Oyekun Bika

When the awoses dealt with one another in falsehood

There was an awo named Oyekun Bika, awo eletutu Moshe, who was a son of Shangó, and Olofin held him in high regard because of his great knowledge. For that very reason his brothers dealt with him in great falsehood and kept much back from him.

Here eya tuto is given to Orunmila. On this path the awoses deal with one another in falsehood and with much reserve, and they try to remove one of their number so as to leave the oluo alone and act on their own account.

The discovery of the betrayal

Awo eletutu Moshe consulted himself one day and saw this Ifá, in which Orunmila sent him to make the ebbó indicated so that he would see through the betrayals his brothers were preparing against him, even though they had need of his knowledge. Awo Eletutu Moshe was obedient and did everything as he had been told, and while he made the atemoleta he sang:

«atemoleta Alatare Ashe Nifa Odara Ori Mobeashe».

Not long afterwards his brothers invited him to a feast. He set out, but he carried the atemoleta as Orunmila had ordered him and set it down at the foot of the table.

The poison they had prepared, as the one serving it went to pour it into the vessel from which Awo Eletutu Moshe was to drink, struck against the atemoleta and spilled, so they could not carry out their wish. The other awose put off their intentions for another occasion and said: «What luck this man has».

Awo eletutu Moshe consulted himself again in the days that followed, and Ifá marked that he should give unyen to Olofin, and that he should take ewe abere and with its petals give eyele and set them to dry so that this would be his ashé, and that etu should be given to his leri, where he sang:

«ori Owode Etu Belebele Eletutu Moshe».

So he did, and shortly afterwards one of his brothers died, though the family did not learn of his death until after he had been buried. The conspirators gathered to await another chance to remove the brother who stood in the way of their designs, which were to leave the Oluo alone so that each of them could decide on his own account.

One of them, on learning of the brother’s death, determined that Ifá had to be brought down to know what they should do. When they brought it down, this Ifá came out, and Ifá told them that eya tuto had to be given to Orunmila; and since they did not know how, they were forced to go and fetch Awo Eletutu Moshe.

And so the conspirators who were plotting the ruin of their Oluo were unmasked.

Where Soyaya lived in the sea

On this path, in the land of Dassa, there was a bokono named Juanlani whose sign was Oyekun Bika Lomi. He was harried by many enemies and had many struggles with the other bokonos. One day he consulted himself and his sign came out, marking the ebbó above and indicating that it be given to Azowano, who there was called Tokuen.

Then he told him that he could solve the matter through his brother Soyaya, but that Soyaya lived with Agbe (Olokun) at the bottom of the sea. So he ordered him to carry the ebbó to the seashore and there call Soyaya with the gongoli (a pyramid-shaped wooden bell).

Juanlani did so; he went three times and Soyaya did not appear. On the third day, as he was withdrawing wearily, a beautiful green and golden fish (Ella Iñiru) leapt from the sea and fell at his feet.

Juanlani picked it up and put it in a pot with omi Olokun, but the fish began to grow and he had to move it from pot to pot, and when he had nowhere left to put it he carried it to the sea. But as he went to cast it in, the fish said to him: «Climb onto my back, and I will carry you to your salvation». He did so, and the fish led him to the house of Olokun, who gave him a secret with which to defeat his enemies.

Then the fish spoke and said: «I am Soyaya, son of Soyi and Nanu, the one nobody knows and everybody respects. I am the spirit that gives life to the oddun Oyen Bika; therefore each time you go to war, my blood will save you, bringing you back to life.

The secret suyere for the rogación of leri with Eya Iñiru is this: «iñiru Mashe Eya Iñiru Mashe Eya Iñiru Mashe Eya».

Eya iñiru, the yellowtail snapper, speaks here.

The secret is to receive Bromun in this sign and Kofibori Eleda with Eya Iñiru, the yellowtail. The awo of this sign must receive Azowano, and above all this is the path of Soyaya, who lives in an earthen jar and not in a pot like the other Yarara. He lives at the bottom of the sea, is the twin of Someno and also the father of Kalinoteyi.

