Ika Ogunda

Ika Ogunda falls in love with Oshún

Ika Ogunda went to the riverbank and wounded himself on a thorny stick; while he was tending the wound, Oshún arrived and, seeing him, brought him a little oñí (honey) and an herb, and healed him. Ika Ogunda then fell in love with her; they began to live together, and he presented her to his mother.

Before long he prospered and lived more comfortably, because he only had to hunt for her, and in this way he lost many enemies; but in the end Oshún left him for another man.

The ewe ayua

Ika Ogunda represented the boat and is one of the children of Yemayá, but through his kindness, his discipline and his diligence he was always the favorite, to the point that he is the only one who carries cargo from the ship to land; he became Olofin’s favorite hunter and a great warrior, and won every war for Olofin.

The monkey who saved Ika Ogunda

Ika Ogunda was a hunter of singular skill; only Olofin ate what he hunted. One day, all the animals surrounded him in the forest to devour him, but Ika Ogunda climbed a tree where there was a hut inhabited by a female monkey.

From up there, the hunter could see all the traps the animals had laid for him. When the monkey returned and found the hunter in her home, he spoke to her in the language the animals understood, for he had already spent a long time in the wilderness.

He told the monkey of his plight, and since the hunter was on good terms with the monkeys, because he never hunted them, she agreed to help him, on the condition that afterwards he would allow the monkeys to mix with the people of the town, for they lived far off in the forest.

The hunter accepted, and the monkey fetched the skin of a dead monkey and put it on the hunter so that they could leave the forest together without being detected by the other animals. The monkey wanted to live with the hunter in the town, for she had fallen in love with him, and he accepted her company.

In the end, Olofin would accept only the animals that Ika Ogunda hunted, which gave him a privileged position in the community, and the monkey was able to live with him in the town.

The boy, Oggún and Ozain

A boy to whom Orunmila had given Ufá only a few days earlier went out into the street and bumped into another boy. The boy shoved him, and he immediately went home and set about doing works of Ozain, after which, wherever he went, Oggún kept running into Ozain. Until, weary of it all, he went back to Orunmila’s house, and Orunmila told him to make ebbó and place it on the path where Ozain used to pass.

Ode ati e Inle

There was a hunter of elephants who suffered many losses because, although he managed to wound those animals mortally, they would take refuge in a thicket divided by a very deep river which the elephants could leap across and the hunter could not follow. As a result, he lost all his prey. In despair, he went to Orunmila’s house to have his sign consulted.

Orunmila told him that he had many losses and that he had to make the ebó he would prescribe in order to recover everything he had lost. The hunter made the rogation with an ivory boat, a rooster, an eyele, cotton and an herb of baba (Maferefun Inle). Then he carried the rogation to the riverbank and prepared a new hunting expedition.

Weary at last, he sat down on the riverbank and fell asleep beneath a tree. On waking, he noticed a man near him, asleep in a boat. When the boatman awoke, he invited him to eat, and they struck up a conversation in which both lamented their bad luck. The hunter told him that he could not capture his prey, and the boatman said that he had no one to ferry across the river. From then on, the boatman carried the hunter to the other side of the river, and the hunter was able to recover everything he had lost, which was all the ivory of the elephants.

MAFEREFUN INLE

The three horses

There was a warrior who had three horses: one white, one black and one golden. In the first war that came his way, he rode his white horse and lost it. Not long after, in the second war, he rode his golden horse and lost that one too.

When the third war arose, he had only the black horse left, and before setting out he went to Orunmila’s house in search of divination. Under the Odu Ika Ogunda, Orunmila told him: «To win the war that lies before you, you must make ebó with a rooster, horsehair from the tail, flowers, and so on.»

After making the ebó, the warrior went to war riding his black horse and emerged victorious. Afterwards, the warrior on his black horse went on warring, conquering, selling and trading, and in every land he conquered he planted a white and red flag.

7.- THE OBSTACLES ON THE ROAD.
PRAYER:Ika Ogunda Combi Sami Abele Kuao Yeye Ibu Losa Adifafun Oshún.

