Origins of the Ojose [Day of Ose]

O se woo
O run woo
A ki i ta ogomo gbigbe l'osun
A difa fun Oosanla Oseeremagbo
Ti nlo ree gbe Ojose n'iyawo
Ebo won ni ko waase
O gb'ebo, o ru bo
Oba nla, obi ose e te mi ree o
Oni l'ojo ose
- Odu Mimo OseMeji

Translation

It breaks into pieces

It cracks into tiny fragments
It is not the practice to paint dry palm fronds with camwood
These were Ifa's messages for Oosanla Oseremagbo
When seeking the hand of Ojose as a wife
He was advised to perform sacrifice
He complied
Obanla, I hereby offer my Ose kola nuts
Today is the Ose day
- Holy Odu OseMeji

Obatala was in need of a wife who would assist him in his mission on Earth. He had tried
and failed many times to find a suitable spouse. Likewise, Ojose was in search of a
husband who would understand and treat her well. She had been disrespected and
neglected in her previous relationships. One day, the two met and got along well. They
were especially excited that both were interested in finding an ideal mate.

Obatala went to consult Ifa. He wanted to know if she would be a good wife, would she
support his efforts, would sh ebe happy with him? The awo told him that if Ojose was
treated with respect and honor, she would be ideal. To accomplish this, Obatala was told to
select on of the four days of the week to honor Ojose. He was instructed to open kola nuts
and pray for Ojose regularly. Apart from this, Ojose would support Obatala in every aspect
of life.

Consequently. Obatala as Obatala honored Ojose, she summoned victory, peace of mind,
good health and all good things for Obatala.

Adifa fun Orunmila

Ti nlo re gbe Ojo Ose niyawo
Yeye Ojo Ose ni nse aje lode Okun
Baba Ojo Ose ni nse ejigbaraleke lode Ofa
Ojo Ose paapaa ni nse Oloworan oba aso ti ntanna yanran yanran yanran
Nje owo tuntun o pe o to seede o
Oni nijo ose
Nje aya /oko rere o pe o to seede
Oni Nijo ose
Nje omo tuntun o pe o to seede o
Oni nijo ose
Nje esin/oko tuntun o pe o to seede
Oni nijo Ose
Nje ile tuntun o pe o to seede o
Oni nijo ose
Nje ire gbogbo o pe to seede o
Oni nijo ose
Ose lo lowo
Ose loni ire gbogbo
E so fun alaso osun ko wa te
- Odu Mimo ObaraMeji

Translation
These were Ifa declarations to Orunmila
When going to marry Ojo Ose as a wife
Ojo Ose's mother is it that procures aje(money) in the sea
Ojo Ose's father is it that procures the beautiful beads in the town of Ofa
Ojo Ose, herself procures the beautiful and shinning royal clothes
The new money has taken so long to arrive
Today is Ifa worship day (Ojo ose)
The good wife/husband has taken so long to arrive
Today is Ojo Ose
The new child has taken so long to arrive
Today is Ojo ose
The new automobile has taken so long to arrive
Today is Ojo ose
The new house has taken so long to arrive
Today is Ojo Ose.
All good things of life have taken so long to arrive
Today is Ojo Ose(Ifa worship day)
Ose, the worship day is full of money
Tell the owner of camwood cloth to come and be initiated.
- Holy Odu ObaraMeji

Iwori aweda o gboogun

Ebo ni ka maa ru
Adifa fun Orunmila ti nlore gbe Ojo Ose niyawo
Ojo Ose aya rere
Orunmila lo lo re gbe Ojo Ose niyawo
Ojo Ose aya rere
- Odu Mimo IworiAweda

Translation
Iwori aweda defies medicine
Sacrifice is more efficacious
Cast divination for Orunmila who was going to bring Ojo Ose as a wife
Ojo Ose is a good wife
Orunmila brought Ojo Ose as a wife
Ojo Ose is a good wife
- Holy Odu IworiAweda

