The Rock and the Cactus

The cactus grows where nothing else will.

There was a time when the rock and the cactus were friends; they lived side by side in the desert. But the day came when the rock and the cactus wanted the same piece of land, and they began to argue.

“You can live anywhere,” argued the cactus. “You are a rock, and all you need to do is sit still and just be. I have to have sunlight. I have to have water. I have to have earth in which to spread my roots. You have no such needs.”

“I was here first,” said the rock. “I don’t move; I don’t grow. I don’t create seeds that scatter on the winds. I have sat here since the beginning of time, and I will be here, in this same spot, at the end of time. You must go live somewhere else.”

Sadly, the cactus looked over the desert and saw that all the best places for him to grow were covered by rocks. Not knowing what else to do he sought out the diviner Mofá. “If you make ebó,” promised the wise diviner, “you will conquer the rock and be able to live anywhere and everywhere you want in the desert. The rock will not be able to stop you.”

So the cactus did as he was told and made ebó. His ashé changed that same day. He found that he could set down roots everywhere in the desert, even in places covered by rocks, and he would grow and prosper while the rock stood silently beneath him, living in his shadow.

That is why, today, one can find the cactus growing anywhere and everywhere in the desert, even in places overrun by rocks.