About My Culture: Ogun Festival

I stumbled on @sndbox contest and I decided to talk about my culture that I feel passionate about. As a native of the state known with this culture, it gives me a lot of joy talking about what I know a lot about. Ogun Festival is the culture I'm going to be writing about.

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I hail from an important part of Nigeria😁😁 which is Ondo State and one of the most celebrated festival is the Ogun festival. It is celebrated annually in honour of a god, Ogun known to us as the god of iron. He was believed to have been a great hunter during his time and was betrayed and killed during a journey. The iconic legend was that he resurrected from the dead and beheaded all those who betrayed him. This festival is usually celebrated in the month of august or september and it usually last for three days with third day being the most important. During the celebration, a libation is poured, prayers are offered, ritual dances with masquerades are performed and sacrifices are made. Dogs are mainly used, snails and tortoise too.

I choose this culture because I knw a lot about it and feels happy whenever it is that time of the year we do it. Ever since I was a kid I have been a fan of art especially dance and legends (All traditional), then we were not allowed to watch the festival as my parents believed it is an explicit display of madness. Participants are well dressed in traditional clothes with white and blue powder on their faces and masquerades are seen dancing on the street. As I got older, I was allowed to watch in companies of my older relatives. So writing about this now makes me reminisce about past celebrations and anticipating future ones. A lots of food and drinks are also made available especially palm wine which I love drinking a lot.

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This festival is held in high esteem in my town and it is so special to people and also me. It is important to me as it helps me to acclimatize more to ancient culture while still being civilized. Music fills the air and even foreign people both Nigerians and non Nigerians all gather in the same place to watch.
Important to my culture as it is still believed that during his life, Ogun was a blacksmith, who unfolds the secret of the earth and made tools from then, so he's regarded as the patron of blacksmiths. Due to this, everyone with professions that has to do with tools made from iron worships him and offers him sacrifices, these are drivers, surgeons and many others and they believe that observing this festival will bring them good fortunes and protections

Thanks for reading.