Yemọja
Yemaya, Iemanjá
Yoruba & diaspora Living tradition
The orishas are honored in living traditions: Yoruba religion in West Africa, and Lucumí (Santería), Candomblé and others in the Americas. Practices vary by house and lineage.
Mother orisha of the waters: of the Ogun River in Nigeria and, in the Americas, the ocean.
Yemọja is honored as a mother of many orishas and a protector of children. In Brazil, crowds dressed in white bring flowers and gifts to the sea for Iemanjá, especially on February 2 in Salvador, Bahia, and on New Year's Eve along Rio's beaches.
Symbols
Ocean waves Seashells Blue and white
In the ancient sources
Yoruba tradition and early written accounts
- Yèyé ọmọ ẹja
- “mother whose children are fish” popular explanation of her name
- Ogun River tradition She is the orisha of the Ogun River, which flows past Abeokuta to the lagoon at Lagos.
- A. B. Ellis, The Yoruba-Speaking Peoples (1894) An early, much-repeated account in which Yemọja flees her son Orungan, falls, and her body bursts open, giving birth to many orishas.
- Festa de Iemanjá, Salvador (since 1923) Fishermen in Rio Vermelho began bringing gifts to the sea for Iemanjá every February 2, a festival that now draws huge crowds.
Scholars treat Ellis's story with caution: it came to him second-hand and isn't widely told in Yorubaland. Her role as mother of the sea grew in the Americas, especially in Brazil and Cuba.
Cross-checked against these texts and records, in public-domain or freely available versions where they exist. Line, section and chapter numbers follow the standard editions, so a particular translation may differ slightly.
Correspondences Explore all
- Festival
- Festa de Iemanjá (February 2)
- Element
- Water
- Number
- 7
- Animals
- Fish
- Offerings
- White flowers, Perfume
These come from the tradition itself, and practice differs between regions, lineages and houses. To go deeper, learn from the people and communities who keep this tradition.