Irete Untelu

nº 212 of 256

The scarcity Olofin put right with his wisdom: an Odù that deals justice, where the great power of Egun is born — and Elegbá received his 21 shells.

48 patakíes 9 eewó 17 ebbós and works 18 proverbs

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Irete Untelu is Odù number 212 of the 256 in Ifá, part of the Irete family. This page brings together its prayer in Yoruba, 48 patakíes (3 with the full text), its proverbs, 17 ebbós and works and the signs it shows in the consultation — with the full eewó in plain sight; the detail of iré and osogbo and the full recipes open with The Notebook, in English.

The sign at a glance

Order in Ifá: Odù 212 of 256
Composition: Irete over Ogbe
Orishas that speak: Obatalá · Shangó · Olofin · Elegbá · Oshún · Oshosi · Oyá (Iyanzán) · Olokun · Orún y Egun · Oluó Popó (Azojuano)

What Ifá says in this sign

Irete Untelu is the Odù of the scarcity Olofin put right with his wisdom: there was no food, no clothing and no medicine, and the earth cracked open — and its promise comes out of that divine repair. But it is an Odù that deals justice: where it comes up to do good, there is justice — and when it does not favor whoever deserves justice, it does harm. Here the great power of Egun and of Ifá was born, and why Elegbá has 21 shells.

Your childhood explains your temper: this is an Ifá of Abikú — a sad childhood, humble, a slave's childhood, with hunger and want — and salvation comes through the Santo. The urgency of this odu does not wait: it marks ruin or prison within terms of 7 or 11 — the ebbó of the fire is vital and is made in time, not after the fright.

«Irete Untelu deals justice: where it comes up to do good, there is justice — and whoever deserves it and does not get it, this odu collects for them.»The pulse of Irete Untelu

Your house has a customs post: no fourth person is allowed, because of the trouble it stirs up, and no maidens sleeping in their underclothes — Irenlú speaks here, rape, a danger this Odù warns of and condemns. The Egun that comes between you and your partner is neutralized with a red ribbon behind the head of the bed, and the mother who tries to arrange her daughter's love life destroys her: that mother needs Ikofá.

Its rules for your pocket and for respect: money lent is trouble looked for; however great the godchild may be, he always gives moforibale to his godfather — the eight coconuts to Orula keep the two of you from parting — and here they raised a hand to Orunmila: irreverence gets paid for. Be careful with aguardiente — the land of Obatalá was being lost through it — and with road accidents: here the grey horse bolted.

Your throat is your thermometer: constant clearing and spitting — the omiero of cundiamor with honey and Oshún inside the pot, one glass a day. To Elegbá, ekó, smoked fish and corojo; the cleansing, with a rooster. And remember the bee: her sting came to her through ebbó — the defense you need is also won on the mat.

The sign in one line

Make the ebbó of the fire in time, lend no money and let no fourth person into the house — the enslaved child of Irete Untelu is crowned through the Santo.

The prayer of Irete Untelu · Yoruba

IRETE INTEMEBOLE ABIRI KOLO OMOLUBO ABATA ATI KOTOPO OMOLUBO OWARA YANIYE OMOLUBO META LABA PARI ATI META LABA MERI LODAFUN IGBA NI, LODAFUN INNIYE.

Súyere
ONI AWA AGBA LAYO INSHEGBO TETE MERIN TETE MOÑA / ONI AWA EYORUN LAYO ENSHEODAN TETE MERIN TETE MOÑA / AWA KEKE LAYO INSHE OYO AYAKA TETE MERIN TETE MOÑA.

