Oko – African Deity of Agriculture & the Harvest
When the fields turn gold beneath the dying sun and the last harvest is gathered, the spirit of Oko rises from the earth. He is the guardian of crops, the keeper of abundance-but also the judge of greed.
Farmers whisper that on the final nights of the harvest season, Oko walks the boundary between the living and the spirits, cloaked in dust and shadow. His footsteps sound like the rustle of dry stalks, and his eyes glow like embers beneath the autumn moon. He carries a staff cut from the first tree ever planted, and with it, he blesses-or curses-the land.
To the humble, he brings plenty: barns bursting, grain sweet as honey, fields fertile for the year to come. But to the arrogant, who hoard food and disrespect the earth, Oko’s touch is chilling. Their soil turns black, their crops wither, and crows circle endlessly over their fields.
On Halloween night, when spirits rise from the furrows of forgotten farms, Oko’s presence is strongest. Some say he comes to weigh human hearts as he weighs the season’s harvest. If he finds them unworthy, the ground itself may swallow their shadows, leaving only the sound of the wind whistling through hollow stalks.
So when the jack-o’-lanterns burn and the harvest moon glows, leave a small bowl of grain at your door. For it may not be trick-or-treaters who knock, but Oko, come to see if your soul is ripe-or rotten.
