Odù 226 of 256 · Irete family

Irete File

Where Shangó ruled that there is no complete happiness: the youngest son of Ikú, builder of the Añá drums — here you win by being intelligent.

Irete File is Odù number 226 of the 256 in Ifá, part of the Irete family. This page brings together its prayer in Yoruba, 23 patakíes (3 with the full text), its proverbs, 14 ebbós and works and the signs it shows in the consultation; the detail of iré and osogbo, the eewó and the full recipes open with the Babalawo plan — that locked part is still written in Spanish.

The sign at a glance

Order in Ifá
Odù 226 of 256
Composition
Irete over Ofun
Orishas that speak
Shangó · Odduduwa · Oyá · Elegbá · Orunmila · Ikú · Orishaoko · Egun · La Luna

What Ifá says in this sign

Irete File — also called Irete Fún and Atefún — carries the harshest ruling in Ifá: here Shangó ruled that marriage is unhappy and proved that in this world there is no complete happiness. He is the youngest son of Ikú and the builder of the Añá drums — the drum Tinga speaks, sealed on both sides so its sound carries above all the others — and his flaw is confessed: stubbornness is his undoing — through stubbornness he ended up enslaved.

Its way out is the road: this is an Ifá of travel — leave your own land to look for your luck —, with a sacred toll: the Awó gives Ifá two goats, one on leaving and one on arriving. Its model is Awó Mayere: he won the wager by being intelligent, riding the young bull at midnight like a bolt of lightning, with Eshu Bi as his ally — and the Obá rewarded him by making him his successor on the throne: here intelligence is worth more than force.

«Shangó ruled that there is no complete happiness — but Awó Mayere won the throne by being intelligent, not by complaining.»The pulse of Irete File

Its house calls for a negotiated peace: there are disasters in the marriage and blood can run — the man does not raise his hand to the woman: avoid it at all costs — and the woman does not meddle in what is not hers, like the Awó's obiní with the Palero. Nobody is completely happy: you are as happy as is possible — hope, respect, and each in their own place.

Its enemies sleep at home: your own family envies you and closes your roads so you do not get on; you sing and dance, but it will cost you work to get ahead — work anyway. There is the shame of a scrotal hernia that stops intimate life — it is operated on, not suffered in silence —, madness through a curse, and a humiliation with a fright is near: the live jutía of the ebbó distracted the King's soldier — the work gets you out of the tight spot.

Its greatest graces: Kaferefun Iyá — give thanks to your mother, who shelters you from everything bad —, the dove is respected for life, the Egun make themselves felt at night — do not be frightened —, and your medicine chest is the almácigo tree, of which everything is used: root, bark, shoot and resin. There is no complete happiness — but the intelligent man, like Mayere, turns other people's lost wagers into his own throne.

The sign in one line

Set out to look for luck with your two goats, never strike your wife and give thanks to your mother — Irete File wins by intelligence what stubbornness turns into slavery.

The prayer of Irete File · Yoruba

Irete File Kase Leli Ewe Ni Kasu Leli Omó Kafiliere Asho Funfun Era Ara Adifafún Orunmila Gbogbo Unló Ayonile Obbá Olueshi Omó Odduduwa A Okó Lakao Oun. Irete Ofundí Eye Korupale Adifafun Eta Tinla Igbaya Kaferefun Iya, Eshu y Orunmila.

Súyere
Asho Pa Agua Ni, Asho Pa Aguaniyo, Asho Pa Edun Awo, Asho Pa Agua Ni, Eni Unyen Eyele, Eye Eyike, Eyeguese Edun, Emi Omo Omi.

Ifá says — what Irete File tells you

Proverbs of Irete File · Òwe

14 proverb interpretations in this Odù, locked.Every proverb explained: which road it comes from and how it applies. Written in Spanish for now.Unlock →

Iré and Osogbo

9 iré and osogbo readings in this Odù, locked.The iré and osogbo of the sign, sorted by subject — health, money, love, death, loss… Written in Spanish for now.Unlock →

What is born in Irete File · Ìbí

What is forbidden · Eewó

7 eewó (taboos) in this Odù, locked.What the child of this sign must not eat, do or wear. Written in Spanish for now.Unlock →

Ebbós of Irete File · The sacrifices that open the road

La pérdidaEbbó of the drinking woman (the King's humiliation)🔒 Babalawo
DineroEbbó of the wager of Awó Mayere🔒 Babalawo
AmorEbbó of Shangó's unhappiness🔒 Babalawo
SaludEbbós for elephantiasis🔒 Babalawo
Alejar la muerteEbbó of the youngest son of Ikú🔒 Babalawo
Vencer enemigosEbbó of Oyá to open the roads🔒 Babalawo
6 ebbós in this Odù, locked.Each full recipe: ingredients, preparation and where it goes. Written in Spanish for now.Unlock →

