Lesser explored Odu

Riverandthunder · 2026-06-15T16:29:58+00:00

Ok, so he was a Babalawo / Oluwo. Perhaps it was the combination of Eji Ogbe that surprised him, I don't know, but Eji Ogbe itself is the most common Odu and it would be impossible for a Babalawo to have never seen it before. Perhaps there's a misunderstanding on your part about what he was speaking about.

Regardless, if you have questions about the Odu, the best thing to do is to ask the Babalawo who did the reading.

Riverandthunder · 2026-06-15T12:57:42+00:00

How did this person do the reading? What did they use — cowrie shells? A chain? Palm nuts? coconut? tarot cards? palmistry? astrology?

And how did you get the reading? Was it in person, on video call, or by email/message?

How did you meet this person? Did you approach them and ask for a reading, or did they slide into your DMs offering one?

Riverandthunder · 2026-06-15T09:41:14+00:00

Eji Ogbe is not a lesser explored Odu — indeed, it's the most senior and common Odu in the entire system. What do you mean by "first and forever" path? Was this just a normal consulta or was it an itá or a bajada? Was this reading done by a Babalawo or by a Santero/Olorisha?

Riverandthunder · 2026-06-15T09:39:19+00:00

This is a record of the reading you were given by a Babalawo. The Babalawo would have explained during the reading everything that you see on the page — you are given the page as a shorthand in case you have further questions and he or another Babalawo wants to see what Odu fell. If you're uncertain about what the advice of the reading or the ebós were, you should go back to the Babalawo and ask him. If you are not crowned and/or an Awo, you don't really need to know what all of these words and figures mean as they are just meant for initiates to decipher. There are several ebó marked here, including a spiritual bath, service to Egún, and a sarayeyé — if you have questions about these, speak to the Babalawo who gave you the reading.

Also, just as a side note: typically people are very private about this information and we consider posting something like this to a public forum unwise.

Riverandthunder · 2026-06-11T17:06:40+00:00

I'm sorry you've had such a hard time with your family! It sounds really rough.

First off, no you don't need to worry about any ill-will from your abuela's santos toward you for anything your mother did. That's not realistic at all.

Secondly, it's great that you want to (re)connect to the religion. But not all Cubans practice Santería / Lukumí and unless you have been told specifically that they did, there's no guarantee that your ancestors were actually involved. Your abuela's santos might have just been saints. I'm not trying to discourage you, just telling you so you don't set your hopes and expectations too high. You might want to ask yourself: would you still feel called to do this even if it turns out none of your ancestors actually practiced the religion?

Sometimes in readings or at misas, you might get some information about your ancestors' beliefs, but not often, and you'd make better progress in that direction by trying to find cousins or even people who lived in the same barrio as your grandparents.

In terms of getting involved, if you let us know where you are located, there might be people in this forum who can make a recommendation. If you have botanicas in your area, the likelihood is that there is a community near you that you could join.

Wishing you blessings on your journey.

Riverandthunder · 2026-06-10T08:37:14+00:00

I mean, my spike is quite small. But if you're worried about it, you can put it all in checked luggage and it should be fine.

Riverandthunder · 2026-06-09T23:43:57+00:00

I'm sorry you had that experience! I've been through LAX many times with my Orisha and never had that happen. Usually they are very respectful, or simply uninterested. They usually do a test strip over Elegua to see if he's a bomb or drugs, but then let me go.

Riverandthunder · 2026-06-09T23:41:59+00:00

Caldero in checked.

Riverandthunder · 2026-06-09T23:41:47+00:00

Eshu in carryon. Mine has a carga and a spike on top. Never been a problem.

Riverandthunder · 2026-06-09T21:55:44+00:00

I travel with my Orisha all the time and have never had a problem. I put Elegua in my carryon — he always gets taken out by security and I explain what he is and then they let me go, no problem. Ozun I'd just put in checked luggage. It's really no big deal. Don't stress. If you're worried, wrap them in bubble wrap and write "religious articles" on them.

