Odi Iroso

When the dead were not buried

In primitive times the dead were not buried, and there was a bird in the sky called Eribote. Until it came down and plucked out the dead one’s eyes, no other bird would touch the body.

The path where Alaguana soiled the house looking for Azojuano

Into it go leri of Eggun okuni, iye, which are pounded, cemetery earth and salts of ewe odan (poplar root) and scorpion, an eyo, leri of ayanaku, 21 strong igui, sweepings from the house, 21 ewe of Eleguá, 21 atare, 21 ewereyeye, eru, obi kola, Osun, obi motiwao, arida, ilekan, añari odo, three small hatchets, three small machetes, three arrows, leri of owiwi (owl), leri of gunugun, obore okun; three osiadie are given to it, and the leri go inside. A live aya keke is placed, and the flagstone is set on top; it must have a hole through which to give it food.

There the ayambeko is left until it dies, and upon its death Alaguana Ashegun Oba is consecrated. It eats all the food eaten by the Warriors and the Eleguas of the house.

On this earthly path called Iyebu Teyun Lashe Lenu, Azojuano lived together with Iyalorde and Oshunokere. Both were the religious leaders of that land and had many children who always fulfilled their requests in order to keep happiness in the place.

Before living with Oshún, Azojuano ruled another land with the help of Eshu Alaguana, who was known for eating spoiled food. Because of his behavior, Oshún would not tolerate him in the house, and Alaguana was forced to move to the cemetery, where he brought food from Yewá and the earth. Although Alaguana loved Azojuano, his former master, dearly, he could not visit him at his house because of Oshún’s rejection of his foul smell.

Alaguana kept watch over Oshún and, whenever she grew careless, he would enter the house and soil it. When she went looking for him, he would hide in the trash heap and turn himself into garbage. In this way he entered the house of Oshún and Azojuano in the form of garbage, creating many difficulties inside the house and bringing illness and tragedy.

One day, Oshún told Azojuano that for some time they had been going through many troubles, and she convinced him to go see Orunmila. There, Orunmila saw this Ifá and told him that there was a figure who had always been at his side, but whom he had lately set aside for the sake of his wife, and that this figure was harming him by constantly seeking him out at his house.

Then Orunmila instructed them to perform an ebbo in which they would sweep the house singing: «Ala ilereo ala ilereo labera umbo labera obede bogbo araye unlo campani campani unlo araye asegun ota». After sweeping the sweepings from their ile, they brought them to Orunmila and took a portion of them. They added eku, eya, awado, oñi, oti and placed it at the door, giving it obi, akuko, and eyele.

After making akuayera with those sweepings, they placed them on the trash heap. Azojuano sang: «Awara ebora kada alaguana dide dideo ara gogoto dide dideo belele Eshu alaguana dideo umbo ile mi». Then Alaguana rose from the garbage, and Azojuano and Oshún knew that he was the one who had been soiling their house and causing so many troubles. Alaguana, when he stood up from the trash heap, sang: «Ago ti ina alaguana ti ina ti ina».

Azojuano said to him: «I cannot deny that you and I must walk together by the design of Olofin. You shall live in my house, which is the house of Odi Roso and of Oshún. But since your presence is repugnant, for you have grown used to the ibosu oku (cemetery), you shall live in a pit behind the door and defend my house from all the sorceries of the alagugos.»

Alaguana was very glad when Azojuano and Odi Roso knelt him behind the door. They handed him his secret, which was an aya keke, and gave him the three osiadie to swear him in while they sang to him: «Alaguana ashogun oba ile kun belele eggun mowani Mowani lofun Eshu belele ile ikun oba ni eggun«. From that moment on, Alaguana remained forever guarding the door of Odi Roso and protecting the house of Oshún and Azojuano from all the sorceries that the arayes (strife) sent against that land.

Odi Roso indicates that mounting the secret of Alaguana Ashegun Oba in this sign is indispensable in order to have the power to destroy all the arayes that Odi Roso always has against him; it further indicates that Alaguana is the first to receive the load of Azojuano and is the gatekeeper of the cemetery.

