Oyekun Pakioshe

All the great dead are sick

Ifá says that in that town there was no one alive when Orunmila arrived, neither men nor women. He could strike up conversation with no one, for they were all dead. Orunmila came upon Eleguá and asked him where the inhabitants of that town were.

Eleguá answered that all of them had died and that he had stayed behind to watch over them all, being their faithful guardian. This Eleguá was called Eshu Borde, the one who lives among the dead. Eleguá told Orunmila to look at the top of the hill. So Orunmila looked and saw the gleam of Osun, and said: «How is it that this one is alive?».

Because that is the great trophy of the fallen great kings, and it can never fall. Here is where Osun has many children and it is the birth of the new town, but he is not a father and no one can seat him. He sits upon the heads of all, so ordered by Olofin.

The creation of the family

Ifá says that Orunmila came to a place or town to better his fortune, because Ifá sent him there, and he went accompanied by Eleguá. On reaching that place, Orula found a wasteland with no people. During the osode consultation, this letter came out. Eleguá told him to perform an ebó and to carry it to the forest. Orunmila followed his instructions. Seven days later, he told Eleguá that he was going to populate that place. He sent for two women from the nearest town.

Eleguá went out in search of them and found two twin sisters who needed help because of their precarious situation. Eleguá told them that Orunmila would help them overcome their troubles. After the women looked at each other and Orunmila explained the situation to them and what they had to do, they were astonished at Orunmila’s words and fell in love with him.

In this way, one of the women joined with Eleguá and the other with Orula. The children born of those unions lived with their respective families, even with their own parents, and thus that place was populated. This is the lineage of the eyele, which are born two by two and pair off, creating a new family out of themselves.

Ikú hunted for Olofin

Ikú (death) once went hunting in the woods of Olófin, but before setting out he made ebó. Three days later he left for the lands of Olófin to hunt. On reaching Olófin’s woods, he saw an elephant and killed it. As he could not manage it alone, he cut off its tail and went to Olófin’s house to fetch the people, so that they might cut it into pieces and eat of its meat. When he arrived, he told the people to take the tools needed for cutting and carrying. The people did so and set out with Ikú for the place where he had left the dead elephant.

The people carried machetes and cutting tools to bone the animal. When they reached the spot where the animal was supposed to be, they found nothing. Ikú, showing the tail to the people of Olófin’s house, kept telling them it was no lie. Eshu told Ikú to go and rest, that he would go to see Olófin so that he might decide what was to be done.

Olófin heard what Eshu told him, and then sent the people to search everywhere for the elephant, but they came back with nothing. Seeing this, Olófin decided to consult Ifá. Osode was made and this Ifá came out, telling him that the mountain, since no one attended to it, had swallowed the elephant. Olófin ordered the people to carry ékó to the mountain, and Ikú went among them.

When they arrived at its foot, they laid down the ékó and began to petition it. Not long into the petition, the mountain opened and let the elephant fall, and it came rolling down to Ikú’s feet. When the people returned with the parts of the elephant, Olófin called Ikú and said to him: «From now on, Okuet shall be your head». And that is why Ikú, when he kills, kills with his stone axe.

The friendship of a jealous woman is very dangerous

There was once a young man who lived with his parents and, although he had several brothers, his father held a great adoration for him and he for his father. The father worked as a blacksmith and also took charge of clipping horses, which greatly excited the young man, who learned the trade of horse clipper.

In time, the young man became a grown man and decided to venture out, leaving his native town for a distant city. On arriving in that city, he began to face the hardships and needs of life. Before long he met a woman and they formed a close relationship, though not a lasting one. The woman turned selfish and the man decided to leave her.

Later on, he met a maiden whom he decided to marry. When the friend learned of his marriage, she did not oppose it, but she swore to him that his marriage would be a failure and a disaster, feeling herself mocked. And so it was: when the wedding day came, problems and obstacles arose that the man overcame miraculously, never forgetting that woman’s oath.

When his wife became pregnant, the first birth passed without trouble, but in the second, when a baby girl was born, the child’s life was in danger the whole time.

Faced with so much adversity in his life, the man decided to go to Orunmila’s house. Orunmila made osode for him and consulted Ifá, revealing to him what was happening and what he had to do to set things right. He was also advised to perform an ebó with the tools of his trade. The man followed the instructions and left very glad and satisfied, since all those difficulties had befallen him for not believing in the Saints.

Through this Ifá one must take awofaka or the warriors in order to attain stability in life, because there is a person who never stops working to bring about one’s ruin.

The son of the one-eyed bird

In that land of Ifá, the king was called Xovisowiño (son of the one-eyed bird), and there was a madman in the region who took shelter in the king’s name to sing it from morning until evening.

The king was troubled by this sacrilegious act and decided to consult Ifá. The sign Oyekun She came out in his reading and revealed the ebó mentioned above. The king performed the ebó, and Ifá ordered him to send a messenger into the bush, to the spot where the madman used to pass singing, and to bring him down the moment he went by.

The king’s messenger hid in the bush, and when the madman passed repeating the king’s name in every possible tone, the messenger suddenly hurled down everything he carried with a great crash.

The madman took fright and said: «What can this be? Who broke this bundle, who broke it? I heard a load fall to the ground and break». His words took on a new rhythm and turned into a song in his mouth, so that he forgot the king’s name and varied his singing on the five syllables of the ebó.

The modesty of Orunmila

Olokun, king of kings, fell ill, and although all the physicians of the town gathered together, they could not cure him. An old man who had come to the town heard of the king’s illness and made his way to the palace. On arriving, he told the king in front of everyone that he would heal him, which raised doubts among the physicians, and in the king himself. Even so, since the king was somewhat disheartened and did not want to die, he agreed to let the old man cure him.

Then Orunmila, who turned out to be the old man, took a mallow leaf from his bag and, after performing certain ceremonies, placed it on the king’s forehead and gave him an infusion to drink.

Within a few days, the king was completely cured. He wished to pay the old man, but the old man refused the money. As a token of gratitude, the king arranged a special banquet and called Oggún to go and notify the old man. However, the physicians, filled with envy at what Orunmila had achieved and feeling themselves diminished, intercepted Oggún, intimidated him and persuaded him not to fetch Orunmila.

For his part, Orunmila consulted Ifá, and Ifá warned him of betrayals. The day of the banquet came and the king noticed that his guest had still not arrived. When he asked after him, everyone answered evasively. Enraged, the king ordered that he be brought at once.

When Orunmila finally arrived, the king had the food served, but on realising that nothing had been prepared, he voiced his indignation and announced to all present that, from that moment on, Orunmila would be the supreme leader, in recognition of his modesty, disinterest, goodness and humility.

The mallow leaves are to be placed on the forehead and slept with, and the rest taken as a decoction as Orunmila indicates. The hens are for Orunmila and the chicken is to be given to Elegbá.

: try not to give it to Oggún. Olokun must be taken.