ÒGÚN

"Ògún, eran re re o"

Ògún, here is your festival dog.

"Ma pa o"

Do not harm us.

"Gbà wá lówó ikú"

Keep us safe from death.

"Ma jé kómo dé rí ewu okò"

Do not let the young have accidents.

"Ma jé kágbà rí aìsàn"

Do not let the elderly suffer disease

"Ma jé káboyún so oyún nù"

Do not let women have miscarriages.

"Ma jé kóde ri àgbàkó"

Do not let the hunter be killed.

"Jé ká àláafíà"

Let us have peace.

With a swift swing of his cutlass, the chief severed the dogs head from its body.  The head is tied among palm fronds on a tree trunk so that the blood can drip onto the stone of Ògún. Ògún Jè!!!!

Ògún is the one that opens any beginning and assigns the task of preparing new events. He opened the way for the Irunmole to come to the abode of spirit (Iwonron) and prepared for the opening of the inhabitants of this world (Ile Aye). Great Warrior and Compassionate King, Ògún Onírè.  He was sent by Olodumare to prepare the way for the other Irunmoles to come into the world (Ile Aye).  He was to lay the foundation of the world (Aye) for all to come, but was distracted by Esu for he did not make the necessary sacrifices to complete this task.  When he got to Aye with his followers, they had nothing to eat, so they began to eat wood/sticks, but after a few days they couldn't fill their stomachs so many left and Ogun had to follow them back to heaven.

Ògún, Irunmole of war, of the hunt. Iron or steel is used to represent the force of this deity who can be powerful or cruel. Ògún is next to Esu in power and seeks justice and accomplishment of destiny. He is also associated with Ori, the Deity of choice. He makes one decide, after the paths are open, which way they wish to proceed. Many still take covenants and oaths in the name of this Irunmole by washing a knife or piece of iron in water and palm leaves and then drinking the water or kissing the iron and asking Ogun to witness the oath. Woe unto those that break the Oath with the Irunmole Ògún. I feel more of our priesthood should make covenant with Ògún to develop Iwa Rere, instead of fat pocketbooks, in their service to the community. This will stop them in their tracks if they step across the line. Ògún Jè!!!! If an oath is broken Ogun can punish the offender by making them ill or killing them and there are many iron implements in this world today, all the essence of Baba.

Ògún emblems are any object made of iron or steel surrounded with peregun; plant or palm fronds, mariwo. This is another Irunmole that lives outside of the home, in most cases (due to the conditions here, most shrines are placed inside next to Esu.)

Ògún is a close friend of Orúnmìlà.  He is also very close with Oshosi, his brother, wherever there is one the other is near by. When Ògún went on a journey, he took along Àdí, Orúnmìlà's wife. When Orúnmìlà heard about this, he made it impossible for Ògún to ever live inside a house.  That is also why neither Àdì (the Orisa) or Àdì (palm-kernel oil) is ever brought near Orúnmìlà.  Ogun's domain is in the forest or sparsely populated areas for he likes to be to himself, without the busy humdrum of humanity.

Oriki

On the day Ògún arrived from the mountain top, he wore red dress; he wore a cloth of blood and he caused many a man to burn their own penis (circumcision).

He caused many a woman to slash open and burn their own vagina.

The owner of all iron, the rascally one who bites himself in several places when he gets excited or angry.

The fire that drives thieves away and changes the color of iron and devours the wicked, do not harm me.

He was put in a sheath, he destroyed the sheath.

He was put in a scabbard, he ruined the scabbard.

We took Ògún to the river, he divided the river into two equal halves (Ogun-da meji)

The fearful one who frightens the neighbors

Ògún of Ogboro eats dogs and we give him dogs.

Ògún of Onire drinks blood; Molamola eats ekuru (pudding)

Ògún who controls razors feeds on hair

Ògún who controls those who circumcise feeds on snails

Ògún who controls carvers feeds on wood.

Oh! I am afraid of Ògún.

Ògún who has the power to save his children

Save me.

Ògún the powerful one of the earth, great one of the world

Ògún the extremely powerful one, one great enough to advertise death

The one who meets people on the road and refuses to give way.

