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PrologueHow to Appease Esu

Before giving the details on how to make sacrifice to Esu, it is necessary to understandsome fundamental features of the divinity of Evil. Orunmila has already established indubitablythat the existence of Esu is as old as the existence of Olodumare. The one did not crea te theother beca use darkness could not have produced Iight or vice versa. The translucent enclavefrom which God commanded light to iIIuminate the vOid, existed at the same time pari passu asthe darkness of the primeval.

There is however one point which Orunmila has not cfarified to the author, which is under­scored by the invocation of Esu. When supplicating Esu to accept any offering, reference istraditionally made to the parents of Esu, his wife and his friendo Normally, it is enough to mentionEsu's name three times and he will accept any offering being made to him· at any time andanywhere by saying:

E-EsugbaE-esu gbaE-esugba

So far, Orunmila has not confirmed to the author the genesis of the so-called relations andassociates of Esu, often referred to by traditionallfa priests, when invoking the divinity of evil.These are:-

1) Agunmana Tidi Erukpe Olodi - as the father of Esu;2) Akuru mana nkpa - as his mother;3) Egba - as his wife;4) Ighoroko - His bosom friend who identifies all those who did or failed to perform

the sacrifies prescribed for thern at divination to Esu, for the purpose of helping or punishingthem; and

5) Agbirari, who delivers all sacrifices to Esu.

Orunmila ordered me to reveal everything for the benefit of posterity and misled mankind.Hence the corrections.

Invocation of Esu

1 was informed by the traditional priest that Orunmila initially thought it tit to reter me to the

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traditional way of making offering to Esu is as tollows:

To alert Esu to wake up it he is asleep, you begin at the Esu Shrine by using the Ifa 8taff,Uranke to hit the protruding stone three times.

This is quickly followed by pouring cold water from a cup on the shrine three time with thewords:-

OmiEsuOmiEgba

Omi Ighoroko, Olukesu

If the offering isbeing made at day time, between sunrise and sunset, the offeror shouldagain whilstle to say:

Esu Oo/ogbeEgba Oo/ogbe

/ghoroko Oo/ogbe.

Thereafter, the following incantation is pronounced if it is at day time (between 7am and7pm)

Agbo O/onono - (3 times)/taakun Tefe fon /a/uja - (3 times)

Oruko ton kpe' ejo.Akuru mana nkpa (3 times)

Oruko ton kpe ¡ya Esu.Agun mana tidi erukpeolodi (3 times).

Oruko ti ankpe baba Esu.

Thereafter, touch the stone on Esu Shrine 3 times saying on each occasion - O o I o 9 be!

Incidentally, that is the only nickname tor Esu which Orunmila taught the author to utter toinvite Esu to accept the sacrifice about to be offered • without all the other embellishments andaffectations but including finally, Esu Tagrigba while muttering the word "O w j w i aU withoutanyone hearing, which was the primeval name of Esu.

If the offering is beiflg made after dusk or in the night, the process that follows the water­pouring ritual changes, with the use of the following words:

Esu O%gbeEgba Oo/ogbe

Ighoroko Oo/ogbe

Is no longer done by whistling but by words of mouth. That explains why it is forbidden towhistle in a house containing Ifa, at night, because Esu does not Iike the idea of inviting him bywhistling, jnto frivolity and futility.

The ritual contines by adding:

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The Odus of Ogunda, Osa, Btura and Irete

Oruko ye kpe' EsuAlamu Jamu, AJamu Jamu bataa - (3 timesclapping both hands on each occasion)

Ofe bata Uja kun bam bam - 3 timesOoJogbe - 3 times (OrunmiJa 's version)

Esu tagrigba and muttering Owiwia.

Thereafter, break the four piece koJanut haralding the sacrifice and throw the four pieces onthe ground to ask Esu whether the sacrifice is acceptable.

Since no one, including the divinities, shares kolanuts with Esu, all the kolanut pieces areleft on the shrine. After the kolanut breaking and throwing ceremony,the food is then offered toEsu.

Finally, the pointed end of the Ifa 5taff, (Uranke) is pinned to the ground while beseechingGod and His divinities, the offeror's guardian angel and ancestors, to add the;r ASEs to enablethe sacrifice to manifest beca use itwas God himself who taught his divinities and mortal creatureshow to bribe Esu with food not to obstruct their activities in Iife.

At the end of the ceremony, the officiating Ifa Priest leads the way to Orunmila's shrine withthe following song:-

Esu, mubo lowo otao, Ebibo bora olode, EbiboMububo lowo Odi, Ebibo bora olode ebiboMubolowo Iku o, Ebibo bora olode, Ebibo

Mubo lowo Aisan, Ebibo bora olode, ebiboMubo lowo Aje o, Ebibo bora bora aJade, ebibo,Mubo lowo Aje a, Ebibo bora bora olode, ebibo

Mubo lowo O/osho, Ebibo bora o/ode, ebibo.

On getting to the Ifa shrine, the officiating Ifa priest orders everybody to kneel down includinghimself to report that the sacrifice has been made and beseech Orunmila to let It manifest.Thereafter, he says:

Oode Awo - Eeshi.

Although Esu is the creator, architect and generator of all evils, he is not altogether bereft ofbenign djsposition. Unlike God who does not need to be fed by his creatures, Esu demands foodfrom all organic beings created by God. That is why after creating them, God taught his divinitieshow to appease Jbe~eYJldivinity. In fact, after establishing a rapport withhim, Esu once tookOrunmila into confidence by telling him that if the divinity of wisdom could give him a part ofwhatever he eats, he (Esu) would always be by his (Orunmila's) comer to assist him in whateverhe did. Esu can remove all obstacles from the path of those who feed him regular/y ....He can fightall battles fOf, and facilitate the passage through life of those who recognise andfeed him. Let usnow examine how this ambivalent amplitude of Esu, to be both amiable and hostile, has mani­fested itself through the passage of time.

The Contest for Seniority Between God's DiviDities and Esu

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It will be recalled that God created the earth as a new experiment on an evil-free universeafter Esu had demonstrated in tha divinosphera and heaven that the divine creatures could notenjoy any immunity from his disruptive machinations. As already revealed, incidentally, as thedivinties were arriving on earth, they met Esu waiting for them on top of a stone inside the ocean.

As soon as God realised that Esu had pre-empted his designs for the wor/d, he despatchedOrisa-N/a to join the 200 divinities a/ready on earth, as his persona/ surrogate. The arrival ofOrisa-N/a to the world marked the beginning of another conflict among the divinities on who wasto be recognised as tha most senior of them all. Although Orisa-N/a was endowed by God tooccupy tha chair at the earthly meetings of tha divinities, that did not automatically confirm him asbeing superior to his colleaguas, since he was tha last of the divinities to be created.

At the first meeting chaired by Orisa-Nla, they resolved the seniority dispute bydeclaringthat beginning with the chair divinity, each of them should throw a feast for all lhe others at everymeeting and that the first to succeed in hosting a feast would be recognised as the primus interpares.

As soon as the decision was acclaimed, Esu appeared in their midst to raise á point ofobjection. He challenged them for daring to argue about seniority without deferring first to him.When they hushed him down by remindíng him that he was not one of them and therefore did nQthave,any locus standi at the divine council, he replied that he merely wanted to give them theopportunity of appreciating the aphorism that first in time is first in Jaw. Esu then proceeded toexplain that not even God their creator could claim to be senior tohim. They retorted by insistingthat they were discussing seniority among God's created-divinities and that unless he wanted toregard himself as God's own creature, he should leave them alone to continue with their delibera­tions.

