Odi Ogunda

nº 69 of 256

Where the trap and the lie were born, and where the ashé sits in the mouth: speaker, singer, teacher — the voice of this sign is a king's drum.

19 patakíes 5 eewó 13 ebbós and works 12 proverbs

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Odi Ogunda is Odù number 69 of the 256 in Ifá, part of the Odi family. This page brings together its prayer in Yoruba, 19 patakíes (3 with the full text), its proverbs, 13 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 69 of 256
Composition: Odi over Ogunda
In the Diloggún: 7-3 · Odí tonti Ogundá
Orishas that speak: Ogún · Shangó · Eshú Joroki · Yemayá · Obatalá · Osanyin · Eggun protectores

What Ifá says in this sign

Odi Ogunda is the odu where the trap and the lie were born — and where, to balance them, Olofin placed the brightest gift of all: the ashé of this person sits in the mouth. Speaker, singer, broadcaster, teacher: your voice is your fortune, and for that very reason your mouth can only speak good.

Look after the instrument: your throat and your vocal cords are your treasure and your weak point — you can lose your voice; see to your liver and your blood pressure, and the woman of this odu, to her cycle and her operations. When this odu tells you to sing, it is not a figure of speech: you are told to sing so your luck can find you.

«The ashé of Odi Ogunda sits in the mouth — which is why that mouth can only speak good.»The pulse of Odi Ogunda

The luck of Odi Ogunda has a fine ear: it arrives, and if it finds an argument going on in the house, it leaves. Clean the house, cook early, do not quarrel — and win back your authority over your children with your word, not with your hand: a steady character balances physical strength. Sleeping around, on the other hand, leads to disaster: that is the trap this odu sets for its own owner.

Your debts are from the other world: a debt to the dead is bad food, and a war with the dead ends badly — hold a mass for your mother or your relative, be careful at spiritual gatherings, and send away the obsessing Eggun that fastens onto you and throws you to the ground. Three people are watching you, waiting to betray you: when they call you, do not go rushing out to the corner.

And the promises of the sign of the drum: an inheritance or a lottery win once the ebbó is made — and the debts paid —, prosperity that grows along with the animals in your house, and victory from all four points of the compass: feed them, and you will hold your enemies in check. The ILU drum was born here to carry the messages of kings — and your voice, well used, is that drum

The sign in one line

Sing to call your luck in, do not argue at home and pay what you owe the dead — the voice of Odi Ogunda is a king's drum.

The prayer of Odi Ogunda · Yoruba

Odi Ogunda baralele awo omi oye baralele awo, awo abiti abaranile yewe ifa motorilaye Shango omo alara awalade ni Shango babino boribo awo, awo abiti moyare bini beyekofun, kaferefún Eshu moyebi wa alaramo abiti.

Súyere
Omo ladeo baranila awo leri ifa ladeo.

Ifá says — what Odi Ogunda tells you

Kaferefún Eshú, Shangó and Ogún. Maferefún Yemayá, Obatalá and Osanyin.
Your ashé sits in your mouth: you are a speaker, a broadcaster, a singer or a teacher, and you must guard your mouth and always speak good.
A steady character balances physical strength; sleeping around leads to disaster.
The luck arrives, and if it finds an argument going on in the house, it leaves.
This is an Ifá of division — the tureen of Ifá was divided — and of instability; the Awó should not make Ifá more than twice.
You came into this life under a curse, which is why things go wrong for you, and you must make sacrifice and make Santo.
Illness of the liver, blood pressure high or low, removal of the inner organs, operations, lumps and trouble with the monthly cycle.
The throat and the vocal cords; you may lose your voice, and you may bring up blood from the mouth or pass it from the rear.
Tragedy and trouble with your children, because you have lost your authority over them.
The way your partner neglects you, in what you need and in how you are treated.
An obsessing Eggun that fastens onto you and throws you to the ground, and that can drive you out of your mind.
You keep company whose way of life sets people talking about you.

