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What is a Patakí?

Patakís or itás are the teaching stories of the Yoruba/Ifa/Santeria/Voodon religion. Each tradition flows into the next, like streams into the Ocean, and each story grows in the retelling.

These stories are the repositories of the oral tradition in this religion of the followers of Yemaya. They are the sum total of the wealth of wisdom left by their ancestors. Most often, they are the stories or myths that accompany the odu (letters or signs) that arise in divination, each letter having several Patakís that orient the practioner and the person coming to be 'seen' with the shells or Ifá. These stories depict how that particular odu operates and gives an example of how it might affect the person who has come to be 'seen'. The Patakí also tells the person what they need to do under the circumstances of that particular Odu.

The Patakís also serve as sacred precedents, one sometimes hearing that a certain ritual act, attitude or view 'has odu', meaning that it is upheld by tradition as shown in a Patakí.

One last note. The Patakís often have several meanings and it is only with time that a person develops a deep understanding of these 'receptacles of wisdom' contained within the odu.

Glossary of some terms:

Ashe - a Yoruban term of respect, meaning "hail, welcome, honor"

Madupe -   "Thank you/thanksgiving, give thanks", the traditional call of one who honors the orishas. ie. "Madupe Elegwa" (Give thanks to Papa Elegwa)

Orisha - an elemental/nature spirit  in  Voudon/Yoruban/Santeria belief.  Each person is said to be guarded by an Orisha who "sits  on their head", guiding and governing their actions.

Legba -  the trickster at the crossroads, who always teaches those who will listen.  He is the first honored in a storytelling, and the last to be thanked.

Obatala -  the weaver of the fabric of the universe, giver of choices.

Orunla - Fate, the determiner of destiny.

Shango - the dispenser of Justice when least expected.

For  further guidance, Gonzales-Whippler's, Tales of the Orishas is an invaluable resource.

Patakís:

• Oshún Lures Ogún From the Forest
• One Pig And His Family Avoids Slaughter
• Oshún's Flight: How She Came To Be Messenger of Olodumare (God)
• The Oriaté and His Three Brothers
• Olofi Splits the Difference

(Above information abstracted from Orisha Net)

• Oba -- in her own words this is located at the site containing the Orisha Mailing List

Charles Butler:

Charles Butler was born of missionary parents in Brazil in 1952 at home before the doctor arrived and has shown up at odd times ever since.   He received  his Bachelor's degree in  Latin-American Studies from the University of Michigan in 1975.   He has studied Portuguese, Spanish, Welsh, Russian, Latin, and some Hebrew and is fluent in American Sign Language. He studied Christian and Jewish theology at Wesley Theological Seminary and through private teachers is trained in Wicca and the rudiments of Voudon.

Mr. Butler became acquainted with the Orisha through studies with a Santeria teacher in Baltimore in the late 1980's but feels that memories of childhood in  Brazil had planted the seed which grew into his present connections. There were many Spiritist people in the village where he spent his first three years and his present studies have felt like he is finding his way back home.

Mr. Butler lives in Beltsville, Maryland with a cat named China, sundry fen, and a resident ghost.

Patakis given to Charles Butler

• Obatala gives a great feast
• Oshún Lures Oggún From the Forest (a different telling)
• Smoke (Fate, The love of a woman, A Boy, and an old man)
• Fate, Death, and a Love Affair
• Pride, the Tide, and the Listening Ear
• The Wind and The Rainbow
• Salt and Oranges (A story of Oya and Oshun)