{"collection":"African","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/afr/ife/ife9.htm","path":"afr/ife/ife9.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/afr/ife/ife9.htm","text":"Sacred-Texts Africa Index Previous\nThe relationships of the various gods are differently stated by different chiefs and priests of \u00cdf\u00e8, and also by the same men at different times.\nIt appears, however, that Ar\u00e1mf\u00e8 ruled in Heaven, and sent his sons, Od\u00fawa and Or\u00edsha, to a dark and watery region below to create the world and to people it. According to the legends told in \u00cdf\u00e8, the gods were not sent away as a punishment; but there is some story of wrong-doing mentioned at \u00d3wu in the J\u00e9bu country. Ar\u00e1mf\u00e8 gave a bag full of arts and wisdom to Or\u00edsha, and the kingship to Od\u00fawa.\nOn the way from Heaven Od\u00fawa made Or\u00edsha drunk, and stole the bag. On reaching the edge of Heaven, Od\u00fawa hung a chain over the cliff and sent down a priest, called Oj\u00famu, with a snail-shell full of magic sand and a \"five-fingered\" fowl. Oj\u00famu threw the sand on the water and the fowl kicked it about. Wherever the fowl kicked the sand, dry land appeared. Thus the whole world was made, with \u00cdf\u00e8 as its centre.\nWhen the land was firm, Od\u00fawa and Or\u00edsha let themselves down the chain, and were followed by several other gods. Or\u00edsha began making human beings; but all was dark and cold, because Ar\u00e1mf\u00e8 had not sent the sun with Od\u00fawa. So Od\u00fawa sent up, and Ar\u00e1mf\u00e8 sent the sun, moon and fire. (Fire was sent p. 55 on a vulture's head, and that is why the vulture has no feathers on its head.) Then the gods began to teach their arts and crafts to men.\nAfter many years Or\u00edsha made war upon Od\u00fawa to get back his bag. The various gods took sides, but some looked on. The medicine-men provided amulets for the men on both sides. Ar\u00e1mf\u00e8 was angry with his sons for fighting and threw his thunderbolts impartially\u2014for he was the god of thunder in those days. The war is said to have lasted 201 years, and came to an end only because the gods on Od\u00fawa's side asked him to give back the bag. Od\u00fawa, in a huff, transformed to stone and sank beneath the earth, taking the bag with him. His son, \u00d3gun, the god of iron, then became king.\nAccording to tradition, when the gods transformed, they ordered Od\u00fam\u2019la to speak for them, to be a father to the whole world and to remain on Earth for ever. In the words of an old chief: \"It is our ancient law that the spirit of Od\u00fam\u2019la passes from body to body, and will remain for ever on the earth. The spirits of the gods are in their shrines, and Od\u00fam\u2019la speaks for them \"\nI think the \u00d3rn\u00ed claims to be Od\u00fam\u2019la himself. This is a matter of dogma, and I express no opinion.\nThere is little to add to the story of Od\u00fawa told in Parts I, II & III.\nAr\u00e1ba told me another version of the end of the War of the Gods: Or\u00edsha and Od\u00fawa agreed to stop the fighting on condition that each should have a man for sacrifice every seven months. Fourteen months was then regarded as a year.\nAnother story Ar\u00e1ba told me was: \"The Moon is a round crystal stone, which is with Od\u00fawa. They take it in front when they go to sacrifice to Od\u00fawa\u2014otherwise the god would injure the man who offers the sacrifice.\" Od\u00fawa is said to have taken the stone from a Moslem, and to have been in the habit of looking at it.\nWhen I went to Od\u00fawa's shrine, there was a great knocking of doors to warn the god of my arrival. I did not see the stone.\nThe legend of Or\u00edsha's creation of Man is mysterious. He is said to have thrown images into wombs. I was once told he put signs into women's hands. I can only account for this story by the suggestion that it may date from a period when men had not discovered the connection between sexual intercourse and the birth of children.\nAs to spirit life before birth, the priest of Ar\u00e1mf\u00e8 said \"A child may have been with the spirits, but when he is born he forgets all about it.