Ọ̀sá Meji (Osa)

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.

The commentary prescribes ẹbọ to the Ìyàmi, who are always close to a child of this odù, and possibly to Egúngún; ẹbọ to Ṣàngó for strength against enemies; and ẹbọ to Ọ̀yá at the river, including a river bath, together with ẹbọ to Orí before the ìre will manifest. It also says that where the client is troubled by bad dreams or by dark deceased, spiritual help may be needed against them. The odù is one the tradition handles with caution.

Ọ̀sá is radical change arriving from outside the person — Ọ̀yá as tornado and hurricane, the wind that destroys a form so that another can be made. It is sacred to the Ìyàmi and to the power of the Mothers, and Ọ̀yá is said to be born in it; the odù is where the female power to create and destroy is most directly present. Its name is also glossed 'run away', and the tradition reads that as the warning: the client is avoiding a problem rather than meeting it. Its centre is the lagoon — still water at the middle of the storm — and its promise is abundance once the change is allowed.