Yemaya is the Santeria Mother Goddess, who lives in and rules over the oceans, seas, and lakes of the world. The name Yemaya, most likely originated from the phrase "Yey Omo Eja," which means the "Mother Whose Children are the Fish." That can most likely be interpreted to mean, that because she is so powerful, there is no way, for anyone to know exactly how many followers she might have. That name, was eventually shortened, into the name that we know her by today, which is Yemaya.
The Goddess Yemaya, stands equal and tall, with all the other deities of the seas, from around the world, including the Celtic God, Manannan Mac Lir; the Aztec God, Chalchiuhtlicue; the Finnish God, Ahto; the Greek God, Poseidon, and the Japanese God, Susanowo.
In Western Africa, where she was known as Ymoja, the Yoruban River Mother, her followers prayed to her for fertility; and in her aspect as the Yoruba Mother of the Sea, she is believed to be the source of all life. Yemaya is also believed to have seven aspects, with each of them, having its own, varying characteristics. In the New World, one of those aspects became known as Yemaya Okute, a fierce warrior, while in other areas, she became known as a version of Our Lady of Regala, and Mary, Star of the Sea. Legend tells us, that wherever Yemaya went, fountains, which eventually became rivers, sprang forth, wherever her feet touched the ground. The first gift that she gave, to the people of the world, was the seashell, through which her Priestesses and her Priests could listen to the voice of the universe.
She became known in Brazil, as the Sea Goddess known as Iemanja. Every year, at the summer solstice, multitudes of her worshippers, dressed completely in white, attend the Candalaria ceremonies, which are held at the shoreline, where they throw various offerings, such as flowers, into the sea for Yemaya. Those worshippers then wait to see if their offerings have been accepted as their prayers, or whether the waves will deny those prayers, by washing their offerings back to the shore.
In Brazil, her followers also celebrate her on New Year's Eve. They set up beachfront altars, overflowing with food and candles, which Yemaya will wash away with the morning tides. Her followers have also been known, to wash their troubles away in her waters, which they believe to be the eternal womb of creation.
The fact that her worshippers, see the oceans and seas as the eternal womb of creation, is an extremely astute observation, since modern science tells us, what ancient cultures have always known; that the oceans and the seas, were the birthplace of all life on Earth. Mankind also begins, in the same type of environment, as the oceans.
First, the man’s sperm swims upward, until it finds an egg to fertilize, within the woman’s womb. That fertilized egg, eventually turns into an embryo, which then spends its developmental period inside its mother’s womb, surrounded by the warmth of her amniotic fluid, until it finally reaches maturity, and birth occurs, quite naturally. This process is also representative of Yemaya, since she is believed to be the Mother of everything on Earth and, since she has the characteristics, of a loving and caring mother, she helps to verify the ancient tradition, which claims that all life comes from the source, which is the mother.
In the ancient Yoruba tradition, Yemaya has a male counterpart, whose name is Olokun, and he is believed to be the source of all riches, and unfathomable power. Olokun has been all too frequently been overlooked, because he was absorbed, so well, into Yemaya. Olokun, however, brings great power and strength to Yemaya, and if his aspect had never merged with hers, she would never have become as powerful a Goddess, as she is today.
Yemaya has frequently been depicted as a mermaid, wearing black and white pearls, who is completely surrounded by flowers. Another depiction of Yermaya portrays her dressed in seven blue and white skirts, which are believed to represent her many lakes and seas. In fact, similar, in many ways, to those seas and lakes, Yemaya is frequently thought to be just as unfathomable and unknowable, while she continues to remain, the nurturing and maternal source of life that she is.
In Yoruba Land, in Nigeria, Africa, Yemaya was known as the Goddess of the Ogun River, which is the largest river in her ancient homeland. When Yemaya traveled to the New World, her role changed, and she now is the Goddess of the upper part of the ocean. The upper layer of the ocean is that part of the ocean, which contains the most life, and it is universally considered to be the womb of all life on Earth.
The Yoruba River, was considered to be the longest, and most powerful body of water, in that ancient civilization, and it was for that reason, that all life is believed to have come from her. The Africans, who happened to follow the Ifa Religion, had never seen the ocean, until they were forced onto slave ships, which brought them to the New World. It was on that journey, that the concept that life came from rivers, expanded, and a much larger body of water, became acknowledged as the birthplace of all the life on Earth.
It was then, that the ocean became the symbol of Yemaya. Since the ocean was believed to be the womb of all life on Earth, it was during that journey, which the Africans referred to as the Middle Passage, that Yemaya became one of the most beloved and worshipped deities, to reach the New World. In fact, the African-derived Candomble Religion, in Brazil, considers Yemaya to be their National Goddess and savior, because they believe that she protected them, during their long journey from Africa, to Brazil.
In the Santeria religion, she is worshipped simply as Yemaya, the mother of all the powerful spirit divinities, known as Orishas, which include Shango, the God of Thunder and Lightening; Ogun, the God of Iron; Oya, the Goddess of the Winds, and Oshun, the Goddess of the rivers and streams. Yemaya originally had many other Orisha children, but they, unfortunately, were not strong enough to survive the Middle Passage, and it is believed, that the more obscure ones were either forgotten, or else they simply merged into another, stronger, and better known Orisha.
When Yemaya’s followers first arrived in the New World, it was then that her power began to intensify. It was also then, that she evolved, from being the Goddess of the localized Ogun River, into being the Great Mother Goddess of the Ocean and Seas.
When Catholicism was first forced upon the African slaves, and because various African religions had also disappeared during the Middle Passage, the people who survived that journey, held on to their ancient traditions, in the best ways that they could. It was then that Yemaya became canonized, as a form of the Virgin Mary.
Many legends exist, regarding the various Gods and Goddesses, and the origin of the Orishas. Shango, Oya, and Oshun, can easily be traced back to the ocean. Legend tells us how, when the sun rises high above the ocean, its heat causes the water to evaporate and rise, thereby forming clouds in the sky. It is then, that Oya, the Oshira of the Winds, carries those clouds inland, where they cross over the warmer land. That is when the Oshira, named Shango, produces the thunder and lightening bolts of a storm, and as the storm begins to grow, rain begins to fall upon the Earth, giving that liquid of life, to the people below. It is then, that Yemaya's daughter, Oshun, takes the rain into her rivers and streams, which carry the water back to the ocean; as the cycle, once again, is complete.
Some of Yemaya’s symbols are a six-sided star, an open shell and the oceans, seas and other bodies of water. Her Holy Day, known as Cadelaria, is celebrated on June 20th, and she is worshipped, preferably at the shoreline of the ocean or sea or, if none is available, then at the nearest large river, which flows into the sea.
Yemaya is a Goddess who has traveled far, and who adapted, in her travels, to meet the needs of her many followers. Yemaya has always been there, for all of her many worshippers, and she will continue to be a constant in their lives, by continuing to be, that which she always has been, which is a most unique and versatile Mother Goddess of the Oceans and Seas.
Painting "Yemaya"
by Sandra M. Stanton
Used With Permission
