There once was a village under siege by a ten-headed Leopard that had an evil orisha. And the evil Leopard had white spots and it sought to inflict the villagers with ten connecting afflictions. The first affliction was a disease of the Ori (mind) and it caused villagers to forget their gods and ancestors. They would forget their tribe, clan and family members. And some forgot their own name. The second affliction was a disease of the body, which caused villagers to have white spots and high fever. The affliction rotted the body inside and out until the person lost all control of the senses and passed on to the ancestors. The third affliction was a canker, which corrupted the food produced in the ground, making the plants infertile and deform, and the yam roots lost their strength and color. The fourth affliction was turning the sweet water of the village spring into bitter and hard water. Many people would get fever from drinking from the spring at night, unless they boiled out the impurities of the water, which had always been pure and sparkling since it was given to them from the creator, Olorun. The fifth affliction caused the villagers to fight among each other like never before. And they suspected, distrusted, and hated each other because of the deteriorating conditions of the village. The sixth affliction gave the Clansmen reason to imprison, enslave, or even kill their fellow Clansmen or women. It was the cause of great mourning in the town, as a hunter accused of poisoning the spring was seized, executed and his family sold into the market at Gao. The seventh affliction introduced drunkenness through pride of the Ori, herb, or drink of orguro. The drunkenness caused villagers to be sloth and backward. And many of the Clansmen no longer tended to the business of the village, which was the marriage and husbandry to the land for wild rice, yam, cassava, plantain, palm, cucumber, and milk of the goat or cattle. The marriage to the land, the clan, and protection of sacred animals was the first contract between the creator and their ancestors. And the more the clan became distant among its people, the land and animals, the more the village market suffered. The eight affliction was confusion, so the evil orisha, was never seen or suspected. And the Clans people could never focus on one issue. As soon as one problem was being tracked another problem was arising, until the circle of confusion was like a dog chasing its tail because of an offense.
The ninth affliction was the threat of invasion by another tribe seeking redress because the Leopard had begun to siege their villages. And the outside tribe, a former friend, sought justification for the incidents befalling their towns. Sending messengers to the village, and finding that the same incidents had befallen the people. The Amanyanobu (King) of the Tribe declared to his messengers to tell the village, “an evil has arisen among you and it has reached our shores. Unless a tribute in men or women servants, gold, and cattle for sacrifice is provided, we will not forget how you turned to evil and did us, your friends harm. And we will find it just cause to war against you.” The message was a warning to the Village Chiefs. Devastation and war was upon them. Without the courage of their ancestors and the self-determination for their right to survive, the entire village would be conquered by a smiling enemy. The final affliction was the disappearance of members of the village. Children, women and men were all victims, so that when an entire compound went silent, the Men of the Clan immediately convened a War Council to send spies to neighboring towns and markets to determine if the family of the compound had been kidnapped for ransom or sold into enslavement by the order of the Amanyanobu. And when the neighboring towns showed no track or evidence of their arrival, the War Council found no reason to begin armed conflict with their neighbors. The Men of the town were perplexed by the information from their spies, not knowing that the evil ten-headed Leopard of white spots, had devoured his victims in their compound without a trace. So, the village called a council, for which, every member of the clan was told to attend.
The village gathered at the village circle, and the families of all the compounds sat as an audience. The Elder Men and Warriors sat across from the Elder Women, while the Chiefs of the village, including the Chief Oni (Priest) and King sat on wooden stools in the middle. And the village summoned Elders from their tribe in neighboring towns to seek their help. A public sacrifice of a young calf was made to the orisha, Ogun and the entire village brought a libation on the land, to call for the intervention of their ancestors in this situation. The occasion was lead by the Oni. Then the King spoke.
“Ashe…
My friends and children, my brothers and sisters, my Uncles and Aunts, my Mothers and Fathers, my Mothers of Mothers and my Fathers of Fathers, my Chiefs and Chiefs of Chiefs…
Do not forget… Do not forget the Orishas of our clan, and do not forget the names of your ancestors. Do not forget the bonds of our Clan, which we have forged like the fires with the sweat of our brow, the tears of our eyes, and the blood of our blood.
Our Clan is the hive. And like the bee, we are small in our everyday duties. Attending to the land that was given to us by the creator, feeding the animals that sustain us, and looking after those ancestors the Orishas have now made our children and wives and husbands. So like the bee, together, we are mighty to come upon, fearsome and deadly to those who dare to look in our direction and take offense to our presence. Together, we are strong. As one we are divided like the little bee… Do not forget the bonds that bind our clan. It is sweeter than the honey in the honeycomb. This Clan is the beehive. So we gather together to determine the source of these strange and evil afflictions daring to challenge us and threaten our existence. We will give it such a scare, such a sting, that death will come in this life and the next. Therefore, I have summoned the oracle of Babalu Aye, to heal our waters, to cleanse our people. She will cure our plants, and sanctify our animals. And if there is hatred in your heart towards your fellow brother or sister, then she shall cure you or kill you. There is none above the Clan!”
Then, the oracle of Babalu Aiye entered from the deep Forest and the village was in fear and awe because she was a woman. And immediately, she began to chant with a loud voice and to dance around the village circle calling powerful Orishas and moving. She swept the people with her broom and she swept everyone in the village circle going up and down, from family to family, Elder to Warrior, Mother to Sister, and Chief to King. Then she ate from the calf sacrifice. Taking a pot-bowl of water, she mixed burnt coal into bowl with palm oil, washed her face, arms and legs in front of the entire village as they gazed on. And with the same water, she sprinkled upon all the members of the Clan and at once, the veil casted upon them by the evil Orisha was lifted. And the Men saw that the oracle of Babalu Aiye was to be desired, and the women saw that she was beautiful. Her skin smooth brazen dark brown, her breast firm and ready, her arms strong and her legs long and stable. Her shoulders were broad and her hands snapped, the people out of their evil trance.
“Sick of the Ori (mind), sick with the deadly fever, sick of the Ashe (soul). Your waters are polluted and your animals are polluted. You are haunted by the damned, which seeks to consume you as one. A ten-headed beast roams this village. I have seen him with my eyes, come into your compounds and sit in this square as a man. At night he devours and he will devour again. Infection, infection, infection…. Gather your arms all ye Men and Women, Clean and Infected. Release the prisoners and buy back your Sisters from the market or suffer, this devastation and inflection. I say, release the prisoners and buy back your Sisters from the market or suffer this devastation and infection. I say again, release the prisoners and buy back your Sisters from the market or suffer this deadly devastation and infection. ” she said.
Then, one of the Chiefs, who was healed from the coming fever by the sprinkling of water, got up and shouted, “Heyo… Ashe. Ashe…Babalu Aiye. What is the name of the oracle of Babalu Aiye?” And she replied, “I am Abayomi… Abayomi will return in twenty-eight days and if you have cleansed yourselves of these afflictions, I will destroy the demon. But if you have not, you will never again live in peace.” Then she ran out of the mist of the village circle and disappeared back into the deep forest as an Orisha in the skin of a Gazelle. This was the form she was to use to attract the ten-headed Leopard.
And after twenty-eight days, Abayomi, the oracle of Babalu Aiye returned to the village at dusk as a beautiful dark brown Gazelle. Then she came unto herself when she came out of the deep forest into the village. And she stood in the middle of the village circle covered. And the Chief Priest found the King and told him that Abayomi had returned, so he gathered all the Chiefs and the warriors to salute her. And the king ordered a young calf to be sacrificed to Babalu Aiye, to thank the great Orisha for healing the village spring. And when the King and his Clansmen came upon Abayomi, she asked, “Have you released the prisoners and brought back your Sisters from the city of Gao & Timbuctoo? The King responded, “even now they are returning to their compounds and we have met all ransoms to find them.” Then Abayomi replied, “and to the hunter slain in his innocence, the village shall furnish a bronze, so that his Ashe can enter and be as a reminder of the evil spirit that possessed the village and it people until the innocent was slain and his family sold. And his family must be returned the dowry for their lost of a son. His wife shall possess his compound and shall rule it as her own.” And the King did as commanded. Then, Abayomi told the King to prepare for battle, for the evil ten-headed Leopard, was a travelling Oni during the day and during the night he feasted on his patrons. This was the dusk that the Village was to fight and destroy the power of the white-spotted Leopard.
So the Warriors departed, following Abayomi into the brush. They passed the spring where the villagers retrieved water, and into the deep forest, where the Lions, Hyenas, Baboon, and pythons rule, especially in the night. And the Gazelle of Babalu Aiye stood eating from a sacred bush, when the travelling Oni noticed her beauty. Slowly the Oni crept towards the Gazelle as she chose the choice flowers, and when he was in the bush behind her, he began to change form into the evil ten-headed Leopard. Suddenly, the King and his warriors came to action.
They attacked the beast from the side and were driven back by his snare. They attacked from behind but were stricken by his claws and voracious heads. At close enough range, the Warriors could hurl spears at the beast, but it was the heart that pushed the Leopard on. The spirit of the Orisha Ogun, came unto the King as his courage drove him to sever a head of the beast with his sword, then another, and another but the claws in the endeavor injured him. And just when the beast had made its escape, up a tree and let out a piercing snarl at the warriors, Abayomi, the woman, threw a spear that drove right through the Leopard’s heart and impelled the beast to the tree. And the warriors cut out the heart of the beast and cheered with a great sound of victory. The siege of the village was finally over, that night. And the King, who had to be carried home by his fellow Clansmen, honored Abayomi, as the Orisha, who saved the village.
