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The Oriat and His Brothers

There were three brothers who had come from a long line of Oriats, that is expert orisha
priests who preside over the major rites in the religion. Their fathers were oriats, their
uncles were oriats, their grandparents were oriats, and so on. Therefore it wasn't
surprising that the orishas, through divination, asked all three brothers to serve as oriats
and that they must become expert diviners.
The two older brothers didn't want any part of this saying, "Meridiloggn divination is for
the old men. There are better ways of becoming rich and successful than this crap." And
they started farms and sold wood. Only the youngest brother paid any heed to the orisha's
call. He studied hard and learned well and after a time he became a well known oriat and
became very successful. This fact did not escape his brothers' attention, especially as their
grand plans on becoming great successes had only met with failure, leaving the older
brothers in poverty.
Though the younger brother was kind and helped out his brothers in every way he could,
the older brothers harbored a greed and jealousy that truly knew no bounds. And so they
decided they would end the life of their little brother.
The younger brother had a very beautiful fianc that he was very much in love with and
that he traveled miles to see her every day, going by a rocky cliff at the edge of the sea.
His brothers decided that they could meet him there and push him off the cliff where he
would never be heard from again.
Meanwhile, the youngest brother saw himself with Eleggua's shells. This letter appeared
and warned of a plot to end his life and the ebo required to break the plot. This included
seven yards of rope attached to a board the same height as himself,and each which which
he let fall to the sea from the cliff. On the way down the rope became tangled among the
rocks of the cliff. He made the eb and continued as before.
The day of the plot came and, sure enough, as he rounded the corner where the cliff rose
over the sea, his brothers were waiting in ambush. They pushed him over the cliff into the
sea below, and sure that thir job was complete they went home to open shop as oriats
themselves.
Meanwhile, the younger brother found himself drowning in the sea. Just a when all hope
seemed to be lost, he came upon the board and the rope he had sacrificed earlier. With
these he was able to reach the shore, climb the rocks of the cliff, and save himself.
It was night before he reached his home town, but he did not bother to change his wet and
tattered clothes, but went directly to his brother's house, where they were divining and
acting in the role of oriats. During the It, just when the brothers were speaking of a
death foretold by the shells, there were three knocks at the door. The brothers looked at
each other in fear and consternation as who entered but the supposedly dead and
'disappeared' younger brother. One brother died of a heart attack upon seeing his brother
come back from a certain death. The other could only stammer as the younger brother
recounted the plot before the entire town. Knowing all was lost the oldest brother tried to
make a run for it, but the townspeople caught him and put him to death on the spot.
When this letter comes for someone when they are being seen with Elegguas shells , they
are told they should make the saint and become santeros and that they should become
diviners. This is the road to success for them. Also, they are told they should not listen to
gossip and not to trust their brothers in these matters. Maferefn Yemay, Maferefn
Eleggua, Maferefn Eggun.

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