Lesser known Orishas
Afolabi
It has been one of my main interests, since my initiation to the
priesthood lo these many years ago (haha), to maintain the worship of
Orishas who are more obscure and lesser known. Here are some basic
notes on several of them:
Aje Shaluga - The Orisha of wealth. She is related to Obatala, Yemoja,
and Olokun. She lives in an urn similar to one used for Yemoja,
although smaller, which should ideally be mostly white with accents of
blue. According to the odu in which she is born, she can live near any
Orisha. For instance, if the Odu that falls is Oshe (5), she would be
kept near Oshun. In addition to the secret elements in her urn, she
also contains coins from around the world (which can be a pain in the
ass because many countries make their coins from metals which rust) as
well as semi-precious stones and seashells, which are the wealth of
Yemoja and Olokun. She is a wife of Olokun. Since I received the Orisha
I have never been in a desperate financial situation. Her eleke is
similar to that of Obatala, largely white, but with accent sections
that resemble Olokun's eleke (dark blue, bottle green, and coral).
Olosa - The Orisha of Lagoons. She is another wife of Olokun. She
represents the lagoons that precede the ocean. Her symbol is the
crocodile and she also, like Aje, lives in an urn that resembles that
of Yemoja or Olokun. Mine is in a red clay urn glazed on the inside.
Her beads are milky white, dark , translucent blue, and coral.
Ananagu - The Yoruba Pandora. Her curiosity caused her to open the
chest containing all the osogbos, thus unleashing them on the world. I
call her the "mezuzah" of the Orishas, as she lives at the front door.
Her ashe is equated with the "massacre of the innocents" from the
book of Exodus in the bible in that any house in which she guards the
door will be passed over by Osogbo. I fully credit her with the
regaining of my health from the deadly cancer with which I was
diagnosed. She is the daughter of Olokun and a Yewa, born in the odu
Ofun (10), but she was raised by Yemoja Asesu. She is a cosmic Orisha,
as is reflected by the tools in her sopera. Her sopera resembles that
of Yemoja or Olokun. Her eleke resembles that of Olokun, but is marked
by groupings of 10 rather than multiples of 7.
Irawo - Born with Orisha Oko, this is the Orisha of the stars. His main
tools are a silver shooting star and a thunderstone. He is born
directly from Orisha Oko, usually when he is received, but this
practice has fallen out of use. He has no eleke and lives in a small
dish like that of Elegba. He is associated with astrology and
navigation (both manifestations of being guided by the stars).
Iya Maase/Maaselobi - Shango has no official mother, except in the
story in which Yemoja gave birth to the 16 main Orishas. Shango, for
the most part, is considered to have been born directly from Olorun.
Maaselobi is the spark of Olorun from which Shango was born from. Her
eleke is a mixture of Yemoja and Shango. She lives in an urn similar to
that of Yemoja. He shrine implements resemble Yemoja more than Shango.
Logun Ede - An Orisha whose cult totally died out in Cuba (although he
is still remembered in stories as "Laro"), he still flourished in
Brazil. He is the son of Erinle and Oshun Iponda and lives half the
year in the forest with his father and the other half in the river with
his mother (interestingly, Iponda, a river deity, also lives in the
woods as well as does Erinle, a forest deity, in the river). Logun is
androgynous and is considered by many to be the patron of gay, lesbian,
and transgendered people. He is an Orisha of finery and beauty like his
mother and father. One of Logun's primary symbols is the scale, as he
brings balance in all things, especially gendre and sexuality issues.
His eleke is light blue and amber with accents of coral. Oba Oriate
Miguel "Willie" Ramos, Ilari Oba, Oni Shango, traveled years ago to
Brazil to receive this Orisha in order to reintroduce his worship to
the Lukumi/Santeria community.
Nanu - A female road of Asojano/Babaluaiye who dresses entirely in
black. She lives in the ceiba tree and her sacred stone is petrified
wood. In some houses her eleke is all black, while in others it is
interpersed with white beads with black stripes.
Otin - The servant of Yemoja. She saved Yemoja's life when Oshun
attempted to push her off a cliff when they were arguing over the love
of Erinle. Otin brings stability to the children of Yemoja. Her eleke
is half dark blue and half light blue with branch coral interpersed.
