Ofun Di

The two servants

Once, Orunmila had two servants in his house. One was Ofun Di, who was in charge of disposing of the ebboses he made for his clients and godchildren. The other was Odi Fumbo, who ran his errands and cleaned the house.

One day, Orunmila performed an osodde and saw this Ifá, which advised him to look carefully, because the ebboses he was making for his godchildren and clients were not giving results, since they were not reaching their destinations effectively. Orunmila began to doubt the loyalty of his servant Ofun Di and called Odi Fumbo and asked him: «Where is Ofun Di? I sent him to deliver an ebbo and he has not yet returned.»

Odi Fumbo answered him: «Babá, Ofun Di is stealing the things from the ebbo.» Orunmila realized that Ofun Di was a thief and that his ebboses could never take effect nor his children prosper. Then he said to Odi Fumbo: «You shall always remain to seal the ebboses.»

When Ofun Di returned to Orunmila’s house and learned of the trouble, he said to Odi Fumbo: «You are a traitor, because you betrayed me.» Odi Fumbo replied: «The traitor is you, who have betrayed Orunmila and Olofin, for you were the trusted one of both.»

The false diviner

In this sign is told the story of a false diviner called Omo Elegbá, who was expelled by Elegbá because of his lies and went to live in the land of Tobari Lala Awo Leri Mashe. Before entering that land, he met Shangó, who spoke to him, but he could not understand; so Shangó gave him akuko meyi and prayed over him so that he might understand him and so that he might have good fortune.

Then an aboran appeared with a sponge and 7 black princes, Shangó Obari Keke, and that shadow told Shangó that the eggun were not speaking. Then they were fed, together with the sponges in the mouth, and were asked to speak, but he could not. Shangó began to sing and to eat what the sponge held, and the good fortune of Ofun Di spread.

Eni laye then began to pray to Shangó to grant him the fortune of being a great diviner, even though Elegbá was his father, because he would be greater than his father. He asked Shangó to give him the powers needed to be a great diviner.

Shangó gave eye of etu to Awoni Boshe Awo, and when he gave him that with the sponge, the leri of the awo began to mend. Then Shangó told his mother, Ina Le Laye, to set her children to eat with that sponge mashewe eye, and the feet are fed at the entrance of the town, at the land of Tobari Ala, so that everyone would come and believe in what they said.

Finally, Shangó went out onto the road and told Olofin, where he was, what had happened, confirming what had been promised to Ofun Di. Olofin gave foribale to Shangó and told him that he would be the great secret, the great diviner and liar. Shangó told Olofin that when the heat of the earth came, everyone would speak.

The awo who possesses this sign must keep a sponge behind the door of his house with 7 red princes and salvadera siempre viva, and every month he shall turn the sponge over and give it one eyele dun dun and one fun fun.

The path of illness

There was a very capricious, stubborn and forgetful man, and he would never relieve himself in any house where he happened to be, always in the bathroom or toilet of his own home. He said that this way his clothes would not get soiled or take on a bad smell, and he was very pleased with that. For this reason, the people around him began to envy him for his good example, and his friends began to work against him wherever he went, since there was one who wanted his job; and they worked against him so much that the man, seeing himself in that situation, decided to go to the house of Orunmila.

Orunmila received him and, seeing his situation, marked an ebbo for him so that he would not lose the little he had left. While he was gathering the objects needed for the ebbo, he felt the urge to go to the bathroom and ran off to his house to relieve himself, and when he finished, he headed to his work.

He had already forgotten what Orunmila had told him and did not go on gathering the objects for the ebbo. The next day, the man woke up with an upset stomach, and that was the day he was supposed to make the ebbo, but he went to work in that condition. He had to ask permission twice to go home to the bathroom, and he told his boss. The third time he asked permission to go, the boss granted it grudgingly and with bad grace. It so happened that on his way home he soiled his clothes and stopped to wash and tidy them, and he did not return to work.

The boss needed an urgent job done, and since the man did not come back, he asked another to do it, and his good friend showed up to carry out the work. When the man appeared the next day, the boss dismissed him and told him he no longer needed him, that he had already put another in his place, and that he was fired.

Where Obatalá got lost in the forest

Obatalá got lost in the forest, and that day Orunmila had performed an osodde on himself and saw this Ifá, which advised him to paint his house white. Orunmila did so.

Obatalá, tired of wandering through the forest without direction, since he could not find the way out nor see anyone, made out in the distance a little white house and headed toward it, thinking it was his own. When he arrived, he saw that it was Orunmila’s, who on seeing him offered him his house, water and food.

After Obatalá had rested a good while, Orunmila showed him the way to his house. Obatalá granted Orunmila great good fortune.

One must help those in need.

Ozain the idler

On a certain day, Olofin came down to earth to distribute all the powers among the Santos and Babalawos, impressed by their wisdom and abilities. When Ozain found out, he went to visit Olofin, but it was too late: the powers had already been distributed. Olofin decided that the babalawos and santeros would have to pay a tribute to Ozain every time they needed the ewes for a ceremony. However, Ozain always arrived late to the Santos and ifases, which brought complaints and protests. Olofin felt ashamed and decided to visit the earth by surprise together with Osun to curse Ozain.

After fulfilling his purpose, Olofin went away weeping and came to the foot of a ceiba tree, where he sang: «Soy Oyo Anguede More Oro Bini Ozain Aguede Moro Iguin» in order to stay alive and outlast Ozain. From that moment on, Ozain swore to be punctual and always arrived on time whenever he was summoned for a Santo or Ifá.

Along this path the person must be respectful and fulfill their duties to the letter, must be punctual and impartial. This speaks of the times and of the life of Ozain, who was an idler, and whose amusement with the doves and drums always made him arrive late everywhere, so that he never made good on his commissions.

Obatalá’s goat

In this story, Obatalá had a she-goat that bothered the neighbors, and he decided to leave the town. But Oggún and Elegbá intervened in his situation and turned on the neighbors. Orunmila advised Obatalá to make an ebo, and after that, the neighbors asked forgiveness and accepted Obatalá and his goat in the town.

This Ifá shows that at times we may have conflicts with our neighbors, but that we can also find peaceful solutions. It also points to the importance of keeping current with our obligations and responsibilities in order to avoid future problems.

How Ozain acquires the powers of ofun di

On this path, Olofin had assigned a man the task of caring for the vegetation and its properties. The people of the town came to him when they needed herbs to heal themselves or to make offerings to the santos. But the man, called Ofun Di, began to believe himself indispensable and grew so idle that he no longer wished to work at all. The people complained to Olofin about his neglect.

Feeling ashamed of his choice, Olofin went to weep at the foot of a ceiba. Ozain, who at that time had no power other than that of bad luck, was called to help. Ozain led Olofin to the foot of a ceiba where he stood weeping, and offered to take charge of the powers of Ofun Di. Olofin accepted and granted the powers to Ozain.