What is the meaning of Yemaya?
Yemaya. 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). Yemaya’s aché is nurturing, protective and fruitful. Yemaya is just as much a loving mother orisha as she is a fierce warrior that kills anyone who threatens her children.
Who is Yemaya the ocean goddess?
Often depicted as a queenly mermaid, Yemaya is considered the Ocean Mother Goddess in Santería, an Afro-Caribbean religion practiced around the world. With anchored roots in the Yoruba religion, Yemaya was brought over to the New World by enslaved Africans as early as the 16th century.
What is Yemayá the patron saint of?
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.
How do you honor the goddess Yemaya?
She is often honored by celebrations on the eve of the New Year. 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.
What are Yemaya powers?
Yemanjá is motherly and strongly protective, and cares deeply for all her children, comforting them and cleansing them of sorrow. She is said to be able to cure infertility in women, and cowrie shells represent her wealth....YemọjaCatholic equivalentVirgin Mary (Our Lady of Navigators)10 more rows
What is Yemoja the goddess of?
Each year, the Yoruba people in Nigeria offer thanks to Yemoja, goddess of the river and mother of all other Yoruba gods. It is an important way for them to remember and celebrate their traditional roots and beliefs.
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.
What does Yemaya mean in English?
Yemaya was known by many names including Yemalla, Yemoja, Yemaja, Yemalia and Iemanja. Her name, when translated means 'the Mother Whose Children are Fish' and this could have two meanings. She had innumerable children.
What is the story of Yemaya?
During the Middle Passage, Yemaya accompanied her enslaved devotees to the Western Hemisphere, where her veneration took root and flourished. She is among the most beloved and prominent spirits of Candomblé, Santeria, and other African diaspora traditions.
Who is Yemaya married to?
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.
What gifts does Yemaya like?
Offerings for her include molasses, coconut cakes, white flowers, and watermelon. For practicing witches, Yemaya has a fierce, nurturing, gentle energy often associated with the moon and sorcery.
How do I know if my daughter is 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.
Who is Yemaya to Chango?
Yemaya is the only one who can keep Chango in check. He has to obey her because she is one of his two mothers. He is said to have two or three wives, his favorite being Ochun. This beautiful goddess is identifed with the Catholic La Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre, Cuba's patron saint.
Are Yemoja and Yemaya the same?
In Cuba, Yemonja was creolized as Yemaya. Enslaved and free Africans who spoke Yoruba became identified as Lucumi, and their religious practice became known as Regla Lucumi.
Who is the mother of Yemoja?
Yemoja is notably addressed as mother of all the gods in the Yoruba pantheon, in which over three hundred gods and goddesses abound. She is the creatrix-fountainhead of their existence....Author:Agbo FolarinTitle:Maternal goddess in Yoruba art: a new aesthetic acclamation of Yemoja, Oshun and Iya-Mapo5 more rows
Who are the African goddess?
Goddess Africa, also known as Dea Africa, was the personification of Africa by the Romans in the early centuries of the common era. She was one of the fertility and abundance deities to some. Her iconography typically included an elephant-mask head dress, a cornucopia, a military standard, and a lion.
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.
What is the goddess of comfort?
Yemaya is a goddess of comfort and inspiration. She reminds us that even the worst catastrophes can be endured and that, with her help, we can learn to negotiate the ebbs and flows of change in our lives with her wisdom, courage, and grace.
What is the name of the goddess of the ocean?
YEMAYA: Goddess of the Ocean and of the New Year. Yemaya was the river goddess of the Yoruba in Nigeria. When her people were hoarded onto the slave ships, Yemaya went with them, thus becoming their Goddess of the Ocean.
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.
What is Yemaya associated with?
For practicing witches, Yemaya has a fierce, nurturing, gentle energy often associated with the moon and sorcery.
Where did Yemaya come from?
As an oral tradition, Yemaya’s attributes, manifestations, and origin stories can vary depending on where you are in the world (especially between Brazil, Cuba, Haiti, and the US), including the pronunciation and spelling of her name.
What is the name of the ocean goddess?
Often depicted as a queenly mermaid, Yemaya is considered the Ocean Mother Goddess in Santería, an Afro-Caribbean religion practiced around the world. With anchored roots in the Yoruba religion, Yemaya was brought over to the New World by enslaved Africans as early as the 16th century.
What does Yemaya mean when she says "bathe in the blood of her enemies"?
