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Osa Ka

Also called Osa Ika

nº 161 of 256 · Edited by

The clown who laughs while his heart cries: here the natural acceptance of death originated, and the tired horse keeps working without anyone taking it into account.

15 patakíes 5 eewó 9 ebbós and works 18 proverbs

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Osa Ka is Odù number 161 of the 256 in Ifá, part of the Osa family. It is also written as Osa Ika. This page brings together its prayer in Yoruba, 15 patakíes (3 in full in plain sight, with their teaching, ebbó and chants), its proverbs, 9 ebbós and works and the signs it shows in the consultation — with the full eewó in plain sight; the rest of the iré and osogbo and the full recipes open with The Notebook, in English.

The sign at a glance

Order in Ifá
Odù 161 of 256
Composition
Osa over Ika
Orishas that speak
Oshún Ololodi · Azojuano · Shangó · Obatalá · Ogún · Orunmila

What Ifá says in this sign

Osa Ka, also known as Osa Ika, is the sign where the naturalness of death was born: everything that is born has its hour to leave. Here the circus tent, the clown and sexual confusion were also born, and here it was set that this awó leaves the world with a coin on his lips. Its ruling is a warning: the harm is sitting in your own home, and an enemy lives with you as if he were your friend. Do not feel pity for someone who is about to die, because you, a godchild or someone in your family may be the one who goes.

You are like the clown: you make others laugh while your heart weeps, and people mock you. And you are the tired horse, who works until exhausted without anyone valuing him. Like the tent that rotted from being moved so often, you have aged by changing places, and you have fallen ill by changing partners. You have no fixed place, you are restless, you have been far from your father for years and you feel a great spiritual emptiness.

«While I make people laugh, my heart weeps: the clown of Osa Ka deserves the consideration he gives out.»The pulse of Osa Ka

But the sign brings good news: a new child arrives in the family, and when grown that child will travel the world. With the sacrifice done, you find a firm place to settle. Move from where you live: whoever obeys and leaves a house full of conflict prospers at once and escapes the ruin that reaches his own people. To the man looking for a woman to marry, this sign says he will find her, and money smooths the way to what he desires.

They have laid snares and traps for you, your path has closed and you are not treated with loyalty. This year you lost a lot, and your business went badly because of the envy of ambitious people; you are poor and a debt weighs on you. Do not be stubborn or meddle in other people's affairs, like Malano, the market seller whom death followed for not listening. Respect your godfather and your friends, because you are capable of betraying them, and do not tell other people's secrets: in your family there is a big one, perhaps about who your real father is.

In love, beware of a woman who with cunning can leave you tied to her, like the turtle that tied down the horse. At work, a remark about an employee or a former subordinate can bring you a problem. Dress in white, do not wear torn clothes and light two candles to Azojuano to ask for calm. If you do your ebbó, the death that follows you moves away from your home, and what you did in secret does not come to light.

The sign in one line

Rest, look at who lives in your house and do not betray your godfather, because the tired horse of Osa Ka still wins, if everyone stops riding him.

The prayer of Osa Ka · Yoruba

Osa kani awani okutele kole adifafun Aritinlo ayua yele olanyo ayua akuko lebo owunko lebo ori lebo adie ewe tinle yokula unlo asho fun fun ikan lowa Osa Ka Ifá Orunmila lodafun oma.

Súyere
Asho fun fun ikan lowa Osa Ika.

Ifá says — what Osa Ka tells you

Proverbs of Osa Ka · Òwe

15 proverb interpretations in this Odù, locked.Every proverb explained: which road it comes from and how it applies.Unlock →

Iré and Osogbo

Three iré and three osogbo of this sign, open to everyone.

Iré · what the sign brings

  • A new child arrives in the family, and when grown that child travels the world.

  • With the sacrifice made, the person achieves a firm place to settle and have a better life.

  • If they obey what Ifá tells them and move away from a house full of conflict, they prosper right away and are saved from the ruin that reaches their family.

Osogbo · what the sign warns

  • The misfortune is in their own home: an enemy lives with them as if he were a friend.

