Ofún Biroso

nº 246 of 256

Where confession and letting your sorrows out were born: what you keep inside can kill you — and the ancestors speak to you in dreams.

19 patakíes 7 eewó 10 ebbós and works 10 proverbs

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Ofún Biroso is Odù number 246 of the 256 in Ifá, part of the Ofun family. This page brings together its prayer in Yoruba, 19 patakíes (3 with the full text), its proverbs, 10 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 246 of 256
Composition: Ofun over Iroso
In the Diloggún: 10-4 · Ofún tonti Iroso
Orishas that speak: Odduduwa · Olofin · Shangó · Yemayá · Elegbá · Oshún · Oyá · Yewá · Obatalá

What Ifá says in this sign

Ofún Biroso is the sign of the heart that lets things out: here confession and letting your sorrows out were born — it marks quiet worry and quiet suffering, and its medicine is talking: what you keep inside can kill you and dry up your heart. Here were also born eye makeup, the ritual marks on the face and the cut in the throat — and even the knock on the board: for Orunmila to speak, you have to strike him.

Its fable is about being reckless: paper and fire live face to face but never visit each other — the paper's insistence on that visit destroyed everything: do not court what burns you up. The cotton, on the other hand, won: the fire envied it for being white, and it put the fire out with the water of the ebbó — the clean one's defense is sacrifice, not a fight.

«What you keep quiet can kill you and dry up your heart — in Ofún Biroso confession was born as medicine.»The pulse of Ofún Biroso

Its papers cut both ways: this is the Ifá of paper that serves for good and for bad — trouble with property and deeds, and you can be taken to court over the very thing you preached: do not falsify the message of Ifá to protect yourself, the way the diviner Shofé did. The Awoses of this sign learn the secrets very fast, and there is a greater law: you do not receive Olofin without having Odduduwa — without those secrets nothing will come out right.

His home has an adviser in it: the woman who lifts the man up and tells him to keep going — respect her: the man who lives in love with the neighbor women does not see the stronger one who is taking him to his ruin. You had an obiní who dressed in pink, and since you parted from her you have had no life in you; for the woman whose fire has gone out, there are works that light it again. And your ancestors speak to you in dreams — Oluyaré is the Egun of this sign: listen to them.

Its rules about health are strict: alcohol is forbidden completely because of its part in epilepsy, the throat and the voice box are watched, fevers and swelling in the nose and ears are treated fast, and pride is a sickness too: whoever thinks he is King and looks down on others pays for it with humiliation — like the man with the cane field. You are poor and confused by three things: give thanks to Shangó and to Obatalá — and confess, because a dry heart gets nowhere.

The sign in one line

Let your sorrows out, do not court the fire the way the paper did, and give up alcohol — because the cotton of Ofún Biroso won with the water of its ebbó.

The prayer of Ofún Biroso · Yoruba

Osha Gerere Awó Alawó Bana Adifafún Olofin Efó Elebó, Orí, Akukó, Eyelé Lebó, Ofún Iroson Boyú Osha Gere Adifafún Alawó Bana Lorí Efú Orubó Kaferefún Odduduwa Awó Erún Okón Lodafún Obatalá Kaferefún Osun Loyú Awó Lenú Oni Lenú Awó Ni Kaferefún Orunmila Ikín Adifafún Olosun Korieyeye A Efún Soyú Sokún Ifá Ni Kaferefún Odduduwa, Ifá Ni Kaferefún Olofin.

Súyere
Eyé Orí Kanwá / Odduduwa Etiwá Orí / Iré Agbá Adié Olofin.

