Oyekun Iwori – Oyekun Piti

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1.- Where Shangó Sent The Egguns To The Town.

Shangó was travelling through a town and saw a family whose child was ill. As Shangó passed by the door of the house, he heard someone say: «If my little boy is saved, I will give a rooster to Shangó.» Shangó did not note which house it was and said: «I will stay in this town, for they are going to feed me»; but the days went by and nobody fed Shangó.

So he called Ikú (death) and told him he needed to enter the town, because everyone there lived very well and there were always parties. People threw away their glasses of wine and their food, and they quarrelled among themselves, blaming one another for the situation. They came to knife fights, and there was a tremendous death toll in the town, until one man went to be read at the feet of Orunmila, who told him to give a rooster to Shangó. The man did so and everything went well for him.

Another neighbour, on hearing of it, asked him what he had done for his family to be well. He did the same as his neighbour and prospered too; but the man who had promised the rooster to Shangó went to see him.

Then Shangó ordered him to make ebbo and to take one road and not return by the same one. Shangó prepared a pit along the way he had to pass, and when he came back he fell into the pit. Shangó said to him: «You had to pay me, since you owed it to me.»

Omo of Osun

On this path, Osun felt alone and longed for company, so he went to the house of Oyeye Wori Awo. This babalawo saw this Ifá for him and told him that, in order to have a child, he had to offer euré to Obatalá, euré to Orunmila and euré to Oyá.

He also had to light 16 lamps of ori in honour of the spirits of Oduduwa until his child was born. Osun followed every instruction to the letter and, at last, Oyeye Wori Awo told him: «So that your children do not die at birth, you must give them eyele fun fun.» Osun did what Ifá indicated.

In time, Osun had children, and they scattered through the towns of the orishas. Osun realised that what Ifá had foretold had come to pass. In gratitude, he decided to honour Ifá and handed over his children to be consecrated by Oyeye Wori Awo in a ceremony dedicated to Ifá.

During the ceremony, euré dun dun, 4 adie dun dun, 16 eyele to Olofin, asho fun fun and $33.00 were offered. Once consecrated by Ifá, the children founded a town which they named Ashe Osun Nile, which is governed by Orunmila.

Why Shangó hurls lightning

Olofin sent for Shangó, but he refused to go. Seeing that he was not heeded, Olofin went to the house of Orunmila and this Ifá came out in the reading. Orunmila prescribed an ebo consisting of small black beans, a rooster and pica pica, and told him to place it at Shangó’s door.

When Shangó saw this, he began to hurl lightning. Since then Shangó performs this ebo, which is meant to do harm, and when it is for something good it carries a large eyá. On this path, it is held that Shangó should be given an important office.

This Ifá reveals that there is a debt owed to Shangó; one must be careful not to burn one’s face.

How it was born that men have beard, moustache and hair in the nose and the anus

Keta Aboñu, Insho and Iñi lived together and got along well. Insho was a trader, and when he set out on a journey he left his wife alone at home. On one of those occasions, Keta Aboñu took advantage of Insho’s absence and seduced his wife by offering her food she had never tasted before.

When Insho returned, he called his wife to perform the ofikale (a rite), but she refused and told him: «If you give me food, I will tell you what happened while you were away.» So Insho gave her palm oil (epo) and shea butter (ori), which she had never tasted before. From that moment the wife of Insho grew used to the fat, and she revealed to him that Keta Aboñu had given her food and had seduced her.

Insho grew angry, left his home and said to himself, alone: «When I find Keta Aboñu, I will finish him.» Elegbá, who was a friend of Keta Aboñu and always obtained food through him, heard what Insho was planning and ran to tell Keta Aboñu everything.

Then he said to him: «Let us go to the house of Orunmila.» There Orunmila consulted Ifá and saw the sign Oyekun Iwori, and said to Keta Aboñu: «The only thing that can save you is an unyeda.» Keta Aboñu made Ifá.

Seven days later, Keta Aboñu met Insho and attacked him. Insho, in turn, took his secret and ran off. He came upon a man whose mouth was open and slipped inside it with his secret of Ifá.

When Insho reached the man, the man asked him: «What is going on?» Insho told him everything, and the man said: «That is why Keta Aboñu was so eager to hide. That is why he got inside me.» Insho said: «I do not believe you», and he leaned in to listen inside the man’s belly, where he could hear Keta Aboñu leaping about and praying to Ifá.

