Thread by @Evie_Calling

Woman Gods They Don’t Want You to Know About
tajimag.com/woman-gods/
Chela Noldon
July 16, 2017
(continued 3)

Nana Buluku – (Nana, Nan Nan, Nana Baruku, Na Na Baraclou, Boucalou) As Nana Buluku she is the primordial creator goddess of the Fon Nation of Benin (Dahomey).

As Nana Buruku she is first Grandmother to all the Divinities and first human woman in the religion of the Yorubas.

It was of Nana that the Cosmic Twins Mawu and Lisa were born. From Mawu and Lisa came the Cosmic Egg, and the Cosmic Seed that germinated the Egg.

This egg was formed about the center of Ashe, the realm of Ikode Orun.

From this egg hatched the Great Irunmole.

So Nana Baruku is the Womb of Olodumare, Mawu is the Cosmic Egg, and Lisa is Olodumare’s Seed. Once set into motion, they are the creation of all that is,

was and ever will be.

When the Orisha called Obatala formed the first human head upon the face of the earth, it was Olodumare who came down from the great Adobe of the Spiritual Realm, and breathed life into it. It was through the mysteries of the breath of Olodumare

that Nana Baruku first came forth and took up residence within a clay figure, becoming the first living soul.

Thus Nana Baruku was both Great Divinity, first of all ancestors, the great Grandmother of the Divinities, but also the Ancient Grandmother

and progenitor of the human race. In human form Nana Buruku was known by the name Ayizan.

Ayizan, (Nanan) is envisioned as an ancient black grandmother, her face covered with palm fronds in honor of the palm trees which she used to create shelter upon earth.

In her arms Ayizan carries a woven basket containing bark, roots, and herbs.

Ayizan was the first human herbalist, sacred to her is the mandrake root, which resembles a human form and is a symbol of her human husband Osanyin.

With her vast knowledge of herbs she attracted the attention of the Orisha Osanyin, whom took form and became known as Loco.

In life Ayizan lived in a marshy swamp, she was a powerful ancestor who was unsurpassed in the knowledge of herbs and root magic.

Sacred to her is quicksand, which surrounded her home and protected her from wild animals.

Oboto – The goddesses of serenity.

Oduduwa – A creator deity and earth goddess of the Yoruba.

Oshun – (Osun) The Orisa of Love and Sensuality.

The Yoruba peoples of Nigeria brought Oshun to the New World via Brazil and Cuba.

She is depicted as an old wise woman sad at the loss of her beauty. Alternately she may be shown as tall,

light brown-skinned and with the sensuality of a prostitute.

She is patroness of rivers and the bloodstream, and wears seven brass bracelets. She wears a mirror at her belt to admire herself, is companioned by the primping peacock and cricket,

and carries river water in her pot.

Powerful spells are worked through this lady of opposites. Love and sensuality are the domains of Oshun.

Tall and brown-skinned, she is patroness of rivers and the bloodstream, always carrying her mirror.

Powerful love spells are worked through this Lady.

Oshun, the Yoruba Goddess of Love and Life-Sustaining Rivers, is the Goddess of all the arts, but especially dance. Beauty belongs to Oshun and represents the human ability to create beauty for its own sake,

to create beyond need. It is also said that she is the knitter of civilization, since great cities have been founded, for the most part, along rivers in order to supply water to their populations.

Oya -The Yoruba warrior goddess of the wind, the primeval mother of chaos,

the mother of nine children (the nine tributaries of the Niger River).

She creates change of fortune, and her power is associated with lightning, tornadoes, earthquakes and other storms, cemeteries and death.

Her motherly strength inspires us to embrace change and learn

from it.

Using her machete, or sword of truth, she cuts through stagnation and clears the way for new growth. She does what needs to be done. She is the wild woman, the force of change; also the queen of the marketplace and a shrewd businesswoman who is adept with horses.

As the wind, she is the first breath and the last, the one who carries the spirits of the dead to the other world, which is why she is associated with cemeteries. Oya is tall, stately, and fierce in battle. She is the orisa of creative power and action.

They say every breath we take is the gift of Oya. The other two Ancient Mothers are Osun and Yemaja.

Pamba – The creator and sustainer of life in Ovambo mythology. The Ovambo, a matrilineal people, declare that

‘the mother of pots is a hole in the ground; the mother of people is god.’

Yemayah – (Yemaja, Yemoja) She is one of the great goddesses of the Nigerian Yoruba. The Orisha of the Ocean and Motherhood, Yemayah was brought to

the New World by the Yoruba people of Nigeria via Brazil and Cuba, where she has been venerated for centuries as Protectress during the middle passage of slavery.

She was the sister and wife of Aganju, the soil god, and mother by him of Orungan, god of the noonday sun.

She was said to be the daughter of the sea into whose waters she empties.

She is also an avatar of Mama Wata, the mother of waters. Even as she slept, she would create new springs, which gushed forth each time she turned over. The first time she walked on earth,

fountains that later became rivers sprang up wherever she set foot. Sea shells, through which the priestesses and priests could hear the voice of the universe, were among her first gifts to the people. She is known by different names in many localities;

As Yemoja (Yemayah) she is the power (orisa) of the ocean and motherhood. She is long-breasted, the goddess of fishes, and wears an insignia of alternating crystal and blue beads.

She has a strong, nurturing, life-giving yet furiously destructive nature.

She is considered the Great Witch, the ultimate manifestation of female power.

As Yemanja (Imanje) in Brazil she is ocean goddess of the crescent moon, as Ymoa in West Africa she is the river goddess who grants fertility to women. .