Ika Trupon

Orunmila came to a land where the men had many women; 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. He, finding himself in trouble, climbed the baiyekú tree (the yagruma) and covered himself with the leaves. Then, up above, alakaso (the vulture) appeared and asked him what was wrong.

Orunmila explained it to him, and alakaso went to report to Olofin and to Eshu; he came at once with Odde, full of power, and went crushing on one side and the other, until those beasts fled. Orunmila then came down and was saved.

Note: the iyé of this Odù of Ifá is made for good and for bad. The trunk and root of the baiyekú are scraped, guinea pepper is added and it is placed in front of Elegba. If it is a woman, it marks uterine fire and wild behavior. Ifá osogbo, Adó Shure: it is a wild gourd that Elegbara has and that carries earth from the hill, iyé of the trunk and of the roots of baiyekú, seven grains of eyenibó and seven from the currents.

From the love affair 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 gloria beads. She burned with a fire that could not be satisfied, and for that reason she got the name of the owner of the lit fire (Iya Olo Oruba Ina).

That woman was all sensation, and her wildness respected neither family tie nor rank: one after another, the male orishas fell before that overpowering passion and left their duties, and the world went from bad to worse.

Obatalá, when he saw it, went to meet with Orunmila — who was called Ika Trupon — to put things right, and Orunmila promised him he would solve it.

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

Orunmila made osode for the woman, saw this Ifá for her and did rogación with three clay jars, where he planted the dry yam. He rubbed her body with osun, indigo and sea sand; and then he prayed her head with a big red snapper, without cutting off the fish's head. Then he cut body hair from her and planted it in the three clay 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 with her uterine fire almost finished off the world lost her drive and lived in a natural, calm way, thanks to Orunmila; and she stopped being called by that name.

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

Ile Akwa Ibon was occupied by the Moors, who, out of fear of the woman's power, put the young wives through a cruel mutilation; the one they caught in a fault they tied to a post and killed with stones, and the infections cost many more deaths, so the grandmothers went to Orunmila looking for a solution. Orunmila heard both sides: the Moors claimed that, leaving the woman untouched and free, they would be reduced to human rags; the women, for their part, laid out how risky that practice was and the great number of deaths it brought. Then Orunmila declared to them that he knew of a ceremony able to cure the woman of uterine fire, and offered to perform it in exchange for the mutilation stopping; the Moors agreed to put their new wives to the test. Orunmila did the rogación with three clay jars in which he planted the dry yam; he rubbed the woman's body with osun, indigo and añari okun, and then prayed her leri with a big eja bo (red snapper), without cutting off its head; then he did his planting 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 in Ile Akwa Ibon there was no more mutilation. Where fear of the woman's power breeds cruelty and death, Orunmila does not mutilate her: he gives her the ceremony that puts out the fire and makes faithfulness firm, and so the custom that killed falls away, because what is fire is given rogación, not the knife.