Ògún
The orisa of iron, war, hunting and the road, the massacre at Ire and its variants, Soyinka's reading of Ogun as the Yoruba tragic principle, and the occupational cult that now includes drivers and mechanics.
Ògún na di òrìṣà of iron, and because of dat, na im dey control everything wey iron dey do: war, hunting, blacksmith work, surgery, farming, circumcision, clearing of road, and for modern times lorry, motor, machine shop, and operating theatre. Na im be di one wey first go, wey cut road pass bush with iron blade make other òrìṣà for fit come down to earth, and na dis first-to-go position make am dey receive di first blood sacrifice. Na im still be di one wey kill plenty people for Irè town when vex hold am, and when e realize wetin e do, e thrust im sword put inside ground come enter di earth follow am.
Ògún na di one wey dey most functionally active among di òrìṣà for modern Nigeria. Swear wey pesin swear on top iron, even people wey call demselves Christian or Muslim dey take am serious, and practice of Ògún among drivers, welders, hunters, and mechanics still dey continue for places wey di shrines for don empty.
Names and praise names
Ògún Onírè, Ogun of Irè, or owner of Irè.
Olúlànà, di pesin wey dey open road, from olú (chief, owner) plus ọ̀nà (road, path). Dis na di praise name for clearing road and e share am with Èṣù, wey also be opener of ways.
Òṣìn Ìmọ̀lẹ̀, leader of di divinities, because na im lead dem come down to earth.
Lákáayé.
Ẹjẹmú Olúwọnrọ̀n, from di Odù Ògúndá Méjì.
And di seven named Ògún of di Ògún méje verse, wey dey below: Ògún Aláàrá, Ògún Onírè, Ògún Oníkọlà, Elémọ̀nà, Ògún Akirun, Gbénàgbénà, and Ògún-Makinde.
Oríkì: di Ògún méje verse
Dis na di strongest bilingual òrìṣà text wey dis corpus don verify. Na ìjálá verse, di kind hunters' chant genre wey dey attached to Ògún, wey Adeleye print for Yorùbá with English.
Ògún méje l'Ògún-un mi Ògún Aláàrá ni ń gbájá Ògún Onírè a gbàgbò Ògún Oníkọlà ni ń gbàgbin Elémọ̀nà a gbẹsun iṣu Ògún Akirun a gbàwo àgbò Gbénàgbénà ẹran ahun níí jẹ Ibẹ̀ l'Ògún-makinde ti d'Ògún l'ẹ́yìn odi
- Ògún méje Ogun seven l'Ògún-un mi na-my-Ogun
- Ògún Aláàrá Ogun of-the-Alara ni ń gbájá na-di-one-wey-dey-receive dog
- Ògún Onírè Ogun of-the-Onire a gbàgbò dey-receive ram
- Ògún Oníkọlà Ogun of-the-circumciser ni ń gbàgbin na-di-one-wey-dey-receive snail
- Elémọ̀nà owner-of-the-road-toll a gbẹsun iṣu dey-receive roasted yam
- Ògún Akirun Ogun of-Akirun a gbàwo àgbò dey-receive horn of-ram
- Gbénàgbénà carver (carve-road-carve-road) ẹran ahun flesh of-tortoise níí jẹ na-wetin-e-dey-chop
- Ibẹ̀ there l'Ògún-makinde na-where-Ogun-makinde ti d'Ògún become-Ogun l'ẹ́yìn odi behind di-wall / outside-di-town
There are seven brands of Ogun. Alara's Ogun is given a dog Onire's Ogun is given a ram Onikola's Ogun is given a snail Elemona's Ogun is given roasted yam Akiirun's Ogun is given the horn of a ram Gbenagbena's Ogun is given the flesh of a tortoise Away from home the dance artist presents self as Ogun, the brave traveler himself.
Di verse na list, and wetin e dey do na to establish say Ògún no be one single ting: seven Ògún, wey each of dem attach to different title-holder or trade, and each get im own proper offering. Di names show work and territory at di same time. Oníkọlà na di pesin wey dey do kọlà, facial and body cut, so dis Ògún belong to people wey dey do scarification and circumcision, and e be clear instance of how di iron principle dey follow di blade anywhere e go. Gbénàgbénà na di woodcarver, from di repeating of gbẹ́ (to carve) and ọ̀nà (pattern, design, road), and English no fit capture di fact say di carver name get di same ọ̀nà wey make Ògún di opener of roads. Di last line na di hardest: l'ẹ́yìn odi, behind di wall, mean outside di town, and di printed English "away from home the dance artist presents self as Ogun" make one interpretive choice about Ògún-makinde wey literal reading no require. Di line cut short di way oríkì lines dey be, and e point to one story wey dem assume say di audience already know.
Take note say di printed source no use full diacritics; di diacritics inside di Original above na normalisation of di transcription wey dis compiler do, and di gloss na dis compiler own. Confidence on di gloss layer dey medium because of dat reason; di Yorùbá text and di idiomatic English dey just as dem print am.
