Shango God of Thunder…

Seere * Sheere = The Voice of Shango…

“No-One Can Speak On Behalf of Shango Olukoso” (Ose-Meji)
Seere A Small Gourd Had No-One To Serve, No-One To Attach Herself To. Two Other Kinds Of Gourd, Igba & Akingbe Were Serving Oya & Odo Respectively. Seere Consulted Ifa & Ose Meji Appeared.

**She Performed The Sacrifice Required Of Her**

Ifa Made Her Medicine & Told Her To Go As Soon As She Had Eaten It To A Shango Shrine. When She Reached The Shrine, She Threw Herself Down In Reverence To Say: “Hail To You Shango” All The Seeds In Her Stomach Rattled Loudly. Shango Heard The Noise & Was Overwhelmed By It. Shango Called Out In Glee: Bring Out The Bata Drums, I Will Dance Round My Realm. Seere Will Go Before Me She Will Make Noise. Seere Saka Siki – Seere Siki Saka  “Ose Ose Ose” Ever Since Then Seere Has Been Used As The Voice In The Worship Of Shango.

Shango God Of Thunder & Lightning – His name appears to be derived from shan, “to strike violently,” and go, “to bewilder;” and to have reference to peals of thunder, which are supposed to be produced by violent blows. He has the epithet of Jakuta, “Hurler of stones,” or “Fighter with stones”; and stone implements, which have long ceased to be used in West Africa, are believed to be his thunderbolts. 

Shango creates thunder and lightning by casting “thunder stones” down to earth; wherever lightning strikes, priests search the surrounding area for the thrown stone. The Yoruba believe these stones have special powers, and they enshrine the stones in temples to the god. He usually goes armed with a club called Ose, made of the wood of the Ayan tree, which is so hard that a proverb says, “The Ayan tree resists the axe.” In consequence of his club being made of this wood, the tree is sacred to him.

The priests and followers of Shango wear a wallet, emblematic of the plundering propensities of their lord, and the chief priest is called Mogba, “The Receiver.” As among the Ewe tribes, a house struck by lightning is at once invaded and plundered by the disciples of the god, and a fine imposed on the occupants, who, it is held, must have offended him.

Persons who are killed by lightning may not, properly speaking, be buried; but if the relations of the deceased offer a sufficient payment, the priests usually allow the corpse to be redeemed and buried. Individuals rendered insensible by lightning are at once dispatched by the priests, the accident being regarded as proof positive that Shango requires them. A common idea is that Shango is subject to frequent outbursts of ungovernable temper, during which he thumps and bangs overhead, and hurls down stones at those who have given him cause for offence.

Koso is a suburban district of Oyo, one of the holiest places of the city because it was the place where Sango laid his power, his Ashe. For this reason, one of the titles is Oba Koso Shango – king of Koso. No king in Oyo is installed without performing all the rites of coronation inside the temple of Shango in Koso.

After the coronation of the king, he can never join the community until his death. Therefore, the connection between Koso and the Alaafin is both spiritual and political. The Alaafin should regularly perform traditional rites for their direct Ancestor (Shango), which inherited his crown. This crown was passed from generation to generation, under the protection of the high-priest of Shango, the Mogba Koso, who is the supreme head of Koso , plays a crucial role in the royal succession , since he is the custodian of the Ancestral crown of Shango and responsible for the coronation of the new king.

During the selection of the new king , the Ancestral crown is returned to him to be kept at the shrine of Shango in Koso. Only he has the authority to keep the belongings of Shango. After the enthronement of the new king by receiving Sango crown, it is prohibited for any Alaafin to get back into Koso , because Alaafin and Sango should not see twice in a lifetime . Mogba has the responsibility to perform the necessary rites between the two entities.

Mogba Koso is the one who crowns the Alaafin with the mythical crown of Shango, the Alaafin shall be considered Shango possessing supernatural and spiritual powers that confirmed him as head of the Yoruba. The Fourth Day of World Shango Festival  is about casting the Erindilogun (16 cowries) in Koso in the morning time and the Arugba Shango will proceed into the palace in the afternoon.

Shango ruled over all the Yoruba including Ghana, and Danxome, for the worship of him has continued in all these countries to this day. Finding himself deserted not only by his friends, but also by his beloved wife Oya, he committed suicide at a place called Koso. His tragic end became a proverb and a by-word, and his faithless friends were ashamed on account of the taunts cast upon the name and fame of the unfortunate King. Then Shango’s friends said that the catastrophe was attributable to the late King taking vengeance on his enemies on account of the indignities they had heaped upon his memory. Being appealed to propitiate the offended King in order that he may stay his vengeance upon the land, his friends offered sacrifices to him as god, and hence these intercessors became the  Mogba -advocate and priests of Shango ; and to this day their descendants hold the same office. The emblems of worship representing Shango are certain smooth stones shaped like an Axe head commonly taken for thunder bolts.

Shango’s life was so filled with terrible battles and surprising victories that his subjects and enemies alike credited him with supernatural powers. Shango died in the prime of his life. One of the supernatural powers which he claimed himself was the power to make lightning. According to Oyo traditions, while demonstrating this power to his chiefs and courtiers one day, he accidentally burnt down the palace. Either out of embarrassment or out of fear of his subjects, he took his own life. But his people, out of gratitude for all he had done for their kingdom, deified him, giving his name to the God of Thunder and Lightning and set up shrines and rituals for his worship. The cult of Shango became the special cult of Oyo-Ile kings.