Ifá says — what Irete Untelu tells you

An Ifá of Abikú: the childhood is sad, humble and a slave's; there is hunger and want, and salvation comes through the Santo. An Ifá that deals justice: where it comes up to do good, there is justice; when it does not favor whoever deserves justice, it does harm. An Ifá of sea phenomena: it marks swell or ground sea and the sea coming inland. An Ifá of setbacks for the Awó: the person who comes to be read is no good for him, since they bring the law and trouble with them.
The person who comes to be read is no good for the Awó: they bring him the law and trouble.
It marks ruin or prison within seven days; it can mark eleven days, eleven months or eleven years of prison — it is vital to make the ebbó of the fire.
You are spoken well or ill of: ekó, smoked fish and corojo butter are set before Elegbá and the person is cleaned with a rooster.
The owner of this Ifá spits a great deal and has a rasp in the throat (pharyngitis, laryngitis); to prevent it, an omiero of cundiamor (ewé eyení) is prepared with honey, Oshún is set inside the pot, and a glass is drunk daily.
No fourth person is allowed in your house, because of the trouble it stirs up.
There is an Egun who comes between you and your partner: it is neutralized with a red ribbon behind the head of the bed.
The mother destroys the daughter by trying to do her good where love is concerned; the mother should receive Ikofá to get some peace.
The son of Orunmila was lost in this Ifá.
No godchild, however big he may have become, is free from giving moforibale to his godfather; and so that he does not separate from that godfather, 8 coconuts are set for Orula.
Money lent is trouble looked for.
Irenlú (rape) speaks: a danger this Odù warns of and condemns — maidens should not sleep in their underclothes in your house.
The land of Obatalá was being lost through aguardiente (otí).
They raised a hand to Orunmila.
The jutía was constantly watched by her husband.
Olofin's wife could not give birth.
They wanted to kill the prodigiosa, because it joins things together.
The bee got her sting through ebbó.
Avoid dealings with people who live off the road; if the person is young, they may have leanings that need steering.
Be careful with road accidents: here the grey horse bolted.
When this Ifá is seen, a paste is made with cascarilla and aguardiente, the Odù is painted on a hen's egg, it is set in a glass with honey, covered with a plate, and the glass is turned upside down behind the door.
Whoever is being read has to make ebbó with a broody hen, with chicks or without them.
The Awó cleans the Ilé when the aleyo comes, with ekó, ewé tete, ewé dundun (siempreviva) and cotton; the house is purified by washing it down with white amaranth, indigo and rompe saragüey, and afterward honey and amalá are scattered in the corners.
Food is given to the four corners of the house, because of the Egun in it: the person sometimes smells a pig pen in their house.
To work this sign, the necessary Odù are marked, and Irete Kután, Ogunda Meyi, Ojuani Meyi, Ojuani Shobe, Otrupon Adaweña, Otura Tikú, Otrupon Ka and Ojuani Pokón must never be missing.
When the hand of Orula is given for this Ifá, it is done with the fewest possible Awoses and only seven herbs, handing over sixteen ikines, because that person may bring the law and uncover the secret; the adelé meta are handed to Ogún in case the person betrays.
On health: intestinal consumption (drink ateje root), hiatal hernia, diabetes, cirrhosis of the liver, prostate, impotence, laryngitis and pharyngitis, hemorrhoids — do not eat spicy, salty, cured or heavily seasoned food.
The bug in the rice causes you trouble in the liver: do not eat yellow rice.
The man has clotted secretions in his prostate that, when he drinks alcohol, are stirred up and spread through his body with grave consequences.
The herbs of this Odù: piñón florido (bien vestido), acacia (piñón de rosas or paraíso francés), ewé tete, siempreviva, white amaranth and cundiamor.
Orunmila carries sixteen igbín inside, eight in each hand.

Proverbs of Irete Untelu · Òwe

“You cannot pick up the trail of salt in water, or find the tracks of the deer on the stone hills.”
“The tongue was the head's undoing.”
“There is no tongue that speaks that God does not punish.”
“While the food is not cooked, it is not taken off the fire to be eaten.”
“A hardworking man is rarely in need.”
“The man who could do something better than he does and does not do it is the greatest of idlers.”
“The comadre bought a new broom.”
“The amaranth was delicious before it rained.”
“Man is born of the stone, and the stone is born again of man.”
“It is worth more to answer plainly than to love in secret.”
“The feelings were the head's undoing.”
“The ear that listens and the eye that sees save a man from error.”
“Whoever mutters gives away secrets and turns into a gossip.”
“If you are weak, distress crushes you and men trample you.”
“A dog that barks does not bite.”
“The man who holds himself wise has less hope than the fool.”
“The quarrelsome man sets fire in the street and burns his own house.”
“Whoever preaches what he does not keep is a fraud.”

15 proverb interpretations in this Odù, locked.Every proverb explained: which road it comes from and how it applies.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…Unlock →

What is born in Irete Untelu · Ìbí

That this odu is withdrawn at once.
It is an Odù of setbacks for the Awó: after the aleyo leaves, the Awó cleans his body with a young rooster, because witchcraft is being thrown.
Spitting three mouthfuls of water and three of aguardiente out into the street.
The Iroyé of Olofin, since he was losing his memory.
Obatalá Yeku Yeku (the nerves; it touches the mother).
The sounding of Obatalá's agogó.
With it Shangó made him hand over the command of Ogo in the land of Irete Untelu Bemore.
That husbands strangle their unfaithful wives.
From the road of the jutía and the snake: the greatest warning against deceit in marriage.
The bejuco berraco and the bejuco garañón, to prevent impotence in the Awó of this Odù.
That to take leave of Olofin, he is buried in the mud of the river.
Why Elegbá has 21 shells (dilogunes).
He won by cunning the three shells left over from the sharing out among the three brothers.
The offices of watching: ashelú, the political man (awon olopa), the policeman (oyé) and the watcher or informer.
The great virtue and curse of the snail.
That is why the children of Oshún with this Odù cannot give rogation to their heads with igbín.
Sea phenomena, such as the swell and the ground sea.
Olokun grew overnight, and every so often he invades the land to collect for the wrong done to him.
The great power of Egun and of Ifá.
The prohibition on eating obí (coconut).
Divination is done with obí, and with it a person is saved when the enemy sets a trap for them.
That an otá (stone) appears in Orunmila as his presence.
The ewé tete nifá (for the head).
The lash of the Iyoyé.
That Elegbá carries a mouth, eyes and a nose.
From the three arrows Orunmila shot at him for living with his wife: he spared his life, but the marks stayed.
That the godfather, in Atefá or Awofakán, takes five new ikines and swaps them with the godchild's, putting them into his Ogún.
So the godchild does not steal his luck or his aleyos.
That Oluó Popó made smallpox, Abitá the bat (adán) and Obatalá the dove (eyelé).

