Ofún Batrúpon

nº 253 of 256

Where languages were born — the Tower of Babel and the father of tongues — and the knife that holds up because of its temper.

20 patakíes 8 eewó 8 ebbós and works 15 proverbs

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Ofún Batrúpon is Odù number 253 of the 256 in Ifá, part of the Ofun family. This page brings together its prayer in Yoruba, 20 patakíes (3 with the full text), its proverbs, 8 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 253 of 256
Composition: Ofun over Otrupon
Orishas that speak: Yemayá y Olokun · Oluwo Popó y Oggún · Shangó · Elegbá · Olofin · Oyá · Abita

What Ifá says in this sign

Ofún Batrúpon is the father of tongues: here the Tower of Babel speaks — Olofin separated men for their disobedience by confusing the way they spoke, and they walked away from the work because they could not understand each other. His house inherits that echo: everyone talks a great deal and nobody understands anybody — without agreement there is no peace: the sign even orders you to move house if the noise does not stop.

His gifts are on loan: Olofin gives the three gifts — and takes them back because of the hidden greed of the one who got them. That is his portrait: greedy without letting it show, people think he is simple and he is very clever — but money blinds, and greed costs you your health, like the man who cut down the ikín plants: do not cut down your own treasure with your own hands, and do not turn into a dealer in what is sacred.

«At Babel they left the tower because they could not understand each other — the house of Ofún Batrúpon is built by coming to an agreement.»The pulse of Ofún Batrúpon

What he owes, he owes the Santos: they are spoken badly of here, and his word does not reach Olofin — the ceremony has to be done so he is heard in Heaven. He comes from a family with religion in it and with more than one faith — he believes in the Bible as readily as in the Koran — put that altar in order, because scattered belief in one God builds no towers either.

His tables are risky: be careful at dinners and gatherings — they can put ogú in what you eat or drink, like the etú prepared for Orunmila; they will buy from you for a peso what they will sell you for a hundred; they want you out of your post and use you for work that is not yours. And this is an Ifá of attacks: do not carry weapons of any kind, so you will not use them on anyone.

What happens in bed can be fixed: the weak nature of the duck and the rooster was lifted by ebbó — so can yours — the husband worked on by another woman through a ring is freed with the etú; and if the obiní wants to make peace, look twice: it may be to punish him for shaming her. His final emblem is the knife: it lost its edge and keeps it through its temper — by its grace, coconut is given to it after every killing: the temper holds up what the edge lost.

The sign in one line

Speak plainly and in one single language with your own, pay what you owe the Santos and let go of greed — because the knife of Ofún Batrúpon holds up through its temper.

The prayer of Ofún Batrúpon · Yoruba

Aporodé Ifá Monairé Olodún Bafún Agbalodé Focún Batrupón Bliguadé Eliguadé Pebeyé Modocún Intorí Arun Eyé Opó Mobadiré Intorí Arun Lerí Modocunyé Ofó Oyairé Yemayá Iyamí Badé Bayoún Dumbayé Wadé Ilé Olokun Mayó Oumbó Iré Ashegún Otá Koleñadió.

