Posted: September 24th, 2023

The goddesses are a female representation of the divine

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The goddesses are a female representation of the divine. Mostly, they are found out in religious traditions all over the globe. They hold areas of importance in Hinduism, Buddhism, paganism and the ancient cultures of Greece, Mesopotamia and many more. These goddesses embody a mixture of the mothers, lovers, magicians, and warriors in their earliest stories. Thus, the goddesses existed in various types, such as the goddess of fertility, rain, etc. As a result, each goddess was associated with her specific qualities, rituals and talents.
Oshun, also spelled Osun, is a spirit, goddess, Orisha or a deity that has a reveal of manifestations of the Yoruba Supreme being. She is well known and a respected Orishas. Thus, she is an essential river divinity among Yoruba individuals. She is the goddess of fertility, love, divinity, love and femininity. In addition to that, she is connected to not only destiny but also divination. She is found in the areas of Nigeria, Latin, Cuba, Benin and Haiti Haiti. For the duration of the mortal Osun life, she worked as a queen consort to the King Shango of Oyo. She displayed her posthumous deification, which led to her admission to the Yoruba pantheon. It was a sign of primordial divinity of a similar name. The Osun River found in Nigeria bears her name as the patron of the saint. Therefore, she is an honored goddess in many festivals since she greatly influences the people.
Several beliefs exist regarding the Oshun and her importance to the Yoruba divinity. The Yoruba stories concerning the Oshun, she is displayed as a savior, protector and nurturer of humanity. Also, she has been discussing as a maintainer of the spiritual balance. One myth states that Oshun is the dominant figure found in the making of human beings (Monaghan, 1999). As a result, the Yoruba individuals had a belief that the Supreme God sent the orishas. He was known as the Olodumare, who wanted the Earth to be populated. During the attempt to both revive and populate the Earth with all the male gods failed. Thus, the Oshun was requested to help them, and she agreed to bring forth her powerful and sweet water. She brought life back to Earth, which resulted in the existence of both humanity and other specifies. Therefore, the Yoruba people believed in the myth of the existence of humanity was due to Oshun.
Additionally, Osun is the only female irumore sent to assist the Shango to produce a world by Olodumare. The Ifa Literary Corpus displays that at that moment, the other spirit sent they began the job and ignored the Oshun. Thus, the Oshun went to her partner, known as Shango, to look for guidance. Although these female spirits who decided to work alone, they had a clear understanding that they cannot achieve much deprived of masculine leadership. They believed that anything they attempted without a male spiritual control was meant to fail. As a result, the Shango enforced the other spirits to have respect for Osun as they would do that to him. At that moment, Osun had a taste of the power that her partner possessed, and she not only honored him and dedicated herself as a wife. Therefore, she practiced loyalty, and God gave her the power of a Goddess.
The Oshun, as a goddess of fertility, is displayed in Candomble. The women in the area pray to her when they wish to have children. Therefore, the goddess receives the prayers of both having and protecting pregnancy from the interested women. She is believed to give protection to the small kids up to the moment they can speak words such as ‘Mama”. In addition to that, she helps in the production of aromatic, sweet and yellow plants, which reveals the potentials of Orisha. For instance, the brilliant yellow color reflects the relationship of Osun with both wealth and gold.
According to tradition, the first contact between human beings and the Oshun occurred in Osogbo in Nigeria. The city was believed to be sacred and highly protected by the water goddess. Thus, people believed that Oshun those who went to the river to create a city, and she offered them to provide and protect them (Awojoodu & Baran, 2009). They practiced the Oshun festival, which resulted in the first contact between the Osogbo and Oshun people. As a result, each year, the Oshun people and others from Yoruba went to the religious tradition festival conducted in the Oshun River. The festival consisted of various events, such as the pay of homage and making of sacrifices. They were also allowed to make requests of their requirements on various things such as the need for wealth, better health, children and more. Although the festival also honored the other orishas, the climax was mainly based on the Oshun goddess.
The Oshun goddess is believed to offers her services to the people from a performed ritual. The equipment needed was a pumpkin, a yellow candle, honey, a pencil, a brown paper bag, and a goddess representation. Therefore, the first step is to light the yellow candle in front of an Oshun image representation. Tell the goddess to want you to want, preferably out loud so that she can hear you. Afterward, make a round opening on the very top of your pumpkin. The wishes that you had said aloud to the goddess should be written on a piece of the brown paper bag using a pencil. Put the paper inside the pumpkin and use the candle wax to seal it. Then, take this pumpkin to the nearest river to represent an offering. Lastly, you will let the candle burn out, and the goddess will receive your wishes concerning fertility.
The Oshun goddesses have a great impact on women, especially those in the West African cultures. The Oshun is mainly related to the power of women and the concept of fertility. Thus, the women who have infertility can make a ritual to the goddess with a request to fulfill their wishes. For instance, a woman suffering from barrenness will visit the sacred place where the Oshun goddess is found and perform the right ritual for a child’s request. From there, the barren woman is afterward believed to get the fulfillment of her request. Therefore, the goddess gave women who have infertility in their requests.
In conclusion, the Oshun goddess was highly honored in both the tradition and the current community. She achieved the most significant post of honor representing the female deities. As a result, she is believed to be among the gods’ first body that descended to the Earth. Therefore, her ability to help women suffering from infertility represents the importance of women in society.
References
Awojoodu, O., & Baran, D. (2009). Traditional Yoruba medicine in Nigeria: a comparative approach. Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Brasov. Medical Sciences. Series VI, 6, 129.
Monaghan, P. (1999). The goddess path: Myths, invocations & rituals. Llewellyn Worldwide.

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