The Orishas (Gods of Santeria)- The 7 African Powers - Siete potencias:
  Yemaya: madre, reina del mar. Es representada por la Virgen de Regla. |
| Yemaya (La Virgen de Regla) - She is the owner of the ocean/seas. The goddess of extreme wealth and power, she is the mother of all the other Orishas. In Santería, Yemayá is seen as the mother of all living things as well as the owner of all waters. Her number is 7 (a tie into the 7 seas), her colors are blue and white (representing water), and her favorite offerings include melons, molasses ("melaço" - sugar cane syrup), whole fried fishes and pork rinds. She has been syncretized with Our Lady of Regla. Yemaja has several caminos (paths). At the initiation ceremony known as kariocha, or simply ocha, the exact path is determined through divination. Her paths include: |
video: Yemaya dance |
- Ogunte: In this path, she is a warrior, with a belt of iron weapons like Ogun. This path lives by the rocky coastliness. Her colors are crystal, dark blue and some red.
- Asesu: This path is very old. She is said to be deaf and answers her patrons slowly. She is associated with ducks and still or stagnant waters. Her colors are pale blue and coral.
- Okoto: This path is known as the underwater assassin. Her colors are indigo and blood red and her symbolism includes that of pirates.
- Majalewo: This path lives in the forest with the herbalist orisha, Osanyin. She is associated with the marketplace and her shrines are decorated with 21 plates. Her colors are teals and turquoises.
- Ibu Aro: This path is similar to Majalewo in that she is associated with markets, commerce and her shrines are decorated with plates. Her colors are darker; indigo, crystal and red coral. Her crown (and husband) is the orisha Oshumare, the rainbow.
- Ashaba: This path is said to be so beautiful that no human can look at her directly.
 Yemaya o La Virgen de Regla |
Yemaya lives and rules over the seas and lakes. She also rules over maternity in our lives as she is the Mother of All. Her name, a shortened version of Yey Omo Eja means "Mother Whose Children are the Fish" to reflect the fact that her children are so numerous that they are uncountable. As modern sciences has theorizes and ancient cultures have known, life started in the sea. As an embryo we all spend the first moments of our lives swimming in a warm sea of amneotic fluid inside our mother's womb. We must transform and evolve through the form of a fish before becoming a human baby. In this way Yemaya displays herself as truly the mother of all, since she is the seed of all the paths or manifestations. Joined with Yemaya in the Yoruba tradition is Olokun, the source of all riches and unfathomable power. Yemaya dresses herself in seven skirts of blue and white and like the seas and profound lakes she is deep and unknowable, but also caring and nurturing. In Candomble, Santeria and Ifa Yemoja is considered the ultimate matriarch symbol. Yemoja embodies all characteristics of motherhood, caring and love. This maternal source of divine, human, animal, and plant life is most widely symbolized by the ocean. However, in Yoruba land, Yemonja is the deity of the Ogun river, which is the largest river within the territory of the ancient Yoruba. In the new world Yemonja is the deity of the top part of the ocean and has incorporated many of the characteristics of Olukun. |
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video: Ritual a Yemayá (Flor Universal) en Mexico |
In the Gelede Cult Yemaya is considered the ultimate female power. In general Yemaya's ocean domain is confined to the top layer which contains the most life and is universally considered the womb of life. The origin of Shango, Oya, and Ochun can easily traced back to the ocean. As water evaporates from the ocean surface because of the sun's heat, it rises and forms clouds. Winds (Oya) carry theses clouds across the land. These clouds transform into thunderheads and lightening providing rain for everything to live. This rain is then brought back to the ocean via her daughter, Ochun. Although barely noticed and perhaps incorporated within Yemanya is her male counterpart, Olukun. Indeed without Olukun much of Yemanya power would not be known. |
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