Odù 124 of 256 · Okana family

Okana Gio

Where Olofin and Orunmila share the government of the world, one on earth and one in heaven: Eshu is his banker, and keeping your troubles quiet blocks the road.

Okana Gio is Odù number 124 of the 256 in Ifá, part of the Okana family. This page brings together its prayer in Yoruba, 18 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 124 of 256
Composition: Okana over Iwori
Orishas that speak: Shangó · Eshu · Obatalá (Agemón) · Oshosi · Oshún · Los Ibeyis · Orunmila

What Ifá says in this sign

Okana Gio — Okana Ngangba — is the sign where Olodumare divided the government: «Orunmila on earth and I in heaven» — and here the earth began to be made. What blocks it has a name, and it is an embarrassing one: fear, and not knowing how to talk about your troubles, are closing your road — speak plainly on the mat, that is what it is for.

Its dangerous element is gunpowder: here it saves and it ruins — the white Orishas do not use it, and neither should you: put it aside, along with anything that smells of it. And respect money you have promised to heaven: if you put some away for a mass or an act of charity, do not touch it — this odu marks prison for that kind of diversion.

«Orunmila on earth and Olofin in heaven — and Okana Gio, afraid, governing nothing: speak plainly.»The pulse of Okana Gio

This is an Ifá of tests and of ingratitude: Olofin played dead to test Orunmila, and the rain — good and generous — is always accused of being an unwanted guest: your generosity will be repaid with ingratitude — everyone asks you for something, and when you do not give, they turn into enemies. Give with measure and without expecting applause.

The fine print: a child can find out what you are hiding — and land you in jail: give them no cause; be careful about coming back from a journey (it gets complicated: ebbó beforehand); and parents under this odu should not go too far with their children — the younger one answers back, and it was the elder who planted the quarrel.

Your finances have a banker: Eshu was the Awó's banker — keep him happy and the books balance; money is coming by inheritance, and a fair-haired person will help you prosper (or will be your rich marriage, if you are a woman). The closing is Foré Ayé: a ram for Shangó and then the consecrated drum — so the good luck finally arrives, and stays

The sign in one line

Talk about your troubles, put down the gunpowder and give Shangó his ram — the banker of Okana Gio is Eshu, and the inheritance is on its way.

The prayer of Okana Gio · Yoruba

Okana Iwori agaro fi adifafun Osanyin obanishawo Shangó maferefun Shangó. Abó, akukó, etú elebó.

Ifá says — what Okana Gio tells you

An Ifá Foré Ayé: kaferefún Shangó — he is given a ram and then the consecrated drum, so the good luck finally arrives. It is an Ifá of tests, traps and deceit: Olofin wanted to test Orunmila by playing dead. It is the Ifá of the rain: good and generous, and always accused of being an unwanted guest — generosity repaid with ingratitude. It is the Ifá of the banker: Eshu was the Awó's banker.
Be careful about a child: do not be the reason they find something out and you end up in jail — a child is the one who finds you out.
The woman is lost through trading; money has been stolen from her; she wants to bind a man to her.
You should be careful of diabetes, because you may develop it; there is something wrong with your blood.
The woman suffers from discharge and trouble inside her, and lives with a complex because her belly is going out of shape.
This is an Odù of a traveling child (Abikú).
Here parents go too far in how they treat their children, and trouble comes up between them through the elder's fault — and the younger one answers back.
Coming back from a journey gets complicated: be careful about a journey, so you do not have trouble on the way back.
A white person — a fair-haired one, rather — can help you prosper: make sacrifice; if you are a woman, you will marry a fair-haired man who will make your life rich and prosperous.
You get thrown out or deported from somewhere for courting a friend's wife.
Bunches of flowers are set up high for the dead.
You are carrying gunpowder or you have been handling it: put it aside.
If you have money put away for a mass for a dead one or for an act of charity to the Saints, respect it — because you can be arrested.
You are running from someone who is looking for you: make ebbó, because otherwise a boy is going to find you out.
Two people in your house have had the same dream, and death is close by.
Everyone asks you for money and food, and when you do not give it they turn into your enemies.
You are bound and there is witchcraft in the middle of it; attend to the dead.
You are going to have money by inheritance.
You are somewhat bitter, and either you do not believe or you believe in your own way, and you like to see the results of the work done for you right away.
You like drinking things very cold, because your stomach is always hot.
There is someone planning to go and steal from a place: they have to make ebbó so they are not caught inside, and the law does not get them or they are not killed.

