Oshun, the Honey of Life and Love
Symbol: rivers, sweet and fresh waters
Oshun or Ọ̀ṣun (Oxum in Brazil, Ochún in Cuba, Ozun in the Caribbean) is the river goddess, associate with water, purity, divinity, femininity, fertility, love, beauty, and sensuality. She is considered one of the most powerful of the orishas. In most Yoruba stories, she is depicted as the protector, saviour, and nurturer of humanity. She is the maintainer of spiritual balance and the mother of all sweet things. Nevertheless, Oshun also possesses human qualities like vanity, jealousy, and spite. When angered, she is known to flood the whole Earth, or destroy crops by withholding her life-giving waters by deep droughts.
She is the patron saint of the Osun River in Nigeria, with its source in Ekiti State (western Nigeria). The river then passes through the holy city of Osogbo, where Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove is located. Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove is a protected forest that contain several shrines and artwork honouring Oshun. In 2005, it was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site. Oshun is honoured, alongside a few other orishas, during the Osun-Osogbo Festival, which is a two-week annual festival that takes place every August by the banks of the river. The climax of the festival is centered on Oshun.
Legends say that Oshun was created by Olodumare because the world was missing love and sweetness. Thereby, also making her the youngest orisha. In her coquettish nature, she is constantly pursued by other gods. One day when she was being chased by Ogún, the warrior orisha, she fell int a river and disappeared into a whirlpool. Yemaya took her under her protection, giving her authority over all the Earth’s rivers.
In Brazil, Oshun is the goddess of fresh waters and waterfalls, wealth and prosperity, and love and beauty. Followers seek her guidance on matters of the heart: romantic problems, marriage, and other relationships. She is called the Lady of Gold, for she is the orisha of financial health. She is a symbol of sensitivity and is often identified because of her weeping. Patakís (mythological story, parable, oral narrative, often from the Lukumí tradition) claim that she is always weeping because she loves with every fiber of her being, and the depth of this love is often left unrequited in similar measure.
In Candomblé Bantu (regions: Angola, Gabon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of Congo), Oshun is called Nkisi Ndandalunda, Lady of Fertility and the Moon. In Candomblé Ketu or Queto (regions: Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay), she is the patron of gestation and fecundity. She protects pregnancies and small children until they can speak. She is affectionately called Mamãe (Mama) by devotees. The plants associated with Oshun in Brazil are sweet, aromatic, and often yellow in colour.
In Santería (regions: Cuba, Puerto Rico, Trinidad), she seems to take on two forms: Ozun, a masculine orisha, and Ochún, a feminine form. Ochún/Ozun arrived in these parts of the world via Yoruba people during the trans-Atlantic slave trace. Ozun is syncretized with John the Baptist, and Ochún is syncretized with Our Lady of Charity.
In Haitian Vodou, she is the inspiration behind Erzulie/Ezili, who is also the deity of water and love.
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References:
The Afro-Cuban Orisha Pantheon
Oshun: Orisha of the Osun River, rivers, fertility, sensuality and women