It indicates that the happiness of Odi Roso, regardless of whose child of Santo he may be, is to live in marriage with a daughter of Iyalorde. It further indicates that the central strength of this Oddun is the attention given to Oshún and to Azojuano.

The daughter of Inle and Oba

On this path, Oba’s first husband was Inle, a beautiful man with whom she had a daughter named Osia. As time went by, whenever Inle came home he wanted to be intimate with Oba, but she always said she felt unwell and did not want to do anything. Inle, weary of this situation, went to see Orunmila for counsel. Orunmila told him that if Oba was not happy with him, he should leave her, and that perhaps she would find someone who made her happy.

Worried about his daughter, Inle asked Orunmila what to do with Osia. He answered that he should leave her with her mother. In that time, Oba met Shangó and was intimate with him before marrying him. One night, Osia got up because she could not sleep and saw a man with her mother while she was washing his genitals. After being intimate, the man left, and Oba, desperate and horrified, let out a cry of terror. To take the shame off her daughter, Oba married Shangó, but the damage was already done. Osia was left traumatized and began to see ghosts. The arayes came at night and gave her nightmares.

The girl grew up and married a rich merchant who was also a sorcerer. At first she thought her life had changed, but soon her husband began to do to her the same thing Shangó used to do with her mother in the past. Osia’s forgotten trauma resurfaced with greater force, and the arayes began to dominate her mind, making her frigid. Her husband, wishing to control her, smeared sorcery powders on her belly. Osia’s aunt, Abata, her father’s sister and also a sorceress, noticed that Osia was very worn down and asked her what was wrong. Osia told her aunt everything, and the aunt, wrapped in her blue veil, took her to Orunmila’s house so that he would make osode for her. He saw this Ifá and told her that all her ills came from an impression from her childhood, and that it was necessary to separate her from her husband, who was a vicious and wicked sorcerer. He also instructed her to make ebbo to erase from her mind the trauma left by what she had seen her mother do. In addition, Ozain Eweyele, who was with Orunmila, prepared an inshe for her to keep the arayes away. After doing everything Orunmila indicated, Osia went to live with her father Inle and her aunt Abata, and she became a whole woman again, thus overcoming all her ills thanks to Orunmila.

In the ebbo, a joro joro is opened and the ebbo is placed inside; it is covered with erana; a tile of Eggun is set leaning upright inside the hole, with the doll leaning against it (if the doll is male it is a malaguidi, if female an agbona; in either case it bears its sexual organs marked). Then Oba is placed beside the joro joro; the doll is given eyerbale of the goat, which is first given to Oba; the eyele dun dun is given first to the doll and then to Oba; with the brown one it is the reverse; and afterward everything is covered over.

The Caraira and the Tiñosa

On this path, the Caraira lived apart from all the other birds. She was going through great hardship, even hunger, because it cost her much effort to find her food. In this situation she decided to go see Orunmila, who saw this Ifá and told her she had to make ebbo to free herself of all that evil. The Caraira made the ebbo, and Orunmila told her to go home, for he would send her someone who would solve her problem.

The gunugun, searching for food, saw a bull lying on the ground; thinking it was dead, she came down to eat. She stuck her head into the bull’s rear, and it clenched shut. The tiñosa thought she would die, struggling until she could pull her head out, completely bald, without feathers. She went to Orunmila’s house, and he saw this Ifá, prescribed the same ebbo, and told her: «Go to the Caraira’s house and speak with her so that she examines whatever you are going to eat.»

That is how the Caraira and the Tiñosa solved the problem of food, and that is why the Caraira eats only the rear and the eyes, and the tiñosa the rest of the organs.

Ologbo, Aguema, Ekutele, and the eya tuto

Eya Tuto, Aguema, Ekutele, and Ologbo were friends and shared everything, but Eya Tuto, because of his powers, believed himself superior to the others and always mocked them, especially Ologbo. Aguema and Ekutele also envied Ologbo and mocked him over Eya Tuto’s slights.