\"\nThe sacrifice offered to Or\u00edsha consists of eight goats, eight fishes, eight rats and eight kola-nuts.\nOr\u00edsha was a god of great knowledge (apart from the contents of the bag which was stolen from him), and taught his son, Oluor\u00f3gbo\u2014who, according to tradition, is the ancestor of the white races.\nThe \u00d3rn\u00ed attributes ascendancy of Europeans to the up-bringing of Oluor\u00f3gbo.\nOur ancestor has need of eggs, fowls, sheep, kola\u2014and snails.\nLittle is told of Ob\u00e1lufon, the husband of M\u00f3rimi.\nHe was a man sent from Heaven by Ar\u00e1mf\u00e8, and was a weaver and a worker in brass. He also showed the people how to tap the palms for palm-wine.\nApart from that, \"he took care of everybody as a mother of a child, and used to go round the town to drive out sickness and evil spirits.\"\nHis image represents him as a king.\nM\u00f3rimi is the great heroine of the \u00cdf\u00e8 legends. The story of her sacrifice which I have adopted is Ar\u00e1ba's version.\nI went also to M\u00f3rimi's priest, who showed me her image\u2014of painted wood and no artistic merit\u2014representing a naked negress. His story was much the same as Ar\u00e1ba's; but, in his version, M\u00f3rimi sacrificed her only son, Y\u00e9su, for the whole world and not to any god. It would appear that some early Christian missionary had recognised the Virgin Mary in M\u00f3rimi; but it may be doubted whether the missionary had heard of M\u00f3rimi's visit to \u00dabo (See Note VII).\nThe story of the \u00dabo Wars is that some colonists went from \u00cdf\u00e8 to found a new town which they called \u00dabo; but as the gods had given them nothing, they invaded \u00cdf\u00e8. On the first occasion they were driven back; but the next year they came dressed in grass, terrified the people of \u00cdf\u00e8 and took the men as slaves. (And in those parts of Africa dead kings and gods in need of sacrifice are believed to prefer slaves to free men).\nThen M\u00f3rimi consulted \u00cdfa, and was told to sacrifice six goats and six bags of cowries to \u00c9shu, and go as a harlot to \u00dabo. Her mission was successful, and she returned with the necessary information\u2014only to find the gods had transformed to rivers, stones, etc. (It seems that \u00d3gun did not transform, as he was afterwards displaced by his son, Or\u00e1nyan).\nActing on M\u00f3rimi's advice, Or\u00e1nyan set fire to the \u00dabo soldiers on their next inroad.\nThe end of \u00dabo is commemorated by \u00c9di (the festival of M\u00f3rimi, which began on the 21st November in 1913). Men dressed in hay parade the town, but have to run for their lives when others pursue them with fire. Fire is also taken out to the Bush.\nOn the first day of \u00c9di, the \u00d3rn\u00ed appears, but must remain in the Afin (Palace) for the remaining seven. During this period the women do honour to M\u00f3rimi's share in the victory by emulating her deed, and their husbands are not allowed to interfere.\nThe meaning of the legend is doubtful. There may have been such a town as \u00dabo, but it seems likely that the Festival is connected with agriculture.\n\u00dabo (or \u00cdgbo) means the Bush, and M\u00f3rimi may have advised the customary burning of the Bush to prepare the land for crops. The date of the Festival (early in the dry season), the fire and the men dressed in hay, all suggest this interpretation. On the other hand, the same arguments, combined with the seclusion of the \u00d3rn\u00ed and the license of the women, would favour the view that \u00c9di was the more general Festival of the Saturnalia. Possibly it was so originally; and the demons to be driven out appeared so material in the form of tropical vegetation that \u00dabo (the Bush to be burned) has obscured the former meaning of the Festival. If this be so, M\u00f3rimi's mission to \u00dabo may be a later fable to account for the license of the women before farming operations begin.