Once the artist is content with his work on the
figure, he must perform a ritual washing on the ere ibeji. The mixture is
made in a bowl large enough to hold at least two figures. The mixture is
never reused but can be used for more than one figure. First, he
prepares the mixture, agbo. It
consists of bits of root from the Igi Aka or Akika tree,
cuttings from a young palm seedling, bits of root from Ijokun and
Ajekonbale trees, Idaro-agbedi or iron dross, pieces of the root
of the Ira tree, part of an alligator pepper, bits of root from the
Egbo-Elu tree and undiluted palmwine. The palmwine is kept in a keg
that must not touch the ground after leaving the palm tree, which is usually
prepared by the person commissioning the ere ibeji (1).
.jpg)
Next, the leaves of the cowpeas are squeezed into the undiluted palm wine. The artists uses this mixture to wash the figure. Then it is left to dry (1).
After all the roots have been collected they are put in the pot and set on fire. Fresh water, orugo, is poured into the pot. Every morning someone is sent to retrieve this water, they are not permitted to speak to anyone while on route. Also, a packet of alligator peppers is broken and it's seeds are added to the pot just before it reaches a rolling boil. For one hour the mixture continues to boil. Overnight, the pot is left on the hearth (1).