Odu Eji Ogbe

The knowledge and secrets of each ODU IFA and the creation and history of each of the sixteen major Odus, called OJU ODU, is very sacred. The history and creation of each individual Odu gives us the insight into the uses and positions of each Odu in the spiritual realm. Before the Odus were arranged in the present order as we have them, there was no specific order or sequence. However the history, creation, and use of each Odu created a hierarchical sequence of arrangement as ordained by OLODUMARE for their purpose in the real of humans. Olodumare made us understand that all the Odus were children of Orunmila. Olodumare caused the Odus to come into being for the purpose of helping Orunmila in the human world on the mission for which he was being sent from Orun.

ODU EJI OGBE OO OO OO OO Aboru Aboye okanjuwa kii je won omo o pin. Eni apa tosi Niwon fun nitan Eni gegesi aya tosi Niwon fun ni komookun Adifa fun awon Odu mereerindinlogun Tiwon rele Olodumare Tiwon oolore joba wale ayeAboru Aboye

Greediness has blinded their sense of proportion He that deserves the arm was given the thigh He that deserves the chest was given buttocks This is the reading lot of all the sixteen sacred Odus

When they went to Olodumare To choose a king for them before going to earth Aboru Aboye Odu Eji Ogbe (continued)

This Ifa verse of EJI OGBE tells the story of how he became the first among the sixteen major Odus. Eji Ogbe was the youngest among the sixteen and he was also the least endowed physically. When it was time to go to Olodumare to choose a leader amongst them for the mission to earth he went to his own babalawo and seek guidance and direction on the way forward. He was told to make a sacrifice of a cow, sixteen cowries shell, and a change of cloth. Eji Ogbe was so poor that he could not afford a live cow so he bought just the head of a cow. He gathered the sixteen cowries shells and took the only cloth he had on his body to make the sacrifice as directed by his awo.

Soon after the sacrifice Olodumare called all the sixteen Odus and they were lead by OFUN MEJI because of his size for he was a giant amongst them. When they assembled at the presence of Olodumare he gave them a cow and told them to return to him in sixteen days after sharing the cow accordingly. He would then choose a king and leader amongst them for Orunmilas mission on earth. When they got home they started making preparation on how to kill the cow and share it. None of them was prepared to go anywhere or do any preparation for fear of being cheated out of the cow. So, they all decided that the smallest among them Eji Ogbe should go to the woods and bring firewood, leaves, and other ingredients needed for the cows preparation. So it was that Eji Ogbe went into the woods and before he came back the cow had been slaughtered and distributed with Ofun Meji taking the choicest part and all other Odus taking theirs as well. Eji Ogbe was left with just the head stripped of all meat. He took the head without grumbling because he was too small to fight or argue with them and he said to his self, even if I was there, I will still get whatever they decide to give me, not what I want!

So they all went to home with their parts of the cow. On the sixteenth day, Olodumare summoned all the sixteen major Odus into his presence to ask them how the cow was shared amongst them. They said, OFUN MEJI took the thighs, OSE MEJI took arms, IRETE MEJI took the heart and so on according to their physical size and power. Olodumare now asked who got the head. They all laughed and said it was EJI OGBE because he was the youngest and was also the smallest. Olodumare now turned away from them and caused sixteen horses to appear with different robes and staffs of office and said to them, your greediness has made you give your rights to the one that is small and powerless amongst you, therefore, he that has the head will be your king, because ori ni oba ara the head is the king of the body. So it was that Eji Ogbe became the king and leader of all the sixteen major Odus. Olodumare then gave

Eji Ogbe the task of molding the human skull before Obatala joins all the other parts of the human body. Aboru Aboye nile Ifa!

Odu Oyeku Meji

ODU OYEKU MEJI OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO Iwo oye Emi oye Oye di meji O dododo Adifa fun baba yeku ile Adifa baba yeku ode Won barawon sore atilewa Won niki won o rubo Ki won omaba jo ku lojo kana Won ni ki won o fi aso kana ti won jo da Ati oruko kaakan rubo Won pawo leke Won oosa lole Won worun yanyan bieni tio ni ku mo laye Won koti ogboin sebo Aboru Aboye!

You will survive I will survive

Makes two survivors Brings the truth Cast divination for baba yeku in the house Cast divination for baba yeku in the farm The two are friends from creation They were beseeched to make sacrifice so that they will not die on the same day They should use a cloth that both of them had for the sacrifice And a big cock They called the awo a liar And called orisa a thief They looked up at the heavens scornfully as if they will never depart the earth They turned deaf ears to the call for sacrifice Aboru Aboye! Odu Oyeku Meji (continued)

This Odu Ifa talks more about heaven and death. Just as Eji Ogbe is more concerned about the earth so is Oyeku Meji more concerned about heaven. Oyeku Meji explains death and its purpose and also its way of operating in the past and now. Oyeku Meji explains that death comes from Orun (heaven) to earth and stays at the crossroad. He scans the earth for the next person who has to be taken to Orun and he walks up to the person and together they make the physical journey to Orun. Death appears physically and people dont die, they walk with death to Orun.

When death is in this physical form, people run helter-skelter when they see him coming. Oyeku Meji explains further that a certain tree whose time was up went to Orunmila to help him on how to escape death. Orunmila asked him to make sacrifice with the following items: rat, fish, hen, pigeon, and alcohol and place it at the crossroad which was the first point of call for death whenever he comes from Orun. When death got to the crossroad and saw the sacrifice he immediately sat down to devour it and said to himself, I will finish this first, replenish myself because of the long journey ahead and then take the tree to Orun. But after eating the sacrifice and drinking the alcohol which he had never tasted before he became intoxicated, and started talking rubbish. (This is why people who are at the point of death talk rubbish.) He staggered to the root of the tree and climbed up but because he was drunk he fell down and disappeared back to Orun because his back must not touch the ground. It was when he got to Orun without the tree that Olodumare reprimanded him and said, From now

onward you death shall not appear in human form to people on earth again before taking them to Orun because your human form can be compromised.

It is Oyeku Meji that also explains why the red cloth is never used in burying the dead. When all the cloths and materials that were in Orun were coming to earth, they were asked to make a sacrifice so that the humans will respect them and treat them well and also for death not to take them back to Orun too quickly. Orunmila told them to make a sacrifice. All the cloths refused except the red cloth, who brought goat, red dye, and chamomile to Orunmila. He was dip in the dye and chamomile and became red. When they got to earth, the humans were looking for what to use to bury their dead and they saw all the cloths coming. They said, let us take one of them to bury our dead. They took the red cloth first but the awo there said if they ever bury a human being with red cloth, then the whole lineage will be struck with leprosy and they will all die one after the other. So they left the red cloth and took the white cloth and the awo said again this is the cloth that must be used in burying the dead because it is pure and it will help the dead to light up his way back to Orun. So it was that the white cloth was taken back to Orun soon as it came to earth because he refuse to make sacrifice so that death will not take him back to Orun too quickly after coming to earth. Aboru Aboye nile Ifa!