For the Yoruba, ‘Orisha Oko’ is the god of agriculture (‘Orisha’ = god, higher being). He is particularly venerated in western Yoruba. The main object in the cult of the god ‘Orisha Oko’ is a large forged iron rod, which is kept in a case richly embroidered with glass beads with its own cap. This cult rod (or ritual sword) is also known as ‘Orisha Oko’. In the belief system of the Yoruba people, the god ‘Orisha Oko’ protects everything that has to do with agriculture: the farmsteads, harvest, household animals, fruits, etc. Robbers and thieves are punished (killed) by his heavy, iron ritual sword. He also helps against witchcraft, yet also defends women who have been mistakenly accused of witchcraft. ‘Orisha Oko’ iron staffs, such as the present one, are produced by blacksmiths in a predetermined, traditional form. At the top is a rounded hilt, with a wooden core which is wrapped around with thick iron spirals. Beneath is the actual ‘sword’, a long, four-sided iron point, which is attached to the wooden core of the hilt by means of a grommet. With forged iron nails. In the upper third of this ‘sword’ is always found a forged iron stump, which bears a cross symbol on both sides, as well as delicate engraving. The case of an ‘Orisho Oko’ staff consists of fabric layers, which are embroidered front and back with coloured glass beads, and bordered with leather bands. To this also belongs a small, conical cap, also embroidered. Placed in this case and ‘protected’ by its cap, the cult staff is preserved and venerated in its own shrine. The case of the present ‘Orisho Oko’ staff shows a face on the front side at the top, and below five fields with lozenges and entwined band motifs (‘endless knot’), five pairs of triangular extensions attached at the side (like ‘ears’), as well as three three-dimensionally designed small horses. The back is embroidered. The conical cap displays a horse above and a face on the front and back. Everything is embroidered with small, coloured glass beads. Such complete ‘Orisha Oko’ cult rods are very rare indeed. It is an unusually old piece, with only minimal damage (on the glass beads and leather bands). L: 145 cm (in total, the cult rod in case with cap); 135 cm (the iron rod alone). Between c. 1900 and the first third of the 20th century. (ME)

Provenance: German Private Collection.

Lit.: ‘Yoruba. Nine Centuries of African Art and Thought’ by Henry John Drewal & John Pemberton III, fig. 247; ‘Encyclopedia of African Art and Culture’ by K.-F. Schädler, fig. p. 487.

additional image:
A LARGE “ORISAH OKO SWORD” made out of iron, in a “scabbard” decorated with pearls, and the “cap” belonging to it above. With two Yoruba women in front of a shrine of the god “Orisha Oko”. In Ilaro, in the southern province of Egbado in Nigeria. Photograph by Henry John Drewal, 1977.
Photo from: “Yoruba. Nine centuries of African Art and Thought” by Henry John Drewal and John Pemberton III.