Ika

 

Ika is known as "the Controller". Controlled are the evil, violent and cowardly acts that damage the personal integrity and disturb nature's harmony and balance. This Odu contains a warning against cowardice, especially where such cowardice leads to the use of hexes and curses to diminish another person. Such hexing and cursing is not necessarily in the form of a ritual spell: there are many other kinds of hexing/cursing like gossip, lies, malevolence and lack of compassion. Diminishing your own feeling of self-respect is a form of self-hexing. The Odu warns against this kind of behavior, which in the end blocks the appreciation of the individual's own inner value.
In Africa this Odu is connected with the hot winds that bring contagious and epidemic diseases, and the randomness with which they strike. The best protection against destructive randomness is the maintaining of a steady spiritual discipline, part of which is several sorts of personal, family and group protection. Many Yoruba villages hold yearly festivals which meand to protect the area against the negative results of Ika.