Okana Ika

Okana Ka Reveals the Ashé of the New Year

Okana Ka was an omofa who was always dissatisfied with the rites of Ifá. He said something was missing that he had not done in his journey through the world as Orunmila had marked for him: paying tribute to the land of Ile Ifé to reveal the ashé of the new year. Then Orishaoko, the obá of Oshoko Nile, went to have a reading with Okana Ka, who marked him an ebó with his working tools, the hoe and the machete. Orishaoko prospered so greatly that he decided to make Ifá.

Okana Ka, in agreement with his godfather Orunmila, paid homage to Ifá with Eggun and the tools of Orishaoko, reaping the benefits of the ashé that an awo obtains on earth.

Okana Ka the Traitor

In Okonla, a mountainous land, lived the awo Eiyekeiyeke. One day his abure Okana Ika, awo Osoloke, came to visit him. As soon as Okana Ika arrived in Okonla, he felt ambition and the urge to betray, and so he entered singing: «okana Ika Lashire Bobo Omo Laye«.

The whole town came out to see him and watch him from their doorways. Okana Ika went before the king, awo Eiyekeiyeke, and introduced himself, claiming that they both came from the same town and had known each other since they were very young.

Eiyekeiyeke, delighted, gave him lodging and shared with him everything he had. He told him: «Look, my palace is in ruins, but you may make use of it for whatever you wish. You are from my land and you know my family, so no one better than you to enjoy it.»

The palace of Eiyekeiyeke was like a great tree within the religion, and it was called Oshe. Okana Ika answered him: «I can repair this palace, but on one condition: that you allow me to live here for a long time, and that you present me before your subjects as the most intelligent man of the palace.» Eiyekeiyeke agreed to Okana Ika’s request, and Okana Ika, taking advantage of it, began stirring up a favorable mood throughout the kingdom. He said the king had sent him to fix the bad situation they were in, since Eiyekeiyeke himself could not do it, and that if they wished, he could stay there for good.

One day, one of the king’s faithful went and told him everything Okana Ika was doing behind his back. Eiyekeiyeke not only refused to believe it, but had the man punished as a liar. Some days passed, and Eiyekeiyeke sent for his friend Okana Ika and said to him: «My abure, you have long been enjoying everything here, and you still have not kept your word. Do it for the memory of our parents.»

Okana Ika answered: «Very well, but you must leave these lands.» Eiyekeiyeke said: «Well, give me a few days to think it over and settle all my affairs.» Okana said: «If you have not decided within three days, I will leave.»

Eiyekeiyeke then understood how ambitious his friend was. He decided to go see Orunmila, and when he arrived, Orunmila received him and asked whether he had come seeking his counsel. Eiyekeiyeke said yes and asked what his name was. Orunmila answered: «I am the representation of three personages here on earth: awo oku, awo nifa and awo inle Ozain.» Then he performed osode and read Ifá for him. He said: «Son, you are good-hearted and of very fine feelings, and you should not be treated this way.» He marked him an ebó.

He told him to take an eyele and place on it fallen leaves from his palace, to cleanse himself thoroughly with it, tie it up for three days in a row without giving it water to drink, and expose it to the sun. On the last day he was to present it to the sun and pray: «oun Oshe Mora Moyio, Oun Oshe Mora Okana Ika Oro Fee, Oun Oshe Mora Inle Tani«.

Right after that, he was to release the eyele and carry the ebó to wherever the eyele came to rest. There, wherever there was green grass, he was to dig and find a stream with plenty of fresh water. (This is the reason why, when there is drought and many birds are seen gathered in one place, it is a sign that water is near.)

Eiyekeiyeke returned to his palace very pleased, and Okana Ika, seeing him, thought: «I have won.» Then he asked him: «Have you decided?» «Yes,» answered Eiyekeiyeke, «but first I am going to hold a feast for you, my best friend.» At the feast, Eiyekeiyeke sang: «oun Oshe Mora Mayio, Oun Mora Okana Ika Oro Pee, Oun Oshe Mora Inle Tani«.

