Ogunda Ka

A hunter consulted with Orunmila. It came out that he had to make an ebbó to avoid ofo, but he did none of the things indicated.

From that moment, every time he went out to the wilderness and let go of his arrow, the animal did not appear: Eshu, with bad intent, made it disappear.

One day an elephant crossed the area, heading to the mountain, where it was fated to die. Since things were going so badly for him, the hunter went back to Orunmila, who informed him that now the ebbó would cost double. This time the hunter did carry it out.

He went out again and came upon the elephant that was going to its death. He shot the arrow; the animal staggered and went on over a bridge of sage. The hunter went after it. On the other side of the mountain was all the game he had lost. Happy, he began to tie the tusks of the elephants to keep them in his saddlebag, but when he had nine, no other would fit. So he cut off the tails of the rest. People came to take the meat.

Someone among those present split an elephant's head with an axe and found inside it an aweba with a lid. They took it to Orunmila, who gave this instruction: «The aweba must not be opened. Make a cover for it, worship it and ask it for what you need. To feed it, take off the cover without opening it and put the food on the outside».

The path calls for making Elegba; if the person already has it, it must be found out what needs to be repaired or added. It also marks a breakdown or crushing, and someone wants to leave.

In the land of Bebe Oriaye nobody knew of Olofin. Funke, a babalawo who lived there, was visited by awoses who wanted to receive Ifá, and also by orishas who sought him so that he would make it for their children. He turned them away again and again, because he claimed that Olofin did not exist, and this upset them.

Funke went to consult with Orunmila and the odu Oggunda Ka came out. Ifá told him to mark Oggunda Ka inside a gourd bowl, sacrifice a ram calling on Shangó, put the animal's head in the bowl and bury it beside a ceiba tree. With the meat he was to prepare a stew for the babalawos of his house. While sacrificing the ram he called on Orí Baba Olorun, and as he did so he felt something enormous on his head. He took two doves and, next to the bowl with the ram's head, he fed with them his own head and the animal's, and meanwhile recited without pause up to the 16 Meyi. Then he got up, cooked the doves with onion, dry wine and cocoa butter, and ate them. He left the bones inside the bowl, closed it and fell asleep.

In his sleep he heard a voice: it was Baba Oriye, who told him that he would reveal his great secret and the place to find it. There he would see the elephant and Shangó, who would tell him what to do with the bowl. Funke woke up afraid, and just then someone knocked at his door. It was Shangó, accompanied by Egun, and he asked for a rooster for Egun, who was hungry. While Egun ate it, Shangó explained to Funke that they had to make an ebbó and go to the land of Belekun Ori Aye. It was not an easy trip, because a huge river had to be crossed where the elephants go to die, and first they had to call an Egun named Ori Onilogun Egun Maye Afefetekun. They gave a ram to that Egun and, while he ate, a wind rose that tore up plants and carried sage to the feet of both. Shangó placed an odu ará on Funke's head with a cap on top. They gathered all that sage and threw it into the river, and a great bridge was formed. Shangó told Funke what words to say, and Funke repeated them as he crossed.

Shangó told him that he would wait there so they could continue afterward to the house of Ori Aye. Funke entered the river. Shangó made thunder and lightning fall, everything grew dark, and Funke took the bowl that held the elephant's head and returned. Shangó then prepared a mixture with elements that are not listed here and poured it into the bowl brought from Ayebelekun. He took the odu ará off Funke's head. Back on the road, with Egun again, they instructed him to tell Elegba to send Obatalá's agogó. At that moment hot water and cold water began to fall from the sky, and Shangó kept walking. Obatalá gave the agogó to Elegba so that Egun would receive it, and Egun played it while singing. Thus they came to the house of Orí, who let them in and declared that he would make Funke's great secret so that he could practice Ifá in the world.

From this story comes the rule that to make Ifá, Olofin is needed. When Olofin is given to a babalawo, three paraldos are made. How they are made and what each one contains is an awó secret and is not detailed here.

Two hunters went into the forest. Every time they wounded an animal they could not capture it, because it was lost in the thicket. They spent a long time like that, hunting elephants. When one was hit by their weapons, it escaped through a wide river whose crossing only the animals knew. Facing the quicksand of that river, the two hunters were left disoriented and asked themselves how it was possible that animals they had so close would disappear.

One day they wounded an elephant again and followed its trail. The animal crossed the river at the firmest part of the quicksand. The hunters, trying to reach it, had gone into the sand, and moving forward was hard for them because the ground was high and the mud made them slip.

In that very difficult situation, the younger hunter said to the older one: “I am going to climb on your back to reach firm ground, and then I will lift you up with a rope.” While he was trying to climb, the young man became agitated, threatened the older one with his spear and abused him. The older man preferred to lose his honor rather than his life.

Time passed, and one day the young man was with several maidens when he saw the older one. One of them asked him: “Why did that man, your friend and hunting partner, not come to greet you? What is going on between you?” At first the young man stayed silent, but the maiden insisted so much, and the drinks had such an effect, that he ended up telling what had happened between them in the forest.

The gossip reached the older man's ears. In the town they began to doubt his morals, and he had to go and live somewhere else.

The sentence of this Ifá is that it is better to lose one's life than to lose one's honor, because whoever loses it stays demoralized for the rest of his days.