Oshe Paure

The omo of Oshún

There was a son of Oshún who went constantly to the river to ask her for things. Oshún always listened to him and granted what he asked, but he never remembered to offer his mother anything; he always came empty-handed. One day he came to the river and called Oshún, but she did not answer him, because she had realised that her son squandered on others everything she gave him, and she had grown weary of his behaviour.

The person remembers the Saints and their parents only when they need them.

The false coin

There was great hunger in the land and everyone lamented the lack of money to buy food. Together they gathered a small sum, all that was left to them, in order to make one purchase and share it among them all; but the market traders refused to accept the money and told them it was counterfeit.

At the height of their distress, an old woman appeared carrying a child, with the look of a sorceress about her. Seeing the people weeping, she left the child there and went home. She took money from a chest, returned to the square and gave it to the people. They bought food and said: «Thank God we can eat now». Hearing them, the old woman said to them: «Thanks to me, who am the daughter of Olofin and the one who gave you the money so that you could eat, you pack of ingrates».

Oshe Paure will thank no one for the favours done to him.

The eggun of the cave

Ayemade Awo, seeing the situation, decided to consult through Ifá, where he was advised to make ebbó with a machete, 21 white doves, eku, eya, and a pair of Opon Ifá boards. After performing the ebbó, he presented himself to his padrino and handed him the machete, telling him to strike him on the head with it; before he did so, however, he asked him to count all the doves that were in the place.

When the padrino had counted the 21 doves, Ayemade Awo asked him to set them free, and said that if along the way a single one of them came back, then he would let himself be struck with the machete. But not one of the doves returned, so Ayemade Awo remained safe, and his padrino understood that he could not control his power and his wisdom.

From then on, Ayemade Awo went on prospering along his path, and his wisdom in Ifá was recognised throughout the land of Mogin Yewe Inle.

Ayamade Oshe Paure Awo, seeing his difficult situation, decided to withdraw from everyone and, guided by Eggun Obalogun, went to live in a distant cave in the land of Mogun Yewe Inle. There he continued his meditations and his mental communications with the powerful Eggun Obani, who together with obalun influenced his mind. Solitude and constant contact with the Eggun Ogbani transformed his character, and he began to detest all his fellow men.

Meanwhile, in the land of Mogun Yewe Inle, they began to feel the absence of Oshe Paure, and everyone clamoured for his presence, but nobody knew where to find him. In those days, Ayamade Oshe Paure Awo made osode and this Ifá was revealed to him. To carry out the solution, he prayed his head with eya tuto and lay down to dudule in sleep. There, Eggun Obalun appeared to him and told him that, in order to overcome his difficulties, he should search the cave where he lived and find a tomb that belonged to the ancestor of that land. He was to take out its gungun elese otun and, with that, prepare a great secret with an okoto, so as to obtain victory in his wars.

When Oshe Paure awoke, he went through the cave and found the tomb of Orisha Oko Poolo, out of which came a voice telling him it would help him. Digging, he found gungun elese otun and gathered coloured okoto to make a kobelofe of Orisha Oko, covering it with igbole and feeding it with his Ifá. At that moment the inhabitants of the town arrived at the cave, marvelling to see Oshe Paure feeding that kobelofe, so beautiful with its multicoloured okoto and yewe, and they asked him to return as the awó of their land. He accepted, but he always kept his mistrust of others. He became an even more famous awó, causing the death of his own padrino and of his enemies, who could not withstand the resurgence of Oshe Paure’s power, for he replaced them at the head of that land.

Centring of the protecting eggun.

THE SUYERES APPEAR IN THE DOCUMENT OF ORUN.

DIAGRAM OF THE COCONUT.

WHITE RED | RED WHITE | BLACK WHITE
| |

• | + + + |
  WHITE I I | I I O I I I |
  RED I I | O O I O O O | + + +
  BLACK I I | I I I I I I | O I I I O I
  WHITE I I | O I O O I O | I I I O I I
  | | I O I I O I
  | | O I I I I O
  WHITE RED | RED WHITE | BLACK WHITE

This Ifá warns the padrino that if he does not behave well with his godchild, he will be removed from the face of the earth, for failing to understand that Oshe Paure is like Olorun — that is, that only Olorun and Orunmila truly know who Oshe Paure is.