Ifá says — what Ofún Batrúpon tells you

It is the Ifá of the father of tongues: at the Tower of Babel, Olofin separated men for their disobedience, making them into clans through the spoken and the written word; they walked away from building the Tower because they could not understand each other. It is the Ifá of attacks: do not carry weapons of any kind, so you will not use them on anyone. This person is greedy and does not let it show; he does not like to work, people think he is simple and he is very clever, though he went through hardship for forgetting what he was. It is an Ifá of debts with the Santos: they are spoken badly of, and his word does not reach Olofin — a ceremony has to be done (burning an animal) so he is heard in Heaven. People cut down their own treasure with their own hands: money blinds them and they will do anything to get it; out of greed they lose their health, like the man who cut down the ikín plants. This Ifá marks a lack of unity and understanding: in his house everyone talks a great deal and nobody understands anybody. Other religions of different kinds are practiced here, leaning toward one God: the Holy Bible is believed in as readily as the Koran, Christianity as readily as Judaism, Arab paganism or the yoruba faith. At an atefá, two hands of Ifá have to be washed and put in another tureen for readings and other needs: he uses the original one only for himself. He must not give Ikofá or Awofakán, or make Ifá for anyone; if he does, it has to be with the hand that is not the original.
The brain and the belly suffer here, and very particularly vomiting; he can drop dead from an illness he has.
There is trouble in the marriage bed: the men are weak; his nature is weak, like the duck's and the rooster's before the ebbó.
Be careful at a dinner or a gathering: they can put ogú in what you eat or drink, like the etú with the ogú under its wings that they prepared for Orunmila.
Your husband is being worked on by another woman through a ring: make ebbó with an etú and take out one of its thighs.
In your house everyone talks a great deal and nobody understands anybody, because they cannot agree on how to live in peace: move away from where you live.
There is a free hand in bed here, and you are skilled in the art of pleasure, like the people of Babylon.
The obiní wants to make peace, but it is to punish him for shaming her.
They are going to buy something from you for a peso and sell it to you for a hundred: for one peso, they charge you a hundred.
They want you out of your post and they use you for work that is not yours.
Be careful where you go to eat: they can give you buzzard.
People here turn into dealers in the ikines of Ifá and in its trees, thinking little of the worth they hold.
The ewé of this Odù are: indigo, canutillo, coolness plant, bitter broom and purple basil.
The Tower of Babel speaks: the descendants of Noah, around 2250 B.C., wanted to build in the plain of Shinar a tower whose top would reach Heaven; Jehovah confused their tongues and scattered them over the whole face of the Earth. The treatise adds the story of Babylon, its customs and its corruption, and the remains of Birs Nimrud.
The Koran speaks, the holy book of Muslims: its 114 suras, the revelation of Allah to Muhammad through the angel Gabriel, and the teaching of Islam — one single God with no Trinity, with Paradise, Hell and Purgatory. Allah, the one God, with his ninety-nine attributes represented on the beads of the Muslim rosary.
The god half man and half fish speaks, Oanes (in the view of the treatise, Inle), who taught men the sciences and how to build.
The knife that lost its edge and keeps it through its temper speaks: by its grace, coconut is given to it after every killing.
The indigo stone speaks: do something with it to avoid trouble in the house.
The salta perico speaks: the evil shadow over the world, cursed by Oyá.
The weakness of the akukó and the kuekueyé speaks, and the strength they got back through the ebbó.

Proverbs of Ofún Batrúpon · Òwe

“There is no such thing as chance.”
“Through hidden greed, he loses the gift.”
“Each one will have his ashé according to how he behaves.”
“The greedy man throws his house into an uproar, but the man who hates handouts will live.”
“Fire burns whether you know it is there or not.”
“Noise cannot frighten a deaf man.”
“However much it thunders, that does not mean it will rain.”
“Dogs bark, human beings speak.”
“Not everyone at your side is on your side.”
“The deed that brings no gain brings suffering.”
“Whoever treats his partner like his mother has neither partner nor mother.”
“When the river makes noise, it is because it is carrying water.”
“Whoever can give to the poor without taking from his family and does not do it is a miser.”
“A mouse can come out of any bramble.”
“Working with no one to leave it to is an illusion.”

12 proverb interpretations in this Odù, locked.Every proverb explained: which road it comes from and how it applies.Unlock →

Iré and Osogbo

8 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 Ofún Batrúpon · Ìbí

The different languages and dialects.
Orunmila, on Olofin's order, changed the way men spoke: they stopped understanding each other and split into groups, spreading over the whole Earth.
That Ofún Batrúpon is the father of tongues.
The Tower of Babel speaks: the confusion of tongues with which Jehovah scattered the builders.
That Olofin gives the three gifts and takes them back over hidden greed.
The Blacksmith Diablo Bobo used his three gifts to get rich at everyone else's expense, and Olofin took them back.
The strength of the duck and the rooster.
From the ebbó of Yemayá and Elegbá: Olokun fed the roosters well and fed the ducks in secret, so they would have strength.
That Yemayá eats akukó and Olokun eats big, strong ducks.
From the trading of young between the two of them after Orunmila's ebbó.
That coconut is given to the knife after the killing.
The knife asked Olofin to be the first to taste everything and to have moforibale given to it after it had served: Olofin granted it for as long as the world is the world.
That the family has religion in it.
«The river runs, the river goes… you think the ikines are just funny faces; and yet you will follow Ifá».
Giving Abita his due.
Both good and evil are needed: when he was given his place, he pulled up most of the salta perico he had planted, leaving some so humankind would remember he has to be given his due.

