Okanran Meji

When I am introducing new initiates to the Sacred Odu, few give me more pleasure than Okanran Meji. First, it can be a great helper if, during your Orisha journey, you learn it is in the logic of the Odu, not the heavy-handed insistence on what someone else believes, that is the path to truth. Let me explain...

An expression of this Odu from the late 1800’s, “tells” us in part…that Odu Okanran Meji signifies problems, court cases, suffering and evil vibrations. And mentions that the children will be aggressive and domineering.” And…looking more into the depths of this time periods interpretation (which is still pretty much how many practice this path)…we see it was telling us that it supported a worldview, a position held dear to the adherents of Santeria/Lucumi, that women were second class citizens…and definitely forbidden to be initiated into Ifa! And whether it be intentional or otherwise, that the basic tenor of the Odu... makes it completely worthless!

NOW...What is it really telling us?

We know and teach that Ifa is a system of balance, and that can be shown by the inherent relationship between each pair...Ogbe is all light, and Oyeku, the other side of Ogbe, is all “darkness.” This relationship stays pretty much intact for all the Odu, with the exception Okanran. For, in this pair, Obara, which represents the powerful male presence (that is on the one side) SHOULD be matched with Okanran... representing a powerful feminine presence. But after the diaspora, the Cubans and others were forced into basically Catholic practices...and one of the worst of these became disempowering women! And, to be sure we listened, it was inscribed in their books as the exact opposite of the empowered female...or balancing force of Obara.

This is an example of your responsibility to utilize common sense in ALL of your Ifa work, not to repeat the mistakes of past years.

Love and Blessings

Oluwo Philip John Neimark