Otura Adakoy

In the land of Eni Ni Lekun lived Iyá Yeyekun, owner of a huge power over her sons —who were also Olokun's sons— and whom she kept enslaved. Even so, they were bright boys with very firm character. She had sworn them into a great secret of Orún; every three months she took them to it, said a mass —mini mini—, offered it 3 black doves and spoke to Orún with these words: BELEKUN ORUN LEA ORUN ALA ALA ORELUN EGUN MINI MINI YANIRA IKU AWA ORUN.

Orún was very glad to hear it; Olokun, on the other hand, never thought it was right. Osanyin, who knew the days of those ceremonies, went and waited inside a crab cave that was near Iyá Yeyekun's secret. And as soon as she started her song, he answered her with this other one: SEYE SEYE LOKUN SEYE EGUN ORUNMILA LEO ORUN LA LEKUN ELEKUN TENI EGUN NILE ENI WA OLOKUN.

When the song was over, he lit a lamp of mixed sticks with corojo butter. To Iyá Yeyekun this was too strong a thing: she got scared along with her sons and left the secret.

From complaining so much to Iyá Yeyekun about the way she treated the boys, Olokun was already fed up, and she still would not obey. One day Ikú showed up on the road playing her agogó, and her voice went saying: OSANYIN SESE NILORUN EGUN OBA IKU OSANYIN WA OLORUN OSANYIN GUNLE ORUN LALA KARESA LORUN OSANYIN ORUN LELE.

When he heard it, Osanyin came out and wanted to know: "Are you calling me or Orún?" Ikú answered: "Yes, you, so you go see Olokun and tell him to go see Orunmila." Osanyin took Ikú's message to Olokun.

Without delay, Olokun came before Orunmila, who made osode for him, saw this Odù and told him: "You have to make ebbó and take it to the foot of Osanyin, so all the bad things end. You also have to make Ifá for your oldest son, but first he has to be sworn into Osanyin."

Back home, Olokun repeated to Osanyin every word from Orunmila, and Osanyin answered him: "Then go back to Orunmila's house so he makes the ebbó for you, and after that you bring it to me. You have to take many crabs out of the sea, to put them in the cave that is behind Iyá Yeyekun's secret."

Olokun obeyed. On the day Iyá Yeyekun came with her sons before the secret to keep the custom, Osanyin threw gunpowder at the back of the crab cave: they all came out and surrounded the place where the secret was. When she saw that, she got scared and went away with her sons.

That was when Osanyin took the 3 black doves, gave them to the secret and started this song: SARAYEYE EGUN BELEKUN LONA, SARAYEYE EGUN BELEKUN LONA.

Iyá Yeyekun got sick and lost her mind, and she ran away from those parts. Olokun and Osanyin went after her; when they caught up with her, she knelt in front of the two of them, asked them for forgiveness and handed her sons over to them.

Osanyin then swore in Olokun's sons, passed his great power to them, took out the bad character they carried and sent them to make Ifá.

Note: the Awó who has this Odù has to get a live crab and scrape all kinds of sticks together with grave dirt; feed Egun a male and a female turtle, and light a lamp with peppers of all kinds, with salt, goose egg and duck egg, and chopped feathers of guinea and vulture. The turtle heads go with everything else inside a pot. After three days, 3 black doves are given to Egun, wrapped in black cloth, and buried inside a crab cave. For the Paraldo you take a chicken, tied on the left leg with black-white-red ribbon along with escoba amarga, rompe saragüey, álamo, sargazo and espanta muerto. On the floor a circle is drawn with Otura Adakoy; that atena is given a dove and the Odù is left covered by the feathers. A candle is lit and the Paraldo is done; at the moment of cleaning you say: NIRE NIRE PARALDO LADO PARALDO SOMO. Right after comes this other song: SARA LEGUN BAGUAO SARA LEGUN LONA EGUN NI LONA OTURA ADAKOY LOLA. At the end, a bath with all the Paraldo herbs.

A son of Oyá was a very famous carpenter, and that carpenter had a son who was also a son of Oyá. One day Olofin came to him with an order: an atena board and a trunk of the celestial sphere, because besides being a carpenter he was a sculptor.

Olofin promised to reward him if the work left him satisfied. On the first day, the carpenter sent the boy to collect payment at Olofin's house, and what he got was a gourd of sara-ekó. When the father saw it, he wanted to know from the boy: "Is this what Olofin sent? A gourd of corn flour and water?" And he ordered him to drink it himself.

