Otura Irete (Otura Irete · Otura Irete)

Ebbo: root of mangrove (raíz de mangle), 2 eyele, ewe of the lagoon (ewe de laguna), 5 feathers of the Needle Duck (pato aguja), bogbo tenuyen, $16.80.

Patakín:

In the land of Koiye there was a very black and deep lagoon, surrounded by thick forests, and in it lived a very strong spirit who had the form of an Obini (woman). A very shrewd bird named Oglubun, a great fisher, had fallen in love with that Imolu Oluni [source wording, as written]. He spent the whole day perched on the root of a mangrove beside the lagoon, always waiting for his eternal love to look out so that he could carry her off.

As she never looked out, he went down to the bottom of the dark well to look with his beak for the precious fish of that lagoon.

One day Orunmila happened to pass there [source: aceptó a pasar, probably acertó], and saw Ogbinbin doing this, and told him that it was not fitting for his prestige. Ogbinbin asked Orunmila to divine for him, and Orunmila saw this Ifa, Otura Tiyu, and told him that his Love was an impossibility, that he would always have to suffer disappointments, but that in order to become King he had to feed the mangrove where he perched, and then he would not have to keep going down into the well to look for his food. Ogbinbin doubted Orunmila's word, and for that reason he was left without a crown, waiting for his eternal love and constantly going down into the black well of the lagoon to look for the fish of his sustenance.

Nota: This explains why the Zaramagunyones, borbellas or Needle Ducks (Patos Aguja) look for their food in the lagoons. It also points symbolically to men who bind themselves (se amarran) through the deep pleasure they feel in LABA ODO, which in this sign is the art and worst vice of plunging into the orifice of the vulva.

[Source name variants in this patakín: the bird is Oglubun and Ogbinbin; the Nota spells the bird's name "Zaramaguyones" where the title has "Zaramagunyon". Left as written.]

Ebbo: akuko, 1 osadie, malaguidi meta (one okuni and the other obini) [source: meta means three, but only two are specified], akofa, adada, atitan ile, cloth (asho): fun fun, dun dun and pupua, eku, ella [as written; probably eja], epo, awado, obi, itana, oñi, oti, ori, efun, opolopo owo.

Distribución (distribution): The akuko with its ingredients for Shango. The osiadie with its ingredients for Paraldo (the osiadie is thrown away in the manigua [bush] and there an itana is lit for it).

Nota: By this Ifa the woman who lives with the person is not a faithful woman who will make him happy; she herself accepts the flirtations (galanteos) of other men and may come to betray her husband because of the constancy of her suitors.

Patakín:

Oggun lived in the mountain (monte) and Oshosi on the savanna, and both were in love with Shango's wife, and each on his own wanted to seduce her; seeing that they could not carry out their plans, each on his own went to Orunmila's house so that he, by means of Ifa, would tell them what they should do.

The first to arrive was Oshosi. Orunmila made Osorde for him [source: le hizo Osorde] and saw this Ifa, indicating to him that to be able to achieve his plans he had to make ebbo; but Oshosi answered that he had nothing to do, because in his territory he was the lord of the savanna, and that he was not going to sacrifice anything in order to seduce a woman, and he added: "Do I not have an army of Poisonous Yams (ñames venenosos) and Thorny Bushes (arbustos de espinas)? All of this is ready to protect me from the assaults of her husband."

When Oggun arrived at Orunmila's house, Orunmila made Osorde for him, and by chance he saw him this same Ifa, and Oggun made the ebbo that Orunmila marked for him.

It happened that Oggun could not seduce Shango's wife without [Shango] finding out [source: sin que aquel se enterara; the subject of "aquel" is not clear]. But it turned out that Shango's wife went to see Oshosi to give herself to him; and Eshu, who had been put by Shango to watch his wife, seeing that she was heading for Oshosi's house, went and told Shango, and he became so enraged that he began to throw fire from his mouth, and, going to Oshosi's house, he set fire to the field of poisonous yams and to the thorny bushes that Oshosi cultivated for his defense, and the whole savanna became pasture for the flames, and Oshosi had to flee so as not to die burned, without having been able to seduce Shango's wife.

By contrast, the flames respected the forest in which Oggun lived.