Ifá says — what Ofún Biroso tells you

It is the Ifá of paper that serves for good and for bad: trouble with property and deeds; he can be taken to court over the very thing he preached and prescribed. It is an Ifá where the message of Ifá gets falsified for self-protection, the way the diviner Shofé did with the Ewi. It points to losing everything and losing your place: the road of life ends without warning because of other people. This person has nothing to look forward to and has lost his way; it marks worry, sorrow and quiet suffering: here letting your sorrows out and confession were born. If this person has no Crown, he has to make Santo. The Awoses have to study and learn the secrets of Ifá very fast. The secrets of Odduduwa must be known, because without them nothing will come out right: Olofin is not received without having Odduduwa. The Egun of this Ifá is named Oluyaré; the ancestors speak to this person in dreams, and an inshé of Ozain is prepared so they will teach him the roads of life.
This person thinks he is King and out of pride treats everyone else with contempt: pride is paid for with humiliation, like the man with the cane field.
The woman lifts the man up and tells him to keep going, like the wife of the man who owned the palms.
The men do not respect their wives and live watching and courting the neighbor women, without noticing that there is one stronger than he is, who is taking him to his own ruin and the ruin of his home.
His friends do not take the advice of Ifá, like the three who would not plant squash.
Take care of the upper airway and the swollen belly: breathing in irritating fumes, growths in the voice box and the parts around it, wounds and injuries to the jaw and face, and swelling of the voice box.
Alcohol is completely forbidden in every form, because of its part in epilepsy; the genes that bring on fits and what has been passed down in the nerves should be looked at.
Look carefully and act fast with sharp fevers and swelling in the nose and ears; take care of your brain.
Be careful about surgery during pregnancy, and take care of one leg.
There was an obiní in your life who dressed in pink; since the two of you split up, you have no vitality.
He goes through a shame over relations with an obiní; he can end up impotent: stop jumping from one place to another.
In the obiní the fire has gone out: the feeling in sex is lost (there are works to bring it back).
Your business is only going halfway; you are poor and you carry three things that have you confused: give thanks to Shangó and to Obatalá.
The ewé of this Odù are ground orosun and sapote.
Paper and fire speak, who live face to face but never visit each other: the paper's insistence on the fire's visit destroyed everything.
The cotton speaks, envied by the fire for how white it was and for how much Obatalá loved it: with the water of the ebbó it put out its enemy.
The mother of Orunmila speaks, the Virgin of the Rosary (Yanyá Yekún Loná): the Awó of this Ifá should use an okpele with rosary beads.
Yewá speaks — the Virgin of Monserrat, Our Lady of the Forsaken: her shadow turns this person into an antenna that Egun broadcast through.
The Egun Oluyaré speaks, the Egun of this Ifá.
Epilepsy speaks, which comes up in Ofún Biroso, Ofún Lení and Ofún Bilé; night epilepsy comes up in Ofún Birete (Bilé). The treatise describes it in clinical detail: the genuine or idiopathic kind, the symptomatic (focal) kind, the grand mal, the coma after a fit, and epilepsy that starts late in life.
Omí is thrown in the house and in the ebbó.

Proverbs of Ofún Biroso · Òwe

“Whoever plays with fire gets burned.”
“Each one has his own destiny assigned to him.”
“Pride is paid for with humiliation.”
“He is saved if he obeys.”
“He was found walking along the road.”
“Fire and paper live face to face but never visit each other.”
“Fire is put out with water, and that is how you put out your enemies.”
“The road of life ends without warning because of other people.”
“Ifá is falsified here.”
“Ifá protects only those who trust in him.”

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

Iré and Osogbo

9 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 Biroso · Ìbí

Eye makeup and the ritual marks on the face.
The adié of this Odù get a line of efún painted over the right eye and one of osun over the left.
The cut in the throat.
The treatise sets out the cut into the windpipe through the neck and the tube, with when it is called for and when it is an emergency.
That for the diviner or the sorcerer, adultery with a client's wife is taboo.
From the road of Shofé and the Ewi: adultery makes the ebbó and the medicine fail to work.
That you cannot receive Olofin without having Odduduwa.
Odduduwa, looked down on, went off to the center of the Earth and Shangó burned sulfur: the dying stopped when Odduduwa was recognized ahead of Olofin.
The Awó Alawobana, who hold the secrets of Odduduwa and of Olofin.
Shangó and Awó Erún Opón consecrated the Awoses of Osha Gerere in the secrets of Odduduwa.
That osun is put on the adelé for Orunmila to eat.
To remember that Shangó and Elegbá brought that power: Shangó comes before everything in that land, and that way the iná does not finish them off.
Letting your sorrows out, and confession.
Things kept inside can kill you and dry up your heart.
Loss of memory, the wearing out of the nerves in the brain, and epilepsy (the genuine or idiopathic kind, and the symptomatic or focal kind).
From the road of Orunmila and his mother: talking to his father at night changed his life and his memory.
That to atefar Ifá and have Orunmila speak through it, you have to strike it.
Orunmila, asleep, struck his mother without meaning to and swore: «For me to speak, in memory of you, they will have to strike me».
Falsifying the message of Ifá to protect yourself.
Shofé lied to the Ewi so they would arrest the diviner of Ofá and he would not lose his post.

