Prince of Oyó
Xangô was the son of Oranian, founder of the kingdom of Oyó, and of Torosi, daughter of a neighboring ruler named Elempê. Tradition describes him as a difficult, quick-tempered child who grew into an impulsive young man, carrying an axe of power and a bag of charms capable of producing fire and hurling thunderstones. Arriving alone in the town of Kossô, he was at first feared and rejected, but after using his powers to destroy several houses, the townspeople relented and hailed him as their king.
Marriage, kingship, and downfall
While staying with the blacksmith Orixá Ogum, Xangô is said to have won the affection of Ogum's wife Iansã, who fled with him to become his first wife; he went on to marry Oxum and Obá as well, and eventually returned to Oyó, deposed his half-brother Dadá-Ajaká, and ruled in his place, expanding the kingdom in every direction. Tradition holds that his reign ended when he attempted a new and more powerful method of summoning lightning, which instead destroyed his own palace and everyone in it; grief-stricken, Xangô struck the ground and sank into the earth, at which point he — along with Oxum and Obá, transformed into rivers — passed fully into the ranks of the Orixás.
Character, symbols, and syncretism
Xangô is venerated as an Orixá of fire, stone, and thunder, and, on account of that association, as a Lord of Justice; his children are said to share his sense of justice and uprightness. His emblem is the double-headed axe, his colors red and brown, and his element fire. In Brazilian Catholic-Afro-Brazilian syncretism he is paired with Saint John the Baptist.