Ogunda Dio

When Elegbá could not find the way

On his journey, Elegbá came to Orunmila’s house because he could not see the way. Orunmila gave him a reading and saw that this Ifá, Ogunda, came out, and he said to him: how is this possible, if you are the one charged with opening and closing the roads? This comes from the customs you no longer keep. Elegbá remembered that he used to go every day to greet Yemayá, bringing her food and bathing in the sea.

Orunmila advised him to perform a ritual with an akuko and gbogbo tenuyen, and ordered him to visit Yemayá. Elegbá followed his instructions, called on her and fed the akuko. Then he bathed in the waters, and at once Elegbá had his road clear again.

IMPORTANT: On this path, the person must take their Elegbá to the seashore, offer an akuko there to him together with the sea, bathe in its waters and take a little water home to bathe with again.

The trust of ogunda dio

One day Orunmila left his house and left behind people in whom he had complete trust. As he was walking, he stopped to talk with an acquaintance and heard the akuko he kept at home crowing: «Ogunda dio». He went on talking with that person and the akuko crowed again: «Ogunda Diooo», which caught his attention, since the akuko was delivering its song to him. Orunmila took his leave of that person and returned home suddenly, taking by surprise those he believed in and trusted, and discovering that they were deceiving (betraying) him.

IMPORTANT: After the ritual, iyefa is placed in the beak of the akuko and it is handed over to the interested party to keep in their yard.

When Obatalá was unhappy with his house

With the building materials, 16 balls are made with eru, obi, kola, obi motiwao, osun and iyefa from the ebo; afterwards the akuko is fed to Elegbá along with the ebo, and the eyele to Obatalá; the ebo is covered with ou and left with Obatalá for 16 days, and then it is buried in the house.

In the land of Guere Guere lived Obatalá, who was dissatisfied with the house he lived in, since he did not have proper food for his children and was always looking for someone who could provide them with a better one. He had trouble finding anyone willing to do it, however, even though he had all the necessary resources. No one dared, because Obatalá was very demanding and grew angry over anything; when they began to build the house and he did not like it, he destroyed it.

Elegbá, who needed money because his stonemasonry business was not prospering, decided: «I will finish Obatalá’s house», but knowing what Obatalá was like, he went to Orunmila’s house for a reading. When he arrived, Orunmila looked at him and saw the Oddun Ogunda Dio. Orunmila told him: «You must make an offering with all the materials you intend to use to build Obatalá’s house, and once you begin the construction, you must cover everything you build with asho fun fun and assign your children, who are the ones who work, the task of guarding the four cardinal points of the house you are building for Obatalá».

Obatalá visited the house Elegbá was building every day and found it completely covered with asho fun fun and with plenty of ori. He would say: «This one really knows what I like». And Elegbá always had eyele fun fun for Obatalá; he would hand them over, and Obatalá would leave contented without interrupting the work.

When Elegbá had finished building Obatalá’s house, he returned to Orunmila’s house, and Orunmila told him that before Obatalá visited the house with his children, he must bury all the elements of the offering and scatter efun and ori through the house, so that Obatalá would be satisfied.

When Obatalá arrived and Elegbá uncovered the asho fun fun, seeing the house full of efun and orí, he was overjoyed and embraced Elegbá, saying: «From now on, I will count on you to build the houses of my children in the world». And he granted ashe to Elegbá, and Iré Aye Umbo, so that he could live well in the world.

From then on Elegbá lived well thanks to Orunmila and Obatalá, and from then on he was also known as Awo Ogunda Dio Efifeshe Okuta, and everyone respected him, because no one before had been able to build a house for Obatalá.

The ota that belong to Elegbá must eat with the awo’s leri. They are loaded with yagruma, fig, plantain leaf, sage, eru, obi and kola; earth from the ebo is added, they are set around Elegbá, and the osaidie are given to them together with Elegbá — these must be white, speckled, black and dark — and 4 little caps are placed there: white, red, black and blue; afterwards the ota are buried with the caps and the leri of the osaidie at the four cardinal points of the house.

Obatalá and his unruly daughters

Obatalá lived with his daughters, but without peace. They were very loud and careless in their personal affairs and in the upkeep of the house.

Weary of scolding them for their disorderly life at home, he decided to leave the house and went away.

In time, the daughters began to have trouble: two died, others fell ill, and the house fell into complete neglect. The youngest daughter decided to go to Orunmila, who gave her a reading and saw the oddun of Ifá Ogunda Dio, and told her: «You are in conflict with your Guardian Angel, since he has left you and no longer lives with you in your house. You must change the way you are and begin a new life. You must bathe with the herbs algarrobo, salvadera, prodigiosa and cotton; and then cleanse the house with those same herbs».