Path 4

There was once an awo who had many wives and many children among them. His favourite was Akonde, who in turn was a tyrant to the rest of the wives of that awo, whose name was Awo Akuan.

Akonde, the favourite, hated with all her heart Marako, another of that awo’s wives, who had a son named Katizo; and he, like his mother, drew all the scorn of Awo Akuan and his favourite Akonde.

When Katizo had grown enough, weary of so much scorn, he said one day to his mother Marako: «Prepare every kind of seed, and let us look for a quieter place to live». «Where shall we go, my son?», asked Marako. «The forest will shelter us and the stars will watch over our sleep», Katizo answered.

Mother and son took to the road, and after several days of hard marching they came to a thicket that blocked their way in the middle of the path. But Katizo, striking fire with tinder and flint, burned the thicket, and with it a great stretch of the forest burned too; there they raised a hut and planted the seeds.

The plants sprouted and grew, the fruits ripened, and they drew to that place a multitude of animals which the valiant Katizo killed with his marvellous, miracle-working spear.

It happened one day that an elephant appeared and was on the point of laying waste to the beautiful plantation, and Katizo’s unerring spear lodged in its back without killing it. Wounded, the elephant fled with the wondrous spear, leaving the young man defenceless among the beasts and the other wild and harmful animals of the forest, which came there in search of fruit.

So Katizo, taking leave of his mother, set out in pursuit of the wounded elephant, following the trail left by its great feet. And walking four days and four nights without rest, he came to a place he had never seen, whose soft, shining ground encircled an enormous river whose far bank his eyes could not reach.

It was sand, and it was the sea; and beside it, on the beach, the wounded elephant lay dead, and he took back his spear.

As he was making ready to return to the forest, he saw a boat coming up the river with men inside it, and when they reached the shore and saw the dead elephant they gave him abundant gifts for that animal’s tusks. Afterwards they built him a hut and asked him to show them the country of the elephants.

Katizo, finding himself with so many gifts in exchange for the tusks, remembered his mother, his father and his brothers, who had never seen the sea, nor eaten salt, nor known of the existence of those men who gave him so many sweets and fine things. He set out then to fetch them, and he peopled that coast. Time passed happily for all, until one day envy nested in his brothers’ hearts, and envy, which is a bad counsellor, led them to kill him.

Katizo, who had taught his brothers to fish, one day did not return from a fishing trip, for they had thrown him into the sea and, weeping hypocritically over his disappearance, went back to the land with the terrible news that the great waves had carried him off. But Katizo had not died: an enormous turtle bore him on its shell to the coast, far from the settlement where he had lived with his brothers.

Walking on and on, Katizo reached his village when his brothers had already begun the funeral feasts in his honour. On the night before those rites ended, arriving at the house and learning the news his mother and his wife told him, he decided to stay hidden from everyone. The following day the rite of the eggun was to be held, in which the widow would choose a new husband from among the dead man’s brothers.

And at the very moment the ceremony was to begin, the great Katizo appeared before them all; and telling his father of his brothers’ infamy, he said aloud to everyone: «leave this place, go back to your village in the depths of the forest, to the country where no salt is eaten and where your eyes will never again see this immense sea in which you sought to kill me». And taking from them everything he had given them, he cast them out.

Why some people die in peace and others do not

On this path there was an old babalawo named Oyekun Bika who kept a small Abukenke sparrow in his garden, which he cared for until it was healed; then it flew off free, grateful and happy. The next day the awo needed a güiro to make a secret, and a great commotion shook his house.

A hundred birds brought him a seed and the other ingredients of his sign, and he planted a tree. Before long a vine of Igui Ato (wild güiro) came up.

He filled that güiro with ashé, and each time he took a little out the rest grew until it was full again; and he became a famous and wealthy babalawo. His neighbour, who was a sorcerer, on seeing his fortune wanted a fortune of his own just like it, and stole a güiro.

When he pulled it from the vine, he felt unwell. On opening the güiro, thinking to find Oyekun Bika’s secret for growing rich, he saw with horror venomous snakes, toads and spiders leap out of it, which so disturbed him that they brought on him the agony of death. He suffered horribly until he died — not so Oyekun Bika, who died old and peacefully.

Here it is explained why some people die in peace and others in agony.