Before taking leave of them. Esu told the divinities that the seniority they were contestingresolved itse/f into a competition for supremacy and therefore he was claiming the right to beginthe feasting since he preceded them in arriving on earth. When he was eventually ordered to getlost, he warned them that none of them was going to succeed in pulling a feast through withoutallowing him to be the first to throw one.

Five days later, Orisa-Nla prepared an elaborate feast replete with plenty of food and drinks.As the chairman of the Council, Orisa-Nla hadto say the opening prayers with the breaking ofkola-nuts. No sooner did he start saying the prayers than screeches and squeals bellowed fromthe direction of Orisa-Nla's harem. Esu has esoterically winked his ayes to two of Orisa-Nla's Iittlechildren, whích instantaneously madethem to develop convulsion. Before anyone could reachthem, they both died. The sad event abruptly made the feast a non-event.

The sama fatalities were repeated at the attempted feasts subsequently preparad by allother divinities until it came the the turri of Orunmila. To obviate the risk of losing his chi/dren tothe feast, Orunmí/a consulted Ifa for directions. He was advised to serve Esu with a he-goat andthe e/ay ¡mages of a rabbit and a lizard, and a piece of brass. He made the sacrifica afterwhichhe proceeded to arrange for his feast with down-beat despondency, not knowing what to expect.

On the day of his feast, as soon as Orisa-Nla was breaking the kolanuts with prayers, a

The OdU5of Ogunda, Osa, Etura and Irete

comic yell was heard from the direction of Orunmila's backyard. Members of his household wereastonished to find a live rabbit and live Iizard both having brass pigmentation, fighting at therubbish dump at the back of his house. The cries of amusement and bewilderment attracted thedivinities to watch the strange spectaCle. After watching the brass rabbit and Iizard fighting forwhat lasted about an hour, the divinities retumed to the feast table only to discover that fowls,ducks and other domestic pets had helped themselves to the food. Once again, the feast turnedout to a non-eventr but Orunmila did not lose ahuman souf on account of the sacrifice he hadmade.

That was the point at which the divinities realised the inexorability of Esu's proclamation, asa result of which they invited him albeit belatedly, and after tremendous cost in human lives, tostart the feast. It is that feast made by Esu that all divinities and their human servants, pay for tothis day inthe form of sacrifices to Esu, which confirmed his pre-eminence over all the divinitiescreated by God.

The event also explains why Esu is the only one-way receipient of sacrifice without recipro­cating or requitting. He receives sacrifice from all and sundry without the obligation tomakesacrifice to anyone, which makes him nuJ/i secundus.

Far from being a totally malevolent divinity therefore, Esu can be beneficent ~o. and sup­portive of, those who have the good sense to appreciate his importance by offering sacrifice tohim. Iwill now iIIustrate this truism with the experience of the elephant and the tortoise on the onehand and the buffalo and toad on the other.

The Land Dispute Between the Elephant and the Tortoise

There was a piece of farm land in heaven the ownership of which was being contestedbetween the mighty elephant'and the meek tortoise. 80th of them were arguing tn'at the landbelonged to them by inheritance from their parents. When the dispute assumed crisis propor­tions, God invited the divine. council to intervene.

The council subsequentfy invited the elephant and the tortoise to indicate the physicalland­mar!<or feature exemplifying their avowed title to the disputed land. They were given fourteendays within which to come with their attestations. The elephant, who was convinced that theinnocuous tortoise stood no chance with him, went to the land and established his foot~prints allover it as proof that the land belonged to him. On his partr the tortoise went to Orunmila fordivination, at which he was told to serve Esu with a he-goat and plently of raw beans. Thetortoise made the sacrfice immediately.

After enjoying the sacrifice made to him, 'Esu went with a team of workers to cover up all thefoot-marks of the elephant, and planted beans all over the ¡and., Within a span of three days, the

-', beans had germinated and sprouted into a thick farm of beans. '

On the appointed day. both contestants appeared at the meeting of the divine council. Onceagain, they were both asked to establish their title to the ¡ando The elephant re-iterated that theland was laden with the foot-marks of his late father and himself. However, the tortoise's guard­ian angel, acting as his advocate, observed the elephant's foot-marks were imminent in other

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stretches of the bush.

Onhis part, the tortoise averred that his parents and himself used to plant bean on the farm­land every year, and added that verifiers would see that there was a full-blown bean vegetationon it at that point in time. On that note, the divine council despatched a team of heavenly police­men to verify the averments of the two litigants.

When the verifiers got to the land, they sawno traces of the elephant's foot-marks. Incontrast, they saw that it was completely covered up with bean plants that were already bearingfruits. Following the report of their findings to the divine council, the latter declared that the landtruly belonged to the tortoise. Esu had favorably intervened on the side of the one who madesacrifice to him.

The Race Between the Toad and the Buft"alo

Following God's decision that the Lion was to be the king of all quadruped animals, therewas a subsequent conference to lay the ground rules for ensuring harmony and lave amongthem. The meeting had gathered before they realised that they needed a red parrot's feather forthe chairman to wear on his head as an ensignia of authority. To establish his supremacy, the lioncalled on the buffalo who instantly objected to the lion's derisive instruction, wondering why hedid notsend the smaller quadrupeds Iike the toad. The toad lost no time in taking umbrage to theirreverent remarks of the Buffalo. He added that much as he realised that he would move fasterthan the over-weighted buffalo, the latter had no right to challenge the authorlty of their Godchosen leader. The lion however persuaded the toad to go quickly to fetch a red parrot's feather.

Since the Toad was familiar with the bush fountain where a flock of parrots went daily tohave their baths and to drink water, he quickly dashed off to the spot where he found plenty of redparrot feathers. In a matter of minutes, he was able to tum up with three feathers, whi/e keepingthe rest for his own use whenever the need arose. The alacrity and agility with which the Toadproduced the parrot's feathers eamed him the appreciation of all the animals except the buffalo,who instinctively challenged the toad to a race. After some heated argument, it was resolved thatthe twO of them were to be prepared for a raea in nine days time.

The Toad, who did not disclose the secret of how he procurred the parrot's feathers, was a¡¡ttle more circumspect on what chance he stood in winning a race with the fast-moving buffalo.On getting home from the meeting, he quickly raced to Orunmila for divination,· at which he wasadvised to serve Esu with a rat, a fishand a red parrot's feather. He made the sacrifice withoutdelay.

Three days after the sacrifice, Esu transfigured into an amphibious knight of the heavenlygrail and visited thétoad in his abóde to advise him on how to prepare for the up-coming contestwith the buffalo. He asked the toadhow many children he had and he disclosed that he had ten.The knight gave twelve red parrot's feathers to the toad and advised him that on the night of theeve of the cantest, hewasto Uneup his ten children throughout the route of the race, with eachof them holding a red parrot's feather on its mouth. Since there is no remarkable differencebetween one toad and theother, the toad and his wife were alsotowear a parrot's feather in theirmouths. His wife was to begin therace with the buffalo while hewas to canceal himself at a spot

The Odus of Ogunda, Osa, Etura and Irete

just before the finishing Iíne of the race.

As 500n as the race started between the toad's wife and the buffalo, she was to retum homeand at regular intervals, the children who were already Iined up ahead of the buffalo were to callon the giant animal to hurry up as soon as he approached where they was waiting. The Toadthanked the Knight for his advice and the visitar went away.

Before the day of the contest, the Toad and his family had positioned themselves through­out the entire stretch of the route of the race, with each of them hOlding a red parrot's feather inits mouth.

As soon as therace began, the Buffalo soon got astounded at seeing that the Toad wasalways ahead of him. That made the former to run as fast as his legs and strenght could afford,until he became thoroughly enervated. At the last stretch before the finishing line, the Buffalo,who was now thoroughly eXhausted, fell to the ground, dead. That was the point at which his

. challenger announced his arrival at the finishing line.

