Ogunda La Masa

Meaning of Ogunda La Masa in the Diloggún

• This Ifá is called Ogunda crossed over, because it tells the story of how Olofin had forbidden passage along a road and Oggún crossed it anyway.
• The people said to Olofin: «Oggún has broken the law», and Olofin answered: «Let him do it if he wants to lose the meaning of life; let him find the meaning of death instead».
• Ogunda Masa is an oddun that brings trouble with the family, above all where family unity is concerned. To achieve that unity, works must be carried out (see the list of works of Ogunda Masa).
• Ogunda Masa must be baptised three times, and the last baptism will take place during the Santo.
• According to this Ifá, the children devour their mother.
• Ogunda Masa has a child sent by his spouse in order to dominate him.
• To be freed from this, the cleansing work at the foot of Oggún must be performed (see the list of works).
• According to this Ifá, one may have a child destined to end up in prison.
• Precautions must therefore be taken before that comes to pass.
• According to this Ifá, Orunmila indicates that the person may smoke marijuana. He is advised, however, to perform the work with Elegbá, in which three brushwood cigars are placed so that the person will not do it, since that would be his undoing.
• According to this Ifá, the person must place a cedar cross at the head of the bed and sleep with the feet towards the bed.
• This oddun speaks of an egun omo Yemayá who will provide everything in life to those who tend to him. You must find out who that egun is.
• If this Ifá comes out for a woman in ikofafun or during a consultation, she must be told that she may develop a fibroid in the neck of the womb, which should be attended to quickly. Vaginal washes with jibá root are also recommended.
• When this Ifá is shown to a person, they are told that they have abandoned the Warriors or thrown them away.
• In this Ifá, the person likes to sleep naked, which is harmful.
• The oddun Ogunda Masa foretells that the person must look after their eyesight and their kidneys, since they may suffer from stones.
• They are also advised not to eat pork.
• In Ogunda Masa, the parents separated because of a woman.
• This Ifá foretells that the person must live far from their mother and try to get along with her so that she does not become an enemy, since she could cast curses (ogu) upon them. That is why this is said to be a difficult Ifá: because his mother cursed him and did not want him to be born, and even tried deliberately to abort him.
• Your happiness does not lie beside your mother.
• Ogunda Masa must keep a garden at home with a cypress tree in order to have everything in life.
• In this Ifá, the awo Ogunda Masa carries a mark on his body and must not put on weight, since that would destroy him.
• There is trouble with constipation here, so mineral oil with 5 drops of anise and 5 drops of bee honey (oñí) is recommended.
• Through this Ifá, the awo Ogunda Masa offers 16 eyele fun fun to Oduduwa.
• This Ifá foretells that the person may die before their appointed time, but this can be averted by performing the work with Orunmila and Obatalá (see the list of works).
• This is an Ifá of gossip, in which the person will always find themselves entangled because of the many troubles (arayes) they carry. Making ebo is recommended.
• In this Ifá, both the awo and the aleyo must have a house of their own and not wander about or stay away from it, so as not to live like vagabonds.
• This oddun foretells that the person or awo will never lack food, for so it was ordained by Olodumare.
• This Ifá is aferefun: Olodumare, Olofin, Oggún, Yemayá, and the woman.
• In this Ifá the person is warned to take care not to fall from a ladder, since they have an egun who could bring it about.
• Awo Ogunda Masa: he must strengthen his bond with Oggún and perform cleansing works with him in order to overcome all his troubles (araye).
• Awo Ogunda Masa: he is the babalawo par excellence for performing the calling of the Igbodun of Ifá.
• This oddun represents the Oyubona, just as Ogunda Biode represents the godfather.
• Ogunda Masa is the guardian of the Igbodun of Ifá.
• In this Ifá, the person is startled by anything or any noise, without examining the causes behind it.
• Awo Ogunda Masa: he must take care not to be swayed by friendships that lead him into reckless acts, since that will bring him to ruin.
• Here he must be selective in choosing his friendships.

