African Traditional Religion : Odu Ifa discussion

Otura Meji

Otura is the source of mystic vision. Mystic vision puts one's Ori in alignment with source (Olodumare). Otura is the foundation of an individual's sense of destiny and purpose in the world. Odu Otura Meji brings peace of mind and freedom from anxiety. In its negative manifestation, it can it can be the source of an inflated sense of self importance, or identifying with something other than source, such as greed, nationalism, racism or moral superiority. Children of Otura Meji are of gentle character. They are good at business, especially buying and selling. They must know when to rest, for they can easily suffer physical or nervous collapse due to overexertion. They should do make offerings to Esu frequently for protection.

ese OturaMeji

Okiti-ogan-af'idij'ago cast Ifa for Otu
He was told to offer two tortoises in order to become wealthy
Otu listened and did the ebo
The Awo warned Otu not to kill the tortoises, but to sell them
Through a casting of lots, he should decide were to sell them
when he arrived at the town he was offered
eighty bags of money for the tortoises
Esu advised Otu not to accept the price
Esu is always in favor of the one who does proper ebo
when the price was raised to several hundred bags
Esu advised him to accept the offer
this was how Otu became wealthy
Otu praised the awo, the awo praised Orunmila
and Orunmila praised Olodumare
the awo began to sing, and Esu put a song in their mouths:

Ijo ti Otu ra Awun meji
ki ama pee ni "Oturameji"

The day Otu bought two tortoises
should be called "Oturameji"

ase
 
ORI MI O!
SE RERE FUN MI!
MY ORI!
REJOICE WITH ME!

For us to figure out the importance and precedence of ORI between the other ORISA, an Itan of ODU OTURA MEJI, telling the story of an ORI that got lost in the path that was leading form the ORUN to the AIYE, states: "... OGUN came to ORI and asked, "You don´t know that you are the older among the ORISA? That you are the leader of the ORISA?'..." . We can say that, "ORI mi a ba bo ki a to bo ORISA", that is, "My ORI, that has to be worshiped before worshipping the ORISA" and we have an oriki dedicated to ORI that says " Ko si ORISA ti da nigbe leyin ORI eni", meaning, "... There´s no ORISA that supports more the man than his own ORI...".

When we meet someone that, despite facing in life a series of difficulties related to negative actions or cruelties from other people, keeps finding inner resources, extraordinary inner strength, that allows him to survive and, many times, keeping proper results of fulfillment in life, we can say, "ENIYAN KO FE KI ERU FI ASO, ORI ENI NI SO NI", that is, "people don´t want you to survive, but your ORI works for you", bringing, this expression, an important statement that a strong and resistant ORI is able to take care of man and ensure him social survival and other relations with life, despite the dificulties he might have. That is the reason why BORI, a way of praising and strengthening the ORI used in our religion, is done many times, preceding or even substituting an EBO. It is made to the person find inner resources, that inner strength that was stated, related to his or her adjusting to face situations, or related to the strengthening of his or her energy resources and consequent integration with his or her vitality fountain (Teixeira De Oliveira).

ASE
 
ese Oturameji 1

"Restless mouth, slippery mouth;
the evil brought about by mouth
is the worst kind of evil;
it is the mouth of Chatterbox
that eventually kills Chatterbox;
it is the mouths of those who idly chatter
that will kill those who idly chatter;
it is the restless mouth that kills
Chatterbox, Blabbermouth."
Those were the ones
who cast Ifa for Squirrel,
who built his home along the roadside.
They instructed Squirrel to be alert,
be very much alert about his incapability
to keep his tiny trap shut, about
his utter inability to keep a secret.
They told him not to tell anything,
whatever he knew, immediately to others.
Squirrel, of course, did not heed the advice.
A short time later Squirrel's wife
gave birth to twins, to ibeji,
which pleased Squirrel mightily.
He immediately announced:
"Now hear this, now hear this!
Squirrel has twins! His home
has become full of life. All those
that listen: come and see
Squirrel's twins."
When the people heard these words,
they stepped aside the path, opened
Squirrel's nest, and searched it.
While searching Squirrel's nest
they found his two children.
They took the young breed home,
put them on top of mashed yams,
and along with the soup Squirrel's children
slid down people's throats
to their stomachs. Yummie!
Ifa says that we should not shout
our good fortune from the rooftops,
nor should we tell any secrets, for silence
helps us to keep what is ours.
That is exactly what the Awo's said:
"Restles mouth, slippery mouth;
the evil brought about by mouth
is the worst kind of evil;
it is the mouth of Chatterbox
that eventually kills Chatterbox;
it is the mouths of those who idly chatter
that will kill those who idly chatter;
it is the restless mouth that kills
Chatterbox, Blabbermouth."
ase

