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Another Story about OchÃºn and BabalÃº-AyÃ© The first time I ever got a reading in the religion, it was with Santiago Pedroso-CÃ¡lves, an ObatalÃ¡ priest and orÃ­-atÃ© who worked out of Philadelphia in the 1970s and 1980s. He told me a story about OchÃºn and BabalÃº-AyÃ© that I have never heard anywhere else.

BabalÃº-AyÃ© was sick and covered with open sores from smallpox. When he arrived in the land of the ArarÃ¡, he arrived at the bank of a river, the sacred realm of OchÃºn. He wrapped himself in a special cloth and entered into the water. He came out and he sat by the bank until he was dry. When he unwrapped himself, his sores were gone. Pleased with this new development, BabalÃº rested in this place.

(At this point in the narrative, Santiago pointed to his BabalÃº-AyÃ© and said it was the same kind of cloth hanging over it--a square of sack cloth with a thick edging of purple cloth and four cowries in the middle, sewn in the shape of a cross.)

After a few days, a child appeared covered in same sores that had plagued BabalÃº. He explained that the town nearby was suffering from a terrible outbreak of smallpox. Crying out in pain, the child asked if BabalÃº could help him. BabÃ¡ wrapped him in the same cloth and told him to bathe in the river. Then he sent the child home to his parents with instructions to unwrap himself in the morning.

When he arrived home, the child told his parents what had happened. In the morning, when they removed the cloth, he was cured. Together they went to find BabalÃº, and as they walked through town to the river, their friends and neighbors saw the healthy child and began to dance in celebration. By the time they found BabalÃº, the whole town was following the boy and his parents. They asked BabalÃº to heal them all, and when he had finished, they asked him to be their king.

As I said, I have never heard this specific story anywhere else, but like the other story, it shows a very intimate relationship between OchÃºn and BabalÃº--after all, he enters her. Here BabalÃº wanders into this other kingdom of his own accord, and led by his own wisdom, he is healed by the cleansing waters of OchÃºn.
Labels: ArarÃ¡ BabalÃº-AyÃ© healing OchÃºn sack cloth San LÃ¡zaro SanterÃ­a Santiago Pedroso-CÃ¡lves sex small pox sores


