Pataki Yoruba on brackish water and the Orisha Yemayá

At the beginning of time, sea water had a taste very different from what we know today, salt was scarce on the planet and food was hardly seasoned with this white powder.

It was known of the existence of this product which was very distant for some towns while in others it was at unaffordable prices.

Due to this, the town suffered misfortunes and was oppressed by the exploitation that was sustained in obtaining this product in the mines.

Pataki de Yemayá and the two princes

In the distant kingdom of Oyo dwelt two princes very different from each other, the first was a descendant of the Orisha Yemaya and lived in extreme poverty, while the second monarch was heir to Shango and he lived surrounded by pomp and luxury, a fortune that came from the sale of the salt that he developed in order to enrich himself.

Finding fortune at the foot of Yemayá

The prince of humble origin lived immersed between charity and the ridicule of the monarch regent of salt, this flooded by despair went to visit orunmila the great fortune teller of Ifá who told him to go to seek his fortune in the domain of his mother Yemayá and talk with her in order to air his concerns.

When he reached the coast, his mother was waiting for him anxiously, she gave him a mortar and suggested that he visit Orula again so that he could help him unravel the mystery of the mortar.

With the help of the fortune teller the mortar acquired supernatural properties that could only be summoned by the humble prince.

The blessing of salt is distributed to the world

With the pounding of this mortar, the prince obtained the salt that he longed for, an element that he spread throughout the world, sharing it equally with the needy, which he took to the ocean in gratitude to his mother, when he poured it into the sea its waters became salty and from that day on they have the flavor that we know today.

The descendant of Shango who ruled the salt trade was replaced by the virtue of the other monarch, as he could not obtain income through the salt trade.

This fact made him go into ruin and reflect on his behavior, understanding that greed is one of the defects that lead the human being on the wrong path of life where only loneliness is found.