Maiden
What you need to sow
Begin by throwing something out. Make room before you make plans.
Yoruba / West African
Oya
Wind of Change, Keeper of the Cemetery Gate
Yorubaland (Nigeria) and the African diaspora; living tradition
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Her story
Historical context
goddess · Yorubaland (Nigeria) and the African diaspora; living tradition
Oya is the orisha of the wind and the tornado, of the Niger river and of the gate between the living and the dead. She rules the marketplace — the loudest, most changeable place in town — and fights alongside Shango.
Mythology & traditions
She is the only orisha said to face the dead without fear, and her number is nine. Her storms are not senseless: the wind clears the ground so something can be built. Devotees speak of her arriving in a person's life as a sudden, total rearrangement that afterwards makes sense.
Domains
- Storms
- Change
- The marketplace
- The dead
- Fierce truth
Symbols
- Whirlwind
- Lightning
- Buffalo horns
- Machete
- Nine cowries
In the oracle
Her guidance
Mother
What you need to grow
Nurture your capacity for change. Stay light enough to move when the wind turns.
Crone
What you need to know
This upheaval is doing work. Do not rebuild what it just knocked down.