Her shrine pot is accompanied by a doll, who ideally carries an urn on
her head.
Ayao - The "little sister" of Oya. In the past she was only consecrated
for children of Oya, but now she is given to many priests of other
Orishas who have special affinities with Oya. She is represented by the
whirlwind. Her vessel must never touch the ground as it is said to
bring the cyclone down to the earth. She is associated with Osanyin and
vicious witchcraft. She is called "the whirlwind which carries you
into the forest so you can learn the secrets of Osanyin." Her eleke
is variously described as pink with accents of mother of pearl and jet,
or similar to that of Oya but with a brown bead with black and yellow
stripes.
Ibu Aye - A road of Oshun as a small child. This road would not be a
road that would go to the head of an initiate. She was given to Oshun
by Ogun in order that she regain her happiness. She is received with an
Eshu that works specifically with her. She is associated with music,
happiness and joy. Her symbol is the lyre. She does not have eleke.
Agidai - Afudashe is the ability to speak with prophecy, particularly
through divination. Agidai Orisha of Afudashe and is the patron of the
italero/oriate and cowrie divination in general. His eleke is like that
of Obatala but has a section for the four main Orishas (Obatala,
Yemoja, Shango, and Oshun).
Ogan - The war general of Obatlala Ajaguna and Obatala Osha Ogiyan. He
is known as Obatala's fighting cockspur. His eleke is white and red,
much like that of Ajaguna.
Yembo - The mother, or oldest avatar, of Yemoja. She gave birth to the
celestial bodies as well as the 16 Odu and is considered incredibly
austere and elevated. Here eleke is light blue, milky white, and white,
with accents of ivory, mother of pearl, and white coral. Because Ogun
violated her, metal knives are never used to sacrifice to her. I use
glass, bamboo, or ivory.
I'll write some more later. Take it easy!
Afolabi
Denise Oliver-Velez
Denise
John M. Hansen
the news group opening up again.
Best wishes to all,
John M Hansen
Denise Oliver-Velez
Nice to see you back again. Thanks for the best wishes and hope you
will continue to post - was just re-reading some of your archived posts
here.
Alafia,
Denise
bela...@aol.com
Thank you for sharing this.... keep it coming!
Jesse
Denise Oliver-Velez
Could you please explain why Aje Shaluga is also called "Kobo"?
This confused me when I was asking for information from priests to
find out if they had heard of or received this Orisha - and I wasn't
sure they were talking about the same one.
Alafia,
Denise
Afolabi
Aje Shaluga is also known as Kobo or Kowo for two reasons. First, among
many Yoruba speaking groups in Nigeria, the bundles of cowries used as
money were known as "kowo." Aje's association with wealth garnered her
the nickname "Kowo."
Second, the particular type of seashell sacred to her are known as
"kobo" among the Yoruba.
Something else I didn't include above is that fact that some Yoruba
devotees (however few) consider Aje Shaluga a male. This is definitely
a minority view, however.
Hope this helps,
Afolabi
Afolabi
Afolabi
Afolabi
Afolabi
Afolabi
Afolabi
Denise Oliver-Velez
Denise
Afolabi
I think my tourette's syndrome is acting up.
A nod and a wink,
The Afolabi Person
Ifadoyin
Afolabi - do you mind if I post your thang about Ayao to my site - had
someone ask and I had no idea how to answer.
'Fadoyin
Afolabi
Talk to you soon :-)
osunbaby
I understand that there are more than 400 Orisa, and it's interesting
to read about more than just the Seven African Powers.
Modupe!
OchunIb...@aol.com
Bendicion mayores and menores ....
Aje Shaluga is found in the middle of the market place in Osogbo . She
is kept near those that exchange money in the market . Oya Yansa owns
the market place but Aje Shaluga is the exchange of money there of ...
tid bit ...
OchunIbuAkuaro
Ifadoyin
side, 201 on the left side. This is figurative, the Irunmole are
inumerable.
Marley Tallie
Jonathan Baker
My ilé observes Aje Shaluga and Kowo as two separate entities, Aje being female and Kowo being male. Both relating to wealth and prosperity, but Kowo being about stability while Aje being more about spontaneity. They have complimentary yin-yang-type energies, almost like a pair of Ibeji.