A dry coconut is taken and well scraped, and then three bands are painted on it: one white, one red and one black. On the white part Ejiogbe is painted, and inside it the person’s sign is painted in red letters. On the red part Oshe Tura is painted in grooves; if the person is a woman, Irete Yero is painted on the inner side. If a man, Ogunda Fun is painted on the outer side.

The poor land

There was a king in a very poor land that was badly cultivated, and this land belonged to Oggún and Oshún. That king was an Awo of Orunmila from the land of Yesa, and his sign was Oshe Paure Mobeyo. He had a son called Oshe Paure, just like himself. The subjects of that land had nothing with which to pay the king his tribute, so they contrived to bring him the sap of the palms, storing it in large jars, which they processed as the only tribute they were able to give. Since the king had no entertainment whatsoever and his subjects were very poor, he devoted himself to ofikale trupon with the maidens and gave himself over to drink to such a degree that he became an addict. So much so that when drink ran short he demanded that it be obtained for him on pain of death, and thus it became the tribute he required of his subjects. This greatly displeased Oshún and Oggún, who were the Orishas Olofin had sent to that land together with Oshe Paure.

In times of war, the king lived in his stone castle at the entrance to that land. Oshún and Oggún, who had been sent by Olofin together with Oshe Paure to that land, were displeased by the actions of the king, who had given himself over to vice and demanded tribute in the form of drink from his poor subjects.

So they took the son of Oshe Paure to see Orunmila, who told him that in order to reign he must study his father’s life and learn how to live his Ifá on earth. He also taught him everything he had to do to worship Oshún together with Oggún, so that they would grant him blessings and protection against his enemies, and give him power and wealth in his land.

Oshe Paure Mobeyo, the son, knelt before Orunmila, who gave him his blessing and handed him a cutlass with his sign engraved on it, to give to Oshún so that she might take on everything evil that lay upon the earth. Mobeyo’s father died poor and drunk, a victim of the osorbo of his sign; but his son, guided by the words of Orunmila and always worshipping Oshún and Oggún, came to attain power and wealth.

Both were Oshe Paure, but the son’s intelligence overcame the father’s mistakes. The awó must measure his steps carefully upon the earth and avoid drunkenness and disrepute. Each of his steps must be guided by Orunmila, so that he always lives under the shadow of Olofin and Orunmila, who are his powers.

Only Olofin and Orunmila know

There was once a man who received messages from the dead in his dreams, and whenever he followed what they told him, he saw his dreams come true. One day he dreamed that his house and his business were consumed by fire, but instead of doing what the dead had told him to do to prevent it, he did nothing, and the catastrophe came about a few days later.

Disheartened by what had happened, he sought the help of Orunmila, who told him: «your head saves you and your head loses you; do not leave undone anything, however small it may seem, because if you do not do it, something bad may happen». So he made an ebó and took it to a hill. That night he dreamed of a woman who told him not to worry, that he was going to recover everything he had lost, that his friends had abandoned him but would soon return to his feet. She told him to go to the same hill where he had made the ebó and to bathe five times with the water there, and to wait for the results.

A few days later, the law arrested the competitor who had set fire to the business out of envy, and the arsonist’s father paid the man’s losses in reparation. He recovered his business and prospered greatly, and those who had abandoned him came back into his life. When they asked him how he had managed it, he answered: «I do not know; only Olofin and Orunmila know».

The path where oshe paure had to pray his head with red snapper

There was once a man whose finances were in a very bad state, and for that reason he decided to seek help from Orunmila, in the hope that his luck would change. Orunmila told him that he must make an ebbó, but that he must also pray his head with eya tuto and catch a fish and scale it at the same time.

The man made the ebbó and went to the river to fish. In that same town there lived a king with a daughter who, for all the comforts she had, was unhappy in love, because she had not found the right man to win her heart. Though many men tried to court her, she found none of them suitable for her.

One day the king’s daughter went out for a walk near the river, and just at that moment she saw the man fishing and scaling the fish at the same time. Each time the sun caught the fish’s scales, the man shone with a great flash of light. The king’s daughter fell in love at first sight with that man and decided he was the right man for her.

Thanks to his faith and his obedience to Orunmila’s instructions, the man managed to change his luck and marry the king’s daughter, attaining the happiness he had so long desired.

SECRET OF THIS Ifá: the head must be prayed with a red snapper, and one must bathe with its scales.

