Four staffs "opa osanyin" ·  Nigeria, Yoruba · ID: 3050986

Description

iron, corroded, each on a base, three of them on stone

a) staff with fourteen witch birds, h: 46 cm
b) staff with fourteen witch birds, h: 41.5 cm
c) staff with three witch birds, h: 45.7 cm
d) small staff with eight witch birds, h: 16 cm

The Yoruba believe that the power of “Osanyin”, the deity of herbal medicine, is manifest in such wrought-iron sticks, the so-called “opa osanyin”. They traditionally consist of a circle of sixteen witch birds round a larger bird that symbolizes “Orunmila”, the god of wisdom. “Osanyin” is a younger brother of Orunmila’s.

Priests and herbalists call on the help of “Osanyin” to combat illnesses and other misfortunes, which are usually caused by malevolent forces (witches).