Iwori Roso

The birth of dropsy

This is a story about an egun named Enye Orun in the land of Olokun. This egun had been sent there as a punishment from Oduduwa. Whenever Oduduwa wished, he would summon the Egun, saying: «Egun Malekulorun Eni Ikú Eni Bosa». The egun grew arrogant and began to weep, and the people who drank the water of that land suffered swelling of the belly and otoku.

Enye Orun ate the entrails of the otoku and made them disappear so that Oduduwa would find no trace. One day, Oduduwa visited the land of Enye Orun and met an awo named Oluo Aboni Ifá, who had a son named Iwori Koso. When Oduduwa arrived, Oluo Aboni Ifá hid his son and sent his wife, Iya Orun Leye Leye, to confront Oduduwa. During the fight, Iya Orun Leye Leye died suddenly, and her spirit swelled her son’s belly.

The boy began to sweat and to pour water from his body, and Oluo Aboni Ifá opened a joro joro and buried Iya Orun Leye Leye. Oduduwa, who had witnessed everything, began to sing: «Iya Orun Leye Leye Ikú Mawa Orun, Egun Leye Leye Leri Toku Mawa Olodumare, Egun Leye Leye Egun».

When the rooster is given. Oduduwa went back to his land in great anger, and when he arrived he found Olokun waiting for him; he told him everything that had happened, and Olokun gave him water to drink, saying: «Baba pele pele,» and Odua was appeased. Olokun told Odua what was happening in the land of Olokun. Odua told Olokun to turn that land into water and make it disappear.

Egun Yenye Orun, seeing what was happening, went out to where Odua was and said to him: «you must come to where I keep my secret; you must live together with me.» And so it was done. Awo Oluo Aboni Ifá, seeing what was happening to his son, set out along the road playing an ashere and begging Olodumare’s forgiveness for his son. He reached the land of Olokun, the land of leleyekun where the son of Olokun lived, who was a babalawo; he read him, and Iwori Koso came out.

He performed for him the ebbó indicated above and told Awo Oluo Aboni Ifá that, for his son to recover, he had to be consecrated with Odua, Olokun and Orishaoko; but to remove the Egun of his iyare from above him, the belly had to be fed and a roof tile placed beside it, and on this tile the Odun Iwori Koso is written.

They prepared everything the Egun was to eat: three caisimon leaves, three castor-bean leaves, three of tua tua, three of yanten. They wrote Iwori Koso on the belly, spread plenty of orí and epo on it, and gave it the adie. While they were giving the adie to the boy’s belly and to the tile (which carries cloth of nine colors), they sang: «Iya Orun Leye Leye Ikú Mawa Arun Egun Leye Leye Leri Toku Mawa Olodumare Egun Leye Leye Egun».

And they set the hen with its leri on the tile, cleansed the belly and sang: «Egun Lona Ikú Ikú Layewa Ni Lona Ikú Ikú».

They took the tile together with the adie and carried it to a scrubland. Everything used to cleanse the belly was taken to the sea or the river, and they began to give him the knowledge with the eweses mentioned above, and they took him to be consecrated in the secret of Odua, Olokun and Orishaoko. The boy recovered completely and was saved.

If the person is a woman, this chant is sung when the hen is given along this path. If it is a man, this is sung for him: «Babá Orun Leye Leye Ikú Mawa Orun Egun Leye Leye Leri Toku Mawa Olodumare Egun Leye Leye Egun».

Baths must be taken with the eweses used in the ebbó.

Why San Lázaro must be entreated when moving from one place to another

In the Lucumí land lived San Lázaro, but the people despised him because of the sores he bore and their fear of contagion, and so they expelled him from that land. As Oluo Popo walked along the road, he met his younger brother, Shangó, who greeted him and asked what was wrong, for he looked deeply troubled. Oluo Popo told him what the people of his land had done to him, and Shangó said: «Look, I have just won a war and I have a place for you to reign — the Arará land, which is small and separated from the Lucumí land by a river.»

Oluo Popo accepted, and they went there. When they arrived, Shangó said to the people: «This man shall be your ruler; love him well.» Before leaving, Shangó told Oluo Popo: «Those people who cast you out will come to need you, but before you go, make them beg you at length.» Some time later, a great epidemic broke out in the Lucumí land, and many people were dying, desperate and at a loss for what to do. But then Shangó appeared and told them: «The only one who can save you is that leprous man you expelled; you must go and find him.»

They went at once to the Arará land and begged Oluo Popo to save them, but he refused. Then they all knelt down and began to clap their palms against the ground, pleading with Oluo Popo to save them and telling him they would not rise until he forgave them and went with them. After much begging and supplication, Oluo Popo decided to go, and he healed all the sick. That is how Oluo Popo saved his land from the epidemic.

