Obatala was given the task of shaping human bodies, drank palm wine while working, and made some crooked. Sobering, he swore off wine forever and took every person he had marked under his particular protection. The patakí is doing several things at once: it accounts for disability without blaming the person, gives the maker a fault, and creates a sacred obligation — which is why people with disabilities are held to be Obatala's own.