Orixá by birth date

Exu is the Orixá of communication, of paths and of passages. Guardian of the crossroads, he opens (or closes) the paths for everything we want to achieve. He is also the messenger between humans and the Orixás, which is why he is the first to be greeted in any ritual.

Ogum is the warrior orixá, lord of iron and technologies. He opens paths, protects against visible and invisible enemies and rules courage, hard work and conquest. His axe and his sword are symbols of protection and justice.

Oxóssi is the king of the forests and lord of the hunt. He rules abundance, plenty, knowledge and sharp intelligence. In Umbanda, he rules the line of the caboclos; in Candomblé, he is worshiped with the ofá, the metal bow and arrow.

Xangô is the orixá of justice and thunder. A powerful king, he weighs every cause on his sacred scale before giving the verdict. He protects magistrates, lawyers, teachers and all those who work with knowledge and equity.

Iansã, also called Oyá, is the Orixá of the winds, the lightning, and the storms. Lady of the éguns, she is the only Yoruba deity with power over the dead. She rules feminine courage, passion, rapid changes, and the intensity of a life lived without fear.

Oxum is the Orixá of the fresh waters of the rivers, of the waterfalls, of the lakes. She rules love, beauty, fertility, prosperity, and gold. Delicate in appearance but firm in her strength, she is the great loving mother of the Afro-Brazilian pantheon.

Iemanjá is the Queen of the Sea, mother of almost all the Orixás. Welcoming and infinitely loving, she rules motherhood, the home, the family, and the matters of the heart. She is the great universal mother who welcomes any child, from any house, in any tradition.

Oxalá is the Orixá of creation, father of all other Orixás. He rules peace, wisdom, spiritual whiteness, and humanity. His two faces, Oxalufã (old) and Oxaguiã (young), represent the wisdom of the elders and the strength of youth.

Obaluaê, also called Omulu, is the Orixá of health and the earth. Doctor of the Orixás, he rules healing, the skin, epidemics, and ancestry. His sacred straw (azê) covers what should only be revealed to a few; his mysteries are the deepest in the pantheon.

Oxumaré is the orixá of the rainbow and renewal. He rules the cycles of life, the circulating wealth, continuity and inevitable changes. His serpent form represents ancient wisdom and the capacity to renew oneself through transformations.

Nanã is the grandmother of the Orixás, the oldest of the feminine deities. Lady of the mud, of still water and of the swamps, she represents ancestry, ancient wisdom and the threshold between life and death. Those who belong to her carry an ancestral weight and a silent depth.

Logunedé is the young orixá, son of Oxóssi and Oxum. He divides his time between his father's forest and his mother's rivers, representing duality and abundance. He rules youth, plenty and the ability to move between opposite worlds.

Without leaf there is no axé. Ossaim is the orixá owner of the leaves, the herbs and the secrets of healing, the lord who knows the right plant, the right name and the right word to awaken the power of each herb. Ritual bath, smoke cleansing (defumação), amaci and offering pass through his hands.

Obá is one of the strongest and least understood Orixás of the Afro-Brazilian pantheon. A fearless warrior, lady of the turbulent river waters, of the rapids and the waterfalls, she usually lives in the shadow of her more famous sisters, and many people still confuse her with Iansã.

Ewá (also written as Euá or Yewá) is the orixá of the springs, the horizon and clairvoyance, worshipped in Ketu and Jeje candomblé, where she is a vodun. She gives her name to a river between Nigeria and Benin, shares the snake with Oxumarê and, in academic sources, also appears linked to the passage of the dead.

Ibeji is the orixá of twins and children, the force of childhood within the Afro-Brazilian pantheon. Unlike the deities linked to an element of nature, he guards a principle: purity, joy, and the magic of those who play. In Brazil, his feast is that of Cosme and Damião, with caruru and sweets for the children.

Iroko is the orixá who lives in the tree. He is not represented in the trunk: he lives in it. He is one of the oldest Orixás worshipped in Ketu Candomblé, linked to time, to ancestry and to longevity. In Brazil, his dwelling is the white gameleira tree with the white cloth tied to the trunk.