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Adú Kaqué and Ogundá-Obara


The divination sign Ogundá-Obara says that Adú Kaqué is the name that Asojano took when he arrived at Dahomey. He was cast out of Ilé-Ifé, and most stories include the fact that Changó took two dogs from Ogún and gave them Asojano as traveling companions. However, this sign says that Ogún presented Babá with a walking stick to aid him on his journey. It was in the form of an osun, a metal staff with a container at the top. Instead of the usual rooster, this osun carried a small dog, and Asojano used it to travel from Ilé-Ifé, through the land of Ibariba, and ultimately to his home in Dahomey.
 
This little osun with the dog on top is truly fascinating to me, because it is very wide-spread and short-lived. The Arará-Dajomé rama of Armando Zulueta does not give it in the United States, and my godfather, Ernesto Pichardo, told me that they used to give an osun with a rooster. When I visited Armando's house in Perico, Provincia Matanzas, I saw the rooster on top of his osun.


(It's not a great picture, but you can see the osun in the center rear.)


Similarly, the Arará-Sabalú give an osun called Sain when they give a new initiate Asojano, and this osun also has the much more common rooster. Still, many lineages give this rooster-topped staff, and I would love to know about its origin in the different lineages.

(Thanks to David H. Brown and Folkcuba.com for the image at the top.)


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Comments

  1. Phoenix SmithAugust 12, 2010 at 12:35 PM

    Benedicion Baba,
    You know when I first moved to Oakland I had lots of dreams and live interactions with black dogs. Once, I was awakened at 3:00am and compelled to go to the ocean, I wasn't fully present walked out of the house with no shoes just got in the car. On the way to the beach was stopped by a black dog lying in the middle of the road...this was an urban neighborhood mind you, the hood to be exact and there he was just lying down looking at me with these deep penetrating eyes. I just stopped and waited....after a while he moved but it was an experience I"ll never forget.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Michael Atwood MasonAugust 16, 2010 at 2:48 PM

    Maferefun Babalú-Aýé. It is so powerful with the psychic world and the physical unite so clearly. As above, so below. As within, so without.

    ReplyDelete

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