Ogun is one of the fiercest, quickest, most aggressive, expanding forces of the planet.  He is an expanding force.

That’s why we refer to Ogun as “he”.  It doesn’t denote that the Orisha are particularly male or female, but we use the “he/she” designations in order to understand the nature of the energy.  If we were to say “she”, referring to Oshun, then you would know we are talking about a receptive energy.  If we say “he” as in Shango or Ogun, we’re talking about an expansive energy.  So Ogun is expansiveness.

Ogun is one that you would invoke in surgical matters.  He is the patron orisha over surgeons, barbers, metalworkers, blacksmiths, mechanics, computer analysts and programmers, network engineers, and those who create new roads.  These are all areas of Ogun.

One of Ogun’s aspects is Oniponri. Oniponri means iron smelter.  One of the praises is, “Ogun Oniponri Aye. Ogun Oniponri Orun.” Ogun Oniponri aye means the iron smelter of earth.  Oniponri orun is the iron smelter of heaven.

So, in that blacksmith’s chamber we have different elements that are employed in order to temper iron into the shapes and forms that we would like it to be transfigured into.  One of which is air.  Now we use air in the bellows in order to flame the fire that we use.  The fire is represented by Ogun’s brother Shango Full Article.  The air is represented by his wife, Oya.  Then, once we get the iron tempered and shaped as we want it, we use water.  Water would be Oshun.  It could also be Yemoja.

When reading our stories and myths about the Orisha, we’ll find very interesting stories dealing with Shango and his brother Ogun with Oya his first wife, as well as Ogun with Oshun.  Oshun had to go out into the woods and retrieve him because he had grown frustrated with Man.  He said that every tool that he had given to man for their advancement, they used for warfare.  So he retired from being the iron smelter and went back into the woods to do what he enjoyed doing, which was charting new paths.  When that occurred the world stopped functioning.

Ogun also fashions the skeletons of man. Without your skeleton you have no ability to impose your will.  You would just be a mound of flesh.  You can think, plan, and even strategize, but without the bones of your skeleton you have no ability to act upon or execute anything that you wish to do.