Oxossi

Oxóssi Prayer
" Powerful lord of the forest
be merciful
in my life
with my heart

be benevolent
in my journey
in my life
my passion!”

The pantheon of Yoruba in Africa is the place of derivation of many orixás found within the Candomblé practice. There are only about a dozen orixás that are fully developed and present within Candomblé. One of those orixás is Oxóssi. According to Adeniyi Oroge’s African Economic History, “The masculine god of the hunt. Wandering in the forest primeval, he is consummate naturalist, forever studying and analyzing his surroundings. His temperament, as well as that of his adepts, is characterized by keen intelligence and curiosity. An itinerant seeker, discoverer, and traveler, Oxóssi is never fully satisfied-materially, romantically, or geographically” Oxóssi is the deity that represents the hunt, and he is a master of mysteries and secrets, plentifulness, abundance, and wealth. His discursive practice is mental wizardry, especially in debates, verbal agreements and negotiations. Oxóssi is also know as the protector of farming, planting, and good harvest. He is also considered to be lover of the arts and beautiful things. When Oxóssi is negative he can create a lacPreview k of supplies, shortage, and lack in care. Oxóssi posses a bow and arrow which represent his hunting weapons and his powers. He is additionally represented by other symbols such as the emerald stone and the color green. He is usually found in living in the forest, wilderness, hunting grounds. His element in nature is bushes and thicket. Oxóssi is usually associated with the characteristics of ease, wisdom, cunning, and also considerateness. In Candomblé practice Oxóssi is considered to have a special day dedicated to him, even though the day can be shared with other deities. Oxóssi ’s day is said to be Thursday.

The story for how Oxóssi became a deity states that, Oxó ssi was originally an Odé. When he was an Odé he killed an enchanted serpent, cooked it , and ate it; even though the enchanted serpent sang to Odé warning him not to do it because he was an enchanted serpent. Odé chopped the serpent into pieces and cooked the pieces in a pot. Ad=afterwards he ate it and while the snake was in his stomach it was still making remarks about how it was an enchanted serpent. After Odé did not listen to the serpents remarks, he ate the snake. It caused his belly to grow out until it explOdéd. Then as Odé left aiê , the land of life, Oxum, the mother of agô (entreaty), poured tears of agô onto Odé. The tears caused Odé to return to the living world, except he would be enchanted, and known as Oxóssi.

Oxóssi is usually portrayed as a man holding a bow and arrow in one hand, and a burning torch of many colors in the other hand. In his orixá world he is usually on a horse, but in pictures he is portrayed standing. He is dressed in bluish color skirt, and wearying golden colored, armor hand bracelets. In most of the pictures he is depicted without a top and usually wearing many beaded necklaces over his chest. He is usually seen in a squatting position or aiming with his bow because he is always ready to hunt.

It is alleged that Oxóssi arrived in Brazil after the Yoruba wars. It is believed that Oxóssi as well as the other orixá s of Candomblé were brought by the slaves of Yoruba land, who were sold into the slave market by their own King/ruler. It is unclear as to what were the Yoruba Wars, its origin and the significance of them; but, the only known facts are that through the wars many slaves were captured and imported to the knew worlds. The Yoruba wars are involved within the internal conflicts of the Yoruba people and the rulers. Since the Yoruban rulers were generating profit for themselves through the slave market by selling their own people. Furthermore, In the Christian religion Oxóssi can be identified with Holy George. When the slaves who practice Candomblé were forced to be Christianized, they kept their saints and worshiped them under different names to please the Christian people. Salves kept their traditions by tying them into significance from the Christian faith.

Oxóssi has his own dance in order to call him into manifesting and to descend upon the people. The dance is preformed as a type of Candomblé dance. He tends to manifest his behavioral qualities. To realize this favorable outcome, it is advised to make an ebo, offering, to him containing either/or two doves, one land snail, and a length of rope. This will please Oxóssi into providing favorable results for the person who is calling him into manifestation. The rhythm to Oxóssi ’s dance is agué ré , and the feet are set on a 4/4 count, take a step forward, back and forward with the right, the left foot sliding behind. Then shift weight and with the left foot, step front, back, and the right slides behind. The right foot is stepping, and the body is directed crosswise, on a left diagonal, and so on until the switch. When the change in rhythm occurs the dancer usually does a full spin right before the switch in steps. The hands of the dancer are usually pointed outwards straight, and right hand out with index finger pointing out and thumb pointing out as well, creating an “L” shape. While the left hand is underneath, the index finger touches the right thumb, and the left thumb is straight, also creating an “L” shape. This gesture symbolizes the bow and arrow he posses for hunting. Oxóssi is always on a horse, therefore he has a bounce to his dance; but, when he gets off his horse he always stays low to the ground because he is always hunting. He is typically riding with Ogun, his brother. In the dance Ogun is usually before Oxóssi , because Ogun is the knower of paths, while Oxóssi is the knower of crossroads.

Here is a video of the actual dance:

Connie De La Cruz