Obatalá, sunk in the riddles of solitude, wandered the roads, convinced that solitude is bad company and a bad counsellor. He saw a beautiful house painted white and decided to go in. To his surprise, he found his daughters there, and they embraced him and said: «Baba, forgive us. Do not leave us again. We have changed the way we live. See the house with your own eyes».

The father, seeing the peace, the cleanliness and the order that reigned there, decided to stay in the house and exclaimed: «To Iban Eshu!» (I give thanks to Eshu!).

The mistrust of the akuko

The land of Ogunda Dio was prosperous, and there Ogunda Dio, king of that land, had a subject called akuko, whose task was to wake him in the mornings.

On one occasion, while the akuko was at the top of a leafy tree waking Ogunda Dio with his song, a fox came near and began to speak to him, to persuade him to come down from the tree so she could eat him. The fox told him that a proclamation had been issued establishing peace and harmony among all the animals of the kingdom, and that he should come down without fear so they could talk more easily.

The akuko, however, had learned to be mistrustful, and before coming down he wanted to make a test. So he said to the fox: «I am going to come down, but let me look down there first, because I think king Ogunda Dio is coming with his dogs».

The fox, who was afraid of dogs and had lied to the akuko, ran off, proving in this way that it had been a lie of the fox’s. The akuko was saved by his mistrust.

When the thieves killed akuko

Ogunda Dio was a king much respected by his subjects, but also envied by other kings because of his many descendants, his luck with women and his successful business dealings.

One day his enemies came to an agreement and sent thieves to rob Ogunda Dio’s palace, but Akuko saw them and raised the alarm. As the thieves had no time to steal anything, they decided to carry Akuko off.

When they reached the bush, Akuko begged them to let him go, arguing that he was not responsible for their bad luck and would be of no use to them, since his only purpose was to wake the people in the palace and Ogunda Dio. But the thieves were furious at having failed to steal anything, and they said to Akuko: «Precisely because of what you say, we are going to eat you. Don’t you see that, by waking people, you keep us from stealing?». And so they carried out their threat.

When Yemayá was unfaithful to Oggún

In this Ifá, Yemayá was Oggún‘s wife and used to strike him with all the sacred objects, but the Orishas Okuni kept the secret. One day, however, Obara, son of Shangó, came to that land and lived among them. Because of his arrogance, he began to spread the secret. Oggún found out and decided to fetch his machete, to go and put an end to Yemayá.

When he saw her, he struck her twice and cut off her breasts, which upon falling to the ground turned into two Obi Edun Oye. Then, with another blow of the machete, he cut off her head, which turned into the head of an abo. Shangó told his son Obara to take the head of the abo and set it on the handle of his ake, so as to obtain strength in the world. As for the two Obi Edun Oye, gather them up and you will always keep them as part of your secret, to live better.

Here 7 knives must be placed, along with the following sacred objects, in order to work with Oggún: quiebrahacha, guayacán jokuma, yaya, jiqui, moruro, mahogany, granadillo, yamao and espuela de caballero.

Why Shangó has to carry ogue

Ogue was a man with a reputation as a physician or healer in the tribe. He was considered the community’s doctor, and it happened that there was a married couple in which the wife was ill. Obatalá sent Ogue to try to cure the woman.

Ogue went to the woman’s house intending to heal her, but Shangó saw Ogue going into the house. He went to the workplace of the sick woman’s husband and told him: «Go home at once so you can see that your wife is being unfaithful to you with Ogue, the healer».

The sick woman’s husband believed what Shangó had told him and grew so enraged that he abandoned his work, took a machete and ran towards his house.

When the sick woman’s husband reached his home, he saw his wife lying in bed and Ogue standing in front of her. He began to insult his wife and Ogue. Drawing the machete, he tried to attack Ogue. But it happened that in that room there was a window through which Ogue was able to escape. Ogue ran off and the husband gave chase.

Ogue did not know the road he was running along and fell into a hole, unable to get out. Just then Obatalá passed by and asked what was going on. The sick woman’s husband, furious, told Obatalá what Shangó had said to him and how Obatalá knew the truth about what had happened with his wife and Ogue. Obatalá assured the husband that Shangó’s claim was false, since Ogue had gone to his house to cure his wife at Obatalá’s own command.

Obatalá ordered that Shangó be brought, and when he came before him, Obatalá told him: «You are responsible for all this; therefore, you must pull Ogue out of the hole he has fallen into».

Shangó used his cunning and managed to pull Ogue out of the hole. When Ogue was out, Obatalá turned to Shangó and told him: «For being a liar, I order that as long as the world exists, you shall carry Ogue upon you: To Iban Eshu!».