The Ifá of reincarnation and the law of karma

In the land of Oba Lodo Awo the greatest terror reigned, for in a cave of the region there was a monstrous being said to have 9 different leri, which devoured all who passed near the cave. So that this being would not come out of the cave, every month they offered it a maiden to devour, and the result was that all lived in perpetual terror.

One day the kingdom’s council of elders decided that the oba’s daughter had to be given to the monster to eat. The oba, in despair, was moaning and weeping when a young babalawo came to the court, one who was also a warrior of known renown for the way he threw the spear. He told the oba that if he gave him his daughter as a wife, he would free her from the terrible being. The oba consented; this awo was named Oyekun Bika.

Oyekun Bika went to consult his Ifá, which told him that what was in the cave was the product of the inviolable law of Olofin: that this being was the reincarnated spirit of his forebear, who had been a babalawo so famous for his knowledge of the itá of the oddun that he had surpassed all of his time; but his pride was so great that whenever one of his brothers made a mistake he would call him dog’s head, vulture’s head, snake’s head, and so on.

When he died, the punishment of Olofin and of Adako Dayo was that he should be reborn as a monster with nine heads, and that it should torment him for every head or slight he had thrown at his brothers and at human beings; but instead of redeeming himself and repenting, filled with hatred and vengeance, he had fed his destructive power on the wretched inhabitants of Oba Lodo Awo Inle.

Ifá marked that he make ebo with his spear, which he had to paint with efun and iye of palo moruro, which had the power to draw eggun, amigo amora ore (spiritual Elegguá), as well as to defeat those nine heads. He had to use a staff that Ozain would consecrate for him against those nine heads.

On reaching the mouth of the cave he had to call his forebear by his secret name, which was azona. He had to enter the cave and, when the monster came out, strike the floor with the staff and sing the suyere: «Baba Leri Ikú Mesan, Leri Ikú Opolopo Leri Ikú Asheda Leriso Leri Yekun Bika Oyekun Azona».

So Oyekun Bika did, and the monster’s leri died one by one. At the end, with his spear, he finished off the deformed body, which crumbled into dust.

He understood then that with the monster’s death everything evil that bound his forebear’s spirit to it had died too. When he came out of the cave he felt made new; he gave thanks to Ifá, to his wilderness and to Olofin, and at the oba’s court he married the princess, becoming Onifa Awo, keeping to a measured life so as not to fall into the errors of his forebear, formerly Adake Dayo.

Every day he went to the village and lit an oil lamp for Olofin with almond oil and melon seeds, dedicated to the 36 spirits of Olofin so that they would give him the ashé.

In this oddun speaks the essence of what we here know as the law of karma.

The betrayal of Oyekun

There were two brothers, both babalawos, who went to ask their father’s leave; the first was named Oyekun and the other Ika. The father told Oyekun that he could not be like his brother Ika; even so, Oyekun insisted that he grant him leave.

The two set out to travel, and it happened that Oyekun settled in one place and Ika in another, and as was natural, people came to learn that a new awo had arrived. Oyekun asked a great deal of money to make ebo, while Ika asked very little and was content with whatever they brought him.

His ebboses came out quickly, and it happened that the people of the one place and of the other spoke to each other, and all began going to where Ika was; and since he asked little, the poor would give him their daughters so that he would marry them, while Oyekun was left ruined and without conduct.

A long time passed, and then Ika wished to return to his family’s side and took leave of all the people of that village, and all were greatly sorry and brought him gifts, and he thanked them. He set out on the road and came to where his brother Oyekun was; and since he came with such riches, his brother grew envious of him, though he concealed it. They set out together and had to cross a very large river, where they hired a canoe. Ika put all his riches into it and embarked with his brother Oyekun.

In a moment of carelessness, Oyekun threw Ika into the river; but because Orunmila had made ebo for him with 16 corn cobs and had told him to tie them around his waist, when he fell into the water Ika floated. On the riverbank, in the trees, there were many monkeys. They said «ikan ikari» and, struggling to get at the corn Ika had tied to his waist, they pulled him out of the river, hauling him towards the bank.

