Owonrin Meji

Come gather all around me now,
you divination clients for this session,
for it's for many people here together
Owonrin speaks, as Ifa will explain.
"All tribal marks are gathered now,
some faces here have thirty carvings,
horizontally: that's called abaja
Some others here have twenty
chevrons on their face: that's keke,
and others still have fifty lines
that we call woro-woro, vertical."
These were the ones who cast for Odunmbaku,
the son of Ifa, yes, Orunmila's own son.
They told their client he must sacrifice
five bags of cowries and a five-toed chicken
to put outside, close to the road,
taken by Hawk, then lost from sight.
The sacrifice was gone, accepted.
Iku, that's Death, came looking;
and happy Odunmbaka said: "Good heavens,
't was Hawk took Chicken, and your road is blocked.
This year I cannot go with you,
so next year better, Death!
I'm very sorry, but you know: that's life!"
Death shrugged his shoulders, for whatever
we say about him: he's an honest fellow,
who never takes what not belongs to him.
The people sang and danced
and loudly praised their Ifa,
saying: "This year we should have died,
but Iku just took Chicken,
and left us living, yet to see another year.
That's what the Awo's said:
"All tribal marks are gathered now,
some faces here have thirty carvings,
horizontally: that's called abaja
Some others here have twenty
chevrons on their face: that's keke
and others still have fifty lines
that we call woro-woro, vertical."
These were the ones who cast for Odunmbaku,
the son of Ifa, yes, Orunmila's own son.
All make the sacrifice, along with Odunmbaku,
a chicken to Iku, for us to live some more.

"I will go to Ogbin to create the masquerade,
I will go to Igbori to learn the cult
and then I will collect all my accessories
and go to Oyo to build them up"
was the one who cast Ifa for Olugbori
on the day that he was mourning the fact
that he had no children. Then he took on
a shroud. Ifa says that Olugbori of Igbori,
the father of Iya Mose, the mother of
the hybrid child Olugbee Agan, son of
Iya Mose and the monkey who raped her,
that all is right with Olugbori of Igbori.
Ifa says that his grandchild Olugbee Agan
must learn Ifa and to master medicine, also
become a great dancer and acrobat. And Ifa says
that, although Olugbee Agan always needs
to go out in the streets masked and disguised
and never will be in a position to meet a wife
and have children, he will be a professional
masqueraderof great fame. This is, Ifa says,
how the cult of the Egungun priests developed.
And ifa says that this person should pay much,
much more attention to his Ancestors!