Ojuani Boka

Ika the greedy one

Ika was a very greedy man who never liked to give anything to anyone. One day, while he was sitting on top of a pile of corn, a mouse came to ask him for a little, but Ika refused. Then a cat came and asked him as well, and Ika refused again. At that moment Eshu appeared and knocked Ika off the pile of corn, and everyone took advantage of the situation and found happiness of their own.

The curse of Oggún

In the land of Fabewa, harmony and calm reigned thanks to the daily blessing that Ogún gave its inhabitants.

Every morning the people rose early and asked Ogún to grant them strength to carry on with their land.

One day a man dressed in the skin of an éyó arrived in Fabewa, and this impressed all the inhabitants. That man was none other than the likeness of Ogún, sent by Obá Omo Legú to sow confusion among the people.

Obá Ogún began to create discord among the inhabitants. At first he did works for a few individuals of that land, and they, pleased with the results, recommended his services to others. So, little by little, all the people of Fabewa went to the house of Obá Ogún, forgetting Ogún entirely and paying attention only to Obá Ogún. Ogún, shamed by the attitude of the people, cursed them and called upon Íkú (death):

«Ogún Íkú foloná, Ogún Shekúe Íkú foloná».

Íkú came before Ogún, and he said: «I curse this town, and you shall remain at the entrance of the settlement until you have finished them all. Do not let them find peace, and every time someone from outside tries to enter, destroy them!».

Ogún withdrew to a nearby land where an awó named Awo Awóri Olantá lived. Seeing Ogún distressed, he asked what was wrong, and Ogún answered that it was the ingratitude of the people of Fabewa.

Awo Awóri Olantá was troubled by Ogún’s words and replied: «You should not have cursed the people of that land, still less placed Íkú at the entrance of the settlement to destroy everything that comes in or goes out. In any case, Oba Eggun is destroying them all, making them believe that through Eggun they will solve their problems».

Awo Awóri Olantá said to Ogún: «Let us go to Orunmila’s house to see what we can do to ease at least part of the great misfortune the people of the land of Fabewa are suffering».

Awo Awóri Olantá took his ekuele, and the Ifá that came out was Ojuani Boka, in which Orunmila indicated that they had to perform a ceremony at the entrance of the settlement with a white rooster, followed by ceremonies at the four corners of the town. Afterwards they had to perform oparaldo to lift part of the curse of Eggun that had fallen on the people of that land.

On hearing this, Ogún was reluctant to do anything at all, but Awo Awóri Olantá persuaded him to follow Orunmila’s instructions. Awo Awóri Olantá found a white rooster and set out for the land of Fabewa together with Ogún, singing along the way:

«Awa Lele Ikú, Awa Lele Ikú Boyebe Ikú».

Suddenly Íkú, on hearing this song, ran off in fright, and Awo Awóri Olantá took the chance to cut the rooster’s throat and pour its blood at the entrance of the settlement of Fabewa. While he gave the rooster’s blood, Awo Awóri Olantá sang:

«kalekue Lole Bawa Lona Íkú, Eggun Bawa Lona Oguiré Boorun Bawa Lona».

While Awo Awori Olanta was performing this ceremony, the whole population gathered at the entrance of the town, knelt down and begged forgiveness. When Awo Awori Olanta finished that ceremony, he told the people of that town to place at the four positions of the settlement a jícara (gourd bowl) with sarao of eko and to pour plenty of oti into it to appease Ogún, and then to find an osiadie shashara to perform oparaldo.

The inhabitants of the land of Fabewa did so and handed the osiadie shashara to Awo Awori Olanta. He gave it to Ogún and buried the white rooster he had offered at the entrance of the settlement. Ogún and Awo Awori Olanta went in and stood at the entrance of the town, and Awo Awori Olanta took the osiadie shashara and began to perform oparaldo for the whole population. While he performed oparaldo,

he sang:

«eyerbale Egún Akualodeo Eyerbale Ashún Bako Cuál Odé».

And he touched the big toe of their feet with a little blood.

When Awo Awori Olanta had finished, he burned the osiadie shashara and had the whole population bathe with mastuerzo, quita maldición, espanta muerto, abre camino and rompe saraguey. At that moment Awo Awori Olanta took the chance to tell the people of Fabewa: «this ceremony you have witnessed and that has been done for you, you will have to repeat from time to time so that Ogún’s curse is not so severe upon you and the blessing of Olodumare may reach you».