The eagle, watchman of Ifá

The eagle was an Iworo and consecrated Alakoso and La Tojosa as saints. The eagle was the king of the birds, and once Alakoso and La Tojosa were crowned, he placed them as his helpers. One day the eagle fell gravely ill and called Alakoso to give him a reading, but Alakoso could do nothing for him. He then called La Tojosa for the same purpose, but she could not help him either. The eagle then called Orunmila, who made the osode for him and saw this Ifá, and told him: «We must make Ifá for you to save you from death (Ikú), offering an ebo to Olokun; with the tusk of a small elephant the ato will be made, and with the bones of its legs the hands of Ifá will be made, which will be called ikines». And the ceremony was carried out.

Thus the eagle was consecrated to Ifá, but was no longer an Iworo: he was now an Awo, a watchman of Ifá and nothing else.

That is why the eagle was consecrated to Ifá, so that he would be the watchman of Ifá, because he never sleeps. And that is also why he is placed in Ozain.

Obatalá and Olofin’s gatekeeper

On this path, Obatalá was Olofin’s gatekeeper. Yet nobody took care of him or attended to him as they should have, which left him feeling the scarcity in the house. Every time someone came asking after Olofin meaning to offer something good, Obatalá turned them away with some pretext. The situation in Olofin’s house became critical, and Olofin, alarmed, sent for Orunmila. Before setting out, Orunmila made the osode, saw this Ifá, and performed the ebo, taking two eyele fun fun with him.

So Orunmila arrived at Olofin’s ilé and found the gatekeeper lying on the ground. He asked after Olofin, and the man answered him rudely, trying to make him leave. Orunmila insisted, however, and asked Obatalá: «Sir, are you ill?». Obatalá replied: «What I have is hunger, because nobody feeds me or cares about me». Orunmila brought out the eyele fun fun and handed them to Obatalá, who rose from the ground and told Orunmila everything that was happening in Olofin’s house. That was how Orunmila came to know what was going on, and could enter Olofin’s house to tell him everything and resolve his problems.

In this Ifá, the awo takes a loaf of bread, opens it down the middle and presents it to Obatalá. He kisses it and prays over it before the street door, saying: «Just as the vulture finds her food, so must I find mine. Arisha nisha nito Oggún». Then he throws the two halves of the bread out into the street, one to the right and the other to the left.

When the akuko laughed at the ferret

On this path, the akuko laughed at the ferret because the ferret was afraid of him. Every time the akuko saw him, the ferret began to tremble. One day the ferret went to Orunmila to ask for something that would help him lose his fear of the akuko. A few days later, Orunmila met the akuko and told him: «Akuko, beware of the ferret, he has made ebo to lose his fear of you». The akuko, trying to belittle Orunmila, answered: «Don’t worry, that coward will never lose his fear. Every time he sees me he starts trembling». Then Orunmila assured the akuko: «Within three days it will be you who fears the ferret».

When the akuko met the ferret again, he said: «Come, don’t be afraid, come closer. I won’t do anything to you». The ferret, trembling, drew slowly near the akuko and managed to touch his comb, which was the very thing he feared. Seeing that nothing happened to him, the ferret thought: «Next time he lets me touch his comb, I’ll bite him». The following day they met again. The akuko, believing he would go on mocking the ferret, urged him to touch his comb. But when the ferret came close and touched it, he bit down hard on it. The akuko began to scream, to bleed, and to flee from the ferret. Then the ferret said to the akuko: «Akuko, from today on it is you who will fear me».

The vulture and the hawk

The vulture and the hawk went to Olofin’s house because they had nothing to eat, and Olofin sent them to Orunmila’s house so that he would make a rogation for them. But first Olofin told the vulture that he would always give her food. On the way to Orunmila’s house, the hawk changed his mind and said to the vulture: «I’m not going there; I don’t need to go to Orunmila’s house to find food».

