Inshe Osanyin

Over the course of time you may see this blog being biased on things for Inle. He is my head orisha and  I make a lot of things for him not often seen. Below are "inshe Osanyins" for Inle, specifically for children of Inle, or Inle de cabecera, the extras that accompany the orisha. An inshe Osanyin litterally means a "working of Osanyin/Osain" the orisha of flora, medicine and magic. They are ritually prepared bundles of organic materials, often called "medicine" comprising of things such as herbs, roots, gems, seeds, feathers, pinches of dirt from various places, water collected from the sea, lagoon and so on. The ingredients are housed in a gourd, sealed with virgin beeswax and beaded in the colours of the orishas and with sections for Osanyin (the multicoloured parts). They are then "washed" and "fed" and live with the orisha. Osanyins can be made for specific purposes. Sometimes an orisha will require that one is made for him or her through divination. Some specific paths of the orisha will require inshe Osanyins, or charged dolls as part of their religious coterie.
Often, a person that has been initiated as a priest will learn more about their particular paths / caminos of their own orishas as revealed through ita and then set about, over time, making the items that the specific paths require. Examples that come to mind: Oshun Ibu Kole requires a gourd that hangs either above her vessel or at the front door. Some roads of Elegba require charged wooden statues, Ogun requires a charged horn, Obatala Alaguema requires a charged statue and so on.