Oshé Masá

The sign at a glance

Order in Ifá

Odù 236 of 256

Composition

Oshe over Osa

In the Diloggún

5-9 · Oshé tonti Osá

Orishas that speak

Yemayá · Oshún · Azojuano (San Lázaro) · Odduduwa · Shangó · Oyá · Ozain · Ekubijegan

What Ifá says in this sign

The prayer of Oshé Masá · Yoruba

Oroshere Adifafun Ticoy Emapuo Miya Oba Toralo Ogun Awo Okuni Motu Cape Adifafun Ako, Akuko Lebo, Akofa, Baba Oko Moni Oko Kan Karita Mete Etu Oro Epola Pua Si Meyi Dudo, Leri Epu Chima.

Ifá says — what Oshé Masá tells you

• An Ifá of making peace instead of facing off: you are in a quarrel, often with the government, and making peace is the order. The Ifá of the adimú: Yemayá offered up her children Adí and Imú to save humankind. The Ifá of the owó laka: you make atefá with a silver peso among the ikines, which frees you from curses; the Awó always carries it on him, and the Awó Oshé Sá needs forty silver pesos. The Ifá of the Flying Witches: Oshé Sá carried the mother of the witches into the world, and they swore on the Ground not to destroy human lives without cause. The Ifá of cunning: skill is worth more than strength; the cunning turtle was saved from the fire and from the water. An Ifá able to see God Almighty: you should take Him inside yourself.
• It speaks of trouble in the joints of the arms or the legs: arthritis, cramp, thrombosis and twisting of the limbs; you suffer a great deal from colds.
• It speaks of women who love women and of men who love men, from the road of Yemayá Okunté and Yemayá Ashabá.
• The children's health needs care: they are often born weak or misshapen, like Azón; you have something wrong with your legs, or a child with twisted legs.
• You live under close watch, like Oshún shut in by the sorcerer; the obinisis stir desire through their beauty and have marks on their faces.
• In the couple you tend to be faithful until death: you carry your widowhood for life, like the parrot.
• You are unable to make your own house, or you live in one left to you as an inheritance.
• You live in high posts, but you bring trouble on yourself through your temper and the law comes down on you; you are sentenced and find yourself in court cases.
• Through your grudge against other people you can harm yourself to the point of losing your life, like the slave made foreman.
• They give you the bad end in business: be cunning so you do not lose.
• When this Ifá is osobo (Ikú, Arun, Ofo), you have to move fast, because you are in danger.
• If you have daughters, they can fall pregnant, even without lying with anyone, like the Yemayás of the island.
• You have lost a gift you had when they spoke into your ear; you are somewhat unsettled and confused, but your luck is good.
• Your enemy is inside your own house.
• The cunning turtle speaks, comadre of the fire, who asked to die in the water: her cunning saves her.
• The parrot speaks, who looked sideways because of the efún, was taken by cramp and had her legs twisted: arthritis; and her faithfulness, which carries her widowhood until death.
• The Flying Witches speak, the Elders of the Night, keepers of God's bath before the rooster's crow.
• The coconut speaks: dry and old it does not sprout, and with no water nobody wants it; contempt and disregard.
• The sea speaks, which made ebbó, and the shore, which did not: that is why the sea drags the rubbish toward the shores and leaves it there.
• The eweses of this Odù are: varita de San José (marshmallow), poinsettia and poplar — plants of beauty and ornament, that come round in their splendor, as you should look after your appearance, which is your strong point.

Proverbs of Oshé Masá · Òwe

• “Skill is worth more than strength.”

• “The good son has the blessing of God and of his mother.”

• “Nobody can feel with you the way a mother does.”

• “An ill with no cure.”

• “His cunning saves him.”

• “The brave man fights and dodges.”

• “When we see the turtle, we need no club.”

• “Money is cursed, but to be born and to die you need it.”

• “A dry old coconut does not sprout, and with no water nobody wants it.”

• “Destroying human lives without cause is punished.”

• “Making peace is the order.”

• “An ill with no remedy is best forgotten.”

• “Only the Creator of life has the right to take it.”

• “One hand washes the other and the two wash the face.”

• “Cheating is the wicked man's fault and honesty the just man's virtue.”

• “Blood weighs more than gold.”

• “The wise man is prudent, the fool insolent.”

• “Everyone who truly repents is truly forgiven.”

• “The sincere man is to be trusted; the two-faced one always lies.”

• “The wise man never gets tangled in quarrels with a fool.”

Iré and Osogbo

What is born in Oshé Masá · Ìbí

• Adí and Imú, the omó of Yemayá: the adimú.

  Yemayá offered her children's heads to Olofin in exchange for pardoning men: «Adimú will be the greatest thing that can be offered to me and to the other Orishas.»

• The «do not put your hands on my shoulder».

  The crafty man drew the other's business ideas out of him with a hand on his shoulder, and took advantage without sharing the profits.

• The great parting of Odduduwa and Obatalá.

  Odduduwa had to trade the tin for silver: that is why his pieces are of silver.

• Yemayá's curse on money.

  She cursed men and money for their greed and self-interest, but without it you cannot live: to be born and to die you need it.

• Doing atefá with a silver peso (owó laka).

  It gives no result in the sign, but its presence frees you from the curses that religious work might drag along.

• That the slave is made foreman but goes looking for his own death.

  The resentful slave killed those who looked down on him, and his master killed him.

• That Ifá beat the sorcerer's prenda.

  Orula broke the ologú's chain with the three arrows and the three nails, and freed Oshún.

• That Ozain eats monkey.

  The monkey, brazen and bold, kept getting at Ozain, and his godchildren offered him up.

• That Azón becomes Azojuano.

  The weak son of Odduduwa and Ekubijegan allied himself with Ikú, was sworn in as Koleyewe Kuté and came back giving health: «medicine that heals».

• That the Elders of the Night (the witches) swore on the Ground.

  The oath was taken against the destruction of human lives without cause: that is why the witches cannot destroy the true children of God or the devoted of Orunmila.

• That Olofin crowned Oshún as Oshún Iyumú (the deaf one).

  After Orula freed her from the sorcerer's confinement, she was Ayabá, Queen.

What is forbidden · Eewó

Ebbós of Oshé Masá · The sacrifices that open the road

Works of Oshé Masá · The workings of the sign

Patakíes of Oshé Masá · The roads of the Odù

Frequently asked questions about Oshé Masá