Iroso Obara

The king who loses his crown

There was a king who kept his people in hunger and misery, caring only for feasts and revelry. The situation with his people was growing tense, and he decided to go to Orunmila for counsel. Orunmila told him that a great war was coming, and that the king could lose it unless he made an ebbo and offered a great meal to his people, which everyone was to attend.

At that moment, Shangó arrived in the town and Oggún gave him two ñaña drums. Shangó went to the square and began to play the drums, a red kerchief covering his face. The people of the town gathered to listen to him. The king, however, felt slighted because the people were not coming to his own meal. So he ordered the trumpets sounded to summon the people to the feast. But his subject explained that no one could make sense of what that man was playing, and that the people were confused.

The king approached Shangó, who had his crown at his side, and put it on, believing himself the king. Shangó explained to him that the meal had to be offered not only because the people were hungry, but also because a great war was approaching and the king knew he would lose it.

The person of this sign must worship Shangó, who will win their wars for them; at the same time, they must be generous with those around them, and they will see how they always keep their affairs stable. This is an Ifá of music: studying music is recommended, for great success lies ahead in it, and one must teach one’s godchildren likewise, so that they always stand by one.

Why the eyele’s feet are never tied

Orunmila was making ebbo for himself with Iyefa and Osun Naburu when the eyele arrived, landed on the board, and with her feet marked this Ifá, and he saw the trap his enemies were setting for him. The eyele was left with her feet stained red, and she received Orunmila’s blessing. Here is born the reason why the eyele’s feet are never tied for ebbo: she is bound by the wings.

Where Orunmila’s wife was abused

Orunmila’s wife asked permission to visit her omofe. Orunmila granted it and she went to visit them. At the house of the eyele, the eyele offered her money and a bed to sleep in. The next day, she thanked the eyele for her hospitality and left. Then she went to the house of Chamiko, who deceived her with his powders and abused her without her consent. When she left, Chamiko gave her nothing. The next day, she went to the house of the mountain, who offered her its home, and Orunmila gave food to the mountain. From then on, Orunmila never ate eyele, because she was his friend and had not abused his wife. He cursed Chamiko for his behavior.

Okunque and Okantomi

In the reign of Okantomi there was a lake said to hold an enchanted fish, half man and half woman, but with a beautiful human head. On rainy days, the drops of water falling upon him broke apart and gave rise to the colors of the rainbow. Different legends were woven around this young man’s origin.

This young man was in truth the son of the king of the seas, and his underwater kingdom had been destroyed. Through the virtues he possessed, he had managed to survive in an amphibious state. Given the nature of his body, he remembered nothing of his former world, nor did he know how to live in the world above, suffering an amnesia that was already turning into madness.

Then a nomadic tribe arrived to settle in that place. They were hunters, and they made their home on the shore of the lake for its fishing, its game and its water. The daughter of the tribe’s king was a beautiful girl named Okonte who, having heard the legend of the enchanted man, set out with her servants and searched the whole lake until she found him. On seeing him she was deeply struck and fell in love with him, but she could not see her dreams fulfilled because of his madness and the form of his body. Desperate and despondent, she fell ill, and so her father, the king of the tribe, summoned the tribe’s priest and ordered him to save the young man in order to save his daughter.

The priest advised consulting Ifá, for which a priest had to be sought from Ife. They did so, and Orunmila, arriving in the town, consulted his oracle. Iroso Obara came out, explaining that this was a case of enchantment caused by the shock he had suffered when his kingdom was destroyed. Orunmila marked ebbo and gave the rooster’s blood to the king of the seas, bathed the young man’s body with don chayo leaves, and so transformed his fish body into that of a human.

With the cloths in the colors of the rainbow he made a cap and prayed over his head three times with the three doves. The herbs of higuereta, llantén and fig formed a cap beneath the rainbow-colored one. Cacao, cascarilla and aguardiente were offered to Obatalá so that he would accept the young son of the sea. The father, grateful for what had been done for his son, filled that lake with abundant fish, pearls and coral, and made Orunmila and the people of Okantomi rich. The grateful young man took the name of the place and married the princess.

Okonque (little south), Okantomi (heart of the sea).

The despised one

In this path, Olofin lived in a palace with every comfort, and yet he was neither content nor satisfied. So he sent for Orunmila to speak with him. During the interview, Orunmila asked him how it was possible that he was not content, having at his disposal such capable and wise staff. Even so, Olofin was not content, and he told Orunmila that he wanted a better person to work in his palace.

At that time, Olofin had a crown of feathers that was in poor condition from constant use. One day, a figure sent by Orunmila appeared at his palace. One of the doormen informed Olofin that a gentleman was waiting to be received. Olofin was startled on seeing the man, for he was deformed. But as Olofin was an intelligent and wise person, he paid no attention to his appearance and thought only of where in the palace to place him.

Since the palace was very large, he sent him to a distant area that looked like a stable. The man, with great humility, bowed his head and went to the place assigned to him. Being a great craftsman, he devoted himself to raising all kinds of parrots and came to have a magnificent collection.

One day, Olofin had to attend an important council. The man, who had seen Olofin’s crown several times and its deplorable state, decided to make him a new one. As it happened, just as Olofin was preparing to leave, the man presented him with his precious work, which Olofin received with great gratitude, finding it most timely. In this way, Olofin recognized his error in despising someone who had not seemed important.

The two twin brothers

In the city of Efun Alaye lived a king named Oba Araisha, who had twins, but one of them was killed by the palace servants and buried in the forest.

When Oba Araisha was an adolescent, he fell ill, and his mother took him to consult Ifá, where Orunmila told him that he had to care for someone who had died without receiving funeral rites. On arriving home, his mother told him everything that had happened.

Oba Araisha went to the forest and sacrificed osiadie meyi for his twin, which brought him prosperity. Later, he wished to marry, but the women he courted rejected him, so Ifá directed him to make sacrifices for his twin brother. After doing so, he had a wife and children.

When a new king of Efun Alaye was being sought, Oba Araisha was not the favorite, but Ifá sent him to make sacrifices for his twin brother, and so he was crowned king. Some time later, he fell in love with a beautiful woman and began to neglect his brother’s spirit.

The woman became pregnant, but she lost the baby and went mad. Oba Araisha ordered the ground dug up to find the plant his wife had eaten from. As they dug, they broke through the city walls and continued to the forest where his twin brother was buried. Oba Araisha ordered the digging to continue until the forest was destroyed, and beyond.

When the forest disappeared, the animals fled. Where the sun had never shone, it now shone always; where it had never rained, it now rained without end.

Oba Araisha fell ill and sacrificed a young girl and a young boy, along with plants and fish, but his twin brother would no longer accept any sacrifice other than his other twin brother, and he took Oba Araisha away.

Through this Ifá one must receive the Jimaguas. If the person is a twin and their sibling is deceased, they must attend to that spirit so that they suffer no disturbance and the spirit helps them in all their affairs; otherwise they must give a feast.

The path of the marañón

The marañón showed off its beautiful colors, and one day it went to Orunmila’s house to see itself. Orunmila looked at it with Ifá and told it that it had to receive Elegbá, but the marañón paid no heed. On its way out, it kicked Elegbá, who was at the door. Elegbá went and told Orunmila, who replied that he should pay it no mind. Elegbá went out into the street and walked to a marañón tree that stood in the town, and began to gaze at it. Right away all the boys of the town gathered around him, and Elegbá asked them whether they did not eat that fruit; they answered that they did not, because they could not climb the tree.

Elegbá told them: «Let us shake the tree,» and at once they shook it, and down fell all the marañones and the seeds, which they toasted.