What is forbidden · Eewó

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

Do not use weapons of any kind.
This is the Ifá of attacks: so that you do not use them against anyone.
Do not eat organ meats.
Rule of this Ifá.
Do not wear a black hat, or black ribbons, or costume jewelry.
Rule of this Ifá.
Do not sit on iron chairs.
They want to take your position away, like in the enchanted chair of the Blacksmith.
Do not be greedy.
Olofin takes your luck away: through hidden greed the grace is lost.
Do not speak badly of the Santos.
Your Guardian Angel is angry and there are debts with the Santos.
Do not cut down or sell the ikín plants.
Every plant that Ofún Batrúpon cut down for money cost him health: they are a treasure worth more than all the money.
Do not give Ikofá or Awofakán, and do not make Ifá for anyone with your original hand.
If you do it, it has to be with the hand that is not the original one (the false one).

Ebbós of Ofún Batrúpon · The sacrifices that open the road

HealthEbbó of the strength of the duck and the rooster🔒 The Notebook SpiritualEbbó of the knife🔒 The Notebook MoneyEbbó of the ikín cutter🔒 The Notebook SpiritualEbbó of the father of tongues🔒 The Notebook Beating enemiesEbbó of the dinner (the etú with the ogú)🔒 The Notebook

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

Works of Ofún Batrúpon · The workings of the sign

SpiritualThe moforibale to the knife🔒 The Notebook Beating enemiesWork of the etú at the corner🔒 The Notebook SpiritualInshé of the kuekueyé🔒 The Notebook

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

Patakíes of Ofún Batrúpon · The roads of the Odù

1The needs of Oluwo Popó and Oggún

Oluwo Popó and Oggún were in need in a town where everyone was rich and no one wanted their services; Oluwo Popó came up with the plan: Oggún, with his powers, would poison the water everyone drank, and he would cure the sick afterward. And that is how they were able to stay and live well in that town.

There was a time when Oluwo Popó and Oggún lived with great need. They had settled in a town of rich people, where nobody lacked anything, and for that reason nobody needed the services of either one.

In a talk, the two of them asked each other about their situation. Oggún admitted that his was terrible; Oluwo Popó said the same, since what he earned was barely enough to eat.

Oggún suggested leaving there to try his luck somewhere else. Oluwo Popó said no: if they worked together, he said, he already had a way worked out to keep going in that same place. The plan he laid out was simple: Oggún would make the neighbors sick and he would come after to cure them.

Oggún wanted to know how he was going to make them sick. Oluwo Popó called him a fool and told him: "Don't all the people in this town drink water from the same place? Well, what you have to do with the powers Olofin gave you is poison those waters. And I, with the powers Olofin has given me, cure the people. And this way we can stay and live well in this town."

2The strength of the duck and the rooster

Yemayá showed Olokun her young ducks, which fell over when they mated; Olokun, displeased, said he only ate strong blood, and Yemayá cried in shame. After Orunmila's ebbó — rooster and duck in the basin taken to the sea — Olokun fed the roosters and, in secret, the ducks: the strength of both was born, and from then on Yemayá eats akukó and Olokun eats big, strong ducks.

When this sign comes out, the Awó blows air upward and to the sides.

Ebbó: a duck and a rooster, aroldó cloth, sea water, indigo, 9 candles and a basin, a broken piece of jewelry, ekú, eyá, epó, agbadó and opolopo owó.

Yemayá told Olokun that she raised some animals that he would really like to eat. Olokun answered that he also raised an animal that she would like: the rooster. Up to then Yemayá only ate hen, and Olokun's food came down to abó and eledé.

One day Yemayá went by Olokun's house to invite him to see her animals. Once in her yard, Olokun saw that those animals were ducks and that they were falling down: as they walked, the males stepped on the females and they all fell over. Annoyed, he told Yemayá that those animals were sick and that he only ate strong blood.

Tears came to Yemayá's eyes from the hurt those words caused her. Olokun invited her for a walk, and on the way they ran into Elegbá, who, seeing her cry, broke into song: Ofún Mawá Lodeo Ayauró Loná Olokun / Mawá Lodeo Ayauró Loná.

The two took a path, got mixed up and ended up back where the ducks were. Getting to the pen again, they were amazed to see all the ducks swimming with no trouble, and Olokun said: "How good they look, how pretty they are." She set several ducks aside and served them to Olokun as unyén.

Elegbá said: "That is tasty food." Olokun then called them: "Come with me." They went to his pen, where he had rams, pigs and roosters, and he served them some of those animals, asking them which one they liked better. Both answered the rooster. Olokun added: "I am going to give you something else to eat, to see if you like it." He went back to the pen and brought two geese. Yemayá and Elegbá were horrified and ran off, vomiting the ram and the pig they had inside along the way, until they got to Orunmila's house.