Works of Irete File · The workings of the sign

AmorWork to avoid the unhappiness🔒 Babalawo
DineroWork so the owó comes in🔒 Babalawo
Vencer enemigosWork to uncover the enemy🔒 Babalawo
Vencer enemigosWork of Oyá with the five etú🔒 Babalawo
EspiritualFor giving the dove to the Moon🔒 Babalawo
EspiritualEshu Afra Lole🔒 Babalawo
EspiritualEshu Aka-Dere🔒 Babalawo
EspiritualFoundation of Irete File: the drum🔒 Babalawo
8 works in this Odù, locked.Each full recipe: ingredients, preparation and where it goes. Written in Spanish for now.Unlock →

Patakíes of Irete File · The roads of the Odù

1The poor drinking woman and the King's humiliation

Ainune Adaba wagered her head that she would turn the King's red clothing white; her mother's ebbó, with the live jutía that distracted the soldier, saved her life and brought her a fortune.

Ainune Adaba was a very poor woman and she drank a great deal. One day she found herself very close to the King and told him that the clothing he had on was red and that she could turn it white. The King was humiliated and handed her the clothing to turn it white, on condition that, if she did not keep her word, she would pay with her head.

The King called one of his soldiers and ordered him to go with her to the river and watch her. Eshu, who was seeing it all, went to the girl's mother's house and told her the great tight spot her daughter was in.

The mother ran to see Orunmila. He told her to make ebbó with a live jutía, pounded yam and red clothing, and to take the ebbó to the river where her daughter was. When the mother reached the river, she set down her ebbó and the jutía ran off and climbed up the soldier's legs, and he ran off after it meaning to catch it: the moment the mother took to change the King's red clothing for white clothing she had brought.

When the soldier came back to the river, he saw that the clothing was already white. They took the girl before the King, and he ordered her set free and given money.

2Awó Mayere, Eshu Bi and the King's favorite

Awó Mayere wagered against the Obá's favorite over who could bring more people out into the street without blood running; with Eshu Bi and Shangó as his allies he won by being intelligent, riding his young bull, and inherited the throne.

Prayer: Adifafun Awo Malu Mayere Sokin Imbowa Ni Olofin Unlo Ni Ile Awo Belegun Oyu Miniosi Orunmila Un Soro Kowa Dudu Igbo Eshu Bi Ini Fila Foribale Awo Delele Oba Awo Mayere Odun Awo Malu Ade Oba Orisha Aso Oba Ilu Lodafun Orunmila Maferefun Eshu.

Ebbó: a young bull (replaced by an inshé of malú), akukó, a white cap, a cowbell, ekú, eyá, otí, every kind of food, opolopo owó.

There was an Awó called Awó Mayere who lived in a place where he did not prosper; he wanted to leave and could not. He went to see Orunmila, who saw this Ifá for him — which was his own Odù — and marked him ebbó with a young bull, a rooster, a white cap, ekú, eyá and gbogbo otí, and told him to take it to the place he wanted to go.

When he reached the place he met Eshu Bi, who lived in the bush. The Awó had a cap and Eshu asked him for it; Awó Mayere gave him moforibale and Eshu Bi asked what brought him there, and he explained. Just then the Obá's favorite passed with his following, and Eshu Bi told him he was a wrestler, the Obá's favorite, and that nobody beat him. The Awó answered that he would like to wrestle with him. Eshu Bi said: «Come, I will introduce you to my friend Shangó», and Shangó approved of the idea.

The next day Awó Mayere went with Eshu Bi to the Obá's house to arrange the contest, which was that whoever brought more people out into the street without blood running for fifteen days would win the prize.

The first to go out was the Obá's favorite. Eshu Bi also went out into the street: on the corner he found ekú, eyá and awadó, further on otí, and when Eshu Bi reached the café a great fight broke out. Many times the obiní left their household work to see the Obá's favorite, and disasters broke out with their husbands, sometimes to the point of blood running. So it went on, until the Obá told his favorite: «Do not go out any more, because too much blood has been spilled.»

Afterward Awó Mayere went out with the young bull through the streets, at midnight, like a bolt of lightning: he went so fast that nobody could see him. The people were bewildered by the noise in the night, since nobody could see who it was; even the Obá himself began to be alarmed.

Then Mayere went out into the street riding the young bull, very slowly and in broad daylight. The crowd that followed him was endless, without any misfortune or accident among the people of the town. And that is how he won the wager, by being the most intelligent, and the Obá rewarded him by making him his successor on the throne.

