WONDERFUL YORUBA SHANGO DANCE WAND - Nigeria

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WONDERFUL YORUBA SHANGO DANCE WAND - Nigeria:
$399.00

YORUBA SHANGO WAND

Item: #2488

Tribe: Yoruba

Country:Nigeria

Material: Wood, pigment.

Size: 29\" (73.6 cm) Tall

Condition: Good

The Yoruba Shango staff forms, sculpted in relief,are used in special festivals and processions, followers of Shango, the Yoruba god of thunder, carry dance wands, calledoshe shango,depicting a female devotee with Shango\'s symbol, the double-headed axe. Shango is thought to control the great powers of nature as one of theorisha,or gods.

Shango, who controls thunder, is associated with the expansion of the Oyo empire in western Yorubaland. The historical personage Shango was a descendant of Oranmiyan and the tyrannical fourth king of Oyo. Oral traditions maintain that he was despot, coerced into surrendering his crown and committing suicide. His supporters denied his death and declared that he had become a god, merged with the forces of thunder and lightning, which they call down on their enemies. The Shango legend illustrates a significant aspect of Yorubaorisha:they are not idealized.

Shango was a sacred king but he can still be presented as a remorseless despot whose need for control overstepped the boundries suitable to political authority. In his attempt to control mystical and magical powers, he was unable to master them, and was eventually controlled by them. Once a mortal, Shango did not die, but he commands great powers of nature as anorisha.In dreadful storms he hurls flashes of lightning upon those who do not respect him. These thunderbolts take the form of ancient stone axes that are exposed on the surface of the earth after heavy rains.

This Oshe Shangoiscarved as a suppliant female devotee of Shango, the Yoruba thunder deity. The devotee is carvedwith crotal bells dangling froman over-sized thunderbolt,edun ara, on her head. This aspect symbolises one’s destiny and burden. (The thunderbolt is a symbol of Shango.) Balancing thethunderbolt on one’s head is a metaphor for balancing the great power of Shango – the power that creates empires, but which also requires great care not toexceed its limits, which would bring about destruction.Such a dance wands was carried by devotees at the annual festival of Shango and on other ritual occasions. During the Shango festival, devotees woulddance in the streets to the thunderous rhythms of thebatadrums. The dance wand would have presented a dramatic image when seen in the hand of adancing devotee. It was waved in violent and threatening gestures to imitate the dangerous powers of Shango: unpredictable, violent, and creative anddestructive - all at the same time. The Shango ritual would reach a climax when one of the devotees became possessed by Shango himself.

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Return accepted for full refund of actual purchase price if item is return in same condition within 14 days of receipt. Buyer responsible for shipping costs. By purchasing this item, you are acknowledging that with tribal art,some items may have an odor to them,and that the presence of an odor does not constitute a defect.