African Traditional Religion : Odu Ifa discussion

awo dino

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I am starting this thread in the hopes that it will attract those who have wisdom of Odu Ifa to share. As you probably know, in traditional Ifa, there is a four day week. Every 4 days is Ifa day. And every sixteen days Awo gather to do communal prayer. Afterwards, there is recitation and discussion of Odu. It is integral to the growth of individual as well as communal knowledge of Odu. Unfortunately, here in the Diaspora, there is no community, and so the sixteenth day passes unnoticed. So my hopes are that we can post and discuss Odu, each adding what he has learned and thus increasing everyone's knowledge. As the Yoruba saying goes, "When your life gets better, my life gets better." ase.

Ifa says:
Ti a ba ji
Ogbon ni ki a ma a ko ara wa...
At every opportunity
We should impart knowledge/wisdom; we should seek knowledge and appreciate wisdom.
ase
 
I know that there are other threads with Odus being discussed, but they all seem to have dead-ended. Maybe if we can keep the discussion on one thread, it will be easier to follow and maintain vibrant.


Ogbe Ofun

Mosaa-li-o-ni-opa, Erogbonre-o-mese divined Ifa for Ogbe.
Ogbe was going to seduce Ofun's wife.
He was assured of success.
A hen, a rat, a fish and 4400 cowries should be sacrificed.
He heeded the advice and performed the sacrifice.
Oliwowoji, Oliwowojiwo. They divined Ifa for iku.
They divined Ifa for Arun. Both wanted to marry
Lasunwontan, the daughter of Orisa. Orisa said he would give
his daughter to any young man who could produce 201 fresh
heads. They all went away to think about what to do.
Iku went to the farm to look for 201 people, who were
immediately killed. Their heads were collected and tied together
and carried by him. As he was going on the way to Orisa's
house, he heard someone singing the following song:

If I see Iku I will fight him. Oliwowoji, Oliwowojiwo.
If I see Arun I will fight him. Oliwowoji, Oliwowojiwo.

When Iku heard this threat, he put the 201 heads down
and ran away, amazed that anyone would be courageous
enough to threaten him and Arun. He did not know that
Arun was behind this evil act. Arun had already gone to see a
babalawo to help him figure out a way to make Lasunwontan,
the daughter of Orisa, his wife. The babalawo told him that he
should produce 200 snail shells, which he did. The
babalawo tied the shells together, put them around Arun's
neck, and taught him the song he should sing. When Iku
threw the 201 heads away and fled, Arun collected the
201 heads and took them to Orisa. Orisa in turn gave
Lasunwontan, his daughter, to Arun.
Therefore we have a proverb that says: Death had sacrificed for disease to succeed. This story tells us that any chiming instrument will scare away
death or other evil spirits.
This is the reason the traditional medicine men usually
put instruments of this nature on abiku or other sickly children.
 
Eji Ogbe

Eji Ogbe symbolizes all that is known and unknown in the universe. It is an image of all the forces that create the day. The white hole- The light
Eji Ogbe is the sign of life. A vigorous awakening
Eji Ogbe rules the head---facing east
Physical Element=Water... Water takes precedence of all other Elements. It is recognized as the "Father of the Elements."
Physical body element= Brains and nerves
Children would be disposed to be travelers, pioneers, sailors or heads of orgnizations

THis odu denotes plenty of good and plenty of "evil"
Eji Ogbe expresses a need to acquire wisdom and humility. Represent high ethical standards which will be rewarede with enlightement and abundance. Time heals the pain of any matter. We have cut off our own head to make us grow, like the banana tree. The hands belong to the body, the feet belong to the body. Victory over enemies, spiritual awakenings, long life, and peace of mind.

In Eji Ogbe, barren women are blessed with children after sacrifice!

Two words have spoken
Two tasks have given themselves to me
The road is open

Good medicine stays,
Told a certain person way back when tears of compassion refused the curse of barreness that she should take a long-neced jar, and when sacrifice was done go to the place where water seeps slowly, slowly until the womb is full.
She sipped the dreaming water and they called her child Osun, generous river.
Ifa says sacrifice is beneficial, nothing waits for nothing good. Come and see my bouncing newborn baby at the foot of the lord Orisa!

