Dec 13 2023 7 mins 5
Yemaya was a primordial spiritual entity charged by the supreme deity to assist Obatala with the creation of humanity. She is mainly venerated by women as the giver of life within the Yoruba spirituality.
In traditional Yoruba culture, Yemaya is seen as the queen of the sea, she first appeared in Yorubaland in modern day Nigeria where she is known as the Orisha of the Ogun River. Yemoja is frequently portrayed as the wife of various male Orisha and was perceived to be at the root of numerous ancient goddesses. The Orisha Yemaya is often depicted as a beautiful, queenly-looking mermaid wearing a dress with seven skirts symbolizing the seven great oceans. Yemaya went by many other names including Yemoja and Iemanja, the etymology of her name reveals that Yemaya is a contraction of the Yoruba words Iye meaning mother, Omo meaning children and Eja meaning fish, when put together and translated roughly means Mother whose children are the fish. Originally, Yemaya was a river entity who had nothing to do with the ocean nor the seas. Her worship spread beyond African borders, and was notable in Cuba and Brazil where she came to be called Yemaya, which is in fact the Spanish variant of the Yoruba Yemoja. Some stories describe Yemaya as the most nurturing Yoruba deity whose motherly presence was crucial for the beginning of all life, She is viewed in a way as the protector of women and children, and as such Yemaya governs everything pertaining to a mother’s relationship to their offspring. Yemaya also played an important role in another myth involving her counterpart, Olokun, the Orisha representing the unknown and deep bottom of the seas while she represents all superficial waters.
