Oyekun Biroso

Oshún And Jealousy

There was once a marriage between Shangó and Oshún. Shangó, the husband, turned out to be a great merchant, and his business took up much of his time, to the point that his wife, Oshún, was somewhat jealous, since he did not attend to her and she lived suffering a great deal because her husband was much sought after, above all by women, as his trade was chiefly with them.

For this reason, Oshún was always watching Shangó jealously, for she was in love with him. Since Oshún could not bear to be apart from her husband, she began to work alongside him, but her jealousy continued and she hardly let Shangó move, though he needed to serve the customers.

One day, Oshún could bear her jealousy no longer and, in a fit of rage, she killed Shangó, without having any reason to do so.

The owner of this Ifá should not live with a jealous woman, and if she is a daughter of Oshún, far less so, because he runs the risk that she will kill him. ¡Maferefún Shangó, lodafun Oshún!

On The Road Of Lucifer

Ifá says that on a certain occasion the Earth had no government and Olofín did not know what to do. So he began to send the saints down to see what they could do to remedy the situation, but they all fought over power. Realising this, Olofín sent the devil, who came down to Earth and the first thing he did was to gather them all together, telling them to unite and not fight among themselves. On arriving, the devil seized control of the situation and, consequently, of the Earth.

On another occasion, while he was giving orders, the Ibeyis appeared and said to him: «liar, trickster, you are not doing what you were ordered to do».

The devil, who had the appearance of a young man of 23, began to change his expression: his ears turned pointed, his eyes became bright red, his nails grew beyond all measure, horns came out on his forehead and a tail as well.

The saints recognised him at once and they all cried out desperately: «be gone, Satan!»; and so he disappeared and nothing more was known of him, neither where he lives nor where he is. He could therefore be anywhere on Earth, because he did not return to heaven.

Note

Following this path and in this odun, in order to keep the devil quiet, it is ordered that a hole be opened in the Earth and that he be fed constantly with eku, eyá, epo, awadó, oti, oñí; then the hole is covered and a rattle is sounded to drive him away from our side.

The Compassion of Obatalá

On one occasion, Obatalá was riding his horse, travelling from one town to another, when the horse became exhausted and gave out. Obatalá then dismounted with the intention of killing it, and drew his machete to carry out the deed, but he took pity on the animal and decided to go on his way. After taking a few steps, he turned back and cut off its tail before continuing on.

While this was happening, the soldiers of a king who lived in that area watched the scene and followed Obatalá, who was cooling himself with the horse’s tail, driving death away in this manner.

After walking a long distance, Obatalá collapsed, and when the soldiers came near him they found him unconscious. They carried him and took him to the king’s palace.

On arriving at the palace and seeing the condition Obatalá was in, the king ordered that they keep passing the tail over him, to drive illness and death away from that town. When Obatalá recovered, they began to pay homage to him.

¡Maferefun Obatalá and Eggun!

The Awó Oluo Ozain

Path 6

In a poor town of the world there lived an awó who was Oluo Ozain; he was an apothecary and knew all the secrets of the herbs of the wilds, from which he drew medicines that he kept in his shop.

This awó was very generous and always helped everyone; every time someone came to him and asked, «give me a little of this or that, I have no money», he always provided it. Likewise, everyone wished the best for him and his family.

One day, Ikú, death, came looking for him during the night, but the apothecary’s shop was closed and there was only a poor man at the door, waiting for the awó to prepare a medicine to save his sick son.

Ikú asked him whether the apothecary lived there, and the poor man answered that he did. Then Ikú took off her mask and said: «I have come to take the awó away». The poor man, bewildered, said to her: «it cannot be, this awó is a very good man. If you take him, take us as well, because we would be left without protection. Look, right now he is awake preparing a medicine for my son».

Then Ikú took pity and said: «for being good, I shall spare the awó», and in his place she took the wretched man.

The secret of this Ifá is to give alms to the poor and to hang an old rag doll on the door.