\n\u00d3shun was a woman (or goddess) in high favour with both Od\u00fawa and Or\u00edsha. \"It were well were \u00d3shun with us,\" said Od\u00fawa, and Or\u00edsha agreed. Accordingly she took her place on Od\u00fawa's left, Or\u00edsha being on his right; that is to say \u00d3shun was considered the third personage in \u00cdf\u00e8.\nThe second chief in \u00cdf\u00e8, the Obal\u00fafe, claims descent from \u00d3shun for himself and half the people of his quarter of the town. He has a well in his compound, called \u00d3shun, which is said to be the actual water into which \u00d3shun transformed herself. He says his first forefather took a calabash of the water with him when he went to war, and this gallon became the source of the River. The source is forty miles from \u00cdf\u00e8, and perhaps the Obal\u00fafe is right. The well is never dry; and it is needless to add that the water has many curative properties. One would be surprised if a descendant of \u00d3shun died, except from other causes.\n\"At the time of the \u00d3shun Festival,\" says Obal\u00fafe, \"all her tribe collect sheep, goats, yams, agidi, palm-wine, kola, rats, fish and pigeons, and bring them to me for the feast. \u00d3shun gets the blood of goats, sheep and pigeons, the head of a rat\u2014but not of a fish. We eat the fish\u2014although they are the children of \u00d3shun and consequently our brothers.\" \u00d3shun is more strait-laced than her descendants.\nThere is a pond in \u00cdf\u00e8 called \u00d3kun (the Ocean), where Ol\u00f3kun transformed to water. Thence she flowed underground, and came out in the sea.\nHer priest showed me a bronze head of Ol\u00f3kun, which has considerable merit. He told me that, in return for sacrifice, Ol\u00f3kun gives beads. In Benin, Ol\u00f3kun is considered to be the Goddess of Wealth as well as of the Sea; and a King of Benin, who must have been alive about 1400 A.D., is said to have found the treasures of Ol\u00f3kun laid out on the shore and to have looted her coral.\n\u00d3gun was the son of Od\u00fawa, and is usually regarded as the God of Iron and of War.\nAccording to his chief-priest (the Osh\u00f3gun), he went away to war and captured a woman called Desh\u00f3ju, whom he made his wife. When \u00d3gun returned to \u00cdf\u00e8, Od\u00fawa took Desh\u00f3ju from his son. There is therefore some doubt as to whether \u00d3gun was the father of Or\u00e1nyan\u2014who was born with a leg, an arm and half his body black, the remainder being white (according to the Osh\u00f3gun).\n\u00d3gun may have had other attributes. He may have been a Phallic Deity, because there are hewn stones in \u00cdf\u00e8, called the staves of \u00d3gun, which appear p. 62 to be of Phallic origin. It is also noteworthy that, at the time of his Festival, \u00d3gun is said to kill any marriageable girl he may find in her mother's house. (This happened once to Ar\u00e1ba; the prospective son-in-law could not produce \u00a35, and Ar\u00e1ba, who gives no credit, lost a potential five pound note in the shape of his daughter). Further, when a child is circumcised the severed skin is put in a calabash of \u00d3gun \"to worship him (together with a snail in order that the wound may heal).\"\n\u00d3gun may also have been the Sun-God (or a worshipper of the Sun-God). His festival is commonly called Ol\u00f3jjor (Lord of Day). Oshogun says \u00d3gun was Ol\u00f3jjor; Ar\u00e1ba says Ol\u00f3jjor was someone else, the confusion being due to the circumstance that the two festivals take place at the same time. In this connection, the half-and-half colouring of Or\u00e1nyan is suggestive.\nThe dog is the principal animal used for sacrifice to \u00d3gun. Or\u00e1nyan prefers a ram, a rat, kola and much palm-wine.\nEventually, Or\u00e1nyan displaced his father, who planted his staves in \u00cdf\u00e8 and went away. I have presumed the death of Os\u00e1nyi, as I cannot otherwise explain the fact that \u00d3gun \"went away\" instead of transforming as the other gods had done. In his turn, Or\u00e1nyan \"went away: he had too much medicine to die.\"\nPereg\u00fan \u2019Gbo (or Pereg\u00fan \u00cdgbo) seems to have been a god who caused the forest to bring forth birds and beasts. He was a son of God, and came to earth with Ebbor (worship) and \u00c9di, a god who causes men to do what they know to be wrong.