Obara Juani

nº 112 of 256

Where exile and the lightning rod were born: this person goes abroad and dies there — but the batá drum beats the enemies.

25 patakíes 5 eewó 7 ebbós and works 17 proverbs

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Obara Juani is Odù number 112 of the 256 in Ifá, part of the Obara family. This page brings together its prayer in Yoruba, 25 patakíes (3 with the full text), its proverbs, 7 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 112 of 256
Composition: Obara over Ojuani
In the Diloggún: 6-11 · Obara tonti Ojuani
Orishas that speak: Shangó · Eshu · Obatalá · Egun · Osun · Ifá

What Ifá says in this sign

Obara Juani is the sign of exile: here Shangó had to take refuge in another land, and here the lightning rod and the flying yam were born. Its law of success is a single word: only with calm do you get anywhere — in bad fortune this odu acts without reason; in good fortune, it is pure prosperity. Calm decides which version you live.

Its weapon is music: with the sound of the batá drum you beat your enemies — the drum for your Guardian Angel or for Shangó, given at your own enemy's house and out in the rain if that is what it takes, puts an end to the war. And its economics have a curious twist: you will prosper through someone else's fortune — like Obara Lila with the ownerless loot — always putting it to Ifá before you touch anything.

«With the sound of the batá drum I beat my enemies — the war of Obara Juani is won by playing.»The pulse of Obara Juani

Its rules for the table and the house: do not eat anything at parties or gatherings — there are enemies who want to feed you a dead one — and do not bring friends home: this odu marks a tangle of the heart between your wife and a friend, and the advice is a surgeon's: say nothing to either of them — these are things in the stars that you live through by keeping quiet and working.

If there is the pain of a lost child, this odu gives the protocol: when a medium takes that dead one on, cover them with a white cloth so they can say everything they have to say. And if what ails you comes from a dead spouse who is still living alongside you: a mass at church first, and then the spiritual one — with flowers, food and candles.

The horizon is wide and it comes with a warning: the person of this odu can go abroad and never come back to their own land — if you go, go with the work done. You came very close to the big prize: soon you will see what you have been hoping for — the money and the child you want. Take care of your chest and your asthma, do not go where you are not invited, and remember: an exile with a drum never fights alone

The sign in one line

Keep calm, do not eat at other people's parties and give Shangó his drum — Obara Juani prospers through someone else's fortune, and your reward is already coming.

The prayer of Obara Juani · Yoruba

Obara Ojuani Obara nife juju omo oluwo atopolo Obara keyele ni Obara ni wani aleyo otori laye osobo. Omi wani keyebekun Elegba kebeyekun Obara ni wani letekun aleyo intori araye ara nile ilekun intori loni obifun Shangó oun lo aleyo onifun Obara oni wani juju omologu atopolo oba fun ole fun lashireo ofeti oyu mofe Obatalá ni wani.

Ifá says — what Obara Juani tells you

In bad fortune it speaks of someone acting without reason; in good fortune, of real potential for prosperity: only with calm do you get anywhere. It is an Ifá of legal proceedings: it marks traps and betrayal — the diablitos posted Egun along every road to kill Orunmila. When this Odù comes out for a white person, it is worse still: it is an Odù of failure.
This person had a child killed: when a medium takes that dead one on, they are covered with a white cloth so they can say everything they have to say — otherwise they will not speak, because of the wrapping they carry.
You live with people who have you smothered: they do not let you live in peace and they have taken everything you had.
Be careful about theft or about someone bringing stolen goods into your house, so you do not have trouble with the law: make ebbó.
Take care at parties or gatherings: do not let them feed you a dead one — do not eat anything you are given, because there are hidden enemies who want to kill you with witchcraft.
For a man: your wife may have a lover. For a woman: you are thinking of moving, and you have two suitors — look carefully, so you are not deceived.
Be careful of an embarrassment: do not go where you are not invited — «did you bring the bones?».
You go off to live abroad and die there, since you never come back to your own land: whoever leaves does not return.
Illnesses of this sign: the respiratory system, heart disease, asthma, convulsions and impotence; you suffer from suffocation and shortness of breath — go to the doctor.
Your health is being lost because of an Egun: if your spouse died, they are living alongside you and that is what ails you — a mass at church and then a spiritual one, with prayers, food, flowers and candles.
Even though this Odù speaks well, you have to be careful.
You cannot bring friends home: your wife may fall for one of them, or he for her. Do not say anything to your wife, because she will not understand — these are things in the stars that you have to live through.
Your wife is in love with a friend of yours you have done favors for, but he is not in love with her: say nothing to either of them.
You came very close to winning the lottery — it was the big prize — and you want money and a child: soon you will see what you have been hoping for.
You are jealous, and there are two women fighting in your house.
The suffocation you feel coming out of your body is a heavy cold.
You may end up alone in life: you live alone because your partner left, or because you never married.
It speaks of religious sects, and of the tree of the Anis: the night-blooming jasmine.
Work has to be done so everything stays covered up.

