Otura Bara

Obatalá courted Oshún, she answered his love, and from that love a son was born: Eshu Laboni.

One day Obatalá went out, and when he came back his son met him with these words: "Father, you know that my mother poured aguardiente and corojo butter into your jug." The father's blood boiled, but he did not say a word.

Another time it was Oshún who went out, and when she came back the son blurted out: "Mother, you know that my father poured aguardiente and millet into your jar." Oshún started a fight. People came, found out about the matter, and she told them to throw that son into the river.

Obatalá picked the boy up to dump him, and halfway there he heard him say: "Father, you know that you are stepping on a majá and that this year your luck is going to be long." Hearing that, the father answered: "Go on, be quiet, bad boy," and he did not stop walking.

At the riverbank, the son spoke again: "Father, you are stepping on an eel." Obatalá lifted his foot and saw that it was true; then the boy added: "This year all your things will be long and standing up." Those words made him angry, and he threw the boy into the river.

As he fell, he turned into a palm tree of 4-eyed ikines. Olofin happened to be looking for those adelé; when he reached the bank and found them, he blessed the boy with these words: "You will always be in all my consecrations."

That is why everybody looks for 4-eyed ikines, which were the ashé of Obatalá and Oshún.

Note: Ifá says you have a child; be careful with what is said, because there is a lot of ashé in the mouth. Give to Eshu soon so that Olofin goes with you. It is also said that whoever looks for a woman in a hurry ends up running into the Devil, because he takes anything that is wandering around because it is bad.

In the land of Gualona, where Obatalá lived, Santo had never been made (yoko-Osha): many Santos lived there, but nobody had been consecrated. Obatalá had a son named Alaboni, raised by Oshún. The boy was always up to mischief and faked sicknesses.

Oshún often visited her mother Oyá and told her about Alaboni's ways. One day Oyá suggested taking him to the land of Bakerioyo, where Awó Otura Bara lived.

Getting there took a lot of work, because of the distance and because the road forced them to cross the land of Odudúwa and Azojuano; even so, she went along singing on the way: AGO NILEO AWO IFA AGO NILEO AWO LALAROSHA.

Awó Otura Bara was at his front door and saw them coming with Alaboni; he went in, threw the ekuele and Otura Bara came out. As soon as they arrived, he began to clean Alaboni with smoked jutía and smoked fish and corojo butter, while he sang: ELEGBA NITA LAROYE NISIKO ELEGBA NITALAROYE NISEKU.

Laboni started to dance. Orunmila fed him corojo butter, coconut, and smoked jutía and fish, and then warned Oshún and Oyá that Alaboni had to be consecrated in Osha. Awó Otura Bara gave her a dove for Obatalá, with the message to ask him to gather all the Oshas: in the land of Gualola, Osha would be consecrated for the first time.

Oshún did what she was asked. After that, the Awó kept her and Alaboni in his house for 3 days, cleaning them with different things; he gave her the herbs Alaboni was going to be consecrated with and sent her toward the land of Gualola. On the way she ran into Shangó, who was carrying ero, obí, kolá and osun naború to consecrate Laboni. She went on with him, repeating the prayer the Awó had given her: ASHE ESHU ALABONI ASHE ESHU BA ALABONI OBATALA LAGUEDE ASHE ESHU BA ALABONI.

Those words made Shangó very happy, and he joined her, and the two went singing all the way to Obatalá's land. Hearing them, the people there were happy too: the Oshas came right away and led the new arrivals to the door where Obatalá was waiting, already prepared. While Alaboni knocked on the door, the prayer went up: SHINILEPO EYA OSHUN SHINILEPO OBATALA HOGUERA OMO LEYE NI LORUN OLORDUMARE NIRE OSHA.

Obatalá took a dove and gave it to him at his feet, right there at the door, singing: EDUN SHINILEPO EDUN SHINILEPO ARIKU BABAWA.

Then Alaboni went in with Oyá. When they were about to put him in the tub to bathe him, she said: ATOBO (with the left foot) ATIGUO OSHA ATOBO ORI NI OSHA ARENI TIAGUE. They put Alaboni in the tub and bathed him, and then Shangó set the ashé on his head. Olofin was very happy, and so were the Oshas.

That is how Santo was made for the first time on Earth.

In the land of Yerekun lived Awó Mokayere, and the one who ran it was Oluopopo. That land was a land of slavery, sickness and poverty: people ate grass, and the grass was sick by the work of Oluopopo, so that nobody could get out of there. The rest of what they ate was corn flour and bread.

Among the slaves there was one, the strongest and also the most punished, named Oluo Tenire, son of Osanyin; a lack of respect toward his father had earned him the punishment of being sent to the land of Yerekun.

Oluo Tenire spent his hours next to a ceiba tree and a jobo tree; he wrapped himself in ivy and abrecamino and sang with a chick: OSANYIN BABA MAYERE AWO OSANYIN BABA KUELE OSAIN MAYERE.

One day Osanyin went out walking and, without meaning to, came near the land of Yerekun. He heard his son's voice, walked faster and went in before dawn. He came singing: OLUOPOPO AYE AGBA OMONI ERUN.

The song bothered Oluopopo, who went at him to complain: "Everyone who is here is a slave of mine and of my son Mosaraye." Osanyin, annoyed, let the majá (eyó) loose, and the animal ran to bite Mosaraye: it poisoned his blood and rotted him. Osanyin left; the majá hid and started biting the corn that Oluopopo ate, and with that he fell sick. Three days later the majá went back to Osanyin and told him everything it had done. In those three days it spent in the land of Yerekun it whistled at Oluopopo and denied knowing anything about the matter.

Osanyin then gave the majá this order: "You have to look for your brother in the land of Obara Koso; he is the one with the power to save all of Oluopopo's slaves."

In the land of Obara Koso lived Shangó, owner of the power to hear everything that happened around him. He heard what Osanyin put to him, dressed as a tiger, kept eyó's brother in a little bag of tiger skin and set out for where Osanyin and the majá were. When he got there he asked them what was going on; they told him and they started the trip to the land of Yerekun, where Oluopopo was.

Shangó went singing from the moment he left: OLUOPOPO EYE ORIELE OLUOPOPO EKUN NILE ODARA.

Oluopopo heard the song, got up and greeted Shangó, who came with Osanyin; Osanyin had put the eyó inside the gourd so that Oluopopo would not see it. Shangó spoke to him like this: "Here I bring you the secret you are missing so that slavery and sickness disappear from the land of Yerekun."

Oluopopo had a ram: he grabbed it, gave it to him and knelt down in front of Shangó, swearing to do everything he was telling him. Shangó handed him the secret that Osanyin brought and they set about curing the whole population of the land of Yerekun; they took away the herbs and the food that had sickness, and with that, calm and health came to the land of Yerekun. And to Otura Bara.

Note: when Otura Bara comes out, Obara Koso is placed next to it; and if the one that comes out is Obara Koso, Otura Bara is placed. The secret of Ekun (the tiger) was given by Shangó, and the one of the majá (eyó), by Osanyin. Before receiving Oluopopo, a ram is given to Shangó.