LeavesPalm oilHoneyThe naming of plantsA garden tended
Invocation Approach
Tone
Guarded and precise
Address
OsanyinOwner of the LeavesThe One-Legged
Relationship
The keeper of the pharmacy of the forest
Warning
The leaves kill as easily as they cure
Resonance
Herbalists healers those who tend plants
Symbols
Iron staff with birdThe single legThe single eyeLeavesThe forest
Mythology Summary
Osanyin is the orisha of herbs and plant medicine, the owner of the leaves and of the ase in them; the tradition gives him the knowledge of plants and the herbalist's calling. He is depicted with one leg and one eye and carries an iron staff with a bird at the top, and the tradition does not agree on why he is one-legged. In Cuba he is Osain, and the herbal knowledge is initiatory rather than public. The forest is his house and the leaves are his people.
Modern Practice
Osanyin is served with leaves, palm oil and honey, and his practice is the gathering and preparation of plant medicine under the taboos of the tradition. The iron staff with the bird is his, and the bird is the ase of the plants. The knowledge is not a 'green witchcraft' correspondence list: it is initiatory and includes poisons.