Shango
Shango (Xangô, Changó, Sango) is probably the most popular Orisha (god) in the religion of the Yoruba and the Afro-American religions based on it . He is heavenly Father, god of thunder and ancestor of the Yoruba . In the Caribbean Lukumí religion, Shango is the main religious figure who represents the Oyo-Yoruba of West Africa.
The historic Shango
Origin in the ancient Near East
According to recent research, the Shango cult was introduced to West Africa by immigrants from the crumbling Assyrian Empire . The name šàngó actually goes back to the priestly royal title šangû of the Assyrian rulers. Since these rulers embodied the weather god Ba'al , the title of king was transferred to the god and there was an amalgamation between the figure of the king and that of the god in Africa.
Evidence of the palace tradition of Oyo
After Oranyan and Ajaka, Shango was the third king (aláfin) of Oyo in Yorubaland and a military leader and descendant of the legendary ancestor Oduduwa . He was deified after his death and was succeeded by his brother Ajaka, who was also his predecessor.
Shango in Yorubaland
Legends
According to legend, he (along with fourteen other gods) arose from the body of the goddess Yemayá after her son Orungan tried to rape her. There are numerous accounts of the birth and ancestry of Shango and others about his life that illustrate his nature and history. A wreath of stories depicts Shango as the son of Aganju and Obatala. Accordingly, King Obatala went on a journey and had to cross a river. Aganju, the ferryman and god of fire, refused entry. Obatala turned back and turned into a beautiful woman. Returning to the river, he offered his body in exchange for the passage. Shango was the result of this connection. This tension between reason, represented by Obatala, and fire, represented by Aganju, formed the basis of Shango's nature and character.
Shango then goes in search of his father Aganju, and a conflict-ridden drama develops between the two, culminating in Shango throwing himself into the fire to test his parentage. All Shango stories portray such drastic events. He has three wives; the preferred one (because of her excellent cooking) is Oshun , a river goddess. The other woman is Obba , also a river goddess. When she offered her ear to Shango, he chased her away and she became the Oba River, which, when mixed with the Oshun, forms dangerous rapids. Oyá , Shango's third wife, stole the secrets of his powerful spells .
The phrase “all that glitters is not gold” accompanies the story of Shango and Oba: Oba was Shango's first and legitimate wife, Oya and Oshun his concubines. They lived in a settlement where Shango and each woman had their own home. He visited his wives in their homes to eat and sleep with them. Oba noticed that in Oshun's house, Xango ate all of the food she had prepared for him, but only chose a few when visiting her house. Oba tried to improve her relationship with her husband and asked Oshun how she made Shango so happy. Oshun resented this question because Oba's children would inherit Shango's realm as children of the first wife. Their children, however, would not attain nearly the same status as concubine children. Jealously she decided to play a prank on Oba and explained that years ago she had cut off a small piece of her ear, dried it and made a powder of it that she put on Shango's dishes. While eating, Shango's appetite for the food and for Oshun would grow. Oba ran home excitedly to cook Amala, Shango's favorite dish. If a small piece of Oshun's ear had such effects - she thought - her whole ear would increase Shango's lust for her far more and he would forget Oshun forever. She cut off her ear and stirred it into Shango's food. When Shango came to eat, he sat down and began to eat without looking at the plate. When he finally glanced down, he saw an ear swimming in the soup. Shango suspected Oba was trying to poison him and chased her out of the house. Oba ran out of the settlement crying, fell to the ground and turned into a river where she is still worshiped today. For the Orisha she is the patron saint of marriage; it is said to destroy marriages in which one partner is unfaithful.
Cultic worship
Shango is depicted vividly with a double ax on his three heads. It is related to the sacred animal, the ram and the sacred colors red and white.
Shango in America
Transfer of the Shango cult to America
The kingdom of Oyo organized a systematic slave trade, in the course of which the captured slaves took over important elements of the Oyo-Yoruba religion. All essential initiation rites (as they have been celebrated in Cuba , Puerto Rico or Venezuela over the past centuries ) are based on the traditional Shango ceremony of the ancient Oyo. This custom survived the Atlantic passage and is believed to have been passed on in its entirety on the American coast. This type of Yoruba initiation became the basis of all Orisha initiations west of the Atlantic.
Resistance to the slavery society
The power emanating from the god of thunder is also regarded as the main symbol of the African resistance against the European society of slave owners. He has mastered the bata drum (three double-strung drums) and music in general, as well as dance and entertainment.
Worship in various cults
| Colours | Red and white |
|---|---|
| numbers | 6, 12 |
Shango is worshiped as the god of thunder and weather in Haitian voodoo ; in Brazilian Candomblé Ketu (under the name Xangô ); in Umbanda , as the mighty loa Nago Shango; in Trinidad as the thunder god Shango, with drums and dance; as well as in Cuba, Puerto Rico and Venezuela - as the Santería equivalent to St. Barbara , as the traditional figure of the colonial era for the deity, she is known as Changó . He is the main figure in the prophetic writings of the Lukumí religion.
literature
- AB Ellis: The Yoruba-Speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast of West Africa. London 1894.
- Samuel Johnson: History of the Yorubas. London 1921, pp. 149-152.
- Dierk Lange: The origin of the West African weather god, Shanghai. In: Saeculum , 45, 1994, pp. 213-238.
- Dierk Lange: Ancient Kingdoms of Africa . Dettelbach 2004, pp. 323-336.
- Dierk Lange: The Origin of the Yoruba and the “Lost Tribes of Israel”. (PDF; 579 kB) Anthropos , 106, 2011, pp. 879-595.
- Reginaldo Prandi: Mitologia dos Orixás . Sao Paulo 2001, pp. 242-291.
- Inga Scharf da Silva: Umbanda. A religion between Candomblé and Cardezism. About syncretism in everyday urban life in Brazil . Lit-Verlag, Spektrum 83, Münster 2004, ISBN 3-8258-6270-4 , p. 39 ff.
- Joel E. Tishken, Tóyìn Fálọlá and Akíntúndéí Akínyẹmí (eds.): Sàngó in Africa and the African Diaspora . Indiana University Press, Bloomington 2009.
Web links
- Chango - Africa's largest King (English)
- Hans Gerald Hödl: African Religions II - Introduction to the Religion of the Yorùbá ( Memento from March 15, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF, 1.9 MB) Lecture from 2003
- Thomas Altmann ( Memento from July 16, 2007 in the Internet Archive ), article from 2004: Yoruba-Religion (Lukumí) ( Memento from July 2, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) and many links Concerning Afro-Caribbean Religion, Santería and Batá Drumming ( Memento of March 10, 2005 in the Internet Archive ) (October 2004)
- Kerstin Volkenandt: ( Memento from September 13, 2001 in the Internet Archive ) Chapter 6.1 of the essay: Olodumare and the Orishas ( Memento from October 11, 2002 in the Internet Archive )
Individual evidence
- ↑ Lange: Kingdoms. Pp. 323-336; id .: Origin of the Yoruba . (PDF; 579 kB), p. 585.
- ^ Johnson: History . Pp. 149-152.
- ^ Ellis: Yoruba , pp. 44-45.
- ↑ Shango at Pantheon.org ( Memento of the original from July 15, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Shango syncretism - religion-cults.com
