Stepping into the Fleming Museum’s Santería birthday throne, your eyes are overwhelmed with bright colors, sparkling fabrics, beaded objects, shiny crowns. Closest to the viewer, perched on the ground, the simple altar of Ochosi sits. This altar somewhat contrasts all of the elegant and elaborately decorated altars that are raised up high in the air; Ochosi’s altar is rather plain, save for his signature blue, gold, and coral beads.
Ochosi’s shrine, while simple, is also beautiful. A grey ceramic bowl sits on the ground, but holds inside a bow and arrow, and a spear adorned with those blue, golden, and coral beads that seem to draw light to them. A string of these beads of all different shapes and sizes circle the bowl, bringing dimension to the simple ceramic shape. Beside the bow and arrow, a pair of metal black manacles sit menacingly, as if daring its audience to challenge the forces of justice. A pear-shaped calabash, adorned with beads, shells, and blue ribbons rests on the floor next to the ceramic bowl: hollow, with only secrets inside. A simple silk rug sits underneath the bowl and and the calabash, half a deep blue, and half golden. Next to the altar is also a horsehair whip, the handle embedded with Ochosi’s beads. This whip is unusual, as it is usually only given to orisha, or gods, of higher status, such as Obatala, Yemaya, Oya, and other royalty. Normally, Ochosi isn’t considered royalty at all, which makes this whip an abnormality. Although the altar of Ochosi has all of these beautiful and intricate details, it’s not particularly eye-catching, especially compared to the loud and embellished altars on display in the birthday throne.
I chose to study the altar of Ochosi because it called out to me. It’s the altar closest to its audience, yet it seems barren and small compared to other altars. This was what intrigued me most as I studied the altars in the Santería birthday throne. As I learned more about Ochosi, I became interested in studying how he is worshipped – what his altars look like, how his rituals are performed. In this essay I will first provide some background on Ochosi, then I will explain briefly how Santería altars are made and how they function, and what is known about altars to Ochosi.
Ochosi, sometimes spelled Oshossi or Oxossi, is the Yoruba orisha of hunting and justice. With the passage of time and with the slave trade bringing practitioners to and from other countries, Yoruba religion has spread to different cultures to form religions such as Santería, Vodou, and Candomble. This is the African diaspora, and it refers to the spread of new religions formed by followers of Yoruba adapting to and including new cultures in their worship. Ochosi isn’t an orisha easily found – his name appears in many books, but only to mention him in passing as one of the great warrior orisha. The main legend known about Ochosi is one in which he hunts a quail to present to the gods, but his mother cooks it and eats it instead. Ochosi catches another quail, and asks for his arrow to pierce the heart of the thief who stole the first quail, and is distraught when he sees his own arrow land in the chest of his mother (Sandoval 2006, 286) (González-Wippler 2004,50-51). This tale demonstrates Ochosi’s talent at hunting and his passion for justice – two of the main attributes that he exemplifies.
The birthday throne found in the Fleming Museum is dedicated to a man named Dr. J Lorand Matory, a practitioner of Santería, and a professor of cultural anthropology, African studies, and African American studies at Duke University. Birthdays are very important in Santería, and this throne is a collection of altars dedicated to orisha such as Yemaya or Ochosi. Orisha are placed in order of importance in general, but also of importance to the practitioner. Often, importance is shown in height – Obatala, the father of all orisha, has his altar on the tallest pillar. While all altars to a certain orisha have some aspects in common, small details will always differ based on who the throne is dedicated to. We’ve already seen this in how Dr. Matory chose to give Ochosi, who is often seen as lower class, a horsehair whip, which is normally only given to orisha that are considered royalty. Altars provide a significant view not only into how religion is practiced – but also into the details and intricacies that can make an altar or a birthday throne unique to a single practitioner.