What is forbidden · Eewó

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

Alcohol is forbidden with all strictness, in all its forms.
Because of its part in the epilepsy that speaks in this Odù.
Do not commit adultery with the wife of your client (the taboo of the diviner).
It makes the ebbó and the medicine have no effect, and it is paid as Shofé paid: with the death sentence.
Do not be insistent with your friends or with your family.
The paper insisted on the fire's visit and she destroyed everything.
Do not throw fire down just anywhere.
The cane grower threw the flame, burned his own plantation, and was left ruined.
Do not take sudden drafts of air, and do not do foolish things right after getting up or after bathing.
You have health problems; be careful with a draft of air and with toxic fumes.
Do not speak ill of anyone, or of yourself.
There is jealousy against you over something you said: a misfortune has to be avoided.
Be careful with the person you offer your house to.
A friend can end up living with your wife.

Ebbós of Ofún Biroso · The sacrifices that open the road

Beating enemiesEbbó of the cane grower and the palms🔒 The Notebook LossEbbó of the paper and the fire🔒 The Notebook Beating enemiesEbbó of the cotton (with water)🔒 The Notebook SpiritualEbbó of the secrets of Odduduwa🔒 The Notebook HealthEbbó of Orunmila's mother🔒 The Notebook SpiritualEbbó of the diviner of Ofá🔒 The Notebook

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

Works of Ofún Biroso · The workings of the sign

SpiritualThe basin of the ancestors (Atena of Ofún Biroso)🔒 The Notebook LoveWork for feeling in sex between a couple🔒 The Notebook HealthWork of Ofún Biroso for a man's strength with Oggún🔒 The Notebook Keeping death awayCleaning with the squash patch🔒 The Notebook

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

Patakíes of Ofún Biroso · The roads of the Odù

1The barren land where Orunmila had them plant squash

Four friends kept insisting on planting corn in ground that gave nothing but fodder; Orunmila told them to plant squash, the friends refused, and the seed thrown down in anger gave a beautiful squash patch: Oshún taught them how to plant corn, Shangó marked out the yam, San Lázaro the beans, and Oyá blessed the land with plenty.

Four friends farmed a small piece of land together and agreed to plant corn. All four put hard work into it, but after some time the only thing that planting gave was fodder. They went at the corn again and it went the same way; the third year, the same result.

One of them, with many children to feed, ended up begging Olofin and all the Saints to make that land give him a good harvest. Elegbara was nearby and heard the plea: he came up to the man, asked him what was wrong and told him: "Let us go to Orunmila."

They reached Orunmila's house. He listened to him and told him: "Well, do not plant corn any more: plant pumpkin, and take this seed." On the way back, his friends did not want to follow that instruction; and he, annoyed, threw away the seed Orunmila had given him.

A short time later a beautiful pumpkin patch was growing in that place, loaded with big, beautiful pumpkins. Oshún passed by, was amazed and asked them: "Do you sell those pumpkins?" They answered: "We do not sell them." Oshún insisted: "And what do you want for them?" And they asked: "A favor: that this land produce corn." She settled the matter: "That is easy; what you do not know is how to plant it." And she taught them how to plant it.

Then Shangó came: "What beautiful pumpkins, do you sell them?" Again they said no; what they wanted was to be given corn. Shangó explained to them that this land was yam land, and they planted it the same way as the corn. After him came Saint Lazarus: "What lovely pumpkins, do you sell them?" "What we want is for this land to produce," they answered. And Saint Lazarus told them: "Plant beans." And they planted them.

Last came Oyá, and she said: "What big pumpkin leaves, and I am so hot from the Sun." She got the same request from them, and she sent them to plant trees and blessed that land; from then on everything grew in abundance.

Note: for Elegbara, a chicken; for Oyá, two hens. With them you clean yourself and then you take them to Oyá's house, leaving them on the outside.

2The cane grower who lost everything out of pride

A cane grower, thinking himself a King, threatened to cut down the palms of his humble neighbor; the neighbor's wife dreamed that he should go to Orula, who marked him an ebbó to be made in a hurry and thrown into the cane field; two homeless men who smoked beside the ebbó set the cane on fire: the palm was saved, the cane grower died of grief, and the one who obeyed was saved.

Ebbó: 16 pieces of sugar cane, ikordié, mariwó, soil from the foot of a palm tree, a cigar, abití, akofá, malaguidí meta, owó la meyo.