The Great Power Of The Child Of Ikú Was Born

In the continuation of the story, Ikú carried out the instructions of Ozain. When she reached the land where Awo Ifá lived, she kept the work that had been made in a salvadera tree and blew the Afoshe that had been given to her.

After seven days and seven nights, Ikú began to bind all the people who were asleep in the land of Banire. People would wake and find themselves unable to move, held fast by an invisible force. Fear and worry took hold of the community, since no one could escape the bonds imposed by Ikú.

The situation grew more and more desperate, and the people sought help from Obatalá, the great Orisha. On hearing their pleas, Obatalá intervened and confronted Ikú. He asked her why she had given so little power to her own son, Awo Aberi Biku, despite possessing all the powers of the world. Ikú was ashamed of her neglect and decided to seek the help of Ozain.

Ikú went to Ozain and told him her problem. Ozain indicated to her a work that she had to carry out. Ikú was to wait until Arubu Dudu was asleep and gather certain elements, including leri, elese, root of caimito, vergonzosa, salvadera, white maravilla, seed, hide of ekute, earth from different places and different creatures of the earth, and Igi.

Ikú followed Ozain’s instructions and gathered all the required elements. Then she made her way singing towards Ozain’s house, intoning the following chant: «Ikú Babere Ikú, Ikú Ozain Barazun, Ikú Babere Ikú». Ozain heard her and knew that Ikú was drawing near.

Ozain performed the work he had been asked for and ordered Ikú to keep the result in a salvadera tree. Then Ikú was to go to the land where Awo Ifá was and blow the Afoshe that had been given to her. In addition, Ikú received the instruction to bind all the people who were asleep in that land after seven days and seven nights.

With these directions, Ikú set out for the land of Banire, ready to carry out her task and exercise her power over the community.

: here was born the great power of the child of Ikú and the great power of the child of Ifá, and the oparaldo.

The Devil’s Trap

On this path there was a land governed by a king named Alosi. He kept the people deceived and did as he pleased. Alosi had a very beautiful daughter who was of an age to marry, so young men from all over the region came to ask for her hand. However, the king said that in order to ask for her hand they had to guess what he kept inside a chest, and those who failed to guess were handed over to his secretary, Aro or Ikú.

In that land there lived a young man named Bellila who, despite being ill, decided to marry the beautiful girl. Before going to the king’s house, Bellila visited Orunmila, who consulted him and revealed this Ifá to him, telling him that he had to make a specific ebo in order to face a difficult trial.

The young man made the ebo gladly, and Orunmila told him to go wherever he wished and to dress in white. On his way to the king’s house, Bellila met a child who said to him: «Listen, Bellila, there is nothing in the chest».

When he came to the trial, the king asked him whether he wanted to marry his daughter. Bellila answered that he did. Then the king asked him what was in the chest. Bellila replied: «Inside the chest there is nothing». Seeing himself defeated and not wishing to hand over his daughter, the king said: «Very well, you guessed, but you must pass another trial. You must cross the river there and back, and if you manage to overcome this trial, I shall give you my daughter Aikula».

Bellila set out to cross the river. There were two of Alosi’s guards there, but Orunmila was there as well. When Bellila was in the middle of the vast river, he began to tire. So he stripped off half his clothing and felt much better on hearing the voice of Orunmila singing: «bellila Ibu Ni Oshún Abalante, Bellila Ibu». In this way he managed to reach the bank, where the king’s guards were waiting for him.

He quickly began his return and, when he was in the middle of the river, he grew exhausted again. He stripped off the clothing he still had on and managed to reach the bank, where Elegbá and his sister were waiting for him with white garments. Elegbá said to him: «Bellila, you have won the beautiful and delightful Aikula».

Bellila married Aikula, and when king Alosi learned that his daughter had given birth to a pair of twins, he vanished from that land and Bellila began to govern.

