View source for Ogun

{{Short description|Orisha, god of war in the Yoruba mythology}}
{{for multi|the Nigerian state|Ogun (state)|the record label|Ogun Records|the fictional character|Ogun (comics)}}
{{Infobox deity
| type = Yoruba
| name = Ògún<br /><small>Ògún Lákáayé</small>
| other_names = Oggun, Ogou, Ògún, Gou, Ogúm, Ogu
| member_of = [[Orisha]]
| venerated_in = [[Yoruba religion]], [[Edo people#Traditional beliefs|Edo religion]], [[Dahomey mythology]], [[Vodun]], [[Santería]], [[Umbanda]], [[Candomblé]], [[Quimbanda]], [[Haitian Vodou]], [[Louisiana Voodoo]], [[Folk Catholicism]], [[Dominican Vudu]]
| image = Statue of Ogun shrine at the Sacred Grove Of Oshun.jpg
| caption = Statue of Ogun, [[Osun-Osogbo]], [[Osogbo]], Nigeria
| deity_of = Warriors, soldiers, blacksmiths, metal workers, craftsmen
| region = [[Nigeria]], [[Benin]], [[Latin America]], [[Haiti]], [[United States]], [[Togo]], [[Ghana]]
| ethnic_group = [[Yoruba people]], [[Edo people]], [[Fon people]], [[Ewe people]], [[Aja people]]
}}
[[File:VeveOgoun.svg|thumb|[[Veve]] of Ogoun]]
'''Ogun''' or '''Ogoun''' ([[Yoruba language|Yoruba]]: '''Ògún''', [[Edo language|Edo]]: '''Ògún''', [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]]: '''Ogum''', '''Gu'''; also spelled '''Oggun'''; known as '''Ogou''' in [[Haiti]] and [[Louisiana]] and '''Ogún''' or '''Ogum''' in [[Latin America]]) is a [[Yoruba people|Yoruba]] [[Orisha]] that is adopted in several [[African religions]].  Ògún is a warrior and a powerful spirit of [[metal work]],<ref name="ad"/><ref name="b"/><ref name="e"/> as well as of [[rum]] and rum-making. He is also known as the "god of iron" and is present in [[Yoruba religion]], [[Santería]], [[Haitian Vodou]], [[West African Vodun]], Candomblé, Umbanda and the folk religion of the [[Gbe languages|Gbe]] people.
He attempted to seize the throne after the demise of [[Obatala|Ọbàtálá]], who reigned twice, before and after [[Oduduwa]], but was ousted by [[Obalufon Ogbogbodirin]] and sent on an exile – an event that serves as the core of the [[Olojo festival|Ọlọ́jọ́ Festival]].

==Yoruba religion==
In [[Yoruba religion]], Ogun is a primordial [[orisha]] in Yoruba Land. In some traditions, he is said to have cleared a path for the other orisha to enter Earth, using a metal axe and with the assistance of a dog. To commemorate this, one of his [[Oriki|praise names]], or ''oriki'', is ''Osin Imole'' or the "first of the primordial Orisha to come to Earth". He is the god of war and metals.<ref name="b"/><ref name="ad"/><ref name="e"/>

In his earthly life Ogun is said to be the first king of [[Ife]]. When some of his subjects failed to show respect, Ogun killed them and ultimately himself with his own sword. He disappeared into the earth at a place called [[Ire Ekiti|Ire-Ekiti]], with the promise to help those who call on his name. His followers believe him to have ''wo ile sun'', to have disappeared into the earth's surface instead of dying. Throughout his earthly life, he is thought to have fought for the people of Ire, thus is known also as Onire.<ref name="ad"/><ref name="b"/><ref name="e"/>

He is now celebrated in [[Ogun state|Ogun]], [[Ekiti State|Ekiti]], [[Oyo State|Oyo]], and [[Ondo State|Ondo]] States.

===Followers===

Ogun is the traditional deity of warriors, hunters, [[blacksmith]]s, 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."<ref name="e"/> Drivers carry an [[amulet]] of Ogun to ward off traffic accidents.<ref name="ad"/><ref name="b"/>

===Symbols===

The primary symbols of Ogun are iron, the dog, and the [[palm branch|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.{{fact|date=September 2020}}

===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 nut]]s, [[palm wine]] and red palm oil, small rats, roosters, salt, snails, tortoise, water, and yams.{{sfn|Clyne|1998}} 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 woodcarvers drinks tree sap for atonement
*Ogun of the town of Ila accept roasted yam atonement
*Ogun of the Akirin people accepts ram for atonement
*Ogun of the Elemono people eats tortoise meat for atonement
*The brave that wages foreign wars
*He will consume either [[Nupe people|Nupe]], or [[Hausa people|Hausa]]
*He consumes foreign people, He will consume the [[Kanuri people|Kanuri]] too.

