Ogunda Yeku

There was a king much loved by his people. He ruled his subjects firmly, and also the neighboring lands. When he had to travel to one of his domains, he wanted to avoid an attack on the road and went to consult Ifá. Orunmila performed the osode for him and this Odù came out. He warned him to be careful, because on his return he might find everything changed: inside his own kingdom there was a great enemy, determined to take the throne at any cost. He told him to make ebbó and to leave the palace in the care of the youngest person, because the king's survival depended on that young person.

The king did exactly what Orunmila said. The young man had a great ability to notice everything and soon identified those who were plotting against the king. He had them called in and, in front of the people, ordered their heads to be cut off, as a warning against treason.

Arikú, Obatalá's slave, was the one who cooked in his house. Orunmila told him to make an ebbó, because soon there would be a Santo feast at Obatalá's house and all the food would depend on him. The offering would make the work go well and free him from trouble with his master. He prescribed a fifeshu rooster, two hens, two doves, hutia, fish and corn.

Arikú did not return to do it. He reasoned that Obatalá trusted him and that he needed no offering to prepare the dishes. Elegba, who was counting on that ebbó to receive his rooster, took offense. On the day of the feast he used his power to cloud the cook's judgment. Arikú lost his care and the food was ruined: some dishes were very spicy, others bland, others too sweet and others too salty. The Santos went without eating, and an angry Obatalá had Arikú seized in order to kill him.

When he found out, Arikú ran to see Orunmila to ask for an ebbó that would save him, and told him what had happened with the food, unable to explain why. Orunmila replied that what used to cost 16 now required sixteen ounces of gold, four roosters, four hens and four doves, so that Obatalá would spare his life.

After the offering was done, Orunmila gave him an agogó and sent him to sing in the square. People warned him that they were going to kill him, but he kept on singing and playing. Orunmila appeared and dropped a coin between his feet. The crowd imitated him and began to throw coins at him, so that Arikú gathered a large sum. When Obatalá arrived, everyone begged for Arikú, and Obatalá forgave him and set him free.

This odu shows someone who abandons his offerings out of little faith and greed; if he returns in a rush, he pays double, as Orunmila did. It also points to an unfulfilled promise to Obatalá: it must be settled, and with that the person recovers from his ailments.

Oggunda Yeku lived through a time when fighting was his livelihood. One day he came upon a road that forked into three and did not know which to follow. Turning his back on the three ways, he threw the aberikunló stick he carried. The stick crossed the air and fell on one of them, and he took it.

The road led him to a town where only those who fought survived. He had gone a long time without a bite, so he immediately looked for a quarrel. With the machete he cut off his rival's arm and left the other two wounded, who made up a group of three. The townspeople watched the advance of the newcomer, who boasted of surpassing his own teacher in skill.

Two families of the place had been enemies for years over some lands that belonged to one of them. One sent for him to offer him work as a fighter, with good pay and food assured. He, needy and greedy, accepted. That night he stayed in the house of an old man who ran a modest business of meals, drinks and lodging. It was Oluo Popó.

A few days later the rival family also sought to hire him, and again he said yes. So he bound himself to both, who did not know what he was doing with the other; in fact, from the very first moment he had failed the first. When he returned to Oluo Popó, the old man reproached him for having defrauded those who had placed all their trust in him and ordered him to consult Orunmila so that he would see him with Ifá and make an ebbó for him.

Orunmila prescribed an ebbó and explained its reach: it would serve so that he would not be killed when his betrayal came to light, but it would not save him from the humiliation of having deceived his brothers in the cause nor from his own children criticizing him. Oggunda Yeku carried it out and left it at Yanzan's house.

For three days he did not leave the town. In that time the first family called him to fight, and as soon as the fight began he withdrew, so that those people suffered several deaths. They captured him as a traitor and, instead of killing him, beat him with sticks to shame him, since he was a defiant man. He left the town bruised and with a damaged leg. The family he had meant to protect spread the word that he was a traitor: out of appetite for food and money he had sold out his allies, just as he had earlier betrayed the teacher who taught him to fight.