Before the ebbó, oparaldo with etu keke.

The merchant and the parrot

There was a prosperous merchant who had his sister in charge of advertising his business and drawing customers into the shop. The young woman worked in front of the shop and had the help of a little parrot that had grown used to imitating everything she said. In time, the parrot learned to perfect the young woman’s pitch, and people paid more attention to the bird than to her.

The merchant noticed this and decided to dismiss his sister from the business. The young woman left deeply saddened and disappointed, since that job was her only source of income. After a while, the sister returned intending to take revenge on the parrot and on her brother. She gave the bird poison, and it died.

From that moment on, the business began to decline, and the merchant realized he had made a mistake in dismissing his sister. Without the little parrot that drew in the customers, the shop lost its renown, and the merchant fell back into his former financial situation.

Omo Aribole

During his life, Omo Aribole would call on Egun to speak with him, but it was always Elegbá who answered. One day, Elegbá told him that, in order to help him, they had to go together to the river to see Aggayú and bring him an Eyele Mesan. On the appointed day, they went to the river and saw a burly man dancing beside a palm tree. Omo Aribole asked who he was, and Elegbá told him it was Aggayú. There, the secret of an Ozain was revealed, though it is not included in the story.

SECRET OF THIS Ifá: Two jícaras are taken and mariwo is placed on them, and then Orunla is set on top of this; an omiero is made with the following eweses: tete nIfa, atiponla, ewe fin and yanten; Orunla is sprinkled with it, and then two adie are given directly to Ifá. Everything inside the adie is removed, and they go with Orunla; the following day, ebbó is made with the large jícara.

Once the ebbó is finished, the smaller jícara covers the larger one, everything is wrapped in asho akueri or, failing that, fun fun, and it all goes straight to the river. This is done to prevent the loss of the awo of the iyare or of the iyalosha of Osha or omo Ozain. Baths are then taken with the omiero.

The Chinese land

This is a tale about the goddess Oshún and her journey from the land of Ayebu to the land of Imele. On her way, Oshún came upon an adie with three jío jío, but as she could not catch the adie, she took two chicks, and the third burst in her hands. The eyerbale fell on the earth, and she kept it.

Oshún offered the jío jío to Eshu so that he would accompany her, but since she was hungry, Eshu gave her the adie he had seen along the way. Together they reached a marshy place where Eshu set up a log to cross over. Then they came to a palace shaped like a temple, where the king was weary of a war that never ended.

The king asked Oshún who she was and where she came from. She answered that she was Emi Ibu Aro and that she came from Mini Larin Ibu Ati Okenla, from the other side of the mountain and the river. The king told her that all who spied in his palace died, but first she must cook.

Eshu and Oshún went out in search of food to cook and found only 4 white eleguede and one pointed yellow one. Oshún prepared a stew of eleguede and added a little of the earth with the eyerbale of the jío jío. When the kings ate, one was seized by a violent stomachache, another by an upset belly, and another suffered a stroke. The king begged Oshún to cure him, promising to give her whatever she wanted.

Oshún asked to be queen of the palace of the river and of the little houses she had seen, that he honor his obligations to Oyá and Eshu, and that his women bear no more children. Oshún went to where Olofin was and delivered the message, and then returned to the palace. There she found Orunla, who had lived in the Chinese land, and she asked him to help her defeat the kings. Together, Oshún and Orunla overcame the kings and slept on the mat as the kings had.

The path of the three egun asiere

In the land of Inle Yire lived various Awós who paid no heed to the Santos, for they believed there was a rule stronger than Osha and Ifá. Faced with this, Shangó sent Elegbá to those lands to investigate how the Awós were faring and what they were doing. When Eshu arrived, they were singing:

«Shangó Ebbo Nire Oba Rekú Unmolona Oba Yire Ayé».

And all the Awós of those lands began to speak ill of Shangó and Elegbá. Elegbá began to afflict them in the okó and the obonú, which became swollen, and when they were all sick, he knelt in the middle of the town and pleaded with Olofín:

«Olofín Babá Ayé Alaárun Atiti Lekun Oba Olodumare Guamalé Elegbá, Foribale Babá Yebé Ayana Olórun Kofiedeno».

Olofín heard Elegbá and ordered him to come before him. When Elegbá arrived before Olofín, he told him everything that had happened and what the Awós of Inle Yire had done to him. Then Olofín said to Elegbá: «I will go there with you.» As soon as they arrived, Olofín cursed all the Awós of that place: «you shall speak ill of everyone, you shall be hypocrites and cowards,» and turning his back on them, he went to where Shangó was.

