Ofun Roso

Also called Ofún Biroso, Ofun Iroso

nº 246 of 256 · Edited by Ricco Ledesma

Where confession and the relief of sorrows are born: what is kept inside can kill, and the ancestors communicate in dreams.

19 patakíes 7 eewó 10 ebbós and works 10 proverbs

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Ofun Roso is Odù number 246 of the 256 in Ifá, part of the Ofun family. It is also written as Ofún Biroso or Ofun Iroso. This page brings together its prayer in Yoruba, 19 patakíes (3 in full in plain sight, with their teaching, ebbó and chants), its proverbs, 10 ebbós and works and the signs it shows in the consultation — with the full eewó in plain sight; the rest of the 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

Ofun Roso, also known as Ofún Biroso, is the sign of unburdening. Here were born confession and the relief of sorrows, also the rule that Olofin is not received without having Oduduwa, and the ban on the diviner having an affair with the wife of the person who consults him. Its ruling: what you keep inside can dry up your heart and take your life; speak, unburden yourself, and you will be saved if you are obedient.

This sign speaks of someone who has been losing everything, suffers silently and at times feels there is nothing left to live for. If that is your case, do not stay alone with that burden: tell someone you trust, seek help from a doctor or a professional, and attend to your ancestors, who here speak to you in dreams and show you the way. Death pursues you, and your life can be cut short suddenly because of others. Beware of fire in your home and of parties, where a fire or a fight can ruin everything.

«What is kept silent can kill and dry up the heart. In Ofún Biroso confession was born as medicine.»The pulse of Ofun Roso

Pride is your enemy: you think you are a king and look down on others, and in this sign that arrogance is paid for with humiliation. Make the ebbó without delay and value those beside you: the humble farmer who carried it out in a hurry saved his palm trees, and the rich man who scorned it burned his own cane field. Talking about everyone, and even about yourself, puts your life at risk. Look after your papers and property, because you could be taken to court for the very thing you advised.

In love, the man of this sign scorns his wife and chases after the neighbors, without seeing that one of them controls him and ruins him along with his home. His wife may deceive him, and a friend may end up living with her. Beware of a woman who dresses in pink, who carries the shadow of Yewá and drags the Egun toward you. Pay your promise to Oshún so that she mends your marriage. Your business is only half working; stay away from quarrels.

In health, this odu brings epilepsy, forgetfulness and the wearing down of memory, and that is why alcohol is completely forbidden to you. Take care of your throat, where there may be tumors and inflammation, your breathing, your belly, ears, eyes and one leg. The man may become impotent, and surgery during pregnancy is dangerous. Love Yemayá, who watches over you and your whole family, and receive Obatalá: water puts out the fire of your enemies.

The sign in one line

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

The prayer of Ofun Roso · 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 Ofun Roso tells you

The person feels like a King and arrogance leads her to look down on others: arrogance is paid for with humiliation, as happened to the cane planter.
The woman encourages the man and advises him to keep going, as the wife of the owner of the palms did.
The man disrespects his wife and lives watching the neighbor women, in love with them, without realizing that one of them is stronger than he is and drags him to the destruction of himself and of his home.
The friends do not accept the advice of Ifá, like the three who refused to plant pumpkins.
Care must be taken of the upper aerodigestive tract and a bloated belly: inhalation of irritating gases, tumors of the larynx and neighboring organs, injuries and trauma in the maxillofacial area, and inflammation of the larynx.
Alcohol is strictly forbidden, in any of its forms, because it affects epilepsy; it is advisable to investigate what neuropathic load was inherited and whether there are positive convulsive genes.
Acute feverish processes and inflammations of the nasal cavities and ears require careful analysis and quick action; you must take care of the brain.
Be careful about surgery during pregnancies and take care of a leg.
There was in your life an obiní who dressed in pink; since you separated, you have had no vitality.
Shame is suffered because of relations with an obiní; impotence may come: stop going from one partner to another.
In the obiní the stove went out: sexual feeling is lost (there are works to restore it).
Your business goes only halfway; you are short of money and carry three matters that leave you confused: thank Shangó and Obatalá.
The ewé of this Odù: orosun de la tierra and zapote.
The paper and the fire speak: they live facing each other and never visit; the paper insisted that the fire visit it, and this destroyed everything.
The cotton speaks, whom the fire envied for its whiteness and for the affection Obatalá had for it; with the water of the ebbó it put out its enemy.
The Virgin of the Rosary (Yanyá Yekún Loná), mother of Orunmila, speaks: whoever is an Awó of this Ifá must use an okpele made with rosary beads.
Yewá speaks, who is the Virgin of Montserrat and Our Lady of the Forsaken: her shadow turns the person into a broadcasting antenna of Egun.
Here speaks the Egun Oluyaré, the Egun of this Ifá.
Here speaks epilepsy, which appears in Ofún Biroso, Ofún Lení and Ofún Bilé; nocturnal epilepsy appears 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 seizure and late onset epilepsy.
Omí is poured through the house and over the ebbó.

