In the 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 one of 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....
; also known as the god of fire, lightning and thunder. Shango is historically a royal ancestor of the
YorubaThe Yoruba people are one of the largest ethnic groups in West Africa. The majority of the Yoruba speak the Yoruba language...
as he was the third king of the
Oyo KingdomThe Oyo Empire was a Yoruba empire of what is today southwestern Nigeria. The empire was established before the 14th century and grew to become one of the largest West African states encountered by European explorers. It rose to preeminence through its possession of a powerful cavalry and wealth...
prior to his posthumous deification. 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 symbolic ancestors of the adherents of the faith. 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 was the stage of the triangular trade in which millions of people from Africa were shipped to the New World, as part of the Atlantic slave trade...
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
Palace tradition of Oyo
Following
OduduwaOduduwa Omoluabi, Olofin Adimula, Emperor of the Yoruba, phonetically written by his people as Odùduwà and sometimes contracted as Odudua or Oòdua, is generally held among the Yoruba to be the reigning ancestor of the crowned Yoruba kings....
,
OranyanOranyan Omoluabi, King of the Yoruba, also known as Oranmiyan, was a Yoruba king from the kingdom of Ile-Ife and heir to Oduduwa. According to Yoruba history, he founded Oyo at around the year 1170 and one of his children, Eweka I, went on to become the first Oba of the Benin Empire...
and Ajaka, Shango (or Jakuta) was the third Alafin (king) of Oyo. In Johnston's mythological account of racial heros and kings, contrary to his peaceful brother Ajaka, he was a powerful and even violent ruler. Moreover, he is said to have had supernatural forces because he could produce thunder and lightning. He reigned for seven years, the whole of which period was marked by his continuous campaigns and his many battles. The end of his reign resulted from his own inadvertent destruction of his palace by lightning.
In Yorubaland
The religious ritual of Shango was possibly designed in order to help the devotees of Shango gain self-control. Shango's beads tell the story of "his" essence, the logic of Obatala (white) alternating in balance with the fire of Aganyu (red) in passion towards some goal. Historically, Shango brought prosperity to the Oyo Empire during his reign. After his deification, the initiation ceremony of the cult of his memory 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 blades 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.
In America
Shango is venerated in
HaitiHaiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
an Vodou, as a god of thunder and weather; in Brazilian
Candomblé KetuCandomblé Ketu is the largest and most influential nation of Candomblé, a religion widely practiced in Brazil...
(under the name
Xangô).
In
artArt is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
, 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.
Jakuta distinct from Shango
"Shango usurped the duties of an older deity, Jakuta, who hurled fire stones to punish people when they acted against the wishes of Olodumare, the Supreme God".
The name "Jakuta, "Hurler of stones", or "Fighter with stones" (
Ja to hurl from aloft, ... and
okuta, stone)" is an allusion to "stone implements ... believed to be his thunderbolts." Jakuta was "associated with a fellowship of meteorites".
Further Reading
- Charles Spencer King
Charles Spencer “Spen” King was a significant figure in the Rover Company and, after their takeover, in the British Leyland Motor Corporation.After leaving school in 1942, he was first apprenticed to Rolls-Royce...
, "Nature's Ancient Religion: Orisha Worship & IFA" ISBN 1-44041-733-4
- Charles Spencer King
Charles Spencer “Spen” King was a significant figure in the Rover Company and, after their takeover, in the British Leyland Motor Corporation.After leaving school in 1942, he was first apprenticed to Rolls-Royce...
, "IFA Y Los Orishas: La Religion Antigua De LA Naturaleza" ISBN 1-46102-898-1
See also
- Santería - Caribbean-originating belief system that combines Catholicism with Yoruba religion
- Saint Barbara
Saint Barbara, , Feast Day December 4, known in the Eastern Orthodox Church as the Great Martyr Barbara, was an early Christian saint and martyr....
- Catholic saint used as representation Shango in Santería.
- Shango Baptist - Trinidad and Tobago originating belief system that combines Orisha worship with Christianity
- Shango - A member of the Orisha Pantheon published by DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
.
External links