In Yorùbá religion,
Sàngó ( also spelled,
Sango or
Shango, often known as
Xangô or
Changó in Latin America and the Caribbean, and also known as
Jakuta) is perhaps the most popular
OrishaAn Orisha is a spirit or deity that reflects one of the manifestations of Olodumare in the Yoruba spiritual or religious system...
; he is a
Sky FatherThe sky father is a recurring theme in mythology all over the world. The sky father is the complement of the earth mother and appears in some creation myths, many of which are Indo-European or ancient Near Eastern. Other cultures have quite different myths; Egyptian mythology features a sky...
, god of
thunderThunder is the sound made by lightning. Depending on the nature of the lightning and distance of the listener, it can range from a sharp, loud crack to a long, low rumble . The sudden increase in pressure and temperature from lightning produces rapid expansion of the air surrounding and within a...
and lightning. Sango was a royal ancestor of the
YorubaYoruba people are one of the largest ethno-linguistic or ethnic groups in west Africa. The majority of the Yoruba speak the Yoruba language...
as he was the third king of the Oyo Kingdom. In the Lukumí (Olokun mi = "my dear one") religion of the Caribbean, Shango is considered the center point of the religion as he represents the Oyo people of West Africa. The
Oyo- Places :In Nigeria* The Oyo Empire or Kingdom, a former West-African empire that covered parts of modern-day Nigeria and Benin* Oyo State, a present-day state of Nigeria named after the Oyo Empire...
Kingdom was sacked and pillaged as part of a jihad by the Islamic Sokoto Caliphate. All the major initiation ceremonies (as performed in Cuba, 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 PassageThe Middle Passage refers to the forcible passage of African people from Africa to the New World, as part of the Atlantic slave trade. Ships departed Europe for African markets with commercial goods, which were in turn traded for kidnapped Africans who were transported across the Atlantic as...
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.
The energy given from this Deity of Thunder is also a major symbol of African resistance against an enslaving European culture. He rules the color red and white; his sacred number is 6; his symbol is the oshe (double-headed axe), which represents swift and balanced justice. His dominance is over male sexuality and human vitality, in general. He is owner of the Bata (3 double-headed drums), as well as the Arts of Music, Dance and Entertainment. Shango can be deduced, in some regards, to be the essence of "strategy" (logic and passion drawn and fashioned precisely to achieve some end).
Personal History
Shango (or Jakuta) was the third king of Oyo in Yorubaland, and deified after his death; he (along with 14 others) burst forth from the goddess
YemajaYemaja is an orisha, originally of the Yoruba religion, who has become prominent in many Afro-American religions. Africans from what is now called Yorubaland brought Yemaya and a host of other deities/energy forces in nature with them when they were brought to the shores of the Americas as captives...
's body after her son,
OrunganIn Yoruba religion, Orungan was the son of Yemaja and Aganju.He ravished his mother once, and as he tried a second time, Yemaja fell and burst open, whereupon the fifteen Orishas came forth from her....
, attempted to
rapeRape, also referred to as sexual assault, is an assault by a person involving sexual intercourse with or without sexual penetration of another person without that person's consent....
her for the second time. Of course, there are several stories regarding the birth and parentage of Shango. He is a major character in the divination literature of the Lukumi religion. Stories about Shango's life exemplify some major themes regarding the nature of character and destiny. In one set of stories Shango is the son of
AganjuIn Yoruba mythology, Aganju is the Orisha of volcanos, the wilderness, and the river. He is associated with Saint Christopher.As the third Òrìsà said to have come to earth, Aganjú is an Òrìsà of great antiquity. Lukumi followers of this religion believe that Aganjú is a force that, like the sun...
and
ObatalaIn Yoruba orisha veneration, Obàtálá, through the power of God, the Supreme Being, , made human bodies, and Olorun breathed life into them. Obàtálá is also the owner of all ori or heads...
. As the story goes, Obatala, the king of the white cloth was travelling and had to cross a river. Aganju, the ferryman and god of fire, refused him passage. Obatala retreated and turned himself into a beautiful woman. He returned to the river and traded his/her body for passage. Shango was the result of this uneasy union. This tension between reason represented by Obatala and fire represented by Aganju would form the foundation of Shango's particular character and nature. In further patakis Shango goes in search of Aganju, his father, and the two of them play out a drama of conflict and resolution that culminates with Shango throwing himself into the fire to prove his lineage. All of the stories regarding Shango revolve around dramatic events such as this one. He has three wives; his favorite (because of her excellent cooking) is
Oshunin Yoruba mythology, is a spirit-goddess who reigns over love, intimacy, beauty, wealth and diplomacy. She is worshipped also in Brazilian Candomblé Ketu, with the name spelled Oxum...