The vulture carried on alone, and when she reached Orunmila he made the osode for her, saw this Ifá, and told her: «We must make ebo for you, and once it is done you will be able to rejoin your friend the hawk». So the vulture did, and he also told her to fly together with the hawk, but not to take part in his misdeeds so as not to be lost. When the vulture reached her friend the hawk, they set out together in search of food. Not long after they had taken flight, the hawk saw a chicken and said to the vulture: «You see, I don’t need to go to Orunmila’s house in order to eat». Then the hawk swooped down and ate the chicken, but the vulture kept on flying. The next day the hawk saw another chicken and ate it, and the vulture kept on flying. On the third day they set out as usual, and soon the hawk saw another chicken. This time, though, the owner of the farm was standing guard with his shotgun and shot the hawk dead, since it was said to be he who was eating the chickens. The vulture kept on flying, and when she came back looking for her friend, she saw that he was dead and said to herself: «Here is the food Olofin promised me». She came down and ate him.

This Ifá prescribes that you not let yourself be swayed by friendships into reckless acts, since you alone will bear the harm.

The pig dealer

On this path, Ogunda Masa lived in a village where the inhabitants stole the pigs he raised and hung the tails on the line at his house to mock him. When Olofin learned of this, he summoned the whole village and proposed making one of them his treasurer. Every one of them raised a hand to show their interest. Seeing this, Olofin said to them: «You all want to be my treasurers so you can rob me, and now we shall put it to the test». Then he asked them: «Which of you has never stolen a pig from Ogunda Masa?». Every single one raised a hand. Olofin, seeing this, told them: «Each one of you has stolen a pig from Ogunda Masa and even so you want to be my treasurers. The only one who can hold that office is Ogunda Masa, the very man you are robbing and mocking. From today on, he will be the richest and most respected man in this village».

The union of Oggún and Oshosi

On this path, Oggún was skilled with the machete but his food was always out of reach. When he saw a deer, he would quickly start cutting back the undergrowth of the forest to reach it, but the noise and the time it took let the prey escape, and he would lament not being able to catch it. Meanwhile, Eshu was telling Oggún that there was another man more powerful than he was, and telling Oshosi the very same thing, creating enmity between them without their ever having met, so that both lived in suspicion.

Oggún decided to go and see Orunmila, who made the osode for him and told him to make ebo. Oshosi received the same advice. Both performed the cleansing and went out to place their offerings by two different trees. Oggún set his ebo down by one tree and lay back against the trunk of another. When Oshosi arrived to leave his ebo, he did not see Oggún and let his offering fall on top of him. This caused a fierce argument between them, and Oshosi had to make amends to Oggún in order to be reconciled.

Once they had made peace, they began to speak of their situation, lamenting that they had food but could not reach it. At that moment Oshosi saw a deer in the distance, drew his arrow and hit the mark, while saying to Oggún: «You see that I can’t get to it». Oggún answered: «You’ll see», and with his machete he opened a path, and at once the two of them reached the deer, hunted it and ate it. From that moment on they understood that together they were invincible, and they sealed a pact in Orunmila’s house. That is why Oggún and Oshosi are always delivered together, never apart, in recognition of their indissoluble union.

When ogunda masa went to ask ashe of Olordumare

On this path, there was an elder awo named Ogunda Masa, who told his son — also an awo and Ogunda Masa — to go to Olodumare’s house to ask for ashe, since his eboses and rogations were bringing no results. He wanted Olodumare to send him the virtue he was asking for, so that his eboses and rogations would take effect. With Orunmila’s permission, the son set off for heaven, to Olodumare’s house.

Arriving at the celestial gate, the son knocked and said: «Edun Omo Niosoe Ife.» This meant that he had a father and that he was sambo, that his father’s eyes were wide open and clear enough to see everyone, and that his father had great virtue. He added that his father had much hair and combed it every day. Even so, Oggún did not open the gate of heaven to him.

