Obara She

Before leaving heaven, Obara She received a warning: he would have great prosperity, but also many problems at the same time, and he had to make ebbó. It was done at Orita Ijaloko, a crossroads, and it included a bag of coins, corn, ground yam, a bunch of plantains and a bundle of yams. He carried it out and went before God so that he would bless him before departing.

When he arrived in this world, he farmed the land and worked as a priest of Ifá, although his situation did not improve and for quite some time he could not afford to marry. He called other awoses to consult about what to do to get out of that situation. They recommended that he make the ebbó again, decorate his Ifá altar with cloths, serve it with a hen and offer a coconut to his head. His poverty forced him to borrow the cloths. When he sacrificed the hen, its blood splashed one of them; later he returned it to its owner, a woman, with drinks and kola nuts as compensation.

Very early one morning, while he was standing in front of his house, Seke, the Obá's daughter, passed by. They exchanged greetings and she told him she was going to visit him. He invited her in, and inside she declared that she had come to propose marriage, since she had noticed that he had been without a wife for a long time. Obara She answered that he was a poor farmer and could not support a woman. She insisted anyway.

She spent four days in his house, and then she returned to her father's to tell him her decision: she had met a man and wanted to marry him. The Obá told her to bring him to the palace. Seke went back to Obara She and passed on her father's wish. He was reluctant to go because his clothes were not fit for such an appearance. She replied that no one expected him at a parade of luxurious clothes and that he had nothing to fear. With those words she convinced him.

At the palace, the king saw that he was very handsome and accepted the wedding at once. He had his treasurers gather jewels and send them to the groom's dwelling as a gift for his daughter. He added that he asked for no dowry, only that each year Obara She pay him a tribute. After blessing the couple and praying for them, the two withdrew.

Seke began to trade with the money her father had given her, and Obara She's farm began to bear fruit; in a short time they built a house of their own. When the year ended, he chose the best yams of his harvest and sent them to the king, together with plantains, corn and kola nuts. Seke also took many yams to sell at the market, and among the buyers the daughter of Olokun noticed them, and when she learned which farm they came from, Obara She's, she resolved to meet its owner.

When the market emptied, the daughter of Olokun picked up her bag and went to Obara She's home, without anyone knowing who she was. Before leaving she had dismissed the pages who accompanied her, telling them she would return within five days. After exchanging greetings, she explained that her visit was to marry him. Obara She answered that he owned nothing and was a simple farmer. She replied that the farm was enough. After five days she left, with the promise to return with her belongings.

When she came back with her bundles and her goods, everyone discovered that she was the daughter of Olokun. Then she asked Seke to stop going to the market, since from now on she herself would trade for the whole family. Obara She became a very rich man, and when the king saw his prosperity, he named him Shasere and Prime Minister of the kingdom.

Akpere and Awosi were on their way to heaven to learn how to make tribal marks. Before leaving, they consulted an awó whose name said this: because he believed he knew everything, Awosi did not reach the same knowledge as Akpere.

Before the one in charge of marking bodies in heaven, Akpere was the first to learn. Then it was Awosi's turn, but when they made the first mark on his back, he told the teacher that he could already make them all. The teacher closed the lessons and sent them back to the world, with the task of marking others as they had been marked.

Akpere knew how to draw marks of many shapes. Awosi, once at home, could only make one simple mark and no other came out well. That is why some tribes have a single tribal mark and others have several.

A diviner performed the divination for Okpere, a slave of Onidoko, when he was about to put the art of Ifá at the service of his master's troubles. This diviner announced himself like this: “Obara Oshe works only in favor of the one who gets it in the consultation and completes the sacrifice that is set for him; to others it does not manifest.”

One day Okpere found his master complaining that children were not being born to him, and he decided to help. He left prepared the medicines that Onidoko and his wives had to use, and went away on a journey to practice Ifá.

After some time he returned and found that each of the wives had given birth to a son. The whole house was happy. Onidoko thanked him for the favor and, to show him how much he valued him, granted him his freedom.