Zaka or Azaka is the Haitian Vodoun counterpart of OrishaOko. Above you see the veve of this Loa. Notice the symbols of agriculture around the veve and notice that the predominant color is green, a symbol of vegetative life. Although the name has no resemblance to OrishaOko, the energy represented is the same. Veves are used in the Haitian system to call the Loas and to leave offerings to them. In our system, the Orishas are consecrated in stones and cowrie shells, so that they are always present. Each system works well in its own way and neither is better than the other. Traditions evolve differently due to the circumstances in their history. A number of the Haitian Loas are derived directly from Dahomey. They have the same counterparts as in the Yoruba lands, but the names vary slightly. For example, Fa is the name used in Dahomey and Haiti for Ifa. Some of these variations may be attributed to linguistic differences among the different tribes of those areas.
Osiris was the Egyptian god of the dead, but he was also the god of agriculture. As you will recall, Osiris was cut up in pieces by his brother Set and buried. Isis gathered up the parts of his body and Osiris was reborn. This is highly symbolic of the vegetative process where seeds are buried and miraculously spring to life. For this reason, Osiris is considered to be a god of agriculture. This legend of the dying and reborn god spread throughout the whole Middle East and can be found in legends from Babylonia to Greece. The Egyptians were very concerned with agriculture, since it was of paramount importance to them in their lifestyle. So they had various gods to whom they appealed for a bountiful harvest, as well as general fertility, as we will see as we continue our exploration of the relation of OrishaOko to later mythologies.
Geb was the true god of agriculture of Lower Egypt. In the representation above you see him with the goddess, Nut. Here we have the representation of Heaven and Earth. Geb was an Earth god and closely associated with vegetation. We could not help but notice that the picture really is another form of the Chinese yin-yang. It represents the polarity of Heaven and Earth. Notice that the color green is seen throughout his body, another key to understanding his role.
Sobek was the crocodile god of the Nile. You might wonder why he would be identified with agriculture. The answer is very simple. In Egypt, all agriculture was dependent on the yearly flooding of the Nile. Since Egypt was essentially a desert country, except for the Nile, this flooding was of the greatest importance. Since crocodiles lived only in the Nile, it is only reasonable that the god in charge of the yearly flooding of the Nile and a good harvest would have the head of a crocodile. It also might be noted that the tooth of a crocodile has a great number of magical usages in our religion. It is used for preparing certain resguardos or talismans, and also for use in certain ceremonies dealing with the Orisha Ochun.