, a river goddess. His other wife,
ObaIn Yoruba mythology, Ọba or Obbá is the first wife of Shango, the second king of the Oyo Empire and the Yoruba god of thunder and lightning. Obbá is a river-goddess . She was the daughter of Yemaja and one of the wives of Shango. She offered Shango her ear to eat, and he scorned her...
, another river goddess, offered Shango her ear to eat. He scorned her and she became the Oba River, which merges with the
Oshun RiverThe Oṣun River is a river that flows southwards through central Yorubaland in southwestern Nigeria into the Lagos Lagoon and the Atlantic Gulf of Guinea...
to form dangerous rapids. Lastly,
OyaIn Yoruba mythology, Oya , is the Goddess of the Niger River.-Aspects:She is seen in aspects of warrior-goddess of wind, lightning, fertility, fire, and magic. She creates hurricanes and tornadoes and guards the underworld...
was Shango's third wife, and stole the secrets of his powerful
magicMagic, sometimes known as sorcery, is the practice of consciousness manipulation and/or autosuggestion to achieve a desired result, usually by techniques described in various conceptual systems...
.
The story of Shango and Oba carries the familiar refrain, "all that glitters is not gold". As has been stated Shango had three wives, Oba, his first and legitimate wife, Oshun, his second wife, and Oya his concubine and the only one of his wives that he made his queen. At that time and in that place they would live in a compound. In that compound, Shango had his own house and each wife had her own house surrounding his. He would then visit his wives in their houses to eat and to sleep with them. Oba noticed that when Shango went to the house of Oshun he would eat all of the food that she prepared for him but when he came to her home he would just pick. Oba, wanting a closer relationship with her husband, decided to ask Oshun how she kept Shango so happy. Oshun, being asked this, was filled with resentment. As children of the first wife, Oba's children would inherit Shango's kingdom. Her children would not have nearly the same status, being born from his concubine. She decided to play a trick on Oba, out of jealousy. She told Oba that many years ago she had cut a small piece of her ear off and dried it. From this she made a powder she would sprinkle on Shango's food. As he ate it, she told Oba, Shango would desire the food and Oshun all the more. Oba, excited by this information, ran home to prepare Shango's amala, his favorite meal. Once it was done she decided that if a little piece of Oshun's ear produced such an effect her whole ear would drive Shango mad with desire for her and he would forget Oshun forever. She sliced off her ear and stirred it into Shango's food. When Shango came to eat he sat down and began eating without looking at his dish. When he finally glanced down he saw an ear floating in the stew. Shango, thinking Oba was trying to poison him, drove her from his house. Oba ran from the compound, crying, and fell to earth to become a river, where she is still worshipped today. As an Orisha she is the patron of matrimony and is said to destroy marriages that abuse either partner.
Orisa Veneration
The orisa, or gods, are Yoruba ancestors or incarnate natural forces who/that are venerated. Worship is relegated to Olodumare alone. Contrary to popular belief, the Orisa tradition is monotheistic, "one Deity rules all", with multiple forces of nature that are propitiated in order not to bother Olodumare with the mundane troubles of humans. It is easy to see how syncretisim was possible when one understands that Orisa can be likened to the Saints of Catholicism, avenues to the main "God". Orisa are Deities which represent conduits of Olodumare's energy expressing itself in the Universe. Like the colors of the spectrum, each Orisha rules over a certain aspect, or level of life. Together they unite as one singular expression, Olodumare, whose mouthpiece is the Oracle system (Ifa or cowrie shell). Through the ikin (palm nuts) or cowrie shells, patterns (odu) are unlocked and stories and myths are shared, all to help the oracle's querents align themselves with their own "God-given" destiny. The 256 possible combinations of the ikin odu represent the face of Olodumare. Each combination comes with stories of what happened the last time this pattern fell for someone, prayers and sacrifices are also attached to each odu pattern in order to give the querent a remedy for spiritual re-alignment. Thousands of years of stories are collected into a complete form of Divination around which a musical culture of ritual and dance has developed.
