Meaning of Okana Otura in the Diloggún
Precautions
- Do not attend banquets without first making ebbó, at the risk of illness and disability.
- Do not tell lies.
- You will fail to carry out what the Saint has indicated in order not to spend money.
- Beware of greed.
Health Concerns and Advice
- Trouble keeping food down in the stomach.
- A bad temper, and speaking ill of the Saints.
- A reminder of a pending rogation.
- Ailments of the mouth, teeth and molars.
- Avoid drinking alcohol.
- Caution with operations on the stomach, duodenum and gallbladder.
- Three people are laughing at you. Make ebbó to free yourself from them.
- Beware of binding spells and bottomless jugs.
- Women who are not maidens and conceal it.
What is born in this sign
- The separation of the sun and the earth.
- The mamuraye.
- It marks debt and disrespect toward the Saints.
- It marks family separation — the wasp, which from the moment it is born parts from its parents.
- The branches separate from the trunk.
- Children separate from their parents, godchildren from their godfather.
- The mouth: because it did not make ebbó, what is eaten with pleasure is expelled with disgust through another channel.
- The mouth did not make ebbó and began to do harm, and so came to be despised.
- Wasps love to dance, and they cinch their waists so tightly that their bellies bulge out below.
- In women, it marks prolapse of the uterus.
- Food, for want of ebbó, goes in smelling good and comes out smelling foul.
- It commands eating slowly to avoid stomach trouble.
- This Ifá speaks of the roots wanting to separate from the trunk.
- It marks quarrels with neighbors caused by gossip.
Advice and warnings
- Beware of love affairs that may compromise you through no fault of your own.
- It is important to receive Orunmila.
- The person has a grimace or nervous tic.
- Ifá Ni Kaferefun Shangó, Elegbara ati Yemayá.
- It speaks of the formation of the earth and the separation of the sun and the earth.
- There are conflicts (ogu) stirred up by a woman.
- Caution with the law and with being watched by third parties.
- The person turns to their spirit guide both in times of joy and in times of adversity.
Proverbs of Okana Otura
- La comida entra con buen olor y sale apestosa. Food goes in smelling good and comes out stinking.
- Pólvora salva y pólvora mata. Gunpowder saves, and gunpowder kills.
Patakíes of Okana Otura
Answering the Aleyo Eggun Friend Amoni Or
Ebbó: Nueve isitu, 3 bagaudas agiri (torta de casabe), asho timbelara, 3 realitos de plata.
In this path, the woodcutter and the cook were friends and loved each other like brothers. War forced them to settle in a strange town, where they met three women. One was in silver, another in gold, and the third in candles. While the woodcutter went out to work, the cook stayed behind minding the house and the women. Seeing the cook watching the door, the women asked him for water and were astonished to find he spoke their tongue. The cook courted them for himself and for his friend, and told them they would be their salvation.
When the woodcutter returned, the cook told him everything and said the woman in gold was for himself, leaving the one in silver for his friend. The woodcutter told him to keep all three women — he could manage on his own and wanted no wife. After the war, the two friends and the three women went back to their homeland. The women went to live with the cook, and the woodcutter went to live alone, working hard.
One day the woodcutter Akelu said: «What a life I have — a hard trade and no woman. I must go see my spirit guide.» When night fell, he went to see Eggun, at the place where he knew all the Egguns, friends Amoni Ori, the spirit guides of the people, would gather. He arrived and gave them things, but did not see his own spirit guide. The other Egguns told him to wait, that he would arrive shortly. At last he came, carrying a load of firewood on his head, and set about cooking. When he had finished eating, he told him to return to the world and go to the house of Orunmila to make ebbó, and that he would find his happiness.
The woodcutter went to the house of Orunmila, who saw Okana Otura for him and marked ebbó. He was to place everything in a basket and carry it to the foot of the iroko. The woodcutter followed it to the letter, and began to find great quantities of precious woods. Prosperity arrived, and he said: «Good life,» saying Kaferfun Orunmila, kaferfun Eggun friend Amoni Ori.
This is where man invokes his spirit guide in prosperity as much as in sorrow.
The stout queen
Maferefun Obatalá, lodafun Elegbá, Oyá.
In this path there was a queen who was very obese and loved parties, yet felt too self-conscious to attend them. She summoned all the wise men of the court to give her a remedy, and together they devised a bodice to give the queen shape.
