Iroso Fun

Efun fun lere was the Awó who divined for Orunmila when he was about to come down to earth: he was advised not to give himself to the practice of Ifá but to trade, and to make sacrifice with sixteen doves, a she-goat, white cloth and two hundred and one cowries for his Guardian Angel, and to serve Eshú with a goat, corn, yam and plantain. He made all the sacrifices before coming down.

On reaching the earth he took up the practice of Ifá: he was very effective as a priest, but his life was unsettled and he did not prosper. In divination he was told that he had strayed from the road of his own destiny; that he should decorate his throne of Ifá with white chalk and white cloth, serve Olokun with a dove, a bag of cowries, money and chalk, and Eshú with a goat. When Olokun received the sacrifices, he remembered the promise made in heaven and sent his beautiful daughter, dressed all in white, to look in the market for the man dressed in white. They met, fell in love at once, and she stayed at his house, where everything was trimmed in white; he found out who she was because the only thing she ate was chalk. On every market day Olokun's servants brought from heaven beads, jewels and elephant tusks never seen on earth; the Obá of the city bought from Orunmila at the price of two hundred men and two hundred women, and the other Obases came after him. By following the road of his own destiny at last, he grew extremely rich — though Olokun's daughter had no children by him. That is why this person is told to prepare the throne of Olokun for their Ifá, to serve Eshú with a goat, and always to dress in light colors.

On this road Obatalá was a cheat, and he kept the money of the people of his town who were going to Yoko Osha. One day he set about gambling with other people's money and lost it all, because his opponents cheated him. Seeing himself with no money, his enemies spread the word, making a great arayé for him. Thinking that those he had wronged would come to make their claims, Obatalá had a trap built in front of his door: a pit covered with branches, grass and a mat on top. When anyone went to knock at the door, they fell into the trap and were lost.

Among those affected was a man who tied the rumors of the swindle to the disappearances happening in the town, and went to Orunmila's house. Orunmila saw this Odù for him and marked him the ebbó of the chick, the hen, the white dove, the stone and the trap, and warned him: when he went to Obatalá's house he was not to go in, and was to throw the ebbó onto the mat without stepping on it, because he was going to uncover a trap. When he arrived, he let the ebbó fall onto the mat and it dropped into the pit; the man went round and came in by the back door. The servants told him Obatalá was not in; so he set Obatalá's Ogún on the floor, it fell over, and Obatalá, hearing the noise, took fright and cried out. That is how the trap was found out. That is why you must be careful whom you choose as godfather or godmother — there are certainly traps set for the godchild — and it speaks of buried judía prendas that make trouble.

On this road there was an Awó who suffered in his blood, his chest and his breathing, and was very low. While he was well people were fond of him, but when he grew ill they began keeping away from him. This Awó worshipped Azojuano deeply, and Azojuano in turn was very fond of him; he called him, asked him what was wrong, and the Awó told him everything. Azojuano told him to gather a great deal of sesame at night and scatter it on his enemies' rooftops.

The Awó did as he was told, and the next day, when the sun began heating the sesame, it started bursting and a great epidemic broke out in that land where the son of Oluo-Popo had been thrown out. The people, seeing what was happening, went to Orunmila's house, and he saw this Ifá for them and told them to make ebbó with tripe, small fish, beef, sesame, black and red beans and every kind of ashé — and so they were saved from that trouble. By this Odù Oluo-Popo must be received, and a sackcloth bag with beans, sesame and camphor is set behind the door.