Ojuani Obara Lozure

Adani the gambler

Adani was addicted to gambling, and his wife scolded him because he lost everything and she was going without. Adani mistreated her badly, because he believed his wife was the cause of his bad luck; but the woman went to the house of Orunmila and he prescribed her the ebbo with akuko, eyele meyi, obi meyi and $4.20, and from then on the two of them were happy.

How awo Ifá Awe attained prosperity

Awo Ifá Awe lived in a small house made of palm bark and branches, near a river. In his humble dwelling he had only one güira plant, which he venerated and in which his Ifá resided.

He lived in poverty and discouragement, since the other Awos showed him no respect, which kept him from any prosperous surroundings. To refresh his mind and clear his ideas, this awo always bathed with the ewes ewereyeye and oguma, in which he placed great faith.

One day, very early, he looked into his Ifá and saw his sign. Ifá told him that he must offer a sacrifice of a black ram along with kola nuts and fresh water. He also had to feed all the eggun with offerings of hen feathers accompanied by a she-goat, palm oil, palm wine, rum, cocoa butter, white powder, and his own head. At dusk the awo carried out every instruction of Ifá. He lay down and fell asleep, and began to dream of the eggun, who told him he must set out for the land of omo olo logun, singing along the way:

«aye Ni Ye Ifá Wara Wara Abeye Nile Ifá Wara Wara Eggun Omo Olo Logun».

He woke up frightened and consulted his Ifá as to whether he should make such a journey, and Orunmila confirmed that he should.

He began his journey singing the suyere, but realised that he had forgotten to bring food for the road. After walking a long while, hunger overcame him and he felt unable to continue without eating. Yet on his way he met an old man who was eating a rooster beside an aragba tree. That old man turned out to be Obatalá, who called him over and offered him food and water. He cleaned him with a white cloth and said to him: «My son, you will succeed in your undertaking. Further on you will meet a mischievous, playful fellow; that is Elegbá. Take this chicken and, when you meet him, offer it to him and stay a while keeping him company.»

Awo Ifá Awe followed the instructions and, when he met Elegbá, the latter was enjoying his meal. Awo Ifá Awe handed him the chicken Obatalá had given him, and in return Elegbá shared his food with him. Then Elegbá said: «I will go with you as far as your destination.» As they went on their way, Awo Ifá Awe chanted his suyere:

«ojuani Lozure, Lozure Ifá Ofa Odara La Ide Ifá Ifá Omo Lokolo Lo Iré Ifá Omo Lorisa Ifá Odara».

They continued towards the house of Awo Omo Olo Logun, and when they were close by, Elegbá said to Awo Ifá Awe: «This is where you must go; he will tell you what to do. He will grant you a good that will last your whole life, so that everyone respects and values you, and you become someone great like the other Awos.» Awo Ifá Awe arrived and Omo Olo Logun began to laugh, and then revealed to him everything that was happening to him. He handed him a secret that he was to follow to the letter, and told him to place an eya tuto inside it.

Awo Ifá Awe returned home and carried out every instruction of Awo Omo Olo Logun. At that moment a branch of the güira plant fell into the river, where a gourd was floating. The fish began to circle around the branch, and Awo Ifá Awe went into the river, took an eya tuto and placed it inside the gourd, just as Awo Omo Olo Logun had told him.

After doing all this, the various Awos of the town began to visit him and to take him into account in every matter. Even aleyos from different lands came and were astonished at the improvement he had known after performing the rituals.

Not long afterwards, Awo Omo Olo Logun appeared to Awo Ifá Awe to visit him and said: «I too will come and live with you near the igui, to help you and to secure your continued progress in life.»

The path of the three brothers

In the land of Boso, in northern Nigeria, there lived a most distinguished awo named Agbombo. He had three sons who were also awoses like him. Agbombo taught them Ifá, and they were followers of Ozain just as their father was. All of them were children of Ojuani Bara.

One day Agbombo fell ill, and both Orunmila and Ozain warned him that his departure from this world was near. So he called his sons and said to them: «My sons, I have taught you Ifá and Ozain, and now I will reveal to you the secret of Ojuani Bara. The ashé of this Ifá is found in Eure. When I die, do not separate. Live more united than ever and love one another, so that your patrimony and your ashé may be greater. But be careful, because among those who would divide it there is one who is a bastard. Do not divide my patrimony over that.»

Agbombo died and, despite his wish, his sons began to quarrel among themselves and accuse one another, each pointing out that one of them was a bastard. The disputes went on from war to war until the eldest of the three, named Akueti, said: «We cannot go on living like this. We are Awoses and this dishonours Ifá. What we must do is go to the house of the Oba and ask him to be the judge and decide the truth.»

Shortly afterwards the three brothers took up their Ifás and set out for Ilarin, where the Oba of that region lived. The road was a wide cobbled causeway and, because of their falling-out, the three brothers travelled apart and without speaking to each other.

After several days of travel, the brother who went ahead met an old man dressed in white, carrying a staff. The old man asked him: «My boy, have you seen a Eure?» The son of Agbombo looked at the old man and answered: «Yes, a Eure has passed by here.» The old man asked: «Did it have any particular feature?» Akueti, who was this brother, answered: «Yes, it was blind in one eye.» The old man went on his way in search of his Eure and shortly afterwards met the second son of Agbombo, whom he asked: «Sir, have you seen a Eure?» The son answered: «Yes, a Eure has passed by here.» The old man asked whether the Eure had any particular feature. The Awo replied: «Yes, it had a wound on its back.»

