Oyekun Meyi (Oyeku Meji · Oyekun Meji)

Orunmila Taught Humanity How to Protect Itself from Premature Death

It was Oyeku Meji who revealed how Orunmila taught humanity to protect itself from premature death. When man was created, Death considered this new creature as her preferred food. Death was the only divinity who rejoiced at the creation of man by God. While other divinities saw humans as inferior beings created to serve them, Death saw them as nourishment.

She waited until the human population multiplied and then, at her whim, began visiting their homes to select them as food. Lacking means of self-defense, let alone the ability to resist, humanity resigned itself to the constant onslaught of Death. Humans had no one to appeal to, since the logic was that just as they considered animals inferior and fit for food, Death likewise viewed humans as meat to be eaten.

If we understand the victorious philosophy of the existence of plants and animals—which were created to serve a purpose in the planetary system—then we should not be unduly troubled by the inevitability of death. Just as we consume plants and lower animals to satisfy our habits and desires, we too are at the mercy of higher divinities.

However, even though humanity was created to serve the higher forces, including as food, God gave us the intellect to defend ourselves—either through appeasement or diversion. This is clearly illustrated in the revelations of Oyeku Meji:

Uku yee, iruku yee, eku meji looruwe, eja meji ojoko loore, olule adiye, ideregbe aaba murede, agboghaka, eji laba odumeta, ako elila toun to oshukaare.

Death rejoiced at the creation of man.

She took humans at her pleasure to eat them. Two rats played on the earth. Two fish played in the water. The hen laid eggs and went to rest. The goat had many kids. The strong three-year-old ram, The bull with juicy meat— All were created to appease Death.

But none of these animals satisfied Death. She remained focused on human flesh.

Eventually, man approached Orunmila for divination, asking how to escape Death's threat. Orunmila told them that no offering could fully divert Death's attention—human flesh was the only thing that could satisfy her divine hunger. All the other animals—rats, fish, goats, rams, even cows—were favorites of the priests of the divinities, not of Death.

He asked them if anyone could stop humans from eating their favorite foods. In the same way, no one could stop Death from eating hers. But he said the best way to protect oneself from a malevolent deity was to sacrifice something that the deity forbade.

As Eleri Ipin (the Witness to Creation), Orunmila was the only one who knew what each divinity prohibited.

He instructed them to prepare mashed or stirred yams (called obobo in Bini and ewo u elo in Yoruba), mixed with small pebbles (guijas), and to find a live young chicken. The men gathered in the hall where Death used to select her victims. Orunmila told them to eat the yams but spit out the pebbles. They were to tie the live chicken to the entrance of Esu's shrine, without killing it.

When Death approached to claim another victim, she saw the pebbles being spit out and, curious, put one in her mouth to taste. She couldn't chew it and thought: Anyone who eats such hard things must be dangerous and possibly able to fight back. While she was contemplating her next move, the chicken at Esu's shrine cried out, *"uku yee!"*—a sound Death was forbidden to hear. She fled in terror, and mankind rejoiced, thanking Orunmila for showing them her secret.

From that day, Death had to invent new ways to reach humanity. She could no longer kill directly, as she is a timid divinity. She began to rely on her more aggressive and vengeful siblings:

• Oggun (iron), who kills through accidents.
• Shango (thunder), who kills with lightning.
• Sankpana, who kills via epidemics—smallpox, measles, chickenpox.
• The night deity, who kills through witchcraft.

When these powerful forces are slow to bring her food, Death sends her wife, Illness, to feed the family.

This new strategy emerged only after humans learned how to repel Death. Previously, she hunted mankind directly.

Therefore, when Oyeku Meji appears in divination, the person must be warned that Death is stalking them. They should make an offering to Esu with mashed yam, palm oil, and salt, loaded with pebbles, and tie a live chicken at Esu's shrine to repel Death.

If Oyeku Meji appears for a newborn child, the parents must be told to offer similar sacrifices—like the one Rain performed before descending to Earth—so the child may rise above the powerful enemies they are destined to face.

Such a ritual involves special enchantments that only Ifá initiates can perform.