Oyekun had already reached his parents’ house, and they asked him after his brother. He told them he had fallen into the river and drowned, and that all those riches were his. The father believed him, and they began to make ituto for Ika. They called all the babalawos and ordered Oyekun to sit down to do it. Oyekun sat down and, while looking into Ifá, said that one thing was missing.

They asked him what it was — for at that very moment his brother Ika had arrived, and those who were making ituto brought him into the inner room. An awo said to him: «Here is your brother», and presented him. Oyekun dropped dead. Then Ika told his father everything that had happened.

Ifá says not to trust your brother, nor anyone in business with you, because he is greedy and you may come out harmed.

If you are going on a journey, be neither the first nor the last, so that you do not lose. Do not embark now, but later, so that it goes well for you. Do not trust anyone.

Why the iyawo goes to the river and brings back an ota

Orunmila had a son named Igba Omi Odo, who was the favourite of Oshún and was always at the river. One day Orunmila needed water from the river to win the war he was waging with Alesesi (spirit of the water), and when he went to fetch it he saw Igba Omi Odo dead in the river. Horrified, he returned home and made osode for himself, and this Ifá came out and marked ebo for him.

Orunmila made ebo and took a jícara (gourd bowl) or an earthen jar. He sent an iyawó who was his godchild to bring him water from the river and to draw the head of Igba Omi Odo from the riverbed. When the iyawó went to draw out the head, what he drew out was an ota.

Then Orunmila took the ota and put it inside the jícara in memory of his son, and adorned it with ileke ni gbogbo Orisha, asho meyi, koide meyi — and from that time the ceremony remained in which the iyawó goes to the river to seek the spirit of Igba Omi Odo (the secret of the jícara is prepared with water).

The act of taking the iyawó to the river symbolises in our religion the breaking with the past — that is, with the whole of the iyawó’s former life — and the opening of a new road for the neophyte, that road being represented by the current of the water carrying away the iyawó’s old stones.

This is born of a myth: the first son of Orunmila and Oshún to go to the river was Igba Omi Odo, and he was lost in the river and died in it. Therefore, when the iyawó bathes and searches in the river for the ota that is taken home, it stands for the representation or the spirit of that first iyawó, Igba Omi Odo, offered to the river.

No offering is made to this ota nowadays; it is only kept in the river jar. But it is a custom among the iyawós still kept by some iworos of Matanzas to keep this ota in a güiro or small güiro particularly adorned, feeding this ota together with Orunmila and Oshún. To this ota are given the last drops of eyerbale from Oshún and Orunmila.

The loss of the cranial vault

In the land of Yesha there lived an awo named Adebinpe, who was a son of Oyekun Bika Lomi and always liked to be in the river despite his parents’ prohibition on that matter. One day, in a careless moment while he was bathing, a flood came and a log floating on the waters struck him a great blow that carried away his cranial vault, and he was left unconscious.

The twins found him at the river’s edge and began to sing: «odelesiri Adebinpe Oyekun Bika Lomi Ofi Ori Ya Igui Idiolodio”. They took up his body and carried it to Orunmila’s house. He, seeing his son in that state, made osode for him, and this Ifá came out, speaking of the loss of the cranial vault.

Orunmila made ebbó for him to restore his skull, but it turned out that there was no igba in that land, and then the Twins said to Orunmila: «We know where there is one — it is in Ana Ire (the road of the heads). There is a great vine there»; and off the Twins went, singing: “Olori Ariku doja Ashe leri oleori Olori Ariku doja akoniko Olori Ariku doja she leri Olori Ariku doja okonoko Olori Ariku doja Ashe Niko Olori Ariku doja Ashe Ariwo”.

And they reached the tree, took the igba and carried it to where Orunmila was. He loaded it with the secrets of the tree, lined it with cloth of four colours and sewed the dilogunes on the outside. Then, placing it on the ate, he began the ceremony of the consecration of ori.