The path where Orunmila consecrated the forces of isunekue

In the land of the Ekoi there lived a famous king named Isunekue, whose land was known for its witchcraft. There was a blind well in that land, which housed an Ireme spirit called Akuramina Atare Ngongo Iya, that came out of the well to scourge the inhabitants of the neighbouring land both by day and by night. Everyone who went to fetch water disappeared, devoured by this infernal spirit.

King Isunekue, weary of this situation, went to a diviner named Orunmila, who had come from Ife to visit his town. Nakaso, the king’s sorcerer, had not been able to master this phenomenon with his witchcraft. Orunmila consulted his Ifá and told the king that in order to draw the devil out of the well, an offering had to be carried to it. But neither the king nor any of his subjects would undertake such an action, for fear of losing their lives.

Orunmila had an assistant called Elegbá, known among the Ekoi as Oluona, who offered to go to the well. Orunmila took a güiro, painted Oshe Paure inside it and added eyerbale ni akuabo; he prepared a paste with 9 apple eguede, epo and eya, and covered Oluona with efun. Then he sent Oluona to carry all this and set it down at the foot of the well. The sorcerer of the ekoi, who was a godchild of Orunmila and was called Nasako Kudiomaye, went with Oluona. When Oluona placed the güiro near the well, Akuramina came out of it. Oluona pushed him inside the güiro and closed it with malvate, and took him to Orunmila.

Orunmila set Akuramina on a board, fed him akuko fun fun with his Ifá, and told Isunekue, the Obba of the Ekoi, that in that güiro was the terrifying power that made his enemies tremble, thanks to Elegbá. In this way Orunmila was able to master the fiercest ireme of the Ekoi Abakua Nile.

: This güiro is Orunmila’s pact in the land of the Ekoi, for it was in Otura Adakoi that Orunmila consecrated the Obonekue, and in Oshe Paure that he consecrated the forces of Insunekue.
LOAD OF THE GÜIRO: Modun ori of a small okuni, of a dwarf, earth from a well, añari tengue, añari, yaya, laurel, álamo, jobo, root of Indian banana, of ceiba, of atori, of potato, root of malvate and 4 reales.

The path where man’s ruin through woman is born

There was a man who drew a great deal of attention when he spoke or sang, especially from women. This man became very famous, which stirred envy in others. One day he went to see Orunmila for advice. Orunmila told him to make ebbó and to be careful with drink and with his hair.

One day, at a town feast, Oshe Paure was invited and was soon pressed by those present to drink, but remembering Orunmila’s words he politely refused the offer. A beautiful woman invited him to drink with her, and again he refused, though the woman insisted, which in the end made him accept. Unfortunately the drink had been maliciously prepared and it made him drunk, which allowed his enemies to lay a curse on him to take away his grace. This means that those who have this sign must be careful with the women, the food and the drink offered to them. To give eya tuto to Orunmila, one must have Oddun.

The horn of eyo

In the land of Bori Boshe there lived an awó called Awo Orun, also known as Oshe Paure, whom Olofin had endowed with great knowledge. This awó governed his town with Olofin’s blessing, and everything he did turned out well for him thanks to that divine backing.

One day a woman of boundless beauty came to the town and dazzled everyone. This woman was in truth Oshún Mori Yeyeo transformed, sent to the land of Bori Boshe by Omo Saraon, who was like Omo Logu, with orders to destroy the land of Bori Boshe. Oshún came singing: «Oyorun Kobun Ikú Oyorun Korun Umbo oyorun Koboniku Omo Saraon Omo Tokun Bori Boshe oyorun Kobu Ikú».

All at once a great commotion broke out in the town and people began to fall and to suffer seizures. At that moment it was twelve noon and awo Orun was performing his ceremony to Olofin and Orunmila, setting them upon his head and praying: «Baba Olofin Omo Ni Awo Baba Tenifa Orunla Omo Ni Ori Awo Orun Ozain Ni Bori Boshe Akua Lolo Sana Odua Ofatifawa Baye Awo Orun Ori Eleripin Olofin Y Orunla».

Olofin was set upon the ground and awo Orun kissed the earth three times. When he came out from performing his ceremony, he found his town in considerable turmoil. Elegbá told him that a woman had arrived and unsettled the town. Awo Orun sent for the woman, and when she came he sang to her: «foribale Layele Awo Orun Olanla Oshún Mori Yeyeo».

