Ọbà, Goddess of the Rivers
Symbol: rivers, water, machete/sword
Ọbà (also Obba, Obá) of the River Oba in Nigeria is the goddess of rivers. She is the daughter of Yemaya, representing the power of flowing waters. She forms a triad with her sisters Oshun and Oya, providing life-giving waters needed for consumption and irrigation. In Brazil, she is venerated as the goddess of love. In other parts of the African continent, she is considered the guardian of prostitutes, faithful wives, women married to abusive/neglectful/cheating partners, and those who would risk everything for love.
When Ọbà was born as a result of Yemaya and Aganjù’s affair, she was secretly birthed and handed to Aganjù who raised her in the orisha underworld. There, she studied the orisha arts of magic and picked up other mystical skills by seducing other orisha magic practitioners. While Yemaya is her mother and aged slowly, living a long life, Ọbà was not immortal, unlike other members of the orisha pantheon. Thus, her ability to sustain injuries, though she has the ability to heal quickly due to a superior metabolism.
Ọbà is the goddess of protection, manifestation, movement, energy, restoration, and flexibility – many of the same properties of water. She represents the flow of time and life (going with the flow). Her magic is among the most powerful of all orishas, with her ability to shapeshift and take on the appearance of even humanoid beings and teleport herself and others. Ọbà’s natural beauty and allure where legendary and overwhelming. She enchanted her lips so that a single kiss would be sufficient to enslave any man for about a week. Subsequent kisses would enthrall her victims to her indefinitely.
Ọbà is the first wife of Shango, the third Alaafin of the Oyo Empire. Some recorded mythological stories go that once upon a time, Ọbà was tricked by one of her sisters (some stories say Oya, other say it is Oshun) into feeding Shango her ear, as a way to gain back her husband’s attention. As the first wife of Shango, she held rank and authority. Yet, Shango’s wandering eye often led him to have passionate love affairs other women, giving them more affection over Ọbà – including Oya and Oshun, who are said to also be Shango’s wives. After all, kings used to have harems. So, she cuts off her ear and mixes it into Shango’s favorite stew to bind Shango back her. It is said that when her husband discovered her ear and her bandaged head, he is enraged and leaves the home.
Interestingly, not many stories are known about Ọbà, as she is often overshadowed by other orishas like Oshun, Oya and Yemaya. There are many variations of the story of Ọbà and her ear across West Africa, Brazil, and Cuba. In one Cuban variation of this story, Ọbà’s self-mutilation is because they run out of goats to cook, and Shango is in need of food for his struggle against Ogun. In another story in Ifá (Yoruba religion), Ọbà cuts off her symbolically to tie her to Shango in union, until Orunmila steals Ọbà from Shango. In Santería, when Shango abandons her, it is then that she becomes the Oba River, which intersects with the Oshun River at turbulent rapids, the symbol of the rivalry between these two wives of Shango.
She is syncretized with Saint Catherine of Siena (November 25th).
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References:
The Afro-Cuban Orisha Pantheon
Read in 3 Mins How Oba Became The Goddess of Rivers
