Odi-Obara

"Edidi bothers them, Obara covers them"
cast for the Tree amongs thorny bushes,
who was advised to sacrifice, in order
to clear all difficulties away from his path.
The also cast for the Palmtree, who too
was adviced to go sacrifice: a machete, an axe,
a climbing rope or belt, a guinea pig, a catfish,
pigeons and, of course, money: 18,000 cowries.
The Tree amongst thorny bushes refused to offer,
but Palmtree listened, and made the sacrifice.
Ewe was prepared for Palm tree, and they told him
that he would no more be bothered
by all the tiny but extremely irritating
shrubs and thorns and bushes
around his feet.
Eshu is always on the side of
those who sacrifice willingly.
As far as Palmtree was concerned,
Eshu told the farmer to go and take good care
of Palmtree, for Eshu would make
Palmtree very advantageous for the farmer.
The farmer accepted the advice,
and took good care of Palmtree, removing
all the bothersome shrubs and thorns
around good old Palmtrees feet.
And Palmtree, in his turn, delivered
good products for the people.
All's well that ends well, Ifa says,
and we should watch our steps well,
for if we don't listen to what is told us here,
Eshu will close our golden future to us,
our abundant destiny will be locked.
Unlike Palmtree, the Tree amongst thorny bushes
expected others to solve his problems for him, without
the need to sacrifice. This tree does not have
the self-discipline to go and offer.
Self-discipline, that's what Ifa speaks about here,
the need for more self-discipline. Your offer
will be: one machete, one axe, rope, one rat,
some fish and money, quivalent to 1800 cowries.

Edidi the Awo of Shrub,
Obara the Awo of House,
both cast Ifa, telling them
to sacrifice in order not to have
some nasty misunderstandings
come between them.
The offer was a hen and a rooster,
a he-goat, a she-goat, and 20,000 cowries.
Edidi refused to sacrifice,
but Obara offered.
Now it was Edidi's habit to go
to his in-laws' house, in Olofin's house,
to greet them after his daily work on the farm.
The asked him to come, and make his fiancee his wife,
for she was old enough to marry.
But how unfortunately: his fiancee, named Obara,
did not love Edidi at all, calling him
a savage, and a local yokel. She asked:
"Why should I marry a wild man from the bush?"
Edidi begin madly courting Obara, but
she couldn't stand the sight of him.
Finally Edidi came to his senses, and sacrified
all the things that he should have sacrificed earlier.
Immediately after he made his offerings,
Obara changed her opinion about him,
and the two were duly married.
Had Edidi refused to sacrifice, he would
have lost his wife. Sacrifice however,
made the relationship better.
One hen, one rooster, one he-goat,
one she-goat, and 2000 cowries.

"Don't make a voyage,
the Ancestors forbid it"
was cast for "I'm gonna make a trip, even
if the Ancestors forbid it", on the day
that she got some good advice,
but didn't heed it.
They told "I'm gonna" to sacrifice,
but she refused to sacrifice,
and returned from her voyage very ill.
After her return she still hadn't learned a thing.
The Egun say that they are beaten
and insulted by this person.
This person must stop beating and insulting his Egun,
for they will beat back mercilessly.
The Ori of this person is in urgent need of feeding,
several times with short periods in between.
After having recited this text the Awo may continue reciting the following additional interpretative text:
This person must stop beating and insulting his Egun,
for they will beat back mercilessly.
Ifa says here is a person who should stay at home,
and work or study hard. And Ifa says
that this person has incurred his Ancestors' wrath,
and that this person should not give in to his own
hallucinations about what should happen and what not.
And if this person believes that she is hexed: yes, undoubtedly,
but only by herself! Oh boy oh boy, what troubles
is this person able to bring onto their own head!
The Ori of this person is in urgent need of feeding,
several times with short periods in between. Ifa says
that the costs of these feedings will be far less
than the cost this person will otherwise make
in their sillyness and folly.
I remember very well the saddest occasion of this Odu falling with this text as a relevant part. A young Westafrican woman visited me in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, wanting to make a trip to her home country in Africa. Through Ifa her Ancestors advised against it at that moment, for health reasons. She went anyway, and came back infected with the HIV virus: in Africa she had visited a local diviner who said that he could "unhex" her if she had sex with him, which she did. She was never hexed to begin with, but by refusing to listen to her Egun she hexed and cursed herself...