With what is gathered at the river, the godfather makes an inshe that is adorned with beads of Oshún, Elegbá and Yemayá. Inside it are placed seven parrot feathers, Eku, Eya, Awado, strong sticks ground to powder, the head of an akuko ground to powder, ero, obi kola, beads of the saints, ashe ewe Ozain, efun (cascarilla), epo and ashe of Orula. If the person is a child of a saint who is not a warrior, the ceremony is performed as part of the ebo of entering the river.

In this Ifá, when a person has Oyekun Biroso in their ikofá or in their awofaká and is a daughter or son of a warrior saint of the wilds, they go with their Babalawo godfather to the river to carry out a ceremony and to strip off half their clothing, that is, their undergarments.

Path 9

According to Ifá, Orunmila was the governor of a town in the land of Oyekun Biroso. However, the people of that place gathered with the intention of harming him and driving him out, out of the envy they felt. Orunmila had to flee to the wilds to save himself, and there he performed a consultation of osode and fed the earth.

After Orunmila’s departure, the inhabitants of the land of Oyekun Biroso began to suffer misfortunes and their progress came to a standstill. They realised that this was due to Orunmila’s absence and began to miss him. They decided to look for him and persuade him to return.

However, Orunmila was mistrustful and thought it was a trap to capture him. It was then that Oshún offered to go and find him, and she explained to him the situation in the town. Orunmila agreed to return, but on the condition that the children accompany him. So Orunmila returned to the town and took up his position as ruler again, bringing peace and happiness for everyone.

On this path, it is recommended to hold feasts in honour of the twins and the children. ¡Maferefun to Oshún and to the children!

The disobedience of Adin

On this path there was a ripe ikin named Adin, who wished to escape death. He decided to consult Eyebo Elese Awo and Toto Koolowu Awo in order to obtain an answer. These babalawos made the reading of Ifá for him and indicated the necessary ebo, as mentioned above. However, Adin scorned the counsel of the Awoses and refused to make the ebo.

After the consultation, Adin went back to his house, at the top of a palm tree, and mocked the Awoses. Elegbá, who was watching him, warned him: «You are very sure of yourself, but you will learn a lesson».

Elegbá went to the house of the Awoses and told them what Adin was doing. Then Orunmila summoned Ozain and all the Orishas, and together they went to Adin’s house. They cut him down and each one took what was needed for his secret, while the rest was used by man to prepare epo (palm oil). Thus, because of his disobedience, Adin suffered a loss.

This path underlines the importance of listening to and following the counsel of the babalawos, as well as the consequences of disobedience.

Here it is explained why Elegbá, Ozain, and others carry four ikines.

Death came to fetch him

This sign came out for Orunmila in his consultation, and his guardian Angel asked him to perform a rogación with some coconuts. However, Orunmila had no money and went to the market to ask for the coconuts on loan. Unfortunately, they did not give him the coconuts and he received a refusal. The same happened with the other items he needed for the rogación.

As he was leaving the market, Orunmila met an old man he knew, who invited him into his house. During the conversation, Orunmila shared with the old man his difficulties at the market. The old man provided him with the coconuts and the other articles needed to fulfil what his guardian Angel had asked.

Orunmila had begun to perform the rogación in the old man’s house when someone knocked at the door. It was death, coming to fetch the old man. Orunmila told the old man to open the door and let her in, since he would take charge of the matter.

When death came in, she thought the old man was alone, but she was surprised to see Orunmila. Death explained to Orunmila that she had come to take the old man because the end of his days had already arrived.

Orunmila persuaded death not to take the old man, arguing that he was a good person. Instead, he suggested that she take the coconut sellers of the market, who were very wicked.

The serpent that wanted to be king

On this path, the serpent Oka, also known as Jueri, lived in the water and wished to become the leader of all the egguns that dwelt in covered jícaras in the square facing the palace of the Oni of Ibi.

Orunmila saw this Ifá and marked an ebbó for it, a ceremony in which the whole town of Ife took part. In the square of the egguns the drums began to sound, and the serpent Oka was crowned as Oba of Ife and of the secrets of Oduduwa.