Odù 62 of 256 · Odi family

Odi Ogbe (Odigbere)

The voice that fills the house of Ifá: sound and memory, where the box of the Baatá drums is born, along with the command to write everything down.

Odi Ogbe (Odigbere) is Odù number 62 of the 256 in Ifá, part of the Odi family. This page brings together its prayer in Yoruba, 31 patakíes (3 with the full text), its proverbs, 14 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 62 of 256
Composition: Odi over Ogbe
In the Diloggún: 7-8 · Odí tonti Eyeunle
Orishas that speak: Shangó · Azojuano (San Lázaro) · Ozain · Eshú / Elegba · Obatalá · Yemayá · Oyá · Yewa · Eggun / Aina-Yogun

What Ifá says in this sign

Odigbere is the voice that fills the whole house of Ifá: the sign of sound, of writing and of memory — here the box of the Baatá drums was born, along with the sacred command to write everything down so you do not forget. And it gives you an identity that comes with duties: you are the child of money and of good luck — Shangó minted money here.

That luck casts a shadow: this is an Ifá of watchfulness — sly enemies who never rest, betrayal among workmates, and a false accusation on its way: they will try to pin a theft on you, but the law will find the stolen goods in your enemy's house. Prepare your defense the way the obedient crab did: he made ebbó, and Orunmila gave him the claws he defends himself with to this day.

«Write everything down so you do not forget — written memory is the first ebbó of Odigbere.»The pulse of Odi Ogbe (Odigbere)

Write it all down: the loss in this odu begins with memory — what is not written down is forgotten, and what is forgotten is lost, from the money in your pocket to the Ikines of your Ifá. Here the notebook is a ritual instrument: guard your Ifá and your records the way you guard your life.

Care for your body and care at sea: your skin and your eyes (do not let the rain soak you), your chest and your nerves; and treat the sea with respect, because this odu marks the danger of drowning. Frights from the dead are treated with a drum for the Orishas — this sign heals through music, which is its own element. And the greatest warning: if this odu comes out for a pregnant woman, Ifá goes to the unborn child at once — that is how mother and child are both saved.

With Orunmila and the Warriors received, Eggun fed and the ram given to Shangó, the child of money collects what he inherited: things start moving, and the voice of Odigbere fills the house again — like the musician of this sign, who draws a sound out of the instrument that no one else can find.

The sign in one line

Write it down, keep watch and give Shangó his ram — the child of money is falsely accused, but the stolen goods turn up in the enemy's house.

The prayer of Odi Ogbe (Odigbere) · Yoruba

Odigbere omo korin inu iya, Ifá soro inu iya, adifafun omi tiro wa.

Súyere
Ifá Odigbere minima, Ifá Odigbere wagboni.

Ifá says — what Odi Ogbe (Odigbere) tells you

Kaferefún Shangó and Azojuano (San Lázaro). Maferefún Eggun, Ozain and the Ibeyis.
This is an Ifá of watchfulness, and of looking into sly enemies who will not rest until they have destroyed you.
You are the child of good luck and the child of money; this Odù is the beginning of creation.
It marks contagion, and strange spiritual happenings: you take fright and you see the dead.
There is trouble with the law, where others point at you or where you are a witness to something.
Someone is enjoying what they did nothing to build; there is betrayal among workmates.
When this Odù comes out for a pregnant woman, Ifá must be handed to the unborn child at once, so neither mother nor child is lost at the birth.
Illness of the skin, possibly leprosy, and rashes; also of the digestive, breathing, heart and nervous systems.
Blindness, which was cured here with the resedá plant.
Two women, and discord in the family: even your own people envy you.
A musician who draws a special sound out of his instrument that no one else can find.
Someone is controlling your thoughts by bad arts, and a woman is binding you.
You may drown at sea.
Theft, embezzlement, and dishonesty in the keeping of other people's property.
Intimate relations with people already spoken for, watched by someone who will not stop until they catch you.
Odigbere is the child of money and of good luck; Shangó minted money here.