The story of Yemaya was originally brought over to Cuba via the transatlantic slave trade.
What is Yemaya's energy?
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.
When was Yemaya brought to the New World?
From the Yoruba religion, Yemaya was brought over to the New World by enslaved Africans as early as the 16th century. By Amber C. Snide r. July 9, 2019.
Is Yemaya a white woman?
Although the Virgin Mary is traditionally depicted as a white woman (a mis representation in history, but that’s another story), Yemaya is depicted as a woman of color. Radiantly rising from the sea, her dark skin shining under the moon, Yemaya rules over her domain with grace, beauty, and maternal wisdom.
Yemayá is also a symbol of wisdom
Yemayá is a fortune teller par excellence, the Yoruba legend tells that she stole the okpele from Orula and this then gave her the snails (diloggún).
Some of the items offered to you are
Ochinchin de Yemayá made with shrimp, capers, lettuce, hard-boiled eggs, tomato and chard,
With this prayer we can pray to the owner of the sea Yemayá
O Osha Yemayá you who reign the waters, which cover all your children!
Phrases that remind us of the Orisha Water
Many people who follow the Yoruba religion, remember some phrases or precepts related to Yemayá and applied to life.
What are the colors of Yemaya?
Number: 7. Sacred Place in Nature: the ocean, lagoons and lakes. Colors: blue and clear .
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).
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 is the meaning of Yemaya?
Yemaya is a mother Goddess. The Goddess of home, fertility, love and family. She also represents change and consistency - bringing forth life, protecting it, and changing it as is necessary. Yemaya is the daughter of a mortal god-human, Obatala, and his wife. Yemaya and her brother, Aganyu had a son together.
What does Yemaya like?
Yemaya likes sea shells, fish, net, sea horses, anchors and everything related to the sea. She is generally kept in a blue flowered porcelain soup tureen full of water. She is also associated with stars and the full moon, ducks and peacocks. Yemaya controls the parts of the sea that a human knows.
What is the name of the river goddess of the ocean?
Originally, Yemaya was a river Goddess of the Yoruta in Nigeria, which is far from the ocean. She was a nature spirit, an orisha. An orisha shows itself as a force of nature. When her people were loaded on the ships, she went along, becoming the Goddess of the ocean.
What is the difference between Olukun and Yemaya?
Yemaya statue www.amazon.com. Yemaya stays in the uppermost part of the ocean while Olukun is the orisha who resides in the dark depths. Olukun is respected for his ominous power that has no perceived limits or boundaries while Ye maya is associated with life, fertility and creation. Therefore, they balance each other.
How did Yemaya learn divination?
She's also associated with the creative and nurturing forces of the sea. She learned how to do divination by watching her husband, Orula, do consults. Women weren't supposed to do consults but Yemaya was so good at it, her husband made a pact with her that she could use cowry shells to divine.
What does the tide represent in the story of Yemaya?
By rocking the world as a cradle, the tides represent Yemaya's desires to protect and nurture all her children. With Yemaya considered to be the greatest mother there is no surprise that she is very sexual. Since nothing can resist water, she is respected for her strength. Those who hurt her children, Yemaya drowns.
What do the seven seas represent in Yemaya?
Those who worship her wear necklaces of clear and blue beads as well as a blue dress complete with seven layers to represent the seven seas. In a ceremony for Yemaya, everyone dances in a circle and the altar is in the form of a circle. The circle represents the eternal cycle of life.
How to work with Yemanya?
You can work with Yemanya by putting a tiny boat into the water and asking her for a wish. If Yemanya grants your wish, her waves will swallow the miniature boat, and if she denies the wish, the boat will wash up to shore.
What is the name of the goddess that created the sea?
About Yemanya (pronounced Yeh-Mahn-jah or Yeh-MAHN-jee): She is an African and a Brizilian goddess who is credited with creating the sea. Every December 31st, people in Brazil celebrate Yemanya by casting white flowers and miniature boats upon the sea waters.
Why is Yemaya important?
Yemaya allows us to tap into reserves of ancient power in order to remind us that we belong here; it's right for us to be here; and it's right for us to grow, change and evolve in order to express the full beauty and diversity of life in alignment with her divine nature.
What is the name of the mother of fish?
Yemaya is considered a mother of divinities and is sometimes called "The Mother Whose Children Are Fish", to indicate her fecundity, bounteous nature and inclusivity. She's of African origin and mirrors other Great Mother divinities such as Quan Yin and Mother Mary.