Odù 4 of 256 · Odi family

Odi Meyi

Meyi

The womb of the world: motherhood, the sea, and the promise that what is lost will be found.

Odi Meyi is Odù number 4 of the 256 in Ifá, one of the 16 Meyi and the head of the Odi family. It is also written as Odi Meji. This page brings together its prayer in Yoruba, 41 patakíes (3 with the full text), its proverbs, 15 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 4 of 256 · Meyi
Composition: Odi over Odi
In the Diloggún: 7-7 · Odí tonti Odí
Orishas that speak: Orunmila · Oshún · Yemayá · Oggún · Ikú (la Muerte) · Obbatalá · Egungun · Shangó · Azowanu (San Lázaro) · Olokun · Odduduwa

What Ifá says in this sign

Odi Meyi is the womb of the world: here the human race, motherhood and the great drum of Ifá were born. It is a sign of fertility and of the sea — and its greatest promise is simple and huge: you were born to lack nothing, and what is lost will be found.

But the letter opens with a warning told by its own owner: Odi was so proud that he never got a reading, and for that he came down to the world condemned to loneliness; only as an old man, when he finally made the sacrifice he had ignored, was he recognized. The pride of not asking for help is the only real poverty in this sign. The one who gets a reading and makes ebbó grows like the peanut: it sacrificed and had two hundred children.

«The blind man saw and the lame man started walking: here nobody gets up alone.»The pulse of Odi Meyi

It is the Ifá of shared miracles: the blind man and the lame man went to the river together to give up — and they came back seeing and walking. Here nobody gets up alone: the family, the partner and the water santos (Yemayá, Olokun, Oshún Ibu Iyumu) are the strength of the sign. That is why the ikofá for women and the masses for the dead are born here: taking care of what is feminine and what is ancestral holds up the whole house.

The things to watch: in this sign someone stole for the first time on earth — do not let another person enjoy what you make or spend what you save. Take care of the health of your belly and your blood, watch the jealousy and the gossip that get into the house, and stay away from wakes and burials: death inherits everything on earth, but it does not have to take what is yours before your time.

With the ebbó done, Odduduwa makes everything that falls into your hands prosper, with glory and honors; the sea and the stars protect you. Odi grows in front of trouble and does not rest until it sees the victory — the happiness of this sign is the kind that reaches the whole family.

The sign in one line

Do not be the proud one who never asks for a reading: ask, make ebbó and take care of your waters and your dead — Odi Meyi lacks nothing, and even what was lost comes back to your hands.

The prayer of Odi Meyi · Yoruba

Baba Oddí Meyi ashama aruma Oddima dima koddima Ikú koddima suku kielo abiti biti katobale ni abiti adifafun aye Omó oni Eggún aikordie lebo.

Súyere
Oddima dima dire mama yiki mama yiki.

Ifá says — what Odi Meyi tells you

The ashé of this sign: He was born to lack nothing on earth. · With ebbó, Odduduwa makes everything that falls into his hands prosper, with glory and honors. · He is protected by Olokun, Yemayá, the stars and the sea. · He gets unexpected blessings, and they reach his family too. · He grows in front of trouble and wins in the end; what is lost is found. · He is smart and happy, more than the people who look down on him for being simple.

Proverbs of Odi Meyi · Òwe

“Death inherits everything on earth.”
“Whoever corrupts another person brings the evil out of his own house.”
“Whoever speaks slander about another person lowers his own name.”
“The blind man saw and the lame man started walking.”
“The peanut made the sacrifice and multiplied.”
“Do not step out of your own customs.”
“Every action has twin consequences.”
“The ant that means to eat the rock is a fool.”
“In the mouth of a false man, falsehood makes its nest.”
“The corrupt man wants company in his corruption.”
“Little blame falls on the one who steals out of hunger.”
“A tiger does not eat a dog locked in an iron cage.”
“The warrior of Ifá does not go to war with a spear.”
“No dead body passes for living in the eyes of the fly.”
“A child is the continuation of what we do in life.”
“Good habits, good people.”
“The fruit of love is children; the fruit of sex is pleasure.”
“The one with a glass roof cannot throw stones.”
“A secret between two, the devil already heard it.”
“Whoever rebels against his destiny finds nothing but obstacles.”
“Nobody has ever been heard of being turned away from hell.”

