In the land of Ikaeri lived Awó Ifalodun, bound by Olokun, who had taken him away as a small boy from the house of his godfather Awó Omonire — from Shangó's land, Oddun Layeo — and did not want him to learn to work with Ifá: he divined only with the okpele, and the fishermen paid him in fresh fish. Awó Omonire saw Ika Rete, his godson's sign, and set out to find him with Shangó. Olokun, suspicious, said he was around somewhere; they found him casting okpele under a cotton tree and they embraced in tears. When Ayé quarreled with Olokun and he began losing his wealth, he asked for a reading with adele awerenifa: «He does not know how» — «He does know: it is you who have him bound.» Then Shangó gave him the board and taught him the whole ceremony: taking out the adele saying «Ifá bi bogbo adele Ifá Oddun Ifá seni», passing them behind him right to left and left to right, touching his head («ori abile»), embracing himself («Ifá yowa»), the knees, the belly while blowing the ofo out, the forehead with all the adele, counting them — 5, 5, 3, 2, 1 and the five watchmen — and walking the sixteen lands Ifá walked: the light of the sun, the creation of the world, intelligence, the birth of life, the gourd, the field, paradise, the rooster, man and all the lineages, up to the power Orunmila gives to men. Awó Omonire added the secret Ifaye Owodele — sixteen shells strung on the hide of Elegba's goat — and told him to atefá: Ika Rete came up for Olokun. «Your problem is that this land needs its people to have their own things of Ifá, and not only to worship your stones.» They made the ebbó with the adele the sea threw up and with the sand, and when Olokun got back, Ayé had returned with all the riches — and he sent all his children to receive Awofakan, Ikofá and Untefá.
Awó Ifalodun lived in the land of Ikaeri, tied down by Olokun: what Olokun did was not to reach the ears of the people of that place. As a child they had not made Ifá for him, and Olokun had taken him along to his own land, which was Ikaeri.
Since he did not know how to work with Ifá, he divined for all who came using the okpele. Olokun had closed off that learning on purpose, and that is why he took him very small out of the house of his godfather Awó Omonire, who lived in Oddun Layeo, land of Shangó.
One day Awó Omonire did an osode for himself and Ika Rete came out, the sign of Awó Ifalodun, and he said to himself: "It has been years since I saw my son, and Ika Rete says he is having trouble with Olokun."
He took two white hens and a rooster and set out for the land of Ikaeri. Halfway there he ran into Shangó, who, on hearing about the trip, told him: "I am going with you, because he will not live in the land of Ikaeri: he was born in the land I rule, which is Oddun Layeo."
Once in Ikaeri, the first thing they did was present themselves to Olokun, who received them with mistrust. They asked him about Awó Ifalodun and he answered: "He is around somewhere, since he has no fixed house and goes about with his Ifá on him."
"Let's go find him," Awó Omonire said to Shangó. They went out, and they found him under a cotton tree, throwing okpele for a crowd of people; beside him fresh fish were piling up, since those who consulted him were fishermen and they paid him with fish.
Awó Ifalodun knew them as soon as he saw them, even though he was very small when he left the land of Oddun Layeo; he burst into tears, they embraced, and he told them how hard it was for him to divine, though he never stopped doing it.
Around those days Ayé quarreled with Olokun and left her house, and from then on Olokun kept losing wealth. He went out looking for Awó Omonire and Shangó, and found them together with Awó Ifalodun. He put it to the godfather: "I need you to consult Ifá, because I have problems; but with adele awerenifa."
The answer was: "I cannot look for you: my son Awó Ifalodun is here for that, the one you asked me for when he was small so he would be the Awó of your land Ikaeri."
Olokun objected: "But he does not know how to work with adele awerenifa, and he will not know how to solve the problem I have." And the godfather answered him: "He does know: what is going on is that you have him tied down."
Shangó took the board (oponfa), put it in his hands and told him: "Take out the adele tunle awerenifa you have there, and when you do, say: 'Ifá bi bogbo adele Ifá Oddun Ifá seni'."
Awó Ifalodun's hands shook with fear, and Shangó encouraged him: "Take it and adífa with it so you get free. Take it and pass it behind you, from right to left"; as he did so, he kept saying: "Orokan oshoro inle". Then he told him: "Now take it from left to right behind you," and he said: "Orokan oshoro agba inle".