Dr. Matory’s altar to Ochosi is also unique in that it’s touching the altar of Ogun – no other altars are touching in this way. Ochosi is known for his relationship and ability to get along with other orisha, particularly Ogun, the orisha of iron and the forge. Mythology about Ochosi and Ogun varies – many stories say that they’re brothers, but some maintain that they are simply very close friends. Regardless of the details, all stories place significance on the fact that these orisha are very close. The legendary blacksmith Ogun forges weapons such as bows, swords, and spears, and the great hunter Ochosi uses them. Dr. Matory’s birthday throne provides a perfect example of how altars can embody their orisha – the closeness of Ochosi and Ogun’s altars illustrates the closeness of their relationship.
Altars are very sacred in many religions, and Santería is no exception.`Altars, when activated, can channel orisha. Altars are activated through ashe – the Yoruba word for life, destiny, and power, which flows through everything. Ashe is activated through song, dance, smells, foods, and more, which is why it is very important that an altar has all of the correct objects, foods, beads, etc. When an altar is prepared correctly, it is able to channel ashe, which is what activates it, giving the gods the power to come into the altar, and into the bodies of participants in a ritual. The sound of singing, the feeling of dancing, the smells of foods, and the sights of traditional ritualistic outfits all contribute and activate the ashe of an altar. People performing rituals can also become “spirit possessed”, a state in which the spirit of the orisha summoned enters the body of a practitioner. When an altar is activated, the gods have the power to come into the altar, and into the bodies of the participants of the ritual. Altar making is such a specific and valued skill in Yoruba and Santería because it is very difficult to know what, where, and how to place objects on an altar to allow it to channel an orisha.
While there aren’t many recorded altars to Ochosi, I’ve been able to uncover several accounts of what an altar might look like, or what it might have on it. One source maintains “Ochosi resides in a frying pan”, that his altar should have “deer antlers, three arrows, three dog figurines, and a small mirror”, and should be offered “smoked fish, deer, and game birds” (Núñez, 2006, 374-375). In a conversation with Dr. Matory, he informed me that his experience was that altars to Ochosi are located low to the ground, and are often made with brambles. In this same fashion, another source describes an altar to Ochosi as a “bramblelike sacrificial shrine – dry leafless branches placed in a careful pile on the earth” (Thompson 1983, 58). While some of these reports differ, many have very similar aspects in them that can lead to a general idea of what’s expected in an altar to Ochosi – low to the ground, brambles, a bow and arrow, and smoked game.
In modern times, Ochosi has lost significance to many people. In our discussion of Ochosi, Dr. Matory also explained that hunting has become much rarer as a form of work, and is also known as work for people of lower class, who aren’t often represented as much as people of upper classes. These factors may have contributed to why worship and altars devoted to Ochosi have become much harder to find. Many scholars support this claim, suggesting that: “undoubtedly, Ochosi lost importance in Cuba because hunting as a profession lost importance” (Sandoval 2006, 288). In a world run by modern agriculture and trade, not many people earn a living through hunting anymore, and not many people build altars specifically dedicated to Ochosi anymore.
My goal in this analysis was to discuss background on Ochosi, the work that goes into creating altars in Santería, and altars to Ochosi. Discussion of Ochosi opens up even more questions – what about the rest of the orisha? What happens when altars are activated? How has the spread of Yoruba through the slave trade affected its influence in Santería? Even this small altar to a minor orisha found in the Fleming Museum can open up a whole new world of information and discovery about a religion with incredibly far reaching roots – a religion that many people aren’t even aware exists.
Bibliography:
Ayorinde, Christine. Afro-Cuban Religiosity, Revolution, and National Identity. Gainsville: University Press of Florida, 2004.
González-Wippler, Migene. Santería The Religion. New York: Harmony Books, 1989.
Manuel-Núñez, Luis. Santería Stories. New York: Spring Publications, 2006.
Matory, J. Lorand (Professor at Duke University) in discussion with the author, October 2017.
Sandoval, Mercedes Cros. Worldview, the Orichas, and Santería. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2006.
Thompson, Robert Farris. Flash of the Spirit. New York: Random House, 1983.
Wirtz, Kristina. Ritual, Discourse, and Community in Cuban Santería. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2007.