Ìwòrì Meji (Iwori)

The verse read here prescribes ẹbọ to Èṣù against slander and ẹbọ to Ọbàtálá for long life, and the commentary is explicit that the person of Ìwòrì must either be initiated in Ifá or receive Ifá and propitiate it regularly if the career success the odù promises is to arrive. The verse's own refrain is a chain of prohibitions rather than a list of materials — do not climb a palm with a broken rope, do not draw a knife in anger, do not be in a hurry to be rich — which is the odù's characteristic shape: ẹ̀wọ̀ first, offering second.

Ìwòrì is transformation, and it is a fire sign: the odù of the changes that are uncomfortable and necessary, of conflict, envy and slander, and of the personal work that conflict forces. Its name is parsed as iwà-orí, the character of consciousness, and the odù is understood to say that the nature of consciousness is to keep transforming — which requires the humility to abandon one's own dogma. It brings career success, and the tradition warns that the success is often short-lived because the person speaks too freely or jumps to conclusions. Its remedy is a cool head, discretion, and ẹbọ.

1 = single line (I); 2 = double line (II). Eight marks: the first four are the right-hand leg, the last four the left-hand leg, each read top to bottom. In the 0/1 notation used in the scholarly literature, 1 here = 0 there and 2 here = 1 there.