Olokun (Yoruba: Olókun) is an orisha spirit in Yoruba land. Olokun is believed to be the parent of Aje, the orisha of great wealth and of the bottom of the ocean. Olokun is revered as the ruler of all bodies of water and for the authority over other water deities. Olokun is highly praised for their ability to give great wealth, health, and prosperity to their followers.
In Yoruba mythology, the attitudes of the gods, the control they establish on each force of Nature, decides the order and importance of the elements. Olokun therefore inspires respect and fear, as the powers of destruction unleashed by the ocean's depths are immeasurable.
Olokun, therefore, like each Orisha, contains a duality ~ he is a constant source of fertility which emanates from the entrails of the earth and causes life to germinate, and yet he is also an expression of the world of the dead. As with the earth, many things come up from the sea and end in the sea. In this cycle there will always remain doubt, the unknown which obliges people into a dialog with Nature. Because of this, the drums of African origin in the New World must beat to give tribute to the secrets of the sea.