Proverbs of Obara Juani · Òwe

“The one who left his land and never came back.”
“With the sound of the batá drum I beat my enemies.”
“By deceiving, I came out deceived.”
“I will prosper through someone else's fortune.”
“Only with calm will I get anywhere.”
“The agbé bird has the voice of the one who does harm.”
“Whoever gets no benefit from their own effort does not know how to work.”
“Envy is a form of slavery that tears you down.”
“Deceit and lies put us in front of the judge.”
“Without good government no nation gets ahead.”
“A tiger does not have to announce how fierce he is.”
“If your eye stings, it is because you have been eating garlic.”
“Wit defeats the charge of any buffalo.”
“Whoever sows wind reaps storms.”
“Whoever loves only the goods of this world is ungrateful to Olorun.”
“When the earth shakes, the butterflies scatter.”
“There is no worse executioner for the head than the head itself.”

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

Iré and Osogbo

6 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 Obara Juani · Ìbí

Exile (banishment).
Shangó had to take refuge in another land, and his supporters suffered abuse and hardship.
The lightning rod.
The flying yam.
Because of it, Obatalá turned his back on the earth; that is why yam is given to Eshu.
The consecration of the pachanes (switches) of Egun.
That eleven odu-ará be placed on Shangó, two of them inside the vessel.
That to come out on top, the drum be given to the Guardian Angel or to Shangó.

What is forbidden · Eewó

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

Do not bring friends to your house.
Your wife can fall in love with one of them, or he with her.
Do not go where you are not invited.
You will go through an embarrassment.
Do not eat anything they give you at parties or gatherings.
They can give you the dead or witchcraft to kill you.
Never say that you know, and do not lean on what you know.
Keep learning: the one who gave you the prenda knows more than you.
Never cheat anyone.
You can be the one who is cheated: for cheating, I came out cheated.

Ebbós of Obara Juani · The sacrifices that open the road

Beating enemiesOsun's pigeons🔒 The Notebook Beating enemiesThe consecrated drum🔒 The Notebook LossEbbó of the red clothes🔒 The Notebook Keeping death awayThe sheet and the nine switches🔒 The Notebook

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

Works of Obara Juani · The workings of the sign

SpiritualThe pachanes of Egun🔒 The Notebook HealthThe rainwater🔒 The Notebook SpiritualThe white cloth of the dead child🔒 The Notebook

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

Patakíes of Obara Juani · The roads of the Odù

1Other people's fortune

«A free gift foretells no danger; I will prosper through the fortune of others»: Obara Lila served Ifá, Eshu and his mother's head before coming down. A merchant and a farmer, some bandits hid their loot beside his farm — Ifá confirmed to him that they had been executed, and he collected it: tusks, cloth, money. At the market he found another ownerless haul. His wealth reached extraordinary proportions — benefiting, lawfully, from the fortune of others.

"What is given for free brings no harm to the one who receives it; other people's luck will make me prosper": with that mark the two Awoses read for Obara Lila when he was leaving heaven for earth. He had to serve Ifá with a she-goat; Eshu, a goat; and his mother, a hen with all the cooking seasonings. He did it, asked his Guardian Angel for clarity and came down. Here he became a merchant and a farmer; since he prospered fast, envy was born against him, his deals started going crooked and the reading told him to repeat the same sacrifices: fortune, they told him, was still waiting for him.

One day some bandits hid their loot next to the farm: several treasures, bags of cloth and beds, elephant tusks, money, eagle and parrot feathers. He touched nothing. At home he consulted Ifá and learned that those thieves had already been caught and executed; the next day he took everything, and with that he became rich. He went to pay the priests with a bag of money, a she-goat and pieces of cloth, and Ifá announced to him that he would still pick up another loot. He sold at Oja-Ajigbomekon Akira, and one morning he found elephant tusks and valuable dishes on his stall: a thief had been arrested that early morning, and when the market emptied nobody claimed anything. He asked Ifá again if he could take it; his wealth multiplied and his prosperity reached superlative proportions. Again he went to thank the Awoses, and to each one he gave an elephant tusk, white cloth and a bag of money. That is how his destiny was fulfilled: to get rich on the rebound from what luck gave to others. In Igbodu: his fortune is in planting —yam and corn— and in trade; put an elephant tusk on your Ifá altar; the man must make Ifá, and the woman must marry a Babalawo.