There is no other discemible way of serving Esu except by offering food to him from time totime. His favorite sacrifice is the he-goat orthe cock and occasionally, ramo If one is undertakinga major project, travelling or going for a contest, even without going for divination, it is sufficient tooffer akara, (bean buns) eko (maize porridge) meat of ram and fish, to Esu to solicit his support.In places where these materials are not avaitable, it is enough to offer bread, cake, biscuits, friedcorn, peanuts and local fruits. The offering can be made anywhere outside the house by callingon Esu in the name of Agbirari three times before depositing it, with the words; Esu gba, Esu gba.

Traditionally, all those who have been fully initiated into Ifism are ideally required to give outof whatever food they eat, to Esu. That is in accordance with the concordat reached at thebeginning of time between Esu and Orunmila, when the latter promised to be sending a partion ofwhatever he eats, to the former. When any sacrifice is therefore being offered to Orunmila, aportion of it is first sent to Esu before anyone eats out of it. Such offerings are different fromformal sacrifices to Esu, because although all and sundry are required to make sacrifice to him,he is neither oblígated to serve, nor to make sacrifice to anyone, letalone share out of thesacrifices made to him with anyone else. That is why Esu is nulli secundus in terms of importanceas recipient of sacrificial offerings.

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Chapter 1OGUNDA-OGBE

OGUNDA-SO ..ORIRE .OGUNDA-OBORl-OGBEOGUNDA-BE-EDE-OLE

He Made DivinatioD for the Palm Tree

Lisa Liso, baba/awo Okpe, odita fun okpe, abufun Ifatoun nijo ti awon mejeji tí omi oju shubere omo tuutu tu.

Lisa Liso was the Ifa priest who made divination for the palm tree and a woman calledIfatoun, when each of them was desperately anxious to have a child. The Ifa that appeared forthem was Ogunda-so-ori-re. Both of them were advised to make sacrifice to Ogun with a dog,gourd and bell to have children, but also to serve Esu with he-goat, cutlass, palm tree climber andtap-knife (ite in Yoruba and aya in Bini) that is, the instrument now used for tapping palm wine, sothat enemies may not harm them and their children.

The palm tree made the first sacrifice to have children, but refused to make the second oneon the ground that h~r captivating beauty and towering height were sufficient to deter any pro­spective enemy from daring her. Besides, she relied on her protective gadgets (thoms) to protecther from any aggressor.

On her part, Ifatoun made the two' sacrifices after which she was told that her first childwould be a boy but a trouble-shooter (Onijogbon in yoruba and Agberan-gbiri in Bini). SoonafterWards, she became pregnant and in the fullness of time, gave birth to a male child.

On the other hand, the palm had no problem in having children, but on account 01 thesecond sacrifica she refused to make, Esu went around to alert animals, birds and human beingsthat the children produced by the palm tree could be used for a variety of purposes. He toldmankind that apart from cooking her children directly for food, they could also be crushed toproduce palm cit, while the chaff remaining after squeezing out the oit, could be used as fuel forigniting tire. Besides that, Esu told human beings that the seeds or kemelscould beeaten asfood or used to produce kemel oil tor use as pomade for creaming dry skins. The most rewardingrevelation made to man by Esu, was that after cutting away her enchanting busts, the juiceflowing out from them was one of the most exhilarating Iiquors ever known.

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To experiment on the advice of Esu, man used the climber with which she failed to makesacrifice, to reach the height at which she heId her children (palmfruits). When she saw amanclimbing up to her, she rejoiced momentarily, saying that in spite of the predictions of Orunmila, asuitor was at last coming to chase her. Contrary to her expectation, however, on getting to herchest, the man used the cutlass (with which she failed to make sacrifice) to cut off all her protec­t¡ve gadgets (thorny palm branches). After clearing the way to her chest, the man used thecutlass to cut off the sheaf holding her children together and the bunch of them fell to the ground.As if berefting her of all her children was not enough, the man cut off one of her breasts and usedthe tap-knife to bore a hole into her che5t and a pipe to funnel the liquid flowing from it into agourd (with which she also failed to make sacrifice). As her blood was dropping into the gourd,she remembered the words of her diviner and began to cry "Lisa Liso, lisa Liso" which is thesound that comes out of palm wine dropping into a container, gourd or bottle, and which was thename of the Awo who advised her to rnake the second sacrifice.

On her part, Ifatoun gave birth to a male child who grew up to be very rascally. The namegiven to him was Igara and he took to farming. He was the farmer that Esu instigated to attackthe beautifuf palm tree. He was the firs1man to use palm fruits to produce oil and to tap palm winefrom her.

. When this Ifa appears at Ugbodu, the person will be advised to make sacrifice to the new Ifawith a hen and five yams tied together, arid to serve Esu with a he-goat. palm tree climber, gourdand tap-knife, to obviate the danger of 105ing his children to enemies and to avert the risk of amachete attack and the sickness ofanaemia. At divination, the person should be advised tomachete serve; Ogun with a cock, Ifa with a hen and five tubers of yam, and Esu with a he-goat,to prevent the danger of losing children and an attack by marauders. The person would givebirth to a rascally male child, who should be given his own Ifa to enable him to weather thestormsof life on earth.

Divination for Two Brothers - Ogunda and Ogbe

Oto-to-to-to ni mo kpe lfa mi.Oro-ro-ro-ro ni mo kpe lfa mi,

Oto-to ni nje ekpa.Oto-to ni a nje emu mi

I'n to re-to-re-o-to-re-to-o-re

Ni a nfun Oba mokin ni ode lranjeKi o le fi nkan ti o to-to-o-re,

to-o-re-ta eni ni ore.

These were the five Awos who made divination for Ese-kan-Ogunda when he was going toconceal his brother Ogbe with a pot in the bush to prevent him from being killed. He was advisedto make sacrifice with a wild tuber called Abirishoko in yoruba and olikhoro in Bini, a giant pot anda he-goal. Without knowing that Ogbe was answering the call of nature in the bush, Ese-kan­Ogunda was told to take the sacrifice to the bush, by putting the pot on his head and incliningbackwards to allow it to fall to the ground behind him.

When he got to the bush, Ogunda inclined his neck backwards and allowed the pot to drop

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face down to the ground. Unknown to him, the pot actually covered Ogbe, who tried unsuccess­fully to get out from the pot. At the same time, Esu held down the pot so firmly that there wasnothing Ogbe could do to get out from it. Esu covered him up firmly on the ground becauseDeath had been looking for Ogbe to kilJhim and take him to heaven. After looking for him in vain,Death gave up his search and went to capture someone else.

Subsequently, the two brothers carne to realise how the sacrifice protected 09be from beingkilled by Death and they both sang in praise of the Awos who made divination and sacrifice for~~ '

When it appears at divination the person wíIJbe advised to make the same sacrifice to thwartthe morbid contrivances of his enemies.

The DivinatioD lor Members 01 the Household 01 Odio

Kete ti eni di aiye ni eni ni aje.Okete gun on Ebe fono nomu,

Adjfa won la akoko yegele ni ile Odio.

The moment a person is bom to the world marks the beginning of his fortune. ' That was theAwo that made divination for the members of the household of Odio. They were advised io makesacrifice with one rat, and to serve their heads with pounded yam and soup prepared with driedfish. They made the sacrifice and began to enjoy Iife thereafter, and sang in praise of the Awowho divined for them.

