day. My beloved mother went to the market immediately to procure all the final
initiation materials. I only realized what was happening and regained my bearings six days later on the day the lfa
priests were interpreting my Ifa to my parents. I was then a fervent Roman Catholic, and these strange events failed to
strike the right chord with me.

The third occasion in which my father sent for the man was in 1969, the year I almost took my life after striving
unsuccessfully for six years to have another child after having my first daughter in 1960, and becoming totally
impotent between June and August, 1969. He it was, who without telling him what had been happening to me, asked
me whether, I was a complete man as I stood before him, and whether I had recently tried to take my life.
Thereafter, he accused my parents of trying to derail my life by forcing me to marry my first wife contrary to the
advice they were given during the final stage of my Ifa initiation in October 1955. That was how he set the stage for
the termination of my first marriage in September, 1969, which was an epoch-making event, because that was when
the manifestation of my destiny began.

The last time my father sent for him was in June, 1979 after Orunmila made his first appearance to me at the
prestigious Atlantic Hotel in Hamburg, Germany. I neither comprehend the identity of the figure who appeared to
me at my hotel room after one a.m. That night, nor what he meant by "Eleri Ukpin" which he called himself. When I
narrated my Hamburg experience to my father on getting home, he too did not know the meaning of "Eleri Ukpin".
l112t was why my father sent for Chief Obalola and it was he who disclosed that "Eleri Ukpin" was the name that
God gave to Orunmila after his curiosity seeking disposition made him to spy on God's creative designs. God told
him that nothing could be authentic without a witness, which is why Orunmila's sobriquet of"Eleri Ukpin", means
"God's own witness at creation", and which explains why Orunrnila, although 0::1:! of the youngest of God's Two
Hundred divine servants, is the only one who knows the secret of everyir.ing and everyone created by God. That was
the occasion in which Orunmila warned me not to allow L':lf middle of 1980 to meet me in the public service because
"I do not want to be waving my hands to you behind bars." It will be recalled that after my last Minister escaped into
self imposed exile, my successor spent almost a year in detention in lieu of his runaway Minister. Who would have
come to my rescue, coming as I do from a minority area of Nigeria.

When Orunrnila subsequently entered my life in the terra incognito of my retirement, I went to see the old man in
1982 to tell him about my unsolicited encounter with Orunrnlla. His only reply was that there is no armor against
fate. nor is there any eraser that can obliterate the designs of destiny. I finally heaved a sigh of relief recently when
I met his two eldest children, Oloopa and lfaalayc, who arc now proficient Ifa priests. When I asked them how they
came by it since their father bluntly refused to impart his knowledge to anyone during his life time, (I offered to pay
one of his children a monthly salary to learn from him but be refused entirely) they told me that he had been teaching
one of his children called I faalayc in his dream, who in turn taught the rest. l was surprised that they already knew so
much about Ifisrn, which confirms
the axiom that selfishness is peculiar to earth, and unknown in heaven .

.• ty final encounter with the old man before his demise was on the 18th of December, 1987, the day erorc I
launched my first book on Ifisrn. I took four journalists and a cousin. who is a top executive ofth Central Bank of
Nigeria, to establish a living testimony of what he told my father in October 1934 wl~cn I ua; eight du) sold. and
what he told me in 1969. 1972 and 1979. He confirmed what I have already written , •... .,.,,. c inn warned me: not lO
publicize the fact that I was 6runmila's chosen envoy. H~ cxplnincd thnt if the c~~he;ld'> and ~If-appointed
advocates of lfisrn knew that there was a real .champion ~md dcfcnd7r npirrted h)' ()nmmlla. I could get into
difficulties. That is why I have been a little more circumspect 111 my
ions HJ tht•, clay, because I have no cause to seek cheap publicity.
137.

How Chief Oba In la Carne to Benin:

TI1c day he told me that he came in bizarre ~ir~umst.an~es to Benin in 1915 (_he ~ived to oe "'·d! o-
hundred) 1 became curious. To satisfy my curiosity, he disclosed that he was invited from h: "-
ljcshalund by an I ffi priest called Ajayi, from Ode-Irele, who became a Benin Ch ref with thJ Oba of
Unu-abchc, He was then an up-and-coming Ifa priest in Ilesha in his early thirties.

He never spoke Bini in spite of his eighty years stay in Benin. It will be recalled that Oba Ova~ ,. was exiled
from Benin to Calabar after the meddlesome British government destroyed and concu rn •. ··Benin Empire in 1987.
Following his death in exile, his eldest son, Aiguobasinrnwin. in accor~ce ~\:·: the Law of Primogeniture, after a
brief squabble with a usurper, was crowned as his father's successo 1~J 1914. The death of King Ovonramwen marked
the end of the doctrine of "might is right" in thea/~ Empire, which from I 341, spanned through the whole of
southern and what is now the middle ofNige ~ Dahomey (now Republic of Benin) Southern Ghana, Togo, and
Western Congo. The Empire was~~ strayed by the British interlopers. This is not a suitable podium for rewriting the
history of Africa south ~f the Sahara.

Incidentally, King Ovonramwcn's son who took the title of Eweka the second, was misled by his counsellors
into believing that the King of Benin still wielded the power oflife and death over his subjects in spite of the fact that
British colonial officers had aJJ but taken over that role. When one of the Oba's wives called lyaare transgressed the
ancestral convention, the Oba sentenced her to death by summary execution. Little did the Oba know that there were
traitors in his domain who were only too eager to betray him to the colonial Resident at Benin. This clique came
Irorr, the gang of usurpers who had tried unsuccessfully to commander the kinship from the royal family b:,·
cozying to the British intruders.

Meanwhile, Lt. Col. John Archer, the British Resident a Benin invited Oba Auguobasinmwin Eweka the
second of Benin to appear before him to defend a charge of unlawfully murdering one of his wives. Before he left
the Palace to meet the Resident, his diviners (Ewaese) had told him to deny the charge, because everything would be
done to belie the allegation.

When the King was asked about the whereabouts of one of the wives in the royal harem, he demanded to
know what made the question necessary, because no other human being other than himself had a right to know
what went on in his harem. Before explaining the question. the Resident put another question to the Oba, as to
whether he was aware that the British colonial authorities and not the Oba, were then the supreme authority over
the Benin Empire. The Oba replied with an equally sarcastic remark that he was not aware of the change in
command brought about by force marjeure. there was no other power on earth that would have removed his father
from his throne to join his ancestors in exile. The Oba then went on to add that if the fiat of military conquest also
gave the Resident the right to probe the royal household of the King, his wife Iyaare was alive and well in the
palace. The altercation ended on the Resident's demand to see the woman in two weeks time. The Bini's
instinctively explained that the Resident's demand was an abomination because it was forbidden for any commoner.
let alone "lkopotoki" (Albino) to set eyes on the Oba's wives. That was the point at which Lt. Col. Archer (caJlcd
Asia by the Binis) explained that he had received incontrovertible information that the Oba passed and executed the
death sentence on Iyaare without recourse to a fair trial in the newly established courts of Jaw.

The Oba said no more words except to conclude on the note that at the risk of contravening the conventions
and usage established by his ancestors, he was prepared to condescend to abide by the Resident's demand in a
fortnight, if only as a means of negating the false information given to him.

On that note, the aphorism began in Benin that the white authority was no respecter of anyone. 20
138.
140.
139.
141.
ntly came to Benin in the corupuny of Chief Agbclcri, where they were
c:::::~ ... 5:iidy gi,--e.n the assignment of preparing the image of a woman who wus to be culled and ca pubic of
the name of lyaarc. They were given a lodging at the Unanbehc wing of the palace. They ding the image of the
woman exactly three Jays to the day the Oba was required to produce
y::...!..--Z:- When they used okpa-atori. to strike the image. it spoke. to the astonishment of nil present, includ
am afraid thct in deference to the wish of the late old man. I cannot divulge what happened . .av
and the morning that lyaare had to accompany her lord and husband to the Resident's

.ressec in the outfit of. and to all intents and purposes, bearing the _:±-;!Resident's office at what was then called
"ughebo" and has since .,-; i::i Benin . as an antiquity. The woman covered her face with her headvith her c:.LS:0--
:-=~ ;_j!.!:Ktion not to allow any man other than her husband, to see her -"2~. \\ 1:-:..::i the Resident asked :.:ir h:::-
::..::_.--::::!. she confirmed that she was lyaare, who was an Oloi (queen)
i of Oca Eweka, ~-=-::.=-..-:!:::.S who were in attendance were invited to confirm that she was
in fact their daughter. her father was instantly arrested

se in the hull and n procession was spontaneously formed the palace.

\Vhen the procession however got to the Inst tr .. :.u event, named
(Urho no kpota na gbunu) (the gate where 0:::~~ disappeared
never to be seen again .

•• t
 Chapter 1
Obara-Ogbe
Ebara-Bo-Ogbe
I I
I I I
I I I
I I I
Made Divination for the Corn to Have Children:

hen the com was leaving heaven, she went for divination to Obara-Bo-Ogbe on what to do to

W prosper on earth. She was advised to make sacrifice in order to have many children. She was told to
serve Esu with a he-goat and other materials which

she was to buy on credit. She did as she was told and after making the sacrifice, she left for the world.
\Vbile on earth, she left naked for the farm one morning and the farmer, her husband, planted her in the farm.
When she began to produce, she brought forth Two Hundred children at a time, each of them dressed gorgeously.
That is why it is said that the com travelled naked to the farm but returned heavily dressed.

On returning home she rejoiced ~a thanked Oninmlla for helping her to produce many children and to have
many clothes.

When this Odu appears at Ugbodu ~ person should be told to serve Esu with a he-goat and kolanuts which
are to be bought on credit, He will cl·;;ays have new things and plenty of gifts. After preparing the Esu of his Ifa,
he should serve it with another he-goat. As soon as practicable, he wiJI also serve Ifa with newly harvested crops
from the farm.

\Vhen it appears at divination. the person should be advised to serve Esu on account of a gift coming to him.
He should be told never to re v eal the secrets of his success to anyone.

The Divination He Made Before Leaving Heaven:

He was told to serve Esu with a he-goat and If.a with a hen, fish and kolanuts, because he was going to a
chronic debtor on earth, although he iN25 also going to be a practicing I fa priest.

When he got to the world became a notorious debtor who often made a point of refusing to pay for :hate\·er he
bought in the name of I fa One day, he went to the market to buy yams. When the yam seller demanded
payment, be replied that he would not pay because he bought it in the name of Ifa. He however offered to make
divination for the seller any time, in lieu of the cost of the yam. Thereafter, he chanted t11e ol1o'>\in; poem:-

wo odogbo ni U"Tc.

uy a hen in a :,irnjJ::ir manner. I le bouuht several other

')
materials subsequently, without paying for them although he often got home to share them with 12!lu. I le prospered
in the process. When this Odu appears at Ugbodu, the person will be advised to buy all the materials for the initiation
ceremony on credit. At divination, the person will be advised to buy u hen and yam to serve lfa on credit so that he or
she might prosper.

He Divined for the People of Bin Orangun:

Ebara bo'gbe jije. Ebara bo'ogbe mimu. Ebara bo omo ogbe mole, ki omo ogbe ma ba ku lai lai, Adifa fun won
ara Orangun Ila tori Oran ago.

Obara ate and drank to protect the son ofOgbe from death. That was the name of the Awo who made divination
for the people of Illa Oran gun when they had an epidemic of waist pain. He advised them to serve Esu with a he-
goat. They made the sacrifice and the epidemic abated.

He Made Divination for the Hunter:

Oni jije, Ola mimu, Otunla Orunpun shunpun. Adi fa fun ode kekere t'onlo si ugbo ikc, t'onlo si cluju ije to fi
odo odun showo ain bo.

Eat today, drink tomorrow and perform the remaining chores next tomorrow. That was the name of the Ifa priest
who made divination for the young hunter when he was going on a hunting expedition. He was known for being so
unfortunate as not to be able to shoot any animal successfully. He was however told to make sacrifice for bener
fornzne. with a cock and a blacksmith's scissors. The Ifa priest fetched the appropriate Ifa leaves which were grorad
with the blood of the cock and mounted on the scissors. The preparation was marked on his two 7',E.3 while he kept
the scissors with him.

The Divination Made for Him Before Travelling for lfa Practice to the Town of Udo:

Eeji de ki mi da keke mi deri. Ojo da kirni terun eshin bo agba, Bi ale ba t'ile yarin yanrin aaka. Adifn fun
Orunmila baba she Av,o lo si ode Udo. A.afa arirno oba Udo shaya,

Let me cover my bead from the rain with an umbrella. Let the min stop so thnt I might pocket my instruments.
Let darkness come so that the night insect (Yarin-yarin in Yoruba and Atiebi in Bini) might sing its night song. These
were the names of the three Awos who mode divination for 6nmmHu when he was travelling to the town of Udo
for Ifa practice, where he married the eldest princess of the Oba of Udo,
who was a divorcee.

On getting to Udo, be initially lodged in someone else's house. The following morning, he wore his dagger on his left
hand and went out to buy eko. At the same time, the princess of' Udo was coming to buy eko from the same seller. As
Orunrnila bent down to pick up the eko, his dagger accidentally struck th rincess on the head, who was also bending
down simultaneously. 'Ille princess was injured and the injury
'.I,:!.:; bleeding profusely.

:kanwhile, the princess held on to Orunmila, who was at the same time ap ln :r1t:.: logizing for the accident.
of his apology the princess insisted that he should follow her home t father. Hi: had no xplnin his nction to her
ootion but to follow her.

ainer, he qm:ricd him for daring to injure his daughter. He ngnin apologized nnd

2.
142.
147.
146.
145.
144.
143.
148.
149.
150.

2
tha ~twas an accident, When the Oba asked him to iderrtif Y himself, he di!..Cf'>~ ti:~:t r~ ·tt~· .• ~=-.
the name of Obara-Iso-Ogbc. The Oba however ordered th<!l he r.h0uld be r,.szif,.;C t.; ••.• ~-
.. ,• , . ~ • ,-,.I f •
- lnJU~J l? the daughter's head and not tr, leave the p'iilt!.CC untH the JnJU;J r~,-"" .• ,i•.
remain m tnc palace.

of the harem soon observed that the princess was pregnant, and they r~rttd i.Jnt~~:Ji'
luctive behavior to the king The king eventually invited OrCmmHa and hb daughter fo: e-1.-•,.-,.., .• , ..
TI:~ princess confirmed that she had been impregnated by the man he detained to treat her inj

On his pan, 6n1IL-nila. unable to put up any defense, once again begged for leniency. TI:!; k_i::~ 7:~"
secretly ha?:-1Y thz: his dauzhter was at last expecting a baby. He invited another pretty g;ri 1.:: r.:., ehold ad 2:l(i
•• .d her to his daughter to marry Oninrnila .

. The over-gene-osiry of the Ob-a bowever estranged the Awo-.:, of Udo and they began to plot the eH:-:i-
n:=>7r~o:Cr.:b:nila for s-...eaJi-z Des~., .. from them. First, they prepared medicine to procure ~Li:-. dr~:.t= for
Onb:.nila. ~exL the:,· JJ.i!?z=·,:d 2 ::t:::Cicin2I knife to poison his footprints to cause him to have el~::z::tiasis.
Finally, they PT~-ec a ·~:-d c:.-;..~ uJ to make him develop leprosy.

• ·1 A_,_ .,. • , . • - • • • mad h' L~J , ~.A' l.. •: .• · --~ -

... eazrwnne. • .. m1xr:11.a ::~a::::===. cream which e rm to ernoarx immedtatery G:1 a. 11.:~~ ••
e sane night, ·Ifz advised biz: to ;;.47- z; once from the town before morning. He woke tr;> h:.: ;;:y,- __ and
alerted thew of the dev ebp~..:. r"~ b..:.-riedly packed up, and before anyone woke up he e<"~ with his ·-.,,ives.
v.~~
;.1.-r:.iJe on the rua, ~~ :...:;:-.:.::;:fring Awos decided to pursue him with their lefr.z!
· ens. After walking for ~ lo~g di!:"...a.-r..':. :-.~ -:~it.!ed to perform another directional divinaii that
his enemies were hot L"} hi; n..:·:.·..:~ E-.-.. .• told him not to worry because he had n

.Jea~w:hile, Esu wa::..ec for :b!: ~:::;h:::.r.,:-:. tn enter the heart of the forest. As soon as they had !~ft al.
'--- ehi::~ t1~ G..""i1 tr~ere v/ete no places for shelter, Esu caused a heavy rai .•
;-~irz:.o:-s v.e:« carrying their venomous preparations in the bags carrying
on their beads, ¥.te rain w2..s:_:-.b~ the ?')~YJ:::. on their bodies and they were instantly afflicte
i.s.e2ses earmarked for o±~la.

Incidentally, Onrnmila had 21 ti:2.1 poizt err)~~ the river with his wives and taken shelter. Tee r:-~ carrvinz the
poisoned knife was however determined to advance to the bank of the river to U!I; it on !:' .. - ~..-·~ts
of.OruzuniJa. On getting to the river, he discovered that it was compfctcJy flooded and rr
· f ootorims to be seen around, znd he could not cross to the other side of the; river. He v,
· and decided to return 1D I; ·

he threat of
of the ffa priest
g

:,r,"
153.
151.
152.

Ik c,·cntunlly returned home safely with his two wives. When this Odil appears at divination the
.,,.11 !-houJd be told that he is likely to be arrested for an offence he will unintentionally commit, but that it C!Ul
become a blessing in disguise if he serves Esu with a he-goat.

Divined for ()ninmili\ \Vhcn His Friend Was Bewitching Him:

.• ., .•... a, Ebara hobo, Babalawo Onmmila, adifa fun Onmmlla nijo ti kola rogodo se ore Orunrnlla, ninmlln sc ota.
t1

Erora baba, Ebara bobo was the Awo who made divination for Orunmila when his companion was w~~ng the
face of a friend. while Cill1)ing the heart of an enemy. Anxious to find out the s_ecret of his
uccc-ss. Ekolo professed friendship to Onuuuila which made him to become close enough to Orunrnlla to mow
what he was do~g at any point in time. Ekolo was however a witch who used to transfigure into an eJ.rthworm to
destroy Onmmila's works and designs. In consequence, Orunmila's works were no longer turning out right- He was
misfiring at every move he made.

At divination, Orunmila was told to make sacrifice because his friend and enemy had inserted a mark on one of
his clothes, h~,ing different and shining colors. That mark constituted the light with which the enemy saw the way to
Oninmila's house in the night to damage his works. He was told to make sacrifice with a cock. a pigeon. a snail and
a plate of ashes. In addition to the marked cloth or garment.

He did the sacrifice. after which ,he ph:e of ashes was deposited outside Oninmila's house, while the Ifa priest
who made the sacrifice wezt ::a-=:-! with the marked cloth. When the witch-friend came the following night. he was
confused beczzse .-~-e light which he used to see through to Orunmila's house was no longer in place. Esu saw the
ea-:~-...-:::= hovering around Orunmila's house and asked him what his mission was. He replied that he was e:-:·
mila's friend, but had lost his directions. Esu promised to cooperate with him if in truth he came ::101 ~ 2 friend, but as
an enemy because he (Esu) was out to destroy On.inrnila. With that reassurance. the ean 1~-.· :T.:J confessed that he
came to destroy Orunrnila's latest works. Esu advised him to scan er the plate of c.:·. t:Z"ir:m powder with which
Orunrnila used to perform all _his miracles. Tninking that the plate of ashes a~l1 contained divination powder
(lyerosun), because Esu had meanwhile made it 10 look us such, the eanhworm entered the plate of ashes which
immediately cut his
y into three pieces. Since the earthworm forbids ashes, he died instantly.

When Onmmila came out the following morning, he met Ekolo his supposed friend dead in the plate of ashes. It
was then that Onmmila realized that Ekolo had been his enemy all along. He then sang:-

Ewa wo Ekolo. Oti be kele kele. Ekolo rogodo ti'nba Orunmlla sho'ta.

When this Odu appears at divination, the person should be told that he has a tall friend who is taking teen, but
malevolent interest in whatever he does. He should be told that the friend is a witch and an s : He should look for one
of his multicolored clothes or apparels which has a conspicuous mark on it,
d make sacrifice with thar cloth together with a cock, pigeon, snail and a pot of ashes and the
y-fri end will he exposed.

d Adifula-Adifase were the three Awos who made divination for the Alaafin of
· e reacted angrily for being neglected.

yin since he ascended the throne. out seven years

after.taking the throne, an oak tree grew up at the Osanyin shrine. In a matter of years it becam
that i_l was threatening the foundation of the palace itself. Alaafin subsequently reacted by co~vso ~uge meet mg
of the elders al which it was decided to invite the three famous diviners of the kingdo ening a were Adifaku,
Adifatosi and Adifala-Adifase. They were given the task of suggesting how to fe;th· They
wiitlrout omg
d.
any damage to the palace.
e tree
·

Adifaku was the first to volunteer to fell the tree within seven days and Alaafin agreed to give him h of the
kingdom to administer if he succeeded, but lo execute him if he failed. Seven days passed with alf Adifaku being
able to cut down the tree and he was duly executed. out

Adifatosi also made the same vow and he too was executed after failing to eliminate the tree with' seven
days. It was the tum of Adifala-Adifase to try his prowess. Before leaving home for the palace t wives warned
him not to drink in order to avoid the risk of boasting to do what he was incapable of d~in~~

On the precincts of the palace, he saw a beautiful white ram and wished that the Alaafin could give it to
him. On getting to the palace, he drank excessively contrary to the advice of his wives. While in a state of
delirium tremens, he boasted that if the king would give him the ram he saw outside the palace, he would cut
down the tree within seven days wider pain of death by execution, if he failed.

The ram was instantly given to him, but he was so drunk that he had to be dragged to his house with the
ram. When he woke up the following morning, he saw the ram and when he asked his wives where it came
from, they told him what had transpired the previous evening. Knowing that there was no way he could cut
down the tree, he decided 10 fast to death, while locking himself in his room.

Meanwhile, Sango his friend noticed that he had not seen Obara-Bo-Ogbe for the last three days, and
decided to visit him. When he got to his friend's house, Sango was ensnared by the sight of the white ram and
secretly wished that his friend would give it to him to make a new furnace because the one he had was recently
damaged. When he asked for his friend the wives told Sango that he bad gone into recluse for the past three days
because he wanted to starve to death on account of the empty boast he made to the Alaafin.

When Adifala-Adifase, otherwise YJ1ow as Obara-Bo-Ogbe, heard the voice of Sango he came out looking
very pale and miserable. When Sango asked why he was looking so anemic, he explained that he was drunk
when he boasted that he could cut down the oak tree at the Osanyin shrine of Alaafin's pala.ce. Sango told him
not to worry provided he would surrender the white ram to him. He readily agreed to give the ram to Sango,
and the latter went home happily with a promise to destroy the tree on the appointed day.

Sango killed the ram in his house and used the skin to prepare his new furnace. On the eve of the
appointed day, Sango lit up his furnace and cast all the equipment he needed for the operation. Thereafter
Sango told Adifala-Adifase to cause a public announcement to be made that no one was to ]cave the house the
next morning until the tree-felling operation was over. Sang6 also advised him to keep bells and gon.gs by his
Ifa shrine. People did not take his announcement seriously because they were making jest ofh!m that he lacked
the hands and the feet with which to perform the task. Even his wives did not take hrrTl
eriously.

As the sun appeared the following morning. Sango woke up from his sleep and went into his inil~;
chamber to dress up. As .he was dre_ssing, the sun disappeared from the hori~on n.nd the clouds ~eg:od
gather. As s~on as he finished drcssmg. ther~ was a total darkness and San go s wt fc Oya,. gave htn1 11i,r and
he had his breakfast. As he was wondering whether to use the axe or machete, his wife held ou 6 tray and a
gale force wind began to blow. Meanwhile. Oya put on the light (lightning) with which S~~r
vas to identify the tree. When he saw the tree. he concluded that it was too small to he cut with tl1c ~c

26
the machete.

He instn1cted the wi fc to use her tray to cause a tornado to enable him to uproot the tree. As Sango went into
action. the wife carried the tree with her tray to a location far removed from the palace. Thereafter. a heavy rain
began to fall. and Sango returned home to rest and sleep. When Onmmila saw that the tree was no longer in place,
he began to rejoice and to dance to the tune of the music from the palace bells and gongs ringing from his Ifa shrine.
He was singing the following song:-

Aclifaku Awolise-o Ibaratioye, oloye, ibaratioyc.

difatosi Awolise-o lbaratioye, oloyc, ibaratioyc.
AdifaJa-Adifase Awolise-o, lbaratioyc, oloye, ibaratioye.
Mogbo, moru, Arima eru lu tu Esu-oni-igbcni
Ibaratioyc, oloye, ibaratioye.
Oni don don ni ma pe'Egungun
Ibaratioye, oloye, ibararioye.

He was rejoicing because sacrifice enabled him to succeed in felling the oak tree which had defied the efforts
of his two colleagues.

When Alaafin was told that Adifala-Adifase was dancing, singing and rejoicing in his house, he wondered
what the man was celebrating when he had not even embarked on, let alone accomplish, his task.

When Alaafin looked at the position of the oak tree he was dismayed to see it was no longer in place.
The king began to wonder when and how it happened. The king soon convened a meeting of his chiefs and also sent
for Orurunila. In response to the invitation, he replied that he would see the king later because he was still dancing
for his Ifa.

Not long afterwards the king sent four men to call him and he came with them. The king thanked him for
destroying the tree without any damage. Without any hesitation, Alaafin made him the Shasere and Prime Minister
of the kingdom of Oyo. When the king wanted to share his harem with him, he politely refused. When th.is Ifa
appears at Ugbodu. the person should prepare his Sango with a ram in order to succeed in a contest which would
involve him.

He Made Divination for the King of Benin:

The fame of Obara-Bo-Ogbe soon began to spread to the four corners of the known world. There was drought
and famine in Eziagbon (Ibere-aiye, Ile-Ibinu or Benin) and when the king heard about him, he sent for him. His
achievement at Oyo had earned him the new nickname of Urulc Ameru gugugu.

When he got to Benin he made divination and told the king to produce for two elderly volunteers,
~a m~ and a woman). a he-goat. 16 gourds of water to appease Esu to end the drought so that prosper- 11Y
m1ghtretum to his kingdom. One of the two persons was to be given to the divinity of the Sun while the oilier \.\'as
to be given to the Water divinity. The sacrifices were made without any delay.

• Almo51 immcdiatelv afterwards things began to improve in Ile-Ibinu. Two rivers appeared in Benin '-':mch were
named after· the two persons who volunteered for the sacrifice. TI1e elderly man was called Ikpoba wh1k the
elderly woman was called Ogba. The two rivers exist to this day and they still bear these rr.':s Rams b~gan to fall
and harvests turned out well. The Binis became very happy and compensated the Jin priest, dohoratcly_

27
 n his way home. he stopped at Usen to make similar sacrifices for them Erede a result of Which thrr
appeared and the quality of life began to improve for the better.

Finally he stopped by at Ukere where the Oba persuaded him to help them. He mode divinur rificc for
them and prosperity returned to the town. River Olo appeared in the town and it bcion e
. . d. . . cnrn~ 1
155.
157.
154.
156.
junior rvrruty which is served to this day.

He Made Divination for the Children of the Ewi of Ado-Ekiti:

. O? his way back from Iberc-aiye. Obara-Bo-Ogbc was invited to the town of Ado-Ekiti where U
Ev,1 (king) had just joined his an

Ebara-bo-gbe jije. Ebara- rrumu

Ebara-bo-gbe ki orno og
Ki orno ogbe ma se aisa Oko
wi Orun. aya nv .. i Orn
Aseji \.\1 On;n oo. EJ; da igba owo-owo.

Ob bo-O • . :o::-
provrceo ,.: _ _.:! - • C ara- goe
:::.e
drinks t1E1 saved the c..;:j c:-
death and sickness.

Con:;ecrue-~: r. the husbzad .,_.;·;:.::::~,,--ere full of praises for Oninmila.

· ra-Bo-Ogbe made divination for Lakola, the second son of .~ of his

·w1 father.
0

n and heir apparent, Tawose, with the following poem:

He advised each of th'! rvo b:u~~ to ...-,2Ye "Peri lice with n ram, n piece of white cloth nnd two b:igs f money.
Lakola, th~ second soa =-ad~ tl:~ sacrifice reluctantly, because he knew that by tradition, rh throne belonged Lo Taw
ose, tis e~-:e:. c!"o:her. Lakola made the sacrifice because 6runmiln hnd predicted that he could become ~c b~n~5r-
:c.::, of his brother's negligence and complacency. When he rcmcrnh~rtJ
those ,1. ords. he proceeded ..Iw• earnest to m,.,t:".'=tne
I •
sacn ice. ·ri

" his pan Tawose bc;_<::"!.:11 t."-!zt the L~or..-:: vms his own by right of tradition. He said thot h
. · prepared the dresses :...-::3 p:.rc.;h~zlia of kingship and it was only a matter of days hcfort' ~.: .~ed ;he i:1ron~
He cozunued .. ,n:o wilt dare to take the throne from me when my nnrnc is the "nlJ u--ti.= }:rnv. n tn tte ;,i;:g.;n~'kcrs
of Ado. The Babalawo merely wants Lo take money, cloth and rnrn fr,1m n~:
f Ic is 1.! tbef. .!.··d I ·.1.ill make D.:'.J S"1pcrfluous sacrifice."

., I.
L
161.
160.
159.
162.
158.

gan to sing to the heating of his drum. He sang that it was only Tawose that everybody about.
"You are the one kno,\1110 the world and praised bv the men and women of Ado.
e dancing and rejoicing to alert and reassure everyone that you are fully prepared for n ."
With that stmnne invitation. Tawose came out of his house and began to dance and sing

,·u changed to an incantational song:

.. laaje ewi ni ola --0
ara-Bo-Ogbe Tawose

Thai W3..S how E._qi enchanted Tawose to dance from his house to the palace. round the town and away m the town
of . Ado. He \\"'3.S so completely enthralled that he danced away from home for three days
~- On the third day. he fell d0\\11 from exhaustion and fatigue and swooned into matose. 1
nar ,,3 the point at which t._1·1 ~h-"nrinnNi him in the middle of nowhere .

.. ieanwnue. all ,,35 set :or the coronation. but the crown Prince Tawose was no where to be found ..
After waiting in \"21.Il until dose to SCL~l on coronation day. the kingrnakers invited the royal diviners to advise 0:1
what :o do next. Diviaazioa revealed that the ancestors had earmarked Lakola for the crown all clang. Lakola W2S
accordingly O\"::ed :n:- the coronation ceremonies, and he was crowned as the new Ewi
Ado.

xactly three days later .-:.,~ Tzwose was able to find his bearings. After searching in vain for the mysterious drummer
who beg:::ile: t.-=-:n away from reality, he decided to find his way home. He ventually g.01 home 10 meet the towa c a
rr:ood of ceremonial ecstasy. When he enquired what was happening he was bewildered to bear '.2Z1 f:.:.\ junior brother
Lakola had been crowned as the new Ewi of do. It ,,3 then he remembered the n~ c:;.::ntc.d by the Ifa priest. who
advised him to make sacrifice,

ie sacrifice and he was eventually made the Aremo of Ifaki. Ado-

wh. Ekiti. His brother did that to make him happy.
i
e3.!S ru divination for someone contesting for, or aspiring to. a high position, he
without any delay in order to attain the position, lest he would lose it to
a Jun
 Chnptcr 2
Obara-Oyeku
Obara-Bepin
I I I I
I I I I
I I I I
I I I
Omo ewi ni'le ado, Omo Ob3 ni ode erin
Ajo je Io'ri ewe, Afo sun lo ri ima.
Ajo ti asho oliwe ri'we ho ra.
Adifa fun omo araye, arun bu fun omo run orun. Awon
mejeji njo she ore po ara orun won Josi oja, Won mu
omo won ti ara ave.

he son oftheEw1 of Ado, and the son of the Oba of Erin, both ate on a !e~, ~don the palm leaves. Both

T wore light clothes, These were the Awos who ma?e divination for the two inhabitants of heaven and
e.:..J:h when they were going to become friends.

Meanwhile, when the citizens of'hezvec were going to the market during a period of famine, they left their children
under the care of their err-..::]·, Sends. Before the heavenly citizens returned from the market, their earthly friends
killed the childreni:~ t::1der their care and ate them. When the heavenly citizens returned from the market,
they asked for::::.= children, and their earthly friends replied that they had to kill and eat them when they were
hungry, The :zavenly citizens did not react violently and their friendship nonetheless continued.

After the earthly citizens had totally forgcnen what they did to their heavenly friends, it was their tum to go to
the market. They also left their children under the care of their heavenly friends. The latter avenged the wrong
previously done to them by killing and eating the children of their earthly friends before they returned .from the
market, When they returned from the market, they were told that the famine becrune so unbearable that they had to
slaughter and eat their children.

Pandemoniwn was let loose and a fight ensued between the two sides, The dispute became so rife that it attracted
the intervention of the Almighty God. When He asked them to explain themselves, it became clear that it was a case
of tit for tat. God however decreed that since an association between the citizens of heaven and earth invariably led
to discord, there should be no more interaction between them.

When this Odu appears at divination the person should be told not to trust or befriend anyone in order the
danger of losing a child.

He :\bde Divinatinn for Singo:

Alukoso oba oni. oun koobo oba she mo.

Atudonrlon oba om oun ko obo oba she mo.
firi oba oni, nun ko obo oba she mo.

3D
 164.
166.
163.
165.

The f\.'ly!u sword bearer. the royal trumpeter and the royal drummer, all three rebelled against the Oba rum
J~~id ... '<I to withdraw their services. The Olm asked obura-Oveko whether he was aware of any in~t:m ... ·~·
in which the family of a concubine demanded any dowry from the lover of the woman.

names of the Awos who mndc divinotion for Sung6 when the other 199 divinities ·id1...J to ostracize
'11tC$1.' "~~ the
him. and to ban him from nttcnding their meetings. Sungo went to Orfuunlla for n and he was advised to make
sacrifice with a mm. mt, fish, eko and akara. He did the sacrifice.

l11er\.'.1fler. Esu got up in the midst of the other divinities and asked them for the offence committed by warrant the
harsh punishment meted out to him. No one was able to give an intelligible account fwlmt Sango did except to
complain that he was too outspoken and forthright. Esu then reminded them that Singo was too indispensable to be
rnnrginaliscd. They agreed to relent and twice invited Sango, but he lined the invitation. The" eventuallv trooped
to his house for rapprochement. The dispute was subse-
quently resolved, · ·

At divination. the person should be advised to make sacrifice so that all his friends and relations who
hnve deserted him might

· er ::hiner in heaven. He invited the wood carvers of earth to carve t~~;;,

carving turned out to be the best and he won the contest. His m:::.:::,· ·.:...::.:
trium he had to leave his abode to take refuge in a new locality.

.1v:- .:;_-min, Sokoti

sent a message to earth requesting the earthly _j
already left the place, he was not available to compete in the · (Jfa
seeds) having four eyes carved from ivory. In the
contest.
nbsenc ·lla.

koti subsequently proclaimed tha: anyone who was able to carve it, would be given the throne of the Oloje.
The son and servant ofOloje had put them.selves forward to compete for the title, as descendants
f the Oloje. The Oloje was the only other carver who knew how to carve Elln. The two contestants were told to
carve the Ella as testimony to their claims as Oloje's descendants. The son of the Oloje never took any interest in
his father's profession during his lifetime. His servant was the only one who understudied him conscientiously.

The son of the Oloje however decided to go to Orunmlla for divination. He was advised to make ifice and to go to
his father's graYe to beseech his assistance. After making the sacrifice, he went with am .. 11 and ivory to his
father's grave and invoked his father's spirit to help him to carve the Ella if he was truly his fa

othe! hand the servant of the Oloje prepared his Ella but forgot to insert the four c~cs. After om
his fothtt's grave. the son of the Oloje had 3 dream in which his father taught ham how to
•Ila with the four eyes on it, He was subsequently able to carve the Ella and the two contestants

31
 presented their carvings for adjudication.

The judge who was to determine the best carving was Ogun but since he had left the town for long,
messengers were dispatched .to fetc~ him. When Ogun .eventually turned up, ~c decided that he was th~ only
contestant who carved like Oloje was the one who inserted four eyes on his carving. That happene to be the son of
the Oloje and he was accordingly declared winner of the contest. That cleared the way for the son of the Oloje to
ascend to the throne of his father.

When this Odu appe~s at Ugbodu, the person will be told that he will contest for a benefit with other people.
He should serve Ogun with a cock in order to win the contest. He should serve Esu with a he-goat including the
mud-effigies of a man and a woman.

At divinatio~ the person should offer sacrifice to Esu because of a project he is contemplating. He should
also serve Ogun with a cock.

He Made Divination for Statesmanship:

When he was leaving heaven, he was told to serve Esu with a cock and a he-goat because he was going to
become an important personality on earth. He was also to make the sacrifice in order to Jive Jong on earth and to
avoid premature death through a woman. He made the sacrifices before leaving for earth.

He turned out on earth to become the spokesman of his community. He became so popular that he even
began to rank with the king. Meanwhile, he got married to the daughter of the Obstacle divinity (Elenini or Idoboo)
who was determined 10 drag him down from grace to grass.

Incidentally, unknown to him, his wife began to create the impression that her husband was more popular
than the Oba. The Oba's at1e1:1iCJ:1 was soon alerted to the vain glorious proclamations of the woman. The Oba
invited him for explanation but before answering the invitation, he made divination and was told to give a cock and
a he-goat to Es£i4

When he eventually reported at the JV-1a~, he prostrated to greet the Oba and Esu immediately influenced
the chief counsellor of Oba to say to the Oba that the offence for which he was invited was a nonissue because he
was not in any way associated with his wife's tittle-tattle. The king readily agreed and at the same time made him
the Shasere or Prime Minister of the town.

When this Odu appears at divination or Ugbodu, the person should be advised to serve Esu with a cock and a
he-goat to avoid having a brush with the authorities through the action of a woman. He is a reformer who came to
the world to make it a better place.

Divination Made for Him to Liberate Women from a Giant:

Apo la igi, Arnule gba-gbara-gba were the two A wos who made di vi nation for Oninrnila before he was
able to liberate six housewives from the clutches of a giant. The giant had apprehended six women who were
washing clothes in the river and had them imprisoned in his cave. All efforts made by the men-folk to liberate their
wives proved abortive.

The king of the town invited Awos for divination and the lot fell on Obara-Oyd{u to undertake the nssignmenL
He subsequently went for divination and was told to make sacrifice with n hc-g~ar, shaving rnifc, baton and black
soap. He made the sacrifice and was given the club, block soap and shaving knife to hold when going to confront the
giant.

32
167.
168.
169.

The giant had been hidmp in the ~.1, 1

c since he ,,iTt"'hcthk'\i th~ \\\'\\\en l~\.';l\l~t' he :uuitip,1h.·d '
•"pris.:il from the town. ~ k.m\\ hilc, t)nmmit'\ ,v.:nt t.., thl' \'a\"' an •. \ :-\h.'~l'""\\,\ in ~\'l\\'\1\1..'ing th~ tti:mt that no
one would dare him but that h.: "·'~ \'h'l\luc t~,r .i ~h:\\ •... I le used the ~h:wiu~ "nifr t,, ~\\'\' thv ~i.mt lean shav e.
;\C:Xt. Orunmil.i :-U\.Yl.,'\.k·,i in ~-~u.hiit\l! him\\ ith the hdp '-'r
his !l\·~lu•gl•clu Uh~ J,, us I
1) to have a h.nh in rhc river.

tsc. As he ":,s ha, it\t! his bath. f:~i't :-'\,a\,..<.~\ his cyl'$ with the
nmih't was thus able h) take a\\a\' the . womcu \~n.,,~ ho lt~:t_im· .
\j
ht' c.w c au •. t l-cc.uuc a \.1\'rilla.
~ ,, hich he i~ to this dnv. .
\\ 'hen this Odu ·' '~ at di, ination, the 1~~1.,n will l~ advised 1,, ma1'.<.' sacrifice tu prevent anyone
from using fi -rn,·c him of his t\d1.'n\!im~
r village. He sh -
-....::. -
nnd to an,i1..l bcinc driven oiu of his town.
to be careful in handlinu matters :,ffc~tin~ women und t\, refrain from
seductive behaviors.

Chief A,ktlayo Obalolu. rl,c (fti :fn,a;,.

 Chapter 3
Obara-Iwori
Obara-Kosi
I I I
I I I
I I I
I I I I
Made Divination for Four Sisters in Heaven:

our sisters decided at the same time in heaven to come to the world. They were: The Tigress, the

F Leopard, the Zebra and the Bush Cat (Eta in Yoruba and Edi or Erna in Bini). They went to Obara-
lwori for divination and he told them to make sacrifice with a hen, tortoise

and rotten materials. They were also advised to make a feast for their fellow animals in order to command
universal respect. More especially, they were to make the sacrifice against the danger of unconsumated fortune
(Amubo in Yoruba and Osobo noma sunu in Bini).

Just before leaving for earth, they were to serve their heads as follows.- Tigress with cow meat; Leopard
with bush meat; Zebra with Guinea-fowl; and Bush Cat with rat and fish. The Bush Cat made all the sacrifices
and at the insistence of Onmmila, served her head on top of a hill. The Tigress served her head but failed to do the
other sacrifices. The Leopard and the Zebra refused to make any sacrifices.
Soon after getting to earth, all four of them became pregnant, and they all put to birth at about the same time.
The diviner who made divination for them in heaven had warned that after they had given birth to children there
would be a strong wind blowing through the earth. That was the time when Esu decided to persuade the wind
divinity to destroy all those who refused to make sacrifice.

One morning, the Tigress went into the forest to fetch food for her young ones. She killed an antelope and
kept it at the foot of the apple tree. As she moved to slaughter it, a fruit dropped from the tree and startled her.
Unwittingly, she stepped over the antelope with her left hand. That meant she could no longer eat the antelope
because the Tigress forbids to eat any meat that she steps over with her left hand.

She abandoned the antelope and proceeded to kill a deer. She took the deer to the foot of another tree to
butcher, but as she was doing so. A fruit dropped from the tree and she again frightfully crossed the animal with
her left hand. Once again she had to abandon it. She could not kill any other animal for the rest of the day and had
to return to her house, thoroughly hungry. Just before getting home, the hunter saw her, took aim and shot her,
dead. Subsequently, the young ones died for want of milk. In accordance with tradition, the corpse of the tigress
was taken to the king of the town.

On her PaI°4 the leopard was also shot by the hunter whilst going in search of food to feed the children.
When the Zebra saw what happened to her elder sisters, she ran to Oninmila for another divination. After
divination she went about to borrow money to buy the materials for the sacrifice, promising to repay the loans after
the first rain of the year. Her lenders were the earthworm, the hen, the fox, her brothers-in-law (the husbands of the
Tigress and the Leopard) the hunter and the boa.

After the first rain of the year the Earthworm went to demand the payment of her debt from the Zebra,
followed by the Hen, the Fox, the husband of the Leopard and the husband or the Tigress. She told them to
34
wait in her outer chamber while she checked the money she was going to pay them. When the hen saw the earthwom1
she ate her up. When the fox came to sec the hen waiting, he ate her up. The fox was met by the leopard, who also ate
him up. It was the turn of the leopard to be met by the tiger who also attacked and killed him for food. The hunter was
the next to arrive. As soon as he saw the Tiger, he took aim and shot him, dead. Unknown to him the hunter was
closely followed by the Boa who stood behind him when he shot the tiger. After shooting the tiger, the hunter moved
backward and inadvertently stepped on the tail of the Boa. By reflex action the boa bit the hunter, who turned round to
use his cutlass to kill the Boa. The hunter however later died from the toxic effect of the Boa's bite. Thus, all the seven
creditors of the Zebra had eliminated one another, leaving her to pay nobody.

The Cat, the only one who made the sacrifice escaped unscathed. That is why the cat is neither used for any
sacrifices nor eaten as meat, and why it raises all its children with little or no problems.

When this Ifa appears at Ugbodu, the person should be asked whether he is one of four brothers and/ or sisters.
He should make sacrifice in order to avoid having problems after having children. He should advise his other brothers
to have their own Ifu and the sisters to marry husbands having their own Ifa, if they are to live long. At divination the
person, if one of four brothers or sisters should be advised to l'ersuade his other relations to make the same sacrifice as
himself or herself. Each of them should serve; Esu with a he-goat, akara and eko; [fa with hen; Ogun with tortoise;
and to make a feast for members of his or her family.

He Saved His Son for the Cu1t of Witchcraft:

He was himself a witch and the meetings of the cult of witchcraft was often held in his house. He did not
disclose to members of his household the type of meeting that was being held in his house. He had a rascally son who
used to spy on the rneetiag, Since the witches knew that the boy was spying on them, they decided to punish him by
taking a slice of his intestines and liver after every meeting. The boy meanwhile developed chronic stomach trouble.

When the son was at the point of death he consulted Ifa who revealed that the members of his meeting were
killing his son. Ifa advised him to convene another meeting of all the members and appeal to them to spare the life of
bis son. The meeting was accordingly convened and among those who attended werei-

Etusheshe she to fiinu igboshele;

Arogidigba to finu aodo sarin gbolo·
Agbagba okete to finu ogan shibugbe;
Okperegeji to finu Awo sbibugbe.

When he asked them what was the matter with his son, he was told that the boy was often spying on them at
every meeting and that was why they wanted to empty his stomach. He proceeded to beg them to tell him the
atonement to make for the son's transgressions. They told him to make an effigy of his son with mud taken from an
anthill, a goat, eggs and plenty of palm oil. He produced the materials at a subsequent meeting, after which the son
became well. Thereafter, they held no more meetings in his house.

When this Ifa appears at Ugbodu, the person is more likely to be a member of the Cult of lynmi Osorongc. He should
immediately serve the night with a goat to avoid creating problems for his children non account of the meeting being
held in his house. When it appears at divination, the person should be dvised to given rabbit to the night.

35
 He Mndc Divinntion for Fays at Hndcs:

Obara bale ra Ogun, Bubnlawo irnerc, Odifo fun awon onile imere. When he was leaving heaven, he was
advised to build his house at the boundary of heaven and earth, a place close to Hades, the land of the Fays (I mere in
Yoruba and Igbakhuan in Bini). He was also advised to serve Esu with a he-goat at the two hundred road junction,
adding two hundred pieces of plantains, yams, pieces of meat, and seeds of com. He did the sacrifice, after which he
built his house near the two hundred road-junction not far from Hades,
the land of the Fays.

Whenever Fays were making fly-visits to the earth, they had to drop at his house for divination on what to do to
collect maximum benefits during their brief stay on earth. The fays were however not given to making sacrifice which is
why Orunrnlla knew the secrets of how to tie them down on earth. Orunmila used to advise their parents on what to do
to make it impossible for them to return to their beautiful land of Hades. When they discovered how Oninmlla was
obstructing their schedules, they decided to be coming to t1_1e world through the parentage of his children and
followers, which is why Ifa adherents are prone to havmg many fays as children.

When the Odil appears at divination, the person should be told that a heavy trick is being played on him but that
with sacrifice, he would see the bottom of it.

What Orunmlla Does to Tie Down Fays or Imeres:

Uroke mi Iawo ligonrin, oroke mi la wo leturaye were the two Awos who taught Orunmila how to tie down fays
(Imere or Jgbakhuan). He was taught the incantation to use to off er a he-goat to Esit who would hold them down on
earth. He was also told to make a feast with a goat, ak.ara, eko and beans. Whenever they attempt to return home to
Hades. Esu would stop them.

He Made Divination for Oro (The Secret Cult):

Obara ni kosi, A Ohara wori-wori were the two Awos who made divination for Oro when he was anxious to have a
child. Oro was advised to settle in a town far away from his home, where he was to make sacrifice with a machete, rats,
fishes, food, palm wine, meat and kolanuts.

He subsequently left to settle in the town of Osi, where he made the sacrifice in the form of a feast.
The cutlass was prepared with the appropriate medicines and given to him for safekeeping. He eventually had several
children at Osi and at the height of his prosperity, he gave each child a cutlass to dance with him. When Oro bellows at
night, he says - Motise ebo obara woi-woi.

At divination the person will be told that his prosperity lies outside his home town if'he agrees to make the above
mentioned sacrifice.

He Made Divination for the Oba of Benin:

Adaba o ba lcri igi, ofo ohun. aro yeke ycke, Adifa fun Oba Ado, oge luwa tonni ohun yio she rikon ara, Oni ki
awon ara ilc gbogbo wa ma o~i yi uleun ka. Awon ara ilu re le ofe da lo ohun. Nigba to re tit:i, won ko da Joun. Oba to
Orunrnlla wa. Onmmila ni ki oru cbo wcurc. Oru ebo na. Nigba to ru ebo ton ni won ba ma odi na,

TI1c Dove stood on top of a tree and began to repent incantation. 11101 wns the name of the Awo who mnde
divination for the Oba of Benin. when he decided to do what no one had done before. He invited bi
36
subjects to build a wall round his palace. They agreed to perfo~ the task, but did not proceed to do it Afier
waiting in vain for them to embark on the task, he sent for Orunmlla for divination. He was told to make
sacrifice with a goat.

After making the sacrifice, Esu went round to announce that the Oba was contemplating to impose mass
punishment on the people for failing to carry out his instructions. One by one the subjects trooped out to begin
the construction of the wall, and it was completed without any delay

This Odu's Special Preparation for Remembrance:

Lele Awo ile ilele, Lelle Awo ile ilelle, Lele Fue Awo ile Orunrnlla. Adafa
fun bara agboni regun nijoti woni Orunrnila koni ni iye rinu mo. Orunmila ni
baba she bii temi ni, moni bii tire ni.
Orunmila ni iho merindilogun nii bee ni nu oniyerni ye.
Oni gbogbore lo onlu kara bi aje ire.
Oni boba ti da kemi ogbagbe. Oni ariran aranmi leti. Oni
uye aayemi leere.
Oni keeu ni eja she nso ninu omi,
Bi akiko ba fi aka kan aka, ayere oro ano.
Ebara luko si., maa ko niniye itecii loo. Ebara lu kosi.
Lele made divination for Ilele, T ~11erzade divination for Helle, just as Lele Fue made divination for
Orunrnila when people thought thz; he :::z.: lost his memory. Orunmila replied that they were joking. He
proclaimed that rather than lose his :n~. he would appeal to the leaves for support. He added that there are sixteen
holes in the leaf called!~=:·~ all inside its body, like the small clay pot called Ajere having
holes all over its body.

He added "for me to Jose my In'.::::r~':. ::-.e leaves of Uye and Arinran will remind me because; when the
fish enters the water it will lift itsc!f.·J7, ~::d when the cock flaps its wings it will lift itself up, and when the cock
flaps its wings it will remember · ',\'~:'! rt diti the previous day. Obara Lukosi, do not let me forget."
This is the incantation with which lfo. ~ri~s r.-:..r..embcr things.
 Chapter 4
Obara-ldi
Obara-Bo-Idi
I I
I I I I
I I I I
171.
170. I I I
He Made Divination for the Two Hundred Divinities:

in-koin mi ta lu idi. Odifa fun erumole ajugotun, erumole ajugosi ni jo ti won bole ode aiye.
The Odil which reported how the earth was founded. He made divination for the Two Hun ed Divinities on the
right and on the left when they were coming to lay the foundation of the earth. God had used water to flush out
and flood the first habitation of the earth because of the debauchery and moral depravity of its first inhabitants.
That was why God destroyed the world with water.

After seven millennia, God decided to make a second experiment for the habitation of the earth. He invited
the Two Hundred Divinities and commissioned them to go as a body to make the world a better place. Koin-koin,
which was the heavenly name of Obara-Bo-Idi, divined for them, advising each of them to make sacrifices to, Esil
with white cloth. chalk, cowries and red parrot's feather to River Mimikpo of heaven, and Guinea-fowl for their
gurr=nangels.

None of them made the sacrifice .. f'l'. The messenger (Arugba) that God sent to the ble at the divine
divinities was told to tel1 all of the morning. chamber of God's palace the following do because he was the
The messenger told Orunmila ·.·.~7" her food. only one who remembered to give

When they subsequently assembled the fo1lo·11ing morning, God gave them the matching orders with
instructions not to return to their homes before setting out. Orunmlla was the last to show up and it was he who
took the snail's shell that contained the sand that was to solidify the foundation of the earth. By divine permission.
he also travelled with Arugba. the messenger sent to the divinities by God. Since there was no solid base on earth,
the place having been totally flooded with water, all the Two Hundred Divinities stayed on top of the palm tree
that had its roots in heaven and its stem and brunches on earth, overlooking the mass of water below.

It was Arugba who eventually advised Orunrnila to turn the mouth of the snail's shell into the water below
and the soil that solidified the earth dropped into the water. As soon as they were alighted from the palm tree.
Thus began the second habitation of the earth which subsists to this day.

When this Odil appears at Ugbodu, a special sacrifice has to be made with a snail's shell picked from the
bush. chameleon. ewe tete. ewe odondon, ewe ero, ewe irorowo, he-goat, Guinea-fo~vl, ;'hitc cloth and chalk, so
t.hnt the person might live to a ripe old age. At divination, he should serve Esu with he-goat and
e to have his own Ifa so that be might succeed in a difficult assignment.

He M11dt Divination for the Genitals (Penis and the Vulva):

ricinally. the genitals of animals, like those of plants were positioned on their foreheads, where they Jij
 were scarcely recognized for any useful purpose. One day, an Ifa priest called Mikiligui was performing his
nnnunl I fu festival at his house near the market. The Vulva (Oho in Yoruba and Uhe in Bini) was going to the
market when she decided to stop at Mik.iligui's house for divination. He told Oho that she would prosper if she
made sacrifice. H.e told her to bring a bl~ck he-goat, a hen, kolanuts, 3 water yams, 4 white ynms, an axe and a
cutlass for him to perfonn the sacnfice for her.

he went to the market and procured the materials without paying for them because, traditionally, no one
ever ref used ~o do her a favor. The he-goat, axe, cutlass and water yams were sent to Esu. After eating the
edible items, Esu asked what Oho wanted and she replied that she wanted to have honor and prosperity. tsu
asked Mikiligui whether he had been fed and he confinncd affinnatively, but added that he would not eat the
offerings made to him until Esu had perfonncd the required favor. Esu was and remains the only power that
can modify or mutilate God's creations.

Before then, anyone who wanted a child made a request to God and He created one for the person or
animal. There was a route through which children walked to their parents on earth. Esu embarked on his task by
using the axe to cut a tree to block that route eternally. Next, Esu invited two persons with the genitals their
foreheads and sat them down. He removed the penis and inserted it between the man's legs and removed the
vulva from the female forehead and inserted it between her legs, using two pieces of skins removed from the
black he-goat to cover them up - which is the human pubic hair.

Thereafter, Esu brought out his ASE and decreed that from then on, all animate objects created by God
should have their genitals between their legs, and that whoever wanted an offspring should no longer go to God
but to Obo. He added that all and sundry would from then on have to pay the debt incurred by Obo for the
sacrifice she made. Thzt is rte debt paid by all those desiring to have children to this day. That is not just the
dowry payable, but we· -lythe cost of taking care of a wife throughout marriage.

When this Odu appears at Ugbo::i the person would be told that he had suffered immensely before his
initiation, but that he shouJd servet,·1
with a he-goat, axe and cutlass so that he might prosper from then on.

~t divination, the person should be ~c!-! to have his own lfa in order to prosper in life. He should also serve
Esu with a he-goat.

He Made Divination for Ogun:

Ebaraji ji ji, odifa fun Ogun oni jan onle ni jo to wa aiyc. Ala
iniku kon gira. Ebo oriku ni ko ru o.

He made divination for Ogun when he vses coming to the world. He was told to make sacrifice to avoid
death on earth. He made sacrifice with 2 cocks, a hen and a dog which is why Ogun never dies.

. When it appears at divination, the person should be advised to have his own Ogun in order to live to a npc
old age and so that his name would live forever.

He Al.so Made Divination for Esu-Obadara:

0
obo odi. Idi ornole kayin kayin ile eni ni ta eni.
Ishu omode ta tan onla agba]agba loju kanran knaran,
'•.d3fa fun Esu obadara nijo t'onlo fi arare kowo lo odo Orisa.

39
 The man who does not stay at home. It is the ant in one's house that bites one. The yam planted by a young
man made a good hnrvest and the elderly one became jealous. These were the Awos who made divination for
Esu-Obadara when he made himself an identured servant in the house of God in atonement for a debt he couJd
not repay. He was told to make sacrifice with 2 hens and 2 pigeons. He did the sacrifice. He had been given the
task of catching fish everyday and he was doing it so successfully that after the sacrifice God granted him
freedom because he was satisfied with his previous services.
172.
He Mnde Divination for Olokun and Orisa:

Ebara ji ji ji. Odifn fun Orisa, obufun 016kun.

He also made divination for Orisa and 016kun, when 016kun was boasting that he was richer than God. He
boasted that there was nothing God had which he (016kun) did not have. Meanwhile, the Chameleon told God to
authorize him to call off the bluff of 016kun. God accordingly gave the Chameleon the authority (ASE) to
challenge Olokun.

Subsequently, the Chameleon went to Ol6kun to ask him to name the day he was going to compare his
wealth with Orisa's. He promised to present himself on the third day. On the appointed day, the Chameleon told
016k.'U11 to come to the venue of the contest with all his belongings to contest first with him (Chameleon) and
that it was only after he (Olokun) succeeded in demonstrating that he was wealthier than himself(Chameleon) that
God would enter into the contest. Both 016kun and Chameleon stood out for the contest while God sat on His
divine throne to watch.

The Chameleon was able to replicate the reflection of whatever Ol6kun wore or displayed on his own skin,
until 016kun had nothing more to demonstrate and the Chameleon had not even displayed any of his own
belongings. After the Chameleon b~d beaten him effectively to whatever he displayed, 016kun conceded that God
was not only richer thaa J:~mself, but that he (016kun) was part of God's own possessions.

At divination the person should b to serve Esu with a he-goat and a mirror in order to win a
contest he would be challenged to unde

He Made Divination for the Small Pepper:

Obara ko-bo-idi. Idi ko mo'le. Eje ki

koin-koin ile eni ki o ta eni
Adi.fa fun ata wewe ti o nlo si Ogun-ala ti o lo kon ori'le
omo bibi.

Ohara was naked, nudity knows no home, and it is the ant in one's house that bites one. Those were the Awos who
made divination for the small red pepper when she went to fight the boundary war that tarted from the time of her
ancestors that is, to procreate. She was told to make sacrifice with meat, crushed yam mixed with palm oil, rabbit
and red cloth. She made the sacrifice.

When she started having children, Esu clad them up with the red cloth with which she made sacrifice.
When it comes out at divination. the person will be told that there is a woman close to him or her who is anxiously
doing everything to have children. She will be advised to make sacrifice and will surely start havinz children.

40
The)' Also Mnde Divinutlnu for Awele, the Flirt:

They advised her to make sacrifice in order to avoid getting into trouble through her genitals. She rd'u:-:cd
to make the sacrifice and she continued with her flirtation. Meanwhile, she ensnared the son of the i.inc. to mnkc
love to her. which resulted in the death of the prince.

When the brothers and friends of the prince heard of the incident, they apprehended her and tied her up. She
wus paraded naked throughout the town and ended up at the palace. \Vhen the king asked her if she was given to
making divination, she continued that she made divination but failed to make the recommended sacrifice. which
is why she was punished with such harsh fate. The king ordered her release after putting the blame on his son
who condescended to sex with a prostitute, and she regained her freedom to
mnkc the sacrifice,

t divination. the person will be told to beware of prostitution. For a woman, she should make ncrificc to
avoid getting into trouble throuah sex. If the di vi nee is a man. he should beware of sleeping
with prostitutes to avoid losing his life. -

JI
 Chapter 5
Obara-Okonron
I I I
I I I I
I I I I
I I I
Ebara Okonron wii. Adifa fun yeye igi ti a ni ko ru ebo tori ti abiku omo.

e made divi.n~tion for the mother of trees, who was told to make s.acrific~ to avoid the danger of

H untimely death for her children. She was to make the sacrifice with an axe and a cutlass, but she
refused to do it. That is why it is those same instruments that are used for

felling her children (trees) to this day.

\Vben the Odu appears at divination, the person should be advised to make sacrifice to obviate the danger of
losing
He Madehis or her children
Divination fortothe
the Pounded
evil machinations
Yam: of mankind.

Ebara Okonron agogo ude ubale oro kanigo kanigo.

Ikpesi kagbo lorun jigi guo jigi gno. Agogo ude ko i
dun Jaye ki a gbo lo orun. Ikpesi koi dun laye ki a gbo lo
orun. Adifa fun Iyan onti kale cn::n bo wa si kole aye.
Orunmila ki iyan ru ho. Jyan koo r.1 ebo na.
Akiko ni ebo re kpelu aso fifun.

The brass gong fell down and sounded kanigo kanigo. The drum was beaten and it sounded jigi guo jigi guo.
The sound of the brass gong on eanh cannot be heard in heaven. The sound of the drumbeat on earth cannot be
heard in heaven. These were the A wos who made divination for the pounded yam before it left heaven for earth. It
was told to make sacrifice with cock, and white cloth but failed to do it. When it got to the world, it was subjected
to the punishment of being beaten with pestle and mortar before taking shape and name.

\Vhen it appears at divination the person should be told to make sacrifice so that people might not team up to
beat or kill him and to avoid loss of children.

He Made Divination for the Masquerade (Egungun):

Ebara gidi gba Awo Orunmila, Adifa fun Egungun onti'kole orun ho wa si kole aye.

The masquerade (Egungun) was told to make sacrifice for honor, prosperity and followcrship, before - left
heaven. He made sacrifice with different clothes, cock, pigeon and hen.

lhcn he appeared on earth. he was received with joy and respect, and people followed him about sere ever
he went. That is the situation to this day.

42
176.
175.
177.
173.
174.

The J)ivJ11uOM1 lie Miuh lh:fnre f_;caving Heaven:

Umkc mi lawo liw,nd11. oroke mi h11wo leturuye, were the two Awos who made divination for 6runmila :fore he left
heaven. I le w~l!l ;_!dvh~<l to make sacrifice against the danger of unconsumated fortunes ( Amubo in Y '1ruh11 and
Osobo no ma sunu in Bini). He was told LO serve; Esu with he-goat, Ifa with a goat, nd Ogun with a dog. i le made
al! the sacrifices before setting out for the world. His guardian angel
r5u:1d.od (Jgun to accompany him to the world and he agreed.

When he ~ot to the world, he forgot that his prosperity was to depend on close cooperation with Ogun, Thine~ did not
move well with him. Although he was a practicing lfa priest, he was neither recognized nor O'.;pcrnw;. He
xubscqucntly had a dream in which his guardian angel asked him why he has neglected gun and t•,u. _The following
morning, he consulted his Okdtponrin and he was advised to serve; Esu with a h1:,.go~ Ogun with a dog; ind his
lfa with a goat. He was lo use the he-goat to wash the stigma of hard-luck on E~u shrine. He performed aJI the
sacrifices without any delay. He was told to give an
ornamental brass scimitar and mitre to his If.

ntact with the Oba. There was an outbreak of measles in the town J in ir ..
fant mortality. The more popular Awos were invited but they ernic, 0::-~
night, the Oba had a dream in which Esu told him to look
the only one who could abate the measles epidemic.

ya! messengers to scan the town for an Awo called Obara-

Kanran, T owards midday, they L-:1:.:c."'·"'~~ ::: locating him. He was accordingly summoned to follow them to
the palace, which he did withrnn q·,;1;,1~ ~.-=.en he got to the palace, the Oba told him to divine on what had to be
done to ~-UJp the r.prcad of ~~ :-·::·:.::g measles epidemic. In the ensuing divination, he told the
ba to buy a three-year old h~-po~ b~ :z::;:fice to Esu at once. He also disclosed that the calamity occurred
because the Oba did n•11 p•d·,-- :.-~ (Jgun festival for that year. He recommended that a dog, a cock, a tortoise, a
snail, roasted yam i.!.!1~ 1; c .. ~_-:-! ,,f palm wine should be used to serve Ogun immediately. I le also revealed that
the shnne of !:-l:!!r!r:;r.-.::.:?J ~ th~ main entrance to the town had been neglected for too lone 1' ••••• ., '"' l,.,,. • ,. •...• Jrrl '"...-1th
lt Ll.Jd: :m1 Lti.7': ,-/,m. The nacrificcs were made without delay .

.• •. ~.:;·.Jt:~ M child-death being reported. Before the end of ?"!

,;,,mp':n!!fit.cd Obara-Okonron elaborately. He was ~ ..• -~ ..s.~ r.hl,;f
royal diviner. The Oba caused a befitting house ¥_.73 i1:1fJ
prosperity and eminence.

ihen thi ld prepare his Ogun and Esu shrines immediately. t~~ he has not
posiiioned his feet on the path of his destiny. r::!.!st begin by
giving he-goat to Esu and dog to Ogun.

u titan in Yoruba and Otiku in Blniu

.• void the

uld P

no gi fts on a
Id that he
178.

refused to make sacrifice. Estl proceeded to incite Ogun to set the house of Etitan on fire. That deprived him of
most of his belongings although he was still left with some remnants. That is why to this day, the rubbish dump is
always set on fire from time to time when it is full, that is, at the height
of its prosperity.

When this Odu appears at Ugbodu and at divination, the person should be told to serve Esu with a hegont and
Ogtm with n cock, to avoid the risk of undulating fortunes.

His Problems on Earth:

Obara-Okonron was a benevolent Ifa priest, a professional dancer, who performed magical feats in the process.
One day he travelled to Ojn Ajigbornekon for lfn practice. Unknown to him, some enemies were plotting against him.
A beneficiary of his magnanimity got wind of it and went to warn him not to spend the night in the place because
there was a plot to assassinate him.

He decided to escape at dusk to the next town. but before leaving, he got the stem of plantain measured to his
height and covered it up with his loin cloth on the bed on which he was supposed to sleep. When the assassins got to
the room. they inflicted machete cuts on the bed and left. The following morning, when they went to verify the
outcome of their despicable act, they were surprised to discover that it was a plantain stem they had butchered. They
began to marvel that Obara-Okonron was indeed a strong Awo. His woes were however far from over.

In the new palace where he sought ,e:i·::.!. there was another plot to assassinate him. When he consulted
Okeponrin, to seek new directions, I:'2 advised him to serve Esu with an infant he-goat and a missile (Akatapo in
Yoruba and Ekcpede in Bini 1. After serving Esu with the small he-goat, he butchered it on the shrine of Esu and
poured palm oil on it. 15 zzsured him that those plotting against him would subsequently come to him to disclose their
mnchinarioa;

Later that night, at the instance of Lsu, t~ (JJnja of the town was suddenly taken ill and there was no other Awo
to approach for help except Obira . .fJ}'t,nmn who happened to be around. In desperation, the people decided to
approach him. At divinau-zi. hr: dr:cl:trcd that there wus nothing to be done to save the Oloja's life because he was
alreadj slated to Cle He added that after his death, six others would follow him to heaven. Asked what they could do to
ameliorate th•.: situation, he asked whether they were prepared to make sacrifice and they confirmed affirmativ elv. He
told them lo produce two hundred goats, two hundred hens and Two Hundred each of several other materials. Besides,
he told them that if there was not to be famine in the t0\\11, the Oloja after becoming well should reveal the morbid
plan they had made to kill a visiting Awo. because the town which kills an Ifa priest would know no pence,

TI1e Oloja subsequently became well after the sacrifice was made. Thereafter he invited all the town's traditional
diviners to cross-check the validity 211d veracity of the declarations made by the visiting Im priest. Meanwhile, Esu
went round to warn all the town's diviners that the town would experience n tatine catastrophe unless they removed
the Oloja and replaced him with Ohara-Okonron .
.• en the divine priests were assembled. the Ogun priest among them became possessed and while in
lnirncd th:11 the divine council had found the Oloja guilty of hatching a plan Lo kill a visit in ich \\ as
why he became critically ill. He added that the only .salvation for the town was for the
rcplncc.d bv the visitinu ifa priest. All the other diviners encored the dcctnnuions
ic=t.

l and the dr11wc1 were announced and Oh-

,.., mecuno o i:: towu'
179.
181.
180.
182.
183.

m1-vkt"ttron was subsequently made the new Olojn, after the deposed Oloja made an open apology for his
u:ms~ressilHl.

When the Odu appears at Ugbodu. the person will be told to make sacrifice to Esu and the Night 1' .... 'C'3U$C n
position earmarked for him is in the offing. At divination the person should serve Esu to frustrate the evil plans of
his enemies.

He Made Divination for Prince Owolnbi of Ijcro:

Bi oju cni ha ti ri oran, Enu eni au dakc. Odifa fun wolabi

orno Aje

If one is suddenly confronted with danger. the mouth will be dumbfounded. That was the Awo who
- -
mace divination for Owolabi. the son of the Ajero before he started a new farming year. He was advised to
make sacrifice before embarking on the farm, He was to make a sacrifice with cutlass, cudgels and a he._..,31. He
refused to make the sacrifice. He insulted Esu as Satan the thief and condemned the Ifa priest as an extortionate
hoodlum. who went around trying to reap whatever he had not sown.

The following morning. be left home for the farm. As soon as he got to the farm a heavy rain started falling. It
did not rain for long. '\\ 'hen tee rain subsided. Owolabi started planting his crops. Among the
ps he planted was sugar cane. 11 w.:is subsequently the first to produce a prolific harvest. When the sugar cane
was ripe for harvesting. ~-.:i~.,,..,i sent his young son to go and cut from the sugar cane in the farm. As the boy
was about to cut the s:·_ · cane. he saw a human skull which had been positioned there by .._ · The boy was gripped
with fear w:ic t~~ skull asked him whether he was going to cut the sugar cane.
uld reply. the skull told •.. _. :.J inform his father that a heavy rain was going to fall at the
jcros palace. The boy took to his hef'h ~.~ ran home, thoroughly frightened.

n gettin rience to his father, who instead of believing his story, .•.. ugar cane.
adrn The father asked him whether he had ever ·=i::J to ':.:!'f. To test the
veracity of his story, the father decided to he~!!'•" no sign of the skull
which the boy spoke about. The father . r~~ soon as the dead boy fell
to the ground, the mysterious nt, exclaiming "I In! ha! ha! so you
beheaded you son as if you
labi heard the words of the skull, her ran home to tell the people
en to him.

1but saw no talking skull, except the corpse of his dead son. He murder
of his son. In the ensuing scuffle, one of the people iinued until there
were seven corpses on the ground. TI1e Aiero what had happened at
Owolabi's form.

hen they got to the form, the verifiers were in of

murdering the dead persons, when the skull reemerged to declare
\\.?S going to be a heavy rain at the palace of the Ajc . ..,,
o make. That was the story carried home by the verifiers to the and
make the nrescribed sacrifice .•.

n will be told not to eat suunr cane and to

.. C
ation, the
iuina rn
 Chapter 6
Obara-Irosun
I I
I I I
I I I I
I I I I
Made Divination for the Children of Prosperity Before They Left Heaven:

bara kosun sose osi oda ose otun si, oda fun omo ati aya ati aje ati gbogbo ure, nijo ti won ti kole lo

E wa si kole aye. Ani ki won ru ebo.

Ebara rubbed camwood (red chalk) on his two legs when he made divination for the children of prosperity;
childbirth, marriage, money, position, and all items of wealth, when they were leaving heaven for earth. They
were told to make sacrifice so that they might become precious assets to be sought after by all and sundry. Money
was told to make sacrifice with pigeon, Marriage to make sacrifice with a he-goat, Childbirth was to make
sacrifice with a hen. and Elevation was to make sacrifice with a ram. They all made the sacrifices before leaving
heaven, The moment they got to the world, they became the dream and aspiration of kings and commoners alike,

When it appears at Ugbodu, the person will be told to make sacrifice for him to become immensely
prosperous.

Orunmila Declares the Sacrifice for Opening the Gates to Prosperity:

Orurunila ni ki olu shiku; Emi 16 2!z-1:oro shiku.

Oninmila ni ki ni o 1 u yio Ii shiku, EI::i na ni ki ni
alaworo yio fi shiku. Ayebo adiye; Eyele, ugbin,
eku, eja, eko, akara, ekpo ati obi.

Oninmila told the gatekeeper to open. I told On'mmlla to ask the divine priest to open the door. I asked
Oninmila how the gatekeeper was going to open it, and Orunrnlla asked how the divine priest was going to open
the door.

He said that the gate was going to be opened with a hen, pigeon, snail, rat, fish, eko, akara and kolanuts.

The materials were produced and the gate to the house of treasure was opened. This is the special sacrifice
(Ono-Ifa or Odilia) of this Odil at Ugbodu.

He Made Divination for the Woman Who Had Six Children:

zoara gosun gosun, oshowo udo poro poro. Adi fa fun yeye olomo mcfa mati'yo. Ebo ni koru tori iku omo. Ebara
rubbed camwood and washed his hands inside the mortar. He made divination for the mother of six children. She
was told to make sacrifice against the danger of losing any of her children to death. he made the sacrifice with he-
goat cock and pigeon.

en it appears at divination, the person will be advised to make sacrifice to obviate the danger of

4
h1~l11g children 1111 ho 01· nhc golH t)lclm.
186.
184.
185.
Ho Muck Dl\lhrnelon fur n Motlwr llnvlun Two 1>1111,d1fN'NI
/\ wo1111111 hod two duughturs who were 11lw11y11 going to buttlo mi 11oldllmJ, llolorc p,ol11g lo w111·, the cldc~t
dnughtcr usl·d to po:ii t ion 11111.lf.\H 011 top o I' 11 11to11c, whl le t Im J 11111111· lHIU kupl her 01m ogp. 011 top ol' I ho cover
of 11 culubush plutc, Thuy utlon k•n lirntrncl 1011:1 with their 11101 her 1h111 Ir the u1m11 foll to the p,rn1111d, it would mcun
thut they hud been killed in battle.

On one occnsion he fore they went to tho buulc of' O:d1c11, they went fol' dlvl1111tio111111d they wen, told to give hc-gotu
to i'~sl) before going. They only gnvc the :1k11l1~1 ol'he-gn11t 111Hl chlckcns lo t'~1:111, pro111i11l11g to give live he-gouts, if they
returned safely trom thl' wur. l.011g nllcr they lcl\ for the wnr, thelr mother observed one morning 1h11t the two Cll~s 1111d
lullcn to the ground 11ml broken 111 piccen, Their oppo11cnl11 had given them cock 1111d hitter lc111', which they Iorhudc.
thw1 11cutrnlizi1111, their powern. 011 sceiug the position of the eggs, their mother immediately concluded th111 the wur 1111d
co11s11111ecl her two duughtcrn, She reacted hy running to River Aiyc to collect it's sund, Trnditionnlly, IHI one looked nt tho
:11111d from thut river because anyone who snw, it died immediately. She removed the sand, covered ii up i11 u plntc nnd left
with the plate for the battle front at Oshcn.

On getting to Oshcn she: mode enquiries nbout the fate of two young girls who cume to pnrticlputc in the battle for the
town. 11H.!Y told her that their fate was u forgotten issue because they had long been killed on the Ogun und Uju shrines.
With the bad news. she inuncdiutcly opened the plate of sund und ull those who snw it were fulling to their deaths. She had
killed mnny people in the town before getting to the pulucc of the king of Oshen, who nm uwuy from his throne. She pursued
the king and us she wus ubout lo cntch up with him, he trunsfiuured into a hillock e..-rl lh:: woman turned into n beehive to
surround the hillock.

When this Odu uppears at Ugbodu, 1 give u ·-:;,m will be told thnl a war is imminent for him. He should . advised to
he-gout to l~su to survive jt. He ~;lit including forbid bittcrlcuf and the rncnt of any male bird • .r·:1m should he told to
cock and drake. At divination t1 ponying serve f~st'1 und to refrain from uccorn~.? offr:r sncrificc lo the wntcr
anyone on u journey. He should divinity.

The Divination Mndc for Him Before J Left Heaven:

Oshupn ko le she ko mu ton lo sho-shu, run ko le jn bo lnye c, Adi fit fun Onuunlla ni jo to'n ti kole
orun bo wn si kale aye.

The moon never fails to appear every month and the :;1111 never fi1lhi from Its orbit from rising till setting. These were the
two Awes who made divination for ()r(mmllll when he wns leaving heaven for the earth. Ile was told to make sacrifice to ovoid
having difficulties during hi:; llfo on earth. J Jc wns told to; serve Esu with a he-goat, adding white and red cloths, serve ifa with
n dove (Adnhn in Yorubn of Jdu in Bini), nnd to give cock to Sango. He made the sacrifices.

On getting to the world. he had initial difficulties. He could not afford to marry, and HO hod no child .. I no house of his own.
When he subsequently went for divination, he was advised to prepare his own s~wr.6 with a cock and his own Ogun with
a tortoise and a cock. I Jc was ulso told to J!ivc n hc-gom to l~s,)
._,. to his lfii. I Ic aaain did the sacrifices.

ficc, he hildrem thrive in his work and gun to prosper. I I c wwi nhlc to huvc n wi fc,
und su ~,•ucntly built hi·· use. 6,!tltl nnd Sfmm, bcunn to assi!,t him In

7
187.

When this Odu appears at Ugbodu, the person should prepare hin own 6eun and 8fmi6, in w1diti1,n ft
putting a thunder stone on his lfn shrine.

The Dishonesty of His Servants:

He had as three servants; the Elephant, the Parrot and the Dog. When he went on tour for Jfa practice, the
Elephant stole his divination tray (Akpako) and wore it round his neck. JJc also stole hia uranke (divination staff)
and kept it in his mouth. The Dog swallowed up his ASE while the Parrot removed t}"'•· red Aluko feathers with
which he decorated his Ifa shrine.

When he discovered the theft upon his return from tour, he consulted J fa on what to do to recover wha his
dishonest servants had stolen. He was told to serve Ogun with a tortoise and a cock, which he did. Ogun then
turned to a hunter and shot down the Elephant to remove the uranke (tusk») and the parrot to remove the red
feathers. The Dog however became elusive, but when Ogun wanted to perform hiv annual festival he apprehended
the Dog and used him for sacrifice but could not recover the ASE which he had swallowed.

OrunmUa Laments the Unreliability of Human Nature:

Orunmila wipe Ohara ln-rosun.

Moni eni re-re ni a ri ba jaiye. Oni
ta ni eni rere ti a ri ba j'aiye?
Moni Ogun oni jan-o-le, ejemu oln \-.1Jn ronwi aja gidigidi i-gba-sa
6rurun11a ni k.iin she Ogun ni ezi T!'J"e ti a ri ba j'aiye.
OrunmiJa nj Obara-lu-ro-sun,
Moni eni rere ni a ri ba j'aiye.
Oni ta ni eni rere ti a ri ba j'aiye?
Moni OJota ni Ado.
Moni ren-rin ni Owo
Moni ose eni ilu Magbon.
Mani ugba erumo]e ti o nta'la,
Onmmila ni awon won yi ni,
Won ni kin she eni rere ti a le ri ba j'aiye?

In a dialogue with his follower

Orunrnila said Obara prostrated.
I replied that it was a nice person that one could enjoy life with,
Onmmila asked, whois the good personthat one can find to enjoy life with? I said it
is Ogun, but Orunrnila rejected Ogun,
I suggested Olota at Adu, Rin-rin at Owo or Ore of Imagbon.
Orunrnila kept quiet.
Then I suggested the Two Hundred Divinities as suitable associates to enjoy life with,
but he again rejected them.
l then asked Orunmila for the ideal person,
f le finally replied that it is only one's head 2.11d one's guardian angel who do not
mislead or deceive one on earth.
, .. skcd 6runmlla for the sacrifice, and he replied that it required pounded yam with
_,,ust soup ,,-1 is v.hy 6runmlla s1nR:i:-
 Oro yi ko kan Ogun, osi kan Orisa
Oro yi ko kan Ogun, osi kan Orisa
eleda eni ni oro yi kan

The matter does not affect Ogun, or Orisa. It

only refers to one's guardian angel.

At divination, the person should be advised to have his own Ifa and to serve his head with a Guineafowl in
order to prosper in life.

4
 Chapter 7
Obara-Owanrin
Ohara-Lila
I I I
I I I I
I I I
I I I
'I'he l>l\'inn1ion 'Maule for· Him Before Leaving Heaven:

Ehun otc kii jc ru lowo cyan,

Ore olo're ni mo ma fi'lu.
Awon l'ondifa fun On'.mmih\ ni jo ti o kolc orun si bo wa kole aye.

A
free gift docs not forebode danger in the hands of the recipient. I will prosper through the fortunes
of other people. These were the two Awos who made divination for O~ara-Lila when he was
lcavinn heaven for the world. He was advised to serve; Ifa with a goat, Esu with

he-gout, and his mother with a h;n, including all cooking condiments. He made all the sacrifices and left for the
world, after obtaining clearance from his guardian angel.
On getting to the world. be became a trader and a farmer. His early success evoked enmity and his relations
began to create problems for him. His business took a downturn in fortune and he decided to go for divination. He
was told to serve: bis Ifa with a goat, Esu with a he-goat and to serve his mothers head with u hen. His own lfu
priest made the sacrifices for him and he was assured that fortune awaited him in his business.

nc day a group of bandits hid their loot near his farm. When he subsequently got to his farm, he saw the loot
comprising several items of treasure, bags of clothes, beads, elephant tusks, money, eagle's and parrot's feathers. He
left the materials on the first day without touching them. When he got home he consulted Im who told him that the
bandits who kept the treasures near his farm had been caught and executed. It was the following day that he removed
the materials to his house. The finds made him very wealthy and he went to express his gratitude to the lfa priests
by giving them a bag of money, a goat and pieces of cloths. Meanwhile, lfa had told him that he was yet to collect
another loot.

He used to trade to Oja-Ajigbornekon Akira. When he got to the market one day, he saw a number of clcphuut
tusks and other precious wares at his stall. He was later told that a robber had been apprehended thnt morning.
When the market dispersed, no one came to claim the goods. Once again, he enquired from I ti\ who cleared him to
go home with them. With that, his wealth multiplied and his prosperity assumed .. upcrlativc proportions. Once
more. he went to thank the Awos who made divination and sacrifice for him by giving each of them one elephant's
tusks, a piece of white cloth and a bag of money. Thus, his destiny manifested by indirectly benefiting through the
fortunes of others from his fanning as well as his trading.

When this lfi\ appears at Ugbodu, the person should be told that his fortune will come from fanning especially in
ynrns and maize) nnd trading. He will be enriched legitimately by the fortunes of other people. He should keep
elephant's tusks on his ]fa shrine. At divination, the person should be told to have his own I rn. if a mun. or to marry un
I fn 1mm, if a woman.