ese 2

"Like water runs over the path,
so runs the path through the Eri-river"
cast for "Muslim with long gowns",
on the day that "Muslim with long gowns"
was endeavoring to follow the path
of the Immortals.
The instructed Muslim to make ebo.
Muslim listenen and made the ebo.
From that day on all went well and easy
for "Muslim with long gowns".
Ifa says this person should
lead a life of devotion, in order
to receive blessings.
ase

The ebo is: 4 pigeons, 2 sets of
Muslim prayer-beads, 1 pot palm oil,
1 white plate, and an amount of cowries
to be set by the Awo.
all to Obatala.
 
The esoteric representation of Otura Meji is the Kasan, which is a blouse worn by advisers to the Chief and soldiers that symbolizes the interaction between various ethnic groups. It is a image of the power of the word.
This Odu relates to Ifa and deserters from his cause. It denotes victory over enemies and prospect of many children.
Physical body element = Arms, hands, and lungs
Children would be disposed to be diplomats, fishmongers or lawyers.
The Market Place
Power of mental judgement
Patience brings great rewards
Sustain from marriage
Recognize Taboo
Peace that comes from an inner knowing
"Stabilize the family"
Suggests meditation and fasting
Confusion and doubt is followed by clarity and abundance.
Otura-Meji opened the way for wealth to come to the world!
Human speech is treacherous, a source of dissension and loss, and a possible cause of death.
Folklore credits this Odu with the inspiration for their religious leaders of both Christianity and Islam.
Orunmila never wrecked vengeance or punished 'them' even though he had the power and ability to do so with impunity.
A single santified word outweighs a load of profane verbiage.
Sprout, big mouth, halve yourselves, lip-lobes, clam up, double tongue, utter.



Lying does not debar one from becoming rich,
Covenant-breading does not debar one from reaching old age;
But the day of sleeping, there awaits trouble!

The most important work done in heaven by Otura-Meji is the revelation of how the white man attempted to learn from God how to produce a human being. The white man had become so vast on earth in the field of inventions that he thought he should crown his achievements by going to God to teach him how to manufacture a human being. When he got to heaven, he approached an Awo called Ayegbe kooshe gbere gede, "No mirror can be wide enough to see the length of a whole year". The white man was advised to give a he-goat to Esu but he refused to do it because he did not believe in making fetish sacrifices.
Without making the sacrifice he went to the palace of God and asked to be taught how to produce a human being. Since God never refuses any request made to him, he told the white man to fetch mud for the work,which he did. God has a large mirror in his workshop which he looks at when molding any object. He examines the reflection of the object from the mirror and he must pass it as perfect before confirming it as being fit for existence.
With the mud fetched by the white man, He molded the image of a human being and the white man watched him. After molding the human image, God left it to dry and meanwhile moved to his inner chamber to attend to other callers.
As soon as God left, Esu come into the workshop in the shape of a heavenly police and asked the white man whether he could not replicate the image prepared by God. the visitor confirmed that he could. Esu then told him to leave for home with the image, because it would speak after drying up.
With that piece of deceptive advice, the white man left with the human image. When he however got home the image could not speak after drying up. that is why the white man is unable to cast any speaking image to this day. It was on account of the sacrifice which the white man refused to make.

To speak is to begin to sort out, to divide things. Odd or even?

The person you meet once, meet again, and meet later as an elder in a town, is called an old man. That was the mane of the Awo Otura-Meji who made divination for the head of the Imoles to enable them to inherit the prosperity of the earth with minimal effort, from a sedentary position. He made the sacrifice.
When he got to the world, he struggled for a long time before he was able to realize his destiny, but when he finally met Otura-Meji again on earth he made the same sacrifice for him in the cave and told him that his flock was going to multiply but that the reward of his sacrifice would be reaped by his descendants and followers. He was told that money would always come to them with very little or no effort. Those who wanted to know the truth about God would always come to him for the message. ("Ase O! Baba")

Olusese awon ni Awo inu igbo, Elu-odan-af'idij'Odu, divined for Orunmila. He was told to sacrifice:- Six mats, six ikoodes, ... so that he might be able to govern his town. They told him that all the people would respect and honor him in this mat. That is why the Babalawo sit on mat to read Ifa till today. Orunmila heeded the advice and speedily made the sacrifice.