When he looked at the bottom of the gourd, the boy found 3 very polished stones and kept them. The same thing happened on the second day and on the third; with 9 stones in his hands, he went to Orunmila's house, and Orunmila registered him, saw this Odù and explained to him: "What you have there are 9 cuyují, which represent the astral spirit of your family, which is Iyanzán."

Orunmila himself took him before Olofin, and there, on top of the same atena his father had carved, they consecrated the 9 polished stones, and with that the homage to the spirit of his ancestors was paid. So the young man was able to make Ifá, and the Odù Otura Adakoy came out for him, the same one as the Awó who protected him, Orunmila. In time he became Obá of that land of the ancestors, that is, Obá Egun.

The carpenter went to complain to Olofin, and the answer was this: "For not giving value to what I sent, another person, in this case your son, is enjoying your wealth."

The carpenter died of rage, and his son Otura Adakoy stayed as King of that land thanks to the virtue of those mysterious stones.

That is where the saying comes from: whoever trusts a man is like whoever tries to grab the fog.

Note: the work of Otura Adakoy to reach power is the consecration made to Oyá. For a child of this Odù to get to make Ifá, you take 9 stones of Oyá and leave them three days inside 3 gourds of sara-ekó. The atena of Olofin is set up: in the first line, the 16 Meyi of Ifá; in the second, the Odù Oshe Tura, Otura Adakoy, Okana Sa and Okana Yeku, followed by Iroso Sa, Ofún Bilé, Osa Kana, Osa Kuleya and Otura She. On top of each Odù of the bottom line a stone of Oyá is placed, a dove is fed to it and everything stays like that 9 days before the person's Ifá; then the stones are cleaned and go into the tureen. Oyá's secret name in Otura Adakoy is Lamu Tatá.

In the land of Adakoy Epo, Ogún had his house. He was such a friend of Ikú that the two of them did not part, going or coming. In that same place lived a sister of Yewá, queen of the witchcraft cult, a witch woman, who took up the back of Yewá's house and was also a very good friend of Ogún and of Ikú.

Her name was Iyami Oshoronga and her job was to take the food to Yewá's house. Orunmila had already warned Ogún that in that land tragedy was the owner and that he must not taste alcoholic drinks, because he could be lost through them.

Iyami Oshoronga's secret was buried on the beach, next to the house of her brother Olokun. Every night, from Yewá's house, she turned into a night bird —eiye orú— and went out toward Olokun's house singing: OSHOORONGA EIYE ABAKUE OLUGBAGO OLOKUN OYI KUTU ASHO AGO ABONU. With that, pregnant women lost their babies, and the babies were taken to Yewá's house, and that is what Yewá's family ate.

In that land lived a boy named Shawere Guegue. What the pregnant women went through bothered him, and he never stopped blaming Ogún for his friendship with Ikú.

Together with another boy he set up a scheme against Ogún: they took him to the palm wine tavern and there they served him so much that Ogún got drunk and came out singing: ELE TITI MORO APA OTUN NI MOTINIYE AKUA OSI NI MOSIYE.

Ikú was coming that way and bumped into him. Since he was drunk, Ogún did not recognize her and cut off her hand. Ikú ran away spilling blood, and everyone who stepped on it fell sick. Ogún, out of his mind, swung his machete to one side and the other, and the whole land of Adakoy was left sick and afraid of Ogún and of Ikú.

Shawere Guegue then went to consult with Orunmila, who saw this Odù for him and told him this: so nobody would get sick, they had to take corojo butter, he and everyone had to eat it, and drink water; that is how they were saved one by one. Also, they had to go out and look for Iyami Oshoronga, and while they walked they sang: OGUN KONIYE KI IYAMI OSHOORONGA ILERE LOBIKAN IBA OGUN.

Iyami Oshoronga came when she heard that song, and they told her everything. She went out to look for Ogún; when she got to the land of Adakoy she found him like a madman, swinging his machete, and she came close singing to him: BABA YEWE OGUN KUELE KUELE OGUN KUELE KUELE YEWE KUELE KUELE.

With that Ogún calmed down, and Iyami Oshoronga took him to Orunmila's house, where Olofin was. In front of them, he knelt down, and Olofin ruled: "From today on, in the land of Adakoy drink will not be known again, and anyone who steps on Ikú's blood will keep spreading sickness. And this land will always be guided by Iyami Oshoronga, together with Orunmila, Olokun and Yewá."

And that land got better, though it never stopped being sick.