Olodumare is the Owner of the Rainbow in Yoruba mythology (West Africa). He gives us each day, which IG' contains a spectrum of possibilities that is as high, wide, and colorful as the rainbow we see in the sky. Olodumare is related to Olorun, the Owner of the sky.
Mawu and Lisa: Mawu and Lisa are the divine twins born from Nana Buluku. Mawu, the Moon, is feminine, old, cool, and kind. She lives in the West and has rulership over the nighttime, when humans rest. Lisa, Her twin brother, is young, hot, and fierce. He lives in the East and has rulership over the daytime with all its human activity and concerns. In the Yoruba pantheon (West Africa), the dual nature of life is personified as a set of twin children, Taiwo and Kehinde, the Ibeji. In Haiti they are called the Marassa. Ibeji-Marassa can be viewed as female/male, Moon/Sun, night/day, cool/hot, left/right, and collective/individual.
Odudua, the Earth: In Yorubaland (West Africa), Odudua is the Goddess of the Good Black Earth and the twin sister of Olorun, the Owner of the Sky. We also find a culture hero by the name of Odudua, who is the progenitor of the Yoruba people. The Igbo people call the Earth Ala. She is the Queen of the Yam Festival, the LawMaker, and the Judge. She gives Life, fulfillment, and Death. She is also the ruler of the Underworld.
Yemaya-Olokun: Yemaya and Olokun are the Owners of the Deep Blue Sea. In West Africa Yemonja is the owner of the Ogun River. In Brazil She is Imanje, the Mermaid. In the Caribbean Islands She is Yemaya, the Mother of the Children of the Sea, the fish. Her waves dance constantly to the rhythm of the Moon, shifting the sands, polishing the shells, and birthing the many generations of fish that feed us. Olokun, a deity from Benin in West Africa, is the deep and darkly mysterious part of the Ocean, the unfathomable realm where evolution began with the single cell. Olokun is regarded as androgynous, that is, primarily male with a female aspect contained within Himself. Together they are the salt waters of the Earth, the Secret Keepers, the Dream Weavers. Deities such as Elusu, the chalk-white mermaid of Togo; Papa Densu, also of Togo; Agwe Taroya of Haiti; and Mami Wata, who is found in West Africa and Jamaica, all share this realm with a world of mer-folks.
Damballah and Aida Hwedo: Damballah and His wife, Aida Hwedo, originate in Dahomey, West Africa, and are very popular in South America and the Caribbean Islands, especially Haiti. They are the Great Serpents, the rainbow pythons who wrap themselves around the Earth and the Sky and thereby hold the world together. The serpent is known in many cultures (including India and Australia) not as the wicked beast of Genesis, but as the wise and powerful creature that renews Itself by shedding Its skin. It is a symbol of regenerative power, sexuality, and immortality.
Obatala and I ya Mapo: These deities are not mentioned directly in the Creation myth told earlier, but they are implied. Obatala is one of the oldest deities in the Yoruba pantheon. His name means the “King of the white cloth” and refers to the clouds in the Sky, the Sunlight that shines upon the Earth, and the white 10 light of mystic vision. In the mythology, Obatala is credited with separating the land from the waters and establishing the continents using a snail shell full of sand and a five-toed guinea hen. He and Iya Mapo are the potter and the wet clay that shape the fetus in the Womb. One myth says that Obatala celebrated a little too much during the creation of humans, got drunk, and made a few mistakes. Because of this, Obatala holds in special favor those humans who are born with bone malformations, learning disabilities, and other congenital conditions.
Eshu-Elegba: In popular culture Eshu-Elegba is referred to as a “trickster.” But the word trickster, which often evokes the image of a clown, is insufficient to describe His powers. He is the messenger of destiny, a deity of great importance. He serves the three major functions of Magician, Linguist, and Enforcer. As the Magician, He spins the Wheel of Fortune so that Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Time, and Space come together in varying combinations to create material reality. He is the one who allows bright ideas and devious plans to pop in and out of our minds. He also causes people and things to move together or apart. Eshu is a lascivious dancer. Eshu-Elegba is the Linguist, the Master of Communications. He interprets the thoughts, feelings, and intentions of one entity into a message that can be discerned by another. When humans sing songs or recite poetry, Elegba allows them to understand each other. Because of Him the power of music crosses cultures and “soothes the savage breast” (though sometimes it arouses the beast). In Yoruba tradition all ceremonies begin and end with an invocation to Elegba to ensure that the messages are properly delivered.
Eshu-Elegba the Enforcer is the Master of the Crossroads. Life on Earth is a combination of destiny and choice. Within the design of Nature (the change of the seasons, the progression of life) all beings have a window of opportunity to make choices about whether or not we will grow healthily and happily, what we will birth and contribute to the world, and how we will live and die. Eshu stands in the crossroads between invisible, unperceived potentiality, and visible, material reality; between that which is going out of existence and that which is coming into being.
Persephone the Kore (young corn): Persephone is the Virgin Daughter of Demeter, the Greek Goddess of the Earth. The Greek myth states that one day, while picking flowers in the field, Persephone was abducted by the Lord of Death, who took Her beneath the Earth to Hades. On the planet's surface Demeter searched for Her daughter and, failing to find Persephone, fell into mourning. When She withdrew Her energy, the plants died, causing the other deities to demand Persephone's return. But the Lord of Death had tricked Persephone into eating three seeds from a pomegranate, and She became obligated to spend time underground with Him every year, the time that became Winter. When Persephone returns to the surface of the Earth, it is Spring and everything blossoms again.
Iyalode Oshun: Oshun is the African Venus, the Goddess of Love, Art, and Sensuality. The story states that when the world was first created Oshun ruled over all the sweet things in life. One day, when She was bathing in the river, She overheard a group of deities gossiping about Her. Some bragged that they were stronger than She, others claimed to be smarter, while some had the nerve to imply that Her beauty was unnecessary. As a demonstration of power, Oshun left the planet and took a vacation on a nearby star, where She adorned Herself with great pleasure. Meanwhile on Earth the rivers dried up, the flowers died, all medicine became ineffective, and the people waged war out of sheer boredom. Olodumare instructed the deities to apologize to Oshun and, humbly, they did. Satisfied with their supplications, Oshun returned and moistened everything on Earth.
The Family of Isis: Egyptian Isis and Her siblings were born into magic. The old Sun God Ra, whose behavior was often erratic, forbade his children—Geb, the Earth God; and Nut, the Queen of Night—to birth children in any month of His year. But they engaged a magician in a game of chance and won a particle of moonlight. The magician used the light to create five new days. During those days, Nut gave birth to several deities. Isis was born on the first day of the first year of creation. Her birth was followed by Osiris, the Lord of Light; then came Nephthys, the Hidden One; and Set, the Prince of Darkness.
Eventually Isis and Osiris married and brought prosperity to the land. Set became jealous and overpowered His brother through deception, then kidnapped and dismembered Him. Isis roamed all over the world collecting Osiris's pieces. Through another act of magic She reanimated His penis and subsequently gave birth to Horus, the Prince of Light.
Throughout each chapter in this book a very important player must be present—that is you, the reader. The characters in these stories anticipate your embrace. The rituals offered here are designed to connect us to our ancestors, to infuse our celebrations with power and meaning, to strengthen communal ties, and to bring more joy into our lives.
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