Ika Trupon

Orunmila came to a land where the men had many wives; but when those men learned that Orunmila had arrived, and since there were many dogs and wild pigs in that town, they let them loose to tear Orunmila apart. Finding himself in trouble, he climbed the baiyekú tree (the yagruma) and covered himself with the leaves. Then, up above, alakaso (the buzzard) appeared and asked Orunmila what was wrong.

Orunmila explained, and then alakaso went and reported to Olofin and to Eshu; and Eshu came at once with Odde, full of power, and went striking to one side and the other, until those beasts fled. Then Orunmila came down and was saved.

Note: the iyé of this Odù of Ifá is made for good and for ill. The trunk and the root of the baiyekú are scraped, guinea pepper is added, and it is set before Elegba. If it is a woman, it marks uterine fire and lack of restraint. Ifá osogbo, addó ashure: it is a wild gourd that Elegbara keeps, carrying earth from the hill, iyé of the trunk and roots of baiyekú, seven grains of eyenibó and seven from the currents.

From the love of Asesu and Ogún Ayifo a very beautiful woman was born, who drew attention for her beauty and her extraordinary strength, and who wore nothing but a necklace of red, blue and white beads. She burned with an unquenchable fire, and for that reason she was given the name of the owner of the lit fire (Iya Olo Oruba Ina).

That woman was all sensation, and her lack of restraint respected neither kinship nor rank: one after another, the male orishas fell before that overwhelming passion and left their duties behind, and the world went from bad to worse.

Obatalá, seeing this, went to see Orunmila — who was called Ika Trupon — to set that situation right, and Orunmila told him he was going to settle the problem.

Orunmila went to the seashore, where that woman lived. When he met her, she invited him; but Orunmila answered: «I am orisha Elerikpini, and first we have to make ceremonies.»

Orunmila made osode for the woman, saw this Ifá and made rogation with three jars, in which he planted the dried yam. Over her body he rubbed osun, indigo and sea sand; and afterward he gave rogation to her head with a big red snapper, without cutting off the fish's head. Then he cut hair from her body and planted it in the three jars, which he tied with the chain and took to the seashore, singing: «Iya olo ona oruba ina unlo adde odo mapon.»

From that day on, that woman who because of her uterine fire had almost destroyed the world lost her drive and lived in a natural and unhurried way, thanks to Orunmila; and she stopped going by that name.

Note: the secret is the rogation with the red snapper and the planting of the hair in the jars. This is the secret of this itan of the Odù Ika Trupon.

Ile Akwa Ibon was held by the Moors, who, out of fear of women's power, put their young wives through a cruel mutilation, and those they caught at fault they tied to a post and stoned to death; many deaths from infection occurred, and the grandmothers went to Orunmila for a solution. Orunmila listened to the Moors, and they set out that, if they left a woman untouched and free, they themselves would be reduced to human rags; for their part, the women set out how dangerous that practice was, with a great many deaths. Orunmila told them that he knew the ceremony that cures a woman of uterine fire, and that he would perform it if they stopped mutilating them; the Moors agreed to put their new wives to the test. Orunmila made the rogation with three jars in which he planted the dried yam, rubbed over her body the osun, the indigo and the añari okun, and afterward gave rogation to her leri with a big eja bo (red snapper) without cutting off its head; then he planted in the jars, tied them with the chain and took them to the seashore. Never again was there word of a woman betraying her husband, and the mutilation stopped in Ile Akwa Ibon. Where fear of women's power breeds cruelty and death, Orunmila does not mutilate her: he gives her the ceremony that puts out the fire and settles her faithfulness, and so the custom that was killing them falls away, because what is fire is given rogation, not the knife.