Bis Experience with the People of Ife

Legbe Legoe eye, Legbe Legbe eye - were the two Awos who made divination for Ogunda­so-Orire when coming from heaven. He was advised to make sacrifice with a goat to his guardian 'angel, he-goat to Esu, and to make a feast with rats, fish, cooked yam, roasted com, and ground-

, nuts to the animais of the forest,because of the hard time he was going to have betore prosperítycarne to him on earth. He made the sacrifice and carne out at Ife, where he became a proficientand popular Ifa priest. He became so prosperous that he had many wives and children. Hissuccess however generated enmity for hím, so much that his children began to die soon afterbirth, as a result of the machination of witches.

He was hounded by problems from pillar to post which made him to become totally disillu­sioned. Eventually, he was physically driven outof his house at night and he took refuge in acave which was known to be home to wild be~sts Iike Iions, tigers, pythons, hyenas and Jeopards.Paradoxically, the animals were quite happy to receive him as their guest. Every moming, heused to go around the village to make divination and sacrifice for people, as a result of which heoften retumed home with plenty of meat which he shared with the animals.

After living in the cave for the better part of one year, Ife was stricken with farmine, draught,destitution, deprívation and all manner of calamitous afflictions. There was no raín for the wholeyear, harvest failed woefully, several men became impotent, pregnant women hact miscarriages,the people of Ife stopped paying any homage to the Olotin and death was plundering the popu-

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lation indiscrimately.

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When the people began to say that the adversity which engulfed them was a function andindeed a retlection, of the hard-Iuck of the reigning Oba, there were rumors of imminent popularuprising to demand his banishment. The uncertainties culrninated in the Olofin invitilig his coun­cil of chiefs to sumrnon divine priests, Ifa priests and seers to find out the cause· of the catastro­phe and to propose solutions. AII the diviners invited for divination were unanimous in professingthat the probJems arase as a result of the Ifa priest they hounded into the forest, and that thedivine council was so irritated about it that they invited Esu to visit his wrath on Ife. The divinersdeclared that the difficulties would only end if they sought the whereabouts of the man andpersuaded him to return to his family in Ife.

The divíners recommended that the able-bodied young men of the town should be dis­patched jnto the forests to hunt for animals with which to rnake sacrifice for the whole town. Theyoung men were told to hunt for rabbits, hares, squirrels, rats, grass-cutters and hedge-hogs torsacrifice. After they had roarned the torest in vain for the small animals, they came across a hugecave and decided to rest at what looked like its entrance. After eating some food the young manbegan to hit the cave so forcefu/ly that the vibration shook Orunmila below. Orunmila reactedwith an incantation in the Ifa dialect as fol/ows:- .

He yelled "ORAA" - which the young men did not understand.If they knew what it meant, they

would ha ve replied with ''ARAJE''as the appropriate key.

When there was no reply, he continued "IGE WOMI" which the young meh again did notunderstand, lest they should have replied with the key of "KUE-'RUBO-ORA." When he did notrecejve any reply, he subsequently reverted to Iiterary Ife dialect by aSking who itwas that knockedthe rock and they replied that they were the young men of Otu-Ife.

Thereafter, he asked what their mission was, and they replied that they were sent by theelders to fetch small animals from the torest for sacrifice. He retorted by professing that if theykilled any small animals inthe forest, all the remaining young men of Otu-Ife would die beforethey reached home. Not knowing the implication· of that prophesy, the young men went abouttheir business and subsequently succeeded in killing a number of small animals. They were sohappy to have succeeded in their encounter, but became despondent when they got home to seeall the male adolescents in the town had diedand there was weeping and wailing in every houseof Ife. Following that calamitous development, the elders decided that it was pointless makingthe sacrifice. They decided to make a second divination.

After divination, it was recommended that the able-bodied adults ot Ife should be enjoined tofetch medium-sized animals frorn the forest for a town-wide sacrifice. The men got together andleft with guns,spears, bows and poisoned arrows tor the forest without any deJay. After rovingthe torest for a long time, once again they carne to the cave and sat down to eat and to rest.When the adults finished eating, they again hit the rack and once more it judered so violently thatOrunmila had to repeat the same incantations .

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When he yelled "ORAA", the adults replied "ARAJE". When he pronounced "IGE WOMI",they replied "KUE'RUBO ORA". He followed it up with "ISO OHO" but the adults did not know thekey to those words.

When Orunmila asked who they were, they replied that they werethe able-bodied adults ofOtu-Ife. In reply to the next question of what they were doing in the forest, they explained thatthey were in the forest to hunt tor medium-sized animals for sacrifice in the town. Once again, hetold them that they would find pigs, deers, antelopes and bush goats, but that if they killed any ofthem, all the remaining male adults in Ite would die before they retumed home. Unfortunatelythey could not comprehend the significance of the foreboding because they set about the busi­ness of killing these animals and returned home wíth their games with a feeling of accomplish­ment. To their utter dismay, they got home to meet people crying their eyes out because all theadults of Ife had died. Once again, the sacrifice was abandoned.

In the ensuing state of utter confussion, they made yet another divination, which advisedthat the elders of Ife should go to the forest to fetch over-aged animals for sacrifice. They subse­quently left for the torest with their hunting instruments .. Once again they saw the mysterious 'cave and stopped at its base to rest. When they again hit the cave, it shook Orunmila and hestarted the incantational dialogue by saying "ORAA" and they replied with "ARAJE". At thatmoment Orunmila was doing a festival as a result of which all his inmatesin the cave had beenfetchíng water for the cerernony. For that reason, there was already plenty of water in the cave.When he next said "IGE WOMI", they replied "KUE ERUBO ORA". He followed that with "IBOOHO" and they replied "AA OFIN". Finally, he said "00TIGBEJI" and they replied with "OOLUMO".When he asked who they were and what their mission was, they replied that they were the eldersof Ite out in the torest in search ot big animals tor sacrifice at home. He told them that they wouldcome across elephants, gorillas, buffalos, pythons. but that if they killed any of them, all theremaining elders in Ife would die before they got home. That was how the elders discoveredwhat had depleted the population of Ife so desolately. "

They instantly gave up their hunting expedition and decided to probe the death-dealingoccupant of the cave~ They collected plenty of dried leaves from the forest and stuffed them ¡ntothe cave after which they set it ablaze. As the fire was blazing, Orunmila was at the point of hisritual when he was pouring water into the shrine of the divinity of the ground (Onole) whosefestival he was making. At that point, he said:

Legbe Legbe eye, Legbe Legbe eye]Oda omo le ufe, olu agba ufe,ama dom; boo, kpere gun ese

Domí boo,kpere gun ese.

He was not aware of what was happening outside the cave, but the wate~ he was pouring¡nto the shrine was passing through the entrance of the cave and inadvertently extinguishing theblazing inferno. When he completed the water pouring ceremony, he decidedto come outsidethe cave to see how far the water flowed. Hecame out to see a heavy smoke oozing out of thecave and he began to wonder who was trying to roast him alive inside the cave. At the same timethe elders of Ife who had meanwhile concealed themselves were emerging to find out whetherthe fire had killed the fiendish demon of the cave.

6IFISM -The Complete Woas oi OrunmiJa

When they got to the mouthof the cave, they saw Orunmila and by reflex action, all of themwent on their knees to sing his praise. They said that they never knew that hewas theone in thecave, beca use they had been searching for him for a long time. They told him that the town of Ifewas almost desolate and that they had been trying to make sacrifice to procure his retum to hishome, people and fami/y, and to help them rescue the town fram total destruction. In reply, hereminded them that he was hounded out of the town and they even pursued him to the cavewhere he took refuge. They allbegged him to forgive and forget. He told them that if they wantedhim to retum home, they should bring a goat, a hen, a rat, a fish, a bundle of yam tubers and agourd of oil.