For the awo, Shangó and Ogue eat together.

Where deceit and lies were born

On this path, Elegbá held great power in the land of Inle Bere Ifá. He would disguise himself as an awo and deceive the people of that land, offering them many things. Everything he promised, however, was a lie. Every time someone had a problem, Elegbá said he would solve it, but he never delivered and instead took advantage of what was offered to him.

In the land of Bara ni Lala, which belonged to Shangó, all was going well, but Shangó was almost never there. Elegbá, knowing this, thought: «I have to make my fortune in the land of Bara ni Lala». He disguised himself as an awo and set off for that land with an Okpele slung across his body, so as to look like an awo, and he carried an agogó with him. He also carried an Agborán with two faces. As Elegbá walked, he went along singing:

«¡Elegbá Bara ni Lala, awo ira lele Ikú! Elegbá Bara ni Lala, awo ire lele Ikú! Elegbá Bara ni Lala, agborán egun íko», as he struck the agogó».

This was happening at nightfall. When Elegbá reached the land of Bara ni Lala, the first thing he did was to set the Agborán in front of him, and everyone came out to see what had arrived. The people said: «Something very great is coming». Elegbá began to speak and to say things, always hidden behind the Agborán, while the people listened to him. So they went on until four in the morning. Then Elegbá took away the figure he had in front of him, hid it and came out disguised as an awo.

When they asked him his name, he answered: «Awo Mowayonu«, and everyone came up to him, bowed and welcomed him. Elegbá took the Okpele and cast it, and the Odun Ogunda Dio came out, which said: «You live well, but you ought to live even better. The chief of this land, Shangó, does not care for you nor attend to things as he should, because he is not present here». Then Awo Mowayonu (Elegbá) told them: «If you give me everything I ask of you for 7 days, you will see how you prosper and live better, but you must swear an oath. I will show you the great power I possess». This was happening as night fell.

And Elegbá went on saying: «You will see, because I possess a great secret and a great virtue that no one else has». Then Elegbá began to walk through the whole town and began to sing, and without anyone noticing, he brought out the Agborán. The people were astonished and said: «Indeed, he has more power than Shangó».

The next day, whatever Elegbá asked for, the people gave him, since he ordered that the shops be set up in the street and decreed that for three days no one would be charged. Everyone was very happy, and after three days Awo Mowayonu (Elegbá) came out and said: «Well now, I have given you everything, and I have asked nothing in return». The people answered: «Now it is your turn, because we are very grateful».

Then Elegbá ordered the shops back to their original places and began to demand that all the accounts be rendered to him. The people thought Elegbá had gone mad and refused to obey that order. Elegbá, seeing that things were not turning out as he expected, grew very angry and went off to the land of Agiba Yebe Aboyorun to bring back Ikú (death). When he returned, he was singing:

«Elegbá Bara Ni Lala, Awo Iré Lele Ikú Elegbá Bara Ni Lala, Awo Ire Egun Ikú Elegbá Bara Ni Lala, Awo Agborán Egun Ikú».

Ikú began to wreak havoc. The people, seeing how dire the situation was, began to be afraid and gave Elegbá everything he asked for. But in that land there was a young man who was half deaf and half mute, and who communicated with Shangó only through signs. This young man was an awo and was called Awo Kashaba (Ogunda Dio), and he had the power of clairvoyance, and he was able to witness everything. He went at once to Shangó and told him what was happening in the land of Bara ni Lala. But first, Shangó handed an eyele (a kind of bird) to Awo Kashaba. When they arrived, Awo Kashaba went in first and released the eyele. Ikú took fright and left. Shangó hid himself in order to witness Elegbá’s secret.

When Shangó had seen it all, he took the Agborán and at midday placed himself in the centre of the town and began to sing: «gbogbo Omo Elegbá Bi Lodeo Lona Egun Ikú Elegbá Bi Lodeo Egun Ikú». Elegbá, hearing this song, came up to Shangó, begged his forgiveness and embraced him. Shangó told him: «Very well, you have the power to deceive the world. Disguise yourself and make people believe in you. You will live well at everyone’s expense, and you will do good and evil».

Elegbá was filled with joy and began to dance and sing for Shangó: «Shangó Lode Ni Shangó, Shangó Bi Lode Ni Shangó Oba Eri Elegbá Ni Odara, Shangó Bi Lode Ni Shangó«. When Elegbá had finished, Shangó told him: «I am very pleased with your gifts, but try to use them in the best way you can, and help the world more without deceiving it so much. You will always live asking, and you will never be satisfied with anything. You will have the power to turn things upside down when you do not get what you want». Elegbá embraced Shangó, and together they set off for the land of Baba Yorun Baba Goma Bilaye, where Obatalá lived. He offered them both eyele meyi to eat and handed them an akuko to give to Oggún, saying: «To Iban Eshu!».