The woman threw herself at awo Orun’s feet, kissing the earth three times before him. Awo Orun was so struck by her that he did not notice that, as she kissed the earth, she gathered some soil and put it inside a small pouch she carried in her hand. The pouch held a horn of eyo (tragedy) loaded with omo Saraon, so that through it she could see all of awo Orun’s movements. Elegbá, who was watching everything, came up to awo Orun and said: «Careful, Baba, that woman comes with bad intentions».

Awo Orun paid no heed to Elegbá’s words and began to converse with her. She urged him to show her his town, and awo Orun obliged her. But she was not satisfied and asked him to take her to his secrets, so as to swear an oath before them never to leave that land.

Awo Orun told her that his secrets were Olofin and Orunmila and that she could not see them. Then the woman took a small pouch and gave it to awo Orun. She told him to set it beside his secret and to ask that she be allowed to remain in that land. Awo Orun was so taken with the woman that he did as she said and put the little bag inside Orunmila’s sopera (lidded tureen) together with Olofin, and performed the ceremony.

After praying, awo Orun fell asleep and had a dream in which Olofin told him that he must give a fish to Orunmila and take it to the river. Awo Orun woke up troubled and came upon the obini, who led him into Ofikale Trupon. She told him that now she would stay in his land because he had fulfilled her request.

At four in the morning, awo Orun made osode, and his own sign confirmed to him the word that he must give a fish to his Ifá. Suddenly he heard the sound of bells and saw Elegbá coming along singing. Awo Orun stopped behind a moruro tree and let Elegbá go on his way, fearing that he would question him about the obini.

Awo Orun returned to his ile with the fish and made everything ready to give it to Orunmila. As he did so, Orunla sang: «Eya Nire Eya Nire Felekeke Felekeke, Eya Tuto Belegue Ori Oshe Paure, Awo Orun Eya Mama Fari Mama Fari».

When he had finished, he prepared an omiero with ewe abere ikoko, ewefa and ewe tentenifa. He put the fish into the omiero and took it out to set it before his Ifá. He poured a great deal of honey over it and scaled it. He bathed with the omiero at midday and knelt before Orunmila. He prayed and kissed the earth three times. Suddenly, Awo Orun began to lose his sight and to feel a strange sensation. At that moment a ball leapt out of the little bag that lay beside Ifá, and the loaded horn of eyo that Omo Saraon had given the obini fell to the ground.

Elegbá never stopped watching over Awo Orun, and seeing what was happening he took fright and began to weep, saying: «Elegbá Sokun Kaure Awo Orun Manile Elegbá Sokun».

The obini took fright at what was happening and ran to Awo Saraon. Hearing Elegbá weep, Olofin was moved and appeared on the spot. Without noticing, he trod on the horn of eyo and said: «Just as they brought this into the land of your son to destroy him, from this moment on you shall be his defender». Awo Orun began to see again and prostrated himself before Olofin. Olofin said to him: «I have allowed you to go through this so that it may serve you as a lesson and so that I may withdraw my spirituality from you. You gave fish to Orunmila, which is permitted only to those who possess my spirituality. Guard yourself against women and believe in none of them, for they can be your ruin. But since you are disobedient and clever, take your Orunmila and bring him out to the earth. Take two doves, open a joro joro, place the doves inside and cover it».

Before giving eyerbale to the joro joro, place your sign of Ifá beside the joro joro and set Orunmila on top. Light two candles and split a coconut through its upper part, placing it beside Orunmila so that the water is absorbed into the earth. Keep the obis and wait until they are ready. Take a little of each and mix it with plenty of ero and kola. Put it into the new power I give you, kissing the earth three times and acknowledging it before me and before Ifá. Then put it inside the secret, but do not close it yet, for something is still missing.

Earlier he had said that he should seek out Ozain to help him finish his secret. Ozain told him to put the eyes inside the secret so that he would never lose his sight, but not to close it yet, for something was still missing. At that moment Omo Saraon and the obini arrived, looking for the horn of eyo. Olofin cursed them and they were turned into two small eyo. Olofin said: «Take the horn and put it inside the secret. You will always keep it on top, and you will be able to walk the world without difficulty. When you have wars, set your Ifá behind the door, beside the new power I give you».

To Iban Eshu.

