Edan Ogboni Staff
The edan are paired staffs of brass or iron belonging to the Ogboni, or Osugbo, the elders' society of the Yoruba, each staff topped by a seated human figure, one male and one female, joined by a short length of chain. The pair stands for the moral unity of the earth, and the edan is kept on the society's altar, where oaths are sworn over it; to swear falsely while the edan rested before the assembly was to call down the earth's judgment. The society, whose name means 'elders,' served as the council of justice and the keeper of the land's authority, and its emblem carried that weight. Members