One day Ologbo, weary of this situation, went to see Orunmila, who saw this Ifá and prescribed an ebbo that he was to place at the edge of the lagoon. When Ologbo arrived there, he found Eya Tuto, Aguema, and Ekutele talking about him, but Eya Tuto began to mock Ologbo. Then Ologbo pounced on him, but Eya Tuto slipped into the water and Ologbo could not reach him. Aguema and Ekutele began to laugh at Ologbo, and he grew angry and killed them, saying: «Whoever laughs at me, I kill.»

At that moment, Eya Tuto, who had eaten the bogbo tenuyen from Ologbo’s ebbo, threw himself at the fishermen’s bait, thinking it was another ebbo, and fell on the hook. They pulled him out of the water, and once he was out, they cut off his head and gave it to Ologbo to eat, who said: «Iboru, Iboya, Iboshishe. Patience crowns kings. My enemies shall always live at my feet by the power of Ifá.» Since then, cats hunt mice and lizards, and eat fish.

Odi Iroso always sees his enemies fall, and whoever laughs at him dies.

The path of Ikú

There was once a man who worked without rest. At times he had to carry a great load of firewood over a great distance. This man, on several occasions and being deeply displeased with his work, exclaimed: «Why does death not come to take me!» But death did not appear.

On one occasion, worn out by the weight, he made his usual exclamation, but this time death did appear to him. Death asked him: «Why do you call me?» And the man, frightened, answered: «I only called you to help me carry this firewood.»

On this path the man holds tightly to life, even in moments of misfortune and solitude. An Ifá of bindings. Ozain must be received. Ebbo is made with cedar and almond, and an omiero is made for the person to bathe in.

Iwowo, the guardian of Odi Oro

TRANSLATION: what a good, what a great head I have, thanks to Ifá.

On this path, the porcupine Iwowo had had two godfathers, and neither had solved the problem he wanted solved: getting into the nest of the leaf-cutter ants. Then he learned that in the land of adIfa there was a man who lay sleeping, smeared all over with Osun, and who divined while asleep, for this man was Odi Iroso, to whom the spirit of Ifá spoke by telepathy.

Iwowo arrived at this diviner’s house, and he let him in. He made osode for him and saw this Ifá; he asked him for two eyele, two akuko, and $16.80, and made the ebbo for him. Then he gave one of the roosters to Eshu, gave the two eyele to Osun, and took the other akuko for Iwowo: he painted his forehead with Osun, and Odi Iroso gave the akuko fun fun to his head, singing him the suyere above. At once, Iwowo’s paths all opened, and he had the strength to break open the ant nest and eat the leaf-cutter ants that were his enemies. From then on, Iwowo was the guardian of Odi Roso.

The secret of Odi Iroso is the work with the akuko; moreover, his Ozain carries the leri of that akuko and seven porcupine quills.

While the body sleeps, the nose breathes

When the Owunko went to the tiger’s wake, he stopped to consult Orunmila first. The diviner saw Ifá for him and advised: «Do not go near the coffin; keep your distance, for there is a trap.»

The Owunko, worried, made his way toward the tiger’s coffin; but just at that moment he noticed that its nose was breathing. He immediately understood what Orunmila had meant: «While the body sleeps, the nose breathes,» and he ran out of the wake, thus avoiding being caught in the trap.

When Ozain lacked Awe and Ozun

Ozain had difficulty triumphing in the world, for he lacked Awe and Ozun. Every time he tried to work, he would fall asleep and grow desperate. In a dream, he saw that he had to set out on the road. In the morning he rose early, and when night came he began to sing «Borokiti lawa tarepo Borokiti lawa tarepo Opolopo opolese borokiti lawa tarepo».

