Odù 6 of 256 · Ojuani family

Ojuani Meyi

Meyi

The mask and ingratitude: you never see the fruit of your work, until the sacrifice ties the hands of your enemies.

Ojuani Meyi is Odù number 6 of the 256 in Ifá, one of the 16 Meyi and the head of the Ojuani family. It is also written as Owonrin Meji. This page brings together its prayer in Yoruba, 45 patakíes (3 with the full text), its proverbs, 15 ebbós and works and the signs it shows in the consultation; the detail of iré and osogbo, the eewó and the full recipes open with the Babalawo plan — that locked part is still written in Spanish.

The sign at a glance

Order in Ifá: Odù 6 of 256 · Meyi
Composition: Ojuani over Ojuani
In the Diloggún: 11-11 · Ojuani tonti Ojuani
Orishas that speak: Eshú · Eggún · Oshún · Azojuano (San Lázaro) · Oggún · Shangó · Odduduwa · Obbatalá · Ozayin · Orunmila

What Ifá says in this sign

Ojuani Meyi is the sign of the mask and of ingratitude: here the arayés — the enemies — were born, and the oldest complaint in the world: you work hard and you never see the fruit. But this letter did not come to complain: it came to teach how to tie the hands of the people who get in your way.

The secret is in how it came down: Ojuani, scared by the stories about earth, made such a complete sacrifice before coming that sickness could not follow him, and he came down with long life and prosperity at his side. The envious priests dug a hidden hole on his road — and Eshú made him jump over it, then dug another one where they fell in. In this Ifá the plotters fall into their own trap… if Eshú has been fed.

«The plotters fall into the hole they dug themselves — if Eshú has been fed.»The pulse of Ojuani Meyi

Watch out for the mask: there will always be a friend who hurts you quietly, like the leopard that pretended to be the guinea hen's friend just to learn where she lived. And watch out for your own envy, which is expensive here: the chameleon, eaten up by envy of the dog, demanded powers that were not his — and the first harm fell on his own mother. The evil you do will come back on you.

Your strengths: the patience of the ground — of the two brothers, only Ale, the ground, made the sacrifice calmly, and that is why everyone bows to him while the wind wanders with no house. Your mother, sacred and untouchable. The open door: the three soaked travelers Ojuani took in turned out to be gifts from heaven. Never refuse food to a visitor: your prosperity comes in through that door. And take care of your dead: two Eggun who were kings stand at your door blocking the way — give them light and food so they open it.

The promise of this letter is a double blessing: money and a partner. Your partner will be a great trader — like the princess of Ado, whose business grew with Eshú's street call until it passed her father's. Do not curse, do not tell people about the fights in your house, and do not waste your voice on threats: the mooing of a cow does not call human beings to a meeting — here you win in silence, with the ebbó done.

The sign in one line

Have the patience of the ground, honor your mother and your dead, and give Eshú what belongs to him — the fruit you do not see today, Ojuani harvests whole tomorrow.

The prayer of Ojuani Meyi · Yoruba

Ojuani Meyi adifafun agangara adelepeko kikomada aiku adelepeko komo Oloddumare agangara Olúwo ni oribi okun Orun wá le Eshú. Kikomakuada Ikú, kikomakuada arun, kikomakuada ofo, kikomakuada eyo, kikomakuada araye, kikomakuada ogu, kikomakuada onilu.

Súyere
Agangara omolodumare, agangara omolodumare, aiku lowao omolodumare, agangara omolodumare.

Ifá says — what Ojuani Meyi tells you

The ashé of this sign: It predicts two great blessings: the person will be blessed with money and with a partner. · The Awó of this sign will be rich from a young age, with women, children and money — if they have the tact not to lose it. · It gives the gift of healing: fame and conquests were born here. · His guiding spirit is full of light: he does well in everything he takes on. · Farming gives him the greatest reward: he will find his luck working the land. · His wife will be a great trader, and the visitors to his house bring prosperity — never refuse them food.

