Ọya (Yorùbá: Ọya, also known as Oyá, Oiá, Yànsàn-án, Yansã, Iyámsá, or Iansã) is one of the principal female deities of the Yoruba pantheon. She is the oriṣa of winds, lightning, and storms and is the only oriṣa capable of controlling the Eégún (spirits of the dead), a power given to her by Babalú Ayé.
Key facts
- Deity.type
- Yoruba
- Deity.name
- Ọya
- Deity.image
- Iansã.jpg
- Deity.caption
- Iansã sculpture at the Catacumba Park, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Deity.other_names
- Oyá, Oiá, Iyansan, Yànsàn-án, Yansã, Iansã, Iansan, Iyámsá
- Deity.member_of
- Orisha
- Deity.venerated_in
- Yorùbá religion, Umbanda, Candomblé, Santería, Batuque, Quimbanda, Haitian Vodou, Folk Catholicism
- Deity.deity_of
- Storms, cemeteries, wind, thunder, lightning, the dead
- Deity.color
- Brown, burgundy, rainbow (excluding black)
- Deity.region
- Yorubaland, Latin America
- Deity.ethnic_group
- Yorùbá
- Deity.symbol
- Lightning, sword/machete, flywhisk (iruké), water buffalo
- Deity.spouse
- Ogun, Shango, Oko
- Deity.festivals
- February 2, October 15
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Image
- Iansã.jpg
Show 1 more fact
- Commons category
- Oyá
Sources (2)
via Wikidata · CC0
~6 min read
Article
13 sectionsContents
- Beliefs and Attributes
- Characteristics
- Syncretism
- Myths and legends
- Dominion over the dead
- The nine children
- Paths of Ọya
- Candomblé
- Ritual foods
- Symbols and tools
- See also
- References
- Bibliography
Ọya (Yorùbá: Ọya, also known as Oyá, Oiá, Yànsàn-án, Yansã, Iyámsá, or Iansã) is one of the principal female deities of the Yoruba pantheon. She is the oriṣa of winds, lightning, and storms and is the only oriṣa capable of controlling the Eégún (spirits of the dead), a power given to her by Babalú Ayé.
==Beliefs and Attributes== Ọya lived on Earth as a human from the town of Ira, in present day Kwara state, Nigeria, where she was a wife of the Alaafin of Oyo, Shango. In Yorùbá, the name Ọya is believed to derive from the phrase coined from "ọ ya" which means "she tore," referring to her association with powerful winds. She was believed to have the power to shape-shift into a buffalo, and is often depicted as one in traditional Yorùbá poetry. As such, the buffalo serves as a major symbol of Ọya, and it is forbidden for her priests to kill one. She is known as Ọya Ìyáńsàn-án, the "mother of nine", because of the nine children she gave birth to with her third husband Oko, after suffering from a lifetime of barrenness. She is the patroness of the Niger River (known to the Yorùbá as the Odò-Ọya).