No one is a prophet in his own land

Awo Oshe Paure must have a rosary washed in his Ifá with a crucifix, and he must put it on every time he goes out walking with Orunmila. Awo Oshe Paure must keep an otá odduara in a clay pot behind the door of his house, and every day when he rises, before taking up and greeting Ifá, he takes the staff that sleeps at his bedhead and goes barefoot to the odduara, blows oti loro and dry wine over it, sets the big toe of his right foot upon it, strikes the ground three times with the staff and there greets Olorun and all the heavenly bodies with the following prayer: «Orun Bale Mini Mini Olorun Moforibale Mini Mini Irayo La shupa Moforibale Mini Mini Obalawa Mini Mini Ashe moforibale Olorun Bogbo Orumale Kofideno Fiedeno Oshanlá bogbo Ara Onu Eggun Oshe Paure». Only then does he go to greet his Ifá.

Erimi Awo Era lived in the land of Olokua Rere Inle and was constantly criticised by the other awoses around him, who did not recognise his Ashe. Even his own padrino scorned him, which left him embittered. One day Erimi Awo took his Ifá and his staff and bound them up high. With his ekuele of rosary and his atepón, he decided to travel the world and become a pilgrim, since he saw that in his native land he was not loved.

Erimi Awo, who was Oshe Paure, explored all the districts surrounding his land, and one day he came to a house at the entrance of a land inhabited by blind people, who could see through their minds. The house lay beneath the sea, and only those who possessed the virtue Olofin had given them to control their souls could materialise before others.

Erimi Awo possessed the virtue Olofin had granted them and, because of the hardships he had suffered on his pilgrimage, he was able to see the figures of Ajana Ifá Ife Inle. When he reached the house, a man told him that in order to live in that land he had to give him a natural power, since the higher heavenly bodies and all the power of those beings rested on the influence of the stars. These beings meditated a great deal and were Ikú (death) and Eggun Olori, who no longer needed their organs of sight to see the world, for their minds were so powerful that they could see what no one else could.

Erimi Awo asked the man what power he needed and where he might find it. The man told him that he needed the power of Odduara, and that he himself, called Ogbe Tumora, was the owner of that power and would give it to him, since he was the same as Erimi Awo. So he gave Oshe Paure an Odduara and told him he must keep it behind the door of his house. Every day, on rising, he was to greet Olorun and all the heavenly bodies so that they would give him the power to communicate with Ikú, Eggun Olori and the owners of that land, which was the land of spiritual power. With the power Ogbe Tumora had given him, Erimi Awo was able to master that land and become its oba, master of the second sight granted him by Ikú, Eggun Olori and those who lived in that land.

This Ifá speaks of the time when men used the sixth sense to communicate with one another, without needing to use their ears; it points to the mental clairvoyance that is the Ashe of this Ifá.

The gift of Oshún

In a land where the destitution was appalling and no one had money to buy food in Ilé Loya, there lived a man who was the diviner of that land. He would sit in the doorways of the square and weep over the misfortune of his land. This diviner was called Oshe Paure, and he was forever imploring Olofin to send him something to relieve the misery.

One day, Oshe Paure made an ebbó with nothing but a gourd, which was the cheapest thing in the market, and carried it to Ilé Loya, from where the ebbó had come. At that moment a woman arrived with a child in her arms, looking like a sorceress. The woman was dressed in yellow and wore roses of the same colour in her hair, giving off an intoxicating scent. She began to listen to the pleas of the people who had nothing to eat.

Then the woman set the child down and went home. She took out a beautiful chest full of coins, changed them and shared them out among the people so that they could eat. The traders, however, said those coins were worthless. The woman was outraged and went to see Olofin, who gave her new coins. When she came down with that money, it was valid on earth.

She then went to where Oshe Paure was and said to him: «From now on, your children will no longer eat eleguede. From this day I shall serve you and yours, to resolve whatever troubles you may have». She also told him: «You must bathe often with maloja and egg white to resolve your problems». And finally she said: «I am going to leave you in possession of the secret of my chest, which is ile ori. With it, you will keep it beside your Ifá and you will never lack the power of the awó».

Everyone began to give thanks to God, saying that now they had food to eat. Then the woman said to them: «Thanks to me, for I am the one who gives everything in the land of Oshe Paure». They asked: «Who are you?». And she answered: «I am the daughter of Olofin, my name is Oshún, and Oshe Paure is the edekan of Olofin. That is why I give him the chest of my secret, and my father besides gives him his blessing to live».

That was how Oshe Paure left poverty behind and obtained power over his land, thanks to Oshún and to Olofin.