Pataki de Ejiogbe ► Do you know why Orula eats Black Chicken?

The pataki relates that on a certain occasion Orumila the great fortune teller of Ifá He was looking for a land to settle, the wise Orisha wanted to find a region that was different from the others, so he decided to travel the world based on this purpose.

Orula travels other lands ...

At the beginning of his journey, he arrived at a town where they were all monkeys and lived swinging on the lianas and eating bananas, a fact that did not arouse Orula's curiosity, so he decided to continue on his way.

Later he entered a majestic kingdom of great beauty, this was ruled by elephants and all acted with excessive serenity, an environment that did not match the needs of the fortune teller either.

After a long journey, he found a town where roosters, hens, pullets and chicks lived and he felt comfortable in this region so he decided to stay.

The fortune teller decides to stay in the town of El Gallo

On his way through the town he met with some chicks and asked them to take him home.

Orumila arrived at the chicks' house where he found the hen who received him courteously.

She asked the Orisha what his intentions were, to which he replied that he wanted to settle in those lands. She was startled and refused to receive him at home and almost invited him to retreat wildly.

Orula left annoyed because he could not explain the attitude of the hen, on the way to the town he met the rooster who, upon learning what had happened, apologized to the fortune-teller and invited him to return home.

In gratitude to the Rooster, Orunmila makes a decision:

When the hen saw that her husband was returning accompanied by Orula, she created a great commotion, she insulted him and clearly told the rooster that if Orula stayed in her house she would leave taking the chicks with her, to which he replied that she should leave and so she did.

After a few weeks, the annoyed hen observed that the rooster did not come to apologize to her and began to cast witchcraft to harm him, but since the rooster lived with Orula, those curses did not affect him.

Orumila, realizing the bad intentions of the hen, decided to teach him a lesson and from that day on, in gratitude to the rooster, the Oracle decided that he would not eat more rooster, but that it would be the hen that would take his place.

As in that land the chickens were black, thus the tradition of sacrificing said animals to Orula was born.