E.marking the Eboses

7/30/2019 E.marking the Eboses

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Once the diviner has marked either ire or osogbo, it istime to mark one of the many remedies, or larishes, that can be foundthrough odu. Whenever an osogbo is predicted, eb6 (an offering)should be prescribed; also, whenever ire falls in anything but ire yaletimbelaye (that is, ire that will manifest in this life), some small tokenebO or larishe should be marked to stabilize and lock in the goodnesspredicted by an odu. It is here that the diviner needs to proceed slowlyand cautiously. Keeping in mind the general energy pattern of theopening sign, the priestjess can more skillfully manipulate the diloggun;knowing the orishas that speak in a letter, and what eboses orofferings those spirits normally require, will help in this process andsave valuable time throughout the divination.Remember that in thesection for each composite odu there will be a list titled "The Ebosesof [composite odu's name]"; although one or more of these thingsmay be required to close the reading, these must not be confused withlarishe. Marking larishe is a moment when both the orisha and theodu are allowed to speak, to "personalize" the sign, dictating exactlywhat is required to bring the client's ache back into alignment. Theworld is made of this power, ache, and those things used in eb6 will betransmuted by the Spirits into the energy they need to reweave a person'sdestiny. A competent diviner can mark eb6 to almost any humanproblem; however, there are a few times when the orishas, odu, andegun will not prescribe larishe. The client is left on his own to facewhat amounts to nothing more than his own karma.

First, the diviner selects the efun and ora to be used as ib6 throughoutthis process: Efun is used because the calming influence ofObatala permeates all the odu, and he is the most forgiving of all theorishas. With his blessings, anything can be overcome. 10 Efun willalways answer yes and mark the eb6, while ora will signify that thediviner must continue to manipulate the diloggun until a resolutionis found. The first question that must be asked is, "Larishe si?" or, "Isthere a remedy?" If the oracle answers that there is no remedy to beprescribed, the diviner must then ask, "Igboro larishe?" or, "Is thereadvice from an initiate that is present?" If the answer is yes, then thepriests and priestesses present at the divination will be allowed toadvise the client on eboses based on their own personal experience

with the odu. They will also be allowed to give advice on problemsbeing faced after the diviner has had his chance to speak. This adviceand the eboses are written down on paper as if the oracle had prescribedthem itself. If the answer to this question is no, the divinermust ask, "Ocha onire?" or, "Will an orisha give a blessing to clear thesign?" The orisha giving the blessing should be determined by followingthe order of orishas given in "The Orishas Who Speak in [Okana,Eji Oko, and so on]" found in each chapter; the diviner must ask"[name of orisha] onire?" until the proper orisha is found. Finally, ifthe answer to this question is no, the diviner should ask, "Egunonire?" or, "Will egun give a blessing to clear this sign?" If none ofthese results in a yes answer, the diviner must not despair; he beginsto give the reading to the client. The initial energy of odu is only offering

advice now, and before the reading is closed out there will be moreopportunities for the diviner to prescribe eboses that will help theclient with his difficulties. The odu that fell for "Egun onire?" shouldbe recorded with the words "no larishe at this time."If the initial answer to "Larishe si?" was yes, or if the diviner hasdetermined that either an orisha or egun will stand up on behalf of theclient, he must then proceed to mark eb6. He begins with the followinglist and the question "Adimu?" Once a type oflarishe is determined,the diviner must then continue to work the dilogglin and ib6 in tandemuntil the exact eb6 required is determined. The diviner's assistant


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records this information: Both the letters marking the specific eb6, andthe eb6 itself, are to be written in the record of the reading.The options for eboses are as follows.

adimu: An adimu is an offering, often something edible. If theanswer to larishe is adimu, first the diviner must use ib6 todetermine which orisha wants adimu (unless this informationis already known from the process of divination). Once that isdetermined, the diviner must mark what the orisha requires(a candle, some fruit, some cooked food, a material object,flowers, and so on). For this type of eb6 animal sacrifice is notmarked; an adimu is anything simple and cool, whereas bloodis complex and hot. Once this is done, the remaining specificsabout the ebo also need to be marked: how long it is to be leftwith the orisha, and what is to be done with the offering oncethe ebo is complete.

