Mo juba awo Ogun.
Iwo ni Oluwa Irin.
Iwo ni Alabo Otito.
Iwo ni Ologun Julo Nase, Oluwa Ogun.
Iwo ni Oluwa Awo Aiye.
Iwo ni Oluwa Ikannu Ina.
Iwo ni Oluwa Ebo Eje-tutu.
I humble myself before the mystery of Ogun.
You are the Lord of Iron.
You are the Defender of Truth.
You are the Most Powerful Warrior, the Lord of War.
You are the Owner of the Mystery of Earth.
You are the Lord of the Fury of Fire.
You are the Lord of the Blood Sacrifice.
There is a Yoruba saying:
“Whichever divinity regards Ogun as of no consequence,
will eat his yams with his hands (i.e. unprepared) for
times without number.”
It
is Obatala who laid out the blueprint for this reality and is the
thread of this creation. It is Orunmila
who provided the
wisdom for the implementation of Obatala’s blueprint. It is Orunmila
and Eshu-Elegba who provided a communications bridge between the heavenly
and earthly realms, and Eshu-Elegba who provided for a dynamic experience
among the ‘godseekers’ by establishing the laws that govern
choice, chance, and change. It is Yemoja who allowed Obatala to call
forth aiye (earth) from the depths of the sea, and iye (life) from
the
essence of water. And it is Orisha Ogun who cleared the
path of obstacles and stands as the defender of the purity and excellence
of Olodumare’s experiences in this reality. It is Obatala who creates
blood, Yemoja who uses blood to create life, Orunmila who informs us
when blood is to be ‘let’ according to the will of the Orisha, Ogun who ‘lets’ blood,
and Eshu-Elegba who regulates the circumstances and controls the forces
by which all of
these manifestations are expressed.
In many respects, Ogun is considered chief among the Orisha, and is
paid due regard right along with Eshu-Elegba. And because of this early
service in behalf of the mission of Obatala, Ogun is associated with
clearing the path and removing barriers.
Orisa Ogun is
the Lord of Earthly Fire, for without control over fire he could
not exercise authority over
the use of iron, steel
and all metals. In order to give structure to the firmament under our
feet, and in order to provide the ‘godseekers’ with the
tools to work out our existence in this reality, Obatala
called upon this
primordial sentient being, Orisha Ogun, to help weave
the web of the ecosystem that supports life on planet earth. It is
the
strength of Ogun’s Ase that keeps the land that Obatala raised
from the realm of Olokun from dropping back to the depths of the sea.