I threw a missile;
And it hit a trickster;
Who made a long dress;
To conceal his treachery.
Whoever hides to practice;
Wickedness against others;
Will have evil endangering him openly.
Truth and False hood were arguing between themselves. Truth argued that he was more powerful that Falsehood. On the other hand Falsehood argued that he was stronger that the Truth.
Otura-Meji told them that the power of falsehood is transient and ephemeral and that Truth, although slow and weak, overcomes Falsehood in the end, He then sang:
No matter how powerful wickedness is;
Righteousness overcomes wickedness in the end!

Ase O!

www.cultural_expressions.com
 
ese Otura Meji:

Ifa warns the person for whom this Odu is revealed to have the fear of Olodumare at the back of his/her mind all the time. He/she must recognize the fact that no matter how powerful he/she may be, Olodumare is the source of all powers and He can take away any power that is being abused or misused from the owner of such power.

Ifa says that if the person for whom this Odu is revealed is put in a position of authority, he/she needs to exercise his/her authority with the fear of Olodumare at heart. He/she must never maltreat others. He/she must not see such power as a vehicle for vengeance or for showing his/her superiority over others.

Conversely, Ifa assures the person for whom this Odu is revealed that he/she will have victory over a more powerful opponent who had been using his/her power, position and/or influence to oppress, intimidate and/or inflict pain.

Ifa advises the person for whom this Odu is revealed to offer ebo(sacrifice) with one matured he-goat and money. He/she is also expected to feed Esu Odara with one roaster. After this, he/she needs to put his/her faith and fear in Olodumare in all his/her thoughts, speeches and actions. On this, a stanza in Otura – Meji says:

Igbonwo mejeeji ni o see gbagbon s`aja
Dia fun Alukandi
Tii s`eru Olodumare Agotun
Oba ateni ola legelege f`ori s`apeji omi
Igba ti o ntorun bo wale aye
Ebo ni won ni ko waa se

Translation:

The two elbows cannot be used to place a
A basket onto the ceiling
This was Ifa`s message for Alukandi
The messenger of Olodumare
When coming from Orun(heaven) to Aye(earth)
He was advised to offer ebo(sacrifice)

Alukandi was one of the very many messengers of Olodumare. He was usually sent by Him to deliver special messages to the human race at regular intervals. All these messages he had delivered without any fault and also without questioning the rationale behind them. The attitude of Alukandi had endeared him to many Irunmole in Heaven. Whenever there was any message to be delivered, the Irunmole would quickly suggest the name of Alukandi to Olodumare. He would then be sent, and the message would be delivered as quickly as possible.

During the course of delivering Divine messages to human beings, Alukandi came to realize that there was great love and affection for human beings who live on earth by both Olodumare and the Irunmole. Alukandi could not understand why this should be so; was it not the same human beings who kill, maim, hurt and destroy each other at the slightest opportunity? Why should Olodumare be in love with those who destroy the environment; polute the air and water; kill insects, rats, fish, birds and beasts at will?; wage war on each other for no other justifiable reason than to show supremacy over one another? Why should Olodumare be in love with those who were not in love with Him; who disrespect Him and His Irunmole; and who had not shown any remorse?

Initially, all these baffled Alukandi. They later turned to confusion for him. In his confused state of mind, he was determined to punish them for all what he perceived to be misbehaviour of the human race.

When the time came for Alukandi to come down to earth to deliver Olodumare`s message, he saw this as the opportunity he needed to take advantage of to deal a deadly blow on all the ungrateful human beings. When he was coming on his assignment, he asked for special powers and his request was granted.

On his way, he decided that he would show no mercy to anyone; why should he show compassion to those who destroy Mother Nature at will? He concluded within himself that they did not deserve his pity.

The day he arrived on earth was a market day. As soon as he set his feet on earth, he declared:

Igbonwo mejeeji ni o see gb`agbon s`aja
Dia fun emi Alukandi
Tii s`eru Olodumare Agotun
Oba ateni ola legelege f`ori s`apeji omi
Igbati ohun ntorun bo wale Aye
Emi Alukandi, Alukandi
Eyi to ba wu mi ni n o pa
Alukandi!

Translation:

The two elbows cannot be used to place a
Basket onto the ceiling
This was Ifa`s message for me Alukandi
The messenger of Olodumare Agotun
When coming from Orun to Aye
Behold, here comes Alukandi, Alukandi
Whoever I like will I kill
Alukandi!

