Odù 95 of 256 · Ojuani family

Ojuani Shidi

The Ifá of the pack of cards, where you play dead to watch your own funeral: generosity and honesty open the way to love and to success.

Ojuani Shidi is Odù number 95 of the 256 in Ifá, part of the Ojuani family. This page brings together its prayer in Yoruba, 16 patakíes (3 with the full text), its proverbs, 8 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 95 of 256
Composition
Ojuani over Odi
In the Diloggún
11-7 · Ojuani tonti Odí
Orishas that speak
Ode / Oshosi · Oshún · Azojuano (Oluo-Popo) · Elegba · Obatalá · Ogún · Egun

What Ifá says in this sign

Ojuani Shidi is the Ifá of the pack of cards — and its secret is stated with no mystery about it: generosity and honesty are the key to love and to success. Here Azojuano won his goat, and here the hunter made ebbó with rotten meat: sometimes you have to smell of defeat in order to win the war.

That is its great tactic: playing dead to watch the funeral they are holding for you — like Ode up on the hill: once the enemy felt safe, he caught him. You are being watched (do not go out for eight days when the odu calls for it), you have been envied since you were born, and your two friends — the rich one and the poor one — are your enemies: let them give themselves away.

«He played dead to watch the funeral they were holding for him — the patience of Ojuani Shidi wins the war.»The pulse of Ojuani Shidi

Your reputation can be mended: they say you do not keep your promises — because you promise what is beyond you, above all with a drink in you. Promise short and deliver long: in this odu, a promise made while drinking can end in trouble with the law.

In love, this odu asks for clean decisions: the man with four women — the one who wants to give up drink, do not abandon her; and if you decide to go, leave them all completely: half measures make you ill here. To the headstrong young woman: her own whim can be her ruin — let her look at what a man carries before she throws herself in. And the great sorrow you carry: work on it, because it can take you to the grave — sorrows can be stripped off you too.

The promises in hard coin: your muddled business is clearing up — before long you will be well —, a child will be born to you, and you are to prosper within days by feeding Elegba, Osun and your father's spirit. Give thanks for the dream you had last night: in the pack of cards of Ojuani Shidi, the good card is already dealt

The sign in one line

Be generous and honest, promise only what you can deliver and play dead in front of your enemy — the good card of Ojuani Shidi is already in the deal.

The prayer of Ojuani Shidi · Yoruba

Ojuani ni Shidi arire lopani kosobo telepani adifafun Awo ashelu timshomo oloja adifafun Oluo-Popo.

Súyere
Ariyanya kiya ariyanya kiya, kinilomi sobakere ariyanya, kiya Shangó lowo eyerio, ariyanya kiya.

Ifá says — what Ojuani Shidi tells you

Proverbs of Ojuani Shidi · Òwe

14 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 Shidi · Ìbí

What is forbidden · Eewó

4 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 Shidi · The sacrifices that open the road

Beating enemiesThe ebbó of the rotten meat🔒 Babalawo
Pushing death awayThe ebbó of the hung animals🔒 Babalawo
LoveThe ham bone on the hill🔒 Babalawo
Beating enemiesThe ebbó of the pit and the rope🔒 Babalawo
4 ebbós in this Odù, locked.Each full recipe: ingredients, preparation and where it goes. Written in Spanish for now.Unlock →

Works of Ojuani Shidi · The workings of the sign

LoveThe gourd of the sun🔒 Babalawo
MoneyThe gourd at the door🔒 Babalawo
LoveBinding and unbinding🔒 Babalawo
SpiritualThe powder of the dream🔒 Babalawo
4 works in this Odù, locked.Each full recipe: ingredients, preparation and where it goes. Written in Spanish for now.Unlock →

Patakíes of Ojuani Shidi · The roads of the Odù

1Ode and the monkey with nine tails

Ode promised Olofin, without thinking, that he would bring him the monkey with nine tails. Orunmila saw this Odù for him: «You have given your word» — and marked him the ebbó of the rotten meat. Smeared with it and stretched out on the hill like a dead man, he let the whole troop grow careless and climb on him, until the nine-tailed king arrived: he seized him, tied him up, and Olofin made him King of the Hunt and gave him his daughter.

Once Olofin sent for all the hunters to find out which of them would undertake to bring him the iñagui — the monkey — with nine tails. Ode, famous among the bowmen and envied by everyone, undertook it without thinking. Setting out to keep his word, he saw what he had let himself in for, and went to Orunmila's house; Orunmila saw this Odù for him: «You have given your word; to be able to keep it you must pray your head and make ebbó with rotten meat, rotten millet, rotten ekó, an arrow, a stick, a pot, a rope and a box». After seven days the food in the pot had gone off; Ode put on his hunting clothes, turned his cap to one side, smeared his whole body with it, went up the hill and lay down on the ground, playing dead.