What is forbidden · Eewó

The full eewó of this Odù, open to everyone — with the road each ban came out of.

Do not eat guava paste.
Because of the blessing of Oluó Popó on the wasp: as long as the world is the world, Irete Untelu will not taste guava.
Do not eat sugar cane, or coconut, or yellow rice.
Through the obí one divines and one is saved; the bug in the rice damages your liver.
Do not drink alcohol.
The land of Obatalá was lost through the otí, and in the prostate the secretions get stirred up.
Do not step on ashes or on blood.
Do not kill ants.
The ants fed Orunmila during his five days of captivity.
Do not do favors.
Do not take anything they give you to keep and do not let strangers stay in your house: the fourth person destroys the home.
Do not eat spicy food, salty food, sausages, or heavily seasoned food.
You suffer, or you will suffer, from hemorrhoids.
Young unmarried women must not sleep in your house in their underwear.
You could lose your mind and do something terrible.
Do not argue stubbornly with your wife.
If you argue, you lose.

Ebbós of Irete Untelu · The sacrifices that open the road

Keeping death awayChief ebbó of this Odù🔒 The Notebook Beating enemiesEbbó of Shakuata (against the fourth person)🔒 The Notebook LossEbbó so you are not tied up and do not go to prison🔒 The Notebook MoneyEbbó of the wedding (the road of Obalita)🔒 The Notebook Keeping death awayEbbó of Olokun (to be great and well thought of)🔒 The Notebook

5 ebbós in this Odù, locked.Each full recipe: ingredients, preparation and where it goes.Unlock →

Works of Irete Untelu · The workings of the sign

LoveWork for someone to come back🔒 The Notebook LossTo Yemayá, to settle something difficult🔒 The Notebook Beating enemiesThe six stones of Shangó🔒 The Notebook Beating enemiesTo get someone out of prison (the salt and the tongue)🔒 The Notebook Beating enemiesAgainst the law (ashelú)🔒 The Notebook SpiritualInshé Osanyin of the two snails🔒 The Notebook MoneyWork to get things moving (the buried gourd)🔒 The Notebook Beating enemiesTo keep the law and everything bad from arriving🔒 The Notebook HealthWork for health (Obatalá's cow)🔒 The Notebook SpiritualWorks for Egun, for the ancestor and for Oshún🔒 The Notebook MoneySo the corners are not closed on you🔒 The Notebook SpiritualEshu Ogongo (the Eshu of this Odù)🔒 The Notebook

12 works in this Odù, locked.Each full recipe: ingredients, preparation and where it goes.Unlock →

Patakíes of Irete Untelu · The roads of the Odù

1The snail drank Obatalá's aguardiente

For drinking Obatalá's otí, the slug was marked: after Babá's ebbó it started to leave slime, it went into the bush and the trail gave it away; Obatalá ended up cursing it.

Obatalá's otí kept disappearing, and it was the slug who drank it. Babá made ebbó and from then on it started to leave slime; it went off to hide in the bush, but the trail it left gave it away and that is how they found it. Obatalá cursed it.

Ebbó: 2 roosters, 2 doves and 2 hens, a slug, ash and salt, a strip of leather, a chain and a lot of money. Also: white amaranth, hen's foot and purslane.

2Olofin's wife could not give birth

Olofin's wife went to Orunmila's house, made ebbó and, when she lay down with Olofin, kept the ring from his hand: she became pregnant, and although people gossiped, the old ones paid the talk no mind.

Wanting to give birth, Olofin's wife came to Orunmila's house. He marked ebbó for her with a dove and a she-goat, and he also told her that, when she lay down with Olofin, she should do something to his body.

What she did was take the ring Olofin was wearing off his hand; she kept it and got pregnant. Once the child was born, though, people started saying it was not Olofin's but Orunmila's. Since both Olofin and Orunmila were already old, neither of them believed it.