At nine o’clock at night, he heard a voice singing «Ewe Orisha ewene ewe Orisha ewene ewe Orisha boreo» and saw the form of Ozun in a great plant. A wind rose up, and Ozain gathered strength. The plant was of Awe, and it began to sing «Oro mini Ozain awedi moro oro mini Ozain awedi moro».

The güiros spoke with Ozain and told him to bring his ikoko ogu koderofo so they could consecrate it together and thus gain strength. Ozain went out and brought his ikoko to the foot of Awe and Ozun. They brought out their secret and gave it to the ikoko Ozain, and all sang «Abero abero ama baba ninu eru erue Ozain abero ama yeye«. In this way, Ozain gained the strength he needed to triumph in the world.

Adie must urgently be given to Orunmila.

This Ifá forbids cutting the hair, and scissors and razor must not go to the head. It is an Ifá of bindings. Ozain must be received.

With my own hand I made myself king

Eyekeile, an omo Orisha and Obatalá’s favorite son. He was known for his great wisdom and was a godchild of Orunmila. Eyekeile had two brothers who secretly envied him. Every 16 days he would consult with Orunmila, and one day Orunmila asked him for his ada (machete) to make ebbo with it, an act that conferred on him a great distinction.

The next day, Obatalá sent the brothers to cut palm fronds to beautify and thatch the house that sheltered Ozain, the sorcerer of Obatalá’s kingdom. Eyekeile had to tear off the fronds with his hands, since he had made ebbo with his ada. His brothers, however, finished first and left without waiting for him.

When Obatalá asked about Eyekeile, his brothers told him that he had been delayed because he had thrown away the ada he had been given.

Indignant at Eyekeile’s delay, Obatalá ordered Oggún to cut off his head when he arrived. Meanwhile, Eyekeile was filling his basket with fronds of mariwo when he found igbin snails in the wilderness. He also found a dead ayanaku and took its ivory tusks and beautiful feathers, along with 16 large feathers that he also put in the basket. When he reached Obatalá’s palace, Oggún was waiting for the order to kill him, but Obatalá was astonished at the sight of Eyekeile’s basket and asked him about his ada.

Eyekeile answered that Orunmila had it in his hand, and he showed him everything he had gathered in the wilderness. Obatalá was overjoyed, for he had been searching for igbin, ikide, and ike (snails, parrot feathers, and ivory). Looking at Oggún, he told him to sacrifice a goat and eat it. Eyekeile’s brothers he made slaves for their treachery, and he told Eyekeile that from that moment on, Orunmila would be his defender and savior.

Then Obatalá ordered Eyekeile to go out into the street and cry: «Ade Lowo, ade ni Orisha, ade ni Oba. With my own hand I made myself king.» In this way, Eyekeile became a king on earth thanks to his cunning and wisdom.

The three brothers

There were three brothers, sons of Ashaba Mina. The youngest of them was admired by the town and had a cotton business. But the eldest brother, believing no one could see him, killed the youngest. The middle brother, who had witnessed the crime, decided not to betray him, not knowing that a bird perched in a nearby tree had seen everything.

The mother of the three brothers was Yemayá, who grew worried at her youngest son’s absence and, without knowing what had happened, went to Orunmila’s house. He saw this Ifá and told her that she had to make ebbo to find the cause of her son’s disappearance, but he also told her she would meet an old man who would help her in her inquiries. Yemayá did as Orunmila instructed, and on leaving his house she went weeping along the road. It was then that she met Obatalá, who asked her why she was weeping.

She answered that she believed her son was dead, because Orunmila had told her so, but that she did not know where the body was or who was to blame. Meanwhile, a bird had seen the murderer and followed him constantly. Obatalá summoned the two brothers, and the bird perched in a tree, very agitated. Obatalá sent the middle brother to the place where the body lay, but the bird did not follow him. Then Obatalá sent the eldest brother, and the bird followed him, crying: «krok krok.»

Obatalá ordered both brothers to go fetch water from the well, and the bird followed only the eldest. Then Obatalá understood that the eldest brother was the murderer, and when he told him so, the brother replied: «I only thought it was the parrot who talked.»

