The 256 Odù of Ifá

The father of all the signs: the light that opens the roads, the power of Orí and the double salvation.

The lord of the night: death and the ancestors, the Ituto and the birth of sacred writing.

The eye that puts things together: analysis, kept secrets, and the hidden beast you have to tame.

The womb of the world: motherhood, the sea, and the promise that what is lost will be found.

The deep water: the bottom of the sea, the sunset, and the eye of providence that uncovers every trap.

The mask and ingratitude: you never see the fruit of your work, until the sacrifice ties the hands of your enemies.

Two kings, two crowns: the tongue that saves and the tongue that ruins, and the humble calabash that hides the wealth.

The world upside down: Eshú gives the opposite of what you ask for, and the tongue that gives away secrets costs a life.

The kingdom of iron: the knife that splits the difference, the justice that cuts straight — and the crying that turns into laughter.

The air and the world of the spirits: the wandering wind that makes deals even with the witches — and outlives them all.

The safe harbor: the word nobody can go against — and the proud ship that ends up paying its due at the dock.

Intelligence come into the world: nobody is skilled enough to carry water in his clothes, or wise enough to count the sands of the earth.

The father of life: man became king of creation, and the truth — slow and weak as it is — always wins in the end.

Eyelemere, the one who laughs at death: he went down to the land of the Eggún and came back to the land of the living — love in person.

The wrestler who learned how to fall: by losing, you win — and money chased with greed pays for your own burial.

The powerful one on earth: mother of the fourteen Odù, owner of the empty space, the one who speaks with life and with death as an equal.