In our Yoruba religion who governs the destinies of the Universe is Olodumare, the supreme being.
The word Olòdúmàré comes from Yoruba and its meaning is «Lord to whom our eternal destiny goes«.
According to our beliefs, the Universe is represented in a güiro (Agbé) with 2 halves.
- On the right side there are the positive and favorable forces created by Oloddumare which in total are 401 deities.
- In the left side The evil forces that are known as Ajogún or negative spirits predominate, which are a total of 201.
We know these evil forces as Osobos, Osorbos or Bears, which are always usually on the defensive, represent our enemy number one and we must take great care of them.
The Ajogún consist of eight transcendental warriors who are:
- Death (Iku)
- The disease (Arún)
- The loss (Ofó)
- Paralysis (Egbá)
- The problems (Oran)
- The curse (Epé)
- The prison (Ewon)
- The rest of the evils (That one)
There are many to be enumerated, but these are the main eight that generate the greatest conflicts and problems in the lives of men on the earthly plane.
There are other Ajogún with its meaning such as:
- Ijá (hatred, discrepancies, war, hostility, dangers)
- Iká (wickedness, depravity and iniquity)
- Abatí (disappointment)
- Eyo (tragedy)
- Ogú (sorcery)
Sometimes you will think that it is the Ajogún that is bothering you and in this case you should know how to differentiate.
Because in case you fail to comply with the Orishas and Egguns, that is, disobey and violate their taboos (Eewó) it will not be the Ajoguns who mortify us in vain.
Think of your own bad head, the indiscipline, the disobedience that leads to one of these evil spirits visiting you.
How do you fight the Ajogún?
They are fought through sacrifices and cleansings (Ebbó) that are determined by the oracles.
And we not only achieve it through sacrifices, but we can resolve and win and also give thanks with offerings no matter how simple they are, with prayers, the light of a candle, and sacred songs that are very effective.
So we must bear in mind that everything that the oracles advise and guide us is up to us to follow as indicated and never delay in its completion in order to save ourselves.
For protection against garlic, other means are used such as:
- Ase / afose (powders)
- The Agbo ‐Aboyun (shelter to care for pregnant women until the birth of babies)
- The Sagba-d'Ewe / Ajidewe (shelter that protects the elderly to maintain health)
- Madarikan (anti spells)
- Epe (curse)
Can we get rid of these forces of Evil in life?
No one is free to have Ajogún in our passage through earth, we all go to the other world the day we have it established from heaven.
Unfortunately, sometimes it can be shortened by these evil spirits and others, as I said before, by breaches and our bad head.
Other times we get in the way of someone's life without knowing why and how we usually say "without having anything", but they will always envy us and covet that inner happiness of being satisfied with ourselves, which makes us great beings.
Remember which: "The glow you generate bothers those who live in darkness."
But no matter how many stumbles we find, the important thing is to do well in our passage through life, follow the mandate of Olodumare, live with love and humility, and have a good head, so that from spiritual growth we can reach our destiny with faith in the earth.