Ogunda She

When the son sought to kill his father

On this path there was a town ruled by a king who had many wives and, as a result, many children. Among those children was one the king did not know about, for the boy was as fond of festivity as his father. In the place where this boy was born, no flags were allowed to be raised except on one authorised day. The boy, however, ignored these rules and raised his flag every day.

The townspeople, seeing the boy’s unruly attitude in raising his flag, grew furious with him and went to Olofin to denounce him. Olofin decided to expel the boy from the town, since he behaved differently from everyone else.

On leaving the town, the boy created a state of war: he raised his own army and unleashed war against the king’s army. In the battles, the king’s soldiers always noticed that the boy fought in exactly the same manner as they did.

When the moment came to carry out the sentence against the king, the boy’s mother knelt before her son and revealed to him that the man about to be condemned was his own father. Hearing this, the king said with great joy: «that is why I had to be defeated, because you are my son, you are my blood».

He then took off his crown and handed it to the boy. But the emotion was so intense that the father, overcome with joy, fell dead.

Obi, itana, eku, eja, epo, awado, ada, ofa, (for Oggún) — he must be reinforced, and Orunmila must be asked what the reinforcement is.

Path 2

On this path it happened that juoni (Azowano as a young man) was covered in eruptions and felt ashamed, so he decided to leave his home. As the days passed, the sores worsened and grew more corrupted.

When juoni went into the wilderness, mosquitoes tried to bite his sores and flies harassed him constantly. To free himself of these insects, juoni took a coconut-fibre switch his brother suko had prepared for him, and with it he drove off the insects and the flies. Yet in every town he reached, he was driven out.

At last juoni came to a town ruled by a king named oraniyan (Shangó). Although there too they tried to throw him out, the king ordered that he be brought before him.

On seeing juoni, the king exclaimed: «this is a missionary who comes to care for the sick of smallpox, measles and other eruptive diseases». Juoni’s fame as a healer grew so great that people stopped speaking of Shangó. The king then ordered juoni to leave oyo.

Juoni obeyed and, because his foundation was in the cauldron, he did not have strength enough to carry it. So he set about dragging it with his forehead until he reached the palace of afafa in dahomey, where he established his own kingdom.

That is why the yarara is dragged up to the board of Ifá.

When Shangó lived with Oyá

On this path, Shangó and Oyá lived together. Shangó was young and handsome, with much luck among women, while Oyá was an older woman whose appearance was not pleasing. There were always arguments between Shangó and Oyá, since she tried to stay close to him and did things he disliked, such as turning up at every party and every place he went.

Shangó did not like being with her, but Oyá always appeared before him. He avoided going out with her because he felt ashamed at her side. When she appeared, a whirlwind would form and eyo (tragedy) would manifest itself. But in those places there was always someone whom such trouble did not suit.

That person was being pursued by the governor of that land because of a slander raised against him. That figure was Oggún.

Oggún had been accused of dishonouring the governor’s daughter, but Oggún was trusted by the governor and had not done it. There was an old man whom Oggún respected and cared for, since he was the governor’s healer. Oggún grew proud of his position and no longer listened to the old man’s counsel. At that time Shangó was one of the governor’s guards and, through his position, managed to get close to the governor’s daughter and persuaded her, dishonouring her. Eshu was always watching the girl, since he too was taken with her.

He was only the governor’s servant and did not get along with Oggún, but Oggún used him and gave him orders. When the incident occurred, Eshu told Oshún, who was attending the girl directly. Eshu, however, gave her the story inverted, making it seem that Oggún had been responsible for the dishonour.

After listening to Eshu, Oshún went to tell Oggún what had happened, since she was on good terms with him. Oggún flew into a rage and fled, while the news reached the governor’s ears, and he ordered Oggún captured. Oggún disguised himself as a vagrant and wandered with nothing everywhere, especially where there were festivals or drink.

Oggún gave himself over to drunkenness and became a beggar, until he reached the point of withdrawing into the wilderness so as not to be seen. Time passed and Shangó gained ever more power, both before the governor and before the people. Yet as Shangó’s authority grew, so did Eshu’s jealousy of him. Eshu knew that Oyá was Shangó’s woman and that he did not love her, so he revealed this to Oyá. It enraged her so much that she went mad and began to cut her face and her arms.

Seeing Oyá’s reaction, Eshu left in haste to tell Oshún everything and explain how the trouble had unfolded. Oshún, learning that Oggún was innocent, did not know how to tell the governor.

Oshún spoke with the old healer, who looked at her and saw in Ifá the sign ogunda she. The old man told her that she was the only one who could save Oggún’s situation and the governor’s health. She was to carry a jícara (gourd bowl) with oñí (honey) and go into the wilderness, and she would bring Oggún back.

