Ojuani Hermoso

Ojuani Hermoso, the one who parts the shadow and brings the light

The akuko is given to Osun at once.
The abo for eggun together with Shangó.
The ada and akatampo are set before Oshosi.
The eyele together with gbogbo ashe for obori.
The eure for Orunmila together with the adie.
The juju of aikordie are placed one on each horn of the eure.
The third one is tied to Orunmila’s necklace.
The emu is the mariwo that is placed inside Orunmila with the crushed ataré, and over this the eure and the adie are given.

In the Land of Pele Pele lived Awo Itana, who carried a great burden of work and devoted himself to freeing people from negative influences and from the shadows of the Eggun Buruku, performing oparaldo for all who needed it. However, he did these things without consulting Orunmila as to whether he could do them or not, which brought him countless problems, sufferings and troubles he could not explain to himself. The bad shadows of those people clung to him, leaving him worn down, but because of his good heart he went on attending to everyone, both those with means and those without.

Awo Itana had a twin brother named Awo Ikuku, who was an Eggun and lived in the shadows of the Land of Oboshe Dosun Emu, also known as the Land of Yewá, where people covered themselves with ewe emu, which was the name of the Mariwo (sacred herbs). They would go to that land and return with the calls Shangó made to them, lighting the Itanas for them: «itana Lolo Aberikuku Oyo Eggun Fumi Laulau». Thus they came out of the shadows into the light of the Itanas that Shangó lit, and they travelled the world covered with ewe emu, working for Shangó.

Awo Ikuku, when he returned from Ara Onu at Shangó’s call and by the light of the Itanas, would observe the situation of his brother Awo Itana on Earth and grow sad at the hardships he was going through.

One day, while Awo Itana was performing an oparaldo for an aleyo and lighting the Itanas, he saw a shadow approaching covered with ewe emu, singing: «awo Itana Boku Ikú Eggun Shangó Itana Lolo Eggun Funi Laulau».

He then recognized his twin brother, Awo Ikuku, who was an Eggun of the Land of Yewá, and he said to him: «Brother of mine, you must offer Yewá an eya tuto and cook it with gofio and tomato. Then place it in the yabre (drain pipe) of your house to plant the shadows of this Land, and so we will protect you and help you in everything. You must do this constantly, and also feed me with an abo alongside Shangó».

Awo Itana followed the instructions and his situation changed. His health improved and he became prominent in the Land of Pele Pele, which was a place of calm and rest. In time, however, he forgot his brother’s counsel and, because of his good heart, went back to attending to people’s gravest problems, and once again found himself facing the same difficulties as before.

By then Awo Itana already had a son for whom he had made Ifá, and the son was called Ojuani Amosu, just like him. This situation began to trouble Awo Ikuku, and one day, while Awo Itana was performing an oparaldo for an aleyo whom no other awo would attend, and as always guided by his good heart, without having consulted Orunmila, Awo Ikuku came to him and said: «Do not perform that oparaldo. Attend to yourself first». Awo Itana, however, ruled by his good heart, did not heed the counsel and went on with the work. At that moment Awo Ikuku warned him: «To put an end to your sufferings and illnesses, I will take you to my Land, the Land of Yewá, where you will be able to rest».

When Awo Itana’s son saw his babalawo dead, he knelt down and began to weep. Awo Ikuku appeared to him and said: «Your father did not listen, and you are the only one who can make amends for that fault with Orunmila. You must offer your Ifá, which is the same as your father’s, a eure. But first you must place ewe emu and hand it over to Orunmila. Then you put ataré and you offer the eure and the adie. And on the horns of the eure, place my crown and my brother’s, so that you may receive the blessing of Orunmila».

Awo Ikuku handed Ojuani Amosu the Aikordie Meyi and told him: «You must always wear the juju of Aikordie on your ileke so that Olofin may recognize your obedience. You must go to the land of Oshosi and deliver this», and he took out an ada and an akatempo, «so that the arayes of that land cannot do harm. From time to time you must rest, so that the negative shadows of the people of the Land do not affect you. Take two eyele, an igba with omi tuto, add oñí (honey) and set three ashas. Then you call me and your babalawo for three odduns, and on the third day you light the three ashas and smoke them over the igba. Offer the eyele and pray:

“leri Pele Pele Sakalere Gbogbo Legun Layé Eggun Odara Agba Eri Eri Layé Mafun Agba Yire Leri Eggun Agba Eri Eri Bayé Olofin Eri Baye Agba Eri Eri Awo Itana Ni Odara Nire Nire Awo Ikuku Eggun Wa Layé Ni Eggun Ni Odara Leri Ni Odara Modukpue Olodumare”.