\nIt is evident from the incantation below that Pereg\u00fan \u2019Gbo was originally approached by people in need of children, but nowadays the same formula is recited by the priest whatever a man may be asking for. The priest tells the man to bring a sheep, kola, palm-oil, a pigeon, a cock, and a hen; also a live goat for the priest.\nThe priest kills the sheep, pigeon, cock and hen. The three birds and a part of the sheep are placed in separate broken pots with palm-oil. The man is then told to produce nine pennyworth of kowries, which are also put in the pots. The priest takes the balance of the mutton in addition to the live goat. The priest then faces the pots, puts pepper (\u00e1tar\u00e8) into his mouth, and recites the incantation:\u2014\n| 1. | \u00cdgbo l\u00f3bi \u00edror The forest bore the sloth. | \n| 2. | \u00cdror l\u00f3bi \u00f3gubor The sloth bore the monkey. | \n| 3. | \u00d3gubor l\u00f3bi \u00e1han-n\u00e1maj\u00e1 The monkey bore the leopard. | \n| p. 64 | | \n| 4. | Ahan-n\u00e1maj\u00e1 l\u00f3bi \u00e9relu-ag\u00e1ma The leopard bore the guinea-fowl. | \n| 5. | \u00c9relu-ag\u00e1ma l\u00f3bi ekus\u00e1 The guinea-fowl bore the hawk. | \n| 6. | \u00c9kus\u00e1 l\u00f3bi \u00f3ju-gbona The hawk bore the evil spirit who guards Heaven's gate. | \n| 7. | \u00d3ju-gbona l\u00f3bi \u00e1fi \u00edkere-t\u00edkere \u00e9hin \u00e9ku. The evil spirit bore the generative organs of men and women. | \n| 8. | Pereg\u00fan \u2019Gbo ni abob\u00e1 Im\u00e1l\u00e8. Untranslated. Imale is Pereg\u00fan \u2019Gbo's messenger and is sent to do what the man asks. | \n| 9. | Oriy\u00e1mi la-popo Good luck is human. | \n| 10. | \u00c9se \u00e1mi l\u00e1p\u00e8 ok\u00fate \u00e1ba The father of a lucky child is lucky. | \n| 11. | Atorlad\u00f3rla Igbad\u00e1 lord\u00edfa fun Or\u00fanmila nigbat\u00ed nwon fi ojor \u00edku re d\u00f3la. Atorladorla Igbad\u00e1 approached \u00cdfa on behalf of Or\u00fanmila when they had fixed his death for the morrow. (Atorlad\u00f3rla Igbad\u00e1 is a good spirit who keeps on postponing an evil deed contemplated by someone.) | \n| p. 65 | | \n| 12. | Or\u00fanmila ni k\u00e1tikun t\u00edkun k\u00e1tiker\u00e8 tiker\u00e8. Or\u00fanmila says menstruation will cease, and pregnancy will begin. | \n| 13. | Or\u00fanmila ni on ko y\u00fanle orun. Or\u00fanmila says that he (the child) will not go to Heaven (i.e. will be born alive). | \nWhen the priest has finished the recitation, the man takes the pots to the shrine of \u00c9shu (the Devil). The first ten sentences are in praise of Pereg\u00fan \u2019Gbo, who ordered Atorlad\u00f3rla Igbad\u00e1 to go to \u00cdfa, and is now asked to send Im\u00e1le to Or\u00fanmila with the applicant's request. (The incantation is apparently in some form of archaic Yoruba, and the Babal\u00e1wo had to explain much of it to the interpreter. Some of the translations are probably very loose).\n\u00cdfa was the Messenger of the Gods, and is consulted by the Yoruba on all subjects.\nHis priests (called Babal\u00e1wo) profit considerably by divination, which they perform with sand on a circular board, or with a charm called Okp\u00e9ll\u00e8.\nOkp\u00e9ll\u00e8 consists of eight pieces of bark on a string. These eight are arranged in fours.\nEach of the pieces of bark may fall either with the outside or the inside showing. Consequently p. 64 each set of four may fall in sixteen different ways having different names and meanings.\nThe sixteen names are:\u2014\n| 1. | \u00d3gb\u00e8\u2014all face down\u2014inside showing. | \n| 2. | Oy\u00e9ku\u2014all face up\u2014outside showing. | \n| 3. | Iw\u00f3ri. | \n| 4. | \u00c9di. | \n| 5. | Ob\u00e1ra. | \n| 6. | Ok\u00e1nran. | \n| 7. | R\u00f3shun. | \n| 8. | Ow\u00f3rin. | \n| 9. | \u00c9gutan. | \n| 10. | Ossa. | \n| 11. | Er\u00e9tt\u00e8. | \n| 12. | Et\u00farah. | \n| 13. | Ol\u00f3gbon. | \n| 14. | \u00c9kka. | \n| 15. | Osh\u00e9. | \n| 16. | Offun or Or\u00e1ngun. | \nWhen Okp\u00e9ll\u00e8 is thrown on the ground and the two fours are identical the resultant is called:\u2014\n| Ogbe Meji (i.e. Two Ogbes) | Egutan Meji | \n| Oyeku Meji | Ossa Meji | \n| Iwori Meji | Er\u00e9tte Meji | \n| \u00c9di Meji | Eturah Meji | \n| Ob\u00e1ra Meji | Ologbon Meji | \n| Ok\u00e1nran Meji | Ekka Meji | \n| Roshun Meji | Oshe Meji, or | \n| Aworin Meji | Offun Meji | \nThese are called the Sixteen Messengers of \u00cdfa.