Codex of FaithsAn illustrated atlas of belief

Sacred objects

Oshe Ṣàngó

The oshe Ṣàngó, the double-headed axe of the Yoruba god of thunder: what it stands for, how it is carried by his devotees and its place in Yoruba art and in Afro-Atlantic religions.

Also called Thunder axe · Ose Sango

In brief

  1. I.The oshe is a carved wooden staff topped with a double axe blade, the emblem of Ṣàngó, the orisa of thunder and lightning.
  2. II.Ṣàngó is remembered as a fiery early king of Oyo who became a god.
  3. III.Devotees carry the oshe when they dance for him; many staffs show a kneeling woman balancing the axe on her head.
  4. IV.Ancient stone axes found in the earth are believed to be his thunderstones.

Chapter I

What it means

The oshe is the sign of Ṣàngó’s power: thunder, lightning and fire, and with them justice, since lightning was believed to strike liars and thieves. Carrying the staff in dance, a devotee makes the god present.

Many oshe show a woman kneeling, with the double blade rising from her head. She is a devotee, calm and balanced, holding the god’s explosive power with composure, as worship turns danger into blessing.

Chapter II

Where it comes from

Yoruba tradition remembers Ṣàngó as an early king of Oyo, the kingdom that later grew into a great empire, who became an orisa after his death. Oyo carvers made oshe for his priests, and prehistoric stone axes, ploughed up from the ground, were kept on his shrines as thunderstones.

Chapter III

Where you see it today

Ṣàngó festivals are held in Oyo and other Yoruba towns, and his devotees in Nigeria and the Americas still dance with the oshe. Carved staffs are highly valued in collections of African art.

Questions people ask

Why a double axe?

The two blades are the thunderbolts Ṣàngó hurls from the sky. The double form also expresses balance: his power is dangerous, but used for justice.

Is Ṣàngó worshipped outside Africa?

Yes. As Changó in Cuban Santería and Xangô in Brazilian Candomblé, he is one of the most popular orisa in the Americas.

Sources and further reading

  1. Henry John Drewal and John Pemberton III, Yoruba: Nine Centuries of African Art and Thought (Center for African Art, 1989)
  2. Encyclopaedia Britannica, “African religions”
  3. Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Santeria”
  4. Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Religious symbolism and iconography”

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