Iroso Meyi

The trap

On this path there was a kingdom where the people elected their king who, once elected, was crowned and met with a group of men who formed the court. These men were the ones who truly governed, for as soon as the king began his rule, they showed him all the chambers and comforts of the palace until they reached a room with a trap in the floor. When the king entered, he fell into the trap and died impaled on iron spikes set into the ground. The clique went on governing in the king’s name, and after a time they announced his death so that the people would elect a new ruler, to whom the same thing happened.

One day the people elected Orunmila, but before accepting the office he had osode done and consulted Ifá. Ifá advised him to accept the office, but to make an ebbo with a rooster, a rope, and a ladder, and to take it to a hole, for there he would discover a trap. Orunmila did so, and when he was crowned, the clique tried to show him the palace; but being forewarned, he immediately noticed the insistence of these gentlemen and refused to tour the palace at first. This caused great astonishment among the clique of traitors, and even more so when Orunmila asked for the plans of the palace. Then, when it suited him, he would visit a chamber in the company of these gentlemen, but he never entered first, and in this way he visited every room, leaving only one unvisited.

After a few days, Orunmila invited the clique to show him the remaining room, but when they arrived he observed that none of them would enter first. Orunmila insisted that they go in, but none accepted, and thus the trap and the crimes they had committed were uncovered. In this way, Orunmila was able to govern that kingdom in peace and safety.

Ina igui

There was a man who never took off his akete and therefore greeted no one. One day, an edun ina igui went to see Orunmila to have osode done and to ask him to oshishe so that the man would greet him.

Orunmila saw this Ifá and told him to make a rogation with oso igui (plum), to carry it himself, climb up into eti igui, and set himself to unyen. He did so, and when the man passed by, ina igui threw oso igui at him. The man asked why he had done it, and ina igui answered that eyo was coming his way and that he was the only one who could save him, for otherwise he would be otoku.

The man was frightened when he saw eyo approaching, and he knelt before ina igui, taking off his akete and greeting him, begging for his salvation. The iworos were amazed to see how ina igui was greeted because of eyo, and in this way he managed to save the man.

Ifá SAYS: that they want to topple one person to put another in their place; Obatalá must be appeased and refreshed.

The unbeliever

There was a person who never made rogation when Orunmila ordered it. One day this person returned to Orunmila’s house; Orunmila saw this Ifá and said: your enemies are growing day by day, and you must make rogation with what is above.

It happened that this time the person had no money and had to borrow it to carry out the work. Once the work was done, the person began to overcome their enemies and, little by little, came out of all their difficulties, setbacks, and debts.

The path of the two soldiers

There were two soldiers at court, one envious and the other content. Whenever the envious one asked the king for something, the king always gave him double, and one share went to the other soldier. This greatly annoyed the envious one, since when the other soldier asked, he received only one share.

One day, the king decided to play a trick on them and summoned them both to ask for whatever they wished, the envious one going first. He was pleased but also worried, for he knew that if he asked something for himself, his companion would receive double.

In the end, he decided to ask that one of his own eyes be put out, thinking that his companion would lose both eyes and that he could then rule the town of the blind. The king granted his request and ordered that one of his eyes be put out, while his companion would lose both.

San Lázaro, who was aware of the situation, told Olofin, who decided to intervene. Olofin summoned the two soldiers and told the envious one that he would be king of the town of the blind, while his companion would live at the bottom of the sea and receive tribute from his kingdom.

However, Olofin warned the envious one that if he revealed the secret, he would go blind and become a prisoner in the depths of the sea, where his companion was king and had the power to punish him. Thus the envious one became an unfortunate king, while his companion governed his people from afar, and no one dared disobey him.

There are those who give an eye to see another man blind.

The path of the appointment

There was a mother who was deeply sad because the king had sent two of her sons to serve as governors in distant provinces, and neither the first nor the second had reached his destination. The king then appointed the third of the woman’s sons to take up the post and avenge the disappearance of his two brothers.

This time the mother did not want her son to go, for he was the only one she had left, but he said to her: do not despair, mother, nothing will happen to me, for before leaving I will go to Orunmila’s house so he may tell me what I must do.

Orunmila saw this Ifá and prescribed a rogation, to be taken to the sea, so that he could free himself from his enemies. The man did so and then set out together with the retinue accompanying him, which had been appointed by the king.

When they reached a tangled place where they had to pass through a cave, without realizing it he went in first, an opportunity his companions seized to seal the entrance of the cave, its exit having already been sealed beforehand, leaving him alone inside, certain that he would die of hunger and thirst.

