Oshe Bara

The tongue is the scourge of the body

Oshe Bara’s father could not understand why his relatives had to die. When they died, he would put them inside an igba and speak with them every day. One must have prendas.

The seeds of the salvadera tree

Obatalá went out walking and suddenly the sky clouded over and a drizzle began. He took shelter under a leafy, dry tree. All at once he heard a loud noise and, frightened, he ran out into the rain. Looking back, he saw that the seeds of that leafy tree were bursting open, and that was the noise that had startled him. Obatalá grew angry and cursed the tree for having let the rain soak him.

The little stone

Oshe Bara was very poor and went down to the riverbank to speak with Oshún. She gave him a small stone and told him that as long as he cared for it, he would prosper. Oshe Bara took the stone home and set it in plain sight. Little by little he began to prosper, and each time he earned money he bought an ornament for his house and moved the stone somewhere else.

A time came when Oshe Bara had gathered so many ornaments that there was no room left to keep the stone. Forgetting Oshún’s counsel, he threw it away.

After throwing the stone away, Oshe Bara began to lose everything he had achieved. In the end he found himself in the same poverty as before. He decided to go back to Oshún, who, seeing him so poor, asked him about the stone. Oshe Bara explained that he had gathered so many ornaments that there was no longer room for the stone, and so he had thrown it out.

Then Oshún told him that, for having thrown away what she had given him and forgotten her counsel, he would die alone and poor.

Here Kanepo, thanks to Oguno, defeated his enemies

In Kodota there lived a king named Kanepo, who had many enemies fighting him hard. One day he went to be read by Orunmila, and Oshe Bara came out, which told him that his enemies were watching him day and night. To protect himself he had to make ebbo with a strainer pot called agure, quail (mefa warakina), eku, eya, epo, and to feed Jebioso Bade, who was the oddun of his late father.

However, since this had to be done in the palace of his dead father, Oguno, it had to be in the darkness of night to avoid the watch of his enemies. They reached the palace of Oguno and called upon Bade. They covered him with earth, throwing the mefas warakiyas inside the agere before covering it with earth from the palace. Then they carried it to a mound where they buried it and planted a gourd vine on top. Since then the spirit of Oguno is called upon to be fed in this sign.

«O Ifá Na Lo Bo Oshe Bara Awono Makuo Boto De Ku We B Otono Yi Dojuzo Poli Añañi Lo Tuku Muvi Sodege Oshe Bara Bokono Majudo Vizime». Ifá Oshe Bara does not accept that the awo should die; when the owner of an Oshe dies, all his osheses are buried with him. Odil poli is nothing other than a thing that the son of the dead awo may inherit. The awo does not die while all his things remain alive. Agere is a pot full of holes, standing for the firm union of the secrets of life, so tight and close that it lets only one drop escape through each little hole and never the whole.

The sacrifice is made in darkness and after six in the evening. The awo of this sign cannot work after six, for he loses his riches.

The path where darkness speaks

On this path there was a man who was a priest and had abandoned the Santos and the church to take up another profession. One day, while he was giving a public address, a mulatta woman with whom he had had relations stood up and jeered at him. From that moment on she slandered him everywhere and did him great harm.

The priest’s affairs began to worsen and he did not know how to solve his problem. One day, when he was very low, he met Elegbá, who asked him what was wrong. The priest explained his situation and Elegbá advised him to go and see Orunmila.

When he reached Orunmila’s house, Orunmila told him that he had to make ebbo, attend to the Santos — above all to Oshún — and return to the church. The priest followed Orunmila’s counsel to the letter and was finally able to resolve his troubles and free himself of the arayes (strife).

To Iban Eshu.

Through this Ifá, Oshún is angry with the person on account of his conduct; therefore two hens must be given to her and she must be attended to, and alongside that the other Santos must be attended to as well. This Ifá calls for a total change of life in the person, including a change of work, in which the person must go back to practising his former profession.

