Description
Yoruba Tribe.
The Yoruba produce iron staffs which honor the deities of herbal form of medicine, Eyinle and Osanyin. In Yoruba sorcery lore, old women take the birds to attack their victims; the bird imagery of this staff suggests the herbalist’s ability to counteract such sorcery. Drewal states, The medium itself (iron) and miniature forged implements (hoes, knives, arrows, swords, bells) proclaim the intersection of the god of iron, Ogun, whose cutting blades make possible the herbalist’s penetration of dense forests to obtain healing substances (1980:34).