\nThe chance, however, of the four on the Babal\u00e1wo's left agreeing with that on his right is only one in sixteen. The other fifteen combinations which may appear with Ogbe on the right are called: Ogbe Yeku, Ogbe Wori, Ogbe Di, &c., similarly with the other Messengers of \u00cdfa. These combinations are called the children of the Messenger who appears on the right. Thus, Ogbe Yeku is a child of Ogbe; Oyeku Logbe is a child of Oyeku.\nFrom this it will be seen that Okp\u00e9ll\u00e8 can show 256 combinations.\nProcedure.\u2014A man comes to a Babal\u00e1wo to consult \u00cdfa. He places a gift of cowries (to which he has whispered his needs) before the Babal\u00e1wo. The latter takes Okp\u00e9ll\u00e8 and places it on the cowries. He then says: \"You, Okp\u00e9ll\u00e8, know what this man said to the cowries. Now tell me.\" Then he lifts Okp\u00e9ll\u00e8 and lays it out on the floor. From the messenger or child which appears the Babal\u00e1wo is supposed to deduce that his client wants a son, has stolen a goat, or has a toothache, as the case may be. He then tells him what he must bring as a sacrifice to achieve his ends. In all cases the sacrifice (or a large part of it) is offered to \u00c9shu (the devil) for fear that he might undo the good work. For instance, the client is poor and needs money: \u00c9di M\u00e9ji appears, and the Babal\u00e1wo tells his client to bring a dog, a fowl, and some cowries and palm-oil. The man splits the dog and the fowl; puts palm-oil and p. 68 cowries inside them, and takes them to \u00c9shu. The Babal\u00e1wo presumably takes the bulk of the cowries for himself.\nThe appearance of \u00d3gbe M\u00e9ji promises long life, but a goat must be brought.\nIf a man has no children and Oy\u00e9ku M\u00e9ji appears, he must bring a ram and a goat.\nIw\u00f3ri M\u00e9ji demands eggs, a pigeon, and cowries from a sick man.\n\u00c9di M\u00e9ji.\u2014As above.\nOb\u00e1ra M\u00e9ji.\u2014A sacrifice of 2 cocks, 2 hens, and 250 cowries is needed to purify after menstruation.\nOk\u00e1nran M\u00e9ji.\u2014A goat and 500 cowries bring on menstruation.\nR\u00f3shun M\u00e9j\u00ed.\u2014A she-goat and 2 hens to cure a headache.\nAw\u00f3rin M\u00e9ji.\u20144 cocks and 800 cowries to bring about the death of one's enemy.\n\u00c9gutan M\u00e9ji.\u2014A ram (large) and 1,200 cowries to cure a bad bellyache.\nOssa M\u00e9ji.\u2014Butcher's meat and 4 pigeons to drive away witchcraft.\nEr\u00e9tte M\u00e9ji.-2 pigeons, 2 cocks, and 600 cowries to get children.\nEt\u00farah M\u00e9ji.\u2014One large gown, a, sheep, and 300 cowries to cure eye disease.\nOl\u00f3gbon M\u00e9ji.\u2014Sacrifice 4 snails and 4 pigeons if you suspect someone wishes to poison you.\nEkka M\u00e9ji.\u20144 hens, oil, and 700 cowries for earache.\nOffun M\u00e9ji.\u2014If children keep on dying, sacrifice 16 snails, 16 rats, 16 fishes, and 1,600 cowries, and the following children will live.\nOsse M\u00e9ji.\u20148 snails, 8 pigeons, and 800 cowries for children.\nOgbe Yeku.\u2014(a) If a man has no money, he must bring 4 pigeons, 2 shillings, and soap. The Babal\u00e1wo mixes leaves (ewe-ire) with the soap as a charm, and the man must use it for a bath.\n(b) If a man is very ill, he must offer 3 he-goats and 5s. 6d. He will then be better.\nOgbe Wori.\u2014(a) If a man is sick, he must offer 8s. and a sheep. Otherwise he will die.\n(b) If a man needs money, he must bring thread and 6 pigeons and buy soap. The Babal\u00e1wo gets ewe aji and puts them on the soap with the pigeon's blood. The thread is put inside the soap. The man then washes.\n(c) If a man has committed a crime, he must bring 7 cocks and 35s. The Babal\u00e1wo kills the cocks, and takes the 35s. for himself. He takes the sand of Ogbe Wori from the \u00cdfa board and puts some on each cock's breast, with 260 cowries. Five of the cocks are then p. 70 given to \u00c9shu and the other 2 are taken to a place where three roads meet. Then either a necessary witness will not appear in court or the accused will be found not guilty.