Proverbs of Ofun Roso · 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

Three iré and three osogbo of this sign, open to everyone.

Iré · what the sign brings

They are saved if they are obedient: whoever does the ebbó in a rush is spared the fire that ruins another.
The land is blessed by Oyá, and gives abundantly squash, corn, yam, beans and trees.
Their ancestors speak to them in dreams and teach them the paths of life.

Osogbo · what the sign warns

They lose everything, including their standing.
They feel anguish, sorrow and silent suffering, and what they keep inside can dry up their heart and kill them.
Their life ends unexpectedly because of other people, and death always pursues them.

39 more iré and osogbo readings in this Odù, locked.The rest of the iré and osogbo of the sign, sorted by subject — health, money, love, death, loss…Unlock →

What is born in Ofun Roso · Ìbí

Eye makeup and the ritual marks on the face.
The adié of this Odù are marked with a line of efún on the right eye and another of osun on the left.
The cut in the throat.
The treatise explains the tracheotomy (cutting the trachea through the neck and placing the cannula), with its indications and emergency cases.
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 Olofin cannot be received if one does not first have Oduduwa.
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 keep in mind that Shangó and Elegba brought that power: Shangó comes before any other in that land, and in this way the iná does not consume them.
Letting your sorrows out, and confession.
What is kept silent inside a person can kill and dry out the 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, in order to atefar Ifá and make Orunmila speak through it, it must be struck.
While he slept, Orunmila struck his mother without meaning to and swore: «For me to speak, in your memory, they will have to hit me».
Altering the message of Ifá in order to be safe.
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 strictly forbidden, in whatever form it comes.
Because of its part in the epilepsy that speaks in this Odù.
Do not have an adulterous relationship with the wife of someone who comes to you (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 away fire in just any place.
The cane grower threw the flame, burned his own plantation, and was left ruined.
Do not expose yourself to strong gusts of wind or do rash things right after getting up or 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 may end up living with his wife.

Ebbós of Ofun Roso · The sacrifices that open the road

Overcoming enemiesEbbó of the cane grower and the palms🔒 The Notebook LossEbbó of the paper and the fire🔒 The Notebook Overcoming 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 Ofun Roso · The workings of the sign

SpiritualThe basin of the ancestors (Atena of Ofún Biroso)🔒 The Notebook LoveWork for sexual pleasure in the couple🔒 The Notebook HealthWork of Ofún Biroso, with Ogún, for potency🔒 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 Ofun Roso · The roads of the Odù

1The Pumpkins Born from Anger

Four friends shared a small plot of land and decided to plant it with corn. All four worked hard, but as time went by the plants gave only dry stalks and leaves. Even so they planted corn again, and it turned out the same. The third year brought the same luck.

One of the four, the father of many children, began to plead with Olofin and all the saints that the land would at last give him a good harvest. Elegba was nearby, heard his pleas, came up to him and asked what was wrong. When the man explained, Elegba invited him to go with him to see Orunmila.

At Orunmila's house, Orunmila heard the case and advised him to give up corn and plant pumpkins; he also gave him a seed. On returning, the man spoke with his companions, but none of them wanted to accept the advice. Annoyed, he threw away Orunmila's seed.

Soon afterward, in that same place, a beautiful field of large, lovely pumpkins was growing. Oshún passed by and was left amazed. She asked whether they sold them, and the friends said no. Then she wanted to know what they wanted, and they asked her for a favor: that the land would produce corn. Oshún answered that this was simple, since the only thing they lacked was knowing how to plant it, and she taught them.

Later Shangó appeared, also delighted with the pumpkins, and asked the same. They answered in the same way: they did not sell, they only wanted corn. Shangó told them that the land was suited to yams, and they planted them the way they had learned to plant the corn. Then San Lázaro came, who praised the beauty of the pumpkins and also asked whether they were for sale. They answered that they only wanted the land to produce, and he told them to plant beans; so they did.

In the end Oyá appeared. She remarked that the leaves of those pumpkins were enormous and that she felt terrible heat from the sun. The friends made the same request to her. Oyá ordered them to plant trees and blessed the plot, and from that moment everything grew in abundance.

What it teaches

Clinging to a crop that does not yield only wastes the years. What Orunmila indicates bears fruit even when it is accepted with displeasure, and land blessed by the orishas yields everything.