On this road, a man started planting cane on land where nobody had taken up that business. He had seen its fruits in other places and took the result for granted, so he already felt like a King: he saw himself becoming the richest man around in a short time, and he grew so proud that he came to look down on people and treat them with no consideration at all.

Another man lived around there who worked with the palm tree; from the palm fruit, the broom and the palm thatch he got just enough to keep his family modestly.

The planter filled a huge stretch of land with cane. The palms, which were plentiful, dropped their product on top of it, and that weight broke the cane. Offended, the planter took the owner of the palms to court and warned him that he was going to have every palm inside his land cut down, as soon as possible and without any consideration.

The threat left the owner of the palms so downcast that his wife had to give him courage. She never stopped praying to Olofin that this would not happen. From praying so much, one night she dreamed that she was told to go to Orula and do whatever he ordered, that this way he would come out well from everything, and that it was Eshu who was sending it. They woke up the next day very happy, because now they had a Santo to lean on.

The man went to Orunmila, and this Odù came out for him: he had to make ebbó quickly and throw it in the cane field. So he did. When he went to throw it, two men of miserable appearance followed him, and as soon as he left they went through the contents; since everything there suited them, they decided to stay there and wait for another ebbó. They cleaned the foot of the palm tree thoroughly, and that is how their days went by, talking and smoking.

Then the wind came, on a day when the cane was in flower. The owner of the cane, very happy, got on his horse and announced to the people: "Soon I will be the richest man in this district." The animal took fright and threw him off. The men who were inside the cane field ran out and, since they came along smoking, they set fire to the cane. The palm tree was left free of the fire; the cane burned whole. The planter died of grief, and the owner of the palms was saved because he had obeyed.

3The cane farmer and the peanut farmer

The rich cane farmer used to humiliate the peanut farmer; the peanut farmer made ebbó and put it on the road between the two fields; the rich man's horse tripped over the ebbó, the man struck a flame to see, threw it onto his own cane field and was ruined: he had to go ask the peanut farmer for work.

Two men lived off the land in this Ifá: one planted cane; the other, peanuts. The cane man had made a fortune and owned a huge plantation, and every so often he would come by the peanut planter's door just to humiliate him.

One day the peanut man went to Orula's house. Orula saw this Ifá for him and told him to make ebbó, with the order to leave it, once finished, on the road that split the two plantations in two.

So it was done. Some time later, when the cane grower was crossing the boundary path, his horse tripped on that thing. The rider struck a light and raised a flame to see what was in the way; when he saw what it was, he threw it far off, and it landed in his own cane field. The fire finished off the whole plantation. Ruined, the cane man ended up asking the peanut man for work, and from then on the peanut man lived more at peace. Maferefún Orunla, Maferefún Orishaokó.

4The man who did not respect his wife🔒 The Notebook 5Shofé, the Ewi's diviner, and «He was found walking along the road» (the diviner of Ofá)🔒 The Notebook 6The paper and the fire🔒 The Notebook 7The cotton and the fire🔒 The Notebook 8Olofin must not be received without having Odduduwa (the land of Osha Gerere)🔒 The Notebook 9Loss of memory and the wearing out of the nerves in the brain (why Orunmila is struck to atefar)🔒 The Notebook 10In the obiní the fire went out🔒 The Notebook 11Shangó burned sulfur in the bowels of the Earth🔒 The Notebook 12The worshippers of the clay🔒 The Notebook 13The parrot feathers🔒 The Notebook 14Where the memory is lost🔒 The Notebook 15The orphan🔒 The Notebook 16The princess complex🔒 The Notebook 17Borrowed knowledge🔒 The Notebook 18The seven princes and the daughter of the rain🔒 The Notebook 19Magic and Ifá🔒 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 Ofún Biroso in Spanish →

Frequently asked questions about Ofún Biroso

What does the Odù Ofún Biroso mean in Ifá?

Where confession and letting your sorrows out were born: what you keep inside can kill you — and the ancestors speak to you in dreams.

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

Ofún Biroso is Odù number 246 of the 256 in Ifá, part of the Ofun family.

Which orishas speak in Ofún Biroso?

In the Odù Ofún Biroso these orishas speak: Odduduwa, Olofin, Shangó, Yemayá, Elegbá, Oshún, Oyá, Yewá, Obatalá.

What is a proverb of the Odù Ofún Biroso?

One of the proverbs of Ofún Biroso says: «Whoever plays with fire gets burned.».

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