aladimu: This marks any type of offering based on what the di-viner knows the orisha likes. If the answer to larishe is aladim(the diviner must first mark which Spirit wants the offering(again, if this information is already known from the processof divination, it will not need to be marked). Although thediviner does not need to mark the specific offering, he shouldstill mark how long it stays with the orisha and what is to be

done with the offering when it is removed."

eboshure: In this orientation the diviner will not need to mark aexact offering; the Spirit is requesting an eb6 made of anythin~that can be eaten. The diviner will just tell the client what fruitthe orisha likes and have him provide a small basket for thatSpirit. The orisha taking eboshure must be marked (unless thisinformation is already known). The food left in eboshure remainswith the orisha until it begins to spoil.

eb6 keun edun keun: This is a daily cleansing done before theorisha's shrine. Each day, something different is used. The divinerwill ask the oracle to which orisha the cleansing should

be done, what articles are to be used, and how many days it is t


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ocha onire: This eb6 shows that an orisha will remove the volatileheat of the letter. The diviner must mark both the orisha andthe eb6 required by that orisha. The questions to be asked are,"[name of the orisha] onire?" and then, "Eb6 elese [name of theorisha]?" If the orisha wants nothing, we say the orisha loves theclient freely and no offering is required. A token adimu, however,should still be given. When a larishe is being marked to the initialquestions "Ocha/Egun onire?" this larishe is not markedaga1n.

egun onire: This marks that egun will remove the volatile heat ofthis letter. Although the specific egun is not marked, the divinermust determine if egun want anything in return for their help.(The question to be asked now is, "Eb6 elese egun?"). If no eb6is required, we say that these spirits love the client for free, yeta token adimu should still be given. When a larishe is beingmarked to the initial questions "Ocha/Egun onire?" this larisheis not marked again.

Onirunila onire: In this orientation, it is Orunmila that standsup on behalf of the client. The orisha priest or priestess is powerlessto mark eb6 to Orunmila; only a Babalawo may prescribehis eboses. For this reason, many diviners will not try to mark

"Orunmila onire." If, however, the question has been asked andthe answer is yes, the reading must be brought to a close andthe client taken to Ifa. The reading should continue in the normalfashion. The eb6 marked by this should be written in therecord thus: Eb6 elese Orunmila. The client must go to see Ifa.

Olonin onire: This marks that the blessing will come at the feetof Olorun and Ol6dumare. The eb6 for this is automatic: Theclient should salute the sun every morning

orisha onire: This signifies that the blessing will be brought bythe more obscure, mysterious orishas, those that know the secretsoflife and death itself: Orisha Oko, Yewa, Oba, Nana

Buruku, Babaluaiye, Nanume, and so on. These are the onesthat stand up to free the client from his osogbo. First, the divinermust determine which of these Spirits speaks in the odu thathas opened, and then he must mark which of them is giving theblessing to clear the sign.Once this information is known,eboses to the orisha must be marked. If the orisha will acceptno eb6, and if the letter will not close out, the client is markedfor the reception of this orisha. The diviner should mark thisand then close the reading. Note that it would be wise for theclient to receive this Spirit's eleke (the beaded necklace associatedwith this orisha) no matter the eb6 marked in the letter. Also,if the reception of a dark, obscure orisha is marked under theeboses for the composite odu (listed in each chapter), that is the

orisha that must be received; the diviner does not need to markit because odu already has.

igboro larishe: The remedy will come from one of the priests orpriestesses present at the mat. They should be allowed to givethe client eboses (but not advice unless the diviner specificallyasks for it later). Any eb6 prescribed by any priest or priestess inthe room should be written in the record as if odu prescribed ititself. These will be the works that clear the osogbo in the signthat fell.