50
190.
188.
189.

He JkcomcH 11 111,~h Chkf of .1 "" Town:

Mcm1whilc, the Olm of hl11 town 110011 begun to hear about hi11 wealth rand popularity. One day the 01.>11 Invited
him for divlnutlnn 11ncJ he nuid he wan not a practicing I f{1 priest. The king had kept three conwi11crt1 in hit;
private morn contuining, a piece of chalk, cowries and alligator pepper. He told him to 1111,nc the cu11tct1111 of each of
the three contuincrn, lie went home to prepare for the test.

a·1 immcdintcly transfigured into u 8irl Helling little articles and gave him u chalk, a cowry and an nllir,utor pepper.
{~1

When he got home, he enquired from lfa the significuncc of the gifts given to him by the
irl, and I fYi confirmed that they were the contents of the three containers kept by the king in his private room. I le was
holding the three mutcriuls when he gut to the palace and told the king what the three co11tuinern contained. 'J11c Oba
then asked him why he declined to be pructicing lfa priest, and he replied that he was not destined to be one. I le was
instantly made the Shascrc of the town with a plea from the Oba
to help him to udrninister the kinudom.

Divination for Orirnmila on Caution:

Ebara wonrin koso ni she owo irnolc. Adi fa fun Orunrnlla ni jo ti baba maashc owo imola laa.

That was the Awo who made divination for Orunrnlla when he was advised to act with caution and never to do
things in a hurry. He was told to make sacrifice with a pigeon and the knife used for circumcision, (Obekc in Yoruba
and Abe-Osiwu in Bini) and a forkstick. The sacrifice was made and the knife and forkstick were prepared for him to
hold when travelling.

One day, as he was roving in the forest, he came across a kolanut tree whose fruits were ripe for plucking. The
owners of the tree had no ~~ipment for plucking the kolanuts. He gave them his forkstick which they used to pluck aJI
the kolunuu Later, he also gave them his knife to use for splitting the fruits. After preparing the kolanuts, they divided t~
into three parts and gave him one part. He transported his share of the kolanuts home and sold the·n f.r;: food money.

Made Divination for the Mean Who -~ Treasure Bird:

Ebara wonrin ayoro irna, ayoro irna, idowo okpe mejl. Kooyo ko gu jura won lo. Adafa fun ashan csin suni gba ojo
tonlo roko roko ton lo nbe eye oda wa le.

He made divination for the man who was clearing the road when it wns mining. At the end of the exercise, and
following the sacrifice he had made, he caught a bird that wns capable of bringing prosperity to its owner. The bird
made him to become very wealthy.

lie Made Divination for the Hunter:

A hunter had three dogs which he had trained to help him in a variety of ways including hunting. TI1c were
called; Ugbo ngbo lo ju ode, Amomimau and Ajorijawc. When he went for <livinntion, he was D make ~;;1crificc
to avoid problems from his hunting. He was at that time proposing to go on tour, so
he would perform the sacrifice upon his return from tour.

'ion tour, his wife went hunting with the dogs without knowing how the husband .. he did
1101 know how to feed them. the three dogs died. Following the death of 11ci.1,· itrntcey for
rahinJ~ moue)'. She nrranucd with n pnrrot to climb an oak tree '' be rnakint; divination
from there. When people MlW her rccclving instructions
from the oak tree, they followed her example and she was able to collect a large sum of money in the process.

When the operation was over, she collected all the money alone without giving the parrot any share of it. The
parrot reacted by going to live with her, refusing to leave until he got his share. That was the state of aff airs when her
husband returned home. Before returning home, the rumor was already circulating in the town that she was cohabiting
with the parrot. As the woman was unable to put up a satisfactory explanation for the demise of the dogs and the
presence of the parrot in the house, the husband drove her out of his house while he kept the parrot to be assisting him
as an informant.

When this Ifa appears at Ugbodu, the person will be advised to serve Esu with a he-goat and Ifa with two hens to
obviate the risk of being involved in a dispute over money. He should also rear a dog. At divination, the person should
offer he-goat to Esu because of some money he would be asked to come and collect.

He Made Divination for Olobara:

Orunmila ni ishe-she, moni ishe she.

Ishe-she erin, erin di ara igbo.
Iya je efon, o di ero odan.
Iya je ipale oro kan, o di em a ngun fun ewure. Adafa
fun Olobara ti o lo san ryan ::11:?li l'obe yo.

Orunmila says abject penury. I 21d abject penury. It was

abject penury that turned the ~:!._~hant
into a forest animal.
It was as a punishment that the buffalo became a wild open-
field grazing animal.
It was the punishment from offensive words that made a man
to ride on a goat,

These were the Awos who made divination for OJobara who had to cat pounded yarn without soup.
He was advised to make sacrifice so that be would always eat pounded yam with soup. In other words he was to
make sacrifice so that his sufferings in the morning will end with the joy of opulence in the evening of his life. He
was told to make the sacrifice with pigeon and cock. He made the sncrifice after which he was able to marry. have
children, servants and to build houses. He became so prosperous thnt whenever he called one person. several persons
would answer him.

\Vhen the Odu appears at divination, the person will be told to offer sacrifice to the Jf.1 in his family, so that
his sufferings will change to joy and prosperity.

y,
191.
192.

Chapter 8
Obara-Ogunda
I I
I I I
I I I
I I I I
He Made Divination for Deyi, the Livestock Farmer:

0
bara-Ogunda was invited to take care of Deyi, the livestock farmer, when he was very ill. When
he got to Deyi's house, it was too late to embark on divination. He therefore promised to do
divination the following morning. The town was mainly inhabited by women.

Later on that night, the town's cult of witchcraft sent some witches to visit him. When they asked him
what he came to do, he disclosed that he was invited to come and find out what made Deyi to become ill and
why the sickness was not responding to treatment. The witches told Obara-Ogunda that the man was ill because
of his stinginess. They informed him that although he was making huge profits in his livestock business, he did
not consider it necessary to make any sacrifice whatsoever. They advised him that if he wanted Deyi to become
well, be should ask him to make sacrifice to the night with two each of his birds and animals.

When Obara-Ogunda subsequently rnade divination in the morning, he told Deyi that he would only
become well if he made sacrifice with 1"'0 each of his different birds and animals. His host bluntly refused to
make the sacrifice. In anger, Obara-Ogrzda returned home without doing anything more for Deyi.

Subsequently, Deyi became well med his business. One day before he returned from the •
market, all his birds and animals went · room and removed his clothes and ran with them into the
forest. As they were leaving, they bega

lja bele ta ko ko
Eran abule egbedo kpa sibe
Eran gbule egbedo kpa si le
Ija bele bele ta ko ko.

When he returned to discover what had happened, he quickly sent for Oburn-Ogunda. He eventually
made the sacrifice and his life was saved, but he had lost his livestock.

When this Odu appears at Ugbodu, the person should use a goat to make sacrifice at his ancestral shrine, serve
Ogun with a dog, and give a goat to the night. At divination, the person should be advised to · ·- a he-goat to
Esu and a cock to Ogun .
.. Iade Divination for Agbe and Onne:

.~, Onne waka wa ka rnararu ugban. Adifa fun Agbe

e, atun dafun Onne ti nshe ore Agbe ni jo ti awon rwon,

53
196.
193.
195.
194.
197.

The bird called Agbe in Yoruba or Awe in Bini was befriending the crocodile (Onnc). Agbc and unnc went for
divination and they were both advised to mukc sucri ficc. Agbe wus to make sacrifice with u Guinea-fowl and Onnc
was to rnake sacrifice with a he-goat nnd divination tray (Akpuko). They made the sacrifices. Onne complained to
Agbc that human beings were uftcr him und sought his assistance. J\gbc reassured him that he would always give him a
warning signal whenever his human enemies were on his t.mil to attack him.

Not long afterwards, men came with instruments for capturing Onnc. As soon as Agbc saw them, he began to sing:
Onne waka waka, gbe kpakoru (several times). When Onnc heard the warning, he dived into the water covering his head
with the Akpako prepared for him following the sacrifice he made. No matter the poison which the hunters threw into
the water, it did not affect Onnc. Thul was how he developed his survi val strategy.

At divination the person should be told to serve Esu with a he-goat including the bone of crocodile and the red
feather of Agbe in order to survive the evil machinations of his enemies.

He Made Divination for Gberesi Before She Got Married:

Oki ti bamba ni kpeku okpokpo. Odifa fun gberesi ti o bi ni ek.a

awunsi, to tun lo ni oko lo'ode orninikun.

That was the Awo who made cm..;_.,.,.;CL"1 for a girl called Gberesi of the town ofEka-Awunsi when she was going to
marry a husband in the:...,-.;.-:: of Ominikun. She was told to make sacrifice with a he-goat and a cock in order to enjoy a
successful mz ·~:e. She made the sacrifice and the Awo prepared leaves for her to bath. The marriage brought her e-
..cr~ happiness in several ways.

If this Odu appears for a ma ... ...__. told that a woman is coming to marry him and that whenare leaves
ever she comes, he should invit for her to bath, because she is Orunmilu's wif hould be told to
(Akpetebi). If she docs not already . arrange to have it. Meanwhile, he
should make sacrifice with a h

Asa mu irin ko. Ajawara v

Ari ikin gbe jo ni o se A \VO i
Ajawara warn mu ida ko ni o Ami-
rni-sa-sa, ni odifu fun Aje
l'ojo ti won o lo ti enu ij

were the four A\,\ divination for Sixteen Witches when they were trying to find
{ of nrosne

ow the secrete of life should listen lo the chants on y,

marriage, children, must nppeal to dlvinntion nnd

hey went away fwpp)' nnd rrn1hficd

hh p1nhlcrw1 to lfi\ nnd

He Made Divination for the Oba and the People of Idanrcn:

When Obara-Ogunrere was leaving heaven, he was advised to make sacri flee to I f(t with u goat and l f(a knife
(Aza) and to give he-goat to Esu. He was told to make the sacrifice so as to live long on earth, nnd he did. He
became a famous Ifa priest on earth and subsequently travelled to the land of Idnnrcn where he made divination for
the Oba.

He told the Oba that they never used to live long in his family, and that it was time to change the misfortune.
He told the Oba to make sacrifice with a goat, a he-goat, a dog und an Ifa knife. He told the Ob3 that from then on
he was not to touch the ground with his head for any other divinity apart from his own Ifa.

After the departure of Obara-Ogunda, some people who went about praying in white apparels visited the
town and convinced the Oba to abandon the worship of any other divinity apart from their foreign god. He
subsequently abandoned his ancestral divinities and Orunrnila. Things soon became difficult for him. His subjects
rebelled against him for abandoning all their traditional rites and rituals. He eventually sent for Obara-Ogunda
who blamed him for fouling himself with the worship of a strange divinity. He was able to refurbish himself after
making sacrifice with a ram and two pigeons. After the sacrifice, his subjects resumed the payment of homage
and respects to him.

When this Odu appears at Ugbodu, the person should be told to refrain from touching the ground with his
head for any other divinity., apart from Onmmila, The person should be forewarned against the time he would
abandon his Ifa and tum to Christianity. If he throws away his Ifa, he will be forced to hnvc it rehabilitated when
between the devil =>""'d the deep blue sea.
198.

hupter 9
Obara-Osa
I I I
I I I
I I I
I I I
The Sacrifice He Mndc Before Running Away From Heaven:

T
his ?du ran away from hc.uvcn. It was his own gunrdinn angel th~lt advise~ him to make sacnfice before he
ran away from heaven. He was told to serve his head with a cock and to give a Guinea-fowl to his guardian
angel. He also gave a he-goat to Esu and served the

ground of heaven with a tortoise.

Thereafter, he left for earth without telling anybody. On getting to the world he took to trading which took him to
several places. He was always travelling about and around. When he discovered that he was making no head way, he
went for divination and he was told to practice lfisrn in addition to his trading. Once again, he served; his lfa with a
Guinea-fowl, his head with a Guinea-fowl, because he forbade cock, Esu with a be-goat and the ground with a tortoise. As
he began to operate as an (fa priest, he found himself inching into prosperity. People soon observed that he was more
proficient as an Ifa priest than as a trader. As he began to prosper, he settled d0"-11 to a more homely life.

When this Odu appears at Ugbodu, ~ person should be told to take to business as his main profession, but should
also learn how to read I:a. He should resist the temptation to travel too often away from home.

His Encounter With the Cult of ~!itclJcn!ft:

When he was busy travelling about. he has no time for hi:i family. When his son Shcyi grew up, he gave him out to
Sango to live with him as a sen ant. Sangi, used to hold meetings in heaven and any time he could not go. he often sent
Sheyi to represent him, Sangb had two other servants. One was u hunter while the other was a repairer with the
capability to restore nil damaged or defective objects.

Once upon a time. there was famine on earth because there was no rnin throughout the rainy season.
The people of the earth went to enquire from Sang6 why there had been no min, since he used to communicate with
heaven. He agreed to find out on his next trip to heaven.

At a subsequent meeting of the divine council in heaven, Sang6 was told that the Cult of Wnchcrnf [Awon-Iynmi
Osoronga) had laid three eggs on the sky which had the effect of holding up the rain from falling. God explained that if
He became angry, the eggs would break and there would be chaos. The council told Sango that if it was possible to find
someone who could cm ply the contents of one of the eggs
nd return the empty shell in place, there would be rain within three days.

'hen Sang6 returned to earth. he asked his hunter/servant whether he would he nble to shoot one of the egg~
without disturbing the other two. TI1c hunter wore his hunting costume and used his weapon to take aim I le shot the erg
and it fell to the ground without bre~1id11g. 111c repairer wns invited to open the
.1 empty us content into Ohara-O~n'•1 Oriole, the shrine uf thc Ground Divinity. Thcrcnftcr, he pieced hr shell tor
ether and Shryi, who U!,td lo 1~0 to hca, en ngrccd to return the empty cgJ; shcl] in place and he
did so, The Cult of Witchcrafl did not know what was happening because the events transpired by daytime.

When night came, the witches discovered that one of their eggs was empty. They reacted by delivering a
message from heaven that the Divinity of Death was ill and they wanted earthly Awos volunteer to .omc to heaven to
cure him. They added a rider that if on the other hand, the contents of their egg could be found. the divinity of Death
would get well. Everyone concluded that Obara-Osa was the only Awo who ·ould cure the divinity of Death. When
he consulted his Okeponrin, he discovered that there was nothing wrong with Death and that the elders of the night
were merely looking for a sacrificial victim. It was at that ·tngc that Obara-Osa decided to give the cult of
witchcraft the fight of their life.

Thul night, he went outside his house with his divination tray in hand carrying the markings of Osamcji and
Ose-ogbe on it, and began to say.-
199.
201.
200.
202.
Ugbane gun Ugbanero.
Ugbane Kpurughu rughu,
Arufen Ana le leke.

When the witches challenged him that be was the one keeping the contents of their egg, he retorted that he
could not have held the contents of their egg when he did not go to heaven. He then poured the contents of the
divination tray into his Oriole. Thereafter, the witches told him that they came to arrest him. He however told them
that they could no! arrest him. When they were about to start a fight, he invited them to enjoy a meal of snails before
combz; As soon as they finished eating, all the witches fell asleep and for the first time in a year, the rain b~r=:1
:.l fall. The witches slept till the following morning and it rained throughout the night. There was ge::t!:Z! rejoicing
all over the earth.

When this Odu appears at
should be advised never to kcc to
serve her head. If she is late should
serve: his head with a c
;.~ person should immediately offer sacrifice to the Night. He :,er,'?:-:!.. if his
mother is still alive, he should buy her a hen with which !~~1':>'~1.1 vttvc his
head with a hen and fish. At divination, the person
I'...'? with another cock. He should not keep a servant.

Made Divination for th

Toi saa, a o nasa. Adafa fun aye to on wn Ojulewa omo re kiri ode.
ni koru, ko J
owner •.,iJJ look for him. When a child in missing, the parents will also Awos
When a slave escap carch for
who made divination for the father of Ojulewa when she nm away acrifice with
him. These we from home. He a he-goat and he did. He subsequently found the girl.
was told 10

lie Dhrination for Oninmili to Become Victorious at War:

koriai korigi efon, adifa fun Oninmila ni jo ti onJo si Ogun aja gbcrin oshcshe.

the A•xo, with a hean as strong as that of buffalo, who made divination for
war in which he was victorious. He was advised to make sacrifice with
He then left for the war front with the other one hundred and
war front with the others hut to allow

f h of them
captured four hundred prisoners. As they were returning, Esu advised Orunrnila to meet them on the way. Onmmila
met Ogun first and congratulated him, adding that he was just coming to play his part. Thereafter, he plante~ the red
fe~thers of Aluko on the head of Ogun to decorate him to mark his victory. In appreciation, Ogun gave Orunmila one
hundred war captives. Next, he met Orlsa-Nla and congratulated him by decorating his head with two parrot's feathers,
in return for which he got one hundred war captives. He also met 016kun who after being congratulated and decorated,
gave him one hundred war captives. When he met Olofin, he gave him lyere Okin, the feathers of the king of birds,
which the Oba used to decorate his crown. In return Olofin gave him two hundred war captives. His tote made him the
most prolific beneficiary of a war in which he did not physically participate.

Divination for Long Life and Prosperity:

Oninmila ni ki Obara-Osa koko.

Erni niki Obara-Osa ke-ke.
Oni bi Olobara bati nsa koko, ti o si nsa. Ke-
ke ni eni man ni aje.
Onmrnila niki Obara-osa ko-ko.
Moni ki Olobara sa ke-ke
Nigbati Olobara ba ti nsa ko-ko ti o ba ti nsa keke,
Gbogbo ire ni o nwo ile.

Orunmila told Obara-Osa to ch2!1111:e tune. I

told Obara-Osa to repeat the tune.

Orunrnila explained that whenever Obara-Osa chants his tune repeatedly for anybody, the more prosperous the
person becomes, and good fo:-..:..:-z will move into the house. I asked Onrnmila for the requisite sacrifice, and he
recommended that we sbo·.:..:1 uzc pigeon for wealth, cock for marriage, rat and a hen just beginning to lay eggs for
children, a goat for filling the house with prosperity, a ram for upliftment, and a sheep for longevity.

When the sacrifice is made, prosperity must surely follow, because; the pigeon uses its two wings to fly wealth
into the house. the cock does not present wine and yams before taking a wife. the rabbit never comes to the world
without having children, the hen does not suffer from labor pains, the house is full (JJckun-ke-kc) is the traditional
cry of the goat, a three-year-old ram suffers no insult before getting a crown. an old sheep having white hairs all over
its body, are its grey hairs, and "I will live long (temipe-tcmipe) is the customary cry of the sheep when it is on a hard
ground.

At divination the person should make sacrifice with all the materials mentioned above in order to enjoy long
life and prosperity.
 Chapter 10
203. Obara-Eturn
I I
I I I I I I I I I I

Hf made divination for the Head:

Awo ori, odifa fun Ori tonwn aye apcsm,

his oso made divination for the Head when he was coming lo a life in which he was to be universally

T served by all and sundry. He made sacrifice with a goat, a bell and a piece of white cloth. That is why
nil divinities and mortals alike, serve the head to the present day.

He Also Made Divination for the Trumpet (Ukpc):

Ebara Tua Tua Tua, Awo ukpe, odifa ukpe nijo ti o fe lo mu ale
ibudo.

He made divination for the Trumpet when he was yearning for recognition. He was told to make sacrifice with
a cock and a knife. Thereafter. he was told to go to the farm and stay by the young palm tree ( Okpe-ketc in Yoruba
and Okhere in Bini). When it germinated, it climbed to all the branches of the young palm tree and had many
children. £_s,j subsequently went to Olofin and taught him how to use Ukpe as the trumpet for his annual festival.
Esu \.\ ~t to the farm and blew the trumpet and everybody at home heard the sound. He then came to blow it at home
and everybody in the farm, forest, market etc., heard the sound. The Oba was impressed so much that he decreed
that henceforth, the trumpet would constitute the clarion call for inviting people for the worship of (Jg(m, and for
calling people to arms in the event of a war. That was how Ukpe became very famous.

When it appears at divination the person should be told to mukc sacrifice because he was destined to become an
indispensable personality in his community.

He Made Divination for Three Brothers:

Alagbara (Ogun) Oloogun (Osanyin) and Otho (Orunmlla) were three brothers who left heaven for earth at the same
time. When they went for divination, they were told to serve l~st1 with he-goat in order to su.cceed in whatever they
were going to do on earth. TI1ey were also advised to feast their guardian angels vith a goat, and to obtain clearance
from God with white cloth, white pigeon, white chalk and red parrot's feathers. Ogun and Osanvin did not bother to
do the sacrifices, but Orunrnlla did all of them. Nonetheless,
L~· all came to the world.

Each of them succeeded in building his own house. One day, the three of them travelled to lfc for

-.-~(· ...••...•...
~- --!d~ Onmmila was in the habit of dressing UJ? in white apparel every morning and sitti~g
. ff'.tw;~ On'.mntlla relied on telling the truth, Ogun relied on his physical strength, whil
;,, ~~
• ··. r.:~~~~hcal powers.
-.
'.~~t1t· r.ff.i-1''. ·,.' ~:
j~-: '_. i; •·. .
t,.~': ··• ~ft~~f the Olofin had been in labor for seven days and could not deliver. Osanyln,
~ ~\~-~::. ~ ::·· '~ · ~ .. :
'"; :..
'--~~1;.~·l/:-~,.,; 59
.. _ ... · ~-~~~!;-/~~";~.
 the physician, wa~ the first to be invited to help. He used all the medicines he knew but could not make the
woman deliver. Ogun was also invited but try as he did, he could not make her deliver the child. That was the
point at which Esu influenced the royal adviser to propose to Olofin to invite the man who used to dress in white
clothes.

Two messengers were subsequently sent to invite Oninmila. He followed then to the palace where he immediately
embarked on divination. After divination, he declared that the reason the woman could not deliver was because she
had cohabited adulterously with three different men. He added that if she confessed and mentioned their names,
she would presently deliver. When the woman was told about the declaration of Oninmiia, she admitted it and
mentioned the names of the men. Almost immediately afterwards, she gave birth to a male child. There was
general rejoicing thereafter.

The Oba expressed his appreciation with elaborate gifts to Oninmila. It was following that incident that
people realized what Oninmila was capable of doing. Clients soon began to rush to him for divination, from which
he realized a lot of money. Not long afterwards, he was able to build a house at Ife.

On the other hand, neither Ogun nor Osanyin was able to make it. When they went for divination, they were
told to return to the land of their birth to make sacrifice. They subsequently returned home to make sacrific~. They
however delivered a message to Oninmila that he was .required t~ return home to be made Oba. Orunmila
eventually returned home to take the crown while Ogun and Osanyin after their sacrifices, began to prosper at Ife.

When this Ifa appears at Ugbodu, the person should be told to make sacrifice because a high position or
chiefutincy title awaits him in the land of his birth.

Divined for Oninmila When His Farm Was Being Plundered:

The Porcupine (Ighogho in Yoruba and Osorhue in Bini) and the grass-cutter (Ure in Yoruba and Okhaen in
Bini), were eating from the farm of Obara-Etura and he did not mind because he was very generous. Not satisfied
with eating from the farm, the two rodents began to destroy the crops in the farm. It was a wine tapper who
eventually reported the incident to Orunmila. He then sent a stem wanting to the two heartless plunderers to stop
eating grains in his farm.

They reacted by inviting the elephant and the pig to feed on and destroy the farm. The palm wine tapper saw
the two big animals destroying the farm. After laying the farm bare, they waited for Orunmila to show up. The palm
wine tapper went and told 6rUnmil3 what was happening bu! warned him not to go to the farm. The weaver bird and
his friend Moteye the whistler also warned Orunrnila not to go to the farm. When he consulted Ifa, he was told to
give he-goat to Esu and cock to Ogun but not to go to the farm because the ungrateful beneficiaries of his
benevolence had plotted death for him. He however appealed to Esu and Ogun to wage war on the enemies.

After enjoying their food, Esu and Ogun directed the hunter to go to Orunrnlla's farm where he saw the
elephant and the pig and shot them, dead. Esu also pushed the porcupine and the grass-cutter to enter the traps and
both of them died. That was how Orunrnila got rid of his ungrateful enemies.

When this Ifa appears at Ugbodu, the person should be told that although he is benevolent, people are prone to
returning his good tum with ingratitude. The people for whom he does favors will always turn round to try to kill
him. He should give he-goat to Esu, cock to Ogun to fight his enemies for him. At divination, the person should
serve Esu won account of an impending contest and favor. He should avoid a light complexioned woman.

G
 He Made Divination for the People of Aiyetoro:

He made divination when he was invited by the people of Aiyetoro when they were threatened by war. !-le
was told to make sacrifice with Eye Agbe (a bird) a cock, a knife and plenty of cold water so that he might
accomplish his task and earn respect and praise. He made the sacrifice and left for Aiyetoro.

When he got there, he made divination and advised the people to make sacrifice with a pig, plenty of snails
and a whistle. The made the sacrifice at a time when the town was already surrounded by enemy troops.

After the sacrifice, Esu took the whistle and began to blow it round the town. Crying "moti se bo obara tua
tua tua." While still blowing the whistle. Esu sent his friend to warn the enemy troops that if they saw the person
blowing the whistle, they would all be dead, and that it was in their interest to run away. With that warni!1g all the
enemy soldiers escaped and the people of Aiyetoro were left in peace. They gave thanks to Orunrnila, and
persuaded him to stay with them.

At divination, the person will be told that he is surrounded by enemies but that ifhe takes his own Ifa, he will
overcome them. He should be advised that if he is proposing to travel, he should make sacrifice before going.

6)
 Chapter 11
Obara-Irete
I I I I I
I I I I I
I I

He Made Divination for Plants to Become Trees:

0
bara re-re-re BabaJawo igi oko, odifa fun igi oko rnerin-din-lojo. That was the Awo who made
divination for the 480 plants of the forest when they were coming to the world to become trees. They
were told to make sacrifice. They all made sacrifice with the exception

of Igi-eshin which refused to make sacrifice. That is why it could not grow to become a tree and remains the
shortest of all plants.

When it appears at divination, the person will be advised to make sacrifice to avoid developing backache. The
sacrifice is made with shea butter which the Ifa priest mixes with the Iyerosun of this Odu for the person to rub on
The
his orDivination
her back. He Made Before Leaving Heaven:

Uroke mi ege, uranke mi okun, idasi mi ogere. Adi fa fun Oninmlla baba ti kole orun bowa si kole aye.

My divination stick is held with care, my fly-whisk is as precious as beads, and my divination tray is golden,
were the Awos who made divination for this Odu when he was coming from heaven. He was advised to serve: Ogun
with a tortoise; his head with cock; Esu with a small he-goat; and Ifa with a goat, to avoid having problems from
women on earth. He made the sacrifice and came to the world.

He got married to a difficult woman who was having children who often died of convulsion. He invited Awos
for divination in his house and he was advised to serve; Ifa with a goat, Esu with a small hegoat for Esu to eat alone,
his head with a cock, and Ogun with a tortoise. He made the sacrifices and thereafter he did not lose anymore
children. He began to prosper, but his modest success generated enmity.

Meanwhile, Egbere the wife of the Oloba of Oba began to show irresistible interest in him. Try as he did to
discourage the woman, he could not stop her. He subsequently asked I fa what to do and he was told to give a he-
goat to Esu. After the sacrifice he began a relationship with the woman and the Oloba not only surrendered her to
him without let or hindrance, but later made him a high chief.

When this Odil appears at Ugbodu the person should make the sacrifice referred to above in order to Survive
the problems of women, child-deaths, and to prosper. At divination the person should be told that a woman is
itching to marry him. He should marry the woman after giving a he-goat to Esu.
He Made DiYination for Onitiide:

cunu nimu oko yeri cgere gere. Ogigi Io fi enu iran sole.
Adifa fun Onitiide omo kango oju abeton ti kole orun si kole
aye. AJarini iku ko ngira

62
 . It is the ground that uses the hoe to shave his head. It is the sharp pointed digger that uses it's mouth to hit
the ground with impunity.

These were the Awos who made divination for Onitiide when he was coming to live long on earth. He was
told to make sacrifice with a sheep and a he-goat. When he got to the world, he had lots of problems. Enemies
battered him from pillar to post, but he did not only outlive all of them, he also lived to a ripe old age.

The Contest for Supremacy Between Esu and the Two Hundred Divinities:

When, alJ the Two Hundred divinities got to they world, the decided to find out which of them was
supreme. Orisa-Nla, God's own surrogate, had meanwhile been accepted as the head of all the divinities on earth.
However, Esu told them that none of them was superior to him because "even God their father could not claim
supremacy over him," (Esu). At the first meeting of the earthly divine council, they all decided to be making a
feast in turns beginning with Orisa-Nla, and that whoever succeeded in making his feast without any let or
hindrance, would be proclaimed as their generalissimo.

Once again, Esu warned them that ifhe was not invited to start the feasting, no one would succeed in
making one. He was hushed down as if he did not matter. With that decision Esu withdrew from the conference.

Subsequently, Orisa-Nla prepared tbe first feast and the table was laid for wining and dining. Just as the
opening prayers were being said to tee breaking of the kolanuts, Esu went to the harem of Orisa-Nla and blinked
his eyes to two of his (Orise-Nla's) children. The two children suddenly developed convulsion and there was a
furor in the harem. The ensuing pandemonium attracted the divinities, but before help could reach the children,
they both died, i ~feast could not materialize anymore.

Once again, Esu appeared at the next rneeting of the council to insist that he be allowed to begin the
feasting. He was again told to disappear from the council chamber. It was the tum of Ogun to make his feast. He
too lost two children without his elaborate feast materializing.

The same fate befell each of the other divinities, until it came lo the tum of the divinity of wisdom.
Oninmila consulted his Okeponrin and be was told to give a he-goat to Esu adding the wooden images of a rabbit
and a snake. He subsequently went ahead to prepare an elaborate feast. Esu promised to surprise Onmmila
pleasantly on account of the food and reverence he often gave lo him.

As the kolanut :'ras being split by Orisa-Nla to begin the feast, Esu turned the images of the snake and
rabbit with which Onmmila made sacrifice, to live ones, and positioned them at the rubbish dump of 6runmila's
house. The snake and the rabbit soon began to dance. The astonishment of the spectacle created a hubbub which
disrupted the feast. A5 all the divinities come out to watch the strange event. TI1e feast did not materialize. but on
account of the sacrifice he made, Orunmila did not lose a soul.

At th::it srage. Esu was invited to make his own feast, which he did successfully without any distur:!.ncc.
Tocrenfter. all the divinities began to make their feasts successfully. That was how the eternnl supremacy of
Esu was established, as a force to appease, and not to antagonize. ~Vhcn thix ?~u appears at ivinarion. the
~rson should be told to have his own Ifa and prepare his own Esu LO nvoid incidence of
child-death
Divination for Sang6 When He Was Indisposed:

Obara-o-rote-nle, was a friend of Sango and he was trader. One day, before he returned from the market
he was told that Sango had been taken ill and had been hospitalized away from home. He travelled to see
Sang6 at the healing home to which he was taken with mental fatigue. When Obara-Irete got there he too
became ill. The same physician that healed Sango also took care of him. He became well and had enough
money to pay for his treatment but not enough to pay for Sango's treatment.

When he was returning home, Sango asked him to tell his relations to contribute money to pay for his
treatment. One after the other, all of them however refused to help. All the brothers refused to help except the
sister, the camwood (Osun-tree producing red powder) who decided to use herself to pay the physician in lieu
of the cost of healing Sango. He however told her to take her brother home but that from then on, she should
be sweeping and scrubbing for Sang6, which she does to this day.

When Sango was returning home, he destroyed the homes of all his brothers, but has continued ever
since to live with Osun, to this day.

When it appears at Ugbodu, the person should either prepare his own Sango or keep a thunder-stone in
his Ifa shrine, to avoid sickness that would take him away from home. He should avoid having anything to do
with a widow. He should expect to have lots of problems from his brothers. At divination the person should
be advised; to be careful about women, and to serve Esu with a he-goat.

64
 Chapter 12
Obara-Eka
I I I
I I I
I I I I
I I I I
His Harrowing Childhood:

W
hen he was a child, he developed yaws which afflicted his entire body. His mother soon
became fed up with the nuisance effect of the yaws. One day, she collected her two other
children and abandoned Obara-Eka in the house. Since he was not in a position to

help himself, he went about from one town and village to the other in search of his mother. Wherever he
went he was told that a woman and two children had just left for the next town. He ended up at the backyard
of an Oba's house where he got a hiding place inside a cave.
Everyday, he used to scan the rubbish dump at the back of the Oba's house for abandoned wastes to eat.
One day, a palm wine tapper saw him from the top of the palm tree and alerted the Oba. The royal guards
were subsequently told to watch out for him and he was presently apprehended. When he was brought before
the Oba, he explained bow be was abandoned by his mother and had to stay alive by picking food from
incinerators and rubbish dumps. The Oba appointed one of his wives to take care of him and to be feeding
him. He grew up to become an Ifa priest.

The Oba soon realized his importance and be was allowed to practice Ifism with the more elderly Ifa
priests. He soon excelled in the practice and became a famous diviner. One day bis mother was arraigned
before the Oba, tried and found guilty of murder and sentenced to death by execution. Recognizing the
mother, he could not resist the urge to identify himself. He sought and had an aside with the Oba, which gave
him the opportunity of telling him, that the condemned woman was his mother.

The Oba reacted by asking her how many children she had and what became of them. She replied that
she had three children out of which one died many years ago, while the other two had gone their separate
ways. Obara-Eka was originally called Gbala, and it was during his exploits that he renamed himself Boripe.
When asked whether she ever had a child called Boripe, she answered no. But the son explained to the Oba
that he was originally called Gbala When the Oba asked her whether she ever had a son called Gbala she
replied that he was the one that died. At that point, the son identified himself as the son who she abandoned to
die because he had yaws. The woman became hysterical and began to weep.

The Oba subsequently changed the verdict to spare her life, and ordered that a goat and a hen should be
slaughtered at the point where the woman was to have been executed. She was then released to return home
with her sou.

When this lfa appears at Ugbodu, the person should be advised not to deride anyone. He is desti~ed to
leave the place of his birth to settle down elsewhere. He will be advised to serve Ifa with a goat which will be
clubbed to death, before being used to serve Ifa, adding a hen, to avoid being penalized for an offense he
know~ nothing about. At divination, the person should serve Esu with a he-goat to avoid an accusation of
which he is innocent.

65
204.

fol\ lade Divinntion for Olofin to Avoid War:

Io boju wo akpami otun, Ogun barn ka ija.

Mo boju wo akparni osi. Ogun barn ka etabi ago, ctabi igbanyin. Mo
boju wo okankan, Ogun bura ka eta bi ego, eta bi igbanyin. Meeri aba mi.
mccri'ycmi. Mo ba mu uroke kpa Ogl'.m.
Mo bu mu urokc kpa ogbon. moba mu da si Orunrnlla sin wonro ode odori koro koro.
Etun fun lele lari mo, aame r'Ogun oo.

I looked to the right and overheard the battle cries of war.

I also heard the mayhem of battle on my left. front and back
ut I did not see the action and I did not sec my parents.
If I had seen my parents besieged by the war,
I would have used my divination staff ( l lrankc) to kill twenty persons.
and would have used the flv-whisk (Oroke) to kill thirty persons, and the
divination tray 10 sack the rest of the town
of Odori. I only saw the wind ·of the war and not the war itself.

When it appears as Lire at divination, the person should be told he would hear the sound of war all around him, but
that he should not worry because it would not affect him.

He Made Divination for the Setting Sun:

Ebara ka, Ebara ko, adifa fun oio toon lo si okun-osa toon lo ra Ikara karaleru.

He made divination for the senirr; ~ when he was going to the seaside to buy a slave. He was told to make
sacrifice and he did and succeeced in buying the slave to bring home.

When it appears at divination for a .::w:_1. he will be told that a woman is coming to marry him, but that he should
make sacrifice with a hen. lf.t:l'; divincc is a woman, she will be told to make sacrifice with a cock in order to sec a good
husband to marry.

Made Djvinatinn for Olofin:

Ebara lili kii she hun ti akiki. Babalawo to wa ni, be ni koo gbo fa. Odifa fun Olofin ate lu ma tu

Ebara the great, was not vast in the interpretation of Ifa divination. When it comes out at divinatio~ .~ .... me Awos will
order it to be closed because no one interprets it. But that will only happen because the Ifa priest does not understand what
Orunmila is saying. That was the A wo who made divination for Olefin -hcn he founded a new town that continued to
flourish throughout his reign and outlived him. He was told t0 make sacrifice with a he-goat and he did.

, ... erifice Against Enmity:

ila said that whoever has this Ifa at Ugbodu will have plenty of enemies among his blood He
recommended that the sacrifice should comprise three moulded sand (Esisu CI1l mcm) three
ken calabash, and three moulded mud (Oko cpipu meta).

,Nitfr; h..: •.·c;,•. ftr•·p;.idnt tlv.:- ::•,,;.r;{icc he chanted flit! fr.Jllowinr poem:
 Pe c ni oguneru ma ntu.
Gere ni oguun iyo nsc. Oko
akigarngba ki nrin et
Oniyc bi ye ni oko epipu ma ntu.

The war of the dust breaks out suddenly. The

war of the salt happens softly.
The calabash docs not break coherently. The
fragments of broken mud scatters.

When it appears at divination, the person will be told that enemies are at war with him, but that with sacrifice he
will conquer them.

Divination Before He Left Heaven:

Before leaving heaven, he was told to make sacrifice because of the problems he was going to have from his
relations. He was born of the same parents as the priests of Ogun, 016kun and Osanyin. He was advised to serve: Esu
with he-uoai, and lfa with a ram. He did the sacrifices before leaving heaven.

On getting to the world. be took to trading and the practice oflfism. As soon as he began to register signs of
modest succ~ss. his relations rose up in arms against him. Eventually, he went for divination and he was told to serve
Esu with cock and he-goat. and Ifa with a ram. After the sacrifices he got no more problems from bis relations. and his
prosperiry began to blossom. Later, he took to lfa practice and he was making itinerant divination visits to the reigning
kings of the known world, which made him to become exceedingly wealthy and f amous.

When this Ifa appears at Ugbodu. the ~--son will be told to make sacrifice on account of the problems he is
getting from his relations. At divi.z; icn, he should be asked to make sacrifice with he-goat to Esu.

He Made Divinatio

Alam-Isa was a very powerful king. Es~ however decided to create problems for him as a result of which his
subjects stopped paying homage to him. Thereafter, Est1 advised the Alara to invite Obara-Eka to make divination for
him. The Oba accordingly sent for the I fa priest.

At the subsequent divination. he told the Alara-Isa that J~su had crossed the road to his house with his legs and
that anyone who struck his or her foot on Esu's legs was bound to die. That was why people became too scared to nav
the traditional visits and homage to his palace. He advised the Oba to serve his divinities (Osanyin) with a ram 211d to
make a feast with it, after giving a big he-goat to Esu. He did the
acrifices after which Esu removed his legs from the way and prosperity began to enter the palace once more. 1 le
com~nsated Obara-Eka with human and material gifts.

,H divination, the rson should be told that prosperity is eluding him. He should serve Esu with a
hc-uoat.

l tirm for the Owa of Ijesha:

 the sacrifice and Esu cleared the way for prosperity to resume visits to his palace. Obara-Eka was cornpenatcd
with several human and material gifts.

Divinations for the Olowo of Owo, Ewi of Ado nnd the Ajcro of ljcro:

Esu created problems for these Oba because he wanted to help Obara-Eka, who became known as Obara
Alayoka after he became a royal diviner and the diviner of the aristocracy. He was acclaimed and recognized by
no less than sixteen kings of the known world. He became very wealthy and famous in the process.

68
 Chapter 13
Obara-Eturukpon
I I I
I I I I
I I I
I I I I
He Made Divinations for the Soldier-Ants, Earthworm and the Fly:

e made divination for the Soldier ants ( Ijalo in Yoruba and Okhian in Bini), Earthworm, (Ekolo in
Yoruba and ikolo in Bini) and the Fly (Eshinshin in Yoruba and Ikian in Bini) warning them that war
was imminent. Ijalo was told to serve Esu with he-goat and a knife.
Ekolo and Eshinshin were also told to serve Est1 with he-goat. Ijalo made the sacrifice but Ekolo did not. Rather than
make sacrifice Eshinshin ran into the bush to build and hide in a house having no doors and windows. Meanwhile.
war broke out.

Although Esu directed the invading troops away from the direction of the soldier ants, he nonetheless used the
knife with which they made sacrifice to equip their mouths as defense and attack weapons. As the soldier ants were
running for cover, they ran into the invading forces. With the knives in their mouths, they attacked anyone who tried to
assail them.

While the Earthworm was running for cover, he ran into the line of soldier-ants and they used their knives to cut
him to pieces. While the wzr was still on, some people looted the palace of the Oba and went to hide the stolen
properties in the house of Eshinshin. He was subsequently accused of stealing the Oba's properties and arranged for trial
before :..li:: Obi He had no defense and so was found guilty and sentenced to death by execution. Esu however turned :;:_-
:o a young girl to ask him whether he was not given to making divination. He confirmed that he did consi,': Orunrnila
but failed to make the recommended sacrifice. He begged the girl to go and make the sacrifice for him. The girl
proceeded to make the sacrifice for him.

On the day of the execution, Esu influenced the right hand man of the Oba and chief Judge to ask the Oba whether
the fly was not too inconsequential to be killed. The Judge proposed that the fly should be warned not to live in the bush
anymore. and that from then on, wherever two or more persons were gathered, he should dwell in their midst That is
why the fly has livc<l in the midst of people ever since.

When this Odu appears at Ugbodu, the person should be told that trouble is approaching. He should rve Est1 with
a he-goat and a knife, in order to survive any stri fc .

. . t divination he should make the same sacrifice in order to avoid the risk of getting involved in a case or dispute
he knows nothing about.

He 7\-tadc DiYinntioa for the Elephant:

Eh.1r;!-Turokpon. odifa fun ori erin. abufun ijagbon re. He made divination for the head and the jaw of the elephant
They were advised to make sacrifice to avoid being abandoned in the forest after the rest of :- . .:: deph3nt'~ 1'<\d:. ~!>
taken home. Only the jaw made sacrifice. That is why after slaughtering the clephant in the fo:e:5t. !l ir:; only the jaw that is
taken home from the head. TI1c rest of the head is abandoned
in the forc<.;'l.

9
205.

Whl'II this I ft\ uppcnrs nt divinntion, the person will be told to rnnkc sacrifice so that his corpse might not get lost
i11 the forest or very fur uwuy from home. after his death. He should make sacrifice with a small
piece of white cloth nnd u hc-uont.

He Mauk Dlvinntlun for· the Fay or Elf:

Ebnrn-turukpon. odifn I mere. l le made divinntion for the Fay or Elf, (Igbnkhuan in Bini) when he was coming to
the world. l le made the sacrifice with n he-gout and n fly-whisk (Orokc), but the father who was bringing him to the
world did not mnke sacrifice to avoid losing the incoming child.

The child wns born und on account of the sacrifice he made in hcnvcn, he did not die at infancy. When he however
grew to be an adult. he died suddenly. Before his death, he had become the economic mainstay of his parents. After his
death, his parents became very poor. His father was a farmer. When he saw in heaven thut his father was suffering on
earth. he came with his friends to help in working at his father's
farm.

When it was time for clearing the bush for a new form, the father did a bit of brushing and went home.
In the night, the son came with a team of fays to clear the entire stretch of forest for the father's farm. When it was time
for felling trees. clearing stumps and digging ridges, the son came from heaven to help in a similar manner. The father
decided to go for divination to find out who was the invisible hand that was assisting in his farm chores. He was advised
to hide in the bush until midnight. He went to the farm to hide in the adjourning bush with a calabash nlnte in hand.

Just before midnight, he saw his co;,:i son leading a team to the farm each carrying a fly-whisk. They dug all the
ridges required for planting ±e yams and cocoyams. As they were working, the father went to remove his fly-whisk.
They finished '~e work towards morning, Each of them collected their fly-whisks, but his son's was no where to be
Iouad, He searched in vain for it and when it was getting to sunrise, his friends left him to return to heaven. A-, ,non as
he found himself alone, he began to sing:

ni mu urumi rnurni.
·barn tiele, Oloye. Ebara tiele.
:::.lcgbe orun mei I
Ebara tick, oloye, Ebara tiele.

Following his failure to find ms fly-whisk, he could not return to heaven without it. When it was sunrise, his father
came out and held him. He queried the father for treating him the way he did, while his father queried him for leaving him
for heaven the way he did. The father asked him whether he did not sec how he had been suffering since he left and he
replied, that wns why he hnd been coming to lend a helping hand. The father insisted that it was not the same as living
together. Convinced by the passionate appeal
f his father, he had no option but to rel urn home with him, since he locked the power to return to heaven.

He however continued to search quietly for his fly-whisk, while his father made a point of keeping the ; to his inner
chamber, where he kept the fly-whisk outside the reach of anyone. After some time, th father relaxed his guard. thinking
that his son had apparently decided to stay on earth for good. One day. hit fothcr drank cxccssivelv and became drunk. For
the first time since his son returned, he removed the ro •. iscr coaunrnng the key to his inner chamber and hung it up in his
living room. I le suhscqucmly fell Inst l!:Cl) v:1)cn h~· found h15 father deeply asleep. he fell the pockets of the trot1fier and
rcrnovc.] the kcv. 11
n the inner room and searched until he found the c..ilabash co111J1ining the lly-whisk. I l vp,...rr:d 11 .llit.l rcrnnv ed the fly-v-
hisk. Almost immediately. he: :.et nut Ior 1lc:1w11 where he reunited ,,.·itJ1 inf· H c:0tk."tt,\11cr. rn l lndcs.

7(
 When his father woke up, he discovered that his son had gone. After that experience it was no longer
possible for the people of heaven lo physically help anyone on earth.

When this Odu appears at divination, the person will be told to make sacrifice with a piece of white cloth,
goat and calabash (Ugba or Okpan) so that his fay child might not leave him to return to heaven.
Made Divination for Sango:

Ki a ti igi lu igi; ki a ba le gbo ohun ti igi nwi. Ki a

fi okpe lu akpe ki a ba le gbo ohun ope.
Ki a fi obara eturukpon sode, ki a ri ibi gbo ohun enu omo Awo. Omo A
wo so sara, orno A wo so sako-sako-sara, ni edun nso igi. Adifa fun
Sang6-0gboja Olubebe mi omo arota were were segun. lwo Sango wa ru
ebo ki iwo ma base inubi.

Hit two sticks against each other to hear their sound.

Hit two palmnuts against each other to hear the words of Orunmila. Mark
Obara-Eturukpon on the tray and listen to the revelations
of the Ifa priest,

These were the Awos who made divination for Sango. He was advised to make sacrifice with a ram and a
piece of red cloth. He refused to make the sacrifice. When he was subsequently made a king, he arbitrarily killed a
white dog, and buried a big goat alive. His subjects became annoyed and rebelled against him. He was
subsequently dethroned and he went into the bush to commit suicide.

At that very moment, Ogun was rezzning from a war where he had been for several years. When Ogun saw
Sango hanging from a rope, ht c-..:1 the rope and Sango fell to the ground still breathing. He told Ogun and his
followers not to let people b.0·1: that he had hung himself. The people nonetheless began to ridicule him as the
king who tried to hang ::::r:sr.:lf. He reacted by executing those who were making jest of him. The people quickly
changed their w ords to say that the king did not hang himself that is, "Oba Koso" in Yoruba. That is how Sango
earned the sobriquet of Oba Koso. The tree on which he hung himself is being referred to as "Igi a iyan."
Eventually, he realized the high price he had paid for foiling to make sacrifice, which explains why Sango remains
short tempered to this day.

When the Odu appears at divination, the person will be advised to make sacrifice to avoid being short
tempered.

He Made Divination for Olobara:

He made divination for Olobara, the priest of the water divinity, who danced from the bush to his house. He
was told to make sacrifice to avoid the danger of leaving his tools in the bush. He reacted by deriding the Ifa priest
and Esu, while refusing lo make the sacrifice. When Esu was told that Olobara called him a thief and refused to
make sacrifice. he (Esu) turned himself into a creeping stem which
sitioned itself on the path of Olobara. As Olobara was returning home from the farm, the creeping stem stung
his testicles and water gushed out, He abandoned all bis instruments and raced home shoutina for help. and crying
that he had paid the price of refusing to make sacrifice.

hen it appears at divination, the person will be advised to make sacrifice not to be in lvcd in nn
··ccidcnl before getting home from work.

71
 He Made Divination for the Pumpkin and his Three Brothers:

He made divination for the Pumpkin advising him to make sacrifice on account of the problems he was going
to have from his brothers on earth. He made the sacrifice with; a duck to his guardian angel, and a he-goat to Esu.

The Pumpkin soon became a favorite to the people of the world. His three brothers Kola, Bitter Kola and Wild
Kola, went to report him to God that he was disrupting the peace of the world. God told them to come with rum to
heaven. When he explained himself, God declared him i_nnocent of all 1!1e charges and rubbed the white chalk of
victory on his body. But he had failed to serve Esu before leavmg for heaven. On his way home Esu caused a heavy
rain to foll, which washed off the chalk of victory from his body.

When his brothers saw that the chalk had cleaned off, they claimed victory over him, before the people at
home. On a second occasion. the brothers went again to God to report that he alone was fighting a whole community.
After verifying the bad faith of his accusers, God again found rum innocent and declared him victor. Once more, God
rubbed his body with the white chalk of victory, which Esu again cleaned off with a heavy downpour of rain. His
brother once more claimed victory over him.

. It was at that stage that he went for divination, and he was reminded of the he-goat he failed to give to Esu. He
quickly made the sacrifice and also served his head with a duck. Nonetheless, he was accused before God on a third
occasion and once more, he was declared innocent. As God was rubbing the white chalk of victory on his body, he
besought the Almighty Father to give him some of it to eat because even if his brothers caused the rain to wash off the
chalk on his body, the rain could not clean the one inside his stomach. God then gave him some of tile chalk to eat.

At that point God called his tree brothers and pronounced the following curses on them:-

"Kola "Bitter - you will always die on account of other people's problems."
Kola "Wild - you will remain one bitter mass with no piece to split."
Kola - you will have no use whatsoever for anyone."

On their way home, the rain again fell to wash off the chalk on the Pumpkin's body, but the one in his stomach
appeared on his body after the rains stopped. On getting to the world he was applauded as the indisputable victor. That
was the point at which people realized that he had been falsely accused all along.

When it appears at Ugbodu., the person should be warned to expect relentless problems from his relations. They
wiJJ always bring his matter t.o the Cult of Witchcraft, but the king of the Night will invariably side with him provided
be serves; the Night with a goat, Esu with a he-goat, and his head with a duck. At divination he should serve Esu with a
he-goat and bis head with a duck in order to be victorious over his enemies.

He Was Also Having Problems With Marriage:

Obara-Eturukpon had problems from his relations as well as from his marriage. He always seemed to marry the wrong
women. who were never staying with him. When he went for divination, he was told to .. erve: 1 fa with a goat. Esu
with he-goat, and his head with a duck. He was told rhar after performing th crifice he would marry the daughter of a
king. He did the sacrifices .

.. n afterwards. he met a woman at a place where he was making divinatio11 for clients. TI1c woman
profc1,1;ed lo-,.c tn him and they sub=cqucntly J{Ol married. The woman turned nut lo be the dauchtcr o(the

72
 Alara ofllara. She stayed with him for keeps and gave birth to nine children.

At divination the person should make sacrifice in order to meet the right woman for marriage .

.
•,
•.
206.

Chapter 14
Obara-Ose
Obara-Seke
Obara-Opere
I I
I I I I
I I I
I I I I
The Divination He Made Before Leaving Heaven:

B
efore leaving for the world, he was advised to make sacrifice because he was going to be very
prosperous on earth, but would also have all the concomitant problems that go with it He was told
to make sacrifice at Orita-Ijaloko with a bundle of yam tubers, a

head or bunch of plantains, com and crushed yam, adding a bag of money. He performed the sacrifice, and went
to God to receive blessing, before he left for the world.
On getting to earth, he took to farming and the practice of Ifism. He was not doing very well and could not
afford the cost of marriage for a long time. He later invited other Awos to make divination for him on what to do
to be able to make ends meet. At divination, he was told to make sacrifice with a bundle of yam tubers, corn,
plantain bunch, and a bag of money.

He was told to decorate his lfa shrine ~-d to serve it with a hen and to serve his head with coconut. He
was so poor that he had to borrow clothes to decorate his Ifa shrine. As he was slaughtering the hen for his Ifa,
the blood soiled the borrowed cloth. He ,~er returned the cloth to the woman from whom he borrowed it adding
drinks and kolanuts.

One day he stood in front of his house very early in the morning, when he saw the daughter of the Oba
called Seke passing by. She greeted him. and after the exchange of greetings, the girl told him that she came to
visit him. He took her inside the house and she told him that she was offering herself in marriage to him
because she had for long, observed that he had no wife. He replied that he was only a poor farmer and could not
afford to maintain a wife. She insisted all the same in marrying him.

After living with him for four days, she decided to return home to report her decision to her father. On
getting home she told the father that she had seen the man she wanted. to marry. The father reacted by asking
her to invite the man to come and see him. When she got back to Orunmlla's house she told him that her father
wanted to see him. He was afraid to go because he did not have a presentable attire to wear. She insisted that he
was not being invited to parade his wealth and that he had no cause to be afraid. Following .hat reassurance, he
decided to go with her.

When they got to the palace, the Oba found Obara-Ose to be a very handsome man. He immediately agreed to
the marriage and invited his treasury keeper to collect treasures for the daughter to take to the husband's house.
The Oba told him that he did not want any dowry but should be paying homage to him •. rruallv. After blessing
the marriage, he prayed for the couple and they left.

egan trading with the capital given to her by the father. His own fanning nlso on
able to build his own house. At the end of the year, he fonded the best vams

7
 from his harvest and sent them to his father-in-law, adding plantains, corn, and kolanuts. He made the wife to sell
plenty of the yam harvest in the market. Meanwhile at the market Olokun's daughter found the yams cry attractive
and when she was told that they were from Orunmlla's farm, she offered to meet him.
207.
When the market dispersed, Olokun's daughter took her bag and went with Akpetebi to meet OnmmilaThey did
not know that the visitor was the daughter of 016kun. Before leaving the market for Orunmila's house, she dispatched
the pages who followed her to the market after telling them that she was returning home in five days time.

After exchanging pleasantries with Onmmila, Olokun's daughter told him that she came to marry him.
He replied that he had nothing, being a simple farmer. She however reassured him that his farming was enough. Five
days later, she left for home, promising to return with her belongings.

It was after she returned with her luggage of wealth that they realized she was the daughter of Olokun himself. She
subsequently told Seke, the senior wife, to stop going to the market. She added that her followers would thenceforth be
trading for the family. Orunmila subsequently became very prosperous. When the Oba saw how prosperous Obara-Ose
had become, he made him the Shasere and Prime Minister of the kingdom.

He Made Divination for the Two Men Who Learned How to Make Tribal Marks:

Momo momo, ko je ki Awosi kola bi ukpere. Odifa fun akpere, abunfun Awosi.

The all-knowing syndrome prevented Awosi from attaining the same level of proficiency as Ukpere, was the name
of the A wo who made divination for Akpere and A wosi when they were going to heaven to learn how to make tribal
marks. When they got to the bodymaker of heaven, Akpere was the first to learn how to do the markings. After
completing the markings on Akpere, it was the tum of A wosi. As soon as one marking was inscribed on the back of A
wosi he told the teacher that he already knew how to do it all. The teacher then dispatched them to return ~ earth to be
doing the markings to others the way he did it on them.

Akpcre was able to design tribal marks in various ways, but on getting home A wosi only knew bow to make the
single marking. He did not know how to do the others. That is why some tribes only have one tribal mark, while others
have several.

When this Odu appears at divination, the person will be advised to be patient and humble in the business or trade
he is learning in order to know all there is to know about the profession. He should avoid a know-all stance.

He Made Divination for Okpere, the Slave of Onidoko:

Obaro-ose kii she fun elomii, enida obara ose, oun ni ebara ose she fun. Adi fa fun okpere eyi tiin she eru unidoko
atijo. Onidoko fu omi oju she here omo, Okperc she Awo fun.

Ohara-osc does not manifest for others except those for whom he appears at divination and who make e prescribed
sacrifice. That was the Awo who made divination for Okperc, the slave ofOnidoko, when he was going to use Awa art
to solve the problems of Onidoko.

ere found his master lamenting for having no children. he decided to help him. He prenecessary
medicine for his master and his wives to use. Thereafter, he travelled out for Awo

75
 practice. By the time he returned from the tour, Onidoko's wives had each given birth to a child and there was
visible happiness in the family. Onidoko then thanked Okpere for helping him, and he showed his appreciation
by granting him (Okpere) freedom from servitude.
208.
209.
210.

\Vhen this Odu appears at divination, the person should be advised to take his servants and those working
for him into confidence. They might help in solving his problems.

He Made Divination for Onidoko:

Orisa le she odifa fun Okpere tiinshe cm Onidolo ntijo.

After Onidoko became an Oba, Okpere was still going to make divination for him. Before he had the
opportunity of doing so, Onidoko was removed from the throne, because his people and his household turned
against him. Onidoko then sent for Okpere to come and help him. After making divination, Okpere told Onidoko
to make sacrifice with he-goat, cock and Guinea-fowl. He assured Onidoko that after the sacrifice his people
would come looking for him.

After eating his he-goat, Esu proceeded to cause general deprivation and suffering in the town. When the
situation became unbearable. they went for divination where they were told that there would be no peace and
prosperity in the town unless they persuaded Onidoko to return to the throne. The people immediately sent elders
to go and beg Onidoko for armistice and to return to the throne. He later thanked Okpere by making him a chief

When it appears at divination he will be advised to make sacrifice so that whatever problems
bas at home and in his place of 1:1.1 ::::i;ht abate.

Divination for Him When He Was Goir?2 on Tour:

When he was going on tour for lfa pra~:~ he was told to make sacrifice so that he might succeed in returning
home with whatever gifts he got during the tour. He was told to serve his head with four pigeons, but he only
served his head with two pigeons. He went to work in a town where there were relatively stronger A was.

On getting to the town, he was told that he was invited to help them in performing the annual festivals of
three divinities in the to\1\11. They tied up a ram, a goat and a dog and he was asked to disclose which animal was
going to be used for serving which divinity.

To complicate the puzzle. they had arranged the animals as follows>

The divinity eating ram had a dog tied to its shrine, The
divinity eating dog had a ram tied to its shrine, and TI1c
divinity eating goat had the goat tied to its shrine.

He however succeeded in unraveling the puzzle, by giving ram to the divinity eating ram, doc to th · nity
~tin~ dog and slaughtered the goat tied to the goat-eating divinity .

. lauding his proficiency. they prepared an even more fatal test for him. He was sent r
. • . nf the I0\'111 who was to keep him talking while they finnliud arrangements for kllling ·m \•, h~-r) he ~m1 \!1 the
old .. vornan'r. place. he told her that she wan ill with eye trouble nnd she confim,cd
nl lie had r-ccn r, Icaf ut th-: h::Jdi of her lroune which he would prepare for her ro use

7
 in treating the eyes. On that pretext, he left the old woman purportedly to fetch the leaves.

As soon as lie entered the bush, he ran away from the place and found his way home, without eating out of
the meat he had slaughtered to the three divinities. TI1at is why it is often said that Obara-Ose was the Babalawo
who slaughtered meat for divinities without eating out of it. If he had used all four pigeons to serve his head. he
might have avoided the tests.

When this lfa appears at Ugbodu, the person will travel out soon afterwards. Before travelling however, he
should serve his Ifa with a ram so that he might return home with the gifts he would receive from the tour. At
divination, the person should serve Esu with a he-goat.

He Made Divination for the Mother of Ogun:

Ire la kola, a komo ala'be.

Jpere e d'osu, a mo aworo ti o da Ioshu.
Atele'wo ni a ba ila, a a m'eni ti o ko-o.
Firi ni a ri oji-ji, a o mo irin ti o rin ti o fi nte le
enia-l'ehin.

\Ve see the tribal marks on the body, without knowing the marker. A
young mortal became a divinity, but no one knew the priest who prepared
him as a divinity.
We see the marks on the palm bm know not who marked to.
We see the shadow but not the feet with which it walks behind one.

Those were the four Awes who m7°"e divination for Lagboburu, the mother of Ogun, Lagboburu was barren
when she left for the hilltop where '-re
saw a hen with it's chicks. She began to weep over her own difficulties, after
exclaiming that it was zf.::r all the same God that could not wipe her tears with childbirth that gave all those
children to the h.A4.

From nowhere she heard a voice commanding her to stop crying and to go for divination and sacrifice,
because she was destined to have great children. She came down immediately from the top of the hill and went to
Oninmila for divination. At divination .. she was advised to make sacrifice with ten rabbits, a hen that hatched 10
chickens. ten bats, palm nuts, and plenty of drinks. She made the sacrifice.

Not long afterwards, she became pregnant and gave birth to a male child who brought a miniature hammer and
spear from the womb. She eventually gave birth to four other children. Right from infancy her first son was always
very pugnacious. He was always troubleshooting all over the place. \Vhen the trouble he was causing became
embarrassing, his mother took him to Orunrnila for divina-tion. It was then she was told that her son was the great
Ogun himself. Thereafter, Orunrnila used the following incantation to humour the child:

Inu ni o ti nre efo ebo Iowa,

lnu no o ti nre ewe koko wa,
Ati owo ati ese, oku ki la 'gbara.
ni bi orun bi orun ni o nshe eye ope.

Almost instnntancouJsy. the child fell to the ground and began sprawling and bcggin give him food to ninmll:1 to
cat. Orunmila said that he should be chained before being given any fc ... cord.sngJy e-hainerl to the d. He was
floor after which Orunmlla slauahtered a doa and ,:a\ c:. him its bl d to drink.
7
7
followed by the palm wine and palm oil. Those were the first sacrifices made to Ogun.

When this Odil appears at divination, the person will be told that he has a barren woman in his family who
is crying desperately to have children. She should be advised to make sacrifice to have a child. She is destined
to give birth to a powerful child.

78
 Chapter 15
Obara-Ofun
Obara-Mo-Ofun
I I I
I I I
I I I I
I I I
Made Divination for the Parrot When He Tried to Learn lfa:

Mo ti mo Ohara, mo mo ofun, Babalawo odidere odifa fun odidere n'ojo ti

yi o lo ko Ifa lowo Awoko.

H e made divination for the parrot when he was going to learn Ifism from a priest called A woko. He
was advised to make sacrifice. He did not however see the need for it when he only wanted to study
the art. Without making the sacrifice, he left for the house of Awoko

to begin the course. As soon as A woko pronounced the name of Obara-Ofun, Esu overwhelmed the parrot with a
know-al] syndrome and he told his teacher that he had known a11 he was required to ]earn. A woko, who felt
needlessly interrupted. asked him whether it was not Ifa he wanted to ]earn. The parrot replied as if possessed "rnoti
mobara, mo mofun," which has remained the call sign of the parrot to this day. Thus, Obara-and-Ofun remained the
only two words the parrot knew in the Ifa literary corpus, because of the sacrifice he refused to make.

When this Odu appears at divination, the person wi1l have the habit of being a fast talker. He should however
be told to be careful not to aJJo-.1• the words of his mouth to commit him negatively. He should also be told not to
behave as if he knows more than his boss or teacher. General]y, he should avoid a tendency to an al] knowing
disposition. to avoid losing the benefits of humility and modesty.

When this Odu appears on the floor or it is written on the tray, nobody shou]d eat any food in the room.
Whoever wants to eat should move elsewhere to eat the food.

Divination for Him Before Leaving Heaven:

When he was coming to the world, he went for divination and he was told to make sacrifice on account of the
problems he was going to encounter from his household and from women. He was told to make sacrifice with; a he-
goat to Esu, and to make a feast with a goat. He was advised to have nothing to do with light-complexioned women.
He was also advised never to drink any alcohol to obviate the danger of lunancy. He made all the sacrifices.
Nonetheless, a yelJow woman followed him to the earth all the way from heaven.

He got to the world to become a proficient Ifa priest, He came out oflfe, but was practicing Jfism up vo. It was at the
pinnacle of his career that he met the yellow woman who followed him from heaven. n one occasion he was invited
by the Alaafin of Oy6 to come and make divination for him. That ,. where be met the yellow woman and thev were
attracted to each other as if they had known themselves all
their lives. -

He di_d succcasfuj work for Alaafin for which he was aptly compcrtsat~. Al the head of the list of gifts , \'CTJ to
him was n man and the I iv.ht skinned woman with whom he had fallen in love. He returned home
79
to Ife with the woman. When his relations saw the gifts he brought from Oyo, they became envious and began to
ferment trouble for him. His fortunes soon began to flag. At the same time, since the yellow woman followed him
from heaven to destroy him, she began her morbid contrivances by poisoning food for him to eat. He immediately
developed a severe cough.

The cough soon began to disrupt his physical zeaJ to work. When it degenerated to the point at which he
began to vomit blood, he went to the more elderly Awos of Ifa for divination. When they sounded Ifa for him, his
own Odu appeared. He was told that his problem sourced from his own household. He was also reminded of his
heavenly injunction (which he could not remember) not to have anything to do with a yellow wife. The Awos
however prepared the requisite medicine with palm wine and a big bat (Oloja owonron or Owo) _to cure his cough,
while advising him to make a feast with a goat for his household after giving he-goat to Esu. They assured him that
the danger of death had abated although he would continue to cough lightly.

He II?ade the feast accordingly, after which those troubling him began to leave his house at the instigation
of'Esu, All his relations who were living with him and who were responsible for the deterioration in his business,
left entirely. His yellow wife did not leave but she became disillussioned, frustrated and incapacitated. He however
began to prosper once more and the yellow wife later returned to heaven.

When this Ifa appears at Ugbodu, the person should be advised; not to allow any relation to live or stay with
him, not to have anything to do with a yellow woman, not to drink alcohol, and to feast his household with a goat
after serving Esu with he-goat and a big bat.

He Made Divination for Ataparap~ the Armed Bandit:

Ataparapa was a ruthless bandit who was so vast in diabolical charms that no one was able to assail him. After
he became convinced that no cce on earth was. going to be able to harm him, he went to Obaramo-Ofun for
divination on what to do 10 irs;;e himself against Death. He was told to make sacrifice with a he-goat, a small pot
containing a sponge and the blood of the he-goat. After making the sacrifice, he decided to travel to heaven to
befriend the divinity of Death.

In the course of his interaction with Death, he Wa5 able to know that the materials with which he made
sacrifice on earth were the very things that Death forbade - viz, small clay pot, sponge and blood. With that
knowledge he returned to earth and continued bis banditry with impunity. He became an even more rapacious
menace to his community and no one knew what to do with him.

In those days, Death usually came to the world to remove people who were adjudged to be thorns in the flesh
of their neighbours or communities. When an appeal was made to Death to remove Ataparapa to heaven, he decided
to pay him a visit, When Death got to the house of his friend, he met him sitting with a small clay pot, and a sponge
with blood spilled all over the place. At the sight of his taboos,

Death quickly ran back to heaven,

When the people in the community saw that Death could not remove him, they persuaded his ,~fe to tell them
what he forbade. She decided to co-operate with them because she too was disgusted with the embarrassment his
actions had brought to the family. She told them that the only thin1r he forbade was ripe plaimain, and that he would
die the very day he ate it

The people immediately arranged to use ripe plairuain to prepare wine (Oren) for him do drink. since he was
ah, .. -a;;i-s eating about After drinJdng the plaintain wine, he rctur11c<l home to ask his wife to shave
n
 the small Osu hair at the center of his head, where his strength lay. He subsequently fell asleep and never woke up.
His death however created many other unpleasant ripples for the family.

At Ugbodu and at divination, the person should beware of women generally. He should give; a goat to Ifa. a
dog to Ogun, and a he-goat to Esu so that a woman might not betray him to his enemies. He should forbid plaintnin
wine.

Made Divination for Orlsa-Nla when Coming to the World:

Ebara fifun kpeneden - odifa fun Orisa-Nla Oshcrcigbo ounti kole

orun ho wa si kole aye.

He made divination for God's own surrogate on earth Orlsa-Nla, when he was coming to the world.
He was told to make sacrifice in order to command universal and eternal honor and respect. He made the sacrifice
with a ram and white cloth. On getting to the world, he became the overseer of all of God's creatures on earth and he
was revered by all.

He Divined for his Wife to Have a Child:

Shu waju kimi si en, Arisini ko suan. Eni ti a sin iwaju l'ongbe.
Adifa fun alabake t'in she aya Ebara mo ofun t'on tun to ri to'mo
difa.

Lead the way and let me follow. •J.noever is being led stays in front, were the two A wos who made divination
for Alabaake, the wife of Ohzra-Ofun when she was eager to have a child. She was told to make sacrifice with two
hens and a pigeon. 51-:., did the sacrifice and began to have children.

Made Divination for Majawote r of the Sun:

Eye kekere of'oju wo ogbe, oshudi kpiri kpiri. Adifa fun maaja'wote t'inshe yeye ojo.

A small bird flew into the bush, and the anus became enlarged, were the names of the Awos who made
divination for Maajawote, the mother of daylight or sun. She was told to make sacrifice with a cock, white cloth and
a broom. She made the sacrifice and gave birth to daylight which everybody reveres and look forward to meeting, but
which no one looks on the face.

Made Divination for Igbayinrio \Vben She Divorced Her Husband:

e se se, wo wo wo. Adafa fun Igbayinrin aya Egboro, onf

Egboro si le, olo fe Olugbo.

Those were the two Awos who made divination for Igbayinrin, the wife of Egboro when she was oing to leave her
husband to marry Olugbo. They advised her not to leave her husband because he was her man from heaven and that it
would amount to straying away from the path of her destiny if she did. Sh ,as too intoxicated \c\ith the new wine
ofOlugbo to listen to the advice of lfa. She went ahead and moved to live with Olugbo.
 agreed to have her back. When she moved back to her bus band, her relations began to make jest of her by
212.ying.-
211.
lgbayinrin aya Egboro
Oto ki ewa rele
Oko aro.
Igbayinrin the wife of Egboro

It is time for you to return home

To your destined husband.

When this Odu appears at divination for a woman, she will be advised not to contemplate leaving her
husband because she will regret the action.

He made divination for the Oba of Benin:

Bi Oba mo Ifa olida eni oni fuen nifa mi da.

Bo ba mo ibo gede, emi oni fuen ni ibo mi gba Adifa fun
Oba Ado nijo to fi omi o ju shubere omo.

If you know Ifa, I will not give you my own Ifa to sound for me. If you know how to cast Ibo divination, I
will not give you mine to cast for me. Those were the Awos who made divination for the Oba of Benin when he
was anxious to have children. He was told to make sacrifice with a goat and two hens. He made the sacrifice after
which most of ±e women in his harem began to have children.

The Poem of Obara-mo-Ofun:

In a dialogue with his lfa

Olobara fun ti Jo ti Jo
Olobara fun ti jon ti jon
Enikan kole so fun pe ki omo eku,«
Enikan ko le so fun pe ki omo eja ko ~2 dele eja. Enikan
ko le so fun pe ki omo eye ko ma dele ey-.
Enikan ko le so fun pe ki omo eran ko ma dele eran.
Enikan ko le so fun pe ki omo eni ko ma wole eni.

Olobara should press on from all sides, becaus o one

can stop the rat from visiting the ra
No one can stop the fish from visiting the fish o one
can stop the bird from visiting the bird,
No one can stop the animal from visiting the animal, as
• io one can stop the hUID2.11 being from visiting a human being.

, unrnila advised that for mankind to interact beneficially, sacrifice should be made with: chalkernwood and
honey.

• c dangers in Denio:

,l "':'I
 And the eyes of the bee forbid, seeing the danger in the hole of a tree .

. When this Odu appears at divina~ion, the person will be ~v~sed 1:<> ~ ~rifi~ to avoid a repeat performance of
the wickedness of which he had once been a victim. Orummla promises to prevent him from becoming the
victim of wickedness once more.

83
213.
IFISM The
Complete
'
Works of Orunrnila

me Seven
of Okonron
ii.,,

I
I
I
I
I
I
 Chapter One
Okonron-Ogbe
Okonron-Mi-Sode
Okonron-Obun-Olode
I I I
I I I
I I I
214.
215. I I
He Made Divination for the Two Hundred divinities When They Tried to Bring Prosperity to the World:

fter the creation of the earth by God, the divinities discovered that it was bare and that they required the good
things of life to make the world livable. They all trooped to eaven to ask God to give them the instruments of a
happy life on earth. Before leaving for heaven they all went for divination to the following diviners:

Egena ofo mi serun ku,

Ogbologbo ure logbe inu ogan,
Ofi ohun okunrin yoro yoro.
Adafa fun a won igba erumole wca fe Io gba ure wa ye Iodo Olodumare.

The live fire wood drank water .•. ~ ·.p its mouth and quenched.
It is a strong porcupine that be110-. ~- ,.. a man from within
the ant hill.

These were the A wos who made divination for the Two Hundred divinities when they were going to God to
collect the instruments of prosperity for living on earth. In response to their request, God opened the treasure house
of heaven for them to collect whatever they wanted. Before going to the treasury, they were advised at divination to
make sacrifice with corn cake (Elckutc or Adidan in Yoruba and Uloka in Bini), sugar cane. bean pudding (rnoyin
moyin) and Oroke (fly whisk). When they left the diviner's place. they went into conference among themselves and
wondered what force deserved to receive sacrifice from them after God had willingly made the gifts available to
them. They resolved that the sacrifice was superfluous, not withstanding the fact that the materials for it were
tenuous and commonplace.

Orunmlla however told them that he was going to make the sacrifice because God had much earlier
demonstrated that disruptive forces could deprive them of their fortune if they did not appease them. Aflcr jeering
at Oninmila as the father of sacrifice, they insisted that they were not going to make any sacrifice.

6runmiln nonetheless collected the materials and went to make the sacrifice. He also added a he-goat for f~u.
knov.ing that he required his support. The Awos made the sacrifice after which they gnvc him th clekutc. sugar
can, honey and moyin-moyin to keep in his bag for the journey. He was advised to give m to Elcmn1. v ho was
bound to accost him on his return journey. After slaughtering the he-goat for
;:su, they used the skin to prepare a small drum which he was given to travel with in his b

ued, H•.! de hem to remove whatever the)' could carry from the
 treasury to base. In consonance with the advice he was given by the diviners, Orunrnila was the last get to the
heavenly treasury .. E!e~~j the treasury keeper; had meanwhile transfigured into a ferocious cripple to
confront each of the divinities on their retumjoumey to earth.

One after the other, he seized all the materials they collected from the treasury and returned them to
base. ~n consonance with the advice he was given by the diviners, Oninmila was the last to embark on the
return Journey to earth.

When he finally met the cripple, he was stopped on his track and he told the fearsorr:ie crea~e that he h~d
gifts for him. !"le first gave him honey, followed by sugar cane, elekute and moym. moym. As the cnpple was
eating, Esu emerged to advise Oninmlla to start beating his drum to the following song accompaniment: Aro
oludena gburu, ki ejo aro oludena. Meaning that he was going to the world with the good things required for a
happy life.

As he was singing and drumming, the cripple took the fly-whisk (Oroke) from Oninmila and began to
dance. When Esu saw the cripple dancing, he took the drum from Orunrnila. As s~on as Esu took over the
beating of the drum, the cripple turned towards the direction of heaven while Orunmila continued his ~ourney
towards the earth. That was how Oninmila ended up as the only divinity that succeeded in reachmg the earth
with the instruments of prosperity he collected from heaven.

When this Ifa appears at Ugbodu, the person will be told that unless he makes sacrifice, obstacles will not
allow his destiny and the wishes he made in heaven, to actualize on earth. At divination the person, if a man,
should be told to have his own Ifa, and if a woman, she should be told to marry an Ifa man or persuade her
husband to have his own Ifa, they are to prosper.

The Divination He Made Before Leaving Heaven:

Eni to n gbofa ko i ru'ude. Eni to rude ko gbofa. These were the two Awos who made divination for
Okonron-ro-Ode when he was leaving heaven. He was advised to make sacrifice with a he-goat to Esu. He made
the sacrifice and became an Ifa priest on getting to the world. He had been warned at divination to beware of
flirtation on earth.

He had two friends on earth; Sasagele-Ule and Sasagele-Oko. On one occasion he travelled to a place called
Egbe for Ifa practice. A woman who came to him for divination professed love to him. Without knowing that the
woman was married he requited her love. After making love to her, some informants told the husband, who
reacted by arranging for his assassination. When his friend Sasagele-Ule heard of the plot to kill him, he went to
Sasagele-Oko to carry a message to Okonron-so'de, that he was required to return home at once because his father
was at the point of death.

Sasagele-Oko went at once to carry the message to Okonron-so-ode. who immediately packed his bag and
headed for home. His two friends however planned to rendezvous with him at the last road junction to Egbe,
where they told him that there was nothing wrong with his father, but that they used the story to lure him to leave
the town because there was a plot to assassinate him that night for seducing somebody's wife.
He left for home immediately.

When this Ifa appears at U gbodu, the person wiJI be told to beware of flirtation. A friend will however
save him from the trouble his is bound to have on account of a woman. A widow would offer herself to him in
marriage, but he should refuse to marry her.

At divination, he should be told to serve Esu with a he-goat to avoid trouble emanating from a woman.

86
 How He Solved the Problem of Having Children:

Odide ogbo omu ori ke fun. Agbo gbo'gbe jojore guale. Eje omode ra ga ga ga.

These were the three Awos who made divination for Okonron-so-ode when he did not have children early
enough in life. He was told to serve; Ifa with a hen, and Esu with a he-goat. He made the sacrifice and the Ifa priests
prepared medicines for him to give to his wife. Not long afterwards, his wife became pregnant. They also told him to
advise the wife to be sweeping and scrubbing the house regularly, because Ifa was annoyed with her. She gave birth
to the child and had several other children subsequently.

Made Divination for Elekole \Vben His Dog Was Missing:

Akasho leri, Awo ode Ewi ado, asho Ibante, Awa ode Offa. Okan gologolo Awo elekole. Adifa fun Elekole ni
jo ti efuuru aja re tu sonu to a wo kiri.

These were the three Awos who made divination for the Elekole of Ikole-Ekiti when his favorite dog was
missing. After divination, the first two Awos from Ado Ekiti and Off a told the Elekole to forget about the dog
because it was either already dead or trapped.

The third Awo however told him to make sacrifice with a cock, fish, rat, eko and akara and that before long, the
doi would return home. The sacrifice was quickly made. When the person who carried the sacrifice to Esu was
returning to the house, he saw the dog running home. Elekole rejoiced and thanked Okan gologolo.

Made Divination for Eda Lausa "\,\.'hen He Was Very Poor:

Agbe lofi ibi woroko showa.

Aluko lofi ibi woroko sho'sun,
Eje omode titun misa gara misa goro !IDJllJ Awa.
Won difa fun eda Laausa nijo to maa S!Y.> on udu tiko gbofa.

The bird called Agbe converted misfortune to money. The

bird called Aluko generated fortune by turning
a deformed tree to a camwood producer.
The blood of an infant does no congeal in a pot.

These were the three Awos who made divination for Eda-Lausa when he was poor. He was told to have his own
Ifa in order to get out of his poverty. The three Awos accordingly prepared lfa for him. They also prepared an Ifa
bracelet (Ude) for him to wear on his wrist. To make a new start in life, he was advised to leave the land of his birth
to settle down in a new town, but to wear his bracelet regularly night and day. He accordingly left home to live in a
new town, where, for a living, he resorted to fetching fire wood to sell.

In the new.town, Olefin's favorite wife was barren. Several divine priests had prepared medicines for her to
have a child 10 no avail. \Vhen she saw her menstruation that month, she in fanned the Oba, who told her to soak her
menstrual pad inside a pot and bring it to him.

The Ol?fin himself made Ifa divination on whether the blood on that pad was going to produce a child.
C?konron·mt·sodc :PP"..ared at divinatj~n. He subsequently invited all his Jfa priests to _int:rp~t the divinnhon.
One ~fkr th- other, all of them tried but missed the point. Next the Olefin sent 111v1tnl1ons across to
c follo~1ng Babalnwos: •

87
 Mo le ki Ogun, Awo Alara,
Ovki-ki-ki, ko le cu n mo. Mo
le i cgbon. Awo Ajcro, Ovki-
ki-ki, ko le fun bo,
Mo Ii ki. Awo Opatoromofin,

They were the fomous Ifa priests to the Alara, Ajero and to aristocracy. They all came but could not translate
the Ha on the tray. He then asked whether there was any other A~o in the Ife kingdom remaining to be invited. He
was told that there was one who used to sell firewood WI th an Ifa bracelet on hand but no one seemed to know
where he lived. He immediately issued a search-and-find order for him.

When the searchers eventually caught up with him, he was just returning from the forest with a load of fire
wood. When Olofin's message was delivered to him, he decided to accompany the messengers at once to the palace.
Upon arrival, Olofin showed him the lfa on the tray and asked him whether he could interpret it. When he replied
that the Ifa on the tray was his own Odu but that he did not know how to interpret Ifft, he was told to explain why he
!''as wearing the lfa bracelet (Ude) on his wrist. He began to mention the names of the Ifa priests who prepared the
Ude for him. By the time he mentioned the name of the third Awo (Ejc omo ti tun rnisa gara misa goro nunu Awo)
Olofin exclaimed that he had solved the riddle, and that if others had mentioned that much. the need to look for him
would not have arisen. He was asked whether he knew the relevant sacrifice going with it. Esu instantly took over his
mind and as if possessed, he declared that it required ten rats. ten fishes, ten cocks, ten hens, ten goats, ten men, ten
women, ten rams, ten akara, ten eko and ten bags of money.

The materials were produced and he made the sacrifice, Olofin went inside and brought out his ASE to
pronounce the curse of death on aaycne who would try to undo this innocent A wo. The following month, the
favorite wife of Olefin became r:-egnant and in the fullness of time, gave birth to a male child. That also marked the
beginning of prosperiry for Eda-Lausa. He gave up selling fire wood and subsequently became a proficient Ifa priest.

When this Odu appears for a man or a woman anxious to have a child, he or she should be advised to ask Ifa
priests to prepare Ude for him or her. If'he already has Ifa, he should learn Ifa art. If not, he should have his own Ifa.
For a woman, she should be advised to marry an Ifa man. The person is a fay (Imere or Igbakjuan) but Orunmila will
be able to change his or her fortune to live on earth.