That night a great storm arose, and since the sea lay very close to the cave, the great waves crashed against its entrance, moving the heavy rock that closed it. Thus our man was able to get out and, after much walking, guided by the inhabitants of those parts, he reached his destination and took charge of the government of that province.

Orunmila’s debt

Once, Orunmila found himself in dire straits and went to a powerful man to borrow a large sum of money, pledging to repay it through his labor. The man asked Orunmila what he knew how to do, and he replied that he could plow the land, climb trees, and do whatever was needed. So the man gave him the money, and they agreed that Orunmila would return in eight days.

Orunmila went home, bought many animals, and gave a he-goat to Elegbá and a she-goat to Orunmila, besides offering food to all the santos. On the eighth day he went to the owner of the farm, who handed him a hoe, asking him what he wanted it for. Orunmila answered that it was for cutting the brush, but when the owner asked him to do it, Orunmila said he could not, because he had never bent his waist.

Then the owner of the farm asked him to climb a corojo palm, but Orunmila refused, saying that tree belonged to his Guardian Angel. The man asked how he was going to pay the debt, and Orunmila told him that his wife was pregnant and needed an ebbo done in order to give birth, and that he would find the horse that had been lost.

The man followed his advice and found the lost horse, while Orunmila took more money than was needed and was able to pay his debt with some left over.

The fisherman’s luck

There was a famous singer who fervently wished to succeed in his musical career and went to see Orunmila. Orunmila saw this Ifá and told him to make a rogation with eledá so that he could fulfill his wishes.

The singer made the rogation and went on singing, but had no success. One day, while walking down the street, he came upon a group of people singing and dancing the music of his home region, and on joining them he discovered that this was his true calling. From then on, he began to sing and dance traditional music with great success.

Grateful, the singer returned to Orunmila to thank him for the advice, and Orunmila said: “I did not tell you to sing modern music; I told you to make rogation so that you would fulfill your wishes.” The singer understood that Orunmila had given him the key to discovering his true calling. From then on, he devoted himself to traditional music and was very successful.

The path of Shangó’s need

Shangó was the governor of a town where he had many businesses, but one day his luck turned bad and his businesses began to fail. He was distressed by this situation, to which he was not accustomed, and so he decided to leave that town.

But his relatives said to him: “Why don’t you go see Orunmila and consult with him before leaving?” Shangó followed his relatives’ advice and consulted Orunmila, who saw this Ifá and advised him to make ebbo and take it to the middle of the beach.

When he arrived there, he met Oshún, who was glad to see him because she wanted to speak with Shangó. He told her to wait until he finished the ebbo on the beach.

When Shangó returned, Oshún proposed that they open a business together selling animals of every kind. Shangó accepted the proposal, since that was what he knew how to do, and so they formed a partnership. Thanks to this, Shangó began to prosper once again.

The wisdom of Iroso

On Earth, Olofin governed through 16 kings of different regions. In heaven, Olofin received reports through Elegbá telling him that the 16 kings were mired in envy and fighting over power and wisdom.

One day, Olofin decided to put the kings to the test to learn which was best prepared. To this end, he sent Elegbá to announce his death and set traps in his castle to see which of them could reach him without falling into them.

Elegbá announced Olofin’s death, which caused confusion, and the kings began making their way to the palace to elect a new ruler for the world. Only Iroso Meyi stopped to make ebbo with three chicks before setting out, for it was revealed to him that he must do so.

Iroso was the humblest and most scorned of the kings, but he followed Orunmila’s instructions and carried the roasted chicks. On the road he met a child who asked him for food, and he gave him a chick; then he met an old man who helped him and asked for another chick as payment; and finally he came upon Elegbá, who asked him for the third chick and showed him how to enter the palace.

The other kings arrived at the palace and entered without speaking to anyone, but they were captured by the royal guard. Iroso did as Orunmila had instructed and met Olofin, who told him that he was not dead and that he should enter through the back door, where he found Oyá barring his way. Iroso saw an Osun beneath her and took it, forcing Oyá to step aside, and entered the palace.

Inside the palace, Olofin disguised himself as a soldier and asked him how he had gotten in, since the wake was through the front door. Iroso replied that there was no wake there, that Olofin was not dead. Impressed by his wisdom, Olofin granted him the power of the board, a palace at the center of the Earth and the power of the Earth, and gold dust as yefa.

The santero who did not believe in Orunmila

This story tells of a santero who passed by the king’s palace every day without greeting him. The king, offended by the santero’s attitude, had him brought before him to ask the reason. The santero answered that he too wore a crown, the crown of Osha, and that the king did not greet him when he passed in front of his house.

