YEMAYA

Wahkeideih wahkeideih
Wahkeidei sei uhn
Uhna wahsei
Uhna mereehguhn

Mother of Orishas, Queenly Mother Moon
Mother Mermaid, save the children from doom
Spirit of love, spirit of wrath
I am in the waters of your bath
The seas, the amniotic fluid of your womb, emboldens
You birthed the strong-willed and the chosen
Willful in my ways, bold on my own
Your strength speaks through me, my house and home
Yẹmọja, Supernal Mother, Sorceress of the Seas
Put my enemies on their knees
Here I’m on my knees, only to serve my gods
No knee of mine is bent without thought
No crook of my finger is naught
They could not take you a slave
You separate the real from the fake
Manifest my dreams become
You are Heaven sung
Tempestuous one by far
You made me reach for the stars
Yemayá, I love you
La Sirène, La Baleine, I love you too.
AMEN

Yẹmọja is the Yorùbá goddess of streams and rivers, the feminine principle of creation, an Ocean Mother, the spirit of moonlight, and an ultimate matriarch symbol; a mother to divine life, humans, plants and animals. She is considered the Mother of All, Supernal Mother, Sorceress of The Sea, Goddess of The Living Ocean, Queen of The Ocean, the Mother of Water, the owner of the seas, and sustenance of the world. She is a major water spirit who originates from the Yorùbá pantheon and spiritually migrated with African descendants during The Middle Passage(the Transatlantic Slave Trade) to The New World. By the 16th century, Yẹmọja and veneration of her was forced ‘underground’ by pressures put on African slaves by their masters, keepers and overseers who prevented them from practicing their traditional religions. Some of her practitioners learned to use the veil of the mass religion to mask over their Orisha worship, which was heavily implemented by colonialists and their colonization efforts. They saved their own lives this way, in maintaining their connection with her in the process. Ill-will was shown to those who chose to practice openly(still is). Yẹmọja was syncretized with the Lady of Regla(Regla de Ocha) in Afro-Cuban diaspora and also with various Mother Mary figures of the Catholic church, often shown in the same attire and colors as Virgin Mary herself. Yẹmọja is often represented as a woman of color while Mary is not. She is often depicted as a woman rising out of the sea, a mermaid in both West Africa and The New World, associated with the Erzulie/Lwa spirit named La Sirène(Mère de L’ Eau) who is married to Met Agwe. La Sirène is accompanied by her white wale La Balèn/La Balein(e). Yẹmọja is nicknamed Mami Wata in Creole. She is regarded as the protector and patroness of children, fishermen, survivors of shipwrecks, women(especially pregnant women) and she is patroness of oceans and rivers(especially the Ogun River in Nigeria and other rivers in Yorubaland). There is no disrespecting her, her children, and her realm and terrain. She despises domestic abuse, woman abusers and child abusers. Yẹmọja is one of the Seven African Powers(African Potencias) and mother of all Orishas(Mother of Orishas). She is revered, honored, venerated and expressed in Yorùbá religion, Haitian Vodou, Santería(La Sirène), Umbanda, and Candomblé. Yẹmọja is supernatural beauty, creative, strong, motherly, sexual, majestic, a spirit of purity, protective, wise, virtuous, fierce when need be. She cares deeply for her children and consoles and heals them of pain and sorrow. In some instances, she cures women of infertility. She is the most nurturing of all the Orishas. In some diaspora communities, she is associated with feminine mysteries, the moon, water, and is known to protect the souls of those who died at sea during the Middle Passage. She also protects people from drowning at sea. In Santeria, Yẹmọja is Yemayá, and is revered as Queenly Ocean Goddess Mermaid. As she is a protector of women and the family-minded, she also governs everything when it comes to them; particularly with conception, childbirth, parenting/rearing, child safety, love, nurturing, healing trauma and emotional wounds, healing period. Some say the first mortal humans were born from her womb, created when her water broke, and that life itself cannot exist without her since she is the original maternal spirit, explaining her title as the Mother of All. Yẹmọja is known to bring wealth to her practitioners, which is represented by cowrie shells. Although, she does not lose her temper simply, her dark side is violent, destructive, turbulent like the waters she stirs up in anger, and unsettled like flood waters and tempestuous rivers. She is not the only river deity in Yorubaland. Her river deity counterparts are the Orishas Ọ̀ṣun(Oshun), Ọbà, Yewa, Erinlè, etc.
Yẹmọja is the wife of Olókun, the sea deity who dwells at the bottom of the sea, at the place which is considered past the point of return. Together they are considered as the source of all riches and unfathomable power. While Olókun/Olokin is thought to harvest deeper, more profound spiritual truths than Yẹmọja from his part of the sea, Yẹmọja dwells at the top of the ocean where anything related to life at the ocean’s surface represents, embodies, and venerates her and her intuitive, deep feminine powers. While balancing out the formidable powers of Olókun with her nurturing and compassion, she is a leader for other sea deities and can visit all bodies of water, but is believed by some to own streams and rivers only. It is said that Olókun thinks she is too soft, too compassionate when she should not be. Yẹmọja protects her right to be compassionate. She is very powerful in ascertaining her right to