And Shangó went on: "Now put your hands on your head and say: 'Ori abile' (bright head). Now hug yourself and say: 'Ifá yowa' (Ifá defends me and takes care of me). Now touch your knee and say: 'Ese kan ikundiona mafarawo kunawa' (may these legs take good care of me). Now touch your belly, blow outward and say: 'Ona oshoro ona adele ofoloikoshu' (may the ofo go out of me). Now pass your hands over your head and say: 'Ifá siwere onayeni' (with the hands of Ifá I clean my road). Now take all the adele tunde awerin Ifá, put them on your forehead and say: 'Ni ifaru agba untefa' (the one who was born his elder slave walks with you), 'ofira yeyemi' (may you be lit up). Now throw them into the gourd, do the same thing I taught you, and you are going to count them to know what you have."
And so he counted them out: 5 adele in the right hand — "Ifá afun oashe", which are the 5 that command Ifá; 5 adele in the left hand — "Ifá ewa osa", the 10 consecrated ones that give life to Ifá; 3 adele in the right hand — "Ifá Osa Ogunda", the 3 roads that mark the time of Ifá; 2 adele in the left hand — "Ifá Eyirete", the 2 figures that point to Ifá; 1 adele in the right hand — "okan shonshon kinufidan kinubaye", because one alone hands out the power as slave of the earth. "Take the 5 adele you have left in your left hand and say: 'Adele marun ninsheku Ifá' (5 are always the watchmen of that power)." At every step, Awó Omonire answered: "Otana ikaku ota oyomu", that from one place to the other the adele finishes off the enemy.
Shangó told him: "Clean yourself as I taught you, take the adele again, and we are going to walk the lands that Ifá walked to be what it is. Touch your legs from right to left and say": Awó Lode, which is the light of the sun; Awó Loda, the creation of the world; Awó Loma, which is intelligence; Awó Lokun, where life is born; Awó Igba, the gourd, the first thing Orunmila had; Awó Oko, the field from which Orunmila took his food; Awó Ibayu, paradise, the tree under which Orunmila rested; Awó Akukó, the rooster, which was his first companion; Awó Okuni, man, who was Orunmila's first heir; Awó Anfin, the man with blond hair; Awó Amanfin, the albinos; Awó Oyigbo, the man with white skin; Awó Kukundunkun, the mixed-race man; Awó Filani, the Chinese man; Awó Ashe, the power that Orunmila hands to men.
"Now take them and count them all as I taught you, and the 5 left in your hand, rub them on the ground with your right hand and say: 'Awara wara okuni orisha, awara wara oba Ifá weo' (slowly, the male santos clean the king). Take the adele with your left hand and say: 'Awara wara obini orisha, awara wara oba Ifá weo' (slowly, the female santos clean the king). Take the 5 adele, put them under the mat and say: 'Adele arun tetenibo aye' (witnesses of heaven take care of the earth)".
Then Awó Omonire said to his son Ifalodun: "Wait, because this land carries a secret it is missing, and it is called Ifaye Owodele." He took 16 cowries, strung them on goat hide from Elegba, tied the piece, put it in front of the mat and asked him: "Put one of those adele there." And Awó Omonire prayed: "Adele otun kale ashe were Ifá osin Ifá awore Ika Rete layeni Ifá", and sang: "Olorin Ifá adele agba deyogba".
Afterward Awó Omonire said to his son: "Moyugba and atefa." Ika Rete came out for Olokun, and there Awó Omonire pronounced: "Your great problem is that this land needs the people to have their Ifá things so there is more luck, and not only to worship the stones you have." He gathered adele from the ones the sea threw up, and sand, and handed them to Awó Ifalodun: "Take this, add sand, jutía and fish to it, and put it inside the ebbó you are going to make for Olokun, and give him this hen."
When the ebbó began, Awó Omonire, Shangó and Ifalodun put on themselves small fresh fish from the ones he had in the gourd; when the work was done, they placed it inside the gourd and charged Olokun with taking it to the seashore (onika).
Back at his house, Olokun found that Ayé had already returned, and with all the riches; from then on he sent his children, all of them, to the house of Awó Ifalodun, so he could give them whatever was needed: Awofakan, Ikofá, Untefá ni Orunmila.
And Awó Omonire left this word to his son Awó Ifalodun: "Always keep your ikines with sand for the people." From then on the people of that land came back, and Awó Ifalodun, omo Ika Rete, had the backing of Olokun, of Shangó and of his Ifá godfather, Awó Omonire.