He lit two itanas and began to sing the suyeres: “igba Lori Iro 2, Iro Lobi Obo 3 Obolobi Namajo 4 Namajo Lobi Agama 5 Agama Eshusa Lobi Oyibona, Lobi A Fi Ikere Tikere Aba 11 Atoladola Igbada Adifafun Orunla 12 Orunla Nikatibara Tikun Katjere Tijere Orunla Mi Oko Yunle Orun”. Afterwards he took this Orí and set it covering Adebinpe’s brains, and he came back to himself, attaining his greatness thanks to Orí, the Ibeyis and the power of Ifá.

When the awo dies, the Orí departs — that is, it is broken into pieces and placed in the coffin. The Orí is the spirit or creative force of the head and works together with Oshalufón and Ifá. The Igui Ariku is the wood called Do-not-die (it is palo brasilete).

Here is where the Orí was born that is prepared as indicated in the Ebbó and consecrated in the same manner. The jícara must be the size of the person’s head. It is placed in a chest and set beside Orunmila, and two eyele fun fun are given to it.

Path 10

Here is where Alecesi is born, the mother of the rains, the dew and all the waters. She declared war on Aiye, the mother of Orunmila’s children. This war arose because, both being wives of Orunmila, each wanted her own children to be the favourites of Ifá; but Alecesi’s children were not Orula’s, they were only stepchildren.

Alecesi, who was a sorceress of the Kenesi family of Dahomey, magically prepared her children so that, when they came to earth, they would harm the children of Ifá. But it happened that Aiye went to have Orunmila make osode for her, and Oyekun Bika Lomi came out: Ikú (death) lowo gbdual on the leri of her loves.

Ifá marked for her the ebbó indicated above, and that when she saw that it was about to rain she should place Igba Koto on her leri and that all should sing the following suyere:

“ojo Oworo Tibi Olowo Ninu Olowo Goloto Imofa Geloto Ojo Ojo Ashe Imefa Noni Oko Isherodo Yon A Ma Nonwo Yon A Ma No Ra”.

So they did, and when the rain, with Alecesi’s magic, fell upon the Igba Koto (a large jícara), it could do nothing against it, and her children were turned into drops beneficial to the earth.

Thus Orunmila’s children were saved from destruction and from the rain. The other waters turned beneficial for the earth and for the life of its inhabitants. The Oluo, son of this sign, must not let water of any kind fall on his head. That is why he must place a large jícara on his head when he bathes.

The musician brothers

There were once two brothers who were musicians and lived in the countryside. One day, at the village feast, they earned a great deal of money, a thousand cowries each, which was the money paid in those times. On the way back, the elder brother killed the younger and buried him in the scrubland near the house.

When the elder brother reached his house, his parents asked after the younger, and he told them he had stayed behind in the village enjoying himself. The parents were satisfied for the moment, but time passed and the boy did not return. Their worry grew as the days went by and they saw that their son did not arrive. The mother wept for her loss. She was an ozainista and a gatherer of herbs.

One day she went out to look for a plant she needed. She came near the place where it grew, but as she went to pull it up, it spoke to her, saying: «do not pull me up, mother, for I am a plant that was born from the earth. I earned a thousand cowries, my brother earned a thousand too, and he killed me to keep it all».

The woman burst into tears and, crying out, reached her house and told her husband what had happened. Together they ran to the place, and the woman showed him which herb it was. When the husband went to pull at it, it spoke to him and said: «do not pull me up, father, for I am a plant that was born from the earth. I earned a thousand cowries, my brother earned a thousand too, and he killed me to keep it all».

The father was stunned by these words; then both composed themselves and went to tell the king what had happened, and the king set out with them for the place to make sure that what the buried boy’s parents said was true.

When the king arrived, he did the same thing, seeking to pull up the plant, and it said to him: «king, do not gather me, for I am a plant that was born from the earth. I earned a thousand cowries, my brother earned a thousand too, and he killed me to keep it all».

When the king had finished hearing these words, in indignation he ordered the elder brother arrested. The king himself sought him out and sentenced him to death.

Ozain of precision must be received, and afterwards Oduduwa.

Orunmila must not be fed until the awo comes back from the river, for he went to seek the spirit igba omi odo. The ebbó is left at the mercy of the current, beside the cane where the abigo borulomalo was made, where the awo went with the igba. In the river he must take a small ota, and it is this ota that goes in the sopera (lidded tureen) with Orunmila.