Ogun
| Ògún Ògún Lákáayé | |
|---|---|
Warriors, soldiers, blacksmiths, metal workers, craftsmen | |
| Member of | |
| Region | Nigeria, Benin, Latin America, Haiti, United States,Togo,Ghana |
| Ethnic group | Yoruba people, Edo people, Fon people, Ewe people , Adja people |
Ogun or Ogoun (
Yoruba religion
In
In his earthly life Ogun is said to be the first king of
He is now celebrated in
States.Followers
Ogun is the traditional deity of warriors, hunters, blacksmiths, technologists, and drivers in the Yoruba region. Followers of traditional Yoruba religion can swear to tell the truth in court by "kissing a piece of iron in the name of Ogun."[3] Drivers carry an amulet of Ogun to ward off traffic accidents.[1][2]
Symbols
The primary symbols of Ogun are iron, the dog, and the palm frond. They symbolize Ogun's role in transformation, mediation, and function. Iron is the primary emblem of Ogun. Ogun altars and ceremonies display and use iron objects both in Yoruba areas and across the African diaspora. Followers of Ogun wear chains of iron implements; Ogun festivals feature the display of knives, guns, blacksmith implements, scissors, wrenches, and other iron implements from daily life.[citation needed]
Sacrifice
Meats are sacrifices for Ogun. Dogs are the traditional companions of hunters, but Ogun's personality is also seen as "doglike": aggressive, able to face danger, and straightforward. Other sacrificial animals associated with Ogun are the spitting cobra (blacksnake); its behavior is aggressive and fearless. Hunters and blacksmiths avoid eating or witnessing the mating of blacksnakes. Other important sacrificial offerings to Ogun are the Clarias submarginatus (a species of catfish), alligator pepper, kola nuts, palm wine and red palm oil, small rats, roosters, salt, snails, tortoise, water, and yams. (Clyne: 1997). Many of these sacrificial offerings were carried into New World traditions.
Oríkì is a Yoruba cultural phenomenon that comes in the form of praise poetry, praising either a person, òrìṣà (deity), or town based on their achievements. Ogun worshippers are known to sing Ogun's oríkì and this specific part insinuates that Ògún is in seven paths.
- Ògún méje logun mi,
- Ògún alára ni n gb’aja,
- Ògún onire a gb’àgbò,
- Ògún Ikọla a gb'agbín,
- Ògún gbengbena oje ìgí nìí mu,
- Ògún ila a gb’esun iṣu,
- Ògún akirin a gb’awo agbo,
- Ògún elémono ẹran ahùn ni jẹ,
- mákindé ti dogun lẹyin odi,
- Bi o ba gba Tapa a gb’Aboki,
- A gba Ukuuku a gba Kèmbèrí.
Translation:
- My Ògún manifest in seven different ways
- Ogun of the town of Ilara accepts a dog atonement
- Ogun of the town of Ire accepts a ram atonement
- Ogun of the town of Ikole accepts a snail atonement
- Ogun of Gbenagena drinks tree sap for atonement
- Ogun of the town of Ila accept yam seeds atonement
- Ogun of the Akirin people accepts ram fur atonement
- Ogun of the Elemono people eats tortoise meat for atonement
- The brave that wages foreign wars
- He will consume either Nupe, or Hausa
- He consumes foreign people, He will consume the Kanuri too.
Dahomey religion
In
Ewe religion
In Ewe religion, Gu, also pronounced Egu, is the god of war and craftsmen especially blacksmiths.
Worshippers of Gu are not supposed to keep dogs as pets. Menstruating women are forbidden to touch the tools of the blacksmith. Adherents periodically make offerings of palm nuts, food and pour libations to Gu.[citation needed] Metal objects are also often purchased for offering in shrines dedicated to Gu.[5]
Candomblé
Ogun is known in the
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| Yorùbá people |
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Characteristics
- Consecrated day: Wednesday
- Metal: iron
- Element: earth
- Color: red, black, green (Rio de Janeiro), blue (Bahia), marine blue
- Food: feijoada, xinxim, yams
- Archetype: impetuous, authoritarian, cautious, hardworking, suspicious and a bit selfish
- Symbols: sword, broadsword, iron chain[8][9]
Individual devotees of Ogun in Brazil avoid certain foods. These include goat, cajá-manga (
Ritual sacrifice
Ogun, as a male orisha (Boró), only "eats" male animals.
Ritual foods
Santería and Palo
Ogun's centrality to the Yoruba religion has resulted in his name being retained in
Vodou
In Haitian Vodou Ogun is known as Ogou and consists of an array of manifestations; most carry the aspect of iron smithing and tools from the Yoruba tradition. The Ogou guard the badji, the sacred altar of the Vodou temple. He carries an iron saber and wears a red sash. Ogou is also the god of pioneering, intelligence, justice, medicine, and political power; these are associated with the symbol of the tool that can "advance humans' mastery over the environment.[15] Ogou Feray is the god of war. Other manifestations of Ogou are Ogou Badagri, Ogou Balenjo, Ogou Batala, and Ogou Je Wouj. Ezili Dantor is the female counterpart to Ogou.[15][16]
Ogou Feray is syncretized with
In Vodou ceremonies followers of Ogou wear a red shirt, pants, and scarf. A follower of Ogou in a possession-trance is offered Haitian white rum during the ceremony. In some ceremonies rum is burned in a container to allow Ogou to "wash" the hands of the followers.[16]
Two Vodou songs to Ogou, as recorded and translated by Michel S. Laguerre:[16]
Fè Ogou Fè, Ogou Fèray o,
Fè Ogou Fè, Ogou Fèray o
I am an iron,
I am covered with iron.
Fèrè Fèray tout ko Fèray sé kouto,
Fèrè Fèray tout ko Fèray sé manchèt.
The body of Ogou Fèray is covered with knives,
The body of Fèray is covered with machetes.
In Brazil
Léo Neto, et al. observed various kinds of animals used in sacrificial ritual in twelve Candomblé communities of Caruaru, Pernambuco and Campina Grande, Paraíba in the Northeastern region of Brazil between August 2007 and June 2008; dogs were the only sacrificial animal offered to Ogun in both communities.[10]
References
- ^ ISBN 9781675098.
- ^ ISBN 0253-332516.
- ^ ISBN 9780060621155.
- ISBN 978-0810116504.
- ISBN 978-90-04-34108-1. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
- ^ ISBN 9788534702379.
- ISBN 0714650315.
- ^ ISBN 9788531404757.
- ISBN 9788569522492.
- ^ PMID 19709402.
- ISBN 9788534702379.
- ISBN 9788534701877.
- ISBN 9781610694124.
- ISBN 9781592213368.
- ^ ISBN 9781580086769.
- ^ ISBN 0803914032.
Bibliography
- Clyne, Robert Marcel (1998). Ogun Worship in Idanre: Iron and Identity in a Yoruba Town (Ph.D. thesis). Yale University.
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