“ᐈ Yoruba Signs 【How Many Are There, How to Interpret Them and MORE】”

The signs of the Yoruba Religion or the santero cult are used as a means of communication between the guided person and their Orisha guide. If you are interested in knowing the santeria signstheir meaning and how you can interpret them, this article is for you.

Signs of the Yoruba Religion

The prophecy of the signs of Diloggun, are used in order to warn or reveal through the snails or igbos (religious utensils) what the deity wants to warn.

The phrases attributed to each of the signs of Diloggun or Ifá, allow you to visualize and interpret what the Orisha wants to communicate to your child. The deities or the deity during the session with the babalawo It progressively transmits its message, starting with a small number of signs, until later forming large chains.

The more signals that appear, the greater the certainty of the story or omen that you want to make reaches the person who is being consulted.

How many?

It is known that there is a total of approximately 240 Yoruba signs, however, currently there are a total of (16) signs that are considered the main ones for consultation, which in turn have various sayings. Here is a short list of these signs:

Okana or Ocana

The phrase of this sign is Ocanachoncho, which translated from the Yoruba language can be understood as that the planet was built by a person, that is, if there is someone as good as for it, there is also a bad person or totally opposite. for this sign it is recommended to entrust oneself to deities like Eleguá, Shangó, Obatalá or the egguns (dead spirits).

Eyioko or Ellioco

The saying that is attributed to this sign is Ellioco fears, which can be understood as a conflict between relatives or literally “arrow”. As for relatives, they refer specifically to siblings. The orishas that manifest are: Ochosi, Oggun and the Ibellis.

Oggunda

When this sign is manifested or emitted, the phrase of Cuila-acuin-arara appears in the mind of the interpreter. Said proposition has a meaning loaded with things like an argument about something or misfortune. In these cases you can perform a series of prayers such as “olesi” and talk to the saints of Yemayá, Oggun or Ochosi.

elliroso

The Orishas that speak during this sign are Olokun, Obatalá, Shangó or Orula. And the Yoruba saying that is used for this occasion is understood as “No person has the ability to know with total certainty what exists at the bottom of the seas”. This refers to the fact that the knowledge within the universe is too vast and deep to fully understand it.

oshe

The saying of this signal is analyzed as “That blood that runs through the veins of your body”. This instance is spoken by saints like Orula and Eleguá.

Obara

This sign says Obba Icuro. Which means that kings do not lie, and in turn, that truth emerges from lies. The Orishas that communicate using this sign are Shango, Orula and Eleguá.

oddi

With this sign, the saints like Yemayá, Inle and Eleguá communicate. In this sense, they try to communicate “in the place where the hole was formed” which will have a different interpretation depending on the context. This sign is particular since it has a way of invoking the presence of a figure from the Yoruba language. The invocation is as follows: «Oddi eruedi orisha adima adima achamamura adima olu adima mamullarima inaburuco maballalagoria. Gueli liguego imbarojo mabala».

Eyeunle or Elleunle

The saying professes that Obba canen gueceriatetranslated from Yoruba means that «the mentality of a person is one that controls the rest of the body or in turn», that a single ruler is the one who commands. In this the majority of the Orishas communicate.

bear

The connotation of this sign predicates that Oreguani Araginiwhose translation would be that “Your closest friend can be your deepest rival”. Here figures such as Obatalá, Oshun and Agallu manifest.

Ofun

From this sign comes the saying Anaggu, which means “the place where the curse arose”. Through this signal, deities such as Oshun, Eshu and Olla make their announcements.

ojuani

The saying of the Ojuani signal has two connotations. First of all it can be seen as draw water with a basket or as suspicion about the unpleasant. In both cases, Oshosi, Oggun and Eleguá, will manifest and communicate through this signal.

ellila chebora

The signal saying ellila chebora it means that when there is war a soldier never rests. This will have different points of view depending on the person and the context. For this occasion, the deities of Shangó and Yegua they have the possibility to appear in person.

put it in

“What makes you move, actually paralyzes you”. This is what the saying of this sign preaches. Deities like Eleguá, Obatalá and Oshosi are those who are advised to follow.

