Oshun, the Spirit of Sweet Water

About Oshun, Oxum It is not only nigh impossible, but probably also inadvisable to try create much separation between the African and the various Western characteristics of the Orishas. On both sides of the Atlantic Ocean there's quite an e tensive variation in how different families!branches see their Orishas, but nevertheless there are many more similarities than differences, leading to the conclusion that the Orishas everywhere are the same, and only look different. Such a principle suits me fine, so in pages about any individual Orisha the characteristics, qualities and attributes from all over the world are liberally thrown together.
My kind of Oshun!

Oshun is not only the Spirit of sweet waters li"e the river that is named after her, she is also the Orisha of #ove... that's love in the sense of $eros$, not $agap%$& she is in charge of physical love. Sure, you can have se without the influence of Oshun, but you might as well rub it against a lamp post then& although you may $come$, there's no eroticism involved without this important Orisha' In the West $the erotic$ is often disapproved of, under influence of the (udeo)*hristian values +or lac" of same, that pervade our society. Oshun however teaches us that there's nothing wrong with a good romp in the hay, as long as it is between two consenting adults, of whatever se , preference or orientation. Wealth also falls +partly, within Oshun's realm& she is the owner of all gold, and by e tension of all yellow things and stuff, li"e brass and honey. She's not all sweetness though& Oshun is a mighty warrior Orisha in her own right, and every now and then, both in fights and in love, she li"es to be $on top$' Oshun is said to be the Orisha who causes conception by $creating$ children in the womb after intercourse, whereupon Obatala ta"es over the -ob and shapes the critters into human beings. Although presently this remar"able Orisha's main shrine is in Oshogbo, her worshippers there say that she originally came from the town of Igede. *olors& yellow, amber, coral, gold.

Oshun shrine for the uninitiated .ou don't need to be an initiated Olorisha to worship Oshun& you may set up a shrine +altar, in your own home. Set it up in a clean place, using white, yellow or green cloth either separately or in any combination. Since Oshun is a fresh water deity, particularly of the /igerian river named after her, -ust about anything that comes out of fresh water, or from close to fresh water, can be used on the shrine... now if that doesn't put your creativity into high gear, nothing will' Other connections of Oshun are mirrors and fans, and birds li"e vulture, peacoc", hummingbird and quail. 0eathers of these will do nicely. *onsidering that Oshun is also the Orisha of 1rotic #ove, pictures or ob-ects pertaining thereto are also e tremely suitable for her shrine... good heavens, if this doesn't put your imagination into even higher gear, you're either dead or fro2en' Since her special metal is brass +on account of it being cheaper than gold...,, little brass ob-ects will do very fine on her shrine. 3he Oshun shrine can be used very effectivily as focal point for meditation and prayer on matters of creative abundance, especially but not e clusively when these are related to issues of an erotic character.

Food for Oshun Some of Oshun's traditional foodstuffs are honey, pump"in, melon, champagne, river water, hen, goat, wild lettuce, "ola nuts, fritters. 4epending on the tradition +li"e African or Western, one can give various other things, as small blac" eye peas +soa"ed, pealed off, coo"ed and smashed,, seasoned with honey, olive oil and offered in a china bowl garnished with 5 hard boiled eggs. 3his sacrifice attracts the forces of love in a realationship which is being down on the damps... 6s7itty threw in& $.ou "now guys what mom loves +and so do I ,8 3hese little *uban ca"es called cappucino. .um .ummy...$ And Sethan came with& $Also a nice adimu for her& 9 bisquite ca"es +the small round ones, on a white plate: pour lots of honey over it +don't forget to taste it, befor you give it to her,. #ight a yellow candle and put five yellow roses ne t to it. After 9 days bring it to a river. Well then, that should "eep the #ady fed' And indeed bear in mind& before you give honey to Oshun, put a finger in it and taste it first. Otherwise she'll fear being poisoned' And never, never give her guinea corn beer, which is her main taboo.

Oshun Ede Oshun 1de& the $Oshun who creates ;eauty and 1legance$. A truly $grande dame$& the perfect hostess and a stylish wife, whose soir<es, parties and social functions are the tal" of the town'

Oshun Funmike Oshun 0unmi"e is the $Oshun who ;lesses us with *hildren$.

Oshun Funke Oshun 0un"e& $Oshun who 3eaches the 6ysteries of the 1rotic$. I must have met several of her daughters in my life, and I remember them with a rather e cited form of fondness'

Oshun Ibu Oshun Ibu is the Oshun who $#ives where the =iver meets the Sea$.

Oshun Ibu Akuaro 3he Oshun who owns the beautiful peacoc" feathers, Oshoos's wife. Oshun Ibu A"uaro is also connected with the quail. 3his Oshun is a healer of the sic", and a benefactor of the needy. She's not all saintly, though& she loves spending money a bit too much' Oshun Ibu A"uaro is a good helper against he es, and last but not least she helps against abi"u +children that die very young,.

Oshun Ibu Anya Also called $#a 3ambolera$, she's lin"ed with the bata drums and dances her sadness away. 3he story is briefly that Ogun and Shango were fighting over her, she ran and loo"ed for shelter and heard drumming. She hid in the drums.

Oshun Ibu Kole Oshun Ibu 7ole is the $Spirit of the =iver who transforms$: she is the one that uses the vulture as her messenger.

Oshun Kayode Oshun 7ayode is the $Owner of the 4ance$.

Oshun Migwa Oshun 6igwa +6iwa, is the $Oshun that >uides my *haracter$. She could do a better -ob on me, that's for sure +grin,'

Oshun Olode Oshun Olode is the Oshun $who #ives in the 4epths of Water$, associated with the 6ermaid.

Oshun Ololodi Orunmila's wife, a very old and wise Oshun. She lives in the waterfall and is more then -ust $a little$ deaf +grin,' 3he only way to duly attract her attention is loudly banging a copper bell or agogo with great energy and 2est' 3his is a rare Oshun, who doesn't li"e dancing.

Oshun Yeye Moro .eye 6oro is the $6other of the 6irror$, a flirtatious type of Oshun, and an enthousiastic and promiscuous lover.