From holy odu:
Otura osa
Olofin ko le tan
O ko oju re s etu
D’ifá fun Ominilogba
Ti iku ati arun nwa kiri
Ojo ti iku yo si Ominilogba, owo lo fi yee
Ominilogba, owo la fi nye ipin ni orun
Ojo ti arun ko Ominilogba, owo lo fi yee
Ominilogba, owo la fi nye ipin ni orun
Translation:
Olofin built his house
And sets it facing a gun smoke
Divined for Ominilogba
Who was being sought by death and illness
When death accosted Ominilogba,Ominilogba was able to dodge him, iku(death) by virtue of his money sacrifice.
Ominilogba, death can be averted with monetary sacrifice
When illness met Ominilogba, Ominilogba was able to dodge arun (sickness) by virtue of his money sacrifice.
Ominilogba sacrifice can be averted illness can be averted with monetary sacrifice
The verse above of OTURA OSA is a great example of how money is prescribed by ifá and incorporated with other sacrificial materials/offerings. Monetary payment brought for sacrifice/ebo can help one to avert many disastrous things in our lives. Money sometimes can be a bit of a touchy subject within ifá for some people. People must understand that money is just an energy just like that of any other item prescribed by ifá for ebo / sacrificial rites. Rather it be animals, plants, foods, and/or clothes and other materials. ifá should be the one to set the price for the monetary payment for any ebo, ritual, or initiation. It is ifá oracle that should be deciding through divination how much an individual should pay to assist him or her attain the desired outcome for which said sacrifice is being performed. A large amount of money as they say sometimes is needed to solve big issues/concerned ,problems.
Payments for ebos are all in our holy scriptures called odu ifá, although in ancient times, they used cowries as a form of payment for the spiritual works being performed. The other reason money is a part of ifá spiritual practice is to pay for spiritual services rendered as well as to cover materials being used by the officiating priest, awo/ babalawo, or olorisa etc. To give a common example we can all relate to in these modern times. Its is similar to going and seeing a doctor. You have to pay to be seen and given a diagnoses. Then pay for the medicine prescribed by the doctor . We, awo, in ifá are no different in that aspect. We are spiritual doctors, who through ifá oracle diagnose the spiritual issue and then give a remedy from odu ifá to the client .
It takes training and a lot of study as well as initiation rites that the priest needs to have undergone to be able to perform such spiritual activities. For clients, which is like going to med school for doctors in the west. We, practicing priest , also had to find a way to pay our own monetary sacrifice to attain whatever (ase) : spiritual power that has been endowed in us. Much like a physician training it takes years and the learning never truly ends. So it serves as payment for services rendered but it also serves as monetary payment in the sacrificial sense in the spirit world as well for the person offering the ebo or sacrifice.
Only ifá knows what amount of monetary sacrifice is needed to correct or attain whatever that is being sought after in each case for which the orcale was consulted for.The odu Otura Osa states each individual can properly avoid and/or attain whatever ifá has prophecized for them through the oracle reading at the time of divination.
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