Òrúnmìlà teaches that the íkìn and opele are the beginning and end of all things.
Òrúnmìlà says hmmmmmmm. I asked, “What bothers you Bara Àgbonìrègún? Òrúnmìlà says that he is bothered because he has many thoughts on his mind, but there was no one with whom he could share his thoughts. Ògún says, “Òrúnmìlà, we are friends, why wouldn’t you share your thoughts with me?” Òrúnmìlà says, “Good, but Ògún, do you know the beginning as well as the end of basically everything on earth?” Ògún told Òrúnmìlà that he knew the beginning as well as the end of basically everything. Òrúnmìlà said, “Are you sure?” Ògún said, “Yes, I am sure”.
Òrúnmìlà then decided to test Ògún. Òrúnmìlà asked, “Ògún where are you going?” Ògún said, “I am going to Èjìgbòmekùn to buy làba”. Òrúnmìlà said, “Ògún before you leave for the market, go inside the shrine, and help yourself to some obì àbàtà. Ògún entered Òrúnmìlà’ shrine for the obì àbàtà, but the first thing he saw inside the shrine were brand new iron tools. He also saw làba (Ògún’s costume) and làba was what he was going to the market to buy in the first place. This discovery surprised Ògún so much that he dashed out of Òrúnmìlà’s shrine. Ìwé fún Odù Ifá 16 Òrúnmìlà said, “Ògún, why did you retreat so hastily. Ògún said that he was surprised to see new tools and làba in Òrúnmìlà’s shrine, and that he wondered why Òrúnmìlà did not tell him he had them. Òrúnmìlà said, “Do you like them? If you do you can have them, but first of all, let’s play a game of ayò. Ògún consented to the ayò game but his mind was on the tools. With that Ògún allowed Òrúnmìlà to win the game on purpose.
Òrúnmìlà told Ògún to go back into the shrine to possess his gifts. But when he went back in he found only rusted tools and a ragged làba. He was angry running back outside panting. Òrúnmìlà asked Ògún what the problem was. Ògún told him about the rusted tools and ragged làba. Òrúnmìlà reminded Ògún of their discussion at the beginning of the ayò game when Ògún told him that he knew the beginning and the end of everything on earth. He told him that the new tools and làba represented the beginning and the old tools and làba represented the end. Ògún said, “I understand. He commended Òrúnmìlà for his wisdom. Ògún told Òrúnmìlà that he was the wisest.
Òrúnmìlà said that he was not the wisest. Òrúnmìlà then brought out his íkìn and opèlè and showed them to Ògún. “Ògún, these íkìn and opèlè are the instruments that know the beginning and the end of everything. They are the sacred instruments of Ifá. It is these sacred instruments that can decipher the coded messages of Olódùmarè. These instruments should be used for this purpose. Ògún said he understood. Òrúnmìlà gave the same test to all the other Irúnmolè and none of them really knew what he meant by the question of the beginning and the end of all things. He showed them the íkìn and opèlè just as he did Ògún and they then understood well what he had meant.