Merinla

This signal has several sayings, some of them are: When you tie the dots, the only thing you achieve is to make a rope and you cannot bathe consecutively within the same river, since the vital liquid will never be the same, due to the current.

Marunla

This sign is thought provoking as it says “what you do well with the mind», don’t ruin it with your mouth. This invites you to think before speaking so that the person does not affect all the good that he has done for a simple comment.

Merindiloggun

Last but not least is the sign of Merindiloggun, which has as its saying “Do not rush to act, since you can lose those things that take time to illuminate your life.”

How are they interpreted?

After knowing all the signs, their possible meanings and what they are called, the doubt about how can you interpret those signs of the Orishas arise immediately. Starting with the interpretation of the signs of ologgun the babalawo or priest of that ceremony begins to handle the grains at his convenience.

While progressing during this process, the person in charge places eight (8) badges inside the sacred board of Awó, using the powder ashe of Orunmila.

As every Ifa sign has a close relationship with a phrase or saying, the babalawo will be in charge of interpreting these phrases in order to give them a meaning in their entirety so that the person who is in consultation fully understands the message that is transmitted to them.

It is generally known by a sign that fully directs the query and ends with another sign called NATO.

What are the Ifa Signs?

The signs of Ifá were previously mentioned in the section on How many? along with its possible meaning depending on the interpreter. However, a mention of these will be made again in a list format:

It should be noted that depending on the positioning in which they appear, they will have a different concept during the query, that is. The first sign that appears governs the rest of the signs and the second determines how the problem will be solved. Meanwhile, for his part, the third constitutes a mixture between the previous ones to translate the message of God Olofin to the person, and ends with the sign of Otan, whose purpose is to conclude the guided consultation session.

Are there Good and Bad Signs?

Many of the interpretations that arise from the signs of Santeria can have a negative or positive connotation depending on the person, the context and, above all, the interpreter. So people may wonder if there are good or bad signs. The answer to this question will be answered in this article.

According to experts of the Yoruba religion, the fact that a person is attributed a negative sign does not mean that it is the end of the world. That is, the person and those close to them should not enter a negative state or focus solely on the problem but on the solution.

In life you can find this type of people who have resolved the conflict and calmly lead their lives. Regardless of whether the signs sound like a positive or bad prophecy, in both cases with the right help you will get a good result. That is to say, if a person obtains a positive sign, then he must maintain and follow the advice of the Orishas and if he obtained a negative one with the help of the same saints, he will leave that position and start to be on the right track.

In conclusion, there is no good or bad sign, since everything boils down to how the sign is interpreted, how we act when faced with it, and how good our ability to solve problems is.

Elements to Throw the Snail

As already mentioned, in order to properly read the signs, snails and other religious objects are used that serve as a fundamental instrument for the interpretation of Ifá. Once the query is finished, you must get rid of the snails, so there is a protocol to perform this action correctly:

Snail of Eleguá blessed.Mat.Religious elementsRecipient with waterA white candle (essential)

It should be noted that for the chance to discard a snail The person who is going to perform this act must have a saint as a guide and have completed the spiritual cleansing ritual, that is, be dressed in white for a year.

Mythology of the Oddún

According to the history of the Yoruba religion, when the father of the Merindilogun family passed away, his children obtained all the power of their father but not the necessary wisdom to be able to develop and use them properly. Here the Orisha of wisdom intervened, Orunmila to help them consult the Orishas. Orunmila’s children took care of each of Merindilogun’s children. Which established the order of signs santeros being constituted as follows:

Okana mey adopted Okana. Oyekun meyi welcomed Eyioko. Ogunda was sheltered by Ogunda Meyi. Iroso meyi protected Iroso. Oshe meyi sponsored Oshe. Obara meyi adopted Obara. Odi was sponsored by Odi Meyi. Baba Eyiogbe sponsored Eyeunle. Osameyi sponsored Osá. Orangun protected Ofun. Ojuani meyi sheltered Ojuani. Otrupon meyi welcomed Eyilá. Irete meyi sponsored Metanlá. Ika meyi adopted Merinlá. Iwori meyi sheltered Marunlá.

These are other items you can’t miss: