Ojuani Roso

Awó Itana resided in Pele Pele. He earned his living freeing people from evils and from the shadows of the Egun buruku through a paraldo. He never asked Orunmila whether he should do each job. For that reason he suffered ailments and troubles without understanding why: other people's shadows attached themselves to him. But he had a noble heart and attended anyone, whether they paid or not.

His twin brother, Awó Ikuku, was an Egun who dwelt among the shadows of the land of Yewá. There they covered themselves with mariwó and came out guided by the candles that Shangó lit, to travel the world and serve him. Each time Shangó called him and Awó Ikuku came down from Ara Onú, he saw his brother in that state and wept.

In the middle of a paraldo, Awó Itana lit a candle and saw a shadow covered with mariwó approaching, singing. It was his twin. He asked him to feed Yewá with a fresh fish stewed with gofio and tomato, and to leave it in the drain of his house; that way the shadows of the land and he himself would protect him. He had to repeat it often. For himself, Awó Ikuku asked for a ram, which had to be offered together with Shangó. Awó Itana complied, his life improved, he recovered his health and became an important man in Pele Pele, a quiet place of rest.

Later he forgot all of that. His kind heart again loaded him with the heavy burdens of those people, and the bad situation returned. One day he took on a paraldo that no other Awó would accept, again without consulting Orunmila. Then Awó Ikuku took him away to rest, since it was the only way to end his suffering. That is why the Awó of this sign always asks Orunmila before marking the oparaldo.

Osun lived harassed by his enemies. He hid so much that he ended up ill and with a clouded mind. In a lucid moment he visited Orunmila, who found this Odù and recommended a rogación of the head. Osun took it lightly, unaware that his opponents were setting an ambush for him.

One day, feeling safe, he went out for a walk. Along a path they had planted four stakes, and he stopped between them. His enemies took the chance to immobilize him with a black thread and a white one; then they beat him without stopping. Shangó happened to be nearby and heard the screams. He went in great haste, pulled Osun away from those people and led him to Orunmila, who this time did perform the rogación. In this way Osun was saved.

This Odù carries maferefún for Orunmila and Shangó.

In the region of Okan Nile many awós gathered under the pretext of testing their knowledge. In truth, what they did was deceive the neighbors with invented tricks. The deceptions piled up so much that the people felt mocked. They lost faith in the power of Ifá and began to speak badly of all the awós, without suspecting that those were renegades. The honest awós, who looked after their reputation, no longer received even what they needed to eat.

The renegades looked for a new way to recover their influence. They organized a banquet and invited the tiñosa, the bird that carries the messages of Olofin. When the bird was drunk, they caught it and offered it to Ifá as a sacrifice; then they covered it with its own feathers.

Afterward they lacked the courage to perform the Itá. On the third day they called the hawk and asked him to do it. He was short of money and accepted. As soon as he arrived, he wanted to know whether they had fed Ifá. They did not dare lie to him and confessed that they had given the tiñosa. The hawk exclaimed in outrage that they had offered the messenger of Olofin, his fellow worker, and that he would never perform that Itá. Having said this, he left.

Then they looked for the awó Kananile, the Obá of Ifá of that land, from whom they had long been distant. Kananile answered that they had to present themselves. They did so and begged him to perform the Itá, but he pleaded his great age and referred them to his godson Oshe Tura. Oshe Tura, hearing the case, agreed with his godfather: the decision belonged to Olofin. And to Olofin he sent them.

Olofin heard them and asked whether they had already made the ebbó. When they answered no, he ordered them to make it and present it to him afterward, to learn by which Odù it had been marked. The renegades did the consultation and Ojuani Amonsu came out. They carried out the ebbó and took it before Olofin.

On seeing the Odù, Olofin spoke to them harshly: they were renegades, and shame would accompany them all their lives for having used Ifá to cheat his own children. Just then Agba Egun arrived, the eldest of those who look after the spirits. He fell into a trance, cut off Olofin’s words and asked mercy for them, offering to perform the Itá himself. In this way he lifted them out of their shame. From that day, the influence of Agba Egun looks after the mind of the babalawo.