Odù 119 of 256 · Obara family

Obara Rete

Where the ceremony of the Irofá was born, the tool that strikes the board to call on Ifá: when the truth arrives, the lie is ashamed and leaves.

Obara Rete is Odù number 119 of the 256 in Ifá, part of the Obara family. This page brings together its prayer in Yoruba, 20 patakíes (3 with the full text), its proverbs, 9 ebbós and works and the signs it shows in the consultation; the detail of iré and osogbo, the eewó and the full recipes open with the Babalawo plan — that locked part is still written in Spanish.

The sign at a glance

Order in Ifá
Odù 119 of 256
Composition
Obara over Irete
Orishas that speak
Ogún · Olokun · Oshún · Shangó · Osanyin · Oduduwa · Obatalá y Yemayá · Eshu

What Ifá says in this sign

Obara Rete is the sign where the ceremony of the Irofá was born — the tool the priest uses to strike the board and call on the spirit of Ifá — and the mutual respect between the children of Shangó and those of Oshún. Its promise is solid: success and stability, as long as the sacrifice named is carried out — there are good prospects for a new job or business.

Its morals are taught by two vessels: the gourd, being disobedient, went to the bottom of the river; the calabash, being obedient, floated — and served the whole world. And its courtroom truth: when the truth arrives, the lie is ashamed and leaves. Obey and wait: the rest floats on its own.

«The disobedient gourd sank; the obedient calabash floated and served the whole world — choose your vessel.»The pulse of Obara Rete

Your tongue is your weak point: you are a boaster who tells everything about women — and by saying what you should not, you can end up hurt or worse. The adultery in this odu rots you physically and morally: whoever leaves his wife because he cannot be satisfied reaps being left, or being cheated on, in return.

You have an open war with Oshún: she told you to do something and you did not do it — that is why the constant quarrels and the business that will not move. Pay her: fan her cool singing «Umbelere Awó abebe Oshún», wear your yellow, and disarm her with sweetness. Your health will not wait: the illness is more serious than you think — throat, digestion, mouth — treatment now, without fear of the doctor's knife.

The household remedies: singing to the dead in the coffin to calm their Orisha — it was born here —, purifying fresh water, care with the hole where you live, and the woman who is desperate to marry you: marry her — after the goat for Eshu. The Irofá strikes the board and Ifá attends: strike with your work, and you will be attended to

The sign in one line

Keep quiet about your conquests, pay Oshún what you owe her and see to that illness in time — the Irofá of Obara Rete calls, and Ifá answers with stability.

The prayer of Obara Rete · Yoruba

Obara Irete Ifá omi retewa adifafun Ashiwita intori awa shuba okurin sini Olokun.

Súyere
Olokun bawao, bawa Orisha bawao.

Ifá says — what Obara Rete tells you

Proverbs of Obara Rete · Òwe

16 proverb interpretations in this Odù, locked.Every proverb explained: which road it comes from and how it applies. Written in Spanish for now.Unlock →

Iré and Osogbo

5 iré and osogbo readings in this Odù, locked.The iré and osogbo of the sign, sorted by subject — health, money, love, death, loss… Written in Spanish for now.Unlock →

What is born in Obara Rete · Ìbí

What is forbidden · Eewó

5 eewó (taboos) in this Odù, locked.What the child of this sign must not eat, do or wear. Written in Spanish for now.Unlock →

Ebbós of Obara Rete · The sacrifices that open the road

Pushing death awayThe ebbó of Olokun's fury🔒 Babalawo
HealthThe ebbó of the waters🔒 Babalawo
LoveThe ebbó of Oshún's squash🔒 Babalawo
HealthEbbó of the illness🔒 Babalawo
HealthThe ebbó of the rotted earth🔒 Babalawo
5 ebbós in this Odù, locked.Each full recipe: ingredients, preparation and where it goes. Written in Spanish for now.Unlock →

Works of Obara Rete · The workings of the sign

HealthAttending to Olokun🔒 Babalawo
LoveOshún's fan🔒 Babalawo
Beating enemiesThe powder at the door🔒 Babalawo
SpiritualInshé-Osanyin against deceit🔒 Babalawo
4 works in this Odù, locked.Each full recipe: ingredients, preparation and where it goes. Written in Spanish for now.Unlock →

Patakíes of Obara Rete · The roads of the Odù

1The 480 plants of the forest

Obara re-re-re, the Babalawo of the trees, read for the 480 plants of the forest when they were coming into the world to become trees: they all sacrificed, except Igi-eshin, who refused. That is why it could never grow, and remains the smallest of all the plants.

Obara re-re-re, Babalawo igi oko, odifa fun igi oko merin-din-lojo: that was the name of the Awó who made the reading for the 480 plants of the forest when they were coming into the world to become trees. They were told to make sacrifice.