Made Divination for Ololo, the King of Fays or Elfs:

Fiiri Jakande, Jakande Fiiri. Adifa fun Ololo tiin she Olori cgbe.

Those were the two Awos who made divination for the king of Fays (Jmere in Yoruba and Igbakhuan in Bini).
They told him that he had overstayed his life span on earth because his followers in heaven were waiting for him.
Since he was enjoying life on earth, so much that he had no wish to return to heaven, his followers had embarked on
a policy of damaging his belongings and activities on earth. He went for divination to know why his things were
spoiling. He was advised to make sacrifice with rat, fish, hen, pigeon, snail. akara and eko, and to feast his fay
followers by making Sarah with a goat. He was also advised to have his own Ifa after m~ng the feast. He complied
fully with the advice and it was only then that his followers abandoned him to Oninmila to Jive on earth.

,l/hen the Odu appears at divination for a woman, she will be advised to many an Jfa man or to encourage her
husband 10 have his own Ifa if she is to live Jong on earth. If the divince is a man, he will be
to take his own lfa, To be on the safer side, be should make a feast for his followers.

88
OriinmUa Declares Ude As An All-Purpose Protector:

6nmmila ni ki a ji sode.
Moni ki Olokonron sode.
Oni ti omo eku ba ti ji, oni o sode babare m'owo
Oni ki a ji sodc, Moni ki Olokonron sode.
Oni ki omo eja ba ji, ki o sode baba re m'owo.
Oni ki omo eye ba ji, oni ki a sode baba re m'owo.
Oni ki aji sode, Moni ki Olokonron sode,
Oni ki a so fun omo eni, ba ti ji, ko o sode
babare m'owo.

Oninmlla recommends that we should,

wake up and wear our amulet.
Because the children of the rats, fishes, birds, and animals,
wake up in the morning to wear the protective amulets
prepared by their parents.
Human beings should also wear their protective
amulets prepared by their parents.
Human beings should therefore wear their protective
bracelets (Ude) on their wrist when they wake up in the
morning to protect them against the danger of untimely
death.
Asked what is to be used to prepare the amulet, he
enumerated them as; rats, fishes, a hen about
to lay eggs and the special Ifa beads worn by chiefs.

He concluded that any person who develops the habit of wearing it soon after waking up in the morning
will never be the victim of sudden death.

When this Odu appears at divination, the person will be told that a child is on the way to him or her, but
that the baby should be made to wear Ifa beads on its wrist when born, so that it may not die.

This is how this Odu earned the sobriquet ot Okonron-Ohun-Olode.

89
 Chapter Two
Okonron-Oyeku
Okonron-Aronmo
I I I I
I I I I
I I I I
I I I
Divination Before Leaving Heaven:

rok. e mi Iawo Iigonrin, Orokc mi lawo lc'turuyc.wcre the two Awos wh~ made divination for this

U Odu when he was leaving heaven. He was advised to make sacrifice because he wall going to have
several enemies on earth. He was told to serve Esu with a he-goat and roasted

yam and he did the sacrifice.

As soon as he got to the world, a mark was put on his forehead by the Cult of Witchcraft to enable witches to
identify him wherever he went, as a victim marked out for destruction.

One night, while he was sleeping, he had a dream in which his guardian angel told him to wash his head with a
he-goat on Esu shrine. When he got up in the morning, he made divination and Ifa told him that the sacrifice was to
enable Esu to remove the mark inserted on his forehead by A won Jyami Osoronga. Before then, he had been
experiencing all kinds of difficulties. Everything he touched always went wrong. He however proceeded to make the
sacrifice after which the witches began to confess to what they had been doing against him.
Before then, he had developed a chronic stomach ache which refused to yield to any form of treatment. One
morning, a woman having one eye came to give him leaves and materials to cook and eat to cure his stomach
trouble. After eating the preperaiion, he vomited a scorpion which ended his stomach trouble.

When this Odu appears at divination, the person should be told to get Ifa priests to wash his head on Esu shrine
with a he-goat to minimize his problems from witchcraft. He also probably has a stomach problem which was
caused by the Elders of the Night. The Jfa priests should also serve the Night for him.

He Made Divination for Odogbonikere:

Agbon losoo sibi hari hari. Okpe eluju lo gase logarun. Adi fa fun Odogbonikcrc ti yio je ola edu ti ti ti. Mora
eku lo ja, emi ko san wo, Odogbonikere, Ola edu laanje, Odogbonikere. Mo ra eja ati cran loja, mio san wo,
Odogbonikere. Ola Ifa laanje. Mora'ya loja, mio san wo, Odogbonikerc. Ola Jfa laanje Odoabonikere.

The coconut tree bears fruits at a height the hand cannot reach, unaided. The palm tree has long leg. and long neck.
These were the benefits of'Ifa throughout the span of his life. He was able to buy mt, fish, 0::!1 and a wife from the
market without ('ayjng for any of them, because Odogbonikcrc came to the world to enjoy the fortunes and
providence of Onmmila,

JJc made · [ice with a swat and be enjoyed a prosperous life throughout. When this Odu uppcnrs ar

9
0
216.

the person will be ad,;sed to serve lfa well so that he will never be in want throughout his life. At
____ -U..
d.ivimtion.. the- person should be told to have his own Ifa, in order to enjoy a prosperous life.

The Special Features of Okonron-Oyek-u:

Althouzh Okonron-Oveku was not a witch, he was nonetheless able to attend meetings held by the club of ,~itcli-
craft. -He "~ able to know how witches send out messages. He had a brother called ~- ;~re. One night. his brother's
matter was brought to the meeting of witches where they decided ~! Osogeregere should be given a basket to fetch
water from the river. He was not to return until he ~L~'\.~OO in fetching water with the basket. Osogeregere was a
rascally young man.

After hearing the impossible task earmarked for his brother by the Night, he could not reveal the i:lfurm1tion
directly to him. He however called on him to go at once for divination about his own life.
__ g~~re responded by refusing to go for divination because he had no problems whatsoever. He was hcm~,~r
successfully persuaded to go and also to serve a secondary divinity called Olugbodo (Akobie in Bini}. with seven
yam tubers. He was told that whenever he was to make the sacrifice to Olugbodo, one barren woman would come to
meet him at the shrine. He was told to advise the woman to buy a mother-
...... -- to serve Oluzbodo in order to have a child.
- -
He performed the sacrifices, As he was actually offering sacrifice to Olugbodo, a woman came and he advis
•... ed her to serve Olugbodo with a goat in order to have a child. The woman was herself a witch and she W'J.5 the
one who was appointed by the Night to carry out the sentence passed on Osogeregere. The woman however served
Olugbodo and she became pregnant She subsequently gave birth to a male child. The woman, who herself was to
determine his fate in the witch world, refused to give him the basket to fetch
zner from the river.
When this Ifa appears at Ugbodu, :b.: person will be told that there is a barren woman in his family, aao there is a
divinity in his family of w~ he is to be the priest. He should not refuse to serve as a priest f the divinity. He should
serve Ogun three times before completing the Ifa ceremonies. He should also give a second he-goat to Esu. At
divination, the person should serve; Esu with he-goat, and Ogun with a
k, to negate trouble from a relation.

Made Dhination for the Statesman to Have Authority:

Teekeshe Awo ornoae. Teekasha Awo agbalagba. Oku

u kan kan ko de eji. Eeledaoye. Adi fa
fun Baro gbobe korun, omo shan shan shan,
Ebodofin ru lana ofin shin shin shin.

\\.alk gently is the Awo of the youths. ~-alk

srorply is the Awo of the elders.
It rem:iir.s one finger marking to become Oyeku-Meji.

These were the three Awos who made divination for the elder-statesman who accepted good advice c..,ke
~crific~- After making the sacrifice his voice began to carry the weight of nuthority.

The s:u::ifice which the king made the previous day had already manifested.

~re at di\inn.tion. the person will be told that he hos recently mode one sacrifice.
ccmoci by the rug.her powers. If it appears ns Ayco, he should be told thnr he hos not
 made the sacrifice recently prescribed for him at divination. He should make it without any further delay·

He Reveals How Orunmilu Left the World for Heaven:

Tee Keshe Keshe A wo omode. Tee

Kasha Kasha Awo agbalagba. Okuu
ka kan ko do oye.
Eleda oye A wo Ilare.
Adifa fun Onmrnila, baba baa lo si ekpa
Okun ati ilaju osa. Onlo koni wa mo.
Woni tani won omaa kpeni baba. Eni ba tiri Ki
eekpe ni baba. Orunmila Josi igbehin Okun, koo
ni wa mo.

The same A wos as in the preceding section also revealed how Orunrnila left this world to join his fellow divinities
in heaven. When he was leaving the world, Orunmila told his children and followers that he was leaving for the home
beyond the sea for good, never to return. They came through the sea and he was going to return through the sea

His children and followers asked him who they were thenceforth going to refer to as their father. In reply, he told
them to refer to anyone they saw as their father, because he was already set to return to heaven never to return anymore.

This was how Orunmlla authorized his followers to reveal the names of their Ifa to anyone professing to be an lfa
priest for translation. If you meet any Ifa priest, tell him the name of your Ifa because he might be able to tell you about
it, what you have no: previously heard from anyone else. It is not possible for one person to know aJJ there is to know
about 0n·=-:nila,lest the person will go mad.

If anyone therefore advises you not to disclose the name of your Ifa to any Babalawo, it is your signal that the
adviser is a cheat. Avoid him.

Ono-If a for a Peaceful and Prosperous Life:

Orunmlla ni Aronmo, Moni Aronmo Oni

ki a mu nkan ebo re wa,

Onmmila said Embrace.

I also said embrace.
He asked for the necessary sacrifice.

He declared the necessary materials for the sacrifice to be; shea butter (Ori-oyo) palm kernel oil (Adin in Yoruba
and Uden in Bini) palm oil, 16 snails, and the relevant Ifa leaves (Ewc-Orowo ). He went on to remark that the palm oil
seller embraces her wares. As soon as the sheer butter sets its eyes on fire, it must melt.

The snail never suffers a hot life, its life is ever cool and peaceful.

Vhen all the forc!!oing materials are used for a special sacrifice, the person will obtain instant relief rom nil the
difficulties orcviou!lly besetting him. He will enjoy a heat-free life thereafter.

2
 Divined for the people of Igbehin and Hori:

ltckiti Awo Ornode. lteknrn Awo ngba, wu ku

nknn kio de'ji oye.
Kok dcji oye.

These were the Awos who made divination for the people of Igbehin and Itori. They were told to make
sacri fice to abate the threat from death. They were required to make the sacrifice with a he-goat to ·' ll and a
mm to lfa. The people of lgbehin made the sacrifice but those of I tori refused to make any sacri ficc.

After being told by Ighoroko that the people ofltori refused to make sacrifice, Esu rose up in the small hours
of one night nnd danced from Igbehin to Itori with a drum in hand, to the accompaniment of the following
incantational song:

lku ti i ba pa ara lgbehin,

0 lo pa won ni ode !tori, (twice)
Aro pele igi eni ju,
If n ba ro ibi leri ota.

The death that would have ravaged the people of

lgbehin,
Proceeded to plunder the people ofltori. Peace
be unto those who make sacrifice, by Enabling
Orunmila to save his people, From the
machinations of their enemies.

The following day, there was an epidemic of cholera in Itori which killed forty people in one fell swoop.
Those who heard the song of Esu in the night trooped to the Oloja of Itori to report the incident. Rather belatedly,
the people of lrori made the sacrifice and there were no more deaths.

\Vhen this Ifa appears at divination, the person will be told to make sacrifice to checkmate the.enemy who is
contriving to kill him.

93
217.

Chapter Three
Okonron-Iwori
Okonron-Kosi
I I I I
I I I
I I I
I I
The Divination He Made Before Leaving Heaven: ,
I
his oao came to the world at a time when it was still possible to shuttle between h_eaven and earth.

T Visitors to the earth were returning to heaven to tell stories of the strife 0~ earth, such that people had
to reflect deeply before embarking on a trip to the world. When It

was his turn to visit the earth, he went for divination on what to do to have an easy time there. He went to an A
wo called:
... era ba o ni iri odele.
I will not be a victim of the mass death on earth.

The Awo told him ilia! the world was at war and that unless he made sacrifice he might not be able to do
anything to ameliorate its effects. He was advised to make sacrifice with; a Guinea-fowl to his head, and he-goat
for Esu-Obadara, (thai is. iae Esu of the forest). He did the sacrifice.

On getting to the world, he met a::~ her of elders who were pioneers on earth. He soon began to feel the
tribulations of the world. In his a·.,.':J community, there were at least ten persons dying prematurely every day. When
he discovered that there was virtually nothing he could do to arrest the situation, he decided to return to heaven for
more in Co/.h consultations. He went straight to his diviner. but the man was ill.

He however confirmed to him that the world was as horrifying as he predicted. The Awo told him to collect
pieces of all edible materials and put them in a bag and hang it suspended on a tree in the forest. when he got back to
earth. He did the sacrifice accordingly when he returned to earth.

After the sacrifice, he was able to save people from dying. When this Ifa appears at Ugbodu, the . son should be told
that he is supposed to be a practicing Ifa priest endowed with the power to 1?ring salvation to suffering humanity. ln
addition to the normal Esu for his Ifa, he should also prepare Esu - · adara for sending messages.

He .\1ade Divination for the Rain in Heaven:

Oi:n:-.:nri ri-ri-n. Babalawo ojo, odifa fun ojo.

He made divination for the Rain when be was preparing to come to the world. When he asked Rain ,h'.!:-i r.~ var
go1ng to do on ca .• rth, he replied that he was going to bring good fortune to the inhabitants of ~h J It th~ c!ch·ised
him to make sacrifice with black soap, black cloth and black hen so that his -·--'~:o'~:e might not be repaid with
crass ingratitude. He however argued that there was no logic in ;rri a he:--..efa.ctm to make tacrifice so that his
beneficiaries might appreciate his beneficiaries. On that
 ground he refused to mnke any sncrlficc.

When he was prepnring lo come to the world, Esu WUH told that Ruin was going to the world without making the sacrifice
prescribed ut divination. On getting to earth, he extended his benevolence to; forms to yield good harvests, cool the
atmosp~erc from the effect of heat and saved plants and animals from draughts. In spite: of all the good work he did, Esi1 had
incited humnn beings against him. Those who were beaten by rain on their way from daily chores or prevented by ruin from
performing their daily chores, began to insult him for disturbing them. When the ruin foils too often, people begin to mock
him us an unwanted guest. When he is late in falling, people haul all manner of abuses on him for not coming to cool the
atmosphere. When he comes, he is accused of disrupting their duy.

No one ever seems to hnvc on word of gratitude for the Rain, which made him to remember what he was
told at divination. That is why he laments when he is coming out of black clouds:-

Bo ba jc pe mo mo, ma ba rubo
Okan ri-ri-ri.

That is the signature tune of the min when he is coming to the world as he continues to be vilified by all
and sundry to this day.

When this Odu appears at divination, the person will be told that in spite of his magnanimity towards
people, he is generally vilified and derided. He should make sacrifice to avoid continually being the victirr of
ingratitude.

He Made Divination for Fi.re:

Okonron wiri wiri wiri Babalawo UDO, odifa fun uno ni ojo ti aye UDO re'le.

He made divination for Fire when his life was flagging. He was advised to make sacrifice with a cock hen,
and dried palm leaves. He made the sacrifice. His sacrifice manifested and he was reinvigorated Iwarama Agbe
aye uno elide. Whenever fire is about to extinguish, he can be revived with dried palrr leaves.

When it appears at divination the person will be told to make sacrifice so that a light complexioned person
might help him to prosper. If the divinee is a woman, she will be told that a fair complexioned mar will marry
her and make her life to assume great heights in prosperity.

He Made Divination for the Leper of Ijayc:

Okonron wiri wiri oriro teere, Awo inu ugbo. Adafa fun alakan ni ljaye. Eni ti koo mo alakan ni ijaye, oun
Iofi igba re mu omi. Ebo ni ko ru o.

He made divination for the Leper ofljaye. It is those who do not know the

95
218.

Special Divination for Okonron-Iwori:

He used to make itinerant divination tours to several towns and village», but had the r.r,1.7.;,f;,r,ufar weakness
of being very forgetful. He was always forgetting his divination btig wherever he wCfiL ( rtv: day. he dreamt and
saw a whole community of people beating him up. ·1 he /oJl(Jwing mr,rnrTl?., ~,c Cl,-fi .•• suited Ifa who gave him the
green light to proceed on a tour he was C<Jnttmpfati11i1 but that k.:: <:hfr,Jl"J r.r,~ quarrel with anybody during the
journey. He was however to spread palm frond round hir" hr,rr~ b~fr,r travelling S? that all his previous losses
might be recovered. He was also told to vvc; ~- <;tJCY'." tfJ hh ;.,~ryJ>i he-goat to Esu, and Guinea-fowl torus head.
He made all the sacrificcn.

Three days later; he received a message from the Oloja of Oja-Ajigbomekon a--h,la, tt, c/aiv: z;frd rz·ie his
life from a disease that afflicted him. He immediately proceeded on the journey. ( Jn gettirit- fr.~te ,,.~ discovered
that he had forgotten the instruments he was to use for healing the (J}(Jj~ ~ c:. u.v«. l'.7,;f~ Omuye. He was
accompanied there to retrieve it. In actual fact it was invariably hi:. di•1in~1ir)r1 ~~~ tr,;:r.; r.r;
had forgotten in the place. He had one medicine container inside the bag vmich he ·1/antd ti> U"/-; fu: :r .................... .
Oloja. Toe medicine is capable of making the victim of any poison to vomit it. App;.:rtri!ly~ 6:e (;],;fa h1:l
been poisoned through his food.

As soon as he brought the medicine. he applied it on the Oloja and he began to ·to~(;rt.. ''ff:e r,:,.,J1:-,
eventually became well. Since be had been ill for a long time during which several p:17r.r.~-iz;-;:"', t::'.C f.e;'.-,i:, ists
tried in vain to cure him, he appealed to Okonron-Kosi to settle down in the mW.et ursr: f fa ~g,·-'7./.- t:"/ the
suggestion, but asked for time 1.0 son om his outstanding problems elsewhere. He vt«: f:,,we;-..·:;.- !a-~ banished
from the town when he tried to seduce the Oloja's wife.

When this Odu appears at Ggho=.1. ·~ person can be regarded as tn7"el~!~ z::;i. w:r./ fo.;z~f ..... ~. r::
.... should serve; Esu with a he-goat, 2-,., :-.:5 cead with Guinea-fowl so that his p:-o::;erity n::g;.; (;l',;-,::/,f?&_.:_.-:
He should forbid anything biner. suca zs ~=~ear and bitter kola. Atdivin.cic":1:e tr..e ;::erJ:;:: ~:;.7 '
Esu with a he-goat so that his mind ct:: rc. mislead him. He will 2Iw be ~Ji:/;d r..~~ t;., ("/;.~:::. i:: ~-'
presence of those who can help him,
221.
222.
219.
220.
223.
224.

Chapter Foor
Okonron-ldi

I I I I I
I I I I I
I I I

Divination Before Leaving Heaven:

As he was leaving hezye:i_ 03-~ D"":7~:::=d Esu disnarched malefactors

Death sent a man and Esfl se:::2.-
he was always relying on the Ps.e o: :~
charms for killing those who off~-=Q..:=-:_ It was not long before he met tne woman sem ~
EsiL She was a vet)' pretty w -

She became pregnant afie- ~ :-~ --:--7- of meeting her and she subsequently gave n:_tl_
child who was the miscreant se::110 :~-;_: =>-z=b. The son soon grew uo to see tre:2i eY~-body f~ c.:s father.
Nobody dared to face him. ~ ::-:.:: i.50 grew to be a strong ~d fearsome young m~ wt:.:i \,'"2S eventually initiated to
the king's palace >:,:-~.-. Apparently, he felt so disgusted with his fainer's feroci behavior that on a number of
occasion~:::?"!""-~ ed him by reporting to the Oh3 that his futh:e: W'!:.S ~~=~-
ing human sacrifice. He disclosed ~:. ES'.; ~.:.<i :r.:zm\--bile quietly deposi
bodies at the back of his house.

The Oba immediately sen: for 5 :.c.J:e..,.,--..;!= ~:mull2r.eously despatching gate

the allegation. The search parry d:scoYe:e-i two newly executed human
to confirm the allegation, although 0}:o:::n~-I,.:; '•',"2.5 not aware of the pn mises. As he
was leaving for the palace, l-~ 52,.,,, the corpses for the first tim became spellbound.

When he got to the palate, the Oba accused him for eng2ging in human himself
with the Oba He was perplexed but denied the charges, Since he ha
the death sentence on him, and he \\'2S ins12ntly tied up for execution. Th
on and told him that since he could betray his father the way he did! he was als the
Oba. He too was sentenced to death by execution. Both father and son w .• "~"

When this Ifa appear, at Ugbodu, the person should make sacrifice with woman, a
he-goat. red cloth and Ogun's scissors. He should serve Death iece of red cloth at
a road junction. This (Ono-Ifa) special sacrifice mus ,1-;Jt:- the person might live
Jong: his son might not kill him: and to avert th
;f h.Jvjng murder committed in his nam~. lfhe already had children, he sl
225.

'n·in~ him with morbid intentions.

I low This Od,) Solved the Problem of Untimely Death:

Onuunlln ni ki Olokonron di'lc,

Moni ki Olokonron di'lc.

l)n'mmlh\ told Okonron to close the hole on the ground. I

also. told Okonron to close the hole on the ground.
)n'uunih\ said that the sacrifice for driving death away is done with a small chicken. (Oromu-adiye in
Yl~n'lb~i) which cries lku-yc-iku-ye ni Oromu adiye ma nke. With that cry the chicken is ordering death to Iisuppcnr
from the area, because Death forbids to hear the cry of the chicken. If a person is sick and is feared to bent the point
of death, a live chicken should be tied to the shrine of Esu to cry to death. Death
will definitely leave the person alone.

He Made Divination for the Oro Masquerade:

konron dimu dimu made divination for the Oro masquerade when he was going to perform in the l0\\1\ of
Egbn. He was told to return home. He made sacrifice with a cutlass, broken fire wood, food and a ram in order to
gain favors from the trip. He failed to make the second sacrifice with he-goat to enable
him return home.

He wus able to perform successfully in Egbaland. He also succeeded in helping barren women to ecornc pregnant.
He made; the poor 10 become prosperous, the hungry to get food to eat, and those suffering to obtain relief. His
success ID.3.Ce him popular and endeared to him so much that he could not
even contemplate leaving the town.

He became an institution with his own secret Cult of Oro. Whenever the cult was operating, a curfew was
declared after he has made an announcement> Moti se ebo Okonron dimu dimu. That is the sound that heralds the
curfew. Thereafter. women and non-initiates are required to disappear from the streets. His
cult remains in Egbaland to this day.
When it appears at divination, the person will be told to make sacrifice before travelling in order to avoid
bccorninc the victim of unintended consequences.

The DiYination Made for Him When Be Was Going to Buy a Slave:

•• sa ninu esi bio ba leenka nkan maale bo na, Ofi igi gbo igi, Orisa omo ri giri giri sa'yo. Adafa fun runrnila baba
onlo ra mara Asa leru, Mara asa osa Jo si ile Onidoko. Onidoko o ma sun rnenckun rncnekun, Oninmila O ma wa
mara Asa Josi He Onidoko. 0 wa bani be. Ara Onidoko ooya. Oninmlla wa •. si toju re. Gbogbo ohun tiin she
Onidoko, Orunrnila she kuro Jara re. Onidoko o here si ko wo fun
runrnila, nti ashe owo fun Orunmila.

•.. Awos made divination for Qrunmila when he went to buy a girl called Mara Asa, as a slave. He to buy
the slave in order to prosper. On getting to the market he saw this girl as the only available for sale. He
bought her and brought her home, but soon afterwards, she escaped to the house of
... ho was not only ill. but had no settled life.
ed the slave-girl up to Onidoko's house, but Onidoko told him that he kept her for him 98
 nflcr she cxplniucd tlwt he owned her. Onidoko took the opportunity to narrate his problems to Orunrnila, who
in1111cdiutely began to address them. 6n'.mmlla succeeded not only in making him well but also in
c?r1s~lidnting his life. He became very happy and compensated 6runmlla elaborately with money and gifts in
addition to surrendering his slave to him.

When Lhis Odu appears for a man at divination he will be advised to have his own lfa. If it appears for n
woman she will be advised to marry an Ifa man or to persuade her husband to have his own Ifa, to enhance
their mutual prosperity.

He Made Divination for Ogun and Snng6:

He made divination for Ogun when he was going to learn how to cast materials from Sango, After Sango
had taught Ogun for some time, that latter discovered that he had nothing to learn from the former. One day,
Ogun asked Sango whether he wns capable of producing any of the things he was teaching him. Adding
metaphorically, Ogun explained that the reason he asked the question was because a needle must sew its' own
cloth before sewing for others. In anger, Sango replied that if he knew so much more than himself, Ogun should
leave his house.

Sango's only art was the moulding of mud images, while Ogtm was capable of carving wood, casting
metals and moulding in different kinds of materials. Ogun then challenged Sango to mould whatever he could
for a contest with him in three days time.

. Meanwhile, Sango moulded several abstract images and painted them with carnwood. On his part,
Ogun made a wood carving of the Oba of the town, as well as those of the two chiefs next in rank to the Oba.
The carvings were like the real life sculptural representations of the three persons. Ogun then proposed that their
competing art works should be sent to the palace for adjudication. When they got to the palace they threw away
the mud images of Sango and hailed the work of Ogun. Ogun later accused Sango of moulding useless objects
because be was ill.

Sango became annoyed and vowed to kill Ogun. Meanwhile, Ogun began to run from pillar to post.
It was then he went to Orunmila for divination and he was told to make sacrifice with 7 needles, 7 snails, a goat
and a he-goat in order to get Sango to become so paranoid as to get off his back. After Esu had eaten his he-goat,
he went to Sango to challenge him that if he was not stupid, wha~ credit would a prospective Oba like himself
(Sango was the heir apparent to the throne of the Alan fin of Oy6) take for killing a small fly like Ogun. Esu told
hi?J to stop moulding images and to start enjoying his princely disposition. Sango agreed with Esu and left Ogun
alone.

When the lfa appears at Ugbodu, the person will be advised to serve; his head with Guinea-fowl, Ifa \J itl
goat and Esu with a he-goat, so that he might prosper in his job. He should be told that there is
VJ 1 a str,onger than himself in his street At divination, the person should be told to serve Ogun with a
someone . · ..
cock and Esu with a he-goat to avoid being sacked from his Job.

99
 Chapter Five
Okonron-Obara
I I I I
I I I I
I I I I
I I
Made Divination for the Pounded Yam (Iyan):

kon ham barn Awo Oniyan, Odifa fun Jyan ni ojo ti ko le orun bo wa si kole aye. He made

O divination for the pounded yam when he was coming from heaven. The pounded yam was told to
make sacrifice with cock. white cloth, cutlass, fire flames and cudgel to avoid suffer-

ing in the hands of enemies on earth. He came to the world without making the sacrifice. When the yam got
home from the farm, it was the cutlass with which he failed to make sacrifice that was used to chop him to
pieces before being stacked in the pot and cooked on the fire. He was subsequently beaten to submission with
piston and mortar before ending up in the bowels of human beings, the enemy he was told to avoid.

When the Odu appears at divination, the person should be told to make sacrifice in order to avoid suffering
in th~ hands of human enemies. He should make sacrifice with; he-goat, white cloth, cudgels, fire flames. to
Esu and rabbit
He Made for thefor
Divination
.
Niaht,
-
the Mud (Atebo):

Okonron bar bar. Babalawo Atebo. odifa fun atebo ni ojo ti kole orun bowa si kite aye.

He made divination for the mud used for building houses when he was coming from heaven. He was told
to serve Esu with he-goat in order to avoid running into difficulties with human beings. He refused to do the
sacrifice. On getting to the world, he was trampled upon and beaten with both hands, by human beings before
being used for building mud houses.

When it appears at divination for a woman, she will be advised to serve Esu with he-goat to avoid the
danger of marrying a man who will always be beating her, but from whose clutches she will not be able to
escape. I fit comes out for a man, he will be advised to take his own I fa after serving Esu with a he-goat in
order to avoid incidence of crass ingratitude.

Divination Before Leaving Heaven:

Okiki ba ba ba ni rnerun okpokpo, was the Awo who made divination for this Odu when he was corning
from heaven. He was told to make sacrifice in order to avoid the danger of behaving dishonorably on earth, He
\l.'25 told to serve Esu with a he-goat, palm fruits, and the instrument used by secret cults for heralding a
curfew. He was also told to serve his Ifa with a Guinea-fowl. He did the sacrifices before leaving for the world.

On getting to the world, his work was being derided by detractors and he was made a laughing stock.
He became so despondent that he decided to go for divination where he was told to repeat the sacrifice he !)~
in heaven. He did the sacrifice and his fortune turned for the better. He eventually became prosper- and
popular.

100
226.

I le Mndc Dlvlnntlun for Oro, the Wife of Olofin:

wife of Olofin, called Oro, became the victim of u vicious falsehood. Her husband was told _that ~he
·n11.: Iavoritc
was being unfaithful. und Olefin believed the nllcgution, without giving her a chance to con I irrn or dc11y it. Olefin
ordered her to be stripped naked and driven out of the palace in the nude. She rook rcfuw: with <Jru11mll,\ requesting
him to make divination for her .

. I le gave her clothes to wear, after which he went to Olefin to protest the manner of punishment given
his favorite wife, without investigating the allegations made against her. Or(mmlla told Olofin that the ~voman was
innocent and appealed to him to take her back. The Olofin insisted that whether or not she was mn~cent, tradition
stopped him from taking Oro back after sucking her naked from the palace. With that reminder, Okonron-Obara returned
home.

~ta subsequent divination she was required to make sacrifice for a better life, with a he-goat for Esu. ~?wing that
she had no money for the sacrifice since she was expelled empty handed from the palace, Oru?mlla ga~c her all the
requirements to for the sacrifice. He did the sacrifice for her. Meanwhile, they fell in Jove with each other and began to
live as husband and wife.

Not Jong afterwards, there was a catastrophe at the palace of the Olofin and those who lied against Oro were forced
to recant in open confessions. The cataclysm in the palace became so rife that the citizenry was beginning to wonder
whether Olofin had not been too discredited to rule on the throne. As he got wind of the negative developments. he had to
invite Orunrnlla for assistance. At a subsequent divination, he told the Olofin to serve Es~ with two he-goats. palm fruits
and the instrument used by Oro cults for declaring curfews. He said that Esu was annoyed because of the severity of the
disdainful punishment met,ed out to Oro for and allegation that was probably false and vicious. He was also to serve lfa
with a ram. Orunmila made the sacrifices after which the Olefin formally surrendered Oro to him with full compensation.
At the same time peace and quietude returned io the palace and the town after the sacrifices.

When this Odu appears al divi the 'I_ •• person should be told to make sacrifice to avoid becoming
innocent victim of a malicious fol

He Divined for the Man Who Used to () Heaven for Divination:

He made divination for the Awo who used to go to heaven lo make divination, where his mother was assisting him.
Each time his mother came to the market from heaven, he used to accompany her on her return journey to heaven. His
mother used to tell him where to hide to avoid seeing his brothers who were
also in heaven, but were plotting to kill him.

On one such occasion when he got to heaven, his mother told him to hide behind the mortar. His brothers later came to he
house and no sooner they sat down that they fell the aura of earthly human presence in the house. When they asked their
mother for an explanation, she put them off by attributing the ~range earthly aroma to her physical interactions with human
beings in the earthly market from which she
was just returning.

The following day he went to perform his divination rounds after whi~h he rctumcd to earth fro~1 :l~: 1 le was m the
habit of boasting of being the only Awo capable of going to heaven to opcmtc. Ht. "..c,tub1hty V>On b:o~ght him at odds
with the divinity of Death, who began lo wonder who it was thnt would Cf]IT1~ to collect d1·.1matirmal offerings from
heaven to boast with on earth. The divinity of Death eventually ~dc.d to meet the ~.:,arrulom, man on earth. He combed the
earth for the Awo but could not find him.

IO I
 When he heard that Death was looking for him, he made divination and he was told to serve· Ifa with a ram, nnd i::su
with a he-goat,. and to stop going to ~eavcn. He made the sacrifices. After eating his he:oat (:.su made a rendezvous
with Death and asked him what he wanted to do with the man he was lookjng for and he n.:plied that he wanted t~ ki!I
hi~. Esu re~orted !hat Death W':5 ~eing ungrateful for contemplating to kill a man who \.\'US always smgmg his (Deaths)
praise on earth. Esu added that the man was always saying that heaven was a more peaceful home than earth. With
those words, Death was successfully
persuaded to leave the man alone and he returned to heaven.

When this Ifa appears at Ugbodu the per~on will be advised to serve; Ifa with a ram and ~o hens, Esu with a
he-goat after spreading palm fond on Esu shrine. After slaughtering the he-goat for Esu, the palm frond will be cut
for the person to come out of the shrine, to mark his exit from heaven. He should forbid plantain and leaves called
Malckpo. At divination, the person should offer he-goat to Esu because of envy at his place of work. A stronger
person is planning to kill him because of his exemplary performance on his
job. He should resist the temptation to be voluble.

He Made Divination for the People of Otumoba:

Eshi n ni ko ri oko gba.

Ojo ti a bi cshin ni eshin ti tobi.
Okuta ko ri orungbe.

The horse cannot find its way in the bush. The

horse grows big from the day it is born. The
rock bas no place in the sun.

Those were the A wos who made divination for the people of Otumoba when unity eluded them. They were
told to make sacrifice with ] 8 bas and 18 rabbits for them to be united again. They made the sacrifice. When
making the sacrifice Onmmila recited the following incantation'-

Yams have to unite to constitute a }r,>.J11.

'The com come forth not severally but jointly.
'The sperm must fuse with the ovum to produce and offspring.

After the sacrifice, unity returned to the people ofOtumoba. When it appears at divination the person will be
told that there is no unity in his family. They should make sacrifice for unity to thrive among them.

Made Divination for the Calabash and the Melon:

Okonron Bakata, made divination for the calabash and the melon, both born of the same parents, when they
were going to the farm at the beginning of the year. They were advised to make sacrifice in order to have children.
They were also required to make a second sacrifice to stop enemies from devouring their children. They were told to
make sacrifice with rabbit, a hen just about to lay, and cotton wool. They made the first sacrifice, but not the second
one. Meanwhile, as soon as they began to have children, both human beings and animals began to eat up their
children. The calabash ran back to Orunrnila to make another divination on what to do to stop enemies from eating
up her children. She was advised to make sacrifice with knife, baton, and sasswood (Oho in Yoruba and I yin in
Bini). She made the sacrifice and the medicinal preparations (Ayajo) was used to rub her body, after which she
returned to the farm.

When the calabash gave birth to a new set of children, Esu warned their potential consumers not to cat them
because they contained toxic substances. \Vhen people actually tried them they turned out to be very

102
bitter. That was how the fruits and seeds of the calabash ceased to be edible substances, and hence how their
mother brought salvation to them. The fruits and seeds of the melon, who did not make the second sacrifice
have continued to be favorite alimentary items on the human and animal menu.

\Vb~n this Odu appears at divination, the person will be advised to make these sacrifices to protect his or
her children from being plundered by the Cult of Witchcraft.

103
 , :11uauo,· rn
<)l<,•un·on-1 ro11un
J tl
,: l J
11 'J 1
)f 'J

The Dlvtnntlun lie Mntlt Before l.cnvlnn Heaven:

0 konron K,.1111111 I.er~, Oko11ro11 Ko11i11, wero the Aw1111 who 11111d1; rl1~(11111i,,'.' for (ilfmtt,111 when he
w11(1 conuuu from hcuvcn. I le w1111 11dvl11ccl t,, 1,111~c 1m1;1lf1,;,; v;JtlJ: .. h•,;..,,;11,:i, 111 f~m·1. addi11c II piece of
white cloth: red cock 1111d II piece of' n:d d1,f11 111 W111vJ,; (;JH,;~ m,,111

piece of black cloth lo U1Ji'm; and u HOHi to hiu g1111rdi1111 1111g,~I. I le w:w n:q11in;d 1,1 rt,, ti,•; tJ:s,irifj,1; ,,11 account of the
problems he was goi11H to hnvc Iuun the people of' the wo, Id, I le did Iii,; 1.w;,ifi{;, •. ) t,d,,,,. leaving for earth, ;ifkr hci,1H
forewarned that hiu wife 011 c1111h would be; ii S(111gl, lli1; J1ti1;1:f1!1m, wJi,, l,:,,t 1lw key lo hiH prosperity.

He got to the world and bt£!ilfl to work U"> on Jf?, prlcnr. I le wm1 not crnll(;t1lly sitfng:lJyJ lq 111r11111,11 l<,t a long time. In
fact, he did 1,0 much to shy nwny from any 11c1111w1l rcl;,1i,n111llir> with wnt11f;n, tl1:1t v;.,,1,f,, began to wonder whether he wa:
;i complete: mun. Meanwhile, he lrnvcllcd for 11:i pracricc 1,, ;i '1,IJ.11w; i11 Oyo where ht: met a pric!it.c!.}, ,,f the ~.~nLo
divinity. The woman enchanted f1i1i 11uwculi11lty w, ,;ff1;i1ivcly that he lost nu time in propor.inr: rm .. rr::;.nc to her, to
which nhc rc11pondi;cl v1;ry Iavorably. AHt:r tir~rid11JJ,! three days in the village he leh fo: l,c:n,.:. That wa:, ullcr obtaining
clearance from 1hc fotlv.:r ot 1111.: w,,,n:,,1 to travel home with her.

Since 110 one in hit; home 1ov•r1 c·--. !::I" expected him to f5Cl married, people were w:tnniuh~d 11, r-~!: 1,i,, returning home
with s1 wile. lvfony r,c.~.:;,.k came to welcome the woman, who watched them e:,uti,,IJ'.ly because many of them were
(Jrimn11h:':..t--:,1ex;,;,t A •11:oon withe wom1111 ucltltd down, nlic 11JlvlH1:d ( 1dmmll!1 to go for divination because che hnd ,.L.:JJ
.• · i;~ttJ the ~ii:,,l! of hi11 problems. I Jc 1mlwcqucnlly lnvitcd nn Aw,, called Akun Osun (the one who rubs c.~m·.r:<>'A).

After divination Akun Own t<Jld him t<J uCr'11;; hh If/, with si gout; fo11'1 with h
and (Jgun with cock. I Ie los: no time i11 111:Jr.in,~ 1J,,; Hacrifit.;c11. f 1111 wile uorn, hcctnuc p,cg11:1t1I, 111 !iving birth to a male
child. It W<.1!.i not l<m;t h•.:f,,,c J1c w:iri nhlc lo build hi1i own 110111:c. 'J f1,; wH,.: utv, developed to become a very popular
Sii11J!6 pri1.:•,t1.:•,·~, wJiu vm:i dlvi11i11g 1,11 people every nlne d:iyn, f,y possession. The family subsequently became 'li.:r'J
pr<>1,pt;r,,1w ,,nd he w1111 given rs chlcltnincy tltlc,

When this Jf{i appears at Ugbodu, the pcr~11n will marry :i divine prfo1,l<;1J1J, before (!.(m1i111t withi11 hniliru: distance
of fame and fortune.

Hh Experience on E;ar01:

'(J
227.

palm oil to the house. The parrot watched all that transpired.

When he returned from the forest, he was about to use the palm oil when the parrot warned him not to touch it
because a woman had come to take it away for some suspici<?us purpose before returning it. He decided to sound Ifa
who told him to pour the oil on the shrine of Esu, in addition to he-goat. After performing the sacrifice, her returned
with his gun to the forest.

The vicious woman followed him without being seen, to the forest. When he subsequently took aim to shoot a
deer, the gun exploded and the splinters hit the woman where she was hiding and she began to scream with pain. She
later managed to leave the spot, but before getting home, one half of her body turned to a deer while the other half
remained human. That was the deer he aimed to shoot in the forest.

The woman had been a widow for a long time and she had done everything to attract Orunmlla to befriend her,
but without success, because he was at the time not interested in any woman. After failing on that score, she decided
to end Onmmila's life. She subsequently died from the injuries received from the bullets that strayed from the
explosion of the gun.

When this Ifa appears at Ugbodu, the person should; serve his Ifa and head together with a goat, prepare Ogun
for the Ifa with a cock, and serve Esu with he-goat. He should forbid deer meat and rear a parrot. At divination the
person should serve; Ogun with a cock, Esu with he-goat, and Ifa with four snails.

He Made Divination for Osanyin, the Medicine Divinity:

Okonron kosun kosun, A wo ile Or-crmila. Odifa fun Osanyin nijo to ti kole orun bowa si kole aiye. He made
divination for Osanyin (Osrn in Bini) the Medicine divinity when he was coming to the world. He was advised to
make sacrifice -;,i:h he-goat, hen, rat and fish in order to avoid any leakage of his secrets while on earth. He made the
sacrifice which explains why no one knows his secrets to this day.

When it appears at divination the person will be told that he is contemplating to do something on which he has
some missing. He should be given the all clear to go ahead to do it, and the secret will never be revealed, provided he
makes sacrifice.

Ori ewe ni mu oshe je subsequently made divination for Osanyln to become popular, effective and famous on
earth. At divination the person should be told to have his own Ifa and to prepare Osanyln for it.

Divination for Wealth and Prosperity:

Orunrnila said lkosun. I

said Ikosun.

It is from Ikosun that people bring prosperity to the world. Only those who made sacrifice are able to bring fortune
successfully from Ikosun to the world that enjoy opulence in life. The sacrifice is made with ipin and iyan plants and
a mother-goat because it is "Ile kun keke ke" that the mother-goat cries, meaning, the house is full of wealth."

en it appears at divination. the person \1,~Jl be told that his enemies arc trying to destroy the good b1:3d he
brought to the world. He should make sacrifice with a mother-goat and the rrn priest will collect the lea-. cs of the
two plants. ipin and iyan, grind them together, and cook it into soup with salt, palm oil and {he heart of the goat for
the person to cat after adding the Iyerosun of this Odu. I le will definitely prosper
frotr1 that year.
 hapter ~cn~n
Okonron-Dwaur'in
I I I I
I I I I
I I I
I I
Divination Made for Him Before LN1Ying Heaven:

hen he was leaving heaven. his guardian angel warned him not to splenetic on too harsh an

W earth lest he courted the risk of mental derangement nn guardian angel advised
him to make sacrifices to the following divinities>
aranoin, His

( i ) Plenty of cowries. chalk, white cloth and

pigeon to Olokun. the water divinity; (
ii ) He-goat to Esu:
( iii ) Dog and cock to Ogun: and
( iv ) Castrated he-goat to his Ifa and head together.

He did aJI the sacrifices after which he approached Ogun to accompany him to the world and Ogun agreed.
On the other hand. Olokun refused to accompany him to the world.

When he got to the world he began to practice as an Ifii priest. but he was not very effective, Hi predictions
and sacrifices were not materializing and manifesting. and so people stopped patronizing him. He subsequently
became very poor. One night he had a dream in which his guardian angel advised him t go for divination. He
approached other Awos who advised him to repeat the sacrifices he made in heaven as in paragraph one above.
Since he could not finance the sacrifices. he had to borrow money to fund them.

Thereafter, he began to go for Ifa practice in the market place. By so doing. he was able to raise money to
repay his debts. His Ifa practice had become more effective and clients were beginning to have confidence in him.
One day, he saw Olokun's daughter in the market and professed love to her, but she rebuffed him on the ground that
he was too abrasive for her taste. On getting home from the market in white apparels after giving another he-goat to
Esu. He did as he was told. The next time he made amorous overtures to Olokun's daughter she readily agreed to
become his wife.

At the close of the market, she followed him home, and they began to live together as man and wife.
Incidentally, for a long time she did not become pregnant. He again invited Awos to make divination for him and he
was advised to serve 016kun with pigeon, white cloth, parrot's feather, chnlk and cowries. He was also advised to
serve Ogun with a dog. He made the sacrifices. Thereafter Olokun's dnuuhter settled down and refrained from
treating him derisively. She subsequently bccnmc pregnant and in th; fullness of time gave birth to a male child
called Money. She however continued her trading. Follo,,inc the birth of the child, he became very prosperous and
later married other wives and hnd several child~n. TI1c first child became more famous that his parents.

\Vhen this Odil appears at Ugbodu, the person should be advised to develop a phlegmatic temper : that the
wife who will make him prosperous may not be scared away through his mecurinl temperament. He ,.,;11 give birth
to a child who will bring fame and fortune to him provided he makes sacrifice,

106
 228.
230.
229.
231.
u ~ll'r Founded His Own Town:

Ht.' Pros~red so elaboratclv that he was able to found his own usvrn and IY;r~m,; ,,~ r)r,1,, In hh trn!fl ~\\.~ two
invalids. one had hernia and the other had throat tumor, and were next (ir,,,r m;ig.ht,<,1~, The twc-, mv~Jids were
always qunrrelling and corning for settlement before the Oba. Vlht..-r;!!tttr th': (>rY-a.~kcd tht:r to n:trr.ite the cause of
their quarrel. they often retorted by saying "ask the 1,th1.."1"', The (Jh~ w,,uld advise them to stop quarrelling. but
invariably they returned home only to drag 1h1.:mf'.elvc~ a~~in tt, the ".>f.1?,,(!C d·u·
next · - , ,~

ny. the hernia patient, a man. and the tumor patient a woman, both dr::iggC1J them-elves once
. to the palace. The rumor patient was wailing in tears. When a:;kcd why she V/<J:: crying. she C.,""'/.· plained that the
man was Iauehine at her affliction because it was exposed. V/hf..1'1 a:J~c;d vk,y he W<J:l laughing at the woman .. he
explained that she was the first to laugh at him with a problem he had in hi.. stomach. His own affliction was
effectively concealed under his clothes while the woman had no WdY of
ncealing her throat rumor. AJ1e:-1)2cif)ing them to return home the Oba appointed a palace detective to
investigate the actual cause of the incessant quarrels.

The fellowing morninz the detective assuming a vantage position opposite their two houses from where be
could wa"i'ch de\-el~::m:E.. No: Ione afterwards, the hernia patient came out to sit in front of hi
- -
house. A Iittle later, the n.:~:::10:-:--~::::: 2-"U came out and sat in front of her house. The woman began by
nuking a circle with her !\\-O h::,-;ris :.::-:...e position of her private part and the man reacted by dcmormrating her
rumor with his two h::,:,-isto t:.5 ::_ti~ Instantly, the woman began to cry, and subseque .. mtly, they
for

When the de: _,_ s.e1 ~=:; .-_..::_5 to the Oba, he decide to persuade them to stop laughing at
~ :! i=;i::z.!ion for them, after which he advised the man to serve his -
~ c:: :~:1gle-handedly .. The woman was also advised to serve her

for their respective sacrifices. As the man wan am alone, :1 kicls: =~ fai!::.-! !~6
"> arrange
into his private part and it exploded the hernia and the The acc:te:::1 ~---= :-...:.!11 tn fall
down, unconscious. By the time he regained
__ The Sc....,-:&.1ng happened LO the woman. As she too was trying to kill
!..~,.;. !I nierced 11 toenails
deep into her tumor and the pus trapped
The n!:Zl morning both of them went in amity to express the
Obi \\'!10 •.;.'25 ,.,7 r'YY t'J see the end of their quarrels.

When this Ifa a;,peai.-s ai Ugbodu, 1~-: person will be advised to beware of someone suffering from hernia, He
should serve bis Ira with a k .. · • give 2 ~m.1 to E_,riJ, and serve his head with a cock, His house is likely to be
opposit~ tb1 of a -.\-o-z:, At di·.[!"'?'...tir.r.J the person should U.'TVe; (Jgun with a cock. and Esu \1L'1 he-goat, to
avoid running ic;o d.:fiici.:!:i~ • • ..-fah neighbors or associates.

Uc Made Dh;nstfon for the Dog:

:i ·~\ -:ri:l v. -:?.:n. her t

B.,'

.... _ ...•. anyume me children an

r=~1
7
 their mother met, they were always fighting. That has become the peculiarity of the canine breed to this day.

When it appears at divination, the person should be told that he has a quarrelsome disposition. He shouJd
refrain from it.

Made Divination for Sango:

Okonron ajagbile, Babalawo Sango, odifa fun Sango,

He made divination for Sango when he was coming to the world, advising him to make sacrifice. All the
other divinities had complained that Sango was too aggressive and volatile, especially as he was always em~tting
fire from his mouth when he spoke. When the other divinities eventually ostracized him, he went to Orunmila for
divination. He was advised to make sacrifice with a ram adding all eatables. He did the sacrifice after which the
other divinities invited him for rapprochement and re-fraternization. He declined the invitation and they all
trooped to his house where there was a reconciliation.

When the Odu appears at divination the person should be told to make sacrifice so that all his enemies might
recant and become friendlier. For a man, he will soon have a new woman to marry. For a woman, a man of a
different tribe will approach her for marriage. That is, if the divination indicates Ure. The sacrifice will be made
with a goat for a man and a he-goat for a woman.

He Made Divination for Alapini Iyan-Iyan, and Ikola:

He made divination for Alapini Iyzn-Iyan advising him to make sacrifice in order to avoid the danger of
death. He was told to make sacrifice with a ram and his wearing apparel. He refused to make the sacrifice and he
subsequently died suddd:··· After his death, his children lay him in state and called on him.-

Alapini o.
Ti o ba se ki iku ni o ku,
Ki iwo fi gbi gbi je eni.
Ti o ba se si-sun ni o nsun, Ki
o tara je ni,
Alapini o.

Meaning:
If your death is natural,
May your soul rest in perfect peace
But if you are merely sleeping Then
wake up like a man again,

When they called on him a second time, he answered by recalling the name of the Awo who mode divination
for him, adding that he had to stay with the people of heaven because of the sacrifice he refused to make.

At divination. the person should be told that an elderly man is about to die, which will make him ( di vi nee) to
spend a Jot of money, unless he performs the above-mentioned sacrifice.

)0
8
 Chapter Eight
Okonron-Ogunda
I
I I
I I
II I I
I I
I
He Made Divination for Animal-Kind and Divinities:

konron kogun kOgun, Okonron kogbon kogbon. Aka i katan ni omode n ka ewe agboyin ni poro oko.
Adifa fun eranko mcrindilojo.
'--"'
The priest who interprets Ifa in twenty ways, the priest who interprets Ifa in thirty ways and the uncoun!a?le leaves
of Agbonyin which children count endlessly in the bush, were the three Awos who ma~e divination in heaven for 480
animals and 480 divinities. They were advised to make sacrifice to avoid the risk of starvation. Each kindred was told to
make sacrifice with four cocks and cherry fruits (Agbalumo in Yoruba and Otien in Bini.) The divinities made sacrifice
but the animals refused.

Once upon a time, there was famine in heaven and everyone was looking for food to eat. The divinities made an
appeal to God and He gave them the seeds of cherry tree (Osan Agbalumo in Yoruba and Otien in Bini), which they
immediately planted. Esu soon blew air and water into the seeds, and within three days it had germinated. Within 2 span
of ten days, it had yielded fruits and on seventeen days the fruits were ripe for plucking. The divinities subsequently
began to feed on it.

Meanwhile, the he-goat was passing :., :' the tree when he saw the ripe fruits fallen to the ground. He collected as
many fruits as he could c.z..--;:; to feed his family at home. Thereafter, he made a point of visiting the foot of the tree every
morning to collect fruits to feed his family. Not Jong afterwards. the divinities discovered that an intruder VI as \ !~~ting
the tree to collect its fruits unauthorizedly. The divinities reacted by setting traps round the tree called Ibante Ojcbcto in
Yoruba.

The next time the he-goat came to the tree, he was caught in the trap and he began to cry for help.
When the divinities Jater discovered him in the trap, each of them began to foul the air (mess) on his head. The toxic gas
from the fouled air killed him, and when the divinities asked among themselves who would cat the culprit. Esu
volunteered to take the he-goat. These two incidents explain why the head of the hegoat has an odor and why the he-goat
remains the favorite food of Esu to this day.

\Vhen the Odu appears at divination, the person will be advised to make sacrifice to prevent illness on the head. He
should make sacrifice with he-goat an~ black soap. The blood of the he-goat and the soap will used to wash the person's
head on the shrine of Esu.

Jfthe divination is made by a community or group of people to find out the prospects for a particular year. they
will be told to make sacrifice to avoid austerity throughout that year.

The Divination Ht: Made Before Leaving Heaven:

Before leaving heaven he made divination at which he was advised lO serve (Jgun with palm wine
'
cock. dog, and tortoise in order to avoid being killed by Oi.!tm on earth. He was also to serve: Esu with a
. '

l fj
232.
234.
233.

hc-gunt, und his hcnd 1111d I In with II i;m,:,,rfif,,;, If,; r:11w,; 11> 11),; wo,M ;,J,,A 11,1;}11,1., ;,;J after
receiving the hlc.::minu of God.

11 gc1ti11~ lo. ''~c "':'oriel, he wns !>c:ing 1111d1:1 mi~11:1t J,y 1111~ ,;J~,11'l /; 11,,-:., ,,..r'! ,11,~;-o ti,,~'l (i covered tlwt
J11s d1v1111111on u11d :rncrlt1c1;1i vter« n1111111,;~1J, ,:1111;:,1;,,JIJ-:,, d,,:1 t1-o//./,:, ti, .1,~1;, ~;:r:,, Just as 6r1rnml11\
expects hiR Iol lnwcr« I•> dtJ, wli,;11,;•1,:1 111~ ,1,·1111,:-'-;~ r/mf,~ t;i/1 ~H,,1t, to flfr,f. expensive sacrifices. he would mnke-do
with 11tli,rdal,l1: i111w,,·1i-:.:-;11,,11:;, IJ,,':/;)/,:,,1 ff ft.-: i:,"".Uo::,(~ a divince was required to make sacrifice with 11 < i1ii11i;u-
li1wl, l,,;111 'h',Y ~n,11 i,1:1J~111, '/J/d ,,: rk:r,, r.~ ,,H,, ask them to fetch a chicken for blood, while w,iug tl1 ; ka1Ji,;r~ ,,1 tll':
1
1 1
r ;1J•1i, ;t1 i,,,,;; 7.:,11 ,r, ff~ r/,-:-~~ <,f fr,
required animals. for the sacrifice, which t)/lc:11 ui:111ifo~ti~J a~ i1 H•;,; :;:;ulfr,j::J ·111j111r-, "ll'U~
began to flock to him which eurncd him the envy of other tJh1in1; p,k!:.f!'J,

At meetings of divine priests he was often derided and ffo:,p,:~1 fin<J t111; ()?fir, ,;:fo~1-:. wore yr.t1r:'·• larly up in
arms against him. He later went for divin:tticm at wJJh;J, h!; w~~ t!h111) -:-.1.:rw::, {>rf;:; f.1/s'r, t.1~ cock, tortoise and
gourd of palm wine, J'.;:,u with hc-1y,at, and Jf~ with a vffY:t./1IW, $ fr: dl'J a!f tr.e ~urn~ after which his enemies left
him in peace. I le continued tn f;f1j(1J fl0f,tJIJ1r 8-c(:d~:m </-:J ~;1;1,-.rr:t c,f (r~ effectiveness of his work. He was very
prosperous.

When this Ifa appears at Ugbodu, the person :,h1>uld 1,mJ)()-rt (J,1/Jn fi1r Mrrs·;1.;Jf, t:tJ fritd r;u o-:.t. wovfrl
be able to harm him with Ogun. He will be successful in wh:Jf/;'/t;r ·J/f~/'. bi: dt~·~, h
generate enmity. At divination, the person should have hfo own Jf¥i ~n<J iJt!fJn, or J'y; :,fi'iUM VX-le; ff&
a crocodile and Esu with a he-goat.

He Made Divination for Ogim and the Oracllst:

Before leaving heaven, he made divination for Ogun, advising him to rnakc a fb~t frn hfa g1J2rdfar. angel with
fourteen different birds and animals, and to give he-goat to i=.t:u, in orci!;rt/J ~~oid r..t(;6Tf1ir.z tf1t thankless servant
of aJJ. He refused to make the sacrifice, whfoh ~xpfain·; vln1 (J;,Jm Jw_;r rY.:t..:ame the unappreciated servant of all
divinities ~'ld mankind alike.

He also made divination for the OracJi-,1 a.dvfoing him to make sacrifice ti} {;lJd ;,11
atori (squirrel's stick or unwcnriontan in Bini), white chalk, whlte kolarnn and parrc,1'r> f~h!;T. H~ di sacrifice after
which God gave him the inctrument <Jf authority (ASE) (l,r all hi1> prediction to come tne. That explains his
popularity on getting to th,; world.

He Made Divination for Three If~ Priests With Challtnging Nlek-Narnes:

Iwu lo fi ori arigbo she lie. Ure

la'fon kpc kokoro. Akorko Ii
gbena gbcna ara igi.
Awon metcta l'andifa fun ka-ki-lflgun, Abufun Ka ki
logbon, atun bu fun cgbc okpc to'on shomo Ikeyin won
lcnje lcnjc. Aba kii lo'Ogun kaum
kii lo ogbon bi fa ba ti gbcni oun ni awa ni ma ma.

The gray hair makes a home of an elderly person'n head The

cricket blows the trumpet for the WOnTI'>,
The woodpecker is the carver for all birds.

J J ()
235.
236.
240.
241.
238.
237.
239.

:. r(,.'6;,"; /,. r1, ,· /,";):JI}~.;;

.,

(1>
It:) J ,"'I••#2,:,1·~
,; ...,, _,,~#.J
~ .,.,. 'If,-,; •..• • .., ,,,
,, .z t :: ~
(i~t ~J •..•.• ..,~,..1-
> •• -.,, 1=1,,..,
.,._ ~'_..I-' r, /.h,*' ,t/;I.,,,,

1 'r.
-__ _,,,.,,,,-r'~·
.•• , ..• t,.:_; , •••.....•,., ., ."";..,-_....t~ .• ,. .• , ,., .C:
- .• ~- r

(;
u •.
~~
::: e---~~-:-

['-,-ni!aTl.,.,...,.,
..,Ato~r~

.~
-;,1

ff~ l;falf. .
244.
243.
242.
246.
245.
247.

fthe birds but to make divination for bis pregnzm 7+"1:e_

When Onmrnila made divination, his own Odis come om a-,., :r.! :o!:5 -=:v22 -::...-:- ~ ~ :D: ~s.-1-..-:;!::. the
actual reason for his visit, and that he was merely using his wife's :---=--~--· zs .a ~i-,-, .•• s==.. =~
insisted that he came to find out how to ensure thai his wife would l ... ave 2. safe ~:S-.·:=:-:· :e":-:--.se -~-:c-
nly worry at that material time. Oninmila subsequently assured t..::n fr,::-· i-=:::: • .•• i:~ -:i-7-".j ~-· ~ ..E ,~ - delivery
of a male child. He added however that Eziza would have :.o o.:~-== y>-1.::::.::.e -.,.. :-2: sx -=.. ··=.,
hens. It was at that stage that Eziza disclosed that he ,\"25 a bi
birds because he wanted all of them. He however promised to crocuoe six fe:. ~ s::.,.:. ice
wife could be guaranteed a safe deliverv.

The following day Eziza brought the six birds and his wife ~ii
same evening. and the child was named Ewezbemi.

When this Ifa appears at U gbod u, the perso n ,,, ill be giv ·e birth
and who will be given the Eziza divinity to serve. He should serve Ira wi own
Ifa, to avoid the danzer of being killed on account of somethinz ·
- - - -
At divination the person should serve E.._tjJ with a he-goat to avoid geai ·~ ~=:::-."""~3. =~s:: someone --~
else's trouble on account of his own belonging.

He Made Divination for the Two Babaras:

Igida, Igi se ori, won-roo-kon s}-i-:o_ were the three Awos who made divinzricn for B~h.-::2 ~ Babara
junior who were always z:-~ · · ~ between themselves. They were each advised to -,-~'kc sz.:::=..:: •. with he-goat.
okro and maize. Babzra •••• -- · err was told to make the sacrifice to avert lt.e risk a:'l~..;-:§ · ·
to his junior. Nonetheless, he ±..!Se:. 1.3 •.ake the sacrifice because be could n could dare
to usurp his authority. .E~:..;_.:;; zaior however made the sacrifice.

In a subsequent contest. the junior :2&ra defeated Babara senior. That is why it is ~j ·

Babara bo Babara mo'le.

•' -
The vouna man floored the elderlv ~en
.
If it appears at divination.. the prescribed sacrifice should be made hurriedly victim
of unintended consequences. If the divination is for a group of people
make sacrifice to avoid losing authority to less privileged subordinates.

112
 Chapter Nine
Okonron-Osa
I I
I I
I I II I
I I
Made Divination for the Guinea-fowl:

0 konron Konron ron ron. Odifa fun Aworo ugbo, to tori toma dafa. He made divination in heaven for
the Guinea-fowl in order to have children. She was advised to make sacrifice with hen, rat, fish,
akara and eko. She made the sacrifice and began to have children. Whenever

she felt the approach of danger, she would shout the name of the Awa who made divination for her - moti she'bo
He Made kan
Okonron Divination for Oya,kan
ron ron ron-kan Obalifon,
kan. Asa and Awodi:

Okan sa, Eji sa, odifa fun Oya ni jo ti o she Awo lo si ode ara. Abu fun Ogalifon on she Awa lol si ode
Iyenden. Otun bu fun Asa ati Awodi.

He made divination in heaven for Oya when she was going for divine practice at Ata. He also made
divination for Obalifon when he was going for Awo practice in the land of Iyendin. At the same time, he made
divination for the Hawk and Awodi. He advised all four of them to make sacrifice and they all did each with a
cock _ a hen, three eggs and scissors (Emu in Yoruba and Awan in Bini). That is why the missile thrown b-J each
of them never misses target.

Divination for Prosperity:

Mi'ra we wele, mi ugbo ru

Mi'ra we wele, mi ule ru
Bi ugbo ba ti ru, omo eronko aa de. Bi ule
ba ti ru, omo araye aa de.
Mi ira we wele, mi omi ru.
Bi omi ba ti ru, omo eja aa de.
When the forest blossoms, animals will flourish. When the house
florisbes, human beings will prosper. When the river profuses,
fishes will multiply.

When this Odu appears at divination, the person will be told to perservere in his poverty because r.:fore the
evening of his life. he will flourish, multiply and prosper, provided he makes sacrifice with cock,
c-inea-fowl. hen and eggs.

He Made Divination for the Snake in Heaven:

Okonron shale, sha okuta elasara, was the Awo who made divination for the snake. He was advised to make
sacrifice to avoid intimidation. He was required to make sacrifice with Two Hundred needles. a tock and cotton
wool. He made the sacrifice and he •NaS told to carry it to Esu. When he got to Esu, he was

113
 toJd to open his mouth and Esu lined his jaws with the needles. After spitting into the mouth of the snake Esu
told him that whenever the needle touches any person or animal, the venom in the needle will not only sting the
victim but line his bloodstream with morbid toxin. It was from then on that the snake became the fiendish
reptile that his is today.
248.
When it appears at divination, the person should be told to make sacrifice in order to be dreaded by his
enemies.

The Divination Made for Him Before Leaving Heaven:

Uku soro soro ki aiba lu'le Awo. Oyi

fefe l'ongba ale orun tima tima. Afefe
era af e omo de udo afino.
Death cannot be strong enough to be met in an I fa priests house.
It is the strong gale that sweeps the streets of heaven.
No wind can be strong enough to stop the kids of Udo from preparing fire.

These were the three Awos who made divination for Okonron-Osa when he was leaving heaven. He was
advised to make sacrifice to insure himself against the risk of premature death, and to enjoy assured prosperity.
He was required to make sacrifice with; black hen to Ifa, akara, eko, squashed yam and he-goat to Esu, and to use
a goat to make a feast for the police and youths of heaven. He made all the sacrifices before leaving for the
world.

On getting to the world, he became an Ifa priest and after doing well for some time, he began to run into
difficulties. He then went for divination and he was told to repeat the sacrifices he made in heaven. He made a
feast for both youths and elders and they all prayed for him. At the subsequent meeting of all Ifa priests, he was
appointed to be the one to carry all sacrifices to the unseen forces on earth such as the Night and Esu. In the
process, he became indispensable and prosperous.

He Made Divination for Singo and His House Help:

He made divination for Sango when he was travelling with his wife to dance at Omuwo. He was advised to
serve his father with a ram, but he did not do the sacrifice. As he was dancing at Omuwo, he accidentally hit the
eyes of one of his followers with his fingers and the man became blind. It was that man who used to prepare him
for dancing and follow him about as he danced. After the man became blind, Sango sacked him from his service
The blind man later went to Okonron-Osa for divination. He was advised to serve his head with a cock, privately
without the presence of anyone including his wife.

As he was praying to his head with the cock, it shot out its toe nails and it hit him on the eye, instantly
removing the spider's web that beclouded his vision, thus restoring the use of his eyes. Okonron-Osa became so
famous after that incident that at the subsequent meeting of the divine council of earthy, he was appointed by
Arone to be the one to be carrying sacrificial offerings to heaven.

He Made Divination for Agbirari, the Friend of Esu:

Agbc'bo ni o nsa gbure. Agberu ni o nsa gbure. Emu emuno ni o koko mo'Jc abe re nke reserese.

These were the three Awos who made divination for Agbirari, the friend ofEsu when he was hungry.
He was advised lo go and hold on lo his friend, Esu, When he apprehended Esu, the latter asked him what
114
249.

his problem was and he replied that he was always hungry. Realizing the utility value of his friend.~
proclaimed that from that day, if anyone made sacrifice without mentioning his (Agbirari's) name, he should
seize the sacrifice and stop it from reaching its destination, including sacrifices to him, Esu. In other words,
no sacrifice will manifest without mentioning the name of Agbirari.

Before handing the sacrifice over to Okonron-Osa, the officiating Ifa priest should say:-

Kesu Agbirari
and then add
Okonronsa te te te, te te te, te te te.
adding the iyerosun,

115
250.

Chapter Ten
Okonron-Etura
I ~. \.,, I I
I I I I
I I I
I I
He Made Divination for the Mouth:

konron tua tua tua, Babalawo erun, odifa fun erun ni ojo ti erun t'onje aye ogbono ara. He made

0 divination for the Mouth in order to over come the inconvenience of eating hot food. He told the
Mouth to make sacrifice with eko and four snails. After the sacrifice, as the

Mouth was sleeping in the night, Esu line the walls of his stomach with the cool liquid from the snail with which he
had made sacrifice. Thereafter, as soon as the Mouth ate anything hot, the snail liquid will be released to cool it
down simultaneously.
When the Odil appears at divination if it is Ure, the person will be told that he is contemplating a difficult
undertaking but that he should go ahead after making sacrifice with a hen and four snails. If it is Ayeo, he should
give it up.

He Made Divination for the Hand, Throat, Stomach, Anus, Rubbish Dump, and the Sea:

Okonron tua tua tua, also made divination for the Hand, Throat, Stomach, Anus, Rubbish Dump (Etian in
Yoruba and Otiku in Bini) and the Sea or Olokun. He advised them to make sacrifice against the danger of
unconsumated fortune (Amubo in Yoruba and Osobe mo ma sunu in Bini). They were required to make sacrifice
with a henaod four snails. All of them, except Olokun, the Water Divinity, refused to make the sacrifices.

Subsequently, each time the hand fetched food, he gave it to the mouth, who passed it through the throat to the
stomach, who also passed it to the Anus, who in turn passed it to the rubbish dump or toilet and water or rain
washed il aJI to the home of 016kun, who consumes it all.

That is why all the work done by the hand to fetch food for the mouth, pass through the esophagus via the
throat to the stomach and through the anus to the rubbish dump or toilet, finally ending up through the porous soil to
the underground aquifer into the sea or river. The work done by all the others who failed to make sacrifice to enrich
Olokun, the Water Divinity, being the only one who made sacrifice

When this Odu appears at divination, the person should be advised to make sacrifice so that his efforts do not
thanklessly go to benefit other people.

He Made Divination for the Harmattan:

Okonron tu tu tu tu. A wo oye doifa fun oye.

He made divination or the Harrnattan, the cold dry wind from the north that blows in the tropics from
December to March, when he was leaving heaven for the world. The masculine Rain, had proposed marriaae to the
feminine Harmattan, a beautiful woman, in heaven, but she declined his proposal The Rain

116
 continued to swoon her persistently but being the proud damsel she was. she continued to rebuff him.
Eventually, she decided to escape to earth where she became very attractive and popular. She succeeded in
putting both plants and animals under her command.
251.
When her popularity on earth was reported in heaven, the Rain became annoyed and decided to meet her
on earth. Before the interventions of the Rain came, the Hannattan had succeeded in defoliation the plants and
humoring the animals. The insurge of the Rain was therefore a welcome relief on earth. The Rain drove
Hannattan back to heaven and all the plants that had lost their foliage and glamour began to blossom once
again.

When it appears at divination for a woman, she will be told to marry an Ifa man, because of the problems
she is bound to have from a dark-complexioned man whose hands she would reject for marriage. For a man, he
will be told that a dark complexioned woman is desirous of marrying him. He should accept
her, provided he has or takes his own Ifa,

He Made Divination for the Dove:

Okonron tu tu tu, made divination for the Dove advising him to make sacrifice to save his wife from the
danger of sudden death, which would make him weep. He refused to make the sacrifice. Not long afterwards, the
wife died and he began to cry and to mourn, regretting that he should not have refused to make the sacrifice. He
began to cry with the name ofOkonron tu tu tu, who made divination for him. That is the cry of the male dove to
this day,

When the Odu appears at divination, the person will be told not to tarry or procrastinate before making
sacrifices recommended at divination, in order to forestall the danger of untimely death, to be caused by
relations. The sacrifice is made with a gnar and a piece of red cloth.

The Divination He Made Before ~in& Beaven:

lya faa, lya foo was the Awo who made divination for him before he left heaven. He was advised to make
sacrifice with a whole bush goat (Edu in Yoruba and Oguonziran in Bini) to Ifa and to give a he-goat to Esu. He
gave the he-goat to Esu and began to look for the bush goat for Ifa. Subsequently, he was returning from the bush
one day where he went to (etch leaves for his work, when he saw a hunter returning from the forest with a bush
goat, He was happy to buy it at the asking price.
•• "t-,.'\

Thereafter, he invited the Ifa priest to serve his Ill for him with the bush goat. After making the sacrifice,
he left for the world, where he continued to practice as an Ifa priest. He was advised in heaven never to be too
outspoken in the midst of more elderly Jfa priests. He was also advised to refrain from taking alcoholic drinks.

One day, he was at the conference of divine priests where he drank unreservedly. When he became tipsy, he
began to boast of his capabilities and to reveal his closely guarded personal secrets. The elders became
disillusioned with him and were at the point of using their ASE to curse him when Esu reminded them that be
was behaving unusually, because he was drunk since he was known to be characteristically reticent and taciturn.

When he subsequently became sober, be was told of bis uncanny behavior when he was drunk for which
profusely apologized to the elders. He went later for divination and he was told to serve: lfa with a black goat and
Esu with a be-goat, He made the sacrifices with the help of the Awos and he was told to forbid drinkina entirely.
Thereafter he began to prosper.

117
 When this Ifa appears at Ugbodu, the person should be advised never to drink at all and not to be too
talkative at meetings and public gatherings.

Divination for Him to Have Children:

When he got married, his wife did not become pregnant for a long time. He tried everything he knew
but to no avail. He also sought the assistance of other Ifa priests, but without any success. He finally went to
an A wo called Aden who prepared the medicine that enabled the wife to become pregnant. He subsequently
had several children but forgot to express his gratitude to the Ifa priest who helped him. That is why the
children of this Odu are often called ingrates.

He even began to derive personal benefit from the medicine prepared for his wife by Aden, without
giving any credit whatsoever to his benefactor. Whenever people approached him for medicine to have
children, instead of directing them to the owner of the technology who had not formally transferred it to him,
he would collect the relevant leaves that Aden used to make him have children, and prepare them for third
parties. More often than not however, the medicine was not efficacious because the owner of its expertise did
not willfully impart it to him. Since the medicine did not work, clients began to avoid him.

That was when he resorted to divination at which he was required to procure a goat and a hen to thank
Aden. He made the presentation to Aden who thanked him without formally transferring the know-how of the
medicine to him.

When this Ifa appears at Ugbodu, the person will be ungrateful to the Awo who prepared Ifa for him,
which will create problems for him. He should serve; Esu with a he-goat, and Ogun with a cock, and be told to
forbid ripe plantain.

He Made Divination for Children Vying for the Throne of Their Father:

Boba kpe titi, Ifa a kpe Babalawo

Boba bu she gonjo Osanyin a kpe eleshigun
A tun kpe atoke kpelu re.
Ajoji Awo no wo oko kiri oyigi
Adafa fun won ni ile to maa gun ori oye baba r

After a while, Ifa will materialize for its diviner.

After a while, satisfaction will come to the follower and the leader in the Cult of the medicine divinity.

These were the Awos who made divination for the children who were contesting the throne of their
departed father. They were advised to make sacrifice with he-goat to Esu and a mother goat to Ifa.

The senior son refused to make the sacrifice and the most junior one did not see any point in wasting his
hard-earned money to make sacrifice for a throne for which he was by tradition not qualified. The second son
however made sacrifice. When the king makers eventually invited diviners to find out which of the princes
would bring peace and prosperity to the society, the lot fell on the second son who made sacrifice. He was
eventually made the Oba and peace and prosperity flourished throughout his reign.

118
He Made Divination for the People of Otu:

Okonron tu tu tu Babalawo won l'ode otu.

Odifa fun won )'ode otu, ti gbogbo won nusu ekun a lai no owo. Ti
won nsun ekun a lai ni obinrin.
Ti won nsun ekun a lai ni gbogbo ire.

He made divination for the people ofOtu when they were craving for money, marriage and general
prosperity. They were all advised to make sacrifice with a mother pig, sixteen snails and shea butter. They
made sacrifice and all their desires were accomplished.

The place where the sacrifice was made came to be called Otu, on the precincts of Ife.

119
 Chapter Eleven
Okonron-Irete
1°._ 1·1 I
I I I I :
I I
~t~ •

I ; 'L/ r ~ I
He Made divination for the Cockroach:

0
kan re re re re, Babalawo anyinyan, odifa fun anyinyan. He made divination for the Cock roach,
advising her to make sacrifice in order to obviate the danger of sudden death. She was to make the
sacrifice with cane, rope, rat, and fish. She failed to do the sacrifice.

When the maid was sweeping the house one morning, she saw the cockroach and her many children. She killed
some of the children with a broom and their mother fell outside the house on her back. Since cockroach cannot fly
when it falls on its back, she began to call on the name of her Babalawo - Okan re re re re, while turning round in
circles. Her cry attracted the fowl who killed her and ate her up.

When this Odu appears at divination, the person should be advised to make sacrifice to checkmate the risk of
sudden death. The sacrifice is made with hen, rat, fish, rope and cane.

He made divination for the Boa snake:

Okon rete rete rete, Awo oka, odifa fun oka.

He made divination for the Boa snake (Oka in Yoruba and Arunwoto in Bini). He was advised to make sacrifice
against the danger of being killed with a stick by human beings. He did not do the sacrifice. Instead, he preferred to
be hiding, not knowing that God had already appointed the squirrel as the crier to divulge his whereabouts to save
other animals from his wicked stratagem. The announcement of the squirrel reporting the presence of the Boa is:-

Wa wo oka o elewu obobo. Oka

re o elewu obobo. Oka wa mbi
elewu obobo. Oka ka ka ka ka ka.

by which he warns both mankind and other animals that the multicolored Boa is around. The declaration of the
squirrel not only warns animals to run away from the area, but also attracts his main enemy, the human being. As
soon as man hears the announcement of the squirrels, he cuts a stick with which to kill the Boa and he often succeeds
in doing so because he does not escape from danger. The Boa only moves when his tail is touched by an unfortunate
intruder, who often pays with his or her life.

When this Ifa appears at divination, the person will be told to make sacrifice to avoid being lied · nst by a
person who is short and sharp.

120
253.
252.

He made divination for Water:

Okon re re Babalawo omi. Odifa fun omi olojo ti awon meta mba omi she ota. Okele ge ge re ge maye ota
orni I'on she. Ota pete, ota orni ni onshe. Gbongbo ibi mole segede si ona, ota omi ni o nshc.

He made divination for Water to triumph over its three deadly enemies:- the clouds of the sky; the rock and the
protruding root-trunk of trees, who vowed to disrupt the life of Water by obstructing his mo,·ements. Then:afler
Water found himself effectively engaged and he began to live in fear. One day, he decided to go to Onmmila for
divination on what to do to overcome the inhibitive contrivances of his enemies. He was advised to make sacrifice
with scarf (Oja in Yoruba and Oza in Bini) he-goat, axe, bean pudding (Moin moin without oil) eko, pigeon, hoe,
and cutlass. He made the sacrifice without delay.

Meanw!1il~ there was a lo~g drought duri~g which Esu had locked _the rain tap o_f heaven. After eati~g his
be-goat, Esu opened the ram tap and the ram fell for three consecutive days. f:su used the cutlass with which rain
made the sacrifice to cut the clouds and the rain began to fall like it had never fallen before. All the rivers that had
dried up became flooded. To combat the problem posed by the rock, Esu used the hoe with which Water made
sacrifice, to construct a by pass around the rock. Esu also used the hoe and the axe to remove the root trunk of trees
which had vowed to impede the advance of Water. With help of Esu, Water was able to uproot the trees that blocked
its way. Water then began to have a free thoroughfare.

When it appears at divination, the person will be told that he has three indomitable enemies who are sworn to
blocking his prosperity. He should make sacrifice so that all their contrivances would come to naught, after which his
prosperiry wonld blossom.

Divined for Orunmili when Osanyia cbllenged him:

Oj u ule ok.ankan ewo eni ore.

Amaran ika ni iiosi'gba.
Be eni ka ku, ni towo otun eni nsne,

The inmates of the house opposite one's boo.se never look well at one.
The people of the house adjacent to the left of one's house never think well of one. The people
of the house adjacent to the right of one's house always wish death to one.

These were the names of the three 111wos v,'ho made divination for Orunmlla when Osanyln (Osun in Bini) the
medicine divinity challenged Orunmila for seniority in heaven. Although, all the divinities were created at the same
time by God, the frail and innocuous disposition of Orunmlla tempted other divinities to taunt him from time to time.
Osanyin boasted that as the magician that he is, he was more effective than Oninrnila,

When God became bored with the incessant squabbles between the two divinities, He decided to settle the matter
once and for all by putting them to the test. God directed Elenini, the obstacle divinity to tbern, Elenini decided to
lock the two of them up in a room for seven days without food or water, and frichcver of them survived unscathed,
would be confirmed as the eternal superior. They were locked
Iv without being allowed 10 return home for any preparations.

yin began to beg to be released. Each time he wanted to cry, Orunmlli would
i1 was too early to bawl, By the time he got to the end of his tethers, no Jled
out hllcanibdaJion hv ~imz etcmaJ superiority and seniority
· nm Ila ref used to be

121
254.

released earlier that the end of the seven day span. He survived the seven days unscathed.

On the fourth day, Osanyin was released from the ordeal, but Orunmlla refused to be released earlier than
the end of the seven day span. He survived the seven days unscathed.

When he was released on the seventh day, Elenini congratulated him for the supremacy that Osanyin
conceded to him. He did not conceal that fact that he was insulted. He proceeded to explain that after creation, he
went to obtain two hundred and three different leaves from the Almighty God, and that he only taught Osanyin
sixty one of the leaves, while keeping the mastery and know-how of the rest to himself. He then went on to query;
how could Osanyin claim superiority when he only works with the 61 leaves he taught him, when he knew nothing
about the remaining one hundred and forty two. He concluded by saying that an intelligent scholar was to be more
circumspect and less swollenheaded.

At divination, the person should either make sacrifice with ram or he-goat in order to overcome his enemy,
especially a junior person who claims supremacy over him.

The Divination He Made Before Leaving Heaven:

Ofi ohun ofia, was the Awo who made divination for this Odu when he was coming from heaven. He was
advised to make sacrifice by serving; Ogun with a dog, tortoise, cock, a gourd of palm wine, palm frond and roasted
yam, and Esu with a he-goat He was told that he was going to work closely with Ogun on earth, and so should keep
him by his elbow, in order to prosper. He was also required to serve his head with a pigeon, and his guardian angel
with a cock and hen. He made all the sacrifices before leaving for the world.

When he got to the world, he forgot IO coalesce with Ogun, which made it difficult for him to have a settled
life. It was when he was contemplating what to do with his life that his guardian angel ordered him in a dream to
prepare his own Ogun, and k> serve Esu. A hunter soon befriended him, teaching him how to hunt. He also began
to learn Ifa art and his fortunes began to change for the better. He soon became more proficient and more
prosperous than the hunter who taught him how to hunt.

He Had Difficulty in Having Children:

When he eventually got married, his wife did not become pregnant for a long time. For that reason, he became
a laughing stock. Whenever people asked for him, they described him with the derisive pseudonym of "the childless
Ifa priest." When he went for divination on what to do to have children, he was told to make sacrifice with a bird
called Eye-Akoko,

For three years he scanned everywhere for the bird without success. He was subsequently told to go and look
for it in the town of Akoko, which was inhabited only by women, because there was no males in the town. As soon
as he arrived there, the women rejoiced and began to compete for his attention. He however told them that he did
not come to the town in search of new wives but in search of a bird called
ye-Akoko to enable him to have a child. In reply the women said that they had long been looking for husbands
and that having come to the town, he should settle down and mate with them.

Vt, ben he sounded Ifa on what to do he was told that the search for the bird that brought him to Akoko an
allegorical expediency for alleviating his problem of childlessness. Jfa gave him the all-clear to stle down in the
town and to copulate with the women as far as he could. Thereafter, the women began lo him in turns both
conjugaJJy and sensually. Within a period of eighteen months, he had ~nty-e,ght
m different women. and before the end of three years he had dose to one hundred children. I le
 became the king of Akoko and his presence reassured other men to come and settle in the town.

At the end of the third year, he decided to make a thanksgiving sacrifice to Ifa, his head, and Esu. He invited
the Awo who made the last divination that brought him to Akoko, a man called ldagolo. He offered 8 ram to Ifa, a
goat to his head and a he-goat to Esu and he made an elaborate feast. When ldagolo came to see the many children
ofOkonron-Irete, he was so bewildered that he burst into tears. When he was asked why he was crying, he
explained that the same Ifa that appeared for Okonron-Irete at divination had also much earlier appeared for him,
but that he lacked the means of funding the required sacrifice.