21 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

6 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 Odi Meyi · Ìbí

The human race and the female organs of reproduction.
The joining of the right Odi (male) with the left one (female) gives reproduction.
«Aran», the giant drum of Ifá.
It is made from male jagüey; its owner must be sworn in with a rooster and a hen before Oggún.
Fright (aruyé).
That is why every Odù that is a child of Odi is affected by the nerves.
The corner of the Igbodun (igba Odù).
It is the first thing set up in the room of Ifá, to the left of the door.
The ikofá for women.
From the road where Yemayá had to take ikofá in order to live with Orunmila.
Oshún Ibu Iyumu.
It lives in the bush and in the river, under the imo Oshún plant; it helps women who are suffering.
That stealing happened for the first time on earth.
The thief was Obbatalá Ayaguna.
That the children of Oshún always wear their bracelets.
So that the sound makes the deity happy and she does not cry.
The masses for the Eggún.
Odi Meyi is the father of the masses for the ancestors.
The colors black, red, yellow and the mixed ones.
They were created for women to use.

What is forbidden · Eewó

10 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 Odi Meyi · The sacrifices that open the road

MoneyEbbó of the peanut (to multiply and prosper)🔒 Babalawo

MoneyEbbó to build up the house (property)🔒 Babalawo

LoveEbbó to bring a marriage together🔒 Babalawo

LoveEbbó for the couple to have children🔒 Babalawo

Keeping death awayOparaldo of Odi Meyi🔒 Babalawo

Keeping death awayEbbó to get the Eggún out of the house (with Shangó)🔒 Babalawo

LossEbbó to avoid trouble at home🔒 Babalawo

LossInshé of Osain to open the roads🔒 Babalawo

Beating enemiesEbbó to break up the witchcraft in the house🔒 Babalawo

Beating enemiesInshé of Osain to win battles🔒 Babalawo

10 ebbós in this Odù, locked.Each full recipe: ingredients, preparation and where it goes. Written in Spanish for now.Unlock →

Works of Odi Meyi · The workings of the sign

MoneyWork of prosperity with Odduduwa🔒 Babalawo

LoveWork for the woman who cannot have children🔒 Babalawo

Keeping death awayWork for an Eggún to leave the house🔒 Babalawo

LossWork to turn envy away🔒 Babalawo

Beating enemiesWork to win a court case🔒 Babalawo

5 works in this Odù, locked.Each full recipe: ingredients, preparation and where it goes. Written in Spanish for now.Unlock →

Patakíes of Odi Meyi · The roads of the Odù

1The birth of Baba Odi Meyi

So proud that he never asked for a reading, Odi came down to earth with no preparation and condemned himself to loneliness. As an old man he made the sacrifice he had ignored and, saving a difficult birth, he was finally recognized.

Odi Meyi was so proud that he never got a reading before a trip: he believed he was above the deities and trusted his own strength alone. He came down to earth with no preparation, carrying on his head the thunderstone and the smelting furnace —the tools of Shangó and of Oggún. His followers warned him not to leave without offering a goat to Eshú and a guinea hen to his guardian angel, but he paid no attention.

On earth he taught his parents to honor Oggún and Shangó, but because of his fierce, unbeatable character nobody wanted to live near him, and he ended up alone deep in the forest. As an old man, his guardian angel spoke to him in dreams: he was suffering because he had not made the sacrifice. He consulted his Ifá, his own Odù came up, and at last —with the money from selling his fruit— he offered the goat to Eshú and the guinea hen to Ifá.

Soon after, the king's daughter had a birth that would not come, and no priest had been able to solve it. They called Odi, who with an incantation got the child and the placenta to come out together. His worth was finally recognized; the king gave him a title and a home. But he was sorry that he had planted trees whose fruit others would gather, because he had not listened in time to the advice to make the sacrifice.

2Odi helped Odde get his prosperity back

The three wives of Odde —play, pleasure and dance— left him when he got poor. On Ifá's advice he held a feast, and Eshú brought them back, one after another.

Odde (the outside) had three wives who gave him his identity: Iré (play), Oyin (pleasure) and Oju (the dance). When he got poor and could not keep them happy, all three left him and he became listless and sad.

