 Oxóssi, god of the hunters, would be the youngest brother or the son of Ogum. In Africa, his cult is almost extinct, but in Brazil and in Cuba, it is still widespread. The reason is probably that Ketu, in Africa, was completely destroyed and pillaged by the troops of the Dahomean king in the 19th century, and that its residents, adepts of the cult of Oxóssio, were sold as slaves in Brazil and Cuba. In Brazil, the many initiates wear light-blue necklaces. The day of the week that is dedicated to him is thursday. His symbols are a bow and arrows in wrought iron. One makes him offers of pigs and Axoxo (boiled beans with dried meat and vegetable), boiled corn, served with little pieces of coconut. In Bahia, Oxóssi is syncretised with Saint-George, and in Rio with Saint-Sebastian. During public ceremonies in which the Orixas appear, he carries bow and arrow, his symbols, in one hand, and in the other an Erukere, animal tail, which, in Africa, is a symbol of royal dignity, that must remind us that he was a Ketu king. | 