When Oggún reached the palace, the governor died and Shangó fled to another land, because Oyá was hunting him to kill him. Oggún remained as governor and married the daughter of the late king.

When the son defeated the father

On this path, Oggún’s son was passing through the land of oyo and was known as a very brave young man. His mother, however, had never told him who his father was, since his father had gone off to war when he was small. The young man heard that in the land of bombo there was a brave man who dressed elegantly.

He decided to go there to challenge that man, who was said to be even braver than he was, not knowing that the man was his own father.

When he arrived in the land of bombo, the first thing he did was seek out that man and challenge him to combat, not knowing he was his father. The man, elegantly dressed and brave, accepted the challenge without hesitation, not knowing the young man was his own son. The combat was to be held the following day, and the son forged himself a machete from a file. The two faced each other in combat, and the son defeated his father.

The sacred word of Olofin

On this path, there was a time when women rebelled and sought to be equal to and even above men in everything. That constant struggle bred a war between them, and as a consequence they had no sexual relations and there could be no reproduction.

They decided to go before Olofin so that he might pass sentence. Olofin listened to them both and took two small boxes, raised them to his mouth and blew his ashé over them. Then he closed them and said: «keep them without opening them until I tell you, and when I call you, you will come with your boxes and I will open them in your presence, and each will receive what belongs to them».

The days passed and the man kept his box put away, but the woman was always curious to know what hers contained, and she handled it. One day she could resist no longer: she broke the seal, lifted the lid, and felt a current of air enter her body, leaving her unwell. At this she went to look for the man and told him it was time to go and see Olofin.

The man answered that they should wait until he summoned them. Despite the woman’s insistence, the two took their boxes and went before Olofin. Seeing them, Olofin said: «I have not called you yet, but since you are here, I will inspect your boxes». The man handed over his box entirely sealed, while the woman handed hers over open and explained what had happened to her and how she felt.

Olofin said: «what has happened is that one of the boxes held intelligence and talent, while the other held curiosity, envy, illness and all that is evil. Since you, woman, opened yours, everything negative has fallen to you». She said: «now I am ill». Olofin answered: «come up on my right, and my ego will heal you».

The woman went up, and as she climbed the steps she began to bleed from her parts, but on reaching Olofin’s feet the blood ceased. Olofin declared: «man, because of your conduct, you shall be the head of the family. You shall live with her again and you shall have many children, but whenever you see her with blood, you shall respect contact with her». To iban Eshu.

Note

Olofin told the woman: each time the new moon announces its light over the world, my word shall be sacred, law for you and for all female seed on earth, and the bleeding shall begin. That is why the woman’s normal menstrual period comes every 28 days.

The secret of the heads, the blood and the earth

On this path there was an awo who was a hunter and lived in great poverty, for he barely managed to hunt enough to eat, and even his clothes hung in tatters on his body. In desperation he went into the wilderness to implore Olofin. As he made his plea, Olofin appeared to him and gave him a secret: he was always to go into the wilderness to hunt, and he would prosper. From that day on the hunter had great luck in the hunt, and abundance came to his home.

His wife’s curiosity awoke, however, when she kept seeing that the animals her husband hunted had no heads. This struck her powerfully, and her curiosity led her to want to discover what her husband did with the heads.

One day she filled a bag with ash and made a hole in it, and when her husband went out hunting she followed his trail, scattering the ash. She came near to where he was and watched everything her husband did with the animal he hunted, the head included.

When he had finished, Olofin appeared to him and asked whom he had come with, since until then he had always gone into the wilderness alone. The hunter, astonished, answered that he had come entirely alone. Then Olofin asked about his wife, and she, seeing herself discovered, came out and approached her husband, begging Olofin’s forgiveness and confessing the curiosity that had brought her to that place.

Olofin, as punishment, told her: «if your curiosity was to see blood, from today you shall see it every month through your parts». And ever since, women have their menstrual period as a punishment imposed by Olofin.

When the king was defeated by his own tactics

There was a kingdom that, in all its long history, had never lost a war, and it was ruled by a very severe king. This kingdom was at war with another kingdom, and one day one of the men who worked with the king was deported and sent to the border of the neighbouring country, which was at war with them, because of certain conflicts. The severe king was already preparing to strike the final blow and conquer the other kingdom entirely, while his armies made ready for the encounter.

At that moment the deported man offered his help to the king of the other kingdom. The king answered him in surprise: «but we are already lost». The man, however, told him: «there is still time», and proposed changing the tactics of war and using the very same strategy as their enemy.

The king decided to follow his counsel and, as the war went on, the other kingdom began to gain the advantage in the fight. This caused great concern to the severe king, who summoned his men to study the situation, and they realised that the enemy army was using the same tactics as their own, understanding then the gravity of their position.

