Deidades femeninas de la Regla de Osha: Yemayá, Oshún, Obbá y Yewá – Inshe Miami

The Female Deities of the Regla de Osha | Yemaya, Oshun, Obba, and Yewa – Inshe Miami

March 8, 2024

In the context of International Women's Day, it is also important to recognize the spiritual, cultural, and symbolic power of female deities within the Regla de Osha. These Orishas represent motherhood, love, sensuality, sacrifice, purity, and a connection with nature and the ancestors.

The Regla de Osha is a religious expression born in Cuba from the encounter between African Yoruba traditions and the Catholicism imposed during the colonial era. Over time, this interaction gave rise to an Afro-Cuban spirituality with its own identity, passed down from generation to generation through oral tradition, ceremonies, and religious notebooks.

Within this spiritual universe, female deities hold a fundamental place. Each reigns in a different realm of nature and spiritual life, and each possesses its own attributes, colors, offerings, paths, and meanings. Among the most representative are Yemayá, Oshún, Obbá, and Yewá.

Female deities of the Regla de Osha | Inshe Miami

The value of female deities in the Regla de Osha

The female deities of the Regla de Osha are symbols of life, sensitivity, strength, wisdom, sacrifice, and protection. They are not secondary figures: they are pillars of Afro-Caribbean spirituality and form an essential part of Cuban cultural identity.

Through them are expressed energies related to the sea, rivers, fertility, motherhood, love, fidelity, purity, pain, transformation, and the relationship with the ancestors. Each teaches a different way of living, resisting, loving, and protecting.

Yemayá

Yemayá is the deity of salt water and the great Orisha of motherhood. She represents the sea, fertility, the protection of children, and the source of life. She is one of the most powerful deities within the Regla de Osha and is considered the mother of many Orishas and of all her children on earth.

In nature, she manifests in the sea, the waves, the foam, and the power of the waters. Her energy can be serene and protective, but also firm, deep, and unyielding when she punishes or corrects. Yemayá represents the womb, creation, abundance, and maternal protection.

Her name comes from the Yoruba Yemojá, interpreted as “mother of the fish.” Her main color is blue, and her most recognized day is September 7.

Attributes of Yemayá

Her receptacle is usually a soup bowl or earthenware jar in blue or blue-toned hues. Among her attributes are oars, handles, a crown, a rudder, ships, fish, shells, coral, maracas, fans, and other elements related to the sea. Her traditional necklaces are made with blue and white beads.

Offerings to Yemayá

Yemayá is offered foods and elements related to the sea and abundance, including whole fish, watermelon, pineapple, papaya, grapes, cane molasses, roasted coconut, brown sugar, and various ritual preparations. She is also offered white roses, especially for petitions related to health and protection.

Characteristics of her children

Yemayá's children are usually strong, protective, willful, and of changing character, like the sea. They can be maternal or paternal, loving yet demanding, just yet sensitive to offenses. They love beauty, order, respect, and greatness.

Oshún

Oshún is the queen of fresh water, rivers, love, femininity, sensuality, and prosperity. She is a highly beloved Orisha within the Regla de Osha and is associated with sweetness, coquetry, fertility, beauty, and also money.

In Santería, she is syncretized with Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre, the patroness of Cuba. Oshún represents the intensity of feelings, delicacy, charm, elegance, and the power of women. Although outwardly joyful and seductive, she also possesses rigor, depth, and great spiritual strength.

Her color is yellow, and one of her most important days is September 8, the day of Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre.

Attributes of Oshún

Her receptacle is usually a yellow or multicolored soup bowl with yellow as the predominant color. Among her best-known attributes are mirrors, combs, hoops, bracelets, fans, crowns, hearts, oars, bells, conch shells, and jewelry. Her necklaces are traditionally made with yellow and gold beads.

Offerings to Oshún

Oshún is offered honey, sweets, yellow rice, tamales, lettuce, Swiss chard, endive, cornmeal, shrimp, and other soft and pleasant foods. She is also associated with adornments, perfumes, and beautiful and fine elements. She likes everything that expresses sweetness, abundance, and femininity.