At the end of his visit, as Idagolo was preparing to return home, his host gave him enough money to perform
his own sacrifice. On getting home, he made the sacrifice and he too began to have children. In time he too became
very prosperous.

The man for whom this Odu appears at Ugbodu will be a man of exemplary character and well behaved. He
will leave the town where he got his Ifa to settle down in a new place close to a river or the sea. Three days after
going into the secret conclave of initiation (Ugbodu) he should serve the new Ifa with another goat. He should also
offer a he-goat to Esu and be told to forbid a bird called Akoko.

At divination, the person should be told to serve his head with a Guinea-fowl, and offer gifts to the Water
Divinity at the sea, on account of children and prosperity.

He Made Divination for the Man Who Married Olefin's Daughter:

Okonron were nle, made divination for his friend called Oyekunle, who was living with the daughter of
Olofin without meeting her parents, After living with Oyekunle for three months, the princess proposed that he
should accompany her home to meet her parents. Before deciding whether or not to go, he went to Okonron-lrete
for divination at which be was advised to serve Esu with a he-goat, kolanuts, a gourd of water, sugar cane, garden
eggs and coconut.

After making the sacrifice, he was told to keep a bit of each of the sacrificial materials in his bag for the
journey. He was warned not to fetch water or pluck any fruits on the way during his outward journey.

Two days after making the sacrifice, he set out with his wife for the journey to Ife. When they got to the first
river on the way, the wife asked for water to drink. Contrary to her expectation that he would go to the river to
fetch water for her, he brought out a gourd of water from his bag and gave her to drink. Next, they got to a farm
containing garden egg plants having fruits. The wife asked him to pluck garden eggs for her, and he gave her from
the ones he had in his bag. She did the same thing when they got to a sugar cane farm, a kolanut farm and a
coconut farm. He gave each of them to her from his bag.

Unknown to Oyekunle but well known to the princess, stealing and lying carried the death penalty
throughout the kingdom of Ife, and it was obvious that her demands during the journey were her secret stratagem
for luring her innocent spouse to commit the offence of stealing having successfully lured two husbands to their
deaths in a similar manner, before getting to Oyekunle.

Inspire of the fact that the man passed all the tests on the way, she had a final trump card to play inst him, When
they got to Ifc, she introduced him as a most amicable husband, who answered to her beck and call throughout
the journey. She went 00 to explain that; when she was thirsty on the way, he fetched her~ from the river; when
she bocame hungry, he plucked kolanuts, garden eggs, sugar cane d other fruits far her from the farms on the
way.

. .. ~
 Since her narration ~derscored a report that the .man had been st~ing on the way, he was instantly arrested
and bound in chains. When he however demed the charges, Esu influenced one of the elders to propose that
verifiers should be sent to the custodi~s on the wa~ to co~finn the veracity of the princess's story. The
elderly man reasoned that unless the pnncess was being deliberately mischievous, she should have warned a
third husband about the fates of her two former husbands. The Esu- influenced elder observed that it was
reasonable to surmise that the princess was probably using the law to commit multiple murders.
255.

When the verifiers got to each of the watchers on the route, they all confirmed that Oyekunle never
touched whatever they were watching. They reported their findings accordingly, on getting home. The Esu-
influenced eider's premonition had been vindicated. After hearing the report of the verifiers, the council of
chiefs formally invited the princess and accused her of lying. Since she had no defence, she was condemned
for execution while Oyekunle was released immediately. The princess was executed in accordance with the
law and traditions of the Ife Kingdom.
I '

When this Odu appears at Ugbodu, the man should be advised never to marry from any royal family.
He should also beware of any woman who professes love to him. In any event, he should make the sacrifice
that Oyekunle made.

At divination the person should make sacrifice if he is proposing to travel, especially if he is accom
panying someone else on a journey.

124
 Chapter Twelve
Okonron-Eka
Okonron-Ala-Ayoka
I I I I
I I I
I I I I
256. I I I
He Made Divination for the Ground:

0 konron eka sa kasa kasa, Babalawo Ile, fun Ile ni ojo ti ile minu iku. Won ni ki ile ru ebo. He made
divination for the Ground when he was threatened by Death. He was advised to make . sacrifice with
hoe, cutlass, bow, brass, iron, and an old sheep. He made the sacrifice, which

explains why the Ground neither falls ill nor dies.

When this Odu appears at divination, the person will be advised to make sacrifice for long life, in order to
live to a ripe old age.

He Made Divination for the Mushroom:

Okonron awuka, Babalawo Olu, Odifa fun gbogbo Olu ti o mbe ni oko.

He made clivination for all the Mushrooms in the farm. They were advised to make sacrifice both for a bright
life and for a happy ending to their lives. They were required to make sacrifice with; white pigeon, white bean
pudding (moin-moin) for a brigb1 life, and a he-goat and their wearing apparels, for a happy ending to their lives.
They made sacrifice for a bright life but not for a happy ending.

When the· Mushrooms started germinating in the farm, they were very attractive and good looking.
Esu immediately alerted human beings to their nutrient value and they were cut down dead immediately. Those
that escaped instant death, withered away within a couple of days as soon as they were exposed to the rays of the
sun. That is why mushrooms do not live for more than forty eight hours.

At divination, the person will be advised to make sacrifice for a prosperous life and a happy ending.
He should make the sacrifice without too much delay so that his prosperity might endure from the morning to the
evening of his life. He should make the two sacrifices that the Mushrooms were advised to make.

He M ade Divination for the Sun:

Okonron ribiti, Awo orun/ojo, odifa fun orun/ojo.

He made divination for the sun, advising him to make sacrifice with white cock, white pigeon, white th. and
a broom. He made the sacrifice. After the sacrifice, he was given the broom to hold. He was
• ~ ..a that if anyone dared to stare at him on the face, he should stretch out the broom (rays) to dazzle the
,~ That is why it is impossible to look the sun on the face.

t divin.al.io~ the person will be advised to make sacrifice in order to command the respect of the

12S
 people around him. If the di vi nee is a woman, she will be advised to submit to her husband. The person should be-
told thut ht, has one opening on the roof on his bedroom, through which he sees the appearance or Jay light. I le
should be told to cover the place because the elders of the night are watching his activities ihrouuh it when sleeping.

Ht> I\ lade Divination for the Gourd:

konron ka kn ka, Awo Akeregbe, odifa akeregbe ni ojo ti 'onlo si aloro Odun. Abufun ugba, a tun bu tun ogiri.

I le made divination for the gourd when he was going to the farm at the beginning of the farming year.
He also divined for his other sisters, the calabash and the melon. He advised them to make sacrifice with black hen.
club and machete. The gourd made sacrifice with chicken and club, without adding the cutlass and hen. Only the
calabash made full sacrifice. The melon made no sacrifice at all.

They were all planted in the farm and bore many children. When it was time to harvest them, Esu got up to
compensate those who made sacrifice and to penal ire those who failed to make sacrifice. He advised human beings to
use chalk or charcoal to mark the calabash round its stomach and to cut it carefully so that it can be used as plate for
eating or designed for ornamentation. The calabash plate was the first container used by man for eating and drinking. It
is still being used for that purpose to this day. It has always been used and continues to be carved for decorative
purposes.

On its part, Esu directed human beings to cut the gourd at its top or by the mouth so that it can be used for
fetching and storing liquid substances. That is why the gourd is used for carrying and storing water, palm wine and
palm oil. It was also originally used in many communities for saving money.

On the other hand, Esu told human being to use the cudgel to beat the melon and to cut it into pieces with cutlass
to extract the seeds for consumption. Its seeds are used for egusi soup. Other types of melon are sliced into pieces and
eaten as a fruit or dessert.

At divination, the person should be advised to make sacrifice to avoid being killed on account of his own
possessions. If it appears as Ayeo, that is, foreboding danger, he should not try to intervene when people are fighting,
to avoid being killed inadvertently or accidentally with a club or machete.

He Made Divination for the Bird Called Agbe:

Okonron ki, Okonron ko, Awo Agbe, odifa fun Agbe ni ojo ti on shawo lo si ekpa okun, ati ilaji osa.

He made divination for the red-feathered bird called Agbe in Yoruba and Awe in Bini, when he was going for
Awo practice by the beach area of the sea and at the embarkment of the Osa river. He was advised to make sacrifice
with pigeon. He did the sacrifice and left for the journey.

On getting to these places, he had a lot of work to do for which he was handsomely compensated. His ess was so
remarkable that the colleagues he met at those places became envious, and plotted to make sure that he did not get
home with his gifts. When be heard the boasting of his detractors, he collected his and brazenly went home while they
were fast asleep.

n be got home, he rejoiced and began to sing:-

mo ce 1 ro koro koro, meaning

12
6
 " I got home brazenly and safely with my gifts"
259.
258.
257.
which is the cry of Agbe to this day.

Al divination, the person will be told to make sacrifice before proceeding on a proposed journey, to avoid
running into difficulties with other people who he is likely to outshine in the place.

The Divination He Made Before Leaving Heaven:

Okonron ka re le re, mi ko lo Okonron ka re, were the two Awos who made divination for this Odil when he
was coming from heaven. He was advised to make sacrifice in order to succeed in whatever he did on earth and to
avoid an untimely death through a woman. He was told to serve Esu with three he-goats at the same time:- one
he-goat was to be given to Esu at home; the second one was to be given to Esu in the bush; and the third one was
to be used to serve Esu in the river. He was also advised to serve Ogun with a coc~ a dog, and tortoise after
spreading palm frond on its shrine. He was finally required to approach the Almighty God for blessing with white
cloth, white kolanut, white chalk, and parrot's feather before leaving heaven.

When he heard of the elaborate sacrifices he was required to make, he threw up his hands in despair, because
he considered himself too poor to afford them. He however decided to approach God as directed and he received
his blessing before setting out for the world. His guardian angel however warned him not to blame anyone for the
inevitable consequences of leaving for earth without making the prescribed sacrifices. He left subsequently for the
earth, coming out of the land of Hara, the kingdom of Alara-Isa,

He did not take to Ifa practice but was trading and farming at the same time. As he was beginning to exhibit
positive signs of making it, Es:u got up to let him know that nothing is ever got for free without making sacrifice
for it. Esu pushed him i\O Call in love with the beautiful daughter of a witch. The wife soon became pregnant and
gave birth to a male child, His business was also doing well and he was never in want for money.

That was when be was suddenly taken ill. The illness refused to respond to any treatment and he soon
became weak to perform any of his routine chores. The illness was procured for him through his wife and
mother-in-law by the Elder of the Night. When he became totally bedridden and helpless, Esu went to him in the
guise of a sympathizer to ask him why he was not given to making divination. He replied that he had no time for
fetish idolatry because he only knew how to pray to God for help. The man told him that God created people and
also gave them the means of protecting themselves from the evil designs of malefactors, by assigning each person
to one or the other divinity, He agreed that he was assigned to Orunmlla, but insisted that since it was God who
created Orunmila as bis servant, it was more rewarding to revere and rely on the creator rather than bis creature.
Esu gave up on him and left. Before leaving, he advised him to go for divination before he found bimself
between the devil and the bottomless precipice.

To mirror to him a clearsighted reflection of the fool's paradise in which he operated, he had a dream
following night in which his guardian angel projected to him a scenario in which with the help of her • his
wife was packing and transferring his possessions to the witch world. Instead of arranging for ula1ion oo the
dialogue be had the previous day with the intruding •• sympathizer," he proceeded doc
his pa1b of stubbornness and regarded his dream as a fantasy.

anru1rition repeated itself and that was when he realized that it

mother-in-law and bis wife and flagrantl
the instig.a.1ioo of Oauin. be m

127
260.
262.
261.
263.

lrenli?.lh to hit his mother-in-law.

he matter was re-echoed at that night's meeting of the council of wltchcran. Unknown to him his mother-
in-luw was tho queen of the council of witches and to have the audacity not only to call her a witch but also to
attack her physically, was adjudged by the council members of witchcrafts as abominable. They decided that it
would help him undeservedly to end his life painlessly. They decided to aggravate his illness before ending his
life eventually. His sickness exacerbated and his wife left him. After spending all his money to try to cure
himself, he committed suicide before his middle age.

When he got to heaven, his guardian angel reminded him of the warning to make sacrifice before leaving
heaven. Since he had not exhausted his life span on earth, his guardian angel told him to make the required
sacrifices and to return at once to earth. He returned subsequently to earth and the same wife came back to him.
When be went for divination be was told to prepare his own Ogun which he did. He also had his own Ifa and
became a practicing Ifa priest

Once again, his wife began to transfer his belongings to the witch-world. In consequence, Ifa asked him to
appeaJ to the ground divinity with a sheep because it is only the ground that can effectively chastise transgressing
witches. He accordingly served the ground with a sheep.

Three months later, bgun instigated an upheaval in the council of witchcraft, which induced them to start
making open confessions. The Olefin ordered that they should all be sent for trial by ordeal, during which all of
them including ha wife, died. From then on, he settled down to a prosperous life and lived happily to a ripe old
age.

When this lfa appears at Ugbodu, person should be told to make sacrifice. He has probably been - .,,..
a Christian before being advised tohav.e and His Christianity should not be disturbed by his Ifa lineage a woman's
he should be warned never lo !ind He antecedents through divination before marrying her. mother-in-law.
should be careful not lO fall out wr have his At divination, the person should be advised to ro throw it away after
own If~ and if he already has make embracing another faith. He should
sacrifice lo the Elders of the Night.

His Work as an lfa Priesc in hu Second Lile; He

Restored the Eyes of the Blind:

He made divination for the people of Ilu-Omi, the land of water where so many people were blind. When he got to
the town. be made divination for them and he promised to do his best for their blind pulation, if they would make
~JOC lo Esu.. He explained that it was necessary to make the sacri flee, because it was with the help of Esu alone
,that they could find the two leaves he required for treating the
agreed to make the sacrifice wilhout delay

fter, he told them to look for the leaf with which a bird called Elulu in Yoruba and Erurnohi in the
children's eyes after they arc born. Secondly, they were to look for the leaf with which the ,e revives its
female partner after making love to her. By the usage of the scrpents's kindred, no
ith its female partner withoU1 first poisoning her into comatose. After making love t
e plucks this particular leaf and applies it to her eyes to regain co

h in &he niah
following morning, they all woke up with their sight restored. It was regarded as an epoch-making miracle and
his fame soon spread around. He was rewarded with human and material gifts that translated him into eternal
affluence.

When this Ifa appears at Ugbodu, the person will be advised to serve Esu at once and to arrange to settle
down to a new life near the sea in order to become prosperous. At divination, the person should serve Esu with a
he-goat and Ogun with a cock in order to receive an upcoming material favor.

l29
 Chapter Thirteen
Okonron-Eturukpon
I I I I
I I I
I I I
II I
I
He Made Divination for the Horse:

konron Turukpon Babalawo eshi, odifa fun eshi. Oni ki eshin ru ebo ni to ri kpe ki o ma be kpon

0 omolomo, ki o ma ba fl ti ara re si ' le. He made divination for the Horse in heaven, advising her
to make sacrifice to avoid the abject indignity of backing other people's children

instead of her own. She was required to make the sacrifice with a hen, a rabbit and her own apparel. She
refused to make the sacrifice. That is why the kindred of horses became eternally condemned to become beasts
of burden, carrying other people's children on their backs, but never their own children.
When this Odu appears at divination, the person will be advised to make sacrifice to avoid the danger of
having to care for the children of other people without having his or her own to care for. For a woman, she
should be warned never to back anybody's child before she becomes pregnant.

He Made Divination for Onidiro in Heaven:

Okonron tu ka tuyele odifa fun Onidiro aya Orunmila ni ojo ti onkpa uro fun oko re.

He made divination for Onidiro, the wife of Orunmila when she lied to her husband. She had been flirting
around with other men and Oninmila knew about her infidelity. When he asked her, she lied that she had never
contemplated that sort of behavior.

After enumerating to her the number of men she had been cohabiting with, Oninmila pointed his staff of
authority at her and he cursed her that from then on, she would be the one with which would always serve his
head from time to time. Onidiro is the heavenly name of the hen, who was originally Orunrnlla's
wife, before being turned into a hen.

When it appears at divination for a woman, she will be told not to be unfaithful to her husband to avoid
being cursed. If the divinee is a man he will be told to resist the temptation to be deceitful to his partner,
because his reaction will culminate in his becoming a pale reflection on himself.

The Divination He Made Before Leaving Heaven:

He was given the nickname of Okonron tutu the trader. He also wanted to come to the world to trade.
At the divination he made before coming to the world, he was advised to made the following sacrifices, to>

(i) Serve Esu with a he-goat;

(ii) Serve his head and guardian angel with rat,
eagle and vulture;

130
 (iii) erve the three-road junction with 4 pigeons, and
white cloth and for the Ifa priest to bathe him on
the spot;
(iv) Obtain God's blessing with white pigeon,
white cloth, white chalk and red parrot's feather and; Serve
(v) 016kun with one of the pigeons in (iii)

He was told to serve Esu first so that he can help him to obtain, the eagle and the vulture for (ii) above.
After serving Esti, he aJso served Ogun with a dog. Thereafter, Esu persuaded the eagle to fly to lower heights where
food was available. Meanwhile, Esu had also persuaded Ogun the hunter to prepare to shoot the eagle. As the eagle was
eating ripe plantain in a farm, the hunter shot him and sold him to Okonrontutu. Esu also persuaded the hunter to shoot
the vulture by the side of the sea and also sold it to Okonrontutu. Thereafter, Ogun, the hunter, developed a cold because
he was not used to operating by the side of the sea. Orunmlla however prepared fire for Ogun and gave him a tortoise
after which he became well.

After obtaining the eagle and the vulture, Okonron-tutu added a rat and made the sacrifice to his head and guardian
angel. He subsequently made the other sacrifices and appealed to 016kun to follow him to the world. Olokun declined to
go himself, but promised to send someone to accompany him, provided he would not neglect the person on eanh.. He
eventually left for the world in the company of Olokun's representative.

On getting to the world, the two of them went their separate ways, and could not recognize each other.
Okonron-Eturukpon became a trader but be was not doing particularly well in that vocation. He could not even afford to
marry a wife. Olokun's representative, having strayed from the path of her assigned destiny, was also loafing about
listlessly. Meanwhile, Okonron-tutu decided to go for divination, where he was advised to make sacrifice to Esu, Ifa
and his bead. The Awos prepared a medicine in a calabash and bathed him in the river. Thereafter he continued •ith
bis trading.

He was trading in coral beads in the market. The next time he got to the market after making sacrifice, Olokun's
representative was attracted by the beads he was selling but had no money to buy. She too had gone for divination on
what to do to get a suitable man to marry. She was advised that her rightful husband was an A wo but to make
sacrifice with he-goat, beads and pigeon in order to meet him. She had served Esu with a he-goat before coming to the
market to buy pigeon and beads to serve her head, all of which Okonron-tutu was selling.

As soon as he saw her, he took fancy to her and she was equally attracted to him. When Orunmlla told her the
prices of what she wanted to buy, she reiterated that she Lacked the money for them.

Orunmila however persuaded her to come home with him to make the sacrifice. On getting home with her, he
brought out a pigeon and bead to serve her head. Since tradition did not allow her to go out after serving her head
and guardian angel, she had to spend the night with Orunrnila. In the night, they lept together and copulated.

That night, Oninmna had a dream in which Olokun admonished him for not linking up earlier with the
rq,rcsentative b~ sent to aa:ompany him to earth. The water divinity confirmed to him that the woman he Jeeping
wnh was his chosen representative who at his request, accompanied him to earth. Olokun confirmed that she was
his destined wife but that he should make sacrifice to him (016kun) with a pigeon. ite chalk"' cowries. parrot's
feather. and all the materials usually sent as gifts to the

he woke uo lhc folJc,v.,ing morning, be sounded Ua who con finned that the dream

131
 life reflection of his situation and that he was to comply with the directives he had in the dream. Without any further
hesitation he took the woman to wife and she soon became pregnant. Prosperity subsequently flowed into his trading
and they were ever so happy and wealthy.
264.
When it appears at Ugbodu, the person should be told to prepare 016kun for his Ifa. If he is not yet married, the
next woman he comes across is his destined wife. Ifhe is already married, he is likely to come across the daughter of
Olokun after the Ifa initiation ceremony. At divination, the person should serve Esu with a he-goat and send the
traditional gifts with a pigeon to the sea or river because of an upcoming gift from 016kun.

He Made Divination for a Seductive Basket Weaver:

One day, a woman called Beje sent her daughter to buy a basket from the basket weaver. When he asked who
sent her, she replied that it was her mother. He insisted that if the mother truly wanted to buy a basket, she should
come and choose one and negotiate its price by herself.

The woman, eventually came by herself and she bought the basket on credit. When he later went to demand
payment of the debt, their discussions centered on amorous relationship which culminated in Beje agreeing to marry
the basket weaver.

It was at that point, after consenting to marry Beje, that he went to Okonron-Eturukpon for divination.
The diviner advised him not to marry me woman because her husband, who was a cripple, would create tremendous
problems for him. If on tbe other hand he was bent on going ahead with the marriage, Ifa advised him to make prior
sacrifice wirli ram. Without making the sacrifice however, he proceeded to consummate the marriage, because he
mold not anticipate any problem from a cripple.

Beje was not living with her crippled husband, but she used to send food to him regularly at the place where he
lived. Meanwhile, Beje moved 1.0 live with Dehinde, the basket weaver. When the time came for the cripple to have
his food, none was {orthc.oming. After wondering for long about what might have happened, the cripple crawled to
the wife's house only to be told by his daughter that her mother had packed out of the house to live with a basket
weaver. The cripple then asked his daughter to take him to the house of the basket weaver.

When he got to the seducer's house, the cripple demanded the return of his wife, but Mr. Dehinde reacted by
telling him to go to blazes and roast to ashes, after calling him "You dirty cripple, do you have a wife? Get out of my
house." Beje was in but did not know what was happening. When she was subsequently told what had happened,
Dehinde was astonished when she confirmed that the cripple was her former husband.

The cripple left the basket weaver's house to lodge a complaint at the Oba's palace. He left the Oba with the
impression that he was going to commit suicide on account of what Dehinde did to him. The Oba however persuaded
him not to do anything stupid and to give him a chance to redress the wrong done to him. Before he left the palace,
the Oba gave orders that Dehinde should be brought to the palace in chains.

t ms subsequent trial, he was accused of inhuman behavior to his helpless fellow man, for which he
th by execution. While be was being kept in detention awaiting execution, he rernembe failed to
make. He begged the girl who came to serve him food to go to his house and OrimmUa to
make the sacrifice, albeit belatedly.

ve them the bead of the · ficial mm to rub his head with

132
 the blood in captivity. Meanwhile, Beje had returned to her crippled husband. When the day came for his
execution, Esu influenced the members of the Oba's council to prevail on him to spare the man's life, since he
explained that he never knew that the woman was married to anyone. They argued that the real culprit was not
the accused, but the woman, who failed to disclose to him that she had a husband with whom she was not living.
The Oba accepted the advice of his counselors and changed the verdict from death to perpetual exile which
banned him from ever returning to the town. He was subsequently released and instantly banished.

At Ugbodu, the person should make sacrifice to avoid being banished from his town on account of a woman,
serve Ifa with a ram, a hen and four snails; and serve Esu with he-goat. At divination, the person should serve lfa
with a hen and Esu with he-goat to avoid getting into trouble because of a woman.

Divination Made for Him Before Becoming Prosperous:

Aji tuu ru, Ela tuuru. Adifa fun Oniruniia baba aofi omi oju shu here aje tuuru tu.

Those were the two Awos who made divination for Oninmila when he was anxious for prosperity. He was
told to make sacrifice with four pigeons, a cock, a rabbit and four snails. He made the sacrifice. Thereafter wealth
began to flow into his home from every direction.

This is the special sacrifice which the children of this Odu should make in order to become prosper-
ous.
.
Erukuk.u de, omo onishewe
IF(
Ese rere ni erukuk.u ma n fi te'le.
Ireku-Ireku ni eyele man ke.

The pigeon is a fetcher of prosperity By

flying fortune into the house, with its
left and right wings, and by crying lreku
Ireku, heralding the arriv of wealth.
The cock requires no ceremony before marrying, No
rabbit comes to the world to become barren. The
snail lives a cool life and not a hot one.

If this sacrifice is made. the person will surely have money, wife, house and children. Whatever he sets his
hands on must invariably succeed.

I
265.
266.

Chapter Fourteen
Okonron-Seke
Okonron-Ose
Okonron-Da-Ase
I I I
I I I I
I I I
I I · I
Divined for Poverty, Suffering and Deprivation:

she lo tan ishe. Oshi lo gbaagba taa re. Oni kpanju lo gba owo re na.

U
Adafa fun ushe, abu fun Uya, atun bu fun oro to nshe omo ikeyin won lenje lenje.

Hard work or effort terminates poverty.

The deprived person sells the wares of the pauper for him. The
vindictive person seizes the product of effort.

These were the three Awos who made divination for Poverty, Suffering and Prosperity, the last born of their
parents. All three of them were advised to make sacrifice in order to have eternal honor and dignity. The first two of
the three brothers boasted that far from desiring to have honor and respect, they preferred to be feared by God's
creatures. and hence, refused to make the sacrifice. It was only prosperity that made sacrifice because he preferred to
have contented followership. After an uneasy beginning, prosperity flourished later in life.

That is why people dread the onset of poverty, and suffering, while everyone longs for prosperity, who easily
became the most successful of the three brothers,

When it appears at divination, the person will be told to make sacrifice for the accomplishment of his
aspirations and desires. He will be reassured that the morning of his life might be interlaced with destitution but the
late afternoon and evening will bring contentment.

Made Divination for the Snake When He Was Befriending the Squirrel:

Okonron seke seke, odifa fun Ejo ti o mba Akerese nshe ore. Oni
iwo ejo ru ebo to ri pe ti ki ore-re yi o ma ba'ko ba o.

He made divination for the snake when he was befriending the squirrel. He was advised to make ri fice to avoid
the risk of being betrayed and goaded into trouble by this friend the squirrel. He was ld to make sacrifice with his
wearing apparrel, cutless, stick and a cock. He refused to make the sacrifice ~~ he trusted his friend too faithfully
to imagine any trouble sourcing through or from him.

quently informed by his friend Ighoroko that the snake refused to make sacrifice,
uirrel to start yelling at the snake where he was resting quietly. The squirrel began
did not make the sacrifice that OruruniJA advised him lo make, by saying:

l -re-xere.
268.
267.
270.
269.

Almost simultaneously Esu drew attention of passersby to the presence of the snake at the point where the
squirrel was yelling. The people cut a stick which they used to behead the snake, after clearing the surrounding
shrub, with their cutlass. That death call remain the traditional cry of the squirrel to the present day.

When the Ifa appears at Ugbodu or divination the person will be advised not have rely too faithfully on
friends. He or she should make sacrifice to avoid the danger of getting into trouble, which could be
fatal, through the machinations of a very intimate friend.

He Made Similar Divination for Akinla:

Aje ma gbe ohun mi lo si idi. Ebora

ma gbe ohun mi lo si orun.
Alaisan ma fi ohun mi li enu lo si ode orun.
Awon meteta l'ondifa fun Akinla. Woni ki Akinla, ru
ebo ni tori wi pe ki eni kan ma ba ke egbe re,
titi lo si orun. Akinla ko tete ru ebo na. Bayi ni
alaisan yi here si ke igbe Akinla. Akinla wa sare ru ebo. , '-i

Witch, do not carry my words to the meeting of witches.

Divinity, do not carry my words to heaven.
Invalid, do not shout my name to high heaven.,

These were the Ifa priests that made divination for Akinla when he was advised to make sacrifice so that
detractors might not make a death call on him towards heaven. He was told to make the sacrifice with broken
calabash (Akufo lgba in Yoruba) and cock. He dawdled before making the sacrifice.

Meanwhile, an invalid began to sing with the name of Akinla as if he wanted Akinla to relieve him of the
burden of death that was already gunning for himself. When Akinla's attention was invited to the death call being
made on him by the sick man, he hurriedly proceeded to make the sacrifice. After preparing the sacrifice, Akinla
was directed by Ifa priests to put it on top of a fence and to leave it to fall over to the other side of it. The impact
of the sacrifice on the ground made a loud noise, wo! wo!

When the sick man heard the noise, he shouted to ask what it was that made the wo! wo! sound. He went
subsequently into a stupor and began to shout wo! wol wol until he gave up the ghost.

As soon as the invalid died, Akinla began to rejoice and to sing in praise of the Awos who made
divination and sacrifice for him.

When this Odu appears at divination, the person will be advised to make to make sacrifice to prevent
anyone from putting death on his trail, or not to get into trouble.

The Divination Made for Odogbomukere and Okonron-da-ase:

He is regarded as a fay because he ran away from heaven. Before leaving however he made divination
with two Awos called.-

Agbon o ro hai ka'ri

Okpolo l'onshe le re timu timu.

135
 They made divination for Odogbomukere and also for Okonron-da-ase before they left heaven. Okonron-da-ase
was advised to make sacrifice to; his head and guardian angel with a goat, pay homage to God with 2 white pigeons, a
piece of white cloth, 20 red parrot's feathers, white and red kolanuts, in addition to giving a he-goat to Esu. Since he
did not wish to stay long on earth, he saw no point in making the sacrifice. He left for the world without making
sacrifice and came out of Benin, in the Edo state of Nigeria.

He was very humble and respectful which made him very popular. He was an itinerant dancer, but on account of
his humane and cheerful disposition, the Oba of Benin was contemplating to give him a chieftancy title. He was
however heavily in debt because money was never staying with him. He was also very sickly. In spite of his popularity
people began to wonder why he was unable to make ends meet. He was subsequently advised to go for divination, at
which he was told that his problems arose from his refusal to make sacrifice before before leaving heaven.

He was again advised to make sacrifice to Ifa and his head with goat, rat, fish, tortoise, pigeon and hen. and to
make a feast with the materials. He was also to serve his guardian angel with a pigeon, piece of white cloth, white and
red kolanuts and red parrot's feather. He was also required to pay homage to God with a pigeon, piece of white cloth,
red and white kolanuts and 20 red parrot's feathers. He was to use these sacrifices to buy long life and prosperity on
earth. Moreover he was to use a three year old he-goat to serve Esu and to serve Ogun with dog, cock and tortoise.

When he told the Ifa diviner that he had no money for the sacrifice, the man advised him to buy the materials on
credit because ifhe failed to make them, his days on earth were numbered.

He met a sympathetic old woman who agreed to sell all the materials to him on credit. He came home with them
to make the sacrifice. Soon ,after making the sacrifices, his fortunes took a better tum. After enjoying his sacrifice, Esu
went to the Oba of Benin and proposed to him that Okonron-da-ase was ripe for chieftancy title. He was made a chief
and put in charge of all the markets. He was subsequently able to repay the debts with which he funded his sacrifices
and he lived in prosperity to a ripe old age.

When this Ifa appears at Ugbodu, the sacrifices referred to above are the special sacrifices (Ono-Ifa or Ode-iha)
to be made for the person to live long and prosper on earth.

What He Did to Become an lfa Priest:

Moni moni osonju mona, odifa fun Oninmila baba n shawo lo si

Ifa, Akelu hebe tu be.

To know people is better than to know the way. That was the name of the Awo who made divination for
Okonron-da-ase when he was going to practice as an Ifft priest at Ife. He was advised to make sacrifice with eight
pigeons. He did the sacrifice and when he got to Jfe, in accordance with the injunctions of his destiny, he married a
new wife there. He became even more prosperous after the trip.

He Made Divination for the Furniture Seller Destined to Become Rich Within Three Years:

Bi agbagba meji ba ri ra won, wan kpitan kpitan,

Bi Babalawo meji ba ri ra won, wan k.i ran ki ran ran.
Bi ogbigbo meji ba ri ra won, wan kc ma huangan ma huangan. Adifa
fun Asigita ilu oyibo to maa la la la ti ti ti Odun meta.

o elders meet, they narrate their experiences. 136

 When two diviners meet. they will discuss Ifa interpretations and manifestations.
When two Toucans (bird) meet. they say to each other, Mahuangun Mahuangun.

These were the names of the Awos who made divination for the white furniture seller of Europe who was
destined to become wealthy within a period of three years. He was told to make sacrifice with four pigeons,
two Gui nea fowls, one cock and one hen. He made the sacrifice and his furniture business became very
lucrative.

At divination, the person should be told to make sacrifice in order to become wealthy through doing any
business involving furniture, wood, or planks.
h.l )
He Became a Member of the Ogboni Cult: ·~~,i~~
He was a crowed puller or group gatherer. On one occasion when his mother was not well, he sent for all
the physicians in the area to help her, but they could not. He subsequently remembered the Ogboni fraternity and
sent for them. They were called Awo Oshogbo. They came and succeeded in treating his mother to become well.
They however told him that as soon as his mother was fully well, they should both arrange to be initiated into
their cult

After his mother got well, they both joined the cult. That is why as a mark of warning and identification.
the Ogbonis use the expression - Ose-ounkan - which is an introverted way of pronouncing OkonronOse. It is a
warning that the speaker has said enough and should stop instantly.

On one occasion however, Ifa advised him to stop attending the meeting because it was infested by
witches, but that before stopping, he should make sacrifice with; a mother-sheep to Ifa, and two Guineafowls
and two pigeons to his head, After the sacrifice, if they came to ask him why he stopped attending meetings, he
was to explain that it was because he had changed his name from Okonron-ose to Okonronwese and that he had
washed the stigma ,of poverty from his head. He made the sacrifice.

When the day came for the next meeting, the agba drum began to beat the call sign of makpa! makpa!
On three consecutive occasions, he did not respond to the invitation. The Ogbonis subsequently sent for him,
but when they called him Okonron-Ose at the gate, he replied that he had changed his name to Okonron-wese
and that he was no longer going to attend their meeting. With that, they left him alone.

At U gbodu, the person should be warned to be ~ary about meetings. He should serve the new Ifa with
two Guinea-fowls and a ram, and offer a cock to Ogun. At divination, the person should serve Ogun because of
a meeting, and offer gifts to the Night.
271.

Chapter Fifteen
Okonron-Ofun
I I I I I
I I I I
I I I ' .
II

He Mule Divination for Wealth (Aje):

konron fifun kpeneden, Babalawo aje, adifa fun aje.

e made divination for wealth when he was striving to have followership in the world. He also made

H divination for Onigede when he was striving to have money. They were both told to make sacrifice and
they did. They made the sacrifice with white pigeons crushed

yams and white cloth.

Meanwhile the Divinity of wealth left heaven in search of a suitable abode on earth. Onigede, the Oba of Igedc
had been advised to pluck the feathers of the white pigeon with which he made sacrifice and to add crushed yam (Elo
or Ewo in Yoruba and Obobo in Bini), and throw them round his palace, because those were the favorite food of
wealth. When the representative daughter of Aje stood at the boundry of heaven and earth to determine where to go,
Esu directed her to the house of Onigede where she saw all her staple requirements.

She moved into Onigede's house and ~led down with all the wealth she brought from heaven. That was how
Onigedc became wealthy. At the height of his prosperity he made a feast for his subjects at which he sang and danced
in praise of Orunmila,

When this Odu appears at divination for a man, he will be told that a woman, whether or not attractive, is
coming to meet him, She is a harbinger or wealth. He should marry her because she has the key to the treasury of his
prosperity.

I fit appears for a woman, she will be told that she will travel to a place to marry a man who will make her
happy.

He Made Divination for White Rabbits, Hares and Pigs:

Okonron fun fun fun. Awo emo, odifa fun emo, abufun Ehoro atun bu fun Esi, ati Elede.

He made divination for white rabbits, hare, bush pigs and domestic pigs. They were all told to make rifice each
with a hen in order to have children on earth .

.JI made sacrifice and began to have plenty of children. That is why they mutter sounds in praise rn fun-
fun-fun to this day. At divination. the person should make sacrifice to have children,

JI ination for Orid-Nli, Oshereigbor

hereigbo.
 He made divination for God's representative on earth, when he was coming to the world. He was told to
make sacrifice in order to command the honor and respect of all divinities and mankind. He made sacrifice
with two white pigeons, a white hen and white cloth. That was why on earth, he commanded universal honor
and respect. Whenever he appeared, all would shout "Ba ta laoo."
272.
273.
At divination, the person wilJ be told to make sacrifice in order to become honorable and respectable.

Sacrifice for Prosperity:

Ewe di ewe, di'le di'le mi, di ona iku fun mi, maa di ona ire.

Leaves upon leaves offer protection. Close the way to death for me, but do not close the path to prosperity.
When this Odu appears at divination, the person should be told to make sacrifice with a pig and a pigeon for eternal
prosperity.

He Made Divination for the Monkey:

Okonron mofun, Okonron mofun, Okonron fi sere sere, Babalawo edun, odifa
fun edun nigbati o nbe ninu ikamo awon omo eran ko ko.

He made divination for the Monkey when the more ferocious animals vowed that the monkey would never have
any ground to stand upon and that they would always hunt and kill her and her children. That was when she ran to
Orunmila who advised her to make sacrifice with food, egusi soup, scarf, and a big hegoat. After making the sacrifice
for the Monkey, Orurunila told her to use the prepared food to feast the big trees of the forest She did as she was · ·

After feasting the trees, they asked her- for the purpose of making the sacrifice and Esu replied on her behalf. Esu
told them that the stronger animals had declared an eternal war against Alakedun, resolving to kill her and her children
from generation iw generation. That is why Orunmila advised her to seek affinity with the trees to grant her refuge and
solace whenever she was threatened. After explaining the purpose of the feast, Esu enjoined all the trees to bend down
their branches to lift up the monkey any time she and her children required succor. The trees not only promised to
oblige, but unanimously proclaimed that even if it is their leaves the monkey hangs on to, tile leaves would never cut.
They should be able to give the necessary support to the monkey.

That is why to this day, the traditional habitat of the monkey is on top of trees, because of the concordat their
ancestral mother entered into, with the trees at the beginning of time. The only tree that did not participate in the
monkey's feast was a tree called Iyere in Yoruba, which is why no monkey goes near it for any reason whatsoever.

When this Odu appears at divination, the person wilJ be advised to make sacrifice, and to make a feast for his
neighbors, so that himself and his f.amily do not become victims of unforeseen contingencies.

The Divination He Made Before Leaving Heaven:

ifun la tj ri asbo fifun. m

la ti ri asho pupa. la ti ri
asho didun,

nron-m in~ heaven.

139
He was advised to make sacrifice to avoid having proble~s with won:ien on earth, more especially, not to die on
account on a woman. He was told to serve his guardian angel with a black goat, black cloth fish, rat, two bags of
money, and a gourd of respectable wine (in modem parlance, a bottle of alcoholic spirit). He was to serve his head
with white cock, white cloth, white eagle's feather, and coconut. He was also to serve Ogun with red cock, red
cloth and a gourd of palm wine. Finally, he was to serve Esu with he-goat, white, red, and black cloth and
crushed yam.
275.
274.
He was too poor to afford the cost of such elaborate sacrifices. His guardian angel however advised him to
borrow money to fund the cost of the sacrifices and lo repay the loan when he became prosperous on earth. He
followed the advice of his guardian angel and left for the world after making the sacrifices.

On getting to the world, he took to trading and hunting, and completely ignored Ifa practice. He had the
regular routine of beginning his day by wearing white clothes to pray to God. In the afternoon, he would put on
red clothes to pray to Ogun to help him achieve his mission on earth. In the evening he often wore black clothes
and prayed to his guardian angel not to allow his enemies to kill him under cover of darkness.

One day, a gang of robbers burglarized the king's palace and removed all the regal jewelry and hid them by
the side of a tree in the heart of the forest. When Okonron-mo-Ofun went hunting in the forest, he found the
jewelry-dump, and without touching them, he returned home to ask Ifa what to do about the find. He was advised
to give a he-goat quickly to Esu so that the jewels might still be there by the time he returned to the forest.

Incidentally, he mentioned it to his viift; who immediately hatched her own plans for collecting the jewels
for herself. She went to her boyfrieed, to arrange to lay an ambush against her and to seize her from the husband,
so they could both kill him af!a seizing the jewels from him. As she was going to the forest with her husband,
they were attacked by tbtee men, who immediately seized her, while attacking him and falling him to the ground.
After falling him IO lhe ground, they left for the jewelry-dump, but since they did not know the place, Esu blocked
their -approach and diverted their attention elsewhere.

Meanwhile, Okonron-mo-Ofun got up and went alone to collect the jewels to his house. Much later in the
day, the three men and Okonron-mo-Ofun's wife got to the tree described to her by the husband. It was the right
place, but they came too late, because Okonron-mo-Ofun had beaten them to it. While they were fidgeting
around in search of the jewels, the robbers who kept them by the side of the tree came round and accused them
of stealing their goods. A fight ensured in which they used poisoned arrows against one another. All the
combatants died on the spot, including Okonron-mo- Ofun's wife. Okonron-mo-Ofun became very prosperous,
and later, he was able to repay the loan he took to make sacrifice in heaven.

When this lfa appears at Ugbodu, the above-mentioned sacrifices should be made without delay to avoid being
killed by a woman. He is destined to be enriched by someone else's wealth. The special rifice is made with a
black goat, white, red and black cloth and the heads of parrot and eagle.

He Made Drvination for the Corpse:

the corpse to make sacrifice with dried materials and to give he-goat to Esu, so that at death he neither
smell nor roL He refused to make the sacrifice.

' queried by E.su v.,ny he was allowing the corpse to continue ro proclaimed th.al
the COIJ* shouJd from then on. gel rotten and tmntf'rl all the bca,TnJy police
fM a feast. and lhc corpse "'JU amonQ tho:
140
invited. The corpse ate and drank and became drunk. When he swooned into delirium tremens, he fell to the
ground and the people began to pour water on his body, when in fact he forbade water either for drinking or for
bathing.

When he regained consciousness, he discovered that water had been poured on him. His body began to
change texture and within three days, began to go rotten and to smell, which made people to start distancing
themselves away from him. That is why no one likes to go near the corpse to this day and why it decays.

He Made Divination for Oro, the Divinity of Secrecy:

He made divination for Oro not to throw the missile with which he declares a curfew in order to avoid the
danger of getting lost He did not heed the advice. He went ahead to throw his missile which resulted in his
getting lost in the forest. Consequently, his annual festival suddenly ground to a halt.

The following year, Oro was not available to perform his annual festival. When his followers could not find
him, they went to Okonron-mo-Ofun who advised them to make sacrifice with kolanut and palm wme.

After the sacrifice, his followers went in search of him. They eventually met him at the foot of a tree in the
forest and told him that his friend Okonron-mo-Ofun and all his admirers wanted him to return home. He
agreed to return home with them. As he was getting close to the town, he shouted Okonron-moOfun, mofun
mofun.

When he remembered that he was naked, he ran back to the forest. He gave them the knife with which he
declares the curfew and told his followers to be using it to invoke him from heaven, to which he returned.

At Ugbodu, the person should be advised to serve his home town's divinity, having Oro, with a dog.
At divination, the person should give cock to Ogun, and he-goat to Esu, to avoid getting lost out of foolhar-
diness.

141
276.

Index
•.• ymbols
200 Dlvlnltloe 38, 48, 83, 85

A
Adlfala-Adlfaae 25, 28, 27
Ado 13, 18, 27, 28, 29, 30, 36, 48, 88, 77, 82, 87 Ado-
Ekltl 28, 29
Africa 18, 20
Agba Drum 137
Agblrarl 114, 115
Alguobasinmwln 20
Alyetoro 81
Aje 29, 37, 45, 46, 64, 58, 68, 88, 133, 135, 138 Ajero
45, 68, 88
Ajero of ljero 68
Ajlja 111
Akoko 122, 123
Akpako 14, 48, S4
Akpetebl 75
Alaafln 25, 26, 27, 79, 99, 111
Alaafln of Oyo 25, 79, 99, 111
Alagbara 59
Alara-laa 67, 127
Alchemist 21
Almighty Father 72
Almighty God 30, 122, 127
Aluko 30, 48, 58, 87
Amulet 89
Arone 114
Arugba 38
Aseboru 110
At.a 40, 4", 45, 76, 80, 101, 102, 108, 109,113, 120, 123, 135, 140

Barren Woman 78, 91

Benin 10, 20, 21, 27, 36, 82, 138
Benin Empire 10, 20, 21

142
 Bitter Kol• 72, IN
Black Man 11, 21
Bl•ck Soap 32, 33, SM, 101
British 20

Calabash 47, 66, 67, 70, 71, 102, 103, 121, 131, 135
Camwood 46, 64, 82
Carving Wood 99
Casting Metals 99
Catholic Church 10

Caution 51
Chameleon 18, 38, 40

Chief Agbelerl 21
Chief Obalola 10, 19, 21
Chronic Stomach Trouble 35
Coconut 74, 90, 123, 140
Comatose 13, 29, 128
Coral beads 131
Cough 80
Cripple 18, 85, 86, 132, 133
Cult of Witchcraft 35, 53, 56, 57, 103, 121
D
Difficulty In Having Children 122
Divination Before Leaving H••ven 100 Divination
for Agbirarl, the Friend of Eau 11, Divination for
Akinla 135
Divination for Eahl 111
Divination for Eau-Obadara 39, 4'0
Divination for Fire ts
Divination for Him When He Wu Going on Tow 71
Divination for lgbayinrin 11
Divination for Long Life and Prosperity 51
Divination for Ogun 39, 99, 110
OMnation for Oltpere, the Slave of Onldoko 75
Dh,lnation for Olobara 52. 71
OMnation for Ok,ftn II
OMnation for Ololo, the King of Fay• or Etf8 II
Oh1t .ation for Onitiict. SJ
natk>n for C)nu...Nla., ~ 1 ll

14
3
 Divination for Proaperlty 113
DlvlnatJon for Sango 64
OlvlnatJon for Sango 71, 108, 114
DlvlnatJon for Sixteen Witch•• 54
DlvlnatJon for the 200 Dlvlnltlea 38, 85
Divination for the Boa Snake 120 f 11 t, • r
Divination for the Calabash and the Melon 102
Divination for the Children of Prosperity 46
Divination for the Cockroach 120
Divination for the Corpse 140
Divination for the Dog 107
Divination for the Dove 117
Divination for the Father of Ojulewa 57
Divination for the Gourd 126
Divination for the Ground 125

Divination for the Hannattan 116

Divination for the Head 59
Divination for the Horse 130
Divination for the Leper of ljaye 95 Divination for
the Masquerade (Egungun) 42 Divination for
the Monkey 139 ...
Divination for the Mouth 116

Divination for the Mud 100

Divination for the Oba of Benin 36, 82
Divination for the People of Otu 102, 119
Divination for the People of Otumoba 102
Divination for the Pounded Yam 42, 100
Divination for the Rubbish Dump 43
Divination for the Small Pepper 40
Divination for the Snake When He Was Befriending the Squrrel 13-4
Divination for the Sun 125
Divination for the Sun 125
Divination for the Trumpet 59
Divination for Three lfa Priests With Challenging Nickname• 110
Divination for Water 121
Divination He Made Before Leaving Heaven 74, 86
Divination He Made Before Leaving Heaven 22, 117, 130, 139
Divination Made for Him Before Becoming Prosperous 133
Divination Made for Him Before Leaving Heaven 50,114 Divination
Made for Him to Uberate Women From a Giant 32

144
 277.
278.
t"9tloo flowct.r II, 1 II
Ofvt,,... tor Onmmll• Wh4tn 0Hnyln Ch•ll•nged Him 121 hted ro,
Po1terty, aun.rlng 1nd 0.prlv•Uon 134
In~ tot tt.. ~pt• of lubehln and ltort 13
Divinity of DNth 81, 10, 11, 101
wry 39, 74
OtNm 11, 24. 31, 43, 48, to, te, 108, 122, 127, 131, 132

Effigy 35
EgtMI Land 98 t
Egungun 27,42
El•phant 24. 48, 50, 52, 10, H
Eleph.1mtlaala 2<4
El•ri Ukpln 19

Elf 10, 12, 15, 11, 11, 19, 20, 2"' 26, 35, 37, 40, 55, 51, 84, 15, 18, 70, 71, 72, 74, 75, rt, 80, 86, 87, 88, 91, 97, 99, 11"' 121,
122, 127, 121, 130, 131, 132, 135, 140

Enmity 31, 50, 62, 110

Esu 122
Esu ind the 200 Dlvinltiff 63
Esu-Oblidar11 39, 40, 14 Europe
137
,.
Ewaese 20
Ewek-a 20, 21
Ewi (King) 21 ,ttr
Ewi of Ado 28, 29, 30, 61
Ezlza 111, 112

Father and Cl"fftor 12

Fays 36, 70, 88
Fl,.. 44._ SS. 87, 18, 92, 95, ta, 100, 108, 114, 131 Food
Divinity 16
Friendship 2S. 30
G

Gblila 39, gs. 91, 92

Gbetu-Obetu 33
Genitaa. 31, 41 Giant
12. 33
Going on Tour 71
Good and Evil 11

1
4
 Guardian Angel 38, 43, 48, 49, 50, 56, 59, 72, 90, 97, 104, 106, 110, 122, 127, 128, 130, 131, 136, 140
Guinea.Fowt 38, 49, 54, 56, 76, 94, 96, 99, 100, 113, 123, 137

Hades 36, 70
Harem 20, 21, 24, 27, 63, 82

Head 12, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 24, 3', 39, 45, 48, 49, 50, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 62, 63, 69, 72, 74, 76, 77, 79, 81, 86, 90,
94, 96, 97, 99, 105, 106, 107, 109, 110, 114, 116, 122, 123, 130, 131, 132, 135, 136, 137, 140, 141
Hernia 107

Homicide on Earth 16
How Orunmila and Shango Helped Each Other 12
How the Earth Was Founded 38

How To Serve the One and Only Universal God 11

Human Sacrifice 97

ldanren 55
lfa Beads 89
lfa Bracelet (Ude) 87, 88
lfa Guru 18
lfa Initiation 18, 19, 132

lfe 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 11, 20, ~ 21. zr, 21, 30, 31, 32, 33, 35, 39, 41, 44, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57,
58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 61, •••• 74. 75, 7t, 80, 11, 82, 15, 86, 17, 18, 90, 91, 92, 95, 96, 98, 99, 101, 102, 104, 105, 106, 110, 111,
112, 1113_. 11-4.115, 118, 117, 118, 119,120, 121, 122, 123, 124,125,127,128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 136, 131, 140, j41

lfism 16, 18, 19, 56, 65, 67, 74, 79, 17, '11:1
lghoroko 28, 43, 93, 134

lkin (lfa Seeds) 31

lkosun 105
Illa Orangun 23
llode 13, 14
lmere 36, 70, 88
lyaare 20, 21

tyami Osoronga 35, 56, 90

tyMdin 113
25, 62. 115

l
279.

t<lng Ovon,..mwen 20
Kol• 22, 28, 21, 31, 31, ••• 11, 13, 72, 74, 75, 77, H, 108, 110, 123, 127, 136, 141

L
ugbobUru rt
L•pet or IJaY• 95

Made Divination for the Son of Oleje to Ascend the Throne of HI• Father 31 Measl

•• 43

Medicine Divinity 105,111,121

Melon 102, 103, 126
Memory 37
Mental Derangement 106
Mental Fatigue 64 Mini-
Anthill 17
Money 28, 34, 35, 46, 50, 51, 52. 54, 60. '54. 74_ 17, 88, 99, 101, 106, 108, 118, 119, 123, 126, 127, 128, 131, 133, 136,
138, 140
Mud lmagq 97, H

Name of Your lfa 92

Naming Ceremony 10, 11
Night and Eeu 114

0
Oba Koeo 71
Oba of Benin 36, 82, 136
Oba of Erin 30
Oba of lgede 138
Oba of Udo 23
Oba Ovonramwan 20
Obaliton 113
Obara-Ogbe 22
Obara Alayoka 61
Obata LukC* 37
Obara,.8o-,ldl 31
Obara-8o-idl ,.
Ot.ra-eo Ovt,e 21 Otw-
a8o ~U. 2A. 21
H. 11'. II

147
Obara-Eturu.kpon 71, 72
Obara~rete 64 Obara~wori
34 Obara-Ko.l 34 Obara-
mo-Ofun 80, 82 Obara-
Ofun 79, 81 Obara-Ogunda
53, 55 Obara-Okonron 43,
44 Obara-Opere 74 Obara-
Osa 56, 57, 58 Obara-Ose
74, 75, n Obara-Oyeku
32 Obara-Seke 74
Obstacle Divinity 32. 121
Odus of Okonron 9, 84 Og
bere River 14

Ogboni Cult 137

Ogun 15, 16, 17, 31, 32, 35, 39, '3, 44, '7, 4, 49, 53, 55, 57, 58, 59, 60, 12, 63, 67, 71, rt, 18, 81, 88, 91, 97, 99, 1CM,
105, 106, 107, 109, 110, 111, 111. 122, 127, 128, 129, 131, 136, 137, 140, 1-41
Ogun 36, 37, 40, 5", 57, 59, 66, 67, 109, 111

Ogunda-meji 16

Oja-Ajigbomekon AJura 50

Okekponrin 43

Okonron-da-Ase 135, 136

Okonron-Eturukpon 131, 132

Okenron-td! 97
Okonron-lrete 123

Okonron~wori 96

Okonron-Kosl 96

Okonron~i-Sode 87

Okonron-Obara 101

Okonron-Ogunda 109

Okonron-Osa 114, 115

Okonron-Ose 137

Okonton-Oyeku 91
Olooa of Oba 62

Olobara 52. sa. 11, e2

58, 59, to, H, 17, aa. 101, 123, 128 of

tt0t1 n

of Oja-Ajigbome,kon M(ola "

Dk*lln 1•. 11, 40. sa. 11. 11, 1oe, 111, 1>1, u2

148
 Olokun'• D•ughter 75, 108
Oloogun 51
Olowo of Owo
18 OlugbodO 91
Onldoko 75, 71, 98, 99
Onlgede 138
Ono..ffa for a Peaceful and Proaperoua Life 92
Oriole 56, 57
Orisa-Nla 17, 58, 63, 81, 138
Orisa-Nla Osherelgbo 81, 138
Orita-fjaloko 12, 74
Ornament.al lkln 31
Oro 16, 28, 29, 31, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 42, 43, 45, 46, 49, 51, 52, 56, 61, 66, 70, 77, 81, 82, 85, 86, 87, 88, 90, 93,
101, 106, 109, 110, 111, 113, 114, 111, 121, 126, 132, 134, 138, 141
Orurm :ia. See Works in Heaven
Orunmila Declares Ude as an AII-PurpoH Prot.ctor 89
Orunmlla on Caution 51
Orunmlla When His Farm Was Being Plundered 60
Osa River 14, 126
Osamejl 57
Osanyln 25, 26, 59, 60, 67, 105, 118, 121, 122

Ose-Ogbe 57
Osogeregere 91
Osun 25, 46, 48, 62, 64, 104, 105, 115, 121

Otito 59
Owa-Obokun of ljeaha 67
Owolabi of ljero 45
Oya 12, 14, 20, 21, 26, 29, 43, 60, 65, 68, 70, II, 113, 124

Oyo 25, 27, 51, 79, 92, 99, 104, 111

Paranoia 106
Penis 39
People of lgbehin 93
People of ttori 93
Plants 15, 16, 39, 62. 95, 105, 117, 123
Possession 40, 104, 126, 127
Pounded Yam •2. "8, 52. 100
Pregnant 2A, 34, 11, 87, 88, 91, 97, 98, 104, 106, 112. 118, 122. 127, 130, 132

PriestesS 104
pr,est9 13, 19, 21, 2A, 37, 44, 45, 50, 15, 17, 87, 88, 90, 110, 111, 114, 117, 118, 135

149
 Problem• on e•rth 44
Proeperlty 28, 31, 42, 43, 44, '8, 50, 51, 52, 54, 58, 53, 87, 88, 71, 85, II, 88, 95, 98, 19, 104, 105, 111, 114, 118, 119, 121, 123,
125, 132, 133, 13't, 138, 138, 139
ProaUtutJon 41
Pumpkin 72

Rain 23, 24, 27, 33, 34, 45, 47, 51, 55, 56, 57, 60, 69, 72, M, 95, 106, 108, 116, 117, 121
Refonner 32
RlverAlye 47
River Ered• 28
River Olo 28
Rubblah Dump 43, 44, 63, 65, 116
s
Sacrifice 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 22, 23, 24, 25, 27, 28, 29, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43,
•••• 45, 46, 47, 48, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 11, 12, 13, 16, 17, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78,
79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 85, 86, 87, 88, 90, 91, 92, 93, M, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105,106, 107, 108, 109,
110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126,127, 128, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134,
135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141
Sacrifice for Proaperity 139
Sane 112

Sango 14, 26, 27, 30, 47, 48, 56, 64, 71., H, 99, 104, 108, 114
Sankpana 17
Sarah 88
Shango 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 26
Shaaere 27
Slatera 34, 35, 126
Sobriquet 19, 71, 111 Stomach
Trouble 35, 90 Strife among the
Dlvlnltiea 16 Suicide 71, 128,
132
T

The laat lfa Sage 18

The Problem of Untimely Death 98
The Special Featu ••• a of Okonron-Oyeku 91
Thou Shall Not KIii 12, 15
Throat Tumor 107
To e.come an lfa Print 65, 136
Town of Eka-Awunal 54
Town of Omlnlkun 54
Town ol 0.1 31

150
: Two Hundred Dfvfnltiee 38

u
Uja 47
Unity 14, 16, 17, 18, 32, 59, 65, 72. 76, 80, k, 96, 99, 102, 109
Univeru.l God 11
Untimely Death 42. 89, 98, 117, 127

Vulva 39

w
War 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 26, 27, 31, 34, 35, 40, 41, 43, 44, 47, 50, 54, 55, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 63, 66, (;!, 69,
70, 71, T1., 77, 81, 86, BT, 92, 9C, 95, S7, 98, 101, 102, 105, 106, 107, 109, 112, 117, 120, 123, 12.4, 127, 128, 129, 130,
134, 135, 137, 139
Water Divinity 14, 16, 27, 47, 71, 106, 116, 131
White Clothes 60, 140
White Man 18, 21
WIid Kola 72

Wind Divinity and Orunmlla 14

Witch Doctors 13

Witches 35, 53, 54, 57, 90, 91, 128, 135, 137

Yaws 65
Yoruba Language 18

· ISi
280.

Town of Udo 23
Tree• 42, 82, 10, 121, 13t
Tribal Abrite 75, 77
Two Hundred Dlvlnlti •• 38

u
Uj• 47
Unity 14, 16, 17, 111, 32, 59, 15, 72, 78, 80, M, 98, 99, 102, 109 Universal
God 11
Untimely Death 42, 89, 98, 117, 127

Vulv• 39

w
War 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 26, 27, 31, 34, 35, 40, 41, 43, 44, 47, 50, 54, 55, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 63, 66, 67, 69, 70, 71,
n, 77, 111, 86, ~. 92, ~ 95_ 97, 98, 101, 102, 105, 108, 107, 109, 112, 117, 120, 123, 12.4. 127, 128, 129, 130, 134, 135, 137, 139
Water Divinity 14, 16, 27, 47, 71, 106, ·111, 131
White Clothes 60, 140
White Man 18, 21
Wild Kola 72
Wind Divinity and Orunmlla 14
Witch Doctors 13
Witches 35, 53, 54, 57, 90, 11, 1211, 135, 117

Yaws 65
Yoruba Language 111

151
Other titles by C. Osamaro lbie

lbie, C. Osamaro
IFISM: THE COMPLETE WORKS OF ORUNMiLA
251 PP. 2 b/w, 11 line, lllust. Cloth

lbie, C. Osamaro
IFISM: THE COMPLETE WORKS OF ORUNMilA
VOL. 2-THE ODUS OF EJI-OGBE
HOW MAN CREATED HIS OWN GOD
242pp. 5 b/w, 41 line, lllust.

lbie, C. Osamaro
IFISM: THE COMPLETE WORKS OF ORUNMiLA
VOL. 3-THE ODUS OF OYEKU-MEJI
101pp. 1 b/w

lbie, C. Osamaro
IFISM: THE COMPLETE WORKS OF ORUNMiLA
VOL. 4-THE ODUS OF IWORI
172pp. 1 b/w

lbie, C. Osamaro
IFISM: THE COMPLETE WORKS OF ORUNMiLA
VOL. 5-THE ODUS OF IDI
144pp. 1 b/w

lbie, C. Osamaro
IFISM: THE COMPLETE WORKS OF ORUNMiLA VOL. 6
& 7-THE OCUS OF OBARA AND OKONRON 153pp.
 IFISM
The Complete Works of Orllnmila
Volume Eight
The Odus of lrosun
I
I
II
II
Volume Nine
The Odus of Owanrin

I
I
I
I
I
I
 Table of Contents

IFISM
The Complete Works of Orunmila Volume Eight
The Odus of lrosun

About the Author 9

A Father With A Difference 1
1
Chapter 1 lrosun-
Ogbe lrosun-Gbagbe
Loju lrosun-
Akeregbe
He Made Divination for Ugun and Elulu 1
He Made Divination for Olobaghun and ldanigbo 7
He Made Divination for Orunrnlla When He Was Surrounded By Enemies 1
How Orunmila Solved The Problem of His Three Sworn Enemies 8
He Made Divination for Agbeni Maima
Made Divination for Ojiji
1
Made Divination for Lakangbo Before Becoming King 9
1
9
Chapter 2 1
lrosun-Oyeku 9
2
lrosun-Ariku 0
The Divination He Made Before Leaving Heaven 2
21
He Made Divination for a Divine Priestess Called Oye 3
The Sacrifice for Undulating Fortunes 2
Sacrifice for Pregnancy and Safe Delivery 3
Sacrifice for Warding Off The Danger of Death 24
Another Sacrifice for Driving Death Away 2
5
Chapter 3 2
lrosun-lwori 5
The Divination He Made Before Leaving Heaven
227
•He Made Divination for Akogun
527
He Made Divination for The People of lwoye 2
Orunmila Advises The Divinee To Watch His or Her Steps 8
He Was Asking To Make Sacrifice at His Ancestral Home 2
Aweda Divined for The People of lwoye 9
2
9
3
0
Chapter 4
lrosun-ldi
The Divination Made for Him Before Leaving Heaven
31
He Made Divination for The Cat, Rat and Fish
He Made Divination for Onijama Akoko
3
2
He Made Divination for Jika-Jiku Who Could Revive The Dead
3
Divined for Awele Who Dispensed Death With Her Genitals He
2
Made Divination for Sankpana, The Epidemics Divinity Sacrifice
33
for Alleviating Difficulties
34
3
Chapter 5 5
lrosun-Obara
lrosun-Ega
Made Divination for Ega, The Fruit-Bearing Tree 3
Made Divination for Adaba to Call Off The Bluff of The Tortoise 7
Another Variation: He Made Divination for The Tortoise and The Weaver Bird
3
The Divination He Made Before Leaving Heaven
7
38
He Made Divination for Alaakpa When He Lived In The Midst of Witches
39
39
Chapter 6
lrosun-Okonron
lrosun-Akara
Divination Made for Him Before Leaving Heaven 41
He Made Divination for Senifiran 42
He Made Divination for Taibi When She Was Anxious To Have a Child 42
He Made Divination for Agufanmiyangan Who Discarded His lfa 43
43
He Made Divination for The Garrulous Seer
Sacrifice for Avoiding War or General Turmoil
44

Chapter 7
lrosun-Owanrin
He Made Divination for Orunmila When He Was Ostracized 4
He Made Divination for Ugun-Ogege 5
The Divination He Made Before Leaving Heaven
4
Made Divination for Sanqo and Oqun When They Fought Over a Woman
5
4
His Experience in Farming
6
4
Chapter 8 lrosun- 8
Ogunda lrosun- 4
Atakpo lrosun- 8
Egedamayan
He Made Divination for Aiye (The World) 5
He Made Divination for Olujati, The Father of Fishes Divined 0
for Orunmila To Win The Hands of God's Daughter The 5
Incantation For Marriage
1
He Made Divination for the Pineapple
5
2
5
3
5
4
Chapter 9
lrosun-Osa
He Made Divination for The Cock Before Marrying the Hen 57
He Made Divination for The Knife 57
He Made Divination for Fire 58
He Made Divination for The Hawk (Asa or Ahua)
58
The Divination He Made Before Leaving Heaven
59
His Final Divination for The Oba
6
1
Chapter 10
lrosun-Etura
lrosun-Ajala
Orunmila Names The Most Successful Tree in The Forest 6
The Divination He Made Before Leaving Heaven Divination 3
Made for Ogun 6
The Divination Made for Orunmila When Orlsa Sent Ogun To Fight Him 3
The Divination Made for Him Before Leaving Heaven 6
5
6
Chapter 11 5
lrosun-lrete 6
lrosun-Okpini 6
lrosun-Ero
The Divination He Made Before Leaving Heaven 6
The Divination Made For Him When He Was Going To Olefin 9
His Affray With The Elders Of The Night 7
He Made Divination for Ariku 0
He Made Divination for Okpini When He Was Going To Olefin 7
Divination for a Barren Woman 2
The Divination Made for Him Before Leaving Heaven 7
2
7
Chapter 12 3
lrosun-Eka 7
lrosun-Ayoka 3
Made Divination for Esin and Afan 777
He Made Divination for Ogun 577
He Made Divination for Orunmila To Subdue Death 7
He Made Divination for Eziza To Become Indispensable 8
The Divination made Before Leaving Heaven 7
8
Chapter 13 79
lrosun-Eturukpon
He Made Divination for Fire When He Was Coming To Earth 8
He Made Divination for Orisa 1
The Divination Made for Him Before Leaving Heaven 8
He Made Divination for Kinridin 1
82
8
3
 He Made Divination for Water When His Life Was Hot 83

Chapter 14
lrosun-Ose
lrosun-Akpere
lrosun-Sekpere
The Divination Made for Him When He Had a Bad Friend 8
Sacrifice for Prosperity 5
He Made Divination for Paraka, The Masquerade 8
The Divination He Made Before Leaving Heaven 6
8
Chapter 15 7
lrosun-Ofun 8
The Divination Made for Him Before Leaving Heaven 7
9
He Made Divination for The Barren Daughter of Orisa 1
Orunmila Declares God The Only Saviour · 9
He Made Divination for Omonile When He Was Traveling 2
Made Sacrifice for Adeyosola 9
He Made Divination for The Divine Priest and His Friend 2
9
IFISM 2
9
The Complete Works of Orunmila Volume Nine 3
9
The Odus of Owanrin 3

Chapter 1
Owanrin-So-Ogbe
Divination Made for Ogun and Orunmila 97
The Beginning Of Vengeance on Earth 98
The Same Awos made Divination for Orunmila 99
He Made Divination for The Rabbit 10
Made Divination for Olefin When He Was Building a New House He 0
Divined Cocoyam When Going To Marry Swamp 10
He Made Divination for The ljimere (Monkey) 1
10
Chapter 2 1
Owanrin-Oyeku 10
1
Owanrin-Olokun
He Made Divination for The Axe and Its Handle
10
The Divination He Made Before Going To Divine for Olofin 3
The Divination Made for Olofin When He Was Critically Ill
10
Orunmila's Eulogy of Caution
4
10
5
10
5
Divination for Heaven and Earth 105

Chapter 3
Owan ri n-
lwori
107
108
He made Divination In Heaven for The Queen of Fays
108
He Made Divination for The Maize
109
The Divination Made for Three Brothers
109
The Divination Made for Him When He Was Traveling to Shigo
110
The Divination He Made When His Wife Was Unfaithful 110
He Made Divination for The Rat, The Fish and The Snail
Special Sacrifice for Owanrin-lwori
Chapter 4
Owanrin-Si-ldi
Owanrin-Sidin
He Made Divination for The Mushroom 11
The Divination Made for Him When He Went To Elepin-pin 1
He Made Divination for The Eta And Pepper 11
The Price of Deriding Orunmila as Ordinary Palm Kernels 1
Divined for Orunmila When He Won Respect From Divine Priests 11
The Feat He Performed, When He Was an Adolescent 2
11
3
Chapter 5 Owanrin- 11
Obara Owanrin- 3
Kpalaba Owanrin- 11
Kpajibasude Owanrin- 3
Oloba
He made Divination for Palm Wine And The Cooking Pot 11
He made Divination for The Tortoise 5
He made Divination for Ola, Who Dispenses Prosperity 11
They Made Divination for Ola, The Divinity of Wealth The 5
Divination Made for Him Before He Left Heaven He Made
11
6
Divination for Tella
11
He Made Divination for Olubi To Survive a War
6
This Odu's Special Sacrifice for Prosperity
11
7
Chapter 6 11
Owanrin-Okonron 8
121
He Made Divination for The Guinea Fowl to Outlive Her Enemies • 11
The Divination Made for Him When He Was Leaving Heaven 122
9
He Made Divination for The Oba-Ajigbomekon Akira When He Was ill He 122
11
123
Made Divination for The Cockroach, Lizard and The Rat 9123
This Odu's Sacrifice for Prosperity
Divination For Any Group To Have A Leader
123
Chapter 7
Owanrin-lrosun
Owanrin-Logbon
Owanrin-Ewi
The Divination Made for Him Before Leaving Heaven 125
The Divination Made for Him When One of His Wives Misbehaved 126
He Made Divination for The People of Akoko 127
Sacrifice Against Fear and Anxiety 127
He Made Sacrifice for The People of Olukoro Against War 127
He Made Divination for Osumare 128

Chapter 8
Owanrin-Ogunda
Owanrin-Ogunrere
Owanrin-Ologbon
He Made Divination for The Farm And The Surrounding Bush 129
He Divined for The King of Termites 129
The Divination He Made Before Leaving Heaven 130
On Getting to The World, He Became a Practicing lfa Priest 130
He Returns With Others To Heaven for Renewal of ASE 131
He Made Divination for A Woman Called Gbeyide When She Was Desperately
Fretting To Have A Child 133
Orunmila's Sacrifice for Intelligence 134
Divination for Correcting The Paradox of Existence 134

Chapter 9
Owanrin-Osa
Owanrin-Pisin
Owanrin-Ga-Asa
He Made Divination for The Shaving Knife And The Cloth Used for Insulating Its.
Handle 137
He Made Divination for Orisa-Nla 137
The Divination Made for Him in Heaven 138
He Made Divination for Prince Borida 139
He Made Divination for The Deaf and Dumb Woman 140
Orunmila's Special Sacrifice for Prosperity 141

Chapter 10
Owanrin-Etura
Owanrin-Elejigbo
Made Divination for The Tortoise When He Was Having Land Dispute
With The Elephant 143
He made Divination for The Palm Tree And The Umbrella Tree 144
The Divination Made for Him Before Leaving Heaven 144
The Sacrifice He Made for Prosperity On Earth 145
He Made Divination for Eighty-Four Birds 147
He Made Divination for The Akara Seller 147

Chapter 11
Owan ri n-1 rete
Owanrin-Akiko
Owanrin-Areege
He Made Divination for The Cock Before Marrying The Hen 149
He Made another Divination for The Cock 150
He Made Divination for Cockroach, Earthworm and The Hen He 151
also Made Divination for The Cock When Befriending Esu The 152
Divination Made for Him When Leaving Heaven 153
He Made Divination for The River and The Sea 154
He Made Divination for The Magician Called Agamurere 155

Chapter 12
Owanrin-Eka
Owanrin-Wo-Oka
Owanrin-Ala-Ayoka
The Divination Made for Him Before Leaving Heaven 15
He Made Divination for The Squirrel And The Boa 7
He Made Divination for Oro When He Was Travelling 15
The Divination He Made to Save His Son From Death A 8
Second Sacrifice To Save His Son From Death 15
9
Chapter 13 15
9
Owanrin-Eturukpon
15
Owanrin-Ojukoto 9
He Made Divination for Four Children of The Same Father 16
Divination for Three Brothers 1
He Made Divination for The Divine Priest 16
Divined for Ogun And Other Divinities 2
The Divination He Made Before Leaving Heaven 16
He Made Divination for The People Of Benin 3
16
Chapter 14 3
Owanrin-Ose
16
3
Owanrin-Sekpere 16
Owanrin-Wese 5
Owanrin-'Da-'Sena
The Divination Made for Him Before Leaving Heaven 167
He made Divination for the Farmer 168
Divined for Orungun, The Father Of Adedeji The 169
Divination Made for His Uncaring Wife Special 170
Preparation for Pregnancy By This Odu 170
Divination for The Man Suffering From Elephantiasis 17
0
Chapter 15
Owanrin-Ofun
The Divination He Made Before Leaving Heaven for Earth 17
Divined for The Town of Ewanrin-Ofu 3
He Made Divination for Oro, When He Owed a Woman 17
His Divination for The Royal Diviner Of The Oba 4
Divined for Asehin When He Wanted To Initiate his Wife To The Oro Cult 17
This Odu's Special Sacrifice for Prosperity 4
17
Index 417
17
9
5
17
7
 About the Author

r. C. Osamaro lbie was born in the defunct Benin Empire's capital City of Benin in

M Mid- Western Nigeria on the 29th of September, 1934 to Chief and Mrs. Th ompson
lbie Odin.He hailed from a Christian family.When his naming ceremony

was, however being performed eight days after his birth, experts in the esoteric analysis of newly
born infants, with special reference to the late Chief Obalola Adedayo, who confirmed to journalists
when lfism: The Complete Works of Or(mmila Vol. One was being launched in 1987, predicted that
God created the infant as a servant to Orunmlla, God's own servant and divinity of wisdom, and that
the world was going to know about Orunrnlla and the distorted, falsified and fabricated truth about
the true nature of the one and only good God through the infant whose future problems and
prospects were being analyzed. In fact, Chief Obalola confessed that he himself wondered why
Orunrnlla left the whole of Yorubaland, which was his base, to come to Benin, which he first visited
but could not reside in, to pick his viva voce.
According to the author's father the augury was totally ignored as farfetched because the man
was talking to a Christian family who could not imagine any connection with Orunrntla.

The author went through his primary and secondary education in Benin City, during which he
generally operated as a man-server in the Catholic Church. In 1947, he joined some of his friends to
enlist in the priesthood of the Catholic Church, but his father intervened with the Bishop to insist that
his son was not cut out for the Christian priesthood, and the Bishop deferred to the wish of his father
by releasing him.

Upon the completion of his primary and secondary education, the author was employed in the
Nigerian Federal Public Service where he rose from the post of a Clerical Officer to the lofty position
of an Executive Officer in 1959. At the same time, he won a Federal Government Scholarship to
read Economics in London. He went to London in 1960 and obtained a Second Class Honor Degree
in both Strathclyde, Glasgow and the University of London.

He returned to the Nigerian Federal Public Service where he was appointed as an Assistant
Secretary, becoming Deputy Permanent Secretary in 1973 and Permanent Secretary in 1975.

He was appointed as a member of the Nigerian Economic and Finance Committee on the
same year, which was charged with the management of the Nigerian economy. At the same time, he
was appointed as a member of the Nigerian Government delegation to the intergovernmental
consultative conference between the American and Nigerian governments, on which he served
between 1976 and 1980.

Between 1980 when he retired voluntarily from the Nigerian Federal Public Service, and 1989,
he operated exgratiation as an economic analyst; writing many newspaper articles on the categorical
and hypothetical imperatives of economic policy and management. He also ad-
dressed several public and private sector institutions on the directions of economic policy, in-
cluding the Nigerian Institute of Bankers, the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Nigerian
Institute of Strategic Studies, several tertiary educational institutions, etc.

From 1985 and to the present, he has been serving as a member of the governing Council
of the Federal Government owned University of Benin, in Eda State. Since his retirement from
the Civil Service in 1980, he has actively engaged in business in the private sector. He was in
1992 awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the Institute of Administrative Management of Nigeria
(FIAMN - Hon.) and recognized as a Certified and Distinguished Administrator (CDA).
 Dedicated to
Roland Francis

The Late Babalawo Roland Francis Orunmila's

Ambassador and Plenipotentiary Extraordinaire in the
Western Hemisphere
 A Father With A Difference

C hief Thompson lbie Odin, the la·. te Osague of Benin was born on the 3rd of October 1903
in Usen, a town seventy-two kilometers from Benin. He was the great grand son of
Ezomo Henua, the great military commander-in chief of king Ozolua's armed

forces of the Benin from 1914 to 1922:Thereafter, he learned many trades until Chief Agbeleri's son-
in-law, Mr. Josiah Amadasun (who died in August1995 in his early nineties) who was married to
lfamuseye, got him employedat the Resident's Office in Benin in 1928.
He worked in both the Districtand Resident Offices until 1951 when he voluntarily retired from
the public service. In spite of the fact that he was. brought up in a pagan home, he was however,
ensnared by the appeal of the Anglican religion to become a Christian by stealth, because he dared
not allow Chief Agbeleri, his master, to know about his allurement to the White man's religion.

He befriended a woman called lmaruagheru rn .1929, \NhO became pregnant and as a result
of which he married her. She gave birth to my eldest brother on the 21st of May, 1930. He subse-
quently parted ways with his wife when my brother.was nine months old, to be raised by my father's
mother, who was from the royal family, until he married my mother, who continued to bring up my
brother after the death in 1935 of my paternal grandmother, soon afterwards I was born.

My father continued with his Christian faith until circumstances compelled him to meet Chief
Obalola, first in the home of Agbeleri, but later on in the mid-twenties, when the man prepared the
way for him to be able to secure a civll'service job in 1928, the year he got his own lfa. The impact
that lfa made on his life made him gradually disengage from Christianity during the Second World
War. Were it not for that conversation to lfism, I am'sure that I would not have been brought within
hailing distance of lfism, and the corpus of knowledge which have thus far been imparted through
me to the world might have been a nonevent. My father's lfa was Eji-Ogbe, the king of the sixteen
Olodus of Orunmlla, Following his retirement from public service in 1951, he spent the remaining
forty years of his life as a practicing lfa priest on a part-time basis. After my mother, he subsequently
married five other women between 1939 and 1976, which gave him a total of thirtyone children,
ninety grandchildren and four great grand children by the time he died in February 1990.

Unfortunately, proficient as my father was as an lfa priest, I did not give myself the opportunity
of learning from him, because I was during his active years, still enchanted by the synthetic and
exotic appeal of Christianity, until experience taught me the lesson in 1969. My father acquired his
knowledge by establishing an lfa club which included among others; Chief Obalola, Pa Olodipe,
Chief Aigbedion and Pa lyamu Eruogun, with himself as Secretary. I have always recalled
Orunrnlla's dictum that the worst thing that can happen to anyone is to be brought to the world by the
wrong parents and in the wrong environment. Perhaps the most rewarding privilege endowed on me
by God, was to give me the benefit of my parentage and their milieu. I sometimes wonder whether I
deserve them. I have a consolation though. I was able to requite their investment in me in terms of
the satisfaction I eventually gave them in kind. One major source of pride to my father - not my
mother who strove through thick and thin to keep me alive, to outlive her which was her greatest
pleasure - was that he was the father to the third Benin son to rise to
the position of Permanent Secretary, after Mr. Matthew Asemota Tokunboh-(my mother's first
cousin) and Oba Erediauwa, in the Nigerian Federal Public Service. Before then, he had derived
inestimable satisfaction from the fact that he prepared his son to win a Federal government
scholarship for his tertiary education in the United Kingdom, during the sunset of colonial admin-
istration in Nigeria. He was the very quintessence of humanitarianism because he was always
prepared to use whatever he had and knew to assist his fellowmen. He was a man of modest
means, but during my upbringing between 1940 and 1953, I never knew him to refuse to oblige when
anyone sought his assistance. I have only striven over the years to follow his examples in my
attempt to be benevolent and benign in my interactions with human nature.

It is no use going into the details of his innumerable acts of material magnanimity that I
witnessed, but I will recall only a few. As a man born in Usen and who belonged to one of the
prominent secret cults in the place, he was an expert in esoteric incantations.

In 1948, a relation of his called Mr. Otote sent a message to my father that his wife lserewas in
labor, and was at the point of death. My father asked me to light his lantern to follow him to lgun
Street. At that time the hospital culture of the white man was not yet in vogue. My father was an
expert in the pre-and postnatal care of pregnant women, knowledge which he said he acquired from
his parents. We immediately left for lgun Street at about 2:30 am. When we got to Mr. Otote's house,
the woman was virtually comatose. My father put his left knee down and began to repeat an
incantation. By the time he repeated the stanza six times, the woman seemed to regain some
consciousness. Subsequently a pair of male twin children emerged from the woman's womb, both
already dead, but the woman was out of danger. '

Orunmlla has often told me that I should not try to convince converts to belong to him because
it could needlessly interfere with the paths of their destiny. He only authorized me to write about him
but not to preach about him, because when he comes into people's lives, it is for the purpose of
making them happy, prosperous and to live longer, My father prepared lfa for no less than one
thousand men and women whose lives subsequently attained greater heights of fulfill-
ment, including very prominent men in Benin.

He performed a few wonders some of which I would like to highlight in this book. In 1950, after
his second wife temporarily left him, there was utter confusion in his house. One day, he had a
disagreement with my mother over food money. He became so paranoid that he repeated the
incantation for self-immolation and he lapsed into a coma and would have died but for the inter-
vention of a visiting uncle, Chief lroni from Usen, who succeeded in using the anti dotal incanta-
tion to revive him.

In 1949, one of his relations on the same street with him called Mr. Osifo, had gone raving mad.
After stabbing a prominent woman and daughter of his neighbor, a meeting of the landlord of the
street was held atthe home of the Head Chief, lyamu Eruogun on whatto do about his mad cousin's-
menace. After the meeting dispersed, Mr. Osifo was waiting for the crowd in front of his house at No.
7 Edo College Road in Benin. As soon as he cited my father, he accused him of betraying him to
non-relatives. As soon as he assailed my father, everyone around was astounded to see Mr. Osifo
falling to the ground repeatedly until the seventh time, when he could not get up. It was my father
who had to lift him up with his left hand, after which the man went inside his house. Three days later,
he was bundled into an asylum by the government as a result of the stab wound
 he had inflicted on a woman called Aiyinomwan, in the Aro Hospital, where he died many years
later.

In 1950, we were clearing the site of my present dwelling house behind my father's house in
Benin, when his neighbor, who had been contesting the boundary with him; stealthily came behind
my father's house in Benin, to use a machete on my father. No one noticed his action until his right
hand holding the cutlass was transfixed in the air and when he started wailing with words "Mr .Odin,
please help me, let my hand come down."The man learned to respect my father from that day until
he died a few years later, in his mid forties and before retiring from the Public Service. The next
illustration I'd like to make of the kind of man my father was, is what he did to get my eldest brother
back to Benin after he had hibernated in Lagos with my father's only sister from 1947 to 1951, during
which he never attended any school. In her characteristic altruism, my mother had been obsessed
with the feeling that if my senior brother did not do well in life, I would have lots of problems. She
subsequently went to an Augurer who told her what sacrifice to make before advising her husband
to do something to bring his eldest son home.

