Iroso She

In this path, the deities sent the Guardian Angel to collect people. When he reached the earth he seized them and dragged them along, passing behind the house of Ogún. The people cried out: “Ogún, help me, the Guardian Angel is dragging me away by the feet!” Ogún saw the guardian of the soul pass and asked what was happening, but he did not stop and went on with them. In that way he passed in front of the houses of all the deities who lived on earth.

When the deities came out, the guardian of the soul told them the reason. Orunmila consulted about it and saw that this odu applied to him, Iroso She. He proposed that he himself would gather what was needed, while the people would make their sacrifice on behalf of the guardian of the soul. The guardian set the people free. From that day on, every year Orunmila gathers what the head of each human being asks for as a sacrifice and delivers it to the guardian.

When he received what Orunmila brought him, the guardian gave him a share that was due to him. From then on, people also began to give something to Orunmila, so that he would speak on their behalf before the deities and before their ancestral guardians and act as their intermediary. That is why Orunmila is called the intermediary of the soul.

The board on which Orunmila practiced the Osode belonged to Shangó, who carried out all the works and ebbós there. He had two helpers: Elegba, who acted as messenger and was in charge of carrying the ebbós, and Osain, to whom he entrusted the secrets of the herbs. Shangó, however, lived given over to parties and his women, and had less and less time for his duties. One day he announced to his helpers that he would look for someone to pass the board to. Both, naturally, wanted to inherit it.

Shangó left it in Orunmila’s hands and confessed that he could no longer bear that burden, because parties and women took up almost all his time, the commissions piled up and he failed those who came to him. He added: “You are the greatest of diviners, and so it falls to you to keep the board.” Orunmila refused at first: “Brother, it is too difficult to handle.” Shangó insisted and left it there. He introduced his two servants: Elegba, the messenger who delivers the works where they belong, and Osain, who brings whatever herbs are needed. Then he showed him how to use the board and told him: “Whenever there is a difficulty, call me and I will come to help you. To call me, draw a circle of gunpowder on the ground, put sixteen thunder stones inside it and set the powder on fire.”

Orunmila took over the board, but his works did not succeed. Elegba and Osain were offended that Shangó had chosen neither of them, and refused to cooperate. Elegba left the works anywhere instead of at their destination, and Osain went into the wild to attend to his own rule. Everything fell into disorder.

Orunmila had no choice but to call Shangó in the agreed way. Shangó arrived at once and, as soon as he found out, went after Osain and Elegba. He found Osain in the wild, busy with his rule, and hurled a storm of lightning at him. The wild burned. Osain, who until that day was a perfect man, was left without an eye, without an ear, without an arm and without a leg. He dragged himself to Orunmila’s house, where he fainted. When he woke, after several days, he discovered with amazement that Orunmila had looked after him and healed him instead of leaving him to his fate. Full of regret, he asked forgiveness and pledged to serve him as a slave.

Elegba, who had seen what happened to Osain, hid to escape Shangó’s fury. However, on learning how Shangó had punished Osain, he went to see Orunmila and confessed: “I too was deceiving you, because I did not deliver the works to the destination you pointed out. I ask your forgiveness; from today you are the only person with power over me in this world.”

Since then Orunmila has his two servants and can see how his works turn out. The imperfections of the body also come from this event.

When he created the earth, Olofin placed on it Banga, the oil palm, who had penetrated very deep into the secrets of life. Drawn by that depth, the spirit of Ifá joined her. Banga received full rights and powers, since human beings did not know Olofin. Whoever wanted to find something out leaned against her trunk and asked her, and she gave spiritual guidance to his mind. In those days neither people nor animals died, and Banga was considered the supreme divinity.

One day Banga visited Orunmila. He saw this odu and warned her: “The palm has a share of everything, and all that is in you serves life. You have to make ebbó. Your last secret, besides, will benefit humanity: you will be the sustenance of Kushe, the spirit of fire.” Banga made the ebbó. From then on humanity began to progress. People already knew what their hands were for, but they did not know how to start a fire or keep it.

A hunter of the wild, named Kushe, went out to look for the fire tree, the pinotea, and roasted yams over its embers, which seemed delicious to him. On another occasion he went back to the wild for the same tree and met Osain Aroni Elesekan, who had one eye, one foot, long hair and a body covered in fur. Osain guided Kushe to Banga. The palm taught him that, of the ikines, the sacred nuts, he should choose those with fewer than three eyes, in order to extract palm butter and oil from their kernels, and she taught him to cook with that fat. She also explained how to make the Adé Iná from the fuzz of dry ikines, useful for gathering fire in the wild and for keeping the household fire burning. By the light of the Adé Iná, Kushe received Ifá and learned all the secrets of Banga and of Ifá, because he was a son of Orunmila and of Adamá, the woman of fire.

Kushe carried a little palm oil wrapped in a malanga leaf, together with a wick of Adé Iná, to his land, and there he became king. This is how the first humans learned to cook with fat and keep fire at home. Banga went on being the tree of life, able to divine everything. That is why the Awoses light the Igbodu with wicks of ikines and not with candles.