Oyekun Juani

nº 36 of 256

Where Elegbara ate akukó for the first time: abandoning the saints loses you everything, but attending Elegba makes the Awó great.

12 patakíes 4 eewó 7 ebbós and works 12 proverbs

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Oyekun Juani is Odù number 36 of the 256 in Ifá, part of the Oyekun family. This page brings together its prayer in Yoruba, 12 patakíes (3 with the full text), its proverbs, 7 ebbós and works and the signs it shows in the consultation — with the full eewó in plain sight; the detail of iré and osogbo and the full recipes open with The Notebook, in English.

The sign at a glance

Order in Ifá
Odù 36 of 256
Composition
Oyekun over Ojuani
In the Diloggún
2-11 · Eyioko tonti Ojuani
Orishas that speak
Eshú / Elegba · Shangó · Orunmila · Obatalá · Azowanu (Shakuana) · Oggún y Oshosi · Eggun
Eweses of the sign
Melón de Castilla · Jagüey

What Ifá says in this sign

Oyekun Ojuani is the Ifá where Elegbara ate a rooster for the first time — and where the prenda dog killed its own master. The two pictures teach the same lesson: what you feed saves you; what you abandon destroys you.

This odu's diagnosis is blunt: the saints have been abandoned, and that is why everything is being lost. Receive Elegba at a run — and if you already have him, he is neglected: give him his goat and his rooster every year, laid out in different places, and keep at home a piece of his hide refreshed with his seven herbs. With Elegba attended, the Awó of this sign becomes great.

«The prenda dog killed its own master — what you abandon turns against you.»The pulse of Oyekun Juani

Your children are your luck and your wound: never doubt whether a child is yours, and never abandon one — here people die of grief over the children they left behind. Watch over their raising, indulge the one who asks for something different every day, and see to your wife: this odu speaks of a wife who suffers because she is not attended. And respect the pecking order: when the young goat comes into his own, he squares up to the old one — do not force that fight, from either side.

The care to take in the street: do not keep company with people who are already spoken for — the claim, the blood and the law will come —, guard against a blow from a piece of timber, do not let anyone sit in your doorway, and do not hand over your whole heart even to friends: good done without measure will be what holds you back.

And the sign's curious promise: this person has no money, but is sitting right on top of it — the three deals they have in hand are going to come out well. Receive Orunmila and the Warriors, give your drum to Eggun, and get up off that chair: the money of Oyekun Ojuani is underneath, waiting for the ebbó.

The sign in one line

Attend Elegba and your children without doubting any of them — Oyekun Ojuani is sitting on top of his money, and the ebbó gets him up to collect it.

The prayer of Oyekun Juani · Yoruba

Oyekun Juani Madawá Ifá Obá mayiré Elegbara madawá Ifá ayore Lokun Obá Yeré Obá Lokun Elegbara Ifá layé beifá Iré Ashegun Otá lese Elegbara oun batí Awo bogbo oun baye Oluwo.

Ifá says — what Oyekun Juani tells you

Proverbs of Oyekun Juani · Òwe

9 proverb interpretations in this Odù, locked.Every proverb explained: which road it comes from and how it applies.Unlock →

Iré and Osogbo

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

What is born in Oyekun Juani · Ìbí

What is forbidden · Eewó

The full eewó of this Odù, open to everyone — with the road each ban came out of.

Ebbós of Oyekun Juani · The sacrifices that open the road

4 ebbós in this Odù, locked.Each full recipe: ingredients, preparation and where it goes.Unlock →

Works of Oyekun Juani · The workings of the sign

3 works in this Odù, locked.Each full recipe: ingredients, preparation and where it goes.Unlock →

Patakíes of Oyekun Juani · The roads of the Odù

1Obatalá suffered because Awó Foré saw to nothing

Elegba left the land of the careless Awó Foré and went off with Badagua Ifá, who attended him. Orunmila and Obatalá drew him back with owunko and akukó — food he had never tasted — and so the land became great again.

Obatalá went about heavy-hearted: in the land of Oyare Lekun there lived Awó Foré, a man who paid no attention to anything around him, and none to Elegba either. Tired of the neglect, Elegba left that place and went to the land of Badagua Ifá, where they always looked after him and nothing was missing.

