| Name ▲▼ | Origin ▲▼ | Description ▲▼ |
|---|---|---|
| God name "Obatala" | Yoruba / Nigeria, West Africa | Fertility god. The first deity engendered by the creator god OLODUMARE. His consort is Yemowo. Among other responsibilities, he makes barren women fertile and shapes the fetus in the womb. He is considered to be the sculptor of mankind. He is depicted wearing white robes and symbolizes cleanliness. Offerings include coconuts and maize fruits. A jar of clean water is carried by a priestess to his sanctuary each morning and the water is drunk by women to make them fertile. Also Orishanla (archaic); Orisha-Popo; Orisha-Ogiyan; Orisha-Ijaye.... |
| Supreme god name "Oduduwa" | Yoruba / Nigeria, West Africa | Creator goddess. The consort, or alternatively the daughter, of the supreme god OLODUMARE. She is perceived as the substance, or matrix, of the earth which Olodumare impregnated to generate life. She is also a goddess of war and her sons include the great heroic Yoruba god OGUN. According to some traditions Oduduwa is also perceived as a god.... |
"Oewiros" | Greek | A personification of dream, and in the plural of dreams. According to Homer Dreams dwell on the dark spéñïśs of the western Oceåñuś, and the deceitful dreams come through an ivory gate, while the true ones issue from a gate made of horn. Hesiod (Theogony. 212) calls dreams the children of night, and Ovid, who calls them children of Sleep, mentions three of them by name, viz. Morpheus, Icelus or Phobetor, and Phantasus. Euripides called them sons of Gaea, and conceived them as genii with black wings. Greek |
| God name "Ogiuwu" | Edo / Benin, West Africa | God of death. Believed to own the blood of all living things which he smears on the walls of his palace in the otherworld. Until recent times human sacrifice was made regularly to this deity in the capital of the Edo region, Benin City.... |
| God name "Ogun" | Edo / Benin, West Africa | God of war, hunting and metalwork. This rather loosely defined deity was sent by the god OSANOBUA to cut open the land to allow crops to be planted. He is the strength inherent in metals and piles of metal objects are left beside his sanctuaries. As a god of war he defends the tribe and is depicted wearing armor and with red eyes. As a god of hunters and farmers he is generally benevolent.... |
| Spirit name "Oi" | Suk / western Kenya, East Africa | Sickness god. A spirit of personal illness rather than plague. The sick person's house is emptied and the priest exorcizes Oi out of the dwelling.... |
| God name "Oko (hoe)" | Yoruba / Nigeria, West Africa | God of Agriculture. According to tradition he descended from heaven and lived at a farm near the town of Irao, where he attained a great age. One day he disappeared, leaving only his staff which was taken as a symbol of his presence. Annually, at the start of the Rainy season, a festival with strong fertility emphasis is held in his honor.... |
| God name "Olodumare" | Yoruba / Nigeria, West Africa | Creator god. He engendered the god OBATALA as his deputy. The souls of the dead are expected to make confession to Olodumare. When he created the earth, he filled a snail's shell with dirt, placed inside it a hen and a pigeon and threw it down, whereupon the hen and pigeon began to scatter the earth and create land. Olodumare then sent a chameleon to report on progress. Sand was added, followed by a palm, a coconut and a kola nut tree. When these were established the god placed on earth the first sixteen humans. Also Alaaye; Elemii; Olojo Oni; Olorun; Orishanla.... |
| God name "Olokun" | Fon / Yoruba / Benin / Nigeria, West Africa | God of fresh waters and oceans. The eldest son of the creator god OSANOBUA. He is symbolized in the sacred river Olokun, which runs almost the length of Benin and from the source of which come the souls of unborn children. A girl baby is given a shrine of the god which includes a pot of river water and which she takes with her to her new home when she marries. The god is particularly popular among women and has a cult of priestesses. Olokun is also a guardian deity of mariners.... |
| God name "Opo" | Akan / Ghana, West Africa | God of the ocean. One of the sons of the creator god NYAME, he is also considered to be the god of the great inland lakes and rivers of Ghana.... |
| God name "Ori (mind)" | Yoruba / Nigeria, West Africa | God of wisdom. The deity who, in heaven, guides the soul but who also acts as a personal guardian, controlling individual mental ability, so that one person becomes wise and another foolish.... |
| God name "Orisanla" | Yoruba / Nigeria, West Africa | sky god. Delegated by OLODUMARE as a creator of earth and living things.... |
| God name "Orunmila" | Yoruba / Nigeria, West Africa | God of destiny. He accompanied the creator god OLODUMARE at the creation of the world and when the destinies of mankind were decided. He is consulted in an oracular capacity at IFA and makes decisions on such matters as choice of sacrificial animals. He is also a god of healing and in many households enjoys personal shrines which include palm nuts, fragments of ivory and sea shells.... |
| God name "Osande" | Ovimbundu / central Angola, southwest Africa | Guardian deity. A benign elderly god who forms an integral part of ancestor worship. Considered to be the founder of each family lineage.... |
| God name "Osanobua" | Edo / Benin, West Africa | Creator god. The father of the god OLOKUN, he is regarded as a benevolent deity controlling prosperity, health and happiness.... |
| Goddess name "Osun" | Yoruba / Nigeria, West Africa | River goddess. The daughter of Oba Jumu and Oba Do and the consort of the god SHANGO. The guardian deity of the river Osun, revered particularly in the towns and villages along the banks of the river where sacred weapons are kept in her shrines. Also a goddess of healing. She is worshiped particularly by women and is honored in an annual festival, the Ibo-Osun, during which new cultic priestesses are selected.... |
| Goddess name "Oya" | West Africa | Oya made the first element from which the universe exists. She is one of the three river goddesses and personificates the river Niger. West Africa |
| Goddess name "Oya" | West Indies | Goddess of the ancestors, war, the cemetery and the Rainbow. West Indies |
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