The elders gave up theír hunting expedition and retumed home to bring the materials de·manded by Orunmila. After receiving the materials, he assured them that he would retum homein seven days time and that before then he was going to use the materials to ofter a thanksgivingfeast to the hosts who gave him hospitality during his exile. He subsequently used the materíalsto feast the animals of the cave. That cave has since become a shrine where the people of Ifeserve Ifa annually, after Orunmita named it ODU,after the name of his mother. On his retum toIfe, all the tribulations carne to an end and peace and prosperity retumed to the town. That cave

is where i~itiation ceremony into IFISM is done in Ife.

Divination Made for Orunmila When He Was Touring for IFISM:

Jnu ni gbe inu, abe ni ki jeni. Eyanmu yanmu egberu ku oda,Ina jani jeni, Uja je eniyan je eniyan.Arina kpaa. Arinakpaa Ai ri uya kpaa. Adiye ote tina nbo, ofí erun ni aje

kuye kuye. Iferi fe Ogun ori oroke. ·Ofan oye ude teere te.Adifa fun Orunmila baba shawo lo si ono jinjin gbon gbon gbon.

lo'de ¡bile re.

Those were the Awos who made divination for Orunmila when he was advised during histour to retum to his ancestral home to make sacrifice.· He was at that time very poor, having onlyjust retumedfrom exile. He was told to give a he..;goatto Esu betore going to his home tawn, andto add thecutlass he inherited from hisfather. He was alsotoserve Ifawith rolled driedtish,akara, eko, beans and a boa, and to serve his head with an unsplitkolanut fruit (odidi-obi aita inyoruba and Ohia-evbee in Bini). He was to serve his late tather with a goat in his hame town.

He made all the sacrifices but refused to part with his cutlass. His wife, who knew thatprosperity would be the result of the sacrifice, arranged to steal the c,utlass from where he kept it,and gave it to the Awos far the sacrifice. On the other hand, he could not find an unsplit kolanutfruit to serve his head, nor the Boa for his Ifa. Whenhe discovered later that his wife had partedwíth the only cut/ass he had, he had her thoroughly beaten for parting with his priceless posses-sion. '

The following mominghe left with Mis wife forthe land ofhis birth, since he had no othercutlass the only instrument he travelled with was his Uranke - divination staft, adding the remnantof the eko and beans with Which he served his Ifa. As they weregoing, his wife looked up andsawa single kolanut fruitontap ofthekolatree and drew hisattention to it Instead of congratu·lating his wife for her vigilance, he snapped at her,·by askihg what he Was going to use to pluck

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the kolanut fruit when she had already parted with his only cutlass. In anger, the wife told him notto .worry because the kolanut was required for serving his head and not her own. Ho.wever, indesperation, he threw his uranke at the kolanut fruit and since it was already ripe, it fell to theground as soon as the uranke impacted on it. It was the only fruit left at the top of the tree.

As he moved to pick up the kolanut fruit hewas shocked to see that it fell on a boa which wasresting on the ground. Once more, he turned round to query his wife for dispensing with hiscutlass beca use there was no instrument with which to kill the boa. Thewife retorted that he wasat líberty to leave the snake aJone since he could not think af any improvisation without his muchcherished cutlass. Again, she reminded him that the boa was required for serving his guardianange! and not her own. At that stage, he tald her to put down the bag she was carrying on herhead and he rolled the live snake into it, while tying the mouth of the bag. After tyíng the mouthof the bag, he gave it once more to the wife to carry.

Meqnwhile, they were approaching a no-go forest which was known to be the operationalbase of three armed bandits. One of the bandits lived in Ado (now Ado-Ekiti), the other lived inIjero while the third Iivedin liara. They had earlier met the same Awos who divined for Orunmilaand they advised them to serve Esu with he-goats to avert the risk of apprehending a victim muchstronger than themselves, who would kill them. They felt so insulted by the prediction of theAwos, that they totally refused to make the sacrifice since they could not imagine how any victimcould defy thepowers of the three of them.

As Orunmila and his wife were passing through the much dreaded bandit-infested forest,they were accosted by the three bandits. They apprehended Akpetebi on account of the bag shewas carrying: When they were taking her away, Orunmila tried to follow them, but they com­manded him to disappear if he did not wish to be killed. Since he was tótally defenseless, hewent to hide behind a big tree. Asked what she was carrying, Orunmila's wife told them she wascarrying the·food they wanted to eat during their joumey. They tried to rape her, but since thefood was more in need at that time, they decided that the love-making could wait.

When the tirst bandit opened the bag, the boa who was already charged for action, bit him.He then complained to the others that something in the bag had stung his fingers. The secondbandit also tried to bring out what was in the bag and the boa al50 bit him. As the third bandit wasdoubting the intentions of his two commrades, he tookthe bag from them and dipped his handinto it, only to be stung again by the boa. Thereafter, they tied up the bag and ordered the womanto carry it and follow them to their staging post in the heart of the forest. Orunmila was howeverbehind them trailing their footsteps stealthily .

.As soon as they got to their camp they blindfolded Orunmila's wife and bound up her

hands and feet. Thereafter, they took up the,bag once more to open it. Incidentally, at that pointthe noxious effect of the snake's bite had 'overwhelmed them. One after the other, they fell to theground, stone dead, without being ableto see the contents of the bag. ·Orunmila's wife heard thesound of theirfalling to the ground, tollowed by what sounded like total silence. After failing tohear any sound from them tor a long time, she imagined that the venom of the boa in her bag hadtaken its toll on them. AJI three of them were stone dead.

She subsequently began to 5ingin praise of Ifa and of the Awos who made divination and

8IFISM -The Complete Works of O~a

sacrifice for her husband. When Orunmila heard Akpetebi's song, he realized that his sacrificehad manifested and ran hurriedly to meet her. His first inclination was to remove her blindfoldand unblind her. It was thereafter that they saw the treasures of the campo It contained all itemsof value that the bandits had been robbing from pea pie for a long time. When Orunmila discov­ered that the bandits were all dead. he decided to embark on instant divination to seek directions.His own odu appeared telling him that that was the end of his journey to his home base and thathe should move forward further away from the campo He did as he was directed and he came toa second camp containing men and women previously captured by the bandits and tied up await­ing being sold into slavery. OrunmiJa quickly untied them and in retum, they proclaimed alle­giance to him as their new lord and master.

Meanwhile, since there was no other way of compensating the boa for the gobd job it did forhim, he decided to set it free to return to the freedom of its bush habital. At the same time, heused his ASE to proclaim that anybody for whom this odu appears at initiation (Ugbodu) shouldfrom that day forbid killing or eating the boa or indeed any snake.

In accordance with Ifa's advice, he tord the human captives to carry the loot and accompanyhim back to Ife. On second thought, he stopped short of making a direct entry into Ife, becausehe knew tha!' Olofin would ask for a share of his windfall if he entered the town in broad day-lightto the full yiew of everybody. He decided to ask his entourage to hide in the bush on the precinctsof Ife, whlle he went to bargin with the Oba 'and his friend, the Oliwo (chief priest) of the Oro cultthat a curfew should be declared that night because he was going to make a special ceremony tomark the anniversary of his mother's death. Hís request was granted.

From about 8.00 pm on that night, the Oro cult heralded a curfew throughout the town of Ifeand all and sundry had to stay indoors. Under cover of the curfew and darkness. Orunmila wasable to bring his humanand material treasures into his house without the knowledge of anyone inthe town. As Orunmila was moving in his loot, he sang a song which has since become part of Ifatradition. ORO LO, ORO LO SO SO several times. When people asked him the followingmorning how he came by the human and material possessions in his house, he explained that itwas his share of his parents' legacy that he brought from his home town. Even the Olofin won­dered that Orunmila must have come from a prosperous family in his home town. Not longafterwards, the Oba appointed Orunmila to the position of a high chief and to become his right

-hand mano

Three months later, he feasted the whole town with a cow, goal. ram and fowls and invitedthe two Awos who made divjnation and sacrifica for him. At the height of the feast, he sang inpraise of the Awos who divined for him.