The secret of the river ceremony of the omo orishas

Oshún lived with Shangó in the land of Ñomu Ñomu and she was pregnant. Shangó used to travel to different lands to come to know them, and on one of those journeys he was gone a long time. During his absence, Oshún gave birth to two children named Taowo and Kainde.

The people of the town had never seen a woman bear two children at once and began to criticise Oshún, accusing her of having been unfaithful to Shangó.

In despair, Oshún carried her two children to a malanga patch and covered them with ewe koko. Then she went to Orunmila’s house; he consulted Ifá and spoke to her of the tongue and of slander. He made a rogación for her and sent her to the house of Olofin.

Olofin received her and told her that, although she had already borne two children, one more was still to be born to her, named Idou. To bring this about, Oshún had to go to the river with the kuekueye she had used for the ebbo and leave it on the bank. Afterwards she was to bury the kuekueye at the riverbank and call upon Idowu onido edun omo, edun omo obayi wayo edun yosi, edun gbogbo.

Olofin informed Oshún that her children Taewo and Kainde were in the keeping of Oyá. He assured her, however, that she would have another child. Oshún performed the ceremony and the ebbo, and at last gave birth to her third son.

Olofin called together all the inhabitants of the land and told them that, from that moment on, all women could give birth to twins or triplets without being held unfaithful. Shangó also learned that he should not heed gossip and slander.

In this way Oshún was able to recover the trust and the respect of the people and to show that gossip and slander have no foundation whatsoever.

Ever since then, for the birth of an Omorisha, ewe ikoko is preferably used to cover over all that is bad and to wipe out any trace of araye oguede. In this way Shangó acknowledges the birth and takes the Omorisha keke to bathe in the river, so that both Oshún and Idowu may recognise that a new Omorisha is born and that everything bad he may have carried before his birth is washed away.

For this reason, when an Omorisha goes to Sodorisha, he is taken to the river to bathe and his secret is wrapped in ikoko. A bunch of manzano plantains is also placed in the room of Santo, as a token for Shangó to authorise the birth and make it lawful.

To Iban Eshu.

Never forget the one who helps you so much

There was a king in a town who ruled over what was not his. He had come there through deceit and trickery, and for that reason he was forever caught up in troubles and wars, since the local people would not leave him in peace. The king was weary and without peace, so one day he went to the river, which was what he worshipped, asking it to help him find the calm and the peace he so longed for.

Then Oshún appeared and handed him two things: a stone and an amulet made with the whirlpool of the river, on condition that the king keep the promise he had made her. Oshún told him that if he kept his promise and always kept in plain sight the things she had given him, he would be at peace and all would go well, and he would be able to hold his dominion over the town. But she reminded him that he must not forget to keep his promise, so as to avoid possible losses.

Elegbá, following Oshún’s orders, stole the little box from the king’s palace and carried it to the town’s main square, where he opened it and showed its contents to everyone. The people realised that the king had not kept his promise and grew furious, taking the king before Oshún to answer for his failure.

Oshún asked the king why he had not kept his promise, and he had no choice but to admit that he had forgotten his commitment. Oshún, angry, told him that he could not rule the town if he did not keep his promise, and that he must give up his post and return what she had given him. The king, ashamed, resigned and returned the pieces to Oshún.

Since then it is said that it is important to keep the promises made to the Santos and not to forget them once one has obtained what one wanted. Failing to keep them can bring negative consequences and even lead to losing what has been gained.

The king obeyed Orumila’s counsel and performed the ebbo, and after that Eshu returned the little box to him and reminded him that he must keep his promise and his offering to Oshún, and that from that moment on he must fulfil his responsibilities as king and respect the Santos. The king, following the counsel, kept his promise and began to honour and respect Oshún, and things in his town settled down. From then on the king learned how important it is to keep promises and to respect the Santos.

To Iban Eshu.

The ebbo goes to the river; in the box, the stone; the iye of Ifá is yellow cloth.