The king decided to visit the santero the next day so that he would divine his future, and the santero told him that he had an Ozain he must feed. The king showed him his Ozain, a treasure worthy of a king, and said he would leave it with the santero to feed it, but that if it were lost, it would cost him his life.

The king asked his daughter to steal the Ozain from the santero, in order to then accuse him of theft and be rid of him. The king’s daughter, in disguise, went to the santero’s house and managed to steal the Ozain. When the santero noticed the theft, he went out to gather the ingredients to feed it, only to discover it had been stolen. The king gave him a deadline to recover the Ozain or lose his head.

The santero went to Orunmila for help, and Orunmila advised him to have his head blessed with eya tuto. When Orunmila went to bless his head, he found the Ozain inside the eya, and thus the santero recovered it. The king blessed the santero, who, despite his initial resistance, came to accept the importance of Orunmila.

The path where Abi becomes king through Eshu

In a land without a king, there was a dangerous pit full of snakes, tigers, and other wild beasts that devoured anyone who aspired to be king. One day, Eshu tricked Abi into consulting Orunmila and performing a ritual of protection.

Abi followed Orunmila’s instructions and threw the ebbo into the pit. After Abi was named king, Eshu used the elements of the ritual to calm the animals in the pit. The snakes were fed with chicken and rooster, while the other beasts received goats and other animals.

After three days, Abi was found safe and sound in the pit. The people pulled him out and proclaimed him king. From that moment on, Abi governed the land with success.

The captive bird

In the land of Shangó, a bird was captured, put in a cage, and given food, but the bird only turned its head, saying: “oh, my home!”, and so its life went by. They gave it every kind of food, but the little bird tasted nothing.

Seeing that the bird might starve to death, they decided to find out why it would not eat. All the people of the town brought a thread, and they joined them into a long cord which they tied to the bird’s legs, then released it to see where it would go.

The bird, finding itself free, took flight, and its captors followed it until they saw it reach a lagoon; there it alighted, spread its wings, shook its tail, and became very content.

Those following it saw that within the lagoon there were two sticks in a cross where the bird would perch. They captured the bird again and took it away along with the sticks; and when they returned, they shut it in the cage, and there the bird spent its life, being deprived of them except at feeding times, and in this way they were able to keep it alive.

The good man and the bad man

There was a maiden who had two suitors, one good and one bad. She rejected the good one and preferred the bad one.

The good man went to see Orunmila, who performed a rogation for him with a wooden mortar turned upside down, gave a rooster to the bottom of the mortar and another to Alafia (or both together), and a white handkerchief that was afterward to be passed discreetly over the maiden’s face.

After this, the maiden accepted the good man.

Obatalá tests Iroso Meyi

Obatalá pretended to be ill and sent for all the awoses, and all of them came except Iroso Meyi. Each awo present gave his opinion about Obatalá’s illness. When Iroso Meyi said that Obatalá had nothing wrong with him and that what was in his house was a bunch of bananas, Obatalá came out from under his bed and said: “This one truly sees.”

The path of the eko

A person who had gone three days without selling eko went to Orunmila’s house. He told them to make a rogation, so the person borrowed money, made eko, performed the rogation with a rooster, a dove, four potatoes, eku and eya, and sold everything.

The awo and the king’s daughter

There was a babalawo who took no interest in the king’s daughter, but she discovered that her father had summoned the awo to recover an object he had entrusted to him in exchange for his life, and she also knew that her father had ordered the object stolen from the awo. Knowing all this, she kept watch over him.

A few days later, the king summoned the awo to return the object, which was a beautiful necklace; but since it had been stolen from him, the awo could not do so, and the king ordered him killed. The awo asked for an extension and went out in search of the necklace. The daughter, who was spying on him, offered to return the necklace to him if he said nothing, for she knew where the king had hidden it, having ordered it stolen in order to kill the awo.

When the awo returned the necklace, the king was astonished. The daughter asked the king’s permission to marry the miracle-working awo, and he granted it, happy that the awo had recovered the necklace and grateful to him for having saved his life. Everything ended happily.

Obatalá’s government

An Afose is made to blow against the enemies, with three jujus of Gunugun and fallen yagruma leaves. A ladder of 16 steps is placed for Obatalá; in addition, a Moruro stick the height of the person, with a little rooster carved at its tip, is buried in the yard of the house over a joro joro, where, if the person is an Awo, the Osun the height of the knee is prepared.

Obatalá was governing the land of Okeyabia no Inle, and its inhabitants began to slander him, saying that he was governing badly, that he was too old, and they mounted a passive resistance against him, until one day Obatalá said to himself: “I will leave without a word and let them manage as best they can.” Obatalá did so, taking refuge in a place near the seashore, among rocks at a fair depth, and when the people realized it, they poured into the streets, celebrating the event.

