Ogoun
Traditional Colors: Santeria: green & black; Voudou: red and white
Number: 7
Areas of Influence: All metals, war and battle, soldiers, blacksmithing, farming, civilization in general, transportation (automobiles and trains), healing
Entities associated with: St. Peter
Symbols: Machete, sword, farming implements, anvil and hammer
Offerings: Rum, whiskey (especially Jack Daniels?), beer, gunpowder, tobacco, meat, chili, peppers, hot/spicy foods
Feast Day: June 29th
Astrology: Saturn
Tarot: King of Disks (Knight of Disks in Thoth deck).
Chakra: Root
Gemstones: Hematite, iron pyrite, peridot
Animals: Solitary predators such as hawks, rattlesnakes and panthers. Some references say that he likes dogs and wolves.
Entities of Similar Energy: Vulcan, Hephaestos, Wayland
Entities of Similar Energy: The god Mercury, Kokopelli, Odin, Coyote, all tricksters
Plants associated with:Chili peppers, pricklypear cactus, sunflowers
Ogoun, first and foremost, is the spirit of metal. His other attributes are from the areas in which metal has played an important role like war, farming, healing and civilization in general. Ogoun is a strong, powerful masculine orisha who believes hard work is the answer to almost any problem. I always picture him as the half-naked blacksmith, muscular with no hair (burned off in the fire). He is a warrior and can be called upon during war-time (whether that be literal or spiritual) to go to battle. Because of the use of metal, Ogoun is very much a part of agriculture. He owns the plows to till the soil and the implements of the harvest. Ogoun is a put-your-nose-to-the-grind-stone kind of man. He is not flashy and he does not do what he does for glory or fame. He likes to work with his hands. As a blacksmith or welder, he is able to use fire and metal to create the necessary and the beautiful.
While his role in Santeria is primarily of a warrior, in Voudou, he is also a healer, because many of the implements of modern medicine are made of metal. He owns many of our modern machines, including automobiles and trains. Ogoun is a mechanic and can help you out with car trouble. He likes to hunt and fish and loves the forest. The forest is about the only place Ogoun can really find any peace. He gets along very well with Ellegua and Ochossi. As previously stated, Ogoun and Chango do not like each other. I try really hard not to feed them together for any reason. If you are doing a large ritual with many orishas, you can invite them both, just be sure to have their offerings in separate places or on separate tables. Ogoun loves his women. He has been involved with several of the female orisha, but none of those relationships ended well. Family is important to Ogoun. He loves his children and will fiercely protect them but he expects a lot from them. He hates laziness in all forms. He can have a terrible temper and can be a mean drunk. In mammals, the hemoglobin in our blood contains a piece of iron. This is actually what makes our blood red. In this way, each of us contains a small piece of Ogoun. Each of us has the ability to draw upon our inner Ogoun for strength.
Properly Showing Respect to Ogoun
Ogoun accepts offerings of alcohol, tobacco (especially a good cigar), meat (cooked only enough so that it is still pink), metal filings and gunpowder . Be sure to turn alcohol bottles on side when they are empty. Ogoun once hurt some drunken men because he thought they weren’t sharing their liquor but in fact the bottles were empty.
Where to find Ogoun
Railroad tracks, auto repair shops, machine shops or any other place metal is worked with, the forest, gun ranges, military forts (especially Army and Marines).
Ogoun’s Children
Ogoun’s children are workaholics. Everything they do they have to do a 100%. They have a drive for perfection which can lead to some real problems (like alcoholism) unless they learn to let some stuff go. Many of them have had unhappy childhoods, which have tempered their personalities much in the same way fire has tempered metal. Family is very important to Ogoun’s children and they will go to great lengths to provide for those they love. They are hands on, mechanically inclined people and will tend to have jobs where they are creating, fixing or destroying physical things. They are quite happy being in the great outdoors and they like camping, hiking, fishing and hunting. In fact, Ogoun’s children should try to make regular visits to the forests. They like sex and behind closed doors they are very sexual beings. The possibility of becoming an alcoholic or other developing some other dependency is strong and the children of Ogoun have to be careful of excess. They can have bad tempers and can be abusive, especially when they find themselves in frustratingly bad situations.
Ogoun Story
In the winter of 1997, Ogoun killed my car. He broke it in such a way that my mechanic was calling all of his mechanic friends to come over and look at the engine because in his 20 years of being a mechanic, he had never seen anything like that ever. Apparently something that should have never broke, broke and ended up someplace it never should have been able to get to (in case you are wondering, no, I’m not a mechanic). Anyway, I was driving a P.O.S. Nissan Pulsar that had waaaaaay too many miles on it when I bought it. It had been my first car and I had gotten screwed over big time. Ogoun just decided one day that I needed a new car, so he killed the Pulsar. I borrowed enough of a down payment from my parents and I went looking for another vehicle. As most of you know, used car shopping is like having a root canal while giving birth to a baby sideways. Even under the best of circumstances, it just sucks. I must have visited every used car lot in town. I had gotten so screwed over the first time, that I was not going to get reamed a second time. After 2 weeks of searching, I had almost given up hope. There was this one guy (the husband of a co-worker) who was so honest and nice that I really wanted to give him one last shot before settling on something.