Orunmila did osode for them and Ofún Batrúpon came out. His word was: "You have eaten three things and two of them have made you sick. So you have to make ebbó with a rooster, a duck, a basin, sea water, blue and white cloth and 9 candles."

Yemayá hurried off for the duck. Elegbá got the rooster by stealing it from Olokun's pen, and between the two of them they got it ready. Orunmila set up the ebbó with the instruction to take it late in the afternoon. He killed the rooster and the duck inside the basin, and all of that, along with the ebbó, they took to the sea. The next morning Olokun saw that very pretty thing swimming on the water and it pleased him a lot.

From the next day on he started giving the roosters good food and, without Yemayá knowing, he also fed the ducks so that they would get strong. He sent for Yemayá and Elegbá to tell them: "Every day you, Elegbá, have to come and eat rooster and take some to Yemayá too, and let her send me ducks."

On this road the strength of the duck and the rooster was born, since their nature is weak. Ewefá: purple basil and purple canutillo, frescura and escoba amarga. Yemayá eats akukó from then on, and Olokun, big strong ducks.

3The tempered knife does not lose its edge

Oggún used to sharpen any piece of iron and it soon became useless; Shangó tempered the iron and the edge lasted. The knife, knowing it would be used and then ignored, asked Olofin: that everyone who used it would cut himself, that it be the first to taste everything, and that moforibale be given to it after it had served. Olofin granted it: that is why, after every killing, coconut is given to the knife.

Before, when Oggún needed a knife, he sharpened any piece of iron he found at hand; with use, that blade went bad in a short time. Shangó had the idea of tempering the iron, and that way the edge held up through one use after another.

The knife understood that they would use it without rest and then set it aside. It came before Olofin to ask him, instead of a blessing, for a curse: "Now that the edge will last me through use, they are going to ignore me after they use me; and I want everyone who uses me to cut himself, and I want to be the first to taste everything, before anything that is to be eaten. And let them give me moforibale after I have served them."

It insisted so much that Olofin granted it: "To Iban Eshu. As long as the world is the world, it will be that way."

Note: that is why, when a matanza ends in Osha, in Orunmila or in any other Santo or religion, coconut is given to the knife and moforibale is made to it, because Olofin granted it that favor.

Ebbó: akukó and 4 eyelé, aberé medilogún, yarako, ekó, ekú, eyá and awadó, the necklaces he is wearing, etú and opolopo owó (the ebbó goes to the market).

Notes: in this Ifá organ meats are not eaten; no black hat and no black ribbons; costume jewelry is not used either.

4The man who cut down the ikín plants🔒 The Notebook 5The ikín trade🔒 The Notebook 6The father of tongues🔒 The Notebook 7The Tower of Babel🔒 The Notebook 8The Blacksmith (Diablo Bobo), Elegbá and Olofin🔒 The Notebook 9Orunla and the gathering he was invited to🔒 The Notebook 10The evil shadow over the world (Oyá, the salta perico and Abita)🔒 The Notebook 11Real friends🔒 The Notebook 12The price of going bad🔒 The Notebook 13Stubbornness and getting along🔒 The Notebook 14Death at the wrong hour🔒 The Notebook 15The innocent pay for the guilty🔒 The Notebook 16The tree of life🔒 The Notebook 17The post that came alive🔒 The Notebook 18The simple devil🔒 The Notebook 19The orphan and the witch🔒 The Notebook 20The volcanoes of anger🔒 The Notebook

17 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 Ofún Batrúpon in Spanish →

Frequently asked questions about Ofún Batrúpon

What does the Odù Ofún Batrúpon mean in Ifá?

Where languages were born — the Tower of Babel and the father of tongues — and the knife that holds up because of its temper.

What number is Ofún Batrúpon among the 256 Odù of Ifá?

Ofún Batrúpon is Odù number 253 of the 256 in Ifá, part of the Ofun family.

Which orishas speak in Ofún Batrúpon?

In the Odù Ofún Batrúpon these orishas speak: Yemayá y Olokun, Oluwo Popó y Oggún, Shangó, Elegbá, Olofin, Oyá, Abita.

What is a proverb of the Odù Ofún Batrúpon?

One of the proverbs of Ofún Batrúpon says: «There is no such thing as chance.».

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