==Dahomey religion==

In [[Dahomey religion]], Gu is the vodun of war and patron deity of smiths and craftsmen. He was sent to earth to make it a suitable place for men to live happily, and he has not yet finished this task.<ref>{{cite book| author=Melville J. and Frances S. Herskovits|
url=https://nupress.northwestern.edu/9780810116504/dahomean-narrative/language=en| title=Dahomean Narrative, A Cross-Cultural Analysis|page=125|year=1958|publisher=Northwestern University Press|isbn=978-0810116504}}</ref>

==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|date=June 2022}} Metal objects are also often purchased for offering in shrines dedicated to Gu.<ref>{{cite book| author=Eric Montgomery, and Christian Vannier|
url=https://brill.com/display/title/34525?language=en|title=An Ethnography of a Vodu Shrine in Southern Togo|editor1=Benjamin Soares| editor2=Asonzeh Ukah|editor3=Shobana Shankar |page=118|year=2017|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-34108-1|accessdate=15 April 2021}}</ref>

==Candomblé==
[[File:Acentamento de Ogum, Orossi..JPG|right|thumb|Candomblé altar to Ogun, Brazil]]
Ogun is known in the [[Afro-Brazilian]] tradition of [[Candomblé]] as ''Ogum'' ([[Candomblé Ketu|Ketu]], [[Candomblé Jejé|Ijexa]] and [[Ekiti people|Efon]] nations) or ''Gu'' ([[Candomblé Jejé|Jeje]] nation).<ref name="aug"/> Ogum is syncretized with [[Saint George]], notably in [[Rio de Janeiro]] and the state of [[Rio Grande do Sul]]. Candomblé tradition in [[Northeast Brazil]], especially in [[Bahia]], associates Ogum with [[Saint Sebastian]] or [[Anthony of Padua|Saint Anthony]].<ref name="a"/><ref name="v"/>
{{Yoruba people}}

===Characteristics===
*Consecrated day: Tuesday
*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<ref name="v"/><ref name="abril"/>

Individual devotees of Ogun in Brazil avoid certain foods. These include goat, cajá-manga (''[[Spondias dulcis]]''), sugar, black beans, yams, and the manga-espada (an elongated [[mango cultivar]] of Brazil) in the [[Candomblé Ketu|Ketu]] nation; yams and manga-espada in the [[Candomblé Jejé|Ijexa]] nation; and [[partridge]] in the [[Candomblé Jejé|Jeje]] nation.<ref name="aug"/>

===Ritual sacrifice===

Ogun, as a male orisha (''Boró''), only "eats" male animals. [[Ox]], billy [[goat]], [[rooster]], [[snake]] (typically a red snake), [[dog]] and [[game (hunting)|game]] animals are sacrificed ("orô") on festival days associated with Ogum in the Candomblé tradition.<ref name="leo"/><ref name="m"/>

===Ritual foods===

[[Acaçá]] is a ritual food offered to all gods in the Candomble pantheon; it is made of a paste of corn mash steamed in banana leaves. A variation, acaçá de feijão-preto, substitutes [[black turtle bean|black beans]] (''Phaseolus vulgaris'') for corn. This variation is only offered to Ogum in the [[Casa Fanti Ashanti]] temple in [[São Luís (Maranhão)|São Luís]], in the state of [[Maranhão]].<ref name="lo"/> [[Feijoada]], a stew of beans with beef and pork, is also a common offering to Ogum.<ref name="fi"/>

==Santería and Palo==

Ogun's centrality to the Yoruba religion has resulted in his name being retained in [[Santería]] religion, as well as the [[Trinidad Orisha|Shango]] religion of [[Trinidad and Tobago]]. In Santería, Ogún is syncretized with [[Saint Peter]], [[James the Great]], [[Saint Paul]], [[Michael (archangel)|Saint Michael the Archangel]], and [[John the Baptist]]; he is the deity of war and metals.<ref name="f"/>

==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.<ref name="g"/> 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.<ref name="g"/><ref name="l"/>

Ogou Feray is syncretized with [[St. James the Greater]] (''St. Jacques Majeur'') in the Vodou tradition. He is a flower spirit and he guides Vodou followers against their enemies. He is symbolically covered in iron and may not be harmed by his enemies. As in Africa, his symbol is a piece of iron, a machete, or a knife. As in Africa, Ogou is revered among blacksmiths, many of whom are of Yoruba origin. He is also noted to like women and alcohol.<ref name="g"/><ref name="l"/>

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.<ref name="l"/>

Two Vodou songs to Ogou, as recorded and translated by Michel S. Laguerre:<ref name="l"/>

<blockquote><p>Fè Ogou Fè, Ogou Fèray o,</p>
Fè Ogou Fè, Ogou Fèray o</p>

''I am an iron,''
''I am covered with iron.''</p></blockquote>

<blockquote><p>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.''</p></blockquote>

==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 [[Northeast Region, Brazil|Northeastern]] region of Brazil between August 2007 and June 2008; dogs were the only sacrificial animal offered to Ogun in both communities.<ref name="leo"/>

