Yemọja

Yemọja (also: Yemaja, Yemanjá, Yemoyá, Yemayá; there are many different transliterations in other languages) is a major water deity in the Yoruba religion. She is an oriṣa, and the patron spirit of rivers, particularly the Ogun River in Nigeria, and of oceans in Cuban and Brazilian Orisha religions. She is often syncretized with either Our Lady of Regla in the Afro-Cuban diaspora or various other Virgin Mary figures of the Catholic Church, a practice that emerged during the era of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. Yemọja is said to be motherly and strongly protective, and to care deeply for all her children, comforting them and cleansing them of sorrow. She is said to be able to cure infertility in women, and cowrie shells represent her wealth. She does not easily lose her temper, but when angered she can be quite destructive and violent, as the flood waters of turbulent rivers. This makes her sometimes associated with another major water deity, Olokun. Some of the priests of Yemọja believe that she used her fresh water to help Ọbàtálá in the molding of human beings out of clay.

Yemọja is often depicted as a mermaid by a number of devotees, and is associated with water, feminine mysteries, and the moon in some diaspora communities. She is the protector of women. She governs everything pertaining to women; parenting, child safety, love, and healing. According to some beliefs, when her waters broke, it caused a great flood creating rivers and streams and the first mortal humans were created from her womb.