You must say this while holding the two eyele over your head, then sacrifice them and sing:

“nire Nire Agbani Lorun Awo Ikuku Agba Eri Odara Nire Nire Agbani Lorun Awo Itana Agba Eri Odara».

The leri of the eyele you place inside the igba, and once you are done, you smoke them again with asha. Then you take the itana Meyi, cross them and say:

“awo Itana Awo Ikuku Mafún Ashé».

You light them and sing:

“awo Itana Lolo Aberikuku Oyo Eggun Fumi Lao Lao».

Afterwards you lie down to sleep beside the igba, for Shangó and all the eggun will come to crown you with ashé so that you may live better. Early in the morning you perform the ebbo misi on your head using the contents of the igba, rubbing your head with the leri of the eyele. Then you take those leri to ilé oke together with all the asho, plenty of efun and orí.

You take one wing from one of the eyele and wrap it in asho fun fun, while the other you wrap in asho dun dun. You take both to the Elese Aragba and you call Shangó and all the eggun.

So did Ojuani Hermoso, and his power was great. As he was heading home with the inshe, his babalawo and Awo Ikuku appeared to him and said: «From this day and for all the days of the Earth, when you light itana for eggun, Osha or Orunmila, you must cross your arms and ask the blessing of Awo Itana and Awo Ikuku, so that your affairs and your inshe may be blessed by Orunmila and Shangó». From that day on, Ojuani Hermoso was known as the one who parts the shadows and brings charity, thanks to the power of Shangó, Awo Itana and Awo Ikuku.

In the atena of the oparaldo, this oddun cannot be missing.

The path of the birth of obe

Agada mosarao
Agada mosarao Orunmila lorda obbe
Agada mosarao.

Ogún and Oyá were awoses, but Olofin always kept them at his feet to attend to him alone. Orunmila and Shangó were on earth trying to save humankind (the children of Olofin), but it was all in vain.

Orunmila fell ill from sorrow and shame; Shangó was sad to see Orunmila in such a state, and the plants and the animals were the same. Only ikú (death) was thriving, and humankind kept perishing. Olofin spent his time praying, and he kept Elegbá and Ogún on their knees.

One day Oyá looked down and saw how people were dying; she began to flash lightning and to cry out «Oyekun Nilogbe». Orunmila and Shangó woke at Oyá’s cries, and Shangó ran out and began to hurl fire upon the earth. Olofin took fright and asked Ojuani Hermoso what was happening. Then he called Oyá, and she began to sing. Shangó went on throwing fire, the animals bit one another, the herbs complained to one another, human beings were dying and death kept running.

Oyá called Olofin so that he might see what was going on, and he told Elegbá and Ogún to remain kneeling. Then he ordered Oyá to come down at once, and he turned her three times, and she began to throw fire from her eyes and her mouth, and her hands began to tremble. She came down and said to Shangó: «Come up with me». Shangó went up and entered Olofin’s house and said: «For the world to be saved, you must pour out your Ashe», and he sent for Orunmila. At once Shangó turned three ram’s somersaults, reached the place where Olofin’s secret was, took the Óbè that Olofin had hidden, and presented it to him. Olofin took fright and asked: «What is this?», and Shangó answered: «This is Olofin’s salvation, and Orunmila must be sent for». Straightaway Olofin said to Oyá: «Prepare everything to go to Orunmila».

Orunmila was making omiero for everything, getting ready to bathe in the river. He had a fish before him with ekuru, olele and akara to eat, when suddenly he felt something fall. It was Shangó, who had thrown Óbè and it had landed inside the pot of omiero. Shangó said to him: «Do not be frightened; this is so that you may put an end to all the evils in the world and humankind may live».

When Olofin arrived with Ogún and Elegbá, Orunmila immediately asked Shangó to put mariwo in all those places. Ogún and Elegbá arrived frightened. Then Ogún, with what he had in his hand, began to kill animals, fighting against them. The only animal he could not kill was the abo.