Other verified Ògún texts
Di same article print Odù Ìdìngbè for Yorùbá with translation, di story of di hare wey reconcile Ògún and di Onírè, wey be di reason for one specific taboo: dem no dey ever sacrifice hare for Ògún Onírè worship, because unlike dog, ram, and cock, e succeed to reconcile father and son . Di article still give one piece of Odù Ògúndá Méjì: "Ilé ni mo ti jáde wá / Ọ̀nà mi ni mò ń tọ̀ / A dífá fún Ògún Ẹjẹmú Olúwọnrọ̀n / Adigirigiri ré bí ìjà" .
For full ìjálá texts for Yorùbá with facing English, di standard source na S.A. Babalọla's The Content and Form of Yorùbá Ijala (Oxford: Clarendon, 1966), wey be di richest Ògún source wey dey . Two well-known Ògún pieces dey circulate as English-only extracts wey dem take from inside am: "A Salute to my Ogun," about eighty lines, wey start with "Now I will chant a salute to my Ogun: O Belligerent One, you are not cruel, The Ejemu, foremost chief of Iwonran Town"; and "Ogun Passed Through Ilogbo Town," wey Raaji Ogundiran Alao perform for Eripa for Osun State, wey Adeboye Babalọla collect and translate, and wey dem reprint for Barnes's Africa's Ogun . Because dis ones dey circulate without di Yorùbá, dem just mention dem here and dem no reproduce dem.
Iconography, materials, and offerings
Johnson's 1921 description, wey dem read directly :
"Dis na di god of war, and all instruments wey dem make with iron na im dem dey consecrate to am, na why Ogun be di god of blacksmiths. Di image wey dey represent am na di silk cotton tree wey dem plant specifically, wey granite stone dey under am where dem dey pour palm oil and di blood of animal wey dem kill, wey mostly dey be dog."
Di elements: di silk cotton tree, wey dem plant on purpose to mark di shrine; granite stone under am; palm oil; dog as di main sacrifice wey dem dey use.
Pass wetin Johnson talk: iron for any form, and shrine many times dey just be collection of iron tins, tools, and weapons. Di àdá, wey be cutlass or machete. Palm wine, roasted yam, and kola. One practice wey dem document na di pouring of mixture of dog blood, salt, kola, palm wine, and palm oil on top di work tools of di household wey dem gather together inside bowl, wey be Ògún observance as tradesman dey do am. Dem mention different colours like red, black, green, and blue depending on di region, and no single Ògún colour dey for Yorùbáland wey match di way Ọbàtálá's dey use white.
Di oath on iron. To swear on top iron na di strongest form of oath for Yorùbá practice, and dem report say dem dey use am for Nigerian courts. Di person wey compile dis work no fit verify specific legal citation for di court usage, so dem put am as wetin dem report widely instead of wetin dem document.
Di stories, with variants
Variant A: di standard Irè story
Ògún return from war come meet di people of Irè for one gathering where talk dey forbidden, one àjọ oríkì or silent meeting. Nobody greet am. As e see say di kegs of palm wine don empty join, e draw sword kill plenty of dem. When di vex finish and e understand wetin e don do, e thrust im sword enter ground, sit down on top am, and sink enter inside ground, come promise say e go come anytime wey dem call am.
Two tins about dis. E no die; e enter ground, wey be di same wọlé idiom wey Johnson note for Ṣàngó and Ọya. And di story no try to excuse wetin happen. Di tradition no dey excuse di massacre, and di remorse of Ògún na di turning point. Dis na itan about power wey truly dangerous and wey know say e dangerous.
Variant B: di Irè-Èkìtì local version
Adeleye article, as e use Irè-Èkìtì sources, give account wey different well well . For here Ògún no be son of Ọdùduwà: di article state say e "is often erroneously believed to be a descendant of Oduduwa and given birth to in Ile-Ife," and say e "was a foreigner who journeyed to Yorubaland," with im papa name as Tabutu and im mama as Orororiran, with dates around 1383 to 1475 . Im son Dahunsi receive di title Onírè come become di first king of Irè, and subsequent Onírè dey claim say dem descend from Ògún.
For dis version, after di massacre, one man appease Ògún with roasted yam and palm wine, and na so di man come dey known as Elepe, di person wey appease am, wey im descendants become custodians of Iju, di place where e enter ground .
Dis variant dey significant because e directly contradict di Ifẹ̀-centred account where Ògún be Ọdùduwà's son, and e do so from inside di town wey hold di main Ògún cult. 03-history treat di general matter of Ifẹ̀-centred origin claims versus local ones.
Variant C: di Ifẹ̀ throne version
Another account talk say Ògún find di throne for Ifẹ̀ and Ọbalùfọ̀n Ògbógbódirin oust am come send am go exile. Na dis version fit di Ifẹ̀ dynastic frame.