Proverbs of Ojuani Meyi · Òwe

“You never see the fruit of your work: ingratitude works harder than you do.”
“The evil you do will come back on you.”
“Clear thinking is needed to get success.”
“The mooing of a cow does not call human beings to a meeting.”
“Cats see in the dark, but they cannot see each other.”
“Looking for honest money takes patience; so does catching fish with a net.”
“If greed does not give the order, war does not come into the world.”
“The ordinary mat is never placed on top of the sacred one.”
“The eyes see the fire cook, but they never see it eat.”
“The goat that can tear off a piece of wood cannot tear off a piece of iron.”
“Gratitude is the memory of the heart.”
“Injustice to one person is a threat to everyone.”
“Whoever does not plant respect will harvest insults.”
“In the blacksmith's house, a wooden knife.”
“When soap rubs against the body, it is the soap that wears away.”
“No doctor cures himself.”
“The harm you wish on someone else you will see in yourself.”

17 proverb interpretations in this Odù, locked.Every proverb explained: which road it comes from and how it applies. Written in Spanish for now.Unlock →

Iré and Osogbo

6 iré and osogbo readings in this Odù, locked.The iré and osogbo of the sign, sorted by subject — health, money, love, death, loss… Written in Spanish for now.Unlock →

What is born in Ojuani Meyi · Ìbí

The arayés (the enemies).
That is why the key to this sign is the sacrifice that ties the hands of the plotters.
The Oparaldo and the chicken in the shade.
The ceremonies to clear a person of dark spirits were born in this sign.
The ceremony of the Ja of Azojuano (San Lázaro).
With the Ja in his hand, Dassá came down from heaven to earth to end the war between the guinea hen and the quail.
The power of Oshún (omiloba) in the worship of Eggún.
Oshún was the head of the worship of the dead and used to turn herself into water.
The founding of towns.
Here men stopped being nomads and settled down.
The hands and the feet of the unborn child.
In this sign they were formed in the womb; that is why what you build with your head must not be torn down with your feet.
Spirit possession and revelation.
Spiritual phenomena were born; if the person works with spirits, they are a possession medium.
Forgetting past lives at birth.
So that each life is lived without the weight of the ones before.
The mountains and the rocks.
Here the crust of the earth folded; life in the sea also began here.
Ashikuelu, the spirit of the earth.
Owner of the minerals and chief of the Eggún; to feed the earth you have to call his nine spirits.

What is forbidden · Eewó

10 eewó (taboos) in this Odù, locked.What the child of this sign must not eat, do or wear. Written in Spanish for now.Unlock →

Ebbós of Ojuani Meyi · The sacrifices that open the road

MoneyThe soap of prosperity (from the princess of Ado)🔒 Babalawo

MoneyEbbó of the hoe (luck is pulled inward)🔒 Babalawo

LoveEbbó for a woman to have children🔒 Babalawo

LoveWhen the fights at home make a child sick🔒 Babalawo

Keeping death awayOparaldo of Ojuani Meyi🔒 Babalawo

Keeping death awayThe bunch of inkines against Ikú🔒 Babalawo

LossThe four bars across the door🔒 Babalawo

LossEbbó for Ifá osobo🔒 Babalawo

Beating enemiesThe ashé of the cow's jawbone🔒 Babalawo

Beating enemiesThe mirror of Eshú🔒 Babalawo

10 ebbós in this Odù, locked.Each full recipe: ingredients, preparation and where it goes. Written in Spanish for now.Unlock →

Works of Ojuani Meyi · The workings of the sign

MoneyThe guava tree that gets things moving🔒 Babalawo

HealthWork for the sickness to go away🔒 Babalawo

Keeping death awayWhite rooster to the father's Eggún together with Shangó🔒 Babalawo

LossThe gourd of Eshú for emergencies🔒 Babalawo

Beating enemiesWork of the millet and the pepper🔒 Babalawo

5 works in this Odù, locked.Each full recipe: ingredients, preparation and where it goes. Written in Spanish for now.Unlock →

Patakíes of Ojuani Meyi · The roads of the Odù

1Fefe and Ale: the wind and the ground

The brothers wind and ground were given the same sacrifice before coming down to the world. Only the ground, patient, made it: that is why it has a firm existence and everyone bows to it, while the wind wanders invisible and with no home.

