Otrupon Koso

On this road there were two fishermen, who lived in an area where the water was dead, and for that reason they had to go far out to sea to fish.

These men fished far out, on the high sea; and since the distance from there to the shore was so great, when they came back with what they had caught, they found that every fish was rotten, and they suffered great poverty because of it; and every time they went out fishing, the same thing happened.

Faced with such a grave and desperate situation, they went to Orunmila's house, and he made osode for them and saw this Ifá, where he told them to make ebbó and to pray to Olofin and to Olokun.

The fishermen then went out fishing, and, as always, they took a great many fish; but as they were coming back to their town, a cold front caught them, and at the same time water began coming into the boat, so they began bailing it, that is, taking the water out of the boat.

But the more water they took out, the more came into the boat, and they were at that task all the way to the shore; and when they checked the fish, they found them all fresh and in good condition, since through the whole trip they had been kept in the water, so they were kept in good condition, and that way they had the satisfaction of success. Because that way they could trade their goods, feed their families, and success began for them both, out of their faith and their stubborn effort.

Yemayá Okuté was a passionate and strong-willed woman, and because of her character, or her way of being, she was at great war with all the children of her land. As a result of this, all the arayés agreed together to beat Yemayá Okuté; and she, who had a great power over Egun, set it on her enemies, and because of this the death toll in that land was enormous.

Frightened, she fled that land and began to wander through many lands, until she reached the land of Omí Mayafra, which was far from her own and was a land of snow and ice. There, by virtue of the great power she had over Egun and of the ashé Olofin had given her, she made a life using Mayafra as her dress.

Many years had passed and nobody had word of Okuté; many warriors and kings had gone out to look for her without success, since nobody dared cross the bounds of the land of Omí Mayafra, which was the kingdom of silence and death.

Ogún, who was a determined warrior, armed himself with all his strength and set himself to go out and find her; but first he went to Orunmila's house, and Orunmila saw this Ifá for him, where he marked the ebbó.

Ogún made rogation and set out for that land; and on reaching it, he began to look for Okuté, and he was struck with wonder to find a woman whose skin was shining and covered in snow. He came close to her, and taking advantage of her being asleep, he wrapped her in his chains and carried her to a cave, where the heat of his body made her yielding and he made her his wife, and there she stayed on living and eating at Ogún's side. But she told him that she remembered the good that Omí Mayafra had done her, and that she would have a crown and a mantle of that land.

That is why Yemayá Okuté is known by the name of ayaba Mayafra (queen of the snows).

Note: it is on this road that Yemayá came to be identified with the name of Our Lady of the Snows.

There was a land where there was a queen who had a daughter, whom she gave everything she wanted.

The queen died and left nothing in order, and there came a state, after the queen's death, in which the princess was left without a kingdom and off her throne, and began to go through hardship, and she had to take shelter at the top of a hill. There she lived and had a way of living.

One day she went out into the streets of the city and met Orunmila, and he told her to take two coconuts to the sea and to tell him when she could come to his house. She went to Orunmila's house, and he saw that she had to make ebbó with: a rooster, a bunch of plantains, two coconuts, white and red cloth, and his due.

She made the ebbó. The coconuts are grated and set before Shangó; the coconut is set in the middle of the room and the rooster is given, so the blood falls onto a grated coconut; and on top of Shangó, the bunch of plantains, and amalá is set there, and afterward white and red cloth over Shangó.