The Orisha Ogum: its history, qualities, children and more!

Ogum is a male Orisha who perfectly represents the archetype of the warrior, being the owner of the paths and responsible for human progress. Known for his strength and vibrant energy, Ogun is widely associated with victory and helps humans in their daily achievements, as he symbolizes the strength present in nature that drives being.

In addition to being the god of war, Ogun is also the executor of cosmic laws. In this way, while the Orisha Xangô creates the laws, Ogun applies them and verifies who complies with them. Ogun is the opposite of Xangô in terms of rationality, since Xangô represents the rational side and Ogun is mostly emotional, despite also being impartial in his conduct.

Ogun fought for his father, Odúduá, who was king of Ifé, and in one of his conquests, Ogun named his son king of the conquered place: the kingdom of Irê. In the face of this, he continued his battles, while the citizens of Irê honored Ogun once a year, with total silence and empty bottles of palm wine.

Upon returning to Irê on a day of silence in his honor, after 7 years of battle, Ogun is taken by fury at what seemed to be negligence by the citizens and killed everyone. He only stopped when his son, who was king, and his brother, Exu, warned him that this was a tribute to Ogun and that’s why everything was silent. Repentant, Ogun stuck the sword in the ground and became an Orisha.

Ogun is General of Umbanda, knight of Aruanda. Anyone who has heard this point can understand a very important aspect of Umbanda: Ogun, in addition to Orisha, commands several spiritual phalanges that act on his behalf.

The spiritual phalanges of Ogun consist of a group of disembodied entities that have reached a high level of spiritual evolution, vibrating in tune with the Orisha Ogun. This concept of spiritual phalanx has influences from Spiritism, as it categorizes a group of Spirits that vibrate in the same energy.

Even so, it is important to highlight that Ogun is also an Orixá in Umbanda, as well as in Candomblé. Including, he has the same archetype, being the lord of war, progress, iron and the executor of divine laws.

Responsible for teaching humans how to forge, Ogun is the Orixá of advancement and war in Candomblé. Including, he is the second closest Orisha to the human being, behind only Exu, his brother. It is worth mentioning that there are no spiritual phalanges of Ogum in Candomblé, since this religion does not have a strong influence of Spiritism like Umbanda.

There are several itãs about Ogum in Candomblé, tales about this Orixá, representing different stories that happened to him. These itãs are metaphorical representations that allow teaching about the energy vibration and performance of the Orisha Ogum, passing this knowledge on for several generations.

Ogun’s origin is human, as the supreme warrior of the kingdom of Ifé, working for his father. He has always been a very strong fighter and has a certain impulsive character, which can harm him on certain occasions, as in the itan where he took as long as possible to ask Exu for help during a siege he carried out in an enemy city.

As an Orisha, he became indispensable to other deities because of his iron-based technology. In this way, he is the second to receive offerings, behind Exu who is the messenger of the Orixás. After all, when offering to Ogun, the person will use their knives and metal equipment to make offerings to other Orixás, except Nanã, who refuses the use of metal.

Oxum is the Orixá of fertility, being very similar to the Greek archetype of Aphrodite, which makes her very seductive, beautiful and wise with words. Therefore, Oxum is an extremely persuasive and conquering Orixá, with her unique style.

There is an itan in which Ogun gives up living with the other Orixás, who are dependent on Ogun’s tools. That done, the Orishas despaired and they all went to get Ogun, but none was successful. After all, Ogun was a warrior and strategist, and it was very difficult to capture him.

After that, Oxum goes to Ogun to seduce him with his dance. Ogum, mesmerized by the beauty and lightness of Oxum, returns to the village where the remaining Orixás are. In this way, the itã reveals Ogun’s passion for Oxum, representing the compatibility between the energies of these Orixás, with Ogun being passionate and impulsive, and Oxum being emotional tranquility.

Xangô and Ogun represent the duality between reason and emotion, with the story of the fight between the two representing the dilemma between being rational or passionate in a given situation. For this, an itan was created in which Xangô and Ogun fought to see who would be the partner of the Orisha Iansã.

In the end, Ogun was defeated and Iansã became queen of the crown of Xangô, Orisha who was king when he was alive. Including, the weapon of victory was an okra paste that Ogun stumbled upon on the battlefield, okra being a vegetable that represents wisdom, showing the importance of rationality represented by Xangô.

