Aláàfin: Irúnmölé

Chapter 4

MAIGARMAR

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THE ASHE. Bestowed on the Yorubas since the day the Orisha of the sky, Obatala, molded them of water and clay, it was the essence of the Orishas at which they breathed into them. Giving them the ability to use a fraction of their powers of whichever Orisha chose them. The Ashe can only be utilized after one takes the Ashe ritual whereas the appropriate incantations are made while the person is buried in the Red Sand. One comes out of the Red Sand with the Ashe mark imprinted on their body, with it specifying whose deity essence you possess. With some Ashe marks representing multiple Orishas, the deity's Ashe at which they wield is found out by what powers they exhibit or whose shrine they share affinity with. The Ashe marks vary with that of Obatala being one single mark, Ogun with two, Sango with three, Osun...Eshu..Babalu-Aye with four and Oya & Orunmila with five marks. With each the mark cocoons and their patron deity(s) was a day for their worship. The Yorubas had six days a week.

Ojọ Ósé- The first day of the week is

for Obatala.

Ojọ Ogun- The second day is for Ogun.

Ojọ Jákúta- The third day is for Sango.

Ojọ Àìkú- The fourth day is for Osun,

Eshu and Babalu-Aye.

Ojọ Awo- The fifth day is for Oya and Orunmila.

And then there's the sixth day. It was a day of bad omen, celebrating any sort of achievement or starting your trade on the sixth day wasn't encouraged. Even pregnant women whose delivery of their children unfortunately fall on it, torture themselves holding onto their infants so as to not give birth on that day. The reason for the stigma was due to it being the former worship day of the sea god "Olokun". It lost its attachment to the customs of OYO since the defiant god allowed it's worshippers eat of the forbidden fruit and became the Olossi, the demons that ravage the coastal lands south of OYO. It's worship day lost its rights, the shrine of the rebel Orisha torn and it's worshippers of whom the people of OYO could capture were killed, everyone who assumed the six marks of the sea god had their head leave it's body.

And with eyes from all over the kingdom on whose Orisha's Ashe adedayo would claim, a surprise emerges from the Red Sand to greet their curiosity.

ADEDAYO

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Waking me was the gaze of the morning light as my body ached of uneasiness. At sudden realization of what today held, I sat up on my bulked raffia mat and reached to my side's far end to take the calabash filled with water for raising off my morning face. Stealing a glance at myself everytime I lifted my hands out of the water while i rinsed my face, I reminisced. The training, teaching, the people....the words my uncle said. "I'm not sitting that throne a coward", I ruminate as I got up and took up my wrapper from a basket and cleaned my face with it. I then hear Dada's voice at my room's entrance saying

" My prince, are you awake?".

I voiced him to enter with him followed by two bath maidens. With myself showing facial displeasure at the sight of them, three of them greeted me with Dada implying,

"The General insists you let the maidens of Osun bathe you today so as to purify your body and prepare you for the ritual".

I finished my bathing with the maidens at the bathing pond in our palace, with it's water linked through channels to the Osun water shrine, the maidens bathed me as they made steam of the pond's water to therapeutically soothe me with their Osun's Ashe of manipulating water.

I met my attire for the ritual ready on the mat in my room and wore it. With guards awaiting to escort me, wearing the colourful wrapper while bare chested for the ritual required be so, I made it out of the palace's compound with my guards. As soon as I stepped into the light, roars of the Gangàn hit the air. At the front of the large number of people gathered to escort me to the square was my uncle, my aunt "Iya lekan" with my cousin Lekan, his younger brother tosin, the vice chief priest and all of the Iron Guard. Drummers and dancers swayed to the rhythms they played as they danced and approached me. I moved closer to the crowd with the dancers circling me, heaving appraisals at me, i looked at my uncle in the eye and he nodded in expectancy. Taking it all in, as I saw these chieftains and people before me, all here to witness my ascent, the beauty of this submission,with my head held up high, I raised my hand high up with a note of confidence. At sight of this, the people cheered and the sound of the Gangàns grew louder, then I made way through the crowd and headed to the square to claim my Ashe and the THRONE.

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Fun Fact: Gangàn stands for talking drum in Yoruba.
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