Orisha Faith: Devotional Series Part 2

I would like to first dedicate this post to my tutelary Father Ogun, who is the father of technology, the very reason that you are able to receive this communication. Maferefun Ogun! Maferefun Orisha!

In the first post of the Orisha Devotional series I touched on the concepts of Eggun, Iwin, Obatala, and Elegua. In this post I will discuss the Yoruba concepts of our heavenly creator, the Orisha of war, the Orisha of the hunt, and the Orisha of the harvest.

As many of us are theologically aware of the synchronisation of Catholic faith with Yoruba practices on the Island of Cuba was born the Lucumi tradition, known to many as Santeria. Some say there is a difference between the two, the main one being that we Lucumi do not hide our Orishas behind any of the Saints. We have a saying that Orisha has the ability to be a Saint, but a Saint does not have the ability to be an Orisha. In the cultural synthesis of the Spanish colonies with the African people the very concept of the son of God Christ resonated deeply with the Yoruba and their stories of Olofi, who was God embodied into a being that the Orisha served, Olofi was God himself in a tangible form that was very human like yet great and divine, Olofi is the one that the Orisha are ambassadors to on Earth and in Heaven.

Many in the Orisha faith view our practices as one of the more ancient and well preserved schools of alchemical tradition from its tribal Yoruban root. Many of us ascribe to the idea that we have been speaking of a “big bang” creation event this concept goes hand in hand with our great unfathomable creator who is God that we refer to as Olodumare. Olodumare is the highest and most supreme concept of God.

The third concept of God we have in Orisha Faith is Olorun the owner of the heavens, literally seen as the sun, in some concepts it is said he is present everywhere and in everything on Earth, and again to corroborate science identifying the mystic principle that we and all that surrounds us is composed of star material.

Ogun is the driving force behind all technology, he is the fiercest of the Warrior Orisha. He is the spirit of war and the first to have fed the Earths soil with red life force (blood). Ogun was the first Orisha to come out of the forest to make land habitable for man. In research many will find that Ogun is constantly at war with Shango, what many sources fail to mention is neither one completely destroys the other one, in many ways this is a reflection that two opposing forces who work in harmony create the greatest change. Shango is electricity and fire, Ogun is technology and all the metals of the Earth. Obviously fire melts metal thus can be seen as the enemy of metal but it is necessary to forge the tool.

In the first series I gave instructions for an archaic type of Elegua that is a coconut that will eventually turn into an offering to Elegua after one receives him from an appropriate source, here I will give instructions for an archaic Ogun that can be treated the same way.
On a Tuesday go to a railroad track as that is one of Ogun’s sacred spaces. Please be very careful and be absolutely no where near moving trains, even if they appear to be moving slow. Bring a candle, rum, a cigar, and some fruit. When you get to the tracks light the candle. Walk across the tracks petitioning for Oguns protection or for work if that is a current dilemma, as Ogun provides both work and protection. When you are done speaking to him in a respectful manner pour the rum in your mouth and spray it on the tracks, light the cigar blowing smoke on the tracks, clean your body off with the fruit and leave it at the train tracks. Keep your eye open for one railroad spike near the track, take that spike and put it near the coconut representing Elegua at the door. If or when you receive your warriors you will receive Elegua, Ogun, Ochosi and Osun. The railroad spike will eventually go into your Ogun, as the coconut from series one will be given to Elegua after it is painted red and black or white and black.
Oguns colors are green and black, in Matanzas Cuba his colors are sometimes red and purple, and his number is seven. Heavely Catholic influenced practioners equate him to Saint Peter.

Ochosi is the hunter and one of Ogun’s best friends next to Elegua. Ochosi is the spirit of the hunt symbolized by deer antlers and the bow and arrow. He is the scout for Ogun, he looks far ahead of the path and tells Ogun of what obstacles are in the course, if Ochosi doesn’t get with his arrow Ogun will cut down with his cutless. Ochosi’s colors are Royal Blue and Gold or Yellow his number is also seven.

Orisha Oko is the spirit of vegetation and cultivation, he is also symbolic of male fertility and the planting of the seed, he is the farmer. Symbolically he is the cycle of life and death.
His colors are baby blue and pink for his necklace and red and white for his shrine. His number is also seven.

I hope this message finds the good folks at BALG well. Many blessings to all of you. Kinkamaché Igboro!

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