God Zongo

GOD ZONGO

The god Zongo is traditionally depicted with a double ax on his head. This is an attribute of the god of thunder and lightning, which he throws from heaven. The ritual staff shown in the picture was carved by the priest of the oskhe-zango cult from the land of yoru-ba. The staff was used in religious ceremonies to prevent heavy rainfall. While in the north of Nigeria it was necessary to turn to the help of magicians to make it rain, the southwest, on the contrary, suffered from excessive rainfall. With this magical staff, the priest controlled the amount of precipitation.

During the initiation ceremony, a polished stone ax was tied to the novice's head to demonstrate the unity of human and superhuman powers.

In many villages there is a cult image of a god with three wives. Oya, Oshun and Oba are depicted with a Double Ax on their heads or with ram horns. Despite his temperament, Zango is also considered the god of justice and decency. He punishes sinners by killing them with lightning. Therefore, those people who died from being struck by lightning are despised. The Zango priests take their corpses into the forest and leave them there.

Source: "Symbols of Africa" ​​Heike Ovuzu