Shango and the Dual Death (Yoruba)
Shango was the fourth king of Oyo who deified himself as the god of thunder and lightning. According to legend, Shango was a powerful but tyrannical ruler who accidentally destroyed his own palace with lightning when his enemies provoked him. Overcome with grief and shame, he fled Oyo and hanged himself from an ayan tree. But rather than dying, Shango ascended to heaven and became an Orisha of immense power. His two wives, Oshun and Oya (who became the goddess of wind and death), followed him into the spirit world. Shango's sacred symbol is the oshe (double-headed axe), representing swift divi