At that moment, Obatalá pronounced: «On earth there must exist deceit and lies, the false man and betrayal, and all of it will turn to good for those who live this oddun following the path of Shangó».

When this Oddun comes out and ebo is made, egun, Shangó and Elegbá eat ayapa and akuko together. When this Oddun comes out for the awo, if he has a rooster in his house, he must give it to Oggún at once.

Before giving the eyeles to Shangó and Elegbá, an omiero must be prepared with ewefa and ewefin, misi misi, to sprinkle them. The eyele that is released in the house, to drive death away, must first be smeared with epo and efun. Then one must ask after how many days it is to be given to eggun.

When Orunmila separated from dadi

PROVERB: Ogunda Dio: on the road we travelled, the way out went well for us, and on the way back they loaded us down.

In those days, Ifá Orunmila had Oggún and Elegbá as his messengers, and he was married to a woman called Dadi. One day, Orunmila sent Oggún and Dadi to fetch something he had left behind at a friend’s house, fifteen days’ journey from Orunmila’s house, in the country of Ayo.

Orunmila took a mirror that allowed him to see at a distance and watched them, following them every night for the 15 days, so he knew they had arrived without mishap. On the way back, Orunmila went on watching them with his mirror, and he saw them lying side by side, embracing, the night before they were due home. Orunmila suffered deeply over this double betrayal and said to himself: «I have sent the one I trusted absolutely and my own wife on a thirty-day journey. For 29 days nothing happened, but on the last night they have deceived and betrayed me».

The next day the guilty pair arrived, and Oggún greeted Orunmila as he came in, saying «iboru Iboya Ibosheshe». Orunmila returned his greeting and told him: «You have behaved as a good messenger on the way out, but on the way back you went astray, and at the last moment you have offended me. It does not matter, however. Where is the object you were to bring me, Oggún?». Oggún handed it to him and Orunmila said: «Thank you; now go home with that woman».

That was how Orunmila and Dadi separated. Oggún and Dadi left together.

For the person who has this Oddun, a small mirror must be set on their Oggún, edged all round with asho fun fun and pupua and sewn with fun fun, dun dun and pupua thread (ou). So that it sits on top of Oggún, facing outward.

The farmer oroso and his wife’s betrayal

On this path, there was a farmer called Oroso, who went to Orunmila’s house for guidance and to learn the state of his life. Orunmila performed osode for him and saw the oddun Ogunda Dio, which indicated that Oroso had to perform an ebo urgently with an akuko he was to keep at his house. Moreover, if anyone had a conflict with his wife, he was to leave her before the situation grew worse. (Obini marora).

When Oroso went out to work in the fields and came back home, he always came in through the back. On one occasion, the rooster crowed with a peculiar movement, saying «idiorosooo». Oroso paid attention and realised the rooster was warning him about something serious. From that moment on, he stopped coming in through the back of the house and began using the front door. He discovered his wife’s betrayal with another man and decided to leave her, and in doing so found his own happiness. On his new venture, Oroso found a new wife and gave thanks to Orunmila.

The little bottomless basket is used during the performance of the ebo. It is passed from the person’s head to their feet, and it is used together with the rooster.

When Oshún lived contented thanks to Eshu, Oggún and Orunmila

There was once a woman who lived with her family. Although she was the mistress of the house, in time she began to feel like a servant, since despite all her effort in caring for her family, she received neither the recognition nor the gratitude she deserved.

Weary of all the mistreatment and humiliation, she decided to leave the house and wander the streets. This woman turned out to be Oshún, who loaded all her belongings into a basket and set it on her head, with no fixed direction.

One day, during her daily wandering, she met Oggún, who, seeing her situation, advised her to go and visit Orunmila so he could help her.

The next day, Oshún went to Orunmila’s house, and he performed osode for her and saw the Oddun Ogunda Dio. He told her to perform an ebo with what is listed above. Oshún made the ebo, and then Orunmila told her to give the akuko to Elegbá (Eshu) and the eyele meyi to Oggún, along with otí, and that afterwards she would find her happiness.

After following Orunmila’s instructions, Oshún returned home, but first Elegbá and Oggún turned her family out, setting the situation right in such a way that Oshún lived contented and grateful to Elegbá, Oggún and Orunmila.

In this Oddun the person is warned to be careful about losing their house, since the family may evict them or make life difficult so that they abandon it. It is advised to perform the ebo in order to overcome the difficulties. Furthermore, one should receive the Warriors and the hand of Orunmila.