==References==
{{reflist|2|refs=

<ref name="a">{{cite book | last = Assunção | first = Matthias | title = Capoeira: the History of an Afro-Brazilian Martial Art | publisher = Routledge | location = London New York | year = 2005 | isbn = 0714650315 | page = 39}}</ref>

<ref name="ad">{{cite book | last = Adeoye | first = C. L. | title = Ìgbàgbọ́ àti ẹ̀sìn Yorùba | publisher = Evans Bros. Nigeria Publishers | location = Ibadan | year = 1989 | isbn = 9781675098 | pages = 250–262 | language = Yoruba}}</ref>

<ref name="abril">{{cite book | editor-last = Hargreaves | editor-first = Patricia | title = Religiões Afro: as origens, as divindades, os rituais | publisher = Abril | location = São Paulo | year = 2018 | isbn = 9788569522492 | page = 29}}</ref>

<ref name="aug">{{cite book |last1=Augras |first1=Monique |title=Culto aos orixás: voduns e ancestrais nas religiões afro-brasileiras |chapter=Quizilas e preceitos--transgressão, reparação e organização dinâmica do mundo | publisher = Pallas | location = Rio de Janeiro | year = 2004 | isbn = 9788534702379 | language = Portuguese |pages=190–193 }}</ref>

<ref name="b">{{cite book | last = Barnes | first = Sandra | title = Africa's Ogun: Old World and New | publisher = Indiana University Press | location = Bloomington Ind | year = 1997 | isbn = 0253-332516}}</ref>

<ref name="e">{{cite book | last = Earhart | first = H | title = Religious Traditions of the World: a Journey through Africa, Mesoamerica, North America, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, China, and Japan | publisher = HarperSanFrancisco | location = San Francisco, California | year = 1993 | isbn = 9780060621155}}</ref>

<ref name="f">{{cite book | last = Falola | first = Toyin | title = Yoruba Creativity: Fiction, Language, Life and Songs | publisher = Africa World Press | location = Trenton, NJ | year = 2005 | isbn = 9781592213368}}</ref>

<ref name="fi">{{cite book | last = Fieldhouse | first = Paul | title = Food, feasts, and faith : an encyclopedia of food culture in world religions | publisher = ABC-CLIO, an Imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC | location = Santa Barbara, California | year = 2017 | isbn = 9781610694124 |page=93}}</ref>

<ref name="g">{{cite book | last = Galembo | first = Phyllis | title = Vodou: Visions and Voices of Haiti | publisher = Ten Speed Press | location = Berkeley, Calif | year = 2005 | isbn = 9781580086769 | pages = xxii-xxiii, 12 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/vodou00phyl }}</ref>

<ref name="l">{{cite book | last = Laguerre | first = Michel | title = Voodoo Heritage | publisher = Sage Publications | location = Beverly Hills, Calif | year = 1980 | isbn = 0803914032 | pages = 131–137}}</ref>

<ref name="leo">{{cite journal|last1=Léo Neto|first1=Nivaldo A.|last2=Brooks|first2=Sharon E.|last3=Alves|first3=Rômulo RN|title=From Eshu to Obatala: animals used in sacrificial rituals at Candomblé "terreiros" in Brazil|journal=Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine|volume=5|issue=1|year=2009|issn=1746-4269|doi=10.1186/1746-4269-5-23|pmc=2739163|pmid=19709402|page=23 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

<ref name="lo">{{cite book | last = Lody | first = Raul | title = Dicionário de arte sacra & técnicas afro-brasileiras | publisher = Pallas | location = Rio de Janeiro | year = 2003 | isbn = 9788534701877 | page =36}}</ref>

<ref name="m">{{cite book | editor1-last = Moura | editor1-first = Carlos Eugênio Marcondes de | title = Culto aos orixás: voduns e ancestrais nas religiões afro-brasileiras | publisher = Pallas | location = Rio de Janeiro | year = 2004 | isbn = 9788534702379 | language = Portuguese | pages = 43–45}}</ref>

<ref name="v">{{cite book | last = Verger | first = Pierre | title = Notas sobre o culto aos orixás e voduns na Bahia de Todos os Santos, no Brasil, e na antiga costa dos escravos, na África | publisher = EDUSP | location = São Paulo | year = 1999 | isbn = 9788531404757 | language = Portuguese | pages = 151–160}}</ref>

}}

==Bibliography==
* {{Cite thesis |last1=Clyne |first1=Robert Marcel |year=1998 |title=Ogun Worship in Idanre: Iron and Identity in a Yoruba Town |degree=Ph.D. |publisher=Yale University}}

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[[Category:Alcohol gods]]
[[Category:Dahomean gods]]
[[Category:Deities of wine and beer]]
[[Category:Edo deities]]
[[Category:Fire gods]]
[[Category:Hunting gods]]
[[Category:Santería]]
[[Category:Smithing gods]]
[[Category:Supernatural beings identified with Christian saints]]
[[Category:Voodoo gods]]
[[Category:War gods]]
[[Category:Yoruba gods]]