In primitive times the dead were not buried, and there was a bird in the sky called Eribote; until it came down and ate the eyes of the corpse, no other bird would touch it.

How Odi Roso recovered his vitality

Once back home, Orunmila prepared an omiero with ewe aberikunlo, ewe para mi, ewereyeye, and peregun. The crushed ewes were mixed with efun and passed along the person’s back from the tailbone up to the shoulders. In the same movement, crosses were made on the forehead, the neck, and the sides, along with the same sign traced from the hollow of the throat down to the pubis and at the level of the navel.

With the person thus smeared with the ewe, sarayeye is done with an akuko kikiriki, which is killed at the nape, giving eyerbale to all the marks on the body, beginning with the back; afterward oñi is poured on all the places, and juju of the kikiriki are applied. Then the person is seated and obori is done with eya tuto, and it is asked where the kikiriki goes — it goes with everything the person has on their body, wrapped in asho fun fun. Afterward the person is bathed with the omiero from the body down, dried with the rogation on the head, and the ebbo is made.

From the kikiriki, 12 juju are taken and tied by the quills in a cross; ashe of the sign, prayed over, is added; it is wrapped in asho of the color of the person’s Osha lagbatoni as an inshe Ozain before the obsessing Egguns. Afterward the person must give ayapa to Ozain and Shangó, have a ceremony performed with it on the member, and drink an infusion to strengthen his nature.

There were a man and a woman who lived in the land of Shoro inle. Although the difference in their ages was such that she could have been his daughter, they were happy together. But as time passed, the man could no longer satisfy his companion as before. An adodi who lived near them was always pursuing the obini. Despite her refusals, the adodi insisted so much that he finally managed to persuade her. Since he was a sorcerer, they agreed to fake the obini’s death so that she could escape. After performing the work, they laid the obini’s body at the foot of Aragba, where the adodi went to collect her and take her to his land. Once there, the obini was forced to work in prostitution, passing from man to man with no control over her life. Meanwhile, the couple’s son grew up always remembering his iyare (mother), because his babare (father) spoke of her with affection and respect, praising her virtues. It is a sad and lamentable story in which love and happiness were ruined by the greed and wickedness of others.

After some time, the couple’s son felt the need to have sexual relations and confessed it to his father. His father gave him money so that he could visit a prostitute. Arriving there, the young man encountered his own mother without recognizing her. When they attempted to be intimate, they ran into a problem: the obini could not succeed in her ofikale because of a condition called odasile okosile, which caused the young man great desperation. This happened three times, so the young man decided to go to Orunmila, who made a divination for him and saw the corresponding Ifá. The situation the son was in was extremely delicate, for he was being intimate with his own mother without knowing it. The work that had been done so that the obini could fake her death and escape had brought great confusion and disorder into their lives.

Orunmila told him that he had an Eggun obini who lay with him, and that at the moment of ofikale trupon with an obini he could not perform. Moreover, the image of his iyare would not leave his mind, and that prevented him from ofikale. And he prescribed oparaldo, obori, and ebbo. He paid Orunmila no heed and returned to the house of that obini panshaga. Being with the obini and seeing that he could not perform ofikale trupon, on looking at her face he said: you are my mother! She denied it; then, recognizing his mother’s face, he ran off to tell his father.

His father did not want to believe it, but he went along with him, and upon arriving and seeing the woman he recognized her at once and began calling everyone. When they were gathered, since she had received the ritual of death, they agreed that she must die. They opened a joro joro at the foot of the aragba and placed her in it. At that moment Orunmila and Ozain were passing by, and seeing this, they approached Odi Roso, who was that woman’s son. Odi Roso, on seeing Orunmila, said: your word has been fulfilled. Then they took Odi Roso and performed the work on him, closing the joro joro, and in that way Odi Roso was able to recover his strength and vitality.

In this Ifá one does not look through holes.