Faced with this, the king decided to lead his army in person, but the other army was too powerful and became unstoppable. The fighting intensified day after day, for even the women fought in the army that was defeating the severe king.

Among them was a woman who was worth many, one who in the past had had an encounter with the severe king and, in a moment of pleasure, became pregnant without telling the king anything. That son was the man who had been deported and who now fought against his own father.

As the war drew to its end with the surrender of the severe king, the deported man rose to the rank of chief of the other king’s army and was charged with directing the executions. The first to be condemned to death was the king.

In the mind of the mother of the victorious army’s chief, however, a terrible struggle was being waged: she thought that if she did not tell her son the truth, he would be the executioner of his own father and she would have her revenge; but on the other hand, if she told him the truth, her son would not carry that weight. While all these thoughts crowded her mind, the severe king was being bound to a tree with the rope of justice.

Just as they were about to execute the king, the army chief’s mother came to him and said: «my son, you have always wanted to know who your father was, and I never told you because I did not want the king to know that he was your father».

Then the son of the severe king ordered his father released. It was at that moment that the captive king and his followers understood why the other army had copied their tactics.

And he said: «it is my own blood that has defeated me. I knew that only my blood would be capable of it». He then called his son, begged his forgiveness, and took off his sword to hand it to him. Just as his son set the sword at his waist, the father king died. The son of the severe king was crowned king of the conquered land.

Care must be taken when a godchild draws this oddun, not only in untefa but when he takes the knife: he must be allowed to take it according to the work marked.

The man who wanted to be wise

Once a man came to Orunmila’s house and decided to consult him. Orunmila made the osode for him and the Ifá ogunda she came out. After speaking with him and giving him some advice, the man confessed that he wished to rule that town.

Orunmila warned him that this would be difficult, but the man argued that it could not be so, since there was no one in the town wiser than he was. Orunmila answered him that there is always someone who knows more than oneself. The man then mentioned that he owned Ozain and that he wanted to do something to dominate the wise men of the place. Orunmila told him: «put all the wise men inside Ozain» and, once they were inside, he was to go to a place where there was a palm tree and hang it there.

The man followed the instructions, prepared the Ozain or güiro, and set out to hang it on the palm. When he reached the palm and tried to climb up to hang it, he realised that much time had passed and he was still struggling to climb. Each time he was about to reach the top, he slipped. He was trying to climb with the güiro hanging on his chest.

He tried again, but this time when he was about to reach the top he slid down. At that moment another man passed by and, seeing that he carried the Ozain on his chest, said to him: «friend, do you not see that you cannot climb with the güiro in front? Swing it round to your back and you will see how easy it is to climb». The man, who had already got a good way up, heard these words with displeasure and said: «Orunmila was right, one wise man was left outside». Saying this, and full of rage, he let himself fall from the top of the palm and died.

Never seek to know more than others; you must be modest both in your acts and with other people.

When Oggún could not carry out Olofin’s command

On one occasion, Olofin ordered Oggún to destroy a town, killing all its inhabitants. Oggún carried out the task, but when he was about to kill a beautiful woman, he decided to spare her life and spent the night with her, leaving the following day. This woman became pregnant and gave birth to a boy. In time, thanks to this woman’s determination, the town rose again from its ruins.

Some time later, Olofin passed near that place and saw that the town was still standing. He immediately ordered Oggún to be found and confronted him violently for having deceived him. This time he ordered him to destroy the town completely, with no excuse or pretext.

When Oggún reached the town, he began to kill all its inhabitants. He came up, however, against a strong and agile young man, as much a fighter and as muscular as himself. For all Oggún’s efforts, he could not defeat him in a fierce fight to the death. Oshún, witnessing that merciless battle between the two men, came to Oggún and said: «Oggún, that is your own son», and to the son she said: «that is your father». Then Oggún withdrew, unable to fulfil Olofin’s order.

Hypocrisy was born, the maja mask of Oyá

Oyá and Obatalá had a son named ogunda obari Ifá, who from childhood sought to learn great secrets in order to prosper. Obatalá, aware of his son’s limits, did not want him to get involved with Ifá. One day, however, Oyá took advantage of Obatalá’s having gone to the land of ogunda alaba bi she to consult Orunmila.

She brought her son an obe and told him: «so that you may be initiated into Ifá as soon as possible, when your father returns, take the obe and a dove in your hand, as if you were threatening, and begin to sing: ‘agada na ileo, agada na ileo, omo Ifá wa agada na ileo, agada na ileo, Orunmila Ifá omo wa’».

Obatalá, hearing this, took fright and drew out an eyo he carried with him in his apo, striking his son’s hand with it and knocking away the obe, which pierced the eyele when it fell to the ground. Then Obatalá told him: «if you want to be great, you will have to do what this one did», and he showed him the eyo.