Mounted By The Gods: Elegun Shango and also known as Jakuta is perhaps one of the most popular Orisha; also known as the God of fire, Lightning and Thunder. Shango is historically a royal Ancestor of the Yoruba as he was the third king of the Oyo Kingdom prior to his posthumous deification. In the Lukumi religion of the Caribbean, Shango is considered the center point of the religion as he represents the Oyo people of West Africa, the symbolic Ancestors of the adherents of the faith. All the major initiation ceremonies – as performed in Cuba, Trinidad, Puerto Rico and Venezuela for the last few hundred years are based on the traditional Shango ceremony of Ancient Oyo. This ceremony survived the Middle Passage and is considered to be the most complete to have arrived on Western shores. This variation of the Yoruba initiation ceremony became the basis of all Orisha initiations in the West.

 

***If a mad and another mad live in the same house they will make each other fall into the fireplace. If a mad and another mad live in the same town they will harm each other with magical preparations (Oogun) No family of a mad person will leave him out of sight. Consulted the oracle for Orunmila (Otura-Oriko) Ifá would pay forty cowries for the initiation of Ṣango…

Sango went to consult the oracle as nothing was going well in his life. Orunmila invited him to undergo initiatory rites in Ifá to soften his burden and overcome difficulties he was going through. He was told that he should learn the art of dancing as a means to prosper in life. Before leaving the sacred grove he was asked to offer an additional sacrifice with a white, black and a red cloth, six hundred bags of cowries, three Eku ago and Sese beans. Orunmila then used the red, white and black clothes to make a type of skirt that Ṣango would have to use for dancing. He then called his friend Bàtá to play and put on his skirt. People started to watch his performance and after a while Ṣango said: “you look at me as If I was a mad not knowing why am I dancing but still you don’t give me any money.” Ṣango then began to be called upon to perform from town to town. Dancing became his profession and means of prospering in life.

!! Obi Abata = Kolanut !! (Sango Orogbo = Oturupon Ofun)

==The usage and importance of Kolanut in our everyday life cannot be underrated. It is used to cast Ifa, for prayers and supplications… The question is how it came into being, how did it turn to what is now widely acceptable. Ifa explains how the Gods brought Kolanut to the world. Cast Ifa for four hundred and one Gods, they came together and deliberated on what to do to make their task easier. They gathered and went to meet God (Eledumare), explained their plight. God instructed them to go to his compound and request for Kolanut fruits from its tree, they did as instruct but could not get its fruits. Whenever they touch the tree to pluck it fruits it spits fire, this got Sango angry as he is the God of fire.

Orunmila met them there, they explained what happened. Orunmila went there and tried to pluck the fruit just like the other Gods, he entered a contest with the tree until he won, and the tree spirit allows him to pluck its fruits with explanation. The tree bows in respect to Orunmila and gave explanation on the type leave it would be put in, and Orunmila did as instructed. They started their journey to Ifa Oodaye, the leave dried up, Kolanut fruit gave them another instruction on another leave to use which they did. They got to Ife Oodaye and Kolanut promise to be obedient to them. Therefore, all Deities make use of Kolanut in their activities except Sango who felt insulted for what Kolanut did, which is why he uses another fruit called Bitter Kola (Orogbo.) Kolanut became a divine messenger of Gods. 

            AWODI = (Holy Odu Otura Osa)

Too much kindness is repaid with wickedness (Ore po a fi ka san) Cast for Awodi (Eagle) when he was going to Ikaru to divine. Awodi should offer sacrifice so that he would be able to return from the place to which he was going, and they would not repay his kindness with wickedness. Ebo: pigeon, cock, stone, sacrifice to Oya and Shango. He appeased the Gods.

Awodi the diviner cast for the chief of Ikaru who was weeping tears for all blessings. The chief’s life was troubled and unhappy. Awodi was a son of Shango and Oya. They told the chief of Ikaru “this person (Awodi) who said people would bear children and they’re bearing them, and who said their sicknesses would be cured and they are cured, so he will say, “you will die someday.” They said, “take a bell and say that we should each cut a load of wood, and that each should bring a bottle of palm oil, we know what to do.  They brought 140 loads of wood and 140 bottles of palm oil. They said “this stone, he should take it out when we have lit the fire. When he dives into the fire, that is how we will kill him.” The chief of Ikaru said “all right, you, Awodi, there is something, a custom of our house.  Anyone who didn’t do it, they killed him. The medicine, someone will take it out and I don’t know how they took it out.” Awodi said, “I will take it out.” They made the fire and put the stone of potsherds. They said that Awodi should take it out for them when the time came. Awodi call on Oya. A wind was blowing, and smoke was rising. Awodi dove into the smoke and came out on the other side. When the wind Shango Awodi took the stone, he put it in front of the chief of Ikaru. “Do you see the stone, the stone that Awodi sacrificed the other day, and the stone is on Awodi’s head today.”

*O Ni: Ewu Ina Ki Pa Awodi – Awodi Oku Ewu – Ewu Ina = The danger of fire does not kill Awodi. Awodi, greeting on danger. Orisha will not let people harm us.

Reference Sources: Oduduwa Templo Dos Orixás Brazil = Odetunbi Ifafonahanmi Fatoogun = Asa Orisa Alaafin Oyo Esin Ibile = Google Search/Photo = Wikipedia =