Ifa is the owner of Today

Ifa is the owner ofTomorrow
Ifa is the owner ofTheDayAfter
Orunmila is the owner of the four days that Oosa, the
Almighty, assigned to the world
This was Ifa's message for Orunmila
When going to attain the four daughters of Oosa...
- Holy Odu IworiOtura

In this Odu, Ifa explains how Orunmila was able to attain the four daughters of Oosanla
whose names are: Oni, Ola, Otunla and Ireni. Orunmila then gave Oni (today) to Obatala,
he took Ola (the next day) for himself, he gave Otunla (the day after) to Ogun, and he gave
Ireni to Sango. After this, the remaining Irunmole from the 801 then chose one of the four
days as the day that they would be propitiated. The day that each Irunmole chose would be
known as the day of that Irunmole. For example, Ose Oosa (Obatalas day) was also
adopted by Ogiyan, Iko and Losootoro. Ose Ifa (Orunmilas day) was also adopted
by Osun, Osanyin, Obaluaye among others. Ose Ogun (Oguns day) was adopted by Ija,
Osoosi, Orisa-Oko and Erinle among others. Ose Jakuta (Sangos day) was adopted by
Alafere and Oramfe. There is no day that Ori and Esu Odara cannot be propitiated. Any
day chosen for the two Irunmole is appropriate for them, although typically, Esu Odara is
propitiated along with Orunmila.

OJO OSE: A DAY OF DIVINE OATH.

------------------------------------------------------------
What is the essence of Ojo Ose?
This is what Ifa says on this special day, Ifa says in Owonrin Ojo Ose ( Owonrin
Ika):
n lorn.
n l's.
K'nikni ma ma d'ko baba mi.
Adi'a fun Orunmila. T'Ifa l'ohun yoo gb'Akapo t'ohun titi d'oj al.
Ebo n won ni o wa se.
O gbebo, O rubo. O gberu, O t.
Nje: Ifa l'hun gbemi, o wi n mi.
Oni l'Orun.
Oni l's.
Ela l'ohun o gbemi, w n mi.
TRANSLATION:

Today is the fifth day.

Today is the sacred week day of Orisa.
Let no one go to my father's farm (to work, to avoid any distractions and for total
devotion).
These are the Ifa's messages to Orunmila when He made VOW to bless His
apprentice/followers till the end
(of his/her life).
He was asked to make sacrifices (on their behalves).
He complied ...
Thus: Ifa has made a sacred vow to bless me, he revealed to me.
Today is the fifth day.
Today is the sacred week day of Orisa.
Edu(the appellation of Orunmila) has made a sacred vow to bless me, he revealed to
me.
MESSAGE:
Many people know it's a Divine day of the Orisas. But think it's just a day to feed,
pray and to talk to the Orisas alone. But they don't understand that Ojo Ose is a day
of renewing and connecting with the spiritual obligation of the sacred VOW of
breakthrough that Olodumare, Ifa, all Orisas and our Ancestors have made with our
Ori( divine guide) in Orun. It's a day to remind their presence, to connect and to
make manifest of their Divine Promises to us.

We have to understand that Olodumare is so powerful that nothing is impossible for

Him to do. So it does not cost him anything to bless us and give us victory over all
the challenges in our lives. Also, Ifa, all the Orisas, and our Ancestors are not
humans that can lie. So we, only need to be ready to connect with the sacred oath of
success and breakthrough they made to us to bring all our blessings to reality. May
Olodumare and all yhe Irunmoles give us the energy and our Ori, the guidance we
need to be able to connect with our divine blessings. se.

