Odù 69 of 256 · Odi family

Odi Ogunda

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.

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; 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 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.”

12 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 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

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 Odi Ogunda · The sacrifices that open the road

Beating enemiesFood for the four points of the compass🔒 Babalawo

Beating enemiesThe Awó's ebbó against the disrespectful one🔒 Babalawo

Beating enemiesThe flat stone of the enemies🔒 Babalawo

Pushing death awayQuick work when the hole is already open🔒 Babalawo

Pushing death awayMass for the Eggun, and care with the drum🔒 Babalawo

HealthTaking the curse off in twelve baths🔒 Babalawo

HealthProcession and praying to Obatalá🔒 Babalawo

LoveMoving house, asking Yemayá for it🔒 Babalawo

MoneyChickens at the corners for Eshú🔒 Babalawo

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

Works of Odi Ogunda · The workings of the sign

Beating enemiesThe Inshé-Osanyin of the four colors🔒 Babalawo

HealthA gelded ram for Yemayá🔒 Babalawo

Beating enemiesThe dog Ayafa🔒 Babalawo

Pushing death awayA dove at the door, and Ogún's chain🔒 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 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.

There was a woman whose mother, still living, loved to sing and dance with a little drum. Every day the daughter warned her not to play it any more, but her mother paid no attention; so the daughter would not see her, she went off to the open ground with the young people she invited and held her parties out of sight.

One day the daughter had a bad dream about her mother and the dead, and told her, but her mother paid no attention. The girl went to the Awó, who saw this Odù for her and marked her an ebbó. While she was making it, her mother took her chance, picked up the little drum and went off to the open ground; there the dead fell on her. She began calling for her daughter, but the girl did not hear her, and the dead killed her. That is why you must take care with the dead and with spiritual gatherings.

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🔒 Babalawo

5The spying and the dog Ayafa🔒 Babalawo

6Palm oil and corn oil🔒 Babalawo

7Yemayá's castle with four towers🔒 Babalawo

8The argument between Eshú and Eyiogbe🔒 Babalawo

9The thieves and Yemayá's daughters🔒 Babalawo

10Eshú Laberin and the tar man🔒 Babalawo

11The ones who spoke against Orunmila🔒 Babalawo

12The Ikín palm comes down to earth🔒 Babalawo

13The sandbox tree and the Awó🔒 Babalawo

14Sleeping around🔒 Babalawo

15The wise and the strong🔒 Babalawo

16Gourd, calabash and honey🔒 Babalawo

17No one knows who they are working for🔒 Babalawo

18The book of life🔒 Babalawo

19The life lived backward🔒 Babalawo

16 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 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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