GREAT MOTHER: An Exploration of the Goddess’ through Myth
The Great Mother Archetype activates within us the remembrance that We are One with ALL of Nature. As I looked across mythologies from around the globe and across timelines, I began to relish how each culture had a unique lensing of how She is depicted. What I discovered in a short amount of research is that there’s not a single one element she is represented by-for the Goddess Yemanja of the African,
Brazilian and Cuban lineage associates her with Water and the Sea, the Egyptian Goddess Nut is the celestial goddess of the Sky, and throughout the ages we have spoken of and worshipped Mama Gaia of the Earth Herself. What is revealed is an incredible tapestry of all elements spiraling together as Her, beyond any idea of right and wrong, one way of seeing Her myriad faces.
Below is an account of Yemanja, as well as a recording of a story of this Brazilian goddess. I invite you, in this moon of the Great Mother, to attune your attention to Nature, and discover how She speaks to you in the elements all around you.
Yemaya, also known as Yemoja, Yemanja, Yemalla and others, was the “Queen of the Sea” goddess of the Yoruba people, one of the largest ethnic groups of southwestern Nigeria. According to the beliefs of the Yoruba religion, she was loved and heralded as the mother of all living things. In their creation story, Yemaya’s father was Olodumare, the supreme god. Olodumare was known as the Creator of the Universe, and Yemaya was his eldest child.
She was always associated with the Waters of life, most often the Rivers and Her name, when translated means ‘the Mother Whose Children are Fish’. Her waters were known to cleanse and purify her children’s as she healed emotional wounds and helped humans to remember self-nurturance. Like the sea, Yemanja was beautiful and is depicted as a queenly-looking mermaid or a woman dancing along fluidly with seven skirts that represented the seven seas. Her movements were said to cause waves of energy, which jingled around her from the tiny bells, corals and crystals she adorned herself with. She was known to be generous beyond belief, but also that if anyone crossed her, especially by hurting one of her children, she would be fierce. Her ferocious anger was known to create tidal waves and floods.
Some legends tell of how Yemaya brought life to Earth by creating the first humans. When her water broke, it caused a great deluge, creating all the streams and rivers on Earth, into which she birthed humans. Yemaya’s first gift to her children was a seashell which contained her voice so that she could always be heard. “The goddess loved with all her heart and women often developed a close relationship with her but they had to be careful when communicating with her near the sea. While she never intended to cause harm to any living thing, Yemaya liked to keep everything she loved near her and would try to them into the sea, forgetting that her children had to live on land and not in the waters.”
The Goddess of the Sea’s immense powers took seven forms (the seven African Powers of Eshu, Ogun, Obatala, Yemaya, Oshun, Shango and Orunmila. Together, these seven powers were thought to provide Earth and all its inhabitants with protection and blessings.
When her people boarded the slave ships, she didn’t want to leave them so she went along with them. And so, she became known as the goddess of the ocean. Yemaya’s worship spread beyond African borders, and was notable in Cuba and Brazil.
Quote from: https://symbolsage.com/yemaya-queen-of-the-sea/
