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Oturupon Meji
Now we have arrived at this text from Oturupon-Meji,
all those who listen to what I chant here
(for like in days of yore we do nowadays),
they turn their backs towards this Odu, for I,
Agboju Odebunmi, will not speak further, not unless
this client and all others who are present
have turned their backs on us and closed their eyes,
for they are not allowed to see this Odu.
Now make a sacrifice for health!
"The good deeds of the Hornbill Bird
backfired on him, and no one since
has done such kindness anymore,
fixing their eyes in wonder
and amazement on the Hornbill Bird"
did cast for "Death caught Owner",
both worshipper of Black Ogun,
and Awo of the Early Dawn.
He says: "What's that?"
They say: "Do sacrifice, my friend,
in order not to find yourself in trouble."
It is from Heaven that the palm weevil
brought his adversity into this world.
They say: now go and tell it to
"Elder who broke the palm oil keg",
that is Obatala, he who
by covering it all, made it all right...
"It is a starting war, an inner struggle,
that goes on in the backyard of the skull,
which is the sacred home of Iponri,
the secret home of Iponri, that is"
cast for "She gave him Nightly Favors", concubine
in Oba's palace until daybreak, shining clearly,
so we see honor, wealth and health abundant:
that is how odu got her name Odu.
Now it turns out (don't fear!)
that He-dog mates with Night, and hence becoming
his mother's husband, for his mother: that's what she is.
We say: Ifa has come, oh, Ifa comes!
Ifa now dims the light, so that the dog
can bite and show his teeth.
This obscure mating better happens in the dark.
Away, you weird placenta of the Night!
Evil and badness, turn away from me!
Oh yes, and now may those who turned their backs on us
and Odu, turn around and face us once again.
The He-dog still philanders with the Night:
women are all the same to him, all women,
and so he is the husband of his Mother!
This is the hidden side, forbidden, of Oturupon.
Let those who want to praise this sacred Odu
wait after dark has fallen, kill the lights
until the praising has been duly finished.
And if it happens in the afternoon, do close your eyes,
and turn around, on Odu turn your back.
When worshipping Ifa by chanting Odu
from the beginning to the end, when you arrive
at texts pertaining to the Odu
Oturupon-the-Twins, do keep some kola,
some kola nuts behind you, at your back,
and say: "Now go away, all evil things,
turn back, and watch the Dog
having his Mother."
And then the evil things will turn away,
and if you now all leave yourself and others
in peace and quiet calm, the evil things
will leave you too in peace.
Salute the offer
that's given and accepted,
and we'll survive it all. (Note: be careful with the following text. If it is spoken out loud and powerful, before you realize what's happening you might suddenly find yourself mounted by a helpful Egun. It's a quite effective invocation and even I, who have no talent at all for being an Elegun or "horse" neither for Orisha nor Egun, tend to become sort of woozy when vocalizing this text. The more sensitive among you will go off like rockets - grin!) Now it has become a pitiful place;
the chant has become a dirge.
When eyes are two, they watch events unfold.
When legs are two, they walk with heavy tread.
Two buttocks together sit on the mat.
One hand cannot clap, and one
leg cannot walk in a fast way.
How can one refuse to answer the call
of people with great responsibilities? Yes,
we are being called differently, I am
being asked to kneel, and greet
those who once went before me.
I knelt and greeted those who went before me.
I am being asked to kneel and appeal
to those who stand behind us. So I knelt
and appealed to those who stand behind us.
They ask: "Who are those who went before me?"
I say that the ancestors from fathers side
are those who went before me.
They ask: "Who are those behind us?"
I say it is the Orishas in fathers house
that are behind us. When the Ethiopian
swallow Alapandede builds its nest, it is
suspended in the air and touches
neither sea nor sky, looking at Olodumare
in heaven, looking at humans on earth.
It was Atangegere who cast for Odusola,
child of Arannase, who died when Odusola
was still a baby. Without knowledge of
how to cast Ifa, without knowledge of
how to mark Odu, without ever having been
to Ifa's festival in Ile Ife, Odusola broke down
and burst, when all the ritual materials were gathered
into tears, saying that he did not know
if water was to be offered first. All ancestors:
descend and make this ritual a success for us,
ancestors in heaven, tell me whether it is gin
that should be offered first... I do not know,
ancestors in heaven, descend and make this ritual
a succes for me, whether it is kola nut
that should be offered first... I do not know.
Ancestors in heaven, descend and make
this ritual a succes for me,
ancestors in heaven. Ifa divination texts from Jaap Verduijn's Odu Ifa Corpus. Ifa as a divination method is found in many countries in West Africa. However, the Yoruba peoples of (mainly) Nigeria have perfected it. The presented texts are translations, rewritings and interpretations of original Yoruba divination verses, in which the traditional "poetry-like" cadence and rhythm has been preserved and/or recreated as far as the English language allows. The visual structure of the texts in writing is according to tradition - there is no such thing as a line break or a paragraph in Ifa chanting. The texts are part of my "working corpus" as an Ifa diviner. More about Ifa on http://www.qondio.com/mama.pl?a=intelshow&i=17751 |
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any translations for the Odu: 'Otura Owanji'
sincerely,
sp
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