Elegbá cleared the path, while Olofin stood frightened. Orunmila said to him: «You have my children kneeling and punished». Then Olofin began to sing: «Agada moso aráe, agada moso aráe, Orunmila loda Óbè, agada moso aráe». And Olofin and Ogún began to hurl Óbè.

Orunmila ordered Shangó to go and fetch Elegbá, and he went along singing: «Ashó eye agundé». Ogún stopped, holding an abo in his hands, while Elegbá had owunko and euré. They went to where Olofin was and, following Shangó’s instructions, they handed him the abo. Elegbá carried owunko and Ogún euré, while Elegbá sang: «Moyubá lorisha, moyubá lorisha, ashe moyubá lorisha».

Olofin, with 16 Ítanas in his hands, began to sing: «Ifá odara ení odara oyukayó mama yangueré po». Then Orunmila began to open Elegbá’s hands and told him: «The ewé serves for bathing, and thus humankind will be saved». He asked Elegbá whether he would keep the oath, and he answered yes to everything.

: If one does not love oneself, one cannot love others.

Where Osun was pursued

Osun, pursued by his enemies, fell ill and suffered a certain madness. Faced with this, Osun went to Orunmila’s house seeking divination. Orunmila saw this Ifá for him and prescribed a rogation with obi and omi tutu.

Osun, however, paid no attention and neglected Orunmila’s instructions. He did not know that his enemies were following him to kill him, and that they had set a trap for him.

One day, as usual, Osun left his house and went down a path where his enemies surrounded him with four stakes. Distracted, he did not notice that they were marking him with white and black thread, and then they began to beat him. Osun cried out in desperation.

His cries reached the ears of Shangó, who was nearby. He came at once and rescued him from his enemies’ hands, taking him to Orunmila’s house. There, seeing the state Osun was in, Orunmila prescribed an Ebo for him, and thanks to it Osun recovered his health and his sanity.

The vengeance and the swindle of Ifá

In the land of Okan Nile there were many awoses who boasted of their knowledge but in truth swindled the inhabitants of that land, for they had separated from the elders of the community. They deceived people and spoke ill of Ifá, taking advantage of their lack of faith. The babalawos no longer earned money — neither the renegades nor those who had joined their scheme. So they decided to take measures to recover their hold over the people.

They prepared a banquet to which they invited Gunugu, Olofin’s messenger, and when she was drunk they offered her as a sacrifice to Ifá, covering it with her feathers. But they did not know how to carry out the consultation of Ifá properly. They called Kana Kona, a hawk awo, and although he had no money, he agreed to help them. However, when he asked what they had offered to Ifá, they could not lie and admitted that they had given Gunugu. Kana Kona rebuked them, saying: «You brutes, you have offered to Ifá the messenger of Olofin, who is my companion. I will not perform that Ifá», and he left.

They then decided to go to Awo Agba Kana Nile, the Oba of Ifá of that land from which they had long separated. When they arrived, the Oba told them: «I am old now; speak with my godchild». The godchild, like his godfather, knew that the decision on that Ifá belonged to Olofin. He advised them to go and see Olofin, who asked them whether they had performed the ebbó. They answered no. Olofin then told them to make the ebbó and afterwards bring it so that he could see what came out for them.

They performed the Osode and the sign of Ojuani Iroso came out. They completed the ebbó and took it back to Olofin. Seeing the sign, Olofin told them: «You are renegades; shame will follow you for having used Ifá to swindle human beings». At that moment Agba Eggun, the eldest of those who communicated with the spirits, fell into trance and acted as intermediary before Olofin. His guiding spirit was Agba Eggun, the most ancient of the dead of heaven, and through the medium he revealed to them how to perform Ifá properly, saving them from greater dishonour.

The eggun and his brother

There was an awo who devoted himself to cleansing people of their evils without consulting Orunmila as to whether he should do it or not. This brought him many problems and deep affliction, since he absorbed the negativity of all those he helped. Even so, this awo always found time to take on other people’s troubles.

It happened that this awo had a dead brother who had also been an awo in life. From the beyond, the brother watched how his brother fared on earth and suffered the same calamities he was going through.