- Awdl Adbs Iffnmill l

Origin of the Seven Day Calendar
Okanranfunfun bonna bonna
Cast Ifa for Abon
When coming from heaven to earth
He was asked to perform rituals and make sacrifice
Hecomplied
If Abon does not die in his prime
He will be able to do what other elders are doing
The same Awo
Cast Ifa for Olodumare
During the time he gave the 401 Irunmole their individual identities
Olodumare also gave names to the days of the week
- Holy Odu OkanranOfun

This stanza is about when Olodumare summoned a total of 401 Irunmole and put
them in a garden known as OGBA-ASE (the garden
of command). In this garden, Olodumare put 16 unique Odu. These Odu comprise
the first four major Odu, namely: Ejiogbe, Oyeku meji, Iwori meji and Odi meji and
12 combination Odu which are: Irosun-Owonrin, Owonrin-Irosun, Obara-Okanran,
Okanran-Obara, Ogunda-
Osa, Osa-Ogunda, Ika-Oturupon, Oturupon-Ika, Otura-Irete, Irete-Otura, Ose-Ofun
and Ofun-Ose. Olodumare instructed the Irunmole to stay in this Ogba- Ase for
seven days. He instructed that they should be asking for positive resolutions which
by His Grace would come to pass. Olodumare warned however that evil resolutions
would not be granted. Olodumare instructed the Irunmole to stay in this Ogba- Ase
for seven days. He instructed that they should be asking for positive
resolutions which by His Grace would come to pass. Olodumare warned
however that evil resolutions would not be granted. The activities of each day were
however used to name the day. This was how the seven days of the week were
respectively named.

Ojose As Iwa Pele

Iwa pele fi okun aye ro peti lowo eni

O da fun Orunmila
Ti o nlo fi iwa pele
Gba okun aye lowo okan-le-ni-rin wo imale.
- Odu Mimo Idinleke

Translation

It is gentle character, which enables the rope of life to remain strong in our hands
This was the teaching of Ifa for Orunmila
Who was going to use gentle character
To obtain the rope of life from the four hundred and one divine powers.
- Holy Odu Idinleke

Ojo Ose as Family Ritual

Orunmila wi ose, mo ni ifa gbinrin gbinrin nsedan

Ifa ni akapo oun ti ba nsose, aya re yoo ni pinkin inu
Ifa ni akapo oun ti ba nsose, aya re yoo ni gburukan lehin
Ifa ni Akapo oun ti ba nsose yoo ni win win win ni koro yara
Ifa ni oyun ni pinkin inu, kaya awo maa loyun rere
Ifa ni omo ni gburukan lehin, kaya awo maa ni gburukan omo lehin
Aje ni win win win ti nbe ni koro yara, ifa jeki toko taya maa laje rere
Ma ma ya lodo temi o
Aje de oniso
Ma ma ya lodo temi
- Ejiogbe

Translation

Orunmila declares, it is time for Ose (Ifa worship)

I affirm, Ifa should be propitiated expectedly
Ifa says, if its devotee performs the usual propitiation, his wife, Apetebi shall experience
movement in the stomach
Ifa declares, if its devotee performs the usual propitiation, his wife shall have temporary
joyful hunchback
Ifa says, a devotee who performs Ose ritual shall possess the precious thing hidden in a
corner of a room
Ifa decodes that the movement in the stomach is pregnancy, please let the wife of the
devotee be pregnant with a good child
Ifa answers, a child is the hunchback of the wife of the devotee, please let the wife of the
devotee have a child tied to her back that looks like hunchback
Orunmila pronounces that money is the precious thing hidden in a corner of the room,
please let both the husband and the wife be blessed with cool money
I appeal to you, please, cool money, make my home as your abode
Aje, Money, has come, indispensable acquisition
Please make my home your home
- Holy Odu EjiOgbe

Ojo Ose as Protection from Awon Iyaami Osoronga

The sacred texts of If teach us the importance of feeding the rs to obtain their
favor and to achieve positive changes in our lives. A verse of the Holy Od
IrosunOse clearly demonstrates the before mentioned. In this instance, runml
was sent from heaven to earth to serve as a counselor, to interpret If and to help
humankind experience the Good Condition by avoiding lifes dangers, pitfalls and
perils. He was carrying out divination and sacrifice to redeem the lives of humanity.
He also performed good works for men and their children. He cured to the sick,
giving them hope, and bringing harmony to the areas of discord in their lives. All
this he did without asking anything in exchange. s noted that nobody thanked
runml for his good deeds. Thus, he devised a plan with the Iyaami Osoronga
the powerful mothers.