The most important work Ojuani Meyi did in heaven was the divination for two brothers, Fefe and Ale — the wind and the ground — when they were coming to the world. He told them to sacrifice, so as to earn everyone's respect on earth: a palm leaf, a parrot feather and a sheep to their guardian angels, and a goat each to Eshú.

Ale was calm, patient and a good listener: he made the sacrifices right away. Fefe was fast, a rascal and so full of himself that he did not think sacrificing was necessary. They left at the same time and, at the border between heaven and earth, they took different roads.

Ale did so well that he became the anchor of every living creature: every plant or animal that comes into the world offers him its respect first, by touching the ground. Fefe, on the other hand, could not live in peace: he spent his time going back and forth between heaven and earth. That is why the ground has a steady, permanent existence, while the wind is not only invisible but has no known home: you feel it is there, but you cannot see it.

2Ojuani Meyi gets ready to come to the world

Scared by the stories about earth, Ojuani made a detailed sacrifice before coming down. Eshú got Oggún tangled up with death, and in that uproar sickness could not follow him: he came down with long life and prosperity at his side.

When he decided to come down to earth, Ojuani Meyi was afraid because of the stories of bad luck told by those who had gone before. A priest in heaven advised him to make a detailed sacrifice: goats to Eshú Obadara and to Eshú Jelu, a she-goat to Orishanlá and to Ifá, dogs to Oggún and to Obalifon, and roosters to Ozayin and to Oro. He was warned that he would go through three tests, that death would always be on his trail with a club, but that in the end wealth and prosperity were waiting for him. He made every sacrifice.

As soon as Eshú ate his goat, he took the skull of the dog given to Oggún and put it at the door of the house of the king of death. Oggún, looking for his skull, came all the way there, accused death of stealing it and began beating her with his machete. Death, finding the beating unbearable, had two hundred and one dogs gathered and roasted seven of them to calm him down.

In the stampede, the wife of death — the deity of sickness — was hurt and could not follow Ojuani Meyi to earth as she had planned. It was in the middle of that uproar that he escaped from heaven, and when the dust settled, ariku and aje — long life and prosperity — were able to come with him to the world.

3The hole of the plotters

The envious priests dug a hidden hole on the road from the shrine to kill Ojuani. Eshú made him jump over the trap with the skull of the sacrificed goat — and then dug another hole, where every one of the plotters fell in, one by one.

The prosperity of Ojuani Meyi in Oyó stirred up the envy of the older priests, who decided to destroy him. Under threat of being thrown out, they forced him to attend the yearly festival of a deity, and they dug a hidden hole on the road he would take back from the shrine, since the custom was to arrive as a group and to return separately.

Warned by his Ifá, Ojuani sacrificed a gray goat to Ifá and a goat to Eshú. On the fourteenth day, when the ceremonies ended, the plotters told him that, being the newest, he should leave first. As he was getting close to the hidden hole, Eshú turned the skull of the sacrificed goat into an obstacle: Ojuani tripped, jumped over the hole without knowing it and got home safe.

Then Eshú covered that hole and dug another one, right at the way out of the shrine. The plotters came out one by one; each of them tripped on the skull Eshú had put there and fell into the bottomless grave, and Eshú sealed it as if nothing had happened. When the town went looking for the missing men, Ojuani revealed in the divination what had happened, and Orunmila passed sentence: whoever goes to a shrine looking for salvation should go with a clean heart, because the wicked may not come back.

