yemaya day celebrations

When is Yemayá celebrated in Cuba?

In Havana, Cuba, Yemayá is celebrated on September 7th. It is common for regla de ocha initiated priests and priestess to keep a vigil for Yemayá on September 6th which is called vísperas. “For my mother, Yemaya, Mother and mistress of the sea.

Why do we celebrate Yemaya on New Year's Eve?

Even if your culture doesn't celebrate New Year's eve during summer, Yemaya is still associated with the renewing energy that the new year brings. It might not be warm enough to dance on the shore, but it is still a good time to give prayers and offerings to bring you luck and blessings.

How did Yemayá get to the New World?

After slavers brought slaves to the New World via the Middle Passage, Yemayá’s presence increased in the Americas and the Caribbean. Again, Yemayá was originally known as Yemọja, with Yemayá being one of her names she came to be known by in the New World.

What is Yemaya the goddess of?

Yemaya is a powerful, caring goddess who comforts and protects her children. Like the rolling waves of the sea, she can offer spiritual cleansing, blessings, and abundance. If you need some help lifting your burdens and bringing more joy into your life next year, consider making offerings to her at the seashore and requesting her help.

What is Yemaya associated with?

For practicing witches, Yemaya has a fierce, nurturing, gentle energy often associated with the moon and sorcery. As the "Mother of All," she is said to help in matters of self-love, fertility, emotional wounds, trauma, and healing work.

What is Yemaya favorite food?

Yemaya's favorite color is blue. She rules the oceans and all marine creatures, which she loves to eat. She also enjoys watermelon, plantain chips, pork rinds, pineapples, sugar cane syrup and ducks.

What do you feed Yemoja?

“People have a lot of misconceptions about what we take to Yemoja,” says Jelili, one of the devotees in the gathering at the river. “They are basically things that fish eat: honey, soft corn, and other things. Once the fish begin to eat, the water where they live begins to rejoice, as seen in its movement.

What Virgin is Yemaya?

Because they were obligated to accept the Christian religion and not practice their own, they mixed their saints with the Christians' saints. In that way, the Virgin of Regla became the African orisha: Yemayá, perhaps because she is the orisha of the waters.

What orisha day is Wednesday?

Ọjọ́rúDay 1 is dedicated to Obatala, Sopona, Iyami Aje, and the Egungun. Day 2 is dedicated to Orunmila, Esu, and Osun....Calendar terminologies.ỌSẸ̀ in Yoruba calendarDay in Gregorian calendarỌjọ́-Ìṣégun (Day of Victory)TuesdayỌjọ́rú (Day of Confusion & Disruption)Wednesday5 more rows

What is a daughter of Yemaya?

Lisa, she's the daughter of Yemaya, who is the sea, and I'm daughter of Shango, who is thunder. And it's really us. Our characters are really like that. Lisa-Kaindé: In the Yoruba religion, you are chosen by an orisha, which is a divinity. And Naomi was chosen by Shango, who is the orisha of the thunder.

How old is Yemaya?

In SHALLOW WATERS, though, Yemaya is a 17-year-old mermaid who knows she's different from the humans but doesn't know exactly what she is. The one thing she is sure of is her inexplicably magnetic connection to Obatala (more on that later).

Who did Yemoja marry?

AganjuIn Yorùbá mythology, Yemoja is a mother goddess; patron deity of women, especially pregnant women; and the Ogun river. Her parents are Oduduwa and Obatala. There are many stories as to how she became the mother of all saints. She was married to Aganju and had one son, Orungan, and fifteen Orishas came forth from her.

Is Yemaya My orisha?

Yemonja, also spelled Yemoja or Yemaja, Yoruban deity celebrated as the giver of life and as the metaphysical mother of all orisha (deities) within the Yoruba spiritual pantheon.

What color is Yemaya?

white and blueYemaya is the orisha of lakes and seas and the patron of women and of motherhood. She is associated with Our Lady of Regla, the protector of sailors. Fans, seashells, canoes, coral, and the moon all represent her. Her colors are white and blue.

Are Yemaya and Oshun sisters?

Orishas Oshún and Yemayá are syncretized as Our Lady of Charity and and Our Lady of Regla in Cuba. These sister deities reign over the river and ocean bodies and are identified by the colors yellow and blue, respectively.

How do you know if you are a child of Oshun?

She is one of the most popular and venerated orishas. If you see the number 5 a lot (my two most recent apartments were on the 5th floor), are attracted to the color yellow or gold and enjoy sweets, specifically honey, then you too may be a child of Oshun.

Why is Yemaya given prayers?

Yemaya is one of the deities associated with the new year, and she is given prayers and offerings to help bring good luck and happiness to those who honor her.

What do you give to Yemaya?

Prayers and Offerings to Yemaya. Yemaya enjoys offerings of candles, fish, fruit, rice, molasses, sweet dumplings, caramel corn, perfume, sachet powder, and mirrors, among others. The simplest way to give her offerings is to make them directly to the sea.

What is the difference between Yemaya and Olokun?

As people were stolen and taken across the sea as part of the slave trade, Yemaya became an ocean goddess -- deity of the light, gentle, upper part of the sea, while Olokun rules the darker waters deep beneath the surface. Water is renewal.

What is the New Year's Eve celebration in Brazil?

In Brazil, Yemaya is honored on New Year's Eve. Their New Year falls right after the height of summer, so the people of Rio de Janeiro dress in blue and white, go down to the beaches to dance, celebrate, launch tiny wooden ships, flo at roses and gladioli on the water, create small, temporary altars to Yemaya, and offer prayers ...

What is the new year?

No matter when you celebrate it, the new year is a time for setting yourself up for the months ahead. Spells and rituals for setting intentions and creating the life you want to live are a perfect way to begin the year anew.

