Description
Yemayá is one of the most beloved Orishas in the Afro‑Caribbean religions of the Americas, especially within Santería / Regla de Ocha. She is the great mother of the ocean, protector of families, guardian of women, and a symbol of survival, beauty, and emotional depth.
Within the Santería tradition, she is often regarded as the mother of many Orishas and of humanity itself, embodying life-giving forces and feminine mysteries. Her symbols include cowrie shells, the moon, and water, representing wealth, fertility, and cleansing. Yemaya is often depicted as a mermaid, emphasizing her connection to the ocean and its depths.
Yemayá originates from the Yoruba Orisha Yemoja, but developed her own identity in the Afro‑Caribbean diaspora, shaped by new cultural, linguistic, and historical realities.
Place of Origin: Cuba — Afro-Caribbean diaspora expression of the Yoruba Orisha Yemoja
Origin Date: 1500s–1700s CE (Cuba, during the transatlantic slave trade)
Religion: Santería
Root Tradition:
Yoruba Religion (African Traditional Religion)
Origin Deity: Yemoja (Yoruba Religion)
Derived Forms:
Yemanjá (Candomblé)
Yemanjá (Umbanda)
Yemanjá (Brazilian diaspora variants)
Attributes: Healing powers, Fertility and protection
Domain: Sea, Motherhood
Symbols: The Ocean, Cowrie Shells, Moon, Water, Blue and white garments, silver jewellery, Mermaid imagery, Fans, Combs, and mirrors.
Epithets: Mother of Waters, Protector of Women
Equivalents:
Greek: Selene (moon, feminine mystery)
Roman: Luna (moon, emotional depth)
Note: These are symbolic parallels, not direct equivalents.
Iconography: Depicted as a mermaid surrounded by water, often holding cowrie shells.
Historical Transformation:
Yemoja’s story did not remain in Yorubaland. It crossed the Atlantic with her people.
Yemayá’s identity emerged in Cuba during the transatlantic slave trade, when Yoruba people were forcibly displaced from West Africa and carried their Orishas with them — in memory, in fragments, in whispered teachings passed from mother to child under impossible conditions.
In the Americas, Yemoja transformed.
Separated from the Ògùn River — Yemoja’s original domain — she became Yemaya as enslaved African communities re‑rooted her presence in the ocean, the vast body of water that had carried them into bondage and held the memory of those who never survived the crossing.
Through this transformation:
Yemoja became Yemayá in the Afro‑Caribbean world
Her name shifted through Spanish and Portuguese phonetics
Her domain expanded from river to ocean
Her imagery blended with Catholic iconography
Mermaid imagery emerged from cultural blending
Her rituals adapted to new cultural landscapes
New offerings, colours, and rituals developed
She became a symbol of protection for those living near the coast
Yemayá is not a Yoruba Orisha name, but a diaspora‑born expressionof Yemoja’s enduring presence.
These changes do not replace her Yoruba identity. They reveal how spiritual systems adapt to trauma, geography, and new cultural pressures. This transformation emerged from the need to preserve Yemoja’s presence and reflects the resilience of a people carrying their traditions into a new and painful world.
Yemayá is not a separate creation — she is Yemoja carried across oceans and re‑imagined through the lived experience of the Afro‑Caribbean diaspora.
Key shifts in the diaspora:
Domain: River → Ocean
Name: Yemoja → Yemayá (Spanish phonetics)
Iconography: Emergence of mermaid imagery
Rituals: New offerings, colours, and ceremonies
Cultural role: Protector of Afro‑Caribbean families and communities
Worship Beliefs and Practices
Yemaya is venerated primarily at the ocean, with offerings of blue and white beads, shells, and food. Festivals include dances and prayers to honour her nurturing spirit.
Temples & Worship
Yemayá has active worship communities throughout:
Cuba
Puerto Rico
Brazil (as Yemanjá)
The Dominican Republic
The United States
Afro‑Caribbean diaspora communities worldwide
Her festivals, especially the Yemanjá Festival in Brazil, draw thousands of devotees who offer flowers and gifts to the sea.
Relations (Santería Tradition)
Olodumare — Creator and source of aché
Recognised across all Santería houses as the supreme creator. Olodumare is not a personal partner or parent, but the ultimate source of divine power.
Oshun — Sister
Widely accepted in Santería. Yemayá and Oshun are often described as sisters whose domains complement one another — ocean and river, depth and sweetness, vastness and flow.
Shango — Partner or son (varies by house)
This relationship shifts depending on lineage:
In some houses, Yemayá is Shango’s mother
In others, she is his partner. Both interpretations are legitimate within Santería’s diverse oral traditions.
Olokun — Deeply connected; relationship varies
One of Yemayá’s most complex and layered relationships:
In some lineages, Yemayá and Olokun are two aspects of the same primordial ocean force
In others, they are distinct but closely linked
In some, Olokun is seen as her parent
In others, her counterpart This diversity reflects the fluidity of oceanic symbolism across the diaspora.
Orisha Oko — Agricultural association (lineage‑dependent)
Not universal, but present in certain traditions. Some lineages link Yemayá and Orisha Oko through myths involving:
fertility
land and sea balance
agricultural cycles This connection is contextual rather than foundational.
Narratives
Creation Myth: Yemaya assists Obatala in molding humans from clay, using her waters to bring life.
Source: Huanaco, F. (2021). Yemaya: Goddess Symbols and Myths. Spells.
Sacred Text & Oral Traditions
Sacred Texts
Yemayá does not originate from a written scripture. Like all Orishas, her stories were carried through memory, ritual, and spoken transmission rather than through canonical texts.
Oral Traditions:
Ifá Oral Corpus (Yoruba Tradition)
The Odu Ifá — the divination verses of the Yoruba religion — contain teachings, proverbs, and stories about Yemoja, the river Orisha from whom Yemayá descends. These verses were preserved orally by Babalawo (priests) long before they were ever written down.
Patakís (Afro‑Caribbean Diaspora Stories)
In Cuba, Brazil, and the wider diaspora, Yemayá appears in patakís — sacred stories passed down within Santería, Candomblé, Umbanda, and Lukumi traditions. These narratives were transmitted orally for generations and later recorded by practitioners and scholars.
Modern Resources
Contemporary writings preserve and interpret Yemayá’s stories. These include ethnographic collections of patakís, practitioner‑written compilations, academic studies of Yoruba and Afro‑diasporic religions, and modern digital resources such as articles, videos, and podcasts.
https://coldmystery.com/yemoja-yemaya(coldmystery.com in Bing)