The Life of Irosun Iwori
The continuous biography of this odù's own spiritual evolution — celestial works, then earthly works — told as one unfolding life. Click any title to read it.
PROTAGONISTS INDEX — Orishas, Irunmoles, Divine Personages, Animals & Plants
Orishas & Irunmoles
- Aggayú — the ferryman of Story 1, who carries the nameless child across the river and is given possession of it, and the carrier of Yayú Orosun across the sea in Story 4. The formal description preserves a separate ferryman fragment, and the Obras note records that Aggayú eats with Oduduwá and that every omo Aggayú must receive Oduduwá.
- Oduduwá — the nameless child (omo keké) who becomes an unbearable load on Aggayú's shoulders, reveals himself, and grants Aggayú the river (Story 1); the Obras note repeats the Aggayú–Oduduwá relation.
- Obatalá — the most powerful woman of those lands, able to transmute her person, whom Aggayú possesses without knowing who she is (Story 1).
- Shangó — named in Story 2, where the lightning he brought down and the cult established at the tomb are told. Palmiche is placed on Shangó in the formal Obra and in the closing note of Story 4.
- Orunmila — divines the Ifá that sends Yayú Orosun across the sea and prescribes the ebbó and the obtaining of palmiche (Story 4); he is also named in the description and in Dice Ifá.
- Okananko — "a messenger of the roads like Elegba," who meets Yayú Orosun on the road and sends him to Orunmila's house (Story 4).
Divine Personages
- The King of Oyo — the king whose conflict with his subjects opens Story 2.
Animals
- Crocodile — floats among the drifting trunks, indistinguishable from them, and eats the woodcutter (Story 3).
Plants
- Palm / palmiche — the unknown palm that grew thorns in the description; the palm across the sea from which Yayú Orosun gathers palmiche (Story 4); and the small stick of palmiche placed on Shangó in the formal Obra and in the closing note of Story 4.
- Ayán tree — the tree named in Story 2, from whose wood the pieces of the Orisha Shangó are made; the paragraph naming it attributes the hanging to Shangó.
The Patakín Corpus — 1 to 4
Presented in strict numerical order as in the source Tratado. Click any title to read it.
01Aggayú and Oduduwá
Aggayú y Oduduwá›
Ebbó: akukó, awadó. It is given to Eshu and carried to the plaza, scattering the corn while pretending to be drunk.
Patakín:
Aggayú possessed, without knowing who she was, the most powerful woman of those lands: Obatalá, who had the gift of transmuting her person, appearing sometimes as a humble concubine and other times as a fierce chimera, relentless in deeds of valor, haughty in the exercise of command, and ruthless with the enemy.
The ferryman was not satisfied with that adventure, which in his view humiliated him as a man, for he believed that the fair thing was that he should have taken the initiative in making love to the woman, as is the custom. That is why from then on he changed his tactic with those who came to ask him to take them to the other side of the river: to each one he asked who he was and where he came from, and after their answers he demanded the tribute to take them across; without these requirements he did not take them.
Aggayú would cross his arms and turn indifferent before every plea, and when they insisted he would say to them: "Find a man and pay; otherwise you are wasting your time."
One day an omo keké — a small child — presented himself before him and said: "Aggayú, I want to see my mother, who is on the other side of the river." "What is your name, boy?" "I have no name," replied the child. "Then I cannot oblige you," said Aggayú. The child began to cry and replied: "I have not seen my mother for a long time; perhaps after this occasion I will not be able to see her again. I have nothing; I am very poor."
The ferryman stared at him fixedly and said: "Look, boy, go back the way you came, for I cannot change my principles and take you across in the boat for free."
"Then carry me on your shoulders — until now you have told no one: 'I charge you so much for carrying you on my shoulders.'"
The ferryman looked at him fixedly and said: "Boy, you have a good head; I will carry you as a load."
Aggayú put the child on his shoulders and entered the river, and as soon as he began to walk he noticed that the boy was gradually gaining weight until he became an unbearable load. Making a tremendous effort, Aggayú, holding the child on his shoulders, said to him: "What is happening? Why have you become so heavy?" "Do not protest; keep your word," replied the boy. "I simply cannot go on," answered Aggayú. "Then look at me." Aggayú turned his face toward the boy and exclaimed, letting him fall into the water:
"Oduduwá!"
The child, floating on the water, said to him: "For your effort I give you possession of the river," and immediately disappeared.
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