Iku is the manifestation of Yoruba Pantheon of death itself, which has the appearance of the skeleton of a man or dressed in black who walks outside the house in search of a small hole through which to penetrate to take the souls of the earthly plane.
But the only deity who made a pact with Iku was the fortune teller orula and he commanded him to respect his children through the Collar of Orula and Ildé.
Orunmila possesses so much power that through his oracle he can find the best destination for any obstacle. There are several legends that show that Orula always defeats Iku and controls him so that he cannot take souls for no reason.
Pataki: Orula, death and Olofin's daughter
This patakí tells that Constitution He wanted to marry his daughter and was undecided between the two suitors who came forward: Orula and Ikú.
Therefore, he devised a test to know who his daughter's husband should be, and he told both that the one who brought him 101 heads in a sack, would be the one chosen to obtain the hand of his daughter.
Orula without wasting time, consulted with his board and it came out that he should pray with akukó (rooster), igüí, slugs, okra and six bells and take everything at night to a crossroads.
So at night Orula went out to deposit the package in the indicated place, and in the dark he did not notice that Ikú was coming down one of the roads with a sack on his shoulder, in the arduous task of completing his load.
Hearing the noise of the bells, Iku was so scared that he fell dead.
Orula, curious, came to see what was happening and with surprise found Iku dead on the floor and a hundred heads in the sack next to him.
He took the opportunity and added Iku's head to complete the 101 and went to Olofin's house to deliver them, so that he could marry the young daughter of the Creator.
Pataki: Orula wins Iku the throne
They say that Olofin was already old and very tired and decided one day to abandon the issues of the world and leave them under the command of a good successor.
Thus, he called Orula and Ikú to see which of them he could choose to succeed him and explained that for this he had to submit them to a test.
- "Whoever supports three days of fasting will show that he is capable of replacing me", told them.
Ikú and Orula decided to face the test and left the Olofin palace, willing to stay three days without eating a bite, but on the second day Elegua the owner of the roads appeared at Orula's house and asked him for something to eat.
The fortune teller agreed and began to prepare an akukó for Eleguá, but his appetite was so great that almost without thinking he killed an adié (chicken) and cooked it for him.
After eating all they wanted, Orula and Elegguá fell asleep, although they cleaned the cauldrons well so that nothing was ever known.
Taking advantage of his opponent's dream, Iku arrived at Orula's house and began to search the kitchen, to find evidence that would give him the position of successor to Olofin.
He also searched the garbage, but could not find any trace of what had happened.
Finally, Ikú began to search in the courtyard and as he saw the earth removed, he dug until he found the bones of the adié and the akukó and his hunger was so great that he could not help it and began to gnaw them.
Elegguá who sees everything, took advantage and went out to the patio saying:
- “Iku, that's how I wanted to grab you! Now I'm going to tell Olofin everything ".
Again, Orula beat Iku.
The Yoruba Cap, a sacred religious heritage ►Ogbe Otura sign
Curiosities about Orula in Santeria: The great fortune teller and its meaning
