OYA

Oya deals with fear because she deals with the Egun or the dead, the ancestors.  They knew that we are afraid to live in the dark because it would mean death to our identity, death to the ego, or even physical death which is nothing but a relase of your spirit from your cage of flesh.  One of the energies similar to Oya is Green Tara.  This energy is associated with protection from fear.

One thing that we don’t often speak about with Oya, is her connection to the moon.  Of course she is also a water deity.  Oya is the energy of the full moon.  Oya’s day is Wednesday and her number is 9. She’s multi-colored, because she is actually the energy of the chakras.  Browns, orange, purples, blue, she’s multicolred. That signifies that she’s the one that brings us through various phases.

Oya is actually the Niger River.  There is a Yoruba legend that speaks about the origins of the Niger River.  It speaks about the King of Nupe.  Nupe is an area that is to the north of Yorubaland.  This King consulted a diviner during the time of war about how to prevent his kingdom from being attacked.  So, the diviner told him to get a black cloth and to have a virgin tear the cloth.  The King decided to use his own daughter, who was a virgin.  His daughter took the cloth and tore it into two pieces and threw them on the ground.  When she did this, the cloth turned into black water. The water began to spread and circle the kingdom.  It formed a protective moat around the kingdom, which turned the kingdom into an island.  This island is known today as Jebba Island, and the river Niger moves very briskly around this island.  The Yourba ascendants in Cuba speak of this island as the place of one’s return when they die.  This is the soul’s returning point.

It’s also said that Oya crossed the Niger river when it was time for her to marry Shango.  So, looking at that story we can see a couple of things. One can say that Jebba Island represents transcendent consciousness.  And the black water of the Niger river can represent the occult mastery that one must develop in order to traverse their own subconscious.  In doing this one goes from the virginal daughter to the married woman of Oya, who married Shango.  So it’s basically a rite of passage.  The water would represent your subconscious mind which can act as a militant defense system which can block you from getting to that island, which is the full realization and actualizing of what you are.