One night, my father asked me to follow him to the front of the house with a lantern. When we
got outside, he stripped in total nudity and began to repeat an incantation several times, adding in
Benin language "If it was this genital that brought Oweonrisiede (my senior brother's name) to the
world, he should set aside all else and hurriedly come home from wherever he was within the next
seven days. Thereafter, he dressed up and we went in to sleep for the night. That was in 1951 when
I was already in Class 4 in the secondary school. I was flabbergasted when I saw my senior brother
three days later. That was when he subsequently resumed his education in Primary five, where he
left off.

The next notable incident occurred in 1968 during the Nigerian civil war. His most senior lfa son
and next house neighbor, Chief Asemota Omoregie, the grand-duke of lguosodin-nigbemaba, was ill
and hospitalized. My father went on his push bicycle to visit the man. As he was coming out of the
gates of the specialist hospital in Benin, a car hit him. While the military passengers of the car were
looking for the victim of the accident, people were astounded to see him sitting, unscathed on the
roof of the car. It was that event that made me buy his first secondhand car for him at a cost of one
hundred and sixty pounds, .

The last spectacular events of his life worthy of mention are the two incidents that made him
die at age 87 instead of 92. An Indian astrologer had told me in New Delhi in 1971 that my father
was going to die at age 92. This prediction was confirmed to me by Orunrnlla ten years later in 1981,
when the wisdom divinity disclosed that I should be arranging for my father's burial at age 92, unless
he shortened his life span by deliberate action.

The prediction manifested between 1989 and 1990. After I had a cardiovascular accident
(stroke) in 1989 on my way home from a lecture tour of the United States, things began to happen.
First his third wife was entranced into making an open confession, when she was esoterically
insensated into mentioning the names of the demonic witches in our family. Out of pride, my father
stopped her by putting a wand called "Odinmina eita" or "the dumb dreams but cannot narrate it."
Thereafter, the woman, who had no bad intentions of her own because she was being
used by the divinities and our ancestors to expose the evil doers in our family, did not say one more
word. When we questioned my father later, he explained that it would injure the pride and name of
the family if the world knew that there had been a spate of confessions in Chief Osague's house. It
turned out later that the ancestors did not take kindly to my father's action because they wanted to
expose the evil doers who were doing their utmost to extinguish the stars of the family.

The second factor that precipitated his premature death was his external determination not to
allow any of his children to die before him. He thought that the stroke that afflicted me was going to
terminate my life before him especially after one of his cousins, an lfa priest in Ondo, died of stroke at
the University of Benin teaching hospital on February 6, 1990. My father died the next day. When I
realized that my father had a second reason for inviting death to terminate his life, I insisted and
moments before he died, he called me alone and told me that apart from myself, another child of his
was likely to die within three years and he did not wish to be alive to see it happen. His predictions
came true in 1992, less than three years after his own death. That -
was the greatest father I knew about.

The Late Chief Thompson Ibie Odin

The Osague of Benin
 IFISM
The Complete ·
Works of 6runmila

Volume Eight
The Odus of lrosun

I
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I
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 1 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Irosun-Ogbe
7

Chapter 1
IROSUN-OGBE
IROSUN-GBAGBE LOJU
IROSUN-AKEREGBE

I
I
I
I
I
He Made Divination for Ugun And Elulu: I

hi juun ki o ba ri abore je. Adifa fun Ugun, abufun Elulu. Do not be greedy if you wish to

S prosper, was the name of the Awo who made divination for Ugun (Ugu in Bini) and Elulu
(Erimohi in Bini) )the two sons of Oloore when they were arranging to ascend

the throne of their father. They were both advised to make sacrifice. Elulu was the senior of the two
brothers and he was told at divination to make sacrifice with a he-goat, akara, eko, groundnuts, fried
corn, and palm fruits, and to set a trap on the shrine of Esu to catch the head of the hegoat. Since
he was the heir apparent, who had the first refusal option, he could not appreciate why it was
necessary for him to make any sacrifice on account of what was his traditional entitlement. He
refused to make the sacrifice. Ugun, the junior of the two brothers was also told to make the same
sacrifice, adding a trumpet to the sacrifice. He made the sacrifice conscien-
tiously.
After the burial of their father, the children had to mourn their father for fourteen days in
separate secret conclaves, without having any food or drinks. Every morning, Esu was feeding
Ugun with the materials with which he had made sacrifice. On his part Elulu had nothing to eat
and became very weak from hunger. ·

On the fourteenth day, Elulu was invited by the king makers to come to the palace for the
crowning ceremony. He could scarcely walk. On his way however, he saw an attractive palm fruit
by the side of the road. As he was traveling on horseback to the coronation site, he decided to
reach for the palm fruit. Unknown to him, the palm fruit was the bait of a trap. As he stretched out
himself to pick it up his neck was trapped. Try as he did to set himself free, he could not. The trap
subsequently strangled him todeath.

After waiting in vain to see Elulu, the kingmakers sent messengers to bring him for the
coronation ceremony. They were surprised to see his horse without him. They decided to trail him to
his house. On the way, however, they found him dead in a trap. When the messengers reported
their findings to the king makers, they immediately sent for Ugun, who turned up without any delay.
They told him about the unexpected death of his brother and told him that it was his
 1 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Irosun-Ogbe
7

Chapter 1
IROSUN-OGBE
IROSUN-GBAGBE LOJU
IROSUN-AKEREGBE

I
I
11
11

He Made Divination for Ugun And Elulu:

S
hi juun ki o ba ri abore je. Adifa fun Ugun, abufun Elulu. Do not be greedy if you wish to
prosper, was the name of the Awa who made divination for Ugun (Ugu in Bini) and Elulu
(Erimohi in Bini) )the two sons of Oloore when they were arranging to ascend

the throne of their father. They were both advised to make sacrifice. Elulu was the senior of the two
brothers and he was told at divination to make sacrifice. with a he-goat, akara, eko, groundnuts,
fried corn, and palm fruits, and to set a trap on the shrine of Esu to catch the head of the hegoat.
Since he was the heir apparent, who had the first refusal option, he could not appreciate why it was
necessary for him to make any sacrifice on account of what was his traditional entitlement. He
refused to make the sacrifice. Ugun, the junior of the two brothers was also told to make the same
sacrifice, adding a trumpet to the sacrifice. He made the sacrifice conscientiously.
After the burial of their father, the children had to mourn their father for fourteen days in
separate secret conclaves, without having any food or drinks. Every morning, Esu was feeding
Ugun with the materials with which he had made sacrifice. On his part Elulu had nothing to eat and
became very weak from hunger.

On the fourteenth day, Elulu was invited by the king makers to come to the palace for the
crowning ceremony. He could scarcely walk. On his way however, he saw an attractive palm fruit
by the side of the road. As he was traveling on horseback to the coronation site, he decided to
reach for the palm fruit. Unknown to him, the palm fruit was the bait of a trap. As he stretched out
himself to pick it up his neck was trapped. Try as he did to set himself free, he could not. The trap
subsequently strangled him todeath.

After waiting in vain to see Elulu, the kingmakers sent messengers to bring him for the
coronation ceremony. They were surprised to see his horse without him. They decided to trail him
to his house. On the way, however, they found him dead in a trap. When the messengers reported
their findings to the king makers, they immediately sent for Ugun, who turned up without any delay.
They told him about the unexpected death of his brother and told him that it was his
 1 Ifism: The Complete Works of Orunmila Volumes Eight and Nine
8

turn to become the Oloore of Ore. He was eventually crowned and subsequently invited his diviner
for thanksgiving feast at which he sang:

Amugun joye Oloore

Amado do wi ise.

When this lfa appears as Uree at divination, the person should be advised to make sacrifice
and to beware of greediness. He should forbid eating palm fruits and any red fruit. He should make
sacrifice with cock and rabbit. The rabbit should be used for sacrifice to the elders of the night and
deposited at the road junction near his house.

If it appears at Ayeo, the divinee should make sacrifice with a he-goat, palm fruits, akara, eko,
ekuru and a trumpet, in order to achieve the upliftment coming his way and to avoid sudden death
before the achievement.

He Made Divination for Olobaghun and ldanigbo:

Uroke Amerun jingini. Odifa fun Olobaghun, abufun ldanigbo.

Uroke with the pointed mouth, made divination for the Tortoise and ldanigbo when they were
contesting for their father's chieftaincy title. They were advised to make sacrifice, but the Tortoise
was in no mood to make any sacrifice. ldanigbo was advised to make sacrifice with he-goat and
crushed yam (elo or obobo). He was told to sprinkle the crushed yam from his house to the corona-
tion site. He did the sacrifice as he was advised.

The lfa priest prepared the crushed yam with the iyerosun of the Odu and gave it to him to
spray to the installation venue. When the two brothers left the following morning for the venue, the
Tortoise asked ldabigbo why he was spraying crushed yam along the route and he replied that he
knew what he was doing. When he could no longer resist the lure of the crushed yam, the Tortoise
slowed down and began to feed on it. As he was eating the crushed yam, the Tortoise began to
sing:

Oye Oye re o ldanigbo

ldanigbo ma de wo danu
Oye aye re o ldanigbo

He was virtually conceding the title to ldanigbo as he sang and ate the crushed yam along the
route. ldanigbo arrived at the venue while there was no trace of the Tortoise. ldanigbo was
eventually given the title.

If it appears as Ayeo at divination, the person should be told that he should forget about a
position for which he is contesting. If it is Uree, he should be told to make sacrifice in order to
succeed. If the contest is for a chieftaincy title or a position of authority, he should make sacrifice
with a ram, a tortoise and crushed yam in order to succeed.
 1. THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Irosun-Ogbe
9

He Made Divination for Or(mmila When He Was Surrounded By Enemies:

Ina jo oke se ti okun. Orun wo si abata. Adifa fun Orunrnlla baba mbe ni irangun ota.
Fire was extinguished by sea water. Heat was humored by the swamp.

These were the two Awes who made divination for Orunrnlla when he was surrounded by enemies.
He was told to make sacrifice with a he-goat, cutlass, club, rabbit, and mud missile (ekpakpa in Yoruba
and udugbe in Bini). He made the sacrifice and his enemies began to die one after the other.

When it appears as Ayeo at divination, the person should be told that he or she has many enemies,
but would overcome them if sacrifice was made. If it is Uree, he will obtain help from other people in
whatever he is planning to do.

How Orunmila Solved The Problem of His Three Sworn Enemies:

Death, Water and Fire set out to attack Orunmila. Their identities and conspiracy were revealed to
him in a morning divination. He then repeated the following poem three times:-

"I have not seen what you have contemplated except death; what is it that deprives one of one's
belonging except, the river: I do not know what can take away without retribution except Fire. Orunmila
however proclaimed that neither Death, Water nor Fire could take anything from him and get away with
it. He gave a ram to his lfa, who 016kun drove Death away. He also served; Esu with he-goat, 016kun
with pigeon, and Ogun with cock. 016kun stopped any threat to Orunmila from Water and Ogun
checked the menace from Fire. He was then left alone in peace and tranquillity.

He Made Divination for Agbeni Maima:

Oshe ba ile ile, ofi she jana igi

Oshe iyale ile, of she oja I jokun gbo run Adafa
fun agbe-ni-ma-rima ti nshe oko Biogbe.

Agbeni maima was a divine priest who used to travel to the side of the sea for Awo practice. He
was away from home for Awa practice most of the time. Whenever he was away, his wife Bioje missed
him so much that she often contemplated leaving him. Her intentions were always revealed to her
husband by a charm he carried with him.

Anytime he saw the sign that his wife was planning to leave, he would use his okpa-orere ( osegan
in Bini) to procure stomach trouble for her at home. Thereafter, she was singing in praise of her
husband, who would subsequently return to make her well. As soon as she became well, he would
travel out once more and the cycle would resume.

After three such experiences, Agbeni-maima got fed up with his wife's constant threat to leave.
He decided on a fourth occasion to allow her to please herself. He allowed her to leave and she
wandered into the world and no one ever saw her again. No one knew where she died or where she
was buried.
 20 Ifism: The Complete Works of Orumnila Volumes Eight and Nine

If this odu appears for a woman at divination, she should be told not to leave her husband, lest
she would suffer untold hardship. If it appears for a man, he should be advised to have a heart-to-
heart talk with his wife because some evil force is urging her to leave him.

Made Divination for Ojiji:

He made divination for Ojiji when he was the chief diviner to the Olefin. Ojiji was responsible for
making daily divination for Olefin, but before going to the Oba's palace, he often made divination for
himself. His predictions invariably came true and Olefin reposed a whale of confidence in him.

At one morning divination for himself, he was required to serve Esu with he-goat before going
to the palace. Not wanting to spend his own money to buy the he-goat, he contemplated asking the
Olefin to provide a he-goat for sacrifice, on getting to the palace.

When he got to the palace, he embarked on the day's divination, and predicted to the Olefin
that it was going to be a good day, because three hunters would report to the palace with elephant,
lion and tiger, and that 200 persons would arrive to pay homage to him and that Olefin would deliver
at the Royal harem on that day. He vouched that if his predictions failed to materialize, he should be
executed.

Up to midday on that day, nothing had happened. After the divination, Esu asked for who did
not make sacrifice by shouting "Agbo" to lghoroko who replied "Afakan" and announced that Ojiji
failed to make sacrifice before going to Olefin's palace. Esu reacted by taking position at the main
road leading to the town where he pegged two sticks on either side of the road and tied palm frond
to them.

When the elephant hunter was coming to the palace, he was stopped by Esu. When he
explained that he was going to the palace to report that he had shot an elephant, Esu told him that
Olefin had escaped from the palace because war had broken out in the town. In a similar manner,
Esu who assumed the posture of an elder statesman, stopped, the lion and tiger hunters and the
200 homage carriers who were going to seek audience with the Olefin.

At dusk, Olefin sent for Ojiji to tell him that none of his predictions had come true. Olefin's preg-
nant wife went into labor, but Esu stopped her. In consonance with the pledge he had given, Olefin
ordered that Ojiji should be stoned to death. After he had been stoned for a long time, he fell to the
ground and was presumed dead. Esu also thought that Ojiji had died because he subsequently
removed the palm frond from the road. First, Olefin's wife went into instant labor and delivered at the
palace a baby boy. Next, all the hunters and homage payers, reported at the palace, albeit late in
the evening.

When Olefin saw that all of Ojiji's predictions had belatedly come true, he rushed out of his
chair to stop the stoning of Ojiji, but his foot struck the frame of the door, and blood began to flow
from the injury to his foot. When he persuaded Ojiji to stand up, his feet could not support him. He
was however still alive, but could only stand on his feet by being supported by another person. He
subse-
 21 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • lrosun-Ogbe

quently became the shadow which does not stand up by itself.

When this Odu appears at Ugbodu, the person should serve; lfa with two ducks and Esu with he-
goat. At divination, the person should be advised to serve Esu with a he-goat in order to get on well in
his job.

Made Divination for Lakangbo Before Becoming King:

Gun, ugun, omo elewu mofin ala,

Akala maigbo, omo elewe figo figo l'orun, ati
Agun fon ni iyanda, Awo ile ade pele.

These were the three Awos who made sacrifice for Lakangbo when he was contesting for the
Olefin's throne. He was advised to make sacrifice with a ram and white cloth. He was also told to have
his own lfa, He made the sacrifice and Agunfon iyanda prepared lfa for him. The sacrifice was made
with the following incantation:

The rat makes sacrifice before entering his hole. The

fish makes sacrifice before entering the river. Birds
make sacrifice before flying freely in the air. Animals
make sacrifice before roaming the forest.

The seed makes sacrifice before entering the shells. Human

beings make sacrifice before entering their houses.
Just as you Lakangbo has made sacrifice before assuming kingship.
Long may you reign in peace and prosperity over the land of lfe.

When the king-makers eventually made divination on who was to become the next Olefin, the lot
unanimously fell on Lakangbo because Esu had meanwhile successfully lobbied all the king-makers on
his behalf. The divination was done by two Awos called Opoye Lakodi and Omi adagba si yi fo. They
were the lfa priests who confirmed that it was the turn of Lakangbo to become king. When Lakangbo
subsequently appeared at their auditorium, all the king-makers greeted him with KA-BIYE-Sl-0!

He was accordingly given plenty of wives and pages and became very prosperous. On the third
anniversary of his coronation he invited his main diviner, Agunfon lyanda and made a big feast in his
honor.

When this ODu appears at divination, the person will be told that there is a big title in his family, or
a higher position in his place of work which will fall to his turn if he makes sacrifice with a big ram and
white cloth. He should arrange to have his own lfa if he does not already have one. He should be told
that lfa will reward him bountifully if he serves him conscientiously.
22 Ifism: The Complete Works of Orunmila Volumes Eight and Nine
 2 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Irosun-Oyeku
3

Chapter 2
IROSUN-OYEKU
IROSUN-ARIKU
11 I
11 I
11 11
11 11

The Divination He Made Before Leaving Heaven:

K
ekere awo, pelu Agba awo. Awon mejeji l'ondifa fun Orunmila ni jo ti owa ye. A young
Awo and an elderly Awo were the two diviners who made divination for Orunmila at the
beginning of time. They advised him to serve his guardian angel with a guinea-

fowl and to make sacrifice to enemies with three snails. He was to cover the mouth of the first snail
with mud, the second one with salt, and to leave the third one as it is. The sacrifice was to be made
to avoid trouble from enemies on earth. He did the sacrifice before leaving for the world.
The first divination he made on earth was for a pregnant woman. He advised her to wash her
head with a he-goat on Esu shrine in order to avoid having problems during delivery. She made the
sacrifice and subsequently had a safe delivery.

Meanwhile, he was having problems from enemies, but on account of the precautionary
sacrifice he made in heaven, they could not do anything to him. To live on earth, he was advised to
pray to, and serve Esu every day, and to give him whatever he asked for. He did as he was told
and lived to a ripe old age, and outlived all his enemies.

When this Odu appears at Ugbodu or divination, the divinee should be advised to serve Esu
always because Esu will help him/her to overcome his/her enemies.

He Made Divination for a Divine Priestess called Oye:

He made divination for Oye when she was anxious to have a child. The woman made the
sacrifice recommended for her with a guinea-fowl to her head and a he-goat to Esu. She became
pregnant and subsequently gave birth to a male child who was named lfamudewa.

Over time the divine priestess Oye was herself capable of giving medicine to pregnant woman
for safe deliveries. On one occasion she gave medicine to two pregnant woman with the support of
Orunmila to have safe deliveries. They both had male children, who were given lkin (ude) and they
were both named lfamudewa.

One of the two woman was however very arrogant because she was a witch. After delivery, the
witch woman paid no homage to Orunmila. She only made occasional visits to Oye who however
 Ifism: The Complete Works of Orunmila Volumes Eight and Nine
2
4
told her not to be ungrateful to her benefactor, lrosun-Oyeku. Not long afterwards, her child became
ill. When she went to Oye, she told her to go to Orunmila with a guinea-fowl, four snails, rat, fish
and kola nuts, and that whatever medicine he gave to the child would make him well. She
eventually went to Orunmila, with the materials, who made sacrifice for her. At divination, he told
her that she was responsible for the child's sickness. He accused her of heartlessness, for
attempting to kill a child she was so anxious to have The woman admitted the accusation and
promised to released the child. He became well soon afterwards. Orunmila then sang a song.

Eba mi dupe Iowa Oye mo Oye. Oye

mo wa shere, Oye ta ni no omo

Metming:

Thank Oye for me, Oye thank you,

Oye the benevolent one that is, for helping to save her own child's life.

When this lfa appears at Ugbodu, the person should immediately prepare Esu with a hegoat
and serve the new lfa with a guinea-fowl, four snails, rat, fish and kola nuts because of his children.
He should be advised to try always to be humble and to refrain from being arrogant. At divination,
the person should serve Esu with he-goat to avoid losing his rightful position to someone else. He
should also serve his head with a guinea-fowl.

The Sacrifice for Undulating Fortunes:

lfa ni lkalaye kpaye, Emina Mikalaye kpaye. Oni

kaaso fun omo Ogun, ko tera ma ebo riru. Oun fo
kalaye kpaye, Emina mo fo kalaye kpaye. lfa ni
ka so fun omo Uja, ko tera me ebo riru
Orunmila oloun se kalaye kpaye, Emina fo kalaye kpaye.
Oni ka so fun akakpo mi, ko te ra me bo riru.
Orunmila oun so fun kalaye kpaye, Emina fo kalaye kpaye.
Oni ka so fun omo orisa ko te ra mebo riru.

A situation in which one fortune arrives to substitute for an existing one instead of comple-
menting it, is called alaye kpaye, such as losing a child as soon as another is born, or losing a wife
after marrying a second one.

To stop the trend from recurring, Orunmila advised the children of Ogun, Uja, Orlsa and his
own children, to make sacrifice with he-goat, cock, scissors, black and white threads, in addition to
the relevant leaves to be procured by the lfa priest.

The he-goat is given to Esu. The blood of the cock is used to grind the leaves, and marked
round the wrists. The rest of the medicine is molded round the scissors and tied in place to be kept
in the pocket always.

When lrosun Oyeku appears at divination, the person should be advised to make this special
sacrifice to avoid replacing one fortune with another. If it comes out for a woman, she will be told
 2 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Irosun-Oyeku
5

to make the sacrifice to avoid the danger of not staying long with any husband. The same is true of a
man.

Sacrifice for Pregnancy and Safe Delivery:

Mi ki 'rososun ta kele kulu. Emina miki 'rosun takele kulu.

Eyi to ta kele kkulu si ku omo eku omo eja, ati omo eni. Oyun lo fi
ni, omo lofi 'bi.

lrosun was told to transform the wombs of the rat, fish and a woman, in order to make them
pregnant and hear children. They were advised to make the necessary sacrifice for pregnancy and safe
delivery. The sacrifice was made with a cock and a hen.

If it appears at divination, the person should be told that he has a pregnant woman around him,
who should be advised to make sacrifice in order to deliver safely.

Sacrifice for Warding Off The Danger of Death:

Orunmila ki lrosun ye ku, Emina ni ki lrosun ye ku.

Orunmila ni kini lrosun yi o fi ye ku.

Orunmila told lrosun to drive death away. I

also told Orunmila to drive death away.

Orunmila asked lrosun what was to be used to drive death away. lrosun replied that he did not
know what to use for driving death away. Orunmila told lrosun to use rat, fish, akara, eko, rabbit, hen,
cock, kola and a bottle of oil and guinea-fowl.

If it appears as Ayeo at divination, it means that death is on the person's trail, and that he or she
should make sacrifice to ward off the danger. If it is Uree, make sacrifice with pigeon, akara and eko.

Another Sacrifice for Driving Death Away:

Orunrnila said that people talk about one when one, is prosperous, marrying a new wife, having a
child, becoming a chief, building another house, and when one dies.

He then advised that to keep death away, it requires sacrifice with a ewe (sheep or agutan).

Agutan mo ri borogi,
Ka kimi ku, Ma fi di'le,
Olorun ti'le Kun, a o ni ku si omode.
Agidi mogbon yin, Olorun ti ilekun.

I had to use the sheep for sacrifice, To

prevent my life from passing away.
I will use the sheep to appease the ground, and
Beseech God to lock the door against death.
2 Ifism: The Complete Works of Orunmila Volumes Eight and Nine
6
We shall not die young. I stubbornly refused, and
begged God to seal up the path of death.

When it appears at divination, the person will be advised to make sacrifice to avoid death.
 27 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Irosun-lwori

Chapte,3

IROSUN-IWORI
11 I
I I I
II II
II

The Dlvlnatlon He Made Before Leaving Heaven:

H
the world.
e was advised in heaven to offer sacrifice to a divinity which operates under cover of a
curfew (Oro), with a cock, kola nuts and palm wine, and to serve Esu with a hegoat. He
did the sacrifices. The twin brothers lrosun and lwori then came together to

Meanwhile, lrosun plotted with fifteen witches of the night to eliminate lwori. While sleeping one
night, lwori had a dream in which he saw an execution chamber. Not comprehending the
significance of the dream, he decided to embark on divination. lfa told him that he was about to be
deceived, but that it would come to naught if he gave a he-goat to Esu and serve his lfa with a hen
and dried rolled fish, he did.

Of the sixteen persons involved in the plot against lwori, two died leaving fourteen of them.
Subsequently, the Awos told him that it was his junior brother, who contrived the plot against him.
He had one Osanyin (Osun-Oghirare in Bini) which was capable of making him see what was
happening at the nocturnal meetings of witches. After serving it with a cock, crushed yam without oil
mixed with ginger seeds, (ighere in Yoruba and oziza in Bini), he was translated to the meeting of
witches that night at which he saw the contrivances of the fourteen conspirators.

The witches however felt the presence of an intruder and organized a search. lwori was
subsequently caught and he was accused of spying. He however disappeared before they could do
anything to him.

When he woke up in the morning, he consulted lfa who advised him to invite lfa priests to
prepare leaves for him to have a bath. After having the bath, the conspirators, knowing that he had
known their plans, went off his back and left him alone.

When the lfa appears at divination, the person should be advised to make sacrifice to lfa with a
hen and rolled fish and Esu with a he-goat, in order to thwart the evil machinations of his junior
brother against him. He should be told that his junior brother is a witch.

He made Divination for Akogun:

When Akogun, the military commander was going to war, he went to lrosun-Oyeku for divi-
 Ifism: The Complete Works of Orunmi.la Volumes Eight and Nine
28

nation. He was advised to make sacrifice with; he-goat to Esu, dog to Ogun, and cock to his head,
before leaving home. Since he could not imagine any force that could defy his invincible magic
powers and physical strength, he did not bother to make the sacrifice. He subsequently left for the
battle front accompanied by his wife. At the war front, he was victorious because it took him no time
to subdue the enemies. When he was returning home in triumph, he came across a river where a
python was having its bath. It is dangerous for anyone to see the python when having its bath. It
has its bath by hooking its head to a tree on one side of the river, while tying its tail to a tree on the
other side of the river. Thereafter, it begins to splash its body against the water and the resultant
noise can
be deafening.
When Akogun heard the deafening sound, he wondered what new battle was raging in front of
him, because that was what the noise sounded like. He however asked his wife to go and see what
was happening. When his wife saw the python, she ran back with the exclamation "lrosun wo lwori
wo" meaning, that her husband should come and see for himself, because what two pair of eyes
see is more factual than what one pair of eyes sees. When he saw the python having its bath, he
was annoyed that his wife invited him to see an ordinary boa constrictor, a snake. He wondered
what a snake could do to a warrior who was used to doing battle with armed oppo-
nents.

As he was talking, the python felt the presence of intruders and rushed at them. As the snake
made for him, he stretched out his leg towards it and it began to swallow it. The python had mauled
him to the waist before he brought out his dagger to split its mouth to the point his legs had reached
inside the stomach. He was surprised when he freed his legs to see that they were paralyzed. He
could not walk home and had to be carried by his wife.

On getting home he decided that he could not continue to live as a cripple. He transfigured into
Odele (lvie-Ogun in Bini) which the blacksmiths use for knocking objects into the required shape.
He had paid a high prize for his conceitedness and refusal to make sacrifice.

When the lfa appears at Ugbodu, the person should immediately serve; Ogun with a dog, Esu
with a he-goat, his own head with a cock, and offer food (rabbit) to the elders of the night. At
divination, the person should be told to serve; Ogun with a dog, and his head with a cock if a man
or guinea fowl, if a woman.

He Made Divination for The People of lwoye:

Kpomu sheghe, awo won lo'de lwoye. Odifa fun won l'ode
lwoye ni bi ti won t'in fi omi oju shu bere gbogbo ure.

He made divination for the people of lwoye when they were longing for prosperity generally.
The people had been suffering from want and deprivation when they decided to invite Kpomush-
eghe to make divination for them. He advised them to make sacrifice with 10 pigeons, 10 rats, 10
fish, 1 O hens, 10 cocks, 10 cowries, 1 O yards of cloth and a goat.

After making the sacrifice, all attributes of prosperity which had left the town began to return.
 29 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Irosun-Iwori

Following the return of prosperity, there was general rejoicing in the town and they began to sing in
praise of Kpomusheghe in the following words:

Kpomusheghe, awo lwoye, gbogbo ure, aje, oyun.

Kpelu omo ti de lwoye, Okpomusheghe awo lwoye.

When this Odu appears as Ayeo at divination for an individual, he should be told that he has no
wife or if he has one, that she is proposing to leave him, that his wife is not settled. He should make
sacrifice with cock, hen and pigeon. If it is Uree, he should serve his head with cock and pigeon.

Orunmila Advises The Divinee To Watch His or Her Steps:

Orunmila ni ki lrosun wo lrin to ma rin.

Ariwo urinrin ni ika fi kpomo eku, omo eja, omo eran, ati
omo eniyan.

Orunmila warned lrosun to watch out his steps because it is the rat, fish, antelope, and goat that
did not watch the moves they made in the morning, which became victims of death before the end of the
day.

Orunmila advised akpetebi to watch her steps because it is the person who failed to mind his steps
in the morning that was killed by death before the end of the day. He however advised caution and
sacrifice with a he-goat to Esu adding cutlass and cudgel.

If this Odu appears at divination, the person should be told to watch his movements in order to
avoid sudden death, or to avoid coming across danger that could lead to death. In addition to looking
before leaping, he should also make sacrifice.

He Was Asking To Make Sacrifice at His Ancestral Home:

lrosun-lwori was born at lwoye but he spent his working life at lfe. When his lfa practice was
waning, he went to his lfa priest called Otita mi omu di'rebe rebe for divination. He was told to return to
his home base at lwoye and to buy_ a goat for sacrifice. He was advised to invite all available Awos at
lwoye to prepare leaves including the leaves used for wrapping eko and ekuru (ebieba in Bini) to wash
his lkin and to bath with it thereafter.

He did as he was advised and his business became more rewarding and prolific when he returned
to lfe. At the height of his prosperity, he invited his Awo for a feast where he sang:

Otita mi omu da irebe rebe,

Odafuun Orunmila je sa lo so'de lwoye. lfa
we mi sa-o-ose lwoye,
Are da ra o ose lwoye,
lfa we mi da o ose lwoye,
Awe dara o ose lwoye.
 3 Ifism: The Complete Works of Orunmila Volumes Eight and Nine
0

He was singing in praise of the efficacy of the sacrifice made for him by his diviner and the
Awes of lwoye.

When the Odu appears at divination, the person should be told to have his own lfa, but if he
already has one, he should have it washed with a goat and the appropriate leaves at the place
where the lfa was prepared for him, in order to prosper.

Aweda Divined for The People Of lwoye:

Awed a was the Awo who made divination for the people of lwoye when they were suffering
from disease called ogbogbo in Yoruba, which they were ashamed to disclose. They were advised
to make sacrifice with plenty of black soap, plenty of ginger seeds, rat (eku oloya). Aweda prepared
the soap for them to bath with in the river. They all recovered from the sickness after having their
bath in the river. There was general rejoicing and they began to dance and sing in praise of Aweda
in the following words:

Aweda awo lwoye, difa fun won l'ode lwoye,

Aweda kpele, awo lwoye lfa.
lwo ni yi o we mi da,
Awo lwoye Aweda,
Awo lwoye.

When it appears at divination the person should be told that a pregnant woman is close to him.
The lfa priest should prepare leaves for her to bath, and when the child is born, he or she should be
named lfawemida.
 31 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Irosun-Idi

Chapter 4
IROSUN - IDI
I I I
I I I
I I I
I I I

The Divination Made for Him Before Leaving Heaven:

0
ne wakes up after sleeping, and
Better to tell a child about salvation
Rather than death, at divination.

These were the Awos who made divination for lrosun-ldi when he was coming to the world.
He was told to make sacrifice because his success was going to provoke enemies around him on
earth. He was required to serve Esu with a he-goat. He became a practicing lfa priest and a very
effective one at that. He became so prosperous that his success evoked enmity among his
relations and other diviners. As he began to experience difficulties procured for him by his enemies,
he went for divination. He was told to make sacrifice with a he-goat to Esu, who eventually helped
him to checkmate the evil plans of his enemies.

He Made Divination for The Cat, Rat and Fish:

The cat, the rat and the fish went to him for divination. He told the cat to make sacrifice to
avoid carrying the yoke of someone else's problem. He was told to make sacrifice to Esu, his head
and his guardian angel. He served his head and guardian angel, but failed to serve Esu.

He also advised the rat to make similar sacrifices but he failed to make any. Meanwhile, the rat
approached the cat to help him to catch the fish from the river. The cat replied that he did not know
how to swim. The cat however decided to have a try when the rat promised to give him a fat meat if
he succeeded in catching the fish for him.

The fish also went to Orunmila for divination, and he was told that enemies were plotting
against him. Orunmila told the fish to make sacrifice with okra, soap and a hen. He quickly made
the sacrifice. Orunmila added ewe tete, irorowo, and odondon to the okra to prepare soap for him to
bath with. Thereafter, the fish took his abode in the water, where his body became slimy and
slippery.

When the cat eventually went in search of the fish in the river, he met him dancing. The cat
went on the attack, but the okra on the fish's body made it impossible for the cat to get hold of him.
The fish then swam into the depth of the river and into safety from the threat posed by the
 l&sm: The Complete Works of Orunmila Volumes Eight and Nine
3
2
cat, who returned home, disgusted. Before coming out of the water, the cat had drank plenty of
water. It took him time to get rid of the water from his stomach. Thereafter, he went to the rat to
demand the meat he promised to give him. He in fact demanded a goat to thank his head for not
losing his life in the river.

On his part, the rat argued that since the cat did not succeed in coming with the fish, he was
not entitled to demand an wager. The cat then attacked and killed the rat while the children ran
away. It was from then on that the cat began to kill rat for food, because of the sacrifice he refused
to make.
When this Odu appears at Ugbodu, the special sacrifice (ono-lfa or odiha which was prepared
for the fish should be made for the person to protect him form powerful enemies. If it appears at
divination, the person should serve; Esu with he-goat, his head with a cock, and lfa with a hen, to
avoid yoking someone else's problem.

He Made Divination for Onijama Akoko:

Bi aye ba ye won ton, iwa ibaje niwon uhi. Odifa fun Onijama
Akoko ti yio fi obinrin re mo oro.

At the height of prosperity, some people resort to base moral depravity. That was the name of
the Awo who made divination for Onijama-akoko, a strong lfa priest who loved his wife sc much
that there was no secret he could not disclose to her. In fact he prepared the wife tc become
diabolically and esoterically as strong as himself. Both himself and his wife could transfigure into
both. organic and inorganic substances.

As soon as the wife realized that there was nothing the husband could do which she coulc not
do, she became conceited and contemptuous. Whenever he stretched out his hands to hls wife,
she would rain four insults on him. If he turned into a tiger, she would turn into a gorilla. The
husband soon became totally incapable of doing anything to curb the insubordination of the wife

Meanwhile, the Oro divinity was infuriated by the rudeness of Onijama's wife. That was the
only cult to which Onijama-akoko could not initiate his wife, because it is forbidden for women tc
know the secret. In anger, the Oro divinity came out of the forest one night to kill Onljarna-akoko's
wife.

At divination for a woman, she will be advised to beware of behaving contemptuously to·
wards her husband lest, she would die a sudden death, without prior sickness. For a man, he
should be told that he is over-loving his wife by letting her into all his secrets, and that by sc doing,
he could be goading the woman to her death.

He Made Divination for Jika-Jiku Who Could Revive The Dead:

Simi titi, awo Simi Titi. Simi rere, awo simi rere.
Adafa fun Jika-Jiku ti'nshe ore akala.

Escort me far and escort me up to the point I choose, were the two Awos who made divina tion
for Jika Jiku who specialized in restoring life to the dead, and who was friendly with a womar
 3 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Irosun-Idi
3

called Akala. Whenever anyone died, the relation raced to Jika-Jiku to restore their lives. He used to
apply one medicine given to him by his fay colleagues in heaven. He was himself a fay. He often
charged a lot of money for using the medicine to revive the dead. He used to apply the medicine to the
head and chest of the deceased after which they would jump up after regaining life. He became very
rich in the process and no one was going to heaven anymore.

Meanwhile, his colleagues began to wonder how he got that kind of medicine. Eventually, Akala, a
very attractive woman decided to marry Jika-Jiku in order to find out the secret. She went to his house
to profess love to him for reviving her relation to life. He agreed to marry her and she began to live with
him right away. Anytime he was invited to assist in reviving the dead, she often accompanied him. She
became so familiar with his secrets that nothing was any more hidden from her.

Having discovered the secret of the medicine, Akala embarked on a program for stealing the
container. One day, Jika-Jiku invited Akala to accompany him to the farm but she declined to go. As
soon as he left for the farm, Akala collected all his instruments and left the house.

Meanwhile, Jika-Jiku was invited from the farm when someone died. He quickly returned to the
house but when he asked for Akala, she was nowhere to be found. Thinking that his instruments were
still in the bag, he collected the bag and followed the people who came to seek his assistance. When he
got to the home of the dead person, he searched in vain for the container of the medicine in his bag. He
ran home to look for it and for Akala, to no avail. He did not even know how to look for Akala because
he had never bothered to know from where she came. That was a signal that he had finished his work
on earth and that his time was up for returning to heaven. Without any sickness and without taking his
own life, he died before the following morning.

It will be recalled that at divination, he had been advised against falling in love with a woman,
without knowing her home, and to give a he-goat to Esu in case he met such a woman. He did not
perform the sacrifice and the magic of Akala had totally beclouded his vision.

When this Odu appears at divination for a man he should be warned to make sacrifice against a
woman who would offer to marry him. He should not let her into his secrets because she would outwit
and cheat him. If it appears for a woman, she should be advised not to double-cross any man.

Divined for Awele Who Dispensed Death With Her Genitals:

Simi titi, awo simi titi. Simi rere, awo simi rere.
Ako le simi titi ka simi de le eni. Adifa fun Awele omo oni di cringe le to ma fi obo ko jogbon sile
l'ari she oko. Obo Awele ki je eku, ki je eja. Odidi eni l'onje.

No one escorts a visitor right up to his house, was the name of the Awo who made divination for
Awele advising her to beware of how she used her genitals, to avoid killing with it. Her vulva neither fed
on rats nor fishes. Its staple food was human beings. She was advised to make sacrifice to avoid killing
people with her genitals, but she refused to do it.

Meanwhile, two lovers were concurrently befriending her. One lover was however physically
stronger than the other, but the weaker one was, more handsome and head and shoulder more
 34 Ifism: The Complete Works of Orunmila Volumes Eight and Nine

attractive. Awele visibly preferred the more good-looking suitor. The physically stronger man had
courted Awele for a long time but she did not conceal her preference. Thinking that what stood
between him and Awele was her more handsome admirer, he contrived a plan to get rid of him.
-
One day, he sharpened his machete and lay in ambush against the young man. After spending
the night with Awele, the more handsome man was on his way home when he was attacked and
murdered by the rejected suitor. It was that incident that earned Awele the nickname of the woman
whose genitals feed on human beings.

When this Odu appears at divination for a woman, she should be advised to make sacrifice so
that two men might not engage in fatal competition for her hand. She should make sacrifice with
hen, cock, rabbit, rat, fish, akara and eko. If it appears for a man, he should be advised to make
sacrifice with a he-goat and a cutlass to avoid losing his life on account of a woman.

He Made Divination for Simkpima, The Epidemics Divinity:

He made divination for Sankpana when he was invited by the Oba and people of lkinmi to
come and assist in putting the affairs of the town, right. He was advised to make sacrifice with a he-
goat to Esu, and a cock to his head, before going. When he however looked at the strong magical
charms inside his bag, he concluded that no obstacle could disrupt his journey. He decided not to
make any sacrifice. He then left for lkinmi.

When Esu was told that Sankpana refused to perform the prescribed sacrifice, the evil divinity
vowed that he would never get to lkinmi. Instantaneously, Esu transfigured into a woman who had
been attacked with a machete, which severed one of her breasts with blood gushing out. When she
met Sankpana, she asked where he was going and he replied that he was heading for lkinmi. The
woman warned him not to go to lkinmi because a vicious battle was raging in the place and it was
as a result of the war the she injured her breast.

Sankpana however brought out his magic mirror from his bag, with which he telescoped into
lkinmi and saw that the people were waiting for him. He could not reconcile the reading from his
mirror with the injured woman's story. He decided to ignore the woman and to continue on his
journey.

He subsequently met a man with a severed hand and blood streaming out of his body. Esu
was at his game once more. When the man told Sankpana not to proceed on his journey to lkinmi
because of the battle raging in the town, he looked again at his mirror which disclosed that
preparation for his reception was well advanced. Once again Sankpana ignored the man and
proceeded on his journey. Not long afterwards, he met two hefty men running in fright. He subse-
quently heard a gunshot which hit one of the two men, who fell down, dead. The second surviving
man told Sankpana that the Oba of lkinmi had been killed. Thereafter, Sankpana was convinced
that he could no longer rely on his magic mirror. He decided to sit down and wait. He did not enter
lkinmi until late in the night.

At the time of his arrival, the Oba was already annoyed for being kept waiting for so long,
because the food and drinks prepared for his reception had all gone sour. When he narrated what
 3 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • lrosun-ldi
5

kept him waiting on the way, the Oba told him that his story was too farfetched to be credible. He in
turn became annoyed for being regarded as a liar and decided to return home at once.

When this lfa appears at Ugbodu, the person should immediately prepare his Esu with a he-
goat to avoid doing an unappreciated favor. A chicken would be tied to the Esu shrine to cry to
death. At divination, the person should serve; Esu with a he-goat, and Ogun with a cock in order to
be successful in a task he is about to undertake.

Sacrifice for Alleviating Difficulties:

When this Odu appears at divination, the person should be told that he is having problems, but
that with sacrifice, the problems would be resolved. The sacrifice should be made with a tortoise,
white chalk and camwood, (osun in Yoruba and umen in Bini), because the chalk does not
experience misfortune in Benin, just as the camwood does not see misfortune in Oya and Ekiti.
Ajanigboro-so-lokute made divination for difficulties:

Ajanigboro-so-lokute was the Awo who made divination for Orunmila and the other divinities
when they were going to have a spear-throwing contest (okpa-orere or osogan) with Death. They
were advised to make sacrifice with rabbit.

It was only Orunmila who made the sacrifice. When the time for the contest came, all of them
threw their spears on stony ground and they could not stand or stick to the ground. When it was the
turn of Orunmila to throw his spear, Esu caused a rabbit to escape from the ground, which gave
him the indication that, it was the only point at which his spear could stick to the ground and stand
erect. He threw his spear into the rabbit's hole and it stuck firmly to the ground. Death was not
happy to see that Orunmila succeeded in the contest. Asked why he decided to contest with Death,
Orunmila explained the following song:

Ajanigboro-so-kute ni odifa fun oun Orunmila,

Oni oun gbo riru ebo, oun ru,
Oun si gbo eru tu kesu, oun tu,
Oni bi iku ba so okute,
Emi yio ba so kute.
Bi Oba so kute, emi yio ba so kute,
Ajanigboro so kute.

He explained that he embarked on the contest because he went for divination to Ajanigboroso-
kute and he did the prescribed sacrifice, and since sacrifice manifests unfailingly for those who
make it, that is the secret of his audacity and success.

When it appears at divination, the person will be told that temptation or a strong test is
imminent. He should therefore make sacrifice with a rabbit to avoid or triumph in it.
 Ifism: The Complete Works of Orunmila Volumes Eight and Nine
3
6
 37 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • lrosun-Obara

Chapter 5
IROSUN-OBARA
IROSUN-EGA

I
11 I
11 11 I
III

Made Divination for Ega, The Fruit-Bearing Tree:

0
kpe tiri Eluju, awo ega, Odifa fun te ni ti'nshe yeye ega. Okpe luju was the diviner who
made sacrifice for Ega when she was anxious to have children. She was told to make
sacrifice with all the crops in the farm. She was told to add her wearing

apparel to the sacrifice so that human beings may not destroy her or her children after producing
them. She made the sacrifice and had many children at the same time.
After having her children, she went back to the Awo, Okpe Eluju, to demand the return of her
wearing apparel. After returning it to her, Esu clad her children with the various colors of the
apparel. Esu also went to human beings to tell them that the children (fruits) of Ega were dainty for
eating. In consequence, she lost all her children to humanity. The Yoruba name for ega is kaare,
which refers to all edible fruit bearing plants.

Made Divination for Adaba To Call Off The Bluff of The Tortoise:

Ogbe kpu le'yin ori. Eje suuru leyin orun. Adafa fun Adaba.
On losi awoju egbe re. Eboni ko ru, tori ki a ma she asheju.

A person rnatcheted on the occiputwill spill blood on the neck, was the name of the Awo who
made divination for the bird called Adaba when he overreached himself with greed. He was advised
to make sacrifice to avoid disgrace and embarrassment. He was told to make sacrifice with rat, fish,
cock, akara, eko and palm wine. He did not do the sacrifice.

He had developed the habit of wearing a wooden cutlass in a case which he tied round his
waist whenever he attended the meetings of all the birds. He used to browbeat other birds by
threatening to pull his cutlass from its case and he invariably succeeded in using that ploy to con-
vince the others into allowing him to drink more than his fair share of the available wine. When his
colleagues became disgusted with his churlish behavior, they went for divination to find out what to
do to call off his bluster.

At divination, they were advised to give a he-goat to Esu and they did the sacrifice without any
delay. After the sacrifice the Awo gave them the lyerosun to put in his drink the next time Adaba
threatened them with his machete case. He advised them to give him enough drink until he
 3 Ifism: The Complete Works of Orunmila Volumes Eight and Nine
8

fell asleep, after which they were to take a close look at his bogey weapon.

At the next meeting, after his customary threat, they allowed him to drink until he became thor-
oughly drunk and fell asleep. As soon as he fell asleep, the others brought out his much vaunted
weapon, only to discover that the case contained a wooden cutlass. They returned the wooden
cutlass in the case and decided to wait for the first chance to puncture his sham.

At the next meeting, the other birds began drinking without waiting for him. When he arrived at
the meeting to see that others had started drinking, he challenged them to surrender all the
remaining drinks to him. The others uncharacteristically reacted by telling him that he was talking
nonsense and that he should do his worst if he was not going to be satisfied with his fair share of
the drinks. When he threatened to bring out his cutlass, the others challenged him to bring it out
and use it. He was astounded. That was the end of his bluster, having been thoroughly disgraced.

When this Odu appears at divination, the person should be advised to make sacrifice to avoid
disgracing himself at a meeting he is going to attend.

He will be told that there is one person he is afraid of, who scares him whenever he speaks.
If the indlcation is Uree, he should be advised to stop dreading the person because he cannot do
anything to him. If it is Ayeo, he should be advised to make sacrifice in order to call off the man's
braggadocio. The bogey man is a witch. He should make sacrifice with cock and cutlass. The lfa
priest will prepare the cutlass with the appropriate leaves and give it to the divinee to be keeping
under his pillow. If the divinee is a woman, she will be told that she is often scared when a woman
who is not very tall talks at their meeting. If it is Uree, she will be advised to stop fearing the
smallish woman because although she is a witch, she cannot do anything to harm her.

Another Variation: He Made Divination for The Tortoise and the Weaver Bird:

The tortoise was in the habit of threatening people with a disused cutlass kept in a case and
worn round his waist. Being a lazy drone, instead of working for his own upkeep, he used to move
from house to house with his cutlass strapped to his waist to blackmail people into giving him food.

One day, he met the weaver birds (eye ega in Yoruba and akha in Bini) holding a meeting, at
which they were drinking palm wine. When he got to the meeting, he threatened to pull out his
encased cutlass if the birds failed to give him a drink. Out of fear, they quickly served him with palm
wine.Thereafter, he made it a habit to be showing up at the weekly meetings of the weaver birds to
procure drinks under false pretenses.

When the weaver birds did not know what to do with him, they trooped to lrosun-Ega for
divination, at which he told them to make sacrifice with a he-goat to Esu. After making sacrifice,
lrosun Ega told them what to do at the next meeting. They were advised to conceal themselves
from view at the next meeting, save for one of them who was to challenge the tortoise to a drinking
contest in seven days time.

At a subsequent meeting all the other weaver birds (they all look alike) hid themselves in an
 39 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Irosun-Obara

inner room, and only one of them was present at the conference chamber. The lone weaver bird
challenged the tortoise to a drinking contest in seven days time if he knew he could drink. He
readily
accepted the challenge.
On the seventh day, all the other weaver birds again concealed themselves in the inner room
leaving one of them ostensibly to undertake the contest with the tortoise. The tortoise told the bird
to serve himself and him, the tortoise. As soon as the bird had his drink he excused himself to
urinate in the toilet. He was immediately relieved by another bird and the relay continued in such a
manner that each weaver bird only drank once. The tortoise with all his witticism could not discover
how he was being outmaneuvered by the weaver birds. As the birds were doing their drinking relay,
the tortoise was getting drunk.

In his state of delirium, he pulled out his disused cutlass from the case to demonstrate that it
was harmless. The birds got together to have him thoroughly beaten and expelled with a warning
never to bother them again.

When this lfa appears at Ugbodu, the person should be advised never to drink in public places.
He should serve Esu with he-goat and to be circumspect at meetings. He should avoid the
tendency to become greedy in order to live long in honor and respect. At divination, the person
should be advised not to drink any alcohol for seven days. He should serve Ogun with palm wine
and roasted yam because people are plotting to undo him with wine. He should also beware of
meetings.

The Divination He Made Before Leaving Heaven:

Obara bale ra Ogun, Ale oun eba ira, were the two Awos who made divination for lrosunObara
when he was coming from heaven. He was told to wash his head on the ground with two eggs and
two snails, and to serve Esu with he-goat, and his guardian angel with guinea-fowl. He did all the
sacrifices to obviate the risk of having paranoia on earth.

Nevertheless, he became very erratic when he got to the world. One night his guardian angel
advised him to repeat the sacrifices he made in heaven. He did it without delay. He washed his
head on the ground with two eggs and two snails mashed with ewe irorowo and other soft lfa
leaves. Thereafter, his head became cool and he began to behave more humanely. He subse-
quently became a famous and prosperous lfa priest in the town of Ega.

When the Oloja of Ega heard about his fame, he sent for him. His proficiency earned him the
role of the chief diviner to the Oloja of Ega. The Oloja had a long standing illness which his
traditional Babalawos and physicians could not cure. When lrosun-Obara got to the palace, he told
the Oloja after divination that he had an expensive gown which he inherited from his father. He told
the Oloja that the garment had been spoilt by the elders of the night and that if he surrendered it to
Esu with a he-goat, he would become well. The Oloja quickly made the sacrifice and he became
well. That is how lrosun-Ega became the Chief Royal Diviner of the Oloja of Ega

He Made Divination for Alaakpa When He Lived in The Midst of Witches:

Alaakpa had several problems caused by witches who were daily sleeping and waking up
 Ifism: The Complete Works of Orun:mila Volumes Eight and Nine
40

with him. He later invited Orunmila for divination and he was advised to make sacrifice with a frog, a
wooden image (omolangidi in Yoruba) bitter leaves, sasswood (obo in Yoruba and oziya in Bini). He
made the sacrifice, and he was told to be repeating the following incantation every night, on the
ayajo prepared for him.

No one ever dares to swallow the emissions of the electric tree.

No witch can survive an attack from sasswood or Obo.
No witch eats bitter leaf. No witch can kill a wooden image.
Dogs forbid to eat frogs.

Thereafter, all the witches ran away from him one after the other and he finally had peace and
tranquillity.
When this Odu appears at divination, the person will be told that he is surrounded by witches.
He should look for an lfa priest to prepare a similar protective device (Ayajo) for him and he will
be rid of them.
 41 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Irosun-Okonron

Chapter 6
IROSUN-OKONRON
IROSUN-AKARA

11 I I
I I I
I I I
I I
I
Divination Made for Him Before Leaving Heaven:

Moyen oru ko geere le. Moyin faale geere le.

Abinu ooni ara moobo yen. Awon meteta lo'ndifa fun
Orunmila nijo t'on ko le orun si wa kole aye.

N
ame sakes never kill each other. There is gain from the ground. One's enemy does not
wish one to survive trial by ordeal. These were the three Awos who made divina tion for
Orunmila when he was coming to the world. He was advised to make sacri-

fice because he was going to experience a lot of enmity in the process of his lfa practice. He was
told to serve; his head with a guinea-fowl, his lfa with a goat, his guardian angel with white cloth,
chalk and a basket of pigeons and Esu with he-goat, broken or half calabash and crushed. yam
(Elo or obobo). He did all the sacrifices and obtained God's blessing before leaving for the world.
On getting to the world, he turned out to be an lfa priest and became famous for not prescrib-
ing elaborate materials for sacrifices. He hardly ever prescribed sacrifice with a goat. He was
specialized in making akpako or Ebo sacrifice with easily affordable materials. His modest and
moderate approach to sacrifice however earned him the displeasure of the more elderly lfa priests,
who saw sacrifice as a means of earning a living on suffering humanity. They soon accused him of
being a witch because it was generally believed that only priests who were witches were privileged
to prescribe moderate sacrifices. For instance, it is believed that an Awo who is not a witch must in
his own interest, recommend sacrifice with a goat before he can attempt to save a victim of
witchcraft from the elders of the night.

When he however denied being a witch, he was ordered to go for trial by ordeal (that is to drink
the concoction based on sasswood (obo in Yoruba and iyin in Bini). Meanwhile, he went for
divination and he was told to serve Esu with he-goat, the meat of antelope and a stick. He did the
sacrifice before going for the trial by ordeal. As if the rigors of a trial by ordeal was not hazardous
enough, his enemies also suborned assassins to lay in ambush to kill him in the event of his
surviving the trial by ordeal.

He drank the concoction of the ordeal and nothing happened to him. After vomiting the sass-
 42 Ifism: The Complete Works of Orunmila Volumes Eight and Nine

wood, he was given the white chalk of innocence and told to return home in triumph. As he was
walking home, just before he reached the spot where his prospective assassins lay in ambush, E.su
released a live antelope from their midst and the ambuscades abandoned their main objective and
pursued the antelope, which of course, they could not kill. As they were blaming one another for
allowing the antelope to escape, a fight ensued. After fighting and injuring themselves, they were all
arrested and arraigned before the Oba for disturbing the peace. By the time they were released
from the Oba's palace, Orunmila was already safely back in his house.

Even then, as soon as they left the palace, they still went to his house and ordered him to
chant the song of trial by ordeal, as proof of his survival. He told them that he knew no such song,
but sang in praise of the Awo who made divination for him. After his triumph over the enemies, each
of them began to profess allegiance to him.

He Made Divination for Senifiran:

lrosun Kain Kain, babalawo Seni firan. Odifa fun Senifiran.

He made divination for Senifiran advising him to make sacrifice so that one death in his family
is not followed by several others. He was told to make sacrifice with an ewe (female sheep), and a
duck. He made the sacrifice and death did not strike at the family.

When the lfa appears at divination, the person will be advised not to get involved in any task or
engagement requiring collective or group effort. If the divination is for a sick person, his people
should be advised to make sacrifice because if he is allowed to die, many others will follow him to
heaven. If in spite of the sacrifice, the person still dies, the fowl that has no feather ((in Yoruba and
okpikipi in Bini) will be used to prepare the medicine to be buried with his corpse in the grave, to
stop the dead person from dragging others along with him.

If the divination appears for a woman who is desperately looking for a child, she will be told to
marry an lfa man because she is the wife of Orunmila. She will first give birth to a male child.

He Made Divination for Toibi When She Was Anxious To Have a Child:

Esunsun te kokoko dina, Onreti akponda kan kan. Adifa fun Toibi t'onfi omi oju shu bere omo
turuutu. Esusun grass blocked the passage way in the bush in anticipation of the man with a very
sharp machete. That was the name of the Awo who made divination for Toibi whose eyes had
. swollen red from crying for not having a child. She was advised to make sacrifice with a hen, 4
snails, and a pigeon. She made the sacrifice after which she left her husband to marry an lfa priest.
She became pregnant the following month and gave birth to a male child, followed in quick
succession by four other children.

If the odu appears at divination for a man, he should be told, that he has problems with
marrying a wife. He should arrange to have his own lfa after which he would come across a woman
who has not had a child before.

When it appears for a woman, she will be told that she is desperate to have a child. She should
go and marry a man having his own lfa subject to confirmation by another divination.
 43 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • lrosun-Okonron

Before the lfa man marries her, he will be advised to serve his lfa with a goat. Alternatively, if she is
already married, she will be advised to persuade her husband to arrange to have his own lfa.

If the woman has no problem of childlessness, she will be told to try to identify a female relation
who is crying to have a child, and advise her to marry an lfa man because her children are with
Orunmila.

He Made Divination for Agufanmiyangan Who Discarded His lfa:

Ada-ni she awo eba orun. Adide ni shawo isale ile. Adifa fun
Agufanmiyangan to fi lfa re si'le t'onlo ro oko.

The big bat (owo in Bini and adani in Yoruba) is the Awo on the approach road to heaven.
The small bat (eguen in Bini and adide in Yoruba) is the Awo on earth. These were the two Awos who
made divination for Agufanmiyangan who abandoned lfa practice to take to farming, because he
complained that lfism could not bring him prosperity. His poverty became even more abject after he
became a farmer. That was when he decided to go for divination to the two lfa priests. They asked him
whether he did not know that many of the beneficiaries of his lfa practice had become prosperous. They
admonished him for lacking the patience to wait for the dawn of his days of prosperity. The lfa priests
sang lfa songs to embarrass him. Eventually, he gave up farming and returned to lfa practice after
begging lfa with a hen and kola nuts to forgive him. He subsequently became very prosperous.

When it appears at divination for a man, he will be advised to hurriedly have his own lfa, if he does
not already have one. For a man with lfa, he should be told to learn how to understand lfa. For and lfa
priest, he should be advised to give up whatever work he is doing on the sideline and to concentrate
fully on lfa practice, because he is falling out of line. For a woman, she will be advised to marry an lfa
man if not married, or to persuade her husband to have his own lfa, if already married. If the woman is
past childbearing age (post-menopause) she should be advised to learn how to use cowries for
divination, and be practicing it for a living.

He Made Divination for The Garrulous Seer:

He made divination for a talkative Awo called Tabita who was fond of claiming to be capable of
knowing and seeing what was clearly beyond his capabilities, thus often finding himself fishing in
troubled waters.

On one occasion he went to the market to declare that he could tell what and who killed the Oba's
son who had just died, when in fact, he had no esoteric or psychic powers whatsoever. He promised to
reveal to the Oba who and what was responsible for the death of the son on the next market day.

On the next market day, he went to the palace, but could not reveal who and what was responsible
for the death of the prince. He however proposed that a bunch of palm fruits should be provided and
suspended on a fork stick, and that by the time the fruits started dropping from the bunch, the culprit
would die. After a period of fourteen days the palm fruits began to drop to the ground, but nothing
happened.
 Ifism: The Complete Works of Orunmila Volumes Eight and Nine
4
4
When he was subsequently invited to explain the failure of his prediction and experiment, he
lied that an elderly woman, who was one of the pillars behind the Oba was responsible for the
death of the Oba's son and that she should be executed. The Oba unwittingly believed him and
ordered the woman to be arrested for execution.

The following morning a flock of vultures descended on the courtyard of the palace. The Oba
immediately invited his traditional diviners to find out the significance of the visiting vultures. After
divination, they disclosed that they came to protest the condemnation of the innocent old woman,
because vultures do no allow elders to be wrongly treated. The Oba immediately rescinded his
earlier order and compensated the old woman for being wrongly accused and detained. The Oba
then gave orders for the arrest and trial of Tabita for operating under false pretenses. Before the
royal police got to his house, he escaped from the town never to return.

When this lfa appears at Ugbodu, the person should be advised to beware of garrulousness.
He should in any case make sacrifice so that the words from his mouth do not force him out of his
abode or place of work. He should serve lfa with a white goat within three months of going into
Ugbodu. Thereafter, he should serve lfa with a crocodile to avoid creating trouble for himself in his
town. He should also serve Ogun and Uja each with a cock. At divination, the person should serve
his head, Ogun and Uja with a cock each, praying not to get into trouble through the words
of his mouth.

Sacrifice for Avoiding War or General Turmoil:

Orunmila declared that there was victory when;

Olota conquered Benin and occupied it; Rin-Rin
conquered Owo and occupied it;
Pepe conquered Asan and occupied it;
Orobojegi conquered Otun-moba and occupied it;
lbebe conquered Akaka in Oya and occupied it;
Erumole ajugotun and Erumole ajugosi captured lbodo and
occupied it; while
He Orunmila overran heaven and remains there.

Orunmila therefore declared that if this odu appears at divination as Ayeo, and it portends
trouble (or ija) the person will be told that a war is imminent and that he should make sacrifice with
a he-goat to escape the dangers posed by it.
 45 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • lrosun-Owanrin

Chapter 7
IROSUN-OWANRIN
I I I
I I I
I I I
I I I

He Made Divination for Orunmila When He Was Ostracized:

Owan gogogo bi atunishe. Okpo kpikpo oni ibaje.

Oro to obaje eni fifo, ake je je je lo bi.
Adafa fun Orunmila ni ojo ti teku teja ati eye tiwon
niwon o ba she mo. Ebo ni ko ru.

It was as rare as the scarcity of getting anyone who willingly

agrees to help others to prosper.
It was common as the abundance of people who disrupt the
fortunes of others.
It is better to be silent on a matter that is not easy to mention.

T
hese were the Awos who made divination for Orunmila when the species of rats, fishes and
birds collectively resolved to ostracize him and hold him at arms length. He was advised to
make sacrifice with a he-goat, cutlass, eke and, akara. He made

the sacrifice, after which Esu told him to be using rats and fishes to serve his lfa and to be feeding his
When
children on itthe
appears
meat ofatbirds.
divination, the person will be advised to make sacrifice because three of his/her
friends will turn against him or her. If it appears as Ayeo, the person should be told to avoid those
friends once he or she identifies them. If it is Uree, they will surely stage a comeback.

He Made Divination for Ugun-Ogege:

Onaja, Onaka, adafa fun Ugun Ogege. Ara lo'de on losha wo

fun won ni ilode.

They made divination for Ugun-Ogege when he was going to practice Awo art for the people of
llode. On getting to llode, he lodged with a man who lived in a wretched house. Nobody took notice of
Ugun on account of his ugly and unimpressive personality. Three days after his arrival, he went out and
sat down at a place where people were gathered. While sitting and watching the events going on, he
eavesdropped into a conversation between two women who were concluding arrangements to leave
their husbands on grounds of childlessness.
 46 Ifism: The Complete Works of Orunmila Volumes Eight and Nine

He reacted by inviting them to his lodging after reassuring them that there was a better option
than abandoning their marriage because they did not have children. When he got to his lodging, he
made divination for them after which he advised them to make sacrifice with two snails, a cock and
a hen. The women lost no time in arranging to make sacrifice. After the sacrifice, he gave them
medicines to use. At the end of that month, both women became pregnant.

As soon as news of the experience of the two women circulated around, women with similar
problems began to come to him and he was able to help them equally successfully. Moreover, it
soon became evident that he could solve other problems apart from childlessness. He eventually
became everyone's favorite and realized a lot of money and gifts which translated him to eternal
fame and fortune. When he finally decided to return home, even the Oba of the town prevailed on
him to stay around. He was eventually allowed to return home after promising to return.

Three years later, he returned to llode quietly, almost stealthily. Prior to his arrival, people had
been longing for his return. As soon as the first person sighted him, he hailed on him and greeted
him as their savior. There was general rejoicing when the news of his arrival went round. They
began to sing his praise that people should recognize a good Awo when they saw Ugunogege.

If it appears as Uree at divination, the person ((if lfa man) should be told to learn lfa art and
practice if he already has lfa. If not, he should have his own lfa. He should also prepare his own
Osanyin because Ugun used both lfa and medicine to perform his miracles. If the divinee is a
woman, she will be advised to marry an lfa man or persuade her husband to have his own lfa. __

The Divination He Made Before Leaving Heaven:

Akira ijo mu ro gbam gbam, was the Awo who made divination for Orunmila when he was
coming to the world. He was advised to make sacrifice on account of the difficulties he was bound to
encounter on earth. He was told to serve; his guardian angel with a ram for a feast, and • Esu with a
he-goat, a bag of money and a basket of kola nuts. He made the sacrifice but before leaving heaven,
he told his guardian angel that if he succeeded as an lfa priest on earth, he would return quickly to
heaven. If he could not make it, he promised to remain for long on earth.

He subsequently left for the world and came out in the town of Ularin. On getting to Ularin, he
took to trading and merely practiced lfism on the sideline. He soon left Ularin for another town
where he resumed his trading business. After his departure from Ularin, there was an out break of
an epidemic of throat tumor (oligbegbe) in the town. Divine priests and physicians of all stripes and
strands had been invited in vain from far and near to help in alleviating the problem. When they
remembered that lrosun-Owanrin used to practice tangentially as an lfa priest, he was invited by the
people of Ularin to try his hands on the problem. When he sounded lfa, he was told to return to
Uiarin to heip the people.

On getting to Ularin, he made divination after which he recommended sacrifice to; lfa with a
goat and hen, and Esu with a he-goat. He went to the forest to collect lfa leaves, adding the blood
of the goat and the lyerosun of his lfa. After preparing the medicine, he asked everybody in the town
to drink ofit. Before the next morning the disease disappeared from all and sundry.
 47 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Irosun-Owanrin

Before leaving for home, he asked for the final libation drinks and kola, but the people replied
that they were not necessary because they were already well.

On getting to his new home, Esu asked him for obitayin, ogoro tayin (the post-sacrifice libation
kola and drink) he replied that the people of Ularin refused to produce any. Almost immediately,
Esu proclaimed that the sacrifice he made at Ularin was not accepted. Before the following
morning, the incidence of throat tumor returned to the town. When they invited their diviners for
divination they were told that their sacrifices were rejected because they were not complete. Their
diviners declared that their only saving grace was to persuade the lfa priest to return to the town to
finalize the sacrifices. When the errand-men sent to invite him, got to his house, lrosun-Ogege
bluntly refused to return because they regarded it as smacking of greed when he asked for the
traditional wine and kola nuts for the finale. After persistently begging him to relent, he told them
that they would have to pay one bag of money for every step he made from his house to Ularin.
They agreed to his condition, which gave him a lot of money in the process.

Upon his return to the town, he asked for the same materials with which he made the sacrifice
previously. He also prepared the medicine and made everybody to drink out of it. Once more, the
sickness abated generally before the next morning. When he asked for the end-of-ceremony wine
and kola nuts, they were quickly produced and he performed the final ritual before leaving for
home. On getting home, Esu confirmed that his sacrifices were accepted.

His resounding success at Ularin spurred him to firm up a decision to revert full-time to lfa
practice, since no other business seemed capable of fetching the kind of windfall he got from the
practice of lfism. At the same time, the Divinity of Obstacle (Elenini in Yoruba and ldoboo in Bini)
went to his guardian angel to lodge a protest against the effectiveness of lrosun-Owanrin as an lfa
priest on earth.

His guardian angel reassured Elenini that since his ward promised to return early to heaven if
he made it as an lfa priest, he was due to return to heaven shortly.

Meanwhile, he became very famous and prosperous on earth as an lfa priest. At the same
time Elenini embarked on a strategy for hastening his return to heaven. The Obstacle divinity
induced communal strife in a town close to his own, where people were fighting and killing one
another, knowing that the people would invite lrosun-Owanrin for help.

True to expectation, the Oba of the town invited him where he made divination for them and
told them to make sacrifice with 201 gourds of palm oil, 201 gourds of palm wine, 201 snails, soap
worth 201 bags of money, 201 bags of salt, 201 bags of camwood, 201 pieces of white cloth and
201 packets of eko. He made the sacrifice and prepared medicine to be sprinkled round the town.
Before the following morning, peace had returned to the town

When the people subsequently prepared food for him to eat, Elenini poisoned it. As soon as he
ate the food, he developed throat tumor. The affliction stopped him from completing the work he
went to do in the town, because he had to be rushed home. On getting home, he invited his Awos
who told him that it was time for him to return to heaven, since that was his predestination. He was
told however that if he wanted to prolong his stay on earth, he should make sacrifice with a ram,
gourd of palm oil, and a parcel of salt. He provided the materials for the sacrifice. As he was
 48 Ifism: The Complete Works of Orunmila Volumes Eight and Nine

praying with the ram in hand, it jumped up and pierced its horn into his throat tumor and as all the
pus gushed out he became unconscious. While in comatose, he instantly found himself before his
guardian angel in heaven.

When his guardian angel told him to fetch another ram for Elenini he replied that he had a ·· ram
tied up for sacrifice on earth. At that stage, his guardian angel told him to return to earth to complete
the sacrifice. That was the point at which he regained consciousness on earth, and the ram was
slaughtered without any further delay.

As soon as he became well, he gave up lfa practice and resumed trading and farming. He
consequently lived to a ripe old age. When this lfa appears at Ugbodu, the person should be
advised never to practice medicine or lfism, if he wants to live long.

Made Divination for Sang6 and Og(m When They Fought Over a Woman:

Unknown to each other, Ogun and Sanqo were befriending the same woman. When a fight
ensued between them, they invited Orunmila to resolve the matter for them. He reminded them that
all three of them including the woman had earlier failed to make sacrifice. Esu later intervened to
advise them to split the woman into two equal halves. Ogun took his own half and covered it on the
ground. Asked what he covered up, he said it was ljaranyin, his wife. ljaranyin Aya Ogun - or Uja.

On his part, Sanqo took his own half and it began to ooze out water, which he called Oya.

When this Odu appears at divination for a man, he will be warned not to take interest in any
other man's wife or lover. When it appears for a spinster, her parents will be advised to make
sacrifice to avoid the risk of her being matcheted later by her husband for reasons of infidelity. The
sacrifice will be made with a he-goat and her headgear/tie.

His Experience in Farming:

He succeeded immensely in his farming business so much so that the ram and the dog
approached him to teach them the secret of his farming. He gave them land to farm on but told
them to forbid the two main crops he customarily planted in his farm, which were yam and kola nut.
They subsequently embarked on their own farms.

One day, the ram persuaded the dog to eat the kola nut because he had eaten the yam.
Unknown to them lrosun-Owanrin had day and night watchmen guarding the farm. When the guard
reported the actions of his guest-farmers to him, he made the dog to run mad and the ram to lose
his voice to the point of inaudibility. They both became dumb and could no longer explain what
happened to them.

When this lfa appears at Ugbodu, the person should serve lfa with a ram and Ogun with a dog.
Thereafter he should forbid ram meat.

At divination, the person should serve lfa with a hen and Ogun with a cock, to avoid eating
what he forbids. He should however beware of friends.
 49 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Irosun-Ogunda

Chapter 8
IROSUN-OGUNDA
IROSUN-ATAKPO
IROSUN-EGEDAMA YAN

I I I
I I
II
11 II

T
his Odu, called Atakpo momo lere, omo bu ule jo, in heaven was specialised in making
divination for people who wanted to become prosperous on earth. When he saw that all
his colleagues had left for earth, he decided it was time he too came to the world.

Before leaving, he sought clearance from God, who advised him to help himself as he had
done so often for others, by going for divination. He replied the Almighty Father by saying that all
the Awos he would have approached had left He besought the Almighty Father to bless him and He
gave him blessing, but warned that he should complement his blessing with divination and sacrifice
in order to insure success for himself on earth, on account of the overbearing influence of Esu on
earth.

Just before leaving for earth, he went to his guardian angel who warned him against the
consequences of leaving for earth without making any sacrifice. His guardian angel however
advised him to travel with a bag full of food to give to those who would accost him during his
journey to earth. Even that simple advice he refused to heed, and subsequently left for the world
empty-handed and without making any sacrifice.

On his way to the world, he met Emu, who asked him for food. He brushed Emu aside that he
had no food to give. Emu therefore refused to follow him to the world, and he replied that he was
not interested in his company. Next, he met Esu who asked him who he thought he was for daring
to leave for the world without feasting anybody in heaven. He promised to give food to Esu on
getting to the world.

The next divinity he met was Elenini (ldoboo) the Obstacle, who asked him for food. Once
again he replied that he had no food to give. Finally, he met the Lunatic, who also asked him for
food, but he replied that he had no food to offer.

He eventually entered the world, where he began by rnuddlinq up his entire life. He was very
crude in his behavior and people did not take him seriously. Whenever God wanted to send him a
gift, the Obstacle divinity would divert it elsewhere. Esu also made him to bemuse his life by
advising him to be wearing white robes and praying every morning and evening, with the false
assurance that
 Ifism: The Complete Works of Orunmi.la Volumes Eight and Nine
5
0
all would be well with him. That was Esu's ploy for making it impossible for him to embark on his lfa
practice which would have enabled him to have an insight into his problems. The other Awos
admonished him for deriding lfism and of not having regard for the divinities.

Meanwhile, the Obstacle divinity sent a wife to him, who gave birth to a sickly child that made
him spend all the small money he had. At a point the child died after he had spent his last money
on him. That was when he decided to wander into the forest to commit suicide. At the same time,
Esu decided to make him have a bird's eye view of the prosperous life he would have
enjoyed if he had paid for it in heaven.

Before he could commit suicide, Esu made him to swoon into the delirious ecstasy. In the
apparition, he saw his dead child, in a street strewed with every item of wealth and prosperity. He
found himself in the midst of people who were rejoicing with him. In that state of euphoria, he
resolved to settle in the fantasia in which he found himself in the forest. He spent seven days in that
utopia in the forest, after which Esu returned him to the hard reality of the world in which he actually
was, after setting his seventh heaven on fire and the resulting inferno consumed everything except
his bare self. Esu woke him up only to realize that he was in the heart of the forest.

He then began to run to nowhere, but Esu once more accosted him demanding a he-goat from
him. His guardian angel, who had meanwhile reproached him for failing to heed advice before
leaving heaven, gave him a he-goat for Esu.

He gave the he-goat to Esu, who asked him whether he was then prepared to have regard for
people stronger than himself and he replied that he was. After eating his he-goat, Esu told him to
turn to one direction to meet Orunmila. He suddenly found himself back in his house.

On getting home, his Elenini-sent wife demanded a goat and pounded yam from him. He got a
goat, slaughtered it and invited people for a feast. The following day, he invited Awos to come and
prepare lfa for him. When they sounded lfa for him, they told him of the experience he had in the
forest. The lfa was prepared over a seven day period, during which he married a second wife who
had several children for him. His ldoboo-sent wife left him and he became modestly prosperous and
lived to a ripe old age.

When this lfa appears at Ugbodu, the person is likely to have wandered into Christianity before
having his own lfa. He should serve Elenlnl with a goat so that his first wife would leave him, without
which, he would not prosper exceedingly, because she is the agent of the Obstacle divinity.

He Made Divination for Aiye (The World):

Awerekpe una ni ijogbo, ogbologbo Oloja ni fo dem dem.

Adafafun Orunmila nijo t'on lo she awo fun aiye ni si tori omo.

It is the smoldering fire that burns the bush. It is the powerful king that speaks with force and
authority. These were the Awos who made divination for Orunmila when he was going to perform
lfa for the woman called Aiye (the world) in order to have children. Orunmila was advised to make
sacrifice with a he-goat. He made the sacrifice before going to divine for Aiye
 51 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Irosun-Ogunda

At divination, he advised her to make sacrifice with an ewe (female sheep), a goat and a duck.
After performing the sacrifice, he began to give her medicine, as a result of which she eventually
became pregnant. In all, she had three children called: (1) Akikani-gbago (2) Ole ko mu da wa ra
sh'aka and (3) Oromu romu Oshokpo.

She also had several slaves, but the most senior one was called Eyin-uwa. As soon as her
children grew up as adults, Eyin-uwa left her to settle down near the sea. Long after he left her,
Aiye died, and her belongings were shared among her three children. They had forgotten about
Orunmila, their mother's benefactor, and Eyin-uwa, their mother's senior slave since his
whereabout
was unknown. -
Long after the death of Aiye, Orunmila went to her children to ask them why they could not
share any of their mother's belongings to him, since he was her diviner and benefactor. They
however gave him a tall reply by saying that far from forgetting him, they had in fact earmarked their
mother's senior slave Eyin-uwa for him, even though they had no clue on how to reach him.

Unknown to them, Eyin-uwa had done very well for himself by the side of the sea, and he
became very wealthy. On getting home, Orunmila sounded lfa to tell him how to find Eyin-uwa. He
was told to give a he-goat to Esu after which he was to serve his head with a gourd of palm wine by
the wayside.

He made the sacrifice to Esu. Subsequently, he took a gourd of palm wine and went to the
main road leading to the town and sat down to serve his head. As he was praying to his head with
kola nut and the palm wine for the return of Eyin-uwa, he saw a cavalcade of horse-riders and
luggage carriers. Meanwhile, some attendants in the cortege overheard Orunmila's prayers which
mentioned the name of their master at the rear of the cavalcade. They soon drew the attention of
their master to what the man sitting on the roadside was saying.

Since Eyin-uwa and Orunmila knew each other previously, it was the former who recognized
the latter. When he overheard Orunmila's prayers, he came down from his horse and genuflected to
pay homage to his new master, by saying that he was returning home with his retinue to pay
allegiance to whoever was going to be his new master, following the death of her Mistress Aiye.
Orunmila was totally flabbergasted and bewildered at the strange turn of events. They put Orunmila
on one of their horses and rode home with him at the head of the procession.

Eyin-uwa who was already a prosperous man in his own right, surrendered all his wealth and
fortune to Orunmila, who was translated into instant affluence.

The children of Aiye were later surprised to know how Orunmila found Eyin-uwa. When this lfa
appears at divination, the person should be advised to take good care of Orunmila. If he does not
already have lfa, he should arrange to have one. If it appears for a woman who is not yet married,
she will be told that she is the wife of Orunmila.

He Made Divination for Olujati, The Father of Fishes:

Aga omode aye. Kinrindin omo sho orun. Bebele ihin, Bebele
ohun. Adafa fun Olujati ti'nshe baba eja.
 5 Ifism: The Complete Works of Orunmila Volumes Eight and Nine
2
Aga was the son of the world. Kinrindin was the wise man of heaven. The near side and the far
side were the name of the Awos who made divination for Olujati, the father of all fishes. They
advised him to make sacrifice so that human beings might not be killing his children. He was to
make sacrifice with 3 cocks, 3 rats, 3 eko and 3 akara, but he refused to make it. That was why Esu
alerted
human beings to the nutrient value of fishes.
When it appears at divination, the person should be advised to make sacrifice to avoid losing
his children to the evil machinations of the world. It is his destiny to be giving birth to children and
losing them. He can only stop the incidence by having his own lfa and if a woman, by marrying a
man having his own lfa. If the woman is already married to a non-lfa man, she should advise him to
have his own lfa, in order to be keeping their children after giving birth to them.

Divined for Orunmila To Win The Hands of God's Daughter:

God had a beautiful daughter who was called Olose "the beauty that the eyes beholds without
blinking" who was ripe for marriage. The divinities of Death and Night, each applied to marry her
and God agreed to grant their request. Orunmila also applied to marry her and God also agreed.
Eventually god called on them to resolve the question of which of the suitors was quali-
fied to marry the girl.

Meanwhile, the Obstacle divinity, having obtained God's carte blanc to use any criterion he
chose, invited the three contestants and told them that the world was already so overwhelmed with
evil that anything that could be done to depopulate it was appropriate. The Obstacle divinity
(Elenini) proclaimed that the first suitor to deliver a bride-prize of 201 fresh human skulls from the
earth would marry the girl.

The bride-prize posed no problem for Death and the Night except for Orunmila who was not
given to killing human beings. On getting home, he however sounded lfa on what to do and he was
told to make sacrifice with he-goat to Esu and to serve lfa with a guinea-fowl and 16 snails. After
serving lfa, he was to tie the 16 shells of the snails to a forkstick and walk to the boundary of heaven
and earth as soon as the first cock crowed the following morning while hitting the ground with it, he
was to accompany the sound with a song to the effect that if he met death, he would fight him to a
finish.

He accordingly made the sacrifice and before dawn the following morning, he took the forkstick
laden with the snail's shells and left his house for the boundary of heaven and earth.

Meanwhile, Death had been to earth to procure the heads of 201 beheaded human beings,
and was on his way back to heaven with the luggage. As Death approached the boundary of
heaven and earth, he heard a thunderous and reverberating sound. He began to wonder what
sound was so deafening. Since Death is traditionally not afraid of anyone and anything, he
proceeded on his journey with characteristic bravado. As he moved nearer, he heard clearly and
loudly, the defiant message borne by the song accompanying the pulsating sound which was
quaking the very foundation of the earth.

Bi ma ruku ma ba ja, lwori wo ji, lwori wo ji wo wo !!

Bi ma ruku ma gbede, lwori wo ji, lwori wo ji wo wo !!! etc etc.
 5 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • lrosun-Ogunda
3

At that point Death stood still to assess the situation. He began to conjecture what audacious
force it was that was so brazenly shaking the foundations of the earth and threatening to fight him
on sight. While Death was still standing, the sound was moving nearer and nearer to him.

For the first time ever, the very divinity of Death became thoroughly scared, so much so, that
he jettisoned the luggage of human skulls on his head and ran back in fright towards the earth.
When Orunrnila got to where Death dislodged the 201 human skulls, he dropped his snails' shell-
laden forkstick and collected them for instant presentation to Elenini as his own bride-prize.

As soon as Orunmila presented the prize to Elenini, Olose was formally given in marriage to
him, being the first to make his presentation. Death raced back to fetch 201 fresh human skulls
from the earth because he was so sure of beating the others to it in spite of his momentary setback.
He was satisfied that Orunmila had no way of procuring fresh human skulls because he was too
simplistic to kill anyone. On the other hand, the Divinity of the Night would have to wait for nights
unend to dream up an excuse for killing human beings before daring them.

To his utmost amazement, by the time he got to Elenini, he was told that Orunmila had already
beaten him to it. Between the two losers, they swore to destroy Orunmila, for beating them
handsdown. Meanwhile, Orunmila in anticipation of the inevitable backlash from his vanquished
opponents decided to sound lfa for directions. He was advised to make sacrifice with the fried meat
of a rabbit and to deposit it at the last road junction before his house. He was also to roast, plantain
with its skin and corn, and to deposit them at the road side. He was also to roast a whole hegoat
and put the meat on the same spot.