Proverbs of Odi Ogbe (Odigbere) · Òwe

“The voice of Odigbere fills the whole Igbodun of Ifá.”
“Bring heaven down to earth, and earth up to heaven.”
“If a mother bears a child, she can be born again from that child.”
“The child who spoke inside his mother's womb.”
“Do not go back to what you already had.”
“To remember things, write them down.”
“Clinging to the past hides the answers of today and the plans of tomorrow.”
“There is no pregnant woman who cannot give birth to a babalawo.”
“In an upright world there is no distance between parents and children.”
“A deaf man cannot hold the beat, but a man with a fine ear can.”
“Feeling cancels out reason.”
“Fears can turn your dreams into nightmares.”
“On the straight road your enemies make no war.”

13 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

7 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 Ogbe (Odigbere) · Ìbí

The box of the Baatá drums.
In those days they were made from palm trunks covered with human skin, and had no clear sound, only a dull one; the carrying of sound comes from here.
The command to write everything down so nothing is forgotten.
This is the Land of Mowawe: whoever does not write things down loses them, the way Awó Oleona lost the three virtues of Olofin; here it is born that the Awoses write down the histories of Ifá.
The minting of money, which was Shangó's doing, and the child of money and of good luck.
Ebiri: the poison that comes in through wounds.
That is why you must look after your skin and after any illness caught through a wound.
The ageing of drink, and the lees of wine.
The crab's claws, which Orunmila gave to Akan so he could defend himself.
The Seven African Powers, and the spirits that mean harm.
The worship of the Bodun of smallpox; smallpox was first known in the world here.

What is forbidden · Eewó

6 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 Ogbe (Odigbere) · The sacrifices that open the road

MoneyEbbó of the Seven African Powers🔒 Babalawo

MoneyEbbó to solve hard situations🔒 Babalawo

LoveEbbó of the perfect match🔒 Babalawo

LoveWork against a binding🔒 Babalawo

Pushing death awayThe two Seguidi of Baba Akikibiti🔒 Babalawo

Pushing death awayA drum for the Orishas🔒 Babalawo

LossGuarding the Ifá so it does not go Ofo🔒 Babalawo

LossKeeping watch out of sight to find what was lost🔒 Babalawo

Beating enemiesA ram for Shangó🔒 Babalawo

Beating enemiesThe Inshé-Ozain of Odigbere🔒 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 Ogbe (Odigbere) · The workings of the sign

MoneyA young bull for Shangó every seven years🔒 Babalawo

Pushing death awaySettling the house with Ozain🔒 Babalawo

HealthEshú Lamu Lamu Baatá🔒 Babalawo

SpiritualWork for the Seven Powers🔒 Babalawo

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

Patakíes of Odi Ogbe (Odigbere) · The roads of the Odù

1When Ifá sang inside his mother's womb

Odigbere, still unborn, warned Olofin to sacrifice a white bull to Shangó or war would lay the land waste. Olofin paid no attention; the war came, and the child had to hide inside a gourd until he grew and set his people free.

While Ifá was still in his mother's womb, he said to his father Olofin: «Take a white bull and sacrifice it to Alufina, to Shangó; if you do not, war will lay this land waste inside three years. I will arrive on the day my father dies». Olofin paid no attention to the voice singing inside his wife.

The day came when Odigbere was born, and that same day the war began and Olofin had to go to it. The child asked his mother to put him inside a gourd, well covered, and hide him in the room. When the warriors came they did not see him, and they carried his mother off into slavery. The gourd read for everyone who passed and healed them. An old woman looked after it with great care, until one day the gourd said to her: «open me». Smoke came out and turned into a handsome, strong young man: «I am Ifá Odigbere, the diviner of the world; my voice fills the whole house of Ifá». He went to the market, bought his own mother out of slavery, prayed his sign while fanning his prenda, and the King of the Congos who held her died; he set all the slaves free, and they would worship him for as long as they fed him.

2Edigbe divined for Baatá and for Shangó

Baatá longed for a husband and Shangó longed for a wife. Edigbe sent each of them separately to take their sacrifice to the riverbank; there they came across each other praying, recognized what was happening and married. That is why they live as husband and wife to this day.

Edigbe divined for Baatá when she was longing for a husband, and also for Shangó when he was longing for a wife. He marked each of them a sacrifice separately, and both of them made it: Shangó with a she-goat, Baatá with a goat. He told Baatá to take hers to the river nearest the market, and Shangó to take his to the riverbank.

