After God created wives for the Divinities, the next task was how to make them have children. When the other divinities discovered that Orunmila had given birth to sacrifice from Aiye, they began to appeal to him for help.

For instance, he divined for Ogun to have seven children, one of whom turned out to be a killer. He also divined for Osanyin to have medicine and Charm as his children.

Death was reluctant to go to Orunmila for help because he was always at logger-heads with him for obstructing his (Death's) goals and objectives. Death therefore remained for a long time without having a child from his wife Aron (sickness).

Eventually, the wife of Death decided herself to go to Orunmila. He made divination and sacrifice for her and she became pregnant the following month. She first gave birth to Convulsion (Atapo or Ahe). She had four additional children namely Contagion, Infection, Lunacy and Deformity.

Between them, the five children gave birth to 603 grand-children and great-grand-children who today constitute the various diseases and illnesses from which humans suffer earth.

While in heaven, the children and grand-children of Death were relatively harmless. It was man's quest for greed that brought him in contact with various diseases.

A king once reigned on earth who became so powerful that he promoted himself to the rank of a divinity and called himself Obaluwaye (Obanosa in Bini) that is the king who is also the god of the world. This happened after God had abandoned the world to Esu.

Before deifying himself, the man was a simple hunter called Atakpa who lived on the proceeds of his hunting. When he discovered that he was no longer able to make ends meet from hunting, he dabbled into farming and later, trading all of which turned out to be colossal flops.

All the other divinities had left for heaven with the exception of Orunmila. Atakpa later went to Orunmila for divination. He was told that his prosperity lay in hunting and that his only salvation was to return to hunting.

At that time, the Gun had just come to earth. He was previously using the spear for hunting. He was however warned never to be greedy in order to avoid causing general catastrophe.

When the gun came to the world as already revealed, it took time for man to discover his true might and potentialities. Atakpa was the first human being to use the gun for hunting.

He was so successful in the use of the gun for hunting that he earned him the name of Atakpa-Oloriode, that is, Atakpa, the general of all hunters.

He was already becoming prosperous but his modest fortune was not to satisfy him.

That coincided with the time when all the children of death and sickness (diseases) were being transported from heaven into earth by Esu. They were all engulfed in the bowels of an amorphous animal that was bigger than an elephant.

One day Atakpa-Olori-ode went to the forest with his gun and saw this shapeless colossus of an animal. As he took aim, the animal told him not to shoot. The animal asked him what he wanted and he replied that he wanted to have countless amount of money.

The creature told him to return home where he would find plenty of money waiting for him. He truly returned home to find plenty of money waiting for him.

A few days later, he returned to the same spot with his gun and met the animal still waiting there. He again took aim and the animal asked him what else he wanted, and he replied that he wanted to have plenty of wives and servants.

At the instance of the animal, he returned home to meet them waiting for him. Not satisfied with what he had got thus far, he returned to the forest once more and this time, he told the animal that he wanted to become a king.

Once again he was advised to return home and that he would meet the people of his town assembled in his house with a crown to make him king. He was the first king to be crowned by man.

He then went to thank Orunmila, for the efficacious divination and sacrifice he for him. Nevertheless, Orunmila warned him never to return to the forest to ask for more favours from the animal and never to shoot it because its stomach contained so many misfortunes, which would explode if it was shot.

He only heeded Orunmila's advice for 21 days. Thereafter, even as a king, he returned to the forest with his gun only to see that the animal was still there waiting to unleash its venom on earth.

When he got to the animal, once more he took aim with his gun and the animal asked him what else he wanted, and he replied that he wanted to become the god of the earth.

The animal replied that it was not capable of conferring that favour on him because there was only one God, who was in heaven.

Atakpa-olori-ode then threatened to shoot if it could not do that favour to him. The animal told him to shoot and he pulled the trigger and shot it..... To be continued.

Babalawos

Informative @Babalawos continuation pls

Wat a beautiful piece ...

Christane:
Wat a beautiful piece ...

Thank you

Miniano:
Informative @Babalawos continuation pls

Thanks, the story continues now

.... Continued

Atakpa-Olori-ode then returned home to invite his people to go and butcher the animal in the forest. For his unique achievement in killing the animal, he proclaimed himself god of the universe - Obaluwaye.

Unknown to him however, he was to enjoy that title post-humously. By the time they returned to the spot where the animal fell, they only saw a heap of worms. The king was immediately taken ill and soon became delirious.

In addition to making incoherent speeches which marked the beginning of lunacy on earth, both himself and the people who accompanied him to butcher the animal in the forest; were attacked by the worms and they were all
instantaneously afflicted with all kinds of hither to unknown diseases.

Obaluwaye died from his affliction that same evening. Many were afflicted by what is now known as smallpox, chicken pox, plague, diarrhea, cough, etc.

Not only did all those who accompanied Obaluwaye become the first casualties, the diseases soon spread to the four winds of the known world.

Orunmila's household was also infected by chicken pox. He however used incantation to remind the dispenser of the disease that he was the one who made divination and sacrifice in heaven to enable their grand-mother to have the five parents of known diseases.

They quickly left Orunmila's household in peace, promising never to attack his children in future. When the other afflicted persons saw how miraculously Orunmila's household was cured, whilst thousands were dying daily, they trooped to him for divination and salvation.

He declared that it was Atakpa who caused the problem that had spread to everyone, out of his insatiable greediness. He however advised them to return to the spot where Obaluwaye and his party were attached by the worms to serve Esu there with a he-goat, corn and all edible foodstuffs. He also advised them to come home with whatever they found on the spot.

They quickly did as they were told. After performing the (ebo) sacrifice, they heard a voice speaking from within a covered calabash. The voice told them to carry the calabash home without opening it, and to prepare a special altar for it and serve it with a ram on getting home.

The voice added that they would all get well after the sacrifice. The voice proclaimed the name of the speaker a Sankpana, which is why today some people interchange the name of Obaluwaye with that of Sankpana.

It was afterwards that Orunmila left for the great beyond to return to God in heaven.

Thank you for reading, leave a comment

Babalawos

@babalawos, is sankpana d same as sopona the yoruba god of small pox?

Greed destroys a man's body and soul. Enjoyed this one.

delishpot:
Greed destroys a man's body and soul. Enjoyed this one.

Thank you

Please let us be making sure that we are paying the requisite royalties to the estate of Osamaro Ibie.

You never know......

Heaven knows who will be saved....

ASE...... This work was inspired by LATE DR. C. OSAMARO IBIE, J.P.

PastorAIO:


Please let us be making sure that we are paying the requisite royalties to the estate of Osamaro Ibie.

You never know......

Heaven knows who will be saved....