Characteristics of her children

Oshún's children are usually joyful, sociable, sensual, elegant, and have a strong desire for social advancement. They like jewelry, beautiful clothes, fine perfumes, and recognition. They have a natural charm, although they can often be sensitive to the opinions of others.

Obbá

Obbá is the Orisha of repressed love, sacrifice for the beloved, and marital fidelity. She represents emotional pain, deep devotion, and the silent strength of one who truly loves. She is also associated with lakes and lagoons and has a warrior and firm character.

Her history is marked by sacrifice, and for this reason, she is one of the most intense female deities within the Regla de Osha. Together with Oyá and Yewá, she is associated with the cemetery and with energies of introspection, resistance, and dignity.

Attributes of Obbá

Her receptacle is a pink soup bowl, often adorned with flowers. Her attributes include a sword, shield, keys, book, breastplate, rudder, gear wheel, and other elements of strength and protection. Her necklaces usually feature pink, lilac, yellow, and black beads.

Offerings to Obbá

Obbá is offered raw cassava, grapes, plums, cascarilla, corojo butter, and other ritual elements related to her energy. Animal offerings are also made to her within the corresponding religious context.

Spiritual meaning of Obbá

Obbá represents fidelity, the suffering of love, dignity, and sacrifice. She is an energy that teaches about deep love, the limits of pain, and the inner strength that is born after the wound.

Yewá

Yewá is an Orisha linked to the cemetery, purity, silence, austerity, and the relationship with death from a sacred and respectful place. She is in charge of delivering the dead to Oyá and is deeply related to spiritual introspection, mystery, and discipline.

Her worship is associated with virginity, reserve, and respect. In front of her foundation, there must be no nudity, arguments, or disrespectful behavior. Her energy demands sobriety, spiritual cleanliness, and great care.

Attributes of Yewá

Her receptacle is usually a wicker basket lined with red and pink fabrics, placed in a reserved spot. Among her attributes are bells, dolls, shells, triangular shields, metal skeletons, silver angels, and other elements related to her symbolism.

Offerings to Yewá

Yewá is offered preparations such as fish in tomato sauce, gofio with fish, and peanut balls, in addition to the ritual offerings that correspond within religious practice.

Spiritual meaning of Yewá

Yewá represents silence, purity, the boundary between life and death, and the need for introspection. Her energy is delicate, strict, and deeply spiritual.

Syncretism and Afro-Cuban culture

The Regla de Osha developed in Cuba amid processes of cultural resistance and religious syncretism. To protect their beliefs, many practitioners identified the Orishas with Catholic saints, maintaining their spirituality internally while outwardly appearing to follow another religion.

Thanks to that process, Afro-Cuban culture preserved an immense spiritual richness, in which the Orishas remained alive in memory, rituals, music, dance, altars, and the daily lives of thousands of people inside and outside Cuba.

The female deities of the Regla de Osha are an essential part of that legacy. They not only represent spiritual forces, but also deeply human values: motherhood, love, beauty, sacrifice, purity, protection, pain, resistance, and wisdom.

Female deities of the Regla de Osha – Syncretism and Afro-Cuban culture | Inshe Miami

Conclusion

The female deities of the Regla de Osha hold a central place within Afro-Caribbean spirituality. Yemayá, Oshún, Obbá, and Yewá represent distinct yet complementary energies that help us understand the depth of this religious and cultural tradition.

Each reigns in a different realm and has a worship with its own characteristics, from its colors and offerings to its dances, symbols, and attributes. Together, they form part of a living spiritual heritage, passed down with respect through generations.

Beyond their religious dimension, these deities are also an expression of Cuban and Afro-Caribbean identity. They are memory, culture, faith, and roots.

Spiritual products at Inshe Miami

At Inshe Miami, you can find spiritual products related to these female energies, including candles, necklaces, soup bowls, tools, perfumes, and accessories for altars and religious practices.

Explore our collections dedicated to Yemayá, Oshún, Oyá, Obbá, Yewá, and other Orishas, available in our physical stores and also online.