When this Ifa appears at Ugbodu, the person will be advised to make sacrifice with materialspurchased either on credit or with borrowed money because that was what Orunmila did on thatday. He should serve the new Ifa with a goat, a hen, pigeon, fish and rat, and to serve Esu witha he-goal. After completing the Ifa initíation ceremony, he should proceedto his home town, that¡s, his ancestral home, and make sacrifice there with a goal. If he serves Ifa well, he will becomeprosperous.

When it appears at divination, the person should be totd to have his own Ifa and to serve

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Esu with a he-goat and the head of a boa.

He Made Divination for the SD;ailin Heaven

Aba she kere mu legun, Odifa (un ibikunle ta ma nu kankunle ara le

The umbrella tree is short when young, but a little later, it wiJl become taller than the roof ofthe house. That was the name of the Awo who made divination for Ibikunle, when she wassingle-handedly going to populate her house by herself. Ibikunle is the heavenly name of thesnail and it means the one who produced enough children to fill his or her house. She wasadvised to make sacrifice with hen, rat and fish. She made the sacrifice and began to producechildren to fill her house.

When it appears at divination for a woman anxious to have children, she will be advised tomake sacrifica because she will have so many children that she will eventually be tired of havingmore.

He Later Divined for his Friend Oro

Okon kpoki, Erigidí kpií, adita fun Oro nijo ti Oro woorun kenge kenge.

One sharp sound (Okpa kpoi in Sini) and one loud sound (Okpa gbii in Síni) are the namesof the Awos who made divination for Oro when he was so ill that he thought he was going to die,(that is figure of speech¡ "when he was looking obliquely at heavenJl). Hewas advised to makesacrifice with eko, akara, rat fish and a chicken. After preparing the sacrifice. the If~,priests toldhim to carry it on his head to Esu shrine. He was further told that on getting to the shrine, he wasto back it and incline his head backwards in such a way that the sacrifica would drop on theshrine.

As soon as he allowed the sacrifice to drop on Esu shrine, while still backing Esu, a voiceinstructed him to stretch his hands and feet forward. First, he stretched out his left Iimbs and nexthis right Iimbs. The moment he did that, the disease that had afflicted his body to the point ofincapacjtation suddenly disappeared. From the shrine, he began to dance and sing towards thehouse:

ljo /ogo ji jo, erigidi kpii, erigidi.ljo /ogo ji jo, erigid; kpi-kpi-kpí, erigidí.

He was singing in praise of Orunmila and his two surrogates for the miraculous healing hehad just experienced.

When this odu appears at divination as AVEO (that ¡s, foreboding danger) the divinee will betold thathe/she is suffering from a disease which he or she is concealing, but will be advjsed tomake sacrifice to get rid of it. If the indication is UREE (which means that there is no danger toworry about) the person will be told to be expecting some gift or favor.

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He Made Divination for the Stingy Hunter

IFISM -The Complete Works of Orurunila

Ogunda-so-Orire made divination for the hunter who was so niggardly that he never sharedhis game are with his neighbors. He was told to serve Esu with a he-goat to avoid embarrass·ment. He did not do it. Dne day, he returned from the forest with a single dove. His next doorneighbor, an elderly woman, begged him tor the dove because she needed it for a special sacri­fice. Characteristically, he bluntly refused on the pretext that since the dove was his only gameon that day, he could not part with it at any price.

The following night robbers went to burglarize a house on the next street. When the robbersdiscovered that their victims were in hot pursuit of them. they entreated the hunter to allow themto off-Ioad theirloot in his house and he agreed. Incidentally, the oldwoman was watching all thedevelopments. The robbers escaped all right, but as the vietims of the robbery were returninghome dejectedly after failing to catch up with the burglars, the old lady beckoned to them andthey went into her house. Thereafter, she intimated to them that their stolen property were con­cealedln the hunter's house.

When the people subsequently gate.crashed Into the hunter's hou$e, theytound 'all theirstolen próperty in his parlar. He was accused of being a thief and he was about to be Iynched, butfor the timely intervention of the palace po/ice who arrested him for arraignment betore the royalcourt. He was in detention, when he remembered the sacrifica he failed to make. He was undercustody when he told his wife to implore Orunmila to do the sacrifice tor him. The sacrifice wasduly made.

At his subsequent court trial, he explained that he merely obliged some people who werepassing by and besought him to take custody 01those materials before they retumed to colleetthem. Esuinfluenced the trial judge to reasonthat since the goods were found in his living room,it was an Indicationthat he hadno reason to believe that they were stolen. If he had knowinglyagreed to take custodyof stolen goOds, he wou/d have hidden them away instead of leavingthem in his sitting room. Beside5, Esu had meanwhile subomed a high chief to testify to theerswhile impeecable integrity and the law-abiding disposition of the hunter.

In his verdict, .the judge, who was a/ready under the influence of Esu, decided that thehúnter was only a victim of eircumstances and not a thief. He was accordingly discharged andacquitted.

When this Ifa appears at Ugbodu, the person will be advised to serve: his head with a cock:Ifa with another goat; and Esu with a he-goat, to avert the risk of 105ingan imminent wlndfall. Heshould be advised never to allow anyone to keep any goods under his custody. Moreover, heshould serve his own head before honoring an invitation, to obviate the risk of losing his luck toother people .

When it appears at divination, the person shou/d be advi5ed to serve Esu with a he-goat,onesnail and seven need/es, on accountof an impending robbery.

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He Made DivinatioD for Tella~Roko,When He Was Poor

Leke Leke ko ye didu. Ogbigbo lila fo raba ribi.Adifa fun Te/la Roko nijo ti won ni tie titon.

The eatile eaglet (Leke Leke in yoruba and Eníbokun in Biní)does not lay dark eggs.

The tiokam (ogbigbo in yoruba and Owonwon in Bíni) ís thebird that flies wíth large wings.

Those were the two Awos who made divination for Tella-roko, when people wrote him off asa hard-Iuck case, and that he wasalready finished, in simple words, when he was languishing inabject poverty. The Awos confirmed that fortune had eluded him for good unless he was able tomake sacrifice. He was required to make sacrifice with a cock, rat, fish, six bitter kolas, kolanuts,and snails. He made the sacrifice without delay.

After thesacrifice, the Awos gave him the six bitter kolas, predicting that his prosperity wouldarrive during the yam planting season. Meanwhile, he brushed his farm, felled the trees, bumtthe shrubs, c1eared the stumps and began planting his crops. He beca me rather restive andjittery when it was time to plant yams, as he began digging the ridges for plantíng seed yams.After digging three ridges, he was on the fourth one when his hoe stuck a hole containing a potostensibly buried there a long time ago. When he opened the pot, he discovered that it containedmoney, beads and jewels. The excitementso overwhelmed him that instinctively, he began tosing and rejoice with the words:

"Tella Roko, mojin showo loko, Tella Roko. ""/ have hit a pot o( wealth in my farm".

He chanted the song for so long and so repeatedly that the neighbor with wholii· he sharedthe same larm boundary, overheard him. After ensuring, by Iístening attentively to Tella Roko'ssong of joy, that he had hit a pot of money buried in the ground of his farrn, the neighbor left atonce for the Oba's palace. When he got to the palace, he reported that his farm neighbor withwhom he had a common border, was rejoicing because he had discovered a pot of wealth buriedin the ground, he.suggested that the Oba should send policemen to go and coUect the potfromTella Roko, because according to the tradition of the land, anything discovered from beneath theground belongs to the Oba. Accordingly, the Oba dispatched a contingent of policemen to goand bring Tella Roko and the pot of wealth.