Story of how Ori was the only divinity that broke kola nuts that Orunmila kept at his shrine. Ori's wish was for a permanent abode and plenty of followers. Upon hearing the news finally broken kolanuts, all the other divinities agreed, (since they all tried to break the nuts) that the head wsa the right divinity to the kolanuts. Almost immediately the hand, feed, body, stomach, chest, nect etc, each of which before then had distinct identities, all assembled and decided to go and live with the head. Together, they all carried the head high above as the king of the body. It is on account of the role played by Orunmila in his fortune that the head touches the ground to defer and revere to Orunmila to this day.

The Benevolence of the young Eji Ogbe made him so unpopular that his house was streaming with callers day and night. He healed the sick, made sacrifices for paupers to become rich, helped the barrent to have children and safely delivered all pregnant women who demanded his assistance. These activities earned him admiration from the beneficiares of his magnanimity. He also developed enemies that were envious and plotted against him. Eji Ogbe went for divination and was told to make sacrifices to his Ifa with a basket of snails. Eji Ogbe Awos collected Ero leaves and mashed them in the snails' liquid for Eji Ogbe to bath with. After the sacrifices he began to live a peaceful life.

Death Held me and left me
Sickness tried me and left me
No one eats tortoise along with its shell
No one eats a Ram together with its horns
The shell of the snail is kept after eating its meat
I have survived the evil plans of my enemies

Serious minded people do not listen to the bird singing the songs of woe
Difficulties and problems bring out the best in man
Patience and sacrifice make the impossible become possible
Give me a difficult problem to solve that doubters may believe
Give me a war to wage that mortals may appreciate the strength of the divinities
To learn from past misfortunes is to be wise
Not to learn from previous mistakes is folly
The person who fails to make sacrifice vindicates the diviner
Just as the one who ignores advice turns the adviser to a seer
The man who learns from quarrels and the man who does not learn from quarrels wer the two surrogates of Eji Ogbe who made divination fo the land of quarrels

Orunmila enquires on how the situation is, I respond that it is fine. Early in the morning I met all the Irunmole followers where they were offering snails for ritual. They asked me to state what I was lacking. I said that it is wealth, I responded that it is a spouse, I said I needed children, I also needed all the well-beings of life. They told me that when I return home I should wash my master's hands cleanly I should also clean my master's divination bag thoroughly . I should offer sacrifice to Ifa with a big, matured kolanut. I should offer sacrifice to my Egun with bean cake. WHen I looked at my back, what did I see? I saw prosperity coming towards me, they were coming abundantly. And when I turned to look back, what did I see? I saw good wives coming towards me, they all looked beautiful and elegant. WHen I also looked back, what did I see? I saw many children coming towards me, They all looked healthy and strong. When I looked back, what did I see? I saw all well-beings of life coming toward me. They are all abundant and satisfying. And I declared: horses shall be mounted in the practice of our profession with Eji Ogbe as the owner of the world horses shall be mounted in the practice of our profession.

If one is rich without good character, the wealth belongs to someone else. That which we are after is character, good character if one is blessed with children without good character, the children belong to someone else. That which we are after is character, good character. If one is blessed with houses without good character the houses belong to someone else. That which we are after is character. Good character.

Let us not run the world hastily
Let us not rasp at the rope of wealth impatiently
What should be treated with mature judgement
let us not treat in a fit of temper
whenever we arrive at a cool place
let us rest sufficiently well
Let us give prolonged attention to the future
and then let us give due regard to the consequences of things
and that is on account of our sleeping (death)

Ase O
 
Hi everyone,
I was thinking we could post odu and thoughts one odu at a time. I should have started at the top, with EjiOgbe. So I will go with awo Sekhemu's post and leave OgbeFun for another day. Maybe we can do one Odu a week.
here is another ese EjiOgbe

"Do your work"
"I am not working"

This was the Ifa cast for the lazy person
He who sleeps until the sun is overhead
He who relies on that which is possessed through inheritance
exposes himself to suffering
If we do not toil and sweat profusely today
We cannot become wealthy tomorrow

"March through the mud"
"I cannot march through the mud"
"If we do not march through the mud
Our mouths cannot eat good food"

These were the declarations of Ifa to the lazy person
He who possesses strong limbs but refuses to work
He who chooses to be idle in the morning
He is only resting for suffering in the evening
Only toiling can support one
Idleness cannot bring dividend
Whoever refuses to work
Such a person does not deserve to eat
If a lazy person is hungry, please let him die
Dead or alive, a lazy person is a useless person


dino
 

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