Meaning of Irete Untendi in the Diloggún
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- Here dropsy was born.
- The abnormal accumulation of fluid in a part of the body.
- One must sing to Ozain, because there will be separation within the family or among awoses.
- This is where Elegbara traded everything for a sack of horns.
- Here Ozain ate owunko and grew weak, and took the horns to mount inshes behind the door.
- It is the Ifá where the slaves or servants cleanse the master.
- It is an Ifá of public shame. Take care that you are not shamed, and to keep that from happening, measure your actions.
- It is where Oshún demands more attention for a daughter of hers whom someone has abandoned, failing to meet their obligations toward her.
- The secret of the four small papers of the kashe oro was born, used to cleanse the letter when atefa is performed.
- Goose is given to Yemayá and duck to Oggún.
- The bathwater of anyone who bathes must not be thrown out, so that you do not pick up the bad influences. Nor may you bathe with someone else’s soap.
- A black-and-white flag must be placed behind the door to ward off the epidemic that comes from beneath the earth and afflicts the respiratory tract.
- This Ifá forbids living in an upper-floor home.
- Give something to your oluwo so that you may prosper; do not drink from a porrón, for you cannot see what it holds.
- Wear the idde of Elegbá; it is vitally important.
- Do not carry oils.
- The young awo tells Olofin everything he hears.
- Akuko is given to Eshu, and a horn filled with epo (palm oil) is set for him.
- A rogación must be made to avert the epidemic.
- It signals heart ailments; avoid salt and go to the doctor.
- There is an excess of fluids in the body, and the feet swell.
- This letter speaks with the elders and, with emphasis, with the younger ones of one to fifteen years of consecration in Ifá.
- Lodafun, Yemayá and Oshún.
- A rug must be placed at the door so that everything bad that comes, or that the feet bring in, stays there.
- Ifá says that all the Babalawo, Iyaloshas and Babaloshas must unite to prevent loss among them.
- Yemayá says the children must be watched over closely so that none are lost among them, and Osha must be made for whoever has to make it.
- The war between Ozain and Orunmila. It speaks of war between paleros and Babalawos.
- The person, while asleep, has involuntary emissions in the bed without realizing it.
- In this Ifá, dirty money is sent to be exchanged for clean money.
- Kole mosa (the dragon) was born — an imaginary animal created by the ancient Chinese in their legends.
- Irete Untedi, stubborn head (leri tashelu).
- Oshún is going to grant you a stroke of luck. Ifá fore.
- Ifá osobo (misfortune): Oshún is angry with you over offenses you have committed against a daughter of hers.
- Beware of witchcraft: they want to test you. Trust no one.
- Place a bunch of plantains for Shangó with four stakes on top.
- The days are asked about, and what is to be done with them.
- You will prosper if you obey the Santo.
- Place two vessels of omi for Obatalá and a horse, and sing three suyeres to Ozain so that there is no family separation.
- Beware of sexual diseases.
- Throw away at the street corner every piece of china or glass in your house that is chipped or cracked, and sprinkle oti over them so that your arayes (enemies) may die.
- Give thanks to Orunmila and to Elegbara.
- Ifá osobo: the roads are closed, and an ebbo is made — one that is well made.
- Pay Shangó what you owe him.
- You were at a celebration where there was Santo and you were given a piece of advice; take it, because you are wasting away from a heart condition that is already affecting your bronchial tubes and lungs.
- Something bad is going to come in through the door of your house; sprinkle fresh water on it every day.
- They are going to send for you over a piece of gossip; say that you know nothing, so that you are not harmed.
- You have an Inshe-Ozain, and if you keep it, it will be your fortune; if you have lost it, it will be your undoing.
- There is a person who has squandered a great deal of money.
- Oyá Yanzan speaks.
- If you have abandoned children you must take them back, for they are the ones who will care for you in your old age.
- In time you will walk on carpets, if you obey the Santo.
- Be careful what you answer when they ask you something, so that you are not harmed, for they wish to harm you.
- There is someone who is ill; take care they do not otoku.
- There are traps.
- Yemayá is angry and collects by afflicting the kidneys.
- Wear a blue handkerchief on the back.
- Take care of the lungs, for one can otoku; you should eat better.
- No salt is eaten, and not much water is drunk.
- One must not be so selfish.
- This sign speaks with the elders, and more forcefully with the young up to fifteen years of age, above all females.
- For children who are seriously ill, Santo must be seated, principally Yemayá.
- It marks illness of the heart, the throat, the lungs.
- Besides her husband she has another man, and vice versa.