When Olofín reached Shangó, the latter gave foribale to the father, and then Olofín explained why he had gone and what had happened in the land of Inle Yire. Then Shangó said: «father, I have not acted because you grow angry when I act severely, and that is why I sent Elegbá to look into these matters.» Olofín replied: «I did not know you had sent Elegbá on that errand; had I known, I would not have come.»

Then Shangó, hearing those words, grew vexed and began to call the Egun: «Egun Losa Babá Mófun Egun Losa La Ire, Awo Egun Oma Olona Egun Aun Lo». At once, the three Egun that Shangó had summoned appeared, and they set out with him for the land of Inle Yire, and there they once again drove all the Awós of that land to asiré. When Shangó withdrew, he left one Egun watching over each corner, and these did nothing but curse; and ever since, all the Awós of Inle Yire sometimes speak well and sometimes ill.

To the ebbó must be added malaguidi meta of algarrobo, and on each one is placed a leri of an animal; oparaldo is done with each osiadie, and they are sent along three different roads so that the shepe is lifted. Ashe must be added.

Another version of the previous path

In the land of Inle Yire they lived differently from us, for they did not concern themselves with the Orishas, believing there were other bonds stronger than Osha or Ifá. To find out how the awoses of that land were faring, Shangó sent Elegbara, who arrived singing:

«Shangó Abo Nori Aye Oba Lekun Awo Obona Oba Niye Awo».

All the awoses began to speak ill of Elegbara and Shangó, and so Eshu afflicted them all in the Oko and the Oboñu, so that they swelled. When Eshu saw that they were all sick, he knelt in the middle of the town and began to pray to Olofin.

«Olofin Babá Aye Olorun Atiti Lokua Iba Olodumare Wamale Elegbara Firi Wale Babá Babare Olorun Olofin Fiedeno».

Olofin, who heard Elegbara, said to him: «come to where I am,» and Elegbara came before Olofin and told him everything about the awoses of the land of Inle Yire, as well as what he had done. Olofin said: «I will go with you,» and he went to the land of Inle Yire, cursing them all for being hypocrites. With these words, Olofin turned around and went to where Shangó was.

When Olofin arrived, Shangó rejoiced and gave him moforibale. Olofin told him everything that had happened in the land of Inle Yire. «I have not acted because you grow very angry. I act severely,» said Olofin. «Elegbara told me that you had sent him to the land of Inle Yire to find out how the awoses of that place were faring. Had I known this, I would not have come.» Shangó grew annoyed and began to call Eggun:

«Egun Egun Lowa Baba Mafun Egun Lowa Layire Awo Oma Olona Egun Umbo Layire Awo Oma Olona Egun Mbo».

The three Eguns that Shangó had called came, and joining him, they went swiftly to the land of Inle Yire and cursed all the awoses of that land. Shangó spoke, keeping watch over the Eguns among all who peopled that land, while the awoses cursed. From that moment on, some of the awoses of the land of Inle Yire fared well and others fared badly.

The two small figures of cedar go at the foot of the Santo, and the one of algarrobo is buried.

The path of the two towns

OPARALDO WITH: Osiadie fun fun and dun dun, obi, itana, eku, eya, epo, awado, otí, oñí, efun, gbogbo ewe. The aikordie is for the person to wear.

On this path there were two towns; in one of them Iwori Koso reigned, and his town was in perfect order. In the other town, everything seemed to go well, since all its inhabitants did as they pleased. One fine day, the peaceable people went to the palace to see the king, so that he would put an end to the town being torn apart by the war between the families who lived there. After the meeting, they agreed that each group would dress differently from the other, so that the group that chose to worship the sun could be told apart from the one that chose to worship the moon.

The group that worshipped the sun dressed in yellow, and for the worshippers of the moon the dress was blue. At first all went very well, but in time the schemers and the selfish began saying that since the sun was stronger than the moon, they were the more powerful, and that those who worshipped the moon were weak and fearful; a bitter dispute arose between the two sides, and the war began anew. The situation became so dire that they decided to hold a new meeting with their king.

They went to see Iwori Koso, and he, seeing the war that raged, secretly ordered them to dress in white and to throw their old clothes into the river, and he summoned the two kings with their subjects. When they came before Iwori Koso, the kings and their people turned out to be dressed in white. A fierce struggle broke out, and in its wake only one king remained; and thus Iwori Koso brought peace and calm to those lands. In one town, only one king can rule.

This Ifá speaks of divisions among people and families; there are wars and superiority complexes, so unity must be sought among all parties, because that is the only way to achieve peace.