Hunters and blacksmiths avoid eating or witnessing the mating of blacksnakes. Other sacrificial animals associated with Ogun are the spitting cobra (blacksnake) its behavior is aggressive and fearless. Dogs are the traditional companions of hunters, but Ogun's personality is also seen as 'doglike': aggressive, able to face danger, and straightforward.

Followers of Ogun wear chains of iron implements Ogun festivals feature the display of knives, guns, blacksmith implements, scissors, wrenches, and other iron implements from daily life. Ogun altars and ceremonies display and use iron objects both in Yoruba areas and across the African diaspora. They symbolize Ogun's role in transformation, mediation, and function. The primary symbols of Ogun are iron, the dog, and the palm frond. Followers of traditional Yoruba religion can swear to tell the truth in court by 'kissing a piece of iron in the name of Ogun.' Drivers carry an amulet of Ogun to ward off traffic accidents. Ogun is the traditional deity of warriors, hunters, blacksmiths, technologists, and drivers in the Yoruba region. He is now celebrated in, Ogun, Ekiti, Oyo, and Ondo States. Throughout his earthly life, he is thought to have fought for the people of Ire, thus is known also as Onire. His followers believe him to have wo ile sun, to have disappeared into the earth's surface instead of dying. He disappeared into the earth at a place called Ire-Ekiti, with the promise to help those who call on his name. When some of his subjects failed to show respect, Ogun killed them and ultimately himself with his own sword. In his earthly life Ogun is said to be the first king of Ife. To commemorate this, one of his praise names, or oriki, is Osin Imole or the 'first of the primordial Orisha to come to Earth'. In some traditions, he is said to have cleared a path for the other orisha to enter Earth, using a metal ax and with the assistance of a dog. In Yoruba religion, Ogun is a primordial orisha in Yoruba Land. Statue of Ogun, Sacred Grove Of Oshun, Osogbo, Nigeria

Orisha oko other names