An assistant of Odi Meyi read for him and told him to sacrifice a goat and to kill a second one for a feast at his house, roasting yam on the coals; while it cooked, his wives would come back one after another. Odde did it.

Eshú went out to meet each wife and told them they had been wrong to leave Odde over a passing setback, because he had already got his prosperity back and more, and was holding a feast at his house. They went to see for themselves, found the yam cooking, and stayed for good. With their return, the prosperity of Odde grew even greater. That is why, when Odi comes out for someone whose fortune has gone down, a feast with two goats is advised so that prosperity comes back.

3How the peanut multiplied

The peanut had no offspring and was anxious to have children. It made the sacrifice Odi marked and then had two hundred children, and its relatives became prosperous.

The peanut left heaven wanting to have children on earth, but it had no offspring. It went to Odi Meyi, who through divination told it to make a sacrifice with a hen, a rooster, jutía, fish and a bag of money.

It did so and then went to the field to wash itself. After that it had two hundred children, and the relatives of the peanut became very prosperous. That is why people say that «the peanut made the sacrifice and multiplied».

4Odi divines for the sperm and the menstruation🔒 Babalawo

5Odi heals the crippled man and the blind man🔒 Babalawo

6The ikofá for women was born (Yemayá)🔒 Babalawo

7The daughter of Oshún who had no children🔒 Babalawo

8The evil of Azowanu against Inle🔒 Babalawo

9When Odi beat his enemies🔒 Babalawo

10When Odi received Osain on a trip🔒 Babalawo

11Baba Odi Meyi in heaven🔒 Babalawo

12Odi Meyi, the great wrestler🔒 Babalawo

13The healing of the hernia and of the blind man🔒 Babalawo

14The spring and the flowers🔒 Babalawo

15Locking away the great shame of Obbatalá🔒 Babalawo

16The first ikofafún in the world (Oshún Lario)🔒 Babalawo

17Aye, the wife of Orunmila, and the three servants🔒 Babalawo

18The shishirikú🔒 Babalawo

19You cannot walk around with no shoes🔒 Babalawo

20The three brothers (Ashama, Aruma and Adema)🔒 Babalawo

21The lost nest🔒 Babalawo

22The four children of Odi Meyi (the luck is in the house)🔒 Babalawo

23The slave who freed himself by making ebbó🔒 Babalawo

24The daughter of Obbatalá and Ikú (the peacock)🔒 Babalawo

25The visit of Aye🔒 Babalawo

26When the good things came to earth🔒 Babalawo

27The journey around the world🔒 Babalawo

28The prince who was going to another land🔒 Babalawo

29Oggún and Inle Oguere (feeding the earth)🔒 Babalawo

30The war between the iworos🔒 Babalawo

31The powerful one (Death, life and illness)🔒 Babalawo

32Shangó passed sentence on the right hand🔒 Babalawo

33It was divined for Itere (the nails with heads)🔒 Babalawo

34It was divined for the people of Ifé (the knot well tied)🔒 Babalawo

35It was divined for Oddidimate (the one who refused to sacrifice)🔒 Babalawo

36When they divined for Odi (the fortress)🔒 Babalawo

37Asheyeye Aiye, the abikú son of Orunmila🔒 Babalawo

38The journey of wealth (the stranger from Benin)🔒 Babalawo

39The jar of gold🔒 Babalawo

40The three heads of the devil🔒 Babalawo

41The toad and the young washerwoman🔒 Babalawo

38 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 Odi Meyi in Spanish →

Frequently asked questions about Odi Meyi

What does the Odù Odi Meyi mean in Ifá?

The womb of the world: motherhood, the sea, and the promise that what is lost will be found.

What number is Odi Meyi among the 256 Odù of Ifá?

Odi Meyi is Odù number 4 of the 256 in Ifá, one of the 16 Meyi and the head of the Odi family.

Which orishas speak in Odi Meyi?

In the Odù Odi Meyi these orishas speak: Orunmila, Oshún, Yemayá, Oggún, Ikú (la Muerte), Obbatalá, Egungun, Shangó, Azowanu (San Lázaro), Olokun, Odduduwa.

What is a proverb of the Odù Odi Meyi?

One of the proverbs of Odi Meyi says: «Death inherits everything on earth.».

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