Thereafter, Esu felt the aroma of the fried he-goat and quickly moved in to feast on it. When he
saw the two other sacrifices he decided to keep watch on what was going to happen to them. The
Night Divinity was the first to move in to attack Orunmila. On the approach to Orunmila's house he
saw a meal of fried rabbit and could not resist the urge to feed on it. As soon as he finished eating
it, Esu came out to accuse him of stealing. When the Night asked who he was supposed to have
stolen from, Esu replied that the meat belonged to Orunmila. Since the penalty for theft is
execution, the Night agreed to abandon his grouse against Orunmila in lieu of his meat he had
eaten.

In the small hours of the morning, Death was heading for Orunmila's house with a club in hand.
As soon as Esu saw him, he illuminated the roasted plantain and corn so that Death could see
them clearly, being his two most forbidden taboos. As soon as Death saw the roasted corn and
plantain, he abandoned his morbid intentions towards Orunmila and ran back home for safety.
Orunmila was eventually left to enjoy his bride in peace and quietude.

When this lfa appears at Ugbodu, the person will be reassured that provided he takes his lfa
fairly early, he is going to do very well in life. He is likely to be involved in a love contest for a
woman with two other men. He should make similar sacrifices as those referred to above. He
should forbid plantain roasted with its skin.

The Incantation For Marriage:

Orunmila ni atapo ni momo lere.

 54 Ifi.sm: The Complete Works of Onmmila Volumes Eight and Nine

Moni olomo ba ile jo.

Moron tolu, Mokun won ton lerin.
Akuko adiye ki ge igi, be ni ki i gba emu tio
fi ri iyawo.
Ogbo eyele ki ni kan sun, Oun taya ni yio ma sun.
Oun taya ni yio maa ji.

Meaning:

The dividend from a marriage investment is c_hildbirth. It

is a productive wife that fills the house with children. I will
have you as a wife to bear children for me.
Because the cock neither chops fire wood, nor presents, before having a wife. An
elderly pigeon does not sleep alone.
He sleeps and wakes with his wife.

Children born out of this marriage shall be called:- Amosun, lfatumise, lfasanmi, lfayemisi, lfajemite,
lfaponle, lfayemi, lfagbemiga, lfakolade.

When this odu appears at divination for a man, he will be advised that lfa will fetch the right woman
for him to marry. If it appears for a woman, she will be told that the man who is currently proposing to her
is her correct husband.

He Made Divination for The Pineapple:

Je ki mi fi'di he. Let me sit properly, was the name of the Awo who made divination for the
Pineapple (Ekinkun) when she was looking for a suitable abode conducive to productivity. She was told
to make sacrifice with 200 needles, cotton wool, rabbit and kola nuts.

After making the sacrifice, the lfa priest gave her two kola nuts to hold with her wherever she went.
She was told that wherever she felt like sitting down, she should say to people "may I please be allowed
to sit down and serve my head here"? She was told that whoever gave her permission to sit down,
would be her husband, who would give her peace of mind and a chance to bear children.

She visited several places without obtaining permission to settle down. Meanwhile, the hilltop was
told at divination to make sacrifice with 2 cocks on account of a woman who was coming to make a
request on him. After the sacrifice he was advised to agree to any request the woman would make on
him.

When the pineapple eventuaily got to the hiiitop (apata in Yoruba) she sought and obtained
permission to sit down to serve her head. As she was serving her head, Esu used the cotton wool with
which she made sacrifice to glue her buttocks to the hilltop. As she tried to stand up after serving her
head, she discovered that her buttocks had been glued to the ground. The hill subsequently asked her
why she was in a hurry to leave, while persuading her to resume her seat to keep him company.
 5 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Irosun-Ogunda
5

At bed time, Apata drew nearer to her and made love to her. She however told Apata that she had
just finished her menstruation the previous day. She subsequently became pregnant. That is why
pineapples grow on hilltops.

When it appears at divination for a man, he will be advised to make sacrifice so that his
predestined wife will come to him. If he makes sacrifice, he will recognize and readily accept her lest,
he will miss her, and the path of his destiny. When making the sacrifice, the lfa priest will add the
leaves of pineapple to the materials.
·'
 Ifism: The Complete Works of Orunmila Volumes Eight and Nine
56
-
57 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Irosun-Osa

Chapter 9
IROSUN-OSA
11 I I
I I I
I I 11

He Made Divination for The Cock Before Marrying The.Hen:

Eke kukuru, ika gbooro.

Adifa fun akiko mo galaja nijo
t'onlo she oko abo.

H
e made divination for the cock when he was going to take the hen for a wife. He told
the cock to make sacrifice with rat, fish, akara, eko and kola nuts. He made the sacrifice
and the hen offered no resistance to his proposal for marriage.

When the lfa appears at divination, the person should be told to make sacrifice to avoid the risk
of losing his life on account of a woman. If it appears for a woman, she will be told to make
sacrifice, so that two men may not fight because of her, and for the safety of her children.

He Made Divination for The Knife:

lrosun Sasasa awo abe, odifa fun abe.

He made divination for the knife when he was going to shave the head of Orisa. He was told to
make sacrifice to avoid doing the work in half measure. He did not do the sacrifice. Without doing
the sacrifice, he left the next day to shave the hair of Orisa.

On his way, Esu confronted him with a chance to earn additional money by first cutting his own
hair. He told Esu that his first priority was to shave Orisa's hair. Eventually, Esu succeeded in per-
suading him to shave his hair. But as he was shaving Esu's hair, it was growing instantaneously.
The cutting lasted the whole day and yet, he had made no significant impact. At dusk, Esu's hair
was as bushy as it was before the cutting started. Consequently, Esu refused to pay because his
hair was not shaved. The knife raised no qualms because he drew a casual connection between
the sacrifice he failed to make and his abortive experience. When he got home that evening, he
proceeded to make the sacrifice.

Thereafter, he was able to get to Orisa's house the following morning to cut his hair. When
Orisa
 Ifism: The Complete Works of Orunmila Volumes Eight and Nii
58

queried him for failing to turn up the previous day, he explained by narrating his unavailing expei ence
on his way to honor the appointment.

When it appears at divination, the person should be advised to make sacrifice to avo obstacle in
his job. For a woman, she will be advised to make sacrifice to avoid problems in h1
marriage from her husband or children.

He Made Divination for Fire:

lrosun sa ara ga. He made divination for Fire, advising him to make sacrifice to avoid losing ~
wife, Po. He was told to make sacrifice with a red cock, red cloth and palm oil. He refused to mal the
sacrifice because he could neither imagine his wife leaving him nor anyone daring to seduce h
from him.

His wife Po, was also advised to make sacrifice with her wearing apparel to avoid getti1 into
trouble. She too refused to make the sacrifice. Subsequently, she ran away from the husbanc house
to live with the grass of the bush. Fire did not make any move because the event ha pened during the
rainy season. He waited for the dry season to emerge. At the appearance of ti dry season, Fire put on
his red clothes and stood at the edge of the bush calling on the grass return his wife or face his wrath.
The grass replied that he should do his worst. Fire reacted burning up all the plants and animals in
the bush.

When this odu appears at divination, the man should be warned not to seduce anybod' wife
because it could cost him his life.

He Made Divination for The Hawk (Asa or Ahua):

He made divination for the Hawk when Orisa withdrew his hunting weapon after he h cheated.
Orisa had given a pair of scissors to the Hawk to be hunting for him. The Hawk howe, developed the
habit of flying about all day only to report mission unaccomplished to Orisa. The after, the Hawk
would proceed for his own hunting, in which he was invariably successful. Wh Orisa realized that the
Hawk was cheating, he invited him to bring his hunting weapon for ref bishment. Far from re-
sharpening the scissors, Orisa actually seized it.

Thereafter, the Hawk began to starve from lack of hunting weapons. Being too ashamed return
to Orisa, he decided to go for divination. He was told to make sacrifice with a cock am he-goat.
Orunmila gave the cock to Ogun to prepare a new pair of scissors for the Hawk. Og produced the
scissors and gave it to Orunmila, who prepared the iyerosun to magnetize it, SL that anything or game
it held would be glued to it.

With his new weapon, the Hawk was able to resume successful hunting .. When it appears
Ugbodu, the head of a hawk and the appropriate leaves are used to prepare a blacksmit scissors on
the skull of a gorilla for the person to keep on his lfa shrine, to enable him to achie
his objective in life.
 5 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Irosun-Osa
9

The Divination He Made Before Leaving Heaven:

Mikoligho kirin, mo ko ligho kirin. Omo eku okirin ka abare

odukuluku odi baba eka. Ono eja kirin ka aba re. Odi baba re
ja. Miko ligho kirin, mi ghrigho kirin. Oduro kpekpe. Okirin
ka aba re. Odu kulukulu, odi baba re kin.

When he asked for the sacrifice to make before leaving heaven, he was told to; feast his guard-
ian angel with a castrated he-goat, serve Esu with he-goat, and Ogun with cock, tortoise and dog.
He was told that the sacrifice was necessary for ameliorating the problems awaiting him on earth.
He was also told to serve unknown enemies in the forest with dog, cock and his torn clothes. He
made all the sacrifices and he sought and obtained the blessing of God before leaving for earth with
chalk, white cloth and eagle's feather. He had also been told to make sacrifice to the Obstacle
divinity, but he was too tired to remember to do it.

He got to the world to see that there was already enlightenment. He did not demonstrate that
he was an Awo although people suspected he was one. He began by serving his fellow Awos
without ignoring anyone of them. He later found himself in the household of the Oba of the town.
While in the palace, he was quietly practicing lfa for other people. Meanwhile, the Obstacle divinity
he failed to serve in heaven, began to disrupt his activities by damaging the things put under his
charge in the palace, which were the medicinal and diabolical protective devices of the Oba. When
the Oba discovered the damage done to his most cherished belongings, he demanded an
explanation from lrosun-Osa. The Oba did not execute him being an Awo, but confiscated all his
belongings, expelled him from the palace, and banished him into exile.

He spent his first few months of exile in the forest because he had no clothes to wear in a
human habitat. He began to live with animals, to which he demonstrated his benevolence. When
Esu saw how he was suffering, he went to Ogun and his guardian angel in heaven to query them for
allowing him to suffer so much deprivation on earth, in spite of the sacrifices he made before
leaving heaven. His guardian angel explained that he was destined to be an lfa priest, but that he
abandoned the practice of lfism and began to serve other people, when he ought to be leading.

Esu subsequently met him to demand a he-goat, which he brought out from his Akpominijekun.
After eating the he-goat, Esu directed him to an lfa priest who was visiting the earth from heaven.
That was at the boundary of heaven and earth. The Awo made divination for lrosun-Osa and
reminded him that he vowed in heaven to be a practicing lfa priest on earth. The Awo directed him
to return to the bush to collect whatever he saw at the place where he had been sleeping. On
getting there, he saw a sledge hammer which Ogun had mean while kept there for him.

The Awo from heaven had told him to serve whatever he found with a cock and also to serve
his own lfa with a ram. When he returned to his forest abode, he could not find his lfa seeds (lkin).
He however saw some I kin spread out as if they had just been prepared but did not touch them. He
neither picked up Ogun's sledge hammer gift nor the lfa he saw lined out. While he was sleeping
that night, his guardian angel told him that he should collect the lfa seeds he saw because they
were his own and also Ogun's gift of a sledge hammer and to make sacrifices to them to mark the
beginning of his lfa practice.
 Ifism: The Complete Works of Orunmila Volumes Eight and Nine
6
0
He made the sacrifices and began to practice !fa art for whoever took him seriously enough to
come to him. Incidentally, all his predictions came true and all his sacrifices manifested, which began to
direct more and more clients to him. The Awos from heaven had also advised him to serve the Obstacle
divinity with all eatable materials and a dog. He finally made the sacrifice after which EIE>n ini
removed the roadblock with which he had held up his prosperity in heaven.

There was a remarkable swing in fortune for him after that final sacrifice. The daughter of 016kun
came from heaven to meet him for divination. After divining for her, the woman refused to leave him,
offering instead to marry him. Subsequently, the woman brought her slaves and assets from the palace
of her father, which made them become vastly wealthy. He was soon after-
wards, able to build a house of his own.

At the same time Esu went to the town where he had lived with the Oba and caused lots of
problems for them. The difficulties lasted for three years during which their solution defied the skill and
expertise of all the invited Awos. Eventually, the Awa from heaven met the Oba ofthe . town and told him
that the problem arose on account of the Awo he banished ignominiously from

his domain.
He was told that it was only that Awo who could solve the problems of the town. Almost
immediately, the Oba made a proclamation that lrosun-Osa should be searched for and persuaded to
return to the town. Professional searchers (uwamuwa in Yoruba and omu-ama in Bini) were sent to
locate his whereabouts. The professional searchers succeeded in targeting him and
subsequently made a rendezvous with him.

When they however told him that the Oba wanted to see him, he bluntly refused to accept the
invitation. He insisted that he was expelled and forced to go into exile in disdainful circumstances
because the Oba had no more use for him. He eventually told them that before he could return to the
town, the Oba should send him a castrated he-goat, dog, cock, white cloth, rat and fish
for sacrifice.
When the message was given to the Oba he quickly ordered the materials to be sent to him.
After getting them, he served; Esu with the he-goat, his lfa with the castrated he-goat, rat and fish, and
Ogun with the cock and dog. Thereafter he left to go and see the Oba. On getting to the palace, he made
divination for the Oba and told him that the secondary divinity of the town called Osa had not been served
for almost seven years since the death of its last priest. The shrine was immediately refurbished and the
divinity was served with a goat, a ram, a cock and plenty of food and drinks. Almost immediately
afterwards, the problems which had been besetting the town began to abate following a rainstorm. There
had been a drought in the town for three years. Eventually, when the sacrifice was being made, someone
got possessed and professed that peace and prosperity wouid return finally to the town if \rosun-Osa
could be successfully persuaded to become the next chief priest of the reanimated Osa divinity. After
ordering a befitting house to be built for him, the Oba succeeded in convincing lrosun-Osa to return to the
town. His return to the town marked the beginning of the reappearance of peace and prosperity for all and
sundry. He lived to a ripe old age in relative opulence. He became famous for making prophecies
that unfailingly came true.

When this lfa appears at Ugbodu, the person should be told that he had ignored lfa for too long
 61 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Irosun-Osa

He should immediately prepare Esu and Ogun for his lfa and serve the reanimated lfa with a cas-
trated he-goat. He will prosper in the land of his birth.

His Final Divination for The Oba:

About seven years after his return to the town of lgbajo, he had a curious dream in which the
Oba was removed from the throne. While he was contemplating whether or not to alert the Oba with
his misgivings, he decided to make divination at which he was told to serve his head with chalk and
salt beseeching his head to lead him to his final destination in life. He did the sacrifice and left for
the palace.

On getting there, he made divination for the Oba, advising him to serve his head with the meat
of an elephant to obviate the danger of being removed from the throne. The Oba became so
annoyed that he ordered the immediate arrest and detention of lrosun-Osa for daring to predict the
remote possibilty of his dethronement. The Oba had forgotten how all the previous predictions of
lrosun-Osa used to come true with textbook exactitude. Instead of making the prescribed sacrifice,
the Oba felt relieved after incarcerating the diviner into detention.

Five days later, the town of lgbajo was attacked by enemy forces and the Oba was removed
and subsequently sent to an unknown destination. He was later reported to have been killed.

Finding themselves without an Oba, the kingmakers were invited by the people to make
divination on the appointment of a new Oba. All the seven diviners invited unanimously recom-
mended that the Awo who was in detention should be released and crowned as the new Oba,
because he alone could return peace and tranquility back to lgbajo.

When this lfa appears at Ugbodu, the person should immediately serve his head with white
chalk mixed with salt, coconut, white kola nut and a white cock. He should give he-goat immediately
to Esu and persevere in whatever suffering he encounters because God will compensate him with a
great favor in the end. At divination, the person should also serve his head with a cock in order to
obtain an expected favor.
6 Ifism: The Complete Works of Orunmila Volumes Eight and Nine
2
 63· THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Irosun-Etura

Chapter 10
IROSUN-ETURA
IROSUN-AJALA
I I
11 I
I I
I I
I I

Orunmila Names The Most Successful Tree in The Forest:

Orunmila ni o kara, Emi na ni o koro.

Orunmila ni oni gbajumo a de. Moni tani oni gbajumo.
Moni iroko kon om be lo oko o yi, moni oun lo gbajumo.
Orunmila ni iro ni, ki'nshe lo gbajumo.

0
runmila asked the lfa priest to name the most prosperous tree in the forest. The lfa priest
mentioned the lroko tree· and the oak tree. Orunmila said they were not. When he put the
question once more, the lfa priest replied that he had no clue. Orunmila

subsequently declared the palm tree as the most prosperous tree in the forest, because, it leaves are
money (brooms) its wine is money (palm wine) its fruit are money (palm oil) the chaff of its fruits after
producing oil is money (chaff igniting fire), its seeds are money, (palm kernel oil) the chaff from its seeds
is money (for animal feeds), and the shells from its seeds are money for (reinforcing construction work).
Orunmila said that there was no other tree in the forest whose entire body was money-producing.
When this Odu appears at divination, the person should be told to have his own lfa in order to
prosper in life. If he is not in a position to have his own lfa, he should serve; lfa with a hen and a pigeon,
and Esu with a he-goat, in order to prosper and become famous in life.

The Divination He Made Before Leaving Heaven:

Ajala aiye, ajala orun, were the two Awos who made divination for this odu before he left heaven for
earth. He was advised to make sacrifice because he was going to be a practicing lfa priest on earth, and
on account of the difficulties he was going to encounter in the hands of the elderly Awos. He was told to
give; a ram, 24 pigeons, a tortoise, the meat of bush goat ( edu in Yoruba and oquonziran in Bini) and
seed yam to his guardian angel, he-goat to Esu, and to obtain God's blessing with a piece of white cloth,
21 pieces of white chalk, red parrot's feather and a basket of 201 coconuts. He made all the sacrifices
before leaving for the world.
 Ifism: The Complete Works of Orunmi.la Volumes Eight and Nine
64

He met a number of elderly awos on earth, but was engaged in his own practice quietly.
Meanwhile, the Oba of his town. Owo, where he came out, became ill. The Awo who traditionally
took care of the Olowo of Owo was called Ajana-oko, a very old man. When the Oba's illness defied
the efforts of Ajana-oko, he ordered that all accessible Awos should be invited to help him. Ajana-
oko had been told to serve Esu with he-goat and the meat of bush goat, but he failed to do it. He
subsequently went to the forest one day and saw that his trap had caught a bush goat. He took it
home to put the meat on the drier. At the same time, lrosun-Etura was told at a morning divination to
serve; Esu with a he-goat and his head with 201 pieces of coconut and a pigeon, and his lfa with the
meat of bush goat. He did all the sacrifices, but could not obtain bush goat with which to serve his
lfa. He therefore improvised with wine and kola nuts, promising to use
bush goat as soon as he could get it.

After eating his he-goat from lrosun-Etura, later to be nicknamed Ajana-Ule, Esu went to stoke
the anus of Ajana-oko for failing to make sacrifice and immediately, while on his way to the palace,
he developed diarrhea, which soon turned to cholera. By the time he arrived at the palace, he was
almost dying. The Oba was told of Ajana-oko's condition and he was figuring out what to do when
Esu in the guise of a visiting elder statesman, advised him to send for a young hitherto unknown
awo called lrosun-Etura for help. The Oba immediately sent for him. When he sounded lfa on the
invitation, he was cleared to go, because he was going to return from there
with honor and dignity.

On getting to the palace, he was immediately asked to do what he could to save the life of
Ajana-oko. When he split the welcome kola nut presented to him and threw it for divination, he
declared that Ajana-oko had failed to make the sacrifice prescribed for him to serve Esu with a he-
goat and his lfa with the meat of a bush goat. He declared that the man did not make the sacrifice
even though he was drying up a whole bush goat in his house. Ajana-oko was perplex at the
precision with which the young awo pinpointed his problems.

Ajana-oko confirmed that he was actually drying up in his house, the bush goat caught by his
trap. The Oba immediately gave orders for the bush goat to be fetched from Ajana-oko's house for
the sacrifice while also providing a he-goat for Esu. As soon as the sacrifice was made,
Ajana-oko became well.

Following his remarkable success he achieved in healing Ajana-oko, the Oba invited lrosun-
Etura to look into his own long-standing illness as well. After divination and sacrifice, the young awo
at last succeeded in making the Oba well. The Oba was surprised to know that such a hiqhly
competent and talented lfa priest lived in his domain without his knowledge. The Oba gave him the
nickname of Ajana-ule and confirmed him at once as the chief Royal Diviner of Owo. He became
very popular. At the height of his success, a wife was betrothed to him, who incidentally was a
witch, who was to cooperate with his detractors to ferment problems for him.

His problems began when his wife through witchcraft seized his masculine potency and he
could no longer make love. Up to that time he had no child. As he was however sleeping one night
he had a dream in which his guardian angel queried him for neglecting his lfa practice after taking a
chieftaincy title and marriage. His guardian angel told him to find out what sacrifice to make to
subdue his wife because the woman was too strong for him.
 6 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Irosun-Etura
5

When he woke up in the morning, he sounded lfa on the significance of his dream and he was
told to serve Esu with a he-goat, adding the flames coming out of bonfire (majala in Yoruba and
ebibi-eren in Bini), roasted corn and seed yam. He made the sacrifice and the lfa preparation was
tied at the entrance to his house. After the sacrifice, Esu went to the meeting of witches and caused
a rift among them. They all fought till day break and a spate of open confession ensued. His wife
confessed that she was responsible for arresting her husband's potency. She disclosed that she
was being forced meanwhile, to return the husband's potency to him.

The matter was subsequently remitted to the Oba who ordered that the wife of Ajana-ule
should be executed by offering her as sacrifice to the ground divinity. His subsequent marriages
were happy and productive. The wife had confessed the names of the elderly Awos who suborned
her to attack her husband because he had stolen the show from them. All the Awos mentioned in
the confession were made to go on trial by ordeal and they were all caught and subsequently died
one after the other.

When this lfa appears at Ugbodu, the person should be told never to marry a woman procured
for him except one chosen by himself. The problem of impotence is one for which the special
sacrifice has to be made for him without delay. He will be very successful in his job, but success will
generate envy and enmity for him. He should make sacrifice.

Divination Made for Ogun:

Ofaso bo ri oso, Ogbe bu ika ton agbalagba to kpe ibu ika.

Ori arare ni yio hule. Adafa fun Ogun nijo tio teja fun Ogun.

The person who covered his face with a cloth when he fouled the air. The man who sews evil
will reap evil - were the Awos who made divination for Orunmila when he was going to prepare lfa
for Ogun at the insistence of Orisa-Nla. Orunmila refused to do it because he said "Ewe t'ashe ki'ru,
Oro to a mo tele ki'ni lara" That is, "A severed leaf does not grow again.

An information already known is not difficult to narrate." That was his figure of speech for
predicting that Ogun would repay his good turn with ingratitude. At the insistence of Orisa-Nla,
Orunmila prepared lfa for Ogun and through to his earlier prediction, Ogun repaid him with crass
ingratitude.

When it appears at divination, the person should be advised not to repay a good turn with
ingratitude, lest he would suffer immensely and he would be cursed and no on would ever be able
to revoke it. Whether a man or a woman, the divinee is a ingrate.

The Divination Made for Orunmila When Orisa Sent Ogun To Fight Him:

A fi igba korodo gbon odo ino ngbon le ori agbalagba i to ba gbe'bu ika, yio hu ni ori omo re ni
ola. These were the lfa priests who made divination for Orunrnlla when Orlsa-tolu-yeb-qbe, the hus-
band of Yemowo requested Ogun to fight Orunmila to a finish. Orunmila's fame and popularity had
come to earn him the displeasure of all other diviners around. After his fellow lfa priest had tried and
failed to fight him, it was the turn of the divine chiefs to have a go at him. Orisa-tolu-yegbe procured
the high priest of the Ogun divinity to embark on a crusade for eliminating lrosun-Etura for stealing
 Ifism: The Complete Works of Orunmila Volumes Eight and Nine
6
6

the show from

everybody.
At his usual morning divination. lfa warned lrosun-Etura that more powerful enemies were plot-
ting to fight him. He was told to make sacrifice with white cloth, he-goat, and parrot's feather. He
made the sacrifice. Meanwhile, Ogun told Orisa-tolu-yegbe that he did not know the way to
Orunmila's house in Owa town. Orisa-tolu-yegbe gave Ogun the description of Orunmila's house as
the one
having a palm frond in front of it in the quarter called Ona-lranya.
After enjoying the sacrifice, Esu altered the descriptions and locations. What Orisa-toluyegbe
did not tell Ogun was that he (Orisa) also lived in the same locality. On the night that Ogun was to
attack, Esu transposed the palm frond in front of Orunmila's house with the white cloth in
front of Orisa-tolu-yegbe's house.

As soon as the first cock crowed in the early hours of the morning, Ogun went to Owo and
began to search for the house with a palm frond in the front of it in the Ona-lranya quarters. As soon
as Ogun located the house, he started killing all the inmates he came across. When the children of
Orisa-tolu-yegbe saw what of the girl than the crude Onobule. His friend was often outtalking
him and gaining more attention from the girl.

As soon as Onobule began to have the cold shoulders from the girl, he went to Orunmila for
divination and he was told that he was going to lose his fiance to another man unless he made
sacrifice. He was told to; give he-goat to Esu, rabbit to night, and serve his head at the foot of a
palm tree with a guinea-fowl. He made the sacrifices. Not knowing that his friend was the rival
scheming to overthrow him, in his characteristic naivete, he went to tell his friend what he was
told at divination.

When he was subsequently going to the girl's place, he again invited his friend to accompany
him. On getting there, they were served with palm wine. As the friend was drinking, Esu blinked his
eyes to him and he became tipsy. In his delirium, he confessed that he had been scheming to
seduce the girl from Onobule. His confession angered the parents of the girl into giving the girl to
Onobule right away. The Night did their own bit by making him to fall deeply
asleep when all the nuptial ceremonies were taking place.

When it appears at Ugbodu and at divination, the person should be told not to be too trusting
with friends. He should be advised to give he-goat to Esu and to serve his head with guinea-fowl
while backing lfa shrine so that close associates might not deprive him of his rightful entitlement.

The Divination Made for Him Before Leaving Heaven:

Efun fun Lere -was the Awo who made divination for Orunmila when he was leaving heaven.
He was advised not to practice lfa on earth but to take to trading. He was told to make sacrifice with
sixteen pigeons, a goat, a piece of white cloth and 201 cowries to his guardian angel. He was also
told to serve Esu with a he-goat, corn, yam, plantain and cocoyam. He made all the sacrifices be-
fore leaving for the world.
-

On getting to the world, he began to practice lfism, but did not have a settled life. H~ was
otherwise very effective as an lfa priest, but he did not prosper by it. When he subsequently went for
 6 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • lrosun-Etura
7

divination, he was told that he had strayed away from the path of his destiny, and that he was sup-
posed to have taken to trading. He was told to serve lfa by decorating its shrine with white chalk
and white cloth. He was told to serve 016kun with a pigeon, a bag of cowries, money, and chalk,
and to serve Esu with a he-goat, corn, yam, plantain and cocoyam. He did all the sacrifices.

When 016kun received the sacrifice, he remembered the sacrifice which lrosun-Ofun made to
him in heaven and the pledge of support he made to him. 016kun reacted by dispatching his falr-
skinned daughter, dressed in white apparel to look for lrosun-Ofun at Oja-ajigbomekon. At the same
time, lrosun-Ofun was told to dress in white clothes when going to the market. When 016kun's
daughter got to the market, she was the centre of attraction, but spoke to nobody. She was looking
for the man dressed in white clothes as her father told her:

Not long afterwards, lrosun-Ofun, also dressed in white, met 016kun's daughter and they fell in
love at once. When he introduced himself, she offered to follow him to his house. When she got to
his house to see the white decoration and adornment all around, she told him that his house
provided a suitable environment for her to stay. He soon discovered that the only food she ate was
white chalk, which gave him an idea of who she was.

Meanwhile, the woman advised him to be dressing always in white and to be following hero the
market. On every market day, her servants brought wares from heaven to sell on earth, after which
she was given the money realized from the sales. On the following market day her servants came
with beads, jewels and elephant tusks which were all sent to Orunmila's house. Most of the
materials brought by 016kun's servants, had previously not been seen any where on earth. The
Oba of the town was subsequently attracted by them and he bought some of the from Orunmila at a
prize of 200 men and 200 women.
6 Ifism: The Complete Works of Orunmila Volumes Eight and Nine
8
 6 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Irosun-Irete
9

Chapter 11
IROSUN-IRETE
IROSUN-OKPINI
IROSUN-ERO

I I I
I I I
I I I
I I

The Divination He Made Before Leaving Heaven:

A
perin nia mowodudu. Agbe toko bo ri shi o shio. Those were the two Awos who made
divination for this odu before he left heaven for earth. He was advised to serve; Esu
with he-goat; his guardian angel with a goat, hen, pigeon, tortoise, snail, rat fish and

guinea-fowl; and the Obstacle divinity with corn, plantain, yam, cock, gourd of water and a pack of
firewood at the junction of heaven and earth. He made the sacrifice before leaving for the world.

On getting to the world he was practicing lfa art on a full time basis. He was very successful
because his generosity and reasonableness brought him many clients. When the traditional Awos
who were often charging exorbitant fees for their work were no longer having enough to do, his
enemies in heaven went to report him to God that he was disrupting the peace of the world. The
Obstacle divinity (Elenini or ldoboo) was appointed by God to verify the situation of things on earth.
Thereafter, Elenini decided to visit the world to investigate what was happening. Before leaving for
the world, he sent a message to all the divinities that he was coming to do battle with all those
responsible for allowing evil to flourish on earth.

When Ogun got Elenini's message, he raised a huge army to make a preemptive strike against
Elenini's imminent attack. On knowing about Ogun's contrivance for preemptive action, he sat on
the road and pulled back the hat he was wearing. The action effectively blocked all passage, thus
preventing anyone from passing through. Ogun and his army arrived to discover the roadblock and
they could not pass through, because the blockade was axe-and-machete proof.

After struggling in vain to get through, they became tired. That was when Elenini turned his
face to them to ask what they were trying to do. When Ogun explained that they were going to fight
the forces of Elenini from heaven, he commanded Ogun and his troops to turn into a leaf which he
kept in his bag.

Sanqo was the next to rise to the occasion. When he too met Elenini, he turned him into a
stone which he kept in his bag. All the other ferocious divinities suffered the same fate in the
 Ifism: The Complete Works of Orunmila Volumes Eight and Nine
7
0
hands of Elenini. Meanwhile, Orunmila sounded lfa on how to deal with the approaching calamity,
and he was told to prepare a feast with a goat in anticipation of the approaching heavenly forces.
He was also advised to raise a procession of dancers, to welcome, instead of combatting them.

Subsequently, Orunmila prepared food and drinks at home and led his entire household after
rubbing the chalk of peace on their faces, and they sang and danced to meet the strongest divinity
created by God. They were not only singing in praise of Elenini but also calling him the strongest of
all divinities and mortals. When Elenini heard the noise from the dancing and singing of On'.mmila's
retinue, he once more turned his cap to block the road.

Orunmila got to the road block without knowing what to do. He however continued to sing and
dance until Elenini was satisfied that they did not come to fight but to make peace. He subsequently
turned his face to ask who they were and Orunmila replied that he was the divinity of wisdom, and
that he came to welcome him to earth. When Elenini told Orunmila to enter his bag, he invited the
Obstacle divinity to his house for the feast prepared for him. He promised to enter the bag after he
must have dined and wined because he must have been hungry from his long trip. Elenini was
meanwhile enjoying the singing and dancing and was quite happy to ac-
company Orunmila to his house.

He arrived at Orunmila's house to find a table laid for a sumptuous feast. He ate and drank to
his heart's content. After eating and drinking, Elenini asked for a repeat performance of the singing
and dancing. As they were all dancing, Elenini faced Orunmila, telling him that he came to the world
because God had been told that he (Orunmila) was spoiling the world. He observed that he was
satisfied that far from spoiling the world, he was the only one who was striving to make it habitable.
He concluded that he was leaving him on earth to continue with his good works, but that he was
going with all the other divinities in his bag to heaven.

After expressing his gratitude for appreciating his humble gestures, Orunmila observed that he
could not enjoy life as a loner on earth. He begged for the release of the other divinities. In
deference to the entreaties of Orunmila, Elenini released the others warning them from then on to
refrain from evil behavior.

If this lfa appears at Ugbodu, the person should be told to make elaborate sacrifice because he
was destined to be very wealthy, provided he keeps a good heart and humane disposition. When it
appears at divination for a person who has a pending case, he will be advised to serve Esu with a
he-goat in order to receive a favorable judgement.

The Divination Made for Him When He Was Going To Olofin:

Okpini omosin, Okpini omo ora. Okpini okpe'ron ja

le de. Okpini ofo akpoko lo'ko. Okpini ofo
akpere le re. Okpini fo akpe ekun gbogbo jekun jeron je. I
am the one who can put good blood in people's body.
I am the one who can make things happen.
To substantiate my assertion, a boa, a python and a tiger
will be killed today.
If it does not manifest, I will throw away my I kin and
 71 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • lrosun-lrete

other instruments of
divination.
Olefin's favorite wife had no child and he had invited all known Awos at home and abroad to
help without success. When he heard of the famous lrosuri-lrete of Oke-jetti he invited him.

When lrosun-lrete got Olefin's message, he sounded lfa onwhat to do. He was told to serve lfa
with a he-goat before going on. His wife told him not to wait for the sacrifice before answering
Olefin's invitation and that he could make it on his return. He accepted his wife's suggestion and left
for the palace without making the sacrifice.

On getting there, he made divination, after which he confirmed that Olofin's wife would become
pregnant within three months, provided he was able to make sacrifice to his lfa with a boa, a Python
and a tiger, and to serve Esu with a he-goat. As Olofin was imaging how he was going to obtain the
reptiles and animal for the sacrifice, lrosun-lrete reassured him by predicting that three of his
hunters would return with the three materials on that very day. He promised to throw his lkin away if
his prediction did not come true. He then left for home after telling Olofin to send for him as soon as
the hunters showed up.

True to his prediction, three of Olofin's hunters actually respectively killed a boa, a python and
a tiger on that day, but to punish the soothsayer for listening to his wife without making sacrifice,
Esu accosted the hunters on their way home and told them that an lfa priest had predicted to the
Olefin that morning, that any hunter who reported with a boa, a python and a tiger on that day,
should in addition to the games be used to make sacrifice to enable Olofin's favorite wife to become
pregnant. For fear of losing their lives, the three hunters threw away their games and took refuge at
the foot of a big tree.

After waiting in vain for the hunters to show up, Olefin became annoyed and sent for lrosun-
lrete to tell him that his prediction did not materialize.

Almost immediately after that, the lfa priest threw his ikin into the lake near Olofin's palace.
After disgracing him and allowing him to throw his principal divination instrument away, Esu once
more transfigured into a hunter and went to meet the three royal hunters at their hiding place. After
exchanging pleasantries, they identified themselves and told their fellow hunter why they were
hiding for fear of losing their lives. The Esu-turned-hunter told them that there was no threat
whatsoever to their lives, and that on the contrary, the Olefin had been expecting them to report
with their games all day. He reassured them by saying that they would come with those games on
that day and that each of them should be rewarded respectively with money, a wife and a
chieftaincy title.

Esu directed them to where they had earlier dumped their games, and after retrieving them, he
accompanied them to the palace. Olefin was very happy to see them and they explained their late
arrival by saying that someone came to the forest to deceive them with the wrong information when
they were coming to the palace earlier with their games. Almost immediately, Olofin sent at once for
lrosun-lrete. He however refused to honor the invitation on the ground that having thrown away his
lfa, he was no longer going to practice as an lfa priest.

Olofin however got one of his royal mariners to dive into the lake to retrieve the lfa seeds (ikin).
 Ifism: The Complete Works of Orunmila Volumes Eight and Nine
72

As the mariner first dive into the lake, he came up with five seeds. His second plunge brought out
another five. then three, two. and finally. one. This is the origin of how the lfa priest selects seeds for !kin
divination. After retrieving the !fa seeds, Olofin sent another message to lrosun-lrete to confirm
that his lfa had successfully been salvaged from the lake.

Eventually, he returned to the palace to perform the sacrifice. At the end of that month, Olefin's
favorite wife actually became pregnant. Olefin demonstrated his appreciation with plenty
of gifts and a chieftaincy title. He then sang in praise of Orunmila.

When this lfa appears at divination, the person should be told to serve Esu with a he-got before
leaving for an important engagement.

His Affray With The Elders of The Night:

Due to the fact that he often delayed in making sacrifices, because he was in the habit of using
the materials with which his clients made sacrifices, to make his own sacrifices, which of course
were never accepted. He had a hen which used to lay eggs and hatch chickens regularly.

On one occasion, the hen laid nine eggs. Meanwhile, Awon lyami Osoronga (elders of the night)
also stacked their eggs near those of his fowl. The fowl subsequently kept the witches' eggs with its
own. In the ensuing quarrel, the witches rejected their eggs. He later collected all the eggs, but he
was soon taken ill and when he made divination; he was told to send a rabbit and three eggs to the
elders of the night. After making the offering, he became well. It was from then on that those making
sacrifices to the night were often required to add three eggs, to pay for
the eggs rejected by Awon-lyami Osoronga.

When this lfa appears at Ugbodu, the person should send a hen and three eggs to the elders
of the night. At divination, the person should give a he-goat to Esu.

He Made Divination for Ariku:

Atori a budi gbejegi. Odifa fun Ariku nu ojo ti o fe lo

da lfa oun danu.
The squirrel's stick (Uwenriontan in Bini and Atori in Yoruba) with a thick base, was the name
of the lfa priest who made divination for Ariku when he was about to throw his lfa away. Ariku was
very poor when he was told to have his own lfa. Since he had no money, he borrowed to fund the
ceremony. After having the lfa, he was told that he would begin to prosper after three
years.

Meanwhile, those who lent the money to him began to demand repayment. It was three
months to the third anniversary of having his lfa. At that stage, he was already so frustrated tha'
he lost confidence in the veracity of the three-year gestation.

That was because he saw no signs of approaching prosperity. He then went to Atori abud
gbejegi, the Awo who prepared the lfa for him to complain that he saw no signs of an imminen
manifestation of his prediction. The man advised him to exercise a little more patience.
 73
THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Irosun-Irete

When it was fifteen days to the third anniversary of his lfa, his patience had reached its
terminus.
He collected his lfa and packed it up to go and throw away. In heaven, his guardian angel went to
appeal to God to grant him permission to go and warn Ariku not to behave stupidly to ruin his life.
God granted his request and the guardian angel instantly turned into a bird and flew to meet Ariku
on his way to where he was going to throw his lfa away. After flying round him, the bird began to
beat his body with its wings, while singing:
Ari~u maa da'fu nu, jenje,
Aje t'oun fe bole yin, jenje,
Ariku maa di fa nu, jenje,
Aya t'onfe bo le yin, jenje.
Ariku ma da fa nu, jenje,
Omo t'onfe bo leyin, jenje. Ariku
maa difa nu, jenje, Gbogbo ola
re bole yin, jenge.

Theway
on their birdtoadvised
him. him not to throw his lfa away because all the ingredients of prosperity were

With that reassurance, Ariku returned home with his lfa. On the 15th day, people came to him for
divination, and his predictions all came to pass. The daughter of Aje led the team to his house for
divination. He told the woman that she was the wife of Orunmila and she confirmed that she came
with her followers to live with him as a wife. Within a period of three months he became very
wealthy. Before the next anniversary of his lfa, he had built a house and had a child from his wife.
His days of penury were over.

When this odu appears at divination, the person should be told to make sacrifice with a hegoat,
cock and hen, and told to exercise patience because his prosperity is in the offing.

He Made Divination for Okpini When He Was Going To Olofin:

Tikpini, Tikpini awo Okpini. Odifa fun Okpini ni ojo to fe

lo she awo fun Olefin,

He made divination for Okpini when he was going to make divination for Olefin. He was told to
keep plenty of small yams in the house, and to be roasting one for Esu before commencing the
day's divination. After making the sacrifice for six days, there remained one yam.

On the morning of the seventh day, Olefin sent a frantic message to him to report at the palace
without any delay. Without roasting the last yam for Esu, he left for Olofin's palace, promising to
roast it after returning from the palace. When he got to the palace, Olofin told him to make divination
to find out why his subjects had paid no homage for quite a while.

After divination, he told Olofin to make sacrifice because on that day, his hunters would report
to him that they had .shot a; boa constrictor, deer buffalo and an elephant. Olotin quickly made the
sacrifice with cock, hen, pigeon and snail. Okpini made the sacrifice after which he returned to his
house.
 74 Ifism: The Complete Works of Orunmila Volumes Eight and Nine

Meanwhile, Esu took position on the main gateway to the town (ubode or ughe) where he
began to warn every hunter going to the palace not to go there because some Awos were making
sacrifice for Olofin and had ordered that any hunter reporting that he had shot any game on that
day, should himself be used for sacrifice. With that warning, all hunters bringing games to the
palace and those coming to report what animals they had killed in the forest, stopped at the gate-
way for fear of losing their lives.

The people spent the night at Ubode, while Esu retired to spend the night in his own house.
The following morning, Olofin sent for Okpini to let him know that his predictions did not come true.
That was the time that he gave the last roasted yam to Esu, after a delay of twenty-four hours. Soon
after making the sacrifice, he got Olefin's message and left for the palace, where the Oba gave him
the length of his tongue as a result of the failure of his predictions to manifest. He felt so thoroughly
disgraced because Olofin called him a cheat and a liar.

Okpini was so depressed that he went to the river Oshun to throw in his lfa before returning
home. Meanwhile, after eating the day's roasted yam from Okpini, Esu went back to the hunters
waiting at Ubode and gave them the all-clear. He told them that the Awos had completed their
sacrifices and that they could all proceed safely to the palace. All of them arrived at the palace
simultaneously to report their achievements. When Olofin asked why they were all arriving simul-
taneously, they explained that on account of the frightful message they got the previous day, they
were afraid to enter the palace for fear of being used for sacrifice, sequel to which all of them had to
spend the night at Ubode.

Olofin finally realized that Okpini's predictions came true after all, and so sent once more for
him. He was just arriving home from the river Oshun when Olefin's messenger arrived. On getting to
the palace, Olofin in a conciliatory mood, greeted him with "urukere jenti jenti". He apologized to
Okpini for the way he spoke to him the previous day, but asked whether there was a sacrifice he
had failed to make. Okpini confirmed that he owed Esu a roasted yam, before he came to the
palace the previous day.

Olofin subsequently told him how his predictions eventually manifested albeit after a delay of
twenty-four hours. He was given a beaded fly whisk (Urukere) and a goat to atone for his
embarrassment. He collected his atonement gifts and returned home. Thereafter, he left for the river
Oshun where he retrieved his lfa units of 5,5,3,2 and it took him a long search for the last one,
which he could not retrieve because a fish had swallowed it. He took one pebble from the river to
represent the 16th seed and he served the lfa with the goat given to him by Olofin. That was how
this odu earned the sobriquet of lrosun-Okpini.

When this odu appears at divination for a man, he should be told to have his own lfa. If he
already has lfa, he will be told that he is not serving him faithfully and that he should learn lfa
because he is supposed to practice lfism. If it appears fora woman, she will be advised to teli her
husband to have lfa, but that if he refuses, he will either be short-lived or she will eventually leave
him. If the woman has not got a child, she will be told that she will only have a child after killing
three goats for lfa, or if her husband agrees to have his own lfa. She has three enemies who are
witches and that in her father's village are three trees; lroko, Oak, and Agbo or Ukhu, There is also
an Osan agbalumo tree in the village. A special sacrifice has to be made for her at the foot of those
trees by calling the names of the three witches -Aje Umobi, Aje Umosan and Aje Umaghun.
 75 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Irosun-lrete

When this odu appears for a pregnant woman or at a naming ceremony divination, the child
should be named Awoyemi if a male, and lfayemi if a female.

Divination for a Barren Woman:

Bi inu ba ti nri, beni obi nyan, were the two awos who made divination for Orunmila and for a.
barren woman. Orunmila was told to make sacrifice with a hen to lfa on account of a woman who
was corning to marry him. The barren woman called Oshun was also told to make sacrifice with
ekure, akara, eko and a pigeon. She was told that she would walk to meet an lfa priest who was
going to be her husband and for whom she would bear children. She was also told that she would
find the man on top of a horse (or car in the modern parlance).

As Orunmila was riding on top of his horse one day, he came across a woman who refused to
move out of the way for him. The woman explained that life had seized to have any meaning for her
and would prefer to be trampled to death by the horse.

When Orunmila dismounted to find out her problem, she cried that she had just come across a
hen with its chickens, and a goat with its kids, which made her wonder what she had done to make
God deny her the pleasure of having a child.

Orunmila eventually took her home to make divination for her. When he subsequently made
divination for her, lrosun-Okpini appeared. Orunmila told her that a child was on its way to her.
Eventually, she spent the night with Orunmila during which they made love. The following morning,
she went home and Orunmila travelled out for lfa practice. She did not see her menstruation at the
end of her monthly cycle. She had become pregnant and in the fullness of time, gave birth to a
male child who was named Awoyemi. The birth of the child coincided with Orunmila's return from
his tour. They were both happily married ever after.

When it appears for a barren woman, she will be told that unless she moves out of her present
home or environment, to marry a physician or doctor, she will not be able to have a child.

The divination made for him before leaving heaven

 Ifism: The Complete Works of Orunmlla Volumes Eight and Nine
76
 7 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Irosun-Eka
7

Chapter 12
IROSUN-EKA
IROSUN-AYOKA
11 I I
I II
II
II
II
Made Divination for Esin and Afon:

Ero ma sun l'ara, Ero ma sun l'apa.

Ero ma sun mi ljesa obokun.
0 di'le eleka mogun.
Omo erun tin ka owo agada le'ri,
Omo erin ti n ti owo ija fon yo.

T
hey made divination for Esin and Afan when they were anxious to have children. Each of
them was told to make sacrifice with rabbit, snail and a hen. Afan gave money to Esin to
buy the materials for the two of them to make the sacrifice. Esin however only

bought
Shematerials for herself
subsequently and proceeded
became to make
pregnant, which her ownshe
condition sacrifice.
succeeded in concealing from her
friend, Aton, until she delivered the child. When Aton saw that Esin had a child, she began to cry
and blame herself for not going to make sacrifice by herself. Rather belatedly, she went for her own
sacrifice with a rabbit, a snail, a he-goat and shea-butter (ori-owo). After making the sacrifice, the
Awos prepared medicine for her to be rubbing on her body. At the end of the month, Afon's body
began to swell and at the end of 81 days, she began to have children all over her body.

After having her children, Afan told Esin never to allow them to set eyes on each other ever
again. That is why to this day, as soon as Esin sees Afan, she will surely fall down.

When this odu appears at divination, the person will be advised to refrain from doing evil. For a
spinster, she would be advised to make sacrifice in order to have children after marriage. For a
man, he will be told to make sacrifice so that his wife may not have problems in having children. He
should be warned not to think or do any evil.

He Made Divination for Ogun:

Oniki lrosun ma sunka, Emina ni ki lrosun maa sunka. Odunjo

alagbede koo kpale Ogun. Adifa fun Ogun omo onijon o le ni
ojo t'on lo fi ara re je olu si oke ire.
 7 Ifism: The Complete Works of Orunmila Volumes Eight and Nine
8

lrosun, do not sleep any and every where. The blacksmith did not scrub the house of Ogun at
year's end. Those were the names of the Awos who made divination for Ogun when he was going
to make himself ruler of Ire. He was told to make sacrifice with a dog and a cock. He made the
sacrifice.

When he got to Ire, he met people drinking palm wine and standing gourds of palm wine.
Thinking that there was still palm wine in the standing gourds (the usage is to lie empty gourds on
their side) he was annoyed when he was not invited to drink from the palm wine. In his state of
paranoia, he brought out his sword and slaughtered everyone around. When he later took up the
gourds, he saw that they were empty.

When the king heard of Ogun's indiscretion he gave orders for his arrest. A fight ensued in
which Ogun fought his way to the palace, killed the king and made himself the new king of Ire. That
is why he is called "Ogun Onire agbadamu, Akpaire bi ire do". That is, the one who fought Ire and
made himself king over them.

When this odu appears at divination, the person should be advised to be hospitable to his
visitors.

He Made Divination for Orunmila To Subdue Death:

Uwo aghoro, emi aghoro, kini she t'oun fowo olima womi Iara.

You are a divine priest and I am a divine priest, why did you touch me with unclean hands.
That was the name of the lfa priest who made divination for Orunmlla when he stopped the
nuisance effect of Death. Death was ravaging the town at will and the Oba invited Orunmila to do
something about it. At divination, he was told to make sacrifice with small chicken (Oromu-adiye)
plantain roasted with its skin and roasted corn and to put the sacrifice at the main junction leading to
the town.

When Death was returning for a fresh attack, he saw all the things he forbade and the live
chicken was shouting uku ye, uku ye, which was a command for Death to take to his heels. He
subsequently ran back in fright to heaven, leaving the town in peace.

At divination, the person should be advised to be close to Orunmila so that lfa might tie up the
death that traditionally kills people in his family, so that it might not reach him.

He Made Divination for Eziza To Become Indispensable:

., He told Eziza to make sacrifice to his guardian angel and to give he-goat to Esu so that
nothing can happen in his community without his presence. He made the sacrifice. ,

Subsequently, when the Oba of the town wanted to perform an important ceremony, he gave
instructions that all divine priests should be invited. When all the invitees were assembled, the Oba
told the Awo to begin the ceremony. The Awo however insisted that one divine priest, Eziza was not
present. The Oba gave orders for him to be brought in, if necessary by force.
 7 THE ODDS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Irosun-Eka
9

When the messengers got to his farm, they met him eating. When he was told that the Oba wanted
him to come to the palace, he replied that he had work to do in his farm. When the messengers wanted
to arrest him, he turned into smoke and they could not find him. Later, he resumed eating his food, after
which the royal messengers tried a second time to arrest him and he turned into the wind.

When this lfa appears at Ugbodu, the person will be advised to have his own Eziza and to serve his
head with a cock. He should beware of a town-wide meeting or conference, which he should only attend
after giving he-goat to Esu. At divination, the person should serve Ogun and Eziza and his head on
account of an event that is going to take place in the town.

The Divination Made Before Leaving Heaven:

Okiti kpuke awo eba ono, was the Awa who made divination for lrosun-Ayoka when he was coming
to the world. He was advised to make sacrifice to: his guardian angel with a goat, which he was to use
to feast the divinities; Esu with a he-goat, Ogun with a dog, cock and tortoise. He was required to make
the sacrifice because he was destined to be a prosperous lfa priest on earth, and that his success was
going to evoke animosity against him from fellow Awos and his own relations. He made all the sacrifices
before leaving for earth.

He got to the world and began to practice as an lfa priest. He was so effective that news of his
proficiency soon spread to the known world. He was also well known in the courts of the ruling
monarchs of his time. He also divined for divinities. Meanwhile, he began to have problems from his
household. His wives were not giving him peace of mind and his brothers and sisters had brought his
matter to the cult of witchcraft with a view to thwarting his efforts.

While he was wondering what to do about his problems, his guardian angel appeared to him one
night to remind him that he had not repeated on earth the sacrifices he made before leaving heaven.
Why was he helping everybody else to survive and flourish through sacrifice while he was not making
any himself. The following morning, he sounded Okeponrin and his own odu appeared. lfa told him to;
feast his fellow Awos and his brothers and sisters with a goat and a ram, serve Esu with a he-goat and
all edible foodstuffs, and to serve Ogun with dog, cock and tortoise. He lost no time in making the
sacrifices.

Two days after making the feast, the daughter of one of his brothers cried out from her sleep that
she had something to tell Orunmila. The girl would not rest until she got to Orunmila's place where she
told him that the problems he was encountering were procured by the cult of witchcraft. She mentioned
a number of popular divine priests, two of his wives and practically all his brothers and sisters, including
her own father. She disclosed that although the feast he made was well received by the people of the
day, he did not extend it to the people of the night. The girl told him that he should make an adequate
sacrificial feast to the elders of the night.

He acted in accordance with the advice of the girl by frying a goat, hen and rabbit for the council
- of the night. Thereafter, two prominent divine priest in the town who were his deadliest enemies died.
His brothers and sisters stopped bothering him because the girl's confession was reported to the Olefin
who invited all the people mentioned including two of his wives to swear to the divinity of the ground
never to bother Orunmila anymore.
 8 Ifism: The Complete Works of Orunmila Volumes Eight and Nine
0

The incident enhanced his popularity as an effective lfa priest, which earned him the sobriquet of
lrosun-ala-yoka. He became even more prosperous and his days in lfe were marked by general
prosperity, peace and tranquility. The Olofin eventually made him his second-in-command, a posi-
tion which he enjoyed to a ripe old age.

When this odu appears at Ugbodu, the person will be advised to make the Esu of his lfa without
delay and to have his own Ogun and Eziza shrines. He will be very prosperous in his work, provided he
makes the special sacrifices which the odu made on earth. He should expect to have problems from
envious co-workers, relations and disgruntled wife or wives during which he should make a feast to all
and sundry. His fame and fortune will flourish after making the feast.

When it appears at ordinary divination, the person will be required to have his own lfa and to serve
Esu with a he-goat in order to prosper in his work.
 8 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • lrosun-Eturu1pon
1

Chapter 13
IROSUN-ETURUKPON
I I I
I I I
I II
I I I
I

He Made Divination for Fire When He Was Coming to Earth:

Bi omode ba mu uwaju owo shi she, aamu eyin owo danu.

odifa fun una omo awo liko orun magbeje.

W
hen a young person works with the front of his hands, he will use the back of his
hands to scatter it. That was the name of the Awa who made divination for Fire when
he was coming to the world. He was told to make sacrifice with the red

clothes he was wearing and red cock, so that his good gestures might be appreciated and aptly
rewarded. He did not do the sacrifice.
That is why people neither appreciate nor express gratitude to Fire for all the good work he
does for humanity and divinities alike.

When it appears at divination the person will be told to make sacrifice so that his magnanimity
might be appreciated and not rewarded with ingratitude.

He Made Divination for Orisa:

lrosun titu a lore. Odifa fun Orisa-turu-yegbe nijo

t'on sun ekun ari leni enimara.

He made divination for Orisa turuyegbe when he was complaining of lack of followership. He
was advised to make sacrifice with roasted yam, palm wine, pigeon and cock. He made the
sacrifice and after preparing it, he was told to deposit it on the way to his farm. He did so accord-
ingly.

After depositing the sacrifice, he hid to see what was going to happen to it. Ogun, who had
been away to war was at that moment returning with three women. One of the women was an
albino, the other was a cripple, while the third one had a hunchback. Ogun and his followers were
already very hungry. When they saw the sacrifice deposited by Orisa turuyegbe, Ogun thanked
whoever made it, and they fed on it, after which they drank the palm wine.

As they were drinking the palm wine, Orisa-turuyegbe came out to accuse Ogun of stealing.
 8 Ifism: The Complete Works of OrunmJa Volumes Eight and Nine
2

To avoid being summoned before the court of divinities, Ogun surrendered the three women to
Orisa-turuyegbe, who took the women home to live with them. They eventually gave birth to
children who did not inherit their mothers' deformities. Orisa became very happy and thanked the
lfa priest who made divination and sacrifice for him.

When it appears at divination, the person should be advised to be close to Orunrnlla in addition
to having his own Ogun and one divinity that drinks no wine. He is likely to get married to three
women who will be sent to him by those divinities.

The Divination Made for Him Before Leaving Heaven:

Before leaving heaven, he was told at divination to give a goat to his guardian angel to feast
the higher powers and to give a he-goat to Esu, in order to have a successful sojourn on earth,
because he was going there rather prematurely. He refused to do the sacrifice.

As he was returning from where he made divination, he met Ogun on the way. When Ogun
asked him for food, he replied that he had none to give.

As he was eventually leaving for earth, his guardian angel warned him that he was not going to
make it on earth without making sacrifice.

On getting to the world, he built his house near a river and was practicing lfa art. In the course
of his lfa practice, he met a woman and married her. That was when Esu decided to deal with him.
Esu left for his place with a male escort and a gourd of poisoned palm wine, which he kept in his
bag. Before getting to lrosun-Tutu's house, Esu stayed behind and told his escort to go to him for
divination, while holding the gourd of wine in hand.

When he made divination for the man and his own odu appeared as Ayeo, ostensibly to warn
him of the approach of danger, he could not comprehend the significance. Since the tradition is to
give lfa kola and wine as soon as one's odu appears at divination, he began to look for wine to use.
The divinee readily obliged by giving him the gourd of wine he was holding in his bag. After pouring
libation to his lfa, he drank out of the palm wine.

As soon as the visitor left his house, he became ill. All the veins in his body went flabby and he
became very ill. He ran to so many places to get cured but to no avail. Eventually, he met Ogun
who demanded sacrifice with fourteen different animate and inanimate materials. He produced
them but was hospitalized in Ogun's house for three years before becoming well. Nonetheless, he
lived a life of abject poverty before he died. When he returned to his guardian angel in heaven, he
complained that he lived a miserable life on earth. His guardian angel asked him how he could have
expected to reap what he did not sow, and that his ignoble experience on earth was the price he
had to pay for refusing to make sacrifice be fore leaving heaven. ·

When this lfa appears at Ugbodu, the person should be told to prepare his own Ogun shrine in
addition to lfa and Esu in order to have some respite. He is not likely to be exceedingly prosperous
in life.
 8 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Irosun-Eturukpon
3

He Made Divination for Kinridin:

lrosun tutu, babalawo Kinridin, odifa fun Kinrindin ni jo

t'on fi omi oju shubere aya tuurutu.

He told Kinridin to make sacrifice with a hen, rat and fish and the skull of a cat. He made the
sacrifice and Orunmila prepared a magic belt (akpalode) for him to be wearing.

Meanwhile, there was an outbreak of war in his town and everyone was running helterskelter.
Kinridin suddenly found himself taking refuge in the Oba's palace. He met three other refugees at
the palace. One of them asked for drinking water, and he was given water to drink. The second
refugee was hungry and begged for food and was fed. On his part, Kinrindin saw a beautiful girl in
the palace and asked to be allowed to make love to her even if he had to be killed after the act. He
was given a room in which to make love to the girl.

While he was having sex, the royal executioner was invited to get ready to slaughter him for
sacrifice to Ogun. Knowing that he was going to be killed after satisfying his sexual urge, he
brought out his magic belt and touched the girl with it and she immediately turned into a rat. When
he wore the belt once more on his waist, he too turned into a cat. After waiting too long for them to
come out, the palace police forced the door open only to discover that they were no where to be
found. The cat and the mouse had hidden themselves in the roof of the house.

Meanwhile, an alarm was raised for all the palace guards to watch out for them. Eventually, the
cat caught the rat in its mouth and ran away from the palace. After leaving the palace precincts,
they transfigured back into human beings and ran to the bank of the river where they met a boat
that was about to take off. They hailed on the paddler to pick them up, but he refused. The daughter
of the paddler took pity on the man and threatened her father that she would jump into the river if he
did not carry the couple. He eventually took them on board and into safety. Kinrindin prospered with
his wife ever after.

If it appears at Ugbodu, the person is likely to marry in critical circumstances. He would

probably seduce the wife from a stronger person, but will get away with it, if he serves lfa with four
guinea-fowls, Esu with a he-goat, and a war-cock for Ogun.

At divination, the person should serve Esu with a he-goat, and Ogun with a cock. If it appears
for a woman, she is likely to leave her first husband to marry a second one.

He Made Divination for Water When His Life Was Hot:

lrosun din din bi eni sada. Be a ko sada. Odu ti o

jade la n ki.

He made divination for the water when his life became very hot. He was advised to make
sacrifice with 16 snails and plenty of shea-butter ( ori-oyo ). He made the sacrifice after which the
rain began to fall !o cool water down. That is why the approach to the river is generally very cool.
 8 If.ism: The Complete Works of Orunmila Volumes Eight and Nine
4
When it appears at divination, the person will be told that his life is not settled. To avoid becoming
ill from thinking, he should make sacrifice to lfa with sixteen snails.
 8 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Irosun-Ose
5

Chapter 14
IROSUN-OSE
IROSUN-AKPERE
IROSUN-SEKPERE
I I
11 I
I I I
11 II

Ohun kon shosho la aja fo.

Odifa fun Ajibola t'in she ore eleye

I
t is only one sound that the gong chants. That was the name of the Awo who made
divination for Ajibola when she was befriending a witch. Ajibola did not know that the friend
was a witch. Each time she became pregnant, it would abort, not knowing that her

friend was causing the abortions. Her friend was always watching to know whenever she was
pregnant. No sooner
After losing would
so many she know then
pregnancies Ajibola
in the would
process, invariably
she lose the pregnancy.
went to Orunmila for divination. She was
advised to make sacrifice with a rabbit, hen and pigeon. After making the sacrifice, she was
advised never to meet her friend unless she wore loose apparel to conceal her abdomen. Subse-
quently she became pregnant without her friend knowing. By the time she knew about it, she could
not do anything to it. Ajibola subsequently gave birth to her child, and had many more.

When this odu comes out for a woman, she will be told that she is in her early months of
pregnancy, but she will be advised never to visit her friend without wearing clothes to conceal her
abdomen, because her friend is a witch, capable of spoiling her pregnancy.

The Divination Made for Him When He Had a Bad Friend:

Yio Sekpere, mi o Sekpere (3 times)

Sekpere ma nkon owo ewu reje. Yio shekpere
mi o Sekpere. Oshe kpere ma okon ubi oje loja la ujo
omo araye. Yio shekpere mi o sekpere. Oshekpere ma oduro
kokoko oje oloja la wujo ikin. Yio oduro oje loja kuwaju ki akun keyin ke ashe tie.

The yam fared well and produced a good tuber. The maize bore fruits, the prince was suc-
cessful when he inherited his father's crown. The principal lfa seed (Oduro) fared well to become
king of its fellow ikin. After being crowned king he had followers both to his front and to his rear.
 Ifism: The Complete Works of Oronmila Volumes Eight and Nine
8
6
This odu has the good fortune of succeeding in whatever he tries his hands, but success will
come gradually and not torrentially. He started life by becoming a farmer, and he was always
record-
ing prolific harvests'.

One day, his friend told him to give up farming and to take to trading. He also prospered as a
trader, and excelled his friend who was also trading. Once again in the hope of undoing him, his
friend suggested that he should take to hunting. He accepted his friend's advice and his hunting
also turned out to be a success story.
Eventually, his friend prepared charms against him, which made him to become ill. When he
consulted lfa, he was told to serve; Esu with a he-goat, and Ogun with a cock, so that Esu would
bring
a physician who could cure him. He made the sacrifices.
At the time he was trading, there was a regular customer called Odimidimi who used to buy
things from him. With a view to buying more wares from him, Odimidimi came to his house not
knowing that he had given up trading. When he was told what Odimidimi wanted, he was able to
provide them from his old stock.

He did not know that Odimidimi was himself a diviner and physician. When Odimidimi noticed
that he was too ill to get up from his bed, he proposed that he would send people to bring
him to his house for treatment.

After divination, Odimidimi told him that his bosom friend was the enemy trying to kill him. He
made sacrifice for him and prepared medicine for him to bath for seven days. Before the end of the
seven days, he became well. Meanwhile, his friend ran away from the town never to be seen
again. He became very prosperous eventually.

When this lfa appears at Ugbodu, the person will be told that he will prosper in any vocation he
takes to, because he was destined to succeed in whatever he does. He should serve the new lfa
with a goat, and a hen, give cock to Ogun, and he-goat to Esu. He should however beware of
friends. If his instinct tells him to do anything and his friend tell him not to do it, he should go ahead
and do it. Without any risk of regret.

If it appears at divination, the person should be told not to be in a hurry to acquire wealth. He
will prosper slowly but steadily. One year will always see him prospering more than the previous
year. If he does not develop the acquisitive tendency, he will become very wealthy in the end.

Sacrifice for Prosperity:

Orunmila said wonders and I said wonders. He said it was a wonderful year that made Alara to
prosper more than the previous year. Last year he wore a simple cap made of cloth, but this year,
he is wearing a crown richly woven with beads and beautiful feathers. Orunmila also observed that
this year was a better year for Ajero than the previous year. Last year he wore a simple gown, but
this year he is wearing a big gown richly embroidered with beads. Orunmila said that the same was
true of Orangun of Illa, who walked about on foot the previous year, but
was riding on a horse this year.
 8 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Irosun-Ose
7

That is why Orunmila regards this year as a wonderful year. When he was asked for the
required sacrifice, he mentioned a big goat, a big rat, and a big fish for serving lfa so that the new
year will bring the person more prosperity than the previous year.

When it appears at divination, the person will be advised to make sacrifice so that next year
will find. him more prosperous than the current one.

He Made Divination for Paraka, The Masquerade:

J

ljan gbajan, ljagidi jan - were the Awes who made divination for Paraka, the masquerade, when
birds were disturbing him from sleeping in the night. He was advised to make sacrifice with a piece
of white cloth, an axe, a baton, a cock and a he-goat.

He made the sacrifice, Thereafter, Esu took out a talking drum in the night and played it round
Paraka's house and drove away the witches who were holding meetings on the tree outside his
house at night. When the witches heard the beating of the talking drum, which was announcing that
Paraka was ready to do battle with an axe on his right hand and a club on his left hand. The witches
ran away and did not come anymore to Paraka's house.

When it appears at divination, the person will be informed that witches are disturbing him and
that there is an evil bird crying near his house at night. He should make sacrifice to drive the
witches away from disturbing his life.

The Divination He Made Before Leaving Heaven:

Kpere Lere mi kpere - was the Awo who made divination for Orunmila when he was coming to
the world.

He was told at divination to make sacrifice to his own mind because he was going to have
problems on earth which would even make him contemplate taking his life. He was told to serve his
mind with guinea-fowl and the middle of a tuber of yam, after cutting off its head and tail. He was
also told to serve; his guardian angel with a rat called ukpere in Yoruba and ebete in Bini and to
give he-goat to Esu. He made all the sacrifices, after which his guardian angel forewarned him that
life was going to be very problematic for him on earth, but asked him for a set of ayo game
equipment (okpan ayo in Yoruba and ogiurise in Bini). After doing as he was told, his guardian
angel assured him that nobody would be able to harm him on earth. He then left for the world
emerging in a town called Okegon in Yoruba land.

He was a responsible man and very well respected lfa priest. The Oba of Egon grew to like his
behavior. Meanwhile, the divinity of Obstacle, to whom he paid no homage before leaving heaven,
soon went on his trail. The members of the Oba's household had become very fond of him. While
he was at home one day Elenini directed a woman from the Oba's household to visit him. As he was
about to make love to her, his guardian angel jerked him into remembering the sacrifice he made to
his mind in heaven. He subsequently refrained from making love to the woman. Nonetheless, the
woman reported the incident to the Oba, and even lied that he actually made love to her.
 8 I:fism: The Complete Works of Orunmila Volumes Eight and Nine
8

The Oba felt so disappointed that he immediately convened a meeting of the town's council of
elders. The woman, a wife of the Oba, confirmed the allegation before the council. When he denied
the allegation, no one believed him. He was sentenced to be executed after seven days, during
which nobody was to visit his house.

He began to weep and all his wives and children deserted him, except for one son who stood
by him. While he was weeping, his young son brought out his okpele and threw it on the floor. Since
the boy did not know how to read or interpret lfa, he asked his father to take a look at it. His father
declined because he could no longer see it.

Meanwhile, his son remembered the bald-headed Awo who used to visit his father. The boy
went to meet the Awo, called kpere kpere ni eku jagho (The rat eats the skin of animals in bits), to
tell him that his father having been condemned for an offence he did not commit, was lamenting to
death. The Awo followed the boy at once to meet his father. He met him weeping, but when he
turned to look at the lfa on the floor, it was his own odu, lrosun-akpere. He told him to serve lfa with
a guinea-fowl and the middle of a yam tuber, promising to give him a goat if he survived his ordeal.
He also told him to serve Esu with a he-goat. The Awo told him that he would be given a chieftaincy
title at the end of it all.

That was when he turned to look at the lfa on the floor, after which he heaved a sigh of relief.
He was also told to provide the equipment for Ayo game to his lfa. He quickly made all the
sacrifices. Two days to the day of his execution, Esu visited all the sons of the Oba, the chief and
the heavenly police. The children of Oba came to his house to play Ayo game with his son in front
of his house. The next chief to the Oba surprised to see the Oba's children playing Ayo with the son
of the condemned Orunmila who had been declared persona non grata. The chief immediately went
to accuse the Oba of deceiving them into becoming the enemies of Orunmila.

At the same time Esu made one of the children of the Oba to make love to the same woman
who lied against Orunmila. At the instigation of Esu, the woman also reported the incident to the
Oba. Another council meeting was convened and the woman again appeared to confirm the allega-
tion. The elders observed that since Orunmila had been condemned to death for the same offence,
the same fate should apply mutatis mutandis to the son of the Oba.

The Oba refused to pass the death sentence on his own son, but promised to discharge the
woman to marry his son. The elders then argued that if the life of the Oba's son was to be spared,
the life of Orunmila should also be spared. The Oba readily agreed on the ground, that he was
convinced that Orunmila had been falsely accused and that it was his son who had been cohabiting
with the woman all along. That was the point at which the woman then confessed that Orunmila did
not make love to her.

Eventually, the Oba invited Orunmila to appease him for being falsely accused and wrongly
condemned. In addition to giving him a chieftaincy title, the Oba betrothed his eldest daughter to
him. Orunmila was amazed at the sudden turn of events. He thanked his son and the Awo who
came to his rescue at the darkest of moments. He eventually feasted his lfa with a goat.

When this lfa appears at Ugbodu, the person should serve his new lfa with a guinea-fowl and
the middle of a yam tuber, in addition to serving Esu with he-goat to avert the risk of being falsely
 8 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Irosun-Ose
9

accused of an offence he did not commit. The person should be advised not to be tempted into
making love to his father's wife.

At divination, the person should make the same sacrifice to survive a major test coming to him.
9 Ifism: The Complete Works of Orunmila Volumes Eight and Nine
0
 91 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Irosun-Ofun

Chapter 15
IROSUN-OFUN
I I I
I I I
I I I
I I I

The Divination Made for Him Before Leaving Heaven:

E
fun fun Lere - was the Awo who made divination for Orunmila when he was leaving
heaven. He was advised not to practice lfa on earth but to take to trading. He was told to
make sacrifice with sixteen pigeons, a goat, a piece of white cloth and 201 cowries

to his guardian angel. He was also told to serve Esu with a he-goat, corn, yam, plantain and
cocoyam. He made
On getting all the
to the sacrifices
world, before
he began to leaving
practicefor the world.
lfism, but did not have a settled life. He was
otherwise very effective as an lfa priest, but he did not prosper by it. When he subsequently went
for divination, he was told that he had strayed away from the path of his destiny, and that he was
supposed to have taken to trading. He was told to serve lfa by decorating its shrine with white chalk
and white cloth. He was told to serve 016kun with a pigeon, a bag of cowries, money, and chalk,
and to serve Esu with a he-goat, corn, yam, plantain and cocoyam. He did all the sacrifices.

When 016kun received the sacrifice, he remembered the sacrifice which lrosun-Ofun made to
him in heaven and the pledge of support he made to him. 016kun reacted by dispatching his fair-
skinned daughter, dressed in white apparel to look for lrosun-Ofun at Oja-ajigbomekon. At the same
time, lrosun-Ofun was told to dress in white clothes when going to the market. When 016kun's
daughter got to the market, she was the centre of attraction, but spoke to nobody. She was looking
for the man dressed in white clothes as her father told her.

Not long afterwards, lrosun-Ofun, also dressed in white, met 016kun's daughter and they fell in
love at once. When he introduced himself, she offered to follow him to his house. When she got to
his house to see the white decoration and adornment all around, she told him that his house
provided a suitable environment for her to stay. He soon discovered that the only food she ate was
white chalk, which gave him an idea of who she was.

Meanwhile, the woman advised him to be dressing always in white and to be following her to
the market. On every market day, her servants brought wares from heaven to sell on earth, after
which she was given the money realized from the sales. On the following market day her servants
came with beads, jewels and elephant tusks which were all sent to Orunmila's house. Most of the
materials brought by 016kun's servants, had previously not been seen any where on earth. The
Oba of the town was subsequently attracted by them and he bought some of them from Orunmila at
a price of 200 men and 200 women.
 Ifism: The Complete Works of Orunmiia Volumes Eight and Nine
9
2
When the other Obas saw the adornments with the Oba of his town, they too, came to buy
similar materials from him. He was no treading the path of his destiny and he became exceedingly
wealthy. Incidentally, 016kun's daughter had no child for him.

If this odu appears for a light-complexioned man at Ugbodu, he is not likely to prosper and he may
not live long, unless he finds a competent Awo who can perform the required special sacrifices
(Ono-lfa of Odife) for him. He will marry a light-skinned woman who will bring prosperity to him. He
will undoubtedly do business with foreigners.

When it appears at divination, the person should be told to prepare 016kun shrine for his lfa
and to serve Esu with a he-goat. He should always wear light colored dresses.

He Made Divination for The Barren Daughter of Orisa:

Onigo, Oshorigo, Akolaja, won dafa fun Fekunwe, Okon bi

omo Orisa, nijo t'oun fi omi oju sshubere omo tuurutu.

Those were the three Awos who made divination forfekunwe (one who baths with tears), the
only daughter of Orisa, when she was desperately anxious to have a child. They advised her to
marry Orunmila (that is, an lfa man) in order to have a child. She did, and subsequently began to
have
children.
When it appears at divination for a woman, she will be told to marry an lfa man and to be
serving one divinity in her family, in order to have children, and to settle down in life. If it appears for
a man, heshould be told to have his own lfa and to look for a divinity in his family and get initiated
into it, and be serving it together with lfa.

Orunmila Declares God The Only Saviour:

In a dialogue with his followers, Orunmila asked them to name the force and power that can
bring joy and satisfaction to one's life. They mentioned the divinities and he declined.When they
could not produce an appropriate answer, he declared that it was the Creator and Father of all
creation alone that can bring enduring peace and prosperity to his children. When they asked for
the sacrifice, he told them to fetch snails, white kola nuts and salt, for offering thanks to God. When
it appears at divination, the person will be told to be using chalk and salt to offer prayers and thanks
to God as often as he can remember.

He Made Divination for Omonile When He Was Traveling:

Eshin she kere kere, Eshin la ibu are ja; lpale la nu

ko le so oro.

Those were the three Awos who made divination for Omonile when he was travelling. He was
told to make sacrifice with four pigeons, black soap, beads, any seed from a tree, white chalk,
animal faeces. He made the sacrifice before embarking on the journey after the lfa priests had
prepared the sacrifice and medicine for him, with which to bathe. He realized a lot of benefits from
the journey and he became rich. He then sang in praise of his lfa priest.
 9 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Irosun-Ofun
3

When it appears at divination, the person will be advised that his prosperity will come far away
from, the town of his birth. He should provide 2 pigeons in addition to the above materials for lfa
priests to prepare a soap for him to be bathing every Thursday of the week.

Made Sacrifice for Adeyosola:

Ashe gipi gbo, Akpa juba ni odan, ogbologbo ara

igbo lo nshe igi to tun fi eyin re ko wa le.
Adafa fun Adeyosola omo eleyin ishawewe t'onfi
gbogbo ara re di kolo winrin winrin, nijo t'oun
fi omi oju shubere omo tuurutu.

The person who goes to fetch fire wood in the forest, the person who goes to fetch materials
from an old farm, and the man who stays in the bush and fetches fire wood and carries it home on
his head or shoulder, were the names of the lfa priests who made divination for Adeyosola, the
pretty woman with tribal marks all over her body, when she was crying for not having a child. She
was advised to make sacrifice with a hen and eight eggs, and to persuade her husband to have his
own lfa. She did as she was told and ended up having five children for her husband.

He Made Divination for The Divine Priest and His Friend:

Ofene-da gharine. A poor man does not enumerate what he forbids. An Orisa priest and his
Albino friend became so friendly that to avoid any misunderstanding between them, they told each
other what they forbade. The Orisa priest forbade wine and the Albino forbade salt.

One day they both attended a meeting which lasted for so long that everyone became hungry.
The Orisa priest excused himself to look for something in the bush. When got to the foot of a tree,
he found a gourd of palm wine and he drank out of while, the Albino friend was looking on. As they
were returning to the meeting, they were invited to partake in eating a yam porridge prepared with
salt. They both ate out of it.

Later, the Albino told the divine priest that he was going to reveal that he saw him drinking
palm wine, but the later reminded his friend that he too partook in a meal prepared with salt.

When it appears at Ugbodu, the person should be told that there is someone in his family who
is watching to undo him out of envy. He should refrain from drinking wine, and make sacrifice with
hen and pigeon. At divination, the person should serve lfa with hen and snails. If it appears for a
woman, she should be told that she has committed adultery, and that unless she confessed the act
to her husband, she would not be able to have a child.
 Ifism: The Complete Works of Orunmila Volumes Eight and Nine
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 IFISM
The Complete
Works of 6runmila

Volume Nine
The Odus of Owanrin

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Ifism: The Complete Works of Orunmlla Volumes Eight and Nine
 97 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Owanrin-so-Ogbe

Chapter
1
OWANRIN-SO-OGBE
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11
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Divination Made for Ogun and Orunmila:

W
hen this odu appears at divination, the diviner should ask for a small quantity of palm
oil to drop on the ground before interpreting it.

Esi oun serun de, Erun rin ogoro mudi. Awe

Udi Orisa, udi Orisa oni ehu kangogo. 0 da mi
lebe moriru. Odami lebo kan le gerete. Odami
lesu itu momesu itu.

Those were the five Awes who made divination for Ogun and Orunmila when they were
coming from heaven. God had warned the two of them not to kill any other divinity or human being,
because he did not create divinities, mankind and animals to destroy their own species. God made
it abundantly clear that anyone who engaged in killing would only be doing so as an agent of Esu.

Before leaving heaven, they both went for divination and were advised to serve Esu with a
gourd of palm oil, a strong he-goat, 'and (iso-aparo in Yoruba, ihuawa in Bini) to make sacrifice with
a hen, snails, rat and fish. Ogun, who traditionally looked down on Esu refused to make sacrifice.
Orunmila, whose strength lies in making sacrifice, made it. The Awos made the sacrifice for him,
prepared medicine for him to be eating and to mix part of it with soap for him to be bathe with. Ogun
and Orunmila both left for earth at the same time.

Meanwhile, Esu who was not appeased by Ogun was determined to teach the Iron divinity a
lesson. He went to Ogun to instigate him into irritability in order to make him react violently to any
wrong done to him. It was Esu who incensed Ogun to become the ferocious divinity that he turned
out to be. No sooner was he infuriated by Esu than he proceeded to kill 200 human beings. Esu
also tried to stimulate Orunmila, but he reminded Esu of the sacrifice he made to him in heaven,
emphasizing that he was sent by God to bring salvation to divinities and human beings alike and
not to destroy them. He however gave another he-goat to Esu. After eating his hegoat, Esu
promised to avenge all wrongs done to him. Orunmila was meanwhile using the medicine prepared
for him. The mayhem with which Ogun had become associated made people to run away from him
and to be going to Orunmila for salvation.
 9
Ifism: The Complete Works of Orunmila Volumes Eight and Nine
1
8
Meanwhile, Orunmila reminded Ogun of God's injunction forbidding them to kill. Ogun retorted
by warning Orunmila to mind his own business, and that if he was not careful, he too would become
I
a victim of his inclination to murder. When Ogun raised his sledge hammer to hit Orunmila, he
replied that Ogun was joking because, lhuawa emits smoke but has no fire; the snail climbs the tree t

but lacks the teeth to bite it; and that when oil sees fire, it melts at once.
I
With that incantation, Ogun was humored and he told Orunmila that for a divinity to be feared,
he must be violent occasionally. Ogun and Orunmila subsequently became friends.
l
1

The Beginning of Vengeance on Earth: I

!

Atete doro oda ke ke re. Agbeyin da, oda gbendu gbendu.

Adifa fun Owanrin, abufun ogbe. Owanrin ti yo ogbe to be.

The first to aggress deals a light blow, while the avenger deals a harder blow. Those were the
Awos who made divination for Owanrin and Ogbe when they were going to undo each other, in
spite of the fact that they were brothers. They were advised to make sacrifice to avoid becoming
victims of mutual deceit. They both failed to make the sacrifice. Owanrin was a salt seller while
Ogbe was a kola nut seller. They had their respective stalls in the market.

One day, Owanrin went to the market, while Ogbe remained at home. When Owanrin returned
from the market, he asked Ogbe whether he did not see the man he directed to invite him to the
market. Ogbe replied that he did not see anybody. Owanrin told Ogbe that some people came to
the market to look for roasted kola nuts to buy in large quantity. That was why he sent someone to
come and invite him to take advantage of the deal. He went on to add that when Ogbe did not show
up at the market, he decided to learn the art of preparing roasted kola nuts
with a view to imparting the know-how to him.

Owanrin subsequently advised Ogbe to direct his servants to prepare a Kiln (atibaba in Yoruba
and aka in Bini) for baking the kola nuts. The kiln was quickly prepared and all the kola nuts Ogbe
had at home were kept in it and covered up while fire was set below to heat them. All the kola nuts
were baked dry before the next market day.

When Ogbe however took the kola nuts to the market, there were no buyers. In fact, people
thought that he had gone mentally demented because no one sells or eats roasted kola nuts.
Meanwhile, Ogbe's wife cried out on account of the bankruptcy that the ill-advised experiment
wrought on them. The husband however told her to keep cool because that was not going to be the
end of their lives. Ogbe went home dejected but not deflated.

On getting home, Owanrin asked him how he fared in the market and he lied that he sold out
all the roasted kola nuts, and that he realized so much profit that he was already arranging to build
a bigger house in which to live. Their relationship continued to smolder on because Ogbe
successfully concealed his consternation.

After a long time, Ogbe returned from the market one day to ask Owanrin whether he did not
see the salt multiplying technologist, he directed to him from the market. Owanrin replied that he did
not see anyone. Ogbe told him that when he failed to show up at the market, he learned the
expertise
 9 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Owanrin-so-Ogbe
9
of how to multiply salt in order to impart the knowledge to him. In the first place Ogbe advised him to
raise as much money as he could, to buy more salt for a miraculous harvesting operation.