In this sign one must pay close attention to the door of the house, for Ikú remains there turning everything awry. The owner of this sign must have his eggun consecrated. When the ceremony of giving the akuko fun fun at the ilekun is performed outside the house, everyone in the household must remain inside, kneeling before the door.

The white elephant

The elephant was a very proud animal and lived in the royal palace. He was also the best friend of the king, a man of bad temper, bad manners and great arrogance. The elephant was the only one the king trusted, and he treated him with every attention and consideration.

Being powerful, the elephant harassed the other animals living in the palace. He would seize them by the feet with his trunk and hurl them into the pond. He also broke floors, stole fruit, killed horses and kept the whole town in constant alarm. People came to hate him and could no longer bear the sight of him. Yet, since the elephant had the king’s backing, no one dared do anything to him. The king delighted in every mischief of his favourite.

Faced with this situation and worn out by the elephant’s abuses, all the animals of the kingdom gathered to look for a solution: how to kill the elephant without the king finding out. Each one set out a plan, but none seemed workable, since there was a risk that the king would learn of it and take reprisals against the town.

When the ants presented their plan, many animals refused to listen to them, even rejected them and told them to leave, believing they could do nothing. The mouse, however, proposed that the ants’ idea be heard. After listening to them, a few changes were made to the plan and it was decided to carry it out.

The mouse played a crucial part in the plan. Together with his family, he took charge of gnawing the bark of the trees and the honey stores around the palace, so that the tree resin and the honey would spill over the place. In this way the ants would be able to act. They also agreed to dig a tunnel that would weaken the palace foundations, so that it would collapse on the king and his soldiers and crush them.

It became known, however, that in a distant land an endurance contest would be held, and this news reached the king’s ears. The king thought: «With my elephant, I will win that contest».

The ants and the mice were carrying out their plan. When the king rode out on his white elephant, the elephant’s feet became smeared with honey and the ants climbed onto them, stinging him as they fed on the honey. This made it hard for the elephant to walk properly.

On reaching the contest, the elephant’s legs were weak and he could not keep up the pace. He kept falling, which meant they came last to the finish. The king was left shamed and had to hire camels to return to his lands. This bred a deep hatred in the king towards his white elephant, his favourite. On reaching the kingdom, the king ordered that the elephant be made a slave and abandoned in the hills of obi and eko.

This Ifá indicates arguments and disagreements among the awoses.

Baduto awo eboya was born

ESI: is represented by an arrow like that of Oshosi, but it carries a moon with two stars behind it. It eats eyele and works hanging from the person’s neck.

In the land of Barba there lived an awó named Baduto, known for his intelligence and his skill at solving problems. He taught all his secrets to his son, Ojuani Boka Oyeye, who was a godchild of Orunmila.

Because of his ashé, Baduto had earned the enmity of several sorcerers from whom he had saved many people. Taking advantage of the fact that Baduto had to leave his town to attend a sick man, his enemies lay in ambush along the road in the darkness of night and killed him with poisoned arrows. Not content with that, they also wanted to do away with his son, Ojuani Boka.

Once he learned what had happened to his father, Ojuani Boka consulted Ifá and received this Ifá as the answer. The sign revealed to him that his ancestor Baduto had been lost by trusting in his own wisdom, and that to defeat his enemies he had to commend himself to Esi, the god of Ifá, who defeated Kara Kambuka, the holder of black magic. He was told to perform a rogación with the required elements, including a board called Lokpo Okan, carved with the 16 meyis. On this board an upturned consecrated plate was placed bearing the signs Oshe Tura, Ojuani Boka and Otura She. On the ground the atena of eggun was laid, and upon it the Lokpo board and the consecrated plate were set. Seven small heaps of sulphur were lit, and Esi and Baduto were called.

With this, Ojuani Boka managed to defeat his arayes, overcoming the obstacles and threats his enemies posed to him.

The town of greed

Osiadie with its ingredients for Elegbara.
Osiadie with its ingredients for oparaldo.
Osiadie with its ingredients for Ozain.
Receive Elegbara urgently.
Receive Ozain.

It was a land where everyone was well off, but ambition for power and money began to corrupt its people. They no longer worked; instead they sought to live off others, taking advantage of Eleguá’s mother, who was the ruler.

The time came when Eleguá stopped sending things to his mother, since he had gone off to explore other lands. In the town the gossip never stopped, and the shortage of food led them to begin devouring one another; Eleguá’s mother was among the victims.