When my dad and I pulled up to his lot, there was an older couple there finishing up their paperwork on their new minivan. They were turning in 2 vehicles, one of which was a green Geo Storm. It was 6 years old but only had 16,000 miles on it. The lady’s husband was disabled and couldn’t get into it so they hardly ever drove it. We actually got to see the vehicle before the dealership cleaned it up and it was spotless. You could have eaten off that engine. When I open up the passenger door, there was an angel hanging off the door. I knew immediately that this was my new car. I had to work for it, but Ogoun made sure I got a great vehicle and an excellent deal. Three months later, I decided to follow my dream and move to Texas. I know now that the Pulsar would not have survived the 1,000 mile trip. Ogoun knew I wanted to go to Texas and I believe he wanted to make sure that I had good vehicle when I left. In fact, about the only possession I had when I got here was that great little car.
Ogoun's Chili
This chili is going to be very hot*.
- 1 lb Ground Turkey
- 1 lb Hamburger (get a lower fat package if it makes you feel better)
- 1 package uncooked sausage or bratwurst (I will buy a hot variety of sausage, but for a milder version an Italian sausage is good too)
- 1 lg can of crushed tomatoes (optional-get a flavored variety; Mexican or Italian would work)
- 1 can red Enchilada sauce (Mild or spicy)
- 1 sm. can Tomato paste
- 1 sm. can chopped green chilis
- 1 white Onion (diced)
- 1 Green Bell Pepper (diced)
- Garlic (4-6 cloves, finely chopped)
- Olive Oil (for sautéing)
- 2 cans red kidney beans (look, I’m not getting into that whole bean/no bean argument here. Consider the beans to be optional and by the way, I like beans in chili so get off my ass.)
Peppers (mix and match as necessary)
- Poblanos (3)
- Jalapenos (7)
- Serranos (3)
- Habenero (1)
Generally speaking, you want a mix of peppers for flavor so at a minimum I will go with 1 Poblano, 5 Jalapenos, and 2 Serranos.
If you are lucky enough to have access to other types of peppers, by all means, go for it!
Spice options:
Stuff I normally add:
Cayenne pepper, Tabasco, dry red wine (merlot or a cabernet), horseradish (deepens the flavor), kosher salt and black pepper (both required), Worcestershire sauce (required), Wasabi, Hot Paprika, Sweet Paprika
Things I sometimes add: Mustard, BBQ sauce, honey, molasses, Cumin, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Tabasco™ Chipotle and whatever else I may have had in my spice cabinet.
Cooking directions: Start by sautéing the onions, green bell pepper and garlic with the olive oil. Don’t overcook, you’re just softening them up (3-5 minutes max). Throw into a large stew pot along with the tomatoes, enchilada sauce, tomato paste, green chilis and the rinsed kidney beans (if using). Also add a couple pinches of salt. Start the pot on high heat and then reduce heat to medium once it is boiling. Brown the turkey in a skillet, then add to the pot (I normally throw the turkey juice in there too as it is mostly water). Brown the hamburger and if you were cheap and bought the high fat stuff, go ahead and drain the fat. If you bought the good stuff than go ahead and add the little bit of fat to the pot with the meat. Slice the skin of the sausage and break up the meat into as small of pieces as possible. Brown and add the sausage to the pot. Add a little more salt. Stir well.
Pepper options:
Easy-cut up whatever variety of peppers you want, sauté in olive oil and add to pot (again, don’t overcook them). If you picked some hot ones, be aware that by sautéing the peppers you will be releasing happy hotness into the air and sometimes I have to leave the kitchen for a couple of minutes.
Hard-need to start before making the chili. Put all (except for the habenero) of your spicy peppers onto a cookie sheet and broil in the oven until skins are black. You may need to turn them a couple of times for even cooking. Remove from oven, put all the peppers into a bowl and cover with saran wrap. Allow to cool. Once cool, remove the waxy skin, cut up and remove seeds if you want to (I never do).
Add peppers to chili along with a little more salt, stir well and start spicing the hell out of it. Spicing is all a matter of taste. Chili is one of those things that gets better over time so if you can cook it the day before, even better. If you are worried about adding too much of something, add in small amounts and stir well before tasting. About the only thing you really can’t recover from is too much salt but you need enough salt to bring out the flavor. Beware of BBQ sauce, a little goes a long well. If you can cook the chili on the stove top for a good hour, you’ll be happy with the results.
Freezes well if you’re single or just too bitter to share.
I usually serve with Basmati rice and Sharp Cheddar Cheese. Makes a crap load.
*If you want to make this recipe for your whole family, please, for the love of all that is holy, reduce the peppers going into the pot. Then, when you serve Ogoun his portion, cut up some fresh peppers and sprinkle over his serving.