Proverbs of Okana Gio · Òwe

“If your eye stings, it is because you have been eating peppers.”
“Play dead to see what kind of funeral you get.”
“Olofin says: Orunmila on earth and I in heaven.”
“I will not be a victim of the mass death on earth.”
“Generosity is repaid with ingratitude.”
“When the fire is about to go out, it revives with dry palm leaves.”
“It makes no sense to dress one saint and undress another.”
“He is pulled harder than the bell on the bus.”
“Whoever looks down receives no blessings.”
“With God everything, without him nothing.”
“Thorns do not satisfy hunger, nor do cold words comfort.”
“Better to be looked down on and fed than revered and hungry.”
“The camel survives the desert, but the mountains will be worn away by the rain.”
“The sacred signs warn or reward, and it all depends on the diviner.”
“An unfeeling person cannot know compassion.”
“He is more lost than a cockroach at a hens' dance.”
“Where pleasure begins, let the friendship end.”

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

5 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 Okana Gio · Ìbí

That the white Orishas never use gunpowder.
After the barrel of gunpowder saved Agemón, the fun fun gave it up for good.
The forming of the earth.
Here the earth began to be made.
That six pesos are added to the fee.
Eshu made himself Orunmila's banker.
That the egg has the chick inside it, alive or dead.
The belly deformed by giving birth, and the prayer over it with the gourd.
The fight of Shangó with Ogún and the hot pepper.
The barrel of gunpowder that saves and ruins.
The dance of Atemoletá of Okana Gio, and the name Okana Ngunkeba for this Odù.
The rain as generous and at the same time scorned.
That the fire was fading.
And it revives with dry palm leaves.

What is forbidden · Eewó

5 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 Okana Gio · The sacrifices that open the road

Pushing death awayThe bag in the forest🔒 Babalawo

Beating enemiesThe ebbó of the barrel🔒 Babalawo

SpiritualThe ebbó of the black rooster and the pepper🔒 Babalawo

LossThe ebbó of the return🔒 Babalawo

Beating enemiesThe ebbó of the outing🔒 Babalawo

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

Works of Okana Gio · The workings of the sign

SpiritualThe wild cane rod🔒 Babalawo

HealthThe prayer over the belly🔒 Babalawo

MoneyThe water flowers with gunpowder🔒 Babalawo

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

Patakíes of Okana Gio · The roads of the Odù

1The mass death and the bag in the forest

When his turn came to visit the earth — back when you could still come and go from heaven — he consulted the Awó «I will not be a victim of the mass death on earth»: the world was at war and not even sacrifice would lessen its effects, but he sacrificed a guinea fowl to his head and a goat to Eshu Obadara. On earth, ten people were dying early every day; he went back to heaven to consult: gather pieces of every kind of food in a bag and hang it from a tree in the forest. He did it on his return — and after the sacrifice he was able to save the people from death.

This Odù came into the world at a time when it was still possible to go back and forth between the earth and heaven. Those who visited the earth would return to heaven with tales of the strife there, so that people had to think long and hard before setting out on a journey to the world. When his turn came to visit the earth, he went for a reading to find out what to do to have a happy stay: he visited an Awó called «I will not be a victim of the mass death on earth». The Awó told him the world was at war and that, even if he made sacrifice, he would be unable to do anything to lessen its effects; he was warned to sacrifice a guinea fowl for his head and a goat for Eshu Obadara — the Eshu of the forests. He made the sacrifice.

When he reached the world he met a number of elders who were pioneers on the earth, and soon began to feel the world's troubles: in his own community at least ten people were dying early every day. When he found he could do virtually nothing to put the situation right, he decided to return to heaven for deeper consultation. He went straight to his diviner — who was ill — and the diviner confirmed to him that the world was as horrifying as he had predicted, and told him to gather pieces of every kind of food, put them in a bag and hang it suspended from a tree in the forest when he got back to earth. He made the sacrifice exactly as he was told — and after the sacrifice he was able to save the people from death. In Igbodu: this person should be a practicing priest of Ifá, gifted with the power to bring salvation to suffering humankind; besides the usual Eshu of their Ifá, they should prepare an Eshu Obadara for sending messages.