During his own personal divination, Ornml learned about the pending arrival of
some powerful people on earth. He consulted the oracle and determined that the
Iyaami Osoronga would be sent to the world to wreak havoc in the lives of people
who offered nothing in exchange for runmls work. This prompted runml to
pay Oldmar a visit. En route, he met Iyaami Osoronga. Upon recognizing them,
he asked the Iyaami about what he had seen in his divination. Is it true that you are
going to trouble the lives of humans? When they confirmed, he ask them why.
They replied It is on account of the fact that you have refused to collect any
payment for your services to the children of man, and that on account of this other
divinities have been suffering hunger. runml recognized the gravity of the
Iyaami Osorongas words. He became perplexed because he did not want that the
sons of men to be punished. He did not want his work on earth and all his efforts to
be destroyed. But at the same time, how could he allow the deities to go hungry?
The powerful mothers notified runml that he should tell the inhabitants of earth
that they should offer something to appease to the deities and to eliminate the
hunger they had been suffering. They assured runml that if people complied
with this they would be forgiven for their prior neglect.

runml returned home to consult If and ask what could people offer to appease
to the deities and to avoid losses. He was advised to offer ob kola nut which
each person should place on the shrine of her respective deities to avoid calamities.
Ornml began with his campaign, informing all of humanity to offer ob to ward
off death, sickness, curses, losses and defeat. Thus it was that people began to offer
ob to their deities and ancestors. This is a custom from ancient times that thrives
into the present. Offering ob to the deities is a gesture to be forgiven for misdeeds,
to pacify the deities and to avert attacks from the Iyaami Osoronga.

Ritual Preparation & Performance*

Before beginning any kind of devotion, the Ifa and Orisa devotee must be clean. As
E. Boloji Idowu informs us, ritual defilement may be incurred in several ways,
depending on what are "taboos" to the particuar divinity who is being worshipped.
It is believed that sexual intercourse immediately before worship or when its "stain"
has not been removed by thorough washing, is a thing forbidden by all divinities. It
is also taboo for a worshipper to carry bad medicine on his/her person. The greatest
obstacle to efficacious worship is impurity of the heart. Therefore, moral and ritual
cleanliness are pre-requisites of any devotional endeavor.

INGREDIENTS**
We should go before Ifa with obi abata meji, orogbo meji, ataare mesan (9 seeds for
male) or meje (seven seeds for female), oti, epo pupa, eku meji, eja meji or obi
adiye meji. Even though the offerings to the Orisas defer to some extent, some of
the central offerings can be given to the Orisas today. The central offerings include
obi abata, orogbo, oti, epo pupa, omi tutu, and ataare.

Sango takes only orogbo; so, please, do not give obi abata to Sango.
Obatala takes obi ifin (white obi abata) and no oti nor epo pupa.
Osanyin takes ataare.
Esu accepts all the listed items.
Ogun accepts all the items, too, but substitute omi tutu with emu ope (palm
wine) or oti.

Since Ose Ifa is not every day, we should seize the opportunity of today's Ose Ifa to
communicate with all the positive energies. We should propitiate our egungun,
interred egungun (ancestors).

Egungun, the interred egunguns, are not quite the same as the cultural egunguns in
**eku egungun who host yearly parade of celebrations. The cultural egunguns
range in categories from

(a) the youthful egunguns whose trademarks are usually to vigorously

pursue other youthful spectators in the community (teenagers and
young adults), and symbolically flog the running youthful spectators
when they catch up with them;
(b) the middle aged egunguns, who are still fired up in testing their friendly
ammunitions, and who, nonetheless, entertain with songs, dance, and
gymnastics;
(c) the settled, legendary egunguns whose primary focus are usually to
bless individuals on their parade routes and the communities at large.
Cultural egunguns are paramount in Orisa Worship. Furthermore, we should also
propitiate our ori (destinies) for guided directions, and ile (earth) so we may walk
on it for longprayer for long life, ase. May Odumare, via Ifa and all
the Irunmoles, accept today's supplications, Ase.*

Before performing Ijuba, select the required number of obi abata (sacred kola-nuts),
wash them and place them in a bowl of water.

