Oyekun Bara

A wild boar harassed a horse. It muddied his water whenever there was any and caused him other troubles. The horse, out of patience, went to Orunmila. When he consulted, this Ifá came out: Orunmila told him that he wanted revenge on someone, but that he should not take it, since he was risking his freedom.

The horse left displeased. He muttered that, instead of giving him some means to punish his tormentor, Orunmila forbade him to act and announced harm to him; in his view, Orunmila was crazy. He went on, full of the wish for revenge, and met a hunter, to whom he explained his situation. The hunter offered to help him on one condition: that he accept wearing a bit and a saddle and let the hunter ride him. The horse, blinded by rage, agreed. Together they hunted the boar and killed it.

With his revenge fulfilled, the horse demanded his freedom. But the rider was Eshu, who realized how valuable the horse was for hunting, and refused. He put him in a stable and tied him up. Since then human beings ride the horse.

Oyekun Bara was an awó with great luck, a good ladies' man who lived comfortably. He was married to Abeyawo, his first wife, and they had a son, though he no longer felt affection for them. His house was in Inlé Taná, a region under the rule of Ikupá, death. He preferred witchcraft work to Ifá work and gathered objects of Ikú. He did not imagine that Ikú was already prowling around his house, wanting to dance with him.

In time some dark egun obsessed him, and he did almost nothing but work with the sorcerer's pot. He gained power but lost his calm. His wife had the gift of seeing what is hidden and watched Ikupá cross the house at all hours; the boy saw her too and screamed during the night. Oyekun Bara ended by driving them out. They were children of Obatalá, and thanks to that the awó had always enjoyed Obatalá's favor. Obatalá, indignant at the way the boy was treated, cursed him. From that day nothing went well for him: he went hungry, barely survived, attended only to matters of Ikú, and his mind began to cloud over.

Eshu Mako passed through that region and was terrified to see it full of dark egun. He went to find Osain, and they came back together, each with a hen, singing a chant and performing sarayeye. The egun began to withdraw. When they reached Oyekun Bara, the awó, dominated by the egun, had foam at his mouth. With the hens they cleansed him by sarayeye and gave the hens to Osain, while they kept singing.

When the hold of the egun was gone, they gave him a bath of ewefá and offered Obatalá two white doves to pray for his head. They advised him to make an ebbó with the things of Ikú that he kept and to ask his wife for forgiveness. He sat up suddenly, consulted Ifá and found that his sign was Oyekun Bara. He carried out the ebbó with what he had of Ikupá and set out for the land of Obatalá to beg his forgiveness.

On the road he met his wife and son; he begged their pardon and gave them money. At Obatalá's house Elegba, Shangó and Osain were waiting for him. He knelt, asked forgiveness and confessed his repentance for everything he had done. Obatalá answered that, in memory of this, his life would alternate between times of poverty and times of wealth; that he must always rely on Obatalá and on Shangó to have luck; that he should defend himself from his enemies with Osain; and that Eshu Mako would live with him to guard the entrance of his house. Osain sealed it with his secret. The awó recovered his power and his former luck, with one new obligation: never to let go of the hand of his wife and his son.

In the land of Osushe lived Oshún, who was deeply in love with Olufina Akakamaisa. This man had a reputation as a conqueror and a diviner, and was even better known for treating women without courtesy. Oshún wanted to bind him to her side as a husband. She had tried various means without success, because he always left for other lands, looking for other women, on a spirited white horse that gave him the nickname Shebe Shintilu.

Oshún then went to the most famous diviner of the region, Ifá She Mi. When he consulted for her, he saw Oyekun Bara and explained that in the world there was only one who could calm Shangó, the so called runaway rider. Oshún performed the ebbó that she was given and then went to see Osain, who, together with Ifá She Mi, made the secret of the land of Oyekun Bara, meant to calm Shangó.

With everything ready, Oshún waited for Olufina's return. He arrived at a gallop, singing. She invited him to dismount and, before being intimate, offered him the drink of the secret in the cup of Abaña, prepared by Osain and Ifá She Mi. While he drank, she sang the súyere of the secret. Shangó felt a strong drunkenness and an inner peace that made him comfortable in that land. After being with Oshún he grew calm and settled there for good.

For this reason, whoever receives this Ifá always runs the risk of being bound for life to a daughter of Oshún; it is said that her selfishness is harmful.