Odù 197 of 256 · Otura family

Otura Niko

The foreman of Egun, messenger of the dead: here the oparaldo is born, and its secret is giving food to the spirit of your father.

Otura Niko is Odù number 197 of the 256 in Ifá, part of the Otura family. This page brings together its prayer in Yoruba, 42 patakíes (3 with the full text), its proverbs, 12 ebbós and works and the signs it shows in the consultation; the detail of iré and osogbo, the eewó and the full recipes open with the Babalawo plan — that locked part is still written in Spanish.

The sign at a glance

Order in Ifá
Odù 197 of 256
Composition
Otura over Ogbe
Orishas that speak
Egun (el espíritu del padre) · Shangó · Oshún · Eshu / Elegba · Oduduwa · Osain · Orishaoko · Yemayá · Ogún · Olofin / Olodumare

What Ifá says in this sign

Otura Niko is the messenger of the dead: the foreman of Egun in Kutone, the country of the land of the dead — «in the land of the dead, I am foreman». Here corn, the nervous system and the oparaldo were born, and its law runs by the clock: this Ifá grants extensions, but it allows no delay — prepare everything in good time.

Its secret is in a father's blood: give food to the spirit of your father — a white rooster. Whoever carries this sign carries a gift of nature — you are the child who wept in the mother's womb, and the one who wept in the womb is blessed — but you carry the risk of weariness too: you get tired of living and you are left alone; obedient, you live into old age.

«In the land of the dead, Otura Niko is foreman — his Ifá grants extensions, but it forgives no delay.»The pulse of Otura Niko

Your luck comes with exact signs: if the brown-skinned woman with the red shawl comes back, a ram and two roosters to Shangó at once — and three very great pieces of luck will come to you; for money, wear an apron and buy the lottery tickets others turned down. On the other hand, do not ask for so much money — it can end up paying for your burial — and know that the favor you are about to do will not be thanked: do it anyway, because the children of this Odù grow rich by being generous.

Your house keeps its warnings: the pregnant woman will give birth to a boy they will call «Know-it-all», because he will be a Babalawo; where you live they once had money and today they have not enough to eat — you break that run with a work. Plug the mouse holes, so your ashé does not leak away, and that thing of mayombe you keep, attend to it: it holds you back.

Your standing rules: no working on Thursdays, nor on the day you give food to the santos; no pins in your mouth; your head is not touched by just anyone — the animals are only presented to it. Look after your throat, your spine and your nerves, and know why the children do not come: God is angry with how you behave — give thanks to Oshún and to Orunmila: the foreman of the dead walks blessed among the living — as long as he does not run late.

The sign in one line

Give the white rooster to your father's spirit, prepare everything in good time and be generous — the one who wept in the womb was born blessed and dies old if he obeys.

The prayer of Otura Niko · Yoruba

Otura Niko Oniko Lo Gba Abe Si Aiye Awó Ke Tanshe Afefe Lorun Adifafún Erun Ti O Nlo Sile Orishaokó.

Súyere
Afefe laiye laiye Orún, la gba Orún, afefe laiye laiye Orún.

Ifá says — what Otura Niko tells you

Proverbs of Otura Niko · Òwe

20 proverb interpretations in this Odù, locked.Every proverb explained: which road it comes from and how it applies. Written in Spanish for now.Unlock →

Iré and Osogbo

8 iré and osogbo readings in this Odù, locked.The iré and osogbo of the sign, sorted by subject — health, money, love, death, loss… Written in Spanish for now.Unlock →

What is born in Otura Niko · Ìbí

What is forbidden · Eewó

7 eewó (taboos) in this Odù, locked.What the child of this sign must not eat, do or wear. Written in Spanish for now.Unlock →

Ebbós of Otura Niko · The sacrifices that open the road

DineroThe great ebbó of this Odù🔒 Babalawo
DineroEbbó for Ifá fore🔒 Babalawo
Alejar la muerteThe ebbó of the great power (of the hole)🔒 Babalawo
EspiritualThe ebbó of the foreman of the dead (Iyalaye Maire)🔒 Babalawo
Vencer enemigosThe ebbó of the seven transformations🔒 Babalawo
Vencer enemigosThe ebbó against Kukute (the death that hounds you)🔒 Babalawo
6 ebbós in this Odù, locked.Each full recipe: ingredients, preparation and where it goes. Written in Spanish for now.Unlock →

