Irosun Meji (Irosun Meji · Irosun Meji)

He performed divination for all the Divinities before they abandoned Heaven and came to Earth.

In Heaven, he was called Akpejo Uku (Yoruba: Apẹ̀jọ́ Ikú --- "The one who debates with Death" or "The one who alters the day of Death"). That is, the man who can alter the course of death. He advised the 200 Divinities, before they left Heaven, that upon arriving on Earth they should restrain themselves regarding the implementation of inflexible rules and regulations, as rigid laws breed avoidance. He told them to seek the support of Esu (Yoruba: Èṣù --- The Divine Messenger and Trickster Deity), offering him a he-goat. The Divinities rejected this because they had traditionally despised the mischievous divinity. Orunmila (Yoruba: Ọ̀rúnmìlà --- The Witness to Destiny/Deity of Wisdom) was the only one who gave a he-goat to Esu. After this, all the Divinities departed for Earth.

As soon as they settled on Earth, the first decree they promulgated was that as soon as grey hairs appeared on any of them, that Divinity must return to Heaven.

In accordance with the decree, anyone who had grey hair died at that moment. Eventually, it was Orunmila's turn to have grey hair. As soon as grey hair became prevalent on his head, the other Divinities reminded him that his time to die had arrived. He agreed with them that it was certainly time for him to return to his home in Heaven.

Then, he called upon his Ifa (Yoruba: Ifá --- The Oracle/System of Divination), who advised him to make a sacrifice with a he-goat to Esu; he was also to mash water yam with ashes, pour the powder into a bag made of raffia palm, and tie it all to the main entrance of his house. After this, he was to serve his Ifa a pig and feed the remaining Divinities with it. He performed all the sacrifices and preparations just as he was advised.

The day of the meal arrived, which was supposed to be the farewell party before he departed for Heaven. Traditionally, it was forbidden to enter the house of any of the Divinities with a cap on one's head. As the Divinities arrived at Orunmila's house, they had to remove their caps at the entrance. There, Esu rubbed the visitor's hair with the powder found inside the bag located there, and the hair turned grey instantly. After crossing the entrance, the visitor placed the cap back on their head. This ritual was carried out with every single one of the Divinities, although they were unaware of it.

When the party ended, all the Divinities asked Orunmila when he was going to die. He replied that he had already completed his preparations to die that very night, as he felt very pleased to participate in the mass death that was about to take place. The Divinities wondered what he meant by "mass death," since no other Divinity was marked to die. Then Orunmila explained that he was not the only one who had grey hairs and concluded that everyone had to die simultaneously. He told them to remove their caps, and everyone discovered with astonishment that the totality of those present in the enclosure had completely grey hair.

In light of the perplexity that followed this, they immediately and unanimously approved a resolution that, from that moment on, only those who were old enough to do so should die. The resolution emphasized that the appearance of grey hair on the head should cease to constitute the yardstick for measuring the moment of death.

That was how Orunmila changed the insane decree of the Divinities, for if that law had persisted, no one would live more than 40 or 50 years on Earth.