The people gathered around them fell upon Okana Ika, who escaped the fray half dead, for being ungrateful, treacherous and ambitious without scruple.

Where Obatalá Exchanged the White Clothes for the Black

There were two brothers who were always arguing. One of them, dressed in white, said that as long as his Guardian Angel did not will it, no one could kill him. The other brother said it was Obatalá who commanded it.

The bitterness between the two brothers reached such a point that one of them went to Obatalá and told him what the other had said. Obatalá answered that within three days he was to invite the other brother to go to the wilderness. Then he was to send for Oshosi and order him that, in three days, the two of them would go to the wilderness, and whichever one was dressed in black was the man who was to lose his life.

The brother who was a son of Baba invited the other to go to the wilderness, but that one had his head blessed first. The other brother said: «Let’s go,» and they set out together. Halfway along the road, the brother invited him to swap clothes, and he accepted. Oshosi, following the order he had been given, shot at the one dressed in black, whereupon the brother who had been counseled rushed to Obatalá and told him what had happened. To which Obatalá answered: «As long as the Guardian Angel does not will it, no one can kill you.»

The Path of the Great Power

Here was born the practice of Elegbara eating etu to free the awo from his arayes (strife), and here Eggun and Ozain made a pact to save Okana Ka. To give the etu to Elegbá, Okana Ka is drawn behind the door on the floor and covered with a cushion of fine grass; on top is placed Elegbá, who is covered with meloncillo.

Obi omi tuto is given, the etu is given, pouring eyerbale around Elegbá and the last drops over the ewe meloncillo that covers Elegbá.

The Son Never Scratches the Father

One day a cat named Ologbo arrived at Orunmila’s house and little by little won the trust of the household, until Orunmila consecrated him in Ifá in this Oddun. After his consecration, Orunmila left him in charge of his house and told him which people to expect and what he was to do and charge in his absence.

In time, the cat learned so much that he came to know as much as or more than his godfather. One day, while Orunmila was out, the cat decided to do as he pleased with the clients who came to the house. On returning, Orunmila learned what his godchild had done thanks to Eshu, and as a token of gratitude gave him an akuko at the river and picked up an ota. When he asked Ologbo to explain his behavior, the cat tried to wound Orunmila, but Orunmila managed to pin the cat’s claws with the ota he had picked up at the river.

Orunmila explained to the cat that the godfather must clip the godchild’s nails when he tries to scratch him, for the son must never scratch the father. This story can be read as a lesson on respect and hierarchy within the Yoruba tradition, where the godchild must always show respect and obedience to his godfather.

The Etu, the Hunter and the Trap

Etu, a species of bird, went to see Orunmila because she was being hunted. Orunmila saw this Ifá for her and marked her a rogation that included akuko, adofa, a net, igui, majagua, 4 stakes, eku, eya, awado, epó (palm oil), akofa, abiti, gbogbo asho and whatever other ingredients were needed, opolopo owo.

When Etu stepped out of the door of Orunmila’s ilé, the other Etu waiting outside asked her what Orunmila had told her. Etu explained everything Orunmila had marked for her, and the others decided to do nothing, because they were no fools. Etu asked them why they would not do it, and they answered that they would not fly wherever they saw awado.

It so happened that the hunter also went to see Orunmila and received the same rogation as Etu. The hunter did everything Orunmila had indicated: he drove in the stakes and laid the net over them, scattering awado across the whole ground and placing a larger amount beneath the net. When the etu came and saw the awado, they began to eat and, little by little, worked their way under the trap. Then the hunter appeared and the etu saw him, but when they tried to fly upward they met the net and were caught. The hunter bound them with the arique.

Ifá says there is a trap, and that there is an okuni living with two obini.

The Black Bird

The black bird was the Oba (king) of all the birds, but through his carelessness he lost the government, and they promptly installed one of their own, for their own convenience. Before long, however, the new oba died and they were left without chief or government, and everything began to go wrong. They could not agree on finding another Oba.

