Major Orishas

by Esther Iverem
SeeingBlack.com Editor

(Yoruba names for some are in parenthesis)

Exu/Elegba (Eshu)
The divine messenger. Also known as the trickster. Dominion: Rules the beneficial and detrimental forces of the universe.

Iansa (Oya)
The thunder mother, goddess of the storm and vengeance. Wife of Shango. Dominion: Wind, tempests, vengeance and spirits of the dead. Colors: Coral, yellow, red, brown and white. Symbols: A horse tail whip, cutlass, copper chalice and thunder bolts. Dance: one hand on the waist, the other trembling in the wind.

Iemanja (Yemanja)
Mother of the Fish. Dominion: Water, mothers, wives, families. Colors: Light milky blue, light pink, white. Symbols: Silver cutlass, star, a round silver fan with an etched figure of a mermaid. Dance: Soft movements of the hands, as if parting the waters.

Nana
Mother of the Orishas. Dominion: The portal of death, the deep sea, ruins and deep wells. Colors: White, dark blue, purple. Symbols: Broom, cowrie shells and ribbons. Dance: Curved over a cane and moving like an old woman.

Ogun
God of War, god of demands. Dominion: War, vengeance, sculpture. defender of law, agriculture and surgery. Colors: Dark blue, red and white. Symbols: Crossed swords, scalpel, sickle, breadfruit tree. Dance: Stabbing the air with a sword.

Omulu
octor of the Poor. Dominion: illness, cemeteries, sickbeds. Colors: Scarlet, yellow, black, gray. Symbols: A miniature iron lance, two thick wooden clubs. Dance: Curved over a cane like an old man.

Oxala
Father of the orishas. The great orisha. Dominion: Procreation, creative force of nature, death, peace. Colors: White, marble, gold. Symbols: Shepherd's staff, shells, gold, lead Dance: Unclear.

Oxossi (Ochossi)
God of the Forest and the Hunt. Dominion: Hunting, forest, cultivation, the law of Christ. Colors: Green and yellow, green and white, light blue. Symbols: Wooden bow and arrow, miniature rifle, fig tree, leather hat or crown with feathers.

Oxum (Oshun)
Named for an African river. Dominion: femininity, charity, the womb, middle depths of the sea. Colors: Gold, yellow, blue. Symbols: Mirror, dagger. Dance: Like a woman taking a bath in the river, Or sensually combing her hair.

Xango (Shango)
God of Lightening and Justice. Dominion: Law, justice, tempests, knowledge. Colors: Red, brown, white and purple. Symbols: Double-bladed ax, thunder and lightening bolts, javelin. Dance: Clenched fists boxing each other.

Sources: Shango by Awo Fa'Lokun Fatunmbi; Sarava! Afro-Brazilian Magick by Carol L. Dow; The Way of the Orisa, by Philip John Neimark.

-- April 9, 2001

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