Owanrin borrowed money to buy more salt in addition to the stock he had at home. Thereafter,
Ogbe told him to instruct his servants to dig a well and to pour all his stock of salt into it and to cover it
up. After five days, he would no longer buy salt for sale, but harvest them from the well. He complied
with his brother's proposal without delay. The following day, there was a heavy rain because Ogbe had
waited for the emergence of the rainy season before retaliating.
'
Five days later, Owanrin went to the well to escavate salt only to discover that all the salt had
melted away. His wife shouted "Ogbe ma she Owanrin oo". That is, "Ogbe has done in Owanrin".
Ogbe's wife told Owanrin's wife to shut up her mouth, asking her whether she was not present when her
husband struck them the first blow. A fight ensued between the two families and the quarrel was
remitted to Orisa-Nla for adjudication. Orisa-Nla observed that although it was forbidden under God's
law to repay wickedness with wickedness, nonetheless, since Owanrin dealt the first blow, he should
have expected a heavier blow in return, from Ogbe. That was how the saying began "Owanrin-so-Ogbe,
Ogbe-so-Owanrin". That is Ogbe and Owanrin traded wickedness with wickedness.

When this odu appears at divination, the person should be told to beware of doing a bad turn to
anyone because the victim would surely retaliate. He should however make sacrifice to make sure that
he is neither the victim nor the doer of evil.

The Same Awos Made Divination for Orunmila:

Akoda oro oda ko kekere. Agbeyin da oda gbendu gbendu. Adifa fun Orunmila ni ojo ti onlo si ode
Akosi. Ugba olokon adiye ni Orunmila ko lo kosibe.

The aggressor made a light impact, while the avenger dealt a harder blow. They were the two
Awos who made divination for Orunmila when he was going to the town of Akosi. He traveled to the
place with the 200 fowls he was rearing.

On getting to the town, he released the fowls to move freely about. The town had a divine stretch of
bush which was forbidden for non-initiates to enter. One day, Orunmila's fowls strayed into the divine
bush (igbo-umale in Yoruba and ugbo-ebo in Bini). When the people saw the fowls roving into the
sacred bush, they reported the incident to the Oba, who gave orders for them to be collected and
brought to the palace.

As soon as Orunmila was informed that his fowls had rambled into the sacred bush, in
consequence of which they had been seized and sent to the palace at the insistence of the Oba, he
went to tender his apology, explaining that as a new arrival to the town, he did not know that the stretch
of bush was sacred. He recalled the common adage that "visitors do not recognize sacred forest". The
Oba however bluntly refused to release the fowl's to Orunmila, and they were
subsequently confiscated. ·

On getting home, Orunmila sounded Ifa who told him to use a chicken to leave the matter in the
hands of Esu. He remained in the town to practice lfa art. He soon became known in the town and
 100 Ifism: The Complete Works of Orunmila Volumes Eight and Nine

even the Oba came to realize his importance.

On his part, the Oba had a herd of201 sheep that were grazing freely in the community under
the supervision of four shepherds, two men and two women. One day, as the herd were passing by
Orunmila's house, Esu directed some of the sheep to stray into his sitting room. As the shepherds
were driving them out of Orunmila's house, they stumbled on his lfa shrine and scattered all the ikin
on the floor. At the same time, Esu transfigured into a chief to advise Orunmila to lock the gate to
his compound. He subsequently arrested all the sheep and their shepherds on the grounds that it
was forbidden to scatter his lfa seeds (ikin) on the floor.

Meanwhile, the Oba was alerted to the event and he was informed that Orunmila had arrested
his sheep and their shepherds. The Oba sent a delegation to appeal to Orunmila to release the flock
and their shepherds, but he bluntly refused to do so. At the same time, Esu in the guise of a visiting
chief, went to the Oba to ask him how the issue of Orunmila's fowls which strayed into sacred land
was resolved. The Oba replied that he refused to release them to Orunmila. Esu then replied that
the matter of the sheep and their shepherds had to be accordingly resolved mutatis mutandis.

Orunmila seized and sold the entire flock of sheep and married the two female shepherdesses,
while keeping the two male shepherds as his domestic servants. Thus, he realized a bigger
atonement for his earlier loss.

When it appears at divination for a person who is proposing to travel, he will be told to tolerate
and bear whatever wrong is done to him in the place, because he will reap a greater reward in the
end.

He Made Divination for The Rabbit:

Owanrin-so-ogbe k'Esu gba - made divination for the rabbit when he stole yams from Esu's
barn. When Orunmila saw plenty of yams in the rabbit's house, he asked where he got them from
and he replied that he took them from a farm near his house. Unknown to him, that farm belonged to
Esu. Orunmila advised him that the only way he could minimize the inevitable wrath of Esu was to
have his own lfa. Orunmila told him that the strategy was to ensure that Esu ate out of the stolen
yams. The rabbit immediately arranged to have his own lfa.

When Esu asked Orunmila who was taking lfa, he replied that it was the rabbit. Esu warned
Orunmila that the rabbit was an ingrate who was bound to repay him with ingratitude.

It was at that stage that Esu confirmed to Owanrin-so-ogbe that he was aware that the yams
they pounded for the rabbit's lfa ceremony were stolen from his farm, but he cursed that the culprit
should be caught in another act of robbery and disgraced. Esu observed that by stealing from the
man who prepared lfa for him, his curse had manifested on the rabbit. Between Esu and Owanrin-
so-ogbe, the rabbit was condemned to eternal stupidity. That is why he uses his lfa seeds (ikin or
kernels) to block his hole to this day.

When this lfa appears at Ugbodu, the person will turn out to be ungrateful to his lfapatron. He
should go and steal something to complete his lfa ceremony and make sacrifice with two hens, two
 10 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Owanrin-so-Ogbe
1
guinea-fowls, kola nuts and cowries, to the new lfa, in addition to giving he-goat to Esu.

At divination, the person should serve Esu with he-goat and Ogun with cock, to avoid being caught
for stealing orto forestall the risk of being falsely accused of stealing.

Made Divination for Olofin When He Was Building a New House:

Owanrin-so-oqbe. Boregun awo won lo'ode Egba. lgombu awo

won lo'de ljesha. Eriki didu, awo won lo'de ilushakun. Adafa fun
Olefin olo mu ole ibudo. Ebo loma ru. Ewure lo ma fi shebo.

The three Awos from Egba, ljesha and llushakun, were the Awos who made divination for Olefin
when he was going to acquire land for building a permanent abode. He was advised to make sacrifice
with a goat. He did the sacrifice, built the house and lived peacefully in it with his family, to a ripe old
age.

If it appears at divination for a person who is going to acquire a plot for building a house, he should
be advised to make the same sacrifice.

He Divined Cocoyam When Going To Marry Swamp:

Orisanmi, odifa fun kooko t'onlo she aya akuro. Abufun akiko onlo she oko kooko.
I have a good head, was the name of the Awa who made divination for the cocoyam when she was
going to marry the swamp. The same Awo also made divination for the cock when he was going to
marry the cocoyam. The cocoyam was told to make sacrifice with a pigeon, while the swamp was told to
make sacrifice with a hen and a snail. They made the sacrifices. The cock had been told to make a
similar sacrifice but he failed to do it.

Meanwhile, the cocoyam began by going to marry the cock, but soon discovered that the house
was too hard for her. She left almost immediately to marry the swamp whose house gave he all the
comfort she needed for producing children.

She produced many children for the swamp. When it appears at divination for a person plan .. ning
to get married, he or she should be told that the marriage would be very successful if sacrifice was
made. If it is Uree, the marriage will endure, but if it is Ayeo, it will not last.

When it appears for someone who is behaving stupidly, he should be told that he is being
destabilized by Esu. His only solution is to have his own lfa before he can think straight and prosper in
life.

He Made Divination for The ljimere (Monkey):

Ore ni ki ri ran.

The truth is always bitter, was the name of the Awa who made divination for ljimere (monkey) when
he went to help lkoko (lion) who fell into a pit, while Gbon owo po po po, was the Awa who made
divination for the tortoise when he went to settle the ensuing rift between them.
 10 Ifism: The Complete Works of Orunmila Volumes Eight and Nine
2
lkoko (lion) had been advised to make sacrifice to avoid falling into a trap prepared by human
beings. He refused to make the sacrifice. ljimere was also advised to make sacrifice to avoid be-
coming the victim of his own benevolence. He was told to make sacrifice with a cock to his mother's
head. He did the sacrifice.

Subsequently, ljimere was pacing up and down on top of a tree when he heard someone
shouting for help from below. When the monkey came down to verify what was happening, he
discovered that lkoko (lion) had been caught in a dugout pit. lkoko begged him for help, but he
declined ,because he had been warned to beware of losing his life out of magnanimity. lkoko
however promised never to be ungrateful to him. Eventually, ljimere lowered down his tail for lkoko
to grip, while he held tight to the trunk of a tree.

As soon as lkoko came out of the hole, he refused to release his grip from the tail of ljimere.
As lkoko was about to kill ljimere, the tortoise appeared, dressed in the outfit of a heavenly knight.
The tortoise asked lkoko to state his case first. After narrating his case, he removed his grip from
the tail of ljimere to swing them. As soon as lkoko released his grip, ljimere swung himself up to the
top of the tree and into freedom.

Once on top of the tree, ljimere began to sing in praise of lfa:-

Ore ni kiri ra
Oun ni oju, odifa fun Oun
ljimere l'ojo ti yio lo Yo
lkoko kuro ni nu ofin. Oun
gbo riru ebo oun ru.
Oun gbo eru ai tu kesu oun ru.
Ko i pe, ko ijina,
awa ba mi laru segun ebo

Meaning:

The eyes that witnessed the,

Bitterness of the truth.
That was the Awo who,
Made divination for the monkey,
When he went to rescue the lion,
Who had fallen into a pit.
It was the sacrifice he heard and made,
That made him to survive the ingratitude
of his beneficiary.

When it appears at divination, the person will be advised to beware of friends. He should be
told however to make sacrifice to avoid becoming the victim of his own magnanimity. He will also be
forewarned of an impending dispute over land matters or affecting his job. If he makes the sacrifice,
someone will appear at the nick of time to deliver him from the inevitable trouble.
 103 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Owanrin Oyeku

Chapter 2
OWANRIN-OYEKU
OWANRIN-OLOKUN
11 11
11 11
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The Divination He Made Before Leaving Heaven:

Okiti Kpuke awo eba ono, was the Awa who made divination for this odu when he was coming
to the world. He was advised to make sacrifice on account of a contest in which he was going to be
involved over a woman. He was advised to serve Esu with a cock and tortoise. He made the sacri-
fice before leaving for the world.

There was a beautiful spinster at lfe, who was the daughter of Olokun. Ogun and Sang6 had
been making amorous overtures to her when Orunmila discovered her. She fell in love with
Orunmila as soon as she met him and he requited the love.

On one occasion when she was escorting Orunmila after paying her a visit, they met Ogun and
Sang6 on their way to visit her. Prior to that meeting, none of them knew that the others were
courting her. Ogun and Sanqo told her to take leave of Orunmila and return home with them
because they were coming to visit her. She refused because she was traveling to Orita-ljiloko. As
they were trying to challenge Orunmila, Esu intervened by turning Ogun and Sanqo against each
other. The two of them began to quarrel over why the other was visiting the woman. As the two of
them were fighting, Orunmila quietly walked away with her. She became happily married to
Orunmila, and she brought prosperity to him.

When this odu appears at Ugbodu, the person will be told to make sacrifice in order to succeed
in winning the love of a woman who will bring fortune to his life.

He Made Divination for the Axe and its Handle:

Owanrin yere ki e kuro mbe, ki a ri Ade loju okan. Odifa fun

Edun, abufun Eru re. Won gbo'gun losi awon igi ti owa ni
aka.

Owanrin, make way so that the crown might be visible on the tray. That was the name of the
Awa who made divination for the Axe and its handle when they were going to wage war on the trees
in the forest. They were both told to make sacrifice with a he-goat. The Axe made the sacrifice but
the handle was not interested in making any sacrifice. They were to make the sacrifice in order to
survive and return home safely.
 Ifism: The Complete Works of Orunmila Volumes Eight and Nine
104

They both left for the battle and started combat. After a hard struggle, the handle was killed, got
broken and discarded. It was the Axe alone that survived the battle and returned home safely after
felling the trees.

When this odu appears at divination for a person who is proposing to travel, he or she will be
advised to make sacrifice in order to avoid injury or accident from a dispute in which he is bound to
be involved, during the tour. He is likely to be traveling with another person. They should both make
sacrifice in order to return home unscathed.

The Divination He Made Before Going To Divine for Olofin:

As a royal diviner, he used to make divination for himself every morning before going to the
palace. At one of such daily divinations, lfa told him to serve his head with a pigeon before going to
the palace, and to wear a male skirt (buluku) instead of trousers to the palace. He performed the
sacrifice and dressed in buluku for the palace.

On getting to the palace, he made the day's 'divination for the Oba, advising him to make
sacrifice with pigeon, guinea-fowl, crocodile and a cow. Olofin told him to come and make the
sacrifice the following day. On his way back from the palace, he stopped at a friend's place, and
told him that he was going to make a major sacrifice at the palace the following day. He told friend
that the sacrifice was going to involve the slaughtering of a cow.

After leaving for his house, his friend made a public announcement that there was going to be a
feast at the Oba's palace the following day. The following morning an unusually large crowd
assembled at the palace. When the palace attendants asked the uninvited guests what their
business was at the palace, they explained that they had been invited to come for a feast at
palace.
Meanwhile, Owanrin-Oyeku made his morning divination and lfa told him that in spite of his
appointment with the Olofin, he should desist from going to the palace on that day. Accordingly, he
stayed home for the whole of that day. He was however told to dub the skull of a he-goat with palm
oil and to serve Esu with it. He did so. Towards evening of that day, Olofin sent a messenger to
inform him that he had been expecting him throughout the day. He sent a reply to explain that he
was suddenly taken ill the previous night, as a result of which he could not show up at the palace.
Thereafter, the Oba gave instructions for the uninvited guests to be fed and detained overnight.
When Owanrin-Oyeku came to make his sacrifice the following morning, the Oba drew his attention
to the guests he directed to come to the palace for a feast the previous day. He totally denied any
knowledge of the matter, and the people confirmed that it was not Orunmila that invited them. The
sacrifice was made in earnest and the men were told to return to their
homes.

When this lfa appears at Ugbodu, the person should be advised not to escort or accompany
anyone to any ceremony. He should serve lfa with a crocodile. At divination, the person should be
told to serve Esu with a he-goat to avoid any obstacle, embarrassment or disgrace in the place he is
going to go.
 10 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Owanrin Oyeku
5

the Divination Made for Olofin When He Was Critically Ill:

Owanrin sun lo ye. Sigo sigo agutan. Adifa fun Olofin ni jo

t'onshe ogbogbo arun ni'le t'in roju ati dide.

Sigo sigo agutan was the Awo who made divination for Olofin when he was so ill that he
thought he was not going to be able to get up anymore. He was told that he would get up if he
rnade sacrifice with a sheep and all available edible foodstuffs. He made the sacrifice after which
he became well.

At divination for a sick person, he should be told to make sacrifice with a sheep. Parts of the sheep
should be extracted and offered as sacrifice to the elders of the night, because they will alleviate
the illness.

Orunmila's Eulogy of Caution:

Orunmila advises caution in earning and spending money, not to be flirtatious, and to bear the
number of children one can conveniently look after.

He added that the person for whom this lfa appears at Ugbodu should be prudent, judicious
and discreet in whatever he does in life. A special sacrifice should be prepared for him with the
appropriate leaves of this odu and a frog, in addition to serving lfa faithfully.

Divination for Heaven and Earth:

lwon eku ni iwon ite, ki ada'so kan'le

Ki a ma gun ju eni nio fi nye'ni. These were the three Awos who made divination for heaven
and earth when God was going to apportion the wisdom of rights and responsibilities to them. [he
earth was told to make sacrifice with plenty of snails, thick white cloth, white pigeon and a big re-
goat. On the other hand, heaven was told to make sacrifice with white cloth, 20 needles, and a big
ram. The two of them made the sacrifices after which God gave equal share of wisdom to them,
but told them to refrain from doing evil in order to withstand the machinations of Esu. He
proclaimed that there was to be free movement between the two of them.

When this odu appears at divination, the person will be told that he is going to be given a major
assignment, or a responsible position. He will be equal to the task, provided he proceeds to make
sacrifice. He will never lack the good things in life.
 Ifism: The Complete Works of Orunmila Volumes Eight and Nine
10
6
 107 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Owanrin-lwori

Chapte,3

OWANRIN-IWORI
I I I I I 11 I I I I I

He Made Divination In Heaven for The Queen of Fays:

Atiro gomugo lori lo. Emi mo beje leyin orun.

Adifa fun Amure Nana, omo ataro diri gomugo re ile oko.

These were the two Awos who made divination for Amure Nana, the queen of fays when she was
coming from heaven. When they told her to make sacrifice for a long stay on earth, she considered it
unnecessary because she intended to return very quickly from the earth, anyway. She instructed her
heavenly husband and her followers to wait for her to return to heaven on the day she would be given
away in marriage to an earthly husband.

On getting to the world, her parents were warned at her naming ceremony divination that the child
was a fay and that the only way of impelling her to live on earth to a ripe old age was for them to betroth
her to an lfa priest without collecting any dowry on her.

When she was ripe for marriage, a day was appointed for Orunmila to take her to his house as his
wife. As soon as the date was fixed, her followers, led by her heavenly husband, stood on the way to
Orunmila's house ready to return with her to heaven.

Meanwhile, Orunmila sounded lfa, who advised him to hurry quickly to tell her parents to loosen the
hairdo she had just plaited on her head for the occasion. All female fays have a tradition of plaiting their
hairdo vertically to point upwards as a mark of mutual identification. When Orunmila got to her parent's
house he told them to re-plait her hairdo to be horizontally flat on her head.

When the day came for escorting her to Orunmila's house, her heavenly associates who were
waiting for her, could not recognize her on account of the change in her hairstyle. She was led safely to
Orunmila's house and lived happily with him ever after.
When this odu appears fora woman at divination, it will be obviously clear that she is a fay. She
should be advised to marry an lfa man if she wants to live long on earth. If she is already married, her
husband should be advised to ask the lfa priest to perform the special sacrifice for tying down fays on
the shrine of Esu.
 10 Ifism: The Complete Works of Orunmlla Volumes Eight and Nine
8

He Made Divination for The Maize:

Owanrin were rerere, Owanrin weerererere, babalawo agbado

odifa fun agbado. Ani ki agbado rubo ko ba le bi omo.

He made divination for the maize when she was going to the farm to start bearing children.
She was advised to make sacrifice with rat, fish, akara, eko, white cloth, white hen and needle. She
did the sacrifice. She was told to make a second sacrifice so that enemies may not eat up her
children, after bearing them.

On getting to the farm, she brought out the needle first. She produced hundreds of children at
a time. But she had failed to make the second sacrifice for protecting her children from being
ravaged by human beings, birds, and animals. Esu soon alerted mankind, birds and animals to the
nutrient value of the corn's children. When she found mankind enjoying her children fresh, instead
of hurrying to do the second sacrifice, she decided to use her own contrivance to dry up her
children, thus making them too brittle for people to eat.

Esu again advised human beings to pluck her children from the comb and put them in salt
water and to fry them subsequently. The comb of the children was used to fry them on the hot
frying pan, and it was then she remembered the second sacrifice she did not make. As the children
were being fried on the pan, she cried Owanrin wererere, Owanrin wererere -which is the noise the
corn makes when being fried for preparation into ekate or uloka.

When it appears at divination, the person will be advised not only to make sacrifice to have
children, but also to make a second sacrifice so that enemies may not destroy his/her children after
producing them.

The Divination Made for Three Brothers:

Owanrin lwori ugbo kan ko gba erin.

Eluju kon ko gba Efan .
. Won iba ri bi to shy okuku - won iba sa si.
Adifa fun omo shegita she awo,
Atun bu fun omo lakpinla shoro,
Won tu da fun Alaaro wo.
Ani ki awon meteta ru ebo.
Alaaro wo ni kon lo ru ebo.
Ago eyele lo fi ru bo.

These are the names of the three Awos who made divination for three brothers: One was fetch-
ing fire wood for sale; the second was splitting fire wood for a living; while third was the one who
was treasuring their belongings. Each of them was advised to make sacrifice with a basket of
pigeons in order to prosper. Alaaro wo, the third one, who used to treasure his assets, made the
sacrifice. He was also the one who prospered, because he used to sell his wares in a shop. He
started the practice of displaying wares in a shop or store for sale.

When this lfa appears at Ugbodu, the person should be advised not to take any profession
 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Owanrin-Iwori
109

that involves wood or planks. He should take to trading and make a special sacrifice with 10 pigeons
kept in a basket.

The Divination Made for Him When He Was Traveling To Shigo:

Kia asha sha sha, kia shu ni shikutu. Adafa fun Orunmila baba
shawo lo si ilu Sigo.
/

To butcher it many times, and to tie it up again, are the names of the two Awos who made
divination for Orunmila when he was going to the town of Shigo. He was told to make sacrifice and
he did.

On getting to Shigo, he did not meet the elders at home. They were all away to their farms.
The youths at home told him to wait for the elders, but he asked them whether they at home did not
know how to make divination. All the youths came together and he told them to make sacrifice with a
sheep. They all joined hands to fund the cost of buying the sheep.

Thereafter, without slaughtering the sheep, he went home with it. Not long afterwards, he left the
town and the elders returned from their farms. The youths told them what had happened in their
absence. The elders queried who authorized them to make sacrifice. When they told them it was
Orunmila and that he went away with the sheep, the elders ordered them to go and retrieve it from him.
Try as they ran to catch up with him, they could not reach him. They had to return home without the
sheep.

When it appears as Ayeo at divination, the person will be told that he is thinking of getting back
what he or she gave to someone, but that he or she will not be able to get it back.

The Divination He Made When His Wife Was Unfaithful:

When his wife was having a secret lover, he did not know, but people who observed her move-
ments came to tell him. When he consulted lfa, it confirmed that his wife was truly misbehaving, but that
he should serve lfa with a hen so that she might be exposed. He made the sacrifice.

Soon afterwards, his wife began to emaciate and she subsequently became very ill. He was
subsequently visited by a Sang 6, priest, and an Ogun priest, who warned the wife that unless she
confessed what she did, she would surely die, because lfa had taken umbrage to her misdeed. The
woman instantly confessed her misbehavior and she was told to buy a ram with her own money to
appease lfa. She went to her parents to give her the money and the appeasement was done. She
eventually became well. ·

When it appears at Ugbodu, the man will be told that his wife is flirting. He should give a hen to lfa
and he-goat to Esu so that she might be exposed.

When it appears at divination, the person should serve his head with a cock so that the actions
of a woman might not create difficulties for him. ·
 110 Ifism: The Complete Works of Orunmila Volumes Eight and Nine

He Made Divination for The Rat, the Fish and The Snail:

Mowo iwaju, Mowo eyin, were the Awos who made divination for the rat, the fish and the snail.
They asked the rat why he was in the habit of stopping to look backwards when he moved. He
explained that the death that killed his parents came from the rear. He was advised to make
sacrifice to avoid death in a similar manner. He was told to serve Ogun and Esu and he made the
sacrifice. Thereafter he was told to stop looking backwards and the death from the rear did not
affect him.

The fish was also asked why he was always looking forward in the water. He explained that the
demise of his ancestors was brought about by frontal attacks. He too was told to make sacrifice to
Ogun and Esu and to stop looking forward. He refused to do the sacrifice. That is why the fish is
often caught by frontal attacks either by hooks or by nets.
The snail was also told to make sacrifice with chicken to avoid death from the rear. He too did
not make the sacrifice. Before then, people used to be afraid of the two swords that the snail has in
front of it. For failing to make sacrifice, Esu told human beings and animals that those swords were
totally harmless and that the snail was in fact a coward, who would withdraw the swords to their
cases as soon as he was challenged. He however advised that since the snail was defenseless on
its back, they could always apprehend him through the back.

When this odu appears at divination, the person will be told that enemies are after him, but that
if he makes sacrifice with cock to Ogun and he-goat to Esu, they will not be able to do anything to
him.

The person should be told as well that for failing to attack him, his enemies would direct their
attention to his children. He should not undertake the tour he is contemplating so that his enemies
might not attack his children in his absence.

Special Sacrifice for Owanrin-lwori

Orunmila says that sacrifices should be made for the following objectives:

Pigeon for sacrifice to have money;

Cock for sacrifice to get married;
Rabbit for sacrifice to have children;
Ram for sacrifice to have a higher position;
Pig for sacrifice to prosper generally; and
Sheep for sacrifice to live to a ripe old age.

When this odu appears at divination, the lfa priest will make a special sacrifice for the person,
so that his children might be prosperous, famous and be around him at old age and to be with him
when he dies. The special sacrifice is prepared with he-goat, the leaves of a tree called Oshe, the
leaves of maize, and the leaves of a tree called Akpa. The preparation is ground with the blood of
the he-goat and mounted on the skull of the he-goat.
 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Owanrin-Si-ldi
11
1

Chapter 4
OWANRIN-SI-IDI
OWANRIN-SIDIN

I I I
11 I I
11 I
I I

He Made Dlvlnation for The Mushroom:

Owanrin-sidin, kokoro sidin, wonyin. Awon meteta

lo'ndi fa fun Olu-oron, to'ntori omo bo'fa .Eboni ko ru o.

These were the three Awos who made divination for the Mushroom (Olu-oron) to have 201
children, but not to keep them. She was advised to make sacrifice with a piece of white cloth and
rabbit in order to have children. She was also told to make a second sacrifice so that after having
children, they might grow up to become adults before her eyes.

She made the sacrifice to bear children and she had many of them, but failed to make sacrifice
to see the children outlive her. On account of the second sacrifice she failed to make, her children
did not live for more than 48 hours after being born.
\

They also made divination for the fly to have children and to live to see her children survive to
make her proud of them. She made the sacrifice to have children, but not the second sacrifice to
witness their success in life. As soon as the fly gives birth to her many children, before they begin
flying, she would die, which is why flies do not have mothers.

When it appears at divination, the person will be advised to make sacrifice in order to witness
the survival and prosperity of his or her children. The sacrifice is made with a sheep and a piece of
white cloth. The sacrifice is prepared by adding gravel to the head of the sheep, together with the
appropriate lfa leaves and the lyerosun of this odu on the white cloth and tied up. The wrapped
parcel is then given to the person to bury on the floor of his own house. The spot on which it is
buried will be prepared with cement blocks in such a way that the person can sit on it from time to
time. Thereafter all his children will grow to become prosperous before his own eyes.

The Divination Made for Him When He Went To Elepin-pin:

Lagbo-n-gbo-igi, Lagbo-n-gbo-igi, Akula igi mole gbara-gbara-were the three Awos who made
divination for Orunmila when he was traveling for lfa practice to the town of Elepin-pin. He was also
advised to make sacrifice so that enemies would not prevent him from coming home with the gifts
he was going to receive in the place. He was told to make sacrifice with a bird called (eye-oge), in
 Ifism: The Complete Works of Orunmila Volumes Eight and Nine
11
2
addition to water and sand taken from a gutter drain. He made the sacrifice.

On getting to the town, he made divination and sacrifice for several people, who derived satis-
faction from his services. He realized several gifts and rewards.

Meanwhile, three girls, who came to him for divination told him that they were only prepared to
marry the man who succeeded in knowing their names. He made divination for them, and sang a
poem to them:

Agbenu aro lsan

ljokun tiriki ewa
Agbenu adinmu pin pin pin
were the three fays who left heaven in search of husbands on earth. They had been told that
they were the wives of Orunmila and that he would travel to meet them in their place.

As soon as he mentioned the names of the three fays, they all went on their knees to hail him
as their husband, because he was the first man to mention their names.

Several suitors had previously approached them for marriage, but they could not know their
names.
When those who were interested in the girls heard that all three of them had agreed to marry
the visiting lfa priest, they were determined to stop him from leaving the town with them. When he
sounded lfa the following morning he was told to leave for home furtively that night. Before the
conspirators could firm up their disruptive plans, Orunmila was already back home with the three
girls and his gifts.

When it appears at divination, the person should be advised to make· sacrifice before em-
barking on a proposed journey in order that the fortune he would obtain in the place would reach
home safely with him.

He Made Divination for The Eta and Pepper:

Owanrin mi shiden, Awo eta, odifa fun eta. Abufun Ata ro do. ·

He made divination for an animal called (eta in Yoruba and edi in Bini), who was told to make
sacrifice with a melon sauce called iru in Yoruba and evbarhie in Bini) so that his anus might not be
emitting an offensive odor. He did not bother to make the sacrifice.

The Pepper (Ata) was also told to make sacrifice to avoid losing her children to enemies.
She was told to make sacrifice with the red apparel she was habitually wearing. She did not make
the sacrifice because the garment was too precious for her to part with. When lghoroko told Esu that
Eta and Ata refused to make sacrifice, Esu punished them by, inserting the lru or Evbarhie sauce
into the anus of Eta, which made his anus o be smelling, while cladding the body
of Ata's children with red cloth.
 113 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Owanrin-Si-ldi

Thereafter, it was the heavy smell of Eta's anus that began to alert his enemies (bigger animals and
hunters to her presence wherever he was, which remains her undoing to this day. On the part of Ata, the
pepper, as soon as the children wore the red apparel, Esu told human beings and birds that they were
palatable spices for eating and seasoning. Her children subsequently became staple seasoning spices
for mankind and food for the birds.

When it appears at divination for a woman, she will be told to make sacrifice so that she does not
a
develop disease on her genitals, which will not only make her repugnant to men, but also make it
impossible for men to have sex with her.

If it appears for a man, he will be told to make sacrifice to avoid contacting carnal disease from a
woman. In either case, the sacrifice should be made to avoid losing children.

The Price of Deriding Orunmila as Ordinary Palm Kernels:

Elerin more aran. Orangun maaja loko. Owa lo mo asonda aaje igbin. Adifa fun egberin aworo t'om
bu ikin lo'okuro. lfa aakpa gbogbo won je.

· Those were the Awos who made divination for 800 divine priests when they scoffed Orunmila as a
mere palm kernel. He warned them that he would not hesitate to destroy anyone who derided him
because that is the only occasion in which he destroys irreparably.

When it appears at divination, the person should be warned not to ridicule anyone disparagingly, to
avoid sudden death.

Divined for Orunmila When He Won Respect From Divine Priests:

Owanrin omi ishi den. Iden mi'shu ileke. Adifa fun Orunmila baba lo gba iba ati ashe ni owo
alaworo gbogbo. Owanrin discharged worms, and worms discharged beads, were the two Awes who
made divination for Orunmila when he was to command the honor of all divine priests.

He made sacrifice with a goat. That is why divine priests give honor and respect to Orunmila in
order to become successful.

When it appears at divination, the person will be told to make sacrifice in order to command the
honor and respect of his colleagues.

The Feat He Performed, When He Was an Adolescent:

When he was young, he was indentured to an elderly lfa priest as a servant. One day, he was sent
to fetch fire flames from a neighboring house for them to make fire as was the custom at the time.
Incidentally, he went to the house of the Olowo, the king of Owo.

As he was going for the fire flames, he passed through the courtyard where Babalawos were
divining for the Olowo. When he sighted the odu that was being translated on the lfa tray, he begged for
permission to drop a hint. The Babalawos hushed him down with the adage that it is forbidden for a
young person to open his mouth to speak in the midst of elders. The Olowo however
 Ifism: The Complete Works of Orunmila Volumes Eight and Nine
11
4
prevailed on the Babalawos to give the young boy an audience with the adage that intelligence is
never the exclusive monopoly of the elderly.

The boy was subsequently granted audience and he dropped a bombshell by saying that the
lfa on the tray was advising the Olowo to make urgent sacrifice to Esu with a gun in its case, a
cutlass and a hunter's bag, in order to forestall the risk of getting lost, and he added that the Oba
should not venture outside the palace for the rest of that day. The Babalawos accused the boy of
"blasphemy" on the ground that he did not know what he was talking about. He was instantly told to
get lost. He
fetched his fire flames and returned to his house.
While the lfa priests were still battling with the interpretation of the odu, the Oba excused him
self to answer nature's call at the back of the house. While he was urinating, he sighted a monkey
on top of a tree and he quickly went inside the house ,to fetch his gun. In his determination to shoot
the monkey, he strayed far into the forest until he eventually lost his way. Try as he did, he could
not find his way back home. He remained in the forest for three days.

On the third day, Esu appeared to him in the guise of the young boy who interrupted his
divination, and asked him what he would do for him if he showed him the way home. The Olowo
promised to betroth his daughter to him. Esu then led Olowo to the back of his house and disap-
peared.

The whole of Owo had been agog for the return of the Oba during the three days. They were
relieved when they saw him on the third day. As soon as he got home, he invited Owanrin-si-di, the
young Awo to make the sacrifice he had prescribed. After making the sacrifice, the Oba betrothed
his daughter called Kakunrin to the young man. The princess had three children for Owanrin-si-di.
Meanwhile, the Oba decreed that the people of Owo should be forever forbidden to
eat the meat of monkey.

When this lfa appears at Ugbodu, the person should immediately make sacrifice with a gun and
its case, a cutlass, hunter's bag and he-goat to Esu, so that some tragic event might not
prevent him from completing the initiation ceremony.

At divination, the person should serve Esu with a wooden gun, a cutlass and a he-goat, to
avert the risk of being arrested and detained.
 11 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Owarin-Obara
5

Chapter 5
OWANRIN-OBARA
OWANRIN-KPALABA
OWANRIN-KPAJIBASUDE
OWANRIN-OLOBA

I 11 I
I 11 11
I
11 I

He Made Divination for Palm Wine and The Cooking Pot:

Owanrin bala bala, babalawo Emu, odifa fun emu.

Abu fun Isa.

He made divination for palm wine and the cooking pot. The palm wine (emu) was told to make
sacrifice with soap, feathers (iye) and white pigeon. He made the sacrifice. On his part, the cooking pot
was told to make sacrifice with a bundle of fire wood, a he-goat and plenty of water. He did not make the
sacrifice.

When Esu was told that Emu made the sacrifice he used his ASE to proclaim that Emu would
eternally become indispensable whenever good things were being done, and that anyone who over-
labored him would always become tipsy. That is why to this day, wine and spirits abound at all festive
occasions, and why those who consume them in excess often get drunk and become intoxicated.

On the other hand, Esu turned to Isa, the pot, cursing him that for failing to make sacrifice, he
would always be forced to do his work under hell fire. That is why fire is made to heat the pot before he
is able to cook anything.

When it appears at divination, the person will be told to make sacrifice to avoid unpleasantness in
his life, and to enjoy honor and respect in his community.

He Made Divination for The Tortoise:

Owanrin kpalaba ikpabo. Odifa fun Oloba aghun.

He made divination for the tortoise when he was indebted. The lender was often coming to his
house to harass him when he could not repay the debt. After divination, he was told to make sacrifice,
but since he invariably prefers to rely on his wits, he did not make the sacrifice.
 Ifism: The Complete Works of Orunmlla Volumes Eight and Nine
116

Meanwhile, he told his wife to use him as a grinder anytime the debtor came to demand pay-
ment, after telling him that he was not at home. Not long after that, the lender came to his house and
the wife lied that he had travelled. At the same time, the wife took him up and used his back to grind
corn gradually.

The lender,waited sometime, after which he felt insulted because the tortoise's wife was
continuing to grind corn without paying any attention to him. The man took the grinder from her and
threw it into the surrounding bush. Without realizing that it was his debtor he threw away, the wife
aprehended the lender and accused him of throwing away the stone which fetched her money.
Meanwhile, the tortoise moved away and concealed himself in an opaque thicket.

The tortoise's wife refused to release her grip on the lender unless he retrieved her grinding
stone. The scuffle attracted the neighbors, who told him to go out in search of the woman's
grinding stone.

He combed the entire bush without finding it. The interveners subsequently asked him to pay
her an amount higher than the debt for which he came to demand payment. Since he did not have
that kind of money on him, he excused himself to go home and bring it.

He neither showed up again, nor returned to draw his own debt. That was how the tortoise's
indebtedness lapsed.
When it appears at divination, the person will be advised to make sacrifice so that any debt he
owes will be written off as bad debt. If someone owes him, he should be advised not to
demand the debt with anger, lest it would remain unpaid.

He Made Divination for Ola, Who Dispenses Prosperity:

Owanrin kpalaba awo eti omi. Obara, awo oke odo. Adifa
fun akpakpa oniran iran. Iran ile wa otidi igbo owo. Iran ile
wa otidi igbo aya. Iran ile wa otidi igbeo omo.

Owanrin was the Awo who lived at the bank of the river.
Obara was the Awo who lived on top of the hill over looking
the river.

They Made Divination for Ola, The Divinity of Wealth

The wealth he shared to people enabled them to have money, get married, have children, and
build houses. To achieve the good things of life, they were required to make sacrifice with a
sheep.
When it appears at divination for a man who is relatively poor, he will be advised to make
sacrifice with a sheep because he will surely become wealthy and prosperous, provided he takes
his own lfa.
If it appears for a woman, she will be told that she will have plenty of children and will not be in
 11 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Owarin-Obara
7

want for the wherewithal for taking care of them, provided she can make sacrifice.

The Divination Made for Him Before He Left Heaven:

Ule Obara oro ro.

The house of Obara is full of secrets, was the name of the Awo who made divination for this
odu when he was coming to the world. He was told to serve; Esu with a small he-goat to be split on
the shrine of Esu, and the ground divinity with tortoise, snail, cocoyam, corn, plantain, cowries and
a gourd o~ palm oil. The tortoise was to be buried alive in the ground. He was also to serve Ogun
and Osanyin with a tortoise respectively. After making all the sacrifices, he left for the world and
emerged at the town of Obaa in Ondo State of Nigeria.

On getting to the world, he became a diviner but people began to cheat and deceive him.
Wondering why he was not getting on so well, he went for divination and was told to repeat the
sacrifice he made in heaven. Once again, he made all the sacrifices. Thereafter, Esu carried out an
advertising campaign in his favor and effectively published his proficiency as an lfa priest. His
predictions and sacrifices began to manifest so effectively that so many people began to seek
salvation through him. His fame eventually brought him in contact with the king of Obaa, who
appealed to him to assist him in administering the town. He became very famous and prosperous.

The Oba began by telling him about his own problems. The Oba was rather aggressive and
dictatorial which deprived him of the cooperation of his people. He also had no children in spite of
the many wives he had in his harem. When Owanrin-Obara made divination for him, he advised the
Oba to turn a new leaf and extend the hand of fellowship to his people in order to win their
cooperation. He was to begin by throwing a feast for his entire people with a cow and a goat, after
giving a strong three-year old he-goat to Esu.

After serving Esu, the Oba lost no time in making the feast which provided plenty of food and
drinks for all and sundry. The feast was well attended because it was a surprise packet to his
subjects, having already gotten used to being cold-shouldered by the Oba. After wining and dining,
the entire people joined hands in praying for him.

That night Orunmila got parts of the meat and the leftovers of the food for the feast and used
them for preparing a big sacrifice for the Elders of the Night. At a subsequent meeting of the club of
witchcrafts, they accepted his sacrifice and resolved to untie all the knots they had previously
fastened against him.

The change in fortune for him began, when his people resumed the payment of homage to
him. The following month several wives became pregnant. Instead of expressing gratitude to
Owanrin-Obara, he began to show disrespect to him. One of the Oba's pages, called Ajiba, who
challenged him for being so contemptuous to the benefactor who altered his course of his life, was
summarily executed on the orders of the Oba. Incidentally, Ajiba had been very friendly with
Owanrin-Obara. When the latter heard how his friend was summarily executed because of him, he
went to confront the Oba. The Oba retorted by ordering him never to enter the palace anymore and
that for being an lfa priest, he would have made him to suffer the fate of Ajiba. The Oba was taken
ill a week later and died suddenly in his sleep without attaining old age.
 281.

Ifism: The Complete Works of Orunmila Volumes Eight and Nine

118

When this lfa appears at Ugbodu, the person should be told to forbid eating the meat of tortoise.
He should be warned never to show disrespect or ingratitude to his patron who prepared lfa for him
because if he offends him, he would die. At divination, the person should be advised to be bonhomie to
his people and community and to prepare a feast for members of his family, so that his problems
might be alleviated.

He Made Divination for Tella:

He made divination for a man called Tella when he was too poor to afford the cost of making sacrifice. He
was advised to serve his head with 1 O bitter kolas and 2 cocks in order to be free from the bondage in
which he was. He was working as an indentured bondsman (iwota in YoTUbS and imu in Bini) on account
of a debt he could not pay. He could not afford to make sacrifice. He was however able to serve his head
with one bitter kola, promising to make the sacrifice in full as soon as he completed his indentured
bondage. His wife was pregnant at the time. Meanwhile, tt was.the yam · planting season and Tella went
to his creditor's to dig ridges for cultivating seed yams. While digging a ridge, his hoe struck an object
which turned out to be a coffin of hidden treasure. He became
so exicted he went home singing:

Tella Roko ti ri Owo loko.

His neighbor who overhead him immediately went to report the incident to the Oba who confiscated
the find from him on the ground that whatever treasure is discovered anywhere beneath the ground
belongs to the king. He was only given the equivalent of fifty pence with which he however made his
long delayed sacrifice. After making the sacrifice, he discovered an even greater trea-
sure the next day.
This time, T ella quickly covered up the treasure box and proceeded to complete his ridge digging.
Before closing from work on that day, he saw a bitter-kola tree in the bush where he was resting and
plucked some of the fruits which were ripe. On his way home, he began to sing:

Mori orogbo loko, Tella roko -

I have found bitter kola on the farm.
When the owner of the farm heard him singing he came out to ask him what he had found this
time, and he explained that he saw a bitter kola tree on the periphery of the farm and showed
him the fruits he plucked from the tree. The man ignored him and returned home.

After dusk, Tella returned stealthily to the farm to collect his new treasure find to his house without
even telling his wife. He waited for three days to elapse before he went to his lender to repay his debt of
26 bags of money (egberin dogbon), thus buying back his freedom. Meanwhile, he spent the next three
days plucking and selling the fruits of the bitter kola he had discovered near the farm. His master
presumed that he repaid his debt from the proceeds of the bitter kola
sales. He subsequently became a rich man, and went to thank Orunmila.

When this Ila appears at Ugbodu, the person should forbid bitter things including vegetables and
fruits, beginning with bitter-kola. He should serve his head with 2 cocks while backing his lfa ohdn.a He
should also provide a hoe to be kept at his Ila shrine. He should serve l::sU with he-goat.
 11
9 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Owarin-Obara

He should be reassured that although he had previously not been able to make ends meet, lfa would
soon bring prosperity to him.

At divination, the person should serve; Ogun with a cock, and his head with a pigeon and white
kola nuts so that he might achieve his ambition in life.

He Made Divination for Olubi To Survive a War:

When Olubi was going to war, he went to Orunmila for divination and he was told to make sacrifice
with a cock, the bone of a horse, the leaves of lgi iyeye and sheer butter (ori-oyo). The sacrifice was
made by burning the materials and putting the black powder in the shea butter or pomade for him to be
rubbing his body every morning.

When the lfa priest was preparing the sacrifice he repeated the following incantation:

lsun sile ki pa esin. lsun

sile ki pa igi-iyeye lyeye
ki sun si'le ku-u. Ereke
ni mo ma sun. Ereke ni
mo ma ji-i.

Meaning:

The horse never dies from sleeping on the floor.

lyeye tree never dies from sleeping on the ground.
Merrily shall I sleep and cheerfully shall I wake.

Olubi went to war and returned victoriously with plenty of loot.

When it appears at divination, the person will be told to make sacrifice to survive an epidemic or a
general strife.

When this odu appears at divination, the person will be advised to make prescribed sacrifices to
avert the danger of the sudden death of his wife. If it appears for a woman, she will be warned not to
take undue advantage of her husband's love to demand favors fraught with fatal consequences for
herself and her husband.

This Odu's Special Sacrifice for Prosperity:

Orunmila declared that the corridor of his Father's (God's) house was lined with prosperity. His
followers asked him what to do to avail themselves of the goodies lying on the corridor of his father's
house.

He declared that it would require sacrifice to be slammed down on the corridor with coconut to
 Ifism: The Complete Works of Orunmila Volumes Eight and Nine
12
0
serve the head. Thereafter all the instruments of prosperity, money, marriage and childbirth would come
within the reach of the person making the sacrifice.

When it appears at divination, the person will be advised that his prosperity lies in his father's
house in the land of his birth. He should not travel outside his home-base in quest of prosperity,
because the consequences would be regrettable. He should stay home.
p """""'='A~~.=------------------------

12 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Owarin-Okonron

1

Chapter 6
OWANRIN-OKONRON
I I 11 I
I 11 I
I I
I I

He made Divination for The Guinea Fowl To Outlive Her Enemies:

Owanrin kpo kokan, Awo aworo, odifa fun aworo ni jo ti aawon

ota re fe kpaa je. Ebo ni oru-o.

He made divination for the guinea-fowl when her enemies were plotting to kill her for food. She was
told to make sacrifice with a he-goat to Esu and to serve her head with white and red kola nuts. She
made the sacrifice after which Orunmila prepared medicine with tree branch and dried leaves, added the
iyerosun of the odu and tied them up for the guinea-fowl to be keeping at the place where she slept

The hunter and the boa also went to Owanrin-Okonron for divination and they were told to serve;
Esu with a he-goat, and their heads with guinea-fowl. Without serving Esu with he-goat, both the hunter
and the boa went in search of the guinea-fowl in the forest. The boa saw the guinea-fowl and her
children on top of a tree and was waiting for them to come down to launch an attack.

At the same time, after a long search, the hunter heard the cry of the guinea-fowl and her children
in the forest. As soon as the hunter sighted the tree on which the guinea-fowls were resting, he moved
stealthily to the foot of the tree. It was at that stage that lghoroko, the herald-
. friend of Esu, told him that it was the guinea-fowl alone that made sacrifice and that both the hunter and
the boa failed to make sacrifice. When the hunter took aim with his gun to shoot the guineafowls, Esu
immediately startled them by shaking the branch of the tree on which they were resting.
Instantaneously, the guinea-fowl and her children flew away.

Unknown to the hunter, Esu had used dried leaves to conceal the boa on the ground. He could not
see that he was standing on the snake. After the guinea-fowls flew away, the hunter stepped backwards
treading on the tail of the boa, who instantaneously hit him with his venomous arrow. As soon as the
hunter felt the bite of the boa, he cut a pointed stick to pierce down on the head of the boa before using
his cutlass to cut its head and tail. The hunter hurried home to apply medicine on the snakebite. Before
he got home, the poison had overrun his circulatory system, and he began to vomit. He just managed to
reach home before he died.

That was how sacrifice enabled the guinea-fowl to outlive the enemies who were gunning for her.
When it appears at Ugbodu, the person should be told to prepare his Esu immediately with a he-
 Ifism: The Complete Works of Orunmiia Volumes Eight and Nine
12
2
goat so that the new lfa, with_ the cooperation of Esu, would destroy the two powerful enemies who
are after him.

The Divination Made for Him When He Was Leaving Heaven:

Eni konron, Olakonron, Eroni su se amikon.

Work today, work tomorrow, but no one works all the time
Merrily shall I sleep and cheerfully shall I wake.

Those were the Awos who made divination for this odu when he was coming to the world.
He was told that if he made sacrifice, he would be able to weather the storm the enemies were
going to ferment for him as a result of his success. He was told to make sacrifices to: his head with
a guinea-fowl and coconut; his guardian angel with a castrated he-goat to feast the higher powers;
Esu with a he-goat; and Ogun with cock, dog and tortoise. He left for the world after
making all the sacrifices.

On getting to the world he took to trading in addition to lfa practice and he was always moving
about. He succeeded both as a trader and as an lfa priest, but his prosperity gave no comfort to his
relations, who contrived all kinds of problems for him. His wives and children were often falling ill
and he was spending a lot of money for taking care of them. He subsequently went for divination
and he was advised to give a he-goat to Esu and a rabbit to the elders of the night.

'After enjoying his he-goat, Esu brought pressure to bear on Ogun and the night to fight the
enemies of Owanrin-Konron. His enemies _began to die one after the other, and he was subse-
quently left to thrive in peace.

When it appears at Ugbodu, the person should be told that he would flourish in any business
he does, but should make sacrifice to negate the evil plans of his own relations against him.

He Made Divination for The Oba-Ajigbomekon Akira When He Was Ill:

The Oba-ajigbomekon was seriously ill and all known Awos were invited to cure him without
success. That was the point at which Owanrin-Okonron was invited to assist him. OwanrinOkonron
was not just an lfa priest. He was also using the powers of Osanyin to achieve his objectives. He
had one charm which was capable of obeying his command and of doing what-
ever he wanted it to do.

When he got to Oja-ajigbomekon, he made divination for the Oba and told him to make sacrifice and
to have a bath with a medicine he was going to prepare for him. He was to make the sacrifice with a
hen and a cock. The sacrifice was made after which he brought out his diabolical · charm (sigidi in
Yoruba and amaze in Bini) anointed it with alligator pepper and a three-piece kola nuts. Thereafter
Owanrin-Okonron commanded the charm to point at the direction of whatever was responsible for
the Oba's illness. Straightaway, the charm moved to the bottom of the throne on which the Oba was
sitting, and it began to dance under the chair. Owanrin-Okonron requested the Oba to get up from
the chair. It was then they found all kinds of destructive charms under the chair. They were all
removed and dumped in a pit latrine. Thereafter, he prepared medicine for the Oba to bath in. After
having the bath, the Oba was able to sleep soundly for the first time
 123 THE ODDS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Owarin-Okonron

in several
months.
Within the next three days, the Oba had become completely well. That achievement launched
Owanrin-Okonron into fame and he subsequently became the diviner and physician of all the kings
and aristocracy of the known world.

When this lfa appears at Ugbodu, the person will be an effective traditional doctor but should
be advised not to boast. He should make regular offerings to the night because they will assist
I
him in his work. He should prepare Osanyin or Osun for his lfa, and serve it with a cock and a
tortoise. He will succeed in whatever he does on earth.

At divination, the person should serve the Osanyin or Osun of his family or the one he has at
home. He should forbid roasted corn and beware of over-generosity.

He Made Divination for The Cockroach, Lizard and The Rat:

Owanrin Mukuku si odo, was the Awo who made divination for the Cockroach, Lizard and Rat,
advising them to make sacrifice in order to have a brighter life. They did not make the sacrifice. On
the other hand, lgbankan gboroo made divination for the fish advising him to make sacrifice to
survive an attack from his enemies. He made the sacrifice with okra, hand fish and sheer butter
(ori-oyo).

Meanwhile, the Lizard, Cockroach and Rat, requested the Cat to catch fish for them in the
river. On account of the sacrifice which the fish made, his body became too slippery for the cat to
handle. The cat made several abortive efforts until he caught a cold. By the time he got home, Esu
told him to feast on those who sent him on a wild goose chase. It was from then on that the cat
began to feed on lizard, rat and cockroach.

When it appears at divination, the person will be told that some people are contriving evil plans
against him. He will be advised to make sacrifice to neutralize their machinations. He should also
be warned never to plan evil against others, lest he would lose his life in the process.

This Odu's Sacrifice for Prosperity:

Odore mi owo kiribi, was the Awo who made divination for the fish, the dog and the crab.
They were told to make sacrifice with a pigeon and a rat, to enable them to have free food to eat.
They made the sacrifice which is why they do not struggle too much for their daily bread.

When it appears at divination the person will be advised to make sacrifice so that he does not
toil too hard for his daily bread.

Divination For any Group To Have a Leader:

lfa ni were ko were jo. Emina ni were ko were jo.

Moni kini je be. lfa ni omo eranko. Oni won ko ra
won jo. Won ko ni olori. Oni were ko were jo ni.
 Ifism: The Complete Works of Orunmlla Volumes Eight and Nine
12
4
Orunmila said that lunatics congregate with lunatics.
He explained that it was a figure of speech meaning.

That the animals and birds of the forest congregate without appointing a king among them,
and that be it men, animals, birds who congregate without appointing a leader, are a crazy lot. To
appoint a leader, he recommended sacrifice with rat, fish, akara, eko and he-goat, and thereafter
choose a king or leader among them, just as Oduro is put on the throne to head all ikin.

When it appears at divination for a group of people, they will be told that all of them are equals.

When this odu appears at divination, the person will be advised to make prescribed sacrifices
to avert the danger of the sudden death of his wife. If it appears for a woman, she will be warned
not to take undue advantage of her husband's love to demand favors fraught with fatal
consequences for herself and her husband.
 12
5
THE ODDS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Owanrin-Irosun

Chapter 7
OWANRIN-IROSUN
OWANRIN-LOGBON
OWANRIN-EWI

I 11
I 11
11 I
11 I

The Divination Made for Him Before Leaving Heaven:

Erin Lere, mi Erin Lere.

Smiling brings favor, was the name of the Awa who made divination for him before leaving
heaven. He was advised to make sacrifice to avert the risk of becoming temperamental on earth.

He was warned that impatience and irritability would make prosperity to elude him. He was told
not to rely too heavily on the advice of friends. He was therefore advised to serve Esu on the bush
path with 2 pigeons, 2 gourds of palm wine, 16 kola nuts, rat, fish and a dog. After the sacrifice, he
was to have a bath on the spot, while leaving all the sacrificial materials there. Next, he was to; feast
his guardian angel with a piece of white cloth, parrot's feather, castrated he-goat, gourd of palm
wine, 201 cowries and eagle's feather; serve Ogun with a he-goat, cock, tortoise, dog, snail and
rolled fish and to persuade Og(m to follow him to the world; and to serve EsuObadara with a he-
goat. After making the sacrifices, Ogun gave him a sledge hammer and a scissors, while agreeing to
follow him to the world, provided he did not neglect him. He then left for the world.

On getting to earth, he built his house near the source of river Osa, (God's own river), which is
the route traditionally taken by God when He comes to earth. As soon as he built the house, he
began to practice lfism. One day, he was away from home when God passed by his house, but the
Almighty Father left a piece of white cloth, a white chalk, an eagle's feather and a parrot's feather, at
the entrance to his house. When he returned home to meet the strange gifts, he began to wonder
who might have left them there. He sought advice from his colleagues, who told him that it was a
presentiment designed to warm him. He subsequently threw them into the river.

Nine days later, God saw the materials he threw into the river and wondered what kind of man
could afford to reject His own divine gifts. God however deposited the same materials at the en-
trance of his house after adding a red scimitar and a pair of Ogun's scissors. When he returned
home to find the same materials and the new ones, he went again to his friends, who scared him by
telling him that there was an evil force who did not want him to remain in the house. He
subsequently abandoned his house and proceeded to live elsewhere.
 l:tism: The Complete Works of Orunmila Volumes Eight and Nine
12
6
Up to that time he had no wife and child. All his colleagues were prospering, but he continued to
languish in abject penury. At a point, he began to behave as if he had suffered a mental derange-
ment, and he actually became a laughing stock. That was the point at which the Awo who made
divination for him in heaven was visiting the world. One night, his guardian angel ordered him to
leave at once for Orita-ljaloko. Without knowing why he was to go there, he proceeded aimlessly to
the boundary of heaven and earth.
!

As soon as he got there he saw an lfa priest who was divining for other people and he too went
to meet him. The Awo made divination for him and asked him why; he abandoned the gifts that God
sent to him, and neglected Ogun, the divinity that followed him to the world. He was advised to give
a he-goat to Esll as soon as he got back home. He returned home to serve f:sll with a he-goat. After
enjoying the he-goat, Esu went at once to remind Ogun of the elaborate sacrifices that Owanrin-
lrosun made to him in heaven, because the man was suffering on earth.

Ogun quickly left for Owanrin-lrosun's house where he met him in a state of paranoia. Ogun
greeted him by slapping him on the face, which immediately made him to become possessed.

Thereafter, Ogun gave him a gong and a sledge hammer. With those two instruments on either
hand, he began to dance and to sing strange songs, eventually running out from his house. Since
the people around him had become familiar with his erratic behavior, they took his dancing, singing
and running as a severe manifestation of his delirium, and so they followed him.

He made straight for his old house which he previously abandoned and began to hit his head with
the gong and hammer in his hands. Next, he began frantically to look for God's gifts and they· were still
there intact at the entrance to his house. He then knelt down, thanked God, his guardian angel, and
the Ogun that woke him up from a long slumber. People soon realized that whatever he was
predicting and proclaiming were not only intelligible but very revealing. The people danced and sang
with him for the better part of that evening. He however remained possessed and before the
following morning, his hair had all coiled into a rasta as if he had neither washed nor combed them
since he was born (Dada in Yoruba and Agbihiagha in Bini). He soon began to
perform wonders and it was then that people realized that he was an Ogun priest.

The other divine priests got together and assisted him in building his Ogun shrine from where
people began to consult him for divination. He operated simultaneously as an Orisa priest and as
an Ogun priest and he was so successful that he subsequently got married and gave birth
to several children.
When this odu appears at Ugbodu, the person should be told that he is an Ogun priest and
should proceed without delay to perform the requisite initiation into the Ogun priesthood. He should
be told not to discard any gift he receives in mysterious circumstances.

The Divination Made for Him When One of His Wives Misbehaved:

Over time, he became specialized in giving medicine for barren women to bear children.
Meanwhile, another Awo seduced one of his wives. He did not bother unduly about it until the
seducer began to boast that he did it with impunity because Owanrin-lrosun was incapable of doing
anything. Meanwhile, Esll asked him for a he-goat which he gave. Thereafter, Esll went to the
 127 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Owanrin-lrosun

seducer's house and used the pad of a woman's menstrual discharge to neutralize all his protective
powers. Before the following morning, the man ran mad and left the town never to be seen again. It was
then that the woman went to beg her husband to accept her back. He told her to appease lfa with a
goat, Ogun with a cock, and Esu with a he-goat. After making all the penitential sacrifices, she was
given the traditional absolution, after which he accepted her back.

When this lfa appears at Ugbodu, the person will be advised to beware of losing his life on account of a
woman. He should be advised not to seduce another man's wife. To forestall that eventuality, h~ should
serve; Esu with a he-goat, a bat and a bird called Oge (Alevbe in Bini), and lfa with a hen. He should be
told to serve Ogun as conscientiously as he serves lfa.

At divination, the person should serve Esu with a he-goat to avoid having difficulties on account of
a woman. He should be advised to move cautiously with a woman he is currently befriending.

He Made Divination for The People of Akoko:

Oshu waju omu ori kosun. Odafa fun won lode Akoko.

The man who moved forward with a load of salt on his head, was the Awo who made divination for
the people of Ode-Akoko (Evboikhinmwin in Bini) when they were anxious to have children. He advised
them to make sacrifice with a hen, 10 snails, a cock, kola nuts and palm oil. They made the sacrifice
after which women began to have children again at Akoko.

That is the sacrifice which barren women will be required to make if this lfa appears for her at
divination. He also made a similar sacrifice for a barren woman called Onitide, before she started having
children, and one of her children became very famous. At divination, the person should be advised to
beware of making jest of an elderly person who could curse him with ASE because the curse would
manifest.

Sacrifice against Fear and Anxiety:

When this odu appears at divination, the person should be told that he is afraid or anxious about
something. Orunmila said that if a person is afraid, he should make sacrifice with rat, fish, pigeon and
arrange to have his own lfa. Orunmila will allay all his fears and worries and lead him to a life of eternal
happiness and peace.

He Made Sacrifice for The People of Olukoro Against War:

The people of Olukoro were always living in fear and anxiety because they were frequently
attacked by enemy forces and husbands and wives were consequently taken away into captivity. When
they heard of Owanrin-lrosun, they sent for him to come and help them.

On getting to the town he made divination for them, advising them to make sacrifice to avert the
risk of another devastating attack. They made the sacrifice with the meat of bush animals, a strong he-
goat and a pot. After making the sacrifice, he used the pot to make a drum covered with the skin of the
he-goat. He advised them that from time to time, they were to beat the drum and Esu would
 Ifism: The Complete Works of Orunmila Volumes Eight and Nine
12
8
drive away potential danger from the town.

They did what Orunmila told them. At the end of three years of unprecedented peace and
tranquility, all the men and women trooped out and began to sing and dance to the beating of the
drum as follows:

Ojojumo ni ominu ma nko ni bi-ogun-bi-ogun.

Ojojump ni eru ma mba eniyan bi ote-bi-ote,
Enia ni o gbe ikoko de igbo-irunmole,
ti ikoko si nda eru ba eni.
Babalawo Olukoro difa fun olukoro,
Awon, won gbo riru ebo ti won ru,
Awon, won gbo eru atukesu, ti won tu.
Ko i pe, ko i jina, won wa bami,
ni laru segun ebo.

Meaning:

Everyday used to bring the fear and threat of war. Every

day we were all tormented by the fear of war. Until
someone came to our rescue with a sacrificial pot.
The lfa priest of Olukoro made divination for the people of Olukoro.
They listened to the advice and made the prescribed sacrifice.
Sacrifices manifest for those who make them.
It is a long time since our problems have gone behind us.
And now we are wining and dining in relative peace and merriment.

When this odu appears at divination, the person will be advised to make sacrifice and if
possible to take to the musical profession, where lies his prosperity.

He Made Divination for Osumare:

Owanrin gbaja irosun, o fi we ori, ondifa fun Osumare.

He made divination for Osumare to give birth to an only child. Osumare was told to make
sacrifice with a strong he-goat and the mother's loin cloth. He refused to make the sacrifice.

Not long afterwards, the child was born but it only lived for twenty-four hours. When it appears
at divination, the person will be told that there is a very beautiful lady in his family who is pregnant.
The woman is expecting a fay child (imere or igbakhuan) and should make sacrifice so that the
child might be forced to stay in the world and become very famous.
 12 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Owanrin-Ogunda
9

Chapter 8
OWANRIN-OGUNDA
OWANRIN-OGUNRERE
OWANRIN-OLOGBON

I I I
I I I
I I
11 I

He Made Divination for The Farm and The Surrounding Bush:

Edo lifi kanrikan shewu.

Adifa fun eba oko, abufun arinrin oko.
Aniki awon mejeji rubo.

The stick used to support the stalk of a germinating yam plant (eghee in Bini) coils the yam's
stem as a sponge garment to cover its body. That was the name of the Awo who made divination
for the farm and for the bush surrounding it. They were both advised to make sacrifice in order to
enjoy the fruits of their labor.

The farm saw no reason why he had to make any sacrifice since he was the husband of all the
crops in his domain and they would give birth to children that would enlarge the size of his family
without being taken anywhere else. The bush surrounding the farm however made sacrifice with a
laying hen and its eggs, and a cock, but failed to give a he-goat to Esu.

When the yams were subsequently harvested, the tubers were stacked away in the sur-
rounding bush because of its coolness. The farm was considered too hot from exposure to the rays
of the sun. The surrounding bush became the abode of the products of the farm, but only for a time.
Since none of them gave he-goat to Esu, all the crops of the farm including the yam tubers were
eventually taken to the house for consumption or sale and the farm was left high and dry.

When it appears at divination, the person should be told to make sacrifice so that the fruits of
his efforts may not be reaped to benefit someone else.

He Divined for The King of Termites:

Owanrin ola; Erin lo gbo ohun orun ola l'on sa.

Efan lo gbo ohun okpolo lo f ohun aro. Ogbigbo lo
nsa gun ori uroko. Orahun tan Onibi ara aiye koba gbo
oni ero orun amo. Kosi ohun todun bi kaji kara ale.
Adafa fun Olu ikan to ji to ko ru ebo.
 Ifism: The Complete Works of Orunmila Volumes Eight and Nine
130

The elephant heard the sound of the gaiter and ran away in fright.
The buffalo heard the voice of the toad and retorted with his own harsh voice.
The theokam (ogbigo in Yoruba and owonwon in Bini) escaped to the top of the lroko tree to
say that if the earth did not hearken to his nagging, the heavens would listen.
Nothing is as exhilirating as waking up in the morning with a sound and healthy body
and mind.
These were the names of the Awos who made divination for the king of termites living in the
anthill, but who woke up in the morning without making sacrifice. That is why he woke up to
discover to his dismay that he had become a limbless cripple. It rolls on the ground and is carried
about by the ants since he has no hands and feet.

When it appears at divination, the person should be told that he owes the debt of one sacrifice
which he has not made. That is the cause of the illness he is concealing. The sacrifice which the
king of termites did not make was to serve; Esu with a he-goat, and his head with a pigeon
and a cock.
That is the sacrifice the person should make if not already ill, that is, if it is Uree. But if he or
she is already ill and it is Ayeo, the person should make the same sacrifices, adding the king of
termites.

The Divination He Made Before Leaving Heaven:

Agbe d'ale, Aluko do owuro, were the Awos who made divination for this odu when he was
coming to the world. He was told to make sacrifice in order to succeed in his work on earth. He was
to make sacrifice with; he-goat to Esu; a ram and unsplit kola nuts fruit to his guardian angel; dog,
cock, tortoise, red cloth, and roasted yam to Ogun; and to serve Elenini, the Obstacle divinity with all
eatable foodstuffs on the eve of his departure to the world. He made all the sacrifices but forgot to
send all edible foodstuffs to Elenini (ldoboo in Bini) before travelling. His guardian angel however
advised him to obtain the blessing (ASE) of God before leaving, which he could not do because the
Obstacle divinity blotted the message out of his mind for failing to
give him food.

On Getting To The World, He Became a Practicing lfa Priest:

Almost immediately, the Obstacle divinity (Elenini or ldoboo) set out on his trail to disrupt his
activities. Before getting married, he was hailed as an up-and-coming lfa priest. Within a short time,
his proficiency had given him recognition at the royal court and he was made one of the
king's diviners.

One morning, the "erudite awo" as he was called in the palace, was invited by Olofin for
divination. After completing his work at the palace, he met a very pretty woman with whom he fell in
love at first sight and who lost no time in requiting his affection. The woman was sent to him by the
Obstacle divinity, and she was head and shoulder stronger than Owanrin-Ogunda, because apart
from having all the esoteric vigor of Elenini, she was herself the powerful queen of the cult of
witchcraft (lyami Osoronga in Yoruba and Oghidian-ni-ya'son in Bini).
 131 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Owanrin-Ogunda

They got married almost immediately and she moved in to live with Orunmila. No sooner had she
moved into his life, than his fortune began to wane. Without any justification whatsoever, his colleagues
began to find faults with him. Even the Olofin began to reproach him because his predictions were no
longer coming true.

He could not identify the cause of his problems, because the most difficult problem to identify is the
one living, sleeping and waking up with one at home. His fortune had deteriorated so remarkably that he
became a laughing stock.

When he eventually met a visiting Awo, he asked for divination, at which he was told to serve Esu
with a he-goat and his lfa with a hen, ram and an unsplit kola nut. He performed the sacrifices without
any delay. Thereafter the Awo prepared leaves to wash his lfa, and to bath the evil hands of misfortune
from his body. A number of Awos participated in the ceremony because it was as if he was rejuvenating
his lfa and himself, because he had erstwhile lost his instrument of authority (ASE).

After having the bath, it was time to split the kola nut fruit. All the Awos present were told to
forecast the number of kola nuts in the fruit. Some said, 4, others 5,6,7,8 and so on. When he was told
to make his own forecast, he said that there were three kola nuts in the fruit case. The officiating lfa
priest (Ojugbona) also predicted that the fruit had three kola nuts. When it was eventually split, it was
found to contain three kola nuts which was an indication that his ASE was already coming back to him.

Soon after the sacrifice, his wife became ill and he spent all the money he had to cure her, but she
did not become well. His own work was returning to normal and he was being acclaimed once more.

He Returns With Others To Heaven for Renewal of ASE:

When people saw the speed with which his ASE returned to him, clients began to flock to him for
consultation on how to renew their own ASE. Ogun was the first to come for divination. After divination
he advised Ogun to return to heaven to renew his ASE from God, but that before going, he should make
sacrifice to: Esu with a he-goat, lfa with a hen, and his (Ogun's) guardian angel with a dog and a
tortoise. Ogun only served lfa but refused to serve Esu and his own guardian angel. Thereafter, he left
for heaven.

As soon as Ogun left, three other Awos, Agbe (Ukhiokhio in Bini), Aluko (Awe in Bini) and Odie
(Okhue in Bini) also came to Orunmila for divination. It was his own odu (Owanrin-Ogunda) that came
out of all three of them. He also advised them to return to heaven to have their ASE· renewed. He
advised each of them to serve; Esu with he-goat, lfa with hen and Ogun with dog, cock, tortoise, roasted
yam, palm oil and palm wine. All three of them threw up their hands in despair, complaining that they
could not fund such elaborate sacrifices. All the same, they left for heaven to renew their instruments of
authority (ASE).

After his clients had left, Orunmila also consulted lfa and it was his own odu (Owanrin-Ogunda) that
also appeared, which meant that he too had to perform the same sacrifice that he enjoined others to
make, before going to heaven to renew his ASE.
 "i
!'ft\•···.
Ifism: The Complete Works of Orunmlla Volumes Eight and Nine
132
I
In spite of the fact that he had just completed his own set of sacrifices, he proceeded nonethe-
less to serve:- Esu with another he-goat; lfa with a hen; and since Ogun had already left for heaven,
lfa told him to travel in his bag with a whole tuber of roasted yam, palm oil and palm wine, and to
leave the dog, tortoise and cock at Ogun's shrine against his return from heaven.

In consonance with the divination, he travelled with all the materials. His departure coincided with
the time of Ogun's return from heaven after obtaining a new ASE. He was already very hungry and
tired, and so decided to sit down by the side of the road to rest. The first traveller to meet Ogun was
Agbe. When Ogun asked him whether he did not make any divination before leaving home, Agbe
replied that he indeed made divination with Orunmila and that the lfa that appeared for him was
Owanrin-Oguntan. The way he pronounced the name of the odu sounded as if he had sacriligiously
referred to Ogun as a finished divinity. That made Ogun to become paranoid and he got up in a
frenzy to behead Agbe with his sword, keeping his head in his bag, after
drinking the blood.

Aluko was the next traveller to meet Ogun. When Ogun also asked him whether he made
divination before leaving home, Aluko answered that he did indeed and that the lfa which appeared
for him was Owanrin-Eguntan. Since the pronunciation of the odu profaned Ogun's divine dignity, he
again reacted deliriously by chopping off Aluko's head with his sword and pocketing his head after
drinking the blood. It was exactly the same fate that the third traveller, Odide suffered in Ogun's
hands, which meant that all the three people who refused to make sacrifice
before leaving home had suffered the loss of their own lives.

When Ogun eventually met Orunmila, his eyes were already red as if he had been charged for
combat. He however greeted Orunmila reverently as his Awo, before asking him whether he did not
make any divination before leaving him. Orunmila confirmed that he did and that it was his own odu -
which he called Owanrin-Ogunrere - that appeared for him and that he also made the required
sacrifices. Since the way he pronounced the name of his lfa was tantamount to a praise for Ogun,
the eyes of the fire divinity simmered down. He was now seemingly happy. Ogun however asked
Orunmila whether he was not told to serve Ogun. Orunmila confirmed that he was advised to serve
Ogun and that was the point at which he brought out the roasted yam and palm oil in his bag. After
Ogun had eaten the yam with the palm oil, Orunmila gave him the gourd of palm wine to top it up.
He then told Ogun that he had left the other materials at his (Ogun's)
shrine at home since he was away.

That was why and how Ogun gave this odu the nickname of "Owanrin-Ologbon", that is, the
wise and intelligent lfa priest.

At that stage Esu intervened by stimulating Ogun to use his newly acquired ASE to pray for
Orunmila to get to heaven safely and to acquire his own ASE on the same day without any delay.
Since whatever Ogun said with his ASE was bound to happen, Orunmila thanked him for the good
wishes. Ogun also gave Orunmila the heads of Agbe, Aluko and Odide,'which made him to
appreciate the fact that he had just survived a brush with death.

Orunmila subsequently went to heaven where he met several divinities and persons who had
been waiting for months. As soon as God sighted Orunmila, he invited him at once and gave him a
renewed ASE in consonance with Ogun's wishes for him. He swallowed the ASE and left for home
 133 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Owanrin-Ogunda

immediately.

On getting home, he went to his lfa shrine to curse whoever had been responsible for all the
problems he had been encountering. His obscurantist wife died in her sleep before the following
morning. Thereafter, Olofin invited him for a rapprochement and gave him the title of generalissimo (
olori-egbe) of all the Awos in his kingdom. He married other wives and had many children subsequently.
That is why it is not advisable to pronounce Ogunda as Oguntan or Eguntan, because Ogun
I
will take umbrage to it.

When this lfa appears at Ugbodu, the person should be advised to have his own Ogun prepared for
him without any delay. He should also serve lfa and Esu so that he would excel in his work. He should
also pay the debt of sacrifice his lfa owes to the Obstacle divinity by collecting all eatable foodstuffs and
adding a dog for sacrifice at a road junction for Elenini of ldoboo. If he is already married, he should ask
his wife to deposit the sacrifice at the road junction. He should look carefully and deeply before marrying
any woman. He should add the skulls or Agbe, Aluko and Odide to a hegoat for Esu.

He Made Divination for a Woman Called Gbeyide When She Was Desperately Fretting To
Have a Child:

She had already reached the climatic period of her life. Nonetheless when Orunmila made
divination for her, lfa revealed that in spite of the fact that she had attained the stage of menopause, she
had a better than even chance of having children if she could make sacrifice. She was required to make
sacrifice with the dress she was wearing (buba and iro) at the time of divination, in addition to a black
goat and a U-bolt (aban). She was also required to serve her late father with a cock. Orunmila assured
her that she could still have two male and one female children. She made the sacrifice without any
delay.

On her way home after making the sacrifice she surprisingly started her menstruation. Wh~n she
got home she reported the situation to her husband, who was surprised because her menopause began
a couple of years ago. She subsequently became pregnant at the end of that month, and in the fullness
of time, gave birth to a male child. The next child was also a boy while the last one was a girl.

When the eldest son was growing up, he began to demonstrate a flair for inventiveness. The
second son also exhibited similar tendencies. Right from childhood, the girl also displayed signs of being
a potential trader.

When she eventually went to Orunmila to make divination on the significance of the wonderful
propensities of her children, lfa revealed that; the senior son was an Ogun priest, the second son was a
Sang6 priest, while the girl was from the kindred of the divinity of wealth (lya-Alaje in Yoruba and
lgbaagnon in Bini).

Orunmila advised Gbeyide on the kind of food to be giving to each of her children. They grew up to
become famous and prosperous.
 Ifism: The Complete Works of Orunmila Volumes Eight and Nine
134

When this lfa appears at Ugbodu, the person will be told that there are three divinities that lfa
brought with him to the world. He should; prepare Ogun for his lfa, provide his shrine with a
thunder stone, as well as preparing Olokun for the lfa.

He should serve Esu with a he-goat and remove the dresses he or she was wearing on that ·
occasion and leave them on the Esu shrine, because they are his/her poverty or hard-luck garments. He
should also serve lfa with 4 pigeons which are to reared.

At divination, the person should have his bath while wearing discardable dresses, which have to be
removed and left on Esu shrine. The ceremony is done with a he-goat which after killing, the person will
not eat out of the meat. He should also serve Ogun with a cock.

Orunmila's Sacrifice for Intelligence:

Orunmila advised his children to develop the qualities of quick-wittedness and awareness, because
it is intelligence that enables the children of rats, fish, birds, animals and mankind to endure and survive
the stresses and tensions of existence. When his children asked him the sacrifice to be made to acquire
the aptitudes of awareness and intelligence, he told them to obtain the brain of a mother-cow and put it
inside the lfa plate overnight. The following day, it should be removed from the lfa plate, and cooked
with palm oil and salt, without adding pepper. After being cooked, it should be brought before the lfa
priest to add the divination powder (iyerosun) of the relevant odu and to recite
the appropriate incantation after which the person will eat it.

This preparation is made when this lfa appears at Ugbodu and also at divination for someone
involved in doing brain work.

Divination for Correcting The Paradox of Existence:

Orunmila declared that there was something wrong when a square peg was put in a round hole.
His children asked him what went wrong and he disclosed that no matter could be truly
resolved until it is settled right.

He went on to explain that it was because:

(a) When the kingship of rats went to the wrong rat (asin), he became a misfit and he began to kill
other rats. A reign of peace and comradeship took over when Asin was deposed and
Torofini was appointed the king of rats;

(b) When the crab was made the king of fishes, there was a reign of terror, until the crayfish was
appointed in his place and he ushered in the principle of live and let live;

(c) The snake kindred saw hell-fire when they appointed the python as their king because he began to
swallow up the smaller snakes. They only became happy when the kingship
went to the persevering boa;

(d) The birds suffered an epoch of cannibalism when the hawk was their king. They only had peace
of mind when the proud peacock ( okin) took over the throne.
 13 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Owanrin-Ogunda
5
Orunmila recalled that the sacrifice to be made for things to go right required; 10 rats (eku-toro
mewa) and the leaves of ewe-eleto.

When it appears at divination, the person will be told that he has been outmaneuvered from his
rightful position. He should make sacrifice so that the error could be corrected.
 Ifi.sm: The Complete Works of Orunmil.a Volumes Eight and Nine
136
 13 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Owanrin-Osa
7

Chapter 9
OWANRIN~OS
A OWANRIN-PISIN
OWANRIN-GA-ASA

11 II
I II
I I
I I

He Made Divination for The Shaving Knife and The Cloth Used for Insulating Its Handle:

ka fi ota lo'ogun .Ka fi ogun l'ota.

Adifa fun Abe, abufun ododi eyin re.
Aniki awon mejeji ru ebo.
Abe ni kon lo ru ebo na.

The stone grinds medicine as the medicine grinds the stone. That was the name of the Awo who
made divination for the shaving knife and the cloth used for covering its handle. They were both advised
to make sacrifice with a hen. It was the knife alone that made the sacrifice. After a long span of
cooperation and comradeship, the knife began to eat up the cloth.

When it appears at divination, the person will be advised to beware of a close associate who will
gradually deprive him of his belongings trickishly. If it appears for a man or woman proposing to get
married, he or she should be told to make sacrifice because the spouse would contrive devious
stratagem to consume up his or her belongings.

He Made Divination for Orisa-Nla:

Owanrin wo ile Osa, wo ile Orisa.

Ubule aba wo lololo.
Won difa fun Orisa-Nla Oshereigbo ni gba ti
ara kon kon she.

They made divination for Orisa-Nla when he was indisposed. He was told to make sacrifice with 4
snails, a hen, a cock, a pigeon and white cloth. He made the sacrifice and he became well.

When it appears at divination for an invalid, he or she will be told that he/she has one divinity or
Osanyin (Osun) at a corner in his/her shrine with white cloth on it. He should be told that its shrine is
dirty and that he has not served it for a long time. That is what is responsible for his indisposition. He
should serve it with four snails and paint the shrine with white emulsion and spread a piece of white
cloth on it.
 13 Ifism: The Complete Works of Onmmlla Volumes Eight and Nine
8

The Divination Made for Him in Heaven:

Mi gara lere, migara gara lere ni agbo ohun Ogun.

Those were the Awos who made divination for this odu when he was leaving heaven for the
world. He was told to make sacrifice for long life and prosperity on earth. He was told to serve; his
guardian angel with a ram and a crocodile, so that his enemies would give him a chance to achieve
hls'obiecttves; Ogun with dog, cock and tortoise; Sanqo with ram and cock; and Esu with 2 he-
goats. He was warned to expect problems from Ogun and Sang6.

Since he had no means of funding the elaborate sacrifices, he did as much as he could by
giving; a ram and crocodile to his guardian angel, one he-goat to Esu, a cock to Sanqo and tortoise
to Ogun. Thereafter, he left for the world.

On getting to the world, he was depressed to see that his colleagues who came before him had
not recorded any remarkable achievements. Since it was too late to retreat, he decided to weather
the storm of survival on earth. The going was not easy for him, which frustrated him to the point of
schizophrenia. That was his condition when there was an announcement by Sang6 that God was
going to address the divinities on the evil inclinations of the world.

When the meeting was convened, all the divine priest and priestesses were invited to attend.
As an lfa priest, he too had to attend. As soon as all the invitees were assembled, God sat above on
a suspended throne and began a tirade of admonitions for allowing Esu to thrive so effectively on
earth, that goodness had become a feeble and pale exception, while evil had become the general
rule. God queried that He sent the divinities to the world to test whether Esu could actually
overwhelm them as he boasted at the beginning of time. That was when God warned that since the
divinities and their human servants had become willing lackeys of Esu, the divinity of evil, He was
going to withdraw Truth to return to heaven and leave the earth to sink or swim with Falsehood and
Esu.

After God's invective diatribe, there was total silence. It was the inconsequential Owanringa-
Asa who eventually had the audacity to break the silence. He said that the Almighty Father was
apportioning blame in the wrong direction, because it was within his power to make the world the
paragon of excellence that He wanted it to be. He likened the world to a house built by its owner to
accommodate his family comfortably. If the house begins to leak, and create inconvenience for its
occupants, is it the rain and the occupants that are to blame or the owner who built a defective roof
in the first place. Owanrin-ga-Asa emphasized that God was the creator of the imperfect world. As
he was being hushed down by the elders, he began to shout at the top of his voice, that the failure
of the divinities, mankind and the earth was not only a direct reflection of the fallacy of the maxims
of God's own omniscience, omnipresence and infallibility, but an
indication that Esu had won the contest between good and evil. ·

Since no one was ever known to have spoken so intrepidly to God before that day, the poor
fellow was about to be lynched by the others when God ordered them to leave him alone. The
elders were so positive that his outburst was a confirmation that he had gone raven mad. At that
stage God told the divinities to cure the man of his lunacy if they believed he was mad and gave
them seven days to make him regain his sanity. After giving the assignment, God adjourned the
meeting
 139 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Owanrin-Osa

to be reconvened by Sang6 on the eight day.

It was Ogun that took the man home to look after him, but he was behaving so normally that the
divinities decided to find out through divination what was actually wrong with him. The divinities made
the necessary sacrifices for him but they were concerned that the man was quite sane.

On the ~ight day, Sang6 shouted to convene the meeting. As soon as all were assembled, God
asked for the man who interrupted Him atthe last meeting. Ogun brought him out to confirm that he was
quite sane. In His own judgement, God concluded that everything he said was indisputable, and that the
condition of the earth was a depressing proof of the victory of Esu. That was where God warned that He
was going to withdraw truth from earth before he was totally depraved by Esu. That is why good people
do not live long on earth. Owanrin-Osa was thus appointed to be holding meetings with all the divinities
because it was he alone that had the courage to speak his mind. God ordained that no meeting of the
divinities should hold unless Owanrin-ga-Asa was present. That incident marked the beginning of his
prosperity.

When this lfa appears at Ugbodu, the person should be told that he is very outspoken, and that he
should always stick to the truth. He is likely to have mental derangement, but it will mark the arrival of
prosperity into his life.

He Made Divination for Prince Borida:

lbi to ori baa to maasun, ki ese mejeji si mi lo.

