Okana Gio

nº 124 of 256

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.

18 patakíes 5 eewó 8 ebbós and works 17 proverbs

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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 — with the full eewó in plain sight; the detail of iré and osogbo and the full recipes open with The Notebook, in English.

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 · The 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.”

14 proverb interpretations in this Odù, locked.Every proverb explained: which road it comes from and how it applies.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…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

The full eewó of this Odù, open to everyone — with the road each ban came out of.

Do not eat bitter things: no bitter leaves and no bitter kolá.
That is where poison comes in.
Do not boast in front of the one who can help you.
Do not tell the Awó your private matters halfway, and do not keep them from him either.
The chameleon told his troubles to no one. He smashed his head against the palm tree and the wall — and no one felt sorry for him.
Do not seduce women close to you, nor the wife of a friend.
Okana Gio was deported from the town for that.
Do not think of killing yourself, and even less with fire.
Be careful with fire.

Ebbós of Okana Gio · The sacrifices that open the road

Keeping death awayThe bag in the forest🔒 The Notebook Beating enemiesThe ebbó of the barrel🔒 The Notebook SpiritualThe ebbó of the black rooster and the pepper🔒 The Notebook LossThe ebbó of the return🔒 The Notebook Beating enemiesThe ebbó of the outing🔒 The Notebook

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

Works of Okana Gio · The workings of the sign

SpiritualThe wild cane rod🔒 The Notebook HealthThe prayer over the belly🔒 The Notebook MoneyThe water flowers with gunpowder🔒 The Notebook

3 works in this Odù, locked.Each full recipe: ingredients, preparation and where it goes.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 down to the world in the days when you could still go back and forth between earth and heaven. Those who visited earth came back with stories of fights, and that is why nobody set out on the trip without thinking it over slowly. When his turn came, he went for a reading to learn how to have a happy stay, and he looked for an Awó named "I will not be a victim of the mass death on earth." The Awó was frank: the world was at war and, even if he made an offering, there would be no way to soften its effects. The marking was a guinea (hen) for his head and a goat for Eshu Obadara, the Eshu of the woods. He did it.

When he arrived he met several old men, pioneers of the earth, and it did not take long for him to feel the troubles of the world in his own flesh: in his community at least ten people died before their time every day. Seeing that almost nothing was in his hands, he decided to go back up to heaven to consult more deeply. He went straight to his diviner, who was sick, and the man confirmed that the world was as terrible as he had announced; he told him to gather pieces of everything that is eaten, keep them in a bag and, once back on earth, hang it from a tree in the woods. He made the sacrifice just as he was told, and from then on he was able to free the town from death. In Igbodu: this person is meant to practice the priesthood of Ifá, with the gift of bringing salvation to suffering humanity; besides the Eshu that goes with his Ifá, he must build an Eshu Obadara to send his 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 gave a reading to the rain when she was getting ready to come down to the world. He asked her what she was going for, and she answered that she was bringing good fortune to the people of the earth. The marking was black soap, black cloth and a black hen, so that her generosity would not be paid back with ingratitude. To her it seemed unreasonable to have to make an offering: those who received her good would know how to appreciate it, she said, and she refused to do it. When she was about to leave, someone went and told Eshu that the rain was going down without the marked offering.

Down below she handed out her generosity: she brought her good to the fields so they would give good harvests, she took the weight of the heat out of the air and she saved plants and animals from the drought. Even with all that good done, Eshu turned people against her. Anyone she caught in the middle of the work, or who had to stop working because of her, started to insult her for getting in the way. If she fell too often, they mocked her like an unwelcome guest; if she was late, they complained that she did not come to cool the air; and when she finally came, they accused her of ruining their day. Not one single person had a word of thanks for the rain, and that is how she remembered what had been said in the reading. That is why, when she comes down wrapped in dark clouds, she comes with this complaint: "Bo ba je pe mo mo, ma ba rubo — okan ri-ri-ri". That drumming is the noise she falls with, because to this day nobody stops badmouthing her. In an ordinary reading: however generous you are with people, you will be mocked and badmouthed — make an offering so that ingratitude does not reach you.

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 gave a reading to fire in the season when its life was going out. They marked a rooster, a hen and dry palm leaves, and the fire did it.

The offering paid off and it got its strength back: every time it is about to go out, a few dry palm leaves are enough to bring it back to life. In an ordinary reading: make an offering, and a white person will be able to help you prosper; if the one getting the reading is a woman, she will marry a blond man who will make her life rich and prosperous.

4The alakán of Ijaye🔒 The Notebook 5The forgetful Awó and the poisoned Oloja🔒 The Notebook 6The silent chameleon🔒 The Notebook 7Moyebo's return🔒 The Notebook 8When Oshún's belly went out of shape🔒 The Notebook 9The ice-cold water for Olofin🔒 The Notebook 10Olofin and Shangó: the elder's stubbornness🔒 The Notebook 11Shangó, Ogún and the hot pepper🔒 The Notebook 12Agemón's barrel of gunpowder🔒 The Notebook 13Betrayal of the Oba🔒 The Notebook 14The great taboo of Ifá🔒 The Notebook 15The change of life🔒 The Notebook 16The pact of faithfulness🔒 The Notebook 17The gift of being liked🔒 The Notebook 18The title of Olu Ode🔒 The Notebook

15 more patakíes in this Odù, locked.Read every road in full with The Notebook.Unlock →

The full treatise is in English. With The Notebook, the whole sign opens on this page in English: the full text of every patakí, the recipes for the ebbós and works, and the iré and osogbo readings. · 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, The 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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