Ọṣun (or Oshun, Ochun) (pronounced [ɔʃún]) in Yoruba mythology, is a spirit-goddess (Orisha) who reigns over love, intimacy, beauty, wealth and diplomacy.[1] She is worshipped also in Brazilian Candomblé Ketu, with the name spelled Oxum. She should not be confused, however, with a different Orisha of a similar name spelled "Osun," who is the protector of the Ori, or our heads and inner Orisha.
Ọṣun is beneficent and generous, and very kind. She does, however, have a horrific temper, though it is difficult to anger her. She is married to Orula but only because of a contest put up by her mother Yemaya. The man to discover her daughter's true name would take her hand in marriage, Orula with Eleguas trickery learned the name and Orula paid off Elegua and married Oshun. Oshun went to a drum one day and fell in love with the king dancer Shango, the god of thunder. Shango is married to Oba, Oya, and Oshun, though Oba is considered His legitimate wife.
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Santería
In Cuban Santería, Oshun (sometimes spelled Ochún or Ochun) is an Orisha of love, maternity and marriage. She has been syncretized with Our Lady of Charity (La Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre), Cuba's patroness. She is associated with the color yellow, metal brass [2], peacock feathers, mirrors, honey and anything of beauty, her favorable day of the week is Saturday and the number she is associated with is 5.
In one story, she had to become a prostitute to feed her children and the other Orishas removed her children from her home. Oshun went insane from grief and wore the same white dress every day; it eventually turned yellow. Aje'-Shaluga, another Orisha, fell in love with her while she was washing her dress. He gave her money and gems which he collected from the bottom of the river he lived in. They were married and she was reunited with her children.
Oshun has had many husbands. Different myths attribute husbands to her, including Erinle, Oshosi, Orisha Oko, and Aje'-Shaluga. She is also the sexual partner of Shango, and Ogun.
Her children include the Ibeji twins, Idowu, and Logun Ede.
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The Importance of Oshun in Yoruba Culture
According to the Yoruba elders[citation needed], Osun is the "unseen mother present at every gathering"[citation needed], because Osun is the Yoruba understanding of the cosmological forces of water, moisture, and attraction. Therefore she is omnipresent and omnipotent[citation needed]. Her power is represented in another Yoruba scripture which reminds us that "no one is an enemy to water" and therefore everyone has need of and should respect and revere Osun, as well as her followers.
Osun is the force of harmony. Harmony we see as beauty, feel as love, and experience as ecstasy. Osun according to the ancients was the only female Irunmole amongst the original 16 sent from the spirit realm to create the world. As such, she is revered as "Yeye" - the sweet mother of us all. When the male Irunmole attempted to subjegate Osun due to her femaleness she removed her divine energy, called ase by the Yoruba, from the project of creating the world and all subsequent efforts at creation were in vain. It was not until visiting with the Supreme Being, Olodumare, and begging Osun pardon under the advice of Olodumare that the world could continue to be created. BUT not before Osun had given birth to a son. This son became Elegba, the great conduit of ase in the Universe and also the eternal and infernal trickster.
Osun is known as Iyalode, the "(explicitly female) chief of the market." [3] She is also known as Laketi, she who has ears, because of how quickly and effectively she answers prayers. When she possesses her followers she dances, flirts and then weeps- because no one can love her enough and the world is not as beautiful as she knows it could be[citation needed].
Roads of Oshun in Lukumi
In Cuban Lukumi tradition, Oshun has many roads, or manifestations. Some of these include:
Oshun Ibu Ikole -- Oshun the Vulture. This Oshun is associated with Witches (Aje), and her symbols are the vulture, and the mortar and pestle (both of which are symbols of witchcraft). In Cuba, her myths say that this Oshun saved the world by flying the prayers of the dying world up to the Sun (Orun), where Olodumare lives, however in West Africa this myth is attributed to Yemoja.
Oshun Ibu Anya -- Oshun of the Drums. This Oshun is the patron of dancing and the Anya drums. She is said to dance ceaselessly to forget her troubles.
Oshun Ibu Yumu -- This Oshun is the eldest Oshun. She sits at the bottom of the river, knitting.
Oshun Ibu D'Oko -- Oshun, the wife of Orisha Oko. This Oshun is pictured as a furrow to be plowed and a giant vulva, while her husband Orisha Oko is a farmer and pictured as a giant phallus. This is one of Oshun's most obviously procreative manifestations.
Oshun Ololodi -- Oshun, the diviner. This Oshun is the wife of Orunmila, the Orisha of Ifa divination.
Oshun Ibu Akuaro -- Oshun, the Quail. The children of this manifestation of Oshun are said to be very nervous people.
Further reading
- Miguel A. De La Torre, "Dancing with Ochún: Imagining How a Black Goddess Became White," in Aesthetics within Black Religion: Religious Thought and Life in Africa and the African Diaspora, Anthony Pinn, ed., Cambridge University Press, pages: 113-134.
- Joseph M. Murphy, Mei-Mei Sanford, Osun Across the Waters : A Yoruba Goddess in African and the Americas
- S. Solagbade Popoola, "Ikunle Abiyamo: It is on Bent Knees that I gave Birth" 2007. Asefin Media Publication
- Dr. Diedre Badejo, "Oshun Seegesi: The Elegant Deity of Wealth, Power, and Femininity"
And Anacleta Rodriguez
References
- ^ Ochun at Pantheon.org
- ^ Thompson, Robert Farris. (1983) Flash of the Spirit. New York: Vintage Books. p 79
- ^ Matory, J. Lorand. (2005) Sex and the Empire that is No More. New York: Berghahn Books. p xxvi
Osun In Colours : A Pictorial History Of The River Goddess, Osun Osun - Sacred People and Sacred Places" The author is Kayode Afolabi
External links
- OCHUN - Goddess of Love
- Alawoye.com Baba'Awo Ifaloju, showcasing Ifa using web media 2.0 (blogs, podcasting, video & photocasting)
- OsunPriestess.comYeye Siju Osunyemi, information about Osun and other Orisa, Yoruba culture and religion. Trips to Osogbo and the Osun Grove, blogs.
- Ile Orunmila Oshun The temple of Oshun and Orunmila in the San Francisco Bay Area
- GodChecker.com Lists of gods and goddesses from varying pantheons
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