The eggun, the spirit of the departed brother, helped his awo brother greatly, and his situation changed completely. In time, however, the awo forgot everything that had happened and, moved by his good heart, once again began to attend to everyone who came seeking his help. As a result, he found himself back in the same adverse circumstances and facing the same problems, which began to trouble the eggun.

One day a man came to the awo whom no one wanted to attend because of the negativity he carried with him, but he had faith in the awo. The man told him his situation and the awo decided to help him. At that moment the departed eggun appeared to his brother and warned him not to do anything for that man, since he himself was not well and needed to be helped first.

Despite the eggun’s words, the awo, moved by his good heart, ignored the warning and was about to help the man. Then the eggun said: «Very well, in that case I will take him with me so that he suffers no more on earth», and he took him away so that he might rest. That was the only way to put an end to his suffering, the eggun concluded.

Maferefun eggun!

How the lie was made

In a village there were many wise men, but none of them had had a teacher, for the elders refused to teach anyone, fearing that these men would ruin everything. There was one, however, who had the good fortune to learn with a teacher, who in turn had an apprentice to whom he passed on all his knowledge.

One day the teacher said to his apprentice: «My son, to know, one must learn, and now I am going to explain it to you». And he went on: «When the elders were alive, they supported and assisted one another, and I too was part of that group, for since I was a child I have done nothing but learn these things diligently, as they did. Now, however, all of them have died, and only I am left, with no one to care for me. Only you, my apprentice, can do so, and you know who you are». And he concluded: «Uon ti iza rilla: iron, na iron agua» (which means «the great lie»).

Where they went to fetch the hawk to make itá

Once the wise men had exhausted every resource and had nothing left to do, they gathered to devise something new so as to go on deceiving humankind and everyone else. Having used up every resource of killing she-goats, hens, deer, he-goats and so on, something new came up: to feed Orunmila. They decided to feed him a vulture, since it too was a black bird, and so they did. After giving him the meal, they were all afraid to make itá, and they thought of the hawk, the vulture’s companion, and went to fetch him.

The hawk, who knew nothing about this meal and needed money to live, said that as long as God existed he would eat neither grass nor earth, just as the vulture would not. When the hawk arrived, he asked who was eating, and they told him it was Orunmila. He asked again what he was eating, and then they told him it was the vulture. The hawk answered them: «My companions, you killed the vulture for Ifá and you came looking for me to make itá; no, I will not make that itá».

Some time later, the teacher died and some of the wise men wanted his apprentice to cut the dead teacher’s hair to perform his itutu. The apprentice, remembering what his teacher had told him, sang to them:

«uon Ti Iza Rilla: Iron»

The enemies of Ojuani Iroso

Osun had many enemies who wanted to harm him, but he paid them no attention and lived carelessly. His enemies, however, intensified their attacks to the point of trying to kill him. At that point he decided to seek Orunmila’s divination, and Orunmila revealed this Ifá to him and told him to make an ebbó and a rogation. He did only one of the two.

One day he left the village where he lived and went down a road. After walking some distance, his enemies, who had laid a trap for him, surrounded him with stakes, leaving him trapped. Filled with fear, he began to shout and call for help, and his call was heard by Shangó, who was riding his horse nearby at that moment and came to his aid to save him.

Every plate breaks; the igba does not

Awo Igba was a babalawo who always complained that no one treated him fairly, which is why he rarely left his land. His land was Igbawo, a land of earthenware, and everything he owned was made of that material. His fortune depended on the plates he had in his house. But every time they broke, his fortune went with them.

Awo Igba was tired of this situation, so one day he decided to visit Awo Osun, who lived in the land of Igba Awo Kuele. He set out, and when he arrived he told him everything that was happening to him. Awo Osun performed an osode and saw Ojuani Iroso, where he told him that his fortune kept slipping away because he always held it in his hands, in the plates he worked with in his land. Though they were beautiful, they broke easily, and his fortune escaped with them. He told him he must stop using plates and begin using the igba (jícara, the gourd bowl), since when it fell it did not break, and so he would not lose his fortune, allowing him to live better despite the many enemies he had.

He then instructed him to make an ebbó and told him he must swear an oath on the secret of Shangó that was in that land, which would allow him to live free of trouble. He made the ebbó with the 16 igbas and painted Ojuani Iroso on them.