They all made sacrifice, with the exception of Igi-eshin, who refused. That is why it could never grow into a tree, and remains the smallest of all the plants. In an ordinary reading: sacrifice to prevent back pain from developing — palm oil mixed with iyerosun of this sign, rubbed on the back.

2The reading before leaving heaven

«My divining staff is taken up carefully, my whisk is precious as a bead, and my board is of gold»: he was told to serve Ogún with a turtle, his head with a rooster, Eshu with a young goat and Ifá with a female goat. On earth he married a difficult woman whose children died of convulsions: he repeated the sacrifice — with Eshu eating his young goat alone — and lost no more children. He prospered; and when Egbere, the Oloba's wife, fell irresistibly in love with him, Ifá told him to give a goat to Eshu: the Oloba not only gave her up without objection, but made him a great chief.

«My divining staff is taken up carefully, my whisk is as precious as a bead, and my divining board is of gold» were the Awoses who made the reading for this Odù when he was coming to earth. He was warned to serve Ogún with a turtle, his head with a rooster, Eshu with a young goat and Ifá with a female goat, so as to avoid having trouble with women on earth. He made the sacrifice and came down.

He married a difficult woman, who had children who frequently died of convulsions. He sought out some Awoses to make a reading at his house: he was to serve Ifá with a female goat, Eshu with a young goat — but Eshu was to eat it alone —, his head with a rooster and Ogún with a turtle. He made the sacrifice, and lost no more children. He began to prosper, but his modest success made him enemies. Meanwhile, Egbere, the wife of the Oloba of Oba, began to show an irresistible interest in him: he tried to satisfy her but could not stop her. He asked Ifá what to do, and was ordered to serve Eshu with a goat. After the sacrifice he began a relationship with the woman, and the Oloba not only gave her up without objection, but made him a great chief. In Igbodu: sacrifice to avoid trouble with a woman and the death of children, and to have prosperity. In an ordinary reading: a woman is desperate to marry you — marry her after giving a goat to Eshu.

3Onitiide, who outlived them all

«This is the land where they use a hoe to shave their heads; this is the edge of the hoe that uses its mouth to strike the earth with impunity»: the Awoses read for Onitiide when he was going to live a long time on earth — a ewe and a goat. He came into the world with endless problems, knocked about left and right by his enemies, but he not only outlived them all: he lived a great many years.

«This is the land where they use a hoe to shave their heads. This is the edge of the hoe that uses its mouth to strike the earth with impunity»: those were the Awoses who made the reading for Onitiide when he was going to live a long time on earth. He was told to make sacrifice with a ewe and a goat.

When he reached the world he had endless problems: his enemies knocked him about left and right. But he not only outlived them all: he lived a great many years.

4Eshu and the two hundred divinities🔒 Babalawo
5Shangó ill and Osun's loyalty🔒 Babalawo
6The reading of Agbonniregún🔒 Babalawo
7The sacrifice at the summit🔒 Babalawo
8Akintelú and the town he founded🔒 Babalawo
9The disobedient gourd🔒 Babalawo
10Olokun's daughter🔒 Babalawo
11The fool who could divine🔒 Babalawo
12Obara Rete and the daughters of Oshún🔒 Babalawo
13When the waters were purified🔒 Babalawo
14When Babalú Ayé made Dada ill🔒 Babalawo
15When the trees were born rotted🔒 Babalawo
16When Obara Rete carried the Irukere and the Irofá🔒 Babalawo
17Orunmila and the blind man with the mare🔒 Babalawo
18The nine daughters of Iku🔒 Babalawo
19The second chance🔒 Babalawo
20The shame of the lie🔒 Babalawo
17 more patakíes in this Odù, locked.Read every road in full with the Babalawo plan. Written in Spanish for now.Unlock →
Before you subscribe: everything you read on this page is in English, but the locked part of the treatise — the full text of the other patakíes, the recipes for the ebbós and works, the iré and osogbo readings and the eewó — is still written in Spanish. We are translating it. · This page is also available in Spanish: See Obara Rete in Spanish →

Frequently asked questions about Obara Rete

What does the Odù Obara Rete mean in Ifá?

Where the ceremony of the Irofá was born, the tool that strikes the board to call on Ifá: when the truth arrives, the lie is ashamed and leaves.

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

Obara Rete is Odù number 119 of the 256 in Ifá, part of the Obara family.

Which orishas speak in Obara Rete?

In the Odù Obara Rete these orishas speak: Ogún, Olokun, Oshún, Shangó, Osanyin, Oduduwa, Obatalá y Yemayá, Eshu.

What is a proverb of the Odù Obara Rete?

One of the proverbs of Obara Rete says: «When the truth arrives, the lie is ashamed and leaves.».

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