Proverbs of Odi Ogunda · Òwe

“A steady character balances physical strength.”
“Sleeping around leads to disaster.”
“Whoever is being watched does not get away.”
“A debt to the dead is bad food; a war with the dead ends badly.”
“Tell me who you keep company with and I will tell you who you are.”
“Whoever reaches out too far loses their balance.”
“Insults do not kill love; kind words feed it.”
“What you cannot eat, let others eat.”
“Whoever fights someone else's war loses their own peace.”
“Do not want what is not yours by right.”
“Whoever mistreats another's child is asking for someone to mistreat their own.”
“A monarch's rage means death in the town, unless there is a wise man to calm him.”

9 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 Odi Ogunda · Ìbí

The trap and the lie.
Oshanla swore Shangó's son into the secret of Abiti, and ever since, to live well, you have to tell lies to yourself and to the world.
The great ILU drum, messenger of the Kings, and the spirit of the drum of Dahomey (Teghesu Sama).
Teghesu hid inside the Gohne drum and made war at the cry of Teghesu Sama.
Spying, and the recording of the voice.
Editola's jar repeated the conversations of the plotters; his dog Ayafa was named its guardian.
The tricking of the eye, and the passing of the clouds.
Eshú, with his cap of four colors, fooled Olofin's four-eyed goat, and the clouds covered the sun.
The operating theatre and the removal of the womb.
The woman is emptied out, her inner organs removed; surgical instruments are set out for Ogún.
The forbidding of corn oil (Adín) to the deities, except to Osanyin.
Adín, an unfaithful wife, was cast out by every divinity except Osanyin, who kept her as his mistress.

What is forbidden · Eewó

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

Do not take in the glow of the moon.
This is the Ifá of the moon; the glow harms you.
Do not go out suddenly when they call you.
Your enemy is there, hidden to attack you.
Do not share the house or anything else with another person.
Do not go around with people who love their own sex, and do not listen to gossip.
They bring rumors and problems.
Do not make Ifá without the permission of the Guardian Angel.
This Odù points out that Ifá was made without that permission, and you must fulfill it.

Ebbós of Odi Ogunda · The sacrifices that open the road

Beating enemiesFood for the four points of the compass🔒 The Notebook Beating enemiesThe Awó's ebbó against the disrespectful one🔒 The Notebook Beating enemiesThe flat stone of the enemies🔒 The Notebook Keeping death awayQuick work when the hole is already open🔒 The Notebook Keeping death awayMass for the Eggun, and care with the drum🔒 The Notebook HealthTaking the curse off in twelve baths🔒 The Notebook HealthProcession and praying to Obatalá🔒 The Notebook LoveMoving house, asking Yemayá for it🔒 The Notebook MoneyChickens at the corners for Eshú🔒 The Notebook

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

Works of Odi Ogunda · The workings of the sign

Beating enemiesThe Inshé-Osanyin of the four colors🔒 The Notebook HealthA gelded ram for Yemayá🔒 The Notebook Beating enemiesThe dog Ayafa🔒 The Notebook Keeping death awayA dove at the door, and Ogún's chain🔒 The Notebook

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

Patakíes of Odi Ogunda · The roads of the Odù

1When the trap and the lie were born

Oshanla secretly took the son she had by Shangó to Orunmila to be made Ifá, and swore him into a dark secret. On drawing the Odù, the Awoses saw that he would be a trickster; Shangó named him Awó Abiti and declared that from then on, to live well, you have to tell lies.

Shangó had a son by Oshanla, and she, behind Shangó's back, made the boy a great oath so he would live well and do as he liked with everyone else. One day she secretly took him to the land of Obara Nile, where Orunmila lived, to have Ifá made for him, singing along the road «Omo ladeo baranila awo leri ifa ladeo». Shangó, who happened to be nearby, hid and said nothing; he went home, found the secrets Oshanla had made for his son behind his back, and was displeased.