Works of Otura Niko · The workings of the sign

EspiritualThe oparaldo of Otura Niko (it was born here)🔒 Babalawo
Alejar la muerteThe three gourds so Ikú does not come in🔒 Babalawo
SaludWork for the sick person (the pot and the switches)🔒 Babalawo
EspiritualThe jar of the great power of Otura Niko🔒 Babalawo
EspiritualThe spiritual work of Otura Niko🔒 Babalawo
DineroFor luck and for the good to come🔒 Babalawo
6 works in this Odù, locked.Each full recipe: ingredients, preparation and where it goes. Written in Spanish for now.Unlock →

Patakíes of Otura Niko · The roads of the Odù

1The farmer and the riches

When it is iré: in a great drought, a farmer went to Orunmila, who marked him ebbó with a ram, a rooster, a dove, a machete and a hoe. A few days later it rained, and turning the earth he found riches. When it is osobo: a farmer almost ruined was offered a piece of luck by his guardian angel in exchange for a goat, with the warning not to work and not to get wet in the rain that day. He forgot: when it began to rain he went out happily to turn the earth, and at that very moment the luck was coming down from heaven — sacks of money that fell on him and killed him. Going out in the open while it is raining is forbidden.

When it is iré: once there was a great drought, and a farmer went to see Orunmila; he made osode for him and saw this Odù, and marked him ebbó with: a ram, a rooster, a dove, a machete, a hoe, jutía and smoked fish, the other ingredients and plenty of money.

A few days after the farmer had made the ebbó, it began to rain while he was having lunch, and he said: «When it clears, I will start turning the earth.» When the farmer began turning the earth, he found riches.

When it is osobo: there was a farmer almost ruined by the great drought that was punishing the region where he lived. His plants and his animals were dying, but his guardian angel offered him a piece of luck and told him: «Give me a goat, but do not work and do not get wet in the rain that day.»

On the day the farmer gave his guardian angel what he had asked for, a short while later it began to rain, and the farmer forgot his guardian angel's warning and went out happily to turn the earth. At that very moment the luck was coming down from heaven — that is, sacks of money — and they fell on him and killed him.

Note: going out in the open while it is raining is forbidden.

2The dead father

A Babalawo had a dead father who kept asking him for things — and every time he gave, he got a small piece of luck in return. One day the father asked him for a ram, and the son grumbled: «He will not let me build up my stock; I am going to speak with him.» He had himself put in a sack at the foot of a ceiba so that Oniko, death's messenger, would carry him to heaven. There his father told him: «If I asked you for things so often, it was to send you this great fortune you see here, because nothing can leave this place unless an animal appears for what leaves. It is no longer needed: the riches are yours, and since you will not be able to go back to earth, you stay with the riches and with me.» And the son stayed with his father in heaven.

There was a Babalawo whose father was dead. One day the father asked his son for something and he gave it to him; the son, in return, got a small piece of luck. A short while later, the dead man asked his son for food again, and he gave it, and in return he got another small piece of luck; and so the father went on asking his son for things without sending him anything in return.

One day the father asked his son for a ram, and he began to grumble, saying: «Now my father asks me for a ram and he will not let me build up my stock. I am going to go and speak with him, to tell him to stop asking me for things so often.»

The Babalawo called his wife and ordered her to put him inside a sack and set him at the foot of a ceiba, so that when Oniko came — who was death's messenger — he would carry him to heaven, and that way he could speak with his father.

And so the Babalawo did reach heaven; and when he found his father, he told him: «My son, if I sent for things so often — a rooster, hens, a ram and so on — it was to send you this great fortune you see here, because nothing can leave this place unless an animal appears for what leaves. But it is no longer needed, since the riches are yours; and as you will not be able to go back to earth, you stay with the riches and with me.» The son stayed with his father in heaven.

3The three bottles of aguardiente

This Odù came up for a person, and the Babalawo marked them ebbó with three bottles of aguardiente and $3.15, because illness, disaster and death were stalking them. Having no money, they decided to bring one bottle and $1.05; on the road disaster, who was waiting for them, took the bottle. A week later they bought another one: illness took it. The next Friday they set out with the third and this time they got there. The Babalawo told them: «You have already made ebbó — the first bottle was for the disaster, the second for the illness, and this third one is for death: we are going to set it before Ifá so he sends death away and leaves you in peace.»