At that moment Oyá took the leri of the eyo, passed it over her face, opened it and placed it on her son, telling him: «this will be the mask of your life». Just then Oggún came in, and Oyá took the obe and the eyele and handed them to him. Then Oyá began to weep and to beg Obatalá to take their son to where Orunmila was, so that he might receive Ifá and thus be kept from ruin.

So Oyá set out with her son and took him to where Orunmila was, so that ogunda obari Ifá might receive his initiation. This oddun came out for him: ogunda bi oshe. Orunmila told him: «take your Ifá and go home, you have nothing more to do here. I will send you off with my ashé».

When awo ogunda obari Ifá returned home and told them what Orunmila had said, his parents began to weep and decided to take him to the land of inle obari eyo, where an awo named awo obani lekun lived. On arriving, they were received with a certain mistrust by awo obani lekun. Obatalá, however, had brought his son, and Oyá was present too.

They explained the reasons why they had brought their son, and asked him to grant him the virtue of transfiguring himself, changing his character and appearance at will, so as to attain greatness. At first awo obani lekun refused, but Obatalá and Oyá insisted so much that he finally agreed to their request and told them whom he needed to help him in that secret.

Obatalá and Oyá brought awo obari Ifá and together they consecrated him as awo ogunda bi she, granting him the ability to transform himself and to show before his oluwo a noble appearance and good feelings that he did not possess. And so ogunda bi she, wearing a kindly face, managed to deceive his oluwo and learn the great secrets his parents desired. He became a great awo thanks to the powers of transfiguration that Obatalá and Oyá granted him.

Note

The oluwo who has a godchild with this oddun must give 7 eyele to Oggún and to the earth; for this the earth is painted in 4 colours and ogunda she is set in the middle. Afterwards one cleanses with an adie and gives it to Oyá. If he does not have Oyá, he must receive her. On this path, both godfather and godchild must have Oduduwa and Olofin.

Nana buruku was an unmarried woman

Once upon a time there was a woman named nana buruku, who was already of some age but was still unmarried. She wanted to marry, so she decided to go and see Olofin to explain her situation. Olofin told her that she had a flaw and that, given her circumstances, he would find her a suitable companion, but that she must not meddle or pry into what did not concern her. In those days no woman in the world was known to have her period.

Elsewhere there was a man named ogunda she, who also wanted to marry but did not, because he was going through hard times. He had neither a house nor the means to build one. Olofin sent for him and told him: «let us make a bargain. You will be the hunter of doves and I will give you nana buruku as your wife».

They married and Olofin provided them with support and a house. Ogunda she went out to hunt on the first day, taking his catch to Olofin’s house, to the room Olofin had indicated. Once he had handed the animals over at the door to Olofin, he would withdraw to a ceiba tree and wait for Olofin to perform his rites. At first ogunda she could not see what took place.

When Olofin had finished, he would hand the pieces back to ogunda she, who carried them home. Yet when his wife opened them, she noticed that the animals had no blood. This scene repeated itself several times until one day she filled her bag with grains of maize and ash, opening a hole underneath, and decided to follow the trail the bag left behind.

It was then that she saw ogunda she carry two live rabbits to a house in the wilderness. Olofin left the windows open because he knew that ogunda she did not pry, and nana buruku took advantage of this to look in.

Olofin felt her gaze and swiftly seized her by the hand, telling her: «the blood you have seen flow shall also flow through your parts for as long as the world exists. You will have venereal diseases and you will have no husband». He sent her away and then called ogunda she, telling him: «for as long as the world exists, you will lack neither money, nor women, nor business.

You will leave memories in every place you visit». Nana buruku returned to her parents’ house, where her thirteen-year-old brother named aloa lived. One day, while nana buruku was bathing with the door open, she awoke her brother’s curiosity, and they had an encounter, owing to the lack of male company in the woman’s life.

Aloa began to break out in sores and, fearing that his parents would point to the trouble, he left home. Along the road he began to develop leprosy, and in every town he reached they rejected him and called him omolu buruku. They would throw food to him from the mat and run back inside the house.

So he walked for a long time until he came to a place where he found his companion, a dog named adu kake. This dog licked aloa’s sores and eased his pain. Continuing his pilgrimage, aloa reached the land of obara inle, where he was rejected as well.

Shangó, however, intervened and said: «here I decide». Then aloa told Shangó what had happened. Moved, Shangó told his people that this man came to cure epidemics and diseases, sent by Olofin.

The lie became truth, and aloa grew greater and more famous than Shangó. Realising this, Shangó deported him to the land of manigu and sabalú, where aloa became oba (king), and all his subjects agreed that, on the day of itá, they would sit down to eat the head of the owunko sacrifice offered to him, and would leave the remains at the door for omolu buruku to collect.

Afterwards they would run to his side so that he might free them. From that day on, all of this is carried out in that way.