Deity of the Day

Yemaya

Mother Water, Star of the Sea, Yemaya is the protector of women. Her healing powers are carried in the great waters, her energy powerful during the ebb and flow of life challenges.

MANTRA

• · Nourishment

GEMSTONES

• · Lapis lazuli, aquamarine, turquoise (light blue stones), pearl, coral, mother-of-pearl (ocean-sourced)

ESSENTIAL OILS

• · Goddess-ence Ishtar* blend for the crown chakra

AFFIRMATIONS

• · I voice my needs
• · Freedom is a birthright I enjoy
• · I release my anger, I embrace joy
• · Others recognise my needs and honour them
• · I connect with my needs, and let them be known
• · My body is a temple, and oh what a temple it is!
• · My body is a pleasure, a temple and a treasure

Her Story

West African, Brazilian and Afro-Caribbean goddess Yemaya is Mother Water, orisha of the oceans. She represents mother love and the affairs of women – fertility, children, birthing, the home and family. She is the merciful goddess of creation and protector of women during conception and childbirth, and of children during their childhood. She is the deep ocean of comfort for those in need.

African deities (orishas) are usually represented by flowing, swirling images of colour and movement, depicting the elemental energies rather than an anthropomorphised image. Yemaya’s energy is depicted with sky blue, white and silver swirling colour. In other images, she is a mermaid or a beautiful woman.

Yemaya brings forth and protects life through all the highs and lows, even during the worst atrocities that can be suffered. She reminds women to take time out for themselves, to nurture their own needs and to respect their deserved position in life.

Her Modern Energy

If Yemaya is speaking to you today, ask yourself, who or what is it that is taking all your time and energy? Whose problems are you trying to fix at the expense of your own vital energy? And why are you trying to fix them? (For approval?) Yemaya does not ask that you conquer your problems nor dominate the source of your problems, but instead to learn how to dance with the ebb and flow of the inevitability of the life cycle.

Yemaya gives you permission to pamper yourself, and for one week at least, to retire from being the “fixer”, the “nurturer”, the “servant”. The world will not end if you withdraw to take care of yourself for a while.

Reconnect With Your Inner Yemaya

Spend some time this week building a shrine to Yemaya, with ocean-sourced items (especially the conch shell), crystal and silver objects, and symbols to represent the moon and stars.

On a Saturday, enjoy watermelon and brew your own raspberry leaf tea (this will take around two weeks to prepare).

Raspberry leaf tea: Tie organically grown raspberry leaves in a bunch and hang in a warm, dark area until dry. Strip the leaves, crumble them into your favourite tea-pot or cauldron, and brew Yemaya’s tea. Take your time to drink this – cancel appointments and other demands for your time, and let yourself truly, purely, “be” in the moment!

Alternatively, on a full moon, invoke Yemaya’s energy by “drawing down the moon”. Here is a suggestion that is in Ffiona Morgan’s book, “Goddess Spirituality”. This ritual can be done as a private ritual with yourself, preferably outside under the full moon. (If it is not possible to go outside, you can sit or stand facing a window in view of the moon, with the moon’s rays shining in on you.)

Start by chanting ‘Ma’, ‘Yemaya’, or ‘Luna’ for five or ten minutes, to raise energy for the drawing down. Then place your hands with palms facing the moon, index fingers and thumbs touching, forming the sacred triangle, or sign of the yoni. Spread your fingers as wide as possible, so they are receptors for moon energy. After you chant to raise power, focus all your energy and vision on Mother Moon and draw her energy down into your body. Move your hands, if desired, back and forth, from arms-outstretched position to your heart and back again. After a few minutes of holding your hands up to the moon, you can feel them tingle. This is magical energy. This can take 15-20 minutes, but you may take more or less time, there are no rules. Here are some songs and chants to the moon:

“Yemaya, O Lo Do, Agua Lo Do Mi O”
(repeat over and over again)
“Moon, Moon, Moon on my mind, think I’ll fly”
(repeat over and over again)
Simple Shower Ritual

First, gather your shower and ritual tools. You will need a bar of soap (pick one that is special to you because of the scent or whatever), a big, fluffy white towel, 3 white votives or pillars and your favourite incense. Pick a soothing CD to put on.

Next, arrange the candles, put on the CD and light the incense. Hang your towel nearby. Take 5 deep breaths, centre, and ground yourself before beginning.

Take the soap and carve a pentagram on both sides of the soap. Ask for the sense and presence of the Goddess. Hold the bar in the air and say these words:

O Mother Goddess,

Bless this soap that you have seen
Soap to make me pure and clean.
Clear away all dirt and grime
Protect my body all the time.

Blessed be.

Place it in the soap holder.

Lastly, take each candle and carve a pentacle or protective rune on its side. Grab all three candles in your hands and repeat these words:

Candles that I light this day,
Keep all evil thoughts away.
As the water washes me,
Burn out all negativity. Blessed be.
Kiss each candle then light it. Now you are ready for your shower.

As the water runs over you visualise all your stress, sadness and worries rinsing away, the bubbles cleaning off dirt and leaving your skin glowing with a radiant white glow all around you. This will keep you feeling strong and protected all through the day. Thank the Goddess for her presence and put all tools away for next time.