Odifa fun Borida omo oba l'ode otun.

Wherever the head will sleep is where the two legs carry it to. That was the name of the Awo who
made divination for Borida, a prince who lived away from his home town. He was told to serve Esu with
a he-goat, 3 nails and a mini coffin. He made the sacrifice. He was subsequently taken away as a
captive at the outbreak of war and sold into slavery. He was bought as a slave to ttie court of the Alara
of llara. When Alara saw him, he found him so eloquent and endowed with such impressive physique,
that he appointed him to be serving his (Alara's ) head with two kola nuts every morning.

In carrying out the assignment, he prefaced it with his own aberration. He often used the kola nuts
to serve his own feet to carry him wherever his head was destined to go, before using them to serve
king Alara's head. After doing so for a while, a palace page who had been watching him, reported his
impious action to the king. The Alara was so annoyed that he wanted to execute him, but he was
reminded that a king is forbidden to kill anyone who serves his head. The Alara then ordered that Borida
should be resold into slavery.

He was subsequently sold to the Ajero of ljero who once more appointed him to be serving his
head every morning. At Ajero, he continued his routine of serving his own feet and head with kola nuts
before using them to serve the Ajero's head. That earned him the wrath of the Ajero who ordered him to
sold into slavery. He was eventually sold into slavery to the Orangun of Illa and finally to the Oba of
Benin.

The Oba of Benin did not sell him into slavery after discovering that he was often using kola nuts
 Ifism: The Complete Works of Orunmila Volumes Eight and Nine
14
0
to serve his own feet and head before using them to serve his (Oba's) head. The Oba gave orders
for a coffin to be prepared by the brass-smiths of lgun-eronmwon. He also asked the royal iron-
smiths to prepare three giant nails. After putting white and oiled-crushed yams into the coffin, Borida
was made to lie inside it. The coffin was covered up with its lid and the three giant nails were used
to nail down the positions of his head, chest, and waist. On account of the sacrifice he had
previously made to Esu, the latter prevented the nails from impacting on his body. Thereafter, the
Oba gave orders that the coffin should be jettisoned into the river as a sacrifice to Olokun. The
current of the
river eventually carried the coffin into the sea.
The Oba of Otun had long died and when the kingmakers made divination on the appointment
of a new king, they were told that the next king was not going to come from the town of Otun but
from the sea. They were told to be watching out for the direction of the waves of the sea every
morning.

As the current was carrying him away, he was feeding on the crushed yam inside it, until the
coffin was carried to the embarkment, of Otun. When it got there, the coffin began to turn round
in a circular vortex. Esu stopped it from going beyond that point.

When the sea-watchers saw a coffin engulfed in a whirlpool, they ran home to invite the elders,
who gave instructions for divers to retrieve it. When they opened the coffin, they found a healthy
handsome male adult inside it. He was brought out and given water to drink and food to eat. One of
the elders who came with a walking stick to see the coffin was one of the advisers of the late Oba of
Otun. When the old man looked squarely at the face of the strange man from the sea, he
recognized him as the Oba's son who was long ago taken away as a war captive and presumed
dead. The old man called him by his name Borida, and he answered. The old man then explained
that the man was the crown prince they had long been looking for. He was immediately
crowned as the Oba of Otun, in succession to his father.

Three months after his coronation, he invited all the Obas whose heads he earlier served.
After feasting them elaborately, he asked whether they recognized him, but none of them could
place him. He subsequently identified himself as Borida, the slave who was sold into slavery from
the palace of Alara through ljero and Orangun-llla to Oba Ado-Ajuwaleke, for serving his own feet
and head before serving their own. He then explained how his feet finally carried his head back to
the land of his birth to be crowned as Oba of Otun. None of the Obas knew that he was a prince.
They all rejoiced with him amidst drumming, dancing and merriment, he sang in praise
of Owanrin-ga-Asa, who made divination and sacrifice for him.

When it appears at Ugbodu, the person should be told to be serving his head from time to time
because he came from heaven with a crown, which he would surely wear later in life, after a long
suffering, provided he makes sacrifice. At divination, the person should be told to serve Esu with a
he-goat because of a position of authority which he would attain through thick and thin.

He Made Divination for The Deaf and Dumb Woman:

He made divination for a deaf and dumb woman called Akitikori, who was so helpless that she
contemplated committing suicide. She was subsequently advised to go to Orunmila for divination,
who advised her to make· sacrifice to her guardian angel with a hen and to serve Esu with a
 14 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Owanrin-Osa
1

small he-goat, which was to be slaughtered and left on the shrine. Orunmila assured her that she
would have a settled life after making the sacrifices. She subsequently made the sacrifices.

The woman, in spite of her physical handicaps, was a herbalist and physician. One day, a man
called Emi came to her for medicine to cure his sight problem. She went to the forest to pick the
appropriate leaves which she prepared for the man to be washing his eyes. The man told her he
had been moving from one house to another because his enemies wanted him to become totally
blind; He appealed to the woman to let him live with her and she readily agreed. They soon fell in
love with each other and within a short time the woman became pregnant, and gave birth
to a male child. The couple became very happy. ·

When this lfa appears at Ugbodu, the person will be asked whether he has a deaf and dumb
person in his family. If not, he should make sacrifice to prevent him from giving birth to a deaf or
dumb child, and to avoid the risk of eye trouble. He should give a small he-goat to Esu which would
be split on the shrine, adding a kola nut that has no pieces (alakriboto in Yoruba and egbian in
Bini).
At divination, the person should serve Esu with a he-goat and the small animal called emi in
Yoruba and erin in Bini, adding a red parrot's feather.

Orunmila's Special Sacrifice for Prosperity:

Orunmila ni otekeleje agbon. It is one's head that leads one to prosperity. It was a good head
that crowned the king of llara; it was his good head that led Orangun to become king of llla-
Orangun. It was a good head that led Orungun to become the king of lla-Orangun. It was a good
head that led the Oba of Otumoba to become the king of Otumoba. It was a good head that made
Ajaponda the king of Akure. It was a good head that became the Oba of Benin, Omo areyo-okun-
meji-tayo-gberegbere. The same is true of the Alaafin of Oyo and the Ooni of lfe.

When he was asked for the sacrifice to be made in order to choose a good head, he said that
whoever this odu appears for at divination must arrange without delay to have his own lfa. He
recommended sacrifice to lfa with pounded yam put inside a calabash plate (ugba) with soup, 2
kola nuts, all stacked in a basket. After having his lfa and making the sacrifice, the person will
surely attain a position of authority in life.

When it appears at divination, the person should be advised to serve his head and make
sacrifice with rabbit and snail. He should have his own lfa if the divinee is a man or ask the
husband to have lfa if she is a woman. That is the only way of achieving the prosperity that is in
store for them.
142
Ifism: The Complete Works of Orunmila Volumes Eight and Nine 'f
\
 14 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Owanrin-Etura
3

Chapter 10
OWANRIN-ETURA
OWANRIN-ELEJIGBO

I I
I
11 11
I I
I I
Made Divination for The Tortoise When He Was Having Land Dispute With The Elephant:

Ebiti kpale mole.

Odifa fun Oloba-aghun ni jo
to'nlo ba erin du ale baba re.

He made divination for the tortoise when he was contesting the ownership of his father's land
with the elephant. The elephant was the first to go for divination, but he refused to make the pre-
scribed sacrifice for him because he felt that the tortoise would have no ground to stand with him in
a contest.

On the other hand the tortoise was told to make sacrifice with a he-goat and beans. After the
sacrifice, the lfa priest gave him the beans to plant all over the land. Meanwhile the elephant went
to the land and walked all over it in a way that his footprints became clearly visible all over that
place. The Awos advised the tortoise not to bring issues to a head until the beans germinated and
spread. The tortoise therefore laid low until he was sure that the beans grew and spread throughout
the length and breadth of the land in dispute.

Thereafter, the tortoise brought the matter to the king and elders for adjudication. The tortoise
threatened to wage a war on the elephant if they did not deliberate on the matter early enough.
They advised him not to fight and to give them a chance to decide the case. Meanwhile, the
elephant and the tortoise were subpoenaed to appear before the court of the king-in-council.

When the elephant was told to assert his title to the ownership of the land, he said that his
footprints and those of his father could be seen all over the land and that he had recently weeded
the shrubby on it. When the tortoise was told to establish his claim on the land, he started by putting
a question to the court. Whether that piece of land was the only expanse of land on which the
elephant had ever treaded, and whether there were no other pieces of land not belonging to his
father on which their footprints could be seen? After apparently succeeding in casting aspersion on
the veracity of the elephant's claim, he proceeded to say that his father used to farm on the land,
and that the principal crop he planted was beans. He said that he was sure that traces of the
remnants of beans could still be found on the land at that very moment.
 14 Ifism: The Complete Works of Orunmila Volumes Eight and Nine
4

At that point, the elders sent people to go and verify the landmarks established by the contes-
tants. Before the investigators got to the land, shrubs had grown to cover the footprints of the el-
ephant. They could only see two foot marks of the elephant and there was nothing to substantiate
the point made by the elephant that he had recently brushed the shrubs.

On the other hand, they discovered that beans had grown all over the land, a clear proof that
the land had previously been used for planting beans. When the verifiers reported their findings to
the Oba-in-council, they had no hesitation in arriving at a consensus that the land belonged to the
tortoise's father. The right of ownership was thereby given to the tortoise.

When this odu appears at divination, the person should be asked whether he or she has a
pending land dispute with anyone. If he or she so confirms, then sacrifice would have to be made to
avoid losing the land to his rival, who might establish indelible landmarks on it.

He Made Divination for The Palm Tree and The Umbrella Tree:

Ibara ni ile oko. Koro yara ni ile ada. Adifa fun okpe,
abufun odan tori obinrin shango.

The overhead counter of the house is the abode of the hoe. The corner of the room is the
resting place of the cutlass. These were the names of the lfa priests who made divination for the
Palm tree and Umbrella tree (Odan in Yoruba and Obadan in Bini) when they were flirting with
Shango's wife. They were advised to make sacrifice to forestall the wrath of Shango. None of
them made the sacrifice. ·

When Shango eventually became aware of their flirtatious move towards his wife, he de-
scended to tear the two of them to death with his axe. That is why the two trees are prone to attacks
by thunder.

At divination, the person should be warned to ignore any woman who professes love to him
during that period, in order to avert the risk of sudden death or a long-lasting sickness. If he is
already having a relationship with a woman, he should make sacrifice to prevent any adverse
consequences. If it appears for a marriage proposal, the man should be told to give up the woman
because she would eventually bring about his destruction or death.

The Divination Made for Him Before Leaving Heaven:

Bebe tutu, Oni tutu bebe, made divination for this odu when he was leaving heaven. He was a
do-gooder conciliator, and peacemaker, who was determined to make the world more livable for its
inhabitants. News had been reaching heaven that Esu had instigated the ferocious divinities to heat
up the entire earth. Owanrin-Etura was determined to go and cool down the earth. At divination, he
was advised to make sacrifice to: the wind divinity with a fan made offeathers (abebe in Yoruba and
ezuzu in Bini) and two pigeons; his guardian angel with honey, salt, snails and a goat; and Esu with
a he-goat, adding all edible foodstuffs. After making the sacrifices, his guardian angel directed him
to obtain the blessing of God before leaving for earth. He went before the divine altar of God, and he
received the blessing.
 14 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Owanrin-Etura
5

On getting to the world, he became a practicing lfa priest. He did his utmost to make life easy
on earth, but the place remained hot in spite of his efforts. Seeing that his effort was an
inconsequential drop in the ocean of iniquities, he decided to return to heaven for further
investigations. He met Esu as soon as he reached heaven, who told him that the turbulence on
earth was a function of the sanguinary tendencies of the vindictive divinities created by God. Esu
however, demanded and obtained a he-goat from Owanrin-Etura.

After eating his he-goat, Esu went to the wind divinity to ask why he allowed so much heat to
overwhelm the world. He replied that it was he (Esu) who was fanning the embers of turmoil on
earth. Esu retorted that he had forgotten Owanrin-Etura who made sacrifice to him before leaving
heaven to be able to cool the earth. While Esu was challenging the wind divinity, OwanrinEtura
went to God to tell the Almighty Father about his failure to cool down the earth. That was when God
invited the wind divinity to proceed without delay to cool down the earth. The wind divinity is one of
the closest servants of God who He uses for special errands. The wind divinity reminded God that
his place was by His side and in heaven. God however told him to be paying occasional visits to the
earth to be cooling it down whenever it has overreached itself with heat. The wind divinity travelled
to earth with the fan, his son, who he left on earth to operate when he is in heaven. Meanwhile, God
cleared Owanrin-Etura to return to earth to await the arrival of the wind divinity.

When the wind finally reached the earth, he used the fan to blow away all the agents of iniquity
and mischief, forcing most of them to return to heaven. Thereafter cool air gradually returned to
earth. When the wind got to Orunmila's house, he told him that he had blown away all those
responsible for heating up the earth and that thenceforth, he was going to have a better atmosphere
in which to carry out his benevolent work. Before returning to heaven, he advised Orunmila that if
anyone tried to heat up the world in his absence, he should use the fan, by using kola nuts to
sprinkle water on them by saying;

OYI-RE, OYIRE, OYIRE, Oyi afe rio Iara, Oyi afe mi Iara.

That is the ritual that lfa priests do to this day when they are serving Orunmila. The wind then
gave the fan to Orunmila and returned to heaven. That is why no lfa shrine can be complete without
a fan. Thereafter Orunmila became very effective in the performance of his work.

When this lfa appears at Ugbodu, the person will be told that his prosperity will come from
virtuousness and uprightness. He should immediately provide a fan for his new lfa, and serve it with
16 snails, honey and salt.

When it appears at divination, the person will be advised to have his own lfa in order to make
progress in his work. He has many detractors who are making life difficult for him. Orunmila will help
him to scale all the hurdles on his path.

The Sacrifice He Made for Prosperity on Earth:

Orunmila pronounced deprivation, and his children confirmed that there was deprivation all
over the earth. Orunmila observed that lack of children, money and the good things of life summed
up
• I •- ._ • O'I I I I I" •I ...• r - _J.. - I_ _ --- - _,I - hJ""ll
 Ifism: The Complete Works of Orumnlla Volumes Eight and Nine
146

enumerated the following; pigeons for riches, cock for marriage, a rabbit and a bat for having children,
16 snails to have peace of mind, a ram for elevation, he-goat to E.su to coordinate all desires and a
sheep for living to a ripe old age. When the sacrifice was being made, Orunmila sang the
following song:

Ogbo eyele lu o re ode.

Temi taya ni yio ma sun.
Temi taya hi yio maji.
Eyele lo o re ode.
Temi tomo yio ma sun.
Temi tomo yio maji.
Eyele ni lu ore okun,
Temi tire ni yio ma sun.
T emi tire. ni yio ma ji.
lie kun ke-ke-ke ni ewure ma nke.
lgbin de omo alakoro pero simi ni'le.
Pero simi ni ona.
Temi tire ni yio ma sun.
T emi tire ni yio ma ji.
lie kun ke-ke-ke ni ewure ma nke.
lgbin de omo alakoro pero simi ni'le.
Pero simi ni ona.
Temi tire ni yio ma sun.
Temi tire ni yio maji.
lie kun ke-ke-ke ni ewure ma nke.
lgbin de omo alakoro pero simi ni'le
Pero simi ni ona.
Kini a fi eni se?
Ero gbodo, gbodo, .gbodo, ero.
Ao dagba, a o ni tete ku, a la loro aguntan.
Seni ori a ma fun g
Temi pe, temi pe ni ese aguntan ma ndun ni ori apata.
Agunde, a bori borogi.
Kaka ki'mi ku, ma fi ori e di'le
Ewe di'le di'le temi, di ona iku fun mi,
Ma di ona ere.

Meaning:

The aged pigeon flapped its wings and flew into

the distance.
My wife and I will always sleep and wake together.
The pigeon flapped its wings and flew away.
My children and I will always sleep and wake together.
The pigeon flew to the beach.
I shall always sleep and wake with good fortune.
The house is full, is the traditional cry of the goat.
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14 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Owanrin-Etura

7

The snail will bring its coolness to my house and my life.

What do we ask lfa to do for us?
To bring us peace and prosperity and to help us to live,
To a ripe old age, and not to die prematurely.
Long life, is the sound made by the sheep's footsteps.
lfa will prepare leaves to bury death for me, and
Open for me the path of eternal prosperity.

When this odu appears at divination, the person will be told that he is unduly worried about the
future, because his life is not stable. He should make sacrifice in order to have a settled life of
peace, rest of mind, and prosperity.

He Made Divination for Eighty-Four Birds:

Owanrin be yege yege yege, made divination for 84 birds to avert the problem of sleepless-
ness and strife. They were told to make sacrifice with fried corn and fried beans. All of them made
the sacrifice with the exception of the duck.

When the birds got to the world, the duck developed trouble with the legs and was no longer
able to work like other birds. When Esu was told that the duck failed to make sacrifice, he decided
to be tickling her from falling asleep. Any time she wanted to fall asleep, Esu would blink his eyes
to her. That is why ducks and drakes suffer from malignantinsomnia.

When this odu appears at divination, the person should be advised to make sacrifice without
delay to avert the risk of illness that could affect his legs and give rise to insomnia.

He Made Divination for The Akara Seller:

He made divination for an akara seller called Aje mgbele. Sankpana was the agent selling the
akara for her, but the divinity of epidemic was in the habit of distributing the akara freely to people
without collecting money for them. The woman was too scared to demand money from Sankpana
or to stop making the akara. That was when she decided to go to Orunmila for divination at which
she was told to serve Esu with he-goat, 21 cowries, and akara. She made the sacrifice.

The next time she prepared akara, Sankpana collected the entire production and distributed
them to divine priests, after which he asked each of them to pay. After collecting the money from
them, he handed them over to the woman. The amount was more than all her previous losses.

When it appears at Ugbodu, the person should serve Esu with he-goat, 21 cowries and akara.
At divination, the person should serve ogun with a tortoise and Esu with pigeon.
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 149 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Owanrin-Irete

Chapter 11
OWANRIN-IRETE
OWANRIN-AKIKO
OWANRIN-AREEGE

I II
I II
II I
I I

He Made Divination for The Cock Before Marrying The Hen:

lgi gagara, okute gagara, adifa fun akiko magalaja ti'nshe

okoareege.

That was the Awa who made divination for the cock when he was going to take the hen for a wife.
The cock was told to make sacrifice because he was going to compete with other suitors. He made the
sacrifice with rat, fish, eko, akara, and a duck. Thereafter, he approached the hen with a proposal for
marriage. The hen's parents however stipulated a condition for giving her away in marriage. The
condition was for the prospective spouse to dig ridges in their farm. The first suitor to complete his
ridging was to be the hen's husband.

Incidentally, the hen had already fallen in love with the cock. On the day appointed for the contest,
the cock.qot to the farm to discover that the other contestants had already started digging. After waiting
for the cock to show up, the hen began to cry:-

Areege oko mi si ko - Areege,

Erin oma mi a make
Efon oma mi moke - Areege.
Areege oko mi si ko-o-Areege.

She was hailing on the cock as the spouse she preferred to show up before the elephant and the
buffalo beat him in the ridging contest. When the cock heard the voice of the hen, he quickly left for the
farm and commenced his own ridging. In no time, the cock had met and surpassed the other
contestants. When the buffalo saw that the cock was beating everybody, he repeated an incantation
which made the hoe being used by the cock to break up. Nonetheless, the cock raced home for another
hoe. Once again he was ahead of everybody. When the elephant discovered that the cock was
becoming unbeatable, he conjured the blade of the cock's hoe to split up. Once again, the cock hurried
home to fetch a third hoe. As he was running back to the farm, the cock met Esu, in the guise of an old
woman, who advised him that if anyone disrupted him with any incantation, he should respond by saying
:
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150

"Tike Tike ni ikun mu

arugboonro".
and that with those words, nothing would happen to his hoe. Thereafter, the cock reached the
farm and continued his ridging. In no time, he had once more beaten the elephant. As he was
passing the elephant, the latter began another incantation and the cock repeated his own anti-dotal
incantation; and his hoe did not break anymore.
He was the firstto finish digging his ridge and he hung his hoe on a stump to indicate that he
had finished. As soon as the cock won the race, the hen went to embrace him, and the other
contestants began to pursue them with sticks and cudgels. He however won the hands of the hen in
marriage
forever.
When it appears at divination, the person should be told to make sacrifice if he or she is
proposing to marry someone, because other rivals would fight him or her to the finish.

He Made Another Divination for The Cock:

After he was finally married to the hen, the cock's enemies did not leave him alone. His
handsomeness and melodious voice created lots of envy for him. His enemies eventually prepared
medicine to make him develop leprosy. When they eventually touched him with the medicine,
instead of developing into leprosy, it gave him the red crown on his head. When he came out the
following morning, people began to wonder where and how he came by the beautiful
crown on his head.
Since the enemies were not prepared to give up on him, they prepared another medicine for him
to be sleepwalking. When he woke up the following morning, the medicine turned into shoes on his
feet. Once again, his enemies began to wonder how he got the lovely sandals that were making him
to be swaggering. Far from sleepwalking, he began to look more dignified and re-
spectable.
Meanwhile, the enemies prepared medicine to cause elephantiasis for him. When he woke up
the following morning, two beautiful feathers on his anus emerged. It is called irere in Yoruba and
ariokpa in Bini. That made him to become the cynosure of all eyes and the centre of attrac-
tion.
When God saw how the cock was being badgered by his enemies, the Almighty Father sent for
him. When he appeared before God, He gave him the ASE to be announcing the dawn of the day to
mark the beginning of His morning bath. With the ASE, God bestowed on the cock the authority to
declare the day open, which made him to become even more famous, and he came
to have many wives.

After receiving the ASE from God, he went to thank Orunmila who made divination and sacrifice
for him. At that point, Orunmila advised him to make another sacrifice by serving his. head with
coconut and white kola nuts. He told him to serve his head privately without anyone being present.
When he got home, instead of serving his head in secret as he was told to do, he invited a crowd to
the ceremony. As the feasting was going on, the cock became drunk, and began to pass out excreta
from his anus in the presence of his invites. That made the invites to
 15 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Owanrin-Irete
1
abandon the ceremony. All his wives left him, with the exception of the hen, who stayed by him.

When his enemies saw that the hen stayed with him, they contrived another calamity for him. In the
small hours of the morning, the enemies set fire to his house. The wife alerted him to the advent of war
on their doorsteps. He was however able to fetch water to put out the fire. When the enemies saw that
the fire was being extinguished, they launched an attack with cudgels and cutlasses, but he fought back
by plucking out the eyes of each of his attackers. After they saw that he was fighting back fiercely, they
r~n away, only to recharge for another attack.
I

The last attack on him was to flood his house with water. This time, he lamented that this last battle
was a more difficult one to combat. He decided to take refuge by flying to the roof of his house from
where he saw that God was about to have his bath. He eventually crowed out the words:

Oja kekere hon-oo-ho

Meaning:

· It is difficult to live in a place where people do not love themselves.

That has remained the call sign of the cock for signifying the dawn of a new day, ever since. With
that he escaped from heaven to take refuge in the world.

When this lfa appears at Ugbodu, the person will be told that he is surrounded by enemies, and
that people are doing diabolical charms to create problems for him. He will have three difficult tests, but
should serve his head with coconut and white kola nuts while backing his lfa shrine, but alone and
strictly privately, after everybody have slept. He should also serve Ogun with cock and tortoise.

When it appears at divination, the person should serve; his head with a cock, Ogun with tortoise,
and Esu with he-goat after bathing on Esu shrine with discardable dresses, shoes and cap, which would
be removed and deposited on the shrine. Three days later, the clothes, shoes and cap should be burnt
on the shrine of Esu.

With sacrifice, he will survive all the machinations of his enemies, and all the wickedness done to
him, will become blessings in disguise. That was how the saying began:

lka tiwon fi she akuko adiye,

Oda bi ewa la rare

Meaning:

All the wickedness contrived to undo the cock, turned to instruments of

elegance for him.

He Made Divination for Cockroach, Earthworm and The Hen:

Owanrin rere, lrete rere, made divination for the cockroach, the earthworm, and the hen,
 15 Ifism: The Complete Works of Orunmila Volumes Eight and Nine
2

when they were all friends. Incidentally, the cockroach and the earthworm later teamed up against
the hen. The two of them planned to be disturbing the hen from sleeping in the night. They began to
tickle the body of the hen whenever she was asleep, thus preventing her from sleeping. The hen
began to cry in the night whenever she was being disturbed. In the morning, the hen would
complain about her experience to her two friends, the cockroach and the earthworm, who would
instantly pretend to
sympathize with her.
When the disturbance was becoming unbearable, the hen went to Orunmila for divination, at
I
which she was advised not to reveal her experience to friends and not to trust any friends. She
was told however to make sacrifice with ground pepper, sasswood (obo in Yoruba and iyin in Bini)
potassium permanganate (kaun) and dust. She produced the materials and the sacrifice was
prepared for her to sprinkle round her house in the quiet hours of the night before going to
bed.

The hen performed the operation after biding good night to her friends, who for once she did
not take into confidence on the matter. When the cockroach and the earthworm later moved to
enter the hen's house, they were caught up by the toxic effect of the preparation she sprinkled
round her house and the two assailants died instantly. ·

The hen woke up in the morning to find the corpses of her two friends, after having been killed
by the effect of the sacrifice she made. She then shouted. "Ewa woo o Ala bu reke reke." From then
on the hen vowed that the offspring of her iniquitous friends, would become food for herself and her
children. That is why fowls feed on the cockroach and the earthworm whenever they come across
them.

When this lfa appears at divination, the person will be told that his/her problems are being
caused by two very close friends who belong to the club of witchcraft. He or she should neither trust
nor confide in friends. He or she should in any event proceed to make sacrifice quietly.

He Also Made Divination for The Cock When Befriending Esu:

The cock had been advised at divination to desist from friendship with Esu because he was
going to be the loser in the end. He was also advised to make sacrifice with all edible foodstuffs, but
he considered it unnecessary, since he could not imagine how Esu, his bosom friend, could do
anything against him. He was too naive to appreciate that Esu has an unlimited capacity for
mischief.

Meanwhile, the cock was invited by Esu to accompany him to Orunmila's place for divination.
When Orunmila sounded lfa for the cock, Owanrin-lrete came out. The cock was advised that a
close friend was about to get him into trouble for failing to make sacrifice. Once again, the cock was
too simplistic to believe that Esu was capable of harming him.

No sooner did they leave Orunmila's place than Es'u began to ask him the name of the lfa that
appeared for him at divination. The cock replied that it was Owanrin-lrete.

Thereafter, Esu put the question repeatedly to the cock until the cock became thoroughly
disgusted with his friends's behavior. When they got to the market, Esu once again put the
 15 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Owanrin-lrete
3

question to the cock, which made the latter to be so paranoid that he shouted the reply at the top of
his voice; Owanrin-rete rete o ah! three times.

Since it is traditionally forbidden for the cock to crow in the market, the three occasions in which
he repeated Owanrin-rete rete amounted to a crow. The people of the market in consonance with
tradition, immediately apprehended the cock and beheaded him.

When this1 lfa appears at divination, the person will be advised to serve Esu with a big hegoat
without any delay, to avoid the risk of sudden death which will be caused by a very close friend. If
the lfa appears at Ugbodu, the person should be advised to refrain forever from eating cock, and
should under no circumstances serve his lfa with a cock.

The Divination Made for Him When Leaving Heaven:

Owanrin re re re, lrete re re re, were the two Awos who made divination for Orunmila when he
was coming from heaven. He was told that he was going to play a remarkable role in the world and
as such should make sacrifice with:- a ram, a hen, snails, rat, fish, and pigeon to his guardian angel,
while inviting all available lfa priests; a he-goat to Esu, adding rat and fish; and a white cock, a piece
of white cloth, white chalk and white kola nuts to Olokun. He made all the sacrifices before leaving
for the world. The sacrifice to his guardian angel lasted for seven days. Olokun promised to link up
with him at a point in his life when he would become hopelessly despondent.

On getting to earth, he was thoroughly disappointed to see that life on earth was devoid of
purpose and direction. He tried his utmost to make life a little more meaningful, but the more he
tried, the greater the frustration he suffered. When he saw that he was making no headway, he
decided to return to heaven to make more adequate preparations. Meanwhile, Esu went to remind
his guardian angel and Olokun of the elaborate sacrifices made to them by Owanrin-lrete before
leaving for earth, and reported that the man had become so disillusioned that he was at the point of
returning to heaven.

Olokun reacted by sending one of his daughters to rendezvous with him in the market. Back on
earth, he had finalized arrangements for his return trip to heaven on the market day. As he was
about to leave for heaven from the market, he met a woman dressed in immaculate white outfit. The
woman greeted him and he responded. He was dressed in the full regalia of an lfa priest. When the
woman asked him where he was going, he replied that he had become so disappointed about the
emptiness of life on earth that he had decided to return to heaven. The woman shocked him by
telling him that she came from heaven to meet him, and that she was going to wait for him until he
returned from heaven. He was so taken aback by the overtures of the woman that he decided to
delay his departure to heaven.

At the same time, Esu transfigured into an elderly lfa priest to advise him to proceed with his
plans to return to heaven and not be disturbed by the transitory attractions of a woman. With that,
he bade adieu to the woman and left for heaven. On his arrival in heaven, he went to see the two
Awos who had previously made divination for him. After divination, he was told to approach his
guardian angel and Olokun, to ask them why they had forsaken him so helplessly on earth. The
Awos however told him that Olokun's daughter had already met him on earth without recognizing
her, which made him to surmise that she was probably the woman he met on his way to heaven.
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4
The Awos told him to serve his lfa, Olokun and Esu as soon as he returned to earth.

While he was away several men made amorous overtures to Olokun's daughter, but she rebuffed
them by saying that she was expecting her husband. On his return journey from heaven, he again met
the woman in the market. After welcoming him, she offered to follow him home. As soon
as he got to his house, she complained that the place required a facelift.

Unknown to him, the woman had a large retinue that accompanied her from heaven. The following
morning her followers arrived to give the house a white renovation. He was now certain that Olokun had
finally come into his life. From then on, her followers were bringing wares from
heaven for sale on every market day and the family soon became affluent.

On one market, she proposed that the two of them should go to the market together. People were
surprised to know that the paragon of Venusian elegance and excellence had opted to marry Orunmila.
They were hailed all the way to, in and from, the market. Not long afterwards, she became pregnant, but
he had forgotten about the three sacrifices he was advised in heaven to make as soon as he returned to
the world. His memory had completely been obfuscated by the unparalleled demonstration of genuine
love from his wife. It was when he made divination for the incoming child that he was eventually
reminded of the debt of sacrifices that he owed. He was
told that the incoming child was going to be greater than his parents.

He was advised to give white cock, white cloth, white chalk, white kola nuts and parrot's feather to
Olokun. As soon as he collected these materials, his wife told him that they belonged to her and he
surrendered them to her. Thereafter, he gave a ram to his lfa in the presence of several lfa priests. At the
same time, he gave a he-goat to Esu. All the sacrifices lasted for seven days. In the fullness of time, the
woman gave birth to a child who turned out to be money. The child became so popular that nobody paid
attention to his parents anymore. Everybody took to the child and cherished him. Orunmila was
eventually invited by the king to be his second-in-
command. He lived to a ripe old age in peace and prosperity.

When this lfa appears at Ugbodu, the person will be assured that a woman will come to transform
his life and that the woman will give birth to a child, who will be more famous than his
parents.

He Made Divination for The River and The Sea:

He advised the Sea to serve his head with a white goat, 2 pieces of coconuts and white kola nuts
and to invite people when making the sacrifice and also to give a he-goat to Esu. He was advised to
provide plenty of drinks to entertain his invites. He was however told that after serving his head, he
should no longer participate in anybody else's head-serving ceremony. He quickly made the sacrifices,
to which he invited all divine priests, and they all responded positively. He
was however advised not to drink on the day he served his head.

All the rivers were also advised by Orunmila to serve their heads. They did not serve their heads
before going to assist the sea in serving his own head. It was only the lake who served his head after
which he did not honor the sea's invitation. That is why the lake is independent of the
sea and the rivers to this day.
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THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Owanrin-lrete

155

After the ceremony al the Sea's (Olokun's) house, all the rivers became drunk, and unwittingly,
they all moved towards the direction of the Sea. Thal is why all rivers owe allegiance to Olokun and
flow in towards the sea.
When this \fa appears al Ugbodu and the special sacrifice (ono-lfa of odiha) is being performed,
the sand is collected from the source of the river and dried to be used as the \yerosun for · marking
the odu. Cowries are also ground lo be added lo the sand. The tradttional \yerosun is not

used.
He Made Divination for The Magician Called Agamurere:

lgi gagara, okute gagara. Adifa fun Agamurere, onlo she

Awa fun Ologunmare.
He made divination for Agamurere, the magician, when he was going to challenge a more
experienced mystic called O\ogungunmare. He was advised lo give a cock and a tortoise to Estl
before going because the man he was going to challenge, was much stronger than himself. He
did not see any need to make sacrifice because he relied heavily on his magical powers.

When he got to O\ogungunmare's house, he demonstrated several magical feats, but his
performances were effectively checkmated by his host When he transfigured into a rat, Oloqun-
gunmare turned into a cal, ready to swallow the rat When he turned into a ram, Ologungunmare
turned into a tiger. After the contest O\ogungunmare told him that he had to return home to
acquire more esoteric skills before coming back to challenge him.
When he returned home, he went lo Orunmila forfresh divination.<Orunmila reminded him of
the sacrifice he failed lo make. Orunmila advised him to make the sacrifice before returning to
challenge O\ogungunmare, but this lime he had to make the sacrifice with a he-goat He warned that
the consequences could be fatal if he did not make the sacrifice. In spite oflhe premonttion,
he returned to challenge Ologungunmare once more, without making the sacrifice.

On getting there, he demonstrated new feats and the man he challenged stood to watch him. He
brought his performances to crescendo when he suspended himself in the air and began to dance in
the air without his feet touching the ground. He climaxed his performances by severing his head
from his body while both parts continued to dance in the air. Thal was the point al which
O\ogungunmare turned into a giant eagle, flew up high into the air and captured the severed head
of Agamurere, and flew into the air with it When Agamurere later sought to join his head lo his body,
his head was no where to be found .. His body eventually fell to the ground,
strayed headlessly into the forest to become an anthill.
When this odu appears at divination, the person should be advised not lo rely too heavily on
diabolical charms. He should arrange to have his own \fa, because only Orunmila would help him
to live long on earth, otherwise he is likely to die young.
 Ifism: The Complete Works of Orunmiia Volumes Eight and Nine
15
6
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15
7 THE ODDS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Owanrin-Eka

Chapter 12
OWANRIN-EKA
OWANRIN-WO-OKA
OWANRIN-ALA-A YOKA
II 11
I II
II I
II I

He Made Divination for The Calabash Before Going To The Farm:

0 wanrin woka woka, was the lfa priest who made divination for the calabash, when she
was going to the farm at the beginning of the farming year. She was advised to
make sacrifice to forestall hostility from mankind and animals against herself and
a
her children. She was advised to make sacrifice with knife, he-goat, shea-butter ( ori-oyo) cotton
wool and bitter leaves. She made the sacrifice and subsequently went to the farm.

When she germinated, Esu brought out the cotton wool with which she made sacrifice to conceal
her identity and to prevent people and animals from feeding on her foliage. The lfa priest had
prepared a noxious serum for her to use in rubbing the bodies of her children before exposing them
to the world. When men and animals sampled the fruits of the calabash, unlike those of her sister,
the melon, they were very toxic and bitter. People then left her children alone to mature. When the
children were matured enough for harvesting, the knife with which she made sacrifice was used to
cut them up nicely for use in fetching and storing water, palm oil and palm wine. Her smaller children
were cut for use either as ornamental instruments or as plates for eating food. Upon realizing that
sacrifice had brought her salvation, she sang in praise of the Awo, Owanrin-woka-woka, who made
divination and sacrifice for her.

At divination, the lfa priest can say that the divinee or someone close to him or her is making
marriage proposals. Whoever is in that position should make sacrifice for the success of the
marriage and for the survival of his or her children.

The Divination Made for Him Before Leaving Heaven:

Oloyo yo yo Lere, Oloyo yo yo (Happiness begets prosperity) was the Awo who made divi-
nation for this odu before coming to the world. He was advised to refrain from; being aggressive and
temperamental and from drinking alcohol. He was told to make sacrifice with; the meat of cow, a
goat, a hen, snail, rat and fish to his guardian angel; all the materials for serving Olokun including,
white cock, white pigeon, white eagle's feather, red parrot's feather and maracas (sekere or ukuse),
and a he-goat to Esu. He left for the world after making the sacrifices.
 IB.sm: The Complete Works of Orunmila Volumes Eight and Nine
15
8
In consonance with his destiny, he became a trader on getting to the world, but he did not
serve Olokun on earth as he did in heaven. When his trading business was not yielding impressive
profits, he went for divination during which he was told to have his Olokun fully prepared in addition
to his lfa. He made the sacrifice with white cock and white pigeon and prepared the Olokun shrine
close to his lfa shrine. Before the following morning, he found a divination instrument on his Olokun
shrine, which he began to use for divination. While continuing with histrading business, it was
divining that incipiently launched him into success which enabled him to marry many wives and to
have many children. Subsequently, his wives took over the trading business while he devoted all
his time to the worship of Orunmila and Olokun. The family eventually became very wealthy and he
was given a chieftaincy
title.
When this lfa appears at Ugbodu, the person will be told to serve his lfa with the meat of cow,
hen, snail, rat and fish and to have his own Olokun, by asking Olokun priests to prepare a moulded
Olokun image for his lfa. He should prepare his Esu with a he-goat without any delay. If the special
sacrifice is not prepared quickly, the person can easily become an idiot or a para-
noiac.

He Made Divination for the Squirrel and the Boa:

The squirrel was so poor that he was having problems in feeding himself. He then went to
Orunmila for divination and he was told to serve his head with kola nuts and to serve Esu with palm
fruits. It was Esu that subsequently introduced the palm fruits and other fruits to the squirrel
as nutritious food for him to be eating.

At the same time, the boa (oka in Yoruba and arumwoto in Bini) also went for divination, and
Orunmila told him to make sacrifice very quickly because, enemies were searching for him to kill.
He was told to serve his head quietly and secretly, under a thicket without the knowledge of anyone
and not to allow anyone to punctuate his prayers with "Amen."

Meanwhile, the Oba of the town had been told to serve his lfa with a boa and he had issued
orders for one to be procured for him by all means. That coincided with the time when the boa was
going to serve his head to avoid sudden death. Instead of serving his head at night in accordance
with tradition, he preferred to do it in broad day light. Unknown to him, the harbinger appointed by
God to herald the presence of the boa (the squirrel) was around when he went under the thicket to
serve his head. As soon as the boa started serving his head, the squirrel began to interrupt his
prayers with ASE, ASE, ASE, 0, Oka-elewu-obobo (that is, Amen to the prayers of the velvet skinned
boa). The words of the squirrel alerted passersby who were already combing the forest for the boa.
They immediately cleared the thicket, found the boa and tied him up to be taken to the palace,
where the Oba used him to serve his lfa, after which peace
returned to his kingdom.

When this lfa appears at Ugbodu, the person should be advised to beware of a talkative friend.
Before the completion of the lfa ceremony, a pregnant woman will come in. She should be told to
serve lfa with a boa because Orunmila is going to do her a favor.

The owner of the lfa will serve Esu with a squirrel, akara and Eko. At ordinary divination, the
person should be advised to serve Esu with a he-goat, and to serve his head with a pigeon to avert
 287.

15
THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Owanrin-Eka
9

the trouble that a friend will create for him.

He Made Divination for Oro When He Was Travelling:

Owanrin woka woka, Awo oro, odifa fun Oro nijo t'onsha'wo lo
so'de Egt,,a. Ani ki Oro ru ebo, Agutan l'onfi she'bo.
j

He made divination for Oro when he was g_oing to practice Awo in Egba land. He was told to
make sacrifice with a female sheep. He made the sacrifice and went to the place. On getting there
he won the admiration and confidence of his clients and returned home with lots of gifts and plenty
of money.

When it appears at divination for someone preparing for a business tour, he should be advised
to make sacrifice in order to gain benefits, honor and respect in the place.

The Divination He Made To Save His Son From Death:

Emo lo lo ro oju okpo. Efi lawo ilogi jan, ebe lambe

Orunmila ko to ja ewe alariku han eni. Adafa fun Ayeghe
igbo t'inshe omo bibi agboniregun. Ebo ariku lo ma ru-o.

The rats are the eyes of the roof of a house. One has to beg Orunmila to show one the life-
saving leaves in the bush, were the Awos who made divination for the son of Orunmila when death
was threatening him. He was told to make sacrifice with a he-goat, rat, fish and snail.

He made the sacrifice, and the son was rescued from the hands of death.

When this lfa appears as Ayeo at divination and death is portended, the above sacrifice should
be recommended.

A Second Sacrifice To Save His Son From Death:

Elete lete nye. Omoran la mu oro'lo .Okete to

ja ole eyin lo fi ile ara re han iku. Adafa fun Orunmila
t'onlo gba omo re si le lowo uku.

Only the thinker knows what he is thinking. It is the expert who is asked how to do what he
knows. The rabbit who stole palm fruits and left them at the entrance to his hole, shows the
entrance to his house to death. These were the Awos who made divination for Orunmila when he
was going to rescue his son from the cold hands of death. He made sacrifice with a he-goat, cock,
fish and rat. After the sacrifice, his son survived the wrath of death.

When it appears at divination, the person will be advised not to accommodate any lodging
visitor for the time being, in order to avert the risk of being harmed by his enemies through the
visitor. He should however make sacrifice to forestall such an eventuality.
160 Ifism: The Complete Works of Onmmlla Volumes Eight and Nine
 16 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Owanrin-Eturukpon
1

Chapter 13
OWANRIN-ETURUKPON
OWANRIN-OJUKOTO
11 11
I I I
I I
I II
I
He Made Divination for Four Children of The Same Father:

The tortoise, the snail, the squirrel and the boa were born of the same father by different mothers.
Their father lived to a ripe old age before he died. The snail was a farmer, the boa was a hunter, the
tortoise was a confidence trickster, and the squirrel was an itinerant traditional doctor who was always
travelling away from home. The squirrel was therefore away on a business trip when his father died. On
the demise of their father, the three home-based brothers went to Orunmila for divination and they were
told to make sacrifice to ward off the wrath of their junior brother who was away from home. They were
told to serve Esu with a he-goat. Since they could not envisage any danger from the innocuous squirrel,
they did not consider it necessary to make the sacrifice.

Their father had three garments which were shared among the three home-based brothers after
the burial. The snail got the iron dress ( alitikaka) the tortoise got the stone dress ( alatikoko) while the
boa got the velvet garment (ewu obobo guenren). There was no dress left for the squirrel who was not
at home.

Three years after the death of their father, the squirrel returned home from his tour. After
performing his funeral rights, he asked for his share of his father's legacy and he was told to get lost.
When he got to his father's grave, he found a fly whisk on top of it and took it, which is what he uses to
cover his tail, to this day.

When he got to the forest the following day, God called him and appointed him as the crier to be
heralding the presence of the boa for killing the rabbit, who was God's own servant. With his newly
acquired instrument of authority, the squirrel vowed to be chanting the death knell against his three
brothers wherever he found them.

He began by looking for the boa whose presence, he was specifically appointed by God to herald.
As soon as he sighted the boa in his traditional habitat of the thicket, the squirrel began his battle cry:

Oka gbe ewu obobo geunren,

Aghun gbe ewu alatikoko,
Aghun gbe ewu alatikaka,
 Ifism: The Complete Works of Orunmila Volumes Eight and Nine
162

Ode wa wo o oka o, elewu obobo,

kia kia kia kia.
He was drawing the hunter's attention to the presence of the boa in the vicinity. The hunter
immediately cut a pointed stick with which he pierced the head of the boa to the ground before
beheading him. The squirrel meted out similar punishments to the snail and the tortoise.

That is why anytime the squirrel is chanting his battle-cry, it is an indication the boa, or the
tortoise or the snail is around.

When this lfa appears at Ugbodu, the person will be advised to make sacrifice in his home
base (idile in Yoruba and lgiogbe in Bini) at the shrine of their ancestors with a goat, because of
some wrong he did there in his present life or at a previous incarnation. He should forbid sharing
from any legacy, but if he cannot avoid it, he should first serve Esu with a he-goat before partici-
pating in it. At divination, the person should serve Esu with a he-goat and lfa with a hen, fly-whisk
(oroke) or horse tail, and maracas (sekere or ukuse).

Divination for Three Brothers:

Eni ti ebi n kpa oun loto oju ule olo jule kiri.
Bi ko ba she dana dana a'nshe doni doni.
Eni ti oba shoro oun lo kan eyin ilekun.
Adafa fun Onikporo, abufun Onitaji, atunda fun
Obokun t'inshe omo ikeyin won lenje lenje. Awon
meteta lo'de okun eye.

It is the hungry loafer who strays from house to house. If

he is not a robber, he is a flirt in search of sensual
satisfaction.
It is the guilty-conscious person that hides behind the door.

These were the Awos who made divination for Onikporo, Onitaji and Obokun, the youngest of
the three brothers. The three of them went to the bush to set traps for catching birds. They returned
home after setting the traps.

The following morning, the two most senior brothers went to check the traps. Obokun could not
go with them. Incidentally, it was only Obokun's traps that caught birds. They removed the birds
from the traps, but on getting home they lied that it was their own traps that caught the birds. When
Obokun subsequently went to the bush, he saw all the indications that it was his traps that caught
the birds brought home by his elder brothers. On getting home, he accused his brothers of cheating
because he saw no sign to confirm that it was their traps that caught the birds they brought home. A
quarrel ensued between the three brothers, which was remitted to the elders for settlement. The
elders sent two verifiers to the bush to see whose traps caught which birds.

After inspecting all the traps, the verifiers were satisfied that it was Obokun's traps that caught
the birds. When they reported their findings to the elders, the two brothers were accused of
stealing and ordered to surrender the birds to Obokun.
 16 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Owanrin-Eturukpon
3

When it appears at divination, the person should be advised to take proper care of his property
and should not leave his valuable belongings under the care of other people, to obviate the risk of
being deprived of them.

He Made Divination for The Divine Priest:

lyan o da tun ngun. Obe o da tun she,

Ogun lo ba oda tun ro. Adafa fun ~laworo ti oun ti eko lori.
The pounded yam did not pound properly and had to be re-pounded.
The soup was also not properly cooked and required further cooking.
The battle fought for Oba had to be fought again.

These were the Awos who made divination for the divine priest, who was told that the sacrifice
he made previously did not manifest because it was not done with the appropriate materials. He
was required to repeat the sacrifice with a sheep to the divinity he was serving. He was advised to
do it in order to live to a ripe old age in good health. and prosperity.

When it appears at divination, the person will be told that the sacrifice he made was not
accepted and will be told to repeat it. He or she should be asked what divinity he or she is serving.
That divinity should be served with the appropriate animal or bird - details to be probed by the
diviner.

Divined for Ogun and Other Divinities:

Ogun ni ikin Owanrin. Eta-dogbon ni ikin Eturukpon. Adifa

fun Ogun, abufun omo erumole gbogbo nijo ti won ti lo ke
orun bo wa si kole aye. Gbogbo won taro oju omo Orisa.
Ani ki won ru ebo.

The lfa seeds of Owanrin (that is, the number of lkin on the right side) numbered twenty, and
those of Eturukpon (the number of lkin on the left) numbered twenty-seven. Those were the names
of the Awos who made divination for Ogun and all the other divinities when they were coming to the
world. They all went to request for esoteric vision from God. They were told to make sacrifice with a
hen and a pigeon. Ogun, Olokun, Sang6 and Osanyin were the only ones who made the sacrifice.
That is why they are the only divinities endowed with extra-perceptual vision, and why their priests
divine by possession, which makes it impossible for them to see what is simultaneously happening
in heaven and on earth.

When it appears at divination, the person will be advised to make sacrifice on account of a
contest he is scheduled to have with other people, most probably in his place of work. He will win it
if he makes sacrifice.

The Divination He Made Before Leaving Heaven:

Owanrin le gon gon gon. Eturukpon titu kpese, were the two Awos who made divination for this
odu when he was coming to the world. He was advised to make sacrifice to; his guardian angel with
goat, hen, rat and fish; Esu with he-goat, corn yam, plantain, garden eggs and pepper; and his head
 16 Ifism: The Complete Works of Orunmila Volumes Eight and Nine
4

with a cock on the eve of his departure, while sitting on an elevated seat or throne. He did all the
sacrifices after which he obtained God's blessing before leaving for the world. He was advised to
take to farming when he got to the world.

Contrary to the advice at divination, he took to lfa practice and completely neglected farming.
He however made no headway as an lfa priest, because he could neither afford to marry and have
children; nor to build a house of his own. When he finally went to other lfa priests for divination, his
own odu appeared, and he was told that he was getting no where in his life because he had strayed
away from the path of his destiny. He was told to serve his head on top of a hill in the forest after
giving a he-he-goat to Esu, adding yams, corn, plantain, pepper and garden eggs.

After eating his he-goat, Esu went to the spot where Orunmila served his head the previous
day and set the place on fire. It burnt the bush so effectively that Esu also subsequently went to
make it a farm by planting all the crops with which Orunmila had made sacrifice to him. The crops
began to germinate while Orunmila was still engaged in his lfa practice.

Meanwhile, the Hare was the first to visit the farm where she began to uproot the corn planted
therein. When Esu saw what the Hare was doing, he arrested her and accused her of stealing. The
Hare begged for forgiveness, but Esu insisted on dragging her to the owner of the farm. The Hare
was a very beautiful lady. When she was brought before Orunmilawith a charge of stealing from his
farm, he was dumbfounded because he did not know of any farm he had cultivated. Esu however
improvised his bearings by telling him that the farm was made for him by his guardian angel,
following the sacrifice he made to Esu and his head. Orunmila went to the forest to see a massive
expanse of farm fully cultivated, supposedly belonging to him.

Since the penalty for stealing was death, the Hare offered herself in marriage to Orunmila.
He agreed and began to live with her as man and wife. After thanking Esu with another he-goat,
Orunmila began to work on the farm.

When it was time for harvesting corn, Esu made sure that all those who planted corn in the
town had very poor harvests, so much so that maize was only available in Orunmila's farm.
Meanwhile, the Parrot was combing the area for corn to feed on. When she finally came across
Orunmila's farm, she began to feed on the corn. Once again, Esu got her arrested and arraigned
before Orunmila. Having put her feet down, the parrot could not fly up again and so agreed to live
with Orunmila as a second wife.

Thereafter, the two wives were working on his farm while he was continuing with his lfa
practice, in which he was now having a wide clientele. At the same time, there was famine in the
community on account of the poor harvest of that year. Seeing that Orunmila's was the only farm
that yielded a prolific harvest, people began to steal food crops from his farm. His wives were
however apprehending the thieves and were bringing them before their husband. Overtime, Orun-
mila came to have 201 servants living with him. He was subsequently able to build a bigger house
and his servants were doing the farming chores.

After prosperity had come to him, he was made the Oba of the town. Thereafter, he gave a
thanksgiving feast to the community during which he sang in praise of the Awos who made
 16 THE ODDS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Owanrin-Eturukpon
5

divination and sacrifice for him. He reigned in peace and prosperity and lived to a ripe old age.

When this lfa appears at Ugbodu, the person will be advised to prepare an elevated throne for his
lfa. His profession will have something to do with farming or agriculture.

He Made Divination for The People of Benin:

Apa awowon lo'de asorin

Ogbe ni awo won ni ilu lroda
Ope teere eti ilode.

These were the lfa priests who made divination for the people of Benin. They were advised to make
sacrifice in order to have a genuine love for one another. They refused to make the sacrifice. That is
why they love outsiders (non-Binis) more than they love themselves and why they do not forgive one
another when offended.

That is why Orunmila says that the people of Benin do not exclaim twice, only once "heu or eeh or
huu;" and remember to offer gratitude for previous gratification, unless when coming to ask for a new
favor.

When this Odu appears at divination, the person will be told that he is very selfish and that if he
must prosper, he should learn to have good feelings towards others, so that God would in turn have time
for him. He should make sacrifice with a cock, yam, corn, beans and plantain.
166 IB.sm: The Complete Works of Orunmila Volumes Eight and Nine
 288.

16 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Owanrin-Ose

7

Chapter 14
OWANRIN-OSE
OWANRIN-SEKPERE
OWANRIN-WESE
OWANRIN-'DA-'SENA

I II
II
II I
I II
I
The Divination Made for Him Before Leaving Heaven:

Okiti Sekpere, Awo eba ono, was the Awo who made divination for this odu when he was
coming from heaven. He was told to make elaborate sacrifices to deter the risk of having a very
difficult time on earth. He vowed in heaven to make wickedness his stock-in-trade while on earth.
He was told that if he was to thrive in wickedness, he should make sacrifices to; Esu with a hegoat;
his guardian angel with multicolored hen, tortoise, goat and white cloth; and the Awos to make
special sacrifice for him with four pigeons, white and red kola nuts, rags and crushed yam. He was
to go to the footpath to serve his head with one pigeon to the right, and another pigeon to the left of
the foot path after having a bath on the foot path with leaves to be prepared by the lfa priest.

He was so scared by the size and intricacies of the sacrifice that he bluntly refused to make
any of them. He then came to the world where he began to practice as an lfa priest. He was fond of
making predictions at divination that he knew stood no chance of manifesting. In spite of that, he
became notorious for demanding extortionate fees for his services. Esu was also equally deter-
mined to frustrate him because he got no where. Nobody ever came to him a second time for
divination, because he never did anything that turned out satisfactorily. At a point, after he had
become known as a quack, nobody went to him any more for divination. When he realized that he
was a failure, he decided to return to heaven for better preparations.

On getting to heaven, he went to the same Awo who had previously divined for him. The Awo
reminded him of the sacrifice he failed to make, and his guardian angel warned him that it was no
use returning to the world without making the sacrifices. Once again, he threw up his hands in
despair, saying he had no money to fund the elaborate sacrifices.

When he returned to the world without making sacrifice, nobody paid heed to him because he
had been written off as a charlatan. He eventually gave up lfa practice for farming. He was also a
complete failure in farming and he lived a life of despicable poverty to the end of his life.
 16 Ifism: The Complete Works of Orunmila Volumes Eight and Nine
8

When this lfa appears at Ugbodu, the person should be advised to make the elaborate sacrifices
which the odu refused to make in heaven, failing which, he would be a hard-luck case. It is an
unfortunate odu and it will take a lot of sacrifices to remove the stigma of failure from his destiny. If it
appears at ordinary divination, the person should be advised to go to his family home to revoke a curse
on him from a previous incarnation. If the lfa appears at divination for a reasonably successful person,
he will be forewarned not to associate with a hard luck person.

He Made Dh(ination for The Farmer:

Owanrin-Wese babalawo Nomo, odifa fun Nomo t'in she Ogbe ni jo t'oure lo ilu almo.

He made divination for Nomo, the farmer when he was travelling to an unknown place. He was told
to serve Esu with a he-goat, but he refused to do it. Rather, he preferred to travel out of his town into the
unknown. He traveled with his cutlass in hand. He was apparently fed up with life and had ceased to
worry about his safety. After traveling for sometime, he came across a crippled man with one hand and
one leg.

The man told him to stand still and listen to him, but he was in no mood to listen to anyone, let
alone a seemingly helpless cripple. The cripple however told him that he would come across a pipe
loaded with tobacco in front. He advised him to smoke the pipe back to meet him.

Not long afterwards, he saw the pipe loaded with tobacco. He took it and as soon as he started
smoking it, he began to walk back to meet the cripple not knowing what to expect. As soon as he met
the cripple, he requested Nomo to take him to his house. Reluctantly, Nomo agreed to take him to his
house.

On getting home the cripple told Nomo not to go outside the house until further notice. Not even to
his farm or the market. The following day, the man asked for food. Nomo snapped back by querying how
he expected him to get food to provide, when he was not supposed to leave the house. The cripple
retorted by telling him to go to the back of the house to collect the yams deposited there. The man told
him that he only ate white and palm-oiled crushed yam (ewo or Obobo). He went to the back of the
house and collected the yams he found there. Nomo's next problem was who was going to cook the
yam. Once again, the cripple told him to give one of the yams to a woman on the kitchen to do the
cooking. Upon meeting an unknown woman in the kitchen, Nomo began to wonder about the identity of
his visitor.

Nomo was given to going out in the night. One night, the cripple told Nomo to carry him to the
venue of a meeting that was going to be held that.night. Nomo did as he was told. On getting to a spot,
the cripple told him to put him down and return home but not to leave the house until the following
morning, when he was to come back to take him. The man emphasized that he should not leave the
house for any reason whatsoever for the rest of the night.

Nomo returned home all right, but could not resist the curiosity to find out what the man was going
to do. No sooner did he reach home therefore, than he took off again for the venue of the meeting. On
getting there, he met a large gathering, but was dumbfounded to see the 'cripple' standing firmly on his
two legs using his supposedly lame hand to feed someone who was apparently the king of the night.
The 'cripple' was moving swiftly all over the place.
 THE ODDS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Owanrin-Ose
16
9

After spying on all the goings-on at the meeting, he decided to return home but before he could
set out for the return journey one young man at the meeting called Asisenren called on Nomo to
come to the meeting and take a seat. As soon as he got to the meeting, he was accused of spying.
The 'cripple' told the king of the night that he had warned Nomo not to return until the following
morning, but that he had allowed his curiosity to overwhelm his senses. He was given a summary
trial and sentenced to be turned into a goat, he was beheaded, and his corpse was pounded and
used for preparing idabo (uhumwum ewe no rie 'we in Bini). That is the head of the goat that eats
other goats, and which is present at all properly solemnized and completed lfa shrines. It sees all
that goes on during an lfa ceremony, but lacks the mouth to reveal what it sees. lyerosun represents
all the people that Nome saw at that nocturnal meeting. In lfa parlance, it is called amidikuku.

When it appears at Ugbodu, the person should be warned not to insist on seeing what he is
not supposed to see, and that he should refrain from night out!ng and from joining any meeting.

At divination, the person should serve Esu with a he-goat before travelling or going to where
he has been invited. If he goes without making the sacrifice, he will not return.

Divined for Orungun, The Father of Adedeji:

Ewe odan bale ore kpelenje kplenje. Ewe ogugu ba le gbandu gbanko.
Adafa fun orogun baba
Adedeji ti a ni koma ja koro lo'gun .Tani ko ma ja igede ake,
ko ma ba sun lori ima, ki o ma ba
fi ago if owo she omi mu. Ebo ni ko ru.

The leaves of the umbrella tree (odan in Yoruba and obadab in Bini) fall down lightly. The
leaves of another plant called ogugu drop heavily on the ground. These were the Awes who made
divination for Orongun, the father of Adedeji, when he was advised to make sacrifice to avert the
risk of being taken by surprise in a fight.

He was also advised to avoid; using destructive incantation; eating while standing on top of
leaves; sleeping on palm leaves; and drinking water with cups made from white melon. That was at
a time when he was having a dispute with a man with whom he belonged to the same cult.

If he fought relentlessly, he would be contravening the oath he took at the cult, and hence be
undoing himself. He was told to make sacrifice with a he-goat. After doing the sacrifice, the lfa
priests advised him not to travel anywhere within a period of fourteen days, and not to compete for
anything with anybody. He took heed of the instructions and was victorious over his opponent,
because sacrifice like perseverance, does not fail to manifest in favor of those who do it.

When it appears at divination, the person should be advised not to use destructive charms
against anybody no matter how much he has been provoked. He should not travel anywhere for a
period of fourteen days and should not compete for anything with anybody, to prevent the danger of
undoing himself.
 17 Ifism: The Complete Works of Orunmila Volumes Eight and Nine
0

The Divination Made for His Uncaring Wife

Bi obe ki ofun obe bu, lo ndifa fun akpetebi Orunmila, ta ni ko ma yo omi obe fun oko re. To
ri ki Esu ma binu si.

Take soup with spoon and steer it - was the name of the Awo who made divination for the wife
of Orunmila when she was using spoon to shift the condiments of the soup to one side while giving
the watery portion to her husband. She was forewarned that Esu was already annoyed over how
she was treating her husband and would punish her unless she refrained from the abominable
action. Her explanation was that she was doing so because she wanted the soup to last.
Nonetheless, she was told not to economize on her husband's stomach. She made sacrifice with
two rats, and the next day, Orunmila made sacrifice with two goats. She subsequently apologized
for her misdeeds, promising to change for better behavior.

When it appears at divination for a woman, she should be told to refrain from maltreating her
husband, lest Esu would punish her for it.

Special Preparation for Pregnancy By This Odu:

When a woman is anxiously desperate for a child, Orunmila advises that she will be told to
make sacrifice with a rabbit and ginger seeds (ighere or iyere in Yoruba and Oziza in Bini). After
kneading them with the appropriate leaves, the paste is mixed with honey. The lfa priest should
then recite the apposite incantation to the effect that:

It is thorough menstruation that the rat, fish birds,

animals and women, become pregnant to give
birth to their young ones. That was how God
proclaimed it. I therefore invite the
Creator who made the proclamation to allow this
woman to become pregnant after using this special
medicament.

The woman will start leaking medicine as soon as she finishes her menstruation, throughout
the month. If she meets her husband when applying the medicine, she will surely become pregnant.

Divination for The Man Suffering From Elephantiasis:

Owanrin-wese-wese ki ara omo gan-gan-gan, was the Awo who made divination for Oluku-
nrun, when he was suffering from a disease that made his body to swell up disproportionately.

He was advised to make sacrifice with a rat called eku-oloyan, ashes, leaves called ewe-ofe
and black soap. He produced the materials and the lfa priest used them to prepare a soap dish for
him to use in bathing daily. Within a period of seven days, the sickness abated and he became very
happy and sang in praise of the lfa priest.
 171 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Owanrin-Ose

Owanrin-wese-wese ki ara mo
Odifa fun Olukunrun ibule,
Ti on fi ojojumo wu ni ara.
Oni oun gbo riru ebo, oun ru,
Oun gbo eru etukesu, oun tu.
Koi pe, koi jina,
Ara wale bi okuta.

Meaning:

Owanrin-Ose was the Awo who made divination

for Olukunrun, who was afflicted with a
dangerous disease,
That made his body to be swelling up every day.
He listened to the advice of the lfa priest,
who told him to make sacrifice; and
he did it and soon became well.

When it appears at divination, the person will be told that he is developing an illness. He
should make sacrifice to prevent it from becoming fatal.
17 Ifism: The Complete Works of Orunmila Volumes Eight and Nine
2
•••
17 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Owanrin-Ose
3

Chapter 15
OWANRIN-OFUN
11 11
I 11 11
I I
I

The Divination He Made Before Leaving Heaven for Earth:

Wofun Wofun, Yenden yende, were the Awos who made divination for this odu when he was
coming to the world. He was advised to make sacrifices to his guardian angel with a ram; Esu with
a he-goat; and to feast the heavenly divinities with a goat, hen, cow meat and pigeon. The volume
of the sacrifice scared him so much that he wanted to give up the idea of coming to the world.
However, he subsequently raised a loan from Elenini the obstacle divinity, (ldoboo in Bini), to fund
the sacrifice. Elenini however warned him not to forget to repay the loan when he got to the world.

When he got to the world, he became a high priest of the communal divinity of his town called
(Umole llu) as well as a practicing lfa priest. Meanwhile, Elenini was waiting in heaven for the
repayment of his loan. Incidentally, Owanrin-Ofun did not prosper sufficiently to be able to repay the
loan. He got married to a wife who could not produce a child. Seeing that he was not making it on
earth, he returned to heaven for further preparations. As soon as he reached heaven, he was
apprehended by Elenini, who instantly demanded the repayment of his loan. It was his guardian
angel who came to his rescue, by raising money to repay Elenini. His guardian angel told him that
he should take full-time to the worship of Umole llu of which he was the high priest, if he was to
prosper on earth. He went to the guardian angel of Umole llu in heaven, to teach him its mode of
worship. He was taught how to serve it and to begin by making sacrifice to him as soon as he
returned to earth with; a cow, a goat, and a hen. The guardian angel of Umole-llu gave him the
artifacts of the divinity to be placed at his shrine on earth. With that, he returned to the world.

On getting to the world, he made an announcement that every household in the town was re-
quired to contribute money to make a feast to Umole-llu. The contributions were accordingly made
and the materials for the sacrifice were procured. After the sacrifice, prosperity returned to the town
and to him. People began to have children and money flowed into the town from all directions. In
accordance with the instructions given to him in heaven by the guardian angel of Umole-ilu, he
caused a hut to be built in the bush where annual festivals were to commence before leading a
procession to the town's shrine. He named the hut Ugbodumi or Ugbodu.

When this odu appears at divination, the person should be told to go and serve Odu, and it is
only done by strong and adept lfa priests. Only very few lfa priests have it and know how to serve it.
It is an ORO divinity shrouded in secrecy which women and non-initiates are not allowed to see.
 174 Ifism: The Complete Works of OrunmJa Volumes Eight and Nine

Divined for The Town of Ewanrin-Ofu:

Age ku uta losh'una ke riri keriri loko ayiya.

Adifa fun won ni ewanrin ofu. Ebo itura ni ki won ru, ki
gra won ba'le.

The stump of Uta tree in the farm makes a glowing fire, was in the farm of a man called Ayiya. That
was the name of the Awo who made divination for the people of the town called Ewanrin-ofu, when they
had no peace of mind. He told them to make sacrifice with sixteen snails for peace and tranquility to
return to them. They made the sacrifice and serenity returned to the
town.

At divination, the person will be told that a settled life is eluding his family. They should make
sacrifice for prosperity and tranquility. If the divinee is a man, he should be advised to have his own lfa.
If she is a woman, she should encourage her husband to have his own lfa.

He Made Divination for Oro, When He Owed a Woman:

Owanrin wofun wofun, Awo Oro, odifa fun oro ni jo t'oun le gbese
egba efa Iowa obinrin kon. Obinrin na bere si yo lenu.

He made divination for Oro when he was indebted to a woman to the tune of six bags of money.
The woman was relentlessly demanding payment of the debt from Oro, so much that he could not
venture to go outside his house due to the molestation. He decided subsequently to go to Orunmila for
divination, where he was advised to make sacrifice with 3 rats, a thread and a knife. He made the
sacrifice after which he was advised to be yelling whenever he was coming out at night. Traditionally,
Oro does not come out in the daytime and women are not expected to see him when he bellows a
curfew at night. He was assured that if he did as he was told the debt would lapse.

After the sacrifice, the woman was proposing to go to Ora's house to demand the payment of the
debt, when she suddenly heard the following yell of a curfew:

Merna, Merna, Merna, Merna,

Mo ti shebo Owanrin wofun wofun.

As soon as the bawl of the curfew was heard, all women began to escape into their houses.
The woman herself gave up her plans to go to Ora's house for fear of losing her life because of six bags
of money. That was how Ora's debt to her lapsed into eternity.

At divination, the person should be told to make sacrifice to avoid embarrassment for a meagre
indebtedness. If he makes the sacrifice, the debt will lapse.

His Divination for The Royal Diviner of The Oba:

The royal diviner of the Oba was responsible for making daily divination at the palace. He habitually
made divination for himself before going to the palace. One day, the Royal diviner went to
 17 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Owanrin-Ose
5

Orunmila for divination, who advised him to serve his own lfa with a crown, agbada gown, and
beads, and to give a he-goat to Esu.

Instead of spending his own money to buy the materials, he decided to procure them from the
Oba through stratagem. At his next daily divination for the Oba, he enumerated a number of things
which the Oba should forbid. He also prescribed sacrifice with a crown, gown, beads and he-goat.
The Oba provided the materials and he took them home for his own sacrifice.

As if his treachery was not bad enough, he began to boast at the instigation of Esu, that there
was nothing the Oba had, which he did not have. When the chiefs were hearing about his boasting,
they demanded explanations from the Oba. The Oba told them not to worry. He subsequently
invited Orunmila for divination after which he was told to serve Esu with a he-goat, adding a dress
made with the leaves of the plantain plant, so that Esu would return the properties trickishly taken
from him. The Oba made the sacrifice.

After eating his he-goat, Esu backed a "sick" child and went to the house of the royal diviner to
appeal to him to save the life of the child. He succeeded in saving the life of the child. The following
day, Esu came to him to lend him the use of his regal gown, crown and beads to attend a
conference to which he was invited. He willingly agreed to oblige. Meanwhile, Esu alerted the Oba
to plant palace policemen to arrest him (Esu) at a prearranged rendezvous.
When Esu got to that point, he was instantly arrested for the unauthorized use of regal
paraphernalia and appurtenances. That is how the materials were returned to the Oba and the
royal diviner's appointment was terminated.

When this lfa appears at Ugbodu, the person will be advised to beware of over-sympathizing
with anyone, because excessive benevolence can bring him down from grace to grass. He should
also be advised to refrain from boasting. He should serve the new lfa with a white goat, white hen,
and white kola nuts. He should forbid giving out any domestic bird or animal for rearing. He should
also serve Esu with a he-goat and a basket filter and beads. At divination the person should be
advised to serve Esu with a he-goat to avert the risk of paying dearly for excessive magnanimity.
He or she should forbid having a light-complexioned spouse, and refrain from drinking in public.

Divined for Asehin When He wanted To Initiate His Wife To The Oro Cult:

Tio ba ri aiye je tan, iwas ibaje nia nhu.

When one has made it materially in life, there is a tendency to become morally depraved. That
was the name of the lfa priest who made divination for high chief Asehin when he wanted to have
his wife initiated into the Oro cult, inspite of the fact that women were traditionally prohibited from
initiation. He was advised to make sacrifice with his chair, his wearing garment and a ram, but he
refused to make the sacrifice. His favorite wife had been itching to know the secret of the Oro cult,
but the Oloja always told her that women were forbidden to see the secrets of Oro.

When it was time for the annual festival of Oro, the woman renewed her request to see Oro.
On the account of Chief Asehin's failure to make sacrifice, Esu was determined to expose him to
ridicule and embarrassment. Acting under the guise of a visiting seer, Esu told him that his favorite
wife
 17 Ifism: The Complete Works of OrunmJa Volumes Eight and Nine
6

had made a request to him, which he had been turning down. The seer told him that to avoid the
risk of losing his favorite wife, he should build a special basket chair equipped with a space below it
that it could accommodate a person. On the festival day, his wife was to occupy that space while he
covered it with his flowing robes so that she could see what was happening. Chief Asehin fell easily
for the strategy.

On the festival day, the chair was carried by his servants to the venue, covered with lace
materials. As the Head chief of the town, Chief Asehin was required to light the torch that would
mark the commencement of the ceremonies. The first visible indication that something had gone
wrong was when the light refused to ignite and endure. After trying in vain to put on the light, he told
the criers to proceed with the next stage of beating drums for Oro to get possessed and to appear
to declare the curfew. The drummers beat the drum for several hours, but Oro did not get
possessed. That was the confirmation that things had gone wrong somewhere. The chief priest of
the cult subsequently sent errands to Orunmila for divination to find out the cause of the mishap.

They were all astonished by the subsequent revelation that the Head Chief himself had
profaned the ceremonies by procuring a sacrilegious spy on the goings-on. That was why the
ceremonies had forcibly applied brakes until the impious action of the Oloja was corrected. In fact,
Orunmila insisted that the chair on which the Oloja was sitting should be examined, if he refused to
own up.

When the errand-men got back to the Chief Priest, they announced their findings with a
sarcastic song:

Biko dun, a o ye apere Oba wo

Meaning:

Let us call on Oro to appear once more,

But if he refused to appear,
we have to examine the basket-seat of the Oloja,
Because it appears to conceal a profane spy.

When indeed the criers again called on Oro to appear, he refused to respond. The Oloja, Chief
Asehin was then approached to own up to the cause of the abortive developments. When he did not
say anything positive; he was forced out from his seat and people were astonished to see that he
had concealed a woman under the seat. The woman was immediately apprehended and made to
go on her knees, where she was instantly besieged by soldier ants and wild bees which beat her to
death. At the same time, chief Asehin was instantly banished from the throne.

When this odu appears at divination, the person will be advised to make prescribed sacrifices
to avert the danger of the sudden death of his wife. If it appears for a woman, she will be warned not
to take undue advantage of her husband's love to demand favors fraught with fatal consequences
for herself and her husband.
 17 THE ODUS OF IROSUN AND OWANRIN • Owanrin-Ose
7

This Odu's Special Sacrifice for Prosperity:

Orunmila declared that the corridor of his Father's (God's) house was lined with prosperity.
His followers asked him what to do to avail themselves of the goodies lying on the corridor of his
father's house.

He declared that it would require sacrifice to be slammed down on the corridor with coconut to
serve the Head. Thereafter all the instruments of prosperity, money, marriage and childbirth would
come within the reach of the person making the sacrifice.

When it appears at divination, the person will be advised that his prosperity lies in his father's
house in the land of his birth. He should not travel outside his home-base in quest of prosperity,
because the consequences would be regrettable. He should stay at home.
178 IH.sm: The Complete Works of Orunmila Volumes .Eight and Nine
---------=--=-==-~Am&dW&bV@+G· c6C::,C:w;a,=.,c,,:;;,,c,,:;:,,:;,,,.,:;;,,,,,,=,::,,.,::,::,,,,,.e,,.,,,,e,, ===--------------------------11111!11111111111111111111111111111111

Index
A
Abebe 144
Aqbeni-maima 19
Agbo 74. See a/so Ukhu
Aiye 50
Ajero of ljero
139 Akala 33
Akara 147
Akpako 41
Akpetebi 170
Alara ofllara 139
Albino 93
Albino 81
Amaze 122. See a/so Sigidi
Anxiety 127
Ariku 73
Ase 131
Atori 72. See a/so squrril stick
Awele 33, 34
Awon-lyami Osoronga 72. See a/so witch
Axe 103
Ayajo 40. See a/so protective device
Ayo 88
B
Benin 165
Bitter leaf 40
Black soap 30
Boa 158
Brain work 134. See a/so intelligence
Brothers 162
C
Calabash 157
Chalk 35, 41, 42, 59, 61, 63, 67, 70, 91, 92
Cock 149
Cockroach 123, 151
Cocoyam 101
Cooking Pot 115
Corpse 42
Cowries 28, 43, 66, 67, 91
Creator and Father 92
Cripple 28, 81, 168
Crushed yam 41. See a/so Elo
Cult of witchcraft 79. See a/so Elders of the Night
D
Dada 126
Death 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 29, 31, 32, 33, 35, 42, 43, 44, 51, 52, 60, 75, 78, 88
Destiny 52, 55, 67, 91, 92, 168
Disease 113, 170, 171
Disgrace 100, 104
Divine Priest 163
Divine priestess 23
Divinity of the ground 79. See a/so
ground Divinity of wealth 116. See a/so
Ola
Drum 127
E
Earthworm 151
Ebieba 29. See a/so ekuru
Ebo 41. See a/so Akpako
Ekpakpa 19
Eku oloya 30. See a/so rat
Ekuru 29
Elders of the Night 72, 117
Elders of the night 18, 28, 39, 41, 72, 79
Elenini 47, 48, 49, 50, 52, 53, 69, 70, 87, 130, 173
Elephant 143
Elephantiatis 170
Ela 41
Envy 65, 93
Esu 152 Esu-
Obadara 125 Eta
112 Ewanrin-Ofu
174 Ewe irorowo
39 Eziza 78, 79,
80
F
Farm 129
Fay 107, 112, 128
Fear 127
Fire 19, 58, 81, 50, 54, 63, 93
Fish 110
G
Genitals 33, 34
Ginger seeds 27, 30
God 25, 26, 49, 52, 59, 61, 69, 70, 73, 75, 92, 97, 98, 99, 105, 124, 125,126, 130, 131, 133, 138,
139,145, 150, 151, 158, 165, 168,170, 173, 177 Ground
20, 25, 35, 39, 41, 43, 48, 52, 54, 65, 71, 79, 88
Guardian angel 23, 31, 39, 41, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 59, 63, 64, 66, 69, 73, 78, 79, 82, 87, 91 Guinea
fowl 121
H
Hare 164
Hen 149, 151

ldanigbo 18
lfa man 42, 43, 46, 52,' 92
•
lfa priest 130
lfa seeds 100, 163
lfe 29, 80
lfism 43, 46, 47, 48, 50, 59, 66, 74, 91
lgbakhuan 128. See a/so fay
lghoroko 20, 121
ljimere 101
lkin 23, 29, 59, 70, 71, 72, 85
lkoko 101 i
lmere 101, 102, 128
Initiation ceremony
114 Insomnia 147
Intelligence 134
lroko 74
Iron divinity 97. See a/so Ogun
lrosun 17, 23, 24, 25, 27, 28, 29, 31, 37, 38, 39, 41, 42, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 64, 65,
66, 67, 69, 71, 72, 74, 75, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 85, 88, 91
lrosun-Akara 41
lrosun-ala-yoka 80
lrosun-Ega 38, 39
lrosun-Obara 39
lrosun-Osa 59, 60, 61
lrosun-Oyeku 24
lwoye 30
lyami Osoronga
130 lyerosun 18,
134

J
Jika-Jiku 33

K
King of Owo 113. See a/so Olowo

L
Legs 147
Light colored dresses 92. See a/so Orisa priest
Lion 101, 102
Lizard 123

M
Magic mirror 34. See a/so Sankpana
Magician 155
Maize 108
Moderate sacrifice 41
Monkey 101. See a/so ljimere
Mushroom 111
Mystic 155. See also Ologungunmar
N

Naming ceremony 75

0
Oak 74
 Oba of Benin 139
Oba ofOtun 140 Oba-
ajigbomekon Akira 122 Obo
41
Obobo 41. See a/so crushed yam
Obstacle divinity 50. See a/so Elenini
Ode-Akoko 127
Odu 173
Ogbe 98
Ogbogbo 30
Oghidian-ni-ya'son 130. See a/so lyami Osoronga
Ogun 19, 24, 28, 35, 39, 44, 48, 51, 52, 61, 63, 64, 65, 67, 70, 72, 73, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 91,
92,97, 125,132, 139
Ogun and other divinities 163
Ogun priest 126
Ogun's scissors. 125
Oguntan or Eguntan 133. See a/so Ogun
Ojiji 20
Ojugbona 131
OkpaOorere 19
okra 31
Ola 116
Olofin 20, 70, 71, 72, 73, 7 4, 79, 80
Ologungunmar 155
Oloja of Ega 39
Olokun 19, 60, 67, 91, 92, 153, 158
Olokun, Ogun and Sang6 103 Olokun's
daughter 67, 91
Olokun's daughter 154
Olokun's servants 67, 91
Olore of Ore 18
Olowo .113
Olukoro 127
omolangidi 40. See a/so wooded image
Orangun-llla 140
Orisa 24, 57, 58, 65, 66, 81, 82, 92, 93
Orisa priest 93, 126
Orisa-Nla 99, 137
Orisa-turu-yegbe nijo 81. See a/so Orisa
Oro 27, 32, 45, 65, 92, 159, 173, 174
Oro Cult 175
Oro Divinity 32
Orunmila 97
Osumare 128
Owanrin 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 103, 104, 105, 107,108, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 121, 122,
123, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 137, 138, 139, 140, 143, 144, 145, 147, 149, 151, 152,
153,157, 159, 161, 163, 167, 168, 170, 171, 173, 174
Owanrin - Olokun 103
Owanrin -Akiko 149. See a/so Owanrin - lrete Owanrin -
Ala - Ayoka 157. See a/so Owanrin - Eka Owanrin -
Areege 149. See a/so Owanrin - lrete Owanrin - Eka
157
Owanrin - Elejigbo 143. See a/so Owanrin - Etura
Owanrin -Etura 143
Owanrin-Eturukpon 161
 Owanrin - Ewi 125. See also Owanrin - lrosun
Owanrin - Ga-Asa 137. See also Owanrin - Osa
Owanrin- lrete 149
Owanrin - lrosun 125
Owanrin - Logbon 125. See also Owanrin - lrosun
Owanrin - Ofun 173
Owanrin-Ogunda 129
Owanrin - Ogunrere 129. See also Owanrin -Ogunda
Owanrin - Ojukoto 161. See also Owanrin - Eturukpon
Owanrin-Okonron 121
Owanrin - Ologbon 129. See also Owanrin -Logbon
Owanrin - Osa 137
Owanrin - Ose 167
Owanrin - Oyeku 103
Owanrin - Pisin 137. See also Owanrin - Osa Owanrin
-Wo-Oka 157. See also Owanrin - Eka Owanrin-
Konron 122
Owanrin-Obara 117
Owanrin-Sekpere 167. See also Owanrin - Ose
Owanrin-so-ogbe 100
Owanrin-Wese 167. See also Owanrin -Ose
Oziya 40. See also sasswood
p
Palm tree 144
Palm wine 115. See also Orisa Palm
wine 39. See also Orisa priest Pepper
112
Pigeon 67, 91
Pregnancy 25, 85
Prosperity. See Ola
Protective device 40

Q
Queen of Fays 107

Rabbit 18, 19, 25, 28, 34, 35, 53, 54, 66, 72, 77, 79, 85, 100 Rat 30,110,
123
Restoring life 32. See also Jika-Jiku
RiverOsa 125
RiverOshun 74
Roasted yam 39, 74, 81
Rover and the Sea 154
Royal Diviner 17 4

s
Sacrifice 167 Sang6
139 Sankpana 34,
147 Sasswood 40,
41 Secrets 32, 33
Sekere 157
Shango's wife
144 Shaving
Knife 137 Sick
person 42
Sickness 24, 30, 32, 33, 47
Sigidi 122
Snail 110
Squirrel 158
Squrril stick 72
Stealing 101 ,
1
Suddendeath 119, 124, 176
Swamp 101
T
Tortoise 18, 37, 38, 115. See also ldanigbo: Tortoise
Tortoise 18, 35, 38, 39, 59, 63, 69, 79, 143
Transfigure 32
Trial by ordeal 41
Truth 139
u
Udugbe 19
Ugbodu
173
Ugbodumi 173. See also Ugbodu
Uja 24, 44, 48
Ukhu 74
Ukuse 157. See also sekere
Ularin 46, 47
Umbrella tree 144
Umolellu 173
Undulating fortunes 24
Uwenriontan 72. See also squrril stick
w
Water 19, 83
Water 19, 28, 31, 32, 48, 69, 83
Weaver bird 38
Weaver bird 39
White outfit. 153
Wife 170
Witch 41. See also Elders of the Night
Witchcraft 41
Wooded image 40
 289.
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