The following four lines of praise/prayer are from a long chant of
Odu Ifa that is about two pages long. The full text of the
praise/prayer is in Fundamentals of the Yoruba Religion (Orisa
Worship), available online at Amazon.com, ileorunmila. com, also by
calling
909 886 6023. The part says,
Ifa o ji ire ni oni
Ifa, you wake ire in today
Omo elepo pupo ko gbodo je adin
Child owner-epo plenty not never eat adin
Ifa o ji ire ni oni
Ifa, you wake ire in today
Omo eleran pupo ti ko gbodo je eran ti o ni egungun
Child owner-meat plenty it not never eat meat it it has bones
English
Orunmila, [I greet you] good morning today
Orunmila, you have so much of your favorite food of epo pupa* that
you do not need adin** for food
Orunmila, [I greet you] good morning today
Orunmila, you have enough meat that you do not need to eat bones, etc.
As indicated in the above praises to Orunmila, go
before your Ifa on
this day of Isan Ifa and offer plenty epo pupa to your Orunmila. Give
your Ifa obi abata meji, orogbo meji, oti pupo (plenty liquor),
ataare, omi tutu, and iwure pupo (your plentiful prayers). However,
you do not have to make any live offering. But, if you choose to,
great!
Babalorisas and Iyalorisas should also go before their Orisas with
their recommended offerings to the Orisas. Uniquely, offering of obi
abata meji and orogbo meji is generic to the Orisas. Offer omi
otun*** (freshly drawn water from a stream) to Obatala and to Osun.
Offer obi ifin to Obatala. Offer only orogbo to Sango. As for Baakee
(Baba Kekere "small statured Baba"—Esu), be super generous because
you want him to be super generous to you, too. Remember to pray for
the world so we may have peace, operate in peace, and live in peace.
Ase.
Conclusively, Ifa's prayer to us his devotees, and to Orisa
devotees,
today that is Isan Ifa, is from Idin Elemere, and it says:
Ki iru eku ki o ma ra
Must kind rat must it not disappear [may lesser animals thrive]
Ki iru eja ki o ma ra
Must kind fish must it not disappear [may aquatic animals thrive]
Ki iru eran ki o ma ra
Must kind animal must it not disappear [may animals in general thrive]
Ki iru eniyan o ma ra
Must kind people must it not disappear [may human population continue
to thrive. The emphasis of this line is that Ifa and Orisa
worshippers, worldwide, must continue to thrive because the
continuous growth of us worshipers means the survival of Ifa and the
Orisas
Idin Elemere, gba wa
Idin Elemere, save us [Idin Elemere (Odumare), crown our prayers with
Ase].
So may it be. Ase!
A ji ire ni oni o (we wake up with ire today. Good morning).
Responses or electronic correspondence should be sent to us at
Ifaseeyen@yahoogrou ps.com or at
Ileorunmila@ aol.com.
Aboru aboye.
Chief FAMA
Ileorunmila. com.
*Epo pupa (red palm oil). Ifa must always have enough epo pupa.
Secondly, Ifa must never be dry of epo pupa.
**Adin is a bye product of epo pupa. Traditionally, adin is a good
antidote; it is also used as hair product. However in Ifa, and to the
Orisas, adin has a weaponry status. For those with the knowledge of
adin's activation as weapon, please, develop it to the level that we
can make it Ifa's verbal contribution to science and to our military
forces' arsenal. Ase
***Freshly drawn water from a stream; there is also
another aspect
that goes with the visit to the stream. I leave the teaching of that
guidance to Orisa godparents to impart to their godchildren.