One day, the black bird passed through those lands again, and the creatures called out to him and told him there was no one better than he to govern and be their Oba, since he had governed them before. They named him their Oba once more.

Better the bad you know than the good you have yet to meet.

Whoever Does Good and Whoever Does Evil Does It to Themselves

There was a king who had a daughter named Shika Shika who was ill, and the king called Orunmila to save her. Orunmila saw this Ifá for her and said that to save her she had to be given ikofá, and she cast this same sign again. Shika Shika was cured and grew up without trouble, marrying a great warrior and having a son who became a great hunter. Shika Shika, however, was a woman of bad feelings.

Orunmila continued his pilgrimage through different lands, carrying out his work of divination. Years later, he returned to the land of Shika Shika, and every day when he came to her door, she did not repay him as she should have — he was her savior — and gave him only an oka (bread). He would answer with the phrase «whoever does good, and whoever does evil, does it to themselves,» and go on his way, performing his labors for the good of humanity.

Shika Shika grew tired of hearing that sentence and decided to put ogu (poison) in Orunmila’s oka. He went off with his oka toward his ilé (house), which stood within the wilderness.

Shika Shika’s son had gone out hunting and was caught by nightfall in the wilderness with nowhere to stay. He saw a light and went toward it seeking shelter, and it turned out to be Orunmila’s house. When he arrived, Orunmila received him and gave him lodging. The hunter said he was hungry and asked whether there was anything to eat. Orunmila offered him oka, eku, eya, awado and epo. The hunter ate, the ogu in the oka took effect, and he died.

Orunmila, startled to see the hunter dead, rushed to help him, and let the okpele fall to the ground, marking Okana Ka. When he turned the hunter’s body over, he saw the royal tattoo of that land and remembered the oba who years before had asked for his help to save his daughter, who bore that same sign.

He gathered up the remains of the oka and the hunter’s body and carried them to Shika Shika’s house, showing them to her. On seeing her dead son and the oka Orunmila carried, Shika Shika understood everything. Orunmila reminded her of his sentence: «whoever does good, and whoever does evil, does it to themselves.» She recognized her godfather Orunmila and prostrated herself before him, but he upheld his sentence.

The Bee and the Ant

The ant had to build her house and set out looking for honey, but she came upon a bee who gave her advice, though without telling her the whole truth. Since the ant was having trouble with her son and her spouse, the bee told her she had to gather nectar from the flowers and drink water.

The ant began drinking water from puddles and cinched her waist so that her chest would stand out, like the other animals and her friend the bee, in order to gather honey.

But since she did not have all of the bee’s knowledge, she built her house with her spouse, and when they quarreled, the spouse left the children behind and went off with another man, who also abandoned her later on. The ant was left caring for her children and suffering from her stomach for drinking dirty water. In the end, her house became a house of mud.

The bath is with purple bleo, boiled, rinsing afterward with white bleo and plenty of honey and rainwater. The name of the white bleo is ewe tete aye; the name of the purple bleo is ewe tete iki. Ailments of the belly, of inner ills such as the liver and the kidneys.

The Path of the Parrot’s Feather

Obatalá intended to start a business, so he went to see Orunmila for advice. Orunmila consulted Ifá and assured him all would go well. Obatalá decided to buy a slave to help him sell, but the next day the slave was lame. Obatalá suspected Orunmila had deceived him.

Even so, Obatalá carried on with his business while the slave dragged himself around the house. One day, the slave decided to plant the corn seeds Obatalá kept in his room. The corn grew quickly and drew the parrots, who began eating the ears. The slave had the idea of cutting down all the corn plants, and when the parrots returned, they perched on the corn and fell. The slave gathered up the parrots and shut them in Obatalá’s room.

When Obatalá returned and found his room closed, the slave gestured for Obatalá to open it carefully. On seeing so many parrots, Obatalá gave the slave his freedom. After his Osha was seated, everyone learned the story. Oshún was the first to buy parrot feathers, followed by all the other Orishas. From that moment on, Obatalá fared well and grew rich.