Then Insho took Iñi, his friend, and told him: «Place yourself inside the man’s mouth, and if Keta Aboñu tries to come out, bite.» Insho took his children and placed them around the face and inside the nose, so that they would watch whether Keta Aboñu tried to come out and would destroy him. To other children he ordered: «Watch that he does not come out through the oriyoló.»

The man went to the house of Orunmila. He saw the sign Oyekun Iwori and told him there was a tefa (a problem). Since Insho was not a babalawo, they laid the man down to resolve the tefa.

But because Insho had a pact with Eran, he kept coming out, and so did Keta Aboñu. Insho carried away with him the power of life and the secret of Ifá. From then on, unyen (a kind of offering) had to be given to him throughout his life, just as when an awo (priest of Ifá) is consecrated, so that life and Ifá may continue in the world.

From that moment on, if a single hair is mixed into a man’s food and he swallows it, he vomits at once, because Insho and Keta Aboñu are still enemies. That is why men have hair in the nose, beard, moustache, and also in the anus.

Here insho (the hair), iñi (the teeth) and keta aboñu (the stomach) speak.

The path of the hair and the shaving

When the world was being formed, the head was not complete, because it was missing three things: the eyes, the ears and the hair. It felt that lack and went to see Orunmila, the knower of secrets.

It set out on the road and met Oyekun Iwori, who told it: «You are shaven bare, and since you do not see well, you can be deceived. Take care where you settle yourself, for there is someone there with envy and much stagnation. With the money the leri brought, it acquired two eyele korubo kofisono and amalá.»

The leri continued on its way. It found two hairs, one a woman’s and the other a man’s. Together they decided: «Let us dwell in this great empty house.» They occupied it and had many children. The leri went on its way and found the eyes, who said: «Let us dwell here», and they settled into their place. It was going along very happy when it heard someone say: «I cannot see you, but place yourself in this little hollow, for I am in the other one.»

The leri, seeing its progress, decided to go to the house of Orunmila. As soon as it entered, it said: «Iború, Iboya, Iboshishe.» Orunmila answered: «You lack nothing», and repeated the same words back: «Iború, Iboya, Iboshishe.»

What is heard and seen is not spoken

There was a time when Obatalá, father of Shangó, sent for the latter to come to his house, but Shangó always made excuses to avoid the invitation. Finally, Obatalá sent Elegbá to bring Shangó.

Shangó let Obatalá know that, since he was a king, he was very busy and should wait a while until he could come; that is what he told Elegbá.

So Obatalá went to the house of Orunmila, who saw this Ifá for him and told him to make an ebó with pica pica, akukó and two earthen jars, and to take it to Shangó’s door. It was at that moment that Shangó began to spit fire from his mouth, because Baba (Obatalá) had cast shepé upon him.

This Ifá indicates that what is heard and seen is not spoken.

The debt of two red roosters owed to Shangó

On this path there was a man who owed two roosters to Shangó and would not pay them. So Shangó decided to go to that town to collect, but the man still refused to settle the debt.

Shangó stayed in the town in disguise and time passed, but the man gave him nothing. One day, Shangó decided to act in order to collect what was his. He disguised himself as a gravedigger and went to the town cemetery. Using his knowledge, he stirred up the dead against the town of oyekun iwori.

The dead began to wreak havoc and people started falling ill and dying. Even though food was offered to the saints and to the dead, the dying went on. The people were desperate, not knowing what to do.

One man noticed that something abnormal was happening and decided to consult Orunmila. Orunmila read him and revealed this Ifá, saying: «I will tell you something: you must search among all of you to find out who owes something to Shangó, and thus the dying will stop.»

The man left Orunmila’s house and gathered all the inhabitants of the town, asking them: «Gentlemen, which of you owes something to Shangó?» From among the crowd, one man answered: «I do, but he has not given me what I asked of him.» Then the man who had consulted Orunmila said: «All the same, you must pay him what you owe so that the dying may stop.»

Nevertheless, the man refused to pay Shangó, and shortly afterwards he fell ill and died. It was then that the man who had asked the question realised that only a few of them were left, and he said: «It is better that we pay the debt to put an end to this calamity.» The people paid what they owed to Shangó in order to save themselves.

Shangó gathered up the dead, took off his gravedigger’s disguise, dressed as the devil, and then vanished.

The dead are the secret of Shangó; that is why he sends word that he is afraid of them.