Some of the Orisa are ancient, created in the "beginning of time" by Olorun, the "owner of the sky/heavens". Orisa may be considered natural forces such as rivers, mountains, stones, thunder, or lightning. There are two categories of Orisa, which are grouped according to personalities and modes of action. Those categories are "hot" and "cool". The group of "hot" orisa mostly consists of males, but there are a few females. Sango's wife, Oya is also included as a “hot Orisa”. She is the queen of the whirlwind.
Orisa are divine but also deified ancestors of Yorubaland. Sango fits both of these descriptions, for his is not only the embodiment of thunder, but also a hero of the Oyo Empire.
Veneration of Shango
The religious ritual of Shango was possibly designed in order to help the devotees of Shango gain self-control. Historically, Shango brought prosperity to the Oyo Empire during his reign. After deification, the initiation ceremony dictates that this same prosperity be bestowed upon followers, on a personal level. According to Yoruba and Vodou belief systems, Shango hurls bolts of lightning at the people chosen to be his followers, leaving behind imprints of stone axe blade on the Earth's crust. These blades can be seen easily after heavy rains. Veneration of Shango enables—according to Yoruba belief—a great deal of power and self-control.
Shango altars often contain an often-seen carved figure of a woman holding her bosom as a gift to the god with a single double-blade axe sticking up from her head. The axe symbolizes that this devotee is possessed by Shango. The woman's expression is calm and cool, expressing the qualities she has gained through her faith.
Veneration in different cultures
Shango is venerated in
HaitiHaiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Creole- and French-speaking Caribbean country. Along with the Dominican Republic, it occupies the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago...
an Vodou, as a god of thunder and weather; in
BrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the fifth largest country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the fifth most populous country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean...
ian
Candomblé KetuCandomblé Ketu is the largest and most influential nation of Candomblé, a religion widely practiced in Brazil...
(under the name
Xangô); in
UmbandaUmbanda is an Afro-Brazilian religion that blends African religions with CatholicismUmbanda is related to and has many similitudes with other Afro-Brazilian religions like Candomblé, Batuque, Macumba, Quimbanda, Xambá, Egungun, Ifá, Irmandade, Confraria, Xangô do Nordeste and Tambor de Mina, but...
, as the very powerful
loaThe Loa are the spirits of the Voodoo religion practiced in Haiti, and other parts of the world. They are also referred to as Mystères and the Invisibles. They are somewhat akin to saints or angels in Christianity in that they are intermediaries between Bondye —the Creator, who is distant from the...
Nago Shango; in Trinidad as Shango God of Thunder, drumming and dance ; and in Cuba, Puerto Rico and Venezuela - the
SanteriaSantería is a syncretic religion of Caribbean origin, also known as Regla de Ocha, La Regla Lucumi, or Lukumi.- Etymology :...
equivalent of St. Barbara, a traditional colonial disguise for the Deity known as
Changó.
In
artArt is the process or product of deliberately arranging elements in a way that appeals to the senses or emotions. It encompasses a diverse range of human activities, creations, and modes of expression, including music, literature, film, sculpture, and paintings...
, Sango is depicted with a double-axe on his three heads. He is associated with the holy animal, the ram, and the holy colors of red and white.
See also
- Santería - Caribbean-originating belief system that combines Catholicism with Yoruba religion
- Saint Barbara
Saint Barbara, known in the Eastern Orthodox Church as the Great Martyr Barbara , was a Christian saint and martyr. Although there is no reference to her in the authentic early Christian writings, nor in the original recension of Saint Jerome's martyrology, veneration of her was common from the...
- Catholic saint used as representation Shango in Santería.
- Shango Baptist - Trinidad and Tobago originating belief system that combines Orisha worship with Christianity
- Shango
Shango is a fictional deity published by DC Comics. He first appeared in Firestorm, The Nuclear Man #95, March 1990, and was created by John Ostrander and Tom Mandrake.-Down the Chain:...
- A member of the Orisha Pantheon published by DC ComicsDC Comics is one of the largest and most popular American comic book and related media companies, along with Marvel Comics. It is the publishing division of DC Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary company of Warner Bros. Entertainment...
.
External links