Ebbó for a pregnant woman: beef and rope. Ebbó: 2 doves, 2 ekó, white amaranth, jutía, fish, a broody hen — and if she has chicks, them too —, salt and ashes, 3 bundles of firewood, arrows, cane liquor and a lot of money.

3The bird Alaboche marries Olofin's daughter

Alaboche, a bird like the arriero, asked for the hand of Olofin's daughter; Olofin required him to bring food, and Alaboche offered but did not deliver — and was left singing his lament in the mornings.

Irete Obe omidé omó Olofin Alaboche. This is about a bird like the arriero. Olofin's daughter wanted him as a husband, but the father set his condition: to hand the girl over, Alaboche would have to bring food.

Alaboche promised to bring it and did not keep his word; that is why in the mornings his song of lament was heard.

Ifá says you are in a dispute with another person over women; the girl's father is a man of fortune and she is in love with you.

4The bird Olegueche, with his song, drew the hunter in🔒 The Notebook 5The three brothers: only Shakuata was saved🔒 The Notebook 6Orunmila imprisoned by Ikú🔒 The Notebook 7The argument of the eagle and the snail🔒 The Notebook 8Oluó Popó makes smallpox and the wasp🔒 The Notebook 9The man who could not walk, Obatalá and the parrots🔒 The Notebook 10The shell was Igbín's trail🔒 The Notebook 11Ologoshe, the rejected suitor🔒 The Notebook 12Yemayá left Oyá at the cemetery🔒 The Notebook 13The land of Obatalá, lost through aguardiente🔒 The Notebook 14Elegbá breaks the peace of Obatalá, Ogún and Oshosi🔒 The Notebook 15Olofin sends Ewé Tete to be born on Earth🔒 The Notebook 16The false accusation against the snake🔒 The Notebook 17The bee gets her sting🔒 The Notebook 18The shadow of Orún🔒 The Notebook 19Shakuata, his two brothers and the intestinal consumption🔒 The Notebook 20The three coconuts that saved Olofin🔒 The Notebook 21Shangó brings down Iroko's wall🔒 The Notebook 22Why Elegbá has 21 dilogunes🔒 The Notebook 23The jutía and the snake🔒 The Notebook 24Irete Untelu marries Obalita, Olofin's daughter🔒 The Notebook 25Olofin curses Obalita Obakere, his wife🔒 The Notebook 26The ashé of Obalita Obakere🔒 The Notebook 27Olofin's wife could not give birth (the ring)🔒 The Notebook 28Elegbá commits adultery with Orula's wife🔒 The Notebook 29Oshún and the snail are enemies🔒 The Notebook 30Greed, pride and vanity🔒 The Notebook 31The childhood of Irete Untelu🔒 The Notebook 32Olokun was small and nobody thought much of him (the swell)🔒 The Notebook 33The great power of Egun and Ifá🔒 The Notebook 34The road where Obatalá Yeku Yeku was born (the handing over of command)🔒 The Notebook 35The bolting grey horse🔒 The Notebook 36Ategbe, Olokun's diviner🔒 The Notebook 37Ire-Ntegbe divined for the white clothing🔒 The Notebook 38Erirame divined for Alatisa, the blanket🔒 The Notebook 39Orunmila divines for the grown-ups🔒 The Notebook 40Olokun gets back what he lost🔒 The Notebook 41The bird that drops money🔒 The Notebook 42How the ashelu came to Orúnmila's house🔒 The Notebook 43The three lashes to Orúnmila🔒 The Notebook 44Irete the long one🔒 The Notebook 45Orúnmila calms Iku🔒 The Notebook 46Why Orúnmila has a single ota🔒 The Notebook 47The wedding of the hawksbill and the turtle🔒 The Notebook 48The rose and the princess🔒 The Notebook

45 more patakíes in this Odù, locked.Read every road in full with The Notebook.Unlock →

The full treatise is in English. With The Notebook, the whole sign opens on this page in English: the full text of every patakí, the recipes for the ebbós and works, and the iré and osogbo readings. · This page is also available in Spanish: See Irete Untelu in Spanish →

Frequently asked questions about Irete Untelu

What does the Odù Irete Untelu mean in Ifá?

The scarcity Olofin put right with his wisdom: an Odù that deals justice, where the great power of Egun is born — and Elegbá received his 21 shells.

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

Irete Untelu is Odù number 212 of the 256 in Ifá, part of the Irete family.

Which orishas speak in Irete Untelu?

In the Odù Irete Untelu these orishas speak: Obatalá, Shangó, Olofin, Elegbá, Oshún, Oshosi, Oyá (Iyanzán), Olokun, Orún y Egun, Oluó Popó (Azojuano).

What is a proverb of the Odù Irete Untelu?

One of the proverbs of Irete Untelu says: «You cannot pick up the trail of salt in water, or find the tracks of the deer on the stone hills.».

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