4The two witch wives and the mother's complaint🔒 Babalawo

5The princess of Ado🔒 Babalawo

6The three visitors in the rain🔒 Babalawo

7The guinea hen and the leopard🔒 Babalawo

8The war of Odduduwa and Obbatalá🔒 Babalawo

9The chameleon and the dog🔒 Babalawo

10When the monkey lost his freedom🔒 Babalawo

11The experience of Ojuani Meyi as a trader🔒 Babalawo

12Ojuani Meyi ties the hands of his enemies🔒 Babalawo

13Ojuani Meyi becomes famous through his son🔒 Babalawo

14The rescue of the favorite wife of the king of Ifé🔒 Babalawo

15The two wives of Akiriboto (the quarrel told on the road)🔒 Babalawo

16Where you have to do it for Eshu (the bet of the santos)🔒 Babalawo

17Life and death (the two twin Azojuano)🔒 Babalawo

18The song of the guinea hen is born (the cascarilla saved her from Death)🔒 Babalawo

19Where the pepper became hot🔒 Babalawo

20Trimming the palm tree is born🔒 Babalawo

21The war of the guinea hen and the quail (the ja of Azojuano)🔒 Babalawo

22The goat that had many customers🔒 Babalawo

23Awó Mayere and Eshu Lawana (the flute player of the Eggun)🔒 Babalawo

24The curse that turned the woman into a river🔒 Babalawo

25Agangara Awó heals Olodumare🔒 Babalawo

26Orunmila and the foreman of the estate🔒 Babalawo

27The world of mirrors🔒 Babalawo

28It was divined for the cat (the trip to the land of the witches)🔒 Babalawo

29It was divined for the 165 animals (the cat's black cloth)🔒 Babalawo

30It was divined for Opekete🔒 Babalawo

31It was divined for the 165 doves🔒 Babalawo

32The children of Odduduwa Akala🔒 Babalawo

33The dove that became an eagle🔒 Babalawo

34The santos and the earth🔒 Babalawo

35When the santos made fun of Orunmila🔒 Babalawo

36The thanks Eshú gave the guinea hen🔒 Babalawo

37The son of the devil (Adodo Awó and the mandrake)🔒 Babalawo

38The Awó Ologbo🔒 Babalawo

39Why lightning goes to the palm tree (the coldness of the chameleon)🔒 Babalawo

40The hidden treasure (ingratitude toward the dog)🔒 Babalawo

41The man with the cat skin🔒 Babalawo

42The foolish trader🔒 Babalawo

43The pact of the ileke (the green and yellow idé is born)🔒 Babalawo

44Ayapa, the mother of the world🔒 Babalawo

45The fox and the wolf🔒 Babalawo

42 more patakíes in this Odù, locked.Read every road in full with the Babalawo plan. Written in Spanish for now.Unlock →

Before you subscribe: everything you read on this page is in English, but the locked part of the treatise — the full text of the other patakíes, the recipes for the ebbós and works, the iré and osogbo readings and the eewó — is still written in Spanish. We are translating it. · This page is also available in Spanish: See Ojuani Meyi in Spanish →

Frequently asked questions about Ojuani Meyi

What does the Odù Ojuani Meyi mean in Ifá?

The mask and ingratitude: you never see the fruit of your work, until the sacrifice ties the hands of your enemies.

What number is Ojuani Meyi among the 256 Odù of Ifá?

Ojuani Meyi is Odù number 6 of the 256 in Ifá, one of the 16 Meyi and the head of the Ojuani family.

Which orishas speak in Ojuani Meyi?

In the Odù Ojuani Meyi these orishas speak: Eshú, Eggún, Oshún, Azojuano (San Lázaro), Oggún, Shangó, Odduduwa, Obbatalá, Ozayin, Orunmila.

What is a proverb of the Odù Ojuani Meyi?

One of the proverbs of Ojuani Meyi says: «You never see the fruit of your work: ingratitude works harder than you do.».

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