One day a tiger came into the settlement with a chick and a jutía in its mouth, and the townspeople, furious with hunger, went out to eat the animal. After devouring it, they followed the trail the tiger had left and came upon a man on horseback, who turned out to be Eleguá disguised as a king. Seeing the crowd, Eleguá thought they had come to welcome him.

Eleguá, in the company of his two twin sons, reached the town looking for his mother’s remains, since he believed she was buried there. He discovered, however, that there had been no burial, for the inhabitants of the town had eaten her. Eleguá, unaware of this terrible truth, offered food to the whole town, not knowing that they were the ones who had caused his own mother’s death.

Along this path, the warning is that the people one keeps in one’s home and feeds — even one’s own children — can become worse enemies than those who stand against one. A man must be careful with his partners, and a woman with her spouse. One must also be wary of one’s own children, since in time they could turn into enemies and cause great trouble.

The donkey and the tiger

Once, a load of salt and a load of sponges had to be carried, and it was decided to use the tiger and the donkey to take them to their destination. They asked the donkey which load he preferred to carry, and he, being the donkey he is, answered: «I will carry the sacks of salt and the tiger will carry the sponges».

To reach the place they had to cross a river, and the donkey decided to go first with the tiger on his back carrying the sponges. The tiger clung with his claws to the donkey’s back. The tiger weighed almost nothing, but the moment came when it was the tiger’s turn to carry the donkey. Since the donkey was larger, the tiger could not hold up under his load in the water, and the donkey began to slide backwards. In an instant the donkey was falling and, from the struggling, his member was erect and he lunged. The tiger cried out because he had been pierced from behind, and the donkey said to him: «Well, tiger, each one grabs hold with what he has».

Ojuani ika travels through other lands

Here is where Ojuani Ika set out for other lands, because when he had a reading Aro Otonowua came out, and he had to offer his services. Ojuani Ika, on his journey, passed through the land and did not stop; he headed for the neighbouring lands, where the residents of those places did not take him in. They said to him: «you came through here, and now you are already back». He said: «let us settle here», to which the neighbours answered: «there is no prosperity or hope here». The awó replied: «this is where I must be». He prepared a powder and smeared it on everyone’s forehead, and they were healed and prosperity arrived.

Sekue and the pact with Ozain

Along this path, Sekue was a young orphan who had lost his parents in the forest and lived on what others gave him. One day Orunmila needed him and, as payment, made Ifá for him, giving him advice on what he should do to draw good fortune. Orunmila left for another place, leaving Sekue alone once more. Despite his young age, Sekue learned Ifá, had a reading every day and made offerings (ebbo).

Sekue felt a strong connection with the supernatural beings that dwelt in that place. He developed a close relationship with the trees Tengue and Yaya, who confided their secrets to him because he was an orphan. He also kept company with Aragba, the grandmother of all the igui of nibe.

One day Sekue made himself an osode and this Ifá came out, telling him to make an ebbo with a doll half white and half red, Inle lese igui, and a black chicken to draw all the luck he wished for. Although he lived in poverty, Sekue made the ebbo and had only three dark cents. He took everything to the hill of Aragba and buried it. Since he had no black rooster, he wounded himself and offered his own blood to the earth. At that moment Ozain Oshakene appeared, with his terrifying gaze and his skin of tree bark, and said to him: «You, son of Tengue and Yaya, godchild of Orunmila, we shall seal a pact. Your blood is my blood». Ozain handed him a consecrated pot and told him to go to the city with it, and that he would live from Ifá. Before leaving, he warned him not to look back until he reached the town.

Sekue felt something fall on his shoulders, but he did not turn around. When he got home, he found gold in his sack. This was his third stroke of luck, since the first was finding Orunmila, the second Ozain, and the third was wealth.

Sekue filled his house with sticks, herbs, animals and medicines, and no one suspected that among all those things lay an inexhaustible treasure of the eternal ashé of Ojuani Boka, belonging to Orunmila and Ozain.

NOTE: Owunko, Ayakua Merin, Osadie Dun Dun, Ikoko Ozain, Agboran de Igui Tengue, Yaya y Guayacán, leri de Ayosa, ataré medilogun, an owl, a toad, a lizard, a hairy spider, a scorpion, three dark cents, earth from four crossroads, from the cemetery, from midday and from midnight, from an ant hill, an oduara, omiero of Tengue, Yaya and Guayacán.

In this Ifá the person has to be rayado (scratched).