ṢÀNGÓ (SHANGO)

Thunder, royal justice

Ṣàngó (Shango) is the orisha of thunder, lightning and justice in Yoruba religion. A figure at once historical and divine, tradition makes him one of the first kings, alaafin, of the Oyo empire in the south-west of present-day Nigeria, deified after his death. His cult, closely bound to the kingship of Oyo, spread throughout the Yoruba world. His attributes are the double axe called oshe Sango, the colours red and white, the thunderstones, edun ara, kept in his sanctuaries, and the bata drums that give rhythm to his possession ceremonies. His priests and priestesses played an important religious and political role in the old Oyo empire. The Atlantic slave trade carried his cult to the Americas, where he became one of the most popular figures of the Afro-diasporic religions: Changó in Cuban Santería, where he is associated with Saint Barbara, Xangô in Brazilian Candomblé, which gave its name to the xangô cults of Recife, and Shango in Trinidad, where his name long designated the orisha religion itself. Still venerated today in Nigeria as in the diaspora, he embodies virile power, dance, celestial fire, and a justice that strikes down falsehood.