Ọya, Goddess of Change and the Marketplace
Symbol: tempests, marketplace
Ọya (also Oyá or Oiá; Yàńsàn-án or Yansã; and Iansá or Iansã) is the orisha of lightening, winds, rebirth, the thunderbolt, fire, the white buffalo, and violent storms. She is the goddess of change and transformation. She is the orisha who carries souls into the next realms. She watches over the newly dead, helping them to transition, crossover from life to death. As such, she is the guardian of these funerary gates, albeit she does not represent death per say. She has a close relationship with egun (roughly translated to mean the spirit of the ancestors), and Egungun (a deity of divination, referring to the collective spirits of the ancestral dead.
She is a benevolent goddess, both loved and feared. Ọya has a fierce and fiery demeanour: being a loving, protective mother on one end, and equally a terrifying warrior on the other end, capable of destroying entire villages, causing great suffering. She does not tolerate dishonesty, deceit, or injustice; and no one has ever been foolish to anger her. Ọya protects women, as they often call upon her in times of tough conflict. Ọya herself is very feminine, with a brave heart and a passionate, violent temperament. As a mortal, Ọya was an excellent businesswoman, even helping others with their businesses, thus gaining the title “Queen of the Marketplace”. As an elemental goddess – fire, wind/air, water – she joins Eleggua, Orula and Obatala to rule the four winds.
In Candomblé, Ọya is known as Oiá, Iyá Mésàn, or more commonly Iansã, from the Yoruba Yánsán (meaning). Iansã commands storms and is the patron of the River Niger. She is an unbeatable warrior, often known to fight right alongside her husband Shango. Her many attributes include deep and intense emotions, sensations, and charm. She controls the mysteries of the dead. Iansã is syncretized with Saint Barbara, the Virgin of Candelaria, and Saint Teresa of Jesus across the African diaspora (feast day: February 2nd). In the Americas, the Amazon Basin is said to be her river. She is similar to the Haitian Lwa, Maman Brijit, who is syncretized with the Catholic Saint Brigit and the Celtic Bride. In Cuba, Ọya is not seen as a river divinity, rather she is the goddess of the storms and the terrible winds that precede them, controlling other atmospheric phenomena like lighting.
In Yoruba, the name Ọya is morphologically coined from “O ya”, meaning “she tore”. Some stories say that Ọya gave birth to nine stillborn children. Other stories say that Ọya had many stillborn children, until she took a sacred cloth made with the colours of the rainbow and sacrificed it. While it is unclear to whom she prayed, she miraculously gave birth to nine children: four sets of twins (eguns) and Egungun. Hence, she is known as, Ọya-Ìyáńsàn-án, meaning “the mother of nine”.
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References:
The Afro-Cuban Orisha Pantheon
