Mortar "odu"

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Description

heavy wood, brown patina, indigo blue paint, kaolin, cylindrical wooden block, deepened upperside with flaring rim, the front side carved with a figure of “eshu” with flute, flanked by two double axes, further motifs on the sides are clubs and birds, slightly dam., fine cracks, abrasion of paint;
during the festival a ram is sacrificed and its blood poured over the thunderstones. In offering prayers to the “orisha”, the priest acknowledges the inextricable relationship that exists between his life and the power of “shango” through the death of the sacrificial victim. He will touch the face on the “odo” and ask that “eshu”, the bearer of sacrifices, carry his offering to the “orisha”.

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Comparing literature

Drewal, Henry John & John Pemberton, Yoruba, New York 1989, p. 144

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