Osa Bara

Ogún considered himself the greatest force in the world. He had placed the land of Awa Nilaye in the care of his son, the awó Obarayiré, who had his father’s enormous powers at his disposal and ruled there as he liked. Every evening, as it began to get dark, Obarayiré sang, and the inhabitants filled with fear and went off to work instead of sleeping, so that they never rested. Ogún completed the task: in the early hours, from four o’clock, he was already on his feet, marking the pace with force, waking everyone and singing; anyone still asleep had to get up and work.

No one in Awa Nilaye had any rest, and unease was general. They barely had time to eat what the two handed out: only beef and fish, chosen so that they would perform better at work. That diet ended up making them ill; they became weak and poisoned, and no one escaped.

One day Osain came to Awa Nilaye intending to meet Ogún and his son and observe their government. He found a sick people who were forced to work all the same. He went to tell both of them, who listened with irritation. Osain kept silent. He brought two bags full of herbs and sticks; he went into the houses to hand them out, with the request that people take them in secret. Obarayiré, on his rounds, saw what the people were doing and drinking and asked what it was; they told him they were things they had found. Meanwhile the inhabitants were regaining their strength.

After confirming this, Osain went to Awa Tilaye, where Shangó lived, and informed him of everything. Shangó did not like it at all, and sent Osain with the message that Ogún must present himself. Ogún set out accompanied by Osain, who sang during the journey to announce to Shangó that Ogún was coming. Suddenly eguns appeared everywhere and Ogún, terrified, could see nothing else. When he stood before Shangó he begged him to free him from it, because he could not bear it. Shangó answered that all of it was the effect of the harm Obarayiré caused in the land, taking advantage of his father’s strength, and that he would free him only if Ogún swore to go with him to take from his son the command he had given him. Ogún said: “I promise.” He took the machete (agada) and passed it over his head. With that, Shangó’s curse was sealed, and he ordered Ogún to keep his promise and obey him: the power he had given to only one son had to be shared among all the children of Awa Nilaye.

The two returned to the land. As soon as he entered, Ogún shouted for his son, but Shangó stopped him: he should wait, since Shangó would look for Obarayiré, it fell to Ogún to punish him, and first Osain had to be allowed to do his work. Osain handed out herbs to drink and sticks, and the people recovered their health. After seven days there was not one sick person and joy reigned. At midday everyone knelt and, grateful for the good received, did moforibale before Shangó and Osain. Shangó, meanwhile, kept Obarayiré hidden.

Some time later, the children of that land gathered Shangó and Osain and told them that, despite their joy and gratitude, they no longer wanted to have them there. Shangó could not believe it and asked them to repeat it; they repeated the same thing. Furious, he turned three somersaults, pronounced a curse (shepe), and sang aloud. Ogún heard this and went out, machete in hand, ready to kill his own people. Shangó and Osain held him back and told him to calm down: Obarayiré would remain at the head of that land, since he was the only one who understood its people, but Ogún would leave with them.

In the end Shangó went to find Obarayiré, ordered him to open his mouth, and put the ashé inside. He told him that he would have the power to call that land Osa Bara, so that all would live under his ashé: Osa Shepe.

Two Chinese towns were locked in a war without truce, and cruelty came from both sides: no warrior thought of surrendering. At that time Shangó felt fed up and wanted to go traveling, so he visited Orunmila to consult. Orunmila performed osode, this odu appeared, and Ifá said that to travel he first had to make an ebbó, and that he should carry it with him inside a bag. Ifá also told him he would find a town in the middle of a war and gave him a command: when he left the place he reached, he must not return to it.

Shangó made the ebbó, found a horse and set out until he arrived at the town of Filaní. There the warriors noticed that he had no braids, so he was not Chinese. They took him to their camp, where they explained that they wanted no outsider in that conflict. Even so, they wished to honor him, and the chief of the Chinese ordered mutton cooked. Shangó ate eagerly, enjoying every bite. When he finished, he received another horse as a gift and took his leave amid bows and lights.

He resumed his journey, and the Chinese went back to fighting. After many hours both sides paused to tend their wounded and eat; the meal was mutton again. Shangó was in the surroundings and the aroma of his favorite dish reached him. No longer remembering what Orunmila had told him, he resolved to go back. He wanted to pass unnoticed, so he took the braids of a fallen warrior and put them on, without noticing that the fighting had resumed. As he tried to cross to the opposite camp, the warriors spotted him, thought him an enemy and stopped him by gripping his braids, ready to behead him. Shangó ran off; the braids stayed in the hands of the Chinese, who, once they knew who he was, paid him no attention.

That was the first time Shangó ran.

Osa Bara was an arrogant man because of how well things went for him in business and with women. He ignored his elders and claimed that nobody could take from him what God had given him.

One day he dealt with a daughter of Oyá, whom he wanted to dominate and make suffer. Jealousy ruled him: he argued over nothing and at times hit the woman.

One night he dreamed that he was floating in space and that a current of air carried him to an unknown world. Out of fear, he began to scream. His mother heard the commotion and came. She had a feeling that something strange was happening to him and, since she knew his disobedience, she had begged her guardian angel to look after him; that angel was Yemayá. The mother called him by another name, he came out of the nightmare and told her everything he had dreamed.

She asked him for a favor: that he go with her to the house of Ogbani Isin. Still terrified, he agreed and they went together.

The owner of the house was Orunmila. As soon as the consultation began, this odu came out. Orunmila declared that Osa Bara was a son of Shangó, that Yemayá and Obatalá protected him greatly, and that his fortune depended on a daughter of Oyá. He explained that Shangó holds great respect for Oyá, whom he considers his lady and the protector of his son, and that for this reason no son of Shangó may mistreat a daughter of Oyá: whoever does so ruins himself and even risks his life. Oyá is the wind itself, and a bad draft of air could leave him deaf or disabled, with cramps or rheumatism in the legs, until he was paralyzed. He ended by advising him to ask Oyá and Shangó for help in order to have luck in everything.