It then happened that everyone wanted to govern, and since they could not agree on the direction of the kingdom, everything went badly because of ambition.

Seeing so many troubles in that land, Orunmila decided to go, but first he had osode done, and this Ifá appeared; he made ebbo with an akasho of 16 steps (a ladder), ewe ayo, and the other ingredients. He then went along tapping the holes along the road of Inle Onika (the beach), which was the only road leading to that land. Tapping on one of them, he heard something like a voice, and he went on casting the ebbo; and when he threw the ladder into the hole, Obatalá cried out, for he had been struck on the head, and only then did Orunmila realize that someone was there, though without suspecting it was Obatalá.

When he climbed down to help the person, he was stunned to see that it was Obatalá, for no one in that land knew where he was, and Orunmila had found him through the ebbo.

Orunmila brought Obatalá back to the town, and since Orunmila was greatly respected, when the people saw him in Obatalá’s company they gave them a grand welcome and began to extol them, giving moforibale to Obatalá and to Orunmila; and there Obatalá declared that in his absence only Orunmila would be capable of governing the heads of that land, which was the head and land of Iroso Meyi.

In an atefa, 16 ewe ayo are placed on Orunmila in the greater hand. When Orunmila is given entry, the chick and the adie are taken, roasted well, and placed inside a sack behind the street door for 16 days, and afterward they are scattered around the block of the house. This is for the health and peace of Iroso Meyi.

The town of criminality

This was a town where criminality reigned, and a test was held to choose the Oba: a joro joro was dug open and the chosen person was pushed into the hole. If they managed to climb out, they were proclaimed the new Oba. But the joro joro was so deep that getting out was impossible, and many people had died in the test.

Then they decided to test Orunmila after framing him. But he had consulted Ifá and had made ebbo with several ingredients, and when he finished, he threw them into the hole. He also offered Oshún five cotton handkerchiefs.

When they pushed him into the hole, Orunmila fell on the cotton and survived. Moreover, the ladder he had thrown into the hole allowed him to climb up a little, though not enough to get out because of the depth. Orunmila called and shouted, but no one heard him. Then he began to sing, and thanks to the handkerchiefs he had offered to Oshún, she heard him and rescued him from the hole.

Oshún tied the handkerchiefs one to another and used them to pull Orunmila out of the hole. Thus Orunmila became the new Oba of the land, and the salvation Oshún gave him was decisive in his rise to the throne.

Where Olofin held the awoses prisoner

Awo Iroso went to Orunmila’s house to be read, because Olofin had sent for him. Orunmila told him to bring four hens and four pesos and to set out on the road. If he met a poor man along the way who asked him for alms, he was to give him an adie and a peso.

The beggar appeared to him four times; the last time he asked him where he was going, and Iroso told him he was going to see Olofin. He replied: “when you arrive, you will find a woman sitting in front of Olofin’s house dyeing clothes; order her to move aside, plant your Osun, and say: that Olofin is not dead, that what lies in his tomb is a banana stalk, and that Olofin is playing guacalotes and cowries with his 16 Obinis, who are unwell with their monthly custom. I order you to tell Olofin to come out and release all the babalawos he holds prisoner, because with the mahogany and cedar trees he has in his yard, this year they will build the coffin for his burial.”

Then Olofin came out to the door and, begging Iroso’s pardon, was told to pay a fine of one eure and 100 pesos for each of the babalawos he held prisoner, and to Iroso Meyi one eure and 401 pesos, and Olofin was to tie the eure to his waist to beg Orunmila’s forgiveness. When Iroso planted his Osun, he sang: «Osun Ayere Lashadawo Onire Awo Onire Mamawao Onire».

Ifá says that in gatherings of babalawos, all are prisoners, or that wherever the babalawo goes there are many imprisoned acquaintances. Or that he himself will be imprisoned. Orunmila is asked whether it is him or not.

Iré, the son of Iroso Meyi

Iroso Meyi had a son named Ire, who longed to know how he had been born and asked his father. The father was taken aback, for he did not expect that question from his son, and told him he would learn it in time.

The son, however, persisted in his desire to know the origin of his birth and demanded that his father show him. So the father went to see Orunmila, who told him that he must sacrifice a pig and that he knew what he had to do.

After making the sacrifice, the father took his son to the forest and showed him his mother’s entrails, explaining to him how he had been born. But the son, on learning that his mother had taken her own life because of his curiosity, felt guilty and accused his father of having killed her.

The father explained that it was the son’s own curiosity that had driven his mother to that decision, and that he was not to blame. It was a sad lesson for the son, who learned that our actions can sometimes have grave and irreparable consequences.