Oshé

  • Left: Shango dance wand, made in the late 19th or early 20th century, Brooklyn Museum
  • Right: A wooden Oshé, made circa 1960 in Nigeria

Oshé (Yoruba alphabet: Oṣé) is the double-headed battle axe of the thunder deity Ṣango in Yoruba religion, sometimes considered to be representing bolts of lightning hurled by the deity from Ọrun. Carvings of the axe are used as dance wands during rituals or worn as pendants for protection.

Etymology

The Yoruba word Oṣé comes from o- (a prefix) and ṣé (a word meaning "to do", "to make" or "to affect").

Beliefs

A Yorùbá (Igbomina subgroup) dance wand (Oshé Ṣango), late 19th or early 20th century. Wood, pigment, 19 1/2 x 7 x 3 1/4 in. (49.5 x 17.8 x 8.3 cm). ( Photo: Brooklyn Museum)

According to traditional stories of the Yoruba people, the Oshé was made by the deity Ṣango from the wood of the Ayan tree. When he was the Alaafin of Oyo, he wielded the Oshé as a weapon in battle. Ṣango eventually committed suicide by hanging from an Ayan tree.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Also called Oxé or Oxê in Portuguese.
  2. ↑ In some versions of the story, Ṣango didn't commit suicide but rather ascended to the heavens and became a deity.

References

  1. ↑ https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/o%E1%B9%A3e
  2. ↑ "Yoruba Dance Wand (19th or 20th century)". Gilder Lehrman. Retrieved 8 February 2026.
  3. ↑ "Ose Sango: Unveiling the Mystical Dance Wand Tradition and Its Historical Roots in Yoruba Culture". Afrahouse. Retrieved 8 February 2026.
  4. ↑ "Oshé Ṣango Yoruba". Galerie Art Africain. Retrieved 8 February 2026.
  5. ↑ "Artistic and Contextual Analyses of Emblematic Appurtenances of Yoruba Mythological God of Thunder "Ose-Sango"". ResearchGate. Ajadi Michael Olaniyi. 2 November 2021. Retrieved 8 February 2026.