Osa Meyi

Running from Iyami Oshooronga, Osa Meyi ran toward the womb of the first woman he found — not knowing that he was jumping out of the pan into the fire, because his future mother belonged to the witchcraft cult and was preparing her husband to be offered in sacrifice. From the day he was born, Osa Meyi cried late at night: that was his way of interrupting the ritual against his father. When he grew up, instead of crying he shouted «Iyami Oshooronga!», and his mother would abruptly leave the ceremony.

Called before the witches, the mother explained what was happening, and they ordered her to bring the child to the general assembly, on the day of the banquet where the heads of all the members were served. They served the head of Osa Meyi too, but he did not eat from the goat, because he had not been initiated into the cult.

The next morning, Osa Meyi advised his father — who had been sick for a long time — to serve his head with a goat, because of a dream he had had. Once the sacrifice was done, he asked his mother for a clay pot and oil: he gathered the parts of the goat and the leftover meat, added oil, salt and sand from the ground, and went to leave the pot at the incinerator. That was the first offering made by a human being to the Elders of the Night, and that is how it is made to this day. Everyone went to sleep; the next day his mother did not wake up, and his father was healed. That is why some people call Osa Meyi a witch — but he never was one: he could meet with the witches without belonging to their cult.

When Osa Meyi left for the world, he stopped offering the goat to Eshú, and neither his guardian angel nor his head could guide him: he wandered as far as the last river in heaven. On the bank he found Iyami Oshooronga, the mother of the witches, too weak to cross the narrow Ekoko bridge. She begged him for help and, since the bridge would not hold two, she suggested he open his mouth so she could get inside. He agreed, and she settled into his stomach.

On the other side, Osa asked her to come out, but she refused: «your stomach is a fine home». When he warned her that she would starve in there, she answered that she would not, as long as he had a liver, a heart and intestines — her favorite foods. And she bit his liver. Osa Meyi understood the problem, took out his instruments and called on Ifá, who told him to sacrifice at once a goat, a bottle of oil and white cloth.

He cooked the liver, the heart and the intestines of the goat and announced that the food was ready. Smelling it, Iyami came out of his stomach, but warned that she was forbidden to eat in front of anyone. Osa made a tent with the white cloth and she went in to enjoy the meal. While she ate, Osa Meyi ran off fast, found a womb to slip into and came into the world. When Iyami finished, she went looking for him shouting «Osasa, Osasa!» — the cry of the witches to this day. She is still looking for him.

As punishment for clumsily refusing him his goat, Eshú pushed Osa Meyi toward a town full of witches. He arrived when everyone was out at the farm; only a pregnant woman was giving birth, and he helped her deliver. Hungry, he looked for food on the counter, dropped an egg that broke and, when he touched the next thing, the color of both his hands turned albino white. Frightened, he ran into the bush.

In the forest, a hunter told him that the whole town was made of witches and that his life was in danger: he had to give a goat to Eshú at once. Osa took one out of his divining bag and sacrificed. The hunter — who was Eshú in disguise — got herbs, washed his head, and his whole body came back an even darker color than before.

Meanwhile the newborn, who had been talking since the day he was born, told them about the white hands. When they brought Osa before the town and asked him to hold out his hands, they were dark as coal. Then everyone turned on the woman, who confessed that her son had told her. The Elders of the Night condemned her for lying to the town — a death sentence in their tradition — and executed mother and child, even though Osa pleaded for them in vain. To thank him for helping with the birth, they rewarded him with a man, a woman and a she-goat, all of them witches. When he got home, he offered the she-goat to Ifá and another goat to Eshú, in thanks for rescuing him at the critical moment.