Ika Wori

The bat

The bat had no wings, so it could not fly, and it walked clumsily. People, in their ceaseless hurry, stepped on it, and since they gave it no regard, they killed it, saying: «Look, a mouse.» One day, tired of so much abuse, the bat went to Orumila to ask for help, and through divination this Ifá came out, in which he was ordered an ebbo with a rooster, two doves and other ingredients.

After Orunmila made the ebbo for him, the bat obtained sheets that served him as wings and managed to fly. Believing that with this he had solved all his problems, he never returned to Orunmila’s house, without realizing that he had only acquired the ability to fly, but that he still lacked strength, foundation and character, so he was left without direction and unable to tell one thing from another, for not finishing the work. For this reason, he does not know what is put in his mouth, and he will just as soon bite it, eat it or smoke it.

By this path, when a person’s problems begin to be resolved, they never return to the awo’s house, and so they remain incomplete, just as happened to the bat.

The quail and the dog

There was a dog who was in her days of giving birth and had no house, so she went to the house of the quail, who was her friend and comadre, and told her the situation she was in, asking to be allowed to stay in her house until she gave birth. A few days later, the dog gave birth, and the quail said: «Now you can go, for you have already given birth.» But the dog answered that she should be allowed to stay until the puppies were stronger, and the quail permitted it. When she saw that the puppies were eating and growing stronger, the quail again asked the dog to leave, since the puppies could now accompany her wherever she went. But to her great surprise, the dog, in a fury, attacked her and drove her out into the street.

The quail, seeing her situation, went to Orunmila’s house for a reading. But Orunmila told her that there was nothing more he could do so that she could return to her house, for she had disobeyed his advice. He had told her not to take anyone into her house. But he would make ebbo for her so that she would die in destitution.

By this path, the person must not take anyone into their house, because they can lose their position and end up destitute in the street. For all that the person knows, they sleep on the ground like the quail.

When Yuno boasted of his work

By this path there was a young man named Yuno, who lived with his parents and led a stagnant life, contrary to his aspirations of prospering and gaining wealth. One day he decided to go out and seek his fortune, and he came to a place in the countryside where he found uncultivated lands. When he asked about them, a man told him not to bother with those lands, that he would lose his money, since they yielded to no one.

Even so, Yuno decided to go see the owner of those lands, who lived in a large, luxurious house. When he knocked on the door, he was received by Elegbá, who told him he would take him to see the owner, who was Orunmila. Yuno asked Orunmila for the idle lands to work them, and Orunmila asked whether he alone would work those lands, to which Yuno said yes. Orunmila promised to give him the land and everything needed to work it if what he said was true.

Yuno began to work without rest, and after a few months the whole land was sown and each day he prospered more. But a spell of bad weather destroyed everything. Yuno did not lose faith and returned to Orunmila to tell him what had happened. Before he left his house, Orunmila asked him to make an ebbo and to give a rooster to Elegbá, who was the one who had let him into his house, and two hens to Ifá.

Yuno made the ebbo and sowed his land again, which in a short time gave abundant harvests, and his wealth began to grow. One day he met Elegbá and scorned him. Elegbá met Shangó and told him what had happened. Shangó ran to Orunmila’s house and told him everything. Orunmila said that Yuno had to attend to Elegbá before anyone else, ask him what he wanted so that he would lift the harm that had been done to him, and beg forgiveness for his conduct. Yuno did so, and Elegbá asked him for an owunko and a sack of corn. Yuno fulfilled his duty to Elegbá and all his harvests recovered. Yuno learned that he could never boast before those who help him.

The monkey

When it is said that the monkey is not pleasing, it is because he has everything yet possesses nothing, for he is cursed, and for that reason he carries his house on his back. He always lives in the branches of the trees, which are his house.

INTERPRETATION: You carry a burden on your back and you are cursed; all the weight of your house rests on you. You are never well seated, you run into many obstacles and have difficulty settling down; you are always floating in the air.

Where Oggún wanted otí

Akuko, aparo, oti, eku, eya, awado, iro, efun, epo, malaguidi okuni.

Oggún, a strong and brave man, fought against the tyranny of Obatalá Obalofun to free his land. After his victory, he decided to go live on a nearby hill, where the people worshiped Ina as their ancestral god.

One day Oggún wanted to drink otí, but no one in the area would offer him any, and as the days passed he grew more and more enraged. He discovered that there was a man named Aparo Degbe Aya who was responsible for no one offering him the otí, since he was the husband of a goddess named Ibag Idan and had the power to transform himself into an aparo (quail) to evade Oggún.

Oggún decided to hunt Aparo down and kill him, but he could not catch him because of his ability to transform himself. He then went to Orunmila, who advised him to make ebbo in order to capture Aparo. After doing so, Oggún managed to capture Aparo and tortured him, but he said nothing.

In his agony, Aparo called upon Obatalá, who brought him back to life and took him to the river to live with Ibag Idan. Meanwhile Oggún, seeing that the people of the area would not offer him the otí, killed almost all of them. When he was finally able to drink otí from a palm he had ordered his children to trim, he discovered that the drink was made with Aparo’s blood.

Frightened, Oggún went to Orunmila, who told him that this was the secret of the blood of Eggun Olufon, who lived inside Ope. They performed a ceremony so that the palm wine would forever be the spirit of Obatalá’s blood, which is why the drink unsettles the heads of those who drink it, as a way of reminding them of the disrespect shown to Obatalá.

When Oshún gave up the quail

Oggún and Oshún. One day, Oggún came home early and noticed something strange in the bed, which made him doubt the faithfulness of his wife Oshún. But Oshún had a quail that warned her whenever Oggún was on his way home.

Shortly afterwards, Oggún went to see Orunmila for a divination and discovered that there was someone who was not loyal to him. To unmask that person, Orunmila told him to make a rogación with a puppy and other ingredients, and then to bring food to the puppy for four days so that it would grow attached to him.

After four days, Orunmila handed the puppy over to Oggún. As they walked back home, Oshún’s quail saw them in the distance and was confused to see Oggún playing with the puppy. The quail thought it was someone else, but finally realized it was Oggún. The puppy, however, began to bark at it, and the quail had to flee to safety.

When Oggún arrived home, he discovered that Oshún was having an affair with someone; the two of them jumped out the window and fled into the forest. In the end, Oshún sold her quail as a way of asking Oggún’s forgiveness.

When the owl was made queen

In this story of the owl, she was crowned queen and displayed all her skills, but she had one flaw: she slept all day. Because of this she made many enemies, and one of them was the kestrel, a mischievous bird who began telling the others that he was the owl’s brother and that she had granted him the power to rule. Taking advantage of the situation, the kestrel governed disastrously, while the owl, unaware of it all, spent the day sleeping. When she awoke at night, the kestrel, who had been busy during the day, was already asleep.

The people’s complaints reached the ears of Olofin, who urgently sent for the owl. When she came before Olofin, he asked her what was happening on earth and why everyone was complaining about her. The owl answered that she governed well, but Olofin was angry and cursed her, telling her that since she spent the whole day sleeping, she would sleep only by day and go out only by night for as long as the world exists. «To Iban Eshu,» said Olofin.

This is an Ifá of impersonation, where the person may carry the blame for the misdeeds of others. One must keep one’s eyes wide open and be wary. The works must be done quickly, and one must never send others to do them in one’s place.