Offering of the path

A chicken for Elegba and two hens for Oyá. The person cleans himself with the hens, and afterward takes them to Oyá's house and leaves them outside.

2The ebbó in the cane field saves the humble man's palms

In this path, a man decided to plant cane in a place where nobody had tried that business. Since he had seen good results in other lands, he took success for granted. He already thought of himself as a King and dreamed of soon being the richest man in the region. That vanity led him to look down on others and to treat them with contempt.

In the same area lived another man who earned his living from palms. With the fruits, the brooms he made and the leaves for roofs, he got enough to support his family, though modestly.

The cane grower covered a large stretch of land with plants. But the palms, which were very many, dropped their fruits and leaves onto the cane field, and the weight broke the cane. Annoyed, the cane grower went to quarrel with the owner of the palms and threatened him: he would order all the palms on his land to be cut down, soon and without mercy.

The owner of the palms was left discouraged, and it was his wife who gave him strength. She prayed ceaselessly to Olofin that this would not happen. After much praying, one night she had a dream: they must go to Orunmila and obey whatever he ordered, and then everything would end well; the one who commanded it was Eshu. The next day they got up happy, because they now had a saint to support them.

The man went to consult Orunmila, and this Odù was marked in the oracle. The diviner ordered him to prepare an ebbó as soon as possible and leave it in the middle of the cane field. He did so. As he was about to leave it, two shabby looking men began to follow him. As soon as he went away, they examined what was there and, seeing that all of it was useful to them, chose to stay waiting for another ebbó. They left the foot of the palm very clean, and their days went by in chats and cigars.

Then a gust of wind came, when the cane was in flower. Happy, the owner of the cane field climbed on his horse and announced to everyone that very soon he would be the richest man in the place. The horse got scared and made him fall. The two men who were in the cane field ran away and, since they were smoking, the cane caught fire. The fire spared the palm but consumed the whole cane field. The cane grower died of grief, and the man of the palms was saved because he had obeyed.

What it teaches

Whoever carries out at once the ebbó Orunmila marks is freed from a threat he did not see coming. The pride of one who abuses the humble ends up charging him his own pain.

Ebbó of this path

Owó la meyo, a cigar, earth taken from the foot of a palm, mariwó, ikordié, abití, akofá, malaguidí meta and 16 pieces of sugar cane. It is made in a hurry and left in the cane field.

3The cane field burned by its own owner

In this Ifá there were two men who lived from the land: one grew cane and the other peanuts. The cane grower had made a fortune and owned an immense plantation; from time to time he passed by the peanut grower's door only to offend him.

One day, the peanut grower went to see Orunmila, who consulted the Ifá and prescribed an ebbó. He had to take it already finished and leave it on the path that separated the two plantations.

He did so. Later, the cane grower was going along that path and his horse ran into the ebbó. To see what the obstacle was, the rider lit a flame. When he understood what it was, he threw it far away, and it fell right on his own cane field, which burned completely.

With nothing left, the cane grower had to go and ask the peanut grower for a job, and from that day the peanut grower lived in peace. Maferefún Orunmila, maferefún Orishaokó.

What it teaches

Whoever humiliates others with his wealth is left at the mercy of what he despised. An ebbó placed on the road can turn destruction back against the one who was carrying it for another.

4The man who did not respect his wife🔒 The Notebook 5The diviner of Ofá spares Shofé's life🔒 The Notebook 6The paper that invited the fire🔒 The Notebook 7The fire that envied the cotton🔒 The Notebook 8Yemayá and Elegba bring Oduduwa's secrets to Osha Gerere🔒 The Notebook 9Why Orunmila is struck in order to atefar🔒 The Notebook 10In the obiní the fire went out🔒 The Notebook 11Oduduwa forgotten and Shangó's sulfur🔒 The Notebook 12The clay Eshu that withstood the fire🔒 The Notebook 13The parrot feathers🔒 The Notebook 14The coconut that took away his memory🔒 The Notebook 15The orphan🔒 The Notebook 16The princess who shut herself away under the earth🔒 The Notebook 17Borrowed knowledge🔒 The Notebook 18The bird with a king's feathers🔒 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 Ofun Roso in Spanish →

Frequently asked questions about Ofun Roso

What does the Odù Ofun Roso mean in Ifá?

Where confession and the relief of sorrows are born: what is kept inside can kill, and the ancestors communicate in dreams.

What number is Ofun Roso among the 256 Odù of Ifá?

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

Which orishas speak in Ofun Roso?

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

What is a proverb of the Odù Ofun Roso?

One of the proverbs of Ofun Roso says: «Whoever plays with fire gets burned.».

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