2The chief who divined the three vessels

The Obá, hearing of his wealth, invited him to divine the contents of three vessels he kept in his private rooms: cascarilla, cowries and alligator pepper. Eshu turned himself into a little girl and handed him a cascarilla, a cowrie and an alligator pepper; Ifá confirmed to him that this was what the vessels held. He got it right in front of the king — and explaining that he was not meant for the priesthood, he was given the office of Shasere of the town, to help the Obá govern his kingdom.

News of that wealth and that prosperity reached the Obá of the town. One day he sent for him to have a reading done, and the man answered that he did not practice the priesthood of Ifá. The king kept three containers in his private rooms: one with cascarilla, another with cowries and another with alligator pepper; he demanded that the man say what was inside each one. The man went back home to get ready for the test.

Eshu was quick: he took the shape of a girl loaded with things and put in his hand a cascarilla, a cowrie, an alligator pepper. Once at home he consulted what those gifts meant, and Ifá confirmed to him that this was exactly what the king's three containers held. He took the three samples to the palace and named the contents. The king wanted to know why he kept away from the priesthood of Ifá, and he answered that it was not his destiny. At that moment the king named him Shasere of the town and begged him to help him run his kingdom.

3The forked stick and the knife of caution

Orunmila was warned to act with caution and never do anything in a hurry: he sacrificed a pigeon, the circumcision knife and a forked stick, which he was to carry on his travels. Wandering through the forest he passed some kola trees ready for harvest, whose owners had no equipment: he gave them the forked stick to pick with and the knife to split the nuts. They divided the nuts into three parts and gave him one — he sold it, and made good money.

"Ebara Wonrin koso ni she owo imole": that Awó read for Orunmila on the day the mark asked him for restraint and forbade him to settle anything in a hurry. The ebbó called for a dove, a forked stick and the circumcision knife; Orunmila did it, and both the knife and the forked stick were made ready to carry with him on every trip.

Walking through the bush one day, he came across some kola nut trees ready for harvest, and their owners had nothing to bring the nuts down with. He lent them the forked stick and with it they gathered all the fruit; then he lent them the knife to split it. Once the nuts were ready, they made three parts and gave him one. He took his load home, sold it and made good money: patience, when it comes prepared, gets paid along the road.

4The bird of fortune🔒 The Notebook 5The hunter, the wife and the parrot🔒 The Notebook 6Olobara, who ate yam without soup🔒 The Notebook 7The dancer and the poisoned horse🔒 The Notebook 8The prayer for the year of wealth🔒 The Notebook 9The diablitos tried to kill Obara Juani🔒 The Notebook 10The embarrassment over the broth🔒 The Notebook 11Shangó's exile🔒 The Notebook 12The curse of the two Awoses🔒 The Notebook 13Obara Nifa and his brother: failure🔒 The Notebook 14The drum at the enemy's house🔒 The Notebook 15A thief who steals from a thief🔒 The Notebook 16The bear and the firefly🔒 The Notebook 17The whim is the prediction🔒 The Notebook 18The language of the trees🔒 The Notebook 19The passion of fire🔒 The Notebook 20The yam, the earth and Obatalá🔒 The Notebook 21The worm and the ants🔒 The Notebook 22The kingdom of the osorbos🔒 The Notebook 23Shangó's disguise🔒 The Notebook 24The nine Oba ni Ara Onu🔒 The Notebook 25Satan's altar🔒 The Notebook

22 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 Obara Juani in Spanish →

Frequently asked questions about Obara Juani

What does the Odù Obara Juani mean in Ifá?

Where exile and the lightning rod were born: this person goes abroad and dies there — but the batá drum beats the enemies.

What number is Obara Juani among the 256 Odù of Ifá?

Obara Juani is Odù number 112 of the 256 in Ifá, part of the Obara family.

Which orishas speak in Obara Juani?

In the Odù Obara Juani these orishas speak: Shangó, Eshu, Obatalá, Egun, Osun, Ifá.

What is a proverb of the Odù Obara Juani?

One of the proverbs of Obara Juani says: «The one who left his land and never came back.».

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