2The rain, abused by everyone

Okonron ri-ri-ri, the rain's Babalawo, read for her when she was coming into the world to bring good fortune: black soap, black cloth and a black hen, so her generosity would not be repaid with ingratitude. She argued it made no sense to sacrifice when the people she helped would appreciate her — and refused. On earth she gave harvests, cooled the heat and saved plants and animals from drought; but Eshu turned humans against her: those she soaked insulted her; if she fell too much, an unwanted guest; if she was late, they blamed her. Not one person had a word of thanks. That is why she laments as she comes down from the black clouds — «if I had known, I would have sacrificed» — the sound rain makes as it falls.

He made the reading for the rain when she was preparing to come into the world. When he asked what she was going to do on earth, she replied that she was coming to bring good fortune to the people of the earth. She was told to make sacrifice with black soap, black cloth and a black hen, so her generosity would not be repaid with ingratitude. She argued that it made no sense to have to sacrifice, since the people she helped would appreciate what she did for them — and refused to do it. When she was preparing to come into the world, Eshu was told that the rain was going without making the sacrifice prescribed.

On reaching the earth, she extended her generosity to the farms so they would have good harvests, cooled the air from the effect of the heat and saved plants and animals from drought. In spite of all the good work she did, Eshu turned human beings against her: everyone caught by the rain while they were working, or who had to stop work because of her, began to insult her for the interruption. When she fell very often, people mocked her as an unwanted guest; when she was late, the people turned on her for not coming to cool the air; when she came, they accused her of ruining their day. There was not one person who had a word of thanks for the rain — which made her remember what she had been told in the reading. That is why she laments as she comes down from the black clouds: «Bo ba je pe mo mo, ma ba rubo — okan ri-ri-ri», the sound rain makes as it falls, since she goes on being abused by everyone to this day. In an ordinary reading: in spite of your generosity toward people, you will be mocked and abused — make sacrifice so you are not a victim of ingratitude.

3The fire that was fading

Okonron wiri wiri wiri, the fire's Babalawo, read for it when its life was fading: a rooster, a hen and dry palm leaves. It made the sacrifice, the sacrifice showed itself, and it took on new strength: whenever fire is about to go out, it can revive with dry palm leaves. Make sacrifice so that a white person helps you prosper; the woman will marry a fair-haired man who will make her life rich and prosperous.

He made the reading for the fire when its life was fading. It was told to make sacrifice with a rooster, a hen and dry palm leaves: it made the sacrifice.

Its sacrifice showed itself, and it took on new strength: whenever fire is about to go out, it can revive with dry palm leaves. In an ordinary reading: make sacrifice so that a white person can help you prosper; if the person being read is a woman, she will marry a fair-haired man, and he will make her life rich and prosperous.

4The leper of Ijaye🔒 Babalawo

5The forgetful Awó and the poisoned Oloja🔒 Babalawo

6The silent chameleon🔒 Babalawo

7Moyebo's return🔒 Babalawo

8When Oshún's belly went out of shape🔒 Babalawo

9The ice-cold water for Olofin🔒 Babalawo

10Olofin and Shangó: the elder's stubbornness🔒 Babalawo

11Shangó, Ogún and the hot pepper🔒 Babalawo

12Agemón's barrel of gunpowder🔒 Babalawo

13Betrayal of the Oba🔒 Babalawo

14The great taboo of Ifá🔒 Babalawo

15The change of life🔒 Babalawo

16The pact of faithfulness🔒 Babalawo

17The gift of being liked🔒 Babalawo

18The title of Olu Ode🔒 Babalawo

15 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 Okana Gio in Spanish →

Frequently asked questions about Okana Gio

What does the Odù Okana Gio mean in Ifá?

Where Olofin and Orunmila share the government of the world, one on earth and one in heaven: Eshu is his banker, and keeping your troubles quiet blocks the road.

What number is Okana Gio among the 256 Odù of Ifá?

Okana Gio is Odù number 124 of the 256 in Ifá, part of the Okana family.

Which orishas speak in Okana Gio?

In the Odù Okana Gio these orishas speak: Shangó, Eshu, Obatalá (Agemón), Oshosi, Oshún, Los Ibeyis, Orunmila.

What is a proverb of the Odù Okana Gio?

One of the proverbs of Okana Gio says: «If your eye stings, it is because you have been eating peppers.».

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