Odu Irete Meji

"Otewori, do not hang hourself,
for prosperity will come to you"
was the one who cast for Otewori, on the day
that he decided to take his own life.
Far back in those times of yore
Otewori had the saddest life on earth,
so he went to find a tall tree,
tied a rope around a branch
and hang himself.
The rope broke with an audible snap
and Otewori fell down, hit his head
against a hard root, became unconsious,
and dreamed a dream of the afterlife
that so clearly had refused to take him.
There was (we are still in his dream)
the gatekeeper to Heaven, who
shoved Otewori aside, bitterly saying
that this hasty client was far, far too early.
Waiting and waiting in line Otewori heard
other Dead, who had lived their lives on Earth
to the full end of their measured days,
say how later in life and not at the beginning
they had received great prosperity and abundance.
So Otewori decided to go back, and having arrived
again in the sunny land of the living,
consulted the Awo's who said:
"Otewori, do not hang yourself,
for prosperity will come to you."
Ifa says here is a very unhappy person
who is about to go look for Death
but shouldn't find this Grim Reaper yet,
for health and happiness are on their way.

Okan Awo Oluigbo was the one
who performed Dafa for Orunmila,
on the day that he went to Ife. They said
that no one initiated by Orunmila,
would ever die young. Tete leaves
and two pigeons are the offering.
The tete leaves are to be squashed in water,
which will then be used for washing the Head.

Ifa was cast for Iren, on the day
that he went to initiate two sons of Olofin.
The instructed him to sacrifice and of course
iren listend and made the sacrifice. He was assured
that nobody initiated by him would ever die
at e young age. The day that Iren initiated two people
who did not die, is called Ire-te-meji. That is
how this Odu received its name.

Ifa was cast for Oluweri, on the day
that he went to buy Crab as his slave.
They told him that if he bought the slave,
he would never be short of people around him.
A new tub, a goat and some efun were to be offered.
Oluweri listened and made the sacrifice, and Crab
had many children. Initially Oluwere had always bought
human slaves, but they mistreated him and left him.
Only Crab stayed with Oluweri. Place the efun
in the new tub, and sacrifice the goat to it.

"The string of beads radiates peace,
all together beads create a firm necklace,
the lower left bead and the lower right bead
do not fight, nor do the upper right bead
and the upper left bead ever quarrel.
Round and round it goes, like eternity"
and "One cannot buy children anymore, I love
children more than I love beads. More than beads
I love children, one cannot buy children anymore"
were the ones who cast Ifa for Imo-Omi on the day
that she wanted to have children. There was
Imo-Omi, who wanted to have children on earth,
and was told to make ebo to Oshun and to honor Ifa,
with one pigeon, one hen, lots of brightly colored beads,
a generous amount of red palm oil to be offered
on a white plate, and 4500 cowries. Imo-Omi listened
and made the sacrifice, soon the blessing of children
came to her in abundance. Ifa says this childless woman
should refrain from eating rooster. A fine piece of
chicken breast is alright, but the male fowl
should be left alone.

