Yemayà

Yemayà

Mother of life and of the other gods. Wife or, according to some versions, daughter of Obatalá. Goddess of salt water and therefore of the sea as the primordial source of life. Protector of women in labor, of fishermen and sailors. Her wrath is terrible, yet she always acts with justice. She loves good company; she is a good mother, cheerful and passionate.

Her day is Saturday. When a woman is pregnant, she performs the rogación and prays to her, so that the child may be born well. In Yemayá love is born; not by chance she taught it to all the Orishas. She was the wife of Babalú-Ayé, of Agallù, of Orula and of Oggún. Whoever is consecrated to her may not pronounce her name before having touched the earth with the tips of the fingers and kissed upon them the imprint of the dust. There is a special bell to greet her and to draw her attention. She wears seven silver bracelets and seven skirts, as if to represent the seven deep and mysterious seas. Her necklace is made of blue crystals, and she wears a long garment of the same color with blue and white wavy patterns. In the dance she announces herself with a thunderous laugh and then whirls like the waves or the eddies of the ocean. At times she rows, while at others she seems to swim, but she always begins very slowly, only to increase the intensity of the rhythm, as with the menacing surges of the sea. Together with Changó and Ochún she is among the favorites of the Cubans. She corresponds to the Virgin Mary (Nuestra Señora de la Regla, patron of the Bay of Havana).