Oxalá

Who He Is

Oxalá (Ọbatálá, “king of the white cloth”; also Orixalá) is the greatest of the funfun orishas — the orishas “of the white”, of peace and creation. He is the father of the pantheon and of humanity: it was he who, by the charge of Olódùmarè, molded the human bodies from clay (the same clay that belongs to Nanã), before the breath of life animated them.

All that is white, serene, and elevated belongs to him: calm, whiteness, wise old age, dignity. He is the orisha of serenity — averse to haste and to violence. His children and devotees wear white and cultivate the patience and peace he embodies.

Oxaguiã and Oxalufã

Oxalá manifests in two great aspects, and both are the same orisha:

• Oxaguiã (Ọbatálá Àjàgùnnà) — the young, warrior face, lord of the pounded yam, active and vigorous.
• Oxalufã (Ọbatálá Òṣèèrèmàgbò) — the elder face, bent, who walks slowly leaning on the opaxorô; lord of peace and experience.

The difference between the names is one of age and aspect, not of identity: it is a single Oxalá at two times of life.

Domains

• Creation — the molding of the human form, the delegated creative act.
• Peace and serenity — calm, gentleness, the refusal of violence.
• Whiteness and purity — white as the color of elevation and dignity.

In-Game Perspective

Oxalá is the benevolent demiurge — the molder of bodies by charge of the supreme source. This places him in direct, contrasting dialogue with the Wiki’s central Gnostic theme: whereas the Gnostic Demiurge (Yaldabaoth/Enki) shapes the material world out of ignorance, Oxalá does so out of mandate and love. Two readings of the same gesture of giving form to matter.

See Also

• Nanã
• Orunmilá
• Olódùmarè (Yoruba source-principle)
• Gnosticism