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eb6 kere: Eb6 kere is a beautiful yet complicated set of offerings.It consists of several spiritual cleansings for the client. First,when this is marked as eb6 the diviner needs to ascertain theorisha taking eb6 kere. Then, he must mark a series of offeringsto be given and used for the cleansings.The length of time, ingradual increments of weeks, must also be marked. For example,the oracle answers yes to eb6 kere, and the diviner discoverswith ib6 that Yemaya is to receive the offerings. Since her numberis seven, he decides that each offering should remain withher for seven days, and he marks the following items for a periodof four weeks (one month): a watermelon, molasses, flowers,and a basket of fruit. After the offerings are marked, he thenuses the oracle to mark where each offering should be takenafter one is removed and the next given. The oracle answers thatthey should each be taken to the lake for disposal, so as theofferings are removed and replenished, the client takes the oldones to a lake.

sarayeye: This marks that a cleansing is needed. In sarayeye it iscustomary for the diviner to first mark it to egun (unless theeb6 is being sought for a specific orisha), and if the oracle's answeris no, he then begins with the list of orishas that speak inthe sign. After the proper Spirit is determined, the item with

which the client should be cleansed is marked. Sometimes, thiscan be an animal. In sarayeye, however, it is customary for theanimal to be set free after the cleansing since no sacrifice wasdictated by either the odu or the orisha (if a blood sacrifice isneeded for a cleansing, the odu will dictate that eyebale, sacrifice,is needed). Finally, the method of disposal should bemarked as well (if the cleansing is done with an animal, theoracle should dictate where the animal is to be set free).

kobori eleda.: This eb6 prescribes an eb6 made to one's ori. Usually,this is a rogaci6n (a cleansing of the head), but the divinershould mark the things that need to be used in the rogaci6n.Depending on the problems faced by the client, and the odu that

has fallen, the rogaci6n might need to be done at the feet of aspecific orisha. The odu will dictate when this is the case. Thistype of offering will not dictate the "feeding" of the ori with sacrifice;such an eb6 would be marked by eyebale (animal sacrifice).

kaure: These are prayers; the diviner should mark whether theyare to be made to egun or orisha. If the prayers are to be donebefore an orisha, he must mark which one. The prayers shouldbe dictated to the client. In kaure, it is customary for the clientto make adimu with a candle before the prayer and fruit afterthe prayers are completed.

If the oracle will take none of these, we say the larishe is eye bale, or the

sacrifice of an animal. Blood offerings are very hot and volatile; it isimportant to note that this is always a last resort for eb6. Life on alllevels is a precious gift, and it is taken, reverently, only when there areno other options. If the oracle has not yet determined whether theoffering goes to egun or orisha, the diviner must now ask these questions.First, the diviner must determine if it goes to egun by asking,"Eyebale elese egun?" or, "Does the animal sacrifice go to egun?" Ifnot, he must ask, "Eyebale elese orisha?" or, "Does the animal sacrificego to orisha?" If both egun and orisha refuse eyebale, the oracle is dictatingthat the sacrifice should be made to the client's own head. A


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rogaci6n is to be given, and with this cleansing an animal sacrificemust be offered directly to the crown of the head (this is the area thatlinks the physical head on earth with the spiritual head in heaven).Only in this way will the client's issues be resolved, for in this case wesay that his own spiritual and physical ori is causing confusion in thereading. All of this information should be written in the reading'srecord by the diviner's assistant.

Once the diviner has completed the processes detailed above, theinitial manipulations of the diloggun are complete. The odu has beenopened, its orientations determined, and the initiallarishes prescribedto bring the client back into alignment with odu, egun, and orisha.This is the most important information to be gleaned from the letter;it is now time for the diviner to impart what he has learned to hisclient. Note that in many houses of ocha, eyebale is not the last larisheincluded in the pattern of questioning.Many diviners will end thesessionwith the question of eyebale, and if the oracle responds negatively,it is said that the larishe is "Ko larishe" or "No larishe." This, however,is frivolous; odu would not answer yes to the question "Larishe si?"only to tell the client that the eb6 required is "Ko larishe." It is possiblethat this confusion arises from an exception to this line of questioning.In some of the odu, when a letter will not close out, there arespecific orishas that must be questioned in turn about the possibilitiesoflarishe and eb6. Out of respect for both the odu opened and the

orisha questioned, the possibility of eyebale must be given as a directchoice during questioning. When eyebale is refused by that Spirit, thereare eboses that are then considered marked, and those are the offeringsthat will bring the client back into alignment with his destiny,turning osogbo to ire. When this pattern of questioning is needed, theoption will be flagged in the chapter about that odu.

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E.marking the Eboses