- Use a rug at the foot of the bed. You are a diviner. Fulfill your duties to Elegbá so that he resolves everything of yours and helps you win the war you are fighting.
- Leave Palo and hold fast to Orunmila.
- Be obedient so that you are not lost.
- Pay what you owe Yemayá.
Born in this sign
- Dropsy.
- Oduduwa ikalambe.
- Kole mosa (the dragon).
- The secret of the four small papers of the kashe oro, to cleanse the letter when atefa is performed.
What this sign indicates
- That you fulfill your duties to Shangó.
- You were at a gathering of Santo.
- Something bad is going to happen at your door; sprinkle water every day.
- They want to do something bad to you out of envy.
- All your roads are closed, but if you make ebbo you will be well.
- You are from the countryside.
- You are a child of Obatalá.
- The woman you have is not yours; sing to Ozain so that there is no separation in the family.
- Give something to your godfather in the religion; you are very tight-fisted.
- Buy lottery tickets.
- You have a stubborn mouth.
- They are going to test you, to see whether it is true that you know.
- You have money saved, and in time you will build a house.
- You must receive Shangó and look after a daughter you have abandoned, because you do not know who will care for you in your old age.
- You have a debt with San Lázaro because of a child.
- You do not attend to the things you must do until the rope reaches your neck, and as a rule the awo lele cosican, if it is missing from the ebbo.
- They are going to ask you for a loan of money.
- You have long wished to see your family.
- A very sudden journey will come your way.
- Be obedient.
Advice and warnings
- Do not wash with anyone else’s soap, because when you go to dress it shows that you are growing thin, wasting away little by little; that is why you came here, to learn the reason for that state, and you believe that harm is being done to you.
- Be careful with a person who is going to send for you to ask you a question; tell them nothing, because it is gossip.
- Do not quarrel stubbornly with anyone.
- Do not carry oils.
- Take care that you do not rupture yourself.
- Place a porrón for Baba.
- Always use a rug when rising from bed, because you are a king.
- Beware of gossip; do not pay it any mind.
- Do not be swayed by bad advice.
- Do not live in an upper-floor home.
- Be careful: there is a betrayal in the making.
The traditional interpretation of this sign also warns about the following:
- There is a sick person in your house; take care that they do not die.
- Beware of women’s illnesses.
Proverbs of Irete Untendi
- Si alguien te ha mordido te ha recordado que tiene dientes. If someone has bitten you, they have reminded you that they have teeth.
- Al mismo que salves será tu verdugo. The very one you save will become your executioner.
- El brujo puede olvidar, pero aquel a quien le comió un hijo no olvida jamás. The sorcerer may forget, but the one whose child he devoured never forgets.
- De las tres he visto una, de las tres he visto dos, y de las tres he visto tres. Of the three I have seen one, of the three I have seen two, and of the three I have seen three.
Patakíes of Irete Untendi
– Irete Untedi is a diviner by birth
Ebbó: Akuko adie; two geese are not killed; the dish is given to Yemeyá or to Oshún as well; the ebbo carries ilu.
Adifafun Osi. Amado Mima Iba Adifafun Orunmila Obari Es El Ganso Lori Tisholu Es Cabeza Porfiada.
In a palace lived a King whose ring had gone missing. The story ran everywhere, and even so no one could find it. There was a man who was going hungry, and he began to say that he was a diviner and knew where the King’s ring was. All he wanted was something to eat, and he no longer cared what might happen to him afterward. The man went to the Palace to inform the King, who invited him to breakfast before hearing him out. When the King finished, the man ate his leftovers and said: “By San Marcos, San José and San Bruno, of the three I have seen one.”
The man went on strolling through the Palace until lunchtime came. The King sat down, and the man again ate what the King left. When the servant came to clear the table, he said: “Thanks be to San Juan, Rita and Margot, of the three I have seen two.” During dinner he said: “By Olofin, San Diego and San José! Now of the three I have seen them all!” Then the servant exclaimed: “Sir, please do not tell the King; we will hand you the ring and you will make it appear.”
The man made these exclamations not because he suspected the servants had stolen the ring, but to thank the Saints for the food. He then went out to the courtyard and saw a pond with a brood of swans, among them a very beautiful black one. He took it and slipped the ring inside it, and afterward walked the palace. Some days later, the King said to him: “Let us see who took the ring.” The man pointed at the black swan: “Look at that one; there is your ring.” The King stared at him in disbelief: “Are you mad? That is my favorite swan! If you are wrong, you will pay with your head.” Nevertheless, the King decided to kill the swan to find out, and indeed, inside its entrails was the lost ring. As a reward, the King appointed him his personal counselor, guaranteeing him house and food for life. That is how Irete Untedi proved himself a diviner by birth.
