Chango
Legacy Name: Chango

Chango was the fourth king of Oyo in Yorubaland, and deified after his death; He is a major character in the divination literature of the Lukumi religion. Stories about Chango’s life exemplify some major themes regarding the nature of character and destiny. Chango is the son of Aganju and Obatala. As the story goes, Obatala, the king of the white cloth was travelling and had to cross a river. Aganju, the ferryman and god of fire, refused him passage. Obatala retreated and turned himself into a beautiful woman. He returned to the river and traded his/her body for passage.Chango was the result of this uneasy union. This tension between reason represented by Obatala and fire represented by Aganju would form the foundation of Chango’s particular character and nature. In further patakis Chango goes in search of Aganju, his father, and the two of them play out a drama of conflict and resolution that culminates with Chango throwing himself into the fire to prove his lineage. All of the stories regarding Chango revolve around dramatic events such as this one. He has three wives; his favorite (because of her excellent cooking) is Oshun, a river goddess. His other wife, Oba, another river goddess, offered Sango her ear to eat. He scorned her and she became the Oba River, which merges with the Oshun River to form dangerous rapids.Lastly, Oya was Chango’s third wife, and stole the secrets of his powerful magic.The story of Chango and Oba carries the familiar refrain, “all that glitters is not gold”. As has been stated Chango had three wives, Oba, his first and legitimate wife, Oya, his second wife, and Oshun his concubine. At that time and in that place they would live in a compound. In that compound, Chango had his own house and each wife had her own house surrounding his. He would then visit his wives in their houses to eat and to sleep with them. Oba noticed that when Chango went to the house of Oshun he would eat all of the food that she prepared for him but when he came to her home he would just pick. Oba, wanting a closer relationship with her husband, decided to ask Oshun how she kept Chango so happy. Oshun, being asked this, was filled with resentment. As children of the first wife, Oba’s children would inherit Chango’s kingdom. Her children would not have nearly the same status, being born from his concubine. She decided to play a trick on Oba, out of jealousy. She told Oba that many years ago she had cut a small piece of her ear off and dried it. From this she made a powder she would sprinkle on Chango’s food. As he ate it, she told Oba, Chango would desire the food and Oshun all the more. Oba, excited by this information, ran home to prepare Chango’s amala, his favorite meal. Once it was done she decided that if a little piece of Oshun’s ear produced such an effect her whole ear would drive Chango mad with desire for her and he would forget Oshun forever. She sliced off her ear and stirred it into Chango’s food.When Chango came to eat he sat down and began eating without looking at his dish. When he finally glanced down he saw an ear floating in the stew. Chango, thinking Oba was trying to poison him, drove her from his house. Oba ran from the compound, crying, and fell to earth to become a river, where she is still worshipped today. As an Orisha she is the patron of matrimony and is said to destroy marriages that abuse either partner.