Incidentally, before the royal policemen arrived at his farm, Esu transfigured into a benevo­lent passer-by, to advise him to change the motif and theme of his song beca use the Oba hadsent policemen to come for him and the pot of wealth he had avowedly disco vered in his farm.Esu advised him to change the tune of his song and to leave for home at once. Esu asked himfor the bitter kola with which he had made sacrifice and he showed all six of them to him, tied tohis loin cloth. Esu told him to start eating them on his way home, after showing him a bitter-kolatree with ripe fruits near his farm which he had not erstwhile discovered. Befor~ ¡eaving him, Esutaught him the words to sing with:

12IFISM -The Complete Worlts of Orunmila

"Woni te mi ti ton,Te mi 00 ti; ton

Tella Roko ti ti igi orogbo loko.Mot; ti ígí orogbo to ma 'un mi lowo.

Tella Roko, temí o tíi ton"."People say that I am finished,But I am not finished beca use, .

I have discovered a free full of bitter-kola,which w;1Ig;ve me plenfy of money. "

Thereafter, he immediately left for home chewing his bitter-kola and singing with the bitterkola tree he had just discovered near his farm.

That was the situation in which the royal policemen met him on their way to his tarm. Thepolicemen were satisfied that he was not rejoicing for discovering a pot of wealth in his farm ashis neighbor spuriouSly alleged, but that the poor man was excited over the tree of bitter kola hediscovered near his farm. They told him to take them to the bitter kola tree and he did so willingly.Thereafter, they told him to follow them to the palace to tell his story by himself to the Oba.

When he got to the palaee, the Oba asked himforthe pot ofwealth he had discovered in hisfarm and he feigned total bewilderment. When he was able to calm down to make an intelligiblereply, he said that he was dumbfounded beca use he had neverbefore heard of any pot of wealth,let alone discovered one on his farm. Asked whether he did not sing to rejoice over the discoveryef a pet ef money in his farm, he replied that he only sang and rejoiced over his discovery of a treefuI! of bitter kola in his farm. To substantiate his assertion, he produced the bitter kola fruits heplucked from the tree and cited the royal policemen as his witnesses because they saw the treewith their Qwn eyes. He became exceedingly happy because the sale of the fruits was going togive him plenty of money.

The royal policemen who went to his farm confirmed that before they met him on hiswayhome from the farm they had overheard him singing joyfully aboutthe bitter kola tree he haddiscovered in his farm. They added that he was stillchanting the bitter kola song when they methim and he was in factchewing some of the fruits at the time. They also confirmed that totest theveracity of his story, they made' him to take them to the tree which they actually saw on theperiphery of his tarm.

At that point the Oba invited his farm neighbor to substantiate hís story. He explaíned ratherdejectedly and deflatedly that he must have misconstrued whathe overheard from Tella~Roko'ssong. He apologized that he never knew that the man was singingwith the bitter kolatree andthat he thought he was singing about money; On that note, after rebuking himfor bearing false

tales, the Oba decided summarily thathe was to be exeeuted for Iyingagainst his tarm neighbor.

Subsequently, Tella.;Roko began by plucking thefruits from the bitter kola tree and preparingthem for sale. It was aftersellihg all the fruitsthat he bought another he-goat to thank Esu andinvited and feasted his two Ifa priests sumptuously for the efficacjous divination and sacrifice theymade for him. That was the point at which he went te his tarm to remove the contents of the potto his house. He became so wealthy that the Oba eventually conferred a high chíeftaincy title on

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him. He easily became the wealthiest man in the community, without anyone knowing the secretof his prosperity, apart from Esu and his guardian ange!.

When this Odu appears at divination, the person will be advised notto disclose his secretsto anyone and not to be loquacious about his fortune, especially in his dealings with close friendswho can easily betray him. He should make sacrifice because prosperity is on its way to him.

The DivinatioD Made for OrunmUa When His Prosperity Came

Okete gun ori ebe, O ho ra kuye kuye.Adifa fun Orunmila ni jo ti uwa re she she mbo.

The rabbi( climbed the ridge of a planted yam andused its fingers to sciatch its body gently

That was the name of the Awo who made divination for Orunmila when his prosperity beganto blossom. That was when the appurtenances of prosperity left heaven on their journey to hishouse. He rejoiced when they got to him and began to sing: '

"Okete gun ori o gerere,Ni uwa idu she iba o gerere,

He was thanking the Ifa priest who predicted thatprosperity was on ¡ts way to him. Hethanked; his Ifa with a goat, and Esu with a he-goat for piloting prosperity to his house.

When it appears at divination for aman, heshould be advised to have his own Ifa so that hisprosperity hitherto held up in heaven, might be liberated to come to him. If it appears for anunmarried woman, she should be advised to marry aman havinghis own Ifa. If she is a marriedwoman, she should be advised to tell her husband to have his own Ifaso they mighfprosper.

The Divination for Orunmila ,When He Bought a Slave

Ushe ti'nshe awo, kii she ashe ku.Iya ti onje awo, aje la 'ni.

Adafa funOrunmila nijo ti onlo ra Igbirale eru.The deprivations and sufferings of adivine priest do 'not

endhis life.More often than not,such setbacks are a

prelude to his prospétity.

Those were the names of the Awos who made divination for Orunmila when hetravelled tothe land of Igbiras (now the Kwara State of Nigeria) to buy aslave. He was advised to makesacrifice with a cock anda hen before travelling. He made the sacrifice and eventually boughtthree siaves from the place and brought them home to serve him. They served him so well thatthey made him become rich, after which he proclaimed that the Igbiras were endowed with goodheads and guardian angels, that is, that they are harbingers of good fortune and prosperity.

When it appears at divination, the persan will be advised that some servants, if he does not

14IFISM -The Complete Works of O.rwJ?lila

already have them, will come to live with him. He should treat them humanely, because theirstars would bring him good luck.

He Made Di~atiob. for Aban, theSlave of ODi~Taaji

Ibemba oku bi ojo. Odifa fun Aban, Aban loni kerun oro.Aban ni ke run ode. Erun de, adita 'un Onitaji ni jo to

ma kpa ire lo mi re.

The big drum sounds Iike rain drops, was the name ot the Awo who made divination torAban, the slave of the father of Oni-Taji who in tum, made divination for the Oba of ItajL Thetraditiona/ idol worshipped by the people of Itají was the boa constrictor or python (Ere in yorubaand Ikpin in 8ini).

The Ifa priest advised Oni-taji to make sacrifice with one of the boa constrictors in order toUve to a rípe old age. The Oba made the sacrifice by killing one of the sacred boa constrtctors.TraditionalJy, the Oba never gave any gifts to Aban after making divination and sacrifice for himbeca use he always derided him, being his own s/ave. After the Oba had used the boa constrictorfor the sacrifice, Aban decided to watch out fer subsequent developments. In the night, Aban leftthe house stealthily after people had gone to sleep, and began to beat the bembe drum, through­out the town, singing that the bembe drum was soundinglike rain-dreps because the Oba had

killed ene of the sacred boa constrictors for making sacrifice {Oni-taji ti kpa ere je}.

The announcement so infuriated the entirecitizenry of Itaji that they trooped out in a popularuprising to demand the dethronement of Oni- Taji. When the Oba saw the sour tum of events, hecalled a conference of divinérs and invited Orunmila who blamed him for undermiriing Aban forso long. The unanimous advice of the conference was that he was to invite Aban and pacify himby giving hirn food, dresses and money. Accordingly, the Oba invited Aban and pacified himpassionately. After giving him adequate compensation in cash and kind, he sought his opinion onwhat to do to defuse the chargéd political and social atmosphere in the town.