Then the son said: «My father has nine children and all of them are of Ifá.» In Ife this is a rule, and that was how Oggún finally opened the gates of heaven. The son approached Olodumare and passed on his father’s words. Olodumare granted him the virtue the sambo son had come to seek for his father, and at the same time assured him that the gates of heaven would remain open for whatever they might need. The children of Ogunda Masa are nine in all.

1.- Baba obiotolo.
2.- Baba meni Orunmila.
3.- Baba miobi ankaoshe baragada.
4.- Baba abiamono tutunene.
5.- Baba amoshe.
6.- Baba mi omonomi.
7.- Baba obi anoshe boronife.
8.- Baba aruntele.
9.- Baba yobiawe kola.

Born in this sign

1. Erubawao, the slave women of Olokun.
2. That Oggún be delivered together with Oshosi.
3. Igbodun of Osha, the birth of the Santo.
4. The work of Orunmila and Obatalá so that the person does not die before their time.
5. The calling of the igbordun of Ifá.
6. The watchman of the igbordun of Ifá.
7. Olofin’s cashier.
8. Here : the Obatalá Oloru Oye speaks, little known in Cuba.
9. The pig dealer.
10. The strongbox speaks.
11. It is where Obatalá holds out his hands for Olordumare to hand him power.
12. It was where Orunmila told heaven that it was immense, yet no grasses grow there.
13. In this Ifá the children eat their mother.
14. An egun obini omo Yemayá speaks, who gives you everything you want as long as you tend to her.
15. It speaks of abandoning or throwing away the Warriors.
16. It speaks of seating Osha.
17. It speaks of one who is mounted by egun.
18. Obatalá gave birth to Oggún in the bush, while Elegbá was nearby cutting ogongo and hooked branches from all the trees. Elegbá was singing: «Ogongo Laro Ogongo Laroye, Elegbá Ode Mata Ago». Suddenly he heard a child crying from the thick of the bush. He drew near and saw Oggún weeping, so he picked him up and took him away with him, raising him in the middle of the bush.
19. Oggún grew powerful and strong. Having been raised by Elegbá in complete freedom, he did as he pleased and lived by his own whims. Everyone acknowledged his merits as a warrior and a tireless worker, and also how fond he was of quarrelling. Oggún met Yemayá, a warrior herself, and married her. He was acknowledged as the most powerful balgun of all the lands, where he waged war without rest.
20. One day Yemayá said to Oggún: «It is time for the war to end». But Oggún, driven mad, went on fighting. All the Oshas gathered to find a way to put an end to the war. Yemayá told them: «Leave it to me, I will take care of it». She took up an ada and faced Oggún. At first he took fright and fled, but then he began to fight against Yemayá. Seeing that he was losing, Oggún called upon Olokun and sang: «O lokuoo Iya Wawa Waoo Kamemebao, Olokuoo Obake Bawaoo Namemelodo». Olokun, hearing the song, stirred the depths of the ocean and the seas overflowed. All the Oshas, Oggún among them, had to flee to Inle Oke. Obatalá sheltered them and set his ashe fun fun upon the earth. Oggún took refuge in the bush, shamed by his defeat and humiliation, since it was his wife who had made him flee.
21. Obatalá went to Orunmila’s house, and Orunmila made the osode for him and saw this Ifá, Ogunda Masa. He ordered Obatalá to gather añari from onika and egungun from those Olokun had left scattered about. He ground them and made a secret called erubawaoo. He bound them with chains and sent Obanla to go and meet Olokun. When he arrived, Obanla put on the chains with the secret, acting as though he were a slave. Olokun grew calm and the waters returned to their place. All the oshas came down from Inle Oke to live on the earth again, except Oggún, who chose to stay living in the bush, and Yemayá, who settled in the sea alongside Olokun.