Iroso She

The Vulture and Her Enemies

On this path, the Tiñosa (the turkey vulture) had two very powerful enemies, who bore her envy and ill will because she lived everywhere without paying, above all where Obatalá lived, for she rendered him many services.

The buzzard and the eagle were the Tiñosa’s two enemies, and she brought her complaints to Obatalá. He sent her to the house of Orunmila, who saw this Ifá for her and marked ebbó with a rooster, a hen, a pigeon, a trap and a piece of fresh meat, and ordered the ebbó to be placed before Elegbá. And at night, he sent Oggún to carry it to the foot of the hill where the Tiñosa lived, and Eshu to set out the meat of the ebbó and to let the buzzard and the eagle know that there was fresh meat at the Tiñosa’s house. They both went, thrust their beaks into the trap, and died.

This ebbó is done before Elegbá and Ozun, and a rooster is given to the two of them; the other animals are determined by questioning.

In this Ifá, to defeat one’s enemies, a wet brush and three burning embers are taken, and one says: «Iroso She Ke Kushe, defeat my enemies.»

Shangó Hands Over the Responsibility

It happened once that Shangó was the one who divined with the board, and he had Ozain and Elegbá as his subordinates. Shangó was very fond of parties and had almost no time to attend to Ifá; sometimes he wanted to go to a feast or somewhere else, and just then someone would arrive for a consultation, and he would read them grudgingly and send Ozain to resolve the matter with whatever herb.

One day Shangó began to think that he could no longer bear that burden and that he had to find a serious person to do the work for him. Ozain and Elegbá each thought they would be the one Shangó would choose to leave the governance of the world to. Shangó called Elegbá and told him to go to Orunmila’s house and tell him that he wished to see him. Elegbá went and delivered the message, and Orunmila replied that he would come as soon as he could.

When Orunmila arrived at Shangó’s house and asked what he wanted, Shangó explained what he had in mind and what he needed from him. Orunmila told him it could not be, for what would Olofin think of him. Shangó told him not to worry, that he would settle things with Olofin, and then told him to perform the work of the palm tree and that he would come at once to wherever he was, and so they agreed.

But Ozain and Elegbá were left discontented. Elegbá stayed on to help Orunmila; Ozain did just the opposite and went off to the wilderness with his vast knowledge of herbs and sticks and set to work, and this came to trouble Orunmila, who read for himself and this Ifá came out, and thus he knew that a prenda was being worked against him. He went to the palm tree and did what Shangó had commanded, and Shangó, who was on the hill, saw the signal and set out. But as he was crossing the wilderness, he saw Ozain at his workings. Shangó hurled thunderbolts and lightning and set the forest ablaze.

Orunmila, seeing this, hurried to the forest and found Ozain maimed and unconscious. He gathered him up and healed him, made ebbó for him, and when Ozain recovered, he swore to serve Orunmila blindly. Ozain lost an arm, a leg and an ear, and he walks by hopping.

The Art of Cooking Was Born

From the time Olofin created the earth, he installed Banga (the oil palm). She was a person who had gone deep into the secrets of life and into life itself; that is why the spirit of Ifá joined itself to her, and she was sent to Banga with full rights and powers. The people did not know Olofin. Whenever they wished to know anything, they questioned Banga, who, leaning against a trunk, guided them spiritually in their minds. In those days, men and beasts alike were dying. Banga came to be regarded as the supreme diviner.

Then she went to see Orunmila, who saw this Ifá for her and told her that everything the palm tree bears has value for life. He told her she had to make ebbó, but added that her final secret should help humankind. You shall be the breath of Kushe, the spirit of fire. So Banga did. The progress of humanity made its appearance upon the earth; men learned to work with their hands, but they did not know how to make fire or keep it.

A hunter of the wilderness named Kushe went in search of the fire tree (the pitch pine) and cooked yams over the coals of that tree and found them delicious. Another day, the same man returned to the wilderness in search of the same tree and met Ozain Aroni Elesekan, who had one eye, one foot, long hair and a hairy body, and who took Ozain to where Banga was; she taught him what to do with the leftover nuts (that is, the inkines with fewer than three eyes) to extract the epo and the oil from their kernels, and taught him to cook food with that fat. She also explained how Ede Ina is prepared with the fuzz of the dried inkines, which served to catch fire wherever fire was found, and also to keep the family hearth burning.

Kushe, by the light of Ada Ina, was initiated into Ifá and came to know all the secrets of Banga and of Ifá, for Kushe was a son that Orunmila had with Adama (the woman of fire).

Kushe took a little palm oil in a malanga leaf and a wad of Ada Ina, and returned to his land, becoming Oba of that place. That is how the first men learned to cook with fat and to keep fire in their homes, making Banga, trunk of their greatest divinity, the tree of life that divines all things.

There was a ceremony of Ifá in which, to find our Ifá — that is, our inkines, which are our weapons — the neophyte had to return to the wilderness, to nature. There he searched for the inkines, there he lay down, recited the secret suyere Kushe, and then the answer was given to him as to whether that was the palm where Banga lived, that is, whether it held an ancestral spirit of primitive Ifá. That is why Ifá receives the name Igbo Oddun — sign of the wilderness — for the first thing the Toyale receives is received in the wilderness, given and guided by the elder spirits of Ifá.

This explains why the awós initiated in Ifá make Ede Ina, or wicks of inkines, children of Banga. With this the Igbodun of Ifá is well lit, before candles are used.

Another Version of Shangó Handing Over His Responsibility

Shangó was the owner of the divining board, and Elegbá and Ozain were his servants, but he wanted nothing more than his feasts, and this took up much of his time, as one might expect. Elegbá and Ozain each hoped to be his successor, but Shangó, who knew them well, knew that neither of the two had the qualities for it, and so he set himself the task of finding the right man.

Shangó had Orunmila come, handed him the board and taught him to work with it, but told him that if he ran into any difficulty, he should light Odu Rupa and Erindinlogun for him, and that this would be the signal for him to come and help.

Elegbá was displeased at not having been chosen and did things grudgingly, leaving many undone, but he worked no workings against Orunmila. Ozain was displeased for the same reason, and not only did he disobey Orunmila, but he withdrew into the wilderness to work with his great knowledge of herbs and sticks against him.

Orunmila labored hard and saw no results from his efforts, but he did not know why. In this situation he made the agreed signal to Shangó, and Shangó, who knew what was happening with Ozain, began hurling thunderbolts against the forest where Ozain was. The lightning and the fire it caused made Ozain lose an eye and a leg, giving him all the imperfections he bears.

Orunmila, seeing this, goes out and finds his servant Ozain wounded and unconscious, and brings him home. He makes ebbó for him and heals him. Ozain understands his error and swears eternal obedience. Elegbá, frightened by what happened to Ozain, does the same, and from then on Orunmila has his two servants and sees the results of his work.

Aiña, the Wife of Obaluba

Oggún and Oshosi both desired to live with Aiña, the wife of Obaluba, and they went to see Orunmila, who saw this Ifá for them and marked ebbó with: an adie, a broom shrub, ewefa. Oshosi said: why should I make ebbó just to live with a woman — do I not have an army of poisonous yams and thorn-covered bushes to protect me? Oggún made the ebbó and gave food to Ozain. The day came when Aiña set out for Oshosi’s house, and the fire ran blazing toward Oshosi, who cried out: Aiña, Aiña, Aiña. His poisonous yams and his thorny bushes burned, and the whole savanna went up in flames.

When Aiña arrived at Oggún’s house, Ozain cast fear over her body and put out the fire.