Once a person went to a Babalawo's house to be read, and this Odù came up, Otura Niko; the Babalawo marked them ebbó with three bottles of aguardiente and $3.15 as his due, because illness, disaster and death were stalking them.

That person was in a very bad way for money, and having nothing with which to bring the three bottles of aguardiente or the $3.15 due, they decided to bring one bottle of aguardiente and $1.05. On the road, they met disaster, who was waiting for them, and took the bottle they were carrying.

That person had to wait until the next week to be able to buy another bottle of aguardiente and have $1.05. When Friday came, which was payday, they bought the bottle and set out with it for the Babalawo's house, and on the road they met illness, who was waiting for them, and took the other bottle.

The next Friday, the person left their house carrying another bottle of aguardiente and $1.05; this time they did reach the Babalawo's house, and explained what had happened the two times before. The Babalawo told them: «You have already made ebbó, because the first bottle of aguardiente was for the disaster, the second was for the illness, and this third one is for death, and we are going to set it before Ifá so he sends death away and leaves you in peace.»

4Orunmila abandoned by his children🔒 Babalawo
5The fencer🔒 Babalawo
6When Orunmila went to see Olodumare🔒 Babalawo
7The war with Osain🔒 Babalawo
8When Shangó was a slave🔒 Babalawo
9Otura Niko wanted to see Olofin🔒 Babalawo
10The transformation🔒 Babalawo
11The great power of the Awó🔒 Babalawo
12The palm topper🔒 Babalawo
13The errand runner of Olofin, Oduduwa and Shangó🔒 Babalawo
14Sahori, the one who makes the santos speak🔒 Babalawo
15Yemayá's betrayal of Ogún🔒 Babalawo
16Good and evil threaten the Awó (Kukute)🔒 Babalawo
17The foreman of the dead🔒 Babalawo
18The son of Orunmila🔒 Babalawo
19Shangó in the land of Ilerin🔒 Babalawo
20When Shangó did not recognize Orunmila🔒 Babalawo
21The man who made ebbó and won the raffle🔒 Babalawo
22When corn was coming into the world🔒 Babalawo
23Ifá was divined for Olokun🔒 Babalawo
24Intelligence wins🔒 Babalawo
25The salvation of the ebbó🔒 Babalawo
26The three wives of Otura Oriko🔒 Babalawo
27Otura Oriko calms Iku and her children🔒 Babalawo
28The Alafín of Oyo🔒 Babalawo
29The pact of the earthly powers🔒 Babalawo
30Go slowly so you can win🔒 Babalawo
31Do not show everything you know🔒 Babalawo
32The luck that comes from heaven🔒 Babalawo
33The oti trafficker🔒 Babalawo
34Otura Niko sees his father die and saves his godfather🔒 Babalawo
35Orunmila pleaded for humankind before Olofin🔒 Babalawo
36The unthinkable mistake🔒 Babalawo
37You reap what you sow🔒 Babalawo
38The reward for his obedience🔒 Babalawo
39Orunmila does not tolerate ignorance🔒 Babalawo
40Ibeyi Orun🔒 Babalawo
41The beekeeper and the flatterer🔒 Babalawo
42The cat and the butcher🔒 Babalawo
39 more patakíes in this Odù, locked.Read every road in full with the Babalawo plan. Written in Spanish for now.Unlock →
Before you subscribe: everything you read on this page is in English, but the locked part of the treatise — the full text of the other patakíes, the recipes for the ebbós and works, the iré and osogbo readings and the eewó — is still written in Spanish. We are translating it. · This page is also available in Spanish: See Otura Niko in Spanish →

Frequently asked questions about Otura Niko

What does the Odù Otura Niko mean in Ifá?

The foreman of Egun, messenger of the dead: here the oparaldo is born, and its secret is giving food to the spirit of your father.

What number is Otura Niko among the 256 Odù of Ifá?

Otura Niko is Odù number 197 of the 256 in Ifá, part of the Otura family.

Which orishas speak in Otura Niko?

In the Odù Otura Niko these orishas speak: Egun (el espíritu del padre), Shangó, Oshún, Eshu / Elegba, Oduduwa, Osain, Orishaoko, Yemayá, Ogún, Olofin / Olodumare.

What is a proverb of the Odù Otura Niko?

One of the proverbs of Otura Niko says: «In the land of the dead, I am foreman.».

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