The Orisha Ogun is syncretized with two Catholic saints, depending on where he is worshipped, with Mars or Ares in Greco-Roman mythology and with Visvakarma, in the Hindu religion. Check out the main features and find out why Ogun is syncretized with each one of them.

São Jorge was a person who was beatified when he passed away, becoming a saint. This is a warrior saint who is known for riding his horse and slaying the dragon that represents the demands of life. Therefore, he is syncretized with Ogun, warrior Orisha.

Santo Antônio is syncretized with Ogum only in the state of Bahia, while São Jorge is the saint corresponding to this Orisha in the rest of Brazil. It is worth noting that Saint Anthony is one of the most famous saints in Catholicism, having his celebration in June and being very associated as a matchmaker saint.

Mars is the Roman counterpart of the god Ares of Greek mythology. Based on this, it can be said that Ares is the god of war, being highly combative, impulsive and a raw symbol of strength. As these characteristics coincide with Ogum, these figures are syncretized.

Just as Ogun is responsible for creating the tools of each Orisha, due to metallurgy, Visvakarma is also a creator of tools for various deities of Hinduism. Furthermore, these two figures are powerful and are symbolized by strength.

There are several qualities of Ogum, with different characteristics in personality and fields of action. Some act in the forest, others are warriors and many more peculiarities for each quality. Therefore, check out the following qualities of Ogun Akoró, Megé, Wáris, Oniré, Amené, Ogunjá and Alagbedé.

The quality of Ogum Akoró is highly linked to the forest, being the brother of Oxossi and acting directly for good. He is young, energetic and highly attached to the mother figure, despite his entrepreneurial and expansionist drive.

Ogun Megé is the root of all the qualities of Ogun, being the oldest quality of this Orisha. He has a more complicated personality to deal with, for being grumpy. He is the complete Orisha, being single and fighting alone in breaking demands and protecting the paths.

It is necessary to be careful when calling this quality, as it is bothered by the Patakori greeting, used for Ogum. It often manifests itself in a destructive way, with a violent impulse.

He was lord of the kingdom of Irê, with Oni meaning lord, and Ire meaning village. Very attached to his ancestors, he disappeared underground, having an impulsive and combative character. In addition, his beads are green, a color that is also associated with Ogun.

The Orisha Ogum has a strong relationship with Oxum, having a passion for the fertility goddess who seduces whoever she wants. Ogun Amené is a quality strongly linked to Oxum, using a light green bead and having a strong relationship with the beautiful Orisha of gold and prosperity.

Ogunjá uses green beads and has a strong relationship with Oxaguiã, as he did the favor of providing the necessary equipment for Oxaguiã to be able to harvest his yams. This quality is famous for liking dogs, being called “The Lord of Fights”.

Being the husband of Iemanjá Ogúnté and father of Ogun Akoro, the quality of Ogun Alagbedé is highly related to blacksmiths. He is highly disciplined, demanding and aware of what he must do and what he is entitled to. The Alagbedé quality is highly effective and is associated with the fulfillment of the craft.

Ogun’s sons and daughters have very distinct personalities, which makes them prone to stand out in front of other people. They have a strong code of honor, they are very impulsive, but at the same time they are strategists.

With an expansionist character, these people have several characteristics that attract those around them. Therefore, they are very charismatic and tend to love parties and are not concerned with sophistication, being interested in peace of mind, fun and the fulfillment of their goals.

The children of Ogum are very party people, as you can see in some figures like the singer Zeca Pagodinho. They love to party with their friends and are a lot of fun, always with jokes and stories up their sleeves, which makes them highly charismatic. They are very open and enjoy social interactions, being more extroverted.

With regard to confusion, the son of Ogun cannot be known as a troublemaker, as they care a lot about honor and usually have big plans, not being able to waste time on nonsense.

However, due to impulsiveness, the children of Ogun can commit hasty actions that lead to confusion, even if rationally that was not their intention. Therefore, it is important not to confuse impulsiveness with a propensity to get into trouble.

Ogun’s children are not supporters of serious relationships, as they have great difficulty trapping themselves in just one person. After all, they are highly expansionist and enjoy meeting new personalities and even types…