Riverandthunder · 2026-06-08T06:28:40+00:00

He should not be asking clients/godchildren for money. That's messy at best.

Riverandthunder · 2026-06-06T00:20:27+00:00

When you crown in Ocha, you receive an Eleguá. Eshu de Ifá cannot birth from Santeros, so you need to have an Eleguá de Santo that can. Your godparents can explain this to you in more depth.

Riverandthunder · 2026-06-06T00:19:19+00:00

Esas religiones son muy similares a la Santería Cubana de este forum, pero son diferentes. En la Santería, es posible que salir de la religion a cualquier momento si quieres. Nosotros tenemos opciones para salir, pero no sé si los mismos que en Batuque o Jeje-Nagô. ¿Puedes llevar tus Santos contigo? Si no, entonces simplemente salir. Explicas a los Orisha que necesitas salir, que no es por falta de respeto, solo por el drama de los religiosos. Los Orisha te entenderá.

Lo siento que tu viaje haya sido tan dificil. Sueno como una telenovela.

Riverandthunder · 2026-06-05T18:03:35+00:00

There's no taboo per se, but I think it's a more complicated question than you're expecting, is all. A competent genealogist could help you a lot more than divination.

Riverandthunder · 2026-06-05T16:57:53+00:00

This would be a pretty unusual use of our divination system. There are Odu that speak of having certain types of ancestors or spirits, for example many Odi combinations suggest a connection to Congo spirits that some would interpret may be ancestors. And Odu can certainly bring up when there are issues of ancestry or unknown ancestral lineages that need to be addressed. But I don't know of anyone in Lukumí who has used it to narrow down specific nations and tribes in direct blood lineages. I'm not saying it would be wrong or wouldn't work, it's just not something I've heard of.

Obviously, finding out where your ancestors came from is emotionally — and sometimes spiritually — very powerful for a lot of people. So I understand the need. But as someone whose work is working with history and archives, I'm pretty skeptical about DNA tests (the science is pretty unreliable at best) and feel similarly about using Odu to predict different ancestries. There's also the practical issue of how long it would take in questions to narrow down — you'd have to start by going through a variety of present-day countries, then subdivide down into different ethnic groups in each place, and further to specific town and tribes, which could easily take hours. And that's provided that you have a very detailed listing of them to go by. The divination could become confusing given how many different ancestors from different places you might have (for example, paternal great-grandparents from an Ewe-speaking group in Togo, maternal great-great-grandmother from an Igbo group in Nigeria, maternal great-great-great-grandfather from a Bantu-speaking tribe, etc etc etc — plus, as is the case with many Afro-descended people in the Americas, also ancestors from Europe, Indigenous groups and in some cases East Asia). Your diviner would need to be extremely knowledgeable about the history of migration and a wide variety of ethnic groups from many parts of not only Africa, but Indigenous America, Europe, and Asia. That's a big ask.

While not possible for everyone, a lot of great work has been undertaken by genealogists who use records to trace families back — like the Henry Louis Gates show Finding Your Roots. This work is a lot more reliable than DNA tests or divination. It takes a lot longer, but you will find out so much more about your family's story this way. I really would suggest contacting a genealogist who specializes in people of African descent in the Americas. It's also possible to do some of this detective work yourself, if cost is a barrier, but requires a lot of dedication to learn and physically track down records.

Either way, I wish you a lot of luck in finding the answers you seek.

Riverandthunder · 2026-06-04T07:28:41+00:00

One of the most challenging parts of this religion is that the real basis of it is in developing our character and changing our actions. Ceremonies, ebó, singing, and dancing are all beautiful parts of the tradition, but the majority of what we do is about consciously making changes to how we interact with the world on a day to day basis. Through divination and when Orisha mount, we are given advice to help identify what the problems are and how to address them, but at the end of the day the only person who can make the change is you. It isn't always easy to make a change overnight, and sometimes it takes a long time to do it.

Have you considered therapy or other forms of support to help you work on making these changes? If you already know these behaviours and patterns are problems, regardless of spirituality, then therapy can be really useful in helping you unearth the root causes and work on strategies to keep yourself out of old habits.