One day Obatalá went out with his agogó, singing what weighed on him. Orunmila, when he saw him, hugged him, and when he heard about the hardships Awó Foré was going through he said: "let's go see him". He took with him akukó, 7 aunko and osadie, and told Obatalá in advance that victory was certain, because aunko and akukó were foods Elegba had never tasted. They came before Awó Foré and promised greatness for his land, as long as aunko and akukó were never lacking there; he answered by giving moforibale.

From there they went on singing toward the land of Badagua Ifá. The smell of that tasty food he did not know reached Elegba, and he wanted to go after it. Orunmila kept holding him back along the way, while Elegba, happy, would not stop smelling it. Once in Awó Foré's land, Elegba said: "I am staying with you in this land so that you may be great". That is why, before 7 days pass, you must give a goat to Elegba.

Prayer of the road

Bada guá ifá oba omayiri Elegba badawa ifa ile oyere Lekun obayire oba Lekun Elegba ifa iré ashegun ota lese Elegba umbati awo wawa bogbo ouma baye Oluo Foré.

Súyere

Baba Ifa Na Nire Osha Bilosha Baba Ifa Na Nire

Awo Foré Ni Yebe Awo Foré Ni Yebe Umbo Badagua Obashire Elegba Badaguo

2The runaway slave

A runaway slave made friends with a dog he hunted with, and with which he even killed. Captured and freed some time later, he wanted to be with the animal again, but the dog, gone wild, tore him apart.

A slave, worn out with suffering, ran off into the bush and became a runaway. Sleeping under a tree, he woke to find a puppy beside him; in time they became inseparable, they hunted together and shared the catch. One day, sheltering from the rain in a cave, the dog dug up human bones; later on, the runaway came upon a woman and attacked her, and the dog finished the work by killing her.

Near a town, some men came at the runaway with machetes; he begged for mercy and the dog escaped into the bush, where it howled, missing its friend. Days later, a group of men — the runaway among them — came near the dog. The runaway, full of joy, tried to stroke it, but the dog only growled every time his hand came near. When at last it had him beside it, the dog bit him until it tore him apart and killed him, and then went off into the bush and vanished. So the prenda dog that learned to kill ends up killing its own master.

Prayer of the road

Igio intori Eyo opa fiede Oya orugbo okun ona ni Ada bogbo tenuyen ouro abito lori orugbo eku, eya, epo, akukó.

3The princess, daughter of Yoko Yadi

Yoko Yadi doubted his daughter, abandoned his wife and took his sons away. Eshú became the girl's father, and she grew up to be a princess; years later, old and sorry, the father came back and she turned him away, and he died of grief.

Yoko Yadi, an omo of Shangó, had two sons and a daughter who did not look like him; doubting his obiní, he took the boys and left her with the girl. The woman went through hardship and went to Orunmila, who saw this Ifá for her; in the reading Eshú came out defending her, and said he would be the girl's father and would give her all the luck she deserved.

The woman found work in the palace and took her daughter there; the king, with his own children far away, grew fond of the girl as if she were his own. Eshú spread word that the king was gravely ill; the king's sons came back, were stopped by the guard, and as the eldest came out he saw the beautiful young woman on the balcony, took an interest in her and they married. Meanwhile, Yoko Yadi's sons learned what he had done to their mother and left him. Old, half blind and in misery, Yoko Yadi came back sorry for it; he fell in a bog and they recognized him as the princess's father, but she turned him away: «you cannot be my father; when someone plants a tree, tends it, waters it and feeds it, nothing of it belongs to you». The old man withdrew and died of grief, paying for the way he had acted.

9 more patakíes in this Odù, locked.Read every road in full with The Notebook.Unlock →
The full treatise is in English. With The Notebook, the whole sign opens on this page in English: the full text of every patakí, the recipes for the ebbós and works, and the iré and osogbo readings. · This page is also available in Spanish: See Oyekun Juani in Spanish →

Frequently asked questions about Oyekun Juani

What does the Odù Oyekun Juani mean in Ifá?

Where Elegbara ate akukó for the first time: abandoning the saints loses you everything, but attending Elegba makes the Awó great.

What number is Oyekun Juani among the 256 Odù of Ifá?

Oyekun Juani is Odù number 36 of the 256 in Ifá, part of the Oyekun family.

Which orishas speak in Oyekun Juani?

In the Odù Oyekun Juani these orishas speak: Eshú / Elegba, Shangó, Orunmila, Obatalá, Azowanu (Shakuana), Oggún y Oshosi, Eggun.

What is a proverb of the Odù Oyekun Juani?

One of the proverbs of Oyekun Juani says: «The prenda dog kills its own master.».

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