What is the Breakfast Ceremony and how is it done? The Osha-Ifá rule

The Egguns (spirits and ancestors) they are always present in the daily life of all practitioners of the Osha-Ifá Rule.

When the religious dies in the Yoruba religion, the Ituto ceremony is usually performed to dismiss the deceased and give knowledge to the Orishas and Oshas that they have finished their mission on earth.

After doing the Ituto, at 9 days, the sacred breakfast ritual is performed.

If you want to read about the Ituto ceremony you can do it by clicking here.

What is the purpose of the breakfast ritual?

The purpose of this ceremony in Santeria is to make the deceased understand that he no longer has anything material left on earth, and that his life as a spirit is already beginning.

The Ituto and breakfast prompts the deceased to cross the border line to the world of the Egguns and go to the feet of Oloddumare to begin his mission, which is to care for and protect his loved ones on earth.

According to Yoruba legends, another objective of the breakfast ceremony is the long journey that the spirit undertakes towards heaven, since the journey is long, it needs food to reach its end.

In the past, tributes were also paid to the orishas, for example, to Obbatalá and Oke so that they would let the spirit pass through the mountains.añas, to Oshun so that they could pass through the rivers, to Elegguá so that he would let them pass the gates of heaven, and so on according to the deities and their powers.

What should be done at the breakfast ceremony?

As on other occasions I will not go into details out of respect for our religion and with the permission of my elders and what they administer to me, I will tell you a little about this sacred ritual.

First, a kind of throne must be prepared for the spirits where they cannot be absent:

The pieces of obí (coconut),
gourd with water, candles, and cascarilla,
flowers of different colors,
a plate with all the food that will be offered at breakfast,
coffee, latte, bread, honey, sugar water and,
everything that that spirit liked when it animated meat, that is, when it lived.

A table covered with a white tablecloth is set, which will be well arranged with 9 plates and cutlery and with everything that is going to be consumed.

It does not matter that only 4 people are in said ritual, the elements for 9 people will still be placed on the table.

After everything is ready, the Oriaté gives the Egguns coconut and they get ready to sit at the table prepared for breakfast, the Oriate being the one who sits at the head of the table.
Breakfast is started and after finishing everything is removed, except the 9 dishes.

Ceremonies and rituals after breakfast:

The Oriaté begins to perform sacred songs and while doing so, he taps the table, with the palms of his hands mentioning the name of the deceased's saint.

Then he follows with songs to all the Egguns and Orishas, and at the end of the songs, he orders everyone to stand up from the table.

The Oriaté takes the tablecloth by the tips of its 4 corners, collecting everything as if it were a bag and drops it in front of Egguns' throne with the intention that all the elements break, so it must be done with force.

Then with the staff of Egguns the Oriaté proceeds to perform prayers and songs.

The Egguns should always be consulted!

At the end of the Breakfast ceremony all those present clean themselves with cascarilla, they are given coconut again to see if everything is in order, that is, if the spirits are pleased and if they say yes, then a godson of the deceased religious will take the tablecloth collected with the dishes to the mountain or cemetery, where the dead.

Let us always respect our religion and the sacred cult of the dead and our ancestors and thus we will not fall into misfortunes. Maferefun the Egguns in our life every day!

Light and progress for our spirits! Blessings for you.