\n(d) If two men want the same woman, and Ogbe Wori appears (when one of them consults \u00cdfa), the Babal\u00e1wo asks for 4 hens and a he-goat. The woman then becomes the client's wife. \u00c9shu gets the hens and the goat's blood; the Babal\u00e1wo, the goat.\nThe priest puts pepper (at\u00e1re) into his mouth and recites:\u2014\nAk\u00e9lej\u00e1! Ak\u00e9lej\u00e1!\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A spirit who grips a man by the throat and makes breathing quick and uneasy.\nAk\u00e9lew\u00f3ssa!\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A spirit who causes eye-disease.\nAk\u00fatob\u00e1run!\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Spirits which trouble sick persons.\nAm\u00farorf\u00e1shorg\u00e9rr\u00e8!\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Spirits now called Anj\u00e1nu, who cause delirium.\nAmulep\u00e1shey\u00e9!\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0One who causes bad bellyache.\nOjobol\u00f3ro!\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Spirits who cause severe headaches.\nAbiy\u00e9te-ash\u00f3rmuny\u00e1nyan!\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0One \"who has a very sharp edge to his cloth,\" and causes backache.\nAs\u00e1-nt\u00e9t\u00e8-mof\u00e1rap\u00e1!\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Imps seen at night in white cloths. Now called El\u00e9r\u00e8. They afflict children.\nOl\u00f3mo-\u00e1ro, niy\u00e9ye \u00e9shuk\u00fa!\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\"Ol\u00f3mo-\u00e1ro, who art the mother of evils.\" She does no harm but is invoked because her children, already named, will listen when prayed in their mother's name.\nAr\u00f3nposh\u00e9 \u00cdrek\u00e9!\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The husband of Ol\u00f3mo-\u00e1ro and the father of the evil spirits. If he is not invoked the sick man dies. He is also called upon to stop his sons' mischief.\n\u00cdshuku den l\u00e9nyimi!\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\"Evil, leave my back!\" When this has been spoken, the spirits leave the sick man.\nBi \u00c9bura Nla ba de \u00e9ti \u00f3mi, ap\u00e9yinda.\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\"If the Great Evil comes to the river's bank, he will turn back.\"\n\u00c9bura Nla is the master of all the evils. If called by the other spirits, he comes to the further bank of the river Ar\u00e9nkenken, which is described as the \"water of Heaven\". If he crosses to the near side, the sick man dies.\nAfter finishing the incantation, the priest takes some of the pepper from his tongue and puts in on the patient's head. The patient recovers, and is able to take nourishment at once.\n(The Yoruba of this is probably archaic. The interpreter did not understand it, and the Babal\u00e1wo had to explain).\n\"Aj\u00edja was a doctor who lived with Ar\u00e1mf\u00e8, and came to earth with another doctor. They made various medicines\u2014one to kill a man when asked to do so. He pronounced certain words, and the man died. He could also kill with his walking-stick. He lives on \u00d3ke Ar\u00e1mf\u00e8 (\u00d3ke \u00d3ra), and can only be approached through Ar\u00e1mf\u00e8 (the father of the gods), because he is a bad man. He is worshipped near Ar\u00e1mf\u00e8's shrine.\n\"When he wishes to make trouble, he comes through the town. He sometimes sets fire to a house by picking the fire up and putting it on the thatch.\n\"When a man meets Aj\u00edja, he should protect himself by putting pepper in his mouth and saying: \"Ahanr\u00edyen, F\u00e1gada Shaomi\" (names of Aj\u00edja), \"ki \u00edru re b\u00f3mi\" (put your tail in water). The man should then spit the pepper at Aj\u00edja.\n\"Sometimes Aj\u00edja turns into a big lizard.\"\nAccording to another story, Aj\u00edja is a devil with one leg who throws men down and breaks their ankles.","title":"NOTES","type":"page"}