  • A comment about an old employee or subordinate causes them a problem.

  • If they feel pity for a person who is about to die, they themselves, a godchild or a relative may die.

23 more iré and osogbo readings in this Odù, locked.The rest of the iré and osogbo of the sign, sorted by subject — health, money, love, death, loss…Unlock →

What is born in Osa Ka · Ìbí

What is forbidden · Eewó

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

Ebbós of Osa Ka · The sacrifices that open the road

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

Works of Osa Ka · The workings of the sign

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

Patakíes of Osa Ka · The roads of the Odù

1Malano and her stubbornness

A woman named Malano ran a selling stall in the marketplace. She meddled in any affair of others, even though nobody had asked for her opinion.

Orunmila told her once that, to keep her life, she had to make ebbó.

Malano ignored the advice and went on with her usual habits.

In the end death chased her and took her away, because of her stubbornness.

What it teaches

Meddling in other people's affairs and, on top of that, ignoring what Orunmila warns, is costly. Refusing to heed a timely warning leaves a person with no way out.

Orunmila's warning

Orunmila prescribed an ebbó to keep Malano alive. The complete ebbó is in the full treatise.

2The old man who paid for the awó’s fault

Awó Osa Ka never stopped chasing women. On one occasion he fell in love with a maiden, his Oluwo’s daughter, and although nobody knew, she became pregnant. The awó could not see how to avoid the shame before his godfather, who had entrusted the girl to him before leaving on a trip.

In those days an elderly client came to be consulted, looking for a wife. In the reading this odu fell. Awó Osa Ka explained to him that his reason was to ask for a work to find someone to marry; the old man, who wanted exactly that, performed all the works he was told to do. Then the awó arranged for the old man to meet the young woman without himself taking part in the meeting.

The older man fell for her. It was then that the awó prepared the girl with a remedy of his own, so that she would look like a maiden.

The old man married her and ended up bearing the fault that Awó Osa Ka had committed. For this reason it is said that what one person damages, another pays for.

What it teaches

When someone covers up a fault with deceit, the cost tends to fall on an innocent person. What one person damages, another may end up paying for.

Ebbó of this path

This path has its own ebbó; the full list is in the complete treatise.

3Shangó’s secret

Obatalá kept Shangó’s birth as a secret. To raise the child, he left him with his daughter Dada Bañani, and every day he went to see him at that house. So the child grew up pampered, badly brought up and very proud.

With Ogún, on the contrary, Obatalá was severe. This left him with resentment, and he began to find out why Shangó was given special treatment. He insisted so much that Yemayá ended up revealing the secret to him.

Later Ogún warned Shangó that he knew something about his life and that telling it would cause a great scandal. Shangó, arrogant, pressed him to say it, convinced that there was no secret in his life. Ogún said it. Ashamed, Shangó looked for Yemayá to tell her what he had heard. She said she knew nothing, but he kept insisting until she confessed the whole truth.

Shangó took revenge on Obatalá, his father, and went away, leaving him alone.

This odu warns that whoever receives it has a great secret in his or her life. It is possible that the man who raised the person as a father knew that he was not one.

What it teaches

Family secrets, even when kept out of love, leave wounds when they come to light, and more so if someone uses them as a weapon. Someone raised with too much protection often takes the truth badly, and broken trust is very hard to win back.

12 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 Osa Ka in Spanish →

Frequently asked questions about Osa Ka

What does the Odù Osa Ka mean in Ifá?

The clown who laughs while his heart cries: here the natural acceptance of death originated, and the tired horse keeps working without anyone taking it into account.

What number is Osa Ka among the 256 Odù of Ifá?

Osa Ka is Odù number 161 of the 256 in Ifá, part of the Osa family.

Which orishas speak in Osa Ka?

In the Odù Osa Ka these orishas speak: Oshún Ololodi, Azojuano, Shangó, Obatalá, Ogún, Orunmila.

What is a proverb of the Odù Osa Ka?

One of the proverbs of Osa Ka says: «Whoever looks, finds.».

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