A glossary of Orisha deities.
Craig Chalquist
Chalquist.com
2026
“Orisha”: “owner (or “head”) of chis” (life force, divine power, sacred presence; also called “ashé”).
Orisha populate the Yoruba religion of Ifá originating in Southern Nigeria and modified by diasporic influences throughout the days of slavery and dispersion through the Caribbean and elsewhere. One branch is Vodou (“voh-DOO”). Today, these vital traditions live in many countries and regions.
Orishas are not monolithic gods separate from existence, but more like sentient natural forces who interact intimately with us. They emanate from heavenly Olodumaré (oh-LOO-doo-MAR-aye) as mediators and emissaries to created being. (Olodumaré is supreme, ruling the heavens (Orún) as Olórun and bridging heaven and earth (Ayé) as Olofi.) Some Orishas are local, others not. Practitioners have a head Orisha and second parent. Their legendary number is 401.
Although many parallel Greek and Roman deities, Orishas come from a far older tradition. They also tend to show up together and for each other rather than operating as individuals. They share nature’s qualities, exemplify sociality, oversee different parts of the body, and are therefore not reducible to psychology, although they influence it.
Afro-Caribbean practitioners tend to work mainly with the following Orishas:
Elegbá
Elegba (Eleggua, Elegguá, or Eshú) is a guide, trickster, and messenger who oversees doorways, roads, shores, margins, and passages. He is also to be called upon to contact other Orishas. He is associated with red, white, and black and holds ashé. Often accompanies Shango.
Obatalá
Creator and kind-hearted father (although androgynous) of the Orishas and the world and sculptor of the human body, into which Olodumaré breathed life. He restores peace between those in dispute and judges fairly. Husband of Yemayá. Patron of those born with physical challenges. Associated with the color white.
Ogún
Orisha of craft, iron, labor, technology, and anything to do with metal. Also an Orisha of justice and the swearing of oaths. Associated with crimson, green, and black.
Orunmilá
Oversees wisdom, divination, oracles, and human destiny. Irunmole (an Orisha who takes on a human identity) and sage at the right hand of Olodumaré. Close to Osayín and Oshún. Associated with green and yellow.
Oshósi
Bow-bearing hunter, wizard, and scout. Translator of Obatalá, friend to Ogun and Elegba. Hides the persecuted. Associated with dark blue and yellow.
Oshún
Orisha of fresh water, honey, sexuality, beauty, money, and erotic love. Former mate of Shango, who still wants her. Friend of ants and bees. Associated with yellow, green, red, and gold. She flows toward her sister Yemayá.
Oyá
Oversees winds, lightning (whereas Shango is thunder), the underworld, battle, the marketplace, and the dead. Associated with maroon, brown, and black and white stripes. Former wife of Ogún and fellow warrior of Shango.
Shangó
A fiery, willful, honesty-valuing warrior who wields thunder, fire, the drums, singing, and dancing. Husband of Oba, consort of Oyá and Oshún. His colors are red (with gold trim) and white.
Yemayá (Yemojá)
Orisha of seas, lakes, women, maternity, motherhood. Associated with blue and white.
Other Orishas and divine beings include:
Abatan, Orisha of marshes and friend of Erinle; a nurse to the Orishas.
Aganju, ax-bearing warrior king and brother or father to Shango, or an aspect of him; associated with volcanos, deserts, and ferries.
Ajeshaluga (Kowo), overseer of financial transactions.
Aroní, who teaches woodcraft.
Ayáo, crossbow-bearing messenger of the air and winds.
Ayarokotó, the horizon of sea and sky; brings warnings of tsunamis, whose roar is her voice.
Babalu Ayé, bringer of disease and healing; also, patron of the poor and husband to Nana.
Dadá, overseer of unborn children; the older brother (or sister) who raised Shango.
Dangbe, also Da, of good fortune and what nourishes like roots or an umbilicus; symbolized by two snakes and organic structures that curve.
Egbé, the group of celestial spiritual presences who knew us before we were born and who watch over us in this life.
Egúngun, guiding ancestral spirits of the dead. For some Ifa practitioners, ancestors mediate relationships with the Orishas.
Erinle, hunter-turned-Orisha and restorer of health to Orishas (in contrast to Osanyin or Osain, who heals humans); patron of those who fish.
Ibeji, who takes on the appearance of twins and is associated with twin births and the vitality of youth.
Ibú Ayé, free-spirited and independent guardian of Oshún’s wealth.
Idowú, tender of emotional imbalances and guardian of the child born after twins.
Iroko, who brings prosperity and abundance and who lives in the iroko tree.
Iya Nla, the Great Mother of all things, including spirits and deities.
Kokou, the entranced frenzy of battle.
Korinkoto, brother of Orishaokó’s brother, he tends fertile fields at night; Orisha of earth mysteries.
Logun Ode, sex-changing Orisha of purity and youth.
Nana Buluku, the creator as recognized in parts of West African religion.
Oba, spirit of the river Oba and banished ex-wife or -consort of Shango; associated with matrimony, the home, and domestic affairs.
Oduduwá, legendary deified father of the Yorubas; sometimes taken as king of the dead.
Ogé, who directs us along life’s paths.
Oké, the power of heights, hills, and mountains; long life and immortality; companion of Obatalá.
Oko/Orishaokó, Orisha of agriculture and the harvest.
Olokún, androgynous Orisha, patron of slaves, and father/mother of Aje. Orisha of the sea bottom, health, and wealth. Sometimes thought of as Olorun.
Olórun (also Oludumáre), the supreme heavenly deity.
Olosá, overseer of lagoons, with crocodiles for aides. Wife of Olokún.
Olumo, spirit of Olumo Rock in southwestern Nigeria.
Oranyán, Orisha of the core and motion of the earth.
Ori, “head,” personification of innermost self, soul, or consciousness, with which we seek alignment and balance.
Oronsen, queen of fortune who comes and goes as she pleases.
Osain, forest-dwelling, one-eyed, one-armed, one-legged Orisha of herbs that heal.
Oshunmaré, serpent Orisha of the rainbow and procreation; friend of Olorún, whom he once cured through divination.
Otin, spirit of the Otin River in Nigeria.
Yewá (Yeggua), Orisha of the process of death and decay and the death watch.
Resources:
Cortez, Julio Garcia. 2000. The Osha: Secrets of the Yoruba-Lucumi-Santeria Religion in the United States and the Americas. Brooklyn, NY: Athelia Henrietta Press.
Idowu, E. Bolaji. 1962. Olódùmarè, God in Yoruba Belief. London: Longmans, Green and Company.
Yemoja: Gender, Sexuality, and Creativity in the Latina/o and Afro-Atlantic diasporas. Edited by Solimar Otero and Falola. Toyin. SUNY Press, 2013.
Orisa Devotion as World Religion: The Globalization of Yoruba Culture, edited by Jacob K. Olupona and Terry Rey. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2008.
Mason, Michael, Orisha priest.
Murphy, Joseph M. 1988. Santeria: African Spirits in America. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.
Òsun Across the Waters: A Yoruba Goddess in Africa and the Americas, edited by Joseph Murphy and Mei-Mei Sanford. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2001.
Smith, Phoenix, Orisha priest.
Wenger, Susanne, and Gert Chesi. 1983. A Life with the Gods in their Yoruba Homeland. Austria: Perlinger.