Shango
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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[1]) is perhaps the most popular Orisha; he is a Sky Father, god of thunder and lightning. Sango was a royal ancestor of the Yoruba 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 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 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.
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).
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[edit] Personal History
Shango (or Jakuta)[2] was the third king of Oyo in Yorubaland, and deified after his death; he (along with 14 others) burst forth from the goddess Yemaja's body after her son, Orungan, attempted to rape 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 Aganju and Obatala. 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 Oshun, a river goddess. His other wife, Oba, another river goddess, offered Shango her ear to eat. He scorned her and she became the Oba River, which merges with the Oshun River to form dangerous rapids. Lastly, Oya was Shango's third wife, and stole the secrets of his powerful magic. [3]
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.[citation needed]
[edit] 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.[citation needed]
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.
[edit] 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.[citation needed]
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.
[edit] Veneration in different cultures
Shango is venerated in Haitian Vodou, as a god of thunder and weather; in Brazilian Candomblé Ketu (under the name Xangô); in Umbanda, as the very powerful loa Nago Shango; in Trinidad as Shango God of Thunder, drumming and dance ; and in Cuba, Puerto Rico and Venezuela - the Santeria equivalent of St. Barbara[4], a traditional colonial disguise for the Deity known as Changó.
In art, 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.
[edit] See also
- Santería - Caribbean-originating belief system that combines Catholicism with Yoruba religion
- Saint Barbara - 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.
[edit] References
- ^ Bascom, William Russell (1980). Sixteen Cowries: Yoruba Divination from Africa to the New World. Indiana University Press. pp. 44. ISBN 0253208475. http://books.google.com/books?id=CfmDsiI7TbgC&pg=PA44&d.
- ^ Lum, Kenneth Anthony (2000). Praising His Name in the Dance. Routledge. pp. 231. ISBN 9057026104. http://books.google.com/books?id=OvLBLzXQ1eYC&pg=PA231&d.
- ^ Shango at Pantheon.org
- ^ Shango syncretism - religion-cults.com
- Drewa, Henry John & Pemberton, John III. Yoruba: Nine Centuries of African Art and Thought. The Center for African Arts in association with Harry N. Abrams Inc. 1989. p. 13.
- Visona, Monica B., Robin Poynor, Herbert M. Cole, Michael D. Harris, Suzanne P. Blier, and Rowland Abiodun. A History of Art in Africa. New York: Prentice Hall, Inc. and Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 2001. p. 253.
- Unknown Yoruba Artist. Figure for a Shango Cult. Nigeria. Late 19th century.
[edit] External links
- Chango - Africa's Greatest King
- Tishken, Joel E., Toyin Falola, and Akintunde Akinyemi, eds. Sango in Africa and the African Diaspora. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2009.
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