Is Yemaya a good time to celebrate the New Year?

Even if your culture doesn't celebrate New Year's eve during summer, Yemaya is still associated with the renewing energy that the new year brings. It might not be warm enough to dance on the shore, but it is still a good time to give prayers and offerings to bring you luck and blessings.

When is Yemaya?

Yemaya is being celebrated on September 16 for the Full Moon! When you register for the free Full Moon Group, information will be available on how to attend the live event and access the archives.

When is the feast day of Yemaya?

artist unknown. September 7 and September 8 mark the annual Feast Days of the Orisha Goddesses Yemaya and Oshun, respectively. These Yoruban Goddesses are honored throughout the world by Orisha devotees as the Sacred Keepers of the Waters.

What is the meaning of the name Yemaya?

Yemaya is the imposing Mother of Oceans, Orisha, Goddess, All Mother from the Yoruban and Afro-Caribbean traditions. September 7 is Her Feast Day and throughout the world, devotees will be making pilgrimage to Her shores to pay respect, celebrate, and pray. We turn to Yemaya for nourishment, healing, cleansing, and protection.

Who painted the Yemaya painting?

Yemaya Water Color Painting by Tara Reynolds. Jambalaya by Luisah Teish (this is not only wonderful information on Orishas but also women’s spirituality and a GREAT place to start) Yemoja: Gender, Sexuality, and Creativity in the Latina/o and Afro-Atlantic Diasporas edited by Solimar Otero, Toyin Falola.

Thanks and devotion to Yemayá and the Virgin of Regla

Yemayá, the queen of the waters and the Virgin of Regla, syncretize their celebration on September 7, the day in which they receive unconditional love and gratitude from all the devotees.

Celebrate Yemayá on its day

Listening to the so-called touches of the saint with drum beatings that invoke the Orishas is usual every September 7 in many houses of the Yoruba religion.

How to honor her in her day?

The simplest offering to our mother waters is a candle in their name, a picture or an image, offer a prayer of gratitude and give heartfelt thanks for the blessings that have been received.

Myths and Stories of Yemayá

Yemayá was born to Oludumare, the Supreme Being in the Yoruba religion. Oludumare tasked Yemayá with assisting the Orisha Obatala with the creation of humans. Leaving the dwelling place of Oludumare, Yemayá slid down a rope with sixteen other Orisha and engaged in the creation of mankind.

Yemayá: Characteristics

Yemayá serves as the patron of the Ogun river (in Nigeria), although she is not limited to that particular body of water. Her followers may worship Yemayá at any feature of running water. She is depicted as a mermaid, capable of venturing into any body of water freely.

Yemayá and Olokun

Yemayá has another deity associated with her. Olokun is another Orisha associated with water and androgyny. While Yemayá has dominion over the surface of the ocean and the life thereupon, Olokun is the Orisha of the depths. They complement one another. While Yemayá is the goddess of life, none may return from Olokun’s depths alive.

Worship of Yemayá

After slavers brought slaves to the New World via the Middle Passage, Yemayá’s presence increased in the Americas and the Caribbean. Again, Yemayá was originally known as Yemọja, with Yemayá being one of her names she came to be known by in the New World.

Where does Yemaya live?

She gave birth to the stars, the moon, the sun and most of the orishas. Yemaya makes her residence in life-giving portion of the ocean (although some of her roads can be found in lagoons or lakes in the forest).

What are the colors of Yemaya?

Number: 7. Sacred Place in Nature: the ocean, lagoons and lakes. Colors: blue and clear .

How do Oshun and Yemaya relate?

Yemaya and Oshun relate to one another like typical sisters; they love each other and also have a bit of sibling rivalry. Chango and Yemaya are inseparable. Some followers of Santeria say Yemaya is Chango’s mother. The two of them eat together and Chango shares his wealth with Yemaya.

What is Yembo's color?

Her color is navy blue. Yembo – this road of Yemaya is an orisha funfún (white orisha) that many consider in the court of Odudua. She gave birth to all of the orishas and in many ways is the cosmic mother of all things. She is the calm sea at the seashore. Her color is pale blue and white.

What is the road called in Yemaya?

Yemaya has many caminos or “roads”. Each road has a slightly different temperament and is found in a different place in nature. All roads of Yemaya are called “Ibú” and each takes a slightly different shade of blue in her eleke. Here is but a sampling of her caminos.

What is the best addima for Yemaya?

Watermelon for Yemayá. A great addimú for Yemaya is a whole watermelon. Buy a large watermelon with seeds, and wash it clean. Place a grass mat (estera) on the floor, place Yemaya’s pot on the grass mat, and place the watermelon on a white plate beside her.

What is Yemaya's camino?

Some of Yemaya’s caminos are fierce warriors who fight with sabers or machetes and bathe in the blood of fallen enemies.

What do devotees send to the goddess Yemaya?

Devotees send gifts of jewelry, fabric, soap, perfume, and letters along with floating candles that are set adrift in the moonlit sea as gifts to the goddess Yemaya. Yemaya is a mother goddess, the goddess of home, fertility, love and family.

What was Yemaya's first gift?

According to legend, Yemaya's first gift to her beloved humans was a sea shell in which her voice could always be heard. To this day we honor Yemaya when we hold a shell to our ear in order to hear her voice, the ocean. Yemaya is a goddess of comfort and inspiration.

Where did the Yoruba travel?

She traveled with them from Yoruba to distant lands, comforting them in the holds of the slave ships that took them far away from their homeland in Africa. Known by other names, her traditions continue in the countries to which her people were dispersed.

What is the name of the Virgin Mary?

Today she is also celebrated under many other names, including the virgin Mary (Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception ), Stella Maris (Star of the Sea), and Our Lady of Regla to name but a few. She is often honored by celebrations on the eve of the New Year.