Babalú-Ayé

Babalú-Aye (from yoruba "Obalúayé"), "Oluaye", Ṣọpọna, or even "Obaluaiye", is one of the orishas or manifestations of the supreme creator god Olodumare in the Yoruba religion of West Africa. Babalú-Aye is the spirit of the Earth and strongly associated with infectious disease, and healing.
He promotes the cure for illnesses. He is always close to Iku (the force responsible for taking life), as he promotes healing for those who are close to death. However, some fear Obaluaye because he is believed to bring disease upon humans, including smallpox, in which he is known as Ṣọpọna.
His cult powers and spells are used against all kinds of diseases, but particularly against skin diseases, inflammation and airborne diseases that can cause epidemics. They are also used to cure people with seizure problems, epilepsy and catalepsy.
Heat is also a property of Babalu-aye, like fever, the body heating up to expel a disease, it is Babalu-aye acting on the human body, as well as the heat that comes from the depths of the earth. Therefore, any kind of sacrifice or offering to this orisha must be done during the day, when the temperature is higher. Usually considered hobbled by disease, he universally takes grains as offerings.
In Africa.
Yoruba.
Venerated by the Yoruba, O̩balúayé is usually called Sopona (Shopona) and said to have dominion over the Earth and smallpox. He demands respect and even gratitude when he claims a victim, and so people sometimes honor him with the praise name Alápa-dúpé, meaning “One who kills and is thanked for it”. In one commonly recounted story, Ṣopona was old and lame. He attended a celebration at the palace of Obatala, the father of the orishas. When Ṣopona tried to dance, he stumbled and fell. All the other orishas laughed at him, and he in turn tried to infect them with smallpox. Obatala stopped him and drove him into the bush, where he has lived as an outcast ever since.
Fon.
Venerated by the Fon, the spirit is most commonly called Sakpata. He owns the Earth and has strong associations with smallpox and other infections. His worship is very diverse in Fon communities, where many distinct manifestations of the spirit are venerated. Because the dead are buried in the Earth, the manifestation called Avimadye is considered the chief of the ancestors.
Ewe.
Venerated by the Ewe, there is a similar figure with the praise name Anyigbato who is closely associated with sickness and displaced peoples. He is believed to wander the land at night, wearing a garment of rattling snail shells; the snail shells are also a key feature of his fetish.
In Latin America.
In Santería, Babalú-Ayé is among the most popular orishas. Syncretized with Saint Lazarus, and regarded as particularly miraculous, Babalú-Ayé is publicly honored with a pilgrimage on December 17, when tens of thousands of devotees gather at the Church and Leprosorium of Saint Lazarus in El Rincón, in the outskirts of Santiago de las Vegas, Havana. Arará communities in Cuba and its diaspora honor the spirit as Asojano. Both traditions use sack cloth in rituals to evoke his humility. The spirit also appears in Palo as Pata en Llaga.
In Candomblé, his face is so beautiful after his illness is cured that no one is worthy to look at him, that's why it is covered with palm straw. He also manifests in Umbanda and Macumba.
In Ifá and Dilogun divination.
Through divination, he often speaks to his devotees through the Ifá signs (Odu Ifá) Ojuani Meyi and Irete Meyi, though as a sickness, he can manifest in any divination sign. In cowrie-shell divination (Dilogun), he is also strongly associated with the sign called Metanlá (13 cowries).
Relationship to other Orisha.
There are several, sometimes contradictory, accounts of Babalú-Ayé's genealogical relationships to other orisha. Babalú-Ayé is often considered the son of Yemoja and the brother of Shango. However, some religious lineages maintain that he is the son of Nana Buluku, while others assert that he is her husband.
Some lineages of Candomblé relate myths that justify Babalú-Ayé being the child of both Yemoja and Nana Burukú. In these myths, Nana Burukú is Babalú-Ayé's true mother who abandons him to die of exposure on the beach where he is badly scarred by crabs. Yemoja discovers him there, takes him under her protection, nurses him back to health, and educates him in many secrets.
Because of his knowledge of the forest and the healing power of plants, Babalú-Ayé is strongly associated with Osain, the orisha of herbs. Oba Ecun (an oriate in La Regla de Ocha) describes the two orisha as two aspects of a single being, while William Bascom noted that some connect the two through their mutual close relationship with the spirits of the forest called "ijimere".
Themes in the worship of Babalú.
The narratives and rituals that carry important cultural information about Babalú-Ayé include various recurring and interrelated themes.