The great one under whom many people look for protection not fearing any misfortune.

The evil genius.

We took him to the right and he spoiled the right

We took him to the left and he spoiled the left

He who killed the water creature on the river bank to cause a quarrel between the crabs and fishes

Ògún do not kill me

Ògún, I hail you.

The one who keeps death in his house, the one who has palm leaves in his abode.

The one who controls wealth, the worship of whom is more profitable than farming

The one who has a mansion in heaven

Ògún do not tempt me to do crimes against others and do not tempt others to do crimes against me.

Ògún the powerful one of the abode of spirit (Iwonron) and the world (Ile Aye).

Ògúns clothing is tender palm leaves; Ògún took others clothes to cover himself.

Ògún, do not let me see you during difficult times when you are angry.

The one who keeps death in his house, do not let me see you in a bad mood.

 Àsé.

One of the most popular stories is the relationship between Ògún and Osún and how she led him out of the forest so that he would defend the people of his kingdom. Ògún is the divinity that is seen in the bible when they tell the story about the Passover. It was his vengeance that came into the town to destroy the wicked and unfaithful.

There is also a story when he came out of the forest and the people were drinking palm wine and because of his thirst he asked them for some. Seeing a keg standing upright Ogun went to get a drink, but the people had already consumed all of the wine and this made Ògún angry. He began to cut the heads off of everyone he saw. He passed over only those that had offered him epo/palm oil. This is why when one is finished drinking from any type of bottle or container they place it on its side, which signifies a sign of respect to Ogun. After this destruction, he stuck his cutlass into the ground and went to his mansion in heaven and vowed only to come to assist his children during times when justice was needed.

His foods are: dog, cocks, pigeons, snails, eggs, chalk, camwood, black and white thread, kola nuts, yams, plantain, palm wine, and palm oil.

Ogun is the patron to all hunters and they give sacrifice before and after all hunts.

 Ògúns sexual power is well known and deals much with how circumcision and excision came to be.

God put Ògún and a woman, Olùrè, on earth, but Ògún wanted to travel there alone.  She set out and came to a large tree that had fallen across the path.  She returned to Ölórun and asked him to have Ògún cut the tree.

While he was chopping the tree, Olùrè was sitting nearby with her legs apart.

A piece of wood flew up and accidentally lodged in her vagina.  When the path was cleared, she continued on her way but the wood caused so much pain that she returned to Olórun and asked that it be removed. Ògún asked if she would marry him and she accepted.  If he had been more patient, it would have been women who asked men to marry them. Ògún removed the wood. A scar remained and this was the origin of excision... Ògún then had sex with her, but because his sperm did not come out quickly enough, he cut the foreskin of his penis and this was the origin of circumcision. 

Ògúns actions show his impatience and He is like the double edge sword, when out of control, He can cause much destruction, but when needed to support His children, He is caring and protective.  Always on the edge between control and anger, Ògún must always be approached with caution and respect.

                                                          ÒGÚN

                   (1) Ògún dé Ààre (Ì)ré ,ilé gbogbo lògún wà

Ògún, title-holder of Ìré, has arrived.  He is in all houses.

Ògún wà nílé Ògún wà lònà

Ògún is in the home. Ògún is on the road.

Ilé gbogbo lògún àiyé

He is in all houses of the world.

        (2)  Awà nílé (this is the call for the song)

We come into the house.

         Awà nílé (this is the call for the song)

We come into the house.

Awà nílé o, Ògún màrìwò.

We come to occupy the house of Ògún.

Awà nílé o, Ògún màrìwò. Ògún àfómólé

We come to occupy the house of Ògún of the palm fronds.

Ògún the destroyer who builds houses.

Onílé abe ré màrìwò Ògún dé Bàbá.

Owner of the house, razor that cuts palm fronds Ògún arrives, The               Lord/Father

         (3)  Bembé a sá lo, a sá lo, a sá lo bembé

         He is cutting of heads. We run away, we run away.

         Bembé a sá lo

He is cutting of heads. We run away

A sá lo, a sá lo bembé

We run away, we run away. He is cutting of heads

       (4) À Ògún meji a, meji, meji

       Ah, two Ògún! Ah, two by two!