Note: it is an Ifá of inheritance; the ankle rattle is born; a change of lerí; the beasts and the cows were tamed. Wear a red and black cap and set a cowbell behind the door. Work: a young bull to Shangó at the riverbank; the Ogue are loaded. It is born that Awoses and Santeros do not sit in parks.

3There is no happiness in the world

In the land of Takua everyone was happy and nobody believed Shangó; with Orunmila's ebbó and his rides on horseback, in twelve days the houses were without food, husbands and wives were quarreling, and Shangó proved that there is no happiness in the world.

Shangó, in the land of Takua, said he was going to prove that there was no happiness in the world. There everyone was happy, so he was greatly let down: everywhere he said the same thing and nobody believed him, and he had many arguments. Shangó said that in twelve days he would prove it, and when he realized what he had said, he thought: «What a mess I have got myself into!», and ran off to where Orunmila was.

Orunmila made Osode for him, saw this Ifá and told him he had to make ebbó. Shangó did it, and every day at noon he rode about on his horse, singing: «Kere Kito Kere Shango, Olokua Neloguere.» The women, who were washing or cooking, dropped their work and said: «Here comes the man with the horse.» And when their husbands came home for lunch, they found no food made.

After six days the men were annoyed. Shangó went out again singing: «Alamo Feye Shango Lambela, Alamo Feye.» And the men began to say: «This man with the horse has worn us out: we get home and find no food and no clean clothes, and the house dirty.»

After nine days he went out with a cowbell on the horse's head, basil, nine itanás and a hen, singing: «Maloribo Dere Shango, Takua Moloye.» And the men began to strike their wives.

After twelve days Shangó went out with akukó and eyelé hanging from the horse's head, singing: «Adashe Adamashe Ayewese Umbalowo, Biada Ashe Ayewese Umbalowo Batilide, Yami Aye Bere Bokua.» All the men came out into the street and Shangó began to shout: «Do you see now that there is no happiness in the world?» And he ran to give moforibale to Orunmila, saying: «Iboru, Iboya, Iboshishe.»

Ebbó: akukó, adié, eyelé, akuaró meyi, erán malú, pink cloth, a cowbell, nine itaná, ekú, eyá, awadó, opolopo owó. Work to uncover the enemy: a white plate with six candles; one by one they are smoked, prayers are said, and the enemy comes out.

4Orunmila gets Shangó out of the bush🔒 Babalawo
5The elephantiasis of the Obá omó Odduduwa🔒 Babalawo
6Orunmila cures the man's hernia🔒 Babalawo
7The youngest son of Ikú🔒 Babalawo
8When Oyá opened his roads🔒 Babalawo
9Orunmila had many godchildren🔒 Babalawo
10The abundance of the town🔒 Babalawo
11The Awó's obiní and the Palero🔒 Babalawo
12The Gan of Olofin🔒 Babalawo
13The two pots (the green one and the hollow one)🔒 Babalawo
14The stubbornness between Iku and Irete Atefun🔒 Babalawo
15Why Iku eats everything🔒 Babalawo
16The trader and the donkey🔒 Babalawo
17The eagle and the owl🔒 Babalawo
18In this world there is no lasting happiness🔒 Babalawo
19The balloon, the straw and the loincloth🔒 Babalawo
20The tailless fox🔒 Babalawo
21The fruits of hatred and of love🔒 Babalawo
22Man masters the beast🔒 Babalawo
23The mockingbird and the cotumbo🔒 Babalawo
20 more patakíes in this Odù, locked.Read every road in full with the Babalawo plan. Written in Spanish for now.Unlock →
Before you subscribe: everything you read on this page is in English, but the locked part of the treatise — the full text of the other patakíes, the recipes for the ebbós and works, the iré and osogbo readings and the eewó — is still written in Spanish. We are translating it. · This page is also available in Spanish: See Irete File in Spanish →

Frequently asked questions about Irete File

What does the Odù Irete File mean in Ifá?

Where Shangó ruled that there is no complete happiness: the youngest son of Ikú, builder of the Añá drums — here you win by being intelligent.

What number is Irete File among the 256 Odù of Ifá?

Irete File is Odù number 226 of the 256 in Ifá, part of the Irete family.

Which orishas speak in Irete File?

In the Odù Irete File these orishas speak: Shangó, Odduduwa, Oyá, Elegbá, Orunmila, Ikú, Orishaoko, Egun, La Luna.

What is a proverb of the Odù Irete File?

One of the proverbs of Irete File says: «Nobody can happily be the judge of his own conscience.».

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