Although the queen improved a little, this invention proved uncomfortable because it took her breath away. In despair, she heard of the fame of Orunmila and called him to her court. Orunmila consulted Ifá for her and told her that her trouble lay in her body not working properly, that it was out of balance.
Then he told her: «Elegbá and Oyá will resolve your problem, but you must make ebbó.» The queen did so and carried it to the wilderness, before a caimito tree, and recited: «Ebbo Misi Omi Bona A La Ayapa». Little by little she began to lose weight until she became a slender woman, giving thanks to Orunmila, Elegbá and Yemayá for having saved her.
Akuko are given to Yemayá and Shangó.
The sailor’s wife
Ebbó: Un akuko, un pollito prieto, 2 adie, 3 flechas, maraña de hilo blanco, asho fun fun y dun dun, tres muñequitos, tierra de su trabajo, agua de mar, barquito, eku, eya, epo, obi, itana, oti, oñi, efun, gbogbo ewe, opolopo owo.
Distribution: : Un gallo, tres trampas, tres flechas, obi, itana, oti, oñi, para Elegbá. Un pollito, tela blanca y negra, oti, obi, oñi itana, awado, malaguidi, gbogbo ewe, efun para oparaldo. Eyele meyi (posiblemente para la puerta) y si no lo coge preguntar: si obori eleda?; Los demás gbogbo en el ebbo.
In this path, there was a woman who had four daughters by different fathers. She decided to take up with a sailor, and they lived together with her daughters.
Since she worked, she left her daughters in the care of her mother-in-law. While working at the factory she met another man, and they began a secret affair. This man, however, turned out to be impotent, and the woman did not want to go on with him.
The man blackmailed her and threatened to tell her husband everything, for he had a portrait of her. The situation reached a breaking point when the lover would get drunk and insult her at the door of her own house, even going so far as to mistreat her. In despair, the woman went to seek the help of Orunmila so that he would resolve her problem, since this man was causing her trouble and damaging her reputation.
Orunmila marked an ebbó for her, along with the necessary ceremonies, so that she could free herself from this man and recover her peace of mind. In this way, the woman managed to resolve her problem and keep her husband from learning of her new infidelity, which had been causing her great anguish.
The mouth
Food once entered the mouth full of savor, nourished the body, and left with the same savor — but Odduwa cursed it. Then the mouth refused to make ebbó, believing itself indispensable.
And so it came to pass that it did harm to everyone, and people despised it, because from that moment on food went in smelling good and came out stinking. Kaferefun Eshu.
The wasp
Wasps love dancing very much, and when they danced they cinched their waists so tightly that their bellies bulged out below.
Works and ebbó of Okana Otura
Ebbó (Rituals)
Prayers and suyeres of Okana Otura
Liturgical material transcribed from the source manuscripts; it is preserved verbatim.
- Okana turale ifá ire okana nimaseku legueni olorun amibinu kaferefun olorun ati orunmila. Adifafun obatalá ati oshún.»
Orishas in this sign
The orishas that the letter itself links to this sign, according to what the source records:
- Orunmila — It is important to receive Orunmila.
Other aspects of the sign
What does Ifá Okana Otura tell us?
- It is recommended not to tell lies.
- It is indicated that you have a pending rogation.
- It warns of trouble with the molars and teeth.
- Do not speak ill of anyone.
- It is important to do what you have been commanded, so as not to lose what you have asked for.
Precautions
- There is a risk of falling gravely ill.
- Be careful with overeating and stomach trouble.
- There are three people who may be mocking you.
- Do not be greedy.
- If you are invited to a party, perform a rogation beforehand to avoid illness and digestive trouble.
- It is pointed out that you speak improperly about the saints.
- It is suggested that you should receive Orunmila.
Use of Amulets and Offerings
- Wearing a green sash is recommended.
- It is suggested to give a young rooster to the leri.
- Eating peaches is forbidden.
- In this Ifá the wasp holds a special meaning, being a venomous creature.
First
- Ingredients: Akuko (rooster), everything the person eats, the sash they are wearing, a small cup of hot pepper.
- Monetary offering: Opolopo owo (plenty of money).
Second
- Ingredients: Akuko (rooster), eyele meni (two doves), 16 pointed little sticks, dew gathered with a sponge and placed in a jícara (gourd bowl).
- Monetary offering: Opolopo owo (plenty of money).
Okana Turale Ifá Ire Okana Nimaseku Legueni Olorun Amibinu Kaferefun Olorun Ati Orunmila.Adifafun Obatalá ati Oshún.