OGUN

OGUN is energy. The word OGUN, with the appropriate tonal changes, can be translated to mean war, inheritance, medicine and perspiration. OGUN is that force of nature that keeps matter in motion. Once god gives a being life, it is OGUN who sustains that organism. OGUN is the sustained of life. Without OGUN, the universe, as we know it, would not exist. He controls one quarter of the universe and although he cannot exist of himself, he is so important in the scheme of things, that all of the ORISHA are dependent on him for their existence. OGUN is one of the oldest of ORISHA in the Yoruba pantheon. OGUN's symbol is the knife. It is because of this that a major contradiction arises. OGUN eats first, because the knife is the first thing to taste blood in any sacrifice. Folklore states that ELEGBARA a must eat first, and in ritual feasts and bloodless offerings, he is presented his food first. However, in blood sacrifices it is OGUN, the only one allowed to take a life, who eats first, and it is because of him that the other ORISHA can be fed blood. Although OGUN lives in iron, and one of his symbols is iron, his essence, energy, existed long before iron was created.

OGUN is the father of metamorphosis, because with his great strength and with the aid of intense heat, he transforms carbon into diamonds, sandstone into marbles, and marble into gneiss. The cauldron is the symbolic of a womb, a mine, the primordial abyss, and the tools which kept inside it are used by OGUN to fashion or shape whatever potential riches are inside.

The main tools of OGUN are the anvils, which signifies the earth's ability to transform man; the shovel, which is used fir digging into one's potential. The machete, which is used to clear path's and to protect, The rake, which is used to gather and smooth rough area's of the self; the hoe, which is used to cultivate one's potential. The hammer, which is used to bend or shape one's faculties; and the pick, which is used to pierce or penetrate the hardened areas of the self. the implements are gifts of OGUN which he uses to help a person through life. OGUN favorite animal is the dog. OGUN likes all dogs but his favorite is the black dog. He favors it because of its faithful and devoted, because of the way it hunts. The dog is known as man's best friend.

OGUN Prayer

OGUN Oni' re ni je aj'a,
OGUN ikola a je `gbin,
OGUN gbena-gbena`oje igi ni i je!
pa si'le ps s'oko.
Laka aiye OGUN ko laso,
moriwo l'aso OGUN.
Ire kii se ile OGUN,
emu lo ya mu ni'be.

Translation

OGUN, the owner of Ire, eats dog,
OGUN of circumcision, eats snail,
OGUN of carvers, saps the juice of trees!
He kills in the house and kills on the farm.
He who covers the world, OGUN had no cloth,
Palm frond is the cloth of OGUN.
Ire is not the home of OGUN,
he just stopped there to drink palm wine.