After expressing his grievances against the waythe Obahad been treating him, he advisedhim to cook beans to feast all his chiefs and members ot the palace societies. After the Oba hadmade the feast, Aban took the bembe drumonce moreafter midnight, and he began singing anddrumming with the words, (Oni-tajiti se ere je) the Oba has cookedbeans to eat. Aban's latestannouncement puzzled the populace so much that they began to wonder whether Aban waschanging his earlier story. That was why he explained with drumming and singing that hisfirstannouncement was "Oni-Taji se ere jen and nol "0ni-Taji kpa ere je". Incidentally, the beans andpython mean the same word "Ere" in yoruba. The chiefs apologized to Oni-taji tor daring to plothis banishment. Thereafter, the people and· Oba of Itaji lived in peace ever after;

When this Odu appears at divination, the person should be told to make sacrifice to avertthe danger of undermining anyof his dependents. He should bring his dependents e/oser tohimself, and treat him or themmore humanely in order to avoid their nuisance value.

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15

He Made Divination for Ataparapa and His Friend Ole

Ogunda bede baba/awo Ole odifa fun Ole, obufun Oluku mejí retí'anpe Ataparapa olon ole, nijo ti won tí kole orun bowa sí

kole aíye.

He made divination for Ole, and his friend Ataparapa, the pioneer and king of robbery inheaven, before they carne to the world .

.They went fer divination because they wanted to knew what to do to thrive as robbers onearth. He told them to feast the policemen of heaven so that they may thrive through stealing onearth. he also advised them to serve; their guardian angels with a goat, chain, matchete, clubsand needles, and Esu with a he·goat, gun powder and fire flames, before leaving heaven, andalso to serve Esu with the same materials as soon as they gol to the world, so that the evening oftheirlives might be blissful. They made.all the sacrifices before leaving heaven.

They were bern of different parents on earth but were raised in the same locality. They wereso successful as robbers that others began to emulate them. They were never apprehendedduring all their expeditions. They also developedsuch diabolical powers that rather than gettingcaught after any robbery, one would transfigure ¡nto a cat and the other ¡nto a rat, and wheneverthey found themselves in tight situations, the cat would grip the rat and both would escape. Theybecame outrageously prosperous through steaUng and people in their community began to won­derwhetherthere was any vírtuein living honestly andrighteously. Their success was so remark­able that they did not have any cause to go for divination, let alone make any sacrifices whichwas contrary to the advice given to them in heaven ..

They lived through middle age to the beginning of old age. That was the point at which Esugot up to ask his triend Ighoroko whether the two. notorious robbers made any sacrifice. When19horoko replied that they failed to make sacrifice, Esu set out on theirtrail. One night, Ataparapaslept and died in hissleep. The members of his household discovered his death in the momingand immediately began to make arrangements for his burial.

As soon as he died on earth however, he appeared before his guardian angel in heaven,who directed him to a roofles5 and dilapidated building, as his heavenly house. Atthis point, it isnecessary to explain that any asset one acquires honestly on earth is replicated in heaven, whilstassets stolen or unscrupulously acquired from their bonatíde owners on earth, retum to enrichthe rjghtful owners in heaven. When Ataparapa discovered that hls heavenly house was emptyand uninhabitable, he asked his guardian angel, the reason for its desolate condition. He got thedepressing reply that, the condition of the house was a reflection of his genuinely acquired pos­sessions on earth beca use the fradulently acquired belongings had retumed to their bonafideowners in heaven. It had no roof, no furniture and no household equipment .and utensils, be­cause he stole them ter his house on earth. His greatest puzzle was when he dlscovered that twoof his children who had previously died before him were living as homeless layabouts inheaven because of the uninhabitable condition of his house.

When he carne to realize that depriving other people of their possessions to enrich one'sself on earth, served no useful purpose in heaven, he appealed to hís guardian angel to allow himto retum momentarily to earth to warn members of his family of the consequences of stealing.

16IFISM -The Complete Works of Orunmila

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His request was granted, but Esu stopped him to demand a he-goat, but since he had nothing toofter, he promised to abide by Esu's raquest upon his return from earth. The members of hisfamily stopped weeping and mourning, when his heartbeat resumed and he regained'conciousness. As soon as he opened his eyas, he directed that all his wives and children shouldbe assemb/edfor a special meeting.

When they were all gathered, he wamed them not to utilize money and materials in hishouse for his burial. He advised them jf possible to borrow money to fund his funeral becausethat was the only way he could derive any benefit from them in heaven. He narrated the horror ofhis brief experience in heaven and strongly advised his people to refrain from stealing. As hisfamily was getting acquainted with the realities of his resurrection, he lapsed once more into acoma andeventually died. His burialwas subsequently financed with honest money and all thematerials used, went to provide a new start for him in heaven.

The experience of his bosom friend was slightly different. When he was told about theresurrectionadvice of his friend, he dismissed it as a paranoid mannerism. He reiterated hischaracteristic philosophy that whether the money or property be/onged to devil, divinity, death 1 orany mortal, he was free to steal it to Uvea fuU Iife here on earth, beca use he could not be botheredwith the tlereafter, beeausehe would eross that bridge when he got there. Little did he realisethat his own nemesis was in the offing, .

Three months afterthe death of his friend, Ole was taken ilI witha fever. Two days later, thefever beca me so high that he had a stroke which not only paralysed one half of his body butrendered him speechless. He remained in that helpless condition for the better part of six months.The period of his iUness however enabled his children to firm up adequate arrangement for hisinevitable death and burial. In addition to preparing a lavishly equipped vault for his remains, abrass coffin was provided for his interment. Cannons and gun-powder were stored in the cellar ofhis palatial house for use during the funeral ceremonies.

Finding himself living Iike a vegetable for so long became an unbearable suffering for him.Since he was toa helpless to physically take his life, he decided to fast to death. Six days after hestopped eating and drinking, he eventually died. His death was a great relief to his family andsoon aftelWards, the exigency arrangement for his burial was set in motion. After giving hiscorpse a cJean bath, he was dressed up gorgeously and laid in state. During the day, friendsrelations and sympathisers fiJed in to pay their last respeets. In the evening, it was time for afamily ritual which was to be followed by can non salutes to the memory of the dead. By traditiontheritualmarks the commencement of the funeral ceremonies and it is exclusive to the members.ofthe deceased's family.

As arrangements were being made to load the cannons with explosives, one of the childrenwent to the cellar with a naked lantem to removesome kegs of gury-powder. Al! of a sudden,there .was a massive explosion from the cellar followed by secondary explosions of the entirearsenal of gun powder and explosives which in amatter of minutes set the whole house in totalconflagration. AU the members of Ole's fami/y, his corpse, andthe entire building was bumt toashes. The spectators who were watching the events outside the house were the only peoplewho escaped unscathed.

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Some of the spectators remarked that the notorious Ole had an ignoble end to his Iife.Otl1ers concluded that retribution had caught up with the bandit at the end of his life. The generalconsensus was that indeed retribution has settled scores with Ole in the evening of nis Iife. Thatwas how the adage began that "Retribution awaits a thief (ole) at the evening of his Iife."

When this Odu therefore appears at Ugbodu, the person will be advised to refrain from aUfraudulent and evil practices in order to have a blissful end to his life. When it appears at divina­tion, the Ifa priest will immediately snap out his third finger with his thumb, to say "Ale kpa osikalojo kon" or (ota ¡hen khe ole in Sini) that ¡s, "retribution will one day catch up with the evil doer,"lhe divinee should be advised to make sacrifice to avert the danger of an imminent robbery .