The path of the goose
One day, Osi went to see Orunmila so that he would help him restrain himself and stop muttering that nobody loved him or did him harm. Even so, he kept on quarreling. Later, Osi attended a celebration at which all the santos asked for something, but Yemayá asked for nothing. Olofin learned of it and had her summoned, with the order that she ask for whatever she wished. Yemayá asked for goose; however, Opo Osi disobeyed the Santos.
The path where Oggún eats turkey
One day Yemayá had nothing to eat. She had a turkey, but she did not want to kill it. So she sent for Oggún to do it for her. When Oggún arrived, he too was hungry, and he told Yemayá that if she gave him the turkey he would kill it for her. Yemayá accepted, and ever since then Oggún eats turkey.
The war between Orunmila and Ozain
One day Ozain kept hurling eggs, powders and other things at Orunmila, who paid him no mind. But Ozain began to say that he knew more than everyone else, and people started to drift away. Orunmila then consulted, and the Ifá came out for him. He made a sacrifice of akuko, adie meyi, a horn and eru, sent for Ozain, and they entered into a contest. The wager was something extraordinary: to bury their living children for three days and then bring them out unharmed. Orunmila dug two holes beside the river and gave two hens to Oshún to open a third hole connecting the three, in order to feed the children during that time. After three days the court gathered there, and at once Orunmila began to sing; the earth shook violently and he brought out his children safe and sound. Afterward Eshu cast the Ebbo into the last well, thereby closing the other two wells along with the Mayombero’s horn, and the contest was lost; by this pact, Orunmila was set as master over Ozain.
If you have an abandoned child, take him back, for he may prove a blessing in your old age.
The ordeal of the goose
Once, Yemayá was feeling deeply displeased, and nothing they offered her to eat satisfied her. So Shangó and Elegbá decided to go out walking to see what they could find. The goose went to speak with Orunmila, who marked an Ebbo for him. The goose replied that he had no need to make Ebbo because he knew how to defend himself with his beak, and he left. As they walked, Shangó and Elegbá saw two geese on a farm and decided that Yemayá would enjoy them. They entered the farm and tried to catch the goose; it defended itself bravely, but in the end, between the two of them they bound it and carried it to Yemayá. On seeing it she exclaimed: “How beautiful it is! But cover its face; that is the only thing about it I do not like!” Ever since then, when a duck or goose is given to Yemayá, its face is covered.
To give a goose to Yemayá, it must be kept tied up in the yard for 17 days, and throughout all those days stones are thrown at it, it is beaten, kicked and spat upon, and afterward it is given to Yemayá in the privy.
The path of the corncob
Ebbó: Akuko, adie, eyele marun, awado marun, eku, eya, oñi (honey), owo marun, and after the ebbo the corncob is scattered at the door.
There was an Awo who lived in the countryside and was very poor. He had a hut and tended his crops. One day, Olofín went out to the countryside with his servant, and they came near the Awo’s house. Olofín’s daughter slipped and hurt her foot. The servant quickly took her to the hut to have her treated, but as there was nothing there, the Awo rubbed the girl’s foot with corn silk until she was completely healed. When they returned home, Olofin heard from his daughter everything that had happened; then he sent for the Awo to ask what he valued his work at. The Awo said nothing at all. When asked whether he had obiñi, he answered that he did not. So Olofin married him to his daughter and gave him a very great fortune, telling him: “All of this is for you both.”
Yemayá’s forgiveness
Ebbó: Earth from two holes, whatever animal is caught, abiti, bogbo asho, bogbo ashe, opolopo owo. This ebbo is for the problem of the obini.
Yemayá went to a celebration, and its host gave unyen to all the Orishas except her. She grew very angry at feeling mocked and began to make things go badly for him (ona). The man found himself so set back that he ended up at the house of a son of Elegbá. Seeing him so diminished, he went to see Orunmila, who saw his Ifá and had him make an Ebbo with two akuko and ekuekueye: one Akuko for Elegbá and the other to give to Yemayá’s duck. She forgave him at last.
If the ebbo takes abo, it is given directly to Yemayá, and afterward it is asked whether it is eaten; if the answer is no, it is taken to the sea.