While they were praying with their offerings in their hands, they happened to see and hear each other. Shangó called Baatá over to join him; they asked each other why they were sacrificing, and both said they were looking for a partner. They fell in love, they embraced, and right there they agreed to marry, and they have lived happily ever since. That is why, when this Odù comes out for someone looking for the right partner, they are told that the two of them are a perfect match — as long as they make the sacrifice.

3Orunmila spied on God and gained his power

Orunmila envied the ashé of the divinities who kept watch while God bathed. He bought off Death and Night with sacrifices, made himself invisible and saw God unclothed; that is how he gained the power to make and unmake, though Death came after him.

Orunmila kept asking himself why Sorcery, Death, Night and Day had so much authority. His heavenly Awoses told him that they were the only ones allowed to keep watch while Almighty God took his bath: the first crowing of the cock marks when God begins to bathe, and the second when he finishes. If Orunmila could spy on God and watch him bathe, he would gain the same ashé. They told him to give a goat to Eshú, a rabbit to Night and a she-goat to Death, and he did it.

With the prenda that made him invisible, he climbed a ladder above the bathing room. Twice God dropped the gourd he was drawing water with, and he knew there was a spy; but Sorcery and Death, already bought off, denied seeing anyone. In the meantime Orunmila had already seen God unclothed and gained the power. God found him out in his mirror and sent Death to seize him; Orunmila used his new power to make the bushes and the fish of the river hide him, and Death could not reach him. From that day on, Orunmila held the power to make and unmake.

4Orunmila declares that the head is the only divinity🔒 Babalawo

5How Awó Oleona lost his memory🔒 Babalawo

6The road of leprosy🔒 Babalawo

7The Seven African Powers🔒 Babalawo

8Ilú Batá, the King's drummer🔒 Babalawo

9The mouse condemned in the cat's claws🔒 Babalawo

10Ogún and his mother's lover in Iré🔒 Babalawo

11Nomasheyu in the land of the cannibals🔒 Babalawo

12The power of the Eggun and the three princes🔒 Babalawo

13The war of the mayomberos and the mice🔒 Babalawo

14The birth of the crab's claw🔒 Babalawo

15When Obatalá abandoned his children🔒 Babalawo

16The dog, the rooster and the rabbit🔒 Babalawo

17Erdibre, Baba's cook🔒 Babalawo

18When Ozain learned the rule of Orunmila🔒 Babalawo

19The road of the drummer🔒 Babalawo

20The conceiving of the Congo women🔒 Babalawo

21Egdibe invents the drum🔒 Babalawo

22The smallholder's wife🔒 Babalawo

23The three enemies in disguise🔒 Babalawo

24The rebellious pipe🔒 Babalawo

25The drum of Obatalá🔒 Babalawo

26Erdibre enslaved by an Eggun of great power🔒 Babalawo

27Erdibre's wife and the spirit Ina Yegun🔒 Babalawo

28Wealth and fortune🔒 Babalawo

29The spiders saved Orunmila🔒 Babalawo

30Osha Aboñú: the bird of prey and Olofin's daughter🔒 Babalawo

31The eagle and the viper🔒 Babalawo

28 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 Ogbe (Odigbere) in Spanish →

Frequently asked questions about Odi Ogbe (Odigbere)

What does the Odù Odi Ogbe (Odigbere) mean in Ifá?

The voice that fills the house of Ifá: sound and memory, where the box of the Baatá drums is born, along with the command to write everything down.

What number is Odi Ogbe (Odigbere) among the 256 Odù of Ifá?

Odi Ogbe (Odigbere) is Odù number 62 of the 256 in Ifá, part of the Odi family.

Which orishas speak in Odi Ogbe (Odigbere)?

In the Odù Odi Ogbe (Odigbere) these orishas speak: Shangó, Azojuano (San Lázaro), Ozain, Eshú / Elegba, Obatalá, Yemayá, Oyá, Yewa, Eggun / Aina-Yogun.

What is a proverb of the Odù Odi Ogbe (Odigbere)?

One of the proverbs of Odi Ogbe (Odigbere) says: «The voice of Odigbere fills the whole Igbodun of Ifá.».

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