"Kill the vulture and make sacrifice to Ifa"
was the Awo of the king of Ara,
"Killing a hornbill bird is difficult"
was the Awo of the Ijero,
"To kill the tough hornbill you must
make ebo to Ogun, for a knife
as strong as the Europeans"
the Awo of the place where fish is abundant,
"Fire on the heath destroys the heath",
the Awo of where birds live in the shrubs,
land of ostriches, where there's enough
water to kill them while they're drinking
so there's no need for iron weapons there,
"Cudgels are helpful for tearing down old walls";
those were the ones who cast Ifa for the long lived
top heavy, well known Water Antilope.
They did not bury him in the floor of his house,
but built him a proper home for the dead, in this world and
in the other world. "Well now," inquired Water Antilope
quite sensibly, "am I to die soon then?"
They told him to offer a clod of earth, a cudgel,
a ram, and seven bags of cowries.
After the offering had been made, they dug him a hole
and built a roof of palm leaves over it. "Occupy
this home", they invited Water Antilope, and then
they tore down the house over his head, bathed
him with ewe, killed the ram, bathed his head
in its blood, and his heavenly home collapsed,
condemned, uninhabitable. Ifa was cast
for Stumbling Water Antilope on the day
that people on earth gave him a home for the dead
but who, in the end, got himself a much better home.
We destroyed your house in heaven, and we will not come back.
Designer of our destiny in Heaven, take away
the grey hairs from his head. The heavenly home of the awo
falls down, it is not fit for his inhabitation yet.
Now he will stay alive for a long time on Earth,
until his destined time of death comes, pleasantly
and succesfully performing Dafa.
When Water Antilope's house of the dead on Earth
collapsed, at the same time his house of the dead
in Heaven collapsed, still uninhabited. Let's greet
the sacrifice, and may we all survive the situation!
Ifa says this person needs more firm ground under his feet,
being occupied with something that might make him loose his balance.
We should keep our two legs firmly on the earth. And Ifa says
that if it's very bad with this person, we shall build him a house
of the dead on Earth and then make it collapse; then
his house of the dead in Heaven will also collapse
and he will live on Earth till he has reached his destined time.

"Slender as a needle, dirty and shabby
as a cloth line, glittering as a fool's gold,
full purse clangs on the ground, the filled net sinks,
tightening the noose; two young roosters: challenge
and fight; two old roosters: shabbily they trod on,
bony buttocks fall whith a dry thud" was the one
who cast for "My Thoughyts", he-goat, buffalo,
were blocking the stream of the river that Yemoja
worshipped in Ido, on the day that he used the tears
in his eyes to hunt down all the good things in life.
Could he prosper when all things seemed to evade him?
They told him to bring a lobster, eight pigeons,
and 16,000 cowries. "My thoughts" listened
and made the sacrifice. They cooked the lobster for him
with "leaves of riches", then cast Irete Meji, and mixed
the powder of the Odu with the food, saying: "Drink, eat".
He began to get rich; soon his compound was
full of wives and children, and whilst he began
to build houses for all of them, he praised the Awo's
who had said: "Slender as a needle, glistening as mica,
purse clangs down on the earth, young roosters
play and fight, old rooosters listen quietly,
bony buttocks fall with a thud" cast for
"My Thoughts", heavy as a he-goat, buffalo,
blocking the river flow; I worship Yemoja,
who owns enormous riches. Him with the tears
of his eyes was looking for the evasive fortune.
Wat is with the riches I'm looking for?
It was lobster who ordered all good things
to come to me. And the children I desired?
They swarm into the net, get it in, hoist it,
the lobster said. My slender body filled
to the brim? It was lobster who let the flood in.
And how about the land? I wanted to build for so long.
It was lobster who plugged the holes in the strainer.
I put my hope in the falling tide, and then
all good things in life flowed towards me.
This is Irete Meji to which you have listened.
We greet the sacrifice because
only what you put in, you can get out.
It is our hope to be able to carry on.
Ifa says that here we should ask if some things
don't go too easy, if they are not slightly
more complicated than they seem.

Irete Meji

Irete can truly be a stinker! Some combinations advise initiation into Ifa - also females which is taboo in the diaspora. The issue then becomes: whom to believe... Ifa, or our friends and family? Anyway, the "children" of Irete Meji should really ask the diviner if they have a path to Ifa, especially males fairly often have their destiny in Ifa initation and the resulting priesthood but again, this is not exclusively a male thing - every now and then for example Irete Meji indicates that a woman should be initiated into Ifa, which in the Disapora tends to be frowned upon while in many parts of Africa it's a fairly normal thing to do. Irete Meji tends to emphasize the importance of honoring your courageous Eguns, those who had a good heart and stood up against injustice. Honoring them will help you to overcome negativity in the boradest sense. the Odu often indicates that there are people conspiring against the client in order to undermine the successes he should have in life. Every now and then stress grows out of any reasonable proportion, or evil powers humiliate the client - a good Head Feeding will work miracles! For the "children" or Irete Meji it's often difficult to learn how to simply relax. Don't be downhearted though: it's not impossible to learn!