Variant D: di path-clearing story
Ògún clear di way through di bush with iron blade so dat di other òrìṣà fit come down to earth, na why e be Olúlànà and why e dey take first place for blood sacrifice: e dey chop first, because knife or cutlass na iron dem use make am and nothing fit die without am. Di proverb wey follow am na "t'ẹrú t'ọmọ ni ń b'Ògún", both slave and freeborn dey celebrate Ògún, wey show say im cult dey cross status lines for society wey divide sharply on status.
Variant E: wetin Soyinka write
Wọlé Ṣóyínká's essay "The Fourth Stage: Through the Mysteries of Ogun to the Origin of Yoruba Tragedy," wey dem publish as appendix to Myth, Literature and the African World (1976), na di most influential modern interpretation of Ògún and na work of literary philosophy instead of ethnography .
Ṣóyínká's argument: between di worlds of di living, di dead, and di unborn, a fourth region dey, one deep gulf of transition wey person no fit measure, chaotic space where opposite tins dey collide without resolution. Ògún na di one wey cross am. As e pass through am, e make am di first tragic protagonist and, for Ṣóyínká's account, di first actor, and e make di creative and destructive aspects of am be one single ting wey person no fit divide instead of contradiction. Ògún for dis reading na di Yorùbá tragic principle, no be just war god wey get temper.
Dis reading get plenty influence and e be Ṣóyínká's, wey develop through dialogue with Nietzsche and Greek tragedy. Dem suppose present am as twentieth-century philosophical interpretation, wey be wetin di author intend, and no be as di traditional understanding.
Towns, shrines, and festivals
Irè-Èkìtì, for Oye Local Government Area of Ekiti State, wey dem also dey call Irè m'Ògún. Dem dey hold di Ògún Onírè festival every year for August, with preparation wey dey start seventeen days before, and di chief priest dey announce di new moon by blowing di upe trumpet for seven days . One special feature: na only Ògún Onírè dey receive ram from di Onírè, on top di reason say son dey worship im papa with ram . Dem dey use carved images of Ògún, im mama, and im wife, and notably no masquerade dey for Irè-Èkìtì . Dem dey celebrate Ògún Onírè first for di year, before other towns their Ògún festivals .
Ondo: September. Irun Akoko: October.
Ilé-Ifẹ̀: di Olójó festival, for September or October, wey dem dey explain say na di day of di first dawn, wey Ọọ̀ni dey wear di Àre crown, wey dem believe say na Ọdùduwà's original crown, and go do procession go Òkè Mògún, di main Ògún shrine for di city. 23-the-ritual-year cover Olójó fully.
Priesthood and di occupational cult
Ògún cult dey based on work pass say make e dey organized around one single priesthood. Di people wey dey inside na hunters (ọdẹ, wey dia guild head na di Olúọdẹ), blacksmiths, warriors, and for di twentieth and twenty-first century, drivers, mechanics, welders, and metalworkers. Di general titles bàbálòrìṣà and ìyálòrìṣà dey apply; dis compiler no fit verify any clear priestly hierarchy wey dey specific to Ògún.
Two oral genres wey connect to am:
Ìjálá, di hunters chant, wey di tradition say na from Ògún e originate and na di genre wey majority of Ògún praise poetry dey inside. Babalọla's 1966 study na di standard work . 02-language treat di genre.
Ìrèmọ̀jé, di hunters funeral dirge for Ògún, wey Bade Ajuwon study .
Di modern extension no mean say di tradition don weak or reduce. Nigerian driver wey keep kola nut for inside motor and pour libation before long journey dey do exactly wetin di tradition say make e do: e dey work with iron for road, and Ògún na iron and di road. 09-orisa-today cover how dis tradition survive.
Diaspora counterparts
Cuba, Lucumí: Ogún. Dem join am together with Saint Peter, and also with Saint Michael. Which one pass di other no dey verified here.
Brazil, Candomblé: Ogum. Di documented division make sense make person state am well: generally dem dey associate Ogum with Saint George, but for many Candomblé houses for Salvador, Bahia, na Saint Anthony dem take dey associate Ogum instead. Saint Sebastian still dey show. Hin day na Tuesday. Di difference for Bahia na good specific example wey dey show why correspondence tables dey fail .
Haiti, Vodou: Ogou. Na full family of Ogou spirits, no be just one. Karen McCarthy Brown "Systematic Remembering, Systematic Forgetting: Ogou in Haiti" na di standard treatment, and wetin she argue about wetin di Haitian tradition keep and wetin dem drop na di most useful comparative framework wey dey available .
Brazil, Umbanda: Ogum, Renato Ortiz treat am .
Di single best comparative study na Margaret Thompson Drewal "Dancing for Ogun in Yorubaland and in Brazil", wey compare di actual movement vocabulary instead of di theology . Sandra Barnes edited volume Africa's Ogun: Old World and New na di standard scholarly collection on Ògún across di Atlantic and e contain all three of dis chapters plus Barnes and Ben-Amos on "Ogun, the Empire Builder," Pemberton on "The Dreadful God and the Divine King," Babalọla on Ògún for ìjálá, Ajuwon on ìrèmọ̀jé, and John Mason on Ògún for Lucumí . 08-diaspora treat di traditions as dem be by dia own terms.