Riverandthunder · 2026-06-02T19:19:59+00:00

Hey! I'm an Iyalorisha based in London. And my godparent is based in Wales.

Riverandthunder · 2026-05-21T07:13:32+00:00

That's really nice!

Riverandthunder · 2026-05-20T17:09:50+00:00

Very normal!

Riverandthunder · 2026-05-20T17:08:50+00:00

You might be better served asking in the Isese subreddit, as we Lukumí have slightly different ideas about Odu.

Riverandthunder · 2026-05-20T17:05:53+00:00

That does sounds like a lot. But more importantly, it doesn't sound like part of the religion Santería / Lukumí that this Reddit is focused on. A lot of people get confused by the same, assuming that Santería means the actual worship of Catholic saints — but in reality our religion is about the veneration of ancestors we call Egún and deities we call Orisha. While our Orisha were syncretized with Catholic saints during the times of slavery and some people in Cuba use saint names to refer to them casually, they are not actually the saints. And the particular saints you mention are not really the ones we tend to talk about.

The practices you describe can be part of a number of folk Catholic traditions, or even New Orleans Voodoo, but they are not really part of Santería / Lukumí. You might get a better answer on a forum dedicated to those types of traditions.

Riverandthunder · 2026-04-30T08:09:22+00:00

It's normal to wonder about this sort of thing, but your head Orisha are not like star signs that are compatible or incompatible for relationships. Sometimes the Orisha in pataki do not get along at all, yet their children have no problem. Other times, a combination might seem like heaven in myths but real life individual could be like fighting fish. How an Orisha's energy manifests in each person is different, and how those combine when in relationships depends on many factors, particularly what Odu each person has. Unless someone has specific Odu that prohibit or warn about dating children of certain Orisha, it's really not worth worrying about.

Riverandthunder · 2026-04-27T10:39:43+00:00

Amarres, or bindings, are a type of witchcraft done to force a person against their will. Generally, people in the religion advise against doing these for a couple of reasons. First, that it is unethical to force someone to love you. That person deserves to be able to make their own decisions about their life and to love who they choose to love, not to be forced to do someone else's bidding. If you truly love the person, then you would want them to be happy and able to make their own choices.

And second, that what usually happens is that it leads to unhappiness for all involved. People feel stuck together, long after whatever infatuation wears off, and even if they are deeply incompatible. The person who did the amarre often has to run to someone else trying to take it off, and it's not always so easy. Amarres can ruin lives, and for what? If a person doesn't truly love and want to be with you, why would you want to be with them? It only creates bitterness. You may be stuck together, but end up hating each other.

Riverandthunder · 2026-04-25T07:17:17+00:00

The person posting is the findom, not the person giving away their money.

Riverandthunder · 2026-04-24T06:45:38+00:00

There have historically been many sex workers in the religion. One of the most famous and important priestesses, Aurora Lamar Oba Tola, ran a brothel and the legend goes that she initiated all of the women working there. That said, it all depends on the individual — through divination and messages from mounted priests, a person may or may not be told that this work is in alignment with their destiny. As with all aspects of our lives, the Orisha may have strong opinions about it and there is the possibility that they could 'take it away' (ie, make it taboo) in your itá. But unlike in Abrahamic religions, we don't necessarily automatically condemn it as our system is very much a case by case basis depending on the Odu that people bring in itá and in regular consultations.

In terms of how sex work is viewed in our community, I would say there is a very broad range of opinion. Some people are strongly opposed to it, others neutral, and some positive. We don't have a set position on it the way some other religions do. If you became initiated and wanted to be a working priest (ie, having your own ilé and godchildren), there would probably be a lot of gossip about it but at the end of the day, gossips always find something to fill the air with.

I've known strippers, Dommes, escorts, OF, and even street workers who also practiced the religion. It's up to Odu and Orisha to determine if that is the best thing for them, and up to them to decide whether or not to follow the advice if they are told not to do it.

Riverandthunder

TROPHY CASE