protect her essence, powers and womanhood. People pay homage to her at almost any spring, lake, run-off, creek, stream, lagoon, well and ocean. The name Yẹmọja is derived from a contraction of the words Iye, meaning "mother", ọmọ, meaning "child", and ẹja, meaning "fish" which altogether means “Mother of Fish Children.” Her name represents her fecundity, her rule over all living things, and her grandness of motherhood. Her colors are crystal and light blue, her ritual garments are light blue, and her jewelry/eleke is made with transparent crystalline beads, alternating with royal blue beads in a pattern of seven(which is her number). All numbers which are a multiple of seven are also her numbers. Saturday is her day. She loves having fun and enjoys dancing. Some ritual offerings for Yẹmọja include coins, white medal, she-goat, ducks, hens, maniocl, lelé, bitter kolanut, gofio, white roses, angu, rice, pound cake, coconut cake, molasses, verbena perfume, seashells, Malarrabia, melado pork rinds, statues of her, poppet dolls of her(mermaid dolls with blue especially), porcelain(particularly mermaid figures), and a royal blue or light blue altar cloth. She loves silver and gold too. Every year around the Yuletide/Christmas holiday season, I decorate my altars with silver and gold garlands and my spirits love this, especially my female Orishas. In Havana, Cuba, Yemayá’s feast and celebration day is September 7th. The roads to Yemayá are Okute, Mayelewo, Achabá and Asesú. Her ritual gesture is Omío Yemayá and her symbols are anchors, sea/river stones, sea shells, cowrie shells, cutlass, fish, fishnets, fans and everything related to the sea, especially to life at the ocean’s surface. Yẹmọja is linked to peacocks and the full moon. She also goes by Yemòwó, Lemanjá and Yemanjá. In Salvador, Bahia, Yẹmọja is referred to as Lemanjá and is celebrated by Candomblé practitioners on February 2nd, which is also the Catholic consecration day of Our Lady of Seafaring(also known as Nossa Senhora das Navegantes(Our Lady of Navigators). On this same day in Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, Nossa Senhora das Navegantes is carried in a syncretic union with Lemanjá for celebration by devotees. Lemanjá offerings of divine femininity and vanity are often given up by way of the sea, especially on New Year’s Eve in Brazil.
Some say that Yẹmọja bathes in the blood of her enemies, that life comes from her deep healing waters, and that her strong sense of duality is correlated with sorcery and the moon. She is one of the most nourishing of Orishas, connected to different elements and different forces of nature, and her power is said to transcend all; so much that her strong, powerful and profound presence defines her. Her children are empathic, sensitive, strong-willed, independent, caring, and also malleable and flexible with perspectives; they can see many points of view and not just their own. Yẹmọja is said to be the eldest child of Olódùmarè, the Supreme Being, creator and creatrix of the Universe itself; thus making her a demi-god. Without her there is only destruction, breakdown and death. Ọ̀bàtálá places the seeds of life and she germinates them. They are joined in Primordial union. She is ascribed as the one who molds the clay of the world together with him. They say she forgives but she does not forget and the same is true for those she holds dearest to her. She can be arrogant and impetuous, enjoying the finer, luxurious things in life. Social class appeals to her. Yẹmọja manifests in strong, powerful, willful, and determined people. She can guide mankind in the right direction, but she cannot make those listen who do not care. She is the archetypical witch, bonded with creative people as she is linked to the creative forces of the sea. They say Yẹmọja experienced several miscarriages and suffered many difficulties giving birth to children, so she sought the counsel of Ọ̀rúnmìlà who helped her properly deliver her daughter Ọ̀ṣun into the world. Yẹmọja is also the mother of the Orisha named Ọya. Yẹmọja is a paradox, the motion of waves meeting land, linked to memories and beginnings, one who oversees to the continuity of humans and cultural modifications. She is the constant, abundant womb, whose own womb looks like the ocean. Her warm water is compared to the amniotic fluid of the mother’s womb. Yẹmọja is linked to tin, silver, lead, and everything white and crystal clear. She is manifest in the twenty eight stations of the moon and is the bringer of seduction. Her epithets are Achabba, Oqutte and Atarmagwa. Her plants are water hyacinth, indigo and sea weed. Coral, quartz crystals and pearls are her minerals. It is believed that the color red is claimed by her violent aspects and that Yembo is her mother. It could also be that Yembo is Yẹmọja’s oldest form. Yẹmọja is complex with many paths and is the seed of all manifestations. She developed into greater proportions during her forced migration to The New World and became one of the most important forces and deities. She is recognized as a national deity and a savior for many. Some of her children were mixed with her or forgotten when she transitioned to The New World. Some of them did not make the transition at all with her, so they were integrated with more powerful Orishas by African people. Yẹmọja, the personification of the African gods is a transcendental figure in Ifá all through The New World, Cuba and Brazil. Born from unimaginable depth, perception and power, she is here for those who deserve her and truly want her to serve as a guide, protector and teacher for them.