There was a tribe whose leader was greatly admired for the way he governed. This man, whose knowledge was vast, had many enemies both within and beyond his land, and so he was always on guard against a possible betrayal that could cost him exile or death.

One day, the king learned that a neighboring tribe was preparing a surprise attack to destroy his town and his land. He summoned his council and, after consulting the oracle of Ifá, this odun of Ifá came out, advising him to move his people to a higher and safer place, but to do so as soon as possible and in secret, or else they might all perish.

The chief gave the necessary orders and, after a night march, at dawn they came to a road that ended before a gigantic tree blocking their way. As those men were strong and hardy, they opened a hole through the broad trunk, passed through it, and then filled it in with rocks. After walking a little further, they reached the shore of a great lake that once again barred their advance, for they did not know how deep it was beyond the shore and could not risk the children and the women drowning.

They paused at the shore and, after resting a while, continued walking along the edge of the lake. Further on, all the children, the women and some of the men went into a nearby wood in search of food, except for a woman who had recently given birth, who stayed at the lakeshore. As that woman gazed at the vast lake blocking their way, she saw with astonishment a reddish animal the size of a goat walking toward her across the middle of the lake; on seeing the woman seated on the shore, it turned back the way it had come.

Seeing that the water barely covered the animal’s legs, the woman understood that this was a place where the lake could be crossed. She took her child in her arms, followed the animal’s path, and reached the other shore without any difficulty, where the road began again. The woman returned by the same way, and when those who had gone gathering food came back, she told them of the existence of that ford. When everyone was gathered, she guided them across it, and they were all safe from their enemies.

8.- THE FORMATION OF THE STREETS.
PRAYER: Ika Ogunda Ozain Maferefun Mawa Lode Logue Magui Mawa Igui Ozain Onire Omo Obori Baye Ozain Okuni Wada Ozain Abo Ni Bawa Ikú Faraye Ika Ayo Shangó Romi Bawa Ayo Robakun Aderi Awo Omo Ozain Ifá Kolikun Shangó Ifá Kaferefun Ozain Ati Elegbara.

In Obani Baye, everything was closed wilderness and there was no way out in any direction. The people suffered from the heat and were cut off from the world. Their diet was limited to fruit, yam, okra, cornmeal and etu, for they had no access to salt.

The land was ruled by Adamawo, who believed that his great power of eggun would allow him to control the land without the rest of the world learning what happened there. Adamawo kept his secret in a well, to which the natives would come with an itana to swear an oath with Elegbá and transform themselves into a devil or an Eggun.

Olofin, troubled at not knowing that land, called Shangó and asked him to report on what was happening there. Shangó accepted the task and set out singing, with an owunko keke and an etu that Olofin had given him.

“Besereun Besereun Mariloro Eggun. Besereun Besereun Mariloro Ozain. Besereun Besereun Mariloro Elegbá. Besereun Besereun Mariloro Shangó Mawayi.”

Shangó and Ozain helped open paths through the dense vegetation to connect the land of Obani Baye with the rest of the world. When they came before Awo Adamawo, Shangó rebuked him for his ambition and asked him to allow communication with other lands.

Awo Adamawo knelt down weeping and begged forgiveness for his behavior. Shangó and Ozain played drums and sang until the shadow arrived with Elegbara. Shangó told the people to begin opening roads in different directions, because Olofin would soon come to visit them.

Thanks to the help of Shangó and Ozain, the land of Obani Baye was able to connect with the rest of the world, and the natives were no longer isolated and deprived of communication.

Ifá ni Kaferefun Olofin, Shangó, Ozain, Elegbara, ati Eggun.

The person is sly, deceitful, a trader, and their luck lies among Black people.

Along this path, the awó must feed his own shadow for his well-being. An asho fun fun and ebbó shure are set out and given as food to the shadow, just as under the Oddun Ogbe Ate, for the person’s well-being. The person is instructed to bathe with white flowers, white bellflower, botón de oro, paraíso, ewe ou, otí and efun.

One cannot live alone, cut off from others. Do not let anyone isolate you.