Works and ebbó of Irete Untendi
Works of Irete Untedi
- Secret of the sign
- Here duck is given to Elegbá. Do not use soap belonging to, or used by, another person, because illness is transmitted that way. One may not drink from a porrón. Yoko Osha (Yemayá). Sprinkle fresh water at your door in the morning. Do not carry any kind of oil. Water and coolness for the Santos. Give a gift to your oluwo so that your fortune advances. Play the lottery: Oshún is going to grant you a stroke of luck. Pay Shangó and Yemayá. Attend to the dead. Play drums for Shangó. Place a bunch of green plantains for Shangó. There is a debt with Lázaro over a child. You must wear the idde of Elegbá. Everything of china or glass in your house that is broken or cracked must be thrown away at the street corner, blowing oti over it so that your enemies withdraw or die.
- To defeat the mayomberos
- An ebbo is made with a duck (ekuekueye). One goes to the seashore with palo vencedor; there a square is drawn in the sand and this Ifá is marked inside it and prayed over; there the duck is killed and left inside the square without cutting off its leri.
- Another
- A new clay ikoko is filled with corn; beforehand this Ifá is painted inside it, and a noose is made with a new rope. The names of the arayes are placed on it, an osiadie is given to it, which is then opened along the back and placed inside the ikoko with a gaeeore, and it is set on a road.
- Inshe Ozain, secret of the ekuekueye
- Corn silk, awado, a horn, añari from the riverbank, epo, iyefa.
- For when the awo is struck a blow
- The awo may not return blows if he is struck. In that case he takes an ota of flint and, on the spot where he was struck, makes a scratch, applies ewe kisan (milk herb) and rubs it in, and reports to Oyá and to Orunmila that so-and-so struck him — that so-and-so may strike no one else in this world, that he may die or that his hand be crippled. The ota and the ewe are placed inside Oyá or Orunmila.
- Inshe for opa laye
- An ebbo is made with akuko, one large aikordie, 7 itanas, asho arae, ewe yenyoko, yini yini, sarsaparilla, canutillo, oriye, kotoriye, opolopo awado, ewe tete boru. Once the ebbo is finished, the following ceremony is performed: an omiero is made with the ewe, the 7 itanas are lit before Ozain, and the work of the ikoko and the rope is carried out, but with an akuko fun fun to Ozain, and it is filled with awado and the erukore of the araye. The person is bathed and the ikoko is broken. Everything is gathered up together with asho arae and taken to be buried at the foot of a ceiba; the iyefa of that same omiero is the iyefa of the ebbo.
- Work against ashelu
- An ebbo is made with an akuko, yarako, opolopo agbado. Two olubombo (truncheons), two itanas, eku, eya, … opolopo owo. The rope is wound around the person’s body; the akuko is asked whether it is fifeshu or fifun Ozain; the person is made to jump three times backward and once to the right. The akuko is given to Elegbara or Ozain; the rope is cut into four pieces; the akuko is opened along the back; the four pieces of rope are placed inside the akuko while petitioning; the two truncheons are added with the particulars of the arayes, wrapped with threads of seven colors; opolopo awado is poured over it; obi omi tutu is given, and it is taken and placed on a road.
Prayers and suyeres of Irete Untendi
Liturgical material transcribed from the source manuscripts; it is preserved verbatim.
Prayer
Irete Untedi Amudi Awo Lordafun Orunmila Lori Osi.
Prayer
Irete Untedi Amad Nimu Adifafun Awan Lori Tonsholu Apare Osi Amudi Awo Lori Osa Ifá Ni Maferefun Olofin, Yemayá, Obatalá, Orunmila Ati Bogbo Kaleno Osha.
Prayer
Opayeru Boferefun La Pienu Adifafun Shangó, Orunmila, Oshún, Elegba Ati Ozain.
Prayer
Ifá Ni Kaferefun Olofin, Yemayá, Obatalá, Orunmila, Ati Bogbo Osha Kaleno.
Suyere
Coru Euru Bete. Mariwo Ozain Mariwo Nen Mariwo.
Orishas in this sign
The orishas that the letter itself links to this sign, according to what the source records:
- Elegbá — Give thanks to Orunmila and to Elegbara.
- Obatalá — Place two vessels of omi for Obatalá and a horse, and sing three suyeres to Ozain so that there is no family separation.
- Yemayá — Goose is given to Yemayá and duck to Oggún.
- Oshún — Play the lottery: Oshún is going to grant you a stroke of luck.
- Shangó — Pay Shangó what you owe him.
- Oyá — The ota and the ewe are placed inside Oyá or Orunmila.
- Orunmila — The war between Ozain and Orunmila.
Other aspects of the sign
Ewé of the sign
Doradilla, vicaria blanca.
Irete Untedi Amadio Awo Leri Lodafun Olofin, Lodafun Orunmila, Yemeyá, Oshún, Ozain, Elegbara Oggún, Epepeye Lebo.