The old man carried on along the causeway in search of his eure and shortly afterwards met the third brother, whom he asked: «Son, have you seen a eure around here?» He answered: «Surely a eure has passed along this road.» Then the old man began to enquire whether the eure had any visible mark, and this awo answered: «Yes, it was loaded with a large basket.» On hearing this reply, the old man said: «All three of you have seen my eure, since you have given me its features, yet none of you says he knows where it is. Therefore you have stolen it from me. Let us go before the oba so that he may judge this.» The sons of Agbombo answered the old man: «Very well, let us go.»

The three brothers and the old man came before the oba and told him everything, and he asked them to explain. They then told him that they had not seen any eure on the road; they had only told the old man that a eure had passed along that road. The oba asked them to explain how they knew a eure had passed along that road, and he asked the eldest of the brothers: «If you did not see the eure, how did you know it was blind in one eye?» This awo answered: «Very easily, lord oba: the grass along the road had been grazed on one side only, therefore it was blind in one eye.»

He asked the second brother: «If you did not see it, how did you know it had a wound on its back?» He replied: «Because there were drops of blood on the grass where it had lain down along the road.»

He asked the third: «And did you see any eure on the causeway?» He replied: «No, my lord, I saw none.» Then how did you know that the eure was loaded with a large basket?» He said: «Because the prints of its hooves along the road were deep on both sides, therefore it must have been carrying a heavy load.»

After this, the oba made a consultation with Ifá and pronounced the salutations: «Iboru, Iboya, Iboshishe». On hearing this, the oba told the old man that they had not stolen his eure, that he should look for it along the causeway and, when he found it, he should divide the money in the basket equally among the three brothers.

Then the three brothers explained to the oba that they had come to see him because of a problem they were facing. The oba answered: «It is late today; let us retire to rest and tomorrow I will attend to you.» He ordered that they be lodged in a room and sent a servant to bring them rice and meat, but told him afterwards to hide and report back on what the three brothers said.

Akueti, the eldest, uncovered the food and said: «The rice is properly cooked, but it is dirty»; the second came closer and said: «The rice can be eaten; the meat smells of dog»; the third said: «The rice and the meat can be eaten, but the oba is a bastard.»

The servant ran and told the oba everything, and he sent for the maidservant and questioned her: «Why have you dirtied the rice?» She wept and told him: «The rice was fine; what happened was that I had been with my husband and did not wash my hands, and so the rice was soiled.»

The oba called the cook and asked him: «Did you kill a lamb or a dog?» He answered: «I killed a little lamb, but it turns out that the lamb’s mother was killed by a dog before giving birth, and that is why the lamb’s meat smells of dog.»

Because of this, the oba called his mother and asked her: «Am I a bastard?» His mother, weeping, answered: «Yes, it is true. Many years ago your father went off to war and I believed he had died there. As there were no men left in the town, I became the woman of a slave. But two days later my husband returned. After that event you were born, but you are the son of the slave. Seventy years have passed since then and no one in the world knows it.»

The oba said: «Iboru, Iboya, Iboshishe. The three brothers are awoses.»

The next day, before meeting with them, he made a consultation with Ifá and saw Ojuani Bara. When the three brothers came in, they told him their problem, explaining the reason for their visit and what their father had told them. The oba answered: «Your father was a wise awo. As for the eure and the ashé, you have already seen it with the eure of old Oshalufón. As for the second matter, do not be alarmed and do not quarrel among yourselves. Your father, being a wise awo, knew that after his death you would come to me. He told you this because I am the bastard son, the son of a slave belonging to the man I believed to be my father. Therefore you must live united, so that you may be great as your wise father wished. Iboru, Iboya, Iboshishe.»

Ojuani obara receives the prenda of foundation

There was an awo who was going through hard times and was ignored by the other awoses, who invited him to nothing and never visited his house.

One day the awo made a consultation with Ifá, and Orunmila told him to take a chicken, eku, eya and awado, and to go to a place where there was a very famous man (omologun), and there he would find his good fortune. On the way, however, he would suffer hunger and thirst, but he would meet a most peculiar man who would help him find the omologun.

The awo understood Orunmila’s message and set out on his journey. After walking a long way and finding himself exhausted and without strength, with great hunger and thirst, he met the peculiar man sitting at the roadside. He went up to him and explained his situation, and it was then that Eshu gave him water and food.

Afterwards the man gave the chicken, eku and eya to Eshu, who devoured them and offered the man more food, but he declined. Eshu guided the awo to the house of the omologun, who made him a prenda of zarabanda. From that moment on, the awo was able to find happiness and to improve in every aspect of his life. His house filled up every day with aleyos and awoses.

In order to lift his head and improve in everything, this person must have a prenda of foundation, which is what will give him firmness.

The yam vine

Ifá SAYS: that you must have a goddess of love in a bust. In this Ifá one keeps a Caridad del Cobre, but in bronze; it is washed and goes inside the canastillero like an Ozain. This is to bind and hold your wife, because ojuani bara will always be at odds with his woman. The canastillero in your house must always be clean and well kept. You have no head and your life is a disorder, and just as you keep your house and your canastillero, so you yourself will be. You mistreat women and at the same time you are very much given to falling in love.

There was a time when tribute had to be paid to the earth every time one was going to sow or do anything upon it. At that moment, Obatalá decided to sow yams, since that crop required little attention or care: it was simply sown and, in time, harvested. For this reason, Obatalá decided not to pay tribute to the earth.

As a consequence of this decision, the yams began to grow out of all control; their vines surrounded the whole house and Obatalá was left cut off from the outside world, unable to get out. After struggling for some time to free himself from his confinement, Elegguá passed by and helped Obatalá untangle the yam vines.

In this Ifá tribute is paid to the earth, kaferefun Elegbara. Yam is not allowed to grow inside the house.