Samhain Blessings, everyone! It’s a beautiful evening for trick-or-treating here, and there is just the right amount of wind to feel the spirits as they pass among us. I thought a Goddess involved in the cycle of life and death would be appropriate for this special night.

Onile is the Yoruban Goddess of the earth. A special society called the Ogboni serves Onile, and one of their particular roles is in settling disputes that involve spilling of blood onto Onile’s sacred earth. She is said to have existed before the other orishas or Gods. Onile is very similar to the Ibo Goddess Ala, in that she represents both the fertile and the fallow earth, the beginning and the ending, life and death. Her name, which means “owner of the earth,” is also seen as Ile.