Orunmila, pleased that the boy was Shangó's son, gathered the Awoses and made him Ifá; but when the Odù came out at the Untefa, the Awoses were troubled and said: «This one will be straight with you sometimes, and other times he will try to trick you». Just then Shangó came in and said: «I will greet him, but this son of mine will be the trap of the world, and his name will be Awó Abiti». Then he said to Oshanla: «You swore him into the secret of Abiti without knowing what you were doing; from this moment, with Orunmila's pardon, the trap is born: to live well, you have to tell lies to yourself, to me and to the world».

2The mother and the dead

A mother would not listen to her daughter and kept going off with a little drum to hold parties with the dead. The daughter had a bad dream and went to make ebbó; meanwhile the mother took the drum, went off to the open ground, and the dead fell on her and killed her.

A woman still had her mother alive, and the old lady liked to sing and dance with a little drum of hers. The daughter asked her every day to leave it alone, but she did not listen: so as not to be caught, she would go off to the empty lot with the young men she invited and hold her parties in secret.

One night the girl had a bad dream in which her mother and the dead appeared; she told her about it, but the old lady ignored her again. So she went to the Awó, who saw this Odù for her and ordered ebbó. While she was doing it, the mother took her chance, grabbed the little drum and went off to the empty lot; there the dead fell on her with blows. She screamed for her daughter, who did not manage to hear her, and the dead finished her off. That is why you must be careful with the dead and with spiritual parties.

3Teghesu Sama, the spirit of the drum

Teghesu, son of the gods of the sacred drum, was bewitched by the genie of the Amazons and was nearly beaten in battle. Afaata saw this Odù for him and told him to give the Gohne drum to his mother; hidden inside the drum, he killed his enemies at the cry of Teghesu Sama.

Noranjo and Ñonufo were great gods of the sacred drum of Dambala Laken Mali: Noranjo carried messages to the dead and Ñonufo was messenger to the Orishas. Their son Teghesu was a fierce fighter, feared across the whole region of Weme. The genie of the Amazons fell in love with him and had an omologu prepare witchcraft to bring him to her feet; in one battle, Teghesu felt ill and was nearly beaten.

He went to see Awó Afaata, who saw this Odù for him, marked him an ebbó and told him afterward to give the Gohne drum to his mother. He did so and went out to fight; he was winning when the witchcraft caught him again and he had to fall back, chased as far as his mother's temple. There he hid inside the drum, and when his enemies arrived they took him for Ñonufo and knelt; Teghesu took his chance and killed them all with his sword at the cry of «Teghesu Sama». From then on he made war from inside the drum, and that is why the great spirit of the drum in Dahomey stands for Teghesu Sama.

4The cap of four colors and the goat with four eyes🔒 The Notebook 5The spying and the dog Ayafa🔒 The Notebook 6Palm oil and corn oil🔒 The Notebook 7Yemayá's castle with four towers🔒 The Notebook 8The argument between Eshú and Eyiogbe🔒 The Notebook 9The thieves and Yemayá's daughters🔒 The Notebook 10Eshú Laberin and the tar man🔒 The Notebook 11The ones who spoke against Orunmila🔒 The Notebook 12The Ikín palm comes down to earth🔒 The Notebook 13The sandbox tree and the Awó🔒 The Notebook 14Sleeping around🔒 The Notebook 15The wise and the strong🔒 The Notebook 16Gourd, calabash and honey🔒 The Notebook 17No one knows who they are working for🔒 The Notebook 18The book of life🔒 The Notebook 19The life lived backward🔒 The Notebook

16 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 Odi Ogunda in Spanish →

Frequently asked questions about Odi Ogunda

What does the Odù Odi Ogunda mean in Ifá?

Where the trap and the lie were born, and where the ashé sits in the mouth: speaker, singer, teacher — the voice of this sign is a king's drum.

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

Odi Ogunda is Odù number 69 of the 256 in Ifá, part of the Odi family.

Which orishas speak in Odi Ogunda?

In the Odù Odi Ogunda these orishas speak: Ogún, Shangó, Eshú Joroki, Yemayá, Obatalá, Osanyin, Eggun protectores.

What is a proverb of the Odù Odi Ogunda?

One of the proverbs of Odi Ogunda says: «A steady character balances physical strength.».

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