Sometimes, We Vanquish

Oturuponkanran!
Oturuponkanran!
Cast divination for Orunmila
Two people were planning near Esu to kill him
Ifa asked Orunmila to offer 2 calabashes, 2 hens, and 480 cowries
He heard about the offering and performed it
He tied the 2 calabashes together and traveled to Esu to pray
As he was going the two calabashes were making sound saying:
Ma p’oturu ma p’okanran (do not kill Oturu, do not kill Okanran)
Ma p’oturu ma p’okanran (do not kill Oturu do not kill Okanran)
His two enemies heard the commotion
They became scared and scurried away
Oturuponkaran
Cast divination for two Calabashes
Performing yearly harvest
They were asked to perform an offering for the left
They refused to offer
For this reason, they make rubbing sounds
When we tie them together to bring them home from the farm

Enemies… Where do they come from? Why do they exist? These are deep, philosophical questions that produce many penetrating answers. I personally don’t like the idea of enemies because it causes people to externalize the root of their problems, projecting them onto anyone and everyone within reach. No growth occurs for people obsessed with enemies.At the same time, however, I am not naive. There are a good number of people who either set out to take what is not theirs or to prevent you from enjoying what you have worked to achieve or sustain. And to be clear, these are the people who insist upon doing so. They cannot be dissuaded nor redirected. They are real foes. 

In the verse above, Orunmila faced a pair of enemies, named Oturupon and Okanran, respectively. For one reason or another, they conspired to destroy Orunmila. To hatch their plan, they went to the mighty Esu to enlist his support in the nepharious act. Unbeknownst to them, Orunmila had gone to consult Ifa earlier that day. Ifa advised him to take Esu two gourds filled with water. As Orunmila walked through the forest on the way to Esu’s shrine, the gourds rubbed and collided against one another. As they did, the water inside te gourds made noises that, in Yoruba sounded like voices asking Orunmila not to kill Oturupon and Okanran.Oturupon and Okanran were confused… “How could Orunmila know of our plan already? He’s already poised to kill us? He is more powerful than we thought! Let’s run!!!” And so they did! They ran for their lives!!! Orunmila offered Esu his water and continued on his way, having vanquished his enemies through sacrifice.This Ifa is teaching us the virtue of ritual discipline. Among other things, it keeps us focused on what we are supposed to be doing instead of wasting precious time and energy on the opposition. And so it is, sometimes, in the process of dispatching our ritual duties, we do vanquish our enemies!

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