A monkey caught the smell and came up to him; seeing that he did not move, he said «he is dead» and ate from the pot, and climbed on top of him singing «Arin yanya kiya». So the rest of the troop came, more careless and easy every time — «Look, he is dead!», «He is rotten already, he has worms!» — until the monkey with nine tails came, who was the king, and did the same. Then Ode threw himself on him; at the king's cry, the rest ran off. The monkey begged him to let him go, promising to make him very rich, but Ode paid no attention: he tied him up and took him before Olofin, who in astonishment rendered him moforibale, put ashé on him, made him King of the Hunt and steward of the palace — and Ode married Olofin's daughter.

2The name of Orunmila

Oshún, rich and looking for a man of standing, went to be read by Orunmila, who was poor. He told her: «You are looking for a man, and that man is me» — and charged her nothing. She left, and in every town she came to she asked who ruled there: the answer was always «Orunmila». She understood that the only one who could live with her was he: poor, but with a name nobody could match.

Orunmila was looking for a wife, and one day Oshún came to be read. As he read for her this Odù came out, and Orunmila told her that she was looking for a man, and that man was him. But Oshún had a great deal of money and he was poor, and she was after a man of standing. Orunmila charged her nothing, and she left.

On reaching another town she asked who ruled there, and they told her Orunmila. So she went through many towns, and they always told her the same. Thinking it over, Oshún understood that the only one who could live with her was Orunmila: because poor as he was, his name was beyond matching. That is why Orunmila is Oshún's man.

3The land of Lodeni

The people of Lodeni owed Oluo-Popo, would not pay and mocked him; he made a pact with death to finish that land in nine days. Orunmila had animals of every kind hung all round the town: when death came and saw the vultures and smelled the stench, she boasted — «they have all died of fright at me!» — and turned back without going in. Oluo-Popo found out the trick and ruled: «Orunmila has more power: from this moment I join myself to him».

In the land of Lodeni everyone owed Oluo-Popo and would not pay him, and on top of that they mocked him. For that reason he went to death's house and made a pact to finish the Lodeni within nine days. Hearing of it, the people went to Orunmila's house, and he saw this Odù for them: «So death cannot keep the pact, let everyone make ebbó with every kind of animal, and after killing them, hang them all around the town». So they did, and within three or four days the stench was beyond bearing.

Death was on her way singing to keep the pact; near the land, seeing the vultures moving about and smelling that rotten flesh, she was delighted: «Look who I am — the men of this land have died of sheer fright at me!». And having made that boast, without going into the town to make sure, she turned back to tell Oluo-Popo she had killed everyone. Oluo-Popo, suspicious, went to confirm it and found them all in peace and quiet, and learned of Orunmila's ebbó. Displeased, he told death she was a liar and that Orunmila had more power, since with one ebbó nothing had happened to the people — and in his heat he ruled: «From this moment on, I join myself to Orunmila». When this Ifá comes in osobo arun: boils, infection, discharges and trouble with the monthly cycle.

4Obahun Ijapa, the bags and the sacks🔒 Babalawo
5The stooped palero🔒 Babalawo
6The headstrong girl🔒 Babalawo
7Olofin's daughter and the hunter🔒 Babalawo
8The charm of the pack of cards🔒 Babalawo
9The two eboses🔒 Babalawo
10The contest for Olofin's three daughters🔒 Babalawo
11Lost through disobedience🔒 Babalawo
12The charge of blasphemy🔒 Babalawo
13He was saved because he made ebbó🔒 Babalawo
14The slave of Egun🔒 Babalawo
15The ship and the sail🔒 Babalawo
16The magpie's nest🔒 Babalawo
13 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 Shidi in Spanish →

Frequently asked questions about Ojuani Shidi

What does the Odù Ojuani Shidi mean in Ifá?

The Ifá of the pack of cards, where you play dead to watch your own funeral: generosity and honesty open the way to love and to success.

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

Ojuani Shidi is Odù number 95 of the 256 in Ifá, part of the Ojuani family.

Which orishas speak in Ojuani Shidi?

In the Odù Ojuani Shidi these orishas speak: Ode / Oshosi, Oshún, Azojuano (Oluo-Popo), Elegba, Obatalá, Ogún, Egun.

What is a proverb of the Odù Ojuani Shidi?

One of the proverbs of Ojuani Shidi says: «He plays dead to watch the funeral they are holding for him.».

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