Before anyone could realized what was happening, Alukandi released the special power given to him in heaven and began to kill anybody and everybody in the market. Pandemonium everywhere! Everyone ran for dear life! Nobody could really explain what went wrong. The next day, people came to pick the corpses of their loved ones for burial. Uncertainty enveloped the world. They all gathered in small groups to make meaning of what had just taken place. They could not. At last, they approached the Oba who in turn fixed a general meeting to take place in the market on the next market day.

On the appointed day, the whole market place was filled to the brim. Those who lost their loved ones were first given the opportunity to speak. While they were expressing their ordeal and agony, Alukandi arrived and declared:

Emi Alukandi, Alukandi
Eyi to ba wumi ni n o pa
Alukandi!

Translation:

Behold, here I come Alukandi
Whoever I like will I kill
Alukandi!

The whole market scattered instantly. Everybody ran helter-skelter. Many were killed by Alukandi himself, many more were trampled to death. In all, more than a quarter of the population died.

From that time, it became a regular occurrence every market day. Nobody dared to go to the market anymore. Chaos and anarchy took over completely. Nobody wished to go out in the day time, talk less of night time. Anyone who wished to live long needed to fear Alukandi.

One day, some elders gathered themselves together and went for Ifa consultation in order to determine exactly what was going on and at the same time, find a permanent solution to it.

The Awo told the elders that what was going on was misuse of power and opportunity. They were told that Alukandi thought that he could fight for Olodumare and the Irunmole. The Awo assured the elders that nobody could fight for them but rather, Olodumare and Irunmole do their fightings when the time was right and appropriate. He assured them further that Alukandi would surely fail because he was not sent on the assignment he was carrying out. He advised the elders to offer ebo with one matured he-goat and money. After this, he told them to feed Esu Odara with one big roaster. The elders complied immediately.

As soon as the ebo was offered, Esu Odara petitioned heaven and complained that Alukandi had been misusing the special powers given unto him. He said that he had wrecked untold havoc on earth. He insisted that only the withdrawal of that power would do. Olodumare sent other Irunmole to go and investigate what Esu Odara had said. They confirmed all his reports and the special powers given to Alukandi were withdrawn.

Unknown to Alukandi that he has lost his special powers, he was busy planning his adventure on the next market day. Esu Odara was equally busy gathering people together to confront Alukandi on the next market day. Esu odara assured the people that their arch enemy had no more power to wreck any havoc on them. He told them to stand firm.

On the market day, Alukandi came as expected. As soon as he came he declared:

Emi Alukandi, Alukandi
Eyi to ba wu mi ni n o pa
Alukandi!

Translation:

Here I come Alukandi
Whoever I like I will kill
Alukandi!

Instead of panic, Alukandi met resolute determination. Instead of fear, he met courage. They all responded in unison, saying:

Iwo Alukandi, Alukandi
Iwo kii beeru Olorun
Alukandi!

Translation:

Behold, you Alukandi
You have no fear of God at heart
Alukandi!

Alukandi was shocked and surprised. He made to rush them but instead, he realized that he had no power to do anything. The next thing he saw was the people tying his hands and legs together. He was unceremoniously sent back to where he came from – heaven. When he arrived, he was not allowed to return to earth again, ever.
Igbonwo mejeeji ni o see gb`agbon s`aja
Dia fun Alukandi
Tii seru Olodumare Agotun
Oba ateni ola legelege, f`ori s`apeji omi
Igba ti o ntorun bo wale aye
Ebo ni won ni ko waa se
O koti ogbonhin s`ebo
Emi Alukandi, Alukandi
Eyi to ba wu mi ni n o pa
Alukandi!
Iwo Alukandi, Alukandi
Iwo kii beeru Olorun
Alukandi!

Translation:

The elbows cannot be used to place a basket onto the ceiling
This was Ifa`s message for Alukandi
The messenger of Olodumare
When coming from heaven to earth
He was advised to offer ebo(sacrifice)
He refused to comply
Here comes Alukandi, Alukandi
Whoever I like will I kill
Alukandi!
Behold, you Alukandi
You have no fear of God at heart
Alukandi!

Ifa says that the person(s) for whom this Odu is revealed shall overcome his/her enemy who appears to be stronger and more resourceful than him/her at the moment.

Conversely, Ifa warns all those connected to this Odu and all followers, never to think of revenging for or on behalf of Olodumare and/or Irunmole. They fight for themselves when the time is ripe and appropriate.
ase
 

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