
In the Osha-Ifá Rule, a very controversial topic is talking about the tattoo.
If we go back in time, Africans marked their body to differentiate themselves from other tribes and also to venerate their deities, in fact today in Nigeria tribal marks are made on the body.
If in an Itá (reading of the destiny of the religious) They tell you that you cannot get a tattoo because your Orishas advise it, it is one thing and that it is a religious prohibition is quite another.
E.g., the orishas can tell you that you should not wear a tattoo so that you go unnoticed and free yourself from misfortunes, but they can also advise you to wear it to shine and stand out wherever you go or in any other situation.
Many by personal or religious opinion argue that religious in the practice of santeria they should not do it, but in my opinion I insist that it is not taboo, since it is not written as a prohibition.
Where is the tattoo born in the Yoruba religion?
The tattoo is born in the Oddun Ogbe She, and this is cited in a way that gives a good presence to the person, but does not define whether or not it is allowed.
Pataki from the tattoo in Ogbe She where Orula is saved:
In this Yoruba story there was a war between Oduduwá and Olokun, but Olokun to counteract the effects of such disagreement offers Boronu to Oduduwa, one of his women, so that they could live together and both form a great family.
But the fortune teller Orunmila lived in love with Boronu and seduces her so much that one day he gets her love and that she reaches his arms.
Orunmila lived in fear that one day Oduduwá would find out about this and decide to go and consult.
It is consulted and the Oddun of Ogbe She comes out and it is marked to do an Ebbó (cleaning).
After having made Ebbó, he makes three cuts and in each cut one of the Iye (dust like the Iyefá) is rubbed.
After finishing, Ifá tells him that he can continue with Boronu and that he would not have problems.
But one day Orunmila falls asleep next to Boronu in his bedroom and Oduduwá decides to go see his wife.
Eshú always pending realizes that Oduduwá is going to Boronu's room and knowing that Orunmila was there and that he had done the Ebbó as Ifá ordered, he decides to intervene.
And so Eshú does not allow Oduduwá's eyes to see Orunmila but rather a leopard, this is how Orunmila is saved through his marks.
Consulting the advice of Ifá and the Orishas is the most important thing:
There are even many Odduns where the person is ordered to be marked and also to introduce medicines in them, but this subject is very different from making a tattoo for elegance or fashion.
In addition, I do not agree that many religious make indiscriminate use of tattoos, since that ink can cause diseases, including cancer diseases.
As well as, I do not support that on top of a religious mark another figure is tattooed.
The important thing is to remember We must always consult our decisions with the Orishas, so that tomorrow these decisions do not harm our destiny and the path that the deities entrusted to us. Blessings to all.
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