Next perform Ijuba while pouring liberation using any alcoholic beverage.

Greeting: E ku Ojo Ose. Greetings to adherents of Orisa [in any of the week day
that belongs to a particular Orisa.]
Response: IFA seun. Alaso Osun ni yoo GBA ose

OR

Greeting: A ku Ose ni oni or "A ku Ose ti oni'

Response: Olose a gba, meaning the Owner of the Week will accept all our prayers,
sacrifice

Ijuba
Iba Olodumare, Olojo oni (Reverence to God the controller of this day)
Iba Ila oorun (Reverence to the East)
Iba Iwo oorun (Reverence to the West)
Iba Ariwa (Reverence to the North)
Iba Guusu (Reverence to the South)
Iba Ile (Reverence to the Earth)
Iba Esu Odara (Reverence to Esu, who works magical wonders)
Iba Eegun Idile mi (Reverence to family masquarades )
Iba Baba (Reverence to my father)
Iba Yeye (Reverence to my mother)
Iba Oluwo (Reverence to my godfather)
Iba to to to mojuba (Complete entire reverence, I pay my respect)

The four devotional phases of Ose Ifa are devotion to Esu, Eegun, Ori and Ifa. Each
phase consists of four steps.
1. Invoking the relevant spiritual force
2. Deteremining whether that spiritual force brings Ire (good fortune)or Ibi (bad
fortune)
3. Determining the king of Ire or Ibi.
4. Determining the appropriate offering for manifesting Ire or for averting Ibi.

Table 1: Determining Ire or Iba

ALAAFIA
All segments open
Ire: the word Alaafia means well being

IWA
Only 3 segments open
Ire or Ibi: depends on one's IWA (behavior)

OBI YAN
Only 2 segments open
Ire: Obi Yan means the obi is favourable

OKAN
Only 1 segment open
ibi: Okan means the heart

OPO TAKU
All segments closed
Ire: Isegun (Victory smash the obi segments)

Notes

If Opotaku appears on the FIRST casting, smash the obi segments and continue on
to the Eegun phase. if Iwa appears, ask again, "Is something good coming?" If Iwa
appears the second time then the response is ire.

If Ire appears, cast the obi to determine which kind of Ire is coming. The are: Aiku
(long life), Aje (financial success), Aya (wifes), Oko (husbands), Omo (children),
and Isegun (victory over enemies). Follow the order from Aiku to isegun until
recieving a "Yes responce by asking, "Do you see (name the ire)" (See Table 2)

After determining the kind of Ire ask Esu, "Is this obi a sufficient offering to bring
about (name of Ire)? If a "Yes" response, leave one or two obi segmetns before the
emblem of Esu and plase the rest in the bowl of water. If a "No" response, ask what
must be added to make the offering acceptable.

Whenever Alaafia appears, move your hands as if throwing water on your face.

If ibi appears, cast the obi to determine what kind of ibi is coming. They are Iku
(death), Arun (sickness), Ofo (loss), Ija (fight, quarrel), and Orun (problem,
trouble). Follow the order of severity until recieve a "Yes". Then ask Esu, " Do you
see (name the ibi)?" (See Table 2) After determining the kind of Ibi ask Esu. "Is
this obi a sufficient offering to avert (name the ibi)?" If a "No" response, ask what
must be added to make the offering acceptable.

Table 2: Interpreting subsequent casts of Obi

ALAAFIA
All segments open
Yes

IWA
Only 3 segments open
Cast again. "Yes" if Iwa appears again

OBI YAN
Only 2 segments open
Yes

OKAN
Only 1 segment open
No

OPO TAKU
All segments closed
No
*Araba Fayemi Elebuibon
** Chief FAMA